#ManCandyMonday Atlanta Falcon Tony Gonzalez

On this Man Candy Monday congrats to tight end Tony Gonzalez of the Atlanta Falcons on making his 101st career touchdown catch. So sorry that you guys lost. I was really hoping you’d make it to the playoffs with an undefeated season!

Tony is a twelve-time Pro Bowler, holds the record for most touchdowns in a season and has career highs in both the number of touchdowns and reception yards. Tony is certain to be a Hall of Famer, but has yet to play in a playoff game. Here’s hoping you make it this year, especially with that winning smile!

On another note, Coach Ryan, when will you pull Sanchez and give Tebow a real chance? What have you got to lose? You’re already 3 and 6 and have lost 4 of your last 5 games. If you don’t want to put Tim in at quarterback, how about using him as some other kind of back. He’s big and strong and he’s got heart.

As Jimmy McGinty says in THE REPLACEMENTS, you need “miles and miles of heart” to win. Shane Falco understood, hopefully you will as well Coach Ryan.

Photo Credit: This file is a work of a sailor or employee of the U.S. Navy, taken or made during the course of the person’s official duties. As a work of the U.S. federal government, the image is in the public domain.

#ManCandyMonday It’s Tebow Time!

I was all ready to go out and buy a Tebow Denver Broncos jersey when they decided to go with Manning. No don’t get me wrong, I like Peyton Manning, I’m just not a fan of how they treated Tebow. I mean, taking down his photos immediately and trading him for a 4th and 6th draft round pick? For a man who helped get you into the playoffs?

No class. My one hope is that the Jets will treat him better, giving him a chance to maybe run the Wildcat for them or using him in another position, like halfback.

So anyway, It’s Tebow Time in NYC and I’m all for it! This photo is one of him from high school when he played in the All-American game.

TEBOW All-American High School

Aaron Rodgers and Clay Matthews Guilty Pleasures

You know I watched the Super Bowl yesterday like millions of people around the world. I was rooting for Green Bay – small town team owned by the public. #6 seed and suffering countless injuries that would have put another team in last place. What can I say? They were the underdog to me against the mighty Steelers.

So today I’ve got a duo of Guilty Pleasures from the Super Bowl Champs! From the offense none other than the stubble-cheeked Aaron Rodgers. From the defense, the long-haired and rock hard Clay Matthews.

Enjoy them ladies and take a moment to add your own football favorites!

Aaron Rodgers Photo Credit: Chad [email protected]
Clay Matthews Photo Credit: Bobak Ha’[email protected]

Guilty Pleasures Monday – Football and the Blog Tour!

If you know even a little bit about STRONGER THAN SIN, you know I’m a football fan in addition to being a baseball fan. I root for the JETS and GIANTS and hope that one day New Jersey will have its own football team. It’s why I invented the New Jersey MARAUDERS as Jesse Bradford’s team in the book.

My family and I were watching the Colts-Eagles game yesterday when one of the young players – Austin Collie – took a punishing hit. We held our breaths as he went down and prayed he would be okay since he was clearly injured. We learned later on that he suffered a concussion. So today is dedicated to this young man. Everything I’ve read about him indicates that he is an outstanding individual and I hope he heals quickly. (Photo Credit: BYU Cougars Football)

Today begins the ARE YOU STRONG ENOUGH Blog tour! Stop by one of the blogs to find out more about me and my books and to possibly win a prize as some of the blogs are hosting giveaways.

Kiss Me, Kill Me Tuesday – Parachute Jumps and Chuck

First let me preface this with: I love CHUCK. It’s a great spy romantic comedy suspense.

Last night’s episode kind of annoyed me. I think in many different kinds of stories we’re asked to suspend disbelief for certain things. In the case of CHUCK there are many of them, but the primary one is that a person’s mind can somehow be programmed to be a supercomputer. It’s like believing that people can be genetically engineered to be something other than human (LOL!).

But when it comes to real life things, it’s up to a writer to make sure those real life things are portrayed accurately.

Case in point: The escape from the villain’s jet using parachutes. Chuck and his seemingly more nerdy older spy guy put on parachutes. They don’t secure them in any fashion, just slip them over their shoulders. They open the door to a moving jet and it goes flying off. They have time for banter and then jump out. The remaining people in the jet, who are unsecured in any way, are able to stay on the jet.

So wrong from a real life perspective.

1. You need to secure the parachute pack or it might get pulled off your body when you engage the chute. That’s just common sense.

