Manly sighting of the week...

In keeping the 'sweetness' of sweet-emotion, we will now be accepting nominations for "the manly award". This will range from brief sightings, stories, thoughts, ideas, or suggestions about how we can further each other into a more MANLY life. We want pictures, suggestions, stories, or any idea about something that should happen. To start things off, I'm giving the award to my 3 month old son. Even at this age he understands to lounge around on the couch half-naked in his underwear and just watch football. He's not a Patriots fan, but he is finely intuned with the game...give him props for starting life off on the manly side.


Please begin to email nominations from time to time to Brian or I

bsorg@gmail.com
alexwatlington@yahoo.com

We will give you the props and let everyone know who came up with what. On a sadder note, Byron Nelson died yesterday at age of 94....what a man.

Who Dat!

I'm pretty sure this guy could run for mayor and win no problem.

Last night was memorable. Whenever the Atlanta Falcons and the New Orleans Saints butt heads it is a big event. However, last night was something special. With the Saints being 2-0 coming into their first game back in the dome, the crowd was electric. I was supposed to be at the game until my ticket fell through earlier in the week. And I must say, U2 in the pre-game and the roar of the crowd after a Steve Gleason blocked punt were enough to make me wish I was standing next to one of the many Saints fans dressed in their “nothing having to do with” football gear. Only at a Saints game will you find fans dressing as a black and gold Moses, black and gold Nuns, and black and gold Indians. I would have to say surprisingly, alcohol was involved. My uncle Steve who attended the game told me "I have been to a lot of games in the superdome, national championships, Sugar Bowls, Saints games, but I have never heard the place like that. It was wild."

Something is different about the Saints this year. Oh yea, no more Aaron Brooks. The usual late game collapses,125 yards in penalties, and phantom fumbles have been next to absent. Instead, the Saints are looking like an real life professional football team. By no means am I making any predictions, but last night made me smile. Even more so, it made me laugh. The post-game show was winding up well after the game, and even above Michael Irvin’s screaming voice you could hear a steady chant in the background “Who Dat, Who Dat, Who Dat say gonna beat them Saints.” The camera panned to the crowd only to center on and inebriated fully painted Saints fan, leaning over the railing, throwing out a “hook ‘em horns” and showing no signs of slowing down in his “Who Dat Chant.” Twas a beautiful night in New Orleans. I’m confident quite a few people are calling in “sick” today for work in the Big Easy.

On a final note, I am officially more excited about Saints football than the likes of Ole Miss football. Listening to Wake Forest line up and run it down our throats was the final straw. Actually, I take that back, the final straw was realizing that Brent Shaeffer was simply Aaron Brooks II. Onward Saints.

Things we are for; what we are about

In an effort to get our 6 readers more aquainted with who we are and what "sweet emotion" is all about, we put together a blog regarding the things we stand against. I'm a little tardy in following up, but here is one more hopefully helpful opportunity to understand just what is the essence of "sweet emotion." Here are the things we encourage/are "for"/are about.

