Today is truly a day for celebration...

Wait, you havent heard? Yep, get your party hats and dancing shoes on, because today is...

National Banana Creme Pie Day!!! Yeehaw!!  To celebrate, please watch this extremely unfunny clip from the Dana Carvey show:



Oh yeah, I also heard it was Dave's birthday. Whatevs.

Egg, Sperm, Man

Sam I am
Down with the program
Green eggs and ham
Yosemite Sam

Sentence, essay
Lecture in the schoolday
C'mon man, name's not Jose
41's old, Happy Birthday

Visual proof Dave is insane (I think)

The style this is shot in made me almost vomit, so I'm not actually sure Dave is in the clip. But even if he isn't, here's a bunch of Jersey folks jumping in the ocean in mid-Febraury. Why? No clue. You'd have to ask Dave.

Still More Rise of the Machines

Boston Dynamics, which in 2008 unveiled a four-legged robot called BigDog, has been tapped by the Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency (DARPA), the research and development arm of the DOD, to create a human-like robot and an agile, robotic Cheetah that developers said will eventually be able to run 70 mph.

Robot Cheetah! With Adonis blood, one presumes.

Perhaps the Greatest Music Video In All of Recorded History

I haven't posted in a while (I'm working on something extra special in the music department) but this video is too priceless not to share. Heard the song yesterday while rapidly stuffing my face at Five Guys, and I couldn't get it out of my head, so I looked it up in order to learn it on guitar. It mesmerized all that's inside of me . . . now the sunlight bores the daylights out of me . . . all I want to do is sit inside and watch Mick Jagger parade around in gray pants that may or may not be made of parachute. You must also appreciate Jagger's matching shirt, and hard rockers Keith Richards and Ronnie Wood crooning "Doo Doot Doot, Doo Doot Doot."  Your welcome.

Perhaps the greatest "Caption This" game in the history of G:TB

Mike Baker, aka @BumpkinZF on twitter, you are the f'ing man for pulling this photo. Ladies and gentleman of Gheorghe: the Blog, I present to you our man Ghita sitting next to the GEICO caveman at yesterday's Syracuse/Georgetown game:

Have at it folks.

**And again, @BumpkinZF, thank you for doing the lord's work.

This Week in Wrenball: Jaaaam, oh, Jam

The Wrens close a deceptively competitive regular season on the road against Old Dominion this afternoon. They'll likely lose, probably by less than 12 points, give or take a few. As a result, they'll fall to 9-21 on the season, 4-14 in a historically tough CAA. And we're okay with that.

Tony Shaver's boys will take their talents to Richmond starting on Friday night, where several members of Team G:TB will watch them take on the conference's 6th seed in first-round CAA tournament action. After the tournament tough Wrens upset their first opponent, likely quarterfinal foe Hofstra awaits. No less a blogging celebrity than Jerry Beach of Defiantly Dutch has this to say about the prospect of the Dutch taking on the Tribe, "Seriously, if you guys upset JMU, I will vomit in fear of the 3-11 game on Sat(urday) night." Better pack your Pepto, Jerry.

Win or lose, there'll be no keeping our road-tripping contingent from Saturday morning's CAA Pep Band Jam, where Mason's Doc Nix will lead an all-star collection of conference bands in spirited performances of standards new and old. We've got our fingers crossed hoping for a Katy Perry medley. (Total excuse to post a picture of Katy Perry? What kind of blog do you think this is?)

And speaking of Mason, how about Jim Larranaga's juggernaut? The Patriots enter today's season finale against Georgia State boasting a nation's-best 14-game winning streak. They've barely been tested over that stretch, only trailing three times and winning 11 of the 14 by more than 15 points. Several among the bracketing cognescenti have the Pats as high as a 7 seed in the NCAA Tourney. And with all that, we'll ask FOG:TB KQ's understanding as we root for the other green and gold to lose to VCU or Hofstra.

#3bids4caa, and all that, you understand.

Mark's Weekend

So apparently, with Greg by his side ("Greg, you gotta move chief, the bride needs to stand there"), Mark is getting married this weekend. Once I hit "publish post" I am hopping in my vehicle to drive to Florida as Greg's +1. Danimal, see you at the reception.

