Sports Fan Reflection

I need to be stopped.

I seem to be on the verge of becoming one of "those" fans. I have always been a loyal supporter of the Washington Redskins, my favorite team in any sport since I was a kid. Buying a coat, or a hat, or some sweats with a Redskin logo on them here or there never got out of hand. I'd always had more UM or even Lions gear than Redskins gear....but that seems to be changing.

Last year, after LaRon Landry got drafted by the Skins I found a great deal on an official Landry jersey and bought my first non-Lions (I was a season ticket holder for many years) football jersey. My Redskins gear as of now consists of that jersey, a hat, and a pair of workout shorts I basically just wear around the house. Still, not that bad.

Today, while looking to see what deals I could find on Amazon I came across a Redskins garden gnome. I don't have a garden, but I am still considering it. Other deals I found and considered, or am still considering, include an ugly mousemat that just happened to have a Redskin logo (I do need a new mousemat after all), a garden flag to go along with Mr garden gnome, and a magnetic helmet decal for my car (pictured above). The browser tabs to these items are still open, even though I haven't added any of them to my cart yet....but I am still browsing.

My hope with this post is that I can use it to gain a little perspective while doing my online shopping. At a time where I am cutting my spending in as many areas of my budget as possible, I sit here and can somehow justify spending money on useless items I'd never look at if they didn't have a Redskins logo. Hopefully I can get through this with minimal checkbook damage, but we shall see.

Red Meat Reduction

It's not as if I eat red meat on a regular basis, but I probably eat a lot more than I should so this is my next food to cut from my meal rotation.

The other two foods I've cut back on have seen mixed results so far. I still haven't had even a sniff of bacon since I stopped eating it more than two weeks ago, but I did break down this week and had some chocolate chip cookies. It's been a lot harder avoiding chocolate than I really expected, with Haloween less than a week ago and my birthday being today, but after today I should be able to keep away from chocolate for the rest of the year. Although, I still reserve the right while in DC to suspend the chocolate ban if need be.

It would be irresponsible of me not to say something about the election yesterday. I am happy to see that Obama did in fact win, as I was worried that our voters would somehow botch this election too. What I am happiest to see is that Prop 2 in Michigan (expanding stem cell research) looks to have passed. I was worried the terribly misleading ads being run by the religious right leading up to election day would dissuade many voters.

There are a ton of moral issues on state ballots across the country this year that I am interested in, and will be checking throughout the day to see which ones passed and which ones failed. It's amazing how cut and dry many of these things seem to me, yet how unlikely they are to be resolved in the way I think is right. Sometimes I feel as if our country is slipping back into the dark ages, hopefully some of these states can prove that false as I read the results today.

Ciao Chocolate

As if quitting bacon alone wasn't hard enough, I have decided it's time to throw another food into the "Do Not Eat" category. With all the Halloween candy just lying about here at work, and more to come as the holidays draw closer, I thought this was a perfect time to kick the habit of grabbing one here or there as I walk by someones desk.

The best way for me to drop a little weight is to eat healthy at work. Grazing every day at the desks I pass by probably isn't considered healthy eating.

Unlike the bacon ban, this chocolate crackdown will be lifted while I am in DC. There is a Melting Pot out there that I will probably end up going to, and I do not plan on skipping one of my favorite desserts of all time. This, along with the possibility of homemade brownies or cupcakes being thrown my way by Sarah, necessitates some leniency while I am on vacation. Just another thing to look forward to in DC.

Seasonally Affected

Every year I face a period of adjustment when we move from Summer into Fall. I usually get a bad sinus infection when the weather starts to cool down, which I have thankfully avoided so far this year, and having less sunlight usually does a number on my overall mood too. As the days get shorter and the cloud cover thickens and hangs lower, the amount of natural light we get around here is quickly suffocated.

This year seems to be worse than any previous year. Maybe the lack of sleep and extra time I am required to spend inside because of class are factors. Maybe I have just become more aware of what to look for to see that I am being affected. Who knows? All I know is that I feel unmotivated and this general malaise. Right now, I am supposed to be doing research for a paper in my Human Sexuality course....instead I am blogging. Not wanting to do research about sex? Something is off there.

I know that exercise and proper dietary habits are great mood elevators for me, but I'm rarely able to do them for more than a couple months at a time anymore. Maybe if I can compare my mood now to my mood when I am eating right and working out and see a big difference, I can stay motivated this time around.

