In Other News

NHT Cobblers make their EPL debut in the fake universe.

And US can't get past Paraguay in the real world.

Columbus Crew will be on FSC Friday. 7:30pm.

Notes from Cynthia Baker

My Grandmother! I went home this weekend to Northern VA to visit family and had a great time.

Among all the wonderful things we were celebrating I had a few moments to take in part of the England v. Wales and Scotland v. Brazil soccer matches. I've always enjoyed talking with my Nana about anything and everything. Especially her thoughts on her homeland; England. She is of their own greatest generation, although, they don't refer to it as that as we do because their history goes a tad bit further back then ours.

I was not able to wrangle her up for the England game. She was too busy getting ready for the baby shower that was happening later that day. She did check in a couple times though just to verify with me that England was winning. When I told her the score she just said "of course" and "naturally" as if it were predetermined result and wondered back to baby stuff.

Sunday was a little different as the baby shower was over. I gathered my dad, nana and my mother to watch the first half. Scotland had no chance and even my father and mother could see that after a few minutes. My mom knows soccer, she coached it back in the days when it was just catching on in Northern VA. Many consider that is the area that propelled youth soccer in the area up to the levels it is today (late 70s early 80s). It was pretty neat to hear my mom recognizing positions, formations and even building actions.

I could tell my nana had little interest in the tactics. She has made it clear that, in her youth; "soccer is a sport played by barbarians and watched by gentlemen and rugby is a sport played by gentlemen and watched by barbarians".

Right around that comment I got a story on her and her sister going up to Scotland shortly after it was voted that women could go into pubs there (must have been early 1940s). She pointed to a small closet and said... "we went in and they put us in a back room the size of that".

During the game I educated my dad on how players were sold. He had a hard time grasping (as I and many Americans do) how teams get a transfer fee and all) but my nana got it right away. "When they can perform anymore, they aren't worth anything to the owners". I didn't take it as a derogatory thing at all and she didn't mean it as that but my dad understood it after the comment. Our own domestic sports have similar things in common only, it is the player that wins the spoils over here.

She also pegged one of the announcers as uneducated because of his pronunciation of "little".

Only other thing she mentioned that was directly about the game on TV was said with a great deal of English pride... "this game must be in England, look how wonderfully green the pitch is." English as you like it.

It was really fun getting to watch with her. She always finds time to criticize basketball and football for the all the starts, stops and TV commercials. My dad and I were reminded of this as she sat by us watching college bball tournament games. Sitting there watching the Scotland match? Not a single criticism. It's as if the game was made for her temperament, intellect and common sense.

Indeed... it probably was.

NHT update

Wrapped up the Championship League in Mid March. Woohoo.

Can't take it anymore, GM

I don't wish it upon anyone to loose their jobs, especially in this economic climate, but I have a message for GM designers.

Shitcan all of them. I just saw this concept design for the next Colorado and I'm writing this in haste.

After what I saw at the auto show... GM is out of ideas. Bring back the Fisher Body Craftsman Guild.

Get rid of the people creating and approving this design.

roar.

2011 Auto Show

Took my time this year pacing around the best new car lot I can find. Lots of good cars. Too many Camaros there. Made it seem cheap. Maybe that was on purpose. It was interesting to see how many kids were over there playing on them like a jungle gym.

Best cars of the show? Keep in mind this is just kicking tires and observing design.

VW CC
Mazda 6
Kia Koup
Buick Regal
Lincoln MK S



I was impressed with the Kia Forte Koup. I fit in it better then the other cars on my list. Just that little fact is a big deal for me. My 6'5" frame eliminates a lot of cars from contention. I don't get how tiny and cramped the Caddilac interiors are. Same goes with Fords, save for the Taurus.

Over all the VW CC was the best car there, for me at least.

If I were in the market for a new car it would be the Forte Koup. Inexpensive. Really inexpensive (19k with everything).

Now for who stunk. Toyota, boring and cheap looking. Hyundia, tired and even cheaper looking then Toyota.

How was Chevy and Ford? Okay. Ford has better looking cars though. The Malibu hurts the Chevy line up. Cruze actually helps it. Who the heck would ever buy a Malibu. It's in no man's land. Literally. Nobody was looking at it.

Folks were looking at the Volt. I put a side by side image up there with Honda's CR-Z. It's amazing how many tacked on design frills the Volt has. CR-Z is a good looking car.

Finally... Chrysler. Oh boy. I was excited to see the 200. You know the one featured in the commercial I liked so much? They had five there. 5! I couldn't fit in any of them. It's not a bad looking car, but it pisses me off it's made for someone the size of a rap star. The front end is also a rip off of years old Hyundai's. There it was though. The Challenger was missing. Sorry Chrysler.

Taken Back

Reading The Truth About Cars tonight whilst enjoying NCAA games. Came across a random comment that took me back.

"This Cadillac reminds me of those paper cups that have a little folded handle pasted to their sides so that you can pretend to have a Royal Dalton porceline tea cup from which to sip.

It is wonderful when the average guy can purchase faux luxury. It helps keep down the cost of luxury itself and forces it to continually refine itself in order to justify it’s price. What is completely wicked is when the average guy doesn’t recognize faux luxury as faux. He begins to devalue items around him when they do not appear to be elegant and can end up mopeing around spending money he doesn’t have in pursuit of costly goods.

How many tweens do we see schlepping around in $40 t-shirts that appear so wretched their own assembly-line working grandfathers won’t have cleaned the garage floor with it? Faux luxury can be enjoyed, but like anything else, it can lead to McMansions, $30,000 Hondas, $300 Levis, bankrupsy and striking public employees with salaries over $80,000."

Well said. And on the eve of my annual Columbus Auto Show visit. Glad I caught it.

Read it again before you move on to the rest of the internets.

It reminds me of something I was once told about luxury and convenience. "What difference does electric light have when you have servants to light the candles for you?". We have a lot of folks pretending out there... and spending way too much to pretend they have things they really don't.

CBS Online Coverage

CBS has done a pretty good job with there online live streaming coverage of the NCAA Men's Basketball coverage. But, as usual, I want more. That next revolution in sports viewing is still coming and it's not 3D (sorry Dubious Quality).The change will be in choosing what is on our TV screens within the realm of the game you are watching.

CBS is using 'boxes', but I think allowing the viewer to choose what is coming through on top of the broadcast is the future. Want a "clean feed"? Choose it. Want the leading scorers layered on top of the full screen action? Done.

It's getting there.

2011 Columbus Crew

Tom Heinemann, Crew

Lookin' the Part, but can he play? We'll find out. FIFA 11 says he can. Paid his dues at Charleston Battery (and Carolina RailHawks... WakeMed!).

Anybody who did their time with The Battery is good enough for me. I noticed him on a created team a few months ago and now he is with the Crew. Sho'nuff, he was part of the roster update.

Am I really getting pumped for the MLS season?? What have I gotten myself into?!