Change has come at last

In case you haven't checked lately, Tony Stewart has moved on to his greener pastures.
Good luck, Smoke, and welcome back to the bowtie!

p.s. the pic is a link to his new site

Gamecocks in the NFL

As of week 10. Click photo for more stats, courtesy of NFL.com

John Abraham, DE, Atlanta






Fred Bennett, CB, Houston






Cory Boyd, RB, Denver






Casper Brinkley, DE, Carolina






Sheldon Brown, CB, Philadelphia






Terry Cousin, CB, Cleveland






Kalimba Edwards, DE, Oakland






Na’Shan Goddard, OT, New York Giants






Andre Goodman, CB, Miami






Johnathan Joseph, CB, Cincinnati






Lance Laury, LB, Seattle






Jamar Nesbit, G, New Orleans






Sidney Rice, WR, Minnesota






Dunta Robinson, CB, Houston






Ko Simpson, S, Buffalo






Shaun Smith, DT, Cleveland






Travelle Wharton, OT, Carolina






Troy Williamson, WR, Jacksonville






Anthony Wright, QB, New York Giants

Ficksworld v. ESPN Part II

I am wondering if anyone out there knows why this man is still employed by HYPE:

Chris Berman has been washed up for years. No one likes his nickname schtick anymore, he doesn't offer any insight to the game of football, all he does is take up desk space (and plenty of it!) and raid the craft services table.  Sometime last year his Swami bit really started to bug me.  He makes picks for a handful of games each week.  He actually picks a score for the two teams when he picks his winner.  Then he tells you the next week how well he did the week before.  The trouble is, when he tells you he was 4 and 2, he's only looking at the winners and losers.  He ignores his score.  This season I plan to try and track his actual record according to the picks he makes.  Here are his 1st week picks:

NYG 23, WAS 16

NYJ 20, MIA 14

HOU 24, PIT 27

JAC 17, TEN 19

StL 10, PHI 27

DAL 30, CLE 28

CAR 13, SD 28

Now here are the results:

NYG 16, WAS 7

NYJ 20, MIA 14

HOU 17, PIT 38

JAC 10, TEN 17

StL 3, PHI 38

DAL 28, CLE 10

CAR 26, SD 24

Now Tubby McGee (how's that for a clever nickname?) actually got 1 right!  But he'll tell you that he was 6 and 1.  The truth is that he amazingly went 1 and 6.  That NYJ/MIA pick is eerie!

Ficksworld v. ESPN Pt I

ESPN lost me as a true believer when they let this man get away:

Dan Patrick was the greatest talent that ESPN ever had.  Ever since he left ESPN on August 17, 2007.  I have waited for him to return to my radar.  He was always great on sportscenter, especially when he was teamed with Keith Olberman.  I really enjoyed him more on his radio show.  He was free from the "keep it popping" format of SC and was able to be more of an actuall sportsfan.  He also wasn't afraid to piss off an athlete by asking him or her the questions that needed to be asked.  He's been working with CNN/SI for a while, but I haven't seen or heard from him.  I have Sirius so I can't get his show on XM 144, but maybe I will after the merger is final!  I was stoked to see him on the NBC Sunday Night Football coverage along side KO!  Long live Dan Patrick!

My New Shirt

I fell for it, I ordered a customized sweatshirt from NASCAR.com. It arrived this weekend and I will wear it proudly on race days in the fall. Now of they can add Stewart to the list of available drivers, then GET3 will buy one. But until then he will just mock mine!

The Best Skateboarder on the Planet

No...it's not Tony Hawk. Tony Hawk is the best vert skater on the planet. Rodney Mullen is the best skater on the planet. Period. See for yourself








If you ask Tony who the best skater is, he'll tell you it's Rodney. That is a boatload of respect for both of them.

Not again!!!

Please Lord, give me a few million dollars and the fame of being a professional athlete. Give me this gift and I promise I will be able to remove all anger and childish impulse from my character. Oh to have the burden of financial responsibility lifted and to be able to enjoy life. If you can't give this to me, then can you at least help Steve Smith, WR for the Carolina Panthers, realize the gift he has been given? Click the pic for story.

One plus Four Equals FIVE

14, That's Smoke's new number when he returns to Chevrolet next season. Office Depot will be the primary for 20 races and Old Spice for 16. You know, I'd like to see Stewart run a race in a Captain Morgan car! Come on GET3, let's start a petition! I would have picked 4, but now we know what car Ryan Newman will drive, right?

Official Story

Oh the humanity!!!

