And it's been the ruin of many a poor boy, and Boy, I know I'm one...

I'll be attending the New York Giants-New Orleans Saints football game at the Meadowlands (aka Louisiana Superdome North) tonight. The Saints are the "home" team, having been removed from their home due to Hurricane Katrina.

After countless college football games and even one XFL game, this marks my first NFL contest. Four rows from the field. I'm very excited.

Still, I find myself slightly torn. I am a NY Giants fan, but with all that's happened in the Gulf Coast, the New Orleans Saints have taken up the reigns as "America's Team." They're a heartwarming sports story. Something I can appreciate.

So I think that means I can't boo. I need to be tasteful with my heckling. I can't very well root for anonymous hearts to be broken with the Saints suffering a tough loss. I need to be well-mannered, a good sport.

I've decided that instead of unleashing my trash talk at tonight's game, I'll do it here now. Get it out of my system.

Apologies to those this might offend.

"You guys play like you're homeless."

"We're gonna blow through you guys like Hurricane Katrina."

"Did you take New Orleans and the under?"

"You guys seem a bit sluggish."

(singing) "Under the sea... Under the sea..."

"Hey, speaking of patron saints, did you know...?"

"In case you forgot God doesn't love you anymore, that TD should've settled it."

"Flood of emotion? Oh, it's a flood of something alright."

"If you want to be America's team, you need to overcharge me to pay you and your cronies' salaries while you send me off to a tiny nation to botch up your personal agenda while you completely neglect the possibility of something actually happening to me.
"Oh, you charged me $90 for this ticket? Carry on then."

...and there's more... but it's time to go.

Leave your tongue-biting thoughts or un-American sentiments for me in the comments section. I'll be booking my reservations for Hell in the interim.

Added Tuesday, September 20 @ 1:03am
The Giants won.

"They sure weathered that storm."

"What stinks? Oh, it's just New Orleans."

"Good game. Now let's all go home."

Not everything about the Mets is downright awful lately.

The Mr. Met commercials, in all their glory.

Still Googling after all these years...

It's kind of like eBay, but now you can have millions of pieces of worthless crap at your fingertips for free.

Reason #412 People need to leave the house more

What frightens me is not that a fantasy blog stock system exists. Instead, I'm frightened that said game thinks we're worth something.

Buy low. Sell high.

...in a New York minute.

September 11th. 4 years later.

The skyline still feels empty. Things are different, even if back to "normal."

I was an RA in Syracuse that day, woken up by one of my residents who was checking to see if my family was alright. I watched the events unfold with a room of people who, a month prior, I didn't know. I worried as I didn't know if my older brother (a messenger), younger brother (who attended school less than a mile away), or my sister (less than 5 blocks away) were OK as all of Lower Manhattan was chaotic that morning. They were accounted for at 7:30pm that night, and I later felt relieved and guilt at the same time. Relieved as my folks were OK, guilt as others weren't so lucky.

4 years later. It doesn't have the ring of "5 year" or "10 year" or "25 year" and the rest of the Hallmark anniversaries. Still, born and raised and returning a New Yorker, it doesn't garner any less significance.

We remember. New Yorkers never forget.

You can have my gun when you pry it from my cold dead hand.*

*Or while I'm bailing out my flooded attic

Police begin seizing guns of civilians

Mr. Compass, the police superintendent, said that after a week of near anarchy in the city, no civilians in New Orleans will be allowed to carry pistols, shotguns, or other firearms of any kind. "Only law enforcement are allowed to have weapons," he said.

You should know the NRA cancelled its 44th Annual National Police Championship, to have been held in Jackson, MS from September 11-15. You know, out of decency to the victims. Because they are always considerate of the victims.

Still, the government taking the guns from the civilians? Think Heston's up in arms over this?

That order apparently does not apply to the hundreds of security guards whom businesses and some wealthy individuals have hired to protect their property. The guards, who are civilians working for private security firms like Blackwater, are openly carrying M-16s and other assault rifles.

Er, nevermind.

You gotta love it, though. Somebody still speaks from his soul.

You can question his opinion. You can question his tact. But, sir, you cannot question Kanye West's stones...

Information can be a very dangerous thing.

Today, East Coast residents can finally acquire a free copy of their credit report from one of the three major credit organizations.

Now if only they'd tell you your FICO score.

Or how long it would take to pay your credit card bill if you payed just the minimum balance* every month.

Or a million other things credit card companies would prefer you not knowing.

(*FYI - Minimum credit card payments are doubling from 2% of the total balance to 4%. This won't help you pay it off substantially faster, but it helps a smidge. The more important thing is that your credit card bill, if you just pay the minimum, is about to double. How this hasn't made a peep in the news outlets is mindblowing.)