Why beating Duke is so sweet

As a Kentucky fan by birth and a Wake Forest fan by education, there are few things in NCAA basketball that thrill me more than beating Duke. In honor of the Deacs' stellar performance - and last-minute save - I thought I'd list out the top five reasons I LOVE BEATING DUKE.

5. When it comes to athletics in North Carolina, Wake Forest always gets the shaft. It's UNC this, Duke that... Only local sportscasters and Old Gold and Black fans recognize Wake Forest's potential and performance throughout the season while national broadcasters cover Duke and Carolina, no matter how good they are. Wake didn't get their due this year until they were one of only a handful of teams still undefeated well into January. Then, when defeated at #1, they dropped to #6 in the AP poll. Such baloney. We'll see where Duke is ranked next week. My prediction is #3.

4. Both teams wear blue, and we all know that the adjective is "Kentucky" blue.

3. And speaking of Kentucky, we Cats fans have no qualms about rooting against Duke. As the winningest team in NCAA history (make throat clearing noise here), we have to hate some team in the establishment. We're certainly not going to root against ourselves.

2. Cameron crazies. Haven't you ever wanted to smack one of them while they're up in your team's face in Durham?

1. 1992. Christian Laettner. The clip CBS plays repeatedly in March. That buzzer beater alone is enough reason for Duke to go down, forever.

Super Bowl in the Toilet Bowl?

Is it just me, or is the pre-Super Bowl hype practically non-existent this year? When trying to convince me that Yankees half-season tickets were a sound investment, Brian made the argument that sports (or at least the Yankees) were recession proof. Obviously not. I can count on one finger the number of commercials I've seen leading up to the event - one promo for the Thursday night pre-game shows featuring Rihanna and Jerry O'Connell. Not exactly A-listers...nor are the teams in the game. One of my coworkers asked another who was playing and for a second I couldn't even recall. "Oh yeah," was our response - not caring one way or the other about anything except the commercials.

Unfortunately, all signs point to those being a disappointment as well. Like many businesses, both advertising and TV ad sales are suffering in light of the global economic crisis (hence the onslaught of infomercials these days - perhaps the topic of another blog post altogether). Just 4 days before the big game, there are still reportedly 4 commercial openings. Please tell me they won't be filled by BigDaddy.com. Who even knows what BigDaddy.com is other than a consistent source of revenue for the networks during the Super Bowl. It looks like those revenues are dipping as well. According to Bloomberg, most ads sold for less than $3 million. Though that figure still seems outlandish to us common folk, it's disappointing to network execs in troubling times.

Most of our friends don't even seem excited about celebrating the SB this year. We've either juggled parties or have turned some down the past several years, but it seems most of them are having more low-key get-togethers, or are just watching it from the comfort of their own homes this year.

Perhaps the SB 43 is just adhering to the old PR mantra: under promise and over deliver. Whether the game itself and all the commercials are lackluster or blockbuster, at least we'll have the seven-layer Mexican dip.

Weekend Warriors

Brian and I have been on this kick of doing new things in the Bay Area on the weekends (and believe me, we still have a lot to do). We started this trend just after New Year's, not really as a resolution but as a way to get more out of our experience here so that someday we never regret not having done something in our still-to-be-determined number of years in Northern California. Major trips on the list still include Yosemite, L.A. (we have each been, but not together) and the Sequoia National Forest. Death Valley might be cool (or hot?) as well.

A few weeks ago we convinced Lisa Marie and Greg to join us on one of the first endeavors, which was to tour the Jelly Belly Factory in Fairfield. Since Fairfield is about half-way between Sacramento and San Francisco, it wouldn't be more of a hassle for one couple than the other. Brian joked that it was something kids do and worried that it would be too cheesy, but it was so fun! Our favorite part was the Jelly Belly art - huge mosiacs made entirely out of the jelly beans made famous by President Reagan. The tour's free, so that and the samples at the end made our annoying tour guide much more bearable. And check out our hats! Brian was a little too cool (or was his head too big?) for the hat, so he took it off just after this photo was taken and walked around with his hoodie on.


This weekend, we traveled to Danville, a small town in the East Bay. At this time, perhaps Danville is best known as being the home of Chesley "Sully" Sullenberger III, the "Hero of the Hudson." That's right, Brian and I ventured to Danville to be part of the Sully-bration honoring the pilot who saved so many lives recently. There were probably a few thousand people out there paying their respects and cheering on the hero. Everyone eagerly anticipated his speech, and although we knew he couldn't talk about the ongoing investigation, I think most people thought he'd speak more than a few sentences. Apparently Sully is a man of few words, but that's ok.


After our excursion to Danville, we headed up 80 for Jen Sweeney's "5th" birthday party. I wasn't quite sure what to expect out of a children's themed birthday party, but everything is fun with this group! Unfortunately for me, Nancy got her Strawberry Shortcake jewel closer to the crown than I did in our version of pin the tail on the donkey, but Brian kept the Neal competitive streak alive by winning not one but TWO games! You should be able to see Carmen's chronicle of the games by clicking here.

I can tell you that in all honesty, I am already looking forward to next weekend.

New Year, New President, New Post

Heinz said good things come to those who wait. I'm not sure how good reading our blog is for you, but it feels good for me to get back in the swing of things.

Let's not dance around the elephant in the room: it's been three months since I last blogged. Por que? There are a few reasons. I find blogging - as it is not a life-critical activity such as paying the bills or putting food in my belly - is often like exercising. Once you get into the swing of it, it feels good and you find it easier and more rewarding. Similarly, once you've fallen off the wagon, it's just easier to sit around and watch TV (and I've logged way too many episodes of Jon & Kate Plus Eight since we last met here).

I suppose you could also blame the holidays. You know how much I love Christmas and all that it entails. This year Christmas included a fully-loaded iPod shuffle for my mom. Though I completely underestimated how long it would take to stock 150 of her favorite songs in a playlist order that sounds good, it was worth spending the extra hours on the computer for several nights because she enjoys it so much. But a few nights a week on and off for a couple of weeks = no blogging.

And finally, I think Facebook and the iPhone have a big dog in this fight. Who needs a blog when you can post and read frequent status updates and see full photo albums from your iPhone? I've decided I do, and if you're reading this, perhaps so do you.

So in the spirit of the New Year, our new President (yay!) and new beginnings in general, the blog is back...and I hope our four followers are, too!

Cheers to a New Year!