Archive of Midwestbias with Jack Fu and The Diddy
Welcome back ebloggy
In the beginning, there was ebloggy. Then ebloggy crashed and burned. yay for ebloggy. The mwb migrated to our new site at blogger. All of the old stuff is here, so view at viewing pleasure.
-The Diddy
The Diddy 22/03/05 4:25 AM Comments (0)
Sock Her!
Thought some of yous would be interested in this story I just picked up off the internet. Comments to follow.
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A Playboy Playmate accused of karate-kicking the ex-girlfriend of NFL quarterback Jeff Garcia was acquitted Wednesday of a misdemeanor assault charge.
But Carmella DeCesare, who is dating the Cleveland Browns player, was convicted of violating a protection order and placed on probation for one year.
Judge Anita Laster Mays also ordered DeCesare to pay a $150 fine and serve 24 hours of community service.
According to testimony, Garcia dated Kristen Hine, 32, four or five times but later dropped her for DeCesare, 22.
The Playmate of the Year testified Wednesday that Garcia cheated on her with Hine. Nasty phone calls and threatening voice mails followed and culminated in a confrontation Aug. 21 at the Tramp nightclub.
Name-calling ensued, and a friend of Hine's dumped a drink on DeCesare. Each woman had to be restrained. Hine accused DeCesare of grabbing a dance pole and kicking her in the head.
DeCesare told the judge that she was dancing on a table when one of Hine's friends started "coming at me full-force, swinging like a guy."
She said she kicked the woman in self-defense but denied kicking Hine.
Garcia testified that DeCesare was defending herself. "It's embarrassing that I am here today, to be caught up in a situation like this," he said.
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Wow. Okay. There's a lot going on there. I'm gonna have to separate my comments into 3 categories: the GOOD, the BAD, and the UGLY. But I'm gonna go in reverse order.
UGLY: Jeff Garcia is an ugly, ugly man. Just a reminder. That fact kind of gets lost in all this.
BAD: Jeff Garcia cheated on the reigning Playmate of the Year. I'm gonna repeat that because it bears repeating. Jeff Garcia cheated on the reigning Playmate of the Year. That's bad, and all those rumors about Garcia being gay are apparently true.
GOOD: Finally, the one redeeming quality to this story - "Hine accused DeCesare of grabbing a dance pole and kicking her in the head." The mental image of a scantily-clad playmate grabbing a stripper pole hurling herself around it, and kicking her archnemesis in the face while still parallel to the ground is just plain good, no matter how you look at it.
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And on an entirely different note (and in my eternal attempt to anger Todd), MLS Superdraft 2005 is tomorrow. I can't wait. Without a doubt, "Superdraft" is my favorite compound word in the English language. I just like saying it. "Superdraft." It's great!
Anyway, up until a few days ago, I actually wasn't nearly as pumped as I usually am this time of year. Basically, that's because the Crew's first pick isn't until late in the second round. Superdraft is enough of a crapshoot. Not having one of the first 19 picks is like playing with only one die. But then the trade rumors started rolling in and now my excitement is bubbling like the pink drink when it just got all the beer poured into it. Is Ruiz really on the trading block? Are we getting rid of Cunningham? A 3-way trade involving Sanneh, Razov, and Pope. Are you kidding me? The only thing hotter would be AN ACTUAL 3-way involving these players. I'm all Jesse Spano about this: I'M SO EXCITED! I'M SO EXCITED! I'M SO...SCARED! Are any of these a good move for our team? How much do you want to fuck with a team that had the league's best record last year? I don't know. I'll just have to wait and see.
And if you find yourself saying, "That's great Nips, but I want ...no... I NEED more soccer coverage on the blog.", I'll reply by saying, settle down Todd. More soccer coverage is right around the corner, including my MLS 2005 preview. After all, opening day is only 79 days away.
- We Have To Nipple This Thing in the Buddle (This is funny because the Crew's leading scorer is named Edson Buddle. Furthermore, any joke/pun that you have to explain is automatically hilarious.)
The Diddy 13/01/05 8:51 PM Comments (1)
That's how I like 'em
I just looked at Forde's preseason top 25 for next year. Some interesting choices. My thoughts:
* I refuse to put Texas ahead of Oklahoma until the Longhorns actually win that game. If you're gonna put Texas at #2, you damn well better be putting the Sooners at #1. But he's not. Obviously, because...
