122nd Edition - 3/23/07

122 - The oldest age any person is known to have lived to (Jeanne Calment was born in 1875 and died in 1997).

• Blatant Self-Promotion

Reviews of "TMNT," "Shooter," "Reign Over Me," and "Pride."
Also, an interview with Chicago's own, Bernie Mac.
All on Stuff I Wrote.

• NCAA Basketball: 3 out of 4 is good enough for me

Last night, three games game down to the final seconds. And it is starting to be standard for Ohio State to be apart of one of them.

The Buckeyes were down 20 at one point in the first half. In fact, the most important play was probably the 3-point play they got at the buzzer at the end of the first half, decreasing the lead to 17. Tennessee can look at the free-throw line to figure out where they blew this one, and Oden's big paw. Tennessee went 8-17 from the line, and Oden (only scoring 9 points) had a block on the final Tennessee shot. Ohio State won 85-84.

Southern Illinois couldn't hold on against Kansas, but as soon as I saw Jim Belushi in the crowd I knew they were a goner. Can anything this guy attaches himself to be great? So. Ill. played some amazing man-to-man defense but had to heave a half-courter to try and tie it. Kansas wins 61-58.

Memphis squeaked by Texas A&M and UCLA won pretty easy over Pitt.

• Hawkeyes: Alford out

Steve Alford is done coaching the Iowa Hawkeyes. And we didn't have to fire him (which would have cost millions). Alford is headed to New Mexico because he wants to be at a school where basketball comes first. Well, ideally academics comes first - then whatever program is winning comes next. Alford came to Iowa the same time as Kirk Ferentz. Everyone I remember thought Alford was a brilliant hire, and no one knew who Ferentz was (we were still upset about not getting Bob Stoops).

Time has shown Alford can't do anything great. He isn't a fantastic recruiter. His coaching is sub-par, and when the Hawkeyes had off-the-court problems, he never inspired.

Here's what my friends had to say about his departure -
*I'm all broken up about it. (sarcasm)
*Yeah I saw that this morning.... What a shame. (sarcasm)
*He clearly was not a fit for Iowa. If we were supposed to be bad, we were. If we showed some promise, we drastically underperformed when it mattered (e.g., biggest upset of the tourney last year).
*At least with Dr. Tom we would make it to the second round.
*I'm just happy I'm a Tarheel now. I can't wait to get my 2007 NCAA champions hat. (This last one was from Mike D - the NFL picker who moved to Chapel Hill last week)

• Chicago Bulls - Tip-Doh!

It looked ugly with seconds left last night against the Nuggets. A loose ball, a bad shot from Gordon, a tip between Deng and Carmelo Anthony, then Tyrus Thomas tips in the game winner. Anthony said he would have rather lost by 100. Twelve games left. Bulls are 40-30.

• Cubs: Prior to this...

I was almost done with Prior. Then he went and pitched 4 innings, giving up 4 hits and 1 run. It's like I'm George and he's Lizzy. I need to forget yesterday every happened. I mean, I married to a big, rich girl. I need to forget the past, and move forward even though Lizzy/Prior has been amazing before. OK, that's the last time I compare the Cubs with "Grey's Anatomy," I swear.

• Quick Hits

*Kobe Bryant - The man had 60 last night in a win over the Grizzlies. That is three 50-point games in a row, and he is one of three to have 4 or more 60-point games. I love watching this offense right now, but I find I am still in the stage of thinking half the shots (that end up going in) are bad ideas. He is the most fun train wreck to watch in sports right now.

*Coach Tubby Smith just made the Big Ten a little tougher ... I think, although he could simply be burnt out at Kentucky and looking to retire. Minnesota seems like the type of program where he could still earn his millions but not worry about pesky things like wins, and NCAA tournaments.

*Jonathan Papelbon is back as a closer for the Red Sox. He said he was losing sleep thinking about wanting to be back in the bullpen as the closer. This would have been good information before my baseball draft.

*Tony La Russa is an idiot. If you are rich, and like to drink far away from where you live ... Get someone else to drive you. It's that simple.