OK....enough babbling. Here's a nice little video to show kinda how I feel lately. I hadn't listened to this song in forever, and it just popped into my head this morning.

Bye Bye Bacon

Today marks day one of my bacon-free challenge.

It's no secret that I need to drop a few pounds. In the last 2-3 years, my weight has fluctuated between terrible and not completely unreasonable quite a few times. I'll do well for a while, then I hit a target weight and let certain things creep back into my diet. Soon enough, I am back where I started. I know I have the discipline to do it, I just need to stick with it a lot longer than I usually do. Instead of a few weeks or a couple months, I need to look to do this for a few months or a couple years.

Cutting bacon out of my diet seems pretty extreme to anyone that knows me well. I don't eat it very often really....but I do love it. To me it seemed like a good start. I know there aren't any health benefits associated with eating bacon, so it isn't hard to convince myself not to eat it. The next time I will allow myself to have bacon will be New Year's Day, if I stick to all my diet restrictions between now and then.

There will be more steps to come in the near future. I have decided to start by greatly reducing the amount of pork products I eat, and eliminating some (like bacon) altogether. Reducing simple carbs, red meat, and dairy are all on the horizon. These foods aren't doing anything but keeping me in the terrible shape that I am currently in, and I have only myself to blame for eating them.

Now I will have a burger or something here and there....I am not going to stop craving these foods right away, if ever. and I know this. I am going to eat heathier, just not completely healthy I am sure.

Simple Math

Wrong Place + Wrong Time = 1 Dead Cat

Biting me in front of my already pissed off
Rottweiler and Mastiff/Boxer....not a great idea.

Not So Good Morning

As if getting up at 4:30 isn't bad enough, I got woken up at 3:00am because my dog Kira needed to go out. She NEVER wakes me up to go out, so I figured she must really need to go. I groggily walk to the door and let both her and Guinness out. Didn't take me too long to figure out why she wanted to go out, as they confronted a cat just a few steps from the porch.

A fight ensues before I can get out there, and before they kill the cat I am out in the yard in my sleep attire (aka nothing) trying to call the dogs off when I am bitten by the cat. Two nice puncture wounds on my left index finger.

So off to work I go, looking forward to a nice day at animal control afterward to test the cat's body for rabies....hopefully I can avoid getting a rabies shot.

Loving this song right now....haven't we all felt this way at one time or another?

Time

Time Passes. Even when it seems impossible. Even when each tick of the second hand aches like the pulse of blood behind a bruise. It passes unevenly, in strange lurches and dragging lulls, but pass it does. Even for me.

Changes

Labor Day has passed, and Summer has changed into Fall for all intents and purposes. Schools are back in session, and the NFL is playing games that actually matter now. All within the span of a week, these changes have had an effect on me.

Gone are the days where I looked at the calendar and planned day-long rides, knowing the weather would be warm enough, if not dry enough, to take the bike as far as I wanted. Instead, I look at the calendar and see days that would be good for winterizing my bike, and getting her ready for hibernation.

Also gone, is a good chunk of my free time. After nearly a decade away from the classroom, I am again enrolled for classes. I waited til the very last minute to make my decision to go back to school, so I didn't get all the classes I had hoped for....but starting with a couple classes instead of jumping right back into a full load is probably a good idea anyway.

My remaining free time has been dedicated to football of late. Just over a week ago we drafted players for my 12-team FFL and on Monday we had our annual Labor Day draft for my 10-team FFL. I am pleased for the most part with both teams, but only time will tell of course. I don't like the fact that both teams have two starters in common, but I really like both players this year so if I am wrong....I have no one to blame but myself.

Speaking of football, the Giants beat up on my Skins last night. Going in I really thought Washington had a good chance to win the game, and it turns out they did....but they were much better at playing poorly last night. I don't remember an opening game being so disappointing since they switched the format of the first week to include a Thursday night game in 2002. Maybe my memory is failing me, but I think the quality of the play and the officiating last night was very sub-par.

And in case you haven't heard, Kwame is finally stepping down as mayor of Detroit. It was big news all day yesterday, then he had to go and give his good-bye speech at 7:00 last night....interrupting the game after the first possession. Oh well, at least this chapter is almost over for the city. Let's hope we can write a better one to follow.

The Autumn Paradox

We are on the downslope of summer. Fall will be here before we even know it. The weather will cool, the leaves will turn, the days will get noticeably shorter.

