The Onion Preview of the 2010 Season is here!
Gregg Easterbrook has his all Haiku preview up as well
Bloodstar
Liberals and Libertarians on Everything and Nothing
|
|
BloodstarLiberals and Libertarians on Everything and Nothing |
|
Gregg Easterbrook has his all Haiku preview up as well
Try the Quiet Eye, which sounds oddly disturbing for some reason, but evidently it’s a pretty effective way to putt.
Previous research has shown the best putters all follow a similar pattern of visual control, before and during a shot. When lining up a putt, experts alternate quick fixations between the ball and the hole. Then before and during the stroke they hold a steady fixation on the back of the ball, for around 2-3 seconds. After contact with the ball the eyes remain steady for a further half a second. This technique was named the Quiet Eye.
It is effective because it allows the golfer to take in only the necessary visual information required to make the shot. Focusing anywhere else can interrupt the organisation of millions of neurons in the brain that convert the visual information into movements of the putter.
How effective is it?
To assess the benefits of the Quiet Eye technique Mr Vine and his colleagues measured the putting performance of a group of golfers (with an average handicap of 2.5) before and after they’d been taught the Quiet Eye technique. After the training, they sunk 6% more of their putts and reduced their average number of putts by 2 per round.
I suppose I’ll have to experiment with the idea a bit and see if my putting improves.
when you decide to work together as a team and ban cell phones and texting during crunch time.
“I wasn’t surprised at all because anytime we were at the dinner table all you could hear was texting, buttons being pushed, looking down at the phone,” Bell said. “Now it’s fun arguments or insightful discussions about who we think is better in sports or where we came from or why we think a certain way. We really got a chance to learn about each other.”
it’s amazing how a little communication goes a long ways, but if people are angry about a cell phone ban, that’s tough for them.
It wasn’t easy for some of the players to spend most of the week without their phones. Even Bell, an enthusiastic supporter of the move, had to make peace with some of his friends when he returned to Atlanta.
“I had 87 text messages and I had about 10 voice mails,” Bell said. “When my phone is off, it doesn’t give me missed calls, but I had a lot of angry people on text messages.”
heh, that’s it?
Since most of us are going to commit a crime and join an office pool, I thought I’d pass along this nifty little bit of statistical analysis:
After the Sweet Sixteen round of play, ignore a team’s seeding, which is a statistically insignificant predictor of a team’s chances of winning.
In other words, coin flip the last few rounds.
I admit it. I am a complete junkie for the snowboard half-pipe during the Olympics. Tonight I watched as Shaun White claimed his second gold medal is as many Olympics. Holding my breath I saw the entire run and didn’t exhale until it was over. The run was not even necessary as his lead at the time was insurmountable at 46.8. This run put him over his own impressive score clocking in at 48.4 out of a possible 50.
The Double McTwist was the feature that I think put him over the top when he made his second run. The Double McTwist, which I had never seen before was more than impressive with the amount of air and number of twists and turns in the air. Overall it was a work of artistry.
It was bold, high and technical. I couldn’t have asked for more.
Yeah, you won, and congrats to it, It was a very close game that turned on two critital points, the first being an onside kick, and the second being Peyton throwing an interception return for a touchdown.
klossy refuses to continue liveblogging and an onside kick! Saints should have it but did he lose it? Wow, look at them mill around! Took em long enough, but Saints have it. 81 just plain missed it. Bold call. The halftime was 30 minutes? damn.
Ok, so here we go, whee. Drew Brees grabs a quick first down to Thomas.
Freeney wasn’t expecting to be out on the field and he’s caught with a great shot trying to get taped up.
Brees is getting way too much time. Quick 9 – 10 yard shots down field.
that was a brutal quick touchdown.
Prince of Thieves movie? Meh
Who the heck is she? Motorola.
That’s not a bug! Punch VW
Dennys is giving a free grandslam if you like denny’s on tuesday morning.
What?
