USC gets Michael Cooper

My care level regarding women's college basketball is close to zero, but this news item involves USC and Michael Cooper. I loved Michael Cooper as a Laker in the golden days of Laker basketball, so I thought it would be a good upgrade for USC.

As for the team, well, they clearly need to do better than they have done in the recent past. It's a tough league with Stanford and Cal owning it for quite some time now, but maybe in a couple of years with Cooper's coaching, maybe we will get out of the funk and start winning some real games!

While the East goes into multiple Game 7's

The West is all set with Denver/Dallas and Lakers/Houston. I think Denver/Dallas will be closer and Lakers/Houston will have no viewer appeal.

Cleveland will have such a long layoff from match play that they may be rusty coming into the next round.

I think both the Game 7's in he East are going to take a tool on whoever makes it out of the round and will get chomped away by their next opponent.

Lakers/Denver for the West.

Lakers move on to the next, while Sharks fizzle out

I am so glad the Lakers did not have to go back to Utah for a possible game 6. This gives them a few more days of rest and I hope Luke Walton can come back quickly. Houston will be a tough opponent, never mind the past record and Portland has somewhat owned Lakers in Portland so it will be tough no matter what. Looking forward to the next matchup.

On the home front, the Sharks were a bust once more. I don't know what it is about them in the regular season and what happens in the post season. They just do not work at the same intensity level as the regular season. Complacency? You betcha! Now my care level in the NHL is close to ZERO!

Unbelievable F1 season so far

What a season F1 is having this year ... who would have thought that at this point of the season Ferrari would have 0 points and Brawn, Red Bull and Toyota would be hogging the points!

My Fantasy F1 is taking a beating after finishing in the 97th percentile last year. Currently I am in 75th percentile. I know it is difficult to make that big a gap because the point differential between 1 and 8 is not too much, so I know the glory days are over.

I am now bummed that I took off Speed Channel from my cable package because this season would be fantastic to watch with pretty much ANYONE able to win on any given day.

IPL2 - much better time?

Maybe having the IPL2 in South Africa was a blessing in disguise for us in the US? The games are at 3.30am and 7.30am Pacific time and I am able to watch a bit of it every day just before leaving for work and then just after reaching the office.

The games have been mostly good, and Rajasthan Royals have struggled a bit as defending champs. I was not happy to see Mumbai Indians' game getting rained out.

Still don't know who the favorite is because T20 is so unpredictable. Delhi seems ok, but I do hope this is Mumbai's year.

Wow - Stafford has a deal already?

That would be great for him and a little boring for us :-)

I was actually looking forward to seeing some trades up at the top and stuff, but looks like the Lions have chosen their first pick as a QB. Hopefully now they will win a game next season ...

All this is perhaps good news for Sanchez because that means he is the hot QB on the board now. Wonder if Seattle will take him. It would be good for him to sit out behind Hasselback like Carson Palmer did behind Jon Kitna.

I will be looking forward to seeing how the USC LB's land up ... there seems to be a lot of buzz around them but usually the buzz does not translate proportionately to pick numbers, so we'll see!

Conficker - a brilliant marketing gimmick?

As I read about the Conficker worm getting active again, I was virtually forced to put down the thoughts I had at the time around 4/1 when it was supposed to create havoc.

I started thinking, this is a fabulous marketing ploy from the security companies to boost their sales. Think about it, it had the perfect story - a security threat, there was time to react (buy security software), there was widespread media attention (awareness = more purchases) and of course the most brilliant part about it was that if on 4/1 nothing happens, the security companies could declare victory!

And that's exactly what happened. Press releases went out from the security companies about how good their software was to stop Conficker. Of course, the other outcome was that if on 4/1 the worm hit, the security companies could easily spin it as not enough computers being protected. Quite convenient, right?

Did anyone else notice that 4/1 was just before quarter-end? It could not have been a better-timed situation!

And now today, we are back at it again. It may not be quarter-end, but the dormant worm story is perfect for security companies and the news is that the worm has gotten some new updates via P2P and that it is going to start downloading some keyloggers and such. Grreeeat.

Texas Tech #2???? Kidding me, right?

What exactly has Texas Tech done to deserve #2 ranking besides beating then #1 Texas?

