Thursday, March 30, 2006

Friday, March 17, 2006

Gambling News

Here's some more great gambling tidbits from Darren Rovell's sports Business Blog on the eve of what should be a Great Tournament. I love this stuff.

Careers publisher Vault Inc. says that 67 percent of employees admit to taking part in office betting pools for March Madness. That number, the company says, is up 6 percent from last year. According to its survey, which included 328 employees from organizations across the country, 80.5 percent of people aren't bothered by the fact that office pools are technically illegal, while 86 percent of offices did not specifically have a company policy against betting pools.

Workplace productivity: Every year, workplace consultant Challenger, Gray & Christmas Inc. predicts how much will be lost in workplace productivity because of the tournament. This year's number is $3.8 billion, and chief executive John Challenger says that could be a conservative estimate now that CBS will show the games online for free this year. I think people might be less productive at work, but I'm not sure it's this bad. Why? Because this assumes that people are productive in their 9-5 jobs anyway, which is not even close to true. For those people at Challenger, Gray & Christmas who don't believe me, come to Bristol and I'll show you when people are hitting up our site. In Vault Inc.'s survey, 73.5 percent of people said they spent only 5-10 minutes at the office making their picks and saved further research for when they're at home. Then factor in this: Tournament games are only being played over four work days.



How much is bet? So many people want to know these days exactly how much is gambled on the NCAA Tournament. It's impossible to know because online gambling and office pools are obviously not reported in the way Las Vegas is. The latest estimates I've seen from industry pundits is that about $3.5 billion to $4 billion is bet on the tournament, with a nice chunk of that coming from online. The 180 or so sports books in Las Vegas only take in about $90 million in bets, while estimates have online bookmakers taking in more than $1.2 billion, which would about double the money taken in online on this year's Super Bowl. One of the reasons why the money online continues to go up is because, on some sites, bettors can risk a tremendous amount on one game. Sites like PinnacleSports.com will take up to $30,000 on one game.



Best bet? Around this time of year I always have people asking me if there's anything new and different on the betting scene around tournament time. One of the coolest things I've seen this year is PicksPal.com. The site allows players to wager points on over/unders and props. Once you register (registration is free and not cumbersome), you go to the bracket. Say you click on the first-round matchup of Memphis vs. Oral Roberts. You can pick the game, but you will also see props such as:



Will R. Carney be the game's leading scorer?


Which team's starters will score more points?


In which half will Memphis score more points?



The site also promises to have live in-game picks for fans to make. The fan with the highest point total at the end of each round will win an iPod, while the overall winner will win a 42-inch flat plasma HDTV.



Did the players really know the spread? Justin Wolfers, an economist at the University of Pennsylvania, thinks his data shows they do. The New York Times recently profiled Wolfers, who has collected the results of almost every college basketball game over the past 16 years. Wolfers' data shows that smaller favorites -- teams favored by 12 or fewer points -- beat the spread about 50 percent of the time, while heavy favorites cover in only 47 percent of their games. According to the New York Times, given the volume of data that Wolfers has collected, he surmises that the difference is significant and that players on top teams might be shaving points. Wolfers contends that the players are aware of the spreads based on the fact that there are too many games where favorites either barely cover by one or two points or don't cover by the same margin. It's hard to tell how much the players know, but I don't think a majority of them have the spread in mind when they are on the court.

Thursday, March 16, 2006

Red Vs. Blue

You should check this out if you get bored. There are something like 78 episodes on these guys' website and most of them are on Youtube as well. I thought it was funny at least and I played the hell out of Halo so it’s funny to see the drama unfold amongst these characters. Then again I am a pretty unique individual with tastes that range far and wide. I like to think of myself as a modern day renaissance man, but without all the painting or production of anything of value.

Thoughts for the day:

1) I have a love hate relationship with the NCAAs. It's just a lot of pouring over stats and game logs and match-ups that never seem to help me in the end. That being said; I can't wait for them to start.

2) I'll have you know he was a ball hog... The voice-over is the best part... no wait the fact that it's real and you can buy it is the best part.

3) The Playstation 3 has been delayed again, this time till November, causing Sony shares to plunge about 2 percent on the Tokyo Stock exchange. Not cool guys. Even the great Sony can't afford to piss off their fans THIS much, by repeatedly pushing back their products. I guess we should all know better considering it's a common occurrence. I just have one comment to direct to Sony: You made me look like a jerk the other day when I said the PS3 was coming out on a certain date and it wasn't. Jerks.

Wednesday, March 15, 2006

Best Prank Ever

So I was wandering around the internet one day and I ran across this story. It is a story of the most successful subterfuge in sportsfan history and it demands a place in the echelons of time, as the benchmark of what people in stands can do to (non-violently) affect the outcome of a game.

Here is a blogger who got the main facts down and got 'em down well,

And here is the story in the Chicago Tribune, via the Los Angeles Times.

Pruitt backs it up Big Time Thursday night Baby!

