Huckleberries Online

Weekend Wild Card

Posted by Cindy

March 21, 2010 6:03 p.m. • 40 comments

So my vow to watch no basketball this weekend hit a snag last night. We walked into a packed house at O’Dohertys during the Zags/ Fla State half time and miraculously snagged the prime table with the best view of the HUGE big screen TV.

My husband’s warm glow may have come from his Guinness. Or from the pitcher of Harp. Or maybe from the Zags thrilling win. But I prefer to think it came from celebrating our 24th wedding anniversary. That’s my story anyway.

Here’s your weekend Wild Card.

PS: Because of Facebook, I’ve now lost 24 productive hours and am hopelessly behind deadline. Curse you FB fanatics!

40 comments on this post so far. Add yours!

Stickman on March 20 at 8:31 a.m.
Happy Anniversary Cindy.
Cindy_H on March 20 at 9:31 a.m.
Thank you Stickman. Congrats on you granddaughter!
keithincda on March 20 at 9:53 a.m.
Heya Cindy, Can we go back to the lips or cleavage shot please. Thank you from all the male HBO’ers that have elected me to ask you.
Cindy_H on March 20 at 10:09 a.m.
I have NEVER displayed my cleavage on HBO! At least I don’t think I have…
keithincda on March 20 at 10:11 a.m.
Ok, we were just sayin…but please for the love of HBO get rid of Iron Mike ok?
Cindy_H on March 20 at 10:13 a.m.
As you wish.
JamesBond on March 20 at 10:18 a.m.
Wow, and 24 is either copper or basketball. I’m pretty sure it’s basketball. How lucky you were to stumble into that!
Cindy_H on March 20 at 10:20 a.m.
Let’s just say 25 is Mexico.
Oh yeah!
Truly on March 20 at 11:14 a.m.
Happy 24th Cindy!!!! The Boz and I will have 27 this July 3rd.

I just also wanted to let any of you wives or significant others that DON’T watch basketball during this March Madness that there is also an NCIS marathon on channel 105.

Just sayin!!
HAPPY FIRST DAY OF SPRING AND PEACE TO ALL!
hmoffsuite on March 20 at 12:25 p.m.
Saint Mary’s just beat Villanova 75-68. I am happy for them as they always seem to have to play second fiddle to the Zags. Making the WCC look good for sure.
Don_Sausser on March 20 at 1:02 p.m.
North Idaho College’s lady Cardinals cagers just took 8th at the National tournament in Salina, KS. With mostly freshman on this team watch out for next season!
Cis on March 20 at 1:44 p.m.
Happy 24 Years, Cindy…. may you celebrate 51 more..

See that Judge Mitchell threw out another lawsuit of Spencer, McCrory and gang… The one about the college’s lease of the old DeArmond Mill….Judge said it WAS constitutional and dismissed all claims against the college..
Stickman on March 20 at 4:40 p.m.
Thanks keith, I agree. I had many visitors today, such a great day. Spent part of my morning up in Bayview with Herb, always a pleasure. Had the photographer, Kathy, and her family come by, another pleasure of course. And Chatterbox just came by and brought me some sticks, it was very nice to see her and she topped off the day. So far.
Stickman on March 20 at 4:43 p.m.
I have always liked John Mitchell Cis, and now I like him even more. I used to play basketball with him in Hoopfest and the adult leagues here in town many years ago. A very good player and with your comment, seemingly gets better with age. Thanks.
JIMMYMAC on March 20 at 5:02 p.m.
This has gotta be THE craziest March Madness Ever-at least opening weekend. Kansas, the overwhelming favorite, just got knocked off by some farmboys from Iowa. It was like Hoosiers, man.
Stickman on March 20 at 5:48 p.m.
You have to go for the underdogs, why else is it called madness. I would love to see a 16 seed win the whole thing sometime, but I doubt that. I would love to see a little school from nowhere win it all.
Cindy_H on March 20 at 6:40 p.m.
Oh. my. god. I just joined Facebook. Everybody I know is on Facebook. Why didn’t anyone tell me about this amazing social networking site?
keithincda on March 20 at 7:19 p.m.
Uh, CINDY! Please read the following, it will help you with facebook:

