webraw/blog :: uncooked web goodness

C:\FOUND>
Homeward bound, with Houston in the rear-view, I pointed the family filled, gas-swilling SUV towards a Flying J truck stop somewhere in the middle of the Louisiana bayous for a much needed pit-stop. While unloading the crew I noticed that we parked next to a car filled with what appeared to be Union Contract Negotiations. Images of Reuben Warshawky from Norma Rae raced through my mind and I deviously wondered what sort of havoc a broken window and a skillfully tossed match would cause amongst the Brotherhood. I didn't do this of course, but I decide that if I'm ever in charge of union contract negotiations, I'll label my boxes with something a bit more ambiguous. "Important Papers" or maybe just "The Contracts."

posted by Eric J | 3:42 PM

Blake's Blog
Blake's Blog is live.
posted by Eric J | 8:39 PM

MSN Messenger Fun
Session Start (MSN - Eric J:messenger@microsoft.com): Thu Aug 28 14:55:49 2003
[14:55] .NET Messenger Service Staff: You are running a version of messenger that requires an immediate security update. Please visit http://messenger.msn.com/Help/Upgrades.aspx to complete the update.
[14:56] Eric J: no thanks
[14:57] Eric J: by the way... you can kiss my ass you Windows Monkey Boys
[14:57] *** One or more messages may have been undeliverable. Try closing and reopening this window.
posted by Eric J | 3:06 PM

Let me tell you some things
Since I began blogging I've found numerous lists of tips on how to create a great blog. I have a standing link to one such list and have developed my own on occasion. However, there is one item that I don't recall ever seeing on any list that I think could easily find its way on every list. That item is competition. There is nothing like good, old fashioned competition to keep you at your blogging best. Hell, your competitor doesn't even need to know you're competing. All you need is another blogger or two to match blogging wits with on a regular basis and compare some statistic like site visitors, user comments or Technorati links.

I've engaged in a bit of blog competition myself (though not with this blog) and can proclaim that it's not only made me a better blogger but it's a hell of a lot of fun. And that's really what blogging's all about in my book. Having fun. For those that frown on this suggestion I have one thing to say, "Lighten up."

And speaking of lighten up, I'm currently out on my front porch smoking a Cuban cigar I got this weekend (how bout that segue). Nothing compares to blogging on a summer night to the music of crickets and cicada. I could do without the mosquitos though. West Nile is no fun. And looky there, a tree frog is climbing my window. Eat some skeeters tree frog. Anyway, wireless laptops are truly beautiful things.

And while on the subject of wireless laptops I visited my favorite Internet Cafe for my lunch break today. I actually went there to meet Annie Wilson. She's the third person that I've first met on the Web and then in real life (first was Kevin Barbieux and second was Curt Cloninger). I'm still in utter amazement that she lives in an old high school and kept asking questions about her rather unique abode. Memphis' own quirky, yet skilled, reporter Michael Donahue may even do a story about her "educational" living quarters.

Anyway, we mainly discussed Web stuff and Web people and blogs and all the junk that Web folks talk about. I tried to persuade her to show me some graphic techniques on the laptop but was dismayed to learn that she doesn't use PhotoShop. Annie may be the only graphic artist alive who primarily uses Paint Shop Pro.

After lunch I headed back to work for the big blog meeting. We're starting a Movable Type blog at work and I'm just excited to be the guy putting it all together. We'll see how it turns out but whatever happens it will be fun, of that I'm sure.

So, I guess I just blogged my day in a sort of scattered order. It's been a long time since I just rambled about my day but that's the kind of mood I'm in while smoking a good Cuban. And you know what, I really feel good right now. There really is little else in this world better than a fine cigar on a cool summer night.
posted by Eric J | 9:59 PM

what is the sedomas project?

Annie Wilson is embarking on a journey of sorts. August 29 she will begin Seven Experimental Days Of Madness And Solitude.

After being locked inside her home, a rural Tennessee high school (yes, she lives in a school), she will exist in total solitude for 7 days. No phones. No television. No emails. No instant messengers. No radio. No communication or interaction with the outside world whatsover.

However, each day she will log her experiences for others to read at the sedomas project site.

