Wednesday, June 23, 2010

The Coach Serves Up A Nice Link Buffett

Grab your plate and fill it up. Seconds are encouraged.

Ever wonder about a company's logo and how most are done with class. Here are some Logo Fails.

Two times a week Drew Magory at Deadspin gives us a mailbag column that he calls a Fun Bag. I find this material must read. For the lady readers you might finally learn about what most men are thinking about. Most of it is not work place appropriate.  Here is last Tuesday's Column. You can find Thursday's Fun Bag here. Here is yesterday's column.

Last week ESPN gave us an amazing 30for30 on "June 17, 1994", by far and away the craziest day in American sports history. Author Will Leitch (founder of Deadspin.com) looks at this date from a different perspective. 6/17/94 was the last day Leitch played organized baseball.


Speaking of June 17 1994 and OJ Simpson bringing the Nation collectively to our television sets. Here is a collection of OJ Prank calls.


Ever wonder what jobs of today will soon be obsolete? I have no clue but here is a list of jobs from yesteryear.


Everyone knows the second thing I will do when I win the lottery is buy a place on Cape Cod. Here is a list of clam and lobster shacks that I will visit often. Just as a side note one of my favorite restaurants Mac's Shack is featured in this list. 


This story reminds us all why we need the 3 hour rule that limits how airlines can treat us.


The reason this is so funny is because it’s true.

When I was a student manager at UGA I was lucky enough to make two visits with the team to Omaha and the College World Series. This year will be the last time the tournament will be played at Rosenblatt Stadium. ESPN has put together a nice tribute to the nice little ballpark on the hill. In my opinion the College World Series is the greatest sporting event no one knows anything about.


Entourage starts on Sunday and Turtle is game for a movie once the series is over. I seriously doubt you can find anyone more fired up than me for the start of Entourage. 


This one of my favorite scenes from Entourages and it includes one of my favorite songs. Here are a couple of Ari Gold moments that are must see. Here is another.



For the past couple of years my dad has wanted to travel via Amtrak to Denver from Atlanta. Something about leaving the ATL on a Monday night and rolling into the Mile High City on Thursday morning does not seem appealing to me. Karl Zimmerman gives us his story of riding the rails from NYC to LA via Chicago and Seattle. 



The SEC has had at least one team finish in the top 10 nationally in rushing defense every season since 1988.
Interestingly enough, Georgia is one of four current SEC programs not to have contributed to that streak.



Finally, best wishes to Georgia beat writer David Hale on his new job. He will be missed.

Monday, June 21, 2010

Ten Things Lawyer Dan Thinks He Thinks

This week Dan Hauptman (Lawyer Dan) fills us in with his Ten Things. Enough with the chit chat let's get this thing started. Take it away Lawyer Dan..........


1. 
First, I would like to thank Justin (a.k.a. Coach) for giving me the pulpit this week.  This column usually refers to me as Lawyer Dan, yet I still have one more year of law school before I become a lawyer.  I am from New York (big Mets and Jets fan), went to UNC (Go Heels!) and now live one block from the Pacific Ocean in Santa Monica, California (not really Go Lakers).  I went to graduate school with Justin at NYU, and was with him when he got the job with the Braves at the 2006 baseball winter meetings (I definitely recommend every baseball fan to attend the annual winter meetings once and observe the epic lobby scene featuring a who’s who of baseball’s wheelers and dealers). 

I apologize in advance for the lack of commentary about country music, barbecue joints in the South and University of Georgia baseball/football/basketball/gymnastics teams.

2.
I don’t know about you, but I have gotten used to the buzzing sound of the vuvuzelas at the FIFA World Cup.  Maybe it is because of the double audio filter now implemented by ESPN, but I barely notice those horns anymore.  I don’t think the vuvuzelas will come to the U.S. anytime soon (see the harsh reaction to the vuvuzela promotion at Saturday night’s Rays-Marlins game), but the misconception that the vuvuzelas have a long history in South African culture must come to an end.  “Originally made of tin, the vuvuzela rose to popularity in South Africa at football matches in the late 1990s.  Its fate was sealed in 2001, when South-African-based company Masincedane Sport began to mass-produce a plastic version, thereby making it essential kit for football supporters across the country” (source: MacMillan Dictionary).  A 10-year history!  Please!  Internationally, the vuvuzelas are more closely associated with Mexican soccer than anywhere else.

I have been watching one game a day (it is tough here on the West Coast when the games come on at 4:30, 7, and 11:30 AM), so I am not qualified to adequately pontificate about the tournament.  For a great daily recap of the games, check out the roundup columns by David Mosse (disclosure: I grew up and have been friends with the soccer genius after he moved to the U.S. from Brazil when he was 10 years old) and Zac Lee Rigg on Goal.com.  Here is David Mosse’s roundup from Day 9, posted on Sunday.  

Here is one stat that I came across: South American teams are 7-0-2 thus far in the tournament.  Furthermore, a South American squad has won every FIFA World Cup played outside of European soil.  All signs point to another South American title in 2010.

3.
As mentioned above, I now live in Los Angeles, and although I have tuned out the NBA the last few years (thank you Knicks), many of my L.A. friends consider the Lakers their favorite sports team (can you blame them after winning 16 titles?).  I asked Cal David, a law school buddy and diehard Lakers fan, to provide his Game 7 atmosphere:

On Thursday afternoon I posted this status message on my facebook: “I am so geeked for the game tonight! 6 can't come soon enough. The game of my generation!”  In my life as an avid Laker, Dodger and Cal Football fan I have never been so excited and nervous for a game. To truly understand the meaning of this game I need to take you back to game 4 of the 2008 finals. I was in Berkeley, watching amongst mostly neutral “we just want to a see a good game” fans. With the Lakers taking a double digit lead into the half, I felt secure that the series would be tied and the stage would be set for an epic game 7. As the shit hit the fan and everyone in the bar turned against the Lakers, rooting for an epic comeback, I watched in agony as the Lakers let the championship slip away. I found myself kicking a box, yes a cardboard box, for ten minutes down a very public street. I got some very interesting stares that day. 


So the stage was set for game 7, 2010.  I was back in LA, watching amongst true Laker fans and lifelong friends. With the score tied midway through the 4th (I was 7 beers in at this point out of sheer shit-in-my-pants nervousness) we all knew that win or lose we would remember this game for the rest of our lives. And then Ron Ron hit The Three, The Machine was The Machine, Gasol grabbed The Rebound, KB24 ran the ball down and us Laker fans experienced The Game of Our Generation. 

Cal David’s self-proclaimed “Game of Our Generation” ended well for him and the other Lakers lunatics, but if you want a neutral, intelligent take on the captivating Game 7, I urge you to listen to Friday’s monologue by Mike Francesa on WFAN radio in NY.

