Alright, so as all of you know, I am very mild-mannered individual. I rarely ever get upset about things and staying calm is my number one skill. So I hope you will allow me to indulge in a rarely experienced activity: going on a rant about something I am upset with.
First, let's start with you, Western Digital. You would be the one responsible for making my external hard drive. 1 TB full of space. Beautiful, that is more room than I could ever hope to fill, so I can load as much music, pictures, programs, etc onto it and never worry about running out of space. Well that is if I COULD ACTUALLY ACCESS MY HARD DRIVE WHEN I PLUG IT IN.
What's that? You want to put a password on my external hard drive? Oh that's cool. But what would be even cooler is if I were the one to put the password on! So I don't know what the password is, no big deal. I'll just fill out some information and you can email it to me so I can get to my files. I mean I have the registration code and everything for the hard drive.
Wait, you mean that there is no way to recover a password if you don't remember it? You're joking, right? And if you can't remember your password then you have no way of recovering those files? Yep, that's right. So those files, if I could even remember what exactly I have on there, are gone for good. That's just wonderful. Glad you guys felt the need to make your hard drive more secure than Fort Knox.
Okay, okay, deep breath Pete. Just reset the hard drive, accept your losses and move on. I follow the directions to reset it and when it comes to the last screen, the option of rebooting the hard drive isn't there. Just straight up is not there. Okay, I'll just go to control panel and uninstall the program that operates the hard drive. Except, the program isn't listed. In fact, it is nowhere to be found on my computer.
So I go to check some forums online and it turns out that I am not the first person to have this issue. In fact, many others have and those people are pissed off much like myself. So I don't know the password, I lose the files for good, I can't reboot the hard drive, and I can't find the software on my computer that supposedly runs the hard drive. Hey computer-nerd assholes, you do realize that when creating a product, you try to please the customer, right? Oh, I guess you just missed that part in school because you were too busy playing Dungeons and Dragons. Just trying to help here.
So basically my external hard drive has turned into a paper weight. But it even sucks at that because it is too damn big to be a paper weight. I could find a fucking rock outside that would serve me better. Then I could use the rock to smash the hard drive to bits and pieces and feel even better! Way to make a quality product folks!
And ANOTHER THING: Mark Zuckerburg, I hate you. STOP CHANGING FACEBOOK. Just stop. No wonder they portrayed you as such an asshole in "The Social Network." It is because YOU ARE ONE. Unless you are going to make some significant changes, stop messing around with it. We don't need a new design every few months where nothing really changes. JUST LEAVE IT ALONE.
Phew, glad I got that off my chest. Thanks for letting me get upset this one time since it happens so infrequently! I am happy you all understand!
Wednesday, 8 December 2010
Tuesday, 7 December 2010
What's Causing These Hard Fouls?
David Stern decided that enough was enough. He had to crack down on the players complaining to the referees. That's awesome because if he hadn't let it get so bad in the first place, this wouldn't be an issue. Or if he hadn't decided to employ referees who end up run by mob bosses. Or if he hadn't set a precedent of letting players, especially of certain teams and cities, get away with whatever they want. But good for him for deciding to try and fix the problem he caused in the first place!
But seriously in the preseason we saw some seriously absurd technical fouls given out. Grant Hill and Reggie Evans apparently were a little too aggressive, when they gave each other a pat on the butt. Kevin Garnett did what? I must've missed it. Even my boy Kyle Korver, who epitomizes badass, gets hit up with the most questionable of the three. Good Lord, David Stern is out to gain back the power he never had.
Now that the regular season has started up, the technicals have curbed a little bit, but that's only in comparison to the preseason. Players have started to learn what is okay and isn't (and by those videos, it appears anything more than a pat on the arm is technical-worthy) and it seems like there is less bitching on a game to game basis. But, on the flip side, and perhaps not coincidentally, hard fouls have seemed to increase.
Elton Brand "lays out" JaVale McGee. Hilton Armstrong drops Joel Anthony and immediately gets shoved over by the enforcer, Juwan Howard. And most recently, things in the Blazers Clippers game got chippy with this "hard" foul and this missed call that ultimately resulted in a one game suspension for Andre Miller.
Maybe it is just because I haven't been able to watch games while I am abroad, but this year there seems to be more hard fouls and chippiness between the players. I believe that there is a connection between the riffs with the players and the increased rules on technicals.
Let's take the Andre Miller and Blake Griffin incident. If Miller truly feels like he is getting shoved around badly by a rookie, as a veteran of the league, he'll probably go voice his displeasure with the referees. But today, he has to worry about receiving a technical. So what does he do? He gets a little bit of revenge with a hard foul.
Now how is delivering a hard foul different from receiving a technical for complaining? Well, even if the end result is the same, possible ejection and free throws for the other team, at the very least Miller will have made his point to Griffin. That may cause Griffin to think twice next time he decides to put a forearm in a player's back. The result is the same, but a clear message was delivered by Miller.
It seems to me that since the league is restraining the players from the referees, the next best thing they can do is take it out on the other team. If I had more free time and I were getting paid to do this, I would look up the number of technical fouls called up to this point last season and the season before and compare it to this year. Then I would do the same for flagrant one and two fouls. Alas, I do not hit either of those prerequisites so it'll just remain a theory unsupported by facts.
It'll be interesting to see if the hard fouls continue to occur or if these are just isolated incidents that coincidentally occurred around the same time. All I know is that I would hate to see David Stern's reaction to the equivalent hit in the NBA that Heath Miller sustained on Sunday night.
But seriously in the preseason we saw some seriously absurd technical fouls given out. Grant Hill and Reggie Evans apparently were a little too aggressive, when they gave each other a pat on the butt. Kevin Garnett did what? I must've missed it. Even my boy Kyle Korver, who epitomizes badass, gets hit up with the most questionable of the three. Good Lord, David Stern is out to gain back the power he never had.
Now that the regular season has started up, the technicals have curbed a little bit, but that's only in comparison to the preseason. Players have started to learn what is okay and isn't (and by those videos, it appears anything more than a pat on the arm is technical-worthy) and it seems like there is less bitching on a game to game basis. But, on the flip side, and perhaps not coincidentally, hard fouls have seemed to increase.
Elton Brand "lays out" JaVale McGee. Hilton Armstrong drops Joel Anthony and immediately gets shoved over by the enforcer, Juwan Howard. And most recently, things in the Blazers Clippers game got chippy with this "hard" foul and this missed call that ultimately resulted in a one game suspension for Andre Miller.
Maybe it is just because I haven't been able to watch games while I am abroad, but this year there seems to be more hard fouls and chippiness between the players. I believe that there is a connection between the riffs with the players and the increased rules on technicals.
Let's take the Andre Miller and Blake Griffin incident. If Miller truly feels like he is getting shoved around badly by a rookie, as a veteran of the league, he'll probably go voice his displeasure with the referees. But today, he has to worry about receiving a technical. So what does he do? He gets a little bit of revenge with a hard foul.
Now how is delivering a hard foul different from receiving a technical for complaining? Well, even if the end result is the same, possible ejection and free throws for the other team, at the very least Miller will have made his point to Griffin. That may cause Griffin to think twice next time he decides to put a forearm in a player's back. The result is the same, but a clear message was delivered by Miller.
It seems to me that since the league is restraining the players from the referees, the next best thing they can do is take it out on the other team. If I had more free time and I were getting paid to do this, I would look up the number of technical fouls called up to this point last season and the season before and compare it to this year. Then I would do the same for flagrant one and two fouls. Alas, I do not hit either of those prerequisites so it'll just remain a theory unsupported by facts.
It'll be interesting to see if the hard fouls continue to occur or if these are just isolated incidents that coincidentally occurred around the same time. All I know is that I would hate to see David Stern's reaction to the equivalent hit in the NBA that Heath Miller sustained on Sunday night.
Sunday, 5 December 2010
The Blazers Scorers in the Past Decade
So when you have a lot of free time on your hands, these are the kinds of things that you do. Maybe some of you saw this which was posted on Blazersedge. Hoopism actually did this for every team which is pretty incredible and I highly suggest checking it out if you have some free time. So I decided to do something similar, except instead of minutes played, I took every Blazer player of the past decade, from the infamous 99-00 team to last year's little bundle of overachievers, and totaled up the number of points they scored while they were a Blazer. This way, it is a little easier to see some of the names on it and I also included the number of points they scored to give you an idea of who carried the heaviest loads on the team.
Sorry that the picture quality isn't that great, I'm not sure why it got kinda blurry. Click on it to enlarge it. You can still make out most of it. It's pretty funny to look at some of the names on this and be like "who the hell is that guy?"
Let me know what you think of it.
Sorry that the picture quality isn't that great, I'm not sure why it got kinda blurry. Click on it to enlarge it. You can still make out most of it. It's pretty funny to look at some of the names on this and be like "who the hell is that guy?"
Let me know what you think of it.
A Note to Nate: We Suck
Jubilation. Despair. Thank God that we have the Ducks right now otherwise I would probably be an inconsolable mess given the state of the Blazers. Dwight Jaynes wrote this article about how he thinks that the Blazers' players are trying to get Nate fired. I agree with him that Nate's seat has probably burned him a few times, but I disagree with Jaynes. I think there is a huge difference between actively trying to get your coach fired by playing poorly and, as Nate said, just not responding effectively at this point.
Call me naive, ignorant, too trusting. Call me whatever you want but I just highly doubt that the Blazers got together and said "Hey guys, let's go out there and play a horrendous excuse for a basketball game and that way we won't have to deal Coach anymore." I also highly doubt if they did, that those would've been their words. But I digress.
Something is definitely up with this Blazers team, but I don't think they are actively trying to get Nate fired. I've always been a pretty big Nate supporter myself, but even now I am having my doubts. Our offensive efficiency has plummeted from the past two years and our already anemic defensive efficiency doesn't seem to be getting any stronger.
Now, of course, the reasons to this are well documented. Without BRoy's explosive drives defenses don't have to collapse on the middle. He's settling for jumpers. This causes the other players to stand around and chuck up bricks too because our whole offense was designed around a healthy Roy who could create off the dribble. And it was designed for a team of shooters. Hey L.A., can we have Steve Blake back please?
Clearly a tactical change is needed. Our offense sucks now. Plain and simple. So what does Nate do? Stick's to the same bull-shit offense that has us sitting 19th in the league in offensive efficiency. Memo to Nate: WE DON'T HAVE THE SAME PERSONNEL THAT WE DID THE PAST TWO YEARS. Every time I watch Aldridge throw up a fade-away 20 footer or see Dre bullet a three as the shot clock expires, I have to prevent myself from grabbing the nearest sharp object and gouging my eyes out. How can he not see that we need a change in style here?
I am sick of watching us go to Aldridge on 5 straight possessions to start out a game. I'm tired of Rudy running around like an idiot for 20 seconds around screens before catching the ball in the corner and jacking up a contested three. I scream at the game recaps (stupid time difference) when I read about Batum getting 15 minutes where he gets pulled the second he screws up
I realize that he did an incredible job last year guiding this team to 50 wins. That's great and wonderful, but that was last year. This is a new year and essentially a new team. Good coaches adjust their gameplans. Nate is sticking to the same one game in and game out. I don't care if we decide to go SSOL, but right now we are trying to be the slow it down, grind it out Spurs and doing a piss-poor imitation of them.
So no, I don't think that the Blazers are trying to get Nate fired. But you can definitely tell that they aren't responding to him like they have in years past. I'm not advocating firing Nate, but I hope that the Blazers are keeping an eye open for suitable replacements.
Call me naive, ignorant, too trusting. Call me whatever you want but I just highly doubt that the Blazers got together and said "Hey guys, let's go out there and play a horrendous excuse for a basketball game and that way we won't have to deal Coach anymore." I also highly doubt if they did, that those would've been their words. But I digress.
Something is definitely up with this Blazers team, but I don't think they are actively trying to get Nate fired. I've always been a pretty big Nate supporter myself, but even now I am having my doubts. Our offensive efficiency has plummeted from the past two years and our already anemic defensive efficiency doesn't seem to be getting any stronger.
Now, of course, the reasons to this are well documented. Without BRoy's explosive drives defenses don't have to collapse on the middle. He's settling for jumpers. This causes the other players to stand around and chuck up bricks too because our whole offense was designed around a healthy Roy who could create off the dribble. And it was designed for a team of shooters. Hey L.A., can we have Steve Blake back please?
Clearly a tactical change is needed. Our offense sucks now. Plain and simple. So what does Nate do? Stick's to the same bull-shit offense that has us sitting 19th in the league in offensive efficiency. Memo to Nate: WE DON'T HAVE THE SAME PERSONNEL THAT WE DID THE PAST TWO YEARS. Every time I watch Aldridge throw up a fade-away 20 footer or see Dre bullet a three as the shot clock expires, I have to prevent myself from grabbing the nearest sharp object and gouging my eyes out. How can he not see that we need a change in style here?
I am sick of watching us go to Aldridge on 5 straight possessions to start out a game. I'm tired of Rudy running around like an idiot for 20 seconds around screens before catching the ball in the corner and jacking up a contested three. I scream at the game recaps (stupid time difference) when I read about Batum getting 15 minutes where he gets pulled the second he screws up
I realize that he did an incredible job last year guiding this team to 50 wins. That's great and wonderful, but that was last year. This is a new year and essentially a new team. Good coaches adjust their gameplans. Nate is sticking to the same one game in and game out. I don't care if we decide to go SSOL, but right now we are trying to be the slow it down, grind it out Spurs and doing a piss-poor imitation of them.
So no, I don't think that the Blazers are trying to get Nate fired. But you can definitely tell that they aren't responding to him like they have in years past. I'm not advocating firing Nate, but I hope that the Blazers are keeping an eye open for suitable replacements.
Thursday, 2 December 2010
Like I Am Going to Let This One Slip By
FIFA announced the winners of the 2018 and 2022 World Cup bids. The two clear favorites were England and the US respectively. Both of these countries make perfect sense. England already has a plethora of stadiums so they wouldn't have to spend an absurd amount of money building new stadiums that may never be used again (see: Africa, South 2010). Not to mention, the city and suburbs are connected incredibly well, which ensures that the country would be able to handle the influx of tourists. For the soccer dunces out there, English people really like soccer too. As much as any country in the world. In fact, I'd bet my life that you could even name a former English national team captain (somewhere in India, 30 million Indian children just screamed "Bend it like Beckham!!"). The US appeared to have a firm grip on the 2022 World Cup and considering when they won the 1994 World Cup they sold a record number of tickets, FIFA knows they would make fistfuls of cash if it were held in the US. Another kicker, and FIFA knows this, the US Soccer Federation is desperately trying, and making ground, to establish soccer as a national sport on the level of the Big 4. The World Cup would definitely help generate interest and foster further growth in the US.
Russia is cold, barren and not exactly a soccer power. And their ability to demonstrate fiscal responsibility is...well...not good. Qatar (millions of Americans just said "huh?") is approximately 1.7 million people and is located, hang on a second I have to look up where exactly...right here. No, this is not a joke. I'm telling the truth. Qatar actually is a real country.
Alright, let me gather my thoughts for just a second. FIFA, did you just decide to throw a dart and pick the two countries that you hit to host the World Cup? I guess that makes Qatar the proverbial bulls eye that amateur dart throwers hit one in every 500 throws.
Or was your decision to take the most logical choices, go the polar extremes of those two and then select the opposites? What makes you think that Russia is going to be a better choice than England? CAN SOMEBODY PLEASE EXPLAIN THIS TO ME?
Russia is at least semi (and I use the term loosely) defensible. Qatar? Well I'll just let you read this little blurb while I wait. Yep, you read that right. 120 skin-melting, fires of hell, Satanically called-upon degrees. And you want to pack thousands and thousands of tourists who are certainly not accustomed to that into a country roughly the size of my thumb? When the first idiotic person dies from heat exhaustion from not drinking water, millions of people much smarter than FIFA officials will simply nod their heads, as if saying "should've seen this one coming FIFA."
