Her comes May - Sox in First!

So the good guys from Boston have now won 2 in a row, a 1-0 game in which Jon Lester went 8 innings of shut-out baseball against Toronto, dueling Roy Halladay for the Blue Jays, who threw a complete game loss! (worse yet for Halladay, his third straight cg without a win) and Papelbon came in to nail it down. Then tonight Dice-K goes 7 shut out innings and the Red Sox pull ahead in the 9th to win again in dramatic fashion. They sit atop the A.L. East leading Baltimore and Tampa Bay by a game. As Hank would say " the order has been restored to the universe" - oh, and the Yankees young guns went 0- for the month of April, and the best 200 million dollar team money can buy sits under .500 going into May. Sweetness

Man my fucking legs aches. I worked out for the second time this week, walking to the gym, lifting, doing a mile on the elliptical machine, and then walked home. Sore, sore, sore. Good to be pushing my body, though, especially with my unappreciated (by me) gut! It's not going anywhere on it's own, he's gonna have to be kicked off the premises. And as any landlored will tell you, eviction of a tenant is a bitch.

Oh, how happy would the evil empire be if one of their young guns performed the way Lester and bucholz have!



Iron Man opens this weekend. - It looks f'ing awesome!

Saturday Afternoon, Feeling Fine

Ah, Saturday afternoon and all is well. Easily my favorite day of the week since I've been lucky enough to work one normal m-f 5 day a week job. Never underestimate the importance of that schedule. Many people are unable to have such a set patter, and appreciating it is a must for it continuing.

I recently watched a couple of great movies. The most recent is Maxed Out, a documentary about the terrifying level of debt existent in this country, both from individuals and from our government. The govt. has to borrow against money earmarked for future payouts (pensions, medicaid, SSA, SSI, SSDI, and many other funds earmarked for the future. They use this borrowed money as payment on debt the government itself owes - but only the interest. Because that is all they can afford. This is the equivalent of using cash advance off one credit card to pay another cc bill off. It can not continue indefinitely!

Here's this little tidbit from Alan Greenspan,

The worst-case scenario is a sudden crisis — perhaps a major terrorist attack or a shutoff of oil from the Middle East — that triggers a loss of confidence by investors in the U.S. economy. Foreign investors refuse to lend more money to the government to finance its deficits; drastic tax increases and benefit cuts occur suddenly; the dollar's value plummets, which raises the cost of imported goods; and a severe recession or depression results from falling incomes.

Happy, Happy Joy, Joy!!!

Dazed and Confused with TOYS IN THE ATTIC!!!

April 20 (and a cranky one at that)

A response to the comments on yesterdays blog:

hey old man,

I'm not wrong at all. I agree with both of your points, and of course I was being somewhat facetious, but my point remains valid. I like Woody's point about "stupidly" overpaying for the next level down. Fair enough. However, the truth is the truth; the Yankees have such an incredible safety net provided to via the extra cash. It's an unfair advantage that they can poach stellar talent from other franchises who can not afford to retain their own talented young players. In addition , the Yankees do not have to ever worry about losing someone to another club. If the Yanks want someone, they get him.

It pisses off Yankee fans that the Red Sox (who I have always acknowledged spent much more than most other teams) continue to spend far less than the evil empire yet win. Manny and Papi are two examples of players the Sox signed for expensive yet relatively reasonable contracts and their ROI has been tremendous. It is true the yanks payroll will come down a bit next year, with Pettite, Giambi, and Pavano off the payroll, and the Sox will have to resign Varitek (Thanks, Yanks, for giving Posada that absurd deal with the Sox will have to match now!!), resign Beckett, and hope Manny is happy with the team option.

I would love to see a decade in which the league implemented a cap and basement for teams, ranging from 60 mil to 130 mil. The Sox would be fine, but the Yanks wouldn't. If they can't win while overspending, could they win on a more level field.

Oh, and the Sox win again today, second come from behind victory in a row. Lead AL east at 13-7. The order of goodness remains, despite Blustering idiot Hank Steinbrenner!!!

Beast

$73,888, 377

Once again I have to point out the absurdity of the Evil Empire's competitive advantage over everyone else in baseball, which amuses me since the obscene amount of money spent hasn't yielded significant wins (i.e. World Series championships) this century. Yes, I know, the Yankee lovers will say I am unreasonable, much the same way the filthy rich in America (top 1 pct.) cry "class warfare" when anyone points out maybe they shouldn't control %99 of the country's wealth.

