Recently in Sports Category

Seriously, if you haven't seen the 4x100 freestyle relay from last night yet, go to NBCOlympics.com and watch it now. Freakin' amazing.
In my own little world, I finished Week 5 of the 100 pushup challenge on Saturday, messed up arm and all. And yet, my max pushup test from yesterday was not enough to push me to Week 6, so I'll be redoing week 5 again this week.
After falling off a bike, there's only one thing to do: get right back on. So I rode in this morning, an uneventful ride, thankfully. The weirdest thing was that I actually had to think about wearing layers. In August! It was in the low 50s when I left this morning, but I decided to just wear a t-shirt and let myself warm up. It wasn't too chilly, and I was actually thankful for the cool weather. My road rash is healing, I won't say nicely, because it's ugly as all get-out, but it is healing. Hopefully it doesn't scar too badly.

Round one of the President's Challenge Adult Fitness Test, I hope to do it again near the end of the summer or in September.
Gender: Male
Age: 34
1.5 mile run: 10:17
Half sit-ups in one minute: 73
Pushups: 25
Sit and reach: 18 inches (18.5, but no decimals in the test form)
Height: 5'10"
Weight: 159 lbs
Waist circumference: 32 inches

I was in the 80th percentile on the 1.5 mile run, 95th on situps, 45th on pushups, and 70th on sit and reach. That put me in the 72nd overall. My BMI was 22.8: "normal." So I was above average in 3 of the 4, not bad. I actually did the run on the local roads instead of a track, with hills and all, so I'm not sure if I could have done better there. If I had just done 2 more pushups, I would have been in the 50th percentile there too (but personally, I doubt that half of American males my age can do 10 pushups, let alone 25). I'll be using the 25 pushups as my initial test for the one hundred pushup challenge, which I'll start tomorrow.

Wow, I almost celebrated the Wings victory prematurely again! Once they got the puck out of the zone with under 10 seconds left, I started clapping, but the Penguins somehow managed one more legitimate shot on net, and it just trickled wide. Great finish to a great series. And congrats to the Detroit Red Wings! The cars will be afire tonight.

Living in Michigan for 6+ years did not make me a fan of most of their sports teams. Yeah, MSU sports of course, since I was at school there. But not the Pistons, Lions or Tigers really. The one exception was the Red Wings. I like hockey, but let's face it, my Islanders haven't been good since I was too young to remember them being good. So it was natural for me to gravitate to the winning Red Wings.
Which brings me to last night. Just 34.3 seconds from hoisting the Cup when the Penguins tied it up. I decided then that I was in for the long haul, and long it was. 2 and a half overtimes later, pushing 1am, and the Pens had forced a Game 6 in Pittsburgh. And I was a tired boy when the alarm went off at 5:30am. Riding the bike was invigorating and woke me up somewhat, but I'm definitely feeling the pain at this point. Hopefully I can get some rest before tomorrow night's game. It's been a long time since I stayed up so late to watch a playoff game. I'm definitely getting too old for this crap.

Spring technically arrived last week, but the weather hasn't quite warmed up enough to convince me, even though all our flowers are blooming in the front yard, and the trees are starting to bud like crazy too. So it seems strange that I will still be curling in leagues for the next couple of weeks. And let me tell you: it can't end soon enough. At this point, I'm just going through the motions of it all and looking forward to having a break. Side note: the US women are 4-1 so far at the World Championships, though they have a long way to go yet, playing the top two teams (China?!?! and Canada) later today.
MSU's hoops team pulled off a mild upset beating Pitt this week. I think a lot of people had Pitt going far, based on their streak through the Big East tourney, but thanks to some help from the refs in letting a lot of the rough play go, we were able to advance. It should be interesting to see how much rough stuff we get away with against Memphis. If they let us be physical with the Tigers, we have a good chance, I think.
The hockey team starts its title defense as the three seed out West against Colorado College on Friday. Too bad it's on ESPNU and I won't be able to watch.
Random Amazon purchasing info and lust: Ellie has been getting toward the height limit of her Britax car seat, so we've been looking for a booster seat for her. The catch is that we still want her to be in a 5-point harness, and there aren't a lot of candidates out there, though the market is growing. Ellie's cousin has the "throne," the Britax Regent, which harnesses up to 80 pounds and runs a cool $250. We also looked at the Sunshine Kids Radian and some other more expensive models ($200+) But yesterday I found out about the new model from Graco, and we drove out to Burlington Coat Factory (more than great coats, they have a sub-store in there dubbed Baby Depot). The Nautilus costs $150 and has a high height limit harness, and a 65 pound weight limit. Ellie's still under 30 pounds, so we were more worried about the height than anything, so we had her sit in it and try it out. We thought she might not like it, since it's still very "car seat"-ish, but she actually did like it. Only problem was that they were out of stock, so Amazon to the rescue. Now we just have to wait for the super-saver shipping to arrive in a couple of weeks.
Lastly, Harmonix announced that Rock Band for Wii will be coming out in June. Woot! Maybe Ellie can play drums while I play guitar!

I always find it amusing when, in the days after an event like the Westminster Dog Show, everyone becomes an instant expert on the subject. "That Uno was a good-lookin' beagle." "I thought the Weimaraner should have won." Meanwhile, we really have no idea what the judges are looking for, or what really makes a good dog. What we do know is that it's fun to root for the dogs you know and see every day, like the beagle and the bulldog, but otherwise, we're pretty ignorant.
Last weekend, during a break from curling, we flipped through channels to find that professional bull riding was on NBC. The instant expert phenomenon occurred there as well. We were analyzing the bulls and the riders as though we knew what made a good bull or a good ride. "Look at how he stayed in the center of that bull." "That bull didn't give him much of a challenge."
I imagine that some people involved in those events would get irritated by our couch potato observations, much as I do when people mock curling. What are you an "instant expert" on? Or, what are you actively involved in that people think they know a lot about, but really don't?

I thought this was kinda cool. I went running with my GPS watch the other day and it recorded my pace, route, etc. I uploaded everything to this nifty website, MotionBased.com, and now everyone can see how slow I was. Hopefully I can get running more so that I improve and show that part to everyone...

What a busy weekend. Can I have another weekend so I can get some sleep?
On Saturday morning, we drove up to Baltimore for the day. They were having a book festival near my cousin Bill's house, though not as big as the one in DC. We got signed children's books from a couple of authors, and that was about it. I never did find out where Larry Doyle (author of "I Love You, Beth Cooper") was. We then headed over to the B&O Railroad Museum. It was Museum Day, so admission was free for me and Lisa, and we only had to pay $8 for Ellie. We rode the train, and saw all the old timey rail cars, and Ellie had a blast. We also found out that Thomas, everyone's favorite Communist train, will be visiting in the Spring next year. We'll have to find time to get up to Baltimore for that. Then, the point of the trip, watching the Yankees take on the Orioles in a meaningless game. Andy Pettitte was far from good, but managed to get the win by pitching 5 innings. How did he win? The Yankees batted around in the 4th inning before the Orioles were able to record an out. And almost the whole time, I was in line at the concession stand. Gah! Ellie and Evan toughed it out to the 8th inning, and we didn't miss anything important, as the Yankees won 11-10.
So obviously, I didn't catch any of the MSU-Wisconsin game, though I understand we gave them a run for their money. Who knows, with this year's topsy-turvy Big Ten (Illinois beat Penn State?), MSU may make a decent bowl game. They have two home games against Northwestern and Indiana before heading to Ohio State. Don't look ahead, and they could be 6-1 before a brutal five game finishing stretch.
On Sunday, we woke up late and had to scramble around to get ready. I was leaving for my baseball game, and Lisa was going to a picnic. I was a little late to the game, but only missed the top of the first. I ended up going 1 for 3 (though my last at-bat probably would have been a sac fly, had the outfielder not dropped the easy fly ball), and played decent in the field, though I needed to work on my throws to first, which were pretty wild.
I finally got to relax a bit for the Giants game last night, and was shocked to see the defense utterly shut down the Philly team that had put up 56 their previous game (Brian Westbrook notwithstanding). Could they be this good? They have 4 very winnable games coming up against the Jets, at Atlanta, San Fran, and against Miami (in London). Crazy.
MLB playoff post upcoming...

