the most wonderful time of the year...

it's clementine season, folks, and i've consumed eight of them in the past 24 minutes. gluttony? sure. but sweet, fruity, easy-to-peel gluttony. and they were free [mom's the greatest], although i'll have to replenish by tuesday, i'd imagine.

very very low-key weekend. saturday I (that is, friday), saw me spending a few hours with coach and brysi at the brysi pad. probably three hours. (highlight, but not because they're not nice people: walking outside to see snow covering the street and cars. i don't like snow much, but the first one sure is beautiful.)

saturday II (that is, saturday) saw me meeting a former coworker at allstate arena for northwestern-depaul.

and that was it. otherwise, hung out with the boy and the parents, which isn't entirely bad. spent a few hours (maybe 90 minutes, actually) on the treadmill. enjoyed the notre dame game saturday night. worked on a su doku puzzle for the first time. finished an intermediate puzzle (from the trib) in two hours. two hours i can't get back. but my mom, working independently, went to sleep with enough mistakes to warrant the puzzle unsolveable, as well as a large headache. so i came out ahead, although i was also awake for an extra [wasted] half-hour.

otherwise, i watched a lot of football. (although i guess i covered that by mentioning nd-stanford.) ihsa playoffs featured some fantastic games, including a double-ot 8a game (saw pieces of it). i didn't see nebraska-colorado, which i always love, [and would have loved more had i seen it, being that slime-of-the-world gary lost, and lost bad, and would have loved it even more had iowa state done the job saturday] but i enjoyed the heck out of texas-texas a&m, where the young a&m quarterback ran around like a maniac, and kept it a game.

northwestern comments:
they did not look particularly good, and carmody quickly because displeased with the starting backcourt of jenkins and hachad. (combined playing time: 20 minutes.) craig moore saw lots of time. he appears to be another in a long line of small white guys (see: seacat, evan, and i can't think of any others) who can't actually shoot. however, he did play a pretty good "floor" game. that is, i think he understood what he was doing.

vukusic is, quite simply, the only option. the only option. nobody can score, even a bit. this is because nobody can shoot and, once the opposition packs in a zone, there are no layups to be had.

tim doyle played pretty well. it seemed like he had more than the two (i think) steals that he was credited with. he caused several second-half turnovers, and was the biggest reason that nu sliced an 11-point halftime deficit to five points early in the second half, and eventually to three.

sterling williams was hesitant, missing two layups. bernard cote looks nothing like i expected. he's a bit chubby, really, and doesn't look like the leaper i had somehow decided he was. he was a non-factor in his first start.

and vedran was, of course, spectacular at times. there was at least one occassion where, had he followed his shot, he'd've had a putback dunk. but i guess that's nit-picking.

a bit frustrated, i guess, but i'll be at the bar watching nu-virginia on espnu wednesday night. i'm a dork, if you've not noticed.

i think it's great that northwestern and depaul play, and i think it should be an annual thing. this weekend would be a great one for it. i'd also like to see uic and loyola join in in a one-site tournament. i think ten-thousand could potentially show up for something like that (9,000-plus was announced saturday), and i think it would get nice local exposure. but i'm an idiot.

entering dave letterman (his mom was fantasic thursday night, by the way) territory, it's time for regret? not a regret?

i was with a coworker at the game saturday afternoon. we arrived about 35 minutes before game time. about 15 minutes before gametime, former nu student eddie winslow showed up with an older man, presumably his dad. i thought, that's not him. but it was.

i didn't say hello. what's there to talk about?

about five minutes into the game, i realize that eddie and dad are seated behind me. one row back, three seats right. i could tell because of the distinctive voice ("yeah. i'm from schiller park." [can't type the accent]) and the incisive criticism. ("get a board, freakin' vince scott!") still, didn't say hello.

at the half, the pa announcer introduced the crowd to depaul great (now a grizzlies scout) david booth. [if you're a dork, you'll love the site. couldn't find an actual bio anywhere, although it probably wouldn't take much. still, it's got to get a laugh from someone out there. jo jo english!] i thought it was hilarious. "blast from the past" hilarious. so did he. still, didn't say hello.

