The Dutch Ain’t Much

Sigh… What was it that made me love the Netherlands in the World Cup? Was it the orange jerseys with the collars? (no other team had collars!) Was it the potential of the talent on the squad? (my boyz could play…) Or maybe it was it the KLM flight attendants from the 747 I took thru Amsterdam back in 1999? (admit it, already) Either way, Big Orange is no more after the ouster on Sunday at the hands of the handsome and much yellow carded Portugal team (that Figo is a looker!) Now, I have to find a new team for the rest of the Cup. I am really tempted to go with the hometown squad – Germany. They looked impressive against Sweden. I am admittedly drawn to England, only because I view myself as the fan to save (plus, I can read the local press!). For now, I’ll put my money on Germany, but my heart is with Ukraine. Italy, I dare you to flop in the box against Ukraine. You may get your yellow card, but believe you me – there will be a revolution on your pretty face before you get to your penalty kick. Keep that in mind. Go Ukraine!

P.S. – I dare you to tell me that World Cup fever isn’t contagious. Even the theoretical physicists are sick with it!

Go Warno, Go!

Here's a quick salute to some friends riding in the MS 150 Tour de Farms this week.  I can't begin to say how proud I am of their efforts.  It's one thing to write a snarky blog – but actually doing something to make a difference takes committment and courage. I raise my glass.   

Why Take the Stairs?

I won't lie. The elevator's been good to me. Traveled down 12 floors with a certain A.J. Pierzynski today. He even held the door for me. Afterwards, I really did some soul searching and concluded that I've been too hard on the guy. By the time I looked back, it was too late to hug it out.

With a nod to Nick Hornby, here are my top 5 elevator rides

5. A.J. Pierzynski – Brief eye contact and pleasantries.
4. John Stroger. Pre-stroke. On the way out, I told him to keep up the good work.
3. Christie Hefner – Heavy eye contact while she chatted up an underling. Was she checking me out?
2. Barack Obama – Pre-Senate. Just the two of us. Primary campaign strategy was discussed. Hands were shaken.
1. Mayor Daley – Ran to catch a closing elevator, stumbled in, and found myself introduced to the mayor by a co-worker. Had the wits to pull off a "Is it take your mayor to work day?" joke. He laughed. My finest moment.

As Tom Joad Rolls in his Grave

Setting: Sweltering Hot Chicago summer day.

Scene: Father and Daughter relaxing of the front stoop. A sudden rain begins to fall.

Daughter looks up, pauses. "At least it's not the Great Depression."

Father rubs eyes to lessen sudden stress induced headache.

A Quick One, While He’s Away

Germany, Jim Mckay has determined that you are forgiven.

The World Cup has been going for nearly a week now, and I’ve gone too long without commenting. What follows is and open letter to all my doubters and those who disrespected me. You know what I'm saying?

Dear Brother-in-Law,
Germany, your home team, admittedly got off to a strong start – first by hosting this fiasco, and secondly, by scoring four goals in your first game. However, Lehman looked weak and you need to get your defense together to go anywhere this year. But at least ABC TV announcer Jim McKay has, on American television for all to see, finally forgiven you for the sins WWII. What a relief that must be.

Dear Wife,
Argentina?! Yes, they looked really good in their first game against the Coast of Ivory, but here’s the thing – I know for a fact that you didn’t watch the game, and you are just rooting for them because you like the idea of us visiting Argentina someday. Come on, Argentina is the biggest group of cry-baby, shin kicking drama-queen fakers this side of Italy. Please – I could understand Brazil, but Argentina is unacceptable.

Dear Co-worker,
Thanks for trying to care about the World Cup. We often have great sports conversations – and you’ve given it your best shot. But it’s okay. You can go back to your American league baseball now.

Dear Readers, If you want true blog-star coverage of the World Cup, click on over the Worldview World Cup blog. It’s become my go-to reading on all things World Cup. Who needs the BBC when you've got the mysterious Hardman.

Go Netherlands!

If a Blogger Catch a Blogger Comin’ thro’ the Rye

Oh, Blogeratti – what a glamorous life you lead. Jet setting from town to town. Drinking free chardonnay wherever you can find it. Mingling with other socially isolated individuals for what is sure to be awkward conversation.

Two big blogger conferences took place over the last weekend, and the American Sector has correspondents at both. (Okay, they don’t really know I am referring to them as special correspondents, but hey – they’ve posted it, and I am willing to brand it as my own).

The blogosphere has grown to be so large and influential, even General Wesley Clarke has taken notice (we’re ready to for the air strike, general!). More importantly, (and perhaps, more frightening) bloggers are beginning to take their work seriously. Thankfully, my special correspondents see through the bright lights, red carpets and brand name laptops to bring you nothing but straight dope from the front lines of the media wars.

First up is Sean over at Cosmic Variance. He’s been in Vegas for Yearly Kos – the conference centered around politico-blog, Daily Kos. Sean, for the record, is the perfect reporter for the job – nothing could possibly distract him while in Nevada.

Next is John over at Media SITREP. This is a man who knows his conferences. I saw him in Cambridge at Beyond Broadcast on a Friday – then on the next Monday, he attends a conference in my hometown that I didn’t even know about! And now this last week he was in Philadelphia for The Hyperlinked Society conference.

Now, The American Sector thinks it’s great that bloggers are starting to talk about their craft. (Even if some of them are… how do you say…. ornery as they do it). But still, you’d think that they would try coordinate their conferences to allow for greater attendance and maximize their effectiveness. In fact, I believe they tried to negotiate dates. The meeting looked something like this.

My World Cup Runneth Over

Oh, yes. Oh, how I have waited. And now it is here. No longer will this American fan settle for first round elimination, or even the quarter finals. It is time for our nation to avenge the unjust loss to the cheating Germans and take back the championship loss to Brazil that was our birth right!

Why is it that I get so excited over the World Cup? I am no huge soccer fan. I think I like the idea of being a football aficionado more than the reality. But I am genuinely amped up for this. Maybe it's because the World Cup is what the Olympics are supposed to be – a national testing ground. But with the Olympics, you're left with so many individual events (oh my god, can you believe Dan Jansen just landed that triple sow cow during the long jump?) it's hard to grasp onto the national fervor that the World Cup produces. Our closest equivilent would have to be the 1980 miracle on ice (note: a team event!). But in the World Cup, even if the US goes out early, I can at least latch on to the Netherlands (go big orange!) or Cote d'Ivorie (watch out, Argentina) for the remainder of the tourney. By the way, I've been to a Bundesliga game at Olympic Stadium (site of the final game this year) and came home with a scarf that read "God is with us and against our enemies." God loves football – and for the next month, so should you.