Pirates Lose!

We made the trip to the Burgh this weekend and attended our first Pirate game of the season. As usual, the Pirates lost. Even though Pittsburgh gave up 9 runs to Detroit, the best team in baseball, the Pirates still had a chance to win. Actually, I'll go as far as to say that they should have won. The Pirates had bases loaded with one out in both the 7th and 9th innings but could not tie the game.

While at the game, I sat in front and met a Pittsburgh celebrity...Kraig Koelsch of IrateFans.com. IrateFans, a web site created by a few disgruntled Pirate fans that love the team and PNC Park but are tired of losing and are not big fans of the owners, has been featured in the Post-Gazette and WPXI over the past few weeks. Now IrateFans can boast about being featured here on Sean's Ramblings!

As another frustrated Pirates fan, you will notice that I have added IrateFans and Mondesi's House in the links section on the right of this page. If you haven't already, I encourage you to check out the sites.

Pirates Win!

This is going to be all over the place. I went to Post-Gazette website to link the article about the Pirates ending a 13-game losing streak. Here's the link. While on the website, there is a headline to say that Penguins announcer Mike Lange was fired as the team's TV announcer. According to the article, Lange will be replaced by Paul Steigerwald, who is currently the team's radio announcer and Lange has been offered Steigerwald's job as radio announcer. I'm really confused.

Going back to the Pirates, I'll be heading to the Burgh this weekend and (weather permitting) will attend my first Pirates game of the season. I'm excited about it. I know the team is lousy but I always enjoy going to baseball games, especially at PNC Park. Plus I can always root for Cheese Chester in the pierogi race.

Finally, I want to give a "Best Week Ever" award to Mondesi's House. After having a blog for only one week, this guy was referenced on Deadspin and in a Post-Gazette article. Way to go Mondesi's House (nice site too)!

Vote Early & Vote Often

Dan has already mentioned this, but Pittsburgh and the Pirates have had a campaign for Jason Bay to start in baseball's All-Star game in Pittsburgh. Bay is currently leading the voting for National League outfielders. The online all-star balloting ends tomorrow (June 29) at 11:59pm. You can vote a maximum of 25 times, so click here to vote for Bay and write-in Freddy Sanchez as your National League third-baseman.

Changing Subjects

As you have probably noticed, I've been writing a lot about the World Cup lately. I apologize for people out there who don't really follow soccer. Anyway, here's something new: J.K. Rowling has revealed that at least two characters will die in the seventh and final installment of Harry Potter. Personally, I hope they kill off Doby. I'll actually make a prediction...a Weasley family member will die.

While any news on the last Harry Potter book is good, I really want to know when the book will be released. Does anyone know?

World Cup Thoughts

* It hasn't happened yet, but over the next few weeks, several World Cup matches will be decided by penalty kicks. If the game is tied at the end of the second half, there are two, fifteen-minute overtime sessions (it is not sudden death/golden goal). If the game is still tied, it goes to a shoot-out. I am here to say that this is garbage. This is the equivalent of a basketball game ending with a free throw contest or a baseball game ending with a home run derby. I think soccer games should go until someone scores a goal just like the NHL playoffs. I don't care if players are tired. The game should be decided on the field; 11 vs. 11. Maybe FIFA can incorporate a rule change to add an additional substitution at the end of each overtime if there's really a concern about players being tired (of course, these are professional athletes playing in the sport's greatest event...they should be fine).

* I watched the Portugal-Netherlands match today. I believe that there were 16 yellow cards and four red cards for players receiving a second yellow! I don't want to say that the ref lost control of the match, but he lost control of the match. Portugal's reward for winning 1-0: they get to play England without Deco (of Barcelona) and Costinha who will be suspended.

* The name of Argentina's coach is Jose Pekerman. Pekerman! I feel like I should have known this before yesterday's Argentina-Mexico match.

Crazy

One of my favorite songs of all time is "Crazy" by Seal. One of my favorite current songs is "Crazy" by Gnarls Barkley. That's, like, crazy!

