Random weird video of the day

This is pretty cool.

Happy Birthday, Larry Legend

Wow, I'm old.

Megablog

I haven't written here much lately so I am going to group together a few topics that have little or no bearing on each other, in no particular order. Here they are:

SOX WIN MATSUZAKA SWEEPSTAKES

I am shocked and ecstatic that this happened. I'm generally an optimist in all things Red Sox, but when a brilliant player comes on the market and literally all that stands between him and a pinstriped uniform is a fat check, then I naturally assume that Big George will open up his ample wallet and write down any amount he pleases. I am absolutely stunned that the Yankees didn't do this. Matsuzaka has been on my radar for a while, thanks to Sons of Sam Horn. The opportunity to acquire a potential top of the rotation starter just entering his prime--he's 26--just doesn't ever come along in major league baseball. Is this a sure thing? Of course not. But for just a sneak peek of what we might be in store for, just go to YouTube and type in "Matsuzaka." His repertoire of pitches is insane. Yes, the Red Sox are throwing a ton of cash out there with their bid amount, but people seem to be missing part or all of the points that matter, aside from the big number:

1. This money doesn't count towards the salary structure or the luxury tax. Almost none of the press coverage has mentioned this, and it is a huge point. In essence, the Sox are using part of their huge finanical resources to buy the ability to get an ace for less than what he is actually worth, cap-wise. This is an enormous benefit to us. I can't stress enough how valuable it is to be able to do this, and I am amazed that more baseball writers aren't catching it.

2. The Red Sox already have grand plans to plant their flag in the Asian market and nothing does that better than this move. The Red Sox-Yankees rivalry now becomes instantly relevant across the Pacific because of the Matsuzaka-Matsui component. I have no doubt that shelling out $50 million will reap much, much more in benefits to the franchise down the road.

3. We get him. The Yankees don't. Simplistic, sure, but that is a gigantic reason why I love the move. The Yankees wanted this guy, and with their withering rotation, they almost need him, and all it took was cash...and it didn't happen. Absolutely mind-boggling.


WEDDING IN CAPE COD

My good buddy Michael Poignand got married in Chatham last weekend and we had a lovely trip there. I actually hadn't been back to the Cape in a few years so it was nice to return. The whole affair was very enjoyable and it's always fun to see the boys from back home. However, I was struck by how different this wedding was in many ways from the several that I have attended with my ASU Loop contingent. To sum up, I'll just put it this way: I don't think we'll ever see a gay man serving as the maid of honor at a Loop wedding.


BABY MAC

We're having a baby. Yeah, I know, I haven't mentioned that here yet, and that is partially by design. In fact, I think that at some point in the future I will branch out with an all-new, baby-only blog in addition to keeping this one. My reasoning behind this is simple: first, it makes sense to just have all of that in one place. I'm sure I'll love being able to look back on it someday. But secondly, not that I have a ton of people that even read this blog, but if they do, some of them probably have no interest in a baby blog. I know I wouldn't. Don't get me wrong--I love all my friends and family and all of their babies, but I don't need to be logging onto the internet for daily dispatches about so-and-so crawling, or crying, or pooping, or whatever it is these baby things do. Which I'm still figuring out.

But anyway...since I don't have that going yet, I will report that it's a HE, a boy, and from the looks of things, a possible future offensive lineman in the NFL. The phrase "wow, that's a big femur!" was one of my favorites during the recent ultrasound, right up there with "yup, it's a boy...definitely a boy!" He is due around the end of March or first of April. We are beyond excited. I am also really, really, really, really, really happy that it's a boy. Yeah. Very happy about that part.


NEW FALL TV SHOWS

I had planned to write a grand blog entry analyzing various new fall TV shows, but instead, I'll just try to list the few new ones that I am enjoying.

1. Studio 60: I love this show. Sure, I get tired of Sorkin's railing against the Christian right, and I really dislike the Harriet character--or the actress playing her; at this point, I'm still not sure which--but I adore the show. NBC recently picked it up for a full season and I hope that it stays on the air much longer than that.

2. Heroes. It's a fun comic book show, and in a way it is the anti-Lost in that they actually please the viewers by doling out crucial and exciting pieces of the story every week...something that Lost has really never done and that continues to drive fans crazy.

3. Dexter. A Showtime series about a Miami forensics department blood spatter expert that also happens to dabble as a serial killer...although, to his credit, he only murders people that deserve it. So you can see why this one is on cable. Very compelling, well acted, and it looks brilliant in HD.

4. Friday Night Lights. This also recently got picked up for the season, which came as a surprise. I like the show but I wish they would lighten up a little bit already. My mom even tried to check this one out and she has deemed it as just an "O.C." type show with football, but it's nowhere near as light hearted or as cheesy. I'll stick with it, hoping that I stay invested in the story. There are also a lot of great young actors that I've never seen anywhere before.

5. Shark. James Woods as an egotistical, pompous, brilliant lawyer. Not exactly a stretch, acting-wise, for him. He makes the show. It's all about him, and I don't know if that's enough to keep me tuning in every week, but so far it has been enjoyable.

CASUALTIES

Justice. Another lawyer show, with Sydney's dad from Alias and the gay guy from Dawson's Creek. It was very slick and entertaining enough, but Fox is already playing timeslot yo-yo with this one so I figure it's done. The young guy was horriby miscast, but the way the show was produced was enough to make it watchable.

Six Degrees. Title kind of says it all. I really wanted to get hooked on this show, if only because it has Tom Brady's girlfriend, and while I enjoyed the couple of episodes I watched, it just didn't draw me in enough. This one quickly reached "several episodes saved on TiVo" status, and once that happens for long enough and I don't watch them, then the show in question is usually in trouble. I think this one is done or dying.

The Nine. See above. The premise seemed cool enough--a hostage situation in a bank--but the show turned out to be just another serialized Lost-esque knockoff with flashbacks, seemingly unrelated people who are actually tied together, etc. Tried it once or twice and bailed, as I think most people will do.

I'm sure I'm forgetting some shows, but at least that will give me something else to write about.

Pats-Colts

I can handle losing, but getting beat like the Patriots did on Sunday night is just painful. First, three of Brady's "interceptions" were on balls that hit receivers in the hands and should have or could have been catches. Secondly, the officiating was downright atrocious. The "taunting" call on Troy Brown was one of the most ridiculous penalties I have ever seen called in any football game, ever, and there were at least 2-3 other huge calls against New England that were just as bad, each of which came at a crucial time to give the Colts a first down. I'm not a conspiracy theorist, but if I were I would have a field day with that game.

That being said, Indy really did not impress me at all. They got five turnovers and another five or so gift calls and still only squeaked out a seven point "victory." Let them run the regular season table and get all the accolades the media will undoubtedly shower upon them after this "huge" win, this "statement" game, or whatever they shall call it. Guess what, Indy? For the Patriots, there are no "big wins" in November. Ours come in January and February...something this Colts team has been unable to do. I cannot wait to see the Pats smack the Colts under their own dome in the playoffs.

/end rant

Red

Rest in peace, Red.

video test

I've only recently signed up for a YouTube account. Sure, I've spent some time there, checking out the goofy videos, but I've never posted anything until now. It's nothing earth shattering...in fact, it's almost completely pointless. It's about a one minute long clip of Chewie howling along to a recording of himself (and Pedro) howling at the tornado warning test siren right down the street that goes off every Wednesday at noon.

Anyway...YouTube includes code for embedding videos in other places so this post is solely an attempt to test that out and see how it works, how it looks, how it formats it, etc.

Although if you want to hear a dog howling, then by all means you should check it out.

