We're 4 weeks into the 2008 fantasy football season, and I'm racking up the points in the IFFL (Immanuel Fantasy Football League) like there's no tomorrow. In Weeks 1, 3 and 4, I put up the second most weekly points in the league, and in week 2, I scored the most points for the week. So what do I have to show for my superior drafting and managing skills? I'm tied for the worst record in the league at 1-3.
Yes, In weeks 1, 3 and 4, I had the misfortune of going up against the team who scored the most points in that particular week. I would love to know what the statistical probability of that happening twice in a season, let alone three times in 4 weeks (Jeff, I'm assigning you that task)!
It's like having an Aces high full house in poker only to get beat by four deuce's on the river.
* if that analogy means nothing to you, I want to play poker with you soon *
I have to believe this is going to turn itself around, but I also know that I have the worst luck in the world, and could very easily see this scenario every week. Of course, the longer it continues, the more blog fodder I have, so I suppose there is a silver lining in my misfortune.
On second, thought...
Tuesday, September 30, 2008
One...lousy...4-pin...away...
Week 4 of bowling brought me as close to that elusive perfect game as I've gotten in recent years. The lanes were quirky last night, as I had to fight to keep the ball outside enough to turn it into the pocket. If the angle entry was too shallow, I was leaving a lot of 6-, 9- and 10-pins. If I brought it in too steep, I was leaving a lot of 4- and 7- pins. There was maybe a 3-board margin of error last night.
The first game I spent trying to find the right combination of angle, speed, location and torque. It took me a while, but by the 9th frame, I finally found what I needed, finishing with 4 strikes and a 177 game. I carried the first 2 in the second game as well, giving me 6 strikes in a row. In the 3rd frame, I thought I had my 7th, only to be foiled by a wobbly 4-pin. If the pin-setter had been a few seconds slower, it might have fallen, but we'll never know.
By itself, a 4-pin is not that untypical for me. I've often started a game with a couple strikes, only to leave a single pin spare on what I thought was a decent pocket. But what really stinks about this particular one is that I ran off 9 more consecutive strikes to finish with a 279. That lousy 4-pin is all that kept me from a 300!
Game three was spent trying to adjust to the inevitable breakdown of the lane conditions, and I finished with a 183, throwing a strike on the left lane every time, and a spare or split on the right lane every time.
When the dust settled, I finished with a 639 series, keeping my 213 average intact for the season.
The unfortunate thing is we lost 3 out of 4 points on the night, which drops us down to 8-8 on the season. It was a rough night for everyone on the Boilers squad.
The first game I spent trying to find the right combination of angle, speed, location and torque. It took me a while, but by the 9th frame, I finally found what I needed, finishing with 4 strikes and a 177 game. I carried the first 2 in the second game as well, giving me 6 strikes in a row. In the 3rd frame, I thought I had my 7th, only to be foiled by a wobbly 4-pin. If the pin-setter had been a few seconds slower, it might have fallen, but we'll never know.
By itself, a 4-pin is not that untypical for me. I've often started a game with a couple strikes, only to leave a single pin spare on what I thought was a decent pocket. But what really stinks about this particular one is that I ran off 9 more consecutive strikes to finish with a 279. That lousy 4-pin is all that kept me from a 300!
Game three was spent trying to adjust to the inevitable breakdown of the lane conditions, and I finished with a 183, throwing a strike on the left lane every time, and a spare or split on the right lane every time.
When the dust settled, I finished with a 639 series, keeping my 213 average intact for the season.
The unfortunate thing is we lost 3 out of 4 points on the night, which drops us down to 8-8 on the season. It was a rough night for everyone on the Boilers squad.
Monday, September 22, 2008
Sales Lady from Hades…but she has 48 years experience!
Now that our basement is finished, our intent was to put our old futon and recliner in there until more suitable options could be found and procured. However, that plan has been quickly scrapped by my beautiful wife, who has deemed the basement much too nice looking to put our old futon and recliner in it. While I definitely agree that the basement does look incredible (accented nicely by our newly acquired pool table!), I had hoped to put off the purchase of new furniture a little longer than, say, 1 day.
