Blog Poll questions

1. Education. List the region of the country you were born in, what universities you attended and at least one other you would have attended if your alma mater didn’t exist.
Born in Milwaukee, WI. Attened Loyola University New Orleans. Never wanted to go to University of Wisconsin, because something like half my high school goes there. I really wanted to go to Boston University. The only sports that played into this is that by going to a crappy NAIA school, I was able to play soccer in college.

2. Sports Affiliations. List your top 10 favorite teams in all of sports in decending order. For instance, your alma mater’s football team may be number 1, but perhaps there is a professional team that squeezes in before you get to your alma mater’s lacrosse team.
1. University of Wisconsin Football
2. University of Wisconsin Hockey
3. Green Bay Packers
4. Milwaukee Brewers
5. LSU Tigers Football
6. Marquette University Basketball
7. University of Wisconsin Basketball
8. U.S. Soccer
9. Milwaukee Admirals
10. all other University of Wisconsin sports

3. Movies. List the movie you’ve watched the most, your favorite sports related movie, the movie you secretly love but don’t like to admit it (possibly a chick flick or b film), and the movie you were (or still are) most looking forward to from this summer’s season.
Most watched: Remember the Titans
Fave sports movie: Victory or Slap Shot
Shame flick: American Anthem

4. Music. List your favorite band from middle school, high school, college and today. Also, as with the movies, include the song you secretly love but don’t like to admit. If Nickleback is involved in any of these responses, please give a detailed explanation as to why, god, why.

Middle school: Smokey Robinson
High school: Bush
College: there's no way I can pick one favorite band. Isn't college about experimentation??
Ok, I'll pick one: Almas Gemelas. You've never heard of them.
Shamelove song: Honestly, the entire N'Sync "No Strings Attached" album. It's the ultimate in horrific cheesiness. I love it!

5. Books. Favorite book you’ve finished, worst book you’ve finished and the book you really should read but haven’t gotten around to it.
Favorite: Little Women. Boring choice, I think, but still my fav. after many years
Worst: I can't think of any titles off the top of my head
Book we should read but haven’t: The entire Dickens library.

6. Travel. Favorite city you’ve every been to and the one place you still must visit before you shuffle off this mortal coil.
Fave city: Kilkenny
City we need to go to: Sevilla

7. What do you love most about college football in 20 words or less?
Unselfishness, purity, enthusiasm and participation .

also..

I plan to follow in Todd's footsteps tonight and be lame.

Well, not as lame as Todd, because I don't have that much time, but I do plan on answering the Blog Poll's latest roundtable questions because I think they're interesting.

...but they're still the much maligned, often pathetic, very very bad Brewers

This is absolutely the funniest thing I've read in awhile. Apparently Brewers' middle-reliver Matt Wise is out of commission because he cut his finger on the the salad tongs at dinner earlier this week!

I couldn't make this stuff up!

Turns out this isn't Wise's only brush with bad luck, as he also sprained his shoulder earlier in the season when he slipped on a railing, going to the bathroom.


This is sports in Milwaukee, people.

Love me some Brewers

I've said many many times this season, I may not be the biggest baseball fan, but man the Brewers are fun to watch this year. Even when they lose, they're good times. Hell, the game we lost 8-9 to the Mets in mid-May was actually the best game I've seen this year, what with the dramatic comeback and Derrick Turnbow blowing the save on his bobblehead night (somehow it keeps coming back to that creepy thing) What other team can you say that about? Plys, we're only 4 games back from St. Louis, who is giving every fan of the downtrodden false hope that we'll somehow be in this at the end of the season.

Last night it was 2 9th inning errors that led the Cubs to lose the second straight to the Brew Crew. Next up are day games at Wrigley today and tomorrow that I'm pissed I don't get to see. Let's see another two wins and take a look at some NL Central standings then!

Plus, check out oldy and inconsistantly goodie Geoff Jenkins laying out for one here. It's on June 27, 2006.

Excuse us

We interrupt the regularly scheduled programming to bring you pictures of the newest member of the Cute Sports household. Behold Flash!















































Jazz, the amazingly fat and hairy Golden Retriever, was not a fan of not being the center of attention.

Goals of the Football Game England vs. Ecuador

Think what you will about ManSpice. This is absolutely spectacular.

To be cool, you must first have the name

Find out your Brazilian soccer name here.

Mine's Nicolinhosa

(link from The Fan's Attic)

Oh Stuart Scott

ESPN just aired a 13 inning, 4 1/2 hour baseball game, immediately followed by SportsCenter. Two minutes into SportsCenter, they ran a minutes worth of highlights from that game. Here's a tip: When SportsCenter is running an hour and 40 minutes late, the only people that catch the first 2 minutes of it just finished watching whatever you had run long. WE KNOW WHAT HAPPENED!







