RIP, Miss Moneypenny

I just got wind that actress Lois Maxwell, famous for playing Miss Moneypenny throughout much of the James Bond franchise, has died at the age of 80, apparently from cancer.

For those unfamiliar with the James Bond movies, Miss Moneypenny was the secretary for M, James Bond's direct (and oft-annoyed) superior. And in damn near every film, the sexual tension between Moneypenny and Bond was often the subject of much tongue-in-cheek, as her unrequited passion for 007 was not very subtle.

A special note to the Penn State offense

Learn to hold onto the fucking ball!!!

Nothing is sacred anymore (V)

'Twas 7 years ago today that it all started

It was exactly seven years ago today, on September 26, 2000, that a young, naive, and untested 22-year-old recent college grad named Fritz moved from Pennsylvania to the great big metropolis of metro Washington, DC. I can still remember that day well—waking up to a somewhat cool, cloudy sky, packing the last few bits of lightweight stuff into my car (a few days before my folks came down with the moving van), and driving down 81 towards my new apartment in Manassas, VA (yes, I did live pretty far out in the boonies my first year here).

I remember the feeling of wonder and satisfaction upon entering my new apartment, thinking that this apartment, this new home, was all mine! A lot of the glee came from living at home during the summer months in college, having to live with roommates while in college, and just the general yearning for independence, to have a place I could call my own.

That first day was largely spent unloading boxes from my car into my apartment, waiting for the Comcast guy to arrive, eating dinner from Taco Bell's drive-thru, and spending some of the evening browsing the Borders and Barnes & Noble along Sudley Road in Manassas.

It's so hard to believe that I've been living and working here for seven years now, how far I've come and how much I've grown as a person since then. When I think of all that I've accomplished, all the roads I've travelled, all the people who have come and gone from my life in that time, it truly blows my mind how much mileage I've accumulated here in Beltwayland. But I have to say, it's been well worth it, and I hope to have many more years here.

Uncomfortable perspective

One of my friends, who just so happens to be a combined Texas Longhorn and Auburn Tiger, made the following observation after Penn State's recent 14-9 loss to Michigan:

Michigan lost to Appalachian State. You lost to the team that lost to Appalachian State. Unacceptable!

Now how can you argue with that?

Fear and Loathing with the Blues Brothers?

I watched Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas again recently, and afterwards, I went onto IMDb and browsed the trivia section for that film—where I made the following discovery:

During the early stages during the initial development hell to get the film made, Jack Nicholson and Marlon Brando were originally considered for the roles of Duke and Gonzo, and Nicholson was attached, but he, and Brando, both grew too old. Afterward, Dan Aykroyd and John Belushi were considered for the duo, but that fell apart when Belushi died. John Malkovich was later considered for the role of Duke, but he too grew too old. At one point John Cusack was almost cast, but then Hunter S. Thompson met Johnny Depp, and was convinced no one else could play him. Cusack had previously directed the play version of "Fear and Loathing", with his brother playing Duke.

John Cusack as Hunter Thompson? Not a prayer. John Malkovich? Quite possibly! Jack Nicholson and Marlon Brando? If they did a convincing enough job, maybe I'd buy that—though Marlon Brando might have had the right physique to be Dr. Gonzo.

But Dan Aykroyd and John Belushi, the original Blues Brothers, as the Raoul Duke/Dr. Gonzo duo??? Now that's just plain shocking! I can't for the life of me picture Dan Aykroyd in either role (though he looks more suited to play Duke), but given that his Ghostbusters co-star Bill Murray had already portrayed Duke in Where the Buffalo Roam, somehow I'd imagine an Aykroyd/Belushi pairing would have been viewed as competition between two major SNL alums (i.e., Murray and Aykroyd)—somewhat reminiscent of William Shatner directing the widely unpopular Star Trek V after Leonard Nimoy's highly successful Star Trek IV.

. . . though somehow I can picture John Belushi in the role of Dr. Gonzo, standing at the hotel counter and menacingly intoning, "This man has a bad heart."

Oh, see, I made Louis a bet here—one dollar!

Today I pay off my debt to my Michigan co-worker: I'm hanging the Michigan banner outside my office cube in accordance with the wager we made last week.

RFK Finale

It was one for the recordbooks, people! For today marks the end of an era, and the promise of a new beginning next April: today we witnessed the final Nationals game ever to be played at RFK Stadium, and it was a glorious day all around.

