"You don't write because you want to say something, you write because you have something to say." ~F. Scott Fitzgerald~
"An unexamined life is not worth living." ~ Socrates~
"I firmly believe that any man's finest hour, his greatest fulfillment of all he holds dear, is the moment when he has worked his heart out in a good cause and lies exhausted on the field of battle -- victorious." ~Vince Lombardi~
Monday, November 28, 2005
Wax On; Wax Off...REST IN PEACE MR. MIYAGI
Karate Kid Actor Pat Morita Dies
Friday Nov 25, 2005 10:30am EST
CREDIT: ADAM NEMSER / PHOTOLINK
Actor Pat Morita, best known for his role as Mr. Miyagi in The Karate Kid, has died at age 73.
The Oscar-nominated actor passed away on Thursday at his home in Las Vegas of natural causes, said his wife of 12 years, Evelyn, the Associated Press reports. She said in a statement that her husband, who first rose to fame with a role on the sitcom Happy Days, "dedicated his entire life to acting and comedy."
The 1984 Karate Kid role was a career-defining part for Morita and it spawned three sequels, the last of which, 1994's The Next Karate Kid, starred Hilary Swank.
In the original, as Kesuke Miyagi, the mentor to Ralph Macchio's "Daniel-san," Morita taught karate while trying to catch flies with chopsticks and offering such advice as "wax on, wax off." He got a best supporting actor Oscar nod for the role, but lost to Haing S. Ngor, who appeared in The Killing Fields.
Although Morita is best-known for that part, he was a prolific actor, appearing in Honeymoon in Vegas,Spy Hard,Even Cowgirls Get the Blues,The Center of the World and nearly 100 other roles.
Born in northern California on June 28, 1932, the son of migrant fruit pickers, Morita spent most of his early years in the hospital with spinal tuberculosis, according to the AP. He later recovered only to be sent to a Japanese-American internment camp in Arizona during World War II.
"One day I was an invalid," he recalled in a 1989 AP interview. "The next day I was public enemy No. 1 being escorted to an internment camp.
After the war, Morita's family opened a restaurant, where Morita tried his comedy on patrons. It was slow going, but at age 30 he entered show business full time.
Morita is to be buried at Palm Green Valley Mortuary and Cemetery. He is survived by his wife and three daughters from a previous marriage.
Well I knew it. Somehow I just did. When Brodie got sacked on the first play from scrimmage, I just knew. I should have turned the TV off then. For four straight years, Auburn has beaten Alabama in the Iron Bowl. That hasn’t happened since Pat Dye was the head coach for the Tigers/Eagles (1986-1989). Even though I just had that feeling at the beginning, I did hope that the team would pull it out if for nothing else, but those seniors who have never beaten Auburn and have been through so much. This group of seniors started their careers with Dennis Franchione high-tailing it out of town for Texas A&M. That was and still is to some degree a very fresh wound especially when you hear that your coach is no longer your coach from a patron in the restaurant you happen to be eating in that day. After that, they endured the coaching search that resulted in the hiring of Mike Price only to have him fired 4 months later for off the field indiscretions. If only the University President had a morals clause in his contract…but I won’t get into that. In any case, Mike Price is now the head coach at UTEP. After his firing, the athletic department rushed to find a new coach and ended up with Mike Shula who had about 100 days to get ready for the season opener. As a result, his first season wasn’t all that stellar. Last season seemed to be headed in the right direction until Brodie tore his ACL in the knee opposite the one he tore in his junior year of high school causing him to miss his entire senior high school season, so actually this year is the only senior season he’s ever played. After all that junk they went through having to play under probation for NCAA violations that occurred before they even signed their letters of intent, coaching changes, injuries, etc., this season seemed to be looking up. We were 9-0 going into the LSU game but playing without our senior center JB Closner due to an injury late it the Mississippi State game. LSU picked us apart and we lost the game in overtime 16-13. But I thought we held our heads up high and started focusing on the next game at hand. The big one. The one to make or break the season. All the seniors definitely knew how important this game was. Their last chance to beat Auburn during their career. Their bowl selection saving grace. Their chance to say we had a 10-1 regular season. But alas NO. Brodie got sacked 11 times for whatever reason. I don’t care…all I know is it shouldn’t have happened. Auburn came to play and our scout team apparently got on the bus instead of our starters. Auburn scored all their points in the 1st half to dig us a hole that we had no chance of getting out of.
