Thought for the Day: How we got here, the 2004-2005 NHL season
April 26, 2005

First things first:
Since I seemed to have aroused some discontent with how the NHL playoffs I am reporting on here on TFTD are going, perhaps some back story is in order:

Knowing it was in the best interest of sports fans everywhere, days after the World Cup of Hockey, ESPN applied the muscle it has and forced an agreement, a luxury tax with cost certainty. We don't know how it happened, but Gary Bettman's repeated assertion that he fell down the stairs, repeatedly, at the negoiations made us wonder. Nevertheless, it was a great campaign, as a number of the league's legends decided to call it quits at the end of the season, Messier, Roenick, Yzerman, Hull, Francis, and Chelios, the league began an extensive thanks for the memories promotion, which took the country by storm, or not. Seemingly by sheer force of will, Mark Messier found the old magic time and again, and Jaromir Jagr's regrown hockey hair (losing a bet with Barry Melrose on New Year's eve, he went on a scoring tear and learned that apparently, it was actually the hair.), led the Rangers back to the playoffs and a first round date with Boston. The biggest disappointment of the year was Colorado, who, without Peter Forsberg, missed the playoffs for the first time during their stint in Denver.

2004-05 NHL Secret Standings

GP W L T OTL PTS
1 z*-Boston 82 45 18 12 7 109
2 y-Tampa Bay 82 45 23 6 8 104
3 y-New Jersey 82 44 23 8 7 103
4 x-Toronto 82 46 23 10 3 105
5 x-Philly 82 39 23 10 10 98
6 x-Montreal 82 41 29 4 8 92
7 x-Ottawa 82 43 23 10 6 90
8 x-NY Rangers 82 27 40 7 8 88
9 e-NY Isles 82 38 25 15 4 87
e-Buffalo 82 37 33 8 4 86
e-Pittsburgh 82 30 32 16 4 80
e-Florida 82 30 33 15 4 79
e-Atlanta 82 27 42 8 5 67
e-Washington 82 25 46 8 3 61
e-Carolina 82 20 42 14 6 60


Western Conference
GP W L T OTL PTS
1 z-San Jose 82 44 18 12 8 108
2 y-Vancouver 82 46 25 6 5 103
3 y-Detroit 82 44 24 11 3 102
4 x-Calgary 82 44 28 3 7 98
5 x-Dallas 82 41 26 8 7 97
6 x-Edmonton 82 38 28 10 6 92
7 x-St. Louis 82 39 30 6 7 91
8 x-Nashville 82 37 30 11 4 89
9 e-Colorado 82 32 26 16 8 88
e-L.A. 82 30 25 18 9 87
e-Phoenix 82 32 27 16 7 87
e-Minnesota 82 30 30 20 2 82
e-Columbus 82 26 44 8 4 64
e-Anaheim 82 29 35 10 8 59
e-Chicago 82 15 53 8 6 44


Joe Sakic won the scoring title, Rick Nash won the Richard Trophy.

That's why we are where we are. New Jersey dropped Les Habs in game six in Montreal with a three goal flurry in first two minutes, led by John Madden and Scott Gomez. Pivotal Game 7 tomorrow night at the ConAir. In last night's other game, Calgary closed out the Stars at the AAC thanks two a pair of goals by Mr. Iginla.

Tonight's games:
Toronto at Philadelphia (7:00 PM on ESPN)
San Jose at Nashville (7:00 PM on ESPN2)
Vancouver at St. Louis (9:30 PM on ESPN2)

(You know, this is a lot more complicated than I anticipated it being.)

That's all for today, until the next time,
I am Craig Barker, getting my red on.

Thought for the Day: Round 2! Game On
April 25, 2005

First things first:
* Woo hoo, great Saturday. Pistons roll over the Sixers, the Lions take Mike Williams (all hail Millen, Millen is life.) and the Wings closed out the night with a three-goal rally in the third (including that beautiful one from McCarty, seriously, who knew?) to put them ahead. So, who will the Wings play in the second round. Vancouver's up 3-2 on St. Louis, Calgary's up 3-2 on Dallas, and Nashville is shocking San Jose 3-2, so we'll see. (By the way, for those of you having trouble tracking this year's NHL playoffs, Boston swept the Rangers 4-0, Toronto's up 3-2 on Philly, Montreal is up 3-2 on the Devils, and Tampa Bay swept Ottawa 4-0.)

* Mike Williams. Well, I mean, I guess when the value falls that far down, you have to take it, but wow, three wide sets, Joey is out of excuses.

* So the rest of this is going to be about teaching. It's not intended to rant or rave, it's just some things I have been thinking about.

Point 1: The NEA lawsuit against the Bush Administration about NCLB and unfunded mandates has me torn in two directions. On the one hand, as a "good government" believer, I can't stand unfunded or underfunded mandates. On the other hand, as a teacher, I can't stand the idea that, my union is arguing, on some level, that educating poor children, minority children, rural children and underserved children isn't part of our core mission as teachers and as public schools. On the one hand, I am not convinced that testing is the be all, end all solution of accountability (especially because I don't think testing looks at what the child came into the year with and what progress was made during that year.), on the other hand, I don't think anyone should be trying to legislate through the courts. On the one hand, I think that NCLB has some flaws which need to be addressed (like the statistical impossibility of 100% pass rates in every school in America without a really low bar), on the other hand, I think this lawsuit makes a lot of teachers look whiny.

Point 2: Which brings me to my idea, how to convince a vocal majority of Americans on the importance of good teachers and the difficulties inherent in the job (unlike this).

Ideas I had included:
* Year-round school (with teachers paid commiserate to their extra hours.) (Actually, I wouldn't mind a little longer school year, like an extra two weeks, I wouldn't have had to condense Watergate down to a one-page review handout for my AP kids.)
* The European model where the lowest achieving students are cut off from college prep at the age of 13 and steered into vocational tracks, allowing America's test scores to rise in comparison to the rest of the developed world since that is what they look at. (Seriously, why doesn't this ever come up when they do those comparisons to the rest of the developed world. And if teachers are liberal and the media is liberal, really, why doesn't this get more publicity. If you compared our top 50% of students to the developed world, we would likely be right there. But this is America, and everyone deserves a chance to succeed, right? Actually, I do believe in that, I just wish we could compare apples to apples is all.)

I have some other ideas, but not for now, or not for this forum.

Point 3: Remember kids, you have a right to free speech, but that speech may have consequences. I genuinely don't know how I feel about this issue, because I can also see this both ways.

Really, that's about all I have.

That's all for today, until the next time,
I am Craig Barker, getting my red on.