after more incisive wit ("get a freakin' rebound, vince!"...quite similar to the sounds coming from my seat, of course) throughout the second half, and a disappointing finish, it was time for the mvp trophy presentation. to be presented by les grostein, chicago late night sports yakker of the late-90's... the guy who recorded lee elia's tirade... the guy who can talk about 1970's uic basketball for hours at a time [i've heard it] ... . [his site, grobbernet, comes up on google but apparently doesn't exist.] les grobstein=hilarious name. i laughed out loud when i heard it. so did eddie winslow. still, didn't say hello.

regret, not a regret.

regret, although i'll say that we're both to blame. he had to see me, right?

quick report prior to thanksgiving.

tuesday night saw a highly-entertaining visit with nemo friend sukach, in town to make sure that local tv station ownership wasn't lying to the world. beers were consumed, laughs were shared, and conversation was generally without-pause.

it's a risky proposition to spend time with someone you don't actually know, but it worked out tremendously well. i think it wound up being about an eight-to-midnight kind of night, and it was good. and corporate america footed the bill. woof.

- - - - -

i spent much of the summer of 2003 at the casino. losing money. regularly. once twice in a day. (like...play blackjack for three hours, get my haircut, play blackjack for three more hours.) it was an unhealthy summer.

so jeff and i briefly discussed casino-ing last night. and then i wound up in a conversation with boss2 about gambling. and i got the urge to play blackjack wednesday night.

so then i tried to recruit a co-worker. then i tried to recruit a former coworker. and then i resigned myself to spending the night cleaning up the apartment in a pre-thanksgiving disinfecting session. but then, come ten o'clock, i decided i was ready to play blackjack.

so i dropped in sixty bucks. and i lost 20 on the first round. and midway through the second round i got 7-7 against a dealer 5. my bet was ten dollars. i had 30 dollars sitting in front of me. 7-7...bust card out...you split. have to split. and then another 7. so i split again. then a three. so i double. and when i'm done playing the hand, i've got a 7-3-3, a 7-5, and a 7-8. and dealer doesn't bust. and i dig into the wallet. (i dug out the remaining 50 bucks. wallet was empty at this point.)

but it worked out from there. i made some well-timed larger bets. i split 7-7 against a 3, and turned it into 7-3-9 (double), 7-6, and 7-8. but the mark the dealer (just in for danny) did his job and busted for me. so, by the end of the night, i had played for about 80 minutes or so. and i turned the 110 i put in into 200 bucks. happy days.

according to my records, this was my first winning gambling venture (my fifth venture overall) since 5/31/04. but i'm over it now. still, nice to win.

- - - - - -

rough thanksgiving plans:

thursday morning: cut down the christmas tree with the fam (garsh). leave the aunt's by 5 or so.

thursday night: catch up with uncontacted high school friend?

friday: watch nebraska-colorado. i always watch it. i love the game. even though it's basically meaningless. friday's my favorite game of the year.

friday night: the wedding crew from last weekend?

saturday: ?? watch the irish

sunday: try to drive home in time to catch the entire bears game. this implies departure by 8 a.m. or so. i think i can make it happen.

- - - - - -

i've officially requested four-day weekend time for the gurs yuletide party. a pollstar search indicates not much of a selection. caribou on friday. iron & wine/calexico on sunday night. i've not seen a rock show (an actual rock show, not a covers band and an overpriced qca three-dollar cover) since the electrifying conclusion last new year's eve. i certainly don't want to make it a full year.

nice cats win, nice weekend, nice monday off.

after work friday, took care of some things, then headed to champaign for nu-illinois. the boy's very tidy and extremely well-decorated (a skydome pennant!) apartment was my host, although he wasn't there.

he was nice enough to leave a map for me. a very well-drawn map (he used a ruler and everything). it listed every single street in the vicinity, and marked several points of interest.

the legend on the five-colored map included the following categories:
stadium
liquor stores [it didn't matter, as the fridge was stocked]
burritos
older students [bars catering to the older crowd]
slutty freshmen

needless to say, i was well prepared.

so i met dave and crew out friday night, and we drank some and had a raucous good time. some had a better time than others, and some apparently caused fantastic messes later in the evening. [i stayed at the boy's; they had a room.]

