A Devil's Discourse
Wednesday, March 29, 2006
Monday, March 27, 2006
Am I the only one...
that didn't read Tintin comics and Hardy Boys when I was little?
¶ 6:15 PM 4 comments
Sunday, March 26, 2006
It ain't over yet
Just when you think you have seen it all in this years tournament, something new crops up. Today it is George Mason in a tussle with Conneticut. The last 5 seconds in regulation was super crazy.
Will update this again once the game is over.
Update:- Whoever named the basketball tournament March Madness couldnt have come up with a better name. Thats how mad it was this game. George Mason won it 86-84. Now, as the 11th seed going to the Final Four there is no doubt in my mind that the entire country will be rooting for the underdog George Mason, including yours truly. ¶ 2:41 PM 1 comments
Will update this again once the game is over.
Update:- Whoever named the basketball tournament March Madness couldnt have come up with a better name. Thats how mad it was this game. George Mason won it 86-84. Now, as the 11th seed going to the Final Four there is no doubt in my mind that the entire country will be rooting for the underdog George Mason, including yours truly. ¶ 2:41 PM 1 comments
Friday, March 24, 2006
The Comeback
UCLA scored the last 11 points in the Gonzaga game to make one of the greatest comeback in the history of the tournament. At several points of the game the Zags had as much as 15 points lead. I thought it is only a formality before Gonzaga wins the game. No, it was not be and the picture says it all.
Picture courtesy : AP Photo / Paul Sakuma ¶ 7:05 AM 2 comments
UCLA scored the last 11 points in the Gonzaga game to make one of the greatest comeback in the history of the tournament. At several points of the game the Zags had as much as 15 points lead. I thought it is only a formality before Gonzaga wins the game. No, it was not be and the picture says it all.Picture courtesy : AP Photo / Paul Sakuma ¶ 7:05 AM 2 comments
Thursday, March 23, 2006
Duke gone...
LSU took out Duke in the first Sweet 16 match and did I say I watched the game :) What is the noise that I am hearing , Over rated ... Over rated... yeah that is correct.
LSU played an excellent team game. I could see them jittery all through the game missing wide open shots and bad passes but held it together when it mattered and won the game.
Adios JJ Reddick ( he got misty eyed towards the end) and Sheldon Williams, you were good to College Basketball. Good luck. ¶ 7:25 PM 0 comments
LSU played an excellent team game. I could see them jittery all through the game missing wide open shots and bad passes but held it together when it mattered and won the game.
Adios JJ Reddick ( he got misty eyed towards the end) and Sheldon Williams, you were good to College Basketball. Good luck. ¶ 7:25 PM 0 comments
Wednesday, March 22, 2006
Cookie Wisdom 3
Wisdom from fortune cookies.
Buckle up guys this the best one yet :)
"You can't go far in rowboat without oars" (whatever the heck that is)
Learn Chinese: Pot Sticker - Guo tie. ¶ 4:09 PM 0 comments
Buckle up guys this the best one yet :)
"You can't go far in rowboat without oars" (whatever the heck that is)
Learn Chinese: Pot Sticker - Guo tie. ¶ 4:09 PM 0 comments
Tuesday, March 21, 2006
10/16
10 out of the 16 teams I picked for the Sweet 16 made it. Bradley, WSU and George Mason crashed the party. Did pretty well in Altanta, Oakland and Minneapolis regionals (3/4), Washington regional was the worst hit (1/4).
Here on out it is going to be even more difficult to send a high percentage of teams in my bracket to the Elite Eight ( I am giving Duke the boot in Sweet 16). Let' see. ¶ 5:26 PM 0 comments
Here on out it is going to be even more difficult to send a high percentage of teams in my bracket to the Elite Eight ( I am giving Duke the boot in Sweet 16). Let' see. ¶ 5:26 PM 0 comments
Monday, March 20, 2006
Spring Practice
While sports fans are fixated with March Madness, which is the toast of this season of the year, there is something else that is going on across the college football practice fields of the country. I am talking about the 15 day Spring practice that will culminate with a Spring game.
