Police Seize 115 Pounds of Marijuana

Now that's a headline! Fairfax County, Virginia police seized approximately 115 pounds of marijuana during a highway interdiction operation last week. (I have no idea what interdiction means.) Two officers stopped an 18-wheeler for an equipment violation (always check your brake lights), and an investigation revealed the marijuana in the truck’s attached trailer.

Alexis Javier Paz, 38 and Felix V. Rodriguez, 45, both of Miami, were charged with transporting controlled substances into Virginia and possession of marijuana with the intent to distribute.

Who knew that former Dallas Cowboy Nate Newton changed his to Felix V. Rodriguez?



Now how are you going to play pool with all of the marijuana on the table?

More about this story is available on the Fairfax County website. Click here to relive the Nate Newton experience.

Two Movie Questions (Trivia Tuesday)

Welcome to a very special Trivia Tuesday where we try to learn more about you and your movie-watching history.

1. What is the worst movie you ever saw in the theater?

This question came up among my friends last night. While Johnny Mnemonic was mentioned at least once going around the table, for me, The Wizard is the worst movie I ever saw on the big screen.



According to IMDB, this is the plot: "a boy and his two friends run away from home and hitch cross country to compete in the ultimate video game championship." I remember it as a 90-minute to 2 hour Nintendo commercial starring Fred Savage that I had to pay for. I wonder if there were people that saw this film thinking that they were going to see the Ozzie Smith story!

2. What was the first R-rated movie you saw?



I saw Zapped! starring the wonderful combination of Scott Baio & Willie Aames when we had a free preview of HBO that somehow managed to last several years. I really wish that Baio and Aames would be in a movie together again. Couldn't they have had these two have a cameo in Hot Tub Time Machine? Anyway, Zapped! is about "a teenager science-nerd [who] gains telekinetic powers." Although I haven't seen this movie in many, many years, this teenager used this power to remove shirts and bras off of attractive women. A magical movie for an adolescent!

OK, your turn.

Jersey Shore Cast Available For Adoption

I'll admit it; I don't watch Jersey Shore. For the most part, I've stopped watching MTV entirely. Call me when they put a new version of Remote Control on the air. Anyway, even though I don't watch Jersey Shore, my pop culture sensibilities require that I know about the show. With the new season about to begin, allow me to present some of the cast members courtesy of Fairfax County Animal Services.

J-WOW:



PAULY-D:



SNOO-KITTY (get it for Snookie):



All of these cats and many others are available for adoption at the Fairfax County Animal Shelter.

I hope that The Situation was already adopted since that would be a great name for a cat.

Pittsburgh Sports Jobs

In another attempt to use this blog for good instead of evil (I’m contemplating an evil post for next week), I thought I would share some job opportunities with some Pittsburgh area sports teams.

Inside Sales Representative – Pittsburgh Pirates

This sales position is entry level and focused on selling ticket plans and group tickets. Two words are all that you need to make a sale: Pedro Alvarez!

HD Radio Internship (Fall 2010) – Pittsburgh Penguins

This is an unpaid internship for a college junior or senior who will be responsible for helping to create the on-air production of a 24/7 Penguins Radio Station. Although it doesn’t say this on the job description, you will likely work with, or at least meet, Mike Lange. If you get this internship after learning about it from me, please get Lange to say “Buy Sean and drink and get his cat Ziggy one too.”

Sponsorship Account Executive – Washington Wild Things
This individual is responsible for generating leads and closing advertising and sponsorship agreements. I suggest getting some type of sponsorship involving Tone Loc, so that he can perform Wild Thing at every Wild Things game.

The Steelers also have some jobs on their website. Did you know that seat attendants are union positions? Now you know.

Hollywood Casino Excursion

Charles Town Races & Slots recently changed its name to Hollywood Casino at Charles Town Races. The good news is that this name was prompted by the addition of table games. The bad news is that the Charles Town Races & Slots song appears to have been retired. (Unfortunately, I can’t find this extremely catchy jingle anywhere online.)

We drove to Charles Town, West Virginia on Sunday to check out the new-and-improved casino. Before I get into the casino itself, can I mention the brilliance of West Virginia? You think I’m going to make a joke here, but I’m not. Every car in the parking lot had Virginia and Maryland license plates. I also saw a handful of DC plates and even one from Florida, but I don’t think I saw one West Virginia car. (The employee lot was probably elsewhere.) The Mountain State and the casino itself must make millions and millions of dollars annually from out-of-state residents.



So we entered the casino and found tables for blackjack, Pai Gow, roulette, three card poker, craps and more. This made me happy! As I approached each table though, I was shocked by the minimum bets requirements. $25 for roulette and Pai Gow! $50 for blackjack! Although that was too rich for me, the high minimums didn’t seem to impact others as the tables were packed.

Maybe the high minimums were due to the fact that I visited the casino over the weekend. Nope. A friend visited the casino on Monday and gave me this report:

‎10:00 AM - BlackJack: 2 $25 tables full & 4 $50 tables full. At 11:40, they were going to open 2 other $25 tables @ noon. So, we waited, but then the pit boss came & changed it to $50 just before they opened it. B.S.!!! So, we played a few slot machines & called it a day. Plus, they were doing very loud construction in the same room. Brilliant!

Hollywood Casino doesn’t need to have $5 or $10 minimums. Unlike Las Vegas or Atlantic City where you can walk to the next casino, Hollywood Casino is the destination. If you live in the DC area, you’re driving 60-90 minutes to West Virginia to gamble. There’s no competition and nowhere else to go once you arrive. Well, there is a Sheetz next to the casino, but you can’t gamble there (or can you?). There is a pending vote to open a slots casino in Anne Arundel County, Maryland, but that’s still months if not years away. Plus, no table games. Maybe you can drive to Dover (has anyone been there), but if you want to take a day trip for table games, Hollywood Casino is your only option.

In case you’re wondering, I lost $6 on the final horse race of the day and $10 on slots and that was it.

Charlie Batch Haunts My Dreams

I had a dream last night/this morning that I was on a school bus with members of the Pittsburgh Steelers. At some point, there was a radio announcement that QB Ben Roethlisberger would miss the entire season. This was not due to an injury but because he wanted to sort things out and get himself together. While this may not be realistic in real life, this seemed to make sense in my dream.

Anyway, there was certainly shock and surprise among the people on the bus. While people started talking to their neighbors about this development, I started a conversation with someone at the back of the bus even though I was a few rows up. I basically yelled to this person that the Steelers would be okay. I stated that I was confident in Dennis Dixon's abilities and that I was excited to see him play. I also yelled that Byron Leftwich is a solid QB. However, I concluded that Charlie Batch was D-U-N, done. There was only one problem: Charlie Batch was on the bus. I don't think he heard me, but I immediately felt bad about this. Charlie Batch has had a nice career, is a perfect QB to play a few games if needed, and has done great things in the community.