Will the Web-addicted Annie descend into madness? Or will she transcend her technology tethered existence and achieve some sort of higher understanding about the nature of humanity? Or, perhaps she'll just get really, really drunk for a solid 168 hours. Point your browsers to the sedomas project August 29 to find out.
posted by Eric J | 9:11 AM

Map It Buddy
We are having trouble finding a route for your locations. Please try modifying the information you entered.
posted by Eric J | 5:48 PM

A little tip
Subject lines to avoid when composing an email:
Thank you!
Wicked Screensaver

Suspected Spam

Since SoBig began our webmaster account at work has received about 10,000 messages per day.
posted by Eric J | 4:36 PM

RadioLover Lover
I love RadioLover. Been using the demo version for a few weeks and it's a really smooth application. What does it do? Well, it records streaming Web audio, tags it and converts it to MP3. If you have a Mac and like music you should check it out.
posted by Eric J | 10:45 AM

The Copyright Whiners
I'm so sick of "journalists" whining about copyright law and warning of the dire consequences ahead if the unthinking public continues to "pirate" content from the Internet. The fact is, nobody knows what will happen. Every doom and gloomer who predicts a creative drought is merely taking a wild guess based on some pretty sketchy assumptions. If we are honest, we have absolutely no idea what would happen if the "piracy" trend continues unabated. Maybe they're right but there's just as much chance that they're wrong because there's no history to back them up. In fact, history really paints a very different picture in the realm of copyrights.

Here's my modest proposal. Remove all copyright laws for one year. Beginning with Jan. 1, 2004 everything becomes public domain. For one solid year anyone can simply use whatever has been copyrighted as if it was created 200 years ago. Trademarks and patents would remain the same.

At the end of a year everything would go back to the way it was. All content created within that year that used previously copyrighted material would be exempt from litigation. Maybe it would be a huge disaster but it sure would be fun to see what happens. My guess is that it wouldn't be nearly as bad as people think. In fact, it may end up being quite the opposite. The point is that we don't know until we try. If not for Prohibition we might still be debating the legality of alcohol. Yet, we tried prohibition, didn't work and now we know. Why can't Americans be equally bold with copyright law?
posted by Eric J | 8:24 PM

T-mobile and Starbucks
About my trip to Houston (Part 2):

Before I ate my Whataburger I spent a few hours at a Starbuck's T-Mobile Hot Spot. I have one suggestion for Starbuck's (and T-Mobile I guess), post some sort of signage in the store indicating that this store is a Hot Spot.

So, after befuddling the cashier with my inquiries about "Wi-Fi" the Starbuck's staff determined that I wanted to access the T-Mobile Hot Spot and handed me a brochure from some box under the counter. This brochure offered a free day-pass with new T-Mobile accounts and so I joyfully tapped into the wireless wonders while sipping my TallCoffeeBlack.

And goodness it was a true joy to unwind from the previous day's 12 hour drive with a cup of Joe on the table, laptop in the obvious spot, ass resting in a very comfortable chair (with feet on ottoman) and fat head bobbing to some modern techno-AcidJazz. Yeah, I've been to wireless cafes before but this one just really hit the (Hot) Spot... bad pun intended. And this leads to my "put wi-fi everywhere rant." Why don't we have wi-fi everywhere... or at least almost everywhere? It's stupid that there is no Wi-Fi (for free or fee) in most places where people just hang out. Making people pay for it makes even more sense. One problem for many independent coffee shops is how to get people to buy product and not just hang out for hours and hours. There are a lot of solutions but one could be charge for Wi-Fi. If the business got $2+ an hour for Wi-Fi surfers then they're basically renting that spot in the comfy chair. The pressure to continually buy coffee or whatever is now gone. I don't feel guilting buying one cup of java and then working on stuff for 4 hours. With paid Wi-Fi I'm not a freeloader, quite the opposite.

Anyway, Wi-Fi is great but what really needs to happen is cheap, high-speed data transfer through cell phones. When my phone can enable my Blue Tooth laptop to surf at DSL speeds anywhere in the USA for under $40 a month I will know the future has arrived. Until then, I want Wi-Fi everywhere and I want it now.
posted by Eric J | 10:29 PM

Whataburger Time
About my trip to Houston (Part 1):

We drove (12 hours one way) to Houston last weekend for a wedding. It's amazing how much you can do in a day when you're visiting another city. While driving through Texas, on our way to Houston, we kept passing the orange and white striped Whataburger restaurants and vague childhood memories flooded my brain.

Fuzzy memories of eating Whataburgers under that "W" shaped tin roof with my mom and little sister. The main thing I remember is that every time we drove past the only Whataburger in Memphis my dad would yell, "WHATABURGER!!!" A few years later that Whataburger was closed and those youthful moments became vague notions of absurd happiness. Kids, go figure.

