131st Edition - 4/05/07

131 - It is the 32nd prime. Note that 1 + 3 + 1 = 3 + 2.

• Stuff

*For everyone that gave up on "Lost" during the first half of the season, you were wrong. There have been four solid episodes in a row. I am curious again.

*Cubs win, Bulls win.

*Will Forte made a bet with Amy Poehler that he would pay her $300 every time she mentioned his name on "Jimmy Kimmel Live." He now owes her more than $15,000.

• Special Guest: Andrew Edwards

Andrew Edwards is a winner. After dominating the *1st Annual The Daily Score NCAA Tournament Pick'em Competition Spectacular* he has been granted the keys to the castle (a saying I have used twice this week, and it might just happen again).

The City: Chicago, The Windy City, Second City, Chi-Town, Chicagoland, Da Chi, The Chill, City of Big Shoulders, The 312, The Big Onion, My Kind of Town, and Sweet Home -- List provided by j, not Andrew

So lately, I have considered the thought of moving out of Chicago. I have no reason to move, no prospects elsewhere and I just renewed my lease, so realistically, I will be around for another year – I was just thinking about the idea of moving and did sort of a cost benefit analysis in the form of the top ten lists of the best and worst parts about Chicago.

10 best things about Chicago (in no particular order):

Neighborhoods: Buying a Chicago neighborhood map was one of my first purchases. It's what makes the city so unique.

Music: Any band that is touring the US will more than likely stop in Chicago. So many venues and opportunities to see the next big band. Not to mention Lollapalooza will be in Chicago for the next several years as well as Pitchfork Music Festival.

Ethnic Diversity: I come from a suburb full of rich white people, so I love how I am now a minority in Logan Square. You can go for a 6 mile walk and hear Spanish, Polish, Korea, and many other languages.

Restaurants and Bars: Are everywhere. You can’t walk more than a few blocks anywhere in the city without coming across a local diner or pub. The ones off the main drags are the best.

Grid System: Maybe the most organized, logical, well-planned city in the world – It is impossible to get lost in. Everything is north, south, east, west.

Public Transportation: 2^nd best in the country. You can get almost anywhere in the city using it. You just need a little patience.

Summertime: I read that Chicago packs more into its summers than anywhere in the world. There are street festivals every weekend, girls come out of hibernation, people are out walking about, and the beaches are jam-packed.

Produce Markets: You can go to a Jewel or Dominick’s, but going to a local produce shop is more rewarding. A better variety of produce than the corporations and everything is a lot.

Cheaper Airports: I have now realized how great it is to be able to take a train to two airports and have the ticket to New York and San Francisco be $200 instead of $400, like it would be if you flew out of Indianapolis, Des Moines or St. Louis.

Sporting Events: Every sport is represented here – I was lucky enough to recently attend my first Blackhawks game. Got the Bulls, Bears, Cubs, Sox, Blackhawks, Fire, Rush, Machine (lacrosse), and several colleges.

Other good things that did not make the list: comedy, theatre, clubs, art galleries, museums

10 worst things about Chicago (in no particular order):

Winter: When is the Bears game today? Wait, it’s April 4th– never mind, just confused by the 15-degree wind chill and flurries coming down outside the window.

Traffic: Is brutal. There shouldn’t be gridlock traffic at midnight on a Tuesday, but somehow this manages to happen all the time.

Public Transportation: Is worse than it was ten years ago – they have no money, so nothing is getting fixed and the entire system is a nightmare right now.

Recycling: This city is horrible with its recycling programs. No one I know recycles and no one knows what they would have to do if they wanted to start.

Garbage: Walking down on the beach last weekend down by S. 70^th street, there was garbage all over the place. Not sure if people don’t care about littering or if it is just garbage cans falling over.

Parks: Walking around Lincoln Park is all right, but this city only has a couple big parks and they get real busy and full. When you have trains going by one end of the park and major streets going by the other, that just isn’t that ideal of a situation.

Outdoor Activities: You can do any artsy activity you want in town, but if you want to go mountain climbing, sea kayaking, mountain bike riding or whitewater rafting, you have to fly a few hours away.

Nature Appeal: Goes along with the previous one. The city is as flat as you can get, with one dirty river running through it. No mountains, no ocean, no raging rivers, glaciers, large protected nature reserves, etc…Just buildings and concrete.

