The first day of the NCAA Basketball Tournament. A very good day. As a fan of basketball, I love to watch basketball...and there is NO better day to watch basketball than the opening Thursday and Friday of the Tourney (32 games in 2 days - no better sporting event...well, except maybe when the Trojans are playing for the NC).
I love to pick a bracket...however, I am a huge fan of the upset. They are difficult to find...for example the fact that a 12 seed has upset a 5 seed in 21 of the past 25 seasons...so it is a virtual lock...hello Western Kentucky (they are no stranger to the 12 upset of 5 - since they a 12 last year beat Drake the 5), BUT who on earth can decide which 12 seed is going to do the deed.
I picked Illinois to take care of business...before I knew their starting point guard was injured...but Western Kentucky took them out. Despite needing Illinois to win for my bracket...I was pulling for Western Kentucky because my love of the upset super cedes my bracket!
[Side note: thanks to UCLA for beating VCU - VCU was the trendy upset pick this year...by the way I think I have grown a lot over the years...in years past there was no way that I could have picked UCLA to win anything (insert any number of insulting comments)...let alone have two of my buddies be UCLA fans, or graduates or whatever they are...]
Oh, I forgot to mention how absurd it is that Barack Obama has the time to show us "Barack"etology! I think he has a lot of other issues that need his attention. Issues that are a lot more important than the NCAA tournament. I don't know, like, companies taking tax payers money and paying out $100s of millions of dollars in bonuses or, unemployment rates that are soaring through the roof or, the slumping dollar or, the crumbling world economies (I guess I could have said economy), etc...
Good luck Trojans...is it possible that 3 out of 4 10 seeds could win in the same season?
Showing posts with label ramblings. Show all posts
Showing posts with label ramblings. Show all posts
Thursday, March 19, 2009
Sunday, March 8, 2009
In a few simple words...
I love quoting movies. Andy, (one of my boys that I play basketball with on Monday nights) is always ready to finish a quote or blurt out the movie from one of the lines I say – I know I shouldn’t be running around playing basketball saying movie lines, but I do.
Me: “Finish him”
Andy: The Karate Kid
Me: “Whoa, nice shootin'
Andy: Ghostbusters
Me: “We will be perfect in every sense of the word, you drop a pass you will run a mile, miss a block and you will run a mile, fumble the ball, and I will break my foot off in your John Brown hind parts…and then you will run a mile. Perfection. Let’s go to work!”
Vinoj: Remember the Titans
(Andy and I are not exclusive in our movie quoting game. If someone - by someone I mean me - throws out a Titans quote…Vinoj is all over it.)
But, it is not just movies…it is also TV. My buddy that I run with, well, we just lob Seinfeld (crazy that the proper name “Seinfeld” doesn’t need to be spell checked but my name Trainor does – who says TV isn’t influential) quotes back and forth to each other. Three miles of…
Me: “she is my first Asian”
Eric: “isn’t that a little racist”
Me: “if I like the race, how is that racist”
I love quotes in general. One of the first things that Hanssie got me years ago (when she thought I might be a writer – back when we thought I had something to say, which as it turns out, I don’t) was a great big book of quotes. If I wasn’t lazy, I would walk downstairs and tell you the exact title of the book…but I am!
Anyway…I love movies, I love quotes…I love words…I love listening to what others have to say. I love Jim Rome because he is funny and he uses so much of pop culture in his show, you kind of lose sight of the fact that he started out in San Diego hosting a sports show (I think he has a show on ESPN). He repeatedly plays the same clip of Allen Iverson saying, “practice, we talkin' ‘bout practice…practice, not a game…we talkin’ ‘bout practice” (of course Iverson was complaining about Larry Brown fining him for missing practice a few years ago – side note, that was not a few years ago…that was like 8 years ago when the Lakers played the Sixers in the NBA Finals).
Who could forget Patrick Ewing’s immortal words, “We might make a lot of money, but we spend a lot of money.”? Pat was trying to explain to us common folk about why the rich pampered superstar athletes of the NBA had to hold out during labor negotiations in 1999. He might have missed the mark.
Since, it is apparently common knowledge that I love quotes my friend Ryan sent me these “famous last words.” So, I pass them along to you…I hope you enjoy them as much as I did…
"We had $17 billion of cash, that liquidity cushion has been virtually unchanged." ~ Alan Schwartz (Bear Stearns CEO) commenting on CNBC. Two days later the company had to ask for emergency funds from the Federal Reserve Bank and JPMorgan Chase.
"I expect there will be some failures of "smaller banks". Among the larger banks, the capital ratios remain good and I don't anticipate any serious problems of that sort among the large, internationally active banks that make up a very substantial part of our banking system." ~ Ben Bernanke (Federal Reserve Chairman) in February 2008.
