charles barkley, already honing his populist message

From a CNN interview with the Alabama native and former NBA player:

Brown: So are you going to run for governor?
Barkley: I plan on it in 2014.
Brown: You are serious.
Barkley: I am, I can't screw up Alabama.
Brown: There is no place to go but up in your view?
Barkley: We are number 48 in everything and Arkansas and Mississippi aren't going anywhere.

the death of pundits? we should be so lucky

"If the mainstream media are wrong about Obama and the voters pull a Truman, that is going to be the end of whatever shred of credibility they have left." -- Tobe Berkovitz, associate dean of Boston University's College of Communication.

why is mccain losing in pennsylvania?

For one person's opinion, click here .

no comment (but the Catastrophic Success owner is sure to have one)

There's talk that the San Francisco 49ers are interested in bringing Secretary of State Condoleeza Rice aboard as team president.

wily veterans, week 8

Top 4 teams in division -- Taxmen, Weapons, Cat Success and Cavalry -- all emerge victorious as they scramble for playoff spots. A tough couple of weeks for Steel Curtain, losing by 1 point and then 2. Big game looks to be Weapons vs. Dirty Sanchez -- Weapons may be scrambling for running backs, in between bouts of self-loathing for taking on the headache known as Plaxico Burress.

brash upstarts, week 8

Three games up with five to go -- that's where Dirty Sanchez finds himself, on the cusp of a playoff spot. Montana keeps pace, squeaking out a win despite a tough day at the office for Roethlisberger. Flaming Chickens, losers of 5 in a row, have almost flamed out.

points don't matter (except when they do)

Highest scoring team in the NFL: San Diego. Record: 3-5.

Next highest scoring team: New Orleans. Record: 4-4.

Highest scoring team in the Ebner League: Taxmen. Record: 6-2.

Next highest scoring team: Shiners. Record: 4-4.

Next highest scoring team: Dirty Sanchez. Record: 8-0.

bye weeks - week 9

Carolina, New Orleans, San Diego, San Francisco

playoffs? you kidding me? playoffs?

With eight games (almost) in the books, it's time to look ahead to the playoffs. They begin in week 14, the first weekend in December. Here's how they'll play out:

There will be 6 playoff teams, 3 from each division. The four wild-card teams will be seeded based on overall record, then total points scored.

* No. 1 seed (division champ) -- first-round bye

* No. 2 seed (division champ) -- first-round bye

* No. 3 seed vs. No. 6 seed -- winner plays #2 seed

* No. 4 seed vs. No. 5 seed -- winner plays #1 seed

Speaking of playoffs, you can see the full version of the classic Jim Mora playoffs rant here . 

why you just shouldn't talk politics with some people

Excerpts from an e-mail the commish received from an old friend when the subject turned to the presidential election:

"What do you think qualifies him "experience wise" for the Commander In Cheif. I do not want a "dictator" or Socialist government. ... I think it is scary how Obama is treated like the second coming of the Messiah though, it's interesting how so many people are all mesmerized. ... Given his affiliations, his pastor (really scary), his commentary on wearing the American flag pin, ACORN, his birth certificate (still not clear on that one) these issues alone ought to secure a vote for the other side. ... Yeah, like you can just sit down with terrorists leaders and drink organic tea and just talk through it. We need somebody with experience to defend our country in the next few terms especially with Russia "warming" up their engines. This past week when CommieCastro and the dictator of Libya "endorsed" Obama, that should make one shudder and wonder why they would come forward. "

bye weeks - week 8

Chicago, Denver, Green Bay, Minnesota

it's fun to play the YOC, eh?

Congrats to Your Original Champions, who notched their first win of the season despite getting a combined 0 points from Marvin Harrison, Jerricho Cotchery and the Broncos defense. It was still enough against Babs, who had to endure one of those ugly games that Brett Favre throws in every so often.

brash upstarts, week 7

No Romo, no problemo for Dirty Sanchez, who continues his undefeated ways. Shiners, Winehaus, Montana all move to 4-3 on the season, with the Shiners beating Steel Curtain by the narrowest of margins (and their benches had the same number of points as well -- the commish is glad it didn't come down to the second tiebreaker, because I don't even think there is one.)

wily veterans, week 7

Losses by the Taxmen and Weapons of PD tighten the division race. Taxmen get next to nothing from the Drew Brees-Marques Colston connection as the Saints are throttled by the Panthers (didn't see that coming). Meanwhile, Weapons (like the Chiefs) fall victim to the rushing attack of the Titans, with LenDale White coming up big in Montana's win.

r.i.p. levi stubbs

It took a little searching to find a Four Tops TV performance from the mid-'60s that wasn't lip-synched, but you can watch one here . That's Stubbs at lower right.

you betcha!

If you missed Sarah Palin on "Saturday Night Live," you can see the two skits here . They're pretty good.

who said disco is dead?

At 103 beats per minute, the Bee Gees' song "Stayin' Alive" has almost the perfect rhythm to help jump-start a stopped heart. In a study from the University of Illinois medical school, doctors and students maintained close to the ideal number of chest compressions doing CPR while listening to the tune from the 1977 movie "Saturday Night Fever." The American Heart Association recommends 100 chest compressions per minute.

