MPF004's Pick Six Revealed

The deadline has passed for the 2010 Pick Six game. I can now reveal my pickset and reasoning.
A: Alabama has nowhere to go but down, and repeating is extremely difficult. I don't trust Boise, and I'm going to pick a Big XII team in the B grouping. So it's Ohio State, who has never let me down in past years, vs. Florida, who is breaking in a new QB (if I called him "Petra" would anybody get the joke?) and a ton of new starters on D. Much like last year, when I felt Alabama could go all the way but I picked against Saban, I'm going to play it close to the (sweater)vest. I think Florida could be in the national championship game, but I'm going with Ohio State.

Mister Conservative.

B: What a stacked bracket. My heart won't let me pick Iowa. I hear Virginia Tech's offense is better, but is it good enough to finish better than 10th? I don't think so. I'm reluctant to pick a non-BCS school here because one loss could plummet them. So it's a good ol' fashioned Big 8 matchup for me. What I saw out of Landry Jones subbing for Sam Bradford makes me pick Oklahoma over Nebraska. Sorry Kelly.

Sorry Herbie.

C: Man this is a tough pick. Southern Cal could go 11-1 or 6-6, and I probably couldn't choose them even if 12-0 was guaranteed. Pitt is the second best team on paper (behind USC), but Wannstache makes Kiffykins look like JoePa. I don't trust Miami ... too uneven. I don't think I can pick Wisconsin. So I guess I got Oregon to repeat in the Pac 10? Unlikely as it is to happen, am I really picking a repeat of the 2010 Rose Bowl? (sigh)

TMMPF.com JPG Hall of Fame Inductee, 2009.

D: This grouping is filled with fool's gold. Georgia Tech lost a ton of talent off a team that got destroyed by Iowa in the Orange Bowl. This No. 16 ranking assumes that the ACC will not figure out the Paul Johnson triple option; I suspect the Wreck is good for 3-4 losses or more. Arkansas has a great QB (Mallett) and an awful D. North Carolina is on the verge of having their NFL-caliber defense suspended for receiving NFL-caliber compensation. Penn State is breaking in a new QB to replace Clark and faces a near-certain loss at Alabama on Sept. 11. So that leaves me with, aw shit, really, Florida State? Oh well. Christian Ponder might be the best QB in the ACC this year. I know Tyrod Taylor and Virginia Tech have had a great run, and I pick against them hesitantly. But FSU it is (I guess). I know WR Forston got kicked off the team, but at least it happened early enough (meaning, in camp) for the team to recover. Let's see how Fisher does in his first year at the helm.

Anybody need a reason to not pick Georgia Tech? Ask Adrian Clayborn.

E: I like Georgia. Not sure why. I just think this might be the year Mark Richt puts it all together, and finds a way to win some of those conference games that have killed them recently. I don't believe this is the year Les Miles puts it all together, I damn sure don't trust Gene Chizik, I can't see West Virginia making a run, and I don't know enough about Oregon State other than the Rodgers brothers. So Gaw-ja it is. Don't let me down this time Dawgs.

Phil gives my pick of Georgia the thumbs-up.

F: The all-important pick sixth. I put a lot of research into this one, because your pick sixth will make or break you. My runners-up were Stanford (great QB, appear to be on the rise, but lost TB Toby Gerhart), Utah (good program, reasonable schedule, but a young QB) and Sparty (on paper the most talent, but c'mon, they're Sparty, they are going to lose a few they shouldn't and finish 7-5). Although history doesn't really repeat itself in college football, I looked at last year's top pick sixth and saw a basketball school kind of come out of nowhere, with an experienced QB, smart head coach, and the right momentum. Several close losses and a bowl win over Steve Spurrier and the Gamecocks the prior year seemed like a pretty good launching pad for the following season. Plus, they don't play ND or Iowa, so no rooting conflicts. After picking California and UCLA the last two years, I'm taking my "C"s to the other sea.


So I'm going with Connecticut as my team to jump from the ranks of the unranked to finish high in 2010, perhaps even upsetting the Wannstache for the Big East championship.

MPF004: Ohio State, Oklahoma, Oregon, Florida State, Georgia, UConn.

Good luck everybody! We'll try to get a participant/score update out early next week.

I hope you picked good teams, ya moran.

Today in Blog History

I wrote this.

Looking back on it, it's funny to see how much disdain there was, with only one season (and one NCAA investigation) under his belt. If anything, that disgust-bordering-on-hate has grown, because when I see him, all I see is a white hillbilly version of Tyrone Willingham: an outsider who JUST FUCKING DOESN'T GET IT, the "it" in this case being the tradition and history of the program he's running right into the ground. (Not that I mind terribly. But they should fail with one of their own, like ND did with Charlie.)

Anyway, to hell with him. I hope he goes 0-12. (Yes, even Massachusetts, Bowling Green and Indiana.)

Return of the Pick Six

While I was busy busting my ass at work, hosting out of town guests and trying to buy a used car, the venerable Associated Press on Saturday released their preseason Top 25 poll.

Let’s just pause a moment from the hecticness of life and acknowledge HOLY SHIT FOOTBALL IS ABOUT TO START.

Happy kitties love football season.

One of my favorite traditions from one of my favorite blogs was the Pick Six game from the now-defunct Blue Gray Sky. The rules are incredibly simple and allow for a season’s worth of fun. Since the guys stopped their blog this spring, I'm going to keep the Pick Six game going in our own little corner of the Internet.

How to play:

Divide the top 25 into 5 groups* of 5 based on the preseason AP Poll: 1-5, 6-10, 11-15, etc. For this year's poll, the groups are:

A - Alabama, Ohio State, Boise State, Florida, Texas
B - Texas Christian, Oklahoma, Nebraska, Iowa, Virginia Tech
C - Oregon, Wisconsin, Miami, Southern Cal, Pittsburgh
D - Georgia Tech, Arkansas, North Carolina, Penn State, Florida State
E - Louisiana State, Auburn, Georgia, Oregon State, West Virginia

(By the way, it is funny to see Iowa was in the same grouping (B, 6-10) in 2005 as they are in the 2010 poll.)