So, last weekend we're driving past all these Whataburgers and I knew that I MUST stop and eat one. Not only did I want to "relive" a part of my childhood but I love visiting regional fast food chains. I eat at Roy Rogers when I visit DC and Carl's Jr. when I go to L.A. When in Texas, eat at Whataburger.

I took some photos of my Whataburger experience and instead of waxing nostalgic about my thick, tasty Whataburger I'll just let you sample it for yourself.

posted by Eric J | 8:44 PM

The Smoking Gun... on TV!
Well everybody's favorite... uh, favorite... Smoking Gun is coming to Court TV. Actually, it already came to Court TV, yesterday, and I totally missed it. Just saw a commercial for it on TV and whether the show is any good or not I just always like seeing Web stuff get transferred to the boob tube.

I can't wait for the StrongBad Show.
posted by Eric J | 1:37 PM

I love my job today
You may or may not know that I'm slowly moving this site over to Movable Type. It's taking me a while because frankly, I don't have a lot of time. However, today I'm installing MT at work for some reporters to start their own blogs. So, I'm getting paid to learn how to modify and work with MT. How cool is that?
posted by Eric J | 2:09 PM

The Sandbox
It was one year ago today that the entire CNN Obit mess began. Well, the link was permanently posted here last year. Happy anniversary! Wonder what Peter Rentz is doing now?
posted by Eric J | 11:00 AM

Meet the Mayor
It's good to be back in town. More about my trip to Houston later. Right now I must mention a rather surreal moment I just experienced.

I was walking through the Mid-Town supermarket (buying Puppy Chow and a Lunchable) and almost ran directly into the Mayor of Memphis. I immediately recognized him and said, "Hey Mayor, how ya doin'? Good to see you" as I reached for his hand. He was in line to buy some groceries and while we briefly shook hands he said, "Hey, good to see you too." Well, I was in a hurry and didn't really have anything else to say so I rushed off saying, "see ya."

I know this is nothing special. Mayors aren't Presidents or even governors. But it was still a neat experience for me. After shaking his hand I walked away with this strange sense of pride. I have no idea why I felt the pride or what it specifically related to but at that moment I was really glad I voted for him in the last election.
posted by Eric J | 8:42 PM

Google indicateur - All about the search engine Google
Do you know about Google indicateur? If not then you should check it out.
posted by Eric J | 11:35 PM

I'm officially "cool" now (thanks Curt)
Checking site stats today and discover, much to my surprise, that lil' ole webraw.com is linked from the uber-COOL Kaliber10000 (aka K10K.net). The link is to my goofy Jakob Nielsen Experience (titled euroTour under "jakob cuts a rug"). Who knew that Jakob was such an artistic inspiration. My personal favorite is the "funk" link, which kind of puts my efforts to shame. Leave it to Curt (aka theProfessor) to dig up some great Nielsen gems.

Now, since this site has been linked from the illustrious K10K I vow to start reading it again. Curt and I talked about the "busy-ness" of the site and how he loves it but I have just grown weary of all those boxes. It's like "I get it already. You can put everything in little boxes. Great. You proved your point. Now make a Web site where I can find stuff." That's been my attitude for a while actually but Curt's position was that once you accept the "busy-ness" the utility of the site begins to sink in. And let me tell you, it really is a great site. It's the benchmark by which other sites are measured. So, I think I'll give the happy-pixel-klan another shot and get back into the K10K groove.
posted by Eric J | 11:46 PM

Google Search: vacation
Taking another short break from the blog. Be back soon.
posted by Eric J | 9:46 PM

Who Is Dave Winer?
This is just too funny to describe. Maybe I'll make a comment when I stop laughing. Here's a quote:

(Dave Winer) developed "outlining" software for the Macintosh in the 1980s and claims co-authorship of a couple of obscure web protocols, which are too boring and unimportant to mention.

Classic. Andrew Orlowski may be a rumor-mill but he sure is funny.
posted by Eric J | 1:24 PM

Sometimes I feel spoiled
We got a new Mac. Actually, the department where I work is sporting a "new" PowerMac G4 Dual 1.25GHz PowerPC with a 17 Studio Display. Well, actually it's sort of "my" Mac since it will ultimately reside at my cubicle. The point is, I will be using it a lot and while it's not a G5, it is really, really Bitchin'.