I really hope the Saints lose. you don’t go celebrating in the third quarter.
Ok, Colts turn, can Peyton get things going?
It is just me or does there seem to be very few penalties so far?
The guy is named Fujita, durn, I was hoping it was Vegeta.
I think the crowd is pro saints, they’re awfully loud. Wow, what a pass to Clark at 8:20 to go!
4 penalties so far this game. 2 for each team. No turnovers either. a very clean game so far.
Very nice touchdown run.
Michelobe Commercial with Lance? Well, hmmm
Hotel rooms eh?
Professional drivers eh? Bridgestone tires or your wife?
kgb as a search browser? really? really??
Back to football, thank goodness. well ok a kick off and more commercials… sigh
ok, this is an odd commercial. pretty scenery at least. heh, a coke commercial. nicely done. though dude, you should have grabbed a few extra.
Oh no! the etrade babies! LOL Ok. that was stellar.
It’s a little chilly down here, oh I guess sitting in shorts and a workout shirt when it’s 59 down here is kinda cold.
ok, i can has blanket.
I see the saints have a couple of first downs. “they are looking for the homerun.” Yeah, Brees is holding the ball a long time, but he has all day, so he can.
I suppose the Colts are doing a bend but not break methodology. field goal attempt for the Saints and it’s good.
Some census commercial
Some google commercial, good narrative to it. actually very good. So far I’d say the etrade milkaholic, Coke safari and the Google commercials are the best.
Look a kick off and more commercials! is there a football game one?
I’m guessing this is a kia commercial. I liked the hamsters better. The hamsters were kia right? ok, that was cute too with the stuffed animals.
Roundup woooo.
Budweiser is failing this year.
Wait, what? more CBS Commercials
oh, as an aside the drummer for The Who is Zak Starkey, and the bassist I believe is Pino Palladino
More commercials that are local. and we’re in the fourth Quarter.
How can you vote for the MVP, there’s a whole quarter left! geeze.
Wooo going for it on fourth down? or are they doing the fake draw them offsides crap, nope going for it and got it!
So, did you want a close game? 10:39 left and Stover missed a 51 yarder. hmmm good field position with the saints at the 41 … more commercials. I think I’m gonna eat some breadsticks
wha? must be a moble phone or something. vizio internet apps, webtv 2.0?
Emerald nuts commercials are just… odd. and disturbing.
cold marinara sauce… ugh
good delay handoff to Reggie Bush.
Yeah, the game is starting to turn into that good ole, last team to score wins, kind of game. Good slant to Jeremy Shockey. I suppose I’m just used to Atlanta fans being really laid back. And really it seems like Saints fans are about the most obnoxious fans I’ve ever had the displeasure to see in the Georgia Dome. Who knows, maybe Atlanta fans are bad in New Orleans. I don’t know. but damn they’re irritating.
Ok, some prince of persia commercial and now some budweiser commercial. with the bull running along side. Moo. Cute I guess.
Hey They missed the 2 pointer and it’s challenged. I think it’s not a catch. But we’ll see. Guess it’s a 2 point conversion. This makes things tougher for the Colts. I’m still dubious, but that’s the ruling.
Line drive kickoff not sure where that was supposed to go.
Squirrel of doom? Honda? what? really?
more Denny’s chickens haha, ok, the chicken in space where no one can hear you scream was cute. but the screaming… evil
CSI in space (where no one can hear you scream).
Ok, the goth chick in NCIS in boots is cute. but that’s just me. I like boots like that.
Darkness and killing and criminal minds. wooo spooky… or something.
Ok, I may be ending the liveblog here in a minute. time to just enjoy the last part of the game or something.
Liveblogging is a strange creature, because you’re not really watching everything the same way, you’re attention is on details and the moment, rather than trying to watch the game as a whole. It’s not worse per se, you just take in different details.
I’ll update once the game is over.
