Dwyane. Wade.

Generally, I prefer watching college over pro hoops during the regular season. Yes the players are better in the League, but there's something of a Kabuki aspect to most NBA regular season games - everyone knows exactly what the other team is going to do on offense, so there's a lot of repition. Suns games are the continuous and obvious exceptions (BTW, often times Boris Diaw make you say "Joe who?")

Of course, I still have the game on in the background while I do important things, like working on my stand-up routine in the comments at Balloon Juice, or trying to mock Sebby without using some derivation of 'skinny.' (It's harder than you think when considering a guy who goes 6-5 and 103 pounds.

So, it's a good thing I have the DVR working so I can go back and watch in full things like Dwyane Wade's astounding 4th quarter with my full attention. You can have your Carmelo, you can have your Gigli Arenas. I'll take D-Wade and have no second thoughts. By my unofficial count, in the last 4:30 of the game, he outscored the Pistons 17-8 with the following stat line: 7-7 FG, 3-3 FT, 2 Rbs (big boards in traffic amongst the trees). With All-NBA defenders Billups and Prince guarding him. And the Pistons not playing badly on offense themselves (Chauncey Billups in particular.)

I'd like to add the Hubie Brown is the best announcer in all of sports, and it's not really close. Not only does he know everything there is to know about basketball, he communicates that knowledge clearly and well, and still enjoys the game enough to get all excited when great players make great plays. Adds tremendously to the experience.

Sounds About Right.

Advanced Global Personality Test Results Extraversion |||||||||||||| 56% Stability |||||||||||||||||||| 86% Orderliness |||||| 30% Accommodation |||||| 30% Interdependence |||||||||||||||| 63% Intellectual |||||||||||||||| 70% Mystical |||||||||| 36% Artistic |||| 16% Religious |||| 16% Hedonism |||||||||||||| 56% Materialism |||||||||||||| 56% Narcissism |||||||||| 36% Adventurousness |||||||||| 36% Work ethic |||||| 30% Self absorbed |||||||||||||||| 63% Conflict seeking |||||||||||||||| 70% Need to dominate |||||||||||| 43% Romantic |||||||||||||| 56% Avoidant |||||||||||||||||| 76% Anti-authority |||||| 23% Wealth |||||||||||| 43% Dependency |||||| 23% Change averse |||||||||||||||| 63% Cautiousness |||||||||||||| 56% Individuality |||||||||||| 43% Sexuality |||||| 30% Peter pan complex |||||||||||| 50% Physical security |||||||||||||||||||| 90% Physical Fitness |||||||||| 37% Histrionic |||||| 23% Paranoia |||||||||||||| 56% Vanity |||||||||||||| 56% Hypersensitivity |||||||||||| 43% Female cliche |||| 16%

Take Free Advanced Global Personality Test
personality tests by similarminds.com

Stability results were very high which suggests you are extremely relaxed, calm, secure, and optimistic.

Orderliness results were low which suggests you are overly flexible, improvised, and fun seeking at the expense too often of reliability, work ethic, and long term accomplishment.

Extraversion results were moderately high which suggests you are, at times, overly talkative, outgoing, sociable and interacting at the expense of developing your own individual interests and internally based identity.

trait snapshot:

messy, tough, disorganized, fearless, not rule conscious, likes the unknown, rarely worries, rash, attracted to the counter culture, rarely irritated, positive, resilient, abstract, not a perfectionist, risk taker, strange, weird, self reliant, leisurely, dangerous, anti-authority, trusting, optimistic, positive, thrill seeker, likes bizarre things, sarcastic

(via ahistoricality)

I think that I'm a little more "anti-authority" and a little more into "individuality" than the above suggests, but other than that...yeah.

StacheBlogging: Dickie V. in the House

In his first in-person look at Adam Morrison this season, how many times will Vitale mention J.J. Redick or make Morrison-Bird comparisons during this telecast? Stay tuned. (All times Pacific)

6:02 - OOh, before we even introduce Dickie V., Brad Nessler hits the trifecta: Larry Bird, Pistol Pete, JJ Redick. That's one.

6:04 - Holy crap, Nessler and V. are wearing faux-staches. Dickie looks like the Pringles guy.

6:05 - Tip off. 5-0 Stanford right off the bat.

6:08 - "They take everyone's best shot, just like Duke." Doesn't quite count, 8-2 Stanford.

