Blog Ranger

Twittering the Rose Bowl

For no apparent reason I will twitter the Rose Bowl, I-L-I!  I-N-I!

Tennis: Match Update

Breakdown of a Loss

Just starting to get back playing after having eight weeks off with a pretty severe ankle sprain.

Played one set with Logan last night, suffered a 6-2 loss.  Logan is in his sixties and plays everyday.  Most of the time I see him playing he is hitting doubles; it shows in his volleys which he rarely misses.

Positives:  moved well,  had some good ground strokes in a number of points.

Negatives: serve was a mess; 4 double faults, 2 aces.  Ground strokes need more consistency.  Missed two easy volleys.

Post match analysis: 1) You can't get down 0-3 to someone who plays consistently and hope to stand a chance of winning. 2) When you are only down one break, just getting the ball in play on your serve might not be a bad strategy.

Feel the Pain: Jerry Fall Down and Go Boom

On Monday night at approximately 7:00pm I made an error that will cost me at least a month's worth of tennis. While doing a tennis drill I used my great vertical leap (at least four inches) to go up and hit a backhanded overhead. The overhead was pretty good, but upon what at best would later be called a clumsy landing, I rolled my right ankle and came down with all of my body weight. I stayed down for about five minutes knowing that what I had just done wasn't a good thing.

After collecting myself, and searching through my bag for the $20 to pay for the drill, I hobbled off of the court. Given that things just didn't feel right I decided to go off to urgent care. The drive there was interesting given that my car is a stick, and the swelling was just beginning as I was going down the freeway. 45 minutes later I was told that a) it was not broken according to the x-ray, b) to stay off of it for five to seven days (given crutches), and c) I should try to avoid doing that again :)

This is roughly what my foot looked like the next day. You can see the swelling and discoloration pretty well.

The funny thing is the outside of the ankle hurt so badly when I did it that I had not really appreciated the full twist and how it had effected the other side of things.

So, anyone want to bet what I might have torn/ruptured? Here are some diagrams to help.

Lateral ankle view

Medial ankle view

Blogging the Bowl: The Summary

The Patriots win the Superbowl by a score of 24 to 21. It's tough to find a lot to say about this team, except they just win.

The Eagles tried desperately to defeat the perfectly boring, but highly effective, game of the Patriots. In retrospect you have to really focus in on poor clock management from about 4 minutes on down as being on of the huge mistakes that this team made. Sloppy....their offensive coach should be ashamed.

My pick for MVP would be branch.

Summary of thoughts on big players for each team below.

The Eagles
Andy Reid: Not sure that he could have done a lot more in the game. His defense played well but the offense ended up unbalanced because they got behind in the third. Tough to win when everyone knows that you are going to throw. Would have been nice to see a quick fire offense in the last four minutes. Down by ten..big sense of urgency which didn't seem to be there.

Terrel Owens: Nothing incredible except for the fact that he was able to play today! Big pick ups, should convince everyone that he is a trooper.

Donnavan McNabb: Decent game, but he has to learn how to play the defense better. His quick drops were good but his laser like focus on who is going to throw to just killed them.

The Patriots
Bill Belichick: Very solid game plan and he kept the team together. Look at the half-time adjustments. This team goes from a sleepy offense in the first half of the game to one that goes through the Eagles defense like butter in the second half. He now has three superbowls to his credit.

Tom Brady: Once again an incredible game, no mistakes and big plays. He consistently put the ball where it needed to be and clearly is a big game player. He has the sort of numbers that will assure he will be a hall of fame member as soon as he can get his card punched.

Deoin Branch: The Eagles had no answer for this wide receiver. He tore up the Eagles secondary and was the "x" factor for this team.

Rodney Harrison: Great input from this veteran. Big plays when they were needed. None bigger then the last second pick.

Randal Gay and Asante Samuel: My vote for best supporting players in the entire game. They made mistakes but for young players they played beyond their years.

Blogging the Bowl: Tick Tock

The Eagles apparently have no idea they are behind. This team has incredibly poor clock management as they let moments tick away without any sense of urgency. Don't they want to go to Disney Land.

Perhaps Manning should call and talk with them about the 2 minute drill, or calling more then one play per huddle.

Blogging the Bowl: The Geritol Half Time Show

Well, they certainly won't have any controversy with the Geritol half-time show.

Paul McCartney used to be a rocker...but he was never John Lennon. He's safe, you could honestly invite him over to meet your parents.

First song done...and we are talking BORING.

Give me U2...or all the Beatles, or even Wings...or actually anything but this...it is just LAME. Actually to give him some of his due...he is a legend and it's clear that he isn't lip sinking. But what little energy.

Oh no...the jacket has come out...and now the piano...ick...james bond theme song. The rocking cover of this done by Guns and Roses. Obligatory fireworks...for no apparent reason.

I believe this may be the half-time big "O" climax. What do you do after all the confetti.

Oh my god...its a stadium sing-along. Hey jude...initially written by Lennon for his son Julian. This is so phenomenally bad. My iTunes music visualizer has about as many pointless moving lights as the stadium does at this point.

It's the light rock half-time superbowl from Geritol, next year I predict nothing but Musiac.

Wow...the superbowl in the round, Paul McCartney has been reduced to a high-school music teacher trying to get the crowd to sing on cue. What the hell does the Statute of Liberty have to do with Hey Jude? (Big visual image during the song).

Looks like it could be over...I hate Don Mischer. He is responsible for the travesty that I just saw. If there is any sense of balance in the universe his head will blow later this evening.

The half time show was like a first kiss with your mouth closed and a first cousin as the object of your affection...wrong on so many levels.

Blogging the Bowl: Half-Time Impressions

Maybe it is just me, this has been an ok game but honestly I'm just not excited about either team.

The Eagles are lucky they are on the board....I predict the predictable but boring Patriots will beat them.

Stay tuned.