Show Your World Cup Spirit!

If you are a true soccer fan, you may want to buy this contact lens with a soccer ball pattern. I can't decide if this looks cool or scary. Probably a little of each.

If you really want to buy these lenses, it seems like you'll have to get them in Germany.

Fall TV Schedule (Part II)

With the season finales of Lost and American Idol now come and gone, there will now be very little on TV until the fall. I presented a preview of the fall TV schedule for ABC and NBC last week; here is the fall line-up for CBS and FOX.

Basically, there is nothing new for CBS. There will still be 3 CSIs and the rest of the military and crime shows (Cold Case, Without a Trace, The Unit, NCIS...I have never watched any of these shows). Even though I haven't watched the show much over the past few months (courtesy of Prison Break), I'm very happy that How I Met Your Mother will be back. This is the one show I hope to catch in reruns this summer. Gone are Yes Dear and Still Standing. Oh, the Dharma (Jenna Elfman) show didn't make it either. There are a few new dramas that I know about only through this article: Smith starring Ray Liotta (I also heard that this may be filmed in Pittsburgh; well possibly one episode) and Shark with James Woods. Unfortunately, Shark has nothing to do with Spring Break Shark Attack.

Lisa De Moraes (the extremely funny Washington Post TV writer; read her American Idol reviews) has a preview of FOX and CW (the new network from CW and WB). FOX has a few new shows including Standoff with Ron Livingston and 'Til Death starring Brad Garrett (from Raymond). The Simpsons and Family Guy will be back, and remarkably, so will The War at Home. The producers of The War at Home must have some dirt on Rupert Murdoch because this may be the worst show on TV. I never watch WB or CW but 7th Heaven and Everyone Hates Chris will be back.

If there are any good shows this summer (Hit Me One More Time?), I'll be sure to let you know. In the meantime, I'll be watching the first season of Lost.

Why Not?

I wrote a running diary about the Academy of Country Music Awards last year, and since I found while flipping channels, I figured I would do it again. Well, at least until I got bored or switched back to the Heat-Pistons game.

* What do the best new female artist nominees have in common? They all have blond hair, blue eyes and are showing cleavage. Carrie Underwood was the (not so much of a) surprise winner. I never heard of the other two nominees. Carrie made sure to thank Simon Fuller and American Idol. I can't wait for Idol to be over.

* Tony Stewart came out to say something about Home Depot and a Humanitarian Award for Vince Gill. Stewart looks about as athletic as John Kruk or Craig Stadler. Does NASCAR have any kind of fitness program or does Stewart just choose not to participate?

* I would love to see a male country singer wear a hat other than a cowboy hat. Maybe an old school LL Cool J Kangol hat.

* Wow! Rascal Flats were just performing in Vegas and then magically are now performing wherever the award show is taking place. I'm getting bored very quickly.

* The Heat are up by five to start the fourth quarter. I'll be asleep before the game ends.

* Stupid awards show. Everyone who performs just before their category, wins. OK, I don't know if it is EVERYONE but that just happened for Rascal Flats and Keith Urban Kidman.

That's it for me. Over Done; Done Over.

Two Links

Looking for something to do online? Here are two suggestions:

1. Google Trends (google.com/trends)

While this is still in the early stages, you can go to Google and "see what the world is searching for." Where else could you learn that the top city when searching for "Debbie Gibson" for all regions in 2006 is Santiago, Chile followed by Atlanta and Lima, Peru?

2. Project Implicit (www.implicit.harvard.edu)

I learned about this from Malcolm Gladwell's Blink. There are about a dozen tests on this site that demonstrates the conscious versus unconscious. I just tried the Gender-Science IAT (Implicit Association Test). Based on my test, the data suggested a slight association of Male with Science and Female with Liberal Arts compared to Female with Science and Male with Liberal Arts. I'm going to try the Presidents IAT next. If you take any of these tests, feel free to share your results in the comments section.

Looking for a Book to Read (or a Father's Day Gift)?

A friend of a friend recently had his book, "Glow Pucks and 10-Cent Beer: The 101 Worst Ideas in Sports History" published. Sample subjects include Disco Demolition Night, Rafael Palmeiro for Viagra and Mixing Santa with Philly Fans. I honestly know nothing about the book but I've met the author (Greg Wyshynski) and have a feeling that this book will be a good read. For more information about the book, click here.

Clemente

There is a new book by David Maraniss about the great Roberto Clemente. I am really looking forward to read the book, especially after viewing an online discussion with the author on washingtonpost.com. The folks posting comments and questions share wonderful stories and memories about Clemente. Plus, I learned through the discussion that Maraniss will be a bookstore close to where I work next Wednesday. Has anyone out there already read the book?

Fall TV Preview (Part I)

The TV networks have started to announce the fall line-ups. NBC's fall schedule (here or here includes two "behind the scenes" Saturday Night Live-type shows, three Law & Orders and two nights of Deal or No Deal. The good news is that Scrubs will return at mid-season, which is a good thing. I've enjoyed having new episodes of Scrubs just about every week over the past few months. So long to Joey, Teachers (which I thought had potential), Four Kings, E-Ring and Fear Factor.

The big news from ABC's fall line-up (and here) is that Grey's Anatomy is moving to Thursday at 9. That is going to be a huge TV match-up against CSI and the Saturday Night Live show that looks good (the Aaron Sorkin one with Matthew Perry). John Stamos is out of work as Jake in Progress is gone. Same with Commander in Chief, another show I thought had potential. Maybe ABC shouldn't have show three word show titles with "in" as the second word! That's not a good sign for "Men in Trees."

JQ, if you are reading this, I remember you having something last year about a contest where you guessed what shows would be cancelled first. If you have it, I would love to run it/participate in it in the fall.

I'll have the FOX & CBS line-ups here later this week.

Ithaca College Sports News

Congratulations to the Ithaca College softball team on winning the NCAA Regional Championship and advancing to the 2006 NCAA Division III Softball Championship. The Bombers are now 39-5 and will head to Raleigh for a game on Friday.

Congrats to the IC baseball team on being selected for the NCAA Division III playoffs. The Bombers are seeded second in the seven-team New York Regional, which starts on Wednesday.

Besides the official website of Ithaca College athletics, this has to be the best place on the web for IC news!

Very Quick Question

If you are reading this RIGHT NOW, I have a question. What is the TV station FOX going to do tonight? I want to watch the season finale of Prison Break, but the Presidential Address is scheduled for 8:00. Will FOX air Prison Break in its entirely after the address (8:30 or 9:00) or postpone it to another night?

I Feel Old & Young

This actually has nothing to do with my birthday; just with my activities from this weekend. On Friday night, we went to a community theatre performance of "Run For Your Wife," a very funny British play about a taxi driver that has two wives in opposite ends of London and has his worlds collide. Anyway, my wife and I are about 35 years younger than the age of the average audience member. The performances are great; I just wish that there were a few more people around our age in attendance.

On the other end of the spectrum, we went to a Bar Mitzvah yesterday. Naturally, there were dozens of 7th graders running around. Oh, to be 13 again when life revolved around school, sports and friends (not in that particular order). Good times!

Hockey Playoffs

I talked about my issues with the Penguins a few weeks ago, but I didn't really mention the NHL as a whole. I feel like I am familiar with many of the league's best players. Here are the goalies for four of the teams still in the playoffs:

Ilya Bryzgalov, Anaheim
Cam Ward, Carolina
Vesa Toskala, San Jose
Ryan Miller, Buffalo

Who are these people?!?! And is the NHL going to get good ratings with these "stars."

Oh, and when did the Buffalo Sabres get to be good again? Is Dominik Hasek playing?

Happy Birthday Today to...

Stevie Wonder
Dennis Rodman
Peter Gabriel
Harvey Keitel
George Lucas
Barry Zito
Bea Arthur
Joe Louis
Darius ("Hootie") Rucker
Stephen Colbert
Mike Bibby
Ritchie Valens
and to Mr. Ramblings himself (that would be me)!

Have a great Saturday and Happy Birthday to everyone out there with a May 13th birthday!

Fantasy Leagues

ESPN's Bill Simmons, AKA The Sports Guy, has an article about fantasy sports and trying to find a fantasy league for his wife. I can relate to much of the article since I spend way too many hours of my life contemplating line-ups and closely following the at-bats of "legendary" players such as Mike Lamb and Jason Repko. Anyway, I like really like his idea of an Us Weekly fantasy league, although I think my wife would excel in a People fantasy league.

I'm Lost

I've watched Lost occasionally since the show premiered, but only since the recap show a few weeks ago do I feel like I know a little bit of what's going on. I watched the entire episode last week and was truly shocked by the ending. I missed the first half hour of tonight's episode, so I really don't know what happened. It also seemed like nothing too important occurred in the second half of the episode, but I could be completely wrong. Can anyone fill me in on what I missed and if what I did see was crucial to the plot? Thanks.

My Return

I just wanted to let you all know that I am back from Wyoming. I actually saw bison or buffalo (is there a difference?) on the way to the Jackson Hole airport today. They were just grazing maybe 50 feet from the road. It was very cool.

Here's a fun fact from the trip: the Jackson Hole airport is the only airport located within a U.S. National Park (Grand Teton National Park).

More tomorrow...

Jackson Hole Update

I have not had consistent internet access, but wanted to provide an update of things here in Jackson Hole, Wyoming. First, this is a sample picture of a room in the hotel. My hotel room is extremely similar except my view is not THIS nice.

