America's Tax Returns.....by Ann Taylor

http://taxfoundation.org/taxdata/show/27235.html

The above link will take you to a chart created by the Tax Foundation.  At this time of year (TAX TIME) I thought it may be an opportune time to review this information and to see who is paying what.
I hope you find this site informative.

Slam Dunkers...by Ryan J. Murphy

http://theryanmurphyexperience.blogspot.com/2012/02/slam-dunkers-by-ryan-j-murphy.html

Could it Be Global Warming? And Where To Go For Lunch?----by Ann Taylor

If you are someone that is worried about global warming than this is NOT the post for you...skip it, move on, you will hate it.  For the rest of you...you may enjoy it.

We have all noticed the unseasonably warm winter we are having.  I took a friend to look at cars at lunch and we were talking about the weather.  He said it was a little chilly today and I laughed because compared to what we should be encountering on February 24th this was not at all a chilly day.  When I said that, he then started laughing and agreed.  I said this is one those rare instances I hope Al Gore was right---if this is global warming then BRING IT ON!!  The two of us could not stop laughing about it.  My friend had read an article that said if the temperature rose just one degree there would be less deaths because so many people die from freezing.  My response...I bet the penguins wouldn't mind!  If you have ever seen March of the Penguins (sad movie, by the way), I bet they would have no problem with a few extra degrees while they are making that trek!  My friend and I continued laughing and then we began talking about the polar bears.  We both agreed they would probably be a tad happier with just a one degree uptick on the earth's thermostat.  Now, keep in mind, this was simply a silly and fun conversation.

On the way back, he wanted to stop and grab his lunch somewhere.  I suggested Nicky G's because we were  about to drive right past it.  He got a slice of sausage pizza.

If you were on Columbia Tpke and a friend asked where they could grab a quick lunch where would you suggest?

New York... Greatest Sports City? - By Ryan J. Murphy

http://theryanmurphyexperience.blogspot.com/

Weigh in with your thoughts!

Surfing by Michael Cristo

The inclusion of Ryan here has been a great addition and a welcome change with a fresh focus on new topics.  I enjoy his writing style and the fact that he can express a thought or opinion in far fewer words than I can.  It's been a nice change of pace.

With this change of direction, I've been waiting for inspiration to hit and it came from TV last night.  These days I hate the fact that I have 1000 channels to watch and it seems like there is never anything on, so perhaps like many people, I just surf and try to find something.

In surfing, I have found some of the dumbest shows that absolutely implore me to watch... and I have.  Over the weekend I found myself too curious to ignore Hillbilly Hand Fishing and watched an episode of that.  One is plenty!  Not exactly on my bucket list of things to do before I die.  At least they don't have to bleep out every other word, so it seems that oddly enough, in the most  unsophisticated of sports... they have a little class.

I think hand fishing was on Animal Planet and I was doing some work while it was on so I didn't change the channel.  The following show, was far more enticing, Gator Boys!  A couple of crazy guys who get alligators out of people's yards in Florida!  No guns or tranquilizers, these guys go in with their bare hands, dive in the water and wrestle the alligators out.  Apologize to them, kiss them on the snout and bring them to a nature preserve.  FREAKS!  It's a train wreck you can't help but watch.

Surfing took a tragic turn last night as I couldn't help but see what "Curious and Unusual Deaths" was about.  Can't believe that deserved a show or that anybody would want their story told on THAT show.  What a rotten way to be famous.  Didn't watch the whole thing, surfed over to "Saving Ronald Reagan" which was actually interesting.  However, we hit rock bottom right after that... A show that said, "Don't turn the dial, this you HAVE to see!"  No gators, no fish, no death.  A show that actually made me say, "You've got to be kidding me!"  and I had to watch.

HALF TON MOM!  And it's exactly what it says.  A lady, 29 years old, was 900 LBS!  How is THAT possible.  She had gastric bypass surgery.  How does that help?  Even if you lose 500 pounds, you're still morbidly obese and have all this extra skin!  Thank God I fell asleep before it was over and woke up to turn off the TV.

