GENE UPSHAW                          

                                         8/15/1945   -   8/21/2008

Eugene Thurman Upshaw, Jr. (August 15, 1945 - August 21, 2008) was born in Robstown, Texas) was a former American football guard, who played for the Oakland Raiders in the American Football League and the National Football League for 16 years after graduating from Texas A&I University (now Texas A&M University-Kingsville). He played in three Super Bowls; in the 1967, 1976 and 1980 seasons. He also played in three AFL Championship Games, seven American Football Conference title games, one AFL All-Star game, and six NFL Pro Bowls. He was selected by The Sporting News' to the 1969 AFL All League team.

Upshaw was currently the only player in Pro Football history to play in three Super Bowls with the same team in three different decades. In 1999, he was ranked number 62 on The Sporting News' list of the 100 Greatest Football Players.

He was an active member of the bargaining committee for the National Football League Players' Association (NFLPA) throughout the late 1970s and early 1980s. He led the NFLPA in its unsuccessful strike in 1987 and through years of anti-trust litigation against the league, including a brief period in which the NFLPA became a professional association rather than a union, that ended with the union's acceptance of a salary cap in return for free agency and an enhanced share of league revenues for the union's members. Until his death, he was the Executive Director of the Association. In 2006 he alienated many retired players. 325 former AFL and NFL players receive minimal retirement benefits. When they attempted to have the league and the Association consider their plight, Upshaw responded: "I don't work for them. They are not union members and they have no vote."[citation needed] A campaign is currently being led by Ravens kicker Matt Stover to oust Gene Upshaw as head of the NFLPA. Kevin Mawae has denied reports of mass callings from players for Upshaw to step down.

Upshaw was a member of Alpha Phi Alpha, the first intercollegiate fraternity established for African Americans.

In 2004, the NCAA Division II sports information directors awarded the first Gene Upshaw Division II Lineman of the Year award. It is presented each year during the weekend of the NCAA Division II Football Championship by the Manheim (Pa.) Touchdown Club.

On August 21, 2008, Gene Upshaw died. He had been fighting pancreatic cancer.[1]

My thoughts and prayers are with the Upshaw family and to all those who were fans and friends of Gene.     

                                  May he rest in peace

Bio and information from Wikipedia search Gene Upshaw

An Internet troll, or simply troll  is someone who posts controversial and irrelevant or off-topic messages in an online community, such as    FOX Sports Blogs  or with the intention of provoking other users into an emotional response or to generally disrupt normal on-topic discussion .

Often, calling someone a troll makes assumptions about a writer's motives. Regardless of the circumstances, controversial posts may attract a particularly strong response from those unfamiliar with the robust dialogue found in some online, rather than physical, communities. Experienced participants in online forums know that the most effective way to discourage a troll is usually to ignore him or her, because responding tends to encourage trolls to continue disruptive posts — hence the often-seen warning: "Please do not feed the trolls" "PDNFTT"

Question ?

What exactly does said troll seem to gain from trying to disrupt a discussion and what exactly is their motavation?

Blogging code of conduct

I read Tim O'Reillys blogging code of conduct and thought it to be a great  code to blog with.

The Blogger's Code of Conduct is a proposal by Tim O'Reilly for bloggers to enforce civility on their bloggers by being civil themselves and moderating comments on their blog. O'Reilly and others came up with a list of seven proposed ideas:

1. Take responsibility not just for your own words, but for the comments you allow on your blog.
2. Label your tolerance level for abusive comments.
3. Consider eliminating anonymous comments.
4. Ignore the trolls.
5. Take the conversation offline, and talk directly, or find an intermediary who can do so.
6. If you know someone who is behaving badly, tell them so.
7. Don't say anything online that you wouldn't say in person

I happen to  blog for stress relief and found that there is evidence that it works.

Scientists have long known the therapeutic benefits of writing about personal experiences. Blogs provide another convenient avenue for writing about personal experiences. Research shows that it improves memory and sleep, boosts immune cell activity and reduces viral load in AIDS patients and even speeds healing after surgery in other words blogging is actually good for you..

So Im just saying that blogging can be fun and enjoyed (as I do) and can be good for you while your doing it.

Hopefully we can all get along and keep writing and reading some really good thoughts from a great variety of bloggers and hopefully the trolls will get the message or get a life.

                  And remember "PDNFTT"

                                             
       I know what it is .