Also, Stuart Scott doing World Cup highlights made my ears bleed.

Tonight we break from hotties to bring you a heartwarming tale of one athlete's grueling comeback from chronic fatigue syndrome, not playing since 1999 and being female to make Argentina's 2006 World Cup team.


Tonight, on Cute Sports, it's "Michelle Akers: Comeback Queen"

































Oh, don't act like there's not a resemblance!

Hotties, Hotties, Hotties

And it's onward with the hotties...






Rodrigo Palacio, Striker, 24, Argentina. Plays club for Boca Juniors.











Carlos Edwards, 27, Midfield, Trinidad and Tobago. Plays club at Luton Town in England.








Andreas Isaksson, keeping the keeper hottiness going. Sweden, 24, plays for Rennes in France.














Paulo Wanchope, 29, Striker, Costa Rica. Plays club for Herediano.














Probably not your first choice, but cute and fabulous on the pitch, so there you go....













Alou Diarra, 24, Midfield, France. Plays for Lens. Was born one day after me! Funny, because my birthday is Bastille Day, but I'm in America. He's a day after, but in France. Ok, not so funny, but possibly interesting.






Mickael Landreau, Goalkeeper, 27, France. Club team Nantes. Hooray for the cutie keepers!

Mas Hotties

Ok, so this hottie search is more difficult than I'd imagined. Apparently I've been paying too much attention to the actually match and haven't so much noticed any hotness.

Here are a few I've collected so far.


Niko Kranjcar, 21 year old Croatian midfielder. Plays club for Hajduk Split. This here mug was significantly hotter looking than anything I find via Google.











Martin Steklenburg from the Netherlands. 23 and plays club with Ajax. And a keeper no less. (Us goaltenders have to stick together!) This guy looks like an Ole Miss frat boy, and somehow we're ok with that. A bit pretty, but we're ok with that too!













Australian Harry Kewell looks rather nice here. We dig the grin and the slightly floppy hair. He's 27, a striker and he plays for Liverpool. However .....












...we also found this picture of him looking entirely too much like George Michael for our tastes.












German Tim Borowski. Look closely for the freckles. Ok, so he looks about 15 and he has that "my mom just cut my hair using a tupperware bowl" thing going. But hair is fixable, so he stays. 26, Midfield, plays for Werder Bremen



Somehow this ended up being the all whiteboy version of soccer hotties. Not sure how that happened. Maybe because I randomly clicked on team names, then randomly on names from their roster in hopeful search for hotness. I promise to check out some Italians, Ghanians, T&T-ers and South Koreans tomorrow.

World Cup Hotties

Over at Dodgy at Best they were nice enough to link to me, but then told me that Raul and Reyes are hotter. Honestly, I don't know what they're talking about.






Raul -- Looks like that creepy guy at the dance club who keeps grinding up on you and won't get the hint when you grab one of your girlfriends - all of your girlfriends - any random stranger - to try and relieve yourself of him. And the whole he's saying "bonita" "culo" and "besa" to you over and over again.

He also has an abnormally long face.









Jose Antonio Reyes -- Just doesn't do it for me.

I love this commercial

This commercial has been playing on local TV and it cracks me up every time. On Deadspin today they had a link. Had I known this was on the Brewers website, I would have posted it earlier. So, via Deadspin, the Brewers and my own head, in which Derrick Turnbow is obsessed with his own super-creepy bobblehead.

Thoughts on Americans and soccer

I was reading over at Hey Jenny Slater about his being a casual fan of the game of soccer. He links to an article about Americans and soccer. I can't actually find where I saw the words - on the site or in the article - that basically say that somehow all Americans feel they need to fall into 2 categories: Crazy-About-Soccer-and-Fiercely-Defensive,-Calling-All-Who-Don't-Appericaite-Soccer-Stupid-and-unrefined OR Soccer-is-for-Lawn-Fairies,-Give-Me-American-Football-Any-Day.

And it's true. Soccer in America doesn't seem to find many casual fans.

I was going to comment on HJS's post about fans, but it got rather long so here I am posting on my own.

My theory on loving and enjoying soccer is simple, but I've not read anything like this, so I'm giving my own two cents.

I think you have to have played soccer to truly appreciate the game. There are so many nuances, and as I posted yesterday, it's easier to screw up in soccer than it is to do well. So I genuinely believe that to understand the nuances and really see a 90 minute, nil-nil draw as beautiful, you actually have to have put boot to ball.

And the soccer boom in America was a 1990s thing, so it happened too late for most Americans. Your average 30 year old has never played - has not even touched a ball. Though it's the biggest participation sport for kids now, that only encompasses the youngest set of the current adult population.

