The screams of thousands of people tearing their brackets to shreds. No Duke? No Gonzaga? No WV? Personally, those losses last night, combined with a Texas win, actually helped me. Of course, it only helped me if Texas wins the whole shebang, which, let's be honest, isn't real likely. Still, it gives me a winning scenario at least. Oh, still leading our pool by the way? The GF. Who picked by which team had the better cheerleaders. (To be honest, I laughed... But her picks looked pretty frickin good then, and even better now.)
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Also, what's up with the Boston media sucking so bad? Why are they putting out poles questioning Belichik already? Seriously, don't you get a few years after winning three super bowls before people start calling you an idiot? I mean, look, Adam Vinitieri was a great kicker, and he should drink for free in Boston for the rest of his life. However, not wanting to pay a kicker three million bucks a year doesn't make Billy B a bad guy.
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Bruins update:
ummm
Oh wait, no one watches the Bruins.
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Celtics update:
Big Al, a big wuss? Apparently, his ankle isn't healed after all, as he's being shut down for a few games. If you've been listening to the coaches and other players talk though, they basically talk about how young players need to learn how to play through pain.
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Quick program note: I will be out of town through Wednesday night, so don't expect too much in the way of blogs.
Friday, March 24, 2006
Tuesday, March 21, 2006
So about loyalty...
So... let me make sense out of this...
J0hnny Damon signs with the Yankees for 12 million dollars more, after having played with the Red Sox for three years, the A's for one year, and the Royals for 5 years, and is a traitor to the Red Sox.
Bronson Arroyo signs with the Red Sox for a below-market "Home-Team" discount... And is promptly traded before he even plays a game.
Someone please explain to me why anyone should show loyalty to this team? Just wondering.
J0hnny Damon signs with the Yankees for 12 million dollars more, after having played with the Red Sox for three years, the A's for one year, and the Royals for 5 years, and is a traitor to the Red Sox.
Bronson Arroyo signs with the Red Sox for a below-market "Home-Team" discount... And is promptly traded before he even plays a game.
Someone please explain to me why anyone should show loyalty to this team? Just wondering.
Monday, March 20, 2006
These things I know for sure...
You know what I miss? When there were things that I knew for sure. At one point in my life, I was absolutely positive that I was going to be a catcher for the Yankees. Turns out I was off a bit there.
In fact, it seems like every day that things I knew for sure are no longer true. Remember when Kobe Bryant was a fan favorite for his fresh faced enthusiasm and his overall goodness? Turns out that wasn't, well, let's just say that was off a bit.
I always thought that I would live in NJ as soon as college was over. That thought lasted through freshman year of college.
I was convinced that I would never find a job I liked. I've found a few. Now I wouldn't mind finding some more.
When I got to college I thought that I would party like I never had before. Who knew our high school parties were so crazy? (Although, as I've learned over the last few years, a well-thrown Pig Roast can be a pretty kick-ass party..)
Until recently, I KNEW that the Red Sox would never win a World Series, and it had never occurred to me that the Patriots could even be in the Super Bowl, never mind in the Dynasty conversation. Also? Drew Bledsoe, at one time, was an elite quarterback!!! Heh.
What else? I could on and on about how we KNEW there was NO FUCKING WAY a majority of people could possibly vote for Bush, but as it turns out? We were right about that.
I knew, KNEW that I was as different from my parents as any people could be. And then I found myself talking politics and agreeing with my mother! The horror, the horror!
It turns out that the longer I live, and the more I learn, the less I know. Crap.
In fact, it seems like every day that things I knew for sure are no longer true. Remember when Kobe Bryant was a fan favorite for his fresh faced enthusiasm and his overall goodness? Turns out that wasn't, well, let's just say that was off a bit.
I always thought that I would live in NJ as soon as college was over. That thought lasted through freshman year of college.
I was convinced that I would never find a job I liked. I've found a few. Now I wouldn't mind finding some more.
When I got to college I thought that I would party like I never had before. Who knew our high school parties were so crazy? (Although, as I've learned over the last few years, a well-thrown Pig Roast can be a pretty kick-ass party..)
Until recently, I KNEW that the Red Sox would never win a World Series, and it had never occurred to me that the Patriots could even be in the Super Bowl, never mind in the Dynasty conversation. Also? Drew Bledsoe, at one time, was an elite quarterback!!! Heh.
