Humpday Humor

Here is the first edition of Humpday Humor. Enjoy.

In the spirit of the State of the Union Address that our fine president, W gave last night, my cousin Debbie shared some interesting stats.

Times he said the following in his speech:

Freedom/Free = 20
Terror/Terrorism = 20
9/11 = 2
bin Laden = 2
God = 2
Meaningful statements = 0



Alfred W. Bush










One of the funniest sites on the internet has to be Facts About Chuck Norris.

It has hillarious facts about one of the ultimate tough guys:

Examples include:

If Chuck Norris is late, time better slow the fuck down.

Superman owns a pair of Chuck Norris pajamas.

Tuesday's Tidbits...

Thank you for coming back for the inaugural edition of Tuesdays Tidbits. In this segment, I will share random thoughts on numerous topics. Nothing is off limits. Here we go. Enjoy.

• Skip the Enron trial and head right to the sentencing. Skilling and Lay are guilty.
• Two weeks between the championship games and super bowl is too much.
• hebrewrage.com is the best blog site on the web. Or at least the best domain name.
• Michelle's new place is going to be pretty sweet. Can't wait for the housewarming party so we can throw chips around like it's New Years Eve.
• Georgia public education sucks (49th in High School graduation, 41st in 8th grade math, 38th in 8th grade math.)
• I am honored to be a groomsman in Jay Schroeder and Amanda Allen's wedding.
• I am fired up for the dip off.
• Skype RULES.
• tgrando.blogspot.com doesn't RULE
• Great work by Todd helping touch up some of my trip photos.
• One more football game before Jorge Pereira begins his off season study program to prepare for next season.
• Jeff is the man for putting together the bookcase in less than 30 minutes.
• Thanks to Jeff, Julie and Michelle for going to Ikea
• Thumbs up to cinnamon rolls at Ikea
• Damn. I wish I invested in Atlantic Station when it started.
• I like working from home, but miss office drama.
• Hamas is scary.
• George W. Bush is an idiot. OK. This one is obvious.
• College football recruiting is overrated.
• Americans don't save enough money.
• I hate whiny coaches.

Stay Tuned....

Stay tuned to howardkalin.blogspot.com as two new segments are going to be introduced in the coming week. They will be regular posts for Tuesdays and Wednesdays. After reviewing the blog ratings, elliottintheatl.blogspot.com has a lock on Monday with his "Weekend in Review" segment. These are in addition to any other potential posts. Here is what you have to look forward to:

Tuesdays- Tuesday's Tidbits
Wednesdays- Humpday Humor

Come back tomorrow for the first installment of Tuesday's Tidbits.

I'm Back..

First a big apology to all of my loyal followers. I know I have been extremely slack on the blog front recently. Damn, it was much easier to come up with a post every day in Australia and New Zealand. So today, I am coming back with a bunch of random thoughts. Since I didn't get to go out this weekend due to having to referee both Friday and Saturday nights, I don't really have any great stories from the weekend. The basketball games on Friday were both blowouts and Saturday in Carrolton was a sloppy foul fest. Not too much to discuss there. The bad part is that the games in Carrolton made me miss Tricia's birthday party. Happy Birthday Tricia. Sounds like a good time from all of the reports I have heard.

I went to best buy on Thursday night to buy a headset and microphone for my computer. Than I downloaded Skype. For those of you who don't know, Skype is a website that allows you to make computer to computer phone calls via voice over IP for FREE. All you have to do is download the program and register. As long as both parties are registered all calls are free. If you wan't to call from your computer to a regular telephone number, it only costs around 2 cents per minute. Still not a bad deal. The cool thing is my cousin Debbie has also downloaded Skype. We talked briefly last night and I was pleasantly surprised with the sound quality. If you have people out of the country that you would like to stay in touch with, I highly recommend trying it out.

This picture is of Capetown, South Africa. Why is it here? While eating dinner last night, I was wearing my Wallabies rugby hat. A gentleman at the table next to us asked me if I was Australian and if I was a rugby fan. It turns out that him and his wife were from South Africa. I began talking to his wife who proclaimed Capetown to be the most beautiful place on earth. So I had to check out some pictures. Looks pretty nice.

Well. Time to get back to work.

