Monday Morning QB - 11/21

The Bucs offense came through again to pull of a surprising win against the Atlanta Falcons. The Falcons started off the game undisciplined, causing a lot of their own problems with bad penalties and lack of focus. However, once they got settled down in the second quarter they were hard to stop... or should I say impossible to stop. The Bucs defense were unable to keep the Falcons from converting third downs and Atlanta scored five consecutive drives. But the offense equalled their effort with a late TD by Cadillac and field goal by Matt Bryant to win the game.

For the third week in a row the Bucs defense has been horrible. If they can't force a turnover, they can't stop their opponent. The Falcons racked up 456 yards of total offense, the Redskins 389 yards and the Panthers 287. That's 1132 yards in offense in three weeks against this Bucs D. Not a good trend. This will eventually cost us games unless they fix it fast.

My prediction: Falcons 24, Bucs 21

Score: Bucs 30, Falcons 27

Offense: B. Cadillac was back on track, running for 116 yards for the game. His two best runs were his nine yard scamper for a TD late in the game and the eight yards he gained to move Matt Bryant into field goal range to win the game. Simms, again, played well. He had one bad pass that cost us points, but he made critical passes when the offense needed it most.

Defense: D. I'll say almost exacly what I said last week... Could not stop the pass, could not get off the field. We did not force a punt in the second half and, at one point, the Falcons were 10 of 11 on third down conversions.

Special Teams: B. Bryant scores 12 of our 30 points.

Coaching: C. Kiffin STILL has to get the defense better quick. Gruden's offense gameplan took advantage of Atlanta's weaknesses.

Outstanding Players: Simms, Williams and Bryant.

Things That Drove Me Nuts: The defense's inability to get off the field and stop third down conversions. Frustrating.

Bucs Record: 7-3.

Next Opponent: The Bucs play at home against the surprising Bears, who beat and beat up the Panthers 13-3. The Bears defense is playing exceptionally well and it will be a tough task for the Bucs to win this game at home.

A Day Of Non-Rest

Today will be busy as Dea and I try to wrap up some things around the house... finishing work in the home theater room, cleaning up, etc. in anticipation of the Thanksgiving holiday.

I hope everyone has a wonderful day today.

Surfing In A Digital Entertainment Universe

The entertainment industry is in a unique transitional phase right now and I'm trying to figure out where I fit into it. There are and will be opportunities to be a maverick during this phase, but that window of opportunity will close pretty quickly. Once the media giants figure out how to control and make money in the digital entertainment television universe, the chance of being an innovator in the field will evaporate.

Over the next decade you'll see the merging of the internet and television as well as the explosion of high definition programming. The first step is merging the internet with TV, where you select what you want to watch on the internet and you download it to the harddrive on your Digital Video Recorder/Player (DVR), like TIVO. Then you can watch what you want when you want.

You're starting to see some of this already. Yahoo and TIVO have made deals. ABC and CBS are offering programming for $.99 per download and the service Akimbo has numerous major and minor content providers such as IFILM, A&E, The History Channel and Turner Classic Movies. Akimbo also recently made a deal with Microsoft to incorporate their Media Center to make high definition content available for viewing via Akimbo as well.

The Akimbo/Microsoft Media Center Offering.

The good thing at this point is that you don't need to be a major network to provide content. And I think that's the niche that's exploitable. If television truly becomes an on-demand existence, then, like the internet itself, there will be opportunities to offer niche content, specific to a smaller segment of the population, but available through the same interface. The internet has web pages dedicated to everything under the sun... video on demand will be able to offer the same variety.

There are a couple of niche's I think are waiting to be explored... but I'll keep those to myself for now. The key is going to be able to create that content in a way that can be financially supported by an on-demand niche vierwer base. The quality of the program has to be high, as you are now competing against everyone else. But the quality of the CONTENT of the program, i.e. the subject, the writing, the execution, will make you stand above the rest.

There's also an opportunity to be a player in the high definition content provider space as well. I have high def and only have about 10 channels to watch, with Discovery High Definition Theater showing the highest quality images on HDTV available. The problem is that High Defintion under the current technology and business model is cost prohibitive for the niche content provider.