What else? I could on and on about how we KNEW there was NO FUCKING WAY a majority of people could possibly vote for Bush, but as it turns out? We were right about that.
I knew, KNEW that I was as different from my parents as any people could be. And then I found myself talking politics and agreeing with my mother! The horror, the horror!
It turns out that the longer I live, and the more I learn, the less I know. Crap.
Tuesday, March 14, 2006
Random thoughts on a Tuesday
Listening to NPR books (a podcast) the other day, and a guy came on to talk about his book on "Powered aging" or some shit like that. I was getting ready to turn it off, when he started throwing some statistics out like this one: 2/3 of all people who have ever reached the age of 65 are still alive. And, every 8 seconds another baby boomer turns 65. Which obviously prompts me to think.. So much for my chances of retiring on Social security in a few years!! Also, there's going to be a hell of a lot of new executives in a few years when all these old fuckers retire.
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WBC update: US spit the bit against Korea, playing poorly and losing 7-3. Next game is a must win against Mexico on Thursday night. Mexico lost to the US in the first round, but put up a pretty good fight. Too bad the NCAA tournament starts Thursday, so no one in the US is going to watch any baseball.
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Talked the gf into filling out a bracket last night. Not sure that this will lead to me being allowed to watch more games, but it can't hurt. I have a sneaking suspicion that a) she's going to win, and b) I'm still going to get a look every time I try to watch a game.
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Is anybody more annoying than Gary Tanguay? He makes me want to punch my tv.
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Tommy Heinsohn and Mike Gorman agree, this Celtics team is fun to watch! And if they're not unbiased, I don't know who is. But seriously, they are fun to watch.
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If you aren't already, check out the podcasts through iTunes. Itunes is cross-platform, and easy to use. And free. Podcasts are free too, and will play on any mp3 player, or you could burn them to cd, or play them on your computer. My current favorites are the NPR books and NPR movies podcasts. I know John is partial to the Democracy Now podcast, and to be honest, if you have a hobby at all there's probably a podcast that you'll get into.
http://www.apple.com/itunes/
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WBC update: US spit the bit against Korea, playing poorly and losing 7-3. Next game is a must win against Mexico on Thursday night. Mexico lost to the US in the first round, but put up a pretty good fight. Too bad the NCAA tournament starts Thursday, so no one in the US is going to watch any baseball.
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Talked the gf into filling out a bracket last night. Not sure that this will lead to me being allowed to watch more games, but it can't hurt. I have a sneaking suspicion that a) she's going to win, and b) I'm still going to get a look every time I try to watch a game.
---
Is anybody more annoying than Gary Tanguay? He makes me want to punch my tv.
---
Tommy Heinsohn and Mike Gorman agree, this Celtics team is fun to watch! And if they're not unbiased, I don't know who is. But seriously, they are fun to watch.
---
If you aren't already, check out the podcasts through iTunes. Itunes is cross-platform, and easy to use. And free. Podcasts are free too, and will play on any mp3 player, or you could burn them to cd, or play them on your computer. My current favorites are the NPR books and NPR movies podcasts. I know John is partial to the Democracy Now podcast, and to be honest, if you have a hobby at all there's probably a podcast that you'll get into.
http://www.apple.com/itunes/
Monday, March 13, 2006
WBC? I'm into it.
You know it's been a while since I wrote a blog when Goody's written several since my last one. And it's been a week since he wrote one.
Let's see. Boring ass weekend. The GF has a bad case of the "holy shit I'm so sick," so we didn't do to much. Caught up on sleep, watched a game here or there, read some more Lincoln. I'm getting into the World Baseball Classic or whatever it's called. I was skeptical, but I'm getting over it. The biggest drawback as far as I was concerned was the pitch counts. What that seems to have done though, is force pitchers to throw more strikes. Starters are still going deep into games in general, hell a guy from the Netherlands threw a no-hitter! (Of course the other team got run-ruled in the seventh, but whatever.)
No, the WBC has actually been pretty fun to watch. I expected the caribbean teams, and the asian teams to take it seriously, but the US players seem to be busting their asses. Also, it's an awful lot of fun for me to watch the gf try not to root for any of the Yankees on the team. Fun times.
