Awesome signs of the summer ahead in the past 6 hours:
-Walking dog around the block: This may not sound like much, especially to those of you who walk your dog for a mile or more. But getting to walk the old dog for at least one more season, one more time, made my day worthwhile. It took about 6 minutes to walk around the block, since Buddy wanted to sniff every tree and urinate on about half of them.
-Summer Shandy commercial: arguably my favorite seasonal beer. I'll need to remember to store up on this when they phase it out in September. I think I'm gonna buy a couple of 12-ers and watch some sports and movies tonight. I hope to find a good bar for the summer that serves this on tap and calling that place my home.
-Donning the shorts: This is always a landmark day of any year- the first day of wearing shorts. This wouldn't mean much to my brother and Tim Wolf, who wear shorts all year round. While the shorts phase is by no means a staple throughout the year, its introduction into the wardrobe makes the pants prepare for their nearing hibernation.
-Softball/baseball/betting: While my mom was misinformed about my pre-teen cousin's softball game being today (it is tomorrow), the sign of games being played is a true sign of summer. Also watching the annually hyped Red Sox/Yanks game on the annually over-rated Joe Buck and Tim McCarver broadcasting network and betting on it (I bet the over, it came in with 4 1/2 innings to spare- first baseball bet won of 3 bets placed this year). And currently, watching the Sox winning with the slimmest of margins through 5.5 innings. Maybe this is the year I get back into baseball, because it's been slowly waning in my consciousness ever since I started watching/betting on NFL. I think going to 10-15 games (my goal) will help with that. If you are reading this, you are encouraged to get me off my ass to go to a game.
Feel free to share your own personal signs of summer.
I can't wait till the above scenarios are all in alignment with each other like an eclipse: a Summer Shandy on an 80 degree day, getting the 15 year old dog to sip the Fountain of Youth for a 5 minute walk, and ending the day at the ball park with a White Sox winner.
Time to buy the beer and get the Summer (Shandy) unofficially started.
4/09/2011
4/06/2011
Haters Gonna Love Hating
I hate haters. Does that make me no better than them for hating?
Actually, I don't hate haters. I just don't understand the mind of a hater. Before I delve into the subject further, for the 2 of you who read this who would like the cultural definition of hater, here it is, courtesy of urban dictionary:
This would be definition #1 (thusly, the most culturally relevant definition) for "hater" out of the 116 entries, so let's just use this one.
I came across a facebook link a friend posted of someone who posted a youtube video on behalf of her friend, who supposedly closed her channel and deleted her videos because of some haters.
Don't believe the graph? That, my friend, makes you a hater. Welcome to the 70% of the population.
If all you spend doing in a given day is disliking videos on youtube and talking crap in Internet forums, get a life. Really. You have less of a life than me- this coming from a guy who engulfs himself in social media and who has 10 people regularly read his pointless blog of non-hatred material.
I wish Facebook could have a dislike button for you haters just to be able to identify you better, but they don't. Wait, forget a dislike button. A hate button.
"Hate the player hater, don't hate the game". Don't mind if I do.
Actually, I don't hate haters. I just don't understand the mind of a hater. Before I delve into the subject further, for the 2 of you who read this who would like the cultural definition of hater, here it is, courtesy of urban dictionary:
A person that simply cannot be happy for another person's success. So rather than be happy they make a point of exposing a flaw in that person.
Hating, the result of being a hater, is not exactly jealousy. The hater doesnt really want to be the person he or she hates, rather the hater wants to knock somelse down a notch.
I came across a facebook link a friend posted of someone who posted a youtube video on behalf of her friend, who supposedly closed her channel and deleted her videos because of some haters.
As you can see by this chart, which I totally did not just make up on the fly to prove my point, shows a sharp rise in hating as technology has become more rampant in the United States from 2001 thru 2010:
 |
| Hater % amongst the population has gone from around 12% in 2001 to 70% in 2010, according to the latest data provided by Bolek Statistical, Inc. (BS, Inc.). Data suggests the lure of anonymous/faceless hating through the use of Internet has brought out the inner-hater in much of America. |
Don't believe the graph? That, my friend, makes you a hater. Welcome to the 70% of the population.
