Vegas

Getting ready for this weekend on my solo trip out to Vegas. This morning I located my 16 players cards, my uncashed $250 winning ticket on the women's NCAA game from March, and my BJ reference card. Now all I need to do is find a hotel. Called the Mirage this morning and it is sold out this weekend. Called Mandalay and it is sold out as well. Which casino would you go to next. I was thinking about Red Rocks, but I was worried that if I went on an early losing streak there, I would be driving to the strip anyway, so I decided to pass on this one. Well I went with New York New York. Had some good luck there in the past, great roulette dealers, fast drink girls, and the hosts are itching to comp rooms and such. When Ben and I played about 6 hours of straight Roulette, we had a host at our table who comp'd dinner and our room without us even saying a word. This time around, my room is comp'd upfront and I get $75 dollars in playing chips on the house. Not a bad start.

So I'm looking at which Baseball games I'm going with on Saturday. Below are my wagers:

1. Oakland/NY Over- This can't be set high enough. Guadin has been struggling recently, the A's and Yanks bullpen suck, but both offenses are on fire. I really like this one.
2. Tigers if the odds aren't too high.
3. O's-Angels Under
4. O's if the odds are high enough
5. Dogers if the odds are about even

Check over the weekend as I will definately be posting a diary of this trip.

Mike Rowe

Sometime ago I remember watching QVC and there was this guy on there that was somewhat funny, cheesy, and awkward all at the same time. At the time I remember that I couldn't believe what he was saying and I ended up watching a solid hour of this guy just because he was actually that strange.

Well, I stumbled across this link for Mike Rowe. Wow. What wonderful transition between talking about having sex with animated characters to selling women's purses.

Also, what a great Blog Title.

Classic. Enjoy.

A blast from the past

So I'm up in Fresno for the next couple of days with Austin, doing some Body Shop re inspections and a business review. FUN!!!!! Well, Austin comes in at 9:00pm last night and wanted to grab a bite to eat at Tim McDonald (ex 49er) sports bar down the road. We have both been to the place before and its a pretty large place, with decent food, and has a shitload of TVs. We just wanted to catch the end of the Dodger game. The last time we were both up here, the place was dead. Maybe about 10 people...tops. But as we approach the place it looked a little packed. When we got to the front door there was a bouncer now. The place was packed with college kids. We forgot that Fresno St. was right around the corner. Austin and I grabbed a table in the corner, ordered some appetizers and watched all of the kids. Very entertaining. It reminded me of the Santa Fe Cafe on dollar bud night. Then it hit me, Austin and I are now the weird older guys hanging out at a college bar. We were easily the oldest in the bar.

WTF!!!

Who the fuck still writes checks at the grocery store at 6:00am? I can understand if it is an 80 year old grandmother, but it was a young lady who did this. And to top it off, the check wasn't accepted after about 4 tries, so she used her Check Card. Why didn't you do this in the first place you fucking idiot??? Its all coming from the same account, No? You wasted about 5 minutes of my morning because you are a fat and stupid person.

What was I buying at that time? Nicoderm patches. I nearly exploded while watching this shit go down. I still haven't fully recovered yet.

Man vs Wild

Ben has me watching Man vs Wild and holy shit, what a show. I promise that he will not disappoint. The show is on Discovery. This is much better than the other show I was watching. Two out of the three shows Mr. Survivor Man had to call to get rescued. What a joke. I have yet to see Man vs Wild do that.

Defending Champs

Well on Saturday Night, the Beach Cities Service Center defended their Enterprise Rent-a -Car Southern CA Farmers Co-Ed Softball (long enough title eh?) title by destroying the competition. I was able to shuffle 15 people in and out of the field while being able to win by an average of 10 runs. Not too easy. And the competition weren't push overs either. We lost the Hertz title last year by one run in the bottom of the seventh. Ugh.

But this year was different. It doesn't hurt to have a guy who walked onto the University of Florida's baseball team, the ex starting point guard for Long Beach State, and Austin and I in the heart of the lineup. Oh and our girls batted 1.000 for the first two games. Not too bad.

Vegas

This man drives by himself for 5 hours to play $5 BJ in Missouri by himself. He will drive 100 mph to catch the boat in Indiana. He will wake up at 4 am to study the odds and place his bets before golf. He will chant quietly to you and him playing craps during the night and then so calmly wakes you up in such a way that you ask him to go play craps. So when I tell him that Carol is in Italy for the next two weeks, my first thought is Vegas. Well Ben is out for next weekend so if I go, then it will be a solo trip. This will be a first.

Eric's advice? Who cares, GO!!!! How can I go against advice from the captain.

Last weeks' posts

I want to take two things that were posted last week to dissect it a little further.

1. RRD posted that he was excited that Bloomberg would run for President. Now, please don't be offended when I say this, because you are not the first to state what you did, but WTF????? Please tell me what he has done as the Mayor of New York? I have read two articles about him and it was shocking that he would actually think about running? Below are some of the so called highlights of his political career:

• Has successfully continued Giuliani's pro-development boom and crime crack down.
• Lowest unemployment in 30 years, but yet he has the highest homeless rate during the same time.
• Increased spending and overhauled the education system. Reading scores have increased, but Math has decreased. Graduation rates have inched up slightly, but still is still hovering at 50% over the past four years.
• Removed power from the Board of Education and centralized the education system under himself at the beginning of his term, but has since returned power after failed attempts to reform.
• Only recent progress made on Ground Zero
• Failed attempt for a publicly funded stadium plan when he wanted to raise the property tax to record levels. At this point his approval rating was 24%. Oh, and he lost out on the Olympics if that makes a difference.
• Beat his Democrat rival for Mayor by spending $124 million of his own money compared to $24 million by his rival.
• Huge blunders when dealing with city disasters. In 06, there was a blackout in Brooklyn, where 100,000 people were without power for a week. The subway system had some broken switches that had burned out and he agreed that it would take months to fix and would cause massive delays. Only after a major public outcry, did he then come out and state that it could be fixed in a matter of weeks.