Dirt for sale

I was just flipping through the channels and the Home Shopping Network was selling some sports memorabilia so I stopped to watch for a while...and then they started selling dirt. Not even very historic dirt, but a "Dirt Collage" featuring dirt taken from the home plate area at Yankee Stadium this year on opening day. There was also a photo (not autographed by anyone) and a reproduction of the lineup card. It was $149.97, plus $14.99 for shipping and handling. I figured that they'd be a lot better off selling A Rod's bat from the playoffs this year. After all, it was barely used and should be in mint condition.

Protege

Okay, it's been over a week since the Protege qualifier and it took me just about that long to get over it. I actually kept a running diary of semi-meaningful hands but it's too painful to rehash the whole thing so instead, you get the short version of how I got knocked out. I know that bad beat poker stories are now officially in the top three in the category of "Most Annoying/Boring Stories That People Always Insist on Telling," right up there with tales about their fantasy teams and "listen to this dream I had last night."

But anyway...

We're at the final table. I'm pretty short stacked and pick up pocket aces in the big blind. My goal here is to eventually get it all in against one person, so that I'll be the favorite no matter what. Blinds are 150-300 and two guys limp in. I raise to 1300, first limper calls, second folds. Perfect. I'm short enough that I'm pushing on the flop no matter what but I feel very confident when it comes 4-6-6. The guy has a decent stack and calls my all in with...wait for it...7-8 off-suit. 7-8? He cold-calls a thousand chip raise with 7-8, then calls on that flop with no pair, no nothing. NATURALLY, like a punch in the face, a five comes on the turn, giving him a miracle gutshot straight. And just like that, my dreams of jet setting around the world on the high stakes circuit with Daniel Negreanu go down in flames. BRUTAL. Absolutely brutal.

Poker update

I haven't written a poker update in a while and I actually have a few (relatively) interesting things to report, so here goes:

A couple of weeks ago, I came in 3rd in a NLHE tourney with 45 players. That is a strange and new field size for me, as usually I'll either play in a big MTT (multi table tourney) with at least a couple hundred people, or a sit and go (SNG) with somewhere from 5-10. This was technically a SNG, meaning it started as soon as 45 people signed up. I don't remember too many specific hands from this one; I just played solid poker throughout and managed to do pretty well.

A day or two later I tried out another new endeavour on the virtual felt: a HORSE tournament. HORSE is a fixed limit form of poker that rotates amongst five different games: Hold 'Em, Omaha High/Low, Razz (lowball), Seven card stud, and Seven card stud high/low, eight or better (Eight being where the "E" comes from). The WSOP added a new HORSE event this year with a $50,000 buy-in and the true pros and poker aficionados consider it the best test of a player's skill because of the variety of games. I've played some HORSE on-line at Full Tilt and I've done well before in some cheap SNGs but this was my first shot at a big field. 198 players signed up and my strategy was simply to play tight and see how things would go. In the past, I've noted that many players in these tourneys are surprisingly bad at several of the games, usually the Stud varieties (note: Razz is simply seven card stud but with the lowest five cards winning). I am by no means a stud expert but I've worked at it enough that I don't consider it too much of a weakness in a tourney like this. I've also gotten pretty decent at Razz after some practice.

Anyway, the tourney went well. I lasted into the money and eventually the final table. The blinds got very high at this point--big enough that players often found themselves all-in when playing any given hand. I managed to keep grinding away and I got to heads-up during a Hold 'Em round. My opponent had a huge cheap lead on me, more than a two-to-one margin, after he knocked out the 3rd and 4th place finishers. I managed to draw nearly even on a lucky suckout, catching a three-outer on the river. After that, I just dominated the guy. The Hold 'Em round soon ended and it only took a few hands of Omaha for me to pull out the victory. This was the first MTT I've won in a while and it felt great, especially pulling one out in my first try at HORSE.

My luck didn't carrry over to my first home game in quite some time. On a weekend trip to Memphis, Dad and Casey put together a small game with a few of their guys up there. We each threw in $10 and played a quick NLHE tourney. I tried to play tight but it's tough to stay too disciplined in such an event. I lost a decent amount of my stack with A-J, then got knocked out when a K-10 caught up to my A-10. It's probably better this way though--at least the Memphis guys won't have me pegged for a ringer and I should be invited back to their game. Despite the loss, it was a lot of fun and I'm eagerly looking forward to the next Memphis game.

The last interesting tourney was this past Saturday night. Daniel Negreanu sponsors an event called "The Protege" in which he tutors one lucky person for a few months and stakes the winner into $40,000 worth of major poker tourneys. The first winner of "The Protege," Brian Fidler, came in 2nd place in just his second event after meeting with Daniel and won over $200,000. Negreanu is now preparing for a second Protege competition and he has a variety of ways that people can win a seat at the Protege Final Table of ten. I am a charter member of his message board at Full Contact Poker and as such I was given some freeroll shots at qualifying tournaments. On Saturday night, I made the top five and advanced to the next leg. To spare the details, the set up is this: on this coming Friday night, I'm in a tournament with 18 people. The winner gets a seat at The Protege Final Table, which just so happens to be taking place in the Bahamas in December. So that would be pretty cool. It will be tough, as all of the players qualified as I did, so they should have some game. But we'll see how it goes.

Rock Star: Supernova

This is a one-shot column that I wrote for the RTVC website after the finale last night. I've had several e-mails from readers; some feel exactly like I do, while others feel that I need "a hearing-ear dog." I'm not sure if Pedro and Chewie would qualify in the eyes of that obvious music snob. Anyway, here it is.

SUPERNOVA DROPS THE BALL

This summer, CBS brought us the second season of Rock Star, in which a group of established musicians use a reality show to select a new singer. I didn’t catch season one, simply because I’m not a big INXS fan and the concept alone wasn’t enough to draw me in. But when I heard the lineup for the season two supergroup, it sounded too good to be true...and I loved it. For people that don’t watch the show, I had a simple way to describe it: “It’s like American Idol, except with good music.” And the quick summer season was perfect for this show. To compare it to sports, it was like a perfectly executed two minute drill in football, with talented performers making outstanding plays as they steadily marched down the field. It was fast, riveting, and thoroughly entertaining.

And then they fumbled at the goal line.

I know that musical taste is subjective, and that point is reinforced by the often odd voting outcomes from this season. But the point is simple: I am, or at least I thought I was, the demographic for this band. I’ve seen the band members live on many occasions and the CDs that they played on are staples of my collection. In short, I grew up listening to these guys rock. But by choosing Lukas, it seems like they are attempting to completely deny their past – it’s as if we’re now supposed to act as if they weren’t members of Motley Crue, Guns ‘N’ Roses, and Metallica.

And for me, that’s a huge problem. Because that’s why I love these guys, and that’s why I watched the show. Sure, they made a point of announcing early on that they weren’t forming a “metal band,” and that’s fine. But to completely deny their musical legacy is disrespectful both to their original bands as well as the diehard fans of said bands…people who, I think it’s safe to assume, made up a large portion of the viewing audience of this season. Am I the only one shocked by the fact that we didn’t hear a single song all season from the bands these guys were in? We got Nirvana nearly every single week but they couldn’t throw us “Enter Sandman” or “Kickstart My Heart” a single time? Considering who these guys are, that’s practically blasphemous. It’s way beyond disappointing.

In week one, I was pleasantly surprised by Lukas’s performance. I didn’t know what to expect when this punk rock leprechaun took to the stage, and then he brought the house down with Billy Idol’s “Rebel Yell.” It was the best performance of the night, and it wasn’t even close. The problem is that Lukas was never that good again. His vocal quality become grating and his stage presence borders on epileptic. He also seems to have no desire to sing the kind of music that the Supernova guys used to play, and sadly that’s probably why they picked him. I was intrigued when he elected to sing a Bon Jovi song just a few episodes ago, but then he chose an arrangement that made an 80s classic completely unrecognizable. In essence, that’s exactly what the band is trying to do as well by choosing him to front them.