- - - - -

saturday morning saw me briefly struggle to locate my ticket [my source decided not to come...he answered my second call at 10:20 to let me know, but i still made it happen.]

so i located my ticket, got in the gates about ten minutes before kickoff, and reunited the the friday night crew.

game thoughts:

- very satisfying.

nothing else. it was a nice win. the defense pitched a second-half shutout, the running game was incredibly efficient and, outside of a few drops, the passing game was very strong. basanez played the game like a four-year starter in his final regular-season game.

other thoughts:
northwestern is 14-10 in the conference in the last three years. only michigan, ohio state, wisconsin and iowa have more wins. that's quite impressive, i think.

northwestern went 3-1 on the road in the conference. [they also went 2-2 at home.]

the two teams that northwestern did not play in the conference went a combined 5-11. they did get illinois, but they also got the other five teams that finished with at least five wins. that's worth noting, i think.

i noticed kevin mims on the defensive side of the ball. he made a few pretty nice plays. also, somebody named keegan kennedy (#92) played well. i had not noticed him at any other point this season, but he played some dt. got a sack after dropping into coverage, then reacting to bring down brasic as he was scrambling forward. kennedy may have only been on the field for five or ten plays, but he did a good job.

- - - - - -

bowl thoughts:

selfishly, i'm hoping for a music city berth; that's a driveable game, and probably one i'll try to make it to. also a nice time (i think 4 p.m.), which allows for a day-before drive in, a pre-game night out, and a post-game drive back. or perhaps a second night in town. either way, not a bad trip.

el paso is just not worth the expense for me, i don't think.

program-wise, it would appear that the sun bowl is probably a bit better, although neither will result in a mac or conference usa opponent.

the sun bowl is officially big ten no. 5 against pac ten no. 3. the top four in the pac ten are... usc, oregon, ucla and cal. if oregon heads to the bcs (i'm thinking they just might), it's cal. if not, it's ucla. ucla would result in a national tv audience and a great chance to raise the program's profile against a team that was in the top ten for much of the season. (if oregon does go to the bcs, i'm imagining that an arizona state-northwesetern rematch would not be in the offing. they don't do rematches in bowls, right?)

the music city bowl is officially an sec opponent, although they won't fill their obligation. possible opponents would be acc extras boston college and georgia tech. in light of their win over the weekend, at miami, georgia tech is the preferable opponent. they've also been in the top 25 much of the year, or at least part of the year.

- - - - -

post game saturday, i fell asleep watching fresno state-usc. great when i saw it. bush is incredible.

sunday, i watched the bears. hit up a high school friend's wedding (sunday night=room 'til ten). today, i headed to the dentist (it's been a while, but i passed), then returned to the port. returning to the view post-festivities on thursday.

- - - -

cats' hoops just won. now, some work to do to get things out for tomorrow. sukach sighting tomorrow night? let's make it happen.

big ups to nemo. i was lamenting my struggles making a tape and he said, bluntly (but helpfully), "nobody's going to hire you anyway." and it's true. so i decided to stop striving for perfection and, voila, i found a darn good game. july 9 which was, coincidentally, also one of the game's in which i was angriest.

some good stuff. lots of player background. "he's an athlete that the angels are trying to turn into a baseball player." "they were collegiate teammates, but never actually played next to each other until they became pros; x is converting from third base." "dives. spears it. from his chest. up to his haunches. fires to second. that'll do it."

so i should be able to get things out maybe monday morning, more likely tuesday morning. which will be a nice thing to be done with. here's 500 hours, boiled down to 20 minutes. enjoy.

i've actually put reasonably good effort into this; there are some promising openings, and i'll hope to make something happen. but it's important for me to remember to keep expectations reasonable. three previous offseasons, one sucker nibbled. the rest politely hung up on me.

- - - -

big weekend ahead. to champaign tomorrow. the boy's opened up the apartment to me. he'll be long since departed. hopefully some quality dave n' friends time on friday night. need to locate henderson for tickets saturday morning. hopefully a win for 7-4...

the boy tells me that, because it's break and because the illini are awful and because zook's a used car salesman and an idiot, the illinois ticket office is expecting a tiny crowd on saturday. very tiny. like, between 5,000 and 10,000 tiny. which just means that i'll be noticeable. or audible, anyway. i wonder if the band's coming...i hope so.

i need to get a few things done before departure on friday night. foremost among them, get directions. (take 74 and follow the signs, stupid.)

also:
- pick up suitcase 2 at borders. (i've decided i'll do this whether i receive the next $25 gift card or not. it'll be a great travel companion.)
- purchase gloves. i've been told target has a great sale. i somehow manage to lose my gloves every spring and summer.
- return a book to the library.
- shove my laundry in a suitcase. an actual suitcase. (trips home every three weeks=coming in under laundry budget)
- remember to pack my "formal" clothes

heading home after the game sometime saturday. no saturday commitments, nor a real desire for any. watch the biggest bears game of the season on sunday. high school friend's wedding sunday night. tending to oral hygeine monday. back to the port monday afternoon/night. (finishing up resume stuff at this point.) rat race tuesday and wednesday. thanksgiving on the farm, then back to the 'burbs for at least part of the weekend. no plans set for next weekend.