• Stuff

"Trapped in the Drive-Thru" - Another Weird Al gem ... 11 minutes long. Do you have what it takes to get through the whole thing? click here to watch

121st Edition - 3/22/07

121 - The total number of points to win at Cribbage. Cribbage is a bit of a Schwister tradition. Good game. Highly recommend.

• Special Guest

Today is John's version of what happened with the 2000 marathon, and a quick reply from Kyle. You might remember John and a teammate from the World Series of Pop Culture, but then again, you may not, considering the entire experience lasted about 45 minutes.

John runs and Kyle retorts

kyle speaks the truth. my version was of course a little different, but
most of the facts are consistent.

in order to prepare for the big race, i opted to become johnny rage,
starting around 6a. pretty good. i was pumped. got there late, as kyle
said. kyle moves up front to start. i drop to the middle of the pack at
the starting line. gun goes off. minutes roll by, i cross the starting
line, unaware of the pain that was going to set in.

i am cruising at a pretty slow pace. stop and walk and get water every two
miles, since i figure that i would rather be safe than sorry. see the folks
and katie (who didn't have my gatorade) at around the 8 mile mark. feeling
good. very confident at this point.

then, the infamous hill. well, me, being the thinking man, decide to slowly
jog, and if i get tired, walk the hill. so jog about half way. turn the
corner. cry. walk. get to the top. hard to describe the feeling in the
legs at that point. i equate it to laying in a nice soft bed and having a
someone repeatedly beat your legs with a 2 by 4. that will give you an
approximate idea of the agony.

so i decide to walk for awhile. well, "awhile" turned into 10 miles, which
resulted in my 5.5 hour finish. sad.

among the people who passed me...

"lorraine" - a 73 year old lady who looked as though she could barely walk
a man wearing tevas
a woman who i passed earlier while she was vomiting

all made me feel really good.

so everyone think long and hard if you are going to run one of these. and
don't slack off in the training near the end, like i did. bill, i know how
much you love running, so just keep that in mind.

john.
+++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++

I want you all to know that I'm currently crying from the previous email from John.
I had a few ideas as I was waiting in a slightly concerned state for John to finish.
Both would have been cruel and foolish, but amusing in hindsight. One was that i would be eating cheetos on the curb and drinking a coke as john came by. However, as I later discussed with John, this may very well have prevented him from finishing the final 100 meters of the race. The other was that I was going to take pictures of the saddest characters that crossed the line before him. Lorraine, of course, being one of them and a fat lady in spandex being the other. Unfortunately I missed the person in tevas.

Moral of the story, stick to the training program or pay the piper.

• Stuff

music videos
* Arctic Monkeys - "Brainstorm" - at arctic-monkeys.com
* Travis - "Closer" - at youtube.com
* The Kaiser Chiefs - "I can do it without you" - myspace.com/kaiserchiefs

120th Edition - 3/21/07

120 - Age of Moses when he died. Really? REally?

• Special Guest

This one is an oldie but goodie. Amazing that this was written seven years ago. At 30, you definitely hit that age where you assume everything took place about 2-4 years ago, then you find out it was closer to a decade. This is Minneapolis Kyle (my Twin's insider), and his first marathon. Tomorrow will be my friend John's version.

+++++++++

Kyle's marathon

Per a many request, I'm updating all on the marathon.

But, the details. Note to self, if course description ever says "relatively flat", be very very afraid.

So, John and I awake at 5:00 am to get food in the belly and to chug gatorade. We then spent the next hour trying to get rid of excess fluids and such so that jaunts behind buildings could be minimized during the race itself. Around 5 till 6 we called a taxi. At 6:15 we called the taxi again. I believe, "oh shit" were her words, as she realized that a cab was not on it's way. 45 minutes till race time at this point. We ordered that one along and called another cab company. The second cab company arrived around 6:20 and we jumped aboard.

"To Speedway Meadows" we instructed. He seemed vaguely familiar with that part of Golden Gate park. Going between what felt like about 100 mph through town, we arrived to the park area at 6:30 ish. no runners in site so we insisted he search a bit harder for Speedway Meadows. Mind you, the park is large. At this point, a healthy trip across San Fran has rung the meter to around $10. Around 20-25 minutes till racetime..