Today's opponent was the Philadelphia Phillies, and in a stunning display of power and cohesion, the Nats topped the Phillies 5-3, thus ending the days of baseball at RFK on a glorious note. Christina and I joined Will and Erica in our usual seats (down along the right field line, in the 400-level seats for a change), and we watched with glee as the Nats gave a strong on-field performance under a beautiful blue sky.

The game progressed rather quickly up until the 5th inning, when both teams started to show some signs of fatigue. Philly pulled two pitchers in the bottom of the 5th, and the Nats struggled to keep the game in check in the 6th. But a walked-in run, a triple, and some good hits allowed the Nats to pull ahead by the time we clocked in that final out.

A big surprise, too, came in the President's Race! Earlier this season, I made a prediction that Teddy would win the President's Race at the last-ever game at RFK . . . and that prediction didn't come to fruition! Apparently, many other fans made the same prediction as me, because when the President's Race began, the whole place began to chant, "Ted-dy! Ted-dy!" And on the scoreboard, it showed all four of the racers starting out in their customary way: running through downtown DC and making their way to RFK—only when they showed Teddy running into the ballpark, it was Nationals Park he was running into! Not RFK! So contrary to my (and everyone else's) prediction, Teddy lost this race. Which leads me to wonder, will he win the first race at Nationals Park next April? Time will only tell, but it's a shame he didn't win at least one race at RFK, because that would have felt appropriate to the concluding festivities.

But I must admit, it's really hard for me to wrap my mind around the fact that we'll no longer be trotting out to RFK to see a Nats game. We'll no longer welcome spring with a weekday-morning journey to Stadium-Armory for the season opener in April. Instead, we'll be taking the Green Line down to the Navy Yard to the new (and as yet unnamed) Nationals Park. I admit, I'm really eager to sit inside the new ballpark and enjoy many a Nats game there, but I'll nevertheless always associate the return of baseball to DC with RFK Stadium.

And I know many others will, too, because today the fans really showed up to mark the last RFK Nats game. I don't think attendance was ever announced, but it was a pretty packed house. Probably upwards of 30,000 (which is pretty damn good for this season).

I honestly can't believe it's come and gone, but after an exciting beginning at RFK Stadium, baseball in DC is about to move on to a new and exciting chapter. And on that note, I bid you adieu, RFK. It's been a great three years of Nationals baseball there, and I feel it only appropriate now to borrow that famous line by Bob Hope: thanks for the memories.

Ann Arbor is, was, and always will be a whore

I'm too tired to outline my great disappointment in Penn State's performance today, other than to say that Morelli really gave Michigan a gift at the start of the game by fumbling the ball and allowing the Wolverines to take it in for a touchdown—an inexcusable fumble that no quarterback should ever let slip, no matter what team he plays for.

As much as I hate to admit this, Michigan was the better team today. There's no getting around that, and it disappoints me because losing to Michigan is always hard to stomach. My deepest hope was that Penn State would be victorious, thereby avenging eight straight years of losing to the Wolverines—eight years of enduring their arrogance, their overinflated views of themselves as a college football team, not to mention that final second that Lloyd Carr extorted from the officials in the 2005 game. In other words, I was hoping that this was the year Michigan would be put in its place . . . and I wanted my Nittany Lions to be the ones to do it.

Oh, well. Maybe next year.

Maybe I can take some comfort in the fact that Lloyd Carr is still walking on eggshells for the Appalachian State game three weeks ago.

Happy birthday, Mom!

My wonderful mother adds another candle to the birthday cake today!

Oscar-worthy roles that never received a nomination

Lately I've devoted a lot of thought to various movie roles that have been so powerful that, in my book, they should have warranted an Oscar nomination for that particular performer. I actually made a long list of them on IMDb as a suggested topic for voting/discussion, but I doubt it'll get posted or discussed. So for posterity, I'm posting my list here as well.

