World Cup Update, Day 15 - End of Group Play

Remember to send your knockout round predictions to me-with the tiebreaker being the total # of goals scored in all games of the knockout round - by 9:30 Saturday.

Don: 9-4-6-3 = 22 (2 alive)
Craig: 9-5-4-1 = 19 (3 alive)
Eric: 6-4-4-4 = 18 (4 alive)
Layup: 5-3-4-6 = 18 (2 alive)
Mike: 7-7-1-1 = 16 (2 alive)
Wiz: 1-5-5-4 = 15 (2 alive)
Ryan: 2-3-3-4 = 12 (0 alive)
Leland: 6-4-0-0 = 10 (1 alive)

You know, there should be an NIT bracket as well for the bottom 8 teams. What would that look like?

(1) Serbia vs (8) North Korea
(4) Nigeria vs (5) France
(2) Italy vs (7) Honduras
(3) Algeria vs (6) Cameroon

Total goals scored in this tournament: 2, maybe.

World Cup Update, Day 13

If this doesn't give you goose bumps.....


Don: 9-4-6-2 = 21 (1 in, 1 eliminated)
Craig: 6-5-4-0 = 15 (3 in)
Eric: 6-4-1-4 = 15 (3 in)
Mike: 6-7-1-1 = 15 (2 in, 2 eliminated)
Layup: 5-3-4-3 = 15 (1 in, 1 eliminated)
Ryan: 2-3-3-4 = 12 (3 eliminated)
Wiz: 1-4-4-3 = 12 (1 eliminated)
Leland: 3-1-0-0 = 4 (2 eliminated)

World Cup Update, Day 11 - End of Round 2

Here are the scores at the end of Round 2:

Don: 6-1-6-2 = 15
Ryan: 2-3-3-4 = 12
Craig: 6-2-4-0 = 12
Wiz: 1-4-4-3 = 12
Eric: 3-4-1-3 = 11
Mike: 6-4-0-1 = 11
Layup: 2-3-1-3 = 9
Leland: 3-1-0-0 = 4

Let me know if there are errors!

World Cup Update, Day 10

Great US Open. It's strangely fascinating to see an 80+ round out of the final group, like Gore and Goosen in 05 and now Dustin this year. It shouldn't happen every year, but once in a while keeps us all on edge.

(And by the way - Dustin's caddy should get $0 for his lack of performance between the chips on 2 and the lip out on 4. Where was he?)

One unexpected question has popped up about the scoring in the World Cup Pool: what happens in a forfeit? I think any team that forfeits loses 5 points in our pool. Bonjour, Wiz!

Don: 6-1-3-2 = 12
Ryan: 2-3-3-4 = 12
Craig: 6-2-4-0 = 12
Eric: 3-4-1-3 = 11
Mike: 6-4-0-1 = 11
Layup: 2-3-1-3 = 9
Wiz: 1-1-4-3 = 9
Leland: 0-1-0-0 = 1


Leland and Wiz has 2 games in hand; Don and Craig have 1 game in hand.

World Cup Update - Day 7

Love the way the US Open is setting up. -2 the leading score after 18? Love it. I think the winning score will be even.

Here are the standings; first, the official standings after the 1st round games. The four numbers are the points accumulated by your four picks, in order.

Don: 3-1-3-1 = 8
Eric: 3-1-1-3 = 8
Craig: 3-1-3-0 = 7
Wiz: 1-1-1-3 = 6
Mike: 3-1-0-0 = 4
Layup: 1-0-0-3 = 4
Ryan: 1-0-0-3 = 4
Leland: 0-1-0-0 = 1

And now up to the minute standings:

Don: 6-1-3-1 = 11
Eric: 3-4-1-3 = 11
Craig: 3-1-3-0 = 7
Mike: 3-4-0-0 = 7
Ryan: 1-0-3-3 = 7
Wiz: 1-1-1-3 = 6
Layup: 1-0-0-3 = 4
Leland: 0-1-0-0 = 1

World Cup Update, Day 4

You know that financial advice you hear - you should hang on to tax returns for 7 years?