By the way, the NBA Draft is this Thursday.  Expect John Wall to go to the Wizards first overall, Evan Turner to be picked by the Sixers with the second pick, and a big man to get selected by the Nets at number three (Derrick Favors or DeMarcus Cousins).  As a UNC fan, I am very interested in where Ed Davis will be picked.  If he doesn’t get drafted in the top ten, then his decision to leave Chapel Hill after two years will be highly questionable.  Last year, Davis had a disappointing season on a disappointing Tar Heels team, and he missed the final two months after breaking his wrist in mid-February.  I would be intrigued if he is picked 10th by Indiana and joins former championship-winning teammate Tyler Hansbrough on the Pacers front line.    

4. 
I hope you watched the June 17, 1994 30 for 30 ESPN film.  I thought it was amazing, and probably my favorite film in the must-watch 30 for 30 series (nudging ahead of The U and the Hank Gathers documentaries).  6/17/94 was an unforgettable day (I had my Scarsdale Middle School graduation pool party that day at the Scarsdale, NY town pool), and the documentary was effectively produced exclusively with news and sports footage from that day.  No interviews, just incredible footage spliced together with music behind it.  I am obsessed with the OJ stuff, and some of the audio (i.e. the communications between the police negotiator and OJ while he is in the back of the White Bronco) and footage (i.e. Bob Costas practicing the most appropriate way to toss NBC’s Game 5 of the NBA Finals to an update from Tom Brokaw about the OJ chase) is never-before-seen and tremendously fascinating.  Where is Al Cowlings today?  If you are reading this, A.C., please contact me.  I know who the #$^& you are.    

Trivia question of the week:  Which current baseball broadcaster is shown singing the national anthem before Game 5 of the NBA Finals at Madison Square Garden?  (Extra Credit: What was the connection between the singer and one of the 1994 NBA finalists?)

The winner receives an autographed copy of my recently published Loyola of Los Angeles Entertainment Law Review article about how the Major League Baseball First-Year Player Draft is illegal because it discriminates against U.S. players (and Puerto Ricans and Canadians) based on their country of national origin.  They can only enter MLB by signing with the team that drafted them, while international players can sign freely with any team of their choice when they reach the age of 17 (and 16 in some cases depending on their birthday).  If you know the answer to the trivia question or are interested in reading my article, email me at danimal86@aol.com.  Hopefully my legal argument changes the drafting process in baseball someday soon.  You heard it here first.

5.
Links of the week:
- You probably have not read this, but this is the best sports feature article that I have ever read.  You may have never heard of Joel Buchsbaum, an NFL draftnik who died nearly a decade ago, but please read about his mysterious and um… unusual existence
- I just read this article about Bernie Madoff’s life in prison.  The New York magazine author interviewed more than 20 fellow inmates, and some of the stories about Madoff’s proud, cavalier attitude towards his life-ruining Ponzi scam are unthinkable and cruel
- Ron Artest after game 7.  Nothing more needs to be said and of course TMZ was on the scene

Halftime: If you haven’t had enough of Ron Ron, here is his “new” (recorded last June) rap single “Champion”  

6.
I cannot come close to replicating Justin’s weekly baseball thoughts, but here are five:
- The NL East will be the most interesting division in MLB this summer and for the foreseeable future.  The young studs, equal competitiveness of the teams and the recent rivalry history (Mets-Phillies especially) should make for fun times for East Coasters.
- Speaking of the NL East, as much as it pains me to post this, here is a stat contribution from the clearly unbiased Coach:  The Braves have won 42 straight games when scoring 5+ runs (disclosure: Justin will be fitted for a championship ring if the Braves win it all!).
- This week, C.C. Sabathia earned the many millions that the Steinbrenners are paying him, as the hefty lefty beat Roy Halladay and Johan Santana in consecutive stellar starts.
- Ubaldo Jimenez has as many wins on the road (8-1, 0.80 ERA) as the Orioles (8-29).
- This is why baseball all-star voting by fans is a joke:  Taylor Teagarden is currently fourth in the voting for AL catcher.  Teagarden has recorded one major league hit this year, and he currently plays in Double-A.  For the Rangers, with whom he started the season, he's batting .037, with zero homers and zero RBI.  Another travesty:  Ken Griffey Jr. is third in the voting for AL designated hitter.  He will never play another game, and even when Junior was playing this season he hit .184, with zero homers and 7 RBI.  He did lead the league in one important category:  Clubhouse naps.

7.
The 2010 U.S. Open of golf from beautiful Pebble Beach concluded on Sunday night.  While watching the broadcast, every time I heard Dan Hicks and crew talk about Dustin Johnson, vivid images of a jolly, former University of Georgia baseball manager popped into my head.  Scary stuff!  Speaking of scary stuff, how about Johnson’s performance on Sunday.  Putrid.

Personally, I was not that into the U.S. Open once Tiger faded away early on Sunday.  I had it on, hoping that I would be dragged in, but with the unheralded Graeme McDowell and a bunch of other golfers that I don’t care about on top of the leaderboard, there were other ways that I wanted to spend my Sunday.  I think I am probably indicative of the average golf fan, and the sport is in trouble if this new-and-NOT-improved Tiger Woods cannot return to his prolific form of yesteryear.    

8.
I am a huge tennis aficionado (much bigger than golf), and I am excited for Monday’s first ball at Wimbledon.  For a comprehensive preview of the 2010 tournament, here are the thoughts of Todd Keryc, a CBS Sports graphics producer and the commissioner of the annual Grand Slam of Pools:

- On the men's side, we're set for possibly the most exciting grand slam tournament in years.  In the age of Federer, we've seen far too many lopsided and obvious results.  In recent years, the Wimbledon Gentlemen's final has become the gold standard of tennis.  In 2007, Rafa Nadal pushed The Mighty Fed to 5 sets and many think he might have won if not for a backloaded schedule due to some unlucky rain delays.  In 2008, Nadal finally dethroned TMF in the greatest match ever played.  In 2009, with Nadal sidelined, Andy Roddick put on the serving clinic of a lifetime and was not broken until the 77th game of the match to lose 16-14 in the 5th set as Federer broke Pete Sampras' record for slam titles.  What could 2010 possibly have in store for us that could even enter the discussion with the last 3 years?  Well, if you consider 2007 & 2008 a draw between Federer and Nadal, then 2010 will be the grudge match.  Federer has long dominated Wimbledon but Nadal had the answers the last time he took Centre Court.  In 2008, Nadal's win was the passing of the torch.  After being injured and relinquishing the #1 world ranking back to Federer in 2009, the Spanish Sensation is back atop the world.  Can he possibly accomplish the French/Wimbledon double again or is Old Rog still ticking?  Add in Roddick's undying desire to win Wimbledon, the Brits' undying desire to see Andy Murray win Wimbledon, and the likes of Djokovic and Soderling and you've got a legitimate tournament.
-On the women's side, Justine Henin returned to the game simply to win Wimbledon and finish off her career slam.  Her game seems perfectly suited to grass but she's been stopped in the final twice before.  She's coming off a surprising loss at the French which led to questions about the condition of her game so closely removed from a "retirement."  Serena is the defending champion and Venus is always a major factor on the grass.  It's now been 6 years since Maria Sharapova became the darling of tennis.  Winning Wimbledon at 17 put her firmly on the radar and many expected she'd win a few more at the All-England Club before she was done.  Now at 23 she's still looking for the confirmation that what she achieved as a teenager was not a fluke.  Francesca Schiavone heads to Wimbledon with a sparkling new line at the top of her resume.  The French Open Champion will also have an easier path to the end as a Top 10 player.  One of the more unlikely grand slam champions in tennis history, Schiavone has already hit tennis nirvana but another title would put her in an entirely different class.

