we are your 2007 car care overlords

Touchdown, Humanity.

I should have shown up at halftime. In fact, let's forget everything about the first half. What transpired afterwards is way cooler. Twenty-four unanswered points, despite the special team's seeming inability to make the first, second, or third attempted tackle. Micah Andrews suddenly becoming the guy who hangs on to the football. The defense not budging on crucial 3rd and 4th downs. Skinner Skinnering.

Au revoir Kenny Moore, Steve Justice and all our seniors.

By the way, it runs you $7.25 to get some nachos in BoA Stadium's club level. Oy.

ever seen a basketball team come back from eight points down with just over a minute to play, then nail a go-ahead running jumper at the buzzer?

i have. and it is awesome.

merry christmas everyone.

tunell, meet the light

Conan to return January 2nd.

4,000 > 51,000

COLLEGE CUP CHAMPIONS FTW!!!!!!!!!!!!!!11111one

it's wake forest's eighth national championship overall and our first in soccer. GO DEACS!!!

red sox get away clean?

Results yielding from a search for Red Sox in the pdf file of the Mitchell report were limited to recent sox Eric Gagne and Brendan Donnelly. Save for Clemens and Mo Vaughn, no prominent former Red Sox are there - no Nomar, Damon, or Pedro, and - blessed be the Lord - no Trot. Big names like Pujols, A-Rod, Santana and Howard are absent as well. With rumors of Clemens and Tejada now being confirmed, this is not a pretty day for baseball, but it could have been much worse. There were no "Wow!" moments as far as I can tell. Andy Pettitte is probably the biggest surprise, at least to me. For now, we can still root for home-run artists like David Ortiz, Albert Pujols and Ryan Howard with a clean conscious.

About two hours ago, information was leaked that Pujols, Trot, and Varitek were to be named in the report, but thankfully that was false and it looks like I won't be having any crisis-of-faith for any of my favorite players.

dammit.

dammit.

dammit.

dammit.

HALLELUJAH UPDATE: GROBE IS STAYING.

question: who the hell is "an'juan wilderness?"

Answer: our worst nightmare. But seriously. "Wilderness?" "Wilderness!?"

I hope this isn't a bad omen for our supposedly destined matchup against UConn in Charlotte. Which will be the least watched bowl game in the history of the universe.

these topics have nothing to do with each other

Wake Forest got the biggest win of the year with a 56-47 victory over Iowa. We led the whole way and let the lead get a little small in the final minute, but the outcome was never really in doubt. Chas "Don't Pronounce It 'Chaz'" McFarland came out of nowhere to put up 15 points, 8 boards, 2 steals and 3 blocks. In fact, Chas was the only player on either team to have a good game. Something must have been off with the rims, because the teams combined to shoot a horrific 38 of 106 from the field and 24 of 47 from the stripe. I loved Dino's three-piece, but the pleat in the back has to go.

Game Highlights.

Halftime segment about Dino dealing with Skip's passing.

---------------------------

Due to the writer's strike, a classic Leno from 1992 is being shown on NBC. It was Tom Hanks' first appearance on the Tonight Show, and I think Julia Robert's first appearance will be on tomorrow. Things I found interesting:

• Monologue topics included "President Bush," a Batman movie, Geraldo Rivera, and even a joke about Hillary Clinton running for president.
  
• There was zero interaction with the band leader (this was while Kevin Eubanks was just the guitarist). I'm not even sure if then-leader Branford Marsalis had a mic.
  
• The back drop was a hilly ocean coastline. It looked like the interior of a Chinese buffet.
  
• This was Leno's first year as host, and even though he had been guest host for several years prior, he wasn't fluid at all and was clearly still getting used to the whole thing. There was zero transition between segments,which made the show feel too structured and just plain flat. Contrast this to the modern Late Night, which is full of Conan improv'ing between segments and even individual jokes, making it incredibly watchable and durable.
  
• Tom Hanks had a great jewfro. I know he's not Jewish, but it was a jewfro nonetheless.
  
• Leno had pretty big hair too, and there was a bit of ex post facto irony when they both showed older pictures of themselves joking how they "used" to have big hair.
• The show order was: first guest, musical act, second guest; which seemed like talk show heresy to me.
  
• The whole show was very "soft" in terms of volume. I could barely hear what anyone was saying, so I turned the volume way up, which caused me to flinch when our modern, loud, get-your-attention-quick commercials came on.
  

my first cousin once-removed is the 66th best 11-year old golfer in the country and other things i learned or happened this holiday

To get Wake Forest to the best bowl possible, the following events all help: us winning (duh), Maryland beating State, VaTech beating Virginia, Florida State losing, BC beating Miami, and BC beating VaTech in the ACC Championship so the ACC can have two BCS eligible teams.

As luck would have it, everything that could have happened so far has happened. All this means we should avoid being banished to the Emerald Bowl in San Fran. It's down to either Charlotte, Nashville, or Orlando. I'm pulling for Nashville.

I got to see my first basketball game of the season as Wake played W-S State. What might have been an uneventful game to anyone else was a sight for sore eyes for this Deacon.

Thanksgiving travel update: what a let down. There was literally no line at US Airways check-in and it took me all of three minutes to go through security. My plane arrived of time, left on time, landed on time. Where's the holiday travel drama? Very disappointing.

Finally, WATCH ESPN2 MONDAY NIGHT AT 7. We're playing Iowa in the Big Televen/ACC Challenge.

"You laugh now, wait till you get home."

Today's title is a direct quote from a recent "fortune" cookie I had the indignity of receiving. My local Chinese food provider is now threatening me with sadness.

I've been slaving over my motion for summary judgment for the past week. Yesterday I turned that SOB in and it felt good. If anyone is dealing with a false light invasion of privacy case in Delaware, talk to me. I now know more about that subject than I ever wanted.

While I was distracted, Wake Forest sports have been playing pretty well. In football, we bounced back from a horrific loss in Clemson for a nice win over NC State. That puts us at 7-5 and ensures us of a bowl. Whether we beat Vandy will determine if we go somewhere interesting like Nashville for the Music City Bowl or get the Honorable Mention Bowl in Charlotte.

Basketball got off to a good start with wins over Fairfield and NC Central. We shot a LOT of 3's in this first games: 14 of 29 and 4 of 21 respectively. Each of our starting five can makes shots from beyond the arc, so look for that as a theme thorough the season. James Johnson has been great on D with five steals and two blocks already.

By the by, if you want a real blog devoted to Wake Forest sports than check out the Old Gold and Blog. It's pretty much what this place would be if I had the proper time/energy/intelligence.

Tomorrow I'm gearing up for a new challenge: the biggest travel day of the year at a major airport (Philly). God be with me.

stuff from all over

Gaming: I can't wait to get my hands on a copy of Assassin's Creed. You get to play as a Muslim assassin who terrorizes the Catholic Church. That won't be awkward at all.

Technology: My not-that-old Creative Zen MicroPhoto mp3 player suddenly died, so I got a new toy. Props to Amazon and UPS for delivering it to me a mere 50 hours after I ordered it.

Baseball: The Red Sox might have quite a boring off-season. Schilling already re-upped to an extremely reasonable deal, and progress is being made on Lowell. The only thing left is trading Coco (to make room for Ellsbury) and sorting out the back end of the bullpen. Still, I'll always take "boring" over a reality-altering signing of you-know-who.

Word is Boston is thinking about a six man rotation. This actually makes some sense. Forty-somethings Schilling and Wakefield could use the lighter schedule, Daiskue obviously wore out at the end of last season, and Lester and Buchholz would have an easier transition to full-time starting duty. The biggest downside would be less Beckett, but there's no rule saying he couldn't be used on four days rest while everyone else gets five/six days.

The Strike: It's only been three days and the writer's strike is already taking a toll. The Office only has two completed episodes left to air, Fox won't start airing 24 unless they know they can film the "full day," and Heroes re-shot some scenes to work as an early season finale. At least Scrubs said they've already shot 12 of the 18 ordered episodes.