Interesting Day In Mobile.... Senior Bowl

Very interesting day in Mobile. The Senior Bowl is being played in Mobile this Saturday, so the practices and events for the game have begun. The Senior Bowl is an all star game for the top college seniors in the nation to play in. I was in town for business and the whole city was buzzing. Pretty exciting stuff for a relatively small town. This is the biggest sporting event for the City of Mobile all year. To understand how big of an event this is, take a look at this article by Ivan Maisel on espn.com.

So after meeting with my customer, we head out to lunch at Wentzel's Oyster House in downtown Mobile. We arrived at around 11:30 to a pretty decent sized crowd, but no wait for a table. Sitting behind me was a table full of representatives from the Miami Dolphins, including ex- Michigan St. head coach Bobby Williams. I wanted to tell him that had he had better success beating OSU, maybe he would still be there. But I didn't. There were people from a bunch of different teams. By about Noon, the place was absolutely packed. Sitting with my back to the Dolphins table and the front door, my customer than says "Holy Shit. That is Jerry Jones." I quickly turn around and sure enough standing there in a Dallas Cowboys windbreaker is the owner of the Cowboys with a name tag that says "Jerry Jones. Dallas Cowboys" Pretty damn cool.

So on the way back to the airport, I went by the stadium and caught some of the South team practice. Players from Georgia, Texas, Auburn, Alabama, Tennessee, Miami and Florida all over the place being led by the San Francisco 49ers coaching staff. Littered all around the stands are coaches, executives and agents, including super agent Drew Rosenhaus (Terrell Owens) agent. Pretty interesting stuff if you are a football fan. Which I certainly am. I even told my customer that if AJ Hawk was on the north team, I would have cancelled our meeting. He laughed, but as big of an Auburn fan as he is, he respected that.

It's Gotta Be The Shoes

Here is a funny little story about a refereeing experience that happened a couple of years ago. On the infamous night, I was scheduled to referee the varsity high school games at Paulding County High School. It is about a 45 minute drive from my house. So, I pick up my bag and head out the door. I arrive at the gym about an hour before the scheduled tip off. I watch some of the JV game before heading in to the locker room to change. Once I open my bag, I realize there is a major problem.

I forgot my referee shoes. To make matters worse, I was wearing casual shoes, so there is no way to referee two basketball games with them on. What the hell am I supposed to do? First idea is to call the house and see if Elliott is there and can possibly do me a huge favor and bring my shoes to the school. No luck as the phone is busy. Knowing there is know way to go home and get back before the game, we decide that I will drive home to get my shoes and one of the JV referees will do the girls game and I will be back for the boys game. So, I start heading back home and I see a Kmart. The light bulb goes off and I go in looking for all black athletic shoes. BINGO. They have some at the low price of $29.99. They aren't the most comfortable shoes, but for the night, they will work. I purchase them and head back to the gym. The traction on the shoes was so bad that I would have to start to stop 5 feet from the baseline and slide the rest of the way. After refereeing the two games, it is time to head home. Before doing so, I swing in to the Kmart to return the shoes.

Monday In Mobile

Today, I woke up to a rainy, crappy day in Atlanta knowing I was heading to Mobile, AL for customer meetings. First thing I hear on the radio was "90 Minute Delays Already at Hartsfield" Damn, did this give me the feeling of wanting to stay in bed. Unsure of the flight situation, I checked and the flight was on time. A prolonged delay would have had me miss the meeting. So, I headed down to the Airport. Things went smoothly on the flight. After arriving, I headed down to the Hertz desk to pick up my previously reserved car. NO CARS. That's right, Hertz didn't have any cars. So, I had to get on a wait list to get a car as they were returned. Not having an ample amount of free time before our meetings, I headed to all of the other car companies rental desk. 2 cars left in the whole airport. Budget had a Hyundai Sonata and Avis had a Mercedes. Let's just say I should have taken the Mercedes. The Sonata smelled like 5 people had been stuck in there with the windows and doors closed for 24 hours and chain smoked.