The Grand Slam of Pools is run by Todd for each of the tennis majors.  I have entered every pool since 2006 and famously won the 2010 Australian Open contest. The rules are simple:  Pick the winner of every men’s and women’s match (like an NCAA Tournament bracket pool).  Entry fee is $10 and winner takes all.  Todd emails informative and humorous daily updates, and I highly recommend all tennis fans to “get-in-the-mix” for all future pools.  To be added to the mailing list, email Todd at:  tkeryc@gmail.com.

9.
One player not at Wimby is my favorite tennis clown, Vince Spadea.  The former top-20 tennis player/white rapper is now 36 years old and ranked 500+ in the ATP rankings.  He is now forced to play futures tournaments, which are lower than even the challenger tournaments he played in the last couple of years.  Spadea’s goal is to play one more match at Wimby, and this funny/sad self-made video details his journey

The only book recommendation I will give this week is to pick up Vince’s classic book “Break Point,” which details his life on the ATP tour, complete with how to pick up girls while traveling across the globe.  Once you read the book, he will become your favorite player, too.

I also suggest following him on twitter (twitter.com/vincespadea).  Very random stuff.

10. 
I want to close my guest cameo by wishing a very Happy Father’s Day to my dad and all the fathers out there.  When you wake up on Monday it will be the first day of summer and the most sunshine of any day of the year.  Enjoy it and BE WELL (I had to end with Coach’s catchphrase).

P.S.: Happy 30th birthday, Yosh.

Monday, June 14, 2010

Ten Things Nabil Thinks He Thinks


I would like to thank Coach Johnson for giving me the opportunity to contribute my thoughts.  I’ve been a big fan since the beginning.  And for that Coach, this one’s for you.  As the Captain stated in his post, no one can match the Coach, and all I can do is try and not disappoint. 

Let’s get to it.  Here are the 10 Things I Think I Think.

1)  I usually enjoy reading the Coach’s insight on the University of Georgia Bulldogs football team.  It allows me to appreciate the Dawgs a little more and understand the landscape of SEC football.  But as many of you know, and for those that don’t, I am a Purdue Boilermaker.  Unfortunately, there is not much to report on the Boilers for this season.  I feel they are still in their rebuilding phase as coach Danny Hope continues to recruit his players for his system and the last of Joe Tiller’s players finish their careers.  The only positive going into next season is that the Boilers are coming off of victories over the Ohio State Buckeyes and the University of Michigan Wolverines.  If you told me prior to the 2009 season that the Boilers would go onto beat both of those schools, I would have booked my flight to Pasadena, CA.  But alas, we ended the season 5-7.

2)  Currently, the only exciting sports news to come from West Lafayette, IN is the men’s basketball team and the return of their top three stars:  Robbie Hummel, JuJuan Johnson and E’Twaun Moore.  Last year was one of the most exciting basketball seasons I have witnessed since becoming a Boilermaker.  It was hard to watch the team in the NCAA Tournament as they played without their best player and floor general, Robbie Hummel, who went down with a torn ACL 3 games before the Big Ten Tournament.  The team still played well as they advanced to the Sweet 16 and lost to the eventual champions, the Duke Blue Devils.  (By the way, I’m not that mad as the Dukies helped pay the mortgage.)  Next season, the Boilers return their top three scorers and a core of sophomores and juniors who should help continue the excellence of Boilermaker basketball.  I’m also excited about a couple of incoming freshman looking to make an impact.  Mostly, I’m looking forward to Terone Johnson, who should be able to come in and offer a true point guard for the years to come.

3)  I’d like to take a moment and offer my condolences to the Wooden family.  As many of you may have heard, legendary coach John Wooden passed away last week at the age of 99.  Wooden lead his UCLA Bruins to an incredible, amazing, astounding, etc., etc., etc. (insert own adjective) 10 National Titles.  For all that he’s done for UCLA and college basketball, one must remember that he lead the Boilermakers to their first and only National Championship in 1932.  If you have some spare time, I would recommend any of his books as a good read.  I’ve read his book on leadership and it’s not bad.  Rest in peace Mr. Wooden.

4)  As long as we’re on the subject of college sports, I’d like to take a moment and welcome the Cornhuskers of the University of Nebraska to the Big Ten.  I’m sure there will be more movement in the college landscape, but since I do not have ESP, I’ll just talk about the moves that have happened.  The Big Ten now has 12 teams, the PAC-10 now has 11 teams (thanks to the Colorado Buffaloes) and the Big 12 has 10.  I’m no genius, but someone is going to have to change their name.  The Boise State Broncos have also joined the Big Three of the Mountain West Conference (TCU, Utah and BYU).  This is a subject that we could argue, debate and speculate for days on end, but when money and new television deals are the main source, why should we?  At the end of the day, however things shake out, we’ll still go watch college football and many of us will still bitch about the BCS ranking system.  How many people are still talking about the last conference realignments (ACC, Big East and Conference USA ring a bell)?  The only thing I know for sure is that the University of Texas Longhorns is the most highly sought after collegiate commodity right now.  They have been rumored to be possibly join the PAC-10, Big Ten and SEC.  They could also save the Big 12 and stay put, but where’s the fun in that.  The only thing I know is that they seem to hold the key to where everyone else goes.

And while I have the podium, why can’t Notre Dame get their red-headed catholic heads out of their leprechaun-sized asses.  If money were the real reason, how much more do they think they can get from NBC than with the Big Ten Network?

