Open Thread & Sports Posted by JP Stormcrow, 30 Mar 2007 06:30 pm

Open Thread (#2)

It’s How You Play (or Write About) the Game

By JP Stormcrow

A kinder, gentler intro to the rituals of surrogate warfare this weekend. I will attempt some calm, cool, collected liveblogging of the NCAA semis (~6:00 and 8:45 PM EDT Saturday) and invite all to join in (even if you are not watching the games.) [And I might throw a little Pens in there if I need a fast-paced break from the giants lumbering up and down the hardwood.] 

In the meantime, Open is as Open does, so have at it. A suggested topic is folks’ favorite sports writing (fictional, autobiographical or actual sportswriting.) [And despite my transparently dishonest attempt at taking a positive approach above, I will note that even Grantland Rice’s famous Against a blue-gray October sky, the Four Horsemen rode again piece focuses on oppositional fear.]

Oh, and I just wanted to say There is nothing old under the nebular collapse created by a supernova shock wave again, because I can and it is so original. A continuing hat tip to James Killus.

[Update: Picked up this amusing link from Crooked Timber. You may also want to try this blast from the past future or this little escapade.]

[Update #2 - Monday evening: Please go ahead and liveblog tonight’s championship game on this thread. I am at a family member’s house out here in meatworld - so need to maintain minimum level of social interaction, but will try to pop in on breaks. In comments spyder points out what is at stake tonight:

Aaaahh the state that stole another presidential election for Bushco competes against the first state]

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Responses to “Open Thread (#2)”

  1. on 30 Mar 2007 at 8:39 pm 1. spyder said …

    Well all i know is that there has been an amazing couple of weeks down under, with athletes playing in water. The 12th FINA World Championships have been filled with incredible performances, world records, and something completely new and different in swimming: a plethora of medals for swimmers from countries never previously acknowledged for their prowess. For example tonight in the women’s 50 meter freestyle semi-finals the field includes: two from the US, one each from New Zealand, Sweden, Australia, Ukraine, Germany’, France, Belarus, Great Britain’, Austria, Italy, China, Norway and Russia. Gold medals have been won by swimmers from Korea, France, Italy, Tunisia, Ukraine, Japan, Russia, as well as Australia and the United States. This is truly international swimming at the highest level, and much needed. Gotta love it.

  2. on 30 Mar 2007 at 9:12 pm 2. Oaktown Girl said …

    [Warning - foul mouthed rant ahead.]

    Crimony jeepers to hell! My Kingdom for a frickin’ newspaper!

    Sorry to start the thread off (that is, if I’m still “first” when I hit “post”, anyway) with an angry rant, but fuck me! I just spent over 10 minutes online trying to find the freakin’ schedule for the frickin’ Final Four games tomorrow. I go to the ESPN site - I can find everything BUT a simple fucking schedule that tells you exactly when the games start. So I go my local newspaper’s website, same thing.

    If I only had the actual hardcopy newspaper, I’d have that info already. Jeezus freakin’… Thank Astaroth I just happened to know that the games are being televised on CBS. So I Google “CBS Sports” and get their website. It’s CBS’s premier event going on right now. You’d think the TV schedule would be front and center. Well fuck you. That’s what you get for thinking. I finally found it on the CBS Sports site, but jeeze maneeze, you’d think it was a State Secret. The Final is the bread and butter event for CBS Sports right now. You’d think there’d be some easy-to-find place on their site simply called “Schedules”. Well fuck me. That’s what I get for thinking.

    So here’s the schedule [update: edited to correct the times to Eastern, I had them at Pacific accidentally]:

    Georgetown vs. Ohio St. - 6:07 Eastern

    UCLA vs. Florida - 8:47 Eastern

    On C-B-fuckin’-S

    And to thank you all for enduring this angry rant (those of you who stuck through to the end, anyway. The rest of you are officially ON NOTICE from the Ministry of Justice), please enjoy this humorous “fuck-word” piece. [Warning: will not be to everyone’s taste in humor. But I laughed my ass off when I read it.]

