And On this Last day of October...

To what do we owe this honor? It's the first post in nearly a month, you may say. Yep. I know. There's a lot to say. Let's go:

1. Michigan - Michigan State: to all you Ohioans who think you're UM's #1 rival, au contraire. I know that it's the 100th UM-MSU game, but nothing is bigger. ESPN wants you to think it's that final game, people around the country think it's OSU, but this is huge. My elementary school principal had 3 feet worth of maize and blue confetti poured in his office during UM-MSU week one year. I spit on him and yelled "State sucks!" out the bus window. I got in a lot of trouble for that one. But it's huge. Check out the Detroit Free Press' special section this week: A State of Rivalry

2. NHL Network: it's on. It appeared sometime very early yesterday morning, and man, is it great. "On the Fly," which has been on Versus for a while, but not in this format, is spectacular. Imagine SportsCenter covering hockey for an hour, letting the local TV announcers' calls describe the highlights, showing more than goals and the obligatory great save, and actually understanding and appreciating the history of the game. It's great. Tonight's Kings-Blue Jackets game at 10:30 Eastern will be their first true coverage of a game. It's probably just going to be the feed from Prime Ticket, but that's good enough for me! The NHL's site for NHL Network isn't up yet, but the Oct/Nov schedule is here. Call your local TV provider and get the hookup.

3. Burma: yes, the furor has died down. But it shouldn't. This situation is not going away. Sanctions are garbage. The US trades almost nothing with Burma. Southeast Asian countries who don't have a lot of economic options trade with them. Extractive industries are big there. Try to stop the trade in cut-rate minerals between Burma and Vietnam. It won't happen. I'm not saying we should invade, but if we want to show opposition to that government and their treatment of the public there, someone needs to intervene. Japan has long wanted to increase its military status on the world stage; a peacekeeping mission to Burma might be just what they need.

4. The fires: I'm going to San Diego tomorrow. I've heard you can't even smell smoke downtown. We'll see. I'm not nervous, just skeptical. This was handled so well by the local and federal authorities that it just makes it sadder that all the Katrina evacuees and the people who were left behind drew such a short straw.

Happy Halloween!

The Silver Lining

It's been a while, and a lot has happened in between. As always. If there are any regular readers out there, you know Mrs. Original's best friend has leukemia. AML. It's hardcore. She's in Lourdes right now, essentially hoping for a miracle. A lot of people don't know much about leukemia. It takes some pretty serious stuff to get people to pay attention and learn. Which is why Jason Blake's announcement is such a big deal. What does it mean for his career? We'll have to wait and see. But to have an athlete in a huge media market even attempt to continue playing through this condition will do major things for leukemia awareness in North America. Keep Jason in your prayers.

Thoughts another time about Brian Griese, the Presidential election, and other fun things.