Fashion No-Show!

That's me, Blockade Boy, since Jeremy's computer crashed on Monday morning. The big fancy computer company's service center blames Jeremy for not creating his recovery disks soon enough. So they're charging him for shipping out new ones, which probably won't get here until Friday. Probably because they're coming from India. No, seriously. Maybe. This is my last chance until then to work on an internet-capable computer (don't ask) so I wanted to just say "Sorry about the delay." I had a nice little post planned with red carpet coverage of a Dazzler concert, featuring the return of a superheroine outfit nobody wanted to see again. It'll have to wait, now. And I'd like to give an especially sincere "sorry" to Jon the Intergalactic Gladiator because that e-mail you sent me got destroyed in the crash with everything else and I had only skimmed it before that happened. So I'll need you to send it to me again after the computer is fixed. (Dang it.) Sorry. I'll let everyone here know as soon as we get things back up and running. So, no pictures today. As a kind-of consolation prize, I now turn things over to Jeremy the Football Newbie and his coverage of Monday night's Steelers/Jaguars game. Rock it, J-Man!

Thanks, Blockade Boy. I had decided at the start of the season to root for the Chiefs and the Steelers so last night was freaking horrible. The Jaguars stomped the Steelers 9-0, making it the lowest-scoring game in the history of Monday Night Football. If I understood the announcers right, it was also the first time the previous season's Super Bowl champs were shut out since the Raiders in 1981 (it happened to them three times that year! What, did the entire team contract Epstein-Barr Syndrome over the summer?) Still, it was cool to see Ben Roethlisberger in action (first time, for me) -- impressive even though he was playing with a 104-degree fever! Some random notes:

• According to the announcers, the game drew a "sellout crowd!" Yeah, I liked that crowd a lot better before they went all commercial. The phonies.
• Thank you, NFL, for showing me why comic book artist are still designing superheroine costumes with out-of-fashion belly shirts. It's because all the cheerleaders are wearing them.
• Playing left tackle for the Steelers was #77, Marvel Smith. Sidelined: Valiant Juarez, Fantagraphics Davidovich and Kitchen Sink Kaufman, as well as twins Red Circle and Impact Al-Bashir. (Now there's an obscure reference!)
• In the first quarter, ESPN showed a detailed graphic of Roethlisberger's inflamed intestine. Three months from now it will be swiped by Greg Horn for a She-Hulk cover.
• The announcers said Jaguars' #18 Matt Jones has "a five-inch advantage" over Steelers' #24 Ike Taylor. I know sports fans love their stats but isn't that kinda personal?
• Nobody commented on the fact that one of the refs was wearing the Living Eraser's bracelets on his hands. Nor did the fact that the silvery robot doomsday device from that old Star Trek episode was flying ominously over the field.
• On a sign held aloft by a Jaguars fan: "Every Steelers Possession Nullified." My visceral reaction: "How dare you, good sir! *slaps fan with white linen glove* We shall meet on the field of honor. Pistols at dawn!" On the other hand, maybe the fan was a Catholic priest and he was just being helpful.
• Other signs spotted by the camera at the end of the game: "Every Steelers Player's Nightmare" and "wE Spare Pittsburgh No pain." Damn, my dueling schedule is going to be packed. Just as well. It's not like I'm going to be doing any posting for the next few days. *grumbles*

Wish me luck with the computer, pals, and I'll post again as soon as it's fixed!