Tag: ek Holiday

I used to sing it a capella.

So the Huskies are a 9 seed and it’s better than they deserve.  Calhoun is very ill and they’re facing 2 years of sanctions.  And they’re leaving the Big East because a mediocre Throwball team is considered more important than an Arena filling Hoopies program.

Thanks for nothing UConn.

Did I mention defending National Champions?

This schedule looks impossible to me but I have 2 sources.

It blows my mind that Syracuse is a #1 seed.  They’re not that good.  Oh well, Beoheim will find a way to screw it up from the foul line just like he always does.  7 footer Fab Melo will not be playing AND they have the coveted trueTV spot.  Go Orange.

Last Night’s Results–

Round of 64 Day 1, Afternoon–

A better fight song–

I know it’s very bad form to quote one’s own reviews, but I would like to mention something that The New York Times said about me a year ago which I’ve always treasured — they said:

Mr. Lehrer’s muse is not fettered by such inhibiting factors as taste.

Now we come to that peculiar bit of americana known as the football fight song. I was reminded not too long ago, upon returning from my lesson with the scrabble pro at the Harvard Club in Boston, in the days of my undergraduacy long ago when there used to be these very long Saturday afternoons in the fall with nothing to do — the library was closed — just waiting around for the cocktail parties to begin. and on occasions like that, some of us used to wander over to the… I believe it was called the stadium, to see if anything might be going on over there. and one did come to realize that the football fight songs that one hears in comparable stadia have a tendency to be somewhat uncouth, and even violent, and that it would be refreshing, to say the least, to find one that was a bit more genteel. And here it is, dedicated to my own alma mater, and called Fight Fiercely, Harvard.

Fight fiercely, Harvard, fight, fight, fight! Demonstrate to them our skill.

Albeit they possess the might, nonetheless we have the will.

How we shall celebrate our victory, We shall invite the whole team up for tea (how jolly!)

Hurl that spheroid down the field, and fight, fight, fight!

Fight fiercely, Harvard, fight, fight, fight! Impress them with our prowess, do!

Oh, fellows, do not let the Crimson down, Be of stout heart and true.

Come on, chaps, fight for Harvard’s glorious name, Won’t it be peachy if we win the game? (oh, goody!)

Let’s try not to injure them, but fight, fight, fight! (let’s not be rough though)

And do fight fiercely! Fight, fight, fight!

So did anyone watch last night’s games?

Yup, that’s what I thought.  I do have the results-

Play In Day 1

Tonight’s contests-

Play In Day 2

I’ll be less available than usual as I have a meeting to attend.

Update: Nate Silver’s analysis.

These are much more complicated than they look.  In the interior of the pretty table are links to each school’s Men’s Basketball page and their record (not always trivial to find).

Tonight I have no particular favorites other than my basic puzzlement about why any of the Play-Ins get seeded at all.  If you’re bad enough to need to play your way in, you’re by definition worse than anyone who got an invite.

Fittingly the Play-Ins are featured on basic cable trueTV which will interrupt it’s all crime all the time schedule tonight and tomorrow starting at 6:30 pm.  When in full swing starting Thursday CBS will be partnering with Turner Broadcasting and it’s TBS and TNT (in addition to trueTV) networks to provide complete game coverage for 2 games per Region in afternoon and evening sessions.

For those following along here that means one noonish and another 6ish piece covering 8 games each.

Last year I attempted to capture updates from each game.  That was stupid.  This year you have to make your own fun.  If there is a game of particular interest you might create an anchor thread or simply note your observations below.  If ambition inspires you then do a satellite piece.  I’d be especially interested in alma reminisces.  You’ll get linked if not promoted as my time allows.

Finally, I like to tickle the ironies on occasion and so I repeat for you the song of the representative from the only League that dares, dares I say, send its regular season Champion into the fray-

I know it’s very bad form to quote one’s own reviews, but I would like to mention something that The New York Times said about me a year ago which I’ve always treasured — they said:

Mr. Lehrer’s muse is not fettered by such inhibiting factors as taste.