2. You pick one team from each group, plus one unranked team. You're trying to pick the teams you think will finish highest in the final AP poll.

3. Each week I will (try to) update the standings. You get 25 points for having the #1 team, 24 points for the #2 team, on down to 1 point for the #25 team. Unranked teams get zero points.

4. The winner is the person at the end of the year with the most points (best-ranked teams).

The BGS guys gave away a prize. I don’t have a whole BGS team at my disposal, but if I can get 15 adult people (see below) to play, I’ll find and award a prize in the spirit of the original year swag of a 1977 Joe Paterno Coca-Cola Commemorative drink tray.

Booni enters his picks. (Might need Sarah's help.)

How to enter:

Send your picks and your screenname (or real name, if you're not into the whole Internet anonymity thing) to this email address: tmmpf.blog@gmail.com. This ensures I will not see the entries until after the deadline. Picks are due Thursday, September 2, 2010, 6:55pm Central time ((EDIT: 6:25 pm ... games start a half-hour earlier than I thought)), which is before the start of the first game.

One thing that makes our contest great is the inclusion of non-football fans .... and non-people. Our cat has played for two years (here is his 2008 pickset, and his 2009 writeup) in addition to trying his paw at the NCAA brackets. All prognosticating kitties are invited to play the 2010 Pick Six.

Is John Clay healthy? Is Crick really the new Suh? Madison kitties get pensive.

And, this year’s contest is open to children! (Dogs, maybe, if you can make a good case, yes I'm talking to you Donald.) Only disclaimer is: non-sentient beings have to have their picks explained along with the submission. Inquiring minds want to know the "why" behind the picks. Your pickset and rationale may be featured over the course of the season.

Share this link/email with your friends. When it comes to Pick Six, the more the merrier. Good luck!

The Pick Six. So easy .... a Michigan Man can do it.

* -- Quintiles, if you wanna get statistical about it.

Predicting Won-Loss Records (the Easy Way)

I was looking for something else on the blog and stumbled across last year's "Predicting Won-Loss Records (the Easy Way)" and noticed that it was written in early August. It's early August right now, so in my most pragmatic, Midwestern, eatin' at Cracker Barrel voice, I said, "Welp, guess it's 'bout time to write this year's W-L predictions."

As a reminder, it's pretty difficult guess to what any team's final record will be, before a single practice has begun (of course that hasn't stopped the idiots at ESPN from doing exactly that). So instead, I use the great Phil Steele's 2010 College Football Preview as a proxy. I figure teams ought to beat the teams below them, lose to the ones above them, and anyone within a range is a toss-up. Knowing that injuries and upsets will factor in, you have a rough idea of a team's strength compared to who's on the schedule.

Phil has two ranking systems: the preseason Top 40 (prediction of where teams will finish, layers subjective info on top of data) and the Power Poll 120 (team strength in a vacuum, does not consider schedule, computer-driven). And this year, we have rankings from Paul Myerberg's Pre-Snap Read blog, formerly hosted at the New York Times (he is still mid-countdown, hence the question marks for teams yet unrevealed).

Let's start with the Hawkeyes. Coming off an awesome season capped by an Orange Bowl win and the quote of the year, Iowa returns a lot of talent and limited question marks. On paper, the sky's the limit. But what say the rankers?

Rankings

PSR	Team	PP/Preseason
??	Iowa	13 /14
NA	Eastern Illinois	NA / NA
88	Iowa State	76/NA
46	Arizona	23/25
101	Ball State	88/NA
??	Penn State	18/18
37	Michigan	39/37
??	Wisconsin	20/23
51	Michigan State	38/35
77	Indiana	84/NR
42	Northwestern	54/NR
??	Ohio State	2/2
83	Minnesota	79/NR

PSR = Pre-Snap Read. PP=Power Poll.

Both systems agree: the only competition should come from Ohio State, Penn State and Wisconsin. I say SHOULD because they aren't looking at factors like rivalry (Iowa State and Minnesota will be seeking payback) and where/when games are played (like 9:35 Central in the desert of Tucson, Ariz.) But if Stanzi can cut down on interceptions, if the O-line can gel enough to open running lanes, if Clayborn continues to terrorize Division I football ... things are looking good.

As for the first year of the Brian Kelly Era:

Rankings

PSR	Team	PP /Preseason
32	Notre Dame	27/16
65	Purdue	67/NR
37	Michigan	39/37
51	Michigan State	38/35
??	Stanford	24/34
??	Boston College	37/30
29	Pittsburgh	40/27
92	Western Michigan	73/NR
30	Navy	56/48
50	Tulsa	53/NR
??	Utah	44/28
85	Army	99/NR
??	Southern Cal	14 /8

Myerberg has four ranked higher (we don't know how high yet), three toss-ups, and five that appear to be easy wins. ND would have to over-acheive to get to eight wins in that scenario--but that would mean a two-win improvement over last year.

On the other hand, Phil has a reputation for being high on the Irish, and it continues this year. He sees ND just outside the Top 25, with only Stanford and Southern Cal higher. That would be a 10-2 year. Frankly, when it comes to Irish football, I'll believe it when I see it.

Now on the surface you'd think Iowa has the harder schedule: traditional powers Penn State and Ohio State, plus two BCS-level out of conference games in Arizona and Iowa St (they are still in the Big teXIIas conference, right?) But take a closer look at Steele's preseason rankings--his estimation of where teams will END the season, based on factors like talent, opponents, and when you play those opponents. ND has 7 teams on his list, Iowa only 6.

Keep this in mind as the season goes along. We're only four weeks away!

The Old Grey Lady Is Dead to Me

New York Times, you used to be a shining light in journalism. A model of success that everyone in the industry looked up to. I don't know what's happened to you in the last few years: first Jayson Blair, then this brain fart that you managed to make twice.

But this most recent fuckup is unforgivable.

