I hate warm weather and rain! Talk about breeding grounds for insects... ugh. Well, as this is Minnesota, I probably only have about a month and a half to wait for the first snowfall and for these pesky bugs to start dying off. I'm sick of being eaten up in my sleep!

Happy Summer Solstace! Please let these torrential rains stop!

Jesus - my predictions have been absolute shit lately! Denmark and Sweden darkhorses for the final?! In just over 24 hours time both had to go and lose on me. Go figure. Uff-da!

Hahahahaha!!!!!

Holy shit - this is one of the funniest things I've seen all day...

What more ironic banner ad is it possible to have on an article about two strongly anti-gay rights candidates than an ad for Twin Cities Pride? Classic.

After watching the Canadian Grand Prix last weekend, I had a revelation that I can't believe I'd never noticed before - these two guys have to be related:

 

For those of you not "in the know," the one on the left is Michael Schumacher, while the one on the right is John Lithgow. I want to claim the uncle-nephew relationship personally.

In something completely unrelated, I watched Spies Like Us last night. I had completely forgotten about all the cameo appearances in the film! There's Joel Coen, B.B. King, Sam Raimi, Michael Apted, Terry Gilliam, and Bob Hope among others. Wow.

Obviously many things have changed or arisen in the 9 days since I posted the last entry below. I still insist that the Turks are among my favorite teams to watch. I still think Portugal is the most overrated side. Now I would have to include both Argentina and France in a list of most disappointing sides. Saudi Arabia should be taking over the United States as 32nd place in the tournament. The only one I'm most mistaken on is the Best Side category. Both Italy and Argentina went on to be very disappointing in their next two games. If I had to change it now to only include the 16 remaining teams after the complete first round, I'd have to include Germany (despite a vulnerable defense), regrettably along with Brazil and Spain. Although I cannot stand either Brazil or Spain, they seem to be playing the best football right now. As outsiders, don't count out the Scandinavians! Denmark and Sweden were both rather impressive in their groups (having beaten France and Argentina respectively in the process) and could be darkhorses for the final. It's too bad that the two CONCACAF teams that advanced have to play each other in the Round of 16, so one of them wil be out already. Then again, it also means that at least one of them will make the quarterfinals also. Anyway... so that's that.

As the United States beat Portugal 3-2, the first round of games at the 2002 World Cup has reached a conclusion. I should now like to offer up my opinions of the best, the worst, and what we've learned following the first 16 matches.

• Most Impressive Side: Turkey. I know most people will dispute me on this one, and even though they lost, I have to say that of all the 32 teams, their play in their first match was the most impressive of all. I don't mean to say that they were the best team, but the way they played against Brazil was great. Their defense was well organized and disciplined, their midfield was mostly effective, and strikers Suker and Sas were creative, strong, and impressive on the dribble. The fact that they were cost a draw by the officiating is another story.
• Most Overrated Side: Portugal. Portugal wins this one with flying colors - and not just because most everyone in the world had them picked to mop up the US either. Defensively they were slow and poorly organized. Offensively the midfield set up plenty of opportunities to score, but the finishing by everyone was horrible. They dove more often than the Germans and Davor Suker combined and they hacked at ankles and pulled more two-footed tackles than the entire Brazilian defense. They're not bad, just extremely overrated. It should be noted that Spain would be runners-up for this dubious award.
• Worst Side: Saudi Arabia. There's no question here. Their 8-0 loss was the worst since the Hungarians ran rampant 20 years ago. If the scoreline wasn't bad enough, their play is more evidence. They never threatened to score and they looked scared to even try taking the ball away from the Germans. Watching the game was more like taking on the computer in most soccer video games.
• Best Side: Italy and Argentina [tie]. Both sides went out and did exactly what they were supposed to do. The Italians got both goals they needed against Ecuador earlier and then let their amazing defense do the rest. Argentina had a tough and capable opponent in Nigeria, but in the end their skill and perserverance paid off in yet another Batistuta goal and a win. It was difficult not to stick Germany in this group as well, but an 8-0 against the Saudis proves nothing.
• Luckiest Side: Spain. Spain doesn't beat Slovenia without the help of terrible refereeing that played to the favor of Spain. The refereeing was bad in many of the games, but here it was embarassing for any of us who have ever refereed a game.
• Biggest Upset Victory: Nobody. Although on paper it would look like the Senegalese victory over France and the American win against Portugal were major upsets, the truth is quite different. Both Senegal and the United States are much better teams than the tv pundits wanted to give them credit for, while France appeared snobbish and indifferent the entire game and Portugal was just really overrated to begin with.
• Worst Acting Job: Rivaldo. Was there ever any doubt? The Brazilians back at their cheating ways. When they have a lead, the Brazilians play the most beautiful soccer in the world. When they're behind, they cheat more than anybody in the world. Despite the opinions of tv pundits once again, I believe Rivaldo should be both fined and suspended. There was absolutely no need for his little acting job in the corner (no matter how bad it was) and the game doesn't need it either.
• Most Boring Game: Korea Republic v. Poland. There were lots of nominees for this award, and although we were lucky to avoid any 0-0 draws, this game just dragged. Poland has Dudek and... uhh... Dudek. The rest of the team was sluggish and boring. Much hyped was Olisadebe (Ha ha ha! I'm sorry - I know I shouldn't laugh, but a black Pole is funnier than a black sheriff.), but he was a huge disappointment. Of course, it doesn't help when the rest of your team just stands around and watches.
• Most Impressive Region: CONCACAF. Sure, nobody gives the North and Central American teams much of a chance of anything, yet the region ends the first round of games with a 3-0-0 record, a +4 goal differential, and 2 victories over representatives of UEFA. Mexico 1-0 Croatia. Costa Rica 2-0 China. United States 3-2 Portugal.

