Hello, readers, and welcome to Presidential Madden, a little labor of love I cooked up in response to my declaration that Mitt Romney was 74 Overall. Before I actually go about listing the roster of Presidents and their respective ratings, I need to clear up a few things, namely, an introduction for myself and the ratings I will be using. 

I am John Risley, a twenty-seven-year-old Independent with Libertarian leanings. I was a History major in college, and have always loved the study. Since I vote Libertarian, you can be assured that I am not playing favorites with these Presidents based on my political leanings, as I would not have voted for any of them. Besides, there are plenty of good Presidents with bad ratings, and vice versa. It is important to remember that this will be hilarious and diverting, and you WILL disagree with many of the points presented, and the ratings attached to them.
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When I was a kid, one of the best things in the world was going to the mailbox to see if any of my mail-away offers had arrived. I saved my proofs-of-purchase, enclosed a self-addressed, stamped enveloped, and waited the requisite four-to-six weeks. It was such an incredible feeling to rip open a mailer and get the eagerly anticipated goodies.

You can get that same thrill with a new service called Loot Crate. You can sign up for a monthly package of geek and gamer goodies. You give them $13.37 (get it?) each month and they’ll send you a package of carefully selected video game-related stuff worth three times as much—over $40. There’s cool junk like snacks, gift cards, collectibles in each care package.

Not only that, but each month they pick one person to receive the Mega Crate, a special prize collection worth over $250. It’s like a lottery where everyone is a winner.

Yeah, so thanks to Brian at Cool and Collected, this is happening. I’m notoriously apathetic about sports. I’ve thrown Anti-Super Bowl parties and consistently make fun of how my city cares more about football than anything else, but what the hell. Maybe my lack of knowledge will help me in some way.

Don’t get me wrong, as a kid I loved the NFL, picked my favorite teams based on colors and logos, and played a lot of football video games, so at least I have that. My plan is to let Yahoo pick my team automatically because I’d fall asleep before I finished drafting players. Beyond that, I intend to use video games to help me pick winners for games, assuming that’s even part of the whole thing. I really don’t know.

Brian made an amazing trophy, and I’d like to think I have a chance at winning it. I’d like to think that, but I don’t. Oh well, I’m ready for some foosball!

Man, what a bummer. Jerry Nelson, lifelong Muppeteer and musician has passed away. Jerry is best known for performing Floyd, Robin, Gobo Fraggle, and The Count, and he’s always been my favorite Muppeteer. He had an extremely versatile voice and I always loved when he got to sing.

Jerry had been sick for a while and passed away yesterday on August 23rd, 2012.

In the past few years, his health kept him from performing but he still recorded voice overs for Sesame Street, and even made a cameo appearance in last year’s The Muppets as the theater announcer. He was a gifted musician, and in 2010 released an album called Truro Daydreams. One of my proudest geek moments on the site was when he left a comment on the post I made about his album.

I usually pride myself in keeping my email inbox cleaned out and manageable, but I’ve never been able to archive the email I got from the site the day Jerry Nelson left a comment. I always wanted to send him a quick email letting him know what a huge fan I was, but I never did. I think I’ll keep that email around.

In addition to the Muppet movies, some of my favorite things Jerry was a part of include Follow That Bird and Emmet Otter’s Jugband Christmas. And of course, it’s impossible to think about Fraggle Rock without Jerry Nelson. He was Gobo Fraggle and Marjory the Trash Heap, Pa Gorg, and many more.

Make sure to read Tough Pigs’ great write up and leave a comment with your favorite Jerry Nelson moments.

File this under Awwwwwww. Etsy user JustZipity sells handmade Muppet ‘costumes’ for babies, and they could possibly be the cutest things ever. The masks look really well-made and would definitely blow any store-bought Muppet costume out of the water.

If I had a baby I would totally buy all of these. As of right now, she’s got Kermit, Elmo, Cookie Monster, Gonzo, Oscar the Grouch, and Abby Cadabby. The idea of a baby’s face looking like it’s in the process of being swallowed by Cookie Monster is worth $40, and actually becomes a slightly scary Halloween costume when you think about it.

Oh, and she claims she can make these in adult sizes too, in case you’re like me and were wondering.

Check out her Etsy shop and buy them all. Via Laughing Squid.