  3. on 30 Mar 2007 at 9:42 pm 3. Oaktown Girl said …

    spyder -
    Thanks for that cool swimming info. Here’s the direct link to the medal count. Go Tunisia! Go Zimbabwe!

    spyder: the WAAGNFNP’s Go-To guy for international sports news.

    Meanwhile, my A’s begin their annual pre-Opening Day ritual: the Bay Bridge Series against the Giants (game one is going on right now in SF, being televised on the A’s station). I haven’t got the stats in front of me, but it seems the A’s always get off to a better start if they’ve done poorly during the Cactus League. But I’ve been so busy, I have no idea how the A’s did during Spring Training this year.

  4. on 30 Mar 2007 at 10:29 pm 4. JP Stormcrow said …

    Well yes, apparently some of us understand kinder and gentler and some do not. Then there is the matter of time zones… I am 99.99% confident that the times you have listed are Pacific Time. So that would be 6:07 and 8:47 Eastern. Here is the ESPN scoreboard link.

    But your rant is a good lead into my 2nd all-time favorite baseball book, Jim Bouton’s Ball Four. Really set the standard for “expose” books and for years it was panned by traditional sportswriters for “spoiling” something. (Bouton is a bit of a self-absorbed ass, but that adds to the charm, he is at least honest about it.)

    But Oaktown Girl’s rant reminded me of my favorite person in the book, Joe Schultz, a somewhat zany old-schooler with a penchant for colorful language who managed Seattle Pilots (trivia quiz: They lasted in Seattle for one year. Who are they now?) .

    “Shitfuck,” he said, using one of his favorite words (”fuckshit” is the other.)

    and

    “Attaway to stomp ‘em. Stomp the piss out of ‘em. Stomp ‘em when they’re down. Kick ‘em and stomp ‘em. … Pound that ol’ Budweiser into you and go get them tomorrow.”

    And after the Orioles destroy them 4 straight

    “Well, boys, we got that other outfit out of here with all their bullshit. Fuck it. Let’s go get ‘em, let’s start winning ballgames.”

    A bit dated now, but a revelation in its day.

  5. on 30 Mar 2007 at 11:24 pm 5. Oaktown Girl said …

    I am 99.99% confident that the times you have listed are Pacific Time.

    Quite right you are, GFAT. I accidentally wrote down the times I had converted into Pacific time on a scrap of paper. Thanks for the keen eye.

  6. on 30 Mar 2007 at 11:36 pm 6. Oaktown Girl said …

    Well yes, apparently some of us understand kinder and gentler and some do not.

    No one is kinder and gentler than the Minister of Justice. I have no idea what you’re implying here, GFAT.

    RE: The ESPN link - see, you have to click on “scoreboard”. That “scoreboard” would also be the place to go for game schedules is not readily obvious to everybody.

    But bummer, it looks like I’ll be away for the live Party blogging tomorrow. And it won’t be for fun reasons either - half of it at least will be work. Damn. Oops, I mean, Shitfuck!

  7. on 31 Mar 2007 at 9:46 am 7. black dog barking said …

    Ah, Ball Four, the good old days when there was bubble gum in the pack of baseball cards. Bouton did “spoil” the game by exposing life in the clubhouse, a side of the game heavily under-reported by traditional sportswriters.

    Jim Pagliaroni joined the club tonight and is going to be a welcome addition. He was describing a girl that one of the ballplayers had been out with and said, “It’s hard to say exactly what she looked like. She was kind of a Joe Torre with tits.”

    The Pilots (”Low Mileage! Just One Year Old!”) were purchased by a former used-car salesman showing that even the lowly can make it in America’s game. He would later be Peter-Principle’d into his current position as Baseball Commissioner elbowing out an aspiring and well connected young man who then left baseball for politics and eventually became President. So, in a way, Bouton is responsible for Carol Lam’s firing.