Let's see the out of conference schedule - Eastern Washington (3-5 and not even Div 1), Nevada (5-4), Southern Methodist (1-8) and hold your breath, UMass (6-3 but in Div 1)!!

Granted that they were highly ranked and they beat then #1 but what was the justification before the Texas game to have them ranked so high?? Were there not enough teams with better resumes? Should teams start scheduling cupcakes so that they get to unbeaten records by October to justify a high ranking??

This is B.S. and I hope the people who rank teams week in and week out stop hyping up the Texas Tech train. They are absolutely overrated and they do not deserve to be so high up in the rankings.

Bring in what your arguments are ... would love to discuss.

GMail outage and recommended actions in such situations

I just read the GMail Blog post about the temporary outage to some Gmail accounts this afternoon.

Among other things, they suggested that we go through the user group on Google groups.

Unfortunately, I have had very bad luck getting updates on my posts on various Google-run Google Groups. Has anyone posted to the Gmail group or for example the Blogger group? Hardly any responses to the many posts/questions I have asked there.

I reasoned to myself that I cannot expect much support because after all these are free services, but these services are taking over my work and personal life slowly. For example I have converted from my Outlook-based email setup to a completely web-based GMail setup. I went through the pain of migrating all my emails over to GMail and am happy that I don't have to worry about multiple Outlook versions on multiple computers anymore and am always just one click (a few clicks, actually ;-) ) away from all my email.

But that means such outages and lack of responses to queries about the usage of certain features annoys me.

Anyone else in the same boat?

Cannot wait anymore - let the summer end and fall begin!

It is truly the most boring 2 months of the calendar ... I do not care about Olympics, so the only thing to look forward to now, is the football (pro as well as college) season to start.

Let's get it started already!

Detroit/Celtics and Spurs/Lakers

How cool will it be if it ends up being a Lakers/Celtics finals??

I don't know who to cheer for or even against in the Eastern Conference.

Of course, no need to mention who I support from the Western. Go Lakers!!

Scrubs on abc???

Did I choose abc as my potential favorite in my previous post? If not, this breaking news confirms it. Yay for abc if they are in fact going to pick up Scrubs.

Boo NBC.

Now, if only abc picks up Friday Night Lights!

I can't believe I did what I just did

Someone called me a few minutes back from San Jose Mercury News, which I subscribe to. They said they tried to charge my credit card which is on file for auto renewal two days back, and it got declined, and that they would like updated credit card information.

Now, I have caller ID and I saw it was from San Jose Mercury News. Also, I know that I had my credit card replaced in the last year and I could very well have not informed them about the updated card information.

Given those two things, I did not even hesitate to give my new card number and expiration date.

As I was giving that information, the wife was gesticulating at me, telling me what the heck! And at that moment I thought to myself, that here I am, in the heart of Silicon Valley, with all the information around us about credit card scams and fraud schemes which work EXACTLY like it happened with me. And yet, here I am, giving away my credit card number and expiration date without thinking at all.

I gave it anyway, but it is worth thinking about it - why did I not think about this before giving up vital information? Could caller ID be spoofed? Maybe so. But intuitively I did not think this was a fraud case.

Only time will tell if I was had, but in a few days I will know if it was genuinely the Merc.

I hope I see the charge on my bill soon!!

NBC no longer my favorite TV channel

I was a blind fan of the NBC network. I liked their shows in general, but even when they did some things which most people considered stupid (sever ties with iTunes, launch NBC Direct, etc.) I stuck around as a fan.

But no longer.

I used to like American Dreams which they cancelled.
I love Scrubs, but according to a report in the San Jose Mercury News, due to the recent writers' strike, it may not even get its last season on NBC.
I love Friday Night Lights and it looks like according to the same reporter in the paper mentioned above, that NBC may be shopping that show around to other networks.

I am not sure what the heads at NBC are thinking, but they are clearly not listening to their audience. Maybe the current "hot trend" is different from what I think are great shows, but I know I am not the only one. There was a huge movement by fans of American Dreams to continue the show, and there is a similar movement by fans of Friday Night Lights to continue the show. I don't need to talk much about Scrubs, pretty much everyone knows it is a good show and that NBC has essentially thrown it around the schedule like there's no tomorrow.

