That's right, ladies and gentlemen. Andrew Goldman has won the Washington Post Weekend section's annual Holiday Wrapping Paper Contest. "It was easy for the judges to see why his work is so popular," the Post intones. "The bold colors and well-executed details of his color-penciled snowmen and Christmas trees made it a top choice."
Also, we learn that Andy is 12. That explains a lot.
I stumbled across this discussion on the Washington Post's website on a familiar topic -- the Top Ten synonyms for "Awesome" that are no longer acceptable.
Query: Since when was "awesome" all that acceptable?
I mean, I know I overuse -- and therefore misuse -- the word, but c'mon.
For those of you who think that only big state schools have sports worth mentioning, take a look at a couple of Brown's latest accomplishments, courtesy of the monthly alumni email.
No. 1 Women’s Ruggers Roll at Northeast Championships
When the U.S. Naval Academy’s top-ranked women’s rugby team faltered three weeks ago, Brown took over the nation’s number-one ranking. The Bears proved they belonged in the top spot by dismantling two opponents to win the Northeast Rugby Union Championships.
Taekwondo Kicks Off Strong Season, Looks to Nationals
The Taekwondo Club has dominated two recent tournaments. At a Nov. 11 tournament in Lowell, Mass., the men swept the medals in the poomse, or forms, category, and the women dominated in the sparring event.
Home Cooking Boosts Men’s Basketball Past Northwestern
Thanksgiving is a good time to return home and be with family. Chicagoan Peter Sullivan ’11 did just that and more over break. His team-high 19 points helped the men’s basketball team to a 73-67 win over Northwestern University in Evanston, Ill.
Since so many of our teams are playing in bowl games this year, how about some College Bowl Pick 'Em -- hereinafter known as "the First Annual PH4H Empanada Bowl."
This is easy -- pretty much all you have to do is pick who you think the winner of the bowl game is. It doesn't require extensive or exhaustive college football knowledge.
If you want to play, click here.
The first game is on December 20th, so you should probably make your picks by then.
So I just returned from a week in the Philippines, the 2nd of 3 business trips that also include last month's trip to Frankfurt and January's trip to South Africa. The trip went very well, but included a major delay coming home when my 4 hour layover in Beijing's airport turned into 20 hours when my plane, while taxiing to the runway, suddenly turned around and was escorted by fire engines to an isolated area of the airport. It turned out that the plane had a burning smell in the cabin, which was later diagnosed as an oil leak in the left engine. After four hours and an aborted bus ride back to the plane when they'd mistakenly thought they'd fixed the problem, United finally canceled the flight and put us up in a hotel overnight in downtown Beijing. It was quite the adventure! United wasn't very good at keeping us informed as to what was going on, and by the time we actually got to the hotel, it was 1:30am and nobody had eaten dinner. After a light dinner at 2am in the hotel's coffee shop, I finally got to bed at 2:30am. The hotel was decent though, and the next morning we discovered the hotel had a nice breakfast buffet and I was even able to take a quick cab ride to Tiannamen Square before the bus returned us to the airport. We finally landed at Dulles Saturday night after an uneventful 13 hour flight- a full 44 hours after my first flight had left Manila (from the time I left for the airport to the time I got home, it was nearly 50 hours of travel time).
I was chastised last night at the White Elephant party for knowing about this and not posting it on the blog. I had a moment of panic when I tried to find it and received an error message. But I did some detective work and managed to find the new site. So here it is. Enjoy.
For your Chanukah pleasure, some good Jewgrass music (look for December 4). Note: the music starts about 4 and a half minutes in. I hear they're looking for a fiddle player. Hmm.
That's right, the company that brought you Turkey and Gravy soda for Thanksgiving now has Hanukkah sodas.
Your flavor options...
- Latke
- Apple Sauce
- Chocolate Coins
- Jelly Doughnut
They have a Christmas pack too which contains, among other flavors, Christmas Ham. Just like Bacon Salt, it's kosher.
"[Dmitri] Young sees himself as someone who could teach a younger player the facts of life, both on and off the field."
—from this story
We take it back! You won! Since evidently losing to Missouri and not playing in the Big 12 Championship was the ticket to a better bowl at a better time against a better team. (Yes, I know you have one loss and we have two. When you beat Oklahoma, a team you didn't play this season, in the Big 12 Bonus Championship Showdown—we'll call it "BCS" for short—by all means, make that argument.)
There are other options, too. The Big 12 could cancel its championship game and have Missouri lose to a team with 7 losses, since that gets you to a better bowl too.
Or Missouri could switch to a weak conference, play a weak nonconference schedule and go undefeated. Another effective method.
The Cotton Bowl? A non-BCS bowl at 11:30 New Year's morning against a team barely in the top 25? As one who takes pride in my sportsmanship, let me say this: I hope Missouri wins by 70.
The Wall Street Journal reports (on the front page, no less) that the Missouri-Kansas border war has roots in a Missouri-Kansas border war.
In other news, Aaron is going to buy me a crab cake if Missouri beats Maryland in basketball this evening. If Maryland beats Mizzou, I owe him an order of toasted ravioli.
After years of speculation, Neil Diamond has revealed who "Sweet Caroline" is.
The answer? Caroline Kennedy Schlossberg.
So apparently the use of "Sweet Caroline" at RFK Stadium was a tribute to RFK's niece.
I'm sorry to the Caroline on this blog that you had to find out the truth this way.
No. 3 (or No. 4*) Missouri has a legitimate shot (40 percent chance, according to a Post article this morning) at playing for the national championship. First they have to get by their arch-rival, No. 2 Kansas (where at least they can prove they know the alphabet), Saturday evening in prime time. (Funny: the top link from the MU Alumni Association's site, on sportsmanship. Yeah, thanks for the reminder. I'm sure everyone at the game will keep a copy handy.)
This game is huge. Which is quite a shock for fans who are used to the rivalry being hot only in basketball.
* Some polls, including the BCS standings, put West Virginia ahead of the Tigers. Thus I am suddenly also a huge Connecticut fan; they play West Virginia on Saturday.
The Wall Street Journal reports today that there seems to be a brain basis for optimism and that "optimists tend to do better in life than their talents alone might suggest" ... except for a particular group:
Surveying law students at the University of Virginia, [Martin Seligman at the University of Pennsylvania] found that pessimists got better grades, were more likely to make law review and, upon graduation, received better job offers. There was no scientific reason. "In law," he said, "pessimism is considered prudence."
The posting rate on this blog has declined significantly. Perhaps it's because there's no baseball to make jokes make bets write about.
So, in that vein, I give you this link, where you can watch grass grow. Or, in this instance, see pictures of the grass being laid (note to self: learn proper sod terminology) in the new ballpark.