But don't worry! They're going to put in air conditioning systems in the stadiums! So what happens the other 22 and a half hours that the fans are not watching the games in the luxurious, state-of-the-art air conditioned stadiums? Oh yeah, they just chill the brisk climate and enjoy the wonderful sites that Qatar has to offer. Either that or they melt from the heat.
Qatar is going to build stadiums and then when the World Cup is over they are going to take the stadiums apart and give them away to poorer countries in need. That is because they are about as likely to use them again as I am getting called up to the US senior squad for the 2022 World Cup.
Seriously, what the hell FIFA? What am I missing? You have a golden opportunity to reward to hugely important countries in the soccer world, and you give the opportunities to Russia and Qatar. The only thing Qatar is better than the US at is spelling words with a Q and no U.
But then again, I don't know how we were supposed to compete with that.
Russia is cold, barren and not exactly a soccer power. And their ability to demonstrate fiscal responsibility is...well...not good. Qatar (millions of Americans just said "huh?") is approximately 1.7 million people and is located, hang on a second I have to look up where exactly...right here. No, this is not a joke. I'm telling the truth. Qatar actually is a real country.
Alright, let me gather my thoughts for just a second. FIFA, did you just decide to throw a dart and pick the two countries that you hit to host the World Cup? I guess that makes Qatar the proverbial bulls eye that amateur dart throwers hit one in every 500 throws.
Or was your decision to take the most logical choices, go the polar extremes of those two and then select the opposites? What makes you think that Russia is going to be a better choice than England? CAN SOMEBODY PLEASE EXPLAIN THIS TO ME?
Russia is at least semi (and I use the term loosely) defensible. Qatar? Well I'll just let you read this little blurb while I wait. Yep, you read that right. 120 skin-melting, fires of hell, Satanically called-upon degrees. And you want to pack thousands and thousands of tourists who are certainly not accustomed to that into a country roughly the size of my thumb? When the first idiotic person dies from heat exhaustion from not drinking water, millions of people much smarter than FIFA officials will simply nod their heads, as if saying "should've seen this one coming FIFA."
But don't worry! They're going to put in air conditioning systems in the stadiums! So what happens the other 22 and a half hours that the fans are not watching the games in the luxurious, state-of-the-art air conditioned stadiums? Oh yeah, they just chill the brisk climate and enjoy the wonderful sites that Qatar has to offer. Either that or they melt from the heat.
Qatar is going to build stadiums and then when the World Cup is over they are going to take the stadiums apart and give them away to poorer countries in need. That is because they are about as likely to use them again as I am getting called up to the US senior squad for the 2022 World Cup.
Seriously, what the hell FIFA? What am I missing? You have a golden opportunity to reward to hugely important countries in the soccer world, and you give the opportunities to Russia and Qatar. The only thing Qatar is better than the US at is spelling words with a Q and no U.
But then again, I don't know how we were supposed to compete with that.
Tuesday, 30 November 2010
Paris: The Judge's Breakdown
Okay so for those of you who are living vicariously through me (or reading my blog because I update it on Facebook frequently, which is the more likely reason), I am going to go over the major sites that we hit up in Paris and give a score out of ten to each one. The reason I am doing this is because I have no desire to study for my Greek midterm on Friday. In fact, I'd sooner count the rice grains in our pot before doing that. As you can tell, I'm really motivated.
Without further rambling, here we go:
The Bastille Monument: This was our first stop on the trip. Disappointment, but I suspect I built it up in my head incorrectly. I was expecting something that was more public friendly. It is a big pillar in the middle of a roundabout with no access to it. Names of important French revolutionaries appear on the pillar in gold writing which probably light up in the sun. Unfortunately, our day was grayer than Raiders' Stadium. Therefore, a bland pillar. Peter is sad.
Verdict: 3 Eiffel Towers
The Garden of Plants: No, I am not going to write as the French name because I think that sound pretentious and show-offy. That and I am too lazy to go find the book that has the name. A scenic walk through a very large park revealed some of the natural beauty Paris offers...had we been there three weeks earlier. Don't get me wrong, it was a peaceful place made doubly nice with the sun (which showed up at this point) gleaming off the dew on the grass (damnit, this is why I like writing about sports better; I sound like a fruit). But the trees were bare, forcing my imagination to work. This is my Thanksgiving break, the one time where it is okay for me to not do any work (not like I do any anyway: see beginning of this post).
Verdict: 4.5 Eiffel Towers
Pantheon: Now we're talking. Let the record show I could've lied really easily and told the woman at the ticket booth that I was an art student and gotten in for free. In hindsight, I wish I had. Five Euros would buy me almost three gyros from down the street. The tomb of Rousseau? Check. Tomb of Voltaire? Check. Tomb of Marie Curie? Check. Enormous swinging pendulum which was seemingly useless? Double check. Gorgeous building that was almost difficult to take in all the intricacies. A must-see.
Verdict: 7 Eiffel Towers
The Garden of Luxembourg: Same problem as Garden of Plants. Only it was a hell of a lot colder three hours later. Imagination had to work for this one, but still a little more impressive. Definitely worth seeing in any season other than Winter or the end of Fall.
Verdict: 5 Eiffel Towers
D'Orsay: For the art-lover, this is an absolute must. I enjoy art but I know as much about art as I do computer programming. Spent a full two and a half hours here and was never bored at a single point. I'm not a huge French Impressionist fan, but gorgeous works regardless. The bathrooms are gross though (really sounded like a girl there).
Verdict: 7 Eiffel Towers
Notre Dame: Probably the most overrated site that we visited this weekend. Don't get me wrong, the building is an architectural mind-fuck, but the number of tourists packed into it detracts from the buildings mystique. Plus, that was no more impressive to me than the cathedrals that I saw in Spain. Sorry Mike, but this is just another reason for me to hate Notre Dame.
Verdict: 5.5 Eiffel Towers
Saint Chapelle: From the most overrated to the most underrated. The five Euro price for students is steep considering the small space the church occupies. It is pennies considering how breathtakingly gorgeous the stain-glassed windows are on the second floor. The entire top half of the walls are stain-glassed windows, with each section depicting a book of the Bible. Over 1,000 scenes spread out over 15 sections. You know when I'm speechless in a public place, something must be impressive.
Verdict: 8.5 Eiffel Towers
Louvre: Overwhelmingly large. Houses arguably the greatest collection of art in the world, including the famed Mona Lisa (kinda a let down in person, but again this is coming from someone who knows art like Ellen Degeneres knows the male anatomy). We spent two and a half hours here and barely scratched the surface of the works there. If you're an art aficionado, spend the whole day here. If you're like me, pick the important sites and then dip or you will spend too much time there.
Verdict: 7.5 Eiffel Towers
Eiffel Tower: In case you are too stupid to realize, the Eiffel Tower is my basis of comparison for these landmarks. The reason for that is that the Eiffel Tower is the single most impressive attraction in Paris. Call it cliche, but think if you met a person in a random country and asked them to name world attractions. What do you want to bet that the Eiffel Tower makes that list 99 times out of 100? It stands among the elite worldly sites along with the Statue of Liberty, Great Wall of China, and the Colosseum. When seen in the distance, it doesn't look overly impressive. With each step closer, the ever-growing Tower dwarfs the city. Take the stairs to the top to get a good idea of just how tall it is (plus you save a couple of Euros and get a good exercise). Whether you're a France fan or not, it is hard to imagine disliking the Eiffel Tower. Truly a unique experience.
Verdict: 10 Eiffel Towers
Arc de Triomphe: This one sneaks up on you. I have always seen pictures of the Arc and thought that it was a cool design for a monument. Of course I'll never forget it lit up and the people of Paris surrounding it when France beat Brazil in the '98 World Cup. But the most impressive thing about the Arc are the intricate carvings that most pictures and videos fail to capture. And maybe I just suffered from the opposite problem that I did with the Bastille memorial, having low expectations that were vastly exceeded. But the Arc, lit up at the end of the Champs-Elysees, is an image etched in my memory.
Verdict: 8 Eiffel Towers
So you're probably asking yourself, did Pete really need to write this? Absolutely not. And did you need to read the whole thing? Probably not, or at least I doubt you did. But Paris was such an outstanding city that I felt the need to give my two cents on some of the significant attractions.
That and I really didn't want to study for my midterm.
Ellie Goulding - Sweet Disposition (Temper Trap cover)
Without further rambling, here we go:
The Bastille Monument: This was our first stop on the trip. Disappointment, but I suspect I built it up in my head incorrectly. I was expecting something that was more public friendly. It is a big pillar in the middle of a roundabout with no access to it. Names of important French revolutionaries appear on the pillar in gold writing which probably light up in the sun. Unfortunately, our day was grayer than Raiders' Stadium. Therefore, a bland pillar. Peter is sad.
Verdict: 3 Eiffel Towers
The Garden of Plants: No, I am not going to write as the French name because I think that sound pretentious and show-offy. That and I am too lazy to go find the book that has the name. A scenic walk through a very large park revealed some of the natural beauty Paris offers...had we been there three weeks earlier. Don't get me wrong, it was a peaceful place made doubly nice with the sun (which showed up at this point) gleaming off the dew on the grass (damnit, this is why I like writing about sports better; I sound like a fruit). But the trees were bare, forcing my imagination to work. This is my Thanksgiving break, the one time where it is okay for me to not do any work (not like I do any anyway: see beginning of this post).
Verdict: 4.5 Eiffel Towers
Pantheon: Now we're talking. Let the record show I could've lied really easily and told the woman at the ticket booth that I was an art student and gotten in for free. In hindsight, I wish I had. Five Euros would buy me almost three gyros from down the street. The tomb of Rousseau? Check. Tomb of Voltaire? Check. Tomb of Marie Curie? Check. Enormous swinging pendulum which was seemingly useless? Double check. Gorgeous building that was almost difficult to take in all the intricacies. A must-see.
Verdict: 7 Eiffel Towers
The Garden of Luxembourg: Same problem as Garden of Plants. Only it was a hell of a lot colder three hours later. Imagination had to work for this one, but still a little more impressive. Definitely worth seeing in any season other than Winter or the end of Fall.
Verdict: 5 Eiffel Towers
D'Orsay: For the art-lover, this is an absolute must. I enjoy art but I know as much about art as I do computer programming. Spent a full two and a half hours here and was never bored at a single point. I'm not a huge French Impressionist fan, but gorgeous works regardless. The bathrooms are gross though (really sounded like a girl there).
Verdict: 7 Eiffel Towers
Notre Dame: Probably the most overrated site that we visited this weekend. Don't get me wrong, the building is an architectural mind-fuck, but the number of tourists packed into it detracts from the buildings mystique. Plus, that was no more impressive to me than the cathedrals that I saw in Spain. Sorry Mike, but this is just another reason for me to hate Notre Dame.
Verdict: 5.5 Eiffel Towers
Saint Chapelle: From the most overrated to the most underrated. The five Euro price for students is steep considering the small space the church occupies. It is pennies considering how breathtakingly gorgeous the stain-glassed windows are on the second floor. The entire top half of the walls are stain-glassed windows, with each section depicting a book of the Bible. Over 1,000 scenes spread out over 15 sections. You know when I'm speechless in a public place, something must be impressive.
Verdict: 8.5 Eiffel Towers
Louvre: Overwhelmingly large. Houses arguably the greatest collection of art in the world, including the famed Mona Lisa (kinda a let down in person, but again this is coming from someone who knows art like Ellen Degeneres knows the male anatomy). We spent two and a half hours here and barely scratched the surface of the works there. If you're an art aficionado, spend the whole day here. If you're like me, pick the important sites and then dip or you will spend too much time there.
Verdict: 7.5 Eiffel Towers
Eiffel Tower: In case you are too stupid to realize, the Eiffel Tower is my basis of comparison for these landmarks. The reason for that is that the Eiffel Tower is the single most impressive attraction in Paris. Call it cliche, but think if you met a person in a random country and asked them to name world attractions. What do you want to bet that the Eiffel Tower makes that list 99 times out of 100? It stands among the elite worldly sites along with the Statue of Liberty, Great Wall of China, and the Colosseum. When seen in the distance, it doesn't look overly impressive. With each step closer, the ever-growing Tower dwarfs the city. Take the stairs to the top to get a good idea of just how tall it is (plus you save a couple of Euros and get a good exercise). Whether you're a France fan or not, it is hard to imagine disliking the Eiffel Tower. Truly a unique experience.
Verdict: 10 Eiffel Towers
Arc de Triomphe: This one sneaks up on you. I have always seen pictures of the Arc and thought that it was a cool design for a monument. Of course I'll never forget it lit up and the people of Paris surrounding it when France beat Brazil in the '98 World Cup. But the most impressive thing about the Arc are the intricate carvings that most pictures and videos fail to capture. And maybe I just suffered from the opposite problem that I did with the Bastille memorial, having low expectations that were vastly exceeded. But the Arc, lit up at the end of the Champs-Elysees, is an image etched in my memory.
Verdict: 8 Eiffel Towers
So you're probably asking yourself, did Pete really need to write this? Absolutely not. And did you need to read the whole thing? Probably not, or at least I doubt you did. But Paris was such an outstanding city that I felt the need to give my two cents on some of the significant attractions.
That and I really didn't want to study for my midterm.
Ellie Goulding - Sweet Disposition (Temper Trap cover)
A Few Random NBA Notes
Alrighty, the NBA season is really beginning to take shape with the Lakers dominating, the Hornets finally fading, the surprising Spurs and the top-heavy two team race in the East between the Magic and Celtics. What's that you say Pete? Two team race? You're goddamn right I did. Two posts ago I said how I was happy watching Boise State lose. I'm downright giddy watching the Heat this year. Some I have a couple of thoughts I would like to share with you about the Super Heroes of South Beach.
--Hmmmm, glad to see Lebron demonstrating his maturity "accidentally" bumping Spoelstra. Right, and Bill Clinton accidentally had an affair during his presidency. Hey Lebron, just a piece of advice, it strengthens your case when you haven't done this before. I'm just sayin'.
--The Heat lose four of five and the sky is falling. The Washington John Wall's (unfortunately missing John Wall last night) show up and the Heat win by 11. At home. Now all of a sudden everything is peachy dandy. Okay, ESPN, spare me the melodramatic reporting of every Heat game. I know it is tough since you haven't objectively reported anything in roughly a decade, but give it a go. It's won't hurt you, I swear.
--Anyone want to bet that John Wall would've scored 30 on the paper thin defense that Miami's point guards play? And for that matter, can we please recognize that the Wizards suck and were playing without their best player? Did I miss something?
--The bench is washed up worse than Nicholas Cage's nonexistent acting skills. Seriously, Juwan Howard, Erik Dampier and Joel Anthony? I've seen a group of fourth grade girls more intimidating than that trio.
--Unfortunately, if it all comes together, and they still have 65 games to figure it out, the Heat will still be scary. But for now, Orlando and Boston are the cream of the crop out East. And their 3-0 combined record against the Heat prove it.
Last but not least, here is a quote from the great Tracy McGrady on Wade and Lebron's failure to coexist thus far:
"That's why when they're on the court together, they're terrible. They're rhythm players that need the ball. I'm like that. I can't stand out there and catch and shoot. I've never been a guy that sits out there waiting for the ball to come to me."
Ummm, old man McGrady, doesn't that imply that you are actually on the court? Somebody should probably remind him he's been sitting on the bench waiting for his turn to come into the game the past three years.
Never gets old.
--Hmmmm, glad to see Lebron demonstrating his maturity "accidentally" bumping Spoelstra. Right, and Bill Clinton accidentally had an affair during his presidency. Hey Lebron, just a piece of advice, it strengthens your case when you haven't done this before. I'm just sayin'.