Toby Rand was the clear-cut right choice. His original song was by far the best that any performer had to offer – it is catchy as hell and I’d love to hear it live with Gilby, Jason, and Tommy rocking along with it. But now I never will. Earlier today, I was looking at tour dates and considering making the trek to Dallas to catch the show in February, as that’s the closest the tour is coming to me. But now that Supernova has decided that they just want to be another 21st century vanilla modern rock outfit, I doubt I’ll even buy the CD. And I surely won’t shell out big bucks to watch Lukas’s manic stage contortions and listen to his choked-off squeals. The decision for a trio of metal gods to go that route is simply mind-boggling. So long, Supernova. To paraphrase a song that Tommy should know well, I’m not going to go away mad, I’m just going to go away.

Tom Brady is the man

Here is just another in a long list of reasons why I love Tom Brady. On the first play of the game today, he got absolutely blindsided on a blitz because of a blown blocking scheme in which a Buffalo linebacker reached him completely untouched--nobody even made an effort to block him and the guy had the most free and clear shot he'll ever have on a QB. Here's a question from a Globe writer and Tom's answer:

Q. That first play, you were obviously at an open set and they came on a blitz. Was that something you didn't expect or were you surprised?

TB: Well, like I said, we all could have done a better job and I could have done a better job on that play to recognize what they were doing, and I didn't. And it served me right that I got hit in the back of the head and fumbled. And that is no way to start the season. But we recovered and came back and then we put together a nice drive after that. So it would have been nice to start with the second drive of the game, but you know, just better learning on my part and making sure things like that don't happen.

He blames himself on a play that was absolutely blown by someone else. And he really means it. He's the best.

Why The Red Sox Stink

Even before their recent ridiculous parade of injuries that sees a new member of the squad visiting the hospital almost daily, it had become clear that the Boston Red Sox weren’t going anywhere this postseason. To be blunt, we had essentially started to really suck. Many point the finger at GM Theo Epstein, stating that he failed to craft a team commensurate with our payroll. The slide became so frustrating that I decided to look at what I thought was the biggest problem the team has had all season: the bullpen. I’m not a statistician but let’s take a look at some numbers.

The team began the season with veteran relievers Julian Tavarez, Mike Timlin, Rudy Seanez, and Keith Foulke all projected to pitch substantial innings in major roles. Only Foulke had any health concerns, but he was on the opening day roster, and all
four were proven veterans with track records of major league success. So how did they do?

As anyone who watches the Red Sox can tell you, “horribly.” But just how bad have they been? Diehard baseball statistical theorists have done research that shows that predicting the performance of relief pitchers is one of the hardest things to do in baseball. Thus, it appears that Epstein crafted this bullpen with that in mind. He assembled The Veteran Four, as I will call them, with the assumption that at least some of them, to some degree, would meet or exceed their expected value.

Simply put, this didn’t happen.

ERA is generally a good indicator of how well a pitcher is doing. ERA+ is even better, as it factors in a pitcher’s ERA in relation to the rest of his league, with 100 representing average, and numbers above 100 being better. I looked at the previous three seasons of ERA+ for The Veteran Four and the story was pretty good: of the cumulative twelve seasons, only two fell below average: Foulke’s injury-plagued 2005 and Seanez’s injury-marred horrific aberration in 2003. The other ten seasons combined all tallied ERA+ numbers well above the league average, which is more than anyone can hope for when it comes to non-closer members of a bullpen.

So let’s assume that Epstein assembled the bullpen with a worst case scenario mindset. I’m speculating, but let’s just say that he said “these four guys are all veterans, I know what they can do, and given their history it’s pretty safe to assume that they should reach at least 80% of their three year average performance.” Again, I’m pulling this number out of thin air, but it seems like a very conservative assumption. It is well known that the Red Sox had put together their best infield defense in many years, and that this would probably project to help pitchers even more. So assuming that pitchers would regress 20% from their three year average is a fairly pessimistic starting point.

So how did The Veteran Four fare against an 80% floor of their three year averages? They failed miserably. Only Seanez eclipsed the 80% baseline, and that is only because his 2003 season was so bad (ERA of 6.33, ERA+ of 76). I crunched my own numbers to come up with a rough ERA+ for 2006 so far, as of a couple of days ago, by comparing the relievers’ ERA to the current league average. Here’s what I found.

Rudy Seanez – 3 year ERA+ average: 92.8. 2006: 95.2 (note: his ERA+ average in 04-05 was 136).

Julian Tavarez – 3 year avg. 111.2 – 2006: 97.4…12.4% worse

Mike Timlin – 3 year avg. 119.5 – 2006: 111.6…6.62% worse, and seemingly getting worse by the day

Keith Foulke – 3 year avg. 134.7 – 2006: 81.5…39.5% worse

And remember, this is how much worse they have been than assuming they would only be at 80% of their three year averages to begin with…worse than the worst case scenario.

In other words, I think that Epstein put together a veteran bullpen as efficiently and affordably as he could, based on the assumption that at least 2-3 of the four would at least remain somewhere near their average. And it just didn’t happen. Epstein knew that he had young bullpen arms that would factor into the near future for the Red Sox, most notably Jonathan Papelbon, who exceeded all expectations as closer. But Manny Delcarmen and Craig Hansen will be important bullpen arms sooner rather than later. With the way the bullpen was put together, it looks to me as if Theo thought that he could even let one of The Veteran Four completely fail and plug the hole with one of the youngsters. But four voids was just too much for any club to fill.

The self-destruction of The Veteran Four thus, in essence, turned this into a rebuilding season for the Red Sox.

Only two more days!

Ten Random Things That Annoy Me

Ten Random Things That Annoy Me

People away from home who insist on telling you what time it is “their time.” This is especially obnoxious somewhere such as Las Vegas, where time—in any time zone—has almost no meaning. “I need to go to bed. It’s 4 AM my time.” No, it’s 1 AM and you’re in Vegas for god’s sake. Live a little!

ESPN’s coverage of whatever negative sports story du jour they decide to harp on.

Zayra from “Rock Star: Supernova.” Man, is she awful.

People that quantify their effort with some number exceeding 100%. I know that “giving 110%” has become the new cliché that represents actually giving something your all. But now we get people saying they gave “150%.” Really? You tried as hard as you absolutely could at something, plus half as hard as that?

Anderson Cooper.

The chip leader at the WSOP, who says he is considering dumping his chips because he’d rather come in 2nd place because he “doesn’t want to be famous.” How someone with this attitude ever actually amassed such a chip lead is beyond me.

“Treasure Hunters” on NBC. I tried to give this show a chance but I just couldn’t do it. It was awful.

“Don’t Pass” craps players.

Drivers that hang out in the passing lane when you are right behind them and it is clear that if they would just get over, you would quickly pass them, and everyone could just get on with their lives.

Sarah Jessica Parker.

Papi does it again

He is unbelievable.

What are they thinking?

I've noticed that as I get older, more things seem to really annoy me or flat-out piss me off. I've even started keeping a list, so some day in the not-too-distant future I'll probably have an entry simply titled "Random Things That Annoy Me." But today I'm debuting what will probably be a recurring feature...What are they thinking?

Today's target: TV networks. I actually think I could run a TV network and do a better job than the average executive does now. I know that I could program shows. And I also would avoid indefensible moves like the ones I will explore today. First, we have FOX. They have a huge hit show in 24, one that is popluar partially because of its riveting stories told in real time. I was a latecomer to 24 only because I never got hooked during the initial season and I didn't want to come in late. Well, that all changed earlier this year as we powered through the first four seasons on DVD (thanks, Netflix). Alas, season five won't be released on DVD until later this year. But then, FOX made the wonderful decision to replay the season during the summer. Yes!