My friend Gerry Doyle, copyeditor extraordinaire and evidence that the University of Kansas isn't all bad, has written a book. I haven't read it yet, but I suspect it's excellent. Gerry also has a funny blog.
Anecdote: Gerry once saved me big-time after I edited a story about church leaders trying with mixed success to get their perspective heard at a meeting about HIV/AIDS, but coming away with optimism. Here was the headline he caught before it got into the paper:
Religious Leaders Take Positives
Away from AIDS Conference
The Red Sox managed to win at Cleveland last night -- in spite of the fact that the national anthem was performed by Josh Beckett's ex-girlfriend. Per ESPN:
Danielle Peck, a country music singer who also happened to date Red Sox ace pitcher Josh Beckett, will sing the national anthem and "God Bless America" at tonight's Game 5 in Cleveland. Beckett is scheduled to start the game for Boston.
"It's an incredible coincidence. Honestly," said Indians spokesman Bob DiBiasio.
***
"She's from Ohio. Her entire family are Indians fans. We did not know anything about her connections to Beckett. The next day, we find out the rest of the story," said DiBiasio of Peck. "How are we supposed to know who Josh Beckett dates?"
The internet -- sports sites, specifically -- keep getting weirder and weirder. This Steve Spurrier dress-up doll takes the cake.
Sorry Dan, this is required listening, but it's going to hurt.
"99 Years of Cub Losses," to the tune of "99 Luftballoons."
For those who don't know, the original empanada wager was between Tom and me over a Cardinals-Brewers series in May 2005. I won the wager.
I never received this empanada. A few weeks ago, Tom and I decided to go double or nothing on the Wisconsin-Illinois football game. I won. Tom owed me two empanadas.
This week I faced Tom in fantasy football, and we wagered a bowl of pho and iced coffee if I won, and he didn't owe me the two empanadas if I lost.
I lost.
So the original empanada bet has finally reached its conclusion, with me never receiving the empanada.
This blog post will also appear shortly on the Dana Press blog. But it's important enough that I want to post it here, too.
This morning I received an e-mail from my parents with news about a family friend:
… she awoke and could not talk. Everything else was ok, so [the person with her] did not insist that she go to the hospital immediately. However, later in the day he called the hospital and they said she should get to the emergency room right away.
She had had a stroke, and the hospital did operate on her carotid artery.
Here’s how I replied to my parents:
How upsetting, and not just because [our friend] is such a dear person …. Please assure me that if you ever have any signs of a stroke—not just a blatant sign, such as not being able to speak—you will go to the hospital or call 911 right away. Do so even if your symptoms seem to pass; that could be what's called a transient ischemic attack, which is a tornado siren: the storm might miss you, but you go to the basement anyway.
Any one sign of a stroke means you assume that nothing else is OK, even if everything else seems OK.
There is a stroke treatment that is extremely effective in ischemic stroke (80 percent of strokes are ischemic) when administered within 3 hours of the start of symptoms. (It's a "clot buster" called tissue plasmonigen activator, or tPA, if you want to look it up.) One of the sadder facts in neuroscience is that the vast majority of stroke patients take time to see if their symptoms will subside — and experience far greater impairment (if they're lucky and don't die) because of it.
Please feel free to lift this text and send it to your own parents and friends. Heck, clip it and stick it to your refrigerator. It may help someone survive. As for our friend, she is lucky to be in speech therapy three times a week. Doctors are not sure she’ll be able to return to her own home.
For more information on stroke, please see Dana's pages on ischemic stroke and hemorrhagic stroke, from The Dana Guide to Brain Health’s online Condition Center.
Based on a discussion I've been having with Dara on my blog, I'm announcing that it's time to start taking nominations for the first annual Suppan-Weaver awards.
A little background....
Jeff Suppan and Jeff Weaver both had good-to-great postseasons last year for the St. Louis Cardinals. Jeff Suppan, despite not being very good in the division series or World Series, pitched two gems against the New York Mets in the National League Championship Series, giving up one run in fifteen innings. For the postseason, he posted a 1.43 ERA (compared to a 4.12 ERA during the regular season).
His reward? The biggest contract in Milwaukee Brewers history... 4 years, $42 million.
He has started off his contract by going 12-12 with a 4.62 ERA.
Jeff Weaver is an even more amazing story. Between the Los Angeles Angels and St. Louis Cardinals during the regular season, he posted an astounding, PH4H MVP candidate worthy 5.79 ERA in 31 starts. In the postseason, he posted a 2.47 ERA, winning games in the Division Series, Championship Series and World Series.
His reward? A one year, $8.3 million contract with the Seattle Mariners. His 2007 performance? 7-13 with a 6.20 ERA. PH4H MVP candidate numbers yet again!
So who's the leading candidate for the 2007 Suppan-Weaver award? Right now, the frontrunner is none other than former National Livan Hernandez. He went 11-11 with a 4.93 ERA for the Diamondbacks in the regular season, and has given up one run in six innings (a 1.50 ERA) so far in the postseason. He's a free agent.
. . .courtesy of Slate:
"Doug Mientkiewicz: greatest Mientkiewicz in baseball history, or just the latest in a long line of great baseball Mientkiewiczes?"
Many fashion experts feel that the Diamondbacks' success can be attributed to the team's offseason decision to change from a calming purple/teal color scheme to a more robust Sedona red. Many fashion experts also feel that slimming vertical stripes and a sassy green fedora would look great on Bob Wickman.
I propose PH4H sponsor a meaningless best-of-7 postseason series between the New York Mets and the San Diego Padres, both of whom overcame remarkable opportunity and talent to miss the playoffs. Yes, I know they're both NL teams. Doesn't matter. This is PH4H.
This makes me laugh.
But it's not quite as funny as the one I took a picture of last Sunday at the final game at RFK:
From a Cardinals blog I read...
During last night's game, the ladyfriend suggested that, in addition to the standard bobblehead nights, that the Cardinals should open next season with a commemorative Kip Wells punching bag handed out to the first 20,000 fans entering Busch opening day next year.
I've broken into the ranks of Washington Post Style Invitational Losers! Look for the report from Week 728, then under letter "D" (on page 2).
Under the heading of "meaningless statistic of the week," DCist revealed that Washington left fielders are second in the National League in being hit by pitches with 13 -- which does tend to support their observation that, "There really isn't a lot to find about a team that is 70-87 and has 5 games left to play."
Today, a bunch of us went to the last baseball game at RFK Stadium, which was great. But it won't be my favorite memory of the place.
And, although they were all fantastic, my favorite memory has nothing to do with Opening Day 2005, the 10 game winning streak in June, 2005, Ramon Ortiz's near-no hitter (and home run) on Labor Day, 2006, or even Zimm's walk off 3-run home run against the Yankees earlier that season.
