Jim R

Dr. Loveless Artemus Gordon Bent Gordonsen

Wow, thanks all (and of course, y'all ). I might as well admit it now... I'm not sure how this happened, but I caught up with Lon and Jim (S), and whoever else recently turned the big 5- So far, it feels okay! (...no dirty jokes, please). You guys (and gals) are THE best. (At what, I'm not sure yet. )

Tom Snyder Jim Snidero Snidely Whiplash

Ragtime Cowboy Joe Scott Joplin Stan Poplin

Duly noted. You get a loaf too.

Spanning the internet... to bring you the constant variety of sport... HEY... those aren't official rocks! The handles should be silver! Anyway Jim, thanks for posting that... For being our guest here on the curling thread, we have for you... the curling loaf (no visual aid available at this time). ...At the opposite end of the spectrum was Fred Roggin, the superfluous studio host of CNBC’s coverage of men’s and women’s curling. While curling, with its plodding action and endless counter-maneuvering, is aptly called “chess on ice,” Roggin’s contributions could best be called Chess on Ice for Dummies. In a typical bit, Roggin presented Roy Sinclair, the head of the World Curling Federation, with a large round loaf of bread that had a crescent roll protruding from its top to resemble a curling stone. Sinclair wasn’t immediately sure what to make of Roggin’s offer. "That’s kinda sexy lookin’," Sinclair said of the loaf.

Hey Shane, Sorry if I came on too strong re the Dons. I love Canada and Canadians! As I say, it's mainly Duguid that bugs me sometimes. I know he's "walked the walk", but former athletes need to be careful about praising themselves, IMO, and I still think he could do better regarding more thorough explanations for the uninformed (and there are a LOT of us here in the US, I suspect ). "Hardest thing about the game is not falling on your ass." I didn't realize it was that tricky to avoid slipping. Those guys (especially when sweeping while moving rapidly) are so good at sliding around, it didn't even occur to me. Not only that, the way they move around stones while they're sweeping is pretty amazing. I've only seen one in-play stone accidentally kicked so far.

Henry Hyde Trapper John, MD Marcus Welby, MD

Too bad you don't get the CBC (Canadian Broadcasting Corporation) as they do have some great commentators on the sport/strategy. Becuase it is not a traditional "babe" sport (sisters aside), beyond explaining definitions, the US networks don't really know how to promote the excitement well enough IMO. I have mixed feelings on that. I don't really care for the announcers used by the NBC affiliate in the US (Canadians Don Chevrier and Don Duguid). Chevrier is okay, but Duguid (a former curling star) strikes me as kind of a pompous old fart. Chevrier will ask a question that he no doubt knows the answer to (in order to get a response from Duguid that will educate the folks watching), and Duguid's response is almost always terse and/or condescending (equivalent to a "well, DUH!"). On one occasion I heard Duguid say something like "that's why my team always wanted me taking the last shot". On the other hand, I can understand why it can be hard for serious fans (including the announcers) to constantly explain things for new viewers. I remember watching soccer coverage on ABC back in the 90's, and hearing them constantly explaining the most basic rules was pretty nauseating. I just think that Duguid could do more in terms of explaining WHY a certain shot is optimal. Obviously, the stategy is very compex (every third shot seems to raise a debate, and Duguid will often disagree with the choice made by a team after they've decided by committee), so why not talk about it? It would only serve to increase interest in the sport, and this is a critical time to draw more people in. As it is, they're too esoteric about it, IMO. I also don't like hype, so while I think Fred Roggin (curling loaf, anyone?) is a little dull, I'd rather listen to him than have an obnoxious P.A. announcer revving up the crowd, with spotlights and cheerleaders and dancers entertaining between ends.

Soul Proptietor – RALPH BOWEN QUINTET (May 24, 2001)

I've been digging it (maybe its because I've got some Scottish blood in me). As I posted in the olympics thread, I just wish they would go into more detail when talking about strategy (especially thinking several shots ahead). I often wonder why a team that's behind by several points doesn't try to be more aggressive about getting more stones into the house (instead of playing guards or peeling guards).