In an article about how the University of Iowa overbooked its freshman class, I see this correction (click for bigger):

It's the Hawkeye State, you arrogant Gotham assholes. If you can't get your facts straight, stay out of "flyover country." We'll be just fine without you.

News Roundup, All-Star Break Version

We just completed the Midsummer Classic. I pulled these All-Star stories off the news wire. --MPF.

All-Star Game 'Counts' for Just 6% of National League
ANAHEIM, Calif. (AP) - Despite Major League Baseball's advertisements that "this time" the All-Star Game "counts," 94% of the victorious National League couldn't care about the exhibition's outcome.

"It counts, huh?" asked Diamondbacks outfielder Chris Young, whose team is 17.5 games out of first place. "Counts for what? I'm pretty sure nothing changes for me."

Marlon Byrd of the Chicago Cubs concurred. "Umm, yeah, our league won. That's nice." Byrd, who drew a walk and scored from first on Brian McCann's double, said he "probably would not" notice the home field advantage of the National League in the 2010 World Series.


Nervous Relatives Checking on Yogi Berra 5 Times a Day
NEW YORK (AP) - Hall of Famer Yogi Berra, age 85, has been receiving near-constant attention from family members in recent days, his neighbors reported.

"No reason," stammered Jodi Weise, 34, granddaughter of the Yankees legend, as she shoved a copy of the New York Daily News with obituaries of Bob Sheppard and George Steinbrenner into her purse. "He's just, you know, my grandpa. And um, he's old. And, you know, we love him."

Other relatives insisted that bad luck does not happen in threes, and that they were going to Yankees Stadium this week "just for the game" and not any pregame ceremonies involving recent losses to the organization.

Berra, when reached for comment, said: "It's ain't over til ... fat lady .... or ... where's that duck, now? Isn't that his line?"


MLB Nicknames Stephen Strasburg 'Lebron'
WASHINGTON (AP) - Commissioner Bud Selig announced Friday that Major League Baseball had decided on "Lebron" as the nickname for Nationals phenom pitcher Stephen Strasburg.

"Everytime I logged on to AOL, my News Alerts kept coming up with Lebron this, Lebron that. This Lebron thing is obviously very hot. And Strasburg is hot." Senior MLB officials said off the record that other nicknames Selig considered were "Twilight," "Britney," "Mad Men" and "BP."

Selig added that the nickname wasn't final, however.

"I need to figure out if it's LEBB-rin, or Leh-BRAWN. And if it's the latter, we need to translate what the bron means in French. This is America's game, after all."

Strasburg, 20, reportedly rolled his eyes when informed by Manager Jim Riggleman and quietly asked, "Can I just go pitch, please?"


Trivia Question During All-Star Game Stumps Girardi
ANAHEIM, Calif. (AP) - Trivia master and baseball commentator Tim McCarver scored another win Tuesday, when he baffled AL Manager Joe Girardi with a question about a player's living arrangements.

"It was great," said McCarver, as he basked in his minor-knowledge supremacy after stumping Girardi, who had been occupied managing in the middle of the All-Star Game. "I asked him who Cliff Lee, now with the Texas Rangers, but previously with the Seattle Mariners, rented a house from while in Seattle. Because, you know, those are both American League teams, and he was the American League manager."

When informed the answer was former Mariner and current Philadelphia Phillie Jamie Moyer, the Yankee skipper said, "Huh."

McCarver declined to ask Girardi a Moyer-related follow-up question, such as who is his famous father-in-law, because, McCarver said, "Everybody knows the answer is Digger Phelps."

Why Harrison Ford Is Awesome (And the Red Eye Sucks)

Yeah, I know I've been quiet for a while. Yeah, the reason is mostly this and I definitely owe you some updates. I'm dippin' my toe back into the Internets with this piece here. Enjoy.

---

For our reader(s) outside Chicago, the Red Eye is a free daily newspaper aimed at stupid people. Now, that's not how they describe it: the paper's mission statement says it reaches "young, urban professionals who are short on time and long on disposable income."

To make sure the target audience doesn't have to think too hard, the articles are nice and short, mostly about bars or celebrities, with a minimum of actual news (economy, oil spill, etc). They don't use big words, and when they talk to celebrities, they don't pry too deep.

Witness this interview from January with Harrison Ford. It opens with this caveat:

If there is anything hard about interviewing Harrison Ford, it’s that the actor has amassed such a varied filmography of legendary highs (“Star Wars,” “Indiana Jones”), genre classics (“Blade Runner,” “The Fugitive”) and some pretty big stinkers (“Firewall”). There are simply too many questions to ask in a 15-minute window.

And this barn-burner of a first question:

Q: Let’s say someone tries to mug you on the street. You’ve got a light saber in one pocket and a whip in the other. Which do you go for?

A: [quiet laugh] I don’t know where to go with that. I think I would run away. As usual.

Q: What do you mean as usual?

A: Well, I mean I’m reaching deep into the depths of my soul and I’m telling you that I’m not playing a guy with a whip or a light saber if somebody’s trying to mug me on the street. It’s not a character; it’s just self-defense. Well, the character choice I would be making is ... You’re asking me, and I would tell you I would run away.

And yet, the Red Eye Guy came back to the issue later. Luckily, Ford was ready.

Q: You have a reputation of being a private guy. Why?

A: Because I am.

Q: Has anyone asked you anything that totally crossed the line?

A: Yeah.

Q: What’s the last thing?

A: Uh, it had something to do with a light saber and a whip.

And yet, if presented with intelligent questions, Ford is more than happy to offer intelligent responses. Tasha Robinson of The Onion's A.V. Club managed to both broach the issue of touchy interviews, and conduct a thoroughly readable Q-and-A.

The first exchange was:

The A.V. Club: You have a reputation for hating doing publicity interviews. Does having that out front help? Do you think it makes people approach you any differently?