Before leaving work on Friday, I told my co-worker (a Notre Dame and Washington Redskins fan) that I'd be happy as long as MSU and the Giants didn't lose this weekend. I think we know how those two games worked out, but in case you didn't: they both WON! Thank goodness for that, because otherwise I would have had to listen to the 3-0 Redskins talk for two full weeks (they are on bye this week). Eli still worries me at times (get rid of the ball, and do it by NOT launching it 50 yards downfield into double-coverage), and MSU is still quite reliant on the running game, which may struggle against better defenses (like, oh, at Wisconsin this week?), but their defense has improved, particularly in their pass rush.
In baseball news, the Yankees managed to keep the division within 1.5 games, with one more home game against Toronto tonight. Too bad the D-Rays couldn't keep the lead the other night, or that the Yankees came back from 4 down only to lose in extra innings. Our baseball team lost yesterday in a comedy of errors. Only it wasn't so funny. We were way short on our regular (read: good) players, and though we kept it close for a while, our bats weren't getting it done either. I had a base hit on the first AB, walked, almost got a duck snort into short left, but was caught, and struck out on a good swing on a hard fastball.
We did do some fun non-sports-related stuff this weekend. On Saturday, we headed out to Bull Run park for the first (?) Capitol City Carnival. We didn't stay around to watch George Clinton, but we had fun hanging out with the medievally attired hippies for a few hours. Oh, and did I mention there was beer? I wasn't particularly impressed by anything. The Floris Wit was pretty good, as was the Troegenator (I got an awesome shirt from them too). I didn't take notes, so no official reviews, not that 4 oz was enough to review anyway. On Sunday after the baseball game, we saw Robbie Schaefer (from Eddie From Ohio) give a free kids concert (with free Moorenko's ice cream!), and Ellie was seen tapping her toes and joining in the singing (even though she didn't know the words). We also took the first drive (in pre-Redskins-Giants traffic) up to the curling club for the membership meeting. We did get a free dinner for my near-$500 check (ouch!), and I'm looking forward to getting out on the ice. Hard to believe in the 85-90 degrees and sunny weather that curling season is only a few weeks away!

The curling season is just around the corner, and with this being my last year in the five-and-under category, I'm focused on getting myself ready for a run at the Dykes championship. As many people already know, being in baseball shape is very different than being in any other kind of shape. You don't usually have to do much in baseball other than sprint for 270 feet at the most, and it doesn't take much to be in baseball shape (see: John Kruk). The first bonspiel of the season is about a month away, so I decided that it's about time I started getting in shape. Unfortunately for me, I caught a cold from my snotty nosed kids, so running is out for a few more days till I get over it. But this morning while waiting for my oatmeal to cook, I did a quick set of 20 pushups and 50 situps. The pushups weren't too bad, but I've never had such a bad time doing situps. Talk about feeling the burn! I was barely able to get myself to stand up. Clearly, I have work to do before I'm ready to sweep a bunch of rocks down the ice all day.

After a fine Saturday, it was time to play two on Sunday. Our little baseball league added one team, putting us at five teams total. Unfortunately, that means that one team is the odd one out each week, so the players for the early game combine forces to play a second game. Well, theoretically at least. I was one of only two players from my team who combined with most of the other team to play the second game. I really gotta remember to hit the batting cage before trying to come in cold and hit for real. Two popouts, a couple of strikeouts and a walk. Yech. The second game though, I did smoke one against the hardest throwing pitcher of the day. Right back to the pitcher. Damn. I even got the chance to pitch in the second game. 1 inning, a bit of wildness to start, but I settled down and didn't give up a run, thanks to two hard hit balls right to the centerfielder.
If you watch the video highlights from the Yankees game yesterday, you can see my brother (halfway up in the dark blue Yankees jersey) running to the bullpen wall to watch A-Rod's 52nd homer of the year. Dude is on fire. The Yankees need to stay focused against Toronto starting tomorrow, before heading to Boston for their last chance to catch the Red Sox.
And didn't I tell you the Giants would get killed? At least the score was somewhat close, something of a miracle since the Giants were getting hurt left and right (Brandon Jacobs, Osi Umenyiora, Eli Manning). I turned the game off after the Giants settled for a field goal on 4th and 5 from the Dallas 6 (which left them two scores down, still), and Tony Romo hit a wide open Terrell Owens for a TD to put them up by 16. I missed two quick TD throws by Manning, one to fantasy football waiver wire pickup Derrick Ward, who did well in Jacobs' place. And yet, there was Romo firing across the middle (again!) for the game sealing TD. Maybe they'll have better luck this week against the Packers, and hopefully the assorted injuries are not too severe.

MSU manages to beat Bowling Green to go 2-0. U-M loses, again, this time in a blowout to Oregon. Notre Dame gets killed again by Penn State this time. Both are 0-2. I don't think MSU has been 2-0 while U-M and Notre Dame were 0-2, ever.
And A-Rod hit #50 and 51, and it looks like the Yankees are cruising again.
I expect the Giants to get killed tomorrow as a result of all the good results today.
Today was also a bizarre food day. This morning, we stopped by Starbucks for the first Pumpkin Spice Latte of the season (thanks for letting me know, Shane!). Then this afternoon, we had watermelon for a snack, since it was still around 90 degrees outside. I really do want it to be fall. Winter can wait though.

Ever since Jim Ryun, the former world record holder in the mile, ran his last Olympics in 1972, America has been searching for its next great middle distance runner. Steve Prefontaine had the most potential but was taken from us too early. Steve Scott ran in the shadow of the great Brits Sebastian Coe, Steve Cram and Steve Ovett, never really overcoming them. The latest hope was Alan Webb, who broke Jim Ryun's high school mile record in 1999, and ran the fastest 1500 meter race this year, finishing in 3:30, just 4 seconds off the world record. He also broke Scott's American mile record, running a 3:46.91 this year (the world record is 3:43.13). So all eyes were on Webb in Osaka for the 1500m World Championship final.
He broke out and took the lead for two laps, but the pace was slow, around 58 seconds for the first lap, and 59 for the second. If you do the math, you see that this translates to about a 3:54 mile, 8 seconds slower than he's run this year. The pace picked up some on lap 3, with a 57 second lap, but the runners were all bunched together for a sprint finish. And out of the pack came not Webb, but newly-minted American Bernard Lagat, who took the title in 3:34.77. Lagat became an American citizen in 2004, but had to wait to race for the US until this year. He became the first American to win the 1500 at a world or Olympic championship since 1908.
For Webb, it was a disappointing result. He ran a good race tactically speaking. In earlier heats, he had to fight through traffic just to qualify for the finals, and it was clear he wanted to avoid that in the final. But if you are taking the lead and hoping to win, you need to break the runners with a good kick early with some quick laps. Instead, he allowed the entire field to stay in the race up to the sprint finish, and was punished for it, finishing 8th. He may say that he wouldn't change a thing about the race, but he made some critical mistakes early in the race that came back to bite him in the end. Still, it is Webb, at 24 years old, not Lagat, who is the future of American middle-distance running, and I look forward to seeing him redeem himself at the Beijing Olympics next year.

The NHL, in its neverending attempt at relevance, is doing "Celebrity blogs" for the playoffs (Eastern Conference, Western Conference). Christie Brinkley is supporting the Islanders. OK, so she only made it to her first game a couple of weeks ago, but she looks damn good for 53 years old!

The Michigan State Spartans, after a 21 year drought, captured their third college hockey championship on Saturday. I pretty much missed the whole game after forgetting it was on, but I did catch the celebration at the end, and caught the highlights on SportsCenter and YouTube. Great goaltending by Jeff Lerg, the 5'6" netminder, and scoring by the Spartan #1 line, including goalscorers Tim Kennedy and Justin Abdelkader. What a comeback, what a finish! Congrats Spartans!

