I saw this article, and while I'm glad that it was my Boise State Broncos that did this to Oregon, I do respect Oregon and now their coach a whole lot more. Read this, and see if it doesn't make you think that there aren't good people out there coaching. I'm glad that they hired Chip Kelley, cause if he said no, they were going to come after Boise State's Chris Peterson (he is an alum, and a former coach from there).
That's right football fans, it's kickoff Sunday. College is two weeks in, but it's the NFL that will take center stage this weekend. The NFL is the most popular sport in the US, and thanks to them we have our all of our Sundays (save for the one we give to our spouses during the bye week) planned out for us. What a great day. Today my Seahawks start back on the road to redemption, to prove to their critics that last years record was due to injuries and not talent. We've mad our additions, and while the window for success might be closing on them, its not shut. So here's to my Hawks, and all of your teams (unless they're the Rams), hoping that they all get off on the right foot.
Ah yes, it's that time of year again. The time where men become boys as they root for their favorite football teams (I'm of course referring to both American football and soccer here). The seasons are just beginning. Hope still abounds in everyone. Everyone still thinks that their teams can be champions. Some of our teams are defending championships, like my very own Red Devils of Manchester (who are doing this for the third year in a row), while others like my Seahawks are just hoping for redemption. Some like Washington State are hoping to rise out of mediocrity, and others like Boise State are just hoping for the chance to prove that they're as good as the rest. Some seasons are coming to and end. The Sounders are fighting their way into the MLS playoffs and the Mariners are doing their damnedest to get themselves out of contention. So here's to us, the fans, and to hoping that the right teams (mainly mine) find their way to the top.
Yesterday, Joe Sakic, my favorite hockey player, decided to call it a career after 20 years in the NHL. While he spent his time with two teams, the Quebec Nordiques and Colorado Avalanche, it was one franchise. So often do you miss this kind of loyalty to a franchise. He stayed, even after they moved. He was always the consumate professional. He has more records than I care to recount here. So thank you Joe, not just for the Stanley Cups, but for how you played the game...like a professional. And if you don't belive me. The Great One, Wayne Gretzky had this to say about him: "I think he's had an outstanding career, a brilliant career ... The thing about Joe is he did it with so much class and so much dignity. Very humble, almost shy, but when he got on the ice he was dynamic, very unselfish."
Gina told me something the other day and I just had to verify it. She told me that she'd heard on the radio that the 4th of July was the holiday with the largest beer sales. That just didn't sound right. I thought, and wrongly it turns out, that this was just because the Super Bowl wasn't considered a holiday. Surely the Super Bowl sells the most beer. However, as this chart below shows, the Super Bowl is number 8...behind Easter. Take a look, what do you think? This chart was posted on January of this year, so it is current, but that still doesn't mean I'm buying. So sound off, are you buying or selling the Super Bowl as the 8th largest beer sales holiday?
Most people in the United States could care less about soccer, but they do so love a winner. Maybe that's the problem with US Soccer, the lack of trophies, or even good results. Well, then here's something for you. Sunday the US Men's National Team will play for the Confederations Cup Championship against either Brasil or South Africa (most likely Brasil). This will be their first ever final in a major tournament (they have played in several consolation games, even placing third in this tournament several years ago). Those that have paid attention already know that it has not been an easy road. The US lost their first two games of the tournament 3-1 to Italy and 3-0 to Brasil. They needed a miracle to make it out of the group stages to the semi-finals. Not only did they need to beat Egypt by three, but they needed Brasil to beat Italy by three. That would tie the US, Italy, and Egypt all with three points in the group, since Egypt had managed to beat the Italians 1-0 last week, and the US would advance on goal differential (difference between goals scored and goals allowed for you non-soccer types). Well, the US got their six goal swing as both the US and Brasil won 3-0. This got the US to the semi-final...against Spain. A Spanish team that is currently ranked number one in the world, has won 15 straight games, and hasn't lost a game in their last 35. I thought the US would do well to not be embarrassed, afterall they hadn't beaten a number one team since 1999 when we beat Brasil 1-0 in the United States. They played an inspired 90 minutes and did something most teams dream of, they held the Spaniards scoreless. The defensive line was beyond outstanding, while the US managaged carefully planned counterattacks that resulted in two goals from Jozy Altidore and Clint Dempsey. The US were opportunists, and they made the most of them. Does this rank up there with the US hockey teams victory over Russia in the Olympics? I don't know. Spain is a team with that kind of dominance and the US, while not highly ranked (number 14 according to FIFA), isn't that kind of an underdog. Who cares, it was awesome and inspired. I damn near had several heart attacks watching, but it's games like that that are the reason I love the game. You don't always have to be the best in the world, just the best in the stadium...and yesterday they were.