If all you spend doing in a given day is disliking videos on youtube and talking crap in Internet forums, get a life. Really. You have less of a life than me- this coming from a guy who engulfs himself in social media and who has 10 people regularly read his pointless blog of non-hatred material.
I wish Facebook could have a dislike button for you haters just to be able to identify you better, but they don't. Wait, forget a dislike button. A hate button.
"Hate the player hater, don't hate the game". Don't mind if I do.
4/03/2011
Flipping the Script: From DumbPhone to Smartphone
I shun fancy things like electricity.
Sorry, Weird Al was stuck in mind for a second. Actually, the thing I shunned for the longest time was having a modern, more expensive than $20 type of cell phone. Previous phones, which usually expired on me in about a year's time, were all of the flip variety. One out of the 5 or 6 previous ones had a camera phone (none of the pictures which I ever transferred, by the way), and only had one phone where I used Internet on a trial basis (cancelled it right before the free trial ended).
Meanwhile, others around me (i.e. 98% of society) were advancing their phone selection to that of the highest standards of the time- the BlackBerrys, I-phones, etc. While my friends would be looking up the latest stats to the games I'd bet on, I'd be thanking them for checking those scores for me. In the land of phones, mine would always feel like how my dad would feel like at a computer convention- completely lost. By the way, this article is not about great analogies, so I'm leaving the previous statement in just because I can.
Anywho, fast-forward to 2010, and my new job come July is working from home as a Sales Support Specialist for a consulting company. The company agrees to pay for my phone bill on a monthly basis. Suddenly, the cheap-phoned mindset that has plagued me for years on end slowly escapes through my pores. A few months later, when my rebate for a new phone kicks in, I get a Blackberry Curve, the newest model of BC that they have. It's so new, in fact, that I conveniently get screwed out of a case for it because apparently they design the phone for it and then release the case design months later- which removes it from the accessory bundle package that I bought.
Five months after the purchase, I couldn't tell you how much I use the phone for purposes outside of work calls. I find myself as addicted to the phone as the very people that I privately (and sometimes publicly) mocked for having a techie disease I'll call modern cellulitis (patent pending).
I send BBMs (a messaging system for Blackberry-to-Blackberry texting), texts and pictures, place bets and statuses on Facebook, and do various other things with my 21st century phone that I could only have dreamed of doing before this year. I must say, it can be technology-overload and there may be sometime in the future where I need a break from all of this.
For now, unfortunately, I have become something (yes, something, not someone- because I've lost part of my humanity here) that I never thought I'd ever be- a droid hooked on his Crackberry.
Sorry, Weird Al was stuck in mind for a second. Actually, the thing I shunned for the longest time was having a modern, more expensive than $20 type of cell phone. Previous phones, which usually expired on me in about a year's time, were all of the flip variety. One out of the 5 or 6 previous ones had a camera phone (none of the pictures which I ever transferred, by the way), and only had one phone where I used Internet on a trial basis (cancelled it right before the free trial ended).
 |
| Left to right: The functionality of my picture phone pre-2010 ----> its functionality now. Some might argue the extra technology did a disservice. That argument is still pending. |
Meanwhile, others around me (i.e. 98% of society) were advancing their phone selection to that of the highest standards of the time- the BlackBerrys, I-phones, etc. While my friends would be looking up the latest stats to the games I'd bet on, I'd be thanking them for checking those scores for me. In the land of phones, mine would always feel like how my dad would feel like at a computer convention- completely lost. By the way, this article is not about great analogies, so I'm leaving the previous statement in just because I can.
Anywho, fast-forward to 2010, and my new job come July is working from home as a Sales Support Specialist for a consulting company. The company agrees to pay for my phone bill on a monthly basis. Suddenly, the cheap-phoned mindset that has plagued me for years on end slowly escapes through my pores. A few months later, when my rebate for a new phone kicks in, I get a Blackberry Curve, the newest model of BC that they have. It's so new, in fact, that I conveniently get screwed out of a case for it because apparently they design the phone for it and then release the case design months later- which removes it from the accessory bundle package that I bought.
