Soooooo… I’m the only one in my pool to have picked Oklahoma to go all the way in one of my brackets.  That will either mean I’m totally screwed, or, I’m totally rich.  Hopefully it will be the latter.

But, I’m really not much of a college sports fan (cuz UIC Flames get no respect!), much less a basketball fan.  Last year was the first year I entered a pool and I came in third.  Unfortunately it was winner take all, as it is this year, with the exception of the absolute loser getting their entry money back.  I’d gladly take that. 

I really just do the pool/bracket thing to get my mind off the waiting game of baseball.  After football ends in the beginning of February, there’s really nothing to pay attention to.  I tried to get into NASCAR a few years ago but then I realized they really do just drive in circles all day.  I’ll put on Talladega Nights the next time I need a NASCAR fix. 

Then there’s hockey.  I’m not Canadian so enough said there.

And the NBA?  Please.  I lived through The Dynasty so now it’s just like what’s the point.

So I have 2 months of complete sporting boredom, which is the worst kind of boredom.  Betting on something is the best way to start caring about it so at least the NCAA has that going for it.  But, I really have a low tolerance for people from Big 10 schools invading school-themed city bars as if they were located on their quad.  Watching 30 year old men dressed in their school colors relive their glory days by watching some no name 18 year old shoot a 3 is pretty sad and depressing. 

Oh well.  Only 15 days until MLB opening day.  Go Oklahoma!

Pet Peeve of the Day:  It’s Saturday — no room for pet peeves!  (That’s my old 9 to 5 self talking…)

Quote of the Day:“I like to think of Jesus like with giant eagles wings, and singin’ lead vocals for Lynyrd Skynyrd with like an angel band and I’m in the front row and I’m hammered drunk!” -Cal Naughton Jr.

Clear your calendar for NEXT Friday, March 27.  My friend’s bro’s band, Dan Tedesco and the Long Haul, is having their CD release party at the Elbo Room:  http://www.elboroomchicago.com/store/one/index.html?store_id=1061&page_type=sched

Find out more about their music, and awesome jam “Symphony in the City,” here: http://www.myspace.com/dantedesco and here: http://www.dantedesco.com/ .  See you there!  Vale.

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My favorite juggler, Marcus Monroe, although he’s not juggling here.  Yes, I have a favorite juggler:

That is Marcus Monroe, getting ready to juggle his infamous “knorches” (knives serving as torches).  He is legendary, catch him at Summerfest!!  http://www.marcusmonroe.com

Pet Peeve of the Day: the word “panties”

Quote of the Day: “That Dotty.  When she died, she never gave me her house keys back.” –Shanky’s grandma Josephine

The Cubs recently announced they are going to retire jersey number 31, in honor of Greg Maddux and Fergie Jenkins.  I wasn’t around in the Fergie days, but I was around for Maddux phase one and phase two.  He’s my favorite baseball player of all time because all he did everyday was go out and play a game he loved, the way it was supposed to be played.  He never took his job for granted and was forever grateful for the opportunity to be a man playing a boy’s game, making a king’s ransom. 

I feel like those in my parent’s generation and beyond have many of these types of role models in their sporting history, but unfortunately my generation is running short on such role models.  I honestly can’t name a guy on the Cubs right now who exemplifies the class and talent that Maddux possessed. 

The money hungry, ghetto-ized NBA certainly lacks these types of individuals, and being a Bears fan, I surely don’t see any role models around Soldier Field.  Well, maybe Staley the mascot, I like him. 

Fans of baseball today should be honored to have seen Maddux pitch, even if it was well past his prime.  Maybe in these last few years he didn’t put up the numbers people would have liked, but having him around has had nothing but a positive impact on the game of baseball.  Teammates forever praise his work ethic and willingness to share his knowledge of the game. 

One of my favorite off the mound moments in Maddux history that I think sums up his classy, confident character the best:  As a member of the Cubs (round 2), he was asked by a reporter what he thought about a certain White Sox pitcher, ace Mark Buehrle, accusing Maddux of spitting on his fingers to finesse his pitches.  Maddux looked at the reporter in his typical calm, cool way and said “Who’s Mark Buehrle?”   

This season, Maddux will be missed every fifth day, but I’m sure he will be back in some capacity some day soon.  Maybe when Lou retires, he’ll be the Cubs manager… a girl can dream right??

The ceremony will be at Wrigley Field on Sunday May 3^rd, Marlins v. Cubs.  See you there!

Pet Peeve of the Day: Chicago White Sox

Quote of the Day:  “Great things are not accomplished by those who yield to trends and fads and popular opinion” –Jack Kerouac

I was called a terrorist (great, now homeland security will be all over this blog) by some rando (yeah, a drunk in Wrigleyville… shocking I know) on Saturday because of my black and white scarf:

Do I really look like I roll with Osama??

Or, my Keffiyeh I guess, if you want to be exact about what it is.  But it pissed me off because I’ve heard rumblings of that same notion before, stateside.  I guess similar scarves are sold at Urban, Forever 21, etc. for hipsters to wear.  I got mine in Spain, (something like 3 scarves for 5 euro) where they are all over the place from young to old, hip to un-hip.  I like them because they are lightweight and I can wear them with anything.  And I really do just enjoy a good scarf.  But I was wondering what the big deal was about it so I looked it up.  Apparently it is mainly viewed as a Pro-Palestinian symbol, and was actually pulled from Urban stores in 2007 after a Pro-Israel activist complained.

“Keffiyeh stands for many different things for many different people. For some, it stands for Palestinian solidarity, or ‘taking a stand against the state of Israel’s oppressive and racist policies toward Palestine’ – the PLO scarf. For some, it stands for anti-Semitism while promoting terrorist groups. For others, it is an attempt to trivialize the Palestinian cause by making the symbol so ubiquitous that it loses its meaning. For some it is merely a practicality to shade one’s face from the sun and heat in arid desert nations. For others, it is a shemagh, the Anglicized name given to the scarf by British soldiers who wore them during WWII. For others, it’s just a fashion trend, an item of symbolic meaning marketed for the masses.”  (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Keffiyeh, http://stylebytes.net/2007/03/25/scarves-3/)

I find the Pro-Palestinian angle most intriguing—the first night I was in Madrid (January 09) there was a Pro-Palestinian rally.  And while no one was waving around their scarves in support… there were some interesting signs:   

“USA and Israel = Terrorist States”  

Self Explanatory  

  “Israel = Assasins” This was spray painted all over the city 

 So, you learn something new everyday.  And, I’m actually glad I now know about this because next time someone calls me a terrorist as I proudly wear my scarf, I’ll know to tell them that it’s actually Pro-Palestinian– the opposite of terrorism… the opposite of Israel.

Pet Peeve of the Day:  When my newspaper is stolen before 2PM

Quote of the Day: “When you buy a box of Ritz crackers, on the back of the box, they have all these suggestions as to what to put on top of the Ritz. ‘Try it with turkey and cheese. Try it with peanut butter.’  But I like crackers man, that’s why I bought it, ’cause I like crackers! I don’t see a suggestion to put a Ritz on top of a Ritz. I didn’t buy them because they’re little edible plates! You’ve got no faith in the product itself.” — Mitch Hedberg