I just got home, sat down, and

turned the TV to ESPN, hoping to catch the end of the LSU-UNC College World Series game. (I have a ticket on the Tigers to win the CWS.) Their matchup with UNC is in a rain delay, so ESPN is showing a replay of LSU's incredible comeback win over Rice on Tuesday. I had given up on that game when I saw that the Tigers were down 4-0 in the 7th, but, much like they did in the Super Regionals against Cal-Irvine, LSU miraculously rallied to victory in the bottom of the 9th.

I'm heading back to Vegas early tomorrow morning and since the game is in a rain delay and I will literally do anything to put off packing for another hour, I'm going to do that thing where I give my thoughts on recent events and then call people to ask if they laughed at any of them. Enjoy.


Here's the latest:

* Taking the advice of my pollsters, I turned off Game 6 of the NBA Finals sometime during the 2nd quarter and decided to "Watch Something Else," so I'm really not capable of talking about that game. Why should I show up to watch the game if none of the Lakers are going to show up to play in it? Did anyone call Jeff's house after the game to make sure he was still alive? Between that performance by his Lakers and the recent infrequency of my blogs, he must be really down....

* I complained after the Lakers blew that huge lead in Game 4 but the truth is they never had a chance of winning that series. Not only were the Celtics the much better team, they were clearly the hungrier team. I've been gambling for a long time and I think my bet on them to win that series could be the single worst wager of my life. At the time I made my bet, the Lakers were down 1-0, playing a superior opponent, giving up home court advantage, AND I was laying money. Wow. In my defense, I had no way of knowing that Pau Gasol wouldn't be participating in the series but it was still a terrible bet....

* Perhaps I was too hard on Sam Cassell and Ray Allen over the last few weeks. Have you actually played basketball lately? It's pretty hard. I played a lot over the last couple days and it wasn't as fun as I remembered. Everything started well enough: I was hitting every shot I took for the first 10 minutes. But then we decided to divide up teams and actually play a "Game." All of a sudden, some prick had his hand in my face every time I got the ball. What's that all about....?

* On Monday, I had a blurgb about how I think 100% of people who play poker are not as good as they think they are. I stand by that comment and I would like to add that I feel the same way about kids who play basketball in Morgantown, West Virginia. Every kid in the gym thinks he's a young Jerry West. These kids will pull up for a 3 on a 2-on-1 break, even when the lone defender is right in their face. The "Offense" is basically 5 guys standing around, outside the 3-point line, hoping that the guy who brought the ball up will pass it to him so he can shoot it. Except that guy usually ends up shooting himself, as soon as he gets even the slightest opening. Upon releasing the ball, the shooter usually says one of the following words: "Good," "Buckets," "Wet," "Splash," or "Money." I saw this one kid pull up for a wild, off-balanced 3 while his team was on a fast break and as he released the ball, he actually yelled out "All Day." Not only did this kid miss, he didn't even hit the rim. He didn't even hit the backboard. He missed everything. Really, really badly. And the ball went back to other team. Why do I care, you say? This moron was on my team....

* One of my buddies who came up to Morgantown with me is about 6'6'', hates to shave, and has wild and stupid hair. Every time this kid did anything on the court, all the black guys in the gym would laugh and yell out "Pau Gasol!" I was offended by this. If one of those kids had done something nice and bore a resemblance to a black NBA star, and I had yelled out "Kobe!" or "LeBron!" wouldn't I have been labeled a racist? I'm not sure but I wasn't about to tempt fate by trying it out....

* Big moment for me on Thursday: I knew that Portugal should not have been favored over Germany in the Euro 2008 quarters, so I bet on the Deutschbags +0.5 goal. Sure, I could've just told a bunch of people that I thought the line was wrong and then bragged about it afterwards when they won (Or pretended like I had never said anything when they lost) but this time I actually followed myself and fired. Germany jumped out to a 2-nil lead and held on to win 3-2. I'm on the road to recovery following the NBA Finals debacle....

* Here's a blog I stumbled upon while I was doing some "Research" on the Germany game:

Grant Wahl's Euro 2008 blog

So, this guy gets paid to go out to Austria/Switzerland, watch the Euro games and then write his thoughts about them each day? That's unbelievable. I'm writing my thoughts on the Euro, the NBA, MLB, College World Series, golf, and Jorgen, and nobody pays for me to go to any of the events and/or Jorgen's apartment. Nobody pays me at all! What a job this Grant Wahl has. Who is he to have that job over me? I mean - Is he a better writer than me? Clearly. More experienced than me? Check. More knowledgable about the subject matter? I'd say at least twice as much. But so what? CNNSI - Send me over there. I'll blog twice as much as this guy. Quantity over quality! I could even do video blogs each day of me drunk in some pub, embarassing myself trying to pick up European chicks, and giving all kinds of pointless opinions on the games I had watched earlier that afternoon. Oh, and for the record: Grant picked Portugal to win 2-0 and I ignored him and made my bet anyway. Murray 1, Wahl 0....

