Will Morris's LiveJournal

netquiddler — Fri, 25 Feb 2011 05:35:03 GMT

What American accent do you have?
Created by Xavier on Memegen.net

Mid-Atlantic. This is what everyone calls a Philadelphia accent although it's also the accent of south Jersey, Baltimore, and Wilmington. Well, everyone that lives near there, that is. Outsiders can tell you talk differently from them even though they can't tell what your accent is.

If you are not from there, you are probably one of the following:
(a) A New Yorker who, unlike most New Yorkers, rhymes "on" with "dawn"; or
(b) A Yat from New Orleans.
You are probably not from Eastern New England or the Great Lakes area, and certainly not from anywhere in the West or Canada.

Take this quiz now - it's easy!

Writer's Block: Trick or treat

netquiddler — Mon, 25 Oct 2010 02:18:09 GMT

Yes, I'm going to dress up.

I will be wearing a pointy hat adorned with tea bags and a black robe, and I will carry a pocket Constitution.

That's right, I'm not a witch. Now where does it say 'separation of church and state' again?

Shortcut Attempt.

netquiddler — Thu, 09 Sep 2010 22:02:51 GMT

Yesterday, in calculus III class, we learned that the formula of a sphere is given by:

[;(x-h)^2+(y-k)^2+(z-l)^2=r^2;]

where the center is at [;(h,k,l);] and the radius is [;r;]. Now, my professor has decided to give us problems like this:

[;x^2+y^2+z^2-4x+6y-2z+6=0;]

asking whether this is a formula for a sphere, and if so, what is its center and radius. This problem would be solved like this.

[;x^2+y^2+z^2+4x-6y+2z+6=0;]

[;x^2+4x+y^2-6y+z^2+2z=-6;]

[;x^2+4x+4+y^2-6y+9+z^2+2z+1=-6+4+9+1;]

[;(x+2)^2+(y-3)^2+(z-1)^2=8;]

This shows a sphere with a radius of [;2\sqrt{2};] and a center of [;(-2,3,-1);]. (We would not have a sphere if we ended up with a nonpositive radius.)

Now, rather than having to trudge through that work every time we do this problem, I think I'm going to be clever.

Suppose we have a problem in this form:

[;x^2+y^2+z^2+Ax+By+Cz+D=0;]

We can do the same thing to this problem.

[;x^2+y^2+z^2+Ax+By+Cz+D=0;]

[;x^2+Ax+y^2+By+z^2+Cz=-D;]

[;x^2+Ax+\left(\frac{A}{2}\right)^2+y^2+By+\left(\frac{B}{2}\right)^2+z^2+Cz+\left(\frac{C}{2}\right)^2=\left(\frac{A}{2}\right)^2+\left(\frac{B}{2}\right)^2+\left(\frac{C}{2}\right)^2-D;]

[;\left(x+\frac{A}{2}\right)^2+\left(y+\frac{B}{2}\right)^2+\left(z+\frac{C}{2}\right)^2=\frac{A^2+B^2+C^2}{4}-D;]

This leaves us a sphere if and only if [;\frac{A^2+B^2+C^2}{4}>D;]. Now if [;D;] is negative, then this will always be true. If [;D;] is zero, then [;A;], [;B;], and [;C;] would all have to be zero for this to be false.

Any sphere, then, has a center of [;\left(-\frac{A}{2},-\frac{B}{2},-\frac{C}{2}\right);] and a radius of [;\frac{\sqrt{A^2+B^2+C^2-4D}}{2};].

I think this is a valid shortcut. What say the rest of you?

[To see formulas: http://thewe.net/tex]

Apparently, I write tough trivia.

netquiddler — Thu, 27 May 2010 05:30:45 GMT

So I help out at the local bar, writing one themed round of trivia for the weekly trivia contest. I offer three possible rounds a week, and just roll forward the two that aren't used.

This week, we ended up doing the Shakespeare category. This got me gripes, because apparently I write the questions too hard. You guys tell me. I present the round.

Shakespeare’s plays were often written in iambic pentameter. How many syllables are there in a standard line of iambic pentameter?

In which of Shakespeare’s plays can one find the title character lamenting, “A horse, a horse, my kingdom for a horse!”