Metro Question

I like Metro. I take it to and from work everyday and rarely have complaints (my few complaints generally have to do with people riding Metro more than the system itself). I do have a question...According to this Metro press release, Metrorail ridership had over 783,000 trips last Friday, the seventh highest weekday ridership in the system’s 30-year history. In fact, last Tuesday (6/13), Wednesday, Thursday and Friday rank in the top 10 weekday ridership in Metro's history. So why after noticing the increase in ridership, is Metro running 4-car trains on the Orange line during rush hour? It happened during the AM rush (8:45am) this morning and during the PM rush yesterday (6:00pm).

I apologize for the readers outside the DC area who have no idea what I'm talking about.

Quick Notes

* Over the past few days, there have been visitors to this site from Brazil, Saudi Arabia, Greece, Finland, Italy and the U.K. That's so cool (although I'm guessing that none of these folks will be visiting here again)!

* Congratulations to my new favorite soccer player Fred (who I wrote about last week) for scoring a goal in his World Cup debut in Brazil's victory over the Socceroos.

* Unlike many NFL teams, the Steelers have had success over the years in having quality players (i.e. players that do not get arrested). Which leads me to the Steelers first round draft pick, Santonio Holmes, who was arrested and charged with domestic violence and simple assault. A few weeks ago, Holmes was arrested for disorderly conduct. Not a good start to his pro career. If he doesn't turn his life around soon, I don't want him as a Steeler.

Question of the Day

Why is the national anthem played or performed before sporting events but not before concerts, plays or musicals?

U.S vs. Italy Journal

I'm here sitting on my couch waiting for the game to start, so I figured I would post notes from today's U.S./Italy World Cup match periodically. I may include notes from the four soccer games I refereed earlier today as well. Please feel free to write comments throughout and after the match.

2:35pm (Eastern Time) Why is Taylor Hicks doing Ford commercials? Did he sell out already? Is it possible for him to ever sell in?

I missed the Czech Republic-Ghana game. Was Ghana really good, the Czechs bad or a combination of both?
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2:41 Commercial for the new Superman movie. I’m not sure I really want to see it, but I like the bald look for Kevin Spacey plus he’ll probably make a good bad guy.

2:47 ABC just showed three U.S. fans wearing Harlem Globetrotter jerseys. The Globetrotters are great, but what do they have to do with soccer?

2:50 More commercials. Please start the game.

2:52 Dave O’Brien and Marcelo Balboa are calling the game. Balboa looks a little scary. A haircut would be nice.

2:53 Let me state for the record that I hate the red and gray referee jerseys. I’m sure they will start requiring all referees to wear them. I really don’t want to buy a new referee jersey.

2:56 The Italian national anthem is nice. However, why did they show at Italian guy in the stands wearing no shirt and a Speedo? Call security and get him out of the stadium!

2:57 For the U.S. national anthem, ABC showed several Americans with U-S-A written on their chests. At least they weren’t wearing Speedos.

2:59 Bocanegra and Dempsey get the start for the Americans today. I’m surprised the Johnson isn’t starting in place of McBride up front as well.
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3rd minute: The U.S. already has 4 fouls. Fortunately, none of them have really hurt the U.S. Another foul; 2nd on Onyewu. He needs to be careful or he’ll get a card soon.

4th minute: Yellow card for Totti of Italy. He deserved it for a cheap tackle. He’s also the one player on the Italian team that I know which means he’s really good.

7th minute: Good no call. Donovan was trying to draw a foul in Italy’s box.

9 minutes in: Besides all of the fouls (7 overall), the U.S. has played well. They’re not intimidated and seem much more aggressive today.

11th minute: Nice play by Onyewu stopping an Italian 1-on-1. I don't know any of the players names on Italy, so if you are looking for extremely thorough analysis, this is probably not the place.
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13th minute: I’m getting into the game. I just yelled at the TV when McBride was taken out just outside the penalty box. Great opportunity for the U.S.

