Daily Bets (4-1 thru 4-7) - (16-20, -288.20)
4/1 (1-3, -$122)
NY/Bos Lester/Sabathia Under 8 (57/50) L - 9th inning Boston runs
Chi/KC Sale/Shields Under 7 (48/40) W - 1-0 Sale win
Phil/Atl Hamels (Philly) -110 (55/50) L - trailed throughout
Ariz/StL Kennedy/Wainwright Over 9 (50/50) L - narrow loss
4/2 (0-2, -137.30)
Balt/TB Hammel/Price Under 7 (61.50/50) L - McGee melts in 7th inning
Tor/Cle Dickey/Masterson Over 8.5 (75.80/65) L - no bullpen runs allowed
4/3 (3-2, 50.00 )
Tex/Hou Ogando/Humber Under 8.5 (69/60) - Astros shut out. Look to bet unders of teams coming off near perfect game/no hit bids
Chi/KC Peavy/Santana Over 7.5 (60/63) - Sox can't score w/o HR; too many runners left in scoring position in late innings
Det/Min Sanchez/Correia Over 8.5 (60/60.60) - Never had a chance
Wandy (Pitt) -133 (79.80/60) - Well-pitched game. Wandy a Cub killer
LA/SF Beckett/Lincecum Over 7 (61/50) - Strong offense vs starters. No more runs after that (5-3)
4/4 (5-1, 282.90 )
ChC/Pitt Wood (ChC) +130 (50/65)
ChC/Pitt Under 7 (40/40) - Wood pitched well; Marmol did what he could to blow it. Avoid Cubs games for most part!
KC/ChW Guthrie (KC) +114 (65/72.10) - Guthrie was sharp. Sox no HRs = Sox loss
SD/NYM Stults (SD) +136 (50/68) - Lots of LOBs, but SD never trailed. Held on in 9th.
Mia/Wash LeBlanc (Mia) +200 (40/80) - worth a shot. Mia got spanked.
Phil/Atl Lee (Phil) +113 (60/67.80) - might be the last time Lee gets + anything for a while. A gem.
4/5 (4-3, 96)
SD/Col Marquis (SD) +140 (60/84) - Not enough offense; 3rd inning error is the difference (3 unearned)
KC/Phil Davis (KC) +107 (60/64.20) - KC 13 unanswered runs after falling behind 4-0 early
Min/Balt Hendrix/Arrieta Under 9 (54/50) - Pretty much DOA in the mid-innings despite a pair of scoreless innings to start. Davis stays red hot to open the lead up for the Orioles.
Bos/Tor Doubront (Bos) +135 (60/81) - Never trailed. Decent bullpen work.
Mia/NYM Sanabia (Mia) +139 (60/83.40) - Bounced back nicely after getting swept. Almost blew 6-0 lead.
Mil/Ari Lohse (Mil) -131 (78.60/60) - 2 runs allowed on a wild pitch the difference. Crazy.
Sea/CHW Beaven/Quintana Over 8 (66/60) - Quintana implodes. League has caught up to him. Fade away.
4-6 (1-4, -215.30 )
Sea/Chi King Felix (Sea) -129 (90.30/70) - Windy day. King Felix threw one mistake and Rios made him pay.
Bos/Tor Lackey/Happ Under 9 - (60/61.80) - Great outing for Happ. Lackey got hurt, might be out for year.
LAA/Texas Harrison (Tex) -124 (62/50) - Harrison roughed up in 1st. Bet never had a chance.
SF/StL - Vogelsong/Miller Under 7 - (63/60) - Big 5th for StL is basically the difference.
SD/Col - Ross (SD)+129 - (60/77.40) - Garland pitched well in first start in two years. SD couldn't take advantage of bases loaded, no out in 4th.
4-7 (2-5, -242.20 )
ChW/Sea (Sale/Iwakuma) Under 7.5 - (69/60) - After rough first, both settled down, 4-3 in extras
Bos/Tor Lester +125 (60/75) - Total Red Sox domination. Least sweat bet so far this year
Wash/Cin Under 7 (Strasburg/Cueto) (72/60) - Both roughed up early. Teased a push, but lost in 6th.
TB/Cle Under 7 (Price/Masterson) (75/60) - Price got rocked. No shot.
StL/SF Under 6.5 (Wainright/Cain) (64.20/60) - 9 run fourth for StL - no shot.
Col/SD Over 10.5 (Chacin/Volquez) (66/60) - No help from SD. Col helped in late innings to no avail.
LAA (Weaver) +129 vs Texas (Darvish) (100/129) - top half of first showed promise. After that, it was all Texas.
3/31/2013
Fit Happens Chapter 8: Participant Profile 4 (B-Bo)
What better way to close out the participant profile section of Fit Happens than to interview yourself and talk in the third person in the process.
As the last official member of Fit Happens (a name he helped coin), B-Bo knew he had a good chance of winning this contest based on his previous attempts of losing weight when joining his gym (then called Cardinal Fitness) in 2008. In his first three months of working out there, he lost over 20 pounds.
However, unlike last time, B-Bo needed a little extra push, some motivation to work out. He had tried to get back into going to the gym last year, but he was never fully able to motivate himself to go the gym as frequently as he used to, at least not enough to see a health impact from it.
The contest came a callin' and B-Bo answered. Today, he shares his story in the third person to tell us about his motivations and goals for Fit Happens:
 |
| File photo of B-Bo. He has since gotten a lot skinnier and his tan has decreased significantly. |
However, unlike last time, B-Bo needed a little extra push, some motivation to work out. He had tried to get back into going to the gym last year, but he was never fully able to motivate himself to go the gym as frequently as he used to, at least not enough to see a health impact from it.
The contest came a callin' and B-Bo answered. Today, he shares his story in the third person to tell us about his motivations and goals for Fit Happens:
1.
What made
you decide to do Fit Happens? In December, I was emailed by Chris about
this idea that they had about a weight loss contest. I had been dragging my feet about working out, despite having a pretty decent gym in the basement of our building. I've also wanted to lose a little weight for a while, but I had no motivation and drive when trying to restart my workouts last April. Thankfully for this email, I had the proper motivation. After we bickered a little
bit about the layout of it, the contest was all set and ready to begin on
January 1st.
2.
What were
your goals to come out of this? I won’t lie and say having a chance to win
some money wasn’t a little motivation before we started the contest. But once I
went to the gym on the first day of the year and weighed myself, it was all
about my health at that point. It made me realize I needed to go back to Brian
circa 2008 and started working out and eating a little better. I forgot how
good it feels to listen to some music, dripping with sweat as I toil away on
the treadmill. There's a sense of accomplishment from it, and plus, it's helped with increasing my overall energy on a daily basis. I actually look forward to my work outs because of it.
3.
What
changes have you made to your daily habits during the contest? I am now way
more active than I have been since starting my current job in July 2010. I try
going to our basement gym about 4-5 times a week. And if I know I’m going to a
bar within a couple miles, I’ll walk there instead of taking a cab or other
form of transportation. Diet-wise, I have been eating a lot less. I can’t say I’ve
eliminated bad foods (don’t think I ever will), but when Jen and I do order
out, I will order chicken Caesar salads more frequently than I used to. The
diet is probably the thing I have to work on the most—I have no problem
motivating myself to work out anymore.
4.
Have you
ran into any difficulties during this contest? If so, how have you overcome
them or trying to overcome them? To be honest, I haven’t had any
difficulties during the contest. Maybe at the beginning, it was difficult to
accept that I had gotten so out of shape that walking on the treadmill at 4
miles per hour was a challenge. Now, I’m back to running my 6+ mph pace and
have signed up for the Warrior Dash in June, the second time I will have
participated in the race.
5.
When the
contest is over, do you think it will be hard to keep up this level of intense
workout and/or diet? Being a numbers guy, I will miss the weigh-ins once or
twice a week and seeing how everyone has progressed and how I compare to them.