No, my favorite RFK memory is this, as retold by Dan:
Another example of why the Yankees are baseball's "Evil Empire"... Yankee OF Shelley Duncan wrote "Red Sox Suck" when signing his autograph for a 10-year old Red Sox fan. What's next- beating up old ladies?
Nothing says "Rosh Hashanah" like sushi and karaoke. For those who missed it, you missed . . . well, you missed a three-quarters-empty Karaoke Idol. Which meant that those of us who wanted to sing got to sing a lot of songs, including a duet by Justin and yours truly.
Too bad I forgot the camera this time. But it was something like this, only with different songs and fewer people.
September means baseball pennant fever, so I think it's time to draw everyone's attention to a truly PH4h-worthy race- the race for the #1 draft pick. Baseball America is tracking this "race" as teams jockey to see who will have the chance to draft first in next year's amateur draft. The prize? Vanderbilt's 3B Pedro Alvarez is considered to be a super-prospect. As of yesterday morning, the Devil Rays were just ahead of the Marlins and White Sox for the lead, with the Orioles, Astros, Royals, and Pirates closing in fast. Who will have the most losses? Stay tuned!
. . . Man Wielding Hammer Robs Three People in D.C.
Alas, it's not M.C. Hammer.
Salon posted a list of the 18 greatest Jewish baseball players of all time. It's interesting reading.
If you haven't done so already, watch the Hipster Olympics video. Then you'll understand.
Liz goes to law school with this guy. The whole thing is probably funnier if you went to law school or are going now. You know who you are.
A bar in Seattle has a drink special that is true to the spirit of PH4H...
It's called Cheap Sex Mondays. Don't worry. It's not what you think.
On Mondays, the bar serves beer for the price of Richie Sexson's batting average. So, for example, This past Monday, when Richie was batting .212, a beer cost $2.12. On April 30, the low point of Richie's season, you could get a beer for $1.45.
You know it's a good day when your closer is singing, as opposed to blowing a 4-run lead:
Come one, come all to the 3rd year of the PH4H Fantasy Football League, "Who Let the Vicks Out?" Sign up here. League ID is 486081, password is "dogfighting". As usual, it's a "reverse" league- you get points for negative things happening (INTs, fumbles, etc.) and lose points for positive things (TDs, shutouts, etc.).
You can also join the more standard fantasy format here. League ID is 487040, password is "suspended".
The Mariner Moose, mascot of the Seattle Mariners, crashed his All Terrain vehicle into Boston Red Sox outfielder Coco Crisp in the middle of the 5th inning in Sunday's game. The Mariners have decided that the Moose will not be disciplined.
ESPN named its All-Bizarre Injury Team:
Manager: Roger Craig (Giants)
Cut his hand on a bra strap ... though we're guessing that's pain he played through.
Catcher: Mickey Tettleton (Tigers)
Once missed action with athlete's foot ... caused by tying his shoes too tight.
First Base: Ryan Klesko (Braves)
Once overexerted himself and pulled a muscle ... while picking up his lunch tray.
Second Base: Bret Barberie (Marlins)
Missed a game after rubbing chili juice in his eye ... probably after getting stuck behind John Kruk in morning stretches.
Shortstop: Rey Quinones (Seattle)
Once was unavailable for pinch hitting duty, because he had already returned to the clubhouse ... to play Nintendo.
Third Base: Wade Boggs (Red Sox)
Injured himself while pulling on his cowboy boots.
Outfield: Kevin Mitchell (Mets/Giants)
The master of all bizarre injuries, he once injured himself while eating a cupcake. That, of course, was when he wasn't missing games because of vomiting -induced muscle strains, or strained eyelids.
Outfield: Ken Griffey, Jr. (Mariners)
Missed a game after suffering a pinched testicle from his protective cup ... which explains why the whole "pain in the butt" thing just isn't phasing Jr.
Outfield: Oddibe McDowell (Rangers)
Yet another sad story of a baseball toughman getting taken out by food, he sliced his hand at the Texas welcome home luncheon while attempting to butter his roll.
Designated Hitter: Glenallen Hill (Blue Jays)
Went on the DL because of cuts suffered after smashing a glass table while dreaming he was being attacked by spiders ... anyway, that's his story, and he's sticking to it.
Bench: Terry Harper (Braves)
Separated his shoulder while waving a teammate home and subsequently high-fiving him.
Bench: Rickey Henderson (Blue Jays)
Missed a game because of frostbite ... in August.
Bench: Mark Smith (Orioles)
Injured his hand after sticking it in an air conditioner to "find out why it wasn't working."
Bench: Jose Cardenal (Cubs)
Missed a game in 1974 because he couldn't blink.
Bench: George Brett (Royals)
Broke his toe on a chair at his home while running from the kitchen to the TV to watch Bill Buckner hit.
Bench: Vince Coleman (Cardinals)
Missed the 1985 World Series after getting rolled up in the tarp machine.
Starting pitcher: John Smoltz (Braves)
Once burned his chest while ironing a shirt ... which he was still wearing.
Starting pitcher: Tom Glavine (Braves)
Redefining the phrase "star hurler," he broke a rib in 1992 after vomiting up airplane food.
Starting pitcher: Nolan Ryan (Astros)
Missed a start after being bitten on his hand ... by a coyote.
Starting pitcher: Carlos Perez (Expos)
Broke his nose in a car accident ... while trying to pass the team bus.
Starting pitcher: Doc Gooden (Mets)
Missed a start when Vince Coleman accidentally struck him with a golf club in the clubhouse.
Middle reliever: Steve Sparks (Brewers)
Dislocated his shoulder attempting to tear a phone book in half.
Middle reliever: Charlie Hough (Rangers)
Once broke his pinky ... shaking hands -- pinky shaking, that is.
Middle reliever: Ricky Bones (Marlins)
Went on the disabled list in 2000 after injuring himself while changing channels on the clubhouse TV.
Middle reliever: Greg Harris (Rangers)
Injured his wrist while flicking sunflower seeds in the dugout
Closer: Jason Isringhausen (Athletics)
Broke his hand while punching a trash can just weeks after stabbing himself in the leg trying to open a package.
As many of you probably guessed, I spent somewhere around 10 hours of my weekend watching my beloved Cardinals get swept by the Nationals.
But all is not lost, clearly the highlight of the weekend is when, down 12-1 in the 8th inning, I got to watch Cardinals reserve infielder Aaron Miles make his pitching debut. And he was clearly the Cardinals best pitcher of the night, pitching a 1-2-3, eight-picth inning.
This is not the first time Tony La Russa has used this strategy... I know of at least 4 other times Tony has brought in position players during blowouts to eat up innings.
Here are some comparative stats....
Gary Gaetti, 1997.... 0.3 innings, one hit allowed, no walks, no earned runs.
