My Prediction

Source

Yeah it's December 8th, barely.

We shall see!

I'm on a Pilgrimage to See a Moose

Source

Congratulations, Adam Scott!

Source (Scott K.Brown & Augusta National) / Via

(More photos at the source link.)

Contemplating a Trip to Big Bend

Map Source - Click to enlarge!

The Sporting Event Version of the "Star Spangled Banner"

Via

This hits home to me. It's a rarity that we ever hear it in its true form. Whenever there's a gigantic sporting event, we "get" to hear a version that's.. well, not so much the intended version.

It should always be 1:50-2:10 long. It should be sang the way Francis Scott Key intended. And the singer should never try to outclass the song itself. And for goodness sake, get the words right!

Cracker Lake, Glacier National Park, Montana

Image Source: porbital / Via - (NSFW)

Here is its Wikipedia page..

And Here is its Google maps location..

Beautiful Glen Canyon, UT/AZ

Source: National Geographic / Via - (NSFW)

• Website..
• Wikipedia..
• Google Maps..
• More cool pictures..

Blue Lagoon, Ecuador

Via / Probable Source

This is a tiny island off the coast of Santiago Island in the Galapagos National Park Islands cluster - Near the coast of Ecuador in the Pacific Ocean.

Google Maps location..

Galapagos Islands Wiki..

Serious Kudos to Reddit

Image Source, and of course Reddit itself

For the first time I can recall since about September 11, 2001, I have been glued to the news regarding the Aurora, Co. movie theater incident.

I've flipped among HLN, CNN, MSNBC, and even FoxNews for almost two straight days now. While these networks have done a decent job in their reporting of the events as they occur (some better than others), their journalism skills are in great need of improvement.

FoxNews was actually very good with today's coverage of the investigation of Holmes's apartment. I don't normally watch FoxNews. Nope, never. CNN and HLN were both doing well at first until they both dropped the ball, and started rebroadcasting loops of CNN's Anderson Cooper's and Piers Morgan's interviews.. and HLN's Jane Valez-Mitchell & Vinnie Politan seemed to speculate for hours while independent media outlets were coming up with new updates by the minute!

Reddit user integ3r has provided to the public (along with hefty assistance from nilicule, shankee, quantumraiders, and dozens of other contributors), the most detailed report of the events -as they happened- as I've ever seen.. for any event, ever. These guys deserve some SERIOUS credit for the unprecedented realistic & thorough journalism work they've put in. (integ3r has already been given tons of credit across the Internets, but that's just the tip of the iceberg.)

The LIVE feed from 9NEWS out of Denver has been top-notch, and I have chosen to watch it over any of the main national media outlets. It is however not online 24/7. Nothing against them - they can only do so much, and what they have done has been incredible!

I have taken the time to post this because as a quasi-journalist myself, I am SICK of the national media, and their lame reporting of extremely important news. I remember how things were during the 9/11 attacks, but I was just beginning to see it then. They did the same thing during the Casey Anthony trial, and they do the same thing whenever there is a major celebrity death.

Something I saw on CNN today: "We are trying very hard to focus only on the victims in this case, and not the individual who chose to take the lives of these victims, blah blah blah.." Not a quote, it's my paraphrased statement. Five seconds later the station posts a picture of James Holmes, and the voice being heard says something of the like: "Who is this James Holmes? We'll be right back with more information about his background, his possible motives, and more details we've just discovered." Again, not a direct quote.

This is my point. Besides the fact that every 2 minutes someone is injecting their own speculation as to "why this, or why that." And it's not only that. The national media is a complete failure because of their inadequacy on the job. Mispronouncing names.. blatantly getting stuff wrong.. FoxNews is still to this minute saying there were 71 victims! "Why would he join a sex site?" is another gem I heard. Why would anyone join a sex site?

Here is the link to the creme of the crop coverage directly from Reddit. They have also provided a blog site with all of it in one place.

This is the definition of journalism.

Spurs' Success Starts at the Top

This is a terrific article by ESPN's John Hollinger (1, 2) about the Spurs' organization. I think the national media may be waking up to exactly what it is we've been doing here for many years now. I think I even heard several "experts" publicly praising us - who have never, ever praised us - now that we've won 16-straight, and in dominating fashion. Greg Anthony, Tim Legler, Jeff Van Gundy, and more.

This is an ESPN "Insider" article, which means it's an article you only get to read if you pay ESPN for their Insider package. I'll let you know now, I'm not the one who ripped it and posted it. That credit goes to georgestephanopoulos. But I give the guy a ton of thanks for sharing an incredible article with a ton of people who would have otherwise not seen it.

