Tap the bottleneck
It's close to the perfect storm over here with trying to get a program done for a banquet next week, plus working on TRASH regionals questions, a wedding next weekend in Michigan after that, plus the usual and unusual stuff at work.

And despite that, still had time to play most of Big Lots (the UTC mirror of FOGHAT). I actually got to play most of the scheduled round robin, leaving before the final round to go to work. At that point, we were undefeated had a two-game lead over the field. I guess I've been so used to the strangeness of the tournament, which would explain the ridiculous margins of victories (smallest was 100 points in the first round).

Oh yeah, I've been meaning to write that Northwestern-themed packet for the longest time, so that was just the best excuse/platform to do so. Some of the stuff seemed forced, and I suppose if you don't me (and even if you do), the theme would be very annoying. One team grumbled about that theme just before playing us (I'm not sure if they connected me with the packet) -- it was a Christian college and we played them on Round 9 (for those who know, it's too silly). But if you guys have any other comments about my packet, let's hear them ...

And besides the quiz bowl foray, I went to my first ever Monday Night Football game, and, oddly enough, my first ever Jets game. It was great to have my friend Alyson along for the game because the rest of it was pretty surreal.

Three fumbles in 20 minutes by Vinny Testaverde where all I could do is shake my head; a Jets kickoff return for a touchdown negated by penalties; Brooks Bollinger playing all of the fourth quarter; three Michael Vick interceptions -- strangest part was that the biggest exodus of fans came in the middle of the fourth quarter after the third Vick pick while the Falcons were ahead and the Jets down only two scores.

The buzz in the dome was weird. A couple of times on defense, the place was amped. But on offense in the middle of the third quarter, it was like a church (topped off with a guy in front of us wearing a choir robe done up like a Falcons jersey). And to top it all off, I saw the debut of an Atlanta anthem, which is part of a new city branding campaign. Good artists involved (Monica, T-Boz, 112, etc.) although we could barely pick them out or the lyrics. But I guess it's a tossup whether to show that on the Monday night broadcast or Tim McGraw. That means I've now seen the debut of an official team rap and an official city song. Oy.