Even though I generally dislike unions, and strikes even more, I actually agree with some of the writers' complaints. As I understand it, they don't get any residuals for online revenue (iTunes downloads, ads shown during episodes streamed online, etc.) whereas producers, directors and actors do. Supposedly they're also getting shafted on DVD residuals, but I don't know enough to have a stand on that. Irregardless, picketing will always be stupid and pointless. Woo hoo, you put a sign on a stick and rhymed something with "1, 2, 3, 4."

I couldn't help but think of some ways for shows like Late Night to work around the strike. Obviously the interviews and musical guests could be done without writers. As for the monologues and "desk segments," they could try user-generated content. Get people to submit jokes over You Tube or something, and use the best ones on-air. Also, Conan has often said he wanted to do a show where it was just him dancing with the audience for an hour. What better time then now? The problem is, even if these ideas are feasible, a lot of actors and directors are supporting their writer buddies by "declining to come into work." Grrr.

Wake Forest: On Monday the Deacons had their first game since Skip passed, an exhibition win over Mars Hill. Get used to the name of James Johnson. He might be pretty special. Plus, my parents got "lower bowl" season tickets this year!

hilary (unlike hillary) goes wide right

That was a heart breaker. Our million dollar baby kicker missing the game winner. Argh!

unions suck

Some cold hard truths...

• The writer's guild will be going on strike Monday at 12:01am.
• The last time writers went on strike it lasted six months.
• Our favorite sitcoms and dramas have already taped enough episodes to get by, but...
  
• Late night talk shows can't function without writers.

This means tonight might be the last time I see Conan until the summer. Gulp.

Couldn't we just have Conan improv for an hour?

once more with feeling

What is there to say? You know, other than that Jamey Carroll scared the crap out of me.

In my lame attempt to be objective, I kept finding reasons for this team to fail. The Rockies were impossibly hot. Coors Field is the ultimate equalizer. Youks is forced to the bench. Ortiz is forced to the field. Colorado is a different team at home. Our 3 and 4 starters are too fly-bally (yes, fly-bally) for that “rarefied air.” Maybe I subconsciously wanted the Sox to stumble a little just so they could win it at Fenway.

This team would have none of it, and won an extremely well-earned championship. Coming back down 1-3 against Cleveland was obviously no small task, and Colorado put forth an incredible effort that wasn't reflected in the 4-0 outcome of the series. This was no ordinary sweep. Game 1 was a blowout, but the remaining three were all close contests that Boston had to fight tooth-and-nail to win.

On a final note, Lowell had a great series, but how does Papelbon not win the MVP?

sox one away, deacs get ranked

Daiskue was a big surprise last night. I doubted him, and he responded with the best start you could hope for, failing only when Okajima couldn't rescue him. Speaking of Hideki, I think Boston coffee shops should start selling "Mokajimos." It's like a Mochachino, but Japanese!

Anyhoo, I know the sentiment is that the series is over, but it's hit-or-miss Jon Lester going against a still formidable Rockies-at-home lineup. Coors Field is just way too much of a wild card to think tonight will be an easy win for Boston. However, it would be amazing to see a cancer survivor be the winning pitcher in a World Series clincher.

------

Defense, special teams, and a no-turnovers offense lead the way as the Deacons cruised over Carolina. We've now won six straight, putting us at 6-2 (4-1). The folks over at AP have recognized this, and put us at #21 in their latest poll. However, in quite a discrepancy, the Coaches Poll has us all the way down at #28. Weak.

today's headlines

Cold wet weather finally caught up with Pennsyelaware.

They're playing Tony Almeida's music.

Scrubs is back (for the last time).

VaTech totally screwed Wake Forest's pooch.

Hideki Okajima is a frighteningly important part of the Red Sox team.

Boyz II Men is still alive.

John Papelbon's stare pierces my soul.

I'm extremely concerned about Game Three: Daiskue in Coors Field, Youks forced to the bench.

AL CHAMPS!

For third straight game, I am left wanting to go on and on about the Sox, but I'm still occupied by evil law school stuff. I will say that I absolutely love this team. You can't help but get that 2004 vibe from the way these guys refused to give in, despite the odds. Our "secondary" hitters are absolutely on fire. Youks, Dusty and J.D. could not be stopped the past three games. Even the struggling Coco had a crazy catch to seal the pennant.

I have absolutely no idea what to expect in the World Series. We could sweep the Rockies, the Rockies could sweep us, it could go to an extra-innings Game 7. Nothing would surprise me. On one side you have a team who just faced elimination for three straight games and answered with the best ball of their season. On the other side, you have a team who seemingly haven't lost since Labor Day. It's going to be an insane series.

Isn't that right Johnny O'Papelbon?

i guess that went as well as could be expected

very encouraging game from the sox. the offense is really clicking, schilling returned to form, and even lopez and gagne, the dynamic duo of bullpen incompetence, pitched well. my favorite part was j.d.'s grand slam, as i've been a long time supporter of him. can't wait for game seven. don't suck, daisuke!

not without a fight

I'd love to write more about how excited I was about Game 5 and how Josh Beckett is further entrenching himself as the greatest playoff pitcher of our generation but unfortunately I'm insanely busy. I gots a brief draft I have to turn in Monday. I have to finish it tonight and Sunday since my Saturday is knocked out because I'll be Annapolis all day. That's right, I'll be attending the Wake/Navy game. If last year is any indication of how Wake plays in games I attend, then bet heavy on the Midshipmen.

EDIT - You can thank me for the victory today. I realized late last night that there's no way I can get this brief done and spend all day in Annapolis. So, I didn't go, which sucks because I was really looking forward to it. Instead, my family will be driving up here tonight for dinner so we can still see each other. Hopefully I'll be able to go to whatever bowl game we get into, knock-on-wood.

trot nixon benedict arnolded me

it's hard to explain how i feel right now. heston comes close.

WE'RE BACK

We got off to a tough luck start, but we're back. We. Are. Back.

Tonight Wake Forest celebrated it's now annual victory over Florida State, putting us at 4-2 overall and 3-1 in the ACC. If BC loses in-conference and we win in-conference, we're on top of the Atlantic division! I wonder who they play next in the ACC...

Thu, Oct 25 at (12) Virginia Tech 7:30 pm

Niiiice. Our next ACC opponent is UNC, on the 27th.

Until then, enjoy this picture of The Phonz relaxing on an invisible, slightly inclined sofa.

go indians! (pause) boo indians!

That's what happens when your team is already in the ALCS and you're hoping the Yankees don't make it that far. You pull for the Indians; then, the very moment they succeed, immediately turn on them because your enemy's enemy is now your enemy.

I must say, I never thought at the beginning on the season - hell, two weeks ago - that the Red Sox's championship series associates would be the Indians, D-Backs and Rockies. Whereforeartthou Yankees and Cardinals and Astros? I feel like a frat member whose brothers all dropped out and now has to hang out with the pledges. Maybe next year, guys.

Watching Joe Torre on the tube right now, I have to feel for the guy. I'm annoyed by a lot of things about the Yankees - A-Rod's lip gloss, Jeter's fade haircut, the media's contradictory treatment of those two, the payroll that's still 50% more than Boston's - but Torre is certainly no part of it. If Old Man Steinbrenner really cans him, other teams would be smart to make every effort to pick him up.

The Indians will be very tough to beat. Sabathia and Carmona (who last year had the worst tenure of "closer" in history) should probably go 1-2 in the Cy Young voting. Their key will be how the 3 and 4 starters and their horrible but oddly effective closer perform. For Boston, they couldn't be hotter. Manny and Ortiz are peaking simultaneously (!), and the bullpen got back on track after a rough patch. If Daisuke can pitch well I think Boston will definitely get to the Series.

Prediction: Boston in 6.

BOOM!