But here’s the thing. I’m a bigger picture kind of girl. We beat South Carolina, Florida, and Tennessee this year. And I wouldn’t trade any one of those wins to have won on Saturday. We outscored our opponents this season 250-124 and won 82% of our games. In the third quarter alone, we outscored them 74-13. So what we didn’t beat Auburn. That doesn’t mean we never will again. So what we didn’t get to the national championship. That doesn’t mean we never will again. So what we didn’t go undefeated. That doesn’t mean we never will again. This group of guys accomplished so much on the Alabama football field despite their humble beginnings and struggles with adversity. We have a bowl game left to play. It won’t be a BCS bowl because we dropped to 14th in the rankings. But I don’t really mind settling for the Peach, Cotton, or Outback. I remember before the BCS when these used to be really good bowl games to get invited to. I’m looking forward to finding out where we go.
So in the end…I’m still smiling and singing the fight song. It’s sort of a requirement that comes with that piece of paper that cost $50,000…but it’s a requirement that I appreciate, am proud of, and love. For all those seniors on that team, I’m proud to stand up and say thanks for playing for us. The Bear would have been proud of what you accomplished. You ain’t nothin’ but winners in my book. I’m thrilled to be an alumnus with you. ROLL TIDE ROLL!!!
I listen to WASH-FM 97.1 in the mornings while I'm getting ready because it's basically just noise in the background, but their news reports are timed just right while I'm getting ready that I get my daily dose of the USA Today before I head off to my commute. This morning I turned it on and they were already playing Christmas music. WASH-FM is known for being Washington's Christmas station because they play Christmas music from late November through Christmas Day and nothing else. It's nice for those of us (like me) who love Christmas and love Christmas music...but seriously...It's November 18th...The turkey ain't even been killed yet for some Thanksgiving dinners.
I'll admit that I've been wanting to get my Christmas tree out and decorate it all week, but I've exercised some self-control and appreciation for the holiday that seems so overlooked...THANKSGIVING!!! I mean I love the Macy's Thanksgiving Day Parade, but even they can't have a parade without Santa Claus bringing up the rear. I love Santa Claus and all things Christmas (except greed and commercialism...don't like those), but the Macy's Parade comes on at 9am on Thanksgiving morning and ends at noon. Theoretically, the arrival of Santa Claus at the end of the parade is supposed to signal the beginning of the Christmas holidays...but come on...I'd be hard pressed to find anyone who has had their Thanksgiving feast by NOON.
Love Thanksgiving and Love Christmas, but a little acknowledged separation of the two would be nice.
Two Parts of Your Heritage: Tampa Bay Buccaneers Football (talk about overcoming obstacles of your birth) and The State of North Carolina
Two Things That Scare You: John Malkovich and drowning (separate or together...either way...SCARY!)
Two of Your Everyday Essentials: chocolate and email
Two Things You Are Wearing Right Now: sweater and black pants
Two of Your Favorite Bands or Musical Artists: Bon Jovi and Michael W. Smith
Two Things You Want in a Relationship: communication and laughter
Two Truths: hindsight is always 20/20 and "You see, at just the right time, when we were still powerless, Christ died for the ungodly. Very rarely will anyone die for a righteous man, though for a good man someone might possibly dare to die. But God demonstrates his own love for us in this: While we were still sinners, Christ died for us" (Romans 5:6-8)
Two Things You Hate (or rather dislike with a passion): crimes against humanity and traffic (which some might call a crime against humanity)
Two Physical Things that Appeal to You: smiles and hugs
Two(Three) of Your Favorite Hobbies: cooking/baking, sleeping, and watching TV
Two Things You Want Really Badly: A husband and children (in that order)
Two Places You Want to go on Vacation: Seattle and North Carolina Mountains
Two Things You Want to Do Before You Die: be a wife and a mother and see Peyton Manning and Shaun Alexander win super bowls (on the same team or different teams...I'm not picky)
Two Ways that you are stereotypically a Chick/Guy: I'm a hopeless romantic and I'm sensitive about certain things.
Two Things You Normally Wouldn't Admit: I can't ride a bike (it's a control thing) and I haven't been kissed since I was 16 (this one I can't explain)
Two people I would like to see take this quiz: whoever hasn't already.
This year's Sexiest Man Alive goes to Matthew McConaughey. I couldn't have chosen better myself. It's a great article about him, and he really is that consummate guy that all the men want to hang out with and all the women want to be with.
Some of my favorite quotes from the article:
Valentine's Day or any day? "For me, one of the toughest things about Valentine's Day is that it gets geared up as the day to profess your love. See, T-E-S-T – that's a bad word that doesn't go with L-O-V-E. Now, if I find a gift that goes, 'Ooh, that's her' or 'That's my woman,' I'm going to get it and I'm not going to hold onto it. I don't know how to save it. I'll give it to you on Tuesday. The tough thing is that some of my best gifts can be Tuesday in November and then come Christmas and birthday I'm going, 'I've painted myself in a corner! How am I going to get out? I can't top the last one that I gave "just because"!'"