14th minute: The kick went directly into Italy’s wall. U.S. corner kick.

15th minute: Clint Dempsey is making things happen. Great cross which Convey kicked all the way to Poland. Dempsey then missed just wide on a shot from about 20 yards out.

This game is being played in Kaiserslautern. I’ve never heard of this city. Is it near Keyser Soze? (Speaking of Kevin Spacey...)

20th minute: Yellow card for Eddie Pope.

21st minute: Goal for Italy. There was a foul by Donovan (I think). On the free kick Alberto Gilardino had a diving header for the goal.

23rd minute: There’s an injured Italian player. Bathroom break!

26th minute: GOAL FOR THE U.S! I don't care it it's an own goal (meaning the Italian player knocked it in). It's a goal

27th minute: RED CARD on De Rossi (not Portia from Ally McBeal and Arrested Development). He elbowed McBride in the face. McBride's bleeding nicely. It's 11 on 10 now. This game has got really exciting. I think the Italians are losing their composure. Get a T.O. baby!
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I’m so inspired by the red card that I just went outside, saw a squirrel and gave it a red card. The squirrel responded by running up a tree.

35th minute: Substitution; Totti is out. That is really early for a sub.

39th minute: Carlos Zambrano was just offsides for Italy. I didn’t realize he played for the Italians and the Cubs.

41st minute: Great shot by Mastroeni (of the U.S. not Italy) from about 40 yards out. Just high…didn’t miss by much.

45th minute: Red card on Mastroeni. Bad call. He slid for the ball and got the man. It should have been a yellow, but not a red. Balboa says it’s a make-up call from the earlier red card given to De Rossi.
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Welcome back (or just welcome) for the Second Half! The score is tied at 1.

47th minute: Bad foul by Pope. He got a second yellow, which means he’s gone. Balboa (who is a big time homer) thinks it’s an awful call. I think it’s actually a good call but my brother (who refs many more games than me) agrees with Balboa. The U.S. is now playing 9 against Italy’s 10. That’s not good.

52nd minute: Substitution. Conrad in for Convey. I’m a U.S. soccer fan but I have no idea who Conrad is. Italy almost converts on the free kick. The ball is deflected by a U.S. player off the crossbar. Italy is killing the Americans on these set plays.

If the U.S. has any chance of winning, Donovan and Dempsey have to make something happen.
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62nd minute: DeMarcus Beasley is in for Dempsey. Like I said, if the U.S. has any chance of winning, Donovan and Beasley have to make something happen. I expect big things from Beasley today.

63rd minute: Donovan sets up McBride for a shot. McBride misses badly with his left foot.

65th minute: GOAL U.S!!!! Wait no goal. McBride was offsides and obstructed the keeper. Great shot by Beasley; McBride was in the wrong place. Arena is going nuts. If this was basketball, he’d get a technical. My brother just called and was laughing at Arena. Completely unrelated, but I wonder if there is a “Bruce Arena” somewhere in the world. Same with a “Chan Ho Park.”

68th minute: Carlos Zambrano just misses a shot wide from 20 yards away. I don’t care if his name really is Zambrotta. Calling him the Cubs pitcher is more fun.

70th minute: Yellow card for Zambrano/Zambrotta for pushing. A yellow card wasn't deserved.
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73rd minute: Great diving save by Keller. Italy is really putting on the pressure. If they are able to stay onsides (they have been off about 10 times this half), it could be trouble.

Is Italy known for their sideburns? It seems like all of their players have unique sideburns.

77th minute: Del Piero (who will also be known as Del Monte) had a shot from about 30 yards out that Keller deflected away.

The game is playing slow now. I think both teams are really tired. I say suck it up! I was a referee and assistant referee for four games today (4+ hours). It is 95 and humid here in DC. It’s only 68 in Germany.

Balboa is still complaining about the refs. Just shut-up and get a haircut!
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I’m like Brian McBride, but I think it’s time to put in Eddie Johnson or Josh Wolff or even Brian Ching. Why not put in someone with fresh legs to stretch the Italian D?