Crime: I thought I lived in a decent neighborhood until there was a rape, an attempted murderer was caught, and two banks were robbed, all in the last couple months.

Navy Pier: Is there any reason ever to go to this place? Actually, if they moved the Imax a mile west, then the answer is no. Have to go see 300 in the Imax on Friday.

So I feel like Chicago is one of the greatest cities in the world and a good place to be, but we don’t have everything. Things can always get better and for a guy that likes nature and wildlife, Washington Park doesn’t quite cut it.

125th Edition - 3/28/07

125 - Opus 125 is the ninth symphony of Ludwig van Beethoven, the longest symphony to the time of its completion, the first symphony to use a chorus, and Beethoven's last complete symphony. And it's a really bad Japanese magazine - http://www.125magazine.com/

• Special Guest: Mr. Bro* (aka Brendan Breault)

I teach/coach at St. Mary of the Angels Elementary School in the Bucktown neighborhood of Chicago. This has been a goal of mine for awhile - to create a presentation using pics/video for the end-of-the-year sports awards banquet. The "dream" became a reality when I started flirting with iMovie on my new MacBook. With the help of friends and family, I was able to use video of the boys and girls varsity (7th and 8th grade) championship games. I did the best I could with mostly layups and free throws. And "One Shining Moment" just seemed to make the most sense, especially during March Madness. 99 cents well spent. I plan on burning a DVD for all the players including some additional pics. Hopefully, it will be something for them to enjoy time and time again.

click here to watch the video

*Just so you know, Bro is normally a "life of the party" type. I assume he is under the impression that "The Daily Score" is vastly more popular than it actually is, and he thinks parents/kids might be reading the post.
Any way, watch the video, and stay for the very end ... it's "magic."

• The Weekly Bull: 42-30 (4 games out of first, One game out of second)

Down the strech they come... The Bulls have won three straight and have ten more games to play. Winning the division is out, but taking second place away from the Cavs is still VERY possible. The Cavs have 11 games to go. Currently the Bulls would get the #5 seed and play the Wizards (without home court advantage even though the Bulls would have the better record). If the Bulls capture second in the division, they would play Orlando and get home court. It's a big deal for a team that hasn't escaped the first round since Pippen was around (and Jordan).

The next four games are all that matter. Two games against the Pistons, one against the Cavs and the Hawks. IF (it's a big one) they win all four, we are looking at a clusterf**k at the top of the division and then anything could happen.

• Stuff

This is an add to make sure and buckle up in the back seat, otherwise apparently it could lead to the coolest, most awesomest ride of your life.

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.

116th Edition - 3/15/07

116 - Shakespeare's sonnet #116. Wow, hopefully that will be the last time I link to Shakespeare, I couldn't get through that whole thing.

• NCAA coverage -- I might just run continous updates throughout the next 4 amazing days ... Calling all of it 117th Edition. We'll see. Since I will be in the office until 12:45 today I have hoping to be one of the lucky ones to watch the games online.

• Special Guest

Erin Studer is a man. Most that know him call him Stu, and then after a few months on knowing him, realize in fact, his name isn't Stu, it's Erin--spelled the girl way (he's Irish). Stu runs a school out in Los Angeles, and word on the street is, he'll give you a teaching job if he likes the cut of your jib. And if you need a man to quote the speech from "Braveheart" look no further ...

Mad Marchness: 5 True Things about the NCAA Tournament

I didn’t play in high school. My official playing career in basketball ended in 8^th grade – B team. I was a guard. The highlight game of my career was on a cold January night in Spirit Lake, Iowa. The Spirit Lake Indians vs. the Emmetsburg E-Hawks. I was playing the 2 for the E-Hawks and scored four points in the closing seconds of the half (two of them off of a break away steal) to help us take the lead. I finished with a season high 8 points, 2 boards, and a technical for mouthing off to the ref while taking the ball out of bounds. For those of you who know me, the technical is no surprise, but the eight points might be. I went on in my high school career to play a little football, a little baseball, and whole lot of wrestling. My basketball career was relegated to late night games at the local park and later to the occasional pick up game in the Field House at the U of Iowa. There was a brief stint as a middle school basketball coach when I first started my teaching career, but I am sure that was because of the school’s desperation as opposed to any insight into my former middle school basketball prowess.

