With 3.6 seconds left and just a 2 point lead, Coach K told his player to intentionally miss a free throw. Pretty unorthodox strategy, and it almost cost Duke as the Butler guy narrowly missed a half court shot.

So, why not just make the free throw, go up by 3... then the worse you get is overtime.

QOTD

"I think we lose in overtime."
- Dike Coach K on his decision v. Butler to miss their last free throw on purpose

Gutsy call. I like it.

Book: "Catching Fire" by Suzanne Collins
Review: 3 bill-stars (out of 5)... barely just OK

This is "Hunger Games 2".
More light teeny-bopper reading. This one barely made the cut because of two really aggravating things:

1. We traipse back to the same "Hunger Games" plot of kids fighting each other
2. We get the bogus "to be continued" ending. That's tough to pull off well, and it does not work here.

I'm cranky, but I went with 3 stars because I liked the first half of the book, and I will probably snarf the finale when it comes out. The last of the series is "Mockingjay" and comes out in August ("Mockingjay" on Amazon).
mocking book... yow, bill

Labels: 3stars, books, qotd, sports

For the record, we looked, but did not buy. That D-Rose is creepy. He he.

1. Buerhle Highlight
Mark Buerhle's incredible play of the year on opening day: Yahoo video, MLB video

QOTD

"That one's going to be on highlight reels all year long."
- Steve Stone

2. Chicago Cameras
Truly sad state of affairs as our society comes under more and more surveillance.


And nobody gives a hoot.

QOTD2

"[Chicago] could put 10,000 more cameras up and nobody would say anything."
- Paul Green, Roosevelt University

3. $2M Coach at DePaul
DePaul hires a new basketball coach:


How does DePaul University justify paying a basketball coach $2M. They must run the numbers, right? I just can't get my head around it. They shouldn't even be in the Big East.
chicago rules... yow, bill

Labels: myphoto, politics, qotd, sports

Windmills in Palm Springs, CA

LA Spars over Green Energy

LA's push to "green" energy has two effects:

• LA power bills are up over 10% to pay for "green" energy options like the windmills
  
• LA residents are treated to the eyesore you see above

Environmentalists, I presume, are all gung-ho on this windmill thing. But how can you look at the photo above and not call that an eyesore? I don't get it.

Baseball is back. Ahhhhhh. Red Sock beat the Yankee 9-7 in Sunday's season opener. Papelbon with the save.
QOTD

“It’s good to get a win opening night. It’s good for the city. It’s good for the fans. It’s good for the players. It’s good for everyone. … But it’s still just one game.”
- K Youkilis, Red Sock

And fantasy baseball is back. Double ahhhhhh.
Speaking of, the Naperville Watchmen will rely on the fine closer corp ever constructed: Papelbon, Mariano, and K-Rod.

Papelbon!

...

...


The finest closer corps... on paper. Now we play the games.
papelbon... yow, bill

Labels: globalwarming, politics, sports

QOTD

"Never buy a used Subaru WRX STI."
- WilliamT

My little Sooby (2007 Impreza WRX STI) is easily the best car I've every owned. Fast. Tight. Reliable. Just solid as a rock and fun fun fun.
2 1/2 years and no tickets yet. Knock, knock.


Subaru changed the Impreza to be a hatchback a couple years ago. Blech.
They are coming back with the sedan for 2011. Oh my.


Here's the official Sooby link: www.subaru.com/auto-show/index.html

Now, I paid like $32K for my Sooby, and they have jacked the prices since. The 2011 will come in easily over $40K. I can't blame them, but I might not partake. I have another couple good years with my Sooby and then we'll see.
sooby... yow, bill

PS - A paste on... Red Sock star Bernie Carbo was high as a kite during the 1975 World Series:

• Little Yahoo summary of the deal: link
• The original Boston Globe story is really inspirational about Carbo's overcoming addiction: link
• Youtube of Carbo's 8th inning, pinch-hit, game-tying homer in the 1975 World Series: link

QOTD2

“I probably smoked two joints, drank about three or four beers, got to the ballpark, took some [amphetamines], took a pain pill, drank a cup of coffee, chewed some tobacco, had a cigarette, and got up to the plate and hit,’’
- Bernie Carbo, source

And pardon my geezer moment here... less was more back then. No ESPN. No SportsCenter. No internet. Just WGN and NBC's Saturday Game of the Week. These moment's were treasuries, in part because of their scarcity. Now, they are a commodity.
Young whippersnapper.
He he.

