That Makes a Baker's Dozen

The finish line is November 18th at RFK Memorial Stadium.

As Major League Soccer begins its 12th league campaign, there are many stories that could be focused on, but most of the mainstream US soccer media understandably won't. They'll be too distracted by David Beckham's hair. Now while Beckham's transfer is a big story, it's hardly the only one, or even the biggest. The addition of expansion side Toronto FC puts the MLS brand north of the border for the first time. New owners in Toronto, DC, and Kansas City bring a new outlook and diversification to the league as their teams move forward. New coaches are taking control at Toronto, DC, and Chivas USA. Sponsorship deals including Herbalife’s multimillion dollar shirt sponsorship deal with Los Angeles Galaxy and BMO Financial Group’s deal with Toronto FC are bringing fresh cash into the league, and new stadiums in Toronto and Colorado are enabling teams to keep it. And of course there's the most publicized story of the most eventful MLS offseason; the Los Angeles Galaxy’s acquisition of David Beckham, which this MLS writer thinks is a drop in the bucket in the larger scheme of things.

But after all the off-the-field stories this past winter are concluded, there’s still a 30 game league schedule to play, and trophies to be won. The MLS Cup playoffs have been tweaked slightly this year, with teams playing unbalanced schedules, and a new rule that gives automatic playoff berths to the top 2 teams in each conference, then the next four best teams regardless of conference, perhaps allowing one conference to send 6 teams to the playoffs. So to start of the preview, let’s take a look at the Eastern Conference, which could conceivably do that.

In the East
Eastern Conference 2006 Finish: DC United, New England, Chicago, New York, Kansas City, Columbus
2007 Predicted Finish: DC United New England, Toronto FC, Chicago, New York, Kansas City, Columbus

In the East, DC United looked awfully good in their dismantling of Central American power CD Olimpia in the CONCACAF Champions Cup in February, and turned me into a believer with a solid fight against CD Guadalajara before falling 3-2 on aggregate. United have lost goalkeeper Nick Rimando to Salt Lake (although his understudy Troy Perkins is a more than apt replacement). Former wunderkind Freddy Adu was also lost to RSL and perhaps most importantly striker Alecko Eskandarian was lost to Toronto FC. To rebuild, United have signed Brazlian Luciano Emilio from CD Olimpia, and his performance in the Champions Cup (4 goals in 3 games) indicates that he may be a more than viable successor to Eskandarian. The key for DC is how well new coach Tommy Soehn will be able to command this group with the same authority that Peter Nowak did in leading them to an MLS Cup in 2004 without the personality conflicts that created locker room distractions for United in 2005, and the burnout of 2006.

New England Revolution is a question mark. Despite losing USA international Clint Dempsey to the English Premier League, they have retained most of the core team that has been to the MLS Cup Final the past two years. However, Joey Franchino is out for the foreseeable future to deal with his problems with alcohol, and Shalrie Joseph is demanding a trade. Taylor Twellman has been locked up with a new contract, and the Revs certainly have the talent to get back to the title game, backed by arguably the best goalkeeper in the league in Matt Reis. However, a summer filled with USA international matches may deplete their roster, as Reis, Twellman, Pat Noonan, and Steve Ralston all figure to get callups at some point for either the Gold Cup or Copa America or both.

Toronto FC certainly looks like a playoff team on paper. Skippered by coach Mo Johnston, who got a really raw deal in New York, and backed by 13,000 season ticket holders, Toronto could be poised to make a run like the 1998 Chicago Fire. Canadian international Jim Brennan has returned from England, and has been bolstered by some smart moves in the offseason, such as picking up DC United striker Alecko Eskandarian, Irish midfielder Ronnie O’Brien, and New England’s feisty Jose “Pepe” Cancela. Recent pickups like USA International Conor Casey from the German Bundesliga make this a team to be reckoned with. However, Toronto may too feel the bite of international callups, as their team is largely made of Canadian internationals. Toronto will likely lose 5 players in key positions (GK, back line, midfield) for a month for the Gold Cup. Canada being drawn into the Gold Cup’s weakest group will likely prolong their absence. It will be a very interesting summer on the shores of Lake Ontario.

