Don't forget Abe today...

As many of you who are from Illinois probably know today is Abe Lincoln's birthday. If he were still alive he would be 199 years old today. That would be pretty old. Anyway, I have always been a pretty big fan of Abe. I did a report on him in school when I was in about 2nd grade. I still remember what I ate for lunch that day (square school pizza). I was so nervous about giving a report that I couldn't eat very much. But my love for Abe grew when about 1.5 years ago, my good friend Jerusha informed me of a giant Abe Lincoln (pictured above) near Charleston, IL. I had never heard of this monument and she wanted to visit him when she came to visit me. So, we embarked on one of the greatest journeys of our lives. It's well worth the trip to see a giant Abe. Unfortunately, neither of us had cameras at the time so the visit was not well documented. But I found a website with someone elses pictures and lo and behold the pictures are of a friend of mine who was involved in the same campus ministry as me in college. What a small world! Anyway Jerusha is coming back to visit me in a couple of weeks and we will visit Abe again with cameras in hand. Look for a future blog post on that one.

Here are a few interesting links below for this great holiday.

Abe Lincoln on Wikipedia

Abe Lincoln Presidential Library and Museum in Springfield, IL

Abe Lincoln e-Greeting Card

Roadside America - Giant Abe

Happy Groundhog Day

Phil Says Six More Weeks of Winter!

Phil's official forecast as read 2/2/08 at sunrise at Gobbler's Knob:

Here Ye! Here Ye! Here Ye!

On Gobbler's Knob on this fabolous Groundhog Day, February 2nd, 2008
Punxsutawney Phil, the Seer of Seers, Prognosticator of all Prognosticators,
Rose to the call of President Bill Cooper and greeted his handlers, Ben Hughes and John Griffiths.

After casting a weathered eye toward thousands of his faithful followers,
Phil consulted with President Cooper and directed him to the appropriate scroll, which proclaimed:

"As I look around me, a bright sky I see, and a shadow beside me.
Six more weeks of winter it will be!"

Visit www.groundhog.org for more details and pictures.

Super Bowl prediction

Alas, the Packers will not be playing in the big game. They almost got real lucky, but then the Giants finally decided to stop choking. I'll be rooting for the Giants to beat the Patriots and wipe that smirk off Tom Brady's face. However, my mind wins over my heart in this forecast....

Prediction: Patriots 31, Giants 16. 19-0 is realized. Tom Brady wins another Super Bowl MVP award. Randy Moss gets a long TD catch. Eli Manning throws 2 INTs. The '72 Dolphins weep.

Good Books

I've gone through a string of several books in the last month and a few of them have been pretty good. So, I'll give you faithful blog readers 3 recommendations.

Let Me Be a Woman by Elisabeth Elliot - I have read and enjoyed the book Passion and Purity by Elliot, so when I got this book I was excited to read it. I was not let down. Elliot does and amazing job explaining what it means to be a biblical woman. I was extremely challenged in my role as a wife. This book is for any woman in any stage of life but it really spoke to me in my current stage of being married for only 7 months.

Next by Michael Crichton - I'm a big Crichton fan and enjoyed reading this book. This novel dealt with the topic of genetic engineering, so it was pretty intriguing. Although, if you've never read Crichton before I would recommend starting with Congo, Jurassic Park or The Rising Sun (all great novels).

Princess Academy by Shannon Hale - Hale has been a recent discovery of mine. Most of her writing consists of fairy tales in the youth fiction section but they are a joy to read. I just finished Princess Academy (Newbery Honor Book) and was captivated by the story. I've read a couple other books by her this fall but this was my favorite.

Happy reading (even if you don't read these books)!

"Be as careful of the books you read, as of the company you keep, for your habits and character will be as much influenced by the former as the latter. "
~Paxton Hood

Wordplay

Matt and I recently watched an amazing movie called "Wordplay" which was recommended by my friend Jerusha and we loved it. The movie is a documentary about people who love to do The New York Times crossword puzzles so much that they enter an annual tournament (which is a very big deal). The tournament is called the American Crossword Puzzle Tournament and the winner is crowned based on accuracy and speed. The contestants have to solve 6 puzzles on Sat. of increasing difficulty and then one on Sun. before the top 3 people compete in the finals. The speed at which these people solve puzzles is amazing. Some of the "easy" puzzles were solved in 2 minutes. I don't think I could completely solve one of the puzzles period. Anyway, the movie was well done, a riot to watch, and motivates me to start solving crossword puzzles.

