Long Live Slovakia!

Slovakia 2, United States 1

Serve those silly United Statesians right, for not knowing where Slovakia is, or that the people who inhabit the country are Slovaks, not Slovakians.

Of course, I'm sure most Slovaks don't [sic] really know the difference between the USA and the USSR.

Halos 1, Stupid People 0

An Orange County jury ruled against the city of Anaheim today, finding the Los Angeles Angels (of Anaheim) did not violate their lease agreement by changing the team's name to include "Los Angeles" and making that city more prominent in its name and marketing efforts than Anaheim.

Good riddance, too. I for one applaud the team's efforts to downplay its ties to Anaheim, and by extension to the dark days when the franchise was owned by Disney. The name change was a nice move to capitalize on the greater visibility of L.A. while distancing itself from the bush league operation that is the city of Anaheim.

Besides, this whole episode was probably the best thing that could've happened to Anaheim. The city claimed not being featured as prominently in Angels marketing cost it something like $100 million in lost tourism, promotion and buzz, but it probably gained at least that much as a result of the name change. Sure, it seems a bit odd (though the city never demanded the Los Angeles Rams rename themselves when they moved into Anaheim Stadium), but the change really helped to put Anaheim on the national radar. Of course, it also made the country aware that the city is a real Mickey Mouse operation, but then there's no such thing as bad publicity, right?