I was just listening to HYPE (espn) radio and Mike Tirico was interviewing Caleb Campbell. Campbell is the West Point cadet who was drafted by the Detroit Lions in the 7th round of this year's draft. When he was announced as the Lion's pick, his mom rejoiced and the sports media world said a collective Awwwww. They were sure that little Caleb would be safe from the 'evil doers'. Not so fast my friend. DOD has now decided that little Caleb has to earn the free education that he was given by living up to the terms of his contract. Tirico can't beleive what he's hearing. You could hear him harumphing after Campbell told him he was on his way to sign his Lions contract when he got the news. Campbell has no issues with the fact that he has to serve. Let's see how HYPE handles it. Let's see how long it takes for them to mention Pat Tillman. Then they can call up Tillman's mom and get her reaction. What good argument is there for allowing someone out of their obligations in order to play a game? If a cadet is really good at math, can he avoid serving his country to go be a CPA? The NFL will still be there when his time is up. If he is anywhere near as good a soldier as he is a DB, he'll still be here too. Good luck, Lt.!

A new sheriff in town

You know the web sensation about Chuck Norris: Chuck Norris counted to infinity, twice. There is no CTRL button on Chuck Norris' computer; Chuck is always in control, etc. Well, if Superman wears Chuck Norris underroos, then Chuck wears this man's:

This is Anderson Silva, quite simply the baddest man on the planet.
Silva normally fights at 185 lbs, but after demolishing everyone at that level he decided to test himself against bigger opponents. This is what he did to James Irvin last night.

F*@k You, Kyle Busch!!!

Kyle Busch, the ass clown that wrecked my favorite driver in last week's Sprint Cup race, just wrecked his car in the Nationwide Series race at Darlington, SC. He ran into the #88 car of Brad Keselowski. (yes, this car is owned by Dale Jr) The difference between last week and this week is this time it was Busch who ended up in the wall and out of the race. When interviewed, he put all the blame on Keselowski and cast himself as the victim. The circumstances of the wreck were nearly identical to the race last week, the only difference being that Busch didn't survive the contact. This guy is a huge whiner, he needs to get his Las Vegas ass kicked Carolina style. I might have to do it myself. He's a douchebag!

My Fantasy Squad: The Turd Burglars

Here is the performance of my fantasy baseball squad to date:
(you'll need to click on them to read them, sorry about my naivete)


Here is the roster:

Not A Post for Nascar Haters

After letting my initial rage and furor die down overnight and through the day, I am now ready to post my feelings about the Cup race last night. If you don't know, I am a fan of the #88 Chevrolet driven by Dale Earnhardt, Jr.

It's been 2 years since my guy has won a race in this series. In his 1st year with Hendrick Motorsports, he is well on his way to winning big. Last night didn't look like the night. The #11 of Denny Hamlin, who drives for Joe Gibbs Racing, was dominating the race. No one could even get near him. with less than 25 laps to go, Hamlin was in 1st place, with his teammate Kyle Bush (#18 Toyota) in 2nd and #88 in 3rd.

All of a sudden Hamlin slowed down. The announcers excitedly reported that Hamlin had a flat tire. Hamlin was caught by the duo of Busch and Jr, who went by him on both sides. Jr got the best of the pass and began to boogie away from everyone, leaving Busch a full second behind him. At this point Hamlin is falling back in the field, due to his tire issue. He is not goin to win the race, he is not going to finish in the top 20. His car is a danger to everyone else on the trak because at any second, his flat tire could shred and send him into a spin and wreck more cars. He should pull into the pits and get a new tire so he can salvage as good a finish as he can. Does he do this? Of course not! If he had, Jr would have won the race and I would have been happy all day long.

No, this douchebag stays on the track. Why you ask? Well, I'll tell you why. I mentioned Hamiln's teammate Busch, right? I actually like Kyle Busch, even though he drives crazy. That's actually why I like him, I guess. He really reminds me of Dale Sr. Well at this point Kyle has no shot of catching the #88. The only way he can have a chance is if there is a caution flag. Then the field will bunch back up for a restart. Hmmm, need a caution, huh? I'll bet you if a car were to shred a flat tire, that would bring out a caution! Denny, don't come in. Just drive around the track until your tire blows up. I tell you what, instead of that, just stop on the track somewhere....bingo, caution flag!!!

Now it gets sickening. After stopping on the track to get the caution, Hamlin starts driving again!!! He pulls into the pits to change his flat tire, about 1o laps after he should have! NASCAR officials penalize Hamlin 2 laps. This shows how out of it the officials are at this point. Hold Hamlin in his pits for 2 laps!?!?! Oh no, then he won't win the race!!! Wait, he couldn't win the race at that point anyway. But now his teammate is back on the rear bumper of the leader. I am sure that Hamlin was told to stay on the track by his boss, so that a caution would come out and allow Busch a chance to pass Jr. The safety of the other drivers on the track was compromised for team strategy!!



In case you need the rest of the story, after the restart, Busch spun Jr around. It was a racing thing. The spin itself wasn't controversial IMO, but the fact that Busch was allowed the chance to spin Jr out has pissed me off!!! I can take a tiny bit of solace in the fact that Clint Bowyer won the race, and Busch finished 2nd. Jr recovered to finish 15th, but he was very frustrated afterward.

here's a story about the race Link
here's an interesting take: Link

Pre Game Message

I'm taking a few moments before UNC's game against Kansas to pound out a blog entry. In about an hour I'll be a nervous wreck on the couch, only consolable by sips of Presidente beer. In the meantime I am under attack. Remember the windmill scene in Army of Darkness? Well I have a few tiny DJFicks poking at the inside of my mouth with forks and spears. That is the result of my visit to the orthodontist on Thursday. At the tender age of 36 (until the 28th) I finally decided to get braces.