--The Heat lose four of five and the sky is falling. The Washington John Wall's (unfortunately missing John Wall last night) show up and the Heat win by 11. At home. Now all of a sudden everything is peachy dandy. Okay, ESPN, spare me the melodramatic reporting of every Heat game. I know it is tough since you haven't objectively reported anything in roughly a decade, but give it a go. It's won't hurt you, I swear.
--Anyone want to bet that John Wall would've scored 30 on the paper thin defense that Miami's point guards play? And for that matter, can we please recognize that the Wizards suck and were playing without their best player? Did I miss something?
--The bench is washed up worse than Nicholas Cage's nonexistent acting skills. Seriously, Juwan Howard, Erik Dampier and Joel Anthony? I've seen a group of fourth grade girls more intimidating than that trio.
--Unfortunately, if it all comes together, and they still have 65 games to figure it out, the Heat will still be scary. But for now, Orlando and Boston are the cream of the crop out East. And their 3-0 combined record against the Heat prove it.
Last but not least, here is a quote from the great Tracy McGrady on Wade and Lebron's failure to coexist thus far:
"That's why when they're on the court together, they're terrible. They're rhythm players that need the ball. I'm like that. I can't stand out there and catch and shoot. I've never been a guy that sits out there waiting for the ball to come to me."
Ummm, old man McGrady, doesn't that imply that you are actually on the court? Somebody should probably remind him he's been sitting on the bench waiting for his turn to come into the game the past three years.
Never gets old.
Monday, 29 November 2010
Fight or Flight: Your Call Blazer Fans
The Blazers lost to the Nets by two last night. Yes, that is the same New Jersey Nets that threatened to break the record for fewest wins in a season by the lowly '72-'73 76ers, who finished the year with nine wins. Granted, this is not the same pathetic Nets as last year, but they had won five games, scoring the second fewest points per game in the league.
Now they have won six games. Because they played the Blazers. At home, no less.
This is not a "woe is us" post. It isn't complaining about the injuries. It won't bemoan Kevin Durant's ascension. Because none of that matters.
The Blazers stand at a crossroad, and with their two franchise players riddled with injuries, the path doesn't look good. Roy can play through the pain and be a shell of his former self. Oden could see the court again as a Blazer, but how effective can he even be? Aldridge is the same player he was three years ago. Bleak, folks, very bleak. What will happen with the aging trio of Pryzbilla, Camby, and Miller? So many questions, very few answers and none shed a positive light on the situation.
But the biggest question in my mind right now is off the court. No matter what happens, these guys will come in each night and play the games. There is not a shortage of bodies. We won't pack up and move like the Sonics. But the wheels are shaky on this team. Nuts and bolts fall faster than they can repair them.
So will people still be around if the wheels fall off entirely? That's the question that nags me with each postgame recap I read. I grew up in an interesting time for the franchise. We saw bittersweet (far more bitter) success in '99-'00. The wheels started to fall off there too, similar to today. By '04-'05, we had the worst record in the league. Fans disappeared by the bunches. Part of it was the poor character of the players. But part of it was the lack of success on the court as well. Will we live up to the reputation of being one of the best crowds in the league even if things go sour? Will fans support the players the team puts on the court regardless of the results?
Or will the noise that surrounded the Blazers the past four years disappear faster than it appeared? The choice is yours, Blazer fans. I know where I will be and I hope to see you all on the Blazers' sideline too.
Now they have won six games. Because they played the Blazers. At home, no less.
This is not a "woe is us" post. It isn't complaining about the injuries. It won't bemoan Kevin Durant's ascension. Because none of that matters.
The Blazers stand at a crossroad, and with their two franchise players riddled with injuries, the path doesn't look good. Roy can play through the pain and be a shell of his former self. Oden could see the court again as a Blazer, but how effective can he even be? Aldridge is the same player he was three years ago. Bleak, folks, very bleak. What will happen with the aging trio of Pryzbilla, Camby, and Miller? So many questions, very few answers and none shed a positive light on the situation.
But the biggest question in my mind right now is off the court. No matter what happens, these guys will come in each night and play the games. There is not a shortage of bodies. We won't pack up and move like the Sonics. But the wheels are shaky on this team. Nuts and bolts fall faster than they can repair them.
So will people still be around if the wheels fall off entirely? That's the question that nags me with each postgame recap I read. I grew up in an interesting time for the franchise. We saw bittersweet (far more bitter) success in '99-'00. The wheels started to fall off there too, similar to today. By '04-'05, we had the worst record in the league. Fans disappeared by the bunches. Part of it was the poor character of the players. But part of it was the lack of success on the court as well. Will we live up to the reputation of being one of the best crowds in the league even if things go sour? Will fans support the players the team puts on the court regardless of the results?
Or will the noise that surrounded the Blazers the past four years disappear faster than it appeared? The choice is yours, Blazer fans. I know where I will be and I hope to see you all on the Blazers' sideline too.
Schadenfreude At Its Finest
Hahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahaha.
Excuse me, let's try to maintain at least a modicum of professionalism, Peter. It is difficult, though, given that Boise State lost leaving their hordes of supporters silent for the first time in years. I have to be honest, I am not really sure why I dislike Boise State so much. I usually enjoy underdog stories. I watched them in the greatest college football game ever played. The "bad blood" (and I use the quotes very loosely) between Bronco fans and Duck fans is over-hyped.
So what drives me so crazy about Boise State that I would actually feel genuine happiness watching them lose? If I had to guess, I think I can only hear the "we belong there" argument so many times before it makes me drive a tack-board through my eyeballs. At some point, and BSU definitely crossed that point a while ago, your results do the talking. This was the first regular season game they had lost since November 2007. 36 months have passed since they last lost a regular season game. That is absurd, regardless whether you think they play an easy schedule or not (SOS doesn't seem to think so).
But still, week after week after week, you heard the cries of injustice from Bronco fans. Did they need to keep screaming at the top of their lungs on a weekly basis? I mean, I know there is nothing to do in Boise but watch the Smurfs play on Saturday (or Thursday night in this year's case), but we get it: you guys are good and you win a lot of games.
And I think that that, more than anything else, is why I am happy that Boise State lost. There is no more discussion to be had on whether or not the Boises or the TCU's of the world belong with the "big boys." They do and they will be around for a long time I expect. But they felt the need to keep announcing their presence to everyone. They cried "wolf" a few too many times.
Could Boise State compete with the best of the AQ schools? Would they beat Nevada 7 times out of 10? Have they proven themselves worthy of national championship talk? Yes, yes and yes. But for one fateful night, the answer was no. And the hordes of voices were silent.
And that silence makes me happy.
Excuse me, let's try to maintain at least a modicum of professionalism, Peter. It is difficult, though, given that Boise State lost leaving their hordes of supporters silent for the first time in years. I have to be honest, I am not really sure why I dislike Boise State so much. I usually enjoy underdog stories. I watched them in the greatest college football game ever played. The "bad blood" (and I use the quotes very loosely) between Bronco fans and Duck fans is over-hyped.
So what drives me so crazy about Boise State that I would actually feel genuine happiness watching them lose? If I had to guess, I think I can only hear the "we belong there" argument so many times before it makes me drive a tack-board through my eyeballs. At some point, and BSU definitely crossed that point a while ago, your results do the talking. This was the first regular season game they had lost since November 2007. 36 months have passed since they last lost a regular season game. That is absurd, regardless whether you think they play an easy schedule or not (SOS doesn't seem to think so).
But still, week after week after week, you heard the cries of injustice from Bronco fans. Did they need to keep screaming at the top of their lungs on a weekly basis? I mean, I know there is nothing to do in Boise but watch the Smurfs play on Saturday (or Thursday night in this year's case), but we get it: you guys are good and you win a lot of games.
And I think that that, more than anything else, is why I am happy that Boise State lost. There is no more discussion to be had on whether or not the Boises or the TCU's of the world belong with the "big boys." They do and they will be around for a long time I expect. But they felt the need to keep announcing their presence to everyone. They cried "wolf" a few too many times.
Could Boise State compete with the best of the AQ schools? Would they beat Nevada 7 times out of 10? Have they proven themselves worthy of national championship talk? Yes, yes and yes. But for one fateful night, the answer was no. And the hordes of voices were silent.
And that silence makes me happy.
Guess who is back and slightly more cultured?
Much like the ever eclectic Manny Ramirez, I'm baaaaaaack. However, unlike Manny, I am significantly more stable and much less likely to do something crazy that makes you shake your head. In fact, after my recent trip to Paris, I am pretty sure that the overload of culture has transformed me from a crass and outspoken degenerate to a refined dignitary.
*crickets*
Nobody believes me, huh? Well can't say that I blame you. But Paris was truly out of this world. Granted, my traveling experiences in Europe are fairly limited (parts of Spain, Greece, and Florence) but Paris was definitely the most jaw-dropping of all of them. Like right now I am sitting here trying to decide how I want to write this post to make everyone simultaneously jealous and want to punch me in the face for spending five days in Paris, and I don't know where to begin (my flight lands at 11:15 on December 18th, so those of you who do want to punch me in the face, you know where to find me). So I guess I will just jump right into it and see where my traveling (pun intended) mind takes me.
The craziest thing about Paris was how astoundingly beautiful every part we ventured through was. When I went to Florence, I was impressed with the beauty of the city, but that was on such a small scale. When we first toured around Athens, the size of the city blew me away. The way that the houses just stretch ad infinitum was difficult to comprehend. Paris? Combine the concentrated beauty of Florence and the size of Athens an that is Paris. I spent all day Thursday-Saturday touring the city and not a single part was unimpressive. I just kept thinking, "man, eventually we are going to see something shitty. There will be a bad neighborhood, or massive amounts of graffiti, or dog poop everywhere." Nope, just never came around. That is not to say that these things DON'T exist in Paris, just that the parts we were around were truly incredible.
I think one of the most impressive things about the city was the architecture of all the buildings. All of the apartments, museums, shops, offices, etc were intricately designed. Aesthetically appealing does not even scratch the surface. You know how in the US when your neighbor gets a huge TV, the competitor in you wants to go get a bigger one to show off? Well in Paris they must have decided to do the same, but in terms of architecture and design. "What do you mean he just installed brand new columns, arches and re-chiseled the designs around the windows?! I have to have nicer designs than him!" Wandering around aimlessly was a treat.
I have about a million other things that I want to talk about, but I will get to in later posts. But here is one interesting cultural tidbit that I noted: the French are an incredibly proud culture. "Well no shit, Sherlock. Most people knew that already." But they are especially proud compared to the Greeks. Granted, our experience with the French was more limited than that of the Greeks, but it was kinda surprising. Many of the Greeks I have talked to were surprised when I said I went to the Acropolis and thought it was incredible. To many, but not all, the Acropolis is just there and isn't anything overwhelming. The Parisians seemed genuinely more excited that we were going to tour the city and see their historical sites. It appeared that they take a lot more pride in their national landmarks. I suppose it makes sense though given the Greeks are a more modest culture and generally the French are seen as, well, not. But just thought y'all would find that interesting.
Coming soon - a review of all the major sites we hit up.
The New Pornogrophers - Execution Day
The quality isn't super great but I love this song and was at this concert. Enjoy!
*crickets*
Nobody believes me, huh? Well can't say that I blame you. But Paris was truly out of this world. Granted, my traveling experiences in Europe are fairly limited (parts of Spain, Greece, and Florence) but Paris was definitely the most jaw-dropping of all of them. Like right now I am sitting here trying to decide how I want to write this post to make everyone simultaneously jealous and want to punch me in the face for spending five days in Paris, and I don't know where to begin (my flight lands at 11:15 on December 18th, so those of you who do want to punch me in the face, you know where to find me). So I guess I will just jump right into it and see where my traveling (pun intended) mind takes me.
The craziest thing about Paris was how astoundingly beautiful every part we ventured through was. When I went to Florence, I was impressed with the beauty of the city, but that was on such a small scale. When we first toured around Athens, the size of the city blew me away. The way that the houses just stretch ad infinitum was difficult to comprehend. Paris? Combine the concentrated beauty of Florence and the size of Athens an that is Paris. I spent all day Thursday-Saturday touring the city and not a single part was unimpressive. I just kept thinking, "man, eventually we are going to see something shitty. There will be a bad neighborhood, or massive amounts of graffiti, or dog poop everywhere." Nope, just never came around. That is not to say that these things DON'T exist in Paris, just that the parts we were around were truly incredible.
I think one of the most impressive things about the city was the architecture of all the buildings. All of the apartments, museums, shops, offices, etc were intricately designed. Aesthetically appealing does not even scratch the surface. You know how in the US when your neighbor gets a huge TV, the competitor in you wants to go get a bigger one to show off? Well in Paris they must have decided to do the same, but in terms of architecture and design. "What do you mean he just installed brand new columns, arches and re-chiseled the designs around the windows?! I have to have nicer designs than him!" Wandering around aimlessly was a treat.
I have about a million other things that I want to talk about, but I will get to in later posts. But here is one interesting cultural tidbit that I noted: the French are an incredibly proud culture. "Well no shit, Sherlock. Most people knew that already." But they are especially proud compared to the Greeks. Granted, our experience with the French was more limited than that of the Greeks, but it was kinda surprising. Many of the Greeks I have talked to were surprised when I said I went to the Acropolis and thought it was incredible. To many, but not all, the Acropolis is just there and isn't anything overwhelming. The Parisians seemed genuinely more excited that we were going to tour the city and see their historical sites. It appeared that they take a lot more pride in their national landmarks. I suppose it makes sense though given the Greeks are a more modest culture and generally the French are seen as, well, not. But just thought y'all would find that interesting.
Coming soon - a review of all the major sites we hit up.
The New Pornogrophers - Execution Day
The quality isn't super great but I love this song and was at this concert. Enjoy!
Tuesday, 23 November 2010
Cars Without Mufflers and Soccer Players: They Both Suck
It's about 12:25 last night, and I just finished up watching an episode of South Park. A pretty good conclusion to the night as they so wisely taught me how to get rid of homeless people: send them to California. So I close my computer, curl up in the fetal position (yeah, that's how I fall asleep, get over it) and close my eyes. Then I hear it, that terrible rumbling that you immediately associate with douchebags: a car without a muffler. The car just flies up the hill next to our apartment, echoing excessively throughout our room. Here I am on the verge of a peaceful night of sleep, and this asswipe just ruins that. I can hear him driving around our neighborhood for TWO FULL MINUTES with the sound of his engine blasting through our apartment.
Okay, let's look at the pros of not having a proper muffler on your car: none. Alright, glad we settled that one.
The cons (I'm only going to name a few, because, well, I could go all day if you really wanted me to): people think you suck, you keep people up at night, you wake people up in the morning, you offer nothing beneficial to society.
Seriously, when was the last time someone drove past you and once you regained the ability to hear your own thoughts, you said, "Man, that guy is AWESOME. I wish that my car sounded like that." Nobody likes it. Nobody thinks you are cool. It doesn't help you get girls. It. Doesn't. Do. Anything. Okay? Do us all a favor and rev your unmuffled engine in your closed garage. Thanks.
At least these serve as an alarm clock, or something, since people should be up cooking breakfast.
Alright, now watch this and then tell me that soccer players are the biggest sissies on the face of the planet. First, Eto'o barely gets tapped on the head, he pauses for a second and then hits the ground. Good joke dude. I would love to punch you in the face as hard as I can and see what your reaction would be if this is how you actually respond to a tap on the head. They'd probably put you on a stretcher and rush you to the nearest hospital for a cut on the chin.
So what does Eto'o do in return? He throws what may be the worst headbutt I've ever seen. Take it from someone who has been headbutted many times (Zach Zupsic throws the hardest headbutts I know), that was a pathetic attempt. The only thing worse than his headbutt? Caesar's fall to the ground. Oh god, three of his hairs brushed my chest in a basically fake headbutt attempt! Now I need to violently drop and act like I've been shot!