What 1999 film starring Heath Ledger and Julia Stiles is a loose adaptation of Shakespeare’s The Taming of the Shrew?

In the backstage world of theatre, one of the Bard’s plays is cursed. Which play is often referred to as “The Scottish Play” to avoid saying its name aloud?

The line “All the world’s a stage” from As You Like It might be a reference to what London theatre, home to Lord Chamberlain’s Men?

Upon his death, pianist Andre Tchaikowsky donated his skull to the Royal Shakespeare Company for the use in productions of what play?

The name of what character from The Merchant of Venice has become a verb, meaning to lend money at exorbitant rates?

The Bard wrote many plays about kings. Who is the only Shakespearean title character that is a queen?

Rupert Everett and Michelle Pfeiffer played the king and queen of fairies in the 1999 film version of what Shakespeare play?

Romeo and Juliet is one of the Bard’s most famous plays. Name the households to which the two young lovers belong.

You tell me, was it too difficult?

Trying a meme

netquiddler — Wed, 08 Jul 2009 07:09:21 GMT

Reply to this meme by yelling "Words!" and I will give you five words that remind me of you. Then post them in your LJ and explain what they mean to you.

From dark_puck: math, sports, supermarket, Dragnet, politeness.

math: Well, what can I say, I've always been good at math, and I am going to college to become a math teacher.

sports: Ah, yes, the human drama of athletic competition. I'm a sports nut, and have been since I was eight. I try to follow as many as I can.

supermarket: My job for the last four years. Would be a lot easier if it wasn't for the customers. Then again, if it wasn't for the customers, I would be out of a job.

Dragnet: The format of most of my customers_suck entries. I forget exactly why I started doing it, I think I just liked the way I could phrase the opening line.

politeness: How I was raised. As someone who is supposed to be the epitome of the Christian Gentlemen, I try to act it as much as I can,

A bit of a math problem.

netquiddler — Fri, 15 May 2009 21:18:13 GMT

Just throwing this out there, 'cause I can...

Let's say that you were playing poker with a standard pinochle deck. What order should the hands rank in, if you assume that the least-likely hand ranks highest and the most-likely hand ranks lowest?

Note: eligible hands are as follows, as done with a standard poker deck:

5 of a kind
straight flush
4 of a kind
Full House
Flush
Straight
3 of a kind
Two Pair
One Pair
High Card

So let me get this straight.

netquiddler — Wed, 06 May 2009 21:23:09 GMT

So our friends at Dairy Queen have this new "Sweet Deals" package, where it's any two of nine items for $3, any three for $4, any four for $5, and they advertise over 20,000 different combinations.

Sounds like false advertising to me, there's only 705 by my count:

36 possible: 2 different items from 9
9 possible: 2 of the same item from 9
45 possible two-item combos

84 possible: 3 different items from 9
72 possible: 2 of one item, 1 of a second from 9
9 possible: 3 of one item from 9
165 possible three-item combos

126 possible: 4 different items from 9
252 possible: 2 of one item, 1 of a second, 1 of a third from 9
36 possible: 2 of one item, 2 of a second from 9
72 possible: 3 of one item, 1 of a second from 9
9 possible: 4 of one item from 9
495 possible four-item combos

45+165+495 = 705, which is a far cry from 20,000.

Looks like it's on.

netquiddler — Sun, 12 Apr 2009 05:34:55 GMT

And it's going to be Flyers-Penguins in the first round. Hey, Justin? You up for a gentleman's wager?

Sea Kitten High School

netquiddler — Sun, 11 Jan 2009 02:32:41 GMT

Is it possible that Spearfish High School will be the next school with a name controversy?

The University of North Dakota has been in and out, but mostly in controversy over its Fighting Sioux nickname over the recent years. The school adopted the slogan in 1930.

Now PETA, or the People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals, is eying Spearfish High School for a name change.

Sea Kitten High School, it doesn't quite have the same ring to it.

PETA sent Principal Steve Morford a letter Wednesday asking him to “launch an initiative to change the name of his school to Sea Kitten High and encourage everyone to refer to fish and other marine animals as sea kittens.”

