Dan from Nebraska has written a spiffy little 4 point pitch simulator. The rules are precisely like Grandma likes them. Note, however, that although this is a four person game, the scoring is done cut-throat style: You are not on the same team as the person across from you.
Also note that in 5 point pitch the deck contains one Joker that is worth another point if it is captured. It is always trump and not worth any game. The Joker can capture a 2-10, but loses to Jacks, Queens, Kings, and Aces.
The clip below is the Promo for the big fight this weekend between Joe "the Welsh Dragon" Calzaghe and Mikkel "The Ghost" Kessler. I found it while reading the very promissing Bad Left Hook blog, which is the lone boxing blog in the SBNation. Sports Blog nation is a collective of blogs including Every Day Should be Saturday and DawgSports.
The guys at Bad Left Hook had this to say about the gravity of this fight
There is not a more important, more necessary fight on the schedule, and I count Cotto-Mosley and Mayweather-Hatton in that statement. This one will prove, definitively, who the best is in this weight class. It's been Calzaghe for a long time. Mikkel Kessler could go one of two ways against Joe: He could be the dragon slayer, or he could just be another Jeff Lacy.
They are using the words "important" and "necessary" the way I used the word "meaningful", and therfore I heartedly agree.
I also mentioned a while back that I hate Floyd´s propensity for blather. When I wrote that I felt like I should give him credit for speaking more plainly than some others, like Vivian Harris, but now I am not so sure. Vivian presumably speaks English as a second language, and took a few beatings for having a woman´s name. Meanwhile, Floyd remains the kind of guy who gives himself a nickname. Check out his latest incomprehensible inanity here, as he responds to a question about his experience on Dancing with The Stars.
People were nice. And actually, I was the only one on the show that was the best at what he do because I don't really know the race car driver, but he's not the best race car driver. Some of the people were actresses weren't the best. And you had like Mark Cuban, he's not the richest billionaire. So, I was the best at what I do. Obviously, I'm in the sport of boxing and what I do.
There is something depraved about multi millionaires who speak like twelve-year-olds. Makes me sad. And not just in the "that moron is rich and I ain´t" sort of way either. Somewhere along the line he made a choice to behave like amoron, and everybody around him either encouraged him or bit their lip.
The Inspiration for that vido can be found here and here.
Needless to say it's been a great Fall. Beginning with the McMinn Wedding and ending with the Cocktail Party Celebration Victory. Last week Corrie suprised me twice, first with a trip to Athens to See the Hold Steady, and second with a suprise party at Velocity, where we all watched the Georgia game. Awesome.
I don't know if it's just the logical falacy speaking, but I think our lack of expectations gives Georgia a good chance against the Gators this year.
Corrie took me to Athens thursday night to see the Hold Steady. Talk about a double whammy surprise! Awesome. They finally played up to their 'legendary bar band' expectations.
Last night we went to see the Cigar Store Indians, who never disapoint. Except last night. They didn't have a drummer. Hmmmpf. It was almost worth it though, just to see Rich try to get his head around the idea of a band without a drummer.
Speaking of revolutionary ideas, I saw Chuck D in athens. he walked past us while we were eating at the Last resort. Or at least I think I did. I hope I did, since I have been bragging about it since.
I had this week off so I went to FernBank to check out the Frogs. Very Cool.
Then we checked out the Impresionalist exhibit at the High. Very cool. Cezanna, Monet, Manet, Degas and a bunch of others. It was very educational.
Watched most of the fourth season of Six Feet Under, and saw "We Own the Night" at the theater. It was less predictable than I expected. But good, as I expected.
Speaking of movies, Dennis Lehane's "Gone Baby Gone" is out. I forgot all about it. I don't believe it follows the book very well. It sounds like Ben Affleck wanted to make his own Mystic River, so he drained all the witty goodness from a different Lehane book. Forgivable, perhaps, had he not screwed with Bubba Rogowski, started mid series, downplayed Angie, and most of all, Screwed with Bubba.
Corrie is taking me somewhere today. She told me to pack for the night. I have no idea where....Exiciting.
No, the Hip arn't coming the Athens. I purposfully under introduced those tour dates, so don't feel bad.