The coaches use the Spring practices to take stock of their players, make position changes, and try to fill up the spots left by players who either graduated or left for the draft. Also players who were injured or limited during last year will step up and compete for playing time. At the end of the spring practices and the spring game we will have a rough idea about how the fall depth chart will look like. Some schools already completed their spring practice (UCLA and some others).
My school’s spring practice starts this week and I am all excited. I will swing by the practice field this weekend and will get an initial feel about our team for the upcoming season. Have to call the coaches office to put my name down and get permission to go the practice field. I would like to post the pictures of the practice but our Head Coach specifically asks us fans not to take pictures and post it on the internet, for other teams will come to know about anything that we don’t want to let out. I hope there are no such restrictions for the spring game.
We will watch how things develop in the following areas
1) Defensive line (could make or break our season)
2) The young line backing core, we have to replace an All-Conference player here.
3) We have good talent in the wide receiving corps but they are untested. Have to replace a departing All-American here.
4) The offensive line needs to get healthy. Even if they there not 100% healthy they will give it all, a very proud and courageous bunch. Also will have a look at a couple of highly regarded Red Shirt Freshmen.
5) The transfers that sat out last year.
6) There will be another interesting thing that will be going on but I don’t want to talk about it for fear of jinxing things.
Couldn't wait for Saturday to be here ¶ 3:48 PM 0 comments
The coaches use the Spring practices to take stock of their players, make position changes, and try to fill up the spots left by players who either graduated or left for the draft. Also players who were injured or limited during last year will step up and compete for playing time. At the end of the spring practices and the spring game we will have a rough idea about how the fall depth chart will look like. Some schools already completed their spring practice (UCLA and some others).
My school’s spring practice starts this week and I am all excited. I will swing by the practice field this weekend and will get an initial feel about our team for the upcoming season. Have to call the coaches office to put my name down and get permission to go the practice field. I would like to post the pictures of the practice but our Head Coach specifically asks us fans not to take pictures and post it on the internet, for other teams will come to know about anything that we don’t want to let out. I hope there are no such restrictions for the spring game.
We will watch how things develop in the following areas
1) Defensive line (could make or break our season)
2) The young line backing core, we have to replace an All-Conference player here.
3) We have good talent in the wide receiving corps but they are untested. Have to replace a departing All-American here.
4) The offensive line needs to get healthy. Even if they there not 100% healthy they will give it all, a very proud and courageous bunch. Also will have a look at a couple of highly regarded Red Shirt Freshmen.
5) The transfers that sat out last year.
6) There will be another interesting thing that will be going on but I don’t want to talk about it for fear of jinxing things.
Couldn't wait for Saturday to be here ¶ 3:48 PM 0 comments
Friday, March 17, 2006
Green Day
No not the band. Today is St.Patrick’s day and most people wear some green clothing (hat, shirt…) to mark it. It was no different at work today and it was green everywhere. I wore a green t-shirt to work but didn’t have the slightest idea that today is St.Partick’s Day. Turned out, people thought that I wore green for St.Patricks Day. It was not by design but I will take it :)
First round update: Northwestern State (14) pulled the biggest upset of the tournament so far when they defeated 4th seed Iowa by a buzzer beater, good. Coming to think of it Big Ten is overrated and those teams didn’t deserve those high seeds in the first place.
Thursday, March 16, 2006
The problem with brackets
The problem with filling out a bracket is that you stop following the cardinal rule of being a sports fan.
As a sports fan you should follow the cardinal rule that states
"If your favorite team is not playing then you have to root for the underdogs".
I was tracking the scores of today’s matches all day. Usually in the first round you expect the higher seeds to proceed with little or no resistance. Almost all the brackets will be reflective of that, except some obvious ones like UW-Milwaukee over OU, which yours truly duly missed (I picked OU).
So, when some underdogs stage a fight and set the stage for a mild upset you as a sports fan should be elated and start rooting for them. The problem is they are supposed to lose in your bracket and your loyalty to the underdog starts to waver.
This morning when Pacific was staging a brave offensive against Boston College I was a little down because I picked BC to move forward. I came to my senses and realized that my bracket is set, so let me keep that aside and act normal by expecting upsets and rooting for underdogs. By the time Tennessee was on the brink of defeat I was back to my old self and started hoping Winthrop to pull it off.
