It doesn't really matter if you're a young star reaching out for the kids and tweens, if you look like Hillary Duff, you'll have stuff like this written about you and draw a small but considerable "wrong" fan base. I am bit thrown off by the fact that she thinks it's somewhat complimentary that people think she's had a boob job (i.e. facing the same questions as Britney Spears). I wish I could find the article that ripped Disney for casting her in the first place as Lizzie because the character was supposed to be an awkward-looking kid like the cartoon and instead you get a Britney clone.

Speaking of blonde teens (just in time to mess up Google searches, pervs), "American Anna" Ashley Harkleroad finally scored her breakthrough victory by upsetting Daniela Hantuchova, who is similar to Harkleroad in that she wore the same outfit, is in her teens, a rising star and supposedly challenging Kournikova in the looks department.
Trying to find the next Kournikova is starting to get tiresome. The hype over Anna's looks definitely wreaked havoc on her game, and you'd hate to see that happen to some of the rising young stars like Harkleroad or Hantuchova. A couple of years ago at the U.S. Open, Harkleroad turned heads when she wore an outfit obviously a couple of sizes too small for her when she played in the main draw. Yes, she's attractive, but the ploy was a bit over the top. Plus, wearing such small clothes had to be very uncomfortable when you're already nervous playing your first-ever non-juniors match at the U.S. Open.
Hantuchova was part of an ESPN The Magazine spread, and ads based off that feature sorta made her look like Kirsten Dunst (at least that's what I got from the shrunken down photos in the ad). Supposedly, her main draw is the long legs, which if she were a runway model. And unfortunately, she has Kate Moss' build, which can't be good in the long-term. Yet stuff like that probably draws a few more fans.
I hope for both of them that their tennis, not the forced episodes of Are You Hot?, will be the reason for their success. Sure, we can ogle, but wins are what count. To use examples from the past, let's hope both get a Gabriela Sabatini vibe instead of a Carling Bassett vibe.

I may be suffering a slight bit of withdrawal now that 24 is done for the year. However, I still see some of the cast while watching the world of sports. If they ever decide to do a Mike Price movie (maybe it's First and Ten meets G-String Divas), they've got to cast the actor who plays embattled Chief of Staff Mike Novick. And while the tables are turned a bit, Yankees GM Brian Cashman seems to be a dead ringer for Ryan Chappelle. I can see Steinbrenner knocking out Cashman with ether and making that big trade to get Miguel Tejada or something like that.

I was a bit confused on this geek quiz when it asked if you watched Food Network (and put it on the same line as Game Show Network, which really is geeky). But I guess too much Iron Chef can put you on that road. However, I think I've discovered how the two networks have started to meld into one another.

GSN already has some basic snacking quiz questions sponsored by a major food company. However, Food Network has gone beyond that by combining Iron Chef and Blind Date into one show. Thankfully, it's not as over the top as either show, and the guys do have to show some talent to get the girl. And at least the guys were better cooks than I have been.

My friends, meet my new favorite minor league baseball team. Unfortunately, local residents aren't happy with the name, although I guess the Grits wouldn't have looked that appealing, and my choice of Lunch Counters is wrong on so many levels.

Assorted thoughts
-- It was probably worth the sunburn, yet I was disappointed to see Tom Glavine get rocked in his return to Turner Field. I was more disappointed to see the boos rain down on him first when he came to the mound and later when he came up to hit. First off, the Braves are doing just fine without him. Secondly, the way the team treated him last winter, you can't fault him for leaving. There may be something to be said for loyalty, but money does talk.
-- Speaking of baseball, it's time to start voting for the MLB All-Star Game. Online, they give you 25 votes to match the average number of home games you can attend during the voting process. However, how many of you pick up exactly one ballot when there's a display stand full of them at the park? I end up picking up about 5-6 -- some to give to friends, some to put together my assorted combinations of players. Mike has his Scrabble method of All-Stars. I've got a few: the "deserving" squad, my fantasy squad (or an amalgam of such, depending on the league), the all-suck team (you try doing it by not picking any Tigers), etc. The possibilities are endless. Besides, doesn't Andres Torres or Brandon Larson need your vote more than Alex Rodriguez?
-- On the other hand, it's amazing to see the Nets return to the NBA Finals, although the team has plenty of talent across the board (and even Jason Collins is playing very well). They should fare much better in the finals this time around, and maybe it's time to bring out the retro cap again.
-- How in the world does New Jersey have two teams in their respective league finals, especially after growing up when both were amazingly mediocre? Maybe that union with the Yankees holding company is working out just fine. Unfortunately, I don't have the same loyalties to the Devils like I used to years ago when they first moved to town and I got to see a bunch of games.
-- I may be a fan of Weird Al Yankovic, but unfortunately, the new album is pretty weak across the board. Maybe I'm growing up or something, but the stuff just doesn't seem as good or as funny as it was when I was younger. The Angry White Polka is funny, as are most of the polka medleys of whatever music he wants to target, but the parodies were pretty limp. The funniest part of the album was hearing a wild piano solo in the middle of a song and thinking, "This sounds like something Ben Folds might do." So I look at the liner notes, and, yup, there's Ben. I guess it makes sense, though, given that Al directed the video for Rocking the Suburbs.