A few other notes...if you are ever in Jackson Hole and need a taxi, call Jimmy at Teton Taxi. I'll even give you the number (307-733-1506). Of course, if you are in Wyoming you don't need the area code since there is only one for the entire state. Jimmy is Teton Taxi (it is a one-cab fleet), has been extremely friendly and reliable and suggested a great restaurant that is popular with locals and not filled with tourists.

I also visited the Jackson KMart. Apparently, the KMart here is either the highest grossing or has the highest revenue of any KMart in the country. I guess that's what happens when there are few national chains in the region and no Walmarts or Targets.

Snow in May?

When I look over my left shoulder as I am typing this, I see snow. It is not snowing at the moment, but there are flurries expected tonight. I should probably mention that I'm in Jackson Hole, Wyoming and not in the DC area, which may explain a few things. I just flew in this afternoon, and it is beautiful here. Plus, my hotel room is AWESOME! The fireplace is on and sitting on the very comfortable chair with my legs resting on the ottoman is a nice way to live.

Why I'm In Last Place

I wrote last month the results of my fantasy baseball draft. I am in two leagues, but I really care about the league I have been in for 15 years. Only one month into the baseball season and I'm in last place with little hope of improvement. Here's why:

Odalis Perez (LA) 3-1 record/6.90 ERA/1.70 Walks + Hits divided by Innings (WHIP)
Oliver Perez (PIT) 1-4/7.535/2.163
Ben Sheets (MIL) 1-3/6.639
Carlos Zambrano (CHI) 0-2/5.346/1.723

Ray Durham (SF) .203 average/1 Home Run/8 Runs Batted In
Rafael Furcal (LA) .203/0/3
Jeff Kent (LA) .189/1/12
Brian Schneider (WAS) .198/0/9
Skip Schumaker (STL) .180/1/2
Jose Valentin (NY) .130/0/0

Just terrible.

NFL Draft Recap

I just have a few quick notes from this weekend's NFL draft related to the Steelers and more:

* I like the pick of Ohio State WR Santonio Holmes. He seemed to make big plays in every OSU game I saw him.

* I miss the days of 12 rounds of the NFL draft. Who made the decision to only make it 7 rounds? The NFL or ESPN?

* With some of the injury problems Ben has had, it was a good pick to take Bowling Green QB Omar Jacobs in the 5th round. Let me preface this by saying that I really like Charlie Batch; he's much better than people give him credit for. Anyway, here's the reason I like Jacobs: in 2004 he threw 41 TD passes and only 4 interceptions. He really "struggled" last year throwing 26 TDs and 7 interceptions. That's a great ratio on any level.

* Like previous star wide receivers at Pitt, Larry Fitzgerald and Antonio Bryant, Greg Lee decided to leave early to go to the NFL. Fitzgerald and Bryant both won the Fred Biletnikoff award for best college WR. Lee did not and did not get drafted at all yesterday. Not such a good move for Lee.

* Is there any list out there where I can find the free agent signings of undrafted players? The only thing I can find is that Jai Lewis is going to the Giants and that Connecticut basketball player Ed Nelson was signed by the Rams.

D'Brickashaw

One of the coolest names ever!

United 93 Movie

As I'm sure you know by now, the movie United 93 is being released tomorrow (April 28). The movie is based on the passengers and their actions that took place aboard United Airlines Flight 93 on September 11, 2001. I feel the same way about this movie as I did about Schindler's List and Saving Private Ryan in that I believe this is an important movie to see but you know it will be difficult to watch. My question to everyone out there: Are you going to see the movie?

SiteScore

There's a British web development company called Silktide that provides feedback about websites. I'm sure that the company charges a good amount of money, but they offer a free tool called SiteScore which rates how well designed, popular and accessible your website is. Here are my results:

Marketing - 7.5
Design - 8.7
Accessibility - 6.8
Experience (How satisfying the website is likely to be) - 7.7
Overall - 7.2

Good Points/Bad Points:

* A Google search for "Sean's Ramblings" finds this website as #2
* This website is not very popular (approx #4,832,127 in the world) Look out #4,832,126; I'm gaining on you!
* This website appears to be in violation of the British Disability Discrimination Act. Will I be arrested if I travel there?

I don't know what any of this means, but it was fun. If you want to see the results for this site, click here.

McClatchy's Money

According to this article on Yahoo, MediaNews Group Inc., publisher of The Denver Post and other newspapers, is acquiring four newspapers from McClatchy Co. for $1 billion. I realize that there are many people involved in the McClatchy Company, but I'm sure that Pittsburgh Pirates owner, Kevin McClatchy will get a nice chunk from the sale. How much of the money do you think he will use from the sale on the Pirates? My guess is none or very little.

Very Random Stuff

* Did you know that there are only two players named Marlon in baseball history? Marlon Anderson and Marlon Byrd and they both currently play for the Washington Nationals.

* My juror number did not get called for today so my jury duty is now done. My civic duty consisted of not being selected to hear a cocaine possession case.

* This is from The Washington Post Express (where I sadly get much of my news): Baylor University law students are angry after part of their library was closed Saturday so the dean's son could host a high-school pre-prom party. It's finals week at the law school, and students booted from the library protested outside, saying they pay tuition to use the facility and needed to study. The partying teenagers' parents, however, said the students could find something else to do. Unfortunately, I can see those same parents complaining to the university if their kids were the law students.

Penguins Bandwagon

I think that I may be a bandwagon Pittsburgh Penguins fan. I never thought I would say this for any team that I follow, especially a Pittsburgh team. One of the best experiences of my life was driving from Columbus to Buffalo and attending a Game 7 Penguins victory against the Sabres in 2001. Anyway, I think I’ll blame the team, former Penguins General Manager Craig Patrick, the National Hockey League, and cable TV for my bandwagoness. In the 2003-2004 season, the Penguins were the worst team in hockey. This was followed by the strike where there was no hockey for an entire year, and the 2005-2006 season where the Penguins “improved” to become the next-to-worst team in the NHL. It’s hard to support a team that has been so lousy and even harder to support to team when there was no hockey. Let’s go back to the beginning of the season. All Penguins fans including me were excited because Mario was going to be back, the team got Sidney Crosby, and Patrick signed high-profile free agents Ziggy Palffy, Mark Recchi, Sergei Gonchar and John LeClair. Lemieux had heart problems and retired, Palffy retired, Gonchar and LeClair did not live up to expectations, Recchi was traded and Patrick was just fired. Because of the strike season (and probably more reasons like poor ratings), ESPN decided not to broadcast NHL games this year. The NHL signed a contract with OLN instead, and OLN only showed hockey twice a week. After the first few months of the season, they stopped showing Penguins games. Therefore, it was extremely difficult for me to watch the Pens.

Anyway, except for Crosby’s statistics, I don’t think I followed the Penguins closely since the Winter Olympics. As I said before, part of the reason was because they were terrible and out of playoff contention. At this point, I don’t think I can name 1/3 of the team. Meanwhile, I can name almost every Steeler and Pirate player, and the Pirates have been dreadful since I was in high school. Is it possible that I don’t follow the Penguins as closely because I don’t participate in a fantasy hockey league like I do for baseball and football? While there may be something to this, I follow the Pitt and George Mason basketball team, and I’m not in any fantasy college basketball leagues. So I really don’t know where I’m going with all of this. I just wanted to share. I still consider myself a Penguins fan, but the team and league have made it difficult over the past few years. In Sidney We Trust!

All Dressed Up With No Place To Go

I woke up at 8:00am this morning ready for my first games of the soccer season. Since it has been raining here in the DC area since yesterday afternoon, I called the "field closure" line. Of course, the message said that the games were on as scheduled and that it would be the referee's decision as to whether the games would be played. As the referee, I would have loved to say that the games were cancelled, but the expectations are that I would actually go to the field, check the conditions and tell the teams in person. Therefore, I got ready to go, ate breakfast, put on the uniform and got all of my equipment together. Throughout the morning, I continuously tried to call the field closure line but only received a busy signal.

Just before I left for the field (9:15am), I tried one more time. The updated message said that all games are cancelled for today. So now I'm very awake and have nothing to do.

Referrals

I am totally stealing/borrowing this idea from Sarah, but I don't have much else to write about besides that I'm back to eating normal food again. Here are real searches that real people used to find and visit this place:

What does Shakira's song "No" mean? I’m going to guess no.

cartoon, spring break shark attack The cartoon version could not have been as good as the original.

where do they sell "t-shirt throwers"? I don’t know, but if you find out, that would be cool to have around the office.

Long John Silver’s lottery Sign me up!

girls bathing sean's Was there another word missing? Actually, I don’t want to know.

pirates batting order songs Can’t help you here, but any songs that would help the team are welcome.

Please tell me how far is heaven Again, I can’t tell you. Ask Los Lonely Boys. They probably don’t know either but they won a Grammy asking the question.

My sean dress up game Is this sold in stores? It could be a big seller!

Stories From Home

We recently bought my parents a DVD/VCR combination so that they could join the 21st Century but still watch VHS tapes. For the first time, my parents rented a DVD over the weekend. After watching the movie, my dad, being the responsible consumer, wanted to make sure that the DVD was rewound for the next person renting the movie. You may be asking how exactly does one rewind a DVD. The answer: by hitting the back button. After an hour and a half (amazingly the exact same time the movie ran), the movie was done rewinding.

