Sunday, October 4, 2009

Week Six

Before getting to this week's matches, I'd like to report that I got to make a risqué pun Sunday morning (and what did you accomplish?). I had rested my newspaper on the counter of the local coffee place while awaiting my order, and the girl behind it read the headline about how David Letterman had profaned the Ed Sullivan Theater with a "secret bedroom" that he sometimes shared with attractive young female employees. I was mildly surprised at her expression of disapproval, because firstly who cares, and secondly she is foreign-born and not always up on every aspect of basic American pop culture. So I asked, "disappointed?" and she said, yes, but supposed that it was just "a guy thing" (she does have the American idiom down). The middle-aged (i.e., older than me) woman on the customer side of the counter agreed, saying "it's in their genes", to which I replied "if only we could keep it there". Note that this pun would not have worked online due to the spelling difference. I guess real life still has its uses.


Monday, October 5:

New York vs. Baltimore:

If you've been paying attention lately, you'd have noticed that New York not only wins, but they win in ways that Keres, Smyslov, and Chess Challenger 7 could only dream of. I pick them to win here, 2.5-1.5, but only incidentally, as a means to a higher end.


Chicago vs. Philadelphia:

I don't want to overdramatize, so I'll say simply that nonstandard times call for nonstandard measures. Both teams desperately (oops, drama. Sorry!) need this match but Chicago went with a conventional kind of shakeup, where you add a grandmaster to the lineup, while Philly is trying something a bit off the beaten path. What, there's an elephant in this room? All right, even God had to rest after six days, and his were a lot more successful than Kudrin's first five. So Alex just did what Mike had to do, or vice-versa. Will it work? I say...yeah. 2.5.-1.5, Philly.

Arizona vs. New Jersey:

This is a rare opportunity to pick New Jersey to lose, so I have to take it. Nothing personal but they think the Statue of Liberty should belong to them yet you never hear them say anything about Staten Island. Arizona, 2.5-1.5.

Wednesday, October 7:

Carolina vs. Boston:

I had not heard of Anya Corke before but her Wikipedia page informs me that she is the top player from Hong Kong who is currently playing for England. And as you know, that is saying something (only...what?). Boston, 3-1.


Tennessee vs. Dallas:

I know it is generally fallacious to think that somebody losing last week is now "due" to win and therefore a better bet than he'd have been had he won. Again, though, "generally". I think Shabalov is the exception and he really will bear down this time and no fooling around. Last week, a certain grandmaster in the audience referred to three consecutive moves of Shaba's as "fishy" and "crazy" and "weak". I was tempted to say "oh, my!", but restrained myself. On a chess-related note, I was hoping that Mikhailuk in that game, rather than the simple recapture on move 44 (which did win a few moves later), would play ...Rxd1+ 45. Kxd1 Kxb6 46. Bd8+ Ka6 47. Bxa5 Kxa5 and Black promotes. But win first, please me second. Back to this week's match, Tennessee 2.5-1.5.


San Francisco vs. Miami:

YOFAR
O_ _O_

IWANT
_O_O_

NOCALF
O_O_O_

REDINK
OO_ _ _O





"_ _ _ _ _ 'n' _ _ _ _ _"


(But...will he get his wish? I don't know...San Fran, 2.5-1.5)

Queens vs. Seattle:

I'm tired of always having to write "2.5-1.5" but unless I want to pick a tie (and if playing a tie is like kissing your sister, then predicting a tie is like daydreaming about it), then I kind of have to most of the time, because it takes a big superiority before 3-1 is likely and that gives me room to be really, really, wrong. So I'm going to start using different phrases to indicate a close match and trust that the reader is smart enough to get my meaning. Seattle by a vanishing neck.

2 comments:

HA81 said...

Congratulations Ron, Good post
I thought the pun was a bit obvious, yet it does lend validity to reality! Well done and thanks for sharing.
Don't blame New Jersey for not wanting Staten Island, I mean you don't seem to want it and it wouldn't be right to make the English take it back. It is what it is and you should base your pick on something more relevant... like the comparison of New Jersey swampland to the Arizona desert ( truthfully, I can't pick as I lived in the southwest but haven't been to the "forbidden zone" east of the Delaware River)
Lastly, I concur with the logic of trying to verbally quantify predicted match results without the use of numbers or numerical representation. "Vanishing Neck" is good. Keep up the good work.

Ron Young said...

Thanks! I feel kind of like the Burt Reynolds character in "Deliverance"--one of these days, the internet's going to fail and then...aural. Who has the ability to make aural puns? That's the game--aural.

Sorry I missed your last barbecue but maybe I'll make it for the USCL championship celebration.