Monday, March 31, 2008

Opening day

Lots of games today...

I'm busy getting my Fantasy games up to speed...I have to attend a virtual draft at 1 pm...

Beat the Streak has already started.... Home Run Derby and MLB Survivor have not yet started, for some reason...

Monday, March 17, 2008

Okay, these guys are wusses

I don't follow hockey so I couldn't tell you their names...



I bet they lost all respect from their teammates. They lost mine! I mean, jeez. Don't make a fool out of yourself like that. Just skate away!

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Saturday, March 15, 2008

The Code: Fighting and Retaliation in the MLB and NHL

Serendipity strikes again.

Just a couple of days after Bruce Bowen acted like an a-hole in basketball, and on the same day that I was reminded how brutal hockey is, I come across a couple of new books by an author who talks about the culture of violence and retaliation in baseball and the NHL.

Confusingly, they both have the same title, The Code, but deal with two different sports. The books are written by Ross Bernstein.

Chris Pronger stomps on Ryan Kesler's leg

And on to the upstanding citizens of hockey. (And frankly the crap that goes on in hockey is so much more egregious that it isn't funny, Most of these guys should be in jail.

This happened March 14, 2008. He got an 8 game ban. A similar act by a player from a different team got a 20-game ban a few years ago.



Chris Simon stomps Jarkko Ruutu



And of course this infamous one: Chris Bertuzzi sucker punches Steve Moore - and then drives him face first into the ice, giving him a broken neck.



Interestingly, though there's plenty of video of Markus Näslund at YouTube, there is none that shows Steve Moore's hit on him, which is what caused the retaliation by Chris Bertuzzi - who has returned to hockey after a whole one year suspension.

And to further glorify violence in sport, someone has put together "Best Hockey Hits"


(and the exultant reactions of the people who watched this video and made comments - scary.)

This one is most horrifying of all - for one reason. The referees just stand there and let the two men go at each other. They don't try to separate them...they don't do anything. Why are they even on the ice?

Friday, March 14, 2008

More YouTube Videos of Bowen's play

Watch Bowen kick Amare Stoudamire in the ankle as he shoots the basket



Bowen inserts his feet in between the legs of Steve Francisas he comes down from a jumpshot



Here Bowen kicks Ray Allen in the back while he's on the ground


Here, the poster of the video says Bowen broke Allan Iverson's ankle - I don't see any overt proof of that.


Bowen knees Steve Nash in the groin


A video set to music, featuring lots of clips
Bowen high-kicks Sczerbiak in the face among others

Bruce Bowen kicks Chris Paul? - video

Below are two videos of Bruce Bowen kicking Chris Paul...or maybe not.

In the first one, the slow motion at the end seems to show that Bowen did not kick him, just lifted his foot over him, and when it was well past Paul's head, moving in the other direction! Paul flops back as if he's been kicked. Also, doesn't it look like Paul punches him in the groin at one point?

The second runs in real time, and then in slo mo, but not quite as slow as the first clip! Click on the arrow twice to play each video.

And in any event, he was suspended for a game.



This one is from the news. Quality isn't very good:

Wednesday, March 12, 2008

I officially don't like Joe Girardi or Shelly Duncan

A couple of days ago, a Tampa Bay Devil Ray (yes, I know religious kooks have made them change their name to the Rays, but the hell with that) player barrelled into a Yankees catcher - and broke his wrist. (To be exact: the Devil Rays' Elliot Johnson barreling over New York catcher Francisco Cervelli last Saturday)

Well...that was just unfortunate. Baserunners are running into *catchers* all the time, trying to make them drop the ball. Yes, it may be argued that it shouldn't happen in a spring training game.

Well, today Yankees outfielder Shelley Duncan was out by a mile, but nevertheless continued to run into second base and attempt to spike Akinori Iwamura - and when you're hiking your spikes up around the thigh area that is a deliberate attempt to injure, not a "good hard play."