At first this will be welcome. No more dog days of summer. Aren't the leaves so pretty? Yay, we get another hour of bar time.

Then it gets cold, really cold. And dry. Even though there is a foot of snow on the ground, there's no moisture to be found.

The transition from summer to winter means a lot of things to a lot of people. Us sports fans will welcome back the NFL, then the NBA and NHL, and say good bye to MLB with yet another world series the Tigers did not win.

The skiers and snowboarders will rejoice as it will soon be cold enough to make snow. The fisherman, water-skiers, and bikers will reluctantly put away their toys for a few months. Parents will gladly send their kids back to school, unless said student is a college freshman and the parents are footing the tuition bill.

With every end, there is a new beginning. Some of us wish the end would never come, others are giddy with the anticipation of the beginning.

Personally, I will mourn the loss of summer more this year than normal. As I grow older and realize that the summers in my past which I have been able to enjoy probably now outnumber the ones yet to come. I will again lament the fact that I have yet to sack up and move my sorry ass to a climate that is drier throughout the year, and I will procrastinate on shoveling my snow if at all possible.

With the summer coming to an end faster than I would like, I'll be sure to enjoy what I can of what's left. Take the long way home from work on a nice day, ride 200 miles one way just to grab a burger, sit under a shade tree and just take everything in with all of my senses.

Hopefully what I've experienced this summer will help carry me through another winter of discontent.

My New Girl

Isn't she beautiful? After more than three years of looking for the perfect companion, I finally found her. Click on the pictures to get the full size images.

Numbers

So it's late June, nearly halfway through 2008. Hard to believe, but it's a cold hard fact. To go along with that fact, I looked at some cold hard stats about my poker game. I used to fancy myself a very good limit player who used those powers for good, aka buying myself into tourneys and donating in a donkfest here and there. It seems that something has shifted though.

At best, I am a recreational player nowadays....not that I was ever a pro, or even close to it, but I used to play at LOT more than I do now. I play enough to keep my skills pretty sharp, and I still think I have an edge over a good percentage of players. I mean, what poker player doesn't?

So I decided to take a look today at how I am doing in ring games so far this year. Fired up poker tracker, and got out the calculator....just opened the windows calculator actually. I was somewhat surprised at the stats. Before playing today, I was ahead for the year. By $2. Thankfully I posted a small win today and am now ahead $37.10 for 2008.

I've decided to hold off on going pro.

The Breakdown:
65 sessions
2890 minutes
48.17 hrs
1.28 cents per minute
77.02 cents per hour

Only 48 hours in 177 days. Considering I usually play 2-4 games at a time, I've probably only spent about 12-13 at the computer hours playing hold em ring games. I haven't looked at hand histories for SNG play or mixed game tables yet, and I probably won't, but I don't think those stats would boost my win rate by much, if at all.

I've made a concerted effort to play more live poker, play more poker variations, and I still play too many heads-up SNGs....but I think it's sad that I've only gotten about a week's worth of online cash games in this year, and we're halfway through it. I keep looking at the tiny-ass bankroll I have online and it makes me cringe. I don't mind playing the low limit games to work my way up the ladder again, but is seems like I can only get into it here and there anymore.

Cash games have gotten tougher since the UIGEA, but not so much that I am scared to play a $2-$4, $3-$6, or even up to an $8-$16 or $10-$20 game now. I am pretty sure I could still be profitable at these limits with a little game selection and some time on the virtual felt....but why is it that I don't WANT to do this anymore?

I think everyone has their poker breaking point, and playing online will accelerate that exponentially....but I don't think that's the case here. My most enjoyable times with online poker were during the blogger heyday back in 05 and early 06. Reading the blogs, playing the tournaments when my schedule would accommodate, and the peak of that period was no doubt playing in the 05 WPBT Winter Classic in Vegas and final tabling it.

Since then, poker has been more of a hobby than a passion. I just don't get into it as much. Playing, watching, reading about it....about the only increase in poker content for me is the podcasting from PokerRoad, and that's just because it's so much easier to do than actually read a blog or something.

So I still like poker, especially playing live in a casino or someone's basement....I just need to com to grips with the fact that my grinding days have passed me by. I need to want it now for me to actually play, even though it's only a few mouse clicks away.

Apologizing it Forward

I need to let everyone know in advance that I am wrapping myself in a cocoon for the foreseeable future. There are a lot of stress factors in my life right now. Anyone who knows me pretty well knows that I don't really sweat the small stuff in life, but these issues I am dealing with are definitely not small to me.