6:10 - Stache is 0-2, plus an out of control turnover. "You think he knew Mr. Redick had 35 today?" That's one!

6:15 - On the board with two FT's. They show a stat that says Morrison takes just under 1/3 of their shots. I could live with that...The Gonzaga crowd chants JJ, Dickie thinks it's funny. 2.

6:19 - Gonzaga has the longest current home win streak. Which gives Vitale the opportunity to remind us that Duke is 3rd on that list, in case we forgot. Also, Morrison has diabetes. Alonzo Mourning has one kidney, how is diabetes an issue for his NBA prospects?

6:20 - Morrison hits a nice pull-up J in his defender's grill. "OOOOH. Larry Legend was the last guy to carry a non-marquee conference team to the final four, can Morrison do the same". Next possession "just like Redick, he can be quiet for a while, then put up points in a hurry." The double dip gets us to 4 by the under 12:00 TV timeout.

6:23 - Out of the time out, tough leaner in the lane, and-one. "Only a matter of time, just like Redick. There are 3 locks for All-American. Mr Morrison! Mr. Redick! and Shelden Williams!" He goes on for a bit, we'll call that just one since it was a continuous stream of comparison. 5. (The other two Dickie V. all-americans are Rudy Gay of UConn and Mardy Collins (???) of Temple. How about Randy Foye? Brandon Roy? LeMarcus Aldridge? Rodney Carney of Memphis? Mike Gansey from West Va? But what do I know, I only watch 2-3 games a night.)

6:28 - J.P. Batista is carrying the Zags right now, 25-21 Stanford, Gonzaga does not look sharp.

6:32 - Another and-one for the 'Stache on a put back. That's the part I love about his game is how he finds crafty ways to score, moves well off the ball, hits the O-Boards. Dickie V. rattles of some stats comparing Morrison to...you get the idea. And Nessler says he likes what Morrison and Redick do off the ball. I should be getting paid for this.

Vitale also notes how odd it is for the top two scorers in the country to play for teams that don't suck. Which is a good point, as is the obvious "Morrison needs to work on his defense" as his guy blows by. Oh yeah. 6.

6:35 - "No conspiracy in favor of Duke or Gonzaga" blah blah blah. "Redick piles up points at the end of games because they're ahead and he's getting fouled." Dickie, we're in Spokane here. I'm sure you have 2 or 3 Duke games on your schedule next week, so save some material... 7

6:40 - The white shoes again, what's the deal? Nice pull-up J drifting right by Stache. Dickes says "He's one of the best two in the country" That counts, since I'm pretty sure he means JJ. 8.

6:45 - Ah, the white shoes are part of the Coaches Vs. Cancer thing. Cool.

6:47 - Pull up trey at the first half buzzer. A very quiet 15 at the half for Morrison, largely because Stanford has led thewhole way 43-38 at the half. Worth noting that Gonzaga plays very little D most of the time.

7:04 - Back from half-time. MMM Beef Stew.

7:06 - After a jumper "Look at the passion, that's what JJ Redick has!" 9. Gonzaga takes the lead after an A-Mo steal and a P-Mac layin. 44-43, 17 for Stache.

7:13 - 26 Footer, good. Dickie V. says book him for 35 by the end of the night. "Are you watvhing JJ?" 10. "In a perfect world, J.J. would win the Naismith, Morrison would win..." 11. I might book you for 35 by the end of the night, Dickie.

7:16 - Spokane wit = cardboard signs reading "JJ Who?" Morrison needs to finish with 37 to take over the national scoring lead from Matt Leinart Redick. Not that kind of scoring, Pooh, have you seen Adam Morrison?

Dickie thinks both guys are winners. That's the kind of analysis that gets you the big bucks. 12. Stanford's point guard looks just like Terrance Howard, FWIW. It's hard in Palo Alto for a pimp.

7:20 - Stanford not so much missing shots, tied at 54. Batista bulls his way to 2 more, he has 22.

7:34 - Nothing really doing for Gonzaga right now. Nothing realy working on O, down 5. Vitale hasn't talked about anything Duke related in at least 10 minutes. A new record?

7:38 - Biggest advantage Morrison has over Redick is rebounding. He tipped the ball out to teammate, ran the floor, drew the foul, 61-58 Stanford. "Morrison and Redick, player of the year battle blah blah blah"13. Morrison passes inside for a layup. "That was a big asset of Larry Bird, passing." 14. 61-60.