Reaction: It shouldn't have taken a genius to come up with this evil plan but apparently it helps as was the case with these Berkeley fans.

Other things I'm thinking about:
1) Fantasy baseball is in full swing and I am going crazy studying up. Do you know who Erik Bedard is? I do. Take THAT!

2) At the same time work is ridiculous because we have the China Business Summit coming up. I stayed at work till 1am last night editing and what not. I'm about to fall over.

3) Just started reading this comic book called Berserk. Good stuff. You should try it sometime. They need to make more of the Anime though. It ends right in the middle of the story. If you want to make a difference go to here to petition the re-starting of the anime series.

4) Culpepper to Miami for a second round draft pick... I can't believe the Vikes have traded away their 2 best players in the last two years and they have virtually nothing to show for it. Troy Williamson and a 2006 second round pick don't compare favorably to Moss and Culpepper...

5) March Madness is coming up and I havn't even really looked at a bracket yet. I'm just bidding my time until I can see the National Bracket on ESPN. It's usually better than 90% of indiviual brackets. If you need more proof that groups are smarter than the individual, check out The Wisdom of Crowds, by James Surowiecki.

6) From the department of Predictable happenings: Mark Prior is feeling pain in his throwing arm. I almost drafted him in my pay league this year because it's not often you can pick up a pitcher of his caliber (even an oft injured one) in the 8th round. I'm glad I didn't.

7) Alex Rodriguez is on a tear at the World Baseball Classic. I think we need to start calling him Mr. March.

8) And finally, I don't want to hear anything more about Barry Bonds, unless it's about him hitting a Homerun. If you didn't already know he was taking steroids then you are naive. Thank you and goodnight.

Monday, March 06, 2006

Stealers

I'm too late. These guys stole my idea to make a movie about this kid, as seen in Darren Rovell's Sports Business Blog. Are they going to work into the movie the fact that no one was guarding him because the other team couldn't give a care? How about the fact that he is a narcissistic ball-hog. You guys can have the feel good story of the year. Give me "Jason McElwain: True Rochester Story." I'm not jealous, I just consider it my job to take people down a peg.

Too good to be true?
Most of you have seen the story of senior Jason McElwain, an autistic high school senior who was put into a basketball game for a feel-good moment.

Well, unlike most of these stories, McElwain -- who is the manager who had never played in a game -- went off. He scored 20 points in a little more than four minutes and was carried off the court as the game's the leading scorer.

If you expected Hollywood companies to be calling, they are. McElwain's father told the Rochester Democrat & Chronicle that he has received about 25 inquiries from movie production companies interested in buying the rights to his son's story. Congratulations Jason, you already have 24,600 hits on Google!

Wednesday, March 01, 2006

Damn My Cold, Black Heart

Watch this -->



Now, I'm not a totally insensitive guy. I even might have shed a tear after seeing this video. Great story. Great kid. Great movie material. But it only took me a couple of minutes to ponder whether the meticulous nature of an autistic person would translate into success in a sport that requires more practice and habit formation than that of basketball. Yes, I'm talking about baseball.

Don't get me wrong, the compulsive tendencies of a person with autism might help in basketball. God knows that to have any kind of a shot you have to throw up hundreds of shots a day. But basketball is a fluid game where the most creative have success. Baseball is all about the bodies ability to remember form. The greatest pitchers ever to play the game have had stretches where their mechanics failed them. Hitters go into slumps because of the smallest change to their swing.

I really am just rambling. I shouldn't have even wrote anything for this post. I should have just shut-up and basked in this touching moment (right after trying to get the movie rights).

The Awful Results of Years and Years of Steroid Abuse.



Some Observations:

- The enlarged breasts and neck.

- "Roid Rage" is evident when opinion is confronted.

- After seeing that, Paula Abdul now seems a lot hotter.

- Over inflated sense of self worth.

- This was the first time we saw Bonds act this way to any degree. It was also the first day of coverage for the camera crew that will follow him all season in pursuit of HR records. Playing for the camera maybe...

- Bon Jovi officially sets the record for the most horrible attempts to have song covered, a title formerly held by Queen.

- Rob Schnieder is still alive... damn.

You Just Got Brokebacked!!

So "Brokeback" is the Hollywood word of the year. If you are too lazy to read the article it said that "The nonprofit group Global Language Monitor placed "Brokeback" -- as in the film title "Brokeback Mountain" -- at the top of its list of Hollywood words and phrases that captured attention this year. Overall, a Google search shows more than 38 million references to the film, although only about 10 million people saw the movie." Wow! What does "Brokeback" win? I'd like to see it receive the honor of becoming a verb as so many other nouns have(e.g. partied). This would open up a proverbial treasure chest of possibilities.

"Brokebacked" could mean a myriad of different things, from simply being sodomized by a cowboy to just getting screwed over in general. Speaking of which, I know I should have brought this up a long time ago but the creators of South Park, Trey Stone and Matt Parker, actually came up with the premise years before the Ang Lee directed film came out. Here is a quote from the immortal Cartman lamenting the rise of Indy films: "No dude, independent films are those black and white hippie movies. They're always about gay cowboys eating pudding." Amazing but true.

...Not That There's Anything Wrong With That

I'm sorry but this is very funny...

Monday, February 20, 2006

I'm going to be the best father EVOR

I knew all those hours of playing RPGs (role playing games for the uninitiated) would amount to something. If only a baby came with a +7 tome of sleep, then parents would be set.

The irony is I don't want my kids (if I am to have any) to play video games so dungeons and dragons will have to do. Maybe I'll have to think about this one further.

It's strange to see gamers growing up and becoming adults, because as a kid I felt adults would never "get" the video game craze. I was right until we all grew up and became adults ourselves. Now we are still gamers but we don't want the same content. This is where Nintendo has gone wrong but that's a thought for another time.

Hypocrite Warning

I have a couple of questions for you:

Why do people watch movies like "Pearl Harbor"?

How is it that a Childrens' book such as the Harry Potter series have such widespread appeal?

And finally, how does a self professed music connoisseur, such as myself become enamored with such an asinine song like "My Humps" by the Black Eyed Peas?

A recent study by Columbia University researchers may have discovered the tip of the answers iceberg by looking at the listening habits of 14,341 participants drawn from a teen-interest Web site. The conclusions of the study show that we make our music purchases based partly on our perceived preferences of others.

I don't want to hear anything about the diversity (or lack there of) of the sample groups. Most likely they were impressionable youngsters who just wanted to fit in. Well I think we all can guess what marketers consider their most important demographic.

In an increasingly complex world (with more choices than you can shake a stick at) we might be relying too heavily on the influence of others in our choices. I have another question: What else is new? Advertising is a business predicated on this very same social condition, and it seems to be working out just fine for them.

Good news for marketers. Bad news for the possible emergence of anything of substance in the face of huge budgets. At least I know my mind hasn't been invaded. Now excuse me. I have to go listen to "My Hump", on my Apple I-pod, while reading the newest edition of Harry Potter. "Pearl Harbor", however, is where I draw the line.

Friday, February 10, 2006

Madden Odds

This comes from Darren Rovell's Sports Business Blog on ESPN.com. Seriously, it's not as boring as it sounds. I promise. Maybe I should have hedged my bets by putting some money down on something like this:

Madden Odds

The people at Pinnacle Sports apparently know what they are talking about. On the second play of Seattle's second drive, ABC announcer John Madden said this: "Kimo Von Oelhoffen has a heck of a club." Why did the people at the sports gambling outfit care? Because they predicted that, out of a list of Maddenisms, he would use that one first. Here were the odds on a proposition bet Pinnacle put out before the game that asked fans to wager on what Madden would say first after kickoff: "Heck of a" (6/5), "Big time," (7/2), "Horsecollar" (7/1), "Boom!" (7/1), "Manhandled" (9/1), "Wham!" (15/1). PinnacleSports.com reported that about 150 people won $6 for every $5 they bet by predicting that "Heck of a" would come first. John Madden did not place a bet himself.

Monday, February 06, 2006

Super Bowl My Ass (or how I learned to stop caring and love the whine)

As you might or might not know, I am a Seahawks fan. It's been rough and I'm sorry to admit that over the years my interest in the team has waned because of their constant letdowns and overall mediocrity... This is what you sign up for as a Seahawk fan (or any fan in general unless you are very lucky), and it is a well known rule that to give up on your team or to not put everything you have behind them in every situation is equivalent to sin. I consider this post to be a sort of confessional for me to vent just a little and show where my allegiances lie. Now on with the show:

This was the first time since '96 that I have been able to enjoy one of my teams in a Championship Game (in '96 the Supes lost to Michael Jordan and the Bulls who were beginning their second Threepeat), and I was more than moderately excited. I wasn't concerned that the Steelers were 4 point favorites heading in or that approximately 256,365 Steeler fans showed up compared to Seattle's 7.

As the game wore on I could tell this team was not only beatable but likely to be beaten even with the missed chances the Seahawks were amassing through an assortment of drive killing penalties and dropped passes. We were holding up the Steeler's blitzburg packages that had been talked about all week with relative ease and this was the brightest sign of the night.

When Seattle took the field for their final drive of the first half I started to have my doubts especially when D-jack's TD was called out of bounds (much more on this later). We ended up with nothing, missing a 50 yard field goal as time expired. No worries right. I certainly wasn't worried at that point. Maybe I should have...

I'm not going to talk about the officiating too much because it's already been dissected by everyone in the "real" media (that's right, I am a self-proclaimed member of the "fake" media). One drive that stands out was in the fourth quarter right before Hasselbeck's costly INT during which there was a Horse collar tackle not called, a phantom holding penalty, and a block below the waist called on Hasselbeck while he was making a tackle. Seriously... how can you call it a block when the player is on D? It seems a little counterproductive to be blocking someone on D.

