Weekend Stuff

-I keep telling myself I'm really not interested in the Winter Olympics...but I sat and watched the whole prime-time offering by NBC last night. Why do I care? I'm not even sure. It must have something to do with the presentation by NBC...and the passion displayed by the kids trying to win a medal. Most of the time I couldn't care less about ski jumping or short-track speed skating. But, my heart sank when Apollo Ohno (that is his name right?) fell in his semi-final heat in the 1500 meters last night.

-I thought the opening ceremonies Friday night were so-so. It seemed to be the result of a bunch of people sitting around having a capuccino and saying..."Hey, it would be cool to do this...and.. Hey, what about trying that?", and then doing it. Some neat visual stuff...but no real continuity to any of it. I was blown away, as always, by Pavarotti belting out Nessun Dorma. Every time I hear it I get goosebumps.

-Is it just me, or does the great (and when I say great, I mean it) Bob Costas seem a bit under-enthusiastic for the Olympic broadcasts? You will never see me be critical of Bobby, because I consider him the best there is, but I have to wonder if he wants to be in Torino.

-Too bad about Michelle Kwan. Those 25-year-old bodies just aren't what they used to be.

-I found myself actually liking the kid...The Flying Tomato...after he won his gold. Seems to be a decent youngster raised by a nice family.

OK...enough of the Olympics.

-Suddenly, the Illini are human. Too much of their success seems to be dependent on whether Dee Brown and James Augustine have a good game. If the other team has a defense that can contain those two, they are obviously very beatable. They seem to be playing at the level most people expected before the season. Hopefully, Bruce Weber can get them back on track.

-So, what's going on with Mizzou? First they say Quin Snyder quit, then they say they're negotiating a deal. If he quit, does he still get a pile of money to leave? Apparently, his people are saying he was told by one of Mike Alden's lackeys that he wouldn't be back after the season anyway. So, the university is likely on the hook for some kind of payoff. I would like to have been a fly on the wall at that negotiating session.

-I still think Kevin Stallings would make a good choice for Mizzou. But, I'm not hearing his name mentioned anywhere. Why not? Maybe he's happy where he is at Vandy and has made it known he's not going anywhere. If so, I hadn't heard it.

-The Blues are playing their best hockey of the season. Too little, too late of course. But, now they take a couple of weeks off for the Olympics. There will be no trades made until after the Olympics. My understanding is that's a league rule. After that, the fire sale likely will continue up until the trade deadline March 6th, I think.

-Apparently the public doesn't care much that Steve Martin's Pink Panther isn't getting great reviews. Panther led all others at the box office this weekend taking in nearly $22 million. Harrison Ford's Firewall, also mentioned in my previous post, finished in fourth at $14 million.

-Speaking of million... How about $300 million? Tuesday's jackpot in Powerball. That would buy me out of a few mistakes. It would be nice to have the money and time to do a few things that I want for a change. I'm sure you're in that boat too.

-27 inches of snow in New York? Wow! The Statue of Liberty better get some insulated boots.

-Author of Jaws, Peter Benchley, dies at 65. In Australia, they closed several tourist beaches along the popular Gold Coast because of a massive feeding frenzy involving more than 100 sharks. Coincidence?