Chicago Fire didn’t do much this past offseason until this week, and that may cost them come October. Salary dumps to free up room for a Beckham Rule player have left the Fire young, and ironically, without a Beckham Rule Player for the first two months of the season. After that time, Mexican icon Cuauhtémoc Blanco will join the Fire. Blanco is essentially regarded as the Dennis Rodman of Mexican soccer, and could be a blockbuster move or a huge blunder for the Harlem Avenue outfit. He has had some personality conflicts with players and coaches, a few knee problems in recent years, and is widely regarded as a cheap-shot artist. Blanco will be counted on to produce right away and earn his #10 jersey, reserved for the team’s playmaker. The Fire lost their two leading goalscorers in Nate Jaqua (L.A.) and Costa Rican international Andy Herron (Columbus), but the team returns a talented, young lineup that earned them their first trophy in 3 years last season. Chad Barrett will finally get to playserious minutes at forward in Jaqua and Herron’s absence. Sophomore Calen Carr also looks poised to pick up some solid minutes off the bench, and perhaps even start as an attacking midfielder alongside Blanco. The Fire are also starting anew between the sticks as 25-year old Matt Pickens takes over for aging veteran Zach Thornton (traded to Colorado), who didn’t play another minute after giving up a 50-yard strike from Dwayne DeRosario in a 2-2 tie last August. Youth is served in Chicago.The key to the Fire’s season will be if Barrett, The Brazilian attacking mid Thiago, and USA International Chris Rolfe can stay healthy for an entire year, something that has been hard to accomplish so far. With Jaqua and Herron’s departure, the Fire are not nearly as deep as they were last season.

RBNY frankly does not deserve to go to the playoffs. They lost Youri Djorkaeff and Amado Guevara. Their offseason pickups were lackluster at best (How long before Claudio Reyna’s knees are totally shot on the Giants Stadium artificial turf?). They also signed aging goalkeeper Ronald Waterus from Holland. Waterus will turn 37 in August, so I believe that they will be a bit slow on the line, which could lead to a lot of goals. But they still just might make the postseason, because frankly, there are not a lot of good teams this year. Colorado might pass them for the last playoff spot. So might RSL.

Kansas City and Columbus are shit this year. I will be very surprised if either of them make the Cup playoffs. Kansas City might make a charge and make the top 5 sweat a bit if they can get production out of an aging Jimmy Conrad and Kevin Hartman, or any production at all out of Eddie Johnson, but EJ seems to be more bust than boom at this time.

Out West
2006 Finish: FC Dallas, Houston, Chivas USA, Colorado, Salt Lake, Los Angeles
2007 Predicted Finish: Los Angeles, Houston, FC Dallas, Salt Lake, Colorado, Chivas USA

The big news of the offseason was naturally David Beckham’s move to Los Angeles Galaxy, but what the mainstream media forgets is that ONE PLAYER CANNOT CHANGE A TEAM, especially in a sport with 11 players on the field. Fortunately for the Galaxy, they are in very good shape, even without Beckham. The Galaxy will suffer through the midsummer National Team absences for Landon Donovan just like last year, but this year, they have added some key acquisitions not named David Beckham to help fill the void. They acquired Chicago Fire’s second-leading scorer in striker Nate Jaqua, left unprotected by the Fire in the expansion draft thinking he was en route to Europe. With Beckham coming stateside, Jaqua seemed to think he could do just fine domestically, and had Toronto trade him to LA. Also suiting up for the Victoria Street outfit is Colroado Rapids goalkeeper Joe Cannon, who shut-out English powerhouse Chelsea FC in last season’s All-Star game. These two pick-ups I feel are a much more pivotal on-the-field move for Galaxy than Beckham, although Becks certainly opens new revenue doors and has already paid for himself through LA’s shirt sponsorship deal with Herbalife (rumored to be worth $25 million for 5 years). LA also has a storyline this season as Cobi Jones, who broke in with the US National team in 1992 has announced he will retire at the end of the season. While I personally hope that last game is at Toyota Park on the last day of the regular season, LA has the depth this year that they lacked in 2006, and a domestic double is not out of the question.

