To continue a tradition we established last year, tonight, Brooklynne and I went out for steamed Maryland blue crabs. We got a dozen large males and finished almost all of them. We also ordered a dozen hush puppies which I believe are the most heavenly side dish on the planet.

We also bought a stroller/travel system today. Funny, huh? I never thought about ever having to do that. Anyway, we would have waited, but we found one that we REALLY liked and it was on sale for roughly 2/3 the normal price. Still pretty expensive, but way better than the cheaper alternatives.

The US also stayed alive (barely) in the World Cup. Now we HAVE to win AND get some help in order to continue. Although there are several other unlikely paths that would take us into the finals, for us to advance the most likely scenarios require either 1) Italy to beat the Czechs, or 2) the Czechs to beat Italy by (6 minus our margin of victory) goals, or 3) if the Czechs and Italy tie, we would have to beat Ghana by at least 5 goals.

Another scenario that would be kind of fascinating: if the US beats Ghana, the Czechs beat Italy by (5 minus our margin of victory) goals, and the US scores exactly 2 more goals than Italy on Wednesday, then the second group E bid into the finals would be determined by the US and Italy drawing straws. Drawing straws is really the tie-breaker provided in the rules for that case!!!

Obviously, an Italian victory over the Czechs would give us the only realistic chance of moving on.