No Comments: Why Some People Shouldn't Talk

Note: The piece of information that I use at the beginning of this piece do not represent my views on race, etc. This is merely to point out the absurdity of people in Internet forums.


Here are some comments left after a story I just read:

"Watermelon withdrawal!"

"how do you stop 5 black guys from raping a while woman? throw them a basketball! ha ha ! that's just a joke so don't freak out people ok ?"

"I would suggest that 95% of black America has a mental disease. It seems to me that they are
nothing but a bunch of antagonistic, habitual liars. Go back to Africa, please"

Is this story about race relations in America? Not quite. These are comments left after an NFL story concerning wide receiver Brandon Marshall being diagnosed with borderline personality disorder, which this Yahoo story said is a disorder that 1 in 50 adults suffer from. And mind you, I didn't even bother looking past the first four comments of the story (these were three of the four). I'm sure there were other comments of race that appeared below this.

Unfortunately, this garbage is what appears on the majority of stories' comment boards. And very infrequently, the stories have something to do with a race issue. Often times, it's people hiding behind computer screens spewing their racist views into any and every story that they can. A story about Brandon Marshall discussing his personality disorder has nothing at all to do with race. Whether the diagnosis is part of the 21st century mantra of diagnosing anything and everything can be up for debate- especially the "sex addictions" that Tiger Woods and Anthony Weiner supposedly suffered from and needed treatment on. I digress.

The worst comments that I've seen normally come from political stories. Whether a person is extremely left, extremely right or anything in between, I see many articles about politics that go so far off the topic of what the story was about that in the end, it just ends up with a bunch of the same non-sensical name-calling and finger-pointing that never produces quality public discourse. Maybe there are some sites out there where people actually discuss these matters in intelligent forums and actually present facts and ideas into stories rather than calling someone a nutjob for having different ideals than them. I don't read enough political sites to know if there are such sites- mainly because the news I do come across is much like the Brandon Marshall story above, except with political semantics attached to it.

Don't get me wrong - I have my opinions about people and do think some people are nutjobs. But is telling someone this inside a comments section actually going to contribute anything to anything? If you're going to say something, make sure it's not some pointless drabble and "Internet anger" (anger that people feel more comfortable expressing faceless but would never do as such to a person's face). I just made up that term, although perhaps some other genius coined it before me. I digress again.

If you guys write in comments sections of stories, I really hope you're avoiding this crap of name-calling and other nonsense that makes me wish that some sites would disallow comments (in my eyes, not the same as limiting freedom of speech). Not every story on the Internet needs comments following it. For example, if someone signs a free agent contract with a team, all I need to know is what team and how much. If I have opinions about the story, I don't need to share my thoughts to strangers halfway across the world. People should have friends to discuss these things with. Or go to a bar or something and discuss it there - although there are a lot of morons in the general public, so maybe finding a friend or two to discuss something with is a better option.

Note2: You may say that a blog would be a contradiction to this idea of not needing to share my ideas with strangers. But with my limited readership and the fact that I promote this exclusively to friends, I don't feel it to be a contradiction. You may disagree. Anyways, I digress, part 3.

I don't advocate censoring speech - just wish that some people would never talk. So please, if you know anyone who should stop talking, have them read this blog so they can anonymously attack me and call me a piece of liberal white trash. Definitely not politically attached to any party and the trash part I'd have to say is incorrect. At least they'd get the white part right.

Ok, no more digressing. The end.

So Much Action

This time of year is usually busy with baseball trades as underachieving teams look to unload payroll and build for the future and contenders look to add that extra piece to help them in their postseason runs. However, this year with NFL's lockout nullifying its own free agency, trades and draft signings up until this week, it's been an amazing week for anyone who is a fan of both baseball and football- and a very difficult week for newspapers trying to fit all of the transactions on one page.

As far as baseball deals go, I haven't been as interested in them as in most years. I think it's a combination of the NFL's action capturing my eye and the fact that I know the White Sox are not gonna be buyers this season. The one move they have made so far wasn't of the White Flag variety from the 1990s, but it certainly wasn't one that made you go rush out to buy your hypothetical 2011 playoff tickets either. We got a decent reliever (Jason Frasor - who happened to graduate from Oak Forest High School) and a minor leaguer for Edwin Jackson (who we weren't gonna resign) and Mark Teahan (who was eating money from the Sox like he was at Coney Island at the hot dog contest).

All I know is, in both sports, Philadephia fans cannot bitch about anything anytime soon. Signing Asomugha for the Eagles and getting Hunter Pence for the Phillies, Philadelphia fans couldn't have asked for a better combo of news in the span of one summer evening. If you want to go back 24 hours earlier, they also got another Pro-Bowl caliber cornerback and a draft pick in exchange for their backup QB. I don't know how it gets any better than that. Philadelphia is the new South Beach for athletes this summer. Luckily, none of them at this point have said they're taking their talents to Pennsylvania, but I don't think that has the same sex appeal as South Beach. If the NFC Championship Game does not feature at least the Eagles and/or the Packers, I'd be shocked.

With both sports in Chicago, the three teams collectively (White Sox, Cubs and Bears) are producing as much excitement as staring at sand. I already touched based on the White Sox, although their wheeling and dealing may not be done if we find a good deal for Quentin and/or Thornton. To me, trading either of them (especially Quentin) would seem White-Flagish. Our bullpen depth is good enough to survive Thornton's departure, but the way the Sox are hitting, Quentin's bat is needed if we are to overtake Cleveland and Detroit to take the division. I still have my doubts about the Sox whether we keep them or not. They've been too up and down this season for me to trust. And we're a Peavy injury away (let's face it, it's likely around the corner) from needing to depend on a minor league arm down the stretch.

The Cubs' mantra for this week is unloading whoever they can to interested teams. Unfortunately, there's so many bad contracts on the Cubs that it's hard to move these guys without offering teams $ in addition to letting guys go (i.e. Fukudome to the Indians). Ramirez appears to be softening on his stance to waive his no-trade clause, and I expect him to be dealt in the next 24 hours. Cubs fans should be glad that Sandberg wasn't offered the manager job, because I think fans of his might sour their opinion of him. No one man could have turned this turd into a golden ticket.