  8. on 31 Mar 2007 at 10:41 am 8. JP Stormcrow said …

    It is interesting that most of the initial negative press on Ball Four was pretty much along the lines of I’m shocked that young, relatively well-off, male athletes traveling around the country act like “young, relatively well-off, male athletes traveling around the country “. The stories of the Yankee greats running around on hotel rooftops to peep in windows, and even a silly “kissing game” among the players got a lot of play, while the descriptions of the use of performance-enhancing drugs and the true nature of the labor relationship of ballplayers to their clubs (which was all about to change - can you say “Curt Flood”, sure you can.) were given less notice at first.
    A nice retrospective here.

    I said Ball Four was my 2nd favorite baseball book, my favorite, Some Are Called Clowns, was written a few years later, and is about a season at the sad/hilarious end of of the line for the Indianapolis Clowns touring baseball team. it is pretty much young, quite poor, male athletes traveling around the country acting like “young, quite poor, male athletes traveling around the country.” Do find it and read it, below is an informative review at Amazon by Bill Baskin:

    [”Some Are Called Clowns”] … It’s a diary of Bill Heward’s 1973 season pitching and managing the Indianapolis Clowns, the last surviving Negro League team from the 1930’s and ’40’s. It’s extremely engaging and well-written and you’ll get a lot of baseball history along the way, but this book goes well beyond sports. It’s an outstanding social piece, too, a very non-judgmental study in race relations from within a sports setting. Tons of great stories (funny and sad), and lots of genuine characters…some of whom appeared in the Bingo Long traveling All-Stars movie in 1976. I have literally read hundreds and hundreds of baseball books, and this one is easily one of my ten favorites. I can’t recommend it highly enough, even if you’re not a baseball fan.

  9. on 31 Mar 2007 at 11:17 am 9. JP Stormcrow said …

    Well all i know is that there has been an amazing couple of weeks down under, with athletes playing in water.

    Swimming was my sport way back in the day (not quite as WABAC as your day Mr. Peabody spyder) as well. I have not kept up that closely with it since, but do from time to time and am glad to see the continued geographical expansion at the top end. (A far cry from when there was an overwhelming center like Santa Clara, Bloomington or Mission Viejo.)

    I did note your tale of Shirley Babashoff on last week’s thread, I always felt similarly about Rick DeMont and his troubles at Munich. I did not realize that a few years back, the USOC relented (IOC not yet.) Good to see, but of course he cannot go back and swim the 1600 …

    The DeMont article is part of a very good retrospective on the troubled ‘72 Games at the USOC site. Of course the Israeli incident overshadows all, but there were any number of other controversies. The most shameful being when Vince Matthews and Wayne Collett were thrown out of the games (and banned for life) for being disrespectful and slouching while on the medal stand for going 1,2 in the track 400 meters. (This after a US girls swimming relay team was fawned over for giggling their way through the national anthem.) Matthews and Collett were collateral damage from the equally shameful reaction of the Olympic Committees to the magnificent Tommie Smith, Juan Carlos moment in 1968 at Mexico City.

  10. on 31 Mar 2007 at 12:57 pm 10. spyder said …

    Wow, Wayne Collett memories. He was a dorm floor mate in the athletic dorms at UCLA in my “say hey” days with “sherman” (he was also roommates with a football player i had known since the 5th grade). Collett had this thing for my then girlfriend (later ex-wife #1), and she for him, but then came the ‘68 Olympics, and the whole black power thing, and even the good future rev. blackwell couldn’t make everything nice again. And why Mike Warren never played pro-ball will always remain a travesty of opportunity.?

    Rick’s ‘72 exile allowed my good buddy and fellow UCLA teammate Mike Burton swim to a second 1500 gold medal. Burton was the hardest working kid i have ever seen in a pool, even to this day. Years later, we used to laugh about it as i was training for major triathlons and he, and his brother served as my swim coaches–always telling me i was too freakin lazy. DeMont deserved much better treatment than waiting 29 years for justice to play out.

    Then i suppose since someone mentioned Bouton, i need to tip my dayglo glittered tophat to folks like Doc Ellis, Kareem, Walton, a couple of NFL linebackers (shall remain nameless for now), and many others yet to come forward.

