Happy MLKJr. Day, everybody. I just spent the better part of the morning / early afternoon finishing David Eggers's book What is the What - you can check that link to read my review. Great, great book, highly recommend it to anyone - it's an oral account of the 2nd Sudanese Civil War told by one of the Lost Boys refugees who was displaced from his village in the 1980s. Fantastic novel.
In other news, it's been a good weekend - so far! Love that. Beck and I hit up Outback Steakhouse Friday night, using a gift certificate I got from a work conference to celebrate our two weeks of exercising / eating well. Cheese Fries, Shrimp Salad, Barbecued Ribs and Apple Cobbler later, we had successfully undone two weeks of exercising and eating well. Go team us. Came home and crashed after watching a touch of the Daily Show.
Saturday morning, Beck had to work at the ICU and I had to tutor a couple of kids in bio, so I while away the icy morning nicely. Came back to hang out and spend my first of two days watching a colossal amount of sports, which I have not done in a while. Here are somehighlights from the two days:
College Bball, BC v. Virginia
I was just impressed by the complete lack of space on the court in this game. Both teams were playing zone (I only watched part of the first half), and they were both keeping one another out of the paint entirely. Virginia was using a half court zone trap which BC abused with skip passes for 3s, a lot of which, er, did not go in. I just felt the whole time like I was watching a much different game from one that I ever played in high school (or the glory days of SA CYO dominance). We *never* threw skip passes, let alone resigned ourselves to jacking it up from outside. This seems to be the MO today, at least in this game, and I wonder how much of it is because the players are so big and so fast that you just have to be that much quicker to penetrate or get anything done inside. Anyways, it was a weird sensation to see a basketball game effectively turn into an artillery war, and I'm always baffled by the route trash-talking in such anti-physical games must take. Or any feat of skill where brute, caveman-like I-could've-killed-you-just-now dominance is not asserted. I mean, it's easy to see why if you hit a running back in football and completely decleat him, it is your earned right to bellow and do the hokey pokey or whathave you; surely all of this is primally directed towards attracting females for mating purposes. But when you hit a three pointer? What, does better knowledge of applied three dimensional equations somehow make you a more attractive mate? Weird.
Hockey, Bruins v. Rangers
For those who don't know / care / remember, I love hockey. I have not watched any hockey at all this year, so i was psyched to see a "Game of the Week" on NBC. Several things to note here, the first of which is a quick detail on why I like hockey. Obvious reasons: fast, powerful, physical, amazing skills and reflexes, your average appreciation of aesthetic excellence. But the main reason I love hockey is that it is so futile - so much effort and energy goes into gaining the tiniest advantages, most of which amount to absolutely nothing. And then random chinks in the ice lend themselves to lucky plays, making the whole thing blatantly absurd. Skill does play a part, true, but often a ton comes down to repeated head-wall-bashing until something just falls into place. I just appreciate the ethic of "work hard becuase maybe something might happen" over the ethic of "if you work hard, you will be rewarded." It's more honest, and lends itself to a better acceptance of things if you work hard and they don't go your way.
Another thing to note is that this game was a perfect example of that - two Rangers goals came off of ridiculous rebounds right to people who had wrestled a thousand times in the game to find themselves in the right spot at just that moment, having wasted their efforts every time before. The lone Boston goal came off a hard shot that ricocheted off of both of a players skates and in - a veritable act of fortune good or bod, depending ont he color of your jersey. And finally, a chink in the ice led to a late breakaway on which a player got tripped, giving him a penalty shot, on which he executed a beauty of a fake / deke / wraparound on the goalie. So this game had a bit of everything: plenty of the futile side, plenty of the happenstance, and also an instance of skill on skill. Cool stuff.
I guess when I said "several things" I should have said "three." The other thing is that the 2nd period completely, 100% belonged to the Rangers. I don't think the Bruins took a shot, and they really only had cursory time with the puck anyways. Craziness. I don't remember a period that one-sided before, and all that happened for the Rangers was they got a lucky rebound goal, and nothing else to show for it. Whacko.