Or...no. It appeared that they were going to replay the entire season, and that's the really nefarious part. They started with episodes one and two, as they should. But only later did I learn that they weren't going to show all 24. They were going to show some, in order, but skip many of them. Are you kidding me?!? Who thinks this is possibly a good idea?!? The only conceivable motivation would be one with completely evil intentions: to get people hooked on the show, then have them go running to iTunes to download the missing episodes. That's what we did. Sure, we got the benefit of watching the show the way that we like, with bunches of episodes at a time. But if we wanted to watch the entire season we didn't really have a choice, did we? Terrible decision by FOX.

Next up I am forced to take aim at a target that I have ranted about before: baseball coverage on DirecTV. I have done everything I can to guarantee that I get to watch the Boston Red Sox on my dish. We have whatever uber-sports top-tier package there is, and it includes NESN. We also shell out a pretty considerable (for TV) amount of cash for the Extra Innings baseball package. Now, I have come to grips with the fact that FOX (here they are again!) has a national deal for their Saturday afternoon games, and because of that, sometimes I simply am not going to get to watch the Sox. I won't argue this ridiculous logic again aside from saying that they are idiots if they think that Red Sox fans are going to tune into FOX to watch, say, the Cardinals and the Cubs instead. Won't happen. I'll sit at a computer monitor watching the dots move. Somehow, someway, they are losing ratings and money with the current system.

But the newest transgression suffered upon my poor satellite dish is unfathomable. They have started to black out the pre-game and post-game shows on NESN. WHY ON EARTH WOULD THEY POSSIBLY DO THIS? I pay to have NESN. I pay to watch baseball games. WHAT IS THE LOGIC BEHIND THIS? I've already written an angry letter to NESN despite the fact that I think they have nothing to do with it. But I will never understand why the TV networks insist on going out of their way to alienate their customers. I just don't see what good can possibly come from any of these moves.

In other words...what are they thinking?

WSOPC update

Updating my last entry: I think I have missed maybe two questions total over the first two episodes of VH1's World Series of Pop Culture. At least I'm not bitter. Nope, not at all...

VH1's World Series of Pop Culture

Last night, VH1 premiered a new trivia show called The World Series of Pop Culture, featuring sixteen teams of three members each competing in a tournament with some guaranteed big cash prizes. As you probably know, this kind of thing is right up my alley and in this case, I should have been on the show.

But allow me to clarify. I don't mean it in the "wow, it would be cool to be on this," normal kind of way. Instead, I mean "I got hosed and I actually should be on this show."

So here's the story: I had never heard of the thing when they actually did the tryouts for casting. But I ultimately learned about it and found out that they would be filling the final available slot with a team of wild card players chosen through an on-line qualifier. The qualifier in question was an incredibly difficult on-line timed trivia test. I signed up, took it...and hit it out of the park.

After taking the test, I didn't give it another thought, aside from "I think I did pretty well on that." Shortly thereafter we bought the new house and my parents were in town helping out with some small repairs when I received a call on my cell phone while we were out running errands. It was a casting person from the show. Apparently my score was good enough that I had been placed in a pool of 50 people competing for the three wild card spots--still some long odds, but a lot better than before. The casting agent asked if I would be available for a phone interview.

I set the interview up for the following day and didn't do much to prepare, aside from getting a solid block of time free from runs to the tile store, or Home Depot, or anywhere else like that. I called the nice lady and we just chatted for a while--what were my pop culture trivia strengths, my interests, etc. It went very well, and then at the end she sprung a ten question pop quiz on me. Fantastic. I'm pretty sure I got all ten questions right--at most, I might have missed one. Anyway, I can't think of anything more that they would want from a contestant, and she even told me that she was impressed. Clearly, I was a lock. I was in. I was packing my bags and heading to New York for the tournament.

And then I never heard from them again.

There's one possible concern that might have DQed me: the show is sponsored by Alltel, a company that just so happens to employ my wife. But this never came up in my interview and I was never asked about it, so I doubt that was a factor. But now, while I love the show and will be watching, I am dreading the episodes with the wild card team...because unless they are just across-the-board brilliant, watching them is really going to piss me off.

So there you go. I was almost on this show. Yippee.

Red Sox vs. Pedro

Pedro Martinez faces the Boston Red Sox tonight, and that just seems wrong. He's going to receive a HUGE ovation from the fans, just like he did last night when he wasn't even playing. And some casual observers might wonder why Pedro gets the love and Johnny Damon gets the boos, and there are so many reasons why that I don't even want to get into it. It's just going to be really strange--but fun--to watch.

Poker & Golf...two losing stories

Poker Stars is hosting a tournament solely for bloggers so I figured the least I could do is keep a running account and post it in my blog.

3:00 PM: Tourney is starting as I watch Phil Mickelson try to win the U.S. Open. Good stuff. 2247 players registered in the tourney, starting with $2000 in chips.

3:05: Five minutes in and 27 players have been eliminated. I’m at $2080, won a pot with Q-J.

3:10: 2172 remaining. At $2050, won a small bluff with bottom pair, then got caught trying to steal blinds. Mickelson just hit a drive over 300 yards into a bunker…on purpose. He’s one stroke back on hole #6.

3:16: 2095 remaining, $1860…not one good hand yet. Mickelson made par, still one back.

3:23: 2025 left, $1860…still no good starting hands. Stealing when I can to try to keep pace.

3:25: Bogey for Phil on a par 3, not good. Meanwhile, just saw my first ridiculous play in the tourney (not involved): guy goes all in with 8-7 off suit on an 8 high flop with two clubs, is called by A-Q of diamonds. Ace on turn.

3:33: 1914 left, $1855…I have limped with crappy pocket pairs a few times but can’t make a set. Trying to be patient but also see some cheap flops.

3:37: 1861 left, $1930…first real hand of the day, pocket kings in middle position, I raise to 3X the big blind and get no action. Annoying. Meanwhile, during an NBC sports update, Bob Costas has just described the fourth game of the World Cup that ended in a scoreless tie. “Best sporting event in the world,” my ass.

3:40: 1826 left, stack is $3020. Big slick made top pair (kings) on a dangerous all diamond flop. It all went in on the turn (had him covered) and his flush draw didn’t get there. Next hand I blew way too many chips overplaying 9-10 suited trying to steal. Mickelson one back through 8.

3:36: 1742 left, stack $3320 after a couple of nice steals. Three way tie for the lead for Phil, Ogilvy, and Monty all at 3 over. Course seems brutal today.

3:54: 1624, $3120. Phil just bogeyed 9. Par is starting to look great.

4:02: 1497 left, $2720 in chips…five minute break. No good cards since kings, but hanging around. Dropped several hundred with a steal attempt on A-7. Will get more aggressive after break as blinds get bigger—won’t hesitate to get into a coin flip for all my chips if I can in a freeroll with such a big field.

4:07: The golf announcers just described somebody’s shot as a “scalded duck.” I have absolutely no idea what that possibly means but it can’t be good.

4:13: 1381, $3020. Pocket aces, no action. Table is surprisingly tight for a freeroll because we have a few players sitting out.

4:15: moved to a new table, only 2 players there have more chips than me. Good sign.

4:18: Lefty takes the outright lead with a birdie putt on 11…birdie/eagle opportunity coming on 12.

4:22: 1182 remaining, $4295 after a set of queens. Took it down with a raise on the flop.

4:25: pocket queens again, this time ran into pocket aces. Down to $1800 and change.

4:27: Out in 1005th place. AK suited in late position, I raise, get re-raised and it all goes in…against pocket jacks. No help and that’s it. Pretty annoying to get two of the best hands I’ve seen all day and lose both to get knocked out, but that’s poker.

