Sunday, December 03, 2006
Disappointment
Another kick in the nuts for Detroit sports fans. I'm sure it's common knowledge by now that OSU will play Florida in the championship game this season. A little over a month ago we had to deal with our pitchers not named Kenny Rogers throwing the World Series away with their terrible fielding. Earlier this year the Pistons and Red Wings both took the best regular season record in their respective sports into the playoffs and came out with nothing. Adding insult to injury the Lions continue to be the doormat of the NFL while GM/President Matt Millen gets a contract extension. Although this bothers me very little as I grew callous to the Lions during my years as a season ticket holder. Thank God I woke up three years ago and decided not to buy the tickets anymore.
Those disappointments were tough on the fans, but those teams all played poorly to bring it upon themselves. UM getting sodomized in favor of Florida is tough for the fans, but it's got to be much worse for the players who did all they could to prove they were one of the top two teams in the country, losing just one game. By just three points. To unanimous number one team in the nation. Oh yeah, that #1 team had home field advantage. In one of the toughest places to play as a road team.
I may be a little biased here because I have seen every UM game this year except for the one that ESPN put on their college channel that no one subscribes to....btw, I hate what ABC has done to ESPN....and I have seen how freaking good of a team they are. That being said, I wonder how many people out there who have had a chance to see a lot from both teams think that Florida would have any shot at beating Michigan in a game. I've talked to a few people who have said that Florida should go over Michigan, but most of them also didn't think that Florida would beat Michigan if they played.
"So Michigan should be ranked higher than Florida?"
"No, they already had a chance to play Ohio State. There shouldn't be a rematch."
"So Florida deserves to go to the #1 vs #2 game as the #3 team in the nation?"
"What do you mean?"
I may be a little bitter.
Those disappointments were tough on the fans, but those teams all played poorly to bring it upon themselves. UM getting sodomized in favor of Florida is tough for the fans, but it's got to be much worse for the players who did all they could to prove they were one of the top two teams in the country, losing just one game. By just three points. To unanimous number one team in the nation. Oh yeah, that #1 team had home field advantage. In one of the toughest places to play as a road team.
I may be a little biased here because I have seen every UM game this year except for the one that ESPN put on their college channel that no one subscribes to....btw, I hate what ABC has done to ESPN....and I have seen how freaking good of a team they are. That being said, I wonder how many people out there who have had a chance to see a lot from both teams think that Florida would have any shot at beating Michigan in a game. I've talked to a few people who have said that Florida should go over Michigan, but most of them also didn't think that Florida would beat Michigan if they played.
"So Michigan should be ranked higher than Florida?"
"No, they already had a chance to play Ohio State. There shouldn't be a rematch."
"So Florida deserves to go to the #1 vs #2 game as the #3 team in the nation?"
"What do you mean?"
I may be a little bitter.
Thursday, November 23, 2006
Thankful
Having a good amount of Native American blood in my veins I'm not really that fond of Thanksgiving, but I do appreciate what the spirit of the day is supposed to be. As a lazy, spoiled American I often take for granted so many of the great things that surround me. I'll never take my family or my friends for granted, but there are so many things that I don't appreciate on a daily basis. I have a house. I have job. I'm not rich, but I have a better lifestyle than a lot of people.
Day in and day out I seem to want more. More hours in the day, more money from my 9-5, more poker....but I rarely look around and truly take in all that I have in my life. The fact that I am sitting here writing this now while I two-table on Full Tilt and Guinness sleeps at my feet is testament to how good I have it.
Earlier this month I turned 30. It didn't bother me as much as I thought it would, because as I get older I gain perspective at an exponential rate and I realize that I am lucky to have made it this far. Especially when I look back at all the crazy shit I've done, and the four times in my life that I really should have died, but somehow made it through relatively unscathed.
New Year's Eve is just around the corner. Every year I make some sort of resolution and each year they seem to have a common theme, boiling down to motivation. I figure why wait til the end of December to resolve to be more motivated in my life, why I can just start today? After dinner of course.
Oh yeah, and after the bullshit I dealt with last night....I pretty much done with women for a while. This isn't so much of a resolution, more like "enough is enough". I am no longer dealing with the crazy women in my life, and the stupid shit that goes along with it. I can't blame anyone but myself since I am the one who chooses to surround myself with crazy chicks, but I can change it....for now at least.
On that note, Happy Thanksgiving to all.
Day in and day out I seem to want more. More hours in the day, more money from my 9-5, more poker....but I rarely look around and truly take in all that I have in my life. The fact that I am sitting here writing this now while I two-table on Full Tilt and Guinness sleeps at my feet is testament to how good I have it.
Earlier this month I turned 30. It didn't bother me as much as I thought it would, because as I get older I gain perspective at an exponential rate and I realize that I am lucky to have made it this far. Especially when I look back at all the crazy shit I've done, and the four times in my life that I really should have died, but somehow made it through relatively unscathed.
New Year's Eve is just around the corner. Every year I make some sort of resolution and each year they seem to have a common theme, boiling down to motivation. I figure why wait til the end of December to resolve to be more motivated in my life, why I can just start today? After dinner of course.
Oh yeah, and after the bullshit I dealt with last night....I pretty much done with women for a while. This isn't so much of a resolution, more like "enough is enough". I am no longer dealing with the crazy women in my life, and the stupid shit that goes along with it. I can't blame anyone but myself since I am the one who chooses to surround myself with crazy chicks, but I can change it....for now at least.
On that note, Happy Thanksgiving to all.
Friday, November 17, 2006
Bo
Coach Schembechler, you will be missed.
Sunday, October 15, 2006
Marktoberfest 2006
So it looks like my reasons I miss Vegas have fallen to the wayside....that being said, Marktoberfest 2006 was a ton of fun. We had a decent crowd this year, but the cold weather kept us inside all night, except for smokey time, and no one was brave enough to use the hot tub.
Here are some random pics.
Wilkie loves Marktoberfest.
He also loves the jello-shots.
Rita shows off her technique without dropping her chip.
Scot really loves the camera, but tries to play it cool.
Mike and Mark laughing...this is before their "talk".
Us. You can tell I am drunk because I am so red....and have that stupid drunk smile.
Marktoberfest's namesake hiding behind his beer.
Not sure if he's reppin the D or TPA....either way, he's obviously cool.
The ladies love Guinness the party dog.
Scot with the twins. Why is it that Jen is the only person at the party without a drink?
More "beer as camo" from Mark.
The bright side: Unlike yesterday, that's not puke on his shirt.
I'm not sure, but Mark may be drunk.
Dos Miguels: For some reason, Mike feels the need to shower
Michael with money like he's his personal Congressional page...
This is what I found when I tried to go to bed....what a Gyp!
Friday, October 06, 2006
Busy, but not too busy for this....
First off, WTG Tigers! I can't wait to go to the game tomorrow!
Second, I'll be back to blogging soon.
Third, here's what Full Tilt has to say:
Dear Max,
Full Tilt Poker is here to stay!
As an online poker player, you have probably heard about the new legislation passed by the U.S. Congress earlier this week that attempts to prevent you from being able to transfer money to online gaming sites.
While this new law has prompted some sites to announce plans to abandon the U.S. market in coming days, we assure you that Full Tilt Poker will continue to provide all of its players - both inside and outside of the United States - with a full complement of real money ring games and tournaments for their enjoyment.
After consultation with numerous legal experts in this field, we want to make you aware of the following:
* Legal
The new U.S. legislation does not in any way attempt to criminalize the act of you playing online poker. By playing online at Full Tilt Poker, you are not breaking any U.S. Federal laws.
* Full Access
The passage of the new Internet Gaming law will not have any impact on your day-to-day experience at Full Tilt Poker. We will provide all of our players, everywhere in the world, with full access to all of our games and tournaments.
* Easy Deposits and Withdrawals
We will continue to provide our players with all of the safe, secure and convenient methods for transferring money to and from the site. In fact, in recent discussions with our payment processors, we have been assured that this new law will have no immediate impact on their day-to-day business. And as always, any monies that you have on deposit with Full Tilt Poker remain completely safe and secure.
Furthermore, we firmly believe that online poker is not encompassed by this new legislation. In any event, we will continue to lobby for an express carve-out for online poker and for your right to play a truly American game from the privacy of your own home and computer.
We are excited about the future here at Full Tilt Poker and in the coming weeks and months, we plan to roll out many new features designed to enhance your online poker experience.
We appreciate your loyalty to our site and, in turn, want you to know that we will remain loyal to our valued players in the United States and throughout the world.
We look forward to seeing you at the table.
Sincerely,
Full Tilt Poker
Second, I'll be back to blogging soon.
Third, here's what Full Tilt has to say:
Dear Max,
Full Tilt Poker is here to stay!
As an online poker player, you have probably heard about the new legislation passed by the U.S. Congress earlier this week that attempts to prevent you from being able to transfer money to online gaming sites.
While this new law has prompted some sites to announce plans to abandon the U.S. market in coming days, we assure you that Full Tilt Poker will continue to provide all of its players - both inside and outside of the United States - with a full complement of real money ring games and tournaments for their enjoyment.
After consultation with numerous legal experts in this field, we want to make you aware of the following:
* Legal
The new U.S. legislation does not in any way attempt to criminalize the act of you playing online poker. By playing online at Full Tilt Poker, you are not breaking any U.S. Federal laws.
* Full Access
The passage of the new Internet Gaming law will not have any impact on your day-to-day experience at Full Tilt Poker. We will provide all of our players, everywhere in the world, with full access to all of our games and tournaments.
* Easy Deposits and Withdrawals
We will continue to provide our players with all of the safe, secure and convenient methods for transferring money to and from the site. In fact, in recent discussions with our payment processors, we have been assured that this new law will have no immediate impact on their day-to-day business. And as always, any monies that you have on deposit with Full Tilt Poker remain completely safe and secure.
Furthermore, we firmly believe that online poker is not encompassed by this new legislation. In any event, we will continue to lobby for an express carve-out for online poker and for your right to play a truly American game from the privacy of your own home and computer.
We are excited about the future here at Full Tilt Poker and in the coming weeks and months, we plan to roll out many new features designed to enhance your online poker experience.
We appreciate your loyalty to our site and, in turn, want you to know that we will remain loyal to our valued players in the United States and throughout the world.
We look forward to seeing you at the table.
Sincerely,
Full Tilt Poker
Friday, September 29, 2006
Number 9
Reason number nine is very important to me right now.
9. Yearlong dry air = no sinus problems- Every year I get two sinus infections, one in the spring when the weather breaks and another in the fall when the weather changes again. So it's that time of year in Michigan, and I've been suffering all week. Were I in Vegas right now, I wouldn't be sick....I'd probably be drunk and broke, but I wouldn't be sick.
I'm probably going to take this week off with my college picks since I haven't had any time to look at the match-ups. Hopefully I'll make the time to look at the NFL match-ups and post some picks tomorrow.
9. Yearlong dry air = no sinus problems- Every year I get two sinus infections, one in the spring when the weather breaks and another in the fall when the weather changes again. So it's that time of year in Michigan, and I've been suffering all week. Were I in Vegas right now, I wouldn't be sick....I'd probably be drunk and broke, but I wouldn't be sick.
I'm probably going to take this week off with my college picks since I haven't had any time to look at the match-ups. Hopefully I'll make the time to look at the NFL match-ups and post some picks tomorrow.
Wednesday, September 27, 2006
Playing Catch Up
Under the weather and busy at work....not conducive to good blogging, but here I am with more reason I love/miss Vegas. I owe three reasons, and I am going to add tomorrow's early. I will try my best to tie all four together.
5. Playing 25 cent video blackjack at 6. O'Shea's while drinking comp beer to get a buzz on before hitting a club via a 7. Crazy cab ride where we will take our last comp 8. Beer in the cab with us.
The bar inside O'Shea's has been a favorite hangout of mine since one of my first trips to Vegas. I love the club scene out there, but sitting at that bar (which has a surprising good selection of beers) drinking for free, assuming you put $10 in one of the games, can be a great way to spend an evening of pre-drinking. The bartenders are every bit as good as you'll find at the bigger strip properties, and great at chatting it up with anyone.
While they will refill you quickly when you are empty, the management seems pretty strict in enforcing the one drink per person rule. I completely understand, and don't mind since shots count as your one free drink at a time. Tip the bartenders pretty well, and you'll go through a bottle of your favorite drink in no time at all, at a fraction of the price you'd pay anywhere else.
Last time we were there, I noticed that the multi-games at the bar offered blackjack for as little as 25 cents per hand....your $10 will can go a long way playing a pretty break even game with 40 credits. If you want to conserve your bankroll play slow. Play a couple hands, drink some beer, repeat as desired. Or if you are up for shots, one shot for every 5-10 hands seems pretty good. Even if you run bad you'll still get about 10 shots out of that 10 bucks. Just remember to tip. If there are 3 or 4 of us at the bar, we'll usually all take turns giving the bartender $5 for a round.
