What I meant to say:

College World Series
I didn't make a pick going into the College World Series because I don't watch much college baseball. I probably watched more in the last 4 days than in my entire life! If I had made a pick, I probably would've gone with either Miami or Florida State, the two trendy squads about 3 weeks ago. But if I'd reached for an underdog, I might've selected Georgia. They were the scary scrappy team from the SEC, traditionally a strong baseball conference, and seemed poised for a deep run. They made that run but needed to go just a little bit deeper. Up 5-0 in the 3rd inning of game 2, UGA needed to find a way to hold on. Instead they gave up 25 runs over the next 12 innings--not so good.

Fresno State avoided elimination 6 times in this tournament and ended up scoring the 2nd most run ever in the CWS so they clearly had plenty of bats in that lineup. They were a good squad that underachieved early in the season and got hot at the right time. Offense is the fun part of baseball and the final had plenty of runs scored. But all that just shows how poor the pitching is in the college game. Also, I know the lack of African-Americans in baseball has been a steady theme for a decade or so, but, man, was there a single black player on either of those finalists? I didn't realize the pernicious influence of football and basketball was that deep.

Euro 2008
I didn't get around to blogging my predictions for the semis of the Euro but I correctly pegged Germany and Spain for the finals (yeah, big stretch). Germany's 3-2 victory over Turkey was a great match. Turkey dominated the first 25 minutes or so, exposing the German D as a bit unsure and slow-footed (especially on the wings). The Turks finally scored after tagging the crossbar a few times. The Germans struck back quickly on Schweinsteiger's sublimely beautiful flick just a few minutes later. The Germans took control after halftime and jumped ahead with about 15 minutes to go (thought the keeper overplayed letting Klose's header slip past him). The deal seemed sealed but the Turks, true to their comeback form in this tourney, snuck another past Lehmann with just a few minute left. The world anticipated extra time but Lahm got loose down the wing (Kazim slipped and fell leaving him acres of space) and pounded home a bullet to send the Germans on to the finals in regulation. Great finish, great game. Though Turkey was wildly overmatched in terms of international experience (6 players had fewer than 10 caps),
they played with great energy early on. But the Germans wore them down in their typical fashion and prevailed.

In the other semi-final, Russia was just no match for Spain. It was tied at zero at halftime but the Spanish blasted 3 goals (all freakin' sweet!) in the second half and the blowout was on. Russia's only threat was Arshavin but he just couldn't get loose in this game, unable to match his all-round badassness from their quarterfinal victory over the Netherlands. Spain was too deep and held the ball for much too long for Russia to ever really be a part of this match.

I like Spain over Germany in the final on Sunday. Turkey exposed Germany's shaky defending (Lahm got burned badly on numerous occasions) and Spain has far more weapons at their disposal than Turkey did. I like Spain to keep pushing forward, beware the German counter attack and salt this game away throughout the second half.

Michael Beasley #2 pick
Yup, I knew Miami would take Beasley. Frankly, Chicago should've taken Beasley--he's the best player available! What other criteria can there be for the evaluation of prospects?

I like Derrick Rose, his performance in the NCAA tourney was spectacular, but I'm not sold on his ability to step into the NBA and wheel and deal right away. I don't see him as versatile as Chris Paul, as deceptively protective of the ball as Deron Williams or as naturally intuitive as Steve Nash. If he's the 4th best PG in the league we can still consider him a success and that should be plenty enough to get the Bulls to the playoffs. But Michael Beasley is the most plainly obviously-gonna-be-an-awesome-pro as I've seen since Tim Duncan--more so than Oden, Lebron, Carmelo or Yao. I know Pat Riley doesn't care for rookies and probably would've given up Beasley for a proven inside presence, but he would've been kicking himself for years if he passed up Beasley. Beasley will win ROY and be a perennial all-star.

Saudi blasting speculators
On a non-sports note, the Saudi condemnation of market speculation and high taxes in the western world was a predictable outcome of last week's big oil summit. And, oddly enough, I agree completely. Look, when the market's rising, the economy is good and everybody's fat and happy, no one complains about speculators. When things go bad, the speculators take all the blame--that's just the nature of the way things work. But the Saudis are right when they say that supply is holding steady with worldwide demand. Yes, demand is rising and looks to continue to rise into the foreseeable future but it hasn't risen at the pace of the price of oil over the last 18 months or so. 1 year ago the price of oil was $69.18, today it closed around $140. Has the worldwide demand for oil doubled in the last year? Absolutely not, not even close. So why has the price doubled? You tell me.

In some sort of full disclosure: I have the rather intricate and abnormal view that USA's problems in the Middle East will vanish when we realize that Iran should be our ally and the Saudis ought to be the enemy. Iran is the vulnerable minority while the Saudis are one of the most repressive regimes left on the planet. That said, shouldn't I be banging the Saudis for their refusal to satisfy our piddling desires? I could but that's just not the shape of things. Adding supply wouldn't stem the rising price because the rising price is not a result of diminishing supply. The demand isn't terribly greater than it was 10 years ago thus the price is being bid up by the traders in the pits eager to seize on any random scrap of news from around the world. When Israel banged with Hezbollah last summer, the price of oil soared. Why? The hostilities had no corresponding effect on production, distribution or supply of oil--Israel and Lebanon are not major suppliers of oil. The delicious subtext that Iran funds Hezbollah has, I'm afraid, nothing do with the production, distribution or consumption of oil. Therefore, virtually all of that $70 rise in the last year is based on amorphous bullshit called 'risk premium', a lovely open-ended term that can mean whatever the fuck you want it to at any time. Pumping more oil would not lower prices--keep your charts and your macro explanations, please. My mind is made up: its speculators. And until Americans realize that the price goes up because we make it go up, we'll continue to bitch about problems of our own design.

Look for Congress to start meddling and--another wacky twist--I think I agree. Don't get me wrong, I'm permanently skeptical of Congress to do the right thing, but with their own pathetic approval ratings and no sitting president to stand in the way, Congress has plenty of room to craft legislation that is even-handed and useful. Skeptical, but I do think something popular on both sides of the aisle is very possible and will happen. And it might not be the worst thing; one could certainly argue that hoarding necessary commodities is a 'market failure'. So we may as well hope those fat cats in Washington get it right.