Here is a list of partisan grippers that I feel adequately put the debacle into perspective:

1) Micheal Smith - "Here's what referee Bill Leavy's crew did, point blank: It robbed Seattle."

2) Skip Bayless (who had been killing us in the media for weeks on end for being undeserving) - "On this night, the Steelers had their own version of [the Seahawk's] 12th Man. He wore a striped shirt and a whistle. He threw a flag."

3) Gene Wojciechowski (just so I can say I'm presenting both sides of the argument) - "Enough already with the whining. The Seahawks had their chances. Plenty of them to overcome the Steelers and, if they insist, the refs, too."

OK I lied... More gripping about the refs along with indisputable video evidence showing Seattle got jobbed (at least for one touchdown). Did I mention I had a three-way $100 bet on this game? FUCK!



How is this not a Touchdown? It's a documented rule that if you touch the pylon while still in-bounds it's a touchdown. D. Jackson caught the ball, his left foot hits in-bounds then his right foot hits the pylon - TD right?!?! In the rulebooks yes but not at this Superbowl.

"A player no longer can be ruled out of bounds when he touches a pylon unless he already touched the boundary line." Straight from the NFL site, ruled changes made in March of 2002!

In fact John Clayton wrote about this exact rule change on ESPN as well: "A player will be ruled in bounds if he touches the pylon at the goal line before going out of bounds. For example, a pass would be considered complete if one foot touches the pylon and the other foot is in bounds". Which happened exactly as the rule is written to the letter. Unreal.

But since it was inside 2 min mark Sea couldn't challenge it (why is that anyway?), and the replay official didn't even stop play to review it. AND Pit called a timeout to stop the clock. Which gave them plenty of time to call for a review. WTF?

And the NFL has the audacity to support the officiating by saying it was 'properly officiated'. The ESPN poll asking readers whether or not they agreed with the NFL on this issue shows that (at the time of this post's publishing) out of 32,778 people polled 78.4% disagreed with this assessment. Of course I did vote about 24,834 times so maybe I skewed the data a bit. Now you must please excuse me while I go rip my eyeballs from my skull with my bare hands...

Enough about officiating. Moving on to the walrus...

What was Holmgren thinking, down by 11 at the 50 yard line, punting on 4th and about 12 with 6:30 to go in the game? Doesn’t he know that the only thing Pittsburgh has been able to do all season is run the clock out? Predictably the punt sails deep into the end zone for a touchback.

In conclusion I don't blame the refs, even though I should. The game was very winnable, but in-game coaching blunders (especially at the end of the halves) doomed the Seahawks when they still had at least a chance to come back. However, you can be damn sure I'm going to be bitter about this game for a long time.

Thailand

So I have a couple of pictures of Thailand I would like to share (I've been there for the last 11 days or so and it's the reason I haven't been blogging. I know what you are thinking... "There are plenty of Internet Cafes there, why didn't you just blog from there." Well I'd rather spend my time in the sun and stuff so there.)

Ben in the back of truck on the way to KaiBei Beach. The roads were wicked curvy but we would go out and rent motorbikes all the same. Heck for five dollars a day it was the best entertainment we could find... That is until it got dark. We would have a bi-nightly cocktail hour with this fruity Thai rum and fresh pineapple juice... Good Stuff

Me trying to look cool on our first night on Ko Chang. Not a cocktail night as we hadn't discovered the wonderful nectar but a good night all the same. We drank many Chang beers and when we were feeling a little saucy we would have ourselves some Singhas. That first night we put down a whole lot of food. Later this night we ran into...

Our Beach Soccer Friends, we sang songs and were first introduced to the sweet rum of the islands. From then on we were hooked even though they liked to drink it with water, which was not quite as good as the pineapple juice. My feet were beat to hell after the beach soccer game, because we played at low tide on the compacted sea bed.

Beach Breakfast - a favorite morning hangout on KaiBei Beach: beautiful views and all the fresh fruit you could eat. The Islands in the distance are about 45 minutes of hard kayaking away and we made the trip one day. They looked much closer than they seemed so by the time we left it was dark and we made our way back over the dark and silent sea.

My Badass Bungalow on White Sands Beach: I loved this thing. It had a window that opened up to the sun rise and I would get up super early (almost) everyday to eat breakfast and get some early sun. I'd take a break at mid-day and go to an internet cafe, so as not to take in the rough sun, then go back for more (I know you can't tell from looking at me)

Angry Bryan at White Sands: I don't know what he was angry about... maybe the fish weren't biting that day or something. Anyways, those are some cool glassed huh? Can you tell I'm just typing stuff so that I can put all the text relating to this picture right next to it? You see I haven't figured out all the functions so that's what I do.

Our Swedish Friends who we met on White Sands Beach. They were very impressed that I could sing the "one elephant went out to play, upon a spider's web one day" song in Swedish. If not for my Swedish friends from ASIJ this would not be possible. Big Ups to my long time bro Fred Kumlin or making this communication a reality!