I am giving up on NBC. I am not sure which is my new favorite channel, but abc seems like they are quite a good network. First of all, Lost is on abc! Also, they have ESPN which has ESPN360.com which shows a ton of TV online for free. And of course they have Disney!

Bye bye NBC.

Comcast DVR sucks!

I think it is the software, but whatever it is, it is VERY annoying that Project Runway and Real Time with Bill Maher record 10 times a week even though I physically go and set them not to record on all times except when they air the new episodes.

It seems to me that the program guide refreshes the "new/not new" link every time it has to record a program and detects them as "not new" because the network does not send the "old" flag setting. But why would it record the episode even though I explicitly told the DVR not to?? Now every single day I have to check what's recorded and delete the repeats manually.

It does not happen with Conan or other programs, just Project Runway and Real Time. What's so special about these shows?

Or am I right and Comcast DVR just simply sucks?

Boy am I glad that we are moving to a place which most likely should have no issues with line of sight and that I can get DirecTV!

Once you go black ...

I mean, blackberry ... there is no way you can go back. What started as a curiosity drive has become quite the addiction. Despite the recent outage. In fact, the recent outage was my first, and it did make me furious. That, on top of the fact that I could not find Google Wifi in the heart of Mountain View yesterday.

I have been using the Curve on at&t network for a few months now and I must say, I don't know how I lived without data device before this.

Now, when the heck will blackberry support flash (or is it vice versa?) ... because I had a very hard time accessing Yahoo's fantasy sports area during the NFL season.

Hope to see the new 4.5 OS soon so that I can do some quick/basic video recording too!

What a monster night by Steve Smith - the other one

What a night by Steve Smith for the New York Giants! Most "top level" highlights will not talk about him because he did not catch that monster catch, he did not score the touchdowns, he was not the QB.

But how invaluable were his 3rd down catches for 1st downs? And how important were the two heads up plays - one to recover the ball after it was batted ahead (instead of out of bounds) by Bradshaw, and most importantly to catch the ball, take a step or two to make the first down AND go out of bounds to stop the clock in the game-winning drive?

Great game for the rookie, out for most of the season, but seemingly having formed a great chemistry with his quarter back to be the 3rd down receiver.

So much for the much talked about Mike Williams and Dwayne Jarrett from USC! I always knew Steve Smith was the go-to guy and if he survived the first year in the NFL, that he would be a stud.

Well, I didn't even have to wait for an entire year - he is Mr. Stud already!

Congratulations, Steve. Fight On!

Pats rolling on

Oh what a strange turn of events this weekend. I really did not think any of the games would be the way they ended up being ...

I did not think the Packers would crush the Seahawks. I did think it would be a close game and Green Bay would win it because of the home field advantage. But the way it turned after the first two turnovers, was unbelievable. Good job, Packers.

I really had a hope that the Jags would beat the Pats. Of course, the chances were very slim, but I was hopeful. And to a great extent they were quite solid and were able to hold their own against the mighty team. But of course the experience, the confidence, the poise of New England and the exact opposite for Jacksonville ended up making the final score look like a dominant win.

Oh and then this morning the way the Chargers beat the Colts was probably the biggest surprise of them all. Chargers ended up being without their two main offensive weapons in LT and Rivers and were still able to hold off the Colts on the road! Quite a good win for a team that had not made the second round for such a long time till this year.

And then the surging Giants beat the Cowboys for yet another upset and therefore set up a Giants at Packers NFC championship. Oh, I would so NOT watch that game at all! I don't like the Giants and I don't like the Packers much so I truly don't care about this game. But I do like Ryan Grant and the way he runs - what acceleration! He is fun to watch, but I simply cannot watch Favre, no offense to GB and Favre fans.

Chargers at Patriots could be a good match up if the Chargers are healthy, though their regular season meeting does not support that statement. But it is the post-season, it is winner-takes-all and who knows, one odd bounce here, one injury there and the Chargers could actually pull it off. But the problem is both Rivers and LT are not in good shape and I do not believe a 1.5-string offense can keep up with the New England offense.

So, it looks like it will be a dream super bowl matchup of the legendary Favre vs the upcoming legend Brady. I would think New England would win it, creating a major major record of going unbeaten throughout the entire season and instantly becoming one of the greatest teams of all time.

