Boxing Day can only mean one thing. Bloody Marys and EPL soccer! Not one, not two, not three, not four, but five matches today. Doubt if I can last through all of them, but I'll get bits and pieces of most as I decompress from the holiday.

Ah, Christmas! A morning which started in such an odd way, I had to soak it in. You see, when I went to grab the morning paper, there was silence. Total fucking silence.



As in no birds, no traffic, no walkers, no car doors...nothing. It was so awesome, I had to sit on the steps and relish it. Truly incredible and startling at the same time, because that is such a rarity around these parts.

Ah, Christmas! Another year I don't get any books as gifts. I think I'm being taunted by this now. This year, four titles made my list and not one showed up. Santa and I need to have a sitdown or a beatdown, I'd say. But I am appreciative of what I did get, so I cannot complain that much.

Meal of Links

OK, this is freaky! Hey, I saw a guy play this song at CSU on a harmonica, so I know freaky.

More 10th graders smoke more hippy lettuce than cigarettes. Time to regulate?

You don't visit a zoo and think a tiger could kill you. I guess it can happen.

Exercise Yard

Speaking of EPL, Randy Lerner's Other Team was on the early match today and it was terrific to watch. Aston Villa travelled to Chelsea and it was a 4-4 Christmas cracker. Eight goals, three red cards, Frank Lampard injured, the Matt Damon-looking Michael Ballack making his first Cheslsea appearance of the year, and overall a great match.

Villa went up 2-0 and it looked like Lerner's team was a shoo-in for a win. A penalty by Shevchenko got Chelsea back to 2-1 in injury time before the half and put the Villans down to 10 men. He also tied it in the first 5 minutes of the second half. Then he later set up the Brazilian Alex and he made it 3-2 Chelsea. Usually the Brazilians come up with names like Zico, Socrates, or Pele, but Alex? He and Fred must be starting a new wave.

I thought Villa was dead, but Laursen scored off a free kick on a great goal and that tied it. Very seldom does a team score with only 10 men. A red card on Chelsea eventually evened up the sides again. Then Ballack put in a free kick in the 88th minute to put Chelsea back in front, 4-3. With time running out, there was an intentional hand ball called on Chelsea. That red card along with the associated penalty allowed Gareth Barry to tie the match at 4-4 for Aston Villa. That was a roller coaster of a match to start the day.

In the second match, Steven Gerrard saved Liverpool's bacon with a goal in the 89th minute for a 2-1 win over Derby. Well, they call it "Darby" over there, and they are the worst team in the league, so it was quite an effort from them.

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57 Across: Boo Boo (15 letters) Answer: Yogi Bear's friend