And the Bears, although not my team but the team I end up reading the most about because of local media, are lulling fans to sleep with their moves. Roy Williams was a one-hit wonder with the Lions, although it should be noted that his one-hit season for the Lions (2006 where he caught 82 passes for 1310 yards & 7 TDs) came when Mike Martz was the offensive coordinator. So perhaps that could be a bargain if you could even get 60 catches, 900-1000 yards and 5 TDs from him. Lots of fans seem upset at Olsen leaving, but he doesn't fit in the current Bears offense. You could blame Martz for that, as tight ends have never thrived in his offenses. Also, Kreutz might be signing with my boys (49ers), which I feel decent about as long as we don't overpay for him. Earlier this week, I saw the Bears' projected win total at 9.5. I'll take the under if any readers here wanna bet that they reach double digit wins.

The madness with NFL & MLB is just beginning. Hopefully, whatever team you follow doesn't do anything in the next day or two to let you down.

Remembering Grandma Bolek: Three Months Later

Hard to believe that 3 months have passed since Grandma Bolek passed away. On one hand it feels much longer ago than that given how much has changed in my life since then. It also feels like it just happened yesterday on another hand.

After mourning her loss, we soon had Mother's Day a few weekends later. It was a clear reminder immediately after her passing that her presence will be missed. It also was a reminder (hopefully) to all of us that knew her to appreciate our mothers a little bit more based on the example that she set.

Seeing the for-sale sign by her house just doesn't feel right. The fact I live around the block from the house makes me choke up every now and then when I see the sign.

I remember all the great times me and my siblings had as kids going over there, from playing Store to the Clothespin in the Bottle game. There was never a dull moment over there. Easter eggs hidden, my cousin Bobby dressing as Santa for his younger cousins (me in that group), the smoke-filled poker games using the table that me and my friends use whenever we do play poker. The list of things I remember is longer than that, but you get the picture. It was an awesome time over there.

I'm happy to say that I don't think I took having a grandma living around the block for granted. In my older years, I loved taking Buddy for a walk to her house- something I actually did the afternoon of the funeral as Lauren walked Pixie. It was sad seeing Grandma's best friend Emmy (her dog) all alone in the house that she kept my Grandma company in for almost 10 years. The night of the wake, I went over to my grandmas around 1am and sat on her bench just absorbing everything that I could from the backyard that I spent my childhood in.

Since Mother's Day, two times have come up this summer where I was expecting to get a call from Grandma. The first time was when I was alone at home when my folks went on vacation. She was always good to check up on me to see how me and the dogs were doing when I was to myself. The other time was during this heat wave that just passed. I was waiting for her to call to remind all of us to stay inside and stay cool if possible. She was always good for sharing motherly advice with our family, no matter how silly and obvious the advice was- like putting a winter coat on in 5 degree weather. It was always nice to know that she was thinking of us.

I know this is all disorganized here, but I just wanted to convey what it's been like since my grandma left. In my wallet, I still carry the card I got from her wake. I like to look at it to remind me of everything that she represented. It makes me smile to look at it.

When I open my wallet, this is something I often see.

In the meantime, I will cherish the time that I have left with my other grandma. I hope Grandma Raynor lives another few decades and gets to see her grand kids have grandchildren like my Grandma Bolek did.

I hope she is resting in peace as we speak.

Back to Business: How the NFL's Return Will Affect Non-NFL things

The great news has been shouted as loud as Paul Revere's "The British are coming" (X2) - the NFL is back!

For me, it means fantasy football season is back. It also means that I get to defend my first successful betting season (50-34, +$693) in my life. And I'll be able to get my first look at the Jim Harbaugh-led San Francisco 49ers. Will his confidence in Alex Smith be reciprocated by solid play from Smith? Something to look forward to.

Also, I have been asked to pitch in for a DirectTV package, so I will be able to watch my boys every week. When I was asked about this and thought about it for a second, I couldn't pass up on the chance to watch them week in, week out - no matter how depressing they may look at times.

For you, it probably means the same things - Sundays at the bar or at home watching your favorite team (if you're reading this, likely the Bears) with some good friends of yours, likely consuming tons of calories on adult beverages and cholesterol-filled goodies.

However, there are other people/groups who are lot happier than us not involved directly with football that are delighted to hear about the return of the nation's favorite sport.

Hotel chains

Imagine how much money would have been lost if the lockout continued and the season disappeared for hotels. From the plethora of fans who travel to see their teams to the NFL teams and their staffs themselves, the hotel industry was likely to lose millions for all the empty rooms that would come of this. This would have resulted in layoffs and cutbacks that our economy really doesn't need at this point.

Tourism industry

With hotels comes tourism. For those of us in Chicago who have walked the streets on a random afternoon, it is a common sight to see people from out of town in jerseys that match their team visiting the Windy City in some sport. Some of these people may have come to Chicago at some point in time, but there would have definitely been a hit to most city's tourism. Maybe except for Cleveland, but that's another story.

Bars & Restaurants

You think that bars would still be packed Sunday afternoons in the fall if the NFL wasn't around? Even moving some college football games to Sunday would have made it difficult to fill the void that the NFL brings in for bars. The NFL is a cash cow for many industries - with bars being one of the most prominent. The loss of revenue on Monday nights would also be affected - as I know that I'd be less likely to go out on a Monday night in the fall if football wasn't on.

(and most importantly)...Baseball Fans of Bad Teams

Before you think this is a shot at Cubs' fans, remember that the White Sox are often hopelessly hovering around 2nd or 3rd place around the time that the NFL starts, teasing us to the bitter end and then eventually getting eliminated with a week left in the season. I may not be able to speak for teams outside of our market, but I imagine the sentiment is the same as far as needing the NFL to come back to mask the woes of their ugly baseball team. It may be different in the New England, Arlington, Philadelphia & San Francisco areas, but many other cities who have football and baseball teams have fans that cannot wait to forget about the 2011 baseball season and cling onto the hopes of their NFL team this season.

There's probably other industries/groups I am missing, but those are the groups that I feel benefit the most from the NFL ending its lockout that aren't directly related to football.

