Happy New Year, Powder Defeats Drinks and $$$$

As I get older, I become less and less interested in the whole New Years Eve charade each year. For starters, there are too many amateurs and drunks on the streets of fill-in-the-city of your choice here. You have people who go out once or twice a year who can't handle themselves and subsequently can easily ruin the fun for others. They don't call it amateur night for nothing, you know. In addition, the amount of money that would leave my wallet tonight would add up to be a lot more than I am comfortable with right now. I need to save up for other fun. While Denver is not as bad as other cities in this regard, I have a big problem paying fifty plus dollars just to get in certain establishments. Then most places jack up the drink prices, so I think I'll find something else to do, thanks.

I rarely go out on New Years Eve anymore, 2003 was the last time I went out, to a friend's party in Stoneham, MA. I like to have a good time and a few beers, but I'm proud to say all I drank that night was non-alcoholic beer since I had to drive for about an hour afterwards. Gotta watch out for the cops, and even more seriously, the other drivers on the road. Believe me, I respect everyone’s decisions and realize that 99 percent of the revelers are well-behaved. It’s just not for me at this stage of my life.

Living in Colorado, I'm blessed to be within two hours of many ski areas, all of which have plenty of snow. Therefore, I'm going to same thing I did last New Years Eve, have some pizza for dinner, get my ski gear packed, and get ready to rip it up at Copper Mountain! I can't wait, more snow is expected tonight and tomorrow in the mountains. It has snowed for all three of my ski days so far this season, I'm very confident this will be 4 for 4.

Everyone else can have the ridiculous cover charges in LoDo and marked up drinks, I'll take the powder on the slopes and we'll call it a deal. I win. I just hope the traffic on I-70 isn't too bad afterwards. :)

At least ANWR drilling got blocked again

At least for now, ANWR drilling has been blocked once again. I'm a proud champion of the environment, so I'm thrilled at this development. The destruction of wildlife and a coastal plain that I'd like to visit someday, not to mention the other side effects on the environment, isn't worth the what, six months of oil we'd get? Yeah, that would really make us energy-independent.

Larry Lucchino is a POSMFA

That pretty much says it all, I'll leave it to you to figure out the acronym. First, he completely blows the Theo Epstein negotiations, resulting in the main architect of the Red Sox moment of glory walking away from his dream job. Second, do I really need to go into how much of a pompous, arrogant, self-centered, "I won the Series" ass he is? He helped run the Padres and Orioles into the ground, now he's doing the same thing with the Red Sox. Third, as much of an asshole as Johnny Damon's agent Scott Boras is, how in the hell can Lucchino (who's the real GM let's not kid ourselves) claim that they didn't know the Damon/Yankees negotations were taking place? Are they that clueless because they're too busy milking 2004 for real estate deals?

Theo would have known about it that's for damn sure. Theo cared about winning, not the limelight and being Senor In Charge. Theo wouldn't have turned a proud if not always successful franchise into the Kate Spade / Prada wanna-be / not really the Ritz Carlton but we think we are / I'm bigger than the game brand name of baseball in 14 months. I'm disgusted with what's taking place on Yawkey Way and Brookline Avenue right now. Screw membership cards, I want a baseball team that cares about baseball. Boston's Sox are getting away from what made them a special franchise near and dear to the hearts of millions of fans around the world. I'll admit the over the top neuroticism of the fans and media drive players away (see Dave Doyle and Ken Rosenthal make great points), but I want to see a focus on baseball, none of this Red Sox brand crap. They were special once, I don't know what they are as of December 22, 2005.

At least I take solace with this: Chicago's Sox are still the best team in baseball, not a team owned by George Steinbrenner. I hope this made sense, I flew cross country today and am tired.

You play to win the game! All the time?

