People I Like

I know Thursday is People I Hate day, but honestly, I'm not in the mood. I've been hatin' all week, and after a while even I tire of it. Thus, you lucky folks get to see a rarity around these parts: a PIL post! Good for you!

Briana Scurry

Soccer fans will label her "the woman who lost the World Cup," but that's patently unfair. Yes, the U.S. Women's team got blitzed today, 4-Nil. Yes, Scurry was playing goaltender. Yes, the U.S. will not win the World Cup. But, no, it was not Scurry's fault.

"The first goal was kind of a fluke goal, then Marta comes down on the second goal and then we go down on the red card. Things were not falling for us today."

In the 20th minute, Formiga sent in a corner, which bounced just short of the goal. Attempting to head it behind, midfielder Leslie Osborne headed it into the net between goalkeeper Briana Scurry and Lori Chalupny.

Scurry, playing in her 164th game for the U.S., was surprisingly picked ahead of Hope Solo, who started the first four games. Solo gave up two goals in the first match but was unscored on for the following 300 minutes. Scurry, meanwhile, hadn't played a full game in three months. (H/T - Yahoo! Sports)

Scurry was woefully unprepared for this important game. And it showed. This should go down as coach Greg Ryan's blunder, since he benched Solo for Scurry, but those who saw the game - like me, while at PT - will know it was a total team effort. Give Briana a break.

Mitt Romney

Yeah, yeah, I know he probably doesn't have a shot in Hell to win the GOP nomination, but Romney is most likely the guy I will be voting for in the primaries. He's a straight shooter, that tells you exactly what he thinks, instead of fumbling around for a position du jour.

BOSTON (Reuters) - Former Massachusetts Gov. Mitt Romney's lead among New Hampshire's likely Republican voters has nearly vanished, putting him in a virtual tie with former New York Mayor Rudy Giuliani in the state that helps kick off the 2008 White House race, a new poll showed. (H/T - Yahoo!)

That's a shame. Romney would be the better candidate than Rudy Giuliani or Fred "Am I running, or not" Thompson.

Christian Bale

I heard that NBC is planning to bring back Knight Rider. Good God, I hope that's just a scary rumor. If not, they would do well to follow the Batman Begins formula. First, make it dark and serious, without all the camp. Second, choose your star wisely, like Begins did with Christian Bale.

I like Bale. He has been stellar in every film I've seen him in. Awesome in Batman Begins, terrific in Reign of Fire, and very good in Equilibrium. And, unlike many Hollywood types, he's rarely on the front page doing something stupid and/or illegal.

I anxiously await next summer's Batman sequel, The Dark Knight.