In the meantime, free agent signings are about to clutter the bottom line and beginning pages of the sports section. Let the madness begin!

Initial prediction for the season: Packers repeat. I don't need to hear about the current free agents and where they go. Green Bay has a whole starting roster of guys coming back from injury. I believe the only way they lose in the playoffs (assuming they make it there) is if they get outcoached.

Your thoughts?

Random Damn Thems

This is Bitter Brian right now. Damn clouds.

As I sit here on the couch with my bad back for the weekend like a bitter old man shaking his cane from his chair on the porch, I figured I'd touch base on a few things that got me shaking my fist.

Ohio high schools plan on honoring Jim Tressel for their opening games

For those that don't know sports, Tressel came under the scrutiny of the NCAA in 2010 for his handling of an investigation on players of improperly selling materials they received from their 2009 Big Ten and Rose Bowl championships. After it was shown that Tressel knew what was going on and decided to hide what he knew, the NCAA initially suspended for less than the players were suspended until Tressel agreed to be suspended the same length of time. The investigation proved to be too much of a black eye to Ohio State for them to keep Tressel as coach, so they fired him. Surprisingly, Tressel was absolved of a lot of the blame for the events - the honor of blame went to quarterback Terrelle Pryor. Even former OSU players (some who probably broke rules themselves) were quick to throw Pryor into the public relations lake to watch him drown.

Now, Ohio football coaches want to honor him by wearing a white shirt and tie to honor Tressel for all that he has done for football in Ohio. To be fair, not all of the schools in the state will be honoring him from what I read, and for that, I commend them. For anyone to honor a man who is supposed to be the representation of leadership of a football team (only to disregard that in efforts to win at all costs) is disgusting. It goes to show you how demented some people are. Makes you wonder if Tressel could have murdered someone and they'd find a way to blame the victim.

People w/ bumper stickers

I was gonna write a big blog about this on its own, but didn't think I could write enough for a whole blog. I've realzed that the more bumper stickers someone owns, the more likely it is that they are a huge a-hole. College stickers are common and usually are donned on the back of the cars of parents and alumnae of schools. From there, bumper stickers outside of rooting for your favorite sports teams - ones that focus more on the hating of the opposing political party that you favor or the hating of specific groups of people - tell me all I need to know about a person. Bumper stickers tell a lot about a person. If only people wore bumper stickers around all the time, we'd be able to tell the a-holes apart from the rest of society.

The NFL & The Government

Where's Rodney King when you need him? Can't these folks just get along with each other? The NFL's battle between owners and players looks like it could drag on longer than we'd want it to. According to the players, the owners ratified an agreement 31-0 on Thursday that included material that was never discussed with the players and inserted in the last minute. If this is true, this doesn't bode well for an agreement anytime soon. I've never been on either side of this argument (owners and players are hard to back considering they're arguing about millions and billions). But if they were thisclose to an agreement and messed it up by adding stuff that was never spoken of during the player/owner meetings, then I'll find it hard to support the owner's side of things. Not to say I'll support the players as a result. I just think that any good agreement, especially one involving this much money and millions of fans looking for a solution that gives them what they want, requires good communication. And if you're throwing in last minute things, it's very shady to say the least.

Likewise, the government can't get its act together with this debt ceiling crap. I won't pretend to know much about what's going on here, but everything I've heard about it tells me that if our country defaults, then our economy is even more facked than it was before. Democrats & Republicans working together make the NFL problem seem like it's already been solved. The problem with politicians is that they are always campaigning, so it doesn't do them any good to compromise on anything, no matter how far it would go to actually help their constistuents. I don't know what will happen with this, but it doesn't seem like it's going to end well.

I'm done ranting. People are dumb. This shouldn't be surprising to anyone. I just needed to be the old man shaking his fist at the youngins who were walking on his lawn.

Damn all these people. Damn them all!

Revenge of the Heat

Last month, Chicagoans rooted against the Heat as loud as they could. Now, it looks like a heat of a different sort will have its revenge.

Today's temperature, according to NBC5 News, is the highest we have seen in 6 years. People rushing to air conditioning, pools, lakes and hoses as fast as they possibly can. If you are without AC and a pool, your life is probably a little more unbearable right now than most dealing with the heat.

Me? Oh - just working from home in an air-conditioned house, with access to a pool after the work shift is done. Granted, at this point, the pool resembles more of a hot bath right now. It's just nice to know that it's there. (Ahhh, feels good to be an a-hole sometimes with some of these statements.)

If you have air conditioning at home and your work allows you to work from home, then do it. There's no reason not to take advantage of working from home from time to time (or even permanently). If you don't feel like you'd be able to motivate yourself to work by yourself, you could always commute and then take the 20 minute walk to the office in this weather. That may motivate you enough to stay home for a few days and work remotely. Who needs human interaction anyways?

If you can't work from home, then just tough it out or use some PTO. We deal with extreme weather of all kinds in this area, so what's a little heat? I'd suggest a summer home in Canada and a winter home in Florida or Arizona if these extremes are too much for you. Or a Mediterranean climate like San Francisco.

Good luck rooting against this heat, because unlike LeBron in the Finals, this heat seems to be closing strong.

99 blog postings but bitching ain't one

Blogs - But Bitching Ain't One (Ok, that may be false)

Anyone who knows me knows that I am a numbers person. I have been since my youth, learning how to calculate batting averages at the age of 5. It's probably why I got so good at math and can do most basic math problems (within reason) in my head quickly. The bifocals were the perfect outfit for a math nerd like me, although I never did get into the pocket protector phase of my life (thank god).

Anyways, where was I? Oh yeah - numbers. As much as I like to write, my need of numbers in life (mainly just through sports statistics) is undeniable. The reaching of triple digit blogs within a 10 month timeframe was something I never set out to do. In fact, I thought I was gonna give up writing this blog around December (did for a while) and then again in February. Whether it be just to educate people on certain goings-ons in my life or just to write for my own release, I've found a lot of different subjects to write about.


At first I thought it might just end up being about sports and gambling (and it may go more towards that when football season starts). However, I've branched out into general topics that get more views than I expected. It seems most people have connected most with my personal pieces - my grandma poem (rest in peace Grandma) and short write-up on my dad's cataract surgery and picture accompanying it have been my most read pieces.

