Wall of Flame

I am now a member of the Wall of Flame at the Wingdome in Kirkland, WA. I ate a "7-Alarm wing" at this local buffalo wing joint. I couldn't be prouder.

Come visit. My picture is on the wall.

"Well, I'm back."

So said Samwise Gamgee after he went to hell and back. And so I say the same after finishing the bar exam today. That thing is done.

Day 2

I don't know what makes me happier: being done with the substantive portion of the bar exam, or seeing that the Mariners finally released Carl Everett. Both are wonderful. Today is good.

I have one 2 1/4 hour session to go tomorrow morning (the ethics part), then it's done.

Day 1

Day 1 (of 3) is done. 700+ would-be attorneys typing away in one room. Here's what my camera-phone saw.

Game time

I'm done studying. Ready to rip tomorrow. Good luck to everyone who's taking the bar!

My new neighbors

Now you can see what my soon-to-be neighbors are doing, 24 hours a day, courtesy of National Geographic: Wildcam Grizzlies at McNeil River Falls. (Thanks, Dad.) There's a new permanent link in the sidebar, so check back any time. You might see me swimming there one day.

Burrito update

I was pleased to discover a new Chipotle burrito joint in Bellevue, with a sign indicating that another will open in Redmond next month. As I've said before, the Seattle area needs good burritos very badly. Hopefully Chipotle will fill that void. There's still time, though, if an enterprising person wanted to open a chain of authentic burrito restaurants here (ahem, Wally).

Why it sucks to lose a team

I guess there are two general reasons for why it sucks when your team leaves town. The first is a prospective loss: it's no fun to think about a future where there is no pro basketball in Seattle. No more exciting games with an authentic rooting interest, no more interest in off-season player movements. We've been robbed of future experiences.

The second, I think, is worse. It's a retrospective loss. I mean, for all those heartbreaking games -- the ones that made me question why I root for the team and wonder why I follow sports at all -- I always got through those times by telling myself that when the team finally wins a championship, bad times like this will make that moment much sweeter. So I'd stand up and say, okay Sonics/Seahawks/Mariners, you're just making the victory party more epic. I'll take this miserable loss -- I'll live with the memory of Dikembe Mutombo clutching the ball over his head as he lay on the Sonics' home court, cherishing the eighth-seeded Nuggets' shocking series win over the top-seeded Sonics -- and I'll recall it someday when I watch the green and gold clutching the championship trophy over their heads. And I'll know that we -- the fans -- earned this celebration. It'll be glorious.

Now, however, I know I'll never get that from the Sonics. Those horrible games -- the Dikembe moment -- are deadweight loss. The Sonics sold us short, and we lost our investments. Forgive the metaphor (but if you haven't heard, I'm studying for the bar, and it's all I can think about right now), but a sports team is like a trust, where all the fans are both grantors and beneficiaries. We supply the cash and the emotion. The team is supposed to do something with it, and pay us back in kind. The owner is supposed the be the trustee, who owes a fiduciary duty to all the fans -- a duty of loyalty, prudence, and due care. Schultz breached that duty, abused our trust, and left us nothing in return for our investments. All those bad moments that had hope, that had a silver lining, are now just bad moments.

Some might wonder why, if I've invested so much with them, I can't continue rooting for the Sonics when they move. I guess I could, and I guess the reason I won't is selfish. I won't root for them because I don't want them to win a championship for Oklahoma City. I don't want to celebrate with Oklahomans. Nothing against the people, but they haven't invested like we have. They've never had Dikembe Mutombo haunt their dreams. (Yes, it's as bad as it sounds.) When the Sonics win, I want to celebrate with the people who earned it; I don't want to share it with OKC. They're freeloading -- they're riding on our backs. I won't be a part of it. I'm out.

And that's why I think the Sonics will have a miserable time trying to fill the arena during the upcoming lame-duck season. There's just no point any more.

A couple more quick points

First, I think this might put Seattle on par with Cleveland as the most tortured sports cities. I always thought Cleveland had a slight advantage because Modell betrayed them and moved the Browns to Baltimore, and at least Seattle hadn't ever lost a team (not counting the Pilots, who left for Milwaukee after only one season). Well now I think we're square. Hello, Cleveland! They can take the lead back in a couple years, though, if LeBron bolts. But for now, we're tied up, baby!

Second, just to remind us what we'll be missing once the Sonics leave, the Mariners turn in a prototypical Seattle sports team effort. Holy crap. They take a 4-2 lead into the bottom of the ninth, and quickly give up a run. With rain pouring down, and a runner on second and one out, Posada hits a groundball to Lopez who makes a great stop and throw to get Posada at first. Except the blind/sleeping/paid-off umpire calls him safe (he was clearly out). Damon hits a sac fly to tie it, and the Yanks win in the 11th inning. The M's have now lost 10 of 12 and four in a row (three of which came in extra innings). Yay. I love sports.

