Footie
 

And when one particular hottie scored a goal last night he did the pointing two fingers out thingie and I was waiting for him to wink and make a clicky noise with his tongue. I guess it is kinda like a field-goal signal but done at your waist.

A couple of times I saw them kick the ball and it was caught in the "end zone" but didn't go through the "goal posts" and that team got a free goal kick if the kicker's team member was the one who caught the ball -- I will have to look that up in my new Laws for the Game as soon as it finishes printing.

Footie
 

agreed (well, one of the best parts). I think anyone who watched ESPN at the beginning of it's existence should have the "goal" and "behind" image burnished in their minds.

While on the topic of rugby-derived sports, could one of our northern friends explain what a rouge is in the CFL?

Useless sports: start with any event in the X-games. Move next to synchronized swimming (and synch. diving). But I think the term "essential" and "sports" don't really go together, at least once you're past things like archery and running.

The NFL
 

All this talk of football has gotten me amped up about REAL football. Training camp starts in 22 hours and PreSeason starts in 15 days.
:partytime

It's the only thing I have to look forward to this fall, since basketball is going to suck out west here with a 2 team race.

Question for medical (and not) types
 

Just the other day, Mrs. Ebola and I were discussing how things have gotten bigger at fast food deathtraps in recent years.

Both of us agreed that what used to be LARGE fries and LARGE sodas are now small or medium fries and sodas.

The extra-large fry containers these days are approximately the size of a horse's feed bag.

Ultimate
 

No one here that I've encountered knows what ringette is (invented in the great city of North Bay no less). I played it from about age 8-15. I didn't realize no one played it anymore - is that because more girls play hockey now?

Footie
 

"Manhandled" is Australian for ass-raped.

Question for medical (and not) types
 

Haven't you found this to be true in certain restaurants as well? I really don't need a stupid amount of food and my mother's guilt prevents me from wasting food. But at almost all Mexican and most Italian restaurants you get a stupid amount of food. I would rather pay $1 less and get a smaller portion, than waste enough food to feed another person.

Ultimate
 

what is ringette?

As far as portions, I have found two ways to deal with it. One is I just ask them for a half portion and pay full price. Most often however, if I don't know what to expect and the amount is obviously too great, I cut it in half right from the start. If it is something easily cut in half, i.e. a piece of chicken, that is simple enough. If it is pasta or something, I just push half to one side of the plate. I either give the other half to someone else or leave it. I don't take it home because I won't eat it anyway. It is a waste, but better in the trash than in my body.

I find if I do this I have already told myself this is all you are eating, no matter how yummy it is the rest doesn't even exist for me. Works pretty well. I ate out recently and had some tiramisu (sp) and the piece was so huge it was absurd. I just cut it in half and left the other half sitting there until someone else at the table couldn't resist it sitting there and asked me for it. Of course this might cause everyone who eats with me to get fat, but not my problem.

Footie
 

I don't think that changes anything I said.

Question for medical (and not) types
 

I'm trying to think of a a restaurant where it's not true -- other than places where food is art (you know, where it's 'cuisine'). Any family feedbag, fast food death merchant or mom 'n pop chow stop is serving mega-everything.

Breakfast, maybe, althought the six-egg omlette is coming soon to a Denny's or IHOP near you, probably.

Bleah.

Ringette
 

When I was growing up, it was the girl's alternative to ice hockey. You play it on a hockey rink. Instead of a puck you pass a rubber ring with a stick with no blade on the end. You score in the net of your opponent, like hockey. There's allegedly no body contact and no faceoffs (you get these things called "free passes" to start the game when it stops). It's fun, and not as rough as hockey - that's why it was pushed for girls. I played both hockey and ringette, but I was a spaz at hockey (unlike my athletically gifted sisters) and got my two front teeth knocked out with a puck. We decided I should stick to ringette after that.

It is probably not so cool to have "girls only" sports these days, so that is why it is dying out.

Question for medical (and not) types
 

Isn't that the "skillet" or whatever they call those dishes?

And, yes, it's true everywhere, although particularly at "value" restaurants. The food costs them so little of the total price that they may as well load it on. Most of the dishes could be split between two quite satisfactorily. To wit, I bought a bagel with cream cheese for breakfast today (I usually eat cereal at home). They must have put half a bar of cream cheese on the thing, presumably to justify the extra dollar they charge for the cream cheese. It's not a value proposition in my mind.

Question for medical (and not) types
 

Agreed. For example, Maggiano's gives you outrageously large bowls of pasta. The solution to the problem is not to eat that much of it.

Again, using the Mrs. as an example, we went there for dinner a couple weeks ago when we had already gotten sick of our normal spots. She had never been there before, professed that she was hungry, ignored my warning, and proceeded to order the standard size portion of pasta with sauce/meatball.

She ate about 1/8 of it. However, we took the rest home and ate off of the rest for at least two mor days. Of course that really can't be done with McD's french fries. I'd imagine that they'd whither away into oily goop after a reheat in the microwave.

So, the simple answer is control, my child, control.

http://www.blackmaxpc.com/avatarsmil.../microwave.gif

The NFL
 

Isn't the NFL preseason game in Japan something like next Saturday? That's possibly the most unwatchable event in sports - about three minutes into the game, both teams are playing 88th round draft picks, free agents soon to be cut and random guys named Fred. Worse than cricket.

WhY (I'm still holding out hope that I'll get added to a roster just for that game. All it'll take is a $12 signing bonus and a plane ticket. I won't even require a sake-for-victory clause.) PD

Ultimate
 

Speaking of dessert, has anybody dared to consume an entire piece of cake at Smith & Wollensky?????