"If Spearfish High School became Sea Kitten High and everyone in town starts calling fish 'sea kittens,' fewer of these gentle animals would be violently killed for food, painfully hooked for 'sport,' or cruelly confined to aquariums," said PETA's "Save the Sea Kittens" campaign coordinator Ashley Byrne. "Schools strive for achievements in academics and sports, so why not add compassion to the list?"

The suggestion is “tongue-in-cheek-which beats a hook in the mouth any day, PETA believes.”

Morford assured the community that the school would not change its name.

“It's nothing that we're taking seriously and it's not going to happen,” he said with a chuckle. “The Spearfish Spartans have a long standing tradition of being the Spearfish Spartans and they will stay that way.”

PETA staffers said they sent the letter to “Raise awareness how we can all be kinder to animals and the fact that nobody would ever hurt a dog or a cat, but there are more fish killed each year than all other all other animals combined,” said Pulin Modi, a supervisor for PETA2, the youth division of PETA. “It's a tongue-in-cheek kind of way to raise these issues �- it would be great if they did (change their names) because we know, young people especially are naturally and drawn to and are kind to animals.

“Fish feel fear and experience the pain just like all animals do that have a complex nervous system,” Modi said.

But PETA's suggested name change didn't sit well with some Spearfish residents

“That's crazy,” said Marc Casavan, owner of Mark's Barber Shop in Spearfish. “You don't do that in South Dakota, Wyoming or Montana. Those states are animal hungry - fish hungry.”

Casavan said that PETA's ploy will soon become “the butt of many jokes.”

“This isn't California,” he said flabbergasted. “You can get away with that there but not here.”

He said he looked forward to the paper coming out and added it would be the talk of the day at the shop.

Council member Eric Davis saw the letter and “immediately” sent a memo to Spearfish City Council members stating that they may want to look into changing the name of the community.

Spearfish resident Patty Tetrault had to ask her daughter, Sydney “Is this a joke?”

“After all we live in South Dakota,” she said.

A reader identified only as Dave wrote “Dear PETA,

Thank you for your letter. We too are troubled by the dysfunctional name of our local school and have taken your suggestion under advisement. After many hours of discussion, we have decided to change the name of our school. Introducing for the first time (thanks to you) Stabtrout High School, home of the Eyepoppers.”

“That's ridiculous,” said Raenae Raga a Spearfish High School graduate. “Unless we change the name of our town too, it doesn't really make sense.”

“I think God put animals on earth to provide for us,” said Paula Vostad Spearfish resident.

Many business and landmarks in the area are named after Spearfish.

The Historic D.C. Booth Sea Kitten Hatchery?

The Sea Kitten Chamber of Commerce?

Sea Kitten Canyon?

They don't have the same impact.

I can see it now, after a day of visiting Sturgis during the annual Sturgis Motorcycle Rally a burly biker is going to come to Spearfish, sorry, Sea Kitten and buy a T-shirt as his was drenched in an afternoon rainstorm. “I love Sea Kittens” with a big pink “Sea Kitten” on the back.

But on the plus side for PETA the fight song for Spearfish is “Anchors Aweigh.” Will the environmental group want the school to stick with that or will it want a change to something less violent like “Under the Sea” the hit song from “The Little Mermaid”?

PETA even has a “create your own Sea Kitten” on its Web Site.

PETA also sent a similar letter to Whitefish High School in Whitefish, Mont., requesting the same name change, according to PETA's blog.

Wait... what?!

I don't get it.

netquiddler — Mon, 05 Jan 2009 22:47:31 GMT

How is it that I have a coworker that apparently has the hots for me? This is not supposed to happen.

Paging Scott Norwood...

netquiddler — Sun, 28 Dec 2008 20:34:37 GMT

Too bad they had to straighten them, Norwood would have LOVED kicking at those.

netquiddler — Wed, 17 Dec 2008 01:16:38 GMT

There Are 0 Gaps in Your Knowledge

Where you have gaps in your knowledge:

No Gaps!

Where you don't have gaps in your knowledge:

Philosophy

Religion

Economics

Literature

History

Science

Art

Do You Have Gaps in Your Knowledge?

