USA

Heck of an effort by the US in the World Cup, though slightly short of expectations.

While I always felt good about our positioning, even in Injury Time against Algeria, I had an ugly feeling throughout the game with Ghana.

My gut was right in this case. Our Midfield brokedown, our D was out of position, and overall made Tim Howard look silly.

The next World Cup is a long ways away.

See you in 4 years (hopefully).

I Am Back...

and very busy...I wish I had time to post things about Puerto Rico.

Pretty Darn Good...

Not sure there are words to describe the debut of Strasburg last night...that was impressive! As I guy who rarely watches baseball, and when I do, its usually only to watch my team bat...that was fun!

He made those guys look like children last night.

It makes me excited to see him this year...to use a cliche, "The upside on this guy is exponential"

I Am Pretty Excited

about Stephen Strasburg's debut this evening.

With the drafting of Bryce Harper, the Nats have set the foundation for a great future...some of it is luck, some of it is timing...

Either way, I am excited!

The Blown Call...

I feel for Jim Joyce...I really do! I also feel bad for Armando Galarraga who lost a chance to be part of history.

To that end, and as hard as it is for me to say this, I agree with Bud Selig NOT overturning the decision/blown call. This sets a terrible precedent for the future, as the blown call did not alter the outcome of the game, merely the record book.

While it does not fix the mistake, Galarraga can sleep at night, knowing he threw a perfect game.

Jim, we officials are only human...way to man up, and admit your error!

APPLE...

I do not live, breath, and die by Apple Products, by any means (we own an Apple Computer, and a few iPods)...but I think this interview is pretty cool of Steve Jobs

Less than one week before formally debuting Apple's new iPhone at the company's Worldwide Developers Conference, Steve Jobs opened up about apps, the future of media and what to expect from the iPad, iPhone and other Apple devices during the 8th Annual All Things Digital Conference.

"I'll tell you a secret," said Jobs during a Q&A session with D8 hosts Kara Swisher and Walt Mossberg. "It began with the tablet."

So the iPhone, arguably the most significant technological device of the 21st Century, was actually an afterthought that came into being while Apple was drawing up plans for the iPad.

"My God, I said, this would make a great phone," Jobs recalled. "So we shelved the tablet and built the iPhone."

Nice move.

While D8 marks the first of two occasions when Steve Jobs will speak publicly this week, it is not every day when the founder and CEO of the world's most valuable technology company shares his thoughts with a worldwide audience.

What else did Steve have to say?

Why he defends Apple and its pursuit of the "lost iPhone"

"When this whole thing with Gizmodo happened, I got a lot of advice from people who said you've got to just let it slide. You shouldn't go after a journalist because they bought stolen property and tried to extort you. I thought about that, and I decided that Apple can't afford to change its core values and simply let it slide. We have the same core values as when we started, and we come into work wanting to do the same thing today that we wanted to do five years ago."
On the reality of a world with 200,000 apps

"People are using apps way more than they are using search. So if you want to make developers more money, you've got to get the ads into apps. But the mobile ads we've got today rip you out of the app ... . That sucks."

How the iPad represents the "post-PC-era"

"The transformation of PC to new form factors like the tablet is going to make some people uneasy because the PC has taken us a long ways. The PC is brilliant, and we like to talk about the post-PC era, but it's uncomfortable."

Defending AT&T

"They're doing pretty good in some ways and in others they could do better. We meet with them once a quarter. Remember, they deal with way more data traffic than anyone else. And they're having trouble. But they have the fastest 3G network, and they're improving. I wish they were improving faster. I'm convinced that any other network, had you put the iPhone on it, would have had the same problems."

Apple's rivalry with Google and Microsoft

"Google decided to compete with us and got more and more serious. Right now, we have the better product."

"We never saw ourselves in a platform war with Microsoft (Nasdaq: MSFT - News). Maybe that's why we lost. But we never thought of ourselves in a platform war, we just wanted to make good products."

A soft spot for traditional media?

"I don't want to see us descend into a nation of bloggers. I think we need editorial oversight now more than ever. Anything we can do to help newspapers find new ways of expression that will help them get paid, I am all for."

The future of television

The television industry fundamentally has a subsidized business model that gives everyone a set-top box, and that pretty much undermines innovation in the sector. The only way this is going to change is if you start from scratch, tear up the box, redesign and get it to the consumer in a way that they want to buy it. But right now, there's no way to do that.

Why he still loves Apple's culture

"I have one of the best jobs in the world. I get to hang out with some of the most talented, committed people around, and together we get to play in this sandbox and build these cool products. Apple is an incredibly collaborative company. You know how many committees we have at Apple? Zero. We're structured like a start-up. We're the biggest start-up on the planet. And we all meet once a week to discuss our business."

Credit Where Credit Is Due...

I was listening to the Sports Junkies this morning, and Lurch had the idea of the year...

They were discussing the BP Oil Spill, and how to stop the oil from plunging into the ocean...

In an effort to kill 2 birds with 1 stone, his solution was to shove Albert Hanesworth in the hole...

Works for me!!!

OTAs

I got an opportunity to go to the Washington Redskins' OTAs yesterday, and here were a few of my insights:

• First and foremost, Rex Grossman either sucks, has no command of the offense, or both. I believe he just sucks, as you would think he knows the offense from being with the Shannahans. He threw 2 interceptions, and multiple balls into the ground.
• Across the board, the D far outplayed the O.
• Missing from practice, other than Fat Albert, was Santana Moss, Ethan Albright, and Josh Bidwell...of those, I would like to know where Ethan was...is he still on the team?
• McNabb snuck out and did not sign autographs...I was surprised by that.
• Cooley, as expected was thoughtful, and funny, and stayed until everyone got signed.
• Words cannot describe the size of Phillip Daniels...he even stood out against everyone else.