6:11: Well that 18th hole sure sucked. Nice day all around, I guess.

Funny poll

ESPN.com runs many different polls on their main page, and lately they have started bringing up a color-coded map of the U.S. to reveal how each state voted. Tonight, their question is who deserves the AL Cy Young award and frankly, I find the color-map comical in its clarity this time: New York and New Jersey picked Mike Mussina, all six states in New England picked Jonathan Papelbon (even with Schilling on the ballot), and the rest of the nation picked Contreras. Of course, leave it to the New Englanders to get it right.

ESPN.com

The Break-Up

We went to see The Break-Up on Friday night and really enjoyed it. I thought it looked like a movie that I would like, but then I started to worry because it got so many bad reviews...and now I wonder what those critics were expecting. It's Vince Vaughn doing his typical Vince Vaughn type of humor, so I guess if you don't like that, you probably won't like the flick. I do, and I liked it a lot.

Nice series for the Sox, taking two out of three in Detroit this weekend. I have no idea if the Tigers are for real or not, but they somehow have the best record in baseball right now. Sully must be psyched. Now on to the Bronx for four huge games with the Yanks. It feels like we've played them about once a week all season.

Sopranos season finale tonight. There have been some weird episodes but overall I have really enjoyed the current season. The whole "Johnnycakes" plotline was pretty out there, but they wrapped it up well. I'm very curious to see how they leave things tonight. Apparently HBO is saying that this isn't technically a season finale, but that this season continues with the final eight episodes in January. Whatever. To me, that just sounds like a license to have no closure whatsoever tonight, and that's fine.

I had an MRI on my knee this week to see how it is doing, because it's been really sore lately. Doc says that the ACL is healing nicely but that I have some issues with the cartilage underneath the kneecap. And if that sounds uncomfortable, well...it is. He prescribed an anti-inflammatory and wants me to go back for some additional physical therapy. Wheeeeee! What fun...

TV talent shows

For the first time, I watched American Idol from start to finish this season. I'm not exactly sure why I chose to do so this time around, having never done it before, but it was enjoyable. Naturally, I hoped that rocker Chris Daughtry would win...come on, the guy had my vote as soon as he busted out Bon Jovi's Wanted Dead or Alive months ago. But I actually think he might be better served in the long run by not winning, since now he can simply be himself as opposed to "American Idol Chris Daughtry." As for the final trio: Elliot Yamin had no appeal for me, I didn't understand the love the judges heaped on him all the time, and I was happy to see him go. And the much-debated final matchup of Taylor Hicks vs. Katharine McPhee? Ehh. Whatever. I don't see myself buying a CD by either one. McPhee is adorable but her stage presence can be pretty non-existant, whereas Hicks is a strong but goofy showman but only when singing some Joe Cocker or Michael McDonald-type cover song.

Last Comic Standing returns to NBC and I'll once again be doing recaps for it on Reality TV Calendar. I've always enjoyed the show despite the occasional controversy and the often-mediocre comics selected. I'll have recaps of every episode on the RTVC site...warning, the site has gotten a little pop-up happy as my tireless editor, Ron Lemon, has tried to make the place profitable. If you want to check it out, I suggest a browser like Mozilla that can painlessly nip those annoying pop-ups in the bud.

AZ wrap-up

So where were we? Ahh yes...Kyoto. It's a Japanese hibachi restaurant in Scottsdale, but we certainly don't go there for the food. The place has become a Loop institution because of the atmosphere and the sake bombers. For the uninformed (or, more likely, the mature), doing a sake bomber consists of pouring yourself a shot of warm sake, dropping it into a small glass of Japanese beer, and downing it. Repeat several times for a guaranteed good time.

So there we were at Kyoto. We actually had a reservation that they immediately honored this time around, so there was no need to impersonate the Oakland A's pitching staff (a story from not too long ago that most of you have heard). It was a rare Thursday evening Kyoto appearance, and the weeknight call seemed like it might affect our mojo. "Let's take it easy tonight," said my friend Erik, who had early meetings the next morning...and then he sauntered up to the bar and ordered five sake bomber set-ups. Easy, indeed.

It actually was a fairly reserved evening as far as Kyoto nights go. The majority of the rest of the weekend was spent at the AVP beach volleyball tournament, as Erik's company, Crocs, recently became the title sponsor. Now this was quite a set-up. Crocs had a double-wide makeshift luxury box looking over the court, complete with food, drinks, and couches. We had a blast hanging out the entire weekend watching Olympic gold medalists Misty May and Kerri Walsh decimate their competition. I think Beth got a little tired of my temporary crush on Walsh, but come on, she's a 6'3" Amazon goddess who also happens to be really cute.

The Arizona trip concluded with a stay at the Hyatt Gainey Ranch for Beth's Jackson-Lewis legal conference. Great resort, with beautiful grounds, a bunch of different swimming pools, and tons of other luxurious amenities. There was even a casino night event, and despite our success at the tables we came up empty in the raffle, crushing our hopes of winning the iPod nano on display. All in all it was a wonderful trip, but we were definitely ready to sleep in our own bed back home.

A Red Sticker?!?

Beth and I quickly boarded our plane for the flight from Dallas to Phoenix, situated in adjoining middle and window seats. Despite not having the exit row, I thought that sitting by the window with my bum knee on the window side would afford me enough room to be somewhat comfortable.

I was wrong.

Things started badly and got progressively worse. The seats were tiny--the smallest that I've been on in a big plane in a long, long time. And wasn't American the airline that recently made a big deal about adding room to all of their coach seats? If so, then all I can say is, umm..."liars." But since we boarded so close to take-off time, I figured that at least we'd be in the air and on our way soon.

Once again, me, all kinds of wrong. First we're informed that one of the air conditioners is broken. This, while we're sitting in the full plane, on the runway, in Dallas, on a 90 degree day. Awesome. So they get to work doing whatever it is that they do...which doesn't exactly involve fixing said air conditioner. They mess around for a while...and a while longer...and a while longer. Some other minor problem comes up, and they mess around with that. We've gone from ready to go, to half an hour on the ground, to an hour, to an hour and a half and counting, and then we get held up by the red sticker. Or, more accurately, the absence of one.

Apparently, when mechanics work on anything on an airplane, they have to mark the area in question with a red sticker. "It's just like something you'd get at Office Max," the pilot explains, trying to placate us after what has now been two hours in our broken-AC sweaty death box. "Well, the sticker is gone. Either it blew off or...we lost it. So...if we find it right away...maybe it just fell off on the ground...then we can take off any minute now. If not, then it will take a little while longer."

I assume he managed to get all of this out with a straight face. A red sticker?!? Nice to know that airlines are using such high tech repair indicators in this post 9/11 climate.

Anyway, eventually, thankfully, we got off the tarmac and into the air. The flight itself was fairly uneventful, aside from the shooting pains in my knee. Upon landing, we see that our bags immediately arrived at the baggage claim at the same time we did. Good karma after the bad flight, maybe. So we grabbed them, hopped onto a shuttle, and quickly picked up our rental car and made our way down to our hotel in Chandler right across the street from the mall. Dinner with the Bladers at The Cheesecake Factory was exactly what we needed--specifically, a couple of Malibu Coladas each.

On Thursday, Beth went in to do her teaching for work and I happily hung out at the hotel. Read the paper, caught a little sun at the pool, and perused the mall for a little bit, including checking out the newest made-up breed of dog at the pet store. Has anyone ever heard of a "Valley Bulldog?" I certainly hadn't until I saw this British Bulldog-Boxer mix. Very cool mutt. The relaxing day was just what I needed after the travel nightmare that came before it. It seemed like things would continue that way, with a nice, mellow Thursday evening, until I spoke to Shaw B.