College Bball, UNC v. Virgina Tech
I didn't really even watch this one - just a couple of minutes, and I remember thinking how much like athletic gods the UNC players looked. Particularly freshman Brandan Wright, who just looks like an elegant basketball machine - 6'9", slender with crazy long arms, and he hit a few shots just by jumping straight over people and scooping the ball in one-handed. Just must be incredible to be that deliriously good. Of course, the same guy can't shoot free throws, and I switched to the football game, tuned back to this one at the end to find that the team that I thought looked like bball gods had been upset. I obviously know nothing.
AFC Playoffs, Indianapolis v. Baltimore
For a TD-less game, this was amazingly exciting. Both teams played a "beat as much as you want underneath" style defense, and both defenses held. Another war of attrition type thing, where you let the other team move the ball more or less at will hoping that penalties, dropped passes, fumbles, etc. will keep them from ever doing damage. I noticed that everybody and their dog was praising Adam Vineteri as the big game changer... he of the doinking it off the crossbar and through fame. No one seems to notice, though, that down 6-3, Steve McNair got intercepted at the goal line! Indy turned this around for a long drive and a field goal, making it 9-3. This was a 6 point swing in a game decided by 9 points, and no one mentioned it. Bagh! McNair throws that out the back, and it's 6-6. Romonian disasters excluded.
This game by game analysis has grown wearisome fast. Suffice it to say: the NO game was cool, the Bears game was LUCKY, and the Pats game was ugly, but it's still fantastic to watch the way Brady can click at the end (if the occasional fumble recovery by Caldwell helps the cause along). Really cool sports weekend, anyways, and I enjoyed it.
The Beck, of course, has been on the 3-2 shift on Sunday and Monday, which stinks. I stayed up last night watching 24 (meh) and then backed up my mp3 music to DVDs, something I've been meaning to do forever. So I am now set for a computer crash, as long as it's somethign that doesn't melt the stack of sics beside my comp in the process. I am sure that is wildly fascinating.
And if you've read this far, I'll drop a few treats for ya:
Deb's response to Timberlake's genius
Cute Commercial - do you get it?
And finally, something that I have talked about a million times to chemistry students:
DON'T DROP SODIUM IN THE LAKE!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
That'll do it. Until next time.. comment!
In other news, it's been a good weekend - so far! Love that. Beck and I hit up Outback Steakhouse Friday night, using a gift certificate I got from a work conference to celebrate our two weeks of exercising / eating well. Cheese Fries, Shrimp Salad, Barbecued Ribs and Apple Cobbler later, we had successfully undone two weeks of exercising and eating well. Go team us. Came home and crashed after watching a touch of the Daily Show.
Saturday morning, Beck had to work at the ICU and I had to tutor a couple of kids in bio, so I while away the icy morning nicely. Came back to hang out and spend my first of two days watching a colossal amount of sports, which I have not done in a while. Here are somehighlights from the two days:
College Bball, BC v. Virginia
I was just impressed by the complete lack of space on the court in this game. Both teams were playing zone (I only watched part of the first half), and they were both keeping one another out of the paint entirely. Virginia was using a half court zone trap which BC abused with skip passes for 3s, a lot of which, er, did not go in. I just felt the whole time like I was watching a much different game from one that I ever played in high school (or the glory days of SA CYO dominance). We *never* threw skip passes, let alone resigned ourselves to jacking it up from outside. This seems to be the MO today, at least in this game, and I wonder how much of it is because the players are so big and so fast that you just have to be that much quicker to penetrate or get anything done inside. Anyways, it was a weird sensation to see a basketball game effectively turn into an artillery war, and I'm always baffled by the route trash-talking in such anti-physical games must take. Or any feat of skill where brute, caveman-like I-could've-killed-you-just-now dominance is not asserted. I mean, it's easy to see why if you hit a running back in football and completely decleat him, it is your earned right to bellow and do the hokey pokey or whathave you; surely all of this is primally directed towards attracting females for mating purposes. But when you hit a three pointer? What, does better knowledge of applied three dimensional equations somehow make you a more attractive mate? Weird.