Five months after the purchase, I couldn't tell you how much I use the phone for purposes outside of work calls. I find myself as addicted to the phone as the very people that I privately (and sometimes publicly) mocked for having a techie disease I'll call modern cellulitis (patent pending).
 |
| Can't even keep my phone away from me on the company trip to Puerto Rico. |
I send BBMs (a messaging system for Blackberry-to-Blackberry texting), texts and pictures, place bets and statuses on Facebook, and do various other things with my 21st century phone that I could only have dreamed of doing before this year. I must say, it can be technology-overload and there may be sometime in the future where I need a break from all of this.
For now, unfortunately, I have become something (yes, something, not someone- because I've lost part of my humanity here) that I never thought I'd ever be- a droid hooked on his Crackberry.
4/01/2011
April Fooled: An MLB Opening Day Edition
Selig to allow Pirates, Royals to start season with 30 wins
New York-- In a move that surprised no one, MLB Commissioner Bud Selig stated in a press release that the Pittsburgh Pirates and Kansas City Royals will start the season with a 30 game advantage on their opponents. Selig cited the move as "a necessary one for competitive balance" that stems from the fact that no one can even remember when these two teams last made the playoffs. Selig's message continues:
"With this 30 game advantage, I fully expect the game of baseball to be given the opportunity to send below-average teams to the playoffs, as basketball and hockey have been able to do throughout the years," Forman said. "I think history will look at this as a wise move by the commissioner that will rank right up there with the blind eye to steroids and making a useless All-Star game carry homefield advantage in the World Series for the winner."
Washington Nationals owner Ted Lurner filed a protest to be among the teams to receive 30 wins, but Selig cited its previous history as a Canadian franchise in Montreal as a nullifer to the win stimulus.
New York-- In a move that surprised no one, MLB Commissioner Bud Selig stated in a press release that the Pittsburgh Pirates and Kansas City Royals will start the season with a 30 game advantage on their opponents. Selig cited the move as "a necessary one for competitive balance" that stems from the fact that no one can even remember when these two teams last made the playoffs. Selig's message continues:
"The fan bases of these teams need a reason to follow their team throughout the season. Now August and September will hold some meaning to these franchises aside from the annual September call-ups of minor-league studs who will become future stars on the Yankees and Red Sox."In his company's database of over 17,000 MLB players throughout history dating back to 1871, baseball-reference.com founder Sean Forman said he cannot recall the last time the Royals or Pirates were any good. He applauds Selig for taking the initiative to give the perennial losers a fighting chance.
"With this 30 game advantage, I fully expect the game of baseball to be given the opportunity to send below-average teams to the playoffs, as basketball and hockey have been able to do throughout the years," Forman said. "I think history will look at this as a wise move by the commissioner that will rank right up there with the blind eye to steroids and making a useless All-Star game carry homefield advantage in the World Series for the winner."
Washington Nationals owner Ted Lurner filed a protest to be among the teams to receive 30 wins, but Selig cited its previous history as a Canadian franchise in Montreal as a nullifer to the win stimulus.
3/28/2011
Baseballog - A Quick Look through the 2011 Divisions
 |
| Adam Troy Dunn: The newest face of the Chicago White Sox. I'm expecting a solid OBP, 41 HRs and of course, lots of K's. |
Time to get my 2011 predictions put out there in stone and see how they turn out. With each division, I'm gonna go through the best value in the division (according to BookMaker's odds for each division) and then give my pick for the division.
AL East
Best value: Tampa Bay +1000: I know they lost a bunch of big stars via free agency and trades, but their minor league system is loaded. For 10/1 odds, considering they've won their division 2 out of the past 3 years, I'd take my chances.
Winner: Boston -200: I imagine the Yanks pitching staff will improve by July through some trades, but for now, I'll take my chances with Boston. I wouldn't want to lay this much on the dollar for them to win the division though. I think they are slightly over-valued.
AL Central
Best value: Minnesota +160: Chi/Det/Min are jumbled up, with Chicago the slight favorite on the site. When it comes to the AL Central, I err on the side of Minnesota.
Winner: Minnesota: See my last comment. They always seem to pull it out. I'll obviously be rooting for Chicago, but the first tenth of this century has been a Minnesota-led division. Chicago is my Wild Card
AL West
Best value: Los Angeles Angels +300: I don't remember them making any outstanding offseason moves, but any team managed by Mike Scioscia has a fighting chance. They're a few years removed from their better years, but it's worth a shot.
