Category — Sports

Alright, so, after being stared out by someone in my household for making Wednesday “Women Wednesday”, I have decided to change formats rather than suffer the wrath of sleeping outside “for as long as you both shall live”. I’m happy to oblige, of course.

So, Wednesdays at ManVBlog shall now be known as “The WERD”. You can take this 1 of 2 ways… Or I suppose a 3rd.

1. I left out an I.
2. I replaced an O with an E because I’m tragically hip.
3. I am spoofing Stephen Colbert.

For the inaugural WERD Wednesday, I thought I’d start it out by doing a little ditty to the “Gilligan’s Island” theme song. Just be glad I haven’t set up my studio yet to do videos.

Just sit right back and you’ll hear a tale,
A tale of a fateful dip
That started from a garage port
Located on the Vegas Strip.

The tosser was a mighty drinkin’ man,
The pongs were fast and true.
Ten cups of beer were laid that game
Set for a weekend splurge, a full weekend splurge.

The shots had started getting tough,
The beer was growing warm,
If not for the courage of the fearless one
The Bud would be doomed, the Bud would be doomed.

Inspired to go play yet?

And yes, there really is a World Series of Beer Pong.

The 2010 tournament season gets underway in July, and there are tournaments throughout the US that you can enter in hopes of gaining entry into the WSoBP (or you can just pay your entry fee, which includes a hotel room, but doesn’t it sound better to say “We won the Tricky Dick’s Pub tournament!”). The top prize is 500 Benjamins ($50k).

If ManVBlog had a nice sponsor, we’d go to cover it. *charity cause?*

You can also read this article on MAXIM online (or in the March edition with the blonde hottie Kaley Cuoco from The Big Bang as the covergirl).

  

Alright, coming up on the Olympics in Vancouver, so we’re getting to the end of the look at the hottest female athletes that will be competing there. Without waiting much longer, let’s get to it!

Hillary Knight – Hockey

The youngest member of the US Women’s hockey team (at only 20 years of age) is also one of their better players. She plays forward (in hockey terms, not basketball) and is a junior at the University of Wisconsin. Interesting fact: She likes to whitewater raft. Okay, that was lame. Moving on…

Yea.

Nicole Joraanstad – Curling

Yes, I said CURLING! You know, that game of slowly sliding big stones across an ice rink in hopes of tossing a Wicky Wacky Woo. I think I’d watch it just to hear an announcer say, “Look at that. It’s a Wicky Wacky Woo!” and not bust up laughing. Anyways… Nicole recently turned 29 and went to the University of Wisconsin – Madison. Interesting fact: You can be recruited by her here! Not for a date (a little late for that one), but as in she’d be your recruiter for a job.

Bree Schaaf – Bobsled

Bree is a 29 year old from Washington state and was a former skeleton racer (you know, head first on your stomach) before moving over to the bobsled a few years ago. She played D-1 volleyball at Portland State. Interesting fact: She’s a trombone player. Oh, and she’ll fix your clothes for ya, in that she is a pretty darn good seamstress.

And… the next hottest Olympiads going into the 2010 Winter Olympics (hot enough to melt the ice!)

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Gretchen Bleiler – Snowboarding. 27 years of age. From Ohio (OH-Hi-Oh!) She won a silver medal in the half-pipe competition in Turin (2006) and this year, no reason why she can’t score a gold. Interesting fact: She threw the first pitch in the home opener for the Colorado Rockies in 2006 as well as started a NASCAR race (Gentlemen, start your engines!)… and definitely had no problem meaning that phrase.

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Lindsey Vonn – Alpine Skiier. 25 years of age. Born in Minnesota. She is considered the most successful women’s downhill skiier EVER. She has won the World Cup Championships for the past 2 years and is a HUGE favorite to win the Olympic Gold. Interesting Fact: She bruised her arm in her in the opening run of her 2010 World Cup giant slalom and still managed to come back and win 3 races (2 downhills, 1 Super G) with her arm in a brace. One can only wonder what she can do fully healed.

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Tanith Belbin – Ice Dancing. Okay, so, maybe I”ll watch Ice Dancing. I know my wife really enjoys it. I just might too… Anyways… 25 years of age, dual citizen with Canada and the US , though she chose to compete for the US team and not the Canadian team (Oh Canada!). She won a silver medal in Turin (2006) with her partner Benjamin Agosto after she became a citizen of the US on 12/31/05 through a special act of Congress. Interesting Fact: Performed an ice dance during exhibition to the song “Sexy Back” by Justin Timberlake. I think she brought it back just fine.

In honor of the forthcoming Olympics in a few weeks (*sarcastic cheer… ice skating… dread*), and seeing as this is Women Wednesday, why not start a series of Wednesday posts in honor of our American hopefuls? So, I will be giving a few women to watch for and why they are the “Gold Standard” in my playbook.

Without further ado, here are 3 of the gold medal hopefuls in Vancouver!

1. Katie Uthlaender – Skeleton. If you haven’t seen a skeleton race, they’re freakin’ awesome. (Think of sledding, only going down head first on your stomach at break-neck speeds.) A bit about Katie: 25 years of age, father was a MLB outfielder for the Indians (yes, they still have a baseball team), and apparently likes to drink really large mugs of beer.