---

My mom has been invited to a bridal shower with a holiday theme. Each guest buys a gift for the bride relating to a specific holiday. My mom was given the holiday of Yom Kippur. The first question is why would you choose Yom Kippur as one of the holidays to celebrate an upcoming wedding? The second question is what do you get? I guess a bagel cutter and a gift certificate for bagels (to break the fast). Any other ideas?

Done (for now)

I have now partially completed my civic duty by participating in jury duty. Basically, I sat in the jury waiting room for approximately three hours before finally being called to a trial. After receiving instructions by the judge and, as a group, asked questions about our beliefs relating to the case, I was one of eight jurors out of twenty (not including alternates, I guess) told to leave. It may have been an interesting case since the defendant was accused of cocaine possession.

Anyway, I am done with jury duty for today. I'm actually going to go into work for a few hours. Next Monday evening, I must call the jury hotline to see if I'm needed to next Tuesday. Since I was not selected for a trial, I'm guessing that I will be called again.

Jury Duty Question

So I have jury duty on Tuesday. I have all the information I need but have one question. Is there a way to find out what cases may be considered? It seems like this should be public record. Of course, the court may not want jury members to look up information about potential cases.

Organization Weekend

I spent most of my weekend organizing. There were hundreds of bills and papers that needed to be sorted and filed at home. Except for paying them, I don't think I have touched any of the bills since last summer. Today, I went into work since I am moving to a new office. I spent probably four hours filing and recycling papers. If anyone out there works on one of those organization TV shows, I would be the perfect candidate (same with any of those clothes make-over/new look shows).

Fast Willie Parker

On Tuesday, April 11, Steelers running back Willie Parker threw out the ceremonial first pitch at the Pirates game. The magic of Willie Parker must have inspired the team since the Pirates actually won games on Tuesday and Wednesday. However, Willie Parker’s magic could only go so far as the team has lost the last two games to fall to 3-9 on the season. The problem: pitching. The Pirates are last in the National League with a 6.88 ERA and have only 1 win by a starting pitcher. Here is the pitching line for the Pirates starters over the past five games:

Friday: Victor Santos - 4 1/3 innings, 6 runs, 10 hits, 2 walks
Thursday: Oliver Perez - 4 2/3 innings, 6 runs, 9 hits, 5 walks
Wednesday: Paul Maholm - 5 2/3 innings, 5 runs, 9 hits, 2 walks
Tuesday: Ian Snell - 5 innings, 6 runs, 10 hits, 2 walks
Monday: Zach Duke - 5 innings, 7 runs, 8 hits, 2 walks

Not very good. Who would have thought that the team would really miss Kip Wells and Josh Fogg?

Mmmmmm.....Passover Food

I had my first Matzoh (is this the correct spelling?) Pizza of the Passover season tonight. I don't mean to brag, but I make an excellent Matzoh Pizza!

Apples and Oranges

To much disappointment to many, Gwyneth Paltrow and Chris Martin named their new son Moses. Although many people (including myself) hoped that they would name their son after a fruit or vegetable, Moses is an appropriate name this time of year.

Speaking of Moses, has anyone watched ABC's new version of the Ten Commandments? I have not and have not heard anything about it. Why not show the original with Charlton Heston and Yul Brynner?

Finally, NBC has really been promoting the new show "Celebrity Cooking Showdown" which they apparently are showing every night next week. I hope one of their shows is a Kosher for Passover edition.

Your 2006 Lean Mean Fat Reducing Grilling Machines

That would be my fantasy/rotisserie baseball team name. We had our auction draft over the weekend, and this year marks the 15th year that I have been in this particular league. There are very few things that I have been involved with since high school, and I am happy that this is one of them. The main reason, of course, is the people in the league. I have known and been friends with many of the participants since high school, junior high and even elementary school. I have lost touch with many friends from my childhood, but the baseball league has been the primary way that I've kept in touch with these friends.

As for the results of the league, I have never won in the previous 14 years. Maybe the 15th time is the charm! After you see my team, you will probably disagree. In case you were wondering, this is a 12-team NL-only league.

C Mike Lieberthal - PHI
C Brian Schneider - WAS
1B Xavier Nady - NY
2B Rickie Weeks - MIL
SS Rafael Furcal - LA
3B Miguel Cabrera - FLA
CM Mike Lamb - HOU
MM Jeff Kent - LA
OF Luis Gonzalez - ARI
OF Larry Bigbie - STL
OF Dave Roberts - SD
OF Jose Valentin - NY
OF Craig Wilson - PIT
UM Ray Durham -SF
P Ben Sheets - ATL
P Oliver Perez - PIT
P Odalis Perez - LA (Yes, I have both O. Perezes!)
P Chad Cordero - WAS
P Carlos Zambrano - CHI
P Tim Worrell - SF
P Dewon Brazelton - SF
P Todd Coffey - CIN
P Sean Burnett - PIT

With three of these guys injured, I also now have the following players on my roster:
OF Skip Schumaker - STL
P Sergio Mitre - FLA (You know Sergio?)
P Aaron Cook - COL

There are also several other minor leaguers on my roster, but the only one of note is Atlanta catcher Jarrod Saltalamacchia because his nickname is Salty.

Maybe the 16th time is the charm?

9 Months and 22 Days (or so)

For the faithful readers out there, I'm sure you've been wondering about the status of my Edge shaving cream. For those of you who don't know or remember, on Saturday, June 18th I started a new can of Edge "Economy Size" (9.5 oz.) shaving cream. I should mention that I shave just about every day; probably 13 of 14 days at a minimum. Anyway, today was the day that I reached the end of the can.

As I was typing this message, I realized I should probably find a new can of shaving cream for tomorrow morning. I bought a 3-pack of the Edge Economy Size at Costco last year. One small problem...I can't find the other can. I really don't want to buy a new can since I have a year and a half supply of shaving cream somewhere here. I'll use my travel size in the morning and then a full search after work.

2006 Steelers Schedule

The Steelers schedule was released today. My goal for this year is to attend two games like I did for the 2005 season. Looking at the schedule, the annual trip to Cincinnati could be tough since the game is on New Year's Eve day. I was also thinking about going to Jacksonville, but I'd need to take off two days of work (Monday night game). Anyway, here's the schedule:

Thursday, Sept. 7: Miami, 8:30 p.m.

Monday, Sept. 18: at Jacksonville, 8:30 p.m.

Sunday Sept. 24: Cincinnati, 1 p.m.

Sunday, Oct. 1: Bye

Sunday, Oct. 8: at San Diego, 8:15 p.m.

Sunday, Oct. 15: Kansas City, 4:15 p.m.

Sunday, Oct. 22: at Atlanta, 1 p.m.

Sunday, Oct. 29: at Oakland, 4:15 p.m.

Sunday, Nov. 5: Denver, 4:15 p.m.

Sunday, Nov. 12: New Orleans, 1 p.m.

Sunday, Nov. 19: at Cleveland, 1 p.m.

Sunday, Nov. 26: at Baltimore, 1 p.m.

Sunday, Dec. 3: Tampa Bay, 1 p.m.

Thursday, Dec. 7: Cleveland, 8 p.m.

Sunday, Dec. 17: at Carolina, 1 p.m.

Sunday, Dec. 24: Baltimore, 1 p.m.

Sunday, Dec. 31: at Cincinnati, 1 p.m.

Winnie Cooper Knows Math

* One person probably disappointed with the result of the NCAA Championship game was UCLA graduate Danica McKellar. You may know Danica as Winnie Cooper of the Wonder Years. Anyway, she has a website and is available to answer any of your complicated mathematical questions.

* Is anyone following the Pittsburgh Penguins these days? I have never considered myself to be a bandwagon fan, but I have no idea what they have done since the Olympics. Most of my sports attention has been on Pitt, George Mason and the NCAA Tournament and now on the Pirates and the start of the baseball season. Have the hockey playoffs started yet?

Text Message

I received this text message yesterday:

(Wuz up eSa?) Eh, wuz up? Itz Michelle, sorry i cant go 2 ur protest. If i do den i gota go 2 court, eitheRr way im gona try2 convince my dad 2 xcuse tha absence. g

I don't use text messaging, so this was obviously sent to the wrong person. Several thoughts...Is this common texting lingo or is this a poor showing of someone's grammar? What kind of protest could it have been that if Michelle went she would "gota go 2 court?"

I just hope I don't get charged for this!

Two Commercials

Thanks to the NCAA Tournament, I have watched hundreds of commercials over the past few weeks. Correction: I have watched 10 about 50 times each. There are two commercials in particular I wanted to point out. The first is the Burger King with a guy dressed in a chicken costume and a guy riding him like it was a rodeo. It is a stupid commercial, but I like the song. Feel free to sing along if you would like:

Big Bucking Chicken
You are big and you are chicken.

Again, this is a very stupid commercial and does not make me want to eat at BK, but the song does stay in your head. The second commercial is Subway Dinner Theatre starring Jon Lovitz. I never thought I would say this but I miss Jon Lovitz. He was always great on SNL. Anyway, Lovitz is great yelling, "The blond boy is an idiot." I may have messed up the line but it's funny. Eat Fresh!

Wasted Hour

Earlier this evening, I watched the Flavor of Love reunion show. I'm not sure what else to say except that I wasted an hour of my life. I haven't watched Jerry Springer or any of those types of shows for many years, but the reunion show was almost exactly like it. All that was missing was Jerry's final thought. The show was basically an hour of the women yelling and swearing at each other. What we learned is that Flavor Flav and Hoopz are NOT TOGETHER! Are your surprised by that? Of course not. Because of that, Flavor is receptive to having another season of Flavor of Love(meaning that he still needs more money and VH1 wants to capitalize on their monster hit). If you are interested in dating Flav and being on the next show, call 1-877-HLP-FLAV. And please let me know if you make the call.

