I can handle more days like this...

• My math class was cancelled so I had no school tonight.
• Liverpool beat West Ham 2-1 to pull within 2 points of 2nd place Chelsea on the table. Peter Crouch had a goal and an assist to celebrate his 26th birthday.
• The Penguins beat Florida 3-0 to run their record to 6-0-1 in their last 7 games. Another dominating performance by Flower. And there's word of them acquiring some veteran defensive help before the trade dealine. This team could make a run...

Flower shuts the door on the Panthers

YouTube-a-palooza!

Enjoy...

Pens vs. Stars


Ruutu vs. Robidas


Yo Gabba Gabba!


Top 10 Jagr goals

What $3.05 can get you on ebay (plus shipping)

My Genesis library is starting to round into shape with the recent addition of the following:

Cyberball

FIFA International Soccer

Galaxy Force 2
(to this day I regret buying Desert Strike instead of this one day at the mall.)

John Madden Football '92

Speedball 2

Sports Talk Baseball

And I only had to drive for 6 hours!

So I went to the Penguins game in Dallas last night. What a freaking awesome game! The 1st period was a bit of a snooze-fest, but things quickly turned around in the 2nd after the Pens got on the board, compliments of Jordan Staal. Mark Recchi chipped in a pair of goals, including a power-play goal with about 8 minutes to play that tied it up. The goal was also the 500th of his career. Props to the Stars fans for giving the Wrackin' Ball a nice standing O. The game moved into OT, and the overtime period was INTENSE. Both teams had some chances, but the Stars definitely had quality opportunities to end it. They couldn't though and the Pens uncharacteristically won in a shootout, with their proud papas on hand to boot.

The Pens left quite an impression on the Stars.

The real story of the game in my opinion was Marc-Andre Fleury. If the Pens make the playoffs this season it will be because of him. That's not a knock on Sid or Geno, the Pens' defense is just that bad. Flower was killing the Stars all night and brought the fans out of their seats on a couple occasions. He got a couple lucky breaks too, but that's all part of the deal when things are going well. He also stopped all three shooters in the shootout to secure the extra point for the Penguins. That is especially noteworthy when you consider the Stars are one of the best shootout teams in the league.

Not this time Sergei!

All in all the game was more than worth the drive and the price of admission. Dallas has a nice arena and a fun area around it to eat and such. I'm looking forward to seeing the Pens there again when they come back... in 3 years :(

Mixed emotions...

I know I said that I don't want the Penguins to move, and I still don't, but ownership met with officials in Houston today. And this is after being presented with what Mario deemed an insulting arena offer from Pittsburgh officials. I really don't want the Pens to leave the 'Burgh, but if they are, PLEASE let it be to Houston!!!

Mega Post: It's been a long time coming...

Let's get right to it!

• I'm back in school for real now. The ice has all melted and I have officially attended every class exactly one time. yipee...
• The Pens killed Toronto 8-2 Saturday night to head into the All-Star break on a high. There next game is at Dallas, and yes I will be there. One word to describe me when I think about that... giddy.
• Liverpool beat Chelsea 2-0 at home on Saturday also to possibly ressurect their title hopes. At least they'll be well rested down the stretch since they are out of the FA Cup and Carling Cup. I'm mostly serious there.
• 24 is officially better on DVD. Not much happened tonight except that we learned that the rest of Jack's family is trying to take over the world. More or less...
• And finally, in what is some of the saddest news ever, Berkeley Iceland is closing down. California is just about dead to me at this point. I wish I had the means to fly back and skate there one last time.

Farewell Iceland, we hardly knew ye...

We have liftoff!

So after an ordeal that was too long and painful to detail here, I have a working Sega Genesis up and running. And I couldn't be happier. For years I proclaimed the Genesis to be my favorite all-time console, and the last 24 hours have done nothing to dampen that point of view. There's also just something nice about getting to play Sonic 2 and World of Illusion with your kids. Takes the Genesis legacy to a whole new level. It doesn't hurt when Sonic 2 is probably better than any game that came out last year with the exception of the new Zelda.

Gaming at its best?

Family fun for two!

Baby it's cold outside...

This is what our week has looked like. It stared out with heavy rain/flooding over the weekend and turned into three solid days of ice/sleet/snow. Schools have been closed all week which has meant no school for Ainsley and no school or work for me. Awesome indeed! Looks like it should be back to reality tomorrow though. Just in time for Ainsley's birthday.

Book Review: How Soccer Explains the World

So I finished Franklin Foer's How Soccer Explains the World today. It was a very good read and a very fresh take on globalization. A lot of the American mainstream media likes to crap all over soccer (and Foer addresses that), but it was nice to have a nice work that presents just how important soccer is around the world. Foer really did a great job with the book as he looked at a wide variety of topics ranging from English hooligans, to the state of soccer in Brazil, to the Italian elite, to how soccer is impacting Islam in Iran.

My only complaint with this book would be the chapter dealing with FC Barcelona. Foer immediately stated that he is a big Barca fanboy, but this chapter was still a little much. I'm sure Barca is great and all, but he was laying it on a little thick. I was waiting for him to tell us how the players all got together and cured cancer during half time of a big game.

All in all I would recommend this book to anyone with an interest in soccer, or if you just want a refreshing and informative view of the world.

Day 6: 8am-10am

Here's my reaction to Monday night's episodes of 24:

• Curtis should have bought into the "less talk, more action" way of life. (And Jack can cry and barf all he wants, but from here on he'll always be the guy who killed Curtis.)
• Somebody nuked L.A. ... it's about time!
• Wayne Palmer learned the wrong lessons from his brother. "Oh sure, let's give the terrorists what they want!" Yeah, that always works out well.
• Sandra Palmer is a turd. And her boyfriend is up to something.
• I'm not buying the whole Milo is back thing. Where was he when the rest of them were getting blown up and gassed? What a fair-weathered worker. And he's just weird looking. He should start dating the Frankenstein looking guy from season 3.

Day 6: 6am - 8am

So what have we learned after 2 hours?

• Jack Bauer is part vampire.
• Chloe has a new partner in crime (and possibly a new partner).
• Buchanon married the Homeland Security chick, which means one of them must DIE.
• We have another President who doesn't think he's up to the task.
• Stabbing Jack Bauer in the spine does nothing.
• Even after being tortured for two solid years Jack Bauer was able to give himself a haircut better than any I have ever gotten... in 5 minutes!

All in all I have a good feeling about this season after the first two hours. I just hope Jack gets his taste for torture back. What was that "I can't do this anymore" crap all about Jack?!?

And the 7th day became Day 6!

So Season 6 of 24 starts tonight. Here are my predictions:

• Jack will brutally interogate a government employee.
• Mrs. Logan will still be crazy.
• Kim Bauer will still be an idiot.
  
• Wayne Palmer will be a better President than Logan, but not as good as his brother (the State Farm guy).
• Chloe will secretly do something against protocol to help Jack.
• Bill Buchanon, Audrey Raines, Chloe and/or Morris O'Brien, and Jack Bauer will all DIE!
• Something really important will blow up.
• Jack will kill more than 10 terrorists in a 3 minute span.
• There will be a mole within CTU.
• Jack will blow up China.

Obviously I went a little more out on a limb with some of these than others, but I wanted to have a couple gimmes to cover my you-know-what. Turn the phone off and enjoy kids... it's Bauer Time!!

This sucks...

I am still intent on making a legit post, but we're having network/router issues right now so I'm putting most of my computer energy into that at the moment. Sorry...

Sorry I've been neglecting you...

Substantial post(s?) coming soon...