So that's my vacation in a nutshell. Overall it was very sandy and filled with adventure and danger. In conclusion I must say that it's a good idea to wear shoes when motorbiking, not getting too wasted and don't wrestle on the beach unless you feel like having sand in every crevase for the next 3 weeks. If you have questions please do ask.

Wednesday, January 25, 2006

google.cn

Google the world powerhouse of search engines has decided today to bow down to the powers that be in China so as to have more access to their more than 111 million internet users. Whether this is a good business decision or a cop out is irrelevant (for me at least) considering you can access the America version of google here as easily as it is to make fun of Paris Hilton (Something I have surprisingly stayed away from in this space so maybe this isn't a good metaphor...).

Google agreed to omit Web content that the country's government finds objectionable, and Google will base its censorship decisions on guidance provided by Chinese government officials. Even the most idealistic person can see that there was really no other choice if the company was going to continue it's battle with yahoo. Maybe Sergey Brin and Larry Page need to change their corporate policy from "Don't Be Evil" to, "to make an omlette you need to break a few eggs."

It's entirely possible that somewhere down the road, China will lift it's restrictions on the complete dissemination of information, but by then, if Google hadn't had made a move there would have been no move to make. That being said, I don't applaud Google for it's actions, but I can't really blame them either. It also needs to be mentioned that Google denied US authorities in their attempts to subpoena the searches of millions of Americans just last week, one of only 4 companies to do so. You must say that where they have the ability to make a difference they try to do so.

The Fact that they are not offering the gmail or blog applications in China show a foresight that may have prevented a major PR blunder if Google was eventually asked to give up information from individual users. Both Yahoo and Microsoft were either forced to give up information or shutdown sites the government was opposed to. If gone unappeased China would most likely boot whoever was not giving them what they want out of the country.

In the end China is only doing what the Bush white house would be doing if they had the power which doesn't exactly instill confidence in my already shaky opinion of 'Dubya'. This can be seen in Bush's secret wire tapping of phones that he didn't have the right to tap as well as the aforementioned subpoenaing of search results. Maybe we, as Americans should be looking closer to home before nailing China to a cross for their censorship laws. China is far from perfect but America is sneaking up on them faster than we think.

The Imaculate Detention

Here is something that will shock and amaze. Well not too much considering he was an evil Steelers fan. Hopefully this will put karma on the Seahawks' side.

Cut Me! (a break)


You have to love this even if you aren't a fan of the movies. They aren't calling it Rocky VI most likely because the producers don't want to acknowledge Rocky V ever happened, so the movie is going to be called Rocky Balboa: Return From Irrelevance. Don't forget to check out the Rocky Balboa Blog. And in other Sylvester Stallone movie news you are going to have to see this to believe it. Yes, Rambo IV is in production, but one has to wonder why it isn't being called First Blood IV?. When Stallone originally conceived the idea around 2002, the plot involved Rambo going into Afghanistan to battle terrorists. Brilliant!

Just For The Hell Of It: Scarlett Johansson

Tuesday, January 24, 2006

Kobe's Sick Night

OK here is John Hollinger's great article on Kobe's downright sick night on Sunday:

It seems at first glance that Wilt Chamberlain's 100-point night in 1962 is far superior to Kobe Bryant's 81-point game Sunday. After all, Bryant still needed 19 more points -- roughly Pau Gasol's average -- just to catch the Dipper.

But if you stack the two games side by side, you'll come to the startling realization that Bryant's performance was actually far superior. Breaking the two games down by the numbers, it quickly becomes apparent what a dominant night Kobe had. Consider the facts:


Wilt scored 100 of his team's 169 points in the 1962 game.
Bryant was more efficient. Bryant needed 46 shot attempts and 20 free throws to get 81 points. Chamberlain needed 63 field-goal attempts and 32 free-throw tries to get his 100. Bryant's true shooting percentage for the night was 73.9 percent; Chamberlain's was only 63.9 percent.

Bryant's performance was more real. In Chamberlain's game, the Warriors intentionally fouled the Knicks in the final minute of play to get the ball back for another Chamberlain try at the century mark. Only on his third try did he get to 100. At the time, his team was comfortably ahead, as it was for the entire second half, and it won 169-147. Bryant, on the other hand, got almost all his points when they were desperately needed, as his team trailed by 18 early in the third quarter.

Bryant needed fewer minutes. If you want to really be amazed, consider the fact that Kobe sat out for six minutes in the second quarter. So Bryant scored his 81 points in only 42 minutes, while Wilt played the full 48 in his 100-point effort. Had he played for an additional six minutes and scored at the same rate (hardly an unreasonable assumption, given how much gas he appeared to have at the end), Kobe would have finished with 93 points. Yes, 93.

The game was different. Of all the differences between Bryant's game and Chamberlain's, this one is perhaps the biggest. Chamberlain's game ended up 169-147, Bryant's 122-104. Obviously, there was a huge difference in the speed of play, and that meant Chamberlain had far more opportunities to score than Bryant did.