God I love baseball.

finally

Part 1: After over a year of planning, I *finally* got to play Halo 3 by visiting Mike for the weekend. It was worth the 860 miles driven in a three day span. The campaign mode is a little short but still lots of fun to play. I became very confused by the "Believe" commercials, though, because the battle portrayed therein was not part of the campaign. When the game ended, I was expecting one last level that would look like "Believe" - some sort of final show down between humans and the covenant where the Chief gets captured before doing something with a plasma grenade. But I guess not. I think the multiplayer is the best of the trilogy. The one flaw of the original was that the pistol was far superior to every other weapon, the flaw of the second was that winning depended too much on duel-wielding. Here I think a happy medium was perfectly found. Duel-wielding, grenading, meleeing, or assault-rifling are all about equally effective. Also the plasma pistol doesn't home-in anymore, so using it with a Battle Rifle isn't such an annoyingly dominating strategy. From Friday night to early Sunday morning Mike and I played about 16 hours total.

Part 2: The Red Sox *finally* won the AL East!!! When the division lead went down to two with about two weeks left I really started to worry. Especially with the Yankees finishing the season with Tampa Bay and Baltimore. But those crazy bottom feeders didn't roll over and helped a refusing-to-implode Boston team clinch the division with two games left in the season. Phew!

classic comedy comes to life

but as it turns out, "who" isn't on first. he plays shortstop.

Insanity

That was an unreal game. In fact, it was the reverse version of the Clemson game last year, except this time, WE come out of nowhere to win. Everything was running on all cylinders for Maryland until BAM! the Phonz runs 100 yards the pick six. That led the way for 28 unanswered points and our first ever overtime victory. Wow, wow, and wow.


Fun anecdote - I was able to watch the game through a almost-legal video feed of ESPNU. I downloaded some program and got ESPNU streaming at a pretty good quality. Then something strange happened - the channel changed. During commercials, the channel menu came up and it would bounce around a few channels, mostly other football games. That's when I realized I wasn't watching a feed of ESPNU, I was just watching a feed of some guy's TV.

somebody make it stop

the post office daggered me

Hey, we won! I watched the game by coughing up five bucks to accselect.com for a pretty high quality video feed. The "announcing" was great in a "boom goes the dynamite" kind of way. Although to be fair he didn't have a color guy with him - he was pretty much forced to talk to himself for three hours. Pretty uneventful game all-in-all; I'm just glad we picked up a win. Sagarin did rate us the best 0-2 team in the nation, so we deserved it.

Anyway, to the title. I thought it a bit odd I've been in this swanky apartment for a month and a half and I'd yet to get a single utility bill. In fact, I hadn't gotten any postal mail period. I call up Comcast and my energy company and - sure enough - they've sent me bills. After I paid up over the phone I dial up the PO to ask WTF. Turns out they've been returning all my mail because I hadn't verified with them that I'm at a "good address." I've never heard of such a thing. Is this an uncommon practice or is this like when I had no idea you could take a train from England to France?

zach braff lied to me

So I went by Wendy's for lunch today and got my favorite 3 dollar meal in the universe - jr. bacon cheeseburger, 5 piece chicken nuggets, and a medium coke. well, guess what. The executors of Dave Thomas' estate have evidently applied Professor Szalinski's shrink ray to the ole JBC. My damn palm is bigger than it now! When the hell did this happen? Ugh! When I fall victim for that "I deserve a hot juicy burger!" marketing campaign, I expect more than a gnome-sized portion (I was going to say Hobbit-sized but then I remember they eat a lot).

In other news, thanks to my Legal Methods III textbook, I now know that "crying typically indicates sadness."

In other other news, there were three game-winning field goals made in about a five minute span today. Have NFL kickers gotten better while I wasn't looking? Maybe we should start calling it the Big 32.

i'm not eating corn for a year

f-word. that game sucked. i hate nebraska. i miss riley skinner. f-word.

having just watched the first half of "star wars: the legacy revealed" on the history channel (the nfl? what's that?), i have but one thing to say:

I still can't believe Darth Vader built C-3PO. I mean, what the hell.

The boundaries of language I quietly cursed / And all the different names for the same thing.

The Powers That Be at Wake have reached an agreement with BB&T for naming rights to Groves Stadium. As far as I'm concerned it's basically free money, but I can understand that others don't like the idea of "BB&T Field." Just remember, it could have been much, much worse.

And if that doesn't scare Wake students enough, apparently there's a menacing alligator on the loose near campus. From a student-wide e-mail:

"Recently, the University learned that an alligator, approximately two feet in length, is in Lake Katherine at Reynolda Gardens. At the suggestion of Forsyth County Animal Control staff, the University has reported the alligator's presence to a non-profit organization that rescues reptiles and moves them to appropriate locations.

Meanwhile, the University Police department asks that people stay away from the alligator and report its exact location if anyone sees it. The number to call is 758-5591 or 758-5911.

The alligator was reported to University Police on August 31. Officers saw the alligator on a log in the lake, near the lake's bank, and promptly contacted Forsyth County Animal Control. That same day, county staff recommended that the University ask Tar Heel Reptile Rescue to capture it.

Since that time, the rescue organization has attempted but failed to capture it. Efforts to remove the alligator will continue.

Wake Forest News Service."

That's right. We pawned off campus security to the Tar Heels. God help us all.

PS - bonus points for identifying the song reference in the title.

kevin youklilis is driving me insane

For the past week I've been alternating having Kevin Youkilis in my starting line-up and on my bench. These are the results...

Starting: 4 games, 0-11, 8 K's.
Benched: 3 games, 4-10, 2 home runs, 6 RBI, 2 K's.

What did I ever do to deserve this!?

game day!

The wait is over.

Wake Forest kicks off its first game of the year today at 3:30 against BC. Depending o yo' region, it may be on ABC, it may be on ESPN, it may be nowhere to be found. I think I'll be getting ESPN around here, but if not its hello sports bar because I'm not missing this.

Also, I got an X-Box 360. Heh heh heh.

EDIT - WHAT THE F@#$!? WISCONSIN/WASH ST IS ON ABC AND ESPN? WHAT THE HELL IS THE POINT OF THAT?

F$%&!!!!!!!!!!!!!!


HOLY SH*T NEVER MIND UPDATE - ESPN SWITCHED TO WAKE JUST IN TIME FOR AN ALPHONSO SMITH PICK SIX!!!!!!!!! TOUCHDOWN!!!!!!!!!!!!


GO DEACS!!

And App State just beat #5 Michigan. Holy Crap. Go Mountaineers!


Post-game wrap-up: Dammit. Losing Skinner really hurt, but at least this Hodges kid looked pretty good. I'm preferring to think about App State's universe-altering upset over Michigan. Come to think of it, if given the choice between Wake winning today and App winning.... I still would have chosen Wake, but I would have hesitated for at least like a split second.

Final thoughts for today: The only evidence needed to prove that re-naming Division I-AA the "Division I Football Championship Subdivision" was a horrible, horrible idea is that everyone still says "Division I-AA." The Powers That Be need to man up and admit they screwed the pooch on that one big time.

my new game for the semester

See how many times my Advanced Contracts professor says "discharge a duty" before I burst out laughing. I'm currently at a gentleman's three. Seriously, I think it's his favorite phrase. And now it's mine.

they casted who?

You mean the Janeane Garofalo? Didn't see that one coming. Whatever. It's still 24 and I'm going to watch out of sheer loyalty. Unless they off Chloe. That would be a deal breaker.

In other news...

The trailer for the Elizabeth sequel looks pretty cool, if probably wildly inaccurate. Did Elizabeth I really get all armored up and ride around on a white horse during the prep rally for the big game against the Armada de Espana? Ah, who cares - Clive Owen plays North Carolina's capital.

I've got 75 more bucks to raise before I can get an X-Box 360 and destroy my law school GPA. Hey, Halo 3 is Halo 3.

The online Deacon Shop has been completely revamped and it looks great. They even have Wake Forest scrubs. I could wear it for the series finale of "Scrubs" in the spring while I shed massive tears for the end of my favorite sitcom. (Edit: No sooner do I tout the new online shop than it seems to have stopped working. D'oh.)

Back to the books...

and now i've lived with a murderer

The first of my record-tying six summer school sessions started in May of 2003. I lived in one of the of six-person suites in Kitchin. A guy named David Wells and me had the singles, and the two doubles belonged to Ryan Plackemeier, some offensive lineman whose name escapes me, Napoleon Sykes, and Cornelius Birgs. The last of which killed a guy early Tuesday morning.

