Bad is Good

The matchup on Sunday between the Detroit Lions and the Cleveland Browns is a game between two of the worst franchises in the NFL. Both teams sit with records of 1-8, and a person has to wonder: What in this game is worth watching?

The team with the worst record in the NFL is granted the first pick in the next season's NFL Draft, so the game between the two teams has interesting implications. No players would want to tank a game on purpose, but would the owners of either team want to lose on purpose?

When the San Francisco 49ers and the Houston Texans squared off for last place in the final game of the 2005 NFL season the skepticism was proven wrong. The 49ers came out and defeated the Texans, thus costing themselves the first pick in the draft the next year. The players for the Texans were distraught over the loss, but the team did receive the No. 1 pick and drafted defensive end Mario Williams out of North Carolina State University.

The other interesting thing to watch in this game is the utterly bad football that will be played. If you like follies then this is the game for you. When the Lions and Browns played against one another eight years ago Lions quarterback Ty Detmer threw seven interceptions, the most thrown in NFL history. That's not exactly the record a player wants to associate himself with. The Lions have a terrible defense and the Browns have a terrible offense, scoring no points in their previous game. It's time to bust out the 1920s piano bar music for this game. It's going to be ugly.

Sports Wars Episode VI: Return of the Legends

Well the Yanks finally did it: after a nine-year drought the New York Yankees are World Series champions.

For the world that doesn't care about sports your regular scheduled programming will resume. For me, this World Series brings to mind the fact that the teams of old who dominated the previous century are returning to glory here in 2009.

The Pittsburgh Steelers, the team of the 70s, returned to glory winning their sixth Super Bowl. This set an NFL record for Super Bowl wins. The Pittsburgh Penguins defeated the Detroit Red Wings in the NHL Playoffs to win a third Stanley Cup, reviving the glory days of the early 90s. The Los Angeles Lakers, showtime of the 80s and Shaqtime of the early 2000s, won their 15th NBA championship by defeating the Orlando Magic. Now, the New York Yankees, the team who made baseball what it is today, won their 27th World Series Championship.

I think this is fantastic for sports. To see the traditional teams winning championships again reinvigorates the old-timers. More importantly, it gives the youngsters a feel of what it might have been like to watch Magic Johnson vs. Larry Bird in the NBA Finals, to see Babe Ruth and Lou Gehrig, Mario Lemieux in 1991 and 1992, and Terry Bradshaw and the Steel Curtain against Roger Staubach and the Cowboys.

Today it's Kobe Bryant vs. Dwight Howard in the NBA Finals, Alex Rodriguez and Derek Jeter, Sidney Crosby in '09, and Ben Roethlisberger and the New Steel Curtain against anybody from the NFC. This has been a fantastic year of sports.

The Repeat Champions

I don't understand why the Phillies are considered the underdog in the World Series. The Phillies won the World Series last year against Tampa Bay, and now they have a 1-0 lead on the New York Yankees. Can anyone make sense of this?

Cliff Lee was fantastic in game 1, but the argument is being made that the rest of the Phillies pitching staff is not good enough to keep with the Yankees' stacked lineup. If this is the case then you need to look at the Yankees' pitching staff. C.C. Sabathia was the best pitcher on the Yankees and he got rocked by the Phillies lineup.

If game 1 is any indication of what is to come for the rest of the series then I will have to say the Phillies are on their way to winning a second consecutive World Series Championship.

Domino's: SC Drive

Domino’s Pizza has existed since the 1960s, and is still going strong today. The taste of the pizza from the store is not possible without the people who hand toss the dough, throw on the toppings, pull the pizza from the oven and make the deliveries. This is the story of the employees of Domino’s Pizza: Santa Clara.

Delivery expert Alyssa Carter answers the phone and inputs the customer’s order into the computer system. The process of bringing pizza to homes across the country begins at the phones. The Santa Clara store has a total of six phone lines.

Toppings and dough are kept in the refrigerated walk-in. The temperature inside the walk-in is kept between 35 and 40 degrees. When food is taken out of the walk-in to be stored under the make-line an expiration label is placed on the container to eliminate the use of expired food.