Outside of that, I think this contest has done exactly what it was meant to do.
It has gotten us into better eating and workout habits. And I believe all of us are fully capable of
living long, healthy lives. If this is the start of it for all of us, then I’m
glad to be a part of it.
6.
Entering
the second half of the contest, what are your goals for the next three months?
Have you had to adjust them as time has passed? I’d like to keep losing
weight at the rate I have been the past couple months (around 5-6 pounds per
month). I know the first month’s output of 13+ pounds is likely unattainable
again in the course of the contest. And I’ll be the only one who says it, but
hell, I want to win this damn thing. It’s something I would be very proud of—even
if I don’t win it, I plan on keeping up with the work outs and eating better.
As far as my goals go, the only way I’ve had to adjust them is to expect more of myself. My original goal was to get under the 200 mark (losing 35 pounds). Now that I am over 25 pounds lost at the halfway mark, I feel like readjusting the goal to a lower number (like 190 or 195) would be a good thing to do.
As far as my goals go, the only way I’ve had to adjust them is to expect more of myself. My original goal was to get under the 200 mark (losing 35 pounds). Now that I am over 25 pounds lost at the halfway mark, I feel like readjusting the goal to a lower number (like 190 or 195) would be a good thing to do.
7.
What do
you expect your final weigh-in to be? Originally, I would have been happy
to be at or near 200 when we reached the end of June. Now, I’d like to be
around 190 but am expecting something closer to 195.
8.
In your
honest opinion, who do you think is going to win the contest? All of us are
capable of winning the contest if we do the right things to our body—eating the
right food, getting the proper weekly activity, etc. That being said, I think
my motivation to get into shape is just as strong as these gentlemen. And with
the small lead I’ve built at the halfway mark, I believe I’ll be able to carry
that over into the last three months and come out ahead as the Fit Happens
Champ.
Not to go cliché, but at the end of the day, we’ll all be winners as long as we continue to reach the goals we set out to reach when we started in January.
Not to go cliché, but at the end of the day, we’ll all be winners as long as we continue to reach the goals we set out to reach when we started in January.
3/30/2013
Fit Happens Chapter 7: Participant Profile 3 (Magic Bus)
The third profile of Fit Happens is on Magic Bus, a friend of Hippo and Chris who I have never met but have heard plenty about through their podcast and their famous Game-a-thon sessions where the trio plays video games for 24 hours straight.
Magic Bus had many different reasons for joining the Fit Happens challenge than the others. He has also faced some early difficulties during this contest, thanks in large part to a vacation which briefly set him back in early March. He might be trailing the pack in the contest so far, but don't count out the Bus. As you read below, you'll see plenty of reason for him to continue his weight loss journey beyond the parameters of the six month contest.
 |
| Magic Bus (middle) with Chris and Hippo at their latest Game-a-thon in Nov. |
1. What made you decide to do Fit Happens?
Honestly, as lame as
it sounds, I wanted to get healthy for my daughter. I want to be a good role
model for her as she gets older and continuing to eat as I was would be
teaching her the wrong thing. I'd also like to be alive for her high
school and college graduations.
2. What were your goals to come out of this?
By June I'd like to be
down to around 250 lbs, but I don't plan to end there. Ultimately, I'd like to
get down to around 200 lbs or less. More than weight loss though, I want to
change my lifestyle. In order to keep the weight off, I know I need a permanent
change. I'm hoping at some point my tastebuds will change slightly and I'll
crave fatty foods less and healthier foods more. That's actually already
started to happen for me. I've developed a strong taste for all kinds of fruit
and lots of raw vegetables. Still fighting those bad foods though!
3. What changes have you made to your daily
habits during the contest?
Most of the changes
I've made have been to my diet. I used to eat a lot of fried and processed
food. I've reduced those foods and have started to eat more fruit and
vegetables. I've tried to make it a point to stay away from "diet"
foods because I don't see that as maintainable in the long term. Way back when,
I started WeightWatchers Online and that's been really helpful to me during
"Fit Happens". It helps me gauge how much I should be eating and
which foods I'm willing to splurge on and which I'm not.
Another
thing I'm trying to do is be more physical, just in general. I take the stairs
when I used to ride the elevator and try to take a walk a couple of times a
day. The Nike Fuel band was nice for motivating me in the beginning, but I've
gotten away from it recently.
4. Have you ran into any difficulties during this
contest? If so, how have you overcome them or trying to overcome them?
Oh
Yeah! My vacation to California was really hard. I almost fell apart, but I
decided that I'm not going to deprive myself from the foods I love, but try to
make at least one good choice at each meal. That might have been something as
simple as getting a water instead of pop, or passing on the appetizer or bread.
I did end up gaining a couple of pounds, but I think it would have been a lot
more if I hadn't kept "Fit Happens" in my mind.
5. When the contest is over, do you think it will
be hard to keep up this level of intense workout and/or diet?
No.
I've deliberately made changes to my diet and physical activity in a gradual
way for just this reason. I'm fairly confident that I'll be able to keep it up
past June and hopefully into the next year!
6. Entering the second half of the contest, what
are your goals for the next three months? Have you had to adjust them as time
has passed?
I'm
currently behind in the contest portion of "Fit Happens". I'd really
like to pull closer to the pack, so being a little more stringent on the diet
and especially physical activity is going to be important for me. I think my
overall goals have stayed pretty consistent though. I just want to be healthy.
7. What do you expect your final weigh-in to be?
250 LBS!!!!! (I hope)
8. In your honest opinion, who do you think is
going to win the contest?
My
initial though was B-Bo, but I'm not sure how much more weight he's got to
lose. With that in mind, I'm going to say Nick.
3/29/2013
B-Bo's MLB Preview - 2013
Note: I've changed my mind on a few of my teams since my teams who will surprise blog from last month.
There's a few things I've learned about baseball over the years.
There's a few things I've learned about baseball over the years.
- Teams that spend the most haven't been winning the most - Last year, the Angels went all-in with huge contracts for Albert Pujols & C.J. Wilson, but failed to make the playoffs. The Marlins did the same, signing Jose Reyes to a huge deal and also spent some nice dough on Mark Buehrle & Heath Bell, only to eventually trade all of the following as well as just about every good Marlins player not named Giancarlo Stanton between July and November. And look at what all that spending has done for the Yankees since 2001 - only one championship.
So for everyone to go all-in on the other LA team as a sexy World Series pick is presumptuous. Yes, they have bolstered their squad with some nice moves like Greinke. Kershaw and Greinke in a short series will be a tough order, but can Greinke stay healthy? He has inflammation in his right elbow (yes, his pitching arm) - so he is a risky pick for fantasy baseball owners in my opinion. The lineup will be stacked once Hanley Ramirez is healthy (Carl Crawford, Adrian Gonzalez and Hanley join Matt Kemp to form a formidable punch).
The Dodgers may make the playoffs, but spending big lately hasn't equated to winning it all, or even making the playoffs as illustrated by some of the examples above
The same goes for the Blue Jays, who seemingly traded for an All-Star team with all the players they picked up from the Marlins. I'm more weary of the Jays than the Dodgers though. Based on career splits, I don't think Dickey and Encarnacion will come close to matching their 2012 output. Toronto should be better than last year, but I'm not ready to crown them division champs this year. - We're always due for a couple surprise teams to be in playoff contention the first half of the year, with likely one of them to fade and the other to continue surprising and coming close to or even making the playoffs. Last year's examples were the New York Mets and Baltimore Orioles, the former fading fast in the second half of the year thanks to a shaky bullpen, while the O's found a way to win just about every single close game en route to winning one of the two wild card berths, even having a chance to win the AL East going into the final day of the regular season - something no one could see coming.
I'll make a couple predictions on the teams who will fit this bill this season: Cleveland Indians and San Diego Padres. The former is in probably the weakest division in baseball - I say the Indians will finish within 5-6 games of the Tigers and be close to a wild card berth (hell, I'll put them in my playoffs). The Padres will be my pick to start out decent (carrying over from their somewhat strong finish to end the year - 42-33 record after the All-Star break) and then fade to around .500. - There's usually about 2 or 3 different division winners from one year to the next. And that's what I expect this year. I expect Cincinnati, San Francisco and Detroit to repeat as division championships, with the Los Angeles Angels, Tampa Bay Rays and Philadelphia Phillies to overtake their divisions.
- The Tampa Bay Rays will surprise as usual. Including their World Series appearance in 2008, the Rays have quietly won 3 of 5 AL East titles in a division that includes the presumably infinite payrolls of the New York Yankees and Boston Red Sox. Their worst season in this stretch is an 84 win season in 2009.
So as they've done many times since then, they've unloaded some of their veteran payroll, trading James Shields and B.J. Upton in separate deals, getting back some highly regarded prospects from the Royals and Braves.
Despite trading these guys, I believe the Rays will win their 4th division title in 6 years. Yes - the Blue Jays outspent them. And yes - seemingly every one of the Yankees infield makes more individually than the Rays do as a team. But Joe Maddon and his boys seem to get it done - a great pitchers park with great pitchers is hard to beat. I'm riding the Rays to the 2013 World Series.
The oddsmakers have the Blue Jays, then the Yankees, as more likely to win the AL East. Don't do it - bet the Rays.
I've already written my thoughts on the White Sox. Just click the link before this sentence to read about my disappointing prognosis.
Now that I've teased some of my predictions, here are the rest of them, by division. Playoff teams are bolded:
| AL East | AL Central | AL West | |||
| Tampa Bay | 90-72 | Detroit | 94-68 | LA Angels | 93-69 |
| Toronto | 86-76 | Cleveland | 88-74 | Oakland | 89-73 |
| New York | 83-79 | Kansas City | 80-82 | Texas | 87-75 |
| Boston | 79-83 | Chicago | 76-86 | Seattle | 73-89 |
| Baltimore | 74-88 | Minnesota | 68-94 | Houston | 65-97 |
| NL East | NL Central | NL West | |||
| Philadelphia | 90-72 | Cincy | 92-70 | San Francisco | 91-71 |
| Washington | 88-74 | St. Louis | 86-76 | LA Dodgers | 88-74 |
| Atlanta | 86-76 | Pittsburgh | 77-85 | Arizona | 85-77 |
| NY Mets | 70-92 | Milwaukee | 76-86 | San Diego | 80-82 |
| Miami | 62-100 | Chicago | 69-93 | Colorado | 65-97 |
ALCS: Tampa Bay over LA Angels
NLCS: San Francisco over Philadelphia
World Series: Tampa Bay over San Francisco
AL Cy Young: Jered Weaver, LAA
NL Cy Young: Clayton Kershaw, LAD
AL MVP: Evan Longoria (he'll finally stay healthy - jinx!), TB
NL MVP: Matt Kemp, LAD
AL HR Leader: Adam Dunn, CHW
NL HR Leader: Jay Bruce, Cin
Current MLB bets made on 5dimes: Tampa Over 86 wins; Cleveland Over 77.5. Likely to make a bet or two more before the season begins. Likely taking Tampa's World Series (currently 19/1) and division odds (+280)
As always, feel free to add your predictions below. I'll be glad to compare/contrast our picks
What to Make of the White Sox in 2013
When the news of A.J. signing with the Texas Rangers reached my ears, I started to have a funny feeling about how 2013 would play out.
Besides missing a guy who was consistent and steady as a hitter for the South Siders, A.J. was a hell of a leader. He got under the skin of opponents - as he used to do to the White Sox when he donned a Twins jersey to start his career.
A.J.'s presence with the staff is unquestioned. His baseball knowledge, combined with having one of the best pitching coaches in MLB in Don Cooper, has helped the White Sox in having one of the best front-to-back starting rotations in his time here.
Tyler Flowers has some big shoes to fill. Based on how long it took for the Sox brass to put their full support behind Flowers, I am hesitant to think he can even fill half of the shoes left behind by Pierzynski. You could say that A.J. was making it difficult for the White Sox to make Flowers their full-time catcher, but Flowers has done nothing to inspire my full confidence.
For this reason, among many others, I am having my doubts about the White Sox this year
Last year, I was wondering how Robin Ventura would handle his inaugural season as the skipper - I don't think there were many fans that didn't have this worry. By all reasonable accounts, Ventura succeeded, even though the White Sox blew a September division lead to the eventual World Series runner-ups.
The pitching staff stayed relatively healthy last year, with Jake Peavy managing to avoid the disabled list for the first time since 2007. However, I worry about the health of John Danks, who hasn't pitched since June. I am also skeptical of Jose Quintana, whose second-half ERA in 2012 (5.02) was over double what he did in the first half of the season. His K/BB ratio needs to improve or else we may see more of what we saw in the second half of 2012.
I do worry about the health of the top half of the rotation - it seems inevitable that Sale, Peavy and/or Danks will miss some time due to injury. I know it's hard to anticipate injury, but look at how delicate they treated Sale last year. Remember they almost made him the full-time closer in May despite his dominant performances? If that's not a sign of them worrying about his arm, I don't know what is. I get this feeling that Sale, like many young pitchers, is due for an injury early in his career that could sideline him a while - call it a gut feeling. Can Peavy be trusted to start another 32 games? Can Danks bounce back from his shoulder issues?
The bullpen remains a strength. Addison Reed enters his second year as the closer. His walks/hits allowed needs to improve if he wants to become a top-tier closer, but I see potential with him. Thornton, Nate Jones, Matt Lindstrom and whoever doesn't win the 5th spot in the rotation between Quintana and Hector Santiago will provide the set-up and long-relief work to get to Reed. On the face of it, the bullpen should be the team's calling card for winning games.
I'd say there are some issues too with the outfield. You never know what Alex Rios you're gonna get. Dayan Viciedo is a great candidate to get 30+ home runs, but he strikes out too much with how little he walks (only 28 walks to 130 strikeouts in 543 plate appearances). De Aza is fairly average. And the back-ups in Spring Training (Jordan Danks, Jared Mitchell) seem like they're not going to be answers this year.
The infield is just as much of a question mark. Yes - Konerko has produced in the last few seasons better than just about anyone could expect, but how long can he keep this up? Beckham hasn't lived up to the hype that came with his arrival to the majors what feels like a decade ago - can he finally have an All-Star quality season? Alexei tailed off quite a bit last year - only 9 home runs in over 600 at bats. What might be even worse with the Cuban Missile is that he recorded only 16 walks en route to a pathetic .287 on-base percentage. The third base position is now manned by Jeff Keppinger, who can actually provide a steady bat and is able to play just about all of the infield positions. He doesn't really fit into the infield equation, but I expect to see the same Adam Dunn that we did last year, the same Adam Dunn that existed in every year except 2011 - a lot of HRs, a lot more strikeouts and a lot of walks.
Taking everything I mentioned above into the equation...what does all of this add up to? A lot of skepticism for this guy. If everything goes right for this team, I'm thinking high-end 86 wins....low-end could be in the low 70s, especially with the improved rosters of the Indians and Royals.
I'm going to say a disappointing 76-86 season awaits. No September teases this year. In fact, I can see a situation where Konerko gets traded in July to a contender, removing the final member of the 2005 World Series squad.
I hope I'm wrong, but I don't think I'll be wrong here.
Feel free to share your thoughts on the White Sox and tell me that I'm wrong (or that I'm right).
Besides missing a guy who was consistent and steady as a hitter for the South Siders, A.J. was a hell of a leader. He got under the skin of opponents - as he used to do to the White Sox when he donned a Twins jersey to start his career.