As a diehard New England Patriots fan, I should never root for the rival New York Jets. Ever. Unless a Jets win directly helps the Patriots, like a regular season win in Pittsburgh would have last season. However, I took a great deal of satisfaction from their win over Oakland on Sunday. Jets coach Herman Edwards, a well-respected person and coach even if his clock management skills are beyond poor, once went off on a reporter who asked him if the next game between his 1-5 Jets and San Diego meant anything. The famous quote that still gets radio airwave play today was "You Play To Win The Game!" Then, you played to win the game, since the Jets blew out the Chargers 44-13, and ended up a division champion at 9-7. However, should they have played to win the game on Sunday? I really enjoyed the Jets win because as a Pats fan, I know there is now no way whatsoever that we'll have to face Reggie Bush twice a season. The Jets just blew their chances at Bush, Matt Leinart, or a big package of draft picks and players via trade. Yeah Jets!

Welcome to Jeff's House of Something.

I weclome all of you, or any of you, or even anyone, to Jeff's House of Something. What that something is, I do not know. I only know that this house will be a permanent work in progress. Hopefully, it will be an interesting house. Feel free to suggest a permanent name for me, I didn't want to call it Mary Jane like the URL for many reasons.

Maybe I should introduce myself or something like that. I'm a man of many interests and two jobs. By day, I am a Technology Solutions Specialist for USA Today's Denver Circulation Market. By night and one weekend day, I work in the Soft Goods Department at the Denver REI Flagship store Click here to see. Both positions are very rewarding on many levels. When not working, I'm an avid skier, hiker, rollerblader, coffee addict, sports fan, and many other things.

My blog' URL is MaryJaneJeff because my name is Jeff and the ski area Mary Jane, (not the plant with that name, while I don't use it I support its usage being decriminalized) quite frankly, kicks the asses of nearly every ski area out there. Click this link to Mary Jane for yourself, or take it from me: I used my remaining vacation days to ski there this past Monday and Tuesday. It was beyond sick, in a good way! The bumps were even better than their usual ass-kicking self. I could go on for an hour about how good the conditions were. Maybe I will at some point.

When not taking part in outside sports, you'd often find me keeping up with my favorite sports teams, in particular my hometown Boston Red Sox, New England Patriots, and the USA National Soccer Team. I also sort of follow NBA basketball and NHL Hockey, and do follow Major League Soccer and NCAA Hockey.

Speaking of USA Soccer, I really hope I'm wrong, but I was very nervous about today's World Cup Draw for good reason. While we avoided the "Group of Death" (Argentina, Holland, Ivory Coast, Serbia & Montenegro), the group we are in will be extremely difficult to come in first or second in, so I sadly do not think we will advance to the knockout rounds. The Czech Republic and Italy will be extremely tough to take points from, and Ghana will not be an easy team to play either. At least since we have to play Italy, it's in the group round where they tend to struggle. I don't see us advancing without an upset unless: draws in the first two games, a win over Ghana, and either the Czech Republic or Italy beating the other in their third game. I hope I'm wrong but my first thought is US fans can book their flights home for June 23 or 24; the first round ends on the 22nd.

Other sports commentary: Reggie Bush will win the Heisman going away, he should be the number one pick next year, not Matt Leinart. Every single time Bush gets near a football, he's a threat to take it to the house for a touchdown. Granted it will get tougher to breaks lots of 60 or 70 yard runs at the next level, but he's something special. I haven't seen a player as dynamic as him since at least Barry Sanders, if ever. The Patriots will end up 11-5, maybe win one playoff game, but that's it for this season. Too many injuries and losses, it's as simple as that. They get a free pass from me after what they've done the last four years. I like a lot of the Red Sox' offseason moves. Edgar Renteria was not going to fit in with the Sox and the fishbowl they live in, Josh Beckett could be a 15-24 win, 300 strikeout guy for a dozen years, and Mark Loretta's a solid second baseman. What we still need is more bullpen depth, a shortstop (get Orlando Cabrera back please), and a backup catcher who can catch Wakefield's knuckleball.

Non-sports commentary: I'm tired right now so I'm going to stop posting other than to say Denver's treating me well, and I'll post more thoughts on some things as I have the time. Peace.