Then Girardi didn't control his players, but said, "You don't ever want things to get ugly, and I don't think it got ugly. I think the umpires stopped it before it got ugly," Girardi said.

"Shelley told me that he was taught when you're going to be out, you go after the ball. ... Shelley made a hard, aggressive slide, and I would have to look at a replay to really determine what I thought."

On the other hand, then Jonny Gomes ran in from right field and hit Duncan in the back, and I don't like that either. That's kind of cowardly. Run up to him, sure, but yank him around so he's looking at you, then punch him in the mouth.

So, here are my hopes. I hope the Yankees tank, and I hope the Devil Rays tank. Not because I dislike the Devil Rays, particularly, but just because they capitulated to the loons and changed their name.

Monday, March 10, 2008

C. Vivian Stringer's biography published March 4, 2008

And I only heard of it when it was posted on the UConn Huskies message boards.



It's called Standing Tall, and tells of her childhood, her marriage, the illness of her daughter and the unexpected death of her husband, and her work at three different universities as a women's college basketball coach.

Wednesday, March 5, 2008

How To Win Virginia's Pick 4 Lottery

Or, I suppose, any state that has a Pick 4 Lottery.

Well...that's just the title, because my advice to you is... don't play the lottery!

But I'll tell you my story!

Tonight, I won $200, and while I'm relieved I'm also a leetle bit annoyed as well, and I'll explain why.

I've been playing the Pick 4 Lottery here in Virginia for about 2 months now. I had originally scoffed at it as having a too-low payout - the most you can win is $5,000, whereas other lotteries such as the Megamillions pays...well...millions.

But, it's incredibly difficult to win the Megamillions, and after pouring $400 down the drain, I decided it was time to give that up. (I'd been betting $30 and $40 at a time, when the pot got over the 80 million mark.)

However, because in the Pick 4 you only have to get 4 numbers right as opposed to 6, it's easier to win. And the payout is consequently smaller.

But, heck, $5,000 is a nice chunk of change.

So, I started playing Pick 4, and would bet my favorite numbers. And I poured probably more than $300 into it before getting my first $400 winner - ironically enough on an Easy Pick rather than my chosen numbers.

So I was about even on Pick 4, but still behind $400 on the Megamillions - but I'd written that off as expensive experience, and wasn't dedicating myself to trying to recoup that money...

Anyway, so I had this lump sum payout of $400...and I'm sure I bought some stuff I wanted with it...but I also probably poured at least $200 of that win back into the lottery trying to win again.

Then, about four days ago, I won again - another $400 pot, on another EZ pick.

And this time I thought to myself.... well, this is ridiculous. With this $400 pot, I've broken even...and if I keep betting like this - I'm only ever going to break even.

I'm just not a lucky person, I told myself, and it was time to accept it. (A lucky person is not someone who gets a $400 pot and just breaks even, a lucky person is someone who wins the whole bloody $5,000!)

Well, for the last week or so I'd been betting on the number 1213 every day. $1 on exact, 1 on Any (which gets that $400). (And I'd also spend $4 on other chosen numbers, and $5 on EZ picks.

And each day I've been telling myself - okay, this is dumb, this is the last time.

And I really meant it this afternoon, when I blew $20 on EZPicks and had two tickets, each that was just one number off.

But, I had to go to Williamsburg, VA, tonight, and I decided...oh, I've got to bet on my 1213. After having so much invested in it, I'd be really ticked off if it came in and I hadn't bet on it.

So after checking into my hotel I went out to buy my 1213. Now, what I did was this. Each wager slip has five columns so you can bet on 5 sets of numbers. So for the first 2 columns, I bet on 1213 and another number, and decided to choose the 50/50 option. (If you win exact you get $2,500, if you win "any" you get $200). And the remaining 3 columns, I bet the "Any" choice straight up.

Well, my 1213 came up - as 1123.

So instead of winning $400, once again I've only broken even, at $200.

So while on the hand I'm very happy - first of "my" number choice to win, and numbers I hadn't intended to bet on ever again... on the other hand I'm annoyed, because if I'd done the "Any" choice I'd be getting $400 right now...!!!!