Labels: fun, myphoto, qotd, sports

Nice.

1. Apple's iPad
Apple spam on their new gadget:
Man, them Apple boys are smart.
Like I'm going to run out to the Apple store and stand around to look at their crappy new toy.
I'm not going because the place will be overrun with other people going to look at Apple's crappy new widget.

2. Cisco's Valet
Cisco has a new gadget too. It's supposed to be a kinder, gentler, easier to setup/use wireless router:

It's called Valet, www.thevalet.com.
It works for iMac, so I might try that one out.
Now, all we need is a kinder, gentler home entertainment setup dealie. Man, that would scoop up the dollars.

3. Obama's Crackberry
Our ever-so-serious President has religious gadget:

QOTD

"I get a daily devotional on my BlackBerry which is a, is a wonderful thing."
- President Obama on not attending church services

Religion aside, that's a fave metaphor for President Obama, period.

4. Bill's Fantasy Baseball Team
I have Brandon Webb on my fantasy baseball team... a mid-late round flier.

QOTD2

"Webb (shoulder) threw seven pitches from the front of the mound on Sunday morning, the Arizona Republic reports."
- Brandon Webb news update

You follow that with a quote from Webb's AZ manager, AJ Hinch: "He's not game ready or anything like that."
Um. Duh.
he he... yow, bill

Labels: fun, myphoto, politics, qotd, sports, technology

CA $$$
CA government spending a lot of $$$, right?
Courtesy my fave Mad Hedge guy (source), CA is spending a ton of money on prisons:

• CA spending on prisons has "soared from 3% of the state’s domestic product in 1979 to 11% last year"
• And "80% of that spending is going to compensation"
• "It costs $6 billion a year to pay 60,000 prison guards, most of whom make over $100,000 a year with overtime"
• CA prison spending is "more than it costs the state to educate 670,000 college students"

And how can this crap like this happen?
CA prison guards have "the state’s most powerful" union.
And IL's most powerful union: teachers?
And USA's most powerful union: federal employees?

Cormac 2
Book: "All the Pretty Horses" by Cormac McCarthy
Review: 4 bill-stars (out of 5)... excellent!

I was 250 pages into an easy 5-star book. Then, dop. The last 50 pages.

Cormac also wrote "The Road", and his writing style is so emotive of the material he is covering. "The Road" was bleak, so his style was bleak and barren. "Pretty Horses" is set in the rugged west with a couple of teenage cowboys escaping to Mexico for, I don't know, for some air, some freedom. Anyway, his style is rugged and wonderful to read. Some examples:

• Sparse punctuation with no quotation marks. Conversations just flow with the story and you figure out who's talking.
• Few apostrophes... sort of like how people talk.
  
• Some Spanish is thrown in here and there as the cowboys head into Mexico. It wasn't tough to follow what was going on.
  

Alas, the ending died. The plot got squirrely. The descriptions got a bit winded. The last 50 pages were a struggle.

Oh well. This is still an outstanding book and a great vacation read. This is great guy reading with cowboys and the outdoors and riding free and hot Mexican chicks and... There are two more Cormac books in his "Border Trilogy". I'll hit em and let you know.

QOTD

You still aint told me what answer you give her, said Rawlins.
I told her I'd do whatever she asked.
What did she ask?
I aint sure.
They sat watching the fire.
Did you give your word? said Rawlins.
I dont know. I dont know if I did or not.
Well either you did or you didnt.
That what I'd of thought. But I dont know.
- "All the Pretty Horses", page 138-9

En homage... an wild, wild west (cough) picture from AZ:
Cub Lose
Who's got the better team in 2010: Cub or Cardinal?
Well, let's go position by position:

• C - Molina, Stl
• 1B - Pujols, Stl
  
• 2B - Lopez, Stl
• 3B - Aramis, Cub
• SS - Lugo, Stl
• OF - Holliday, Ludwick, Rasmus, Stl, Stl, Stl

And F pitching. That's an even worse rout than the hitting comparison.
The dang Cub stink.
Next year.
he he... yow, bill

Labels: 4stars, books, myphoto, politics, qotd, sports

Why in the world would the Cub want a crappy Toyota sign in the left-field bleachers at Wrigley?!?
Oh yeah... the estimated $2.5M a year. Dop.