All that said, I have always been an avid watcher of the NCAA Tournament – a uniquely American event that celebrates democracy, parity, the little guy, and eventually some extremely well funded major basketball power house. Just makes me smile thinking about it. I can almost hear the squeak of Converse on the hardwood right now. Yes, I have been a fan of “The Tournament” for over 20 years and in that time I know these five things to be true:

1. I have never won an NCAA Tournament Bracket Pool and probably never will: It’s not that I don’t follow college basketball or don’t know the odds of a 10 seed making the Elite 8 or the fact that Indiana basketball just isn’t what it used to be. No, my brackets don’t fail because of lack of knowledge; they fail because of an excess of drama. With each passing year, with each new bracket, I create an alternate universe – a universe where David toppling Goliath isn’t just a myth but a round by round reality. I create tournament outcomes that, if they truly happened, would be the stuff of legend for generations. Sadly, the epics have yet to occur or to provide me any money in return.
Example: My final four for this year - Wisconsin, Pittsburg, OSU, and Georgetown. Finals: Wisconsin and OSU with the Badgers winning the fabulous Big Ten-homer love fest of a finale.

2. A 12 seed always beats a 5 seed:

You’ve heard this before. I’ve heard this before. It seems to happen a lot. I have no statistical evidence to support the always, yet I faithfully seek out the 12 vs. 5 upset each time I fill out a bracket. And even if it is not always true, isn’t it fabulous that year after year we get to watch a sporting event where an upset is guaranteed.
My pick: 12 seed Illinois topples 5 seed Virginia Tech. Damn my Big Ten bias!

3. Cinderella always loses.

I know this is true but ignore it habitually. There are always Cinderellas at the Big Dance. They always surprise people. No one knows who they are and there is little point in guessing (George Mason anyone? Or on a smaller more Hawkeye-centric scale Northwestern St.!). But sadly they always lose. No one lower than a five seed has ever won the tournament. Even N.C. State in their miracle march to the championship wasn’t that unheralded. So every Cinderella loses eventually, but not before utterly ruining my bracket year after year because I couldn’t guess who they’d be.
My feeble attempt to divine this year’s Cinderella: Villanova all the way to the Elite 8 before bowing out to Pitt…or wait, was Pitt the Cinderella…never mind.

4. The first weekend is the best.

This is true, though much like my first three statements, it isn’t a secret. Sixty four teams all vying for a victory, all striving to get one step closer to the National Championship. It really doesn’t matter if you are North Carolina or Holy Cross – everybody has to play a game, everybody is trying to win, and everybody knows it’s lose or go home – no exceptions. Sure, a #16 seed has never beaten a number one, but it could happen – maybe this is the year.
Most vulnerable #1 seed with the potential to make history and bow out in round one (not that I picked the upset or anything): Kansas. They got taken to the wire in the Big 12 tourney. The Big 12 isn’t that tough to begin with, and Niagara already has worked out their first game gitters. Go, Purple Eagles, Go!

5. Seeding of teams 3 and higher is irrelevant.

A #1 seed doesn’t guarantee a championship – often the opposite. Again, no one above a five has ever won. The vast majority of champions in the past ten years come from seeds 3, 2, and 1. Therefore all of this pre-tournament controversy over whether you got a 7 or 9 seed, or how a team should have been a 6 instead of a 5, is good oxygen wasted. As long as your team made it to the top 3 (even the top 4 on occasion) don’t worry. Just play your games.
Lowest seed with the biggest ego that may not make week 2: Duke. Probably lucky to be there and yet Dukies persist that a 6 seed is too low and that they are gonna play their way to the Final Four. No chance. They better focus on VCU – 11’s have beaten sixes. Happens every year!

Bonus: College Football does not need a tournament to decide its National Title.

I’m not saying that on occasion it wouldn’t be nice to have an optional “plus-one” game after the BCS to clear up confusion. But this event would be rare. Most of the time the bowl games do a more than adequate job of figuring out who was good, who was not, and who should be crowned champion. By the way, football tournament advocates, have you ever considered that the reason the B-ball tournament is exciting is that so many teams are involved (point 4) as opposed to the idea that so many teams actually have a chance to win (points 3 and 5). A Division-I college football tournament would most likely reduce post season participation from its current 32 bowl game 64 team format. Besides, have you ever noticed how the college football regular season actually matters? Can’t wait ‘till September. Meanwhile, I’ll enjoy the basketball. You should too.