I spent a few hours today on the "Dually" playing with Final Cut Express and iDVD and let me say, those twins are fast. Multiple Gigs of video rendered in minutes instead of hours. The Gig of Ram helped keep things rolling in the background while I surfed the Web and took care of a few other items. A puddle of drool was constantly collecting on the edge of my desk. If you haven't spent some quality time with a similar set up then you don't really understand why Macs are so great.

I must mention one sour note. When the Mac first arrived we spent the following two weeks trying to figure out why Applications mysterious quit at random and we encountered multiple Kernel Panics. Turns out we had some "bad" Ram. Not sure how that happened but it's a common problem with the "Duallies" from what I've read. We also discovered that the Ram was sitting too close to the processor and so we had to move it to the empty slots furthest away from that constant heat source. That was a bad design flaw that is rumored to have been fixed in the G5.

So we got new Ram, moved it away from the processor and now everything is running smoothly. And now, I am stuck in this wonderful predicament where I can't wait to get back to work so I can play on the "Dually." Sometimes I love my job.
posted by Eric J | 7:45 PM

Bored of the Internet
Paul Hammond very clearly expresses what I've felt the past month or so. I agree with him completely.

Bored of the Internet
posted by Eric J | 8:35 PM

Thanks for reminding me
I love my Mac. I've expressed my Mac affection many times before. The most recent Microsoft "worm" attack is like a little reminder of why I love my Mac.

However, I also love my Windows 98 PC. Yeah, it's old and has a tiny hard drive (6.4 gigs) but I love it nonetheless. Why? Well, after about 3 years of working on it I finally figured out how to keep it from crashing and getting attacked by things like the aforementioned "worm." I never upgrade anything. My philosophy is, if it ain't broke, don't fix it. So far, that has been working pretty good. And, when I heard about this latest attack, I pointed my browser to the "What You Should Know About Microsoft Security Bulletin MS03-026" and simply chuckled when I learned that my OS wasn't susceptible.

Thanks Bill.
posted by Eric J | 6:12 PM

Changing formats
UPDATE: Cable is working again... for now. However, the big news is that Blogger customer support exists!!! Here's the email I received just now:

Hello,

We've fixed the problem that was causing the archive/disk full errors.
Thanks for writing in to let us know about it, and we apologize for any
inconvenience this outage may have caused.

Let us know if you need any more assistance!

-Blogger Support

That wasn't exactly my problem... or maybe it was. All is well for now.

The new format of this blog is to whine about how much Blogger sucks, complain about not having electricity at home and bitch about my cable Internet being down.

Today's line-up is a wonderful bitch about how the cable ISP (Road Runner) was working fine after the electricity got turned back on and then suddenly quit working this weekend. I hate Road Runner right now. I saw the freaking cable crews in my neighborhood yesterday but they didn't fix a damn thing.

Ok, tomorrow I may add "buggy computers" to the new format.
posted by Eric J | 11:23 AM

BANZAI!
If you're not watching Fox and playing BANZAI! right now then you suck (or have a life).
posted by Eric J | 6:43 PM

Well Said
deliberately buried : about:

"we have never thought of marketing our site in any way, and we won't do it in the future. satisfied visitors is what we need. we hope we have inspired as many people as we could through this experience that certainly inspired us to seek more."

posted by Eric J | 3:56 PM

Someone invented Permalinks
Never really thought about it but something as simple and common sense as permalinks had to be invented.
posted by Eric J | 10:59 AM

BoycottBuyMusic.com - Load This!
Is BuyMusic.com Apple's music competitor in the PC market? Interesting. BoycottBuyMusic.com

My name is Jody Whitesides...
I'm an artist that is about to be brought to the Apple iTunes Music Store. Of course I recently heard about BuyMusic so I decided to point my Mac browser at it (with Javascript turned off you can see the site). I did a search for one of my old CD's (Amalgam - Delicate Stretch of the Seems) that will be going onto iTunes and It turns out my CD was there on BuyMusic.com. As were the CD's of several other bands that I'm friends with, John M, Throwing Toasters, and more. All of whom were not contacted about being placed for sale there.

Here's what I've deduced... BuyMusic.com (which I will refer to as BM) got some of their library of 300,000 plus songs from a company called the Orchard. The Orchard is a distribution company that has not returned my CD's when asked, nor terminated the contract. So, without the express consent of me, BM has put it up for sale at the bargain price of $.79 a song"..........

posted by Eric J | 10:46 AM

All Systems Go... but for how long?
Well, my little Blogger melodrama is over -- for now. I'm able to publish once again. Hooray. Sometimes I feel a bit like Lenny Bruce reading his police arrest report to a shuffling audience when I whine about my Blogger troubles.