A.J.'s presence with the staff is unquestioned. His baseball knowledge, combined with having one of the best pitching coaches in MLB in Don Cooper, has helped the White Sox in having one of the best front-to-back starting rotations in his time here.
Tyler Flowers has some big shoes to fill. Based on how long it took for the Sox brass to put their full support behind Flowers, I am hesitant to think he can even fill half of the shoes left behind by Pierzynski. You could say that A.J. was making it difficult for the White Sox to make Flowers their full-time catcher, but Flowers has done nothing to inspire my full confidence.
For this reason, among many others, I am having my doubts about the White Sox this year
Last year, I was wondering how Robin Ventura would handle his inaugural season as the skipper - I don't think there were many fans that didn't have this worry. By all reasonable accounts, Ventura succeeded, even though the White Sox blew a September division lead to the eventual World Series runner-ups.
The pitching staff stayed relatively healthy last year, with Jake Peavy managing to avoid the disabled list for the first time since 2007. However, I worry about the health of John Danks, who hasn't pitched since June. I am also skeptical of Jose Quintana, whose second-half ERA in 2012 (5.02) was over double what he did in the first half of the season. His K/BB ratio needs to improve or else we may see more of what we saw in the second half of 2012.
I do worry about the health of the top half of the rotation - it seems inevitable that Sale, Peavy and/or Danks will miss some time due to injury. I know it's hard to anticipate injury, but look at how delicate they treated Sale last year. Remember they almost made him the full-time closer in May despite his dominant performances? If that's not a sign of them worrying about his arm, I don't know what is. I get this feeling that Sale, like many young pitchers, is due for an injury early in his career that could sideline him a while - call it a gut feeling. Can Peavy be trusted to start another 32 games? Can Danks bounce back from his shoulder issues?
The bullpen remains a strength. Addison Reed enters his second year as the closer. His walks/hits allowed needs to improve if he wants to become a top-tier closer, but I see potential with him. Thornton, Nate Jones, Matt Lindstrom and whoever doesn't win the 5th spot in the rotation between Quintana and Hector Santiago will provide the set-up and long-relief work to get to Reed. On the face of it, the bullpen should be the team's calling card for winning games.
I'd say there are some issues too with the outfield. You never know what Alex Rios you're gonna get. Dayan Viciedo is a great candidate to get 30+ home runs, but he strikes out too much with how little he walks (only 28 walks to 130 strikeouts in 543 plate appearances). De Aza is fairly average. And the back-ups in Spring Training (Jordan Danks, Jared Mitchell) seem like they're not going to be answers this year.
The infield is just as much of a question mark. Yes - Konerko has produced in the last few seasons better than just about anyone could expect, but how long can he keep this up? Beckham hasn't lived up to the hype that came with his arrival to the majors what feels like a decade ago - can he finally have an All-Star quality season? Alexei tailed off quite a bit last year - only 9 home runs in over 600 at bats. What might be even worse with the Cuban Missile is that he recorded only 16 walks en route to a pathetic .287 on-base percentage. The third base position is now manned by Jeff Keppinger, who can actually provide a steady bat and is able to play just about all of the infield positions. He doesn't really fit into the infield equation, but I expect to see the same Adam Dunn that we did last year, the same Adam Dunn that existed in every year except 2011 - a lot of HRs, a lot more strikeouts and a lot of walks.
Taking everything I mentioned above into the equation...what does all of this add up to? A lot of skepticism for this guy. If everything goes right for this team, I'm thinking high-end 86 wins....low-end could be in the low 70s, especially with the improved rosters of the Indians and Royals.
I'm going to say a disappointing 76-86 season awaits. No September teases this year. In fact, I can see a situation where Konerko gets traded in July to a contender, removing the final member of the 2005 World Series squad.
I hope I'm wrong, but I don't think I'll be wrong here.
Feel free to share your thoughts on the White Sox and tell me that I'm wrong (or that I'm right).
3/28/2013
Fit Happens Chapter 6: Participant Profile 2 (Hippo)
 |
| Looking to take the belt of Fit Happens Champion |
Next on the profile docket is Hippo, who is close on my tail as far as the overall percentage lost is concerned. To his credit, he started losing weight outside of the contest in December, so all things considered, he's lost the most weight of all of us the past four months.
He shares some of the same goals and concerns as Chris, as we see in the latest edition of Fit Happens, Participant Profiles.
1. What made you decide to do Fit Happens?
I have been
overweight my whole life, and as the years pass by it becomes more and more
difficult to lose weight. I basically came to the conclusion that if I didn't
get healthy now, I never will.
2. What were your goals to come out of this?
I want to be
"healthy". No matter how many pounds it takes me to lose, or how much
time it takes, I want to be able to walk into my doctor's office and have them
tell me I am healthy.
3. What changes have you made to your daily habits during the
contest?
First and foremost
I am eating a more "normal" amount of food. In addition to that I am
eating more fruit and less extremely bad foods. I am also exercising a few
times a week. Most importantly I am trying to break my obsession with stuffing
myself.
4. Have you ran into any difficulties during this contest? If so,
how have you overcome them or trying to overcome them?
It's definitely
been hard, but it gets easier every day. Getting through the first few weeks
and getting to the point where I could eat less was definitely the biggest
challenge. Staying motivated has also been an issue. After the initial rush of
losing a bunch of weight wore off, it's hard to keep it going day in and day out.
5. When the contest is over, do you think it will be hard to keep
up this level of intense workout and/or diet?
It will be hard for
a long time. I don't plan on stopping when the contest ends because I won't be
at my goal. But once I get there I won't be confident that I can keep it up for
a while.
6. Entering the second half of the contest, what are your goals for
the next three months? Have you had to adjust them as time has passed?
No new goals. Just
keep up the same routine, keep losing weight and trending in the right
direction.
7. What do you expect your final weigh-in to be?
Originally I wanted
to drop around 30, but I am already there, so I have moved my target to 50
pounds. But as long as I am still moving in the right direction I will be
happy.
8. In your honest opinion, who do you think is going to win the
contest?
Honestly, my money would not have been on B-Bo, but he has
absolutely dominated so far. Chris was at a massive disadvantage since he
already worked out so much. And while he is definitely in the best shape now,
and will be when it's over, I think it will be tough for him to lose too much
more. Even if he doesn't win, he will have still accomplished a lot. Dave
doesn't seem to care enough at this point, and even though he is behind if he
wanted to he could easily catch up. I like my own chances at this point, but
B-Bo has gone the extra mile so far, and he is the favorite at this point. Ask
me again in a month though.
A Bunch of Bull: Why Derrick Rose Owes You Nothing
 |
| Remember the last time Derrick played in garbage time? Yeahhhh |
No and no? Ok then. Derrick Rose doesn't owe you a thing.
Not a goddamn thing.
You say he owes you to play out the end of the regular season. You pay his salary after all, or so you say - actually Jerry Reinsdorf does. If anything, he would owe it to his team and organization, and I'd argue that even that is false. When a man's health is in question, he owes nothing to anyone.
You say he should play because he is practicing just fine, that he's running around, taking shots and looking decent. Do you really know how he is? Practice versus game is a different beast. Plus, if it happens to be a mental issue and he just doesn't think he's ready, do you really trust him to be his elite self right now?
Sure, you say you don't expect him to dominate right away, but why demand that he plays at all this year, especially if he is not going to be dominant?
You say that other athletes recently have recovered from ACL injuries in a faster time period (Adrian Peterson has officially ruined the reasonable recovery time for these injuries - beware RGIII). It's not reasonable to expect Rose's ACL to heal as fast as a guy like AP's (or for anyone who has had quick recoveries from the type of injury Rose has had). Everyone's body is built differently and they all heal differently, so you can't expect one case to be like another.
Are you questioning his heart if he is not playing? Just because we see guys like Michael Jordan playing through a flu and we see Brett Favre tough out injuries for years to start over 300 straight games, we expect our stars to "gut it out and play". Like I said before, whether it's still his injury that is affecting him or if he just doesn't believe that he is ready to come back mentally, it does him no good to be out there.