Normally, I don't work on my birthday, but since I took a half day off for Opening Day, and with our Disney trip coming up soon, I decided to work a half day today. I'm leaving around lunchtime to go have a picnic in the park with my family. Of course, some people reported a light snow this morning on their way in to work, and the high is only supposed to be 47 degrees, so it's a little chilly for a picnic. But we should have the park mostly to ourselves anyway...
Yesterday, Michigan State's hockey team won their Frozen Four semifinal game, and will now go on to face Boston College for the championship tomorrow night at 7pm, I think on ESPN2. It wasn't a pretty game, MSU's wins never are. But the Spartans battled back from an early 2-0 deficit to score 4 unanswered goals and win 4-2. MSU will be clear underdogs to Boston College, who were ranked 4th in the final regular season poll (MSU was 10th). If the Spartans can dictate the pace of the game and continue to get good goaltending from Jeff Lerg, they will definitely have a chance.

I sat down in front of my computer and TV on Friday night, college hoops in HD on the computer, and what I was hoping would be college hockey on MASN on the TV. Unfortunately, somehow the hockey was not on at 8:30 like it was supposed to be, and it was not on when I went to bed around 10pm either. Apparently it started broadcasting just after I went to bed. At any rate, Michigan State won that first game easily, 5-1 over Boston University and played again on Saturday night. This time, the broadcast started on time, and I watched every minute of Michigan State's 2-1 victory over #1 seeded and #1 ranked Notre Dame. Jeff Lerg had a great game in net, and MSU just kept constant pressure on the Irish in a hard fought win.
MSU will now play Maine in a Frozen Four with no #1 seeds, as North Dakota and Boston College fill out the teams.
In basketball, I was worried last night that UCLA would have to carry the banner for the non-#1 seed to win it all, but Georgetown came through in the clutch, continuing to run their offense through their big men instead of jacking up three-pointers in desperation. UCLA plays Florida and Georgetown plays Ohio State, and hopefully both will come through for me. In spite of my idiocy in picking the early rounds of the tourney, I did correctly pick 3 of the Final Four, with Ohio State being the lone exception (I had Texas A&M, like a lot of the pundits did).
We had our old man's version of Spring Training yesterday, a one day, two hour workout that consisted of some infield practice and short batting practice. Unfortunately, in spite of the dire warnings to not overexert ourselves, one player was seriously injured while chasing down a fly ball. He caught his foot in a divot or something, and nearby players said they heard a pop as he went down. The ambulance and fire truck came and put a brace on his leg and took him to the hospital. They weren't sure if anything was broken at the time, so hopefully he will be okay. I took it easy myself, since I was plenty worn out from our 5K and various running around on Saturday. I was just glad to get out there and get my new uniform. I'll be wearing #2 this year. Unlike #47 that I wore last year, at least there are some well-known people who have wore #2: Tommy Lasorda, Nellie Fox, Charlie Gehringer, and of course, Derek Jeter. In addition, the uniform is red pin stripes, so it'll look real nice, I think. The season starts next week, and since we are off for Easter and then we will be on vacation the following two weeks, I won't play again until the 29th. Well, it will give me plenty of time to recover from the first game anyway!
Two more quick things vaguely related to the topics in this post. First, the Washington Post's Beer Madness is down to the Final Four: Ellie's Brown Ale, Brooklyn Lager, Dominion Ale and Saranac Pale Ale. I can attest to the fact that these are four fine American beers. Go Ellie's Brown! Second, in case you missed it, and I am sure you did, you have to watch the amazing finish to the Division II basketball championship, Barton versus Winona State. Enjoy.

Last night, after I got Ellie to bed, I sat down for some fine NCAA hoops action. I got to see the end of the Southern Illinois-Kansas game, which was quite the tilt. I was pulling for the Salukis, but they just couldn't pull it out. Then they showed the end of Texas A&M-Memphis, which officially killed my bracket. I checked the clock, and it was 10pm already, and the second games hadn't even started yet! When games don't start until 10pm on the East Coast, I am not likely to stay up and watch them, especially when I have prior commitments the following day. It looks like tonight will be more of the same as well, which is a damn shame.

After a decent first round, my bracket is now fully busted. I was down on the SEC and Pac-10 other than Florida and UCLA, and guess which conferences have three teams each? I wasn't so silly as to pick MSU over UNC, but I at least had Wisconsin making the Sweet Sixteen. The ACC also let me down. The saddest part of it all is that the only OT game I caught was Ohio State-Xavier. We were running around getting stuff ready for our Saint Patrick's Day dinner, so I missed Pitt-VCU and Vanderbilt-Washington State. I'm starting to get a little nervous about that friendly wager I had too. All four #1 seeds are through, and aside from Ohio State, they're looking pretty good too.
But hey, MSU's women's team won their first round game last night, and have a second round game (at home even though they are the lower seed, one of the quirks of the women's tourney) against Rutgers, a rematch of a loss they had earlier this year.

The Spartans gave it a nice run, but in the end, you could see their shots coming up short, and the failure to get back on defense because they were just plain tired out. That combined with the fact that UNC was essentially playing a home game (and not to complain, but getting a lot of calls like it was a home game) were too much to overcome. A good effort for a team that will be all back next year with some added help on the front line (7 footer Tom Herzog) and in the back court (3 top guard recruits).
p.s. Tyler Hansborough can bite me. MSU was backing off with 1:10 to play, down by 10, knowing the game is over, and you take it to the basket?!?! No wonder the Duke guy blasted you in the face. Back it off and show some class.

I missed 2 or 3 picks, depending on which of my brackets I'm looking at, and none of them cascade past this round. Not too shabby for the first day.
Finally, my Duke hatred paid off, and they choked one off to VCU, thanks to 12 missed free throws. Oh, if I were a Carolina fan with Josh McRoberts coming in to our house next year...
MSU pulled a nice victory as well, helped in part by the fact that Marquette was missing one of their top players. But a win is a win, and we held them to only 5 two-point baskets (and 10 threes), tying an NCAA record. March Madness On Demand is awesome, by the way. Without it, I wouldn't have been able to see MSU, even if it was on a grainy tiny window on my computer. There's a good chance that I'll actually get to watch Saturday's game on a bigger screen, since the other 8pm game is UCLA-Indiana.
I apologize to Idong Ibok. Apparently I jinxed him by posting those bad dislocations a while back, and he had one of his own. So of course, I'm going to post that one too. This is the only thing up on YouTube right now, I'm sure there will be a better view later. Watch, as he trips as the players start to go upcourt, his arm just goes all floppy. Nasty.

Sportsline has a less grainy view about 20 seconds into their highlight reel.

I did fill out some brackets at the last minute, but I've grown bored with that a bit (I think I am 2-1 thus far, with Texas Tech being the loser). I think the "suicide pools," in which you pick 4 teams to survive the first round, 3 for the second, 2 for the third, and one each of the remaining, with no repeat picks allowed, to be more interesting. But my one friendly wager with some co-workers is this one: They get all 4 #1 seeds, and I get the rest of the field, all 2-16 seeds. If any #1 seed wins the whole thing, they win the wager. Anyone else, and I win. One of them looked it up before wagering, and over the past 24 years, 13 #1 seeds have won it all, so I am a bit of a dog. Still, it's just for fun anyway, and if a #1 plays a non-#1 in the title game, it will make it interesting regardless of who they are.

Like I said in the title, don't ask how I found out about this: Fantasy Bass Fishing. Go ahead and read that again. Fantasy fucking bass fishing. I have nothing else to say.

The storyline that is interesting only to alumni of Michigan State: Izzo's Spartans will face Marquette in the first round, who are coached by Tom Crean, former Izzo assistant. Crean and Izzo agreed when Crean took the Marquette job that they would never schedule each other. Aww. Now let's get it on! Time for the teacher to give the student one more lesson.
I just found the initial TV schedule on Deadspin, and it appears that the Spartans are on Thursday night at 7pm. At least I don't have to take off work to watch then. Unfortunately, they're on at the same time as Duke against semi-local Virginia Commonwealth, so I'm guaranteed to get screwed with that game. That'll mean I'm stuck watching it on CBS' March Madness on Demand. Better than nothing, I suppose.