7:47 - 66-64 Zags at the 4 minute timeout. Good game. It is sometimes hard to tell how good a team you haven't seen before is when they're making shots to stay in the game vs. a 'better' team. Is Stanford pretty decent, or are they just making more shots than usual? FT by Morrison makes it 67-64, he has 22. Dickie V. has 14 and might win with a strong finish.

7:52 - Big trey by Morrison, Zags up 4. "PTPer baby!" Intentional foul???? Wow, tough call against Stache at home...

7:56 - News Flash! Adam Morrison watches Larry Bird tapes. "There's a lot of similarities." Uh, they're ugly white guys, so that's one...15

7:57 - 3 Guys on him, he scores anyway, he's got 27, Zags by 5. Another, er, great sign in the crowd. "Adam, Larry Called he wants his talent back". WHAT? Dickie V. tells a Bird story apropo of wanting to talk.

7:59 - After a 3 pt player cuts it to 2, a ludicrous 3 with a guy in his face pushes the lead back to 5. Dickie V. says give a gold trophy to both him and Redick. I think I've heard that one, though I'm not sure because of the ringing in my ears from the howling 16. Seriously everyone in the gym knew exactly the play Gonzaga was running and where he was going to shoot it from, and it just didn't matter. Respect.

8:02 - Morrison gets fouled. "Duke and Gonzaga go to the line alot, forget about conspiracies, it's about winning players." 17. 77-73 Zags with 30 seconds left. Morrison has the last 11 for Gonzaga.

8:04 - The Double-Dip! "I'll tell you one thing about Morrison, just like Redick they want the ball when the game's on the line. That was a trademark of Larry the Legend." Count it for 2. 19. Morrison also claims he banked the game winner against OK. State on purpose. Dickie V. doesn't buy it, but I thought he meant it at the time...

8:07 - Two FT's for Morrison. He finishes with 34, Gonzaga wins 80-76, good game. Vitale seemed almost...subdued in the second half.

Well there you have it folks, Morrison 34, Vitale 19. Good times.

Update Sportscenter has the following comparison of Morrison and Redick

Points today: Redick 35 - Morrison 34
PPG season: Redick 28.7 - Morrison 28.6
Fg%: Redick 50.4% - Morrison 51.1%
3pt.FG%: Redick 43.9% - Morrison 43.4%

The Devils I Know

Now this is more like it, Duke by 8 at Maryland. JJ with 35, ho-hum. (More on that later) Big game from Sheldon Williams, and Paulus didn't kill them tonight.

Incidentally, what's the deal with all the coaches wearing white sneakers today? Is it an Eddie Sutton thing? Both benches had them in the (very good) Washington-UCLA game. Brandon Roy is nice for UW.

Anyway, it's worth noting that the anti-anti-Redick pushback has started. First, one of ESPN's resident TarHeels, Bomani Jones, says stop hating:

Is all this hate really necessary? ACC message boards are full of fans spewing millions of reasons to hate Redick. They range from his supposed arrogance to anger that more wasn't made of the suspicion he smoked marijuana in a dormitory in 2003. Many refer to the dreadful poetry he read aloud in an interview last season. And none of this is helped by the multitude of broadcasters who credit him for everything from his work ethic to the flawless form with which he ties his shoes. It seems like only Billy Packer doesn't rush to slobber all over the kid.

But no one has any good reason to hate Redick. There's no way he is more detestable than Chris Paul, who cowardly punched Julius Hodge last season -- from behind, no less -- but was "secure" enough in his "manhood" to cry on the bench during losses. And he's definitely not in the same league as the gold standard for collegiate villains, Christian Laettner. Before he was the Dream Team's bellhop, Laettner could be seen sneering across the country and, if the situation called for it, stepping on players' chests in the NCAA Tournament without receiving an ejection or suspension. Redick isn't even as objectionable as Steve Wojciechowski, the current Duke assistant who tap-danced on the thin line between being scrappy and being dirty during his playing career. And he's surely not as overrated as Danny Ferry.

. . .

But if my fellow Duke haters aren't careful, they'll miss their chance to appreciate one of the best shooters in recent memory. They'll miss the only player I've seen who must literally be guarded as soon as he crosses half-court, someone whose accomplishments are amplified when you consider that Shelden Williams is, unequivocally, the most overrated player in America and freshman point guard Greg Paulus wets the bed when the heat's turned on.