  11. on 31 Mar 2007 at 1:08 pm 11. Oaktown Girl said …

    JP -
    That’s a very amusing link you have there up at the top in the “update”. I especially like your cutomizations of it!

  12. on 31 Mar 2007 at 1:16 pm 12. spyder said …

    Two hours to tip-off, is the betting line open?

    Which big man gets in foul trouble first: Oden or Hibbert?
    Most Threes: Wallace or Lewis?
    Which team will shoot less than 35%?
    Who will make their crucial freethrows: Jamar Butler or DaJuan Summers?

    and so far forth….

  13. on 31 Mar 2007 at 1:23 pm 13. Oaktown Girl said …

    Another update:

    Pam over at Pandagon has an update about the Congressional Black Caucus getting into bed with Faux News, and a link to the petition sponsored by Color of Change to stop it. Please sign!

    OK, I gotta bug out of here. Enjoy the hoops and hoopla tonight!

  14. on 31 Mar 2007 at 3:13 pm 14. JP Stormcrow said …

    Start:
    Almost a logistical planning error with the family unit on the timing of consumption of mass quantities of protein and carbohydrate substances.

    Per spyder above: It is nice to have two really good big men going at it. (hmm.. both have a foul in the 1st minute… I hope it doesn’t turn into a bench sitter for both.)

    I like Mike Conley from OSU (this being the sons of great athletes memorial final four and all. - disadvantage UCLA - unless they have someone I don’t know about.)

    I like Georgetown’s defense.

    That 2nd Oden call was bullshit. These refs don’t even know what it is like to have big guys play.

  15. on 31 Mar 2007 at 3:31 pm 15. JP Stormcrow said …

    I do think OSU guards better than Georgetown on offense - showing it so far.

    Georgetown is a team that I have liked through the years. (For instance, the Villanova loss was on my list last week - really showed the need for a shot clock & I really did not like that they lost by over 20 to Georgetown a couple of weeks earlier in the Big East tourney & still get a one game shot for it all against them.) I also thought that some of the narratives on John Thompson Jr. back in the day were prety suspicious.
    I also did not care when G’town beat Houston the year before, since G’town the better team. (Unlike the fiasco with NC State the year before that.)

    Not being happy with the refs so far - but not really fair to criticize them … but do not like when “only” the big guys get called.

  16. on 31 Mar 2007 at 3:46 pm 16. christian h. said …

    Well, I just tuned in… the important game for me (Bulls-Cavs) is already over, with the Bulls throwing it away, grrrrrh. Did I say I hate Lebron James? And we finally have the first Tornado watch of the season - I was wondering what was up…

  17. on 31 Mar 2007 at 3:54 pm 17. JP Stormcrow said …

    Last 5:00 minues first half.

    Moving fast. If OSU could shoot they would have some separation.

    Oden’s like a distant thunderstorm - just a vague threat, thank God they are practiced without him.

    OK, kinda boring. Nice bookend on the OSU bench.

    Christian, you probably can’t hate LeBron any more than I “hated” Jordan when he was in Chi-town. (esp. the leeway he got from the refs against the Cavs Chraig Ehlo.)

  18. on 31 Mar 2007 at 4:07 pm 18. JP Stormcrow said …

    To show that the tension between academics and athletics at a place like OSU is not a recent phenomenon, here is a bit from Thurber’s University Days:

    [econ prof trying to get an Ohio State tackle to name a means of transportation.]
    All of us, of course, shared Mr. Bassum’s desire that Bolenciecwcz should stay abreast of the class in economics, for the Illinois game, one of the hardest and most important of the season, was only a week off. “Toot, toot, tooo-oooooot!” some student with a deep voice moaned, and we all looked encouragingly at Bolenciecwcz. … Mr. Bassum himself rounded off the little show. “Ding, dong, ding, dong,” he said, hopefully. …
    “How did you come to college this year, Mr. Bolenciecwcz?” asked the professor. “Chuffa, chuffa , chuffa, chuffa.”
    “M’father sent me,” said the football player.
    “What on?” asked Bassum.
    “I git an ‘lowance,” …
    “What did you ride here on?”
    “Train,” said Bolenciecwcz.
    “Quite right.” said the professor.