Ted Turner was a genius when it came to turning content into money. His greatest achievement was when he bought the MGM library and created Turner Network Television and Turner Classic Movies. If I had the capital, I would be gobbling up content right now, as there may be a good chance to recoup that money on a per download basis in our on-demand future.

In order for a niche content provider to be able to compete against the media giants in the same virtual space will require an overhaul of the current television production/editing paradigm. There are some new technologies out there that may make high definition affordable to fill this market. And trust me, once you go high definition, there is no going back. On the right, large screen, after watching a high def image and then watching standard definition image is equivalent to watching color TV vs. black and white.

In the end, the niche content provider will need to be able to provide high definition content in a business model that supports a limited potential viewer base.

That's the challenge... and I'm working on it :)

Predictor Pete - Week Ten

In one of the most exciting games in recent history, the Bucs overcame the resilient Redskins by converting a rare two point conversion to win the game, 36-35. Chris Simms was great at throwing the long ball and has improved a lot since his first start against the 49ers just a few weeks ago.

This week the Bucs take on the Falcons in Atlanta, who lost a "should have won" game against the 2-7 Green Bay Packers. That loss should re-energize and refocus the Falcons in the game against the Bucs.

Winning road divisional games is a tough task. Usually, the way that is accomplished is that the road team has to be efficient and not turn the ball over... and the home team has to turn the ball over and not be able to run the ball. The Panthers win over the Bucs in Tampa is a perfect example of how to win road divisional game.

Now that we are playing more quality opponents, the Buc defense is showing a greater weakness at stopping the run. Atlanta is very good at running the ball, with Duckett, Dunn and Vick, and they usually rack up high rushing yardage against their opponents. Historically, the Bucs have played well against the Falcons. However, the only way I see the Bucs winning in Atlanta is to get some early turnovers and points.

My Heart: Bucs 28-27.
My Mind: Falcons 23-17.
My Colon: Falcons 32-10.

My Pick: Falcons 24-21...

Like last week, my gut tells me the Bucs can win this game... but that feeling is as strong as it was against the Redskins, so I'll let my mind take precedence this week.

My Record: 6-3

Parents Being Parents

The one thing about being a parent is that you never stop being a parent. And this is something you can't really comprehend until you actually become a parent.

I'm turning 40 soon and my parents are both around 80... yet, my Mom is still my Mom and my Dad is still my Dad and they have the same parental concerns, hopes and dreams for me that they had when I was an infant, a toddler, a teen and an adult. I'm still their youngest child... their "baby" and always will be.

It is one of the beautiful constants in life.

On a recent Saturday morning my kids came into our bedroom and jumped on the bed, squeezing in between me and my wife. My daughter said "I never feel safer than I do right now." And I was immediately brought back to a similar memory with the same feeling. I remember, as a child, getting in between my parents on their bed on Saturday mornings and feeling completely loved and relaxed. I have never felt that sense of safety as I did then.

As I have mentioned in previous posts, as I get older and become more aware of the depth of parenthood and it gives me a greater appreciation for God... as our parent. He too has hopes, dreams and concerns for us. He too wishes we wouldn't make bad choices and He hurts when we must pay the consequences those choices require. He too misses us when we are away. He too longs to spend time with us. And, when we are enveloped by Him, we too are never more safe.

Just today, my mother sent me the following, one sentence email...

"I was just driving back from the hairdresser and thinking of how much I love you. Ma."

After all of these years, a sentence like that is still priceless to me.

And it made me wonder... how many times a day does God think about how much He loves us?

Boob Tube

"Television is an invention that permits you to be entertained in your living room by people you wouldn't have in your home."
– David Frost

How true.

Dining At The Theological Buffet

Over the course of our life, God shows us enough so that we may know our path, yet hides enough so that we may live our faith.

I believe that any faith, including Catholicism, is a belief structure that you either accept or not. Faiths are not democracies that change with every social whim; with morals up for public determination. Faiths should be clearly defined paths to salvation that should remain strict, clear and firm. Sure, faiths must determine how scientific and social issues fit into the faith structure, but they should not be guided by such things.