1) SEC football
2) any reference to Hoosiers
3) Manly Men - like Ted Nugent and Bruce Willis
4) Less public women sports
5) Allen Iverson
6) men who have their lives so intertwined with sports that a loss for
you team means a miserable week at work.
7) anyone who is playing against Notre Dame
8) the elimination of female sideline reporters
9)Dads who play their son up an age group so he will get some real experience.
10) Ronnie Lott – lost a pinky and kept playing in the Super Bowl.
11) Sportscenter commercials
12) the ESPN the magazine commercial “I get all my news from espen the magazine.
13) We strongly believe Rocky IV was the real reason the Cold War ended.
14) Fantasy Sports – if you aren’t good enough to play professionally you can at least live out your dreams through them.
15) People who treat video games like real life.
16) people whose enjoyment of Monday and Tuesday is based on your college teams performance on Sunday
17) Sportscasters who refuse to cover Michele Wie everytime she makes another "attempt" to make a cut. (oh wait, no one refuses).
18) We strongly applaud anyone who refused to see Titanic; especially if you abstained because you refused to contribute to it passing Star Wars as the biggest box office hit. *** give yourself a point if you watched it in the theater but with a mouth full of popcorn chuckled as Leo held on at the end.
19) guys who pass the ball to Allen Iverson
20) Brett Farve (not b/c we think he's a great QB, but
b/c he'd play even if his leg fell off)j
21) guys who "walk it off" - we've covered this before and make reference to it sporatically. If you are injured in a game but walk it off and come back---three cheers
22) John Rocker for his taunting of NY
23) Touchdown celebrations - Joe Horn's cell phone antics anyone
24) Hootie Johnson and Augusta National
25) the guy who drove out to The Masters Womans protest just to hold up the sign that said "Iron My Shirt."
26) Alex's friend who ditched mothers day because he had
tickets to the cubs/phillies series in chicago
27) Former President of Harvard University Lawrence Summers (fired for suggesting men were inherently better at some sciences).
28) steak and BBQ
29) Golden Coral (any steak buffet for that matter, where quantity is emphasized over quality
30) We strongly back the proposal of moving Valentine's day to February 29th, therefore only celebrating it once every 4 years.
31) people who refuse to watch TV (and/or) change the channel without the remote. You know the feeling, you sit there and watch "Back to the Future" on TBS for the 90th time because you can't find the remote
32) Snickering at comments like I heard yesterday regarding Michelle Wie "She had a hard time today. While men were able to use short irons on their approach shots, she was having to make up for her shorter drives with long irons."
33) If you play golf, never playing it safe.
34) Trying to get Lifetime and HGTV removed from the standard cable package

A couple of quotes to end things:
-On the one hand, we'll never experience childbirth. On the other hand, we can open all our own jars. ~Bruce Willis, on the difference between men and women

-All men are Mortal. Socrates was mortal. Therefore, all men are Socrates – Woody Allen

-Men are clinging to football on a level we aren't even aware of. For centuries, we ruled everything, and now, in the last ten minutes, there are all these incursions by women. It's our Alamo. ~Tony Kornheiser

Hope this helps a little bit and provided a few laughs for you. Thanks to all our readers and contributors.

How do we know the Bible is the Word of God?

How do we know the Bible is the Word of God? Quite simply, because the Bible tells us so. Passages such as II Timothy 3:16 tell us that All Scripture is God-breathed and useful for teaching, rebuking, correcting and training in righteousness and II Peter 1:21 which says For prophecy never had its origin in the will of man, but men spoke from God as they were carrid along by the Holy Spirit. The Bible over and over again affirms itself as the Word of God. Even Jesus himself says I tell you the truth, until heaven and earth disappear, not the smallest letter, not the least stroke of a pen, will by any means disappear from the Law until everything is accomplished. Jesus affirms that the Bible is God's actual words to us, even down to the last stroke of the pen.

Yes the Bible holds up to all kinds of truth standards, but ultimately it is self-attesting as the Word of God. Circular reasoning we ask? Well yes it is. But God necessitates circular reasoning. How do we affirm the validity of something. We go to a higher authority. For example, when I needed my shot fixed in basketball (which was plenty), I always went into the backyard with my dad (the higher authority). Dad would watch me shoot and show me what to change and then beat me in horse. However, when it comes to validating the Bible, what higher authority is there than God Himself? None.

The Bible is ultimately God's Word because it says so. Science, man, the church, nor anything else validates its authority. To look anywhere else would be like Alex asking his 3 month old baby to make sure his seminary paper was correct. Thus the Shorter Catechism states "The Word of God, which is contained in the Scriptures of the Old and New Testaments, is the only rule to direct us how we may glorify and enjoy him." We submit to the authority of the Bible and not vice versa

I hope this wasn't a roll your eyes seminary blog. Anyway, the things we are for blog should appear tomorrow.

early season and midweek reflections....