5)  Now for some baseball talk.  This past week, Major League Baseball held their annual Rule IV Amateur Draft.  While it’s not the event and spectacle of the NFL or even the NBA draft, it has picked up some national attention thanks in large part to ESPN and MLB Network, as well as publications like Baseball America.  When the NFL and NBA drafts come around, most fans are speculating who their team will take first with their first pick.  Until recently, no one could even guess who would even be drafted.  And unlike the other two sports, prospects drafted were not usually heard of until they were ready for the big leagues.  Now, even the casual fan has at least heard of some of the potential first round picks.  With more and more coverage of college baseball (which the road to the College World Series is underway), teams are picking big name prospects who are closer to becoming major league ready than before.  The Washington Nationals had the first overall pick (their second in a row) and took 17 year old catcher/outfielder Bryce Harper.  They hope when he is ready, he will have the same impact that last year’s number one pick, Stephen Strasburg.  In his MLB debut, Strasburg got the win and went 7 innings with 14 K’s and no walks while yielding 2 runs.  He also helped the Nationals sellout a Tuesday game against the Pittsburgh Pirates with 40,315 tickets sold.  What the future holds for these newly drafted prospects, we will just have to wait and see.  A quick FYI, the highest drafted player in the Hall of Fame is Mr. October, Reggie Jackson, who was drafted 2nd overall.  That’s sure to change with players like Ken Griffey, Jr. (who recently announced his retirement), Chipper Jones and Alex Rodriguez.  Here an interesting read from the New York Daily news looking at the some of the better picks in the 30 respective slots since 1965.  Another interesting note, the 1973 draft had back to back Hall of Famers picked third and fourth overall.  Can you name them?  (Here’s a hint, the Brewers and Padres had the picks respectively.)


6)  I think the NBA is not for me, but I do appreciate Captain Buchanan’s passion for the game.  I just have had a hard time following it and keeping up with all the salary cap rules.  Maybe the Captain can post something in depth about the draft, so uneducated schmucks like myself can be ready when the first pick is made June 24th.  I just do not want to insult anyone with my lack of knowledge of the sport.

7)  Congratulations to the Chicago Blackhawks on winning Lord Stanley’s Cup.  Another sport I don’t get but do enjoy watching on television.  I really respect these guys and the way they seem to glide around the ice and make it look easy.  Kudos NHLers, kudos.

Here is a quick list of sports that I respect and do not talk shit about because I can’t play them:
a)  Golf – so I can swing a club, but try hitting a little white dimpled ball 190 yards and having it land 3 feet from the hole.
b)  Tennis – try playing with someone who is good (at least collegiate good), not much fun.
c)  Hockey – I know I mentioned it already, but still, I can barely walk on solid ground let alone on ice with ¼ inch blades.
d)  Lacrosse
e)  Water Polo
Honorable mention)  Soccer – I know it’s World Cup time and a lot of folks are saying “Who cares?”  But try running back and forth on the pitch for 90 minutes and then kick a ball past a goalie to win the match.  I don’t think I’d be able to feel my legs.

And this brings me to another point.  I really don’t like, borderline hate, it when someone says that a professional athlete sucks or that they would do better.  If you could, you would be out there.  So shut up and just cheer on your team.

8)  So I enjoy my television watching almost as much as the Coach.  I do enjoy most of the same shows that he watches.  The Monday lineup on CBS and the Thursday lineup of NBC are some of the better comedies during the fall and spring.  During the summer, I enjoy watching some of cables best in the USA Network and TNT.  Burn Notice (USA) and Leverage (TNT) are two of my favorite shows during this time.  What’s not to like about a burned spy who helps people in need around Miami as well as several montages of females enjoying the beach.  Or how about a band of crooks who help out others who have been wronged?  Leverage is much like a modern day Robin Hood.  Some other shows on USA that you should check out are Royal Pains and White Collar.  Of course the shows I can’t wait to start this summer are the returns of HBO’s Entourage and East Bound and Down.  I don’t know about you, but I’m ready for Vince and his crew to entertain and to get some more Ari Gold quotes to repeat over and over.  HBO also has a new show coming in September called Boardwalk Empire.  Two huge forces have combined to bring us hopefully HBO’s best new series.  Terence Winter (Emmy Award winning writer from The Sopranos) and Martin Scorsese (Academy Award winning director from The Departed) bring us a story from Atlantic City in the 1920s.  You can find more about the show here.

9)  Now that it is officially summer, I’d like to take some more trips than usual.  I don’t travel as much as the Coach does, but I get a few trips in a year.  Normally I take a trip back up to West Lafayette and tailgate with some of my college buddies.  I also usually take my birthday trip to the greatest city on Earth, but I’ll talk about that later.  Every year, I tell myself that I should plan to visit a new ballpark but never seem to do anything about it.  I get even more frustrated when folks like the Coach, the Thorntons and others visit a new city and take in a game and I have to hear all about how great the stadium is.  I have no one to blame but myself.  One of these days, I will be proactive about it and save up to begin my quest to visit all 30 MLB ballparks and any new ones to come.  I did visit another minor league park this weekend when Coach, Mr. Dan Fisher and I visited Lake Olmstead Stadium, the home of the Augusta Green Jackets, the low-A affiliate of the San Francisco Giants.  I kept score through the whole game, something I haven’t done in about 10 years, and I was quite proud of myself.  I’m looking for more trips for this year, so if you have any suggestions, let me know.  I do have at least 2 trips scheduled: 1) Cleveland for a wedding in August, 2) a northeast adventure with Coach in early December.  Maybe I can fit in my birthday trip my favorite city?  If you’ve ever thought of going to Las Vegas, I can be talked into going.  By the way, my birthday is the day after Coach Johnson’s.

10) So, at the beginning of the month, I made my visit to Vegas a little earlier than normal.  My friend Pat, whose wedding I’m going to in August, had his bachelor party in Sin City.  Why not?  Everyone was scheduled to be out there from Friday to Saturday, but I decided to head out immediately after our day game on Wednesday.  I stayed at Hooters Casino for $20 a night for Wednesday and Thursday nights and that might have been too much for the room.  I ran into some interesting characters while there, maybe a little too “interesting” for the 10 Things.  In 36 hours prior to everyone showing up, I might have been away from the gaming tables for about 7 of them.  For Friday and Saturday nights, we stayed in a classier place at New York New York.  Now I’ve done my fair share of gambling there, but have never stayed there before.  The room was actually really nice, maybe a little too nice, since my luggage saw more of the room than the four of us combined.  Before I left for my trip, Coach sent me something that he thought I would enjoy for my trip.  It was the Total Rewards Buffet of Buffets deal.  Basically, I spent about $38 on a buffet and had 24 hour period to hit up that same buffet or any of the 6 others in the family of casinos.  I was able to get 3 meals in from Thursday afternoon to Friday afternoon, so not a bad deal in the long run.  It was a much better deal than the buffet we ate on Friday night at Bellagio for $40 a person.  I normally don’t put too much investment in my food choices when visiting Las Vegas as food is not the first thing on my mind (I know, I’m shocked too!).  But if you get a chance to visit Mesa by Bobby Flay at Caesar’s Palace, I would highly recommend it.  It’s not cheap, but other than McDonald’s what else is, but it was definitely worth it.  Another thing I normally don’t do when I go to Vegas is to catch a show.  Let’s be real, the only thing I go to Vegas for is the gaming and entertaining people watching.  So we went to go see Frank Caliendo at Monte Carlo on Friday night.  Somehow we went from $70 seats in the last three rows to $50 seats in the second row from the front.  I think the manager on duty of the ticket office got sick of us and mainly my new buddy Greg and all of his badgering to give us those seats so that we would go away.  I ended the weekend by getting up at 7AM Pacific after a 3 hour nap and not going to bed until about 11PM Eastern, so needless to say a long day.  Here’s a tip for those planning a trip, don’t gamble when you’re sleep deprived.  Another tip, if you’re not much of a gambler, I do recommend visiting all the casinos and checking out each one’s version of their “Party Pit”.  It seems to be the new craze in Vegas, but a lot of the casinos are doing it.  Here are some pictures of said areas:






















So if anyone wants to go, I’m ready to go and get my money back.