Taking open drinks in a car in Nevada is actually a no-no, but most cabbies won't call you out on it if you don't ask them if it's ok as you get in. If they do, the people behind you can always take that cab and you can try the next one.
If you've never been in a Vegas cab, you may very well be in for the ride of your life. I always think of Crazy Taxi when I think of the Vegas cabbies. I'm sure some other big cities compare, but I've never gotten more entertainment out of my cab rides than I have in Vegas. Buckle up, and enjoy.
On to football....I had a pretty decent weekend where college was concerned, even though PSU fucked me by throwing not one, but two fricking INTs for TDs in the last two minutes. Just one and that pick would have covered. ND was a winning pick even though it looked rough for them right away. Michigan was a loser for me by 1/2 of a point. I don't remember who won the Bama/Ark game (and I am too lazy to look it up right now), but Bama was getting 1.5 and it was a one point game.
So I finished 2-2 in my big school picks. My small school picks continue to rock and I was 2-0 this week as Central Michigan covered in OT and Southern Methodist put a 55-9 hurt on Arkansas State. A while back I was awakened to the fact that by keeping your eye on a few select small schools throughout the year and researching the opponents of those teams each week, you could make a pretty good profit.
Most small school games will have small spreads because the average gambler doesn't bet enough to be confident taking or laying double-digit spreads in those games. Example: School A is playing at School B. Records are similar, spread is less than a TD. School A rates about 6.5 out of 10 and School B rates 5 or less out of ten. Home field isn't much of an issue here, so take School A and make your money. One caveat is to try and find spreads of 5.5 or less as a 6 point spread can easily lead to a push because many mistakes are made in PAT attempts in these games.
Pro Football: T.O., WTF?
Poker: None to speak of since my last frustrated post. Thankfully no one has found me at work to collect their money.
Vegas: 78 days away.
5. Playing 25 cent video blackjack at 6. O'Shea's while drinking comp beer to get a buzz on before hitting a club via a 7. Crazy cab ride where we will take our last comp 8. Beer in the cab with us.
The bar inside O'Shea's has been a favorite hangout of mine since one of my first trips to Vegas. I love the club scene out there, but sitting at that bar (which has a surprising good selection of beers) drinking for free, assuming you put $10 in one of the games, can be a great way to spend an evening of pre-drinking. The bartenders are every bit as good as you'll find at the bigger strip properties, and great at chatting it up with anyone.
While they will refill you quickly when you are empty, the management seems pretty strict in enforcing the one drink per person rule. I completely understand, and don't mind since shots count as your one free drink at a time. Tip the bartenders pretty well, and you'll go through a bottle of your favorite drink in no time at all, at a fraction of the price you'd pay anywhere else.
Last time we were there, I noticed that the multi-games at the bar offered blackjack for as little as 25 cents per hand....your $10 will can go a long way playing a pretty break even game with 40 credits. If you want to conserve your bankroll play slow. Play a couple hands, drink some beer, repeat as desired. Or if you are up for shots, one shot for every 5-10 hands seems pretty good. Even if you run bad you'll still get about 10 shots out of that 10 bucks. Just remember to tip. If there are 3 or 4 of us at the bar, we'll usually all take turns giving the bartender $5 for a round.
Taking open drinks in a car in Nevada is actually a no-no, but most cabbies won't call you out on it if you don't ask them if it's ok as you get in. If they do, the people behind you can always take that cab and you can try the next one.
If you've never been in a Vegas cab, you may very well be in for the ride of your life. I always think of Crazy Taxi when I think of the Vegas cabbies. I'm sure some other big cities compare, but I've never gotten more entertainment out of my cab rides than I have in Vegas. Buckle up, and enjoy.
On to football....I had a pretty decent weekend where college was concerned, even though PSU fucked me by throwing not one, but two fricking INTs for TDs in the last two minutes. Just one and that pick would have covered. ND was a winning pick even though it looked rough for them right away. Michigan was a loser for me by 1/2 of a point. I don't remember who won the Bama/Ark game (and I am too lazy to look it up right now), but Bama was getting 1.5 and it was a one point game.
So I finished 2-2 in my big school picks. My small school picks continue to rock and I was 2-0 this week as Central Michigan covered in OT and Southern Methodist put a 55-9 hurt on Arkansas State. A while back I was awakened to the fact that by keeping your eye on a few select small schools throughout the year and researching the opponents of those teams each week, you could make a pretty good profit.
Most small school games will have small spreads because the average gambler doesn't bet enough to be confident taking or laying double-digit spreads in those games. Example: School A is playing at School B. Records are similar, spread is less than a TD. School A rates about 6.5 out of 10 and School B rates 5 or less out of ten. Home field isn't much of an issue here, so take School A and make your money. One caveat is to try and find spreads of 5.5 or less as a 6 point spread can easily lead to a push because many mistakes are made in PAT attempts in these games.
Pro Football: T.O., WTF?
Poker: None to speak of since my last frustrated post. Thankfully no one has found me at work to collect their money.
Vegas: 78 days away.
Sunday, September 24, 2006
2 More Reasons
3. Free drinks & 4. The wonderful girls who bring them to you- Here in Michigan, the gaming control board decided that comp drinks are a no-no if they contain any alcohol. Truthfully I can't say that I blame them, because the Detroit casino crowd would be ten times worse than it is now, which is saying a lot. It's nice to be able to order a Newcastle in Vegas and only worry about the tip.
Now any of the other dealers I worked with at MGM could tell you that I am a sucker for the cocktail waitresses in the casino. Unfortunately, the waitresses soon realized this too....but that's an entirely different post. Of course I am not talking about the girls at Caesar's who have been there since the place originally opened. Every time I go back there I see fewer of the AARP waitresses at Caesar's, probably cause they are dying off, but there are still a few there that have got to be pushing 70. Although they are great to talk to if you catch them on a slow night cause they all have great stories about Frank, Dean and the rest of the pack.
Is there honestly anything better than having a smoking hot girl bring you free alcohol, and only have to worry about giving her a couple bucks for the effort? If you had your girlfriend or wife do that for you at home that would cost you hundreds, maybe thousands in jewelry and other gifts....on top of what you originally paid for the beer anyway. Then again, how many guys out there would really try and have their girl "serve" them like that at home?
Now any of the other dealers I worked with at MGM could tell you that I am a sucker for the cocktail waitresses in the casino. Unfortunately, the waitresses soon realized this too....but that's an entirely different post. Of course I am not talking about the girls at Caesar's who have been there since the place originally opened. Every time I go back there I see fewer of the AARP waitresses at Caesar's, probably cause they are dying off, but there are still a few there that have got to be pushing 70. Although they are great to talk to if you catch them on a slow night cause they all have great stories about Frank, Dean and the rest of the pack.
Is there honestly anything better than having a smoking hot girl bring you free alcohol, and only have to worry about giving her a couple bucks for the effort? If you had your girlfriend or wife do that for you at home that would cost you hundreds, maybe thousands in jewelry and other gifts....on top of what you originally paid for the beer anyway. Then again, how many guys out there would really try and have their girl "serve" them like that at home?
Friday, September 22, 2006
Frustration
I'm not one to be frustrated easily, my personal life is a great example of that....but for another time maybe, but busting out pretty deep in a tournament after being top 20 or so in chips for most of it is really getting old fast. My MTT game is tight right now. Not perfect, but I am playing better than I have at any time since my great run late last year that was capped off with my 5th place finish in the WPBT Winter Classic. Right now I am just playing to get ready for Vegas, but doing so well for so long only to be struck down and out in a matter of 10-20 hands is beginning to annoy me.
I can take solace in the fact that about 90% of the hands that lead to my demise I actually play right, but get unlucky or sucked out on. The other 10% I can look over to help me improve my play, so it's not all bad. I just can't help feeling a little upset about being out in front of hundreds or even thousands of other players for so long, then crashing or burning with nothing to show for the effort.
Hopefully soon enough I will get a rush of cards when I need it and at the very least final table somewhere....if only for the sake of my confidence.
Sorry for the venting. Technically this isn't a bad beat post, but if you want your dollar for listening anyway just find me. I'll even double it if you find me at my 9-5....
I can take solace in the fact that about 90% of the hands that lead to my demise I actually play right, but get unlucky or sucked out on. The other 10% I can look over to help me improve my play, so it's not all bad. I just can't help feeling a little upset about being out in front of hundreds or even thousands of other players for so long, then crashing or burning with nothing to show for the effort.
Hopefully soon enough I will get a rush of cards when I need it and at the very least final table somewhere....if only for the sake of my confidence.
Sorry for the venting. Technically this isn't a bad beat post, but if you want your dollar for listening anyway just find me. I'll even double it if you find me at my 9-5....
Why I miss Vegas part 2 of 84.
2. Sports Books- Is there a better place to watch a game, or multiple games, than Bellagio's book? Comfortable chairs, free alcohol brought right to you, every game or horse race you could ever hope to want to watch, losing money on sports legally....it's hard to pull myself away from here on Saturday or Sunday when I visit late in the year.
One of the great things about the book is it's proximity to the poker room. What could make me feel better as I watch Iowa getting thumped by underdog Iowa State when I laid? Hitting the bathroom at the half and talking to Scotty Nguyen about getting screwed on Iowa/ISU pretty much every time they play. Gamblers are a sick and sorry bunch, and we always feel better knowing someone else is taking the same beating we are.
Speaking of losing money on games, I haven't had any time to breakdown this week's games....but at first glance I don't like much. I picked my games pretty well last week, but never got my anything on Minnesota before the spread swung hard. That game was my 7 star pick this year. It's all downhill after that.
Off the top of my head I'd have to say I like betting against Michigan -13.5 this weekend. We are a notoriously bad double-digit home favorite. If you bet against the Wolverines at home every time the spread gets to two scores or more, you will make money in the long run.
Other CFB picks include:
Penn State +16.5 @ OSU
CMU -4.5 @ EMU
Bama +1.5 @ Ark
ND -2.5 @ MSU
and in my "You are a complete degenerate if you bet this game pick" I like Southern Methodist to cover the 5.5 against Arkansas State.
One of the great things about the book is it's proximity to the poker room. What could make me feel better as I watch Iowa getting thumped by underdog Iowa State when I laid? Hitting the bathroom at the half and talking to Scotty Nguyen about getting screwed on Iowa/ISU pretty much every time they play. Gamblers are a sick and sorry bunch, and we always feel better knowing someone else is taking the same beating we are.
Speaking of losing money on games, I haven't had any time to breakdown this week's games....but at first glance I don't like much. I picked my games pretty well last week, but never got my anything on Minnesota before the spread swung hard. That game was my 7 star pick this year. It's all downhill after that.
Off the top of my head I'd have to say I like betting against Michigan -13.5 this weekend. We are a notoriously bad double-digit home favorite. If you bet against the Wolverines at home every time the spread gets to two scores or more, you will make money in the long run.
Other CFB picks include:
Penn State +16.5 @ OSU
CMU -4.5 @ EMU
Bama +1.5 @ Ark
ND -2.5 @ MSU
and in my "You are a complete degenerate if you bet this game pick" I like Southern Methodist to cover the 5.5 against Arkansas State.
Thursday, September 21, 2006
84 Reasons I Miss Vegas
Since I am only 84 days from being back in Sin City, I figured the best way to countdown to my trip would be to say a little something each day about what draws me back there year after year after year. It may be a place I make sure to visit whenever I am there, it might be a place that I would visit but has closed or changed, and I will make sure to add a few of our better stories from the last 8+ years that we've been going out there. Now with that out of the way, here's my first post.
1. Cafe Gelato- This has to be the first mentioned because this is the first place we go after checking in at our hotel. The one Vegas tradition that we've never broken is visiting this little cafe across the hall from the pool entrance at Bellagio. I don't remember if this was the first place I ever heard of gelato or even the first place I tried it, but to this day it remains the best gelato I've ever had. By far.
If you are not familiar with gelato, it's basically ice cream. What makes it special is the thick cream they use to make it. It's richer and a lot more flavorful than regular ice cream. I once heard someone describe Cold Stone as "an orgasm for your mouth" (FOR your mouth, not in it), but I personally don't think Cold Stone comes close to the level of gelato at Cafe Gelato.
So in 84 days, at about noon on December 14th I will be sitting in Cafe Gelato (hopefully in my favorite booth on the right side of the cafe) enjoying a scoop of Oreo on top of a scoop of Chocolate, nestled nicely inside of a waffle cone. Mmmm. If you happen to run into me there at that time, mention this post and your first round of gelato is on me. Restrictions do apply.