My father always taught me . . . "Don't say 'can't' and don't lie. Always say 'Yes ma'am' and 'No sir.' My first whupping was when I told my brother Pat I hated him. My dad said, 'You never hate anything.' I haven't hated anything since."
My mother [Kay, 73] always told me . . . "If you woke up and you were in a bad mood, she'd make breakfast and say, 'You come in here when you're ready to see the rose in the vase and not the dust on the table.' "
When I look in the mirror, I see . . . "my mom and my dad. I'll see lines and say, 'Those are good smilers, man.' But most of the time, I see my best friend."
Upon hearing that you'd been selected as the Sexiest Man Alive ... "I like the 'Alive' part. Now I've made it. Wait until you see the roles I could take after this. You're going to see my gut hanging over, plus 22 [lbs]. It'll be a whole new kind of sexy!"
I thought long and hard about this one because there were so many people to choose, but I finally decided who to pick. Even though we hear all about how great he is on his wife's blog, I thought validating her claims (though unnecessary) was long overdue. The weblog of love this time goes to Carl.
Carl is quiet and unassuming. He's funny and loves to laugh. He's always willing to lend a hand without needing a lot of praise. He tirelessly works the A/V booth at church, but loves doing it. His "so what, does it really matter in the grand scheme of things" attitude towards the things of this world has taught me a lot about not creating more drama for this world that already has plenty of its own. He is a loving and supportive husband who seeks out the things that are most important to Shayna and what especially makes her happy, and he goes out of his way to make them happen. But I've seen this in him in all of his relationships with his friends. He likes people to be happy and will help out wherever he can to see that through. More importantly though, he cares so deeply about his relationship with God and wants people to know how great a relationship they can have, too. Again, though, he does it in his quiet way which kind of sneaks up on you when you're not looking. He helped lead his own wife (then girlfriend) to Christ and what a testimony they have being baptized on the same day but in different years. He gave up an easy commute to work to move to Fredericksburg and help care for his grandfather after his grandmother's death. Also, Carl is amazingly intelligent and knowledgeable about a lot of different subjects. I've gone to him more than once for advice on different situations and he's always given me a new perspective that I might not have thought of. Although I'm not a Broncos fan, I appreciate how loyal Carl is to them as I am greatly loyal to the teams that I support and love to see someone be that supportive of their own team. Sadly, he's saddled with having to look like Jeff Young, but I think Carl wears it better. :) So, here's to you, Carl...you great "big" lovable guy.
Tag...you're it...but I have a rule to add if it hasn't already been added...your weblog of love cannot go to your wife since you already do that on a weekly, if not daily, basis. :)
Sorry for the love fest on your husband, Shayna...but I think you'd agree that he deserves some recognition. :)
I'd had this feeling all week...that the LSU weekend was going to be our undoing. I have to say I'm actually more relaxed now. Before the game ended I thought I was going to pass out or worse...throw up. I'm not saying I wanted our boys to lose, but knowing that I don't have to wonder when the other shoe will drop or when we'll lose a game, if at all, is kind of a sigh of relief. I wish we could have had an undefeated season, but for those who believe in karma, you knew this was coming. Too many times we relied on the 3 point game. I'm not saying you can't win a game with field goals (we proved you can this season), but at some point you're gonna have to start doing more than that. More power to LSU. I have to say that if we don't make it to the SEC championship, I hope LSU does and I hope they win it for the SEC West.
We've got one more game left...Auburn. I'm hoping we can win that one but I'll certainly be happy with the wins we came up with this season that we weren't supposed to. It's been a banner season so far, but we're not done. We've still got, like I said, Auburn and a bowl game for sure. The SEC Championship game is still up for grabs though.
Not that I think many people read it, but just as a heads up I have deleted the TV Blog I had. I just didn't have time to update it. I'm having enough trouble with my regular blog and my picture blog. So, if I see anything that interests me about a show I watch, I'll just blog about it on this blog.
I'm finally getting to write my post about PowerHouse '05. As some of you have seen on other blogs, this event basically rocked everyone's face off. This is true...we're all walking around with no faces and singing This Is How We Overcome over and over in our heads...or at least I am.
