Korea's World Baseball Classic schedule:

Opponent	Time
Taiwan	Thursday, March 2, 6:30 PM PST
China	Friday, March 3, 6:00 PM PST
Japan	Sunday, March 5, 1:00 AM PST

Like the World Cup, the top 2 teams in Pool A advance to the next round, so Korea will probably need to win 2 of these 3 games to advance to the 2nd round. There they would play in another pool consisting of the top 2 teams from Pool B (USA, Canada, Mexico, and South Africa).

Baseball Prospectus ran simulations of Pool A and came up with the following probabilities:

Team	Pool A Winner	Pool A Runner-Up	Advance to Round 2
Japan	50.5%	31.5%	82.0%
Korea	33.6%	37.8%	71.4%
Taiwan	14.8%	26.1%	41.0%
China	1.2%	4.6%	5.7%

But while BP thinks Korea is better than Taiwan, the Vegas oddsmakers disagree:

Team	Pool A Winner
Japan	64.0%
Taiwan	19.9%
Korea	14.9%
China	1.2%

The consensus appears that Japan is the favorite and China is a huge underdog. This means that Thursday night's Korea vs Taiwan matchup has huge implications on who advances to Round 2. The winner will be well on their way, while the loser probably needs to upset Japan in order to have a chance to move on.

I love looking up random bets you can make nowadays.

For instance, here are the favorites to win the 2006 World Series of Poker.

Phil Ivey 200:1
Daniel Negreanu 250:1
Howard Lederer 300:1
Gus Hansen 400:1
Phil Hellmuth 400:1
Layne Flack 400:1
Marcel Luske 400:1

And some selected others:

Chris "Jesus" Ferguson 500:1
Dan Harrington 500:1
Johnny Chan 500:1
Doyle Brunson 750:1
Greg Raymer 750:1
Phil Gordon 750:1
Sam Farha 1200:1
Ben Affleck 2000:1
Chris Moneymaker 2000:1
James Woods 2000:1

I can't think of any other event where the favorite is getting 200:1 odds...

After the New York Knicks traded for Steve Francis, I thought it would be entertaining to look up their salary information for the next 5 years.

Note that the Knicks have the 2nd worst record in the NBA, and that they are paying...
A) Allan Houston $40 million to sit on his rear end
B) Stephon Marbury and Steve Francis a combined $140 million to make sure their frontcourt players don't get to shoot
C) Jalen Rose $33 million to go on The Best Damn Sports Show Period and complain about his team
D) Quentin Richardson and Jamal Crawford $90 million to see who can miss the most 3-pointers
E) Jerome James $30 million to help him remember the 4 good games he's played in his NBA career

Great job, Isiah.

I love the Sports Guy's mailbags, especially the questions that have nothing to do with sports. For instance:

Q: What's it going to take for Edgar from "24" to get his own spin-off? Am I the only person who would watch "7:00 AM to 8:00 AM; Edgar squirts donut jelly on his XXXL Polo," or "3:00 PM to 4:00 PM; Edgar looks down Chloe's blouse as he arrogantly remarks that she should use Firefox instead of Internet Explorer"?
-- Nathan Wilson, New Brunswick

and

Q: You watch "Lost." Do you think they have run out of tampons yet? How could they not devote an entire episode to this? I can't think of an event that could affect island morale more than the "Hey, I think Kate just used the last of the Tampax" situation. I need to stop watching this show.

SG: The best part of the Tampax show would be the flashbacks ... how would they pull that off? But you bring up a great point that I mention pretty much every time I watch this show: What happened to the people with contact lenses? What happens when they run out of deodorant and toothpaste? How does Jack maintain his short haircut, even though they've been on the island for two months? Why hasn't everyone lost a staggering amount of weight like the people on "Survivor"? How has Hurley not dropped like 60 pounds by now? What is the mom using for baby wipes and diapers? Where do they go to the bathroom? Is there anyone going through cigarette withdrawal? Why doesn't anyone on the island have serious allergies? I could go on all day.

Andy Chon and Kevin Cho posted some old FiCB videos onto youtube.com. You can search "ficb", or just click below.

FiCB POTCH 2001 Burbank Boys


FiCB Welcome Night 2002


FiCB POTCH 2003 Serving Small


FiCB Senior Banquet 2003


FiCB Welcome Night 2003


KCPC EM Retreat Promo 2003


More recent FiCB videos can also be found at the FiCB website.

Why Steven Seagal Should Be Your Only Hero



Haha...

Here's a picture of 2 of the 3 incisions made into my right shoulder for my surgery. The other incision was made on the back of the shoulder.