Chamberlain's game featured 233 field-goal attempts versus 164 for Bryant's, and 93 free-throw attempts to 60 for Bryant's. We have no data on turnovers and offensive rebounds for Chamberlain's game, but based on the numbers I just mentioned, we can estimate there were 46 percent more possessions in the Chamberlain game than in the Kobe game.

If that's the case, we need to inflate Kobe's numbers by 46 percent to get an accurate idea of what it equates to in Chamberlain's era. The answer? An unbelievable 118 points. And if we add in six extra minutes for Bryant, we end up with the mind-boggling total of 135. By one player. In one game.

Another way to look at it is by deflating Chamberlain's numbers by a similar amount. If we change his currency into "2006 points," so to speak, the Stilt ends up with 68 points -- still an awesome performance, but clearly not on a level with Kobe's 81-point outburst. And once you adjust for the 48 minutes Chamberlain played vs. Kobe's 42, you end up with 60 points for Wilt -- or just a bit more than Kobe rang up in the second half.

So when our Marc Stein says this is the most amazing performance ever, believe it. Once you adjust for the differences in pace between the two eras and the fact that Bryant sat out for six minutes, even Chamberlain's monumental 100-point game pales by comparison. For basketball historians, Bryant's effort is now the scoring effort against which all others should be measured.

Monday, January 23, 2006

Young Chuck Norris

From the people who brought you "Lazy Sunday," comes.... "Young Chuck Norris". Hopefully this means that SNL is checking the blogosphere and listening to what everyone is saying. It would certainly be a good thing if they could lift themselves out of the doldrums of mediocrity, and listening to the people who watch their show is a good first step.

Johjima, Seahawks, etc...

You've heard so much about him! Women want him and men want to be him! Now he's coming to America for the first time, humble and just looking to do whatever he can for the team!

Seriously though, I like the additions the mariners are making this year (not to mention some of the subtractions; Ryan Franklin ring any bells). Johjima and Washburn are two guys that won't knock your socks off but are perfectly capable of putting up good numbers at Safeco.

Throw in the maturation of one of the most heralded pitching prospects in recent memory (i.e. Felix Hernandez), the continued production of Sexson from the four spot and the possible uncrappification of Adrian Beltre and you are looking at a team that could improve mightily from their disappointing season last year.

I'm looking at a team right now that if they catch some breaks, could get above the .500 mark quite easily. However, the American League West is always pretty tough so we can't count on it.

News and Notes: The Seahawks are heading to their first Superbowl ever and all I am talking about is our new catcher who might or might not be any good. I have issues. Maybe it's just that I don't want to put myself out there so that I can get burned once again. I will try to get my take on the up coming Superbowl down in this space sometime before the game but I can't promise anything considering I'm taking off for Thailand at the end of the week. They do have internet cafes there in abundance but where do you think I would rather be? In a stuffy room looking at a screen or on the beach sipping a drink with a little umbrella in it? That's what I thought.

Sunday, January 22, 2006

Silent Hill - The Movie

Me and Graham Nelson (one of the Holy Trinity and friend to all) used to play this game and we would shit our pants with FEAR! FEAR! FEAR! And the thing is, as good as this was as a video game, it always looked like it would make a better movie than a game. We can only hope that they a do a good job with it, but judging by the Trailer it looks like it could be very creepy. Plus Sean Bean (Boromir from Lord Of The Rings) is in it and this looks like a good vehicle for him to show his leading man chops. Hopefully it's better than Viggo Mortensen's post LOTRs flop Hidalgo.

Saturday, January 21, 2006

Really Simple Syndication

I know that all my super internet literate friends who read this know what an RSS is but here's some information on them. I like the words of warning at the end, telling people not to get trapped in their own little bubble, and I honestly don't know what is so hard about using bookmarks but if it's the wave of the future and more people are going to be doing it then it's important to everyone.

Friday, January 20, 2006

From the, "that's very interesting and almost scary because it makes sense in a conspiracy type of way but I'm not actually saying that..." Department

Most of the world's supply of [Shikimic acid] comes from the seed of the star anise, the fruit of a tree grown in China. As demand for Tamiflu has soared, the price of shikimic acid from that source has spiked from $45 a kilogram to over $600 in the last year. There are also persistent fears the Chinese government will ban export of the element in order to secure its own supplies.

Shikimic acid is used to make the synthetic element oseltamivir, marketed by global pharmaceutical megafirm Roche Laboratories Inc. as Tamiflu.


Here's a link to the full article.

So the trouble started in China, and most of the world's supply of the only thing that really can stop the bird flu is in China... Forget I said anything.

Thursday, January 19, 2006

News Flash: Microsoft Trying To Take Over The World

Imagine you're watching a show in which you can click on any product therein and it takes you directly to the product's website where you can purchase said product. This isn't exactly a new idea. We've all been hearing about it for years but it looks like Microsoft is looking to make this a reality. Here's the link to the article in the Seattle Post-Intellegencer

Monday, January 16, 2006

Conan O'Brien Rules Finnish Politics








You be the Judge. Seperated at birth?