The truth is that both the Yankee fan and the obscenely wealthy are wrong, and all they can do is is try to turn it around, because there is no legit position to stand on. Seriously, almost 74 million dollars more than the Sox? People say to me that I can't complain, the Sox spend plenty, but I can't help but wonder what the Sox could buy with another 74 million bucks. How about Johan Santannas (17 mil), Roy Oswalt, (13 mil), and Roy Halladay (10 million) ? Hmm, that's only 40 million, so the Sox would still be 34 million behind the Yanks, and they would have a rotation of Beckett, Dice-K, Santanna, Oswalt, and Halladay. - OK, the Sox are weak at SS - how about Jose Reyes, at about 4.5 million? Still got 29 million left. Let's add Joe Maur from Minn. to split time with Varitek, Mauer only costs about 6.5 mil. Still have over 22 million left. Since you can always use more relief pitching, let's add B.J. Ryan, figure he comes back healthy, can pitch middle relief for us. At 12 million, that still leaves the Sox behind the Yanks by 10 million bucks. Do you get the picture now, people? Remember, all those salaries would be in addition to the existing players salaries, not as replacements. I really can't understand how anyone can be a fan of a team with every advantage like that. If the team wins it should basically be expected, and not winning is simply abysmal.

Comic Day!.. Celebrity life... and Today's hot chick

Wednesday is new comic day, a nice mid day break from the stress of the week. Other important days include Monday, first day of the traditional workweek, Tuesday is new release day for movies, music, and video games. Friday is new theatrical releases (Tuesday is DVDS, in case that wasn't clear). When I was young I bought my comics from a flea market I used to go to, in the town near where i grew up, Newton, NJ. The flea market was held in the unused areas of a drive in theater, with people driving cars, trucks, and vans loaded with their shit for sale, would drag their shit to this drive in theater and display it for other people to buy. Welcome to America, Baby!

I used to buy my comics wherever I could find them, but when I started to go to the flea market I met Walter Sigg, an odd (but harmless) guy who sold comics. He was at the flea market every sat., and by the end of the summer my friend Dougie and I were regular customers. I wanted to continue to have the comics i liked on a weekly basis, without having to worry about getting into town and finding them on some rack, wrinkled up.
But I digress....

How amazing is that shot of Pauly fucking Shore? Classic example why being a celebrity has far reaching benefits, for how else to explain a D list celebrity, past his prime (on the D-list, no less) who's packed on a beer belly, hanging on the beach with a hottie half his age - but I got nothing for props on that... here's to you, Pauly.

Todays hot chick - the bimbo who brought down a governor, Spitzers chickie - don't know her name, (can't remember) and really, it's unimportant. She is hot, though.

Movie Review - On Dangerous Ground! & today's sexy babe

Nicholas Ray directs. Ida Lupino, Ward Bond, and the always great Robert Ryan act. Bernard Hermann scores the whole thing. Classic Fucking Noir, (except for the saccharine ending, clearly not fitting in tone with the film and according to a recent book on Film Noir, not the ending the screenwriter or Ray wanted. (Lupino directed a few days when Ray was ill, and it's rumored she directed the last scene with her and Ryan) Despite this ending, the film is absolutely terrific, and the film zips along, at a tight and never wasted 82 minutes. A must own for the DVD collector of film noir, and availabe in the Film Noir Vol. 3 availabe on Amazon. Ida Lupino is one of those chicks who shouldn't be so enticing yet I just can't help but find her damned seductive!

Dude

The first in the "Dude" series, and in what should not come as a shock to anyone, one of my favorites. In College, Dude was nearly half my vocabulary

Checking In & Some Movie Reviews

So I haven't checked in for a few days; I guess the work weeks just blow by so fast sometimes. So I will give everyone the update:

A friend came to town on Tuesday, so I ended up using a personal day on Wed. to hang. My allergies were kicking my ass anyway, so it was good to take a one day vacation. I needed it, because the workload has been nuts. Oh, I want to the eye dr. on Mon. and will be getting some new contacts, a "next generation" silicon blend that retains mosture better than previous lenses. These were the doc's words. I have to admit, they are nice, especially as the day wears on and other lenses begin to dry up.