Businesses large and small are responding to the recession by getting lean and mean, and offering their customers more for less.
Individuals are tightening their belts and working hard to find a gig or get from under their mortgage, etc.
Government responds with dirty and smelly bus and train rides.


QOTD

"The more complicated and powerful the job, the more rudimentary the preparation for it."
- William F. Buckley, source

yow, bill

Labels: politics, sports

From the something-something kid's museum in Indy...


It's funny where surfing leads you sometimes.
I got this spam from the Joliet Jackhammers...


First off, I heart minor league baseball. Man, those guys want your business. Opposite of the Cub. The Joliet Jackhammer. The Kane County Cougar. Excellent. It's especially great for kids.

Anywho, as their site notes, the Jackhammer Kiss Cam is sponsored by "prominent local Family Law attorney Erin Webster O’Sullivan". Um, "family law attorney"? That's code for "divorce lawyer"... which is pretty funny for a Kiss Cam. Then I googled said attorney, and holy alimony Batman, she's a hot hot hot divorce attorney.

Labels: fun, myphoto, sports

1. Ozzie
I remember this old post: I Heart Ozzie
Ah, so great.
Well, I still heart Ozzie.

QOTD

"That (bleep)! (Bleep) the (bleep) (bleep)! Don't go to Venezuela for two days, surrounded with bodyguards, look around, and say, 'It's good!' It's not good!' ''
- Ozzie Guillen, on Sean Penn's girlish crush on Venezuela dictator Hugo Chavez, source

Ozzie is Venezuelan, BTW.

2. Intolerance
As your average 40-something can tell you, everything is better in America than 40 years ago... cars, houses, health care, food, racial harmony, less drugs, technology, etc.

The only downside: we live in a time of great intolerance, prohibition, and political correctness:


In this case, prohibition of "scented products, including but not limited to colognes, after-shave lotions, perfumes, deodorants, body/face lotions, hair sprays or similar products." And all this accomplished by gaming the American with Disabilities Act.

Reality is stranger than fiction. Jeez.

3. The Worst
And I still heart Investor's Business Daily... here's there editorial on "the worst bill ever":


I don't know if this is the worst bill ever.
But I don't recall such a corrosive piece of legislation and president.

4. And the Oscar goes to...
Movie: "The Hurt Locker"
Review: 3 bill-stars (out of 5)... OK.

My expectations were too high for this film. I accredit this to a) other people's comments, b) won "Best Picture" at the Oscars, and c) I just saw some "Private Ryan" on the tube.

Hey, it was OK. There were some long stretches that were slow. You could easily have shaved time from the 2 hour, 15 minute movie.

I was glad it wasn't a political/anti-war movie. I'm even gladder to see that yet another anti-war movie, "Green Zone", is failing at the box office. Hate to wish people ill, but huzzah to that!

En homage to Ozzie... Venezuela bikini
huzzah once more... yow, bill

Labels: healthcare, politics, qotd, sports

I heart hockey and the Chicago Blackhawk and Adam Burish.

QOTD1

"Burish, my grandma is pregnant."
- sign at the Stadium celebrating Adam Burish's return to the Hawk after a knee injury

Excellent.


QOTD2

"I don't know what that means. I skated by it and said, 'it's not mine.' "
- Adam Burish, on pregnant grandmas

shoot the puck... yow, bill

Labels: qotd, sports

It's almost 60 flipping degrees out. Yow!

1. Cheli!
Cheli (aka Chris Chelios) is back in the NHL!


Well so, Bill... who cares?
I care.
Cheli is 48.
So, I reset the clock on a player my age being in a major professional sport.
It's sort of like remembering the last time you were carded (last year at Buffalo Wild Wings... Ty is my witness) or the last time you touched the rim of a basketball hoop (gulp... I haven't tried that in a while).

Too bad he's not a Blackhawk though.
Anyway, did you read that one... Cheli "has played in more games than any other American-born NHL player."
Huzzah!

2. Choice!
QOTD

"I've never met an apathetic mom of any race or ethnicity.
They all want good schools for their kids."
- Why school choice works, source

One of my all-time fave WSJ articles about charter schools in NYNY...


Choice!
peace out... yow, bill

Labels: qotd, schoolchoice, sports

I heart minor league baseball
Minor league baseball teams really, really want your business. They cater to you. They try hard. This is the exact opposite approach than you see at MLB teams like the Chicago Cub.