    And I was looking for, but did no find a Faulkner story where some dirt-poor kid equiped his family in football shoes, one pair for each vistory. (But in looking found out that Faulkner was briefly a QB in high school.)

  19. on 31 Mar 2007 at 4:28 pm 19. christian h. said …

    Looks to me like Oden and Hibbert are kind of like a “fleet in being”. Man, I hope the Nicks loose their remaining games and the Bulls somehow get a shot at one of those two in the draft…

  20. on 31 Mar 2007 at 4:40 pm 20. JP Stormcrow said …

    Yeah, too bad they are both struggling with fouls. Nice little run there by OSU - to me they look the better team, but don’t think they are going to get any real separation unless Lewis or Butler get hot from 3.

  21. on 31 Mar 2007 at 4:49 pm 21. christian h. said …

    Indeed, atrocious three-point shooting.

  22. on 31 Mar 2007 at 4:54 pm 22. christian h. said …

    Game over - OSU up 8 with 1:36 to go.

  23. on 31 Mar 2007 at 4:56 pm 23. JP Stormcrow said …

    no - this is when it can get bad & humiliating - if you lose from this point…

    I know.

    Ge, do I lack confidence or something - this is the darkness that comes from being a sports fan from NE Ohio …

  24. on 31 Mar 2007 at 5:04 pm 24. JP Stormcrow said …

    Ok, 3.7 seconds, 5-point lead, I will relax now….
    sort of.

    pens down 2-1 …

  25. on 31 Mar 2007 at 5:08 pm 25. christian h. said …

    Well, let’s hope OSU will be able to beat Florida in this sport! Of course, for spyder’s sake, we are all rooting for UCLA tonight?

  26. on 31 Mar 2007 at 5:12 pm 26. JP Stormcrow said …

    No doubt about it….
    Not much care in me about Florida v UCLA. spyder?

    Maybe Florida, just for the novelty of both b-ball & f-ball being between the same schools.

    My prediction if it is Florida v OSU in final: Oden will get a massive slam dunk on the 1st possesion. In the ensuing celebration, he will get hurt and leave the game. Then Florida will run the “Princeton” offense, OSU will guard the perimeter, but ignore the cutters and get stomped by 20-30. (I think I’ve seen that movie somewhere before.)

    Now to the Pens, down by some 3-1 bullshit. If you think basketball players are fast, switch right to hockey afterwards, it’s kinda like the players are gliding over the playing surface or something. Weird. (They do tend to “glide” into one another quite a bit as well.)

  27. on 31 Mar 2007 at 5:15 pm 27. peter ramus said …

    Didn’t get a chance to see much of the game. Did the big guys underperform, or was I just misunderstanding a late comment by the announcers?

    Oh, and You Know Me, Al.

  28. on 31 Mar 2007 at 5:23 pm 28. christian h. said …

    I think you could say they neutralized each other pretty much. I also think that if one had been hurt, the other team would have won easily.
    And, JP, don’t panic. A team can’t just learn the Princeton offense in a day. Plus, you can defend it with a 2-3 zone (that’s what OSU did after they fell behind by 10 to … Northwestern this season; of course, NU is (sadly) not quite Florida or UCLA).

  29. on 31 Mar 2007 at 5:27 pm 29. spyder said …

    I suspect Florida will win out, they certainly have all the necessary talent and the deeper bench. The only slight advantage UCLA has is that they are both experienced and younger with a determined focus on defense. If they can keep Gators under 65 or so, then Bruins have a chance. Just in case you would like to see that:

  30. on 31 Mar 2007 at 5:31 pm 30. JP Stormcrow said …

    A team can’t just learn the Princeton offense in a day.

    Actually, I do not really expect it, that fantasy was just my mapping of what happened in Florida v OSU in football to basketball. (key player - Ted Ginn getting hurt in celebration, & then Florida ran that weird offense a killed them with short passes & OSU stayed back in deeper coverage and did not challenge.)

