THE Weekend Recap

Back after the weekend in the city, so without further ado, here's the recap for your entertainment and pleasure...

Headed into the city Friday night and the first order of business was dinner. Interesting thing about New York...many of the Chinese restaurants don't really bother with any sort of "dinner special" as we know it. They mainly go "a la carte" and then you end up getting a huge thing of rice because you want some rice with the entree. Of course it ends up being too much and half of it goes in the trash can. Anyway, we found this one place with dinner specials, and for $7 I got my General Tso's Chicken, a side of fried rice and an egg roll. And the food was really good! So contrary to popular belief, there are Chinese restaurants in the city with dinner specials and it turned out to be worthwhile. Now we know.

Since the Blockbuster didn't have any copies of "Entourage" Season 1 DVD in stock, that had to be put on hold until a later date. The replacement: "Fever Pitch". I can't say it was a fantastic movie, because let's be serious...how great can a movie be with Jimmy Fallon and Drew Barrymore as the main characters? Regardless, you take it for what it's worth: entertainment value. The Ross recommendation: if there's nothing else to rent, check out "Fever Pitch". If you can find something else to rent, don't rent "Fever Pitch".

Saturday, the beginning of my heart attack football weekend. The Penn State game. Hmm, where do I start? First off, let's put it out on the table that this game was a tale of two halves. First half, Michael Robinson looked god awful with his interceptions and fumbles, and the usually reliable defense just let Northwestern run up and down the field at will. Second half, they got their act together and managed to pull out the victory. Overall, I was happy for the win, but man, they can't play like they did today and expect to win any of the next 3 games, which is the toughest stretch of the season (Minnesota, Ohio State, Michigan). That stupid (and questionable) late hit penalty on Northwestern's 4th quarter drive almost cost them the game, but I also have to give Robinson at least some credit for the last drive and a nice pass to Derrick Williams for the winning touchdown. That was heart attack #1.

Saturday night was the "Wine and Cheese Extravaganza" at Jessica's apartment. Definitely a good time - those girls know how to throw a party. It was nice to see all of those in attendance, the boys and I had some quality conversations, and Jessica had a little too much wine. (Sunday morning comment: "I feel like I got tackled by a linebacker.")

Sunday...more football. Went to watch the game at a local bar, and the Eagles were keeping the blood pressure at a boil and providing me with heart attack #2. I have to say that the Raiders are a solid team this year, but had some bad luck with the schedule makers. First three games: at New England, home vs. Kansas City, and at the Eagles. That doesn't sound like a joyride to me. As a result, with them coming in at 0-2, I was still concerned, especially with the Eagles being somewhat banged up. McNabb definitely isn't as effective with his sternum bruise, abdominal strain, groin injury or whatever else he has wrong with him. Then, the quiet weapon, kicker David Akers has a strain hamstring, which at this point, I'm shocked that it hasn't completely torn, is out there kicking with one leg. I loved the fact that Akers was able to boot that winning kick and it showed some great heart and character. (Side note: During the post-game press conference when Akers was asked what the pain felt like on that last kick, he said it "felt like someone shot me in the leg". Now that if that doesn't sound intense, I don't know what does.) Another tough game for the Birds next week as they make a trip to Kansas City.

It should also be mentioned that Sunday night was a great night of television. "Desperate Housewives" and "Grey's Anatomy" came back with a new season and each failed to disappoint. ABC really hit it big with these shows and I'm glad they're back on the air. Due to a scheduling conflict, "Curb Your Enthusiasm", which is on at the same time as "Grey's Anatomy", will be viewed on either Monday night or Tuesday night. HBO re-runs the shows like 10 times during the week on HBO Comedy or HBO2 West, or another one of the 11 HBO stations that I now get. So I'll report on that shortly.

Have a good week, leave me some comments, and I'll be back on Monday night.