Defending MLS Cup Champion Houston Dynamo looks on track for a solid sophomore outing. They were able to re-sign US international Brian Ching, and keep hold on Canadian international Dwayne DeRosario, staving off interest from Europe and Toronto FC. The only real significant loss they have had is Adrian Serioux in the back line to Texas Derby rivals FC Dallas, and may suffer because of it, but they are largely the same team that lifted the Alan I Rothenberg Trophy in Dallas’s home ground last November.

FC Dallas won the west last season but their midfield has been gutted with the departure of Ronnie O’Brien in the expansion draft to Toronto FC. Dallas still has a fearsome attack that includes USA international Kenny Cooper and Guatemalan international and Goal of the Decade-winner Carlos Ruiz. Dallas is poised to be a strong team, but their reign atop the west looks finished.

If the playoff format was the same as last season, RSL would make the playoffs, and who knows? They might even this year. But with the shift in playoff berths, all the power in MLS appears to be in the East, making one of those last at-large playoff berths so hard to snap up. Real has reunited Freddy Adu with his U-21 coach and brought in Panamanian international Luis Tejada, as well as brought in the very capable, if injury-plagued Nick Rimando from DC United to man the nets. This season could go either way on the Wasatch Front, but I’m optimistic on RSL.

RSL’s Rocky Mountain Cup rival Colorado Rapids are still anchored by some solid players, and they should get an attendance boost from moving into a new stadium, but they are still one of the lesser franchises in MLS. USA international Pablo Mastroeni brings some spark and flair to the Rapids, but despite a new stadium, new colors, new badge, and new parternship with London’s Arsenal FC, they’re still the “Crapids” and will likely miss the playoffs. Picking up Zach Thornton from the Fire was a good move, but Thornton is old and is definitely way past his prime and very out of shape, but anything’s better than an untested rookie after losing Joe Cannon to the Galaxy.

Rounding out the bottom of the conference is Club Deportivo Chivas USA. While young stars Sacha Klijestan and Jonathan Bornstein are coming into their own, the Goats will lack the veteran presence and goalscoring that Paco Palencia and Juan Pablo Garcia brought to the club. The acquisition of Amado Guevara from RBNY should help allay this, but Guevara has a rocky relationship with coaches, and could be a locker room liability. Plus many of his goals are scored on set pieces. The departure of head coach Bob Bradley, largely credited with turning around Chivas into a playoff team last year leaves Chivas with even further question marks.

SuperLiga Qualification
In addition to qualification for the playoffs, the four teams with the best records (regardless of conference affiliation) will also qualify for the 2008 SuperLiga competition, the championship of club soccer in North America (USA, Canada, and Mexico). This season, I see SuperLiga spots being grabbed by Los Angeles, DC, Houston, and New England

MLS Cup Playoffs
Los Angeles over RSL (West #1 vs. West #4)
Houston over Dallas (West #2 vs. West #3)
DC United over Chicago (East #1 vs. East #4)
Toronto over New England (East #3 vs. East #2)

Conference Finals
Los Angeles over Houston
DC United over Toronto

MLS Cup Final
Los Angeles over DC United

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Good for Dana Altman

Altman has decided to stay at Creighton after all, after verbally accepting the Arkansas job. Altman struggled during his time at Kansas State, leaving them for the Bluejays head gig. In Omaha, Altman has Creighton rolling, appearing in the NCAA Tournament seven of the last nine seasons. He had a top 20 team in 2003 that ran into the buzzsaw of Chris Kaman and Central Michigan in the first round. His Creighton teams won an NCAA Tournament game in 1999 and 2002, and were very competitive in closes losses the last two seasons. He has a top 100 recruit, P'Allen Stinett coming in next year.