    And Pens are in some kind of time warp and are down 4-1. (Goalie swich) Jesus, Thiebault, can you give Fleurry an honest-to-God night off? I woulda just let him sit out there and eat 5,6,7,.. 10 myself. … but then, I’m a dick.

  31. on 31 Mar 2007 at 6:15 pm 31. spyder said …

    Somehow i lost my post a bit ago… damn.. mystical evaporation… that tho thucks.. or is this a wait for moderation thang… no that doesnt make sense either… aaaaaaaaarrrrrrggggggg

    Anyway, back to what i was saying, that i can’t remember. Oh yeah, if UCLA can keep the Gators under 60 points then the Bruins have a chance. Other wise they will not be able to survive the late surges of the second half that Florida seems to be always capable of making.

    I was thinking about how coaching is now so different than what it once was. The HBO special last Monday on the Wooden years dynasty at UCLA touched on it only in the slightest. Great coaches have capacity, through preparation and hard work, to be able to coach during the games. By that i mean, they can change everything about the game plan if they need to do so, knowing that their players also understand what is expected, how to make it happen, and are up to the challenge. Sitting behind Wooden, watching and listening to him, one sensed how keenly aware he was of the game as it proceeded. He would use the first ten minutes or so analyzing and breaking down the other coach’s game plans, and player tendencies for that night. He would tweak the referees, make comments to opposing players, slap that rolled up program on his hand or knee, and other bits that were designed to elict a reaction he could then evaluate and develop predictions.

    Other great coaches certainly could do this as well. I don’t think it is possible any longer to do so in the NBA, given the game and skill of the players, not to mention their pay levels. The closest these days is MLB where the GM makes the moment to moment decisions that the game requires in terms of tactics and strategies. A typical NFL team has 12 coaches all of whom have certain keen responsibilities. NHL is so quick, so deliberate, that the coaches’ most significant decisions are line changes and penalty killing strategems. eh??

    Bruins struggling to hit shots, is always not a good sign, but the D seems to be bothering the Gators.

  32. on 31 Mar 2007 at 6:20 pm 32. christian h. said …

    Post is up now - it was flagged as spam for some reason. Since WordPress blogs always flag all my comments submitted with .edu email address as spam, I won’t claim to know why… Anyway, the game is some kind of scoring limbo: how low can they go?

  33. on 31 Mar 2007 at 6:41 pm 33. JP Stormcrow said …

    Woo Hoo!! Pens come back from 3 down to tie with 4 seconds left!! Guess I was right to suggest a goalie change. … Oh, and is there a basketball game on or something?

    I should have been watching the spam, sorry spyder. It gives you no warning if it goes to spam - it supposedly “learns” when we unmark it. Nor does it send me an e-mail like other comments - need to see about that.

    Oh, and You Know Me, Al.
    Lardner supposedly showed up as a character in both Gatsby and Tender is the Night.

  34. on 31 Mar 2007 at 6:52 pm 34. spyder said …

    Well 29 to 23 is holding it at that under 60… now if they could just keep it that way, and start shooting.. both top UCLA scorers have zero points at the half???? Hopefully Brewer will get cold (3 for 3 for threes?), and then Afala and Collison hit some and the second half would be very different.

    Of course, my timing stinks, as i have a conference that begins Monday, and our team of presenters, from local universities that have been previously eliminated from March Madness, chose now to be online for preparation. So i am distracted by trying to dance between game, here, and conversing online with them.

    Mo lata.. good luck with the Pens.

  35. on 31 Mar 2007 at 7:00 pm 35. christian h. said …

    I always say it’s ok to be down if the other team shoots much better than yours - it ain’t gonna stay that way. So we can hope for the second half.

  36. on 31 Mar 2007 at 7:41 pm 36. spyder said …

    I could shoot better… this isn’t pretty… affala is having a nightmare of a final game..

  37. on 31 Mar 2007 at 7:55 pm 37. JP Stormcrow said …

    Pretty frustrating for the Bruins. Not pleasant when they can’t get untracked at all.

