Classic Ferrell

Will Ferrell might be a first ballot Lodge HOF. Talladega Nights: The Ballad of Ricky Bobby looks glorious. I'll be travelling up to Whistler this weekend, but that won't stop me from finding time to catch Ferrell playing Dubya as a NASCAR driver. Good times. Classic Ferrell clips will be embedded every day until Friday in anticipation. Not nearly as cool as the Miami Vice daily montage from last week, but hopefully just as entertaining.

Early Morning Hawk Talk

The Seahawks have agreed to terms of a contract with first-round draft pick Kelly Jennings, according to several sources and reports.

Jennings has arrived in Cheney for training camp this morning, where he is to sign his contract and likely be on the field for this afternoon's practice session.

The deal is believed to be worth a total of $9.5 million over five years, with $5 million in guaranteed money, according to FOXsports.com.

Jennings, a cornerback from Miami, missed the rookie workout Friday and both practices Saturday, as well as this morning's practice.

"I'm glad he's in and we're counting on him this year, so he's got to get going," coach Mike Holmgren said of Jennings.

The Black Lodge stated they were happy to have everyone in camp to focus on the season ahead.

Let the Training Camp talk begin today.....

Noodle Maker

I think I've been destroyed and manipulated by the corporate machine.

This week I engaged in the most constructive and serious work discussion I have ever gone through in my life. We went into the Toyota Lean Production system or Kaizen. In the literal it means powerful harmony. This was developed as a business thought and standardizing process at Toyota after World War II and it has become a worldwide phenomenon in business circles. And we actually have staff go to Japan on a regular business.

I was actually involved in policy making decisions, standardizing work for my department, and talking and presenting items to our executive level staff. The big difference between Kaizen and most standard company routines is that they emphasize internal change from the floor staff/grunt/employee level, which is why I was there. They don't want change instituted from the management level since it is oftentimes mistaken or uninformed.

We look at several specific levels of eliminating waste with the biggest focus on time and simplifying. Or as we have been using in the german phrase "TAKT" time. This is specific to another of its core concepts "lean thinking". The other aspect to it is that it is done rapidly and it is a never-ending process.

They asked us to sit around and brain-storm on the first day and someone actually said, "Think out of the box, anything can go on the table." after which I deviously replied, "Ok guys, how about this: --- ROBOTS...." Normally, people laugh... these guys actually broke my spirit and I focused all week.

So all in all, I was reminded of how inefficient I am and how much better our German and Japanese peons have become way efficient than us in business. We just like to throw around money.

Colbert

For those of you that didn't catch it, the guest on last night's "Colbert Report" was Joe Quesada, the Editor in Chief of Marvel Comics.
Since it's been a while since I've posted a huge picture to annoy Joe 2.0 with, I figured I'd toss up the piece of art Mr. Quesada did to commemerate his appearance.
For those of you interested in seeing it, it's going to be re-run on Comedy Central tonight, and is also available on Itunes for $1.99.

Chill Factor 10

We've been talking about it all week, and I wanted to wait until the day before to throw the scene down, but here it is...as rated by the SG as the ultimate TV chill factor moment. Mann has a Crowe type talent for musical interludes, but instead of thought-provoking emotional pieces, Mann sticks to semi-automatics and convertables...f' yeah.

This is also a good way to move the UW story off the top headline. Enjoy.

You Sir, Are An Idiot

Isiah Stanback says that he's ready to lead UW out of the Pac-10 cellar......well ladies and gentleman, why don't we just keep the good time train rollin' with this incredible news from T-Bone Willingham!!!

Sorry Jimbo...had to do it.

Chewbacca Art

Chewbacca apparently is a big fan of the expressionist era. He's seen here in seminal expressionist painting by Norwegian artist Edvard Munch.

Apparently Chewy is dealing with some angst after being spotted as a Steeler fan last week. Good to see he's working on his issues.

So lets nail down Saturday

Where? What time? What activities will follow? What color Pastel will Joe wear?