Now we come to that peculiar bit of americana known as the football fight song. I was reminded not too long ago, upon returning from my lesson with the scrabble pro at the Harvard Club in Boston, in the days of my undergraduacy long ago when there used to be these very long Saturday afternoons in the fall with nothing to do — the library was closed — just waiting around for the cocktail parties to begin. and on occasions like that, some of us used to wander over to the… I believe it was called the stadium, to see if anything might be going on over there. and one did come to realize that the football fight songs that one hears in comparable stadia have a tendency to be somewhat uncouth, and even violent, and that it would be refreshing, to say the least, to find one that was a bit more genteel. And here it is, dedicated to my own alma mater, and called Fight Fiercely, Harvard.

Fight fiercely, Harvard, fight, fight, fight! Demonstrate to them our skill.

Albeit they possess the might, nonetheless we have the will.

How we shall celebrate our victory, We shall invite the whole team up for tea (how jolly!)

Hurl that spheroid down the field, and fight, fight, fight!

Fight fiercely, Harvard, fight, fight, fight! Impress them with our prowess, do!

Oh, fellows, do not let the Crimson down, Be of stout heart and true.

Come on, chaps, fight for Harvard’s glorious name, Won’t it be peachy if we win the game? (oh, goody!)

Let’s try not to injure them, but fight, fight, fight! (let’s not be rough though)

And do fight fiercely! Fight, fight, fight!

Play In Day 1

All yours.

Return with us now to those thrilling days of yesteryear.

His father Giuseppe was an inspector of slaughter houses until he was arrested in 1796 for French Revolutionary sympathies by the Austrians.  While he was imprisoned his wife and son moved to Bologna were she made a living singing in theaters and upon Giuseppe’s release he joined her as a horn player in the bands where she sang.

Because his grandmother couldn’t handle him while his mom and dad were on the road, Rossini was apprenticed to a pork butcher and received his first musical instruction, which was not of very high quality.  After about 3 years he switched to a blacksmith and found some better teachers.  He had composed 6 String Sonatas by the age of twelve.

By the time he was 14 he had already composed his first Opera (though it would not be staged until he was 20) and he also gained admission to the Bologna Conservatory where he studied for 4 years before the debut of his first commercial production.

Italian music is all about the Opera and it’s hard to find a composer of note who hasn’t written a dozen or two.  Rossini’s rise to fame was meteoric and by 21 he had already retired and had to be coaxed out of it at 23 when he received an offer from a Naples theater impresario he couldn’t refuse.  In return for one Opera a year, 200 ducats a month and a cut from the tables in the theater Casino.

The Barber of Seville, while one of Rossini’s most famous, premiered to some controversy.  Giovanni Paisiello had already written a fairly popular Opera with the same name and subject 25 years earlier and his supporters protested the opening with boos and cat-calls.

After his return to the stage Rossini produced about 20 Operas by 1823, some of the librettos of which were highly bowdlerized to appeal to the tastes of his audience.  In 1822 he married one of his leading ladies and made a trip to Vienna where he was highly celebrated.  After that he went to London where George IV gave him 7000 pounds for 5 months work, and then to Paris where he made 800 pounds a year as the Director of the Theatre des Italiens plus a contract from Charles X for 5 Operas a year.

He stayed there for 5 years before returning to Bologna in 1829.  After that he composed but sporadically.  His first wife died in 1845, he remarried in 1846.  After leaving Bologna in 1848 due to the political unrest he eventually took up permanent residence in Paris where he devoted himself to the life of a foodie.  At the time of his death in 1868 he was acclaimed as the greatest composer of Opera ever known.

The piece I have selected tonight is one of his Sins of Old Age, Salon Music he composed at his home in Paris after his retirement.  This particular one, La Regata Veneziana, is a three song cycle posted by GermanOperaSinger and featuring Renata Tebaldi.  She was born in Pesaro, the very same town as Rossini.