Many of the games were less than noteworthy, so there's little to say about them. The England v. Sweden match was a bit disappointing. Japan was actually more exciting than I might have expected, yet were held to a draw by Belgium, who always seems to do just enough to get by. Many have called Marc Wilmots' overhead kick the best goal of the tournament so far, but I'm a little skeptical of such a designation. Bicycle kick does not equal best goal. With the Germany v. Ireland match we start the second round of games, so maybe we'll get a better idea of how the tournament will shape up to move on.

What do you do when a telemarketer calls you and offers to sell you services to be able to block telemarketers? That was the little dilemma I was faced with today. I usually screen my calls, but as I am currently trying to get a job, I have to answer my phone in case a potential employer should call me. What this means is that I am also subjected to talking to every braindead moron who calls during the day as well. My personal favorite for today was when I got a phone call from Qwest. Let me give you an idea of how the conversation went...

• Qwest Telemarketer (QT): Hi, may I speak with Mr. Koroch?
• Me: This is he.
• QT: Hello Mr. Koroch, I am calling from your local telephone service provider Qwest because our computers tell me that you have no special features on your phone.
• Me: Oh yeah, well I'll be damned. [This is the point where I wanted to tell her about my phone's built-in seat warmer and back massager, but she just kept on talking.]
• QT: We're currently offering our Premium Choice package, which offers all of our customers' favorite phone accessories like call waiting, caller ID, and telemarketer blocking for the single low monthly price of $34.95.
• Me: Huh... you don't say. So it stops telemarketer calls from coming in?
• QT: (Excitedly) Oh yes....
• Me: Even if the telemarketer turns out to be my local phone company trying to sell me anti-telemarketer stuff?
• QT: (A silent pause, and then hesitently) I suppose so.
• Me: Okay, well, I'm still not interested, but thanks for calling anyway.
• QT: Alright, you have a good day then.
• Me: Uhh... sure, you too.

And that's all there is to it. Lately I've actually enjoyed staying on the line a little longer to actually listen to their whole spiel. I like it when they read off the entire bit from the screen, and then I tell them I'm not interested. You know, make them earn their money and all. If you hang up on them right away, how much work is that for them?

But you know, don't totally get me wrong here - not all telemarketers-type phone calls are bad. While I never buy anything from the one's selling things, I do take part in telephone surveys. Well, I'd take part in more if they called me more often. So far I've only taken part in two. One was many months ago and it was about convenience stores. The other was the night I was trying to finish up my final paper of my final semester about 3 weeks ago and that one was about the health of people in the county. It's too bad they do those things with a computer, because I'd gladly do more surveys if they called me.