Here's a great story about the Peoria Chiefs, the Cub class A minor league team... they're leasing out their skyboxes to fantasy baseball leagues for their draft meetings. For $35 a guy, you get the luxury (cough) suite, all-you-can-eat buffet, beers, and a ticket to a future Chief game. Sweet!


I heart minor league baseball.


I heart my crock pot
RIP Mable Hoffman... author of “Crockery Cookery”, an early and popular crock pot recipe book.


I heart my crock pot... and Mable too, I reckon.


I heart Ronald Reagan
Book: “Tear Down This Wall” by Romesh Ratnesar
Review: 2 bill-stars (out of 5)... meh

This book is very dry and kinda boring. This is hard to fathom, given how interesting the subject matter is. The other irritating thing is the guy sprinkles in his politics into the thing here and there. The big two that bugged me:

1. Reagan's optimism was naivete
   
2. Gorbachev ended the cold war, not Reagan
   

OK, poindexter.
Reagan's optimism and belief in the human spirit defined him.
The author's incredulity likely defines him, and maybe this is a defining trait of your average leftie.

One of the best anecdotes from the book was by a girl attending a talk Reagan gave in Moscow. Russian security officials picked which students would sit where for Reagan's speech. They were told, "Don't make any movements with your body. If you get up, you will be shot." Well, that'll discourage those distracting potty breaks during an event, eh.

QOTD

“General Secretary Gorbachev, if you seek peace, if you seek prosperity for the Soviet Union and Eastern Europe, if you seek liberalization: Come here to this gate! Mr. Gorbachev, open this gate! Mr. Gorbachev, tear down this wall!”
- Ronald Reagan, Jun 12 1987, speech at Brandenburg Gate in (then) West Berlin

I believe the difference between Reagan and other presidents was an actual set of values which drove his decision-making. His values: small government, personal freedom, optimism. If you know what President Obama's values are, please chime in and enlighten me.

Reagan was stricken with Alzheimer's a few years after leaving office. He penned a final correspondence, a sort of goodbye, before losing his faculties.

QOTD2

“In closing, let me that you, the American people for giving me the great honor of allowing me to serve as your President. When the Lord calls me home whenever that may be, I will leave with the greatest love for this country of ours and eternal optimism for its future. I now begin the journey that will lead me into the sunset of my life. I know that for America there will always be a bright dawn ahead.”
-Ronald Wilson Reagan, Nov 5 1994 letter

I heart Ronald Reagan


I heart our great sunny weekend!
run faster... yow, bill

PS - A couple photos of Reagan in front of the Berlin Wall on Jun 12, 1987.

...

Labels: 2stars, books, fun, politics, qotd, sports

1. Health Care Nonsense
Good, if snarky, article here:


I'm not a big Buffet fan, but he's right here. The issue is cost.

QOTD

"We're just going to focus on costs, and we're not going to dream up 2,000 pages of other things... Get rid of the nonsense."
- Warren Buffet, on scrapping ObamaCare and starting over

I said it a year ago. President Obama could have easily made meaningful, common sense changes to health care in America. But we went down the rabbit hole instead. And here we are.

2. Hot Curlers
I watched some Winter Olympics... more than I thought I would. The USA-Canada hockey matches were both awesome!

Anyway, here's my Olympic wrap... two things:

1. It's a good thing Canada won the gold in men's hockey. The gold medal game was the most watched TV show ever in Canada (source) with 80% of the flipping country watching the game. Jeez! If the US had won the game in overtime, I think Canada would have collectively jumped off a window ledge or something.
2. I still don't understand the rules, but women's curlers were hot hot hot!
   

The hottest women's curler of all is...


Jeez.
pro curling... yow, bill

Labels: fun, healthcare, qotd, sports

1. Retro Sheet
I turned on the tube after the market closed yesterday, and there it was on some MLB channel that I don't know why I have...

Excellent.
So, google, google, google... and giggle, giggle, giggle... here's the boxscore from that game:


Checkout the "Play by Play" section at the end of the file... every batter and move in the game is detailed. Amazing.

Read, read, read... the guys that pour in the time to do this are:


QOTD

"Retrosheet was founded in 1989 for the purpose of computerizing play-by-play accounts of as many pre-1984 major league games as possible."
- Mission statement of RetroSheet, source

Couple observations:

• Jack Brickhouse was the broadcaster... perfect guy for a simpler time.
• The Cub crowd was decidedly younger... the voices chanting "We want a run" sounded like a school choir.
• I remember that game... or I think I do... because I would turn the Cub on after coming home from school. When you come home, and the score is 22-22, there's a good chance you'll remember it.
  
