O RLY?

Minutes away from the start of the Final Four games, and I can't decide what food I want delivered! I'm so sick of pizza, but that severely limits my options for food. Hopefully I figure out what I want by the end of this blog entry :P

- Lakers' coach Phil Jackson will reportedly be elected to the Basketball Hall of Fame. I can't say that I'm surprised by this decision. In fact, I was wondering when he was going to be elected; I wasn't aware there was a 25-year (of service) rule before a coach could be eligible for the HOF. Let's see...900+ wins, nine NBA titles, three three-peats...yeah, that sounds like HOF-material. I don't want to hear the argument that Jackson has his nine rings thanks to MJ, Scottie, Shaq, and Kobe. Doug Collins and Del Harris couldn't win rings with these guys. Neither coach turned a bunch of spare parts into big-time complementary players. Props to you, Coach Jax.

(just to stray away from the topic slightly...I'm putting the over/under on the number of stupid comments made by Billy Packer tonight at 2.5, an d I'm taking the over. If there was a way for me to mute the TV when Packer talks, and un-mute it when Jim Nantz talks, I'd pay money for that technology)

- Ricky Williams wants back into the league. Am I supposed to be surprised by this decision? He's gotta make money somehow to pay for his medicinal marijuana. Then again, it wouldn't surprise me at all if the league, and the Dolphins, allow him to re-join the team. Even though he is 30, he could still be a productive runner as a backup to Ronnie Brown. Then again, with a new coach, perhaps Cam Cameron might not want the headache that is Ricky Williams on the team. If that's the case, do not be shocked to see Williams join another team, either this year or the year following. I still cannot fathom what the Saints (and Mike Ditka) were thinking when they traded somewhere in the vicinity of a thousand draft picks for the rights to draft Williams. Herschel Walker thinks the Saints gave up too much for Williams.

A few random Final Four thoughts, as the opening tip is about to happen:

- If Oden puts up a stinker today against Georgetown, could he conceivably drop down further than #2? Would he decide to come back for another season, which I believe would be a wise move? Great article by ESPN's Gene Wojciechowski about this topic, by the way. I see a lot of Dikembe Mutombo in Oden, minus the offense, and that's saying something--considering the Mutombo's offense includes that ugly hook shot and offensive rebounds. Oden is about 99% likely to leave after this year (as if any of us could pass up the tens of millions of dollars he'll get as a top-2 pick), but I have to imagine his development will suffer if he's stuck on the bench of a team like Memphis, Boston, or Milwaukee. By the way, as I post this blog entry, Oden already has two fouls. I've noticed that his footwork is terrible at best; most of the shots come simply because he can shoot over his opponent. Also, it wouldn't surprise me if the guy averages 1.0 offensive fouls a game; I don't remember an OSU game I've seen in which he didn't commit a charge. CBS just posted a graphic saying that Oden has averaged 4.3 fouls/game in his last three!

- OSU 14, Georgetown 7, 10 minutes left. OSU's on an 11-2 run since Oden left. Exhibit A that the most important OSU player is PG Mike Conley Jr. and not Oden.

- Gators-Hoyas is the overwhelming choice for Monday's championship game, according to ESPN experts. I'm surprised that UCLA actually got picked by one guy (Jay Bilas).

Ok, I'm not sure how OSU is up 7 on Georgetown, and it's probably due to my posting this blog entry. How the hell does Bill Simmons keep such an accurate running diary of games he watches?!? And darnit, I haven't decided what I want to eat yet :(

Final Four Withdrawal

A bit less than 24 hours before the Final Four commences, and I'm having withdrawals. I'm also suffering from The Office and Heroes withdrawals :P

I plan on commenting on the latest news regarding Pat Tillman, but I'll save my thoughts for a later post.

- Anyone wanna take a trip to Dublin, Ireland? Try these directions on for size :P

- ESPN Insider John Hollinger wrote a piece on the 25 best contracts on the NBA. Again, an ESPN Insider subscription is required to access this article. It's not surprising to see Chauncey Billups--a mid-level signing, if you can believe that!--and Steve Nash--did you know he isn't a max-salary player?--on the list. Seeing Chris Webber--post-buy-out--Michael Finley, and Eddie Jones--post-amensty waivers--on the list doesn't shock me either.

- Kentucky is going to offer Florida coach Billy Donovan a $1 million a year raise. Donovan, in an earlier press conference, said he was solely focused on UCLA at the moment, but notice that he did not rule out leaving for Kentucky at the end of the season. If Donovan had no interest, at all, in the Kentucky job, wouldn't he have said that during the interview? If Florida repeats as champions this year, I'll say it's 75%-25% that Donovan will bolt for Kentucky after the tournament. Call it a cash grab, if you want, but I have to disagree. Florida would be insane to not match any offer Kentucky makes to Donovan (assuming it's not a huge pay increase), unless they don't want to stand in the way of what Donovan really wants, and I'm guessing Donovan really wants to coach in Kentucky. Why wouldn't he? Kentucky is, arguably, the second-most storied franchise in all of college basketball, and Donovan brings the team instant credibility in the recruiting race. It would not surprise me if Donovan went to Kentucky and brought an NCAA championship in the next seven years.

- A man in Arlington won't be charged for the murder of his wife's lover. Instead, the wife will be charged with manslaughter and making a false police report. Wow. I'm not sure the woman will get convicted, but good for the grand jury to attempt to make the charge stick on the woman. Having an affair with another man, getting caught by her husband, and then accusing the guy of raping her? She truly deserves any punishment that's coming to her, though I forsee a slap on the wrist coming for the false report charge.

- Hornets' sharpshooter/benchie Peja Stojakovic suffered a setback, and his return to the team is in doubt. Um, how is that news? And how was this guy not on Hollinger's list of worst contracts of the league? What, did NOK expect to get a full season out of this guy? By the way, the Hornets do realize that there are ten games left in the season, right? According to the article, his return will be "pushed back." How much farther can that be? Let's say that he is able to return in two weeks; that would leave about five games left in the season. Even assuming he shakes off the rust quickly, how many meaningful games will he be able to play? Peja, shut it down for the season.

I know I have more to talk about, but I'm drawing blanks right now. More to come later.

Whaaaaaaaaa???

- So Wacko Jacko continues to (not) amaze me. Apparently there's a plan to create a 50' robot of himself and have it roam about the Vegas desert, "greeting" people flying into the city by firing laser beams. I'll admit, I've always wanted a 50' robotic replica of myself! Imagine rolling around town with something like that flanking you! By the way, someone better check the lasers in the robot. For all we know, they could be scanning incoming planes for little kids (yes, I went there :P).

Also, exactly where would the lasers be coming from? Actually, never mind...

- The guy who had to change his name to Peyton Manning after the Colts beat the Bears in the Super Bowl can't legally change his name anymore. The judge ruled that the name change would be "too confusing" and it "might infringe on the privacy" of the Colts' QB. What??? The judge might as well rule that people can't wear jerseys of their favorite players, due to casual fans mistaking them for the players. What if the guy requested to change his name to Rex Grossman? Would the judge have a problem with that? That would probably be worse, actually. I guess I shouldn't try to change my name to Kolby Byrant.