Third, the question about which NBA team I'll root for now. Heh. Let me rephrase: which team I'll curse now. Hmmm, maybe I'll put this on eBay -- which franchise shall I destroy? Should I go after the Lakers? That would take real commitment; this curse doesn't allow me to half-ass it, and I'm not sure I can honestly root for them. The Knicks? Well, that's just piling on at this point. Detroit? Ahh... Detroit. Now there's a team I could really root for.

Bye, Sonics

The Sonics are gone. Outta here. Vaya con dios.

I watched the news conference today, where Howard Schultz and Wally Walker discussed the sale and introduced Clayton Bennett, the new owner from Oklahoma City. This whole story about wanting to keep the Sonics in Seattle is so thin. When Bennett was asked whether, to keep the team in Seattle, he wanted a new arena or renovations to KeyArena, he just mumbled about not having looked into it yet. Riiiiiight. That's definitely something you'd think about after you buy the team. Whatever. Nobody believes you.

Bennett and crew will give a perfunctory 12 months of "negotiating" with state and local officials, and when they don't get a deal featuring a free arena, free airport, free laundry and free salad bar, they're gone. And from Schultz, this is the final "fuck you" to the city and state people who wouldn't bow to his demands. You didn't like negotiating with Schultz and Walker? Try Bennett, who doesn't give two craps whether the team stays, and has an arena waiting back home. Talk about hardball negotiating.

It's a damn shame. The fans here have supported the Sonics well for 40 years. Even in lean years, fans remain interested and generally fill the arena. The Sonics, in return, have won the city's only championship. (Shut up, the Storm doesn't count. And even if it did, it's moving too.)

In a way, it's okay. The NBA is the worst of the big three pro leagues -- the product is both rigged and boring. My mom has already proclaimed "good riddance." (Her second proclamation: "The name 'SuperSonics' will work in Oklahoma, too, because they have McDonnell Douglas." Sweet. At least there's that.) But still, it sucks that they're leaving. I can't root for them if they leave, and I don't want to root for any other team. If Seattle ever gets another team, it'll either be a sinking ship like the Hornets or Hawks, or an expansion team. Ugh.

I'm not sure if this relieves some of the Seattle sports torture, or aggravates it. Like every other Seattle team, the Sonics were sure to torment fans for decades to come with heartbreaking losses. So maybe this is like ripping off the band-aid in one swift stroke. It stings at first, but in the long run, it's less painful. Maybe it's for the best.

But no, I don't think so. To have a team leave, not because of poor fan support or lack of on-field production but instead because of bureaucratic bellyaching, is a terrible fate. This is a sad day that will linger throughout the next season and beyond. The pain I'll feel the day the Oklahoma City SuperSonics win a championship -- rednecks going wild -- will be the same pain I feel today. The band-aid is for superficial wounds, see. This one cuts deeper. This one's gonna leave a mark.

7 days to go...

It's now Tuesday on the west coast, so in a week it's go-time. Every day that passes is a step closer to some foreboding thing; it's weird. It feels like that old Shel Silverstein-turned-Johnny Cash song, "25 Minutes to Go," about the prisoner on death row, who counts down the last 25 minutes of his life. Excerpt:

Now they're testin' the trap. It chills my spine.
I got 11 minutes to go.

'Cuz the goddamned thing it works just fine.
I got 10 more minutes to go.

I'm waitin' for the pardon... gonna set me free
With 9 more minutes to go.

But this ain't the movies, so to hell with me.
I got 8 more minutes to go.

Something's happening in 7 days, that's all I know. I just hope it turns out better for me than it does for the fellow in the song.

By the way, when I was looking up the lyrics, I found this crazy, mezmorizing website. For some reason, in a way I can't quite explain, it also captures this pre-bar sensation quite well.

No, I won't be sad

I will shed no tears if Mike Hargrove is fired. I'm tired of watching him put weird lineups on the field and mismanage the bullpen. He seems like a nice guy, but I haven't been impressed with the way he manages a game. (I haven't heard anyone saying that Hargrove will be fired... I'm just hoping.)

My biggest objection is his loyalty to Carl Everett. Everett was an awful signing, made even worse by Hargrove's decision to play him every day. He's a designated hitter, and he hits like a pitcher. During the game today, the broadcasters mentioned how Hargrove wanted to find more time for Willie Bloomquist. Okay, fine... Willie is hitting around .270 and generally makes good contact. Everett is hitting .230. Willie is not a good fielder, so he should really be the full-time DH. Everett should only get pinch-hitting duties for the rest of the season, but of course, since Everett is insane, he won't like that and he'll scream and yell and make everyone else crazy too. Anyway, today, Everett stayed at DH, Willie played 2B and picked up an error. Stupid Hargrove. Stupid Everett. Stupid Mariners.