Soccer isn't easy to teach, or to learn. I've been coaching since I was in high school. I've coached teams and at camps. I've coached 4 year olds on up to high school girls, so I have some experience with this.

Soccer is a totally unnatural and foreign motion to us. We have a hard time learning to do something as simple as passing or trapping a ball. We don't know how to make the muscles do it. Even the 4 year olds here have a hard time just planting a foot and turing your toe out to be able to pass with the inside of your foot. You get fought every step of the way and usually I had to get on my knees and literally turn their leg out for them.

In America, we only use our feet and legs for transportation. The oddest thing we do it strap on some skates and glide.

Everywhere else, they're kicking a soccer ball before they can really even walk. It's a second nature situation.

Basically, because we were never taught it, Americans tend to find the game awkward and the movements uncommon. The no hands thing really throws us.

You really can't teach good soccer. Good soccer is all about touch. If you don't develop a good feeling, if you have no touch, no softness, no feel for the ball, you're screwed. Someone can teach you the basic skills, but you'll never have the finesse it takes to be a good player.

The thing about all the American sports is that yes, there's some touch involved, but it's all with your hands, where you have all the nerves for touch. And your hands aren't covered in socks and shinguards and leather boots. The finesse that's required for soccer is something we have no experience with.

I think a lot of what allows you to get into soccer as a spectator sport is an empathy for what they are doing, as well as awe for the things they're executing that you could never, in a million years, accomplish and if you've never played the game, you don't understand that. We true footies don't watch the game for the goals, which is why we don't care if it's a scoreless draw. The best American analogy for this I can think of is a pitcher's duel in baseball. The casual baseball fan, like myself, doesn't see the beauty in that. Soccer is much the same.

As an aside, the thing about the soccer boom for those of us that were already in the loop, is that we were kind of bitter. It was like we were the cool kids who knew about a band when they were still playing in a garage. Suddenly they get a record deal and EVERYONE knows your favorite band. It was a double-edged sword. It was great the exposure popularity got us, but we weren't so keen on sharing our fields or losing spots on the team to kids with no skill, but who were fast as hell. We took umbrage and offense when the kids on our team couldn't pass or trap. It was upsetting! It's like we were no longer the only ones who knew the big secret, but the new kids to the party didn't appreciate it like we did.

Deadspin agrees with me

Hirshey's thoughts on how Sven may have possibly made some bad choices here

Oh Micheal Owen, remember when you were the young phenom who burst onto the scene in England and you were tagged as the next big thing and people were saying "Beckham who?" in light of your pace and quick feet? Remember when you were 18 and playing for the England National Team and you were the toast of the 1998 World Cup? Remember how everyone talked about you and how you were only 18 and how you had years and years of playing to go and "oh, how good he could be."

We remember and we want to know what has happened since then? We feel it's a bit early to be saying it, but how does one become near "has-been" status at 26? Are you capable of not being injured long enough to make some impact? How many metatarsals have you broken?

And do you have something personal against Sven Eriksson? Because your going out makes his choice of only bringing 4 strikers, one of them the questionably fit Wayne Rooney, look asinine. And, if so, what did Sven ever do to you?

And finally, are you as excited as we are to see how badly Sven falls on his face and whether or not 17 year old Theo Walcott is the next you?

Also, we think you're rather cute and we love the story that you married your high school sweetheart. But we think that if you're going to be only questionable on the field, you need to go the David Beckham route and either 1) find a new, super hot, moderately famous wife or 2) spice up your current wife for public viewing ... and then parade said hottie around. Wear "fashion forward clothing" or man capris a la Rafael Nadal. Give yourself a fauxhawk. Become famous for something other than getting injured and your injuries won't matter.

Good luck!

From "The Thinking Fan's Guide to the World Cup"

These particular paragraphs resonated with me today ... Especially having read a bunch of soccer bashing in the past few days (We get it - you don't like the game. You don't understand the game. Why do you have to spend thousands of words talking about how much you hate the game?) And remember now, football here means soccer!

"...Football is difficult to describe. Its texture is elusive and words make a poor fit with the game's graces and beauties; I don't quite know why. But I think at some deep level that the reason football snags us, and the reason it is difficult to write about - to write directly about what happens on the pitch - is connected though the idea of beauty. Good football is beautiful, with a strangely delicate beauty, a beauty you begin to learn about as you begin to play the game. Every time you kick the ball, it's more likely to not go where you aim it than it is to go there; or to go at the wrong speed, or to bounce too much; or it does go where you aimed but an opponent was standing there, or the teammate you were aiming at wasn't looking, or moved away, or failed to control it, or was tackled, or fell over, or immediately gave it away to an opponent. (Let's not forget the opponent. As Jean-Paul Sartre wrote, "in football, everything is complicated by the presence of the opposite team.") It's easier; far, far easier to under-, over- or mis-hit a pass than it is just to pass. It's easier to knock yourself out, score an own-goal, or completely miss the call than it is to manage even a half-decent header, the kind any semi-pro in a graveyard league can execute flawlessly without thinking.