With this all being said, he currently has an approval rating of 70%. The articles go on to state that he has some strange ability to pass blame and separate himself from the problems. New Yorkers state that he is at least trying to fix some of the problems, while not holding him accountable. The articles also state that his huge donations ($140 million) to over 800 institutions and groups help his approval rating. Art programs, minority groups, libraries, and the GOP just to name a few. It seems to me that he is buying this job approval and not earning it. When Perot ran as an independent, he had several important issues that he ran on. What is Bloomberg going to run on that will stand out from his rivals?

2. Now onto the more important subject, Prop bets. Eric posted his prop bets for his highest score.

Highest single hole on Eric's card (and there are some holes that can really do a number here!)(207) 5 +300(208) 6 +120(209) 7 +140(210) 8 +260(211) 9 or over +450.

Now, I talked to him about this already, but why does he have all + odds on his prop numbers. He first stated that it is like horse racing, and that was quickly shot down. Horse racing is para mutual, so of course there is always going to be + odds. I went onto explain that the purpose of props is so that the house can win money. Eric then went onto explain that if we use simple probability of what he is going to score, then the lines are correct since he is taking a sizable house advantage on each prop. That is true, but I don't think that he is taking enough. Now, if we all know that during Eric's last two playoff rounds Eric's highest score was a 6, then he must take an even larger house advantage on this. And if Eric believes that the 6 has the highest probability of happening, then he must take an even greater house advantage on this. The purpose of a handicapper when setting an initial line is not to get even money on either side, but to set it appropriately based on the information that he knows. After the initial line is set, then it is up to him and the house to decide if they want to even out the money. So we know the majority of the public's money will be on the 6, since the public loves to over-react to simple information so he needs to set this number at -110 or even worse. If the money continues to come in on the 6 he then needs to lower it some more. Now what Eric knows that the public does not know is that he played this course before and scored an 8. So if he wants to trick the public on betting the 6 then his line is somewhat correct, but I still think it is too high.

Wiz, is there anyone that you know that can comment on this? Can we have a guest handicapper to come in and look at this?

Political Logic

I want to present a few facts that came out this week and then - drawing from those facts - try to come to some logical conclusions.

Fact 1: The current congress is at a 14% Approval rating, the lowest rating Congress has ever gotten (lower than the previous lows in 1991-1994).

Fact 2: Immigration: A Zogby poll taken shows that approval of congressional handling of the immigration issue is at 3%. Three! That's like a ratings number for the NHL on NBC! (was that zing really needed? - editor) Sure - now Derek knows how low that is!

(By the way, Bush's rating on the issue are triple that of congress! Triple! Goooo Bush!

Fact 3: Immigration is rated as the second-most pressing issue in the country, behind the war in Iraq.

Now, Eric's conclusion:

How can anyone who a) is in congress now, and b) is in favor of the immigration bill be seriously considered as a legitimate threat for office? Let's say a person is in congress now - so he/she is part of that14% approval rating - and votes in favor of the current bill. How unpopoular can that person be?

Yet that is the situation where Hillary, Barack, and McCain find themselves. Do they not see that they are killing themselves by supporting W, Kennedy and others in this legislation? You have people on all sides of the aisle either running away or rethinking this bill:

- Saxby Chambliss, R from GA
- Kay Bailey Huchinson, R from TX
- Laura's boyfriend Jim Webb, D from VA - is strongly rethinking and will vote no.
- Jon Tester, D from MT and Claire McCaskill, D from MO - two democratic freshmen from red states - are voting no. Sherrod Brown, D from OH is leaning no as well, another freshman.

The more this goes on, the more I am convinced that NO member of the current Congress has a chance to win in 2008. Congress is SO unpopular now - and it's both sides of the aisle - that they can't overcome that stigma to win.

Thnk of it another way. Let's say a member of congress who is running now - oh, I don't know, with initials H.C. or B.O. says:

"Look, I'm sick of Washington and the way it's being run by George Bush, Nancy Pelosi and Harry Reid. I am so tired of it that I am resigning my post in disgust."

Would that statement help or hurt their campaigns? I submit that it can't hurt at all.

So who are among the candidates that are NOT part of Congress that could win in 08:

Democrats: I see two serious people:
- John Edwards (no, he can't win)
and the big Kahuna
- Al Gore. Wow. This is setting up well for him, if he chooses to run.

Republicans: Well, there are the already-declared non-Congressional candidates:
- Giuliani and Romney
and probably
- Fred Thompson
but there is one more wild card out there:
- Newt.

In short, explain to me how - if current Congressional approval doesn't improve - a current Congressional member can be elected.

MB RIP

Well another one of my favorite players leaves today, with Milton Bradley being designated for assignment. I can't really complain since he got re injured last night, one day since returning from the DL, which was his third stint for the year. I'm sure he was going back on again and the chances of him actually contributing this year was probably slim.

Everyone loved to slam MB for his attitude and temper. But watching him play in LA for a year and then watching him for the past two in Oakland, he has been wonderful. He is intense, but he is a team player. He is the first one out of the dugout to congratulate people and his teammates love him. He also had some tremendous hits for us as well.

I think I should blame myself on this one. Every single one of my favorite players from Oakland has either been traded or let go shortly after me either getting a jersey, tee-shirt, or poster of the guy. Canseco-Todd Stottlemyre-Stairs-Brosius-Giambi-Byrnes-Bradley.