Hey I had a great dinner at Miguel Torres again. Here is what I had.
Filete de vacuno con roll de lengua rellena de pate de camaron en salsa de brandy
Mero grille con salsa de hierbas verdes y pure horneado e zuccini, nuez y tomate confitado
Turron frio y nugatina con salsa de brandy al habano
Which Translates to:
Fillet of beef with language roll filled with pate de camaron in brandy sauce Mero grille 'sauce with green herbs and puree of baked zuccini, walnut and tomato confit Turron cold and nugatina with brandy sauce to Havana cigar
A couple of notes: Dollars to donuts that 'launguage roll' was cow's tongue. "Pate de Camaron" is mushy shrimp. Mero is Sea Bass, I think. There was no cigar, it was essence of cigar.
Let me just say that the Cow's tongue thing was bothering me when I it was an unfortunate aftertaste, but when I decided to attack it head on, it was damn good. I think I had mentioned the "green herbs and puree of baked zuccini" before as "green stuff, and mushy zuchini".
None of these items sound great in english, but that ain't the fault of the translation: The dishes are in fact unorthodox. But man they taste gooooooood. That desert rocked.
Not that I ain't stoked to be on the next flight back to the states. Speaking of which, I gotta run......
Floyd got knocked out of Dancing with the Stars. He looked pretty bad to me, and I´m an expert.
Of all the things I don´t like about Floyd, the one that annoys me most is his total disregard for coherant sentences. "I´m just glad to have reached this plateau" he said , after being voted off the show, as if his appearance on the show was a function of his past dancing achievements. Idiot. The sum of his dancing career is Barely beating and Synthetic Wayne Newton, and then losing to a spice girl. His logic reminds me of someone:
Anyhow, this concludes the Slowdow´s coverage of Dancing With the Stars. Unless Hatton goes on it next year. That would be so cool.
In other new, my sister Kristina called to let me know she saw the Tragically Hip in Hollywood last night. No, this doesn´t mean that I have made a fan out of someone, her husband is Canadian and therefore she didn't have a choice. I am still chopping wood as the promotion manager of this band, who remain number 1 on my list of´ 'Bands I wish were playing in my city right now': My friends have upgraded their oppinion from hostile rejection to pityfully aloof.
The band who holds the top spot in my list of Best Rock Conerts Ever, is Dinosaur Jr. Here are the canidates for "The best Rock Concert I have ever seen, part two. And Part Three, and Part Four".
11-20 Millvale, PA - Mr. Small's 11-21 Buffalo, NY - The Town Ballroom 11-23 Boston, MA - Paradise Rock Club 11-24 Boston, MA - Paradise Rock Club 11-27 Washington, DC - Black Cat 11-28 Raleigh, NC - Lincoln Theatre 11-29 Knoxville, TN - Blue Cats Live 11-30 Asheville, NC - The Orange Peel 12-01 Jacksonville Beach, FL - Freebird Live 12-02 Orlando, FL - The Club at Firestone 12-03 Athens, GA - 40 Watt Club (What else is there to do in December?)
12-05 Memphis, TN - Young Ave. Deli 12-06 New Orleans, LA - House of Blues 12-07 Austin, TX - Emo's 12-08 Dallas, TX - House of Blues 12-09 Oklahoma City, OK - Diamond Ballroom 12-11 Iowa City, IA - Picador 12-12 Omaha, NE - Slowdown 12-13 Kansas City, MO - Voodoo Lounge at Harrah's Casino 12-14 Denver, CO - The Ogden Theater 12-15 Aspen, CO - Belly Up
UPDATE: No, the intro to that song doesn't sound anything like Shadowy Men From a Shadowy Planet, I don't know what you are thinking. BTW, That's Steve singing. Talk to him about the audio quality.
This Saturday Night Vic Chesnut is playing at the Earle. Not Sure if I we are going to make it. Should be a good show.
Friday the 27th the Cigar Store Indians are playing at Smiths Olde Time Bar. I think the crew should go to this. Email being sent to crew right now.
Brian Regan on Nov 9th. Between The Newlyweds and Corrie and I, we have 8 tickets. 6 Are Together. I have reserved two for Ed and Kory. Rich, you want the other two?