Well, if you told me you were drowning
I would not lend a hand
I've seen your face before my friend
But I don't know if you know who I am
Well, I was there and I saw what you did
I saw it with my own two eyes
So you can wipe off the grin, I know where you've been
It's all been a pack of lies

The mother of "Hey that guy" Miami Vice Style

Since this week is the Week of Vice, I was figuring we could look at all the younger actors that perhaps started or had a small role in an episode. Thanks to http://www.imdb.com/ for any help they have provided in this post.

First of all, Jimmy Smits, aka Eddie Rivera, Crockets first partner is quickly forgotten in this show.

John Diehl – played Det. Zito on the show. He has had many roles throughout TV and films.

Bill Smitrovich – you know Corky’s dad from “Life Goes On”

Mykelti Williamson – went on to do many films and was part of the crew in “Heat”

Al Bundy himself was in the show Ed O’Neil

Belinda Montgomery – Played Crocket’s ex wife and also played Mrs. H on Doogie Howser, MD

Dennis Farina – the beloved Joe Fontana now on Law & Order played a mob boss

Dan Hedaya – one of Carla’s husbands on Cheers, and he was the dad from “Clueless”

Bruce Willis had a role in an episode…it probably leapt his to “Moonlighting,” which might have been the last show where he had his real hair.

Michael Madsen and Terry O’Quinn were in the same episode. Locke and Mr. Blonde…you got to love that!

Evan Handler from the West Wing and several other shows had a spot.

Not to mention Glenn Fry and Pam Grier (aka Jackie Brown) were also guests of the show.

Just a couple of more…Ving Rhames, Esai Morales (Richies’ older brother in LaBamba), and finally Tom Mardirosian (aka Busmalis in OZ)

Now I have only seen Season 1 and who knows, I might have the courage to rent Season 2 sometime down the road but if you don’t love the boat rides and the late night car rides. At least watch it for the other people in the show, the show that is full of “hey I know where that person is from”

Sorry for the lack of pictures but blogger was being a pain...Enjoy!

He must've called the guy a c***sucker.

The AP is reporting that Harold Reynolds has been fired from his job as a baseball analyst for ESPN. His last broadcast was for "Baseball Tonight" on Sunday night. I watched the show, and Harold did rip on Steve Phillips with, "Way to go out on a limb there, Steve", to Phillips prediction that the Mets would win the NL East (NY currently has a 11.5 game lead). It was a stupid prediction and I laughed. Of course, I laugh at everbody, so it could have been out of line and I just didn't notice. Sorry to see him go. You made Seattle proud, Harold.

Morning Clip: "You Beast You"

Classic scene from the Pilot where Sonny and Rico meet. Kudos to the same engine noise made by the 'Vette and the Power Boat.

Spain's Real Madrid coming to Seattle Aug. 9

By Jose Miguel Romero (maybe he was born in Miami, his name looks like it)
Seattle Times staff reporter
Edited by Train (loves him some Miami Vice and Phil Collins)

Real Madrid, one of the most popular soccer clubs in the world, is headed to Seattle for an exhibition game against D.C. United of Major League Soccer on Aug. 9, Seatte Sounders general manager Adrian Hanauer confirmed today.

Real Madrid features international superstar David Beckham, a midfielder; Brazilian stars Roberto Carlos( I heard he was a huge Vice fan) and Ronaldo(I'm sure he's tried the nose candy), and Raul, one of Spain's best players. It was not yet known if all of those players will make the trip to Seattle for the match at Qwest Field.

D.C. United, of Washington, D.C., currently leads the MLS Eastern Division with a 13-1-6 mark, and features 17-year-old Freddy Adu(born after the show ended) , regarded as one of the future stars of the U.S. national team

Tickets go on sale to the public on Wednesday, July 26th at 10:00 AM. Prices range from $30-$125 and can be purchased through www.Ticketmaster.com.

Just in Case you forgot the greatest Opening to a TV Show Ever

So everyday this week we're going to get multiple clips from Vice thanks to the good folks over at YouTube. I figured this one deserves to go first.