Golf Update

The US Publinx Qualifer was Monday, and I have to say it was a pretty boring 36 holes. Not much of note occurred during the day. I had:
- one double bogey
- one OB (not the double hole, mind you...)
- one left-handed shot
- one WD in my group
- 3 3-putts (including the first hole... nice way to start off a round)
and, unfortunately:
- 1 birdie.
My drive and I were NOT getting along at all that day. I was constantly struggling to keep the ball in play.

Shot 80 the first 18 in a 10-par, 8-bogey round. The 2nd 18 was better, as I had 2 3 jacks and a double, and still shot 78. 7 greens on the final nine. My nines were 40-40 40-38. I felt like Jose Canseco there for a moment.

The F&J crowd didn't do so well: Craig did the best with 77-75 in Evansville; Jeff Maier had a 79-86; Don struggled to an 85-82; and Kermit shot an 84 in his first round but WD.

Winning wagers (referring to the oft-talked about, but few commented, post with the lines on the tournament:

(102) EZ over 154.5
(104) lowest 18 hole score over 75.5
(106) highest 18 hole score over 79.5
(109) lowst 9 hole 38 or over
(110) highest 9 hole 40.5 or under
(113) single hole high of 6 (and I had a couple 4-footers for 6 at times)

(116) Eric +4.5 over Jeff
(118) Eric -1.5 over Don (screw you all)
(120) Eric over Kermit
(123) Craig -1 over Eric

(125) Craig -2 over Don
(126) Jeff M +2.5 over Pete
(129) no one qualified

(131) Lowest of 5 F&J golfers (152) beat US Open leader (140) +14.5
(132) Highest score was US Open hig score (168) +1 vs F&J high score (167)
Don's all in bet BARELY covered.

The next tournament is next week; the 101st Cincinnati Metropolitan Amateur. 250 or so golfers play 2 rounds on 2 different courses; the low 64 play match play starting on Wednesday at a 3rd course.

Don and I are playing, and so is "the Good Doctor", Todd Pieper, our dentist, who at this point could beat both of our asses 5&4.
(news flash after lines created: Todd shot 162 in the Publinx qualifier to day in Cincinnati...hmmmm....)

The lines have been published:

Eric's total:
(201) Under 155.5
(202) Over 155.5

Eric's low 18 score:
(203) under 77.5
(204) Over 77.5

Eric's high 18 score
(205) under 80.5
(206) over 80.5

Highest single hole on Eric's card (and there are some holes that can really do a number here!)
(207) 5 +300
(208) 6 +120
(209) 7 +140
(210) 8 +260
(211) 9 or over +450

Don's over/under:

(212) under 156.5
(213) over 156.5

Don's single hole high score:
(214) 5 +300
(215) 6 +130
(216) 7 +120
(217) 8 +240
(218) 9 or over +450

Don vs Eric:

(220) Don
(221) Eric +1.5

Eric vs The Good Dr:

(222) Eric
(223) The Good Dr. +3.5

Don vs The Good Dr:
(224) Don
(225) The Good Dr. +4

Will Eric and or Don qualify for the field of 64?
(226) Yes +145
(227) No -170

What will the cut be for the field of 64?
(228) under 154.5
(229) over 154.5

(note: last year it was 153 at a slightly easier 2nd course; par last year was 71-71; this year it is 71-72)

Will Eric and or Don be involved in a playoff for the final spots?
(230) Yes +500
(231) No -650

Special prop bets on any of Eric's or Don's rounds:
Combination bets on all of Don's and Eric's rounds:
(232) any Over 83.5
(233) all under 83.5

(234) any under 75.5
(235) all over 75.5

Eric will play holes 13-18 of Elk's Run in:
(236) less than 3.5 over par
(237) more than 3.5 over par

Don will play holes 13-18 of Elk's Run in
(238) less than 4.5 over par
(239) more than 4.5 over par

Tahoe Continued

Some more highlights of the Tahoe Trip:

• So I was flying back on Southwest from Reno-Oakland-Orange County. When we went to check in for the flight home, the Reno-Oakland flight was cancelled, so they routed us from Reno-Vegas-Orange County which got in 10 minutes later than the original flight. So we board the Reno-Vegas flight and we are delayed for a good 45 minutes. We finally take off and the expected arrival time in Vegas was 8:25. The Vegas-Orange County flight was departing at 8:30, which meant that we probably weren't going to make the flight. At this point, I was all set at staying in Vegas for the night and flying out the next morning. Some of my peers were on board as well which would of been a nice ending to a very long set of meetings. Well, we get off the plane and find out that we are taking off about 15 gates away and several of the managers start to run. I on the other hand start a very slow walk, since I really don't want to make the flight. I finally arrive at the departing gate expecting the doors to be closed and the flight gone, but noooooo, one of the managers sprinted to the gate and held the plane for us. Fucking bitch. I made it known to her that I was not happy about this fact.
• I hate dinner cruises in Lake Tahoe. Let me rephrase that. I hate dinner cruises in general. I don't know why we always go on them when we are up there. Makes no sense. You just tool around the lake for about 4 hours eating crappy food and drinking rail drinks. I feel like I'm on a booze cruise in the Bahamas. Classy. Despite it being a very nice boat and having Miller High Life in a can, I couldn't wait to get off the boat at 9:00pm!!! Why? Well that's because I either had some bad fish or meat on the boat and I was stuck dropping deuces in the smallest toilet known to man. I think I have a coffee can at home bigger than the toilet that I had to shoot into on this boat. My buddy Eric, who is a 6-3 290 pounder from Fresno had the same problem. Both of us were lighting this thing up for a solid hour. And I'm sure you all can guess what happened when I was in there. Let's see, first I clogged up the toilet and had to build a make shift plunger out of a paper towel roll and some warm water from the sink. Secondly, I forgot to lock the door to the bathroom and my buddy Eric walked in on me when I was just dropping my pants to sit down. All in all, I was in the can 5 times in a span of an hour.