And yes, I admit that I am whining. What I should do is just shut the hell up, fire Blogger, make the switch to MT and be done with the whole mess. But instead I whine and make an ass of myself because
a). I'm too busy to switch (or too lazy) and
b.) I have some delusional impression that acting like a fool will expedite the solution process.

I frankly don't know what was wrong. Maybe it was something on my end. Maybe it will all break again tomorrow. Maybe Blogger is trying to screw with my mind. Who knows. However, I want to share the (insane) steps I took to get this issue solved.

1. Last night I sent a trouble alert (or whatever it's called) to help.blogger.com.
2. This morning I was still unable to publish so I sent an email to Evan Williams, just for the hell of it. I also tried posting from my PC in addition to my Mac (you never know) and got no results.
3. I started emailing everyone on Evan William's personal blogroll requesting some intervention on my behalf. I stopped when Doc Searls kindly forwarded my request to Evan. Props to Doc. He's been added to my blogroll.
4. I posted a message on the Yahoo Blogger Pro Group. If you have Blogger Pro and aren't a member of this group, sign up right now.
5. Swapped my actual blog with a home-made Post that was actually pretty nasty. I was mad and I would hope everyone who read it could see past the nastiness and simply understand my frustration.
6. Got an email from Evan saying that he published my blog without any trouble and that the problem may be on my end. I'm baffled about how it could be me but you never know. After he successfully published my blog I tried a few tests and was again unsuccessful. However, I was grateful for his response and felt better knowing that I wasn't being ignored and that a solution was imminent.
7. A few hours later, at my in-law's house, I logged in to Blogger and ran another posting test. This time I was successful. Maybe it was my problem after all?
8. Came home and ran a final test and all systems go. I didn't edit, change, modify, alter or monkey with anything. I simply hit publish and it worked.
9. I have no idea what happened, how it happened or why it's working now. Maybe it was Blogger's fault. Maybe it was my fault. Maybe it was someone in between. Who knows? All I know is that it's working now and for that I'm grateful.

>> End of Blogger Melodrama... or is it?
posted by Eric J | 10:08 PM

Blogger Bites
It's almost midnight and I want to post. However, Blogger has other plans. Thanks Big Blogger. You know best.
posted by Eric J | 11:44 PM

Journey to Broadlands
Last weekend I travelled to Broadlands, Illinois. It's not far from Champaign. My grandparents own a farm there. We had a pleasant time. Here are some photographs of our journey into Corn Country.

posted by Eric J | 11:25 PM

Disturbing Search Request
According to my server stats, I received three hits from people (or one person) searching for "Santorum is a mixture of lube and fecal matter."

Er... yeah. Whatever search engine coughed up webraw.com in response to that query must be run by drunk hamsters. Rabid, drunk hamsters.

I'll give a (really) lame prize to whomever can find the search engine that gave me that nugget in my stats. I tried Google and didn't see webraw in the results. Of course, after a couple of days THIS site will be a Google result simply because I am putting it in this post. So, be quick. "Sew, sew like the wind amigos."
posted by Eric J | 10:02 PM

Important Announcement!
I am officially announcing my candidacy for Governor of the Great State of California. I've built a reputation of getting things done and overcoming insurmountable odds, such as the fact that I have never resided in California though I visited on several occassions. I'm pleased to join a fine group of Gubernatorial contendors (don't you just love the word Gubernatorial?) and hope that over the next few weeks, my position on the issues will distinguish our campaign as the right choice for the voters of California.

I feel that my lack of experience and ignorance of California lawmaking will prove to be a wonderful asset to the citizens of the Golden State. But I know what you're wondering, what exactly will I DO once elected to office. Well, I'm glad you asked. I've been working tirelessly for the past 10 minutes to develop my campaign platform. Here it is:

To eliminate the spiralling budget deficits I will Copyright the word "California." Every time that word is used outside the state, a royalty check will be deposited into the Californian treasury. We've yet to work out the details but think of all the money. There's California Raisins, California Rolls, California Dreamin' and the list just goes on and on.

Declare California "Bean Sprout Free" and dump every last sprout into the Pacific Ocean.

