Team USA

The 2006 World Cup starts this week, and once again I will be glued to my high-definition enabled television.

The United States, playing in Group E with Italy, Ghana, and the Czech Republic, start matches on June 12. By some reports, this is "the group of death", the term given to the first round group of closely matched teams. The US squad will have a successful World Cup if it can get out of this group alive, and while I'm hopeful for this outcome, it just doesn't feel realistic. I hope I'm wrong, but if I'm betting, I'm picking Czech Republic and Italy to advance.

I hope to be eating these words. C'mon, Arena! Prove me wrong!

Bob Dylan

Today is Bob Dylan's 65th birthday.

My favorite song of his is "Shooting Star", from the album Oh Mercy. I heard it for the first time a few years ago while listening to "The Coffeehouse", a mellow morning radio show from WERS. The song is romantic, but also very sad. I liked it immediately, and I was surprised it was a Dylan tune. I listened to the song a few times again today. Very nice! Happy Birthday, Bob.

Rooting Interests

With the return of Stanely Cup ice hockey, and the apparent rise of LeBron James, I'm quite engaged in this month's batch of playoff series. Here are my rooting interests:

Cleveland Cavaliers. Yes, I'm on the LeBron band wagon. Witness and all that. I think the Cavs have a tough road ahead of them in tomorrow's Game 7 at Detroit. But I'm hoping to catch some of it, to see if I really am witnessing the rise of an NBA great.

Los Angeles Clippers. The other basketball team in Los Angeles. I like the storyline of the long suffering franchise suddenly catching some good luck. (The Lakers loss to Phoenix meant LA would have to wait another year for a Freeway series.)

Buffalo Sabres. Any team with Chris Drury is worth rooting for. Plus they have Mike Grier, a fellow former Boston University standout.

Anaheim Mighty Ducks. Paul Kariya isn't there anymore, but Teemu Selanne is. Teemu's having a resurgent season. Go Ducks!