That's what you learn as soon as you start to play and watch football: that football is difficult and beautiful, and that the two are related. Players kick the ball to one another, pass into empty space which is suddenly filled by a player who wasn't there two seconds ago and who is running and full pelt and who, without looking or breaking stride, knocks the ball back to a third player who he surely can't have seen who then, also at full pelt and without breaking stride, crosses the ball at sixty miles an hour to land on the head of a fourth player who has run seventy meters to get there and who, again all in stride, jumps and heads the ball with, once you believe how hard this is, unbelievable power and accuracy toward a corner of the goal just exactly where the goalkeeper, executing some complex physics entirely without conscious thought and through muscle-memory, has expected it to be, so that all this grace and speed and muscle and athleticism and attention to detail and power and precision passion comes to nothing, will never appear on a score-sheet or match report and will likely be forgotten a day later by everybody who saw it or took part in it. That is the beauty and also the strange fragility, the evenescence of football."* By John Lanchester


*Many of the commas in that paragraph aren't as printed and are mine, as I refused to put this on my site as it was written.

John Stocco named to Maxwell Award watchlist

This is the most ridiculous thing I've seen. The kid is on a watchlist with Brady Quinn and Jeff Samardzija, Ted Ginn, JaMarcus Russell, Adrian Petersen (hasn't he graduated yet?) Drew Tate, Chad Henne...

I'm honestly baffled. Especially when Wisconsin's press release points out that only Matt Leinart, Vince Young and Boise State's Jared Zabransky led their teams to more victories over the past 2 years.

Unreal!

John Stocco - apparently really good and we just didn't know it

Wisconsin Men's hockey schedule announced

And frankly, I don't feel like making it look pretty, so if you want the pretty one, go here.


DAY DATE OPPONENT All Times Central
Fri. Oct. 6 at Northern Michigan% 7 P.M.
Sat. Oct. 7 at Northern Michigan% 7 P.M.
FRI. OCT. 13 NORTH DAKOTA 7:30 P.M.
SAT. OCT. 14 NORTH DAKOTA 7 P.M.
FRI. OCT. 20 MINNESOTA DULUTH 7 P.M.
SAT. OCT. 21 MINNESOTA DULUTH 7 P.M.
FRI. OCT. 27 BOSTON COLLEGE 7 P.M.
SAT. OCT. 28 BOSTON COLLEGE 7 P.M.
Fri. Nov. 3 at Alaska Anchorage 10:30 p.m.
Sat. Nov. 4 at Alaska Anchorage 10 p.m.
FRI. NOV. 10 DENVER 7 P.M.
SAT. NOV. 11 DENVER 7 P.M.
Sat. Nov. 18 at Minnesota TBA
Sun. Nov. 19 at Minnesota TBA
COLLEGE HOCKEY SHOWCASE
FRI. NOV. 24 MICHIGAN 7 P.M.
SAT. NOV. 25 MICHIGAN STATE 7 P.M.
Fri. Dec. 8 at North Dakota 7:30 p.m.
Sat. Dec. 9 at North Dakota 7 p.m.
BADGER HOCKEY SHOWDOWN
Fri. Dec. 29 Providence vs. Lake Superior State 4 p.m.
Wisconsin vs. Clarkson 7 p.m.
Sat. Dec. 30 Clarkson vs. Providence/Lake Superior State 4 p.m.
Wisconsin vs. Providence/Lake Superior State 7 p.m.
Fri. Jan. 5 at Denver 8:30 p.m.
Sat. Jan. 6 at Denver 8 p.m.
FRI. JAN. 12 MINNESOTA 7 P.M.
SAT. JAN. 13 MINNESOTA 7 P.M.
FRI. JAN. 26 MINNESOTA STATE 7 P.M.
SAT. JAN. 27 MINNESOTA STATE 7 P.M.
Fri. Feb. 2 at Colorado College 8:30 p.m.
Sat. Feb. 3 at Colorado College 8 p.m.
FRI. FEB. 9 ALASKA ANCHORAGE 7 P.M.
SAT. FEB. 10 ALASKA ANCHORAGE 7 P.M.
FRI. FEB. 16 ST. CLOUD STATE 7 P.M.
SAT. FEB. 17 ST. CLOUD STATE 7 P.M.
Fri. Feb. 23 at Michigan Tech 8 p.m.
Sat. Feb. 24 at Michigan Tech 8 p.m.
Fri. March 2 at Minnesota Duluth 7 p.m.
Sat. March 3 at Minnesota Duluth 7 p.m.
Fri.-Sun. March 9-11 WCHA Playoffs (Campus Sites)
Thur.-Sat. March 15-17 WCHA Final Five (St. Paul, Minn.)
Fri.-Sat. March 23-24 NCAA East and Midwest Regionals
(Rochester, N.Y. and Grand Rapids, Mich.)
Sat.-Sun. March 24-25 NCAA Northeast and West Regionals
(Manchester, N.H. and Denver)
Thur.-Sat. April 5-7 NCAA Frozen Four
(St. Louis)
Home games listed in CAPS.
% - Resch Center, Green Bay, Wis.


