Thursday, September 20, 2012

Fantasy Football

Never thought I would see the day when I was in a Fantasy Football League--The Jersey Bowl. Son Eric decided it would be great for Thanksgiving dinner conversation (and now he's not coming home), but the game has taken on a life of its own.


The two football newbies fought over the sports page a few days before the draft.


I was worried about how the draft would work and then I discovered Auto Pick. I already had my team name--Ginny's Giants, but the computer did not pick even one Giant, so reshuffling of plans. We are a league skewed toward Giants-Jets fans, so the favorite quarterback was passed over until it came to me. Tom Brady of the New England Patriots--boo, hiss--I got  a lot of smack talk for that, changed the team name to The Brady Bunch and now must (secretly) check the Patriots game score to see how I'm doing.

This is week 3 and I finally printed out my team roster. I knew I had Brady and Mike Wallace (not the newsman), but couldn't remember anyone else. I even made a few switches in the lineup since my RB was injured.Also put in a WR from the bench and contemplated changing my W/R/T. What am I talking about? By end of season I may know what these all stand for and at least I'll recognize a lot of player names.

My favorite part so far has been the creative team names and the smack talk.
Rough Riders (can you guess the Teddy R fan?)
Gangrene (the perfect blend of Gang Green and Infectious Disease)
Flux Capacitors (back to the future)
Stella Flippers (high school team name)
Clint Eastwood (who invited the Republican?)
The Big Blue Sack (who invited the pervert?)
and
H.A.G.S (have a good summer)

See if you can match these quotes to the correct team:
1. oh no--they play on Thursdays, too? 
2. having two fantasy football teams basically makes every NFL game important to you. Should be a fun season!  
3. I hate this. My team sucks. 
4. Giants rule!
5. Are there really 15 more weeks to go?
6. Auto pick rules!
7. HAGA- have a good autumn?
8. My team needs antibiotics-stat.

I am labelled the "underdog" this week against H.A.G.S. but I'm hoping he doesn't update his roster before tonight. I know he doesn't read this blog right away, so here's hoping he misses the potential injury problems he has--players recovering from ruptured spleens and bad knees. Don't tell him!

I'm still betting on Brady and Auto Pick to take my team to the FF Super Bowl. (I hear Bruce might appear along with Toby Keith)

Friday, September 14, 2012

Happy Birthday Gary!

Best wishes from a few of your friends:

relax and read a book today---Abe

have some rip roaring fun---the cowboys
wear your cowboy hat and get outside!- Ron

remember the buck stops here--Harry



watch out for the raven-- Ed
fight for freedom ---Fred

Tuesday, September 11, 2012

Stage IV ad for Komen - Is this a crack in the pink wall?

I copied below a blog entry I wrote this week for the MBCN blog.

I was absolutely shocked to see this ad in the October issue of Prevention magazine:

This has to be the first time that Komen has publicly acknowledged Stage IV as part of their marketing campaign. Hopefully, Komen will have more ads about Stage IV in October.

Organizations are slow to change and whether this is partly due to the Komen organizational shakeup or the Metastatic Roundtable Komen hosted last February to seek information from 10 metastatic breast cancer patients, it is a welcome, small step forward and one that many of us would never have anticipated.

The ad, of course, is certainly not perfect, as it seems to imply that Bridget would not be surviving 7 years without her active, hopeful personality or her doctor’s ‘fighting’ for her.  Does that mean that those who died sooner had the wrong medical team or the wrong personal attitude? Certainly not.

Call me crazy, but maybe some day we’ll actually see a Komen ad that says this:
“The true source of HOPE for metastatic disease is research. That’s why we at Komen are dramatically increasing funding for research into the cause of metastases (the spread of cancer) to stop it in its tracks and save the lives of the estimated 155,000 women and men living with metastatic or stage IV breast cancer in the US, as well as the lives of 30% of early stage survivors who will have metastatic recurrences in the future.”

What should be our reaction now? I think we should be open and supportive of the change at Komen. Contact your local Komen organization and let them know you are metastatic (or Stage IV) and appreciate the metastatic support cited in the ads and hope Komen will be increasing funds for research into the causes and process of metastasis.

I know this will be particularly difficult for many of us who have deep feelings of estrangement and resentment toward Komen and the pink ribbon culture. But some within the Komen organization are trying to change things and that needs to be encouraged and supported.

“A journey of a thousand miles begins with a single step.”
(Lao-tzu, Chinese philosopher)

Ginny Knackmuhs
MBCN Board member