"We're going to Kyoto tonight," he said...

Moved in

Wow, a month between posts is pretty sad...but it has been a crazy month. We moved into the house on April 21. Technically, the move started much earlier than this, thanks to the generous loan my parents made to me in the form of "Gus the Bus," their beloved Ford Expedition. Thanks to having Gus for a few weeks, I was able to pre-move a bunch of stuff to the new house. Then a very solid trio of movers came on the 21st and finished the job, doing all of the heavy lifting...literally.

Getting everything turned on and working at the new place was easy enough but there were other tasks that took much longer. Right when we bought the house we decided to renovate the entire master bathroom, ripping out the old sink, vanity, cabinets, floor tile, and shower. To this day, the job still isn't done. The new tile is in and the new tile shower is finished as well and it all looks great, but we are still waiting for the arrival of our custom vanity cabinets and a new heavy duty glass shower door. My dad was a huge help with all of this, doing what work that he could and advising me on other stuff. I'm absolutely clueless about all this kind of work, but thanks to him I'm now a little more well informed.

Despite the fact that we just moved in, Beth and I are already out of town in Arizona. She had a couple of work trips that we were able to combine into one big visit and I happily agreed to tag along. Our flight left Little Rock at about 1:15 on Wednesday and everything seemed to be going well. Beth was running a little late after heading into the office for a few hours of work but we still had plenty of time to drop the dogs off at Aimee's house and head to the airport. There was no line at all for the skycap, who checked our two enormous suitcases and printed our boarding passes on the spot. Unforunately we were too late to grab exit row seats, something I always arrive absurdly early to secure thanks to my ample size and gimpy knee. But we had a middle and a window next to each other. The first leg was on a puddle jumper apparently designed to accomodate Hobbits somewhat comfortably. I know I've ranted about these planes before but this one seemed smaller than ever. However, it was just a quick up-and-down flight to Dallas to grab our connection. Once on the ground in The Big D we hopped onto the monorail which dropped us practically right at our next gate, where our flight had just started to board. The timing was pefect. Everything was going great.

Or so we thought...

Opening Day

I love the opening day of the baseball season, and I have long felt that it's one of a few sports days that should be a national holiday. So, in honor of that, here are a few random thoughts on the upcoming baseball season.

I can't believe how sick I am of Barry Bonds and any story about him. We all know he cheated, and eventually he'll go down for something. ESPN's continued Bonds hype is getting sickening. I realize that they have a "reality show" called Bonds on Bonds or some such thing that they need to hype, which is despicable enough. But to give him his own color-coded updates on the ticker scroll with "CHASING RUTH" even when he does nothing, like tonight, is downright shameful. It's appalling, and frankly, I expect more from the self-proclaimed worldwide leader in sports...I don't think that Jimmy Rollins' hitting streak should continue this year. I like him, he's a solid player, and I even drafted him for one of my fantasy teams, but I just don't think that a hitting streak should continue from one season into the next. At the very least, if he does match or break DiMaggio's record, Rollins' mark should stand alone and separately as "longest hitting streak over multiple seasons."...Speaking of fantasy leagues, I have both A-Rod and Johnny Damon on one team and it makes me sick. I named that team "Slappy & The Traitor," but it still pains me to take any kind of joy from their success...I have no idea if the tougher steroid penalties will have a big effect on the game or not, but I hope so...watching baseball in HD is just incredible. Compared to the crappy regular feed it's night and day...I think the Red Sox will be a lot better than a lot of people do. Their defense is greatly improved and they have one of the deepest rotations in baseball--six guys that could potentially win 15 games as starters if needed. Keith Foulke is still a question mark in the bullpen but even if he falters, there are fallback options in Timlin and Papelbon. In fact, every spot on the roster with any kind of a question mark has a contingency plan in place. I think they'll win around 95-100 games and probably the AL East title. How experts continue to blindly pick the Yankees is beyond me, given the state of their pitching staff. They are one injury away (Randy Johnson? Mariano Rivera?) from a potential third place finish...Joe Morgan continues to be one of the most self-aggrandizing and annoying national baseball broadcasters in the business. I've always said that you can at least make watching one of his games enjoyable for yourself by making it a drinking game: take a sip anytime he mentions himself and two any time he references a former teammate on the Big Red Machine. Case in point: I flip on the White Sox-Indians opener on Sunday night for a little bit and Eduardo Perez crushes a home run to left. Now, I don't have a drink in front of me, but I can just feel the first Morganism of the season coming. And he delivers: "I saw a lot of homers just like that one playing with his father, Tony Perez." Absoutely irrelevant to the game at hand, and vintage Joe Morgan.

Our new house

We bought our first house! It's been in the works for most of the month and we closed yesterday...on our fourth wedding anniversary. Pretty cool!

I root for the laundry

I know that as a fan of teams that have delivered me four World Championships since 2002 I have no room to complain about anything, but that doesn't change the fact that typing this list below kind of makes me sick.

Adam Vinatieri, Indianapolis Colts
Pedro Martinez, New York Mets
Johnny Damon, New York Motherf***ing Yankees
Willie McGinest, Cleveland Browns
David Givens, Tennessee Titans
Ty Law, wherever
Bronson Arroyo, Cincinnatti Reds

I could go on and on. Sure, it's the nature of the game, and everyone on that list brought me so much happiness that I could never thank them enough. But now I can't really root for them. Sure, there are degrees...I still pull for Pedro almost every time out. But Johnny Damon is now deader to me than Fredo Corleone to his brother, and the mere notion of having to openly yell "miss it, Vinatieri, MISS IT!" just turns my stomach.

I don't have a point. I just needed to vent, I guess. It's a sad day for me.

Quick poker session

I haven't posted about poker lately simply because there hasn't been much to report. I have been taking meticulous records of each session I play (an actual New Year's resolution that I have stuck to) and that has helped because I always know exactly how I'm doing for the day/week/year. I'm up for 2006, but not by a ton...just trying to keep grinding that bankroll up before the WSOP. A quick little session today certainly helped.

It's a little after 4 PM and I've got some time to kill until the NCAA tourney selection show, so I log onto Poker Fantasy for a little bit. No SNGs are about to start so I sit down with $25 for some .25-.50 NLHE. With JQ suited in the big blind I make the 2nd nut flush on the turn, get it all in, and get paid off...I now have $49. A little bit later I get pocket kings in late position with a few limpers ahead of me so I raise up to $2. Small blind calls, and the big blind goes all in for $6 and change. Trying to shut out the first limper, I push all in. The guy I am trying to force out calls me with $38 and change or so and turns over pockets 9s. The short stack has A-9. No help for either of them and I drag a huge pot, and I now have $93.53 in front of me. I cannot wait to just walk away with my winnings for the session but I decide to wait until before my blinds...and get dealt pocket aces. Raise to $2, one caller. Flop comes three unders with a couple of face cards and two spades (I have the Ace of spades), so I bet $5, trying to take it down right there, he calls. Turn is a brick, check-check. River brings a possible straight so we check it down (I may have been playing too cautiously here) and he shows Ace-king for TPTK, so I drag that one and bail because it was the last hand before my blinds. Sat with $25, and twenty minutes later I left with $102.24. Definitely the craziest and fastest NL rush I have ever had on that site.

Oscar picks

I usually try to see several of the big Oscar contenders before the awards but this year I just really didn't want to. I haven't seen many of them, in fact, so instead, here are my own choices for who would win if I was the sole voter in the academy (obviously this only includes movies that I've seen, so...sorry, Brokeback, Capote, etc.)