Plus, here is Stan Heath's record that got him fired, and remember he inherited a huge mess after Nolan Richardson's nasty departure:

2003-9 wins
2004-12 wins
2005-18 wins
2006-22 wins
2007-21 wins

This season, he led Arkansas to the NCAA Tournament despite losing all three perimeter starters from a year ago. He would have had every key guy returning, with the potential to be a preseason top 20 team next season. Yet, that's not good enough for their retiring AD and some crazy fans. Arkansas deserves someone far worse than Altman.

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Opening Day: Notes from Miller Park

I debated the merit of doing a journal-style documentation of our day at Miller Park, and I kept getting this bitter "You're just copying Bill Simmons" taste in my mouth. But I will not allow some chump from Boston limit my writing styles, and anything Simmons can do I can do better. Besides, nobody tailgates like Milwaukee (The 12-person beer bong pictured here shows that we don't fuck around), and the typical day of a Brewers' fan should be documented somewhere. So here is the play-by-play for Brewers Opening Day 2007: featuring YCS members Nate Franklin, Matt Bechtel, Gavin Soto and YCS housemate Nick Poethig.

9:43 - We have left the house. This is one hell of an accomplishment because I'm 43 minutes out of work, Nick and Matt are 30-something minutes out of bed, and we are all showered and do not forget anything. In a commercial role reversal, we're going to Enterprise to pick Gavin up.

10:27 - We are parked in the Miller Park lot, just about 2 1/2 hours before Ben Sheets will throw the first pitch. Gavin might be the only person in history to show up to Opening Day in a suit and tie. I'm looking around to see where the nearest group of smoking hot, drunk girls are and realize that we're still in Milwaukee.

10:27:10 - Beers are cracked open and coozied(Miller Lite of course, as it is somewhat sacreligous to drink anything else at Miller Park). The grill, table and chairs are set up. Bags of Doritos are opened. We're ready to go.
But we did not come as prepared as the group next to us, who have a deep-fryer. We're guessing what they're going to cook (a turkey?), but one thing is for sure: These people are not here to fuck around.

10: 40 - Bechtel's old man arrives on the scene and immediately begins criticizing Matt's grill technique.

10:58 - The group next to us are in fact cooking an 18-pound turkey, and it goes in at this time, which is significant because Gavin and I have begun an argument about how long it will take to cook the bird, since we're not the tailgate pros that these people are and have never made a thanksgiving meal in a parking lot. He says it will take 30 minutes, I say at least an hour. Stay tuned.

11:02 - The brats are on the grill. This is a good time to note that gas grills are for little girls and Cubs fans.

11:15 - Brats are served. I'm still pissed because I was going to beer-boil them last night, but Bechtel assured me that they were pre-cooked. They are not pre-cooked.

11: 28 - It's been 30 minutes and the turkey is still cooking, and they're not even checking on it yet. I should have put money on this. Also, I don't have this documented in the journal, but I have it in the camera: the preferred method of taking a piss while tailgating below.

11:33 - In honor of the newest member of the famous racing sausages, we have brought a package of chorizos. Gavin is the only one who might have had them before, but he can't be sure. Regardless, we refer to Gavin for cooking instructions, since he is "Mexican."
Bechtel is the first one to try a chorizo, and the verdict is..."It tastes like Taco Bell." Everyone else has one, and sure enough, it tastes almost exactly like Taco Bell meat. I hope we don't get E. coli.

11:40 - A hobo in some kind of makeshift clown suit is limping around the parking lot, offering to paint and glitter people's chests. We can't confirm how much she is charging for her services, but we assume it's the typical $5 that hobos charge for everything. The guy next to us (not the turkey fryers, our other neighbors) is drunk enough to accept her offer and takes his shirt off. He is the first guy I've ever seen with a lower-back tattoo. Makes you wonder...
Anyways, the hobo apparantly has no idea what she's doing, because the guy's friends keep pointing to my shirt (with the old Brewers ball-in-glove logo) and saying, "No, like that guy's shirt. Look, see how it's an 'M' on the top..." We later ran into another guy who had the same misfortune, and well...the picture says it all (Chest-painting hobo inset).