Lake Tahoe

Just a quick recap of my meetings up in Tahoe this week:

• The meetings were on the north shore of Tahoe which I have never spent time before. What a beautiful place. This really might be the best place for a vacation for me. Lots of outdoors stuff to do, with the added bonus of having casinos. We stayed at the Hyatt, and they had a very small but nice casino. Two craps tables, 8 BJ, one roulette, and then about 4 other tables for 3 card poker and such. Dealers were lacking but the pit bosses were very cool.
• Finally had a long sustained session on the craps table. First night was OK. Made about $60 on a 5 dollar table. They only allow double odds which sucked. Is there anything better than having about 10 people watch you play craps? And is there anything worse than a guy that doesn't know how to play craps? Or is too scared to try?
• Second night we had a long dinner cruise on the lake and didn't get back until 9:00pm. I went to cash in my winning A's ticket for $100 and then had to meet up with the guy I was doing a presentation with the next night. After this, I ended up strolling back into the casino and saw that my VP was at the craps table. My VP is the typical Harvard nerd. He loves hearing my gambling stories and such. He is like a little kid when we travel to a casino and always wants to play craps with me. So I was wandering around the craps table seeing what was going on and one of the other managers who I rolled with the previous night was about to roll and wanted me to get on the table. I found a spot 3 people down from him. Almost 90 minutes later, I finally got to roll. This was the weirdest craps session ever. The only thing that compares to it was when Jay and I had a midnight run at New York New York, where a girl rolled nothing but 2s, 3s, and 12s.
• The first guy, Jason, rolled for at least 25 minutes and only hit one point. I made a little off of him and I was going to pick up since the next guy about to roll was an ass.
• The next guy was one of those slow bettors who doesn't understand the game and annoys everyone. He kept on dropping $5 to place the 8, when it was a $10 table. Double whammy. This happened at least 10 times during the 90 minutes. So when it was his turn, I just put a bet on the pass line and watched him for a second. He took at least 30 seconds each time to roll the dice. He went into some sort of trance. After setting the point of 5, I didn't put any money on 6 or 8 or the come. I was actually thinking about placing a don't come bet, but for some reason I didn't and decided to try the Field Progressive betting system. Start with $10 and when you hit you increase it by $5 and when you lose, you drop $5. After 12 rolls I was up to $70 a bet on the Field. This guy was amazingly hot. He was hitting 2s and 12s none stop. I ended up putting $5 on the horn several times and he would hit it. It was out of control. And while the table was going nuts, this guy was dead silent and didn't look happy. Once again this guy only made 2 points during his 30 minute roll. Very strange.
• The funny thing about betting the field and the horn is that when you hit, it seems like you are the only one celebrating. Thank god the guy next to me was piggybacking on my bets on the field and the horn so at least I wasn't alone with my celebration.
• The third guy steps up and proceeds to do this..4,4,10,10,8,8. Three points right in a row. He hit the hard 8 twice which I had $10 on. He continued with hitting another 3 points. Crazy shit. Very impressive. At this point we were all going nutz. First time in a long time where both ends of the table were talking to each other and cheering everyone on. Tips were flying to this guy from the other end of the table. My VP, who had picked up just before this guy was now pissed and wanted to get back on, but there was no room.
• My turn!!!! Finally. My roll, 6,7 out. Ugh. Probably lost $100 on this roll. Got a little too cocky. I then got up and walked away. Thank God.
• The next morning, our president comes up to me at breakfast and says that he gets a 10% cut on my winnings. I reach into my pocket and flipped out a $100 bill and said, "Go buy yourself something nice" which killed!!! Killed I tell you!!!

G D Y F

Yes, that's the profanity I dropped on my neighbor sometime in the 3rd quarter when another Cavs open 3 pointer - this time by Sasha Pavlovic - didn't go in.

(Oh, the Y? Stands for Yugoslav.)

Just a frustrating game. The Spurs pretty much gave it to us and we declined. We held the Spurs scoreless for 4+ minutes in the 4th, and couldn't take the lead.

And then there was the foul at the end.

What a crushing game. And I don't blame any of you who are not Cavs fans if you didn't watch it. A 55-50 score going into the 4th is terrrrrrible.

Enough rambling. I could go on...... but I'm seeing red right now. And only some of my anger is at the refs. Dammit, find me a guy who can hit a 3 pointer when unguarded!

You are going to like the way you look...

Returned to Baltimore this weekend for another fabulous wedding. A couple of quick hits from the party...

• Ahhh, Maryland. I really miss the humidity. Wow, it is crippling. And I know that its not even that bad right now. I was explaining to Jon how I apply baby powder to the boys to keep them from getting sweaty in the humid weather, "Just picture Kevin Garnett entering into a game". Great visual for the rest of the weekend to refer back to.


• Had to go to my friend Brad's house for wedding pictures. Wow, its been a long time since returning to the place where we used to drink and do other things back in High School and College. Brad's little brother, Chad, took Jon and I back up to the room where everything used to happen and they had pulled all the carpet and made it into a baby room. Jon's comment sort of summed things up nicely "Wow, you almost can't smell the sin anymore".


