Turkey, 6.0...Almost ready

A mixture of butter and oregano under the skin on the breast, with olive oil and a special spice on the skin...

Lemons for inside the turkey...

Digital thermometer inserted (and set for 161 degrees), the turkey is ready for the oven...

Turkey, 5.0...Out of the brine to air dry

9 AM today, after the 12 hour brine...

Into the fridge to air dry for 2 hours...
(It ensures a crispy skin...)

Turkey, 4.0...The 12 hour brine

Bathing in the brine...

Aerial view...

Into the fridge for 12 hours...

Turkey, 3.0...The brine boxes

The Playmaker's Sister's

The Playmaker's

The Playmaker's acrostic poem about Thanksgiving

Turkey, 2.0...The book of secrets

This Bad Boy is one of our most prized possessions. It contains notes, anecdotes and recipes used during Thanksgiving and Christmas since 2004. Every year we refer to it. Every year we add to it.

Yesterday, we used it to concoct the brine. Today, we referred to it for air drying the turkey after its brine bath. Most importantly, it contains the almighty turkey roasting directions from the last two years...years when the turkey was absolutely fantastic.

Turkey, 1.0...Guilt free eating

We humped the elliptical bright and early at 5:30 this morning. 131 carbs burned?!? Wow! Of course, that equals, like, four pieces of kielbasa.

Happy Thanksgiving

Great stuff...

Thanksgiving is, probably, the best day of the year. It requires no gifts, no worry of disrespecting the PC crowd with an innocent remark of, "Merry Christmas!" No, it just involves food (lots of it), football and a multi-day break from work. (When the day is done, you still have three more days off to enjoy.) Oh, yeah. And it leads into the Christmas season.

How great is that?!? Seriously, how great is that?!?

So tomorrow we will do our annual Turkey Day Stuff. Get up early and hump the elliptical a few minutes longer than normal. Shower and then take the family out to breakfast. Once home, The Kids and The Mrs. will make and bake chocolate chip bars, while we prep the turkey.

Actually, it will be two turkeys this year. We went out last week and scored a great deal on a turkey fryer. So we will be frying a 14 pound bird (in less than an hour, as it takes just 3 minutes per pound). In the oven, we will be roasting a 22 pound monster.

Football will be watched. Beverages will be consumed. Snacks will be had. More football will be watched. And, finally, turkey will be ingested.

And it will be good.

Stay safe tonight and come back tomorrow for real time turkey updates, including (maybe) a video of the turkey frying.

Juan Castro: The Answer!

Just kidding. (But he is better than Eric Bruntlett!)

Let us share our Fantasy with you...

We crushed our over-matched opponent in Fantasy Football yesterday, 121-84. Ricky Williams (30), Drew Brees (25), Ryan Grant (19) and Mike Sims-Walker (15) led the scoring parade. We are now 7-4 and tied for first place in our division. In the Power Rankings, we are ranked 4th out of 12 teams.

Food for thought...

A wise man doesn't need advice and a fool won't heed it...

Turkey Trial Run...

Almost Libation Time...

Sports updates...

Soccer: Team 801 had a 30 minute intrasqaud scrimmage to end the season today. The Blue Team defeated the White Team, 5-3. The Playmaker led the way for the Blue, scoring 2 goals. In the much anticipated matchup between Team 801 and The World (AKA Team 801's family members), The World won by an estimated score of 10-3. And yes, The Head Ball Coach went Beckham and scored 2 goals.

Basketball: 90 minutes after soccer, The Playmaker's Sister had her second hoops practice of the season. During the intrasquad scrimmage, her Red Team beat the White Team, 14-8. The Playmaker's Sister had 6 points (on 3-4 shooting). Since there were only eight girls at practice, The Playmaker got a chance to get some run and dropped in a deuce from about 7 feet.

Saturday To-Do List...

1. 8 AM Final soccer Saturday of the fall -- The moms, dads, brothers and sisters are taking on Team 801, the league champs.

2. 11 AM Basketball practice for The Playmaker's Sister -- Two people scored in last week's practice game. And one of them was The Playmaker. Hmm...

3. 12 PM Ohio State at Michigan -- We'll go (way) out on a limb and say Michigan will pull the upset.

4. 3Pm - 5PM The Playmaker is going to a birthday party -- Secretly, he would rather stay home and watch college football with The Head Ball Coach.

5. 5:30 PM Dinner and (lots of) drinks at Captain Ray's -- Keep it real, son. Know what I mean?!?

You two keep it real. Know what I mean, son?!?

I could defeat you if it came to a physical confrontation...

WTF -- Why the face?!?

I'm the cool dad...

Fantasies & Flags...

