I took a group of kids roller skating today. I am not a big fan of roller skating. I can't do any triple axles or double toeloops. In fact, I can barely turn left. But I bet I can skate better than any zebra. In my three hours at Marina Skate in Pittsburg, I probably made 5 laps. (On a non-skating note, the Daytona 500 is in less than a month!!) The majority of my time was spent on pinball and playing one of those video games where you use a shotgun to shoot ducks. It is hard to shoot ducks while wearing roller skates. The best part was seeing a man in a big green alligator suit (Skater Gator) doing the Hokey-Pokey with about 100 kids. He was shaking it all around. Perhaps next week, I will bring my all powerful One ring and kill the skating alligator. Yes, there will be a next week. And the week after that. Today was just the first of three consecutive weeks that I will be bringing a group of kids roller skating. Why, you may ask? When you work in inner-city youth ministry, sometimes there are no easy answers. I don't exactly know what that means, but in this case, I guess it's that my boss likes roller skating.


Two more weekends of NFL action with 4 teams left. The 49ers loss last week followed by the senseless firing of Steve Mariucci has cooled off my NFL playoff fever. My hatred for the 49ers management and ownership are only surpassed by by dislike for the whole Raiders organization and its followers. Coming into this week, I am at 3-5 for playoff picks, so I still have a chance to finish above .500.

NFC Championship: Tampa Bay vs. Philly All the home teams won last week, so home field advantage must mean something. Buy some Chunky soup and watch the Eagles win this game. That's Chunky soup, not Chuckie's soup. Jon Gruden brings the curse of the Raiders with him to his new team.

AFC Championship: Tennessee vs. Oakland Despite the fact the Raiders are playing at home, I am picking the Titans. The Titans won on a bad roughing the kicker call in OT last week. Those type of things tend to lead teams to the Super Bowl. Don't believe me? Just ask the Raiders about the tuck rule.