That's the truth. Just got a letter from our good friends in Columbus that they don't have a tax return for me from 2004 and 2005! If I can't prove why I didn't file an Ohio tax return, I'm going to get all sorts of penalties. Nice.

Eric: 3-1-0-3 = 7
Craig: 3-1-3-0 = 7
Don: 3-1-0-0 = 4
Layup: 1-0-0-3 = 4
Ryan: 1-0-0-3 = 4
Wiz: 1-0-1-0 = 2
Mike: 0-1-0-0 = 1
Leland: 0-0-0-0 = 0

Can We Talk About Something That Actually Matters...?

...you know, something like a photographic investigation of Sarah Palin's boobs?

Oh, and eff Japan.

World Cup Update, Day 2

Should we be happy with that result? I say yes, others say no - that the US should have won. I'm not sure.

I am happy with South Korea's effort!

Eric 0-1-0-3 = 4
Don 3-1-0-0 = 4
Mike 0-1-0-0 = 1
Craig 0-1-0-0 = 1
Wiz 1-0-0-0 = 1
Layup 1-0-0-0 = 1
Ryan 0-0-0-0 = 0
Leland 0-0-0-0 = 0

Ramblings

This site is going to die once Eric goes to china right? We are going to be forced to go to China's version of a blog where Eric will be restricted on commenting on anything other than how great baccarat is and the importance of putting enough top spin on a ping pong ball.

A couple of comments before Morgan wakes up:

1. Doesn't Maradona look and act like an older fatter mr. Diangelo?
2. Listening to soccer on the radio is the worst thing ever. I tried listening to the Mexico South Africa game yesterday on the way into work and it sounded like a bee hive in my car. Plus I don't know anyone so it was worthless.
3. Heard that the world cup will bring in 4 billion. This is nothing compared to the 19 billion the NFL brings in over the same time frame.
3. Interviewing babysitters this past week. Lots of fun. Trying to figure out which 20 year old girl won't bring her boyfriend over and screw on my bed. Found a nice 22 year old Jewish girl with a big nose who is involved in her temple to take the lead. Let's hope for the best.
4. Morgan went to Vegas before her 6 month b day! Forgot the baby holder at home wanted to play craps while she was strapped on my back.

World Cup Update - Day 1

Here is the update after day 1. The winners? Everyone who didn't have a team going, since no one got 3 points for the win.

I've broken down the points scored in their order of being picked by the owner - so if your first "pick" gets less than Don's last pick, that's no good - no good at all.

Eric 0-1-0-0 = 1
Mike 0-1-0-0 = 1
Don 0-1-0-0 = 1
Wiz 1-0-0-0 = 1
Layup 0-0-0-0 = 0
Ryan 0-0-0-0 = 0
Craig 0-0-0-0 = 0
Leland 0-0-0-0 = 0

I'll try to update every day.

The Dominos are starting to fall

What will NCAA football (and basketball) look like in 2012? Who knows? The first domino fell today with Nebraska going to the Big 10, and now Colorado has gone to the Pac 10.

Where will it stop? Nobody really knows. However, I laughed so hard when I read this from Stewart Mandel on cnnsi:


While it's entirely possible the Huskers will be joined by two to four other newcomers by year's end -- be it Notre Dame, Rutgers, Maryland, Missouri or Syracuse -- for now, Nebraska's addition appears to be largely Delany's way of making a splash.


Wait, what?

Maryland in the Big 10? Oh my, will that shut up the coastal elites like Leland, Layup and others....

World Cup Draft

Here we go! Here are the teams for our 2nd (?) World Cup pool. Names listed in order of picking so one can reconstruct the draft if they so choose.

Mike: Brazil, Uruguay, Nigeria, Algeria
Don: Argentina, South Africa, Chile, New Zealand
Leland: Spain, Cote d'Ivoire, Cameroon, North Korea
Layup: England, Denmark, Australia, Japan
Ryan: Italy, Serbia, Greece, Slovenia
Craig: Netherlands, USA, Ghana, Honduras
Wiz: France, Portugal, Paraguay, Switzerland
Eric: Germany, Mexico, Slovakia, South Korea

Early lines for total number of wins in pool play:

Mike: 5.5
Don: 5.5
Leland: 5
Layup: 5.5
Ryan: 5.5
Craig: 5
Wiz: 4
Eric: 5

The dangers of home scanners

So a college friend of mine finally scanned in some of his pictures from Case and sent them out to a group of us. Wow - we were so young 20 years ago.