Hockey, Bruins v. Rangers
For those who don't know / care / remember, I love hockey. I have not watched any hockey at all this year, so i was psyched to see a "Game of the Week" on NBC. Several things to note here, the first of which is a quick detail on why I like hockey. Obvious reasons: fast, powerful, physical, amazing skills and reflexes, your average appreciation of aesthetic excellence. But the main reason I love hockey is that it is so futile - so much effort and energy goes into gaining the tiniest advantages, most of which amount to absolutely nothing. And then random chinks in the ice lend themselves to lucky plays, making the whole thing blatantly absurd. Skill does play a part, true, but often a ton comes down to repeated head-wall-bashing until something just falls into place. I just appreciate the ethic of "work hard becuase maybe something might happen" over the ethic of "if you work hard, you will be rewarded." It's more honest, and lends itself to a better acceptance of things if you work hard and they don't go your way.
Another thing to note is that this game was a perfect example of that - two Rangers goals came off of ridiculous rebounds right to people who had wrestled a thousand times in the game to find themselves in the right spot at just that moment, having wasted their efforts every time before. The lone Boston goal came off a hard shot that ricocheted off of both of a players skates and in - a veritable act of fortune good or bod, depending ont he color of your jersey. And finally, a chink in the ice led to a late breakaway on which a player got tripped, giving him a penalty shot, on which he executed a beauty of a fake / deke / wraparound on the goalie. So this game had a bit of everything: plenty of the futile side, plenty of the happenstance, and also an instance of skill on skill. Cool stuff.
I guess when I said "several things" I should have said "three." The other thing is that the 2nd period completely, 100% belonged to the Rangers. I don't think the Bruins took a shot, and they really only had cursory time with the puck anyways. Craziness. I don't remember a period that one-sided before, and all that happened for the Rangers was they got a lucky rebound goal, and nothing else to show for it. Whacko.
College Bball, UNC v. Virgina Tech
I didn't really even watch this one - just a couple of minutes, and I remember thinking how much like athletic gods the UNC players looked. Particularly freshman Brandan Wright, who just looks like an elegant basketball machine - 6'9", slender with crazy long arms, and he hit a few shots just by jumping straight over people and scooping the ball in one-handed. Just must be incredible to be that deliriously good. Of course, the same guy can't shoot free throws, and I switched to the football game, tuned back to this one at the end to find that the team that I thought looked like bball gods had been upset. I obviously know nothing.
AFC Playoffs, Indianapolis v. Baltimore
For a TD-less game, this was amazingly exciting. Both teams played a "beat as much as you want underneath" style defense, and both defenses held. Another war of attrition type thing, where you let the other team move the ball more or less at will hoping that penalties, dropped passes, fumbles, etc. will keep them from ever doing damage. I noticed that everybody and their dog was praising Adam Vineteri as the big game changer... he of the doinking it off the crossbar and through fame. No one seems to notice, though, that down 6-3, Steve McNair got intercepted at the goal line! Indy turned this around for a long drive and a field goal, making it 9-3. This was a 6 point swing in a game decided by 9 points, and no one mentioned it. Bagh! McNair throws that out the back, and it's 6-6. Romonian disasters excluded.
This game by game analysis has grown wearisome fast. Suffice it to say: the NO game was cool, the Bears game was LUCKY, and the Pats game was ugly, but it's still fantastic to watch the way Brady can click at the end (if the occasional fumble recovery by Caldwell helps the cause along). Really cool sports weekend, anyways, and I enjoyed it.
The Beck, of course, has been on the 3-2 shift on Sunday and Monday, which stinks. I stayed up last night watching 24 (meh) and then backed up my mp3 music to DVDs, something I've been meaning to do forever. So I am now set for a computer crash, as long as it's somethign that doesn't melt the stack of sics beside my comp in the process. I am sure that is wildly fascinating.
And if you've read this far, I'll drop a few treats for ya:
Deb's response to Timberlake's genius
Cute Commercial - do you get it?
And finally, something that I have talked about a million times to chemistry students:
DON'T DROP SODIUM IN THE LAKE!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
That'll do it. Until next time.. comment!
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