I like Mike!

Well, congratulations to Mike Modano for being the new all-time American born point scorer. He earned that mark November 9th. He is also the all-time goal scorer, a mark he earned last season.

Since the Stars have been in Dallas, Modano has been the face of the franchise. It is a lot easier to get the women to go the games when he is playing. For quite a few years he was the number 1 eligible bachelor in the area. But beyond being another pretty face, he has been great on and off the ice.

He has had his ups. Including when the Stars won the Stanley Cup in 1999











And his downs: Being stripped of his captaincy last season. Being demoted to the fourth line this season because of his lack of scoring (and what better way to spark his offense than to put him on the fourth line? That is a post for later). He has taken these hits without much complaint at all.

so, uh, way to go, man....
I ran out of steam.

Pardon me?

Personally, I like Michael Wilbon more than Tony Kornheiser on Pardon the Interruption. There is just one thing that Wilbon has been saying for the past few weeks that has been irritating me. That is "the Cowboys are running their mouths, and haven't won anything." He hasn't said it a bunch of times, but probably 4-5 times the past month or so.

I agree with haven't won anything part. The Cowboys haven't won a playoff game in over a decade. It's the running the the mouth part that bothers me. The sports radio station I listen to is the flagship of the Cowboys. I read and hear damn near everything said about the Cowboys. Even the boring ass Wade Phillips press conferences everyday. I don't hear anyone really running their mouth about how great they are, or going to beat everyone.

The only person who did was Patrick Crayton after the Patriot game saying how if the Patriots made it to the Super Bowl the Cowboys would beat them then. What a shock a wide receiver running his mouth. If Terry Glenn was healthy he would be the fourth option in the passing game. Who gives a crap what he has to say? I don't and I root for the Cowboys.

Outside of that knucklehead I haven't heard anything outrageous being said by anyone on the team, and that includes the blowhard Terrell Owens. I don't know what Michael Wilbon is talking about.

He Hates Batman!!!

Now some might see this sketch and think, "Man, he hates Batman."
Others, "Wow what a Predator fan."
Still others, "What a weirdo."
Well, I neither hate Batman, nor have any great love for Predator. The third you will have to decide on your own.

This tale begins back in the Spring of 2003 when I was at a comic convention talking to local artist Chris Medellin. He had a request to do a sketch of the Predator killing Batman, but he had no reference for ol' Pred. I was helping a friend of mine at a booth, and my friend allowed me to sell some 25 cent comics there. I had about 2 longboxes, and I knew that I had some Predator minis by Dark Horse in there at one point, but I had sold a bunch that day. No one else had any so, I went and looked, lo and behold I still had some and provided the comics. Cool. Chris completed the sketch, and gave me the funny books back.

Flash forward to Wizard World 2006. I am walking through Artist Alley, and see Chris there. He has a new comic out, and I pick it up. He has a few sketches lying on his table, and I flip through them. Out pops the above sketch.
"Oh, man! You still have this? I remember this one." I tell him
"Yeah the sonuvabitch never came back, and I can't get rid of it!" Chris exclaims
"Man that sucks."
"Look, Travis, five bucks and it is yours."
"Sold"
"Seriously, thank you for getting off of my hands."

It only took 3 1/2 years too.

Radio Line of the Week

Nothing has really tickled my fancy in a while, but this week something did

"I wish announcers would quit telling us kick returners and punt returners are 'dangerous' or they can 'fly', because, unless they start putting offensive lineman back there I am going to assume they are fast."

To quote the great Homer Simpson, "It's funny because it's true."

Well...

In retrospect, I think I may have made a mistake by wearing shorts to work today. It barely got out of the 50s, which wouldn't have been bad, if I didn't spend a bunch of time out in our little shoe warehouse.

Somehow I made it though...

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Drinking for sport?

A new report about a beer being better for you after exercising than water.


Beer after sport 'is good for the body' - Telegraph

I find it is even better if I have the beer, and skip the exercise all together.

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Blaze of Glory

One of my favorite westerns is the movie, Once Upon A Time In The West. This was Sergio Leone’s epic masterpiece. Whereas The Good, The Bad and the Ugly is several stories held together by a longer arc, Once is a long narrative. I put them as 1A and 1B as far as how I rate them greatness.

One of the greatest build-ups of tension and suspense is the opening scene with three outlaws waiting for a train. The scene seems drawn out, but is perfectly paced. When the train arrives you hear a lone harmonica playing. As the train pulls away, Charles Bronson is standing there playing the harmonica. There is a brief, but humorous, exchange between Bronson and the creepy Jack Elam. Then Bronson guns the outlaws down.

An interesting story I read is that Leone wanted Lee Van Cleef, Eli Wallach, and Clint Eastwood as the outlaws in the opening sequence. This would have been his final story about “The Man with No Name”. Man, that would have been so cool. What better way to end that story, than to show him in the beginning and having him gunned down before the opening credits roll? Also it is a perfect noir element to introduce to a western. It would have been great. My understanding is that Van Cleef, and Wallach were on board to do it, but Eastwood was still early in his movie career and didn’t want to be tied too closely with one director or genre and declined to do it.

Oh what could have been.