So Jerry Reese must have been listening to me, as the Giants traded Tim Carter for Reuben Droughns on Friday. Not a bad deal, considering that Tim Carter isn't exactly the next Jerry Rice, and Reuben has had some decent seasons. One less thing they need to acquire in the draft as well.
I want to be the first to apologize to those NCAA teams who feel snubbed this morning. I feel some responsibility, as waaaaaay too many Big Ten teams made it in this year. Since MSU finished 7th in conference play, but had a good resume otherwise, I think the committee let in Illinois and Purdue in part to justify MSU. Silly though. Illinois at least probably should not have made it. Early tip: take Niagara from the MAAC in the play-in game.
Last night, I curled for the first time in nearly a year. I'm taking the year off to maintain my "eligibility" for the five-and-under events, but I'm allowed to play in up to 9 games. I figured I should at least play in one. It was fun, but I am definitely sore this morning. Surprisingly, it's more in my legs (from pushing out in the delivery, and walking on ice) than my arms (from sweeping). I made some good shots, but was pretty inconsistent, which was to be expected. It was good to see a lot of the people from the club, and there were a lot of new faces who joined after the Olympics. I'm definitely looking forward to a full year next year.

But we'll take it. The Spartans got a little bit lucky as Northwestern threw away the outlet pass, unguarded, after grabbing a rebound with a chance to make a three-pointer and tie in the final seconds. Travis Walton then made both free throws (seconds after missing one) to ice the game. It seemed that everyone was finally healthy (knock on wood), as Drew Neitzel led the way with 20 points, Raymar Morgan had 15, and Goran Suton and Walton both played key roles. Suton, with Wisconsin's Brian Butch out, will have to have another big game. No airballs this time Goran, okay?
Regardless, the win should put the Spartans in the tourney for the 10th straight year. Worth noting is that this streak started the year after I graduated. Ahem.

Good: MSU plays Northwestern in the first round of the Big Ten tourney.
Bad: They would play Wisconsin in the second round if they win.

Hopefully they get over their flu bug. First on Coach Izzo's 2007-8 priorities: flu shots for everyone!

The Spartans lost last night to Michigan, mainly because Drew Neitzel has the flu and was very limited. He was on the bench at one point with 3:30 left to play and the Spartans down by only 5 or 6 points. They're not going to go very far without him. According to The Bracket Project, most people still have them getting into the tourney at this point, but only around an 8 seed. They certainly can't afford to go into Wisconsin and get whupped, and they need to be careful about an early exit in the Big Ten tourney affecting their chances as well. After Wisconsin and Ohio State, MSU, Indiana, Illinois, Michigan and Purdue all have close to the same resume, and the Big Ten is likely to only get 5 teams in this year, so a lot is riding on this last week. MSU will definitely be helped next year by getting NCAA tournament experience for guys like Raymar Morgan.
So like I said, "Get well soon, Drew!"

Not for the squeamish. First Wisconsin's Brian Butch tries to stop his fall with his arm, dislocating his elbow.

Next, Clippers point guard Shaun Livingston dislocates his left knee cap.

Freaky stuff.

Go Green!!!!

Wisconsin is ranked #1 in the latest college basketball poll, and already the pundits are looking ahead to the #1-#2 matchup between the Badgers and the Ohio State Buckeyes. There's just one small problem. The Badgers first have to travel to East Lansing, MI, to face the resurgent Spartans of Michigan State. After a piss-poor effort against Purdue in which they only scored 38 points (12 in the second half), the Spartans have whupped Michigan 59-44 and Iowa 81-49. Freshman Raymar Morgan has come alive with 18 and 16 points in the two victories. A win over Wisconsin would be huge for the Spartans' NCAA tournament hopes.
The game is on ESPN at 7pm on Tuesday.

Lisa's side of the family recently got two pieces of disturbing news. First, her brother, who is already afflicted with Crohn's and Colitis had some sort of polyps discovered in his colon. I don't want to get too into details, but suffice to say it's pretty scary. Not much in the way of treatment options, but since they seem to have found it early, he should be able to avoid chemotherapy. Secondly, "Uncle" Barney, who was the companion of Lisa's grandmother late in her life, has been diagnosed with cancer. I don't have all the details, but it's a big blow to us. Even though he's not a blood relative, he's definitely become part of our family.
So to honor and support our family members, Lisa and I will be running the "Scope it Out" 5K on Saturday, March 24, 2007. The race is sponsored by the Charles A. Kraenzle Colon Cancer Foundation. The Foundation is an all-volunteer organization formed to increase awareness of, encourage early detection of, and support research efforts in fighting colon cancer. Net race proceeds will be donated to the Cancer Research and Prevention Foundation, Colon Cancer Alliance, and the Lombardi Comprehensive Cancer Center.
Pledges are not required to participate, but if you want to support us in our efforts and pledge some money, we would definitely welcome the support. Just send me an email with your name, address, and pledge amount. Lisa's brother also does an annual charity golf outing for the Crohn's and Colitis Foundation in June, so if you want to donate to that too, let me know.

I refuse to use his last name (Butler) like every newspaper in the country this morning. As much as I criticize Isiah Thomas, at least he can say that he didn't let Gilbert Arenas beat him.

I'm not a big hoops fan, certainly not when my Knicks are just 17-22 yet only one game out of first place. But man, that Gilbert Arenas is the man. Did you see the shot yesterday? Go on and watch it and come back. I heard it on the radio on my way home from work, and I knew it was going in. Like the man says, everyone in the building knows he's getting the ball, taking the last shot. Antonio Daniels is over there in the corner with his arms behind his back, knowing he's not going to see the ball. And yet Gilbert just dribbles, stops, pops, turns his back, doesn't even watch it go in, and swish. Money. He's gotta be an early MVP candidate.

This just in, David Beckham has decided against playing competitive soccer ever again and has signed with the LA Galaxy. At $50 million per year, he will make more than the entire MLS payroll (around $28 million). The DC United were sold for $33 million recently, and that was for the whole team! It will be interesting to see if anyone else in MLS (i.e. the New York Red Bulls, who have two major player allocations they can use to spend big bucks on some like Beckham, and have Bruce Arena coaching them) follows suit.

Did anyone else see the MSU men's and women's basketball teams get trounced this weekend? No? Good. Moving on.
Good to see Cal Ripken and Tony Gwynn get into the Hall of Fame. And only those two. They are among the last of an era, guys who played their entire careers with the same team. Both are worthy entries. But really, who were the 8 guys who DIDN'T vote for Cal Ripken? The newspaper this morning said there were two blank ballots turned in, including the guy who said he wouldn't vote for anyone who played anywhere between 1993-2004 (the "steroid era"). So who were the other 6 guys that basically voted against Cal? Ridiculous.
Switching gears a bit, you may have heard a wild cheer from the San Francisco area yesterday as Apple announced its new iPhone. I admit to being a fanboy in the past, and I think that out of everyone, Apple has the best chance of making a "smartphone" like this work. But damn, $500 WITH a two-year contract on Cingular/AT&T. That's steep. According to this morning's Washington Post, there are only 6 million smartphones in use in the US today, and Jobs pegged 10 million iPhones as his target number. Hard to see that happening, but then again, people were dropping $500 on the RAZR when it first came out, and it was nowhere near as revolutionary or feature packed as this.
The bigger disappointment came with the Apple TV. It's essentially a dumb box that outputs content stored on your computer to your TV. I'm still hoping they introduce some kind of PVR functionality in the next version of OS X, because the stuff they offer at the iTunes store isn't cutting it. They sell movies and TV shows at 640x480 resolution, while touting the Apple TV's ability to output 720p HD. Hello? A bit of a disconnect there. Especially when I can go out now and buy a Windows Media Center PC with an HD tuner card and a huge hard drive for cheap, add an XBox 360 for $299 to use as a media extender, plus even the new HD-DVD add-on ($199) if you're so inclined, and get a lot more out of the fancy HDTV in the living room than Apple can give. In short, I guess I've tired of waiting till Apple's next big announcement to see if they bring it all together in a package I can love, while other companies and devices can do the job nearly as well for a lot cheaper, today.

