Jim McKay 1921-2008

Jim McKay brought us the horror of the Munich Olympics, my first look at Moscow and its minarets, the reckless wildness of competitive surfing, and was the unforgettable voice in ABC's Wide World of Sports opener: "Spanning the globe to bring you the constant variety of sport, the thrill of victory, and the agony of defeat; the human drama of athletic competition. This is ABC's Wide World of Sports." He launched Evel Knievel, and brought Muhammed Ali into our homes.

He introduced me to Nadia Comaneci and Mario Andretti, and opened my eyes to other sports besides the Big 3. More than anything, as a little girl he fueled my unbridled love for the Olympics and all that it could mean, all the promise that they held every four years. Back then in the waning days of the Cold War, when films like "Red Dawn" were made about our fears of Communists with imperialist goals, Jim McKay put into context how important it was that the U.S. and U.S.S.R. compete on a level playing field together and athletes interact, just to prove JFK's point that we are all all mortal and all inhabit this earth.

I also got a weekly world cultures lesson from Jim McKay, revealing to me why U.S.S.R. was on their singlets rather than Russia, that Spain calls itself España, and that while it was the United Kingdom, they competed as Great Britain and Ireland and there's a great bit of fighting about a little place called Northern Ireland.

He considered horse racing one of his favorite sports, and it's a shame that he won't be here to see Big Brown win the first Triple Crown since Affirmed did it in 1978.

Rest in peace, Jim.

Opening round

Congratulations, Jan Koller and the Czech Republic, for the Euro 2008 opening match win. Granted, Switzerland are terrible, but you were in their house and all. Good luck Wednesday against Cristiano Ronaldo and Portugal, my friends.

One of the things I had forgotten that I love about soccer is the Scottish on-air crew. There's usually at least one guy with an accent, and when he's doing play-by-play you never see him, so you can always picture Gerard Butler speaking to you, shirtless, making you creme brulee or something. Even when you see the guy (like today), and he's pudgy and bald, it makes him just a little sexier. Sigh. GO SCOTLAND. Oh, wait, they're not in Euro...

The Tuesday Tattoo

Everybody was tattoo-fighting.. aren't the Swiss lovers, not fighters? What precision; check out the stick height and stick flashes. These guys even have their own line of sticks...

Imaginary friends can be more fun

Or at least that's what this web series is saying. I stumbled upon it, and holy God, is it funny. Being a single girl in a sea of coupled-up friends, there were plenty of "hell yeah!" moments for me. And for those of you who were part of the "bitch name" conversation so long ago, note the first imaginary friend's name. The moral of the story: when you're single, you almost always feel like the odd person out. Some of us are apparently more odd than others.



Check out the rest of the eps at imaginarybitches.com.

Shia's last name makes me giggle

Pretty much how I feel about the new Indiana Jones:



I'm not going to bust out any spoilers, but let's just say the supernatural element that's in the other movies is just too much for me to swallow in this one. As my friend Addie says, "TRISTE!"

The Tuesday Tattoo

A shout-out to Dr. Jenny Mann: ROLL TIDE!

Raiders, march

So I tried to organize a band of folks to go see the new Indiana Jones tomorrow. Response was tepid, because everyone wanted to see it with their spouse or had already seen it or heard that it sucked, but I'm going anyway. This time it's really not about the gang, it's about seeing the latest installment of a movie series I positively adore (well, except for Temple of Doom). And apparently it's supposed to springboard Shia LeBeouf's character into an adventure series of his own. Rock on.

I have to say, though, that every time I try to slate something, especially during the day that doesn't involve adult beverages and staying out 'til 4 a.m., and the majority are all, "Mehhh," it really makes me want to quit suggesting anything.

We need a cruise director, dammit. And maybe some social initiative.