- - - - - - - -

football player as modern-day caveman:
"let's go shoot guns."
"okay, but first let's eat meat. i like meat."
"i like beer with my meat."
[later]
"mmmm...beer and meat."
"mmmmm."
"let me have another beer. six actually."
"good idea."
"you know what else is a good idea?"
"what?"
"let's go shoot guns."
"guns are fun."
[later]
[pow! pow! pow!]
[bam! bam! bam!]
"what did you say about my mother."
"mvredge."
"don't talk about my mother!"
"adfkle;lajk."
thwack!
pow!

- - - - - -

ladies and gentlemen, your chicago bears.

i like this story even better than the panthers cheerleader story. go bears!

remember how i wrote two weeks ago about trying to build a freakin' demo cd? well, it's still hard as hell. i tried over the weekend - did about five hours of listening and scribbling - and i've done more tonight - about five more hours with a 30-minute break for the office - and i've got nothing. just absolutely nothing.

my situation is that i'd really like to get something out by the end of the week. and i've got enough highlights (a walk-off home run, a gap-splitting double, a great throw from the outfield...i'd like to find a diving play and maybe a strikeout at a crucial moment, but haven't and don't do a great job of marking them in my scorebook). so, once i find a perfect half-inning, i'm in.

the structure i'll use is roughly:
3 highlights
1 half-inning, maybe with some scoring
3 highlights
1 half-inning, maybe with some general silliness or, more accurately, description and storytelling unrelated to the game. (idea! i'll find some pork chop sandwich talk. right now. i remember gurs and s enjoying that half-inning...now it's a matter of finding it)

that's it.

but, god, it's frustrating.

- - - -

same old 'cats, i guess, losing to wilmington. thompson was 0-for-6 from the foul line. maybe he just emits negative energy.

but, of course, part of the fun of being a sports fan is being supportive and excited and talkative about guys like the next great titan.

i'm going to see nu-depaul a week from saturday with a former co-worker, depaul alum. fourth row behind one of the baskets. we confirmed it today. $15 ticket, $4 service charge, 7 some other charge, so 22.50 for a 15 ticket. ticketmaster sucks.

- - - -

while listening, the ipod on shuffle was in the background. (no, not the ipod shuffle...my 3,198 songs shuffled, because i'm a loser with too much [although not enough] disposable income.) it's a neat experience, except when you get 14 minutes of silence following "heaven 90210," the closer on urge overkill's saturation. over the weekend, i elected to order suitcase 2: american superdream wow from borders. i've got nine dollars left on one gift card and a $25 one coming in the mail (cashback bonus, yes), so i figure it's worth it. the highlights of the original are so so good. plus, there's apparently an embryonic version of "teenage fbi" which is alternately hilarious, horrific, and fantastic. looking forward to it.

three things happened tonight:

1) the northwestern wildcat hoopsters scored a great, great win over the charlotte 49ers. this comes on the heels of an ultra-disappointing win over lehigh last night in the first game of the bca invite from laramie, wyoming. vukusic has scored 25 (lehigh) and 28 (charlotte) in two games. doyle scored 14 with six assists (i think) last night and put up eight tonight, and hachad went 14-9 tonight. hachad, as is the case when he's on the roster, is the key to the team's success.

for the second straight night, thompson saw less than 15 minutes. last night, it was ineffectiveness. tonight, it was foul trouble. he apparently had a strong first half - 5 boards and an early dunk (only two points) - but picked up his fourth foul two minutes into the second half and never played again.

after seeing sparing action last night, redshirt freshman sterling williams of whitney young and french canadian bernard cote, a kentucky transfer, both saw big first half minutes. cote came off the bench and immediately hit a three. both had sparing second-half minutes, despite the fact that northwestern was pulling away.

i love vince scott. love him. 27 minutes, no points, two blocks, five boards, five dimes. he understands and he can play the high post. thompson, apparently, does neither.

so tomorrow is unc-wilmington or wyoming. again, should be a 3-0 start. after that, eight non-conference games. (i'm assuming depauw doesn't count.) fau, delaware state northern colorado, ipfw should be easy wins. i think. UIC is a should win, at home. at depaul, at seton hall, at virginia are possible losses. assuming a win tomorrow (which i shouldn't), this leads to at least 8-3 in the non-conference, which at least bodes well for an NIT start. but i think we can hope for more, considering the big ten may be weak this season.

