12 angry men and the fuego

this should be a pretty fun weekend. tonight, heather and i are going to take in 12 angry men. wow, that sounds terrible. i mean, we're going to see the play 12 angry men over at second space theater



i loved this movie and am excited to see how it is adapted as a live show. and, $16 isn't that bad of a ticket price. i think we'll probably go out to dinner before and make quite a night of it.

on saturday morning, i get to head up to turlock for a track meet. this could be interesting because they have a brand spanking new track facility. the bad thing is that i have to leave at 6:30 in the morning. ugh.

saturday evening i get to check out the fresno fuego vs the san jose earthquakes. i'm sure both teams will look a little sloppy, as they're both in their pre-season. hopefully it won't rain too hard on us.



and let me give a special thanks to fresno famous. i won the tickets for the fuego game on their website. it seems that no one enters their contests because i have quite knack for winning tickets off them.

tumbleweeds are blowing by

yesterday i was able to watch a very enjoyable champion's league final. i didn't really care who won, as the teams that i follow that were in the league didn't make it to the finals.

today, i'm glad i wasn't able to watch the rangers play. they had fought their way back into a tie in the spl, with fellow glasgow team celtic. each team was playing someone else. celtic won. rangers lost. title clinched. ding dang.

not else much on the plate for today. lost isn't on tonight with a new episode (next week is a 2 hour episode). survivor is done. the office is done. what the heck am i supposed to do?

however, this weekend is on it's way and it's another potentially packed extravaganza.
friday night options:
-fuego play @ home
-possible poker game w/chums

saturday
-tower beautification
-possible podcast recording
-sudz in the city
-maybe bbq

sunday
-another fuego game
-maybe bbq

monday
-it's a holiday!
-maybe bbq

and don't know if anything is certain, but i think i'm cooking up tri tip this weekend.

fuegificent

tonight @ 5 the fresno fuego are playing against chivas usa. if you remember, we beat them last time we met. here's to hoping it happens again.

fuego vs chivas usa
chuckchansi stadium
5 pm
$15

fresno fuego over tacoma tide

on to the finals! tonight, the fuego are playing byu's team in the pdl western conference championship.

here are some photos from last night






anyway, the game was pretty good. we led 1-0 @ half, but the game was equalized in the 2nd. there was a foul in the box, which led to a penalty kick. the fuego keeper continued to be unimpressive. not only did he guess right on the direction, he also guessed that the shot was going low. he timed it right, yet somehow he still missed it. lame. so, the game went to overtime (heather and kasey weren't happy to have to sit through two 15 minute o.t. halves). our side scored two in the first, and one in the 2nd. 4-1 final.

i'm hoping we have a similar score tonight, but in regulation.

fuegificent

while i was out of town, the fresno fuego not only clinched a playoff spot, but they vaulted into first place! we host the playoff tournament on july 27-28.

now i know what i'm doing this weekend. i hope that we'll win friday night, and saturday i can bask in a championship for our side.

fuegeazy

so, mike and i went and saw the fuego whip up the bakersfield brigade on saturday night. the fuego played very well together, and looked very potent on the attack. our side scored 4, including a hat trick, and gave up two cheap goals in the last 15 minutes. good stuff overall.

today, i read a story that was from july 3. former u.s. national team player (3 world cups), eric wynalda signed to play with bakersfield. wha? dude's been retired two years, but still, national teamer, scored the first goal of the mls, now playing in the developmental league? maybe he's only playing home games, because he wasn't there saturday.

that win puts the fuego in second place, and the playoffs. but, right now we're only in 2nd on goal differential with one game to go. we need to win next saturday @ san francisco (currently 4th place) and hope that 3rd place ventura loses to l.a. storm (6th place). the first place san fernando are done, so maybe if we win 10-0, we can pass them on goal differential.

fuego game july 14

hey fresno! your soccer team has clawed back into playoff contention. they're 2nd, with only two games left. if they win out, they should get into the playoffs for the pdl, who takes the top two teams.

let's all go out to chuckchansi stadium this saturday @ 7:30 and cheer on the fuego. as an added bonus, we're playing bakersfield! let's keep our little brother to the south down!