Winner: Texas -160: So the Rangers decided to keep Feliz as the closer, which I think is the right move for now. I don't see the Angels or A's overtaking the Rangers in this division. Lineup is still solid, but the loss of Cliff Lee would be the reason they'd lose this division (if they do). He'd impact their win total by 5-7 games at least.
NL East
Best value: Florida +1000: Another team that usually tends to rebuild well on the fly. They got a lot of solid prospects that are major league worthy around some proven players. Josh Johnson is a legit Cy Young candidate.
Winner: Atlanta +200: This is my semi-shocker of the predictions. I like the direction Atlanta is going in, and I think Philly will fall short of the high expectations placed upon them. People forget how average Oswalt and Hamels have been in the past couple years in spurts, although Oswalt did close last year out very well. Philly is my Wild Card. They'll still be good, don't get me wrong.
NL Central
Best value: Chicago +370: They closed the 2010 season off well with Quade, who the players seemed to get a jolt of energy from with his tireless work ethic and no-BS attitude. His handling of the Silva problem was perfect. I think Chicago does better with lower expectations, so wouldn't shock me to see them make a run for the division crown.
Winner: Milwaukee +215: I like the staff they have in Milwaukee. Marcum's been an under-rated guy in Toronto, and as long as Greinke doesn't miss too much time, I like their chances. Prince is playing for a new contract. And anytime a guy like Braun has an underachieving year with a .304 average, 25 HR and 103 RBIs, you know you got a great player on your hands.
NL West
Best value: SD +1800: They are an offseason removed from almost winning the division. I know they traded away their best hitter, but I think they have enough pitching on their staff to keep them competitive.
Winner: SF even money: Posey entering his first full season must adjust to the changes that pitchers will make on him. That's usually how sophomore slumps develop- the pitchers adjusting to you quicker than you adjusting to them. I think he will avoid it. Solid pitching staff 1-thru-5 makes the WS champs the pick ahead of Colorado.
PLAYOFFS:
Phil over Mil, SF over Atlanta/ Phil over SF in NL
Chi over Bos, Tex over Min/ Chi over Tex in AL
WS: Phil over Chi
Yes, I got two wild cards in the World Series. Phil will probably win the NL East, but in MLB, it doesn't really matter how you make the playoffs anyways. Whether they win the NL East or not, I think their pitching is the best equipped to win in a 7 game series. However, Philly's +220 to win the whole thing is a little too low for me to bet. Chicago's +2100 to win it all has great value in my opinion. And trust me, this isn't a homer talking. Everyone expects Bost vs. Phil, but how often in baseball do we get the chalk teams to make it to the series? Baseball is too much of a crapshoot on a daily basis, so why not take a crapshoot of a shot on Chicago's odds to win it all.
I'd like to hear your predictions. I will write a follow-up blog in November about this and see how bad these predictions are.
Opening Day and great weather is right around the corner!
Below text, added 4-10-11:
Evaluating a baseball season 2 weeks into it is like analyzing your Calculus grade before you even get the syllabus. I did take a quick look at the division/World Series odds on some of my expected winners/sleepers to see how they changed. Some of the highlights:
Best value in the AL East, Tampa Bay Rays, is now +3000 to win the division. They've started out just god awful- marred with injuries to Longoria, suspensions-turned-retirements with Manny (not like he was gonna do much this year) and various other things I don't feel like looking up. Sam Fuld did just make one of the most amazing catches I've ever seen against the Sox, and he should be fun to watch the rest of the year. But I think there was a reason the Rays were +1000 the year after winning a division title- because they suck.
Winner in AL East, Boston, is now -110. This would have been the value that I would have bought them at to start the year, not the number I found them at initially. They are still slight favorites over the Yanks, who are -105. Overall- my analysis of the East looks shitty to start.
AL Central- Odds not changed much. I never did post this online, but I bet the White Sox $20 to win $420 (21/1 odds) to win the World Series. Today, they are 25/1. Must be that bullpen that scares the shit out of people from backing them now.
AL West- Texas has now become an much higher favorite due to their strong start (-220). This looks like my most solid prediction out of the 6 divisions so far. Not like it took a rocket scientist to predict it though.