I hate to lose more than I like to win..which is an idolotrous problem. Every year before the season starts I say that I'm going to "back off a bit" or "not invest so much"--but I always do, and I always end up in the same situation...second guessing and frustrated. I have grown up a bit, I cuss less and less. I don't throw things really anymore. My dad and I are not on the phone all night after a loss. I don't feel depressed on Sunday...at least not all day. But still, my mind has raced and these are some things that have been on my mind----Agree, disagree, comment, or ignore.

- Tennessee lost 6 home games the entire decade of the 90's, they have lost 12 this decade and we are early into the '06 season. They have the potential to triple or even quadrouple that amount before decade is over.

- If the U.S. doesn't take back the Ryder Cup this weekend, then we have to seriously question the integrity of Tiger and Phil.

- Why won't Drew Bledsoe throw the freaking ball to T.O.????

- Charlie Weiss really is Fat, and his team is not physical.

- Brady Quinn will never be an All-Pro QB

- since when did Referees attain the ability to "re-nig" or "review" penalties??

- LSU got screwed, Oklahoma got screwed, Tenn-FLA refs were aweful...something has to change before they cost someone a championship.

- I love Spors Illustrated, but "Dr. Z" is w/o a doubt the worst pro-football analyzer out there. His pre-season super bowl teams are 0-4 right now.

- USC may never have to rebuild until Pete Carrol dies....

- Someone should assasinate Pete Carrol ASAP

- Miami is the worst coached talent in nation, LSU is not far behind and will follow their steps in the coming years.

- Howard Eskin of the Philadelphia media is the most insecure egotistical whiner ever, even after this weekend he is still convinced that Eli Manning is a "scared puppy" who can't win a big game.

- I love to watch the Eagles lose

- College Football Injuries suck, they can ruin a teams year.

- Michelle Wie is tampering with the integrity of golf.

- Sunday Night Football is quickly replacing Monday Night Football as the 'marquee' time slot in the NFL.

- Something just feels wrong and sad about watching Nebraska play w/o the Option.

- Aaron Brooks, Chris Simms, and Kerry Collins are not going to change just b/c they changed uniforms.

- Thankfully Allen Iverson is still in Philadelphia right now.

- Notre Dame's defense is terrible, but not as bad as Florida State's offense.

- How did Kentucky thump Ole Miss?? very dissapointing.

- Muslims are angry people

There really is more to my life than this, I had to speak at a conference last weekend and put all this on hold. It was refreshing and relaxing...if only i could do that ALL THE TIME!

Sorry Charlie

Back to the drawing board ole Charlie

The media probably doesn't know what to do with itself. Their precious "fighting Irish" were destroyed. The highlight of the weekend was watching Michigan dismantle the "unbeatable" Irish of Notre Dame. Maybe now we'll quit having to watch ESPN gameday specials on "a look into the life of Charlie Weiss." He's a good coach, but there are other great coaches in the NCAA. You don't have to remind me every second of the day what Charlie had for breakfast, or what advice he told a player that changed his life forever. This weekend was 'sweet emotion' when it came to Notre Dame

When it came to everything else this weekend....it was anything but sweet emotion. Alex tasted a tough defeat to the gators. And I was taunted for the first time in my life by a Kentucky football fan. Let me repeat, A KENTUCKY FOOTBALL FAN. Needless to say it was a low-point. It was a terrible excuse for a taunt at that (He pointed to me and asked mockingly "Are you ready, hey i said are you ready.", but then again, it was probably a Kentucky fans first opportunity to taunt...so it is understandable. The Kentucky fans taught was then followed by Miles Gresham hilariously responded by screaming "we'll see you in the Tad-Pad in the SEC basketball season opener." I am embarrassed. Don't look now, the Saints are 2-0. It is sad when you are looking to the New Orleans Saints for your joy. But behold, I am.