Mighty MJD also sings some praise:

I think Redick will make a fine professional, too. I question whether or not he has the combination of size and speed to guard NBA 2-guards, but… he’s the kind of player that finds a way. Two years ago, he was nothing like what he is now. He will work to get better. Yeah, there are things you can point to that he doesn’t have, but when you look at what he does have… a pure jumpshot with almost limitless range, a great sense of timing, he’ll work like hell to get open, he’s an underrated passer, he plays unselfishly, and when the game’s on the line, he’s got balls of steel. That’s too rare to pass on. If I were an NBA GM, there’s no way I’d let him get past the middle of the first round.

Well, there are occasionally good reasons to hate JJ

Though some aren't specific to JJ, more of a larger Duke thing. This serves as a crisis of conscience for the combo Red Sox-Duke Fan.

(best caption at the link? "Chop! Chop! Hey, this is easy! Why, it's just like the move I pulled on Brandon Arroyo!" Nice McCarver shot in there as well. Heh.)

That being said, I have to agree, from a pure basketball standpoint, how can you not like Redick? Watch him, just him, on offense some time. He does nothing spectacular or complicated, but he never stops moving and has so much stamina. He just makes simple basketball moves and makes shots. In many ways, he reminds me of Rip Hamilton, underated by many (though Redick is hardly the athlete or the defender).

Incidentally, I'm not sure if there has been a recent player who I've incorrectly doubted more coming out of college than Rip - I thought he'd struggle to create his own shot, and didn't have sufficient range. Well he can't creat his own shot... with the ball and he's leading the league (or near the top) in 3-pt shooting, though he doesn't take many.

The thing about players like Rip and JJ is that you always have to know where they are, every defender has to pay attention. It's not like the guy who dominates the ball like AI, or Kobe or the enigmatic Gilbert Arenas. It's much more subtle, looking at the Pistons, the guy guarding a Wallace or a Wallace has to hedge over a screen and suddenly Rasheed is open to knock down a 3 or Big Ben (BONG!) is tip dunking. Their scoring ability without the ball does so much to make the whole team better.

Trust me, next time you watch Duke or Detroit, watch how often another player gets an advantage because their defender is worried about Rip or JJ when they don't have the ball.

Gopher Pride

No, not the demolition of Michigan St., I'm talking about the splendiferous gentleman from Minnesota, Norm Coleman getting handled by Brownie at the FEMA hearings. I haven't really been paying a lot of attention to said hearings, but this clip peaked my interests, mainly because Senator Norm was the commencement speaker at my law school graduation*. I'm now so proud. Josh Marshall's take on the exchange is about right:

Coleman tried the standard hearings grandstanding against a disgraced or weakened witness -- a tactic pretty much written into the DNA of every senator and rep. But Brown managed to get in Coleman's face and turn the tables on him.

At the end, Coleman actually used the fact that he had run out of time to run away from the encounter with Brown. I'm not sure I've ever seen that happen before.

It ends with an angry back and forth where Brown asks "What more do you want from me, Senator? Ask me the question?" And he means it, he wants to get into it rightnow. Coleman indeed slinks off.

Say what you want about Brownie, if he's the one going down for this, he's going to go down swinging. I might add that it's a sad state that most of the Senators (R and D) are such gasbags that Brown even comes off as sympathetic in the least. O.K., he's largely admitted he screwed up, let's move on from point-scoring and figure out how we can fix some of the structural problems DHS has?

I swear, you could drop Dick Vitale in on one of these hearings, and no one would notice the difference.



* A wild-eyed rumor breathlessly repeated around Christmas of my 3rd year had it that Karl Rove was going to be the speaker. That I would have liked to see.

Why Intellectual Property Issues Should Be Important to You

It's really not just for tech-dorks - consider the consequences of an overly narrow definition of 'fair use':

Looking for concrete proof as to the bad calls and having made the mistake of not TiVoing the game, it dawned on me that this was the perfect opportunity to check out Comcast's Video On Demand (VOD) service. My thoughts were rewarded when there (among the piles of useless shows) was a replay of the game.

I pressed play and was a little surprised to see that the replay was actually a condensed version of the game. "No worries," I thought, "I don't need the whole game; the highlights will do just fine." However, it quickly became apparent that the game wasn't just condensed -- it was edited.