2) the electrifying conclusion, the live dvd from guided by voices' final show at the metro, arrived at my house. i had two shots while watching, just to get in the mood. i did not plan to watch the dvd tonight, but here i am, 3 1/2 hours later, watching "dayton ohio 19 something and 5," with only three songs left. part of this is because i couldn't get into the wnur feed - packed audio stream - and therefore was watching the gametracker coverage of the nu game. i'm a megadork. i'm hoping to get some work done still, although that seems unlikely. wasted night, 2.

i only wish i would have definitively seen myself during the footage. i don't really remember what i was wearing, although i'd bet it was a plaid shirt of some sort. i do remember ripping apart my undershirt that night. that ruled.

3) i made taco soup, again. yum.

nothing, really, to write about the northwestern game. i suspected it might be that way - ohio state's by far the most talented team in the conference, after all. but i sure was excited after the opening drive, particularly the johnny fields catch.

basanez has not been good since the sparty win, and he was off again on saturday. that said, ohio state's defense is fantastic. i can't figure how they lost to penn state. (didn't see that game either; i'd assume fluky, or probably just tressel being afraid to use troy smith to his full effectiveness.)

one thing i don't get is the infatuation with ted ginn. why didn't he, at least once, line up at quarterback and take a sweep left? never, i don't think, did he get a quick screen. he's electrifying, i guess, but he should at least touch the ball a few times.

worst play of the game was that option attempt by baz. he faked the shovel, then dropped it. and the drive was done. so was the game.

[should be noted that smith was not in on the first touchdown. should also be noted that the receiver was interfered with on the play preceding the blocked punt. not that either would have mattered.]

- - - - -

willie's destroyers are scuffling, big time. injury problems, and ill-timed lineup moves. of course, when you're choosing between michael bennett and jonathan wells and adrian peterson (i chose 1 and 3, missed on 2), you've probably got problems. then again, maybe phil dawson will drill 6 field goals in the night game, and i'll escape with a victory. nope.

- - - - -

wow, that was boring.

by the middle of next week, i should have, for year N, Pf=2Y, plus any interest accrued. this is currently in the mail.

by the middle of next week, i should also have the proper amount for year N+1. this is to be finalized friday.

intense day, even though i only spent about 3 hours at work. actually, almost four. in at 845. painfully long (two-hour) staff meeting, in which we covered, i think, nothing. then, talking to the person responsible for year N and the first half of year N+1. then talking to dad. angrily [not at him, at the boss]. then being cornered by the boss. "do you have a moment?" "i've got to perform due diligence first." [hang up my phone call.] "we need to have lunch or meet briefly." "i'd prefer not to right now." "i can't let this fester."

and so we met. and it was sometimes heated. certainly uncomfortable. "for this to work, i need you to trust me." "i... i ... i'm not sure i do." ... "i absolutely need to clear my head right now. i discovered this 48 hours ago, and i've been absolutely obsessed with it since. can't get my head around it. it's a lot to swallow. i don't know where i am at this point. i hope you understand that."

and we shook, and i walked out.

[my favorite part of the exchange came from me, gesticulating: "on the one hand, how can an organization be so vile? but, on the other hand, is it possible to be that incompetent."]

and when i walked out, i headed home, and i was about prepared to quit. and i haven't yet, but i didn't go back to work until 455. [i called another guy involved in year N, called a former coworker afflicted by this situation, ate some red potatoes, listened to car wheels on a gravel road, talked to my dad, pressed "replay" on car wheels, and then fell asleep for 45 minutes.] at that point, i thanked the boss for working to rectify things. nothing further was discussed, although i did say that i'd see him tomorrow.

i'm absolutely exhausted. stressful times, sadly. it really is tough when part of you wants to believe what you're being told - it is, after all, somewhat believable - but the other part thinks it's a complete load of crap. makes you wonder if it's worth the paycheck.

but, alas, that's something to mull over for at least the weekend.

