We will fight-o!

Watch this film until you become patriotic.

Adam believes in Bachi too

I came to work today with a raspy voice?  Why you ask?  Because last night, UCLA had one of the greatest come from behind victories that I have ever seen.  They were playing absolutely terrible for four qtrs.  It was so frustrating to watch. They were down by 10 for pretty much the whole game. Gonzanga had it in the bag.  But, then, BACHI rooted its ugly head once again.  The refs made a horrific call on UCLA's Collison where he drove in, knocked a guy over that was trying to take a charge and sunk the bucket. It should have been an And-1 play. Instead, they reverse the call and say it was a foul on the ground, which resulted in Collison missing the first of a 1-and-1.  That was a 3pt turnaround that would have brought the Bruins within two.  If UCLA would have lost that game, I would have thought that the DMPS (Dirty Mop and Pubescent Stache) mafia fixed the game. But, once I saw that play, I knew UCLA had it in the bag.  You can't stop Bachi, you can only hope to contain him.  So, UCLA ends up scoring the last 11 points of the game and take the lead for the first time ALL game with only 8 sec left in regulation.  Ballgame. Gonzaga loses.  

Question of the Day:

What happens when you're the consensus #1-2 college basketball player of the year, lead the NCAA in scoring avg (28.1 ppg), sport a dirty mop and 70's stache, have an awesome game against UCLA to take your team to the Elite 8, talk some of the best trash heard in years (he reportedly told a player, "You're a role player. Do your parents even come to the game?"), and then, and THEN have it all stripped away from you in a matter of 8 seconds?

You cry like a little girl. That's what you do!!

Larry Bird #2, don't worry.  You'll be a lottery pick in the NBA, have a million dollar contract in a couple months, and have a much fuller stache to sport.  And frankly, I'd cry like a little girl too if that happened to me (minus the stache, of course).  But, that game epitomizes why March Madness is the greatest sporting event every year. 

The Texas vs West Virginia game was pretty unbelievable too.  Duke lost and pretty much ruined my pool.  Now I'm rooting for BC to win and for UConn to get upset.  Who knows. Anything could happen. Just ask Adam.

Nippon

For those of you who were too busy watching the NCAA basketball tournament this weekend to notice what happened on Sat night in the World Baseball Classic, allow me to recap.

    
      Japan 6                  Korea 0

Como se dice.......SCOREBOARD!!!

It's OK Korea fans, you still have the best kim chi and korean BBQs around. 

 Japan plays Cuba tonight in the championship game!  GO ICHIIRO!  GO NIPPON! 

Team USA, meet Bachi

Bachi, short for "bachi ga ataru": def.  For the consequences of a man's conduct are brought on by himself alone. 

It's the japanese term for karma.  What goes around, comes around. 

Team USA in the World Baseball Classic, or rather, the American umpires that umped the games of the WBC, I hate to say it, but you got what you deserved.   I felt shame for cheering for America. No wonder the whole world hates America.  We come off as liars and cheaters.

US Asking for Bachi #1
Team USA protests that Tsuyoshi Nishioka tagged up from third base to give Japan the go ahead run in the 8th inning.  Replays showed that he clearly left third after the fly ball was caught.  Yet, the stupid ump reversed the call, took away the run scored and called Nishioka out.  Baseball umps NEVER reverse calls, EVER.  Totally shady.

US Asking for Bachi #2
Fernando Valenzuela's son hit a home run for Team Mexico off the right field foul post, but the umps got together and said it hit the wall and ruled it a ground-rule double.  Are they blind?! 

US Getting Bachi
USA gets eliminated from the World Baseball Classic by Mexico who beats them 2-1.  Yup, the US team doesn't get a chance to take home the world championship in the game it invented.  So sad. But, honestly, they deserved it for letting minor league umps take matters into their own hands and make such US-biased calls, totally ruining the credibility of baseball in the US.  USA Baseball, Bud Selig, American umpires, BACHI on you!!

Rest assured, I will be rooting for Japan the rest of the way!  NIPPON!!

Mad for March Madness

- What's your favorite time of the year?  Wedding Season or March Madness?

- March Madness!!!

Best time of the year is only a day away.  Can't wait!!  Move over World Baseball Classic.  The time has come, once again to watch the greatest sporting event each year.  The NCAA basketball tourney is the mecca of sports.  One of the few sporting events completely untouched from all the money, sponsorships, and greed that plagues professional sports.  The tourney is one of the pure sporting events left.  These guys sweat, bleed, get other students to take their finals for them, and yes, even shed tears for the love of their team, school, and sport.   March is all about the Cinderella's, the buzzer-beaters, the passion of cheering for your school, and hoping you picked the right upsets in your bracket along the way.   This is by far my favorite time of the year. 

If you are one of the lucky few, who have not taken a recent vacation or sick day lately, and were smart enough to have a Sick Day Strategy in place, I'm jealous. Perhaps your plan looked something like the following:

"How to get sick by Thursday"

• Monday:  Go to work and casually ask at least two different coworkers if they have heard of the weird flu that is going around.  Mention that several of your friends/roommates recently came down with the illness and that you hope you don't get sick.
  
  
• Tuesday:  Start coughing and sniffling.  But be subtle.  You don't want people to think that you're already sick.  Perhaps drink some tea instead of coffee after lunch.
  
  
• Wednesday:  Complain to your officemate that you're starting to get a headache.  Ask another coworker for some Tylenol.  Cough loudly in the open areas outside of your office to make sure everyone knows that you are the one that is getting sick. Tell your boss that you are not feeling well, but that you have to stay extra late today to finish up some extra work.  He'll be impressed by your work ethic.
  
  
• Thursday:  To your complete and utter surprise, you wake up sick.  Dang it!  Your throat is sore, your head hurts, you have the worst bed head you've had all week....you're an absolute wreck.  Better call your boss and tell him that you're sick and need to stay home.   Oh, but be sure to turn down the volume on your TV before you call in.  You don't want your boss to hear a whistle or beer commercial in the background.

But, if you're like me and have taken too many vacation days lately to pull off a sick day strategy, there is still hope.  You can watch the first round games online by registering for free at http://www.ncaasports.com/mmod/welcome.   And no, I'm not advocating lying to your employer or watching the games in a hidden window behind your Outlook window.  All I'm saying is that it's...possible.  muahaha.