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pictures of history

Vanity Fair magazine has put together a list of the top 25 news photos of all time. You can see them all here .

battleground carolina

The latest polls indicate North Carolina could go either way in the presidential race. The last time N.C. went Democratic? 1976, Jimmy Carter.

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maybe this will slow down the louis express

Looks like Cowboys QB Tony Romo has a broken finger and will miss a month or so.

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in case catastrophic success is looking for a new name with the change in administration

A Scottish historian on his country's financial turmoil:

"The government was very wrong to have so few controls on the financial excesses of the banks and to allow this lunatic adventurism that existed in the financial sector in the past."

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i can't do what 10 people tell me to do, so i guess i'll remain the same

Otis Redding was the first artist of the rock era to have a No. 1 hit after he died -- 1968's "(Sittin' on) The Dock of the Bay." He was to be followed by Janis Joplin, Jim Croce, John Lennon and some rappers the commish has barely ever heard of.

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yeah, i can't figure out why he's winless either

Your Original Champions lost a close game with Catastrophic Success. The outcome might have been different had YOC not lined up 6 players against Cat Success' 8. If I might have a word with YOC: STOP STARTING STEVE CHRISTIE. HE HAS RETIRED FROM FOOTBALL.

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e-mail making the rounds

If you had bought $1,000 of AIG stock one year ago, you would have $42 left. With Lehman Brothers, you would have $6.60 left. With Fannie or Freddie, you would have less than $5 left.

BUT, if you had bought $1,000 worth of beer one year ago, drank all of the beer, then turned in the cans for the aluminum recycling refund, you would have had $214.

Based on that, the best current investment advice is to drink heavily and recycle.

(Courtesy of a Wachovia employee)

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they may be titans of industry, but they flunked public perception 101

AIG executives spent $440,000 on a retreat at a posh resort a week after the federal government’s $85 billion bailout of the insurer. Manicures were among the expenses. The reasons for this: Top execs wanted their hands to look their best, a) while holding them out for taxpayer money, and b) while holding them up before testifying before Congress.

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friends don't let friends type drunk

Users of Gmail, Google's e-mail system, can now activate a new feature called Mail Goggles. It requires an e-mailer to solve a few easy math problems before hitting the "send" button (thereby avoiding those late-night, alcohol-induced messages that you wake up and regret). The name is derived from the term "beer goggles", used to describe the distorting effect of alcohol on one's perception of members of the opposite sex.

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it all adds up

The National Debt Clock has run out of digits. The electronic billboard hit its limit after U.S. public debt rose above the $10 trillion mark for the first time on Sept. 30. As a temporary fix the dollar sign has been switched to a figure--the '1' in $10 trillion. The clock is currently marking the U.S. federal government’s national debt at about $10.2 trillion. The clock, located in Times Square in New York, shows the amount of money owed by the U.S. government. It was created by the late Manhattan real estate developer Seymour Durst, who put the sign up in 1989 to call attention to what was then a $2.7 trillion debt.

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bye weeks -- week 6

buffalo, kansas city, pittsburgh, tennessee

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in a nutshell

debate prep

* Number of people who watched the first McCain-Obama debate: 52 million
* Number of people who watched the Biden-Palin debate: 73 million
* Number of people who watched the "Seinfeld" finale: 76 million

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it's not the same as being one of the top CFOs in town, but still

Mrs. Commish is the top-ranked women's doubles player for her division in the entire state (and the No. 3 mixed doubles player). See what you can accomplish when you don't have to work for a living?

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divisions at a glance

In the Wily Veterans division, the Taxmen suffer their first defeat of the year, shaving their lead over Weapons to a single game. Behind them are four teams tied for third.

Over in the Brash Upstarts division, Dirty Sanchez opens up a two-game lead over the Shiners and Montana. Your Original Champions still looking for first win (the loss of Tom Brady aside, it would help matters considerably if YOC would play a kicker who's actually playing).

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student-athletes? how quaint

A tip of the hat to Vanderbilt football, undefeated and ranked in the top 15. Five years ago, the president disbanded the athletic department and eliminated the post of athletic director. All those activities were folded into the division of student life. The result? More athletic success, less segregation between jocks and other students, and higher GPAs among athletes.

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some things never change

last monday at the observer: wachovia sold, bailout bill vote on capitol hill

friday at the observer: wachovia sold, bailout bill vote on capitol hill

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headlines you won't be seeing in my newspaper ...

... as we brainstorm ideas for a story on "spiritual advice to people worried about the economy" ...

* BANK ON GOD
* PRAY AS YOU GO
* GOD DAMN IT!
* THE ALMIGHTY DOLLAR
* SEARCH YOUR SOUL ... MAYBE THERE'S SOME LOOSE CHANGE IN THERE
* SURE HE CAN TURN WATER INTO WINE, BUT CAN HE RENEGOTIATE MY MORTGAGE?

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