2. Most parachute jumps occur from about 13,000 feet. HALO (High Altitude Low Oxygen) jumps occur from about 25,000 to 35,000 feet. HALO jumps require bailout oxygen because of the lack of oxygen at those high altitudes.

3. Most passenger jets fly at altitudes of between 30,000 and 37,000 feet. Smaller business jets may fly at even higher altitudes. Some twin engine aircraft and prop planes may fly as low as 8,000 feet. At higher altitudes, jumping from any kind of jet operating at standard norms would require bailout oxygen.

4. Flying planes at those heights also requires something else: Cabin pressurization to prevent passengers and crew members to maintain a safe and comfortable environment. Think of the inside of the cabin as the inside of a bottle of champagne. What happens when you pop off the top? With explosive decompression, things may get sucked out of the plane if the hole in large enough (as in an open door) and if the difference in pressure from inside the cabin to out is high enough.

5. The normal air speed for the aircraft when parachuting is about 90 mph. Most common jet airliners travel between 450 and 600 miles per hour. Smaller jets usually fly about 100 miles slower, but Honda is introduced a new jet in 2006 that flies at 480 miles per hour.

So in other words, the jet plane parachute escape was totally implausible on various real life points. Again, while some liberties are allowed with certain fictionalized elements that form the basis of your story, you cannot skimp on facts. If a viewer or reader immediately says, “That’s so not realistic”, it draws them out of the story. It’s your job as a writer not to let that happen.

Hope you enjoyed today’s Kiss Me, Kill Me Tuesday.

On another note, don’t forget the various contests that are running to celebrate the release of STRONGER THAN SIN!

Today is the last day for the Bitten by Books release party and a chance to win a $50 gift card.

The ARE YOU STRONG ENOUGH contest and Fresh Fiction contest will be running until the end of November.

Thoughtful Thursday – Determination and Heart

With the big Jets game just days away, it makes me think of determination and how that can sometimes overcome the greatest of obstacles. How the strength of heart can move mountains or cross oceans.

My grandparents had determination and heart. They were from a small village, an aldea, in the province of Galicia in Spain. My grandfather’s family was poor – just a small family farm. His determination for a better life was what made him leave Spain and head to Cuba, then the land of opportunity for many Spaniards. As the daughter of the village blacksmith/gunsmith, my grandmother was the wealthier of the two, but she followed her heart across an ocean to be with my grandfather.

Their daughter, my mother, had both. When she didn’t like what was happening in Cuba, she decided to try and change it. When the change was worse than what had existed before, she was determined to make it better. It almost cost my mother her life. It did cost her the country that she loved and one and half years without my sister and me. That’s how long it took her to get us out of Cuba.

But she never lost heart during those one and a half years and she always thanked this Nation for the gifts it provided. I think my mom identified greatly with this Nation because it is one of determination and heart.

Born in dissatisfaction about unfair taxation and a distant king who would not listen to his subjects, the People of this Nation have prospered due to their determination to work hard and try to do better. As for heart, look no further than the reaction of the People to crises like the tsunami and now Haiti.

It’s the People who make a Nation what it is.

Which I guess leads to the Jets and their upcoming game against the Colts. Peyton Manning is arguably one of the finest quarterbacks ever with one of the best teams in football sharing the field with him. It’ll be a tough game for the Jets to beat the Colts. No doubt about it.

But I’m hoping the Jets have greater heart and determination much like my alma mater Villanova did back in 1985 when they pulled a Cinderella upset over what had been a dominant Georgetown team throughout the regular season.

Of course, if the Jets do win, I may be faced with a difficult dilemma if Minnesota also wins (Go Vikings!!).

Why? Because it’s tough not to root for the old guy especially when Favre is probably having one of his best seasons ever.

But I grew up watching the Jets practice at Hofstra. Even saw Jo Willy Namath throwing some passes one day on that practice field during his final years with the Jets. I guess you know where my allegiance will be if it does end up a Jets-Vikings Super Bowl.

For now . . .

GO JETS!!!
Game Ball Presented to Jets Fans used under Fair Use provisions
For this wallpaper and other Jets info, you can click here to visit the official Jets site.

Guilty Pleasure Monday – Mark Sanchez

After spending a night watching some football, I decided to share with you this Monday’s Guilty Pleasure – Mark Sanchez from the New York Jets. Mark was the quarterback at USC and now is the starting quarterback for the Jets. He was born and raised in Southern California and was picked as the 2009 Rose Bowl MVP. I root for both the Jets and Giants and hope they have a nice season!

Are you a football fan? Who do you root for?