I was sitting in the back of the auditorium on Saturday afternoon during Jeff Walling's last session as he was praying and giving the invitation. I was watching teens leave their seats and walk to the front knowing that God was the One for them and that they were ready to show Him. PowerHouse takes place on a fall Saturday every other year. Most of my fall Saturdays are spent watching Alabama football. On this day, I was at the church and at some point I thought I wonder what the score is. Then, the first person walked into the baptistry and I didn't care what the score was any more. Of course, I'll always love Alabama football and I'll always wonder what the score is if I'm not watching it, but at that very moment God said, don't concern yourself with the things of this world, we've got more important things to celebrate. I would have been happy with 1 baptism, but when you offer me, 22 I'm not gonna turn you down. I cried as I always do at every single one. It doesn't matter if it's a youth rally or right after church, I cry every time I see a new brother or sister in Christ give up their life for an everlasting One. The best part was seeing a few of the girls that were in the very first Children's Worship class I helped teach when I got here 4 years ago. That was so amazing. My heart was overflowing. Sunday morning, I looked at the babies in the nursery class I teach and thought I can't wait to see them get baptized. Something to look forward to. Until then, to the 22, welcome to the family. May God bless you and may your faith continue to grow daily. You can see pictures here.
Kudos to 1. God for BRINGING IT!!!! 2. Chris Bedard for an amazing worship session on Saturday night. God really did some amazing things through you all weekend, but especially on Saturday night. 3. Jessica Mosley for...well...everything. You beyond earned your year's salary in just one weekend. You truly demonstrated how much you care about the teens and how much you care about winning them for the Kingdom. 4. Connie Teague for keeping a smile on your face when I knew what you were thinking. :) Your organization of the event is humbling. Every bit of it's worth it when we see 1 person baptized (much less 22)! 5. Anita Vajentic (and Tom, too) for sticking with me through our 2nd PowerHouse together. We have one of the dirtiest jobs, but I wouldn't want to tackle it with anyone else. 6. The entire set-up/clean-up crew that worked tirelessly cleaning and re-stocking bathrooms, taking out trash, taking down and putting up walls, stopping overflowing toilets, etc. You make me proud to attend FXCC and I couldn't have survived the weekend without y'all.
I have been swamped at work and as such haven't had the time until today to actually write much less read blogs. Therefore, I missed the boat on the everybody write on the same title thing. Sammie tells me it's ok for me to do a belated entry, so here it is. (The wedding blog is coming...I promise).
Yes, it was worth it. I didn't know it at the time, but experiencing that much emotional pain right before my first semester finals in graduate school was definitely worth it. It brought me closer to God and taught me a few things about our relationship. In fact, now it is one of those situations that I will forever say that if I had it to do over, I'd do it exactly the same because I wouldn't trade the lessons I learned for anything.
There was this boy in college that I got pretty close to. In fact, if you didn't know us and just saw us walking across campus, you'd probably think we were together. I actually thought it was headed that way and as a result put a lot (if not all) of myself into that friendship. This lead to what I realized later me putting him before God. That's not a good thing, folks. I had invested so much in this person that when it all came crashing down and he announced to me that he was dating one of our other friends and that they had been dating or talking about dating for quite sometime, I thought my life had ended. Considering he was someone I talked to every day and we told each other everything, it was a total shock to say the least that I knew nothing about it until he told me (or rather answered my question). The play by play kind of start with my woman's intuition kicking in and asking him a probing but circular question: Is the girl dating anyone? I figured if they were dating he'd tell me that and if they weren't he'd tell me that, too. For icing on the cake, a lot of things had happened before all of this between myself and the girl he was dating. We were definitely what you would call conflicted acquaintances. The day he told me about their relationship he and I were on our way back from the cafeteria after lunch. I was headed to work at the student services office and he was headed to class or back to the dorm. I don't recall now. I got a few choice (yet honest) responses out before we got back to my office. I hugged him. I walked into the office and one of the advisors walked in behind me and point blank asked if he was my boyfriend. I lost it...right there at the front desk. This was the week before my finals in my first semester of grad school...so like I needed this to think about.
As I walked through the fog that literally was (at the time) my worst nightmare, I made some pretty hardcore decisions that day. One was that I couldn't do anything about it now because I had to focus on my exams. Praise God, He helped me with that one because I wouldn't have gotten through it all if He hadn't helped me put it all on hold for a while. The next was that I needed to feel good about myself because this was without a doubt one of the biggest blows to my self esteem that I'd had in a REALLY long time. That actually came pretty easy. My campus ministry Christmas party was like a day after all this happened. I had to be cheery and in the holiday spirit and smile for pictures. I still have pictures from that night and you can see that there is no light in my eyes, but I've got a smile on my face. On the other hand, I felt really beautiful that night and good about myself. While I was there, one of God's angels walked up to me and told me that I looked beautiful that night (he's now married by the way). I almost fell at his feet sobbing, but I held back. To this day, he has no idea how much that meant to me.
