A Date Which Will Live In Infamy

Japan wins the World Baseball Classic. Derek Jeter and A-Rod let down America's greatest generation. Hope they are happy.

You can check out any time you like...

Ahem... so... "The Sopranos" episode two. Not exactly a variation on the formula, was it? Here's the opener to my day-after review:

IT'S NOT a dream. It's Purgatory.

When I had my annual summit with "Sopranos" creator David Chase a few weeks ago, I complimented him on having the onions to put a major dream sequence like this so early in the season, considering how many fans complain about the dreams.

"I, frankly, would not call those (episode two scenes) dreams," he said, which sent me scurrying back to watch my DVD over and over again, until (with some help from my wife) I got it.

Here Tony's stuck in Orange County, quite possibly the most personality-free corner of the world, with no way to leave (a k a Purgatory). On one end of town is a shining beacon (Heaven), on the other, a raging forest fire (Hell). Over and over, he stops to assess the worth of his own life, asking, "Who am I? Where am I going?"

Then he steals the identity (sin) of Kevin Finnerty -- a heating salesman who lives in one of the hottest states of the union (Arizona) -- checks into another hotel, and falls down a red staircase, at which point he learns he has Alzheimer's (eternal damnation). And while Carmela's busy in the real world telling him he's not going to Hell, Tony's in Purgatory debating whether to tell his wife this is exactly the fate he has in store.

To read the rest of the review, click here, then come back to comment. I'm a lot more curious about reaction to this one than I was about the premiere.

March Madness Round Up

What do you believe was the biggest surprise of the NCAA weekend?

The Big Ten getting eliminated from the tournament?

Jim Nance and Billy Packer actually admitting that they feed from the teat of the big conferences and had to admit they were wrong on Selection Sunday?

A Nielsen brother being kicked out the Golden Nugget? (Sorry that should have been under the category of least surprising things of the NCAA weekend.)

North Carolina not making to the Sweet 16?

Or this broad throwing down a dunk?




Actually thought it was Florida's Joakim Noah on first glance, but this woman Candace Parker threw down a monster jam in Tennessee�s tournament victory. Can anybody again care to explain why Title IX exists? The NCAA men�s basketball tournament draws makes huge money and creates a lot of interest.

The women�s tournament is creating interest because a woman actually dunked a basketball.

Something that happens in your typical boys basketball game. But hey, it makes a lot of sense. Much in the same way the NCAA would allow a men�s basketball coach to make commercials for Chevy that run endlessly during the tournament. (And a close second to that family-casual chain that ran those annoying Something About Mary/Gilligan�s Island rip-off commercial). It�s also amazing that the coach who appears in those commercials always seems to get the calls. Kind of like, the NCAA would not want to have the coach in its most high profile commercial eliminated in the first two rounds.

Just saying is all.

Cap limits: As proven by the success of the Missouri Valley Conference and CCA, it�s time to put a limit on the number of teams that one conference can get into the tournament. And seriously, it�s time to turn the Big Ten into a one-bid conference like the Big West. Do you mean to tell me that Long Beach State couldn�t have been eliminated from the tournament in the same vein as Marquette, Seaton Hall, Syracuse, or Michigan State?

Biggest Upset: You can talk about George Mason beating North Carolina, or Iowa stumbling and falling. But by far the biggest upset of the tournament had to be San Diego State losing to Indiana. How many brackets did that ruin? Pretty sure most people had the Aztecs in the Final Four, or at least the Elite 8. Here�s a challenge to anybody to try to tell me that didn�t have SDSU in the Sweet 16. Sorry, not buying it.

Biggest Disappointment: This is easily Pacific. The Tigers went from a six-point lead in overtime, to not even covering the 9.5-point spread. I�ve seen Pacific play more times over the last couple of years than the rest of my March Madness party had seen non-tournament basketball games over the past decade. And I�ve never seen Pacific fold like that. Ever. It was hard watching Christian Maraker turn into J.J. Manning in front of our very eyes.

Talk about it in The Hater Nation Forums.