March 2006 Archives
Itˆ‚s an annual tradition here at nenie.net (along with the NCCA Pool that Alphasarah is ROCKING) my Wrestlemania picks.
Yes, I know Iˆ‚m the only one interested.
I donˆ‚t care.
Seriously though, itˆ‚s getting harder and harder to actually make real picks the way WWEˆ‚s been spoiling things by releasing commercials that tell you EXACTLY whoˆ‚s going to win MONTHS in advance.
Itˆ‚s enough to drive a man crazy. But without further adieu, here are my picks for Wrestlemania 22, LIVE from Chicagoˆñ
(One more adieu. After writing and revising these picks, the degree to which Eddie Guerreroˆ‚s death changed the industry is amazingly evident.)
Yup. I'm Catholic. I did 9 years of parochial school outside of Chicago. Can you tell?
| You're 60% Irish |
 (And if you're not, you should be!) |
Itˆ‚s that time of year again. Time for this yearˆ‚s NCAA Tournament Pool. Or, as weˆ‚ve been calling it around the nenie.net (nn) world headquarters ˆ¨nenie.net madness 2.6.ˆÆ
Our traditional site for these bad boys Bracketmanager.com has gone belly-up, and it looks like theyˆ‚ve been bough out by CBS Sportsline. So, thatˆ‚s who weˆ‚re gonna run the tournament through this year.
As always, join even if you know nothing about basketball. Seriously, itˆ‚s a good time, yo.
The rules? Simple.
Go to nnm26.mayhem.sportsline.com, make an account and pick your bracket.
Scoring?
2 points per game in the first round
4 in the second
8 in the Sweet Sixteen
16 in the Elite Eight
32 in the Final Four
64 in the Terrific Twos (Nenaˆ‚s contribution to this endeavour)
Upset Points?
A nn staple throughout the years has been the upset points. In past years players have been awarded the difference between seeds in the case of a first round upset. This year, youˆ‚ll get the seed added as points.
Translation?
Pick a 12 to beat a 5? Get 12 extra points for picking that game.
As always, upset points are only allowed in the first round.
Deadline?
By the tip-off of the first game on Thursday. None of this bullshit Tuesday Play-In garbage.
Prize?
To the winner, your very own Indianapolis shot glass.
Purpose?
Talk shit, have fun. Yknow, what we do every year.
ˆñThere is no place like home.
After a six month hiatus, nenie.net is back. Iˆ‚d like to say that itˆ‚s better than ever, but thatˆ‚d be a lie. I wanted to relaunch completely free of SPAM and with all new graphics and stuff. But that didnˆ‚t happen.
Instead, I have this lonely little message saying Iˆ‚m back. Because I am.
Over the next few weeks Iˆ‚ll finish de-SPAMming (2000 comments removed, 3000 to go), Iˆ‚ll repost what few articles I can find floating around out there and generally go about the project of putting this blog back together.
(Quick aside. For those of you who donˆ‚t remember, the hard drive that houses this particular site ate itself back in September. Since then Iˆ‚ve been waiting for the hard driveˆ‚s keeper to fix the site and give me the green light for going live again. Since heˆ‚s got other stuff going on, I gave myself the green light.)
Right, so the blogˆ‚s back. Enjoy, rock out, rock on, rock hard.
Yup, I wanted to relaunch with something meaningful, I guess this is what youˆ‚ll have to settle for.
Yup, the third annual pool is coming, but due to weather and my normal hosting site going down...give me a day, but get your brackets ready
I am writing to register my profound dissatisfaction with the level of service that I have been receiving on my latest United flights. As a native Chicagoan and a long-time patron of your airline I am saddened to see what this jewel of the airline industry has become. Your pride in being "Chicago's hometown airline" is poorly placed as no other major carrier flies into or out of their hub as poorly as you do. There are many lessons you could learn from one of your unnamed competitors as they long ago figured out how to use O'Hare as a strength rather than the liability it has become for you.
Last night, Friday, March 10, my wife and I were passengers on UAL Flt 7036 from Kansas City to Chicago. For the second time in as many trips from KCI to ORD my plane landed in Chicago only to have no gate to go to. For the second time in as many flights we were made to sit on the runway for over 30 minutes waiting for a gate. Whereas last time this could have been blamed on the weather, last night there was no such excuse. Flight 7036 arrived on time, after a Herculean effort on the part of the pilot to do so. But, your ground crew was somehow caught by surprise to see us arrive as they had no gate for us to pull into. As a result, we sat on the ground for over 45 minutes waiting.
During this time, our flight crew made no efforts to make this experience any less bothersome. Could you please tell me when beverage service on your Kansas City to Chicago flights was canceled? In the five years I have been living in Kansas City and making regular trips from my new home to my home town I cannot remember any time when I couldn't at least get a glass of water in flight. It is such a small thing, but spending over two hours on a plane, most of it on the ground does have a way of draining you and something as simple as a beverage would have made your passengers' night that much better. However, you've managed to fail in this endeavour as well.
The situation was made worse by your poor decision to abandon real airplanes on this run and resort to the Matchbox Canadair Regional Jets you currently employ. I did not pay to fly on one of these toys, rather I remember the days when you proudly flew A320s on this route, pampering your customers with comfort and excellent service. Now, I routinely spend two hours in a model airplane that was designed to have someone in it for no longer than 45 minutes. I exit your planes sore and clausterphobic, wondering why I didn't listen to my wife and book a fight on one of your competitors. The answer is always pride. Pride in an airline that provided jobs to the parents of so many of my friends growing up. Pride in a world-class city that used to have a world-class airline to call its own.
I fear that we will have to find a new airline to pride ourselves on. I am afraid that I will have to find another way to get home to visit my family, because this latest experience was the last straw. United is one airline that I will not be utilizing on my next trip home.
-Nenie