Thought for the Day: Brief and brief
April 21, 2005

First things first:
Happy San Jacinto Day!
* Saturday will be crazy. Thanks to the two goal, two assist effort of the Captain last night, the Wings have a good shot of closing out the Oilers on Saturday. Thankfully, the game is on at 7:30 on ESPN (after the draft is almost done for the day), so you can line up NFL Draft-->Pistons/Sixers-->Red Wings/Oilers. That's a quality Saturday. Oh, I also have to slip an APUSH review session in there somewhere.

* By the way, also of note, but Niklas Kronwall has been a revelation in the playoffs, it's like what happened with Tayshaun two years ago.

* It's official, Rick Santorum is an [expletive deleted, replaced with "less than brilliant public official"]. Why exactly would you go after one of the things that people actually like about the U.S. federal government. Well, I mean, I know why he would, but you get my point. Some people have their pet issues, apparently one of mine is free access to weather reports.
Fave quote from the article: "'If someone claims that our core mission is just warning the public of hazardous conditions, that's really impossible unless we forecast the weather all the time,' [the weather service's director of strategic planning and policy Ed] Johnson said. 'You don't just plug in your clock when you want to know what time it is.'"

* Remember kids, when you want to defeat Texans, actually make sure your gun works properly.

* Hmm, which is worse, penguins going through airport security, or penguins storming the beaches of Normandy?

That's all for today, until the next time,
I am Craig Barker, outta here.

Thought for the Day: America jumps the shark: Revised
April 20, 2005

First things first:
So, with a little more thought, I have further revised the list:
Now out:
Amelia Earhart
Charles Lindbergh
Hugh Hefner
Madonna
Babe Ruth
Billy Graham
Bob Hope
Chuck Yeager
Johnny Carson
Marilyn Monroe
Steve Jobs
Steven Spielberg
Frank Sinatra
Frank Lloyd Wright

Now in:
Charles P. Ginsburg (doesn't have a Wikipedia entry, but the guy who invented magnetic videotape is big in my book.)
Chester F. Carlson (invented the process we call Xeroxgraphy. That, my friends, is a great American.)
Emily Dickinson
Frederick Law Olmsted (I liked the idea of adding a civic architect instead.)
George Eastman (Photography, very good stuff.)
Hyman Rickover (he immigrated to the U.S. when he was five years old, so I can let it slide.)
J. Willard Gibbs (the science inclined made a good case in my mind.)
Jack S. Kilby (woo boy, the integrated circuit.)
James Fergason (you may have never heard of him, but he began the revolution in LCD technology.)
James Watson (co-discovering DNA also makes you big in my book.)
Luther Burbank (woo hoo, potatoes!)
Maya Angelou (I was swayed by Raffy's arguments)
Noah Webster (gave us American English and our dictionary!)
Norman Borlaug (Geoff said it: "Norman Borlaug should be on the list. Saving a billion lives should get you something.")
Philo T. Farnsworth (how could I forget the guy who invented TV!)
W. E. B. Du Bois
William Faulkner (I decline to accept the end of man...Man will not only endure, but prevail...)
Willis Carrier (the man who invented air conditioning. Aww yeah.)

There, I feel a bit better about the list I have now:
Abraham Lincoln
Alexander Hamilton
Alfred Thayer Mahan
Andrew Carnegie
Andrew Jackson
Audie Murphy
Benjamin Franklin
Bill Clinton
Bill Gates
Carl Sagan
Cesar Chavez
Charles P. Ginsburg
Chester F. Carlson
Clarence Darrow
Colin Powell
Douglas MacArthur
Dwight D. Eisenhower
Earl Warren
Eleanor Roosevelt
Elvis Presley
Emily Dickinson
Ernest Hemingway
Eugene V. Debs
F. Scott Fitzgerald
Franklin D. Roosevelt
Frederick Douglass
Frederick Law Olmsted
George C. Marshall
George F. Kennan
George Eastman
George Gershwin
George Patton
George Washington
George Washington Carver
Harriet Ross Tubman
Harry S Truman
Helen Keller
Henry Ford
Henry Kissinger
Horace Mann
Howard Hughes
Hyman Rickover
J. Willard Gibbs
Jack S. Kilby
Jackie Robinson
James Fergason
James Madison
James Watson
Jesse Owens
Jimmy Carter
Jimmy Stewart
John Adams
John F. Kennedy
John Glenn
John J. Audubon
John Marshall
John Muir
John Wayne
Jonas Edward Salk
Joseph Smith Jr.
Justin Morrill
Katharine Hepburn
Luther Burbank
Lyndon B. Johnson
Malcolm X
Margaret Sanger
Mark Twain
Martin Luther King Jr.
Maya Angelou
Neil Alden Armstrong
Nikola Tesla
Noah Webster
Norman Borlaug
Oprah Winfrey
Philo T. Farnsworth
Ralph Bunche
Ralph Waldo Emerson
Richard Feynman
Richard Nixon
Robert E. Lee
Robert F. Kennedy
Robert Frost
Ronald Reagan
Sam Walton
Scott Joplin
Susan B. Anthony
Theodore Roosevelt
Thomas Edison
Thomas Jefferson
Thomas Paine
Ulysses S. Grant
W. E. B. Du Bois
Walt Disney
Walt Whitman
William Faulkner
William Levitt
William Lloyd Garrison
Willis Carrier
Woodrow Wilson
Wright Brothers

I do seriously wonder if the Discovery Channel is going to look at this list and say "OK, you know what, America is clearly a nation of morons, so you know what, let's get a real list and educate."

That's all for today, until the next time,
I am Craig Barker, happy everyone else is peeved too.

Thought for the Day: America jumps the shark
April 19, 2005

First things first:
And I thought all I would have to be mad about was staying up until 1:00 AM to watch the Wings lose 1-0 in overtime to Edmonton. But then no, this came out, and all of the sudden, a 2-1 series lead is nothing compared to this idiocy.

Remember when I complimented Canada that at least it was able to come up with a list of the 100 Greatest Canadians, something we couldn't even do. Well, we did it. And well, we're idiots.