1. Cafe Gelato- This has to be the first mentioned because this is the first place we go after checking in at our hotel. The one Vegas tradition that we've never broken is visiting this little cafe across the hall from the pool entrance at Bellagio. I don't remember if this was the first place I ever heard of gelato or even the first place I tried it, but to this day it remains the best gelato I've ever had. By far.
If you are not familiar with gelato, it's basically ice cream. What makes it special is the thick cream they use to make it. It's richer and a lot more flavorful than regular ice cream. I once heard someone describe Cold Stone as "an orgasm for your mouth" (FOR your mouth, not in it), but I personally don't think Cold Stone comes close to the level of gelato at Cafe Gelato.
So in 84 days, at about noon on December 14th I will be sitting in Cafe Gelato (hopefully in my favorite booth on the right side of the cafe) enjoying a scoop of Oreo on top of a scoop of Chocolate, nestled nicely inside of a waffle cone. Mmmm. If you happen to run into me there at that time, mention this post and your first round of gelato is on me. Restrictions do apply.
Tuesday, September 19, 2006
More Guinness Wisdom
Guinness says:
"It ain't easy living with an AT&T employee"
You may have heard about the possible TB outbreak at the AT&T building downtown (if not, there's a possible outbreak of TB at the AT&T building downtown). It just so happens that Guinness and I have a room mate who works in that building. Guinness is a proponent of hedging your bets.
Saturday, September 16, 2006
Tuesday, September 12, 2006
Football Rants
So Ohio State looked pretty good on Saturday. As did Notre Dame. Michigan, not so much. The win over Central Michigan was so impressive that they fell out of the top ten. I really hope we can get things going for the game against Notre Dame this week. I am sure the Irish will be ready.
The Lions played alright. We even had a chance to win late in the game until Shawn Bryson decided to take a stroll all by himself down the sideline on 3rd down, never looking back for the football until it nearly hit him in the head. Then of course Nick Harris did his best John Jett impersonation and booted the ball to the back of the end zone instead of pinning the Seahawks deep.
Big Baby controlled the line of scrimmage all day long, becoming Ernie Sims' best friend in a hurry as Sims became Boss Bailey's best friend in a hurry. Most people seem to think Boss played well even though he had zero tackles and 4 assists. At least he's shown he can take down someone who has already stopped moving because they have been wrapped up by someone else.
So is Roy WIlliams a prophet or an idiot? Guess we'll have to file this under 'wait and see'. I am certainly tempted to bet Chicago this week, but the 8 points won't let me do it. Chicago's offense might not score 8.
My beloved Redskins really jobbed themselves last night. With such a tough division schedule, every game in September will have a huge impact on January. That being said, they tanked it yesterday against Minnesota and their hokey offense. Run, run, run, launch it deep. Rinse, repeat.
Is it just me, or are the refs way too flag happy so far? There were at least a dozen cheap calls on crucial plays during week one. Many extending drives that would have ended with a punt on the next play. I also noticed that the refs are acting like appellate judges. Don't like the fact that you didn't catch the ball? Yell at the ref....50/50 chance he'll penalize the defense.
My personal pet peeve with the officiating this year is not the refs themselves, but what they are instructed to call as spearing, or use of the helmet as a weapon on normal, textbook tackles. This year the NFL has decided that the facemask is to be included in the spearing rule. You can no longer lead with your helmet or face mask when coming in for a tackle. If you do, and it makes contact with someone....that's illegal. Essentially you can't lead with your head at all, which is what is completely natural when you are running forward. So if you want to make a legal tackle, you have to make sure that you get your head completely out of the way just before impact. Doing that will leave defenders wide open for severe neck injuries.
If this rule is strictly enforced, I believe it will lead to a huge increase in serious neck injuries. And I'm not even talking about the NFL so much as I am talking about High Schoolers and younger. If this becomes an issue in the NFL it will trickle down to the lower levels of play because they will all want to protect their players as much as they can, like the NFL. This means different coaching when it comes to tackling, with an emphasis on turning your head away from the play. I'd be a little uneasy about having my son(s) taught to tackle that way.
Another thing about this rule is that offensive players can get a flag thrown on the defense by lowering their helmet into the defender's helmet just before impact on a play where the defender's helmet wouldn't have been a factor. Shouldn't the "you can't lead with your head if you are running forward (or any direction for that matter)" rule apply to both the offense and defense? I guess not since I've seen at least three plays like this result in a flag for the defense since the Hall of Fame game. This is a rule that could truly add insult to injury.
The Lions played alright. We even had a chance to win late in the game until Shawn Bryson decided to take a stroll all by himself down the sideline on 3rd down, never looking back for the football until it nearly hit him in the head. Then of course Nick Harris did his best John Jett impersonation and booted the ball to the back of the end zone instead of pinning the Seahawks deep.
Big Baby controlled the line of scrimmage all day long, becoming Ernie Sims' best friend in a hurry as Sims became Boss Bailey's best friend in a hurry. Most people seem to think Boss played well even though he had zero tackles and 4 assists. At least he's shown he can take down someone who has already stopped moving because they have been wrapped up by someone else.
So is Roy WIlliams a prophet or an idiot? Guess we'll have to file this under 'wait and see'. I am certainly tempted to bet Chicago this week, but the 8 points won't let me do it. Chicago's offense might not score 8.
My beloved Redskins really jobbed themselves last night. With such a tough division schedule, every game in September will have a huge impact on January. That being said, they tanked it yesterday against Minnesota and their hokey offense. Run, run, run, launch it deep. Rinse, repeat.
Is it just me, or are the refs way too flag happy so far? There were at least a dozen cheap calls on crucial plays during week one. Many extending drives that would have ended with a punt on the next play. I also noticed that the refs are acting like appellate judges. Don't like the fact that you didn't catch the ball? Yell at the ref....50/50 chance he'll penalize the defense.
My personal pet peeve with the officiating this year is not the refs themselves, but what they are instructed to call as spearing, or use of the helmet as a weapon on normal, textbook tackles. This year the NFL has decided that the facemask is to be included in the spearing rule. You can no longer lead with your helmet or face mask when coming in for a tackle. If you do, and it makes contact with someone....that's illegal. Essentially you can't lead with your head at all, which is what is completely natural when you are running forward. So if you want to make a legal tackle, you have to make sure that you get your head completely out of the way just before impact. Doing that will leave defenders wide open for severe neck injuries.
If this rule is strictly enforced, I believe it will lead to a huge increase in serious neck injuries. And I'm not even talking about the NFL so much as I am talking about High Schoolers and younger. If this becomes an issue in the NFL it will trickle down to the lower levels of play because they will all want to protect their players as much as they can, like the NFL. This means different coaching when it comes to tackling, with an emphasis on turning your head away from the play. I'd be a little uneasy about having my son(s) taught to tackle that way.
Another thing about this rule is that offensive players can get a flag thrown on the defense by lowering their helmet into the defender's helmet just before impact on a play where the defender's helmet wouldn't have been a factor. Shouldn't the "you can't lead with your head if you are running forward (or any direction for that matter)" rule apply to both the offense and defense? I guess not since I've seen at least three plays like this result in a flag for the defense since the Hall of Fame game. This is a rule that could truly add insult to injury.
Tuesday, September 05, 2006
100 Days til Vegas
We are booked and ready to go. With all that's happened in the last few months, Michael and I needed a decadent weekend of debauchery to look forward to. Obviously we need a little Vegas. I found another sweet deal on airfare (less than $200 roundtrip) and the room rates at Aladdin are about the same as last time ($120/night incl taxes) so I don't feel guilty about taking a few days off work and throwing away my overtime for two weeks just before the holidays. Like I could ever feel guilty about going to Vegas....
Thursday Dec 14th-Monday Dec 18th. The same weekend as the Bellagio Five Diamond World Poker Classic. That tournament just happened to be in town the last time I was in Vegas to attend the WPBT Winter Classic. Yes, the same weekend I dominated a field of 100+ bloggers on my way to the final table only to get seated directly to Gracie's right as she proceeded to get hit over the head with the deck. But I am not bitter about my 5th place finish in such a deep, talented field. As a matter of fact I'm proud enough to still be bragging about it to this day.
So what else....oh yeah, Steve Irwin is dead. Killed when a sting ray barb penetrated his heart. I hate to sound cold about it because he has a family and all, but if you are going to play with fire.... I must give the guy credit though. His crazy dream was to play with large dangerous animals on a daily basis. He followed that whacked out dream for many years and made a name for himself at the same time. And, I have been told, he used that fame to help fight for the preservation of wildlife and their natural habitats, which is very admirable and something I really respect.
Running out of time now, so I'll have to save the details of my wager with Michael until tomorrow.
Thursday Dec 14th-Monday Dec 18th. The same weekend as the Bellagio Five Diamond World Poker Classic. That tournament just happened to be in town the last time I was in Vegas to attend the WPBT Winter Classic. Yes, the same weekend I dominated a field of 100+ bloggers on my way to the final table only to get seated directly to Gracie's right as she proceeded to get hit over the head with the deck. But I am not bitter about my 5th place finish in such a deep, talented field. As a matter of fact I'm proud enough to still be bragging about it to this day.
So what else....oh yeah, Steve Irwin is dead. Killed when a sting ray barb penetrated his heart. I hate to sound cold about it because he has a family and all, but if you are going to play with fire.... I must give the guy credit though. His crazy dream was to play with large dangerous animals on a daily basis. He followed that whacked out dream for many years and made a name for himself at the same time. And, I have been told, he used that fame to help fight for the preservation of wildlife and their natural habitats, which is very admirable and something I really respect.
Running out of time now, so I'll have to save the details of my wager with Michael until tomorrow.
Tuesday, August 29, 2006
One Year
(Click on photos to enlarge)
Today I sit in the same chair as I did a year ago, at the same desk as a year ago, looking at many of the same images on the same computer screen as I did a year ago. So much is the same. So much is different.
I started this blog a month or so before Katrina to just basically complain about missing Vegas, and how I had no trips planned to Sin City in the near future. My yearly pilgrimage was being replaced by a cruise instead. I was excited for the cruise, which left from New Orleans, because 90% of my time on the ship was going to be dedicated to poker....but I still longed for the desert.
When Katrina crashed ashore a lot of things changed. The first way it affected me personally was my cruise being moved to Galveston. Later on Rita blew into town there and completely cancelled my cruise, which let me reschedule my vacation and play in the 05 Winter Classic in Vegas.
The biggest change for me though was a couple months later when I traveled down to Long Beach, MS (between Gulfport and Bay St Louis/Waveland) which was one of the areas hardest hit by the storm. My week of volunteer work down there is something that will stay with me forever. It was a very moving experience, but at the same time it's something I've found difficult to discuss unless I'm talking to someone else who was on our trip, or at least one similar to it.
Having seen a lot of coverage from the affected areas in the weeks leading up to my trip, I had some expectation of what we'd see down there, but for the most part I tried to keep my mind open because I truly did not know what to expect. The reality of it all set in about 100 miles from the coast when we began to see wind and tornado damage here and there as we drove down. If some areas this far inland were messed up, what was it going to look like when we got to the coast?
We had our answer soon enough. We rolled through mile after mile of wind and flood damage on our way into Long Beach. By the time we got to the church to unload and turn their storage area into our sleeping area, we had seen tons of damage. No one from our group got a usable photo of it, but the gas station on the corner down the road from the church had the overhead awning/roof for the pumps still sitting on one of the pumps....and people were using it.
After we converted our storage/sleeping area at Grace Lutheran, we took a ride to register for our work permits and passes to travel south of the tracks. This ended up taking less time to do than it took me to type up this paragraph, and we went right from the temporary police/fire office to Pastor Barb's house south of the tracks.
Long Beach has railroad tracks that travel east and west through the city about 1/2 mile north of the beach. South of these tracks is where the worst damage and contamination occurred and the national guard put up razor wire along the north side of the tracks to keep out anyone who didn't live or work in that area. The only way to get south of the tracks was through one of the National Guard checkpoints located at certain crossings.
What we saw when we crossed those tracks was amazing. We drove past cement slabs and piles of rubble that used to be houses. Not just 10 or 20, but hundreds upon hundreds....gone. Between the tracks and the beach you have about 3 blocks of housing. The block closest to the beach was gone. 1/2 of the second block from the beach was gone, then from there north most of the houses, or at least frames, were still standing. This is how it went for miles along the coast. The pastor's house was two houses below this debris line on the second block and when we pulled up in front of her house, this was all we saw.
Seeing this and knowing it used to be someone's home is tough enough. Imagine seeing 360 degrees of this. And that's not the half of it. When we stepped out of the van for the first time south of the tracks the reality hit all five of my senses. I'll never be able to describe the smell, but I'll always remember it. The virtual absence of sound, outside of the occasional Humvee, helicopter, or bulldozer. The heavy, gritty moisture in the air that I felt on the uncovered parts of my body. There was also a faint taste in the air that paralleled the distinct odor of the area.