For example, science allowed the act of abortion to be a health choice for women. The Catholic Church had to evaluate that act and determined, under their faith structure and understanding of the Gospels, that such an act was the murder of the unborn. Other faiths have determined it not to be murder or have not taken a stand on the issue one way or the other. But, since faiths are not theological buffets where one can pick and choose what they will and will not follow and since the Catholic Church has deemed abortion murder, then no Catholic, in adherence to their faith, can be pro-choice.

It is simply not an option.

Now, there are a lot of people who believe they are Catholics, who attend church, that are pro-choice, but, since it is in direct opposition to their faith, they cannot truly call themselves Catholic. They must make a choice. They must pray and ask themselves "What do I believe?" What does it mean to be a Catholic? Why does the Catholic Church hold such beliefs? After understanding what the Church believes and what I believe, can I still call myself a Catholic?

The same goes for the death penalty. The same goes for contraception.

Catholicism is a hard faith to live. It has very high standards. They sometimes fly in the face of the socially acceptable mores of the time. But, it is not, nor should it be, a democracy. It is what it is. It has rarely changed and has stood firm against a growing displeasure with its hard stances on moral issues.

For a while during my youth I used to say "I don't agree with the Catholic Church on..." this issue or that issue. But, what I came to realize is that, it wasn't that I didn't agree with the Catholic Church… it was that I didn't understand why the Catholic Church held such beliefs. I realized that the Church was basing its beliefs on 2000 years of understanding and faith structure and I was basing my opinions on a ten minute piece on 60 minutes... what the hell did I know?

If your faith is important to you, you will take the time to understand its roots before saying we should chop down the tree. So, I researched why the Church held such high moral standards on many things which are unpopular stances today. And, you know what? Every time I have researched it and understood where the Church was coming from, I couldn't help but agree. That doesn't mean that it was easy to incorporate that moral stand into my daily life. To the contrary. But, their arguments for such stances were linked to such clear and strong moral sources that I could not create an effective argument to defeat it.

Unfortunately, most people don't take the time to do the research. They're too “busy.” But, they sure feel absolute in their opinions that fly in the face of Church dogma... even though they don't even understand what Church dogma is...

I’m not trying to sound righteous or without compassion, but its important to understand that, when it comes to a faith, you either are a part of it or not. You either accept it or you don’t. You either follow all of it or you follow none of it.

Faith is not a lukewarm decision. It is an all or nothing existence.

That makes it hard… unbearably tough to live up to at times. But, like everything else, the most important and rewarding things in life are often the hardest to achieve.

Monday Morning QB - 11/14

The Bucs stopped there 1-3 slide to win a very exciting game over the Washington Redskins. Everyone, including myself, thought this game was going to be low scoring. Both teams had top 10 ranked defenses and both offenses were inconsistent. No one anticipated a 36-35 victory by the Bucs.

The Bucs moved the ball well on offense. This may be the game where we look back to see it was Chris Simms coming out party... where things started to click for the young QB. He's still young, he's still going to have bad games (see Eli Manning yesterday against the Vikes), but yesterday the game was all on his shoulders and he pulled it out. Hitting Shepard in the end zone with one minute left to tie the game was amazing. And Alstott, the fan favorite and under utilized FB/HB scored two TDs and the all important game winning two point conversion. It was a great game.


My prediction: Bucs 20, Redskins 17

Score: Bucs 36, Redskins 35

Offense: B. Passing game was great. Running game was below average again, which is a concern. Even hero Alstott only ran for 21 yards on nine carries. But give Gruden credit for getting Alstott more involved into the game.

Defense: D. Could not stop the run, could not get off the field. We did not force a punt in the second half and the Redskins ran for over 100 yards... without a long running play... all in chunks, which means they were consistently able ot run the ball.

Special Teams: D. Awful kickoff return of a TD when the Bucs could have gone into half time dominating.

Coaching: B. Gruden and Simms figured out how to pull out a win. Kiffin has to get the defense better quick. If we can't stop the run against Atlanta next week, we won't win that game, plain and simple.

Outstanding Players: Simms, Galloway and Shephard... oh, and Alstott. They carried the team to victory.

Things That Drove Me Nuts: The defense's inability to get off the field and stop third down conversions. Frustrating.

Bucs Record: 6-3.

