Monday, March 31, 2008

April Fools Eve

Tomorrow is April Fools Day. Here are a couple recent developments that I wish were April Fools Day Pranks:

Interior of Michigan's Offensive Line Quits
I have no particular love for any of the individuals that quit (Alex Mitchell, Jeremy Ciulla, or Justin Boren). However, just the fact that new head coach Rich Rodriguez will have to essentially start fresh with an 80% (at least) new offensive line is rather disturbing. Unlike some Michigan fans out there, I don't blame RichRod for this. If the players couldn't handle the workload, they shouldn't be here. I blame the players for being wusses. And I blame Justin Boren for whining publicly about it afterwards. It is encouraging, however, that Georgia had three freshman starters on their OL last season, and they were arguably the best team in the country by the end of the year. An offensive line that performs like they did in the play shown above probably deserves to be replaced (screen shot stolen borrowed from mgoblog).

All Number 1 Seeds Advance to Final Four
For the first time ever, each of the regional number one seeds advanced to the final four. While this should make for an unpredictable final four, there is no underdog to root for this year - not even a semi-surprising four sead, much less an out-of-left-field George Mason. That's half the fun of the tourney - rooting for "David" to beat the "Goliath." It's not as much fun watching a bunch of Goliaths go at each other, but it should make for some exciting evenly matched tense games.

Curtis Granderson on the DL
The Tigers centerfielder and offensive catalyst will start the season on the DL with a broken finger. This could lead to a slow start for the Tigers, but they have enough pop in the lineup that they can survive a couple weeks without him. It's always a downer to start the season with your leadoff hitter on the shelf. If they can play .500 ball without him, they'll be fine.

Hideki Matsui got Married
Will this be the end of his legendarily huge and extensive porn collection? Will his wife make him throw it all out? If so, I have "a friend" who probably could find a use for it. From what I understand, Japanese porn is quite strange, even by porn standards.

Taos Lifts Ban on Snowboarders
The popular New Mexico ski resort Taos Ski Valley finally has given in. They are now allowing snowboarders on their hallowed slopes. I do not lament the fact that they have finally allowed snowboarders, but that it took so long. How long has snowboarding been around? Fifteen, twenty years? Having a snobby ban on snowboarders was becoming a failed marketing strategy, as they were neglecting a large portion of potential customers.

EDITED TO ADD

Antarctic Ice Shelf Collapses
A 160 square mile piece of the Wilkins Ice Shelf in Antarctic recently broke off. I'm no scientist, but that can't be good.

And just remember - don't believe anything you hear or read tomorrow. Celebrity deaths, political decrees, odd news items, etc.

3 comments:

candyman said...

Ban the knuckeldragging scourge of the slopes!

Anonymous said...

Is it possible that the screen shot of the "underperforming" line was taken during a screen play? A fake handoff to the back who would then slide out to the flats behind the lineman would be consistent with that picture.

Assman said...

According to the play-by-play account of the game, that was a running play to the left, just like it appears in the screen shot. It's dreadful blocking, not a screen play. From the looks of it, Hart was lucky he only lost one yard on the play.