http://theoatmeal.com/comics/facebook_suck
Cindy_H on March 20 at 9:24 p.m.
Thanks keith. That and Meghann’s facebook killer link are very informative.
chatterbox on March 20 at 11:19 p.m.
Ooh! JimmyMac - The guys from UNI (Northern Iowa) probably do not want to be called Iowa boys (bigtime dislike the U of Iowa Hawkeyes) Maybe North Iowa boys. Sorta like North Idaho vs the rest of the state.

Iowa won the NCAA wrestling tournament for the 3rd consecutive year. Their fans have t’shirts that read “That’s O.K. We hate you, too.”
Truly on March 21 at 10:11 a.m.
OMG - so the Boz bought a CDA Press this morning and the only pages (besides ads) is the front page and the life styles section. That’s it. That’s is all we got for our $2.00. Needed to see the classifieds but hell no — what is going on - then to top it off - if you try and call these “CREEPS” there is no one to help you - esp on a Sunday.

COME ON MAN!!!!!

PEACE!!!!!
JohnA on March 21 at 10:26 a.m.
There’s a reason the NBA bans zone defenses. They work.

The Zags were schooled in the first half by a very good Syracuse team. HItting threes and moving well in transition they are a talented team. And, if you’re going to compete with them, you have to match them basket for basket.

That brings us back to the zone. The way to beat a zone is by knocking down threes (the Zags can’t hit ‘em today) or by moving the ball around the perimenter until you can get the inside pass to your aircraft carriers. In the case of the latter, Harris and Sacre showed how you can compete, with great passes from Gray (mostly) they were able to keep in the game. When the Zags went back to missing threes, it was all over but the shouting.

Again, coaching plays a role. Gray saw right off that it might be a poor shooting game so he went inside to the big guys. Few should have insisted on the interior passing after the cold shooting but let them fire away anyway. He also should have stemmed the tide by calling more timeouts, but he has shown again that he refuses to do that. Case in point was they were down six and had the ball. With the TV timeout looming, he could called time and set up a play. The TV timeout with them trailng by four would have allowed him to set up a defensive stop, but alas the Zags didn’t call time and the ‘Canes made a three for a nine-point lead.

Then, after they got down by double figures they thought the only way back in was with more threes, and then more misses. They looked lost and that comes from coaching, pure and simple.

Oh, well Another 27 wins and several million dollars for Few. Too bad he can’t consentrate on recruiting, of which he’s the best in the country, and let someone else coach the squad.

All in all, a disappointing first half but there’s always next year.
chatterbox on March 21 at 10:53 a.m.
Very good analysis JohnA.
Very disappointing game.
Sam on March 21 at 11:37 a.m.
The Zags were horrible from beyond the arc today. Very bad.

They were simply outclassed today by Syracuse.
JohnA on March 21 at 11:43 a.m.
Syracuse made nine more threes than the Zags in a similar amount of attempts. That’s a 27 point difference in a 22-point loss. Enough said about that.

For the Zags to win today, they needed to be almost perfect. They needed to make half their threes (they were 3 for 21) and all their free throws, plus they needed to bang with the big guys underneath while contesting the sharpshooters outside. Not all of this happened and they got embarrassed. Only a classy move by the ‘Canes coach kept it reasonable, slowing down the game at the end with a spread offense, using the full time clock before attempting to score.

