Fourth Annual PH4H NIT Pool Winner

The winner of the Fourth Annual PH4H Men's NIT Pick'em contest is . . . Jeff, with 16 correct picks for 22 points. No one picked Baylor vs. Penn State in the finals, so the scores did not change at all since last week.

Here's the final tally, in case anyone still cares.

1. Jeff: 16 correct picks, 22 points.
2. Justin: 15 correct picks, 21 points.
3. Dan: 14 correct picks, 17 points.
4. Dara: 13 correct picks, 17 points.

For the record, I keep the NIT score sheets in my office -- in a yellow manila file in my desk file drawer. One of these days, someone is going to need something, and I'm going to tell them to look in my desk, and they are going to find this file of old NIT brackets. I'm hopeful that it'll be someone with a good sense of humor, or at least an appreciation of the absurd.

This is Not from The Onion

This is a real headline from the Israeli newspaper Ha'aretz:

"Two Jews and a Black Man Help Phelps Fulfill Olympic Dream"

Carlos Delgado's Agent is a 9-Year Old?

Judging from this email exchange between Carlos Delgado's agent and a reporter, the 9-year old might be more mature.

Empanadas and the Economy

From the Express:

Rise of the Empanadas: Economy Down, Prices Up
IT'S A SIGN OF THE TIMES. As global food prices continue the rise and U.S. consumers worry about inflation, the price of one reliably low-cost snack has increased locally.

According to signs posted at local chain Julia's Empanadas, as of Monday, the price of the meat- and vegetable-filled pastries jumped by 23 cents, the first such increase in three years. So get ready to dig out some extra change for a saltenas empanada with chicken, potato, green peas, hard-boiled egg, green olives and onion, or a Chilean-style beef empanada with raisins, hard-boiled egg, onion and olives.

Perhaps such a price bump was inevitable as the nation frets about the state of the economy. As MSNBC reported late last month, the price of cheap eats — from pizza to bagels to even the famous "Recession Special" at Gray's Papaya in New York City — has been increasing.
And now, too, the simple empanada. Still, the stuffed pastry remains one of the cheapest options out there.

Trip Report from the Philippines and China

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).

Yankee Insults 10-Year Old Kid

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?

Race for the Bottom!

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!

PH4H Fantasy Football is Back!

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".

Watch Out for that Moose, Coco!

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.

Asterisk Night at the Ballpark

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.

Israeli Empanadas

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!

UCLA Signs 8th Grader

UCLA signed an 8th grader to play point guard... in 2011.

Orioles Mad Lib

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).

Belgian Waffle

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!

Can You Say Lawsuit?

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."

Roger Clemens, Scientist?

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. :-)

Haikus for Jews

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.

Someone really wanted that coffee...

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....

How Far Can You Throw a Paper Airplane?

First it was flight simulators, now it's paper airplane simulators. Good luck!

New Sports Marketing Technique

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....