- Here are the twenty-five worst contracts in the NBA according, according to ESPN's John Hollinger (ESPN Insider subscription required). The Knicks have so many players on that list that they are listed in two different categories: current Knicks and "already waived Knicks." If that doesn't prove that the Knicks are the laughing stock of the league, nothing will. I don't care if they aren't the worst team in the league, record-wise, but a team that spends over $100 million in salaries should, one would think, contend for a division title every year. Then again, when you have four shoot-first point guards, a center who is allergic to defense, and millions of dollars in salaries to players that aren't even on the team anymore, I guess you can't really be that good. It doesn't help that you are run by Isiah "I nuked the CBA" Thomas. Oh well, at least there's no luxury tax penalty or anything for far exceeding the NBA salary cap...

That's all I got for now. Happy blogging!

How rediculous!

(yes, the misspelling is intentional :P)

- So Jeff Van Gundy wants every team to be eligible for the NBA Draft Lottery. I can't say I 100% disagree with Van Gundy's proposal. What I do find laughable, though, is his suggestion that every team should have an equal chance at winning the #1 pick. Why should teams like the Mavs, Suns, and Spurs be given as much of a chance to get a franchise player like Greg Oden as the Hawks, Grizzlies, and Celtics? If the NBA allowed every team to be eligible for the NBA Draft, they should keep the system that is currently in place: the worst teams should have the best chance, percentage-wise, to land the #1 pick.

How about this for an alternate system? Have a lottery for the first three picks for those teams that missed the playoffs. Then, have a lottery for the next few picks or so that encompasses the entire league (minus the three teams that won the top three picks, that is).

By the way, I don't believe tanking--intentionally losing games to get a better chance to win the #1 pick--is as big a problem as people say it is. After all, finishing with the worst record in the league only gives you the best chance (25%) at winning the overall #1 pick. If my math is correct, that means there's a 75% chance that that team won't get the #1 pick. This isn't like the NFL, where the worst team in the league gets the #1 pick automatically.

Hey JVG, why don't we just stick to the system we currently have? It seems to be working quite well...

- What was more ridiculous about the Rasheed Wallace 60-foot prayer last night? The fact that it went in, or the fact that Denver blew an inbounds pass with 1.5 seconds left?!? Up 3, 1.5 seconds left, on the Detroit half of the court...all Denver had to do was get the ball inbounds and make a single free throw to win (heck, they could have bricked both throws and Detroit would still need a desperation 3 to tie)! As fluky as the entire sequence was, plays like this are the reason why Denver is not nearly on par with the West's elite teams.

- A lesbian falsely accused a man of rape in an attempt to win back her former lover. The man was seriously injured from a fall around the time of the accusation, and, evidently, without DNA evidence--he was identified from a photo ID parade!--the man was still charged with rape. While the guy's life was spiraling out of control--his ex-wife denied him seeing his children, he was sent hate mail, and attacked in public--the woman continued the charade, until friends of the accuser began coming forward, exposing the fraud. I cannot believe the woman is only getting 18 months for what she did! The woman needs to spend years in prison, or a mental health facility, at the least. And no, woman, a letter of apology is not going to fix the guy's life that you (pardon the term) screwed up.

- A man was ejected from a Serena Williams tennis match for shouting a racist remark at the tennis star. What the hell was the guy thinking? I'm glad the chair umpire, and the officials at the match, acted as quickly as they did to remove and ban the guy.

- Finally, I must say that Kobe Bryant is the greatest scorer in the history of the NBA. As ridiculous as the notion might be (Wilt? MJ???), I stand firmly by my declaration. Put Kobe's last week into perspective: he scored 50+ four straight games, and had an off-night (where he scored only 43). And it's not like he was shooting 40 shots a game to score those points. In fact, his team needed his scoring to win each of the previous five games! He's shooting at over a 50% clip during the streak as well!

Now I'm not saying that Kobe is the greatest player in the history of the league; that would probably be MJ right now. All I'm saying is that, if I needed one guy to score one basket, I would probably give the ball to #24 at this point.

By the way, did anyone know there's a Women's NCAA Basketball Tournament going on as well?

Fantastic Four!

(sorry, this blog entry will have nothing to do with Jessica Alba :P)

Georgetown v Ohio State. Florida v UCLA. NCAA Men's Basketball...it's FAN-tastic!

- After proving that Aaron Grey really is an overrated stiff, UCLA proved that Bill Self is one of the best coaches at doing nothing with plenty. A few off-balance threes with the shot clock running out didn't hurt, either. Unfortunately, I missed about eight minutes of the game because I was en route to my sister's birthday party, so I had to suffer through listening to the game on the radio. The Bruins defense, especially in the last five minutes, was unbelievable. I don't want to hear Jayhawks fans whining that they missed too many gimmies; I'm sure the Bruins' defense had nothing to do with those bricks. Next up: Florida (ugh!)

- I'm embarrassed to admit that I missed most of the other three Elite Eight games, due to various reasons. I caught little of the Memphis-Ohio State game, mostly because the game bored me to death. I caught the end of Florida-Oregon at a restaurant, while on a 'business' lunch. I only managed to catch OT of UNC-Georgetown, also due to said 'business' lunch. BTW, UNC, why did you bother showing up in OT if you were going to play like THAT? Props to Georgetown's D, but UNC could have, at least, taken a time out after the first couple baskets by Georgetown in the extra period. Oh well, I had Georgetown beating UNC anyway :P

- Pacman Jones might be charged with various charges for his role in a Vegas shooting during the NBA All-Star Weekend. Good. At the rate he's going, not only does he need to be removed from the Titans, he needs to be removed from society. BTW, how have the Titans not cut this guy yet?!? What else, save for murder, does this guy have to do for the Titans to finally wise up and drop the guy?

- Ron Artest is retiring! Oh wait, no he's not. I'll say it's 5:1 that he's retiring; I just don't see it happening. Maybe a "retirement" is his way of asking out from Sacto.

- Out with Theismann, in with Jaws. Excellent move my Monday Night Football! I can't stand Joe Theismann and his constant bickering with Tony Kornheiser (who's not exactly the greatest color guy in the world, either). I remember Jaws doing a game either last season or the season prior, and I thought he did an excellent job with his insight and analysis of the game. I like Mike Tirico, and hopefully the existing chemistry between Jaws and Kornheiser makes the MNF broadcasts better next season. MNF just needs to stop bringing in guests every week, unless the guests are relevant to the game!

Quick Final Four picks: Georgetown over OSU, Florida over UCLA (go anti-jinx!)

Damn, four days from my last post...I have tons more to say! Oh well, I'll save some of the stuff for another post (maybe later tonight?)

It's alive!!!

Ungsunghero.com is finally live! W00t!!!

- What a game between Kansas and S. Illinois! It's a shame I missed most of the first half of the game, and the early part of the second half. Watching the home stretch of the game, I thought KU was going to choke the same way they did in the past two years. That turnover by Falker at the end of the game was huge. Kansas awaits the UCLA-Pitt winner, which is going on as we speak.