Thank You Chris....thank you

In case you havn't stumbled upon this article yet, I've attatched it . As absurd as it was when we began to find out that Gameday is following ABC's normally lame saturday night game, with the exception of last week it will normally be a mediocre game. The best game this weekend will be in Auburn, yes as a die-hard Vols fan I am acknowledging that the Auburn/LSU game is HUGE! We, here on sweet emotion, all know that these SEC locations are the best sites for the best games. Not always the best teams, but there are no other locations that compare in excitement. We've always thought thought on sweet emotion, but now it's nice to know Chris Fowler and his gang agree. His article even indicates that they are not all that excited about being in L.A., he wants his audience to know that they don't get to select where gameday is. He goes on to gloat about being on location at an SEC campus, and I quote

"So, who knows? I am hopeful. But just in case we don't make it there quite as often, I would truly miss broadcasting from Gainesville, Knoxville, Athens, Tuscaloosa, Auburn, Baton Rouge and Columbia. SEC campuses have consistently provided the most passionate, colorful and, uh … "spirit"-ed backdrops for the show.

Hands down. No other conference is close."


To be ESPN-ish about it...It's FACT not Fiction. ON the brighter note, we do have some amazing games this weekend, i put some picks on brians blog and now recant some of them. Feel free to blast me or agree:

Why I like LSU: Talent, Talent, Talent....I think Auburn is good, and i know they have a long home winning streak going--but I think LSU will just physically pound them....LSU 27...Auburn 14

Why I like Tennesee: I don't think people realize how BADLY Tennessee wants to win this game, of course Florida wants to win. Justin Harell wants to win so bad, he's playing his last college game with basically 1 arm.....Tennessee 34...Florida...31

Why I like USC: Does anyone think Nebraska has a chance???....USC 55...Nebraska 21

Why I think Notre Dame will win: two words: Lloyd Carr....Notre Dame 38.....Michigan....21

Georgia wins ugly but easily....Arkansas wins handily....Rebs redeem selves against Kentucky....Alabama and South Carolina both look like they've "answered the questions" against their mighty 1-AA foes.

Have a great weekend.......................If you don't watch College football for at least 3 hrs on saturday, you know nothing of "sweet emotion"

Vince is right on

Vince is on the Rebel Express

Let's go Vince Vaughn. It's good to see Vince sporting his Ole Miss gear. How he got it, or why the heck he is wearing it, I do not know. But I would much rather Vince be associated with my program than Matthew McConaughey (see every big Texas game). Vince, I know Blue is your boy, but lets hope we beat the Big Blue this weekend....no promises after last weeks awful performance though.

Secondly, I finally was able to thoroughly enjoy watching Aaron Brooks play quarterback. Why? Because he isn't with the Saints anymore. Now, I get to sit back and smile as he struggles with what exactly to do with the ball when his #1 receiver isn't covered. I get to chuckle when he, though untouched, fumbles in the red zone. And I get to let out a big belly laugh when I see the final stats from Aaron's first game with the Raiders (6-14, 68 yards and 7 sacks...that's correct, more sacks than completions.) My beloved Saints haven't made many good moves in the front office, but finally they look like geniuses. Goodbye Aaron Brooks, hello Drew Brees and Reggie Bush. If your a Raiders fan and you begin to feel a stomach ulcer mid-season, trust me, I know the feeling.

Lastly, FOX is absolutely out of control. I love the NFL, but watching it on FOX bewilders me. Since when did Robots have anything to do with football. It's as if every replay or camera switch has to have a robot come slamming into your screen. And my gosh, there is even a "ziiiiip" noise that occurs everytime their "2nd and 6" or "3rd and 4" yard marker disappears. For about 15 minutes I kept looking around my house wondering what was making the annoying Star Wars like "ziiiip" noise. Then I realized that Fox was actually making that noise DURING THE PLAY. Hey Fox, how about just showing football. Every scene change or statistic doesn't have to look like a nuclear bomb went off to generate the graphic. And please quit showing the Robot running and stretching when you talk about upcoming games and stats. It really is out of control. Brian picks Florida over Tennessee, USC handles Nebraska no problem, Auburn squeaks by LSU, and Miss. State scores there first points this week against Tulane.

