Today is the birthday of Reverend James Martin, SJ. Currently residing at Georgetown University, Father Martin is the oldest Jesuit in the world. He turned 104. And yet, if you snooped around Georgetown’s website, you would be hard-pressed to find mere mention of this occasion, which is unfortunate. (His website bio hasn’t even been updated in two years.)

Father Martin once drove me from a barbershop back to Georgetown’s main campus–he could still get around back then, as a sprightly 90-year-old. (“Drove” might also not be the most accurate word. We sort of just floated down Wisconsin Avenue.) All the while he struck up a conversation with me. I kept telling him my name was Vic and he kept calling me Pat. “So where you from, Pat?” he asked. Martin, who was born when Teddy Roosevelt was president, was once posted in the Philippines and explained to me how he taught the local kids how to play baseball. This was in the 1930s. During the Second World War, he served as an Army-Air Corps chaplain.

Today Father Martin is mostly wheel-chair bound, a little hard of hearing, and a little hard of seeing. But I’ve been told he still enjoys a hearty breakfast of bacon and eggs. We should all be so lucky.

Galley Friend S.B. sent me this clip of a sports-talk show where the guest is Len Pasquarelli.

I don’t know when this was taped, but the host refers to Todd “Stinkston” in the promo. Pasquarelli gets on the air and immediately takes umbrage, asking the host how many times he’s gone over the middle in an NFL game and insisting that Pinkston is a pretty good player. After about 20 seconds, Pasquarelli hangs up.

In related news, the Eagles released Pinkston today. They probably didn’t do that because they have too much depth at wide-out. Ah, Pasquarelli, the sage of ESPN football. If you paired him in a podcast feature with that genius Sean Salisbury, then I’d totally buy ESPN Mobile.

Just for kicks, watch this clip of Pinkston in action, and pay attention to the last line from the commentators:

[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ls794MhIkU4]

That pretty much sums up my beloved and beleaguered Redskins thus far, going 0-3 in the preseason and getting thumped by the Pats 41-0. But could it be at all possible that the Skins simply haven’t revealed their cards, saving them for the regular season and the playoffs? After all, as Michael Wilbon points out, “To showcase all the good stuff in the preseason would be stupid beyond words. Why do that in games that don’t count in the standings with players who won’t be on the team in three weeks?” Also, “Al Saunders, boss of the offense, said as much the other day. He told The Post’s Jason La Canfora that he has used perhaps 2 percent of the 700-page playbook…. The Redskins haven’t tried to run any offense and I don’t blame Saunders one bit. People who know about such things say Antwaan Randle El is going to be a big part of the offense, and the Redskins have barely had him on the field in the preseason.” Not to mention Gibbs’s history of preseason losing records in ’82 and ’91 followed by Super Bowl victories.

Not that Wilbon is convinced. And sadly I’m not either, though I hope I’m wrong. But how far can a team go with a 36-year-old quarterback?

As most of us hoped knew, Terrell Owens is proving to be a problem in Dallas. It is difficult to explain how satisfying this news is.

What do we think the over/under is for number of games Owens plays for Dallas this year? 10? 12? 4?

Watching Agassi come roaring out of the gate on his first service game reminded me of a line from Kevin Costner’s half-perfect For Love of the Game: “Today I throwing hard, Gus.”

Update: If you’re still up for some reason, turn on this match on USA. You can sleep tomorrow.

Fine. I admit it. As if I didn’t have enough to do. While furniture shopping on Sunday, I happened to pop into an Apple store and happened to purchase almost on a lark Civilization III: Complete. First of all, because I have a G4 and not a G5 or a Mac with Intel, I could not get the highly acclaimed CivIV. Nevertheless. In CivIII: Complete, there are all sorts of new and exciting possibilities, such as playing the Carthaginians or the Spaniards or the Dutch, even. But, as Mr. Last would say, For who? For what? Playing at the Regent level, I find that my Ottomans are getting trounced everywhere they go, swordsmen dying at the hands of feeble archers. Everyone is ganging up on me. And who knew the Hittites were so badass? Am I missing something? (Besides a life.)

If anyone has tips or recommendations, don’t be afraid to chime in. You can always post anonymously.

Matus just got this:

I’m jealous. Holler if you got furs, wines, and gems.

Galley Friend B.W. sends us this link to a spoylerez- and Olde English-filled review of SoaP. For the Medieval scholar in all of us.