If I am noticeably absent the next couple weeks, or even months, from things I would surely otherwise attend or if I am present and seem somewhat apathetic or aloof, I apologize. I have a lot on my plate, and need to digest it all before I feel better.

Talking some things out with some of you will undoubtedly help me work through this, but I won't burden you too often, if at all, about most things. That being said, don't be offended or assume I think less of you as a friend if I don't seek out your counsel. There are certain people I find easier to talk to, and even some of them won't hear from me because I don't want to add any stress to their lives. Don't take it personal.

Last but not least, if you know Mark....please give him your utmost respect and condolences. Poor bastard has to live with me as this all goes down.

Peace, Love, and Putt Putt Golf.
~~Max

Super Turbo!

Full Tilt has unveiled a new form of SNG tournament, called a super turbo. 300 chips to start instead of the normal 1500. I'm not always keen on flipping coins, but I figured I would try a few of these to see how they worked.

I wanted to play in today's MSOP event #29, $30+$3 NLHE. I noticed a few of the satellites to this event were super turbos. Two birds, one stone. I register and a few second later get seated, noticing that I only had 100 chips. Talk about flipping coins, that was sick....but I kinda liked it.

I played three of these super duper 100 chip turbos before getting lucky enough to win one, and I am currently playing in the MSOP event....poorly I might add. Currently 1117th out of 1149 remaining. Looks like I won't be missing dinner tonight.

Update: I actually made it to the second break in the MSOP event, and will be in the small blind with an impressive M of about 3.3 when the break is over.

I also had a lot of fun watching a short stack at another table win hand after hand to go from 4 chips to about 100 before finally busting out.

It Was Only a Matter of Time....

I'm breaking down and posting some poker content. Razz is terrible. When I am on, I can play the game very very well....when I'm not, I play like a fool. And it just so happens that Razz is the one poker variation that I can go on hard-core tilt while playing. Throw in a bunch of three of a kinds and three pair hands in one tourney, and I become unhappy. Such was the case tonight. I was already slightly on life tilt when I got home, had a splitting headache, and missed registering for the MSOP Heads-Up tourney on FT that I was looking forward to playing all week. So being the smart guy that I am, I decide the MSOP Razz event was more my calling for the day and decide to satellite my way in.

I play in a single table satellite where two seats are awarded. I play pretty well, get decent cards most of the tourney and find myself in 2nd chip position with only three players left. Of course I get a ton of bricks while the short stack makes good hands, and I finish third with nothing to show for an hour of Razz madness.

So I just buy in directly, feeling pretty good about my chances in the 643 person field. My patience and attention to detail when it comes to watching my opponents betting patterns should help me go deep into this tourney. Long story short, I finish 561st out of 643. A good hour into the tournament, but probably about two hours short of the money bubble. Way to go jackass.

Here is a microcosm of my Razz night. This wasn't the only time I saw this exact hand either.

UPDATE:
The good doctor is in Vegas covering the World Series as usual, here's what he had to say about today's Razz event that the MSOP event I played in was modeled after at 1% of the buy-in.

Event #26 Razz: The 5pm event just kicked off. I think FTrain is playing. I saw Jen Creason lurking around. She went deep in the Razz event in 2005. Yeah this is one of those existentialist days when I look out onto the Amazon floor and I think... what a bunch of fuckin' sadists. Only those twisted souls who thrive on pain are into this event. How do you prep for a Razz event at the WSOP? Wear a cup and invite all the neighborhood kids to come over and take turns kicking you in the junk. If you survive, you have balls of steel and can withstand the brutal insanity of Razz tournaments.

If you haven't already read Pauly's WSOP updates, go do it now. Hands down the cream of the blogger crop this time of the year. Show him some love.

In Case of Emergency....

I used to turn my phone ringer off whenever I went to bed, but decided a few years ago to leave it on every night just in case someone really needed to get a hold of me. I've let all of my friends know that if they needed someone in the middle of the night, and weren't sure who to call because it's late, that I would be available.

Sunday night/Monday morning I awoke just after midnight to my phone ringing. Looked at the phone to see if it was a wrong number I could just ignore. Nope, it was one of my friends. I answer, and after a few seconds of coming out of my groggy sleep fog assured my friend that I was fully awake and ready to listen to what was going on....even though I may have been stretching the truth a bit.

