THE 424 RANT

I just got the video feature up and running on my sports website, The Sports Rumors, and now I'm giddy like a seven year old kid at an amusement park. I'm going to start posting videos on this page now too, and it should be easier. I'm going to kick it off with one of my favorites (since I really don't have anything else to talk about right now). Enjoy. Look for more to come later.

The past two days have been tough.. Hearing about the Sean Taylor tragedy really struck home. I wrote a piece on it that is relevant to this rant page as well.. Check it out.

6:05 AM Tuesday Morning.

My alarm clock ring got louder and louder. Turned it off. Damn, the morning came quick. I rolled over and fumbled for my blackberry, a terrible habit (or addiction if you ask those close to me) that I have. The red light was blinking which meant I had either an email or a text message. Nothing out of the ordinary since I go to bed by 11pm and emails and texts tend to fly in around midnight or 5am. I click the scroll button and see two text messages, both from ESPN.

I felt a knot in my throat because the only time I get text messages from ESPN is when it’s breaking news.

To continue reading... Click here

I'm not a weather expert. I don't know much about global warming to be honest with you, other than the caps are supposedly melting, the ozone layer has holes in it, and that things are supposed to get bad. I used to have an interest in weather when I was eight years old, ate Lucky Charms, and watched Doug Hill and Topper Shutt on Channel 9 News in the morning before school. As I grew up, the only times I gave a rat's ass about the weather was when it had some sort of affect on my daily plans or if I was looking for snow to get me out of school.

My routine would be, go to weather.com, type in my zip code, glance at the temperature and the cloudy or sunny icons, and then be done with it. But now I'm out of college, no longer have time to play Madden 08 for hours, sometimes days, and am starting to become an old geezer. This is why I am talking about the weather.

I have lived in Virginia for my entire life, all 24 years. I spent four of the years in southern Va (Blacksburg) while attending school. Until I was about 18 or 19 years old, the weather routine was the same annually. Mid April through June was spring, end of June through beginning of August was extremely hot summer, mid August through Halloween was fall, and anything after that was winter. The frost would usually come around Halloween, a few days before or after. Then would come the first signs of snow, usually the week of or after Thanksgiving. Then it was just a matter of time before 2 or 3 inches of snow were on the ground. I've had more white Christmas's than not. But as of late, I can't understand what has happened to our routine.

We are now entering the final week of November and weather.com says that each day will be over 50 degrees, with tomorrow possibly being 60! As much as I dislike shoveling the snow and scraping my windshield clear of ice, I don't want it to be 60 degrees at the start of December. It throws everything off. This unseasonably warm weather is throwing off the equilibrium that is my life. Humans are creatures of habit, and when someone or something disrupts my habit, I become very angry.

I was at the store today, walking by a section where they were playing Christmas and Holiday songs. "Oh this is nice," I thought while Frosty the Snowman played. Then I look a few feet ahead of me, and there is a guy wearing shorts. "Look at this jackass of a human," I thought to myself. I stared at him like a rich British suit would stare a lowly immigrant on the Titanic. But then I walk outside and I realize that he's not wrong for wearing shorts in the end of November. It's not cold! It's warm! Why shouldn't he be allowed to wear shorts?! But what's next, girls walking around in tube tops Christmas morning? Gotta tell ya, I don't like this at all.

Now I have heard people discount Global Warming and say that it's a made up term. I don't know the sciences of it all, but I know this. The earth is getting warmer and warmer. To me, that's global warming. I'm not here to talk about how we can find a solution for this because frankly, I'm too lazy to do anything about it. I'd rather drive my v8 Jeep Grand Cherokee and punch a hole in the ozone layer so that I don't have to walk a mile than drive a hybrid so that my great grandchildren can live in a cleaner world. Screw them. You should have been born earlier. What I am ranting about however, is how I hate this new climate. If I wanted warm winters, I would have moved to Florida and hung out with 85 year olds with missing teeth.

I, though probably in the minority, LIKE winter. I like the snow. I like icy driveways and watching people fall and break their hips. I love the season. There is something about being able to look out and see no cars driving as thousands of snowflakes come down on the ground, amounting to inches in a matter of hours. It's not like rain or hail. There is something about snow that is serene and calming. Yeah, the drive to work the next day will be a bitch and a half and I'm sure there will be a lot of accidents. But for a few hours, there is nothing better than looking out the window while having a cup of coffee and watching the world stop.