Balboa just said exactly what I wrote regarding Johnson or Wolff.

90th minute: 3 minutes of stoppage time. It looks like it will be a draw.

Game over. It basically comes down to this. If the U.S. defeats Ghana AND Italy defeats the Czech Republic on June 22nd, the U.S. will advance to the 2nd round.

Thanks for joining me today. Nap time!

Virginia Senate Election

I'll admit it. I was one of the approximately 3% of registered Virginia voters to actually vote in this past Tuesday's primary. Here's something else...I voted for James Webb because I saw him on Comedy Central's Colbert Report in March. Is it bad to primarily vote for a candidate because he came across well on a TV show?

World Cup Fantasy Update

Now that each team has played at least one game, I wanted to provide one quick note about the World Cup Fantasy League standings. The team tied for last place is that of my brother, who follows international soccer more than anyone I know. I just find it funny that he's in last place.

It's not too late to sign up for the league as there are still many matches to be played. If you are interested or want to see the complete standings, click here. For the folks currently in the league, you can make or change your pick up until kick-off.

Best Name Ever!

Last month, I wrote that D'Brickashaw, as in D'Brickashaw Ferguson, the recently drafted offensive lineman for the New York Jets, is one of the coolest names ever. Today, I found a better name.

Many of Brazil's great soccer players are known only by one name. You probably know Pele and current superstars Ronaldinho, Ronaldo and Kaka (hehe...I just wrote Kaka). However, you may not know a reserve on the Brazilian national team: Fred. Just plain Fred. According to this description from the World Cup homepage, Fred is a forward with a prolific goal-scoring record in his short club career. He can shoot with both feet, is reliable in the air, and is tactically sound, with the knack of putting himself in the right place to score goals. Fred also holds the record for the fastest goal in Brazilian history, timed at 3.17 seconds. How do you score a goal that quickly? Did he shoot directly on the kick-off while the goalie was busy stretching? Way to go Fred!

Big Sports Monday Afternoon

How often can you say that? How about never. First, as every Steelers and football fan knows by now, Ben Roethlisberger was in an accident while riding his motorcycle. From the reports I have seen, Ben has a broken jaw, a broken nose and is missing some teeth. He was not wearing a helmet. It sounds like it could have been a lot worse. Obviously, I am hoping that Ben is OK and is able to make a full recovery. There are a lot of people thinking of and praying for him. With all that said (actually written), why is he riding a motorcycle without a helmet? I'm sure the answer is that he's in his mid-20s and feels invisible. You would think he would learn after Kellen Winslow Jr. was injured in a motorcycle accident last year.

On to the other sports news...The U.S. was destroyed by the Czech Republic 3-0 in their first 2006 World Cup match. Tomas Rosicky scored two goals and Petr Nedved had his best game since scoring in the fourth overtime of the 1996 Penguins-Capitals series. Oh, that was not the same Nedved. Even if Petr Nedved had played, it probably wouldn't have made a difference. Next for the U.S. is Italy on Saturday.

Funnel Cake + Kettle Corn

= a great weekend!

Celebrate Fairfax! 2006

This weekend (June 9-11) marks the 25th anniversary of the Celebrate Fairfax! festival. The headliners include Collective Soul, Sugar Ray, Sister Hazel and .38 Special. There are also nearly 80 bands such as local favorites Welbilt and JunkFood, hundreds of exhibitors and activities and (of course) fair food (Mmmmm...funnel cake).

If you live in Northern Virginia or the DC area, it is definitely worth attending. Tickets are only $10 at the gate (there are also coupons on the Celebrate Fairfax website).

I'll be at the festival all weekend and I hope to see you there!

Last Call

Even if you are not a soccer fan, it should be fun to try and pick the winners of the World Cup through ESPN's Pick'em contest. It's free and it looks like you can make your picks up until kickoff. There are two ways to enter, click either this link or click here and use the following group and password:

Group: Sean's Ramblings
Password: ramblings

Plus you have a great chance to win since there are only two people currently in this group.