- - - - - - -

it'll be an oddly busy weekend. again. i've agreed to work high school football friday night, from about 4 until about 730. round of four, i think. i've also agreed to another freakin' race, because i'm an idiot. that's sunday, but it's also a small amount of cash.

- - - - - - - -

in my exhaustion, i made cookies tonight. i think they might be the first not-from-the-pillsbury-dough cookies i've made. oatmeal and brown sugar and not much else. turned out okay, and the recipe was on the box. woof.

several possibilities, all either involving a complete lack of ethics or a complete lack of competence. no, i cannot go into detail, but i can write to get out at least some frustration.

we'll do it algebraically. there are two time periods of concern, time period N (where N=2004), and time period N+1.

We'll start with year N+1.

In N+1, expected Pi=X. Upon the conclusion of year N+1, expected Pf=2X.
Currently, actual P=0.
That's frustrating. It was discovered yesterday.

In year N.

Expected Pi=Y. Upon the conclusion of year N, expected Pf=2Y.
In actuality, Pi=.545Y. Upon the conclusion of year N, Pf=.818Y. (Which is to say, the actual 'balloon' did not equal Y, but rather .272Y. At worst, it should have equaled an additional .545Y.)

Therefore, PfX (expected)-PfA (actual)=1.182Y. Which seems absurd.

- - - - - -

It was frustrating when I realized that I was missing X. It's more frustrating when I realized I'm also missing 1.182Y.

- - - - - -

which is worse, absolute incompetence or absolute amorality? perhaps it doesn't matter. perhaps it's just worst to be stuck.

depressing if you can follow, which you probably can't. mildly amusing, i guess, if you can't. sigh.

on the upside, there's a song on the first fiery furnaces album that talks about taking a bus over the bridge from moline to the 'port. while flattering to the region, it's also, according to my base of knowledge, reflective of a lack of geographic knowledge on the part of the friedbergers. but it did become my favorite song on the album. why not, right?

correction, thursday, 1:00 p.m.: the song simply refers to going from moline over the river "on a bus, on a bridge," i believe. geographically, that's perfectly unobjectionable.

epiphany: at the age of 25, i can't handle caffeine. or, perhaps, i can't handle extreme amounts of caffeine.

saturday, october 29
gurs offers espresso. i accept. i down my cup. he decides he doesn't want it. i finish his. an hour later, we're at the ryan field east lot. upon being reintroduced to an acquaintance, i shake a lot. a lot. conversationally shaking, but shaking nonetheless. gurs and s point and laugh. i get defensive, but secretly know that they might be right.

monday, november 7
at about 1045, the boy calls. (turns out, his key says "do not duplicate," so meijer wouldn't duplicate. he needed advice. postscript - but roy did today.) i'm getting ready to hang up on him, and then i spew a rash of insults. intelligent ones like piss-head, piss-face, and piss-brains. he says, "are you drunk at work?" i attribute it to the four - four - cups of coffee i had had between 9:15 and 10:30.

i've got a problem here. perhaps i expect instantaneous results from my cup of coffee. or two. i don't get them, so i start shotgunning. i should stop that, so as to avoid the twitchiness and high-amplitude insults.

it should be noted that i was not allowed to drink caffeine between the ages of, let's say, nine, and 21. i mostly abided by the rud family policy untily about 15. seriously. but then i rebelled, and look what happened to me.

- - - - - -

my faith in humanity was greatly shaken today. i'd like to thank my fabulous friends - dad, gurs and nemo - for listening to me vent. hopefully i'm still employed at the end of the week. (note: i probably will be. if i weren't, i'd probably not write about it for a while. so assume i'm still employed.)

- - - - - -

lots of dishes to do. but there are always lots of dishes to do. i think i'm committing to doing another sunday of auto racing on radio. it's truly interesting from a production standpoint. but it's boring work. but at least it's boring work that pays minimum wage. i may also leave work early friday to go work at the radio station, which would be nice.

- - - - - -

early morning wakeup. at work at 645 wednesday. and friday. but, hey, it's an honest day's pay for an honest day's work. or something like that.

- - - - - -

just got a random email from my former record store boss. "former," meaning october 1998 to march 2000. last significant contact was in 2001. last actual contact was, say, february 2003. neat.

