Hot Curling Pics

Oh yes there is a Women of Curling calendar. Here are links to pics. Treat as NSFW http://tinyurl.com/yd4qus7; http://tinyurl.com/ydvvq8v

Do You Think I'm Sexy?

Yes I do, Cheryl. This is the captain of the Canadian Women's Curling team, Cheryl Bernard. I had never really watched a lot of curling, but when a certain friend of mine says "You gotta turn to channel __", it usually leads me to some form of hot woman. Ding, ding. I can't watch Men's Curling. It does nothing for me. But Women's Curling has a sexy aspect that I can only compare to volleyball. I want to watch women do it. I don't want to watch men do it. The sexiness of Curling comes from the positions they have to get into to do it, and the things they yell at each other while competing. Before you dismiss it guys, just watch.

Here's a link to more Cheryl photos - LINK
Pay special attention to the one of her naked with a brush from behind. I need to find that calendar.

If you find more pics, please let me know. I am now officially obsessed.

Tiger...Oh My

Lots of opinions on the show today as you can imagine. We got a female perspective from Samantha Steele of Fox Sports, and she really pulled no punches. It was good stuff. Check it out here - LINK

So a couple thoughts. Obviously he should have answered questions. For me that's a given. So today must be discussed with that in mind. First, I think Tiger did what he had to do. He fell on the sword. He took the blame. He didn't say other athletes have done it. He did not hide behind the word "addiction". He said things athletes usually don't say in those situations. He said he cheated, felt entitled, and thought he lived by different rules. I thought all that was good. He said he let people down. He said he let kids down. He owned it.

The questionable stuff - 1) I'm not sure if telling a largely Christian country that you are Buddhist is the best idea, but it did give us a bit of a window into how he is dealing with it. Religion helps people cope with many things. If it helps him, great. I think that one may have been for his mom as well. 2) I agree in principle to his attack of the media, I just wouldn't have gone there today. Save that one for Barbara Walters, or Bryant Gumbel, or Oprah. Of course it's wrong that the paparazzi follows his daughter to school, but don't poke that bear. You need that bear to be friendly. That bear is going to live in your bushes for a while. Plus, as a guest pointed out today, is Tiger in a position to tell someone what's ethical right now? Still, trying to protect Elin and the kids from that can't look bad in her eyes. Which brings us to the main point of today, Elin.

She will decide where this goes now. Can she actually forgive all that he has done? He cheated with multiple women, lied about it, only came clean when he got caught, and, if you believe a porn star, may have impregnated one of those women on multiple occasions. That would mean he opened his marriage up to not only destruction and ridicule, but possibly put his wife's health at risk. Wow. If she walks, you can hardly blame her. The issue will be about redemption. Do you think it exists? We had a couple female callers today take the "once a cheater, always a cheater" stance. If you believe he has lied before and will lie again, her choice is simple. But what if he can change? Is that possible? Can you go from 14 women on the side (allegedly) to Ward Cleaver in a couple months? And can you resist the temptation if you do go back out on tour? Elin has a lot to process.

Now to the one thing that is not getting lots of talk, the camera issue. About 9 minutes into the speech, the camera goes dark. Then, when the picture returns, instead of the face on shot you had, it's now off to the side to Tiger's left. This changed a few things. #1 - It changed the rest of the speech. He couldn't "look us in the eye" anymore even though he thought he still was. When he asked the media to leave his wife and kids alone, he thought he was looking right in the camera. He wasn't. It kind of distracted from the message. #2 - The angle change brought his mother into play. I did not even know she was there until then. Can you imagine having to give that speech in front of Mom? So for the last 4 minutes, we see her reactions. I'm sure she did not realize this. Lots of people have talked about how she did not look at Tiger. That's not an issue if camera 1 had come back on. And #3 -It gave hawk eyes the angle to see he was not wearing a wedding ring, adding another side story. It's funny how many stories you can create out of a camera angle. Oh, and to the people in charge of that camera, you really couldn't get it working again for 4 minutes? What happened, did Ernie Els sneak in and destroy it? Come on tech folks. Help a Tiger out.

Lastly, I wonder how sex addiction treatment works. You can't go cold turkey. You have to have sex. You just have to change your thoughts about sex. That's if Elin takes him back. What if she doesn't? If you're married, is it sex addiction, and if you're single, is it just being Derek Jeter? Maybe it's like food addiction. You have to eat, but you have to change the way you deal with food. I don't know. I'll leave that to the experts. Best of luck to Tiger and Elin as they try to do what's right for their kids.

And on a personal note, there are now 2 things I know I do better than Tiger Woods...giving and receiving high 5's and being a faithful husband. Scoreboard.