Ok, some flotv commerical
then some Natural Gas Commercial
Carmax? I bet these are all local commericals.
yeah, we have a ga lottery commercial, the slowmo shot is amusing at least
oooh, the doritos Halftime report at 7:54
Personally, I think the game is kinda slow. total yards are fairly even halftime 179 to 169 in favor of the Saints, but of course, the Colts are ahead 10 – 6.
Really? I’m liveblogging the halftime stuff? Man, I hate superbowl halftimes. Oh well, what I do for blog and country 
you’re welcome. 
So, these talking heads are who? Eh, who cares. I hear some music, Speaking of the Who, I saw them back in 1988 for their 25th anniversary tour. It was a lot of fun and they played for 3 hours, no warm up band.
CSI New York, who cares. Hey look Danica
Amazing Race, who cares.
NFL Network, who cares.
wooo, it’s sponsored by Bridgestone.
The who starts with pinball wizard, and klossy turns it up. Isn’t this on Rockband? Yeah, that’d be kinda fun, they should be out there playing on rock band instruments.
Teenage Wasteland, looks like a melody type of concert. Is there even anyone in an audience like past years? Guess not. One of the sidebets is will they break any instruments.
They keep featuring the drummer, who’s not Keith Moon (since Keith Moon is dead).
(for something like this they should have a rotating stage – klossy)
Anyway, it was a lot of fun watching them at the concert, Hey look Roger Daltrey is playing a harmonica. and pretty well too. It’s the bassist who isn’t Jon Entwhistle (who’s dead too). “Who are you”. I wonder if they’ll say ‘who the fuck are you’, which is in the concert. Hey FCC wanna see a big fine?
I wonder if people realize how good Pete Townsend is as a guitarist? And of course you can hear the crowd in the background. it’s that other song on Rockband. “Won’t Get fooled Again.” Damn, in 3 years, The Who will have been a band for 50 years. I wonder how many bands will be able to say that. Let alone play the superbowl. How long have the rolling stones been around? Wikipedia says 1962. So yeah. They might be the only active band that can claim that.
It was a nice job, It wasn’t OMGamazing but it was really nice better than the rolling stones
Some CBS show – Who Cares. Touchy Feely crap
Another CBS show – Who Cares.
Ok March madness more sports! I did get a kick out of hearing Mindless self Indulgence on March Madness last year. Never wanted to Dance
Look another drama on CBS – who Cares.
We’re back in Miami. whee Oh, and speaking of rock band you can download the Who melody that they just played on the superbowl if you want to try your hand at it on Expert. I can’t play drums on expert in Rockband.
CBS News – who cares
tv.com ? what?
The Backup Plan What the FUCK?
Hey look, it’s Tech & Talk, the ultimate in Stereotyping! metroPCS fails.
Some truck commercial oh, it’s a toyota, whatever.
Can you tell I watch the superbowl for the commercials?
HH Gregg has some wierd walking talking penis thingy.
Look another non superbowl Special commerical AT&T fails.
I suppose they had to put some non Who music on to keep all the non classic rock fans happy.
The Saints are kicking off
Time for the second half
Here’s my attempt at live blogging the Super Bowl commercials, since we all know the commercials are often more interesting than the game itself. Although I’m really looking forward to this year’s matchup (go Colts!), so we’ll see if I get too distracted. Feel free to add your comments – which commercials were winners, which were losers? (Addendum – I probably will take a break during half time).
Okay, 1st commercial. Busch. House of bud light cans. Okay, kind of funny.
2nd – Betty White playing football. It’s a snickers commercial. And it’s not really Betty White. Ha! Bloodstar thought it was eh. I liked it – “You’re playing like Betty White”. . .Betty – “That’s not what your girlfriend says”. Great!
3rd – Tim Tebow, Focus on the Family commercial. Blah.
4th – Survivor. Doesn’t really count.
Quick back to football and another break.
5th – Car commercial with piano music. Hyundai Sonata (ha, nice try to music comparison). Blah commercial.