Diving in a little late on these items, but what the hell ...
-- So Annika didn't make the cut at The Colonial. It was fun watching her for a while until she folded down the stretch in the second round. If she made any putts, she might be playing this weekend. So no one should say she shouldn't belong. It was fun as a lark, and maybe she'll play another tournament or two down the line. But for now we'll just completely ignore her on the LPGA Tour. Honestly, how many people cared about Annika when she was tearing up that tour?

-- The season finale of 24 was just as crazy as I thought, although I was just waiting for something bad to happen when the creepy, indistinct foreigners were hanging around. One of my co-workers made the observation that there would've been no way the president could call an impromptu news conference on the steps of a building in whatever city he was in (since it definitely wasn't Washington) that quickly at 7:30 a.m. and have lots of people around with access to even touch the president. I don't care how much you want to show that things are OK; there's no way the president is that visible that soon after a war was nearly waged. And for what it's worth, they got one more last jab in that women were evil by bringing back one of the original assassins from the very early episodes of Season 1.
Charles Taylor has a great piece in Salon saying that this season shows how bizarre the real events in Washington really were. However, what really struck me was that bizarre shootout at the L.A. Coliseum. I was half waiting for the Fleetwood Mac to show up with the USC marching band, then realized all of that happened at Dodger Stadium.

What is yikes?
The quizbowl edition of Jeopardy's Tournament of Champions came to a crazy conclusion with Mark Dawson winning the $250,000 grand prize (or as Phil put it tonight, "1/10 of Kevin Olmstead") after a miscalculation on Final Jeopardy by Brian Weikle left him $199 short of winning it all. It was an odd way to win it, but you really can't take anything away from Mark, who dodged his own bullets to come away as the champion. It was a lot of fun watching everything unfold as Mark got about 70-80 friends, relatives, other Jeopardy contestants, etc. to a nearby restaurant to watch the final matches on tape. I made sure not to watch it beforehand so I'd be surprised when I saw everything unfold, especially the bizarre ending, which Alex hinted at during on "The Wayne Brady Show" earlier this week (part of the video presentation for the night, not to mention Mark's appearance on .Classic Concentration from 1987).

When quizbowlers rule the earth ...
I haven't had a chance to watch much of the Jeopardy! Tournament of Champions, but I do know that I have actually met all three of the finalists via quizbowl. Mark Dawson and Brian Weikle were both at TRASHionals this year -- and their teams played each other in the prelims; I've read for Eric Floyd at a handful of academic tournaments in the southeast. Plus, Mark joins us from time to time at bar trivia (we still have some bar cash we won at a place near Emory that needs to be used). It may or may not be impressive to place three people with recent quizbowl experience in the Tournament of Champions, but to have all three placed in separate semifinals all leading to the final was most impressive. However, it's very strange that it's getting to the point where a considerable number of friends and acquaintances have appeared on a game show. No, the novelty hasn't worn out yet, and probably won't, at least not until I can weasel my way on.

On a related point, at a couple of the game show contestant searches I've been on, the producers were trying to find people who aren't necessarily game show fans. (I think The Weakest Link tried to hammer that point across.) Thus, if those producers are looking for people like that or if you want to be on a show, it may be best if you avoid all contact with me. It may help your odds.

One year and counting ...
Well, this is coming in a few minutes after the fact, but it's now been one year since this site was relaunched as a blog. I was inspired by a few people from the blogroll over on the left, but it's even scarier to think how many other people started there's almost immediately after (and possibly because of) me. It's an interesting way my friends to communicate and get things off our chest, although I sometimes wonder if some of us actually have something to say.

Double feature time
I ended up seeing two movies today, taking advantage of the weekday off. First up was X-2, which was exactly what I expected from a summer blockbuster. It was done very well, and I think I liked it better than the first film, mainly because the story seemed to flow better than the first one, which had to introduce everyone. I'm not that clued into the comic books, so I'm watching it with a completely different eye.