The Starting XI
The celebration after Dempsey's goal in the 74th minute seals the victory.
For those of you who don't follow hockey closely, and shame on you for not, there are numerous traditions surrounding the Stanley Cup. First and foremost is that players never touch it until after hoisting it in victory on the ice, and even then it is passed to the captain first, then his assistants, and then to the rest of the team (although there have been a few breaches of this in history, but wikipedia it or google it or something). The most interesting tradition is that each player gets to take it home for a day, in the presence of someone from the Hockey Hall of Fame of course. This of course gets to the meat of this post. The last time Mario Lemieux had the Stanley Cup was when he captained the Penguins to back to back championships in '90-'91 and '91-'92. When it was in his possession it somehow ended up at the bottom of his pool. Fast forward to now, and during a team party he hosted after the victory parade...well, see for yourself. I guess the guys didn't think it was clean enough.
After a six game stretch where they earned only five points, the Sounders finally got another win and a valuable three points last night. My brother and I were in attendance to watch the game. It was his first and my second. The game was sold out and the crowd was loud from start to finish. Seattle got two goals from Freddy Ljungberg and Fredy Montero, and I could really give two shits who scored for San Jose. It was a great game and an even better celebration afterwards. Good Luck to Seattle as they host D.C. United Wednesday night. Time to start stringing some wins together boys and move up the table.
Congratulations to the Pittsburgh Penguins for winning the Stanley Cup. I know many of you probably don't like hockey and barely even know the rules, but you don't have to understand a sport to appreciate it. I love hockey. After soccer and football it's my next favorite sport to enjoy. While I'm an Avalanche fan personally, I can't help but enjoy the Penguins, but I still hate those cheat bastard Stealers (no that's not a typo). Forgiveness will never be awarded for Super Bowl XL. But back to the Penguins. I like not only good players, but players with good character. How can you not like a team with guys like Sidney Crosby, Marc-Andre Fleury, Evgeni Malkin, Sergei Gonchar, and Jordan Staal. All stand-up individuals as well as great hockey players. What a dramatic game seven last night. Crosby, only 21 and the Captain of the Pens, was hurt halfway through the game. The best player on the team, and the ice was lost but the Pens hung on to beat Detroit 2-1. A fantastic team effort. So here's to Sid the Kid, his teammates, and Mario Lemieux who purchased the Penguins to save them from being moved and kept hockey in Pittsburgh. Congratulations fellas, you earned it. Oh, and as if I needed another reason to root for Pittsburgh, I really hate those fucking Red Wings. Go Avs and Go Pens.
In some bittersweet news today my beloved Manchester United has decided to grant Real Madrid permission to speak to and try to sign Christiano Ronaldo...for $130 million. That's not a typo. It is the most money ever paid for a player. In soccer, that's called a transfer fee. It gives Real the right to try and bargain with the player, it's not salary or anything else. Simply the right to negotiate. While Ronaldo is the reigning Ballon d'Or (World's Best Player Award) winner one would think it fitting. I don't know about that. I think he'll never be able to replicate his early numbers at Old Trafford and that he's only going to go down from here. I'm not taking away from him as a player, he's still probably in the top 5 in the world, but I think Manchester United can get a lot of good back for that money. More than if we simply invested it into Ronaldo. So goodbye Christiano, enjoy the life you think you want in Madrid, but even with you and Kaka your new team is still not as good as Barcelona. You've left a number one for a number two, the best team in the world to one not even in the top 5. Enjoy, and good riddance. I no longer have to watch you whine everytime someone knocks you down...although I will miss those brilliant and cheeky goals of yours.
This is the music video for Knights of Cydonia by Muse. It is off their album Blackholes and Revelations. It is a fantastic song and a great album. This also might be the best music video since the Beastie Boys' Sabotage (shame on you if you've never seen Sabotage, what's wrong with you!!!).
