Agent Steinz and I in Rugby

Just signed up with the always fun DC Sports Bog for a Washington, D.C. fantasy rugby league.

Everyone who reads this should email him too (the info's in the post) and sign up.

I just want to go back to my Twickenham days, when I was watching the flyhalf for the Fijian team (is he still playing?) do the stutter step for like fifteen tries against Harlequin and Army and all those great teams.

And yes, now I'm going to spend the rest of the day yelling "Ruck Over, Ruck Over" in my worst British/Kiwi/Aussie accent. Way too much fun.

Anybody know what shirt I should get? A Springboks? An All Blacks? What?

And the GOP Looks Worse

I'm sure that I'm not giving anyone the news, but it looks like the Republicans might lose another Senator in Congress. I say might, but him pleading guilty ain't exactly a great thing in the run up to 2008 if you're a member of a party.

I don't know what's more disturbing about this: that the Republican Congressional Leadership keeps getting caught with its pants down (bad pun intended) or that this may have been a third or fourth time that it all happened. And at least one of those times probably happened under the Centurionss (figurative) gaze:

In 2006, a gay activist said he had spoken with men who had sexual encounters with Craig, including in the restrooms at Union Station.

I'm staying out of the restrooms in Union Station from here on out, or at least just using the urinals. Seriously people, do it at home.

And GOP, get your goddamn act together. 'Cause if Hilary wins in '08, I'm gone. Totally gone.

Remember Moby Dick?

This is just simply amazing:

An eco-tourist group got to see a whaling vessel haul in a whale, harpoon it and everything. It even made kids cry.

Don't get me wrong, I think that the International Convention on Whaling has a place and that some things need to be done. But the way that Greenpeace and other organizations like it go around telling me how I have to life and what I have to do galls. I do what I do because it makes economic sense. If it can't make economic sense, then I don't want to do it.

And whatever happened to limited war?

When do I get a story like these?

From ESPN.com, a must read.

You would think, with all the time I've spent golfing that this stuff would happen to me, but now. Best story I can come up with is Hillman and I drinking as we walk around the course.

Make Up Your Melons

New news from the movie studios is old news: they still don't get it.

After fighting for years and years to prevent piracy, two major movie studios, Dreamworks and Paramount, are both announcing that they will only release their new movies in the HD DVD format.

What does this do? Well, for one thing, it keeps sales of new players from going out the roof. I know for a fact that, while it's nice to watch sports in HD, I also like my movies. And since I don't know which format is going to win out, and they're incompatible with each other, why would I buy one so early?

That leads to depressing sales in the actual disks. Why bother to buy a new movie release when the old format is still around, and you don't know which format will win out? Do you buy two copies of each movie? I don't think so. So what happens down the road when one format wins out and the other loses, and you backed the wrong horse?

Lastly, the other big reason why it's great to upgrade your disks to the HD format is that it's harder to pirate. Except that it's pretty easy now since everyone is fighting back and forth ... If they're so worried about losing money, you'd think they'd get their own house in order already.

Metro Run-Ins

Most of the time I love Metro. Except when they make me wait on the platform for forever, like they did this morning to get to work. Oh well, since nobody is here, and since I never do anything all day anyways, it wasn't a big deal.

But yesterday was a big day for me on the Metro. On my way into work, I rode opposite Roy Hibbert of Georgetown. Let's just say that he was a big, big man. His calves were big old things, as big as my thighs. And anyone boarding the train had to walk on the opposite side of the pole from him. Because his knees stuck out all the way to it. I guess I had forgotten just how tall 7' was even though my boy Matt Slanika from the old Silver Spring Blue Devils Days.

Then on my way home, walking up the steps at Union Station, who walks by me, but the author of one of my favorite websites -- bobbyboswell.com. Of course I tell him, "Keep up the good work Bobby" which caught him off guard. He shook the hand, complimented me on the Bobby Boswell.com wrist bracelet from my night of heavy drinking and sleeping on the couch.

Of course, then he asks where I'm going, and I BLEW IT!!! I was going home. Totally should have tagged along with him on his Metro ride. Next time, I'll take the ride.

And Bobby, if you read this, give a shout out to section 131 tomorrow vs the Pink Cows and the drinks are on me next time. VAMOS UNITED!!!

Bizzare News Story of the Week -- No. 2

Sorry I was gone all weekend and on Friday. Friday, it was a hangover, and yesterday, just was still tired from the weekend.

But this week's bizarre news story comes from the Washington Post.

I too am fed up about an early termination fee, but if that's the case, I do'nt think I'd be this drastic.

After reading on a blog that wireless companies would cancel the contracts of deceased customers, "I thought, 'What have I got to lose, besides a cellphone I despise?' " Taylor said. The Chicago consultant fashioned a fake death certificate and had a friend fax it to Verizon Wireless, his carrier. He thought he was in the clear -- until the company caught on.