If there is something that is a don't miss, please share it.  Most prime time shows are far less interesting.  Makes Professional Bull Riding look far more sane.

Range Rover Evoque- By Ryan J. Murphy

http://theryanmurphyexperience.blogspot.com/

I realize that I am mainly writing about sports, but beautiful luxury cars have always fascinated me. This morning, while watching Mike and Mike in the Morning on ESPN, I saw a commercial for the new Range Rover Evoque. The new design looked very cool and sleek. I wanted to blog a little bit about it.

Range Rover’s manufacturer is Land Rover, whose parent company is Jaguar Land Rover. With just that being said, you know you’re talking about a luxury car. These types of cars are assembled in Halewood, England. The Range Rover Evoque is considered an SUV, and its concept is LRX. The LRX concept retains the nice features and off-road capabilities of a Range Rover, but is also fuel effiecient, which in this day in age is important. The interior is intended to stay true to Range Rover, and is very luxurious. It has a sun roof, and touch screen entertainment system. The Evoque has a lot of different interior choices, 12 to be exact, while wood and/or metal can be chosen. It has 12 different exterior colors as well, and has 3 contrasting roof choices. The Evoque is equipped with 4-wheel drive and a system that maximizes traction in a lot of different conditions. It can be built as a 3 or 5 door SUV. The MPG for this vehicle is 19 city, 29 highway, which is very good for an SUV, especially a luxury SUV. The starting value for the Evoque is $43,995.

I put a few interior images on the bottom of this page. To see all exterior colors, here is a link to the Evoque on cars.com:

http://www.cars.com/go/configurator/colors.jsp?makeid=26&modelid=11251&year=2012

Click the “Add Colors” tab, then select the color you’d like to view. Personally, my favorite colors on the Evoque are Firenze Red and Fiji White.

What are your thoughts on this new SUV by Land Rover?

I will not be checking the comments on this post, or any posts on Ann and Mr. Cristo's blog, therefore if you would like to directly converse with me about anything, please feel free to comment on my blog's post. A link will be put in all of my posts on this blog, to directly send you to the post on my blog.

Thanks again,

Ryan.

My Own Blog- By Ryan J. Murphy

I have created my own blog, which is strictly going to be about sports. I will continue to post on Ann and Mr. Cristo's  blog, with various other topics. I would like all the followers I could possibly have, and the more comments, the better. I love talking about sports with whomever I can, and look forward to it with all of you on my own blog.

Here is the link to my blog:

http://theryanmurphyexperience.blogspot.com/

Thank you,

Ryan

“I Will Be Taking My Talents To… Cleveland?” – By Ryan J. Murphy

During the free agency period in 2010, LeBron James decided to leave the Cleveland Cavaliers and “take his talents to South Beach,” to play with Dwayne Wade and Chris Bosh. When he made this announcement he would be joining the Heat, the loyal Cavaliers fans rioted. The fans even burned their LeBron James’ jerseys. He did a television special letting the world know of his choice to join the Heat, which really blew the entire situation out of proportion. Last season, the return to Cleveland to play the Cavaliers was much anticipated. It was the first time Cleveland fans saw LeBron in a different jersey up close. They booed him like crazy. The Heat ended up putting the hurt on the Cavs, winning the game 118-90.

Recently in an interview, James was asked about playing in Cleveland again, and said, “I think it would be great, it would be fun to play in front of these fans again. You can’t predict the future… If I decide to come back hopefully the fans will accept me.” The fans in Cleveland have mixed emotions about “King James’” comments. One very disgusted fan said, “LeBron can go to h*ll,” while others are forgiving him since it’s been a year and a half now. He signed a 6-year deal worth $110 million in 2010. So by the time James’ contract is up, I think he’ll have matured, and therefore a return to the Cavs could be possible. It’s about 4 and a half years away, and fans will most likely have gotten over his betrayal of them, and welcome him back.