11:55 - The turkey has come out of the vat. Technically, it is three minutes short of an hour, but Gavin concedes defeat anyways.

12:10 - Bechtel is shit-faced and drunk-dialing his co-workers...while they're at work. He also leaves himself a voicemail ("Heeeeeeeeeey asshole. You're gonna get this tomorrow"). This guy is a mess.

12:30 - As if constantly drinking for the past two hours was not enough, we decide to start shotgunning beers. We get a couple of guys from the chest-paint group to join us, and some guy that was wearing some kind of uniform indicating that he was on the job, though I'm not sure what his job was.

12:37 - After two rounds of shotgunning beers, our nieghbors (who don't have tickets to the game and plan on drinking until they get kicked out) bring out a bottle of Jagermeister for shots. I think I speak for everyone in our group when I say that I am sufficiently in the bag. After shots, I crotch a couple more beers and we're off to the park.

1:00 - We are in our seats, at the top of the lower bowl almost directly above first base. Life is good.

1:07 - The first pitch is thrown, and I am officially too drunk to continue this journaling business.

The game itself was probably the best all-around game by the Brewers that I have ever seen. Bill Hall hits a homer and makes a spectacular web-gem catch in his first game as an everyday centerfielder. Ben Sheets pitches a two-hit complete game. J.J. Hardy goes 3-4 and makes an amazing defensive play (For the record: I'm not gay, but I would have sex with J.J. Hardy). Even Geoff Jenkins looked good. Brewers win 7-1 and we go back to the parking lot for more drinking. I honestly can't remember what happened with the rest of my day. Opening Day is a beautiful thing.

Brewers fans couldn't have asked for a better start, and high expectations just got even higher. Apparantly, there was some kind of basketball game last night, but I was down for the count by 6:00, and it's baseball season anyway. I can't remember the last time I cared so little about a championship game of any sort.

The games that matter...

Reds defeat Cubs, 5-1 Well, aside from letting Anthony Young throw the first pitch, the Reds did just about everything right. This game was played at the same time as the Brewers, so all we knew about it was the score. And since Cincy went up early and stayed on top, that was all Matt and I needed to make us happy. And two Adam Dunn homers a day after David Eckstein got gunned down at the plate? I don't think the season could have possibly started off any better. Quote of the day: "Not at any time was I frustrated," said Zambrano. What do you call it when you're screaming and throwing shit in the dugout? Apparantly, not frustration.
Of course, the bigger news in Chicago is the sale of the team, but I'll let one of our Chicago-based members tackle that.

Indians defeat White Sox, 12-5 Vinnie's AL Central predictions look good early. Yet another example of everything going right for Bechtel and I. It's always nice to start off the season with a walk around the bags, and after Sizemore took Contreras deep it didn't get any better for the Sox ace. While Ben Sheets pitched the first Opening Day two-hit complete game, Contreras became just the fourth pitcher since 1900 to allow eight runs while pitching fewer than two innings on Opening Day. As if on cue, Skip Bayless just forced his way onto my television screen and made this claim about the Indians: "One game down, 161 to blow." How clever. You fucking asshole. Back to Contreras: Ozzie did not approve, and said "I know he will be better; he can't be worse than that." Then he used a slew of racial slurs and implied that Contreras is a homosexual.

Pirates defeat Astros, 4-2 (10 innings) Brad Lidge was ready to start the season off on the right foot. There he was, one out away, facing Mr. X...then Albert Pujols began talking to him telepathically: "Hey Brad, I don't think my home run has landed yet. You're a bitch." And the bleacher fans have another souvenier contributed by Mr. Lidge.

Yankees defeat Devil Rays 9-5 Man, A-Rod sucks. Did you see him drop that ball? What a piece of shit. Go back to AA where you belong, you overrated clown. He doesn't even hit a home run until the Yankees are already up by 2 runs. Selfish, worthless idiot. And let's not forget that he got out three times.