I'm bringing my f'n pastels...f' the re-imagination

So heads up that we're doing a Lodge outing this weekend for 'Vice'...no whining, excuses or backing out (unless you're MCP, you don't want to break your streak now buddy)...My proposition is for Saturday, maybe save a few bucks and hit a matinee and then follow it up with cards, bones are other games of chance...let me know who's in and we'll get the speed boat warmed up...

Weekend Noodles

This weekend marks the 25th anniversary of Seattle's illustrious Bite of Seattle. Its going to be hot, its going to be crowded, entry is going to be free; but you will have to sell one of your kidneys in order to enjoy all of the great food that is there. If you're inclined, you could start a mass protest in front of Starbucks at the centerhouse. I'm sure dozens would join you.

I like the Seattle hippy vibe that always emanates at Seattle Center with all the firedancers, and homeless kids trying to sell cds they stole. I'm just as good going there and enjoying that ambience while sparing $10 to have a slushee.

There are going to be some good things in the culinary line.

Bambuza Vietnamese Bistro with their Lemongrass Flank Steak, I don't even like vietnamese food yet this sounds extremely good.

and then there's the Seattle's Original Catfish Corner with their Southern Farm-Raised Catfish. I hope this will taste better than the catfish me and my dad would catch on Lake Washington outside of Husky stadium.

Still, this weekend looks to be packed full of stuff as Seafair starts to get in full swing. I'm really looking forward to next weekends Capitol Hill Block Party, i will indulge in that next week. I'm not even sure i'll make it this weekend, but i'll at least burn some incense in my room and then lounge out listening to some drum circle beats. You can always try the awesome Taste of Tacoma too.

lets get political n' stuff

Former porn star Mimi "Miyagi" Damayo is running for Nevada State Governor for the Republican Party!!! Ummm, go G.O.P.?

Melody Damayo, who performed under the name Mimi Miyagi in movies such as “Seoul Train,” appeared at the Sawyer Building downtown about 4:30 p.m. in a hot-pink pillbox hat, hot-pink high-heeled sandals and a very low-cut hot-pink suit. She was accompanied by an entourage she called her Campaign Cuties as well as two dark-suited bodyguards.

According to a CNN video press conference, her main focus will be on education because it reduces crime and violence. Further, she is not connected to the porn industry financially in any way. She receives no royalties for her prolific career in adult film, so this serves as no kind of marketing for herself. That is a true campaign reformer, and shining apple for the Republican party. Finally, we have a candidate who is honest and for the people.

Now I would have put up a picture of her campaign flyers, yet... they are a bit risque, and Train might get sent to the corner for looking at 'naughteee' stuff at work.

Yet you are more than welcom to browse http://mimi4governor.com/ at your leisure. Not too leisurely I hope.

Wishing the Best to The Lodge's 1st Draft Pick

In Honor of The MCP's Birthday I was able to round up a few of his friends and they wanted to wish him a spirited....

"qoSlIj DatIvjaj "

WTF!?!

What!?! Chewbacca is a Steelers fan? Seriously? I think we may need to rethink Chewy's involvement in the Lodge with this picture that linked his true loyalties to the world. Tragic. First the Sonics are sold to Middle America, and now this.

A little FAQ for you courtesy of the Lodge

Q: Will the Sonics play the 2006-07 season at KeyArena?
Yes, and only because Mayor Nagin can't get his s*&t together and take his own team back. Isn't one year plenty of time to rebuild an entire city? The club has also looked into playing at the West Seattle Hiawatha Center, although the community center was balking at having to potentially spend $100 on extra benches.

Q: Did the ownership group offer the Sonics to local buyers?
Yes, but unfortunately Dude and I lost out the night before on a big stakes Hold 'Em table and we're a little strapped, but I've been working with my accountant to see about freeing up some old EarthLink stock.


