About the only thing I have to say this morning is that Maron is on AAR at 3:00 Eastern. Be there, or be square.

And Happy Birthday, Roxie. I hope things are better where you’re at.

Nothing like a weekend of pick and shovel work, and hauling around sand, gravel, and 100 pound slabs of slate to make you glad to get back to work and get some rest. Unfortunately, four day weeks seem to last forever. I should’ve taken today off, I think.

Be forewarned, the following post is something you will probably be totally uninterested in. Not that that’s unusual, but it’s also sports related, so it’ll be doubly dull to all you non-sports people, and even the sports people will probably not give a crap. Anyhow…

Today, the SU Lacrosse team returns to its rightful place in the NCAA National Championship game, bouncing back from a 5-8 record and missing the lacrosse playoffs for the first time in 25 years last season. The year before, that, they missed the final four for the first time in 22 years (during those 22 years, they played in the championship game 14 times, winning 9).

They made the finals with a double overtime win against Virginia on Saturday, and they’ll play Johns Hopkins at 1:00 today (on ESPN HD). It’s kind of fitting that they’re playing Hopkins, because 25 years ago SU won its first national championship against them. The team that wins today will be the first to win 10 national championships.

Back in 1983, lacrosse was considered a sport for the rich kids (despite the fact that it originated right here with the Hau de no sau nee, who consider the game – which they call iDeyhontsigwa’ehs – a sacred gift from the Creator).

The Onondaga Nation (one of the “Iroquois” nations, and the seat of the confederation that the United States was based on and the world’s oldest living democracy) were playing “field Lacrosse” with the local colleges and universities in the area, commonly playing Syracuse University, Colgate University and Army in the early 1900’s.

In 1932, the Olympics wanted to showcase lacrosse in Los Angeles. The Onondaga Nation team (undefeated against collegiate competition) was chosen to play – you guessed it – Johns Hopkins to represent the sport. Sadly, Hopkins won, but the USA Lacrosse association was intimidated enough by the Onondagas that they banned all native teams from playing field lacrosse (considering them “professional” players). That’s when they started playing box lacrosse, which is basically lacrosse in a hockey rink (without the ice, and with about a tenth the padding; not for the feint hearted).

Despite a lot of good teams and players over the years (including possibly the best lacrosse player of all time – not to mention perhaps the best running back and track star ever – Jim Brown; in 1957, SU was undefeated behind Brown and their All-American goalie Oren Lyons, Faithkeeper of the Turtle Clan of the Onondagas, international environmental activist, and friend of Stevie Van Zandt), SU lacrosse went more or less unnoticed as the USILA awarded national titles in lieu of a playoff system to the more ‘elite’ schools (quite often to – you guessed it – Johns Hopkins).

In 1983, SU was coached by Roy Simmons Jr, who’d succeeded his father (Roy Simmons Sr, who had coached Jim Brown and Oren Lyons) in 1971. Roy Jr is an artist, and he coached that way, allowing his players the freedom to express themselves in the way they played. They also had a tendency to knock people on their asses when they got in the way (more akin to the Hau de no sau nee style than what the rich frat boys were used to). So the lacrosse ‘elite’ dismissed (sneered at, even) Syracuse. But they went 13-1, and made it to the championship game for the first time ever.

At a banquet attended by both teams on the night before the game, Simmons was asked to say a few words. He took the opportunity to deliberately mispronounce the school name (he repeatedly referred to them as ‘John Hopkins,’ which is apparently the equivalent of saying the ‘Democrat Party’) and guarantee an SU win (at this point, Hopkins had been to seven straight championship games and hadn’t lost to SU since 1922). I think he pissed them off a bit.

Around here, we consider lacrosse to be “our” sport. Simmons was born and raised here, as was his assistant (current head coach, John Desko) and sixteen of the players (including the goalie, Travis Solomon, a member of the Onondaga nation). They weren’t just playing for the University, they were playing for ‘Syracuse.’

By about the halfway point of the third quarter, Hopkins was up 12-5, and their smug fans and coaches were full of smiles. Then SU went on a 9-1 tear, eventually going on to win 17-16, with Syracuse area players scoring 14 of of their 17 goals.

The popularity of the Syracuse style of play – once dismissed, and now copied – has made the lacrosse championship the most attended NCAA championship event (yes, that’s correct, more people attend it than attend even the basketball final four). Some 50,000 people will be at the game this afternoon in Foxboro, and ESPN even has the ‘sky cam’ in effect (more synchronicity. ESPN has SU alum Dave Ryan and former Johns Hopkins goalie Quint Kessenich calling the game). All for people who are regular size human beings who actually have to go to class once in a while and don’t get full-ride scholarships.

So, there’s your Syracuse lacrosse history lesson for the day. Let’s just hope SU can bring home another National Championship. We’ve had a couple tough sports years around here, and a win today would help take the sting out of going back to work tomorrow.

Happy Memorial Day everybody!

UPDATE: Foxboro, Mass — The Syracuse University men’s lacrosse team came all the way back from last season’s 5-8 record, defeating Johns Hopkins 13-10 at Gillette Stadium to win its 10th Division I national championship. The Orange became the second team in NCAA history to go from missing the playoffs one season to winning the title the next. The other team? The 1983 SU team, which was honored at halftime on the 25th anniversary of that special season.

Granny put me to work yesterday, so now I can’t sit and type for long. Therefore (and in honor of the holiday weekend), I’ll just be cutting and pasting today….

Press the Meat:
CBN’s David Brody, Maureen Dowd of the New York Times, presidential historian Doris Kearns Goodwin, PBS’s Gwen Ifill, Ruth Marcus of the Washington Post and Jon Meacham of Newsweek magazine

Plus, a look back at the life and legacy of former Carter White House Chief of Staff Hamilton Jordan, who died Tuesday at the age of 63.

