Acute Onset Monday Syndrome

Today is Monday, and what that means is that I have no interest in doing anything. I have a bunch of things I ought to be doing, but I really really don't want to. I am calling this acute onset Monday syndrome (thanks to Helen for inspiring the name!).

But I have promises to keep... So here's your weekly bit on jai alai.

Something I didn't mention last week is that jai alai is a gambling sport. Gambling is of course a controversial issue. Potentially it can lead to addiction and crime, but it can also create income -- state lotteries in the US help spur the creation of massive scholarship funds, for example. The mayor of Bacolod, one of the larger cities in the Philippines, opposes the legalization of jai alai in his city, instead taking the position that the national government should make the call on such an issue. I can see both sides of the argument. Gambling definitely creates a certain atmosphere (Las Vegas or Atlantic City e.g.), but the money coming in to the city would certainly help assuage specific concerns for the city.

Think about it this way: where most of our readers live, there is already gambling present: state lotteries, scratch-off tickets, etc. Perhaps there are even casinos nearby. Do you think it's necessary to create a new form of gambling for your town? What benefits would you see, and against what cost? Just some questions to mull over...


Anyway, here are few things I've collected:

• Yes, Chik-fil-A Says, We Explicitly Do Not Like Same-Sex Couples. Yiiikes.
  
  
• While there is unrest in Egypt, to put it very lightly, a news story which captures the front page of BBC News, the news was seemingly dominated by Charlie Sheen over the weekend. Well... that's how I felt anyway; every US-based news site had Sheen's picture plastered everywhere. It's better now, at least, but come on.
  
  
• All the womenfolk really need to check out/discover Apricot Basket. Just saying.
  
  
• What does an actual NFL sports writer write about when there's no football? Aaron Rodgers' past, apparently.
  
  

Lastly, here's the best fighting game I've ever seen:

Flying Jai?

If you listened to our most recent podcast, you'll know that Mikey, Jack, and I made predictions for the SuperBowl. We all picked Atlanta for the NFC.... WHOOPS! I picked the Pats for the AFC, and I cannot believe they got trumped by the Jets. Jack picked the Jets to make the SB, and Mikey picked the Steelers -- or at least he picked the winner of the Pittsburgh-Baltimore game (these predictions were made pre-divisional round). So I was entirely wrong as of last weekend; Mikey and Jack were half-right coming into this weekend. But only Mikey correctly predicted one of the SB teams. So he wins one Internet. My post-divisional-round predictions were Packers and Steelers, so that brings my prediction total to 68-38, bringing me up to .559. The only thing left to do is make a SB prediction.....READ IT HERE FIRST: I AM PREDICTING THE PACKERS TO WIN THE SUPERBOWL.

But now there is a question. What happens with my blogs now that football is ending? This question lead to an interesting (LOL, NOPE) Twitter conversation amongst the TT.TKO writers, and I have posted it here. If you can't figure out who's who, then YIKES. (Read from the bottom up)



So.... HERE'S IS YOUR WEEKLY JAI ALAI BLOG. First, I should tell you what it is. I will be forthright and inform you that the only reason I know about this sport is because of an episode of Jackass I saw, like, 10 years ago (or whenever it was that Jackass was on television and still culturally relevant [SICK BURN]). If you're familiar with racquetball or squash, then, well... it's kind of like that. Only faster (on average). Jai alai is a form of Basque pelota, which "is the name for a variety of court sports played with a ball using one's hand, a racket, a wooden bat or a basket, against a wall or, more traditionally, with two teams face to face separated by a line on the ground or a net. Their roots can be traced to the Greek and other ancient cultures, but in Europe they all derive from tennis."

The "racket," more properly a basket kind of contraption, used in jai alai is called a cesta. The rules are not complicated, but it's more than I want to write up. The basic idea is this: one dude hurls a ball (made of metal and wrapped in goatskin) at the wall, and the idea is that the teams alternate catching the ball in the cesta and then throwing it without holding or juggling.... and all in one motion. Points are scored subject to certain constraints on the court and with the players (YOU CAN READ, I LINKED IT UP ABOVE).

To give you an idea of how this game is played:


SO NOW THAT WE ALL KNOW WHAT IT IS, next week you can expect some more sexy jai alai information.

And just remember Amy, you brought this upon yourself.