Athletes getting in trouble is unheard of at Wake, but it appears this has more to do with a mental illness gone way bad than your run-of-the-mill trouble makers.

Suffice it to say, it's a wee unsettling when an ex-suite mate commits homicide. Yeah.

Cookout Evolves

you may want to sit down for this. i went to the mall in Hendersonville yesterday, and on the way back i saw -- are you sitting yet? -- a Cookout with indoor seating! INDOOR SEATING! Like, y'know, a regular fast food place! This is either the greatest thing ever or the worst thing ever. I mean, it's nice to have more options when it comes to the best fast food on the planet, but being drive-up-only is part of what makes Cookout... Cookout.

i'm confused. what do you think?

yabba-dabba-dino

I had little doubt that Dino Gaudio was the best choice for WF's new basketball coach, and Ron Wellman giving him a 5-year contract confirms as much. The idea of going after a big name is sexy, but ultimately impractical this time of the year. Recruiting has just wrapped and the first official practice is around the corner, so coaches are not looking for new jobs. Hiring an outsider would also potentially mess with the still-strong vibes of the Prosser Era and his staff.

Most importantly (to me), Dino's our best shot a keeping AT&T, the second best recruiting class in the nation for 2008. Ty Walker's myspace lists Dino as one of his heroes, and Aminu is a big fan of assistant coach Pat Kelsey. By keeping the Prosser staff together, we should be able to keep AT&T together, which is so critical to the Wake program that I'm scared of even mentioning it.

Even if you disgaree with Wellman's choice, Dino's the man now and he should have the full support of all Deacons. He will definitely have mine.

hello-o-o...

Hey remember when I posted here? I don't want this blog to die, not just yet, so I'm going to try and revive it.

In rough reverse chronological order...

I finally "moved in" to my new HP laptop. That "cancel or allow" parody commercial of Vista is frighteningly true. I had to turn that security stuff off. Unbelievably annoying.

I was rejected by Elon, but I still managed to get away from Delaware by getting an place in Chadds Ford, Pennsylvania. It's a cozy 590 square feet studio in a new apartment complex that's only about a mile from Widener, despite a state border in between. Plus I'm in apartment 311. How cool is that.

I saw Transformers in Mooresville and The Simpsons movie in W-S on the same day. That was a great day in movie history.

I'm really glad I took last weekend to pay respect to Skip by going to his viewing and watching the funeral mass in Wait Chapel. The latter was especially moving, and I left filled with sadness at Skip's passing but also a great amount of Wake Forest pride. Father Jude, Coach Dino, Chris Paul, President O. Hatch and Ron Wellman spoke; all demonstrated the strength of the Wake Forest family and how Skip was an irreplaceable part of it. For me, I'll remember Skip as the man who rallied the students around the team and revolutionized the persona of Wake Forest basketball.

London was amazing, except for the last week when I had to deal with exams, a bad case of home sick blues, and learning about Skip. Three weeks before the program started I did a number of tours around the UK and France. I went to Parliament, Buckingham Palace, the Tower of London, a River Thames cruise, Stratford-upon-Avon, Edinburgh, Whales, Paris for a day, Oxford, Cambridge, Bath, Stonehenge, Windsor Castle, the white cliffs of Dover, and others I can't even remember.

Once the program started, I visited the London Eye, Imperial War Museum, the Churchill War Cabinets, the crosswalk at Abbey Road, Wimbledon for some tennis, the National Portrait Gallery, Tate Britain, a comedy club and dance club somewhere outside of London (I never did know where - that was a weird night), the Natural History Museum, and saw Wicked and Spam-a-lot. I also finally had a shrimp pizza.

Our dorm was overrun by French teenagers. They seemed to move in packs of 20 - clogging the hallways and entrances. They were also all chain smokers. God, they were annoying.

Biggest negative - the food. Unbelievably expensive, and anything with beef tasted like crap. Eating nothing but cold sandwiches and fried food gets old after a while.

That's it for now. I'll try and post more, promise.

Rest in Peace Skip Prosser

I'm pretty much in shock right now. No words.

George Edward "Skip" Prosser: November 3, 1950 - July 26, 2007.

can this crazy country please just hold itself together for a few more weeks

First the attempted London bombings, then the more successful ones up in Glasgow (thwarted by this guy), now just yesterday a train on the central line derailed, sending several people to the hospital. Great Britain is dangerous, ya'll. Maybe it was better when my dorm room internet didn't work and i was blissfully ignorant.

At least there's one man i can count on to protect me...

so that was surreal

i used up too much bandwidth than UL likes, so my laptop has been banned from using the dorm's internet. they never said there was a limit to legal bandwidth use, and i'm pretty peeved. stupid streaming videos. hello from an internet cafe.

i spent all day at wimbledon yesterday. and i mean almost literally all day. i got up at 4am and didn't get back until 11pm. on the practice courts i got to see venus williams, safin, nadal and sharapova. also saw tommy haas beat some guy... turnsnov? then we made the great deal of turning in our grounds passes for some amazing centre court tickets for the ridiculous fee of 5 pounds each! we only got to see one match, but it was safin vs federer - pretty much as marquee as a match you could possibly see this early in the tournament. as much as i detest federer for being too good for his own... good; i couldn't help but be amazed at some of the shots he was making. chalk flying up and everything.

oddest thing was that the players have to take the same paths as the fans to get to the courts. we were just walking around and then martina hingis just walks right past us, three feet away. go figure.

it wasn't until my mom called after the federer/safin match that i learned about the attempted car bombings in london. so that has me a little on edge. scary stuff.

bye for now.

ewww... France

I made it through the "Tast of Britain" tour. We finished off the 4-day excursion with stops in Edinburgh and Scotland, Wales, and - wait for it! - the Josiah Wedgwood Museum! Who's Josiah Wedgewood? I'm still not sure. But there was lots of pottery on display, so I can only assume he has something to do with that.

Today we start our series of five one-day guided tours. First up is taking the "Chunnel" - once thought by me to exist only in myth - deep into the heart of the enemy: Paris, France.

Phantom, my apologies in advance if I call you frantically today asking - "I lost my tour guide and I need to know how to say 'get me the hell out of here' in French!"

Finally, big ups to Timmy winning his 4th NBA title! I guess I can give France a break for giving us Tony Parker. The big question is now - can Timmy catch Jordan and his six titles?

these people talk funny

i can't believe i'm going to be here for another six weeks. i'm currently in a surprisingly nice hotel in Darlington, England - the first place to rest on this "Taste of Britain" tour. i've barely had time to breathe so far. we've seen so much already, i can hardly recall what we've done. um... parliament and the clock tower, cruise on river Thames, that place the Queen lives, stratford-upon-avon, the tower of london, and york. i think that's it. generally speaking. i can't get used to the way people say "schedule." Shed-yool. Weird.

here goes nothing

i'm leaving for the airport in a few hours. i'm on a one-way flight from Charlotte, leaving 7:40pm EST and arriving 8:30am London time. i've never been to another continent before. i don't know what to expect. i watched Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy to give me some traveling-related confidence, as well as to ease into hearing the "received pronunciation." i guess it worked. *gulp*

i've loaded up a small luggage bag, a book bag and a messenger bag full of stuff that will cover 10 days of vacationing around the U.K. (and France) followed by 4 weeks of study / who-knows-what in London. i had to sacrifice my running shoes for space to put an extra bag for all the stuff i'm likely to buy over there. who knows if they have gyms in London anyway. i packed my Jack Bauer for President t-shirt so I can have something patriotic to wear July 4th; anti-Americanism overseas be damned.

so if there's a certain brand of "biscuit" of cider somebody wants, lemmie know.

can you mail beer?

Timmy vs. LeBron: Live from the U.K.

I'm pumped for the NBA finals. Timmy and LeBron are polar opposite superstars. One lives on fundamentals, the other on flash. It should make for a compelling contrast. Plus, I'm glad we won't be doing Spurs v Pistons redux from two years ago (not that I minded the end result).

I'd love nothing more than to see King James knocked off his "Next Jordan" thrown while Timmy earns his 4th NBA title in the 10 years he's been in the league. That would be one more than Mr. Jordan himself won in his first 10 years, if you count his un-retirement in '95 as a season.