Next Opponent: Atlanta may have been looking past the Packers to their game at home against the Bucs next week and they paid the price. The Pack beat the Falcons and Atlanta should be focused for the Bucs game. This is a critical divisional game and it will be a good indicator if the Bucs offense can repeat their success and if the Bucs defense can overcome their failures.

The Attack Of The Attack

Well, this weekend I've had my first Crohn's attack in over a year and a half. It wasn't an overly bad attack, but I'm still suffering from it today. All of my weekend plans have been shot and I'll be lucky to have a full meal over the course of the weekend.

I just get to drink a lot of water and offer up the suffering to God. Beyond that, it's sit and wait.

Chronic illnesses... they're the gift that keeps on giving.

What Drives Men

Okay... here's the skinny on Men. Pride. That's what drives us. We need our women to be proud of us. Above love, above happiness... pride. That's the thing. Learn it. Know it. Be it.

Men are inherently problem solvers. That's what we do. We see a problem, we solve it. We don't talk about it, we don't share our feelings about it, we figure it out and move on. And, the reward for this "gift" is that our women will appreciate our accomplishments... they will be proud of us.

So, those of the fairer sex, if you want to get your man to do what you want, tell them it will make you proud of them. They'll climb on a roof, strip naked and paint themselves with popcorn butter if you'll find that a worthy accomplishment. Really. We are that easy to manipulate.

This also plays into shopping. Men can't shop the way women do. Men find no value in the "experience" of shopping... none, nada, zippo. We go shopping because you want us to, but we hate every single measurable millisecond of the experience. If you are going to force your man to go shopping, give him something to achieve... tell him you're looking for a blue blouse and, wallah, we now have something to accomplish... our eyes will scour high and low looking for a blue blouse. It doesn't really matter if you're looking for a blue blouse. What matters is that we have something specific to hunt and gather. And, in the end, by bringing home the kill, you will be proud of us.

So, make us happy, tell us of those things we do that make you proud of us. We'll beam the rest of the day. Trust me on this one.

Shared Excitement... The Down Side

In my previous post I mentioned the critical moment in my life where my passion for filmmaking was expressed in my wife's excitement for my achievement.

She has also felt the downside of my passions. You see, ignorance is truly bliss. The more you know about filmmaking and television, the more critical you are of films you see. You're no longer watching with a passive eye, but with a critical one.

This was never more evident than about a year into my stint at Nickelodeon. My wife had been on set numerous times watching the taping of Clarissa Explains It All and had seen how the show was put together. One of the daily challenges for the lighting and sound crew are what are called Boom Shadows. On a sitcom, there are Boom Microphone operators that move the mics around the set, anticipating which actor will speak next and move the microphone into position accordingly. It's kinda cool to see finely tuned Boom Operators at work.

However, the lighting guys also have to light the set correctly. And the thing they often have to watch out for is that their light won't cause a shadow of the long boom microphone to show up against the set wall.

Well, one day, my wife and I are on the couch watching Roseanne on TV and during one scene we notice a Boom Shadow against the Roseanne set. My wife quickly blurts out "boom shadow"... then, realizing that the magic of television had been stripped from her, turned toward me and said in a slow, even voice.... "I hate you."

Her shared excitement of my filmmaking passions had led her down a path where the work behind the magic had been exposed and she could not help but watch television and films with a critical eye. That "loss of innocence" was palatible at that moment and her cinematic ignorance was lost forver.

Predictor Pete - Week Ten

The Bucs finished the first half of the season 5-3. If you were to tell me that before the season, I would have been very happy. However, knowing they were 4-0 at one point, albiet against very poor teams, it's hard to swallow three loses in their last four games.

So, they enter the "third quarter" of the season against the surprising Washington Redskins. The Redskins have a tough defense and a QB playing younger than his age.

For all intents and purposes, the Bucs should lose this game. The Redskins are on the rise. The Bucs have been on the slide. But, something tells me this game, the ball will bounce their way. The close plays will result in turnovers for our defense and running for our offense. It'll be close, but for no logical reason, I think the Bucs can do it.

My Heart: Redksins 17-14.
My Mind: Redskins 17-10.
My Colon: Redskins 21-17.

My Pick: Bucs 20-17...

The score will more than likely fall in line with my colon's pick, but something tells me the Bucs will do it this week. We need a running game. We need third down conversions. We need to win the turnover battle.