Randy Johnson has been traded by the Yankees to the Arizona Diamondbacks for reliever Luis Vizcaino, minor league right-handers Ross Ohlendorf and Steven Jackson, and shortstop Alberto Gonzalez. The Yanks also will pay $2 million (not bad since Johnson was making $16 million this year). It's a move that continues the Yankees trend this year of building up their minor league system and getting younger. Derek Jeter is 32 this year, while Gonzalez is just 23, and still a few years away from making it to the bigs anyway. The other guys give the Yankees some much needed depth and youth in middle relief. This is another in a series of sort of low key off-season moves by Brian Cashman, including the recent signing of Doug Mientkiewicz, who fills a defensive hole at first base. While it also means that the Yankees will be relying on unproven Kei Igawa and injury-prone Carl Pavano as their 4th and 5th starters, it has to be seen as a good move by New York. Plus, there's always the possibility of convincing Roger Clemens to come back to New York as well.

It was a busy weekend around our house. On Friday, Lisa's parents arrived for a visit. Naturally, Friday night was spent opening all the presents from that side of the family. None for me (apparently it's on its way in the mail), but Ellie and Lisa enjoyed theirs. Evan too, for as much as he can.
On Saturday, we ventured downtown before Gerald Ford's funeral started to see the trains at the National Botanical Garden. It was a short trip, but fun, since Ellie loved the trains. Later that day, I took the plunge and splurged, thanks to a gift card from work, on an HD tuner card for my computer. If it works well, it could morph into a Tivo replacement some day. It worked well enough on Saturday night, and I was able to watch the Giants in glorious HD, as they defeated the hated Redskins to make the playoffs. Tom Coughlin: not a pretty guy in HD.
We had our traditional Chuck E. Cheese visit on New Year's Eve, and Ellie damn near stayed up till midnight. She had a blast at "Chez Fromage," especially at the spider stomping game. In the end, I was the only one still awake at midnight, as I rang in the New Year with a special beer.
Yesterday, we had a late start, and went out for breakfast before Lisa's parents had to head home. We didn't do a whole lot else, as I wasted much of the day trying to fine-tune the HD reception, and Ellie played with her new toys too. I'm definitely going to have to pick up a different antenna, because the cheap one I got from Home Depot isn't working so great. I'm taking recommendations on antennas, as well as PVR software.
So the Giants managed to win against the Redskins, and will play Philly in the playoffs. In the crappy NFC, anything can happen, but Eli isn't building confidence, and I doubt Tiki can run for 200+ yards every day. The Jets also made it in, and I think they have a good shot against the Patriots. It'll be a good storyline anyway, the mentor versus the pupil once again.
The bowl games were setting up for a controversy. The Big Ten won two bowl games against SEC teams yesterday (Wisconsin over Arkansas, Penn State over Tennessee), but then Michigan blew it by getting smoked by USC. USC beat them with Dwayne Jarrett, same as they beat Notre Dame. You'd have thought Michigan would be ready for that. And Boise State, the Cinderella, finished undefeated in an awesome game against Oklahoma. I went to bed with them smoking OU near the end of the third quarter. It was 11:30pm, and it seemed to be going all Boise State's way. I woke up this morning and saw the highlights that Boise State won in OT, thanks to multiple trick plays. Wow, too bad it went so damn late that most people on the East Coast didn't see it.
The Pumpkin Spice Latte was pretty good, but not as good when you're expecting a Gingerbread.

If anyone can remember who used to do "Sports Briefs" on Chicago TV in the late 80's/early 90's, I'd appreciate it. He would do his little sports bit, then stand up from behind the desk and have these funky boxers on. I thought it was funny anyway. Update: Collaboration with my dad led me to remember that the sportscaster in question was Mark Giangreco, and the bit was called "Sports Shorts," not briefs.
So, on to what's going on in sports, or my world of sports.
Michael Strahan is out for the year on IR. The Giants are doing their best to back into the playoffs, and despite their best efforts to the contrary, STILL control their own destiny. If they beat the hated Redskins this Saturday, they should be in, barring a bizarre strength of schedule shift with the Packers.
Randy Johnson is on the trading block. Getting Andy Pettitte helped that cause, and they are apparently looking to free up his salary cap hit so that they can make a run at Barry Zito AND Roger Clemens. Oh the humanity!
On the opposite spectrum, the Nationals entire payroll is probably going to be less than what Randy Johnson is making. But damn, that stadium is already taking shape! You can check out the construction pictures here, and be sure to check the construction webcam on occasion as well.

No surprise to anyone that MSU lost last night to Boston College. They are just a young team, and they made a LOT of mistakes last night. Every turnover was killing me, so I'm sure Tom Izzo was none too happy. But this is to be expected when you return only one starter from the previous year. Hell of a game between Ohio State and North Carolina too. Imagine if Greg Oden were playing for OSU. They're gonna be tough to beat.
I have no idea what the Yankees are doing any more. $25 million to negotiate with a guy who might be a #4 starter? I at least agree with resigning Mussina, though again, I still think they paid too much, but that seems to be going around the league this year. Seriously, 5 years, $50 million for Gary Matthews Jr? Last year was the first year he hit above .275. Can you say "contract year?" And Alfonso Soriano's contract is looking more ridiculous every day. Six tickets to every game, a luxury suite on all road games, no-trade clause, etc, etc. Sheesh.
Albert Pujols is now bitching that he should have been the MVP, saying that the MVP should at least lead his team to the playoffs. Guess what Albert? Put the Cardinals in any division but the NL Central, and you don't make the playoffs. After the Phillies traded Bobby Abreu and Cory Lidle, everyone thought they were giving up on the playoffs. But thanks to Ryan Howard, they made a serious run. Put the Phillies in the NL Central, and they would have beaten out the Cards. Ryan Howard is the MVP this year. Shut up.

After yesterday's good news that John L. Smith was getting fired, I eagerly anticipated the start of the MSU basketball season last night. Unfortunately, they struggled against Division II opponent Grand Valley State. Yikes. That's not good. I was all set to laugh at Maryland, who struggled against D-II California (Pennsylvania), but the Spartans are not giving me reason to get excited. Drew Neitzel led the way with 27 points, and Goran Suton had 16, but everyone else barely showed up. It could be a long year.

Is Kenny Rogers a cheater? Maybe, but the Cards still didn't hit him for 7 innings when he was clean.
Why, oh why, did MSU have to stage the biggest comeback in NCAA history? They were on the verge of John L. Smith getting fired for sure, and now they're probably on the verge of making it to a bowl game. Don't get me wrong, I'm happy for them holding a record of some kind, but I hate wins that preserve a coach's job when he shouldn't have it (see: Bobby Williams' Citrus Bowl win over Florida which he parlayed into years of MSU futility).
The Redskins are 2-5, and the fans have started to turn on "the legend" Joe Gibbs. Priceless.
Did anyone survive their "survivor" NFL pool this week? That's the one where you pick one team to win each week, and you can only pick them once a season. I went against the tide and did not pick Jacksonville (lost to Houston) or Philly (lost to TB on a 62-yarder, wow!) or even Seattle (lost big at home to Minnesota). Since I had already taken Indy, I couldn't pick them against the Deadskins, so I ended up taking, ugh, Arizona over Oakland. I really thought that maybe, just maybe, they would be fired up to show the nation that they weren't the sorriest team in the NFL. Maybe, just maybe, Matt Leinart had enough of winning qualities in him to rub off on the rest of the team. Alas, it was not to be. Should have taken the J-E-T-S I guess.
Giants-Dallas tonight. Tiki's retirement tour begins. Feel free to turn the radio on instead of listening to the numb nuts on ESPN.