Yesterday during the US/Japan game, there was a bit of a controversy, that of course the announcers wouldn't let drop. A Japanese player tagged up and scored on a fly ball to Left, only to be called out for leaving too early when the US appealed. On replay, it looked like a bad call. Don't really care about that though, my point is more this. If the games weren't mattering at all, could there possibly be an umpiring controversy?
Let's see. Boring ass weekend. The GF has a bad case of the "holy shit I'm so sick," so we didn't do to much. Caught up on sleep, watched a game here or there, read some more Lincoln. I'm getting into the World Baseball Classic or whatever it's called. I was skeptical, but I'm getting over it. The biggest drawback as far as I was concerned was the pitch counts. What that seems to have done though, is force pitchers to throw more strikes. Starters are still going deep into games in general, hell a guy from the Netherlands threw a no-hitter! (Of course the other team got run-ruled in the seventh, but whatever.)
No, the WBC has actually been pretty fun to watch. I expected the caribbean teams, and the asian teams to take it seriously, but the US players seem to be busting their asses. Also, it's an awful lot of fun for me to watch the gf try not to root for any of the Yankees on the team. Fun times.
Yesterday during the US/Japan game, there was a bit of a controversy, that of course the announcers wouldn't let drop. A Japanese player tagged up and scored on a fly ball to Left, only to be called out for leaving too early when the US appealed. On replay, it looked like a bad call. Don't really care about that though, my point is more this. If the games weren't mattering at all, could there possibly be an umpiring controversy?
Wednesday, March 01, 2006
What happened to us?
I mean, seriously. What happened to us? As a country I'm talking about. I'm currently reading the new Lincoln book, (good book by the way.) I was expecting to be impressed by Lincoln, his intelligence, his empathy, etc. What I wasn't expecting was to feel that things were better back then. The book starts out describing the lives of several of the people that were on Lincoln's cabinet during his presidency. In doing so, the way life was in the 1800s is covered quite a bit.
The thing that was remarkable to me was the optimism about America. People wrote essays, books, articles, letters, all about how great it was to be an American, how you can overcome any circumstance to be what you want, etc. (Of course, in order to have learned how to write, you probable were born into an advantaged life. Even Lincoln and his legendary log cabin had a step-mother who was relatively highly educated and who taught him to read. ) Even people from France wrote essays about how great of a country America was! Imagine that now..
Now we again have a country that is once again split bitterly down the middle, but it's no longer as clear what the reason is. Before the civil war, slavery was the main issue, but there were side issues of state vs federal rights, and others as well. Now? Religious extremism? Is this really what's separating the right vs the left right now? That seems fairly stupid to me. I suppose that this is what happens when you found a country based upon religious tolerance and than assume that it only applies to your religion. Idiots.
If there's anything that history has proven, it's that no one culture or country can dominate forever. The fall of the Roman Empire, the British Empire, the Mongols, Alexander the Great, Egypt, etc etc etc. In comparison to many of those countries and eras, we are in the midst of an incredibly insignificant time. Especially if, as it currently appears, the US is already on the downward spiral.
The thing that was remarkable to me was the optimism about America. People wrote essays, books, articles, letters, all about how great it was to be an American, how you can overcome any circumstance to be what you want, etc. (Of course, in order to have learned how to write, you probable were born into an advantaged life. Even Lincoln and his legendary log cabin had a step-mother who was relatively highly educated and who taught him to read. ) Even people from France wrote essays about how great of a country America was! Imagine that now..
Now we again have a country that is once again split bitterly down the middle, but it's no longer as clear what the reason is. Before the civil war, slavery was the main issue, but there were side issues of state vs federal rights, and others as well. Now? Religious extremism? Is this really what's separating the right vs the left right now? That seems fairly stupid to me. I suppose that this is what happens when you found a country based upon religious tolerance and than assume that it only applies to your religion. Idiots.
If there's anything that history has proven, it's that no one culture or country can dominate forever. The fall of the Roman Empire, the British Empire, the Mongols, Alexander the Great, Egypt, etc etc etc. In comparison to many of those countries and eras, we are in the midst of an incredibly insignificant time. Especially if, as it currently appears, the US is already on the downward spiral.
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