- Memphis escaped against Texas A&M. There's no other way to say it. That missed layup by Acie Law IV near the end of the game would probably have iced it, even though the lead would only have been three. What a pair of clutch free throws by Antonio Anderson, who was 1-4 prior to those two attempts! It's too bad CBS made me watch Kansas-SIU; I would much rather have watched this game. When I initially picked Memphis over A&M, II almost immediately changed my pick to A&M. I decided to, reluctantly at first, stick with my pick. Lesson learned: always stick with your first choice! Next up for Memphis: the OSU-Tenn winner.

By the way, A&M did NOT get robbed by the refs when a full second was taken off the clock (near the end of the game). If you watch the replay carefully, the ball was deflected, hit the ground in bounds, bounced up, then was touched by a guy on press row. That, in my opinion, would have taken at least 1.1 seconds.

UCLA 10, Pitt 9! I'm eating dinner! I guess this will be a two-part post :P

Give me money, or NO FREE ENERGY FOR YOU!

This guy's blog entry speaks for itself. I don't know what's more ridiculous--the guy extorting people by threatening to get their Adsense accounts locked, or the idea of a free energy machine. For those of you that don't know, a free energy machine is a machine that produces more energy than is input. A nice idea, sure, and definitely something that would shock the scientific community, if such a machine was possible. James Randi's website documents quite a few examples of these free energy machines. All I have to say is, I've never been threatened in an email with "special robots." Will the inventor take $1000 in Iranian currency? According to XE.com, that would be worth about $0.11 USD :D

By the way, someone on AnandTech says that this guy really does make tons of money a month on Adsense. I guess I won't be expecting an email from the scammer any time soon.

- The David Carr era in Houston is likely over. I don't consider Schaub that much of an upgrade over Carr, though; what the Texans really need is an upgrade on the offensive line. I firmly believe that Carr's disappointing career, to date, is a direct result of the sieve-like offensive line that was paid to protect him. On the bright side, maybe Carr will be able to resuscitate his career elsewhere. It doesn't hurt that he's leaving the Texans. I don't expect Carr to get a starting role to start next year, but I can see a team like the Vikings signing him to a deal to back up Tarvaris Jackson.

- Adam "Pacman" Jones might be suspended for the entire 2007 season for his off-field antics. The only thing that surprises me about this decision is the fact that the Titans aren't the ones punishing Pacman. Ten off-field incidents in two years? Does the total have to hit twelve for the Titans to react? The Titans were a great story last year; the play of Vince Young (thanks Texans!) and the wonderful coaching job of Jeff Fisher makes them one of the sleeper teams next year, even if they play in the same division as the Colts and Jaguars. As good a player as Pacman is, no team needs a distraction like him. If the NFL does suspend Pacman for the year, I would expect the NFL Players' Union to respond immediately and try to overturn the suspension. On what grounds, who knows; maybe they'll argue that Pacman didn't actually kill anyone...

- Michael Jordan gets unfair advantages over other teams, says many league executives. I completely agree with the majority opinion of the article; how is it NOT an unfair advantage that MJ gets to be around these high school basketball players? He gets intimate contact with these players, far more than any other league executive could imagine, and he can do so without penalty! Compare this to Danny Ainge, says the authors of the piece, who got fined $30,000 for sitting next to Kevin Durant's mom. I know the NBA is in between a rock and a hard place; they can't allow one GM to have a decided advantage over others. However, how much backlash would the league suffer if they tried to levy a heavy punishment on the league's most popular player, past or present? Also, one can't ignore the positives of basketball camps on young players: further development of basketball skills, teamwork, and mentoring from camp alumni. When MJ became minority owner of the Bobcats, I'm sure the NBA envisioned all the publicity that would come with his return to the league. Like the little shove MJ gave Bryon Russell--Game 6, 1998 NBA Finals--it appears, so far, at least, that the NBA is turning a blind eye on the entire situation.

- Here are my quick Sweet 16 picks: Kansas over S. Illinois, Pitt over UCLA (consider this an anti-UCLA jinx!), Memphis over Texas A&M (despite the essential home court advantage), Ohio State over Tennessee, Florida over Butler, Oregon over UNLV, Georgetown over Vandy, and UNC over USC in the game of the Sweet 16. If I get a chance, I'll give a more thorough analysis of each Thursday game before the games start.

Ah, it's good to talk about college basketball again! Until then, happy blogging!

A day late...

So I'm enjoying the leftover corned beef we cooked yesterday--yeah, a day late, I know--as I type this blog entry up. I'm enjoying the meal with a glass of cheap Trader Joe's red wine, which took me an hour to uncork, as I don't have a corkscrew. One of these days, I might explain why it took an hour to uncork the bottle.

To fit the title of this blog, here are my thoughts of last night's NCAA tournament games.

- In the day's only real upset, UNLV defeated Wisconsin, unless you consider Southern Illinois' win over Virgini Tech an upset. Not much to say about this game, as I didn't watch either game yesterday.

- Actually, the only game I really caught was USC's thrashing of Kevin Durant and Texas. I picked Texas to win, though I figured USC had a decent chance to pull the upset. No way did I expect USC to handle Texas so easily, though. The Trojans absolutely dominated the Longhorns, especially in the second half. Next up for the Trojans: a date with UNC. While I have to figure that UNC is going to be a huge favorite over USC, I wouldn't be all that surprised if the Trojans pull the upset and get into the Elite Eight.

- Speaking of Kevin Durant, a number of teams have been fined for "improper contact" with the future NBAer, the biggest fine going to the Boston Celtics. On PTI today, Mike Wilbon suggested that these fines were ludicrous, since Boston wasn't "recruiting" Durant, the way college football teams could illegally recruit high school stars. It's not like Boston could just sign him once he decides whether or not he's going to the NBA; he'd actually have to be drafted by the Celtics, after all. I 100% agree with Wilbon. All Ainge did, apparently, was sit besides Durant's mom during the USC-Texas game. Now I know rules are rules, and if one violates a rule, he should be punished. However, what Ainge did--and for that matter, what Charlotte and Golden State did--should not have been fine-worthy. Maybe the NBA should fine any team that even utters the names "Oden" or "Durant."

By the way, Mr. Durant, I'm not buying what you're selling; we all know you're going to the NBA. After all, you have tens of millions of reasons to go.

Some quickies to end this entry:

- Chris Simon will not be charged for his homerun swing on the Rangers Ryan Hollweg. I hate to ask, but if Hollweg was seriously hurt, would he then have been charged?

- Oldie, but goodie (and stinky? and noisy?)

- Pro Wrestlers involved with steroids? No way! Also on the news wire: water is wet, the sky is blue, and OJ Simpson is evil.

Ugh...I ate too much. That's all for today!

Something's Bruin...