I never know who reads this thing, but I have an idea of the few people who read it a lot. I do like people coming up to me at social gatherings and telling me they read this because it gets me motivated to write more. As the blogs keep getting posted, please let me know your opinions about my opinions or my writing style or whatever it is that you wish to discuss. I enjoy getting feedback (both positive and negative) because it means that you're actually reading it and giving somewhat of a damn to what I'm saying or writing.

Thanks for the motivation to write, and hopefully I'll be able to keep at this to get up to 999 and beyond.

Peace.

Shameless Plugging: How Sweet It Is

Anytime I hear someone do a cheap plug on something, I usually just shake my head and laugh. This is found a lot on ESPN with ABC products (i.e. why do you think Dancing With the Stars always features an athlete? It's because they can then show highlights of the show on their Sportscenter and because Disney owns both of them). This is the most common type of cheap plug - when a corporation owns multiple media outlets and promotes one of them on the other network.

The best cheap plugs are the ones that you don't even notice - such as many who probably don't think of the athlete angle with Dancing With the Stars. I have become keen to this - partly because I know which corporations own which channels/media outlets.

Stephen Colbert is the master of the corny cheap plug. He will often feature something on his show that displays blatant advertising for a product in a way that can only be described as satirical. From his consumption of Ben and Jerrys when trying to promote his flavor Americone Dream to the chowing down of Doritos, Colbert often finds a way to make the plug funny while everyone knows it is supposed to be a satire of how plugging products has become commonplace in media everywhere.

I, however, am no such master. I wrote this blog largely in part to promote my appearance in my friend's show, "Three Guys, One Room." I play the role of Swift Charlie, an unwelcomed dinner guest who ends up robbing the gents of all of their belongings.

If you can't access that from there, here's the link for the episode. Talk about shameless plugging. God, I love it.

But seriously, it's a part of our media world, and it will continue to be for as long as we live. So continue to enjoy the shameless pandering that networks (and friends like me) will shove in your face on a daily basis.

You're welcome.

*This message was brought to you by Four Seasons. For all the right reasons, Four Seasons.

Stuff Your Sorries in a Sack: The Art of a Good Apology

~What else should I be? All apologies - K. Cobain, circa 1993.

In a recent interview, Pittsburgh Steelers linebacker James Harrison spoke his mind on a few subjects, blasting everyone from the commissioner to his teammates, including calling Rashard Mendenhall "a fumble machine". As is the case with most apologizes, Harrison apologized for his words but said some of the content was pulled out of context.

While this may be true, I find it hard to believe apologies that come with an attachment to them. Here's some signs of a bad apology:

(1) "I'm sorry if this offended anyone."- Any version of this is usually a fake apology. What it essentially means is, "If this didn't offend anyone, I'm not sorry, so suck it!" If you're making an apology, odds are you offended someone. So stop pretending that the word "if" applies when it clearly doesn't.

(2) An apology that one reads ver batum off of a piece of paper - It's true that some people may just not be good public speakers and need to write their words down before going in front of people. But at least look up every now and then and show some eye contact. Obviously, this apology applies more to celebrities who do something stupid and then the media and public look for some sort of remorse for their words or actions.  The more someone reads off of the piece of paper, the less remorseful they are.

(3) No eye contact - I touched base on this with the second point, but this is more of a general thing and not just celebrity-based. Someone that you have wronged/offended/whatevered needs to see that you are telling your apology in an honest and straight-forward manner. If you're looking down while making an apology or watching TV, you're clearly half assing it.

(4) "I'm sorry. I was misquoted/taken out of context/etc." - This goes back to point 1, where you add a "but" or an "if" immediately after your apology. For all the years I've been a consumer of media, I know that yes, there are times where you can be taken out of context and may not have meant what you said or what people perceived you said. There will be some people who believe apologies when they take the time to read a whole story themselves or hear out a complete story before making a judgement. If people do misunderstand your statement/actions and take offense, you may have been misquoted or they may have taken something you said out of context, but telling people that may be harder than just simply saying it. I'd say in circumstances like this, if you really believe you didn't do anything wrong, don't apologize. Sensible people will know that you didn't mean any harm with whatever you said or did.

If you're really interested in offering a genuine apology, just say it directly and simply: "I'm sorry for what I did/said." The rest of what you say afterwards (unless you're telling them how much of a dumbass you are) is usually a bunch of BS and doesn't help your case when you're apologizing.

For the inspiration for the title of the blog, here's where you can stuff your sorries in a sack, around the 36 second mark and 2:20 mark.

The Inaugural Boley Awards - 2011 Version

Inspired by the ESPYs, the sports award show that airs during one of the most dead days of sports, I wanted to create the Boleys, a list of random awards that I will give to random categories in my life. I may add to this if there's enough interest in this piece, so stay tuned.


Best 2011 Purchase: Nominees: Brian Scalabrine Jersey, New I-Pod Classic, Big Lebowski mirror
....and the winner is: Brian Scalabrine Jersey.

This narrowly edged out the mirror as purchase of the year. The jersey has had more of a chance to be recognized- wearing it during the Bulls' extended playoff run definitely helped with that. Every time I wore the jersey out to a bar, I received at least one positive comment from a complete stranger, who seemed shocked that someone would waste spend $70 on a jersey for a guy who played less than two hours of basketball throughout the 82 game schedule. The mirror will carry more value when I get my own place and it has a featured place.

Best Song in My Head from the Past Year That You Probably Never Heard Of: Nominees: Nappy Roots "Infield", N*E*R*D - "Maybe", Local H - "Toxic"


...and the winner is: "Maybe". Sure, it's not a song that was released this year, but it may be the best song from a group that does not get enough credit in my opinion. It may have close to a million views on YouTube, but I know a lot of my friends have never heard it. Something about the lyric "Maybe the laugh's on me, and life was telling me a joke" that makes me consider this one of my favorite songs in general. I highly recommend listening to Local H's version of Toxic - a cover of the Britney Spears song.