She gets straight to the point. She is driving home, which I can clearly hear is the case, and she got really scared. Scared to the point of being freaked out and needed to call me. She's scared that she's possibly being followed, or that someone is going to jump up from her back seat and get her. On my end, silence as I try and figure out what she is telling me. Finally the reason she is so scared comes out....

She was driving home from the movie theater, where she had just seen The Strangers. For some reason this girl, who is crazy afraid of scary movies, decided to go see one of the few movies that could freak her out, and at 10pm no less. When she knew she had to drive home alone. Now when I say crazy afraid, I mean it. I've taunted her about it before, pretty recently too when she was supposed to come over for a movie night with me and Mark.

I am well aware of how scary movies make her feel because SHE is well aware of it. Maybe not the best decision to go see that movie....I'm just sayin.

Bikenstein

The weather over the weekend was good for riding. Saturday was a little windy, but still nice and yesterday was just about perfect. Unfortunately I am still waiting on my front tire for my bike to be shipped, so the Hawk was out of commission all weekend. With my favorite two-wheeled companion down to one wheel and sitting helplessly on my bike jack, I decided some more work could be done to the old girl. I've always been top notch when it comes to taking things apart....and this is where we stand right now.

Hopefully it'll look something like normal in a week or so after I get all the parts I need to get her back on the road. And even more hopefully, everything will stay on the bike after I put it back together. I always wonder why there are extra screws/nuts/bolts when I put things together.

So, Yeah.

A few people have recently commented on my lack of picture updates. Rest assured I am still taking at least one picture every day, but most of these pics are very boring and not anything I would really want to look at, much less show anyone and explain the story behind. Now that the weather is warming up, I plan to get out and take more pics around the metro Detroit area....assuming I get my motorcycle back together soon and that's it's running when I do. Speaking of, here is a pic of what I took off my bike the other day.

This is what my exhaust currently looks like, laying next to my bike instead of on it. This all started because I need to jack up my bike and change my front tire. The exhaust is aftermarket, and gets in the way of the center stand and my motorcycle jack....so it needed to come off. Now I am thinking of replacing it with a new Vance and Hines exhaust, and looking to do even more maintenance on the bike since it's already out of commission. A tune up and general preventive maintenance seems appropriate now but the more I do, the more I want to do. I am afraid I am going to go from having a bike in working order to a bunch of parts strewn about that could resemble a bike once put back together.

Thank the motorcycle gods for my Clymer manual.

No Phone, Mo Problems

I really don't like forgetting my phone at home when I leave for work. It's good to know that I can live without it for 10 hours, but it's such a pain. On slower days at work I send text messages. A LOT of text messages. No phone, no texts. I am forever using the calendar function on my phone to see what I have going on any day or weekend I a show or festival I want to check out will be in town. This is actually how I found out I wouldn't be seeing NIN this year, and I am surprised my phone survived that day.

My phone also has a calculator I use to figure out the MPG for my bike any time I fill up. It of course has a camera in case I want to capture anything I see during the day, and this camera has taken many pictures that I reference very often. This is what actually spurred my blog today. I took quite a few pictures and videos with my phone while in Vegas, and wanted to check a couple of them out....sorry.

At least I know my phone will be fully charged tonight.

Another Pic-a-Day Update

Here are the photos I had trouble uploading the other day, and a couple more to get me up to date through yesterday.

Click on the pics to see a bigger version.

Jan 14th:I nearly forgot to take a picture on the 14th, and had to do this just before midnight as I was preparing the garbage to be taken to the curb. Guinness' old food bags make very good heavy-duty garbage bags when I have something heavy or sharp to toss out.

Jan 15th:
Of course I didn't expect to see this a couple hours later when I walked out to my car. It was cold when I went to bed, but it hadn't started snowing. This pic is a little blurry as it was really dark out and I took it without flash. I had the shutter open quite a while, and was shivering as I was holding it.

Jan 16th:
VEGAS!

My reservation at MGM for April. I am soooo looking forward to this already, even though it's over 3 months away. BTW, that's not my real confirmation number in case anyone has any ideas about changing my reservation.

Jan 17th:
My cousin Denise and her devil dogs. I took Guinness with me when I went over to her house that night to eat dinner. He was shocked to see them get up on the couch and looked like he was waiting for me to yell at them the same way he'd get yelled at if he tried that at home.

Jan 18th:
With the high temp at about 20 degrees, I doubt seeing this happening at a house in my neighborhood could have been very good.