Stay In Your Seat

I don't know what more can be said about this sorry incident. I mean, sure, the guy has probably seen more finals and important matches than anyone should have to bear, so maybe the thought of yet another Wimbledon final between the only two men who know how to play tennis anymore was just not that compelling to him.

Of course, after Rhoden left the Wimbledon final turned into a match for the ages (although, I mean, shouldn't we let the ages decide that sort of stuff). Still it's safe to say that in 20 years, people will be talking about watching this match with the sort of reverence applied to say McEnroe v. Borg. Except poor William Rhoden will have to tell the story about how walked out in the middle so he could watch a popcorn flick.

Sigh, I am disappointed for him.

Ultimate Frisbee is a Non-Contact Sport

It wasn't even a foul. Just a coincidental mid-air smushing of my head between three other players.

Didn't really hurt that much. Probably because I am so macho.

Golf? Yes, Golf.

So this weekend is the Masters golf tournament. It's actually about to wrap up in the next hour or so. I don't know much about golf. I mean, I know Tiger Woods, but I honestly never watch golf.

But for whatever reason, I am finding golf incredibly interesting. I am fascinated by this tournament.

So I find myself not only watching golf, but enjoying it. Craving it. What are the implications of this? Is it a sign that I am getting old?

Woooooooooooooooooooooooo!

For those of you who follow the American Football and particularly New York's Football Giants, an amazing thing just happened! The Giants won the Super Bowl, defeating the ludicrously favored Patriots 17-14!


For those of you who don't follow football, it's hard to precisely describe the inexplicable-ness of this occurrence. And without the context of the Giants' struggles throughout the season, their improbable surge through the playoffs which lead up to the Super Bowl... all the angst about Eli (QB), the questions about Coughlin (Head Coach), the injuries to key players and the elevation of so many rookies to starting positions... without having followed them through all that, you probably couldn't understand what makes it so ridiculous.

All the things that go wrong in a football season seemed to go wrong for the Giants. Yet there they were in the Super Bowl against a Patriots who had seen everything go their way for the whole season.

And lo! They won! The Patriots didn't fall down, they played their best game, but the Giants were better tonight. And that makes it all the more impressive!

Goooooooo GIANTS!

Sports Analogy Attack!

Maureen Dowd has an op-ed piece in today's Times discussing the new NIE and Iran's non-existent nuclear weapons program. That's a big story. However, towards the end she un-ironically quotes some random analyst as saying this:

This is a slam-dunk reversal, admitting error. Now, when they play poker, they show their hands to each other, so they don’t get another curveball.

Holy mixed-metaphors! Basketball, cards, and baseball all in one statement. My sports-metaphor to english translator says:

This is a dramatic reversal, admitting error. Now, they're sharing information freely so they don't get another shock.

I can't help but hope he went on to say.

For Bush this is really a fourth-and-ten situation, he's not the World's Strongest Man right now so he really needs to bowl a strike. The press is off-to-the-races and ready to go twelve rounds. Now, the stall count is getting high, so he could just ice the puck and it's possible the press will just give him a let, but even then the odds that he'd hit a hole-in-one are not very sailboat.

This is not my fantasy

I was invited to participate in a friend's fantasy football league. Such an opportunity for mass distraction could not be passed up. So I signed up and proceeded to get down to business.

First I sifted through the bajillion pieces of information about each and every player in the NFL. I created a catalog of desirable players, grouping them by position, expected points and weakness of opposing defenses. From there I estimated when each player would be likely taken in the draft and proceeded to lay out a plan several optimal draft strategies depending on what number I ended up picking.

Or rather, that's apparently what I should have done.

What I did was briefly look at the list of 200 or so players and try to figure out which names looked most familiar. Then, when the actual draft started I picked randomly from the list of the 40 or so names I recognized until they were all gone. At this point I had about 4 of the required 12 players. After that, I picked based on how much I liked their uniforms*.

Most of my players underperformed. My starting running back is injured. And the resulting 117 - 74 route to a team called "Maerling's Muppets" does not bode well for the future.

* In fact, I didn't do that. Though I wish that I had. It was made difficult by the fact that they don't show the uniforms with the draft information.

Boy Are My Arms Tired

Nelly and I just got back from the Wildwood beach ultimate tournament (as we've done previously).

The weather was much more forgiving this time around. The sand wasn't too hut, there was a light breeze but nothing ridiculous. And even the thunderstorms stayed off in the distance.

We didn't do as well statistically this time around, going 2-4 over the weekend. But I think we all had a great time and I really enjoyed myself. It was great to get back to playing ultimate again, even if I'll be sore for the rest of the week.

The photos haven't come in yet, but when they do I will post them.

Imus v. Rutgers Women's Basketball...

...Nobody wins!

So there's been some to-do the past couple days ever since this radio asshat made a disparaging remark about the entire Rutgers Womens Basketball team.

The media reports generally only mention that Imus used the phrase "nappy-headed hos". I decided there must be some context to this statement. He couldn't just have been like "So Rutgers Women's Basketball, those are some nappy headed hos." He must have been saying something else.

In actuality, there was no context. The newspapers and radio reports I've heard were quite accurate and practically verbatim. I mean, they left out some incoherence about the Tennessee players and Spike Lee. But essentially, Imus blurted out his racist, sexist remark like someone with Torrets syndrome.

Since then he's received his comeuppance. If the clip I linked to is any indication of the quality of his show, it's clear that Imus has fallen on hard times. I would rather listen to Smooth Jazz than five minutes of Imus' ... I don't even know what to call it, prattle? Senile babbling? So he's been suspended, he'll probably get fired. Whatever.

Buried in all this morass is the fact that Rutgers Women's Basketball went to the National Championship game. They're being paraded around (I believe Imus is going to apologize to them personally -- with cameras and reporters! -- tomorrow) so they can talk about how egregious Imus' words were. This is how their miracle season is going to be remembered and that's unfortunate.

These women are not victims! They're champions and they should be proud. Rutgers' run to the finals is a great story and it's a proud moment for the Rutgers students, players, coaches, family & friends who got to participate. The rallies, protests, and calls for Imus to be fired ensure all anyone will talk about is Imus. Who gives a crap about Imus?

Guess What?! Chicken butt!

So according to the New York Times homepage professional baseball has begun a new season. Color me surprised. I guess that would explain the recent glut of opinion pieces about baseball. But honestly, baseball... such a stupid sport.

Logistically, Baseball is completely screwy. Here you have a sport where at any one moment, only 10 players are on an incredibly large field. And at any one moment, perhaps two of them are actually doing anything of interest.

What would otherwise be a multi-purpose (soccer, lacrosse, frisbee, picnic) field is broken up by a large dirt ring centered on a raised pile of dirt. Considering the shortage of field space in the city, the way a baseball field is constructed and used seems to me to be incredibly devilish.

Also, the Rutgers women's basketball team is in the championship game tomorrow.

Nate Robinson is My Boy

OK. I admit it. I am a huge Nate Robinson fan. There are three reasons for this.

1. He's small (for an NBA player).


2. He's a Knick (until Isaiah trades him).


3. He's an incredibly talented player.

He also just got suspended for 10 games for his role in the Garden Brawl. Which is fine. He was on the court, he got in a fight with another player (J.R. Smith) and that's not what the NBA is about (yet). Both were suspended for ten games, which is appropriate. The problem is this description in the Times.

The Knicks’ Nate Robinson, who escalated the fight by grabbing J.R. Smith and spinning him into the front row of the stands, received a 10-game suspension.

Picture that scene in your mind (Nate Robinson gives up about a foot on J.R. Smith). Got it? Now watch the video (it's on YouTube now). That's not what happened.

Apparently the Times has decided that they hate the Knicks. Not just the team and the players and the coaches, managers, and owners, they also apparently have a great disdain for the announcers.

Java Did It!

I can't believe I forgot to mention that Java (of previous blog post fame) ran and completed the 2006 New York Marathon.  Way to go!

He didn't win, though.  Nor did he get mentioned on tv again (as far as we know).  You might be able to see his results here.  But there's really only one stat required, he finished the race in 3 hours 48 minutes and 7 seconds.

I, meanwhile, attended a baby shower.  I feel like our levels of exertion this past sunday are comparable.

The Magic That Is Google Ads

For all those who wondered where to get a tub of wrestling jello...

This website was advertised on gmail today. (Not sure how it got linked to a conversation between me and my girlfriend. But if she gets the same ads and those ads give her ideas, you know, I'm not complaining.)

I can only imagine that these people are doing a heck of a business.

Ultimate Update

Thought I might take a moment to update you all on how this past weekend went. My team, Crafty, did fairly well. We came in as the 9th seed (after coming in 2nd in our section) and we held that seed. We went 3-3, beating one team that was seeded higher than ourselves (the 7th seeded Dis'Chords) and held our seed, finishing the tournament in 9th place. There were a couple tight losses and some good play.

You can see the full results for yourself.

One notable mystery was that some anonymous person comped our dinner bill (for ~18 people). The list of suspects is long.

I would have liked to have played better and more often, but I am very proud of the team and glad to have been a part of it.

Ultimate Success!

This weekend was Sectionals, the first round of pre-qualifiers for the 2006 national club ultimate frisbee tournament (organized by the UPA). You can see a chart of the regions (and their sections) here. We're in the "Metro New York" section which is part of the "Northeast" region.

The team I am on is called Crafty, most of the players are based in Brooklyn (around Prospect Park). As you might be able to tell from the above link, we did pretty well last weekend. Here are the results for our section.

Taking second place behind Puppet Regime (a really powerful and well-put-together team that's bound for Nationals) is an impressive result for us. And I think everyone on the team is pretty elated to be heading into Regionals second in our section.

As of right now they haven't posted the seedings for Regionals; they just have a list of the teams that made it).

There's a ton of quality on that list, we've got a lot of work to do if we want to make an impression there.

But in the meantime, I think we'll bask in the glow of our performance this weekend. Second place is the first loser, indeed!

The Six Hour Practice

Yesterday, my new frisbee team (aka Crafty) had a practice out on Long Island. Somewhere on the island. Honestly, it was pretty far away. But Nelly and I are committed people and we got out on the road early, and despite getting lost for about an hour, we managed to make it to practice on time.

What a practice! Practice started at 11:30 and didn't end until 5pm. Plenty of stuff: running, stretching, drilling, practicing, and scrimaging. We crammed a good deal of practice into that one session.

It's a good thing we did too as Sectionals is coming up this weekend (Sept 16-17). Hopefully, we'll play up to our ability and get a bid into Regionals. At which point, I expect, we'll all be pretty satisfied.

I am officially a big fan of the long practice. I'm definately hoping that in the layover between Sectionals and Regionals, maybe we can get another one in.

Another Weekend At the Beach

Last weekend (that would be July 29-30th) Nelly and I went down to Wildwood, NJ for the 14th annual Wildwood Beach Ultimate tournament. Apparently, the largest ultimate tournament in the world!


Our team was called "I Lost My Pickle". Mainly a collection of friends and people we know. We did okay, going 3-3 over the weekend and winning whatever pool we ended up in. It was rediculously hot over the weekend, with some scorching sands. Playing right on the beach, just a short walk from the ocean, certainly helped mitigate the staggering weather.

Nelly and I both had a wonderful time. Special thanks to Su May who took care of the organizational details (tourney bid, hotel, rides, etc...). And thanks to [Top Row] Meghan, (Me), Nelly, Seth, Chris, Java, Ken, [Bottom Row] Sue, Jen, and (again) Su May for playing great ultimate and being generally fun people!

Hey! I lost my pickle!

Remember Kids: Practice Your Headbutt

Nelly beat me to the post on Zidane's headbutt. Laurie mentioned it as well. And I thought I could satisfy my endless need for public expression by commenting on their blogs.

However, this headbutt story has gained a lot of traction and I am wondering why. Everyone has an opinion. Generally they break down like this:

Italy Fan: "Zidane is completely insane! He should be locked up in a mental institution forever! Italy won the World Cup! We kicked a bajillion penalty kicks! Why don't we get any respect?"
French Fan: "Zidane is our national hero! He won us the cup in '98; he got us to the final this year. Le headbutt cost us dearly and we're saddened that he didn't come through, but we still love Zidane."
Everyone Else: "Holy Crap! Did that just happen? Zidane is such a badass."

There was something elegant, beautiful about the way Zidane layed into Materazzi. The way he so efficiently humbled Italy's loud-mouthed schoolyard bully. In that moment Zidane elevated himself above mere soccer-great and became (unless you're an Italy fan) something heroic.

The only way Zidanne could have played it better was if, after spearing Materazzi, he had just walked off the field in disgust. However, like a good soccer player he went to the ref and pleaded his case, and was justly thrown out of the game. Fifa should also fine him a great deal and suspend him from international play.

I would like to be disgusted by what Zidane did. If the tables had been reversed and Materazzi had speared Zidane, I would have been absolutely enraged. But Zidane's long-held reputation for good, spirited play (and Materazzi's reputation for being slime) changes the equation. Sometimes good people commit acts of violence and sacrifice to defend themselves and those they love, and sometimes that's the right thing to do.

Also, Materazzi flopped on the headbutt! Even as I am generally disgusted by his antics, I am impressed at his cunning. How very Machievellian.

Who To Root For (Redux)

So, now that England's tepid kickers have limped off the field in defeat, none of the teams I decided to root for is left in the World Cup. Who should I root for now? Well, my picks for the finals are still in it, but I don't particularly like either Brazil or Germany.

Sigh. Woe is me.

Still, there's some promising matches upcoming. Brazil v. France should be exciting (though by the time most of you read this it will be over). Pleny of soccer left to play. From now on, I will be rooting for a good game played by all.

Hopefully, I wont be dissapointed.

Who To Root For?

Now that the US is out (I'm not sure why everyone is surprised -- it's supposed to be hard) of the World Cup, I am having a hard time knowing who to root for. I thought the South Koreans would be a fun team, but they didn't make it through either.

I was primed to root for Ghana. It's their first time in the World Cup, they're speedy, resilient and they believe in themselves. However, watching their players flop all over the field kinda made me disgusted. So unless they show more class in their next match, I can't route for them.

The Brazillians are always fun, but they're also too much the favorite. Same with the Portugese. Italy are just blech. Same with France. If France didn't have Henri, I wouldn't even care about their games. (Their game against Spain should be a good match, now that France has discovered that the ball goes in the back of the net.)

Switzerland, meh. Ecuador, meh.

The German team looks pretty dominant and I like their coach, but I just can't root for the Germans. Especially seeing the havoc it's causing for Laurie in Berlin. The Argentinians squeaked by Mexico yesterday, but I wasn't too excited by that game.

Is it wrong that I really want to root for the two english speaking teams still in the tournament? England has Beckham and Rooney who are always fun to watch. And the Aussies, like Ghana (without the flopping), are playing way past expectations.

So my list of teams to route for: England, Australia, Spain

My expectations for the finals: Brazil v. Germany. Germany's goal keeper more than makes up for their weak defense. Brazil's defense cannot contain Germany's strikers. In a very exciting game (even for a World Cup final), Germany wins 3-1.

Ref Envy

The NBA Finals concluded last night. I'm a little annoyed at the outcome. Not particularly because I don't like the Heat. Mostly because they didn't deserve to win. I have been busy and so I wasn't able to catch all the games. I did manage to sit through most of games 5 and 6.

After game 5 it was clear to me (and to other people) that the league had decided that Dwayne Wade was going to be the next Jordan. They weren't going to allow teams to do shut down their new marqué player by smotherering him. Putting a hand in his face, or a body against his. Pushing Wade out of his comfort zone so he can't dictate, so he's putting up the shot you want, not the shot he wants.

The league has seen fit to bless Wade with the "you touch me, you foul me" attribute. Which means, if he takes a shot and falls down, the refs blow the whistle. If he bricks it off the rim and there's anyone standing around him, the refs blow the whistle. So his defenders back off, because they don't want to give him freebies. And Wade is too good to have that much space.

And yet, giving Wade the advantage wasn't enough. Sometimes, in critical junctures, the Mavs actually were able to shut him down, keep him from taking his shot. And in those situations, at least in the games I saw, the refs came to Wade's rescue.

In game 5, the refs bailed him out in the last 3 seconds. With the Heat down by 1, Wade dribbled aimlessly all over the floor, the Mavs cut off his angles and Nowitzki stepped over to contest his last ditch heave at the basket. They called a phantom foul (on Nowitzki) which got Wade to the line. The resulting free throws determined the outcome of that game. (Did anyone catch in the into sequence before Game 6 showing overlapping clips of Jordan and Wade, they showed Jordan put up an underhanded scoop where it went in. Then they showed that sequence from game 5 of Wade flipping the ball up, but they cut the clip before the ball bricked off the rim.)

In game 6, with the 26 seconds left, the Mavs had closed to be within 1 point. Wade was again shut down, dribbling around the top of the 3-point arch. Nowitzki came over on the double team and closed down the lane. Wade, in frustration or just instinct, pushed out a forearm shiver into Nowitzki's chest. Whistle. Foul. On Nowitzki? Wade hits both free throws and the Heat go on to win the game by 3.

Another rediculous call ensures that this game will be decided by foul shots. Whee! And in that final game Wade had more free throws (21) than shots (18).

So is Wade a good player? Does he make great plays? Yes. He's definately one of the best players in the league. Is he the next coming of Michael Jordan? He wasn't in this series. And we wont be able to compare the two unless the league and the refs are willing to let Wade win the games on his own.

I understand that foul shots are part of the game. And in that sense the Heat deserved to win. Foul shots are boring. Hitting foul shots in the final seconds of the final game is the most boring outcome I can imagine. Curling is more exciting than foul shots. Bad curling. Junior high-school curling.

Sigh. Thank god for the World Cup.