"In the end, I forked over the money," Taylor said. "But I bet I sent a definite message about how much people hate being strapped to a cellphone that doesn't work."

I hope actually that they hit this guy up with a lot more than $175, because it's people like that that make us have to pay more. And, as the industry points out, the cell phone that's sitting in my pocket now that I got basically for free, not to mention all the towers and fiber optic cables that make up the network, have to be paid for. It's either pay the cancellation fee or pay a higher monthly rate, and since I can live with an extra bit of time before moving on, I'll pay the fee if I have to leave.

I certainly won't fake my own death.

I Am Shocked, Shocked

Just found a really interesting article in today's Washington Post. Talking about the market for Carbon offsets and how exactly it is that you're willing to pay and what exactly you're paying for, when you buy them.

Here are the opening three paragraphs that summarize what the article is going to be about:

Sites such as this one, offering absolution from the modern nag of climate guilt, have created a $55 million industry that once would have been beyond the greenest of imaginations. The market for "voluntary carbon offsets" now encompasses dozens of sellers and thousands of buyers, including individuals and corporations.

But in some cases, these customers may be buying good feelings and little else.

A closer look reveals an unregulated market in which some improvements bought by customers are only estimated, extrapolated, hoped-for or nil. Some offsets support projects that would have gone forward anyway. Others deliver results difficult to measure.

It's a question that I've been wondering about for myself for awhile. For instance, what exactly do you get when you buy an offset? How is it that by spending more money, you're able to cancel out your own problems? Isn't this just shifting the blame for carbon problems that lead to "man-made" global warming?

But in a way, as a capitalist, I have to like the idea of carbon offsets. I mean, I love futures markets for commodities, I love the stock market and what it does, what's wrong with carbon trading? I think I, and other free-marketers would love to see an actual commodity develop that could be reliable traded back and forth. That would solve my problems.

But how do you create this commodity? Who's going to oversee it? The article asks that question.

But it also asks some of these other questions:

Some of the money paid for these certificates stays with the offset vendor or with a middleman. The rest usually winds up with the energy project's builder or the utility that buys its electricity. In some cases, this can amount to something like a donation to a for-profit company: American Electric Power, which sold an undisclosed amount of certificates from wind farms last year, earned more than $1 billion in profit.

Some environmentalists balk at this. If the certificate is bought only after the energy is produced, they wonder, how can an offset vendor know the energy wouldn't have been produced anyway?

Now, I don't have a problem with that at all. In fact, if a company is doing something the right way, and their service has value, then they should profit. That's the way the economy works. That's the way the system works.

Just something I've been thinking about a lot. I'd like to see it develop, but I'd like to see a whole heck of a lot less governmental subsidies in general. Lose the ones for oil too while we're at it. I'm willing to pay a little more for wind power.

And if a hydrogen fuel cell car ever comes along, I'm buying it immediately ...

Becks Beats Us

Well, he did it. David Beckham got it done last night, and was by far the Man of the Match as DC United crashes out of the Superliga 2-0.

If you want to see one of his patented, Bend it like Beckham freekicks, watch the highlights here.

The freekick that Beckham took was just fantastic. An amazing take, and one that completely fooled poor Troy Perkins.

It all started when he picked up a Caution for being late to the ball in the 18th minute. Up to that point, United was by far the better team, and only good goalkeeping had kept them off the board. But when Beckham went in hard, studs up, and took out two DC United players, I was watching the reaction. And man, but while he rubbed the ankle, then got up and kept going, you could see his confidence level rise real fast. Real fast. From then on, it was just a matter of time until he got one or set up a goal.

All of Beckham's balls were played right to where they needed to be, he was all over the pitch, sideline to sideline, going after the ball and winning it. And when Wolverine (Benny Olsen) went in and got Beckham hard in retaliation for his yellow, the Golden Boy popped back up and was smiling. And I knew we were in trouble.

He is by far the best player in MLS right now. It was clear, very clear last night. His technical ability and his tactical awareness are head and shoulders above the rest of the league. Case in point, the perfectly weight through ball he put Donovan in alone on (although without the McTavish deflection that ball is saved by Perkins). If he keeps going out, jumping up to try when he was excited that Kyle Martino should have had a goal in the 66th minute.

That said, United looked awful. My player ratings (since I watched this game sober and alone on my bed) with 10 being the highest:

Troy Perkins - 4; Bobby Boswell - 4; Devon McTavish - 3; Bryan Namoff - 5; Greg Vanney - 3; Fred - 4; Brian Carrol - 4; Ben Olsen - 4; Josh Gros - 4; Jaime Moreno - 6; Luciano Emilio - 6. SUBS Christian Gomez - 5; Guy-Roland Kpene - 3.