GMU

Go green, go gold, fight, fight, fight!!

GO MASON!!


UPDATE: Oh well. Florida just was too much on the boards and seemed to hit every three-point shot they took. It was still an amazing run by Mason and brought a lot of excitement to George Mason, the entire DC area and to all college basketball fans across the country.

Mason News

I had fun Steelers links the week before the Super Bowl, and since the result of that game went well, I thought I would have George Mason links for the Final Four.

The students at the Mason campus in the United Arab Emirates are very excited! One quote from a student there, "Please win for us to make us popular."

Were you looking for stories about Mason guards Tim Burns and Makan Konate? I only found one too. The Worcester Telegram & Gazette points out that they played at Worcester Academy.

There's an article in the Washington Post about Bon Jovi's "Livin' on a Prayer," which has become a theme song used by the George Mason Spirit Band. I'm sure I'll get hate posts for this, but the article didn't mention that the band's version isn't all that good.

TV Programming

I like VH1. I like the movie Caddyshack. However, I don't understand why VH1 is currently showing Caddyshack. Besides Chevy Chase being the Star of Paul Simon's "You Can Call Me Al" video, I don't see any relation between the two.

Of course, the most random pairing of a movie on a TV station that I have seen has to be "Office Space" on Lifetime. I didn't think Lifetime was allowed to have comedy unless it's the Golden Girls.

New Links

On the right side of the screen, you may notice that I've added a few more links. They are primarily sports-related since, well, I like sports. However, there are some fun ones like seeing what Steeler Ike Taylor is up to and following a guy who is writing a book about the Colonial Athletic Association. He picked a good year to follow the conference!

Go Mason!

I'm still amazed. While Mason reaching the Final Four does not equal the Steelers reaching and then winning the Super Bowl or the Penguins during the Stanley Cup years, it's pretty close. The fact that no one believed they could do it, even rationale Mason fans, makes it so special. Take ESPN's Doug Gottlieb. He was on Sportscenter Sunday morning talking about Mason, saying that would keep it close, but that UConn would win. I'm OK with that. I didn't hear anyone saying that Mason would defeat UConn. However, Gottlieb called Lamar Butler, "Jamar Butler" the Ohio State guard. The best players on any other team that were playing in the Elite 8 would be known by the top college basketball analysts.

One more rant: Paul Zeise had a chat today on the Post-Gazette's website. I generally like his college sports coverage. Anyway, in his chat, he wrote that "I didn't even think _ and still don't think _ George Mason deserved to be in the field of 65 to begin with." How you can he say that they shouldn't have been in the TOURNAMENT when they made the Final Four? They were definitely more deserving than say Seton Hall.

On to the links:
* Michael Wilbon's weekly chat was almost entirely about Mason.
* ABC News has a piece about Coach Larranaga. This is really big time!

MASON = FINAL FOUR BOUND

This is just amazing! I'm a pretty big George Mason fan, but I never thought that they could make the Final Four. I'll have much more about this over the next few days.

Summons for Jury Duty

Back in September, I wrote about receiving a jury questionnaire and speculated that I may be called to jury duty. Yesterday, I received the official "Summons for Jury Duty." I am scheduled to appear on April 18th. I am actually a little excited about it as I'll be doing my civic duty. Plus, the summons says "There are unavoidable periods of waiting while on jury duty. You may bring a book, laptop computer or some other quiet activity to help pass the time. Internet wireless access is available in the jury assembly area." I guess this means I can post messages directly from the courthouse. Cool! Of course, I'll be doing this as part of my civic duty.

MySpace

Does anyone out there have a MySpace page? The reason I am asking is because I'm wondering if I should get my own. I'm already on Friendster, but I barely use it and don't even have my picture there. At 30, I'm probably outside of the MySpace demographic of high school and college students. I honestly don't want to put much work into it and it would probably be a pretty lame page, but that seems to be the place for all of cool kids. Any thoughts?

Music Scene

On Saturday night, we went to see The Legwarmers, an 80s cover/tribute band. It was AWESOME! Every song they performed was a hit such as Eddie Money's "Take Me Home Tonight," "Jenny (867-5309)," Bon Jovi's classic "Livin' on a Prayer," the "Safety Dance," Blondie and much, much more. It was such a great time, we barely noticed that the last song didn't end until about 1:30. That's about 3-4 hours later than we usually stay out.

In other news, Celebrate Fairfax! has announced the headliners for its 25th annual festival:

Friday, June 9: Collective Soul
Saturday, June 10: Sister Hazel & Sugar Ray
Sunday, June 11: .38 Special

Not too shabby.

10,000

As of today, this little part of the internet has had 10,000 visitors since it began last January. Thanks to everyone out there who has been looking for information about Flavor of Love (or just Flavor Flav or Hoopz) and Kevin Pittsnogle. In all seriousness (sort of), thanks to the 10 or so regular visitors...who happened to visit this site about 1,000 times over the past 14+ months!

Another NCAA Tournament Related Post

The real reason for this post is to if this picture worked. If it does, you can see George Mason's mascot, Gunston, behind Coach Larranaga. I'm not sure how to describe Gunston, but a few years ago, it was fun yelling "You are the worst Gunston ever" to an uninspiring mascot. This year's Gunston has been much better.

If you are looking for more Mason articles, check out The Washington Post article by Camille Powell, ESPN's recap of the game and Stewart Mandel at Sports Illustrated.

Update Monday morning: Two more Mason stories to start off your day: the first by Michael Wilbon in The Washington Post and the second by Kyle Whelliston at ESPN.com.

I Feel Better

GEORGE MASON WINS!
GEORGE MASON WINS!
GEORGE MASON WINS!
GEORGE MASON WINS!

If you have been watching George Mason for the first time over the past few days, the loud whistling sound you hear throughout the game is by Coach Jim Larranaga. He may be the loudest whistler EVER! Go Patriots!

A Little Depressed

I am really disappointed with the result of the Pitt-Bradley game. Bradley was more aggressive, created more turnovers and Pitt (Krauser, Gray, Graves and Kendell) was in foul trouble throughout the game. Pitt could have used Keith Benjamin and Tyrell Biggs (who missed the game due to illness and injury), but I'm not sure if that would have helped. Anytime Pitt seemed to get close, Bradley would get fouled and hit free throws. Overall, Bradley made 26 of 32 (81%) of its free throws. Completely unrelated to the result of the game, does Pitt's Levon Kendall's hair ever get messed up? I don't think I've ever seen him sweat either.

The George Mason game has started and only a few minutes into the game, North Carolina is up by 9. Ugh.

More College Basketball Notes

* I'm currently watching the GW-Duke game. Look out Duke! GW is ready to make a run!

* There continues to be a huge debate going on between George Mason and Hofstra fans. Gregg Doyel on CBS Sportsline has an article about the teams. There is also debate on the main CAA blog. The bottom line is that both teams deserved to make it.

* Maryland proved today why it did not deserve to make the NCAA Tournament by losing AT HOME to Manhattan. Earlier this year, Mason won AT Manhattan.

Duke is now up 13 with 10 minutes to play. I still think it's going to be close at the end.

Enjoying the Couch

On TV: George Mason vs. Michigan State

On my computer: Pitt vs. Kent State

Me: Not going anywhere for a while

UPDATE 9:30pm

Congrats to the George Mason University Patriots for the huge upset win over Michigan State! While I was rooting for Mason all along, realistically, I didn't think they could match up with the Michigan State guards (Ager, Neitzel and Shannon Brown) without Tony Skinn. I am very happy to be wrong. Mason could have made it a little easier if the team made more free throws down the stretch. If North Carolina beats Murray State, the match-up between Jai Lewis and Tyler Hansbrough will be fun to watch.

Meanwhile, Pitt had six players score in double figures in defeating Kent State. I don't think Aaron Gray or Ronald Ramon ever missed a shot.

A good evening on the couch!

NCAA Tournament 2006

There are no government holidays between Presidents Day in February and Memorial Day in late May. I would like to propose that the Thursday and Friday of the 1st round of the NCAA Tournament be an official holiday. The first four days of the tournament are really my favorite time of the sports year. Constant action and you always seem to be rooting for a team/school that you know nothing about or anyone associated with the school. I really am going to take these days off one day.

The George Washington-UNC Wilmington game this evening was terrific. At the beginning of the second half, Wilmington hit every shot and built an 18-point lead. GW followed by going on a 19-0 run. Each team made big shot after big shot with GW finally prevailing in overtime. GW will give Duke a great game and may even win on Saturday. You heard it here first!

Today is the big day for the teams that I follow closest all in action: Pitt, George Mason and West Virginia. Quick prediction: Kevin Pittsnogle will score over 20 points and there will be at least two mentions of him being a new father.

I'm a little disappointed this year that CBS did not make a Spring Break Shark Attack II. I loved the commercials (and the actual TV movie) last year.