          Is it something in the water ? or some thing in the air  ?

                there seems  to be some disention in the blogroom--                                        
       

                                             
             "(Shocker)"!!!!!!!!!!

       So the plot thickens the mystery deepens-- or does it?

The reason everybody in this blogroom is going crazy is because

                    college football is just around the corner .

You are secrectly getiing excited !

Your tensing up !

are you  gargeling with razor blades to get your neck ready to yell at some NCAA reffs ?

                          Iv'e  seen it before it happens all the time.

Its called NCAA Drivemecrazyidis - its a well doucumented disability and it is only cured by actually watching a game of NCAA Football .

                                             
   that time is soon apoun us  .     

                                 Cheering on the college team we love                       

                                 Can you smell the chargrilled brauts?                  

                                             
          Can You sense it?

Do you hear the laughter of anxious and excited fans before the game? 

Do hear the fight song that has been a tradition for centurys at your college ?

Is you pulse starting to race ?

 Can you feel the ominous presence of millions of college fans ?

         Are you  prepairing  to put on your  school colors ?

                Scream your lungs out at the home opener  ?

all along  I knew what the problem was so relax its almost here.

  You know the smack talking. the my teams is better than yours.

           The comradery between lifelong fans and freinds,

       NCAA COLLEGE FOOTBALL              
           

                 ARE YOU READY ?                                        
                    

                                             
GO BUCKEYES

                                   * The JOKERSWILD Olympics *

After watching some of  the Olympics Iv'e decided to start my own.

here are a few of the  events ~

Dog Juggleing~

Toddler Gymnastics~

Sumo Ballet ~

Little People High Jump ~

Ornamental Lawn decorating ~

Obese Motorcycle Racing~

Rosie O'Donnel Look Alike ~

Over 80 Ganja Smoking (last one to drop wins)~

Automobile Soccer~

Drunken Artwork~

And last but not least

Godzilla Fighting ~

Now all I have to do is round up some  willing  individuals and we can get this thing started.

Its been way to long since we have had a Woodpile ( you here me duck ? ) so since B@O has run out of ideas I came up with a video version for all of you that have been craving a wood pile and dont worry Dwindy I know how you like em big so I added some just for you..lol

      They are about to wake and their not happy they have been in football purgatory.

  It is a place where there is no NFL for over half a year (some call it hell ).

Quietly they are stirring sending their zombie football wives     to  market to pick up some hogies , brew

and extra lawn chairs for when zombie football company comes over.

Tonight cobwebs will be wiped away from sleepless eyes that have been wanting to gaze at some Gridiorn Battles and some sounds of bodies getting crushed and bruised.

 Ah yes the sight of skinned elbows and the sound of ankles breaking after a running back shakes a defender out of his jock the signal calling reading the defense calling a hot route.

Can you feel it ? are you starting to sway to and fro ? Are you ready for some 

 ?

                      Hello Is this thing on?

Well Idecided to remain JOKERSWILD thanks to B@O and all that wanted me to keep the screen name. Sorry about any confusion lack of Football and Beer will do that to you..   Ha !

  A few things here I just wanted to get you the readers take on.

First raise your hand if you have had it to here with the Soap Opera that is Brett Favre...............Ok I can't see your hands this is a blog..Ha !  My take is I wish he would have just stayed retirerd and had ridden into the sunset.

So who do you think will be in the playoffs in baseball and who is going to take it all..besides Debbie from Dallas...Ha ! My take is the Yankees are going to find a way to get it done..

NFL Preseason is upon us can I get a  Hell Ya?

I am so ready for some football I can't wait for the heartburn  from all the tailgating food and the stress  from rooting for your team and the losing of your voice- Oh but its so worth it.

Can anybody tell me what the syndrome is called that apparently Steve Smith suffers from it has something to do with being short stupid and cocky..Ha !

Big Brown seems to be healthy again which raises the question was his previous race fixed or was he injured or do you even care ? My take someone got paid. Ha !

Who is going to be crowned the champion in college football this year ? This should be an interesting NCAA football season lots of teams look really good..

My take is a rematch between Florida and The Buckeyes for the championship and this time the third time is the charm for the Bucks..Ha !

   And last but not least who is going to win the chase in Nascar?

My Take well I think those who know me will know that answer.

"Go Jr Go".........................              

Is it just me or does watching golf really suck now that Tiger Isn't playing?