Last week was "crazy busy," as we had three rounds conferences at school. This week has been almost as hectic, as we had to calculate and then enter first term grades for 130 kids. Having put both of those hurdles in our review mirror, we are now catching our breath. As such, here are the football updates:

Fantasy Football -- Let us just say as much as we loved Dallas Clark for saving our ass week 2 with 24 points on a Monday night, we now despise him that much. We entered Sunday night's Colts-Patriots game trailing by 9 points. All we needed was Clark to get us 10 points against the Pats. Our other tight end, Brent Celek of the Eagles, would have given us...wait for it...10 points had we played him. But we chose to sit him in favor of Clark. Of course, Coach Bill was smart enough to take away Clark and hold him to 4 catches for 65 yards (6 points), yet dumb enough to go for it on 4th and 2 from his own 29 yard line. Who knew?!? So we lost by 3 points. Cripes.

Flag Football -- Your Flag Football Cardinals closed out their season with two victories last week to end the season 13-1. Thursday they got revenge against the Eagles (the only team to beat them), with a 35-0 beatdown. The Playmaker had one catch for 12 yards. On defense he guarded the other team's best player and held him to zero (zero!) catches. The kid did have one rushing attempt, but The Playmaker darted in and yanked his flag in the end zone for what would have been a safety in regular football. Last Tuesday, the Cardinals stomped their opposition, 42-21. The Playmaker had two touchdown receptions. The second one was, perhaps, his best catch of the year. We had the ball on about the 15 yard line and it was fourth down. After scanning the field and finding mass congestion in the end zone, The Head Ball Coach noticed The Playmaker open just a smidge. For some reason there were two defenders on him and the opening was mere inches. With no other options, The Head Ball Coach threw the ball as hard as John Elway he could to get it into the tight quarters. The Playmaker calmly caught the ball in his arms (the velocity was too great to attempt the catch with his hands) for the score. It was a D-1 catch, to be sure. On defense, the highlight of his night came just before halftime. On the final play of the half the other team completed a short pass and the receiver eluded his man and darted down the sideline for a sure-to-be momentum building score. The Playmaker was on the opposite sideline, but sprinted diagonally across the field to attempt to cut the kid off from the end zone. As he was just behind the receiver at the 10 yard line, he realized he could not get his hands on the flag. So he did the ultimate next best thing. He simply Bulldogged, errrr, tackled the kid to the ground. Classic. Frigging classic. Luckily, as the kid's body slammed to the turf, the force dislodged one of his flags. The Playmaker got up and held up the flag -- which is what the kids are supposed to do. No one said anything about the tackle.

Three & Out...

1. When did Coach Bill get all stupid and turn into Andy Reid?!? Good gawd, man, what the hell were you thinking going for it in your own end on 4th & 2 with two minutes and change left in the game?!? That is the single dumbest non-Andy Reid-or-Donovan McNabb-thing we have ever seen. Cripes.

2. Don't worry, Fat Andy is still the reigning idiot! Third and goal from San Diego's one yard line, Fat Andy decides to give the ball to Eldra Buckley. You are probably asking, "Who the hell is that?!?" Just know that he has zero touchdowns this year. Of course, he got stuffed. And on fourth down, Fat Andy called on David Akers to kick a field goal.

3. ESPN's 24 hour college basketball marathon?!? Oh, to be young again. Hell, oh to be in college again. Were we still on campus, we're guessing we would not be attending classes tomorrow (shocker!). And, most likely, a keg of beer and some red cups would be involved morning, afternoon and evening. Yes, morning.

Hmm...

Best we can do...

Not sure what this says about us, but of the nine shows listed, we watch only one faithfully (The Office). Depending on who's playing, we will watch Sunday Night Football (well, until we fall asleep and The Wife takes the clicker). The other seven?!? We never (never!) watch. (We gave up on Desperate Housewives two years ago.)

North Jersey is NOT the Jersey Shore...

These people are gross. Thank gawd they don't travel South on The GSP.

Wow...

He can't shoot, dribble or pass. But, man, can Iggy dunk.

Veterans' Day

Fantasy...

Our Eagles lost to Dallas (just reinforcing our stance that they will never win anything as long as Andy Reid and D-McNabb are running the show), but our Fantasy Team came up with a huge (huge!) win. We compiled our highest output of the year in crushing our opponent 121-81. We are now 6-3 (second best record in the league). There were plenty of points to go around. To wit: Larry Fitz (24), Mike Sims-Walker (20), Drew Brees and Ryan Grant (15 each), Denver's D (13), David Akers (12), Brent Celek and Ricky Williams (9 each) and Jeremy Maclin (4). Equally impressive was only leaving 24 points on the bench. (Dallas Clark and Shady McCoy each had 11.)

Monday Links...

Update on HS baller who is skipping senior year to play for pay in Israel!

Coach Barry Greener?!?

Is this the worst OU team of the decade?!?

Three & Out...

1. Fantasy Football! After leaving 46 points on the bench last week in the form of three Eagles (Shady McCoy, Jeremy Maclin and Brent Celek), we have two of them in the lineup today -- Maclin and Celek, in place of free agent reject Torry Holt and Dallas Clark. We are currently 5-3, so today is a big game.

2. College Football! That non-interception call that went against LSU in yesterday's showdown with Alabama was an utter joke. It's not our style to criticize, but The Fix was in to get Bama into the SEC Championship against Florida. And then The Fix will be in to get Tim Tebow into the National Championship.