Best Actor: Joaquin Phoenix, Walk the Line
Best Actress: Reese Witherspoon, Walk the Line
Best Supporting Actor: Ian McDiarmid, Star Wars Episode III: Revenge of the Sith
Best Supporting Actress: Rachel McAdams, Wedding Crashers
Best Original Screenplay: Steve Carell & Judd Apatow, The 40 Year Old Virgin
Best Adapted Screenplay: Steve Kloves, Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire
Best Director: George Lucas, Star Wars Episode III: Revenge of the Sith
Best Picture: Star Wars Episode III: Revenge of the Sith

And other categories that could be awards, but aren't:

Best faithful adaptation of a comic book or graphic novel: Sin City
Best performance under so much makeup you can't even tell who it is: Mickey Rouke, Sin City
Best ending to a movie because it happened in real life: Fever Pitch
Best comedic ensemble: The 40 Year Old Virgin
Best reinvigoration of a seemingly dead franchise: Batman Begins
The Caddyshack 2/Rocky 5 Memorial Award for Worst Sequel: Be Cool
Weirdest performance: Johnny Depp, Charlie and the Chocolate Factory
Best DVD rental with no expectations that turned out to be pretty good: Red Eye
Worst DVD rental that could have been great but wasn't: Two for the Money
Biggest letdown: Serenity (just because it wasn't as good as the great TV show)
Best...umm..."performance" in very tight or skimpy costumes: Jessica Alba, Sin City, Fantasic Four, Into the Blue.

Iced in

We were stuck in the house all weekend due to a wintry storm that left the entire city pretty much covered in ice. It's a new phenomenon for me--I've seen hurricanes, blizzards, and such, but this "ice storm" deal is a little different. There was a little bit of snow, but then some rain and the whole result gets frozen over. Saturday seemed to get the worst of it, as the streets outside the house were very quiet, although we did get one run from a sand/salt truck. Things are thawing a little bit today and it looks like everything should be back to normal in a couple of days.

Olympics

That Super Bowl sure was terrible, wasn't it? No point in even discussing it at this point, although I do have to point out that I had very little rooting interest at all and I think it was some of the worst officiating I've ever seen in a big game. Just terrible.

So, apparently the Olympics start tonight. I can't rememeber less hype for this event...ever. I do have a question, though...when did "Turin" become "Torino," exactly? Is it just because the second one sounds cooler? Have we ever done this before? I don't think so. Nobody in America talked about the "Moskva" games in 1980, or the "Roma" games, or the recent bid by "Paree." Just weird. Other random Olympic thoughts: I don't think I could name ten US Olympians for these games, and that includes the hockey team...they say there's no such thing as bad publicity and I guess Bode Miller might exemplify that. He's been getting crushed in the press for one thing or another but at least I know who the guy is now, and even what sport he does...what exactly is the Skeleton? I'm guessing it involves some sort of a sled or a luge but honestly, I don't know...yeah, that's all I've got. I'll probably watch some stuff, simply because there's not much else on until spring training. But my interest isn't exactly huge.

Super Bowl Eve

Man, am I sick of the hype. Hey, where's Jerome Bettis from, anyway? And Joey Porter...give it a rest. I won't go into a lengthy analysis of everything because there are much better places to find such information. I'll just say that I think it will be a pretty tight and entertaining game and that I think most people are underrating the Seahawks quite a bit. So...on to the wagers.

Seahawks money line: +285 - one unit - this was my future bet made before the conference championship game. I thought the line seemed way too high then, so clearly I love it now.

Seahawks +4 - two units - my book had it at 3.5 all week until today, when it finally went up to four. That's when I jumped on it. I may press it up before kickoff.

PROP BETS

There were lots of goofy ones as always, but here are the only two I have taken so far:

Shaun Alexander's combined rushing and receiving yardage: 96.5 yards - OVER - one unit
Shaun Alexander's longest run of the game: 19.5 yards - OVER - one unit

The first number seems right about where it should be. Before any line was posted I said I'd take the over on anything around 100, so I did. As for the second one, the line seems a little low to me. Plus I always love having one bet that I can win instantly during the game, so here it is. Shaun could rip off a 30 yard jaunt on his first carry of the game and I'll have that one booked. Anyway, I really like his chances to break at least one 20 yard gainer.

Some that I did not take included parlaying the winner of the game with the gender of the eventual American Idol winner, Josh Brown's kicking points compared to Tiger Woods' number of holes better than birdie tomorrow, the game being tied at halftime and Jake Gyllenhall to win the Oscar for best supporting actor (20-1), or, in perhaps my favorite prop bet on the board, Joey Porter and Jerramy Stevens both to be ejected from the game (80-1)...on second thought, maybe I should throw a couple of bucks on that last one after all!

Happy Super Sunday, everyone.

Studio 7 on the Sunset Strip

Aaron Sorkin is one of my favorite writers, period. He's one of the best dialgoue writers in any medium and he has a brilliant touch with artfully depicting conflict on levels big and small. I loved SportsNight and I basically gave up on The West Wing after he left. This fall, he'll be making a triumphant return to network television with a dramatic series based on the behind-the-scenes workings of a Saturday Night Live-type sketch comedy show called Studio 7 on the Sunset Strip. I was excited enough about this just hearing that it's a Sorkin show...and then I read some of the pilot. Someone was lucky enough to get their hands on several of the audition sides, cobbling together what they could and posting it on line. It's not even the entire episode and it's brilliant. Kudos to NBC for A) giving Sorkin a second chance after showing him the door based on his cost overruns and missed deadlines for West Wing and B) Picking up a show that clearly and openly skewers SNL. Rumor is that Matthew Perry has signed on for a lead role and he'll be perfect for this. It's amazing how Sorkin can write characters so vivid and well-defined that I care about them after just a few pages...but he's done it. I'm dying. I can't wait to see this show.

Recent reads

Here are the books I've read since around Christmas time:

Phil Gordon's Little Green Hold 'Em Book - I got this one for Christmas and really enjoyed it. Gordon is a very smart guy and I actually think he may be a little underrated as a tournament player simply because he's so often in the limelight for other things, like TV shows. But this book is very informative. He presents bite-sized nuggets of Hold 'Em information, ranging from overall play and strategy to incredibly specific tips for particular situations. Case in point: Gordon goes out of his way to write an integral section on the importance of stealing blinds as the cash bubble nears in a tourney. Howard Lederer and Chris Ferguson both made the same point when they spoke at my Full Tilt luncheon at the WSOP last summer. But Gordon takes his theory a step farther--he finds that the absolute best time to steal a quick pot is right before a dinner break...and he's got a point. Huge overhead displays on the tourney floor count down the time remaining in a level, and more often than not, players want to head for that door as soon as possible...thus, they aren't looking to get involved in a big pot right before the meal break. Brilliant little insights like this typify Gordon's book. I loved it, and I know I'll read it again. Grade: A-

School Days by Robert B. Parker - I love Parker and I've read every novel he's ever written. This one is the latest in the ongoing series about Spenser, the wisecracking Boston P.I. This one deviates a little bit from recent offerings in that Spenser's trusty, badass sidekick Hawk is nowhere to be seen...and neither is Susan Silverman, his often annoying better half. In this book, she's out of town essentially for the duration, and thank god for that, because the biggest knock on Parker's recent works has been his instance on having Spenser moon over Susan time and time again. We get it already. This time, Spenser runs a solo job when hired by the grandmother of a boy involved in a bloody school shooting. It's typical Parker, with taught, well-paced storytelling, and the ending isn't exactly predictable, but fulfilling enough. Not a classic Spenser book, but hardly a bad one. Grade: B.