?2. Noelle Pikus-Pace – Skeleton. What is it about these skeleton Olympiads? Good lookin’ and thrill seekers. Facts about Noelle: 27 years of age, was the NJCAA National Discus Champion in college, and apparently went to the same university my wife did to get her MBA in 2007 (might have even been classmates… go figure).

3. Erin Hamlin – Luge. Think of the skeleton race, but on your back and feet first. Thrill seeker, yet again. Mucho gusto. Facts about Erin: 23 years of age, hails from Lake Placid NY (don’t confuse her coming from there with that REALLY bad movie Lake Placid…), and won a gold medal at the 2009 FIL World Luge Championships, breaking the streak of 99 straight German victories. The Germans then drank themselves into a stupor.

Okay. I’ve stood by and watched my Kansas City Chiefs go from a ship without a rudder to the Patriots version 2.0.

Am I happy?

No.

Here’s why. Let’s breakdown the Patriots of the 2000s with the Chiefs of the 2010 variety.

1. Head coach. Haley v Belichick.
   • Haley. 1 Year as Head Coaching Experience. Wasn’t a triumph in any means, which included cutting a player that wound up having a better year than any of his replacements (safety).
   • Belichick. 4 years head coach with the Browns (91-95). Worked directly under one of the best coaches ever (Parcells) for many, many years (Giants, Jets). Became Patriot head coach in 2000.
2. GM. Belichick v Pioli.
   • Belichick. Took over GM duties as well as head coaching duties when he came to the Patriots in 2000. Many, many years of learning what it takes, inside and out, for a team to win since he held multiple positions for multiple teams (losing and winning ones). Had head coaching experience previously.
   • Pioli. Pro Personnel director for the Browns/Ravens (moved) and the Jets before moving on to GM duties with Belichick in New England. Has a great eye for talent. KC seems to be lacking that…
3. Defense. Belichick v Crennel.
   • Belichick. Knows how to run a defense. Won a superbowl with the Giants as he was their head defensive coordinator. Hired Crennel in 2001 to run defense, and did so until 2004, when he left to become the head coach of the Browns.
   • Crennel. Ran Belichick’s defense in New England from 2001-2004. Coached the Browns for 4 years, leaving with a 24-40 record. Cleveland sucked. 
4. Talent. New England in 2000 v Chiefs 2010.
   • 2000 Patriots: Drew Bledsoe (QB, “The Statue”), Kevin Faulk (RB), Troy Brown/Terry Glenn (WR), Adam Vinatieri (K), Lawyer Milloy/Ty Law/Tedy Bruschi (Defense). Oh, and they had just drafted Tom Brady in the 6th round.
   • 2010 Chiefs: Matt Cassel (QB), Jamaal Charles (RB, “Speed Demon”), Dwayne (“Iron Hands”) Bowe/Chris (“I was released why?”) Chambers (WR), Ryan (“I don’t”) Succop (K), and, uh, on defense… Yeah. Tamba Hali is okay, and Brandon Flowers is getting there, but, yeah. If there aren’t major changes on the 2010 Chiefs Defense, this team will really blow again.
5. Owners. Kraft v Hunt
   • Kraft. Best in the business. Simply put. He made a dynasty.
   • Hunt. Son of Lamar Hunt took over, and the jury is still out. Though, at least he”ll pay big bucks for coaches. Yet to be seen on whether any real talent comes into KC via free agency. Not exactly the “big spender”.

So, what’s to learn? The Patriots of 2000 were setting themselves up for greatness. Talent was there, and an eye for talented existed, as the next few drafts showed. (Tom Brady – 2000, Richard, Seymour – 2001, Asante Samuel – 2003) Even bringing in free agents was a thing that Belichick and Kraft did well. (Corey Dillon, Wes Welker, Randy Moss, Rodney Harrison) What has Pioli/Hunt/Haley done? Uh, Matt Cassel, which has yet to pan out to be a franchise quarterback, mainly because he has no offensive line or receivers that prefer to catch the ball instead of doing their best Iron Man impression with it. Jamaal Charles is the only legitimate star on Kansas City, but will he fizzle out as quickly as he arrived in 2009? That will be the question to begin the 2010 season.

Are the Chiefs headed in the right direction? Grade: D. Could be worse, but not much.

Coaching staff of the Chiefs: Grade: C-. Below average, since we now have 2 fired head coaches on our staff as coordinators, both of who used to be higher up on the food chain than Haley when they were all together.

Owner: Grade D. Slowly opening the purse strings to his golden coin pouch. I won’t upgrade this until Hunt signs a free agent that can make an impact. Drafts don’t count, as that is more about talent evaluation.

Here’s hoping that at least 6 games won in 2010 is a realistic thing. 4 games were LUCKY in 2009. It should have been 2, possibly 3 depending on Cleveland. Not like we need a higher draft pick though, since those top 5 picks have worked out so well for Kansas City in the past…?At least LSU doesn”t have a “potential” top 5 pick this year, or else they might just rename LSU to “Goin” to Kansas City” roster.