Just watched Xavier give Gonzaga a run for their money before going down valiantly. It is really disheartening to see the sad faces on the Xavier bench during the final seconds when Gonzaga built a comfortable lead. After all Xavier was leading almost the entire game only to see Gonzaga take it all away at the very end.
I am off to an ok start with my pickings. Marquette, OU and Nevada lost their games. Also my Cinderella pick Kansas didnt fall in line with the Stewart Mandel’s 6 rules to be the Cinderella of the big dance and I think I am little off picking Kansas. Couldnt really complain the way the Madness has begun. I hope it continues this way over the weekend.
PS:- Syracuse lost big time to TAMU, I had them going all the way to Final Four:( ¶ 9:36 PM 2 comments
As a sports fan you should follow the cardinal rule that states
"If your favorite team is not playing then you have to root for the underdogs".
I was tracking the scores of today’s matches all day. Usually in the first round you expect the higher seeds to proceed with little or no resistance. Almost all the brackets will be reflective of that, except some obvious ones like UW-Milwaukee over OU, which yours truly duly missed (I picked OU).
So, when some underdogs stage a fight and set the stage for a mild upset you as a sports fan should be elated and start rooting for them. The problem is they are supposed to lose in your bracket and your loyalty to the underdog starts to waver.
This morning when Pacific was staging a brave offensive against Boston College I was a little down because I picked BC to move forward. I came to my senses and realized that my bracket is set, so let me keep that aside and act normal by expecting upsets and rooting for underdogs. By the time Tennessee was on the brink of defeat I was back to my old self and started hoping Winthrop to pull it off.
Just watched Xavier give Gonzaga a run for their money before going down valiantly. It is really disheartening to see the sad faces on the Xavier bench during the final seconds when Gonzaga built a comfortable lead. After all Xavier was leading almost the entire game only to see Gonzaga take it all away at the very end.
I am off to an ok start with my pickings. Marquette, OU and Nevada lost their games. Also my Cinderella pick Kansas didnt fall in line with the Stewart Mandel’s 6 rules to be the Cinderella of the big dance and I think I am little off picking Kansas. Couldnt really complain the way the Madness has begun. I hope it continues this way over the weekend.
PS:- Syracuse lost big time to TAMU, I had them going all the way to Final Four:( ¶ 9:36 PM 2 comments
Monday, March 13, 2006
My NCAA Bracket - 2006
Ok, this is going to be my bracket for this years post season play.
Few observations:
1) Duke exits way early in the tournament in my bracket.
2) Placing too much confidence in Syracuse ( In Mcnamara I trust).
3) Not confident of Texas but I have given them a good ride deep into the playoffs.
4) I have another bracket with UConn proceeding to the finals instead of Villanova and winning it all. The rest of the selection remains the same.
5) Dont blame me if Gonzaga runs the table.
6) This years Cinderalla - Kansas.
Ps:-
1) Sorry for my poor hand writing .
2) I seriously hope my predictions doesn’t blow up in my face :) ¶ 5:58 PM 0 comments
Ok, this is going to be my bracket for this years post season play.
Few observations:
1) Duke exits way early in the tournament in my bracket.
2) Placing too much confidence in Syracuse ( In Mcnamara I trust).
3) Not confident of Texas but I have given them a good ride deep into the playoffs.
4) I have another bracket with UConn proceeding to the finals instead of Villanova and winning it all. The rest of the selection remains the same.
5) Dont blame me if Gonzaga runs the table.
6) This years Cinderalla - Kansas.
Ps:-
1) Sorry for my poor hand writing .
2) I seriously hope my predictions doesn’t blow up in my face :) ¶ 5:58 PM 0 comments
Thursday, March 09, 2006
CBA extended through 2011
The NFL reached an agreement with the players assocation to extend the Collective Bargaining Agreement for six more years upto 2011. The salary cap will eventually increase to $109 millions.
With the new labor deal in place, teams can move on and focus on their football side of the operations. Considering what happened with NHL the announcement comes as a relief for everyone involved with football as it avoids unneccessary distractions. ¶ 7:08 AM 0 comments
With the new labor deal in place, teams can move on and focus on their football side of the operations. Considering what happened with NHL the announcement comes as a relief for everyone involved with football as it avoids unneccessary distractions. ¶ 7:08 AM 0 comments
Monday, March 06, 2006
Potru Anbu...