Before I get to yesterday's NCAA games, I need to make mention of this. I always claim that, when something really bad happens to me, I immediately witness something even worse happening to someone else--usually within the next 24 hours. Yesterday, as we got home from a quick trip to the grocery store, we noticed a guy parked right in front of the gateway to our parking lot. Immediately we noticed his car was leaning a bit to one side, and I got out of the car, offering to help him push the car out of the way. It turns out his entire front axle was damaged, which explained why we was unable to move the car out of the way. He tried forcing the car to move, by jamming the accelerator, and I noticed bits of metal flying out of the bottom of his car, so I immediately waved at him to stop. Fortunately, a friend of his came by soon after, and I guess they both got in contact with a tow truck, as the car was gone a couple hours later.

- That slopfest between UCLA and Indiana was quite enjoyable for about 35 game minutes; everything other than that run by Indiana to tie the game up was great to watch. The first half, which ended 20-13 UCLA, was absolutely hilarious. Turnovers, missed free throws, bricked layups, a shot that went 3/4 down and back up...talk about a defensive onslaught. The second half featured a much more open game, and clearly that benefited Indiana. Thank goodness for that turnover on the inbounds pass by Indiana with 30 seconds to go! On to the Sweet 16 and a matchup against Pitt! I hope my anti-UCLA jinx works; I picked Pitt over UCLA in my bracket :P

- I can't believe I missed the best game of the day!!! What a triple by Ron Lewis to send the game into OT! By the way, I saw Oden's fifth foul, and my initial reaction was that the foul wasn't enough to be called intentional/flagrant. Upon further review, OSU got bailed out by the non-call. Xavier couldn't have been more of a class act after the game, though; during the end-game press conference, Justin Cage blamed himself for the bricked free-throw that could have iced the game, instead of the officials for not calling the intentional foul on Oden.

- A&M over Louisville had to be the best non-OT game of the day. Edgar Sosa, great player, but what an awful finish to the game. Down a single point, he missed two free throws. Still down a point, he heaved an awful three point attempt with plenty of time left on the clock. A&M couldn't stop the high pick-and-roll all day, and you settled for that shot?!? Props to Louisville coach Rick Pition for acknowledging that freshmen make mistakes, and that his team wouldn't be where they are without Sosa's performance. That being said, I'm glad my favorite college basketball player that doesn't attend UCLA--A&M's Acie Law IV--is still in the tourney.

- Pitt over VCU in OT; Vandy over Wazzu in double OT! This is what March Madness is all about!

More bracketology talk, including coverage of today's game, will come either later today or tomorrow. A couple quickies, though:

1) How the heck is Texas down 18 to USC?
2) How the heck did UNLV beat Wisconsin?
3) The Midwest bracket is what is absolutely killing my overall bracket.

Oh yeah, ungsunghero.com--the future host of this blog--will be live shortly! Finally, my own domain! Thanks Krunk for practically walking me through everything I needed to do to set up the domain (what can I say? I'm a total website n00b :P)

Just a bit outside...

So what a great way to start the weekend. I had a $5,000 guaranteed poker tournament at Sportsbook.com poker at noon...um...I mean, I would have played in a $5,000 poker tourney if poker were legal here in the states. I had to accompany my sister to our local Toyota dealership in the morning; her damn Camry broke down for the eleven billionth time a few nights ago. Her piece of junk was at the dealership, and we had to go to the lot, call AAA, and wait for a tow truck to lug the heap of scrap metal back to our place. Our journey started at 9:25 with breakfast, and we arrived at the dealership at 10:00. The freaking tow truck, which was supposed to meet us there at 10:30, didn't make it until 11:45, and I didn't get home until around 12:30.

Now, missing a tournament by 30 minutes isn't that big of a deal; I would have lost some chips to the blinds, but I would still have had a decent amount of chips to work with. Of course, that's when we discovered our next probem. Apparently the car was in such bad shape that the battery was dead. Not a big deal, since the car was toast anyway, right? Well, the mechanics had rolled the front driver's window down, and the doors were unlocked. And since the battery was dead, we couldn't roll the window back up! After a brief inspection under the hood, we felt that perhaps a jump would be all we needed--just enough juice to get the power windows working, we hoped. I found a set of jumper cables in my sister's loaner car--her friend left her a 4Runner to use...LONG story. The jump worked, and we spent the next few minutes cursing at the car.

I ran back into my house, logged on to the Sportsbook.com Poker software--that is, if I actually played online poker anymore--and found that I had already been eliminated from the tournament in 15th place! The worst thing is, only 30 people, out of an expected 250, actually showed up, and the top 10 spots earned prizes! I missed a 1-in-30 chance at $2,500!!!

Of course, since I don't play online poker, I'm not too ticked off. Now excuse me while I drown my sorrows in a cold drink. Bracketology talk later tonight.

Some like it hot...

and some sweat when the heat is on! (count me in as part of the latter group :P)

So I'm still too cheap to afford a web hosting plan, and I've noticed that 100webspace does not allow image hotlinking. Neither did a couple other free hosts I found. I finally stumbled upon one that does allow hotlinking, zero ads, and a ton of webspace (as if I am going to use anything close to the maximum). Thanks XER Team Speak--link in the links section--for the free web space! I'll be publishing this blog to my new free subdomain, and I hope that I won't run into the problems I had with 100webspace.

- As of this posting, I have 20 of 24 correct picks in my Tournament Pick'em League; it looked like Georgia Tech was about to pull off an upset of UNLV, but oh well. My entire San Antonio bracket is intact, but I've missed two picks in the St. Louis bracket, and possibly three if Arizona doesn't come back against Purdue. I also picked Virginia Tech to beat Illinois, and the Illini are upsetting them as we speak.

- Tennessee 121, Long Beach State 86. Just crazy! Then again, Bruce Pearl did say to take the over...um...that is, if betting on NCAA tournament games was legal here in the states.

- This is ouuuuuuuuuuuur country! That's the 20th time in the past two days that I've seen a commercial featuring that damn Mellencamp song!

- I'm a Mac. And I'm a PC. And I thought the Mellencamp song was annoying. CBS should really learn to not air those commercials back-to-back.

- I'm drawing a serious blank here; I can't think of much else to blog about right now. Maybe I need a cold drink...happy blogging!

Oh, we're halfway there...

oh, living on a prayer (a non-denominational one, that is)!

As a side note, gosh, it's hard to come up with some of these punny blog titles!

Halfway through Day 1 of the first round of the best weekend in sports--yes, better than the Super Bowl--and I got 13 of 16 picks correct so far. I missed Michigan State over Marquette--thanks, Marquette, for waiting nearly 10 minutes to score your first points--Butler over Old Dominion--the 12-5 upset I picked to happen--and VCU over Duke (!!!).

Some random thoughts on day 1:

- Thank goodness UCLA didn't allow Weber State to stay in the game for long. They had me worried when the game was close in the early going. Next up for the Bruins: Indiana, on Saturday.

- VCU guard Eric Maynor is a stud. He nailed big shot after big shot in the waning moments of the Duke-VCU game, and who didn't expect his last-second jumper to go in?

- Louisville trashed Stanford by 20. Yeah, Syracuse and Drexel didn't belong in the tourney, but Stanford did. Just wait until USC crushes Arkansas. And no, I don't care that Drexel got beat in the first round of the Not In Tournament. They should have been in the field of 64.