Now, next year. I hope Harris and Gray stick around so the lineup can feature them, along with Sacre and a beefed-up Olynyk inside and better ball-handler in Goodson outside. Also, I think Kong can flourish from beyond the 3-point ine. They’ll miss Bouldin, of course, but maybe some new faces recruited in will fill the void. And, as I always say, go Zags!
Phaedrus on March 21 at 11:45 a.m.
“CBO and JCT estimate that enacting both pieces of legislation—H.R. 3590 and the
reconciliation proposal— would produce a net reduction in federal deficits of $138
billion over the 2010–2019 period as result of changes in direct spending and revenue”

Source: CONGRESSIONAL BUDGET OFFICE Douglas W. Elmendorf, Director
U.S. Congress
Washington, DC 20515
March 18, 2010

http://i.cdn.turner.com/cnn/2010/images/03/18/hr4872.pdf
Digger on March 21 at 1:03 p.m.
Cindy - I can’t find you on facebook. My search for “Fellow firefighter lover” dosen’t show up! Come find me! - Digger
Cindy_H on March 21 at 1:27 p.m.
@Digger: I can’t find you either! Is there a GPS for Facebook?
Digger on March 21 at 1:39 p.m.
Cindy - Search by my e-mail address. - Digger
Cindy_H on March 21 at 1:50 p.m.
Hope you didn’t use your maiden name:-)
Sam on March 21 at 5:21 p.m.
So this year, I decided that in order to avoid the New Year’s resolutioners that I’d avoid the gym until February in order for them to be gone by then and my weights to be free again.

It’s now nearly the end of March and I just went for the first time this year. Whoops.

Not going to the gym for that amount of time, and dropping on my diet, has severely hurt all of the strength I had built up over time. Very disappointing. It’s not as if I’m back to square one, but it always takes more time to build up then break down.

Bah!

To top it off, I get home and the wife offers me ice cream cake.

What a lovely woman, no?
hmoffsuite on March 21 at 5:42 p.m.
My neighbor at the lake is coming down to stay with us for a week or so. He is a 93 year retired doctor from Spokane. Sharp as a tack, still, and a real pleasure to converse with. When his 3rd wife died a couple of years ago, he signed up for dancing lessons the next day. He met a lonely widow who is 92 and they are seeing quite a bit of each other. Doc told me that he doesn’t think he wants to get married again. I miss my own father a great deal and being around doc kinda fills that void.
Cindy_H on March 21 at 6:04 p.m.
@Sam: I predict you will gain at least 15 pounds during Kat’s pregnancy. It’s the least you can do, so shut up and get over it already!
@hmo: The anniversary of my dad’s death is March 29. Been 16 years and I still miss him so. Enjoy your time with doc. Nothing is more humbling than spending precious time with those older and wiser than us.
sue on March 21 at 6:43 p.m.
I was asked to pick up some cilantro for dinner, and really blew it. Flat-leaf parsley, organic nonetheless, is not the same as cilantro. I do know that, but in my defense they look similar. Way different taste, though. Darn, just not the same without that distinctive flavor.
Sam on March 21 at 6:51 p.m.
Cindy - I predict I will LOSE 15 pounds by the time my baby is born in late September. Of fat, that is. If I can add 15 pounds of muscle at the same time, I’ll be even. :)
spokelooneh on March 21 at 7:06 p.m.
The Junior Professional Basketball League can be a harsh mistress.
Me on March 21 at 8:02 p.m.
Lost my Dad 13 years ago….. he was only 60 - too young. My Mom was 69. I know they say that losing a child is the hardest and I can understand that - but I really think I got robbed - I didn’t get my parents long enough………..
idawa on March 21 at 9:01 p.m.
Change has come!
hhuseland on March 21 at 9:10 p.m.
I would like to congratulate Cindy on yet another stellar performance, conducting the hbo orchestra. Magnifico.

Older & … well, older, anyway.
hmoffsuite on March 22 at 6:29 a.m.
Thanks, Cindy, for another wonderful job. Well done, as always.

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About this blog

D.F. Oliveria is a columnist and blogger for The Spokesman-Review. Huckleberries Online was judged the best 2008 Idaho newspaper blog by the Idaho Press Club. And the best 2007 news blog in the Pacific Northwest by the Society for Professional Journalist. Print Huckleberries is a past winner of the Herb Caen Memorial Column contest by the National Association of Newspaper Columnists. The Readership Institute of Northwestern University cited this blog as a good example of online community journalism.