Peyton Manning’s Future- By Ryan J. Murphy

So as you all probably know by now, there is a lot of drama surrounding Peyton Manning and his future. After his 3, and apparently now 4, neck surgeries, he was unable to play in this year’s NFL season. Without his presence on the field, the Indianapolis Colts fell to the NFL’s worse record, 2-14, and now have the first pick in the NFL draft. It has been stated for the past few months that the Colts will use their first pick to draft Stanford quarterback, Andrew Luck. So… the Colts have a decision to make. Do they draft Luck, and keep Manning, which will amount to around $50 million, paying 2 quarterbacks? Do they pass on drafting Andrew Luck, in hopes that Manning is 100% healthy to play next year? Peyton Manning’s doctors have deemed that he is healthy enough to play football, while others claim he can’t even grip a football. This puts the Colts in a very risky predicament. Or finally, do the Colts draft Luck, and cut their long time franchise quarterback Peyton Manning?

In my opinion, the answer is simple. Plan for the future. You have to part ways with Manning, start fresh, and build around the #1 draft pick Andrew Luck. This is the scenario that is most likely to happen, meaning Peyton Manning is without a team for the 2012 season. There are many teams in the NFL that are in dire need of an answer at the quarterback position. The 35-year-old Manning could still put in another good 3 years or so, assuming he is healthy. Manning said he’d like to retire as a Colt, but again, it’s very unlikely to happen. So… that being said, whom does he sign with in 2012? Teams like the Jets, 49ers, Seahawks, and Browns are all possibilities, but not very logical. Many New York Jets fans would love to see Manning replace current QB Mark Sanchez. This would mean we would get to see Peyton Manning and the Jets play Tom Brady and the Patriots at least twice a season. This would also mean Peyton and Eli Manning would share the big bad city, which would be quite a story, although I don’t see the Jets taking a chance on Manning, after the Brett Favre debacle a few years ago. This leaves 3 more realistic options. The Miami Dolphins, the Arizona Cardinals, and the Washington Redskins. The Dolphins just signed former Green Bay Packers offensive coordinator Joe Philbin, to be their head coach. I believe Matt Flynn, the Packers back-up QB, will sign a contract with Miami. This leaves the Redskins and Cardinals. I think the Redskins will look at signing Flynn, but ultimately end up drafting Robert Griffin III, in the NFL draft in April. That leaves one team, the Cardinals. If Manning does join the Cardinals, he’ll find a familiar face there, because they hired Manning’s old quarterbacks coach, Frank Reich. Imagine Peyton Manning throwing the ball to Larry Fitzgerald, one of the top receivers in the NFL today. In my eyes, this is the most realistic fit for Peyton. Although I wouldn’t be surprised to see him end up in Washington or Miami, I think it’ll be with the Arizona Cardinals.

What do you think the Colts should do? Should they keep Peyton Manning? Or should they draft Andrew Luck, and cut Manning? If the Colts do cut Manning, what city do you think he’ll end up playing in during the 2012 NFL season?

Lin- Sanity compared to Tebow- Mania. – By Ryan J. Murphy

Jeremy Lin has taken the sports world by surprise in the last week and a half, breaking Shaquille O’Neil’s record of most points scored in his first 5 games in the NBA. This story is the most talked about story in sports right now, and it’s easy to see why. The Knicks as a team haven’t been this intriguing to watch for a while now. ESPN cannot stop taking about Lin-Sanity. But is all the hype about Jeremy Lin comparable to that of Tebow- Mania? I say yes, and here’s why…

Tim Tebow was arguably the best player to grace a college football field, whereas Lin wasn’t even known in college. In fact, he wasn’t even known 2 weeks ago. The hype is very similar, in that both players have become very popular very quickly, and even the general public knows who each player is. Although, when it comes to their respective sports, you can’t compare these athletes statistically. Lin is dominating, scoring points and leading the Knicks to victory, whereas Tebow has lead the Broncos to victory on numerous occasions, but looks horrendous doing it. Indeed they are both winners, but not comparable statistics wise. Jeremy Lin is a better passer than Tim Tebow (yes, I made a Tebow joke). I think the Lin story is much more comparable to that of Kurt Warner’s story, where he came from practically nothing, hit the field, and became a star. The publicity and hype that is surrounding Lin is like what Tebow got during last season, and are easily comparable, but I don’t think their individual stories as athletes can be compared.

What are your thoughts?