More about Everett's ineffectiveness here. Is "ineffectiveness" a word? Thanks to Carl Everett, it is now.

The trip is set

I'll be getting to Anchorage by way of the Alaska Marine Highway System, taking a three-day trip from Bellingham, WA, to Skagway, AK. From there, it's 800 miles to Anchorage. I've got a little cabin reserved on the ferry, and it should be fun. The drive will also be cool -- Skagway is an old Klondike gold rush town, and from there it weaves through the Yukon and back into Alaska to Anchorage.

Okay, that's settled. Back to the bar.

The trip north

I am just now understanding how difficult it will be to get me, my car, and my stuff up to Anchorage. There's no easy/cheap way to do it. The options, as I see it, are:

• Drive all the way. It's about 2400 miles from Seattle, and the roads are iffy. It's not all paved, and there aren't gas stations every 10 miles. I would have to bring extra gas and tires with me. The upside is that the drive would be amazing. Check this out.
• Ferry most of the way, and drive the rest. The Alaska Marine Highway System is pretty cool, but its schedules are not convenient. It would take 9 days, including a 3-day stop in Petersburg, AK, waiting for the next ferry. It's also a tad expensive, but the views would be great.
• Fly, and ship the car. I could put the car on a barge or some sort of ship and then fly. This might be the easiest, but I would lose the great views, it would cost a lot to ship the car, and my poor car will be buried in sea spray for a week.

Those are my choices. What would you do?

Bar Exam - The Home Game

Now you can play along at home! Here's a sample bar exam question (from Criminal Law):

Don and Betty lived in Seattle, Washington, and had always had a stormy relationship. Don had physically abused Betty in the past and threatened to kill her if she tried to divorce him. Don's life was insured for $1 million with Betty as the beneficiary.
Fearing she could not escape the relationship with Don, on March 1, 1999, Betty contacted Harry and told him she would pay him $100,000 if he killed Don and made it look like an accident. Harry agreed but wanted to be paid in advance. In order to get the money, Betty took a number of checks from the business where she was employed, filled them in and cashed them. Betty gave Harry the money. Harry went to the bar next door and had seven drinks to get up his courage.
According to the plan, Harry went to Don and Betty's home, broke open the back door, and entered the darkened bedroom armed with a handgun. Harry grabbed Don's wallet containing $500 off the dresser. Don jumped up from the bed and Harry fired two shots. The first shot missed Don, went through the window of the house, and struck and seriously injured Bob, the next-door neighbor, who was sitting in his living room. The second shot struck Don and killed him. As he left the house with the wallet, Harry threw gasoline on the porch and started a fire to conceal what had occurred.
When Harry's car would not start, he ran into the street and approached Sally, who was stopped at a traffic light. Harry jumped in her car, displayed the gun, and told her to drive. Sally was later able to jump out of the car at a stop sign down the road and escaped.
When the fire department arrived at Don and Betty's home to extinguish the fire, a fireman was killed when part of the roof fell on him.
Disregarding merger, discuss all substantive crimes and defenses of the parties.

Go!

The bar making movies less fun

I took a break today and saw Superman Returns. Pretty good, I thought. It's nice to have Superman back in the cinemas again.

The only bad part was at the beginning, where (and I don't think I'm spoiling anything here) we see the execution of a will. I couldn't help but lean over to my friend Kimmy and tell her that the will was not properly attested, and is therefore invalid. In Washington, at least. She told me to shut up.

The subjects

I get questions now and again about what's on the bar exam. In Washington, these subjects are tested:

Constitutional Law
Sales
Contracts
Administrative Law
Criminal Law
Criminal Procedure
Property
Corporations
Agencies/Partnerships
Secured Transactions
Family Law
Community Property
Civil Procedure
Torts
Commercial Paper
Evidence
Wills
Trusts
Professional Responsibility

All but the last are tested over the course of 18 essay questions given on the first two days. The Professional Responsibility part is tested on the third day, with 6 short answer essays.

So that's what this is all about. The kicker: no notes; all memorization. Woo!

Less than 2 weeks to go...

The public library

I'm here at the Kirkland public library doing some bar-studying. I think, if I wanted to, I could live-blog the events going on around me. This place is bustling. Okay, not really. But it's certainly more active than a law library.

Examples:

There are kids everywhere. And they aren't quiet. Running, scampering hither and yon.