• Tuxedos- I was a little disappointed to find out that Brad used Men's Warehouse instead of the best in class Tuxedo House. How can you live in Baltimore and not use Tuxedo House. Ugh. Anyway, there were several problems with the Tuxs and guess who couldn't fix any of them, since they don't carry any tuxedos on site? That's right, Men's Warehouse. Well, I ended up getting everything resolved in a grand total of 5 minutes and $35 at Tuxedo House. They might be cheesy, but they are the best in the business for ease of doing business and being able to handle any issues.


• And of course this led to the easiest, but funniest lines of the weekend. "You're not going to like the way you look. I guarantee it" was used probably about 1000 times.


• Embassy Suites, stay classy. No AC? No fucking AC!!!!!! I was overheating half the night. All of the groomsmen had heat rash around their necks because of it. Just a very poor showing once again by the Embassy Suites.


• And I like bartenders that are friendly, but bartenders who are too friendly and sacrifice speed since they are chatting with everyone pisses me off. Hey bud, I know that you probably get a total of 6 people a month at the Embassy Suites bar, but just stop talking and get me a beer. And if you bring back another draft that is only half full because you don't know how to poor from a tap, I'm going to take off my sweet soaked boxers and stuff if down your throat.


• I had an incident as an usher. The bride's dad along with the groom's dad came up to us asking to make sure that the some additional seats be saved in the second row. I told him I would see if there were any seats. So I walked out there and in front of probably 125 people, had to ask two women (from Long Island) to please move to new seats. I asked very nicely and politely, but one of the ladies gave me an ear full. Yup, she was making a scene, which prompted me to ask once again "Well, I'm sorry that you feel that way, but the Bride's father is asking that these three seats be left open for him and his family." What a little bitch. Anyway, she stormed out and was pouting outside of the ceremony while we all watched on. I know that you got here early to get a good seat, but everyone knows not to sit in the front two rows unless you are told to sit there right? Come on. And I'm sure that you know what happened next. Yup, the father and company did not sit in those seats. I had to keep my head on a swivel the rest of the night.
• Had a couple of people wanting to make sure that they were either in or stayed out of the blog. Pretty funny.
• Mark Larsen's kids are very cute.
• Plane ride home- I couldn't have a trip to Baltimore without any incidents. Anyway there was a couple sitting across the aisle from Carol and I who were pretty young with the kid dressed in the typical LA skater dude wear, complete with the trucker hat. The girl was dressed in the normal pink Juicy velvet outfit. Very classy. As the plane started to fill up, an older black couple comes back and were having trouble finding a seats together. Carol and I had a spot open in between us, as well as the young couple across the aisle so I offered the lady the aisle seat and I moved next to carol. So the guy asks the same of the young couple next to us, with the girl saying "I'm claustrophobic so I need the empty seat next to me!" Umm...what? The guy insists that he wants to either sit in the middle seat or the aisle seat. The couple refused to move or let him in. The guy now starts to raise his voice and the girl starts to freak out. The flight attendant comes over and then calls security since the couple continued to put up a fight with the flight attendant. Security comes on board and the girl goes on to tell the security officer that the black guy threatened her, with about 7 full rows of people then getting upset and calling the girl a liar. It was very impressive response by the crowd. The security person then says, "OK that's it, all 4 of you are out of here. Get off the plane." Then the 7 rows spoke up to defend the black guy and his wife. At that point the young girl moved over and didn't say a word the entire flight. There were 3 women behind the couple that openly and loudly talked about the poor showing of the young couple. Excellent!!!! It did make for a very quiet 5.5 hour flight though.
• Very smooth and enjoyable rehearsal dinner and wedding. I had a shit load of fun and didn't drink too much to ruin one of the days.

US Publinx Amateur Qualifying

The USGA - along with that minor event called the US Open - has scheduled qualifying rounds for the US Publink Links Amateur Championship over the next few days. This is the national chanmpionship for public golfers throughout the land. Qualifying is 36 holes over 1 or (for wimps) 2 days.

We have 5 people associated with F&J that will be competing in these qualifiers over the next several days. Here is the specific schedule:

Mon 6/18, at Springfield, OH (6750 yd, par 72, rating 72.5, slope 130):
Eric Z and Jeff Maier (friend of Derek)

Sat, 6/16, at Toledo, OH: (6900 yd, par 72, 72.7/129)
Don H

Sat-Sun, 6/16-17 at Evansville, IN ((6700-7200 yd, par 72, between 72.6/130- 75.4/136):
Craig H (friend of Eric's and Don's)

Tue-Wed, 6/19-6/20, Cleveland, OH (6700, 72.1, 125)
Kermit

With this sort of multi-way competition, it's just crying out for Vegas to put out lines on our performances! However, I don't see any vegas casino offering lines on this action.

So - you can call me crazy, and I'm sure I'll offend someone here - I'll take a stab at the morning lines for the Publinx Qualifying! This will either be the start of a recurring feature, or this will go down in a blaze of flames....

Opening Lines for US APL Qualifying. Bet # in Parentheses. All bets -110 unless specified.

1. Eric's total:
(101) Under 154.5
(102) Over 154.5

2. Eric's lowest 18 hole score
(103) Under 75.5
(104) Over 75.5

3. Eric's highest 18 hole score
(105) under 79.5
(106) over 79.5

4. Eric's lowest 9 hole score
(107) 36 or under +130
(108) 37 +110
(109) 38 or over +140

5. Eric's highest 9 hole score
(110) Under 40.5
(111) Over 40.5

6. Highest single-hole score on Eric's scorecard is:
(112) 5 +145
(113) 6 -110
(114) 7 +190
(115) 8 or above +330

Head-to-head matchups:

7. Lowest score:
(116) Eric +4.5
(117) Jeff Maier

(118) Eric
(119) Don H +1.5

(120) Eric
(121) Kermit even

(122) Eric +1.0
(123) Craig

**** Ireland vs USA Flag Special

(124) Don +2.0
(125) Craig

****** Jeff Maier Special

(126) Jeff M +2.5
(127) Jeff's friend Pete

******Special Proposition Bets

Will any of the 5 golfers qualify for the National US Publinks Tournament?