Crazy stuff in the weekend in sports. I had almost written off the Mets after they blew the game against the Cardinals Friday night. They had the chance to win against the Cardinals' ace, Chris Carpenter, and blew it. Then they went into St. Louis and lost Game 3. But last night, the bats came alive with a vengeance, leading them to a 12-5 win.
The Tigers have nearly completed their reversal, going from a 119 loss team to AL champs. Congrats to them. Unless they get rusty having to wait out the NLCS, it's going to be tough to beat their pitching.
The Redskins were back on track a couple of weeks ago. The offense got going against Houston, and kept it going against a good Jacksonville defense. But a loss last week to the Giants led to an even bigger loss this week, to the previously winless Titans. Rest assured, the office will be filled with the chant "We are the Titans! The mighty mighty Titans!" today. Speaking of the Giants, a couple of weeks ago, they were reeling after a blowout loss to Seattle. They came back off the bye week to beat the Redskins handily. And this week, the defense stepped up big time, and limited the potent Atlanta offense, sacking Michael Vick 7 times, and, outside of a 90 yard run by Warrick Dunn, containing the Atlanta running game. Tiki Barber did his part in the offense, running for over 180 yards. Big game coming up at Dallas on Monday night this week.
One team that certainly isn't turning anything around is my Spartans. 38-7 loss to Ohio State, was anyone surprised? Didn't think so. Oh, and I officially take back what I said about Larry Coker. Fire him now. What happened in the brawl against Florida International (seriously Miami: FIU? THAT'S who you pick to brawl with? Come on!) was an embarrassment to the university and to college sports as a whole. Shit like that should NEVER happen.
My baseball team is playing its "fall" season right now, although we've had more rainouts than games at this point. Yesterday, we started cold and early at 8am. Brr. The cold didn't affect the teams as much as the sun did. It was just coming up, and shining through the fence, it led to a difficult backdrop to pick up the ball from the outfield. We had, including me, 3 or 4 hits just drop in front of the left-fielder due to the sun. Unfortunately, we ended up losing by 2 runs, with me on deck and the bases loaded when our best hitter struck out to end the game. It's tough not playing for 2 or 3 weeks and trying to get your timing back, and we definitely did not have our bats going yesterday. We went undefeated in the regular season in the spring, but we've had our struggles so far in the fall. Hopefully we can turn it around in time for the playoffs.

I think it was just a couple of weeks ago that I was proclaiming my joy that football was back. Uh, scratch that, reverse it. I can't wait for the baseball playoffs to start.
Anyone who watches Michigan State play football knows that they are "streaky," to put it mildly. They can get up big, but inevitably, they will let the other team back in the game. Last year, dominating Ohio State 17-7, about to kick a field goal to go up 20-7, but they rush the FG team out, and, unprepared, get it blocked and returned for a TD to make it 17-14 at the half, and they never recovered. Up huge on Notre Dame, they go into a shell in the second half, and give up the spread offense that got them in the lead in the first place. Instead, Notre Dame gets wide open, easy touchdowns, and easy, stupid turnovers (and kickoff kneeldowns, what the hell?!?!) to score 19 unanswered points to win.
The Giants decided not to show up till the fourth quarter. Again. Shockey can go off about the coaches all he wants, and rightfully so in some cases. But Eli's the one throwing it to the other team. The offensive line is the one holding and false starting. And Plaxico is the one dropping the ball and giving it to the other team. Hopefully that little unrequested rest he got at the end of the game teaches him his lesson. Now it's time for the coaches to go in and cut this penalty and turnover crap right out. They've got a bye week to get it figured out before facing the Redskins in Week 5.
Did I say I wanted the baseball playoffs to start? Oh yeah, the Yankees are doing their best to let Detroit get home field in the playoffs by dropping two straight (and getting blown out with their two "aces" on the mound, Randy Johnson and Mike Mussina) to the Devil Rays.
At least our baseball team won big. I started off the game well, but ended striking out the last two times up. I did have a very solid day in the field, with no bobbles or anything, playing mostly third base, with some shortstop and left field. I even avoided a Nick Johnson collision in the outfield by calling off the shortstop early on a shallow popup. Ouch, poor Nick. I watched that play over and over and still couldn't see what happened. Broken femur after nearly a whole season without injury (he's been injury-prone his prior 4-5 years). Luckily, with the injury coming so close to the end of the season, he got in enough plate appearances (610) by my count to attain all his contract bonuses. We're going to the Mets-Nats game to close the season on Sunday, and I'm thinking about wearing my uniform, with socks pulled up high (which is how I always wear them actually) in tribute to Nick. Get well soon buddy!
Oh, and it looks like my fantasy football team will finally get a win, no thanks to Shaun Alexander. The least the Seahawks could have done if they were going to whip my Giants is to let Shaun get more than the one TD. Luckily, Brian Westbrook had a huge day, and even Jon Kitna chipped in as bye week filler (though Brett Favre had a better day on my bench). Going into last night, I had a 71 point lead, which is now down to 39.5 thanks to Javon Walker. Hopefully the Saints keep Michael Vick somewhat contained. In our scoring system, it's pretty hard for a QB to get 40 points. Peyton Manning, in his shredding of the Houston D last week, only had 27. The way this weekend went though, nothing will surprise me.

Damn, extra innings baseball games suck. Since the Yankees were on WGN, I actually got to watch them last night, as they blew the lead in the ninth and lost in the eleventh. So, a little tired this morning.
If you haven't had the chance to catch "Who Wants to be a Superhero?" on SciFi yet, check it out tomorrow at 9pm. 11 ordinary people created comic book characters. One will be immortalized in a Stan Lee comic book. He's putting them through all sorts of tests, and eliminating them one by one. My favorites are Fat Momma and Major Victory. It's only going for 6 episodes, and tomorrow is episode 3. Definitely lots of fun to watch in the summer rerun doldrums.
Speaking of fun, check out Frets on Fire. It's basically Guitar Hero for your computer, but you play with your keyboard. It's done pretty well, but there needs to be a few more songs for it to be really cool. Supposedly you can plug in the Guitar Hero guitar with an adapter, and use it to play as well, which would be really cool.
The WSOP main event is down to the final table of 9 players now. You'd probably only recognize one of the names as a poker pro, but there is one guy named Rhett Butler who's from the DC area, and with that name, you know I gotta root for him. Pauly rules, check out his coverage of the WSOP.

This weekend found yet another reason to be proud (ahem) to be a Spartan. Cincinnati Bengals DT Matthias Askew, a 2004 fourth round draft pick from MSU, was charged with resisting arrest. Apparently, he was parked illegally, refused to move his car, and the officers had to TASER him to subdue him. That's right, MSU Spartans: you're gonna have to Taser us if you want to take us down.

Well, for all the whining about Italy diving their way to the final, they were nearly victimized by a dive by France. Instead, they overcame that with a nice header goal to tie, and pulled out the win on penalty kicks, thanks to the crossbar stopping Trezuguet's shot. The keepers ended up having nothing to do with it.
The side story that everyone will be talking about: Zidane's awful headbutt that deservedly got him ejected. What a horrible way for him to go out. He was playing hurt and had the chance to propel his team to the win, even at that late stage of the game, France was dominating the offensive possession. Instead, he does something stupid that ruins his legacy. I was almost rooting for France to see him win another Cup, but after that incident, I was all behind Italy. Maybe they shouldn't have gotten past Australia, with that dive in the final minute that got them the win, but 3-0 over Ukraine, 2-0 over Germany, and a PK win over France, they played best when it mattered.

My prediction for today's final: Italy beats France 2-0. I think the keeper for France, Barthez, is just too suspect, and he's going to give up a bad goal at some point.
Obviously I would have picked Germany, so I'm glad they won the third place game 3-1.