OK, here's the list. Remember, AOL users were heavily involved.
Abraham Lincoln
Albert Einstein
Alexander Graham Bell
Alexander Hamilton
Amelia Earhart
Andrew Carnegie
Arnold Schwarzenegger
Audie Murphy
Babe Ruth (George Herman Ruth)
Barack Obama
Barbara Bush
Benjamin Franklin
Bill Clinton
Bill Cosby (William Henry Cosby, Jr.)
Bill Gates
Billy Graham
Bob Hope
Brett Favre
Carl Sagan
Cesar Chavez
Charles Lindbergh
Christopher Reeve
Chuck Yeager
Clint Eastwood
Colin Powell
Condoleezza Rice
Donald Trump
Dwight D. Eisenhower
Eleanor Roosevelt (Anna Eleanor Roosevelt)
Ellen DeGeneres
Elvis Presley
Frank Sinatra
Franklin D. Roosevelt
Frederick Douglass
George H. W. Bush
George W. Bush
George Lucas
George Patton
George Washington
George Washington Carver
Harriet Ross Tubman
Harry Truman
Helen Keller
Henry Ford
Hillary Rodham Clinton
Howard Hughes
Hugh Hefner
Jackie Robinson (Jack Roosevelt Robinson)
Jacqueline Kennedy Onassis
Jesse Owens
Jimmy Carter
Jimmy Stewart
John Edwards
John Glenn
John F. Kennedy
John Wayne
Johnny Carson (John William Carson)
Jonas Edward Salk
Joseph Smith Jr.
Katharine Hepburn
Lance Armstrong
Laura Bush
Lucille Ball
Lyndon B. Johnson
Madonna (Madonna Louise Veronica Ciccone)
Malcolm X (Malcolm Little)
Marilyn Monroe
Mark Twain (Samuel Langhorne Clemens)
Martha Stewart
Martin Luther King Jr.
Maya Angelou
Mel Gibson
Michael Jackson
Michael Jordan
Michael Moore
Muhammad Ali (Cassius Marcellus Clay, Jr.)
Neil Alden Armstrong
Nikola Tesla
Oprah Winfrey
Pat Tillman
Dr. Phil McGraw
Ray Charles
Richard Nixon
Robert Kennedy
Ronald Reagan
Rosa Parks
Rudolph W. Giuliani
Rush Limbaugh
Sam Walton
Steve Jobs
Steven Spielberg
Susan B. Anthony
Theodore Roosevelt
Thomas Edison
Thomas Jefferson
Tiger Woods
Tom Cruise
Tom Hanks
Walt Disney
Wright Brothers (Orville & Wilbur Wright)

Now, for people who actually have read a history book lately, here's my pruning of the list:
Abraham Lincoln (stays)
Albert Einstein (stays)
Alexander Graham Bell (out, he was on the Greatest Canadian list)
Alexander Hamilton (stays, even if he wasn't born in America)
Amelia Earhart (stays, for now)
Andrew Carnegie (stays, even though he was born in Scotland)
Arnold Schwarzenegger (goes, wasn't born in America)
Audie Murphy (stays, maybe)
Babe Ruth (stays)
Barack Obama (you actually have to DO SOMETHING to make the list)
Barbara Bush (again, see Obama)
Benjamin Franklin (stays)
Bill Clinton (stays)
Bill Cosby (out)
Bill Gates (stays)
Billy Graham (stays)
Bob Hope (stays, even though he was born in England)
Brett Favre (no f'ing way)
Carl Sagan (stays)
Cesar Chavez (stays)
Charles Lindbergh (stays)
Christopher Reeve (sorry, nope)
Chuck Yeager (stays)
Clint Eastwood (out)
Colin Powell (stays)
Condoleezza Rice (out, nothing personal Condi)
Donald Trump (no, no way)
Dwight D. Eisenhower (stays)
Eleanor Roosevelt (stays, because she actually has work to stand on)
Ellen DeGeneres (sorry, Ellen, you're funny, but no)
Elvis Presley (stays)
Frank Sinatra (stays)
Franklin D. Roosevelt (stays)
Frederick Douglass (stays)
George H. W. Bush (he was a freaking ONE TERMER!)
George W. Bush (can't make the list, we don't have enough data)
George Lucas (if this were 1998, he'd be on the list. Sorry George)
George Patton (stays)
George Washington (stays)
George Washington Carver (stays)
Harriet Ross Tubman (stays)
Harry S Truman (stays)
Helen Keller (stays)
Henry Ford (stays)
Hillary Rodham Clinton (goes, we only have room for one politically connected New York senator and I have made my choice)
Howard Hughes (stays)
Hugh Hefner (stays)
Jackie Robinson (stays)
Jacqueline Kennedy Onassis (nope, first ladies don't just get coattail duty)
Jesse Owens (stays)
Jimmy Carter (stays, the Nobel Peace Prize helped)
Jimmy Stewart (stays, because Mary insisted)
John Edwards (A freakin one term senator from North Carolina, no way)
John Glenn (stays)
John F. Kennedy (stays)
John Wayne (stays)
Johnny Carson (stays)
Jonas Edward Salk (stays)
Joseph Smith Jr. (stays)
Katharine Hepburn (stays)
Lance Armstrong (nope, sorry, can't do it, I am a fan, but no)
Laura Bush (invoking first ladies rule)
Lucille Ball (sorry Lucy)
Lyndon B. Johnson (stays)
Madonna (nope, even if she is a Michigan "alum")
Malcolm X (stays)
Marilyn Monroe (stays)
Mark Twain (Samuel Langhorne Clemens) (stays)
Martha Stewart (No, no way!)
Martin Luther King Jr. (stays)
Maya Angelou (sorry, nope)
Mel Gibson (nope, sorry, no way)
Michael Jackson (What the Fuck? Out)
Michael Jordan (stays, grudgingly)
Michael Moore (nope, sorry, even if he is a Michigander)
Muhammad Ali (Cassius Marcellus Clay, Jr.) (stays)
Neil Alden Armstrong (stays)
Nikola Tesla (stays)
Oprah Winfrey (stays)
Pat Tillman (sorry Pat, your story is good, but not 100 Greatest Americans good)
Dr. Phil McGraw (Oh, please, who the, no!)
Ray Charles (sorry Brother Ray)
Richard Nixon (stays)
Robert F. Kennedy (stays)
Ronald Reagan (stays)
Rosa Parks (vastly overrated, gone, sorry)
Rudolph W. Giuliani (no, not even the best New York mayor)
Rush Limbaugh (No, No, No.)
Sam Walton (stays)
Steve Jobs (stays)
Steven Spielberg (stays)
Susan B. Anthony (stays)
Theodore Roosevelt (stays)
Thomas Edison (stays)
Thomas Jefferson (stays)
Tiger Woods (sorry Tiger, nope)
Tom Cruise (Hell no)
Tom Hanks (Hell no)
Walt Disney (stays)
Wright Brothers (Orville & Wilbur Wright) (stay)