I wanted to thank Coach Johnson again for letting me share my thoughts with you.  Let’s take it home with some more Kansas.

Okay, maybe one more for the Coach.  128 million fans can’t be wrong.


Sunday, June 6, 2010

10 Things The Captain Thinks He Thinks

Hello good readers of Captain & Coach! As the “Captain” part of this blog I’m not too big of a stretch as a guest writer, still I jumped at the opportunity to write our most popular feature. Well, I guess it’s really our only “feature” as I’ve been too flaky to actually work out a consistent article and simply write about what I want whenever it strikes me.

When The Coach asked me if I’d write an edition of 10 Things I immediately started planning what I would write about and I believe I’ve hammered out a solid offering, I don’t pretend to think I can match Coach Johnson but I hope you enjoy anyway.

1ST Inning: FSU Baseball Thoughts

It worked out to be a damn nice Memorial Day weekend for the FSU Baseball team although it didn’t start well. The ‘Noles entered the ACC Championship Tournament as the 5th seed and promptly lost to the Hated Hurricanes (yep, proper name) by a score of 9 to 3. If they had lost another game for the entire weekend they would have been bounced from the tournament. Instead the ‘Noles went on to win the next 3 contests including the Championship game against NC State on Sunday afternoon.

The win gave FSU their 5th ACC Championship and their 33rd consecutive appearance in the NCAA Baseball Championships which is the 2nd all-time longest streak and 2nd longest active streak trailing only the Hated Hurricanes with 38. Even though FSU’s pitching hasn’t performed well all season they appear to be getting hot at the right time: 5.78 ERA during the regular season, 4.22 in the ACC Tournament.

The Noles also appear to have the right mindset as indicated in this quote from Head Coach Mike Martin: "We have a saying at Florida State — shut up and play," Martin said. "And that's what we intend to do."

The ‘Noles now head to Connecticut to play in the Norwich Regional where they’ll be the #1 seed in the regional playing AT #2 seed UConn, #3 Oregon and #4 Central Connecticut State.

Simply put: it’s a joke that the ‘Noles aren’t a #1 seed. They’re the only Big 6 conference winner to not get a #1 seed even after finishing inside the top 10 in the Baseball America rankings and winning the ACC Championship. From what I understand the trade off is FSU got the weakest regional and have a shot at having the weakest 2nd round matchups of any team. Apparently that’s supposed to be a good trade off for not having home field advantage.

UPDATE: FSU has played stellar and won their first two games. As of Sunday morning they await the winner of Oregon vs. UCONN for the Regional title and the chance to move on. I’m so used to FSU shitting the bed as soon as they get into the tournament. Not getting to host the regional may have been the spark they needed to not get bounced early this year.

2nd Inning: FSU Football/recruiting Thoughts

For all the recruitniks out there last weeks announcement of the Rivals250 and ESPN150 was big news. I love recruiting and follow it religiously however I understand not everyone is as into it as I am. The best thing to do for the folks that aren’t really into it but like to keep up with their school is to check out their own personal school’s Rivals site (www.warchant.com for FSU) and to follow the “weekly whispers” at Rivals and “on the trail” at ESPN. Both features are snapshots of the current activities and leanings of some highly touted and “sleeper” recruits.

The most interesting aspect of recruiting for me is the path that a player takes to get to a school. For example: CB Greg Reid, the best freshman on FSU’s team last year and arguably the best return man in the country as well was ALLLLLMOST a Bulldawg, but at the last second decided to come to Florida State. At least once a game Reid makes a play that flips the field for the ‘Noles whether it be a punt return, kick return, interception, fumble force/recovery, etc… I’ve talked with Coach Johnson plenty of times about Reid’s decision to go to FSU and TE Orson Charles’ (A Tampa, FL native and last minute defector from FSU) decision to go to UGA and how differently both of our teams would look without their current players. I hated losing Charles, but I love me some Greg Reid – in a totally platonic way of course.

With those stories in mind I’ve got a few recruiting thoughts that I want to share:

a. This is James Wilder Jr. He’s still in high school; someone check his birth certificate. JW is a RB/LB and is probably the best in the nation at either position. He is highly coveted by UF to play LB, and if the Tampa native hadn’t decided to play RB in college, a spot that UF doesn’t want him at because he doesn’t fit their scheme, he’d already be a Gator I’m sure.

You know who DOES want him to play RB for them? The ‘Noles – come on down James, you can be the next Greg Jones! (speaking of Greg, I just wanted to post this as it’s my favorite play I was ever in attendance for, and he didn’t even score: Greg Jones ruins’ Dexter Reid’s football career.

b. OLB Tony Seward, if you believe the whispers, is an FSU lean. Seward is out of St. Augustine, FL (The anus of hell that produced Tim Teabag), is the #2 prospect in the country, and is a 6’2” 225LB Outside LB. FSU got the #1 MLB in Jeff Luc and the #1 OLB in Christian Jones last year. If Seward joins in this year that LB corps will be back to the Derrick Brooks/Sam Cowart/Peter Boulware days in a hurry.

c. RB Isaiah Crowell from Columbus (Ga.) Carver is a special player and is currently a UGA lean. However I’ve seen reports that FSU is a darkhorse for his services. He looks and runs a bit like current Bulldog Washaun Ealey, a Captain & Coach favorite.

i. Speaking of Mr. Ealey, last year I was fortunate enough to make it out to the LSU @ UGA game at Sanford Stadium in beautiful Athens, GA. During the game, a defensive battle all the way, Mr. Ealey was by far the best player on the field for the Bulldogs. In a game that was 6-0 after 3 quarters you know how many touches the most affective RB on the UGA squad got? Eight. Eight touches, compared to Joe Cox putting it in the air 34 times. I wasn’t even aware of the discrepancy at the time but I can definitely attribute that to the Captain & Coke handle (inspiration for this blog’s name) and fifth of Jack Coach and I took down during the pre-game festivities.

d. Rivals breaks down the initial 5-stars. Shield your eyes UGA fans, not a single Bulldog mention as a school any of these kids are interested in.

e. FSU’s 5 most anticipated games this season. I like the five listed, just not in that order. I won’t jinx my team more than this: I’m ready for a certain matchup in late November in Tallahassee, and that’s all I have to say about that.