I questioned the person sitting across the aisle from me whether he thought Batch heard what I said. This person was a member of the Steelers, but I don't know who he was. For the sake of this post, let's say that it was William Gay, just so that I can write that I had a gay dream (not that there's anything wrong with that). He said that I needed to apologize to Batch, but that's where the dream ended. I don't remember anything else or even if there was more.

So let's analyze this dream shall we. Either I haven't written enough about the Steelers the past few months, or I'm ready for the football season! I'm going with the latter since I read Matthew's Berry fantasy football article on ESPN.com yesterday and also received an e-mail from a friend trying to finalize plans for the Steelers-Dolphins game. Are there other possibilities that wouldn't insult Charlie Batch?

Trivia Tuesday

Hello there. Today, I'm happy to present the magic of Sporcle. This truly may be one of the greatest sites on the internet.

Quiz #1 - Name the U.S. cities that have broken top 10 since the beginning of the census in 1790

I scored a 24 out of 31 U.S. cities.

Quiz #2 - Name the last 200-yard rusher for the NFL franchises listed.

Although I'm not in the football mindset yet, I think 26 out of 31 is pretty good.

Bonus quiz - Name the 100 Greatest Pop Songs of all time according to Rolling Stone (list from 2000).

This is a bonus since the quiz lasts for 15 minutes. I scored a 50 out of 100 which gets me in the 91st percentile. I also disagree with many songs on the list.

Your turn. Click on the links to take the Sporcle quizzes and share your results in the comments section. Good luck!

New Referrals

In looking through my archives, I realized that I haven’t done this in almost a year. For your reading pleasure, here are real searches, generally from Google or Yahoo, that real people used to find and visit Sean’s Ramblings:

Estelle Getty growth hormone
She probably got this just before filming Stop! Or My Mom Will Shoot from Sylvester Stallone.



Doogie Howser Wanda licks ear
Now why did this show up as a search option. Oh yeah.

benny distefano married; benny distefano married to; benny distefano married?; benny distefano marries; benny distefano was he ever married?
These were five different searches. Someone (or five people) certainly care about the former Pittsburgh Pirate’s social life.

Hartsfield dildos
I haven’t been at the Atlanta airport lately, so this must be a new store that opened recently.

Freddie Prinze Jr torn rotator cuff
He was such a good pitcher in Summer Catch, so maybe this injury is why he never made the majors.



olay olay olay song opera
They have to use vuvuzelas as the instruments, right?

olimpian lilu gymnast
Not only is LiLu hopefully going to be the first MTV TJ (vote for her here), she could also be an Olympian gymnast.

Chukky Okobi speedo
The former Steelers’ offensive lineman retired a few years ago, so maybe he now has his own Speedo swimsuit line.

Who knows a guy named Sean?
I do! I do!

Sean On Fashion: Theatre Edition

When I was younger, I remember men wearing coats and ties and women wearing fancy dresses to attend plays or musicals. With the high price of theatre tickets, folks wanted to get dressed up for a nice night out of dinner and a show. While I understand that times have changed and people are more casual about dress, I still expect a certain level of attire to see a show. For example, while I would never wear jeans to a show, I’ve come to expect that other people will.

So last night, I saw Avenue Q at DC’s Lansburgh Theatre. While I don’t attend plays or musicals as often as I like, I witnessed something I’ve never seen in a theatre: someone wearing bike shorts!



The horror! There is only one place where bike shorts are appropriate. On a bicycle!


Click here to see previous Sean On Fashion posts.

Swan Dive

I love these Old Spice commercials. Here's the latest:

Links and Videos

Time for a little housekeeping. Here are some amazing posts and videos from the past few days (or weeks):

Do you see that icon on the top right of this page? That's the LiLu for MTV TJ logo. Well, it's time for you not only to look at the icon but also to vote. There's more information at Live It, Love It (where you can see the challenges) and you can vote for LiLu on Facebook. (I still don't understand why you vote on Facebook for a Twitter contest.) I highly recommend checking out LiLu's 2nd challenge to support animal shelters.

Pittsburgh Pirates' Neil Walker lives with his parents. [Wall Street Journal h/t Bucs Dugout]

Ginny met both Mario Lemieux AND Jerome Bettis. [That's Church]

Although the contest is over, TheStarterWife created an amazing Football Foodie World Cup. [Black and Gold Tchotchkes]

We finally hear from the dentist who refused to support Trident. [Carbolic Smoke Ball]

I posted my first book review for A Safe Haven: Harry S. Truman and The Founding of Israel. [Blogcritics]

Now for the videos. I'm not sure how I missed this, but what if Ron Hextall wasn't crazy?



Finally, I wasn't able to embed the video but check out Jewel going undercover to sing karaoke. Naturally, she sings Jewel songs. [Funny Or Die]

Trivia Tuesday: Random Edition

It's time for a very random edition of Trivia Tuesday. Good luck!

1. Who won the 2006 World Cup?

2. Name the Pittsburgh Steelers' primary kick-off returner.

3. Name the song title and artist(s) based on this lyric: "Is that your ass or your momma half reindeer?"

4. For people who know DC, I'm going to Gallery Place/Chinatown to see Avenue Q. Where should I go for dinner before the show?

5. What is the best George Michael song? (There is a specific answer(s) to this question.)

6. Name the two countries that start with the letter A but don't end with the letter A.

7. Who was the host of Rock & Roll Jeopardy on VH1?

8. Name all five locations of Bravo's Real Housewives.

9. With eight medals, who is the most decorated American Winter Olympic athlete of all time?

10. What US university has the most billionaire alumni?

As always, please leae your answers in the comments section below and do not use the internet to find answers. Good luck!

What Happened to Erica Blasberg?

It has been over two months since the untimely death of my favorite LPGA golfer, Erica Blasberg. I’m not a coroner and I’m not going to play one on this blog, but why has it taken so long to determine how or why Blasberg died?



CBS News seemed to have some information.

Police may be a step closer to finding the cause in the mysterious death of 25-year-old pro golfer Erica Blasberg. Newly released search warrants reveal that just four days after her death on May 9, investigators raided the medical offices and home of Dr. Thomas Hess. "Early Show" National Correspondent Hattie Kauffman reported sources close to the investigation say Hess talked to Blasberg the night before her death. The next day, he visited her home, and was the one to call 911.

Oh, did I mention that this article was published on June 2nd? That’s nearly six weeks ago! There hadn’t been any additional information about the police investigation until July 2nd (one month later!!) when Mel Blasberg, Erica’s father, told RadarOnline.com that "it sounds like we'll hear something next week about the findings, whatever they are." Mr. Blasberg also stated that his daughter wasn’t suffering from any health problems. "From time to time she had some sleeping issues and anxiety issues, but nothing she was treated for. She wasn't under care for any of this...25 year-olds just don't die...I believe the investigation will show that Erica should not have died."

Once again, two months seems like a long time to determine a cause of death, especially of a public figure. Sure, Erica Blasberg didn’t have the celebrity status of an A-list Hollywood actor, but I’m surprised that there hasn’t been any media follow-up or coverage particularly since her death was covered by all of the major sports and non-sports networks.

