Holy Cross College

Very little known fact - 70-years ago this week - Holy Cross became the first and still the only team from the Northeast to win the College World Series. 

Flotsam and Jetsam

Miscellaneous thoughts and observations.

I've made this observation before but I'm dubious that the Chinese economy is as robust as some may believe. Economic growth requires innovation and innovation requires freedom. With the crackdowns on freedom (see Jack Ma or all of Hong Kong) will also come a drastic reduction in innovation (you can only steal so much intellectual technology property). There is also an aging population and not enough children. If I had a company doing business with China - I'd be getting my capital out of the country... Still blows my mind that this is a real photo... A person at age 20 should read the top 50 classic novels of all-time and repeat the exercise every 10 years for the rest of their life... Not sure if there's any truth to the rumor that Holy Cross is trying to schedule UConn as next year's homecoming opponent... Michael K. Williams, Omar from The Wire, found dead of an overdose at age 54. Way too young... 

Linky Links

Stuff I found interesting or amusing and thought I'd share.

- Heh Heh

- Worth revisiting: Scott Adams - A message for children about climate change.

- Herman Hesse on the Magic of Reading 

- You can't fire me - I retire! Randy Edsel out at UConn at end of season. Losing to 1-AA Holy Cross will do that to you I guess.

Flotsam and Jetsam

Miscellaneous thoughts and observations.

Is it ironic that the worst drivers can normally be found in the RMV parking lot circling for an open parking spot?... Victor Davis Hanson has a good summary of the 2-years of the Mueller Investigation... Sex Melon - band name or hipster cocktail? Fire Grilled Turtles - band name or hipster entree?... "The real act of discovery consists not in finding new lands, but in seeing with new eyes." - Marcel Proust... Men in Belted Sweaters - bad idea from the 70's or hipster band name?... Johannes Factorum would be a good name for a blog (roughly translated from the Latin it means "Jack of all trades")... The Cleveland Spiders supposedly changed the team name to the Indians in hs honor after his early, untimely death...

Bob Cousy

Happy 90th birthday to Holy Cross and Boston Celtics' legend Bob Cousy.

90-years young and still sharp as a tack. He might not have been born here but many (including me) consider him Worcester's own.

Flotsam and Jetsam

Miscellaneous thoughts and observations.

The simple solution to the snowflakes at Holy Cross having an issue with the Crusader mascot is to hold an Internet poll for a replacement. They totally deserve Jesuit McJesuitface...  Heh heh... In the articles following the death of Stephen Hawking it was noted by many that in 1979 he was made the Lucasian Professor of Mathematics at Cambridge and that the post was once held by Sir Isaac Newton. Almost no one noted that post was also held by Paul Dirac, Nobel Prize winner, one of the founders of quantum mechanics and one of the most under-appreciated geniuses of the 20th century... Heh heh... Great advice: "Stay away from negative people. They have a problem for every solution." - Albert Einstein... On social media, privacy is no longer a personal choice...Still can't believe Jeff Fisher hasn't gotten another NFL head coaching job yet...

Linky Links

Stuff I found interesting or amusing and thought I'd share.

- Niall Ferguson has an interesting point. The steel tariffs do make a lot of sense if they are part of an overall strategy to pressure China over North Korea.

- Still think John Skipper was forced out of ESPN because of corporate politics and direction more than because of cocaine use or potential extortion.

- If Stephen Hawking was just a famous genius guy in a wheelchair to you - this post let's you understand what Stephen Hawking was really famous for.

- Heh Heh (took me a minute)

- Cool science

- Holy Cross to dump knight mascot but keep Crusader name. The people running Holy Cross seem to be a bunch of spineless idiots.

- Who knew? The phrase "I'd drink her dirty bathwater" first originated with an Irish nun.

Flotsam and Jetsam

Miscellaneous thoughts and observations.

Just as a reminder - at about the same time all this FISA stuff was happening the FBI was trying to force Apple to give them backdoor "keys" so they could unlock any iPhone...  Bruins will be pulling for the Patriots in the Super Bowl... Has it ever been conclusively proven that Ted Cruz is NOT the Zodiac Killer? Release that memo!... Holy Cross to keep the name Crusaders. Common sense prevails. I can't think of a single alumni that was in favor of a name change. Changing the name would have destroyed alumni donations to the school... The last interview with Kurt Vonnegut... "Is it wrong to gamble, or only to lose?" Sky Masterson Guys and Dolls.  Seems a worthy quote for a Super Bowl Sunday... I'd be good with this...

Linky Links

Stuff I found interesting or amusing and thought I'd share.

- If Holy Cross were to change the school mascot from the Crusader the backlash would be huge. The whole idea is stupid. I thought the Jesuits were smarter than this.

- Worcester remembers

- Please! Please! Please! Let this happen

- Heh heh

- Another example why hockey players are the best

- Pikachu I choose you (as official ambassador)

Flotsam and Jetsam

Miscellaneous thoughts and observations.