Best Thing I Am Looking Forward to in the Next Couple Weeks: Nominees: Hosting Hot Dog Eating Contest, NFL Lockout ending, Guest Starring in my friends' show "Three Guys, One Room"

...and the winner is: NFL Lockout ending. As much fun as the other two things will be to witness, the impact of the NFL Lockout ending will have long lasting implications in the rest of my 2011. First, it will give me the chance to exercise my fantasy football dominance again after taking 2010 off. Second, I am looking to match/exceed my good luck gambling last year, which reaped me about a grand in profits. And most importantly, it will assure that my Sundays in the Fall and early Winter will not be spent searching for ways to fill the void of an NFL-less existence. Now the most important thing - the lockout actually needs to end.

Best Summer Drink: Nominees: Bud Light Lime, Summer Shandy, Sam Adams Summer Ale

...and the winner is: Summer Shandy. This should be no surprise to people who know me, but this was a close race in terms of my favorite summer drink. I haven't had Shandy in a while, mainly because the times I've imbibed lately have been situations where the bar either didn't have Shandy or people that I am with want to drink buckets. Most of my friends who are more wide-versed in beer would probably choose Sam Adams among the three, but I'd put that right behind Bud Light's Lime (even though BLL is not a specific summer beverage, it is more marketable during the summer).

TV Show that I've Taken for Granted the Most Until Watching in Syndication: Nominees: How I Met Your Mother, Yes Dear, My Name is Earl


...and the winner....wait for it.....is: How I Met Your Mother. Of all networks, I've been catching this show on Lifetime and feel like I'm almost caught up to the season that just ended. This will be the next TV show that I collect DVDs for. It is well-written and does a great job of connecting previous plot points into its ongoing story on how Ted meets his future wife. I think this show is featured on Monday nights (maybe that's changed), which is when I always watch Monday Night Football in the fall. In the spring, I'm usually watching something else or am busy in an activity where I don't watch TV.


Feel free to submit categories that I will award Boleys to, and I will add to this blog. Keep the suggestions tasteful, please.

Baseballog - Midseason Review on Predictions

I didn't want to be one of those guys who makes predictions to start the season and not follow up with how they are doing, as many people who make predictions of any sort tend to do. Here's a look back at my 2011 preseason baseball predictions and my assessment on how they've looked so far. Mind you, the surprise teams were based on odds that my gambling site at the time posted and nothing to do with how a team may have performed in previous years.

(Note: If you take a look at my picture that opens my prediction blog, you will see that I could not have been more wrong about Adam Dunn. High on-base percentage and 41 home runs, my ass!)

Predictions vs. Reality (at the All-Star Break)

AL East
Surprise Team to Contend- Prediction: Tampa Bay Rays....Reality: Rays. Even though they are 6 games back in baseball's toughest division, they are showing that they are better than the price that oddsmakers put them on.
Division Winner- Prediction: Boston....Reality: Boston and NY are looking like they will be in a neck and neck race for the division title. Boston has survived a terrible start and lots of injuries and NY's pitching has been deeper than expected thanks to the resurgence of Bartolo Colon. I'll stick with my Boston prediction but now I think NY will be the Wild Card winner.

AL Central
Surprise Team to Contend- Prediction: Minnesota....Reality: Oops. The Indians were paying close to 15/1 or 20/1 to win the division. Clearly I fumbled the surprise team in this one.
Division Winner- Prediction: Minnesota....Reality: Oops, Part II. This looks like a two-horse race to me (sorry Chicago, too inconsistent for me to trust with my preseason prediction). I think Detroit holds off Cleveland and wins it.

AL West
Surprise Team to Contend- Prediction: Los Angeles Angels....Reality: Solid prediction. One game out of the division lead. Getting 3/1 on them to start the year would have been a good deal.
Division Winner- Prediction: Texas....Reality: Another AL division, another 2 horse race. At least like my Boston prediction, Texas looks like they can live up to my Magic 8-ball prediction of winning the division. I'll stick with Texas as my division champ.

NL Central
Surprise Team to Contend- Prediction: Cubs....Reality: Uhm.....Next. Pittsburgh takes the cake here no doubt.
Division Winner- Prediction: Brewers.....Reality: Milwaukee is in a 4-team race for the division title. I like the move to get K-Rod, although I wonder if there will be a closer controversy if Axford blows a save that might get fans going and get egos riled up in the dugout. St. Louis has survived so much and is still right there. I'm rooting for my original prediction, but I see St. Louis winning this for some reason.

NL East
Surprise Team to Contend- Prediction: Florida....Reality: It looked good for a month or so, but now Florida sits at the bottom of the division despite riding a 5-game winning streak into the All-Star break. The Mets being over .500 (albeit one game over) would probably be the biggest surprise.
Division Winner- Prediction: Braves....Reality: I think I was trying to be cute and go against the grain of picking the obvious Phillies pick here. Even though Philadelphia's up only 3.5 games over the Braves, I don't see the Braves overtaking them. I do see them taking the Wild Card though.

NL West
Surprise Team to Contend- Prediction: San Diego....Reality: While San Diego is playing better than most people probably thought they would, the winner of the surprise team goes to Arizona, projected for a win total in the mid 70s and currently sitting 3 back.
Division Winner- Prediction: Giants...Reality: This division pick is the one I am most comfortable with, despite an injury to their best player, Buster Posey. Despite their offensive woes, the Giants find a way to grind out just enough runs to support their outstanding pitching staff.


Prognosis:
Surprise Teams: Only really hit on the Angels and Rays, with the Angels being the only of the surprise teams that have a shot at the division crown this year. The others, I soon found, were longshots to win their divisions for a reason.
Division Winners/Wild Cards: There's a chance I could hit all 4 of my NL playoff teams, albeit with the NL East winner/Wild Card switched. I had the AL Central completely wrong (and probably will barring a White Sox/Twins hot 2nd half) but feel solid with Texas and Boston.

New World Series prediction: Philadelphia over Detroit

Make it Meaningless to make it Mean More: Why Baseball Needs to Ditch Its All-Star Format

The All-Star Game can still mean something on its own without World Series implications. Just ask Ray Fosse.