The meetings went well and the day was pretty smooth. I than arrived at the Hotel in Fairhope (about 30 minutes outside Mobile.) Tough to get a hotel room in the Mobile area with all of the workers from the Hurricane here. Not to mention, this is Senior Bowl week in Mobile, with all kinds of college football players, agents, and NFL scouts present. It is a big deal in Mobile. Might go to one of the practices tomorrow with one of my customers. I than go to get some good seafood. Down by the gulf coast, seafood is a must. OK. Now for the funny story of a day you probably could care less about. I head over to Burke's Outlet after dinner in need of t-shirts. I bring my 3 pack of t-shirts to the counter to check out and the lady looks at me with a straight face and says "Are you over 50?" I look back at her and say "Are you kidding me?" Bewildered, I ask her why she asked me that and she informs me that there is a 15% off discount for being over 50 today. So I say "Sure, I am over 50." and sure enough she rings me up with the 15% discount. That has to be a first.

Funny Refereeing Story

Yesterday, I refereed a Lassiter- Sprayberry high school basketball game. Nothing funny happened in that game. Just a blowout with a bunch of fouls. However, working with Tim Germaine reminds me of a very funny story of something that happened in a game we had together a couple of years ago. Of course, we talked about it yesterday and laughed about it for a few minutes. Tim is one of the best referees in our association. He has done high level college basketball and even women's professional basketball.

Now for the story. On the night, Tim and I were assigned to a game at Yeshiva High School. Not the greatest of talent, but we can only work with what we are dealt. The game progresses pretty smoothly from our standpoint with Yeshiva holding a sizable lead as time is winding down in the fourth quarter. The subs are in the game, including a kid who was probably 5' 2" and weighing no more than 100 pounds. Literally. As we are under 10 seconds, the kid has what he thinks is a breakaway layup. His eyes are probably the size of the basketball as he probably doesn't score many points. Another kid on the other team has other ideas and he starts busting his butt towards the kid on the breakaway. As the Yeshiva player goes up for the layup, the kid from behind goes up and just blocks it massively. Completely clean. Ball goes flying out of bounds. As the Yeshiva player lands on the ground, the kid who just blocked the shot also lands and than bumps into the Yeshiva player. Being that the kid is 100 pounds soaking wet and wearing boots, he goes crashing to the floor. While this all happens, the buzzer sounds signifying the end of the game. We begin to exit the court and I see out of the corner of my eye the security guard chasing Tim to yell and scream at him. The security guard? He is supposed to be there to protect us from potentially crazy fans. He is reading Tim the riot act.

Having the security guard chase your refereeing partner out of the gym makes for a classic memory.

Stock Market and Ridiculous Referee Story

I have come to the conclusion that watching the stock market is enough to make any man or woman insane. Just as you think, things are going well. BOOM. A big drop in the market. That is what can be said for yesterday. Just recently, the Dow Jones had crossed 11000 and optimism was all around. Yesterday, the market took a big downturn and the Dow Jones average dropped over 200 points for a loss of about 2%. Maddening.

Now for the referee story, this is absolutely ridiculous and it is true. Two guys show up to referee a JV game. One of the guys forgets to bring a whistle. So, what does he do? He comes up with a plan that if he has to make a call, he puts up his hand and points to his partner, who than blows the whistle. Pretty creative and pretty absurd. Do you mean to tell me his partner didn't have an extra whistle? Personally, I show up to games with a bag of whistles and always have two on the court with me at all times. You never know what may happen. Is there not a single whistle in the school that he could use? Don't coaches use them during practice? So, after refereeing the entire game this way, the girls coach questions him on a charging foul that he calls. So, how does he respond. "You don't know what you are talking about. You are a woman." WOW. This guy deserves the big balls award for our association.

J-E-T-S..... Jets Jets Jets

After an absolute miserable season and the departure of head coach Herman Edwards to coach the chiefs, the Jets have a new head man. He is Eric Mangini, former defensive coordinator of the New England Patriots. He was defensive coordinator for the Patriots for exactly 1 year. Mangini will be 35 years old in a couple of days. He has served as an understudy to Bill Belichick and Bill Parcells over the last 11 years as an assistant coach in the NFL. Two pretty good guys to learn from.