Republicans having to root for Donald Trump must be like Chicago Bears fans having to root for Jay Cutler... Kudos to Bob Cousy and Holy Cross... So is that DirecTV commercial implying that Lionel Ritchie and Peyton Manning are gay lovers? Why else would Ritchie be in Mannings' home first thing in the morning with Peyton's wife nowhere to be found... And yet Johnny Pesky is not in the Hall of Fame... Suzy Kolber's Mancave would be a good name for a fantasy football team... The truth is the truth...  When Scott Boras is trying to sign a new client - how long do you think it takes him to casually mention that he got JD Drew $94 million in career earnings?... Debunking the Aquatic Ape Theory... July was National Beer Month and August was National Anal Sex Month (seriously). They should combine those two and make September National Regrets Month... Interesting - why Obama won't pardon Snowden...

Happy (Belated) Birthday to Bob Cousy

Happy birthday to the Houdini of the Hardwood who turned 88-years young yesterday.

We love you Cooz!

Midnight Special

It's March Madness but man does not live on brackets alone. This week I'm looking forward to going to see the new movie Midnight Special. It looks intriguing and I really like Michael Shannon.

I have an extra set of tickets that were sent to me by the good people at Grace Hill Media - shoot me an email if you'd like to go (tickets good until April 21st).

Go Holy Cross!

Top 5 - Basketball Players from Holy Cross

Holy Cross made the 2016 NCAA Men's Basketball Tourney by winning the Patriot League title. Go Crusaders! In celebration here's who I would pick as the Top 5 basketball players from Holy Cross:

1. Bob Cousy - no brainer. They even have a statue of him outside the Hart Center
2. Tommy Heinsohn - averaged 23.4 points as a Junior and 27.2 points per game as a Senior.
3. Ronnie Perry Jr. - was an All-American in both basketball and baseball.
4. Togo Palazzi - two-time All-American. Played 6-seasons in the NBA
5. Jack "the Shot" Foley - Worcester's own Jack "the Shot".  In his Senior year Foley was second in the country in scoring.

ND vs BC

I was going to post something about the latest chapter of the Holy War yesterday but I was kind of busy. You knew last night's game was going to be special starting with yesterday's beautiful sunrise over Fenway.

There were a lot of storylines attached to this game starting with the death of Doug Flutie's parents just an hour apart after 56 years of marriage and Flutie's decision to still call the game for NBC. A moment of silence were held for the elder Flutie's prior to the game. There was the return of native son Brian Kelly who got his football coaching start in nearby Assumption College in Worcester. How about Torii Hunter's son getting to use David Ortiz' locker? There was the story of the Irish trying to remain in the hunt for a berth in the college football playoffs. Then there was the very idea of a college football game at Fenway Park where Boston College had a record of 75-21-5 in 101 previous games at Fenway but were the "visiting team".

All the storylines seemed related and seemed to weave in and out of each other. The last time Boston College payed at Fenway was a 7-0 loss to Holy Cross in 1956. Decades later it was the dominance of Doug Flutie's Eagles team that led Holy Cross to end the Crusaders rivalry against the Eagles. And now another team with a Worcester connection was about to make Boston College 0-2 in their last two Fenway tilts.

You had to know that this was going to be a close game though. Sure the Eagles offense is anemic but their defense is one of the top 5 in the country. Besides this game has historically been close. The last two times these teams met the Irish were 20 and 24 point favorites but the final scores were 21-6 in 2012 and 16-14 in 2011. Boston College was getting 15.5 points last night.

Hope you enjoyed the game as much as I did.

 

Linky Links

Stuff I found interesting or amusing and thought I'd share.

- Sorry Canadians but this is how many in the US think of our neighbor to the north

- Interesting read on the eroding legacy of the 1996 Atlanta Olympic Games. One basic truth of the US is that most Americans aren't interested in history or the past - they are only interested in today and the promise of tomorrow.

- BC and Holy Cross to play football again in 2018 and 2020. I won't consider it a rivalry renewed until a game is scheduled at Fitton Field or Holy Cross wins a game. I'm hoping at least Holy Cross was paid a pretty penny for these two games.

- Cool - volcanic eruption as seen from space

- Five ways Oculus Rift will go beyond gaming.

- Documentary Heaven. I can't wait to spend hours on this site.

Linky Links

Stuff I found interesting and thought I'd share.

- Wow - Allen Iverson accused of kidnapping own kids and being an alcoholic.

- Nice interview with Game of Thrones star Nikolaj Coster-Waldau (Jamie Lannister)

- Interesting look at the actual baseball in the movie Bull Durham (which is now 25-years old). Never thought about the pitch count in those games but Nuke would have been throwing 200 pitches per game

- George Blaney retires. He was always a class act when he was head coach at Holy Cross.