Q: What happened to talk of a new arena in Bellevue or Renton?
Bellevue's initial design required the team to attach a new shopping center w/ multi-plex, space for 500 new Condo's and a Java Juice. Rent'n worked on an aggressive fund-raising drive, but ultimately faced too much contest from the recent Girl Scout Cookie push.

Q: Could Paul Allen move the Trail Blazers to Seattle?
Yes, but no.

Q: Would Seattle be a candidate for an NBA expansion team or franchise relocation?
Yes, along with Fargo, Cheyene, Missoula, Reno and Tijuana.

Q: What becomes of the Seattle Storm?

Q: What kind of lawsuits are likely to result from the sale?
I have word that CTown is speaking with his attorney about filing a restraining order against every Starbucks/SBC store in the Greater Seattle Area. Personally, I will be filing a class-action suit to the beer vendors of the Key for keeping me away from the Arena with $7 Budweisers.

Q: What is the future of KeyArena?
Kids skate free before 6.

Q: Does this announcement hurt the team's ability to re-sign Chris Wilcox?
Not anymore than the last 5 years of First Round draft picks.

Q: How will this news affect the players and the upcoming season?
I've been on the phone with Rashard Lewis's agent , and he's confirmed that he's already found a handful of quality drinking establishments in the Oklahoma City area. Ray Allen's is signing the paperwork on his 5th house on the 13th green of the Oklahoma City Club as I type this.

You wanted to talk about something other than Soccer, here you go.

Sayonara Sonics?

Breaking news......the Seattle Sonics have been sold to a group from Oklahoma City. It's still too early to know if they are gone for sure...but I thought that the Lodge should be among the first to know.

I'm not jumping to conclusions.....but, I can't believe this is happening......

Stay tuned for updates.

Movie Event of the Summer

I haven't been this excited about a movie since Ratner ruined X-Men 3 for me this past year. Talladega Nights figures to be the funniest flick to come out this year and should live up to the hype for once (although I still haven't seen Superman Returns, so it could be the 2nd movie to live up to the hype train). I think the best thing about it is that Will Ferrell is basically doing his George Bush impression and fitting it to a NASCAR character. Brilliant. I found these clips from The Ballad of Ricky Bobby to tide you over until 2 weeks from now:

• Dinner Table - Part 1


• Dinner Table - Part 2


• Shake & Bake


• Tough Love


• Matching Leprechaun Tattoos


• Carly Bobby Montage

And I had to include this pic I found of Howie Long checking out Brittney Spears at a 2003 race at Talladega Speedway. Nothing like getting caught on camera. Tom Cruise, save me with your witchcraft!

The Hot Stove League

Time to get some non soccer talk flowing...

Would you Trade for this Man?

ESPN is reporting the the Mariners are hot on the trail of Alfonso Soriano

"The Mariners are the latest team to make a run at Alfonso Soriano, ESPN.com's Jayson Stark reports. Their interest is serious enough that the Nationals have two scouts at Seattle's game in New York on Monday night, along with a third watching the Mariners' Triple-A team play in Tacoma"

Would you give up Adam Jones? How about Gil Meche?
at 5 games out and Soriano as a FA at the end of the season. Is it worth it?

Does anyone care about the hometown 9?

#1 Capitalist Post of the Day

Since we need a new post for the day and I need to move/sell a hot tub. I thought I would combine the two and make an announcement that my hot tub has been put on the open market and I'm hoping the internets can help me out in finding it a good home. It's currently listed on the World's Largest Flea Market located here .

Please make sure to anyone you know that might be interested that the OBO part is very subjective and "no offers will be refused*". Sorry for taking up Lodge space for my own capitalist needs, but hey, I need to move a hot tub.

Noodle Information - Israel/Lebanon

(This is a school post, but i figure the Lodge is dead right now anyways.)

I thought this was extremely interesting in terms of contrasting media material. This morning many papers had an Israeli attack against Lebanon featured. Not knowing what it was really about I began to read about it in a coffee shop and online. Considering being critical I decided to go to an Israeli site to compare what was being reported to the American public and the foreign domestic public. It really makes you consider what filters are on. Thankfully we have the internet to assess more information. Still you wanna ask the question: Who is most credible?