Everyone needs something to look forward to and this is a game that I've been looking forward to for a while now. Original teasers had the Space Marines fighting against heretic Chaos Marines, but it looks like they went for my other favorites...the orks. This trailer posted on IGN.com doesn't say anything about when it's release is slated to be, but I wouldn't be surprised is THQ and Relic try to push this out for Christmas. Yey for me!!!
Many of you out there, to include my wife, like this show called Jon and Kate Plus 8. I can't seem to find anything about this show that makes it worth watching. I mean, I like a good row just as much as the next guy, but who really wants to watch this family self-destruct on TV? Well, let's add to their troubles. Now the State of Pennsylvania is investigating them for possible violations of child labor laws. I mean, apparently the Jon just wants a normal life, his wife is a money grubbing and domineering bitch, and I really don't even know if either cares about their kids. I feel sorry for them all, especially the kids. Are any of them ever going to have a normal life?
Well, today was the Champions League final. My beloved Manchester United against FC Barcelona. Barcelona is a talented team, and I take nothing away from them...except they never should have scored. United lost today 2-0 in Rome failing to defend their crown from last year on two very ugly goals. I can't feel too sorry though, we did win the Club World Cup, the Carling Cup, and retained the Premier League crown. So I guess here's to next year, we'll start this all over again in August. Oh, and good luck to the Seattle Sounders FC who play Barcelona in a friendly August 5th, they're going to need it.
For those of you who don't read as many newspapers as I do on a regular basis I'm going to share something I ran across. On this Memorial Day weekend, a Google engineer named Sean Askay, is sharing his personal labor of love he started four years ago while in grad school with everyone. He calls it the Map of the Fallen. It is an interactive map he created in his spare time using, you guessed it, Google Earth. It shows each individual who was killed in action in OIF and OEF and then links them to their place of death using a line. He started it for the U.S. casualties, but continued for casualties from all armed forces. So I take my hat off to Sean Askay, he has my admiration and my thanks.
Everyone who knows me knows that I love science fiction. I am a self-admitted Star Wars nerd. I have no issues with bearing that burden. However, there is another universe that I have started to become enamoured with, and that is Warhammer 40,000. I'll spare you the thousands of words that it would take to describe it, but needless to say it is something that started out as a table top game a-la Dungeons and Dragons in Great Britain and has since expanded into graphic novels and literature. Now, any universe that is as dark and war-filled as this, with monstrous men known as space marines is bound to rock, and the books do. They provide me with more than enough entertainment since I am running out of Star Wars novels.
But now to the reason for this rumination of mine. Star Wars has the lightsaber. Everyone has seen them and knows that they're about the size of a mall guard's flashlight and emit a meter long energy blade that's roughly as hot as our sun (which is why they are scientifically impossible to create). Warhammer has the chainsword, as well as a chain axe and chain fist (think a boxing glove with massive toothed chainsaw blades that run around it). This weapon, while not as elegant as a lightsaber, is more realistic in terms of creation. Below is a video of space marines fighting some eldar (surf through the link above if you really care who they are) with a guest appearance from a tyranid hive tyrant at the end. There are genaric marines, heavy weapon marines, and even a dreadnaught (figure it out). The key is, you get to see this beloved chainsword in action. I love both universes too much to decide which weapon is better, so I'll leave that to you.
There are few things that test you as a man. Nothing, however, will make you feel as weak and helpless as a sick child. Syd has spent the past 24 hours struggling with yet again a mysterios high fever. Last night at 2 AM Gina ran to find an all night store where she could get some childrens Tylenol while I rubbed Syd's back with a cold compress to help ease the discomfort. After a visit to the doctor today we learned that it is most likely just a virus. Those of you that know me well know that I am not someone who likes being able to do nothing. I like to act, to fight, to do something, but to have a measly virus hurting my daughter that I can do nothing about just plain pisses me off. So here's to hoping it's short lived, and Sydney is back to her normal jolly self tomorrow.
Not that I care, nor that I wanted to, but my wife forced me to watch Idol tonight. Lots of celebrities, some decent performances, but overall nothing to really knock the socks off. However, I must state, that since Kris Allen won and not the FREAK, they must really tally votes. Good for them. At least not everyone is dishonest. So congratulations to him I guess. Oh, and the telecast would have been much better if they would have focused less on the contestants and more on Carrie Underwood since she was really the only thing worth looking at throughout the two hour telecast.