Harrison Ford: I didn’t know that I had that reputation. I think that was something that—obviously you’ve done your research, but I think I was characterized that way early on in my career, and it stuck. I don’t mind doing interviews. I don’t mind answering thoughtful questions. But I’m not thrilled about answering questions like “If you were being mugged, and you had a lightsaber in one pocket and a whip in the other, which would you use?”

That line alone makes up for the over-the-top bellowing of "I ALREADY WORK AROUND THE CLOCK!" (which unfortunately, did not take off as a catchphrase quite like I'd hoped.)

TMMPF News Flash!

Hey look what we did last week:


That's right, we bought a house! In the suburbs!!


So anyway, that's the update from here. We'll try to keep you posted on our progress as we move in etc.

In the meantime here's hoping our new furniture is nicer than pictured here:

The Voice of Baseball

I was 14 years old when I first met Ernie Harwell. It was a day that would ultimately shape my future – a strange statement considering he was a hall-of fame baseball broadcaster and I was a skinny junior high kid from rural Ohio.

The event was a book signing at a Toledo department store. I was awed by Ernie. He was so genuine, you just wanted to pull up a chair and listen to him talk. His voice was intoxicating. Even at 14 I sensed that Ernie was something special. There seemed to be an aura about him, I can’t explain it but it made you want to be a better person.

Michael John and Tina With Ernie Harwell, circa 1991.

Like many Detroit fans, I grew up listening to Ernie call Tiger baseball. The "Voice of Summer" they dubbed him, he of the faint southern drawl and whimsical storytelling. I loved closing my eyes and listening to Ernie as I fell asleep. "He stood there like a house by the side of the road and watched that one go by", he used to say. I loved how a homerun was "loooooong gone" whether it was in the first row or the last.

Ernie always had an interesting story to share… but it never disrupted the flow of the game. He’d talk about Lulu (his wife) or of days gone by. Sometimes he’d tell a story you’d heard a million times, yet you were at the edge of your seat waiting to see how it ended.

But if you ask me, one of the best things about Ernie was how well he knew baseball. Between all the stories, all the laughter, he always managed to tell you the score, or the pitch count, or who was on deck right when you needed to know. Ernie loved baseball unconditionally, and it is one of the many reasons why I loved him.

My first face to face encounter with Ernie was around the time when the Tigers fired him. It was a tumultuous time for Tiger fans and baseball in general. Oddly enough I had recently written a paper for a junior high English class about the fate of Ernie. I took a copy with me to the book signing and gave it to him. A few weeks later I received a handwritten letter in the mail. He thanked me for my support and wished me luck in school. I still have that letter.

The next summer I wrote an essay about Ernie in response to a contest in the USA Today publication Baseball Weekly. They wanted kids to tell them who their favorite baseball announcer was and why. Now in the 8th grade, I had firmly set my sights on a journalism degree (assuming I made it through high school) and told the editors of Baseball Weekly all about my first meeting with Ernie and how I wanted to follow in his footsteps.

Baseball Weekly liked my story. Before I could comprehend what was happening, a reporter called to interview me for a feature article. We talked about Ernie, about my ambitions and about the possibility of the Tigers building a new stadium (I was against it). The article was published along with a photo of my brother, Ernie and I at the book signing.

Now, back in those days you were able to walk up behind the press box at Tiger Stadium nearly all the way to the broadcast booth. So the next time we were in Detroit, I took a copy of the Baseball Weekly article with the intention of giving it to the security guard to give to Ernie.

Mom and I trekked up to the stairs to the press box and, after chatting with guard, showed him the article. I asked the guard if he would mind giving it to Ernie. The guard looked at the article and asked us to wait a moment. He went into the booth and then came back out and said "would you like to give it to Ernie yourself?"

And then he escorted us inside.

It was a surreal moment. We were in the famous Tiger Stadium broadcast booth. It was so close to the field you could feel the game (and it was only batting practice). We stood in shocked silence as Ernie cheerfully came in to say hello.

He was, as you can imagine, very gracious. So gracious in fact he tried to find something to give us as a thank you for listening. Eventually he came up with a copy of a cassette tape documenting his "greatest hits". It was just another example of how classy Ernie was.

Time went on. I graduated high school and went on to study journalism at Ohio University. As a freshman I entered the broadcast news program with every intention of someday fulfilling my dream of becoming the next Ernie Harwell. I soon learned, however, that radio and I didn’t mix. I missed writing and, quite frankly, was better at it. So I switched to magazine writing and eventually earned a Bachelor of Science in Journalism.

I last spoke to Ernie during my senior year of college. Dad and I went to Florida over spring break to catch some Tiger spring training games. Once again I made my way up to the broadcast booth. This time I came empty handed, no essays or newspaper articles, but I wanted to tell Ernie thank you. It seemed the journey I was about to complete was just as much his doing as it was mine.

As always Ernie was a class act. I’m sure he had no idea who I was, but when I re-introduced myself he was very pleased to see me and honestly interested in what I was doing. Always the gentleman, Ernie also introduced me to his handpicked successor in the Tiger broadcast booth. It was a neat moment and probably not unlike that of many other Detroit Tiger fans.

With Ernie at spring training, 2000.

Ernie passed away this week after a long battle with cancer. He was 92 years young. His death wasn’t unexpected (he famously said goodbye to Tiger fans last year) and he hasn’t been in the booth full time in several years… yet it’s unimaginable to think of Tiger baseball without Ernie Harwell.

His kindness touched the lives of many, and I don't think it's a stretch to say that Ernie was a great baseball broadcaster but an even better man.

You may be long gone Mr. Harwell, but you will not be long forgotten.

Cubs 7, Brewers 6

I'm a few days behind on posting this scorecard from Wednesday's Game #2, an annual tradition here at TMMPF Co. For the uninitiated, we go to the second home game of the year, because it's just as cold and you still get the magnet schedule, but tickets are a lot cheaper.

Randy Wells pitched a pretty good game, until he hit a patch of trouble and Pinella brought in a series of random unknown relievers (Berg? Russell? Gray? who the hell are these guys?) who gave up one in the seventh (technically Wells' ER) and two in the eighth.