Royals defeat Red Sox 7-1 Curt Schilling was recently quoted as saying that he will retire if he's ever not the ace. Well, I hope his 401 k is in order, because walking in a run in the first inning and getting shelled by Kansas City is not what an ace does. Plus, I hear this Dice-K kid is kinda good.

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YCS Access Insider Exclusive! Kirk Hinrich likes to eat at Potbelly Sandwich Works

Wowee Zowee! Our second sports celeb encounter in less than a month!

Truthfully there's little more to the story than what the title says, but seeing as this is the internet and that Kirk Hinrich is famous, I feel obliged to pretend it's more interesting than it was.

Today, I was working in Deerfield, IL, the city where Bulls practice facility the Berto Center is located, and me and a few coworkers went to a Potbelly Sandwich Works for our lunch break. And who should walk into line right behind me? Captain Kirk Hinrich!

As both a Bulls fan and Marquette graduate, I've always felt conflicted cheering for the guy who helped torch Marquette in the Final Four. Plus, I really just wanted to ask if he knew where Tyrus Thomas went for lunch. But to Kirk's credit, he chatted for a few minutes with one of my coworkers, who's both a huge Bulls fan and a Lawrence, Kansas native.

While I didn't catch what Kirk ordered, he took his food to-go, which I would expect out of a multi-million-dollar athlete. I guess when you're famous, you can't eat with the hoi polloi in the sandwich shop. I can't imagine it had aything to do with him being really busy or not wanting to eat alone while people stare because they recognize you. He must just be a pampered snoot who thinks he's too good to eat sandwiches with common folk.

Oh, in case you were wondering, Kirk was wearing Bulls sweatpants and a baseball cap!

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Hot dog, we have a weiner

Snoozers! It's baseball season.

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Drawn and Quartered

Phew!

Man, am I glad I didn’t have any money riding on the First Knockout Round of the Champions League. Otherwise, I would be quite broke. YCS’s token soccer blogger went a PATHETIC 2-for-8 in picking those First Knockout Round series, which is BULLSHIT because four teams I didn’t pick (Liverpool, Bayern Munich, Valencia, AS Roma) only advanced on the away goals tiebreaker and the other two (AC Milan and PSV Eindhoven) only won by 1 goal on aggregate.

My upset special nearly came true as Scottish Champions Celtic FC; huge underdogs to AC Milan took the Italian superpower to extra time before a Kaka goal after 183 minutes of tied football did the Hoops in. Heartbreak. BULLSHIT!

Anyway, Manchester United and Chelsea kept me from looking like a complete fool, and I’m still 14-10 on the campaign, so I’m gonna give it another go for the Quarterfinals and try to bounce back. I guess it just goes to show you what a crapshoot top level soccer is. In competitions like the Champions League and the World Cup Finals, there really aren’t any BAD teams, just good teams and better teams.

AC Milan, Valencia, Liverpool, Manchester United, Chelsea FC, Bayern Munich, PSV Eindhoven, and AS Roma all survived the first knockout stage and move on to the Quarterfinals. With that, let’s go to the pairings.

AC Milan vs. Bayern Munich is probably the marquee matchup of the Quarterfinals, as both are storied clubs and both survived harrowing escapes to remain in the competition. Milan were held to 183 minutes of scorless football by Celtic, being pushed to extra time before finally escaping 1-0 on aggregate. Bayern rode out of the Bernabeu with a 3-2 victory over Real Madrid, but los merengues came back to level the series on aggregate at 4-4. Bayern prevailed though, by advancing on away goals 3-2. Milan is a classical Italian team with great finishers in Gilardino, Kaka, and Maldini. They may not have the speed they once had, but they're quite formidable still. Despite starting the season with an 8 point penalty, Milan are charging up the Italian Serie A table and are in position to clinch a Champions League place for next season.

