Ain't Nothin' Better Than Your Own Backyard

Current Reading

Slaughterhouse Five by Kurt Vonnegut

I Want My Money Back, and Don't Forget

Hitler is, to put it mildly, not happy about losing to Baylor last fall.

Many thanks to Mr. Ryan Searcey for sending the exclusive footage my way.

Impress All the Women, Pretend I'm Samuel Clemens, Wear Seersucker and White Linens

Congratulations once again to Ms. Amanda Pierce for almost naming "Anytime" by My Morning Jacket as the Thursday Song of the Day. Luke, before you file an official protest with the Running Down a Dream Song of the Day Rules Committee, you should note that she named the correct band and actually made an effort to win the prize, whereas your lack of participation was noticeable.

One of the more jarring sports-related experiences that I have had in the past 18 months occurred last May in Arlington as the Ballpark was transformed into Fenway Park Southwest by a roving band of bandwagon-hopping BoSox fans. The only living member of the Jig and Twig witnessed the same phenomenon last night at the Juice Box and left feeling worse than Kobayashi after a 4th of July spent at Nathan's Famous hot dogs on Coney Island.

Finally, thanks to information relayed by an unnamed source from the ABC/ESPN promotional department, Running Down a Dream is proud to bring you the rejected taglines for today's Euro 2008 Final between Spain and Germany:

Rejected Tagline #1:

Franco!

Hitler!

It's the Euro 2008 Final...on ABC!!!!

Rejected Tagline #2:

Guernica!

Dresden!

It's the Euro 2008 Final...on ABC!!!

I'd Like to Dream My Troubles All Away

Faithful readers of Running Down a Dream, I'm coming to you LIVE from the Salida, Colorado Public Library!!! This is my first time to write in the SPL since last summer, and I am looking forward to using it as my base of blogging operations once again.

During my journey from the 903 to Centennial State I enjoyed a nice 36 hour stopover in the one and only Key City. (Abilene, Texas for the uninitiated. Or those who didn't pledge GSP. Either way.) It was a genuine pleasure seeing old friends, watching Joey "Jaws" Chestnut restore America to the top of the gluttony ladder, and view Michael Bay's latest offering, Transformers. All in all, it was one of the more enjoyable Fourth of July's that I have ever spent sans pyrotechnics.

In fantastic news on the Liverpool FC front, yesterday the Reds signed Atletico Madrid and Spanish National Team striker Fernando Torres to a 6-year deal . Torres, 23, is an outstanding pickup for the Liverpool and may be exactly what they need to return to the top of the Premiership next season.

With all that said, it's great to be here in Salida again. I knew I was back at Trek earlier this afternoon when one of the other guides sent a camper over to ask me inane questions about the Battle of the Bulge. The kid thoroughly enjoyed it when I was able to tell him the 4-letter response that General Anthony McAuliffe gave to the German Commander's request for surrender: "Nuts."

Nuts indeed, Tony.