Cough It Up

Trying to hold onto a thought right now is like trying to catch dandelions in a tornado. Jebus. I went to bed early last night because I've got the beginnings of a cold on my hand (scratchy throat, projectiles of mucus) and figured it would be one of my last chances for actual rest. I laid there at least 4 hours, my brain hopping from one topic to one topic. Yes, it was all aspects of a single topic. Wanna guess?

So, I'm mainlining zinc tablets, have a 64 oz. bottle of OJ on my desk and am calling around Vegas to see which casino serves the best hot spiced rum. If I can't beat this thing back in the next 24 hours, I will probably delay my arrival until Friday morning, instead of lighting out straight from work Thursday night. The extra twelve hours of sobriety and that one last slumber could be all the difference.

Regardless, I was in full planning mode last evening, punching in dozens of cell phone numbers, doing laundry and creating a three-and-a-half-hour long playlist for the drive out. I bought myself an iTrip this weekend (what? I'm the only person who buys stuff for himself when Christmas shopping?) and crafted a masterpiece, paying careful attention to having the songs come on at the appropriate times, like, say, Mark Lanegan's "Driving Death Valley Blues" when I hit Baker. And "Sin City" by AC/DC dawning when I round that last curve. Yes, I spend copious amounts of time figuring these things out.

Speaking of copious amounts of time, Chelsea hasn't scored on Liverpool in the Champions League over four legs--six hours worth of play. That's gettin' to Peter Crouch territory. The Reds top the group, despite little to no attacking flair, but with a defense sporting five straight CL clean sheets. Boring? Perhaps. Effective? Yes. Who am I to question Rafa and the Champions of Europe? Would it be too much to ask for Rangers in the first knockout round?

Speaking of draws, World Cup draw is this Friday circa 12:15 p.m. Vegas time. US just missed out on a seeding. That's probably a fair result and obvious when you realize the rankings take the 1998 World Cup into account, an abyssmal, Steve Sampson-led (3-6-1?) performance in which the Nats finished DEAD LAST while also losing to Iran, a game I watched at...wait for it....Excalibur. It all comes back around, don't it?

The way the pots are organized, the US could be in for a tough time, since they're grouped with arguably the weakest bunch (Asia and the rest of CONCACAF). What is certain is that they'll get a Euro team, a #1 seed and odds are, an African nation (the other possibilities are Australia and the two "weakest" South American teams). Depending on how those balls fall, they could be in for it. It's safe to say they won't get a soft group, not the way it stacks up.

Speaking of soft, have I mentioned lately how much I love the Full Tilt tourneys? About two months ago, I was a little stressed out. After withdrawing a Vegas bankroll, I was left with slightly less than four figures in my online accounts. I hadn't been that low in a long time. Jason and I were discussing it one night, about how I saw Vegas as a deadline, a short-term finish line by which I needed to build bankroll. He rightly pointed out that was the wrong way to think, everything's long-term in this game, but it nagged at me nonetheless. Then I finally took Hank's advice. He had told me several times, "The tournaments at Full Tilt are really soft." I put $350 in on Oct. 15. After taking out an extra chunk for Vegas this week (me=drunken sailor), I have nearly $5K in there. Yowzaa. Hank also said, this past Friday in fact, "You're gonna hit a big win in one of those things soon."

The lesson, as always, listen to everything Hank says.

One more word about the Spaceman. He has watched over my cyber-shoulder many, many times in these tourneys and is a great help, whether confirming my decisions or questioning them. Quite honestly, there is no way I win that Sunday tournament without his counsel. I'm very appreciative, buddy. The down side is if I get seated with him for the WPBT since he pretty reliably put me on hands all night long.

Oh well, at least he's on my team.

See y'all soon.