Somebody get control of this guy

I am highly qualified to be a football analyst...not crazy one bit.

I'm not sure who at ESPN thought hiring Lou Holtz was a good idea. He obviously was never required to go through the interview process, nor required to do any "mock" runs to make sure he could handle the duties. I guess he was just given a free "we love you, your the greatest" pass like everything else the media associates with Notre Dame. I don't work in showbusiness (however, I am a proud owner of a marketing degree from Ole Miss), but I'm pretty sure being able to form complete sentences which make some logical sense would be at least one requirement. One of my friends contacted me just to describe how unbelievable it was to hear Lou attempt to say "Annika Sorenstom shot a 71 this morning." He was stumbling through the sentence and slurring his "S's" like he had just downed his 22nd shot of hard liquor.

Who knows, maybe Lou Holtz made a deal with ESPN back in the day. "If you hype up Notre Dame football every year, I'll come do football analysis for free after I retire." If so, I bet ESPN is now saying, thanks but no thanks Lou. But then again, this is the same network that continues to encourage Stuart Scott and all his annoying "hip" slogans. Here's to Lou and hopefully many more laughs this year. I can only hope Lou Holtz will be forced to talk about Benjarvis Green-Ellis of the Ole Miss Rebels. All those "S's" will be fun.

My favorite Lou Holtz moment was thanks to the Tennessee Volunteers. Just watch how fast he moves after a Vol fan snatches his hat.

weekend picks

Another pretty good weekend in college football. From week to week, Brian and I will pick major games and then all the SEC games.

September 9:

Ohio State 24 Texas 14 - too much Tedd Ginn and Troy Smith, they badly want to revenge last year

Notre Dame 21 Penn State 17 - I hate to say this, just think it will happen...Brady Quinn will throw 1 TD and be placed at top of heisman watch

Georgia 23 South Carolina 17 - Another close game, another win for Dawgs

Auburn 41 Miss. State 3 - another thriller from JP sports!!

Ole Miss 31 Missouri 20 - Rebs keep rollin'

Alabama 27 Vanderbilt 10 - this will be too boring to even read the recap

Florida 45 UCF 10

Tennessee 38 Air Force 14

LSU 37 Arizona 7

Arkansas 17 Utah State 14

Texas State 16 Kentucky 10


call me....i'll have the remote in one hand and phone in another...

Sports All-Around

Hey Cal, Welcome to the SEC

Since the first weekend of college football is over, our testosterone is in high gear. As manly men on sweet emotion, lets keep the spirit of sports by doing a quick overview of the big three sports.

Football – It was good to turn the tube onto ESPN Saturday morning and see the GameDay Crew together. By far the greatest sign was the Georgia Tech Calvin sign. (Calvin defeating Catholics since 1509). If you didn’t wake up with an extra spring in your step on Saturday morning, then you might need to check to make sure you are an XY chromosome. Much to my dismay, Notre Dame barely won. But let’s be honest, they showed their true colors. Georgia Tech is not a top 25 team (although I’ll take Calvin Johnson in my fantasy draft next year thank you), and they very well could have won the game.

Tennessee raised some eyebrows this past week. Kurt Cooper has a theory: Whoever was picked to win the SEC last year, always ends up winning it this year. His theory seems to be working again. It might finally be clicking for Ainge. That question will be answered when SEC play begins. If anything, the Tennessee game showed once again that every other conference pales in comparison to the SEC. What a joke Cal was. If Cal, just like most other teams (besides Texas and USC) played in the SEC, they would be mediocre.

The only better thing than last weekend, might be this coming weekend (NCAA and NFL football). I’m probably not leaving my house this weekend.