* Not long after we watched Tiger Woods win the 2008 U.S. Open at Torrey Pines, the sports world found out that Woods had been playing since last August with a torn ACL. Since suffering that injury jogging last July, Woods won the PGA and the U.S. Open, finished 2nd at the Masters, and won 7 other events he played in. That really is amazing. My question to you is what "Overcoming An Injury Feat" was more impressive - Woods winning 2 majors on a torn ACL or Paul Pierce coming back to make a couple 3-pointers after faking an injury in Game 1 of the NBA Finals? Have I mentioned that I bet on the Lakers to win that series? Yeah, I did. But I'm not bitter or anything and I think I'm handling it very well, thank you....

* Speaking of the Celtics, can you believe that the city of Boston has now won 3 Super Bowls, 2 World Series, and an NBA Championship since 2002? And the Red Sox and the Patriots are the current betting favorites to win their respective championships, potentially adding to Boston's ridiculous haul this decade. If you had said to a Boston fan in 2001 that he could see his favorites teams win 3 Super Bowls, 2 World Series (Feauring a comeback from 3-0 down in the ALCS against the Yankees of all teams), and win an NBA Finals over the Lakers, with a 39 point win at home, all in the next 7 years and all he had to do was give up an appendage, what would he have been willing to sacrifice? A finger? An entire hand? His left nut? I haven't even mentioned the fact that the Patriots had a 16-0 regular season and a 4th AFC Championship in 2007, or that Roger Clemens is now arguably the most disgraced sports figure in our country this side of Orenthal James Simpson. I'm getting really tired of Bostons sports fans. Can't we spread it around a little? Those guys are due for a fall from grace....

* Thursday was my last night in Virginia, so my parents took me out to dinner. It was a nice enough gesture but it was about as uncomfortable as being in the same room as Matt and Rodney, while Metcalf is discussing his favorite Miami Heat players. My Mom spent a good portion of the meal crying over the fact that I was leaving tomorrow morning (Despite the fact that I have lived away from home since the fall of 2001) and, for some reason, my Dad was sweating profusely while he ate his mussles. He looked like Jorgen waiting in line to cash a ticket at the Golden Nugget. On the plus side, the crab was sublime and our waiter looked like James Gandolfini, so it wasn't all bad....

* I have a morning flight so it will be more difficult to sleep on the plane than it normally is when I take the redeye. Since my IPod is still not working and United Ted has been known to show movies such as Mad Money and Music and Lyrics, I decided to stockpile every college football preview magazine I could get my hands on and plow through them while I am in the air. I will board that plane with no idea how to bet college football in 2008 but when we touch down in Vegas, I will be a college football expert. I mean - I still won't have any idea whatsoever how to pick the winners, I'll just know a lot about players and schedules and stuff like that....

* Chris Bennett is heading to Africa (Yeah - Africa, Africa) on Friday and I waited too long to interview him about the 2008 Green Bay Packers, so I won't be posting my first NFL team preview on June 21st as planned. Sorry about that, Chris. If anyone is ready to discuss their team (Or any team for that matter) please let me know and we can get it done. (Jeff - I'm ready to hear all your thoughts on the 2008 Atlanta Falcons, bro.) Football is just around the corner, guys. It's time to get all of your thoughts on wax. (Or in this case - my blog. Which is actually just on a computer.) I had a few other specialty blogs planned out but never got around to actually, you know, writing them out. I'll do them, I promise. I was just busy playing basketball, and drinking, and watching TV with my dog. I do love to blog but I have to focus on the important things in life....


I'm not giving you guys any picks for Friday. You don't need me anymore. After all,

The Hoff Is Back

Speaking of the Hoff, the kid just got promoted at the Venetian and he texted me today, asking me how I thought we should celebrate his success. My first and only thought: "Oh, crap." I guess I have to pick some winners in the next 48 hours, if I'm going to be able to afford to "Celebrate" with that guy.

While I ponder that predicament, you try this PGA puzzler:

Thursday's Trivia Question: Name the South African golf legend who coined this phrase: "The harder you practice, the luckier you get."


** Monday's Answer - I didn't bother to look it up. I know Notah Begay III was one. And I'm pretty sure Casey Martin was another. Obviously, there were a bunch of them.


I put up a new poll and some new pics. If Option "D" wins that poll I'm going to be pissed. Seriously. Don't vote for the so-called "Joke option." Let's have a real democratic election here. Come on.... I'll be at work on Friday at 3:30. I hope Austin doesn't like.... hug me or anything. Although I am pretty sure that he will. Someone's going to have to show me what to do because I probably forgot everything. Give me a break, I've been off for a while and as you can tell by this rambling entry, I am scatter-brained and forgetful. It will all come back to me soon enough and before you know it I'll be back at work, hanging out with some of you guys, and taking the time to....




Enjoy the game.