World Cup Time!!! (Vol. XIII)

"I haven't felt this good since Archie Gemmill scored against Holland in 1978!"

It's almost World Cup time, and with the biggest sporting event in the world coming up, here's my picks:

Group A (Costa Rica, Ecuador, Germany, Poland): Until this weekend, I had a good feeling this would be all Germany, with Costa Rica second. Poland's most recent result, a weekend win over the Croats, during which they utilized a new, 4-5-1 formation was impressive, and I'm starting to think playing close to home will be a big factor. Ditto for the actual home side. Ticos fall short, and Ecuador can't win at elevations below a mile....
GERMANY 1, POLAND 2, COSTA RICA 3, ECUADOR 4

Group B (England, Paraguay, Sweden, Trinidad & Tobago): No country has the kind of pressure on them that England does, and certainly no German crowd will be pro-Poms. That said, I love the talent they have, I can't see Paraguay being the team they have been in years past, but the Swedes are still solid. I like Sweden to at least draw with Sven. On the whole, my European bias will continue, although there's no doubt I'm cheering for the Soca Warriors....
SWEDEN 1, ENGLAND 2, TRINIDAD & TOBAGO 3, PARAGUAY 4

Group C (Argentina, Côte D'Ivoire, Holland, Serbia & Montenegro): Wow, to think this will be the last time a united Serbia & Montenegro play together... seriously, this is such a dangerous group, and a worthy team is going to miss out. I love the Argentine talent, Holland is banged up (partly due to the 'Roos in the weekend's 1-1 draw), Serbia is a good team with no stars, and the Ivory Coast is the most talented African team in the tourney. That said, I like Premiership-hardened Didier Drogba, Kolo Toure and the rest of the Elephants to advance....
ARGENTINA 1, CÔTE D'IVOIRE 2, HOLLAND T-3, SERBIA & MONTENEGRO T-3

Group D (Angola, Iran, Mexico, Portugal): Portugal will be back with a vengance after '02's disappointment. Mexico figures to have a let-down as per usual in Europe. This is the swan song for Ali Daei, the top international goalscorer in history with 103 to his count. The Iranians come with more European experience than ever (many players in the Bundesliga), and it will show. Angola is a basketball country, sorry...
PORTUGAL 1, IRAN T-2 (advances), MEXICO T-2, ANGOLA 4

Group E (Czech Republic, Ghana, Italy, United States): The USA has never played two solid World Cups in a row, they've never won or drawn a game on European soil, and Bruce Arena isn't as smart as he thinks he is. Who am I to make waves? Italy is loaded and finally playing attack-oriented soccer (Luca, Luca, LUCA TONI!). The Czechs have qualified for the first time since they were tethered to the Slovaks for all those years, and Jan Koller, Petr Cech, et al. will look to hang around a while. Ghana is also a quality side, bringing young talent like Chelsea's Michael Essien to join the core of their U-23 championship teams in the '90s. Sorry Yanks...
ITALY 1, CZECH REPUBLIC 2, GHANA 3, UNITED STATES 4

Group F (Australia, Brazil, Croatia, Japan): As much as I'd love to be totally biased toward the homeland, I can't see Brazil losing--of course, that's what makes the World Cup great, they could play a draw in the knockout rounds, lose on penalties and be headed home. For the group phase, they win. Japan is "in shambles" according to Hidetoshi Nakata, meaning we come down to the 'Roos and the Croats. Australia 1, Holland 1 and qualifying over Uruguay vs. Croatia 0, Poland 1 and Croatia 2, Iran 2. Because I refuse to be unbiased, and this is Australia's last chance to represent Oceania... ok, who cares about that....
BRAZIL T-1 (wins group), AUSTRALIA T-1, CROATIA T-3, JAPAN T-3

Group G (France, South Korea, Switzerland, Togo): If not for the Soca Warriors, Togo might be the feel-good story of '06. They won't be feeling as good once the Koreans get a hold of them, followed by Les Bleus and Les Neutrales. The Hawks don't figure in, and this is a last hurrah for France's golden generation of Zidane, Barthez and Desailly (Where have you gone Stéphane Guivarc'h?). I like the Koreans to break up my Euro-friendly party, not sure why, but I think they pip the Swiss to the knockout phase.... finishing alphabetically...
FRANCE 1, SOUTH KOREA 2, SWITZERLAND 3, TOGO 4

Group H (Saudi Arabia, Spain, Tunisia, Ukraine): Signs point to Spain winning... frightening from the most notorious choke-artists in World Cup history. The choke comes later... and Andriy Shevchenko leads Ukraine in what will be a very tight group. Tunisia and Saudi Arabia are World Cup vets, and will perform up to their talents... but those talents are limited, and three 1-2 teams seems possible. I'm going with the first-timers, despite their injury worries.
SPAIN 1, UKRAINE T-2 (advances), TUNISIA T-2, SAUDI ARABIA T-2

So there you have it... my picks for the World Cup group stages. That's all for now, enjoy Ricky Martin (hopefully singing France '98 theme "The Cup of Life"). More World Cup stuff to follow....