Best Actor:

• Fred MacMurray for Double Indemnity
• Gene Hackman for The Conversation
• John Candy for Planes, Trains & Automobiles
• Jeff Daniels for Gettysburg
• Robert De Niro for Heat
• Johnny Depp for Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas
• Brad Pitt for Fight Club
• Edward Norton for Fight Club
• Guy Pearce for Memento
• Paul Giamatti for Sideways
• Hugh Jackman for The Fountain

Best Actress:

• Naomi Watts for Mulholland Dr.
• Uma Thurman for Kill Bill: Vol. 1
• Laura Dern for Inland Empire

Best Supporting Actor:

• Robert Shaw for The Sting
• Dennis Hopper for Blue Velvet
• R. Lee Ermey for Full Metal Jacket
• Vincent D'Onofrio for Full Metal Jacket
• Adam Baldwin for Full Metal Jacket
• Michael Rooker for Mississippi Burning
• James Earl Jones for Field of Dreams
• Jack Nicholson for Batman
• Ed Harris for Jacknife
• Wes Studi for The Last of the Mohicans
• Val Kilmer for Tombstone
• Kevin Pollak for The Usual Suspects
• Chazz Palminteri for The Usual Suspects
• Kevin Spacey for Se7en
• Gary Sinise for Ransom
• Bill Murray for Rushmore
• Joe Pantoliano for Memento
• Alexander Siddig for Syriana

Best Supporting Actress:

• Linda Hamilton for Terminator 2: Judgment Day
• Alice Krige for Star Trek: First Contact
• Samantha Morton for Minority Report
• Meryl Streep for The Manchurian Candidate (this one I admit grudgingly, because I'm no Meryl Streep fan)

Happy birthday, Bill Murray!

Peter Venkman, Phil Connors, Carl Spackler, Herman Blume—whatever name you know him by, he turns 57 today.







And my personal favorite . . .

High-risk bets

For Saturday's game against Michigan, I made a friendly wager with a co-worker who happens to be a Michigan grad: if Penn State wins, I hang my blue jersey on her office door on Monday; if Michigan wins, I hang her Michigan flag outside my cube on Monday. Bragging rights are naturally included.

Seems like a fair wager to me.

But I called this a high-risk bet, because the co-worker I speak of is the General Manager of my company—essentially the CEO!

The Chungs have closed down

I was very surprised to learn recently that the Chungs, the Korean family of dry-cleaners being sued by DC administrative judge Roy Pearson for a lost pair of pants, have closed down two of their dry-cleaning businesses in the District—particularly the one that served the venerable Mr. Pearson.

While saddened at first, I was quick to notice a great irony of the situation: Pearson lost his lawsuit against the Chungs (appeal notwithstanding), but he still wins in the technical sense because, with his lawsuit, he essentially set out to take the Chungs down . . . and with the Chungs closing two of their dry-cleaning stores, Pearson basically succeeded.

I seriously doubt he has a lot of sympathizers these days, but I still have to wonder if Pearson's doing a little happy dance to mark the occasion.

Frivolous lawsuits have a new king, and it's not Pants Man!

And here I thought Roy Pearson, famous for his missing pants lawsuit, was the king of frivolous lawsuits! According to this Yahoo article, he's pretty much been trumped. Because the most frivolous lawsuit has now been filed in the state of Nebraska . . . against God! It was apparently done to make a point that lawsuits have become so frivolous that anyone and anything can be sued.

Personally, I'm reacting not with ha-ha laughter to this. Rather, my response is more cynical. Why? Because there's nothing really newsworthy here. Lawsuits have become overwrought and frivolous in this society, and that realization is about as shocking (to coin Will's famous phrase) as the sun coming up in the east.

My thoughts on the matter: realizing that litigation and lawsuits have gotten this out of hand, don't file frivolous ones to prove a point. Instead, as a society, let's all use some common sense, assume some responsibility and accountability, lessen our sense of entitlement—and more than anything else, cut the crap.

Mustang Sally: the Hamme version

This weekend, I drove a convertible for the first time! My girlfriend Christina works for Enterprise Rent-a-car, and on Saturday she rented a Chrysler Sebring convertible for us to drive around that weekend.

The experience was actually better than I had expected! It was an absolutely beautiful weekend weather-wise, though a tiny bit on the chilly side. But not once was it difficult to talk to each other, for my main concern would be that the wind rush would be so loud that neither of us could hear the other. But somehow it was actually a little quieter than if we'd have been driving with the windows down.

We took quite a long drive on Sunday, actually, driving to and from White Marsh, then visiting some of the million-dollar homes in the outskirts of Bel Air and Harford County. All the beautiful country up there reminded me of central PA and the lush landscapes I remember from growing up there. But driving around in a convertible made it so much more enjoyable, because we could mingle with nature while we cruised, and I highly recommend the experience!