6th – Take on the SuperBowl Shuffle for who? For Boostmobile. Weird, but funny take.
7th – Doritos. Poor dog. Trying to get dog to speak with anti-bark collar on. Ha! Dog takes collar off, puts it on the jackass and then barks! Guy falls on ground, dog takes doritos. Guy is left on ground convulsing as he tries to talk. Excellent.
Back to football. Colts up 3-0, Saints ball.
8th – Movie commercial. Doesn’t count. But Robin Hood looks good. Russel Crowe’s type of movie.
9th – Doritos. Boyfriend brings woman flowers. She introduces him to her kid and tells the kid to play nice. Boyfriend tries to make nice and takes a dorito out of a bowl on the coffee table. Kid slaps his hand. Kid to boyfriend – Keep your hands off my momma, keep your hands off my doritos. Love it!
10th – Bud Light. Observatory. End of the world. Everyone partying in their last minutes. Eh.
11th – NCIS. Head shots – people slapping other peoples’ heads. Cute, but doesn’t really count.
Back to football. Colts still up 3-0, but deep in their own end.
Go Addai! Gain of 16. Nice run.
And another great run by Addai. Nice block by Wayne.
Addai is on fire! Woohoo! Nice job protecting the ball at the end of the run.
TD Indy!!!! Yeah baby! One of my squares is Indy 0, Saints 3. Just need N.O. to score a fieldgoal before the end of the quarter.
12th – Simpsons. Burnsy is broke. Helicopters even take his mansion. Ah, it’s a Coke commercial. Burnsy gets a Coke and is part of the gang. Cute, but not fantastic.
13th – GoDaddy. Danica Patrick getting a massage. Oh, geez. the Masseuse wants to be a GoDaddy girl. Predictable.
More football.
Damn, no fieldgoal gonna happen this quarter.
14th – Doritos (again). Dying wish – casket full of Doritos. And a tv. Falls out of the casket. Kind of lame.
15th – Bud Light. Guys singing weird on the phones. Lame.
16th – Beavers, playing the violin. Gets the girl. Monster commercial – find your path. Okay, but not great.
17th – Movie – the Wolfman. Looks good, but doesn’t count.
Football.
18th – Car commercial. With shamu in the truck. Trying to get him to the ocean. Spins and he goes out the back. “That was a bachelor party.” Bridgestone commercial. Okay.
19th – Shape-ups from Sketchers. Forgettable.
20th – With knowledge comes confidence. Kid-genius. Cars.com. Similar to another of their commercials. I love them. Bloodstar is dubious.
21st – CBS commercial? Yep. Doesn’t count.
Football. 2nd quarter. Indy up 10-0. Saints ball.
Colston makes a nice catch. Rats.
Saints’ CB injured on Colts TD. Out for now.
Stupid Colts penalty. C’mon, you know not to do a late hit out of bounds.
Pierre Thomas does a great job of breaking tackles to almost get the 1st down.
Brees is sacked! Nice. With one hand, no less. Awesome.
N.O. trying a field goal. They make it. I need the score to stay this way for the rest of the quarter. Or Indy can score another 10.
22nd – Bridge is out. Budweiser delivery truck on other side. Everyone rushes to help. Really, this flimsy wood bridge? Where do these people live? People make a bridge. Which is implausible, but cute.
23rd – Movie – Shutter Island. Looks creepy. But doesn’t count.
24th – Mark Sanchez. Heart beat sound. Symptoms of women’s heart attacks can be different than mens. Nice.
25th – Worse super bowl party ever with Oprah, Dave Letterman, and Leno. Letterman commercial. Meh.
26th – Amazing Race. Doesn’t count.
27th – Bing Bang Theory commercial. Sort of. Interesting.
Football.
28th – Casual Fridays. Everyone is in their skivvies. Expose yourself to something better. Career Builder. Meh. loodstar has never liked them.