- I expected the Indiana-Gonzaga game to be closer than it really was. I really wanted to see a rematch of last year's game between Gonzaga and UCLA, but Indiana and UCLA ought to be fun.

- Games I'm looking forward to tomorrow: Texas v New Mexico State (Kevin Durant!); Kentucky v Villanova (Tubby's last stand?); Notre Dame v Winthrop, and Arizona v Purdue.

And now for some non-bracketology thoughts:

- I love this article about Oprah and The Secret. For those uninitiated, The Secret focuses on the Law of Attraction; as quoted from the article,

They maintain that the universe is governed by the principle that "like attracts like" and that our thoughts are like magnets: Positive thoughts attract positive events and negative thoughts attract negative events. Of course, magnets do exactly the opposite -- positively charged magnets attract negatively charged particles -- and the rest of "The Secret" has a similar relationship to the truth.

Let me point out that I won't completely discount the power of positive thinking. Sometimes it helps me to put myself in a positive mindset before tackling certain tasks; that being said, in no way has positive thinking ever brought me material wealth. I can also assure you that my out-of-shapeness has nothing to do with me thinking negatively about my weight or diet; it might have something to do with the can of Pringles by my bedside :P

The real problem I have with The Secret is the obvious pyramid-like scheme in which the movie is being distributed. Pay $20, find the secret to true happiness, and get others to pay $20 so that they can do the same appears to be the basis of their marketing campaign. The fact that Oprah Winfrey is now behind the secret--Oprah can do no wrong, right?--is only going to bring these quacks more staying power, and, ultimately, more dollars:

...the marketing idea behind it [The Secret] -- the enlisting of that dream team, in what is essentially a massive, cross-promotional pyramid scheme -- is brilliant. But what really makes "The Secret" more than a variation on an old theme is the involvement of Oprah Winfrey, who lends the whole enterprise more prestige, and, because of that prestige, more venality, than any previous self-help scam. Oprah hasn't just endorsed "The Secret"; she's championed it, put herself at the apex of its pyramid, and helped create a symbiotic economy of New Age quacks that almost puts OPEC to shame.

Since Oprah endorses The Secret, it must work, right? Like I said earlier, I don't totally discount positive thinking; I just don't need to pay $20 in order to hear people talking about the power of positive thinking. Oh wait, let me rephrase that...I'd be happier with the $20 in my pockets...I'd be happier with the $20 in my pockets. Hey! I feel better already!

Well, I had lots more that I wanted to talk about, but somehow it's 3:30AM, and I'm still not asleep yet. Yikes!

Don't go away mad, just go away

The line from Motley Crue's song (minus a word, I know) could apply to someone I know, but for now, let's use it as the prevailing theme for this blog entry.

March Madness officially starts in a few hours! W00t!

- Gary Matthews Jr. finally spoke about the allegations linking him to HGH. I'm glad he found some time to finally comment on the situation. Here's the best part of his statement, quoted from ESPN.com:

"Before saying anything publicly I wanted to make absolutely sure of my ground," said the 32-year-old Matthews, who agreed to a $50 million, five-year contract with the Angels in November. "In particular, I needed to try to learn whether anybody in authority -- in or out of baseball -- felt they had reason to accuse me of anything with regard to HGH. If they did, I would have to deal with that.''

He added: "It has taken me, and those representing me, 16 days to make certain that's not the case. And that is why it has taken longer than I would have preferred to make a public statement."

Um...what? It took him 16 days to realize that no one had a reason to accuse him of anything? He needed to be absolutely sure of his ground? What, he wasn't sure he actually took HGH??? Let's see...if I didn't take HGH, and was accused of doing so, I'd say it would take me exactly 16 millseconds to be screaming holy hell. I never knew one of the side effects of HGH was retardation.

(By the way, I don't want anyone here to accuse me of being insensitive for using the word "retardation." One such definition of retardation is, according to m-w.com, "an abnormal slowness of thought or action." I dare anyone to accuse me of misuse of the word.)

I can't believe Angels' owner Arte Moreno is actually happy that Matthews made his statement. What, exactly, is this statement going to do, other than fuel more speculation about Matthews' past?

- Alex Rodriguez says that his future in NY is in the hands of the fans. Alex, what exactly are you thinking? As if these words are going to repair your wrecked image. This guy really needs to stop talking, both for his own good and the good of the Yankees (did I really just type that?). In A-Fraud's (E-Rod?) defense, he's taking way too much flack for his failures in NY, and he's in an absolute no-win situation. He'll always be compared unfavorably with Derek Jeter, and even if A-Rod finally wins a ring, people will point out that Jeter will have five rings to A-Rod's one. A-Rod, do yourself a favor and just stop talking. Stop giving Yankee fan more reason to boo you during the season. By the way, feel free to opt out of your contract at the end of this season, and underachieve with my Dodgers next year!

- Pete Rose bet on his own team, eh? He had that much faith in his team, huh? This guy needs to go away. Sure, he's the all time hits leader, a fierce competitor, and a legend. He's also a gambler, who wagered on games while managing, and there is no place in the sports world for gambling, especially in your own league. Looking at the comments left by ESPN users in the article I linked, I cannot believe how much support he's getting. Heck, the poll on that page shows that 70% of voters--out of ~40,000, so far--are in favor of Rose's reinstatement. Why should we trust that this guy is over his gambling addiction? Why should I believe that he won't gamble again, if he's reinstated into the league? Pete, just keep selling your books, and insist that Selig's unwillingness to reinstate you into Major League Baseball doesn't bother you. Either that, or please just go away.

- And finally, UIGEA, please, please, please just go away! The UIGEA (the Unlawful Internet Gambling Enforcement Act), piggybacked onto a defense bill by Sen. Bill Frist, took online poker away from me, and I wouldn't mind having it back. Then again, gambling is evil, and I'm glad my US Senators care about me enough to tell me what I should and should not do with my own money. I'm a bit skeptical that the UIGEA will ever be totally repealed; more likely, Congress will allow a US-based company to run a poker-site, under tight regulations. I wouldn't mind that; then again, I haven't played a hand of online poker in months, and nothing will ever replace the donkey farm known as Party Poker.

- As promised, here's my tourney bracket. If the link doesn't work, try copying and pasting the URL. A few thoughts:

1) Yeah, I can't believe I'm picking Pitt over UCLA, either. Unfortunately I have a feeling that the Bruins' last two games were not flukes. Also, since the Bruins lack big bodies, that big stiff Aaron Grey will probably dominate the Bruins, unless he gets into foul trouble.

2) Yes, I know I picked 3 #1s. I have no balls, what can I say? I was really thinking about picking Texas A&M over Ohio State; Acie Law IV might be the most clutch player in all of NCAA basketball this year.

3) I was leaning over taking Georgetown over Florida in the championship, but it's pretty obvious that Florida has hit "the switch."

4) ODU over Butler is the only 5-12 "upset" that I see happening this year.

5) Dick Vitale is awesome; I don't care how annoying he is, but his passion this time of year is remarkable. It is an absolute travesty that he is not yet in the Basketball Hall of Fame.