The World's Greatest Lover Rod Laver Lafayette "Fat" Lever

Article at US Soccer site: http://www.ussoccer.com/articles/viewArticle.jsp_280722.html More pics: http://www.ussoccer.com/sights/index.jsp_p...lery-75-0.html#

Moe Drabowsky Dave McNally Mike Cuellar

Shawn Rojeski Joe Polo Pete Fenson

Uh-oh... now there's two of 'em...

Overall I'm underwhelmed. I thought Spain's looked good, but other than that the only one that struck me as very "new" in design was the US jerseys. I don't hate them, but I'm not sure they couldn't have done better. I was surprised by this, btw. I thought the U.S. WC jerseys were going to be these... I was just doing a few searches, and strangely enough, when I saw this photo I didn't even remember our jerseys looking like this in 2002:

Bobby Wine Vin Scully Curt Gowdy

Five Stars! (er, five thumbs... UP!)

Rufus Reid Chaka Khan Greg Chako

I remember The American Sportsman (albeit faintly ). I think my strongest memories of Gowdy are from the years of the UCLA basketball dynasty.

A Man Called Horse The Italian Stallion Mustang Sally

Me too. Seemed like he was all over the place, kind of like someone like Jim Nantz is now. But I can't really remember how many different sports he called. RIP

General Ivan Burkhalter Major Wolfgang Hochstetter Colonel Wilhelm Klink

Hey scott, did you see the 4-0 shutout vs Guatemala today? Similar to the Norway match in terms of the final score, but we were not quite as dominant as we were vs the Norwegians (no surprise, since we were playing almost exclusively with our youngest, least experienced players, while Guatemala pretty much used their A team which nearly qualified for the WC). First order of business: it is time to put Josh Wolff out to pasture. Once again, he had several good looks at the goal- some from very close range- and he not only failed to score, he failed to put the ball ON FRAME. The camera would go to Arena, and he'd be shaking his head and looking at the ground. I know he probably hopes he'll be able to keep Wolff on the roster for his experience and tenure with the team, but Bruce... PLEASE, dump the guy. If he can't score in friendlies where we're dominating teams and getting frequent scoring chances, he sure as hell ain't gonna score in a World Cup match. It's sad, because he actually did some really good things otherwise (creating space for himself, setting people up, etc). Chris Klein got a goal, but it was garbage time. He didn't look all that good in the right midfiled (probably still shaken by that experience at right back against Japan). Eddie Johnson's goal was well taken, but sloppy defending set up his opportunity. He also played kind of selfish at times (Balboa criticized him for it once), which I hate to see. I think he's still a bit of a question mark, but he does have a knack for finishing his chances. Ching got a goal as well, and I thought he worked better with his mates than Johnson did. Unfortunately, Brian also missed a couple of pretty good chances with his head. He looks very fit, though. Great target man to back up McBride in Germany, IMO. Ben Olson should have gotten man of the match (they gave it to Johnson). His opening goal was pretty sweet (not quite a world-class bomb, but scoring from that far out was still impressive, especially off the half-volley). He was all over the field besides, and was really talking it up and making things happen. Don't think he should go to Germany, though... too many good players ahead of him. Zavagnin looked very solid again, but I don't know if he breaks into the traveling squad (our depth will cause some very good players to stay home this Summer). We had a kid named Heath Pearce at left back. He looked a little shaky at times on defense, but he looked good when he pushed forward (had one long range bullet shot that went just wide). Hejduk looked solid, and Marcello thinks he'll be going to Germany (hard to argue with him, even though we probably don't really *need* him in the lineup). Jimmy Conrad continues to shine at the back. He made several Eddie Pope-like plays that may have saved goals. He may just earn himself a spot. Eddie Pope was Eddie Pope. Most of the other players who saw action were just okay, and have little or no chance anyway. I didn't even recognize the two keepers we used. Next up, a stiffer test: Poland on March 1st. I think we may have some of our euro-based players available.