Friday, September 15, 2006 Good day fellow MPLers. To kick things off, I'd like to thank everyone for the overwhelmingly positive response to the first installment of this revamped Around The Horn. Any and all feedback, in agreement or in opposition, is tremendously appreciated. This weeks issue will be a little bit different from last weeks, so I hope you all still find some enjoyment in it! Sports Plenty has happened this week in sports, so one has difficulty in choosing which issue to address. Last week it was the WNBA, this week introduces a new approach: Why not touch briefly on various issues? For 15 years he found himself skating the ice of the NHL, for seven seasons he found himself doing so in front of avid Philadelphia fans, and now he finds himself retired. 34 year old Toronto native, Keith Primeau, suffered a concussion last October against the Canadiens and found himself effectively incapable of helping the Flyers cruise to the Stanley Cup as so many analysts had them winning prior to the start of the season. Since then there has been a tremendous amount of speculation as to whether or not he would lace up the skates ever again, but earlier this week Primeau confirmed the worst. His 15 year career comes to a sudden and abrupt end this week, as so many greats do, without a championship by his name. For more information on this story, utilize a search engine of your choosing to find "one more reason why a professional Philadelphia sports team will not win a championship." January 6, 1994 was a noteworthy day for multiple reasons. Most importantly, my sister received a copy of Super Mario All-Stars for her 9th birthday which I was more than obliged to help her out with. That was big news to a seven year old Ethan just mastering the art of conquering King Koopa. Apparently, there was also some Olympian figure skater named Nancy Kerrigan who got her knee bashed in by a crowbar wielded by a henchman hired by the ex-husband of Kerrigan's skating rival, Tonya Harding. That's what I think my sister said, but I had bigger fish to fry. Some Mighty Mouse wannabe in Super Mario Bros. 2 found it necessary to throw bombs at me in the early stages of the game. I was having none of that. Twelve years and a few months later, a similar situation has occurred at Northern Colorado University as a backup punter schemed to get himself a starting role on the Bears football team. After parking his car outside of his apartment, the team's starting punter Rafael Mendoza was stabbed in the leg by the team's backup punter, Mitch Cozad. It was his kicking leg, and Mendoza is projected to miss at least one game. It seems as though many in the sports industry and those who follow the sports industry have let out a collective chuckle, quite the opposite of the reaction that Nancy Kerrigan's limp evoked. Why? Well, they are "just" punters. The quest for respect never ends for these underappreciated football players. As a final point of interest this week in sports, how about those Philadelphia Eagles? As a rule of thumb, I have (and will) stay away from the NFL in this column as Steph already has a great column that goes far more in-depth than I would. This week, however, something was brought to my attention that bears repeating. The Philadelphia Eagles, with McNabb under center, have not lost to the New York Giants since the beginning of the 2000 season. Nothing would make me happier than if that trend continued this Sunday. Entertainment Fall is in the air, at least on the East Coast. The smell of leaves swirls in the wind, the air is brisk yet comfortable.it's a wonderful time of the year! That is my opinion. Others may view it as a time to stay inside and get reacquainted with their televisions and video games or, if all else fails, their families. To you I offer an alternative for this upcoming weekend: Make the trip to a nearby movie theater. There is a movie debuting this weekend which may very well leave you feeling satisfied having spent $15 on a ticket and concessions (even more if you opt to bring along aforementioned family). That movie is Gridiron Gang. The plot outline for Gridiron Gang reads, "Teenagers at a juvenile detention center, under the leadership of their counselor, gain self-esteem by playing football together." There are three primary reasons this movie is appealing to me. First, if the previews are any indication, it has the potential to be a genuinely enjoyable movie. Second, the counselor mentioned in the plot synopsis is none other than Dwayne Johnson, better known to professional wrestling fans around the world as The People's Champion, The Rock. I may catch some heat for saying this since supporting professional wrestling has been internationally labeled "uncool," but I once followed the WWF (errr.WWE) with tremendous passion. If there is one thing that could make me happier than watching the Eagles defeat the Giants this Sunday, it would be seeing Sean Porter (The Rock's character) give an unruly inmate a Rock Bottom, cock an eyebrow, and top it off with The People's Elbow. Finally, it's football! What more do you need? Sure, there are some other quality films coming out this weekend as well, such as The Black Dahlia and The Last Kiss, but rest assured, neither of those feature the most electrifying man in sports entertainment five years ago. I really need to dig out my old wrestling tapes. The big story in the MPL this week is the Madden Addiction (hereafter referred to as "MA") that seems to have struck a few members. Symptoms of MA may include: ::Extreme confidence in one's ability to play the game of Madden. ::Work productivity taking a back seat to the game of Madden. ::Inability to focus on the fine women around oneself at a club, because the game of Madden is on one's mind. ::Tremendous hostility and disdain for those who feel they are superior to oneself in the game of Madden. ::Ability to draw the label "Madden Robot" from Ducati. Sound like anyone we know? Rashad has stated that he plays Madden, on average, 2-3 times a day. Doing the math, that equates to approximately 1095 games of Madden per installment, or 45.625 days out of the year playing madden. That's a month and a half of nothing but Madden in a year's time. Wow. To his credit, Rashad is taking control of his MA, and at just the right time. Focusing in on achieving his PhD, Rashad will surely return from his five week hiatus from Madden with added incentive to win. There's no such thing as rust when it comes to the three time champion. Don't be surprised if you see Doctor Mack etched into the Season VI MPL Championship Trophy. There has been a tremendous amount of activity on the forums over the past week. Now, maybe I'm alone here, but it seems to me that a very large chunk of this activity is coming from only two members, back and forth, in thread after thread. Allow me to put on display a typical Moneyball/Plummerhater debate. *Please Note: This is NOT a dramatization* Moneyball vs. Plummerhater Moneyball: The Eagles will be in the playoffs this year. Plummerhater: No they won't. Moneyball: How can you say they won't? Plummerhater: Like this: They won't! Moneyball: *lengthy Moneyball reasons why the Eagles will make the playoffs* Plummerhater: *Plummerhater stating the exact opposite of what Moneyball said with absolutely no proof to back it up* Sully comes in out of the blue proclaiming, "Alex Smith DOES NOT suck!" Plummerhater and Moneyball ignore the 9ers fan and go about with their argument. Moneyball: That's ridiculous. I won't even dignify that with a response. Moneyball: But here's why you're wrong. That's eight posts on a typical day for Moneyball and Plummerhater, and what has been established? These are two Philadelphia teens that, it's safe to say, none of us would ever want to see go at it in real life. Do what you do, gentlemen. At least no one can claim the MPL forums are inactive. Random Thought I babysit my nephew every now and then and find that sitting him in front of a television tuned into Nickelodeon is a sure-fire way to keep him quiet. I know, I know. Television is ruining today's youth. Or maybe it's the quality of today's television programming that's ruining today's youth. Jimmy Neutron? Fairly Oddparents? Spongebob Squarepants? What is that garbage? What ever happened to the GOOD television for kids from back in my day like Ren & Stimpy, Are You Afraid of the Dark?, and Salute Your Shorts? I grew up with the Midnight Society and Awful Waffles and I turned out alright. I suppose the patriarchs of the MPL were probably thinking the same thing years ago. "Whatever happened to ALF and Mork and Mindy? I fear for the future." It's the natural progression of things.