diaspora

Dear nurses i spoke with today: 1) no i don't agree that the city should spend more money on cops and not renovate the "camp washington" park; 2) it's not Camp Washington Park, it's Washington Park...right downtown next to Music Hall; 3) there's plenty to do downtown; 4) Newport isn't actually doing that awesome, nor is it that awesome to begin with...it has a movie theater, that's about it.

This is a comment i just saw on a facebook. A friend of mine was commenting on how she wants QC2 to get hit by lightning to make Carew the tallest building again. Okay, i can see why people might say that...but, what i don't understand was the comment someone made on that post: Who thinks Carew is ugly? are you kidding?

This implies that ESPN cared at all about Hockey. The reason ESPN wants Lebron to go elsewhere is because all those cities are bigger markets. The thought of Lebron in NY or Chicago or Miami with another star and winning championships gives them an engorgement.

ESPN can't have that...we need to be portioned out so that 1/3 are NY sports fans, 1/3 are Boston sports fans and 1/3 are LA sports fans.

Me too. The wife and i are scoping out dates to drive up. The Crew will be my team until Detroit gets a team.

Yeah, i can see where you might do this. Which is why i said that I'm more lax on this rule. I know there are a lot of people out there that didn't go to school and it's really snobby to say they can't be fans. I guess i would put an addendum on this one...if you didn't go to this school, don't talk $%*# to people that are rivals of that school that have a degree from there. I've had a number of run-ins with UofM fans that never went to college where they've told me what i can do with my degree from MSU. when i said the City i meant the metro-area, so...we agree. Also, any child of mine will grow up in a Detroit/MSU household. There will be no exceptions to this rule. I don't see it. My friends happiness means nothing to me when it comes to their sports teams. I want my friends teams to lose so that they know my misery. Hm...i don't think so. Rivalry doesn't allow such middling feelings. Of course, if a school is small enough to not have a team but another school does...maybe that's not a real rival. I guess i'd need an example. True. I can see where Columbus would be a weird place for picking a baseball team. Totally unacceptable...of course, i grew up as an ND fan because my grandfather was a huge ND fan...i think that it was more acceptable back when he was growing up in the 30s...since they represented the entire catholic faith and in particular the Irish. Of course, i dropped all allegiance to them a long time ago.

I don't know if i'd say it was a "great" run for the US. We were expected to get out of our group. That we won it is basically because England really sucked it up. After the group, it was inevitable that we would lose. We lead for something like 3 minutes total in this tournament. You can't advance with that. It may sound like i'm disappointed with the team, but i'm not. I recognize that US Soccer is still relatively young compared to elsewhere. The fact that we've only been on this stage since 1990 is a stark reality. We didn't qualify for 40 years. I think that 1994 established soccer here and now the kids that watched the 1994 World Cup are growing up in a world that is aware of US Soccer. That's a pretty big step. Kids are playing more soccer and we have a viable league now. I'm hoping that the MLS does more developmental stuff like the EPL does, and if that happens, we'll get more world class players. I think that by the time the US hosts the 2022 World Cup, i think we'll actually be contenders.

there are rules about being a sports fan...of course, i'm overly obsessed with them. If you root for a school you should have an actual connection to that school...i know this cuts out a lot of people...and it's a bit snobbish...so, i'm a little more lax on this. I don't think that it's okay, however, to say "well, my school sucked, so i picked the team that was winning a lot"...this mentality leads to bandwagon fandom. If you grew up in a city that had a professional sports team...that's your team. If you have a team that you root for, and they lose or are out of the playoffs...you are not allowed to cheer for a team from the same division or conference. Those are your rivals and you must not root for a rival. If you move to a new city that has a pro team you're allowed to go to those games and even hope to see that team win...but, remember...that is not your team. *This is out the window if that team is a rival of your team. You aren't allowed to root for rival schools in different sports. I see this all the time back home. "I'm a Michigan football fan, but i root for Michigan State in basketball." This is crap. Rivalry means something. it's friendly hatred...and "friendly" is loosely used here. If you grow up in the sticks and didn't have a sports team nearby...i'd pick the one that represents the state or the region. I knew several people that grew up on the west side of Michigan that all rooted for the Chicago teams, but then Chicago is closer than Detroit. This also makes me hate the Cubs more. I'm sure that i have a number of other rules in my head...but, i can't think of them. And yes, people that break these rules of mine are all pet peeves.

I love that Italy failed...i love it even more because they came in last in their group...behind New Zealand. Oh, that makes me happy.

Ugh...i have to go to a wedding at 2:30 on Saturday. At least it's Methodist or something like that and will only last 25 minutes so we can get back and watch it.

G** D**** sports illustrated. I don't want to know what the score to the match was today because i'm recording it and am going to watch it later. I want to have all the excitement of not knowing the outcome so i can go home and feel the excitement of the match. But, no. Sports Illustrated has to send out emails with the outcome of the match in the subject line. i mean, how hard would it be to leave it generic and if people actually click on the message have it tell them what happened? Ugh...i'm also pissed at gmail because i marked it the one that ruined Friday's match as spam hoping that it wouldn't show up again...but it did. Now i've created a filter so any future emails are automatically deleted.