*IndyMac failed in June '08 ($32 billion in assets)
*WaMu failed in September '08 ($307 billion in assets)
*Wachovia sold to Wells Fargo in October
*Citi, Countrywide, B of A, Wells Fargo, et al received BILLIONS in TARP funds in 2009
"If you put it in a baseball analogy, and you look at the subprime problem in the U.S., you would say we're in the eighth inning or maybe the top of the ninth." ~ John Mack (Morgan Stanley CEO)
"We're probably in the third or fourth quarter." ~ Lloyd Blankfein (Goldman Sachs CEO)
Both were addressing the subprime crisis and whether it was coming to an end. Unfortunately, the US Government agreed to pledge $700 billion to buy "toxic" debt. Seems like we might be in the second or third inning...or the 1st quarter!
"Fannie and Freddie are very solid institutions. They have more-than-adequate capital. They have access to capital markets." ~ Chris Dodd (Chairman of the Senate Banking Committee) in July of '08.
In September, the US Government seized control of Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac, concerned about their mounting losses.
(The book Hanssie bought me was "Bartlett's Familiar Quotations" - sad that when you start typing, you are upstairs and when you get done...it has been so long, you are downstairs.)
Sunday, February 8, 2009
Grammy Ramblings...
* Taylor Swift and Miley Cyrus performing together was awkward.
* Someone please explain to me the infatuation with Coldplay?????
* Kenny Chesney is the man!
* Adele and Sugarland - seriously, who puts these artists together?
* Boyz II Men (who are not the same since Mike McCray retired), Justin Timberlake and Al Green...could we please have some relevance in our performances???? Thank you to Chris Brown for this...
* The Rock, errrr, Dwayne Johnson is not funny!
* Katy Perry - are you kidding me????
* I am really old...I seriously have no idea what Coldplay, Radiohead, etc...are singing about.
* Even on the Grammy's we can not get away from the Obama lovefest. Mortgages defaulting at record levels, companies with decades of longevity going out of business like they are start-ups, the stock market staying horribly bear-ish, the world's economy completely crumbling...yet, we are going to petition Obama to create a position to champion the arts...
* Someone please explain to me the infatuation with Coldplay?????
* Kenny Chesney is the man!
* Adele and Sugarland - seriously, who puts these artists together?
* Boyz II Men (who are not the same since Mike McCray retired), Justin Timberlake and Al Green...could we please have some relevance in our performances???? Thank you to Chris Brown for this...
* The Rock, errrr, Dwayne Johnson is not funny!
* Katy Perry - are you kidding me????
* I am really old...I seriously have no idea what Coldplay, Radiohead, etc...are singing about.
* Even on the Grammy's we can not get away from the Obama lovefest. Mortgages defaulting at record levels, companies with decades of longevity going out of business like they are start-ups, the stock market staying horribly bear-ish, the world's economy completely crumbling...yet, we are going to petition Obama to create a position to champion the arts...
Wednesday, February 4, 2009
The older I get...
...the more sports I am playing.
When I met Hanssie, I was a pretty dorky guy. I played softball every Tuesday (men's league) and every Friday and Saturday (church league in San Bernardino). I was also playing basketball in a league that was Mondays and Wednesdays. Once I met Hanssie the games pretty much stopped. I wasn't doing very many athletic things.
Over the years, I have remained pretty consistent playing pick up basketball. In 2006, I suffered an unbelievable ankle sprain. The swelling lasted weeks...and it took from July of '06 to January of '07 before I was able to play basketball again. Unfortunately, it was much worse than an ankle sprain. In April of '07 I was playing basketball every day for about an hour a day. I am not sure the day but it was approximately the middle of April when the rest of the ankle injury surfaced. I was playing basketball and my achilles tendon ruptured. Because of a number of circumstances I was unable to have the surgery until November of '07 and the recovery lasted until June or July of this past year.
I am just starting to get into the swing of sports again...
In July, I began playing softball on Wednesday nights. The team that I am on is very good...we have a 20-6-1 record since we started playing together and have won the league both times. Because I was still recovering from the surgery when I started, they asked me to pitch (I have earned the nickname Nolan Ryan because I am averaging over a strike out a game...not an easy task for slow pitch softball).
In August, I began playing basketball on Monday nights. A very scary proposition...I have always been a guy who likes to shoot the ball from outside, but the purpose is to open up drives to the hole. My lack of faith in my achilles leads me to make a lot of awkward decisions...and has created a ton of hesitancy in my game that was never there before. In spite of this, I have earned the nickname of Kobe, the black hole...etc, because once the ball gets in my hands it is never to be seen again. I prefer the nickname "the machine" because my game resembles Sasha Vujacic way more than it resembles Kobe.
Last week, I began to play football with a buddy of mine. I have never played organized football (unless you count the 3 days of lifting weights and running before my sophomore year in high school when I determined that I didn't have the drive to play high school football). Who knows if a nickname is on the offing??