You might think, with the Cubs down 6-3 heading into the bottom of the eighth, "I've seen this movie before." But there's one factor you did not take into account: Letroy Suckins. Check out the Cubs' eighth to see why Cub fans still detest this guy, and the great schadenfreude we take in the misery he brings upon whatever team employs him (in 2010, that's the Brewers). (click to embiggen)


For some reason, this scorecard had plenty of good notes (clockwise starting at left):
* Derrek Lee was out of the game (day-to-day) after a thumb injury, so Xavier Nady played first.
* Attendance: for some reason they didn't announce the attendance in the eighth like normal. But it was packed, as you'd expect on an unseasonably warm April day.
* "E on Soriano": yeah, it happens.
* side wagers: I won for the 4-6-3 double play. Winner's Pick: Old Style.
* "W.W.t.N.?" obviously stands for "who watches the nachos?" which was the prize for the X-2 wager which (won by TM).
* "chick tossed during key play." During a crucial moment in the bottom of the eighth, as the Cubs were rallying, a drunk chick decided to mouth off to the mouthy Packer fans over our right shoulder. She caught the attention of security who decided her day was done. Right when the Cubs did something good (not sure if it was a walk or a hit), she raised her hands to the crowd, as if to say 'so long.' The crowd cheered the action on the field, and she strutted off like a queen, assuming that her fellow drunks were applauding her defending Cub pride against the Cheeseheads.
* Ivan DeJesus is the 1st base coach this year. Mike Quade is still at third.


More notes (clockwise starting at upper left):
* Ken Macha is the manager. Not sure why I felt compelled to jot that.
* Jokes, One-Liners and Santoisms: I added a new wager this year, guessing whether the first double-play would occur in the 1st/3rd/5th/7th or 2nd/4th/6th/8th. I won.
* We saw Bill Fitzgerald, proprietor of the excellent eponymous nightclub in Berwyn, in the fourth inning. We figured he thought, what the hell, it's a day game, I'm the boss, I'm going to the ballgame.
* this game saw three infield hits. Not impossible, but not real common either.
* in the fifth, Marlon Byrd made an awesome throw to cut down ex-Met Carlos Gomez trying to go from first to third. And yet three plays later, Suckyano misplayed a ball to allow at least one run to score. (One of our friends, Beth--Iowa Beth not D.C. Beth--said on Easter Sunday that she sure hopes this is the year she can stop hating Soriano. My feeling during this game, and last night's failure to leg out a hit: "Not this year.")
* TM flipped through her scorebook and realized that the Plain White T's sang the stretch the last time we were at Wrigley, in addition to the Mets game. What, was Bill Murray not available?
Here's the official MLB boxscore. 83F, want the original scorecard?

Quigley Honors Alex Chilton

Because he's our Big Star ...


...and he's in the Box Top(s).


Pitchfork looks back here. (lots of great audio and video clips at that link)

Paul Westerberg remembers here.

BPK2010: The Results

Eight mostly exciting games are in the books, and that means it's time to look at the results from the Bracket Pickin' Kitties.

This year for the first time, we invited Priscilla Pufferson, cat-in-residence at friendly blog Here's What's Happening to play along. Click the link in the table below to read the post with the cat's original picks.

Sweet 16: Man vs. Wild(cat)(s)

Matchup	Priscilla Pick	Quigley Pick	Actual Winner
Northern Iowa vs. Michigan State	Northern Iowa	Northern Iowa	Michigan State
Tennessee vs. Ohio State	Ohio State	Ohio State	Tennessee
Syracuse vs. Butler	Butler	Syracuse	Butler
Kansas State vs. Xavier	Kansas State	Kansas State	Kansas State
Kentucky vs. Cornell	Kentucky	Kentucky	Kentucky
Washington vs. West Virginia	Washington	West Virginia	West Virginia
Baylor vs. St. Mary’s	St. Mary’s	Baylor	Baylor
Duke vs. Purdue	Purdue	Purdue	Duke

MPF: (MSU, OSU, Cuse, K-St, Ky, W.Va, Baylor, Duke): 6 of 8. Quigley: 4 of 8. Priscilla: 3 of 8. In a year of a chaos and upsets, I pull out another victory over housecats with no knowledge of sports or the world in general outside their comfortable abodes. Priscilla made a good showing for a rookie and correctly got Baylor vs. K-State. But in the paw-to-paw combat, Quigley wins by a whisker.

Thanks for playing, Priscilla! Enjoy the games everyone. $30 and beer is still on the line, so we'll be watching the games carefully over here.

BPK2010: Pickin' With a Twist

We talkin about brackets. Brackets! Not the game. Not the game. Not the game. We talkin about brackets.

For the past two years, Quigley has shown off his knowledge of intercollegiate athletics by picking teams in the Sweet 16 round of the NCAA Tournament.

In 2008, the Bracket Pickin' Kitty (BPK) and his deep mystic eyes predicted major victories for Wildcats, Tigers, Cougars and other brothers from the feline family. Despite my higher-functioning brain I only beat the cat by one point.

In 2009, he reprised his anti-bird, pro-cat philosophy which led to five wins out of eight games ... tying the human in the house who went on to win a pool against other humans.

So what about Year Three of this annual tradition? Luckily, we do not have a monopoly on the holy trinity of cat, blog and brackets here in the upper Midwest. Our friends (and fellow married bloggers) Here's What's Happening and Another Damned Blogger recently adopted a cat! And since Kelly got talked into the brackets last year, and they've got the blog and all.....

CAT FIGHT!

Yes, Quigley has thrown down the wiffle ball, emboldened by his recent successes, and challenged Priscilla Pufferson of Madison, Wisconsin, to a Bracket Pickin' Kitty showdown.

The rules, as they were:

1. Each cat will pick the 8 games of the round of 16. One point per correct pick.
2. Each cat must have a reason for picking the specific team in each game. Being cats, the reason may be as flimsy as a yawn, a lack of interest, a designated chew toy, or some other method.
3. Each cat must make their own picks without looking at the other cat's picks for inspiration. (There's an honor code among BPKs you know.)
4. Yyyyeah, I think that's about it for rules.