For the most part, I've found it hard to talk or write about this trip. I took plenty of notes on the car rides down and back, as well as every day we were there....but it's not really a series of stories I can just tell. It was an experience that you really had to be there to know about, to feel it. This is the most I've ever written about this trip. Maybe I'm not as good of a writer as I believe, but I just find most of this trip difficult to convey.
I really did have a point for this post when I started....but I've imploded the foundation now, so I guess I will hold on to that one for another day.
Wednesday, August 23, 2006
Linkage
Mo' money, mo' problems for WSOP Main Event winner Jamie Gold. Change 100 has a great post on Gold's multimillion dollar problem.
Tuesday, August 15, 2006
Book It
"Hey, since you guys are going to be here for a while....I am heading to Barnes and Noble. To buy a poker book."
That's all I said before I left my buddy's house after busting out of our tournament. Finished 20th out of 20. I think I was in for 25 hands, playing only three of those....each time from a blind. That's power poker.
My biggest mistake wasn't getting my money in as a 4-1 dog....turns out that giving my room mate a ride to the tourney was as he was top three in chips when I busted out.
Hopefully Wednesday's tourney at Greektown goes better....if I play. 25% is an awful lot of juice for a tourney with a bad structure.
That's all I said before I left my buddy's house after busting out of our tournament. Finished 20th out of 20. I think I was in for 25 hands, playing only three of those....each time from a blind. That's power poker.
My biggest mistake wasn't getting my money in as a 4-1 dog....turns out that giving my room mate a ride to the tourney was as he was top three in chips when I busted out.
Hopefully Wednesday's tourney at Greektown goes better....if I play. 25% is an awful lot of juice for a tourney with a bad structure.
Monday, July 31, 2006
Friday, July 28, 2006
Tragic
From CNN.com:
PRAGUE, Czech Republic -- A promising young British chess player taking part in a chess tournament in the Czech Republic has died after a mystery fall from her hotel room.
Jessie Gilbert, 19, fell Wednesday from the eighth floor of her hotel in the central city of Pardubice amid conflicting reports that she could had been sleepwalking and had suffered from depression. Her family Friday paid tribute to the "much loved" and "exceptionally talented" teenager.
In a statement, her family said: "She was a titled chess player and had been competing in the Czech Open Chess Championships.
"Fellow British players in the tournament abandoned matches as a mark of respect. She was much loved and was an exceptionally talented chess player."
Police were continuing to investigate the teenager's death amid reports that she had been taking medication for depression, the UK's Press Association said.
Gilbert had been living with her parents, Ian and Angela, and sister, Samantha, in the village of Woldingham, Surrey. But her parents had recently divorced, sold the house and moved to separate properties, PA said.
While there have been suggestions that the teenager may have been sleep-walking, organizers of the tournament believe she may have committed suicide, PA said.
John Saunders, editor of British Chess Magazine, said he had been approached independently by "a number" of chess players who had spoken of a possible problem with sleep-walking, PA reported.
But Jan Mazuch, director of the Czech Open, said he believed she had jumped from the eighth-floor room.
He told PA her 14-year-old room-mate, Amisha Parma, had first realized Miss Gilbert was missing when she woke to find her bed empty in the early hours of Wednesday morning.
Police were called and found the body of the teenager in a tree below her hotel window.
Mazuch said: "She wasn't in the room so they started to look for her and they realized she had jumped from the eighth floor."
Gilbert was taking a gap year to play chess while preparing to go to Oxford to University study medicine. She had been working towards becoming a Women's International Master.
Described as one of England's leading women players by the English Chess Federation Friday, she came to prominence at the age of 12 when she won the Women's World Amateur Championship, the youngest player ever to do so, the ECF told PA.
First taking up the game at the age of eight, Gilbert had been involved in coaching younger players at the newly formed Andrew Martin Chess Academy.
After representing England in the European Individual Women's Championships in Turkey in April, she was also part of the national women's team in the chess Olympiads in Turin in May and June of this year.
The ECF said: "Her friendly personality endeared her to all ages in the chess community and she will be much missed."
PRAGUE, Czech Republic -- A promising young British chess player taking part in a chess tournament in the Czech Republic has died after a mystery fall from her hotel room.
Jessie Gilbert, 19, fell Wednesday from the eighth floor of her hotel in the central city of Pardubice amid conflicting reports that she could had been sleepwalking and had suffered from depression. Her family Friday paid tribute to the "much loved" and "exceptionally talented" teenager.
In a statement, her family said: "She was a titled chess player and had been competing in the Czech Open Chess Championships.
"Fellow British players in the tournament abandoned matches as a mark of respect. She was much loved and was an exceptionally talented chess player."
Police were continuing to investigate the teenager's death amid reports that she had been taking medication for depression, the UK's Press Association said.
Gilbert had been living with her parents, Ian and Angela, and sister, Samantha, in the village of Woldingham, Surrey. But her parents had recently divorced, sold the house and moved to separate properties, PA said.
While there have been suggestions that the teenager may have been sleep-walking, organizers of the tournament believe she may have committed suicide, PA said.
John Saunders, editor of British Chess Magazine, said he had been approached independently by "a number" of chess players who had spoken of a possible problem with sleep-walking, PA reported.
But Jan Mazuch, director of the Czech Open, said he believed she had jumped from the eighth-floor room.
He told PA her 14-year-old room-mate, Amisha Parma, had first realized Miss Gilbert was missing when she woke to find her bed empty in the early hours of Wednesday morning.
Police were called and found the body of the teenager in a tree below her hotel window.
Mazuch said: "She wasn't in the room so they started to look for her and they realized she had jumped from the eighth floor."
Gilbert was taking a gap year to play chess while preparing to go to Oxford to University study medicine. She had been working towards becoming a Women's International Master.
Described as one of England's leading women players by the English Chess Federation Friday, she came to prominence at the age of 12 when she won the Women's World Amateur Championship, the youngest player ever to do so, the ECF told PA.
First taking up the game at the age of eight, Gilbert had been involved in coaching younger players at the newly formed Andrew Martin Chess Academy.
After representing England in the European Individual Women's Championships in Turkey in April, she was also part of the national women's team in the chess Olympiads in Turin in May and June of this year.
The ECF said: "Her friendly personality endeared her to all ages in the chess community and she will be much missed."
Friday, May 05, 2006
Hiatus Interruptus
This is a shameless post with the sole purpose of making sure my archives don't skip May 2006. See you soon.
~~Max
~~Max
Wednesday, April 05, 2006
Teachers....WTF???
What in the world is up with teachers today? For some reason, female teachers just can't keep their hands off of young teenage boys....here's a CNN story about another case.
CNN also has a story about this jackhole of a teacher that blew his hand off trying to swat a bug. And this happened during his class period.
Things like this really stick in my mind whenever I contemplate whether or not I should have children somewhere down the line.
CNN also has a story about this jackhole of a teacher that blew his hand off trying to swat a bug. And this happened during his class period.
Things like this really stick in my mind whenever I contemplate whether or not I should have children somewhere down the line.
Monday, April 03, 2006
From Suck Out to Back Out
I already chronicled last week's wonderful hand where I got Wil to push against me when I had the best hand (2-1 favorite), only to have me suck out on the river to put him out and have this week's tournament named for me.
Unfortunately, a few things have come up and I will have to back out of this week's WWdN tourney as well as tonight's WPBT WSOP Satellite. I really want to play both, and will try and make it into one or both with a last minute entry, but as of now it looks like I'll have to miss both events.
With that out of the way, I had a pretty decent Saturday afternoon/evening on Stars when I got out of work. Lately I've been two tabling low limit cash games, or one cash game while I am in the early stages of a tourney. It's been going pretty well so far, but I've never played at Stars on the weekend. The tables were well balanced with a few rocks, a couple good players, a couple decent players, and the occasional donator. I spent a good amount of time on five different tables over the course of my session and came out ahead on all but one. I ended the session up more than 30 BB, but my profit would have been a bit better had I not played so poorly in the three tournaments I entered in that time.
Sunday was a nice relaxing day away from work, computer, poker, life....everything. I just watched the Pistons play the Suns and dug out GTA for the first time in over a year. I had never unlocked Vegas in the game because my character wasn't a good enough swimmer to do one of the missions in San Fran. After watching Mark play the new Godfather game the other day, I decided to bust out San Andreas and immerse myself in it's fictional west coast world. It proved to be a timely distraction for me.
Unfortunately, a few things have come up and I will have to back out of this week's WWdN tourney as well as tonight's WPBT WSOP Satellite. I really want to play both, and will try and make it into one or both with a last minute entry, but as of now it looks like I'll have to miss both events.
With that out of the way, I had a pretty decent Saturday afternoon/evening on Stars when I got out of work. Lately I've been two tabling low limit cash games, or one cash game while I am in the early stages of a tourney. It's been going pretty well so far, but I've never played at Stars on the weekend. The tables were well balanced with a few rocks, a couple good players, a couple decent players, and the occasional donator. I spent a good amount of time on five different tables over the course of my session and came out ahead on all but one. I ended the session up more than 30 BB, but my profit would have been a bit better had I not played so poorly in the three tournaments I entered in that time.
Sunday was a nice relaxing day away from work, computer, poker, life....everything. I just watched the Pistons play the Suns and dug out GTA for the first time in over a year. I had never unlocked Vegas in the game because my character wasn't a good enough swimmer to do one of the missions in San Fran. After watching Mark play the new Godfather game the other day, I decided to bust out San Andreas and immerse myself in it's fictional west coast world. It proved to be a timely distraction for me.
Saturday, April 01, 2006
Tilt, Hella Tilt....
I just spent an hour or so on a post that I ended up liking a whole lot. As I proofread it, I actually read it and enjoyed the writing, instead of just skimming and looking for big mistakes like I normally do. Then I save it as a draft so I can add my hyperlinks and not worry about losing it. To which Blogger asks me to log in. Strange, but I oblige. Then, the dashboard shows up and I get this eerie feeling that I just got screwed. I open this blog only to see that there is no new post anywhere to be found. Try paging back with my browser to save it, unsuccessful. GRRRRR!!! How come this thing only eats the few posts I like, and never any of the myriad of my bad post which shouldn't get posted anyway?
So I take another few minutes to write another post about how I was slightly tilted by this. When I finish writing it I decide that I am going to copy and save the text on my computer before trying to save it or post it with Blogger. I highlight the entire post, and just as I am about to hit "Ctrl+C", it all disappears before my eyes. WTF?!?!?!
Hugemegahella-tilt. And I don't tilt. The last time I was tilted was at the final table of the WPBT Winter Classic. When we started the final table I was second in chips only to Phil, and he was two to my right. I felt like I had a good shot at first. Then the cards slapped me upside the head. I saw two face cards the entire time I was at the final table. On one hand I had J2o and had two people push in before it even got to me. Hmm, fold. Then I pick up K4s in the small blind on the second orbit. I had bled out a good portion of my stack and was thinking about pushing as it was folded to me. I think for a couple seconds and glance over at Gracie's stack. I look back at mine and hear, "I'm gonna call....if you go all in, I am going to call you."
SONUVA! With the cards Gracie was catching at the final table, it seemed that Lady Luck was seated to my left instead of a fellow blogger. My head falls back and my body goes limp as I sigh and muck my hand. From there I got nothing better than a 78s, which is the hand I went out on, and ended up finishing 5th.
Before that hand it had been months since I was tilted at all, and that previous tilt was fleeting to say the least. It actually helped me focus my game better and take a 3-1 chip advantage into heads up play. There my opponent made two boats, two flushes, and trips in ten hands. I hated finishing second after playing so well, but it's still a card game. Oh yeah, and variance is a beeyotch.
As I sit and recall these games I can feel my blood pressure returning to normal, and my mind returning to it's normal, calm state. I can now add "tilt therapy" to the list of things that I'd use to give a definition of a blog. Even though, this tilt was induced by the blog to begin with.
So I take another few minutes to write another post about how I was slightly tilted by this. When I finish writing it I decide that I am going to copy and save the text on my computer before trying to save it or post it with Blogger. I highlight the entire post, and just as I am about to hit "Ctrl+C", it all disappears before my eyes. WTF?!?!?!
Hugemegahella-tilt. And I don't tilt. The last time I was tilted was at the final table of the WPBT Winter Classic. When we started the final table I was second in chips only to Phil, and he was two to my right. I felt like I had a good shot at first. Then the cards slapped me upside the head. I saw two face cards the entire time I was at the final table. On one hand I had J2o and had two people push in before it even got to me. Hmm, fold. Then I pick up K4s in the small blind on the second orbit. I had bled out a good portion of my stack and was thinking about pushing as it was folded to me. I think for a couple seconds and glance over at Gracie's stack. I look back at mine and hear, "I'm gonna call....if you go all in, I am going to call you."