So, I got through finals and stared my 10-12 hour drive home for the holidays right in the face. I had put my thoughts and emotions on hold because I knew I would be in a car all by myself for that length of time and would have plenty of time to ponder it all. I loaded up the car, and off we went...my car, God, and me. In the hours following my departure, I realized that I had put this guy before God and didn't have my priorities straight. As a result, I learned a pretty hefty lesson about what happens to your heart when the worldly things we care about more than God let us down. God is the total opposite of this situation and if I had kept Him first, then I might have realized earlier that this guy and I weren't going to end up together. I learned the signs to look for in the future if (God forbid) this kind of thing happened, again. It hasn't because I've kept a hard check on it.
One of my other decisions was that I had to take the guy and his new girlfriend out of my life because it was a giant opening for Satan to use against me. The feelings I had: anger, depression, disbelief, lack of self-esteem, defeat, deception etc. would all come floating back when I was around them. As they are all avenues for Satan to get you in his clutches, I had to be pretty drastic about it. I had to stay away like a child needs to stay away from a hot stove. It confused this guy and his girlfriend (who is now his wife...they got married about a year after all this). They thought that I was doing the wrong thing spiritually. Funny thing was that the guy had a philosophy on praying. He always prayed that God would take anyone out of his life that is causing him or the other person to stumble. Obviously I was stumbling, and when I talked with God about what I needed to do to get my priorities back on track, I knew that I couldn't be a part of the guy's life anymore, but he didn't seem to understand this.
In any case, it brought me closer to God as I threw myself into working for His Kingdom. I had only been a Christian for 2 1/2 years and was really still searching for my gifts. I can look back now and see that the way I desire to volunteer at church is a result of this situation. When I walked away from them and walked towards God and the Christian family at the church I attended in college, I found these desires inside of me that had been hiding because I wasn't focused on the right thing. I still think about it all to this day. I still get angry or upset every now and then when I have a weak moment, but I catch myself pretty quickly and go right back to work. I haven't spoken to them pretty much since all of it happened, and I don't know that I'll ever be able to this side of Heaven (since I don't know where they are, it'd be kind of hard anyway).
I've done the forgiving that I needed to do, but I know that underneath it all the feelings I felt during it all are still there and still available to Satan, so I choose not to go there 99.99% of the time. I'm thankful and blessed that God was willing to run after me, that God was willing to take me back even though neither of us had really left each other, and that God was willing to teach me these lessons in a gentle way. Because, truly, this could have been much worse than it actually was, but definitely worth it.
Just because I think a real news story about the game should be on my blog (emphasis mine):
By John Oehser - Colts.com Colts Move to 8-0 with Victory at New England FOXBORO, Mass. – All week, they said it was just another regular-season game, no more or less important than any other.
Even with all the hype. Even with all the media.
Even with all the buildup.
The Colts played big amid the Monday Night hype, and afterward, said the same theme as before the game held true.
“Just another game,” safety Bob Sanders said as the Colts jogged from the field with their first victory in Foxboro since 1995.
The Colts (8-0), after two weeks of buildup and after two-plus seasons of frustration, played big in the most-hyped game of the first half of the regular season Monday night and beat the defending Super Bowl champion New England Patriots, 40-21, in front of 68,756 fans at Gillette Stadium.
A huge victory? One full of symbolism? A purge of the past?
Hardly.
“It was a good win for us, but as I said all week, ‘It’s just one game at the end of the first half of our season,’ ” Colts Head Coach Tony Dungy said. “We’ve got to be careful we don’t look at it as more than that. I think we’ve got some level-headed guys that will do that.
“Hopefully, we can follow this up. It was a good win for us.”
The victory left the Colts as the NFL’s only remaining unbeaten team, and extended their record for the best start in franchise history. They have won 16 of 17 regular-season games since midway through last season.
“I think we all had it in perspective that it was just another regular-season game,” Colts wide receiver Brandon Stokley said. “It wasn’t the playoffs or anything like that, and win or lose, we have to play next week. We all had it in perspective.”
It left the Colts with a three-game lead over the Jacksonville Jaguars (5-3) in the AFC South with eight games remaining, and snapped a slew of well-publicized streaks.
The Colts, who hadn’t won in Foxboro since 1995, were 0-6 versus Patriots quarterback Tom Brady. They had lost to New England four times in the last two seasons, once in each regular season and once in each of the past two postseasons.