Priscilla reads Yahoo! Sports to determine the latest on the injury to Syracuse center Arinze Onuaku.

And, of course, since it was originally Quigley vs. me, I'll offer my game analysis as well. (Although I get the feeling I'm gonna get upstaged by a couple of indifferent housecats.) Reminder that I'll use the logo/picture if I've already got it, otherwise I will improvise. Because I am lazy. Like a cat. (do not click this link at work, unless you have headphones and/or work alone)

First up, the reigning champion (by default): Quigley B. Katt!

Northern Iowa
vs.
Michigan State

MPF says: I've always been a fan of UNI, if only because my parents met there so if there was no UNI there would be no me. However, even the most diehard fan has to admit this is a huge challenge, even with Kalin Lucas out.

Quigley says: UNI is Panthers. Michigan State has the guy with the gigantic head. Kitties, please: Panthers!

Tennessee
vs.
Ohio State

MPF says: I've been impressed with how Ohio State finished the season and expect a close victory. However, Tennessee has been strong too, and vanquished the Ohio University with little trouble.

Quigley says: Buckeyes. Volunteers. Volunteers for what? I have cousin kitties in Ohio, and I'm sticking with my cousins: Buckeyes.

Bonus picture: Four guys from Illinois who went to the University of Iowa, spelling "Ohio."

Syracuse

vs.
Butler
Hey Bulldog.

MPF says: Butler has had a nice little mid-major run, but if the Cuse plays the way they are capable, that run should end here.

Quigley says: Butler Bulldogs? No way. Orange guy? I bet that orange guy rolls ... which means he can be chased. Orangemen.

Xavier
Xavier apparently made the Sweet 16 the first time I did BPK. Who knew?

vs.
Kansas State
K-State is in Manhattan, Kansas, aka the "Little Apple." Getit getit??

MPF says: I had K-State losing here to Pittsburgh. Xavier was impressive in knocking out Pitt, but while I don't believe in K-State as a team, I also don't believe the Musketeers are the right type of team to beat the Wildcats.

Quigley says: Did you say Wildcats? Purr. I don't even care about the other thing: Wildcats.

Kentucky
Wildcats = Wildcats.

vs.
Cornell
Cornell is the Big Red. This blob is actually called Big Red.

MPF says: Nice run Cornell, congrats on taking out the Badgers. Now then: I can't imagine this game will be close.

Quigley says: More Wildcats? (rub rub purr purr) I pick Wildcats.

Washington


vs.
West Virginia

MPF says: As much as we like to make fun of Bobby Thuggins, he does have a great team this year. Watching them power through the Big East conference made me a believer.

Quigley says: Washington is Huskies. That's a dog. I don't know about the bearded guy with the gun ... maybe it is to protect us from dogs? Mountaineers.

Bonus W.F'n Va. pic (for The Scott Miller and copy editors).

Baylor

Baylor is a Baptist school. I'm sure they appreciate Jesus riding a dinosaur.

vs.
St. Mary's
I really have no idea WTF St. Mary's is doing in the Sweet 16.

MPF says: St. Mary's is the Gonzaga for this decade, the small Catholic school from somewhere out West making deep runs into the tourney. I think Baylor is too strong, however.

Quigley says: Baylor is Bears....big furry animals. Awesome. St. Mary's is a girl's school across the street from Notre Dame. How the furry bleep did a bunch of girls make the Sweet 16? Chicago kitty says: Da Bears.

Duke
Duck.

vs.
Purdue
Dwum.

MPF says: I figured Purdue would be running on fumes without Robbie Hummel, but they've had a nice couple of games. However, Duke looks incredibly strong. I can't see Duke falling here.

Quigley says: Duke Blue Devils. Purdue Boilermakers. No cat mascot. This is crap. (This was the last game he picked. At this point he literally crawled under the covers of the bed. I think he nodded though when I said "Purdue" so I'm gonna go with that.)


Allright, there you have it! Stay tuned after the weekend games for results, and be sure to check out Here's What's Happening for Priscilla's batch o' picks. Enjoy the games!

Very tired after a long 5 minutes of picking.

1000 Words: Ohio vs. Georgetown

There are many things to say about 14-seed Ohio's win over 3-seed Georgetown. But in the spirit of 1000 Words, I'll let the pictures do the talking:

Ohio dominated this game from beginning to end. This was not a nail biter or a buzzer beater. It was not expected, to be sure, but this was no fluke. To paraphrase the president*, "We came here to kick some Hoya butt!!"

Up next: Oh yeah. You knew this rematch might happen.


* look closely at his nametag.

Curling is Crack

It's true. MPF and I are addicted to curling.

I thought our fascination was an anomaly but apparently tons of people are jumping on the curling bandwagon.

Perhaps this explains why:



In all seriousness... did you see that Canada vs Great Britain match on Saturday night? I have four words for you.

Could. Not. Stop. Watching.

Curling sucks you in. It's like shuffle board on ice, only they play "ends" which are kind of like innings (but there are 10, not 9) and having a "hammer" is a good thing. It seems like there are a bazillion rules in curling... but I can't explain one. Yet I've been glued to the television all week watching a sport I don't understand...

Anyway, curling is even going mainstream:



Now please excuse me, if I log off now I think I can still catch the end of the 9th in the Canada/Sweden women's match...

Heads Up! Olympics Incoming!

Olympic years are easy to remember: same as presidential election years and leap years. But even though we aren't voting any presidents and this February has 28 days like the rest of 'em, there's apparently an Olympics coming up. I know, it's a good thing you and I read the blog to keep up on this stuff.

Also unbelievably, I was watching NBC Nightly News (the Diane Sawyer version of World News Tonight just isn't working for me) and not-Tom-Brokaw-anymore guy was talking about Canadians. So I guess the Canadians got the Olympics, so prepare yourself for lots of talk about Canadians.

