Friday, October 6, 2006 Hola mis amigos. Buenos dias. My fluent Spanish is impressive, isn't it? After a one week hiatus, Around The Horn is back. Better than ever? Probably not, but it's worth a shot, right? Sports The big news in sports this week is the start of the Major League Baseball playoffs, and guess who is not participating? The Fightin' Phils. Not to toot my own horn.but toot toot my friends. It never fails. Back in 2001, Kyle Turley ripped the helmet off of a New York Jets player and flinged it across the football field. The media, the fans and players alike condemned him for his despicable actions. Six years later, the bar for lack of control and poor sportsmanship has been raised to a whole other level by Tennessee Titan defensive tackle, Albert Haynesworth. I am sure that by now everyone knows about the kicks to the head of Andre Gurode, one of which came while his helmet was off. The first thing that came to mind when I saw that event transpire was, "Wow.this could go beyond the NFL and into the hands of law enforcement." That potential was staring Haynesworth in the face in a very real way early on in the week, so what does he do? He apologizes, and then considers filing an appeal against his five game suspension. Pardon me for asking, but on what grounds can you appeal something like that? His face intercepted your foot? Everyone makes mistakes and, as a man, you have to own up and accept the repercussions. The NFL Player's Association has declined to consider Haynesworth's appeal, as they should have. Andre Gurode, meanwhile, has decided he won't press criminal charges. Albert Haynesworth should take his newfound free time and use it to count his blessings, eat some humble pie, and seek some much needed counseling. Entertainment Before I catch any heat for having this upcoming piece of information under entertainment, allow me to say that the content itself is NOT entertaining, but intriguing to say the least. I have it under entertainment because it was found in a media outlet. So, now that I've donned my flame-retardant armor, let us proceed. During my one week hiatus from Around The Horn, an article was brought to my attention that I thought may be noteworthy to the MPL public. This story make me think of that Alanis Morissette song "Ironic," where nothing of substance actually is ironic, but very, very unfortunate. Such was the life of Thomas L. Cook, who could be nicknamed "The Cat" for going through so much medical turmoil that his nine lives were almost certainly spent. The series of unfortunate events (with no homage to the book or the horrible Jim Carey flick) for this Denver native began before he even escaped the womb as his mother nearly had a miscarriage. As a small child, he was hit in the head by a teeter totter and had to have blood drained out of his skull. After returning from a ski trip, young Thomas Cook complained of pains in his stomach and was sent straight to a Children's Hospital to have an emergency splenectomy to have his hemorrhaging spleen removed. A few years later Cook was rushed to the emergency room yet again, after falling from a go-kart and requiring blood be drained from his skull to relieve pressure from his brain and brain stem. Cook was released from the hospital but was rushed back hours later when the bleeding resumed. Farther down the road when Cook was able to drive, he was in a car accident that left him with severe brain damage and in a coma for over five months. Upon awaking up from the coma, he had to relearn how to get by in every day life by rediscovering how to walk, talk and eat. After recovering, Cook was once again in a car accident at the same intersection he had his previous one, only this time he broke his back. Miraculously, Cook was once again able to teach himself how to walk. The final chapter in this sad story came as Cook, walking along a sidewalk on the afternoon of September 11, 2006 was killed by a car that jumped the curb. Wow. There truthfully is not much more that can be said. There are many people that allow themselves to get depressed over the little things in this world. I would point these people in the direction of Thomas L. Cook. The man sounds like a true warrior. If you would care to read the original article for yourself, you can find it at http://www.denverpost.com/obituaries/ci_4388024 This past week in the MPL has lead to some key members dropping, along with one particularly intriguing addition. First, good luck to Zoobie. Here's to hoping things take a turn for the better for one of the MPL's best sigmakers. Second, a fond farewell to Hatchet who joins Freaktown among the rest of the players that have jumped ship from the Playstation 2 to Xbox 360. What exactly is the appeal of the 360 version, anyway? The graphics are sexy, this is true. But the gameplay feels far too similar to the old 2K series for my liking. Ultimately, this is part of being in a Madden league. Members come and members go. As these two storied coaches leave, in comes another coach who could make things very interesting. With the addition of Mrs. Pun, the MPL now has it's first married couple coaching in the league. This could be marital bliss.one more thing Pun and the Mrs. Can relate to, talk about and compete in.or it could be marital mayhem. Unfortunately, the Patriots and the Texans don't meet this season. However, could you imagine if these two found themselves in the same division next season? Duking it out for the divisional title in the last game of the season, Blu Pun and Purple Pun (as anointed by Poolguard) compete in a back and forth game that is tied with thirty seconds left in the game. Purple Pun has the ball on her own 20...3rd and 18..drops back.and hit's the receiver on a streak DEEP down the field, in between double coverage. Now in field goal range.the kicker comes out onto the field.and the kick is GOOD! How does a man react to that? Does he swallow his pride and congratulate his wife? Does he point out the flaw in this years game concerning the deep ball? Does he smash the Playstation 2 so his better half forfeits her playoff berth? Good luck to you, brave knight. Random Thoughts As some of you may know, I finished my first crack at a screenplay last week. Now the fun begins. Indeed, acquiring the necessary licenses and sorting through all of the legal mumbo jumbo is a barrel of monkeys. We are in the process of ordering a couple hundred promotional t-shirts though, so that's exciting. There's something that annoys me to a large degree, and it probably shouldn't. You're playing a game of Madden with someone over the internet, and the quarter is reaching its end as the play selection screen comes up. The clock continues to wind down and, with two seconds left, they pick a play. Needless to say, they don't get the play off and wasted valuable seconds of my time. For a game that I'm not overly passionate about, I believe that I have issues.