Finished Reading "The Beautiful Days of My Youth. My Six Months in Auschwitz and Plaszow" by Ana Novac. An interesting account of a young Jewish Girl in a Nazi Concentration Camp. It was different because it was written at the time on scraps of paper and is much more self focused than the normal stories with the undercurrent of all the massacres going on around her.

Thinking about the Holocaust which still is staggering, is that fact that occured during the lifetime of my parents, not hundreds of years ago during the dark ages.

-Richard

Score Update:

International Rugby: France 31 England 6
England 24 Ireland 28. England finish a very disspointing 4th place.

International Cricket: India beat England by 9 wickets in the Second Test Match
England beat India by 212 runs in the Third Test Match. The Test series ended up 1-1
Indian Presidents XI beat England by 5 runs in a One Day Warm Up Match

International Football: Germany 4 USA 1 Friendly

Rugby Union: Driffield 22 West Hartlepool 17 League North 2 East
Virginia 0 Raleigh 86 Friendly
Raleigh 39 James River 14 Friendly

Football: Scunthorpe United 2 Hartlepool United 0
Hartlepool United 1 Barnsley 1
Southend United 3 Hartlepool United 0 Pools slip into a relegation position in League One.

Rugby League: St. Helens 38 Bradford Bulls 16
Bradford Bulls 34 Wigan 12 Bradford are third in the Super League

Ice Hockey: Carolina Hurricanes 2 New York Rangers 1
Montreal Canadiens 1 Carolina Hurricanes 5
Boston Bruins 4 Carolina Hurricanes 2
Toronto Maple Leafs 3 Carolina Hurricanes 2
Buffalo Sabres 3 Carolina Hurricanes 4 Canes are 19 points clear of Tampa Bay Lightening in the South East Division.

Baseball: Los Angeles Dodgers 7 Houston Astros 0
Toronto Blue Jays 7 Houston Astros 6
Houston Astros 7 Atlanta Braves 5
Houston Astros 1 New York Yankees 11
New York Yankees 5 Houston Astros 10
Atlanta Braves 0 Houston Astros 7
Cleveland Indians 6 Houston Astros 5
Houston Astros 2 Detroit Tigers 5
Detroit Tigers 10 Houston Astros 7
Houston Astros 1 Cleveland Indians 2
New York Yankees 8 Houston Astros 1
Houston Astros 13 Detroit Tigers 3
Houston Astros 3 New York Mets 1 All games Spring Training.

Basketball: San Antonio Spurs 88 Houston Rockets 81
Houston Rockets 77 New Jersey Nets 90
Houston Rockets 81 Dallas Mavericks 95
Houston Rockets 72 San Antonio Spurs 92
Houston Rockets 91 Los Angeles Clippers 99
Dallas Mavericks 88 Houston Rockets 72
New Orleans Hornets 92 Houston Rockets 93 The Rockets are now 24 games behind San Antonio in the South West Division.

-Richard

I'm done in the NCAA tournement with all my final 4 teams out after the sweey sixteen. Althouth I do not follow college Basketball enough to really have a chance to get it right I will try again next year. I still have two picks in the Elite Eight: Texas and UCLA.

-Richard

After the second day of the Second Round of the NCAA I have Texas, West Virginia,Memphis, Villanova and Georgetown right.

That gives me 11 of 16 right, but, I have lost two of my final 4 teams (North Carolina and Kansas)

-Richard

Finished reading "How Soccer Explains the World" by Frankkin Feur. A very intersting and stimulating read.

-Richard

After the first day of the second round of the NCAA tournament I predicted the following teams correctly into the sweet 16: Duke, LSU, Gonzaga, UCLA, Boston College and Florida. The two that I got wrong where Illinois, who I had going to the Elite 8. They lost to Washington and Tennessee who lost to Wichita State. I had them losing in the sweet 16.

-Richard

On the second day of the NCAA tournament I did not do so good. I got 11 of the 16 right, but, unfortunatly one of the ones that wen wrong was Kansas losing to Bradley. That is a major bracket buster for me as I had Kansas going to the Final Four. The other ones I got wrong were:
Arizona over Wisconsin, George mason over Michigan State, Bucknell over Arkansas and Northwestern State over Iowa.
I picked one upset right with NC State beating California.

-Richard

Finished reading "Churchill Taken from the Diaries of Lord Moran". An interesting perspective on Sir Winston Churchill written using excerpts from the diary of Lord Moran who was his personnel doctor from when Churchill became Prime Minister during the crisis of 1940 in World War II until his death at the age of 91 in 1965.

-Richard

So, how did I do after the first day of the tournament? I think considering my lack of knowledge pretty well. I got 12 out of 16 right and two of the losses were extremely close with one going to over time.

The losses I had were George Washington over UNC Wilmington, Indiana over San Diego State, Montanta over Nevada and Wichita State over Seton Hall.

I got the upsets of Wisconsin Milwaukee over Oklahoma, Alabama over Marquette and Texas A & M over Syracuse correct.

Lets see how today goes..