Naturally, after bragging that all 6 of my favorites to win the Cup were still in it, 2 of my top 3 lost in the Round of 16. I never had a lot of confidence in Spain, as they always have a letdown in the World Cup, but I thought maybe this would be their year. Alas, they got knocked off by a much better French team today. And Netherlands, well, you know my feelings about their match with Portugal, so I'm not really sad to see them go. Unfortunately for Portugal, they will be without Deco, who remained suspended for a game after getting two yellow cards against Netherlands, including one on the jerk who stole the ball instead of doing the right thing and giving it back after the injury.
Good matchups nonetheless: Germany-Argentina, Brazil-France (especially with France looking much better against Spain today, maybe they finally turned a corner), and England-Portugal. The only clunker is Italy-Ukraine. They're on a break now before resuming play on Friday. Dang! I just realized that I'm going to be on the road on Friday during the Germany match! That really sucks. Maybe we can plan our lunch break for a place with a TV...
So: Brazil, Netherlands, Spain, Argentina, Germany, England. Really, 4 out of my original 5 are still in it, so that's pretty good.

Wow, that Netherlands-Portugal game yesterday was the very definition of ugly. 16 yellows cards, 4 reds. And poor play and sportsmanship all around. On one play when the referee called a drop ball, after Portugal had possession but a man injured, Holland took the ball away and tried to get offense going, instead of kicking it back to Portugal, as they should have. Unfortunately, when Portugal made a hard tackle on the Dutch player running with the ball, they got the card. One of the worst displays I've seen, and neither team deserved to move on.
England didn't play great, but that's the story of their Cup so far. Get a goal, hunker down. Beckham's goal was pretty too. Just when you're asking youself what he's doing out there, he shows you.
Now if you want to talk about the "beautiful" game, look no further than the goals in the Argentina and Germany wins. Germany's two strikers (hear that, Bruce Arena? Two strikers! What a concept. You have to score to win) combined for their goals, with Klose as a decoy and setup man, and Lukas Podolski putting them away. We're in for a treat when they take on Argentina in the quarterfinals, in a game that's more worthy of a final.
Maxi Rodriguez had, in my opinion, the goal of the tournament in overtime. He took a long pass, chested it in the air, took a couple of steps just outside of the box, and rifled a left-footed shot right into the top corner over the keeper's reach. If you missed it, you got to try to catch it on the highlights sometime. Simply amazing.
Kind of boring matchups today. Italy-Australia and Switzerland-Ukraine. I'll be cheering on the Socceroos to pull off the upset. Aussie Aussie Aussie! Oy oy oy!

Round 3 is over, on to the knockout round of 16. Let's review.
Germany will take on Sweden. This game should show whether or not Germany is for real. I'm pinning my hopes on them, and I think they will do well if they continue to attack. Ballack to Klose, baby!
Argentina plays Mexico. As I said before, no contest here. Argentina is too good.
England plays Ecuador. Dangerous game for England here. They're playing without Michael Owen, and they haven't shown a lot of scoring prowess yet. If they're not careful, they could go home early.
Portugal takes on Netherlands. I've still got Netherlands as my #2 pick, but Portugal has played well.
Italy will crush Australia. I think. Never know with those Socceroos.
Brazil should get past Ghana if they play the way they did against Japan. Finally they showed some good agressive play against an inferior opponent.
Spain let up a little bit today against Saudi Arabia, resting their regular starters in a meaningless game. They should get past France, who certainly don't deserve to be in this round, to face Brazil in the quarterfinals.
Ukraine played horribly against Tunisia, who deserved a win but were deprived by a missed hand ball call, and a poor penalty kick call against them. Switzerland aren't much better at this point though, and this game will not be pretty.
With the way Italy has played so far, and with England's key injury, I'm tempted to swap in Italy in my predictions (especially since Italy practically has a free pass to the semifinals), but I'll stick with what I've said all along: Brazil, Netherlands, Spain, Argentina, Germany, England (unbelievably, they're all still in it!). There are going to be some very good quarterfinal matchups if they work out: Argentina-Germany, England-Netherlands, Spain-Brazil. Keep watching, even though the US is out. The real soccer powers are about to put on a show.

Awful. Terrible. Horrid. There are no better words to describe the US performance today. Italy gave them a chance by soundly beating the Czechs, but the US looked like they didn't want to advance. They were tentative in the midfield again today, and Ghana took advantage. Claudio Reyna looked like a rookie standing there with the ball, inviting Ghana to take it away, which they did for the first goal. After a brilliant steal and pass by DeMarcus Beasley to Clint Dempsey, they drew even, but not for long. A questionable penalty kick call by the referee (most would say it's a foul when it's not in the box, but in the box, it usually takes more than that to call a PK), and they're right back in a hole. They never really threatened again. They continually played long balls from the defense or Kasey Keller, which never connected, and are largely wasteful plays. One close header by McBride that hit the outside of the post, but had little chance of going in. One chance on a free kick just outside the box was wasted by Landon Donovan, who curled it 20 feet over everyone's head. Donovan later dribbled around just outside the box looking for a pass when he should have shot the ball. A poor effort the entire Cup for the US, and the two most deserving teams of the group, Italy and Ghana, advance.
So now it's left to Germany to carry my hopes for the Cup. Deutschland!

Before I go on, check out Ellie's page. She's growing up fast!
I'm excited about the USA-Ghana match today. We're headed out to watch with some other fans here in a bit. Hopefully Bruce Arena gets aggressive and puts the right lineup in there to get some goals and the victory. It should be a good game regardless.

The second round of group matches is now complete, and the picture is clear as mud. We know this much:
Germany wins Group A with their victory over Ecuador today. Ecuador finishes second in the group even with the loss. Germany looks strong on the attack, and shored up the defense after looking shaky in their first match.
England is through, and Sweden likely as well in Group B. The winner of the group avoids Germany, so their match later today is important for both sides.
Argentina and Netherlands both survive the "Group of Death." They'll play to determine first place tomorrow.
No surprise that Portugal and Mexico will advance from Group D. Either way, they'll both lose in the Round of 16 to Argentina and Netherlands.
Group E is now the "Group of Death." No one has clinched a spot in the next round yet, thanks to Ghana's shocking win over the Czechs, and the US's gritty tie with Italy. Italy-Czech Republic and USA-Ghana yet to come on Thursday morning. The USA has a slim chance to advance, but need to win, and most likely by a large margin, to have a chance. Their reward if they do?
A matchup with Group F's unsurprising winner, Brazil, even though they're not playing "beautifully." Australia should also advance with a tie, unless Japan can beat Brazil by two goals.
The surprise of the tournament may be Korea, who are tied atop Group G, and France, who are not. Luckily for them, France still faces Togo, and should be able to make up a good goal differential in that match. The Swiss currently have the goal differential advantage over Korea, and just need to tie them to advance.
Spain stumbled slightly against Tunisia, struggling to score for almost 80 minutes, but then closed them out 3-1. Tunisia now needs a win over Ukraine, who soundly beat Saudi Arabia, to advance.
I'm sticking with my predictions: Brazil, Netherlands, Spain, Argentina, Germany, England. I'm glad the US did better against Italy, but they are still a long shot to advance. I think, depending on the lineup Bruce Arena sends out there, that they have a good chance of beating Ghana.

A couple of tidbits I meant to mention about the weekend's sports.
I may be one of the few people who doesn't much care for Phil "Get me a Man-zier" Mickelson, so I was pleased amused when he choked away the US Open yesterday. Stepping up to the tee on 18, the announcer said, "I hope he's got a 4 wood." Nope, driver, way left, off the freaking hospitality tent. Jean Vandevelde worthy choke right there. Congrats to Geoff Ogilvy, who apparently has watched "Tin Cup" in his lifetime and realizes that the way to win the Open is put the ball in the fairway, and get your ass into the clubhouse. Glad to see the sand divot didn't screw him out of the title.
Viewing note: Arguably the most exciting 60 minutes in sports: Game 7 of the Stanley Cup Finals is tonight, 8pm Eastern on NBC. Unlike the NBA's 9pm start, this one is early enough for me to stay up and watch.