I hope it does not happen :-)

Let's move on to the next season

The season ended well for USC. Thumped Illinois in the Rose Bowl and won the one that matters to Pac-10 the most. Of course got the 6th straight Pac-10 championship. Finished #2/#3 in the final rankings. After losing to a 41-point underdog, finishing that way is not too bad.

Now, let's look forward to the next season. I am very very optimistic about the QB position. Granted that the receivers underperformed this year and granted that JDB played some games at less than 100%, but it is a well-documented fact that I did not believe in the JDB hype. He was less than inspiring and very predictable. I really think Sanchez is the man. He did make some mistakes as a starter after JDB was injured this season, but with that experience and with the mindset of being a possible starter (rather than a backup), I think he will deliver.

As for the receivers, I hope they get healthy and stay fit and respond to the new QB. The backs are hopefully going to develop even more.

The only unknown at this point is who will fill in for big TE Fred Davis. Just like Dominique Byrd before him, Fred Davis very quickly became the QB's favorite target especially when other weapons were not up to the mark, or in tough situations like 3rd and long. I am not sure if the incoming guys are going to be able to fill in quickly. Let's hope for the best, which is all we can do at the moment.

As for the schedule, at some point it looked good to have Ohio State on the non-conference schedule this and the next year. But the way they got thumped yet again, it almost makes it feel like on paper USC needs to thump them too, or else USC is not as good as Florida from 2 years back or LSU from this year. I feel it is unfair to see it that way, because every season is a new season. Ohio State was fortunate to be ranked #1 at the end of the regular season, but they could easily have been a top 10 team even if they had played some tougher non-conference teams and if the Big 10 had been stronger. So that game vs Ohio State is going to be a big one at the top of the season. If USC's parts are well-oiled by then, I think it would be a big boost to the team to beat Ohio State early and then tackle the Pac 10.

On a parting thought, to all the LSU fans dying to take away the AP championship from USC a few years back, would you please return yours from this year back to the AP because you hate that trophy so much and because you don't think that is the National Championship anyway? Thank you. And see you next year if you are in the top 2 ;-)

Fantasy Football

Of late I have found myself cheering absolutely selfishly against my favorite teams/players just because I happen to have players from the opposition team whom I care about more than my favorites.

I like playing it, but I am not sure if I was a passionate follower of say the Packers, that I would be cheering for more sacks and INT's because I happened to have Chicago's defense :-)

So far, so good. I am still keeping interest, so hopefully that interest will result in a playoff spot ;-)

Oh that 4th and 20!

How important was that 4th and 20 pass from Travita Pritchard for Stanford against USC? Or even sillier - how important was that missed PAT right at the beginning of that game??

USC could have taken that win, and may even have been unbeaten at the moment! With one loss against Oregon, they would still be in the discussion about going to the National Championship.

All ifs and buts. For now, the goal is to win against Arizona State and get to 9-2, because another loss would book their tickets to San Diego or El Paso :-(

But on the other hand, a win against ASU could not only improve their strength of schedule, but also keep their chances of 6th straight Pac-10 title alive. For that to happen, Oregon would have to lose against ucla or Oregon State, both of which seem likely with Dixon out.

Who would have thought, that after losing to Stanford and getting into a 2-loss area, that USC would still be in the talk for Pac-10 title? I did not think so at all.

The problem still remains with the offense. For whatever reason, it seems to create holes for itself by either having stupid penalties or worse, dropped balls/fumbles. The loss against Oregon had a win written all over it, if you ask me, except for the costly fumbles and turnovers. Heck, even that win could have kept the USC Trojans in talk for a National Championship game!

Oh well ... those are all non-changeable events. What is in control is the upcoming schedule and that is ASU and ucla. Winning those two games are the only options available to USC at this time, and the rest is in destiny's hands.

All good things must end - USC's streak has ended

And what a frustrating game watch it was! Stanford beat USC and it was mostly a pathetic performance from the QB John David. Granted that his finger was hurt some time during the game, but if that was the case why was he made to pass so much??

Oh how we missed Stafon Johnson! And maybe the broken finger is actually a blessing in disguise? Is Mark Sanchez the answer?