Omaha - Somewhere in the Middle of America

I am writing this from Omaha, Nebraska continuing my tour of random U.S. cities. I did not know this until I landed but President Bush is also in town. He is actually staying only a few blocks from where I am. I just hope that traffic isn't bad tomorrow (Wednesday) morning and my flight isn't delayed.

A few notes from here:

- Here's what I had for dinner the past two nights: chicken & salmon. That's right, I'm in Omaha and have not had a steak. I really wanted one tonight but it was a little too much (especially since everyone else was ordering entrees that cost less than the steak).

- I can now add Iowa to states that I have been in. Omaha is on the Nebraska side of the Missouri River, which borders Iowa. I need to do a little more research about this but apparently, the Corps of Engineers moved the Missouri River years ago. A town in Iowa that was to the east of the river became west of the river. However, the town decided to stay as Iowa. Therefore, this one town of several thousand people is considered Iowa even though it is completely surrounded by Nebraska.

- Did you know that President Ford was born in Omaha? Me neither. I always thought he was from Michigan.

- I think that's it. I have no other Omaha knowledge to share except that the College World Series will be here next week.

Fantasy World Cup League

I've set up a fantasy World Cup league through ESPN.com and invite everyone to join. This is just for fun since most people who read this (including me) really have no insight on who to pick. To join, click here. Please feel free to invite friends, family or other random strangers.

Update: I don't think you need the password if you click on the link. Just in case...the group name is "Sean's Ramblings" and the password in ramblings.

Real Name or Nickname?

During a soccer game I was a referee for today, there was a 13 or 14 year old girl named Salty. I don't know if Salty is her real name, short for something or a nickname but her coaches and teammates didn't call her anything else. Is it mean to say that the name Salty makes me smile?

Mr. Cowher (& Mr. Rooney, Mr. Bettis, etc.) Goes to Washington

Tomorrow (Friday, June 2nd) the Steelers are being honoredat the White House for their Super Bowl victory. The ceremony is scheduled at exactly 1:45 pm (according to the White House Press Office schedule) where the "President participates in a Photo Opportunity and Remarks to the Pittsburgh Steelers." Is it possible for just a regular person (like me) to go and join the Steelers for the celebration? I guess I could call the White House Press Office (the number was on the press release), but it's probably too late at this point. I would love to be there to see if Bush Jr. has a "Who Are You" moment like Bush Sr. did with Mario Lemieux.

World Cup Coverage

The World Cup is less than two weeks away, and I'm getting excited. It's not just because of the commercials featuring Bono or the fact that I just bought FIFA 2006 for my XBOX which is a nice change after months of playing NCAA Football 2005. If you're looking for World Cup Coverage, I have two links for you:

The World Cup Soccer Blog - This may be the most complete site that I've seen to the point that it is overwhelming.

The Washington Post's Road to the World Cup - Much more management with quick posts and links. There seems to be more entries each day as the World Cup nears.

I'm sure I'll write more about the World Cup over the next month.

Today's Rant

During an afternoon walk, three guys wearing white shirts and ties riding bikes stopped me. As many of you probably already know, these folks were representatives of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints. I told them that I was Jewish, hoping that they would decide that I wasn’t about to switch leagues. Instead, I was surprised that they were actually very excited (maybe converting Jews is worth extra points). I let them give their speech about the book of Mormon for a few minutes and they gave me a card.

As someone who has worked with multiple religious organizations (the Mormons were a huge help in several blood drives I coordinated several years ago), I am probably too nice just to dismiss them. However, I really, really, really don’t like being proselytized. I am very happy and comfortable with my religion. I would never tell people what to believe and don’t want to be told that I’m going to hell. Just leave me alone! Thank you.

Funny Video

I have no idea how to show a video, so go to Deadspin and see what happens when you mix a kid with a trampoline and basketball hoop.

I seem to have a dark sense of humor tonight, so please don't get upset if you don't find this funny.

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?