Screw Andrew Bogut and JKidd

I don’t know if either Michigan or State were true underdogs, but those losses still hurt.

In better news, Boston College rocked defending national champion Kent State 21-0. The MAC may not recover from the blow.

Who needs the Olympics?

The only every four yearly event I need is the RNC.

The Cubic Zirconia of Hockey Rinks

This story has a distinct “America is Rome” feel about it:

Strachan describes the look of the Rockwell back yard as “a winter wonderland on one side and ‘South Pacific’ on the other,” and indeed, the juxtaposition of the two outdoor areas couldn’t be more startling. Watching kids play hockey on a 90-plus degree day within view of the rolling golden hills is startling as well.

But hockey fans can be ardent.

Says John Rockwell: “Someone had to love hockey enough to want to build this, be stupid enough to actually do it and not care about spending $100,000.”

When I was a kid, we had to play hockey inside! In cold rinks! And eat nachos! From a factory! These whipper-snappers finish a game, nibble on artisanal cheese platters and applewood-smoked bacon wrapped scallops, and go play their harps while seated on a bed of joy and opulence. The end is nigh!

I’m watching Michigan-Utah

The first half is almost over, Michigan’s quarterback, Nick Sheridan, just threw his first, stupid interception, after two shouldabeen interceptions.

Wait, Utah touchdown, 21-10. The Wolverine defense needs to step up, bigtime.

—Are most of the students at Utah Mormons? What percentage of the state of Utah is Mormon? Is there a big rivalry between UU and BYU? Do BYU kids consider themselves the only true members of the faithful?

—The announcers were talking about how Lloyd Carr’s 1997 national championship was Michigan’s first since 1948. I had forgotten that, and I’d never thought about the fact that Bo—despite a great career and all—never won a national title. Those Who Stay Will Be (Big Ten) Champions.

—If you were told you’d get ten million dollars if you could take over a team (not of your choosing) and win a football championship within five years, would you pick the NFL or college?

—Utah is beatable, we need this game.

And he reviews movies

I’ve always loved Roger Ebert. He’s the most consistently worthwhile mainstream American journalist that I’m aware of. Big fan. And he just earned even more affection from me.

I won’t step on the whole post, which questions the manhood of an ESPN personality, but it ends like this:

On your way out, don’t let the door bang you on the ass.

Your former colleague,

Roger Ebert

Read it.

So don’t sleep when my Jeep creep up

From Gawker.

You want results, look elsewhere

Zach pulls up some minnows in the UP:

It’s a little distorted because this picture is huge, but Zach’s wearing my UAW trucker hat from high school.

Wingman for the wingman

Any thoughts on who McCain’s veep will or should be? For Obama’s sake, I hope it’s Romney. If I were McCain, I’d probably pick Gov. Pawlenty from Minnesota. After Kerry’s loss, the White House could use a hockey player.

Top Ten Fall Movies I Want to See

One of my favorite things about the season is all the great movies that come out. So here goes the ten movies that I’m aware of that I want to see the most (I’m sure I’m missing some obvious instant classic, but this is what I have so far)(I also eliminated movies if I couldn’t immediately find a trailer on youtube):

10. City of Ember

This seems like the kind of movie you can take your girlfriend’s little brother to and not hate so much that you end up playing the crane game for half an hour in the hallway when you go out to pee.

9. Ghost Town

Come on, I like Ricky Gervais. (Great start to this list.)

8. Righteous Kill

I don’t exactly want to see this movie, but I have to see it. Pacino-De Niro, come on.

7. The Brothers Bloom

Adrien Brody has really grown on me. This whole cast is awesome.

6. Body of Lies

Based solely on this preview, I’m not sure what I’d think. But it’s Lucky Leo and Russell Crowe in a Ridley Scott film, it must be good.

5. Burn After Reading

My feelings haven’t changed about this since I last posted about it a few days ago.

4. Elite Squad

I know nothing about this movie, but it looks great to me.

3. Blindness

A Saramago novel, a Fernando Meirelles film, a great cast. Yep.

2. Miracle at St. Anna

I’m a little upset that Spike Lee is now known as the director of “Inside Man.” But I’ll survive.

1. Che

At four hours long, I hope they have subtitles.

Poor tactical decision

How much would you need to go into the ring with this guy for one round?

The 35-year-old Russian, who will challenge John Ruiz for a vacant heavyweight title belt Saturday at Max Schmeling Halle in Berlin, is most frequently defined by his 7-foot, 320-pound frame — and why not? Once he wrestled and killed a wild boar, which had attacked one of his dogs while he was hunting in the forests near St. Petersburg.

“The boar was too close to my dog, so I couldn’t risk shooting it. I had to kill it with a knife,” he said, matter-of-factly. “It’s nothing special; it happens all the time.”

My answer: a tax-free $50,000. He’s really slow, so I could probably dance for most of the round.