• The Cub today are not as much fun as those ever-losing Cub of yesteryear. Either that, or I'm an old goat. Who can tell?
  

2. Financial Fasting
Certainly, confusing economic times... tough tough tough, and then you can't get into a restaurant on a Tuesday night. I don't know what the heck is going on.

This is a fun article on a 20-something doing a "financial fast" for 21 days... basically cutting back on all discretionary spending.


3. Bumper Sticker of the Day (BSOTD?)
Saw this (too funny) bumper sticker last week:

He he.
peace out... yow, bill

Labels: fun, politics, qotd, sports

1. Hoosiers
Yea another idea better than ObamaCare...Indiana has health savings accounts:


This goofy QOTD sums the problem up pretty dang well.

QOTD

"A fast-food meal costs most Americans more out of pocket than a visit to the doctor."
- Mitch Daniels, IN gov, source

If President Obama rams his crappy health care reform through using the (previously called) nuclear option, then it will be bad, but interesting. For these obnoxious shenanigans, what will be the price in November? Got me.

2. Hosers
Hockey quiz: The Chicago Blackhawks have 23 guys listed on their roster... how many of these players are American?

Olympic hockey: USA lost in OT to Canada... after tying the game 2-2 with 24 seconds left.
This is the best outcome.

• USA gets the fun and excitement of tying the hosers, yet
• Canada doesn't fall into a spiral of depression losing the hockey gold

And huzzah to all the Blackhawks on each team: Kane, Toews, Keith, and Seabrook.

here come the hawks... yow, bill

PS - Hockey quiz answer: Only 3 of the 23 Blackhawk players are American: Kane, Burish, and Byfuglien.

PPS - Blackhawks ice girl... don't care where she's from either:

Labels: healthcare, qotd, sports

1. NBA Nerds
Only foreign-born NBA players read... American players play video games. Sigh.


The two causes are obvious:

1. Crappy public schools
2. Coddling of athletes from a very young age

Ah, nuts to that, here are some awesome dunks:

1. Vince Carter literally jumping over some poor schlep in the Olympics: www.youtube.com/watch?v=XMrPjl-927Q
2. Michael Jordan, with two hands, dunking on 7'4" Mark Eaton in Utah: www.youtube.com/watch?v=vhdMHcI2dRo
3. Kevin Johnson dunking on Hakeem: www.youtube.com/watch?v=8kidpegzfFc

2. Obama Malaise
My fave, the Mad Hedge Fund guy, puts the odds at 50/50 for a Jimmy Carteresque ending to the President Obama story:


QOTD

"If you’re over 50, and all of this sounds vaguely familiar, it’s because we’ve been through it all before. Remember Jimmy Carter? Remember the “misery index,” the unemployment rate plus the inflation rate, which hit 30, and catapulted Ronald Reagan into an eight year presidency?"
- the Mad Hedge Fund guy, source

Who knows?
In any case, it may not be the best time to buy and hold in the stock market. IMHO.

3. Poll wording
Finally, it's nice to confirm the obvious... the wording of a poll can dramatically effect the results.

QOTD2

"Seventy-nine percent of Democrats said they support permitting gay men and lesbians to serve openly. Fewer Democrats however, just 43 percent, said they were in favor of allowing homosexuals to serve openly."
- Poll results based on "gay" or "homosexual", source

Good one.
peace out... yow, bill

Labels: fun, politics, qotd, sports

1. Betty White
Best Super Bowl commercial... Betty White.


Dammit, that's funny.
All the Super Bowl ads are at that link, BTW.
How do young people even know who Betty White is?

2. Argentina
Ah, the world would be so much better off if hot chicks were running things.
Um. Don't tell that to Argentina, where the girls are just as corrupt as the boys.



I will say this... it looks like they're having fun.
I don't know how much fun hyper-inflation is going to be for your average joe (jose?) in Argentina, but whatever.

3. Milwaukee School Choice
Speaking of corruption... Dear President Obama. Dear Arnie Duncan. School choice is working in Milwaukee and DC and NYNY and...


QOTD

"In 2008 the graduation rate for voucher students was 77% versus 65% for the nonvoucher students, though the latter receives $14,000 per pupil in taxpayer support, or more than double the $6,400 per pupil that voucher students receive in public funding."
- School choice stats in Milwaukee, source

So great that money can't buy results.
So great to see freedom working.