Rose will be 25 years old when the 2013-14 season begins. He has an entire future of basketball to worry about. It might not be as long of a career as Steve Nash has had, especially if Rose continues with his aggressive style of driving to the hoop against the taller trees of the NBA. Nevertheless, it's still a decade of potential greatness that he has no reason to risk on some meaningless regular season games. Besides, this is not a Bulls team that can be considered an NBA Finals team, especially with how dominant the Heat have been. Don't be deceived by the Bulls' regular season victories this year against the Heat - they mean nothing come playoff time. The Heat will run through the East.
 |
| With this being Spring/baseball season, now's as good of a time to say this to a Chicago fan...Wait till Next Year |
You think he owes it to you, the fan who sits on his ass at the United Center with popcorn butter and ketchup covering his #1 jersey, to play this season? He owes you nothing.
If anything, you owe him a little patience. Wouldn't you rather have a healthy Rose next year than a hobbled one (whether it be physically or mentally hobbled) playing?
Talents like Rose don't come around often, so be patient and wait for the return of #1 next year. Believe me, it will be worth the wait.
3/27/2013
Fit Happens Chapter 5 - Participant Profile 1 (Chris)
The third month of Fit Happens is about to wind down. For all four of us, it has been the most challenging month as far as weight loss goes. The toughest part of the contest by far - where motivation amid lower weight loss than previous months enters into the equation. It looks like it will come down to me versus Hippo for the monthly winner - a mere 0.03% difference in our total weight loss for March entering the last 5 days. I will provide an official blog at the beginning of April for March's results as well as the overall standings.
As the contest has entered its halfway point, I wanted to profile each of the contestants aside from myself. The only one to respond so far is Chris, who was kind enough to answer some questions about the inspiration for the contest as well as some goals and challenges he has faced as the contest has developed.
As the contest has entered its halfway point, I wanted to profile each of the contestants aside from myself. The only one to respond so far is Chris, who was kind enough to answer some questions about the inspiration for the contest as well as some goals and challenges he has faced as the contest has developed.
 |
| Chris cooking up some results in the weight loss category. |
1. What made you decide to do Fit Happens? I needed to lose some weight. On a binge eating experience with Hippo and Magic Bus, Hippo started talking about a weight loss program he was trying. That got the ball rolling. Before too long we were creating a contest. The motivation to lose weight as already there, the contest just made it more serious and urgent
2. What were your goals to come out of this? To lose weight and look skinnier. I had a goal weight in mind, but I think my number one goal is just to look and feel better.
3. What changes have you made to your daily habits during the contest? The biggest thing I have attempted is to eat less and eat slower. I have not modified my diet all that much in terms of what I eat. I just try to eat less and by eating slower, I recognize when I am no longer hungry and am able to stop. Before I would regularly shovel food as fast as possible and would stuff myself way too often. I'd feel sick afterward. Honestly, there have only been 1-2 times during fit happens when I felt that way. Major progress from my few times per week before the context.
4. Have you ran into any difficulties during this contest? If so, how have you overcome them or trying to overcome them? The only difficulty I have had is the recent plateau. We all shed a bunch of weight in the first few weeks/month. After that it is much more of a slow burn. There is less motivation when you lose half a pound in a week than when you are seeing multiple pounds per day come off. I am just trying to keep up with the diet and the exercise intensity so that it continues to come off, even if it is only a small amount at a time.
5. When the contest is over, do you think it will be hard to keep up this level of intense workout and/or diet? I should easily be able to maintain the diet. I just need to remember to take it easy at meals and eat slowly. My exercise regimen has been pretty intense. I work out a minimum of 6 days/week right now. That will be difficult to maintain, but I should be able to keep up at least a 4X/week program without much issue.
6. Entering the second half of the contest, what are your goals for the next three months? Have you had to adjust them as time has passed? My goal is exactly the same - lose as much weight as possible.
7. What do you expect your final weigh-in to be? Aspiration - 210; realistic - 215 (both much lower than I anticipated)
8. In your honest opinion, who do you think is going to win the contest? B-Bo is on a tear, but Hippo is right on his tail. I'd say that Magic Bus and I are comfortably out of the money. I will leave it at that.
3/23/2013
How's Your Bracket & Other March Madness Musings
How does your bracket look?
Honestly, I stopped looking at mine with the string of upsets on Thursday, particularly New Mexico (one of my Final Four). But with that loss, I decided that this March (and future Marches) would not be considered a success or failure based on my brackets. Instead, my focus will be strictly on my gambling account.
Does this look like a successful bracket to you?
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I don't think this bracket is going to win me anything. Too many red lines too early in the tourney.
But you know what? As long as the bets I make are coming in, I don't care if this whole sheet is full of red lines.
I have had some bad bets (Montana was my worst bet of the year, possibly a top-5 all-time worst bet) - note that I don't always bet with my bracket (but usually do). For instance, one of my best bets ever came on Friday, betting on Florida Gulf Coast against Georgetown (the first half line of +7.5, game line of +13.5 & the best part, the money line of +800 - the biggest money line I've ever hit for a single game).
Are We the Champions?
The big bets still alive exist in the East bracket, where I have two teams still alive for my prop bet to win the tourney. Illinois did what they could to blow their huge lead, but ultimately held on to win. They face Miami on Sunday. I'm not really sure what to expect from them, but I'm hoping that they or California (preferably both) can pull off upsets in their Round of 32 matchups - Cali has Syracuse Saturday night.
A California title would net me $3750 on a $15 bet, while an Illinois championship would pay $4125. The odds of either team winning it are still remote, but it's still nice to see them stay alive. I hope one of them teases me with another win and a promotion to the Sweet 16.
Speaking of Illinois...
I've heard there's a lot of Illinois fans consumed with hatred of Bruce Weber, so much so that they seem to be enjoying the Kansas State loss more than their school's win. If you have any issues with Weber, you have issues yourself. I'm not sure what he did to get people to hate him so much. So what if he wasn't the best basketball coach? It's not like the guy murdered anyone - no reason to root so hard against a guy that led your school to its only title appearance in 2005.
If you're an Illini fan reading this and you're angry with Weber about his stint with Illinois....get over it. It's over and done with. Embrace the current and future Illinois teams. Enjoy watching these teams coached by a fantastic young coach (John Groce was a great hire) who has proven himself as a solid recruiter. Don't waste your energy on a part of our school's past that frankly wasn't all that bad.
Speaking of bad...
Did any of you attempt to watch most/all of the March Madness action? If so, I apologize. My eyes and brain hurt greatly from the poor quality of games so far this tourney. Forgive me if you disagree, but the quality of play from most teams was evident. I'm sure you can cite a plethora of reasons for this: (1) playing outside of normal game conditions, (2) lack of overall talent due to underclassmen going to the NBA, (3) pacing of games is choppy with all the TV timeouts, coaching timeouts and fouls, etc.
For me, especially this year, it's been almost impossible for me to watch games without having a reason to watch it (i.e. gambling). And for many of you, you'd probably not be watching these games if you didn't have bets on it or a bracket to follow. Gambling and brackets drive the March Madness, not the quality of play. We get so blinded by how great college basketball supposedly is by the 63 items to fill on those brackets that we don't even realize how poorly played these games are. Sloppy fouls, horrible turnovers, ridiculous shots that require viewers to consume shots. If you can enjoy these games without a bracket and without bets, then all the more power to you - I can't.
Good luck with your bets/brackets the rest of the tourney. I hope the games are higher quality than we've seen so far.
Honestly, I stopped looking at mine with the string of upsets on Thursday, particularly New Mexico (one of my Final Four). But with that loss, I decided that this March (and future Marches) would not be considered a success or failure based on my brackets. Instead, my focus will be strictly on my gambling account.
Does this look like a successful bracket to you?