Yuengling Is Dangerous

In preparation for a July 4th BBQ, we went to Harris Teeter to buy a case of beer. I should have known that not going to Wegmans would be a mistake. Anyway, we brought the case of Yuengling to the register, and that’s where the story gets interesting. The cashier picked up the case of beer to scan it, but she wouldn’t let go. Um, even though I hadn’t paid for it yet, I thought to myself, don’t take my beer, cashier!*

However, she wasn’t actually taking the beer. Somehow, she got her hand stuck in the cardboard box handle. She panicked and yelled for a colleague to come over. He arrived, assessed the situation, saw the fear and rage in the cashier’s eyes, and raced back to customer service to get a pair of scissors. He may have even run carrying a pair of scissors during his quick return to the register. That is even more unsafe than picking up a case of beer by the handle!

So Harris Teeter guy prepared to cut her hand out like he was using the “Jaws of Life.” Unfortunately, he was about to cut where the cashier’s fingers were located. She quickly stopped him to make sure the cut took place on the side away from her fingers. At this point, the manager came over and announced to the cashier that she (meaning the cashier) would do anything to get out of work in a jokingly, but probably some truth-in-the-joke way. Finally, the original Harris Teeter guy made the cut and the cashier was free. I believe that this was on the same level of Baby Jessica’s rescue from the well.

The cashier, apparently in pain from getting her fingers pinched, could not go on with our transaction. Did I mention that we didn’t have a full shopping cart? All we bought was one case of beer. The manager apologized to us and offered to get us a new case of beer with the handle completely intact. Not a free case of beer, just a difference case of Yuengling. We declined this offer because, honestly, we just wanted to pay, get the heck out of there and laugh safely away from the cashier.

It was truly an odd experience. I originally thought we were on some type of Candid Camera, but soon realized that the cashier was actually stuck. It was difficult to remain supportive yet attempt not to laugh at the absurdity of the situation. You’ll be glad to know that after I paid for the beer, I successfully carried the beer to the car and BBQ. Oh this is the beer. Pretty scary, huh?





* The “Don’t Take My Beer, Cashier” phrase should be on a T-shirt. Get Fresh Designs should be on this immediately!

AT&T Rethinks Possible and Impacts Presidential History

I hate this AT&T commercial. It has nothing to do with the story or the product. My problem with the commercial is the first line, "Ladies and gentlemen...the 57th President of the United States."



The assumption is that the man and woman meet in the present day and their son becomes President sometime in the future. Now, let's take a look at American history, shall we?

Barack Obama is currently serving as the 44th American President. The commercial shows the inauguration of the 57th president, so if we go back 13 presidents before Obama, we have Herbert Hoover who started his term in 1929. That's a difference of 81 years. Granted, there was the 12 years FDR was in office, so let's go back 13 presidents before Hoover. That would be our 18th President, Ulysses S. Grant who started his term in 1869, or 60 years prior to Hoover.

Now, let's assume that the man and woman in the AT&T commercial are in their early 20s. I guess we also need to assume that they consumed the future president on the same day they met (possibly on the train!). If we go by the Grant-Hoover timeframe, the parents in the AT&T commercial would be in their early 80s during the inauguration. They don't quite look like they're in their early 80s, do they? Now, maybe they had plastic surgery, but I can't see AT&T promoting two individuals that need to get plastic surgery in the future. Perhaps, AT&T believes that there will several presidential deaths over the next few generations as well as many one-term presidents. If this happens, take a look at where AT&T puts its money. Look very carefully at campaign contributions.

Plus, shouldn't there be flying cars by the time the 57th President takes office? AT&T couldn't show one flying car or at least a Hoverboar at the inauguration?

Washington Nationals Want You To Vote For Texas Rangers Player

I'm confused. (Yes, that doesn't take much.) I received an e-mail from the Washington Nationals today encouraging me to vote for Ryan Zimmerman (makes sense) and Michael Young of the Texas Rangers (huh?) for the 2010 All-Star game.



According to the e-mail, "Last is certainly not least in the 2010 All-Star Game Final Vote Sponsored by Sprint. Vote often for the LAST players on the ballot, Ryan Zimmerman and Michael Young. Save the best for last and help Ryan and Michael get to the All-Star Game!"

Again, I'm confused. Apparently, we're not voting for our own team's players, we're now voting based on who is in your homeroom!

Perhaps the Nationals want you to vote for Michael Young since the Rangers originated in Washington as the Washington Senators. Granted, the Senators moved to Texas after the 1972 season, which is before Young was born, so that seems like a stretch.

Regardless, I think I'll pass on voting for either and wait until baseball puts Andrew McCutchen or Stephen Strasburg on the ballot.

Trivia Tuesday: Name That Van

Happy Tuesday everyone! I hope that you had a nice holiday weekend. We’re back to a “regular” Trivia Tuesday this week, so enjoy. Your challenge is to identify the people who have “Van” in their name.

1. The eighth Vice President of the United States.

2. 1999 MTV Movie Award winner for “Best Breakthrough Male Performance” and lead actor in Dawson’s Creek.

3. Parody actor best known for his work on “Eight is Enough.”

4. Three-time Emmy winner for Outstanding Lead Comedy Actor and actor in Diagnosis Murder.

5. Full pen name of advice columnist Pauline Phillips.

6. Artist of “The Starry Night.”

7. 18-1 lifetime Belgian martial arts competitor slated to return to fighting later this year.

8. Designer whose company patented a self-folding collar in 1919.

9. Pittsburgh Pirate outfielder from 1987 to 1994.

10. Guitar great who divorced his actress wife Valerie in 2007.

As always, please do not use the internet to search for answers. Please leave your answers in the comments section below. Good luck!

This quiz is courtesy of Stump Trivia.

Happy July 4th

From Sean, Ziggy and everyone here at Sean's Ramblings (that would be me and occasionally Ziggy), have a Happy Independence Day!

NFL 101 Workshop for Women

The Jacksonville Jaguars have a really good offer. For only $30, you can attend a NFL 101 Workshop for Women course (assuming that you are a woman) and get a ticket to a Jags game as well as several other gifts.



I feel like there is a Jeff Reed joke that can be made here.

Personally, I'd want to go to the Maggiano's location. I would hope that the $30 also goes towards Maggiano's food.

More information about the Workshop for Women event is available on the PRI Productions website. PRI Productions also has all of your Bar/Bat Mitzvah needs!

You Would Even Say It Glows

While working as a soccer referee on Wednesday night, there was an ice cream truck in the parking lot. After running around on a warm, summer day, there's nothing like a refreshing treat from the ice cream truck. Plus, the familiar music of the ice cream truck takes you back to when you were a kid.

Last night, instead of the regular music, the ice cream truck played Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer. Sure, Rudolph was played by the ice-cream truck chimes, and not the Gene Autry version, but the tune was indistinguishable. I need a verdict here. Does the Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer song increase your desire for ice cream?

Did My Generation Have Bad Music?