Gone was the Daryl Jackson play where one foot landed in bounds and the other hit the pylon. Touchdown? Gone was the phantom hold call. Gone was any discussion over whether Big Ben actually made it into the end zone. Gone was the flag being thrown on the Hasselbeck's tackle. Cynics might argue that the game was edited to support the NFL's conclusion of "proper officiating."

To make matters worse, it was edited and put together by the content owner, the NFL.

This is where "Fair Use" is so important . . . Sure, it might seem trivial. It's a sporting event. Who cares? However, consider the greater ramifications. What if it weren't a football game? What if, instead, it was CSPAN and the "contest" was a debate? To safeguard consumers' rights viewers must always retain the ability to view, snip, edit, transcode, etc. content as they deem necessary. Consumers need the ability to send video clips to their friends, post them on their websites, etc.. At the trivial end the subject line might read: "You're seriously calling *THAT* a block?!" However, unless we protect that subject with vigor we might just never see the subject line: "You won't believe what he said in the debate."

(Emphasis mine). To quote Mark Kleiman's tagline, "Everyone is entitled to his own opinion, but not his own facts." Of course, if you can just edit out the inconvenient bits...

Update 2/11/06: Ahistoricality has related thoughts.

By way of further discussion, I think this raises interesting questions as to how to treat non-written information in the digital age. "Facts" are not copywritable - to what extent should 'images' (or audio recordings) of live events be seen as facts, as opposed to original works? It's not hard to imagine a scenario where the defining video of a play such as Roethlisberg's TD(?) takes on Zapruder film-like significance, and that leads to all sorts of nastiness, including, but not limited to, Oliver Stone films.

Big Music Friday: Pick Me Up Buttercup

Since I was a grumpy Gus yesterday, thought this Friday would be a good chance to, instead of going random, go with my 10 "pick me up songs". Soooooo....

1. "Around the World" - Daft Punk. Good song in it's own right, and also take me back to the happiest I can remember myself being, spring break my senior year of college. And not, it wasn't that kind of spring break.
2. "Yeah!" - Usher. Because just yelling out "Yea-ahhhhhh", brings a smile to my face. Or even thinking about it.
3. "Float On" - Modest Mouse. I think I do in fact "Float On" through life, so it works for me.
4. "Mo Better Blues" - Wynton Marsalis.
5. "Always Look on the Bright Side of Life" - Monty Python. (Cue whistling sounds) (And I can't even whistle, myself.)
6. "Dirty Water" - The Standells. It's a Fenway thing. Smells like....Victory. And spilled, stale, crappy beer.
7. "Change Clothes (Grey Album Version)" or "H to the Izzo" - Jay Z. I must have listened to the first one 25 times in a row when I first, er, acquired the Grey Album, 'Is that neccesary?' 'For shizzle my nizzle used to dribble down in V.A.?' Nonsense, right, but makes me think of the best parts of a parade and a barbecue. Good times.
8. "Bron-y-aur Stomp" - Zeppelin. Foot-pounding, bluesy-bluegrass goodness.
9. "What?" - A Tribe Called Quest. Have I mentioned that I miss these guys?
10. "Life By the Drop" - SRV. Not really a happy song, more about redemption, but it does seem like seeing the light at the end of the tunnel, and that's where I like to end up. That's how it happens...

Edit: Somehow, I forgot one, but was reminded: "Movin' Right Along" - Kermit and Fozzy. I love muppets.

Filliam H. Muffington

I've recently started watching the Colbert Report, and I have one honest question - do his guest's have an adeqaute understanding of how full of crap he is pretending to be? (Or is he really pretending to be full of crap? The levels of double-secret-ironicasm defeat me.)

For example, the last two nights he's had Alan Dershowitz and George Packer, and they both, at times, have seemed more than a little ticked at Colbert for his jingoism. Maybe, especially in terms of Packer, who I'm sure gets jawboned repeatedly, it's just reflex to get all spiky in response to certain topics.

That being said, he's damn funny. (If you are wondering about the title of the post, it comes from his dissection of the dynamics of Hollywood power couples: Brangelina, Bennfier² and William H. Macy/Felicity Huffman. Slendiferous Zeppelin Adventurers...)

In Other News, Water is Wet

Take the 100 Acre Personality Quiz!

As for The Muppets...of course, I'm the cranky critics, Waldorf & Statler

Update 2/10/06: Since bad meme's come in threes...(via bill)

You scored as Serenity (Firefly). You like to live your own way and don't enjoy when anyone but a friend tries to tell you should do different. Now if only the Reavers would quit trying to skin you.