Spare me, please. For those of you who read my work during my time at the MSP know that I wrote about this earlier. The worst part about this is how that style is carrying into the NBA as well. But I can't start into that right now. I don't have the time or energy to write a few hundred words dripping with sarcasm and furor for flopping in the NBA.
Jurassic 5 - Concrete Schoolyard -- This always makes me feel better and clearly I need to after this post.
Okay, let's look at the pros of not having a proper muffler on your car: none. Alright, glad we settled that one.
The cons (I'm only going to name a few, because, well, I could go all day if you really wanted me to): people think you suck, you keep people up at night, you wake people up in the morning, you offer nothing beneficial to society.
Seriously, when was the last time someone drove past you and once you regained the ability to hear your own thoughts, you said, "Man, that guy is AWESOME. I wish that my car sounded like that." Nobody likes it. Nobody thinks you are cool. It doesn't help you get girls. It. Doesn't. Do. Anything. Okay? Do us all a favor and rev your unmuffled engine in your closed garage. Thanks.
At least these serve as an alarm clock, or something, since people should be up cooking breakfast.
Alright, now watch this and then tell me that soccer players are the biggest sissies on the face of the planet. First, Eto'o barely gets tapped on the head, he pauses for a second and then hits the ground. Good joke dude. I would love to punch you in the face as hard as I can and see what your reaction would be if this is how you actually respond to a tap on the head. They'd probably put you on a stretcher and rush you to the nearest hospital for a cut on the chin.
So what does Eto'o do in return? He throws what may be the worst headbutt I've ever seen. Take it from someone who has been headbutted many times (Zach Zupsic throws the hardest headbutts I know), that was a pathetic attempt. The only thing worse than his headbutt? Caesar's fall to the ground. Oh god, three of his hairs brushed my chest in a basically fake headbutt attempt! Now I need to violently drop and act like I've been shot!
Spare me, please. For those of you who read my work during my time at the MSP know that I wrote about this earlier. The worst part about this is how that style is carrying into the NBA as well. But I can't start into that right now. I don't have the time or energy to write a few hundred words dripping with sarcasm and furor for flopping in the NBA.
Jurassic 5 - Concrete Schoolyard -- This always makes me feel better and clearly I need to after this post.
Monday, 22 November 2010
Kisses on the Cheek: Yay or Nay?
One of funny differences between Europe and the U.S. is how friends greet each other. When you first meet someone, at least in Greece, you do a handshake. Normal enough. But after that, most friends greet each other with a kiss on each cheek. I know it seems like an unnecessary show of affection, but I personally like it. At BC sometimes I feel like we shy away from showing we care for our friends in public. There probably isn't even a specific reason for why, but frequently I feel distant from the people that I feel closest to because of this cultural difference.
The double peck on the cheek is simply a nice reminder of affection for our friends. It's not like a PDA of a couple making out in a public place, in which case grab the nearest rock you can find and bean one of them in the head. Just a cool way to say hello, I think (the kiss on the cheek, not the rock throw).
The funny thing is, and not surprisingly either, the only exception where you don't see it happen is when two guys greet each other. The same types of greetings occur here, although I have seen it with older men. Definitely not on campus though. Guess some things don't change across cultures.
Anyone else have thoughts on the matter? Do you like the European-style greeting between friends? Or do you prefer to just say hello, maybe a passing hug and then be on your way?
The double peck on the cheek is simply a nice reminder of affection for our friends. It's not like a PDA of a couple making out in a public place, in which case grab the nearest rock you can find and bean one of them in the head. Just a cool way to say hello, I think (the kiss on the cheek, not the rock throw).
The funny thing is, and not surprisingly either, the only exception where you don't see it happen is when two guys greet each other. The same types of greetings occur here, although I have seen it with older men. Definitely not on campus though. Guess some things don't change across cultures.
Anyone else have thoughts on the matter? Do you like the European-style greeting between friends? Or do you prefer to just say hello, maybe a passing hug and then be on your way?
The Hornets: Can They Contend?
Okay, less than a quarter of the way into the season, the New Orleans Hornets are definitely the surprise team of the league, starting the year 11-1, despite finishing in the lottery the year before. Obviously the return of Chris Paul and the addition of Trevor Ariza makes a huge difference to this team. Now that they have dumped Peja's corpse, things in New Orleans look better by the day. But can they contend with the best of the west (see: Las Angeles Lakers)?
The Hornets are a team built for the regular season. They're athletic and have sharpshooters that flank the floor. They're even playing a slow-it-down style of basketball, giving up only 90.4 points per game. Chris Paul clearly resembles pre-injury CP3 which is a scary thought for all teams. He's playing the pick and roll with David West, making him look like an all-star again. Ariza, Bellinelli and Marcus Thorton can all score in bunches. Okafor anchors a defense that clamps down on the opposing team.
So let's say that they continue their exemplary play and cruise their way into the playoffs. The road to the Finals goes through the Lakers, so if I had to put money on a Hornets-Lakers series, I'm going to go with L.A. in five.
Paul will cause fits for the Lakers, but so did Westbrook last year and the Lakers still pulled that series off in six. Obviously Paul's a major upgrade over Westbrook, but Durant is like fillet Mignon compared to Ariza. This is where things start to go from bad to worse for the Hornets. Ariza's length will cause problems for Kobe, but the way Bryant has played this year shows he's still the premier shooting guard in the league. He looks more determined than ever to capture his sixth ring. David West and Okafor or Gasol, Odom and Bynum? That's a joke right? The three-headed beast the Lakers have would cause fits for the Hornets down low. David West can't guard a tissue. How will he handle Pau Gasol putting up career numbers? The Lakers' depth will certainly tip the scales further in their direction, especially with Shannon Brown's play and a likely return to the bench for Odom once Bynum returns.
Man, every time I write about the Lakers, I throw up in my mouth. But this talk about the Hornets competing with them is ludicrous (then again, what the hell do I know, I picked 3-9 Houston to be the surprise team of the West. Nice call, dumbass). There is no denying that the Lakers remain a step above the competition west of the Mississippi.
It's always fun to see a team like the Hornets surprise the league. But let's temper our expectations for them over the long run.
P.S. Seriously, I cannot get over the Pau Gasol and David West match up. Gasol would shred West in the post. And fine, move over Okafor to guard Gasol. You want David West guarding Lamar Odom or Andrew Bynum? Only if you are a masochist. There's just no way that the Hornets keep up with the Lakers. Especially over a seven game season. Now excuse me while I punch myself in the face for praising the Lakers this much. I hate myself as much as you hate me.
Oh yeah, and if you sign up to follow my blog, the 14th follower wins a mystery prize! Don't you think that that is a fair trade?
The Hornets are a team built for the regular season. They're athletic and have sharpshooters that flank the floor. They're even playing a slow-it-down style of basketball, giving up only 90.4 points per game. Chris Paul clearly resembles pre-injury CP3 which is a scary thought for all teams. He's playing the pick and roll with David West, making him look like an all-star again. Ariza, Bellinelli and Marcus Thorton can all score in bunches. Okafor anchors a defense that clamps down on the opposing team.
So let's say that they continue their exemplary play and cruise their way into the playoffs. The road to the Finals goes through the Lakers, so if I had to put money on a Hornets-Lakers series, I'm going to go with L.A. in five.
Paul will cause fits for the Lakers, but so did Westbrook last year and the Lakers still pulled that series off in six. Obviously Paul's a major upgrade over Westbrook, but Durant is like fillet Mignon compared to Ariza. This is where things start to go from bad to worse for the Hornets. Ariza's length will cause problems for Kobe, but the way Bryant has played this year shows he's still the premier shooting guard in the league. He looks more determined than ever to capture his sixth ring. David West and Okafor or Gasol, Odom and Bynum? That's a joke right? The three-headed beast the Lakers have would cause fits for the Hornets down low. David West can't guard a tissue. How will he handle Pau Gasol putting up career numbers? The Lakers' depth will certainly tip the scales further in their direction, especially with Shannon Brown's play and a likely return to the bench for Odom once Bynum returns.
Man, every time I write about the Lakers, I throw up in my mouth. But this talk about the Hornets competing with them is ludicrous (then again, what the hell do I know, I picked 3-9 Houston to be the surprise team of the West. Nice call, dumbass). There is no denying that the Lakers remain a step above the competition west of the Mississippi.
It's always fun to see a team like the Hornets surprise the league. But let's temper our expectations for them over the long run.
P.S. Seriously, I cannot get over the Pau Gasol and David West match up. Gasol would shred West in the post. And fine, move over Okafor to guard Gasol. You want David West guarding Lamar Odom or Andrew Bynum? Only if you are a masochist. There's just no way that the Hornets keep up with the Lakers. Especially over a seven game season. Now excuse me while I punch myself in the face for praising the Lakers this much. I hate myself as much as you hate me.
Oh yeah, and if you sign up to follow my blog, the 14th follower wins a mystery prize! Don't you think that that is a fair trade?
Friday, 19 November 2010
A Note to Bud Selig: Baseball Is Boring. Don't Make It Worse.
A long time ago, I used to be a baseball player. I was convinced that I was going to be the greatest catcher ever. I told anyone who would listen that I planned on playing well into my 80's because they would allow me to sit in a wheelchair to catch. I was convinced that, despite my old age, I would still crank out home runs at a prolific rate.
I was pretty good when I was younger. I consumed every bit of baseball knowledge I could, checking ESPN and Sportscenter at an unhealthy rate for an 8-year old. But this was my destiny. The baseball world wasn't ready for me; but I knew I could handle it.
In third grade, I began to play in a 3rd, 4th and 5th graders' league. In my pea brain, this just showed how close to the big leagues I truly was. But moving to a higher division meant a couple of things: longer and more frequent practices, more games, and crazy-ass coaches. As the season dragged on, baseball started to become less fun. Fielding fly balls at practice or practicing turning double plays just lost the appeal. The more distance I put between playing baseball, the less interested I was in watching the MLB. Baseball gradually turned into basketball and the MLB turned into the NBA.
Baseball became...boring.
The game was too slow, the season too long and the pace pedestrian. Just like that, my dream of being the Ironman of catchers was done.
Flash forward to 2010. I keep a lukewarm interest in baseball mostly because if I didn't, my summer would consist of an absence of sports, which just won't fly. I, most unfortunately, am a Seattle Mariners fan, making it twice as hard to follow baseball because, well, they suck. But I would still watch games with my Dad after work and check box scores the next day.
But would I watch every game? Hell no I wouldn't. Want to know why? Because the season is still too long. Honestly, Bud, do you realize that 162 games is nearly twice as long as the NBA and NHL seasons...and even I think that THOSE seasons should cut games. Sure, diehard fans will watch all 162. But the even slightly-more-than-casual fan, like myself, will focus on the first and last 30 games of the season (unless you root for the Mariners, then you watch the first five and your season is basically done after that).
So what do you propose to do? Cut down the regular season a little bit? Wow, you know, for the first time in your reign as commissioner you are doing the right thing! Well done!
..........
Wait, what do you mean you are going to lengthen the playoffs? You want to add more time to the season? I think you misunderstood me. The season is TOO LONG. TOO MANY GAMES. TAKES TOO MUCH TIME. Am I making more sense now?
Want to know the chief complaint of baseball amongst people who are casual sports fans? Yep, you guessed it: the games are too slow and the season is too long. "Hey guys, I've got a great idea, let's add more time to the season. Fans will love that, right?!"
Maybe you were too busy planning a playoff expansion so you might've missed this: but nobody watched the World Series. The WORLD. SERIES. The culmination of the entire season. MNF had a higher rating than game five did. And before you point your finger at market sizes, San Francisco and Dallas are pretty damn big markets. God I love the internet to point out facts like that.
Somewhere, another 3rd grader, just like myself, with dreams of the big leagues, is replacing that baseball bat with a basketball hoop, or football pads, or a soccer ball. They just won't maintain the interest anymore.
And somewhere Bud Selig attempts to count how much money he thinks the league will make. Perhaps he should try to count how many more disinterested fans there will be after this playoff expansion.
Sorry, I forgot we were talking about Bud Selig here. That's far too logical for him.
I was pretty good when I was younger. I consumed every bit of baseball knowledge I could, checking ESPN and Sportscenter at an unhealthy rate for an 8-year old. But this was my destiny. The baseball world wasn't ready for me; but I knew I could handle it.
In third grade, I began to play in a 3rd, 4th and 5th graders' league. In my pea brain, this just showed how close to the big leagues I truly was. But moving to a higher division meant a couple of things: longer and more frequent practices, more games, and crazy-ass coaches. As the season dragged on, baseball started to become less fun. Fielding fly balls at practice or practicing turning double plays just lost the appeal. The more distance I put between playing baseball, the less interested I was in watching the MLB. Baseball gradually turned into basketball and the MLB turned into the NBA.
Baseball became...boring.
The game was too slow, the season too long and the pace pedestrian. Just like that, my dream of being the Ironman of catchers was done.
Flash forward to 2010. I keep a lukewarm interest in baseball mostly because if I didn't, my summer would consist of an absence of sports, which just won't fly. I, most unfortunately, am a Seattle Mariners fan, making it twice as hard to follow baseball because, well, they suck. But I would still watch games with my Dad after work and check box scores the next day.
But would I watch every game? Hell no I wouldn't. Want to know why? Because the season is still too long. Honestly, Bud, do you realize that 162 games is nearly twice as long as the NBA and NHL seasons...and even I think that THOSE seasons should cut games. Sure, diehard fans will watch all 162. But the even slightly-more-than-casual fan, like myself, will focus on the first and last 30 games of the season (unless you root for the Mariners, then you watch the first five and your season is basically done after that).
So what do you propose to do? Cut down the regular season a little bit? Wow, you know, for the first time in your reign as commissioner you are doing the right thing! Well done!
..........
Wait, what do you mean you are going to lengthen the playoffs? You want to add more time to the season? I think you misunderstood me. The season is TOO LONG. TOO MANY GAMES. TAKES TOO MUCH TIME. Am I making more sense now?
Want to know the chief complaint of baseball amongst people who are casual sports fans? Yep, you guessed it: the games are too slow and the season is too long. "Hey guys, I've got a great idea, let's add more time to the season. Fans will love that, right?!"
Maybe you were too busy planning a playoff expansion so you might've missed this: but nobody watched the World Series. The WORLD. SERIES. The culmination of the entire season. MNF had a higher rating than game five did. And before you point your finger at market sizes, San Francisco and Dallas are pretty damn big markets. God I love the internet to point out facts like that.
Somewhere, another 3rd grader, just like myself, with dreams of the big leagues, is replacing that baseball bat with a basketball hoop, or football pads, or a soccer ball. They just won't maintain the interest anymore.
And somewhere Bud Selig attempts to count how much money he thinks the league will make. Perhaps he should try to count how many more disinterested fans there will be after this playoff expansion.
Sorry, I forgot we were talking about Bud Selig here. That's far too logical for him.
Thursday, 18 November 2010
Well, We've Been Down This Road Before
I'm sorry but some things were not meant to be. We've all worked long and hard at this, shown excessive patience, hung around the dark days because we saw the light briefly. We've defended him, argued, alienated other fans. Because we needed it. Our hope at a championship rested on it. But even Portlanders have their limits. So I'm sorry to say:
Greg Oden, we need to break up.
It pains me to say it. We had our good times together, albeit very few. But the pressure we put on you and your knees became too much. We've just been through too many long nights of you on the bench, seen too many of your suits and not enough of your post game. In the long run, it will benefit us both ("wait, who the hell am I kidding, neither one of us gains a thing" interjects irrational Peter).
We feel worse for you than we do for ourselves. The gentle giant. Soft-spoken with a contagious smile. You made us laugh. You desperately wanted to lead this franchise. But in the end, you made us cry far too much. It is just a game to Portland. To you it is your life. Your career. And you've been robbed in too many ways. We will carry on and continue watching the Blazers. They will still be in Portland five years from now.