You might also notice that there are some pen markings on my shoulder. These were made so that the surgeon would be sure that he was operating on the correct shoulder.

During my surgery today, it was determined that I had a torn labrum. (The cartilage in my shoulder joint was torn.) The surgery took 2.5 hours, and they were able to repair the tear.

Afterwards, I was feeling pretty nauseous from the anesthesia, and wanted to hurl.

This is fairly common, and the nurse gave me the option to soothe the nausea with a suppository. I didn’t want it initially, considering how it's administered. (It's not taken orally or with a shot, so you can probably guess how it is taken...)

But after a few minutes, I changed my mind and asked the nurse to apply it for me. (Just another new experience, I suppose...)

And now with the help of the suppository, some Vicodin, and my mom (who surprised me by showing up at my surgery), I have almost no pain right now...

Some details about my shoulder surgery today:

-Right shoulder arthroscopic stabilization
-2 incisions made near the shoulder joint
-2 hour procedure, leaving on the same day
-General anesthesia
-Returning to work in a week
-In a sling for a month
-Rehab for 2-3 months
-95% chance that I'll be able to play sports again in 6 months

Technical details

myFICO Heart/Credit Connections Survey

Overview — In January, Fair Isaac Corporation’s consumer division, myFICO, conducted its first national consumer survey on the intersection of America’s attitudes on credit and romance. Fielded by Opinion Research Corporation, the survey revealed that most adults approach romantic relationships with a canny respect for their partner’s financial responsibility.

Key Results

• Financial responsibility tops sexual compatibility – Based on the responses of people nationwide, the American public is twice as likely to select financial responsibility (22%) as sexual compatibility (10%) as a personal trait that has sustained personal relationships they are in now or have been in over the years.

• Financial problems create more stress than does infidelity – The survey found that few things can put more stress on a personal relationship than financial woes. A third of respondents reported that a lack of financial responsibility hurt their relationships more than not being faithful (22%), a lack of affection (21%), or a lack of a sense of humor (16%). Problems paying bills late was cited as often as problems with in-laws or relatives as stressful situations that put pressure on a relationship with a significant other.
  

• Reluctant to reveal credit score to one’s mate – Although half of respondents (52%) consider honesty to be one of the most important qualities for sustaining a relationship, the survey also found that Americans guard their personal financial information closely. While almost two-thirds of respondents (62%) had been told or seen a report about their credit score, a third of this group (33%) admitted they would be reluctant to share their credit score with a significant other. According to survey results, more married people (62%) would tell their score to their significant other than would single people who have never been married (53%).

• A fine line between romantic and “financially foolish” – More than half (57%) of consumers think it would be wonderfully romantic if their significant other booked tickets for a surprise international trip, while nearly everyone (94%) regards going on a shopping spree as financially foolish when it maxes out a credit card.

• Friends advise friends on love and money – When advising others about romantic commitment, 83% of adults recommend checking out the sense of humor of a potential love interest. Almost as many would counsel a friend to learn if the other party has a steady job (78%) and has a good credit history (76%).

• Women emphasize a potential mate’s credit history more than men do – Women counseling friends emphasize having a steady job (88%) and good credit history (84%) as important qualities to consider before entering into a romantic relationship. Men advising friends are more likely than women to emphasize a potential partner’s sense of humor (85%) and kissing ability (42%).

• Grandparent knows best – People who have the most life-experience are especially sensitive to the heart/credit score connection. Among those age 50 and older, 86% recommend learning about a person’s credit history before making a romantic commitment.

By Justin Bachman, AP Business Writer

FISCAL COMPATIBILITY: Are we compatible?

Just as a sense of humor is almost an automatic mandatory as a must-have attribute for most of us, finances play a role. More than three-quarters in a telephone poll of 1,022 people said they'd advise a friend to learn if the object of their affection has a steady job, and 76 percent said they'd even counsel on learning about their credit history.

"How you handle your money sends strong signals to others, especially significant others," said Andy Jolls, vice president of myFICO, the online credit score service offered by Minneapolis-based credit rating company Fair Isaac Corp.

Women found credit history more crucial than men. Nearly 90 percent of women said a steady job was important, and 84 percent cited credit history as important qualities to consider before entering into a romantic relationship.

For men? Laughs and lips: 85 percent said a sense of humor was paramount and 42 percent rated kissing ability as keen to assessing a potential mate's long-term suitability.

"Opposites may attract, but I wouldn't put my money on a relationship of financial opposites," said Suze Orman, a personal finance writer and host of her own cable television program.

A 100 x 100 at In-N-Out: