How I Hate the ACC, Let Me Count The Ways

ACC land of Carolina basketball has never been a winner in my book. But this years Big Ten-ACC challenge ws particularly annoying. When is the Big Ten ever going to pull this off? I am tired of getting slammed by the bloody South.

1. Stupid and dumb (yes they are both) Boston College beat MSU. I blame the Pope. Why does he not love all alike? I wish Neitzel would play better and be a bit more consistent. I can't handle simultaneously rebuilding years in both football and basketball. It is simply asking for too much.
2. Friggin' Chapel Hill. I hate Chapel Hill, and their annoying powder blue almost as much as I hate Duke, Michigan, and USC. Let me tell you, that's a lot of hate! What is a TarHeel anyway? Is it that crap at the bottom of my shoe?
3. Duke beat Indiana and just barely. I bet you they cheated. Duke always cheats. Especially when they get to play at home. And has anyone noticed how Duke automatically gets a totally overrated ranking? Hate it! Hate them!
4. Maryland beat Illinois and ended their longest even home court winning streak. Now, personally, I don't mind seeing Illinois lose every now and again. But I was rather hoping the MSU would be able to end the streak in conference play. Not some uppity ACC team.
5. Clemson *pounded* Minnesota, and now that Clem is gone I don't half mind the Gophers.
6. Georgia Tech beat Penn State. Now I would have guessed that a Lion would beat a Bee hands down any day of the week. Go figure!

If there is any reason I like the ACC its that they beat Michigan. And I *hate* Michigan. Tommy Amaker made a bad, bad decision.

A New Year, A New Coach?

So it looks like Michigan State found a new football coach - Mark Dantonio. Why Dantonio would want to leave a resurgent Cinncinati team to come to East Lansing is beyond me. Especially since MSU has a history of tossing coaches out on their asses.

Why I No Longer Like Grey's

I simply can *not* abide by Grey's any longer. It irritates the crap out of my why??

• I have never seen a more annoyingly, self-absorbed character on TV since Ally McBeal and Tyra Banks.
• The whole Prestina (I made that up Prestina. Prestina = Preston Burke + Christina Yang) storyline. Christina has generally been a bitch to Burke from the very beginning. (1) She lied to Burke about moving in with him when she kept her own apartment. (2) She left him when he got shot and was unable to use his hand. (3) She pushed him into performing surgery too soon. (4) She became the boss of him. Call me old-fashioned, but I like a guy who can stand up for himself. And Christina emasculated Burke. On top of that, she rats him out. Now some who believe in the kinder, gentler Christina might believe her conscience got the best of her. But those of who actually watch the show realize that Christina's conscience is stunted and most of anything/everything she does is driven by self-interest. She is Darwin's survival of the fittest at its finest. I think she turned in Burke because he embarrassed her in the OR. Lame! I guess they are just trying to write Isaiah Washington off the show since he choked McDreamy.
• Izzy. Will the Denny storyline never die? Denny died. Can't we just let the storyline rest in piece. I am not sure Izzy even realizes that she did anything wrong by cutting Denny's LVAD wire. If the hospital is going to fire Burke for operating with a slight tremor, then they should definitely fire Izzy for stealing a heart and trying to send a patient into cardiac arrest.
• What a waste of McSteamy. I was hoping he and Addison would get together, but look likes it is going to be Addex (yes, that would be Addison + Alex). Not sure I am loving this idea. Now I know Justin Chambers was supposed to be a Calvin Klein underwear model or something of that sort. But honestly, he just doesn't do it for me. There is something slightly neanderthal-ish about him.

Now there are plenty of other things about the show I do not like. In fact, the only thing I even moderately like is George. I think I am going to switch back to CSI. Grissom may be annoying, but the show itself tends not to be.

To Be the Best

After today, there seems to be little doubt that Ohio State is the #1 football team in the country. Sure their center could use a little extra work. But I was amazed by how awesome Troy Smith is. I don't care how many points Brady Quinn scores at USC, Smith is hands down the Heisman winner in my books.

The interesting question now becomes who is the best of all the rest? I would argue, as much as it pains me, that Michigan still belongs in the BCS Championship game... why, you ask? Well really it is quite simple...

• I can't help but wonder if Florida ran up the score in their 62-0 win against W. Carolina in an effort to curry favor with the BCS. Despite a less than convincing win against Spurrier's Gamecocks, of all the also rans, Florida may be the most deserving. The Florida St. game will be key.
• Booty and USC fail to impress me. They play all their hard games at home. If that and their pathetic loss to Oregon St. and near loss to Arizona St. don't drive down their BCS score, I don't know what will.
• Arkansas has been on quite a roll. If they can beat LSU, they could potentially make the case for a BCS bid. Their loss to USC was the first game of the season, and they have since knocked off Auburn (then No. 2) and Tennessee. It could be an interesting SEC match-up between Florida and Auburn.
• Notre Dame should be out. Wins over the Armed Forces (e.g., army, navy, air force) are expected and don't really help strength of schedule. Still I would like to see them crush USC.
• Rutgers. Oh poor, poor Rutgers. Well one could question if they really even beat Louisville, or if Louisville beat themselves. They are so out!
• The attack of the Big East continues with West Virgina. They look pretty good, but have only played one ranked team so far (Louisville) and lost. I say they are out.
• Now that Saban ditched them to, I feel a certain kinship with the LSU fan who was betrayed by a coach running toward the elusive pot of gold. However, going to 1-2 against ranked teams, I think LSU's case is far from compelling. Maybe next year?
• How the Big East teams are rolling through the Top Ten is beyond me! Still, Louisville presents an interesting case. Their only loss was to Rutgers and their flukey field goal. Still, I am uncertain that they have the strength of schedule required.
• And for shits and giggles, why not throw in Boise State. Besides Ohio State, they are the only remaining undefeated team in the country. Wow. If they were in the BCS Championship game. I am pretty sure they would get steam rolled. In fact, I would worry that they might get hurt.

So what you ask is the point of all my blabbering? Quite simple. Ohio State and University of Michigan need another face off. Fans will be happy. Media outlets will be happy as rating would likely be fabulous. And people would keep faith with the BCS, which in the past has created some seriously shitty match-ups.

As a side note, I loved the whole Fear Factor, name your favorite mascot campaign. My only pet peeve with the commercials is that they didn't include any Big Ten mascots. The FurFactor commercials can be found on the Capital One Bowl page.

In case you were wondering about the Michigan State game... quite frankly it is just too painful for me to talk about. What is funny is that both Michigan St. and Penn St. are at the moment being coached my lame ducks - John L. because he was fired and Joe Pa because he is old, fell and couldn't get up.

At least I can capture a small slice of football happiness with the knowledge that Princeton secured a piece of the Ivy League title (although technically they should have it outright since they beat Yale) and beat Harvard and Yale in the same year for the first time in over 10yrs. Ah. Happiness.

The Pot Calling the Kettle Black?

I generally disagree with much of what David Brooks has to say. But given his views and the paper he writes for, I am quite confident that he is used to all the "haters". The title of his Op-ed today intriguing, The Heyday of Snobbery. So despite my better judgement I decided to read it.

Brooks complains that the movie 'Borat' "ridicules Pentecostals, gun owners, car dealers, hicks, humorless feminists, the Southern gentry, Southern frat boys, and rodeo cowboys. A safer list it is impossible to imagine. " This may be true, but Brooks sense of injustice rings hollow. Brooks criticizes John Stewart and Bill Maher for scornful tone. His trifecta against snobbery culminates with the snobbery of Blue Staters who think people who voted for Bush are either racist or anti-Semitic idiots. (Note to D. Brooks: I doubt many people think GWB is anti-Semitic. I always thought he was rather nice to the Jews... to the Muslims, not so much. I would classify Bush as pro-Semitic if such a term exists.)

The problem with Brooks' essay is he, like Borat, goes with the "safe conservative list". By denouncing liberals, the Daily Show, and pot-heads (e.g., Maher), he hits the "usual suspects". Since when has Brooks cared about humorless feminists? If he did, he should have added Ann Coulter to the list. Is she not a snob for her comments about liberal feminists being ugly? Or how about Bill O'Reilly who thinks that secular progressives (e.g., most normal people)? Apparently, Brooks prescribes to the school of “fair and balanced” reporting ala FOX news.

The National Geographic

I love the National Geographic. When I was a kid, my parents got me National Geographic kids. tucked away, somewhere underneath my bed are the scrapbooks I made by clipping photos from National Geographic articles. And if I am really honest with myself, what I would love to do some day is become a National Geographic photographer.

Anyway, the National Geographic website is pretty awesome. And the other day I discovered these webcams they have. (You need Real Player to watch).

• The Polar Bear Cam - It's great. The Polar Bears seem to hang out right in front of it. One of them sleeps a lot, and the others seem to fight/play. I am not sure which actually. But seeing as how I have no plans to go to Alaska or the Arctic Circle anytime soon, this lets me pretend.
• The Africa Cam - This one is less exciting for me since I spent some time in Africa already. The animals are your standard safari animals. But it is still pretty cool.
• The Kakadu Cam - Good for checking out crocodiles. This Cam makes me feel guilty for wanting a crocodile purse...

Saturday Commentary: football, hypocrisy, and politics

College Football
What weekend is complete without a little football? Well it looks like Ohio St. and UMich will stay on top. In fact, the divide between the best and the rest only seems to be growing. And as much as it pains me to see UMich as one of the best, I am proud of the Big Ten. If the BCS title game is between anyone other than UMich or OSU at this point, it will be an utter travesty!

Other potential contenders for a BCS title just do not stack up... here's why.

• N0. 3 Louisville: If only they hadn't lost to Rutgers. But even then, they did not deserve the chance. With the mess they made at the end of the game, and my generally low opinion of the Big East, Louisville just isn't a National Champion.
• No. 4 Texas: Texas could come back and beat Kansas state, but it'll be tough. And the fact that they are so far down, does not make them look like an attractive National Champion.
• No. 5 Auburn: Another one of those, if only situations, except this time I actually feel rather bad for Auburn. But their loss to Georgia was nowhere near close in my opinion.
• No. 6 Florida: With Auburn and Louisville's losses, Florida is likely to move up to either No. 3 or No. 4. But Florida already has one loss to Auburn, and barely got by South Carolina. If Auburn isn't good enough to play in the big game, why is Florida?
• No. 7 USC: It'll be interesting to watch what happens in their game against Oregon. But as before, I maintain that USC's schedule is far too easy, and they already lost to Arizona St. At least have the decency to lose to a ranked team.
• No. 8 Cal: While I am inclined to think Arizona just got lucky, Cal has had one too many losses. Multiple losses in the PAC-10 are certainly not acceptable.
• No. 9 Notre Dame: The Irish have definitely rebounded since the ass-whooping they got at the hands of UMich. But it's easy to stay unbeaten when you play the cellar-dwellers of all the major conferences. Besides which, I have serious questions about the quality of the ND defense. They beat Air Force, but allowed them to get 400yds of offense. Notre Dame's real test is coming up at USC.

So suppose, Ohio St. and Michigan meet next week and then again in the National Championship game. It is likely that they would split the games... and then who would be the Champ? It's one of those things that makes you go hmmmm...

Fat Suits and Fake Empathy
Tyra Banks tried this awhile back, and it annoyed me then too. (Check it out.) But I randomly had ET on , and they had Vanessa Minello (Nick Lachey's new girl) in a fat suit, dressed ala Ugly Betty. And poor Ugly Vanessa, she was crying and sad because people were not talking to her. The punch line was, "you shouldn't judge a book by it's cover". Are you for real ET? You are in the business of judging people for the way they look. And would Pretty Vanessa even consider dating a guy with questionable fashion sense who was carrying an extra hundred pounds. Talk about hypocritical!

Germany and the Donald
Poor Donald Rumsfeld. First, he is ignominiously fired by Bush, before Virginia is even conceded. Then he is forced to plaster a fake sort of Rumsfeldian smile on his face as Bush announces Gates as the new Secretary of Defense. Now he is facing potential charges in Germany for war crimes associated with torture at Abu Ghraib.

Now I am not a fan of Rumsfeld, but war crimes do seem to be a bit unnecessary, and more than anything a way for some German politicians to gain a couple points in the polls. And although Rumsfeld may have a head of stone, and be prone to idiocies including statements like "it [the war] is complex for people to comprehend" (see my older entry for more Rumsfeldisms), he is not the real problem. The Cheney-Rove duo is the real problem within this administration and this country, and sadly it looks like they are not going anywhere for the next two years.

Election Night

So it's election night, and there is nothing on TV except political pundits. But I did stumble across this interesting show, "The Papdits". It's basically a rather comed-ish sketch about a bunch of FOB Kashmiri's coming to America. I recommend checking it out.

Well on to topics of more substance... the election!

• Rick Santorum is gone. I don't care what David Brooks says, I say 'good riddance'! Republicans are generally in my belief a bit nutters, but Santorum with his, I don't believe in evolution, I believe in the Lord of the Rings bullshit bullshit, was certifiable.
• Poor Lincoln Chafee is gone. I do feel rather bad for him. He seemed like a decent guy, and I am inclined to think he actually thought about his votes. His voting record certainly suggests it. Collateral damage I suppose... sucks that he's the one who got bashed. But in some ways the Bush administration can't be crying much about this once since Chafee never really towed the party line effectively.
• George Macaca Allen is apparently still going to be around. Oh the frustration. Usually the racists in office (the exception being Strom Thurmond) have either apologized or are in the closet about it. Allen apparently likes to embrace all with his bigotedness.
• Michigan appears to be safe... for now! and the women came out strong. Granholm and Stabenow are both being called as winners. The big disappointment, in my mind, is that Mike Rogers may actually win. The guy is just a big waste of space in Washington, and that says a lot considering the extent of wasted space in that city.

So the talking heads on MSNBC, or maybe its just Joe Scarborough, seem to think the Democrats that are winning are "new", conservative, pseudo-Republican Democrats. But I am not sure that is really the case... sure Casey (PA), Tester (MT), and Webb (VA) are all on the conservative side. Hell Webb used to be Regan's Secretary of Navy (or something like that). But there are plenty of liberal Democrats campaigning out there, for instance Ned Lamont (though I guess he lost to Lieberman) and Sherrod Brown (who beat DeWine).

Incidentally, I know nothing about Tester, except that he has a really bad crew-cut, but I really hope he beats Conrad Burns. I blogged about Burns before. I can't stand the guy. He's barely educated and it comes out in spades with regards to his comments on fire fighters, abortion, etc. etc.

I am more than a little concerned about Nancy Pelosi becoming Speaker of the House. The Republicans call her 'the liberal from San Francisco'. While that may be a bit harsh, I do think there is some truth to it. She reminds me a bit of Howard Dean. She can appeal to the Democratic base in large urban areas, but other than that, she is not centrist enough. Oh, and I think she might be petty, in that way only women tend to excel at. Pelosi apparently has some tiff with Jane Harmon, the ranking Democrat on the Intelligence Committee. Therefore, an experienced woman will no longer have a ranking position on one of the most important committees in the House. I have a problem with that!

While this Election has already made me happy, there is a big elephant in the room (no pun intended) - what are the Democrats going to do about Iraq? Everyone seems to have a different idea. From time tables, to unilateral pull-out (e.g., cut-and-run), to stay the course (ala Bush-Lieberman)... will they ever agree? I am not sure... and can Howard Dean and Nancy Pelosi make them? I think not. While I am happy the Democrats won, if they can't get their shit together, there won't be a Democrat in the white house in 2008.

A Night of Revelations

I thought this was actually one of the better episodes of Desperate Housewives in awhile.

• Romancing the Stone. I liked the shout out to the old Michael Douglas - Kathleen Turner movie. The Gabby-Carlos pairing has improved significantly since they decided to give Carlos a backbone. His line about Gabby screaming dollar amounts when she climaxes was pretty funny. Let's see what happens next week. It appears the on-again, off-again couple are back on-again. The writers need to give these two something else to do before they turn into the Ross and Rachel of Desperate Housewives -- oh, wait. They already have...
• The Chinless Wonder. There is something about Julie that has been bothering me for awhile, and I finally figured it out. She has no chin. The doctors from Grey's need to get her some chin implants - Stat! Seriously, looking at her is almost painful because now I know what it is about her that is bothering me. And the sad thing is, she isn't unattractive. Still it looks like Julie has hit pay dirt because if the previews are to be believed she is going to be hooking up with Edie's nephew. And while Austin may not be as hot as John the Gardner, he is definitely a notch up from Zach the psycho stalker/murderer or any of the other Wisteria teenagers (e.g., Andrew the gay sociopath). Besides which, I kind of like the way they snark at each other.
• How the mighty have fallen. Bree has been ever more annoying since she became Mrs. Orson Hodge. I don't even understand how their whirlwind romance occurred, and I am a little disappointed that Andrew hasn't tried to bust it up. But perhaps he is waiting for the union to go up in flames, as I am sure it will. Still Bree is largely responsible for what happened. Carolyn Bixby is as Stepford-ish as Bree. Bree should have known learning of her husband's affair would send Carolyn over the deep end. And then to turn a grocery store hostage situation into a gourmet, TV-viewing event, is beyond tacky. The Bree I know and love from Season One never would have done that...
• The Body. How is it that Edie is always in the smallest outfits possible? She had some fabulous lines in today's show though... (1) when she tells Austin that she's disappointed he didn't steal better whisky, (2) when she tells Mr. Bixby to "take one for the team"... I wonder what she is going to say when she finds out that her nephew is hooking up with the spawn of her arch-nemesis.
• The Death. There was no one else to kill besides Nora, yet some how her death seemed a bit too pat. It tied up the Tom-Lynette storyline a bit to cleanly. Still it was great that she managed to call Lynette a "stupid bitch" before she died...

Did I miss any other important moments in the show? Let me know!

Football Round-up

There's something curious going on in the Big Ten. Sure there were the expected winners in Michigan and Ohio State, but they seemed weak. And there were unexpected losers.