My Record: 5- 3... just like the Bucs.

They Now Have An Offense...

My brother Charles and his wife Betty are the proud parents of their 11th child. Stephen Peter Bauer was born yesterday, weighing in at 9 lbs 1 oz. They can now officially field the offensive side of a football team.

Not only are the other 10 of their kids simply great kids, but the 11th's middle name is my first name. It took a LONG time to get this far. You see, I'm the last of seven kids. Charles and Betty named each of their boys with the middle names of each of Charles' brothers first names, in chronological order. Does that make sense? So, it took 11 kids for them to have enough boys so my name would be included in the mix.

I couldn't be happier for them. Welcome to the family, Stephen.

Shared Excitement

My wife amazes me. She is such a better person than I am. Her ability to put up with me and those things that drive me, my passions, continues to astound me.

I've wanted to make movies since I was nine years old. When my wife married me, she married that part of me as well. Even though she does not share that passion or drive, she loves me enough that my goals peripherally become her's.

The first time this was most evident was in the mid-90s. I was working at Nickelodeon Studios in Orlando. We were newly married and life was nothing but opportunities waiting to be grasped. I had written a screenplay called One View Only and sent it off to the Worldfest Houston Screenplay Competition. Weeks passed and one day I got an excited call from my wife. In the mail was a notification that I had won third prize for the script.

In her Italian-heritage excited volume, she yelled to me that I had won. I can still hear the excitement in her voice. She knew how much it meant to me and my excitement becamed her's as well. At that moment I felt she finally understood, on some level, or could at least appreciate the passions that had been in me since childhood.

That moment was a far greater and longer lasting reward than any screenplay contest could ever offer.

God's Secrets

Sometimes I wonder if God has secrets...

God knows everything, but doesn't let us know everything. Is it because we can't handle the knowledge, can't comprehend it? Or is it because we are not responbile enough to manage the information correctly. And I'm not talking big picture creation of the universe types of secrets. I'm talking about secrets He has about my life. Things he knows about me or my journey that he hasn't told me about. Knoweldge about my relationships, goals, failings and strengths.

Or is our journey about uncovering that knowlege? Discovering those secrets?

Hmmm... I wonder.

Fortune Cookie

Had Chinese again for lunch. Today's fortune:

Age can never hope to win while your heart is young.

Yeah, talk to my joints fighing arthritis or my muscles, which refuse to stay young. Age is winning... slowly, constantly, painfully, but definitely winning. :)

Hanging With The Heavenly

In response to my Life With Crohns posts, my sister Mary asked me to relay a story about my visit with the Trinity...

So, here goes...

It was about 22 years ago... I was in high school and I was heavily involved with our church youth group. For me, it was during my teen years in which my faith was most pure... child-like almost. I had matured enough to understand the depth of my faith, yet I was untested by the realities of life that impede my ability to believe in it whole-heartedly.

Now, I come from a family of huggers… we greet each other with a hug, we say good-bye with a hug… we’re just touchy-feely in that way. And the one thing I wanted to do more than anything as a teen was to give Jesus a big bear hug. I wanted that so badly, to express my affection for Him the way I expressed it to my family… I wanted to hug Him and thank Him for all he has done, for all that he means to me and my family.

At one of the masses, a visiting priest came and spoke of different methods of prayer. One of the ways he mentioned was to imagine you're in an elevator, traveling down to your soul. And, when you arrived, the doors would open and you would meet and talk with Jesus in a setting that made you most comfortable.

So, one night I decided to give this prayer method a try. I lay in bed one night and concentrated… hard. I was focused and determined and full of hope and excitement that it would work. So, I walk into the elevator and the doors closed behind me. I could feel the elevator shudder slightly as it started traveling down toward my soul.

As I approached my destination, light started to sparkle in the crack at the bottom of the door. It continued to sparkle and become brighter until it seemed as if the light was literally dancing at my feet. I could then feel the elevator begin to slow and I was suddenly filled with a growing sense of love… encompassing love… it’s hard to describe the exact feeling. It was as if I was wrapped in a warm blanket of security and love. I knew the doors were about to open.