A few observations about the film:
-- Alan Cumming seemed to have an odd Paul Reubens vibe about him.
-- It's hard to believe you could actually market this by saying it has two Oscar winners. The Anna Paquin thing confounds me all the time. The hair and the accent really threw me. I still keep on thinking that, "This is the same girl who won for The Piano?"
-- Who is Brian Cox and how has he ended up in so many movies that have come out in the past year? There's not even a pattern to the types of movies in which he appears. With that said, he made for a great villain.

Movie No. 2 was Bend It Like Beckham, which exhibited a real My Big Fat Greek Wedding vibe, at least in the clash of cultures. However, the acting was a bit sharper here -- it wasn't as over the top. Then again, the spotlight was on Jess and her football, and it was done very well. There were plenty of laughs around, but it was still very touching, although I think I could've done without some of the love story between Jess and her coach. I had to chuckle a bit as well when Jules (played by Keira Knightley -- a lankier version of Winona Ryder) was gushing over playing in the WUSA. It is a big deal among women soccer players, no doubt about it, but it's such an afterthought in the grand scheme of things. Then again, it's a bit hard to believe in a place like England that's mad about soccer, the women have to come to the US to really hit it big.

One thing that strikes me about movies like Greek Wedding, Beckham and even Better Luck Tomorrow is how much "traditional" culture/norms/expectations of "foreigners" is both cherished and mocked at the same time. There's a healthy respect for what's going on, yet it often seems a bit stifling, especially to the younger generation. I sorta feel the same way. There's a pride for our heritage, yet we want to adapt to the culture around us. While we want diversity and to show respect for other cultures, it's often those other cultures that show less respect towards the world at large.

The Revolution will not be televised -- thank God
Fresh off its inclusion on Entertainment Weekly's list of Top 100 video games of all time, I finally got my own copy of this, although I ended whiffing at three places before going to the old standby when it comes to getting game.

I figured I wouldn't cause at much commotion now with the apartment directly below me currently vacant. I suppose it can be a bit jarring hearing some guy jumping around for lengthy periods of time. (Thankfully the ceilings aren't too thin to hear the music coming through -- at least I don't think so.)

I'm still not all that great yet at the game, but I never purported to have many dancing skills -- at least not in the way this game is set up. Those who saw me on the real machines in Boston can definitely attest to that. Still, I'm learning and getting a bit of a workout in the process, which is something I can definitely use. Might as well kill two birds with one stone, eh? (At least until I try Sports Guy's idea of playing PS2 while on the treadmill.)

Let he without sin cast the first illegal payment
After reading my colleague Stewart Mandel's scathing column on Alabama football and the subsequent responses from the Tide faithful, it strikes me that the very religious Alabama faithful who helped drive Mike Price out of town seem to be violating one of the Ten Commandments about not having false gods. Sure they may be going to church on Sunday, but on Saturday they're attending the church of Alabama football. By the way they hold Bear Bryant, he might as well be god. (Although I guess the saying goes is that he's "coaching God's team," although I doubt that if some of those things from The Junction Boys are true.)

As for Larry Eustachy, so much for declaring he wouldn't resign. I suppose the move was inevitable, and as long as he got some money for all of his troubles, it was worth fading away, albeit with a huge black mark on his reputation. Although my friend Sean Keeler brought up an interesting point in one of his columns that Eustachy may not have gotten the boot so quickly had he been winning more (andl living up to the distinction of Iowa's highest-paid state employee).

Since the whole Bob Knight fiasco, it seems like schools are acting quicker to get rid of coaches with "character issues." Fair or not, that's the way it is these days, and it doesn't help that the rumor mill fires up much quicker, especially in the college sports world where it can be used for negative recruiting. If it's "sexy" or illegal, someone will know about it and put it out for people to see as soon as possible, even before the reviled "media" can get a hold of it. I suppose both of these stories are of the "This is what the media isn't reporting" variety that gets conspiracy theorists in a tizzy.

My life as a sitcom -- today's show: Seinfeld
It was one of those weird periods where I probably should've gone out and done a bunch of stuff during my days off, including catching up on a couple movies that have been sitting on the backburner. Instead, I ended up being very anti-productive, even by "weekend" standards. There was that trip to the driving range and then the drive deep into Dekalb County (I took one road trying to find some store and just took it out for a long while for whatever reason). Sometimes you feel good when you do nothing, like you're taking a break from everything. In this case, it felt like I should've been doing something productive and felt bad when I didn't. I suppose now I'll have a huge list of things to do and people to see next weekend.