By my count, that gives me 26 replacements, so let's get to work (with Wikipedia links for some of the more obscure choices as well as some of the less obscure).
Alfred Thayer Mahan
Andrew Jackson (he is on the $20 for a good reason people)
Clarence Darrow
Douglas MacArthur (He's more than just the "I Shall Return" guy, you know)
Earl Warren (Love it or hate it, the Warren Court made America as we know it. Oh, and he sort of helped build up the UC system.)
Ernest Hemingway (He kept his sentences short. They were short. I need a drink.)
Eugene V. Debs (look, someone had to stand up for socialism.)
F. Scott Fitzgerald (Wrote the great American novel, it's that easy.)
Frank Lloyd Wright (quick, name another U.S. architect. No, he's Canadian.)
George F. Kennan
George Gershwin
George C. Marshall (the Marshall Plan, seriously, people, read a book!)
Georgia O'Keeffe
Henry Kissinger (he has at least one more Nobel Peace Prize than you do. Except maybe you Mr. Carter, Mr. Roosevelt, Mr. Wilson, Mr. Bunche, ok, a few of you.)
Horace Mann (public schools, right or wrong)
John J. Audubon (we all like birds, right?)
James Madison (you know that constitution thingy? He sort of wrote that. No big whoop. You'll put Dr. Phil on the list, but not the guy who invented the U.S. government.)
John Adams (vastly underrated)
John C. Frémont
John Marshall (are you familiar with judicial review? You know, the reason we get laws appealed to the USSC. Well, that would be John's doing. No, because you're too busy putting Rush Limbaugh on the list.)
John Muir (part of the reason why the American West is still sort of pretty)
Justin Morrill (if you went to a land grant university, you have Mr. Morrill to thank for it.)
Margaret Sanger (a controversial choice, but you know, what's a list without controversy.)
Ralph Bunche (all of you who have negotiated a peace treaty between Israel and one of its neighbors, please raise your hand. Mr. Carter, would you please stop doing that.)
Ralph Waldo Emerson
Richard Feynman (he understood physics so you didn't have to)
Robert E. Lee (how in the world did General Lee not make the list. Seriously, I thought that our Southern friends would have made sure that he and Dale Sr. would have made the list.)
Robert Frost (I think this is anti-Red Sox backlash)
Scott Joplin (we should try to honor a number of different eras of popular American song here)
Thomas Paine (OK, so Rush Limbaugh, no problem, but the guy who did the same thing first, and better, nowhere to be found. Idiots.)
Ulysses S. Grant (bad President, but man, what a general.)
Walt Whitman (I think Homer Simpson worked to keep him off the list.)
William Levitt (Do you live in suburbia? Well, now you know whom to thank.)
William Lloyd Garrison (like a blogger 165 years ahead of the curve.)
Woodrow Wilson (That's Dr. President to you. You know, the 14 points, no, no, we'll leave him off the list.)

Congratulations America, you're a bunch of idiots. This is what happens when you combine the evils of list making with the evils of mob rule. The Founding Fathers warned you about this!

That's all for today, until the next time,
I am Craig Barker, enjoying the rights I have on Patriots' Day.

Thought for the Day: Three rivers, seventh place
April 18, 2005

First things first:
Starry starry night...
* This past weekend was TRASHionals. The short version is that we left the L at 3 PM, made it to Pittsburgh by the third inning, but didn't get to our seats until the fifth because parking is, well, it's just not pleasant. We had some nosebleed action going on, but it was a good time and it was good to see the gang. As someone suggested, I think we're about two years away from TrashMasters becoming a barbeque with a trivia contest.

* Proof that bonus conversion and points per game are not all they are cracked up to be. Thanks to one bad game against the eventual finalists (Riders of Lohan) and one sloppy close game against our friends from Arizona State, The Keenans were kept out of the top bracket this year and set out to be the best seventh place team ever, which I think we accomplished. Some days, the breaks go your way, some days, they do not. It happens, we had a good time, the questions were great, and we now once again go back to looking for the new fourth Keenan.

* The folks at TRASH did a great job with the set. If you're interested in looking for a quality trash set that has good pyramidality, interesting questions, and is well written, this should be your exemplar. A kudos to all of you.

* As I stated, if you have any interest in the Ninth Annual Keller Cup One on One (Academic) Tournament over Memorial Day weekend, email me (link's over there.) If we get sufficient outside interest, we'll likely put it together. Otherwise, well, Jason, we'll send you the trophy, finally.

* If you missed it on Wednesday, a bizarre harmonic Jeopardy! convergence as the gentleman who beat me in the UToC, Rick Knutsen was crushed by the guy who beat me in 1998, Dan Melia, in their second round game. It's going to depend on Dan's opponents, but he is looking poised to make a run here.

* Woo-hoo, weekend where I'm in the D in April. I am shocked and stunned. That means an AP review session in the morning on Saturday and NFL Draft coma Saturday afternoon! Plus, Michigan night baseball on Friday night!

* At present, which body has a higher average age:
The College of Cardinals (all members, not just the under 80s)
The United States Supreme Court
The Correspondant Lineup from 60 Minutes.

* If you are not reading De Stijl, you really should be. Victoria's return from hiatus has been a wonderous gift and her writings either make me think, laugh, or often times both. Also, Today's Odd Amazon Discovery will scare you all the way.

* I was disappointed in the Red Wings performance on Saturday, even though I didn't get to see much of it. I know it's gauche to complain about a win, and certainly going to Edmonton up 2-0 is nothing to sneeze at, but when you're the #3 seed and you were ten points better than the Oilers during the regular season, you should not be outplayed by them. I thought that Joseph was solid, if not spectacular, and clearly I am worried about the minutes that Chelios is logging, but he seems to just have a motor that won't quit. We'll see how it goes tonight with Game 3 up at Skyreach.

That's all for today, until the next time,
I am Craig Barker, living the dream.

Thought for the Day: Well, maybe the Jets.
April 13, 2005

First things first:
Starry starry night...
* So, I was thinking about doing a write-up about the ICT and then I realized, I didn't care. Well, wait, let's back that up. I realized you wouldn't care. I didn't see a single match, didn't hear a single question, and know nothing of what happened besides what went on in the D-II stat room. So, my ICT writeup would end up being the most boring thing ever. Besides, it's not like my posting my opinion will change anyone's mind on the subject. So, basically, I said forget it, let's get on with our lives and try to do something productive instead, like work to make next year's tournament better.

* New Orleans was nice, but I have pretty much given up on ever seeing any part of the city during an ICT other than the host site itself. It makes it far less disappointing that way. I did add another state, which I believe puts me at 39 for 50.

* Great random moment today: The iTunes was on shuffle and it played "WTF Kenneth", which of course, has one of my favorite R.E.M. lines of all-time: "Withdrawal in disgust is not the same as apathy." I hope that reference isn't too dated for my younger readers.

* Team name I wish I could make use of, since it really would only work for this weekend: Opus Dei and the Knights.

* By the way, I really hadn't said anything about the passing of Pope John Paul II, but that was largely because I did not know what to say. I guess the one thing I thought of was that sometimes the office makes the man, but in some rare cases, sometimes the man makes the office. I do think in his passing, we have seen the problem with trying to run any large organization, not only will you not succeed in making everyone happy, you will also be roundly criticized by those you failed to make happy. In this case, not even the doctrine of papal infallibility can save you, so what hope does anyone else running a massive organization have?

* I just was reminded by ESPN that the NHL playoffs would have started tonight. Which means in four days, I would be theoretically bitching about the woeful defensive lapses of the older players, but would not yet have given up hope. That's for round 2.

* If you get a chance, this article (part 1 and part 2) is fascinating to me as a teacher. Why? Do you know how hard it is to learn 150 new names a semester? Now imagine that where you don't recognize half the names or have any idea where to start on pronounciation. I firmly blame Kathie Lee Gifford for the run on Cody, but I have no idea where we got Alexandra from at the top end. Now, that said, when I look at the list for the future (here) two things strike me.
1). The Irish are clearly winning out.
2). Never underestimate the power of the NBC Thursday night block as a source of names (both Will and Grace and Phoebe!)

Also, way to go Groces for being ahead of the curve with Nora, though I still think Youppi! would have been far more entertaining and pro-Quebec.

That's all for today, until the next time,
I am Craig Barker, all shook down.

Thought for the Day: Wrapping up loose ends
April 6, 2005

First things first:
Just to get the actual answers, and thanks to all who played...you may berate below.

The correctly guessed:
3. U2 -- "Bad" (Greg nailed it.)

4. The Who -- "Won't Get Fooled Again" (Flax's second swing knocks it out of the park)

5. Led Zeppelin - "When the Levee Breaks" (Mark remembers I like my Zeppelin bluesly and over six minutes)

8. Coldplay -- "A Whisper" (Good attention to detail Greg)

10. Filter -- "Take a Picture" (Greg nails a frequent reader answer)

12. Counting Crows -- "Mrs. Potter's Lullaby" (Nice work Ryab)

13. Moby -- "Extreme Ways" (Dave saw both Bourne movies with me)

14. John Mayer -- "Why Georgia" (JQ gets easy ATL points)

15. The Replacements -- "Can't Hardly Wait" [The Tim version] (Way to pay attention Greg.)

17. Stevie Wonder -- "Superstition" (Myron again knows I loves the opening bass line.)

18. Blur -- "The Universal" (Amanda knows it nearly got me to buy a Chrysler.)

19. The Rolling Stones -- "You Can't Always Get What You Want" (Myron gets it.)

---

And now the missed set:
1. R.E.M.
All good guesses, especially Me in Honey from Bill, but in the end, no one was going to get "Leave" from New Adventures in Hi-Fi

2. The Beatles
I don't think anyone was going to get "We Can Work It Out". I can't explain it, if I could, it wouldn't be as fun.

6. Toad the Wet Sprocket
"Something's Always Wrong". I still want to use this as a movie title.

7. Oasis
No one was going to get it, because it's from the Masterplan, but it's "Fade Away"

9. Travis
Ahh, all good ideas, but it's the Wonderwall rip-off "Writing to Reach You". There's just something I love about this song.

11. Pearl Jam
For years, the correct answer would have been "Alive", but lately, I would have had to go with the vastly underrated "Hail, Hail", but in the end, it's Vs. own "Dissident"

16. Jimi Hendrix
I'm sorry gang, I genuinely thought I had espoused my love of "Voodoo Child (Slight Return)" on the blog before.

20. Natalie Merchant
Dave actually came the closest when he said "That's easy, the album cover for Motherland", but since I said song, it's actually "Just Can't Last" from said same album.

Anyway, this is probably the last one before NOLA, so have a good one all, and we'll see some of you down on the Bayou.

That's all for today, until the next time,
I am Craig Barker, ICTeed up.

Thought for the Day: Oooh, we can begin again, shed our skin, let the sun shine in.
March 28, 2005

First things first:
More "Star gazing" collected during the past week:

* Back to the grind today, and normally, it's a struggle after Spring Break, but not today, for today is tabula rasa, the example of the world that ends in October and begins again in April (OK, let's get the actual quote in here from the actual real Fever Pitch:
"And the great thing is it comes round again and again. There's always another season. You lose the Cup final in May, well there's the third round to look forward to in January. And what's wrong with that? It's actually pretty comforting if you think about it.

Most of the time.

But every now and then--not very often, but it happens--you catch a glimpse of a world that doesn't work like that--a world that doesn't stop in May and begin again in August. There's some stuff that just never comes back, and some stuff that just won't go away, and some stuff that you can't ignore even if you wanted to."

But the thing is, it is, Spring and the sense of renewal, tied to a 0-0 record, where everything that happened last year doesn't matter any more, because it's all starting over again.

I think that's why I like being a teacher, I live in a world that starts in August and ends in June. I have beginnings, and middles, and endings, and there is a ryhtym and a pulse to it all. Some might say it's boring, you do the same thing over and over again, but honestly, aren't a lot of jobs like that, just not as pronounced. Besides, even when everything is the same, it's also all different.

* Now, with all of the mythology and rhapsodizing over Opening Day, it still is, at the end of the day, one game. However, if you believe in making a first impression:

Detroit 11, Kansas City 2
Dmitri Young HR (3), which puts him in the elite company of George Bell and Tuffy Rhodes of the only players to have a three home run day on Opening Day.

Jeremy Bonderman had a line score of 66, but he set the tone with 7 early K's. I do worry though because he got most of his K's the first time through the lineup.

* I love game notes: "Detroit Mayor Kwame Kilpatrick and Michigan Gov. Jennifer Granholm also were booed before the game." Hmm, this could be a tough election cycle for the incumbents.

* By the way, do Michigan State students just take the couches that they don't want to move home out into the streets in the first weekend in April, knowing they will become riot fodder? I'm just saying, couldn't we just designate Cedar Village a riot zone and people who wanted to burn things could do so in a safe and enclosed environment?

* Amazingly, if the Illini win tonight, I will win three of my bracket contests. I may not play next year out of knowing that I can't do much better this year. Oh, who am I kidding.

* OK, gotta go, ICT calls. Enjoy Opening Day!

That's all for today, until the next time,
I am Craig Barker, who seriously, once did have a neck.

Thought for the Day: The CDB Mailbag
April 1, 2005

First things first:
Given that there were a number of questions raised by yesterday's blog, I thought I would take the oppurtunity to answer them, right here, for all of you, so let's crack open the CDB Mailbag. Letters, we get letters, we get sacks and sacks of letters. Letters.

Mark U. of Alexandria, VA sends along news that my "witty banter" led to a NY Post article about Mark and Brigid in today's paper and a potential follow-up on TV.

Mark C. of Boston, MA asks
"Why does your blog take like four times longer to load on my computer than everyone else's?"

I actually may have solved this yesterday when I did a little template maintainence. I moved all of the graphics over to the CQB server and got rid of the old memetracker JS which no longer worked. Between those two, and not the fact that I have three blogrolls running.

Amanda H. of Cincinnati, OH notes
"I'm glad the lists actually helped I was pissed about the Romanticism question because it was vague and sucked."

Agreed, it was an Oakland question, there was no there there.

Brian W. of Walla Walla, WA points out:
"At Trashmasters I wrote a bonus which included a reference to Le Mars, Iowa, being the Ice Cream Capital of the world. In the room in which I read the packet, I mentioned to the teams that '
'that's where they make Blue Bunny'.

So if I'd shown up in a different room you might have had an extra $1000....

Anyway, you played a great game. Don't get into the what-ifs and I-shouldas; they will kill you."

In no way am I giving in to the what-ifs and woulda, shoulda, couldas, because you're right, nothing changes. As for Blue Bunny, the part that got me was three days later being in the gas station and seeing the freezer for Blue Bunny ice cream. Yep, that's the way these things work.

Tricia S. of Washington, DC sends along:
"PS: "Hoosier Poet" = Not Michael Philpy"

No, but a funny side note, I did go to James Whitcomb Riley Middle School. So, I had to smile at that one.

Myron M. of Chicagoland, IL asks:
"How was your and Ken's connection through NAQT handled? Or didn't it come up? Or is there no connection?"

It wasn't, but I made absolutely sure it wasn't a problem. When I mentioned it on my paperwork at the start, they didn't have an issue because I knew Ken well before he was on Jeopardy!, and I guess with the nature of this tournament, it's less of an issue. The funny side note is that during the post-game conversation, I mentioned that one of the plus-sides of losing was that I would actually be able to converse with Ken again, and this took Alex aback after I explained how I knew him and he said "And they said you couldn't talk to him, really? Well, you know what I say? Screw 'em." I will also say that part of the reason I mentioned TRASH and CBI in my bio is not just because those are the formats in which I won titles, but it prevented any awkward questions about the Kennection, as it were.

Some of the LGLJers wondered about yesterday's Google comment, and yes, the theory that I know that if you put my name into Google, my blog is about the first thing that comes up, therefore, I wouldn't put anything in there that I wouldn't otherwise want people who don't know me to find out is indeed the correct interpretation. I think it's important to remember that the Internet is a public forum, no matter how well you think you may have things sequestered away.

---

Stealing from Ms. L:
The rules: I pick 20 bands/artists I like, and you try to guess my favorite song in the comments section. Correct answers get bolded and credited. Woo!

1. R.E.M.
2. The Beatles
3. U2 -- "Bad" (Greg nailed it.)
4. The Who -- "Won't Get Fooled Again" (Flax's second swing knocks it out of the park)
5. Led Zeppelin - "When the Levee Breaks" (Mark remembers I like my Zeppelin bluesly and over six minutes)
6. Toad the Wet Sprocket
7. Oasis
8. Coldplay -- "A Whisper" (Good attention to detail Greg)
9. Travis
10. Filter -- "Take a Picture" (Greg nails a frequent reader answer)
11. Pearl Jam
12. Counting Crows -- "Mrs. Potter's Lullaby" (Nice work Ryab)
13. Moby -- "Extreme Ways" (Dave saw both Bourne movies with me)
14. John Mayer -- "Why Georgia" (JQ gets easy ATL points)
15. The Replacements -- "Can't Hardly Wait" [The Tim version] (Way to pay attention Greg.)
16. Jimi Hendrix
17. Stevie Wonder -- "Superstition" (Myron again knows I loves the opening bass line.)
18. Blur -- "The Universal" (Amanda knows it nearly got me to buy a Chrysler.)
19. The Rolling Stones -- "You Can't Always Get What You Want" (Myron gets it.)
20. Natalie Merchant

That's all for today, until the next time,
I am Craig Barker, not fooling around.

Thought for the Day: A month later
March 31, 2005

First things first:
So, I can finally talk about it, in public. (Oh, and a special hello to the members of the LivoniaGossip LJ community who feel I got PWN3D. I appreciated the kind words from some of you and welcome you to the world's most boring blog. Look around all you want, nothing good. Why? Because I also know how to use Google. Enjoy the rest of your Spring Break kids.)

Spoilers abound in this blog entry, so if you haven't seen the episode yet, you may want to skip the whole thing.

Anyway, so, I headed out to Culver City on March 2 to tape my episode of the Jeopardy! Ultimate Tournament of Champions. It was very exciting, especially since I thought I would never get another shot at the game, and here it was. I had put in some serious practice time, probably more than I should have, but I felt ready, I felt good, I had to get on a plane for four and a half hours. But, during that time, Mike and I went over my betting strategies (a huge thank you to Matt Ottinger for providing those to me. Matt, it's not your fault, I just suck at math.) and general game play. After an excursion to FatBurger (which is where I had gone before the college tournament), I headed back to the hotel for a good night's sleep.

Game day: A lot of this is a blur, but the people were great, it was fun to see the contestant coordinators again, fun to have a conversation about some classic bad old game shows with people who like them just as much as you did, and in general, just trying to keep your mind off the game. A lot of people said that they were sizing up the room, but honestly, I didn't really have any preference, I just knew I was going to need my A-game to win. Practice went well, but they have moved the signal lights from the sides to one on the side and one on the bottom. Kind of threw me, but again, it threw everyone. I did my interview segment for Hometown Howdies, which I don't think got used, in lieu of a Defenders investigation or some other crap.

Anyway, they called the first three people, and I was one of them. This was less than thrilling to me, as I would have preferred to have watched a game and gotten a bit of flow before going on, but hey, hey, what can I do? So I draw the ping pong ball for the center podium (meaning I had now played at all of the podiums) and I head out to face Rick Knutsen and Amy Fine in my game.

So, let's take a look at the board, courtesy of the J! Archive.

JEOPARDY! ROUND CATEGORIES
WE ALL SCREAM FOR ICE CREAM (4/5)
OSCAR NIGHT 2005 (5/5)
MOTHERS OF INVENTION (5/5)
REAGAN 101 (5/5)
ONE OF THE 12 TRIBES OF ISRAEL (5/5)
I'VE GOT "ESP" (4/5, including 1 missed Daily Double)

Remember folks, the Oscars were three days old at this point, so they were way easier then. 12 Tribes looks scary up there, but Reagan 101, no problem for me.

I know the first couple were easy, but I can't get in. The buzzer is giving me issues already.

The interview: I basically had to beg the contestant folks to let me talk about the wedding over the fact that the "craziest thing" I did with my winnings was buying the Zeppelin boxed set.

Thanks to the Jeopardy message board, here's the transcript, complete with my Toastmasters no-no um's.

Alex: All right, Craig Barker from Livonia, Michigan. I received an invitation to a wedding coming up soon, and you did also.

Craig: Yes, I did.

Alex: Tell the folks.

Craig: When I was in the 1997 College Tournament, uh, two of my fellow competitors, Mark Urciuolo from Marist, Brigid Laurie from Bryn Mawr, uh, met, and, they, kind of, started dating, and now, here we are, 2005, and they'll be getting married in April 2005, and I'll be at the wedding as one of the people who was there when they met.

Alex: Convey our best wishes and our congratulations. [Applause]

Craig: I shall.

I did like that they put up a nice split screen shot of Mark and Brigid up in post, that was pretty cool.

I will say at this point, I was exceptionally nervous, my hand was shaking and I just was trying to stay focused.

After a make-up touch up, let's head for Double:

DOUBLE JEOPARDY CATEGORIES:
ART & ARTISTS (3/5)
KITTY LIT (4/5, including 1 correct Daily Double)
NAME THE JAMES (3/5, including 1 missed Daily Double)
A RIVER RUNS THROUGH IT (4/5)
YOU'RE THE CHAMP (5/5)
I'VE GOT ESPN (5/5)

I'm enjoying the board as I look at it, except the left side, ugh. The ESPN category was required to be taken in order due to the limits of the video tape machine.

I began to think maybe it wasn't my day when I could only get one of the questions in the ESPN category, not even the three answer CBI-esque bonus about SportsCentury's top three athletes. Because, you know, it's not like I ran a pool on that or anything.

After a James Taylor pick-up for my department chair (huge fan), I hit the Daily Double. Scores sat at: Amy $5,800, I have $8,400, and Rick is at $12,800. So I wager enough to tie, because we had been reminded that the Daily Double's difficulty was supposed to be the same as the spot on the board, and this was an $800. So I wagered $4,400 which would have tied me with Rick.

NAME THE JAMES ...who was the last president to be born in a log cabin.

OK, now, let's make a few things clear here:
1). At Stevenson High School, in E-Hall there are murals from various parts of U.S. History on ceiling tiles. My favorite is the one with James K. Polk riding a donkey and sporting the "presidential mullet." That mural has a log cabin on it as well.
2). Yes, I know Lincoln was born in a log cabin. Thank you.
3). Even if I had remembered at that moment that Lincoln was born in a log cabin, I still would have likely skipped past James Garfield. I have nothing against him, he was just a part of the line of Congress-dominant post-Civil War Presidents.
4). Yes, again, a President named James screwed me.
5). Yes, it is humiliating, deeply so, to miss a Daily Double in a subject that you teach. I hope the folks on the board appreciate just how much that threw me down the line. I know it doesn't seem like a big thing, but it was, it really really was.
6). My lesson out of this is simple: The experts say that 90% of the time, your first answer is the right one. I am living proof of that other 10% of the time.

And yes, you can actually hear me say "OK, let's rebuild" as we get back to it.

Now, the thing is, the questions did sort of run my way, the River Runs Through It was very NAQT Geography, and I had just seen a History Uncovered which reminded me that Karnak was in Egypt. I had just given an Asian capitals quiz in IR, so that got me the Mekong, and the Niger was just a good educated guess based on relative spacing on the map. I wanted to thank Amanda for her efforts on Art and Artists, which allowed me to get Surrealism and Homer.

That leaves us with Kitty Lit as the last part of the board. Now, the first one, Cheshire Cat, no big whoop. But the Calico Cat for $800, the author of Gigi for $1200, I am so not feeling this category. The $1600 is absolute luck.

This woman's cat Sneaky Pie gets credit as her co-author on such mystery novels as "Murder, She Meowed"

Now, I can see this cover in my mental QPB Club catalog, but I can't see the name. Amy rings in and says "Braun" and I think, yeah, that's it...But after a repeat, they rule her wrong, so I totally vulch in with "Brown" and get it right. That means that the last clue on the board is the second Daily Double.

Now, there's a tape stop here while they make sure that Amy's answer is wrong. Amy, by the way, very gracious about the whole thing and even realized her mistake and stopped the research which let us get back to it.

So, here I am:

Amy: $9,400
Me: $10,800
Rick: $13,200

It genuinely never really occurred to me to pass Rick on this Daily Double:
Three reasons:
1). I had been burned earlier in the game by missing a $800 level DD in the subject area which I teach. That left me a bit gun shy, no, a lot gun shy.
2). As I stated above, I felt that all of the previous questions in the category had been hard and I only picked up the $1600 on the rebound.
3). I had been killing on the Final Jeopardys! that had been on the air in the tournament before I headed out to Culver City. I felt good about being able to get it right going forward in Final.

So, I decided that my goal was to stay in second, no matter what, and play for the win in Final Jeopardy! Admittedly, it was a conservative strategy that relied on Rick missing, but it could have worked. And yes, I usually rail against people betting less than the value of the clue, but I bet just $800

KITTY LIT $2000: He wrote an "Ode On The Death Of A Favorite Cat" (As well as that other famous "Elegy")

Now, if you were in Mr. Quick's AP English 12 (and Dave, who was, verified it for me), you will remember that we did indeed read Thomas Grey's "Elegy Written in a Country Churchyard" as a prime example of an Elegy. For some reason, that had always stuck with me. And so when I saw it, I was basically pissed that I had stayed so conservative on what ended up being a softball lit question.

Amy: $9,400
Me: $11,600
Rick: $13,200

FINAL JEOPARDY! CATEGORY
VOCABULARY

As I would later say to Mike: "Well, it could have been worse, it could have been THINGS.

Now, Mike and I had worked on betting strategies, and I made a bet which I now see is a bad bet, but here's the thing. I wasn't really factoring in the premise of Rick miss, Me miss, Amy hit, not because Amy wasn't a great player, but because I really didn't think I deserved to win if I missed and someone else hit. Which I know sounds weird, but I would have felt odd about it. Basically, the entire bet came down to needing Rick to miss, and well...

This term for a sudden piece of good fortune literally refers to fruit blown to ground

Now, it wasn't getting to me, because I was stuck on fruit for about ten seconds. And then I switched premises to, wait, blown, wind, wait, windfall. Boom. Thank you Michigan Lottery (the Michigan Lottery's WinFall game announces its winners of Local 4 almost immediately before Jeopardy! starts here in Detroit.)