Flotsam and Jetsam

Miscellaneous thoughts and observations. I'm conflicted about the Celtics two first round draft picks. I think both Jared Sullinger and Fab Melo are great value picks and even if only one guy pans out then the draft was a success. I'm conflicted because I knew who both players were going in and these days that's normally not a good sign... The show Louie was back last night but I missed it because the Red Sox were playing on the West Coast. Anyway - here's 50 cool pieces of Louis CK fan art (although some of these don't even look like him)... I was thinking that a good comparison for Sullinger was a slightly taller Ryan Gomes. I really hope Sullinger can stay healthy (note to Celtics - keep him away from any Red Sox medical staff)... Heh heh - Dora the Explorer the Movie... Last night Saint Bonaventure had a player taken in the first round of the NBA draft. I fully expect a 5,000 word screed from Bill Simmons about why can't Holy Cross produce NBA draft picks sometime today... Physics questions and the Avengers. I would seriously watch a show on the Science Channel that had physics professors answering these questions... Elizabeth Hurley was supposedly the original choice to play Bellatrix Lestrange in the Harry Potter movies. Hurley was (IMHO) at one point the hottest woman in the world... I love reading stories about Romney Superfan Jim Wilson. I would love to see regular guy Wilson debate Obama political operative David Axelrod...

Flotsam and Jetsam

Miscellaneous thoughts and observations.

Great win by Iowa State last night! Too bad great the win was marred by the Cyclones playing Sweet Caroline to celebrate. I am so sick of that song... Don Orsillo recently re-signed with NESN with a contract that keeps him at the network until 2015. If Terry Francona takes a TV job that Orsillo turned down - you know Orsillo will never let Francona live it down (good natured ribbing between friends)... Congratulations to the Holy Cross Crusaders who destroyed Boston College last night 86-64... It can be argued that Barry Zito parlayed his only 20-win season into $146 million in career earnings. Could that make his 23-win 2002 season the most valuable 20-win season ever?... I agree with the irony that Shawn Ryan points out:

Joe Paterno's doctor notified JoePa immediately of his cancer diagnosis, so that any future damage might be avoided.

According to the Sports Tax Man - assuming Matt Kemp is a California resident - his new 8-year $160M deal will net him $86.4 million with the rest going to taxes. I am assuming that after realizing this Kemp will join the TEA (Taxed Enough Already) Party... Tim Tebow Just Wins is anagram for Must Join Web Twits... In early 1900's there was famous Asian prostitute in Chicago named Suzy Poon Tang whose name became slang for - well you know...

Dave Gavitt, the Big East, Holy Cross and the Road Not Taken

Yesterday Dave Gavitt, the founder of the Big East passed away. Yesterday the news broke that Syracuse and Pittsburgh will be leaving the Big East for the ACC. Yesterday Holy Cross beat Harvard in football 30-22. All of these stories are related.

If you are a sports fan from Worcester of a certain age - you know the story well. Dave Gavitt wants to form a new basketball league that will cash in on TV money and they want Holy Cross as one of their centerpiece schools. Father Brooks and the College of the Holy Cross say "No thanks."

Years later schools like Georgetown and St. John's are national powers and Holy Cross fans are asking "what if" questions.

Yesterday Dave Gavitt passed away and in a terribly cruel twist of fate the league he formed may have passed away with him. Syracuse and Pittsburgh leaving the Big East for the ACC became official this morning. All of which in my mind validates the wisdom of Father Brooks all those years ago.

Where would Holy Cross be today if they had joined the Big East? They would have had to have spent millions to upgrade the football program and to what end? The realist knows that football success in this day and age would not be possible. They can't draw athletes from a whole state or afford a modern stadium complete with luxury boxes like UConn. Holy Cross has an enrollment of just 2,900. Compare that to Villanova who has a student body of well over 7,000. A place like Notre Dame has an enrollment of around 8,500 and is actually considered small by the big-time college football movers and shakers. The cold, hard fact is that the student body at Holy Cross just could not support a big-time program. A BCS Holy Cross would be a joke Holy Cross. What benefit would come from Holy Cross getting whipped by TCU by 40 points? What benefit would that bring to the value of a Holy Cross degree?

People who still wish to believe that Holy Cross should have joined the Big East all those years ago will argue that the Crusaders could have been a basketball member of the Big East like Georgetown or Providence College. They would have a point. But where would that have left the football program which had an equally storied history as the basketball team? People forget that Holy Cross played in the Orange Bowl back when being in a Bowl really meant something. What about the football team? Do they try to exist in between worlds like Villanova? Do they drop the program - again like Villanova? Georgetown (enrollment over 9,000 undergrad and grad combined) didn't have football when the Big East was formed but they have since added a team to compete at the Holy Cross level which I would take as evidence that Holy Cross was doing things the right way.

People say that you are known by the company you keep - yesterday Holy Cross was associating with Harvard. They regularly associate with Ivy League schools and the reputations of the Patriot League schools are pretty much unblemished.

Today the Universities of the Big East are wondering what their future holds and how they could be so betrayed by "brother" institutions. Who is in the better situation?

Carson Palmer

When did Carson Palmer become Duante Culpepper - the destroyer of fantasy football worlds? Palmer has been a dessicated husk of a quarterback. People who have played him on their fantasy teams would have been better off playing a tackling dummy. I have him in one of my leagues and I thinking of changing that team name to Carson Palmer and the Negative Mojos.

Am I a bad person because I'm secretly hoping for Palmer to get hurt so that the Bengals would have to play Harvard's Ryan Fitzpatrick?

Speaking of Harvard - Holy Cross plays the Crimson this Friday. I wish they had 1-AA lines because Harvard's going down and I would have made a bundle with the money-line.