Three of those Patriots victories came at Gillette Stadium, and Colts quarterback Peyton Manning was 0-7 in his career in Foxboro.
The Colts, who will play host to the Houston Texans (1-7) at the RCA Dome Sunday, are 5-0 on the road this season.
“It’s just good to come up here and get a win,” Dungy said. “We’ve got five wins on the road. It’s really no more than that. It’s a game in the middle of the year that we wanted to win, and we got the win.
“It just sets us up for next week.”
Manning, the NFL’s Most Valuable Player the past two seasons, completed 28 of 37 passes for 321 yards and three touchdowns with one interception for a 117.1 passer rating.
The Colts scored touchdowns on four of their first five possessions, and after a 30-yard touchdown pass from Manning to wide receiver Marvin Harrison with 5:53 remaining clinched the victory, they had scored on seven of eight possessions.
Harrison, who had nine receptions for 128 yards, caught two touchdown passes. The first gave the Colts an early 7-0 lead and although the Patriots tied the game 7-7,they never led.
“I think it shows us that when we play our game and we don’t turn the ball over, we’re tough to stop offensively,” Dungy said.
The Patriots’ offense, ranked fifth in the NFL entering the game, kept the score close late, but through three quarters, the Colts were dominant, having:
• Out-gained the Patriots, 357-201.
• Out-rushed them, 99-27.
• Out-passed them, 258-174.
• Twenty-three first downs to 11 for the Patriots.
• A 27:08-17:52 time-of-possession advantage.
Wide receiver Reggie Wayne had nine receptions for 124 yards and a touchdown, and running back Edgerrin James rushed for more than 100 yards for a fourth consecutive game, finishing with 104 yards and a touchdown on 34 carries.
The Colts, who took a 14-point halftime lead by scoring on three of four first-half possessions, held New England on downs to start the third quarter, then drove immediately for a 21-point lead.
Starting on their 40, the Colts drove 60 yards on 11 plays, taking a 28-7 lead when reserve running back Dominic Rhodes scored on a 4-yard touchdown run with 8:36 remaining in the third quarter.
A 31-yard screen pass from Patriots quarterback Tom Brady to tight end Daniel Graham cut the Colts’ lead 28-14, but after safety Joseph Jefferson recovered an onside kick, Colts kicker Mike Vanderjagt’s 35-yard field goal pushed the Colts’ lead to 17, 31-14.
“That was a play that kind of filled the momentum for them,” Dungy said of Jefferson’s recovery. “But I think it was more of a case of our guy making a good play.”
The Colts took an early lead, scoring on their first possession when Manning threw a 1-yard fade pass to Harrison with 12:30 remaining in the first quarter. The play capped a five-play, 54-yard drive.
A 48-yard bomb from Manning to Harrison down the middle of the field gave Indianapolis 1st-and-goal at the 9. Manning’s touchdown pass three plays later gave the Colts the quickest touchdown against the Patriots since Bill Belichick took over as head coach in 2000.
The Patriots on their ensuing possession drove 69 yards on 11 plays, with Brady’s 16-yard pass to wide receiver Deion Branch tying it 7-7 with 5:52 remaining in the first quarter.
Each team converted 4th-and-1 plays early. A 5-yard pass from Brady to wide receiver David Givens on 4th-and-1 from the Colts 21 led to Branch’s touchdown.
One series later, James rushed for 2 yards on 4th-and-1 from the Patriots 46, a conversion that led to the Colts’ second score. Twelve plays after converting fourth down, James’ 2-yard run capped a 17-play drive and gave the Colts a 14-7 lead.
The drive consumed nine minutes, two seconds.
After holding the Patriots without a first down on their next series, Patriots linebacker Mike Vrabel intercepted a pass from Manning, giving the Patriots possession at their 47.
After New England converted a 3rd-and-23, Colts safety Bob Sanders forced Dillon to fumble and Colts cornerback Jason David recovered, preserving the Colts’ lead.
The Colts turned the turnover into a 14-point halftime lead, with Manning leading the Colts on a nine-play, 73-yard drive in the final minutes of the half. With Manning completing six of seven passes for 68 yards, the Colts moved the 73 yards on 1:57, with Manning passing 10 yards to Wayne in the left corner of the end zone with 10 seconds remaining in the half for a 21-7 Indianapolis lead.
“I thought that was really big – to get the touchdown there,” Manning said. “We had the momentum going into halftime.”
And they kept it, never letting the Patriots pull closer than 13 points again and afterward, not straying from the theme they stayed with all week.