110th Edition - 3/07/07

110 - The correct percentage to give if you truly want to win.

• Special Guest - Mike Denardis

He's the man behind the beating I received in NFL picks this past year. Mike has also decided to move to North Carolina. Things I'll miss about Mike ... drinking with Mike. Hmmm, shorter list than I was thinking it would be. Anyway, he's here to talk sports, so let's get on with it.

BEARS! BULLS!

Wow 11:00 already, boy time flies when you wake-up at 10:30. A couple items on my mind involve the Chicago sports teams.First off, I got into a debate last night about placing the "franchise tag" on a player in the NFL.
I specifically remember Seattle doing it multiple years with tackle Walter Jones, but a cohort thought that you had to have an existing contract.
Well, it turns out you can franchise a free agent for year after year. So, I don't think Lance Briggs is going anywhere.
I think the trade demand was a ploy because his agent, the oh-so slimy Drew Rosenhaus, knows we can franchise him year after year. Of course, he can hold-out, but he would just be affecting his own value in the market and have to pay to get paid eventually.
Another part of the situation I find funny is that maybe the Bear's traded Thomas Jones to free up a little space and re-open negotiations with Briggs.
So, maybe Briggs should have kept his mouth shut for a little longer and everything would have been fine.

....I love watching this Bulls team. I know it can be like watching a tragic play at times, but I don't care. At this point, I don't want a low post scorer (unless via draft.) I don't want Garnett if we have to give up Deng or Gordon.
I want this team to grow together. If you've watched the Bulls this season, you can see the growth in Deng and Gordon.
Give Deng another summer to develop a low post game to go with his slashing and sweet 18 footer and nobody will be talking about Gasol or an aging Garnett.
And Gordon has already found the consistency he lacked the last couple of seasons. He's already one of the league's best jump shooters and what is he 23?
The fault of the Bulls in the rebuilding era is giving up on pieces before they've matured as players.
We know this list: Elton Brand, Ron Artest, Brad Miller, Tyson Chandler, Eddie Curry. I don't fault John Paxson for giving up on Chandler or Curry, but if you trade Deng or Gordon now, we're going to watch one or two pieces light us up for years.

106th Edition - 3/1/07

• Special Guest: Brian Schneckloth Hunt

This fits all too well. Brian is the biggest Hawkeye fan I know. He lives in Portland and makes sure to watch as many football and basketball games as possible. Even if it means driving 45 minutes to the one bar that is dead enough where they will let him watch anything. So, before last night the Hawks had two games left. On the road against Penn State (lost 13 in a row) and home against Illinois... That is when Brian wrote this, before the two point loss to the Nittany Lions.

How 'Bout them Hawkeyes

As a Hawkeye basketball fan since birth, I've become accustomed to the one, singular consistency with my beloved team: Preseason expectations never match up with actual performance. Essentially,whatever SHOULD happen...won't. At the beginning of the 05-06 season, Iowa was tauted as being a likely final four caliber team. They had the league's best rebounder in Greg Brunner, the best shot blocker in Erik Hanson, and Jeff Horner--the undisputed all around team leader for the last four years.

They were skilled, they were deep, and they were destined to be a disappointment. While the Hawks ended up getting 25 wins and a Big Ten Tournament title, they exited the NCAA tournament in the first round at the hands of "Who the heck is" Northwestern St, a game regarded as the biggest upset in the tournament. The 2006-2007 season began with much more promise, however. Before the first practice, Pierre Pierce was sentenced to prison; one of Iowa's more promising players and a former Mr. Basketball, Carlton Reed, quit the team; returning senior Mike Henderson and freshman Tyler Smith got busted for shoplifting, and Henderson later broke his finger.

The Hawkeyes only had 1 returning starter in Adam Haluska, who had so far underachieved in his two years at Iowa. They were picked by most publications to finish 8th or 9th in the Big Ten. I was thrilled. They SHOULD be awful. I immediately bought Directv and the season pass to watch every game. I knew this was going to be an exciting season. And it has been. They began with a 7-6 preconference record, including ridiculously embarrassing losses to UNI and Drake (the first lost to Drake since 1992). This hurt. But despite the pain in the early going, some bright spots began to emerge.