Of course, many of them are embarassing. I feel like, for full disclosure, I should put one of them on the blog.

But jees, even this one puts me in a bad light. I mean, my God, why am I wearing a Penn State sweatshirt?

And I guess if I ever feel overweight, all I have to do is to look at this picture and I will feel better.

Does Layup Write For Deadspin?

What are the odds that I would be the next person to blog after Eric? 10-1? 20-1?

Anyhoo, I read this article on Deadspin today and it made me think that Layup wrote it. Especially the "Great Moment in Poop History" part of the article. It's long as shit, but pretty damn funny.

BTW, I'm in Orlando this week for a work conference and I hate this fucking place. Chain restaurants everywhere, it's hot as fuck (went for a run at 6:15am and it was 75 degrees and about 80% humidity), and it's fat-ass WT central. Went to a work party at the Universal CityWalk and it was WT fat asses as far as you could see. Is there a state with more WT than Florida? West Virginia, maybe?

Advice to the Republicans

If I may, a couple of words of advice to the Republicans if they want to win in November, 2010:

1. A lot of people are investigating and criticizing the deals that Obama and the White House may or may not have made to keep Senate priamry challengers out in Pennsylvania and (maybe) Colorado. Apparently, the White House offered Joe Sestak (PA) and Andrew Romanoff (CO) some sort of job (maybe) if they would drop their challenge to the preferred Democrtatic incumbent candidate. Both Sestak and Romanoff declined; Sestak won the primary in PA and the CO primary is in August.

Many in the Republican side want to highlight this as a scandal, and call for congressional investigations into the matter.

My advice: drop it.

My first gut rule of scandals: Can you summarize the "scandal" nicely in one sentence to someone who is impartial?

I think this is a very good rule for any scandal. I believe this is why the Joe Wilson/Valerie Plame "scandal" never caught on. How do you summarize that in one sentence? You couldn't. If it's too hard to explain, it's not going to catch on.

Can you summarize this Obama scandal here? What would you say? "Obama is trying to use his power to pull strings and get opponents out of the Democratic primary!"

The obvious response: "So?"

What's illegal here? What's the wrong doing?

The Republicans do have a point when they say that Obama claimed to be "a different kind of politician....not going to be politics-as-usual", and then they admit to possbily dangling jobs out there to get people to drop out. That's a fair critique...but save that for the campaign. That's not worthy of investigation.

Just note these incidents, get sound bites from Gibbs/Sestak/others, and build your campaign commercials for 2010 and 2012 - and move on.

2. What the Republicans should focus on is his handling of the Oil Spill since the news conference. Boy, has Obama mishandled this. Is he, or is he not in charge? Did he fire the head of the MMS? Does the buck stop at Obama? Is it his responsibility?

Obama's news conference last week sent the message that he is in charge; he is leading the efforts, and he is responsible. Here are the quotes:

"My job is to get this fixed."
"I ultimately take responsibility for this effort, and the buck stops with me".

Great. So what are the two key actions that people see him doing after that news conference?

1. The day after the news conference, the Attoney General announces the government will go ahead and investigate criminal charges against BP.

Now, there's probably some validity to that investigation, as laws may have been broken....but tell me how exactly throwing the book at them NOW will help to speed up the process to get the spill fixed? Why not wait for it to be fixed - you will need their help, by the way - until announcing criminal charges?

This is a distraction from the true task of plugging the hole.

2. Two days ago, President Obama was seen at the White House at a honorary concert for Paul McCartney. The President was dancing on stage, singing, partying - even enjoying the political potshots being lobbed by the honoree, Mr. McCartney. "It's good to have an occupant at the White House who knows what a library is for!" said Mr. McCartney. Laughs all around.

That is a very stark contrast to the continual oil flow coming out of the pipe in the ocean.

How exactly is the buck stopping with you, Mr. President, if you find time to yuk it up with Paul McCartney? That visual says more than 1000 words, and the Republicans should exploit that as much as possible to their advantage.