You'll notice teams from three other conferences for the Badger Hockey Showdown, which I like. Also, there's a non-conference set with Boston College. No bad blood there :/

I probably find this funnier than I should

Stalking case filed by Uecker delayed
Associated Press

MILWAUKEE -- The stalking case filed by Hall of Fame announcer Bob Uecker against a woman he contends has been harassing him for years was delayed again Tuesday because the defendant could not be found.

Uecker filed a temporary restraining order against Ann E. Ladd, of Prospect Heights, Ill., earlier this month in Milwaukee County Circuit Court. A hearing was scheduled for June 15, but court records show the defendant had not been served with papers. The case was rescheduled for July 3.

Uecker, the voice of the Milwaukee Brewers for more than 35 years, said the 45-year-old Ladd had been bothering him for six or seven years by sending unsolicited gifts, driving around his home in Wisconsin and contacting him in various cities.

Uecker said Ladd confronted him in late May at a hotel pool in Pittsburgh over his refusal to assist her charity work.

"In the past year, however, Ladd's pattern of harassment has escalated in frequency and intensity, and has resulted in repeated and serious invasions of my personal privacy," he said in the filings.
A message left at Ladd's home on Tuesday was not immediately returned. Messages left for lawyers of Uecker and Ladd were not immediately returned on Tuesday.

Uecker won a World Series ring with the St. Louis Cardinals in 1964 and played in Philadelphia and Atlanta before retiring in 1967. He starred in commercials and the television sitcom "Mr. Belvedere."

More USA-Italy and World Cup stuff

This is a story in the London Times that basically calls the USA-Italy game a hackfest and a disgrace to the beautiful game.


I found the link here, on this ESPN.com guy, Michael Davies', blog about the WC. I've been reading most of his stuff and I have to say I enjoy his attitude, that he's clearly just a fan who happens to have a killer press pass and that he's as excited about how America comes off to the rest of the world as he is about wins or losses.


His point in this post is that regardless of the outcome or the officiating in the USA-Italy match, it's flat out the best thing that could have happened for us. He talks about all the angry faces he encounters in the press room.

BECAUSE WE DIDN'T LOSE!

Basically, the US went out and proved that we don't suck. We played with a 3 time champion. Nine of our guys outplayed 10 of theirs. ITALY. We played with ITALY!
The rest of the world will still only give us grudging, if any, respect.

"The "Working" Press Room, Stadium Media Center, 12:25 a.m.I'm still coming down from the high. Genuinely one of the best football games I've seen in my life. And make no mistake, that was football out there tonight. Hard-nosed, violent, every inch of the field contested, fan-inspired, battling -- in spite of the ref, dramatic, passionate, breathless football. The atmosphere was evangelical, a communion of faith, doubt, determination and fear between the opposing players and the opposing fans. All witnessed by the nonbelieving disciples in the international media.
It was such an instant classic, so enthralling, so mesmerizing, so unexpected, it needs a moniker -- like the War on the Shore, The Thrilla in Manilla.
I like the Pfight in the Pfalz.
God, look at all these miserable faces around me. Nothing they hate here more than the U.S. matching up to one of the best teams in the world. "


And he's right. It was just plain good football. And most people didn't think we were capable. Especially not after the display against the Czechs.

And though this seems to echo what he says, I promise these are things I thought on my own as well!
*I made the comment to my boyfriend while watching the match that I love Bruce Arena because he looks like an American football coach. He's got the paunch. He's more Fulmer than not. He throws his hands and rolls his eyes. You don't seem him in a suit. He's not prim and proper and stodgy like some of the other coaches. He's hilarious. I think that some of Arena's faces belong in the Pantheon of great faces. There's no 2 ways about it, I could watch a US telecast just for the shots of Bruce Arena. He's comedic genius!