Very Expensive Orange Juice

Here's another part of my San Diego trip...This past Sunday morning, I had the opportunity to have brunch at the Crown Room at the Hotel del Coronado. Opportunity is probably too strong a word since I really just showed up and was taken to a table. Click here for the history of the Hotel del Coronado, but it is best known for hosting ten U.S. Presidents and the movie location for "Some Like It Hot" starring Marilyn Monroe, Tony Curtis and Jack Lemmon. Anyway, I don't think I mentioned that brunch was $56.99 per person, easily making it the most expensive brunch (and possibly meal) that I've ever had. While the food was outstanding, especially the strawberries dipped in chocolate from the chocolate fountain with whipped cream from the waffle station, I definitely did not eat or drink $56.99 worth of food. Fortunately, the $100 gift certificate I had really helped.

NCAA Tournament

I am having a tough time going through and making picks for the NCAA tournament. Going with my heart, I want Pitt (my hometown team) to go far plus I have connections at Ohio State (grad school), San Diego State (worked there), George Mason (my "new" hometown team) and to a lesser extent George Washington (worked there). I'm also a biased towards Big East teams since I watched them more than other conference. I feel like certain teams that are ranked high (Iowa, Tennessee, Syracuse and Boston College) are going to lose fairly early in the tournament but I can't seem to pick at 14, 15 or 16 seed team to win in the first round.

In case you were wondering, I currently have Pitt and Ohio State (with UConn & Texas) in the Final Four, SDSU beating Indiana in the first round before losing to Gonzaga, Mason losing to Michigan State (only because Tony Skinn is out) and GW winning in the first round before losing to Duke.

Whammy

If you haven't heard the news, former game show host Peter Tomarken died in a plane crash. It seems like only yesterday that I was watching him host one of my favorite shows of all time, Press Your Luck. Actually, I DID watch Press Your Luck on my flight yesterday. Although I really haven't seen or heard anything about Tomarken in the past few years, it sounds like he was doing something very worthwhile when he died.

Flavor of Love Finale

I've talked about Flavor of Love many times over the past few months but since I was still on vacation, I missed last night's final episode. So today on the return flight from San Diego, I was really hoping that jetBlue's DirectTV was working (since it did not work for most of my flight last week) and that VH1 would show Flavor of Love again. DirectTV worked, but there was no Flavor of Love...until 1:00pm. I was able to see Flavor Flav with Hoopz and New York on their trip to Mexico; however, the flight landed at 1:45pm so they turned off the TVs before the winner was announced. This is probably the first time in the history of air travel that someone was disappointed that the flight landed 20+ minutes early.

Anyway, I still have not seen the ending or officially know who won. Based on the number of referrals I have received today and the mention of the ending from the Sports Guy, I know who won, but I'd still like to see it.

Guess Who's Back

I just flew in from San Diego and boy are my arms tired!

Anyway, I'll talk more about my trip including thoughts about jetBlue, the weather, The Sopranos, Flavor of Love, the NCAA Tournament and much, much more over the next few days.

All I can report at this time is that I knew it was early in the morning when we left the hotel before the bill was left under the door (don't they do that at midnight or 1:00am?), we were at the airport before security was open and once through security, McDonalds was not open yet.

Time to read through my e-mail, see what is going on in the world today and possibly take a nap.

JetBlue

I'm heading to San Diego tomorrow and taking JetBlue to get there. I'm excited about having my own TV, but I have no idea what will be on tomorrow night. Anyway, has anyone ever flown JetBlue? If so, how was it?

NCAA Tournament

With the Colonial Athletic Association tournament concluding last night, UNC Wilmington has earned the automatic conference bid. The big question is whether or not George Mason and/or Hofstra or neiter will recieve an at-large bid. This should be interesting to follow over the next few days and into (and after) selection Sunday. I hate to say it, but if Mason makes it (which I feel that they should), I don't think they have a chance with Tony Skinn out due to suspension.

The Big East Tournament starts tomorrow! There are going to be some fantastic games. While Pitt is definitely in the NCAA Tournament, I'm sure that the team and the selection committee will feel better with a few wins. I would love to see a 3rd Pitt-WVU game on Thursday.

Here are some links if you want to follow the CAA and Pitt.

Sunday Night Notes

Quick final thoughts from last night...

I ended up 7 for 9 with my picks. I decided to have one upset pick with Capote over Brokeback Mountain for Adapted Screenplay even though I thought Brokeback would win. Of course, I lost on Best Picture.

Did I miss it or did Jack Nicholson not open the envelop for Best Picture and just thought he would say Crash?

Dustin Hoffman may be an amazing actor, but he is a terrible presenter. He just seemed to smile and talk about nothing in particular, and he did the same thing at the Grammys a few years ago.

Finally, George Mason lost to Hofstra, which means they may be on the bubble for getting in the NCAA Tournament. I think they deserve to get in, but I may be biased. If they do make the tournament, they will have to play without one of their best players Tony Skinn, who will be suspended one game for punching a Hofstra player where guys should not be punched at the end of the game. Not too smart.

Oscar Diary

Welcome to my diary of the 2006 Academy Awards. To let you know the importance of the Oscars, I taped Flavor of Love earlier today so that I won’t miss it tonight. If I get bored or during commercials, I’m going to watch Flavor of Love and will keep you updated on whom Flavor Flav picks: Hoops or New York.

On to the show…I thought Jon Stewart did a good job and my prediction is that he’ll be invited back in the future.

Best Support Actor: George Clooney. I’m 1 for 1.

Tom Hanks just got hit over the head by a violin for having too long of an acceptance speech. That’s funny.

Why is Ben Stiller in a green suit? Not a real suit; it’s more like green long-johns. He looks really stupid, but I’m laughing.

***

As you can tell, my diary is running a little later than I was hoping. I have been taking written notes and should be caught up any minute now...

Naomi Watts is presenting an award. Maybe this is really short-term memory, but what was she nominated for in 2004?

My second prediction: Owen or Luke Wilson will never win an Oscar.

Congrats to Rachel Weisz on winning for Best Supporting Actress. With Wallace & Gromit winning, I'm now 3 for 3 on my picks from earlier today. Go me!

If I was Rachel Weisz, I would not be happy with my intro while being called on stage. The announcer said that she is best known for her roles in "The Mummy" and "The Mummy Returns." While that is true, why would you say that? Did the announcer say: George Clooney, who started his career on The Facts of Life? Of course not.

***

Huge news. I started watching Flavor of Love and it’s a summary of the season. I really thought it was going to be the finale. If you haven’t watched the show, you may be missing one of the greatest TV shows of all time.

I enjoyed the "political" commercials for and against the Best Actress nominees.

"March of the Penguins" just won for something. I’m not even paying very close attention at this point. I have no idea what the winner is saying and apparently, neither does Morgan Freeman. Morgan looks horrified and I’m sure is thinking, “Did I really work on a movie with these guys?” The winners are all holding stuffed penguins. Nice touch. I’m sure the stuffed animals would play just as well as the real Penguins. Actually, maybe one of those stuffed animals is really Sidney Crosby or at least Sergei Gonchar.

I don’t get this whole Meryl Streep-Lily Tomlin thing. Can someone please make it stop.

Wait a minute; why isn't Grey's Anatomy on?

***

Next prediction: Three 6 Mafia won’t be performing at the Academy Awards again.

Three 6 Mafia just won. Maybe they will be back. Oh, the delay just kicked in. Someone said something they shouldn’t have. Maybe they won’t be back. I’m just happy it came from a movie I saw.

With the Sound Editing win, King Kong has won 2 or 3 Oscars now. Another movie I saw!

I'm starting to get sleepy. I'm not sure how much longer I can keep going.

Did anyone know that the Adventures in Babysitting producer died? I feel like I should have know this.

***

Philip Seymour Hoffman wins for Best Actor. I actually have no idea if they have done the awards for Screenplay yet, but my current picks seem to be 4 for 4. (I go 4 for 4 and I'm magic on the mike.)

Wow, a John Travolta sighting. What was the last movie he was in?

Look out Charlize! There's something on your shoulder. Don't move. Oh, that's part of her dress.

Reese won. When will Legally Blonde 3 come out? 5 for 5!

I feel like my Screenplay predictions are a little shaky.

OK, I'm done for the night. Time for sleep. Let me know if I miss anything big.

Oscar Picks

Even though I have only seen two movies on this list that have been nominated ("Crash" and "Hustle & Flow"), I'm making Oscar predictions (in bold). Feel free to make your picks. Check back throughout the awards show as I will be running an Oscar diary.

Best motion picture of the year
"Brokeback Mountain"
"Capote"
"Crash"
"Good Night, and Good Luck."
"Munich"

I really liked Crash, but there is way too much buzz for Brokeback.

Best Actor
Philip Seymour Hoffman in "Capote"
Terrence Howard in "Hustle & Flow"
Heath Ledger in "Brokeback Mountain"
Joaquin Phoenix in "Walk the Line"
David Strathairn in "Good Night, and Good Luck"

Best Actress
Judi Dench in "Mrs. Henderson Presents"
Felicity Huffman in "Transamerica"
Keira Knightley in "Pride & Prejudice"
Charlize Theron in "North Country"
Reese Witherspoon in "Walk the Line"

It will be a huge upset if Reese or Felicity Huffman, who did her best work in "Sports Night," does not win.

Best Supporting Actor
George Clooney in "Syriana”
Matt Dillon in "Crash"
Paul Giamatti in "Cinderella Man"
Jake Gyllenhaal in "Brokeback Mountain"
William Hurt in "A History of Violence"

My original pick was Giamatti (I actually saw the movie he was in), but I feel like Clooney has to win one award tonight.)