The Seattle Times article, where we're at, gives a flat account: Warplanes again smashed runways at Beirut's airport with hours of airstrikes, trying to render it unusable, and destroyed mountain bridges on the main highway to Syria. Warships blockaded Lebanon's ports for a second day.

Israel National news gives a strategic military account: IAF aircraft also struck other Hizbullah targets, including Hizbullah headquarters in a densely populated neighborhood in south Beiru, deep in the Lebanon Valley near the Syrian border, major roadways and other strategic locations. Fighter pilots focused their efforts particularly on the Beirut airport, repeatedly bombing the facility which serves as a transfer point for weapons to the terrorists.

And a World News article via beirutnews.com gives a more humane focused domestic version: Despite international calls for moderation, Israel continued its military offensive in Lebanon on Friday. As Israeli forces targeted infrastructure throughout the country including the Beirut-Damascus highway, Hezbollah militants fired rockets into civilian areas in Israel. In what appeared to be a further escalation of the conflict in the Middle East, Israeli forces bombed sensitive parts of Lebanon's infrastructure on Friday in retaliation for the kidnapping of two Israeli soldiers by Hezbollah militants earlier this week. Early on Friday morning, Israeli jets destroyed a bridge to Beirut's airport in a densely populated area.

Are we becoming irresponsible for not being more critical and asking more questions about the situation. Our local news seems to be less concerned about additional details as asserted in the Israeli and Lebanese accounts. Maybe we are just being flat with our coverage so as to remain neutral. Is that irresponsible? These are not revolutionary thoughts - to hear both sides of an issue. This article I came across from the Middle East news gives a questioning commentary on the bias that may exist in our society.

New Spidey Teaser!

The new Spider-man 3 Teaser poster has just been released! This is the one that will actually go out into theaters. And it's Lenticular!!!

I REALLY like this pic! I can't wait to get a copy to hang on my wall.

Pirates 3 First Look

Here's the first pic of Chow Yun Fat in Pirates of the Carribean: Worlds End

Cool Stuff, eh?

Chewbacca does Shakespeare

Its Just Begun

I'm amazed at the power of the InterWeb.

If you can't send the team send a Ref

I promise this will be the last of my Cup posts. I hope we all got a good night sleep and will let cooler heads prevail on our camping trip troubles. I don’t even care anymore and I hope we can all meet up for a movie…

Last night I caught some Fox sports world and the news crew was doing an interview with Hector Vegara (fourth from the left) a Canadian soccer ref whose ref crew made it to Germany. They were also one of the best crews at the tourney. Hector mentioned he had a blog about his time in country so I did some scoping and found he has a blogger account. I thought you might want to take a look at his experience at the cup. There are some great photos and commentary. The man helped ref some quality matches.

Will MCP need some time off to Mourn?

Actor Barnard Hughes died today at the age of 90.

Out of all his roles I remember him as

1) The Grandpa from The Lost Boys. "One thing about living in Santa Carla I never could stomach, all the damn vampires"

2) The crabby old doctor, Doc Hogue from "Doc Hollywood"



However SCI-FI Geeks im sure are weeping over the loss of Dr. Walter Gibbs/Dumont from TRON.
"Yes I'm old. Old enough to remember when the MCP was just a chess program"

Small Headline. Though some folks might have missed it. Since Celebs always die in threes that means there are two more coming.

Let me tell you a little about Gooses morning

As you all may or may not know. Goose is a semi retired youth football coach. I put 10 years into the league and am taking a couple years off. One is wanting to spend more time with my Gosslings and 2, when I return to coaching, I plan to assemble the greatest youth coaching staff in Football history. It will be my dream team of coaches. But thats another story

The other day I got a call from one of the youth program directors of the Seattle Seahawks. Defending NFC champions.

You see. Last year Goose took his Newport Knights into Qwest field not once but twice, and showed impressive preformances vs Mt Si and South Tacoma. Holding a 2-0 record at Qwest puts your name on the Seahawk mailing list.