Truth be told, we had been casually looking around at some furniture pieces off and on for a couple of weeks, not intending to actually purchase anything, but to get ideas of what was available. I’ve become quite alarmed at the rather prevalent shift in ‘contemporary’ furniture that looks like it’s trying to mimic the lovely designs of the 60’s and 70’s, but that’s a whole other rant.
In our looking around, we did find a piece that we both liked – a minor miracle in itself – and according to the measurements on the tag, it would fit in the space we are working with in the basement. So, with the newly developed sense of urgency, I found myself groggily climbing into the car first thing Saturday morning and heading off to the furniture store, prepared to take advantage of the 55%-off sale they were having.
We get to the store, only to discover that the dimensions on the tag were incorrect, and the piece was almost 14 inches longer than would fit in the space we’re working with. This, of course, set us on a day long journey to no fewer than 6 other furniture stores, including one particular store 30 miles away, only to find out it was closed as it prepared it’s inventory for it’s going out of business sale.
If you’ve managed to read this far without falling asleep, I’m sure you’re wondering when I’m going to explain the title of this little essay. Well, wait no longer.
After the disappointment of learning the piece we liked would not fit, we found ourselves heading to another furniture store here in Mechanicsburg. This particular store is quite expansive – two floors, thousands of square feet on each floor, massive amounts of couches, love seats, table, chairs, recliners, beds, dressers, etc. for one to choose from. It would be easy to spend 4 or 5 hours just browsing. As you enter the store, you have the option of going left or right, or heading up the staircase to the second floor. Of course, as you enter the store, you are also greeted by at least one overly-enthusiastic vultur- er, I mean salesperson.
We walked in, and before we could get to the point where we had to choose if we were going left, right, or up, Doris (names have not been changed to protect the ignorant) had practically run from her salesperson post to greet us. We received the typical “Welcome to our store” routine. We responded, indicating that we were merely looking to browse and get some ideas. In most cases, this would have been enough to send the salesperson back to her desk. But Doris would not be deterred. Here’s a brief synopsis of our conversation. Doris will be in italics, our responses will be in bold.
“Welcome to Furniture. Have you been in our showroom before?”
“Yes, and we’re just looking around today, getting some ideas.”
“Oh I see, well, you obviously are looking for a recliner, since you were headed upstairs. All our recliners are upstairs. I’d be glad to assist you in your selection.” (keep in mind that she stopped us before we were able to choose a direction).
“No, actually, we’re looking for a couch or a sectional piece.”
“Oh, well, then why were you heading upstairs? Our couches and sectionals are on the lower level. You really didn’t need to even go upstairs.” (the sound you heard was the grinding of my teeth).
“Well, thank you for clearing that up. As we said, we are just looking around, getting some ideas.”
“Of course, take your time, and let me know if you need any help.”
If our interaction had ended there, I would probably not be writing this. However, five minutes later, I stumbled upon a modular sectional, and had called for Anita to come take a look. This was my ultimate mistake on two levels. First, I audibly called for Anita, which not only got Anita’s attention, but alerted Doris to our location in the showroom. My second mistake was my call to Anita provided Doris with the indication that I was interested in the piece as a possible solution to our furniture needs.
“Ah, I see you’ve found the Kasey. This is a wonderful piece, and would obviously meet your needs.”
“Yes, well, we're going to take a look at the possible configurations to make sure we can find one that would fit in the space we have available.”
“Of course this will fit into your space. You can configure this into to any number of layouts to fit the space you have. How much space are we talking about?”
“92 to 96 inches.”
“Well, I have 48 years experience in interior design. I laid out this store and selected all the colors and patterns for every piece of furniture we have on the showroom floor. So I know that this will fit in your basement, and these colors would look perfect for you.” (the piece was a sage green. Our basement is bisque, and the pool table felt is burgundy, none of which was ever discussed, so obviously the color would match perfectly…).