Gary Gaetti, 1998.... 1 inning pitched, two hits allowed, no walks, no earned runs.
Gaetti also apparently pitched an inning for the Cubs in 1999.
Bobby Bonilla, 2001.... One inning, three hits, one walk, two earned runs. The two runs came via a home run by Erubiel Durazo.
Cody McKay, 2004.... Two innings, no hits, one walk, no earned runs.
Scott Speizio, 2007.... One inning pitched, no hits, one walk, no earned runs.
Pretty good track record for the Cards position player-ptichers! Although none of them ever recorded a strikeout.
Ruh-ro. Looks like Neifi's in some serious trouble. And it's not like it's helping his numbers:
The 34-year-old Perez is hitting .172 with one homer and six RBIs in 64 at-bats for the defending AL champions.
Thought this warrented being a post rather than a comment.
8 runs apiece for 2 pitchers in an inning is nice, but how bout this stat line from a game where Jason Jennings of the Astros gave up 11 runs in the first inning?
2/3 IP, 8 H, 11 R, 11 ER, 3 BB, 0 K, 2 HR, 39 pitches to give up the 11 runs.
PH4H doesn't need an Inning of the Year, you say?
I would have thought the same thing, but then came the second inning of today's Yankees-White Sox game, when Roger Clemens and Jon Garland gave up 8 runs apiece.
Today's Onion sports section is ridiculously PH4H-like. Especially the part about Craig Biggio.
In honor of all the recent "asterisk talk" around baseball, the Hagerstown Suns will host Asterisk Night tonight. The promotion includes a special where hot dogs will be priced at $7.56 and immediately discounted to $3. Barry Bonds has no comment.
Oh, Dmitri . . . how we'll miss you.
Wait, what's that you say? Dmitri might not be leaving? Well, it certainly sucks for Nick Johnson, but it looks like the fan favorite and frequent triples-hitting threat (I think Dan should buy me a steak dinner!) might be sticking around. I for one welcome this as good news. It'd be no fun to open a new stadium if we didn't want to root for any of the players (because we didn't know who they were, of course). Now, if only the pitchers would stick around a little while.
CORRECTION: Nick Johnson will be fine. Apparently, Young will be moving to left field (I should read the whole article before I post things).
All the cool kids are doing it, so should you!
http://mediabistro.com/articles/poll/000403/
And I just made my second post EVER on the PH4H Blog! Whoo hoo!
For our yet-to-be-scheduled First Annual PH4H Fundraising Banquet/Reception, I think we ought to have celebrity appearences. These people probably shouldn't cost us too much. And some of them aren't very busy these days, either.
Amy and I just returned from Israel, and on our first night at the kibbutz, we went to the kibbutz cafe with some fellow archaelogical dig participants. We discovered that the kibbutz cafe was actually a non-kosher Argentinian style restaurant specializing in empanadas. So the next time you're in Israel, stop by Kibbutz Revadim (about halfway between Jerusalem and Tel Aviv) for all your empanada bet payoffs!
Love bacon, but keep Kosher? Or vegetarian? Or watching your weight?
This could be the product for you.
Bacon Salt.
It's Kosher. It's vegetarian. It has zero calories. And it can make everything taste like bacon.
What would you look like as a Simpson?
This is me:
Make your own and post it below, like we did with South Park.
"The Modernist Society is a celebration of multidisciplinary hedonistic individuals," founder Jason Mojica explains by e-mail. "We mix business with pleasure. We combine brain-stimulating activities with brain-destroying ones. Our evening is for people who are, for all intents and purposes, extraordinary nerds who are just as comfortable quoting Jung as showing a little skin and dancing their ass off."
(I learn something new every day in the local paper.)
Emergency in New York City, where my sister lived until a few months ago: a steam pipe exploding.
Emergency in Brattleboro, Vt., where she lives now: naked people.
Prior to the All-Star break, I think I would have agreed with this statement, but I'm not so sure anymore. The Yanks are now 48-44, have won 5 in a row and sit just 7 back in the AL East. They play something like their first 28 games after the All-Star break against teams that are under .500 for the season, and have 6 games with Boston over the last month or so of the season. It pains me to say it, but I think this one ends up closer than the PH4H experts think, with the Yankees edging closer over July and August before battling it out with Boston down the stretch.
MY PREDICTION: A-Rod far surpasses 500 homeruns (won't be too hard for him to get to 500, but can we say 520 by season's end?) this season and wins the MVP when the Yankees overtake Boston in the AL East and head into the playoffs as the hottest team in baseball.
I think I'm going to vomit . . .
Jason speculated the other day that 48 year old Julio Franco's career may be over....
But it's not. He has signed with the Braves.
It wasn't that long ago that animal rights wackos used to spray paint fur coats.
To all that miss those times, I offer you this. Poor guy . . .
Find out here.
Mine totally sucks. It sucks so much that I have never even heard of it before: "Fly, Robin, Fly" by Silver Convention.
In today's Post, Barry Larkin says of the Nationals roster: "All the guys, with the exception of Dmitri, are fairly young." That's right: Young is old, everyone who is not Young is young.
For starters, let me say that I refuse to bid a fond farewell to a player more than once (see, for instance, Michael Jordan's retirements). Why can't there be more John Elways in the world? Go out on top and then don't make me hear from you again.
No, Roger has to keep coming back for assloads of money that no one has any business in making, and to top it off, he doesn't even deserve it anymore. I don't care about ERA's or strikeouts, but if you're making MORE THAN A MILLION DOLLARS PER GAME, then your teams should fare better than a 12-13 record (10-9 in his starts with Houston last season, and 2-4 with the Yankees this season).
In other news, the Mets have released Julio Franco. At age 48, the man who would never retire (let alone do it more than once) may finally have come to the end of the road.
Since I'm bored at work, I decided to create the first (I think) PH4H poll.
With the Nationals about as far back in their division as the Red Sox are ahead in theirs, how long do you think it'll take for the Red Sox to clinch the AL East?
Go vote!
For all those keeping score at home, the other day, I posted this:
http://ph4h.blogspot.com/2007/07/bogus-ultimate-home-run-derby.html
"Furthermore, how do you rank A-Rod so low? He's got 494 homeruns at age 31. Hell, at age 31, Bonds had like 50!!! Not really, but in all seriousness, if A-Rod gets out of New York, with all its distractions, then I think there's a good chance Bonds doesn't stay on top of the career homeruns list for very long. If A-Rod played 6 more seasons until he was 38 or so and averaged 35 homeruns a year (plus the 20 more I'll give him credit for during the rest of this season), he'd finish his career with 724. But if, like Bonds, he doesn't actually start hitting with power until he's 35 . . . well, then I think he finishes his career with like 1000 homeruns!"