3. Flag Football! Your Flag Football Cardinals won last Thursday, 35-21. (We could have scored one more, but opted to run out the clock at the end.) The Playmaker had one catch for 15 yards and scored a touchdown on an end around from about 20 yards out. We are now 11-1 on the season.

Enjoy the weather and the football games!

Perfection! Undefeated Season!

For the final time this fall (next week they play the coaches and parents), Team 801 took the field at 8 AM this morning. With a 5-0-1 record, The Playmaker and The Head Ball Coach were "quietly" looking to close out an undefeated season. However, when two of our better players were not there, things were not looking good. The other team kicked off and The Playmaker made a quick steal and took it down for a goal. That lasted for about 5 minutes, when the other team scored 3 quick ones. Inconspicuously worried (and pissed off), an unnamed coach (No names! No names!) called for a strategic water break.

As the other kids huddled with parents and tried to warm up, we sat with The Playmaker and quietly stated the score and reiterated our objective of an undefeated season. Not in a Marv Marijuanavich do-it-or-don't-come-home! way. But in a way that was calm yet crystal clear.

What then transpired made us, perhaps, prouder than we have ever been of The Playmaker's athletic accomplishments. It's not our style to brag, but he was literally all over the field. He bulled his way to 2 more goals, tying the game at 3. He ran himself to exhaustion getting back on D. He stopped a two-on-one breakaway. And when he scored again, he came over to confirm The Good Guys were ahead by one (4-3). He then switched to prevent mode and simply tried to clear the ball out of our end and dump it down the field to use up the clock. With 3 minutes remaining in the season, he went down and scored one final goal to give us a 5-3 victory and an undefeated season -- 6-0-1.

Playing without any other fire power, The Playmaker willed his team to a victory. Best of all, he was happier about the undefeated season than he was about scoring all 5 of the team's goals.

(He is now sprawled out on the floor, resting and watching College GameDay.)

Well done, My Friend. Well done.

Perfect by the fireplace...

Phillies win the World Series...

Vintage Diesel...

Your Flag Football Cardinals waxed another opponent last night, winning to the tune of 42-14. We would have had 56 points, but one drive ended with a dropped pass in the end zone and another ended on the 5 yard line. And, no, we did not run up the score. Instead, we were aided by two defensive interceptions, which gave us two extra possessions.

The Playmaker had one catch for 20 yards. He was thisclose to the end zone, but had his flagged pulled on the 2 yard line. He did score on a 25 yard end around run. (It was his first rush of the season.) The ending was classic and testimony to how much football The Playmaker watches. He started out split wide left and came around and got the handoff from The Head Ball Coach. He then tight roped down the right sideline and chugged toward the end zone. At about the 2 yard line there was a massive traffic jam. One defender tried yanking his flag as another defender (accompanied by a Cardinal) went for the soccer slide tackle. No flags were dislodged, but The Playmaker did tumble forward and fall into the pile of players. As he did so, he extended his arm and held out the ball which hit the pylon as he fell on top of bodies. He quickly sprang up and looked around for the call. Touchdown!

k

Classic. Totally classic.

Phillies 8 Yankees 6

Game 1 was easy and relaxing to watch. Unfortunately, it hasn't been that way since. You would think an 8-2 lead in the 8th inning of a World Series game would be safe.

Of course, this is the Phillies' bullpen we're talking about.

With Cliff Lee out of gas, Chan Ho Park came in with runners on second and third and no outs in the 8th inning of an 8-4 game. No worries. Park got the next three batters out, only allowing a run scoring sacrifice fly to make it 8-5.

The Bank held its breath, waiting to see if Uncle Charlie would go to Brad Lidge in the ninth. Instead, he went with the almost equally mentally fragile Ryan Madson. He promptly served up hits to Posada and Matsui. In his biggest pitch of the season, he got Derek Jeter to hit into a run scoring double play. Bases empty, two outs, 8-6. Of course, he then grooved one to Johnny Damon, which brought up Alex Teixeira with a chance to tie the game. In his second biggest pitch of the season, Madson got Teixeira to chase a low changeup for strike three.

Mentally drained, we laid down on the couch to relax and watch the post game show on MLB Network. Alas, within two minutes we were sound asleep. No joke.

All things Philly

1. Phillies -- He did had nothing to do with last night's Game 4 loss, but we still despise Cole Sux. We're thinking maybe Ryan Howard should use his face for batting practice. Sounds good, no?!?

2. Fantasy -- We still have Drew Brees playing tonight, but we got our ass kicked this weekend. Of course, it didn't help that we left 37 points on the bench in Eagles Jeremy Maclin, Shady McCoy and Brent Celek.

3. 76ers -- Two straight wins?!? Wow. We watched part of both games and we are amazed they ever score more than 80 points. For they can be gawd awful on offense.

4. Big Cliff -- We We're pretty sure he gets the W tonight. Unless, of course, Cole Sux-itus has spread in the locker room.

Usual result leads to new name...

Cole Hamels Sux

1. Get a haircut!

2. Gain some weight!

3. Stop whining!

4. Stop giving up RBI singles to American League pitchers!

5. Stop sucking!