In case you think I'm just a whiner

I have science on my side. Sad, sad science. I couldn't even finish this article, it made me so depressed. The name "Bobby Ayala" is prominently involved. The point:

In "The Bill James Historical Abstract," James makes a case for the mid- to late-'90s Mariners as the most underachieving team of all time.

Of all time. See? I'm not paranoid delusional. My teams really do suck in monumental proportions.

Ski pics

There's another batch of Alyeska photos on my Flickr page. What a gorgeous day it was:



And the view on the drive was spectacular, as usual:

Bye, twins

I was happy with the Stanford basketball season this year. I'm still not sold on Trent Johnson, but I won't complain about a Sweet 16 appearance, especially considering the team's history of early flameouts.

News today is that the Lopez twins are leaving for the NBA, to the surprise of no one. Brook was an obvious goner -- he'll be a top 5 pick. It wasn't so obvious with Robin, but as the season progressed and it was clear that he was getting better on the offensive end, I knew he was probably gone too. And so it goes. Not sure what next year's team will look like, but they won't be tall.

Why they hate us

I'm sitting here watching the Stanford-Maryland women's basketball game, and someone in the stand has a sign that says:

Entitled
Stanford
Pities
No one

Holy crap. Not only does that sign fail to inspire ("that's right! I'm entitled! I pity no one!" meh), but it's also about as pretentious as you can get. Way to bust the stigma there, dude.

ADDED: Good job Cardinal! Final Four!

Humboldt County

While I'm on the subject of movies, my friend Danny's movie -- Humboldt County -- just premiered to rave reviews and huge crowds at the South By Southwest Film Festival in Austin. It's hard to believe, but he actually made a real movie, with real actors like Frances Conroy ("Six Feet Under"), Fairuza Balk ("Almost Famous", "The Waterboy"), Brad Dourif ("Lord of the Rings", "Deadwood") and Peter Bogdanovich ("The Last Picture Show", "The Sopranos").

Danny's been working on this thing for years, and now it's a reality. It appears that they're still working out the distribution, but look for it when it comes to a theatre near you. Check out the website for the trailer, and also for blogs by Danny and company.

To the Hills

My friend Fritz, an independent filmmaker based in Brooklyn, is getting some recognition. I'll try to add to it, in the small immeasurable way that I can. If you've never seen his short films, you really should. They're available on Amazon and on Fritz's website.

New pics

I dumped a bunch of new photos onto my Flickr photostream, including shots from the Anchorage Fur Rendezvous (featuring dog sled races and outhouse races), Chicago's Lincoln Park Zoo, Minneapolis, and Talkeetna (near Denali). Take a look.

Includes pint-sized mushers!

Tourney time

I'm cautiously excited about this year's NCAA tournament. Stanford was seeded appropriately (#3), and can play the first two rounds relatively close to home. This team is capable of making a deep run, I think, because it plays good defense, rebounds well, and has an offense that is unlikely to slump. Because the Cardinal don't rely on the jumpshot, it won't be the end of the world if the shooters are off. Just pound away with the Lopez twins, and gather as many offensive rebounds as you can. That's been the formula all year, and it's working. If the shooters are hitting, however, the team has a great chance of beating Texas and making a run for San Antonio.

Things to watch out for: foul trouble, especially by the twins; turnovers, especially by Mitch Johnson on attempted entry passes; Anthony Goods -- if he's hitting, the team is so much better.

First game: Cornell. That's fun; I'll set the over/under on nerd jokes by the announcers during the game at 39.5 -- just under 1 per minute.

Assorted blatherings

I'm back from my trip to Chicago and Minneapolis. Good times. The training was very helpful, and Minneapolis is a nice town. It was cold, but thanks to the skyway system, you can walk all around downtown without ever going outside.

Lance Mackey won the Iditarod for the second year in a row. He also recently won the Yukon Quest for the second fourth year in a row. It's Lance Mackey's world, and we're just living in it.

My car was egged while I was gone. Seriously. What's up with that? There isn't even a high school in the neighborhood.

The Wire is over. I won't spoil anything for you if you're watching it on DVD... not that too many of you are watching the best TV show of all time (better than The Sopranos, better than Lost). I've gone hoarse telling people to watch the show, so I won't do any more begging. But really, you owe it to yourself. Unless you're afraid of making every other show look pedestrian in comparison, which is what will happen. Just watch it, already.

And one more Wire-related note. I found this article by the Wire writers compelling. After you watch the show, you'll understand not only that the "war on drugs" has failed, but also why. And you'll be frustrated. You'll wonder what you can do to help fix a broken system. The writers' suggestion: jury nullification.

Finally, an Alaska update. We approach the equinox, so we've got about as much light as you do right now. It's pretty nice; there's time to get outdoors after work. The snow had mostly melted in town because of unseasonably warm weather, but it snowed yesterday and today, so we've got some white back. It's melting again, though. Luckily Alyeska still has plenty of snow up top, so the winter sports season isn't over yet.