SONUVA! With the cards Gracie was catching at the final table, it seemed that Lady Luck was seated to my left instead of a fellow blogger. My head falls back and my body goes limp as I sigh and muck my hand. From there I got nothing better than a 78s, which is the hand I went out on, and ended up finishing 5th.
Before that hand it had been months since I was tilted at all, and that previous tilt was fleeting to say the least. It actually helped me focus my game better and take a 3-1 chip advantage into heads up play. There my opponent made two boats, two flushes, and trips in ten hands. I hated finishing second after playing so well, but it's still a card game. Oh yeah, and variance is a beeyotch.
As I sit and recall these games I can feel my blood pressure returning to normal, and my mind returning to it's normal, calm state. I can now add "tilt therapy" to the list of things that I'd use to give a definition of a blog. Even though, this tilt was induced by the blog to begin with.
Thursday, March 30, 2006
Anatomy of a Suckout
I played in my very first WWdN Poker Stars tourney on Tuesday. Out of the 6 others seated at my starting table, I saw two familiar faces. Wil was in the 3 seat and Jaxia was in the 4 seat as I sat in the 9 seat.
First hand: I am dealt QTo in the cutoff. UTG (cfinnn) calls, as do I and the SB (Wil), BB (Jaxia) checks and we are 4 handed to the flop. Ts 5h 6s hits the board, Wil leads out with 40 and it's folded to me. At this point the blinds are only 10/20 so there's 80 in the pot. With a 1/2 pot bet I figure he's made top or middle pair. With my top pair and Q kicker I decide that I am probably ahead at this point and call to make him think I am drawing to the flush or the straight.
The turn brings a 9h and now there are two flush draws and a possible straight on the board. If he checks I am betting, and if he bets I am raising. Try and win the pot right there in case he now has a draw. If he doesn't fold, I am probably still ahead in the hand anyway. Wil bets out 82. I don't like this bet. People normally only bet in unique amounts when they are very comfortable with their hands. For the first time, the possibility of him holding trips enters my mind, but I dismiss the thought quickly as I believe one of his bets would have been more than half the pot. I settle on top pair, maybe top two pair, and quickly raise to 175. His amount of time to call tells me nothing and we go to the river.
The Qc hits the board and I now have the top two pair. If my read on his hand is right I am gold. He bets 100. Crap! I don't know his playing style well enough to know if he dropped his bets from 1/2 pot to 1/5 pot because he is vulnerable, or because he's trying to induce a raise. I tank for a second and he types "i have a hand, i swear". Hmmm, more confidence in what he's holding. There goes my raising option. I think I have the best hand, but if he plays back with a big raise I am going to fold. Call.
Wil flips over his 9c 5s and for once the river is kind to me. It's not very often that I get help on the river when someone takes the lead on me at the turn, so this was nice to see. I pull in a sizable pot on the first hand, and I read the hand pretty well for having little experience playing against Wil. As a matter of fact, the most notable thing for me about his play at the Winter Classic is that he lost two consecutive coin flips with pocket pairs in the short time I played at his table. Not much to go on.
Wil excused himself to get his list and a pen. I guess it doesn't take that much to get on his list after all. I mean it's not like I put him out on the first hand. But wait, there's more.
Later that evening, very near the bubble, blinds are now at 300/600 with an ante of 50. I doubled through an opponent when my tens held up against AQ. Will pushes with QJo. He's second stack at the table, and unless I call from the button his tournament life is not at stake. With a QTo I don't feel like risking more than 1/2 my stack on the off chance that I could knock off the host. The guy I recently doubled through is short stacked and calls with nines. Wil is slightly less than 50-50 here going into the flop. Said flop knocked out any chance he had at winning when it came down 9-9-3, and Wil actually thought he was out of the tourney for a second. He was still in but with only 2550 left and the BB hitting him after only one more hand, he was desperate. This is where I step in.
Wil is in the BB, costing him 650 of his remaining 2500 with the ante. I have over 10k in my stack and look down to see ATc. Not too shabby, but I don't want to auto-push preflop and give any of the others a chance to hit me up, so I raise it to 1500 in hopes of getting Wil to push and he does so after everyone else folds. He flips over K8o, a hand that he deftly sucked out with earlier in the night against a K9 of all hands. I am a 2-1 favorite going into the flop.
Flop comes down 5s 3c 9h, and I am now a 3-1 favorite as Wil is yelling for a K. The turn card is....are you kidding me???....the Kc and I am instantly a 3-1 dog one card after being a 3-1 favorite. Sonuva! Well, at least it's a club and I have more outs than just an ace. My chat entry: "NOOOO".
The river card hits the table and it's a beautiful 5 of....wait for it....clubs. My chat entry: "YESSSSS". Wil's: "Crap". Sweet river of justice, how I love thee.
The symmetry of this all is just wonderful. Very rarely do things like this happen in your favor in a poker tournament. Starting and ending the host's tournament with hands where he was behind pre-flop and on the flop, ahead on the turn, and dead on the river just seems so rigged. This being online poker and all, maybe it was.
First hand: I am dealt QTo in the cutoff. UTG (cfinnn) calls, as do I and the SB (Wil), BB (Jaxia) checks and we are 4 handed to the flop. Ts 5h 6s hits the board, Wil leads out with 40 and it's folded to me. At this point the blinds are only 10/20 so there's 80 in the pot. With a 1/2 pot bet I figure he's made top or middle pair. With my top pair and Q kicker I decide that I am probably ahead at this point and call to make him think I am drawing to the flush or the straight.
The turn brings a 9h and now there are two flush draws and a possible straight on the board. If he checks I am betting, and if he bets I am raising. Try and win the pot right there in case he now has a draw. If he doesn't fold, I am probably still ahead in the hand anyway. Wil bets out 82. I don't like this bet. People normally only bet in unique amounts when they are very comfortable with their hands. For the first time, the possibility of him holding trips enters my mind, but I dismiss the thought quickly as I believe one of his bets would have been more than half the pot. I settle on top pair, maybe top two pair, and quickly raise to 175. His amount of time to call tells me nothing and we go to the river.
The Qc hits the board and I now have the top two pair. If my read on his hand is right I am gold. He bets 100. Crap! I don't know his playing style well enough to know if he dropped his bets from 1/2 pot to 1/5 pot because he is vulnerable, or because he's trying to induce a raise. I tank for a second and he types "i have a hand, i swear". Hmmm, more confidence in what he's holding. There goes my raising option. I think I have the best hand, but if he plays back with a big raise I am going to fold. Call.
Wil flips over his 9c 5s and for once the river is kind to me. It's not very often that I get help on the river when someone takes the lead on me at the turn, so this was nice to see. I pull in a sizable pot on the first hand, and I read the hand pretty well for having little experience playing against Wil. As a matter of fact, the most notable thing for me about his play at the Winter Classic is that he lost two consecutive coin flips with pocket pairs in the short time I played at his table. Not much to go on.
Wil excused himself to get his list and a pen. I guess it doesn't take that much to get on his list after all. I mean it's not like I put him out on the first hand. But wait, there's more.
Later that evening, very near the bubble, blinds are now at 300/600 with an ante of 50. I doubled through an opponent when my tens held up against AQ. Will pushes with QJo. He's second stack at the table, and unless I call from the button his tournament life is not at stake. With a QTo I don't feel like risking more than 1/2 my stack on the off chance that I could knock off the host. The guy I recently doubled through is short stacked and calls with nines. Wil is slightly less than 50-50 here going into the flop. Said flop knocked out any chance he had at winning when it came down 9-9-3, and Wil actually thought he was out of the tourney for a second. He was still in but with only 2550 left and the BB hitting him after only one more hand, he was desperate. This is where I step in.
Wil is in the BB, costing him 650 of his remaining 2500 with the ante. I have over 10k in my stack and look down to see ATc. Not too shabby, but I don't want to auto-push preflop and give any of the others a chance to hit me up, so I raise it to 1500 in hopes of getting Wil to push and he does so after everyone else folds. He flips over K8o, a hand that he deftly sucked out with earlier in the night against a K9 of all hands. I am a 2-1 favorite going into the flop.
Flop comes down 5s 3c 9h, and I am now a 3-1 favorite as Wil is yelling for a K. The turn card is....are you kidding me???....the Kc and I am instantly a 3-1 dog one card after being a 3-1 favorite. Sonuva! Well, at least it's a club and I have more outs than just an ace. My chat entry: "NOOOO".
The river card hits the table and it's a beautiful 5 of....wait for it....clubs. My chat entry: "YESSSSS". Wil's: "Crap". Sweet river of justice, how I love thee.
The symmetry of this all is just wonderful. Very rarely do things like this happen in your favor in a poker tournament. Starting and ending the host's tournament with hands where he was behind pre-flop and on the flop, ahead on the turn, and dead on the river just seems so rigged. This being online poker and all, maybe it was.
Wednesday, March 29, 2006
Endgame
I need to work on my late tournament play. Each of the blogger tourneys I've played in of late have seen me make a big run relatively early, and flame out toward the end. I can blame distraction and illness all I want for my performance in Sunday's blogger tournament, but I still have to live with a bad beatless 20th place effort. Out of only 48 players. From 4th stack at the points bubble (25 players). Crash and burn.
Last night I played a little better, but had a harder time reading the plays and players because I was caught up in the Pistons/Mavs game for most of the tourney, and at one point just posted and folded to watch the end of the game when I was big stack at my table. Entirely my fault, but I was OK with sacrificing a little of my performance to watch that game.
Not getting into it too much, I finished 7th out of 68 entrants. That was good enough for some money, but not a big payday. I also busted Wil in 11th place, and earned the honor of having next week's tournament named after my Poker Stars screen name (FFLPlague, the only site I don't use Table_Max).
Hopefully I'll have some time later to dissect and comment a little more.
Last night I played a little better, but had a harder time reading the plays and players because I was caught up in the Pistons/Mavs game for most of the tourney, and at one point just posted and folded to watch the end of the game when I was big stack at my table. Entirely my fault, but I was OK with sacrificing a little of my performance to watch that game.
Not getting into it too much, I finished 7th out of 68 entrants. That was good enough for some money, but not a big payday. I also busted Wil in 11th place, and earned the honor of having next week's tournament named after my Poker Stars screen name (FFLPlague, the only site I don't use Table_Max).
Hopefully I'll have some time later to dissect and comment a little more.
Tuesday, March 28, 2006
Musica
This morning's breakfast soundtrack was a conglomeration of artists from the D. A little Kid Rock, some Eminem, a dash of Bob Seger, a pinch of Ted Nugent, and a side of White Stripes. D-licious!
With a light workload since breakfast, I've had a chance to listen to With Teeth on and off for a while now today. I honestly was unimpressed with this album when I first heard it, but the more I listen to it, and the more I feel it, the more I appreciate it. I should be flogged for thinking for one second that Trent Reznor was losing his touch.
With this in mind, Wil Wheaton has posted a great entry about Pink Floyd. Truth be told, I liked the post before I even read it beacuse of the album cover art picture that he posted at the top.
With a light workload since breakfast, I've had a chance to listen to With Teeth on and off for a while now today. I honestly was unimpressed with this album when I first heard it, but the more I listen to it, and the more I feel it, the more I appreciate it. I should be flogged for thinking for one second that Trent Reznor was losing his touch.
With this in mind, Wil Wheaton has posted a great entry about Pink Floyd. Truth be told, I liked the post before I even read it beacuse of the album cover art picture that he posted at the top.
Monday, March 27, 2006
20 of 48
Normally I would loathe that number, but in perspective it's not that bad of a number. This field of 48 is not your typical small tournament field. Very few weaknesses in the blogger lineup. My personal distractions and my wonderful weekend illness also played a factor. I was a little spaced out for most of the night. Add to that my decision to watch the Pistons/Nets game, and I'm surprised I wasn't one of the first five out.
All that being said, I should have done a lot better. My reads were very good on almost all the hands. My problem was my patience and discipline. More than once I knew it was a bad idea to call but still went ahead with it anyway. The hand that bothered me the most was when I called an all-in with JJ, even though I was sure he had KK or better. I even took the time to type "I shouldn't call" before I called.
I played very well in the beginning and was bouncing between 2nd and 4th in chips, but for some reason couldn't find it within myself to trust the reads and make the laydowns I normally would. I dropped from 4th in the tourney to one of the shortest stacks within an orbit and a half. Somehow I refocused and battled back up to 8th before I imploded again and ended the day in 20th, shortly after the 2nd break.