As you see, pretty much everyone was below average last night. Only Emilio and Moreno did anything really good, and Gros would be a 3 except he almost snuck in that great drive about 10 minutes in.

Let me just quickly say that I think that Kpene has a lot of work to do. Feet like bricks, checks back too much and doesn't know how to lay off the ball quickly or turn himself. Does he have a goal yet?

Now we just have to focus on Copa Sudamericana and getting either the Supporter's Shield or the MLS Cup. Vamos United!!!

If I Only Had a Heart ...

I don't get PETA. Not at all.

Their most recent cause celebre has to do with a video clip that also meant to teach children how to protect and humanely treat animals in Palestine.

Now, I've read some things that are out there from the folks at PETA and the ASPCA, but this one is pretty high up there. The clip shows someone throwing rocks at lions and swinging cats by their tails. Except the whole reason they're doing this is to show kids just how animals hate to take things like that. I agree, sadism and torturing helpless animals, like caged lions or snakes, is just sick. So what's wrong with showing it happening once if it's a one time thing meant to be educational?

Here's the real kicker though:

"Teaching people to respect the most defenseless of animals helps people respect each other," Mersereau said.

Uhh, what? That's a new one. I guess I just missed the logical jump made there.

If PETA focused its outrage and money on helping people, not animals, maybe we'd all be in better shape. How much money do they waste worrying about lions in a zoo in a country in which daily gun battles and suicide bombings still happen? Where is PETA's outrage there? Oh wait, a a couple house cats and a zoo-bred lion, who will never see the wild, is more important than the fact that these kids are about to get killed? And don't get me started on the cruelty to domestic animals stuff ... that's another post.

It Didn't Work

So he's finally back!!!

Don Imus and CBS, who let him go after the flare-up over his vocabulary back in April, have settled their breach of contract suit. Imus is now free to go, free to walk, and free to bring back his irreverent sense of humor and his great interviewing ways.

This is FANTASTIC news!!!

Yes, Imus is sometimes a little crude, and sometimes says things that polite society would wish he didn't, but, as he said in his self-defense, he's equal opportunity. I've been listening to Imus since I was in fourth grade, when I'd shiver in the car at the bus stop, listening to him with my dad. Yes, my dad is often a bit old-fashioned, but we'd laugh about this.

We'd also listen because Imus mattered. He brought in guests who mattered, people at the top of the profession who really make all the decisions or who know the inside group. It's why, even though his total audience numbers were way out of proportion to how the comments got blown up, people listened. And will listen again.

Of course, I wonder how many of his previous friends will be willing to call in and be interviewed now ... I wonder what would have happened if Imus had played the race card the way that Jesse Jackson and Al Sharpton did on him? Would it have gotten even uglier? Did Sharpton or Jackson ever listen to his program? But if their goal was to muzzle him and keep him away, it didn't work, and that's great news for the news business in this country and free speech.

About the only ones who came out looking good were the Rutgers women's basketball team. And now they have to ruin it by going and suing him ...

Did You Get the Memo?

A small piece in the Washington Post and with what's going on at NASA isn't getting much play right now, except for on conservative sites. Basically, NASA did it's math wrong and didn't correct for urbanization and the way that all the blacktops and reflective car windshields in heavily populated areas raise the temperature.

If what NASA says is correct, that when they corrected it only lowered the temperature average by 0.15 of a degree Celsius, then I have nothing to complain about. If they're wrong, and it actually did make a bigger difference, then .... maybe Rush should say something. I'm not doubting NASA too much, just saying something.

I think the bigger issue here is the global hysteria over global warming. Whether it's natural or man made, it looks like global temperatures may be rising. Hmm, don't think this has ever happened in the past? What about the fact that a subtropical ocean, where water temperature were 50 degrees Celsius, lived there in the past? Ever hear about the Ice Ages and how everything melted? What about the dinosaurs?

Look, global warming should not comes as a surprise. The only thing that I know about the weather is that it changes. It doesn't stay the same. So yeah, we need to plan for long-term climate fluctuations, and not just sit and take with what comes out right away. And if certain animals, like the polar bear or the Dodo, can't adapt, then they can join the fossil record like the dinosaurs and sabertoothed tigers, and Neanderthals, for that much. I don't understand how scientists, who believe in evolution, can get so worked up about seeing natual selection at work. I just don't. Can anyone else explain it to me?

Oh, and if you want to read a book that talks about how the ideal of the virgin, American landscape might not be true, read 1491: New Revelations of the Americas before Columbus. It's eye-opening to say the least.

Vamos United!!!