Drop the Sestak investigation and hammer at the incompetence theme - partying while the well is still leaking.

One more China note

As we had our tour of the school, things were going well. The classrooms looked like any normal American classroom, the hallways were outside - very much like my high school in Sacramento - the cafeteria seemed similar....

then we went to the gym.

My first, immediate thought:

My God, my boys will be learning to play basketball with the international trapezoidal lane instead of the good old-fashioned American rectangular lane! THIS IS UNACCEPTABLE!!!

Notes from the Far East

Well, back from China now for seven days. I see there's hasn't been much happening on the blog since I left.

(Actually, nothing from anyone else since Apr 4. In fact, there are odds posted at MGM Mirage:

Which will happen first?

The oil leak in the underground Gulf is plugged -130
Someone besides Eric posts on F&J +110
-ed )

But I digress. As some of you know, we have a reprieve - our paperwork is being delayed, so we aren't leaving for China until mid-July. This means we have soem time to get everything done around here throughout the month of June - like stocking up on Cascade, Hefty trash bags, chocolate syrup, and Off.

Random notes about the trip:

- I can't reliably access blogspot.com, nor twitter. I did not have the audacity to try to access the on-line gambling site on my P&G work computer. Someone said (another P&G ex-pat) that I need to buy my own VPN, based in Hong Kong. I'll look into that - but any thoughts from the gallery out there?

- Walking off the plane, we were hit with this wall of humidity - at 6 in the morning. It was 85 degrees and at least 90% humidity. It felt like one of those August mornings in Baltimore where it feels that it will rain any moment. It was like that all week.

We remarked to a local: "gees, the heat here is bad, isn't it?"
"Heat? Oh no. It will get 10 degrees warmer (that's 10 degrees warmer in Celsius!!!) in July and August!"
Oh great.

We did not see the sun all week; apparently, we will see the sun/blue skies about 10 days on average.

- The pollution, however, was suprprisingly good. Some ex-pats said it got a whole lot better since the Olympics; 3 years ago, it was suffocating. I didn't notice it at all over a week.

- House hunting was (and is) difficult. We need a 4 bedroom apartment, because of the kids and the need for us to have some sort of office (as we will be taking many late night calls for fantasy football/work). However, there just are not many of those in Guangzhou. It's a classic case of supply and demand. There's no supply - so prices are exponentially higher when moving from a 3 bedroom to a 4 bedroom place.

- Food? Food was good. Many of our Chinese hosts ordered for us - and it was great. Problem is - we will never be able to order that food again, since we don't know what the dish is called. This is espeically a problem at the dim sum restaurants.

- In order to get a work permit for China, we have to go through a state-sponsored medical examination. Let's just say that the exam - which took 3 hours - will haunt me for a long time. You were shuffled from room to room in a 1950s style block building; in each room you were greeted by someone with the personality of Krauss from "Benson".

I had an ultrasound done on me.

- The Asian games are coming! Guangzhou is hosting the 2010 Asian Games in November. This is the 16th playing of the games. This is a huge deal, apparently - and therefore there is an enormous amount of construction going on to get ready.
And - unfortunately - it's all on tight timing. Construction is going on 24/7 - so there is lots of noises that you can hear in the hotel room at 3 am due to the construction all around.

- We think we have found a place to live (we are in the process of negotiating right now); there is a Starbucks, Subway, and KFC within walking distance; there is also a neighborhood corner store very close that sells everything Western - for a price. Pop Tarts? 35 Yuan a box - about $6. Cereal? 50 yuan - $8. Chocolate Syrup? 40 yuan.

And many fast food restaurants - including McDonalds & KFC - deliver. This could be trouble.

- In general, we did not do anything touristy in Guangzhou. We stayed near the neighborhood of our hotel, the school (where our apartments are going to be) and work. We did not explore any of the markets or sightsee.

- Sports? Well, we got ESPN International....where the headline story for two days was "Is Fabregas going to Real Madrid? Will he leave Arsenal??"
Oh God no. Not Soccer.