I'll be wearing them until April of 2010. It feels wierd to have things attached to my teeth, and I may never eat the same again! I don't fully chew my food now, I simply try to break it down into swallowable bites.

Well, off I go to take a couple of Aleve. Go Heels!

Psycho T climbs Mount George

The Commish is soft on crime

2 weeks ago, Roger Goodell's office fined TO $7,500 for using the football as an imaginary camera. This week he fined Vince Wilfork $12,500 for deliberately using his elbow to injure JP Losman's knee on the 1st play of the Pats / Bills matchup. TO's act caused a few seconds of delay in setting up for a PAT, and entertained (or annoyed) the fans. Wilfork's act sent a starting QB to the bench, forcing a rookie to enter the game to face the mighty Patriots. I believe that it would have been more severe if Belicheat hadn't have already gotten the team in trouble with the league office. Goodell slapped Wilfork on the wrist to avoid the impression that the NFL was trying to "pile on" the poor Patriots. I call mierde del toro! Sorry, AB but your team will get no more love from me for a long time (Unless they play the Cowboys!)

Updated Fantasy score

Here's the score in my matchup.we both have a running back stll to play on MNF

clipped from football.fantasysports.yahoo.com         Points Pos Player Opp Status Projected Actual QB Marc Bulger (StL - QB) Car L, 27-13 12 9 WR Marvin Harrison (Ind - WR) NO W, 41-10 10 10 WR Chris Chambers (Mia - WR) @Was L, 16-13 5 4 WR Drew Bennett (StL - WR) Q Car L, 27-13 3 0 RB Rudi Johnson (Cin - RB) Bal Mon 7:00 pm 7 0 RB Joseph Addai (Ind - RB) NO W, 41-10 17 16 TE Heath Miller (Pit - TE) @Cle W, 34-7 3 7 K Nate Kaeding (SD - K) Chi W, 14-3 8 2 DEF Minnesota (Min - DEF) Atl W, 24-3 9 29 Total       74 77         Points Pos Player Opp Status Projected Actual QB Jon Kitna (Det - QB) @Oak W, 36-21 5 19 WR Braylon Edwards (Cle - WR) Pit L, 34-7 6 0 WR Randy Moss (NE - WR) @NYJ W, 38-14 4 19 WR Bernard Berrian (Chi - WR) @SD L, 14-3 4 4 RB Reggie Bush (NO - RB) @Ind L, 41-10 8 1 RB Willis McGahee (Bal - RB) @Cin Mon 7:00 pm 6 0 TE Antonio Gates (SD - TE) Chi W, 14-3 6 15 K David Akers (Phi - K) @GB L, 16-13 7 8 DEF Denver (Den - DEF) @Buf W, 15-14 11 5 Total       57 71

Money League matchup for week 1

In an effort to shine a light on my fantasy football prowess, I plan to post my match ups so everyone can admire my team's dominance. This is the matchup after last night's game. My team is the one on top, The Pine Street Punishers. My opponent this week is the Big Dogs.

clipped from football.fantasysports.yahoo.com         Points Pos Player Opp Status Projected Actual QB Marc Bulger (StL - QB) Car Sun 1:00 pm 12 0 WR Marvin Harrison (Ind - WR) NO W, 41-10 10 10 WR Chris Chambers (Mia - WR) @Was Sun 1:00 pm 5 0 WR Drew Bennett (StL - WR) Car Sun 1:00 pm 3 0 RB Rudi Johnson (Cin - RB) Bal Mon 7:00 pm 7 0 RB Joseph Addai (Ind - RB) NO W, 41-10 17 16 TE Heath Miller (Pit - TE) @Cle Sun 1:00 pm 3 0 K Nate Kaeding (SD - K) Chi Sun 4:15 pm 8 0 DEF Minnesota (Min - DEF) Atl Sun 1:00 pm 9 0 Total       74 26         Points Pos Player Opp Status Projected Actual QB Jon Kitna (Det - QB) @Oak Sun 4:15 pm 5 0 WR Braylon Edwards (Cle - WR) Pit Sun 1:00 pm 6 0 WR Randy Moss (NE - WR) @NYJ Sun 1:00 pm 4 0 WR Bernard Berrian (Chi - WR) @SD Sun 4:15 pm 4 0 RB Reggie Bush (NO - RB) @Ind L, 41-10 9 1 RB Willis McGahee (Bal - RB) @Cin Mon 7:00 pm 6 0 TE Antonio Gates (SD - TE) Chi Sun 4:15 pm 6 0 K David Akers (Phi - K) @GB Sun 1:00 pm 7 0 DEF Denver (Den - DEF) @Buf Sun 1:00 pm 11 0 Total       58 1