Tiger's Statement

Audio of Tiger's Statement in online at www.espnaustin.com Here's the direct link to the audio LINK

Link to video - LINK

And the Curse of Tony Dungy is born

You know what you don't want going into a football game? You don't want Tony Dungy saying the other team has no chance to be you. He said the Cowboys had no chance against New Orleans. Then Dallas went to the Superdome, used the comment as fuel, and won 24-17. The Saints could calm down, forget about 16-0, and rest players if they needed to. Then Dungy said his former team would beat the Saints in the Super Bowl, and it wouldn't be close. He said the Saints had no chance to win the Super Bowl. After their 31-17 win over the Colts, N.O. coach Sean Payton said when he heard the comment from Dungy, he knew they would be all right. Maybe Dungy was jealous of the Colts success without him, and dropped the curse on them. Either way, beware in the future when Dungy goes on a limb.


Now to the game itself. The Super Bowl gave us another classic. It was not a one score game, but if you watched, and you did, you know it played like one. As time goes by, don't forget about the second quarter. There were over 8 minutes in the quarter when Manning hit Garcon for that big first down. Oh wait, no he didn't. Garcon dropped the ball, and the next time Manning touched the ball, it was 1st and 10 from his own 1 yard line with about :40 left in the half. The Saints get a 3 and out and a field goal. Big momentum lift for a team that had just been stuffed at the goal line.

And then Sean Payton really went for the momentum. The first onside kick outside the 4th quarter in Super Bowl history was successful, and the Saints turned it into a TD. Now Manning and the Colts had to chase. Which they did with a TD drive of their own. That's when I turned to someone in the room and said "You give the MVP to the winning QB". They were putting on such a great show. They set a new record for completions in a SB, yet there was only one interference penalty and one turnover, both coming on the Colts' last drive.

And with all of that drama going on, the story took the one turn you never expected. Manning made the big mistake. The name Tracy Porter is now on the "Free drinks for life" list in every bar in the Big Easy. I just couldn't believe it. In that game, the first big mistake was going to cost you the game, and it did. The two oldest rules in football determined Super Bowl 44: Take care of the ball, and you've gotta make plays. The Saints made the plays and protected the ball.


Now to the stories. I've got to start with Brees since I'm in Austin. He is the first Texas born QB to start a Super Bowl, and he went to PURDUE. Texas, A&M, Tech, TCU, etc. None of them offered Brees a scholarship. Then his comeback after the injury in San Diego and his decision to embrace New Orleans will be the stuff of legend in the NFL for years to come.

But most importantly, congrats to Who Dat Nation. I had the pleasure of watching the game with a proud member named Linda, and she was sweating it out right up until the Saints made the final stop. But when they did, what a moment. The look on her face was 43 years in the making. The look said "The Saints are going to win the Super Bowl". She almost couldn't believe it. It took a while to sink in. But yes, Linda, your Saints are jokes no more. They can never take that Lombardi trophy away from you. There will never be bags on any one's head again. The Saints are the champs. Who Dat indeed.

Soul Music Only

Those who know me will tell you I probably don't have a lot of religious experiences. I had one tonight. I saw the movie Crazy Heart. It is simply one of the best movies I have ever seen. First, the movie part. Jeff Bridges has given us the Dude and Bad Blake, two iconic roles that people will talk about and study for years. Whether he gets the Oscar or not really doesn't matter that much. Icons don't need Oscars. Now, to the religious part.

I know, how can I consider seeing a movie about a washed up country singer a religious experience? Simple, because it's more than music to me. I found this definition of religious: "appropriate to religion or to sacred rites or observances." Those who know me will tell you I consider music one of the most sacred things on Earth. And the music of Crazy Heart speaks to my spirit. It reminds me of why I discovered country music in the first place. See I grew up on rock and metal. That is the music of my youth. It's also my father's music. It's part of why we are close. But as I went through college, I also began to discover country music. That's my grandfather's music. It made me feel close to him after he died. In the movie, when I saw those denim button up shirts with the pearl snaps, I thought of him and nearly cried.

The movie made me think of 1997. I sat in an efficiency apartment at 44th and Ave A in Austin Texas. I put a CD in the player that would change my life. It was "Juarez" by Terry Allen, a wonderful musical gift. It opened up a world that let me know there was a connection between my grandfather's music and what would become mine. There was a line in the country music sand that ran from Bill Monroe to Merle Haggard to Randy Travis to Bruce Robison. And it all had one thing in common, soul. I found a plastic sign in a ditch when I was in Jr. High that read simply "Soul Music Only". I kept it. That's my only requirement for music. It has to have soul. Crazy Heart has soul.

So if you're a little like me, you might like this movie. I love a good song. I love a good album. I still call them albums. I have to listen to the songs in order the first time because that's what the musician intended. I listen to the song. The words, not just the tune. They become part of me. I want to know who wrote the song. I want to know why. I remember the first time I saw Billy Jo Shaver live. When I hear Willie Nelson's voice, I stop no matter where I am. I have spent nights at the Cactus Cafe in Austin watching one musician and one instrument stir more inside me than a 20 piece band ever could. And when I talk about my favorite Johnny Cash songs, sometimes I have to choke back tears. It's not just music. It's my soul. Crazy Heart is a movie about my soul.