Spoke to police officer. Gave us coordinates of where Speedway meadowns was. We then followed a street some distance north of the park to 45th ave. No runners. Then backtracked to find another cop. Gave us the real directions. Problem being that park was closed because of the "race" that was going on, so getting through the park in a car was not possible. At this point, we were questioning if this "race" actually existed. 20 minutes till racetime.

Cabbie then experiments with a road that cuts through the park. It worked out, fortunately. We're in the area, but still see no runners. Cabbie inquires of race location from security guard. He says that we can run through the park to get there. Perfect, just what every about-to-be-marathoner needs just prior to race. Cab fare now double, and 15 minutes till racetime. We are now on foot.

Cutting through the park, mixing bursts of run with walk with stops to remove gatorade from the body. "Katie, get your ass up hear", I screamed (or, may I embellished that a bit). But, eventually, we spotted a herd of runners. We cut down a dirt path, and coincidentally bumped into John's family. About 6-8 minutes until race time and we were there. The gun went off a few minutes after 7:00.

Race details are short and to the point. About 2 miles in we hit a hill significantly larger than anything I'd run around here. Lots of downhill. Then a few miles later we hit another big hill, as large as the first. Then lots of downhill. The next 10 miles were uneventful, as we ran along the water, by the stadium and through some industrial parks. Portable toilets would have come in handy. Speaking for John and I, I think we both belt pretty good about ourselves at the half-way point.

A few miles later we hit the hill. Up it went, shortening the stride, I questioned how I'd perform after the hill. But, I got over it and continued on. That put a dent in the armor, but I was determined that it would not ruin me. Then, I turned the corner..........

Running down a long and steep hill I was trying to stride out a bit further in order to regain the form that I had sustained through the first 14-15 miles. I looked ahead to a hill larger than any hill I had seen before. "Surely", I pondered, "we are about to run up that hill".

After crawling up the hill, I knew the next ten miles would be the most painful I had ever run in my life. They were. Around mile 19, I saw what I believe to be the winner. He was passing the 25 mile mark. Discouraging to say the least. After the longest 2 mile stretch in my life, I made the u-turn on the coast and begin my descend back to the park. Another long hill to finish up on, and the race was over.

Monday I could barely walk. Tuesday was just not good if I'd sat for more than thirty minutes and today is painful, but bearable. A sports massage (thanks Susie) in the evening is hopefully going to cure my woes.

And while I vowed shortly after crossing the tape to never run another marathon again, I have to admit that the idea is slowly warming up to me,though definitely not anytime soon. But, if anyone knows of a good 5 or 10k, I'm in.

--Kyle

• Stuff

*Adam Sandler hosted "The Late Show with David Letterman" since Dave was out with the flu. Sandler was due to be the main guest, but filled that role with Don Cheadle - Both are in the film "Reign Over Me," coming out on Friday.

*Ira Glass interview. If you don't know him from NPR ("This American Life"), he's got a new show based on the radio show, beginning on Showtime this week. click here to read

*Free Iced Coffee today at all Dunkin' Donuts.

119th Edition - 3/20/07

119 - It is the sum of five consecutive primes (17 + 19 + 23 + 29 + 31). 1-1-9 is the emergency number in many Asian countries. The number of Division I college football teams in America.

• NCAA: A little too quick

Perhaps I was quick to award Kevin Sketch (co-worker) first place in our NCAA bracket... Even this email exchange from yesterday ...

Kevin:
I will not win. I have WI & TX in the final 4. So thanks for the love on your web site, but you're actually just rubbing in the pain of the inevitable.

j:
Good. Now I have something to write about tomorrow as well.

Kevin:
I see, this whole tournament pick thing you created is just fodder for your unimaginative musings. Can't you write some mindless drivel like other contemporaries in your business? Come on man, what's Angelina Jolie up to these days? Didn't she just adopt another baby? What's your take on Larry King's surgery? Or talk about the big exclusive story on MSNBC telling everyone how much of a diva Michael Jackson is. You know, all that really important stuff that people care so much about. Aren't you an entertainment writer?
Seriously, I am looking forward to kicking your ass in chess in a few minutes.