David Lynch and digital video

Slate Magazine recently did an article on David Lynch's Inland Empire, particularly examining his choice to use digital video rather than traditional film.

Well before Inland Empire even made it to the theaters (and what a non-traditional theatrical run it had!), I had heard of Lynch's choice to film Inland Empire in digital video. I think he even claimed to be so impressed with it that he was henceforth choosing to film all future projects in digital video rather than film. And when I made it up to the AFI one cold January night to see Inland Empire, I was kind of expecting something different than what I saw, at least with respect to the video quality. Given that we live in an era where even farts are rendered in high-definition, I was kind of expecting crystal clarity in the video presentation; in this case, I interpreted "digital" as synonymous with high-definition. Instead, what I noticed was a surprising grainy quality, less definition, much more reminiscent of a camcorder video.

I must admit, I was a little confused by this at first, but the more I thought about it, the more it made sense: Lynch is an abstract filmmaker, therefore his video presentation would do well to be in an abstract, less clear form. And you know what? It worked perfectly! Seeing Inland Empire on the big screen in grainy, abstract quality truly heightened the experience, made the trip more macabre, and when I watched it again on DVD, I noticed that the digital video actually translated better to the small screen. On my 25-inch TV screen, it actually looked sharper and clearer than it did in the theaters, which I know is contradictory to the more abstract, grainy quality of the big screen, but someone it still made sense. Darks were darker, colors were more free-flowing and bleeding, shadows were more penetrating . . . and the experience more dazzling.

I really have to hand it to Lynch: he's bolder than many filmmakers I know, and truly uses the medium to achieve the most effective experience possible.

Happy birthday, Jaws!

No, I'm not talking about Steven Spielberg's cute little shark. I'm talking about actor Richard Kiel, more popularly known to James Bond fans as the metal-eating henchman Jaws in The Spy Who Loved Me and Moonraker (though I actually enjoyed him best in The Longest Yard opposite Burt Reynolds). He turns 68 today.

Fare hike or fair hike?

I got wind of this the other day on the morning news: Metro is now considering a fare hike . . . to the tune of 45 cents. (For my non-DC readers, think of this like you would the price for gas, where the lowest you're paying is $1.35, and are now being told that prices are going to increase by 45 cents a gallon.) Somehow I don't see a lot of Metro customers taking too kindly to this idea, because as I've said a few times already, with so many breakdowns, security scares, service disruptions, un-air conditioned stations, and uncomfortably overcrowded trains, this has been Metro's summer of discontent. It's enough to make even me renounce Metro commuting in favor of driving.

And given how disenchanted many other Metro customers have become, I wouldn't be surprised to see a lot of people follow suit if this fare hike goes through. Metro should really think long and hard about this before instituting any kind of fare increase, because after all the disasters visited upon Metro this summer, they run the very real risk of losing many of their regular customers. And on a more common-sense note, how can anyone justify paying more money for shoddy service?

I'm sure Metro will argue that they need the funds to improve service yadda yadda yadda, but that responsibility should fall to the local governments—who themselves should remove their collective heads from their asses and stop passing the buck from one state (district?) to the next about who should provide dedicated funding. Because seriously, Metro badly needs a source of dedicated funding.

Jon Stewart redux

Word on the street is that Jon Stewart will return this coming February as host of the Oscars. To be honest, this doesn't really thrill me, as I didn't find him a real engaging host when he headed the ceremonies two years ago. Ellen DeGeneres, however, I thought was fabulous! If the Academy were going to ask anyone to come back as host, I'd have said to ask her.

When security goes too far

I stumbled across this article on Yahoo News, and it appears that Harrods, a very popular London store, is going to great security lengths in order to guard a pair of jewel-encrusted sandals: they're having the counter guarded by a live cobra!

Now I've heard of outsourcing, but isn't this a little ridiculous? Plus, I can't see a lot of people (especially those afraid of snakes) actually wanting to buy those shoes once they've been in the presence of a deadly snake.

An Indy movie by any other name . . .

It's official: Indiana Jones 4 has a name, and it's Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull.