There were two older Native American gentlemen who appeared to be teaching each other how to read. I don't know how that would work, but that's what it looked like. They were very loud about it, too.

The library is right next to a park, and I'm perched at a window-side desk, so I can see all the carefree youths playing ball. I would love to trade afternoons with them.

A kid just rolled by me. No, not like a "steamroller," but with those shoes that have one wheel in the heel. Are these shoes here to stay? Or, in 20 years, will these kids-turned-adults think back and chuckle in nostalgia about these dumb shoes like we do about parachute pants? These shoes serve no practical purpose -- you can't really get anywhere by rolling. I guess it's fun, and looks cool. Do they come in a size 12?

I tell you, exciting times at the public library.

UPDATE: now hooligans are skateboarding outside my window. Damn kids! Get off my lawn!

The Internet is "the 'crack cocaine' of gambling."

Many of my friends at Michigan spent a lot of time in this "crack house." They will be disappointed when Congress makes it a lot harder to gamble online. Better find the closest Indian casino!

Tigermania

After seeing this article on ESPN today, I think a couple of my Michigan friends have to pinch themselves. Everyone has gone Tigercrazy! In this article, every major league team is compared to a member of the 1984 Tigers team. The Mariners are some guy named Johnny Grubb. I'm sure Murph has that guy's signed batting helmet somewhere.

How long can Tigermania last? What happens if I start rooting for them? Shall we test the jinx?

And while we're on Detroit sports, I just wanna give some love to Stevie Yzerman, who announced his retirement last week. I don't know if there's ever been an athlete more beloved by his home town. He has been there for 20-something years, and people in Detroit are madly in love with Stevie Y. I don't know enough about hockey or the Wings or Yzerman to fully give tribute to his career, but there wasn't much national press about it last week, and there should have been. This kind of bond between city and player doesn't happen very often.

These are not the Emmys nominations I would have chosen.

The Emmy nominations were announced today, and they mostly suck. I'm an expert in the matter.

The most blatant, inexcusable omission is "Lost" from the list of best dramas. It is still one of the top three shows on TV, even if many people get frustrated by the plot's glacial pace. Instead, the nominees are "24," "Grey's Anatomy," "The Sopranos," "House," and "The West Wing." I won't quarrel with Grey's, which has a quite a following even if it is kinda crappy. The Sopranos had an off-season, but it's still better than anything else TV can offer. I've never seen House, but maybe I should. I do watch 24 and West Wing, and neither deserved this honor this year. 24 is addictive but ridiculous -- crazy yet predictable plotlines and laughable overacting at times. The West Wing had a nice bounce-back year, but it's still a shadow of its old self, and I don't like the Sorkin-less version getting any recognition whatsoever. "Lost" should have been on this list. Also deserving recognition is HBO's "Rome," which was phenomenal, as well as "Big Love" and "Boston Legal."

As for best comedies, I'm glad that "Arrested Development" made the cut. It was such a great, great show, and all the morons who never watched it need to have its greatness rubbed in their faces a little before it fades to TVLand or BrilliantButCancelled. I'm also happy that "Scrubs" and "Curb Your Enthusiasm" got nods, and I can live with "The Office." But I don't understand this fascination with "Two and a Half Men," a show I've never had any desire to watch, over "My Name is Earl," a hilarious show. Earl needs some love.

As for actors, this seems like a crapshoot. There are so many to choose from, and I suppose the nominated actors all deserved it. It's funny to see President and Mrs. Logan from "24" each nominated for supporting actor -- their acting made me laugh out loud. I thought Martin Sheen mailed it in this year on The West Wing. I can't figure out how no one from "Rome," "Big Love," or "Lost" got any acting nominations, or how they can leave out Jason Lee from "Earl."

I'll be rooting for William Shatner.

Sonics draft

I haven't had time until now to comment on the Sonics' draft, where they picked some guy from Senegal. I actually like the pick. They don't have any room on their roster for a rookie anyway, so he can stay in Europe for a year or two and then come back when he's more ready. He appears to be a freak of nature, physically, so maybe he'll turn out to be good. No one else at the #10 spot was going to help anyway, so why not take a shot with this guy. I'm relieved they didn't pick Redick.

The team is close to being competitive. They were the second-best scoring team last year. Unfortunately they were the worst defensively. If they can move to an average defensive team, they'll win the division. I'm a little wary of Chris Wilcox -- he was very good after the trade last year, but it's not clear he'll continue to play hard after a big payday. Tread carefully, Rick Sund.

Back from NY

I was in New York for the holiday weekend, celebrating the wedding of Jaewon and Brian. It was a great time -- Jae and Brian did an amazing job with the location, ceremony, and party, as well as all the little organizational details. Congrats to Jae and Brian -- they're off to Australia today.