Assistant Manager Derrick Patterson slaps the dough in the corn meal to be used for the pizza. Several different techniques are used among the employees for hand tossed pizzas, but the concept is universal. Hand tossed pizzas add to the authenticity of Domino’s Pizza.

Ryan Rasmussen, general manager of the Santa Clara Domino’s Pizza places the toppings on the pizza at the make-line. Charts are placed above the make-line to ensure the correct amount of toppings is placed on the pizzas. The temperatures on the make-line are also kept cold to keep the toppings as fresh as possible.

Customer Service Representative Jenecee Powell washes the dishes. After toppings are used the empty containers go to the sink to be washed. After the dishes are washed they sit in sanitizer in order to be reused as soon as possible.

Rasmussen takes the pizza out of the oven six minutes, 37 seconds later. Pizzas are cooked at 450 degrees during that time span. After the pizza is taken from the oven it is cut into slices and boxed. The finished product in the box is placed under a heat lamp.

Delivery expert John Northcutt takes the finished products and places them in the Heat Wave bags. Heat plates are embedded in the bags to keep the pizzas hot while en route to the customer’s home. Parmesan packets, red pepper packets, napkins and advertisements are located at the loading station to be put in the Heat Wave bags with the order.

Carter demonstrates use of the touch screen. Drivers are required to sign out delivery orders to their names in order to keep track of how much money they should have at the end of the day. All employees also use the touch screen to clock in and out.

Delivery expert Joe Ankiewicz exits the store with his delivery order in hand. The goal for each driver is to be out the door within 15 minutes of when an order is called in. Drivers know how fast they are out the door by reading the touch screen.

Ankiewicz drives out of the parking lot toward his delivery location. The Domino’s Pizza goal of 30 minutes is not a guarantee. Safety is the No. 1 priority.

Where the photo kiosks are

I have no idea why printers have to be so complicated. Living in a digital world we are forced to use digital cameras. This means we must rely on our own printers to obtain the pictures we take. Yes, I could go down to Wal-Mart and use the machines available to print out pictures, but as I said this is the digital world. Why would I pay for pictures when I can print them from home?

The dilemma: with the use of sophisticated Hammermill gloss paper we have to get more sophisticated printers. Nothing in life ever comes free. I suppose it's time to loosen up the purse strings and use the Kodak photo kiosks or invest in a new printer.

Sweet Carolin-a, bad times never seemed so bad

The Carolina Panthers lost to the Dallas Cowboys Monday 21-7, which caused the Panthers to start the season 0-3 for the first time since 1998.

I have been a fan of the Carolina Panthers since the beginning of their existence in 1995 (Panthers ownder and founder Jerry Richardson first brought up the idea to bid for Charlotte to win the rights to an NFL franchise on July 16, 1987, the day I was born). Every eight-year-old needs a favorite team since that is the age when sports fans first become sports fans. The Panthers were brand new along with the Jacksonville Jaguars, so I picked the Panthers as my team.

It's tough to root for the Panthers because of the organization's inconsistency. The Panthers will have a fantastic season one year, which gets the fans excited about the following year, and the next season they will fall flat on their faces.

In 1995 the team opened their existence with a 7-9 record. This was the best record in NFL history by an expansion team. Kerry Collins led the Panthers the following year to a 12-4 record, the playoffs and eventually lost to Brett Favre and the Packers in the NFC Championship game.

The Panthers did not have another winning season until 2003 when they went to the Super Bowl and lost to the Patriots. As a Panther fan I was invigorated to root for the team I had betrayed during the losing years.

However the Panthers would follow up the Super Bowl season with a 7-9 record. The 2005 Panthers returned to the playoffs, but lost to the Seahawks in the NFC Championship. The Panthers failed to make the playoffs in 2006 and 2007.