Best Supporting Actress
Amy Adams in "Junebug"
Catherine Keener in "Capote"
Frances McDormand in "North Country”
Rachel Weisz in "The Constant Gardener"
Michelle Williams in "Brokeback Mountain"

Weisz really deserved a Best Actress nomination for the "Mummy" so the Academy is making up for its earlier mistake. Keener may also get some votes from folks who loved her performance in "The 40-Year Old Virgin."

Best Director
Ang Lee - "Brokeback Mountain"
Bennett Miller – "Capote"
Paul Haggis - "Crash"
George Clooney - "Good Night, and Good Luck."
Steven Spielberg - "Munich"

Best Animated Feature Film
"Howl's Moving Castle"
"Tim Burton's Corpse Bride"
"Wallace & Gromit in the Curse of the Were-Rabbit"

How can you vote against a clay dog?

Adapted Screenplay
"Brokeback Mountain"
"Capote"
"The Constant Gardener"
"A History of Violence”
"Munich"

Original Screenplay
"Crash"
"Good Night, and Good Luck."
"Match Point"
"The Squid and the Whale"
"Syriana"

Last prediction: ABC will show at least five commercials each for "Sons & Daughters" and "Miracle Workers."

Your 2006 Washington Nationals!

It's tough to be pessimistic about a baseball team at the beginning of March. As a fan of the Pittsburgh Pirates my entire life, I am optimistic about the team's chances to do well nearly every spring despite the fact that the team has gone 13 straight seasons without a winning record. Living in the DC area, it was very easy to jump on the Nationals bandwagon last year. There was finally a local baseball team and the Nats played great well into August, exceeding all expectations. This brings us to the 2006 Nats team. Brian Lawrence, the team's #3 starting pitcher, is out 4-8 months after shoulder surgery, outfielder Jose Guillen, arguably the team's best overall offensive player, may miss 3 months with a wrist injury, and team's biggest off-season acquisition, Alfonso Soriano, only wants to play 2nd base, which is a huge problem since that is Jose Vidro's position. Soriano actually said that the team has three weeks to fix the situation. Obviously, he is not very popular at the moment. Oh yeah, the team still does not have an owner, Major League Baseball and DC's City Council have been "negotiating" a new stadium deal for over a year and only 43 of the 162 games will be shown on local TV. This could be an ugly season for the Nats. At least the Pirates have looked good so far this spring. It helps that they are playing the Nats.

Welcome Back

With the Olympics over, it was great to watch My Name Is Earl and The Office again. Dwight Schrute is the best character on TV. Want more Dwight? Check out Schrute Space and MySpace page.

Completely unrelated to Dwight, I just don't get the whole MySpace craze.

Extreme Job

Is there a job with more extremes than working at an ice cream store in a city with four seasons? Take a typical Friday night. In the winter, the store will probably be empty. In the summer, the place will be packed. For folks in Pittsburgh reading this, how is the Ice Cream District (aka Forbes Ave. in Squirrel Hill) able to survive in the winter?

Katrina News

By now, I'm sure that you've seen the AP story and video about the briefing President Bush received by FEMA and Max Mayfield of the National Hurricane Center prior to Hurricane Katrina hitting New Orleans and the Gulf Coast. If not, you can go to Yahoo or The Washington Post among other places.

The video clearly shows Bush being told that the storm could breach the levees and put lives at risk in the Superdome. Four days after the storm, Bush said, "I don't think anybody anticipated the breach of the levees." So was the President lying or did he not understand the briefing? Is there another option I'm missing?

In response to this story, "the White House and Homeland Security Department urged the public Wednesday not to read too much into the video footage."

"I hope people don't draw conclusions from the president getting a single briefing," presidential spokesman Trent Duffy said, citing a variety of orders and disaster declarations Bush signed before the storm made landfall. "He received multiple briefings from multiple officials, and he was completely engaged at all times."

How can you not read into the video footage? I just don't get it.

A quick personal story. I had a brief foray working in the emergency management field. There are skilled and talented professionals who prepare for such emergencies. It seems like these folks (even Brownie who sounded competent in the video) did what they were supposed to do in informing their superiors about Katrina. However, their superiors, primarily President Bush, did not respond to the concerns.

Search Mission

It has been almost five years since I completed my Masters program at The Ohio State University. I can't believe that it has been five years already. Anyway, I recently discovered that there is going to be a conference in Washington DC where I'm hoping some of my classmates will be attending. Over the last two evenings, I've searched old e-mails and used Google to try and find some of the people in my program. Tonight, I actually sent the e-mail to see if anyone will be around. It's amazing that I spent nearly everyday with my classmates for two straight years and less than five years later, I'm not even sure I have their current e-mail addresses.

Fantasy Baseball Question

To any fantasy baseball participants out there: Do you know of any websites that show the auction values of players for free? If you do, please let me know.

Black Eyed Peas

What is the biggest group that has emerged on music scene over the past three years? My answer is the Black Eyed Peas. While U2, Green Day and Destiny's Child have been huge, they have been together for years (or decades in the case of U2). Think about it. The Black Eyed Peas have had hit after hit after hit almost consistently over the past 2-3 years. Yes I know they had a song with Macy Gray in the late 90s (I think), but they really hit it big when Fergie joined the group in 2003 and "Where Is The Love" became the #1 song in the country. "Let's Get It Started" was all over the place from the Grammys to the NBA playoffs to the 2004 Democratic National Convention. "Don't Phunk With My Heart" and "My Humps" have also been big hits and the Best Buy commercials haven't hurt either.

Can you think of another "new" band that has been bigger than BEP over the past few years?

Your Weekend Read - The Junkies

For those of you in the Washington DC and Baltimore area, you hopefully already know about the Junkies. They are a group of four childhood friends that started with a cable access TV sports show and now have the morning spot on WJFK (replacing Howard Stern) and on WHFS in Baltimore. I have been a big fan since early 2002 because they sound like guys who have known each other for years (which they have), are funny, and discuss topics I like such as sports and TV. The Junkies are the feature story in this weekend's Washington Post Magazine. Check it out.

Secret

I feel like I know something that millions of people want to know: the result of the Women's Figure Skating competition at the Olympics. For the people who have been avoiding the internet, TV and radio so that they can watch the taped results on NBC, I will not write who won the Gold. However, I'll give one hint. It was not anyone named Michelle (as in Michelle Kwan or Michelle Trachtenberg of the Ice Princess movie).

More important in my world is the college basketball game between George Mason (21-5) and Hofstra (20-5). GMU is ranked for the first time in school history and is facing a team that has an 18-game winning streak at home, the third longest in the country. HUGE match-up in the Colonial Athletic Association (CAA), which has traditionally been a one-team league for the NCAA Tournament, but I believe deserves two or possibly three bids this year.

UPDATE: Mason lost this evening to Hofstra 77-66. With the win, Hofstra has now tied a little team called Duke with the 2nd longest home winning streak in the country (behind only Gonzaga). Again, the CAA deserves at least two bids this year!

UPDATE II: Why would Fox show Skating with Celebrities after American Idol, when any figure skating fan (even if they knew the results) would be watching the Olympics?

True Metro Story

I was on my way home this evening just like any other night. But it was not any other night (insert some type of scary music here). The Metro got to my stop at West Falls Church as I stood in front of the train door like everyone else ready to exit. But the doors to my train never opened (more music). We watched as people from the other train cars exited and headed to the escalator. Still, the doors to our car didn't open (last time for the music). No big deal since we figured the train operator was trying to figure out why our doors didn't open. That was fine until the train started moving, and next thing we knew, we were on our way to Dunn Loring. At Dunn Loring, I, with 40-50 of my closest friends, exited, walked across the platform and waited to take the Metro back to West Falls Church. I wonder if the train operator noticed that more people than usual exited at Dunn Loring or got off the Metro, but instead of exiting the station, went directly across the platform. All in all, my commute ended up being an extra 20 minutes, and I have a new Metro story.

Crossword Puzzle

I don't really like crossword puzzles. I tend to get frustrated by them very easily since synonyms and definitions are not my strength. However, People magazine may have the easiest crossword puzzles anywhere. Here are some sample clues:

37 Across (4 letters) - Actor Sandler (costar of 9 Down - Woody Harrelson - in Anger Management
41 Across (3 letters) - Yoko ___
43 Down (5 letters) - Cinderella Man star Zellweger
57 Across (4 letters) - The Tonight Show host Jay ____
46 Across (3 letters) - "I Left My Heart in ___ Francisco"

Seriously? How about a little bit of a challenge? I'm surprised they don't have the following questions:

2 Down (3 letters) - Furry animal that purrs and makes a "meow" sound
7 Across (5 letters) - The former U.S. President that is buried in Grant's Tomb
27 Across (4 letters) - Write in the name Sean

Quick Hits

DON'T READ THIS IF YOU HAVE NOT WATCHED GREY'S ANATOMY YET. I'll mention the show a little further down so that you don't accidentally read something about it if you don't want to.

Peter King from Sports Illustrated predicts that the Steelers will play Denver on Thursday, September 7th to start the 2006 NFL season. He has a good argument. Of the teams the Steelers could play, the Bengals would have been good, but the NFL can't risk having Jon Kitna or another backup playing QB in the opener if Carson Palmer is not ready to play. A rematch of the AFC Championship looks like the "sexy" match-up for the first game on NBC in many years, especially if the Bronocs sign Terrell Owens.