The Pirates of Penzance was the only Gilbert and Sullivan opera to have its official premiere in the United States. At the time, American law offered no copyright protection to foreigners. After their previous opera, H.M.S. Pinafore, was a hit in London, over a hundred American companies quickly mounted unauthorised productions, often taking considerable liberties with the text and paying no royalties to the creators. Gilbert and Sullivan hoped to forestall further “copyright piracy” by mounting the first production of their next opera in America, before others could copy it, and by delaying publication of the score and libretto. They succeeded in keeping for themselves the direct profits of the first production of the opera by opening the production themselves on Broadway, prior to the London production. They also operated U.S. touring companies. However, Gilbert, Sullivan, and their producer, Richard D’Oyly Carte, failed in their efforts over the next decade, to control the American performance copyrights over their operas.

Libretto a la Boise State.

Hail, Hail the Gang’s All Here!

The “stage business” is not properly conveyed by mere reading or listening but is faithfully transmitted by our modern minstrels from the debut on New Year’s Eve 1879.

Everything substantial I wrote about yesterday.  The latest forecast is that there won’t be any more Thunder Storms until 11 pm so they might be able to squeeze in a few laps, otherwise- Plan C.

Daytona 500’s Start Is Pushed Back Until the Evening as Rain Soaks Track

By Erik Matuszewski and Dex McLuskey, Bloomberg News

Feb 27, 2012 11:02 AM ET

Nascar further delayed the start of its season-opening Daytona 500 race until 7 p.m. local time today as rain continued to fall on the track.

The race at Daytona International Speedway in Daytona Beach, Florida, was originally postponed until noon today after rain wiped out yesterday’s planned start. It’s the first time the race has been postponed by weather in its 54-year history.

NASCAR postpones Daytona 500 for first time ever

CBS News

February 27, 2012 8:50 AM

Daytona president Joie Chitwood said he understood fans were frustrated about the scheduling change that pushed the race back one week later than usual. NASCAR and the track made the decision to move the start of the season to address an awkward early off weekend and to avoid potential conflicts with the Super Bowl.

…

“I’m sure I’m going to have some customers tell me about the date change and the challenges that we have with it,” Chitwood said. “But I think weather is unpredictable. I think based on the NASCAR schedule, the TV schedule on whole, this was the right move for the industry. We’ll continue to work with the last weekend of February.

…

Chitwood also said trying to wait out the rain any longer Sunday wasn’t an option, because the Daytona 500 deserves better than being crammed into the late evening hours.

Daytona 500 postponed to Monday

Reuters

Monday 27 February 2012 10.40 EST

Joie Chitwood, president of Daytona International Speedway was reluctant to discuss the chances of the race not taking place until Tuesday.

“It is tough to even talk Tuesday until we get into Monday,” he said. “There is inclement weather in the morning but by noon it looks like the weather is better. We’ll play it out the best we can.

“We want to exhaust every opportunity of getting the track dry and running the race. I would anticipate by 5 p.m., 6 p.m. if there was rain on the track you will see us play out some decisions. I don’t even want to talk about Tuesday right now.”

NASCAR says Daytona 500 will begin at 7 p.m. Monday, further delaying start of season

By Associated Press

Updated: Monday, February 27, 12:29 PM

“We hope to have ‘Lady and gentlemen, start your engines,’ at 7:02 and then warm up and go to green flag,” NASCAR President Mike Helton said. “We believe this is a reasonable expectation.”

Helton made the announcement Monday morning when it became clear that steady rain at Daytona International Speedway made an evening start the best option for NASCAR’s marquee event. Helton also said Tuesday has not been ruled out.

…

Greg Busch, executive vice president at GMR Marketing, said ratings for a Monday night race will not better what it would have drawn in its regularly scheduled Sunday afternoon slot. But Busch said the primetime showing will be significantly better than a Monday afternoon race.