Back (Vol. XII)

"We all go a little mad sometimes. Haven't you?"

So I've decided to get back to posting.. just a small one to get back in the flow, talkin' movies.

I watched the remake of Psycho tonight, the one with Vince Vaughn and Anne Heche. It's certainly not the original, but at the same time, it's not terribly done. I enjoyed it, and maybe I'm a soft critic, but it did spark a thought.

I watched The Da Vinci Code with my great-aunt Judy today (happy birthday, Judy) and she's a prime example of these criticisms. Everyone comes down so hard on movie remakes--Psycho, King Kong, Poseidon/The Poseidon Adventure all come to mind recently--for being a lack of original ideas, not as good as the first, etc. But then someone like my aunt will go to the theatre and see something like "West Side Story" or "Man of La Mancha" for the Nth time, performed by the understudies of the second-tier traveling company and love it. That strikes me as a brutal double-standard.

Myself, having said I enjoy cinematic straight remakes, keep it consistent when I say I'm probably going to enjoy "Spamalot" when it comes to Pittsburgh this fall, even though it won't star Tim Curry, Hank Azaria and David Hyde Pierce. But how can someone who never likes movie remakes enjoy the traveling production of some Broadway play? It's just a theatric remake!

So that's my rant for the day, and with that I give my assessments of the movies I've seen this week:

The Da Vinci Code: 8/10 -- I really liked it, despite some fun parts of the book being trimmed/altered to fit the 150-minute time and speed up the movie. It's an entertaining murder mystery.
The Incredibles: 9/10 -- Yes, I finally saw it. Sure, it's a kids movie, but it's a fun ride, lots of layered jokes and gags and a star-studded cast... The Pixar people really can do no wrong.
Psycho (1998): 7/10 -- If Hitchcock's wasn't easily one of the 50 best movies of all time, this would've been recieved much better. Silly people with their hang-ups described above. Hard to take Vince Vaughn seriously after Old School and Dodgeball or take Anne Heche seriously... well, period. Seriously, I saw her starring in a movie called "Psycho" and I thought it would be an autobiographical feature.

A combined 24/30... I am too soft on movies... need to bring out the Russian judge in me.

That's it for me tonight, enjoy T'pau.

Quick Hoops Update (Vol. XI) with update!

"You see Billy, it's like this. You either smoke or you get smoked, and you got smoked!"

That's what I have to say after a successful Sweet 16, 5-2-1 against the spread on the round. Tomorrow I say Texas -3 and UCLA +3.5.

This is a short one, because I have to be out in Norwin at 10:45 tomorrow to referee. I bought The Work of Director Mark Romanek on DVD... great compilation for anyone who likes music or music videos.

With that I take my leave... enjoy Cheap Trick.

UPDATE - morning of 26 March
OK, up to 6-3-1 on the weekend. Last day of the weekend I'm taking Florida +1.5 and (sorry, Brad) UConn -8. Of course in the UConn game, I'm not going to bet it because I'll be cheering for the Patriots to become the lowest seed in the Final Four, ever. A real next post should come tonight or Monday.

Basketball diary (Vol. X)

"This town needs an enema!"

(This entry is dedicated to Brad, who knows why, given the volume number and what's going to happen Friday night.)

The quote is from Batman, the most recent movie I really like that has come on television lately. In the last few days I've seen Toys and Starship Troopers, in addition to Batman... good selections on HBO and Starz. That and NBATV showed the episode of "The White Shadow" where Coolidge gets self-conscious about his height, so Coach Reeves gets Bill Russell to come talk to him. Classic television there.