As for you? We're not sure where you will be in five years. Two micro-fractures and a broken patella, not to mention the other countless smaller injuries over the years. Number one pick or not, who is going to take a flier on that? The only thing more frail than your body appeared to be your mental state. What will become of you? Will you just disappear forever so you can avoid the media the rest of your life?
We don't think we should try the whole "let's be friends" thing either. Everyone knows how that works out, especially after a painful breakup. We've all invested too much in this emotionally so let's just go our separate ways. We'll keep the team, you keep the money.
I'll always have a soft spot in my heart for you. And if I ever see you doing this again, I will cheer no matter who (more likely if) you are playing. But it is over. Done. Finished. Let's just move on. Please don't call us anymore.
It wasn't a good run for either of us.
Greg Oden, we need to break up.
It pains me to say it. We had our good times together, albeit very few. But the pressure we put on you and your knees became too much. We've just been through too many long nights of you on the bench, seen too many of your suits and not enough of your post game. In the long run, it will benefit us both ("wait, who the hell am I kidding, neither one of us gains a thing" interjects irrational Peter).
We feel worse for you than we do for ourselves. The gentle giant. Soft-spoken with a contagious smile. You made us laugh. You desperately wanted to lead this franchise. But in the end, you made us cry far too much. It is just a game to Portland. To you it is your life. Your career. And you've been robbed in too many ways. We will carry on and continue watching the Blazers. They will still be in Portland five years from now.
As for you? We're not sure where you will be in five years. Two micro-fractures and a broken patella, not to mention the other countless smaller injuries over the years. Number one pick or not, who is going to take a flier on that? The only thing more frail than your body appeared to be your mental state. What will become of you? Will you just disappear forever so you can avoid the media the rest of your life?
We don't think we should try the whole "let's be friends" thing either. Everyone knows how that works out, especially after a painful breakup. We've all invested too much in this emotionally so let's just go our separate ways. We'll keep the team, you keep the money.
I'll always have a soft spot in my heart for you. And if I ever see you doing this again, I will cheer no matter who (more likely if) you are playing. But it is over. Done. Finished. Let's just move on. Please don't call us anymore.
It wasn't a good run for either of us.
Tuesday, 16 November 2010
Locking Up Failure: As Easy As 80 Million
I'm still waiting for everyone to jump out and yell "SURPRISE!!!! WE DIDN'T ACTUALLY DO IT!" I know I'm not the only one. I'm pretty sure everyone in the entire world, outside of the Redskins organization (but even then, most people there are probably confused too), is waiting for the joke to end.
Dan Snyder didn't actually extend Donovan McNabb to a five year, 78 million dollar extension, did he?
You're joking me, right? Come on, this HAS to be a joke.
Okay, I guess it isn't. I mean, anytime you have the chance to lock-up a breaking down quarterback who hasn't tasted Superbowl success and was recently benched two weeks ago for not knowing the two-minute drill playbook, you have to right? And especially at such a bargain of 80 million.
McNabb is out of shape. He can't scramble like he used to. His accuracy this season...well he's thrown only 9 touchdowns to 11 interceptions. Enough said. Oh yeah, and...YOUR HEAD COACH JUST BENCHED HIM FOR REX FREAKIN' GROSSMAN BECAUSE HE DIDN'T KNOW THE PLAYBOOK. Minor details I guess.
Look, I'll be the first to admit that the NFL is not exactly my specialty. So maybe I am missing something. But I highly doubt it. For a while, Dan Synder, I had forgotten about you when the discussion of "stupidest sports owners" came about in conversation. Well thank you, you have now permanently carved yourself into the Mount Rushmore of stupid sporting owners, right next to Al Davis, Michael Heisley and Donald Sterling.
Good work, Snyder. You are a perfect example of how good businessman don't necessarily make good sports owners.
Yeah, McNabb, you got benched for this.
Dan Snyder didn't actually extend Donovan McNabb to a five year, 78 million dollar extension, did he?
You're joking me, right? Come on, this HAS to be a joke.
Okay, I guess it isn't. I mean, anytime you have the chance to lock-up a breaking down quarterback who hasn't tasted Superbowl success and was recently benched two weeks ago for not knowing the two-minute drill playbook, you have to right? And especially at such a bargain of 80 million.
McNabb is out of shape. He can't scramble like he used to. His accuracy this season...well he's thrown only 9 touchdowns to 11 interceptions. Enough said. Oh yeah, and...YOUR HEAD COACH JUST BENCHED HIM FOR REX FREAKIN' GROSSMAN BECAUSE HE DIDN'T KNOW THE PLAYBOOK. Minor details I guess.
Look, I'll be the first to admit that the NFL is not exactly my specialty. So maybe I am missing something. But I highly doubt it. For a while, Dan Synder, I had forgotten about you when the discussion of "stupidest sports owners" came about in conversation. Well thank you, you have now permanently carved yourself into the Mount Rushmore of stupid sporting owners, right next to Al Davis, Michael Heisley and Donald Sterling.
Good work, Snyder. You are a perfect example of how good businessman don't necessarily make good sports owners.
Yeah, McNabb, you got benched for this.
Monday, 15 November 2010
It's My Blog, I'll Write What I Want
Alrighty, unfortuntaely for all of you, I have hit my stride a little bit when it comes to posting on here. That means a couple of things: you can expect to hear more of my thoughts and you can expect them to be fiercly opinionated. For one thing, would someone please explain to me why the computer I am using in the library does not have spell check for my blog post? Half of these words could be spelled incorrectly and I would never know. Ever since I misspelled "raccoon" in the 7th grade spelling bee, I have been sensitive of my spelling. If you're reading this, Peter Gallagher, I blame you for making fun of me relentlessly after that for missing that. Sorry we can't all be our grade's spelling champ every year at St. Clare.
So two things are on my mind right now: graphic/novelty t-shirts and Cam Newton. And no, the two are in no way connected.
I was going to write this post on Newton and the recent investigation by the NCAA into whether his father was selling his talents to the highest bidder, but then I passed by someone wearing a shirt that said (I wish I were joking by the way about this, but this is what it said verbatim): "Have a great day! :-) Fuck Someone!" Okay, remember when shirts like this were the rage about 6 or 7 years ago? And by "the rage" I mean only enormous tools actually wore these shirts. Wandering through the flea market Sean and I saw another one that said: "Sex = 91% fun, 8% relaxing, 1% love."
I'll give you a second to stop shaking your heads. Okay, all done? Let's continue.
For some reason, people in Athens, and it is a minority I will admit--but I am just shocked there are any at all--seem to think these are still cool. Guys, these weren't ever cool. I thought Europeans were supposed to be fashionable? Granted, you don't see alot, but you see more here in a smaller population than you do in the US (look at me, busting out ratios and probabilities in recent posts).
One last one for you to enjoy: "I love school!! There are so many kids to make fun of!!!!"
*taking time to shake my own head*
And I digress, regardless of how difficult it is.
Considering nothing substantial has occurred in the Cam Newton investigation, I will keep this nice and short. If they decide to suspend him, it will be an absolute travesty against Newton and the success that he has achieved this season at Auburn. Whether or not his father was trying to get Mississippi (don't need spell check for that one) State to pay him 180,000 dollars (by the way, am I the only one who was a little bit shocked when they heard this number? That is a hefty sum of money and he turned it down? Well, I guess it would mean living and playing in Mississippi, I can see why he rejected that), that does not have any effects on his play this season. What Newton has accomplished this year is nothing short of remarkable (first SEC player to throw and rush for 2,000 and 1,000 yards respectively, win the SEC West for the first time in 6 years for Auburn, a runaway leader for the Heisman). If Newton misses any time due to suspension from the NCAA and Auburn misses out on a chance at the National Championship, it'll just lengthen my long list of issues with the NCAA. I know I am not alone out there either.
Let the best players play so we can truly determine who the best team in the country this year is. But if I know the NCAA, they will surely find a way to screw this up. They always do.
Oregon Girl - Someone Still Loves You Boris Yeltsin
P.S. I found the spell check button so I clicked it. EVERYTHING turned yellow. Alright, I know I am a bad speller...but come on, I'm not that bad. Turns out it was spell-checking everything in Greek. It'd really help if I knew this language...μαλακα.
So two things are on my mind right now: graphic/novelty t-shirts and Cam Newton. And no, the two are in no way connected.
I was going to write this post on Newton and the recent investigation by the NCAA into whether his father was selling his talents to the highest bidder, but then I passed by someone wearing a shirt that said (I wish I were joking by the way about this, but this is what it said verbatim): "Have a great day! :-) Fuck Someone!" Okay, remember when shirts like this were the rage about 6 or 7 years ago? And by "the rage" I mean only enormous tools actually wore these shirts. Wandering through the flea market Sean and I saw another one that said: "Sex = 91% fun, 8% relaxing, 1% love."
I'll give you a second to stop shaking your heads. Okay, all done? Let's continue.
For some reason, people in Athens, and it is a minority I will admit--but I am just shocked there are any at all--seem to think these are still cool. Guys, these weren't ever cool. I thought Europeans were supposed to be fashionable? Granted, you don't see alot, but you see more here in a smaller population than you do in the US (look at me, busting out ratios and probabilities in recent posts).
One last one for you to enjoy: "I love school!! There are so many kids to make fun of!!!!"
*taking time to shake my own head*
And I digress, regardless of how difficult it is.
Considering nothing substantial has occurred in the Cam Newton investigation, I will keep this nice and short. If they decide to suspend him, it will be an absolute travesty against Newton and the success that he has achieved this season at Auburn. Whether or not his father was trying to get Mississippi (don't need spell check for that one) State to pay him 180,000 dollars (by the way, am I the only one who was a little bit shocked when they heard this number? That is a hefty sum of money and he turned it down? Well, I guess it would mean living and playing in Mississippi, I can see why he rejected that), that does not have any effects on his play this season. What Newton has accomplished this year is nothing short of remarkable (first SEC player to throw and rush for 2,000 and 1,000 yards respectively, win the SEC West for the first time in 6 years for Auburn, a runaway leader for the Heisman). If Newton misses any time due to suspension from the NCAA and Auburn misses out on a chance at the National Championship, it'll just lengthen my long list of issues with the NCAA. I know I am not alone out there either.
Let the best players play so we can truly determine who the best team in the country this year is. But if I know the NCAA, they will surely find a way to screw this up. They always do.
Oregon Girl - Someone Still Loves You Boris Yeltsin
P.S. I found the spell check button so I clicked it. EVERYTHING turned yellow. Alright, I know I am a bad speller...but come on, I'm not that bad. Turns out it was spell-checking everything in Greek. It'd really help if I knew this language...μαλακα.
Sunday, 14 November 2010
AND THE ORACLE DECALRES: Good Times in Delphi
Saturday was our final excursion and after having swam in the Aegean in Hydra and explored the castles in Nafplion, I figured that Delphi would have a tough time stacking up to the competition. Delphi had this to say: And boom goes the dynamite (1:54).
After Friday's enormous downpour, I was a little worried that our weather might suck for our day trip. As we ascended into the mountains, it appeared it wasn't going to be great. It rained quite a bit on the way up, but managed to remain cloudy when we started our tour of the ruins of Delphi.
I would give my left testicle to go back in time and see what that would've looked like in the glory days of Greece. Our guide was a lovely woman who gave us an in-depth explanation of pretty much everything that was there. She definitely knew her stuff. One of the interesting things she said was that when the Oracle delivered answers, they were cryptic and vague so that way they could be interpreted in two different ways. People would tell the priest who was on the other side of the wall from the Oracle what they wanted, that way when the Oracle spouted off her gibberish, because she was actually just getting high off burning fumes, the priest could always give the correct answer to the person who came to see the Oracle. This way, the Oracle was never wrong because her answers were so vague that they could be applied in any way. Thanks, now I understand why modern-day politicians act like they do.
They always chose young girls, especially virgins (man, people in ancient times REALLY had an affinity with virgins) to make the Oracle because the idea was that they would have plenty of years to learn the successes of life. Well that or they would die prematurely from a melted brain from all the inhalations. You know, for as smart as the ancient Greeks were, they sure missed the memo on that one.
Delphi is referred to as "The Navel of the Earth." I just don't see how this is a favorable nickname, BUT they were very proud of it so I guess work with what you got, huh? I wonder what Portland would be called: "Homeless Teenage Heaven," "Stripper World," or "Portland: Home of the Wanna-Be Hipster." I guess that "The Navel of the Earth" sounds a little better now. Anyway, the story behind that is Zeus wanted to find the center of the world, so he released two golden falcons (eagles? So I wasn't paying that close of attention) and they would meet in the center of the Earth. They landed on Delphi. Hey, works for me, at least it wasn't somewhere in Jersey.
The views in Delphi were truly breath-taking. I put up an album on Facebook but to try and say that the pictures do it any justice is a total joke. Pictures, at their best, are a poor mental representation that attempts to capture the world but falls flat on its face. The sun busted through the clouds and we were treated to a perfect fall day. I also just reread those last couple of sentences and realized that I am an enormous tool for how I phrased them. There, I saved you the time of mocking me.
Three for three on excursions. Well done, Greece. You have quite a bit to offer.
Yep, if that doesn't sum it up, then nothing else does.
P.S. Watch this if you haven't yet. It will make you a better person.
After Friday's enormous downpour, I was a little worried that our weather might suck for our day trip. As we ascended into the mountains, it appeared it wasn't going to be great. It rained quite a bit on the way up, but managed to remain cloudy when we started our tour of the ruins of Delphi.
I would give my left testicle to go back in time and see what that would've looked like in the glory days of Greece. Our guide was a lovely woman who gave us an in-depth explanation of pretty much everything that was there. She definitely knew her stuff. One of the interesting things she said was that when the Oracle delivered answers, they were cryptic and vague so that way they could be interpreted in two different ways. People would tell the priest who was on the other side of the wall from the Oracle what they wanted, that way when the Oracle spouted off her gibberish, because she was actually just getting high off burning fumes, the priest could always give the correct answer to the person who came to see the Oracle. This way, the Oracle was never wrong because her answers were so vague that they could be applied in any way. Thanks, now I understand why modern-day politicians act like they do.
They always chose young girls, especially virgins (man, people in ancient times REALLY had an affinity with virgins) to make the Oracle because the idea was that they would have plenty of years to learn the successes of life. Well that or they would die prematurely from a melted brain from all the inhalations. You know, for as smart as the ancient Greeks were, they sure missed the memo on that one.
Delphi is referred to as "The Navel of the Earth." I just don't see how this is a favorable nickname, BUT they were very proud of it so I guess work with what you got, huh? I wonder what Portland would be called: "Homeless Teenage Heaven," "Stripper World," or "Portland: Home of the Wanna-Be Hipster." I guess that "The Navel of the Earth" sounds a little better now. Anyway, the story behind that is Zeus wanted to find the center of the world, so he released two golden falcons (eagles? So I wasn't paying that close of attention) and they would meet in the center of the Earth. They landed on Delphi. Hey, works for me, at least it wasn't somewhere in Jersey.
The views in Delphi were truly breath-taking. I put up an album on Facebook but to try and say that the pictures do it any justice is a total joke. Pictures, at their best, are a poor mental representation that attempts to capture the world but falls flat on its face. The sun busted through the clouds and we were treated to a perfect fall day. I also just reread those last couple of sentences and realized that I am an enormous tool for how I phrased them. There, I saved you the time of mocking me.
Three for three on excursions. Well done, Greece. You have quite a bit to offer.
Yep, if that doesn't sum it up, then nothing else does.
P.S. Watch this if you haven't yet. It will make you a better person.
The Blazers epitomize security. I also have beach-side property in Idaho to sell you.
Alrighty, so I spent like twenty minutes attempting to come up with some creative way to talk about the Blazers' season so far. Needless to say, all I could come up with is "this f***ing blows." Is there another way to put it so far? Screw creativity and flowery language. This is me not having fun.
To say that the last 6 months for the Blazers have been chaotic would be like saying Chernobyl was a minor slip-up. The franchise has proven itself to be everything but functional. And granted, I know that through my black and red eye filters, I may be thinking things to be worse than they are. But come on, did anyone in Portland really expect it to go this poorly?
The latest news about "Who stole the menisci from BRoy's knees?" and subsequent departure from the curb-stomping the Hornets gave the Blazers last night is just the next note in the "Taps" song that has become the Blazers' unintentional theme over the past two seasons.
It is a little early to panic given the fact that the Blazers are only 6-5, with two losses to OKC by a combined three points. But come on, look at who we have beat so far. Detroit, Milwaukee, Toronto, New York, L.A. (Clippers that is), and Phoenix. Not exactly Murderer's Row. We've been blown out by the Hornets, the Bulls and the Lakers and three of the aforementioned games could have swung either way.
Alright, so maybe we do have some problems on our hands. A lot of problems.
The relationship between Andre Miller and this team strains from painful breakup looming to the point where the guy and girl are scheduling dates for the future...even though they are still with the other. Talk about ugly. The Blazers continue to struggle to integrate Batum into the offense. Matthews is playing solid defense and doing the little things, but can't shoot worth a damn. Aldridge looks like...well like he normally does in the post. Rudy, after a hot start of the preseason, has cooled significantly and looks like the same half-dimensional player he is. Joel is apparently on his way back at the end of November / beginning of December.
What's that? We're just getting message that there is an All Points Bulletin calling for any information on Greg Oden. There isn't any? Same old tendinitis huh? Do I even need to address this subject or can I just let everyone point to June 2007 and shake their heads? Playing against OKC just hurts at this point. I can barely bring myself to do it.
So what do we do? Can we do anything? This team's future lies in the hands of five factors: Oden's left and right knee, BRoy's left and right knee and the team doctors. Their track record is not what one would call "impressive. Not exactly confidence-inspiring.
Maybe BRoy is being honest when he says that the anti-inflammatory medicine he's taking is helping his knee. Maybe Joel really is that close to returning. Maybe Oden will make it back around Christmas. Maybe the Blazers will package up Dre and part amicably.
Yeah, and maybe I haven't been watching the Blazers over the past half-year.
Friday, 12 November 2010
Stats Midterm or Blog Post? The Age Old Question
Alrighty, so I really should be studying for my stats test that I have in less than two hours, especially consider I have missed three of the classes since the last midterm. However, two factors lead me to believe that we may or may not (no emphasis on one or the other, we're looking at a 50:50 shot here. In case you were wondering, that means there is a 1 in 2 chance. Guess I don't need to study after all) have the midterm.
I should've known that the day was going to get off on the wrong foot when the woman who lives next door let her dog onto the porch at 6 AM and the stupid little shit-dog started yapping away at nothing. Thanks lady, no seriously. It is really considerate of you to do that and then yell at us at 10 PM when we are talking WITH THE DOOR CLOSED. I mean, it's not like you are the only adult living in a building full of study abroad students...oh wait, yeah you are. So suck it up and deal with it or I'll punt your stupid little dog off the porch next time it wakes me up at 6. Rant over.
The next sign was the feral cats attacking each other at approximately 6:30 this morning. Normally they like to tear each other's flesh apart at night under the cover of the night sky. But for some reason they were feeling extra frisky so the peaceful Athens morning (post dog yapping) lit up with shrieks and hisses. Remind me again why there are hundreds of stray cats wandering around. What's that? There isn't really any reason? Okay, that's cool too I guess.
BOOOOOOOM. Thunder at 9:30? Come on, the past three days have all been at least 70 degrees. Mother Nature apparently got tired of providing us with great weather and has just been stacking up as much crappy weather as possible. She's like the kid who plays Uno and saves all the Draw 2 and Skip's and then pounces at the end, screwing over as many other players as possible. Nobody likes that kid. Don't be that Uno player, Mother Nature.
Too late, the heavens open up and a downfall occurs/is still occurring. Thunder and lightning crash every seven or eight minutes. This is the first reason that our midterm is down to a coinflip. The number of students who show up (keep in mind this is a commuter school) on dreary days like today is (not-so) suspiciously low. I can probably guess at least four or five kids who won't show up to class today.
Then the crazy, unexpected news this morning. Bomb threat on the school. Look, I get that Greece is in kinda a tough place right now. A little chaotic, nobody trusts the government, economic instability. So of all the places to get a bomb threat, it is the American College of Greece?
Huh?
So students were told that they could either go to class if they felt like it since this isn't the first time ACG has received a bomb threat, or they could return home without consequence. Again, (not-so) coincidentally, it seems that there are fewer people on campus today. Maybe I'm just reading into this too much. And maybe LeBron actually thinks that he is a victim.
Heads or tails? Midterm or no midterm? Bomb or no bomb? Is Mother Nature a dirty player or just following her course?
And did I really just write a 600 word blog post because, in reality, I just didn't want to study for stats? You're goddamn right I did.
Best Coast - "When I'm With You"
****Update 2:15 PM Greek time (4:15 AM Pacific, 7:15 AM EST)****
No midterm...because the copier broke and he didn't have enough copies for everyone. Welcome to my life in Greece.
I should've known that the day was going to get off on the wrong foot when the woman who lives next door let her dog onto the porch at 6 AM and the stupid little shit-dog started yapping away at nothing. Thanks lady, no seriously. It is really considerate of you to do that and then yell at us at 10 PM when we are talking WITH THE DOOR CLOSED. I mean, it's not like you are the only adult living in a building full of study abroad students...oh wait, yeah you are. So suck it up and deal with it or I'll punt your stupid little dog off the porch next time it wakes me up at 6. Rant over.
The next sign was the feral cats attacking each other at approximately 6:30 this morning. Normally they like to tear each other's flesh apart at night under the cover of the night sky. But for some reason they were feeling extra frisky so the peaceful Athens morning (post dog yapping) lit up with shrieks and hisses. Remind me again why there are hundreds of stray cats wandering around. What's that? There isn't really any reason? Okay, that's cool too I guess.
BOOOOOOOM. Thunder at 9:30? Come on, the past three days have all been at least 70 degrees. Mother Nature apparently got tired of providing us with great weather and has just been stacking up as much crappy weather as possible. She's like the kid who plays Uno and saves all the Draw 2 and Skip's and then pounces at the end, screwing over as many other players as possible. Nobody likes that kid. Don't be that Uno player, Mother Nature.
Too late, the heavens open up and a downfall occurs/is still occurring. Thunder and lightning crash every seven or eight minutes. This is the first reason that our midterm is down to a coinflip. The number of students who show up (keep in mind this is a commuter school) on dreary days like today is (not-so) suspiciously low. I can probably guess at least four or five kids who won't show up to class today.
Then the crazy, unexpected news this morning. Bomb threat on the school. Look, I get that Greece is in kinda a tough place right now. A little chaotic, nobody trusts the government, economic instability. So of all the places to get a bomb threat, it is the American College of Greece?
Huh?
So students were told that they could either go to class if they felt like it since this isn't the first time ACG has received a bomb threat, or they could return home without consequence. Again, (not-so) coincidentally, it seems that there are fewer people on campus today. Maybe I'm just reading into this too much. And maybe LeBron actually thinks that he is a victim.
Heads or tails? Midterm or no midterm? Bomb or no bomb? Is Mother Nature a dirty player or just following her course?
And did I really just write a 600 word blog post because, in reality, I just didn't want to study for stats? You're goddamn right I did.
Best Coast - "When I'm With You"
****Update 2:15 PM Greek time (4:15 AM Pacific, 7:15 AM EST)****
No midterm...because the copier broke and he didn't have enough copies for everyone. Welcome to my life in Greece.
Wednesday, 10 November 2010
Florence, I Mean, I Guess It Is Okay...
Alrighty, so one full week between posts is not good. It makes me feel the way that Andre Smith must've felt when he saw himself run the 40 yard dash in this video (:43-:53 seconds in). I'll admit, it isn't impressive. And I know that my loyal readers, all 4 of them (even though it says I have 11 followers, I fail to believe that many people actually read it) must be really disappointed. Good news though, I'm back for a while and should be able to post away.
No reason to beat around the bush: Florence is an incredibly beautiful city. It absolutely puts Athens to shame, but then again so would a rotting piece of meat sitting in the sun for a week. So that's a little harsh, Athens isn't that bad. It is just incredibly urban and reminds me alot of Las Angeles. Logically it won't possess the same beauty as a much smaller city in Florence. I was visiting my roommate from BC, Chris Mario, and he lived a short ten minute walk from the Duomo. Basically that means that he had an awesome location and had access to all the cool sites in the city. And when we weren't body-brawling or consuming wonderfully cheap paninis, we toured around the city.
The first thing that I loved about Florence is the architecture of the city. If I were to fall out of a plane randomly and had no idea where I was, I could've guessed for sure I was in Italy. Whereas if you dropped me in the middle of Aghia Paraskevi, I probably could not tell you I was in Greece. It gave an incredibly authentic feeling, which ironically, Mario said is quite the opposite. It didn't take long to see what he meant: Florence is very much a touristy city as well. There's nothing wrong with that, because it is gorgeous there, but by the end of the weekend I could tell what he meant.
First, if you haven't taken a look at my pictures from Florence, you definitely should to see what it looks like from the tallest building in the city (that would be the Duomo). We went in the early evening and hung around long enough to watch the sun set over the hills to the west. The roof of the cathedral as well is jaw-dropping. The amount of time that it must have taken to paint that ceiling gives me a headache at the thought of working on something artistic for that long. Second, the other big touristy thing we did was go and see the David. It is bigger, nearly perfect and more impressive than you think (and no, I am definitely not talking about his wiener). Everything about it quite literally screams, "PERFECTION." I'd imagine that Michelangelo did a MJ shoulder shrug when he finished as if to say (for those of you who don't get the comparison) "I don't know how I did it." There is quite a bit of incredible art in that museum, which is a shame for all those pieces because the David literally blows everything out of the water. Don't try and take a picture though unless you want your head bitten off by angry Italian museum employees.
Sidenote: I have now determined that museum staff are some of the most unhappy/unfriendly people on the face of the planet, challenging the DMV for that award. After going to museums in the US, Spain, Greece and now Italy, I am not sure I have seen a single one smile. Granted, I would hate my life too if I worked as a person who just stood there all day as people came up and gawked at art, but heaven forbid they smile even once. Take the pretentious stick from out of your ass and try to be a little friendly, mkay? Good.
The food we had was...well if you need me to tell you that it was delicious, you haven't been paying close enough attention to the glowing review of Florence thus far. Of course, the fashion and clothing shops were definitely a favorite of mine, but I'm catching enough heat for my metrosexuality at this point that I don't need to toss gasoline on the fire.
Gelato. Enough said.
Alrighty, that's probably long enough although I could definitely go into a lot more detail. If you are interested in hearing more about Mario and mine's adventures, you can hit me up on Skype (peter.mertens11 or just search for Peter Sean Mertens) or send me a Facebook message. I love hearing from people back home! Seriously. Hard to believe that I only have 38 more days left in Athens.
No reason to beat around the bush: Florence is an incredibly beautiful city. It absolutely puts Athens to shame, but then again so would a rotting piece of meat sitting in the sun for a week. So that's a little harsh, Athens isn't that bad. It is just incredibly urban and reminds me alot of Las Angeles. Logically it won't possess the same beauty as a much smaller city in Florence. I was visiting my roommate from BC, Chris Mario, and he lived a short ten minute walk from the Duomo. Basically that means that he had an awesome location and had access to all the cool sites in the city. And when we weren't body-brawling or consuming wonderfully cheap paninis, we toured around the city.
The first thing that I loved about Florence is the architecture of the city. If I were to fall out of a plane randomly and had no idea where I was, I could've guessed for sure I was in Italy. Whereas if you dropped me in the middle of Aghia Paraskevi, I probably could not tell you I was in Greece. It gave an incredibly authentic feeling, which ironically, Mario said is quite the opposite. It didn't take long to see what he meant: Florence is very much a touristy city as well. There's nothing wrong with that, because it is gorgeous there, but by the end of the weekend I could tell what he meant.
First, if you haven't taken a look at my pictures from Florence, you definitely should to see what it looks like from the tallest building in the city (that would be the Duomo). We went in the early evening and hung around long enough to watch the sun set over the hills to the west. The roof of the cathedral as well is jaw-dropping. The amount of time that it must have taken to paint that ceiling gives me a headache at the thought of working on something artistic for that long. Second, the other big touristy thing we did was go and see the David. It is bigger, nearly perfect and more impressive than you think (and no, I am definitely not talking about his wiener). Everything about it quite literally screams, "PERFECTION." I'd imagine that Michelangelo did a MJ shoulder shrug when he finished as if to say (for those of you who don't get the comparison) "I don't know how I did it." There is quite a bit of incredible art in that museum, which is a shame for all those pieces because the David literally blows everything out of the water. Don't try and take a picture though unless you want your head bitten off by angry Italian museum employees.
Sidenote: I have now determined that museum staff are some of the most unhappy/unfriendly people on the face of the planet, challenging the DMV for that award. After going to museums in the US, Spain, Greece and now Italy, I am not sure I have seen a single one smile. Granted, I would hate my life too if I worked as a person who just stood there all day as people came up and gawked at art, but heaven forbid they smile even once. Take the pretentious stick from out of your ass and try to be a little friendly, mkay? Good.
The food we had was...well if you need me to tell you that it was delicious, you haven't been paying close enough attention to the glowing review of Florence thus far. Of course, the fashion and clothing shops were definitely a favorite of mine, but I'm catching enough heat for my metrosexuality at this point that I don't need to toss gasoline on the fire.
Gelato. Enough said.
Alrighty, that's probably long enough although I could definitely go into a lot more detail. If you are interested in hearing more about Mario and mine's adventures, you can hit me up on Skype (peter.mertens11 or just search for Peter Sean Mertens) or send me a Facebook message. I love hearing from people back home! Seriously. Hard to believe that I only have 38 more days left in Athens.
Wednesday, 3 November 2010
Gaudy Numbers in the Wrong Year: Why LaMichael James Shouldn't Win the Heisman
"Oh my god, did you see the game that James had last weekend against USC?? 239 yards and 3 TD's, his 3rd 200 yard game of the year! Strike the Heisman pose next time you're in the endzone, LaMichael, it is coming your way!"
Well, yes, James did have quite the outstanding game and has put himself significantly above the running back competition for the Heisman. But maybe you just missed Cam Newton's game on Saturday. He threw for over 200 yards, two touchdowns, no picks, ran for 45 yards and caught a touchdown pass. Pretty good, huh?
"Yeah, but he isn't that impressive. I mean, come on, James has rushed for over 1200 yards already this year. We have four games to go, he could easily accumulate 2,000 yards by the end of the year. The last time that happened was back in '07. Only 14 players have ever done that."
It is true, James is putting up numbers that look more like a game of NFL Blitz than college football. He's been phenomenal. Borderline unstoppable in that high-octane offense the Ducks employ. But would you believe me if I said that Cam Newton is just behind James in rushing yards on the season?
"No way. Newton is their quarterback. Sure he is known as a scrambling QB, but he can't be anywhere near James...can he?"
Each player has rushed for 14 touchdowns this year. James has 1,210 yards. Newton has 1,122. Newton has also thrown for almost 1,600 yards, with a 3:1 TD:INT ratio and completing 67% of his passes. And unlike James, he handles the ball on every single play, making him the first target the defense goes after every offensive snap.
"Well come on, James is still the most electrifying player on the fastest team in the country."
And Cam Newton is single-handedly carrying Auburn through the brutal stretch of it's schedule. Did I mention that Newton also has the 3rd highest QB rating in the nation? Pretty good, right?
"*crickets chirping*"
I mean, don't get me wrong. James has been out-of-this-world this year. Unfortunately, Cam Newton looks like a genetically engineered super-human from out of this universe so far. If it were any other year, James would be a lock for the Heisman. Unfortunately for him, 2010 appears to be that one year that will cost him.