I was going to write a review of the Killing, until realizing I wrote one not too long ago. but WTF, the pic is still cool and the movie never gets old.

The wife and I are finding it increasingly difficult to like Weeds. - We're 3 episodes into Season 2 and we're hating everyone, from hot MILF Mary Louise Parker to her bratty kids, their snotty housekeeper (think a mexican contemporary version of George And Weezies housekeeper on the Jeffersons. (Was her name Florence?) - Wasn't it weird that the Jeffersons, an example of a black couple that was moving forward and upward socially, would then hire a black woman as a servant? Was that perhaps repressed rage by George, to have a slave type for him to dominate. Hmmm, clearly he wasn't racist, since the hiring of a white woman would have contained a juicier subtext, especially if she were attractive. Perhaps the Jeffersons is part of the secret plot that utilizes pop culture to reenforce official opinions for the powers that be.

Yanks are struggling quite a bit these days, dropping two straight to Tampa Bay, but the Red Sox haven't done any better, losing their last two games. Not enough guys are really hitting yet for the BoSox, but as long as the pitching is healthy, this team is in great shape.

You Can't Fight Crazy Starring Today's Douchebag

Well, boys and girls, I almost wasn't here tonight to leave you all this post, and it all began this morning , on my way into work. I was driving to my office, coming down the small side street (speed limit 25) and had stopped to make the left turn into the parking lot. This particular side street has a small business that often uses a pretty large delivery truck, and often the truck has to pull across the street into a parking lot, then back into the delivery space. It's a bit of an inconvenience if you are on the side street, because you have to wait for the truck and while he backs up he blocks both sides of the street. The street itself is a basic 2 lane street; you're either in one lane or you in the other lane. This isn't some super highway (or even the garden state parkway, with 4 or 5 lanes and constant shifting.) It's also important to note that the turn into the parking lot must be taken wide, because the entranceway is narrow and the cars exiting the lot often exit with their car placed in the middle of the entrance, thus blocking the person trying to turn in. I've found it's best to make a wide left to allow as much room as possible.

OK, so I am making my left turn, blinker on, no vehicles coming towards me, and the truck that was in the road pulled into the lot across from his loading dock and parked. I begin my turn, and immediately hear a horn blaring!! I stop immediately, basically on pure reaction time, and see a car come barreling down past me on my left! In case I haven't made this clear, that means the car went around me, into the oncoming traffic lane, and blew by me in an attempt to shoot through before I make my turn! Shocked, (and pleased this maniac hadn't smashed into my drivers side door at 50 mph) I honk back and turn into my office parking lot, somewhat shaken. I noticed that the car slammed on it's brakes and had a very strong feeling it was going to turn around and come back into my lot. Wouldn't you know it, that's exactly what it did. A blocky looking woman (term used loosely) jumped out of the car and approached me. I rolled down my window and asked "What's Up?. She approached my car screaming "What's wrong with you?" (Me?) " You're crazy, what's wrong with you" --

"I was making a left hand turn"

"Why don't you look in your mirror?"

There was a lot more ranting on her part, but the mirror comment just blew me away. I realized I was dealing with a crazy individual. I don't mean that as a joke. The way her mind worked, asking why I didn't look in my left hand mirror to make a left turn... when the only other lane is oncoming. I don't need a mirror to see oncoming traffic, cunt! I guess in her world if a cylinder of concrete dropped from a plane in the sky and crushed me it would be my fault for not looking upward. I tried to point out that if police were there I don't think she would be able to convince them that speeding in the wrong lane of oncoming traffic and trying to pass a car making a left turn, blinker on, and crashing into them would bode well with her, but she stopped me at police with a very spanish "Oh, don't you talk about police, I got family in police" (Wow, I feel safer already)

Anyway, I ended the conversation by telling her that I was indeed crazy, if that helps her get through her day. That seemed to make her happy, and she went off to endanger the rest of the world. I wish I could say unbelievable, but sadly it really isn't. The only way to really make the world safer would be for her to no longer exist, and that power is far beyond me. One can really only hope.