* USC, the greatest team in the history of everything, with Jesus Christ as coach and Moses calling the plays, is the clear-cut #1. "The Trojans could be the unanimous preseason No. 1"? You think? They were nearly unanimous preseason #1 this year, and they were replacing their top 3 receivers, 3/4 of their DL, and 4/5 of their OL. Sweet merciful crap, I hope someone beats them next year. But it won't happen, because...
* There isn't another Pac-10 team in the top 25 for next year. Oh wait, yes, Arizona State is in there at #16. That's it. USC is gonna beat every team they play by 40 next year, until their bowl game. And if they play Oklahoma in their bowl game, they'll win that one by 40, too.
* Although maybe you have to take these rankings with something of a grain of salt, as this jackass only has 3 Big Ten teams in his preseason top 25. In what might be one of the league's deepest years in recent memory. Plus, he has Michigan at #3. I don't know about that. I'd go top 10, but Jesus, yeah, they return a lot of guys, but they are losing FOUR FIRST-TEAM ALL-AMERICANS (although Mach 3 Shazor was vastly overrated). Overall the conference breakdown in Pat Forde's mind goes:
ACC, Big XII, SEC - 5 each
Big 10 - 3
Pac 10, WAC - 2 each
Big East, C-USA, MAC - 1 each
* Best part: in writing why he has Florida State in the top-25, he says "It's not like losing Chris Rix is going to hurt." What? I had him as a darkhorse Heisman contender this year! I think he's really gonna put it all together!
* Having Lousiville and Tennessee ahead of us seems kind of bizarre. I mean, I GUESS you could make an argument for everyone else ... okay, LSU bugs me, too.
Okay, the NFL Playoffs
Since Todd decided to do some half-assed predictions, I thought I'd throw up (literally) some of my own. Okay...
Jets at Steelers
I have no rational reason why, but I think the Jets are gonna win this game. Just a gut feeling. I mean, Pennington is playing better, the defense is really popping, Roethlisboban has never been in a playoff game before ... nah. On second thought, I'm going with the Steelers. A powerful running game and a great defense win you playoff games. Once you add in Hines Ward, Plexiglass Burress, and Antwaan Randle El, the Steel Guys seem like a good pick. But the Jets hang around and give them more than a little bit of a scare. Steelers 24, J-E-T-S 14.
Colts at Patriots
I'm rooting for Manning, but I get the bad feeling that everyone is on the side of the upset here. The Colts are just too trendy right now, and one of Sports Guy's cardinal rules is "seek out popular opinion, and go the other way." Everyone's leaning toward taking Manning and the Colts, and it makes perfect logical sense. The Pats' secondary is banged up, the Colts have tons of weapons, blah blah blah. Hell, the weather is even supposed to be nice. But I get the bad feeling that Belichick has something up his sleeve, like he's gonna come out in the first ever 1-6-4 defense, with blitzes coming at bizarre angles and such - basically playing football's first Temple-style matchup zone. I heard somewhere that the Pats picked Pepe Sanchez up off waivers... Plus, they can play the keep-away game with Corey Dillon. Patriots 33, Colts 30.
Vikings at Eagles
How will Philly play without T.O.? We still don't know. Logically though, even without him, they're a better team than last year, when they got to the NFC title game ... again. Still, the Vikings ... well, they're not really "hot" per se, but everyone expected tham to lay down and die in Green Bay last week, and they did nothing of the sort. The Eagles will get some points against a relatively porous Minny defense, but the game will come down to whether or not the Eagle D can stop Culpepper and Moss. My money says that they do. To a point. Eagles 20, ViQueens 16.
Rams at Falcons
Boy, do I not care about this game. Plus I have to get to class. "But the children learned to function as a society, and in time they were rescued by oh, let's say .. Moe." Rams 27, Falcons 20.
-Fu
The Diddy 12/01/05 6:18 PM Comments (3)
Fully extended
Since I was scolded for not mentioning the NFL in my previous post, let's do it.
Last week:
-I can't believe how hard the chargers laid an egg. Easily the most disappointing moment of the weekend.
- I think Favre comes back for exactly one more season.
-Where does Randy Moss's fro rank in the all-time great fros??? I'm saying top 2. That thing is amazing.