*I have been pleasantly surprised and proud of the rapport, demeanor and class of our team. One thing I've always found in US soccer is a lack of the diving and theatrics that seem to be a staple of some of the European teams. I grew up playing this game. I'm as educated as a fan can be about the beautiful game. 20 years of playing, into college, and 6 years of refereeing can do that for you. I know that diving is a part of the game. I'm not saying we don't do it. But I enjoy the uniquely working man's attitude that I see from our teams year after year. Ironically, it's that Everyman working quality that the rest of the world hates about us.

*I love saying Oguchi Onyewu's name! It's stuck in my head. The kid is a monster. Most of the professional sportsmen of this country, in any sport, can't dream of having this kid's body. Yes he's rough. But he's not a hack. I appreciate that.

I love the World Cup for the same reason I love March Madness. Anything can happen. Only this is the biggest stage there is on the biggest scale there is. No one else does this. No other sport provides this worldwide level of international competition. It's so much fun to watch.

Fernando Torres

Cute Sports Official World Cup Hottie* Fernando Torres, forward for Spain
*(this is not to say that there won't be more or future hotties. He is merely the current and first to catch our eye)

Sure, he's rather pretty. But we're ok with that. We're fairly certain it's the freckles. Also, the outstanding run and the outside-of-the-foot strike for a goal. We like that as well.

Football Valhalla

One more piece falls into place, as Michigan State announces an 8pm start time for the game against Notre Dame.

That means even if Michigan/Wisconsin is at 3pm, we have plenty of time to make both games.

(I feel like this road trip that I sure hope happens should have a logo. Maybe I'll get on that!)

veryvery eeeenteresting

NAFTA Superhighway from Mexico to Canada?













...also, radical ideas on TV news

Here we go Brew Crew, here we go!

Went to another great Brewers game today.
Got a retro Cecil Cooper bobblehead. This now brings the bobblehead count to 4: Carlos Lee, Derrick Turnbow, Damien Miller and Cecil Cooper. I don't particularly like bobbleheads. They're pointless and they take up space, but for some reason I've amassed a collection this year. The Derrick Turnbow one is still creepy.

That's not the point though.

The point is that we won! On a walk off home run. Again! The Cardiac Kids Strike Again! This is, I believe, our 14th victory on the last atbat. That leads the majors. We have won 20 of 24 at Miller Park coming from behind.

The Brewers are back at .500 for the first time since May 30, but the Tigers are coming to town and they've got the hottest record in baseball. They scored something like 22 runs against the Cubs in the past 2 days.

But enough of the scary thoughts of the future, for now I revel in a sweep of the Tribe on Carlos Lee's first ever walk-off home run.

We won last night on a deep double by Geoff Jenkins that brought home Corey Hart to end the game.

By far the best moment of the weekend, though, came in last night's game, when Carlos Lee was up to bat, clearly swinging for the fences. The cut was so mighty, it took Carlos to the ground. He got up looking a little sheepish and smiling. He made it to base and eventually, over to 3rd. The cameras close in on him talking animatedly to the 3rd base coach and it's so clear he's explaining what happened. "I swung and I turned and my ankle .. and then I fell down!"

VOTE FOR BUCKY!

So apparently there's a mascot hall of fame.

And Buckingham U. Badger is up for induction this year. He's been nominated and now we need to vote him in!

The Alabama Crimson Tide Elephant Thingamabobber isn't up, so you people have no excuse. Plus, you all pity me. So you know, kill a deer, vote for Bucky.

VOTE HERE!

Nuts and bolts. Nuts and bolts.

WE. GOT. SCREWED!

I just havent been too into the blogging thing this week ... residual accident issues, I'm sure. But I watched the US World Cup game today with a first timer and I literally couldn't figure out how to explain that this game isn't how soccer is played.

Silly me, I thought the players were supposed to actually play and have control of the game. I thought yellow cards were second warnings. That's what they taught me in my years as a fully licensed soccer referee.

And honestly, the officiating sucked, but what pisses me off is that it was against Italy. We got taken out of that game and we could have and likely would have won it. We actually showed up for this game and we looked GOOD. We looked better than I've seen us look in awhile. We could have beaten a frickin' powerhouse.

The best thing I can say about the officiating is that I'm glad that it will be the story. I'm glad that this will keep the uninformed know-nothing-about-soccer media from talking about how much we suck because we didn't win.

...

Also, Ghana flat out out-played Czech today. The second goal was brilliant. Watch all the short passes leading up to it. Watch the formation and teamwork. Absolutely brilliant tactical soccer. Good for them.

I hath returned.

I'm sure no one missed me!