NL Central- Haven't really been following most of the NL that closely, but the Cubs' odds fell to +275, so that must mean I would have had value in Cubs +375 for the division (shrug).
NL East- I still like the odds I got (hypothetically) with the Braves, and this shows with them falling to +170 to win the division. Marlins (my sleeper) rose to +1500.
NL West- Again, not much change here with odds. Giants are getting positive back on the dollar now (+110), which I think has great value. If their 5 man rotation stays healthy the entire year, I think they clinch this division with a week to spare.
3/27/2011
Derrick Rose MVP: Just Say No
Everyone and their mother who is involved in the NBA MVP voting process seems to be leaning towards anointing Derrick Rose as the league's most valuable player. While I don't disagree with their logic based on a statistical perspective, I believe that Chicago fans would be better served rooting for D Rose to not be named MVP. Before you throw me under a bus or ask for my immediate castration, hear me out:
Imagine this scenario: middle of May, conference semifinals, Bulls hosting the Magic in game 5, up 3 games to 1. Dwight Howard has just accepted the MVP a few nights earlier in front of tens of thousands of screaming Magic fans.
Let's peak inside the mind of Derrick Rose in recent games the Bulls have played, in which an element of revenge was on his mind:
vs. Kings at home in 09-10 season: Kings beat the Bulls 102-98 after being down by as many as 35 points. Clearly the lowest point of Rose's 2+ year career in regular season play.
vs Kings at home in 10-11 season, March 21st: Bulls make sure not to let a 35 point lead go to waste this time, romping the Kings 135-95. Rose only needs to play 28 minutes, scoring 18 and dishing out 8 asts in the process.
@Atlanta, March 2nd: Bulls blow a huge halftime lead, lose 83-80 to the Hawks, Rose (12 points, 12 assists, 5-for-21 shooting)
vs. Atlanta, March 11th: Bulls run away with a 94-76 win at home. Rose (34 points, 5 asts, 9-for-24 shooting- definitely not great, but his 14-for-15 from FT was)
@Atlanta (the true revenge game), March 22nd: Bulls 114, Hawks 81. Rose vows a letdown won't happen in Atlanta again, and he lives up to his word. 30 points, 10 asts and a much much better 11-for-20 from the field.
Now fast forward two months, and just picture the element of revenge that Rose would have in mind if he wasn't named MVP. Guys like Rose don't need a reason to play good, because they are already great to begin with. But give them an extra edge, just like the days where someone would diss Jordan only to have him tear team's hearts out of their asses, and watch out.
Even better would be if Lebron won the MVP. If the Heat are to get by the Celtics (assuming the current seedings hold up), no doubt would Rose want to show the world in front of the Big Three Stooges that he is the most deserving of MVP.
I'm not saying Rose doesn't deserve the MVP or shouldn't win it (because he probably will), but wouldn't you rather see Derrick Rose with an extra edge in the playoffs?
An MVP wouldn't make Rose complacent by any means, but not winning it, he'd deliver an even bigger "F You" in May/June basketball performances for the ages.
So Bulls fans of all ages, in the words of Nancy Reagan: "Just Say No". But this time, instead of drugs, just say no to Derrick Rose for MVP. I'd love to see his reaction to this occurrence.
 |
| SURGEON GENERAL WARNING: Voting against Derrick Rose may give athletes in Orlando, Boston/Miami and Los Angeles lung cancer, emphysema and birth defects in future children. |
Everyone and their mother who is involved in the NBA MVP voting process seems to be leaning towards anointing Derrick Rose as the league's most valuable player. While I don't disagree with their logic based on a statistical perspective, I believe that Chicago fans would be better served rooting for D Rose to not be named MVP. Before you throw me under a bus or ask for my immediate castration, hear me out:
Imagine this scenario: middle of May, conference semifinals, Bulls hosting the Magic in game 5, up 3 games to 1. Dwight Howard has just accepted the MVP a few nights earlier in front of tens of thousands of screaming Magic fans.