I don't think this bracket is going to win me anything. Too many red lines too early in the tourney.
But you know what? As long as the bets I make are coming in, I don't care if this whole sheet is full of red lines.
I have had some bad bets (Montana was my worst bet of the year, possibly a top-5 all-time worst bet) - note that I don't always bet with my bracket (but usually do). For instance, one of my best bets ever came on Friday, betting on Florida Gulf Coast against Georgetown (the first half line of +7.5, game line of +13.5 & the best part, the money line of +800 - the biggest money line I've ever hit for a single game).
Are We the Champions?
The big bets still alive exist in the East bracket, where I have two teams still alive for my prop bet to win the tourney. Illinois did what they could to blow their huge lead, but ultimately held on to win. They face Miami on Sunday. I'm not really sure what to expect from them, but I'm hoping that they or California (preferably both) can pull off upsets in their Round of 32 matchups - Cali has Syracuse Saturday night.
A California title would net me $3750 on a $15 bet, while an Illinois championship would pay $4125. The odds of either team winning it are still remote, but it's still nice to see them stay alive. I hope one of them teases me with another win and a promotion to the Sweet 16.
Speaking of Illinois...
I've heard there's a lot of Illinois fans consumed with hatred of Bruce Weber, so much so that they seem to be enjoying the Kansas State loss more than their school's win. If you have any issues with Weber, you have issues yourself. I'm not sure what he did to get people to hate him so much. So what if he wasn't the best basketball coach? It's not like the guy murdered anyone - no reason to root so hard against a guy that led your school to its only title appearance in 2005.
If you're an Illini fan reading this and you're angry with Weber about his stint with Illinois....get over it. It's over and done with. Embrace the current and future Illinois teams. Enjoy watching these teams coached by a fantastic young coach (John Groce was a great hire) who has proven himself as a solid recruiter. Don't waste your energy on a part of our school's past that frankly wasn't all that bad.
Speaking of bad...
Did any of you attempt to watch most/all of the March Madness action? If so, I apologize. My eyes and brain hurt greatly from the poor quality of games so far this tourney. Forgive me if you disagree, but the quality of play from most teams was evident. I'm sure you can cite a plethora of reasons for this: (1) playing outside of normal game conditions, (2) lack of overall talent due to underclassmen going to the NBA, (3) pacing of games is choppy with all the TV timeouts, coaching timeouts and fouls, etc.
For me, especially this year, it's been almost impossible for me to watch games without having a reason to watch it (i.e. gambling). And for many of you, you'd probably not be watching these games if you didn't have bets on it or a bracket to follow. Gambling and brackets drive the March Madness, not the quality of play. We get so blinded by how great college basketball supposedly is by the 63 items to fill on those brackets that we don't even realize how poorly played these games are. Sloppy fouls, horrible turnovers, ridiculous shots that require viewers to consume shots. If you can enjoy these games without a bracket and without bets, then all the more power to you - I can't.
Good luck with your bets/brackets the rest of the tourney. I hope the games are higher quality than we've seen so far.
3/21/2013
Brian's Bracket - 2013 Version
Nothing else needs to be said, aside from my two tourney bets that aren't reflected on my bracket:
Good luck with your brackets. Here is my bracket of integrity (in an offshoot, I have New Mexico winning it over Indiana)
| 169809293-1 | 3/21/13 12:54am | $15.00 | $4,125.00 | Pending | 3/21/13 12:15pm Basketball NCAA Men's Basketball +27500 National Champion 2012/13 - Illinois |
| 166242856-1 | 3/2/13 2:54am | $15.00 | $3,750.00 | Pending | 3/2/13 12:00pm Basketball NCAA Men's Basketball +25000 National Champion 2012/13 - California |
Good luck with your brackets. Here is my bracket of integrity (in an offshoot, I have New Mexico winning it over Indiana)
3/20/2013
Sleeper Cell in Champaign: Making A Case for The Fighting Illini
It would be fitting for me to write a blog about a sleeper team as most people are snuggled away in their beds, having March Madness nightmares. Flying brackets are coming at them at high speeds, with large seeds being planted deep in their membranes. Should I pick that upset? Should I keep this team in my Sweet 16?
Yes, you should pick that upset - that's what March Madness is for. And yes, keep them there - you're always better off going with your gut instinct with these things.
One team you shouldn't sleep on is one that practically fell asleep mid-season, but was fairly awake for the beginning part of the year along with wet dream games against Ohio State and Indiana. In fact, they lay claim as the only team in the tourney that can say they beat three of the top eight seeds in the tourney.
Yes - Illinois fits the role of the Cinderella. Will the shoe fit?
Beating the Big Boys
It fit when they traveled to Spokane in the early part of the year when they shot lights out against Gonzaga in a hostile environment. A month later, they never trailed in a blowout of Ohio State at home. Another month after that, a spirited second half comeback helped the Illini upset then No.1 Indiana.
Sure, they've had their clunkers (see: plenty of the Big Ten schedule, especially games against Northwestern at home and at Wisconsin). Not too often an 8-10 Big Ten team is worthy of a 7 seed in the tourney, but the Illini's strength of victory has to be considered when the bracket is put together.
This blog might be useless come Friday afternoon if they lay a dud against Colorado (possible). But the way Illinois has played this season, they feel like they are just as likely to advance to the Elite Eight as they are to lose in their first game.
Yes, I believe they can beat Colorado, Miami and their third opponent (whoever it may be). Hell, if Indiana is still standing at that point, I believe Illinois could beat them as well - they already proved earlier this year that they can play with them.
Track Record
Besides, let's not forget what their new coach John Groce did with mid-major Ohio last year, leading them into the Sweet 16 and taking top-seeded North Carolina to overtime before just missing a chance at an Elite 8 appearance.
When Illinois is playing at its peak, it has proven it can beat the top teams in the country. Here's to hoping, especially as an alumnus of the Fighting Illini, that they can find some of their early season magic, which led to a 12-0 start and win a string of games that can take them into the second weekend of the tourney and beyond.
I have Illinois losing to Indiana in the Elite Eight, for what it's worth. I might take a shot before the tourney starts at Illinois' 275/1 odds to win the tourney.
When they lose in the first round against Colorado, don't say I didn't warn you (and don't say I covered my ass by including this disclaimer - talking out of both sides of our ass is what writers/prognosticators do).
If the shoe fits....we shall see.
Yes, you should pick that upset - that's what March Madness is for. And yes, keep them there - you're always better off going with your gut instinct with these things.
One team you shouldn't sleep on is one that practically fell asleep mid-season, but was fairly awake for the beginning part of the year along with wet dream games against Ohio State and Indiana. In fact, they lay claim as the only team in the tourney that can say they beat three of the top eight seeds in the tourney.
Yes - Illinois fits the role of the Cinderella. Will the shoe fit?
Beating the Big Boys
It fit when they traveled to Spokane in the early part of the year when they shot lights out against Gonzaga in a hostile environment. A month later, they never trailed in a blowout of Ohio State at home. Another month after that, a spirited second half comeback helped the Illini upset then No.1 Indiana.
Sure, they've had their clunkers (see: plenty of the Big Ten schedule, especially games against Northwestern at home and at Wisconsin). Not too often an 8-10 Big Ten team is worthy of a 7 seed in the tourney, but the Illini's strength of victory has to be considered when the bracket is put together.
This blog might be useless come Friday afternoon if they lay a dud against Colorado (possible). But the way Illinois has played this season, they feel like they are just as likely to advance to the Elite Eight as they are to lose in their first game.
Yes, I believe they can beat Colorado, Miami and their third opponent (whoever it may be). Hell, if Indiana is still standing at that point, I believe Illinois could beat them as well - they already proved earlier this year that they can play with them.
Track Record
Besides, let's not forget what their new coach John Groce did with mid-major Ohio last year, leading them into the Sweet 16 and taking top-seeded North Carolina to overtime before just missing a chance at an Elite 8 appearance.