Really this has to be one of the dumbest shows I've ever seen. I'm not saying that it hasn't produced a few successfull artists (Kelly Clarkson and Carrie Underwood headline those few), but really it's just a massive waste of time. Does anyone actually think that their vote is really counted? How do you know it's not just a complete sham and the judges actually decide. Outside of Simon, who really on that panel knows what they're talking about. Randy was in Journey, but not a key member, Paula's a crack whore, and I don't know where that other chick came from. I think we will find out tonight for those of you that watch, I'm not going to, because if Adam wins I think it is truly a lie given how much the judges seem enamoured with him. Having had to suffer through last weeks episode with with my wife, I think Kris is obviously the more talented of the two. The FREAK, Adam, has been groomed for this moment, not exactly what I think the people who run the show look for. Just watching him makes me cringe and think of those five year beauty queens like Jean-Benet. Looking at him makes me wonder if he's more Marilyn Manson or Justin Timberlake. One last rant before I go, anyone who feels vested in the victory of "their guy or girl" and doesn't even attempt to call in and vote are hippcrits and idiots. It's like having a sports team but never watching them. At least Idol is not alone in the useless Reality TV category, I mean, afterall, there's always Dancing with the Stars, The Bachelor and Bachelorette, America's Top Model, and many others that just can't die soon enough. Sad...it's all just sad.
I have corrected the blog so that you may now comment on specific posts without using the sidebar comment section. I apologize for the inconvenience, but I am new at this.
In my daily surfing and consumptions of many newspapers I came across yet another article about the Mayan calendar and doomsday in 2012. In an attempt to allay some of your fears about our apparent destruction in 2012 I went in search of an answer.
"Accoding to some scholars the Mayan calendar doesn’t end in 2012. The Mayan calendar is based on cycles within cycles within cycles. What happens in 2012 is the ending of a major cycle. For the Maya 2012 is the ending of what is known as the Great Cycle. The GreatCycle is a 5,125 year cycle that began at the date 13.0.0.0.0 on the Mayan calendar. Modern day media has tagged this date as "2012 Doomsday" The present Kali Yuga cycle of the Hindus began just 11 years later in 3102 B.C., this is supposedly when Lord Krishna disincarnated and then the Kali Yuga began. Kali Yuga is the final and darkest age. For the Maya, history did begin at 3113 B.C. The first dynasty of Egypt was established circa 3100 B.C. The first city in history was founded circa 3100 B.C. That was the city of Uruk, from which the name Iraq is derived. Uruk was founded by seven wise men at the beginning of history in Mesopotamia. If you look at the history books you will see that virtually everything we think of as the history of civilization began at that point and slowly builds up from there—this is the Babylonian/Mesopotamian origin of civilization. Mayans say that this whole cycle of civilization 5,125 years comes to an end on the Winter Solstice December 21, 2012 A.D."
As you can see, you have until December 21, 2012 if you don't believe this gentleman to finish up your lives, or if you're too lazy I put a ticker at the bottom of the page. There are lots of thoughts on the end of the world as you can see. Hollywood has their take as can be seen here coming out November 13, while others just want to help you survive. The Mayans weren't the first and they won't be the last. Nevertheless, someone has to be right eventually...don't they?
GINA!!! If you didn't know it's my wife's birthday today, then shame on you. While I no longer celebrate my birthday, unless you really want to get me something, my wife certainly does. While I haven't decided what we'll do today, I'm sure we'll find a way to celebrate. Oh, and Happy Birthday to my sister Becca. If you didn't know it was her birthday to, I send an equal amount of shame your way also. If I have to track them, everyone should.
Many of you are probably wondering why I have a blog while others probably think that I waited too long, well, you're both right. Several of you think I have a lot to say, we're not arguing relevance here, and I agree with you. So from now on, those of you that don't talk to me on a regular basis will get a glimpse into the things that I'm pondering or that boggle my mind.
The title of my blog is "Deep Thoughts From Nowhere." This stems from the idea that I have deep thoughts (and I do), and the fact that the internet is known as the blue nowhere. If you didn't know that, read more, self education is rather important you know.
The other thing that you're probably wondering is why you have to agree to come into my blog, mainly it's some random adult content thing. I don't believe in offensive material, I'm rather hard to offend after all, but mainly it's so I can curse. I do so love the work fuck, and now I can write it. If I can't not say it, I probably can't not write it.
Anyway, for those of you looking for something amusing, and I probably am, stay tuned and I'm sure I won't disappoint.