To be honest, I'm not really sure I like it, because to me it doesn't have that unique Indiana Jones quality to it that drew me to the other movies. Temple of Doom, Last Crusade, Raiders of the Lost Ark—those all had something original, something catchy. Kingdom of the Crystal Skull? It just doesn't grab my attention and make me think, "Indiana Jones!" Plus, part of me is remembering the titles to all the Star Wars prequels that equally didn't live up to the power of the original titles (i.e., Attack of the Clones vs. Return of the Jedi).

Personally, I liked one of the other names previous considered: Indiana Jones and the City of Gods.

Will Irish eyes ever smile again?

I've been waiting for last Saturday's game for 16 years now, because 1991 was the last time the Fighting Irish of Notre Dame visited Beaver Stadium—and got trounced 35-13. I remember that game very well, for many reasons: 1) Penn State and Notre Dame were heated rivals in the area of central PA where I grew up, 2) the opportunity to see my Nittany Lions stomp Notre Dame at home was one I could never pass up, whether it be 1991 or 2007, and 3) any day Notre Dame loses, be it to Penn State or any other school, is a good day. :)

And in 1992, when Notre Dame beat Penn State with a (literally) last-second two-point conversion, it was a bitter way for that series to end for me—for by then, Penn State had joined the Big Ten, wherein the PSU-Notre Dame series would be abolished henceforth. Which is why I thirsted for the resurrection of this rivalry for so long. And last year, my wish was granted! Only Notre Dame kicked Penn State all over the field in an absolutely unsportsman-like display of showmanship (i.e., running up the score when we were already down by three touchdowns—something that JoePa has never deliberately done to an opponent).

Thus, when I went to Happy Valley on Saturday, payback was on my mind . . . and on the minds of many other Penn Staters!

Penn State was favored by 17 points, I believe, and even the Notre Dame fans I knew (of which there are plenty, including some family members) were predicting a Penn State slaughter of the Irish—partially due to the previous week's slaughter of the Irish by Georgia Tech, and partially from their being a young team. But from long experience, I knew that Notre Dame wouldn't be an easy opponent, even if they were starting the year off badly. Because one thing I will give Notre Dame, they do come to Beaver Stadium ready to play football, and their fans are just as hardcore and just as impassioned as Penn State's. So while the rivalry may not be official in the NCAAF sense, it remains alive for many fans and alums of both schools.

This much was evidenced on Saturday with the stadium-wide White Out (where every Penn Stater wore white), not to mention the sheer volume of noise. During the pre-game, the cheering and the chants grew so loud that I seriously had to lean into my father's ear and shout to him (and no, he's not deaf yet). There were quite a lot of Notre Dame fans in the stands, too. In fact, they nearly dominated the row in front of us. But when kickoff came and the game ensued, my passion was joined by nervousness, because deep down I feared that Notre Dame was going to give us a run for the money like they always had.

Notre Dame got the ball first, and made a rather impressive run down the field on their first possession. Their first attempt at a field goal went wide right, though from my angle it looked good. Their offensive line looked pretty organized to me, and it unsettled me that many Notre Dame receivers weren't given the proper amount of coverage by the Penn State defense. Because every time Notre Dame completed a pass, their receiver was often wide open, with nobody near him. For our part, Morelli looked a little better than last week, though a poorly-thrown pass resulted in a Notre Dame interception, which they took down the field for a touchdown.

This worried me, because I have a long-running theory that the team who scores first will win. Experience has shown this to be true maybe 75% of the time, but I crossed my fingers on Saturday that I'd be proven wrong for this matchup. It was a while before Penn State got on the board, and when we scored, the whole place went nuts! I remember thinking, when we scored, that Notre Dame fans now know how it feels to be sitting alone amongst the Penn State Proud. I don't mean that to sound arrogant or cocky, but I have yet to see a school that exhibits such intense and irrevocable school pride as Penn State.

Penalties came left and right during this matchup, though. They mostly fell on the Notre Dame side, but Penn State made some pretty dumb moves, too, to result in penalties. I think the worst penalty actually came for Notre Dame, when Penn State signaled a fair catch and a Notre Dame player creamed our receiver a moment later, before we were able to catch the ball.

JoePa was noticeably less conspicuous, too. He did run out onto the field with the team at the start of the game, and remained on the sidelines for the duration of play, but for some reason, his presence wasn't felt anywhere near as strongly as in recent years.