NCAA Tournament Basketball...it's awesome, baby!

The NCAA Tournament, with a red slash through it...

NO TOURNEY! YOU GO NOW!

(that's a reference to a line in a John Pinette stand-up routine. I promise this post will be NCAA Tournament-free!)

- Bill Clement is a hockey (you know, that sport on ice, played by Canadiens, eh?) analyst for the Versus network and NBC. He said that he was not condoning what Simon did, but--and anytime someone says "I am not/did not ......, but," you can be damn sure he is/did...--he did offer the following defense for Simon:

1) Clement argued that Simon had no real intent to injure Hollweg. He stated that hockey players usually have great control of their sticks, and Simon was clearly aiming at Hollweg's chin.
2) Clement pointed out that Simon's hands were too far apart on his stick to do any real damage--ask a baseball player how much power he could generate with his hands far apart, Clement said.
3) Clement pointed out that a hockey stick--weighing a couple of ounces, he said--is too light to do any real damage.

He was aiming for Hollweg's chin??? He had no intent to injure? The hands were too far apart? The stick is too light? Let's ask Donald Brashear how that light stick felt when Marty McSorley smacked his temple. I loved Bill Clement's analyses when he was a hockey color commentator on ESPN with Gary Thorne. That being said, are you freaking kidding me??? How can anyone condone a guy wildly swinging his stick at a guy? I don't care if the guy was swinging a hockey stick or a chopstick; if he's swinging at me, clearly there is intent to harm. At least Clement didn't buy Simon's argument that he was concussed, and that caused him to act irrationally. Nevertheless, Bill Clement, congratulations, you are the front-runner for the 2007 Most Ridiculous Sports Comment of the Year.

By the way, coach, you're wrong. Simon got off easy with only a 25-game suspension.

- Here's an example of some major pwnage. Cliffs: a guy posted on the Beyond.ca forums about his friend who got victimized by a hit-and-runner. Apparently another member of the forum happened to be at the intersection of the crash, and had his camera available. He snapped photos of the car (including the dent to the front left bumper AND the license plate), as well as the face of the driver. Apparently, local news media outlets picked up the story, and the guy ended up getting busted! The best part is, the witnesses incorrectly identified the suspect's license plate, but the photos proved to be enough to get him! What an awesome story!

- A straight-A student is suing over getting an F on an assignment she turned in a day late. As usual, the words "emotional stress" appear in the article. While I do agree that there is a problem here--if the school's policy is to allow late assignments to be turned in for certain absences--is a lawsuit, especially for punitive "emotional" damages really necessary? I do believe the teacher should have allowed the student to turn in the assignment late. That being said, I would hate to see what kind of precedent would be set if the student wins her case. Could any student sue any teacher for a bad grade, based on the teacher's dirty looks? I think the principal should have immediately stepped in and rendered a decision; I think (s)he should have allowed the student to turn in the assignment late, or, at the very least, mediate a compromise between the student and the teacher.

- The Green Bay Packers are reportedly discussing a deal for WR Randy Moss. This has been rumored for about a month now. I like the deal, in the sense that it gives Brett Favre a deep threat downfield--a guy that Favre can throw a jump ball to every now and then. However, there are a lot of things to hate about this deal:

1) Moss is owed a ton of money, and he'll probably have to restructure his deal.
2) Moss is 30.
3) Have you seen Moss' act lately?
4) The Raiders reportedly want a #1 in exchange.

That being said, I think the Packers need to take a chance. If the Raiders lower their price down to, say, a #3, or maybe even a #2, I think the Packers should make the move. You'd never know it, but Favre is inching closer to retirement, and he has had to deal with a problem player before (Andre Rison), and that actually worked out well. Green Bay, make the deal!

- Maria Sharapova will lose her #1 ranking after a loss in Indian Wells. I really have nothing to say about this; I just wanted to mention her name once in my blog :P

- Speaking of bad commercials, these SoCal Honda Dealer commercials are HORRIBLE. They usually involve a salesman, at the house of a customer, talking about how they're no-bull, helpful salesman. Each commercial ends with an attempt at comedy; in one commercial, the guy says he's very helpful, and the woman tests that theory by having him do some plumbing work. And no, these commercials are not at all funny.

Two blog posts in a row, and nothing about college basketball? Yikes!

I need a hero...

No HEROES tonight?!? NOOOOOOOOOOOO!!!!!!

Oh well, the series premiere of the new FX show, The Riches, is on tonight. I love Eddie Izzard's stand up comedy acts, and I'll definitely be interested to see how he does in a comedy/drama.

- Kobe Bryant was retroactively assessed a flagrant foul for his elbow against Kyle Korver on Friday. As someone pointed out in that article, all three victims of Kobe elbows--Manu Ginobili, Marko Jaric, and now Kyle Korver--have said that they thought the elbows were inadvertent. Nevertheless, I'm very surprised that Kobe was not suspended for multiple games for this latest incident. Laker fans, your team may have just dodged a serious bullet as your playoff hopes start to flicker away...

- Typical of the last few years of the New England Patriots' on again/off again dynasty, the Pats have made a number of moves to strengthen their roster. LB Adalius Thomas, WR Donte Stallworth, and now WR Kelley Washington have been added to the team during this year's free agency period. Now that Tom Brady actually has someone to throw the ball to, and with the Colts regressing this year--losses of Dominic Rhodes, Cato June (soon), Nick Harper (possibly), etc.--it looks like the Patriots might be the early favorites for next year's Super Bowl. That last statement was really hard for me to type, by the way, as I hate the Pats.

- The Knicks' Isiah Thomas got a contract extension today. I'll admit, as horrible of a GM as Thomas has been, he has been pretty good managing his horrible roster of overpaid veterans. So they have four shoot-first PGs, a center that is allergic to rebounding and defense, and a bad first-round pick this year, thanks to the Eddy Curry deal. The Bricks do have one thing going for them: they do play in the (L)Eastern Conference.

(Your regularly scheduled, chock-full-of-bracketology-talk blog posts will resume tomorrow :P)

Snubblicious!

Yeah, I'm chewing gum; was it that obvious?

- So the NCAA Tournament Bracket has been released. I can't say I'm shocked that the Bruins were dropped to a #2 seed. Sure, they still get to stay in California until the Final Four, but a second-round matchup against Indiana/Gonzaga will be fun. A potential Sweet Sixteen matchup against Duke/Pitt will be fun as well, especially if Pitt advances that far (Howland v. Dixon!). Then, of course, an Elite Eight matchup against Kansas ought to be compelling. Of course, I'm making a bunch of assumptions here. I have UCLA losing in the Elite Eight last year, and we all know how that ended up. I actually have UCLA losing to Pittsburgh this year in the Sweet Sixteen; yeah, I just don't have faith in that team recovering from their last two losses. Of course, all of this is subject to change before the 15th.

- I'm watching ESPN's coverage of the tournament, and Doug Gottlieb, Digger Phelps, and Dickie V have picked UCLA to make the Final Four, both picking them to beat Kansas to get there. Hubert Davis and Jay Bilas have Kansas over UCLA. Dickie V has UCLA beating Florida to get to the championship! That man is crazy, baby! He has them falling to UNC, though.