- We then went to Hong Kong for a day. That city is indescribable. Within 10 miles on the island, you get a combination of:
- New York, with the bright city lights;
- San Francisco, with the famous "peak" in the middle of the island, a 600 foot "mountain" that was fogged in continually as we drove up it;
- San Diego, with the beaches on the eastern side of the island (reminded me of La Jolla),
- Paris, as there are many streets that are barely two-lane streets but are teeming with restaurants/shops/cafes on both sides of the street.

Just a wild juxtaposition of cultures. And - of course - it's own money/currency.

Lot of things still to do to get ready for the move - like figure out how Slingbox works.

Oh! I met my hero. We had dinner at the house of some P&G ex-pats...we met 4 families, one of them is moving back to Cincinnati this summer. I asked the male in the family on what P&G category he is in.

The group laughed.

What is the joke I am missing?

He is a stay-at-home dad. In China. With two "ayis" (or nannys) that cook, clean, and take care of the kids. Now that's the life.

Memorial Day Notes

So Freddie's school put on a performance by the 3rd graders on Friday in honor of Memorial day. The 3rd graders sang patriotic songs, recited poems, and honored veterans.

Quick quiz: Which one of these songs was not played in the school program:

a) Grand Old Flag
b) Boogie Woogie Bugle Boy
c) In the Navy
d) God Bless America

Answer: e) All of them were part of the performance!

I would really have liked to known what went through several of the veteran's heads - many of them 80 years old or so - when the class did "In The Navy" and were dancing to it. "Is this what we fought for? We fought so that American kids can dance to The Village People to honor us?"

And we are off!

Off for house hunting tonight! We'll see how much blogging I can do starting on Sunday!

The end of the NBA in Cleveland?

Well, I think I have to post something about the game 5 debacle last night. In today's sports world with the media, it's easy to overstate events. (An 80-79 OT college basketball game is instantly declared the "Game of the decade!")

But it's easy to see how the game 5 disaster can lead to the end of the NBA in Cleveland....and a vastly different landscape for Cleveland sports.

Reality hit hard last night that Game 5 could - and probably will be - LeBron's last game in Cleveland. If they don't survive against Boston, this is now two seasons where they didn't even reach the conference finals. THey didn't even make the final 4!!!!

Can you imagine if they lost in a blowout in game 6? Why would LeBron stay? Can anyone give me one good reason why he would stick around? Has his actions so far indicated that he would?

It has been written in an article that Cleveland fans "expect the worst, and then worry if they are being too optimistic". That has a lot of truth to it. What are the next dominoes to fall if/when LeBron leaves this summer?

First, let's fill people in on the Cleveland sports pecking order. The Browns will always be #1. The Indians are a clear #2. The Cavs are #3 - and in many cases, are #4 behind the Buckeyes. No one will care about this team. I will be done with the NBA for a long time - not that I was the biggest fan - but I will actively diengage.

Part of me - just part - is secretly happy the Cavs are folding. As you know, the city is starving for a title. I want to see a championship sometime in my life. If I am going to dream, why not shoot for the moon? In order, if I had a choice, my rank of the "worth" of championships is:
1. Browns
2. Indians
3. Cavs

The Browns and the Tribe are a close 1-2; Steve would switch the 2; I'm not sure how Don would rate them. But I am positive that the joy we would have in a Cavs title would be dwarfed by a Browns Super Bowl. So if I'm only going to get one title in my life, why not want it to be the greatest title ever?

Anyway - back to the present. If LeBron leaves, the Cavs will not win 70 games in the next 3 seasons combined. We will go back to the late 90s pre-LeBron Cavs, where Randy Wittman was our coach, Shawn Kemp was our best player and our record was 25-57. No one will care. Games will routinely have 5,000 people.

I think it would be an even money bet to see if the Cavs would be playing in Cleveland in 2015. They would be in a 20 year old arena (wow, now I am old), worth absolutely nothing with a team that is pathetic. I would wager on a move to Kansas City.

Which then means - what is the city of Cleveland going to do between December and April? um - debate who the #1 QB would be for the Browns, which is an annual event? Ha ha.

It opens up the way for a three-person partnership (me, Steve, and Kermit) to buy the Tampa Bay Lightning and move them to Cleveland for the 2019 season.