A Cook's Tour: In Search of the Perfect Meal by Anthony Bourdain - Bourdain's first book, Kitchen Confidential, was brilliant, and it made him a star. Please don't judge him or his work on that Fox sitcom that's already been axed--although I even thought that show had potential. Bourdain is a talented chef and a passionate foodie and in this one, he cruises around the world, eating every exotic menu item he can find, with the entrees ranging from a whole slaughtered hog that died at his hand as the guest of honor to...wait for it...the still beating heart of a cobra. Yum! The highlights are engaging enough--like the laundry list of over a dozen faux pas one might unwillingly commit at a traditional Japanese haute cuisine meal-- but the book seems to wander aimlessly, meandering from one locale to another without any discernable reason. It's a decent read but not as good as his other book. Grade: B-.

Killing Yourself to Live by Chuck Klosterman - I adored Sex, Drugs, and Cocoa Puffs and I practically lived some parts of Fargo Rock City, so I eagerly looked forward to this book, which Klosterman advertises as "85% of a true story" that sees him loading up a rental car and driving thousand of miles around America to visit the sites where famous (and not so famous) rockers died. It's an interesting enough premise, and Klosterman scored points with me right away by nicknaming his rented Taurus "The Ford Tauntaun," but instead of offering up a look at rock immortality or examining the dichotomy of life and death, the book instead veers into Nick Hornby-esque "looking back at past failed relationships through a musical filter" territory. Klosterman even openly acknowledges this. It's not bad, so to speak, just not what I expected or hoped for. It's still vintage Klosterman--he decides that 600 CDs is just the right amount to pack for his trip, he goes on for several pages comparing past girlfriends to various members of KISS based on their personalities, etc. But the incessant rambling about the pros and cons of each of his life's loves grew a little tiresome. I liked it, but I could have loved it. Grade: when not talking about past loves: A-. When writing fictionalized conversations between three different old flames at once: C-. Overall: B. (note: I just read that Klosterman is writing a Super Bowl blog for ESPN. This could be good--if it is, I'll link to it)

Other reads coming soon: Mary Mary by James Patterson and Cell by Stephen King.

Second draft

The second draft of the screenplay is in and things continue to go well. We received a list of short, specific notes from our producer and it won't be too tough to put the changes in. He also asked that the scenes be numbered in the next draft--a sure sign of a subsequent production draft down the road. The word around the producer's office is that we are "a go picture" and that the association with the group I referred to earlier is "a slam dunk." I'm still taking a wait-and-see approach, but it's all very encouraging news.

The NFL conference championship games went just as I expected they would, which is nice since I had bets on both games. Before last week's action, I also placed a future bet on the Seahawks to win the Super Bowl, so now I have them as a no-spread money line bet in the big game at nearly 3-to-1 odds. I believe that the opening line has Pittsburgh favored by 3.5, which is right about where everyone thought it would be. They have played great and they should be the favorites, although it's a little odd to see the #6 seed in the AFC giving points to the #1 team in the NFC. Just goes to show how great the conference really is. Right now I like Seattle plus the points, although I think the line may get even higher before kick-off. I always love the goofy prop bets that come out for every Super Bowl so I'll make some bets and post those before the game. Some people think they are sucker bets but I've always managed to find great value plays there.

Patriots Post Mortem

That was a sickening way to go out for the Pats on Saturday night, but honestly I have no right to be too upset about it. The best analogy I could come up with was feeling like a guy cashing out after losing a couple of big hands at the end of a great run at the blackjack tables--sure, it would have been nice to keep winning, but I'm definitely still "up."

The Patriots won the Super Bowl three times. Occasionally I need to remind myself of this.

And just to get it out of my system once and for all: that pass interference call on Asante Samuel was an absolute joke and the Ben Watson play on Champ Bailey was definitely a touchback, meaning the Patriots would have retained the ball at their own 20. It's almost mind-boggling that despite five turnovers it still took two atrocious calls toknock us off. But it's over. I think Seattle has the best shot to win it all now but I really don't have much enthusiasm for any of the remaining potential match ups the rest of the way. Wagering on games will clearly help me in that area.

So where do the Patriots go from here next season? In my eyes, right back to being dominant like they have been. Aside from the sickening defeat, I'm highly optomistic about the off-season and beyond. Young defensive coordinator Eric Mangini just left to take the head job with the Jets, and that departure hurts, especially since it means we're looking at our third defensive coordinator in as many seasons in 2006. But this is Bill Belichick's defense and I don't expect a lot to change there. He'll name a replacement and keep running the show himself.

The Pats have a lot of personnell decisions to make, with a few high profile free agents, including Adam Vinatieri, David Givens, Troy Brown, Stephen Neal, and Tom Ashworth. Other veterans such as Willie McGinest are looking at being cut or having their deals restructured due to big forthcoming salary cap hits. I think they'll get something done with Vinatieri--we paid him a lot last season as our franchise player and I think that they'll work out an extension reasonable for both parties. I could see Troy Brown return in a role similar to the one he had this year at the right price. Givens might be a tougher signing--some teams desperate for a wide receiver might throw some bucks at him and I could see him as a guy that could be labeled as expendable within the Patriots system, although we'd need to replace him with a comparable player. As for Neal and Ashworth, I'm not sure what will happen there. Neal has really improved over the last two years and I'd love to keep him. As for Ashworth, he is a versatile lineman who will be really attractive on the free agent market. I'd welcome both of them back but the price will need to be right.

One benefit to not winning the Super Bowl is the overlooked fact that our off-season preparations start immediately. Belichick admitted that playing until February the last couple of seasons has made things tougher in the off-season, as we're behind most of the league. This way, we have plenty of time to evaluate the roster and the market. We also have a much higher draft pick than usual thanks to our regular season record: the #21 pick in the first round. This looks like a very strong draft to me and there is no doubt we'll get an impact player if we stay at that spot. I've already seen one mock draft that has us selecting USC running back LenDale White, and that intrigues me. Corey Dillon appeared to have lost a step and White is the kind of tough, between-the-tackles runner that could step right in and fill those shoes. We certainly have other needs, but we've got extra picks too (an extra selection each in the 3rd and 4th rounds from previous trades). So with six picks in the first four rounds, I expect some combination of: running back, corner back, safety, linebacker, offensive line, and wide receiver. The Pats love to wheel and deal and this year nothing would surprise me--moving up, moving down for value, or standing pat and just filling the few holes that we have.

The Patriots will be back in a big way in 2006.

The script is alive and well

Johnny and I have been working hard on our screenplay this week. Before the holidays we got a round of solid, positive feedback from our producer and we've been doing our best to incorporate most or all of his notes. The script is definitely running long (currently 135 pages) but we've decided it's not our place to cut anything until they ask us to. We're turning in our second draft next week.

We got some great news about it this week, although it's hush-hush and unofficial at this point...but one of the guys that works at the production company called to let us know that our producer has already tabbed him to direct our movie. This is fantastic news for two reasons: one, Johnny is friends with the guy, so working with him will be much easier than dealing with some director we've never met, who might just immediately brush us off to the side. But this guy in question has already confirmed that he wants to work with us when the time comes. Secondly, and more importantly,the naming of a director clearly means that the producer is seriously looking ahead to production, which means we'd get a nice check as well as actually see the movie get produced. All of that is wonderful news, but there's another potential rumor that would be really great as well. Unfortunately, I probably shouldn't say what it is, but it has to do with a certain organization/group getting involved with the movie. Can't add much more than that, I'm afraid, but it would be super-cool if it ever comes to pass.

Steve, I'll give you my Super Bowl picks when the time is right, but if you need them now (blatant homer alert), I'll say Patriots-Seahawks. The Pats should handle the Jags Saturday night, and then the toughest test will come the week after that, whether it's a trip to Denver or Indy. As for the NFC, I just think Seattle will be too tough to beat at home, and their offense is clearly the class of the conference. A Pats-Bears 20th anniversary Super Bowl match would be pretty interesting too.