In 2002, when the MLB All-Star Game ended in a tie, a huge uproar was thrown by everyone on this fiasco that was caused by the common over-use of bench players and pitchers in these exhibitions games. This is done so that everyone who gets invited to play gets an actual chance to play. Never before had there been such an uproar and over-reaction to an exhibition game that was played more to entertain the fans than it was to decide a winner.

The highlight of this overreaction was making the all-star game mean something to the league that won it - specifically homefield advantage in the World Series for the winner. From 2003-2009 we saw the AL squads win all 7 all-star games in that span and 4 of the 7 World Series. None of these series went beyond 6 games, and only 2 went past 5 games. So clearly, homefield didn't affect things as much as it would in other sports (but this argument is nothing new to baseball).

It's not that the winner gets homefield that is my biggest pet peeve about the game, but that there is any reward for the winner to begin with. Outside of maybe some victory bonus in their contracts (which for most of these guys, probably means as much to them as a penny does in change jar), there shouldn't be anything tied to the All-Star game in terms of the winner's league getting something.

No one wants to play in it

This year, there will be over 80 players recognized as All-Stars, with all the people who either had to miss the game (pitchers who started on Sunday are not allowed to pitch in the game), are injured and cannot participate, or just want the rest/3-4 days off. I can't say I'd blame them for wanting some rest, especially given the daily grind that baseball can be. However, with how easily some of these players blow off the All-Star game, that just goes to show you how little some of these guys actually care about World Series advantage. They know that home field will be secondary to the skill of their team vs. their opponents if they should be blessed enough to make it to baseball's last series of the year.

They still let all teams be represented

The fact that every team has to be represented is the biggest head scratcher in this whole "This game matters" rhetoric. In every other sport, where the All-Star game is an exhibition, they don't even have this requirement, so why should MLB - whose game is supposed to decide the home field advantage for the World Series - allow players who are likely less deserving on bad teams potentially be the deciding factors in whether Game 1 of the WS featuring the Yankees and Phillies? It makes no sense to feature a player on a last place team - let's say the Astros - in a situation that could decide who hosts the World Series. If they got rid of this rule, which is as stupid as it is archaic, I wouldn't have as much of a problem with the home field stipulation.

The overreaction in giving the winner homefield advantage in the World Series was a product of the 2002 game and would have never been instituted if there were no tie. To be honest, at the end of the day, years later - does anyone remember who won the All-Star game (or really even care)?

Turn it back into its meaningless state and let the players do their thing. The true competitors will look to win no matter the stipulations of the game.

Dunn but Not Finished: Adam on the Eve of Returning to Normalcy

Statistics of a White Sox player at the All-Star break (named to an All-Star appearance once before):

.197 average, 5 HRs, 22 RBIs in 76 games played.

If you are not an active statistics follower and just happened to hear the previous sentence and statline presented to you, your answer would likely be Adam Dunn. You'd be wrong, of course.

Those statistics belong to none other than 5-time All-Star Paul Konerko in 2003. After producing All-Star worthy numbers the previous year (.304 average, 27 HRs, 104 RBIs), Konerko started terribly in 2003. In addition to the #s mentioned above, Paulie had a meek .267 on-base percentage (current career # is at .357), .300 slugging percentage (currently career at .502) and only 4 multi-RBI games.

Post All-Star #s were more in line with what you'd expect from Paulie. In 67 games to finish 2003, he batted .275 with 13 HR and 43 RBIs. His on-base percentage of .346 and slugging of .507, in addition to 13 multi-RBI games, were representative of the Paul Konerko that we've gotten used to on the South Side.

"The field of play is that way, not right behind you".

If we look at Dunn's statistics, we see a similar out-of-nowhere drop/dip in numbers. Entering the All-Star break, we see a man that is a far cry from his 35 HR, 88 RBI and .380 on-base percentage that he accumulated in an average season for his first 10 years in the National League.

As of blog posting time (7th inning of the Sox game to close the All-Star break), his current stats (.160 average, 9 HR, 34 RBIs and striking out about 1.5 times/game ~ 116 in 78 games) are pathetic to say the least. His on-base percentage of .292 is astounding considering his hitting woes. He still draws his share of walks (actually has more walks than hits: 46-43), but certainly not enough to make up for his lack of production at the plate. With Dunn, a .250 career average (as he has now) is what we Sox fans should expect, especially given his ability to draw walks and allow others behind him a chance to drive him in.

These bad numbers could be the result of an injury that we just don't know about. I doubt it's an issue of age, considering most guys can still have their peak years into their mid 30s - Dunn is 31. Paulie was only 27 when he had that horrible first half start, so he had a little bit of age on his side. Still, I don't think age has anything to do with it.

Could it be just a bad adjustment to becoming a full-time DH that is doing him in? If that's so, then we may be in more trouble in future years - since Konerko is not going anywhere and I doubt we'll be moving Dunn full-time to the outfield. I know certain guys can't be DHs since it takes them out of the game and has them stressing more about bad at-bats than if they had something like fielding to take their mind off of their hitting.

I'm hoping it's more or less just a half-season slump and we will see second-half numbers of around .250 average, 16 HRs and 40 RBI, with a better OBP as a result. I don't mind the strike outs (we knew we were getting those when we signed him), but they do need to drop if he's gonna be hitting more. If he is to produce numbers like that, his season stat line would be 25 HRs, 74 RBI, average around .200 - numbers that seem like a phantom at this point.

I'm gonna go out on a limb (yeah, like that's saying a lot) and say we'll see a better Adam Dunn in future years. This start for him is not representative of what he has accomplished in his career.

America's Past Time: Football > Baseball (at least to this guy)

When there is only baseball to follow among the major American sports and we look forward to football season to start, you know it's July. When I was younger, summer was THE season for sports - mainly when I was in little league imitating all of the hitter's stances that I saw on highlights and Sox and Cubs games. As I've gotten older, my love of baseball has dissipated and now is my second favorite sport (maybe even my third favorite) behind football (and basketball, depending on the season and how I'm doing gambling-wise in that particular season).