If you haven't read it yet, it's an enjoyable Washington Post Style section feature on the lunatics who sit around me at DC United games. They're well worth the price of admission and they don't care about the weather. It does, however explain how the chant leaders are able to watch the game.

Big game tonight though, in the SuperLiga semis. We take on Beckham and the L.A. Galaxy again, this time at their place, instead of ours. I'll be up all night watching it of course.

IF United wins (knock on wood) then we'll host the Pumas of Pachuca, who beat Houston last night in a penalty shootout. I of course, did watch the game, even though it kept me up late. My thoughts:

The game was brutal in terms of heat and humidity, and you could see everyone was walking pretty much the whole second half.

I couldn't believe that Pachuca's 10 shirt, who came on to start the second half, couldn't even finish the half before picking up two yellow cards. Including one for diving. When was the last time that we've seen a dive by a forward get a yellow card from a Central American referee? Great call, although a little harsh to get sent off for to technical yellows, and no hard tackles.

How bad a penalty kick was that one taken by Ngwenya? I mean, mon Dieu!! Hit the ball, and at least make the keeper move.

Houston was lucky to be in that game.

The two second half goals were complete and utter garbage. Really. An American goalkeeper would have saved Robinson's header, or at least dived, and why was Onstad diving backwards? Both saveable, and it should have been a 1-1 tie.

Great job by the Houston fans. Very impressive guys and gals. Keep it up.

Why I Don't Want Girls ....

There are times when I think that I want to have kids down the road, and then there are times when I don't want to have them.

Someone sent me this rant, from Tech Liberation Front, and it had me laughing outloud. (And no, I will never LOL, ever). Go to the link, since I can't get the picture up on here, but man, is it funny.

Now, I totally can hear myself saying all the things that I have to say to the kids to explain why the dog is buried. But I seem to remember being the one who buried my pet iguana after my mom fried it one day. Found a nice big rock, put him under it in a foot deep hole and let him go. I hope the garden didn't swallow him up too much.

But yes, the Mattel toy recall is a big deal, and it's just funny that 1) someone sold to a toy company the idea that a pooping dog and a Barbie with a pooper scooper would sell; 2) that it actually did sell; 3) the fact that I can see myself thinking the same thing as the three year old. I mean, how old am I now that I'd say something like that? Yikes.

It also raises the fact that lead paint was a childhood problem for my parents generation, and maybe for current kids now. They turned out fine, are the leaders of the free world now. Let's relax and let kids have some fun.

P.S. Old Yeller still makes me bawl, but not as much as Where the Red Fern Grows. My kids will definitely be reading that one with me.

Holy Cow

The world of baseball and of any sports fan is a little less bright today. Yeah, I know I'm behind the newscycle, but I wanted to acknowledge Scooter Rizzuto.

Not only did he give us one of the best moments in Adam Sandler movie history ("Rirruto?"), he also gave us one of the great catchphrases in sports history. It's too damn bad that Harry Caray took it over.

I remember driving back home from family vacations in New Hampshire, and hitting the New York City area, getting stuck in traffic. The only positive was digging up Scooter on the broadcast, and turning it up. While I was an Orioles fan, and didn't much care about the Yankees, Rizzuto and the noise from the ballpark found a way to get me to pay attention a bit. I think the rest of the ride home my brother and I kept going "Holy Cow" to each other.

Baseball is losing the storytellers. About the only good one out there now is Jon Miller of the San Francisco Giants. Jon Miller is the man who got me into baseball, whose radio broadcasts on Summer evenings I'd lie in bed, arm hanging off the side of it and my head about to join it, volume turned down to a low, almost inaudible buzz until the seventh innning, when I'd finally nod off. It was story after story, and Jon would sometimes get caught on the air having to make a comment with two hot dogs in his mouth. I loved it.

Rizzuto was one of those storytellers. I think that's why I latched onto him on a Sunday afternoon in a hot car.

RIP Scooter

(And yes, it looks like Boss Steinbrenner actually is showing some class. As a fellow Eph, I'm happy to see that.

And if you don't get goosebumps from the press release's opening line:

I guess heaven needed a shortstop.

then you're not a baseball fan. Well done George.)

If I Only Had the Cash ...

... I'd invest in this: the NASDAQ Portal Market.

I mean, how coll does that sound? Minimum networth to invest is $100 million? No governmental reporting requirements? Away from the SEC's prying eyes?

You don't need governmental regulation here because, if you have $100 million to throw around, you're smart. The SEC is only there to keep public confidence in the stock market, confidence that is the keystone of the main arch that supports our entire financial system. But if you have enough money to throw around that paying cash for something like this isn't that big of a deal ... then you don't need a governmental safety net.

I think it makes sense, and, especially given the fact that the market is breaking up in terms of giving out cheap loans, getting another way for private companies to raise money without having to go public or go to banks and their interest rates is fun.