On another note, I have implemented 2 new webtools into my life and I want to recommend them.

1. If you are a blog reader like me, Google Reader makes checking blogs so easy. As the video on the website explains, it's like an inbox for the internet. You choose the websites you want the reader to check and it lets you know when they've been updated. (To all you nerds out there, I know I should have started using this a long time ago but hey at least I have it now.)

2. I've also started making my to-do list online. I can access it anywhere and maybe I won't forget to do things. A good tool that Matt found is called Todoist.

Championship Game Predictions

What an amazing weekend of football last weekend. From the snow bowl in Lambeau on Saturday to the two upsets on Sunday, the divisional round of the playoffs more than exceeded my expectations. I still cannot believe the Colts lost to a Chargers team that could barely field a team the 2nd half. Maybe the Colts didn't want to have to play the Patriots until next year?

On to this week's conference championships...

Patriots vs. Chargers, 2pm Sunday
Analysis: The Chargers come in banged up, the Patriots are still unbeaten. The Chargers have an aggressive defense that could affect Tom Brady and the Patriot's passing game. But the Chargers offense won't be able to stay with the Patriots. I think the Chargers will keep it close in the first half, but the Patriots will run away with this game.
Prediction: Patriots 45, Chargers 24

Packers vs. Giants, 5:30pm Sunday
Analysis: The Giants have a lot of momentum going for them after winning two consecutive road games. The problem is that the Packers have a lot of confidence right now and will be playing on the Frozen Tundra at Lambeau Field. The Giants great pass rush will likely be neutralized by the Packers' quick passing game. I don't see Eli Manning having a great game in the cold weather, and that's the only way the Giants could pull off an upset. Favre will lead the Packers back to the Super Bowl.
Prediction: Packers 24, Giants 14

Honesty note: After predicting the winners, I was struggling to pick final score predictions. So I copied off of this and this. I love technology.

On a related note, I want to inform the public of two promises I've made to my wife related to the outcome of the rest of the football season:

1. If the Packers should go to the Super Bowl, I will celebrate by taking 1 month off of sports completely (after the Super Bowl of course).
2. If the Packers should win the Super Bowl, I will celebrate by taking 6 months off of sports completely (not including Opening Day of baseball).
   

The Greatest Football Weekend Of The Year

This weekend from 3:30 - 10pm on Saturday and 12pm - 6pm on Sunday, I will be partaking in the annual celebration of the Greatest Football Weekend Of The Year. Featuring the top 4 teams in the league (all who had byes last week) versus the 4 teams who won during last weekend's wild-card round, the weekend will be full of drama, suspense, and great football. Here is my analysis and prediction for each game:

Packers vs. Seahawks, 3:30pm CT on Saturday
Analysis: The Packers and Seahawks are two similar teams. They both have above average passing games, below average running games, and solid defenses. What tips the boat for the Packers is they're at home and have the better running game.
Prediction: Packers 24, Seahawks 13

Patriots vs. Jaguars, 7:00pm CT on Saturday
Analysis: A lot of NFL analysts believe the Jaguars have the make-up to upset the Patriots. There's just one big problem: the Jaguars passing defense. The Steelers showed that they could throw the ball at will against the Jaguars last week. Hmmmm.....I wonder what Tom Brady, Randy Moss, and company will be able to do. I don't think this game will be close.
Prediction: Patriots 45, Jaguars 10

Colts vs. Chargers, 12:00pm CT on Saturday
Analysis: These seems like an easy game to pick. The Colts are solid on both sides of the ball and the Chargers will likely be missing a big playmaker, Antonio Gates. However, the Chargers got to Manning for 6 INT when they played against the Colts earlier in the year. I think they'll be able to make it a game, but come up short. Too much Joseph Addai will do the Chargers in.
Prediction: Colts 27, Chargers 24

Cowboys vs. Giants, 3:30pm CT on Saturday
Analysis: First of all, Tony Romo hearts Jessica Simpson. Secondly, the Giants played well last week but they're the same team that were barely competitive with the Cowboys in 2 regular season games. I see the Cowboys winning (Tony Romo WILL have a good game), but the Giants keep it close with Eli Manning continuing to finally resemble his older brother.
Prediction: Cowboys 31, Giants 24

I know, I know, my picks aren't dangerous. I took the favorites in each match-up. However, if there was a game where I would pick an upset, it would be the Seahawks over my Packers. The Seahawks have a team loaded with postseason and Super Bowl experience while only a third of the Packers' team has even played in the postseason. But I can't pick against my Packers. Brett Favre for President!