Caught the highlights of the NBA Finals this morning, and a referee had an undue effect on the game again. I'm not saying that the Mavs would have scored if they had gotten the ball at midcourt like they wanted. But the official's statement said "Josh Howard asked for a timeout not once, but twice, and we were forced to grant it." But on the replay, Josh Howard is walking over to his bench, not looking at the official, and clearly looking at his coaches, asking them if he should call timeout. Joe Derosa looks right at him, makes no eye contact, and "grants" the timeout. He still had a chance to change his mind when it became clear that was not the intent, but he stubbornly refused, and unduly influenced the outcome. Not coincidentally, he was also on the floor for the last bad call I saw in an NBA playoff game, the phantom "eight-second" call on Sam Cassell. I can't be sure he made that eight-second call, but I wouldn't be surprised. Hopefully he doesn't get to work the rest of the playoffs.
The referee also unduly influenced the US-Italy World Cup match. Far too quick with the cards, though the Italian red was clearly an awful intentional elbow, and he has the dubious distinction of being the first referee to send off three players in one game. Nice job. Apparently he's just recently gotten back into FIFA's graces, after being suspended from the 2002 World Cup for corruption. Just the guy you want out there, eh? The US played a much better game, and played aggressively, and well enough to win, if not for those poor calls. They still have a chance to advance with a win over Ghana, and an Italian win over the Czechs, so here's hoping this game doesn't cost them.

The first set of matches is nearly over (Tunisia just taking a 1-0 lead over Saudi Arabia in the last match now), and not a lot of surprises. Perhaps the biggest surprise was the 0-0 draw between Sweden and Trinidad & Tobago. Or maybe today's 4-0 Spanish blowout over Ukraine. (hooray! The US no longer has the most lopsided result so far) Maybe Brazil was expected to win by more than 1 goal over Croatia. Otherwise, everyone who was supposed to be leading their groups is so far, even in Group C, the "Group of Death," Argentina and the Netherlands are leading.
The second round picture will become clearer in the coming days. Paraguay and Sweden both desperately will need a win when they face each other tomorrow (Sweden moreso). Can the winner of Tunisia-Saudi Arabia make it out of their group? Will there be any surprises in this first round? Can the US come back from the thrashing with a good result against the Italians? Will Bruce Arena figure out the right lineup to bring back the magic of 2002? Lots of questions, but we're only less than a week into the month-long tournament. I'm having fun following along on my computer, and looking forward to watching more games on TV this weekend.
Updated predictions: Brazil, Netherlands, Spain, Argentina, Germany, England. Spain jumps in after that dominant, aggressive effort today. The US is not going to make it out of this round, and will be fortunate to tie against Ghana. I hope they at least get a goal.

Just over 4 hours till the kickoff of the World Cup.  I'm proudly wearing my 1994 Germany jersey today, and I'm trying to figure out where to go to watch the game.  It's a trade-off: better beer, or better TVs? Tough call.

Oh yeah, so, my picks to win, in order:
Brazil, Netherlands, Argentina, Germany, England.

US will do well to get to the second round, but will get screwed since they would likely play Brazil there.

Update: Deutschland takes it against Costa Rica 4-2. Awesome goal by Frings for the final difference from waaaay outside. Lahm's goal to start it off was a lovely bender too. Two stories will dominate in Germany though: Miroslav Klose continues his masterful play in World Cup openers (he had three goals in the opener last Cup, two today), and their defense was exposed on two failed offsides traps. Not surprising with a guy like Klinsmann coaching. If they can shore up that defense, they should go far. I went to Glory Days Grill for the big screen TV and Hefeweizen on tap We may have to head back for lunch on Monday for the US match as well.

Unless you're not a man, you've seen the new Miller Lite ad campaign: "Man Laws."  While I abhor the beer, the commercials are funny at least.  Now you too can submit your own man laws on their website for their "Manlawpedia." 
In light of this series of events, allow me to present the following situation: In a recreational co-ed softball game, the bases are loaded with one out.  Batter pops up to shortstop.  Every man knows that the infield fly rule applies, and the batter is automatically out.  However, the girl on second base is unaware, and runs to third base, failing to return to second base in time to tag up.  The shortstop steps on second base for the third and final out.  However, the umpire rules the ball is dead, and that the girl can safely return to second base.  [addendum: the next batter hits a grand slam, causing the good guys to lose the game]
Man law: "Thou shalt only allow grievous sports rule-breaking by hot girls, or with the promise of post-game 'activities.'  Prior general agreement on the 'hotness' is required, and an official timeout may be called in order to confirm the degree of hotness.  Stupidity by ugly girls is not to be tolerated under any circumstances."

I know, most people aren't paying attention to hockey right now. I'm only watching the occasional Sabres game because MSU alum Ryan Miller is their goalie. But a couple of weeks ago, the Edmonton Oilers were playing the San Jose Sharks in San Jose. As is tradition, when a Canadian team is playing, both the US and Canadian national anthems are sung. Sharks fans booed the entire time Annmarie Martin was singing 'O Canada.' Seriously, how lame do you have to be to boo Canada? What a bunch of losers.
The response of the fans in Edmonton was admirable. They didn't boo the US anthem in their next game. Presented below, for your viewing enjoyment, is a video of the fans singing at Tuesday's game against the Mighty Ducks, the Oilers first home game of this series. When was the last time you heard US fans singing their anthem so loud?
Watch

I swear, I get the weirdest injuries, especially ones caused by the repeated movements required by some sports or recreational activities.  For example, throwing darts.  How do you hurt yourself throwing darts?  Well, let me fill you in.  The motion of throwing a dart is different from other throwing motions.  This motion requires you to flick out your arm toward the dart board.  For some reason, this motion, after a few games, will cause my bicep to get really sore, so much so that I have trouble using it the rest of the day.  I also have thrown my arm out playing softball and baseball that if I don't warm up properly, one throw can leave me sore for the rest of the season.
This morning, I discovered another weird injury while playing ultimate frisbee.  I've had a sore calf for a couple of weeks and couldn't pinpoint what was causing it.  The weird thing was that it was sort of on the outside of my right calf, not the meat of the muscle itself.  Turns out it was throwing the frisbee.  When throwing it, especially long throws, I step forward, and plant my right foot sideways.  On a particular long throw this morning, I felt a tweak in the exact spot I've been sore.
So there you go.  I'm probably the only guy who can get a repetitive-type injury from throwing darts, and in his leg from throwing a frisbee.

The horror of Barbaro's broken leg.  Poor horse.  Surgery was "successful," but we have to wait to see how the blood supply is.
The first regular season Nats/O's series.  Amazingly, the Nats took two out of three.
The Mets/Yankees series.  I caught the scores, and saw that Posada was hurt, but didn't get to watch any of the game.
Any TV season finales from the past week (Amazing Race and Alias are the big ones I think)
What I didn't miss:
Game 7 of the Pistons/Cavs series.  In HD!  The one great thing about staying at the in-laws: HDTV.  Amazing stuff.
The groom's dad sneaking everyone a bit of hard alcohol during the wedding.  The wedding was held at the University of Michigan Student Union, and they only had beer and wine (not sure if the choices were driven by the venue or what).  The groom's dad had a brown paper bag he was walking around with, so there was some hard stuff around.  When he got to me, he filled my water glass to the brim with Bacardi Gold.  The rest was for the dollar dance.  Give them a dollar, do a shot, then dance with the bride or groom.  Fun wedding.  Only a bit of a headache after drinking that whole glass of rum.
A total of probably 20 hours in the car.  Ellie was really good on the way up there, but the second half of the return drive was rough.  She did not want to be in that car any more, and I couldn't blame her.
The DaVinci Code.  We actually got to see the movie the weekend it came out.  Like the book, the critics panned it, but it's a huge success.  I thought it was pretty good, and I had read the book a while ago, so I found it entertaining to remember all the stuff from there.  I loved that they subtitled the French conversations, instead of just having them s