I just wonder how venture capitalists feel about this idea ... I could see something like this, and the rest of the private exchanges that the article talks about, opening up a way to bypass them. Which may mean that VC money will have to go back into securities. It's always nice to have more cash flow coming in.

Did Uncle Sam's Army Make the Trek?

The U.S. Men's U-17 team is in South Korea for the World Cup. Believe it or not, they have a blog set up for it, though it's not signed by anyone, so I wonder who's writing it.

If you want to read along with me, here is the link.

Looks like they like the software too. Someone on this roster is the one writing the thing.

But there have been some interesting posts. Like, since the U.S. team's first round opponent is Tajikstan, they got a homework assignment from a Coach Hackworth. (Are these kids in High School or something? And what's wrong with summer vacation?). Here's the post:

Last night, the coaches asked the players to do some homework... they were to research Tajikistan and each present after dinner tonight something they found out about the homeland of their first World Cup opponent. The players impressed (we knew they would), presenting information about religion, politics, geography and population.

Fun fact: In Tajikistan, bread is considered to have a life of it's own. Never drop breadcrumbs or throw bread away with the other trash (thanks, Kirk!).

I am definitely going to have to remember not to drop breadcrumbs.

The other highlight? Busan is definitely not Club Med:

It was a 14-hour flight, but it wasn't as bad as it sounds... each seat had individual monitors to play movies, games, music or shop whenever you wanted. Most of the team tried to sleep as much as possible to pass the time, but movie selections included Shrek 3, Blades of Glory and Fracture.

We then got excellent treatment at the Seoul airport while waiting for our connection. We had ample security and several liasons to take us to the VIP lounge for a short time before hopping on the flight to Busan. The flight to Busan was a bit bumpy, but short nonetheless... about 45 minutes from take off to touch down. Lots of police with automatic weapons guarded our path to the charter bus, and a police escort led us on our way.

I mean, automatic weapons pulled out to escort 16 year old kids from the plane to the bus? Uhhh, did I miss something? South Koreans now want to kill our soccer players? Are they still mad about this incident in Salt Lake City? Hey, I don't like Anton Ohno that much either, but I thought this was all taken care of (what you're looking for is 1:38 in).

All I know is, another post has been about "repelling" [sic] out of the building in a hazmat suit. Fun stuff. Do not, I repeat, DO NOT, ever book me a holiday stay in Busan, South Korea.

Guns or Butter

One of the sections of the Washington Post that I try and read most closely and most religiously is the Outlooks section. The Sunday Post is a bit of a guilty pleasure, because I should be doing more to get things done on Sunday instead of sitting around in a pair of shorts and just reading.

But I came across this article about Afghanistan and the current military-political situation.

Two things jumped out at me. One, this guy is a heck of a writer because look at his opening two grafs:

On a highway north of Kabul last month, an American soldier aimed a machine gun at my car from the turret of his armored Humvee. In the split second for which our eyes locked, I had a revelation: To a man with a weapon, everything looks like a threat.

I had served as an infantry officer in Afghanistan in 2001-02 and in Iraq in 2003, but this was my first time on the other end of an American machine gun. It's not something I'll forget. It's not the sort of thing ordinary Afghans forget, either, and it reminded me that heavy-handed military tactics can alienate the people we're trying to help while playing into the hands of the people we're trying to defeat.

Welcome to the paradoxical world of counterinsurgency warfare -- the kind of war you win by not shooting.

The second paragraph is exactly the type of thinking that hasn't happened enough. In the famous "battle for hearts and minds" that is what is most important, according to our military leaders, I know that I forget to think about it that way. And yeah, there is no way that I'm going to stare down the business end of a fully automatic machine gun and like the person shooting it at me. No way, that's way too frightening.

A lot of officers and people thinking about it do get that. That's why we have success when we remember these things, why Coke, MTV, jeans and American fashion have taken over the world. They're what people want.

That's not to say that sometimes you don't need to have people looking down the business end of a machine gun. There is a huge place for that, and, as we saw after the U.S. Embassy bombings and the lack of American response (thank you Bubba ... go with the light intern version next time), it's the only thing that makes radical Islam respect us. They see a lack of military response as being weak. We need "force projection" and it's worked to keep any terrorist attacks from coming over since we started using it. For that, my congratulations and thanks to the members of the Armed Forces who understand that and want to be over there. Godspeed.