Movie Review + Today's Sexy Lady! - Double Indemnity

I went to see Double Indemnity yesterday on the big screen, my second trip to the Big Screen Classics series presented at the Lafayette Theatre in Suffern, N.Y. - www.bigscreenclassics.com

My wife and I went there with out friend Sal to see one of my favorite film noirs of all time, the all time great Double Indemnity. Just listen to the names involved here. Fred McMurray, an actor that isn't typical of the male lead in film noirs. (I always think of old reruns of My Three Sons that I watched when I was a kid). Edward G. Robinson, an enormous amount of talent packed into that little dude, who has delivered in everything from Little Caesar to Brother Orchid, and the always tremendous Barbara Stanwyck. She's today's sexy lady (since hot chick would be a label of great disservice to the classy Miss Stanwyck.) - She is a rare woman, who shouldn't be as damned sexy as she is, but her roles and her great acting elevate her to another level. She's been in a bazillion roles, with some of my favorites being her film noir roles. (Sorry, Wrong Number, Double Indemnity, and The Strange Love of Martha Ivers at the top of the list.)

Lest you think only the acting is top notch, let's not forget the incomparable Billy Wilder directing a script he cowrote with Raymond Chandler! Now that's one hell of a package, and it doesn't disappoint.

I'm not going to recap the plot, since it's pretty by the numbers; guy falls head over heels for sexy femme fatale, gets sucked into some bad dealings because he follows the advice of the little head over the big one, and all parties suffer. God I love Noir!!!!

The only negative part of the entire experience was the Yahoo behind me who seemed to believe that his practice of speaking aloud lines of dialogue to his wife immediately prior to the line being spoken would enhance the experience for me. (God I hate people!!!!) - It was hopeless, because after turning around multiple times, my wife turning around, head shaking, and sighing on our part, he continued. This was obviously a willful act of douchebaggery on his part, and hopefully the great whell of Ka will eventually turn and exact righteous retribution on the asshole.

If you've never seen this flick, you owe it to yourself to check it out. It holds up very well, even though the film is over 60 yrs old. The dialogue is snappy and filled with double entendres, the chemistry between the leads is astonishing, and even though I've seen it 4 or 5 times now I never tire of it.

Beast

Political shenanigans!

Movie Review - Beneath the Planet of the Apes

I am a lifelong fan of The Planet of the Apes Franchise. (It's amazing, really, because the original Planet of the Apes is 40 years old this year, with it's original premiere 2 years prior to my birth! (Original release date April 3, 1968) - Hell, the first sequel (Beneath the Planet of the Apes) was released in May of 1970, still before I was born!

As a kid I loved the POTA stuff; specifically vague memories of hanging out at my friend Dougie's house, sleeping over and staying up late to watch repeats of Planet of the Apes tv show. I found the apes thrilling and a liittle bit scary. (Similar for me to two other frightening yet exciting characters of my childhood; the scary flying monkeys in Wizard of Oz and the Sleestacks of Land of the Lost) Unsurprisingly, Land of the Lost premiered in 1974 and ran from the fall of 1974 until the third and final season of 1976. Thus, it was perched in the Sat. morning line-up for me from the ages of 3-5, enough to remember liking the show, being scared of the Sleestacks, and the opening scene of the raft going over the falls into The Land of the Lost!

A few years ago I taped all 5 Apes films off TCM and watched them through with my then girlfriend, now wife. Recently I purchased a nice box set of all 5 films plus a making of disc for $25 on Amazon.com. I was pleasantly surprised at how much I enjoyed Beneath the POTA. It picks up somewhat after the first film, with another astronaut (Brent) in search of Taylor, (Charlton Heston) who we last saw at the end of the original apes, on his knees in the sand, the tide rising, as he screamed to the heavens in anger and frustration at the Statue of Liberty, ripped in half, lying in the ocean, only the top half still sturdy.

Brent eventually tracks Taylor down in a subterranean lair in the Forbidden Zone, run by a bunch of mutated humans with mind control powers.. The mutants look completely normal until the scene in which of of them pulls off his lifelike mask to reveal a hideously deformed face. (Maybe from exposure to the freaking Doomsday bomb that the Mutated Humans worship?)

The apes, with Zaius along, are on the trail of Brent and track him to the Mutant's lair. In the ensuing chaos of the battle between apes and humans, Taylor is shot, and yet as his dying breath rushes out of him, he falls to his knees and completes the controls for the Doomsday machine, a weapon supposedly capable of annihilating the entire planet with the chain reaction it will set off. The movie ends with a blank screen and a cold voice telling us simply that this planet, in this particular universe, ceased to exist from that point on. The year is 3955, as we on Earth know it.