All in all I am OK with where I finished. I am 20th in POY points while playing in only 2 of the 3 events so far. This is a marathon, not a sprint. We need to play in at least 8 events to even qualify for POY, so I hope that I can stay in contention long enough to take advantage of a good run of cards and make a serious play for the top blogger spot. Although with poker being what it is, you never know until you see the river.
All that being said, I should have done a lot better. My reads were very good on almost all the hands. My problem was my patience and discipline. More than once I knew it was a bad idea to call but still went ahead with it anyway. The hand that bothered me the most was when I called an all-in with JJ, even though I was sure he had KK or better. I even took the time to type "I shouldn't call" before I called.
I played very well in the beginning and was bouncing between 2nd and 4th in chips, but for some reason couldn't find it within myself to trust the reads and make the laydowns I normally would. I dropped from 4th in the tourney to one of the shortest stacks within an orbit and a half. Somehow I refocused and battled back up to 8th before I imploded again and ended the day in 20th, shortly after the 2nd break.
All in all I am OK with where I finished. I am 20th in POY points while playing in only 2 of the 3 events so far. This is a marathon, not a sprint. We need to play in at least 8 events to even qualify for POY, so I hope that I can stay in contention long enough to take advantage of a good run of cards and make a serious play for the top blogger spot. Although with poker being what it is, you never know until you see the river.
Sunday, March 26, 2006
No Live Blogging Tonight
I had intended to try and live blog this week's WPBT event, but through this haze of medication and illness, I will need to keep my attention on playing if I hope to get any points this time around.
I'll have to post my finish and comments tomorrow.
I'll have to post my finish and comments tomorrow.
Saturday, March 25, 2006
Chicago Trip Day One....finally
Now that I have the flu, or something very much like it, I have some time to write about our trip To Chicago. First off I gotta say that it completely blows that Mike hooked up with the sick girl, and I am the one that ended up getting sick.
So we got to Chicago about 2:30ish and were checked in to our "fabulous" room and drinking by three. My first two St. Patty's day drinks? A shot of Patron and a Corona. I love celebrating my Irish heritage. From there we walked around a bit, grabbed lunch at Quizno's where I had a tough time paying with a hundy, and got a couple more drinks at Sullivan's and headed back to our hotel for their free wine hour between 5-6. Sufficiently crocked at the end of the hour, Mark went back to the room to grab the bottle of wine he bought on the drive out. I initially said no to the extra wine so I could head upstairs and freshen up for our pub crawl with Cathy.
Not often do I have great advice for everyone, but here is one piece that I can't help but pass on: Don't shave when you are hammered! Not sure why this didn't occur to me before I tried it but hey, I was hammered and all.
Met up with Cathy and her friends at a pub called O'Hagans for some more beer. This time I believe I was drinking Boddington's, an English Ale, to celebrate my Irishness. My first impression of the bar was some random drunk chick resting her head on my ass as I stood in line for drinks and Cathy hugs. I heart drunk people. Why isn't St. Patty's day a monthly holiday?
After a couple of hours of more drinks and outlandish conversations with a whole bunch of people I didn't know, we filtered over to a pub called Blarney's. This is where things got a little interesting. By the time I made it in the bar and to our group, with a pit stop to break the seal, Mark was already "sleeping" on the pool table, much to the chagrin of one of the old ladies who must have worked there. I made a comment to the effect of, and mind you I was drunk too so the verbiage recall may not be perfect, "The only way you could wake him up right now would be to slap him in the face. Without hesitation, Cathy's friend Anna (Ah-nah, she's Russian) leaned in and gave him one on the cheek that had to sting, even in his state. Mark comes to, sees everyone standing there laughing and decides that I need to wear his drink. His aim was damn good considering how blown out he was, cause that thing hit me right in the face. Thankfully it was only water, because a deer dousing may have led to a bar fight.
After a lot of arguing about the incident between Mark and I, and even more between Mark and Mike, everything calmed down enough for one more drink before heading to the next bar. Not sure the name of the next one, cause we never got in. Cathy's friend....umm....Jeff?....the God of Biscuits....maybe. Anyway, him, was about to yak while we were in line and they decided to take him home. Once they left, we saw no reason to wait in line while we had a perfectly good O'Hagans we could hit again and skip their line because we were already stamped.
I believe it was on the way back to our first pub that I found out Mike was nearly in a fight with a bagpiper. As he was leaving O'Hagans for Blarney's, the bagpipe band was on their way in. I guess one of the pipers thought Mike was just being a bastard and pushing the guy while they were passing in the doorway. The guy started pushing as well, and at one point turned his body quick enough to slap Mike with the pipes. This is where I am thankful that I wasn't going with them at that time. Knowing how I am when I get drunk and people do things to my friends, I probably would have asked Mark for his pen, he's always got one you see, and I would have tried to pop the bagpipes. I wonder if that would have turned out good.
Back in O'Hagans we make friends with a girl all decked out in Guinness attire, at least a shirt anyway, her brother from Ohio, and his girlfriend. They turned out to be really cool people, especially Alexis the Guinness girl who bought me a beer, and we all exchanged info so we could possibly meet up again the next time we are in Chicago. At one point I was talking to Stephanie, the brother's girlfriend, and when she leaned in to hear something I was saying we noticed that the air duct below our table was blowing air super hard and her hair was all over. I said something about it looking like she was in a photo shoot, she posed a bit, I grabbed Mark's camera, and I now give you quite possibly the coolest picture I've ever taken.
So we got to Chicago about 2:30ish and were checked in to our "fabulous" room and drinking by three. My first two St. Patty's day drinks? A shot of Patron and a Corona. I love celebrating my Irish heritage. From there we walked around a bit, grabbed lunch at Quizno's where I had a tough time paying with a hundy, and got a couple more drinks at Sullivan's and headed back to our hotel for their free wine hour between 5-6. Sufficiently crocked at the end of the hour, Mark went back to the room to grab the bottle of wine he bought on the drive out. I initially said no to the extra wine so I could head upstairs and freshen up for our pub crawl with Cathy.
Not often do I have great advice for everyone, but here is one piece that I can't help but pass on: Don't shave when you are hammered! Not sure why this didn't occur to me before I tried it but hey, I was hammered and all.
Met up with Cathy and her friends at a pub called O'Hagans for some more beer. This time I believe I was drinking Boddington's, an English Ale, to celebrate my Irishness. My first impression of the bar was some random drunk chick resting her head on my ass as I stood in line for drinks and Cathy hugs. I heart drunk people. Why isn't St. Patty's day a monthly holiday?
After a couple of hours of more drinks and outlandish conversations with a whole bunch of people I didn't know, we filtered over to a pub called Blarney's. This is where things got a little interesting. By the time I made it in the bar and to our group, with a pit stop to break the seal, Mark was already "sleeping" on the pool table, much to the chagrin of one of the old ladies who must have worked there. I made a comment to the effect of, and mind you I was drunk too so the verbiage recall may not be perfect, "The only way you could wake him up right now would be to slap him in the face. Without hesitation, Cathy's friend Anna (Ah-nah, she's Russian) leaned in and gave him one on the cheek that had to sting, even in his state. Mark comes to, sees everyone standing there laughing and decides that I need to wear his drink. His aim was damn good considering how blown out he was, cause that thing hit me right in the face. Thankfully it was only water, because a deer dousing may have led to a bar fight.
After a lot of arguing about the incident between Mark and I, and even more between Mark and Mike, everything calmed down enough for one more drink before heading to the next bar. Not sure the name of the next one, cause we never got in. Cathy's friend....umm....Jeff?....the God of Biscuits....maybe. Anyway, him, was about to yak while we were in line and they decided to take him home. Once they left, we saw no reason to wait in line while we had a perfectly good O'Hagans we could hit again and skip their line because we were already stamped.
I believe it was on the way back to our first pub that I found out Mike was nearly in a fight with a bagpiper. As he was leaving O'Hagans for Blarney's, the bagpipe band was on their way in. I guess one of the pipers thought Mike was just being a bastard and pushing the guy while they were passing in the doorway. The guy started pushing as well, and at one point turned his body quick enough to slap Mike with the pipes. This is where I am thankful that I wasn't going with them at that time. Knowing how I am when I get drunk and people do things to my friends, I probably would have asked Mark for his pen, he's always got one you see, and I would have tried to pop the bagpipes. I wonder if that would have turned out good.
Back in O'Hagans we make friends with a girl all decked out in Guinness attire, at least a shirt anyway, her brother from Ohio, and his girlfriend. They turned out to be really cool people, especially Alexis the Guinness girl who bought me a beer, and we all exchanged info so we could possibly meet up again the next time we are in Chicago. At one point I was talking to Stephanie, the brother's girlfriend, and when she leaned in to hear something I was saying we noticed that the air duct below our table was blowing air super hard and her hair was all over. I said something about it looking like she was in a photo shoot, she posed a bit, I grabbed Mark's camera, and I now give you quite possibly the coolest picture I've ever taken.
From there the night winded down and the bar closed at 3ish. I decided that we needed more beer and I would lead Mark and Mike to a bar about 4-5 blocks away that I knew was open later. On the walk their, the others called no joy and hailed a cab about a block away from the bar. After a little arguing I got in the cab with the understanding that we'd try and find the bar which the other two said wasn't even there to begin with. I get in and give the driver easy directions, three consecutive lefts since we had to deal with one way streets. He nailed the first two turns, but passed the third and we ended up right where we started. The three of us argued a little about the accuracy of my directions, using the cabbie who messed them up in the first place as an arbitrator. It's then decided that the cab will go back to the hotel, so I duck out at the first stop sign and make my way to the bar, just in time for last call.
On my way out of the last bar I somehow end up talking to three local girls and we end up going to the Mexican place across the street to get some bad food. The whole thing is a little fuzzy at this time, but I know that two of the girls were drunk, one looked like Lisa loeb and the other was a cute Asian girl that Mark would have loved, and interested in hearing what I had to say about how often guys use fake back stories in bars. I guess they had run into a group of guys from Michigan claiming to be fighter pilots that night, and asked me if I was with them. The conversation was light and virtually disappeared when the food came, with no drinks. Not even a water. I finished quicker than they did and got up saying I needed to find my friends and head back to the hotel, wished them well and left....sticking them with my tab.
Tuesday, March 21, 2006
Manic Morning Ramblings
My iPod effing rules! After months of hemming and hawing, I finally broke down and got a new Dell desktop and a 30GB iPod. I've had it a couple weeks or so, and use it every morning to break through the lethargy that encapsulates me in the morning. This morning was extremely bad as I fell asleep on the shuttle between the Joe Louis Arena parking structure and the building I work in. I came to when the shuttle stopped to drop us off, and realized that I needed something a bit more upbeat in my ear and flipped it straight to The Prodigy. As I stepped inside from the frigid morning air of the first day of Spring, Smack my Bitch Up began to play and I walked a little faster than normal. I progressed from The Prodigy to some Foo Fighters, then NIN, and a little bit of Led Zeppelin. That made me a little manic, and gave me a shot in the arm to start out the day.
Luckily I don't get anything like Wilkie when I get manic. As a matter of fact it's pretty hard to tell when I am because my actions and voice tend to be a lot like Steven Wright with a hangover. I may still move a little slow and talk a little less than in the afternoon, but there is no way I am going to fall dead asleep as I walk through the hallway. Maybe, I'm not manic....maybe I am just actually awake for once.
Luckily I don't get anything like Wilkie when I get manic. As a matter of fact it's pretty hard to tell when I am because my actions and voice tend to be a lot like Steven Wright with a hangover. I may still move a little slow and talk a little less than in the afternoon, but there is no way I am going to fall dead asleep as I walk through the hallway. Maybe, I'm not manic....maybe I am just actually awake for once.
Sunday, March 19, 2006
Back From Chicago
Many great things this St. Patrick's weekend in Chicago. Seeing Cathy again for the first time in months was definitely the highlight. Just hanging out with her and her friends on Friday and Saturday night was worth the exorbitant amount we paid to stay in our tiny hotel room with pink wallpaper for two nights.
Wednesday, March 15, 2006
Free Agency Thus Far
I took yesterday off from everything but work to catch up on my sleep after the WPBT event on Sunday, and hanging out until the wee hours on Monday night/Tuesday morning with my cousin who was visiting from Florida, and Wilkie. Both of whom drank a lot more than I realized while we were at the OPAC, more on all of that later.