*cross posted @ fresno famous

getting my iphone

so, as i mentioned on friday, i was going to try and get an iphone. i went over to the nearest at&t store @ 5, knowing the doors would open @ 6. i figured that this store near me would be the least crowded, and was right. a few people behind me had been at other stores and said that there were many more people, even up to 100 @ the apple store. me, i showed up an hour before open, and was about 30th in line. my friend mark showed up at about 5:15 or 5:30 and was about 6 people behind me. i would guess that there were 45 people in our line by 6.

a few minutes before 6, one of the workers came out, and announced that they would be letting small groups in to help the process along. they let the first group in at 6, about fifteen people, and it seemed like it would fly right along. but, nope. i'm still not sure why it took this first group so long to get it done, especially since all the set up & activation would take place @ home via the internet. i finally was in the door @ 6:45. by 7, i had my 8gig iphone and was out the door. simple.

along with the unexplained wait of the early people going in the door, the biggest frustration that i had with the process was that no one had an accurate idea of how many phones there actually were. i haven't read much news lately, and none of what little news i have read has said how many phones were out there. so, we're in line just guessing if were getting a phone. i figured that since the at&t stores were letting you buy one, and the apple stores would let you buy two, that each location had to have at least fifty. that was just my guess, and so as the 30th person in line i felt alright. when i went inside and was being assisted, i even asked the lady working with me if she knew how many they had. she didn't know, and said that the people in the back would just hand out the particular model requested, and that they were just going to tell them when they were getting low on supply. it seems to me that i would have been a little more helpful if they had told people how many phones would be available so you know if you're wasting your time or not. but, even if they ran out of phones, i would have just placed an order, and been on the priority delivery list.

as i said, i had my phone by 7. i wasn't going to be able to set up my phone right away because i was going to the fuego game at 7:30. btw, the game was a huge disappointment. not only did we lose to the last place team on terrible goals (good job keep!) but this loss eliminated the team from playoff contention. awesome. after the game, we went out for a bit. so, i didn't start setting up my phone until like 1 in the morning. the set up process all went really smoothly. basically, the longest part of the process was just waiting as all the music was loaded onto the phone.

so, here it is, my iphone getting set up.

will i or won't i

get an iphone today? we'll see. in a convergence of good things (heather got a small pay increase, and it was recently our anniversary) the plan is to get one of these beautiful little gadgets. so, i've been anticipating the release as well as following the details. in talking to people @ at&t and reading what's available on the 'net, i think i've got a reasonable understanding of what to expect.

when i was at the store asking questions, the person helping me asked, "are you going to camp out?"
"uh, what?"
"camp out?"
"no."

as i watched the mid-day news, it made me reflect on the strangeness that our culture has for somethings, especially these over-hyped electronic devices. xbox 360, playstation 3, and now the iphone. the wii wasn't released with such fanfare, but you're hard pressed to find one in a store now.

so, my current plan is something like this: at&t stores will close @ 4:30 to prepare and re-open @ 6. i'm thinking i will go to the nearest one about 5. i will stand in line. if i don't get a phone, okay. my current one still works. i can place an order and wait. heck, i've known about the phone for quite some time and have waited this long. shoot, i may not even go until 6.

an interesting note, apple is giving away free ones to their full time u.s. employees, and to half-timers that have been with the company over a year. so, heather's brother and sister-in-law will be both getting 8gig versions. her sister-in-law got pretty lucky on this, because she just recently was hired by apple. and, if i understand correctly, she's actually working customer service in the iphone division.

in other news, i'm trying to get some free tickets to tonight's fuego game from my work. we'll see. i'd like to go, but hoping we can get in for free. also, really good hip hop artist and nice guy ibid will be performing tonight @ veni vidi vicci's after 9:30, so i may stop in there.

galaxy vs fuego

in the first half, we were sitting behind the fuego goal, which was a good place to be if you: a)wanted to see goals; b)were a galaxy fan. fortunately, i was sporting my galaxy jersey and had a lot to cheer about. here's the third goal of the first half. look how wide open the galaxy attackers are on the goal.

is it a moral dilemma?

tonight, my local side is playing my mls team. i have jerseys for both. previously, when these teams have met, i've worn the mls gear. here's where the problem enters: my friend plays for the local side. in fact, he got us the tickets (some of his player comps). so, am i obligated to wear the local gear, and root for them? or do i go with the pro's?

quick hit

i see on the fuego website that fuego is supposed to be playing the armenian national team next wednesday (jan 17) @ chuckchansi park. anyone want to go? i do.

beckham, my darling, i love you.

you may or may not have heard, one of the most recognizable people in the world is coming to los angeles, to play for my favorite team. beckham is joining the galaxy, for the next five years. and, he actually turned down a contract w/real madrid (my international favs) to come to the states. why?
"There are so many great sports in America," the former Manchester United star said. "There are so many kids that play baseball, American football, basketball. But soccer is huge all around the world apart from America, so that's where I want to make a difference with the kids."

pretty cool. wants to come to the u.s. to raise the profile of the game. sweet. he'll be here in august.

sadly, the fuego (our local side) aren't playing the galaxy this year. unless, they run into them in the u.s. open cup.