Irish-ness, Weekend-ness, and Basketball-ness

First, we have a few housekeeping items to clean up...

- I have to give a shout-out to Alexis for 2 things: One for actually coming to visit the Stamford with the Jessica, the weekend before last. I neglected to mention this after that weekend, and she promptly reminded me when I saw her on Friday night. Speaking of, I also thank her for inviting us out to her media shindig which provided us an open bar for a few hours on Friday night. You can't beat that: open bar at an Irish pub on St. Patrick's Day.

- I spoke with Sarah B. on Saturday night and she mentioned that I had too much basketball coverage. I respect that and won't comment too much on the tournament. What I would like to get out of my system is this: Some of these upsets are ridiculous. Seriously, George Mason? Bradley? Wichita State? Who picked these? Also, thank you to Syracuse, Illinois, Indiana, and Pittsburgh for not making it out of the first weekend. Made me look like a genious from my article last week.

- Hey, even Belman said he's been catching up on the RPR lately. Good to hear that. Jonny, don't be afraid to get in on the commenting action, ya hear?

Now, for some other weekend comments...

- When I arrived in the city on Friday night, I immediately observed hordes of people wandering around aimlessly with their green "Kiss Me, I'm Irish" t-shirts, and their green beads. People stumbling around, almost getting hit by cars, stumbling to the nearest pub. It was quite a scene. I expect this from State College, but usually, the fine folks of New York aren't fully-loaded in such quantities. Usually you have the Happy Hour crowd that goes overboard, but the scene was beyond that. Quite interesting.

- Other comments on St. Patrick's Day. It's amazing what kind of celebrations go on in the US. From what I hear, and someone who knows more about Ireland, please jump in, but I understand that St. Patrick's Day is more of a religious holiday in the homeland, and a solemn one in that. I heard on the radio that for many years Ireland mandated that all pubs be closed on March 17th, until they had the law changed in the mid-90's. Think about this: The US celebrates a holiday based in Irish culture with crazier festivities than the Irish people do. Do the Chinese-Americans celebrate Chinese New Year more than they do in Beijing or Shanghai? Do the Canadian-Americans celebrate Boxing Day more so than they do in Toronto or Vancouver? Do the Jewish-Americans celebrate any holiday more so than they do in Jerusalem? Granted I'm mixing nationalities with religion -- that is a fair point -- but you get my idea. Let's be serious: Drinking holidays are like handkerchiefs. Americans realize that they don't need them [holidays that offer excuses to drink] because they are going to drink whenever they want anyway, but love to have them in their back pocket just in case.

- So, TO signed with the Cowboys. If you put your ear up to your computer speakers while this page is up on your internet browser, you might be able to hear me yelling. Why? Because I hate the Cowboys. Here's to Bill Parcells kicking TO out of camp before the season starts and then telling Jerry Jones what he can do with the head coaching position for "America's Team".

- Sopranos tonight... a little slow, but moving the story along, and by the previews, I think next week will be a little crazier. To those naysayers who thought tonight was a step back for the show, have no fear. My money's on the fact that this season won't disappoint.

This week: I will be cashing in on Owen's blog article ideas, so look forward to that. The series will begin tomorrow night. We'll call it "We Live in a World Depicted by Office Space".