Take the music from the 1990-1996 time frame. This was during my high school and college years, probably the hey-day of my musical knowledge. This was the time when we spent our own money on tapes and CDs, and radio and MTV were still important and relevant.

Now take a look at the music we were essentially told to like via radio and MTV. This is the popular music as opposed to the more obscure songs and artists. The artists that still hold up 15-20 years later from that era include Nirvana, Pearl Jam, Dr. Dre/Snoop Dogg, Metallica and Guns ‘N Roses. You can probably also include Alanis Morissette and possibly Dave Matthews Band into the discussion. Sure, there were also artists like REM, Tom Petty, U2, Michael Jackson and Madonna that did well during this era, but I’m not including them in this discussion since they first made it big prior to this time.

Besides the aforementioned list, we seemed to have a lot of grunge sound-a-likes and Lilith Fair artists that were often difficult to differentiate. Throw in MC Hammer, Vanilla Ice, the Wallflowers, Hootie and the Blowfish, and TLC, and in retrospect, it may not have been a good music era, particularly compared to other generations.

Don’t get me wrong. I like songs from many of these artist and The Humpty Dance and Back Got Back could be some of the greatest songs ever recorded.

However, how does this music stack up against that from other eras? Basically, would the music on a 60s, 70s, 80s, and even 00s station on average be better than music from the 90s? (Feel free to break this into 6-7 year intervals instead of entire decades.)

Messiah, anything else you want to add since you started this discussion at Monday night trivia (and wrote some of the text in this post)?

Trivia Tuesday

Very random edition of Trivia Tuesday this week. Good luck!

1. How do you pronounce pecan? P-can, P-khan, or another way?

2. According to Express, where is Kennywood Park located? (I’m not letting this go.)

3. How much am I now paying for my daily commute?

4. For folks in the DC area, have you eaten at Ray's Hell Burger? If so, how is it?

5. Name the two third basemen that have hit more home runs at this position than Chipper Jones.

6. Sharks have a week dedicated to him. Who is the "him" referenced in this statement?

7. What politician/politician's office is curiously following me on Twitter?

8. Is it possible to order mahi instead of mahi mahi?

9. Is next season the last of The Office since Steve Carell is leaving?

10. Name the Prime Minister of Canada.

As always please leave your answers in the comments section below. In addition, please do not use the internet for answers (except for #7). Good luck!

I Love Pittsburgh

I was back in Pittsburgh for the weekend, and there are two things about the city that I will never miss. First, the view from Mount Washington.



I really could look at the view of Pittsburgh from Mount Washington for hours. Incredible! How do folks who live on Mount Washington ever get anything done?

The second is driving around downtown and seeing Furries. Anthrocon 2010 recently concluded so if you were by the convention center, there is a good chance that you saw someone dressed like this.



I can't begin to describe Anthrocon 2010, so I'll leave that to That's Church, a slideshow via WPXI and the Anthrocon website.

The Pittsburgh photo courtesy of Launch Photography; the furry photo from WPXI.

Express Fail

I've shared how much I enjoy reading Express, a publication of The Washington Post, during my morning commute. However, I got upset after reading this article from Wednesday about Kennywood:



If you don't want to enlarge the article, the first line states, "Though Philadelphia is a city built on steel, some of the most sought-after attractions in it are actually made of wood." While this statement may be true, there is one major problem: the article highlights Kennywood Park located in PITTSBURGH (technically West Mifflin), 300 miles west of Philadelphia!

To be fair to Express, the article was written by Jennifer Yates of AP. However, longer versions of this article published on Yahoo, USA Today and ABC all correctly identify Pittsburgh. Therefore, I put the blame on Express.

I wrote Express on Wednesday notifying them of the error, but the paper did not issue a correction in the Thursday or Friday edition. Therefore, I feel like it is my responsibility to share Express' mistake with the world. In the future, if Express needs a Pittsburgh consultant, I am happy to help.

The Steelers Try to Cover Their Weakness Areas for the Upcoming Season

This post is courtesy of Alex Lowe.

Probably the start of the season for the Pittsburgh Steelers will not be easy. And with Santonio Holmes off the team, and the suspension of Ben Roethlisberger, the NFL Odds for the Steelers do not seem favorable at all.

Undoubtedly the absence of “Big Ben” could create some hardships for the team, even more so when most of the first games of the Steelers are away. This could make it tough for the team to start with a good record.

The Steelers will be without Big Ben the first six games, and it seems that there is no other quarterback that can offer the team the same skills.

For his part, quarterback Dennis Dixon has just two years in the NFL and hasn’t demonstrated his ability as a professional player.

Another option is Byron Leftwich. However, I do not think he can be a quarterback that can move this team forward, but he is expected to be the starting quarterback in the games without "Big Ben."

Holmes's departure could also mean another major absence for the Steelers. However, they have other players capable of covering this position, such as wide receivers Emmanuel Sanders and Arnaz Battle.

However, Mike Wallace is their biggest hope and he is expected to become the number one receiver for Pittsburgh.

On the other hand, the tight end position is covered by Heath Miller, who is expected to have an effective season as he did last season in receptions and in receiving yards.

As for the draft, the Steelers have reinforced their offensive line with the first round draft pick of center Maurkice Pouncey, who I think is a great choice to correct their problems on offense.

Also, Emmanuel Sanders was another striking third round selection. Sanders is a player with great abilities, and he could give the Steelers a great weapon in the passing game.

Finally, if Troy Polamalu stays healthy, the Steelers will have a great defense. And this season, I think that Pittsburgh's defense will be able to note some victories.

Polamalu’s return will be one of the biggest advantages that the Steelers have for this upcoming season.

Their toughest games will probably be against the Baltimore Ravens, the Miami Dolphins, the New Orleans Saints and the New York Jets. However, there is still great hope that Mike Tomlin can raise the team to the level it had in 2008.

General McChrystal Learns Nothing From Pierogi-Gate

General Stanley McChrystal was removed by President Obama as the commander of the United States and NATO forces in Afghanistan on Wednesday. Technically, McChrystal resigned but only because he was about to get fired. McChrystal publicly criticized the civilian chain of command in an interview in Rolling Stone by essentially insulting President Obama, Vice President Biden and national security advisor Jim Jones. Insubordination, particularly in the military, is a fire-able offense. Doing so in a public forum of Rolling Stone makes things even worse. This would have never happened if McChrystal learned from the mistakes of Andrew Kurtz. Perhaps you don’t know the name Andrew Kurtz. However, if I mentioned that he was the pierogi fired by the Pittsburgh Pirates, does that sound familiar?



Kurtz posted a message on Facebook last week after the Pirates announced the contract extensions of manager John Russell and general manager Neal Huntington stating, “That means a 19-straight losing streak. Way to go Pirates." Tim at BuccoFans.com, Pat of WHYGAVS and Rich of This Is Getting Old all covered this well, so I’m not going to expand on their great posts, but you can’t publicly criticize your employer. Unfortunately for McChrystal, he did not heed this advice.

