TGIF…. you all know what it means. I mean BEFORE it was a popular restaurant chain (how many pieces of flare are YOU wearing?)

15 years ago, as a thirteen-year-old lad, Friday nights were spent in front of the television watching such family-friendly shows as Family Matters, Boy Meets World, Step by Step, and Hangin’ With Mister Cooper (really, that was the TGIF lineup from 1993-95, if you don’t believe me, click this link: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/TGIF_(ABC)#TGIF_lineup_history).

No, this blog isn’t a rant about the quality of yester-year’s family television programing compared to what there is today on network television. I’m just damn glad it’s Friday.

Last night, the Nebraska Cornhuskers went into the Little Apple (Manhattan, KS) and walked away with a 48-13 victory. Watching Taylor (T-Magic) Martinez have his way with the Wildcats’ defense put a big smile on all of Husker Nation. Through five games, the redshirt freshman leads the nation in touchdowns. Yes, through the same amount of games, T-Magic has more touchdowns than Michigan quarterback Denard Robinson. Also, the Blackshirts defense played fast, played downhill, and appeared ready for their final run through the Big 12. Speaking of running through, anyone else catch Lavonte David, the JuCo transfer linebacker for Nebraska? He had ten tackles by the mid-way point of second quarter. I foresee “All-American” among his honors at the end of the year. Cornerback Prince Amukamara is, according to Mel Kiper, a top-five draft pick. Nolan Nawrocki from www.ProFootballWeekly.com claims Amukamara is the top senior cornerback in the country. High praise, indeed.

Ok, that’s enough gushing over the Big Red (Jared Crick is a first-round pick. Roy Helu Jr, Rex Burkhead, and Niles Paul are other names I didn’t have time to mention… until now). Let’s move on.

Today is October 8, 2010. 139 years ago, ALLEGEDLY, a cow knocked over a lantern in a barn and started the fire. However, the reporter for the Chicago Republican (haha like there are any of those) claimed 22 years later that he made up the story of Mrs. O’Leary’s cow because he thought it’d make for colorful copy. Here you go, get educated. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Great_Chicago_Fire The thing about the Chicago Fire is that no matter what the city is now, at one point it was a center of industry, culture, etc. Now, I think it is seen more as overrun by crime, corruption (I can say that, I live in Illinois and not in the Chicago metro area. Yes, that place does exist), and a team that hasn’t won the World Series since 1908. You see, Chicago was a city built primarily much of wood and hence, why it burned so easily. But immediately following the fire, the city started to be re-built using steel, and Chicago became one of the most populous and economically important American cities. It’s more like a phoenix than the city of Phoenix… I’m just saying.

It IS Friday, and since the rest of my weekend is pretty busy, I’m going to relax at home tonight with my wife and our dog. We will watch Smallville and Supernatural and then, I’ll probably fall asleep. Tomorrow, I’m taking the opportunity to sleep in. Then I’m working in the afternoon and hanging out with my friend who is in town from Omaha.

It’s the weekend, but it’s the weekend before the Mount Vernon (IL) Jaycees House of Horror opens, so there won’t be a lot of free time.

Things I have to concentrate on for NEXT weekend: being covered in blood, wielding a hatchet, buying/preparing/cooking chicken wings for the Steelers/Browns game when my black n gold brother from another mother comes over, and Nebraska hosting Texas on Saturday. Eight days until the #RedOut.