As for my opinion, I am in favor of hiring him and like the choice. I think it puts a new, fresh face on the Jets. One that is desperately needed. I would say the most difficult part will be handling the New York media. That can be difficult. It is better than hiring one of these uninspiring recycled coaches. I am sorry, but the thought of hiring the likes of Mike Tice and Jim Haslett just don't inspire me. What have those guys done to make me believe that they will turn the Jets back around? It is definitely a big gamble, but one that I think is worth it. Maybe we will have the next Parcells or Belichick and he will lead the Jets to the promised land of the Super Bowl. Only time will tell.

Idiot of the Day

This man, Ray Nagin, Mayor of New Orleans could have been nominated for idiot of the year. Granted, there were many colossal failures in the extremely sad Hurricane Katrina disaster. But, this man has failed his people, not shown to be a great leader and constantly brings negativity to the situation. The man failed to mobilize buses to help evacuate people from New Orleans despite having plans in place among other miscues. He was not alone in failing miserably.

Yesterday was a day to celebrate a great leader, Martin Luther King. A man who stood for what was right and was truly a strong figure in the midst of tough times. Ray Nagin has brought no strength and leadership in these difficult times. And he took it upon himself to get on the podium yesterday and say "It's time for us to come together. It's time for us to rebuild New Orleans _ the one that should be a chocolate New Orleans." Purely idiotic statements, but typical considering what we have seen out of him the last year.

MLK Day

Today, we honor a great american, Martin Luther King. A man who stood for what he believed in and in the face of adversity, stuck with it and fought on. In spite of threats and faced with negativity, he fought back with his mind and in a non violent manner. Our world is a better place today due to his efforts. There were many other people instrumental in fighting for civil rights, but he was a true leader. We celebrate this holiday today around the date of his birthday. He was born January 15th in Atlanta, GA. Unfortunately, his life was cut short by a maniacal killer. But, his legacy lives on for all Americans. Not just one race.

Not So Funny... Very Funny

I have been sporadically reading "Not So Funny When It Happened." It is a book my cousin Debbie gave me in Australia when I was looking for a light read to go along with the ultra serious, but good " The World is Flat." Not so funny is a collection of short stories detailing travelling mishaps. You know, the types of things that aren't so funny at the time they occur, but as you look back in time provide for great laughs in hindsight. The short stories are about 3-7 pages in length and are from numerous different writers, including a couple of my favorites Dave Barry and Bill Bryson. It's a good book to have around for an occassional glance for a quick laugh.

But, my favorite story was from Nigel Barley, an anthropologist working in Cameroon who had an unfortunate incident of lost in translation at the dentist. The first person came to see him was not the dentist and "diagnosed" the problem and followed to take a pair of pliers and yank out his two front teeth. Needless to say, he was in a lot of pain and stunned. The "dentist" than came to do the rest of the work. Moral of the story, be careful when going to a dentist in Cameroon. This story and Nigel's writing style has me interested in reading "The Innocent Anthropologist: Notes From A Mad Hut" which details his entire experience in Cameroon.

Australian for Beer???????????????

As I have told many of you, Fosters is NOT a beer that Australians drink. You can barely find it in pubs in Australia and they probably laugh at you if you order it. There are many quality choices such as my favorite Cooper's, Kevin Ready's favorite Victoria Bitter and my cousin Debbie's favorite Toohey's New. Plus, others such as XXXX and Carlton Draught aren't bad choices. I came across this on the web and thought the guy did a good job of summing it all up.

The Bottom Line Foster's is NOT "Australian for Beer". It's not true blue or fair dinkum. It's a big fat marketing lie. As a beer-loving Australian I feel qualified to provide a few pointers on what one should know about Foster's. Most consumers are familiar with Foster's advertising slogan "Australian for Beer". The Carlton and United Brewing Company, the Melbourne-based brewery who own the Foster's brand, have done an outstanding marketing job in associating Foster's with all-things Australian in the minds of foreigners. Even my wife's fifteen-year old High School students know that Foster's is "Australian for Beer". They've probably seen the ad's in Rolling Stone. Due to their successful marketing campaign, Foster's Lager is one of the best-selling beers in the world. There is another side to this situation, however.

