Cricket: Why You Should Care

Cricket: (noun) [ˈkrɪk.ɪt] an insect or a game.

I'm not sure why we need to care about the insect, but I now know why we should care about the game. ESPN's Wright Thompson has written, in my opinion, an award-winning article on why cricket matters, and why we should care. I've always known about cricket-the-game, but never understood it's appeal (aside from being highly entertained by the commentary of CricInfo). Thompson's article, to say the least, has shed light on it's appeal - it's some of the best writing (in any genre) that I've read, and I recommend it for anyone to read.

 

Image via ESPN.

Music Tuesdays - Just Because by Jane's Addiction

Apparently today is the birthday of Perry Farrell, the lead singer of Jane's Addiction. So here is a Jane's Addiction song.

The Chinese Carrot

"Speak Softly & Carry a Big Stick"

This phrase has been used an uncountable number of times since first introduced into the American lexicon by Teddy Roosevelt around the turn of the 20th century. I don't have any stats to back this up, but I would imagine its use has been limited to a single actor (CEO, nation-state, etc.) all but a couple of cases. This post will split the phrase into two components - American hard power & Chinese soft power.

Image via Foreign Policy.

Music Tuesdays - Caffeinated Consciousness by TV on the Radio

5 Long Steps to complete your March Madness bracket

Here are the rules to follow when making your March Madness bracket. Just like everything else on this blog, this doesn't guarantee to get everything right, but maximizes your chances of winning money via your office pool. That means that we're not going to be taking crazy risks and we're not trying to be perfect. You need to get insanely lucky to win on ESPN or Yahoo simply because those groups are so large, but to win your office pool your biggest priority is to mitigate risk. My bold prediction for this tournament: A Pac-10 7 seed will make the Sweet 16. Either Washington will beat UNC or UCLA will get revenge against Florida. But I'm not going to make those picks in my official bracket. The slight advantage I stand to gain if I happen to pick the correct Pac-10 team does not outweigh the points I will lose to everyone else in the field when the favored 2 seeds advance an extra round or three. And if I pick the 2 seeds to advance, but I was correct that they lose? Then I am in the exact same boat as everyone else and still close enough to the lead. The philosophy of picking a successful bracket is "Don't be stupid."

Music Tuesdays - Swing by Zero 7

You may recall Zero 7 as a band from the venerable Garden State Soundtrack, on which their song In the Waiting Line was included. Swing is a newer song from their album Yeah Ghost with a nice vibe to it.

The FIWK Pensieve #1

I almost feel like that we are part of a small group of bloggers...except that we're the only ones not making money. I see others refer to each other, but no one refers to us. So either our ideas aren't exactly that compatible, they are all women and it is unintentional sexism (they never write about sports or refer to Bill Simmons)... I vote we nominate Royce as our marketing director.

actually i'm on to something there...just kind of thinking out loud...there are two types of blogs
female: Nicole Antionette, Caitlin McCabe, Penelope Trunk, "It's Like I'm Magic", Grace Boyle, Vibrations of a Vixen, Toy With Me (I forget how I found those last two, but they are an interesting take on sex from a female's perspective...quick thought on that below), modite by Rebecca Thorman [and those i don't personally visit like TMZ and perez hilton)

and the male side: Barstool sports, with leather, deadspin, 11 points, Football Outsiders, givemetherock, wages of wins, freakonomics

rocket shoes is written by a guy, but fits in the female category

and I have no idea where we would fit in compared to any of that

Tech Thursday: Interplanetary Internet

I have to keep this version of Tech Thursday short for two reasons. I stumbled across this Cerf interview of Cisco's Subnet editor, Julie Bort, and was fascinated that we have even been working with interplanetary protocols. These people are smart enough that it hurts my head thinking about how smart they are. "We need this new Bundle Protocol to overcome the latencies and all the disconnects that occur in space, from celestial motion [and from] orbiting satellites" Come again?

Image via DMX Zone.

FIWK the NFL: Combine

So the NFL combine is going on right now. You can even watch it on the NFL Network. Guys doing so many relevant football maneuvers like the 40 yard dash, the bench press, and the standing broad jump. Ok, I'll admit, I've tuned in a couple times so far. But that's more because I have been at home and not known what time it is. But every year, my favorite part, easily the best part, and dare I say, the only interesting part, is Rich Eisen running the 40 yard dash in his suit. I highly recommend watching the entire six minute clip as they compare Eisen's performance with some of the faster and slower NFL prospects.

Music Tuesdays - Cloak and Cipher by Land of Talk