It's Official: I'm a Bill Simmons Wannabe...

I first noticed it when I started to quote His Playoff Gambling Manfesto. Then came the unending viewings of "The Karate Kid". Now I've taken the next step: Welcome to my Running Diary of the Patriot-Broncos playoff game on 01/14/06. Once again I will preface this post with the statment, "it is crap." Now on with the Diary (which by the way even though it's posted a little late I my thought processes hasn't changed and this is all what was originally written down in my notebook):

9:14 - Holy Shit, there's the alarm.

9:16 - Just put on my patriots 2001 AFC Champions t-shirt. Since I have owned this shirt they have won 3 of 4 Superbowls and have not lost a playoff game. Think it will be enough to beat the broncos by 4? (I told you didn't I? I'm turning into Simmons with all his superstition. Next thing you know I'll be talking about how "The Shawshank Redemption" is one of the greatest movies ever made... OK probably not).

9:20 - Called my buddies to see if they are coming over as promised. No answer. I'm sure a-dawg (yes giving my friends stupid nicknames. Another Simmons calling card) is afraid considering he already lost money to me by betting Denver would gain 250 rushing yards against Oakland earlier in the year. I took that bet pretty quickly and they barely topped 100. Here's something that should be on everyone's gambling manifesto: Don't bet while shit-faced!

9:36 - Patriots marching. Looks like they have this Denver D on the ropes but John Lynch is looking like a monster on the blitz and is disrupting everything. 3 hurries in the first 2 New England drives, with the last one disrupting Brady on a 4th and 1 leading to the turnover on downs.

9:41 - My mom just walked in. ARE YOU READY FOR SOME FOOTBALL!?!?

9:55 - Announcer: "And the Broncos have their deepest penetration of the night" (insert own joke here... pun intended) I'm so mature.

10:18 - Asante Samuel is having the game of his life. His INT keeps the Broncos out of the points again. The Broncos look like the stronger team but the Patriots are playing their game (bending but not breaking) and it is at this point when the Patriots usually turn the tide and start making backbreaking plays...

10:19 - I swear to god. 51 yard pass by Brady over the middle.

10:23 - Broncos are putting a lot of pressure on Brady and they seem to be stuffing up drives right when the patriots start getting on a roll. Brady's ability to handle the rush is what makes him great though (It's not a man crush, I promise... but the guy does have 3 superbowl rings...)

10:27 - Vinateri is an animal in the playoffs. Pats up 3-0.

10:31 - Quick 3 and out for Denver followed by Todd Sauerbrun coming in for the punt. At this point I'm thinking, "Isn't that the same guy who was taking steroids prescribed by his doctor when he was with the Carolina Panthers --> Answer is Yes.

10:35 - Faulk fumbles and Carolina scores and Da Crew enters.

10:50 - OK it's halftime and I need time to digest the turn of events... The Patriots just had two fumbles within 18 seconds of each other, both after the 2 minutes warning and in their own territory. I think I see the four horsemen of the apocalypse riding onto the field but then I clean my glasses and realize... the broncos just converted the turnovers into 10 points while gaining a total of 8 yards (not to mention a defensive pass interference call on Asante Samuel for 39 yards, who by the way is having the worst game of his career (and in an amazing show of writing ability I am going to use the double parenthesis and say that, that call was not only horribly wrong but inexcusably late)). The icing on the cake is the fact that the second fumble was caused by the immortal Todd Sauerbrun (guess "the program" really helped him out) At this point I'm beginning to wonder if this isn't the Pats night...

11:21 - As the teams battle for field position I can't help but think about how much the Broncos are disrespecting the TWO TIME DEFENDING WORLD CHAMPIONS. I mean how dare they take the lead in a playoff game against any team that Tom Brady is quarterback for? And how dare they disrespect the Pats offense so that they only score 3 points in a half. It's absolutely ridiculous!

11:34 - Two words for you: Champ Bailey. Too bad he was a bitch and slowed down before getting the touchdown. Ben Watson came from virtually the total opposite corner and knocked the ball away at the one yard line. I had visions of Leon Lett and Don Beebe dancing in my head after this play. Too bad Watson couldn't force the touchback like Beebe did because Mike Anderson walks it in on the next play after a long timeout for the New England challenge. Count with me now: 9 yards gained on broncos scoring drives for 17 points!!!

11:46 - The Pats are dinking and dunking down the field, really playing how they want to be playing but as usual in this game their drive is stalled. What are you going to do? Take the 43 yard field goal right? Automatic right? Vinetieri missed it wide right. Hmmm.

11:57 - Willie McGinest just shoved a teammate on the sideline.... I've never seen these Patriots play a game like this.

12:03 - A-Dawg just asked a good question: "How many fights do you think Ashley Lelie got into as a kid with a name like that?" Now that I've had time to form an adequate comeback: "depends on when he had his growth spurt." OH SNAP!

12:04 - Vince Wilford just tried to get into it with one of the Broncos players after a false start on an extra point attempt. Do I even have to say anything? Oh yeah Broncos 24 Patriots 6.