Many times, people stop following a team because their organization just completely stinks as a whole. I can't even blame having a horrible team to root for. The White Sox are usually pseudo AL Central contenders almost every year, until they fade in the last two months of the year and are overtaken by the Twins. Sure, we've had a few division championships and a World Series - which was mainly our pitching staff getting hot at the right time. Even then, we didn't follow up the championship season with a playoff appearance. (Random fact alert: Between the Sox and Cubs, Chicago saw its teams win 4 playoff series from 2003-2005. From 1918 thru 2002 and 2006-present, they saw none).

Not sure what the deal is with the random fact, but I digress. I still think baseball is my favorite sport to attend in person. The smell of the food, the fresh summer air, a cold beverage, the sound of a bat striking a 98 mph fastball. These nuances are much more apparent (and obviously enjoyable) when going to a game versus watching it at home, where the action seems to drag depending on the teams involved.

Perhaps it's because of gambling and fantasy football that have put me in the camp of liking football over baseball more these days. The two of those forces have livened the game up to a degree that I could have never anticipated. Anytime money is on the line with something, it makes it that much more enjoyable (and nerve racking). If you eliminate the gambling and fantasy aspects, I like football more still, but probably not by as much of a margin as I do now.

If the NFL locks its players out for a season, I doubt this will change my mind on things. Remember when we said we would protest baseball when their players went on strike and nearly did again in 2002? Attendance/viewership is still thriving, thanks to its younger group of talented players who make the game enjoyable to its die-hard fans.

I don't hear people saying the same thing about an NFL lockout. That's either because (a) no one believes that there will be a missing season or (b) the game is so popular with its masses that fans can't even BS themselves into saying "We will protest all things NFL if they strike/miss a season."

Strike or not, the NFL has won over my heart in the sports world. Baseball had its time from the late 1980s into the early 2000s, but America's Pastime has passed its time as the gleam in Brian's eye.

Please, NFL. Come back to the fields. Fantasy football, gambling and plain ol' NFL junkies need you.

Murder, They Wrote: A Brief Analysis on Why Media Cover Certain Murders & Ignore Others

What do OJ Simpson, Casey Anthony, Drew Peterson, Scott Peterson and the parents of Jon Benet Ramsey (among others) have in common, aside from having insane amounts of media coverages for their murder trials?

All of the above cases involve a white female victim.

How do the media go about selecting what to make the next "Trial of the Century"? Is it as simple as the victim that is killed? I know that more than just white females are getting murdered, but that seems to be what the media highlight in almost every big murder story. In OJ Simpson's case, I believe his story would have been news no matter who he (allegedly) killed due to his previously gained fame as a hall-of-fame NFL player. In the other people's cases, it's startling that stories of other demographics don't get the face time that these other cases do.

Having been surrounded by, a consumer of, and even once a part-time employee of media, I know that the things that are reported are reported because there is a need to tell news that people want to hear (i.e. stories that will sell newspapers/get viewers). Usually, this is accompanied by images that draw in the reader/viewer. A picture or an image of a young girl that is reported missing or dead will immediately get the attention of an audience.

Is this phenomenon a product of who controls the media moreso than the audience? Probably not, but they probably know that their audience will likely pay attention to something that involves one of their own. For every Casey Anthony situation, there are thousands of other similar murders happening in lower class areas of the country all the time.

Does the fact that "it happens all the time" make it less newsworthy? Perhaps, but it definitely gives an impression that the media are not really covering all of society the same way - which is truth. It seems to be common knowledge that a lot of urban areas around the country are not the safest of areas, so the media say, no need to cover these stories to the same level that we would a murder in the suburbs.

Certainly, that's not to say that there are not local reporters who do a damn fine job of covering these stories as part of their beat. In fact, here in Chi-town, we have some award-winning reporters for such stories working at the Sun-Times.

But these stories will never have a national appeal to them that will catch the eye of the CNNs and Fox Newses of the world. Sadly, I think it has to do as much with the audience that they are targeting as it does with the demographics of the victim.

Torn about the National Anthem



How should I react to the national anthem? I don't think I'll ever have a set thought on this.

Whenever I am at a ball game, I await the national anthem. And each time, my feelings are torn as to how I should feel when I hear the singer belt out all the words from "Oh say" to "the brave".

On one hand, I listen to the song and think about all my relatives and people close to me who have made the choice to join the military and represent the flag while in many cases risking their lives on a daily basis. Whenever my cousin Tony was overseas in Iraq and I was at a game, I'd be fighting back tears thinking about what he was doing at that time and how he was while the anthem was being played.

I'm pretty sure the above scenario is how I should take the anthem, but there's a part of me lately that looks at the anthem/flag with a little skepticism. What our flag represents now on a world scale gets me thinking about our country's birth in separating ourselves from colonial rule and how what our country used to be (with the establishment of the Constitution and the Bill of Rights) is merely a blip on the radar of what our country is now. Rights being taken away on a daily basis under the guise of "security", cameras everywhere spying on our every move (whether it be on foot or in our cars). And everytime we vote for a president (Democratic or Republican), they're basically the same war mongering fools who waste our tax money on these endless wars.

The above doesn't cross my mind verbatum as I listen to the anthem, but I do have a sense of doubt as to what the flag meant when it was originally stitched versus what it represents now.

Perhaps I shouldn't over-think this and just continue to think of all my friends and family who fought for our country when I hear the anthem at games. Hell, most people probably don't even bother listening to the anthem in the way I do. I can't help it though.

I'll probably continue to be torn on how I should truly react to our nation's anthem at our National Pastime. As long as I'm going to see a good baseball game after the song is sung, then at the end of the day, that's what I will likely remember.

Half in the Bag - 2011's first 6 months from my experiences

My first seconds of 2011 were spent doing what many people were doing - at a party with some friends, enjoying some adult beverages and good food. Ordinary as it may seem, it set the tone for a year for me that has seen its good and bad; its happy and sad; no Mothers Day gift to Mom nor Fathers Day gift to dad (yet); people that we now have in our lives and people that we had. The things that stand out the most, chronologically~

Saaaaaakeeeeeeee!

Jan 2nd - Another successful birthday at Stoney Point betting on the ponies and hanging out with the best friends a guy could ask for. I'll remember the sake bombs that we took that day at the Japanese restaurant and the lady mocking my last place finish (of 4) in the sake bomb drink-off- "You a loser, ha ha ha."