The Post-Gazette yesterday announced that Kurtz was rehired as a pierogi “because he was not teminated in accordance with company [human resources] procedures. While his conduct was in violation of [the Pirates’] company policy (and many other companies), it was not subject to termination at this time.” McChrystal is not going to be so fortunate to return to his position. However, maybe he can apply for a job as a pierogi!

Case of the Mondays

Something happened on Monday that had never happened before: I missed the bus. OK, it happened once since we moved to our new home, but this was more dramatic. When I opened the front door at 7:39 on Monday morning, I saw the bus at the bus stop. This was unusual since the bus isn’t supposed to arrive until 7:40 and usually doesn’t get there until closer to 7:45. I frantically raced towards the bus, but I was too late as the bus started pulling away. I was too far away for the driver or anyone on the bus to see me, but for 5 seconds, I thought that perhaps I could keep up with the bus until the next stop less than a 1/2 mile away. Unfortunately, I am not Usain Bolt. Plus, I was wearing shoes that would not allow me to run a 4.2, 40.

I had to think quickly. I couldn’t wait 30 minutes until the next bus arrived, but could I catch up to the bus? I raced back inside the house, where Ziggy was surprised and pleased to see me home so soon. I should also mention that Ziggy was partially to blame for me missing the bus in the first place. He decided to be cute before I left home and rolled on his back so that I could rub his stomach. Anyway, I brushed off Ziggy, went to the garage and got into my car. I caught up to the bus three stops later, but by the time I would have parked, the bus would have been off again.

I passed the bus and drove two stops ahead where I may or may not have run a red light. I parked in a shopping center and made it to the stop about 20 seconds before the bus arrived. When I got on the bus, I realized what went wrong. There was a new bus driver. How dare a new bus driver get to the stop on time or even a minute early? I walked to my seat, said hello to a fellow passenger who was shocked to see me at the new stop, and made it to work on time. Unfortunately, I left my cell phone at home.

Yesterday, the regular driver was back and the bus arrived at 7:44. I told the bus driver that I missed him on Monday, and he replied that it was nice to be missed. He has no idea.

Trivia Tuesday: TV Character Edition

Before Trivia Tuesday commences, I have a few housekeeping items. First, congratulations to Johanna for winning the New Ramblings Giveaway contest courtesy of CSNStores.com. In case you're wondering, Johanna wrote that her favorite drink is iced coffee or an iced Americano or a Bloody Mary or a Gin and Tonic. Four favorite drinks seems like a few too many.

Next, please note the "LiLu for MTV TJ badge" at the top right of this blog. I met LiLu at a Happy Hour of DC Bloggers several years ago and am a huge fan of her blog. Anyway, MTV contacted LiLu to become a contestant in their TJ (Twitter Jockey) contest. I'm sure that I'll write more about this in the upcoming weeks, but please support LiLu.

On to the trivia. Your challenge this week is to identify the famous TV characters based on the actor's name and years that the show ran. We need both the first and last name.

1. Ian McShane, 2004-2006

2. Kiefer Sutherland, 2001-2010

3. James Gandolfini, 1999-2007

4. Carroll O'Connor, 1971-1983

5. Dennis Franz, 1993-2005

6. Matthew Fox, 2004-2010

7. Hugh Laurie, 2004-2010

8. Richard Dean Anderson, 1985-1992

9. Dustin Diamond, 1989-1993

10. Michael J. Fox, 1982-1989

As always please leave your answers in the comments section below and do not use the internet for your search. Good luck!

This quiz is courtesy of Stump Trivia.

World Cup Notes

Since I’m a soccer referee, several people have asked me over the last few days to explain the call by referee Koman Coulibaly during the US-Slovenia game which nullified Maurice Edu’s probable game-winning goal. I’ve got nothing. He definitely blew the whistle before the ball went into the net, but if anything, the call should have resulted in an American penalty kick.

On the topic of the US-Slovenia game, Landon Donovan’s goal (and this picture) was just awesome.



The best quote about the goal came from Tom Dart of the London Times. "The match was transformed after 48 minutes when Donovan capitalised on a defensive slip to race clear on the right. He leathered his shot into the roof of the net so forcefully that [goalie] Samir Handanovic appeared to decide not to try to save it for fear that the ball might amputate one of his hands."

Donovan’s goal reminded me a lot of Evgeni Malkin’s goal against the Philadelphia Flyers during the 2008 NHL playoffs. I think Malkin and Donovan just thought, I'm going to hit this as hard as I can and dare you to stop it. Take that!



I watched the US-Slovenia match at one of the best known soccer bars in the DC area. Despite this fact, someone yelled "c'mon ref throw the flag" after a Slovenian player fouled Jozy Altidore. He was not joking.

Play-by-play guy Martin Tyler, who called the Brazil-Ivory Coast and US-England matches, is really good.

However, where is JP Dellacamera, America’s best soccer play-by-play announcer?

I love the exchanging of jerseys after World Cup games. If I’m playing against England, I’m immediately running over to Wayne Rooney at the conclusion of the match to get his jersey. Now the question I have is what the players do with the jerseys after the game. Do they wash and frame them or do they put them on Ebay?

Look at the possible jerseys in Group G. If I’m a North Korean player, I’m getting an Ivory Coast Didier Drogba jersey; a Cristiano Ronaldo Portugal jersey and a jersey of just about any Brazilian player (let’s say Kaka, mostly since it's fun to say Kaka). Of course, Kim Jong-Il will probably just take those jerseys after the team returns home.

Before or after nearly every commercial break as part of the ESPN/ABC coverage, there is a 5-second song played over the World Cup logo. Does anyone know the lyrics? For all I know, they are singing, buy Coca-Cola now. At this point, I think I’d even settle for the language of the lyrics.

The New Oxford American Dictionary announces the word of the year annually. The 2009 word of the year was unfriend. The 2010 word of the year has to be vuvuzela, right?

Speaking of vuvuzelas, they have been banned from Wimbledon.

You may or may not know that the French team is a disaster. Striker Nicolas Anelka was sent home the team director resigned and the team refused to practice on Sunday. If anyone from Ireland or Irish soccer fans read this, are you happy to see the French mess or are you upset that Ireland arguably should be in South Africa instead of France (or both)?

Finally, here's the scenarios by which the U.S. can advance to the knockout stages (courtesy of Deadspin).

Slovenia is in the driver's seat in group C, with 4 points. The US and England each have 2, and Algeria 1. This puts the USA in control of their own destiny, because

If the US wins, they're through to the round of 16. A win would give us 5 points in the group. With England and Slovenia playing each other, there's no way both could finish with more points.

If the US loses, they're out. Ceding three points to Algeria lets them leapfrog us, and we're unable to catch Slovenia, no matter what they do in their final game.

The US could also draw their final game (they've shown themselves quite proficient at that). That's where things get complicated.

If the US draws, and England beats Slovenia, they're out. England would finish with 5, Slovenia with 4, and the USMNT with 3.