Right now I need to focus on catching up with the NFL trades and free agent moves over the last few days. Of course I heard about the trade that will send Daunte Culpepper to Miami if he passes a physical, Drew Brees heading to New Orleans (who's gonna block for him?) where he is going to find himself in another tough division with a tough non-divisional schedule that includes Baltimore, Cincinnati, Philly, and Washington all coming to NOLA and a trip to Pittsburgh, as well as stops in Dallas and NY for the Giants. Personally, I think that the Giants should give up this home game against the Saints to make up for their Katrina "home opener" last year. If anything, the city could definitely use the added influx of visitors and cash as it is still struggling to get back on it's feet after last year's problems. This is all assuming that NOLA doesn't get hit by another big hurricane early this season.
Arizona now has The Edge at their disposal. Will the Cards continue to be where RBs go to end their career, much like the Lions with head coaches, or can he help them turn it all around in the desert?
My Skins have been quite busy so far, spending LaVar Arrington's money. I first saw the signings of Adam Archuleta and Andre Carter while I was with Michael and Wilkie at the OPAC, and everyone was wondering where my sudden giddiness came from. They also signed Antwaan Randle El and acquired Brandon Lloyd from San Fran for a 3rd round draft pick this year and a 4th rounder next year, which looks like a steal to me right now considering Lloyd was the only bright spot I saw from the Niners in 2005. This is great news for Santana Moss who made it to the Pro Bowl last year despite seeing double and sometimes triple coverage throughout the season.
Coach Gibbs' crew also re-signed The Rock and Khary Campbell (both great special teamers), inked Christian Fauria and Todd Collins to free agent deals, and brought John Abraham in for a visit, although it would seem that Abraham is no longer an option now with the signing of Carter.
The one thing I did notice is that there were no OL signings. Having Jon Jansen and Chris Samuels at the tackles is wonderful, but the interior of the line was bad enough last year that 87 year old Ray Brown started 14 games at guard before retiring this off season. At the very least they'll have to find someone to fill in for Brown, who is the only offensive lineman in history to have a jersey number that was less than his age.
The Lions have decided that there is no need to have a starting QB when you can carry 4 back-ups, and signed Jon Kitna after the much ballyhooed signing of Shaun King, who didn't even play football in 2005. I like Kitna and all, but is another quarterback controversy really what this team needs? He's already yapping about coming here to be the starter because he was unhappy as a backup. Didn't Jeff Garcia say the same thing last year? At least Garcia was dating a PMOY, what's Kitna bringing to the table?
Right now I need to focus on catching up with the NFL trades and free agent moves over the last few days. Of course I heard about the trade that will send Daunte Culpepper to Miami if he passes a physical, Drew Brees heading to New Orleans (who's gonna block for him?) where he is going to find himself in another tough division with a tough non-divisional schedule that includes Baltimore, Cincinnati, Philly, and Washington all coming to NOLA and a trip to Pittsburgh, as well as stops in Dallas and NY for the Giants. Personally, I think that the Giants should give up this home game against the Saints to make up for their Katrina "home opener" last year. If anything, the city could definitely use the added influx of visitors and cash as it is still struggling to get back on it's feet after last year's problems. This is all assuming that NOLA doesn't get hit by another big hurricane early this season.
Arizona now has The Edge at their disposal. Will the Cards continue to be where RBs go to end their career, much like the Lions with head coaches, or can he help them turn it all around in the desert?
My Skins have been quite busy so far, spending LaVar Arrington's money. I first saw the signings of Adam Archuleta and Andre Carter while I was with Michael and Wilkie at the OPAC, and everyone was wondering where my sudden giddiness came from. They also signed Antwaan Randle El and acquired Brandon Lloyd from San Fran for a 3rd round draft pick this year and a 4th rounder next year, which looks like a steal to me right now considering Lloyd was the only bright spot I saw from the Niners in 2005. This is great news for Santana Moss who made it to the Pro Bowl last year despite seeing double and sometimes triple coverage throughout the season.
Coach Gibbs' crew also re-signed The Rock and Khary Campbell (both great special teamers), inked Christian Fauria and Todd Collins to free agent deals, and brought John Abraham in for a visit, although it would seem that Abraham is no longer an option now with the signing of Carter.
The one thing I did notice is that there were no OL signings. Having Jon Jansen and Chris Samuels at the tackles is wonderful, but the interior of the line was bad enough last year that 87 year old Ray Brown started 14 games at guard before retiring this off season. At the very least they'll have to find someone to fill in for Brown, who is the only offensive lineman in history to have a jersey number that was less than his age.
The Lions have decided that there is no need to have a starting QB when you can carry 4 back-ups, and signed Jon Kitna after the much ballyhooed signing of Shaun King, who didn't even play football in 2005. I like Kitna and all, but is another quarterback controversy really what this team needs? He's already yapping about coming here to be the starter because he was unhappy as a backup. Didn't Jeff Garcia say the same thing last year? At least Garcia was dating a PMOY, what's Kitna bringing to the table?
Sunday, March 12, 2006
First WPBT Circuit Event Live BLog
Since this is my first time back on the (digital) felt since December, I've decided to live blog it in the interest of eyeing my play and comparing it to the others in the tourney.
9:22pm....We are eight minutes from the start and here come the butterflies. Right about now, I wish I had more PLO experience.
9:28pm....Just seated and I have Donkeypuncher to my right in the 2 spot with Derek in the 5 spot.
9:31pm....3 hands in and I've only seen one flop, completing from the small blind then folding. Live blogging a tourney you are in is a lot harder than I thought.
9:36pm....Took down 3 consecutive pots and am now big stack at my table with T2240.
9:40pm....Moved to another table. Donkeypuncher is at this table with me as well, as he was for a bit at the WPBT Winter Classic.
9:46pm....Currently 2nd in chips. Feeling a little better about my PLO game, but I am lamenting the fact that I never played on Poker Stars before today....not used to the software yet. I am a little slow at times.
9:57pm....Just took out Maigrey and DeadMeek on a hand where I flopped a full house then checked and called all the way to the river, where I check-raised them both all in. I am way out in front with T7245. Resetdave is second with T3610.
10:03pm....Flopped another full house and took out GCox25 this time. T9160 and way ahead of the pack. Luck seems to be with me tonight.
10:05pm....Pauly just got moved to my table along with Change100. Badblood is sitting between them and Iggy is on Pauly's right.
10:09pm....resetdave is still building his stack and is up to T7015. I'm at T9060.
10:20pm....I've had to slow down to make sure not to get that maniac image I tend to get when I have the big stack, usually because I am playing like a maniac. I'm also getting my keyboards confused as I am using my old computer to blog and my new computer to play. I need to get some motivation and set my shit up proper.
10:26pm....35 players left and I am still firmly ahead in chip count. Blinds are currently T50/T100 and I am holding T9810.
10:29pm....I just broke the 10,000 mark at T10,010! Second place is under T6,000.
10:31pm....We are on a break now. Lizard draining time....
10:36pm....Blinds are now T75/T150. Chops here just sucked out on me on the river knocking me below T9000 for a bit. Now sitting at T9105. Effing river.
10:42pm....Just dropped two hands in a row. Time to slow down. No longer chip leader. T7145. Can't play table captain now.
10:49pm....Just hit runner runner to put Change100 out and got moved before I could say sorry. So if you find your way over here Change, I am sorry to suckout that bad on you. And Pauly, I am sorry that you had to hear from her about how much of a donkey I really am.
10:53pm....27 players remain and I am bouncing back and forth between 1st and 2nd stack. I just made a bad move, betting exactly enough to put Byron all in, hoping to push him off this pot....still waiting to see if he calls. He did, I have nothing....and he hung on beat me and double up.
11:00pm....Lack of sleep and the prospect of getting up at 4:30am for work has aided in my donking off a good portion of my stack in the last 30 minutes. I am now sitting at T6130, and that's only because I took out BobRespert and TheFilmGeek when I hit a nut flush. 20 players left and I sit in 6th place.
11:05pm....Just took out Byron with another nut flush. Money was all in on the flop, with me drawing for it and a gutshot straight, and I turned it. Had pushed him in with the draw because he was pretty much committed and only had T880 left before my bet. 19 left and I am 3rd in chips with T7210. Blinds currently at T150/T300.
11:10pm....My online poker stamina isn't what it used to be. We're not even two hours in and I'm already getting tired. Chip leader, Vegaas, is on my right now with T10,148 and I sit with only T6460. 18 players left and I am card dead the last 5 minutes.
11:17pm....Guess I need to complain about my cards more often. Just flopped a full house again and pulled in a pot of T2540. Would have been more but CraigNY hit a better boat on the river to pull in T480 of it to stay alive.
11:20pm....Sitting in 5th (which is where I finished in the Winter Classic) with 17 players left and T6500. Blinds just went up to T200/T400 and I'll be in the big blind next hand.
11:26pm....CraigNY's luck has finally run out....15th place for the blogger that refused to die.
11:30pm....My status continues to fall as my cards have taken a turn for the horrible. I've never seen this many four suited hands in such a short span. I now have the chip leader (lucko21, T15,390) to my left and the number 2 stack (Vegaas, T9948) to my right. Blinds still at T200/T400 and I've got T5300. 14 players remain.
11:37pm....Players are on break. 13 remain, with 9 making the money. Points bubble has come and gone long ago. I now sit in 8th with my T4500. Haven't had a decent enough hand to get involved recently as the smaller stacks are pretty much forced to push lately. Blinds will be at T300/T600 when we return and I'll be looking for that very special hand to marry myself to. Haven't seen anyone take down a pot with any form of the hammer yet.
11:48pm....Listening to Dark Side of the Moon now to help me focus a little more on the game. Subsequently went on a mini rush up to T5700 now, but still in 8th with 12 players remaining.
11:52pm....So I can turn off the Floyd because I just ate it in 11th place. Made a terrible move on the chip leader (lucko21) when I read his 3x raise as a position/stack raise and tried a stop and go to push him off the pot after a flop that I thought wouldn't help him. I was wrong, he made trips on the flop and insta-called when I pushed. Dumb move, putting me out as the double bubble boy.
11:57pm....Final table time as Double Dave and voodoopoker bust out in 9th and 10th respectively. Final eight are spiderk in seat 1 with T2830, Chops here 2nd seat with T5660, Iggy seat 3 with T1,782, a104l9 in the 4 spot with T8600, Vegaas in seat 5 with T6808, S.t.B has T6970 in seat 6, Lucko21 is way out in front with T29,470 in the 7 spot, and Boobie Lover has T6680 in the 8 spot.
12:03am....spiderk moves into second with two consecutive pots. One of T5200 and the next with T3200. He's now sitting on T13230 chips. Hold on, make that three out of four to put him at T14430 after a pot of T2000.
12:06am....lucko21 is flexing the big stack and pushing others out pre-flop. As the leader he now has over 34k, more than double the second stack.
12:08am....Chops here is out in 8th. lucko21 took him out with a straight over trips. He takes home $50.40 for the effort tonight.
12:11am....Confession time. I am now addicted to live blogging this event. I need to be up for work in a shade over 4 hours and I can't stand the thought of going to sleep without watching this play out.
12:14am....Vegaas just doubled up with his 6-10 straight versus lucko21's kings. After another all-in which went uncalled, he's now sitting on T10,616 chips.
12:16am....Iggy doubles up against lucko21 as well and now has T11,164.
12:17am....lucko21 finally takes out someone on their all in. Boobie Lover finishes in 7th, taking home $61.60
12:18am....Vegaas is out in 6th. spiderk took him down, boat over boat. $72.80 goes to Vegaas.
12:21am....Iggy busts out in 5th, taken down by spiderk and his kings. Iggy will be credited $89.60
12:22am....a104l9 gets rivered out by S.t.B in 4th place and grabs $112 on his way out the door.
12:25am....S.t.B doubles up against lucko21 and takes the chip lead, pole vaulting up from 3rd. He now has T36,740, spiderk has T34,010, and lucko21 drops to short stack with T11,450.
12:27am....Blinds are at 1k/2k now and spiderk just knocked out lucko21 with a boat over locko21's turned nut flush. S.t.B and spiderk are pretty even in chips heads up. lucko21 takes $134.40 away from the game for third.
12:33am....We have a winner! S.t.B outlasts the field of 56 to win the first ever WPBT Circuit Event! The key hand was a double up for S.t.B with a 6-10 straight over a 5-9 straight for spiderk. A pot of T82,280 that crippled spiderk and left him with only T1720 in chips. He doubled up on each of the next two hands, but ran out of luck on the hand after that. On the final hand the money was in pre-flop and S.t.B hit a set on the flop which held up against spiderk's kings. 2nd place money is $224 for spiderk, and S.t.B receives $336 for first.
I'm very happy to have played in and blogged this tourney. I will update this tourney blog to show names and link to everyone's blog that I possibly can. Since this is my first time on Poker Stars I could only catch a few names from the screen names, so if you see your screen name up here and would like it replaced with your name/blog name and a link send me the info at Table_Max@yahoo.com or put it in my comments for a quicker update since I can't access my yahoo account from work.