When Illinois is playing at its peak, it has proven it can beat the top teams in the country. Here's to hoping, especially as an alumnus of the Fighting Illini, that they can find some of their early season magic, which led to a 12-0 start and win a string of games that can take them into the second weekend of the tourney and beyond.
I have Illinois losing to Indiana in the Elite Eight, for what it's worth. I might take a shot before the tourney starts at Illinois' 275/1 odds to win the tourney.
When they lose in the first round against Colorado, don't say I didn't warn you (and don't say I covered my ass by including this disclaimer - talking out of both sides of our ass is what writers/prognosticators do).
If the shoe fits....we shall see.
3/19/2013
Dos and Don'ts of March Madness Bracketing
Wanna be charged with a case of bracketeering?
Don't get on my bad side when it comes to filling out March Madness brackets. I'll point out the few types of folks that bother me the most.
(P.S. If you want to join my Yahoo bracket league, click on the following link and join: http://y.ahoo.it/Z7vBSl5l or just look up Group 12771 on Yahoo's Fantasy Sports Tournament Pick'Em page)
Don't Be The...
1. Guy Who Fills Out 10 Brackets...and then is bragging when one of them has an upset that occurred. If you want to fill out several brackets, that's cool. But one of your brackets has to be the master copy - the one which has what you think will actually happen, not every single upset possible just to brag when one of the 30 comes in.
2. Guy Who Picks a Square Bracket - Will each bracket feature a #1 vs. #2. in the regional final? Probably not. Will the top 4 seeds in each bracket make it to the Sweet 16? I'm going out on a limb and saying no. Please, please, please....don't be that guy who picks nothing but the highest seeds to advance in every round. Even if you're in a money pool, there's a handful of people already doing that, so you will need some variety to your picks.
3. Guy Who Picks Notre Dame over Montana in the NCAA Final: According to a friend of mine, he knows someone who has this match-up as the championship game of the tourney. If anyone does this in the groups I entered, I will say - thank you for your donation. At this point, you've probably picked so many upsets that winning the pool is completely unrealistic.
I'd be willing to donate a testicle to science if this is the NCAA final game.
On the other hand, you should be the....
1. Guy who has a handful of double digit seeds winning in the first full round. What fun is it to pick all the top seeds (1-8)?
And while we're at it, you should sprinkle in a few of these teams into the Sweet 16. Not all of them, but some of them.
2. Guy who has 1 or 2 #1 seeds in the Final Four. The likelihood of all 4 #1 seeds making the Final Four pays off at a 50/1 clip on 5dimes. On the other end, the likelihood of no #1 seeds making the Final Four is a 4/1 proposition - 12.5 times more likely to happen than all #1s. The best odds lie in 1 or 2 top-seeds to make the Final Four. My bracket fits this bill.
For what it's worth, the sportsbooks have the over/under of the total sum of all seeds in the Final Four to be at 12.5 - which my picks are slightly under that. I'll post some more of the fun props below.
3. Guy who has a top 3 seed winning the tourney. Realistically, the top 3 seeds are the best bet when determining who will be the champion. In the 30 previous Final Fours of my lifetime (including 1983), there have been only four teams who have been seeded 4th or higher that won the title, and none since Arizona as a 4 seed in 1997.
Many of you are entering pools when doing these brackets, so why not think over some of these tips when entering your brackets? I wish everyone the best of luck with their brackets. I will post my bracket on Thursday.
In the meantime, ponder some of these props that are on 5dimes:
I already have a bet from late last month on California to win the tournament at 225/1 odds - 15 to win 3750. I am considering some other long shots (Kansas State at 100/1 & Illinois at 275/1 are crossing my mind).
Don't get on my bad side when it comes to filling out March Madness brackets. I'll point out the few types of folks that bother me the most.
(P.S. If you want to join my Yahoo bracket league, click on the following link and join: http://y.ahoo.it/Z7vBSl5l or just look up Group 12771 on Yahoo's Fantasy Sports Tournament Pick'Em page)
Don't Be The...
1. Guy Who Fills Out 10 Brackets...and then is bragging when one of them has an upset that occurred. If you want to fill out several brackets, that's cool. But one of your brackets has to be the master copy - the one which has what you think will actually happen, not every single upset possible just to brag when one of the 30 comes in.
2. Guy Who Picks a Square Bracket - Will each bracket feature a #1 vs. #2. in the regional final? Probably not. Will the top 4 seeds in each bracket make it to the Sweet 16? I'm going out on a limb and saying no. Please, please, please....don't be that guy who picks nothing but the highest seeds to advance in every round. Even if you're in a money pool, there's a handful of people already doing that, so you will need some variety to your picks.
 |
| If your bracket looks like this, don't join my pool. Or any pool for that matter. Your brackets need a little variety and spice. |
3. Guy Who Picks Notre Dame over Montana in the NCAA Final: According to a friend of mine, he knows someone who has this match-up as the championship game of the tourney. If anyone does this in the groups I entered, I will say - thank you for your donation. At this point, you've probably picked so many upsets that winning the pool is completely unrealistic.
I'd be willing to donate a testicle to science if this is the NCAA final game.
On the other hand, you should be the....
1. Guy who has a handful of double digit seeds winning in the first full round. What fun is it to pick all the top seeds (1-8)?
And while we're at it, you should sprinkle in a few of these teams into the Sweet 16. Not all of them, but some of them.
2. Guy who has 1 or 2 #1 seeds in the Final Four. The likelihood of all 4 #1 seeds making the Final Four pays off at a 50/1 clip on 5dimes. On the other end, the likelihood of no #1 seeds making the Final Four is a 4/1 proposition - 12.5 times more likely to happen than all #1s. The best odds lie in 1 or 2 top-seeds to make the Final Four. My bracket fits this bill.
For what it's worth, the sportsbooks have the over/under of the total sum of all seeds in the Final Four to be at 12.5 - which my picks are slightly under that. I'll post some more of the fun props below.
3. Guy who has a top 3 seed winning the tourney. Realistically, the top 3 seeds are the best bet when determining who will be the champion. In the 30 previous Final Fours of my lifetime (including 1983), there have been only four teams who have been seeded 4th or higher that won the title, and none since Arizona as a 4 seed in 1997.
Many of you are entering pools when doing these brackets, so why not think over some of these tips when entering your brackets? I wish everyone the best of luck with their brackets. I will post my bracket on Thursday.
In the meantime, ponder some of these props that are on 5dimes:
| Thu 3/21 | 15743 All #1-#4 seeds in Final 4 | +173 | |||||
| 1:40PM | 15744 Any #5-#16 seed in Final 4 | -205 |
| Thu 3/21 | 15731 Exactly three #1-#3 seeds in Final 4 | +135 | |||||
| 1:40PM | 15732 Not exactly three #1-#3 seeds in Final 4 | -155 |
I already have a bet from late last month on California to win the tournament at 225/1 odds - 15 to win 3750. I am considering some other long shots (Kansas State at 100/1 & Illinois at 275/1 are crossing my mind).
Hawaii 5-0: 50 Awesome Things About the Aloha State
Rather than write an actual blog, I'm going to list 50 things about Hawaii that I like/reasons to visit Hawaii. It took me several days to write this blog. In no particular order, here we go:
1. 85 and sunny
2. Fresh pineapple
3. Running views like this:
4. Catamaran trips
5. Hearing waves crash in the night sky
6. Delicious local brew
7. Fruity drinks - not just for women and effeminate men. At least not in Hawaii. Shhhhh....
8. Last in the Union, but certainly not the least
9. Isolation - all by itself in the Pacific
10. Natives treat you like family
11. Pro sports start at 1pm local time - not sure I'd like NFL starting at 7am though.
12. Leis - how can you not feel welcomed after being greeted with one?
13. Exotic animals
14. Whale watching
15. Swimming year-round
16. No snow - ever (this isn't a selling point for me, but it should be for others)
17. Pearl Harbor
18. Hotel views like this:
19. Polynesian Cultural Center
20. Luaus
21. Hawaiian shirts - usually only associated with festive folks. I once embraced these shirts after becoming great friends with Jeremy Spencer. Now, only one Hawaiian shirt remains in my collection.