Serenity (Firefly) 88% Deep Space Nine (Star Trek) 75% Millennium Falcon (Star Wars) 75% Nebuchadnezzar (The Matrix) 63% Galactica (Battlestar: Galactica) 63% Babylon 5 (Babylon 5) 63% SG-1 (Stargate) 63% Moya (Farscape) 56% Enterprise D (Star Trek) 50% FBI's X-Files Division (The X-Files) 50% Bebop (Cowboy Bebop) 44% Andromeda Ascendant (Andromeda) 38% Your Ultimate Sci-Fi Profile II: which sci-fi crew would you best fit in? (pics) created with QuizFarm.com

Post Lightly...

No big stick is in evidence, however.

My own thoughts consist of little more than quasi-barbaric yawps at the state of the States at present. They barely hold my attention, so why should I expect them to hold yours? Besides my level of understanding of how many of my fellow humans 'reason' is nearing an all time nadir. I understand the outlook of the only sane man in the asylum, but is it more likely to problem is with me or with everyone else.

Hopefully, some sporting event or movie or something will come along and pique my attention, so when I talk bollox at least I'll be talking about bollox, and risk offending no one save for the Duke-haters out their (and you know who you all are).

All by long-winded and self-indulgent way of saying that posting may be light for a piece.

AHW: Just Shut Up

All of you. Be it a cartoon or a yellow flag or a speech. Just. Shut. Up. And. Take. It. That is all for this week.

Update: Except for John Stewart and Stephen Colbert. You keep talking.

Talking Loud, Saying Nothing

"It might feel good
It might sound a little somethin
but damn the game if it don't mean nuttin"

- Chuck D. of Public Enemy - "He Got Game"

For some reason, in trying to respond to Pastor Jeff's post about the polarized nature of discourse in this country, a variation of the above lyrics kept popping into my head. In three lines, it describes the situation perfectly.

It feels good to unleash “righteous” indignation. In fact, it feels so good that the indignation doesn't even have to be all that righteous. The results are predictable: as I said a while ago,

Both sides have lost all perspective on, well, perspective. Any setback or dissonant opinion is the worst thing ever, be it “unpatriotic” or “McCarthyite,” or whatever incendiary language you want to use.

And it makes for good, dramatic soundbites - it might, in fact, sound a little something. But in that theatricality, actual meaning is lost, nothing is actually said, and we are left with mere symbolism: Different markers for different levels of "I disagree. And just how evil is my opponent for holding his opposing opinions?"

So where does that leave us? In an age where the most people are most definitely not interested in nuance, such tactics are usually effective. And it is difficult for "counter-speech" to be effective, So one is almost forced to fight fire with fire. And here we are, not saying anything at all, damn the game.

The first trouble spot in finding a way out of the hole is to get people to realize that it doesn't matter who started it, or who is worse. We can have our opinions about that, I'm sure, but It. Just. Doesn't. Matter. There is no such thing as "a little bit out of bounds", and arguing about who is furthest from the line is pointless (see the comments to that post for a demonstration) . In gambling parlance, this would be described as "throwing good money after bad" or "chasing" - it really doesn't much matter how we got into this hole, we just need to find a way out.

It is unrealistic to expect a cooperative solution to be implemented as long as at least one party treats the game as zero-sum (which, incidentally, is a fairly powerful argument against duopololistic politics on its own). The incentive to “cheat” in such a game inevitably leads to the prisoner's dilemma equilibrium of severe punishment for all.

Which means that someone needs to find an effective unilateral solution. Simply "taking the high-road" has been demonstrated not to work. So where does that leave us? Jeff suggests each side disciplining its own, and that sounds good in theory--but politicians are by nature opportunists. Such a stand-down would only last as long as it is convenient.

An idea that has been bubbling in my head is that it is time for the political equivalent of "non-violent" resistance. The details are unclear to me: The press being what it is, simply not answering attacks will be reported as weakness, or retreat, or whatever, so neutralizing that response is imperative.

In my mind, one of the iconic American moments is "have you no decency, sir?" Admittedly, my perception of that event is different from the reality, but I really hope for and event like that, after which the pushback against such tactics reaches a tipping point, and they become simply unacceptable. But critical to that is us. As long as voters do not punish, and in fact reward such things, they will continue.

