My favorite painting of all time

One more game...one more game

Oh my gosh. Here we go. Off to the Wheel. Wish us luck if you have a heart.

Game time, whoop!

Oh my god! Oh my god! Oh my god! Come on Jayhawks, goddamn it!

I am so excited I can barely be productive. Screw that, I am not being productive. Sweet Sixteen oh yeah!!!

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Ok. Deep breath Jarrod.

All right, so here it is: we are going to win this game (probably). I know this because of a quote I read in the Star today:

Because they’re playing such a physical team in Southern Illinois, the Jayhawks said workouts the past few days have been particularly intense.

“Some people get really mad because coach isn’t calling (any fouls),” KU guard Sherron Collins said. “People get a free pass to whack away at you. You get popped everyday on the face or scratched on the arms. But we know it’s for the best.”

Comments such as those make Self grin. For four years he’s been trying to get his players to grasp his defensive philosophy and embrace it.

This year’s Jayhawks, it seems, finally have.

This is why we are going to win. We have finally taken a team attitude of defense through and through. Our Hawks have fully become totally immersed in the Bill Self tight and fast defense one hundred percent. Through and through. SIU may play just as smart as defense as KU, that I do not doubt. Yeah, let's see it with world class athletes and future NBA players.

Oh my god, oh my god...

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Two posts, two days! Whoop! And some could call me a lazy blogger, hah. Yeah, you.

Dead Sea Scrolls, Chi-Town, Hawks, and Happiness

Yay! Spring break! Doubleplus Yay!

So, Spring Break 2007.

Best. Break. Ever. No, not really, (Maybe!) but it is up there.

So, I have been requested to blog a little bit, and blog a little bit I shall.

So, I just used 'so' three times in 5 sentences. What a lazy writer, this Jarrod punk. So, sue me.

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Start: Friday at 3 AM in Lawrence, KS.

Ack and I journey to Chi-town. We arrive around Noon. Best driving of my life. There is something pretty damn Huck Finn'ish about about driving over the Mighty Mississippi (no spell check needed, thankee sai) through Hannibal, MO, at 7 or so in the morning as the sun comes up listening to The Weight by The Band. (Take a load off fanny, and (and) (and) you can put the load right on me.)

Yeah, it was going to be a good weekend.

Highlights:

• Soccer at Galway Arms with a genuine Irish barkeep serving Guinness at 10 in the morning on St. Patty's day. Ack teaching me the intricacies of European soccer leagues and clubs. Go Arsenal!
  
• Chilling with AJ. (Like it is every time I see him, goddamn it Jarrod, hang out with this man)
• Imagining life as my cousin in Chi-town's Lincoln Park. Our best guess was that there was 200 bars in 5 square miles.
• KU winning twice by a combined margin of victory of 52.
• Wandering with Ack.
• Thinking of Topeka.
• AJ and cab rides.
• Having an amazing cousin who would shelter us rambunctious animals for a couple of nights in her incredible Lincoln Park studio apartment with a view of Lake Michigan.
  

Lowlights:

• 1000 miles in 72 hours + 10-14 No Doz. + St. Patty's day in Chicago = Sick Jarrod
• Six dollar Shoe Shines "You don't gotta do shit, I gotta stay in the cold! Gimme my six dallas!" (absolutely a story there, I'll tell you over a beer sometime)
• The cheapest beer we could find wasn't. Expensive weekend.

End: Monday at 4:30 AM in Overland Park.

My dad was just leaving the house for Houston, Texas. Fun parallelism. I am arriving and he is leaving at the same time to two very different objectives. Him: business and making money. Me: sleep.

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Here is a partial list of music Ack and I listened to for the 18 hours of driving:

• Rolling Stones, Beatles (especially post August 18, 1964), Gorillaz (both Demon Days and their self-titled album), Radiohead (OK Computer, Hail to the Thief, and Live on MTV), Arctic Monkeys, Johnny Cash Live at Folsom Prison (Jez: 25 Minutes to Go still haunts me), Blow OST, Easy Rider OST, and Wicked (yah, judge us, Ack and I rockin' out to Wicked at 2 in the morning, singing Broadway. [ Wonderful / They called me "Wonderful" / So I said "Wonderful" - if you insist I will be "Wonderful" / And they said "Wonderful" / Believe me, it's hard to resist /'Cause it feels wonderful/They think I'm wonderful])

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Since then, life has been, let's just say wonderful.

Today, my fam and I visited Union Station to see the Dead Sea Scrolls exhibit. Unbelievable. I need to have another blog post to really say what I want to say about that because this post is getting rather long. (And for the record, not inspired by green beer nor Lake Michigan.)

More to come soon, world! Go Hawks!

Wiki Wednesday

I know how happy you are all with the return of the infamous Wiki-Wednesday celebration.

(Hey facebook readers, you might want to click "view original post" for hyperlinked goodness.)