If the US draws, and Slovenia beats England, they're through to the round of 16. Slovenia would win the group with 7, the US with 3, and England and Algeria with 2 apiece.

If the US draws, and Slovenia and England draw, it comes down to tiebreakers. Slovenia would win the group with 5, and England and America would be tied with 3. Here are the variables:

•The first tiebreaker is goal differential. The US and England would have tied all three matches, so we move on.
•The second tiebreaker is goals scored. After two games, the US has scored 3, while England has scored 1. That looks good for the US, as long as the England/Slovenia match isn't high-scoring. It's possible for England and Slovenia to finish 3-3, and the US/Algeria to finish 0-0. In that case England would move on. If England/Slovenia finished, say, 2-2 and the US plays a scoreless draw, we move on to the next tiebreaker.
•The third tiebreaker is points obtained in head-to-head matches. The US and England tied, so we move on.
•The fourth tiebreaker is goal differential in head-to-head matches. Again, a tie.
•The fifth tiebreaker is goals scored head-to-head. That's one apiece, so we move on.

If the US and England are still tied after all the tiebreakers, FIFA draws lots to determine who moves on. Yes, at the most important sporting event in the world, a coin will be flipped to decide the winner.

Brian Austin Green

This is Brian Austin Green with his fiancee Megan Fox.



You may know Green as the winner of the 2004 Los Angeles DIY Film Festival’s Festival Prize, 2004 Palm Beach International Film Festival’s Special Jury Prize, and 2004 Philadelphia FirstGlance Film Festival’s Festival Award for Fish Without a Bicycle. Perhaps you know him as "Gary" from two episodes of Small Wonder or as "Rapper in Fresh Kid’s Music Group" in a 1991 episode of Growing Pains. Regardless of these illustrious roles, Brian Austin Green has had quite a career. No I’m not referring to his acting career.

It was announced this week that Green is engaged to Megan Fox. Previously, Green dated Vanessa Marcil of General Hospital and Las Vegas fame and Tiffani-Amber Thiessen. I think it’s accurate to write that these women are, well, hot. So my question is how has Brian Austin Green been so successful? You can probably attribute the relationship with Thiessen to spending significant time together as co-stars on Beverly Hills 90210. However, what has Green does since 90210? We’re not talking about George Clooney or Brad Pitt; this is Brian Austin Green. How has Green done so well for himself? Anyone?


P.S. Don't forget to enter the New Ramblings Giveaway for your chance to win at $80 gift certificate from CSNStores.com. Enter in the post below.

New Ramblings Giveaway

I love CSNStores.com. Besides having over 200+ stores under the CSN umbrella, they also selected me as a CSN Preferred Blogger. More companies really should select me as a preferred blogger. Earlier this year, one lucky Sean’s Ramblings reader won a bean bag chair courtesy of CSN. Now, they are offering an even better opportunity. I am proud to announce a brand new Ramblings Giveaway. The prize: an $80 gift certificate that can be used at any of the CSN stores!

Before I explain how to enter, here’s a word from our sponsors. Did you know that one of the CSN sites sells bathroom vanities? Well, now you know.



To enter, all you need to do is leave a comment below. Here’s a topic if you can’t think of anything to write. I recently visited an elementary school, and the kids asked me all kinds of questions including my favorite color, sport and food. Well, I’m asking you to share your favorite beverage. You can be general like beer or specific like Duff Beer. Personally, I like my citrus drinks. I have a glass of orange juice every morning. However, I also love a nice glass of lemonade during the summer. Since this is my blog (and I am a preferred blogger), I’m declaring two favorite drinks. Take that!

Please enter your comment by Sunday, June 20th at 10:00 PM Eastern time. I'll choose the winner via Random.org. Please make sure there is a way for me to contact you in case you win. One entry per person. Good luck!

In The Year 2000

This week's Trivia Tuesday is a Sporcle quiz based on the year 2000. Your challenge is to name the top news headlines from 2000 (according to the AP). I scored a 23 out of 29.

As an added bonus, name the TV shows from their opening song titles. I scored a rather poor 11 of 18 on this one.

Please share your results in the comments section below. Good luck!

(I promise to have a "real" Trivia Tuesday next week.)

Celebrate Fairfax 2010 Highlights

How do you eat funnel cake, pizza, quesadillas, brownies, kettle corn, a gyro, many varieties of chips/salty snacks and drink significantly more pop (or soda as some of you call the carbonated beverage) than usual and still manage to lose a few pounds? Volunteer at the Celebrate Fairfax festival for an entire weekend! I spent approximately 42 hours over the past three days walking dozens of miles, lifting stuff, putting up and taking down tent sidewalls and talking a lot (does this help with weight loss?).



Here are some brief notables from this year’s festival:

- KC of KC & the Sunshine Band proclaimed that he was your mom’s Justin Timberlake. Somewhere, David Cassidy and Leif Garrett disagree.

- KC also requested coffee.

- Like more behind the scenes stuff? The girlfriend of one of the headline performers brought a dog, but apparently did not have a leash. Several staff members scrambled to find a dog leash.

- After signing autographs, Washington Redskin DeAngelo Hall got a rendering of himself done by a caricature artist.

- I saw Rusted Root play for the first time in 15 years. They still sound great. I really need to break out my Rusted Root cassettes and play them again. Yes, cassettes and not CDs.

- Upon arriving home on Saturday night/Sunday morning, I sat on the couch to check e-mail and my fantasy baseball team. I promptly fell asleep, woke up about two hours later, and then spent the next 30 minutes trying to find the energy to go upstairs while continuing to doze off.

As usual, I really enjoyed the event and look forward to volunteering and seeing everyone again next year. Unfortunately, it may take me a few more days to recover and catch up on sleep!


Photo by Matt.

Witnessing Stephen Strasburg

Jesus arrived to the major leagues on Tuesday. He probably spent his entire life dreaming of reaching the majors. After spending more than a decade in the minors, the New York Mets recalled outfielder Jesus Feliciano from AAA. Were you expecting another Jeezus?



I was one of the 40,315 in attendance for Tuesday's game between the Washington Nationals and Pittsburgh Pirates. I was also one of probably only a few hundred wearing any type of Pirates gear (and I'm not including a guy wearing a Jerome Bettis jersey and another with a Hines Ward one). As a baseball fan, this was one of the greatest atmospheres and games I’ve attended in person. The only games in the same ballpark over the last 15 years were Francisco Cordova outdueling rookie phenom Kerry Wood in Pittsburgh; Sammy Sosa hitting home run #60-something in San Diego during the memorable 1998 season; and game four of the San Diego Padres-Atlanta Braves National League Championship Series. As a Pirates fan, I was obviously disappointed with the result.

Amazingly, Strasburg exceeded the hype. He became the first pitcher in baseball history to get 14 strikeouts in less than 96 pitches. Sure, some people are going to mock the Pittsburgh Pirates line-up. This was not the 1971 Pirates featuring Roberto Clemente, Willie Stargell, Bob Robertson and Al Oliver. However, the Pirates beat Roy Halladay last month and fared well against Tim Lincecum earlier this week. Plus, no pitcher had struck out 14 batters against the Pirates this year.