I really do not feel comfortable, as I have said several times (even after some good passing games), with John David leading this offense. And there was at least one tipped pass I saw today, besides the 4 INT's and if there is any sort of report card for a QB, those items should say it all. Really. Ignore the yards passing, and ignore the TD.

One thing I must also add, to be very fair to the guy, is that the WR's of this team are very overrated and inexperienced at the same time. Patrick Turner, Vidal Hazelton both dropped easy catches very early in the game. Of course, it should not impact a QB's performance in the game overall.

It is sort of sad that the most dependable receiver in my eyes in the TE Fred Davis!

Anyway, on the side, I was sad to see Florida did not close the door on LSU later. I truly believe LSU will now go undefeated (unless they end up facing Florida again in the SEC title game, where it may be a toss up).

Also, it is also early in the season relatively speaking. USC still has quality opponents it can beat, to earn the respect back from the community.

Here's hoping they get the credit where it is due!

Oh my gosh - finally Reggie scores!

Reggie Bush finally had a TD, and he ended up with two ... and it was such a relief, especially after that stupid drop in the end zone one play before his first TD.

On a side note, how bad are the Saints and the QB Brees? They simply cannot get anything going on offense. While some of it may be the playmakers' fault, I do believe the offensive line is to blame a lot for the lack of production.

But since I started playing Fantasy Football, I don't particularly care about the team performances anymore - "my guys" should do well.

I am 2-1 and happy so far :-)

USC wins and surprise surprise they can pass!

John David Booty had a monster game passing the ball this past weekend against Wazzu, but I will repeat - I don't think he is the guy I would put the ball with at the end of a tight game. I would rather draw up a nice run play with Stafon to bail us out.

JDB's passes are so abrupt and even this past weekend they were tipped or batted down - something just not right there.

Another important game coming up this weekend at Washington ... let's see how our pass rush does against the phenom QB up in Seattle.

This was just the beginning - Nebraska done

So USC took care of Nebraska this past weekend. And what a way to take care of them ... 313 yards on the ground (vs 31 for Nebraska).

But JDB is still not helping me show some more confidence in the passing game. And the WR's are definitely not big-time playmakers. Not yet.

USC better improve the pass game or else it may end up being at least a 2-loss season ...

What a stupid start to the NFL season

Not because the Saints lost miserably, which is bad by itself because I had them as the NFC representative in the Super Bowl, but more because Reggie Bush my fantasy pick #1 was unable to produce anything!

I am hoping that he improves because otherwise, I am totally busted this year ...

Is it USC's year?

Sure did not seem like it in the first game. Idaho was an underdog by 46 points! And USC won 38-10. I would not say it was the most dominant performance, but on the other hand Sark was saying that they tried to keep the gameplan simple.

But even with a simple game plan, JDB did not inspire much and I do believe (at least at this point, and through the last year) that he is not the guy you would expect to bring you out of trouble. Yes, if the going is good he will carry forward with the momentum, but on 4th and 9 from the opponents 26-yard line, will JDB be able to make a 63-yard throw? I don't think so.

But of course, I hope I am wrong and he wins the Heisman this year. :-)

Ricky Bobby was so not funny

All the funny stuff of the movie was in the previews ... except for Will Farrell who makes me laugh just by his presence (cancel that drama script read, Will), the movie was certainly passable.

Speaking of movies, we are trying to get back into the movie mode with Netflix, but are not able to do it too well. I sleep off in the night, and the wife gets mad because she is left watching it alone. Weekends are busy generally, so we cannot watch over the weekend.

But the next one in queue is Casino Royale, so maybe we will watch it in the day because I have heard so much about it.

I love Delta

I must mention a bit of good news from Delta, especially because I am the first one to vent in case of a problem. On a recent return trip from New York, we had a terrible terrible delay at JFK, and from Delta's explanation, not due to their fault.

We were delayed by 2 hours at the airport itself, and then another 3 hours after boarding!

But to my pleasant surprise, I received a letter from a Delta customer care manager saying that they have deposited 10,000 miles in my account and that they apologize for the inconvenience!

I have never seen something like that happen. I have seen customer service react to an incident after I have complained, and especially Delta is good at that, but unsolicited reward? That is amazing.