Adam Haluska's legit. He'd been in the shadow of Horner and Brunner and was a role player no more. With two games left in the regular season, he's the league's leading scorer, is a finalist for the Naismith award, and was just named Academic All-American of the Year by ESPN. Tyler Smith, though just a freshman, has the most talent on the team. He's the best player Iowa has had since the BJ Armstrong/Roy Marble era, and if Greg Oden had never been born, Smith would be Big Ten freshman of the year.

Other newcomers to the team have made big strides since those first13 games. This is only Kurt Looby's 3rd year ever playing basketball and he's starting to figure out that he's physically longer than everyone else on the court. Cyrus Tate was a Junior College All-American, and he's looking more comfortable playing in the Big Ten. Returning veterans Seth Gorney, Mike Henderson, and Tony Freemanhave been contributing more each game. Freeman will be a stud next year. JR Angle is the only player on the team that makes me nervous when he's on the court. Despite being one of the best high school players in Indiana 3 years ago, he just looks lost when he has the ball. Hopefully he can figure things out for next year but I don't see it happening.

So here we are with a week left in the regular season, and the Hawksare 8-6 in the Big Ten and 16-12 overall. If they win their last 2 games (scarily, 2 games they SHOULD win), they can do no worse than 3rd in the Big Ten. Alford's teams have always done well in the Big Ten tournament, and with another solid performance, they could get into the big dance. If that happens, everyone will expect them to lose in the opening round. That's when the Hawkeyes are most dangerous.

If we lose tonight, the whole conclusion to the article is worthless. Not sure what you want to do about that.

+++++++++++++

Added Thursday morning ...

so disappointed. penn st had lost like 13 in a row and they beat us.
i'll have to rewrite the ending of my thing. now the only hope is to win the big ten tournament again.
i hate that.

Poor kid. Good thing I wrote the Hawks off weeks ago, saved me the pain ... OK that's not entirely true, I thought they had a chance if they finished 3rd in the Big Ten. But I like the idea of them winning some NIT games this year.

84th Edition - 1/18/07

• Special Guest: Casual Ultimate
  

Casual Ultimate is two ladies known as Miss Casual and Ms. Ultimate. They are casual about ultimate frisbee. If you are thinking ultimate frisbee is the sport that uses frisbees to golf with ... I hate you. I truly do. I know the ladies through friends of the sport. I am semi-retired ... but will be coming out of retirement once again to play with other Iowa Hawkeye alum's in a tournament in Las Vegas at the end of the month, but enough about me ... Ladies, the space is yours.

Sports by the letters CU

We at casual ultimate are not sports experts. We do enjoy cycling and ultimate. Miss Casual even watches a bit of basketball but we can’t claim to be up on the current happenings in ball golf (as our disc-golfing friends call it) or pointy soccer (as Ms. Ultimate refers to football) or even regular soccer or baseball.

What we do know, however, is the sport of post Christmas shopping. The sales of the year occur during the weeks following the winter solstice and we make those sales our bitch.

Merino wool v-necks in three colors? Done.
Patterned tights? Of course.
New years dresses and big earrings? Come on now… look who you’re asking.

This time of year is not for the weak-willed however and there are a few moves you’re gonna need to navigate the carnival of spending and saving that is post holiday shopping. Luckily we are here to help you.

Ms. Ultimate always gets a triple double. That is, the triple play of talking on the phone, drinking coffee (which you need to keep your momentum up), and making a purchase, while getting a double digit discount.

Last Saturday, Miss Casual was almost the victim of a hat trick. Yours truly was being coerced into purchasing an absurdly pricey piece of headwear by Flattery from the hat’s ACTUAL designer who was in from New York. Who can resist such temptation? Eugenia Kim in person telling you the hat looks smashing? Thankfully we’re no amateurs so we made it out of there minus the hat in question.

The coup de gras, however, is the flagrant foul of throwing an elbow while securing the last cashmere sweater in teal in your size. This move is difficult to execute properly but upon mastery of a move like this, you move into the big leagues. Here’s Miss Casual getting owned by Tye.