It's a smooth ride... arguing for choice and personal freedom.
How's that anti-freedom argument working... Obama and Arnie and the teacher's unions and other lefties.

All you have to do is allow for a little risk... the risk that people will take care of their own stuff (like kids) better than anyone else.
No risk with the gov plan... you know it will suck.
an easy choice... yow, bill

PS - "bikini school choice"

Labels: fun, politics, qotd, schoolchoice, sports

www.williamt.com is proud to announce our 2nd annual Super Bowl contest. This year's contest is sponsored by the America Recovery and Reinvestment Act. At www.recovery.gov we're helping America because "Shoot, we've got plenty of money!" (TM)

The contest is easy... you put in no $$, just email me your three picks to win win win:

1. Who will cover in the Super Bowl? Indy -5 1/2 or New Orleans +5 1/2
2. How many total points will be scored in the Super Bowl?
3. How many passing yards will Peyton Manning and Drew Brees have combined?

That's it.
The winner get a crappy replica jersey of some player from the winning team... not to worry, my stimulus $$$ will more than cover it.

Oh yeah, the rules:

1. Email me (williamt@williamt.com) your three picks. Get me the stuff by noon Super-Sunday. Any friend or family member or neighbor can play... the more the merrier. Warning: No fictional characters, and if your kids play, then they must make the picks. If your kid thinks the Bears are gonna win this year... send it in!
2. I'll email back a spreadsheet Sunday afternoon (before the game) with everyone's picks.
3. The winner is based on the three picks; they are sorted in order of importance. For example, if 7 people get pick #1 right, then pick #2 will decide. If there are any ties still left, then pick #3 will decide. I'll make sure no one has all three the same. If we have a tie, then closest without going over ("Price is Right" style) for total passing yards wins.
4. I'll announce the winner to everyone Monday. My decision is final. (Yes!) Offer not valid in Tennessee or Kentucky.

Last year's contest was super-exciting! Last year's winner (weener) was Chris the Commish. This year's winner (weener) could be you. Heck, it could be me. Yes, of course I'm playing.

www.williamt.com is your best source for crappy vacation photos.

www.williamt.com is there to sate your radical right-wing blog needs.

And yes, www.williamt.com... voted "Best blog on the Web" by "Hot 40-somethings" magazine for 6 years running.
Huzzah!

Email me: williamt@williamt.com
go bear... yow, bill

Labels: fun, sports

QOTD

"Surrender that ice cream cone or your every waking moment will become a swarming torrent of pain and misery!"
- Plankton

I think the WSJ may have wrecked football for me.
The WSJ boys figgered out that there are only 11 minutes of actual action in a 3+ hour football game:

Football is yet another thing losing its luster. So boring. I had the stopwatch out, testing the journals story. Once I stopped to consider how dumb all this was... 4 point something seconds of action followed by guys picking themselves off the ground, walking back to the huddle, talking about what to do, walking up to the line... argh, exasperating!

The worst is the video replay of the boredom. The worst of the worst is when they run the video replay and then overturn a correct call.

No, the worst of the worst is a sport with 11 minutes of action in 3 1/2 hours.

NFL cheerleaders give you more than 11 minutes of action.
Sorry.

I still heart baseball.
yow bill

PS - So many people who struggle in the world. Gol dang, it's gotta be tough to not have a job or not be able to pay your bills or, jeez, not have a place to stay. So, Naperville's fake homeless guy is a disgrace. The Real Person Shines Beneath All the Layers

All the stories in the world of people who work hard and overcome, and I can't login to Yahoo without reading about this fucking idiot. And then, of course, the article is some dope comparing our fake homeless guy to real homeless people. Sigh.

Labels: qotd, sports

QOTD

"Commit to the Indian!"
- Dennis Savard rant

Savvy's rant is classic, and it's here (for now): www.youtube.com/watch?v=6gM6REx3NVY

Follow the youtube chain for 60 seconds worth of jaw-dropping Savvy goals from back in the day: www.youtube.com/watch?v=vB_LC10N3xU&feature=fvw
Spin move!

I heart Savvy.
winter wonderland... yow, bill

Labels: fun, qotd, sports

1. Historic Collapse

QOTD setup... Bull lead by 35 points, 79-44 with 8 minutes left in the 3rd quarter, at home, to Sacramento, a crappy 2-11 team on the road. Go.

