Way to make it dirty Blake: It took me a few days of email catching-up, but I finally learned that Nashville vlogger and zefrank-inspired Blake Wylie got a shout-out from Ze on Friday.

Sports section: I went to the Titans-Jets game today. Down 16-0 at the beginning of the fourth quarter, the Titans came back to tie the game. The Jets then scored a touchdown and the Titans responded by pushing down the field to the eight yard line. But then, the magic went poof and the Titans lost 23-16.

This is my seventh season of being a Titans fan. During that time, I’ve attended almost every home game and have watched all but maybe two or three away games on TV. I have never followed a team as closely over a long period of time — not even an SEC team. At some point in watching games — especially if one attends the games live — you begin to connect individual plays with previous individual plays you’ve seen in years past. Or players with previous players. Or drives with previous drives. Or games with previous games. Or crowd reactions with previous crowd reactions.

Today’s game was filled with such moments for me. The first quarter, and the Titans early impressive defense, reminded me of the 1999 Titans. That season also came to mind when the crowd booed the coach’s choice of quarterbacks. The come- back and disappointing fizzle at the end reminded me of, well, no Titans fan would ever want to recall the specific game that turn of events reminds us of.

I can’t find it now, but one of the pre-season prognosticators suggested that the best-possible scenario for the Titans this year is an 8-8 record. I try to ignore such pre-season predictions, but after seeing some of the holes in the Titans game today, I hope the writer is correct. There were glimpses of hope, but there is something lacking…hmmm, what could it be? Oh, yea. Now I remember.

This year is unique for me. Except for on November 12, I am an official fan of two NFL teams. For as long as Steve McNair plays quarterback for the Baltimore Ravens, and they are not playing the Titans, I am a fan. And believe me, if it were any team but the Ravens, this would be easier. Today, McNair looked impressive in leading the Ravens to a 27-0 victory over the Tampa Bay Bucs. Sorry Tampa relatives. (For the record, I still do not like Ray Lewis.)

Technorati Tags: nashville, ravens, steve mcnair, titans

It’s still cool to say iPod is losing its cool: A Guardian article today about iPods losing their cool reminded me of a two-year old post I made about a similar observation by self-appointed experts in what is and isn’t cool.

In the subsequent two years, about 50 gazillion iPods have sold. By the way, the Guardian article includes this non-sourced claim: “Sales are declining at an unprecedented rate.” I’ve tried, but I can’t discover where that factoid is from. I can find indications that rates of growth are a bit below plan and others that suggest “growth rate” has slowed, but I can’t find anything that backs up the Guardian’s claim that sales are declining — much less, that they’ve declined in an “unprecedented rate.” Indeed even in the latest official quarterly report, Apple reported that sales of iPods are up 32 percent from a year earlier. Note to math-challenged reporters: Declines in rates of growth are not the same as “declining sales.”

I have lots of complaints regarding Apple and their smugness and their legal department and their, well, I have a long list. But I’d never bet against the company’s ability to create cool products and cool marketing to support them.

Technorati Tags: apple, ipod, mac