The second point that the article raised for me though was that the Romans knew this. Here's the graf that made me think it most obviously:

Consider, for example, the question of roads. When U.N. teams begin building new stretches of road in volatile Afghan provinces such as Zabul and Kandahar, insurgents inevitably attack the workers. But as the projects progress and villagers begin to see the benefits of having paved access to markets and health care, the Taliban attacks become less frequent. New highways then extend the reach of the Karzai administration into previously inaccessible areas, making a continuous Afghan police presence possible and helping lower the overall level of violence -- no mean feat in a country larger and more populous than Iraq, with a shaky central government.

Isn't this what the legendary aphorism summed up so nicely: All roads lead to Rome? Why did the Romans build all those roads that linked everything together? Yes, partly it was to allow their centurions and Legions to march all over quickly, and in force, taking out any large population center. But it was also for the points that Nathaniel Fick makes, in that they realized that the Roman culture spread along the roads, allowed trade, and made everyone better off, reducing drastically the likelihood that Roman forces would have to march down them.

It's a lesson that those Centurions, standing in a building consciously built to mirror the marble of Roman architecture in a city that recalls the glories of Rome, can drive home to the next group of policy wonks getting off their Metro trains and heading to work on Capitol Hill every morning: the mix is what matters.

(If you want to learn more about Roman strategy in warfare, I highly recommend, as do most historians, Edvard Luttwak's The Grand Strategy of the Roman Empire. Forces have a place, but so does peace.)

F**k off Duberry

And this is terrible news:

Sir Alex Ferguson has confirmed that Wayne Rooney will be out of action for two months after suffering a hairline fracture of his left foot in Manchester United's game with Reading on Sunday.

I love Wayne Rooney, and not just because he's a former goaltender like yours truly. He just likes to play, and that "Joga Bonito" Nike commercial he filmed last year, with Tim Howard scoring the great goal was just perfect.

If anyone can find video evidence of Wayne in Match of the Week last year, miked up, telling the ref to "F**k off" over thirty times, please share in the comments section. A video I miss seeing.

Don't you have more important things to do ....

Like maybe focusing on running the country, or delivering on all your campaign promises?

Of course, if this is what you issue statements about and the type of sense that your press releases actually make, then I see the problem.

From House Democratic Speaker Nancy Pelosi:

“Tonight, Barry Bonds etched his name into baseball’s history books and took his rightful place among the sport’s immortals.

“It was a great night for baseball and a great night for San Francisco - the crowd went wild.

“It was particularly exciting to see Willie Mays embrace him on the field and see Hank Aaron congratulate him on the Jumbotron.

“As a season ticket holder, I am particularly glad it happened on the Giants’ Italian night.”

Did she write this herself or something? Was she drunk writing it? How many bases can one woman try and touch in one night? (Note to self, don't also say outloud some of the things you were thinking at the Angry Inch on Saturday. Second note: Can I say that about such a fine, upstanding woman as Nancy Pelosi?). And should I be worried about eating in Little Italy in Baltimore since clearly all the lead in the food and water up there has gone to her head?

Bizarre News Story of the Week

Just because I know you're all getting sick of reading my boring dribble, here's something new and fun. Each Monday morning, I'll link to a news story that I found to be particularly funny, weird or that makes me just want to shake my head.

The inaugural (or what is the term for first weekly? Latin readers anyone?) story comes from the AP.

"E-ZPass is an E-ZPass to go directly to divorce court, because it's an easy way to show you took the off-ramp to adultery," said Jacalyn Barnett, a New York divorce lawyer who has used E-ZPass records a few times.

Are you kidding me? Seriously, who is her media coach, because he needs to be fired. How is there not even a Monopoly reference in that quote? Was it just too easy? Stick it in right after "to go directly to divorce court" and you're money. And how couldn't the editor work in something like that? This is what passes for journalism these days by the AP.

But wait, it gets better ....

"When you're marketed for this new convenience, you may not realize there are these types of costs," said Nicole Ozer of the American Civil Liberties Union of Northern California.

Bob Barr, a former Republican congressman from Georgia turned Libertarian and privacy rights advocate, said people who want to protect their privacy shouldn't use electronic toll systems.

"People are foolish to buy into these systems without thinking, just because they want to save 20 seconds of time going through a toll booth," he said.

The ACLU and Bob Barr, who is most famous for helping run the Clinton impleachment on the House floor, is telling me that by saving 20 seconds I'm opening myself up to a vast left-wing conspiracy. Uhh, Bob, have you been inhaling the stuff that Georgia imports up to Tennessee? (25,000 lbs of weed along with meth and coke?) Have you not driven down the Jersey Turnpike and across the Delaware Memorial Bridge or the Garden State Parkway? Twenty seconds? I want to know what lane your black Suburban powers through on. So I can stay out of the way of the insurance assessors. And the ambulance chasing lawyers.

Metro Madness

I can't understand Metro. Seriously.

Don't get me wrong, it's an easy commute that ultimately drops me off everyday just a half block from my office.