Today, ESPN weighed in, stating that "The talk will be about Bonds as long as he hits home runs or, in Selig's best-case scenario, the feds come to the rescue. But eventually Rodriguez will overtake Bonds in national attention and, of course, home runs. It's inevitable . . . Rodriguez already has 494 career homers. Six more and he becomes the youngest player to reach 500."
http://http://sports.espn.go.com/espn/columns/story?columnist=wojciechowski_gene&id=2932348&sportCat=mlb
It seems, given the likelihood of the Brewers making the postseason for the first time since they lost to the Cardinals in the 1982 World Series....
Thousands of Brewers are saying they will pee their pants if they make it to the playoffs this year. In fact, they're pledging to do so.
PH4Hers,
I'm sorry it took me so long to get this up here, but I can't say I've done a lot of blogging in the world. As my time at works winds down, I may do a little more. For all who have participated in PH4H sports over the years, you should get a kick out of this one. Straight from the Washington Post itself:
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2007/06/30/AR2007063000729.html
The Anti-All Star team. Those players who the Post would pick for PH4H.
In an older thread (http://ph4h.blogspot.com/2006/04/ph4h-betting-manifesto.html), Dara kindly posted the rules of the road for PH4H Betting. I'd like to say that there was a new incarnation of a PH4H bet last week, where in lieu of an empanada or a steak dinner, I offered Dan just a steak if Carlos Zambrano no-hit the Nationals (turned out to be a very short-lived bet, but oh well). Upon realizing that I offered only a steak, Dara and Justin quickly tossed in side dishes for Dan's steak dinner.
I believe that these sorts of bets should be deemed Collective Unilateral Bets, whereby groups of people offer items that together make up the entire bet. As PH4H is all about charity and the homeless (and, of course, empanadas), it's only proper that we save each other money with collective betting.
So ESPN is running this poll to see who wins their "Ultimate Home Run Derby." You can vote here: http://sports.espn.go.com/chat/sportsnation/listranker?id=722. Now, since I have nothing better to do, I went ahead and voted and was very disturbed by the results.
At this point, the voters have returned this list:
1. Babe Ruth
2. Ken Griffey Jr.
3. Hank Aaron
4. Barry Bonds
5. Mark McGwire
6. Mickey Mantle
7. Alex Rodriguez
8. Willie Mays
Are you kidding me? Willy Mays at #8? The man hit 660 homeruns, after spending the first couple years of his career in the Negro Leagues and after losing another year and a half to serve in the Army in '52 and '53. What's more is he was never on the juice.
Furthermore, how do you rank A-Rod so low? He's got 494 homeruns at age 31. Hell, at age 31, Bonds had like 50!!! Not really, but in all seriousness, if A-Rod gets out of New York, with all its distractions, then I think there's a good chance Bonds doesn't stay on top of the career homeruns list for very long. If A-Rod played 6 more seasons until he was 38 or so and averaged 35 homeruns a year (plus the 20 more I'll give him credit for during the rest of this season), he'd finish his career with 724. But if, like Bonds, he doesn't actually start hitting with power until he's 35 . . . well, then I think he finishes his career with like 1000 homeruns!
Sitting at the Cubs game, I mean Nationals game, the other night, we started making a list of cool things we've experienced in baseball, and a wonderful trip down memory lane ensued. After getting a suggestion that I make a top 10 list and deciding that I am incapable of coming up with 10 things, I offer instead my top baseball memory.
Just for the record, a close second has to be Randy Johnson basically blowing up a bird with a fastball. My favorite though was when Robin Ventura got his butt whooped by Nolan Ryan. It's bad enough to get hit by a pitch, but to charge the mound and then have the pitcher leave you bloody and beaten, that's just gotta be demoralizing.
Jim Bowden couldn't have said this any better, regarding Colome's injury: "It's a serious situation," Bowden said. "We pray for his buttocks and his family." That's in today's Post.
Brian Fuentes, an actual All Star, has been demoted from the Rockies closer position after blowing 4 straight saves. The All Star game might be a little awkward for him.
I never thought I'd be so sad about this:
Washington Nationals shortstop Cristian Guzman, enjoying a renaissance year after two years of injuries and poor performance, is likely out for the remainder of the season after he injured his left thumb in Sunday's victory over the Cleveland Indians. Manager Manny Acta said this afternoon here that Guzman underwent surgery to repair ligaments in his thumb this afternoon, and that "there is a chance" he might come back later this season, but several club officials believe that's unlikely.
You know your team is bad when the 85,000 bobbleheads they order up are of the racing presidents. Rejected idea: the Dmitri Young bobblebelly (though a Google search for "bobblebelly" reveals that Screech has one).
Here's the second annual PH4H All-Star Ballot:
This year, instead of going with the points leaders for the league, we passed the ballot around at tonight's Nationals game, and chose players based on a simple theme -- "disappointment." And generally speaking, that's the spirit of the whole league anyway.
Here are our choices:
National League:
Ryan Zimmerman has been writing a weekly column for The Examiner documenting this season.
I wonder what he's going to say about yesterday's 15-1 loss to the Tigers.
An Orioles fan posted this on the Orioles Hangout message board. It's what a recent O's (or Nats, or Cubs...) game report might look like using Mad Libs:
The Orioles were (past tense verb) today by the (other team name). Despite the (adjective) effort of (Orioles starting pitcher), (adjective) hitting and (adjective) relief pitching doomed the team to its (number) loss in a row. Though the Orioles opened up an early lead due to a/an (noun) by (Orioles hitter), (Other Orioles hitter) grounded into (number) double plays in (same number) consecutive at-bats, stranding a total of (number) men on base. The bottom (number) spots of the batting order went a combined 0-for-(number) in/with (crucial game situation). Though the Orioles had an (adjective) (number)-(number) lead after the sixth inning, manager Sam Perlozzo pulled (Orioles starting pitcher) after a/an (adjective) error allowed (opposing team player) to reach base, despite his having thrown only (number) pitches. (Orioles relief pitcher) entered the game and (adverb) surrendered (number) consecutive walks followed by a/an (adjective) home run by (another opposing team player), which put the (other team name) ahead for good, (number)-(number). Despite a/an (adjective) comeback attempt, including a (promising game situation) in the bottom of the ninth, Jay Gibbons (past tense unspectacular and demoralizing way to lose a game). When asked about his (adjective) reasons for removing (Orioles starting pitcher) from the game, Sam Perlozzo replied, “(stereotypical baseball analogy).” Having gone 0-4 in the game, (Yet another Orioles player)’s batting average drops to .(number). Game time: (time). Attendance: (number).
I submitted a "musically challenged" trivia segment that was used on the latest episode of Coverville. You can hear me try to stump the Brian and Tina at the 29:20 mark of the newest episode.
Belgium's Prime Minister has resigned, and it is expected to be awhile before a new coalition government is formed. In a country where half the nation speaks French and the other half speaks Dutch, is it any wonder they're having trouble forming a government?