Nothing else really to say about this... Denver added another field goal. Brady threw another interception. Pats ended up turning the ball over 5 times and most of them were on their own side of the field. 8 penalties for 82 yards isn't horrible but it's just not a recipe for success on the road. You know what though? As lucky and blessed as the Patriots have been the last 5 years, I wouldn't doubt that the Superbowl is going to be bombed or something and going to the Superbowl would have actually been a bad idea. I guess we'll never know (the whole butterfly flaps its wings in Beijing thing). OK maybe that's not the best thing to be writing on the internet. If I don't post in a while I'm probably in prison. They better have a TV there that shows my Seahawks winning the Superbowl.

Sunday, January 15, 2006



You would worship him as a god too if he got you 3 super bowl titles in 4 years. Can't wait for the games tomorrow. Being in China I can't get the games at a decent hour. 9:30 tomorrow morning is as decent as it gets. My picks are Seattle, Indy, Chicago, New England, all against the spread. I love this game.

Friday, January 13, 2006

I often feel that I can't express myself clearly. Part of the reason that I started this Blog was to (besides becoming rich and famous) develop my external voice. I work enough on the internal one so I don't need any help with that thank you very much. I often wonder why I am the way that I am, as do I'm sure everyone. I think I've reached a good point in my quest for clarity. I'm no longer ashamed of people reading what I have to say in this space. Maybe it's true that blogging is a form of therapy. I do feel better already...

Federation for the Debunking of PCness

Here is a cool link that sources Malcolm Gladwell to the comparisons being made between Larry Bird and Adam Morrison. In today's "PC" society it's almost impossible to say anything anymore without worrying about the racial implications and I think this article helps to break down some of these ridiculous barriers in both a scientific and logical way. I'm going to have to pick up a Chuck Klosterman book sometime. <--(mental note in blog form)

Wednesday, January 11, 2006

I Feel Smart

Linking to things like this make me feel smart and it's also pertinent to the where I am right now. Thank goodness I get paid In RMB and my student loans are in US dollars. It's all Bush's fucking fault anyways! If not for the war in Iraq and it's projected 2 Trillion dollar price tag, this might not be happening... Of course I can't kid myself. We were on the way down before the war... BUT NOT BEFORE BUSH!!!! Does anyone wonder why I felt like leaving the country?

What Was He Thinking?!?!

The Following is from Darren Rovel's Sports business blog on ESPN.com.

On Monday, Cleveland Cavaliers guard Damon Jones was scheduled to hold a news conference in the ballroom of the Ritz Carlton Hotel to announce that he's the first NBA player to endorse Chinese shoe brand Li-Ning. There is supposedly going to be an advertising campaign in China featuring Jones, though I'm not sure the Chinese are as familiar with Jones as they are with his teammate LeBron James. "I'm an icon. I'm global," Jones told the Cleveland Plain Dealer. "If I was on the All-Star ballot, I'd have a million votes in China. And none here, because everybody thinks I'm arrogant." You've also only started three of 31 games this year and you're shooting 5-for-32 (15.6 percent) in your last seven games played.

Wednesday, January 04, 2006

Idiots At Large

Sorry I skipped December. I was hibernating with my supply of sweet, sweet honey. Just wanted ya'll to check out this interesting article. It shows how out of touch the masses are (not going to say Midwestern Americans because I know them and love them on a non-macro level), and how afraid they are of the scare of the day. I know anyone who has seen "Bowling for Columbine" will think I'm just spouting recycled left-wing rhetoric, but hear me out. Just because annoying people who think they know what they are talking about because they have seen one movie that says people are just frightened into submission, doesn't mean it's not true. With that I give you Idiots at Large:


Sauerkraut sales soar after bird flu report
Wednesday, December 28, 2005
By CAROLINA BOLADO
HERALD NEWS

After scientists at Seoul National University in South Korea discovered that one type of fermented cabbage helped cure infected chickens of the avian flu, Americans flocked to grocery stores and picked up this country's favorite version of fermented cabbage: sauerkraut.

According to Chris Smith, vice president of marketing for Frank's Sauerkraut, sales have skyrocketed for several weeks, spiking as high as 850 percent at one Midwestern store. Sales in the Twin Cities area were up, on average, 77 percent.

"We saw movement up a little bit, and we were curious to see what was causing it," Smith said.

The company attributed the sharp increase to a report on a local television station in Minneapolis about the South Korean researcher Professor Kang Sa-ouk, whose team found that an extract of kimchi – a popular Korean pickle made of fermented cabbage with radishes, garlic, ginger and peppers – helped infected chickens recover from the flu. Scientists are experimenting on the theory that the culture fluid produced during the fermentation process has antibacterial qualities. Sauerkraut, which is sliced cabbage fermented with salt for at least a month, produces the same fluid.

"We're just amazed at the reaction of people when they hear about the Korean study," Smith said. "They're scared of this pandemic, so they're looking for anything to potentially protect themselves."