“I told our guys in the locker room, ‘Pittsburgh beat these guys last year, in the regular season and couldn’t do it in the playoffs,’’’ Dungy said. “Week 8 really doesn’t guarantee you anything. We’re three games ahead at the turn in our division. That’s what we came here to do.
“We looked at it as one game, and one thing I like about our team is we don’t really look in the past too much. We got beat 41-0 in a playoff game a few years ago and people thought the world was going to come to an end. We came out the next year and that wasn’t really on our minds.
“We’ve lost to New England, and we’ve lost some tough games up here, but we felt like we were a good team and we felt like we’d be able to show it and fortunately we did.
“I don’t think it has any ramifications for anyone other than winning one game.”
Said Sanders, “I don’t know what anyone else is saying, but to me, it was just a normal game. We still have eight games left. We played eight so far, and we’re halfway through.
“It was another game for us. We played a great opponent. They played great. We just happened to come out and play better today.”
I'm tired this morning, but not nearly as tired as I was after the Colts/Ravens game I attended and definitely not as tired as the Indianapolis Colts! I kept my mother on the phone last night until 12:15 am watching the end of the game. Final score Colts win 40-21 (in case you missed it) in Foxborough. There was about a minute or so left when the screen switched to the most fantastic Mastercard commercial I've ever seen:
Salary and bonus for this season: $25 million Off the field endorsements: $10 million Beating the Patriots in Foxborough: PRICELESS
Despite the defense practically handing the Patriots their last touchdown, the Colts whipped up on them the whole game. Say what you will: this isn't the Patriots we're used to (4-4 so far), they're injury riddled, blah, blah, blah. I could care less because nothing anyone says is going to take this spectacular moment away from me. Tom Brady is supposed to be this fantastic leader for his team, but he dug a hole for them early and couldn't buy his way out of it.
Pieces of Beauty etched in my memory: *Bill Belichick got so disgusted at Peyton and Marvin's last touchdown that he threw his red challenge flag in anger (100 times better than Spurrier throwing his visor). So in order to avoid the penalty for throwing it when he didn't mean it because he disrupted play, he had to challenge a touchdown so obvious the aliens on Mars could see it.
*Tom Brady on the bench for the last minutes of the game completely defeated and Doug Flutie (yes...Doug Flutie) running the last series. The only better ending to the game would have been Peyton getting to take a knee at the end. Oh well...maybe next time.
*Peyton Manning's 30 yard pass to Marvin Harrison in the 4th quarter (leading to Coach Belichick's "challenge") after which Peyton ran to the end zone to congratulate everyone high-fiving the Colts sideline the whole way down.
Truths of the matter:
*The Colts are now 8-0 leading in to the toughest games of their season. They still have to play the Bengals, the Steelers, and the Seahawks. If they can hang on, it will be great, but they have bigger challenges ahead before they can even think about Motown in February.
*This is still only the 3rd time in Peyton's professional career that the Colts have beaten the Patriots. So monkey or no monkey off the back...the Pats still own the series. I'm just looking for the Colts to improve their post-season record and for their loss column not to include the Patriots (at least for this year anyway).
NFL Network: Love this channel. I got to see the entire post-game press conference with Coach Dungy and Peyton. Oh and they're DVR'd if I want to watch them, again. :) They've all got pretty level heads and really know that beyond winning each week, they still haven't accomplished anything. Right on...no one needs a big head at this stage in the season. Keep that train moving.
I have officially completed my ENTIRE Eharmony profile. It took me about a full day to finish it because I kept getting interrupted. Some of the questions were really thought provoking and difficult at times, but I got through it and the personality profile I would have to say is pretty much spot on. Very interesting. However, I have no matches, yet. Yes, I know it's been all of 20 minutes since I finished. We'll see what happens!
P.S. If I make it through today without tossing my cookies about Monday Night Football, it will be a personal victory in my humble opinion. On another note, Alabama is #3 in the BCS and USA Today polls and #4 in the AP poll despite not having scored one single offensive touchdown the entire game. My thoughts and prayers go out to senior center JB Closner who broke his leg Saturday.
P.P.S. I promise the recap of the wedding weekend is coming. It's about halfway written...and it's LONG!