“Well, we still want to take a look around and see what other options are out there”
“Why would you want to do that? We can make this piece work for you. See, if you put these three pieces together, you can create a side that is 9 feet long, which will work for your allotted space.” (I’ll pause while you do the math)
“Um, no, we only have 92 to 96 inches to work with, so we’d need to try something else.”
“You have obviously been looking around for a while and should know the space you have to work with. I’ve been doing this for 48 years, and if you have 96 inches to work with, you obviously can fit a 9 foot long piece into your space.”
“All the same, we’re going to look at some other options.”
I got up and walked away before giving Doris a chance to respond. It was everything I could do not to take her 48 years of experience and cram it down her throat. She may have 48 years of experience (which she mentioned no fewer than 9 times during the course of our conversations), but she obviously can’t do 2nd grade math, and must be deaf as well. We left the store feeling angry and belittled. Not exactly the best way to make a sale in my opinion.
And in case you’re interested, we did find a piece we liked on Sunday at a completely different store, and will most likely be making the purchase this evening.
Truth be told, we had been casually looking around at some furniture pieces off and on for a couple of weeks, not intending to actually purchase anything, but to get ideas of what was available. I’ve become quite alarmed at the rather prevalent shift in ‘contemporary’ furniture that looks like it’s trying to mimic the lovely designs of the 60’s and 70’s, but that’s a whole other rant.
In our looking around, we did find a piece that we both liked – a minor miracle in itself – and according to the measurements on the tag, it would fit in the space we are working with in the basement. So, with the newly developed sense of urgency, I found myself groggily climbing into the car first thing Saturday morning and heading off to the furniture store, prepared to take advantage of the 55%-off sale they were having.
We get to the store, only to discover that the dimensions on the tag were incorrect, and the piece was almost 14 inches longer than would fit in the space we’re working with. This, of course, set us on a day long journey to no fewer than 6 other furniture stores, including one particular store 30 miles away, only to find out it was closed as it prepared it’s inventory for it’s going out of business sale.
If you’ve managed to read this far without falling asleep, I’m sure you’re wondering when I’m going to explain the title of this little essay. Well, wait no longer.
After the disappointment of learning the piece we liked would not fit, we found ourselves heading to another furniture store here in Mechanicsburg. This particular store is quite expansive – two floors, thousands of square feet on each floor, massive amounts of couches, love seats, table, chairs, recliners, beds, dressers, etc. for one to choose from. It would be easy to spend 4 or 5 hours just browsing. As you enter the store, you have the option of going left or right, or heading up the staircase to the second floor. Of course, as you enter the store, you are also greeted by at least one overly-enthusiastic vultur- er, I mean salesperson.
We walked in, and before we could get to the point where we had to choose if we were going left, right, or up, Doris (names have not been changed to protect the ignorant) had practically run from her salesperson post to greet us. We received the typical “Welcome to our store” routine. We responded, indicating that we were merely looking to browse and get some ideas. In most cases, this would have been enough to send the salesperson back to her desk. But Doris would not be deterred. Here’s a brief synopsis of our conversation. Doris will be in italics, our responses will be in bold.
“Welcome to
“Yes, and we’re just looking around today, getting some ideas.”
“Oh I see, well, you obviously are looking for a recliner, since you were headed upstairs. All our recliners are upstairs. I’d be glad to assist you in your selection.” (keep in mind that she stopped us before we were able to choose a direction).
“No, actually, we’re looking for a couch or a sectional piece.”
“Oh, well, then why were you heading upstairs? Our couches and sectionals are on the lower level. You really didn’t need to even go upstairs.” (the sound you heard was the grinding of my teeth).
“Well, thank you for clearing that up. As we said, we are just looking around, getting some ideas.”
“Of course, take your time, and let me know if you need any help.”
If our interaction had ended there, I would probably not be writing this. However, five minutes later, I stumbled upon a modular sectional, and had called for Anita to come take a look. This was my ultimate mistake on two levels. First, I audibly called for Anita, which not only got Anita’s attention, but alerted Doris to our location in the showroom. My second mistake was my call to Anita provided Doris with the indication that I was interested in the piece as a possible solution to our furniture needs.
“Ah, I see you’ve found the Kasey. This is a wonderful piece, and would obviously meet your needs.”
“Yes, well, we're going to take a look at the possible configurations to make sure we can find one that would fit in the space we have available.”
“Of course this will fit into your space. You can configure this into to any number of layouts to fit the space you have. How much space are we talking about?”
“92 to 96 inches.”
“Well, I have 48 years experience in interior design. I laid out this store and selected all the colors and patterns for every piece of furniture we have on the showroom floor. So I know that this will fit in your basement, and these colors would look perfect for you.” (the piece was a sage green. Our basement is bisque, and the pool table felt is burgundy, none of which was ever discussed, so obviously the color would match perfectly…).
“Well, we still want to take a look around and see what other options are out there”
“Why would you want to do that? We can make this piece work for you. See, if you put these three pieces together, you can create a side that is 9 feet long, which will work for your allotted space.” (I’ll pause while you do the math)
“Um, no, we only have 92 to 96 inches to work with, so we’d need to try something else.”
“You have obviously been looking around for a while and should know the space you have to work with. I’ve been doing this for 48 years, and if you have 96 inches to work with, you obviously can fit a 9 foot long piece into your space.”
“All the same, we’re going to look at some other options.”
I got up and walked away before giving Doris a chance to respond. It was everything I could do not to take her 48 years of experience and cram it down her throat. She may have 48 years of experience (which she mentioned no fewer than 9 times during the course of our conversations), but she obviously can’t do 2nd grade math, and must be deaf as well. We left the store feeling angry and belittled. Not exactly the best way to make a sale in my opinion.
And in case you’re interested, we did find a piece we liked on Sunday at a completely different store, and will most likely be making the purchase this evening.
Saturday, September 20, 2008
A Bed Skirt, seriously?
Okay, I need some assistance from the 4 or 5 faithful readers that I have. Yesterday, for reasons that I couldn't begin to explain here, I decided to wash the sheets on our bed. No, it's not the first time I've ever done it. In fact, I just washed them 2 weeks ago. But because of said situation, I had to remove the mattress from our bed, which gave me unencumbered access to the bed skirt. So I figured, I'm washing the rest of the sheets, why not this as well. This seemed like a logical action to me. So in the washing machine everything went. Afterwards, it all went into the dryer. No muss, no fuss. Everybody happy, right? Matt took initiative, did something that would both benefit the Smith household and please his beautiful wife.
Of course, as our evenings tend to go, we were out and about for most of the night, and when we returned home, the sheets were dry, but obviously a little wrinkled. But they were clean and fresh smelling. And I was anxious to get to bed, as it had been quite a long day. So I proceeded to put the sheets back on the bed, starting with the bed skirt, which was also quite wrinkled. But since Anita and I are the only ones who ever really get to see our bed, I figured it was not that big of a deal, and the wrinkles would, in time, work themselves out.
This, apparently, was not the correct solution. When Anita saw the bed skirt, it triggered an intense need to not only make the wrinkles disappear, but to do so that very instant. so, at midnight, I am standing in our room, holding our mattress up so that she can iron the bed skirt. Needless to say, this did not make either of us very happy.
So, what did we learn from this situation? Apparently, bed skirts are never to be washed. But if that is the case, why do they put washing/care instructions on them? And, if they are never to be washed, why are they made of a material that can, well, get dirty?
So, to my faithful few, please show me the error of my ways or provide me a leg to stand on!
Of course, as our evenings tend to go, we were out and about for most of the night, and when we returned home, the sheets were dry, but obviously a little wrinkled. But they were clean and fresh smelling. And I was anxious to get to bed, as it had been quite a long day. So I proceeded to put the sheets back on the bed, starting with the bed skirt, which was also quite wrinkled. But since Anita and I are the only ones who ever really get to see our bed, I figured it was not that big of a deal, and the wrinkles would, in time, work themselves out.
This, apparently, was not the correct solution. When Anita saw the bed skirt, it triggered an intense need to not only make the wrinkles disappear, but to do so that very instant. so, at midnight, I am standing in our room, holding our mattress up so that she can iron the bed skirt. Needless to say, this did not make either of us very happy.
So, what did we learn from this situation? Apparently, bed skirts are never to be washed. But if that is the case, why do they put washing/care instructions on them? And, if they are never to be washed, why are they made of a material that can, well, get dirty?
So, to my faithful few, please show me the error of my ways or provide me a leg to stand on!
Tuesday, September 16, 2008
Some recent random highlights
On Thursday of last week, I finally broke down and set up a Facebook page. I'm not sure about the whole social networking thing, but my primary goal is to use it as a central site to keep in touch with the college kids from church. And since most of them are on Facebook, I figured I better crawl out of the dark ages and get on board. So far, 31 friends and counting. I even figured out how to set up a group on Facebook for the college ministry, and there are 19 students already logged into that as well. Now, if I could only figure out the flair...
Saturday, I turned 36 with little fanfare, which was pretty much how I wanted it.
Sunday, we had 35 students from Messiah stick around for lunch after service. I was completely blown away by this. We had to have close to 60 students in our morning service. As a church, we're studying the "Experiencing God" material by Henry Blackaby, and one of the key tenets is to find where God is moving and join Him there. For whatever reason, one of the areas Immanuel is seeing some serious movement is in our college ministry. It is simultaneously exciting and scary. I'm trusting that if God is bringing these kids to us, then He is equipping us for ministry to and with them. Hard to believe that this all started with 4 or 5 faithful students 4 years ago. Immanuel Church has never drawn Messiah kids by the droves like some of the other churches in the area, but we have always been blessed with quality students, ones who are seeking to serve and connect with a local church family. It was that way when I was a student, and it continues to be that way now!
Monday night was week 2 of the 2008-2009 Almech Bowling league (and, sorry Jeff, I don't know what Almech stands for either). We took all three games and series tonight as a team, making us 7-1 on the season so far. I also managed to pull off a 698 series on the night with a high game of 250, putting me in first place in the league in both categories...briefly. One of the guys in our league decided to do me one better and shot a 300 game and a 779 series. But hey, the season is young. I'm still hoping for my elusive second 300 game. We're down on the good lanes in the house (1-14) this year, so it's definitely possible if I can keep my head screwed on straight.
So that's the rundown since my last post. Hopefully I'll get back to being a bit more regular with these.
Saturday, I turned 36 with little fanfare, which was pretty much how I wanted it.
Sunday, we had 35 students from Messiah stick around for lunch after service. I was completely blown away by this. We had to have close to 60 students in our morning service. As a church, we're studying the "Experiencing God" material by Henry Blackaby, and one of the key tenets is to find where God is moving and join Him there. For whatever reason, one of the areas Immanuel is seeing some serious movement is in our college ministry. It is simultaneously exciting and scary. I'm trusting that if God is bringing these kids to us, then He is equipping us for ministry to and with them. Hard to believe that this all started with 4 or 5 faithful students 4 years ago. Immanuel Church has never drawn Messiah kids by the droves like some of the other churches in the area, but we have always been blessed with quality students, ones who are seeking to serve and connect with a local church family. It was that way when I was a student, and it continues to be that way now!
Monday night was week 2 of the 2008-2009 Almech Bowling league (and, sorry Jeff, I don't know what Almech stands for either). We took all three games and series tonight as a team, making us 7-1 on the season so far. I also managed to pull off a 698 series on the night with a high game of 250, putting me in first place in the league in both categories...briefly. One of the guys in our league decided to do me one better and shot a 300 game and a 779 series. But hey, the season is young. I'm still hoping for my elusive second 300 game. We're down on the good lanes in the house (1-14) this year, so it's definitely possible if I can keep my head screwed on straight.
So that's the rundown since my last post. Hopefully I'll get back to being a bit more regular with these.
Wednesday, September 10, 2008
Back on Track
I could try to come up with any number of excuses why I have not been to the gym in almost two months. I could probably generate a series of near facts and plausible circumstances that have prevented me from continuing on my journey of improving my physical condition and overall health. In fact, if I tried hard enough, I could probably even convince myself that those reasons were rationally sound and legitimate.
But, the sad fact is, I let other things get in my way, and the handful of opportunities I had to get back to the gym, I squandered on things like extra sleep and having dinner with my beautiful wife.
However, this evening, I returned to my modest self-improvement journey and returned to the gym. Truth be told, I was prompted more by a phone call from the gym asking for our new address than I was by a burning desire to get back to working out...or whatever you want to call what it is I'm doing.
So, after stretching out a bit, I jumped onto a nearby elliptical machine, and ran/elliped for 30 minutes, which included a 5 minute cool-down. I was pleasantly surprised when I hit the 1-mile mark at 10:10. Not bad for the first time back in 7 weeks. I was nearly giddy (yes, I said giddy, deal with it) when I hit the 2-mile mark at 20:05. I actually ran the second mile faster than the first by 15-seconds. I decided then not to press my luck, and slowed down significantly, hitting 2.5-miles at 27:00, and finishing at 2.7 miles for the 30 minutes on the machine.
After that, I quickly got up onto a stationary bike and set out on a 20-minute ride. Much to my surprise, I had pedaled 7.5 miles in those 20 minutes. I had put my towel over the read-out for my ride, as I was just looking to see how long I could pedal continuously without slowing down too much. I was actually shocked when I stopped to see how 'far' I had gone. Guess I'll go back tomorrow and see if I can match these numbers.
Makes me wonder where I'd be today if I hadn't taken that gym sabbatical for the last two months.
But, the sad fact is, I let other things get in my way, and the handful of opportunities I had to get back to the gym, I squandered on things like extra sleep and having dinner with my beautiful wife.
However, this evening, I returned to my modest self-improvement journey and returned to the gym. Truth be told, I was prompted more by a phone call from the gym asking for our new address than I was by a burning desire to get back to working out...or whatever you want to call what it is I'm doing.
So, after stretching out a bit, I jumped onto a nearby elliptical machine, and ran/elliped for 30 minutes, which included a 5 minute cool-down. I was pleasantly surprised when I hit the 1-mile mark at 10:10. Not bad for the first time back in 7 weeks. I was nearly giddy (yes, I said giddy, deal with it) when I hit the 2-mile mark at 20:05. I actually ran the second mile faster than the first by 15-seconds. I decided then not to press my luck, and slowed down significantly, hitting 2.5-miles at 27:00, and finishing at 2.7 miles for the 30 minutes on the machine.
After that, I quickly got up onto a stationary bike and set out on a 20-minute ride. Much to my surprise, I had pedaled 7.5 miles in those 20 minutes. I had put my towel over the read-out for my ride, as I was just looking to see how long I could pedal continuously without slowing down too much. I was actually shocked when I stopped to see how 'far' I had gone. Guess I'll go back tomorrow and see if I can match these numbers.
Makes me wonder where I'd be today if I hadn't taken that gym sabbatical for the last two months.
Monday, September 8, 2008
Finally, Something I'm Good At
Well, the 2008-2009 bowling season for the Almech League officially kicked off tonight. I had the fortune of having bowled a few games in recent weeks, so I wasn't as rusty as I had expected to be. Last year, my average dropped nearly 12 points from the previous season (from 208 down to 196), so I'm hoping to get it back up closer to the 210 average I am shooting for. I'd love to get it higher than that, but I'm certainly not going to complain if I can reach the 210 plateau.
I started off the season well with games of 200 - 224 - 190 for a 614 series, and just shy of a 205 average to start off with. I left a number of 10-pins tonight, converting 6 of the 8 I left, which is a pretty good ratio for me. The 10-pin is the bane of my bowling existence. Always has been. Some night's I can get it, others I can't get close. Most of my balls were in the pocket tonight, so I was pleased with that.
One of my goals this year is to try to relax more and have some more fun. I tend to take bowling way too seriously - I know, big shocker there. Hopefully having Jeff and Dan on the team this year will help me keep my cool and have some fun.
So, I'm sure you'll hear more of my bowling exploits from time to time on here. Who knows, maybe this will be the year I finally get that elusive second 300 game. I doubt it, but it's fun to dream.
I started off the season well with games of 200 - 224 - 190 for a 614 series, and just shy of a 205 average to start off with. I left a number of 10-pins tonight, converting 6 of the 8 I left, which is a pretty good ratio for me. The 10-pin is the bane of my bowling existence. Always has been. Some night's I can get it, others I can't get close. Most of my balls were in the pocket tonight, so I was pleased with that.
One of my goals this year is to try to relax more and have some more fun. I tend to take bowling way too seriously - I know, big shocker there. Hopefully having Jeff and Dan on the team this year will help me keep my cool and have some fun.
So, I'm sure you'll hear more of my bowling exploits from time to time on here. Who knows, maybe this will be the year I finally get that elusive second 300 game. I doubt it, but it's fun to dream.
Sunday, September 7, 2008
A Rough Start To The Fantasy Football Season
Well, if championships are won and lost in the first week, I'm going to be paddling upstream for the rest of the season. It has not been a kind Week 1 for the ol' Amish Electricians (McKeesport) / Mayhem (Mechanicsburg) squads. The Amish Electricians are down almost 50 points , and the Mayhem is fighting to get within 10 points, but both of my opponents have Adrian Peterson playing tomorrow night, so I have little doubt that I will be starting out 0-1 in both leagues.
The thing is, this has been one of the strangest opening weeks in recent years, from a fantasy perspective. Injuries have run rampant - Tom Brady might be lost for the season - and big name players did little to help their teams - Torry Holt and Chad Ocho Stinko en Fuego a-no-no had a combined 2 catches. On the flip side, Willie Parker had more TD's today than he had all of 2007, and Donovan McNabb had one of the best games in his career. Chicago is totally dominating Indianapolis as I type, and the Atlanta Falcons, universally picked to finish at or near the bottom or the league, wins their first game behind a rookie QB.
This is part of the fun and agony of fantasy football. You pick your guys, and you are left at the mercy of their performance on the field. Sometimes you get lucky, and sometimes you don't. I'm definitely on the unlucky side this week, but next week's another story.
The good news is I should get first crack at the waiver wire on Tuesday!
The better news is my beloved Steelers kicked some major tail at Heinz Field, showing that they will be a team to be reckoned with, especially given that they have the hardest schedule in the league.
So here's hoping my luck turns next week, and the Steelers keep rolling along against the Brownies.
The thing is, this has been one of the strangest opening weeks in recent years, from a fantasy perspective. Injuries have run rampant - Tom Brady might be lost for the season - and big name players did little to help their teams - Torry Holt and Chad Ocho Stinko en Fuego a-no-no had a combined 2 catches. On the flip side, Willie Parker had more TD's today than he had all of 2007, and Donovan McNabb had one of the best games in his career. Chicago is totally dominating Indianapolis as I type, and the Atlanta Falcons, universally picked to finish at or near the bottom or the league, wins their first game behind a rookie QB.
This is part of the fun and agony of fantasy football. You pick your guys, and you are left at the mercy of their performance on the field. Sometimes you get lucky, and sometimes you don't. I'm definitely on the unlucky side this week, but next week's another story.
The good news is I should get first crack at the waiver wire on Tuesday!
The better news is my beloved Steelers kicked some major tail at Heinz Field, showing that they will be a team to be reckoned with, especially given that they have the hardest schedule in the league.
So here's hoping my luck turns next week, and the Steelers keep rolling along against the Brownies.
Friday, September 5, 2008
A Golfer I Am Not
I’m sure you’ve all heard someone say “A bad day at golf beats a good day at work.” It’s a pithy, tongue-in-cheek remark that is usually only said by those who actually play golf. It’s a remark that I’d been known to utter from time to time. And until recently, I held true to it.
But after this summer, I’m more prone to agree with Mark Twain, who remarked that “Golf is a good walk spoiled.”
I’ve gotten out 5 times this summer, and my score got worse and worse with each round. Now, I don’t consider myself a ‘Golfer.’ A ‘Golfer’ is someone who plays regularly, usually from the blue tees, and can generally hit the ball in the general direction that they’re aiming, close to the fairway and/or green, and typically doesn’t need a sickle, scuba gear or chainsaw to play their next shot.
No, I’m more of a ‘Hacker’ when it comes to golf. And I was okay with that, because I was able to at least show minor improvement through the course of the summer, to the point that I was able to break 100 with some regular consistency. But this summer, I feel like I’ve never picked up a golf club before (And starting to question why I ever did in the first place). Take yesterday’s round as a great example. I hit more trees and put more balls in water in yesterday’s round than I have in all my rounds last summer. For every decent shot I hit – all 3 of them - I had 10 that were just contemptible. In fact, the best swing I had all day was when, after 15 or 16 consecutive horrid shots, I took a frustrating swing at a nearby tree. It was the first time all day that I made solid contact with something!
But after this summer, I’m more prone to agree with Mark Twain, who remarked that “Golf is a good walk spoiled.”
I’ve gotten out 5 times this summer, and my score got worse and worse with each round. Now, I don’t consider myself a ‘Golfer.’ A ‘Golfer’ is someone who plays regularly, usually from the blue tees, and can generally hit the ball in the general direction that they’re aiming, close to the fairway and/or green, and typically doesn’t need a sickle, scuba gear or chainsaw to play their next shot.
No, I’m more of a ‘Hacker’ when it comes to golf. And I was okay with that, because I was able to at least show minor improvement through the course of the summer, to the point that I was able to break 100 with some regular consistency. But this summer, I feel like I’ve never picked up a golf club before (And starting to question why I ever did in the first place). Take yesterday’s round as a great example. I hit more trees and put more balls in water in yesterday’s round than I have in all my rounds last summer. For every decent shot I hit – all 3 of them - I had 10 that were just contemptible. In fact, the best swing I had all day was when, after 15 or 16 consecutive horrid shots, I took a frustrating swing at a nearby tree. It was the first time all day that I made solid contact with something!
The thing is, I have no illusions to the reality that I’ll never be more than a hacker when it comes to golf. I don’t aspire to be a golfer, but I do desire to get better as I play more. And I’ve found that I usually do get better at something the more I play it. But golf is a different beast for me. In fact, I think it was the ‘class’ that I took last September that has actually caused my recent ineptitude. Before I took this class, I didn’t know what I was doing wrong to know the ‘correct’ way to fix it. I would fix things in such a way that worked for me, and it seemed to be sufficient, sometimes even effective. But now that I know what I’m doing wrong and the way I’m supposed to be doing it, I find myself thinking about it before every swing, trying to manipulate my body in such a way that is ‘correct.’ The problem is that I’m no longer comfortable with my stance or swing, and I can’t figure out what to do about it. I’m trying to forget everything this class taught me, but it’s hard to get rid of that information when I’m in the middle of a golf course.
The way I see it, I have three options at this point…
1) Go out and invest some money in some real golf instruction and a fitted set of clubs (I’m still playing with the Wal-Mart sale clubs I bought 10 years ago), and see if that makes a difference.
2) Throw my clubs in the Susquehanna River and forget I ever considered stepping foot on a golf course
3) Accept the fact that I pretty much suck at hitting a golf ball, and just try to enjoy the 4 hours spent on a golf course.
While option 2 is certainly appealing at the moment, option three is most likely the course I’ll take, but it will definitely be the hardest for me to accomplish.
The way I see it, I have three options at this point…
1) Go out and invest some money in some real golf instruction and a fitted set of clubs (I’m still playing with the Wal-Mart sale clubs I bought 10 years ago), and see if that makes a difference.
2) Throw my clubs in the Susquehanna River and forget I ever considered stepping foot on a golf course
3) Accept the fact that I pretty much suck at hitting a golf ball, and just try to enjoy the 4 hours spent on a golf course.
While option 2 is certainly appealing at the moment, option three is most likely the course I’ll take, but it will definitely be the hardest for me to accomplish.
After every round of golf, I'm reminded of why I bowl.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)
Posts