And they did…

As the doors opened, bright light poured into the elevator. It was so bright it should have been painful, but it wasn’t. Once my eyes were acclimated, I stepped out of the elevator and found myself standing on a beautiful beach. In the distance I could hear the waves gently crashing against the sand and the breeze blew through my hair. It felt like paradise.

And standing in front of me, His dark brown hair blowing in the same breeze, a broad, welcoming smile on His bearded face, stood Jesus. The sense of love pouring out of Him to me was so strong, so constant, so comforting… again, it’s hard to effectively describe. It encompassed every cell of my body, surrounding me, cushioning me, filling me until I couldn't take any more… truly amazing.

What surprised me at first was His appearance. It was as if he had stepped right out of biblical times. He wore a burlap-type material, brown and dusty, with short-sleeves. The cloak traveled down to just above His knees and, around His waist, a rope was tied as a belt, keeping His garment in tact.

His face was slightly dirtied, as were His sandal covered feet. I don’t remember seeing His pieced hands or feet specifically, but I don’t remember not seeing them either. To be honest, it was hard to take my eyes off of His face… His loving eyes.

I immediately ran over to Jesus and hugged Him as hard as I could. It was the best feeling I had ever felt. When I hugged Him I was again surprised as His garment didn’t feel rough at all, but like silk… like huggin light, if that were possible.

I hugged Jesus so hard and thanked Him for everything that entered my mind. He was so instrumental in my every aspect of my life, he was my identity, so my list of thanks was quite long… family, friends, places, things, events, feelings, dreams, goals, and so on and so on. The entire time, he just smiled back at me, His eyes beaming with compassion and joy.

After I finally let Him go, we walked down the beach, talking. I was so excited and perhaps the most amazing thing was that he was just as excited to see me! As I rambled on about every thought that occurred to me, His eyes continued staring, flowing love and understanding into my soul. His face warmed me with a single smile that shined with affection.

I, too, found myself smiling constantly. I had never been so happy.

After our journey down the beach I was surprised for the third time upon seeing that God and the Holy Spirit were waiting. I know this is going to sound like a stupid statement, but God is pretty hard to describe. He face was older, yet full of the same love. He had glowing white hair and a beard that extended out into pure light. He was light with a face. It was the brightest light you could imagine, yet not painful to look at. Pure, white light. Yet, somehow, I was able to reach out and hug this Creator of all, feeling that same sensation of hugging silk. I thanked Him for everything that was racing through my mind. He was so full of love and so happy to see me… it was such a joy.

And then I turned to the Holy Spirit… in a day full of surprises, His appearance was the most unexpected. The images of God and Jesus I saw I could understand were somehow affected by pictures I had seen before, artistic depictions of God and Christ. But the Holy Spirit I saw was unique to me.

The Holy Spirit wore a similar style robe as Jesus, but it was made of bright, pure white silk-like material. The sleeves were very short and the material extended down to about half-thigh. He was very young and muscular… healthy. And, perhaps the most striking images were His clean-shaven face and His short cropped, dark hair. Somehow it made me wonder if His appearance matched His duties… God had always been, Jesus came and resurrected, and the Holy Spirit was active now, in our everyday lives, running from soul to soul, the most active part of the Trinity. So, it made sense to me that he was full of youthful exuberance.

Of course, what did I do? I hugged Him and thanked Him incessantly. What else? Again, it was like hugging light. I thanked Him profusely for everything I could think of.

And then I talked to all of them… specifically of what I can’t recall, really, but I can tell you it was great. I can’t emphasize enough the overwhelming sensation of love that filled my soul during this time. It was everywhere at once. In me, around me, everywhere.

And then, I suddenly realized that I had to leave. No one said that I had to go, I just knew inside. My time in paradise had expired for the moment and I had to go back home.

It was so disappointing, but I didn’t argue. I wouldn’t have won the argument anyway. :)

So, Jesus led me back to the elevator and I hugged Him one last time, again thanking Him… especially for the experience I was just granted. He smiled brightly as the elevator doors closed and, as the dancing lights slowly dissipated at my feet, the feeling of encompassing love slowly left me.

The elevator darkened and my eyes eventually opened, revealing to me that I was once again in my bed, staring up at the ceiling, a broad smile still filling my face and tears of joy streaming from my eyes.