-Richard

So, its NCAA Basketball time and the tournament. Although I don't really follow College Basketball I always do a bracket so here it is, well the highlights and upsets:

Atlanta Region:

First Round: Upsets (Lower beating higher): NC Wilmington (9) over George Washington (8), Texas A & M (12) over Syracuse (5) and NC State (10) over California (7)
Second Round Winners: Duke, LSU, West Virginia and Texas
Sweet Sixteen Winners: Duke and West Viriginia
Regional Winner: Duke

Oakland Region:

First Round: Upsets: San Diego State (11) over Indiana (6) and Alabama (10) over Marquette (7)
Second Round Winners: Memphis, Kansas, Gonzaga and UCLA
Sweet Sixteen Winner: Kansas and UCLA
Regional Winner: Kansas

Washington DC Region:

First Round: Upsets: Seton Hall (10) over Wichita State (7)
Second Round Winners: Kentucky, Illinois, North Carolina, Tennessee
Sweet Sixteen Winners: Illinois and North Carolina
Regional Winner: North Carolina

Minneapolis Region:

First Round: Upsets: Wisconsin (9) over Arizona (8) and Wisconsin Milwaukee (11) over Oklahoma (6)
Second Round Winners: Villanova, Boston College, Florida and Georgetown
Sweet Sixteen Winners: Boston College and Georgetown
Regional Winner: Boston College

Final Four:

Duke over Kansas
North Carolina over Boston College

Championship:

Duke over North Carolina

-Richard

Score Update:

Intentional Cricket: England drew with India First Test Match

Rugby Union: Hartlepool Rovers 26 West Hartlepool 27 League 2 North East. A great birthday present !! West are 5th in the table.
Raleigh 15 Potomac Athletic Club 35 Friendly

Football Hartlepool United 3 Huddersfield Town 1 League 1 Hartlepool move up to 17th

Rugby League: Bradford Bulls 18 Hull 12 Superleague. Bradford move to the top of the table.

Ice Hockey: Pittsburg Penguins 5 Carolina Hurricanes 7
New York Rangers 1 Carrolina Huricanes 2
Philadelphia Flyers 3 Carolina Hurricanes 2 (Over time)
Florida Panthers 5 Carolina Hurricanes 3
Florida Panthers 4 Carolina Hurricanes 3 (Over time) Hurricanes are now 22 points clear of Tampa Bay Lightening in the South East Division

Baseball: Philadelphia Phillies 4 Houston Astros 3 Spring Training
Houston Astros 11 Washington Nationals 1 Spring Training
New York Mets 7 Houston Astros 1 Spring Training
Houston Astros 1 Toronto Blue Jays 7 Spring Training
Houston Astros 3 New York Mets 2 Spring Training
Houston Astros 8 Washington Nationals 6 Spring Training
Houston Astros 3 Philadelphia Phillies 4 Spring Training

Basketball: Houston Rockets 102 Portland Trail Blazers 84
Minnesota Timberwolves 87 Houston Rockets 93
Houston Rockets 103 Indiana Pacers 99 The Rockets are now 20 games behind Dallas in the South West Division

-Richard

After listing the Rugby teams I've seen (I can now add Washington and Potomac Athletic Club) I thought I woujd look at the Football Teams I've seen live. It will not be anywhere near as mucg as Rugby. Again this is ones I can remember. I know there are games I've been to that I can't remember.

Premiership: Manchester United, Tottenham Hotpsur, Newcastle United, Middlesbrough, Fulham and Sunderland.
Championship: Queens Park Rangers, Luton Town, Derby County, Sheffield Wednesday.
League 1: Southend United, Nottingham Forest, Bradford City, Hartlepool United
Non-League: Hereford United, Woking, Runcorn

MLS: Colorado Rapids, Dallas, San Jose Earthquakes, LA Galaxy, Chicago Fire, Columbus Crew, DC United, Kansas City Wizards, New England Revolution, Metrostars, Tampa Bay Mutiny and Miami Fire.
Other US: Richmond Kickers.
Other International: Cremonose

International: England, Brazil, USSR, USA, New Zealand and Panama.

-Richard

Another year older today. I seems kinda surreal to think that I am now 37. In so many ways that seems impossible, in other it seems that I feel a lot older. Age and time are very strange how they distort in your mind into what is reality and what is made up in one's imagination.

-Richard

Score Update:

Intenational Football: England 2 Uruguay 1 Friendly
Poland 0 USA 1 Friendly

Rugby Union: West Hartlepool 3 Penrith 10 League 2 North East
Raleigh 5 Washington DC 22 Friendly

Rugby League: Cartalans 18 Bradford Bulls 50 Super League

Ice Hockey: Caroline Hurricanes 4 Boston Bruins 2
Carolina Hurricanes 5 Florida Panthers 2

Baseball: Houston Astros 2 Cleveland Indians 5 Spring Training
Cleveland Indians 5 Houston Astros 11 Spring Training
Houston Astros 6 Atlanta Braves 10 Spring Training

Basketball: Orlando Magic 84 Houston Rockets 89
Houston Rockets 94 Phoenix Suns 111
Houston Rockets 101 Philadelphia 76er's 106
Houston Rockets 89 Denver Nuggets 78

-Richard