NCAA Tournament

    Well, I'm glad I didn't put any money down on my bracket. Like a fool, I believed in Rick Pitino and his tough minded Louisville squad. With images of their upset of ND in the Big East Tournament still fresh in my mind I picked them to go to the Final Four. Is it me, or is the Big East overrated? ESPN tends to show a lot of the Big East and thus all you hear about is the Big East (the same thing happened a few years ago in college football when they praised the Big 12 countless times), but St. Johns got dominated by a 'Zags team that is nothing special and the Cardinals looked mediocre against Morehead State. I know that's only two teams out of the 75 that make up the Big East, but still, I expected better. Of course, this begs to question how I feel about ND's chances in the tourney. I picked them to go to the Elite Eight, but now I believe a loss to Purdue is more likely. Then again, what do I know? I have only watched a handful of college games this year and can't name the starting five on my favorite team. I love the tourney, but I must admit that I am no longer a college basketball fan. I consider myself a college basketball casual observer. Go ND. 

The disappearance of...

     I don't want to be one of those bloggers who wastes your time with senseless ramblings about the mundane (such as: "today I realized that I like vanilla soymilk better than chocolate soymilk and to prove my point I will offer a five reasons" or "yesterday I was playing with my dog. She's so cute when she..."), but I feel I must share with you the discovery I made yesterday. My copy of NBA Jam Tournament Edition for the SNES is missing. This is a troubling development. It is the only game I play on that oldie, but goodie of a system and although I play it once every six months I like the idea of having it around. Of course, now that I can't find the game it's all I want to do. I would even play with Eric Montross or Dino Radja! Ya, that particular game had a rookie team and those two gems were on the team. Now you understand why I am devastated.  Apparently I can download it (for a fee), but it's not the same. I've never wanted to blow a 12 point lead in 35 seconds (thanks to the ridiculously unfair computer) this much in my life.

An oldie, but a goodie

     This YouTube video is several years old, but I can't help but laugh when I watch it. During the stretch run of the 2008 election Matt Damon gets all riled up considering the possibility of Palin becoming President. It's a mini-rant and it is memorable. The best part is when he says he wants to know if Palin really believes that dinosaurs were here 4,000 years ago. Pot shots at fundamentalist Christians never get old. Here's my Friday selection...

Go Bulls

     Regular season games usually do not get me excited, but I must say I thoroughly enjoyed seeing the Bulls beating the Heat tonight. There's nothing like watching LeBron trying to break the backboard with 16 seconds left and a chance to tie. Way to go Bosh. 1/18 buddy. Let's get to the playoffs right now!

Not surprised, but disappointed

   I've got to get used staying on top of things. This past Saturday the U.S. House of Representatives decided to cut 61 billion dollars from the budget. Although the cuts were short-sighted and nothing more than a blatant attempt to appease the Tea Partiers, that is not my concern here. I am writing to inform you that late Saturday night the GOP inserted an amendment in the legislation that stripped the EPA from halting Mountaintop Removal, even if their decision to do so is predicated on scientific findings. This upsets me beyond belief and I let my representative Paul Gosar hear about it (he voted for it). The utter stupidity of such an act would be more disappointing if I didn't consider who voted for it. In other words, I'm not surprised by the idiocy. For those of you who have no idea about Mountaintop Removal here is Representative Yarmuth from Kentucky explaining what happens when such mining is permitted. Let's stop this short-sighted tomfoolery right now, before it's too late!

Friday Fun

   I read Tom Ricks' blog and I notice that he always posts pictures and biographies of Army dogs on Fridays. Personally, I think it is a lazy way to take three days off instead of the customary two, but because I don't get paid for this blog I am going to adopt the same method. The difference is, I am just going to post favorite YouTube videos every Friday. Here is a blast from the past for all you sports fans. I remember when this happened and at the time I was a Rome fan. I guess I still am, but I must admit it is fun to watch Everett tip the table over and come after Rome. Hey, he warned him.

Watson

    Although I had a feeling Watson's victory was inevitable, count me as a person who was upset that humanity got drubbed by a computer in Jeopardy. It wasn't even close. As someone who is still amazed by Ipods, you can only imagine how awestruck I am of our (our meaning humans) ability to create something much smarter than us, when it comes to knowing facts. Is it me, or does it seem like T2 and I-Robot don't seem that far off anymore? That may be hyperbolic, but I am curious about what happens when we do create self-aware machines. According to an NPR story they are currently being developed. Interesting.