Here are my notes from the game (and there are pictures below):

* At least for one night, Washington was a baseball town. The crowd stood and cheered every time Strasburg got two strikes on a Pirates hitter. As a comparison, when I attended a Nationals game last month, the crowd barely made noise when Scott Olsen got to two strikes, and he had a no-hitter into the 8th inning. In addition, the seats were full well before the first pitch. I mentioned this above, but this was definitely one of the best baseball atmospheres I’ve seen.

* Now the negative. I don’t understand why many Nats fans felt the need to boo Lastings Milledge. He was a decent person in Washington who just happened to underperform as a player. Due to his upside, the Nationals were able to parlay him and Joel Hanrahan for the popular Nyjer Morgan and Sean Burnett. Is that worth booing? There were also fans who jeered Ryan Church. What did he do as a National to deserve this reaction?

* I also don't understand wearing jerseys of players not associated with either team playing. For example, I saw people wearing jerseys or T-shirts of the following players: Justin Verlander; Chase Utley; Geovany Soto; Nolan Ryan (actually, this one was pretty cool); David Ortiz (who must really, really despise Milledge); and, a Redskins' Champ Bailey.

* Remember when Florida Marlins shortstop Hanley Ramirez got benched last month for jogging and all of the subsequent media coverage? Well, Nats manager Jim Riggleman should have benched Strasburg for slowly jogging during his first at-bat. If Strasburg would have showed any effort at all running down the first base line, he would have easily had his first major league hit. The manager needed to set an example to his team, and should have promptly removed Strasburg for a lack of effort. Yes, I am writing this since removing Strasburg would have improved the Pirates chance at winning!

* Stephen Strasburg’s song is Seven Nation Army by the White Stripes. Nice choice. The song also has one of my favorite lyrics ever: I’m going to Wichita. Far from this opera forever more.

* For Strasburg’s debut and since Tony Gwynn was in attendance, I was disappointed not to see any San Diego State gear at the game. S, D, S, U; SDSU; Aztecs Fight!

* Jaared performed the national anthem. It was not this Jared.



* I joked here yesterday (as well as on Twitter and Facebook since I evidently thought this joke needed to be shared everywhere) that all anyone talked about after the game was Pirates pitcher Evan Meek. But was I really joking? Meek pitched 2 scoreless innings giving up 0 hits and 0 walks with 1 strikeout. In his 22 pitches, he threw 18 strikes including first pitch strikes to all 6 batters he faced. Through Tuesday night's game, Meek now has an ERA of 0.78 in 34.2 innings.

* I really thought that last night would be the game when Teddy would win the Presidents’ Race. Nope.

As promised, here are some pictures from the game. Well, I took three pictures and then discovered that my camera batteries died.

Neil Walker & Nyjer Morgan before the game:



They are joined by a cast of thousands, er, a few other players:



Strasburg before his first pitch:



A few more pictures courtesy of Big Kahuna







Finally, here are some links from people who get paid to write about sports:

Dejan Kovacevic of the Post-Gazette.
Gene Collier of the P-G
Daniel Malloy of the P-G's Washington Bureau
ESPN
Adam Kilgore - Washington Post
Tom Boswell of the Post
Dan Steinberg of the DC Sports Bog provided amazing coverage here (view from the stands), here (from Bob Costas) & here (the game had huge TV ratings in DC).

I’m a Star in Kittanning

I’ll share my thoughts and pictures from the Washington Nationals-Pittsburgh Pirates “Strasberg” game tomorrow, though they really should call it the Evan Meek game as he looked dominant. In the meantime, I invite you to click here to see my appearance on Rizzo Sports Week. This was my second time Mike invited me on the show, so I guess that I didn’t embarrass myself or him for first time. Actually, he may have been desparate for a guest after getting Rob Egan, GM of the Altoona Curve, and Greg Linnelli of Fox Sports Radio Pittsburgh the previous weeks. I guess that there have not been any FCC complaints about me, so that has to be worth something, right?

If you are brave enough to watch the video, I’d really like to know what you think about my performance. I think I sound terrible, but that’s just me. I appear via phone just before the 5:00 minute mark, and we talk about the Pirates, Penguins, Steelers, Nationals, Strasberg and the World Cup.


With the World Cup starting tomorrow, don’t forget to join my World Cup fantasy league [click join an existing group, and enter the group ID# (19911), and password (troy43)]. It’s really easy; all you have to do is pick the winner of each game at least five minutes before the start of the game. If you only want to select the winner of South Africa-Mexico today, that’s fine. You don’t need to pick the result of the U.S.-England game until Saturday afternoon (Eastern time).

Trivia Tuesday: Name That Tune

Your challenge this week is to name the artist based on the lyrics for 10 songs listed below. Good luck!

1. My Spanish Harlem Mona Lisa
You’re my reason for reason

2. Despite all my rage I am still just a rat in a cage.

3. Valentine is done
Here but now they’re gone
Romeo and Juliet
Are together in eternity

4. Another day, another dollar, another war,
Another tower went up, where the homeless had their homes
So we pray to as many different God's as there are flowers
But we call religion our friend

5. DC chillin’, PG chillin’
My name _____, and I came to get it.
Came to get it, came to get it
My name _____.

6. It’s poetry in motion
She turned her tender eyes to me
As deep as any ocean
As sweet as any harmony

7. Shake shake shake, shake shake shake,
Shake your booty! Shake your booty!

8. I would like to reach out my hands
I may see you, I may tell you to run.
Nobody safe, nobody on. (I’ve probably heard this song hundreds of times; I never knew that this line contained these words.)

9. Save me, I'm lost
Oh lord, I've been waiting for you
I'll pay any cost
Save me from being confused

10. We’re Josh Thompson and Jimmy Wayne and Sean doesn’t know any of our songs, so he’s just making up lyrics since the artists in #7-#10 are performing at Celebrate Fairfax this weekend.

This is also a subtle plug that discounted tickets are available for Celebrate Fairfax through Thursday. I understand that I am biased since I have worked or voluteered at the festival for the past 8 years, but Celebrate Fairfax truly is one of the best festivals around. If you live in the DC area, come out this weekend.

Oh, for Trivia Tuesday, please leave your answers in the comments section below, and as usual, don't use the internet for answers.

2010 World Cup Preview

With the World Cup only days away, you can probably find a preview in every newspaper, magazine, television show and website around the world. In these previews, you will likely find analysis about who will win each group and specific information about Argentina's great Lionel Messi and the impact Didier Drogba's injury will have on the Ivory Coast's chances. Well, you're not going to find this information here. Instead, I'm proud to provide a World Cup preview about stuff you probably didn't think you wanted to know!

The tallest players in the World Cup are Serbia's Nikola Zigic at 6'8" and England's Peter Crouch at 6'7". Crouch is listed at 165 pounds, which couldn't be correct, right? Los Angeles Lakers' Ron Artest is 6'7" and 260 pounds!