Mid Jan - 2nd round of NFL playoffs and meeting up with Nick and Chris, a couple of old high school friends. We've hung out a handful of times since, often sharing old Mathlete stories and debating just how awesome Brian Scalabrine is. I'm glad that the old Nerd crew reconnected. We need to hang out again soon, gents.

To the delight of Bears fans everywhere, this was the sight to be seen on the first Sunday in February

Super Bowl Sunday - Hosted at Tim and Brie's place, they organized another good party for the game between the Steelers and the Packers. Yours truly and Tim profitted from the Super Bowl, but ultimately ended up losing the money back into the sports book later on in the week. Still, it is always nice to get a group together and enjoy each other's company.

Mid-late February - I was a few months away from graduating from my school and was still wondering what I wanted to do with my degree. After starting the second session of learning TV, it was then when I realized that video editing is what I wanted to do. This led me to be lead editor in our group's music video project as well as the splicing of several clips to produce YouTube videos. While I did take the internship with the school back in November, it was around Feb when I realized the direction I wanted to go in. (Editor's note: I still haven't put my degree to use yet, but plan on going in the video editing field). We graduated in April and for the most part have lost touch, but I'll never forget the great times we had as a class, both in and out of the classroom.

Rest in peace, Grandma Bolek. We will always remember you.

March thru April - The start of March was about the time where it was the beginning of the end for my Grandma Bolek, who was rushed to the hospital by my Dad and I believe my Aunt Donna. I remember getting back home from picking something up from my boss and answering a phone call from my sobbing father, who I can never recall ever seeing or hearing crying in my life. I visited her the next day when a hospice bed was placed in her home, but then never saw her alive again. She passed April 27, 2011 at the age of 90. She was, is, and will always be missed, but at the same time, always remembered.

HA HA! BUCKETS!

March Madness Opening Weekend - I always love this weekend, so much so that I've requested off of work for the opening Thursday and Friday of the tournament for the past 4 years. Unlike last year, no particular life-altering stories came out of 2011's tourney opening weekend. Bets were made (and mainly lost), beverages were consumed and laughs were shared. It lived up to its hype again as one of my favorite weekends in sports.

Jeff & Amber's engagement (Mother's Day weekend)- What do you get a mother whose son (cough, me) didn't give her a Mother's Day gift? How about a future daughter-in-law? Jeff and Amber stole the show this weekend when Amber showed off her ring towards the end of the Mother's Day brunch, which brought my Mom and others to tears. The date and location have been set for next year, and I could not be happier for my brother and future sister-in-law. Thank you for helping my mom forget that I didn't get her a Mother's Day gift (yet).

Congratulations to my happily married friends!

The Spencer Wedding - May 21 (The End of Days) - Spencer's bachelor party was on the Saturday of the tournament weekend and closed with us going to a burlesque show. That set the tone for a most untraditional wedding setting for a husband and wife (Jeremy and Kate) who have made a tradition of being untraditional. A small wedding at a park district may not be what most people want to do with their wedding, but they showed what really matters with a wedding is the people who are involved in the relationship surrounding themselves with their closest friends and family. It was only fitting that the after party was at a bowling alley, with us goofing off like we had done so many times before a decade earlier. I also had a blast writing a speech for this wedding and feel like I reflected well on the tone of the untraditional that had been set. I couldn't be happier for them.

Memorial Day weekend - While it may seem too soon to say this was the most significant weekend of the year, I highly doubt people could argue with me if I said it was. The weekend started with myself and Elias travelling to Wisconsin to meet up with a bunch of our friends. The lodge/resort was nice, but the initial night of the trip proved to be what made the trip. Many of my friends who I had never really seen drink before were looser than ever after a few drinks. Many were hung over the following day, but Mimosas were what I started the day with - it is vacation after all. The Saturday night of the trip was a lot more chill, but was necessary for the health of most of Friday night's participants.
    Elias and I left on Sunday, a day before the rest of the people left. I wanted to come home to take care of the dogs, who were at my Grandma Raynor's for a night. I didn't want her to be bothered by them for long though, so I left early and brought the dogs home to get back into their element. I had known about a Memorial Day party before I left the Wisconsin trip that some of my new friends were hosting at their rented place in Alsip, so I figured while I was taking care of the dogs, I'd also attend this party later on. It started at 4pm on the Sunday, but I came later to avoid being trapped into an early drinking demise (that later proved to be true for many of the participants of the 4pm start of the party). It was here that I briefly met Moe, who was my bags partner for the one game I played against Craig and Pete. While we didn't win, an innocent pairing of two people for a bags game eventually led to what is now a promising relationship with an awesome girl.

Bobby McGees - Before the month of June, I had been to this bar exactly once in my life. In June alone, I was there every Tuesday and an additional few days. I have met some awesome new people in the past month through the new relationship. As I've told Moe's friends, the type of people you surround yourself with is a good indicator of what kind of person you are. That is definitely the case here. I'm glad I've gotten to meet the people I've met so far and look forward to meeting others as the months

Vegas -  You already can see the blog about Vegas from mid June - feel free to consult this blog on how it went. It was a traditional Vegas trip full of ups and downs at the sports book, a trip that always leaves you wanting more of the Sin City.

The start of my Arlington success

Arlington/BBBBQ weekend - The weekend which started my parent's trip to Michigan (a trip where they never saw the sun for a week) also started a vacation of my own. Brie had her birthday at the horsetrack, and about 10-12 people came out for it over the course of the day. In addition to enjoying two pina coladas, I also basked in the riches of picking 5 of 10 winners throughout the day, including a 13/1 named Brain Teazer. The following day, I had my traditional BBBBQ, which was enjoyed by many. The weather was good enough to enjoy the pool as well. Also, it was the day many of my friends got to meet the lady for the first time. The party seemed to strike up many friendships, as the next day I saw nothing on Facebook but (A friend of mine) is now friends with (another friend of mine) and 6 (other friends of mine).

I may be missing a few things, and I apologize if I did. These events reflect the type of year that I have had so far. I look forward to seeing how the rest of the year develops. I hope all of you get to enjoy it with me in some capacity.