- To suit the title of this blog entry, let's talk bracket snubs. How the heck does 18-win Stanford get in, especially after coming from ahead to lose to USC in the Pac-10 tourney? How does Arkansas get in (no, a trip to the SEC Finals wasn't enough)? How does Syracuse and Drexel get left out? How does Drexel get left out???

- Prized USC recruit OJ Mayo was cited for possession of marijuana Friday night. Way to go. Can't this guy wait until he reaches the NBA to cause trouble? They say this is his second serious incident--the first was improper contact with an official in a high school basketball game (a ruling that I thought was pretty wrong; I saw the video, and it looked like the "bump" was incidential). Oh well, he'll be one-and-done next year, and probably a top-5 pick in the 2008 NBA draft.

- Every year, a 12-seed beats a 5-seed; it just happens. This year, I'm not so sure any of the 12s (Old Dominion, Illinois, Arkansas, Long Beach State) are going to beat any of the 5s (Butler, Virginia Tech, USC, Tennessee). I sure hope Arkansas gets beat by USC, or I'll look really bad for questioning why they got in to the dance).

- I'll have my final bracket posted here soon; for now, I have all four #1s advancing, so clearly changes need to be made. Right now, I have Florida over Kansas and UNC over OSU in the Final Four, and Florida over UNC in the Championship game.

- More bracketology talk to come! BTW, you're a gambling degenerate if you bet on the play-in game between Florida A&M and Niagara :P

Daylight Savings Time

Don't forget to roll your clocks forward an hour! Losing sleep FTW!

My sister, Nancy, opened up her own blog (see links section). We'll see if she posts to it often, or if she's as much of a slacker as I am.

- Ron Artest apologized and rejoined the Sacramento Kings. I'm pretty surprised by this--not his return, but the fact that the Kings allowed him to return so quickly. On the one hand, why would the Kings want him back? He's obviously going to be a huge distraction to the team. On the other hand, maybe he deserves a chance to come back into the league and play basketball, and use basketball to get his mind off his personal life. Then again, does he deserve this chance? I'm not too sure.

- The Big East (Georgetown) and Pac-10 (Oregon) championships were absolute yawners; so was the Conference USA championship (Memphis). I expect Florida v Arkansas to be a ridiculous blowout. Hopefully UNC/NCST (and coach Sidney Lowe's bright red blazer) and Ohio State/Wisconsin will both be awesome games.

- Speaking of the Big East, Pitt's Aaron Grey...what's the big deal with the guy? Maybe it's because I wasn't able to watch him the entire year, but the guy looks like an immobile stiff out there. Maybe it's because Pitt played Louisville and Georgetown back-to-back, but the guy reminds me of Arvydas Sabonis (sp?), minus an outside shot. I hope Kevin Love (UCLA recruit and a big the Bruins could use THIS year) doesn't turn out to be nothing more than a stiff.

- I did have Chinese food today, and I did order some Kung Pao chicken. I'm very happy I did, even if it cost an arm and a leg. I also ordered some stir-fry steak dish, and that was damn tasty too. Plus, I have plenty of leftovers for the next few days.

- A man in NY mugged a 101-year old woman over a tidy sum of $33.00. What a lowlife; I guess he really needed the money. Now I am not trying to make light of the situation, but I love the woman's comments: "I'm quite sure that if it had happened when I was younger, I would have been after him," she said. "I'm a very strong woman. I've been that way my whole life."

I hate to end this entry on such a low note, but I'm tired. Happy blogging!

Food for thought

So I'm up early, in bed, enjoying a hot and delicious bowl of plaster--aka oatmeal (by the way, oatmeal with raisins and brown sugar is pretty good, but oatmeal with Craisins is damn good, even if oatmeal tastes like a wet rice cake). Why am I up early, especially on a Saturday? March Madness, of course!

March Madness? Great!
March Madness in HD? Even better!
March Madness in HD without having to adjust a stupid antenna every 30 seconds? W00t!

- Cooper Brannon is my hero. I heard him on The Jim Rome Show on Thursday, and his story is incredible. Not bad, going from Marine, to Purple Heart recipient--after a freak accident involving a flash-bang grenade--to minor league pitcher for the San Diego Padres. It's a shame this world has far too many Ron Artests and Adam "Pacman" Jones and not enough Cooper Brannons and Jim McLarens.

- The Los Angeles Lakers lost again yesterday. Kobe Bryant threw another wild elbow. He better be careful; the Lakers are probably one more wicked Kobe elbow away from missing the playoffs altogether. Then again, with all the injuries the Lakers currently have, they may miss the playoffs anyway.

Sometime last night, I saw a commercial for Ruby Tuesday, a restaurant that features "simple fresh American dining." I see these commercials several times a day, and I find it amusing that the nearest restaurant location is in Woodland, CA--east of San Jose. Needless to say, it will be unlikely that I will ever dine at a Ruby Tuesday. Which reminds me...

(just a random thought before I start the list...apparently Chevy has created YET ANOTHER commercial featuring that damn John Mellencamp song!!!!!!)

- Apparently McDonald's has another commercial pimping their new Angus burgers; this time, three Bostonians are discussing their wishes to try this burger (apparently, this burger is being "beta-tested" here in CA). McDonald's commercials have gotten to the point where I'd rather see 10,000 Verizon guy and Jared from Subway ads than a single McDonald's commercial. No, I guess you can say that I'm not lovin' it.

- As far as good/funny ads are concerned, I love SportsCenter ads. Watching athletes pretend to be funny by pretending to work at SportsCenter amuses me. The latest one involves New Orleans Hornets PG Chris Paul and SportsCenter anchor Brian Kenny. Kenny asks Paul if he's going to go for 16 or 17 (presumably points); Paul says he's going for 28. The joke is that, instead of points, the two were talking about items from a take out Chinese restaurant; apparently #28 is the Spicy Kung Pao chicken.

Hmmm...I could go for some Spicy Kung Pao chicken for lunch, actually...

Friday Bracketology

- Did UCLA's choke job last night cost them a #1 seed in the NCAA tourney? Last night, I thought the answer to that question is "for sure." Today, I'm not so sure. Even if OSU, Kansas, UNC, and Florida all win their conference tournaments, an argument could still be made for UCLA to get a #1 seed. Their RPI is still #1, with a very high SOS, and a 15-3 conference record in the second-best conference in the country. Five losses overall hurts, but 9-1 against the RPI Top 50, and a ton of quality wins--most recently at Washington State--adds to their already strong resume. As of right now, my four #1 seeds are UCLA, OSU, Kansas, and UNC, with the last two being chased by Wisconsin and Georgetown.

- Dominic Rhodes has bolted the Indianapolis Colts for...the Oakland Raiders (?!?!), signing a two-year deal worth up to $7.5 million dollars. I don't get this signing for a number of reasons. First, um, it's the Raiders! Second, Rhodes still won't be the feature back, so as long as Lamont Jordan is there. Third, did Rhodes not see what happened to Edgerrin James? At least James went to a system where he could flourish, with Leinart, Boldin, and Fitzgerald. Rhodes is going to the Raiders! Well, if the Raiders get help at QB, just about everywhere on the OL, and WR, they might be good...