Wait.

netquiddler — Fri, 05 Dec 2008 04:02:30 GMT

So now we have "Prop 8 - The Musical"?

See more Jack Black videos at Funny or Die

I have to admit, this is pretty darn awesome.

Okay, someone screwed up...

netquiddler — Sun, 23 Nov 2008 23:01:36 GMT

Okay, someone screwed up...
Originally uploaded by wjmorris3

Seriously, I know Barack wants Hillary to be Secretary of State, but why that headline?

Meme time...

netquiddler — Fri, 14 Nov 2008 03:46:59 GMT

(yoinked from gridlore)

If you saw ME in a police car, what would you think I got arrested for? Answer me, then post to your own journal and see how many crimes you get accused of.

Rock Band 2

netquiddler — Sun, 19 Oct 2008 19:55:15 GMT

Well, I picked up Rock Band 2 today...

Naturally, as a game show buff, I had to name my band "Have You Got A Nickel?"

Seven down, four to go!

netquiddler — Thu, 16 Oct 2008 03:49:03 GMT

And the Phillies are off to the World Series! Woohoo!

gridlore, you still with us for the World Series? After all, those teams like the Rays and the Red Sox don't understand that baseball is a game played by two teams of nine players apiece. (This is not meant as an affront to those two teams in particular, just as a statement against the designated hitter, which there should be a constitutional amendment outlawing the use of.)

netquiddler — Tue, 14 Oct 2008 03:52:56 GMT

This post intentionally left blank.

Note to self.

netquiddler — Thu, 09 Oct 2008 02:42:41 GMT

Next time the professor of my statistics class asks me for a possible outcome when one rolls a single die, perhaps it's best not to give the answer "17", and when he gives me a strange look, perhaps it's best not to protest with "You didn't say it was a six-sided die."

Guess That Song time again...

netquiddler — Thu, 18 Sep 2008 05:39:14 GMT

A. put your mp3 player or computer music player on random.
B. post the first three or four lines from the first 25 songs that play, no matter how embarrassing the song (skip instrumentals and/or any song that gives away the title in the opening lines).
C. post, and let your friends guess which song and artist the lines come from.
D. NO googling!

1. Let’s have bizarre celebrations... let’s forget who forget what forget where... we’ll have bizarre celebrations... I’ll play the Satyr in Cypris, you the bride being stripped bare...

2. Tonight it's very clear... as we're both lying here... there's so many things I want to say... I will always love you... I would never leave you alone...

~~3. I used to think maybe you loved me, now baby I'm sure... and I just can't wait till the day when you knock on my door...~~ Yep, this is "Walking on Sunshine" alright, by Katrina and the Waves.

4. Baby, look at me... and tell me what you see... you ain't seen the best of me yet... give me time, I'll make you forget the rest...

5. Where are those happy days, they seem so hard to find... I tried to reach for you, but you have closed your mind...

~~6. I was driving on the freeway in the fast lane with a rabid wolverine in my underwear when suddenly a guy behind me in the back seat popped right up and cupped his hands across my eyes...~~ Identified as Weird Al's "Everything You Know Is Wrong".

~~7. Well, I remember every little thing as if it happened only yesterday... parking by the lake and there was not another car in sight...~~ This is indeed Meat Loaf's "Paradise by the Dashboard Lights".

~~8. I don't mind you comin' here... and wastin' all my time... 'cause when youre standin' oh so near... I kinda lose my mind...~~ I guess this is "Just What I Needed" by the Cars.

~~9. Finished with my woman 'cause she couldn't help me with my mind... people think I'm insane because I am frowning all the time...~~ This is "Paranoid" by Black Sabbath.

~~10. White man came... across the sea... he brought us pain... and misery... he killed our tribes... he killed our creed... he took our game... for his own need...~~ This is Iron Maiden and "Run To The Hills".

~~11. Woke up this mornin' feelin' fine... there's somethin' special on my mind... last night I met a new girl in the neighborhood...~~ This is "I'm Into Something Good" by Herman's Hermits.

~~12. Well me and Homer Jones and Big John Talley had a big crap game goin' back in the alley... and I kept rollin' them sevens... and winnin' all them pots...~~ Well, "When You're Hot, You're Hot". (Yep, this is the Jerry Reed song.)