(128) Yes +750
(129) No -1000

(Note: Craig qualified in 2001)

Who has lowest score, leader in US Open after 36 holes or lowest of the 5 F&J golfers?

(130) US Open Leader +14.5
(131) Lowest of 5 F&J golfers

Who has highest score, highest returned US Open score after 36 holes or highest of 5 F&J golfers?

(132) Highest returned 36-hole score from US Open +1.0
(133) Highest 36-hole score from F&J

Why the media sucks, part DCCLXIII....

Why are newspaper circulation declining and TV news viewership on the way down? Two prime examples:

1) Paris Hilton. Why? Why the hell is she everywhere? What has this woman/skank done in her life?
People may liken this to the OJ craze, but it is completely different. We're talking murder vs traffic violation here; we're also talking about two celebrities on completely different levels. OJ was a star NFL player who had a second job- acting - that was much bigger than anything Paris has every been in. (Ask yourself - who has more viewers, the Naked Gun or The Simple Life?

This is a page 10 story, like when Dana Plato was arrested for drug abuse.

2) The death of the immigration bill. You can like it or not, but the media is CLEARLY biased in favor of the bill. I saw Tom Tancredo - a Republican Presidentail candidate (really! it's true!) - being interviewed on GMA. Tancredo is one of the people who helped kill the bill. GMA was badgering him - "but polls show it's popular" - "why would you kill a bill that Americans are in favor of"? Thsoe were exact quotes.
The underlying assumption there is a LIE! Who is supporting this? See this link and this link. No poll is out there that shows support of the bill!

And then the Washington Post - who called the demise of the bill "a victory for extremism", is out there saying:

Within policy circles, immigration reform is viewed as vital, addressing both the growing demand for workers and the social costs of an illegal underclass.

Oh really? what circles? Who? What lazy ass reporting. As Kaus said, the Post could have also said in 2002:

Within policy circles, toppling Saddam Hussein by force is viewed as vital, addressing both the threat of weapons of mass destruction and the need to establish a new dynamic in the region.

See? Don't ask questions- it's needed ! Move on, please!

The media can't even see that they are losing credibility by the hour....and have no idea how to get it back.

Morning thoughts

Coming into work this morning, I discovered four things:

1. American Pie's singer was a guy. I always thought that this was done by a women. Hmmm...Don McLean? Didn't know that. Changes my entire outlook on life. And that song still doesn't make sense to me today.

2. I listened to Kenny Logins "I'm Alright" for the first time outside of the Caddyshack movie. First, the song is a little more edgier than I expected. Secondly, what pops in your head when you listen to that song? For me, I was thinking about the gopher for at least 50% of the song. People say that I remind them of the gopher when I dance. I'm still not sure if this is a compliment or not? And I have a new found respect for Kenny Logins after finding out from RRD and Wiz that he does the Masters music.

3. The A's are officially in the wild card hunt. The Angels team is getting healthy and looking very tough. Despite winning 5 in a row, we have only been able to gain 1 game on the Angels. Its interesting that I'm actually rooting for the Yanks to beat the White Sox, since they are closer to us than the Yanks for the Wild Card. And we still have 6 games left with the Tigers, which should make this very entertaining.

4. Baseball-Reference.com has expanded their coverage on baseball. It is now a link dump which is great, along with current standings and data for the current year. I absolutely love it.

Wine and the Oakland Raiders

I swear, these stories are the absolute truth.

1. A perk of traveling abraod with P&G is that we get to sit in business class when flying overseas. (Sadly, traveling to Mexico is not approved for business class - back I go into coach on a Mexicana flight - but that's another story).

Anyway, on my latest trip to France last week, I was served a wonderful Shiraz. I think it was the best Shiraz I ever had. It was from an Australian vineyard.

I was determined to remember the name, so I took a look at the bottle, and associated it with an Oakland quarterback. "Remember that", I told myself. "The name of the winery is an Oakland QB". I wanted to make sure I could find it at home.

So, of course, by the 2nd day in France, I forgot the name but remember the Oakland QB part. We then went to a restaurant where they served all sorts of red wine..... and one of the Shiraz's listed was from Australia and was from "Stableford Ridge".

Something told me this wasn't it. The name didn't ring a bell. And now, dammit, Ken Stabler was in my head!

The next 2 days I was racking my brain trying to figure out the QB and the name of that wine. Was it:

"Evans Home"?

"George Mist"?

"Tuiasosopo Canyon"?

No, no, no.

So I got on the flight home - and there it was! The same wine!

"Plunkett Farms"

I'll never forget that name now.

2) How to make a kid eat healthier: Freddie lost a tooth 3 weeks ago, and his new adult tooth is coming in nicely. He is now acting like a proud parent and will do nothing at all to harm that tooth. This includes making sure he eats healthy so he has no tooth decay.

He has now sworn off candy, junk food, and even chocolate milk.

We're not about to dissuade him otherwise.

A couple of quick notes from the past two nights

Crazy couple of days:

• My Tivo is broken again!! Fuck that. It will record, but won't play. I will be on my 6th DVR receiver in 3 years.


• With that being said, I finally watched the Sopranos. Amazing.