…

Ed Goren, vice chairman for Fox Sports Media Group, said the network was unsure what to expect Monday night. He praised Fox’s production crew for its coverage during the rain delay Sunday, when Fox drew a 4.5 overnight rating despite no on-track action during nearly four hours of air time.

Yup, all about the eyeballs.

It’s a pretty busy day (and week).  You may not be aware that today is also the NBA All-Star Game.

Of course it’s an Open Thread.

Turn Left Racing

I don’t have much respect for the most popular “sport” in the United States.  I’m not talking about Throwball (for which I have very little respect indeed), but Turn Left Racing.  For one thing, the entire skillset is encapsulated in the derisive nickname.

But there are subtleties ek you say, how about that drafting and 4 wide racing?  In the biz they call that packing and makes it one of the most bloodthirsty events in this modern empire of gladiatorial entertainment designed to numb the masses to the atrocities and debauchery of the patrician elite.  These latter day chariot races divide and distract us like the blue and the green.

It’s fortunate for the drivers they build them like bumper cars and make them slow too.  The strict regulations on design and innovation and lack of mechanical connection to their putative brands makes any claim of win on Sunday, sell on Monday mere historic hype.  Who can tell anyway with all the logos?

Motor racing is unique among sports, thanks to its ties to big industry. Nobody ever went to a football game to cheer on a brand of football.

“NASCAR and the Daytona 500 are about as American as you can get, and it’s great to have my campaign represented by one of these incredible machines,” Santorum said in a release. “The race weekend is a wonderful tradition that we’re excited to be a part of as we spread our message. I like how Tony Raines turned some heads last weekend with his qualifying run, and we’d like to keep turning heads, too. I think we’re both looking for a win in the end.”

What’s incredible is that they’re out performed by both the flagship pony cars (and that people still buy this corporate marketing crap).

Packing

(P)ack racing is what the fans want and NASCAR is going to give it to them. Well, so far they got it, and they also have seen multiple accidents in practices/races.

The only way you can push these deliberately engineered bricks through the air is by taking advantage of drafting.  It’s the exact opposite of Formula One.  Drivers are encouraged by physics to get as close as they can.  As if this were not enough, there are frequent cautions mandated like TV time outs simply to draw the field closer together.

So far this year Danica Patrick has crashed twice, once in qualifying (she’ll have to start her backup car) and once in an under card race, booted by a team mate drafting behind her.

Patrick eventually got back into the race after her crew made extensive repairs to her car in the garage area. She finished 38th in a wreck-filled race that was won by James Buescher.

Patrick began the 300-mile event up front after becoming the first woman to win a NASCAR pole position since Shawna Robinson in 1994. She led at the start, spent the first part of the race in the top 10 before getting shuffled out of the draft and falling deeper in the field before the tap by Whitt.

Danica

Personally I think Turn Left Racing fans are only motivated by the prospect of flaming chunks of twisted metal and getting puking drunk on Bud on the Infield.  Danica Patrick represents a chance to broaden the demographic of people who like to watch flaming chunks of twisted metal and getting puking drunk on Bud on the Infield (not that Formula One is noted for its gynocracy and you have the added attraction of having to bribe your way into a seat), just like Jeff Gordon.

It’s a funny thing to call a crash impressive, but that’s what it was, a tremendous, violent, smoldering head-on wreck. All eyes were on Patrick during Thursday’s qualifying races, waiting to see. Basically, waiting to see if the little girl could handle that great big car, and be a worthy competitor when she makes her debut in Sunday’s Daytona 500. What she gave us was something close to a defining moment. We can stop with the haggling over whether to call Patrick a good or bad feminist, and the hand-wringing over her image. Who cares? After watching that wreck, I know exactly what to call her: a pro.

Expect a lot of commentary like that and this–

“It’s great for the sport,” said four-time NASCAR champion Jeff Gordon. “Who doesn’t want to see a female driver come in here and be able to race with the guys and do well and be marketable? It’s great for the sport.”

