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The Bud Bowl: A Definitive History.

The epic post you’ve been waiting for, by Scott Allen for mental_floss.

With Tom Brady gimping around the West Village, there’s been a lot of talk about his backups, Matt Cassel and Matt Gutierrez. This got me thinking about other Super second-stringers who were just a heartbeat (or anterior cruciate ligament) away from the big game. How well do you know the men behind the men behind center? Here are fifteen questions to test your backup QB IQ.

> > > Take the quiz: Super Backups

I should say that this one is really, really hard. The average score is 38%. So don’t feel bad if you didn’t remember Joe Namath’s understudy.

I just received this email from Sanjay:

Tonight, I got a call from an MHRHSD Hall of Fame Committee member to verify my info and to talk about myself.

I know that there were a lot of former Morris Knolls graduates who were nominated for MHRHSD Hall of Fame. I was told that I’ll be communicated in about 2 weeks.

Sanjay
Mr. Sanjay Iyer

He’s got my endorsement.

[More reunion photos here.]

This is wonderful, and unexpected. Here’s what I wrote on September 6, 2007:

“I’m expecting a long year for the Giants – 8-8 at best, with plenty of off-the-field nonsense and five months of ‘We Want Cowher’ chants in the Meadowlands.”

I’m so thrilled I was so wrong. Should be a great two weeks for sports-talk radio in New York.

The opening line is Pats by 14. I’ll take the Giants and the points.

Not sure if these are real or not, but I’m pretty sure I don’t care:

12 of the Best Homeless Signs

Not in a “chatting it up with Wolf Blitzer” kind of way. But an article I wrote for mental_floss was picked up by CNN.com today.

Check it out: Famous (or infamous) fan stories.

Being a dog is tiring work.

Since Ellen and I got our new Panasonic Plasma HDTV, we’ve been watching a lot of campaign coverage. You can learn a lot about the candidates in high definition. Especially Fred Thompson.

We were bummed by last night’s results. Obamania is sweeping Livingston, and I haven’t been this excited about a product since Reebok introduced the Pump. But at least Clinton’s win ensures another few months of intense media coverage, which given the writers’ strike is key.

If you’re wrapped up in the campaign, let’s see how well you know the candidates. Head over to mental_floss and play The Debating Game.

You might remember my Sprint debacle from last February (detailed here, here and here). That was nothing. When it comes to terminating your wireless contract, death is not a valid excuse.

It was a tough holiday season for Tracey Stewart of Framingham. Her 66-year-old father died on Dec. 21 after a brief illness. This week, her husband, Bill, called Sprint to cancel his father-in-law from the cell phone family plan.

“They said his contract wasn’t up and to pay the fee or keep it activated,” he said.

“He came in and said my father had upgraded his phone, so we can’t cancel unless we pay the early termination fee or give the phone to somebody else,” Stewart said.

They didn’t have someone else, and they said that the suggestion offended them.

Bill Stewart said Sprint did agree to reduce the monthly fee for his deceased father-in-law’s phone from $20 to $10 until the contract ends in September 2008.

A Sprint spokesman said that company policy is to request a death certificate.

[From WCVB in Boston]

My ill-informed, crazy Iowa Caucus predictions:

• Obama wins by a whole lot more than people expect
• Romney sneaks by Huckabee, but the story tomorrow is McCain’s surprising showing

Did you ever read something that made you think, “Wow, I do the exact same thing!”? Because I just did.

“That is my problem with life, I rush through it, like I’m being chased. Even things whose whole point is slowness, like drinking relaxing tea. When I drink relaxing tea, I suck it down as if I’m in a contest for who can drink relaxing tea the quickest.”

Except for me, this does not resonate metaphorically. In fact, I’m often too methodical when making decisions. But the part about rushing through hot beverages is spot on. I gulp down tea like a dehydrated castaway, provided said dehydrated castaway was, for some reason, after a suitable period of lacking access to liquids, offered a cup of tea.

Anyway, this book is great, and so is its official website.