Prediction for this weekend:
Jets at Steelers: The score might not be lopsided, but I bet the TOP is as well as the entire game. I'm expecting a beat down. Steelers 24 Jets 10
Colts at Pats: Who doesn't want Manning to torch New England?? Too bad I don't think it'll happen. Expect a good one though. Dillon is too much, but the horseshoes give 'em all they want. Pats 27 Colts 24
Vikings at Eagles: Suddenly the vikings are the team to beat in the nfc. I didn't see the 6 seed becoming the best team, but who am I to argue. Without TO, the eagles continue to be margainal. Moss is pumped and Dante is on fire. Should be fun. Vikings 34 Eagles 28
Rams at Falcons: For no reason at all I'm going to pick the Rams. Why you ask? Because I want the 5 seed to host a playoff game for what I assume would be the first time in history. Please let it happen. St. Louie 27 Hotlanta 17
Enjoy that beatches
-Dids
The Diddy 11/01/05 3:05 AM Comments (0)
Doin' it bloggy style
Ahhh, it feels good to be back. Glad to see that there's been some discussion happening in my absense, and hopefully everyone checked out our soc on the crappy bowl games. Don't forget that we here at theblog.net had a bowl.challenge between the fu and I. Let's see how that finished up. In an amazing comeback, combined with my terrible late game picks, we managed to finish in 14-14 tie. Everyone kiss their sister please. Fu managed to go 9-3 over the last 12 games to pull even for the dead heat. I still can't believe I picked Florida to beat Miami. I'm not sure what I was doing.
Since I'm the resident guru on baseball, I feel I need to speak on its behalf. Fu brought to my attention that it was said that Carlos Beltran is Bobby Abreu with better marketing. I'm not sure who said it, but basically, it couldn't be more correct. The numbers over the past 3 seasons are almost identical. They are even in steals. Beltran has a couple more homers and rbi and abreu has a better average and more runs scored. The only difference? Beltran is three years younger and did massive damage in the playoffs. Therefore he's got more upside, and hubie brown couldn't be more proud. I'm not sure what abreu's contract is, but I'm sure it's not even close to 7-$119. What's fantastic is that he's going to suck with the mets along with pedro. I'll lay odds that the mets still finish no better than 4th place in the NL East this year. It'll be fun to watch.
Responses:
Geiger Counter - I don't see how he could have done better with his coach hiring or improvement of the facilities. His emphasis on the "minor" sports was an incredible addition as well. There's no debating that. However, I just never liked the guy. He always seemed like an ass and the people I knew that knew him always backed that up. Clearly not the most likeable person. If he was just a little personable, he might have gone down as one of the greatest people ever in ohio st. sports history. Instead, he'll be remembered for being an ass but with incredible results. Also, he made it cost for osu students to use the golf course. That's a non-forgivable offense. I'll give his reign an 8/10.
Early look at next season.
Everyone else is doing it, so I'll join in. I still think we'll be ranked right around 6 pre-season. I also think we are going to stick it to Texas. Aren't they basically ok st, but with a quicker qb?? Losing nugent is a killer. Hopefully we find someone to just be half as good as him. With that said, here's an early look at my order for next season...
1) Iowa (8-0): I think they'll go undefeated and play for the national title
2) Ohio St. (7-1): Feels like a 1 loss season
3) Michigan (6-2): Losing Braylon hurts, but they'll be fine
4) Penn St. (5-3): The middle of the pack is down a bit, and the lions have a solid season and head to the outback bowl.
4) Mich St. (5-3): It all comes down to stanton, they go as he goes.
6) Purdue (4-4): Tiller will catch some heat during this season
7) Minny (3-5): They're just such enormous pussies.
7) Wisky (3-5): Be ready for a down season
9) Northwestern (2-6): I'm just not feeling it for the wildcats in '05
10) The Ill-noise (1-7): More competitive, but they've got no talent. Give Zook 2 years.
10) Indiana (1-7): Some things never change.