- Chris Simon is a thug, plain and simple. That clothesline he delivered to Ryan Hollweg with his hockey stick is criminal, and I don't care that Hollweg was able to get up with minimal injuries. Simon was suspended indefinitely by the NHL, and he needs to be banned for the remainder of the season, including the playoffs. Even that might not be enough of a penalty, in my opinion.

- Gary Matthews Jr. is ticking off Arte Moreno. Just come clean already, says Moreno. I was never a fan of Moreno because of insistence of naming his team the Los Angeles Angels (of Anaheim), a joke considering that they don't even play in the city of Los Angeles, much less the county. That being said, good for Moreno to demand that Matthews come out and explain himself. He just gave the guy $50 million after a strong one-half of a season (preceded by a couple uninspiring seasons); why shouldn't Moreno not want to know if that half-season was fueled by performance-enhancing drugs?

- Adam "Gunman"...er..."Pacman" Jones may not report to the Tennessee Titans' practice facility soon. Ten separate incidents with the law since being drafted only two years ago, and yet he hasn't been cut yet? What is Tennessee waiting for? Hilarious statement by his lawyers, by the way, who "acknowledge[d] that their client too often is in the wrong place at the wrong time." If Pacman was involved in one or two incidents, then maybe we have a case of "wrong place, wrong time." But TEN such incidents? Yeah, I'm sure Pacman was not directly involved in any of the ten cases.

- Finally, I leave my loyal readers (all zero of you) this bit of absolute ridiculousness, or unbelievable power of the mind if you're so inclined to believe it. The comments are hilarious, especially responses #42 and 43. Comment #42 openly mocks the spoon-bender, and the moron's...er...medium's response makes me wonder how dense the guy really is. Maybe he expended way too much psychic energy bending the spoon (with his hands)? The page also has a link to a discussion of the James Randi Educational Foundation (JREF) Million Dollar Prize, and how much of a "scam" it is. By the way, as I typed up this blog entry, a mysterious force knocked a water bottle off my desk. Either that, or it was my forearm striking the bottle as I spun around in my chair.

By the way, the JREF's web site is located at http://www.randi.org. That site is a great source for news about the paranormal, and how embarrassing/shocking/unbelievable some of their claims are. I stumbled upon this site while looking up information about LifeWave energy patches (my sister obtained a box of these scam patches, which contain nothing more than glucose and glycerin). Spoon-bender Uri Geller and frequently-wrong psychic Sylvia Browne are constantly mentioned in Randi's Commentary section. I'll mention that, while I enjoy reading his comments about these "empowered" individuals, I don't quite share his extreme views on religion being a complete farce.

More bracketology talk to come!

March Illness!

I hate being sick...

- McDonald's' commercials are typically really bad, and I could easily anoint every McD's' commercial in recent memory as some of the worst commercials ever. Their latest efforts to annoy the hell out of me is this commercial for their new Angus 1/3 pound burger, involving two Texans playing instruments and singing a song. First of all, McDonald's is only about a year or ten late in the Fast Food Biggest Burger Race. Second of all, that "I'm lovin' it" jingle, bugged me the first time I heard it. Ten million times later, and my eardrums still bleed when I hear it. Thirdly, yeah, two Texans singing a stupid song about a burger that they could probably get anywhere in Texas really makes me want to go out and get one. McDonald's, please stick to advertising to your key demographic (the 0-3 age group).

- Lindsay Hunter--Detroit Pistons' guard--has been suspended ten games for a positive drug test. While I wasn't surprised to hear the first part of his comments--"I'm as shocked as anyone"--it was refreshing to hear him say he made a "bonehead mistake." Hey, Gary Matthews Jr., you might want to try admitting that you're a cheat, rather than insisting on waiting for "all the facts" to be presented to you before you take action. I'd comment on what Matthews said after being linked to an online steroids ring, but I can't say anything that hasn't already been pointed out by sports columnists nationwide.

- O.J. Simpson is the worst guy ever...well, he was already the worst guy ever, prior to this story. I agree with what Jim Rome said; O.J. should just paint himself red and grow horns.

- Kobe Bryant was suspended today for one game for an elbow (inadvertent?) to Marko Jaric. Similar to the incident that occurred with Manu Ginobili earlier this year, Jaric was surprised by the suspension. I felt that Kobe was unfairly suspended for the first offense, when Ginobili's nose hit Bryant's elbow. However, I feel that Kobe had to be suspended for this incident. One elbow to the face could be considered an accident. Two, and now we could be talking habitual. If Kobe elbows another guy in the face this year--inadvertent or not--a multi-game suspension will be warranted, in my opinion.

- I can't believe I have to wait until April for the next episode of The Office. Oh well, at least I have March Madness to keep me unproductive :P

Turn down the thermostat...

First of all, I can't believe it's been over two months since my last blog entry, but let's just say that a series of events has kept me from posting. With MLB Spring Training starting, and NCAA March Madness on the horizon, I figure I've got lots to blog about in the coming days!

- Does anyone know where Winter went? Temps here will be in the 80s all week :(

- FoxSports.com has my Dodgers ranked 12th in their early season MLB Power Rankings. Pardon me if I'm a bit skeptical. Our team has little power, a below-average outfield, and an injury-prone rotation. Sure, we have lots of speed at the top of the order, but considering that it will take three hits--or two hits and a stolen base--to score a single run, we'll definitely struggle to score this season.

- I've seen this clip hundreds of times, and Billy Packer--the CBS analyst--must be on crack. The ball left Hansborough's hand a second before Henderson's elbow reached Hansborough's face. Packer said that Henderson was going after the ball; I haven't played basketball in a while, but I don't ever recall going for a block with my forearm. The ONLY bit of that clip that might exonerate Henderson is the fact that his hand was opened; if he was really going to deliver a shot, his hand would probably have been clenched. That being said, the blow was still flagrant, and Henderson should be lucky that he is only going to miss one game. Kudos, though, to Coach K, for essentially blaming UNC coach Roy Williams for the entire fracas, suggesting that if Hansborough wasn't on the court, Henderson would not have been either.

- I've also seen the Shaun Livingston injury clip far too many times, and I refuse to post a video. The Clippers' team doctor said that Livingston would probably miss 8-12 months. No kidding, Captain Obvious. He'll be lucky if he doesn't miss all of next year. That being said, I hope Livingston is able to resume his career in the near future, as that was one of the sickest injuries I've ever seen. It ranks up there with the Willis McGahee injury.

- According to DNScoop.com, Google.com--the URL, not the company-- is worth $1,959,900,000. Bargainshare.com is $48,970. My blog? A cool $12 :P

I've got lots more to blog about, including some March Madness discussion, my new HDTV, and other thoughts about sports in general. I also plan on discussing stupid TV commercials, Heroes and The Office, and outrageous news stories. I just hope I don't wait 70 days for my next post :P