This year I was asked to attend a youth camp sponsered by the seahawks. Does goose hold a dummy or stand next to the camp coachs? Nope
Goose has his own station at the Camp. Give Goose 5 dummies, two footballs and a whistle and he'll start producing football players. I worked with 150 kids over a 3 hour span.



Who was running some of the other stations? Some high school coaches and low tier Seahawk gophers. Except for the station right next to Goose. This station was a QB dropback drill taught by the seahawks greatest pass catching QB in their history. Mr Seneca Wallace. Goose and Seneca, Side by side. coaching the Future Huskies, Cougers and Hawks.

Lets just say my ego was well, lets say "Joe Like". Kids asking whether you coach for the Hawks. Did I lie? The thought crossed my mind.




Seneca did a Q&A with the kids. Some questions right out of the mouths of Babes
"Are you mad at the refs? You got screwed."
"When do you play Pittsburg again"
"How far can you throw a football?" (He tossed it standing still about 60yds)
"Are you really going to play Miami in the super bowl this year?"


Regardless I had a great morning and thought I'd share with the Lodge.


Training Camps start in 3 weeks boys!!

Lazy Day Post

I choose laughing over typing today.

More Zizou

Some more internet recreations of the now infamous headbutt. This NES throwback is classic. Materazzi now is defending what he said on the pitch during the World Cup Final on Sunday.

"I did insult him, it's true," Materazzi said in Tuesday's Gazzetta dello Sport. "But I categorically did not call him a terrorist. I'm not cultured and I don't even know what an Islamic terrorist is."

Meaning, by fundamental axioms of propositional logic, a terrorist is as Islamic as he or she is cultured. Point to ponder: If Zidane had regained his head just before contacting Materazzi, pulled the punch, and continued if nothing happened... would Materazzi still fall to the ground, writhing in pain as if a bowling ball struck him in the chest?

Interestingly, I also found out that Zidane tried to join the Algerian team in 1996. He was refused because the coach deemed him to be "not fast enough." Whoops.

I promise this will be the final post on this topic...

Part II

(Trying to get my touch back after taking a month off and the creative juices are going to take a few warm up posts, so I apologize for the following)

“I have an acronym for myself. Know what it is? B.A.D... Balls, Attitude, Direction. You should give yourself an acronym... 'cause it helps you visualize your goals.”

To the Socceroos from the Land of Aus, who quickly became my 2nd favorite team during the cup, no BS, just foot to ball and head to pitch. From the three goals in 10 minutes versus Japan to the blood match versus Croatia. The Australian's brought it and defyied Ladbrokers by almost taking the evenutal champs to the brink only to find out that no one was beating Italy, you here me? No one. Australia became the US story of 2006. Here’s hoping that they can hold steady versus their new Asian rivalries and Mark-Paul Viduka can make his swan song in 2010.

And just for the record, here are my top five matches from the tourney:

5-Aforementioned Croatia vs. Australia match that featured tough, no-flopping intensity that resulted in broken homes and broken bloodlines.

4-(tie) France vs. SoKo/Brazil vs. Croatia, or aka the Fifth Element game(s), both SoKo and Croatia exerted their fan dominance during these matches. From the haunting chants of the Korean peninsula to the red flare-burning from the upper decks by the Croatians, both games demonstrated what real patriotic nationalism smells like.

3- Germany vs. Poland, if you couldn’t feel the animosity you weren’t paying attention. The drama of the little-brother almost overcoming and pulling off the biggest win in a half century of Polish football, only to be spoiled in the last minute by a Neuville finish into the back of onion bag.

2- Argentina vs. Mexico, this had the handle of a classic latin-futbol battle royale and it lived up to the billing with Mexico challenging every ball until the 2nd overtime strike by Maxi Rodriguez and highlighted by Maradona doing his patented, “thank god I’m not in jail right now” salute.

1- Championship game, 1st half PK, classic corner-->header, most famous red card in championship history followed by the Trezeguat/Elenbaas collapse…EPIC to the last final whistle.