Of course, they are coming out of a bankruptcy and they are trying to win over customers' loyalties, but to go this length to get to their goal is quite credit-worthy.

Keep it up, Delta. I will continue to fly with you (though not through JFK!) :-)

Kimi wins - Ferrari 1-2!

I must say, my interest level in F-1 has waned significantly since last year, due to the absence of Schumy. But I happened to have recorded the French GP this past weekend, and saw it in "DVR" mode, which is to fast forward after the first few laps up to the first round of pit stops and then again to the next round of pit stops :-)

I was glad to see a Ferrari 1-2, which salvages the season because if in this race they had not got decent points, it would be very very difficult to overcome McLaren, especially with Hamilton going nuts in his rookie season.

On the Ferrari/McLaren note, what's the deal with the Ferrari probe, the Stepny dismissal and the suspension of the McLaren employee? Why am I the only one who feels it is a strange event?

Futbol and Football

Check it out ...

So the car did not start because the doors are open?

That was what a friend asked recently after he sat in the driver's seat and turned the engine on.

I had to tell him no. The funny thing is that the car engine was on! To be terminologically correct, the engine was "ready". Yes, we joined the gas mileage-conscious, clean/green generation and bought a hybrid after my recent accident resulted in a total loss on my current car.

Keeping the kid in mind, instead of going for the natural choice of Toyota Prius, we went with the Toyota Highlander Hybrid. So far, it has been great. The listed mileage is 32/28 and we are getting about 26-27 with mixed highway/city driving. Not bad for a 6-cylinder, 210 HP "SUV".

The engine is so quiet, sometimes it seems like the engine turned off (nightmares of gas-only engines turning off due to cold weather come to mind immediately).

So both of us feel good about the car - from a social perspective and from a personal perspective. And that's all that matters, right?

Nadal still king of clay and San Antonio will be kings soon

It was a relatively busy sporting day for me today, starting with an early morning DVR-ed version of the French Open finals, mid-morning DVR-ed Canadian GP (on Fox, thanks a lot!) and then the Game 2 of the NBA finals in the evening.

I watched the first one almost completely. I could not resist the "30-second skip" on the DVR for some of the boring points in the match, though there were not too many. Nadal is too strong and Federer has only himself to blame for not winning this one. He (Fed) had so many break chances, and if he had converted even a fraction of the chances he had, the story would have been completely different.

But he did not, and Nadal continues his mastery of the French Open. Can't believe he has not lost a single match at the French Open!!

And then it was on to the F-1 race. Frankly, I am not surprised why I have not missed F-1 so far this year. There is no real "hero". Excluding the new kid Hamilton, there is really no positive storyline this season. Maybe it is the transition season from Schumy to the next generation, and I certainly hope that is the case, but frankly, Alonso and Massa are just too boring. Kimi has some color and a wild background to make things interesting but after the first race, he has steadily disintegrated and has shown that the last couple of years may not have been McLaren's fault but actually his.

Of course this Canadian GP was quite eventful and Kubica's crash was simply unbelievable. With that big a crash, for him to survive and be quite ok in the hospital, shows how far the technology and protection mechanism has come to in the past many years.

In the end it was the new hero in F-1 who won a convincing race - Lewis Hamilton. Congratulations to him, and all the best for the rest of the season!

And finally, the NBA finals. The Spurs are looking just too good and too methodical to create too many problems for themselves this year. Horry is going to get another ring in his collection and the Spurs are going to be the true dynasty in the NBA today.

Blogged out?

You know you are blogged out when you end up not posting for over a month. Even though you had internet access for the whole period!

I am blogged out. And I am not ashamed to admit it. Something or the other always became a higher priority.

Need to get back. And will try to.

The Warriors win! The Warriors win!!

I am so excited that the Warriors knocked off Dallas tonight!!! I am more excited of course that Dallas lost than that the Warriors won, but both happened, so I am happy!

Isn't Golden State a fun team to watch? It is unbelievable - you just cannot blink when they are playing (well). Long passes, big threes, fast ball movement.

Awesome, awesome, awesome!

(btw, I called it!)

Australia deserving winners

Australia won the World Cup convincingly, and they deserve all the praise for doing a marvelous job, going unbeaten now for two entire World Cups! What an achievement that is! Granted, the team is almost the same, but to do it and that too without a key bowler, is fantastic.