"Potru Anbu"... You might remember this dialogue during the encounter scene in the movie Kaakha Kaakha.
Thats exactly what I was thinking when Surya points his gun at the eve teaser and scares the living day lights out of him - "Potru Anbu".
While Tamil and Indian movies exaggerate a lot, the eve teasing scenes are very real or even very mellow when compared to what happens in real life. That is how bad the situation on the streets for our women.
It is so wide spread and common, that things like eve teasing are considered normal or even worse, heroic. This got to change and it got to change real fast. The message should be loud and clear - eve teasing is not acceptable in any shape or form.
Its good that we have started a dialogue with this blanknoise blogathon. We now have to see what steps that need to be taken by the people participating in the dialogue to prevent eve teasing from happening.
My suggestion:-
Eve teasing is a monster and it should be tackled by something bigger than that. We can't place police every where to prevent this. So what is the solution.
Not long ago there were huge agitations by the so called saviors of Thamizh against everything from naming the movies in English to interfering in the freedom of speech. Those are the people
we should be using in our fight against the evil of eve teasing.
The blogathon organisers should seek an appointment with the politicians in their respective states and should insist the importance of getting rid of this menace. With constant prodding the politicans will budge because it will boost their image among women. Then their muscle power should be used against the Romeos that mess with our women. When we get the politicans the media circus will then follow.
I can easily imagine Dr.Ramadoss and his activists going against these people everywhere from bus stops to movie halls. From them, the public will pick it up and soon we can send a sound message to eve teasers that it is not good to disrespect women.
Imagine the valentines day crashing Shiv Sainiks going after the eve teasers, boy that would be a scene to behold.
Instead of working against the big and relatively bad politicians we should work with them and use their organized cadre to eradicate the evil. We should get into the system and fight from with in and not stand from outside and stop just making some internet noise. ¶ 10:31 PM 3 comments
"Potru Anbu"... You might remember this dialogue during the encounter scene in the movie Kaakha Kaakha.Thats exactly what I was thinking when Surya points his gun at the eve teaser and scares the living day lights out of him - "Potru Anbu".
While Tamil and Indian movies exaggerate a lot, the eve teasing scenes are very real or even very mellow when compared to what happens in real life. That is how bad the situation on the streets for our women.
It is so wide spread and common, that things like eve teasing are considered normal or even worse, heroic. This got to change and it got to change real fast. The message should be loud and clear - eve teasing is not acceptable in any shape or form.
Its good that we have started a dialogue with this blanknoise blogathon. We now have to see what steps that need to be taken by the people participating in the dialogue to prevent eve teasing from happening.
My suggestion:-
Eve teasing is a monster and it should be tackled by something bigger than that. We can't place police every where to prevent this. So what is the solution.
Not long ago there were huge agitations by the so called saviors of Thamizh against everything from naming the movies in English to interfering in the freedom of speech. Those are the people
we should be using in our fight against the evil of eve teasing.
The blogathon organisers should seek an appointment with the politicians in their respective states and should insist the importance of getting rid of this menace. With constant prodding the politicans will budge because it will boost their image among women. Then their muscle power should be used against the Romeos that mess with our women. When we get the politicans the media circus will then follow.
I can easily imagine Dr.Ramadoss and his activists going against these people everywhere from bus stops to movie halls. From them, the public will pick it up and soon we can send a sound message to eve teasers that it is not good to disrespect women.
Imagine the valentines day crashing Shiv Sainiks going after the eve teasers, boy that would be a scene to behold.
Instead of working against the big and relatively bad politicians we should work with them and use their organized cadre to eradicate the evil. We should get into the system and fight from with in and not stand from outside and stop just making some internet noise. ¶ 10:31 PM 3 comments
Cookie Wisdom 2
Wisdom from fortune cookies.
"I hear and I forget. I see and I remember. I do and I understand."
Learn Chinese: Store
Shang-Dian ¶ 2:23 PM 0 comments
"I hear and I forget. I see and I remember. I do and I understand."