It was truly a miracle to me.

Some may call it a dream. Others may call it an illusion. But I know it was neither. It was an experience, a journey, a gift given to me by God to stand in His presence, talking to His three persons… Father, Son and Holy Spirit.

It was an event that has never left me. And I can’t wait to return to that beach, for eternity, in the presence of the Trinity.

Monday Morning QB - 11/7

The Bucs continue their slide, dropping their third game in four to the much better Carolina Panthers. The Bucs dropped out of first place with the 34-14 loss behind the Panthers and the Atlanta Falcons. It is probably the last time they will see first place this season.

The winning formula for the Bucs is simple. Third down conversion and turnovers... control those two things and they win. In order to have a high third down conversion rate you need to have an effective running game. In every loss this season, with either Griese or Simms at QB, we have not been able to run. When we've run, we've won. Without a running game, the third downs are usually for over 5 yards, which makes them tough to consistently get.

And turnovers. Cadillac fumbles early, turns into points. Simms interception for a touchdown, turns into points. After Anthony Davis went out with a sprained knee, Todd Steussie came in and, like the last time Steussie covered Simm's backside, he got beat, Simms was sacked and lost the ball. That turned into points.

If we can't win the third down conversion and turnover stats, we'll lose every time. We're not good enough of a team to win any other way.

My prediction: Panthers 23, Bucs 12

Score: Panthers 34, Bucs 14

Offense: C-. Passing game was okay, but no running game again. Gruden's dislike of Mike Alstott because Dungy drafted him is costing the Bucs games. Every time Alstott touches the ball, good things happen. But Gruden is too stuck on his own perception of Alstott to simply look at who can best perform and put him in there.

I know every coach has a system they are trying to employ, but at some point you have to adjust that system to best utilize the players currently on your team. No one on the team gets more yardage after impact than Alstott. Not using him as a halfback with a weak offensive line and a young QB is stubborn, stupid and short sighted.

I'll tell you this, putting Alstott in as halfback can't make the running game any worse. It can only make it better.

Defense: D. Good in spurts, bad in others. When the game counted, no pressure on the QB, no sacks and no turnovers.

Special Teams: C. Uneventful and the Bucs have still not returned a kickoff for a TD... ever.

Coaching: C. The team got out muscled, out hustled and out coached.

Outstanding Players: Galloway. His speed is amazing. Unfortunatley, Simms was rarely afforded enough time in the pocket to let Galloway's speed burn past the Carolina DBs deep.

Things That Drove Me Nuts: The O and D lines getting pushed around all over the place.

Bucs Record: 5-3.

Next Opponent: Simms showed improvement this week, but the running game has to materialize again, or we won't stand a chance against the tough Washington Redskin defense. The blitz from every where and if Simms is going to have to win the game for us, we'll lose. He's not good enough for that yet.

The rest of the season will only get tougher. This young offense has to show just how much they care about winning and turn this thing around. If not, we'll keep bringing our C game while the opponents bring their A game.

Noah's Journey...

Many of you have been praying for my nephew Noah Koehler. He was born with some kidney problems and with weakened lung development. He was not expected to live. The doctors even told the parents to plan for a funeral.

However, after DJ, the father, and his pastor prayed over Noah, he immediately began to improve. Hundreds, if not thousands, of you have been praying for Noah since his birth and continue to do so to this day.

I just wanted to give everyone an update. Our miracle baby is doing very well. We all had dinner last night and he has grown quite a bit (see below).



He still has some kidney issues that will need to be surgically repaired, but they want to wait until he nears at least a year old. So, next Spring, they will schedule that surgery. Depending on the success of that surgery, others may be in the offering... its hard to tell at this point.

In any event, the parents and the entire family are very grateful for your prayers. I can tell you from first hand experience that they have worked in saving this boy's life. Please continue to pray for him so that his upcoming obstacles may be overcome with great success.

Thank you again.

Happy Birthday Paul

Today is my brother Paul's birthday.

Happy birthday Paul. He has always been the most supportive of my creative endeavors... the only one to "get it." He's my sounding board for ideas and he's donated time and money to both JUSTICE, THE BOX and THE BUSINESS TRIP.

Have a great day, Paul. Thanks for being there for me all these years.