Illinois Cowboys

As Gary Larson once said, “it’s only a matter of time before we bring in the cows.”*

So yesterday was one of the rites of Springtime here on the flatlands: the shooting of the cows. The Vet shows up with his immobilizer-on-wheels, de-wormer, and innoculations. The men-folk sort the cows through a series of gates and chutes, leading to said immobilizer, where the vet administers the shots and ear-tags. The cows return to the pasture for several more months of grazing and fattening. Everyone goes inside for a hearty beef lunch.

Soccer: USA thumps Poland

And the score, 3-0 in Krakow.  Now Poland’s a pretty good team, who’ve qualified for the European Championships this summer, and the U.S. has had some tough luck on European soil in the past, so this is a fine result.

Looking at that score you might think total domination, but that wasn’t completely the case.   The U.S. scored two goals in the first half on corner kick-headers by their center backs.  The third goal came off a free kick by Eddie Lewis that would’ve done David Beckham proud.  So three goals–none from the run of play.  That’s kind of like scoring three touchdowns from your defense/special teams.

Our boys won every positional battle except our forwards versus their center backs.  This is where the U.S. strike force continues to disappoint.  We are one very good striker away from being a truly dangerous top ten team.  If only Jozy Alitodore and Freddy Adu can both mature and live up to their hype…

Still, great result by the U.S.A. as we count down to World Cup qualifying this summer.

Lotta Hoops

Mrs. Beemsville just wouldn’t let me change the channel. It was all NCAA hoops all the time. Watching some really good teams, with all the three-pointers and clutch freethrows, was a stark reminder of just how important good shooting can be. Seems pretty obvious, but you wouldn’t know it from watching the Illini.

That Curry kid almost singlehandedly shot down big ol’ Georgetown. Purdue and Duke couldn’t hit anything in the second half or they’d both be playing. Makes you wonder how much moving the 3-point line back next year will affect the game. A few other randoms notes…

Short Story Sale: Argonaut to Fusion Fragment

Woot!

Fusion Fragment #5, available soon on your interweb. Check out the current issue here. They have some good stories.

Argonaut is part cyberpunk mystery, part bio-tech horror. I’m glad to place it, because it’s a little long for a short story and some editors just don’t want to see stuff over 5,000 words if you’re not a name author.

You can read a little preview of the opening paragraph here. Stay tuned…

Olympic Qualies Update

The U.S. bumbled around in three group stage games, only managing three goals (two on penalty kicks) and generally looked bad. This being CONCACAF, though, we still won the group. Oh well could’ve been worse. Ask Mexico.

The boys didn’t look sharp or confident. They sure didn’t look organized. You have to wonder what Coach Peter Nowak is thinking playing the 4-5-1. A lot of us were hoping for the 4-3-3, but Jozy Altidore found himself stranded alone far too often. A 4-4-2 with Freddy Adu at attacking midfield would be nice too; unfortunately Nowak just had so many guys out of position and there was so much bad passing, we just weren’t going to see any sexy football.

Speaking of which, the highlight of the group stage for the U.S. was clearly the pseudo-streaker. What–you didn’t see? Check her out after the bump…

NCAA to Missouri Valley: F@#& You!

That’s right, you, Illinois State, and all you MVC coaches and ADs struggling to schedule-up and play the RPI game to make the tourney. And for good measure you too, Dayton… In fact all you Mid Majors!

To say the NCAA lacks credibility would be like saying our Electoral process is broken. It’s pretty obvious, it’s steeped in history, and what’s anyone going to do about it? The NCAA’s primary objectives are to make every red cent they can off ‘amateur’ athletics and protect the sacred cows. They do this well. Look no further than the two prime events, the BCS series and March Madness for your evidence.

What’s the Hubub, bub?

It’s the Grubb Hub.

(I’ve been waiting to use that one–I know, I know…)

While Grubb’s blog will undoubtedly include entries about that lamest of American sports, baseball, it should more than make up for it with other thrilling content. So add another blog to your RSS feed reader (Beemsville recommends Google Reader) and stop by the Grubbhub.

Currently Reading: River of Gods

…by Ian McDonald

Click on the cover-art for a preview of the book.

I’m halfway through. It’s big (600) pages and bold, with fascinating ideas and intriguing characters. River of Gods is sci-fi! The book takes place in India in 2047 and I’m loving the big plot and all the cross-genre narrative conventions.

Olympic Qualies Preview

Olympic qualifying begins tomorrow for the U.S. Men’s Soccer team. This would be our under-23 team, the not-really-a-youth -team team. You can tune in on ESPN 360, ESPN Deportes, or Fox Soccer Channel if you get them.

We didn’t qualify for the last Olympics, due to overconfidence, bad coaching, and some choking by the team.  That team featured Landon Donovan, DaMarcus Beasley, and company and should’ve been in Athens.  This time around the Olympic squad will feature Jozy Altidore, Freddy Adu, Jonathan Spector, Maurice Edu, and others.  It’s a tough looking team that should be in the mix for a medal in Beijing.

RIP Gary Gygax

The creator of D&D has passed into the immortal realms, which makes us all a little sad around here.

I remember the first time cousin Greg popped open the old Basic Edition game.  We had an impromptu session in the back of the car on the way back from Ohio.  That was about 5th grade when I was also starting to read a lot more.  I was hooked.  Graduated to AD&D in Jr. High, which led to half-a-dozen other different gaming systems.