3rd Inning: Tweet Me!

a. I’ve recently embraced this Twitter thing and I’m enjoying it for the viral news vehicle that it is. Most of my favorite sports writers tweet their articles there first and it’s a great way to keep up with good content that you might other wise ignore.

b. If you’re new to Twitter here are my top 5 people I’d follow (other than Justinwjohnson and BigBodySS of course)

i. TheBigLead – Tweets at least 3 new articles a day with interesting content and also interacts with his followers more than any other tweeter I’ve seen. Lots of good sports observations like his in-game comments during NBA Finals.

ii. SportsbyBrooks Рnot quite as risqu̩ as Deadspin but with news of the weird.

iii. PeteThamelNYT – has a wide range of interests that he uses to link to all manor of articles. At least 2 good reads a week from this guy, both in his articles and ones he links too.

iv. Buster_ESPN – smart baseball info and daily link to his article which is always a fun read

v. WhitlockJason – if you are at all sensitive or easily offended then I wouldn’t follow Whitlock. However if you enjoy edgy comments/articles that are thought provoking and eye-opening, then there’s no one better.

4th Inning: Time to take a Link Dump

    1. The ACC Baseball Championship means that FSU earns a unique distinction as “one of eight Division I schools to participate in the NCAA men's basketball tournament, the NCAA baseball tournament and an FBS bowl game” according to ESPN. “The list gets even smaller when you look at the schools that have done it each of the past two seasons, but Clemson and FSU still make the cut, along with Texas and Minnesota.”

    1. The ACC has the most teams to earn the distinction above (3) and the conference’s dominance in collegiate athletics as a whole (Duke: Basketball/Lacrosse Champs, FSU: Track & Field/Golf/Soccer Champs, Virginia Rowing/Tennis Champs, etc…) is a major reason this article was written.

    1. The ACC’s new TV deal with ESPN almost doubled it’s previous mark. It’s about time the conference got a better TV deal, watching games on Raycom sports was excruciating.

    1. This key, gritty and yet completely legal play in last Sunday’s ACC Championship game against NC State is the kind of attitude FSU is bringing with them to Connecticut.

    1. Catching up on Darren Sharper vs. Visanthe Shiancoe.

    1. After I read this article I was gonna make a joke about the crooks delivering the stolen awards to the Heisman runner-up in 1999 to “set right what once went wrong” (Yeah, I just went Quantum Leap all over the place). But then I looked up who the runner-up was that year – something tells me the UGA contingent reading this blog are just fine with R.D. keeping it.

    1. BTW, look at the other three finalists those first two guys beat out and how it wasn’t even close. That’s some serious NFL talent Dayne and Hamilton bested. So what does this and the many other examples like it in the Heisman’s history say about how meaningless the Heisman Trophy is when determining NFL success? Can’t wait for Tim Tebow to be an H-Back in three years getting stuffed at the Goal Line while Josh McDaniels calls plays in Cleveland as their new O-Coordinator.

    1. One last item on the Heisman, I counted the names on the past Heisman winners list and since 1935 (the first year of the award) there are 12 names on the list that I considered good NFL players. Not “had one good season” or “a memorable moment in history” but players that produced at a high to very high level for an extended period of time. Obviously some of the players could still end up being good NFL Players (Bradford, Ingram, etc…) but 12 players since 1936! It’s almost like the Heisman voters are making a point to pick the guys who make the worst NFL prospects.

    1. If you think like me, and I assume like Coach Johnson as well, then experience along the offensive line is invaluable in College Football. Well, using that logic there are two teams that have a little bit of special significance to this blog that should be pretty good at controlling the line of scrimmage this year.

    1. Who has the out-of-conference schedule with the most cupcakes? I gotta say: the SEC doesn’t schedule well at all. I know everyone claims that “it’s such a battle every week in the SEC blah, blah, blah….” Please, Mississippi State, Vanderbilt, Tennessee, Ole Miss, Kentucky aren’t exactly winning 10 or 11 games a year these days. Sure, Bama, UF, LSU, UGA are damn tough to play, but CFB teams can schedule four OOC games a year and more times than not SEC OOC schedules are Idaho, Arkansas State, Louisiana Monroe and a directional school like Southwest-East-State-Tech-A&M.

    1. My favorite stat: UF hasn’t traveled outside of Florida for an OOC game since 1989!! Hell they only have 4 road games total this season! Their “neutral field” game with UGA every year? A grand total of 73 Miles from Gainesville – what a joke.

    1. Man that Phil Steele, he knows his stuff, but this pick could make him look like a fool – or a genius.

    1. John wooden, legendary basketball coach and teacher, died on Saturday. Wooden was done coaching before I was even born so I don’t have a ton of perspective on his career. He won a lot of games, national titles, produced a lot of stars, and is remembered fondly by everyone who played for him. John Wooden’s most enduring impact probably came in the form of his Pyramid of Success. Not a bad thing to check out as it’s still relevant today.

    1. Also in that Wikipedia article are two of my favorite quotes that happened to come from John Wooden: “Be quick but don’t hurry” and “failing to prepare is preparing to fail”. I especially believe in the second one, nothing leads to failure more than being unprepared.

    1. A couple of good Wooden reads from the New York Times if you’re so inclined.

    1. The best fantasy football site around is www.footballguys.com (premium content isn’t free). Well, they’ve started up a free “catch-all” website for fantasy tidbits from around the fantasy ether called www.todayinfantasy.com. As they describe it: “We log EVERY free piece of content in the fantasy space. This includes articles, podcasts, rankings, projections, tools, etc.” As of now they’ve only got football info but will slowly expand to the major fantasy sports. If it’s anything like their footballguys site then it’s going to be amazing and a must-consult before and during any fantasy season.

    1. Until something actually happens I’m not going to speculate on any conference expanding in college football as there are too many variables. However, the one option I hear a lot about is if the Big 10 grabs Texas (or the Pac-10 could go all Super Conference on us as well) and/or others then the SEC will respond, and most likely by making a play for FSU. One thing is clear, Florida State has at least thought about it. FSU’s comments and Texas A&M’s comments reflect that each school would be open to the idea when you read between the lines.

i. Recently Mr. SEC did an evaluation of which school’s would be best fits to enter the SEC and FSU came in 6th behind Texas, TAMU, Notre Dame, Virginia and Oklahoma. Since Texas is only going Big 10/Pac-10 or staying put then you can eliminate them. Notre Dame is not joining a conference and there’s no way you get Virginia without Virginia Tech, likewise with OU and Oklahoma State. That means the two most logical schools that are the best fit and most likely to join the SEC are TAMU and FSU.