On to the task at hand: basketball.
It makes me mad to hear the local talking heads ripping Carl Krauser in the wake of Pitt's loss to Bradley. After all the guy has done for a program that, until his arrival, hadn't even come close to success since the days of Jerome Lane and Charles Smith. Krauser's redshirt season, 2001-2002, was the team's first NCAA tournament appearance in years (exact figures escape me), and they've been all five years he's been at Pitt. A Big East title, three Big East regular season titles, three Sweet 16 appearances, with the only common link on-court being Krauser, the only player in Pitt history to record 1,500 points, 500 rebounds and 500 assists. On top of that, he's been a good leader, even when his game has been off, on a young team this season that most common folk who didn't know any better predicted 18ish wins and an NIT trip from. The guy probably isn't an NBA draft pick, but Pitt fans should give credit where credit's due and stop lashing out in anger because our team lost to a very decent Bradley team.

On an interesting side note, I predicted a bad performance against Bradley, not for any Xs and Os reason, but because the game tipped off at noon. Look at recent history: Villanova in the 2005 BET, Pacific in the 2005 NCAAs, St. John's and Georgetown in this year's regular season... all losses to (arguably) inferior opposition where the team put out a lethargic effort--and all of them noon tipoffs. Pitt is a night team, the proof is in the results. Not assigning blame, just pointing out a trend.

On to the Sweet 16, where I will let the degenerate gambler in me out: (FOR ENTERTAINMENT PURPOSES ONLY!)
Duke -6, Texas -5, Gonzaga +3.5, Memphis -6, George Mason -2, Washington +6, Florida -3 and Boston College +2.5 are my picks, we'll see how I do later. (Memphis and Florida are the two I really like for cash considerations right now, the rest are just taking a stab.)

Free Tank Carter!

That's it for me tonight ladies and gentlemen....thank you.... enjoy the Beastie Boys.

New York, Take 2 (Vol. IX)

"It's OK, I can walk to the curb from here"

Alright, this is going to be an abridged version of what I typed last night and had wiped out. My third trip to NYC and my first that was a true vacation:

Wednesday: Kinton and I left around 9, ate at Cracker Barrel, arrived in the city around 4:30, and I checked into the Mount Royal Inn (94th and West End). I went to the Midtown Hilton for a Pitt Alumni reception and to wait for Dexter. Turns out the most interesting people I met there weren't Pitt grads, but a trio of Canadian businessmen. Thanks to them for buying me a number of drinks, and by the time Dexter got there and we left for the game, I was good and loose. So we arrived at Madison Square Garden, bought tickets from a guy selling them out of one of those fundraiser boxes of candy--you know, the ones from middle school--and saw Pitt 61, Louisville 56. After that we went to Rosie O'Grady's (52nd and 7th)--props to Eddie the bartender for looking out for us during the week--and celebrated with all the Pitt fans.

Thursday: Rain in the morning kept me in. Met up with Kinton and The Pitt News gang for good eats at Spanky's BBQ (43rd between Broadway and 6th). Ribs... got that itis! Went to the game solo and saw Pitt 67, West Virginia 58. O'Grady's followed after a good beef kebab on the way there.

Friday: Walked the roughly 4 miles from my hotel to Times Square via Central Park. Went into the Toys 'r' Us with the ferris wheel in the store and then met Dexter at ESPNZone for dinner and the game. After a lot of waiting, an epic NBA Showtime battle and Pitt 68, Villanova 54, headed out to Latitude (don't remember the exact address... 48th and 8th?), the Spy Club (19th between 5th and 6th)--which I loved for the decorations with Sean Connery, Don Adams, et al.--and after we had our fill of the club scene, back to where else? Rosie O'Grady's.

Saturday: Checked out of the hotel at 11 a.m., killed time during the day, including lunch at the Hello Deli (53rd and Broadway). Rupert fixed me the "Letterman"--ham, turkey, cheese, mayo, O&V (Held the lettuce, tomato and peppers). Planned to walk from Times Square to the old World Trade Center site, but didn't leave myself enough time and had to catch the train back from the village around 7:00. Still, got another long walk in--I did the rough math, and I figure I walked around 12 miles this week. Met Dex at Friday's and we watched Syracuse 55, Pitt 51.. bah. Off to O'Grady's for one drink, there was a cool Irish duo playing there, so I stayed and listened to midnight, then I went back to the car and drove off for Sunday: in Atlantic City. No line break because I didn't sleep. Hit the Taj Mahal and went to a 1-2 No Limit Hold 'em table. Put $100 in play, built it up to $220, then had my heart broken. I had AA, smooth called at $15 raise on the button... two of us to the flop. Flop: Kd 6c 2d. The other guy leads out with $25. I play up I'm thinking... stare at the board a lot like I'm thinking about flush drawing. Finally I raise to $75. He pushes all-in, I think for a short time and call. The guy bought my act--he pushed with 88. Turn: Q, river: 8! So there goes my hard-earned $220. I go to blackjack and pai gow for a while, build up another $100ish, make a few sucker bets on roulette, and enter a $80+20 No Limit Hold 'em tournament. The tournament killed me, because I got no cards, had to claw and scratch my way through, eventually crashing out, probably in the 60s of 101 players. Hopped in the car, started the drive back, took a three hour nap at a rest area (I just don't have the stamina for all-nighters anymore... not with intense card games and 3 mile walks in it.), and then I was back here to put up Vol. VIII on early Monday morning. Then I slept until 3 p.m. this afternoon. No stamina... I'm such an old man. Arrgh!