~~13. Someday mother will die and I'll get the money... Mom leans down and says "My sentiments exactly"...~~ "I Palindrome I" here (They Might Be Giants.)

~~14. I took her out... it was a Friday night... I wore cologne... to get the feeling right... we started making out... and she took off my pants... but then I turned on the TV...~~ "What's My Age Again?" by blink-182.

15. Your lights are on... but you're not home... your mind... is not your own... your heart sweats... your body shakes... another kiss... is what it takes...

~~16. It ain't no joke, I'd like to buy the world a toke, and teach the world to sing in perfect harmony...~~ "Walking On The Sun" by Smash Mouth.

~~17. You know I never... I never seen you look so good... you never act the way you should... but I like it...~~ Yep, this is "Talk Dirty To Me" by Poison.

~~18. In the day we sweat it out on the streets of a runaway American dream... at night we ride through mansions of glory in suicide machines...~~ And this is Bruce Springsteen's "Born To Run".

19. Your everlasting summer, you can see it fading fast... so you grab a piece of something that you think is gonna last...

20. It could be ten, but then again, I can't remember half an hour since a quarter to four... throw on your clothes, the second side of Surfer Rosa, and you leave me with my jaw on the floor...

21. Where I come from isn't all that great... my automobile is a piece of crap... my fashion sense is a little whack, and my friends are just as screwy as me...

22. I plopped down in my easy chair and turned on Channel Two... a bad gunslinger called Salty Sam was chasin' poor Sweet Sue...

~~23. It's poetry in motion... and when she turned her eyes to me... as deep as any ocean... as sweet as any harmony...~~ "She Blinded Me With Science" by Thomas Dolby.

~~24. I walk a lonely road, the only one that I have ever known... don't know where it goes, but it's home to me and I walk alone...~~ And this is "Boulevard of Broken Dreams" by Green Day.

~~25. I am just a poor boy and my story's seldom told, I've squandered my resistance... for a pocketful of mumbles, such are promises...~~ Simon and Garfunkel's "The Boxer".

Semi-tough baseball question

netquiddler — Sat, 13 Sep 2008 04:12:00 GMT

Just because enfarcer has managed to post a few on his blog, I have to give the semi-tough trivia question.

Who is the only pitcher that is the career saves leader for two different teams?

(Note: only saves recorded by a pitcher as a member of that club count for each club's list.)

Play nice, don't Google, et cetera.

I am amused.

netquiddler — Thu, 04 Sep 2008 02:04:30 GMT

Well, I just found out that my statistics professor's name is Mr. William Mays.

No, we won't be saying "hey" to him.

Yep, Guess That Song Time.

netquiddler — Sun, 17 Aug 2008 21:07:29 GMT

A. put your mp3 player or computer music player on random.
B. post the first three or four lines from the first 25 songs that play, no matter how embarrassing the song (skip instrumentals and/or any song that gives away the title in the opening lines).
C. post, and let your friends guess which song and artist the lines come from.
D. NO googling!

~~1. We're leaving together... but still it's farewell... and maybe we'll come back... to earth, who can tell?~~ One for thelegendarystm...

~~2. Gettin' born in the state of Mississippi, Papa was a copper and Mama was a hippie... in Alabama, she would swing a hammer, price you gotta pay when you break the panorama...~~ Two for thelegendarystm...

~~3. Well, she got her daddy's car and she cruised through the hamburger stand now... seems she forgot all about the library like she told her old man now...~~ One for kelpierocks...

~~4. I met a devil woman... she took my heart away... she said I had it comin' to me... but I wanted it that way...~~ One for marc412...

~~5. Went to a party the other night... all the ladies were treating me right... moving my feet to the disco beat... how in the world could I keep my seat?~~ Two for kelpierocks...

~~6. What's the matter with the clothes I'm wearing, can't you tell that your tie's too wide? Maybe I should buy some old tab collars, Welcome back to the age of jive...~~ Three for thelegendarystm...

~~7. He was a hard-headed man, he was brutally handsome, and she was terminally pretty... she held him up, and he held her for ransom in the heart of the cold, cold city...~~ Three for kelpierocks...