Firstly, it must be stressed that the Foster's consumed by American drinkers is not made in Australia. It is produced in Canada, under license. So don't be fooled by the "Imported" tag on the label. Foster's in America is not true blue, not fair dinkum. It's fake. One of my colleagues flew into a rage of indignation when I pointed this out to him at the bar the other day. He felt deceived and cheated. And indeed he had been. He thought he had been drinking a genuine Australian brew. The Foster's consumed in Europe is not made in Australia either. I suspect that the only place you will find Australian-made Foster's is in Australia. Secondly, Foster's bases its marketing campaign on the notion than Foster's is the quintessential Australian beer. This too is a lie. You will be hard-pressed to find any Aussie drinking Foster's in Australia (or anywhere else for that matter). Most Aussie's drink beers produced in their home State. For example, Victorians prefer Victoria Bitter (VB) or Carlton Draught (made in Melbourne), Queenslanders prefer XXXX and Power's, while New South Welshmen swear by Toohey's. In fact, you risk a beating by ordering anything other than the choice of locals in some pubs. Australian's like to joke that Foster's is made for the Yanks who couldn't tell a good beer from horsepiss. So, now you know that Foster's isn't made in Australia and isn't the first (or second, or third) choice of Australians. So that kills several reasons for drinking it. The only reason to drink it is the taste. If you were raised on Bud Light or Coors Light you may think Foster's is quite a good beer. However, if you have more discerning taste buds and like a beer with more depth, flavor, and kick, you will be dissapointed by Foster's. In conclusion, I advise you as a patriotic Australian to steer clear of Foster's. It's a scam.

Lloyd Carr Lost a Bet

Interesting Story. Dad the Red Sox fan

My father was a huge Red Sox fan. When I say huge, I mean ABSOLUTELY FUCKING HUGE. He loved his Red Sox. He was from the Boston area and as a child dreamed of playing for the Red Sox. He actually tried out for them. At least somebody in the family had some athletic ability. Dad's idol growing up was Ted Williams. If you asked him his favorite sports teams, his order would probably go like this: 1) Red Sox 2) Red Sox 3) Red Sox 4) Not sure. For example, when I was a young child, one of the toughest things for Dad to take was when I informed him that I was going to be a Yankees fan. This was tough for him to swallow.

My dad NEVER saw the Red Sox win the World Series. To make a long story short, my sister Laura went to visit his grave last year and put the newspaper from the Red Sox winning the World Series on his tombstone. I am sure this made him proud. My only consolation for the Red Sox winning the World Series. This year, she went back and much of what she put on the tombstone was gone due to the elements. Amazingly, the Red Sox logo remained. It was where it belonged and it belonged with him. So with that, I share the pictures.

They Call This a Cat?

While perusing through the Drudge Report, for political, financial, and other information, I came across this photo and a brief story. It stated that this kitten was born in Redmond, Oregon. ALERT- If you are in Redmond, Oregon, don't drink the water. This "cat" was supposedly born with a sibling who was completely normal. In sad news, it only survived one day.

The Truth Hurts and a Call Out

The weekend is coming to a close and what a fun one it was. Lots of entertainment. The agenda stayed pretty close to form with the exception of a trip to the Majestic Diner. For those of you, who know the Majestic Diner, you can fill in the rest of the story. With imposter, wannabe, and sucka blogs popping up all over the place, this t-shirt is quite funny and true. howardkalin.blogspot.com has international appeal. It has viewers in New York, Georgia, Ohio, Illinois, New Zealand, Australia, and Iowa among them. Yes, even Iowa and yes the internet has reached Iowa. I was informed that Michelle Krogmeir's mom stayed up late at night to get her daily fix. OK. Just kidding about Iowa. Al Gore invented the internet there.

So now for the call out. After attending the Thrashers game on free tickets I secured, it was clearly evident to me that Elliott is the beneficiary of a load of free tickets with nothing in return. All I hear about is the "Georgia- Georgia Tech Baseball game" as what he has brought to the table. And I don't find that to be valid. Those tickets were as a result of kindness from Bob and Paula Schwartz. Does this sound familiar to anyone? So, from now on, there is going to be a "Free Ticket Usage Fee" and a "Cheap Ticket Purchase Fee" charged every month. Please help me with a fair amount.

Well. I need to run and take my clothes out of the dryer and go to sleep. Have to wake up, charged up and ready to sell something. More interesting blog posts to come.