22. Being named Chief Bolek thanks to interaction with New Zealanders at #19
23. Paddleboarding - didn't do this activity, but I imagine it would be worth living in Hawaii for.
24. Being called "cousin" or "uncle" by people you don't even know. Goes back to #10
25. Running into random celebrities, like Donovan McNabb.
26. Poolside TVs
27. Leaving window open and hearing the waves as I fall asleep
28. Skydiving, 29. Sushi. 30. Snorkeling - I didn't try or have time to consume all of these activities, but all of the co-workers who did seemed to enjoy themselves when they did. I'll have to recommend on their behalf.
31. Leaving the work laptop from arm's length for the most part of the trip - it's so hard to remove myself from all of the technology that I use on a daily basis, especially as it is related to work. I recommend leaving all electronics in your room if you stay in Hawaii if at all possible
32. Making people jealous with continuous photos posted on social networks.
33. What good is a trip to Hawaii without awesome people to hang out with? Again, couldn't have enjoyed Hawaii without the great company of Tango2 folks.
34. No need to wear pants. I mean, still need to wear shorts...so don't get any ideas of turning Hawaii into a European beach.
35. Getting a ride from the cab service to the airport, having him apologize for the weather for the week, when only the initial arrival (a rare rain storm) was remotely bad. If that's as bad as you got, I'd like you to meet Ms. Chicago. Ms. Chicago, meet Honolulu....discuss.
36. Nothing but sandals. Everyone gets to see my unpedicured feet, with ten toes that have way too short of toenails. Too much information...I digress.
37. Time change where you can call your g/f before you go to bed, but after she wakes up from sleep for work. This happened once on the trip.
38. Participating in a volunteering event. We volunteered at a shelter, repainting the building's doors, sanding down tables and powerwashing the outside. The best thing about Tango2 - how we give back to the community.
39. Golf course - again, one of those things I didn't do. When driving by the course, it looked amazing. Perhaps it's my lack of golf playing in the past couple years.
40. Have you made it this far down the list? Gonna have to start making things up. I'll go with "Aloha". It's such a versatile word - "Hello", "Goodbye", "Love" are just some of its many upbeat meanings.
41. Greeted with a smile everywhere. Being on a resort area sure helps, but even off the resort area, people seemed happy. Hard not to be, as described by everything above.
42. The Naked Pirate. It's a drink, not what I'm dressing up for Halloween as (at least not in the plans). If you've never had the drink, it contains gin, rum and pineapple juice. I thought it'd be stronger than it was.
43. Plenty of reading time...in airplanes. There's no short path to Hawaii, so you'll have time to catch up on some book/magazine reading. I was able to start/finish a couple of books.
44. Seeing the oil still bubbling from the USS Arizona at Pearl Harbor. Over 70 years later. Mind-blowing.
45. This book is worth your money if you visit Pearl Harbor gift shop (or if you want to buy it on Amazon):
46. A nice year-round tan, if that's your thing. Just make sure you carry sunscreen.
47. Tropical, casual clothes to work meetings.
48. Did I mention pineapple already? I did? It's worth mentioning twice.
49. And pineapple.....and....yeah.
and finally 50...something to look forward to when I come back to the mainland: a rose, a pineapple, and a pretty g/f.
 |
| Probably the best view from my hotel room. How can you not want to go to Hawaii? |
1. 85 and sunny
2. Fresh pineapple
3. Running views like this:
5. Hearing waves crash in the night sky
6. Delicious local brew
7. Fruity drinks - not just for women and effeminate men. At least not in Hawaii. Shhhhh....
8. Last in the Union, but certainly not the least
 |
| Delicious Kona beer |
9. Isolation - all by itself in the Pacific
10. Natives treat you like family
11. Pro sports start at 1pm local time - not sure I'd like NFL starting at 7am though.
 |
| Not even 10 mins off the plane and I got leied. |
13. Exotic animals
14. Whale watching
15. Swimming year-round
16. No snow - ever (this isn't a selling point for me, but it should be for others)
17. Pearl Harbor
 |
| And this isn't even the best view |
18. Hotel views like this:
19. Polynesian Cultural Center
20. Luaus
21. Hawaiian shirts - usually only associated with festive folks. I once embraced these shirts after becoming great friends with Jeremy Spencer. Now, only one Hawaiian shirt remains in my collection.
22. Being named Chief Bolek thanks to interaction with New Zealanders at #19
 |
| Before being named Chief - a dance that us Tango2ers were all in sync for |
23. Paddleboarding - didn't do this activity, but I imagine it would be worth living in Hawaii for.
24. Being called "cousin" or "uncle" by people you don't even know. Goes back to #10
25. Running into random celebrities, like Donovan McNabb.
26. Poolside TVs
27. Leaving window open and hearing the waves as I fall asleep
28. Skydiving, 29. Sushi. 30. Snorkeling - I didn't try or have time to consume all of these activities, but all of the co-workers who did seemed to enjoy themselves when they did. I'll have to recommend on their behalf.
31. Leaving the work laptop from arm's length for the most part of the trip - it's so hard to remove myself from all of the technology that I use on a daily basis, especially as it is related to work. I recommend leaving all electronics in your room if you stay in Hawaii if at all possible
32. Making people jealous with continuous photos posted on social networks.
33. What good is a trip to Hawaii without awesome people to hang out with? Again, couldn't have enjoyed Hawaii without the great company of Tango2 folks.
34. No need to wear pants. I mean, still need to wear shorts...so don't get any ideas of turning Hawaii into a European beach.
35. Getting a ride from the cab service to the airport, having him apologize for the weather for the week, when only the initial arrival (a rare rain storm) was remotely bad. If that's as bad as you got, I'd like you to meet Ms. Chicago. Ms. Chicago, meet Honolulu....discuss.
36. Nothing but sandals. Everyone gets to see my unpedicured feet, with ten toes that have way too short of toenails. Too much information...I digress.
37. Time change where you can call your g/f before you go to bed, but after she wakes up from sleep for work. This happened once on the trip.
38. Participating in a volunteering event. We volunteered at a shelter, repainting the building's doors, sanding down tables and powerwashing the outside. The best thing about Tango2 - how we give back to the community.
39. Golf course - again, one of those things I didn't do. When driving by the course, it looked amazing. Perhaps it's my lack of golf playing in the past couple years.
40. Have you made it this far down the list? Gonna have to start making things up. I'll go with "Aloha". It's such a versatile word - "Hello", "Goodbye", "Love" are just some of its many upbeat meanings.
41. Greeted with a smile everywhere. Being on a resort area sure helps, but even off the resort area, people seemed happy. Hard not to be, as described by everything above.
42. The Naked Pirate. It's a drink, not what I'm dressing up for Halloween as (at least not in the plans). If you've never had the drink, it contains gin, rum and pineapple juice. I thought it'd be stronger than it was.
43. Plenty of reading time...in airplanes. There's no short path to Hawaii, so you'll have time to catch up on some book/magazine reading. I was able to start/finish a couple of books.
44. Seeing the oil still bubbling from the USS Arizona at Pearl Harbor. Over 70 years later. Mind-blowing.
 |
| Mitsuo Fuchida |
46. A nice year-round tan, if that's your thing. Just make sure you carry sunscreen.
47. Tropical, casual clothes to work meetings.
48. Did I mention pineapple already? I did? It's worth mentioning twice.
49. And pineapple.....and....yeah.
and finally 50...something to look forward to when I come back to the mainland: a rose, a pineapple, and a pretty g/f.
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