So, here I am...approaching my 33 birthday...and here I am again playing sports 3 days a week...trying to stay in shape...trying to find an outlet for my competitiveness...mostly trying to stay healthy.
When I met Hanssie, I was a pretty dorky guy. I played softball every Tuesday (men's league) and every Friday and Saturday (church league in San Bernardino). I was also playing basketball in a league that was Mondays and Wednesdays. Once I met Hanssie the games pretty much stopped. I wasn't doing very many athletic things.
Over the years, I have remained pretty consistent playing pick up basketball. In 2006, I suffered an unbelievable ankle sprain. The swelling lasted weeks...and it took from July of '06 to January of '07 before I was able to play basketball again. Unfortunately, it was much worse than an ankle sprain. In April of '07 I was playing basketball every day for about an hour a day. I am not sure the day but it was approximately the middle of April when the rest of the ankle injury surfaced. I was playing basketball and my achilles tendon ruptured. Because of a number of circumstances I was unable to have the surgery until November of '07 and the recovery lasted until June or July of this past year.
I am just starting to get into the swing of sports again...
In July, I began playing softball on Wednesday nights. The team that I am on is very good...we have a 20-6-1 record since we started playing together and have won the league both times. Because I was still recovering from the surgery when I started, they asked me to pitch (I have earned the nickname Nolan Ryan because I am averaging over a strike out a game...not an easy task for slow pitch softball).
In August, I began playing basketball on Monday nights. A very scary proposition...I have always been a guy who likes to shoot the ball from outside, but the purpose is to open up drives to the hole. My lack of faith in my achilles leads me to make a lot of awkward decisions...and has created a ton of hesitancy in my game that was never there before. In spite of this, I have earned the nickname of Kobe, the black hole...etc, because once the ball gets in my hands it is never to be seen again. I prefer the nickname "the machine" because my game resembles Sasha Vujacic way more than it resembles Kobe.
Last week, I began to play football with a buddy of mine. I have never played organized football (unless you count the 3 days of lifting weights and running before my sophomore year in high school when I determined that I didn't have the drive to play high school football). Who knows if a nickname is on the offing??
So, here I am...approaching my 33 birthday...and here I am again playing sports 3 days a week...trying to stay in shape...trying to find an outlet for my competitiveness...mostly trying to stay healthy.
Sunday, January 4, 2009
Dinner on my own...
There is literally nothing I hate more than my wife and daughter leaving town. I have a hard time getting up and getting going. Before they leave, I think - "I am going to be so productive while they are gone. I am going to do this and that..." But, what ends up happening is I sit around wishing the days would go by quicker, waiting...in fact counting the minutes until they return.
So here we are on a Saturday night - the second night that they are gone (they are gone a week). Challenges while they are gone are: 1.) motivation, 2.) boredom, and 3.) eating. Motivation and boredom not a problem as I scheduled 3 appointments yesterday and another 3 today AND another tomorrow. Eating is not an issue either...because I made dinner. Here is what I made:
Baked Penne w/meat sauce
1 1/4 lbs Turkey
16 oz Penne Rigate (100% organic whole wheat)
14.5 oz Organic Diced Tomatoes with Green Chiles
4 oz Tomato Sauce
1/3 oz Shredded Cheddar Cheese
Brown the turkey. Combine the tomatoes and tomato sauce in pan. Cook pasta according to directions. Layer pasta, sauce, cheese. Cook at 375 degrees for 40 minutes.
The beauty of this meal is that it serves 6. Therefore, I get to have a good dinner that is easy to make. It will provide me 5 additional meals. AND, I eat it with a corn on the cob and my dinner has only 490 calories and 16 grams of saturated fat. Oh, and it costs $11.40!
So here we are on a Saturday night - the second night that they are gone (they are gone a week). Challenges while they are gone are: 1.) motivation, 2.) boredom, and 3.) eating. Motivation and boredom not a problem as I scheduled 3 appointments yesterday and another 3 today AND another tomorrow. Eating is not an issue either...because I made dinner. Here is what I made:
Baked Penne w/meat sauce
1 1/4 lbs Turkey
16 oz Penne Rigate (100% organic whole wheat)
14.5 oz Organic Diced Tomatoes with Green Chiles
4 oz Tomato Sauce
1/3 oz Shredded Cheddar Cheese
Brown the turkey. Combine the tomatoes and tomato sauce in pan. Cook pasta according to directions. Layer pasta, sauce, cheese. Cook at 375 degrees for 40 minutes.
The beauty of this meal is that it serves 6. Therefore, I get to have a good dinner that is easy to make. It will provide me 5 additional meals. AND, I eat it with a corn on the cob and my dinner has only 490 calories and 16 grams of saturated fat. Oh, and it costs $11.40!
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