When it rains it poors - 3 blog postings in 30 minutes... now I can take another week off from updating this bloody thing!
Tonight was the draft for our 'dueces wild' baseball league. The name eludes to a league with 15 participants, each of whom has 2 major league baseball teams. For the most part this is a very obvious game of: what team has the most wins. There are a couple small twists but for the most part: that's it.
I can't quite believe that I got the RedSox at #9. I actually had them #1 on my list - now, I would be the first to admit that had I had the first pick: I might have put a little more thought into who really should be #1, but it definitely shows you that I was NOT expecting them to be still on the board at #9! The rankings I saw beforehand had them at: CBS (5), FOX (1), ESPN (6), USA-TODAY (5).
I was also actually very happy to get the Tigers with my second pick. I had them at #20 on my board and got them at the #22 pick.
The worst picks in my mind were the Mets (3), Cubs (13), and Giants (15). The Mets clearly taking the cake as the consensus "what the heck was that?" pick of the draft.
Best picks, I have to like Bos (9) as the biggest steal. Twins (19) is also a pretty good one, I think.
Color coded picks: Jim, Hobber, Geer
So, without further ado; The order of teams picked
1 New York Yankees
2 Chicago White Sox
3 New York Mets
4 St. Louis Cardinals
5 Atlanta Braves
6 Oakland A's
7 Cleveland Indians
8 Los Angeles Angels
9 Boston Red Sox
10 Milwaukee Brewers
11 Texas Rangers
12 Toronto Blue Jays
13 Chicago Cubs
14 Los Angeles Dodgers
15 San Francisco Giants
16 Philadelphia Phillies
17 Houston Astros
18 Baltimore Orioles
19 Minnesota Twins
20 San Diego Padres
21 Seattle Mariners
22 Detroit Tigers
23 Pittsburgh Pirates
24 Washington Nationals
25 Tampa Bay Devil Rays
26 Cincinatti Reds
27 Arizona Diamondbacks
28 Colorado Rockies
29 Florida Marlins
30 Kansas City Royals
3.31.2006
Cigars All Around
Congratulations on the birth of Samuel London Almaer! Dion and Emily are proud first time parents! Can't wait to meet the little guy!
and more Felicitations to Mr.Scott Martin and Ms.Sara Meier on deciding to tie the knot!
Exciting times all around!
and more Felicitations to Mr.Scott Martin and Ms.Sara Meier on deciding to tie the knot!
Exciting times all around!
Big Happenings In Maine
So, as you may already know my brother Mike got his #1 match for residency and is headed to Maine! This week he and Sheila are out in Maine house hunting and checking out the area in a bit more depth. The big news of the day: they've got a house already! Man, kids these days move fast. Can't wait to see the pictures of it. I'm sure they'll be on The Halblog in no time flat.
While the Claire's parents are out of town, Monnie and I went over to nana and bapas house (where Claire is staying for a couple days) to hang out. While looking at some of Sheila/Mike's online pictures we came across a certain one that she was not a big fan of.
Claire: make it change!
me: to what?
Claire: me! at grandmas house!
(luckily the next one on the page was just that and crisis was averted)
Just imagine if I had shown her this one!
While the Claire's parents are out of town, Monnie and I went over to nana and bapas house (where Claire is staying for a couple days) to hang out. While looking at some of Sheila/Mike's online pictures we came across a certain one that she was not a big fan of.
Claire: make it change!
me: to what?
Claire: me! at grandmas house!
(luckily the next one on the page was just that and crisis was averted)
Just imagine if I had shown her this one!
3.29.2006
Vegas Baby!
Just got back from a long weekend in Vegas where much fun was had by the 9 of us. We stayed at the glamourous Gold Spike hotel.
An excerpt from this review: "On the plus side, the smoke won't choke a horse like it used to. It'll just give the horse a hacking cough. Trust us, we bring horses in here all the time."
And it did live up to it's reputation. Getting checked in was a hassle of mammoth proportions: taking 45 minutes to get checked into a hotel with only one other guy in line has to be some sort of record. After that though, it was fine. You get what you pay for and when you pay $30/night for a a room with 2 beds... you aren't staying at the Bellagio.
We ended up spending most of our downtown time at The Plaza. It's a nice enough place and the table games suited us well. Burg attempted the "Big Daddy Burger Contest" but predictably fell short when he claimed he "thought it was only going to be 8 pounds".
I played at a few other places downtown including Binions. With the history that this place has, I really wanted to play some poker there - I'm glad I did, but I don't think that I really need to go back. The dealers were way under par and the room wasn't all that great - except for the history...
Most of our play on the strip was at Caesars. We watched 2 days of the NCAA tournament there, as well as playing some in their poker room. Our other NCAA games were watched at Mandalay Bay.
There was some more poker played in the very nice room of The Mirage. Not only was their room nice but they had action on Monday when it was hard to find elsewhere. One of the highlights of the trip was playing here on Sunday night with Tom Geer, a couple from the Napa Valley (who fit every stereotype there) and a completely intoxicated, muscle shirt wearing, "computer dude" from California who had stories on everything from his mormon ex-girlfriend to the lack of ice fishing in California.
All in all a great trip. Lots of fun and we'll be back again next year!
An excerpt from this review: "On the plus side, the smoke won't choke a horse like it used to. It'll just give the horse a hacking cough. Trust us, we bring horses in here all the time."
And it did live up to it's reputation. Getting checked in was a hassle of mammoth proportions: taking 45 minutes to get checked into a hotel with only one other guy in line has to be some sort of record. After that though, it was fine. You get what you pay for and when you pay $30/night for a a room with 2 beds... you aren't staying at the Bellagio.
We ended up spending most of our downtown time at The Plaza. It's a nice enough place and the table games suited us well. Burg attempted the "Big Daddy Burger Contest" but predictably fell short when he claimed he "thought it was only going to be 8 pounds".
I played at a few other places downtown including Binions. With the history that this place has, I really wanted to play some poker there - I'm glad I did, but I don't think that I really need to go back. The dealers were way under par and the room wasn't all that great - except for the history...
Most of our play on the strip was at Caesars. We watched 2 days of the NCAA tournament there, as well as playing some in their poker room. Our other NCAA games were watched at Mandalay Bay.
There was some more poker played in the very nice room of The Mirage. Not only was their room nice but they had action on Monday when it was hard to find elsewhere. One of the highlights of the trip was playing here on Sunday night with Tom Geer, a couple from the Napa Valley (who fit every stereotype there) and a completely intoxicated, muscle shirt wearing, "computer dude" from California who had stories on everything from his mormon ex-girlfriend to the lack of ice fishing in California.
All in all a great trip. Lots of fun and we'll be back again next year!
3.20.2006
Seeking Alpha
Well, it’s been a whirlwind of a last week but I’ve gone from not having any new employment opportunities on my radar (and not really looking for any) to accepting a new position!
It became official last Friday – 4/7 will be my last day for Smart Solutions (on contract at American Family Insurance) and I’ll be starting up right away (4/10) at Seeking Alpha. Seeking Alpha is going to be a great company to work with and I’m finding myself more and more excited at the prospect everyday.
Many changes will come along with it…
Working from home:
instead of the office:
Working on a very small team:
v. working in a very large department:
It became official last Friday – 4/7 will be my last day for Smart Solutions (on contract at American Family Insurance) and I’ll be starting up right away (4/10) at Seeking Alpha. Seeking Alpha is going to be a great company to work with and I’m finding myself more and more excited at the prospect everyday.
Many changes will come along with it…
:
Working from home:
instead of the office:
Working on a very small team:
v. working in a very large department:
Coldplay @ Bradley Center
We saw Coldplay for the second time this year on Sunday night. Monnie and I have both really gotten into them over the last year or two and really enjoyed the show. As with the show at Alpine we were joined by one Mr.Tom Geer. This time Mike and Steph Fox came along too.
It was a very good show. Lots of energy and volume, although I was somewhat surprised that those in the balcony (us) didn’t stand the whole show – I can’t really complain though as that’s often my preference anyway.
(not our pick, but it is from the same show… thanks Flickr)
It was a very good show. Lots of energy and volume, although I was somewhat surprised that those in the balcony (us) didn’t stand the whole show – I can’t really complain though as that’s often my preference anyway.
(not our pick, but it is from the same show… thanks Flickr)
3.12.2006
Fantasy Baseball Begins
The fantasy baseball season is underway and I'd have to give my draft a... C. It's probably the worst draft that I've had since my first year in the league. Of course, the draft isn't everything. Like everything, a large amount of luck is involved. Last year I felt like I had a pretty good draft - a couple months and 4 or 5 key injuries later... I was off to the worst season in fantasy baseball history (or at least it had to be close!).
Anyway, I really am going to try to avoid picking for anyone but myself next year. It just makes it a whole lot harder to keep up when not only are you making your own picks, but also trying to cross off names and make choices for a 2nd team. That said though: I am very glad that Kevin/Chad joined the league on literally the last day before the draft to round out our desired field of 12. So, given the short notice they had it was completely understandable that they couldn't make it - and picking for two was definitely worth it to get them into the league.
What went wrong:
I wasn't really able to keep track of my team to the degree that I wanted and ended up with a ridiculous number (5!) players eligible at 1B. Granted, two of them are eligible to play other positions - but still... too much. I also somehow ended up missing the fact that I don't have enough relievers. I ended up picking 3 when we need to have at least 4.
So, before the season starts I'll be trying to either trade or pick up free agents to get at least one more reliever. It would be ideal if I could trade a 1B (or maybe 2!) but we'll see how that goes.
There were the typical surprises in the draft - players being picked way sooner than you thought they should be. The biggest surprises though were regarding the players that made it DEEP into the draft or even went undrafted. The memorable ones for me:
* I picked Jorge Posada in the 16th round. I already had a catcher at that point but it was just ridiculous that he was still out there so I pulled the trigger.
* My final three picks were Matt Morris, Carl Pavano, and Craig Monroe. It's quite conceivable that 2 of those 3 guys will be in my starting lineup 75% of my season.
Anyway, I really am going to try to avoid picking for anyone but myself next year. It just makes it a whole lot harder to keep up when not only are you making your own picks, but also trying to cross off names and make choices for a 2nd team. That said though: I am very glad that Kevin/Chad joined the league on literally the last day before the draft to round out our desired field of 12. So, given the short notice they had it was completely understandable that they couldn't make it - and picking for two was definitely worth it to get them into the league.
What went wrong:
I wasn't really able to keep track of my team to the degree that I wanted and ended up with a ridiculous number (5!) players eligible at 1B. Granted, two of them are eligible to play other positions - but still... too much. I also somehow ended up missing the fact that I don't have enough relievers. I ended up picking 3 when we need to have at least 4.
So, before the season starts I'll be trying to either trade or pick up free agents to get at least one more reliever. It would be ideal if I could trade a 1B (or maybe 2!) but we'll see how that goes.
There were the typical surprises in the draft - players being picked way sooner than you thought they should be. The biggest surprises though were regarding the players that made it DEEP into the draft or even went undrafted. The memorable ones for me:
* I picked Jorge Posada in the 16th round. I already had a catcher at that point but it was just ridiculous that he was still out there so I pulled the trigger.
* My final three picks were Matt Morris, Carl Pavano, and Craig Monroe. It's quite conceivable that 2 of those 3 guys will be in my starting lineup 75% of my season.
3.10.2006
A very good read
Rob recently pointed me to the blog of Malcolm Gladwell. (Tipping Point, Blink, New Yorker Magazine)
There are several interesting posts out there, but for you sports fans this one is a MUST read. It's a little lengthy (the second piece is here) but it's very interesting.
It's several emails exchanged between Gladwell and Bill Simmons. Very much worth it - thanks for pointing it out Rob.
There are several interesting posts out there, but for you sports fans this one is a MUST read. It's a little lengthy (the second piece is here) but it's very interesting.
It's several emails exchanged between Gladwell and Bill Simmons. Very much worth it - thanks for pointing it out Rob.
3.08.2006
Craig is my friend
I just used Craig's list for the first time and it was a great experience. Simple concept - simple to use - simple to read - just all around easy.
Unfortunately, the combination of an engagement party and my fantasy baseball draft (both in Chicago) are keeping me away from the Belle & Sebastian show at the Riverside this weekend. It really stinks: I was very much looking forward to the show, especially after their newest album.
but I posted on Craig's list that I had a ticket to get rid of - at face value - and the show is sold out. I had 4 people email me about it within 4 hours. One of them had sent me a check + I had the ticket in the mail to him a couple hours after that. Although JNo had offered to sell the ticket outside the door for me (thanks a ton!) I felt a lot better about it this way. I kept having images in my head of it sleeting or something and he's stuck standing out in the rain trying to get people to buy the stupid ticket or whatever. This way was completely painless.
Anyway, a vote for Craig's list: aye.
Unfortunately, the combination of an engagement party and my fantasy baseball draft (both in Chicago) are keeping me away from the Belle & Sebastian show at the Riverside this weekend. It really stinks: I was very much looking forward to the show, especially after their newest album.
but I posted on Craig's list that I had a ticket to get rid of - at face value - and the show is sold out. I had 4 people email me about it within 4 hours. One of them had sent me a check + I had the ticket in the mail to him a couple hours after that. Although JNo had offered to sell the ticket outside the door for me (thanks a ton!) I felt a lot better about it this way. I kept having images in my head of it sleeting or something and he's stuck standing out in the rain trying to get people to buy the stupid ticket or whatever. This way was completely painless.
Anyway, a vote for Craig's list: aye.
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