And don't tell me you could live without the meteorologists predicting doomsday when one inch of snow is in the forecast. You couldn't live without seeing the frenzy that takes place at the supermarkets as people rush to grab every last roll of toilet paper and carton of milk. It's part of our society here in northern Virginia. We all live fairly mundane, routine friendly lives. Though often dumb, our habits of freaking out when we hear about snow is part of our identity. Waking up to a white Christmas as a kid was important to me. When we are in elementary school and taught the seasons, they are broken up into four sections. For the winter section, you see a snowflake. What's going to happen now? Put a "windy and cloudy" icon instead? Snow is more important than you think! It's underrated if you ask me. Even now, at the age of 24, I would like nothing more than to see some white stuff on the ground December 25th morning.

Unfortunately, it doesn't look like that's going to happen. I don't know when our real winter will start. Maybe the second or third week of January? I don't know; couldn't tell ya. I just hope that this current trend doesn't become our new winter. I wouldn't want 55 degree December afternoons, and neither should you.

Normally, I don't link my other webpage in articles but since thestory that I wrote about today is relevant news to pretty much everyone, I'm going to make an exception.

“I’m not here to talk about the past. I’m here to be positive about this subject.” - Mark McGwire

Quite frankly, I’ve had enough. There are times when events or situations take place for which justice needs to be served. There are circumstances for which an intermediary is needed to settle things so that all parties feel that a fair conclusion has been reached. The Barry Bonds indictment and possible jail time is not one of those situations.

First off, let me make a few things perfectly clear. I don’t think Barry Bonds is a good human being. I wouldn’t want to be his friend or hang out. I think he’s an arrogant, moody, pompous prick to be blunt. I think that there have been numerous situations where he could have handled himself with more class than he has shown. For years, he was a rude individual to reporters from the media who were just trying to do their job and ask the star athlete questions. I’m not talking about the post steroid accusations. I’m talking about before that. I’m talking about when he wasn’t 260 pounds with a head the size of an 18 pound bowling ball. Whatever his reasons may have been for being impolite is irrelevant. The mere fact that he was unapproachable to many is irrelevant. His character and public demeanor is irrelevant.

The fact of the matter is [...] To Continue Reading this Article, Click Here

I've had it. I'm absolutely sick of this human being dominating the news every so often. I really don't give a damn about what's going on his life. He got away with murder. Congratulations. Now shut up and go live in solitude away from everyone else and do everything you can to lay low the rest of your freaking life. People who are in jail for murder would give an arm and a leg to have the second chance at life that OJ Simpson was miraculously awarded.

Apparently, he's involved in some stupid memorabilia theft lawsuit with charges including kidnapping. I am disappointed in ESPN for carrying this story as much as they have been. It is not an interesting story. It really isn't. I was driving home from work the other day hoping to catch the ESPN show "Around the Horn" on my Sirius Sattelite radio, as I faced the start of an hour and fifteen minute rush hour commute in suburban Washington DC. I couldn't understand who was mumbling over the airwaves until I realized it was some defense attorney for OJ Simpson. They were actually broadcasting his trial on live sports radio.

I was fuming, and another irate person is the last thing our jam packed highways need at 5pm.

There are certain people that we should stop caring about and pretend that they don't exist. By their own wishes or not, they are nothing but publicity whores. OJ Simpson is one of them. Britney Spears is another. I'll stay on topic and not go off on the Britney Spears tangent but I will say this; what does it say about a country when it takes almost a year and a half of ludicrous and bizarre behavior, failed drug tests, and outrageous drinking habits caught on video to finally take custody of two young children away. That's for another time and day though.

I don't want to read, hear, or see anything about OJ Simpson ever again. His life has no meaning or value to me. I wish people would stop paying attention to him and I wish intelligent, successful media outlets would realize that he is no longer a story. Just because you were once an athlete does not mean that what you do at age 60 should be covered on ESPN's front page.