The Jeff Foster Experience

Thanks to Shlara's surpassing generosity, the Teej and I were treated to one of the more unique experiences of our hoops-following lives last night. We were in attendance courtside before the Wizards/Pacers contest as Bullets alumni Bobby Dandridge and Mike Riordan shared their memories with season ticket holders (and a pair of interlopers) in a pregame "chalk talk" moderated by Wiz radio announcer Dave Johnson.

While Dandridge was gracious and open, Riordan stole the show with his memories. He talked about everything from the 1970 NBA Finals (he was a member of the Knicks team that beat the Lakers in the famous Willis Reed Game), running into screens set by Wes Unseld, the difficulties of getting Elvin Hayes to run the triangle offense (Elvin never met a ball he didn't shoot), the differences in All-Star game from his era to now (the money that went to the winners back then made a difference, so the players competed as hard as they did in real games), and trying to guard Jerry West and Oscar Robertson. Riordan, who used to own a legendary Irish bar in Annapolis, was authentic and engaging - a real Gheorghe of the people.

We confess to being a bit disappointed about one aspect of the evening, however. Our tickets said that there was a game between the Wizards and the Pacers to follow the chalk talk. Turns out the Pacers played against John Wall and a collection of playground hacks. The Wiz won the first and fourth quarters, but got blitzed, 65-38, during the game's meaty middle. Jeff Foster, who entertained us greatly with his Larry Bird-esque game-long standing and stretching, managed to be +10 in 9 minutes of action, grabbing 7 boards against the disinterested Wizards frontcourt. Fan favorite Tyler Hansbrough scored 17 points in 21 minutes, mostly by just playing harder than the other guys. Dismal effort by Flip Saunders' boys.

The evening's highlight, beyond the Teej's late-game outburst at the home team's lack of defensive effort, was the appearance of a Pacers fan dressed in full Rey Mysterio costume - mask included. I wasn't aware that anyone from Indiana had that kind of weird.

Huge thanks to Shlara. Team G:TB owes you yet another.

Mos Awesome

I really enjoy the Decembrists. I really enjoy Yo Gabba Gabba. The Decembrists recorded a new song for Yo Gabba Gabba, entitled 'The Great Outdoors'. And I can't for the life of me figure out how to embed it.

So enjoy Mos Def as Super Mr. Superhero. And wait patiently for tomorrow's mind-blowing episode of G:TB: Worlds Colliding.

G:TB International

It was a hectic weekend, what with an embarrassment of college hoops riches, the Daytona 500, and Sentence of Dave's cooking adventures, so you're forgiven if you missed the opening few matches of the 2011 International Cricket Council (ICC) World Cup.

This year's cup is being contested in Bangladesh, Sri Lanka, and India after a nasty bit of business involving a 2009 terrorist attack on the Sri Lankan team caused the ICC to strip Pakistan of hosting rights. Wisconsin's teacher's union should heed the lesson, lest Madison be stripped of next year's regional spelling bee.

2011 Cup Mascot Stumpy oversaw the weekend's first matches, as India topped Bangladesh by 87 runs, New Zealand prevailed by 10 wickets over Kenya, and Sri Lanka blasted Canada by 210 runs. Why are scores tallied in both runs and wickets? The fuck do I look like, Sachin Tendulkar?

Cup action runs through April 2, mostly because each match (game? set? chukker?) lasts between 3 and 17 hours, under the One Day International rules. The Pakistanis are obviously highly motivated to restore their national honor, so smart money's been flowing strongly in their direction (note to Danimal). G:TB's experts really like the cut of Ottis Gibson's West Indies squad, however. Stay tuned for all the overs, googlies, and wicket-busting action as we track the results right through the final in Mumbai.

To keep you fired up, here's the official song of the 2011 Cup, as sung by De Ghumake. It's no Wavin' Flag, but it's catchy:

Do You Ever F[orget]uck With Rock & Roll?