Last Sunday was so relaxing. It took me a while to figure out why I felt so calm and collected and then I realized...the Colts were on the bye week. I didn't have to concern myself with whether or not they would win. Oh it was nice. Why can't every week be a bye week. Oh yeah...we'd never get anywhere. In any case...it's finally here. The weekend I dread the most during the NFL season...Monday night 9pm ET the other shoe may very well finally hit the ground as the Colts take on the Patriots in Foxborough. Peyton (just as in college against Florida) cannot beat the Patriots in Foxborough. He's beaten them but not since Drew Bledsoe was the Pats QB. There is no other game on the Colts schedule that I dread more than this one. This game is 90% psychological and Peyton hasn't been able to get past it, yet. I adore that boy and know he has far more potential than he's already displayed on the field, but this game is that perpetual monkey on the back. The Patriots are beatable (as we've seen 3 times this season already)...the Colts just need to figure out the key. So my wonderful, beautiful 7-0 Colts are going head-on into a firing squad. I just hope they're armed properly to defend themselves. Most of the articles I've read say the Colts can do it, but that they haven't been truly tested yet with the teams they played the first half of the season. All I do know is that my stomach has turned over so many times that it's twisted beyond repair...well it might start to unkink with a win in Foxborough and seriously come completely untwisted with a championship trophy in Motown. Oh how I wish it were Tuesday already.
P.S. Alabama won their homecoming game against "football powerhouse" Utah State. I do have to say though...it's always nice to beat an Aggie. Mississippi State this weekend. I think I'm actually more nervous about this game than I have been for any other game. This very well could be our undoing and while I'd love it for Sylvester Croom, I'd hate it for us. Here comes the ulcer, again.
Will this year ever end?!?! I swear I have had a lifetime of customer service debacles in just this one year. I just don't get it. Murphy is after me and I can't seem to shake him. Someday I'll figure out the reason I've experienced so much "torture" at the hands of folks who are "monitored for quality control assurance." But, until then, here's the latest in the saga...
I moved into my new rental townhouse, and moving from a 1 bedroom apartment to a 3 level 3 bedroom townhouse brought with it the need for more furniture. As such, I moved my existing furniture into the guest room to prepare for my beautiful new bedroom furniture and mattress set. My 1st mistake was probably purchasing the bedroom set and mattress set from two different vendors. The furniture came from Value City and the mattress set was ordered from JCPenney. I'm a frugal kind of girl. If I can save a penny, I likely will. So, Value City had a great deal on the furniture and JCPenney had the best deal on mattresses for Columbus Day weekend. My friend Katherine agreed to sit at my house whenever the deliveries were made, so I asked that the deliveries be made on the same day: 10/20/05. They call you the day before and let you know what your delivery time window is, so you can be prepared. Well Value City calls and says when they'll be coming. JCPenney calls and says the same thing. Then JCPenney calls back and says that my mattress arrived from the manufacturer, but the box spring did not.
UGH! So they re-scheduled the delivery of my mattress set for the next Thursday (10/27/05). Well I was getting on a plane to go to my brother's wedding on the 26th and Katherine couldn't make it that day to sit in my house. So I had to ask my friend Jessica to go sit in my house via Ashley dropping off the key to my house at the church so Jessica could get in. I have great friends! Well then I check my messages from Florida and discover that the manufacturer again did not send the box spring and I'm re-scheduled for the next Thursday (11/3/05) when NO ONE I KNOW CAN BE AT THE HOUSE because it's Powerhouse week and everyone is pre-occupied with much more important things than my stupid mattress (YEA FOR POWERHOUSE...CAN'T WAIT!!). Well it works out that if they call about 30 minutes out, then Katherine can be at the house to let them in and then go back to what she was doing before. Great...things are falling into place. YEAH RIGHT...
The delivery people come and deliver the mattress yesterday afternoon. I'm like great...I get to sleep in MY bedroom instead of the guest room tonight. Man, Murphy has a sense of humor. I get home and take one look at my mattress and say it's the wrong one. THEY DELIVERED THE WRONG STINKING MATTRESS. I ordered the Serta Perfect Sleeper with EuroTop. What they delivered was the Serta Perfect Sleeper Firm mattress, which is ok if you like sleeping on a piece of hard wood. I personally don't as I've never been in the military nor do I have back problems. The problem is that this mattress sat in the warehouse waiting for the box spring for 3 weeks and NO ONE could figure out in that amount of time that it was the wrong mattress.
Needless to say, JCPenney is on notice and I'm waiting to hear how they're going to get themselves out of this one. Webster has yet to invent a word that describes how angry I am right now with the whole situation. And I suspect by the end of it all, I will have a new FREE mattress in my house.
I'm a single young professional hoping to someday be a wife and mother. I am a college graduate who never stops learning. I love God, my family, and my friends. I love TV, movies, scrapbooking, cooking, and baking. Most of all I love anticipating what God has in store for my life because whatever it is, He and I will handle it together.