"Now I Really Hate Him"

Thanks Doc

Regular readers might realise that I love Duke basketball, and I'm proud of it. They must also recognize that this love is not blind. I hated WoJo, I hated Chris Collins, and I hated, hated, hated Jeff Capel. Greg Paulus is doing his darnedest to get added to that group. Aside from sucking for the last 3 weeks, his choice of role models leaves a great deal to be desired:

At a team meeting Sunday at the coach's house, Krzyzewski introduced Paulus to Alex Rodriguez for a quick talk on leading a team with other stars. It seemed to have sunk in by Tuesday night.

To blatantly steal a line, there's comedy, high comedy, and Slappy McBluelips 'teaching' someone about leadership. With these 'lessons' in mind, I fully expect Paulus to go on Kobe-like binges when the team is up 25 vs. Podunk State Teacher's College and to disappear like Nicole Richie's arms in games that actually matter. (Like last night, for example.) Of course, his grooming will be impeccable at all times. Which is nice.

Ooh! Shiny!

A unique music list. Something tells me that that old late nite infomercial standard "for a limited time only" applies in full force here. Obey all laws and ordinances.

(via Hit and Run)

No Freddy No! (WARNING: SOCCER DISCUSSED WITHIN!)

From across the pond, we get a rumor that young Freddy Adu is going to be signed by the Yankees of Europe, Chelsea Football Club:

CHELSEA are about to send more shock waves through the football world by beating Manchester United to secure the services of Freddy Adu, the American teenager widely regarded as the most exciting young player on the planet. United and several top clubs in Italy and Spain have been tracking Adu for four years, but Chelsea’s negotiations are at an advanced stage. Agreements are imminent with the player and Major League Soccer (MLS), which owns his registration. The 16-year-old forward is expected to move to London in the summer, by which time he hopes to have become the youngest player to feature in a World Cup tournament

Funded by Russian oil magnate (and Tim Roth lookalike) Roman Abramovich, Chelsea has been buying and selling players like a hopped-up day-trader for the last several years, so it's no surprise that they would have interest in Young Fred.

Aside from the money (which he already has plenty of, thank you Nike, Gatorade, etc.), I'm struggling to imagine why Freddy would be interested in them. Yes Chelsea are quite probably the best team in the world right now, but theirin lies the rub - Adu is not ready to play at that level. For his future as a player, not to mention the future of U.S. Soccer in general, he has to play regularly. At Chelsea that is vastly unlikely to happen.

Consider the case of a somewhat similar, though vastly more accomplished and battle-tested, player who moved to London over the summer. Shawn Wright-Phillips had performed so well over the previous 2 seasons that the cognescenti were openly advocating for him to start ahead of David Beckham for the English national team. After half a season largely on the bench for Chelsea, those rumors have died. Admittedly, injuries have played a part, but he has not had much of an opportunity to play himself back into form.

The worst possible outcome is Adu making the move, riding the pine and becoming a symbol of how the American 'soccer revolution' is overrated, as Darko Milicic has somewhat poisoned the well for young European basketball players. Sadly, that is the most likely outcome as well.

Blog Therapy (Open Threadish)

Blogging Is Good For You! So says RIA. And some experts agree:

A study of the phenomenon of blogs - or online diaries - found people writing them feel happier and more organised.

"Feeling that you have a forum for expressing yourself can make a huge difference to your psychological well-being.:

The happier part, I can agree with that. It's certainly more productive for me to take my frustrations out here, than to do it at work, where it might have, you know, consequences.

The "more organized" part? Not so much. Well maybe by default because I could hardly become less so.

Comments delightfully open. Feel free to talk about what you like about blogs. This one in particular, because I need your validation...

Duke 87 - Carolina 83

Well, they made that much more difficult than it needed to be. A few missed free throws, a few ugly turnovers, and up 7 with a minute left suddenly isn't enough.

That being said JJ Redick is the truth. Earlier this year, he's had a few "cheap" big scoring games, his 40 against Virginia, notably. (Yes it was on 13 shots, but they won by a gazillion...) This was not a cheap 35. 22 in the second half, on the road, in a hostile environment, with nobody else really stepping up. As Bill Raferty would say: "Onions!.

I worry about my Devils. Paulus is regressing. Melchionni is AWOL, and Landlord has shown a worrying habit of getting bullied out of games (though he had one huge block on D.) McRoberts might be a player next year when he can actually touch the ball with regularity.

