Sport

The BIG One

in

Yes, I've returned from my day fishing. Pike_steveCould anyone have guessed that I would land a record breaking Northern Pike from Lake Geneva in Wisconsin?  What an incredible experience! 

I fought the great beast for 2 1/2 hours and finally landed him by jumping in the depths and wrestling him to the point of exhaustion.  I then threw him into the boat and up to the dock where Jim Guinness (yes, the CEO of the world record organization) was on the shore waiting for me after a bizarre set of dreams and visions in the weeks prior to me landing the great fish. 

Fortunately for me Jim gave me 30 minutes to recoup from the epic battle.  That was a good thing because at that point hundreds of people had gathered around the shoreline to see the mammoth fish and hear me retell how I defeated him with unflinching courage and determination.

After my quick breather, I approached the large stage that had quickly been constructed for my moment of glory.  I was still too exhausted to even walk, yet I still found the energy to sign autographs which included photographs of Jimmy Houston. 

Several minutes later, with hands numbed from the fight and tingling with anticipation, I took the microphone and began my story.  Through each gripping detail, more of the crowd broke into tears.  Some tears of agony as they identified with my struggle.  Others tears of joy at the possibility of such a feat!  As even the most salty-mouthed fishermen began to speak my praises, I found myself unable to finish.  It was all too much for me.  Choked from my own emotions, I decided to lead the now massive crowd in a moment of silence for the soul of the world's largest Northern Pike.  And then we fired up the fish fry.

Okay, so I'm lying.  I caught nothing.  But my buddy caught three, including this one.

Gone Fishing

in

A buddy at our church is taking me out fishing on a boat today in Wisconsin.  I have a pretty good record of catching better fish than my expert fisherman friends, but I think this time I'm in trouble.  I expect my best catch with be a photo or two.  Who knows?  Pray for me to be a successful fisher of fish.  I believe Northern Pike will be the target.

Maybe this could be me later...
Pike

OutLandis Behavior?

in

Ugh.  Look, I waited until AFTER the Tour de France to even post on the event because it's so doped up.  I wanted to be sure all was fine.  And now it appears that TdF winner, American Floyd Landis, may have been testosterone doping. 

The B sample needs to be tested to be sure, so it's unfair to call him guilty yet.  But he has been suspended from his team and will be fired if the B sample is dirty.

I would love to see this be a mistake.  I would love to find out that it was simply a surprising result to natural processes that came due to his horrible hip problems and efforts to relieve pain.  But I'm not optimistic.

UPDATE: Landis responds on SI.

Tour de Floyd

in

Floyd_1With Lance Armstrong in retirement and the Tour de France field torn up by a doping investigation, American Floyd Landis has taken advantage in today's stage (bad hip and all) and will almost certainly be the last man wearing the maillot jaune (yellow jersey) after arriving in Paris tomorrow.  He leads by 59 seconds. 

I remember learning about Floyd back in 2002-2003 and wondering if he was the guy who would follow in Lance's footsteps.  I guess we have our answer, at least for this year.  Floyd will have off season hip surgery though, it's that bad, and that may make future wins very difficult.

Hendry, Dusty, and Stupidity

in

Ugh.  The Cubs are themselves...again.  Sportsline has this for us from the Cubs GM, Jim Hendry...

Dusty is going to get every opportunity to manage the club and get us out of this hole, and he's going to get an opportunity to manage this club when we get healthy the next couple of weeks also.

An open letter to Jim Hendry...

Dear Jimmy,

If you find yourself in a hole, stop digging. (Will Rogers)

Love,

Steve

iMonk LOVES the Cubs

in

Dsc_00462_crop_500_cubs

No doubt about it, the iMonk can't get enough of the Cubs.  He always wore his Cubs hat around the OBI campus a little half-cocked in order to be "relevant" to the youth.  They all thought he was sooooo cool, and they were right!  (I was able to retain the cubbie blue and red in post-processing.)

In the middle, Matthew Smith of Indelible Grace.  On the right?  Ineligible Grace. 

Final Four

in

My predictions?  An all SEC final.  Today LSU will beat UCLA and Florida will beat George Mason.  In the final on Monday night Florida will defeat LSU.

March Madness: Illini Lose

in

Anyone watch the Illini play Washington?  I cannot remember ever seeing such a lopsided game in terms of fouls called.  Unbelievable.  Still, the Illini could and should have won.  But I cannot help but express my disbelief that Illinois shot 2 free throws in the second half.  Washington lived at the line. 

I didn't believe Illinois would win it all.  I have them losing in the final four, and that was a big stretch even for my biased opinions.  But they will go home knowing that a somewhat fairly called game would have probably meant playing in the regionals.  I'm looking forward to seeing who (if anyone) will speak out about this terrible officiating.

March Madness: First Round

in

First round I picked 25 right, so 7 were wrong.  Two of the 7 were 8/9 matchups.  I picked Southern IL U to beat W. Virginia, but that was just my alma mater talking.  I totally missed NW State over Iowa, Bradley over Kansas, and Montana over Nevada. 

I picked 5 upsets including George Mason (11) over Michigan State (6), Wisconsin-Milwaukee (11) over Oklahoma (6), Alabama (10) over Marquette (7), N.C State (10) over California (7), and Texas A&M (12) over Syracuse (5). 

If you look at the brackets, in each region I was completely right on the outer half of the brackets.  Interesting.  Tomorrow (Saturday) should bring some great games. 

March Madness

in

March Madness is upon us.  I love it.  Love NCAA basketball.  Here are my pics.

Elite Eight: Duke, Iowa, Pitt, UCLA, IL, NC, Villanova, Florida

Final Four: Duke, Pitt, IL (my team, baby), and Villanova

Duke vs. Villanova >> Villanova wins

Salukis Win MVC

in

Salukis_1Let's give it up for my alma mater!  The Southern Illinois Salukis won the MVC basketball tournament and are now heading to the NCAA tournament. Go Dawgs!  On a related note, an SIU cheerleader fell on her head and was carried off on a stretcher.

Waldo As students, my friends and I would go to every home game.  My roommate would dress up like the "Where's Waldo" guy and walk around the stadium.  Then we would hold up a sign saying "Where's Waldo?"  College fun is the best.

FYI, I met my wife, got married, and became a Christian at SIU.  Good times.

Bears & 24

in ,

I'm glad 24 is coming on now because I need something to get me over my depression caused by the Chicago Bears losing to Carolina.  And the reason?  The Bears' defense is either overrated, or more likely were just flat-out outplayed.  Great game by Rex Grossman, considering his experience level.  This is all on the defense.  I think the coaches failed to adjust to a very different Carolina team (since the November game). 

I will now be pulling for Denver who became one of my favorite teams when we spent three years living in a  suburb of Denver (Lakewood). 

Chicago White Sox: Champions

in

SoxThe Chicago White Sox win!!!

Though most everyone that knows me knows that I'm a die-hard Cubs fan, I also believe in "place."  So the cross-town rivalry was put aside for the playoffs and I've been a Sox fan along the way.  It's been a great experience, and though there is no replacing the Cubs in my heart, I have definitely learned to love the Sox too.

(photo credit: sportsline.com)