- - - - - -

bought the first fiery furnaces record today. also neat.

wow. cats. woof. cats 28, hawkeyes 27. we'll take it. in fact, we were given it.

exhibit a:
getting the ball back with 45 seconds left and down by a single point, iowa had no timeouts left. this, despite the fact that they led by 17 at the half, and that the spread was no closer than ten until the four-minute point. that speaks to wasted timeouts.

exhibit b:
after northwestern used its final timeout, still trailing by 13, the espn.com gamebook lists iowa's 3rd-and-8 play in this manner: Drew Tate pass incomplete to Scott Chandler.

no timeouts left for the opposition. you've averaged 5.3 yards a carry with your running back and, in this situation, you're playing the clock, not the team. incomplete pass, and the hawkeyes give northwestern 25 additional seconds.

exhibit c:
same thing as the preceding exhibit, however this time coming on 2nd and 8. and back-to-back incompletions. that's dumb football on the part of the iowa coaching staff but, then again, they are the iowa coaching staff.

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anyway, we know the wildcats played poorly. but we'll take the win. i'm not sure i have much more to say.

it seems to me that iowa pretty much held the running game in check. sutton got 13 carries and never really moved the ball. the offensive line is in shambles, as keenan was dinged for two penalties and matthews was flagged for three. back to belding?

wow, i complain a lot about pam ward, but i like the pam ward-david norrie team a whole lot better than "anything involving chris speilman." he's like the brian baldinger of the big ten, which is *not* a compliment. lots of jargon. and lots of mispronunciations. and the most interesting thing he could come up with after northwestern's touchdown to take the lead was "i can't believe northwestern fans left early. shame on you for missing it. i can guarantee you this is more interesting than the parking lot" or some crap like that.

also, basanez was not particularly good (both fourth quarter INTs were ugly, particularly the one to the nose tackle), but the numbers (31-51, 355; 13-53 on the ground) sure look good at the end. and when it counted (when it really counted, meaning i'll discount the pick with five minutes left), he was 8-for-14 for 96 yards and a touchdown, along with 3 carries for 23 yards. it's notable that the cats didn't need a fourth down on those final two drives, which speaks to how efficient the offense really was. again, in the last four minutes.

ohio state? the prospects aren't good, but i'm looking forward to hearing brent musberger and gary danielson. or, rather, i'm looking forward to hearing not-espn-dorks.

illinois? maybe a trip is imminent. the boy's apartment is open, and accessible if he buys a fake rock to hold his key. wedding in glenview sunday night after the game, so i'll be driving that weekend anyway. treem'll be there. perhaps others? i'm leaning towards a trip, and i'll definitely be making the trip if the unthinkable happens at columbus.

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by the way, dig randy walker's accomplishments:

three straight six-win seasons.
fourth on the NU victories list.
bowl-eligible for the third time in six years.
1,000-yard rusher for the ... eighth straight (?) time.

one thing that i hated:
for the second straight week, with a fourth-and-makeable, inside the 45, NU decided to punt. they downed the punt inside the 15, but that's a time where they need to be aggressive. it's not even being aggresive, it's just being not-dumb. that situation was also ripe for a fake, like the bitchin' snap-to-the-upback-into-the-option they ran earlier this season. (wisconsin? purdue? i think wisconsin. or maybe penn state.)

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so i'm really hoping that, when the chips fall, we're playing in the motor city (detroit, december 26) or music city (nashville, december 30) bowl. call me crazy, but i just don't have much desire to go to san antonio (december 28) or el paso (december 30) or either of the florida locations (january 2).

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in other news, this tired guy went to sleep at 9:30 on friday night. i didn't get out of bed until 9:45 saturday morning. on sunday, i'll be at the radio station - working auto racing - from 2 to 7. i must've been drunk when i acquiesed. go bears.

few things are more difficult for a broadcaster than trying to cull "the best" from five months' worth of work. think about that: 140 games=about 400 hours on air. just about everything (actually, nothing between mid-may and mid-june, due to technology "issues") is committed to minidisc.

and now i've got to find my best 15 minutes. seriously. 15 minutes.

a few highlights. a few half-innings. and about 30 hours of listening to discover those elusive 15 minutes.

"keep them wanting more" is the theory here.

now, it makes it a bit easier because about 40 percent of my broadcasts are ruined by my squeaky-voiced, me-imitating, knowledge-lacking broadcast partner. easier because, once i hear his voice, i can skip to the next broadcast. of course, more annoying because i don't know what nice highlights might be ruined by his squeaking, or his inane post-play commentary.

sigh.

wish me luck...i'm about two months behind. or, at least, three solid weeks behind. there's an opening i haven't pounced on, due mostly to sloth.

sigh, again.