“Well, I'm one of those fortunate people who like my job, sir. Got my first chemistry set when I was seven, blew my eyebrows off, we never saw the cat again, been into it ever since.”

Here’s to referee's Horacio Elizondo and Valentin Ivanov for loving their job too much and partially and fully losing control of their perspective games. Much like any major sporting event now, the element of officiating is becoming way too subjective and open to poor interpretation. The Lodge recognizes the difficulty and pressure of the top stage, but feels little sympathy for the scrutiny that follows from the press fall out. If you don’t want pressure, as Beano Cook would say, go work for a Software or Insurance company.

“You know, if there were gangs around like in the old days, I'd be running things, not you. You'd be second lieutenant. You might have gotten by for a while on the Motorcycle Boy's rep, but you have to be smart to run things. You ain't got your brother's brains. It's nothing personal, Rusty James, but nobody would follow you into a fight because you'd get people killed - and nobody wants to be killed.”

Here’s to the retirement of Luis Figo and the appointment of Christiano Ronaldo as the Portuguese captain for 2010. Let me know how that works out for you.

“I'm the only one who can walk in both worlds. I'm Ghost Rider.”

Who’s excited?

“I've been in L.A. for three months now. I have money, I have taste. But I'm not on anybody's "A" list, and Saturday night is the loneliest night for the week for me.”

Here’s the “A” list position by position from the last 64 matches:

GK: Gianluigi Buffon-ITA, simply stated, almost perfect, didn’t allow a goal that wasn’t a) by his own man and b) from a PK for 690 minutes

DB: Fabio CANNAVARO-ITA , I promise this is the last Italia player, but deserved Golden Ball after rock steady play in back and playing 132 more Capo minutes than ZZ.

DB: Lilian Thuram-FRA, yes I’m nominated a man with the first name of Lilian, yes I’m ok with that, yes he consistently stepped up and made things happen, or not happen in a defenders case, plays with his fellow A-teamer Cannavaro at Juventus in his spare Club time.

DB: Rafeal Marquez-MEX, the Captain and leader of the Mexican squad, protected a usually weak Mexican D, also made Train think about growing out his hair and working the ponytail.

DB: Philip Lahm-GER, textbook tackle after textbook tackle, wasn’t carded in 28 total tackles, and led a “weak” German defense and picked up M.O.t.M. honors in previously mentioned Polish game

M: (tie) Juan Riquelme-ARG/Luis Figo-POR, only giving the tie because I’m not giving Portugal their own award, Riquelme showed that he’s top 5% in the World and hopefully signing the transfer sheet to Old Trafford soon, and Figo proved that experience still wins more games than pace, and for having the wettest kit following every match then any man in the tournament

M: (tie) half-man/half-Ribery & the red discarded one: teammates, Frenchmen, silver-medalists

M: Becks-ENG, yes, this is a supporter call, but personally responsible for getting the squad through to the Quarters, and he also takes home the trophy for best on-field puking during the Cup.

M: Bastian SCHWEINSTEIGER –GER, not only because his name is fun to say, but he put the nail in the coffin of the Portuguese, with two excellent strikes from 30+, should be key in future German squads.

F: Carlos Tevez-ARG: half-man/half-Tevez, the Argentinean equivalent to Ribery, played with heart, guts and every other nonsensical sports metaphor along with a third-world story about a burned face.

F: Dwight Yorke-Trind & Tob: All Night Dwight had one more classic performance in him, too bad they couldn’t get the job done versus Paraguay, but was just as effective up front as he was in the back, and very few players during the cup gave their team as much leadership as the former ManU striker did, here's to Trinidad and down with Tobago.

“It's a cholinesterase inhibitor. Stops the brain from sending nerve messages down the spinal cord within thirty seconds. Any epidermal exposure or inhalation and you'll know. A twinge at the small of your back as the poison seizes your nervous system”

To Wayne Rooney…the cholinesterase inhibitor of English football.