Remember Blakroc, the Black Keys album featuring numerous MC's, produced by Damon Dash? Damon Dash now has a label called Bluroc which apparently focuses on similar projects, from which "Muscle Car Chronicles" will soon be relased, featuring Curren$y (the world's most prolific MC), Thomas Pridgeon (Mars Volta) on drums, and Sean O'Connell (Voodoo Farm) on guitar. I'm enthused.



I also enjoy these various Jets/Curren$y t-shirts. I hope to see some of these at the New Meadowlands, as they will serve as clear indicators of the most entertaining tailgates.

3Bids4CAA: A @batogato Production

Our diminutive leader likes to talk about how we are the internet's fourth largest provider of CAA hoops-related content (or something to that effect). That may or may not be true, but one thing i do know: this little slice of blog heaven can be credited with the first known sighting of the rare "3 Bids for CAA" notion...

http://gheorghe77.blogspot.com/2007/03/march-sadness.html

In looking at that post, I realize it has my name attached, but I'm thinking I wasn't actually able to craft a post with that many words/thoughts. So we are given all credit to our lift-wearing friend rob. Kudos sir, because that March 4, 2007 post has now led to the movement that is the twitter hashtag #3Bids4CAA

Live it, learn it, love it.

Here's what you need to know (because I'm kinda in a hurry) - George Mason, very good (20-6, 11-4; RPI: 29, SOS: 61*). Old Dominion, very good (21-5, 13-2; RPI: 23, SOS: 72*). BUT, we need these very good teams to lose the CAA conference tournament. That is the only way I see #3Bids4CAA of having even half a chance. So, Charles jenkins, that means you taking Hofstra on your back (think Randolph Childress). Denzel, wake up man, we might need you to carrry JMU to the tourney title. Or random dudes at VCU I forget at the moment, who are probably the best bet statistically to pull this off anyway (and I hope they're winning their Bracket Buster game as I type this).

On that note, this weekend, let's first of all hope basically every single CAA team wins...and then we'll get back to you early next week with our Steve Buscemi-esque hate list for non-CAA at-larges clogging up the scene (hey, Boston College and Clemson, I'm looky at your sloppy asses).

*I used @aglock Bubble Watch of 2/14...sorry for the laziness.

Get out of the office, people...

...have some fun out there. I'll be spending an evening with Scott and Seth tonight (sans Bob Dylan's unfrozen cadaver). Hope yours is just as pleasant.

If you're not tapping your foot by now, you have no soul....

Major Lazer - Tribal Edition

You won't see it on the W&M website, but Major Lazer recently attended a Wren hoops game and got inspired by the ladies in the crowd. They recruitied the Burg's finest honeys for this video. Check it out:

Just get us through the morning Simon...

I promised rob a #3Bids4CAA post. This obviously isnt it. Later today folks, later today.

Jan-Michael Vi-what the f**k happened to you?

Driving up 395 to work today a military copter decided to fly at northbound traffic, oh, about 20 feet above us. I had this (awesome) flashback...

So This Happened

Been a rough season for Tony Shaver's Wrens, but they continue to give more experienced opponents all they want. Last night on Long Island, W&M spotted Hofstra a 15-3 lead before finishing the first half on a 31-11 run. The teams swapped runs throughout the second half before CAA Player of the Year (soon to be two-time) Charles Jenkins hit a three to send the game to overtime. The Tribe led late in the extra session before the DutchPride tied the game, with Quinn McDowell scoring 28 points and grabbing 12 rebounds.

And then this happened.



Obviously, the creators of the #wrenswillmakethecaasemis hashtag are anticipating a little bit of karmic rebound after a season littered with shouldacouldawoulda.

Karma's a bitch, eh Juice?**

Extremely busy down at the cracker factory today, but I just couldnt pass up this gem from that bastion of professional journalism, the National Enquirer:

**And Juice, just because you think Karma is a bitch doesn't mean you get to behead her and her current boyfriend (er, I mean waiter friend).

HAPPY BIRTHDAY GHEORGHE

On this day 40 years ago the one and only Gheorghe Dumitru Mureşan was born...

Look at how excited he is to celebrate!

Fun Gheorghe Birthday Fact of the Day:
Ghita is one of only five NBA or ABA players to ever sport #77. And he is by far the coolest of these dudes...