Cotto v. Mosley on Nov 10th, I would like to buy the fight at have people over to watch it. No charge.
soco in bed a sunny sunday watching john mclaughlin
If you guys can catch the Diaz vs. Diaz replay on HBO, do it. Wow, Diaz fights just like Hatton used to. If Hatton wern't looking to cash out, he could have tried to clean up his division by beating the winner of Malinaggi vs. Witter, and then take on the winner of Diaz vs. Casamayor. (Ambiguity is intentional. Go watch the fight!)
As bad as the state of boxing is, which is really depends on how you look at it, it is far better than the state of Boxing WRITING. There are a few good blogs that masquerade as crappy online magazines (EastSideBoxing), but there is really only one place with professional writers. That place is Ring Magazine. And boy are they good. It's available only on Dead Tree, but you can get an update onling every week.
This had me cracking up:
To everyone who e-mailed in response to my comments in last week’s column questioning the legitimacy of Joe Calzaghe’s 10-year reign as the WBO champion: You can question the legitimacy of a governing body without questioning the authenticity of the fighter. That was my intent. It wasn’t to disparage Calzaghe. I would never do that.
By the way, there is absolutely no truth to the rumor that Frank Warren is screening members of the London Philharmonic Symphony Orchestra for the opponent Calzaghe will face if he pulls out of the Mikkel Kessler fight with a strained areola.
I am in Santiago. I just fought off a cold. Zooloretto, China, Lost Cities, Ricochet Robots, Rumbis, Nimmtz, Citadels, St. Petersburg, and Trias. Yeah, that about sums it up.
Wow, I just locked up a bunch of geek hits.
I get back this Saturday Morning. Don't know what the plan is for the week that I am back. I'm hoping for a sunny sunday.
A NOTE ON A RELATED MATTER: After referee Steve Smoger gave Kelly Pavlik his instructions in the dressing room prior to Taylor-Pavlik, Mauricio Sulaiman came into the room. Mauricio is the son of WBC president Jose Sulaiman. In recent years, he has assumed an increasingly active role within the sanctioning body. He is now the WBC’s executive secretary and is in charge of the organization’s executive office in Mexico City.
In the dressing room, Mauricio approached veteran cornerman Miguel Diaz and told him, “If Kelly wins, I would like his trunks to present as a gift to my father.” Diaz relayed the request to Mike Pavlik, who responded, “No way.”
After the fight, Mauricio returned to the dressing room and renewed his request.
“Oh, man,” Kelly said. “These are my trunks. Next fight, maybe; but not this one. I just won the championship in these trunks. My blood is on them.”
More people were drawn into the conversation. One-on-ones followed. Some words were exchanged regarding the discretionary powers of WBC officials and their ability to make things easy or hard on WBC champions. Mauricio Sulaiman left Boardwalk Hall with Kelly Pavlik’s bloodstained trunks. In the wee small hours of Sunday morning, he was confronted regarding the matter and the trunks were returned.
“It was a misunderstanding,” Mauricio told this writer. “I was led to believe that Kelly wanted the trunks to be presented as a gift to my father because of his respect for my father and the WBC. When it was brought to my attention that Kelly wished to have the trunks back, I arranged quickly to return them.”
Federal law states, “No officer or employee of a sanctioning organization may receive any compensation, gift, or benefit, directly or indirectly, from a boxer [other than a sanctioning fee].” Violation of this law is a crime punishable by up to one year in prison and a fine of $20,000.
When a powerful WBC official makes a request such as the one Sulaiman made of Pavlik, there’s an inherent coercive factor at work. That’s why there’s a law against it.
Craig Hamilton (the foremost boxing memorabilia dealer in the United States) estimates that Pavlik’s trunks from his championship-winning fight could be worth as much as $25,000. The WBC received a substantial sanctioning fee for Taylor-Pavlik. That should suffice for everyone’s purposes.
This isn’t the first time that Mauricio Sulaiman has made a request of this nature. One hopes it’s the last.
Anyone can pump out one article, true, but if the Ring is recommending this guy, he's probably good. My appologies Thomas.