But I can't understand something. With July being a month in which Metro set a ridership record in terms of number of riders on the rails, combined with the fact that everyone on each of those 19.2 million is spending at least $1.35 to ride, and large numbers of them, at least in the morning and evening rushes.

Now, even though I was a physics major in college, the numbers and math side was never my strong suit. But let's just for a minute assume that the average fare on Metro is $1.50 for each of those 19.2 million people sticking a fare card through the gates each day. That means that in July, the transport system took in $28.8 million. Since we're physicists, let's just round that to $30 million. And that's just the train part, not including the bus service, parking for those train riders in the outer suburbs.

Why all the math first thing on a Monday morning? Well sitting in the subterranean caverns under the Centurions (Union Station Metro stop, Red line), I waited for two trains to roll through because they were too full. The problem? At least one car in each of the first two six-car trains, had it's lights turned off and was out of service.

I see cars out of commission every night on my way home too. In times of record ridership, why can't Metro throw the money back into the cars and service? I can deal with having to wait, with single tracking and trains that aren't evenly spread out. But that's because at the end of the day, I expect that when a train rolls into the station, I'll be able to hop on quickly. When cars are too packed to stand there without spraining your back (as I did this morning piling on and then arching my back to fit in with the seas of humanity), can I ask where my transit money is going?

And does anyone know why this is happening repeatedly? Has Metro said anything? And isn't Metro a non-profit? Don't they have to sink all their money back into the system?

The view is worth the hike

An absolutely amazing view of just how big a deal it was last night at RFK. And just what 47,000 people in one place look like. Thanks BobbyBoswell.com

Oh, and if you want another account of the party that left me sleeping on my office sofa last night, go visit Agent Steinz.

Something smells fishy ....

Sushi lunch is delicious. Especially when the boss pays for it. Which they did today.

I had some good Ebi. And some real good Bass. And I think some Tako. Which is my all time favorite.

Now, every time we get sushi here at the office, someone complains about how they can't understand the difference between the three different types. Well, I'm here to help.

Sushi is actually the rolls, sometimes called maki rolls. They're delicious, especially the ones with the eel and avocado.

Then there's the nigiri, my personal favorite. That's the one with the fish that sits on the little bed of rice. So it's half fish, half sticky, delicious, specially made sushi rice. My favorites are the Ama Ebi or Sweet Shrimp, Yellowtail, Tako or Octopus and Fluke. All quite, quite good.

And then there is sashimi, which is just blocks of fish. Not a fan of this at all, though with enough wasabi and ginger it's okay. But I like my sushi with some rice. Need my carbohydrates.

And, after taking the Centurionette up to Manhattan last week, we went out for sushi at a delightful place on W 72nd St. Delicious. I even had sushi the next morning for breakfast, it was so good. I've had a lot of good sushi in my life, but that was up there in the top three restaurants I've ever tried. I'll have to go back, eh Centurionette?

So, does that clarify it for you Office Mate?

Oh, and how amazing is this Bud Light Commercial? Maybe the funniest one they did. Can they bring these back, please?

Drinking like a Soccer Star

So David Beckham did make an appearance on the pitch at RFK. For a long period of time, and actually looked pretty good for not having played anything in two months. I was impressed, but it was also clear that he wasn't going to get anything easy or just be the best player on the field just by showing up. Which was good.

Best of all, DC United won 1-0 on a Luciano Emilio goal. Great stuff guys!!! And I hear the fans were great. Usually, I'd post my player ratings here, but I can't remember the game too well (See below).

Then it was the BobbyBoswell.com after party at Lima last night (Bobby, why aren't there pictures up and a recap yet?) I did see Bobby, who walked in like a rockstar and didn't acknowledge the drunk guys on the patio yelling his name. Then got to watch Brian Namoff hitting on ugly chicks. He's tiny, like five inches shorter than me. And the girls he was talking to last night were UUUUGGG-LY!! My apologies if that was his girlfriend or something, but I had my jack and coke glasses on and still thought poorly of her. C'mon Brian, you're an all-star right back for the best team in MLS. Take it up a notch man.

Anyways, if you want the rundown on it all, the night, the Beckham experience, game report, check out Steven Goff's Soccer Insider. And yes, we rock here in D.C. when it comes to soccer. Can we start calling ourselves New Trafford? English Premier League Starts this weekend!

Beckham Will Play!

According to Steve Goff, it's looking like the Golden Ankleboy (aka David Beckham) will play at RFK tonight.

That means you have no excuse for not buying it and I feel better about the financial transactions that I made earlier this month. I kinda wish I was there myself.

But I will be in spirit as I drink cheaper beer and watch the game on ESPN2 along with you, dear reader. No excuse for you not to. Starts at 7 p.m. EDT. I'll give my take on it on here tomorrow.