Well, yes, James did have quite the outstanding game and has put himself significantly above the running back competition for the Heisman. But maybe you just missed Cam Newton's game on Saturday. He threw for over 200 yards, two touchdowns, no picks, ran for 45 yards and caught a touchdown pass. Pretty good, huh?
"Yeah, but he isn't that impressive. I mean, come on, James has rushed for over 1200 yards already this year. We have four games to go, he could easily accumulate 2,000 yards by the end of the year. The last time that happened was back in '07. Only 14 players have ever done that."
It is true, James is putting up numbers that look more like a game of NFL Blitz than college football. He's been phenomenal. Borderline unstoppable in that high-octane offense the Ducks employ. But would you believe me if I said that Cam Newton is just behind James in rushing yards on the season?
"No way. Newton is their quarterback. Sure he is known as a scrambling QB, but he can't be anywhere near James...can he?"
Each player has rushed for 14 touchdowns this year. James has 1,210 yards. Newton has 1,122. Newton has also thrown for almost 1,600 yards, with a 3:1 TD:INT ratio and completing 67% of his passes. And unlike James, he handles the ball on every single play, making him the first target the defense goes after every offensive snap.
"Well come on, James is still the most electrifying player on the fastest team in the country."
And Cam Newton is single-handedly carrying Auburn through the brutal stretch of it's schedule. Did I mention that Newton also has the 3rd highest QB rating in the nation? Pretty good, right?
"*crickets chirping*"
I mean, don't get me wrong. James has been out-of-this-world this year. Unfortunately, Cam Newton looks like a genetically engineered super-human from out of this universe so far. If it were any other year, James would be a lock for the Heisman. Unfortunately for him, 2010 appears to be that one year that will cost him.
A Weekend in Thessaloniki
Okay, so it has been a little while since my last post on Greece. But this weekend I had the good fortune of spending Friday and Saturday in Thessaloniki with my roommate, Sean. We left on Thursday afternoon because it was a national holiday "Oxi Day" which celebrates the day that Metaxas, the Prime Minister, told Mussolini "Oxi" (which means no in Greek) when Mussolini demanded that Italy occupy Greece during WWII. Pretty cool stuff actually. The locals were out in full force as all of the cafes and bars were packed when we left. After a tumultuous travel afternoon, we made it to the bus station and caught the 4 PM bus to Thessaloniki. 6 hours later and we arrived at our hostel.
First, our hostel was awesome. Really cheap and it was pretty much just college students there. The staff was incredibly welcoming and helpful. The rooms were clean, the bathrooms too and there was a complimentary breakfast and wi-fi to boot. That was really nice considering I was half expecting it to be like the movie "Hostel" and we would be found with our heads stabbed on stakes and our bodies mutilated across the room. Good times!
So we awoke on Friday, high-fived to the fact that we weren't in Greek class (which freakin' blows by the way. A truly terrible mistake on my part to take that class. Live and learn Petey) and made our way into the city. Thessaloniki is significantly different from Athens. Sure there are some similarities: tons of graffiti, some really good and others a skid mark on society, chain smoking out the ying-yang, and an active community. But the biggest difference between the two was how much more personal Thessaloniki felt. Since it is on the other side of the country, and not quite as big, it isn't quite the international city that Athens is. The community feeling of Thessaloniki seemed significantly greater than that of Athens. Strangely enough, it reminded me alot of Chicago once you get outside of downtown, but before you reach the suburbs. Tons of commercial areas with shops and food places, but lots of apartments and people roaming the streets. I think that is why I enjoyed it so much.
If you look at my Facebook (which you probably did to get to this blog) then you can check out the pictures that I took when we were there. We hit up a bunch of museums and churches as well as the most incredible bakery everrrrrr. I have to find a place equivalent to that in the US to gain the weight back that I lost here. To die for. I could go into detail on every thing that we did, except nobody wants to read that and I don't want to write it. So all parties win this way.
I'm glad that I got a chance to go spend a weekend up there because it was cool to see a more "Greek" city, since Athens is so heavily international. But I'm equally glad that I decided to study in Athens for the semester instead of Thessaloniki. I'm just not sure I would be able to find enough stuff to do there for an entire semester, as evidenced by Sean and I spending about a collective 5 hours having coffee and just chilling by the water on Saturday. But if you ever have the chance to go to Thessaloniki when you are in Greece (if I suppose would be the better choice there) I strongly suggest it. A beautiful city with lots of culture and personality.
This weekend I am off to Florence to meet up with the one, the only, Chris Mario. Expect lots of pictures and lots of stories (some probably NSFW, hopefully). Missing the US and loving life abroad simultaneously. Good times, good times.
First, our hostel was awesome. Really cheap and it was pretty much just college students there. The staff was incredibly welcoming and helpful. The rooms were clean, the bathrooms too and there was a complimentary breakfast and wi-fi to boot. That was really nice considering I was half expecting it to be like the movie "Hostel" and we would be found with our heads stabbed on stakes and our bodies mutilated across the room. Good times!
So we awoke on Friday, high-fived to the fact that we weren't in Greek class (which freakin' blows by the way. A truly terrible mistake on my part to take that class. Live and learn Petey) and made our way into the city. Thessaloniki is significantly different from Athens. Sure there are some similarities: tons of graffiti, some really good and others a skid mark on society, chain smoking out the ying-yang, and an active community. But the biggest difference between the two was how much more personal Thessaloniki felt. Since it is on the other side of the country, and not quite as big, it isn't quite the international city that Athens is. The community feeling of Thessaloniki seemed significantly greater than that of Athens. Strangely enough, it reminded me alot of Chicago once you get outside of downtown, but before you reach the suburbs. Tons of commercial areas with shops and food places, but lots of apartments and people roaming the streets. I think that is why I enjoyed it so much.
If you look at my Facebook (which you probably did to get to this blog) then you can check out the pictures that I took when we were there. We hit up a bunch of museums and churches as well as the most incredible bakery everrrrrr. I have to find a place equivalent to that in the US to gain the weight back that I lost here. To die for. I could go into detail on every thing that we did, except nobody wants to read that and I don't want to write it. So all parties win this way.
I'm glad that I got a chance to go spend a weekend up there because it was cool to see a more "Greek" city, since Athens is so heavily international. But I'm equally glad that I decided to study in Athens for the semester instead of Thessaloniki. I'm just not sure I would be able to find enough stuff to do there for an entire semester, as evidenced by Sean and I spending about a collective 5 hours having coffee and just chilling by the water on Saturday. But if you ever have the chance to go to Thessaloniki when you are in Greece (if I suppose would be the better choice there) I strongly suggest it. A beautiful city with lots of culture and personality.
This weekend I am off to Florence to meet up with the one, the only, Chris Mario. Expect lots of pictures and lots of stories (some probably NSFW, hopefully). Missing the US and loving life abroad simultaneously. Good times, good times.
New York Fans, Transgenders and Bad Contracts Galore!
YEEEEEEEEEEEEEHAWWWWWWWWWWW! LOOK WHO'S BACK! Okay, but seriously, I've been slacking big time on the updating thing. Stuff gets busy, sue me. I know that you all have nothing better to do than check my blog on a daily basis (I mean, how else would you stay in touch with me?), but I'm ONLY ONE PERSON. Cut me some slack. Let's get into this already.
So last night, a ceiling panel fell from the top of Madison Square Garden and the stadium officials became concerned with an asbestos exposure, so they were forced to postpone the Knicks' home game against the Magic. A logical conclusion to arrive at considering the links between asbestos and cancer. Just people doing their jobs and ensuring the safety of the public and the players. And everyone was greatly appreciative of the decision that was made because who wants to be exposed to a potentially hazardous material? Wait, what's that? New York fans were pissed off? You've gotta be kidding me right? Only in freakin' New York would this be an issue. Yeah, shit happens guys and the game has to get postponed. Everyone gets inconvenienced every once in a while. They refunded every ticket for it's original price. But that didn't stop a hoard of moronic loud-mouths from venting their frustration. I knew that the Knicks organization was screwed up (they actually think Amare' will deliver them to the Promised Land (ironic given Amare's new found faith in Judaism)) but clearly the apple doesn't fall far from the tree.
Okay, so let me get this straight, a transgendered man can't play in the LPGA BUT a transgendered woman can play men's basketball? I'm not even angry about this...I'm just confused. This adds all kinds of wrenches to the separation of sexes when it comes to sports. Oh yeah, and who can forget about the South African 800 runner? I think I am just going to move on and avoid any transgendered subjects for a while.
Interestingly, I stumbled across this email from the 29 owners in the NBA sent to Michael Heisely, after the news about Mike Conley's extension broke. Here's what it said:
"Dear Mr. Heisely,
Look, we think it is great that you consider yourself an NBA owner. It's cute that you think Memphis is actually an adequate place to play a professional sport. That's all well and good, but I don't know if you've heard or not, but we have this little thing called the Collective Bargaining Agreement. Yeah, we're not surprised if you haven't, it is only one of the most important parts of being an owner. Anyway, it is about to expire and we are in a precarious position. We want to cut existing contracts, lower the cap, institute a hard cap and abolish guaranteed contracts. We'll give you a second to contact your lawyers to see what those big words mean. Okay, all finished? The players say that we shouldn't get any of that because we aren't responsible when we sign players to contracts. And, again you probably didn't notice, by signing Mike Conley to a 40 million dollar extension isn't exactly helping our case. So let's make a deal: don't show up to the CBA discussions and for the love of God, DON'T RESIGN ZACH RANDOLPH TO THE MAX and we promise that you can keep your little toy in Memphis for a few more years. Deal? We're glad that we can all agree on this.
Sincerely,
Owners who want you dead."
Hmmm, a pretty blunt email if you ask me. They make some pretty good points though. Heisely might actually be dumber than your friend who thinks Ke$ha is a talented artist.
Alright, it's good to be back. I'll probably post later today and tomorrow too, but then I am taking off for Italy for the weekend so there is a good chance I won't be able to post then. I know you're all heartbroken. Subscribe to my blog if you haven't yet!
So last night, a ceiling panel fell from the top of Madison Square Garden and the stadium officials became concerned with an asbestos exposure, so they were forced to postpone the Knicks' home game against the Magic. A logical conclusion to arrive at considering the links between asbestos and cancer. Just people doing their jobs and ensuring the safety of the public and the players. And everyone was greatly appreciative of the decision that was made because who wants to be exposed to a potentially hazardous material? Wait, what's that? New York fans were pissed off? You've gotta be kidding me right? Only in freakin' New York would this be an issue. Yeah, shit happens guys and the game has to get postponed. Everyone gets inconvenienced every once in a while. They refunded every ticket for it's original price. But that didn't stop a hoard of moronic loud-mouths from venting their frustration. I knew that the Knicks organization was screwed up (they actually think Amare' will deliver them to the Promised Land (ironic given Amare's new found faith in Judaism)) but clearly the apple doesn't fall far from the tree.
Okay, so let me get this straight, a transgendered man can't play in the LPGA BUT a transgendered woman can play men's basketball? I'm not even angry about this...I'm just confused. This adds all kinds of wrenches to the separation of sexes when it comes to sports. Oh yeah, and who can forget about the South African 800 runner? I think I am just going to move on and avoid any transgendered subjects for a while.
Interestingly, I stumbled across this email from the 29 owners in the NBA sent to Michael Heisely, after the news about Mike Conley's extension broke. Here's what it said:
"Dear Mr. Heisely,
Look, we think it is great that you consider yourself an NBA owner. It's cute that you think Memphis is actually an adequate place to play a professional sport. That's all well and good, but I don't know if you've heard or not, but we have this little thing called the Collective Bargaining Agreement. Yeah, we're not surprised if you haven't, it is only one of the most important parts of being an owner. Anyway, it is about to expire and we are in a precarious position. We want to cut existing contracts, lower the cap, institute a hard cap and abolish guaranteed contracts. We'll give you a second to contact your lawyers to see what those big words mean. Okay, all finished? The players say that we shouldn't get any of that because we aren't responsible when we sign players to contracts. And, again you probably didn't notice, by signing Mike Conley to a 40 million dollar extension isn't exactly helping our case. So let's make a deal: don't show up to the CBA discussions and for the love of God, DON'T RESIGN ZACH RANDOLPH TO THE MAX and we promise that you can keep your little toy in Memphis for a few more years. Deal? We're glad that we can all agree on this.
Sincerely,
Owners who want you dead."
Hmmm, a pretty blunt email if you ask me. They make some pretty good points though. Heisely might actually be dumber than your friend who thinks Ke$ha is a talented artist.
Alright, it's good to be back. I'll probably post later today and tomorrow too, but then I am taking off for Italy for the weekend so there is a good chance I won't be able to post then. I know you're all heartbroken. Subscribe to my blog if you haven't yet!
Wednesday, 27 October 2010
How The West Will Be Won
Finally. I wasn't sure if I could make it through or not. For the first time since June, NBA basketball returns to a court near you! We saw one of the most chaotic summers in recent memory with an unequivocal low point in "The Decision" and some patriotic elation when the US "B" team won the World Championships in Turkey behind the jaw-dropping play of Kevin Durant.
So let's take a look at how the West is going to play out. The Lakers putted through the end of the 2010 season to finish with 57 wins, but then kicked it into another gear for the playoffs. They concluded the year with their second straight championship. Gross. Will Kevin Durant shoulder OKC like he did the US team and challenge the Lakers? Can Portland stay healthy enough for 82 games? Are the Spurs on their last legs? A lot of questions and uncertainties out West (except, of course Minnesota, who just sucks).
Without further ado, here is how I expect the West to play out.
1. Los Angeles Lakers
The throne is theirs to lose. Sure, the average age of this team is climbing and their are questions about just how many more miles Kobe's legs can take. But is there a better winner in the league right now that Kobe? The smart addition of Steve Blake will help stop the bleeding of Derek Fisher's dying body. Pau Gasol is arguably the best power forward in the league. The team remains essentially the same from last year. The only question mark is Bynum. Can he ever be healthy enough to help this team? If he can give them 60+ games, there is no reason that the Lakers should not make it to the NBA Finals. And it kills me to say that.
2. Oklahoma City Thunder
Alright, now here is where things get more difficult. The #2 spot in the West is going to be majorly up for grabs and I think that OKC, Portland, Utah or Dallas could all snag it. But, based on everything up to this point, I believe that OKC is in the best position to secure #2. The level that KD played at in the World Championships was the reason the US won. But Westbrook definitely showed marked improvement from the end of the 2010 season. The Achilles heel for the Thunder will be their big men. Green is undersized and is abused by opposing power forwards. I like the energy and intensity that Ibaka gives them, but he is so raw offensively that he does little on that end. And Aldrich remains a question mark. But as of right now, the elite play of KD and Westbrook give OKC the nod over the rest.
3. Portland Trail Blazers
If OKC's summer was the model of security and smooth operations, then one needs to look at the other side of the spectrum to locate the Blazers. The KP debacle made Portland management look worse than it already did in the eyes of the league. The front-loaded deal to Wesley Matthews, an undrafted rookie, was questionable at that time. The distinct lack of chemistry, still, between Roy and Miller in the preseason. Pryzbilla and Oden, enough said. But the Blazers have the pieces to be successful this year. If, and that's a big if, the Blazers can stay healthy, they have enough talent to finish second in the West. But if another big man goes down, none of that will really matter.
4. Dallas Mavericks
What can I even say? Dallas will get 50+ wins again this year, but it won't matter. Like Utah, they play well during the season, but cannot put it together in the playoffs. It has been the same story every year for Dallas (the exception being 2006). This roster would be incredible if it were 2007, but unfortunately age has caught up with this team. And the addition of Tyson Chandler and a full season for Butler and Haywood won't convince me that the Mavericks will be golfing come June.