QOTD

"I'll tell you what. If the Bulls lose this game, I'm walking to New York."
- Chuck Swirsky, Bull radio guy last night... the Bull play the Knick tonight

QOTD wrapup... Bull lose 102-98, boxscore.
ESPN says it's the second biggest comeback in NBA history.
I heart Swirsky and Bill Wennington, the Bull radio team.
I do not heart Vinny or D-Rose.

2. Pet Slaughter
I'm a little scratchy this morning... fighting the eck... so pardon my French.

Just one more more tiny, itty-bitty discrepancy for our fucking liar global warming friends.

Labels: globalwarming, qotd, sports

This is too delicious to pass up this morning.
It is big "news" when a US senator takes a commercial flight to the bogus global warming conference in Copenhagen.


And one of Tiger's girls protests...

QOTD

"I resent being put in the same category as the other women."
- Holly Sampson, porn star and Tiger girl

Ms. Sampson (right) wishes to rise above the fray because she only had sex with Tiger at his bachelor party.

OK.
Better than parody or sarcasm is when people expose their true character in their own words/actions. I will say, I still have the buxom Ms. Sampson higher on the character scale than Sen. Kerry. But that's an easy call.

I do, however, wonder... who has a greater impact on global warming? The senator or the porn star? Perhaps many, many research $$$ can find the answer to this important question.
he he... yow, bill

Labels: globalwarming, politics, qotd, sports

1. Tiger. Crazy Ambien Sex.
I'll bet a dollar Tiger had some Ambien coursing through his blood, driving that Escalade all willy-nilly.

QOTD

"She told a friend she had crazy Ambien sex with Tiger."
- Tiger tales, source

In that last article Tiger's agent called the Ambien claim "reprehensible."
If I were representing Tiger, I might shy away from the word reprehensible, eh.

Granted I haven't read many articles, but I have yet to see a Tiger article that focuses on him having 3 yo and 9 month-old kids. I know we live in a loosier and goosier society, but jeez... if banging every cocktail waitress you bump into when your new bride is home pregnant or with the kids or both isn't, um, reprehensible, then what is?

Argh.
I thought the National Enquirer was one of the last bastions of real journalism. I guess I'm only left with "The Morning News" for true, hard-hitting journalism.

QOTD2

"In 2007, according to two people familiar with the negotiations, Mr. Woods and his representatives made a deal with American Media, the company that owns the National Enquirer, to quash a story detailing an alleged affair. In exchange, Mr. Woods posed on the cover and did an interview for another American Media property, Men's Fitness, these people say. American Media declined to comment on this issue."
- Sweeping Tiger shenanigans under the rug, How Tiger's Top Man is Managing the Crisis

Ambien will also be Tiger's out, eventually: "Oh, I was addicted to Ambien, so..."
Whatever.

2. Fantasy Football
Punkin win!
I'm the Punkin. Ty is the F-14.
Ty's New Orleans defense had been credited with a TD on a fumble return by the Saint offense (ole Robert Meacham to the right)... then, overnight, Yahoo took it away.

Adding to the fun... this shit made the WSJ this morning:


Punkin are 9-3-1. First place. Sorry Ty.
he he... yow, bill

Labels: fun, qotd, sports

QOTD

"My whole thing is, you're only playing for three hours a day. The least you can do is play hard. You have what, four or five at bats?
OK, it's not difficult to run, to give it a hundred percent. It's effort.
You don't have to have talent for effort."
- Derek Jeter, SI Sportsman of the Year, on running hard to first base

I like Jeter, and that's a money QOTD.
He does seem to try hard... with a respect for the game and those around him.

We just had the Tiger thing. On a smaller scale, LeBron beat the Bull earlier this week and was dancing on the court like a classless clown. Shit, the Cub suck and they still don't try hard.
At least outwardly, it doesn't seem like Jeter's success has spoiled everything for him.
theeeeee yankee win... yow, bill

Labels: qotd, sports

1. Hi-YA!
Hey, President Obama is a karate brother. Hi-YA!

Source: O-bam-a! U.S. President shows off his martial arts skills on visit to South Korea

Labels: fun, politics, qotd, sports

QOTD

"Line drive. Base hit. Caught out there. The runner tags. Throw to the plate. Off target. And in time! A double play."
- Chip Caray call, source

I heart business. Commerce.
These tough economic times have been met with a MIGHTY response by business.
We've all seen it:

• The "Price Cut" stickers all over the Jew-el (leading to $1.75 Frosted Flakes and cheaper beer... if that doesn't help you ride out the recession, nothing will)
• Sales. And advertising like crazy of those sales
• Job cuts, expense cuts. Again, like crazy
  

Businesses are responding to tough times by getting even leaner and meaner.