-Dids
The Diddy 10/01/05 10:10 PM Comments (6)
Response to the Nipsey News
RE: Item 1 - Buckeye Hoops
From what I heard about the game, we had a nice showing. College Gamenight praised us on a solid effort. There is undoubtedly reason for some optimism. I’m not sure I’d be calling Illinois a "bigger, stronger team" though. They start a center, two 3s, and two points. Augustine is 6'10" and they don’t have another starter over 6'5". I think height is overrated anyways, ever since Iowa State’s 2000 team was the second-best team in the country and even outrebounded MSU, and their starting lineup went 6'1", 6'1", 6'3", 6'4", and 6'8" (and Marcus Fizer was the 6'8" guy – he was 6'8" like Chazz Barkley was 6'8"). And I am simultaneously proud and ashamed to admit that I am one of the half-dozen people outside of Ames, IA who can name all 5 of them off the top of my head (for the interested [and I know there are none of you], they were, in order of height: Michael Nurse, Kantrell Horton, Jamaal Tinsley, Stevie Johnson, and Marcus Viagra). Anyways, it’s a bummer this team isn’t postseason-eligible, ‘cause this feels like one of those years when we’d be RIGHT on the bubble. And the bubble-watch has gotta be fun to go through. Irregardless, I couldn’t be happier that we’ve got Matta locked up through 2064.
RE: Item 2 - OSU Hockey doing well and no one cares
No one cares that the NHL went away, either. I mean, I knew there wouldn’t be an uproar, but I didn’t think the lockout would be met by THIS MUCH apathy. I mean, NO ONE gives a shit. But good for the Puck Bucks. Their success makes me happy.
RE: Item 3 - Buckeye Football makes me happy
Indeed. Although I’m terrified of what might come out if the NCAA decided to really, really check us out thoroughly, you can’t help but be optimistic about the ‘05 Bucks. If no one leaves early, we’ll be returning something in the neighborhood of 18 starters. As long as Smith or Zwick (whoever wins the job) play to their late-season form, we’ll be a tough team to beat.
I’m mildly shocked that both Herbstreit and Corso have us ahead of Texas. Must be because they lose Benson and Johnson. Sports Illustrated has also come out with their preseason top-10 for next year. I heard about it on the radio - I think they have us at #5. They had Michigan at #2. Yeah, I don’t know either. Similarly affronting, they’ve listed their top-10 Undefeated College Football Seasons of all-time. No, the 2002 Buckeyes didn’t make the list (though the ‘68 version did, at #9). I suppose that’s understandable, when set up against 1995 Nebraska and 1987 Miami and such. The appalling part? 2004 USC is #4. Fourth-greatest perfect season of all-time. And no 2002 OSU. I’m literally so angry right now, that I’m seeing things. See, people tend to forget this, since the media bashed the Big Ten that whole season, but the Big Ten that year was TOUGH. That 2002 OSU team beat 8 teams that went to bowls (not counting the Fiesta Bowl win over Miami). Compare that to USC’s 6. Even more impressive, OSU’s bowl-bound opponents went 5-3 in their bowl games, while USC’s went 2-4. So one bowl win over a mentally-weak opponent with a down’s syndrome baby playing QB somehow means they had one of the greatest seasons of all-time? Wha? Like I said. Angry. Seeing things.
Item - Geiger retires
Quick responses to Jeff:
* Yes, I seriously doubt Geiger had knowledge of any goings-on that may have been, uh ... going on ... with boosters. But him retiring when he did, for whatever reasons he did, is creating a firestorm around the program. The national media is jumping all over this. Around the Horn and PTI on Wednesday both strongly implied that Geiger must be trying to get out before things get too hot. Bizarrely, both shows even made the logistical belly-flop that Geiger’s retirement means that everything Clarett alleged was actually true. Whatever his motives for retiring may have been, the action itself is creating more and more controversy and speculation.
You can’t fault his hirings. Don’t forget girls B-ball coach Jim Foster.
Sears cup emphasis is great.
The facilities are nice. He’s leaving us with much better facilities than we had when he came in. He’s also leaving us with like 200 billion dollars of debt because of those facilities...
The Diddy 07/01/05 7:24 PM Comments (6)
Quick Update
Sports Guy’s annual playoff gambling manifesto is up, where he lists his rules for gambling on the NFL playoffs. Never really gets old. And this one is notable because, while he inexplicably considers John Navarre to be "the most obscure starting QB in NFL history," we now learn that he is aware of the existence of a man named Michael Doss. Gives me the warm-and-fuzzies.
http://sports.espn.go.com/espn/page2/story?page=simmons/050107a
The Diddy 07/01/05 6:31 PM Comments (0)
