Lax

Memorial Day weekend is the time that I watch college lacrosse. It’s final four weekend. Syracuse is normally in the mix for the National Championship, that’s why I watch. Lacrosse is pretty popular in the northeast, we played it in school in gym class but I never got too into it. The game originated long ago with the native American tribes up there - Mohawk, Oneida, Iroquois, Crow and so forth. They would play it ceremonially to honor their gods and to settle disputes. Teams had somewhere between 100 and 1000 players a side and the “field” could be miles long. Some of the games would last several days. It was not made for tv. Reality tv maybe… what with the tribes and councils and loincloths and such.

It’s a contact sport, no doubt about it… like hockey on grass with less padding and more scoring.

Cornell beat UVA to reach the final, Syracuse beat Duke. I’ll pull for the Orange just because that’s what I do, but a Big Red win would be pretty cool, too. The schools are about fifty miles apart. Picture Duke and UNC playing for the basketball title. Lacrosse is just about that big up there.

My pre-game meal will be a spicy turkey burger. Game starts at 1:00pm eastern on one of the ESPN’s.

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Basketball update:

Soreness has subsided. I took the basketball out back on the patio and had Mickey guard me - knowing he would try to get the ball. When I would dribble between my legs he would go through my legs too. He’s that fast and interested in getting/running with/mouthing/eating the ball. I won round one.

View from the couch... (the first in a series of couch blogs)

This is what a yawn looks like. I imagine a sneeze looks pretty similar, only with more satisfaction and blurriness.

I would like Jack Clemens to write a series of short stories surrounding the misadventures of a plumber and his talkative assistant. The series would be called "Butt-Crack and Jabberjaw: Leaky Pipes"

The Pittsburgh Penguins look really really really bad on the power play. Still, I root for them. And still they lead.

My guitar strings are old and my guitar out of tune. How out of tune is it? So out of tune... that it's difficult to make it sound good.

I can't handle that there are half votes in the Democratic primary. I'm not whining about Florida and Michigan... there were half-votes long before the Rules and Bylaws committee meeting. I thought partial votes went out with the Civil War. Could they make this process any more stupid? I'm holding my breath...

Super Tuesday should be all the primaries and caucuses on one single day - what is the benefit of this drawn out process but to see what idiotic thing Hillary will say next or who will seek fame (or infamy) by popping out of Barack's closet. And why not add the Green party, Libertarians and Social Democrats to the mix. Five parties. The country would be pretty skeptical of anything but the big two anyway... but open up the dialogue. There are more than two viewpoints out there- there are, in fact, five.

Puck to the face of Ryan Malone of the Penguins... wicked. ow. bloody hell.

Why am I so capable in head to head fantasy baseball yet so inept at rotisserie? Seriously, I'd like to know.

OK, Lost is done for the season... Top Chef has but a few weeks left. I don't have HBO so I can't watch John Adams (if that's still on). Regular season baseball is about to be the only sport left for the summer... unless you count Arena Football, which I don't.

Don't even get me started on the Olympics.

I saw a Jetta a few weeks ago in Roanoke that had a little guitar emblem on the back... I assumed it was a VW with the Guitar and plug-in thing that they sold a couple years back. 1) does the guitar fit in some form fitting nook in the trunk all the time? 2) what sort of amp did they rig that thing up with? 3) can you play along with the radio? 4) what kind of effects does it have? 5) does it sound good? 6) is it sweet?

We should all use "Gadzooks" more often than we do.

He shoots he scores. tied at 2-2. Somehow Detroit gets shots on the power play while Pittsburgh can barely maintain possession. Hang tough Penguins... don't let it end tonight. Can you put two goalies in goal at once? The way their defense is playing in the middle of the third period, two might not be enough. Maggie and Moe (and Mickey, really) sleep through all of this not realizing the Stanley Cup is on the line...

he shoots he scores. 3-2 Detroit. Not looking good. Looks like it's back to the pantry, Pittsburgh. Malone is back in after the puck to the face.

Sweet tea tastes good.