The only bitter-sweet part of it all is that I'll be in England for the whole thing- not totally unlike Phantom's "London 5am" World Series experience. Chalk it up to karma.

insert hallelujah chorus

It was about 10 years ago that the Harris-Teeter in uptown Mooresville closed, and I remarked that it would make a great spot for a Best Buy. It eventually became some lame furniture store. Ever since then I've been not-so-patiently waiting for one to open around here. We've got every other conceivable business, store or restaurant. Additions from the past few months include a bowling alley, Chili's, Steak n' Shake, Panda Express, a sports bar, Salad Works, Bed Bath & Beyond, and the headquarters of Lowe's' Hardware on the way. It boggled my mind that a town that was expanding so exponentially couldn't have a frakking Best Buy.

Well, that reign of terror is finally over. June 1st marked the grand opening of our very own store. I bought a couple of CDs to celebrate.

We may all sleep easy now. And I can stop calling my congressman.

re: baseball

i'm scared to even mention it. the red sox have the best record in baseball, and the yankees are in last place in the East. i'd prefer to just whistle and twiddle my thumbs and pretend this is the normal course of things. but i can't whistle, and i don't really twiddle my thumbs.

but things really are clicking on all cylinders. we have two legit bullpen aces, a rotation where even Tavarez is doing ok, and the offense is the offense. Youks has been destroying the ball, in the midst of a 9-game multi-hit game streak. i saw on sportscenter that Boston is something like 18-5 against teams above .500, so it's not like we're eating the poor here.

so, yeah. I guess it is easier to write about your favorite team when they're struggling, because i'm pretty much speechless. everything's meeting or exceeding expectations, and i don't want to turn L&L into a smug-fest.

watching Timmy has been great. having seen him play in the nba for almost a decade now, i've picked up on a distinct pattern. the "best player in the nba" conversation goes sans-Duncan for much of the regular reason, then the playoffs happen. at that point, every talking head has to admit that the Spurs can pretty much beat any mvp-of-the-moment, with Timmy leading the way every game. he puts it in another gear in the post-season too, upping those 20-10's to 30-15's with assists and blocks to boot. God i love it.

keep it real.

two things i hate

1. losing championship games, especially to Carolina.

2. bunting for outs, especially when it ends the inning, especially it ends the game, especially when that game is the championship game.

needless to say, when Wake bunted to end the ACC Championship game to Carolina, I had a lot of hate in me.

cheers.

blame the dial up

telephone cords seem to find the "new post" pages of blogger to be especially weighty. i'm not sure why, but that's part of the reason i frequent here so little. the other part is, well, i haven't got much to say. i've been putting the brain on auto-pilot, although come tomorrow i'll have to put it back in gear. my transfer apps need to be all in order to be sent out the moment my grades are in, since there might only be a small window before i pack my bags for London. i may end up sending them from across the pond if my prof's are delayed in calculating how awesome i did (right).

i did have a lovely birthday, i should mention that. Brian and Bear drove down to Mooresville, and i was lucky enough to run into old pal Amanda a few days prior. the four of us hit the night scene and got completely wasted. meaning, we had dinner, went bowling and played scrabble on friday, then saw spidey 3 on saturday.

also - i'm mysteriously loosing weight. last monday, i checked in at 223 pounds. by friday, i was down to 217. i haven't weighed that (relative) little in over four years. i went to the gym everyday in between, but i do that all the time. as soon as i figure what i'm doing, i'll sell it to you for $24.99.

gam zeh ya'avor

it's hard to explain what it's like to take four law school exams in ten days, each 100% of the grade for their respective classes. you're tempted to feel the past few months hardly even mattered, and that this week-and-a-half is what decides your fate. you know its not true, you learned too much along the way for that to really be possible. but it's tempting. and then the headaches come, the back of your mind suddenly screaming that it's too much for one man to handle. you just have to breathe, remind yourself you've done it before and you'll do it again. it just sucks. and ultimately, i hate to say, that's what's it like to be a 1L. it pretty much just sucks.

i could hardly do anything -anything- without thinking "shouldn't i be studying?" i hate thinking that. it's not so much that i'm against studying and working hard - ok, maybe it is - but not being able to relax or enjoy myself in any conceivable way without feeling guilty about it; that's the killer. sometimes it got to the point where i instinctively thought "shouldn't i be studying?" while i was actually studying.

the only way i can conquer it is to truly enjoy studying. and i don't mean the end-of-the-day satisfaction of patting yourself on the back. i mean actually depriving in-the-moment pleasure. you know, to the point where you say "hey i've got an hour to kill, let's start the new chapter in property law!" that kind of thing. and some people can do it; and God bless'em for it. i can't do it easily - but i can on occasion. which is why i'm there in the first place.

but 1L is over. i'm home for a month before leaving for england for a 10-day vacation and then taking classes at the university of london for about about a month.

i think 2L and 3L will be better. i'll either be essentially home at elon, fairly close to home at mercer, or in an apartment outside of wilmington. either way, i'll be free of my biggest source of frustration - that damn dorm. the trash in the sink, the bathroom windows with a giant "FU**" written in soap, the unflushed toilets, the squealing refrigerator, the inexplicably loud buzzing sound from one of the lights outside my window. i couldn't even take a walk at night (my stress relief of choice) without widener's security giving me odd looks or stopping to talk to me because someone complained of "a guy walking around wearing a black hood."

having just that one, small room as the only place to call my own within a 500-mile radius took a psychological toll on me i wasn't expecting. i guess you could say it wasn't so much the stress, but the inability to relieve it - not having a sanctuary to run to. no quiet, empty place to walk to, no friend across the hall, no short drive home. i probably sound like i've spent the past year wallowing in misery, but that's not true. more like just going through the stressful motions of being a 1L, when it's sometimes hard to see the light at the end of the tunnel. but i knew it was there.

i knew that this too shall pass.

*slightly* busy

the worst part about law school is the exams, and i'm in the thick of them right now. don't expect much out of this blog until at least may 12th, when i get home.

re: the past few days

I'm always in class when the bad news hits.

I remember back in elementary school when word of the Oklahoma City bombing began to spread. I remember my high school being locked down for the last hour of classes due to Columbine (which I still don't get - did they think there was some nation-wide conspiracy going on? I guess they were worried about impromptu copy-cats). I remember Mr. Henline telling our AP Physics class there had been a "major terrorist attack in New York City."

I was in Contracts on Monday when I logged onto Widener's wireless, and went to my usual cycle of websites. I checked my fantasy baseball team, then moved on to Mary Katharine Ham's political blog and saw this post. I can't really remember what was taught in the remainder of the class. I was too occupied just reading and praying.

It hit me pretty hard. Not just because VT is in the ACC, but because they're in the ACC I had seen "Virgina Tech" at games - their athletes and students, their fans, their proud parents. Hell, the only football game in Groves I went to last year was against VT, when I was genuinely more concerned about my friends' safety from the very large, very packed, and very drunk crowd then whatever was happening on the field.

I don't have much to offer other than the normal shock, sadness and anger that this happened. I will add one observation - remember the Muhammad cartoons? Remember how all of the mainstream news outlets refused to publish or show the cartoons in order to respect Muslims? Contrast that to the absolute rush to air all the pictures and videos and writings of the shooter - he doesn't deserve to be named - that news outlets could get their hands on. I think its pretty damn disrespectful for CNN, Fox News, etc. to put an enormous image of the shooter pointing a gun straight into the camera on their web site's front page. Think about what that says to a VT student or parent. "Hey, here's the last thing your friend/child saw before they died." Then the subsequent captions - click here to watch his video! Click here to read his manifesto! Isn't that just granting his death wish? For the world to hear his thoughts? I don't get it. If the media is so obsessed with being PC and unoffensive, then why are they playing into this sick bastard's fame game?*

I may be rambling here, but I just refuse to watch any of his videos that he sent to NBC. At least not in the foreseeable future. I simply have no interest in hearing his explanations and excuses because what he did was unexplainable and inexcusable.

-------------------------------------------------

And on a COMPLETELY different note...

My NBA fantasy league ended in pretty much the closest finish possible. Check it out (I'm the San Antonio Sirloins):

That's right. The top three teams are separated by half a point. HALF A POINT. The tie at the top was made possible by me being tied with other teams in both blocks and FG%, as you can see here. Follow me here - in the 824 individual games played by my team, if I had just one more block, I would have won outright by half a point; one less block and I would have been tied for 2nd. One block in eight-hundred and twenty four games! In. Sane.

-------------------------------------------------

*The answer, of course, is that the friends and family of the VT victims won't blow up anything in response to being offended. Unlike... well, you know the rest.

Tim Duncan Now Has Street Cred

He's turning into Rasheed. How else could he get two technicals in just a couple minutes time.

What? He was just laughing on the bench? That can't be true. Oh, I see you brought video evidence.



Well I be damned. Timmy D got ejected for being amused. So much for the street cred. I was hoping he cold cocked Stackhouse or something.

Also love how the video goes a little long and shows Oberto getting called for a foul after our boy J-Ho ran straight into him.

New Baseball Rules In Action!

Wheeee! I love this stuff. A few months ago, MLB announced a few tweaks were made to the official rule book. The most notable was that a suspended tie game will now be resumed as part of a quasi-double header the next time the two teams meet. The old rule was that the game was replayed in it's entirety, though player statistics from the tie still counted, which I always found quite odd. I think this new rule is way better. After all, how much would it suck for, say, the Twins to waste a brilliant Johan Santana start because it starts to rain in the 9th with the game tied 0-0?

Anyway, the new rule gets applied today as the Brewers and Marlins settle their 2-2 tie right before they play the regularly scheduled game. Isn't that great!? I knew you'd love it.

In related news, here's your preview for today's Red Sox-Mariners game. Hope you understand Japanese.

Never Saw This Coming

Hampton to have surgery, miss season.

Also worthy of note: the 2, 3 and 4 hitters in Boston's line-up are all batting .217.

Also also worthy of note: the Indians and Angels are gonna play a series in Wisconsin.

Lastly of note: will I ever get my brief done? I guess we'll know the answer Thursday at 5:00pm.

EMERGENCY HOLY CRAP EDIT - That was one of the single best 24 episodes ever. If not the best, period. It had everything: a nuclear strike bluff, good old fashioned torture, classic CTU trickery, a Jack v terrorists shoot out, an incredible boss fight with an unbelievably satisfying death scene (see below), and the accustomed mid-season plot twist. Wow, wow, wow. Also, who didn't laugh out loud when Jack sat up into camera to reveal his death ruse? I know I did.

Doyle summed it up the only way possible: "Damn, Jack."

Skip Lands Biggest Recruit Since CP3

This is purportedly a Wake Forest sports blog, and I come bearing good news on the recruiting front. Ty Walker, the 3rd ranked center and 15th overall in the Class of 2008 according to Scout.com, has committed to Wake Forest. He should end up being the 9th (I believe) McDonald's All-American in Wake's history.

In unrelated news...

Geese are attacking students on the Widener campus. They've got a nest along the sidewalk connecting the main law building and Barrister's Club food court. The first day they were here, I stubbornly walked right by the male without incident, only to have him fly up and attack the next two guys. I must have some Jedi/Ma-ti calming effect on birds. Next day, the Barrister's Club staff stood on the balcony, enjoying the sight of students dealing with the male goose, some by running, others by swinging purses and backpacks. Today the area in question was lined off with yellow tape, with signs reading: "Caution! Aggressive Geese." Only, no geese in sight. I wonder if anyone took up my suggestion.

Also, a message to the state of Delaware:

One Down, 2,429 To Go

Let the fun begin.

The Official L&L Guide to the 2007 MLB Season

I've got an hour to kill on a Friday afternoon, and I dedicate to you, reader. You're welcome.

AL East
1. Boston
2. New York (Wild Card)
3. Toronto
4. Tampa Bay
5. Baltimore

I know I pick Boston to win the AL East every year, and I know it never happens. But can you blame me? I think Boston's 3rd place finish last season had a lot more to do with an incredibly viscous case of the injury bug than a lack of talent. Plus, it seems to me that Boston noticeably upgraded in the off-season, while New York remained more or less stagnate. Boston's rotation is better (Daisuke), the line-up is better (Drew, Lugo replacing Our Hero Nixon, Gonzalez), the bullpen is slightly better (Donnelly, Okajima, Romero). Meanwhile, New York replaced Sheffield with Mientkiewicz, though they'll have a healthy Matsui this year. The rotation replaced Johnson with Pettitte, which will probably be a push. At any rate, it'll be an extremely tight finish at the top. I don't feel that Toronto's rotation can carry them very far, and Tampa's plethora of young talent intrigues me enough to move them out of the basement. Expect a Tejada trade demand by June.

AL Central
1. Detroit
2. Chicago
3. Cleveland
4. Minnesota
5. Kansas City

I want to pick Cleveland or Minnesota to win here, but I just can't. They have two good starting pitchers between them (Sabathia and Santana), so I just don't see how either could overtake Chicago or Detroit. Watch out for KC - they'll still finish last, but the Teahen/Shealy/Gordon part of the line-up will do a good amount of hitting. In other words, they won't completely suck.

AL West
1. Los Angeles de Los Angeles de Anaheim
2. Oakland
3. Seattle
4. Texas

You're pretty much forced to pick the Angels here. Oakland lost its best hitter and best pitcher, and Texas has never shown it has the pitching to threaten for a division title. I feel like Seattle may make some waves this year with King Felix, but they'll still finish well behind even Oakland.Though I reserve the right to repudiate that 3rd place prediction if Ichiro is traded, which very well may happen.

NL East
1. New York
2. Philly (Wild Card)
3. Florida
4. Atlanta
5. Washington

I was extremely tempted to put Philly on top here. They have the rotation, the line-up and a descent enough bullpen to vie for the division crown. Plus, the Mets' rotation sans Pedro looks incredibly average (not to mention old). So why am I seeing a Mets title? I really don't know. Hmm...

NL East
1. Philly
2. New York (Wild Card)
3. Florida
4. Atlanta
5. Washington

Come to think of it, I like that a lot better.

NL Central
1. St. Louis
2. Chicago
3. Cincinnati
4. Milwaukee
5. Houston
6. Pittsburgh

St. Louis are the champions, but Chicago made a huge splash in the free agent pool. A line-up with Soriano, Derrek Lee and Aramis Ramirez is frightening, and a rotation with Zambrano, Hill and Lilly looks fairly good. Holding them off will probably come down to Adam Wainwright. If he can be a legit #2 starter, with a 3-ish ERA and 200 innings, then I feel that the Cards will definitely finish on top. If he struggles, I don't think Carpenter and Pujols can hold off the Cubs by themselves (did I just say Pujols couldn't do something? And that the Cubs could? Uh oh...).

I like Cincy over Houston and Milwaukee for currently unknown reasons.

NL West
1. Arizona
2. Los Angeles
3. San Diego
4. Colorado
5. San Fran

I have no idea what's going on in this division. The only thing I'm sure of is that San Diego and Los Angeles won't be finishing last. Seriously, nothing else would surprise me. Sports Illustrated has the Dodgers getting to the World Series; I'm not sold on that. I know their rotation is pure insanity, but they're depending on Juan Pierre and Nomar for offense. Yeesh. Then again, Arizona is depending on Chad Tracy and some rookies. Like I said, no idea. I guess I'm going with the Diamondbacks on a pure hunch. Maybe its a new-uni thing.

World Series: Do I even have to say it? The only real suspense is who I'm picking to lose to Boston. I'll go with... Philly. Yeah, why not.

300 Spartans vs. 4 Ninja Turtles

At last the timeless question of "Who would win in a fight, 300 Spartans or 4 Ninja Turtles?" has been answered: the Ninja Turtles, but only if the Spartans had already been fighting for two weeks.

Turtles top box office with $25 million.




Alternate title: "It Takes a Leo To Beat a Leo."

