Plus and minus: a sports summary

Good: USC won, won big, and won against a conference rival who were only two spots behind them in the polls; so much for the doubters who said that losing their entire backfield would mean a rebuilding year. Yeah, Carson Palmer won the Heisman and was the first pick in the NFL draft but soph QB Matt Leinart is hot, three of the four main running backs are freshman (Dennis is a sophomore), and the wide receivers (especially Mike Williams and Keary Colbert) are money.

More good: Virginia Tech did USC a huge favor by decimating previously unbeaten Miami, not even allowing the number two Hurricanes to score until late in the 4th quarter. This is going to make for some interesting reading when the BCS rankings come out Monday. UCLA and Georgia lost, Nets, Sharks, Devils and Rangers won; Sharks finally get a big offensve breakout (Alyn McCauley’s first career hat trick) and defense. Also, Cal had their second big win of the year and Stanford came out of a funk by beating the aforementioned FUCLA.

Less pleasing: The San Jose Earthquakes went down to Carson and gave it up big time, 2-0, to the Galaxy in the first leg of the opening round of the MLS playoffs. This is the second season in a row that the Quakes costed through September and October (they scored ZERO goals in the whole month of October) and fell flat in the playoffs; this loss means that they’ll have to outscore LA by three in the return match at Spartan Stadium next Sunday. Also, the New England Revolution beat the NJ/NY MetroStars by the same score in their opening match and Oklahoma and Florida State, ahead of the Trojans in the BCS standings, each won handily.

Tomorrow: Liverpool can add significantly to my cheer with a good result over the surprising Fullham squad, though I have little hope for the bruised, battered and not playing well anyway 49ers against a Rams team that’s getting revved and getting Marshall Faulk back. Raiders don’t beat the Lions they might as well go to sleep and not wake up until Spring mini-camps start; Callahan and Woodson can glare each other to death, don’t care, but Raiders cannot afford another Cleveland.

Note: Watching the USC-Washington State game reminded me of why I wouldn’t want to be a wide receiver or, more realistically, play any helmet football position since they all get hit and hit hard. Screw that!

Today’s movie: Scary Movie 3

If you were a fan of the old Airplane comedies, you might enjoy Scary Movie 3. That early ’80s comedy is probably a better point of reference than the first two Scary films, which shouldn’t be too surprising since the Wayans brothers, originators of the series, dropped out and gave control to David Zucker. He wrote and directed Airplane!, then went on to such high brow cinematic achievements as Naked Gun, the Trey Parker/Matt Stone collaboration BASEketball and this year’s Ashton Kutcher gem, My Boss’s Daughter.

SM3 is funny, and lots of laughs but really brings very little from the first two movies except Anna Farris, who had supporting roles previously but takes the lead this time alongside Charlie Sheen, Simon Rex, Regina Hall, Zucker regular Leslie Nielsen, and Anthony Anderson (in dreadlocks). Lots of high profile cameos, lots of pop culture references, and a few aliens. Actually has a plot–Zucker and co-authors Pat Proft and Craig Mazen are pros and able to work in the movie parodies without forgetting the movie isn’t just a collection of sketches.

Recommended

I know that you know but I’m not sure what he knows. She knows a whole lot but I’m not clear on the details. Mr. Scott is responsible for knowledge management, these days.

Greatest? ROFL

How is it that a major record label thinks that a crap band like Counting Crows is ready for a Greatest Hits package after only four records? The labels blame web downloads for the plunging sales but I say they ought to look in the mirror and blames the execs who make stupid decisions such as this.

Bushinations: Signs, signs everywhere signs

This NY Times editorial laments the persistent refusal of cooperation from the Bush Administration as “a study in recalcitrance” though I would suggest the authors are not seeing deep enough into this bolt hole. I see it, rather, as another terrifying example of paternalism and creeping towards facism. I don’t own a tinfoil hat, even if that might make life easier, but to me the strongmen behind the Administration are much more interested in control than social issues and are simply riding the Religious Right as a useful hobby horse; if the goals were attuned then there would be little or no hesitancy in providing information to a man like Thomas Kean.

Fraud penis fraud

People (including me) complain about spam, about the voluminous quantities of it, the frequency of the message being pornographic but lately I’ve decided that the real problem is that most spam is fraud. Out and out criminal fraud because there is no way to increase penis size or legally watch PPV movies without paying for them. So why do we need laws against spam when so many of the sleazes could be prosecuted on that basis?

Are we not men?

Corporations are about making a profit, no doubt. But corporations are not, Supreme Court decisions aside people, but rather congregations of individuals. So then I wonder how these people so lose sight of reality as to push their corporate interests so ridiculously ahead of the good of their own country. The linked article discusses a current controversy over Boeing’s attempt to separate the federal government from an extra $6.5 BILLION by leasing some planes to the military rather than purchasing them up front. This is just symptomatic, though, of the ‘Every dollar must belong to me’ attitude so prevalent today.