Faze the Nation:
Howard Wolfson, Director of Communications, Clinton Campaign Sen. Lindsey Graham
(R) South Carolina Sen. Dick Durbin, (D) Illinois

Fux News Sunday:
Terry McAuliffe, Clinton campaign chairman
• Rep. Chris Van Hollen, D-Md., chairman of the Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee
• Rep. Tom Cole, R-Okla., chairman of the National Republican Congressional Committee
And the Fuxheads.

This Weak with George Snufalufagus:
David Axelrod, senior advisor to the Obama campaign, Karl Rove, on the “Roundtable,” Vanity Fair’s Dee Dee Myers, The Washington Post’s E.J. Dionne, ABC News political contributor Matthew Dowd, and ABC News’ George :jerk: Will.

CNN Late Emission:
Maj. Gen. Mark Hertling, Rep. Jane Harman: (D) California, Rep. David Dreier: (R) California,
Gene Sperling: Clinton Economic Adviser, Douglas Holtz-Eakin: McCain Economic Adviser, Robert Reich: Obama Supporter, Mary Tillman: Pat Tillman’s mother.

Have a good one.

Happy Saturday. I know that’s lame, but it’s all I got.

I watched Fahrenheit 9/11 again last night. We can’t let this happen again. I don’t care if you hate Obama and/or Clinton. McCain will be a disaster. Please, don’t tell me you’re willing to let McCain be preznit just because ‘your’ candidate didn’t get the nomination, or you feel dissed by the other campaign, or people who support the other candidate just plain piss you off.

It’s more important than all of that. It really is. From Net Neutrality to warrantless wiretapping to 100 years in Iraq to Supreme Court justices to torture, to, well, to everything that affects us and our lives, please, don’t hold out for a ‘pure’ candidate, ‘cuz you know what? I aint running.

And anybody else is just settling.

Good news about Maron being on AAR next week. Will he be on Monday? Maybe I can actually listen live. I’ll get the chat room ready to go, in case anybody wants to live chat during the show (although, based on recent activity, there might not be many people out there).

In other good news, DirecTV 11 should be parked more or less in its final orbit some time today. Another 3 weeks to a month of testing and tweaking, and I’ll hopefully have local HD channels, and some more national HD channels (at least anther HBO, and I think a few more are set to come on board). Got to watch Apollo 13 on HD Net Movies last night, and it was great (it was the most trouble Bill Paxton had, until he got three wives on Big Love). There’s a scene at the beginning where they’re watching Neil Armstrong step out onto the moon. If you weren’t here on Earth when that happened, you can’t truly comprehend what that was like to watch it right there on the teevee. Ah, the good old US of A really used to be something, back in the day.

Been doing a lot of computing at work. Makes the day go fast, but I haven’t had a chance to keep up on all the goings-on that are going on. Back to the shit hole today, though, so maybe I’ll be able to keep you guys on your toes.

Later.

It’s not Friday, but it’s close.

Not a lot to say this morning. I feel bad about Teddy. Of course, people go through just as bad – and worse – every day. People whose families – on top of having to deal with the potential loss of a loved one and provider – don’t have the means to pay for the best treatment money can buy. So I reckon Teddy at least doesn’t have to worry about the money aspect.

Unfortunately for Teddy, “the best healthcare money can buy” probably means an aggressive combination of chemo and radiation, followed by periodic aggressive chemo treatments. In other words, he’ll more or less be tortured to death while being lauded for his fighting spirit, because staying alive at any cost no matter how miserable that makes your final days is what it’s all about (at least for the medical/pharmaceutical industrial complex).

Better to have 18 months of miserable, undignified life than six months spent with your loved ones being made as comfortable as possible and taking time to smell the roses, right? That extra time spent puking your guts out or rotting in hospital waiting rooms is more than worth it, isn’t it?

I hope somebody lets him smoke pot, at least.

I dunno. Why the hell does Teddy have to have a brain tumor, while Bush, Cheney, et al live to fuck the world for yet another day?

Visakha Puja, is a big day for Buddhists (not that I’m an expert). To put it in Christian perspective (which, being a heathen and all, I am also no expert in), it’s a bit like Christmas, Good Friday, and Jesus’ realization at age 12 all rolled into one. Today (the day of the full moon in May) is the day that the Buddha was born, and also the day 35 years after that when he had his “self-awakening,” and also the day that, 45 years after that, he passed away into total Nibbāna (aka, Nirvana), from eating bad pork, I think.

So, whatever you do today, whether you offer flowers, candles, and incense in material homage (amisa-puja), or offer homage through “the practice” (meditation to develop the mind so that it may stand in its own inner goodness, independent of outside ickiness) — patipatti-puja (which is just downright fun to say, and something I would love to be able to master) — or just go out to the park with the puppies after work and try to become one with the trees for an hour before drinking yourself to sleep, Happy Buddha Day!

Oh, and lay off the pork.

Nice weekend here, lacrosse-wise. The SU Women won, putting them into the Final Four for the first time ever, under first-year coach Gary Gait (I’m sure most – more likely none – of you have never heard of him – let alone care – but he’s a former SU player who is to lacrosse as Michael Jordan is to basketball or Wayne Gretsky is to hockey). LeMoyne College’s mens team won, meaning they’ll be playing for their third straight (and fourth since 2004) Division II national championship next weekend. Cortland also won, sending them to their third straight Division III championship game. And to cap of the weekend, SU beat Notre Dame yesterday, returning them to their rightful place in the Division I final four.

Otherwise, back to friggin’ work again.