We're Live!!!! (And a Quick Update)

Football.com is live, and probably full of glitches...but it's live! I know you can begin crushing some commentators because I did it earlier today after signing up for a user account. You can find my gem under Lou Holtz in the ESPN/ABC section. You can check out my analyst bio. if you click on "see all football.com exclusive writers," below my squashed mug on the home page (like I said, glitches). Then proceed to click on my name, and you'll see some personal offerings.

Anyway, I've got a lot of archival stuff on the site already as we've been building like mad for the last month, and the homepage needs to pop up some of the new stuff; however, if you get a chance, find the list of exclusives and check out my article I've been adding to on a daily basis known as JaMarcus Russell's Daily Log. I'm pretty proud, and will continue to update it as long as he holds out. I could be a very old man still writing about it at this rate.

So: Football.com is ready for you to take a looksee. The next couple of months will be a continued growth cycle, and I'm planning on creating a petition that I will present to several United States Congressmen/women to make Super Bowl Sunday an official American holiday. Keep that hush-hush for now, but soon enough, we'll open the flood gates, yeah?

On the personal front, the kids are back in school, I'm rehearsing for an indie that has been pushed to October, and of course, Kristi's working hard. I'm really looking forward to more opportunities that we'll have in the upcoming weeks, months and years to help our community through our local church congregation and the arrival of a new minister originally from Australia, George Little.

The softball team I was playing on...well...we did everything in our power to shock the league after limping through the season (pun intended), falling 5 runs short of winning the championship. Next season, we'll be one of the teams to beat.

I did get to enjoy some wonderful, yet all-too-short time in Louisiana recently, and regardless of the circumstance, it was great to see family. I'm now down to one grandparent. It's a haunting reminder of how fast it flies.

So, how 'bout those LSU Tigers? Gon' be a fun season! Geaux Tigers! Geaux Saints! Go away, now, everybody...I'm ready for lunch...or better yet, come join me! Peanut butter and jelly is calling my name.

Oh, I'z 'a So Sorry!

I didn't pass away. Sadly, a grandmother in Louisiana did. The last 20 days have been a whirlwind of unplanned activity, and just like a pregnancy of the same variety, it's all turned out to be full of blessings ... that was tacky, huh? Tacky and true.

Anyway, some real news shortly. I've been writing like a mad man to help build some tasty archives into the Football.com site and it should be up and rolling here in a few more days! Again, the site you presently see is the crappy old one.

I suppose I need to chime in on all of the Michael Vick stuff, yes? And the fact that Tony La...Dou...Russa did about the best thing he's ever done for the Cardinals...Yeah, I'll get to it...right around the corner! Hopefully tonight.

By the way...Pink is masculine. It's the color of my fist as it gets closer to your face if you diss one of my favorite colors.

Football.com

I wanted to share that I'll be a featured analyst for the NEW Football.com that will be re-launching shortly. We've been working hard to get the site ready, and we'll be knocking out some video posts tomorrow from the sweet, sweet CKMG (Content Kings Media Group) HQ in Santa Monica.

I'll definitely be doing my best to be both objective and subjective while creating original content for the site, depending on what I'm writing about. Regardless, everyone can sign up at Football.com for a free site membership, and offer their own two cents. We want to make this site the one for the true football fan, even if they are talking sports out their... It'll take some time, but I know we can get there.

If you have an analyst on TV or a commentator that you just can't stand from the world of sports, this will be the place to blow off some steam. A section entitled, "CRUSH THE COMMENTATOR," should free your mind and let your fingers flow. Unlike many other sites, this site is privately owned, so rules don't really apply to us. This is a beautiful thing, as we hope to offer contests, money to be won, etc. And I'm sure my wife will chime in - she has a serious disdain for ESPN's Rachel Nichols. So, everyone, turn your disdain from noun to verb at Football.com ...

That's all for my Football.com plug at this point. I'll post about it when we've launched!

Last but not least, I wanted to report that after I got my clean bill of knee last week, I returned to my outfield home on my sweet softball team known as The Devoted Dozen, and had a 4-4 day with 1 round-tripper. My father-in-law tossed one of the prettiest slow-pitch games I had ever seen, and we played the only error free game recorded in the league this year. We threw some runs on the board and did everything we could to make the playoffs. We'll have to wait and watch on Saturday to see if we're in the mix! Going back to Centerfield felt like I had returned home after a long, arduous journey through the Fire Swamp.

For those willing to comment, here's today's question:

What is your favorite Def Leppard song? Mine is probably Hysteria.

Pressed For Time...

But I wanted to let everyone know about the knee. That sweet joint midway down the leg. That doesn't sound like what I'm thinking...it sounds overtly pornographic - oh well, no time to edit.

I dropped into Stetson-Powell Orthopedics on Tuesday morning to meet with Dr. Scott Powell - yes, he is the same Scott Powell that was a founding member of the group Sha Na Na back in the day. And he's still rock star cool. He felt my knee and did a bit of stability manipulations to see that it IS in fact doing better...so it was time to view that MRI.

My concern lately has been the protrusion in the back of my knee that feels slightly like a deviled egg is lodged under my skin.

The MRI revealed that the deviled egg is simply a baker's cyst rolling around due to joint effusion (an odd/excessive build up of fluid in the joint). Why the effusion? Well, I looked at the MRI and we hopped from ligament to ligament...MCL, good to go! LCL, good to go! PCL, good to go! GREAT, so let's see my flippin' ACL. He "opens" my knee (MRI's are amazing, by the way) and I can see the ligament immediately...

"As you can see," Dr. Powell drones, "your ACL is completely intact...there are no tears...you can see where it stretched from the bone a bit right here, creating a soft tissue edema (really bad soft bone bruise)."

Apparently, staying in shape offered my first line of defense. Otherwise, it would have popped from the bone. Beyond the ACL, I also have an extensive marrow contusion of the anteromedial femoral condyle and anterolateral tibial plateau, mostly due to the same action that caused a rim impaction fracture of the medial tibial plateau. Basically, I cracked my lower leg bone on the inside because my upper leg bone crunched so hard against it, and now, both bones are bruised as well - who's up for lunch?

Regardless, Dr. Powell was encouraging and suggested that I keep rehabbing the way I have, and that he anticipates a full recovery...Hot-diggity-dang!

I appreciate the prayers and thoughts that everyone has offered! Looks like it's time to get back to work!

With that, a little quote from that guy with the crazy hair:

If A equals success, then the formula is: A = X + Y + Z, X is work. Y is play. Z is keep your mouth shut. - Albert Einstein

See you soon.