(We also play chess just about every day. And since he can't control what I write on this space, I am beating him 143-0-2, it's sad really. Even when I try and let him win, my subconscious takes over and still dominates. Two stale mates is all he has to show for his hard work.)

• NCAA: The other contenders

*Dave, aka Denever Dave, aka ihuc13 is sitting pretty with 7 elite 8s remaining and all his final four.
*Emily, aka Emily's bracekt (her typo, not mine) also has 7 elite 8s remaining, but her miss is Maryland, going to the finals.
*The one to watch out for seems to be AE, aka Elijah's little brother, aka Andrew Edwards, aka 'shoulder don't work' - he has all the 8 elite 8s left, and is only 3 points behind the leader.

• Greg Oden: the gentle giant

I am sick of a story being made over nothing. Greg Oden, in the closing seconds gave a hard foul in the Xavier game. Talking heads are trying to say that Oden got away with one, and that gave the Ohio State Buckeyes the game. When I was watching the game, I noticed the Xavier player fly after Oden fouled him, but I also noticed Oden touch the ball halfway through the foul. In other words, he was going for the ball. Also, just because Oden is strong, doensn't mean he has to foul light. Hard Fouls are typically the point of fouling. Tap a guy, and maybe it doesn't get called. There was 10 seconds left, potentially in the college career of Greg Oden, so he hit the guy.

• Stuff

SXSW (South by Southwest) is over. And once again, I wasn't there. Next year I will be. I 94 percent guarentee it!
Anyway, here are a few videos from the concerts.
http://2007.sxsw.com/coverage/video/
Word on the street (the street being my future sister-in-laws boyfriend) is that Ghostland Observatory is somebody to check out.
http://myspace.com/ghostlandobservatory

118th Edition - 3/19/07

118 - This is the most interesting thing I could find - 118 ways to save money for college. Wow, hope this isn't an indication of how boring today can be.

• Other things (Quick Hits)

*Kobe Bryant is good. He went for 65 points on Friday night and followed it up with 50 points last night. He and Wilt Chamberlin are the only ones to do that.

*50 is also the number of points the 76ers got beat by last night. The Rockets won 124-74.

• NCAA Basketball

*Our Leader (in the 1st Annual The Daily Score NCAA Tournament Pick'em Competition Spectacular) is Kevin Sketch (aka Plausible Deniability). He has picked 38 out of 48 for 50 points. Two girls are tied for 3rd and I am 16th.

*Of the 16 teams in the sweetness, UNLV (7) and Vanderbilt (6) are the lowest seeds remaining.

• Stuff

*Monday Box Office
People still like Sandra Bullock, but more people like blood.
1. 300 - $31 million - a solid B.
2. Wild Hogs - $19 - yup, i still hate this film.
3. Premonition - $18 - Roeper called it one of the worst endings ever.
4. Dead Silence - $8 - heard awful, awful things about this film.
5. I Think I Love My Wife - $6 - I thought this film would do better. It's not awful, but the subject isn't fun. I assume there were alot of women out there telling their men, "No, I don't want to see a movie about a man wanting to cheat on his wife."

*Saturday Night Live
Not good enough Julia Louis-Dreyfus. In fact, I can't remember laughing out loud once. The Italian sketch was OK. Never a good sign when both musical performances are the best parts (Snow Patrol). And yes, Chris Rock showed up for the opener, and then talked about black men getting hung back in the day ... not his best stuff.

For the season: 8-7
Funny: John C. Reily, Hugh Laurie, Alec Baldwin, Chris "Ludacris" Bridges, Justin Timberlake, Jake Gyllenhaal, Drew Barrymore, Rainn Wilson

Not Funny: Dane Cook, Jaime Pressly, Matthew Fox, Annette Bening, Jeremy Piven, Forest Whitaker, Julia Louis-Dreyfus

*New Shows
Raines - Jeff Goldblum. It's fine. I just don't know why I would watch it. I already have enough and it didn't give me anything mindblowing.
Andy Barker, P.I. - wow, this guy is destined to be someone I always give the benefit of the doubt to ... and he NEVER delivers. The show is weak.