    Pens lost in OT - shame to come back that far and lose, but got one point at least in the NHL scheme. I’m losing focus, spending more time watching Deliverance on AMC.

    This is the weekend they didn’t play golf. … or watch TV sports.

    Image Hosted by ImageShack.us

  38. on 31 Mar 2007 at 8:04 pm 38. peter ramus said …

    Shooting under 40% makes it awfully hard to win. Florida looks good to repeat, eh?

  39. on 31 Mar 2007 at 8:43 pm 39. JP Stormcrow said …

    Thanks to all paricipants, few but fun.

    In other sports roundup… Serena rocks. Phelps won 100 Butterfly last night, but US medley relay had a DQ in prelims (Crocker left too soon, Phelps not even swimming in it), so he cannot get 8 golds.

    And one last sports in fiction quote. Sports is just a small part of it, but anyone with an overinvestment in their personal fantasy narratives owes themselves a read of Brautigan’s Dreaming of Babylon. And what better fantasy to overwork than a sports fantasy.

    There was a tapestry of me beheading a pitcher with a line drive. … Still another tapestry showed me accepting a bowlful of jewels from Nebuchadnezzar for finishing the 596 B.C. season with an .890 batting average.

  40. on 01 Apr 2007 at 6:13 am 40. The Constructivist said …

    Hey, there’s a classic finish to the LPGA’s first major starting in less than an hour your time (and going on air on national network tv a few hours later), so I say “shitfuck” and “fuckshit” to your Deliverance allusions. If you check out one of spyder’s early comments on the tournament at Mostly Harmless, I’ll bet you’ll agree with me Ochoa’s late quadruple on Saturday had him squealing like a pig (if he had put any money on her winning). Seriously, though, the course is playing so tough being 5 shots out on the last day does not put her out of it….

  41. on 01 Apr 2007 at 2:48 pm 41. spyder said …

    It would have been insane to bet on any of the ladies today. Who could possibly tell what player was going to have just the perfect touch on those hellacious greens: too soft and the ball takes off line with each blade of grass, too hard and one is looking at no less than a bogey? Pressel just wanted to bring home her -3 so she played only to make par the final nine; looks like that strategy (can you say Tiger at British Open) may pay off. Petterson, one back just hit an amazing second shot to within 3 feet of the cup to make a birdie to get back to a tie with Pressel (Petterson had a three shot lead at one point, before going four over in two holes).

    Meanwhile the men are playing rounds at 14 and 17 below par in Houston, and the Suns are holding on against the Spurs–while the NASCAR race is only half over so that means nothing. Local arena football is a winner, local minor league hockey team is presentable but down 3-2 in first round so they have to win tonight…

    nice swims by so many over the course of the last week, along with some great waterpolo, especially women’s… and that women’s 800 meter race was one of the best swim duels in a long long time…

  42. on 01 Apr 2007 at 2:52 pm 42. spyder said …

    Pressel becomes youngest women ever to win this major…. a giddy teenager but a solid and intelligent player…

  43. on 01 Apr 2007 at 3:55 pm 43. The Constructivist said …

    Like I wrote in my penultimate update to my not-quite-live-blogging the event (the ultimate is yet to be written), maybe Pressel’s victory will add fuel to Wie’s fire and inspire her to make the last 3 majors of the year even more interesting!

  44. on 01 Apr 2007 at 8:51 pm 44. JP Stormcrow said …

    For the Championship on Monday night, will either continue here or with another thread.

    Right now I am in Ohio (and will be tomorrow night as well), just so I could get a real feel for the game.

    (Actually. I am here for entirely unrelated reasons, plus Ohio State is one of those teams that is easier to cheer for when you aren’t around other OSU fans…)

  45. on 02 Apr 2007 at 5:31 pm 45. spyder said …

    Aaaahh the state that stole another presidential election for Bushco competes against the first state. Dueling chad dunks, pregnant rebounds, electronic timing hacking—this game could be a real thriller down to the wire with the SCOTUS having to make the final call.

    I smell a fix. BCS and NCAA finals for these two teams and these two states. Can you say payback?? I’ll bet we could have a credible conspiracy theory developed and spread by halftime.