It was always going to be an uphill climb for Sri Lanka after Australia, riding on Gilly's masterful knock, got to 280+ in 38 overs. Speaking of a masterful knock, how amazing is it that Australia always finds a way to have one or two such brilliant performances in the big games? They are just too good.

Jayasuriya and Sangakarra gave me some hope of a Sri Lankan fightback, which there was a hint of. But I also knew that once one of them got out, the momentum would be stopped and it would be the end of the chase.

And that is exactly what happened. Sri Lanka ultimately could not keep up with the required run rate and Australia had another final wrapped up.

The question now is, who can challenge Australia? My thought is Australia A. I think Australia's A team would be better than most, if not all, international teams. Australia/Australia A would be boring to watch for people who follow stars, but would be very exciting to watch for the true cricket lovers.

Just my thought.

Pick up the coffee from the cup holder and ...

The day started like any other day - shut off the alarm after 20 snoozes and got up and ready to go to work. Got into the car and started driving.

The traffic on 101 going North was the usual too. Slow going, speed up a little, and back to slow going.

After the typical slowdown near Mountain View, I entered Palo Alto, continuing the slow-and-go. And all of a sudden I hear a loud slamming sound from the back, I get shaken up and my car just stopped.

After 2-3 seconds of being totally blanked out, I realized my adrenaline was pumping, and that it was because I was in a car accident. I had someone rear-end me, and just when I realized that, I heard a sound of a guy running up to me and asking me if I was ok. I was shaken up, but was ok. So I got off the car and told him ok. I could never have imagined I would be in the second lane of highway 101 in the middle of Palo Alto, chatting with another guy with our cars stopped!

He started explaining that he may have looked down for a second to pick up his tea from the cup holder and that's all it took for him to crash into me. I nodded and said yes, that's all it takes.

Both of us called 911 and an officer came in about 3 minutes, and asked us to pull over to the shoulder. I told him my car was virtually undrivable because the plastic from under the trunk had almost scraped the tire top. There was no way I could drive. He requested to slowly drive and move the car to the shoulder so that the traffic is not slowed down.

Both of us somehow took our cars to the shoulder. After the usual formalities, the policeman took a statement from both of us and registered the report which he said I could pick up from the police station the next day.

I have never been in such a situation before - I had rear-ended my roommate many years back, but it was at a very slow speed and the damage was minimal. This was bad. Very bad.

So the tow truck came and picked both our cars and took his car to the body shop he liked and since I did not want to mess with the insurance company, I requested that my car be taken to the tow garage at that time.

From there, I went to the rental car company near there, and got myself a rental car.

By that time, it was about 11.30am and I decided to work from home and not go to work. Met with some co-workers for lunch and went back home and iced the neck/back.

What a day!

One ball to go, 3 runs to win

Recently I have started playing some cricket at work with some of the guys who try to play every week. I have played for 3 weeks now. Last Friday, the team who we play against (a neighboring company), chickened out at the last moment and so we decided to play an internal friendly.

We split the 11 of us into two teams of 5 each and the 11th person being the "jack" who bats and fields for both the teams. Everyone fields all the time except for the two batsmen.

We were able to play two matches - the first one was 8 overs each and the second one was 6 overs each.

In the second one, I opened the batting needing 32 to win from 6 overs. It came down to 7 off the last over and I was on strike.

I got 2 off the first ball to make it 5 in 5.

The next ball, I gave it a mighty heave and got the ball on my leg and because of that, I missed a wide ball. 5 in 4.

The next ball I got another 2. 3 in 3.

The next ball was sadly a dot ball, with me trying to do something unnecessary. 3 in 2.

The next ball was another dot ball, and now I could not forgive myself for the missed opportunity in the previous ball. 3 needed off the last ball.

I had made up my mind to go for it no matter what. Luckily for me, it was a Chetan Sharma-style full toss on the leg stump which I swung over mid wicket for a four.

A FOUR OFF THE LAST BALL! To win the match!! Yay!

Granted, the game was rank amateur level, and the seriousness was half of what we show when we play a true "match", but still. A game is a game and I was playing the captain of our team in that final over.

Felt good to end the Friday on that note.