I've actually been on a much needed spur of the moment vacay instigated by my friend Christine. She called on Sunday and told me she was buying me a ticket to come see her at her Grandma's house in Baltimore. Christine lives in Key West and so we were supposed to be much closer to each other when I was moving to Florida. We'd already made plans for her to come stay with me for the 4th of July. Anyway, her very fabulous mommy bought me a ticket and I was in Baltimore, Washington DC and Philly for the past few days. The trip took some extra twists and turns, namely that I spent today in Philadelphia, when I was supposed to get into Milwaukee at 8 am this morning.

Frankly, it's late and I've had a long day. Also, it's the boyfriend's birthday today(Saturday) so I need to get some sleep in order to be non-boring birthday entertainment. But I'll catch things up by Monday.

No Florida for me..

So it was really difficult, but I decided last night to turn down the job in Florida and stay here in Wisconsin.

Basically, I can't afford to move to Florida anymore. It was going to be a struggle before all this happened. I am driving my dad's old car, a 1990 Buick Skylark that frankly I don't even know is roadworthy. I am going to have medical bills coming out of my ears. UHaul is going to want to sue my ass.

Basically, I would have to scrape together money to drive down in a car I'm not sure would make the trip and then I'd have to work 2 jobs while I'm down there. Does that sound like a good time to anyone? I mean, I realize that one of those jobs is my dream job, but basically, that sounds like a miserable experience and a miserable existence.

As I told Todd, if I made a list of reasons to stay or go, the only reason to go to Florida is because I really want the job. Unfortunately, I'm about to be 25, not 19, and really wanting something just isn't good enough. At some point, I have to act like the responsible adult I'm supposed to be.

Plus, let's be honest, being here isn't so horrible. Summer in Wisconsin is great. My boyfriend has been beyond amazing through this whole situation, which would have made leaving him even harder. Now I'll be here for football season, and the Michigan holy trifecta trip is totally back on!

I feel like ultimately it came down to being miserable in Florida, all by myself. Or being miserable here in Wisconsin, with friends and my boyfriend and at least here I'll have a little spare money to be able to leave the house.

So you know, basically I moved to Southern Illinois for a few hours one time in June, 2006.

But OH I MISS MY CAR! I can readily admit that I was unnaturally attached to my car.

RIP Kremit!

Soca Warriors

Ok, so on the plus side, I got to watch the second half of the Sweden-Trinidad & Tobago WC match today, which was honestly the best half of soccer I've seen, live or on TV, in a long time. The Argentina-Ivory Coast game was also damn entertaining ball.

But Shaka Hislop, the Trini goalie who wasn't even supposed to start, made that game for me - and for Trinidad as well. And, you know, he's 37!


(My apologies for the crappy writing. Per the below post, things around these parts are a bit discombobulated and will likely be that way for a few days.)

Not in Florida.

So I really don't feel like telling a whole long story.
But I'm not in Florida. I'm in Wisconsin.

I hate Illinois!
I HATE IT!


About 1 am Thursday morning a deer appeared in front of my car. I swerved. I don't remember anything after that. My car, with trailer, jacknifed, turned around and then rolled 2 or 3 times and ended up in a ditch. My car and the trailer are totalled. I was helicoptered to St. Louis.

I'm fine. Miraculously most of my things are ok as well. My boyfriend has 1 scratch on him. After many xrays and 2 cat scans, I'm bruised, sore and concussed, but here. I'm back home.

I don't know what's going to happen.

So that's my story.

Happy Moving Day!!

The UHaul's* packed and I've only to wait for my partner in drive in order to go!


*I hate UHaul with a passion heretofore unacheived. I have had nothing but bad experiences with them. Unfortunately, they are the only company that rents trailers. Other places will rent you the whole truck, but if you want to rent a trailer, you have to go with UHaul. And trust me, they treat you like they don't care because they know you have no where else to go!

I would write more of this diatribe, but I'll just get myself upset again. Seriously, I was there for almost 3 hours this morning "picking up" my trailer. Also, yesterday, I couldn't get anyone to answer the phone, so I called customer service, and that guy just kept saying "there's nothing I can do for you" Some customer service!





Anyway, excuse the anger. I'll be back in a few days signing in from bright shiny hot Florida!

Allelujia!

10 grammar mistakes that make you look stupid:

These days, we tend to communicate via the keyboard as much as we do verbally. Often, we're in a hurry, quickly dashing off emails with typos, grammatical shortcuts (I'm being kind here), and that breezy, e.e. cummings, no-caps look. It's expected. It's no big deal. But other times, we try to invest a little care, avoiding mistakes so that there's no confusion about what we're saying and so that we look professional and reasonably bright.