I just thought that was a funny advertisement for the Toronto Maple Leafs. So I put it on here, because it is my blog and I'll do what I want to.

And yes, that is our fine president of the United States of America holding the phone upside down.

Fire and Ice

You have to love the fire after the excitement on the ice for the Atlanta Thrashers. The Thrashers jumped ahead of the Pittsburgh Penguins 5-0, before the Penguins scored four goals in the 3rd period to climb within one before the Thrashers ended the night with an empty net goal with under a minute to play to close the game. The empty net goal was scored by Ilya Kovalchuk was his 3rd goal of the night and had fans throwing hats on the ice. On left is the picture of the Thrasher blowing fire after one of the goals scored. All in all, it was a fun event as hockey is definitely a sport to watch live. TV just doesn't do it justice and I find it difficult to watch.

My dog's reign of terror has created such a loyal following for her that this Thrasher fan took it upon himself to get a customized jersey in her honor. It could be a trend sweeping this nation, New Zealand and Australia. Hurry up and get a Boss jersey with your favorite team. They are a hot item. Probably the most popular would be the "All Blacks" jersey as that is her favorite worldwide team for obvious reasons.

The Weekend Ahead...

The first work week of 2006 is complete, so that brings us to the first weekend of the year. So, to kick off the first weekend, I am going to head to the Atlanta Thrashers game tonight. They play the Pittsburgh Penguins and 18 year old phenom, Sidney Crosby. I received an email yesterday from a friend offering me a couple free tickets, so I figured "What the hell?" I haven't seen a minute of hockey since before the strike last year. It hasn't even flashed on the TV screen. Nothing. But they are extremely entertaining to go watch live. And you can't beat it for free. Should be fun. Might head to a party after the game or might take it easy. Too many 1am and later mornings this week with all the BCS bowl games.


As for tomorrow, it is back to the basketball court for the first game I will referee this season. I am looking forward to getting back on the court and working a couple of ball games. Probably need to shake off the rust. But, I am fortunate to be working with two partners who are good referees. Two guys, Shawn Brown and Donnie Bryant, who I enjoy working with. Last time I worked with Shawn, we had the number 1 and number 3 ranked teams in the state of georgia, Wheeler vs. South Cobb. Tomorrow, we have Kell vs. Milton. I don't know much about the caliber of either team.


Tomorrow night should be fun, as we are going to go to one of my favorite places in Atlanta, Blind Willies. With a tag line of "It ain't easy bein sleazy", how can you go wrong? Blind Willies is actually a live blues bar in the heart of the Virginia Highlands. It is a small, cozy setting and relaxing place to take in some live blues music. Tomorrow, they will have a band called Delta Moon, who I am not familiar with as the band of choice but took a little listen to on iTunes. Should be good. You almost can't go wrong at Blind Willies. Every time I have been there before this, I have seen Houserocker Johnson. And he kicks ass. He is on older guy. Probably in his 60's and puts on a high energy show every time. The highlight of the show is that at the end, he plays the guitar with his teeth. But here is the catch, he plays with his teeth and it sounds good. Pretty impressive to see first hand.


And to cap off the weekend, the memo must have gotten out to call me if you have any extra tickets. Or this blog may have made me a legend. So, I am going to watch Georgia Tech take on 11th ranked Boston College in their first ACC basketball game of the season. That still sounds weird to me that Boston College is in the ACC. The game will be played in the Thriller Dome in downtown Atlanta. It is a great place to watch a basketball game as there isn't a bad seat in the house.

Bye bye Herman Edwards who is leaving the Jets to coach the Chiefs. I really liked Herman Edwards and thought he was a good coach. I don't put much blame on him for the Jets horrible season. One thing we know for sure is that now the Chiefs are going to "Play To Win The Game."

Take care for now. Hope all of you have a great weekend. One last thing, if you have extra tickets to events, please call me. You will get mad respect on howardkalin.blogspot.com, the godfather of all blogs.

Letterman vs. O' Reilly

Bill O' Reilly was on the The Late Show with David Letterman the other night and it got kind of nasty. The facial expressions on both of them said it all. Letterman normally makes his show "light" and really enjoys a good banter with his guests. Not this segment. It was one of the few times I have seen the normally arrogant O' Reilly flustered. He is normally in command during interviews and segments. It is kind of a humorous segment. Included in the trade was Letterman telling O'Reilly "60% of what you say is crap." Here is the VIDEO.

