DOUBLE DIGITS, BABY

According to my calculations, 10 people have now read at least one posting of The Gene Pool. Maybe more, I don't know. I could be really popular in Sweden by now. But I've spoken to 10 people who have read this bad boy. That's inching real close to the number of girls I have made out with.
The story of The Gene Pool shall come in a later blog, but for now, I'll tell you this. Hattrick is three goals in soccer, something I accomplished quite often in my career. 246 is my high bowling score. I finished with seven strikes in a row. It was in a league, too. So, there is proof.

POSEY IN THE HOUSE

When I first saw the list of free agents, I said the Hornets should get James Posey. I didn't even know if they were interested. Then we had him in the paper as being on the Hornets list. I got excited. But as the days went by, I pretty much gave up and assumed he was headed for Cleveland or staying in Boston.
I walk into work today and see on the budget that the Hornets signed Posey. I did a little victory lap around the office. From hereon out, we'll call it the Posey dance. It's a short jog with your finger up in the air, followed by jumping up and hitting something. Then returning to your desk and tripping on your chair.
I think Posey is a perfect fit for the Hornets. He can run, defend, shoot. He hustles. Has championship experience. It's too much money, and he'll be making 6 million at 35, but hey, he might just help them win the title in the next two years. Umm, is he related to Parker Posey?

DOES SHE HAVE A DOUBLES PARTNER?

The fourth-ranked American women's player is naked in the August 2008 Playboy. Ashley Harkleroad. She's only No. 61 in the world, but I would have expected more hoopla over this. Maybe I'm missing it, but I haven't heard one person mention it. Sure, other athletes have posed for the magazine, but I don't think any of them were in the process of climbing the ranking of their sport.
It's probably all the rage on the WTA tour, but I haven't cared about tennis since Martina Hingis was good. Maybe if Ashley played naked in a promotional match, I might watch. Maybe.

WHERE THEY CHANGE THE NAME OF THE PLACE

After work Sunday night, I went to meet Paul at Bruno's for a drink. The new Bruno's has been closed for a while now, but I saw Sunday that it is back open under a new name: Rocco's. Rocco's? Rocco's? Are you kidding me? That's the name of a pizza joint. Or a cheap Italian buffet. Not a bar. Not my bar.
Bruno's was the first bar I went to that I liked. It was the first bar I got drunk in. It was the first bar I made a move on a girl at. It was the first bar I got really, really drunk at. It was the bar where the Year of Gene was invented. It was the bar where my friend Nick almost got into a fight playing pool with a Latin American fellow because he told him: "Hey buddy. My uncle was killed by a Puerto Rican." It was where I spent my 20th birthday. It was where I first stayed out until 4 a.m. drinking. It wasn't the first place I sang out loud and annoyed people, though.
Of course, I still love the new Bruno's. The fries are awesome. It has shuffleboard. It's spacious. It has good specials. But it's not the original Bruno's. No place is. Not to mention Rocco, whoever the hell he is, moved the pool table. Umm, I don't think so buddy.

SAVING FUEL, NOT MONEY

The cafeteria recently raised prices. Well, with the high-quality product, who could blame 'em? But it only made the old No. 1 go up about 38 cents, so I can't really complain. I am going to complain, however, about the fuel saver items. Every Thursday, if you buy a certain item, you can enter to win a gas card on Friday. Why, I ask, is the fuel-saver item only on Thursdays. Why not the whole week? Then more people would buy set item. Right?
I'm off tomorrow, and I really wanted that four-cheese pizza and a chance to enter the raffle and win.
Maybe I should skip dinner with my friends and come to work to eat. That's normal, right?

SPEAKING OF PIZZA AND MONEY

For those of you who think I only eat pepperoni on my pizza, I went with some friends to Theo's last night. I had pepperoni, mushroom and green peppers. That's three toppings. Next up to try: a meat topping. Have to work up the courage, though.
My friend Bob was with me. He hands me a dollar and tells me to feel it. I say it feels thin. He says that's because it's counterfeit. He then explains that he got it as change at a gas station. So, now he's keeping it as a souvenir.
He noticed it was fake while standing in a long line at another store. He realized that one of his dollars was a lot thinner than the others. He then checked out the dollar and saw all kind of other signs that it was counterfeit. He went back to the gas station, which had a sign that warned patrons to check their money. Apparently, Bob wasn't the only one this happened too. No word yet on whether the person who originally paid at the station with fake money got it from going to a Floyd Mayweather press conference.

PARTING SHOT
Lopes and I were discussing what to add to the Posey chart on the front page. We decided on his college since David West went to the same one.

Lopes: And put Ohio in parentheses so it's not confused with the other Xavier.
Me: Where's the other Xavier?
Lopes: (stares at me for like 12 seconds until I realize).
(If you are also confused, it's Xavier New Orleans. Right down the street.)

THE DAILY TOP LIST
Another installment of my top 40 all-time favorite TV shows. The excitement to the top is really starting to build now.

35) My Name is Earl. Seasons: 3. Episodes: 69. 2005-present. Show took a big-time dip in Season 2 when I almost stopped watching. Season 3 made up for it and then some. It could climb some more. Biggest other fan I know: Paul.

34) Flintstones. Seasons: 6. Episodes: 166. 1960-66. My second favorite cartoon (foreshadow) as a kid. Theme song holds the test of time. I'm not sure about the actual show, though. Biggest other fan I know: My dad.

33) Wings. Seasons: 8. Episodes: 172. 1990-97. I haven't seen a lot of these episodes, but I can tell I like it a lot. I watched it on USA for a while, but I don't think it's currently in syndication. Anybody want to let me borrow the DVDs. Biggest other fan I know: Bob.

32) Family Matters. Seasons: 9. Episodes: 215. 1989-1998. 3-2-1. 1-2-3. What the heck is bothering me? Talk me family values and kept me laughing. Biggest other fan I know: I don't think anyone else is currently admitting to liking this show. Though Jelly tells me that Stefan Urquelle was hot.

31) The Mary Tyler Moore Show. Seasons: 7. Episodes: 168. 1970-77. Had the complete cast. Ted, Murray and Lou were all terrific. And what male wasn't in love with Mary? Biggest other fan I know: Oprah (My mom told me to put that).