• Watched the A's play a great game against the Sox last night. The game was going into the top of the 9th and right as they were coming back from the break, my electricity goes out. Ummm...OK. So I light some candles and do some reading on the couch. I end up falling asleep and the TV comes back on around an hour later. As I'm trying to come out of my little nap, I hear the game still going on the TV. What??? Why is the game still going??? I get my glasses and see that it is the top of the 11th. WHAT THE FUCK!!!!!!


• Finally bought two new suits at Brooks Brothers over the weekend. Wow, its been a super long time since I bought a suit. I decided to get the flat front pants with the suit, so I guess that is a step in the right direction. To negate this fashion upgrade I also purchased a sear sucker jacket. White and blue. Will be debuting it at Brad's rehearsal dinner. And yes that is a picture of me that Carol took in the store.


• While shopping at the Brooks Brothers outlet, there was a decent size Indian casino right next door. That didn't go so well. Had an excellent run for about 30 minutes until the wheels came off. Carol and I ended up about $75 down.


• Came home and was about to cook some great salmon for dinner to end a perfect weekend, but then we got a frantic call from Carol's sister. Carol's mom now has brain tumors. This poor women. She beats cancer several times and is finally heading home to be with her friends and family. She then gets these tumors!! Unbelievable. The doctors say that its not that big of a deal and that they can treat with radiation over the next couple of months. Not a big deal? Tumors? Radiation on the brain? How is this not a big deal. Looks like Carol is headed back to Scottsdale with her mom for the next couple of months.

Rules of crying

When talking with Eric the other day, he mentioned to me that he cried a little when the Cavs won the East. First, why are you so excited since they haven't won anything yet, and secondly why are you crying???? What is happening to our society where it is respectable for men to cry. I have men in my office crying because work is too tough, I see my sports heroes crying from time to time as they retire, and now my own brother???? Next you are going to tell me that I will see my Dad cry this fall when he finally has to put his lawnmower to rest.

Anyway, I have created three easy rules on when it is acceptable to cry:

1. When someone close to you dies.

2. When your kid is born.

3. When your team wins a championship.*

*Only OK if you are over 30 and this is your first championship with the team or if there has been over 30 years between championships. So when the Cavs finally win the Championship, it is OK for him to cry. When the Sox and the Pats won the championship, it is not OK for Jay to cry, but it is for his dad. Got it? Good. And one last thing, you have to do in the comfort of your own home, by yourself, in your basement.

Then I thought, what happens if your team losses. Well I have never felt like crying before after a super tough loss. All I have felt in the past was pure anger. I was so angry I could punch a baby and walk away happy. And I could always hear a little voice in my head saying "Good, I can feel your anger. I am unarmed. Take your weapon. Strike me down with all of your hatred and your journey towards the dark side will be complete"


Anyway...what about athletes? I hate it nowadays. Why is Lebron crying? Why are all of these coaches crying? The only time I feel like it is acceptable is when an athlete or a coach who has been with a team his entire career brings home a championship towards the end of his career. I'm just tired of all of this shit. Am I the only one? Have I posted about this before? I'm out.

Now that I've come down to earth (somewhat)...

Post-series thoughts on the Cavs:

First, a quick play-by-play of that night. After helping to put the kids to bed in the 1st quarter, I settled in just in time for.... the 21 minute scoreboard blackout.

Yes, of course I thought we would be naming this game "The Clock" game, just like The Drive, the Fumble, the Mesa, etc. etc. etc.

Janice watched the 2nd quarter with me - the only positive of that arrangement was that she was about 5 seconds ahead of Marv in terms of suggestions for getting teh delay overwith and resuming the game. It was eerie.
However, not a good playoff performance by her. I think she's used to losing and has forgotten playoff mode. During Browns games, she knows I am intense - but how intense can you be when the team is 3-10? So she will ask semi-related questions on the game, like:
- Has Parcells waistband gotten higher over the years?
- Why don't you wear an all-orange outfit like Todd Grantham?

Well, her comments on the multitude of the sun tattoos did not go over well in a playoff situation. So at halftime, I moved downstairs and she went upstairs.

3:00 left in the 3rd quarter is when I stood up for good for the night. The pacing commenced.

First Boobie 3 at the end of the 3rd: "Yes!"

Second Boobie 3 at the beginning of the 4th: record dash between couch and near wall

LeBron steal and hoop and foul with ~10 min to go: record dash between couch, near wall and far basketball hoop

Third Boobie 3: First "Boobie!" shout of the night

Fourth Boobie 3: Orgasmic screams from the basement.

Fifth Boobie 3: I jumped a good 1' off the ground with my hands in the air; unfortunately, this was done under the low part of teh ceiling, so I immediately felt pain in my wrists as my hands hit the ceiling immediately. Pain goes away with the next defensive stop.

I then realize we are up 15, and say: "Hey, wasn't Portland up 15 in the 4th quarter of game 7 of the Western Conference finals in 2001?" I then watch the next 3 minutes of the games with my hands over my eyes.

As a Cleveland fan, you never truly know when a game is over (see Chicago 27, Cleveland 21, OT, in 2001 - 2 TDs in the final 28 seconds for the Bears), but once we got to 2 minutes left, even I knew it was over.

The first sight to see what LeBron and Z hugging at midcourt - what a site.

Bill Russell handed out the Eastern Conference trophy to LeBron and company. That was immensely touching - Bill tells LeBron that the Cavs not only represent the city, but "the entire Eastern Conference. Make us proud". That brought a tear to my eye.

Yes, a bit jealous in not being there in Cleveland for the celebration. But it's not finished. Not by a longshot. I was afraid that we - the fans and the team - would have a hangover, but I think this is where the long layoff will help the team. Not playing for 5 days will help them re-focus on the prize, which is the title.