In the very competitive NFC South Division in 2008 the Panthers managed to pull away from Tampa Bay and Atlanta with a 12-4 record. I was ready to celebrate another Super Bowl appearance, but Jake Delhomme threw five interceptions to the Arizona Cardinals.

The Panthers have not won a game since then as they sit at 0-3. I was excited again. I went to my first ever Panthers game in 1997 in San Francisco, and I bought tickets to attend my second game this season on Nov. 1 in Arizona. I should have known this would be a bad year. I should be buying my tickets for next year when the Panthers are good again.

Procrastination soup for the soul

The one word college students can all agree is in their vocabulary is procrastination. It is a blessing and a curse.

For so many years I find myself worrying about things of menial value: sports, television shows and video games. Those are the objects that make me happy. I enjoy them, so I take part in them.

The cob webs of summer have not departed from my brain here at the end of September. The easy thing to do is procrastinate, because it's fun.

The blessing side of procrastination is the ability to do whatever I want when I want to do it. If I'm tired after a long day at school and finishing statistics homework I will postpone my other homework. There's nothing like kicking back and enjoying my favorite comedy shows on television.

The cursed side of procrastination is waking up the next morning without a clue that I forgot to finish an assignment that was due that day. The taste of regret entered my mouth when I heard my instructor say, "Your blogs are due today."

I was among half the class that forgot to enter a blog post before 9 a.m. Sept. 24. I do not fear for half credit is better than no credit at all.

The curse of procrastination gave me the bad taste and feeling. The blessing of procrastination helped me realize my follie, so I can fix the problem and get back to work.

Future softball star

A father brought his three-year-old daughter to a Philadelphia Phillies game and caught his first ever foul ball after he had been to so many games over the years.

The father's name is Steve Monforto and after he snagged the foul ball he handed it to three-year-old Emily.  There must have been a sense of devastation upon Monforto's face as Emily tossed the ball back to where it came from.  Instead of frustration Monforto hugged his daughter.

That's a true bummer for Monforto.  You wait all those years of going to games and when the time finally comes for you to make the big catch in the stands the youngster throws it away. But all is not lost, Steve, for Emily's throw signifies an understanding of baseball at a young age. Perhaps the day will come when Emily will be a softball star and you will be able to purchase as many baseballs as you want without spending all that money going to Phillies games waiting for one.

This is a cute story about a father's love for his daughter.  I would definitely be bummed if I was Monforto, but it all worked out in the end as the Phillies general manager went to Monforto and gave him a baseball.  Keep showing the love, Steve!

The article on espn.com also made mention that Phillies fans are seen as having a hard exterior, but this moment between father Steve and daughter Emily showed the light-hearted side of the Philadelphia fans.

Way to go, Steve!  You and Emily single-handedly destroyed a stereotype in one night!

Nothing to apologize for

During the game between BYU and Oklahoma Sam Bradford went down with a shoulder injury that will have him sidelined for a month.

 

The player for BYU that delivered the hit to OU's Bradford was Coleby Clawson.  He apologized for the causing last year's heisman trophy winner the injury, which showed class, but Clawson had nothing to apologize for.

Multiple sources have said the hit was clean, and watching the game and highlights one could see the hit really was a good hit and was not a cheap shot.  Clawson received rude messages on Facebook from Oklahoma fans saying the hit on Bradford was bad.  The full story is at http://sports.espn.go.com/ncf/news/story?id=4454135.

This is football for crying out loud.  People get hurt playing the game. Bradford won the heisman trophy in 2008 and decided to come back to college instead of going to the NFL, so everyone feels bad for him.  I don't feel bad for him, because if a linebacker from a supposedly inferior school like BYU can hurt Bradford then imagine what would have happened if NFL linebackers like Brian Urlacher, Ray Lewis or Shawne Merriman hit him.

I understand Clawson wanted to show class by showing remorse for Bradford, but he shouldn't feel bad.  If Tulane quarterback Joe Kemp is injured Saturday against No. 9 BYU I wouldn't expect Clawson to apologize for Kemp's injury as well so the college football world needs to get over the romanticism of the sport and realize that these kinds of things happen.