1. I don’t know how I feel about FSU possibly joining the SEC. The move would bring more money (but not a ton more now that ACC signed that new TV Deal) and more prestige. But hell, recently we’ve had trouble competing in the ACC; I don’t want to think about how we’d fare in the SEC. I refuse to be Kentucky (who just recently beat us in the Music City Bowl)

2. I know I would prefer to go to LSU or Alabama or Tennessee for an away game than Virginia or Maryland or Boston College.

3. Florida State could finally contribute to www.poonsec.blogspot.com which is more of a natural fit than any on the field criteria. Some of that website can be NSFW so be careful.

    1. The expansion issue being completely overlooked is Boise St. possibly joining the MWC – with TCU and Utah already there adding Boise St. to the conference positively impacts the chances of a seventh automatic bid BCS conference.

    1. Big Papi must have really wanted to admire this bomb

    1. I guess not ALL Gators are idiots

    1. ESPN’s ACC Blogger is doing a “Top 25 Players in the ACC” ranking. No truth to the rumor that the first NFL prospects don’t show up till the top 3.

    1. Sorry UGA fans, but there’s a certain GA native checking in at #22.

    1. An early assessment of UGA. I’d really like to know what this doghouse is that Coach Richt is in because it’s ridiculous to think he’s in one.

5th Inning: Building a Summer Reading List

Summer is almost upon us and with it comes laying on my fat ass and reading books in the sun. With that in mind I’m going to build a summer reading list with books I’ve read and books I’d like to read.

a. Now I Can Die In Peace by Bill Simmons – This is Simmons’ first book wasn’t as anticipated or marketed as much as his “Book of Basketball” but I feel the writing is much more poignant. It’s funnier and fresher and the footnotes are much better. If someone asked me one single Simmons piece to read I’d recommend this book over any other articles or books he’s done. It’s consistently funny and can be read in bits and pieces.

b. Boys Will Be Boys by Jeff Pearlman – if you’re a Cowboys lover or hater (since that’s all you can be) I’d recommend this book. The rumors about the parties and wild nights these guys had are nothing but true, and some of the truths are crazier than rumored. Michael Irvin comes off as a massive prick, which is to be expected since he’s from “Duh Eww” in Miami.

c. The Big O by Oscar Robertson – Some people say this book is biased and only paints Oscar in a positive light. There’s some truth to that statement, but there’s also fascinating basketball and racism talk in the early 40’s. I really felt sorry for what Oscar went through coming up and it really explains why he’s so bitter and standoffish even to this day.

d. Pistol/Maravich by Kriegel/Federman & Terrill – Two competing “Pistol” Pete Maravich biographies came out within a short time of each other, which is stunning since Maravich isn’t that well known. Pete’s dad, Press, was a truly innovative coach and would invent a lot of the practices that John Wooden and Bobby Knight carried with them throughout their coaching careers. Learning about Pistol’s upbringing and how he was geared to be a basketball machine helps explain the depression and self-destructive nature with which he led his life. Truly amazing books, I recommend both.

Trip to the Bullpen Trivia: Only 4 coaches in history have more than 2 NCAA Basketball Championships, name them. The winner will receive a free Natty Lite in the can at the first UGA tailgate they can make.

6th Inning: NBA Musings

With all the stuff that has happened in the NBA since I last wrote I can’t give a designated article on one subject. So what I’m going to do instead is a free-thinking, thought-flowing, bullet-pointed, basketball-themed (that’s right, four hyphenated terms) paragraph with whatever pops into my head about the NBA, NCAA Basketball, Playoffs, NBA Draft and, of course, LeBronApalooza.

a. The L.A. Media is letting The Celtics have it, specifically Paul Pierce. Actually, I agree with their claims about Pierce’s acting, but part of what makes him so good is his ability to get to the free throw line. The picture in that second article is classic, as is the new nickname they give him in the same article: “RuPaul Pierce”.

b. It’s not just “draft John Wall and we’re done” with the Washington Wizards. I like where the Wizards are heading. There are two positions in basketball that makes every other player’s job easier: Point Guard and Center. The Wiz will have Wall at PG and Jevale McGhee/Andray Blatche at C for a nice starting point. With all their cap space next year could they lure Carmelo away? Also, Wizards Owner Irene Polin shows you her “O-face” after winning the Draft Lottery.

c. LeBron was on Larry King saying the Cavs have an edge in signing him. I really have no idea where this is going but I just feel Cavs are 70/30 over everyone else to sign him. Only the Knicks’ boatload of cash and promise of 2nd star or the Bulls’ promise of Rose/Noah (remember, PG/C make everything easier) could pull him away. But does he want “weight of franchise expectations” from the Knicks or to play in Jordan’s shadow with the Bulls?

d. I don’t think getting the third pick in the NBA Draft is all that bad for the Nets and for whatever small chance they may have of getting LeBron or another superstar. Think about this:

i. The consensus #1 overall pick is John Wall, a Point Guard. Well the Nets already have an All-Star PG in Devin Harris. I’m not saying Harris is as good as Wall (he’s not) or that the Nets couldn’t figure something out (like trading Harris) but the third pick, which is thought to be Derrick Favors, eliminates creating a problem while solving a current problem.

ii. The Nets problem picking Favors eliminates? Yi Jian Lian doesn’t have to start at PF – that’s a good thing.

iii. Why was starting Yi at PF such a problem? Three of the most coveted free agents this year, LeBron, Wade, and to a lesser extent Joe Johnson just spent the entire NBA playoffs getting carved up inside by Dwight Howard, Kevin Garnett, Gerald Wallace, and even Luc Richard Mbah a Moute from Milwaukee seemed unstoppable at times. Favors is a legit 6’10” in shoes with a surprisingly long reach, and is also one of the more athletic big men to come out in recent memory (I compare him favorably to Al Horford athletically). With Lopez, who is legitimately 7’0 tall this is a dynamic and formidable front line.

iv. Put Joe Johnson into a Harris/Terrance Williams/Favors/Lopez starting lineup with Cortney Lee and Yi coming off the bench and that’s not a bad start. But what if Jay-Z and Russian millions lure Wade or LeBron? You’re looking at a top 1-2 Eastern Conference team.

e. I still don’t think LeBron or Wade are going anywhere – but Chris Bosh and Joe Johnson are, probably both to the Knicks.

i. Toney Douglas (Go Noles!), Joe Johnson, Wilson Chandler, Danillo Galinari, Chris Bosh – that’s a top 4 (home court advantage) Eastern Conference starting lineup.

f. I think the Milwaukee Bucks have the most to gain/lose this offseason in the eastern conference of the teams not considered to be in the running for the marquee Free Agents. If Andrew Bogut doesn’t fully recover, Michael Redd’s Vagine doesn’t heal, and John Salmons bolts for another team I could see Milwaukee being one of the worst teams in the league – but if everything works out they’re also a top 4 Eastern Conference team.

g. I’ll settle the LeBron vs. Kobe debate after the finals but this debate will never go away it seems. I agree though, it needs to stop, nobody will unseat The Best.

