Competition Week

Lots of competition to discuss....

Golf tournament on Saturday. It was sweatshirt weather but we still finished -3 for the 18 holes. New golf swing is coming along nicely. Just need to keep practicing and I'll be on the PGA tour within a year.

Nadal beat Federer in the French Open Men's Final. What an incredible match! Both of these guys are playing so well right now and this will be the next big rivalry in Men's Tennis. Federer is something like 44-0 against the rest of the men on the tour... but is 1-4 against Nadal this year. That has some good potential! On a side note, this was the first year that the payout for the Men and Women's Champion was the same. I am 100% in favor of equality, but I do not agree with paying the men and women the same in the Grand Slam tournaments when they don't play the same amount. The men play best of 5 sets, the women play best of 3. I have watched a lot of memorable 4+ hour matches in the men's bracket over the years after a guy comes back from being down 2 sets to none (including Agassi in the 1999 French Open Final).

Miami is getting their butts kicked by Dallas in the NBA finals. It's a 2-3-2 format so Miami has the next 3 at home to get back even.

I actually was flipping through the channels this past weekend and ESPN Classic had the 1993 Game 6 between the Bulls and Suns (with Charles Barkely). The Bulls were up 3-2 but had the final two games in Phoenix. After the Bulls leading most of the game, Phoenix came back to take the lead by 4 with a minute left. Some no-name took a bad shot, with Jordan getting the rebound. He went to the other end as quick as I've ever seen someone in a non-fast-break situation for an easy layup. Then a defensive stop, then a great play to Paxon for the 3 pointer to win by 1 point. Good memories there! That was the first of the two three-peats.

US Soccer got their butts whooped yesterday in the World Cup. So much for the talk about the US pissing off the rest of the world by winning the World Cup.

Edmonton lost last night against Carolina in the Stanley Cup Playoffs. It might be over but I'd still like to see a game 6 if possible. What was most interesting about the two games from Edmonton was the singing of the Anthems before the game. They sang the US National Anthem with a few people singing along, just as would happen here in the states. Then the singer started O Canada! and you could hear all 30,000 fans singing along. Sure enough, after the first stanza, the singer held the microphone up to the crowd and let them all sing the rest of it by themselves. It was pretty cool and was again, something you won't see around here.

And finally, the training of the IFOCE (International Federation of Competitive Eating) is in full force as the annual Nathan's Hotdog Contest comes up over the 4th of July. Joey Chestnut came in 3rd last year for the HotDog contest but was only a rookie. Now he's making waves as he just set the record for 47 Grilled Cheese samiches in 10 minutes. I would be willing to try that record - even if it would plug me up for the next 3 weeks!! I'd try it especially if all 48 of them were made with the George Forman Grill which makes them the best! I would also be willing to try the ears of corn and the corn dog records. I like corn dogs.

Song of the Day - O Canada! complete with lyrics and even an MP3. It's a very pretty anthem and quite singable. I did sing it at one of the Rochester Honker games a couple of years ago when we had a Canadian team visiting. After it was over a lot of people turned around to see if I was Canadian since I knew the lyrics. I just shrugged and admitted to watching a lot of hockey!

Video of the Day - I watched the remake of Bad News Bears with Billy Bob Thorton from last year. It was actually pretty funny in spots and of course Thorton plays a well veteraned drunkard as he does in every movie. I'd suggest it, but now I have to rent the original to remember and compare this one to.

Webpage of the Day - To build on the geeky home improvements that I've discussed before - these lighted faucets actually have a practical use! The color changes depending on how warm the water is. If it's cold, blue.... warm, orange.... hot, red! BRILLIANT!!!