The article also mentions that the former Belgian National Judo coach was elected to Parliament. I wouldn't want to go up against him in any parliamentary debates!
A dozen Annapolis, MD, police officers raided the wrong apartment yesterday, kicking down the door, setting off a percussion grenade, and kicking a man in the groin before realizing their mistake. Said the Annapolis mayor in response, "This is not good."
Someone at work forwarded this to me. I thought it was funny an the guy next to me actually laughed out loud
I got this letter on Friday, but it seems awfully ironic after today's events.
Leave it to ESPN to make light of the whole thing. In particular, this struck me as funny:
From a Baltimore Sun article about the health risks from grilling:
"Roger Clemens, a spokesman for the Institute of Food Technologists and professor of molecular pharmacology and toxicology at the University of Southern California, says he is similarly unconvinced...."
I know Roger Clemens is a future Hall of Famer, but I didn't know he was that talented.... You'd think with $18 million a year from the Yankees he'd have enough money without taking a second job. :-)
My mom just forwarded me a list of Haikus for Jews. Here's a sampling:
On Passover we
opened the door for Elijah.
Now our cat is gone.
Today I am a man.
Tomorrow I will return
to the seventh grade.
The same kimono
the top geishas are wearing:
I got it at Loehmann's.
The shivah visit:
so sorry about your loss.
Now back to my problems.
Mom, please! There is no
need to put that dinner roll
in your pocketbook.
Seven-foot Jews in
the NBA slam-dunking!
My alarm clock rings.
Quietly murmured
at Saturday Synagogue services,
Yanks 5, Red Sox 3.
We here at the Chicago Cubs would like you to know that we are constantly striving to raise the bar on our own futility. For example, why waste time giving up a walk-off walk when we could have a walk-off hit-the-guy?
Think there's nowhere to go from here? Just wait. Perhaps you'll be a lucky fan at the game where we give up a walk-off balk or walk-off swinging-strike-three wild pitch. Buy your tickets now!
Check out http://mattchicorules.blogspot.com/.
It is laugh-out-loud funny.
For those who haven't received it yet (which is all club members except Dara)... the May CD is indeed ready... It's actually been ready for a while... with moving and everything I haven't distributed them yet. Plus, I plan on doing a little explanation of the CD on the blog. I'm out of town this weekend, but I'm willing to make arrangements to get the CD to you by next Thursday and thus meet the May 31 deadline.
An SUV crashed into a Baltimore-area Starbucks today, striking an outdoor table and then crashing through the front window of the store. I've heard of a "drive-in" restaurant, but I think this is taking that concept a little too far....
I heard this mentioned on sports radio yesterday and thought it was a very PH4H-worthy topic...
Apparently when a batter strikes out 4 times on a given day, this is referred to as the "Golden Sombrero."
The term originates from the fact that "hat trick" is associated with the number 3, so if you strike out 4 times, you need a bigger hat.
If you strike out 5 times in a game, as Andruw Jones did on Sunday, this is referred to as the "platinum sombrero."
A player who strike out six times recieves the "titanium sombrero" or the "horn." This feat has been accomplished 7 times, but never in a 9 inning game.
No one has ever struck out more than 6 times in a single game.
Wikipedia has a list of all platinum and titanium sombrero receipients. Amazingly, no National has received one yet.
First it was flight simulators, now it's paper airplane simulators. Good luck!
This is an actual email sent by the Mid-Atlantic Sports Network (MASN), the Baltimore Orioles' tv network:
Corey Patterson
AL leader in sacrifice bunts.
Some call it small ball.
Corey calls it smart ball.
Patterson and the Orioles take on the Washington Nationals starting Friday.
Sacrifice bunts... yeah that makes for great, entertaining tv....
Yahoo is trying to build on Jeff's AP headline...
Yankees' Wang hit hard by Rangers
At least when the Nationals practically assured a loss May 5 by walking in 3 runs in the 3rd inning, my other team benefited. You know, the one that lost May 14 by giving up a walk-off walk.
Washington D.C. - At approximately 1:07 pm on Monday May 14, 2007 at the Elephant and Castle Pub 1201 Pennsylvania Ave. NW, the day formerly known as Steve Day was renamed Yom Hashlomo. This takes the founder's once embarrassing Hebrew name and breathes new life into it. There was talk of making it a PH4H holiday or rather THE PH4H holiday. Perhaps there will be a vote on that at the next PH4H International Conference. There has been some discussion as to the late announcement of Yom Hashlomo this year. The founder only decided this past Thursday to designate May 14 as this year's date. Perhaps, future observances should be planned for the next 10 years. Also, the founder suggests that these dates be sent to major calendars manufacturers for inclusion in the standard American calendar. The founder stated, "If some calendars can include Mexican Mother's Day, they sure as hell could add Yom Hashlomo."
The second annual celebration was a big success for the founder. He made this a green Yom Hashlomo by riding Metro bus and rail to the big city. He even received a free Metrobus transfer from a random, friendly Hispanic woman who spoke to him in Spanish. That was a pleasant turn of events for him. In addition, he met with a published novelist and fellow Jackson, Michigan native at GWU, Professor Faye Moskowitz. They had been trying to meet in person for approximately 5 years so it was satisfying to finally meet and chat. The founder returned via the Metro system. He retired for a quiet evening at home. Asked about the turn of events that led to the renaming of the holiday, the founder responded, "At first I thought Yom Hashlom would be funnier because it rhymed, but you really can't beat Yom Hashlomo. I mean Shlomo is just funny."
From the AP's game preview of the Kansas City Royals-L.A. Angels matchup: Royals to Get a Taste of Angels' Colon.
This really cool NASA simulator lets you "hit" a homerun in different weather and park conditions. Just pick your ballpark (Denver, Baltimore, Cleveland, Mt. Everest, Mars, or the Moon); adjust the wind, ball speed, angle, and drag; pick your weather conditions (hot, cold, or the science geeks can pick their own weather settings); and swing away! My homerun in normal weather conditions on the moon went over 4000 feet. :-)
Mmm, it's close to lunch time, and all I can think about is a Kool-Aid dill. Maybe for dessert I'll dunk Oreos in Miller Lite.
So I was off of work yesterday and Amy had a Professional Day, so we went to lunch at an Argentinian restaurant in Rockville, El Patio. We tried the empanadas (Amy had, somehow, never had an empanada in her life), and they were excellent. The rest of the food- tortillas, quiches, and other Argentinian dishes- is really good (and dirt cheap), too. And they accidentally gave us two free capuccinos (too bad I'm not a coffee drinker, but my maté was good). We definitely recommend this restaurant- Justin and Debby, it's right around the corner from where you're moving!