(note: "technical issues" means that my broadcast partner broke my mini disc player. eventually, the fact that it was a two-month old player still under warranty meant that it was replaced. however, this took about six weeks.)

i most particularly did not like my broadcast partner for his marble-mouthed nature: "bottom th'elevense." (that means "bottom of the eleventh." he had incredible difficulty saying the letter "s," which should be an easy one to say, right?)

moral of the story: if you need to look really hard for good broadcast work, you're probably in the wrong business. sigh, a third time.

i was pretty excited for the bulls season to open tonight but, after watching two turnovers in 31 seconds and generally sloppy play, i determined that - at this specific time of year - i'm just not ready for basketball.

the bulls should, at some point, be interesting to watch. they've got tyson chandler and a bunch of, it seems, undersized, faceless bigs up front. malik allen. darius songaila. othella harrington. michael sweetney. chandler's still not a good on-ball defender; he's only good at blocking shots from the weak side. (he's better than i give him credit for, but he's not particularly good.)

however, based on the four minutes i watched of them, i'm pretty convinced that chandler and songaila will not be able to play together. both are high post players, and the bulls have nobody among the guards and wing-types who can head down low. maybe nocioni could fit in with the group, a little bit under the hoop, but i'd imagine that the offense will always look scattered with that pair up front.

at what point is the ben gordon substitution pattern going to start looking like senior day at your average high school? you know...senior scrub (duhon) gets his first career start. perhaps a play is run for him. first whistle, and he's gone. in comes the underclass stud (gordon). there's no good reason not to start him.

i love tyson so much, despite the fact that he has not offensive game, period.

sports illustrated built "the perfect team," according to salary cap restrictions and with a mind on team chemistry, a few weeks ago. (like, in their preview issue, duh.) anyway, eric piatkoswki is on the list, and he's just a perfect role player. love the huge fourth quarter he's putting up. (yes, i've been writing as the bulls have been making a furious comeback. but it looks like it's done, as they're down six, with ball, with 48 seconds left.)

what can be expected of the bulls this year?
probably no more than last year. i think they're still a ways away. i haven't studied the nba, but i just don't think there's enough talent here yet. unless deng makes a huge leap, which is a distinct possibility. or, unless sweetney becomes a 16-and-10 post presence, which is less of a possibility.

[i'm interrupting my comentary to watch the fifth quarter. songaila, yes!]

say this for the bulls...they got spunk!

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other post-game reactions: kareem rush is the worst rotation player in the nba.

i don't think red kerr can say "songaila."

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i think that, at some point, i should start capitalizing and punctuating properly. however, i've been doing this for three years [!], and i doubt i'll ever do that. sigh.

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i'm really digging two new music purchases. [i always dig new music purchases.]

i was initially put off by the silver jews' tanglewood numbers. on my other jews record, bright flight, i loved the fact that db's voice was in the forefront. that's not the case here, but i've adjusted to the more rocking jews. recommended.

i really like the clientele's strange geometry. it's simply lush, lush pop music. like the british pernice brothers. or, um, i don't know what to compare it to. but it's well done.

albums released this year that i own, along with my letter grade ranking:
... and you will know us by the trail of dead - worlds apart - B-
architecture in helsinki - in case we die - C-
black rebel motorcycle club - howl - B+
blackalicious - the craft - B
bloc party - silent alarm - A-
bright eyes - i'm wide awake, it's morning - B
the clientele - strange geometry - B+
death cab for cutie - plans - B
the decemberists - picaresque - A
franz ferdinand - you could have it so much better - B+
hot hot heat - elevator - C, which doesn't mean i don't like it
kings of leon - aha shake heartbreak - B-
stephen malkmus - face the truth - B
the mountain goats - the sunset tree - A
the new pornographers - twin cinema - B+
silver jews - tanglewood numbers = A-
spoon - gimme fiction - B+
sufjan stevens - illinois - A-
kanye west - late registration - B+
the white stripes - get behind me satan - B+
wolf parade - apologies to the queen mary - A-

wow - that's 21 of 'em. that's a lot.

GPA (using .3 and .7): 3.19, which, i believe, is good enough to get my record collection a job