But when it came to the predicted "slaughter" over the Irish, that obviously wasn't going to happen, as the score remained pretty close for most of the first and second half—often within a touchdown. Even when we pulled ahead by a second touchdown, bringing the score up 24-10, I still wasn't breathing any easier, because as I said, Notre Dame usually comes to play serious football with Penn State, and Saturday proved my predictions true. Penn State's performance gradually got better as the game went on, though Austin Scott displayed uncharacteristic fatigue and generally didn't perform well. All the same, when we pulled ahead to 31-10 in the fourth quarter, only then did I start to relax, because realistically, it's hard for any team to come down from a three-touchdown deficit with only eight minutes left in the game.

My father and I left at the 5:00 mark in the fourth quarter, wanting to beat the exodus traffic (we were moderately successful). By the time we got back to the car, the game had officially ended, with the final score being 31-10 over the Irish.

Both of us were pretty spent, as this game had been more intense than either of us had anticipated. Though I wish this had been a 3:30 game instead of a 6:00 game. I don't enjoy night games as much as I used to (for logistical reasons, mostly), and night games don't offer us the opportunity to tailgate after the game. Though Sam and his family did host a rather fabulous pre-game tailgate, filled with barbecue wings, chopped-up Subway sandwiches, beer dogs (soaked in MGD), a giant cookie pie, a delicious pasta salad, and all the liquid refreshment you could ask for. His tailgate was positioned close to the excitement, too, as an ambulance twice came within our vicinity to cart off some people who'd drank a few too many. But to ease off that unpleasantness, the Blue Band marched right past us on their way into the stadium, which perfectly set the mood.

Lots of good shirts were on display, too, brandishing such messages as:

• "Notre Lame: consistently losing bowl games"
• "You have Jesus, we have JoePa"
• "Send Charlie back to the chocolate factory"
• And my personal favorite, "Rudy was offsides!"

All in all, it was quite an eventful and fulfilling Saturday! What made it even more sweet was Michigan's collapse against Oregon—which both Penn State and Notre Dame fans alike relished!!!

This is officially the last straw

An e-mail circulated our office around 4:20 this afternoon, saying that the Bethesda and Medical Center Metro stations were closed due to a "police incident." Being that I had to be home by 6:00 tonight for an alumni function that was going to take place at Riverhouse, I frantically searched for an alternative transport home—which I found, in the passenger seat of a co-worker who lives in Alexandria (to whom I am now indebted a tall, frosty beer).

Given the chaotic summer that Metro has enjoyed, this is officially the last straw for me: I'm going back to driving to and from work each day.

The Three Tenors: and then there were two

Today the world mourns the loss of renowned operatic tenor Luciano Pavarotti, who died yesterday at the age of 71 from pancreatic cancer.

I never saw him perform in my lifetime, but his voice was unmistakable, instantly recognizable, known and beloved the world over. Like all showmen, controversy surrounded him, but let's remember him for his music and his song, which he celebrated like no other before him.

Godspeed, Luciano. You'll never be forgotten.









This last one's a true heartbreaker.

David slew Goliath!

With Penn State football starting up today, I was going to post a write-up of our game against Florida International, complete with pictures and commentary—but instead, something else of even greater note happened today: No. 5-ranked Michigan lost their season opener, 34-32 . . . to Appalachian State!!!

During the Penn State game, updates of other games were periodically announced, and when I first heard that Appalachian State was ahead of Michigan (I think this was in the first quarter), I thought, "Go, Appalachian State! You haven't got a prayer, but I'm cheering for you anyway." And as our game progressed and the announcements of other games continued, Appalachian State was continually ahead of Michigan—much to my chagrin, but not at all to my displeasure. And when our game ended and we were on our way back to the post-game tailgate, Michigan had actually pulled ahead by one point, with one minute left in the game, and Appalachian State was going for a field goal. Which they got. Then we got wind that Michigan was going for a field goal . . . and it was blocked!!!

The rush of euphoria and unbridled joy of a Michigan loss to such an unknown team was overpowering and unexpected, to say the least. And within minutes, I think this was already being labeled the greatest upset in college football history. Suffice it to say, if Lloyd Carr still has his job at the end of September, it'll be nothing short of a miracle . . . which would make a Penn State victory over the Wolverines that much sweeter 3 weeks from now—and might serve as sweet revenge for that one terrible second in 2005.