Milan 3-2 on aggregate

Manchester United vs. AS Roma is an interesting match in that it will pit Manchester United starlet Christiano Ronaldo against wisened Roma veteran Frencesco Totti, an Italian international who could have played for any club in Europe, but instead remained with the heretofore mediocre Italian capital side who discovered him as a child. Roma would be my upset special in this case, and due to fixture congestion on Manchester United’s side, they might be able to swing the upset, but just to play it safe, I’m going with Man U because Scholes, Park, Solsjkaer, Van der Sar, and Saha are all in top form right now, and it’s only a matter of time before Wayne Rooney’s goal-scoring funk ends.

Manchester United 3-2 on aggregate

Liverpool vs PSV Eindhoven should have a touch of déjà vu, as it is a rematch from the group stage. Liverpool escaped the Philips Stadion with a draw before winning at Anfield in the group stage, and I see no reason to believe that Liverpool can’t get through to the semifinals here. PSV is injured, battered, and slipping in the Dutch top flight. Liverpool on the other hand are relatively healthy, and are playing their best football of the year following a 4-1 thrashing of Arsenal at Anfield over the weekend.

Liverpool 4-1 on aggregate

Chelsea vs. Valencia...hmmm...Of all the teams still in the competition, Los Che is the one who I think might have the best shot to take down Chelsea other than Manchester United. The Mestalla is an intimidating environment to play in, and for the most part Valencia match up with Chelsea very well. Where Chelsea has Valencia beaten and all other teams beaten is in their depth. Should a player go down to injury or suffer an off-night anytime in this series, Jose Mourinho has a wealth of talent to fill the void. Chelsea is a notorious Champions League choker though, having all the talent in the world won’t matter if you’re behind after 180 minutes. The upset special, going off nothing more than a gut feeling.

Valencia 2-1 on aggregate

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oneshiningmoment.com

...is an actual website.

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Reznor for three... YES!!!!

The wellspring has been going like a firehose lately, espcially with baseball season starting, but I did want to follow up as promised on my last post about local alternative station Q101's March Music Madness.

First off, I wanna thank Q101 DJ Electra for linking the previous post on her own blog. Finding out we have readers whom we don't personally know--especially ones in actual media-type places--is always both a shock and a joy, so thank you for reading. By the way, if "O" comes up in the Last-Letter Game tomorrow (Chicago talk--sorry, everyone else), I think you should play "One Shining Moment," as it would only be apt.

So after I bitched and moaned about A Perfect Circle--oops, "A.P.C."--making it through the first round, they went and made the Final Four. Well, I wasn't happy when Wisconsin overachieved their way to the Final Four in 2000, but I guess I lived through that one, so I should be okay.

Other than that, I'll keep further commentary to a minimum. But I must say, I'm perplexed by the results in that I can't pin down a consistent pattern among the winners. I'm fairly convinced it had everything to do with the time of day and week when the matchups took place and who tunes in at those times. I also wonder how strongly the voting results correlate to employment. You hear that A.P.C. fans? Go get jobs!

Anyway, here's the final bracket, with Nine Inch Nails the big winner:

One shining moment, you reached for the sky...

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Welcoming the new season like we sent off the last--bitter and ripe with complaints

slidepiece - n. term popularized by baseball broadcaster Joe Morgan; any pitch that is not a fastball (and sometimes a fastball when Joe is having an off-night)

Year after year, I'm amazed how, for someone so impressed with his own baseball knowledge, Joe Morgan struggles to identify pitches. Tonight's example came in the eighth inning when Mets reliever Joe Smith threw a pitch with clear textbook sinker action, and Joe called it a "slidepiece," his favorite made-up word for a breaking pitch.

I understand that it takes a certain type of eye and level of familiarity to distinguish different breaking pitches in real-time (and I'll also add that Smith has a sidewheeling delivery that creates slightly different action than the same pitch thrown by an overhand delivery), but I just think that someone who seemingly believes he knows everything about baseball should be able to call pitches better than some average schmuck like me.

And with that, baseball season is upon us.

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Equal Opportunity Bashing

Seriously, who the hell is Mike Freeman and how did he get a semi-repudable sports writing position? I'd criticize his drivel much more harshly, but it's 1:30 in the morning and I'm about 15 minutes from turning it in for the night

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