Amy: $9,400 + $9,400 = $18,800 (What is a windfall?)
Craig: $11,600 + $9,999 = $21,599 (What is windfall?)
Rick: $13,200 + $10,001 = $23,201 (What is windfall?)

It came down to me needing Rick to miss and he didn't. Alas and alack. Rick is a nice guy, he said he was going to use the money for his daughters' college education, so I really can't get too upset and I do wish him well going forward. Amy, also, by the way, a very nice woman and it was a pleasure to play against both of them.

Now, some of you seem to think had I been calmer, well, I would have played better. But seriously, when have you ever known me to be calm?

In the end, I played really well. I made one bad mistake which led to a second error in judgement which cost me the game. Am I disappointed? Yeah. Am I dealing with it? Sure. Do I feel bad about criticizing coaching moves in the past? Well, given the critical lambasting I am taking on some message boards, yes, yes I do.

In the final tally, it comes down to this. Everything happens for a reason. It wasn't my time/turn and this was the result. I did my best and on most days, I probably had a winning score. However, on this day, Rick was a bit better than I was, and I like to think more that he beat me rather than I lost. My friends have been nothing but supportive, and I am truly thankful for that. I'll have to deal with a streak of immaturity come Monday with some high schoolers who don't seem to understand that part of being a good person is dealing well with defeat and setbacks. I haven't had the best track record in this realm, so maybe this is the start of a new page for me.

In the end, I don't get my shot at Ken, and that's probably for the best, because the man would have smacked me around and smiled the whole time. The money would have been nice, but without Ken, there wouldn't have even been the shot at more money, so I mean...

That's all for today, until the next time,
I am Craig Barker, unseqestired.

Thought for the Day: Hope Springs Eternal, Right?
March 29, 2005

First things first:

Ladies and Gentleman, your 2005 Dublin City GPOs! (If you wonder what the team name means...well, have a look here.)

1). Johan Santana (SP-MIN)
2). Jim Edmonds (OF-STL)
3). Ben Sheets (SP-MIL)
4). Derek Jeter (SS-NYY)
5). Marcus Giles (2B-ATL)
6). John Smoltz (SP-ATL)
7). Victor Martinez (C-CLE)
8). David Wright (3B-NYM)
9). Roy Halladay (SP-TOR)
10). Dmitri Young (1B/DH-DET)
11). Garrett Anderson (OF-ANA)
12). Dan Kolb (RP-ATL)
13). Magglio Ordonez (OF-DET)
14). Chipper Jones (OF/3B-ATL)
15). Troy Percival (RP-DET)
16). Dontrelle Willis (SP-FLA)
17). Carlos Guillen (SS-DET)
18). Lew Ford (OF-MIN)
19). Jeremy Bonderman (SP-DET)
20). Larry Walker (OF-STL)
21). Paul Quantrill (RP-NYY)
22). Luis Ayala (RP-WAS)
23). A.J. Pierzynski (C-CHI)

The nine-team league plays C, 1B, 2B, 3B, SS, OF, OF, OF, Util, Util, SP, SP, SP, SP, RP, RP, RP, P, P, P, DL, DL, DL (there are 25 roster spots but 23 were drafted because we decided to call it a night. Yes, I am the stupid commissioner. So it's a waiver claim bonanza!)

Roto 8x8
Batting: Runs, Home Runs, RBI, Stolen Bases, Walks, Strike Outs, Batting Average, OPS
Pitching: Wins, Complete Games, Saves, Walks, Strikeouts, Holds, ERA, WHIP

For those of you who know my tendancies, you will likely agree that this team is very different from my usual suspects. No rookie reaches, a lot of depth, I hope, and generally, sound players all over. Now, that said, I must credit this to PECOTA. But two other players in the league, minimum, are using PECOTA, or modified PECOTA, so we'll have to see how this runs, and if anyone can stop the Feminine Mystiques. She rules, it's her league and we're all just playing in it.

That's all for today, until next time,
I am Craig Barker, all about getting some prospectus.

Thought for the Day: Dr. Heimlich, Line 2...
March 28, 2005

First things first:
More "Star gazing" collected during the past week:

* So, what does one do on a Spring Break weekend? Well, if you're me, you grab Dave and head out to Ann Arbor to watch the NCAA Men's Ice Hockey Regionals on ESPNU and DirectTV. Michigan looked very sharp against Wisconsin, which is good. The bomb threat at the Pacers/Pistons showdown, however, much less cool. You know, it's always a couple of idiots who ruin it for everyone. Oh, and congrats to Michigan State for beating Duke. I may hate State, but I hate Duke so much more. Plus, the Sparties are generally good, if misguided folks, so it was nice to see them win for the Big Ten.

* Saturday: Wowser...Six NCAA Regional Hockey games, including the Michigan/Colorado College Regional Final, two NCAA Regional Basketball games, and the Pistons/Celtics tilt from Auburn Hills. Do you know that of these nine games, seven went into overtime!

* Now, many of you will say that West Virginia had choke of the day against Louisville, and well, I could see that. More of you will say that Arizona gacked away the game against the Illini and I would be very hard-pressed to disagree. But choke of the day has to go to Michigan, who blew a three goal lead in a game for the first time since 1987 to lose to Colorado College, a school that doesn't even have a fight song, 4-3 to keep them from going to the Frozen Four. It just sucked. I don't even want to talk about it.

* The Louisville and Illinois comebacks made me look like a bracket genius, getting three of the Final Four for the second time in my life (2003 was the first time). This is also what I get for picking Duke. Duke sucks. (Meanwhile, my Frozen Four pool. Never pick with your heart.)

* You know, if a good woman really is like a McGriddles, should they not be plentiful, easily obtained, sell below expectations, and be available only from 6:00 AM to 10:30 AM?

* Sunday: Easter and my aunt and uncle's with two more very good basketball games. The Michigan State/Kentucky game would be an Instant Classic nominee, if it weren't for the fact that the two games Saturday were also amazing. Patrick Sparks toes the line, the flying elbow to the head, and oy. It's just a heck of a thing. So now Sparty goes to the Final Four and I don't have to hear any of it from my kids. It's the best of all worlds.

* Officially, I am rooting for an All-Big Ten Final as that would give me the edge in my pools.

* Nothing quite like my romantic failings having the advantage of me being nowhere near marriage and thus forcing me ever closer to good son status.

* Well, it's coming up on Wednesday, but if you wanted to have an early sneak peak. For the record, the seven years were less kind than I thought.

I'd love to say more, but the ICT beckons.

That's all for today, until the next time,
I am Craig Barker, who seriously, once did have a neck.