Basketball – TEAM USA lost again. What has happened to basketball you ask? Michael Jordan happened. I once heard a sports guy go on a rant about how Michael Jordan ruined basketball, and I agree. Michael Jordan isn’t the problem, but his imitators are. In the 80’s the NBA was at its finest. Larry Bird’s Boston Celtics, the Detroit Pistons’ Bad Boys, the Lakers, and other teams were playing high-powered, pass oriented, team emphasizing, jump shooting basketball. The games were awesome and people actually played defense. In other words, team basketball, passing, and fundamentals were idolized in the 80’s.
But then came along a guy from North Carolina named Michael Jordan. Michael changed basketball forever. Here came a 6’ 6” shooting guard that for the first time could single handedly take over games with his high-flying moves to the hoop and his 40 points a game. He quickly became the face of basketball and was even voted the most recognizable face in the world. Now, instead of team basketball being idolized, Michael Jordan became the icon of basketball.

Here is the problem, there is not another Michael Jordan out there, and people forgot to imitate his defense and passing along with his dunking. But he was the icon, so everyone tried to “be him.” What’s the result? People like Isaiah Rider decided they needed 45 looks a game. What else is the result? TEAM USA. A group of individuals who have forgotten how to play as a team, how to shoot a jumper, make a free throw, and most importantly play defense. Thanks to Michael Jordan, team Greece beat us with 80’s basketball. Michael Jordan was and is the greatest player to ever play the game. But thanks to him, I had plenty of miserable basketball games at the Ole Miss Turner Center with people who constantly thought it was their role to be Michael Jordan and put the team on their shoulders. The difference. The team asked Michael Jordan to do it…I don’t recall telling my teammate to shoot every

time he touched the rock.
Baseball – I know Baseball, especially now, pales in comparison to football. And I know the A’s haven’t won in the playoff yet. But let’s be honest, Billy Beane is a genius. The guy is going to win the AL West again. They have won 2 fewer games than the Yankees, with a payroll ¼ the size. Remember when critics said the only reason he won was because the Big 3. Well, as others laughed, he unloaded Mark Mulder and Tim Hudson and low and behold his A’s are going to the playoffs again.

Lastly, big news....Tom Cruise and Katie Holmes baby is finally seen. Who CARES. I feel sorry for that baby.
Any thoughts on the big games this week? Will Miss St. score this week?

It was only a matter of time...

Steve Irwin finally croaked (http://www.cnn.com/). I am saddened b/c i enjoyed watching him on TV- I was constantly amazed how this guy always seemed to know how dangerous things were but simultaneously never even shed one ounce of fear that this 'dangerous' thing might hurt him. This was his signature persona, for ex) he'd be walking and see a huge snake and say "Crikey, my goodness, it's a double poisonous gastro-lethal injecting african/Indian King Cobra!!....One bight from this little guy your arm will fall immediately off and your brain will explode...Let's see if we can pick him up." Naturally as he pursued the snake, it would strike out him furiously-yet this never slowed him down. Instead of doing the human thing, and running, No Steve would decide maybe I need a stick to pick this up with?? This guy didn't laugh in the face of danger, he didn't have a clue what it was. I once saw him go after some wild dogs with his 6 month old baby, he didn't just think he was not in danger--I don't think he thought anyone was in danger. Maybe the only people who aren't sad are the camera crew. Those guys had to be in constant fear for their lives. I'm sure they were all thinking that one of them was gonna go real soon, maybe they can safely return to normal documentaries.


I am sad though, b/c what a 'Manly guy' we lost, this guy took us to a different level. He should be a first-ballot hall of famer. On an ending note, I read about this on an ESPN message board, the guy wrote "apparently he was stung by a stingray, I didn't know a stingray could kill you?" One guy wrote back "Dude, it punched a whole in his heart." Even the man who had survived umpteen snake bites couldn't pull through that-ouch, but what a way to go!