Via / Source

Once the rest of the league starts to pay attention to what we've been doing for years & years, I think they might start to figure it out. Then again why has it taken them so long? More importantly once the media drops their "old & aging team" moniker that has been present since about, oh 2007, perhaps they'll also realize this franchise isn't gonna have a rebuilding stage. We're gonna be there - competing with the best of them - winning 50 games a season - for many, many years to come. My only hope is that Timmy & Pop stick around a little longer.

Augusta National - Then & Now

What a cool little interactive graphic to view all of the changes made to Augusta National Golf Club over the years! Here's historyshots dot com's introduction:

Augusta National Golf Club has undergone continuous modification since hosting its first Masters Tournament in 1934. This graphic depicts the more than 100 major changes made to the course over the past 79 years. At the top is a visual side-by-side comparison of each hole for 1934 and 2012. Below the hole comparisons is a timeline that maps tee, fairway and green area changes year-by-year. The combination of visual comparison and detailed timeline provides a sweeping overview of all the major changes made since 1934. (Source)

Click the banner image above to go check it out! Ordering information is also provided for the 40" x 24" poster.

Via / Source

A Bubba Watson Fan Having a Difficult time being Subtle

Image screen-capped from official Masters video (masters.com)                     Click to enlarge!!

I saw this immediately after it happened, when they replayed the shot in very slow motion. I laughed instantly, and HAD to go back and find it for you guys. It's a ton better in the video, which you can see by going to Masters.com, and clicking on "leaderboard", then clicking on Ooosthuizen's "4" on hole #18 (the first playoff hole) inside the sudden-death playoff mini-scorecard. A 2½ minute video will play, showing Oosthuizen's 4 shots for that hole.

The 2012 Masters Leaderboard

(Through Friday completion)


Source

Click the image above to go see the complete leaderboard!   Or, here is the Masters homepage.

Go Freddie!!!

Here's Your 2012 Masters Preview

Image Source

This is one of my favorite weeks of the year. Someone said "if there's a golf course in Heaven, it would look just like Augusta National", and I believe it.

Here are a few good articles to get you pumped up for the 2012 Masters, which begins today, Thursday, April 5:

• Hype vs. Reality -- By Mike McAllister, PGATOUR.COM Managing Editor

• Tiger Woods Focused on Five -- By Gene Wojciechowski | ESPN.com

• Solving the Mystery of Augusta's Greens -- By Thomas Bonk

• The Field - Pairings

• PGA Tour's Expert Picks

• Masters Dot Com for all your online coverage..

My two foursomes for ESPN's Best Ball Majors Challenge are: (1) Mickelson, Couples, Stricker, and Wagner --and-- (2) Woods, McIlroy, Clarke, and Yang.

Superstition Mountains, Tonto National Forest, Arizona

Source (Photo by Robert Quinn) / Via - (NSFW)                                                                               CTE!

Wikipedia link..

Google Maps link..

More images of this gorgeous area..

Some Things Never Change

Source: This ESPN poll..

So we win 11-straight, and 12 of 13. We go 8-1 on a 9-game road trip, and come home at 24-10 at the "half-way" point. Then we play a hard-fought game against one of the best teams in the league, and lose by 7, and suddenly a majority of the nation thinks we're not contenders? That's OK - they've said the same thing every single year that I can remember - even between 1999 & 2007. And yeah every season since '07 we're "washed-up".. we're in "rebuilding mode".. we're "so old" that our only weapons are our canes.

Once again, I just laugh at them all.

13 Places Google Doesn't Want You to See

A TruTV article


The White House - Formerly blacked-out, now with uncensored but out-of-date imagery

The Pacific Northwest, USA

Here's one that gives us chills. What exactly are we not seeing here? The site is close to the Washington-Oregon border and is rumored to have something to do with FEMA, HAARP or, really, anything at all. Prison Planet readers inspected the site in person and could find no identifying details other than an ominous fence and unmarked entrance.


Unknown Area, Russia

Another one that is so mysterious, no one has a clue what it is. One commenter on the website Siberian Light speculates it's either "a radar station or missile interceptor," while another notes that the image of the surrounding area appears to have been copy-pasted from another part of the country.


North Korea

You've no doubt heard about this country, one of the members of the supposed "Axis of Evil," but few have ever visited. You won't see it on Google Maps, either, as the entire country exists in images but without highway markers, street names, or any other identifying details.

Click here to continue on to the rest of the list..

Via

Moraine Lake - Banff National Park, Alberta, Canada

CTE!                                                                                                                                     Via - (NSFW)

Moraine Lake Wiki

More pictures here..

The Truth About The National Debt & The Last Decade

Click to enlarge - Then click again to zoom..Via

Government site

Can He Do It?