Even with all of these MVP moves you’re gonna need constant hydration (coffee followed by lots of water), parallel parking skills, and loads of stamina to be able to make a lap through all the stores that intrigue you before you settle on your purchases. One can’t be too hasty. Patience is the key to assuring that you have better stuff than the other people you know. Remember that one cardinal rule and you can’t go wrong.

It takes skill, determination, and triumph of will to bring your A-game to these shopping days but we are available for further coaching at very reasonable rates. With that I’ll leave you to your strategizing. GO TEAM!

80th Edition - 1/11/07

• Special Guest: Mike Triplett

Mike Triplett is the lead writer of the New Orleans Saints for the New Orleans Times-Picayune. But that's not all, he was a frequent guest on my couch when I lived in Los Angeles, a die-hard Cubs fan, a Hawkeye alum, and the only man to beat me head-to-head in the dvd board game "Scene It."

Confidence, Schmanfidence

Before I start talking NFL playoffs, can someone let me know if the college football season is over. I’d just like to make sure. I had completely forgotten that there was another game left on Monday night until I started flipping channels after How I Met Your Mother.

Maybe I’m just all out of whack because I spent the last week covering the New Orleans Saints during a first-round bye. It’s the first time that’s happened in 40 years, so everyone down here is a little discombobulated right now.

But that’s the new NFL, love it or hate it. Anyone can randomly spring up and have a great season. Just for fun, try to name the last 10 Super Bowl winners and losers, then come back to read the rest of this after you give up and google it. We are seriously about five or six years away from the year when all 32 teams finish 8-8.

That’s great if you’re a fan of, say, the Bears or the Saints, and you like to go into every year thinking anything can happen. It’s not so great, though, for predicting what will happen this week. The problem with trying to pick a Super Bowl winner is that every team is flawed. Everyone is beatable.

Here’s another fun test. Think of a game that you’re absolutely confident about this weekend. … Now I’ll bet you that you feel that way because you’re certain that the losing team will lose. My dad was convinced the Bears were in big trouble because of their own problems until he watched the NFC games over the weekend. Now he’s considerably more confident.

How can I possibly pick a Super Bowl favorite out of this bunch? Is it really Baltimore or San Diego, the Bears, Saints or Eagles? … These teams might be a lot more convincing if they didn’t have a combined playoff record of 0-1 last year.

So do I like a more pedigreed team like New England, Indy or Seattle? Not really.

I can’t wait to watch these games, though. I won’t be surprised by any result in any game from here on out.

I do know a lot more about the Saints than most teams, though. And I do kinda sorta like their chances against Philly, since the Saints’ biggest weakness this year has been giving up the deep ball, something the Eagles don’t really have in their arsenal right now.

But all I can say with absolute confidence is that the Saints have a 33 percent chance of reaching the Super Bowl, a 33 percent chance of losing in the NFC championship and a 33 percent chance of losing Saturday night.

Hopefully the daily score’s next guest blogger will be some sort of an expert who can shed some light on all of this.

70th Edition - 12/19/06

• The special guest ... Michael from Ready Bare Chested

Once a week (ideally) there will be a special guest columnist. The subject will be sports, but beyond that, anything goes. It could be someone's undying love for their favorite team, a rant about two basketball teams getting into a fight, or their moment when a game became much more.
Today's guest, Michael. Read more of his stuff at Ready Bare Chested.

He'll probably be the first and last of 2006. But once 2007 starts, be ready for some special guests. And if you would like to be one, just email me at thedailyscore@gmail.com.

Man = Sports

I was never good at sports. Sure I played sports in high school, that is, until I broke my leg playing football and after I returned the following season was so fearful that someone would tackle me I would literally squirt just a little bit of pee every time someone on the field would come anywhere near me. Needless to say, I played very little. Then there was basketball. I concussed myself running into the hip of a larger player. And, finally, baseball, where every at bat, between the short time the pitcher would catch the ball and throw it, I would work myself into a full blown panic attack fearing I would be hit by the pitch.
(Good question … Why did I play sports in the first place or at least try something a bit less physical than football? Familial pressure, that’s why. My mother’s side of the family, many of whom all went to the same high school as me, is freakishly talented at athletics. One uncle and two cousins were successful, and widely-known, college football players. One even went pro. Being the youngest in the extended family the high school coaches saw me as the end of a great line, a Messiah, the great white hope. They were wrong. I am the runt of the litter.)
When high school ended and I was free of the sporting yoke I dropped nearly all interest in the gaming life: playing it, watching it, discussing it, etc. This led many people in my life, particularly those who enjoyed football, to think I was gay. I know, that sounds pretty strange … people who enjoy football thinking … but it’s true. While they perused their Sports Illustrated and ESPN magazines, I busied myself with Esquire and GQ. This also led people to believe I was gay, which to me was very counterintuitive. There, on the cover of ESPN magazine was a topless Tom Brady eyeing the camera with a come-hither stare. Meanwhile, on the cover of my “gay” magazines, was a beautiful, nearly topless woman.
One year I even refused to watch the Super Bowl, instead opting for a marathon session of Star Wars episodes IV through VI.
I am now 26-years-old and years away from those traumatic high school athletic days and what do I find myself reading every morning? The sports page. It isn’t the first thing I flip to in the day’s newspaper, but I make it there after only a few minutes of scanning the front section. Being a Chicago Sun-Times reader, I flip over the newspaper and read the sports headlines, check standings and even digest at least the first few paragraphs of a particular sports story. In fact, I even enjoy the witty and irreverent sports columnist Rick Telander as well as scowl with delight at the hated Jay Marriotti.
But why, after nearly 10 years of avoiding sports – much to my own derision and delight – have I begun casually following it? Because I’ve given up. I can no longer beat or even buck the system, therefore I must – at the very least – lurk on its outer fringes.
This decision began about three years ago, shortly after my college graduation. Having entered the “real world” of working and dating I noticed I was outside my comfort zone. People didn’t know me as the straight guy that disliked sports yet wasn’t a bad drinking buddy/concert friend/movie enthusiast/etc. There I was one day mingling with some guys at a work event. We had exhausted all the work talk we could manage. Silence crept across the room as we coughed and stirred our drinks. One guy brought up the route he takes to work. “Sometimes I take the split and cruise down the Edens for a while. Get off at Dempster and shoot over to the office that way.” We nodded with disinterest. Then someone finally brought it up. “How about that Monday night game?” And it was there that I was lost, trying to nod in agreement, feigning interest and hoping that someone would please, please bring up that Jonesy continues to wear black shoes with his tattered brown braided belt. Or, even worse, that awkward, silent moment would arise when I was standing at a bar with a girlfriend’s friend’s boyfriend. This was even worse than the work event, since there was even less to talk about than sports.
So I gave up. In our modern world – with all that occurs in the areas of politics and culture – two men, strangers, must rely on sports as common ground. Perhaps I’m not trying hard enough and instead falling back on the lowest common denominator. And of course, I’m admitting a huge lack of self-esteem. Still, every morning I read the sports page so the next time I’m out with my girlfriend, her friend and her friend’s boyfriend and the men are sent to the bar for drinks and there – between the time we order our drinks and I attempt to flake out on actually paying for them – we have something to talk about.
“A gin and tonic and Budweiser, please.”
“Two rum and cokes.”
“So, how about that Cubs spending spree?” I begin. “I don’t know how I feel about them paying tens of millions of dollars for a pitcher whose record is only one better than average.”
I await his response, hoping I’ve gotten my facts right.
“Tell me about it.”
Shit, I can’t tell him anything about it. Change the subject.
“Yeah … But, I mean, it’s not nearly as bad as the Red Sox paying all that money just to talk to a guy from Japan.” Okay, I don’t know his name, but who does? It’s Japanese and most certainly hard to pronounce.
“I know.”
Does he know? Maybe I’ve stumped him. Or maybe he cares as little about sports as I do. Maybe I’ve avoided launching a more rewarding conversation with someone who will prove extremely interesting.
And there it is, just like my baseball playing days, I’ve worked myself into a full blown panic attack over sports.
“So, how’s your fantasy team doing?” He then asks.
I knew it!
My anxiety subsides.
My hunch was correct.
With confidence I tell him, “I don’t have a fantasy team.” Then walk away with my gin and tonic and Budweiser leaving this geek to pick up the tab.