Congratuations Texas Longhorns... Well Deserved Champions

Congratulations are in order to the Texas Longhorns on winning the national championship in college football. Before the game ever started, USC was already coronated as one of the greatest teams of all time. Somebody forgot to tell Texas and Vince Young that. In what was maybe, the greatest single performance by a player in football (college or pro), Vince Young dominated and did it all in leading Texas to a thrilling come from behind victory to beat USC.

In addition to his phenomenal athletic ability, Young showed class and humility which is nice to see. He never once showed anyone up, taunted or did anything unsportsmanlike. He was extremely focused and poised and calmly put on one of the best performances we have ever seen. I was thoroughly impressed.

USC got what they deserved and from comments by Matt Leinart after the game such as "the best team didn't win." and bonehead, arrogant plays such as Reggie Bush's dumb fumbled pitch, this was a team that didn't think there was any chance they could lose. In my opinion, there is no doubt the best team won the game. There is no doubt who the best player on the field was. Texas EARNED that championship.

I already knew what Vince Young was made of. After watching him lead a comeback in the 4th quarter at the Horseshoe against OSU against a phenomenal defense at night, I didn't doubt that he could do it again. Trust me. That is not an easy task. The guy is flat out amazing and lets not forget that others contributed as well. Mack Brown is also a class act, who never has gotten the credit he deserves. Hell, he won 10 games at North Carolina. What have they done since he left? All you heard was that he can't win big games. OSU in the shoe. USC in the championship game. Let's close the book on that argument.

Personally, I would like to add that Vince Young should go pro. What more can he accomplish or prove? This guy has a great arm, is extremely accurate, and runs like Mike Vick despite the fact he is 6' 5" and 230 pounds. In my opinion, he should be the first pick in the draft. NO DOUBT. Not to mention OSU has to play at Austin next year and I don't want to see him. That is RESPECT.

Congratulations again to Texas. NATIONAL CHAMPIONS. And a class act to boot.

The Holidays Are Over

Yesterday was the sign that all good things must come to an end. It was the first full day back at work after all of the holidays and New Year. With it came the stark realization that it was back to work for the long haul. No long vacation to Australia and New Zealand. No christmas. No New Years. But with it also returns a sense of regularity and a time to work on other personal and professional goals. After the day of work, it was also time to head back to the gym. I exercised quite frequently on the trip in various ways. Much different than the workouts in the gym, but good nonetheless. This heading back to the gym is not a New Years resolution, just a continuation of what is a part of my life. Even after 1 workout, the feeling was great and reminded me why I go to the gym. I just feel better. After returning home, it seemed as if there was one party or dinner after another: birthday, mom in town, christmas eve, christmas, festivus, new years, and college bowl game day. All great fun, but they take a toll.

Come this weekend, I return to the basketball court to resume refereeing. First game is on Saturday in what will be a busy month. It will be nice to get back out there on the court and see a lot of the guys again. While the season is coming down the stretch, it is just beginning for me and will be a quick one. In Georgia, high school basketball regular season ends very early in February.

I must bring up the extremely sad story of Maurice Clarett. He went from a guy who seemingly could have had it all to nothing. After winning a national title at OSU and being one of the best RB's, he has made one bad decision after another and now finds himself accused of armed robbery. The sad reality is that he was 1) not surrounded by good people giving good advice and 2) too stupid to listen if anyone did. He is a tragic story of a complete waste

And with that, we get one last college football game tonight. The national title game between Texas and USC. Hopefully, the game will be as good as anticipated. I am really looking forward to watching the game, as I think it is going to be real close, with Texas having a legitimate chance to beat USC.

OSU 34 Notre Dame 20

OSU thoroughly dominated Notre Dame in a game that was closer than it should have been. OSU amassed 617 total yards of offense, led by Troy Smith (342 yards passing, 66 yards rushing), Ted Ginn (167 yards receiving, 73 yards rushing), Santonio Holmes (124 yards receiving) and Antonio Pittman (136 yards rushing). After Notre Dame walked down the field on their first possession for an easy touchdown, the defense clamped down and the offense took control. Long touchdowns of 56 yards and 68 yards by Ted Ginn and one of 85 yards to Santonio Holmes. The score could have been a lot worse if not for a fumble inside the Notre Dame 10 and a blocked field goal.