~~8. I close my eyes... only for a moment, then the moment's gone... all my dreams... pass before my eyes, a curiosity...~~ Four for thelegendarystm...

~~9. Just a castaway, an island lost at sea... another lonely day, With no one here but me... more loneliness than any man could bear... rescue me before I fall into despair...~~ Five for thelegendarystm...

~~10. Now if youre feelin' kinda low bout the dues youve been paying, future's coming much too slow... and you wanna run but somehow you just keep on stayin', can't decide on which way to go...~~ Two for marc412...

~~11. Let's get down to business... to defeat... the Huns... did they send me daughters... when I asked... for sons?~~ One for okashiichan...

~~12. She keeps Moet et Chandon in a pretty cabinet... 'Let them eat cake' she says, just like Marie Antoinette...~~ Four for kelpierocks...

~~13. Out here in the fields... I fight for my meals... I get my back into my living... I don't need to fight... To prove I'm right... I don't need to be forgiven...~~ One for gridlore...

14. Let’s have bizarre celebrations... let’s forget who forget what forget where... we’ll have bizarre celebrations... I’ll play the Satyr in Cypris, you the bride being stripped bare...

~~15. Hey, hey, mama, said the way you mov, gonna make you sweat, gonna make you groove... oh, oh, child, way you shake that thing, gonna make you burn, gonna make you sting...~~ Five for kelpierocks...

~~16. Good evening, ladies and gentlemen, here's a little number I tossed off recently in the Caribbean...~~ Six for thelegendarystm...

17. Tonight it's very clear... as we're both lying here... there's so many things I want to say... I will always love you... I would never leave you alone...

~~18. Sitting on the park bench... eyeing little girls with bad intent... snot is running down his nose... greasy fingers smearing shabby clothes...~~ Two for gridlore...

~~19. Alo... salut... sunt eu, un... haiduc... si te rog... iubirea mea, primeste... fericirea... alo... alo... sunt eu... Picasso, Ti-am dat beep...si sunt voinic... Dar sa stii nu-ti cer nimic...~~ One for bloodfyr...

~~20. You got me runnin' goin out of my mind... you got me thinkin that Im wastin my time...~~ Six for kelpierocks...

21. I used to think maybe you loved me, now baby I'm sure... and I just can't wait till the day when you knock on my door...

22. Quando sono sola sogno all'orizzonte e mancan le parole... si lo so che non c'è luce in una stanza quando manca il sole... se non ci sei tu con me, con me... Two for okashiichan...

~~23. We all came out to Montreux... on the Lake Geneva shoreline... To make records with a mobile... we didn't have much time...~~ Seven for kelpierocks...

~~24. Must it take a life for hateful eyes to glisten once again... five hundred years like Gelignite have blown us all to hell...~~ Two for bloodfyr...

25. You can tell the world... you never was my girl... you can burn my clothes when I'm gone... or you can tell your friends... just what a fool I've been... and laugh and joke about me on the phone... One for synonym4shedog...

It needs to be said.

netquiddler — Thu, 14 Aug 2008 23:46:43 GMT

First off, a link to what happened can be found here. The text is included behind this cut, for those who are afraid of outside links.

BEIJING - Some athletes are happy to get any Olympic medal, even if it's bronze.

Some feel it's a failure, but stand respectfully on the podium and accept it.

For one Swedish wrestler, it means the end of his career - and he made sure everyone knew it on the world's biggest stage.

After he took the bronze in the 84 kilogram weight class, two-time former world champion Ara Abrahamian said, "I don't care about this medal. I wanted gold. This will be my last match. I wanted to take gold, so I consider this Olympics a failure."

He certainly didn't like the color of his medal. During the medal ceremony, he took the bronze from around his neck and, in disgust, dropped it on the mat in protest as he walked away.

Abrahamian had to be restrained from going after the mat-side officials following his loss and, storming away from the mixed zone where interviews are conducted, slammed a door to the dressing rooms so hard it shook an entire wall. He weighed whether to skip the bronze-medal match, only to have friends talk him into competing.

The public display came after a disputed point in Abrahamian's contest against gold medal winner Andrea Minguzzi of Italy.