So, the Nationals traded Chris Snelling to get Ryan Langerhans. It's starting to look like Stan Kasten's big plan is to put together an entire team of Ryans -- although they'll have to get rid of the pair of Jesuses to do that.
I hope Ryan Howard is next. That would be some deal.
Debby traded her May CD to me for my August CD and two first round draft picks.
You can all look forward to my CD sometime in the next few weeks.
It takes 4 balls for a run of the mill baseball player to earn a walk.
For Albert? Only 3.
According to the New York Post, recently-divorced Philadelphia TV reporter Alycia Lane sent a series of private emails and racy photos of herself to NFL Network anchorman Rich Eisen. The only problems? Eisen is married, and Lane sent the emails to a joint account Eisen and his wife share. His wife, Suzy Shuster, a college football sideline reporter for ABC, intercepted the emails and wrote a sarcastic reply to Lane. If you're going to flirt with a married man, don't send the email to the joint account he shares with his wife!
I just received my March CD from my (other) CD Klub (so you shouldn't feel bad, Steve), which made me remember our recent discussion about pushing back our calendar. I think this makes sense. That means the rest of the exchange will be as follows, unless anyone wants to switch months, which is fine by me:
Debby - May
Inbal - June
Gershon - July
Justin - August
As much as I have been enjoying our CDs, I have to say that the Klub (which has been in existance longer) is really setting the bar high. This month I received 3 typed pages detailing why each song was chosen, often with an amusing anecdote or explanation. This follows the PowerPoint presentation that accompanied another CD, explaining the correlation between recent life events and chosen songs. Both of these masterpieces are available upon request. Now, let's be clear, I only provide a list of artists and songs and feel pretty good about myself for even managing that. So I'm not chiding. I'm just saying there is something greater out there to aspire to.
Jerome Williams is showing he is a true Washington National....
1) Pitch poorly as oftens as possible.
2) When you do give up only 1 hit in 6 innings, make sure the team loses anyway.
3) Go on the disabled list the next day.
Jason Bergmann showed his commitment to the Nationals yesterday as well, giving up two hits in seven innings and losing the game. However, he hasn't been pitching poorly enough in general and is yet to get injured this year, so I question his true commitment to the team.
From today's Norm Chad column in the Post, a fan asks, "Since NFL teams are always drafting for their biggest needs, why didn't the Bengals select a criminal law attorney?"
71-year old Hall of Famer Sandy Koufax! And it's not an old timers league...
Remember this Onion headline from last year? In retrospect, it's not too far from the truth.
Poor Dan. It's gotta be hard to root for the Cubs and the Nats.
Remember Curt Schilling's bloody sock from the 2004 World Series? According to Orioles' tv announcer, Gary Thorne, it was a fake. Thorne said during last night's Orioles-Red Sox telecast that Red Sox catcher Doug Mirabelli told him recently that the blood wasn't real and that they'd used red paint to imitate blood. Now Mirabelli and Schilling vehemently deny this. So who's lying?
The Baltimore Orioles committed 3 errors last night against the Tampa Bay Devil Rays. On one play. First time since 1998 (Houston Astros) that's happened. But the O's still came back from being down 6 runs to win.
This article shows that it's not just the Nats that suck lately in DC... Are this year's collection of DC pro sports teams the worst collection for a city ever?
This is the subject line of an email that I (and some of you I'm sure) just got from the Nationals:
Nationals Insider: Acta, Bowden stay the course; Braves, Phillies up next
You know the Nationals are in trouble when they're borrowing phrases from Bush's foreign policy speeches.
As rough as it is being a Nats fan these days, at least the games were played this week.
In addition to the four consecutive snow-outs in Cleveland, their game in Boston was rained out tonight.
The Mariners just finished a seven game road trip in which two games were played.
The violin story that Dan posted is very interesting, but last month, Gene Weingarten addressed a topic that's of significantly more import to this blog: Stupid sports bets -- in particular Gene's bet to Dave Barry that if he took a year off and practiced all day, every day, he could defeat the NBA's best free-throw shooter.
From MLB.com's description of tonight's 8-0 loss to the Braves...
Errors loom large in loss
By Bill Ladson / MLB.com
Matt Chico may have taken the loss after Tuesday's shutout at the hands of the Braves, but the defeat may be attributed more to the Nationals' defense than to their starter. Chico was changed with four runs, but only one of them was earned, after Dmitri Young and Ronnie Belliard committed errors.
Today's merciful day off provides a chance to reflect on the first week of the season. So far their record is holding: the Nationals are 1-0 in games in which no one could use our tickets, and 0-6 in games we attended. Clearly we should stop going, except when the Cubs are in town.
There are a couple of bright spots: At no point this season will the Nationals lose to the Yankees on a game-ending grand slam. And, as Andy said after the game yesterday, the Nationals now have 6 straight games where they will not trail going into the bottom of the 1st inning. (They've trailed after half an inning in 5 of the 7 games so far.)
Andy and I decided that because the team is so bad, we are going to keep a separate, "shadow" record for them: any time they lose by fewer than 3 runs, we're calling it a win. Sadly, they still might finish under .500; right now they're 3-4.
I was at the Nats' loss to Arizona on Saturday night in frigid temperatures. In the 5th or 6th inning, a guy hits a foul popup to first that Nats' first baseman Dmitri Young chases to the dugout area, but he only makes a half-hearted attempt to reach it and can't catch it. A fan near me yells, "If that was a buffet, you would've caught it!"
Just got back from spending my Passover seders in Chicago. Let's run down a checklist of how my travel went:
On the bright side, the seders were wonderful and the time in Chicago was refreshing (despite not having any luggage for 2 days). And I did convince American to throw in a $50 voucher for my luggage issues.
Happy Passover to all!
From my weekly deals e-mail from Northwest Airlines:
Ready for some family-sized savings on family-fun vacations? For a limited time, you can save as much as $300 on trips to Orlando and the Tampa area, South Dakota, Hawaii, Mexico, and Jamaica with NWA WorldVacations.
Hmm ... Hawaii vs. South Dakota ... hmmmmm.
West Virgina's coach, John Beilein, has bolted the program for the Michigan head coaching position.
Wise move on his part, if you ask me. While he did take his team to NIT glory, it was kind of a fluke. West Virgina isn't going to get chances like this every year. Michigan, on the other hand, is a legitimate contender for the NIT championship every year.
So Aaron won. And Andy lost. But we knew that.
What we didn't know then was that Steve -- thanks to Ohio State's win over Georgetown -- was able to hold off Dan's challenge for second place.
Here are the final standings:
There are prizes for first and last -- and they're really funny. Of course, they're intended to be legacies and to be passed on to next year's winner/loser.