Grey's Anatomy: Last night, George professed his love to Meredith and they promptly hooked up. The consensus around the web (I had off work today so I was able to look at Grey's Anatomy stuff online late last night) is that George is the greatest guy ever. I'm amazed at how many people online are professing their love for George. Anyway, the other consensus is that Meredith is really going to hurt him. I'm happy for George as he is representing the average guy here, but a relationship is never going to happen. (Yes I know they are not real people.) Personally, I thought George should have gone for Christian Ricci's character from the two-part Super Bowl/bomb episodes.

TV Shows for Women?

In his latest column/mailbag, ESPN's Bill Simmons, the Sports Guy, received a question about shows that guys watch with significant others in order to "take one for the team." Here is his Hall of Fame list (the ground rules are included in the mailbag): Party of Five, My So-Called Life, Friends (not including the first two seasons), Grey's Anatomy, The Gilmore Girls/Felicity/Dawson's Creek, The OC (third season), The Bachelor, male figure skating in The Winter Olympics and How I Met Your Mother. I can't say much about most of the shows on the list, but I currently watch and enjoy How I Met Your Mother and Grey's Anatomy. Oh, and I don't watch these shows with my wife. I'm not sure if I should make any points here or not, but feel free to add comments.

Pre-Weekend Notes

A few quick notes before the weekend truly begins:

* Vanilla Ice was on Washington Post's live discussion today. My favorite Vanilla Ice quote: "A lot of people don't remember anything since Ice Ice Baby, but I've got 3 records out since then and they're all successes -- but not commercially." How do you measure album success without commercial success? I would say critical praise, but Vanilla Ice bashes critics throughout the chat. According to Vanilla, he's huge in Estonia.

* Here's a somewhat amusing song and video: everythingsoundslikecoldplaynow.com

* Except for the Flying Tomato, the big name American athletes (Michelle Kwan, Bode Miller, Jeremy Bloom) have not done well at the Olympics. The latest disappointment was Johnny Weir, who blamed his fifth place finish on missing the bus and not being comfortable in the building. I think I may have used that excuse once for a job interview.

George Mason Hoops

After attending approximately five games per season since I moved to Northern Virginia in 2001, I FINALLY attended my first George Mason University basketball game this year. It wasn't pretty, but Mason defeated Drexel 67-48 to go to 20-5 on the season. Jai Lewis, who is listed 6'7" and 275 pounds (if he is really 275, the Bus must weigh 210. I don't know if that makes sense. What I mean is that Lewis has to be heavier than 275), dominated the second half scoring 17 of his game-high 19 points.

There was an interesting moment in the game when a player on Drexel (Sanchez) appeared to have walked either right over on actually on one of Mason's best players, Tony Skinn, when Skinn was on the floor. As you can guess, Skinn wasn't happy. The game was delayed for 10 minutes as the officials met, discussed and reviewed video of the "skirmish" (I didn't see Skinn do anything). After about five minutes, it was announced that Skinn and Sanchez received Technicals. Five minutes later and after more review, both players were ejected. This is a big deal since it was suspected that Skinn would be suspended for the game against Wichita State Saturday night on ESPN2. Fortunately, it was recently announced that he will not be suspended.

To promote Saturday night's game and the entire "BracketBusters" weekend, Lamar Butler (the third of the outstanding three Mason Seniors - along with Skinn and Lewis) was on a chat on ESPN.com. My favorite part: Lamar received a question from both his brother and mother.

Check out Mason and Wichita State this Saturday on ESPN2 at 8:00pm Eastern.

Why Not Me?

I found the perfect show for me: THE WORLD SERIES OF POP CULTURE. According to the VH1 website, VH1 and Entertainment Weekly are "scouring the country to find 16 three-person teams who think they've got what it takes to compete in the most intense pop culture trivia tournament to date." That's me. I just have to find two other people. The other problem is that VHI and EW are not "scouring" enough. If they were, they would come to Washington DC. Los Angeles, Chicago, Dallas, Atlanta and New York are not at all convenient.

Songs of Sean

Stupid title, I know. Anyway, there are two songs out right now that I really like but probably should not admit it. Actually, I don't mind admitting that I like "Unwritten" by Natasha Bedingfield. She's a cute singer from the UK with a nice voice and positive lyrics. I'm also a big fan of any song where you are able to include a choir. On the other hand, I feel embarrassed writing that I like the music in the song "Boyfriend" by Ashlee Simpson. The beat and the chorus are very catchy; however, the lyrics such as "Don't put words up in my mouth" are just silly (and not a good "silly" like the Junkies' lingo).

Weekend Update

As you may have heard, I was involved in a hunting accident this weekend so I haven't been able to write. OK, I am making light of an unfortunate incident involving the VP, which is precisely the reason why I will never go hunting. I have had enough experiences shooting a teammate while playing XBOX to know that I shouldn't shoot real ammunition.

I actually was away this weekend in Atlanta where I was able to avoid the 8-12 inches of snow that hit Northern Virginia. We had no problems flying back into Dulles today. Some quick notes from the trip:

* I think I took the placebo version of Tylenol Cold. I was sick nearly the entire weekend which is never fun, but especially on vacation.

* The Georgia Aquarium is very impressive. If you are traveling to Atlanta, the aquarium should be on the top of the list.

* Heinz is a great name for a dog, especially for a very cute Boston Terrier puppy.

Day Off

Even though I am sick, it's nice having the day off from work. Hopefully the orange juice and Tylenol will start to kick in soon.

Since I'm at home, I'm writing a lot today about a wide variety of topics. Here are a few more:

* I just came back from the grocery store. It was about 1:30 in the middle of the afternoon and packed. Since we've had such a mild winter in the DC area, I almost forgot what happens when there is any threat of snow.

* In early December, I received this article that argued that Cowher could never win the Super Bowl, stating, "I think it’s time to take this dog out behind the shed, Old Yeller style." Fortunately, the author was wrong. I wonder if he has retracted the article?

* Have you always wanted to follow Ithaca College interns in Torino for the Winter Olympics? If so, here's your chance.

I Don't Understand

My long-time readers know that I tend to write almost exclusively about Pittsburgh sports, TV and random things that happen in my life. I rarely write about politics, mostly because it is pretty depressing. Today's headlines are as follows: Libby: White House 'Superiors' OK'd Leaks and White House Knew of Flooding Night of Katrina. The first article discusses Scooter Libby, Vice President Cheney's former chief of staff, telling a federal grand jury that his superiors authorized him to give secret information to reporters as part of the Bush administration's defense of intelligence used to justify invading Iraq. This speaks to a larger issue of why we are in Iraq when they never had weapons of mass destruction and Hussein had no ties to Al-Qaeda. Why didn't we use our military resources on Osama bin Laden, who if you haven't noticed, has yet to be captured? The second article says that the Department of Homeland Security and White House knew about the flooding earlier than they said they did. At least Brownie was doing a good job.

Oh yeah, there may have also been illegal wiretapping, some U.S. companies in Iraq have not been using millions of dollars from the U.S. government contracts properly and the U.S. Trade Deficit is at an all-time high. At best, you can say that some of this is poor leadership. At worst, you are talking about criminal activity. So why is there no outcry? Do most Americans just not care? Is it because Congress in Republican and no one is willing to step up and make the administration accountable? Is it because people are more interested in American Idol?

President Clinton was impeached because he had inappropriate relations with Monica. Not a smart move and he may have deserved to be ridiculed for his actions, but at least no one got killed for his mistakes. Jason has a great PG-13 picture of a billboard on his blog. Maybe that's what has to happen for anyone to truly investigate some real issues.

Backyard Brawl

Congrats to Pitt for a 57-53 win against #10 West Virginia! Ronald Ramon and Aaron Gray each scored 16 points, and Pitt was able to hold Ramblings favorite, Kevin Pittsnogle to 0 (zero) points. Pittsnogle averages nearly 20 points per game. Pitt seemed to dominate the game; however, 18 turnovers (including 7 by Gray) kept the Mountaineers in it. After losing consecutive games at #1 UConn and #16 Georgetown, this was an important win for Pitt.

I think Pittsnogle had a good excuse for not playing well last night. His wife gave birth last Friday to a 9-pound, 5-ounce baby boy named Kwynsie James. Congratulations to the entire Pittsnogle family (especially if they are still reading this)!

One other college basketball note: I have not been able to attend a George Mason game this year, and I'm really missing something special. Mason is now 18-5 after winning at a very difficult place and team to play, Virginia Commonwealth. Watch out for Mason over the next month and hopefully in the NCAA Tournament.

Quick Grammy Hits

I didn't get home until late tonight, so I missed most of the Grammys. The Sly and the Family Stone performance was cool, especially will.i.am, although it would have been nice if Sly Stone stayed on stage for more than two minutes. In the forty minutes that I have been watching the Grammys, I have only seen one award which went to U2 for best song (I think). I also liked the beginning of the Kanye West-Jamie Foxx performance as they came out in full marching band gear. Green Day just won the Grammy for Record of the Year for Boulevard of Broken Dreams. Maybe it's just me, but I like American Idiot and Holiday more than Boulevard.

That's all I have, which happens when you miss the first two hours and go to sleep before the end. I told you it was going to be quick.

Yes, Even More on the Super Bowl

I really will change topics soon. In the comments section of yesterday's post, Messiah wrote, "It's just unclassy for Holmgren to not only refuse to shake hands but also to say "We knew it was going to be tough playing against the Steelers, but I didn't know we were going to have to take on the guys in the striped shirts, too." Holmgren said this during a Seahawks rally in Seattle yesterday, almost a full day after the Super Bowl ended. This means that he had plenty of time to think about and analyze the game. Maybe (hopefully) he was just saying to get crowd support. Maybe he is trying to distract Seattle fans from the horrible job he did coaching. Gene Wojciechowski of ESPN shared many of my thoughts about the game on ESPN.com. Anyway, I'm tired of Holmgren and am not going to talk about him anymore. Holmgren should go join his wife and daughter on their medical mission in the Congo. At least he will be doing some good there and will be out of the news.