Learn Chinese: Store
Shang-Dian ¶ 2:23 PM 0 comments
Saturday, March 04, 2006
The Hellboy Jinx
Two days back when FSU defeated Duke, I wanted to write this post. This is the deal - I saw Duke play a couple of times this season(the first one being the Georgetown game) and they lost both those games. I thought it would be a stretch to say that I jinxed the Blue Devils by watching them play.
Well, I am not sure any more. I watched Duke - UNC game today and everyone was expecting a Duke win. It started that way when Duke led UNC 13-2 in the first few minutes of the game. But it was Coach Williams boys from Chapel Hill that emerged victorious.
It is official now, I jinxed the Blue Devils :). Duke fans, be afraid of Hellboy, be very afraid };- )=
Ok, time to go to 16 blocks (10:20 show). ¶ 9:46 PM 0 comments
Well, I am not sure any more. I watched Duke - UNC game today and everyone was expecting a Duke win. It started that way when Duke led UNC 13-2 in the first few minutes of the game. But it was Coach Williams boys from Chapel Hill that emerged victorious.
It is official now, I jinxed the Blue Devils :). Duke fans, be afraid of Hellboy, be very afraid };- )=
Ok, time to go to 16 blocks (10:20 show). ¶ 9:46 PM 0 comments
Duke vs UNC - Live
Duke vs UNC 2:43 to go UNC leads 76 to 66 and winning. Its something special that a new bunch of guys from last years Championship team to go into their hated rivals house and dominate.
Wait wait, Duke is making a comeback now lagging only by 6 , well the lead got cut to 3 with 1:31 to go and UNC time out. I am going to register the last few minutes of the Duke vs UNC match. The stadium is electric and i can see it on TV.
Duke ball less that 1 mintue to go and they lag by 3 points.
40 secoonds to go UNC ball and leading by 3
23.3 seconds, Duke foul UNC time out.
They are showing Coach Roy Willaims giving instructions to his team.
free throw 1 good
free throw 2 good
79-74 UNC
Sheldon Willaims dunkkkkkk. 79-76. 17.4 seconds to go UNC ball.
10.7 seconds to go Duke foul.
free throw 1- good
free throw 2 - good 81-76 UN lead
Missed three pointer from Duke, UNC ball and fouledby Duke- hard foul at that.
1.1 seonds to go and the game is almost over.
Good to see UNC tough it out and dominate Duke in their house. 82-76
Coach Williams has certainly brought the mojo to this UNC team
Game over 82-76 UNC. Awesome game.
JJReddic and Sheldon Williams lose on senior night. Duke crowd cant believe it.
Wow awesome game.
You know what the scary thing is, this UNC team is very young and they are only going to get better. Mark it down they have one more title in the next 4 years
¶ 9:19 PM 0 comments
Thursday, March 02, 2006
Changing Perceptions
"Sensitivity to foreign interference in its internal affairs is high in India, where a history of opposing imperialism has produced one of the proudest nations on earth "
An interesting read on President Bush's visit.
We are a little far from completely shedding our tag of being called a "soft state" but we are well on our way.
¶ 4:50 PM 0 comments
An interesting read on President Bush's visit.
We are a little far from completely shedding our tag of being called a "soft state" but we are well on our way.
Wednesday, March 01, 2006
March Madness*
After a relative lull this past month, we are entering one of the exciting months of College/ US sports. The Men’s college basketball regular season is about to end and post season play will begin in about two weeks. The next two weeks will be hectic with teams that are looking outside in making their final push to get an invitation to the big dance. The conference championships will be held as well.
From a fan’s perspective the next two week will be spend coming up with brackets and getting ready for predicting the results. Traditional basketball power house campuses like Duke, UNC, Illinois, Indiana, Kentucky, UCLA and Kansas (Kentucky and Indiana are on the bubble now) will all be throbbing with excitement now. I am not sure who this years Cinderella team will be but it’s about time some underdog run the table.
I will try and upload my bracket in this spot after selection Sunday. Let’s see how it goes. For football fans, March Madness* NBA finals and early season baseball are all like small pockets of oases on our way to the start of fall football.
* - March Madeness is a registered trade mark of NCAA . www.ncaa.org
¶ 4:50 PM 0 comments