At least until she crashes out.

Daytona 500 Winner Tough To Predict

Out here machinery is show business, and in service of racier racing, the bosses changed up the tech package this year. Now the constant Rube Goldberg recalculation of fuel injection and restrictor plate and spoiler angle and grill opening and water temperature and suspension tuning has everyone flummoxed. Everything you touch affects everything else — push down here and something pops over there — in new and unexpected ways. All at once the cars are light in the tail and skittish at almost every angle of attack. A harsh word or a hard look at the quarter panel of the car in front of you can send it spinning.

To the extent possible, NASCAR recalibrated all of this in the interest of entertainment to break up not only the traditional mass-draft formations of years past, but the more recent two-by-two bumper car pairings as well. The result of this experiment will be made public Sunday. Forecasts I’ve heard around the tool box call for showers of debris and a partly crashy afternoon.

The fact of the matter is that Turn Left Racing is as predictable as professional wrestling, in the sense of-

Who cares?

There will be 43 bumper cars starting today and those that last until the final five laps will be gathered up for a gripping ‘sprint to the finish’.  Rain is predicted and unlike Formula One and IndyCar, Turn Left don’t do wet.  Might get some rain inside your Bud.

(T)he Great American Race remains the Great American Metaphor. All of us racing in circles as fast as we can, going nowhere, chasing a buck.

Now with pretty table.

For Immediate Release!

Westminster Announces Major Changes For 2013

Includes additional venue, expanded limit, additional classes

On the eve of its annual show, The Westminster Kennel Club announced today a number of changes for its 2013 show, including an additional venue for breed judging, a larger entry limit, and the expansion of dogs eligible for competition.

Breed judging and benching will take place at Piers 92/94 in New York City, located at West 55th Street and the West Side Highway, both days of the show, Monday and Tuesday. Group and Best In Show judging, as well as the Junior Showmanship Finals, will still be held at Madison Square Garden in the evening.

The entry limit will be increased to 3,200 dogs (up from 2,000 in 2012) and will include competition in the classes for dogs that have not yet earned their championships, but have won major points. In addition, Best of Breed winners of National Breed Club specialties will be invited to pre-enter. The top five dogs in each breed in breed point standings will continue to be invited to pre-enter, as in the past.

The 2013 Westminster Kennel Club All Breed Dog Show will be held on February 11-12.

Results so far–

• Hounds
  
  GCH Raydachs Playing With Fire V Gleishorbach SW, Dachshund (Wirehaired)

• Toy
  
  Ch Palacegarden Malachy, Pekingese

• Non-Sporting
  
  GCH Spotlights Ruffian, Dalmatian

• Herding
  
  GCH Babheim’s Captain Crunch, German Shepherd Dog

Unless you like Meta I shot my best commentary yesterday.  This has been instructive in a few ways.  It’s reminded me that these densely packed tables are hard to assemble on a deadline even if you have the formatting mostly worked out.

What strikes you as you assemble this are how many variations there are of the basic Sporting Breeds and that Hounds and Terriers have split off into their own groups.  There’s certainly a story behind that but I don’t know it.

The other thing it has reminded me of is upcoming March Madness.  Women’s AND Men’s.  I plan to post Anchor pieces for each time block (2 Afternoon, 2 Evening).  Especially in the early rounds I’d like to recruit some designated Game Reporters to comment on developments and scoring so I don’t have to do a 12 hour 4 Network surf.  Another abject plea for assistance after the brackets.

I’ve found a source for the dog names, but it’s a whole other thing to integrate it with the breed list.  My aim is to announce each as it appears on screen, but that’s very difficult to actually achieve.  We’ll see.

TV Coverage starts at 8 pm on USA, repeated at 8 am tomorrow.

Tonight’s groups are Sporting, Working, and Terrier.  We will have Best in Show.  I’ll try to chat and update as we go along.  Pretty table below.