A very bleak and unexpected ending, and interesting in light of the 3 more sequels to come, and when I review them we will talk a little about the alternate universe theory (with a link or two on some people who have put together some interesting timelines regarding the Apes series.

Not much to watch for me today in the tourney. Siena blew it, so that leaves me basically rooting for Oklahome (coached by ex Duke blue devil player and coach k K protege Jeff Capel) and for someone to knock out Memphis.

Beast out

Good bye to Duke and Today's hot chick

Today is day 3 of the opening 4 day extravaganza that is the opening 2 rounds of the NCAA tournament. I've been indulging far too much, relishing this 4 day excuse to go to excess. (Example, yesterdays food intake consisted of a Bacon, egg, and Cheese sandwich for breakfast, heated up italian food throughout the day to snack on, mostly lasagna and meatballs, went out with my buddy for dinner and had a Cobb Salad, with lots of blue cheese dressing, chicken cutlet, and hard boiled eggs. Add in coffee, beer ,and wine throughout the day, with lots of hoops on tv, comic book reading, and movie watching. (watched Hitman last night, review coming tomorrow)

Today was a bit better, with a bowl of cornflakes, then a turkey/bacon sandwich at The Office, along with some beers while watching the Boys from Durham being sent home by the Mountaineers of West virginia. Disappointing , of course, and worse since my buddy was a WVU grad so I had to hear some crap during the game.

OH, and one other thing to mention; the chick lead from the Hitman is so freaking hot. She's today's Hot chick. Olga Kirylenko. Olga Kurylenko Online • www.olga-kurylenko.net • Home of the new Bond Girl!

Beast out

website for Olga -

2 Days (and a movie review) + Duke escapes

Well it's 2 days since my last post. I wanted to offer up a few thoughts on There Will Be Blood, one of the rare films I see in the Theater these days, and well worth every minute at the theater. It actually worked out well, as I saw There Will Be . on the Sunday prior to returning to work. As you can well imagine, Monday was not an easy day. Imagine your normal Sunday evening blues, compounded with your post vacation blues, and unless you're lucky enough to be a teacher and have the entire summer off, you ain't never experienced blues like the post disability blues. (An d reallyl, it's not that bad, let's keep our perspective on these things. )

Anyway, my buddy Sal and I saw the flick in Rockaway, taking the ride in order to see it on a larger screen. Well worth the trip, as the film pulls you in quickly and never let's go, the cinematography is amazing, the sound score completely sets the tone, and in the middle of it all is Daniel Day Lewis. Quite honestly, it wasn't even worth submitting other names for best actor this year; Lewis blew everyone away!

A challenging film, and not one that the masses will appreciate. Day-Lewis is an actor of amazing nuance and subtext. He doesn't go over the top ala present day Pacino and even Deniro. Lewis emits controlled rage, and his character is almost empathetic for much of the movie, and his redeemability remains in question until the final, shocking frame.

Great stuff, and a worthy contribution to the literature of great films.

The NCAA tourney has started, and holy shit, Duke pulled one out yesterday. Almost losing to the #15 Belmont team hopefully acts as a kick in the ass for Duke. the Sad thing is that Belmont played really well ; it wasn't simply a matter of a Duke Dud. Worrisome

Beast out

Well, It's Been a Week

OK everyone, a week since I last posted. So what's on my mind:

Thunderbolts and Thor are both great comics right now!

I rewatched The Killing last night. It is so amazing what a great freakin film that is. It was Kubrick's 3rd film, (of feature length) and the second chronologogically that i have seen. Killer's Kiss was a nice flick, short, gritty with great cinematograpy. But the Killing is a perfect movie. There is not one wasted frame of film in the entire film. So tightly constructed, and incredibly well acted with Sterling Hayden (one of my favorite actors), Elisha Cook Jr. as the near cuckold of the nasty, trampy, oh youi know she was slutty character of Sherrie Peatty, wife of Elisha Cook Jr. Played by Marie Windsor. This film is one of my favorite films in my favorite genre, film noir. A recent purchase, it has stood as a great decision. Now to get my wife to watch it with me.