Finally, I have heard some mixed reviews about the Rolling Stones performing at halftime. The consensus has been that someone younger should have performed. Stevie Wonder or Bruce Springsteen would have been good, although neither is that much younger than the Stones. So my question to anyone out there is who would be your Super Bowl halftime choice to perform assuming that they would have performed this year in the post-Janet Jackson entertainment world?

More Steelers

I apologize if I’m all over the place, but I have a lot to write about.

I wondered last night why Terry Bradshaw was not present while the NFL honored the MVP of each Super Bowl. You would figure that since the Steelers were in the Super Bowl, Bradshaw would definitely be there and enjoy a huge ovation like Lynn Swann and Franco Harris received. Depending on who you believe, Bradshaw was not present because he wanted to be with his family or he wanted more money.

I didn't see it and I have not read about it anywhere, but according to a local talk radio show, Seattle coach Mike Holmgren did not even attempt to shake Bill Cowher's hand after the game. Classy guy.

Speaking of classy people, check out the thoughts of Seahawks fans. Apparently, it was entirely the refs fault that the Seahawks lost.

I know that I'm biased, but let's go through the big calls.
* First, the offensive pass interference on Darrell Jackson. While I don't have the NFL rulebook, I'm guessing it does not say "it is not pass interference if the receiver pushes off just a little bit." Most of the time, the receivers will get away with this. However, this occurred only a few feet in front of the official who saw that Jackson got an advantage (even if it was a slight advantage) by pushing off.
* Ben's TD run. It's iffy. I think Ben's hand was covering the tip of the ball as it touched the goal line which is why it looked like he didn't make it. The shady part of the play was that the official initially ruled Ben down and then signaled TD.
* The holding call on Sean Locklear. I personally thought he tackled Haggans. That's not legal.
* The personal foul blocking call on Hasselbeck. Bad call, although Faneca got called for the exact same foul even though he made the tackle, earlier this season.

Maybe next time, the Seahawks can manage the clock better, hit some field goals, pin the Steelers inside the 10 in the punting game, stop the Steelers from making three big plays and not drop as many passes. Oh converting a few more third downs (the Seahawks were 5 of 17) and stopping the other team on third down (the Steelers were 8 of 15) would also help.

How much money do you think Dan Snyder is going to offer Randle El to play for the Redskins next year?

Who knew that Diddy was a Steelers fan?

So Tired

Although I'm going to be smiling all day, it's going to be tough making it through work. I'll be writing more this evening, but here are some quick thoughts on the game:

* How could Seattle not have seen the Randle El pass coming? As soon they saw him running toward Parker, they should have had at least two defenders on Hines.

* Shaun Alexander may have had the quietest 95 rushing yards in Super Bowl history.

* In part of his Washington Post column, Michael Wilbon writes, "Jerramy Stevens (three dropped passes) was even softer than Joey Porter suggested." For all of his talk, Porter did not play as well as in the past games, but he didn't make the mistakes that Stevens did.

* Here's the breakdown of how Ike Taylor played yesterday.

* While not all of my predictions were correct, I got the winning team right and predicted that "Randle-El will be involved in a TD (maybe even throwing it)."

* Although no one is talking about this, Seattle punter Tom Rouen helped keep the Steelers in the game in the first quarter when the team had no first downs. Rouen kicked at least three punts into the end zone, which made a huge difference in field position.

More later...

Have You Heard the News?

Apparently, there was a football game earlier this evening and this team from Pittsburgh won. Congratulations to the Rooney family, Cowher Power, The Bus, Hines, El, Fast Willie, Big Ben and the entire Steelers team and organization! I feel like I deserve maybe .0000001% credit for the win since I was again wearing the magic Steelers T-shirt. I just wish I had a 2-hour delay tomorrow like many Pittsburgh-area schools!

Please Start!

It's now about two hours before Super Bowl kick-off. I can't get the Polamalu song about of my head, which is actually a good thing. Although it's probably okay to do this today in Pittsburgh, I learned that people don't really like it when you yell, "Here We Go Steelers, Here We Go" at the grocery store.

On to the TV coverage, Ray Lewis is doing commentary on the NFL Network. I was wondering what happened to him since his football career ended. As for ABC, I'm already tired of seeing the Pizza Hut commercials with Jessica Simpson and Miss Piggy. At least Puppy Bowl II on Animal Planet seems to helps the time to go a little quicker.

One final note before kick-off, two weeks ago, Pitt lost to St. Johns and the Penguins lost. I remember saying before the Denver game that if only one Pittsburgh team could win this weekend, I would definitely choose the Steelers. Well, the Penguins lost (again) and Pitt lost to Georgetown today, so hopefully this is a good sign for the Steelers.

Two Days, Two Phone Calls

I was asleep last night when my brother called. I don't remember any of the conversation, but I'm pretty sure he was at a bar in the Southside and I heard a chant of "F*#k Seattle" in the background.

On Friday evening, an old friend called and wanted to know if I was in Detroit because he thought he saw me on TV. Unfortunately, I am not in Detroit; however, the same friend e-mailed me about five years ago and asked if I moved to Buffalo because he saw me on Sportscenter after Game 7 of the Sabres-Penguins playoffs in Buffalo. Of course, I was at that game as I drove from Columbus.

Today may be the longest day EVER. Pitt-Georgetown will be on from 12-2, but that means 3 hours before friends come over to watch the game and 4.5 hours before kick-off. On today's desert menu all the way from Pittsburgh: Terrible Towel Cookies and Ben Burger Cake.

I Need to Get Out

I've spent the last hour searching the internet for the Steelers Polka and other Steelers fight songs. I have to give credit to Steelers in Hoboken for the most comprehensive list I have seen.

I didn't see this until now but there is a website to show support for Big Ben and is beard.

A very appropriate article from the P-G regarding dealing with stress and nervousness for the Super Bowl. Suggestions include "stick with routines to help you control your emotions and approach the Super Bowl like it's any other football game" and "that's where rituals and superstitions can help the fanatic stay relatively sane." This confirms that I am sane for wearing the same Steelers T-shirt and not shaving on game day. The Steelers have won consistently when this happens.

I'm a few days late on this too. Here are two video clips to Steelers songs: The "Here We Go" song and the Troy Polamalu song.

Don't forget to make your Super Bowl predictions below.

Prediction Time

Time to make your picks.

Who do you think will win and what will be the final score?
This may be a surprise, but I'm going with the Steelers. 30-20

Who will be the MVP?
I'll go with Ben. Although I wouldn't be shocked if someone like Polamalu or Farrior gets it. By the way, Polamalu "tweaked" his ankle and is listed as probable for the game.

Any other thoughts on the game?
Bettis will have at least one TD; Randle-El will be involved in a TD (maybe even throwing it); Joey Porter will have a sack.

Feel free to provide your predictions in the comment section. Whoever is the closest will win a prize. (The prize being your name listed here on Monday.)

Other Sports

Surprisingly, there is more going on in the sports world than just the Steelers. For example, on Tuesday night, the Ithaca College Women's Basketball team erased a 22-point deficit in the final 6:30 of regulation to beat Oneonta in overtime. Ithaca’s rally from 22 points down was just two points shy of the largest margin ever overcome by a NCAA Division III team. In addition, my high school has four players who made verbal commitments or signed with Division I colleges for football. The colleges: Pitt, West Virginia, Akron and Notre Dame. Not too shabby.

NOOOOOO. I just went to the Post-Gazette to verify the colleges and saw that Troy Polamalu injured his ankle in practice today. Why didn't NBC cut into My Name is Earl or The Office to report about this? I will now be spending the next few hours trying to figure out how Troy is doing. Pittsburghers, what is going on?

Did You Think I Was Kidding

when I wrote the title of yesterday's post as Groundhogs for Steelers? Punxsutawney Phil saw his shadow, but the entire Groundhog Day celebration became an impromptu Steelers rally.

Groundhogs for Steelers

I really, really thought about taking the five hour drive from the DC area to Punxsutawney tonight so I can make it in time for Groundhog's Day. According to the groundhog.org, the official site of the Punxsutawney Groundhog Club, I need to arrive before 5:30am. However, it's not going to happen this year. I should probably be at work tomorrow and I don't know anyone else who would join me. Maybe next year. On to today's Steelers links:

This just in, Joey Porter likes to trash-talk. As further proof, here's what he said today in response to Seattle tight end Jerramy Stevens.

Carrie Welling wins the award for #1 Steelers fan! She insisted on being induced so that she could watch the Steelers in the Super Bowl at home with friends. Alexandria Joella (which stands for Joey Porter, Antwaan Randle El and Alan Faneca) was born today at a healthy 6 lbs 12 oz. Mazel Tov!

Were you looking for an article about Steelers rookie Shaun Nua? If so, this is for you.

Finally, I forgot to add this from last week's Penguins-Islanders game. Courtesy of CBS Sportsline, "Pittsburgh RW Eric Boguniecki appeared to injure an arm in the third period when he was slammed into a partition along the Penguins bench by Satan." I hate when the devil hurts Penguin players.