29th – Another one? Men in undies walking across a field singing. Nope, a Dockers commercial. Meh.
30th – Favre as 2020 MVP. Might retire now. Maybe not. Trophy is a hologram. It’s a Hyundai commercial. Didn’t catch the link between the two, but I love Brett, so who cares.
Football.
Dammit. Gracon should have had that.
31th – Pseudo Lost commercial. Girl found radio equivalent. Guy found beverage cart with Bud Light. Party breaks out. Radio girl is miffed. She gets the radio working. They change it to party music. Meh.
32th – Scary commercial regarding some guy’s life as a musical kind of thing. A Dove commercial? Dove for Men. Interesting but kind of creepy. Bloodstar – What the Fuck?
33rd – Missed it. Something about the NFL. Maybe an award of some kind. Doesn’t count anyway.
What has Tracy Porter done to his head??
Nice catch and run by N.O.
Bloodstar just erased an entry – his butt is trying to live blog with the mouse.
34th – Guys staring blankly talking about what they will be doing – apparently according to what we tell them too. Ah, because they do this, “I will drive the car I want to drive.” Dodge Charger. Not great.
35th – Flowers in a box. I’ve seen this one before. Teleflora. Meh.
Bloodstar spills marina sauce from his breadsticks on the floor. He’s miffed. At least he has an extra one (sauce, not floor).
36th – Papa Johns. Doesn’t count – seen it.
37th – CSI Miami. Doesn’t count.
Football. N.O. is on the goal line. And can’t make it in!
38th – Movie. Alice in Wonderland. Looks creepy. Doesn’t count.
39th – Kiss selling Dr. Pepper Cherry. Oh, there’s Little People too. Because it’s a “little kiss” of cherry. Meh.
40th – Punksatawny Paolomalou. 6 more weeks of football. Kind of creepy.
Football. N.O. still on the goal line. 4th and goal. Indy stops them!!! Wow!
And man, there is marina sauce everywhere! 
41st – Harry Potter? Universal Orlando. Meh.
Football. Gotta hope the score stays like this so I win this quarter!
Crap, Saints stopped Indy on 3rd down. They still have a chance to score.
42nd – Girlfriend has removed boyfriend’s spine so he can’t watch the game. He’s smelling candles. Change out of that skirt Jason. FloTV. Interesting but not great.
Football. Indy punts to N.O., who gets the ball at the 48.
Long pass completed by Brees.
C’mon Indy D!
43rd – Intel core processors are greatest things ever. Poor robot hears that and is devastated. That was kind of sad. 
Football. Crap, N.O. in field goal range. Damn. They made it. 10-6.
Half-time.
Yeah, I’ll be watching, and rooting for Indy. And who is everyone else rooting for… if anyone?
Yeah, some of these probably shouldn’t see the light of day, but some of them are pretty damn funny.
What can I say, it’s Superbowl Weekend.
Remember, if you’re going to claim you’re doing an Aboriginal dance, you might want to make sure it’s… well, Aboriginal
“They have got the whole thing wrong,” said Stephen Page, artistic director of the respected indigenous group, the Bangarra Dance Company. Page said there were no traditional movements in the routine, the music sounded more like it came from India or Africa than Aboriginal Australia and the body paint looked like “a three-year-old child had drawn it on”… “Probably the elders in the bush would be laughing because they would be saying, ‘Look how stupid these fellas are’,” he said.
Just watch it.
So, the Falcons are probably eliminated from the playoffs, and the Saints lost last night… to Dallas. Who knows, maybe Dallas has ended their December Swoon.
Eh, maybe the Falcons will still win their final three and see how things play out. Ok, looking at the standings, it looks like Green bay has to lose out, then have The Giants only win one more game.
One can always hope.
Speaking of random annoyance. the Falcons have upped season ticket prices by about 15% Despite currently having a losing season. Oh well. such is the price you pay to watch live football.
Update: Oh well, the Falcons were eliminated after Dallas won last night.