I will legalize Midget Tossing as a sport. If Midget Tossing is already legal in California, I will pass a law ensuring that it remains legal forever or, as long as the world has unemployed midgets (I know, they like to be called "Little People").

Ban all celebrities from running for public office, punishable by getting a permanent spot on Hollywood Squares.

I will personally go to George Lucas's Skywalker Ranch and bitch-slap him for putting Jar-Jar Binks in the Phantom Menace.

Declare war on Oregon.

Put an end to traffic jams. I'm not sure how but I will do this. If I have to layer highways a dozen levels high I will put an end to traffic jams, so help me God.

That's my platform and I'm sticking to it... unless you don't like it. Then I guess I could change a few things. But right now I'm just excited about this opportunity and just want everyone to remember me on election day. And don't forget to vote early and vote often.

Thank you, thank you very much.

Posted by the "Elect Eric Janssen for Governor of California" campaign
posted by Eric J | 4:32 PM

The pied piper of blogging?
The print newspaper bible Editor & Publisher has published a Q&A with Ken Sands, the managing editor of online and new media at The Spokesman-Review, a newspaper in Spokane, Wash. In the article Ken discusses blogs and the future of newspapers and journalism stating "the electronic edition will eventually become the center of the newsroom universe, with print and television the orbiting planets."
posted by Lannie Byrd | 3:15 PM

I am... somebody
My name is Eric Janssen. Maybe you already knew that. I've been doing Web design and development for almost 4 years now but I've only been a truly active participant on the Web for about a year.

I'm not ashamed to admit that during the past year or so I did my share of Ego-surfing. One of the most surprising results of my Ego-surfing experiences was discovering that Eric Janssen is an extremely common name -- in Europe. Here in the USA I've only had my last name spelled correctly twice in my entire life. It's really not a complicated name but those two "s'es" and sometimes the "e" just give people holy hell. I even have my own private contest in which I will give $100 to anyone who spells my name correctly without first seeing it or having me spell it for them. Anyway, I digress.

My point: That in the good ole USA, Janssen is an odd name, but in Europe it's like Smith or Jones (at least in Germany, Finland and Sweden). So, when I first punched Eric Janssen into Google last year my name was burried deep on page 24 or something, beneath all those Europeans. Not so good for the ole ego. Incidentally, the number one result was for Eric Janssen - The Furniture & Product Designer which may indicate that we Eric Janssens are a creative bunch.

So, my point? Well, it should be obvious by now. I've moved up in the Google results for Eric Janssen. Yep, I'm sitting at number two, right behind the aforementioned Furniture Designer.

And now we must draw this narcissistic post to a close while I slink away to reap whatever bad karma I've incurred by spending 10 minutes rambling about my freaking name. I never realized exactly how shallow and self-absorbed I am until just now. See, aren't blogs great? I just saved myself $70 of therapy.
posted by Eric J | 11:55 PM

The Cat's Out of the Bag
Well, I'm letting the cat out of the bag. When I'm not doing something here at webraw.com I'm doing something here. And now you know.
posted by Eric J | 9:57 PM

You know what makes me sick?
Diseases
posted by Eric J | 2:31 AM

MNF
It's August 4th. It's Monday night. Right now I'm watching Monday Night Football. Yes, there is a heaven.

Thank God for FOOTBALL. Hell yeah.

Yeah, I know. It's the stupid Hall of Fame game but it's still freaking FOOTBALL BABY!

Thoughts about Football: While on the subject of football I will take a moment to mention a couple of my observations about this wonderful sport.

To my knowledge football is the only major sport that has regular practice during the season. All other sports either compete irregularly (golf, tennis, boxing, etc.) or they have so many games during the season that practice is squeezed in between games (baseball, basketball, etc.). I'm not sure what this means about the sport but it may explain a part of the reason football is so captivating. Soccer may have a similar schedule but I'm unfamiliar with soccer so I don't really know.

And along those lines, football has one of the most dependable schedules of any major sport. All games (with a few exceptions) are played on Saturday or Sunday. This means fans can consistently plan for the "big game." In basketball the "big game" may fall on a Tuesday or Thursday. Yuck.

Also, since the playoffs are single elimination there is a set date for the season to end. There is no mystery surrounding how long a playoff series will last or who will have the home advantage or whatever. I think some of these things work to football's advantage, though the college football BCS mess is another story altogether.

Anyway, I love football. I'm learning to love baseball but football is in my blood. There is just something magical about those crisp autumn evenings under the lights of a football game.
posted by Eric J | 7:07 PM