Ever vigilant, facing north.

Which is why this is the perfect time to revisit the ultimate guide for Canadian identification, TMMPF's How to Tell Someone Is a Canadian. Brush up people!

My favorite song from the Massey Hall show.

Ours!

Good news! As of yesterday, Bank of America officially owns ZERO PERCENT of this automobile:


It is fully paid off, and it is now all ours. (use your "Price is Right" voices for this next part...)

Bob: Rod, tell them what they've won!
Rod Roddy: ... A BRAND NEW PAID OFF CAR!!

Everybody celebrate!!

200

For the five or six people left on earth I haven't told yet: Bowling started last week. I had a pretty good series, and a really good second game. (click to see bigger)


Considering the first game I threw a 99, that's a 101-pin improvement in back-to-back games. Wonder if that's some sort of league record.

Bowling

Our bowling league starts tonight. I assume it'll look a lot like this:

And it'll sound a lot like this (warning: NSFW. Use headphones.)

Hopefully my teammates won't do this:

Yes, the "sports" tag assumes that bowling is a sport. Game on!!

BEST OF MPF 2009

BEST DAY: The Hold Steady show at Taste of Randolph was pretty damn cool (June 21).

WORST DAY: (tie) The 165 days I spent unemployed and looking for work (Jan 1 – June 14).

BEST STORY INVOLVING A CAT: Our friend Sarah adopted a cat. I facilitated as sounding board and driver (June 6).

A LOLCat of Sarah's Booni.

BEST SHOW: The Hold Steady at Taste of Randolph.

BEST SONG: For its relentless optimism and joy in a dire year, the winner is “Say Hey I Love You” by Michael Franti and Spearhead. Runner-ups: “Wilco (the song)” by Wilco (the band); “Use Somebody” by Kings of Leon.

BEST RECORD: “Wilco (the album)” by Wilco (the band).

BEST ARTIST: In a quiet year musically, I'll give it to Wilco, for continuing to make challenging, exciting music.

BEST PICTURE: This one (taken July 31). It’s so good it’s on a mousepad somewhere in New Hampshire.

This is a good runner-up, from the same night:


BEST MOVIE: "State of Play."

FUNNIEST MOVIE: "The Hangover."

BEST USE OF HALL AND OATES IN A MOVIE: The high-five scene in “500 Days of Summer."

WORST MOVIE SPELLING: "Inglorious Bastards."

BEST CULT FILM: "The Room" (2003), the “Rocky Horror” for its decade, which I saw at the Music Box (July 25).

BEST, WEIRDEST, MOST FASCINATING AND FRUSTRATING TV SHOW: Lost.

BEST ATTEMPT TO HELP PEOPLE DURING UNEMPLOYMENT: I started a group for out of work people to attend Mass at St. Alphonsus on Thursday mornings, then meet afterwards for coffee, donuts and conversation.

MOST UNDER-REPORTED STORY: Did Michael Jackson like, die or something this summer? Shouldn’t the news media have, you know, done a story or something about it?

BEST EXAMPLE OF BEING WHERE THE NEWS IS: I was in Boston this summer when the nation’s two biggest stories were Manny Ramirez linked to steroids and the “beer summit” between the Cambridge cop, Harvard professor, and President Obama (July 30-August 1).

BEST TWO-DOLLAR GUITAR: The fake Fender Stratocaster I won playing the ring toss game at Cedar Point amusement park in Sandusky, Ohio (June 26).

BIGGEST IRONY: A plastic, image-conscious country band (Rascal Flats) covering the Beatles’ "Revolution" in a major-league baseball park (Wrigley Field) on a tour sponsored by a national department store (JCPenney's).

BEST STREET FEST: Wicker Park Fest (July 25). Awesome swag and a great set by Scott Miller, which a conversation afterwards led to …

BEST ROAD TRIP: We went to Knoxville, Tenn., to see TM’s alma mater Ohio play the Volunteers at Neyland Stadium, where Miller was our host and tour guide (Sept. 25-27).

WORST TREND: Adults voluntarily sacrificing their privacy on Internet websites like the Facebook and the Twitter.

BEST TEAM: Iowa football. They started 9-0 and finished 11-2 with an Orange Bowl win and #7 in the country.

BEST GAME: Notre Dame edged Michigan State, 33-30, with victory being secured by an interception as MSU was driving in the final minute (Sept. 19).

BEST DINING EXPERIENCE: Spring restaurant (Oct. 30). Runner-up: Chelsea Grill in Lincoln Square.

BEST AD: The Sarah McLachlan PSA for adopting animals was devastatingly effective. Runner-ups: Wendell the Miller High Life guy meets the High Life Light guy; Notre Dame’s “Fighting” campaign including Fighting Disease.

The ASPCA ad is too sad. Enjoy this one instead.

WORST AD: Subway’s 12-inch sandwiches for five bucks. Repetitive and annoying. I set foot in Subway once in 2009, and that was to get soup.

WORST ADVERTISING TREND: Words printed on the screen while being read. Are Americans that stupid that we now have to read our TV commercials?

BEST PC TECH: Jeff at PC Solutions. I had to go there three times in 2009, and each time he solved my problem perfectly.

WE’LL MISS YOU: Walter Cronkite, 92, newsman extraordinaire (on July 17); Jay Bennett, 45, musician extraordinaire (on May 24).


Most of you know this is my annual summation of the year passed, my own spin on the traditional Christmas letter. Let's hope 2010 treats you better than 2009, if the letters we received are any indication. God bless you and your family in the coming year.

Best of MPF 2009: The Nominees

Dudes and dudettes:

It's that time of the year, when the people who actually give a shit (this time around: Husker Larry, Erik, Igoe and Clam) ask when they are going to see the Best of MPF list.

Just as a general reminder: The Best of MPF list is released in mid-January, not early December like most year-end lists in magazines, because I feel you cannot evaluate something while in the midst of it. Time is necessary to separate yourself from that which you are trying to assess, so I take a couple weeks in the new year to evaluate the passed year.