So, I'm happy with that $200, which I will spend on various things at the Williamsburg Film Festival, and since my 1213 that I had invested so much money in has come up, I will now be able to stop betting on Pick 4 entirely.... because I hated to quit after having spent so much money on a certain number.

So overall, I'm still down several hundred dollars on this lottery thing, but since I've got these wins it's easier to accept that I've recouped a little of my loss, count it as another expensive lesson, and move on.

Let's face it, if you were lucky enough to win the lottery - you wouldn't need to play the lottery, because that luck would have shown through in other ways. And if your life sucks in other ways...well, you're not going to win the lottery anyway.

Unfortunately, it's just a fact of life.

Tuesday, March 4, 2008

Brett Favre and Irresponsible Journalism

Oh, I have such a rant today, on a variety of subjects.

First, let's start with Brett Favre.

Early this morning, on my Google desk top where I get all these news feeds, I read the headline "Brett Favre Retires." I followed it to whatever the news outlet was, and most of the comments were surprise that he'd decided to retire after his great last season.

I came back two hours later, and there's a new headline, "Favre Says Packers Didn't Want Him Enough."

As soon as I read that headline, I thought to myself, "I am so over Brett Favre. Talk about a pampered, spoiled baby."

So I click on the link, and instead of being taken to the article, I'm taken to the front page of The Sporting News, where they're advertising games and such like for various sports.

So I look at the top and there's all the sports running across the navigation bar, so I click on the NFL and I'm taken to their NFL home page, and nowhere on this page is a headline saying "Favre Says Packers Didn't Want Him Enough."

So I dont know if he said that, or if some disreputable journalist decided to make that up, or what's going on!

I would like to believe that Brett Favre would not be so childish as to decide to retire in a fit of pique because the Green Bay Packers didn't call him every day begging him to announce whether or not he'd retire.

A person is smart, people are stupid
On a side note, we've got the case that's been boiling up for a week or two. There's a video on YouTube of two Marines (but with no insignia of rank, etc.), and one of them throws a small puppy over a cliff and laughs when it hits.

And people on YouTube, and in other places, are outraged about this. And the Marines in Hawaii are promising to investigate the case. And lots of people, who have heard the man's last name being said on the video, have been sending death threats to some marine with the same last name. They don't know if he's the one who did it, but since he's got the same last name, they are quite prepared to lynch him (and no, he isn't black, but they are quite prepared to lynch him nevertheless!!!!) based on no facts whatsoever.

Now, obviously if this guy did kill that dog in such a way, and did allow his fellow marine to film it, and did allow that same friend to put it on YouTube, then obviously he's not only a vicious berk but also extremely stupid, and deserves to be put into jail for stupidity....

Sunday, March 2, 2008

Why was he so upset? It's only women's basketball?

A couple of dayss ago, Michigan women's basketball coach Martin Borseth went ballistic in his post game interview. Various sports shows, for example ESPN, found this so entertaining that they aired it - over and over again - on their various sports programs.

(No, I'm not going to share it here, and yes, I'd be very, very surprised if it wasn't on YouTube by now.)

In one of the articles written on the subject, people were able to comment on it, and one of the commenters said, "Well, at least he cares about what he's doing, even if it is only women's basketball."

The italics are mine.

What is this "only women's basketball" crap? The players out on that floor care just as much about their sport and their team as the guys do, and always have. And as for "importance" - well, that's defined by money these days and now that there's a WNBA, not to mention all the money to be made overseas playing women's basketball, women's college basketball is important as a showcase for these players.

So Borseth had every right to be angry... and while he certain went OTT (over the top, in theatrical parlance), at least he wasn't kicking dirt on umpire's legs like Lou Piniella, or picking up and throwing bases like Lou Piniella, or doing the wave or whatever he was doing, like that minor league baseball coach who totally lost it a few years ago.

All hail Martin Borseth. Keep being passionate about your job, your team, and women's college basketball.