  46. on 02 Apr 2007 at 6:00 pm 46. JP Stormcrow said …

    in 2004, I had to decide whether to stay in PA on Election Day and work there or go to Ohio and work near my folks. Stayed in PA and was feeling really good for most of the day…… (sigh)

    I didn’t go back to Ohio
    …
    A, O, Oh way to go Ohio

  47. on 02 Apr 2007 at 6:14 pm 47. christian h. said …

    Well, it was already a bad opening day for the Chicago teams (JP is on a roll - first the Cavs, now the Indians, what’s next???). So let’s hope OSU can at least keep it from being a total write-off sports-wise.

  48. on 02 Apr 2007 at 6:52 pm 48. JP Stormcrow said …

    I don’t know - right now they are doing a pretty good impersonation of the Ohio State Bricklayers Association…

    They must hit 3s to compete in ths game. If not it will be a long night.

  49. on 02 Apr 2007 at 7:12 pm 49. JP Stormcrow said …

    Half 3-pointers - OSU 2-12, Fla 6-8
    Story of the game, plus Conley foul trouble & OSU not handling the ball well.

    Just hoping for a respectable final score now … but I am betting on 27 (f-ball margin.)

  50. on 02 Apr 2007 at 7:21 pm 50. spyder said …

    My predict: OSU will make an early second half run, then Gator legs will begin to take their toll, and run OSU into the ground. Considering that FLA big men aren’t hitting shots well either, if just one of them wake up OSU could be in trouble. Oden looking tired.

  51. on 02 Apr 2007 at 7:28 pm 51. Oaktown Girl said …

    Just got home and saw the score. Hmmm…not exactly a nail-biter. Better get out of Ohio as soon as you can, JP. Could get ugly out there.

  52. on 02 Apr 2007 at 7:39 pm 52. peter ramus said …

    If Florida’s big guys catch a couple of quick fouls between them, there might be an ineresting last few minutes. Otherwise, 49-40 looks insurmountable.

  53. on 02 Apr 2007 at 7:41 pm 53. Zeus said …

    Ahh, ye never know. As an OSU alum, I’m impressed with the coaches of late. Tressel in football and Matta in basketball, but Tressel got the Bucks’ midwestern hides beaten pretty bad. I expect a resurgence in the second half, but, likely a waning due to lack of experience at the end, unless they get a couple of breaks, and that’s when young guys can be real dangerous. Go bucks!

    Zeus

  54. on 02 Apr 2007 at 8:03 pm 54. JP Stormcrow said …

    OSU playing as well as they can - except for the fricking 3s… oh, well, Florida too good for everybody this year.

    Yes, it is refreshing to have coaches who can coach during the game, not just recruit for OSU. - but Tressel was surprising in his lack of adjustment in january, he had been so solid in that regard upuntil then.

  55. on 02 Apr 2007 at 8:23 pm 55. peter ramus said …

    A minute twenty-two left. Unless Ken Blackwell can pull off a miracle here in the last minute, it looks like Florida all the way.

  56. on 02 Apr 2007 at 8:26 pm 56. Oaktown Girl said …

    Oh my - did I just hear Ohio was 3-for-21 from the 3-point range? Yikes.

  57. on 02 Apr 2007 at 8:29 pm 57. spyder said …

    twelve players and Florida coming
    another team dead from Oh hi Oh

  58. on 02 Apr 2007 at 8:40 pm 58. Oaktown Girl said …

    Well, Zeus (and all OSU fans)-
    Ohio State made a really good run. Who would have guessed they’d come this far? But damn, that’s got to be hard being runner-up in both football and basketball in the same year, and to the same team no less.

  59. on 02 Apr 2007 at 8:42 pm 59. JP Stormcrow said …

    Oh well.

    Now back to your regularly-scheduled battles over water, safe havens from climate disrupted environments, access to food and energy, and the struggle to make it to another day. As someone said somewhere.

    Or to put it more succinctly:

    Back, Back on the Chain Gang