Thanks to Byron for setting this all up. It was my supreme pleasue to bust you in this first event!
9:22pm....We are eight minutes from the start and here come the butterflies. Right about now, I wish I had more PLO experience.
9:28pm....Just seated and I have Donkeypuncher to my right in the 2 spot with Derek in the 5 spot.
9:31pm....3 hands in and I've only seen one flop, completing from the small blind then folding. Live blogging a tourney you are in is a lot harder than I thought.
9:36pm....Took down 3 consecutive pots and am now big stack at my table with T2240.
9:40pm....Moved to another table. Donkeypuncher is at this table with me as well, as he was for a bit at the WPBT Winter Classic.
9:46pm....Currently 2nd in chips. Feeling a little better about my PLO game, but I am lamenting the fact that I never played on Poker Stars before today....not used to the software yet. I am a little slow at times.
9:57pm....Just took out Maigrey and DeadMeek on a hand where I flopped a full house then checked and called all the way to the river, where I check-raised them both all in. I am way out in front with T7245. Resetdave is second with T3610.
10:03pm....Flopped another full house and took out GCox25 this time. T9160 and way ahead of the pack. Luck seems to be with me tonight.
10:05pm....Pauly just got moved to my table along with Change100. Badblood is sitting between them and Iggy is on Pauly's right.
10:09pm....resetdave is still building his stack and is up to T7015. I'm at T9060.
10:20pm....I've had to slow down to make sure not to get that maniac image I tend to get when I have the big stack, usually because I am playing like a maniac. I'm also getting my keyboards confused as I am using my old computer to blog and my new computer to play. I need to get some motivation and set my shit up proper.
10:26pm....35 players left and I am still firmly ahead in chip count. Blinds are currently T50/T100 and I am holding T9810.
10:29pm....I just broke the 10,000 mark at T10,010! Second place is under T6,000.
10:31pm....We are on a break now. Lizard draining time....
10:36pm....Blinds are now T75/T150. Chops here just sucked out on me on the river knocking me below T9000 for a bit. Now sitting at T9105. Effing river.
10:42pm....Just dropped two hands in a row. Time to slow down. No longer chip leader. T7145. Can't play table captain now.
10:49pm....Just hit runner runner to put Change100 out and got moved before I could say sorry. So if you find your way over here Change, I am sorry to suckout that bad on you. And Pauly, I am sorry that you had to hear from her about how much of a donkey I really am.
10:53pm....27 players remain and I am bouncing back and forth between 1st and 2nd stack. I just made a bad move, betting exactly enough to put Byron all in, hoping to push him off this pot....still waiting to see if he calls. He did, I have nothing....and he hung on beat me and double up.
11:00pm....Lack of sleep and the prospect of getting up at 4:30am for work has aided in my donking off a good portion of my stack in the last 30 minutes. I am now sitting at T6130, and that's only because I took out BobRespert and TheFilmGeek when I hit a nut flush. 20 players left and I sit in 6th place.
11:05pm....Just took out Byron with another nut flush. Money was all in on the flop, with me drawing for it and a gutshot straight, and I turned it. Had pushed him in with the draw because he was pretty much committed and only had T880 left before my bet. 19 left and I am 3rd in chips with T7210. Blinds currently at T150/T300.
11:10pm....My online poker stamina isn't what it used to be. We're not even two hours in and I'm already getting tired. Chip leader, Vegaas, is on my right now with T10,148 and I sit with only T6460. 18 players left and I am card dead the last 5 minutes.
11:17pm....Guess I need to complain about my cards more often. Just flopped a full house again and pulled in a pot of T2540. Would have been more but CraigNY hit a better boat on the river to pull in T480 of it to stay alive.
11:20pm....Sitting in 5th (which is where I finished in the Winter Classic) with 17 players left and T6500. Blinds just went up to T200/T400 and I'll be in the big blind next hand.
11:26pm....CraigNY's luck has finally run out....15th place for the blogger that refused to die.
11:30pm....My status continues to fall as my cards have taken a turn for the horrible. I've never seen this many four suited hands in such a short span. I now have the chip leader (lucko21, T15,390) to my left and the number 2 stack (Vegaas, T9948) to my right. Blinds still at T200/T400 and I've got T5300. 14 players remain.
11:37pm....Players are on break. 13 remain, with 9 making the money. Points bubble has come and gone long ago. I now sit in 8th with my T4500. Haven't had a decent enough hand to get involved recently as the smaller stacks are pretty much forced to push lately. Blinds will be at T300/T600 when we return and I'll be looking for that very special hand to marry myself to. Haven't seen anyone take down a pot with any form of the hammer yet.
11:48pm....Listening to Dark Side of the Moon now to help me focus a little more on the game. Subsequently went on a mini rush up to T5700 now, but still in 8th with 12 players remaining.
11:52pm....So I can turn off the Floyd because I just ate it in 11th place. Made a terrible move on the chip leader (lucko21) when I read his 3x raise as a position/stack raise and tried a stop and go to push him off the pot after a flop that I thought wouldn't help him. I was wrong, he made trips on the flop and insta-called when I pushed. Dumb move, putting me out as the double bubble boy.
11:57pm....Final table time as Double Dave and voodoopoker bust out in 9th and 10th respectively. Final eight are spiderk in seat 1 with T2830, Chops here 2nd seat with T5660, Iggy seat 3 with T1,782, a104l9 in the 4 spot with T8600, Vegaas in seat 5 with T6808, S.t.B has T6970 in seat 6, Lucko21 is way out in front with T29,470 in the 7 spot, and Boobie Lover has T6680 in the 8 spot.
12:03am....spiderk moves into second with two consecutive pots. One of T5200 and the next with T3200. He's now sitting on T13230 chips. Hold on, make that three out of four to put him at T14430 after a pot of T2000.
12:06am....lucko21 is flexing the big stack and pushing others out pre-flop. As the leader he now has over 34k, more than double the second stack.
12:08am....Chops here is out in 8th. lucko21 took him out with a straight over trips. He takes home $50.40 for the effort tonight.
12:11am....Confession time. I am now addicted to live blogging this event. I need to be up for work in a shade over 4 hours and I can't stand the thought of going to sleep without watching this play out.
12:14am....Vegaas just doubled up with his 6-10 straight versus lucko21's kings. After another all-in which went uncalled, he's now sitting on T10,616 chips.
12:16am....Iggy doubles up against lucko21 as well and now has T11,164.
12:17am....lucko21 finally takes out someone on their all in. Boobie Lover finishes in 7th, taking home $61.60
12:18am....Vegaas is out in 6th. spiderk took him down, boat over boat. $72.80 goes to Vegaas.
12:21am....Iggy busts out in 5th, taken down by spiderk and his kings. Iggy will be credited $89.60
12:22am....a104l9 gets rivered out by S.t.B in 4th place and grabs $112 on his way out the door.
12:25am....S.t.B doubles up against lucko21 and takes the chip lead, pole vaulting up from 3rd. He now has T36,740, spiderk has T34,010, and lucko21 drops to short stack with T11,450.
12:27am....Blinds are at 1k/2k now and spiderk just knocked out lucko21 with a boat over locko21's turned nut flush. S.t.B and spiderk are pretty even in chips heads up. lucko21 takes $134.40 away from the game for third.
12:33am....We have a winner! S.t.B outlasts the field of 56 to win the first ever WPBT Circuit Event! The key hand was a double up for S.t.B with a 6-10 straight over a 5-9 straight for spiderk. A pot of T82,280 that crippled spiderk and left him with only T1720 in chips. He doubled up on each of the next two hands, but ran out of luck on the hand after that. On the final hand the money was in pre-flop and S.t.B hit a set on the flop which held up against spiderk's kings. 2nd place money is $224 for spiderk, and S.t.B receives $336 for first.
I'm very happy to have played in and blogged this tourney. I will update this tourney blog to show names and link to everyone's blog that I possibly can. Since this is my first time on Poker Stars I could only catch a few names from the screen names, so if you see your screen name up here and would like it replaced with your name/blog name and a link send me the info at Table_Max@yahoo.com or put it in my comments for a quicker update since I can't access my yahoo account from work.
Thanks to Byron for setting this all up. It was my supreme pleasue to bust you in this first event!
Monday, March 06, 2006
Oscars Schmoscars
The Academy Awards lost what little respect I still had for them a few years back when they got so effing PC that they couldn't say, "And the winner is...." anymore. Give me a break. And how come the hypocrits of the academy announce the people who have gotten an Oscar as an Academy Award WINNER??? I thought there were no winners or losers. Shouldn't they be addressed as an Academy Award Recipient since they never won it in the first place? Unless of course they won the award when you were still allowed to actually win it, and not just receive it. Those actors would be grandfathered in as winners.
So I watched just enough of the show to see Philip Seymour Hoffman get the naked little gold guy (that statue always reminds me of Goldmember) for best actor, Reese Witherspoon get hers for best actress, and Jennifer Garner nearly tumble after tripping over herself or her dress. Now I think Hoffman is a great actor, and he did a tremendous job in Capote....but there is no way you could convince me that he deserved the Oscar over Joaquin Phoenix. I really don't remember who else was nominated, or if I even saw the movie they were in, but I know Joaquin did better with his part than Hoffman did, so logically he shouldn't have won it. Maybe that's just it. Maybe they don't say winner anymore because they know that not every recipient truly deserves to win....hmmm. I probably should have thought about that a long time ago.
So that happened last night. And the NFL extended their agreement deadline another 72 hours....again.
Saturday night the Pistons completely crumbled in the second half against the Lakers, after struggling to beat Seattle the night before, getting a clutch bucket from Rip with 0.2 seconds left in the game. But at least I got to go out and watch both games with some good company, even though I had to work this past Saturday AND Sunday.
So I watched just enough of the show to see Philip Seymour Hoffman get the naked little gold guy (that statue always reminds me of Goldmember) for best actor, Reese Witherspoon get hers for best actress, and Jennifer Garner nearly tumble after tripping over herself or her dress. Now I think Hoffman is a great actor, and he did a tremendous job in Capote....but there is no way you could convince me that he deserved the Oscar over Joaquin Phoenix. I really don't remember who else was nominated, or if I even saw the movie they were in, but I know Joaquin did better with his part than Hoffman did, so logically he shouldn't have won it. Maybe that's just it. Maybe they don't say winner anymore because they know that not every recipient truly deserves to win....hmmm. I probably should have thought about that a long time ago.
So that happened last night. And the NFL extended their agreement deadline another 72 hours....again.
Saturday night the Pistons completely crumbled in the second half against the Lakers, after struggling to beat Seattle the night before, getting a clutch bucket from Rip with 0.2 seconds left in the game. But at least I got to go out and watch both games with some good company, even though I had to work this past Saturday AND Sunday.
Tuesday, February 14, 2006
Helping Out
I know that I only get a handful of visitors to this blog here and there, but this is a great chance to help someone out, and even the laziest of people could do this....and boy do I know a whole bunch of lazy people. Please read this post from Wil Wheaton and pass along accordingly.
Thanks,
~~Max
Thanks,
~~Max
Friday, January 20, 2006
At Least He's Not Jim Haslett
Rod Marinelli was officially introduced this week as the newest head coach for the Lions. Maybe he'll be the first head coach in my lifetime to have a winning record with the Lions. Well, Gary Moeller had a 4-3 record as an interim between Bobby Ross (aka the idiot who chased Barry Sanders away from the game) and Marty Mornhinweg who went 5-27 in his two years here for the worst career winning percentage of a head coach other than John Karcis who was 0-8 in 1942.
I guess only time will tell, but forgive me for not crowning Rod as our savior just yet. I appreciate the fact that he stresses dominance on both lines, and seems to have an attitude that would bring accountability to this team....but isn't that why Bobby Ross was brought in here? To play the hard nosed, throwback guy who would hand out bus tickets to players that didn't do the right thing after everyone got used to the wonderfully quotable clown of a coach before him? The proverbial bad cop to Wayne Fontes' good cop? Sound familiar?
I guess only time will tell, but forgive me for not crowning Rod as our savior just yet. I appreciate the fact that he stresses dominance on both lines, and seems to have an attitude that would bring accountability to this team....but isn't that why Bobby Ross was brought in here? To play the hard nosed, throwback guy who would hand out bus tickets to players that didn't do the right thing after everyone got used to the wonderfully quotable clown of a coach before him? The proverbial bad cop to Wayne Fontes' good cop? Sound familiar?
Wednesday, January 04, 2006
Communication Breakdown....It's Always the Same....
It seems that only 1 of the 13 trapped miners survived the explosion and subsequent entrapment in a West Virginia mine the other day. Unfortunately, initial reports to the families of the miners and the media said that all but one were still alive in the mine.
CNN's story
CNN's story
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