And if you don't read Soccer Insider, you totally need to start. Look for the new handle on there.

The Mick Cheated Me

Since it's a slow day at the office, here's something I've been reading from ESPN.com that's pretty interesting.

What's your answer to Eric Neel's question? Who cheated us out of more?

I'm still pissed as hell that I can name the entire Washington Nationals line-up on the field for 756. (Can any of my commenters?) Or that I couldn't fall asleep on Monday night and so saw it live on TV, thinking the whole time about how it was awkwardly filmed. How many people will you let gallivant around a baseball field despite having no business being on there? And why didn't they let Willie Mays say anything into that Mike he was holding?

I actually might think that the Mick cost us more than Bonds did. Bonds, even if you accept that he did steroids, which I believe but can't prove (he's not guilty yet, and that's the hallmark of our legal system), would have more than 600 home runs by now for every season he'd played. He was a hell of a leftfielder back in Pittsburgh. And he still has the most freakishly fast hands I've ever seen. And he has the most amazing ability to see one pitch a game and just hammer the shit out of it. Incredible.

But the Mick? Has anyone else seen the newsclip of Mantle's home run ball hitting the light tower at Yankee Stadium while still on it's way up? (If anyone can find a link, please post it in the comments section). It's the only ball that has ever come close to leaving Yankee Stadium. No one else has. And as prodigious as Frank Howard's homeruns at RFK are (the one in Section 542 is just ridiculous -- dead center at RFK, in the upper deck?), how many great home run hitters have hit at Yankee Stadium? Amazing stuff.

Plus, just like Barry, the Mick could run and field and had an arm. Until he drank himself away. We miss you Mickey Mantle.

And with that, I'm off to watch DC United and hurt my own liver.

What do you think?

Repeat after me .....

This is very worrisome news, especially with all the equity that I have in the market.

If Europe is going down too, along with the the American Mortgage markets, we could be in trouble.

And add me to the group of folks who don't like the whole concept of hedge funds and going public for them. I'm keeping my money out of any of those folks. Though if I had money to invest like they do, I would totally try and fleece the market and get them to give me more money for my shares.

The good news out of all this?

Remember to repeat after me: I am a LONG term investor. What being in your mid-20s will do for you.

Why hide behind a shield?

So I'm sure you're trying to figure something out. Why the DC Centurion? Well, here's a piece of fun info:

The exterior and interior of Union Station are guarded by a series of statues of Roman centurions. When he received the commission for designing the statues, Saint-Gaudens [the artist who sculpted them] asked the Fine Arts Commission if they wanted the statues to be historically accurate and was assured that they did.

When the models were delivered, the Fine Arts Commission were dismayed to find that some of the statues were obviously naked below their tunics -- historically accurate, yes, but not acceptable to turn-of-the-century Washington.

Saint-Gaudens redesigned the statues so the centurions now hold "modesty shields".

That's where the guy to the right comes in. I've always thought that whole idea was hilarious. Here we are, two blocks from the Capitol Rotunda, and we could have sculptures of the ideal of manly beauty with everything hanging out? I can hear the Bible Belt fainting in a heap already.

But, you'll also notice the shield of the under-appreciated DC United soccer team front and center, instead of the Roman Eagle adorning the real sculptures as they stand sentinel over Union station huh? [The profile picture will be coming soon. Bear with me]. Take a look at all these pictures and tell me if it's not an improvement.

But why Union Station? Well, I live in Washington, D.C. I won't call it what it used to be called in terms of the "Free World" but since I live two blocks from Union Station, walk by these semi-nudes every day and sometimes get freaked out by the idea of them coming alive and down to beat on me ... it seemed to fit.

I'm a young, mid 20's professional, and as it says in the subtitle, this is a scattershot blog. I'll be harping on all kinds of fun things. Currently on my list of topics to discuss are the books I'm working on, the movies I see, the food I eat, all of my soccer and other sports fun, my soccer reffing career and anything else that piques my interest.

Check back in, and if you want me to track anything down for you, I'm happy to.

Beckham at RFK

Of course the biggest issue of note today, and what's got me kicking off my thoughts on a blog, is the visit of the old Manchester United No. 7 to my neighborhood in Capitol Hill. No, not Eric Cantona, as amazing as that would be. (I only pop the collar for one reason, and one reason only. To say Au Revoir to large demons with bag wings).

I must give a huge shout out of appreciation to my fellow Barra Brava mates for pulling a fire alarm and bringing the Golden Ankle and Landycakes out into the heat early in the day. Well done boys, Vamos United!!!!

Here's hoping for a big, big win by the DC United Boys, and a lot of fun partying with Bozilla and The Wolverine at Lima tonight afterwards.