In the second half OSU had another field goal blocked and after a ND touchdown, they closed to within 21-13. I was not happy considering how much we had been dominating the game. After a FG by us, Notre Dame scored a TD to close within one TD with 5 minutes to go. We got the ball back and after a couple of first downs, Antonio Pittman busted a 60 yard TD run to put the nail in the coffin in a game that should have been decided way before that point. But how can you complain to much about a 14 point win.

And that wraps it up for the OSU season. A season that ends 10-2 and has to be considered successful, despite the two tough losses to Texas and Penn State. And with that, we say goodbye to some great seniors who came in as freshman and won a national title. AJ Hawk will go down as one of the great OSU players in history.

As you can see, the pope has decided to switch his alliances. Another thing comes to mind, Bill McCullough "guaranteed" 30 points from the Notre Dame offense. But he now knows what Buckeye football is about.

OSU- Notre Dame

Today is gameday. Along with a host of bowl games, I am getting excited about the big one today between Notre Dame and Ohio State. Surprisingly, this is only the fifth meeting between these two legendary teams. The first two were in 1935 and 1935, with ND winning both games. The next two were great memories for me while I was in school at OSU. We played them in a home and home series in 1995 and 1996. Eddie George rolled up 207 yards, including the memorable run to the left, on his way to the 1995 Heisman Trophy. OSU rolled to a 45-26 win in the Horseshoe. The next year OSU headed up to Notre Dame, returned the opening kickoff for a TD and never looked back in winning the game 29-16.

Today should be an entertaining game as ND comes in with a strong offense and goes against one of the best defenses in the country. AJ Hawk will be playing his final game in the Scarlet and Gray. He will be sorely missed. In an interesting sub plot, AJ Hawk's girlfriend is Notre Dame quarterback Brady Quinn's sister. AJ will be after Quinn all day. In the end, I think OSU is going to win the game. Between our stout defense and a pretty explosive offense of our own, I think that is too much for a Notre Dame team that doesn't have a defense as good as the Buckeyes. OSU 34 ND 24 

Happy New Years!!!

Happy New Years to everybody as we ushered in 2006 and said goodbye to 2005. First, some thoughts on 2005 as it was a great year. All in all, it was very positive and many good things happened. Obviously, the 4 week trip to Australia and New Zealand is at the top of the list for many reasons, but probably the biggest reason was the opportunity to spend so much quality time with my cousin Debbie. Many lifelong memories were created during this 4 weeks. I am sure you guys will get sick and tired of repeatedly hearing stories. On top of that, it was a good health year. Work has been going very well and I am fortunate to have the best friends in the world and a great sister and mother. 2005 also marked the debut of howardkalin.blogspot.com, which than spurned shameless copycats such as: elliottintheatl.blogspot.com, laurkalin.blogspot.com, and the newest kid on the block, tgrando.blogspot.com. All worthwhile daily reads.

As for 2006, we ushered it in by starting with a day on the golf course, one which was Jennifer Schwartz' first time ever playing golf. On hole 4, Todd Grandominico told Jennifer that if she outdrove him on the hole, he would buy her drinks for the rest of the year. Sure enough, Jennifer crushed a drive further than Todd and won the bet. All in all, it was bad golf, but great fun. But who am I to complain, you can't beat playing golf on December 31st. Later that evening, we headed to Sushi before going to a party for some good fun.

We begin this year without making any drastic resolutions, because they normally go by the waste side by February. So my goals are simple. I just hope to grow personally and professionally and truly enjoy the year and make the most out of it. Although, I can't say I made the most of January 1, 2006 as I haven't even left the house. But hell, isn't that what New Years day is all about? One more lazy day tomorrow to watch the college football bowl games, including a big game between OSU and Notre Dame. More on that tomorrow.

Hope everybody has a happy and healthy new year.

PS- Picture is of New Years Eve in Sydney which is hyped as the first new years in the world. Hell. They are well into January 2 by the time of this post.