h. With John Wall becoming yet another “one-and-done” #1 overall pick it’s a good time to look at some of the one-and-doners that didn’t fare so well.

i. I’m not convinced the Bulls need LeBron or Wade to be a championship team. If they add Chris Bosh and Joe Johnson they’ll be extremely dangerous. If all they add is Bosh they’ll still be a top 4 seed.

j. I think we all need to calm down on this “Rajon Rondo best point guard alive” stuff. He plays with a ton of talent that makes it tough to focus on him and a great coaching staff that puts him in the correct places. He’s got holes in his game; namely shooting but he’s not as good a one-on-one defender as people want you to believe, he’s better just roaming and playing centerfield.

i. If Chris Paul was healthy we wouldn’t be having this discussion.

k. Wow, what a wasted pick for the Timberwolves as it appears Ricky Rubio won’t come to the NBA until his NBA Opt-out clause goes into affect. I’ve seen this kids highlight tapes and watched him play in the Olympics a couple years ago and apparently he’s gotten better since then. He needed to get better because he wasn’t an NBA starting PG during those Olympics, D-Will worked him over something bad.

7th Inning Stretch: Non-Sports thoughts

  1. The 100 Greatest Characters of the Last 20 Years as decided by Entertainment Weekly. Any list that doesn’t include at least one “The Wire” character in it’s top 10 is immediately discredited

  1. I loved Omar but he shouldn’t be the highest and only Wire character on that list. Bunk should be top 20 at least – “Happy now, bitch?”
    1. One more Wire bit – I know some people loved Snoop, and her story is amazing. However, it’s always been said that the realism of The Wire is what made it so good and that the creators used real people off the streets of Baltimore as actors to keep that realism. That’s even more believable now that we know Snoop is a murder witness.

i. If you haven’t seen The Wire just do yourself a favor and lock all the doors and windows, fire up Netflix and enjoy the best weekend ever.

  1. Rachel Green from Friends as the highest Friends character? (I was always a Chandler guy) and higher than ANY Seinfeld Character? Absurd.

  1. The absurdity of this list has caused me to make my own Top 10 of the last 20 years:
    1. Tony Soprano – Soprano’s
    2. Marcellus, Butch and The Gimp – Pulp Fiction
    3. Stringer Bell – The Wire
    4. Peter Griffin – Family Guy
    5. Michael Scott – The Office
    6. Billy Hoyle – White Men Can’t Jump
    7. Mary Jones – Precious: The Movie
    8. Tommy DeVito (Joe Pesci) – Goodfellas
    9. Tyler Durden – Fight Club
    10. Frank the Tank – Old School

  1. I recently got the new HTC Incredible droid phone from Verizon. I realized that I have wasted my Blackberry over the years as I just didn’t use it for what it was intended (business). I DEFINITELY use the Droid for its intended use – games, Twitter and more games.

  1. I figured out how to get playable Nintendo and Sega Genesis games on my droid – I’ve wasted a lot of time playing RBI Baseball and NBA Jam at work and I don’t feel guilty.

  1. Coach Johnson linked to these Esquire stories a couple weeks ago but I really enjoyed every one of them so it’s worth another link.

  1. I have owned 17 pairs of shoes on this list, I feel like that’s high, but I’m sure there’s some sneaker geek out there that’s owned all 50.

  1. I fought it long and hard but I have to agree with Coach: the Office has lost some of its sparkle. How do I know this? Because of the re-runs airing on TBS. They seem to come on right around when I get home from work every day and they are genuinely laugh-out-loud funny – not true of the new ones.

  1. I thoroughly enjoy Modern Family as much as Coach but I love Manny, every scene he’s in he steals.

  1. Speaking of Modern Family, How did Phil manage to snag Claire? He must have been rich when they met or packing……

  1. My wife is a HUGE fan of “So You Think You Can Dance” and I gotta say I’ve been roped in. She’s watched every episode and has gone on line and watched every episode of SYTYCD Australia, Canada, Indonesia and Turkey (ok I made those last two up).

  1. I can watch SYTYCD because even though they’re amateurs, they are extensively trained amateurs. Watch a season of SYTYCD and you won’t ever be able to watch “Dancing With The Stars” because the dancing is crap.
    1. Look at me: I just became a dancing-show-elitist.

  1. This poor S.O.B helped create the most successful company in the world and all he has to show for it is this T-Shirt, and $800.

  1. Apparently some show called “Lost” ended recently – I’ve never seen an episode and from everything I’ve heard from Lost fans I’m glad I never watched. It became a time-traveling island with a monster in the middle of it? Ummm… What?!

  1. 24 also ended recently – another show I’ve never watched. That show was ruined for me when I read what a prick Keifer Sutherland is. He’s like 5’7” tall and refuses to work with anyone taller than him; that’s why Pedro Cerrano (President Buchanan for people that have never seen Major League, and shame on you if you haven’t) was fired. It’s basically a show full of tall midgets, thanks Kiefer, way to keep it real.

  1. I don’t get to the movie theater much, and that’s probably a good thing because I’d apparently be wasting my money. There have been a few movies come out that weren’t as good as I thought they would be according to the critics, movies such as Robin Hood. I’ll still watch it once it hits Netflix though I’m sure.

  1. I need a vacation this summer like Coach Johnson does. I’m contemplating going to South America and hiking at some Incan or Aztec Ruins but I’m nervous of going to South America. Anyone ever been can offer some tips or insight?

  1. Damn this oil is starting to hit the Florida coast. I know this is selfish to say, and I feel bad for everyone suffering from the oil spill, but I hope it doesn’t hit my coast as it’s just starting to be good beaching time at the Buchanan household.

  1. Speaking of the beach I’m looking for a pontoon boat a.k.a a party barge, which should give you some insight into my beach activities. Nothing like throwing the anchor at the sand flats, icing down a couple cases of beer and floating for about 8 hours and shooting the shit. It’s like a tailgate without losing to UF afterwards.

8th Inning: Tweet of the week

Tweet of the week: From our own Coach Johnson spending some time in NYC:

“Is it bad I go to nyc and then booze at a southern themed bar? I say no...Natty Lights are undefeated in both the 404 and 212”

9th Inning: Photo of the week

Our photo this week comes from SI_Vault, which would have been #6 on my twitter list above if I had gone that far. SI_Vault is someone who works with the full archive of photos that Sports Illustrated has in their possession and posts photos relative to what is happening in sports at the moment.

This weeks photo is a Boston Celtics fan with a talented…. front court. I really don’t care for either the Lakers or the Celtics, wish there was some way they could both lose























10th Inning: Going extras

Since I never rode around South Georgia with Coach and Smoak I’ll have to give you a fave song from my youth. Bonus: Barack Obama made a cameo in the video!



I want to thank Coach Johnson for giving me the opportunity to write 10 Things this week, I hope you all enjoy.

Go Noles!