“Put... the bunny... back... in the... box.”

So that’s it, I’m feeling the need to ramble more, but I’m going to save those who struggled through the last month. I can say without a doubt that I’ve tapped into a passion that I didn’t think was attainable. The socialization of the game of World Futbal is a magic entity not to be altered or exploited. I will always recognize the game of Football played locally as my natural game, and by no means has my love for the College and Pro game diminished, but I recognize that my life does have room additional sport. Here's to everyone in the Lodge and elsewhere that joined me for the greatest sports ride currently available. Preperations have already been put in place for Euro '08 and WC '10.

Cheers.

Making sure this Horse is dead...

First off, thanks to everyone (sans Jaynee) for showing up yesterday and making it the first every All-Lodge gathering. Maybe one of these times MCP will nut up and put his comics down long enough to enjoy some human camaraderie, possibly, but I’m still taking the under on the bet.

Kudos goes out to CTown for gutting out a class 5 hang-over that made me thankful it was him and not me, but he hung through like a champ and even gave some nice commentary, gold star buddy. Jeers goes to his sponsor, who arrived approximately 20 minutes late forcing the game to be delayed and ultimately putting the fate of the shootout in the hands of the DVR gods, who took a collective karmic dump on us during the 3rd set of the shootout. His punishment is serving a seven-day suspension from all associate-admin privileges. Sorry 2.0, mob rules mentality.

I wanted to throw a few things together to recap the last month of my life, and give it the proper conclusion it probably doesn't deserve. So with help from one of America's favorite Italian-American's, here goes:

"Brad, your sister's turning into a fox!"

From the way back machine and still one of Cameron Crowe’s best screenplays, comes the Ladies of the World Cup. The synergy of country and sport definitely benefited all heterosexual males for the last month, and one of the few kudos I can give to ABC/Disney is there camera crew’s ability to pick out International Beauties. Where will they go now? Can’t we get a reality show together pitting the hottest women from all 32 nations in a house with single elimination? I think Train is drawing up a pitch to FOX as we speak.

"That techno-rock you guys listen to is gutless."

Ahh yes Valley Girl, couldn’t leave this one out. Here’s to Zie Fahzerland and the many reminders during the Cup that Train and I dropped the ball by not making the pilgrimage. For many reasons this trip didn’t happen, but every match was a reminder that time is short and one day my eyes will be illuminated with the vision of beautiful green pitches and Brazilian Women. Also kudos to a great series by the Travel Channel featuring Drew Carey as a pro bono photograph showing you the spaces in between games proving that in Heaven, God has a personal tap selection of only German Biers.


"And this here's the TV. Two hours a day, either educational or football, so you don't ruin your appreciation of the finer things."

Besides for yesterday’s debacle, kudos goes out to Comcast for not only getting the DVR dual-tuner ready to go for us living in the PST, but also for adding ESPN 2 HD four days after the opening game. This single-act of kindness enabled clarify for seeing players like Ludovic Magnin run down the line with a bloodied nose and cro-magnum eyes. However, you know SoKo gets raw too!

“This is a snakeskin jacket! And for me it's a symbol of my individuality, and my belief... in personal freedom.”

Here’s to the Samba Boys of Brazil, the best 11 players on the field throughout the entire cup, a joy to watch every minute, but failing to remember what made them 5 time champions: 11 players 1 goal. Likewise can be said for the pathetic display by the English, that’s right, haven’t really given this the post it deserves, but the lack of overall leadership and focus started with the coach and ended with the worst penalty shootout of the entire Cup. Oh well, “For Club, then Country”.

“People get married and then they do the most hideous, unbelievable things to each other.”

To all the manager/country issues from the Togo Coach who almost forfeited over pay to Erikson to Lippi to Klinsman and finally Arena. The only conclusion I can make is managing a national soccer club is equivalent to managing the Yankees, Cowboys and Knicks all at the same time. You have a .01% chance of making people happy and a 99.99% failure rate. No wonder the best managers stay with Clubs.

Part II tomorrow…