In recent news, I did turn a $35 profit playing cards tonight (-$5 at Hold 'em, +$40 at Omaha--love that game) after being back at work at the Trib. That's a good night to me. Now to hit publish before the computer pulls some more weird s**t.

Angry! (Vol. VIII)

"This mission is too important for me to allow you to jeopardize it."

So I just finished a detailed description of my trip to NYC, only for the computer to go blue screen of death on me when I tried to publish. That means the details will come later when I have more rest and patience, and HAL here doesn't try to f*** me over--I've only had a nap in my car since 10 a.m. Saturday (It's 4 a.m. Monday now).

Boondocks was awesome tonight--the Do the Right Thing parallels were cool, and Ed Asner chipped in for voice work, adding to the star power. That show is so well written, it makes a great message-laden compliment to Family Guy and the other silliness on Adult Swim.

Pitt's a 5-seed... I thought we'd be a 4, but no complaints... probably as easy a route as we could've hoped for.

More tomorrow when I'm not mad at this machine.

Insomniac's Diary (Vol. VII)

Why is it whenever I have a long trip ahead of me, I always get to struggle with a bout on insomnia? Yuck.

No quote at the top to start it up.. nothing really comes to mind and I'm typing in the dark with the television off. Anyway, let's go down the 7-point rundown for today (yesterday?) before attempting to go to bed again:

1) Wisconsin-Milwaukee won the Horizon League, which helps me greatly in the $35 NCAA pool I entered. I now have them, Gonzaga and Winthrop in, Boston College and Alabama should be at-large locks, and Manhattan is done. So I really need one of my other two to get in for a very respectable 6-of-8: either Northern Iowa gets in for me or Stanford wins the Pac-10 (or at least gets a miracle at-large with a run to the final). More on this later.
2) Keeping it sporty, the homeland got trounced by Italy in the World Baseball Classic, but I'm still wearing my super-awesome jersey with pride.
3) More sports (guess that's where my head's at tonight): I just watched a replay of Marseille at Paris St. Germain. It was really impressive, because Marseille send their entire reserve team because they weren't satisfied with the security measures PSG had taken. So out go the reserves (filled with numbers in the 20s-40s, because 1-18 are mostly taken up by the first-stringers), and they got a 0-0 away draw.
4) I'm about to spend 3 nights in Manhattan, another either there or in Atlantic City, all in paid accomodations, buy tickets to one or possibly more Pitt basketball games, and I will do it for under $500 (not counting gaming $$ in AC). That, my friends, is frugality, considering if I were here for a full 5 days, counting weekend, I'd spend at least $100 on gas, food, drinking, lap dances (If this is mom reading, "lap dances" is slang for donating to the homeless shelter.), etc.
5) So according to the Allegheny County Sheriff's website, Pennsylvania requires some form of state identification to get a license to carry a firearm. If that's true, that's crap, and I guess I need a new form of ID, because my Virginia driver's license, two valid passports, and enough non-photo proof of Pennsylvania residency doesn't cut it. Grrr...
6) REMINDER: Anyone who's going to be in the New York City/New Jersey area from now until Saturday should get in touch with me.. I'm trying to catch up with people... are you being left out? (I sound like a damn commercial)
7) Tom DeLay won his primary and the Patriot Act is getting renewed. I like to think of it as being the "...step back" part of the old "two steps forward..." saying. Saying or Paula Adbul song. Either one is appropriate.

That'll do it... I'm off to New York (by way of my bed)... rest in peace Kirby Puckett, Gordon Parks and Barry Bonds. I know, Bonds isn't dead, but with all those steroids, can the coronary be that far away?