Pretty cool experience all around!

SandGate?

There are accusations between the Flyers and Canadiens hockey series, that Montreal put something down in the hallway back to the locker room (like sand), that was causing issues with the Flyers skates. A Montreal defensemen, Jaroslav Spacek, when asked about it stated,

"I thought they had diarrhea, going back and forth from the locker room. The guys were talking on the plane. If (the Flyers) have trouble, maybe they can wear those skate protectors like figure skaters,"

Great Answer!

Laying Sod...

I put down 2 roles of Sod this past weekend, simply with the idea that if it works, great, and if not, I just wasted about $11. I want to know now if it is going to work, and if it does not, I want to know what I did wrong...

On the positive side, it is instant gratification that you have grass, where you previously did not...on the negative side, you have no indication if you are going to be successful, or how long it is going to take to integrate into your lawn...also, in doing some reading, and chatting with a few folks, you need to water the hell out of it.

Oh the torment!

Poor Choices...

I appreciate someone who likes to show their love for their team, and favorite player...however, as I was driving the beltway yesterday, I saw a license plate, that might have stepped over the bounds, given recent events...

It is not worth mentioning the state of origination, however, the license plate was as follows:

YGMEN56

WOW!!!

Always Good To Catch Up

with friends from high school, especially when you can take time and think about making fun of other people from high school.

It makes it even more special, when you get to share in collectively making fun of one of those emails that spreads like wildfire around the internet, only to realize that the originator was someone you knew!

Good times this past weekend!

CopyCat Post

A friend made a post on his blog, and it got me thinking about the questions he posed:

Fruits of the day (in order of preference): Raspberries / Peaches / Blueberries...I will ALWAYS pass on a pear

Cities I've never visited: LA, Anyplace in TX

Cities I want to visit: San Antonio / Nashville (though not anytime soon)

My guess at the Washington Nationals 2010 record - 74-88

And Some Other Things...

I Am Excited About: The Zac Brown Band / Dave Matthews Concert in June

Living in the Suburbs: is really fun actually...we do miss the "Big Box" stores though!

My Next Golf Club: The Adams Idea a7OS Hybrid http://www.adamsgolf.com/products/hybrids/a7os.php

Hoppin On...

I am not a baseball fan, but I am jumping on the Nats Bandwagon!

I have that feeling in my gut, that I did a few years ago about the Caps, that things are starting to turn around for the Nats.

They have been built the right way, and with a little bit of luck, they got a star in Strasburg, and a cornerstone in Zimmerman...this does not sound all to different from the Caps with Ovechkin and Green/Semin.

I even found myself watching a game last night.

Good time to come this summer and into the future.

GO NATS!

Just When We Got Past...

the whole Duke thing, this UVA story has to rear its ugly head, and this is FAR FAR FAR worse.

This upsets me beyond all proportions!

I honestly have nothing else to say about this situation.

The Caps...

I had the opportunity to go to Game 7 last week, and have held my tongue, as I was so pissed off by the outcome...I thought long and hard as to the reasons we lost, and here are a few of my official thoughts...Let me note first, however, I do not want to point the blame at one specific player, or even the coach for that matter, as I think that the Caps were fundamentally missing 2 key ingrediants, that simply rear their ugly head during the playoffs. In no other sport, does the difference between the regular season and the playoffs so distinct. It is so true in hockey that offense wins games, defense wins championships. to that end. A hockey team can ride a hot goalie to the Stanley Cup:

• Mike Green and the rest of the defense did not lose the series for us. What lost the series was the lack of a "Stay at Home Defensemen" Did you really expect Mike and the gang to change their ways in the playoffs....the answer is simply NO.
• Mike Knuble is the only player on the team who is willing to crash the net (Brooks Laich is a close 2nd, but was not the same after taking a puck in the face after a practice a few weeks back). In other words our top 2-3 lines are made up of Easter Europeans and Russians, who play a finesse game, and prefer to shoot from the outside. The playoffs are won and lost in front of the net.
• I have no issue with our goaltending. I hope that the 3 guys come back next year, and if Theo is the odd-man out, best of luck to him. He is a class-act, and should be treated as such.
• The coaching was fine, and no changes should be made.
• As for transactions, let go of Fleishmann and Fehr, and get a hard nose, in your face winger who wants to get after it. The same goes for Brendan Morrison. On D, bring up Alzner and keep Carlson with the big boys, and send Shawn Morrison and Milan Jurcina on their way. Go get a Chris Pronger like player.

We will keep going at this, until Uncle Ted shuts it down. Maybe we need to get rid of George McPhee...

My 2 cents

BLACKBERRY!!!

I am excited...the phone I have been waiting about 5 months for was officially announced today (Blackberry Bold 9650)...I suspect that Verizon will release it in May.

Cannot come soon enough!

Solid...Not Spectacular

In my best Obama voice..."Let me be perfectly clear..."

I am very happy about the selection of Trent Williams as our new Left Tackle.

In an ideal world, we would have traded down, and still selected a solid Left Tackle, however, the sense is that there was not a lot of appetite for the 4th slot, so we got what we got!

Let's hope there is some wheeling and dealing and we can pick up some more picks.

I guess the Rams are back on the clock!

BREASTS!!!

of chicken really surprise me. Whether you buy them at COSTCO in those 6x2 packs, or from the grocery store, they come in all different sizes, and you never know what you are going to get.

Furthermore, why do grocery stores more often than not, sell them 3 to a package? It makes no sense whatsoever!

Did you think I was going to discuss something else on this post?

Allergies

are kicking my rear end this year...I have never had a problem until this year and it sucks!