How about government's response? Here are two examples from today:

• The CTA is raising its fares, making it one of the most expensive public transportation options in the country. Price hikes are expected to be 33-50%. What the L?
  
• And I know this seems surreal, but Naperville "has" to raise taxes. Naperville. Proposed sales tax worries some in Naperville business community
  

QOTD2

"We do not want to reduce our service levels to make ourselves an average community"
- Doug Krieger, ciy of Naperville nabob

Yeah, did you catch that?
Doug Krieger, a namesake, is the "city manager" of Naperville. Sigh.

Um, dear Doug... you and the city of Naperville government isn't what makes a Naperville above average. It's its people and businesses and the work done therein. Your job is to provide an environment where these people can continue their good work. Your role isn't to suck in more money when the economy is in the shitter.

Here's another example of Naperville waste, the new $11M Early Childhood Center. Ty and I used to play in this park. It was nice because it had a large field of just grass and a basketball court and then some swings. Very low key. Now, it's an "Early Childhood Center". No, I don't have any idea why Naperville is spending $11M on an early childhood center when there are private day care and preschool options up the ass all around the city. Oh well, at least the building is "green". Woot!

GOOD => You. Me. Business, large and small. We're all cutting back to meet the challenge.

BAD => Government ain't. Naperville. The CTA. And of course, the most egregious of all, the Feds.

Good and bad. Very nice. And simple.
I'll take me some of that good, thank you.
run faster... yow, bill

Labels: politics, qotd, sports

QOTD

"It was 2 1/2 hours of satisfaction and then 2 1/2 hours of horseshit baseball.
Go ask them. I don't have any more quotes.
Seriously.
What the fuck am I going to say?
"They're horseshit?"
Yes, they are."
- Ozzie Guillen, source

Oh, dammit. That's the best.
I heart Ozzie.

QOTD2

"This is a tease, man. It's like when you have a girlfriend and you are kissing her all over ... and she says no. That's where we are right now. That's the way we are."
- Ozzie

OK. Now read that last quote out loud... channeling Tony Montana... "This is a tease, mang"
he he... yow, bill

Labels: qotd, sports

QOTD

"I don't know. Cubs fans haven't won in 100 years."
- Lou, on the Pittsburgh Pirates losing 17 years in a row, source

The Pittsburgh Pirates have had a losing record for 17 straight years. No team in the history of US professional sports has lost 17 years in a row. That kind of surprised me... don't know why.

So, Lou brings up an interesting tradeoff. Would you rather lose for 17 years straight (the Pirate) or not win a World Series for 100 years (the Cub). In fact, the Pirate have won the World Series 5 times since the Cub tallied their title in 1908. Pittsburgh won in 1909, 1925, 1960, 1971, and 1979 (source).

I think I'll take the Cub over Pittsburgh. It's been frustrating... a century of foreplay. But it's been pretty fun and entertaining too.

Great idea
I grabbed The Bolingbrook Bugle at Portillo's... lunch reading material. There was an op-ed piece by some guy named Morgan Dubiel. I don't know who he is, but he had an idea that I'll bend and steal.

It's pretty simple... a school choice idea:

1) You can send your kids to public school, or
2) You can get a voucher for 1/2 of what the school receives for each kid

You follow that? Let's say crappy public school XYZ gets $10K/kid. If you want your kids to attend private/parochial/religious school ABC, then you can get a voucher for $5K and public school XYZ keeps the other $5K to spend on whatever even though your kid ain't going there.

So, pubic schools get a 100% funding advantage. Parents can stay in public school "for free" (cough), or get half their money out to make their own choice. Win-win right?

I know, I know... never happen.
I reckon a good percentage of public schools across the country would be shuttered in a generation or so. I'll also bet that we'd dent the fuck out of inner city poverty and violence in a generation or two as well.

As Spongebob would say, let's use our "imagination" and visualize a candidate that endorses choice in school and health care and lower taxes and... I'm probably a nut burger, but it seems like such a gaping hole in our political scene. I don't know.
imagination... yow, bill

Labels: politics, qotd, schoolchoice, sports