It's sort of hard ot explain, but I have such a thing for Christina Ricci. She always had sort of a look that appealed to me, but the Opposite of Sex really sealed it for me. This is a recent pic, showing that she still has it going on. It's also nice that she isn't such a stick now; it was sad to watch her drop from her voluptios The Opposite of Sex Role to her too big head for her starved body look. - She's rebounded nicely

Maybe Bartolo /colon is going to be a nice find for the Red Sox?

George Bush Tap Dancing Fool (Original)

Hang in there everyone, 317 more days to go.

A tap-dancing President

When I first saw Bush tap dancing I couldn't help but think of Nero fiddling while Rome burned.

Get Over It. It's eight years ago!!!!????

Looking like a member of the Sith, Antonin Scalia (good buddy of Darth Cheney, you know, his hunting pal who had a case involving secret meetings with the leaders of big oil, then refused to reveal the content of those meetings to us, the american people, and Antonin saw no need to recuse himself from that case) - anyway, Antonin spoke at Princeton University yesterday in an address on overreaching judicial activism and how it is bad - had this to say.

When a written question from a student asked about the Supreme Court's Bush v. Gore decision on the 2000 presidential election, Scalia told the crowd of about 300 at Princeton University: "Oh, get over it! It's eight years ago."

"By 5-4 we decided enough is enough and we put an end to it and I think the vast majority of citizens in the country were grateful that we did that," Scalia said of the court's decision, which ended the Florida recount.

So in other words, exercise judicial restraint, except in the most important decision that will ever face the supreme court, the presidency of our country. Then you need to intervene, thus handing the keys to the country to an undeserving junta, an axis of evil, if you will, and now 8 years later we face the consequences of a war with costs likely to exceed trillions of dollars, oil prices through the roof, United States credibility at an all time low, a recession, record profits for oil companies throughout all of this, and an overextended army, exhausted from 5 years in a foreign country (without need, by the way - a war of choice, really an invasion). Oh, OK, I see.

And the vast majority of the citizens of the country were grateful for that? - really, and what color is the sky in Antonin's world?

I have to go vomit now.

Beast

Jonathan Papelbon Does an Irish Jig in his Underwear

Pap, baby. Closes championships and then dances to victory. That's Red Sox Nation, Hank! (When's the last time the evil empire had fun - oh, that's right, last century!!!!

2006- Geico commercial - Caveman at the airport

I freaking love this commercial. It makes me laugh every time! My wife says that when the caveman steps back, crosses his arms, and shifts his neck in disgust, it reminds her of my physical reactions when I am disgusted. Is that good?

Congratulations, Coach K!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Congratulations to coach K, who won his 800th game today coaching the Duke Blue Devils to a victory over the Wolfpack of N.C. State. It was a classic Duke game, in which Duke shot terribly, trailed almost the entire game, and then in gut check time, made the big plays and pulled it out with a 1 pt. victory.

Coach K. now becomes just the 6th mens college BB coach to hit 800 wins. The best part is that unlike 2 other members of that exclusive club, he hasn't had the recruiting, legal, and alcohol problems that plagued Eddie Sutton. He also had done it displaying class and integrity, clearly a sign that he didn't learn everything from his mentor, Bob Knight. (If you read my blog a few days ago, you know my feelings about "The General".

Here's the really exciting part for fans of coach K and Duke basketball (of which I am one, just in case you didn't get that. ) Coach K's record at Duke is 741-205. Let's remove this years record, since the year is incomplete, and his record is 716 and 202. That works out to an avg. win total of just over 26.5 per year. The current leader in wins in men's college BB is Bobby Knightmare, with 902. That means that Coach K's total win total, including his stint coaching Army, is 800- 264. Assuming he wins no more games this year, (unlikely, with 2 more games in the regular season, the A.C.C. tourney, and the NCAA tourney , it's likely he will pull at least 5 more wins this year, and that's conservative) he will easily surpass Knight with 4 more seasons, at which pt. he will only be 65. It is conceivable that he could win 1000 games. An even more promising scenario is to remove the 9-3 record from 94-95, when he succumbed to exhaustion and back surgery. That bumps his avg. wins per season to over 28, which with 5 more wins this year bringing him to 805 would have him starting his 4th season after this one with 889 wins, in need of only 14 to be the winningest coach ever. That's a half season!

Congrats again to Coach K, Duke Basketball, and winning one for the good guys.