Until Next Time,

Shaun

I spent the past few weeks jittery and more eager than a six year old waiting for a Tickle Me Elmo doll on Christmas eve to see American Gangster (Excuse the two year old toy reference. I have not been updated on what's hot and what's not in the world of grade school kids). Everytime I saw a preview airing on TV for American Gangster, starring Denzel Washington and Russell Crowe, I'd stop whatever it was I was doing, make sure everyone in the room shut up, and stare in awe as the Jay Z music played in the back to what was sure to be a 5 star-can't miss film. I'd get goosebumps at how good this movie looked like it would be. I was thinking it'd be a blend of pure gangster Denzel from Training Day with Russell Crowe being as badass as he was in Gladiator. I kind of imagined the two going back and fourth and battling throughout the movie like Tom Hanks and Leonardo DiCaprio did in "Catch Me if You Can".

Unfortunately, the movie failed to live up to my expectations. Perhaps I set myself up for a disappointment by hyping it up in my own mind, something I've had a tendency to do my entire life.

Don't get me wrong though, the movie was good. It was based off of a true story and was quite amazing how Frank Lucas (played by Washington) leaped ahead of the Italian mob bosses and took control of the drug influx in Harlem, New York during the 60's and 70's. However, what the movie failed to have was a clear cut climax of action. Instead, the movie kind of went on and on from time interval to time interval. When the movie concluded, I was left thinking "oh.. that's it?"

My friend put it best when he said that there was way too much dialogue and not enough action. Maybe that's because we're guys in our twenties and we tend to prefer watching cars blowup and people get shot than we do a cop sit in a room devising a plan to catch a druglord. Maybe if you're into a more strategic, see who can out clever who type of movie, you'll like this film more than I did. But if you're a young guy who wants to see lots of action, violence, and all the good stuff... don't set your expectations too high for American Gangster.

Overall, I'd give it a 7 out of 10, and that's a generous 7. Reason being, Denzel and Crowe played their parts as well as they could have. Also, this was based off of a true story so you can't go too out of your way to make things catch fire. Though I would have liked more tumultuous scenes, I'd still definitely recommend checking the movie out.

I'm not going to go into great detail about how ridiculous and unfair the new ticket laws are, which can penalize a person not only points and their license, but over $1500 for a speeding violation. I'm not going to start with that. But when I am upset about is how dumb the point system is. Let me explain.

Last December, I got a speeding ticket for going 15 over the limit on Rt.81. If you are not familiar with Rt.81, it's a highway in Virginia that runs from north to south and the average MPH by travelers has to be at least 72. Anyway, I was speeding and I got caught. Fair enough. I got four points for that violation. If you exceed 12 points in a given year, you have to face a possible license suspension. This past July, in a span of one week, I got a speeding ticket for 19 over and an illegal U turn ticket. Right now you're probably thinking that I am some sort of wreckless, lunatic driver. It's worth pointing out that if you drive as much as I have in the past 6 years, you're bound to get tickets here or there. No one is an angel, no one is perfect. So anyway, I paid for all three offenses without going to court.

The other day, I received a letter from the DMV saying that I was at 11 points for the past year, and if I got any more violations, I would be flirting with a suspension. Let's add up.

4 points for speeding
4 points for speeding
x points for illegal U turn

How the hell did I get to 11 points?? Don't tell me the illegal U turn is a 3 point violation.

Well, it is.

Now please enlighten me on why an illegal U turn, at an intersection where there is pretty much nobody at any time of the day, is only one point shy of driving nearly 20 mph over the speed limit. So you're telling me that I can be doing 90 mph in a 70 mph zone, and that's only one point worse than making an illegal U turn?! How ridiculous is that? I understand the 4 points. I really do. It makes sense. But 3 points for an illegal U turn is absolutely absurd. And let me paint the picture for you. I'm sure you've seen the movie Harold and Kumar. Do you remember the part where Harold looks around in the middle of the night and sees absolutely no cars or people? He then crosses the street and the moment he puts one foot on the road, a police car comes out of no where and gets him for jaywalking.

That was my U turn situation. Seriously. I'm not exaggerating. The cop car was black, unmarked, and I swear it felt like it came out of the trees somewhere.

I have to be somewhere in 30 minutes so I'll have to end this for now...

Until Next Time,

Shaun