Sweden coach Leo Myllar used words much stronger than disputed.
"It's all politics, and it's all corrupt," he said.

In the oft-mysterious world of international wrestling, in which the rules are quirky and can be interpreted in widely varying ways, sometimes it's all in the game.

Abrahamian's unhappiness doesn't take away from Minguzzi 's accomplishment. He did a backflip, hoisted his coach and hauled him to the middle of the mat, wrapped himself in the Italian flag and ran a victory lap around the arena.

A happy winner, obviously, after coming from nowhere to steal wrestling's most coveted prize when he defeated Zoltan Fodor of Hungary in the 84-kilogram finals Thursday.

"To me, it is worth the world," Minguzzi said. "I am ecstatic right now. I couldn't be happier."

The win makes him Italy's first Olympic wrestling champion in 20 years.

Fodor, also an unlikely finalist, was eighth in the world last year and, only three years ago, was 30th in the world juniors.

But not as unlikely as Minguzzi, who had finished 45th, 18th, 17th, 28th and 27th in his previous five world championship tournaments.

Nazmi Avluca of Turkey shared bronze with Abrahamian, the silver medalist in Athens.

Fodor won the first period of the gold-medal match 1-1 on tiebreaker, but Minguzzi won the second by the same score before throwing Fodor in the third to win 4-0 and finish off the day of his life.

Minguzzi's golden day proved that even a relatively obscure wrestler - despite his third-place finish in this year's European championships - can get hot and win the Olympics, especially with all matches in a weight class now wrestled in one day.

Minguzzi certainly couldn't hide his delight, hugging and kissing the flower girls on the medal stand, biting into his gold medal and playing to the crowd, which reveled in his enthusiasm.

Before Minguzzi, the last Italian to win an Olympic wrestling gold was Vincenzo Maenza, who won at 48 kg in 1984 and 1988.

Maybe that proved some inspiration as Minguzzi's father, himself a former wrestler, taught him the sport from an early age.

"It's the only sport I've ever practiced," he said.

Brad Vering, last year's world silver medalist from the United States, lost to Denis Forov of Armenia in the round of 16 and did not medal. He plans to retire.

"It doesn't end up the way I wanted it to end up, but I'm not going to let my whole career just ride on one loss in the Olympic Games," said Vering, a former NCAA champion at Nebraska.

For full disclosure, I was a wrestler for two and a half seasons for St. Augustine Prep in Richland, New Jersey. I also played football for four years for the Hermits.

I admit, we didn't have the best teams. As a football team, we won all of nine games in four years. In wrestling, we qualified for the team playoffs only once while I was at the school, and I never got the chance to wrestle in the district tournament, towards an individual state title.

That said, we understood what sportsmanship was. The trying as hard as you can to win the game between the whistles, and when it's all over, to shake the opponent's hand for a game well played.

I can only imagine what it would be like to represent the United States in wrestling in the Olympic Games. It would be a truly awesome experience. Had I done well enough to medal, I hope that I would be humble enough to accept it with honor, instead of reject it in a hissy fit like Mr. Abrahamian did. After all, finishing a joint third in the world at one's weight class is a damned good accomplishment.

What makes this worse, in my mind, is that Mr. Abrahamian violated the Olympic Oath with his conduct. The Olympic Oath, recited by one athlete on behalf of all at the Opening Ceremony, reads: "In the name of all the competitors I promise that we shall take part in these Olympic Games, respecting and abiding by the rules which govern them, committing ourselves to a sport without doping and without drugs, in the true spirit of sportsmanship, for the glory of sport and the honor of our teams." What Mr. Abrahamian did is neither sportsmanlike, nor glorious, nor honorable.

Now, had I been in charge of the IOC, I believe that this blatantly unsportsmanlike act should be punished by a revocation of his bronze medal. Not one to change the results of the competition in this case, the bronze would remain vacant. I wonder what the IOC will do?

A tough baseball trivia question.

netquiddler — Wed, 06 Aug 2008 05:23:06 GMT

Just posting this because I think enfarcer won't know this one...

What one-time St. Louis Cardinals pitcher holds the record for the most wins in a League Championship Series?

Answers in the comments please...