No. 2 Michigan 34, Ball St. 26
Ball St 26? Yes, you did see that correctly. Ball St. had all of 46 rushing yards, yet still managed to put points on the board at the Big House. Looks like the Michigan pass defense is weak... I hope OSU was watching...

No. 1 Ohio State 17, Illinois 10
Is Illinois back? Have the ghosts of Florida finally left Ron Zook? Illinois could become a contender next year - compiled more total yardage than the Ohio State offense, held Ohio State scoreless in the second half. It looks like their bottom dweller days could be over. Woe to the Michigan State fan, looks like it is our turn to spend some quality time at the bottom.

The UMich-OSU game should be great. I do not care what BCS or stupid (and they are stupid) sports commentators say. The real Championship game is between OSU and UMich. There isn't really another team out there that has shown it can compare. Certainly not a team in the Pac-10. So all this talk of a BCS Championship game is utter nonsense, unless they have a UMich-OSU rematch.

No. 17 Wisconsin 13, Penn State 3
A low scoring game was not unexpected, but seeing the Wisconsin defense hold Penn State to under 50 rushing yards was. Not to mention all the bitching and moaning Joe Paw did, made him hurt his knee. The Paterno situation is sad. He really should just retire and preserve his legacy. Right now he is only damaging the way history, especially Penn State history, will remember him.

Northwestern 21, Iowa 7
How the mighty have fallen! Iowa was actually ranked at one point this season. And now they lose to Northwestern? Even Michigan State managed to beat Northwestern. Iowa still has a chance for a bowl game, but their season has effectively been a bust.

Purdue 17, Michigan State 15
Some how this score looked funny to me? 15 is not a number you see that often in football games. It does suggest some botched extra point kicks. Well, the MSU woes will now continue. They get Minnesota next which just routed Indiana. They have a lame duck coach, as John L had been sacked. Personally, I think this could be a mistake. Who is going to want to come into the toxic waste dump that is MSU football? And poor Drew Stanton... the fact that he rushed for 80+ yards should help him in the draft. Let's wait and see.

Minnesota 63, Indiana 26
Yes, the score is crazy! Equally crazy is that both offenses put up over 500 yards. Where's the Big D? Indiana is really going to have to step it up before they get Michigan next week. The Michigan D is certainly not going to let them put up 500 yards. Minnesota has it easier, as they get my sad and sorry Michigan State squad.

High School Football (aka. Pac-10 Round-up)
Well, didn't those USC Trojans bounce back from their loss to Oregon State with a stunning victory over Stanford. So they beat Stanford 42-0. Honestly, is that surprising? Stanford hasn't won a game this year. In fact, if USC hadn't put up as many points as they did, I would have been concerned.
Cal did have a somewhat convincing win over UCLA, 38-24. But unless you believe in the strength of the PAC-10 conference, which I certainly do not, their overall record is far less compelling.
In case it isn't clear, I have no use for the PAC-10. Their players generally suck in the NFL (e.g., Harrington, Leaf), their coaches can't seem to make it outside of the PAC-10 (e.g., Willingham), and they are a conference of the weak! with a couple dominant teams.

Other Games of Note...
No. 5 Louisville 44, No. 3 West Virginia 34. Louisville has Rutgers next in a game that looks increasingly important. Who would have ever guessed that Rutgers had the chance to be a spoiler. I wish I had the chance to watch the game. The teams seem to have very different styles of play (Louisville passing, WV rushing). This was probably the best game until the showdown in two weeks between UMich-OSU.

Crazy Clown Lady

Remember Katherine Harris from the 2000 election that wasn't. She was the one with the orange, cake-like make-up who allowed Jeb Bush to hand the election to his brother. And now the crazy, orange heiress (I guess that explains her fascination with orange make-up) has decided to run for a Florida Senate seat. It really is an unfortunate decision on her part, and I feel rather sorry for her. Here's why

• Her own party has withdrawn support for her - Republicans are stupid, but apparently not stupid enough to support her
• She is polling at 29%... that makes this like the least competitive race in America.
• None of the 22 daily newspapers in Florida support her.
• Her former campaign manager says working for her is like being in "insanity camp".
• She makes no sense. Generally, Republicans make no sense. What was Rick Santorum's LOTR comment all about anyway? But Katherine Harris makes even less sense. Her solution to solving the Social Security insolvency problem is to end the Social Security tax - huh?
• Not only is her make-up still bad, but her plastic surgeon is apparently smoking crack because her face ain't pretty!

Incidentally, check out http://www.whitehouse.org/ it is definitely not like http://www.whitehouse.gov/.