So, with no further ado:

Music: Search and Destroy by the Stooges

• I listened to this song during Almost Famous, which was also great.
• Also on GH 2.
  

Movie: The Departed

• I finally saw this week -- and yes, it ruled.
• Soundtrack, gore, action, all met my expectations. Favorite movie I've seen since Easy Rider and probably will be until 300 on Friday.
  

Place: Jackson Hole, WY

• Because I miss it. And you should go.
  

People: The KU Basketball Team

• They are on a roll, suckas. Watch out, we could easily win 9 in a row here.
  

Also, Lennea says hello.

KU beats UT or Durant hurts his ankle

I normally don't delve into sports too much here in this space. This is for several reasons: (1) There are a ton of great sports blog out there (Hey Deadspin) and (2) I don't feel that overly qualified to make brilliant commentary and (3) I don't think that many of you care about my takes on the Hawks, Chiefs, and Royals.

So don't fret, friends we'll be back to our regularly scheduled self-important, psychobabble in just a minute.

That being said, I am a little ticked off.

Yesterday KU beat Texas 90-86, in one of the greatest games I have ever seen.

The first half was a whirlwind of Texas athleticism, sharpshooting, and oh yeah, that guy, Kevin Durant dominating a team like I've never seen before.

I was watching the game with my boy B, my roommate, and her dog. I think my outbursts in the first half might have made Jasmine (the dog, not my roommate) pee herself, but she is a scaredy cat, and she sometimes pees herself when she gets overly excited about a piece of ice or a bowl of water.

When UT was leading by 16, I did not feel good about our chances. B was not worried in the least.

I am so glad I was wrong.

The Hawks demonstrated more heart and stickwithitness than I could have imagined. They weathered the 11/14 3PFG that the Horns put up in the first half and raced off to a 24-7 run in the first four minutes of the 2nd half to get to a 59-58 advantage.

And then the man, the beast-child, maybe the best player I've ever seen play at AFH got himself injured. In one play, it looked like KD injured both of his ankles -- something neither B nor I had ever seen in any sport.

And the hawks stayed hawt. (Sorry for the -awt, I just wanted to use extra letters there).

KD goes out for a few minutes but comes back with a limp. He isn't the same when he comes back. He's one step slow, and it is obvious he is hurting.

The Hawks hold on to win but the Horns make it close by absolute crap free throw shooting down the line.

And this is what pisses me off. The lead story on Sportscenter about this game isn't my Jayhawks winning the Big 12 title, for the third time in four years. It isn't Julian Wright shutting down KD in the 2nd half or gutsy shooting by my man RussRob it is Kevin Durant is injured! and the Jayhawks Win, barely.

Here is what is wrong with that story:

• When KD got hurt, UT was down 6. When he got back three minutes later, they were down 7.
  
• Durant wasn't tripped up or had his foot stepped on or even fouled by any Jayhawk baller. He injured himself, going out of control to the basket.
  
• The game was won (and lost by UT) in the first four minutes of the half when they let a 24-7 run kill their amazing first half sharpshooting prowess.

Even if Durant was healthy and he made four points in time he was gone, I have no doubt KU would have scored five. This game was not going to be won by UT yesterday, they just were out of gas in the 2nd half. Not that I blame them, they had just played their rival in double overtime with all the emotional baggage that that goes with.

So, ESPN, get the story straight. The Hawks won and UT lost. Durant is going to be fine, Basketball players sprain their ankles like that 20 times a season.

Friday, thankee sai

Great day today, truly a lovely Friday -- got First Watch with AB this morning, goofed off/did some errands/some reading and listened to the Stones all afternoon.

My favorite of the day:

Gimme Shelter

Reportedly, Merry Clayton had a miscarriage because of her intensity. She screams murder at 3:01, but loses her voice but you hear a voice in the background, most likely Mick Jagger screaming 'Yeah'!

Oh, a storm is threat'ning
My very life today
If I don't get some shelter
Oh yeah, I'm gonna fade away

War, children, it's just a shot away
It's just a shot away
War, children, it's just a shot away
It's just a shot away

Ooh, see the fire is sweepin'
Our very street today
Burns like a red coal carpet
Mad bull lost its way

War, children, it's just a shot away
It's just a shot away
War, children, it's just a shot away
It's just a shot away

Rape, murder!
It's just a shot away
It's just a shot away

Rape, murder!
It's just a shot away
It's just a shot away

Rape, murder!
It's just a shot away
It's just a shot away

The floods is threat'ning
My very life today
Gimme, gimme shelter
Or I'm gonna fade away

War, children, it's just a shot away
It's just a shot away
It's just a shot away
It's just a shot away
It's just a shot away
I tell you love, sister, it's just a kiss away
It's just a kiss away
It's just a kiss away
It's just a kiss away
It's just a kiss away
Kiss away, kiss away

intensity.