Many have said that "this year is a success - the Cavs are going to be a force for years to come. Even if they don't get the title this year, titles are in store for LeBron in the future". Oh really? The same was said about the 1995 Indians and the 1986 Browns - don't worry, the titles will come after their loss. It never came.

I want to win now....because you never know what the future holds (a LeCharles injury to LeBron??)

I have to admit I am somewhat sullen in the fact that this is the Cavs and not the Browns and Indians. I would be lying if I said it meant the same - it doesn't. I'd rather have the Browns win a Super Bowl or (secondly) the Indians win a World Series to be the ones to break the Cleveland streak. But I realize that beggars can't be choosers, and if the streak is going to end, it needs to be now with the Cavs.

A Cleveland team is in the finals - which means I will try to make good on my promise to be in Cleveland when the team wins a championship. (If you recall, I was in Steve's basement in Parma for game 7 of the 1997 World Series, ready to drive to downtown and riot when the game was over...... damn, I was ready to riot. ).
However, the schedule does not look good. The Publinx qualifier is the morning after game 5, and I may have to go to Iowa on June 19-21, gmes 6 and 7. The best scenario is a Cavs sweep, since we are heading up to Pittsburgh for the US Open on Thursday, 6/14. Wouldn't it be great if the Cavs were up 3-0 going into that night? .....*faint*

Do we have a chance? Yes. I'd give the Cavs a 40% chance to win the series. But no one gave us a chance to win vs. the Pistons...and I like the way this team plays defense..... and with leBron, anything can happen.

Your 2007 Eastern Conference Champions...

The Cleveland Cavaliers!

Boy, that still sounds awkward.

I will have a lot more on this game - and a blow-by-blow of what occurred in the basement as Gibson kept piling on the 3's....

but I must go now, since nba.com has Cavaliers championship merchandise available.

Blockbuster

So I've been a loyal Blockbuster customer for about 12 years. I stuck with them through the ridiculous late fees and consolidation of their stores. I never bought into Netflix, since I'm the type of person that goes through movie spurts. I'll go a month without renting and then I'll spend a weekend watching 6-8 movies. With Netflix I can't do that. So the other day while I was in Blockbuster, I saw that they have the same type of online/mail system as Netflix. I asked one of the employees about it and he told me that it blows Netflix away. Basically you just order a movie online and they mail it to you. Then you can return the envelope and the movie back to the store and they give you free movie coupon every time you do this. So your telling me that I can return the movie to the store, and get a free movie while I wait for the other movie in the mail? Yup. And I can do this every time, this is not a special. Not too shabby.

So when I saw that RRD was asking if it was worth getting Netflix, I would say no. But the Blockbuster deal seems to be really good. $9 a month seems to be fair, and I don't have to wait for movies if I don't want to since I get that one free movie every time I go to Blockbuster.

Cleveland Rocks!!!

Eric, Cleveland has their greatest hoops win in franchise history any you are seriously thinking of coming back into the country??!??! Shouldn't you extend your stay through the end of June just to be safe? Besides, if they make it to the finals and have to play Tony Parker, you can shout obnoxious things to all the French supporters!! I am picturing Eric walking around in the Orange Tim Couch jersey yelling at a bunch of french ninnies in berrets.

Here is what Eric WOULD have been thinking if he had been stateside for last nights events.

End of 1st half - Cavs are down one:
"We are still in this! Yes!"

5:00 minute mark in the Fourth Quarter - Cavs down 5 and looks like its slipping away:
"Oh no, I will never see a Cleveland Championship in any sport!! I think the Rock and Roll HOF just collapsed. I think they took the Drew Carey show out of Syndication. I think a Browns draft pick just got injuried in minicamp. Whyyyyyyyyyyy meeeeeeeeee!?!?!!?!!?"

2:00 in the 4th qtr - LeBron starts to REALLY take over:
"They are getting my hopes up again!!"

Flips channel over to the Tribe crushing the Tigers:
"Ha!! Way to go Tribe, did they even play in Boston this week? Those games seem like a distant memory - back on track! Yippee!"

LeBron makes final shot and Cavs win, Tribe cruise to big win over Verlander:
"Holy Bleep!!!!! I am going to set my Tivo to record ESPN, ESPN2, ESPNNEWS, ESPNDeportes! Cleveland will be the lead story on all programs!!! Hah! Take that New York, LA, Boston!!! I am going to record the NBC Nightly News with Brian Williams just in case Cleveland's victory has crossed over into mainstream national news!!! I can't wait! CLEVELAND ROCKS! CLEVELAND ROCKS! CLEVELAND ROCKS!! :)


The above was all in good fun BTW, I am pulling for King James and the Cavs. That was an amazing game. Single best one-man-band performance I have seen since AI made the finals and dropped 40+ on the LAL in game 1 (and had a classic AI quote after the game saying (when asked if he was tired) "Fatigue? Thats just clothes to me. Army fatigues. I don't know no fatigues". I would put it right up there with AI and MJ performance in the garden. Sure MJ, Bird, Magic all have had monster games in the playoffs, but the majority of their huge games they were playing on the favored team. The MJ performance in 86 is the exception. You hang 63 in the Garden (playoff record - there have been a few playoff games in that building) against one of the greatest teams in NBA history.... That gets number 1 in my book. But this was pretty close.

If the Cavs do win and have to play the Spurs there are a lot of similarities between that AI squad and this Cavs team. Playing a heavily favored, experienced championship team, with some super stars. In that series if Raja bell makes a floater in game 2 they have the LAL down 0-2 going back to Philly. The Lakers probably still win, but it certainly would have made it a more interesting series.