In general, we can slip up in a verbal conversation and get away with it. A colleague may be thinking, "Did she just say 'irregardless'?", but the words flow on, and our worst transgressions are carried away and with luck, forgotten.

That's not the case with written communications. When we commit a grammatical crime in emails, discussion posts, reports, memos, and other professional documents, there's no going back. We've just officially gone on record as being careless or clueless. And here's the worst thing. It's not necessary to be an editor or a language whiz or a spelling bee triathlete to spot such mistakes. They have a way of doing a little wiggle dance on the screen and then reaching out to grab the reader by the throat.

So here we are in the era of Word's red-underline "wrong spelling, dumb ass" feature and Outlook's Always Check Spelling Before Sending option, and still the mistakes proliferate. Catching typos is easy (although not everyone does it). It's the other stuff — correctly spelled but incorrectly wielded — that sneaks through and makes us look stupid. Here's a quick review of some of the big ones.

#1: Loose for lose
No: I always loose the product key.
Yes: I always lose the product key.

#2: It's for its (or god forbid, its')
No: Download the HTA, along with it's readme file.
Yes: Download the HTA, along with its readme file.
No: The laptop is overheating and its making that funny noise again.
Yes: The laptop is overheating and it's making that funny noise again.

#3: They're for their for there
No: The managers are in they're weekly planning meeting.
Yes: The managers are in their weekly planning meeting.
No: The techs have to check there cell phones at the door, and their not happy about it.
Yes: The techs have to check their cell phones at the door, and they're not happy about it.

#4: i.e. for e.g.
No: Use an anti-spyware program (i.e., Ad-Aware).
Yes: Use an anti-spyware program (e.g., Ad-Aware).
Note: The term i.e. means "that is"; e.g. means "for example". And a comma follows both of them.

#5: Effect for affect
No: The outage shouldn't effect any users during work hours.
Yes: The outage shouldn't affect any users during work hours.
Yes: The outage shouldn't have any effect on users.
Yes: We will effect several changes during the downtime.
Note: Impact is not a verb. Purists, at least, beg you to use affect instead:
No: The outage shouldn't impact any users during work hours.
Yes: The outage shouldn't affect any users during work hours.
Yes: The outage should have no impact on users during work hours.

#6: You're for your
No: Remember to defrag you're machine on a regular basis.
Yes: Remember to defrag your machine on a regular basis.
No: Your right about the changes.
Yes: You're right about the changes.

#7: Different than for different from
No: This setup is different than the one at the main office.
Yes: This setup is different from the one at the main office.
Yes: This setup is better than the one at the main office.

#8 Lay for lie
No: I got dizzy and had to lay down.
Yes: I got dizzy and had to lie down.
Yes: Just lay those books over there.

#9: Then for than
No: The accounting department had more problems then we did.
Yes: The accounting department had more problems than we did.
Note: Here's a sub-peeve. When a sentence construction begins with If, you don't need a then. Then is implicit, so it's superfluous and wordy:
No: If you can't get Windows to boot, then you'll need to call Ted.
Yes: If you can't get Windows to boot, you'll need to call Ted.

#10: Could of, would of for could have, would have
No: I could of installed that app by mistake.
Yes: I could have installed that app by mistake.
No: I would of sent you a meeting notice, but you were out of town.
Yes: I would have sent you a meeting notice, but you were out of town.

Silly computer.

Uploading images seems to be beyond me today so..



27 hours and counting.

I have a lot of stuff.

As in this doesn't even constitute a recognizable fraction of it. This is the stuff not in my room or already stored. I was going to take picture of my room, but they were too embarassing.

This is closer to actual fact...

And much more closely represents my feelings today. Of course, it's a metaphorical goodbye for ya'll, as I'm not really going anywhere site-wise. Basically, it's a pictoral representation of how forlorn I am today. As I told my boyfriend, I've done a pretty darn good job of not freaking out thus far. I get points for restraint.

not exactly the sentiment I meant...

But this is the best pic I found with a google image search for Goodbye and I couldn't resist.

Merr!

I don't like lasts

WC 2006

I'm mostly posting this to remind myself to write more about the World Cup. I am very excited about it, even though I won't get to much watch of opening round stuff since I'll be doing that whole moving thing, but this poster is awesome and if for some reason someone reads this who is going, buy me this poster. I'll pay for it, I promise.

In the meantime, here's a funny breakdown for you non-soccer speaking folk. (link found on Deadspin)

Also via Deadspin, is this fabulous self-updating spreadsheet of WC.

Woo Hoo

Of course, it's only for about 9 days during which I have to pack, move cross country, say goodbye and unpack.

Totally out of the loop...

if you haven't seen this. I'm assuming you have. That's why I bring you: