1.18.07

Quick Picks...

I personally think that the Chargers should just stay home and enjoy the weather...because they're going to get absolutely smacked.

The NFC game could be interesting---but I just have a feeling that Brett Favre has the Packers too inspired to lose to anyone but New England---and I'm not certain that that will happen.

Patriots win: 38-14.

Packers win: 21-16

Which leads to:

THE MOST SIGNIFICANT SUPER BOWL IN HISTORY.





From the Beauty Parlor...

I was at the beauty parlor getting my sideburns trimmed yesterday and heard something that threw me for a loop. (If my former-roommate can call them "hairdos" I can call them "beauty parlors".)

One of the "stylists" (stylists use "product", barbers use "gel") started talking about Eddie Murphy's recently-ended two week marriage. A short dialogue took place until one of the women blurted out, "He's kind of a self-centered, sleazy bastard."

Really?

He's kind of a self-centered, sleazy bastard???

How can you be kind of a self-centered, sleazy bastard?

Isn't that a pretty definitive statement?

I started thinking about how I was going to write about this, and I kept coming back to the "kind of pregnant" cliche---so I thought I'd try to come up with a few different analogous "kind of" or "partially" scenarios and let you decide which one you like the best.

Here we go...

"Jimmy kind of started that forest fire."

"Kevin sort of took part in that KKK rally."

"Judy has a small case of leprosy."

"Father Daniels kind of sexually abused little Timmy."

"Artie kind of used your deodorant."

"Jeff kind of smelled his finger after sticking it in his ear."

"Tom kind of roots for Washington and Gonzaga."

"Aaron believes in part of the Book of Mormon."

"Jessica kind of turned her laundry room into a meth-lab."

"Joey kind of drank hydrochloric acid."

"Lisa sort of only owns Jordache jeans."



Much Needed...

Nice win last night for Jon Brockman and the mighty University of Washington. Another win against Oregon State Saturday would give them a little momentum heading to a trip to the two Arizona schools---two wins there and they're right back in the hunt for post-season play.

Obviously I'm getting ahead of myself---but the team that showed up last night: run and gun, good on-ball defense, and making free throws--is good enough to compete in the Pac-10. Unfortunately, they've only played that way twice this year.

Rest in Miserable Peace

Bobby Fischer, the biggest whack-job, anti-Semitic, disgrace of a former chess champion died yesterday. I searched all over for it, but couldn't find a clip of the Jeremy Schaap Sportscenter piece from a couple of years ago.

Essentially, Dick Schaap--Jeremy's father and one of the foremost sports journalists of all-time--took Fischer under his wing while Fischer was a child competing against the world's greatest chess-masters. Fischer was virtually without parental guidance, and it was Schaap who would travel with him, take him to Knicks games and offer guidance that the boy-genius desperately needed.

At some point however, Fischer began to disenfranchise himself from his Jewish heritage--as well as any of his Jewish contacts--namely Schaap. He became an outspoken anti-American and anti-Semitic, most notably in a radio interview after 9/11 where he praised the attack on the United States and its Jewish inhabitants.

After being arrested for attempting to use his revoked US Passport, he was jailed in Japan. After serving jail time, he was granted immunity and citizenship in Iceland, and upon arriving in Reykjavik, was met by a flood of reporters---most notably Jeremy Schaap.

His press conference quickly became a dialogue when Schaap began to grill him in front of a room of reporters who were suddenly sitting and watching, calling him out for everything from his contradictory opinions, to denying his Jewish ancestry, and inevitably for his mistreatment of Schaap's benevolent (and since deceased) father.

Generally I'm not a huge Schaap fan, but it was one of the most genuine and deserved cases of someone calling another out in a public place----I wish I could find the clip. Nothing I could find better-articulates the depth of Bobby Fischer's dementia. He was certainly a genius, but also a terrible person...I almost hope that he is remembered for the latter, as his behavior over the last 40 years of his life are not deserved of being treated with reverence.


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