Let's peak inside the mind of Derrick Rose in recent games the Bulls have played, in which an element of revenge was on his mind:
vs. Kings at home in 09-10 season: Kings beat the Bulls 102-98 after being down by as many as 35 points. Clearly the lowest point of Rose's 2+ year career in regular season play.
vs Kings at home in 10-11 season, March 21st: Bulls make sure not to let a 35 point lead go to waste this time, romping the Kings 135-95. Rose only needs to play 28 minutes, scoring 18 and dishing out 8 asts in the process.
@Atlanta, March 2nd: Bulls blow a huge halftime lead, lose 83-80 to the Hawks, Rose (12 points, 12 assists, 5-for-21 shooting)
vs. Atlanta, March 11th: Bulls run away with a 94-76 win at home. Rose (34 points, 5 asts, 9-for-24 shooting- definitely not great, but his 14-for-15 from FT was)
@Atlanta (the true revenge game), March 22nd: Bulls 114, Hawks 81. Rose vows a letdown won't happen in Atlanta again, and he lives up to his word. 30 points, 10 asts and a much much better 11-for-20 from the field.
Now fast forward two months, and just picture the element of revenge that Rose would have in mind if he wasn't named MVP. Guys like Rose don't need a reason to play good, because they are already great to begin with. But give them an extra edge, just like the days where someone would diss Jordan only to have him tear team's hearts out of their asses, and watch out.
Even better would be if Lebron won the MVP. If the Heat are to get by the Celtics (assuming the current seedings hold up), no doubt would Rose want to show the world in front of the Big Three Stooges that he is the most deserving of MVP.
I'm not saying Rose doesn't deserve the MVP or shouldn't win it (because he probably will), but wouldn't you rather see Derrick Rose with an extra edge in the playoffs?
An MVP wouldn't make Rose complacent by any means, but not winning it, he'd deliver an even bigger "F You" in May/June basketball performances for the ages.
So Bulls fans of all ages, in the words of Nancy Reagan: "Just Say No". But this time, instead of drugs, just say no to Derrick Rose for MVP. I'd love to see his reaction to this occurrence.
3/25/2011
Yes and No
Hanging out with some of my classmates tonight made me realize that...while I'm looking forward to graduating from my 38 week program at ICB, I'm definitely gonna miss the 3 times a week where I get to laugh with the dozen+ people that I've gotten to know throughout our 114 classes. Everyone always has the clichéd "We became best friends through school" stuff, but this is actually my first decent-sized group of friends I've made in a school and feel like I will keep. Elementary school friends I can count on one hand as far as the one's I've even talked to in the past year. Junior high, about the same. High school- I know a lot of people, see them a lot around town (usually at local pubs), but never really connected with many of them. And first college (U of I)- I talk to one person from there. Maybe it's just my personality, or maybe I just never cared (for the most part) about the people around me in a learning setting. With these folks, something about them that makes me think this will be different.
We just finished our last project (music videos). We had a blast making ours. I love the editing stuff, and wouldn't mind pursuing something in that (at the very least I'd like to keep doing it recreationally). It'll probably all hit us around April 19th when there's no class scheduled on a Tuesday for the first time in 10 months, but it's starting to hit me a little now. The true test of any friendship formed at a specific place (work or school) is when one or both parties leave that particular setting for good. I believe once this setting is left, the personal bonds we've made will continue on. Maybe I'll be wrong, but just a gut feeling.
So in essence, Yes- I am looking forward to moving on and graduating the program in hopes of using my video editing skills obtained here. No- I am not looking forward to the lacking daily interaction between all of my peeps.
Let's make these last 3 weeks count folks. I'm already missing you guys.
We just finished our last project (music videos). We had a blast making ours. I love the editing stuff, and wouldn't mind pursuing something in that (at the very least I'd like to keep doing it recreationally). It'll probably all hit us around April 19th when there's no class scheduled on a Tuesday for the first time in 10 months, but it's starting to hit me a little now. The true test of any friendship formed at a specific place (work or school) is when one or both parties leave that particular setting for good. I believe once this setting is left, the personal bonds we've made will continue on. Maybe I'll be wrong, but just a gut feeling.
So in essence, Yes- I am looking forward to moving on and graduating the program in hopes of using my video editing skills obtained here. No- I am not looking forward to the lacking daily interaction between all of my peeps.
Let's make these last 3 weeks count folks. I'm already missing you guys.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)