As for Carolina, they are going to be good next year. Hansbrough is already a beast. They have the potential to be exceptional defensively (when they made their runs today, they were absolutely smothering. It seemed like they were knocking the ball out of bounds 3 times per possession.) Danny Green will be a player.

But that's next year.

PoohsDay Blues: Raw and Accoustic

Shuffling up and dealing:

1. "Sweet Black Angel" - Corey Harris. The Martin Scorsese Blues series was a bit uneven, but the episode where Harris traveled to Mali to play with local musicians was a spiritual experience. For Harris's best traditional accoustic work, look for the song "Roots Woman". 7/10



2. "Eyesight to the Blind" - Aleck "Rice" Miller (AKA Sonny Boy Williamson) - The second (better) SBW, who did the legendary "King Biscuit Time" radio program. This and "9 Below Zero" are his two best songs, IMO. 9/10.



3. "Freight Train Blues" - Doc and Merle Watson. The line between early country, early blues and bluegrass is very very thin. It almost comes down to inflection. In the case of Doc and Merle, it's on the country side of the line. Still good though. 6/10.



4. "Packin' Truck" - Leadbelly. 12-string guitars are incredibly cool (and fun to play, though expensive and a bitch to tune.) Leadbelly of course wrote "Alberta", (one of my faves when performed by Clapton unplugged). 5/10.



5. "Death Letter Blues" - Son House. There are about 18 recorded versions of this, but this is the one the White Stripes based their version on. As a performer, House is better than Robert Johnson, but Johnson is credited with being the first songwriter/composer of the period which is why he gets all the love from Hendrix, Clapton and the Stones. 9/10.



6. "Little Queen of Spades" - Robert Johnson. The man. The originator of the Crossroads Guitar Myth taken up by Jimi, Stevie Ray, and on down. Probably the inspiration for a lot of the fatalism adopted by many hip hop artists (Tupac in particular). Not his best song though. 6/10.



7. "Stones in My Passway" - Peter Green. A better Robert Johnson song. Basically the same song as "Terraplane Blues". The original version is better than this or any of Clapton's recordings. 6/10.



8. "Broke and Hungry Blues" - Blind Lemon Jefferson. The Bluesmen have the best names, don't they? 5/10.



9. "Little Babe" - R.L. Burnside. Burnside is interesting as he has had two seperate careers. The first was as a traditional accoustic blues artist, then he was "rediscovered" in the 90s and recorded a few mind-blowing albums mixing raw and dirty electric blues with hip-hop style recording techniques. This song is from the first period, you may have heard this song recorded as "My Babe" by Little Milton as well. 7/10.



10. "Ramblin' On My Mind" - Eric Clapton. Sadly, I've never been able to find a recording of the performance of this song with which Clapton opened the 2000 "Concert of the Century", but the Sessions for Robert J. version does quite nicely, thank you. 9/10.

And that's the blues for this week, kids.

StacheBlog: Jobbed Worse Than the Seahawks.

Well, I guess the Pac-NW was due some referee love after SuperNap XL. So they gave a regular seasons West Coast Conference game to the 'Zags. Seems fair. Top 5 ludicrous calls.

5. The 'Stache Not Getting a Technical for Yelling at the refs. He bitched enough I could make this one 6-10 as well.

4. The 'Stache not getting T'ed up for slamming the ball in the refs face.

3. The 'Stache not fouling out dunking on a guy taking a charge with a minute left.

2. The hometown scorekeeper ...forgetting to start the clock on the Zags last possesion.

1. After getting at least 2 seconds to get a shot off with .5 seconds left and the game tied, the trail ref called a phantom foul from central Idaho.

But hey, a win's a win, right?

In seriousness, this game is why Gonzaga will lose in the second or third round - they'll play a crappy, overtly physical team from say the Big East or the Big ElevenTen, who will play Riley-era Knick ThugBall. Morrison will get pushed around, whine, shoot 6-20 and they'll lose by 15. Which will cause approximately 1/3 of the population to promise to never pick them to do anything again because they are now behind the 63 year-old mail room lady whose picks are a mixture of favorite colors and Mascot "Queien es mas macho" in the Office Pool of Questionable Legality.

I'm Outraged by the Outrage

I haven't said anything here about Cartoon-Gate '06, and I don't think I will beyond pointing to this bit expressing, in a perfectly fair and balanced (and perhaps Fair and Balanced, as well) fashion the perfect serving of meta/double/faux/reverse outrage at all the outrage.