The shortest players are Danilo Tucios & Walter Martinez of Honduras; Aaron Lenon of England; and Arthur Boka of the Ivory Coast at 5'5". I feel tall compared to these guys!

There are only 18 players at the World Cup weighing 200 pounds or more, yet 3 are Americans led by the heaviest player in South Africa goalie Marcus Hahnemann at 227 pounds. U-S-A! U-S-A! Of these 18 players, 10 are goalies

The lightest player in South Africa is France's Mathieu Valbuena at 128 pounds.

The oldest player is the Netherlands' Sander Boschker born on October 20, 1970.

The youngest World Cup participant is Denmark's Christian Eriksen born on February 14, 1992. You feel old, don't you?

The player with the longest name is Sokratis Papastrathopoulos. You'll be shocked to discover that he plays for Greece.

The player with the shortest name is former Pittsburgh Pirate, Ed Ott. Actually, for a two-name player (as opposed to players known by only one name like Portugal's Deco) Japan's Yuki Abe and North Korea's Ri Jun-Il share the honor.

Where's Waldo (Ponce)? He's a defender for Chile.



If you still have the humor of a 13 year-old, here is your World Cup all-name team:

Kim Dong-Jin - South Korea
Kaka - Brazil
Pepe - Portugal
Danny Shittu - Nigeria
Jorg Butt - Germany
Gaetan Bong - Cameroon
Herculez Gomez - United States I just feel like this is an awesome name!

I share a birthday with America's Oguchi Onyewu and the Ivory Coast's Yaya Toure.

Germany's Jermone Boateng has a brother, Kevin-Prince Boateng, that plays for Ghana. Apparently Kevin-Prince Boateng became frustrated in not getting called up by the German team and decided to represent the country of his father's birth. Naturally, they will face each other in Group D.

Italy has two players named Fabio (Fabio Cannavaro and Fabio Quagliarella).



Is there any chance that Australia's Scott Chipperfield is related to magician David Copperfield?

Cameroon's Geremi spoke in class today.

Oakland Raider great Tim Brown, now apparently plays as a midfielder for New Zealand.

While you won't see David Beckham playing in South Africa, you may see Denmark's Mikkel Beckmann.

North Korea doesn't believe the rules apply to them.

Finally, don't forget to sign up for my World Cup fantasy league. Just go to the Yahoo World Cup group page, click join an existing group, and enter the group ID# (19911) and password (troy43).

P.S. Much of this post is also available on BlogCritics, though I added a little extra here.

Sean On Fashion: Former Prime Minister Edition

Let me preface this post by stating that I have no fashion sense. I think that’s what makes my infrequent Sean On Fashion posts so much fun (even if some people don’t feel the same way). With that, let me introduce you Japan’s Prime Minister Yukio Hatoyama and “The Hatoyama Shirt.”



When this picture was taken on May 26th, Hatoyama was the Prime Minister of Japan; however, Hatoyama resigned earlier this week. While Hatoyama claims that he resigned because he broke a campaign promise to close the American Marine base in Okinawa, I think that’s a cover. He was forced out because of this shirt. You can’t be a respected leader and wear this shirt!

Apparently, you can now buy a replica of “The Hatoyama Shirt” for only $500. Then, you too can pretend to be a former Prime Minister!

Fantasy World Cup League

I’ve probably mentioned my addition to fantasy leagues in the past. Besides the traditional fantasy football and baseball leagues, I also participate in fantasy hockey leagues, the Ted Marshall Open Television Death Pool (essentially a TV fantasy league), and sadly, a Rock of Love fantasy league. With the World Cup only one week away, I figured that I would start a World Cup fantasy league.

Therefore, I invite you to join the Polamalu on Roster=US Victory group. Don’t know anything about international soccer? Who cares! This is for fun and we won’t judge you (unless you somehow manage to pick Canada to win it all, which would be extremely difficult since they are not 1 of the 32 teams...and because Sidney Crosby isn’t on the team).

Just go to the Yahoo World Cup group page, click join an existing group, and enter the group ID# (19911) and password (troy43).

By the way, if Polamalu was a soccer player instead of a football player, he would be a dominant defender. Wayne Rooney wouldn't have a chance against Troy!

I Lose (Get Off My Property)

As a TMI Thursday last December, I shared a story about a trip to the doctor’s office. The appointment went well though there was some confusion about a Tetanus shot. The short version of the story is that the doctor showed a fax indicating that I received a shot from a facility called Travel Clinic; however, I never heard of the Travel Clinic, the fax did not include a patient name, and I never got the shot. The doctor asked me to clear things up with the Travel Clinic and come back if I did need the shot. Consider this part two of the story.

I returned to the doctor’s office several weeks after my initial visit and received the Tetanus shot. You would think that would be the end of the story, but if it was, this would be a terrible blog post! A few weeks later, an invoice of $20 arrived in my mailbox from the doctor’s office for the shot. When I called asking for an explanation, I learned that if I got the shot when I originally planned, there would not have been a charge. The charge was for coming back to the office on a separate occasion. Essentially, the doctor’s office made a mistake by having a random fax in my file. I called this fact to the office’s attention, but, shockingly, there were no notes of this in my file.

I decided that I wasn’t going to pay the $20. While $20 isn’t going to make or break whether or not I can pay my bills, that’s 3+ California Tortilla burritos or 2.5 days of commuting expenses (or 2 days starting in the next few months). I wouldn’t put $20 on a hand of blackjack in Vegas, so I wasn’t readily going to give it up based on an error made by the folks charging the fee. Over the last few months, I probably received 3 or 4 invoices from the office, with the final one arriving last week stating that I was going to collections. I called the office on Tuesday, and, again shockingly, there was nothing in my file stating that I didn’t need to pay for the shot. Reluctantly, I gave up. I wasn’t going to win this battle. I’m sure I sounded defeated when I said that I was switching doctors, but I don’t think they care. The only consolation is that at least I forced the office to spend $2 on postage.

By the way, 5 points to anyone who knows the reference of this post’s title (actual quote: You lose. Get off my property!)

Trivia Tuesday

Welcome to June! I'm sure that you could be outside enjoying the nice weather (assuming that the weather is nice in your neighborhood today) or even working. However, coming off the holiday weekend, wouldn't you rather see how well you know the past decade? This week's challenge is courtesy of Sporcle, the greatest website ever (besides Sean's Ramblings, of course).

1. Name the biggest and/or best songs from 2000-2009. I think I did pretty well by scoring 124 out of 168.

2. Name the Top 5 Rushers in terms of yards for each individual NFL team from 2000-2009. I scored an 86 out of 160 on this one.

3. Name the Top 5 Passers for each NFL team for the years 2000-2009 (yards). I scored 82 out of 160 but did not know the #5 passer for the Steelers during the past decade.

These quizzes are longer and take some time, but I think they are worth it. Please leave your results in the comments section below. Good luck!