So, West Virginia won the NIT, and they got t-shirts:
Look carefully, though -- there's a small problem with those t-shirts:
The "West Virginia" printed on the shirts players wore after winning the NIT title with a 78-73 victory over Clemson on Thursday night is missing the last "i" in "Virginia."
Ongoing divorce proceedings between New York Yankees' owner George Steinbrenner's daughter Jennifer and her husband, Steve Swindal, could rock the Yankee hierarchy. Swindal was set to inherit the Yankees from Steinbrenner, but now it's up for grabs. Could there be an internal war?
. . . or it's going to be a really long year.
King Kaufman on the National League East:
You won't have to imagine the Washington Nationals losing 90 games. They could take care of that by Labor Day. Just about the only reason to watch this team is third baseman Ryan Zimmerman. The Nationals will have a significant number of games started this year by pitchers who wouldn't earn a single start with a single other team, including Pittsburgh.
But it's not all bad news in Washington.
Oh wait. Yes it is.
Predicted finish: Philadelphia, Atlanta (wild card), New York, Florida, Grand Canyon, Marianas Trench, Washington
I already put this in the comments of Dara's post (well, after a couple corrections)....
But Aaron is the 2007 PH4H NCAA pool champion. He has 218 points currently, and the most possible by anyone else is Steve, with 220 points possible. But Steve and Aaron both have Florida winning in the next round, so in order for Steve to get his 220 points, Aaron will get more than 220 points.
Congrats to Aaron!
Minor League Baseball is doing a NCAA tourney-like bracket, Moniker Madness, to determine the best all-time name in all of MiLB (current and past players). Among the contestants: Winter Polo, Gil Gil, Bronson Kiheimahanaomauiakeo Sardinha, and Jorge Poo Tang. You can see the entire bracket and vote here on the Sweet 16 matchups.
This weekend's games are over, and the final four is now set: Florida, Georgetown, Ohio State, and UCLA.
Our standings are as follows:
Check back after next week's games for another update.
Funny Quote of the Day - Tommy Bolin - "The best money I made was panhandling."
Evidently the postal service is teaming up with the Force. You know, I thought the FedEx guy looked like Darth Vader. www.uspsjedimaster.com.
Well, the NIT might not be over -- but our competition is. Almost everyone picked Syracuse to win, and, as you may or may not know, Syracuse got eliminated last night. So, as a result, no one has any active picks left in this game.
For the record, the NIT seeding strategists must be brilliant. I mean, who would have guessed that the final four would consist of all four 1-seeds?
Anyway, here are the final point totals:
Jeff: 31 (20 correct picks)
Bo: 23 (18)
Justin: 22 (15)
Andy: 21 (16)
Jon: 20 (16)
Dan: 16 (13)
Dara: 15 (13)
Jeff will receive the "Gary Williams Memorial NIT trophy" sometime soon.*
Man, I can't wait for next year, so that we can attempt this excercise in futility yet again.
*Per Justin's suggestion, the trophy is named after the Maryland coach, who, last year complained about missing the NCAA tournament, having to play in the NIT, and mid-majors in general -- and then proceeded to lose to Manhattan. This year, his team lost to another mid-major in the NCAA tournament.
So, for those of you that haven't read my blog in a while, I was nominated in, and have now made it to the finals of a contest on the Best DC Blog site.
I need all the help I can get to win, so vote for me in the poll.
Even though I said I wouldn't update again until the end of the NIT quarterfinals tonight, I thought I should provide this little bit of information, since none of us had Mississippi State or West Virginia in our final four -- or championship game. (Stupid 'Noles.)
As a result of this development, Jeff will ultimately be our winner.
And, for the record, the lowest seed still in the tournament is a 3-seed (DePaul).
Here is a breakdown of the possible points remaining:
Andy -- can still earn a total of 28 points, depending on how far Syracuse (2-seed) goes.
Bo -- same
Dan -- same
Dara -- totally out, ha ha. (Stupid 'Noles.)
Jeff -- can earn up to 28 points, depending on how far Syracuse goes, and can earn 4 if Air Force (1-seed) beats DePaul (3-seed) tonight.
Jon -- can earn 28 points, depending on how far Syracuse goes, and can earn 4 if DePaul beats Air Force tonight.
Justin -- can earn 4 points if Air Force beats Syracuse.
The second round of the NIT is complete -- and strangely enough, Jeff managed to get a perfect score in our challenge.
Our leaderboard is as follows:
Jeff -- 27 points -- and with all of his final four teams in play.
Bo -- 23 points -- with three of four.
Andy -- 21 points -- three of four.
Jon -- 20 points -- all four.
Justin -- 18 points -- two of four.
Dan -- 16 points -- two of four.
Dara -- 15 points -- one of four (and guess which school it is?).
Quarterfinals start today and end by Thursday. The next update will follow the completion of the round.
Well, so far, it's been a bad year for upsets -- and thus for our particular little tournament contest. As of the end of the first two rounds of the NCAA tournament, Aaron is well entrenched in first place, and Andy is in last place (not altogether unlike last year).
For the record, all of the Florida grads picked Florida to win -- and all (one) of the Wisconsin grads picked Wisconsin to win (even though he could have made the same argument for Illinois) but none of the Virginia or Maryland grads picked their respective schools. While that proved to be correct, I think it's kind of pathetic. Where's your school spirit, boys?
Anyway, here are the scores and number of correct picks:
1. Aaron 173 (38)
2. Steve 147 (35)
3. Justin 142 (32)
4. Caroline 139 (27)
4. Dan 139 (34)
6. Dara 138 (30)
7. Rachel 135 (32)
8. Andrea 133 (33)
9. Debby 128 (33)
10. Inbal 127 (31)
11. Jeff 126 (31)
12. Bo 120 (27)
13. Andy 106 (27)
There's still time though! Check back after next week's games for another update.
Sidney Ponson is pitching against the Orioles in an exhibition game today in Fort Lauderdale, FL. He's trying to make the Minnesota Twins' roster. Anyone for a Sir Sidney empanada bet?
The first round of the NIT is complete.
And in our challenge, the leaders, thus far, are the newcomers -- Bo has 13 points and Jon has 12. Andy, Jeff, and I are tied with 11, and Dan and Justin are in last place with 10.
Justin is, however, the only one to have correctly picked Marist.
(I have no idea what that means.)
The second round ends on March 19, so look for the next update on the 20th.
And, for the record, there is still 1 hour and 22 minutes for you to post your bracket for the regular (i.e. NCAA) tournament challenge at http://ph4h.mayhem.sportsline.com/e.
A few of us have filled out brackets for the Women's NIT, which expanded this year to include at least one team from every conference. E.g. Missouri, whose storybook season includes finishing 10th in the Big 12 and losing in the first round of the conference tournament. If you want to fill out a bracket and e-mail it to me, your deadline is 8 p.m., when the games begin.