Recently i've been heading over to Whitey's Package in Lawrenceburg, IN for New Belgium beers. While i really like Fat Tire, i've become a big fan of 1554 and their Sunshine Wheat.

I'm thinking of reading more Edward Abbey. I read The Fool's Progress awhile back and i think i need to read The Monkeywrench Gang and Desert Solitaire. I've also been recommended books out of the Discworld series. I'll have to get specific book references though. I'm not sure i want to start at the beginning. Other than that, i think i need to get more trade paperbacks of some comic book series.

music in the bathroom...seriously, what Motown hits record do they have that they have to play it here at work and only in the bathroom. Not the lobby, not the hallways, certainly not the work areas or even the elevators. Just the bathroom. I have gotten over the fact that i've heard the Jackson 5's greatest hits several times over now...but today they took it too far. Barry White should not be played in the men's room...ever.

But if those are the blocks...they really don't look anything like the visuals of the wall that you see all the time. I mean, those could just be concrete from anywhere (not that i dispute where they came from).

so...they're using pieces to create a walkway? Um...that's dumb.

the lack of public and clean bathrooms. I really believe that it should be required that all places of business have something accessible under the Americans with Disabilities Act. There are people that have diseases that require access to facilities. That's a particularly strong pet peeve of mine.

If you didn't see the press conference i'd look up the interaction Izzo had with Detroit News reporter Lynn Henning. In the press conference itself MSU President Lou Anna K. Simon and MSU AD Mark Hollis both took the media to task for their loose relationship with the facts in this story. Lynn Henning took offense and brought it up to Izzo and then assailed him with the idea that Izzo was not making this decision in a vacuum and basically owed it to the media to keep them informed. Izzo didn't like that...it was lie 10 minutes of the two of them going back and forth. Great to see if you get a little annoyed with the constant 24/7 media.

No press conference this afternoon. Izzo texted the AP to say that he hadn't made up his mind yet...that was about an hour ago. Also, apparently one of Gilbert's private jets is flying to Boston...maybe to pick up Byron Scott? It's the same plane that delivered Izzo last night back to Lansing. (You forgot Charlie Bell...starting guard for the Bucks) There's no doubt that Duke has been able to get great talent. Coach K has also been doing it for a bit longer than Izzo. Honestly, if Izzo sticks around you could start to see more numbers like that coming through. I have the utmost respect for Coach K. The guy wins and graduates players and does so cleanly. I have no problem with that.

As a resident MSU fan, we have had a lot of upheaval in the past couple decades and the only constant has been Tom Izzo. The great success of the basketball team has been a bright spot in what has been a tough athletic road with our football team. We finally have confidence in both of our coaches moving forward. Anything threatening that is a bit of a scary prospect. We do have confidence in our athletic director (one of the best in the business) to make a good hire (lots of names bandied about like Crean, Self, Dixon, etc...whether or not they would leave is another issue). I think that Tom Izzo is more like a Woody Hayes than a Jim Tressel. If Hayes leaves for another job it could have changed the course of OSU football. The other issue is that MSU is poised to make a huge run in the next two years and has an incredible class coming in next year. Those kids committed to Izzo not to MSU. All that said...after reading Izzo's comments after he made it back to Lansing last night, i am more confident that he'll stick around. He basically said, "I did what i had to do." Since he hasn't made a decision yet, i'm taking that to mean that he had to go check out this once in a lifetime opportunity. Sure, he's not made up his mind, but i think if he was leaning towards taking the job before, he's probably leaning towards staying now. I am just begging him to pick up the phone and talk to Rick Pitino.

Yes, i'm sure Maradona is high. :-P

Reason helped to guide decisions on future of Detroit castoffs BY JOHN GALLAGHER FREE PRESS BUSINESS WRITER Detroit is dotted with distinguished but vacant architecture. From empty schools to empty skyscrapers, these castoffs challenge our best efforts to remake the city. Keep them or demolish them?

Izzo has a contract for life. It's a 7 year deal that automatically rolls over every year. If he makes this move it is nothing to do with money and everything to do with deciding that this is his last shot at an NBA gig and a title. He's also said (as recently as this week) that he wants another title at MSU that will really elevate the program to another level. He's not happy that with all the success that he's had at MSU he doesn't get automatic recruits like Kentucky, UNC or Duke. He can be a little prickly with the press and a little thin skinned. I think he's a hell of a coach, but i'm not sure he's an NBA personality.

Believe me, as an MSU guy i have been following this like crazy and i'm confident to say that no one knows what is happening except Izzo. Reports are flying around and blogs are saying all sorts of stuff both ways. It makes for great headlines and wonderful speculation (i'm sure the Detroit Free Press and News are loving the number of hits they're getting) but i'm not sure there's anything we'll learn until Izzo is ready to announce it (whichever way he goes). I still stand by my statement that i doubt he's going anywhere.

Lol...don't take anything that Hondo says seriously. The dude thought Izzo was a serious candidate for the football job before they hired Mark Dantonio. He has no credibility. He's a fat guy with a TV show (small market, cable access quality, etc.) and a website.