5. Utah Jazz
The only reason that I have the Jazz this high is because they are a good regular season team. Jerry Sloan has his team ready to play night in and out. Derron Williams is a top tier point guard and even though they lost Boozer to Chicago, they acquired Al Jefferson who is one of the best low post scorers in the league. Now, the problem is that this roster is just not designed to do damage in the playoffs. Their bench is weak and Jefferson actually plays less defense than Boozer. I see another first round exit in the Jazz's future.
6. San Antonio Spurs
Poor Tim Duncan. It is becoming harder to watch him each year because he just doesn't look the same as he once did. The number of games and minutes caught up with him in a hurry which is bad news for the Spurs. Sure, they still have Ginobli and Parker, plus they finally cashed in on their rights to Tiago Splitter. But this team needs Duncan to operate at a high level on both ends of the floor to be successful. And I'm just not sure he's going to be able to keep doing that.
7. Houston Rockets
Call me crazy, but I wouldn't be surprised if we saw Houston finish higher than this. I like their starting five, even if they vowed to only play Yao 24 minutes a game. If he can stay healthy and be effective for all 24 minutes he is on the court, then that will free up space for the shooters in Brooks, Martin, Battier and Budinger. Courtney Lee was a solid pickup for them, a quintessential Daryl Morey move. And now with Yao back, Scola can return to pull up 15 footers and crashing the offensive glass. The Rockets are my sleeper in the West.
8. Denver Nuggets
Alright, this is circumstantial based on how long they hang on to Carmelo. Notice how I didn't say if they trade him? The writing is on the wall in Denver and it says that Anthony's locker will be empty come February. If the Nuggets come out strong at the beginning of the year while he is still around, they may be able to create a cushion to hold off the sharks below them who smell blood. But if Anthony gets traded sooner rather than later, it could be a long year for Denver.
9. Memphis Grizzlies
As I mentioned above, if Anthony gets traded soon, I expect Memphis to take that last playoff spot. This team won 42 games last year and now has Zach Randolph in a contract year (if that doesn't scream inflated stats, I don't know what does). Their starting five is impressive and the addition of Tony Allen boosts their bench play. The problem is the rest of their bench is garbage. If one of the starters is lost to injury then that could derail Memphis's entire season. But if they all can stay healthy then they'll find themselves in unfamiliar territory: the postseason.
10. Phoenix Suns
Losing Contract Year Amar'e hurt. Replacing him with Turkoglu and Hakim Warrick didn't help. Adding Josh Childress created a big log jam at the small forward position. And Channing Frye is still their backup center. So now you can see why the sun is stuck behind some clouds in Phoenix. Their biggest hope remains Steve Nash's level of play. But I suspect this team will just give up too many easy baskets to hope for a playoff spot.
11. New Orleans Hornets
I feel badly for Chris Paul. One has to think that he is not going to spend the rest of his career in the Big Easy, especially if Anthony gets dealt to New York. This team will be able to put up a barrage of points for sure. Paul at the helm makes any players look good (see "All-Star" David West). Thorton and Bayless will benefit from playing with Paul as both players can score in bunches. Their defense is pathetic at best though. Ariza will help patch up this wound a little bit, but the Hornets will not have the talent nor the discipline on defense to keep up with the rest of the West.
12. Los Angeles Clippers
13. Golden State Warriors
14. Sacramento Kings
15. Minnesota Timberwolves
Damnit, I don't even feel like talking about these teams. None will make the post-season, let alone sniff at it. Griffin is my pick to win ROY. Steph Curry will always be exciting to watch, but the Warriors need to address the situation of Curry and Ellis' inability to play together. Any wagers on which player Cousins strangles first? My money goes on Evans. And Minnesota. "We won't win a championship this year, but we're going to improve!" That's exactly what your ticket holders want to hear, David Kahn.
So there you have it. That's what I expect to happen in the West. But it could be a chaotic year with the Anthony mess, the number of teams with injury question marks, and plenty of new faces in different cities. What do you think? Let me know in the comment section. Also, if you haven't yet subscribed to my blog, it's really simple that even a...well I'll spare you the pathetic cultural allusion. Just sign up.
So let's take a look at how the West is going to play out. The Lakers putted through the end of the 2010 season to finish with 57 wins, but then kicked it into another gear for the playoffs. They concluded the year with their second straight championship. Gross. Will Kevin Durant shoulder OKC like he did the US team and challenge the Lakers? Can Portland stay healthy enough for 82 games? Are the Spurs on their last legs? A lot of questions and uncertainties out West (except, of course Minnesota, who just sucks).
Without further ado, here is how I expect the West to play out.
1. Los Angeles Lakers
The throne is theirs to lose. Sure, the average age of this team is climbing and their are questions about just how many more miles Kobe's legs can take. But is there a better winner in the league right now that Kobe? The smart addition of Steve Blake will help stop the bleeding of Derek Fisher's dying body. Pau Gasol is arguably the best power forward in the league. The team remains essentially the same from last year. The only question mark is Bynum. Can he ever be healthy enough to help this team? If he can give them 60+ games, there is no reason that the Lakers should not make it to the NBA Finals. And it kills me to say that.
2. Oklahoma City Thunder
Alright, now here is where things get more difficult. The #2 spot in the West is going to be majorly up for grabs and I think that OKC, Portland, Utah or Dallas could all snag it. But, based on everything up to this point, I believe that OKC is in the best position to secure #2. The level that KD played at in the World Championships was the reason the US won. But Westbrook definitely showed marked improvement from the end of the 2010 season. The Achilles heel for the Thunder will be their big men. Green is undersized and is abused by opposing power forwards. I like the energy and intensity that Ibaka gives them, but he is so raw offensively that he does little on that end. And Aldrich remains a question mark. But as of right now, the elite play of KD and Westbrook give OKC the nod over the rest.
3. Portland Trail Blazers
If OKC's summer was the model of security and smooth operations, then one needs to look at the other side of the spectrum to locate the Blazers. The KP debacle made Portland management look worse than it already did in the eyes of the league. The front-loaded deal to Wesley Matthews, an undrafted rookie, was questionable at that time. The distinct lack of chemistry, still, between Roy and Miller in the preseason. Pryzbilla and Oden, enough said. But the Blazers have the pieces to be successful this year. If, and that's a big if, the Blazers can stay healthy, they have enough talent to finish second in the West. But if another big man goes down, none of that will really matter.
4. Dallas Mavericks
What can I even say? Dallas will get 50+ wins again this year, but it won't matter. Like Utah, they play well during the season, but cannot put it together in the playoffs. It has been the same story every year for Dallas (the exception being 2006). This roster would be incredible if it were 2007, but unfortunately age has caught up with this team. And the addition of Tyson Chandler and a full season for Butler and Haywood won't convince me that the Mavericks will be golfing come June.
5. Utah Jazz
The only reason that I have the Jazz this high is because they are a good regular season team. Jerry Sloan has his team ready to play night in and out. Derron Williams is a top tier point guard and even though they lost Boozer to Chicago, they acquired Al Jefferson who is one of the best low post scorers in the league. Now, the problem is that this roster is just not designed to do damage in the playoffs. Their bench is weak and Jefferson actually plays less defense than Boozer. I see another first round exit in the Jazz's future.
6. San Antonio Spurs
Poor Tim Duncan. It is becoming harder to watch him each year because he just doesn't look the same as he once did. The number of games and minutes caught up with him in a hurry which is bad news for the Spurs. Sure, they still have Ginobli and Parker, plus they finally cashed in on their rights to Tiago Splitter. But this team needs Duncan to operate at a high level on both ends of the floor to be successful. And I'm just not sure he's going to be able to keep doing that.
7. Houston Rockets
Call me crazy, but I wouldn't be surprised if we saw Houston finish higher than this. I like their starting five, even if they vowed to only play Yao 24 minutes a game. If he can stay healthy and be effective for all 24 minutes he is on the court, then that will free up space for the shooters in Brooks, Martin, Battier and Budinger. Courtney Lee was a solid pickup for them, a quintessential Daryl Morey move. And now with Yao back, Scola can return to pull up 15 footers and crashing the offensive glass. The Rockets are my sleeper in the West.
8. Denver Nuggets
Alright, this is circumstantial based on how long they hang on to Carmelo. Notice how I didn't say if they trade him? The writing is on the wall in Denver and it says that Anthony's locker will be empty come February. If the Nuggets come out strong at the beginning of the year while he is still around, they may be able to create a cushion to hold off the sharks below them who smell blood. But if Anthony gets traded sooner rather than later, it could be a long year for Denver.
9. Memphis Grizzlies
As I mentioned above, if Anthony gets traded soon, I expect Memphis to take that last playoff spot. This team won 42 games last year and now has Zach Randolph in a contract year (if that doesn't scream inflated stats, I don't know what does). Their starting five is impressive and the addition of Tony Allen boosts their bench play. The problem is the rest of their bench is garbage. If one of the starters is lost to injury then that could derail Memphis's entire season. But if they all can stay healthy then they'll find themselves in unfamiliar territory: the postseason.
10. Phoenix Suns
Losing Contract Year Amar'e hurt. Replacing him with Turkoglu and Hakim Warrick didn't help. Adding Josh Childress created a big log jam at the small forward position. And Channing Frye is still their backup center. So now you can see why the sun is stuck behind some clouds in Phoenix. Their biggest hope remains Steve Nash's level of play. But I suspect this team will just give up too many easy baskets to hope for a playoff spot.
11. New Orleans Hornets
I feel badly for Chris Paul. One has to think that he is not going to spend the rest of his career in the Big Easy, especially if Anthony gets dealt to New York. This team will be able to put up a barrage of points for sure. Paul at the helm makes any players look good (see "All-Star" David West). Thorton and Bayless will benefit from playing with Paul as both players can score in bunches. Their defense is pathetic at best though. Ariza will help patch up this wound a little bit, but the Hornets will not have the talent nor the discipline on defense to keep up with the rest of the West.
12. Los Angeles Clippers
13. Golden State Warriors
14. Sacramento Kings
15. Minnesota Timberwolves
Damnit, I don't even feel like talking about these teams. None will make the post-season, let alone sniff at it. Griffin is my pick to win ROY. Steph Curry will always be exciting to watch, but the Warriors need to address the situation of Curry and Ellis' inability to play together. Any wagers on which player Cousins strangles first? My money goes on Evans. And Minnesota. "We won't win a championship this year, but we're going to improve!" That's exactly what your ticket holders want to hear, David Kahn.
So there you have it. That's what I expect to happen in the West. But it could be a chaotic year with the Anthony mess, the number of teams with injury question marks, and plenty of new faces in different cities. What do you think? Let me know in the comment section. Also, if you haven't yet subscribed to my blog, it's really simple that even a...well I'll spare you the pathetic cultural allusion. Just sign up.
Tuesday, 26 October 2010
College Football Thoughts
Alright, so I give up on the BCS. I don't care anymore. As long as Oregon is either #1 or #2, that's all that matters I guess. Although, as much as I hate to say it, I feel badly for Boise State at this point. Fortunately for them, Auburn's remaining schedule is no cakewalk, especially with the SEC Championship game at the end of the season. But damn, the Broncos can't catch a break. I am personally hoping for a Boise State vs. Oregon BCS title game (me and the rest of the population west of the Rockies). There'd be quite a few interesting plot lines behind that one.
Speaking of tough schedules left, Oregon doesn't exactly have a clear shot to the title game either. At USC this week will be a difficult game for sure, given how well SC played Stanford and the thrashing they gave Cal. Plus, they had a bye week this past week to prepare for Oregon. This definitely has the same feel of a trap game that the Stanford game had last year for Duck fans. Arizona proved they can still play without Nick Foles, although his return his expected by their November 26th meeting with Oregon. And of course the Civil War, which is always up in the air. Personally, I think if Oregon gets past USC this weekend, and the computers stay friendly enough to them, they should find themselves in the driver's seat for the title game.
Mike Payne told me that I should talk about how well Cam Newton, Auburn's quarterback, has been playing. Well, sure I could do that, but that'd be like pointing out the Earth revolves around the Sun. Newton single-handedly put Auburn on his back and plowed over LSU's defense to win them that game. Newton carried the ball 28 times for 217 yards and two of Auburn's touchdowns. More importantly though, he didn't turn the ball over once when he threw or ran. Newton has completed 65% of his passes this year, has 13 touchdowns to just five interceptions and leads his team in rushing with over 1,000 yards. Wow. I love Lamichael James, but those are Heisman winning numbers in my mind. If Newton keeps this up, Auburn is one of, if not the most, dangerous team in the country right now. It would be interesting to watch Oregon's high octane offense battle the multidimensional Newton.
My Face-Palm Award goes to the NCAA this weekend. This season they have gone after schools for possible recruiting violations, player-agent contact, and improper benefits with such fervor that you'd think they get a bonus for every school they sanction. In the beginning of the season, AJ Green, wide receiver for Georgia, was suspended for selling his game-worn jersey in the Independence Bowl. Alright, makes sense I guess. He broke the rules and he pays the price. Wait, I think I hear a knock at my door. Oh, hello Hypocrisy, you're looking for the NCAA? Oh they aren't here, but I bet if you smell hard enough for the stench of double standards then you can find them. The University of Nebraska is selling the game-worn jerseys of their players from their October 16th loss to Texas. So the school can make millions off the football program, sell replica jerseys of the players on their team sites, then sell the official game jerseys for profit as well? And AJ Green gets suspended? Hmmm, I'll let you draw your own conclusions.
Fear not Boise fans, here is something that will bring a smile to your face and give you hope for the current BCS debacle in the making:
Fiesta Bowl 2007
Speaking of tough schedules left, Oregon doesn't exactly have a clear shot to the title game either. At USC this week will be a difficult game for sure, given how well SC played Stanford and the thrashing they gave Cal. Plus, they had a bye week this past week to prepare for Oregon. This definitely has the same feel of a trap game that the Stanford game had last year for Duck fans. Arizona proved they can still play without Nick Foles, although his return his expected by their November 26th meeting with Oregon. And of course the Civil War, which is always up in the air. Personally, I think if Oregon gets past USC this weekend, and the computers stay friendly enough to them, they should find themselves in the driver's seat for the title game.
Mike Payne told me that I should talk about how well Cam Newton, Auburn's quarterback, has been playing. Well, sure I could do that, but that'd be like pointing out the Earth revolves around the Sun. Newton single-handedly put Auburn on his back and plowed over LSU's defense to win them that game. Newton carried the ball 28 times for 217 yards and two of Auburn's touchdowns. More importantly though, he didn't turn the ball over once when he threw or ran. Newton has completed 65% of his passes this year, has 13 touchdowns to just five interceptions and leads his team in rushing with over 1,000 yards. Wow. I love Lamichael James, but those are Heisman winning numbers in my mind. If Newton keeps this up, Auburn is one of, if not the most, dangerous team in the country right now. It would be interesting to watch Oregon's high octane offense battle the multidimensional Newton.
My Face-Palm Award goes to the NCAA this weekend. This season they have gone after schools for possible recruiting violations, player-agent contact, and improper benefits with such fervor that you'd think they get a bonus for every school they sanction. In the beginning of the season, AJ Green, wide receiver for Georgia, was suspended for selling his game-worn jersey in the Independence Bowl. Alright, makes sense I guess. He broke the rules and he pays the price. Wait, I think I hear a knock at my door. Oh, hello Hypocrisy, you're looking for the NCAA? Oh they aren't here, but I bet if you smell hard enough for the stench of double standards then you can find them. The University of Nebraska is selling the game-worn jerseys of their players from their October 16th loss to Texas. So the school can make millions off the football program, sell replica jerseys of the players on their team sites, then sell the official game jerseys for profit as well? And AJ Green gets suspended? Hmmm, I'll let you draw your own conclusions.
Fear not Boise fans, here is something that will bring a smile to your face and give you hope for the current BCS debacle in the making:
Fiesta Bowl 2007
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