Luckily, you dear reader, are close to the release of the Best Of list (just give me a day or two). As a reward for being a loyal reader (or a Buckeye fan who googled "Terrelle Pryor") you'll have the chance to read the list before it is released to the general public. Think of it as a midnight record release party.

As is tradition (all one years of it), I'll pre-announce the candidates for the major categories: Best Show and Best Record. Now, I haven't had the chance to look at which records in the collection were 2009 and which were 2008, so I'm gonna have to leave that one as a mystery for my loyal fans. To make it up to you, I'll show you the nominees for a different category for the first time: Best Chicago Street Festival.

And the dudes nominated are.

For Best Show:

• Franz Nicolay (of the Hold Steady), Empty Bottle, 1/17
• Old 97s with Brighton MA, Cubby Bear, 5/2
• Ezra Furman and the Harpoons, Metronome Festival, 6/7
• Ramsey Lewis, Ravinia, 6/12
• Sarah Borges, Fitzgeralds, 6/13
• OAR and Robert Randolph Band, Charter One Pavilion, 6/18
• The Hold Steady, Taste of Randolph, 6/21
• Barenaked Ladies, Taste of Chicago, 6/30
• Buddy Guy, Taste of Chicago, 7/4
• Headbangers Ball, Rock Around the Block, 7/11
• Scott Miller, Wicker Park Fest, 7/25
• Baseball Project, Martyrs, 9/11
• Alejandro Escovedo and the Flatlanders, Country Music Fest, 10/6
• Wilco, UIC Pavilion, 10/18
• Chicago Symphony Orchestra, Orchestra Hall, 12/3
• Andrew Bird, Fourth Presbyterian Church, 12/17

For Best Sports Game:

• Cubs/Rockies, 4/15
• Cubs @ Detroit, 6/25
• Cubs/Braves, 7/7
• Cubs/Mets, 8/28
• Cubs (vs Milw?) in the bleachers, 9/17
• ND/Michigan State, 9/19
• Ohio/Tennessee, 9/26
• ND/Boston College, 10/24
• Pizza Pizza Bowl (Ohio/Marshall), 12/26

For Best Fest:

• Mayfest, 5/30 (it was surprisingly hot as hell that day)
• Metronome Chicago, 6/7
• Old Town Art Fair, 6/13 (caught the end of Dolly Varden’s set)
• Northcenter Ribfest, 6/14
• Taste of Chicago, multiple days
• Rock Around the Block, 6/11
• Sheffield Garden Walk, 6/18
• Wicker Park Fest, 7/25
• Palatine Fest, 8/30
• Chicago Country Music Fest, 10/4

Start the guessing! The full list to be released as soon as I get it done, I promise.

Pick Six: Final Standings

Well dudes, college football is over. It ended with a thud, like Oklahoma's season back in September, when Colt McCoy took a hit to the shoulder on the fifth play of the national championship game.

And with that, the end of the Pick Six competition. Hosted by the Blue-Gray Sky, it is super easy, so anyone can play (more on that at the end).

Before looking at the final results, let's see how we got to the end of the regular season (before I got demotivated and stopped the weekly updates).

Week 9: I had a nice lookin' week: Texas won big and moved up, so did Geo. Tech, so did Ohio State. BYU moved back into the Top 25. (Nebraska and UCLA are still MIA.) That was good for a pleasant little five-point bump. Unfortunately, TM's Gaytors went back into the No. 1 slot, plus she got a boost from The Ohio St, Cal and Oregon. Quigley had very little movement (how cat of him) so the standings are: TM 65, MPF 52, Quig 50.

Week 10: This was the week I made my big move. Ohio State (damn them), Georgia Tech, and BYU made nice jumps. Meanwhile, TM lost another team when Cal dropped out. The end result was we basically switched places: MPF 63, TM 53, Quigley 51.

Week 11: The only major move was Utah losing and dropping seven spots--bad for Quigley. I got a small bump from Georgia Tech, and that's about all to write home about. MPF 66, TM 57, Quigley 43.

Week 12: Not a lot of movement at this time of the year. Ole Miss moved back into the Top 25 on the strength of beating LSU. Same for Cal, beating Stanford. The Bayou Bengals paid for that loss to the tune of seven spots in the poll. Rutgers celebrated their debut in the poll by losing. I am proud of the fact that I have three Top Ten teams, but I guess all that means is I kept the two I picked, and added just one. Bottom line, the re-emergence of Cal helped TM add some points, but not enough to take the lead. MPF 67, TM 63, Quigley 42.

So now to the bowl games.

I had a pretty good bowl season. I picked one of the two national championship contenders, only because I couldn't stomach rooting for the other option all year long. Texas lost, but stayed No. 2 in the polls. Ohio State, BYU and Nebraska all won and moved up. Georgia Tech lost, but I'm OK with that. UCLA won its game but was a no-show all season. But with five teams in the top 15, I finished with a strong 84 points.

Tina's winners were Florida, Ohio State (over another Pick Six team ... bad luck), and Central Michigan. Cal lost, ND didn't play. She had four finishers for a respectable 62 points.

Quigley's top line was great with Texas, but his next three (Ole Miss, LSU, Utah) were disappointments this season. Ole Miss, Utah and Nebraska won, LSU lost to Penn State, and Rutgers couldn't translate their bowl win into a poll appearance. He finishes third with 59 points.

As I said, the game is easy to play, so back in August we told some friends about it. While looking at the list, I stumbled across a couple names that are friends of the blog (with pre-bowl points):

HuskersDu: 65
Mortimer: 54
BooniRhett: 64
Lawrence Phillips' Revenge: 57, and nothing I would want to be on the receiving end of

If one of those is you, let us know how you did in the bowls!

Finally, because Michigan sucks, here is Michigan Man Braylon Edwards dropping a touchdown pass last weekend, in all his animated-gif glory.

This, by the way, was on TEH INTERNETS about 10 minutes after the play happened. Must be a lot of Braylon fans out there.