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6009. jexster - 6/9/2008 8:30:19 PM Peach on a beach
 6010. alistairConnor - 6/9/2008 9:30:56 PM I missed all but the last 5 minutes of France-Roumania. But I didn't miss anything. 0-0, rather worrying. All France's matches are knock-outs now.
Italy-Netherlands now on. And the Dutch are magnificent, leading 3-0. Though they had some help from the ref: for the first goal, Van Nistelrooy was frankly a couple of yards offside. But there's no injustice when you're sticking it to the Italians : they are never trustworthy, specially not these ones, they are over thirty. 6011. wabbit - 6/10/2008 6:51:17 PM I think Rafa is kinda strange-looking. Federer too, now that I'm thinking about it. Maybe it's me.
I was just reading Curt Schilling's blog and had to share some of what he said in his last post about professional basketball. He managed to get seats just behind the Lakers' bench, so he had an up close and personal POV: ...I always wondered about the bitching and moaning of NBA coaches and players with regards to officiating and last night I was literally on the floor to see and hear it first hand. Things I heard and saw.
1) KGs first quarter Technical. I heard EVERY word of his exchange with the ref. It’s nice to know that they share the same problems some players do with MLB umpires. He was giving a technical because he said the F word, period. He did NOT call the ref a name, he was bitching about a non-call and said “C’mon, what the F am I supposed to do” and got the T. Now I watch both Pierce, and I think Allen, talking to this ref and he shoots back to Paul this little tidbit. “I can’t let him talk to me that way.”
What? Dude, your an NBA official, not the stinking Pope. Not one person in the arena paid 1 cent of their ticket to see you, ref the game and shut your pie hole. These guys are playing for a world championship, they are as amped up as you expect the best players in the world to be, they are grown men, there’s going to be some PG-13 language, and you are giving a T to a guy for dropping an F bomb? Stupid.
2) Every SINGLE play up and down the floor has MULTIPLE fouls being committed by multiple players. These guys are in close, every play. They are beating the crap out of each other, and the refs see it. That makes me think that the game is called and paced exactly how the refs want it to be. I wondered aloud, a few times, how in the hell calls weren’t being made against the Celts on a ton of plays in the paint where there was some serious pugilism being committed. There were a ton of ‘non-calls’ in my incredibly amateur opinion.
3) Phil Jackson knew it. Early in the game, Farmar comes to the bench during Celts free throws and asks about the next series, Jackson says “One thing I do know is we’ve got to stop !@#$&@#%$#&*()@ fouling these guys” Farmar asks what he says and he repeats the line.
4) I don’t know much about the NBA beyond some of the star players and the famous teams. I heard that the Lakers got Gasol in a horrible steal of a deal and that the league should have investigated the trade for some sort of punishable crime :) I saw a 7 footer last night who grabbed like 4 rebounds and spent the entire game whining about getting fouled... 6012. wabbit - 6/10/2008 6:51:59 PM 5) Kobe. This one stunned me a little bit. Who doesn’t know Kobe Bryant right? I only know what I have heard, starting awhile back with the entire Shaq debacle. I don’t really have an opinion one way or the other on or about him other than to know that people feel he might be one of the 4-5 greatest players to ever lace it up. What I do know is what I got to see up close and hear, was unexpected. From the first tip until about 4 minutes left in the game I saw and heard this guy bitch at his teammates. Every TO he came to the bench pissed, and a few of them he went to other guys and yelled about something they weren’t doing, or something they did wrong. No dialog about “hey let’s go, let’s get after it” or whatever. He spent the better part of 3.5 quarters pissed off and ranting at the non-execution or lack of, of his team. Then when they made what almost was a historic run in the 4th, during a TO, he got down on the floor and basically said ‘Let’s f’ing go, right now, right here” or something to that affect. I am not making this observation in a good or bad way, I have no idea how the guys in the NBA play or do things like this, but I thought it was a fascinating bit of insight for me to watch someone in another sport who is in the position of a team leader and how he interacted with his team and teammates. Watching the other 11 guys, every time out it was high fives and “Hey nice work, let’s get after it” or something to that affect. He walked off the floor, obligatory skin contact on the high five, and sat on the bench stone faced or pissed off, the whole game. Just weird to see another sport and how it all works. I would assume that’s his style and how he plays and what works for him because when I saw the leader board for scoring in the post season his name sat up top at 31+ a game, can’t argue with that. But as a fan I was watching the whole thing, Kobe, his teammates and then the after effects of conversations. He’d yell at someone, make a point, or send a message, turn and walk away, and more than once the person on the other end would roll eyes or give a ‘whatever dude’ look.
Let me reiterate that this is from a complete basketball newbie, so for all I know this could be exactly how these guys play this game and interact with each other...
Schilling is nothing if not a man who never hesitates to share his thoughts. He puts his foot in his mouth a lot, but there is never any doubt about what he thinks or where he stands. I like that about him.6013. arkymalarky - 6/10/2008 7:13:22 PM Hey Wabbit! I sent you an email (two, actually) to your viwabbit Yahoo email.
How's your mom? 6014. wabbit - 6/10/2008 7:47:27 PM 737 messages and all but four were spam - yikes! Have replied at last.
My mother is doing better, thanks. She still has trouble walking and is using a cane, so she's a very long way from being fully recovered. Actually, she'll never be back to where she was, since she has no lower fibula now; that ankle will always be sore and swollen. I still have her using the porta-potty in her bedroom at night, because I don't want her walking to the bathroom in the middle of the night when she isn't fully awake. Her ribs are pretty well healed, as is her broken wrist. She has a deep tissue hematoma in her upper left arm that still gives her pain. She's back at work and happy to be able to drive, but any shopping still needs my presence. That's unfortunate for her, I didn't inherit the shopping gene. I regard grocery shopping like a big-game hunter...armed with my store card and coupons, I go to get supplies for the family and come home having saved 31% on average. My motto is No Retail. Shopping is purely functional for me, not something done for fun or to kill time. Except for bookstores, and my motto still applies. I'm a very boring shopping companion. But I bet she spends far less with me in tow! 6015. arkymalarky - 6/10/2008 10:21:58 PM Haha! I'm an awful shopper too, but awful and inefficient--so very speedy. "No Retail" sounds like the motto to adopt in these times.
That's great that your mother is back to working and driving! 6016. alistairconnor - 6/13/2008 7:06:18 PM Perfect result!
Italy 1 - 1 Roumania.
That makes both of them less threatening for France... we have to win tonight against the Netherlands, or the tournament's over for us.
The gods had a sense of humour when they drew lots for the groups. The world champions and vice-champions in the same group (Italy, France). Add in an eternal Euro favourite who is currently in better form than either (Netherlands). And, because you need a weak team, add in Roumania. Yeah, the one who has drawn their matches with the world champions and vice-champions.
And I'm going to miss the France-Netherlands match. Choir practice. 6017. jexster - 6/16/2008 11:45:48 PM Well Tiger Woods just won his third US Open in sudden death against Rocco Mediate.....The color commentator earlier observed, as Woods was walking up the fairway with his white caddy, that Tiger on one leg (gimpy knee) was better than anyone else on 2
Not a good year for White Pride 6018. wabbit - 6/18/2008 5:26:32 PM  Game 7 is now officially moot. The Celtics clobbered the LA Lakers last night 131-92 to win their first NBA Championship in 22 years. The "Big Three", Paul Pierce, Kevin Garnett and Ray Allen, were big indeed, but everyone contributed. Rajon Rondo had quite a night. Though he shot only 8-for-20 from the field, Rondo spearheaded Boston's superior defensive effort, finishing with six steals (including one monster rip from the hands of the 6-foot-10, 230-pound Lamar Odom) to go with his 21 points, eight assists and seven rebounds.
For the Big Three, this was the first NBA title for each of them, and the first for the league's most-decorated franchise since the original Big Three of Larry Bird, Kevin McHale and Robert Parish won No. 16 in 1986. Danny Ainge was the point guard for that team and the general manager for the one that won 66 games a season after winning 24 -- the biggest turnaround in NBA history. The Celtics join the 1975 Golden State Warriors and the '77 Trail Blazers as the only teams to win it all a year after missing the playoffs.
Pierce was name the finals MVP - I would have given it to Garnett. Pierce had 17 points and 10 assists in the clincher, Garnett had 26 points with 14 rebounds, and Allen returned from a red-eye from the coast and a poked eye in the lane to add 26 points, including an NBA finals record-tying seven 3-pointers.
6019. jexster - 6/18/2008 8:11:40 PM France sucks 6020. alistairConnor - 6/20/2008 10:20:29 PM well that's true. 6021. alistairConnor - 6/20/2008 10:23:40 PM Now that I no longer have a dog in the hunt, I'm enjoying the Euro much more.
Last night's quarter final, Portugal-Germany, was pure joy. Halfway through, I found myself regretting that one of these teams had to lose. It was the Portugeezers.
And now... the Turks are at the gates of Vienna. The siege is long and arduous. Turkey 0-0 Croatia at full time. Extra time, the players are dead on their feet. Croatia score five minutes from the end. And Turkey equalise in the final seconds...
They are setting up for the penalty shoot-out now.
It lacks the quality of last night's match, but it's very spirited. 6022. jexster - 6/22/2008 12:23:32 AM Jexie's SportsMAN of the Week
 6023. jexster - 6/22/2008 12:39:14 AM My little Slav boy toy
Russia's Andrei Arshavin reacts after the quarterfinal match between the Netherlands and Russia in Basel, Switzerland, Saturday, June 21, 2008, at the Euro 2008 European Soccer Championships in Austria and Switzerland. Russia defeated Netherlands 3-1 6024. jexster - 6/22/2008 12:44:59 AM I found me a puppy dog for this hunt
Finally a reason to watch SOCCER
Rafa bites trophies.
My little Andrei asks the world to keep our forbidden love hidden
Russia's Andrei Arshavin, foregound, and Russia's Dmitri Torbinski celebrate after Arshavin scored his side's 3rd goal during the quarterfinal match between the Netherlands and Russia
 6025. jexster - 6/22/2008 1:13:49 AM Pretty easy on the eyes himself!
in fact...so I don't clog the thread
 6026. jexster - 6/23/2008 12:46:46 AM The Beast is Back!
 6027. jexster - 6/23/2008 1:16:30 AM "We had the better Dutchman"!
Isn't he a doll! 6028. jexster - 6/23/2008 2:32:28 AM Lip smackin good..num num
Arshavin's destruction of the Dutch has club suitors licking their lips
Line forms at the rear
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