Irony Defined: Part 6,572

The NY Times has an article about a family writing a book about how, in an effort to be more "carbon neutral," they are forgoing toilet paper, among other things, for a year.

Do you see the irony yet? They want to save the forests by not using toilet paper, but they're publishing a book about the whole experience. A book, with hundreds of pieces of paper used in the making of each copy.

Oh, but they say the book will be published in some "sustainable" way. Which of course means those wonderful "carbon offsets," which sound a lot like the 21st century's version of selling indulgences. Didn't Brother Martin teach us that's a bad idea?

In related news, political blog Hot Air has a post about a "flip-flop defined" so clear and blatant that I don't even know what to make of it. It has the video and transcript of a Larry King Live interview with Senator Obama where, mere minutes after a clip shows him saying in a speech that "it’s time for us to bring our young people home," he remarks that he doesn't "know anybody who’s been talking about packing up and going home."

To quote a caveman: "Uh... what?"

Is This What The Ball Looked Like To Josh Beckett's Opposing Hitters Last Season?

Sorry for the lame joke. You may now return to watching the Madness. My bracket, by the way, is totally busted. Thanks, UNLV. Maybe one year my champion will make it out of round two.

VCU Fights In The Shade

After a lifetime of writing in a Duke loss in my bracket as soon as logically possible, I finally got it right. Thank you, Virginia Commonwealth. We are in your debt.

What say ye, Scheyer?

Darn straight.

Rapid Fire - 3/14

The drive up north was incredibly frustrating. It's hard enough leaving my friends behind, but this time I had the added pressure of knowing I had a good six-or-so hours of work ahead of me once I got to Wilmington. And if that wasn't enough, I ran into multiple traffic jams and accidentally got onto 395, which goes into the middle of DC and then inexplicably just stops. All in all, the drive took about 3 hours longer than expected. I stayed up until 7am finishing my outline, e-mailing it to Prof. Kehner (five hours to spare!) and then just collapsed on the bed until around 4pm.

That said, I had forgotten how much stress the gym can relieve. Hopefully I'll keep it up.

I really like Nickelback's song "Far Away." I know I've been a long-time Nickelback critic, but I still have to give credit where credit is due.

The more I think about 300, the more I like it. I just love how unapologetic it is. It makes no claim to be historically accurate, it knows it's over the top, and it just doesn't care. Plus, the historical impact of Thermopylae is incredibly fascinating: Leonidas and his 300 Spartans holding off a million Persians from invading Europe and stamping out Western democracy. Just awesome.

Also, 300's director, Zach Snyder, is currently working on the Watchmen movie. Watchmen is a graphic novel by Alan Moore, and while I've never read it myself, it's generally considered to be one of (if not the) greatest comic book stories ever written. It even made Time Magazine's list of the 100 Greatest Novels since 1923 - the only graphic novel to do so. I can't wait to see it.

Lastly, I wore sandals today. Nuff said.

Harvey Hale Is a God Among Insects

I wish it wasn't so late and I wasn't already burned out from making an annotated memo outline that still needs major work. That way, I might be able to provide my readers with some coherent thoughts, or maybe a "point." But alas, such is that case, and I leave you with random facts.

• Harvey Hale scored an inexplicable 21 of his 22 points after regulation.
• Wake's shooting percentages are in reverse order of what you should expect: .696 3pt, .642 FG, .625 FT. If only we we shot more from half court, we wouldn't have needed the two overtimes. And we must really suck at lay-ups.
  
• The cable went out no less than 2 minutes after the game ended. Which reminded me of the one advantage of my craptastic one-channel bedroom TV: it will always get NBC.
• All four lower-seeded teams won on Thursday. The mind boggles.
• Wake had a crazy well-rounded scoring effort: no less than seven players reached double figures.

That's all I got. Goodnight.

Nobody Wins a Championship Without Our Say-So! You Here Me, Jefferson? NOBODY!

"Not if anything to say about it I have." - Yoda

Sure, we finished 12th last year; sure, we have only one scorer averaging double figures for the first time in our ACC history; but if the USS Skip Prosser Era is sinking then by God we're taking some chumps down with us.

Today, those chumps were the University of Virginia Men's Basketball team.

Thought you could just waltz your way to the Regular Season Championship? Thought you could get a #1 seed in your sleep? Thought you could pull off the ugly-mustache-and-orange-jersey look?

WRONG!!! This Winston-Salem. We're named after tobacco companies. Yeah, you better run.

/concludes grasping at straws

Movie News!

A lot of this has been built-up in the back of my head, and I dare say its time to let it out...

Paul Giamatti as Santa Claus might be the most brilliant casting choice since... since... well, since the last movie Giamatti was in.

Speaking of Giamatti, him and Clive Owen play rival hitmen in the aptly named Shoot'em Up.

After watching the Shrek 3 trailer, I went to IMDB to see what child actor was the voice of the prepubescent not-yet-king Arthur. The answer? Justin Timberlake. Some jokes just write themselves.

Zach Braff ends his run of self-awaking, coming-of-age dark comedies and goes for the standard RomCom in The Ex. Might be good.

Transformers and TMNT!? I'm in heaven. Do we call this the Saturday Morning Summer? Additional goodness: they brought back the original Optimus Prime (Peter Cullen) and Donatello will be voiced by Barry the Dentist from Friends. You heard it here first.

James Cameron Takes Lt. Dan Literally, Actually Finds Jesus

The news will be shocking to many. But to me, it's really just confusing. I had already downgraded Jesus to demi-god level (see: Muhammad, Gilgamesh, Ron Hubbard) after Tom Hanks told me him and Magdalene (that old dame) started a line of French kings. I mean, the French! I can't worship them!

But then the whole thing was rendered moot when Brian Flemming told me the Apostles were just joking about that "Jesus" guy. Sure, I was disappointed, but I felt worse for the Merovingians, since it turns out their grand pappy didn't even exist. But they tried to kill Keanu Reeves, so I guess they had it coming. Plus, this one is actually hooking up with Lady Magdalene herself, which is just wrong. Didn't he read about Oedipus? Perv.

But now James Cameron is telling me Jesus really did exist (you can breathe, Frenchies). As it turns out, Mr. Cameron didn't fall off the face of the planet after directing Titanic. In fact, he's been spending the past ten years translating the ultimate code: common Jewish names written on tombs! This ground breaking discovery that 1st century Jews not only buried their dead but were also literately proficient sends the pendulum swinging back. First, Jesus was The Savior, then more of a ladies man/Savior, then he didn't exist at all. Now, we're back to existence, but that Savior-dom needs work. If only C.S. Lewis was a documentary filmmaker...

Sill Here

I forgot how unbelievably easier law school is when you haven't been assigned a legal methods memo yet. I start my semester settling into a structured-but-not-too-unpleasant routine of sleeping, eating, and reading. Things go smoothly, and I actually got several classes ahead in all my subjects. Then I had to begin my memo research. Now I'm not ahead in any of my subjects. While that would be par for the course last semester, now it feels like I'm dreadfully behind. Anyway, that's the reason for going on an odd post-per-day run, then disappearing for a week. The busy-ness of law school can creep up from behind and DDT you* before you even realize that play time is over.

-----------------

Today I had my first fantasy baseball draft of the year. I picked 11th in a traditional 12-team, 5x5 roto league. Let's see how it went.

1. David Ortiz (1B-Bos)
2. Vladimir Guerrero (OF-LAA)
I felt exceptionally lucky to grab these two sluggers with the 11th and 14th overall picks, considering they ranked 7th and 9th on my draft board.
3. Roy Oswalt (SP-Hou)
4. Roy Halladay (SP-Tor)
And now I have two aces under my belt. Getting four proven fantasy stars like Ortiz, Guerrero, Oswalt and Halladay is a great way to start a draft.
5. J.J. Putz (RP-Sea)
6. Carlos Guillen (SS-Det)
Wish you could draft Derek Jeter in the 6th round? You can. His name is Carlos Guillen.
7. Alex Gordon (3B-KC)
Probably my first big misstep in the draft. I panicked after a surprisingly long run on thid basemen. Gordon will be a great player some day, but definitely isn't worth a 7th round pick this year. Then again he could go .300/20/20 right outta the gate.
8. Matt Cain (SP-SF)
9. Takashi Saito (RP-LAD)
78.1 innings, 107 k's, 3 home runs allowed. Yes, please!
10. Magglio Ordonez (OF-Det)
11. Mark Teahen (3B,OF-KC)
Insurance for Gordon, but now I have two Royals. Gulp.
12. Josh Barfield (2B-Cle)
13. Dave Bush (SP-Mil)
Wake Forest! Drafting Cain and Bush gives me four of the top 15 starting pitchers off my draft board. I probably ranked Bush way too high, but he's a Deacon!
14. Michael Cuddyer (1B,OF-Min)
15. Ryan Freel (2B,3B,OF-Cin)
Resident stolen base guy. Plus, love that position flexibility.
16. Joe Borowski (RP-Cle)
17. Scott Olsen (SP-Fla)
18. Jason Varitek (C-Bos)
I "punted" on catchers, waiting until the 18th round to take one. If Varitek can hit 15/.280 I'll be perfectly satisfied, and I don't think that's asking for too much.
16. Jhonny Peralta (SS-Cle)
17. Bob Howry (RP-ChC)
Will probably be the Cubs' closer if (when) Dempster stumbles. And even if not, he still has excellent value as a set-up man.
18. Gerald Laird (C-Tex)

Overall, I'm pretty happy, especially with my first six picks. My biggest strength will be in pitching, which is kind of odd considering my first two picks were elite hitters. My biggest weakness is definitely relying on two of Gordon, Teahen and Freel to be worthy of starting. One has to start at third, and another will have to be at utility, since Peralta and Laird are purely there to be back-ups in case of injury.

*Let's ignore the fact that that the DDT is a move from the front, not behind, k?

Who's Last Now!?

Not only did today's 74-69 win over Miami send Wake to it's first winning streak since Jan. 6th (when we - get this - beat Miami), but it also sends us screaming out of last place in the ACC, on a sure-fire charge to take the ACC Tourney by storm! Ok, probably, not... but we're still undefeated in our 1962 throwbacks, seen above. Now if only we could paint them black for the road, the world really would be our oyster.

Deacon Unis Make the Big Time

Wake Forest's 1962 throwback jerseys from our victory over the once 17-0 Clemson Tigers received special attention in today's entry over at Uni Watch.

The heart of the discussion is that the decision to wear the jerseys was an ad hoc move by the coaching staff and the curious fact that the jerseys still had the 100th season patch from last season.

Something is Amiss with Yahoo Sports

About half-way down the Yahoo Sports front page, there's a section called "Who's Hot? Fantasy Performers." They list the top three "hot" guards, forwards and centers, along with the top three "not" players at the same positions. The thing is, the players selected as being "hot" and "not" (and the three stats shown to exemplify said hotness and notness over the past week) are uncanningly random and nonsensical.

I tell you this now because two of today's hot and not players are some of the most erroneous to date.

The #1 "hot" center is Jason Collins, with these three 7-day averages are shown as evidence: 1.000 FT%, 0.0 turnovers, 0.8 blocks. Meanwhile, the #3 "not" center is Chris Bosh, with these averages shown: .541 FG%, 1.0 blocks, 23.3 points. Now, which one is supposed to struggling? And how does playing a few games without a turnover and going 2-2 from the charity stripe make you the hottest center in the NBA?

I know I may be the only one on the planet who cares about Yahoo's choices for hot and not players, but the selections can be so incredibly arbitrary and counter intuitive I feel someone should at least take note of it.

I Smell Baseball

Facts about today, in descending order of uplifting-ness.

Edit: 1a) Wake wins!!!

1) Pitchers and catchers for nine teams reported. Baseball shall return soon.

2) It's been snowing pretty hard the past two days and driving through snow-packed parking lots is beyond fun.

3) There's a filet mignon defrosting in my fridge. Mmm...

4) I mailed out my summer abroad applications today, three to programs in London and one to a program that goes to London, Paris, Geneva and Brussels, spending about a week in each city.

5) Someone locked all the stalls in my hall's bathroom. So that was... odd.

6) It's Valentine's day, which I'm pretty sure is only enjoyed by women in relationships. For anyone else its either depressing or stressful.

MLB.com got hacked... bad

This is what I got logging into MLB.com's home page. A very long list of porn links.























Abner Doubleday would be proud.

The Bizzarro Sports Weekend

As if Peyton Manning winning the Super Bowl wasn't enough weirdness...

• #25 Clemson loses to a struggling Georgia Tech (we beat them for crying out loud! By double digits!)
• #16 Virginia Tech loses to an unranked (though ACC-leading) Boston College
• #3 UNC loses to a nondescript NC State
• Florida State beats #8 Duke (who is now barely above .500 in the ACC) in Cameron Indoor.

OK, so that list only includes ACC basketball. If you want me to expand the list to include odd variances of fantasy basketball performances, I will! That's what I thought. Back to the Super Bowl...

The seeming consensus from the many sports blogs I frequent is that last night's game was uninspiring and dull. I couldn't disagree more. It rained for the first time in Super Bowl history. The opening kick-off was returned for a touchdown. An interception was returned for a touchdown. There were two instances of back-to-back fumbled turnovers. Adam Vinatieri missed a field goal. These bloggers seem to have become too accustomed to the Brady drivin', Vinatieri kickin', Dyson tacklin', Elway helicopterin', drama-filled "defining moments" of the past decade and need to recognize an entertaining game when they see it. Either that or they're just disappointed they can't ridicule Peyton anymore.

Make Sure to Watch the Game the Legal Way

From this article about the NFL prohibiting a church from showing the Super Bowl...

"The NFL objected to the church's plans to use a projector to show the game, saying the law limits it to one TV no bigger than 55 inches."

That's right. If you dare invite some friends over to watch the game on one of these 62-inchers..

... then you've broken the law. Instances like this, along with the news that MLB will limit its Extra Innings package (which lets you watch your favorite team's games out-of-market) to DirectTV subscribers only, I fear that sports leagues are forgetting about what should be a major goal: appeasing its hard core fans. I know it's a business and they have every right to control and profit from their product, but that product is a major part of the American culture. It should be treated as something more than just a cash cow.

Trot Nixon: Death Dealer

I am very amused by any article that starts off with a paragraph like this:

"Trot Nixon, I've had enough. I give up. You win. Your quest to completely destroy the hopes and dreams of fantasy owners is complete. Apparently, I underestimated your ability to scuttle the best-laid plans of fantasy owners. Apparently, three injury-riddled, ineffective seasons wasn't enough for fantasy owners to have soured on your once-lauded potential. Oh no, Mr. Nixon, you weren't satisfied with simply wasting what looked to be shaping up as a solid career. Nosireebob, you had to go and sign a free agent contract with the Indians, taking two potential fantasy sleepers down with you."

The sleepers the author refers to are Ryan Garko and Shin-Soo Choo, who must now split time with our hero. In fact, there's currently seven players on the Indians (Nixon, Choo, Garko, Casey Blake, David Dellucci, Jason Michaels, and Franklin Gutierrez) all of whom will have to share left, right and first. Good luck trying to estimate those splits. The good people at Roto Authority tried, and they barely got out alive.

vinco vici victum

After 6 straight losses, it was good to finally get win, 85-75 over our new found whipping boys the Georgia Tech Yellow Jackets. Those guys must really hate us by now.

This will in all likelihood entrench Ish/Harvey/LD/Skeen/Fear the Viss as our starting line-up, which I think is for the best. Just limit Drum's minutes for Pete's sake.

LD apparently had the oop to end all oops right before halftime. I've yet to see it since I'm limited to listening to the games over yahoo broadcast, but the guys on radio about had a heart attack when it happened. Surely some intrepid Deacon fan can upload that vid to YouTube soon. When I see, I'll add it to mein bloggen.

Update: Just saw it as sportscenter's #2 play of the day, and it was indeed sick. No youtube yet...

Update: found a picture of LD's other dunk, which was "only" #7 on sportscenter...

Yes, he made that.

I'm Going To Kill Intel

I want my pound of flesh for this atrocity.