Why Not...

I'm so so bad at sports predictions that I really shouldn't be entering March Madness pools and fantasy football leagues and all that stuff...so without further ado, here are my predictions for the 2008 MLB Season!

AL East - Boston
AL Central - Detroit
AL West - LA Angels
AL Wildcard - Cleveland

NL East - Atlanta
NL Central - Chicago Cubs
NL West - Arizona
NL Wildcard - NY Mets

AL Playoffs - LA over Cleveland, Detroit over Boston, LA over Detroit
NL Playoffs - Atlanta over Chicago, Arizona over NY Mets, Atlanta over Arizona
World Series - LA over Atlanta in 7

For Coach Price

My friend Brian wrote me an e-mail this morning to say that our JV football coach, Gary Price, had passed on from this world. Coach Price was very active with students at Monta Vista in other capacities as well; he worked in food service at the school, coached the women's basketball team, even coached baseball before I was in high school. My words will never convey quite as much as what Coach Price taught us personally, but I want to relate a few stories about him that can say a little about the kind of man he was:

1) We were not a very good football team our freshman year. We started off the season with a bunch of losses, and we were losing at halftime to another team (I don't remember which one). Coach Price finished up his halftime speech, and concluded with this: "Alright. We're down 14 to 0. We're gonna come back and win this game, and we're gonna start doing things right!"

That in itself wasn't special; every coach motivates his team in a similar fashion. The difference with Coach Price was that he was relentless in his optimism. Every Thursday, he would tell us: "Alright. We're oh and [however many games we lost]. We're gonna win tomorrow, and we're gonna start doing things right!" Even up until the last game at halftime, when we were 0-9, Coach Price kept a rosy outlook on the season and on life. I always appreciate that worldview, that we can't change what we have done in the past, but what's important is what we do from this point on in our lives.

2) A personal story: I quit the football team my sophomore year the weekend before school started. I hated practice and I didn't see myself playing very much anyway. Coach Price found me in the locker room that Monday and asked me why I quit. He didn't make any promises about playing time (I was a backup on offense and defense), but he said he needed me on the team.

Why would he go out of his way to keep a player who wasn't going to help him that much during the season? I'm not going to make the argument that he did it so a husky 14-year old would understand the idea of commitment, but he taught me something regardless.

3) A fun story: In that freshman football season, when we couldn't win a game, Coach Price gathered us all together one Thursday at the end of practice. We all took a knee on the JV football field, and he started talking to us (and I'm paraphrasing from memory):

"You guys are on the football team. You guys are supposed to be the stars...you're supposed to win. But who's gonna want an oh and nine team? Who wants to date an oh and nine quarterback?

(he looks around, and in the distance he takes note of a few students walking towards the pool, and he cracks a smile)

"See those guys over there? Those water polo boys in their speedos? Those guys are gonna get the girls. Those water polo boys are gonna steal our women!...Shoot! You guys gonna let that happen?"

By this point, the entire team is cracking up, Coach Ray is doubled over, and Coach Price is restraining his smile, trying to keep things light on the eve of our last game. That's my personal lasting image of Gary Price, keeping us in good spirits when we needed it the most.



Thanks Coach Price for all your hard work. May God bless and comfort your family and friends still in this world!

Spring Sports Update

In reference to this post a while back about how I can't win, here's the spring update at the halfway point:

Capital City Kickball - 5-0 (3 games left)
7x7 IM Soccer: 1-2 (season over)
IM Softball: 1-1 (6 games left)

That's a .700 winning percentage! I have shaved often.

Beardy Face Backup Plan

Three to Zip. Shutout. Crap.


We lost our IM soccer game, if you couldn't tell. That means I can't shave before WSCA this weekend, at which I'm supposed to look vaguely presentable. Technically I have no more intramural games until next week, so I'm going to have to resort to Super Extra Backup Plan B2 Beta 2.0, which is winning the majority of the weekly grad pickup games this Wednesday at 5 pm. That better work out because you don't even want to know what Plan C is. Okay, you probably do: Scrabble against Heather.

I Will Stop the Penalty Kick with my Face

If I make a deal with myself in my head, do I have to stick to it? If no one hears it? I can just break off the deal at anytime, right? Question mark? Wilson?

I decided to use an old motivational tool often used sports, and I'm afraid it's going to backfire. Here's the situation: with regards to winning percentage, I'm on probably the worst two-year run I've ever had in organized amateur sports. It's abysmal. 2-7 in PCAL summer basketball. 2-7 in spring basketball. 6-6 in PCAL basketball last year. 1-3 in intramural football (I'm not counting our second win--it was a forfeit). 0-3-1 in IM soccer. and something like 3-5-1 in kickball, which really shouldn't even count (although we did have a championship game for our "A" kickball team, but I played in that game and we lost!).

So in "real" amateur sports, the teams I have played on are 11-26-1 in the last two years. I'm not a math major, but if I consulted one on this he would come to the conclusion that the winning percentage derived from that record is: bad. Not "but there were some good games in there" bad. More like "you should really consider the common link on all those teams" bad.

Now we're entering my favorite season for intramurals: spring, the season of diamond-based sports and allergies. I will be playing at least 3 short-field soccer games, 8 softball games, and a few indoor soccer matches as well. I haven't really put any goals on the season in terms of winning percentage, but I did think to myself: "wouldn't it be funny if the teams I played on went 0-for-the-spring?" I thought I'd have at least make one victory a reason to celebrate, so I decided not to shave until we won our first game. What a motivator I am! I'm like Jack Welch.

I really don't know if my personal motivation has anything to do with 11-26-1, but maybe it does, and that's enough to make me try something different. Unfortunately, I kind of miscalculated the amount of games before the WSCA conference in Denver this weekend, at which I should probably look presentable. Three mistakes on my part: 1) I thought we would have more soccer games before mid-February, 2) I thought I was going to play intramural basketball, which I ended up not doing, and 3) I forgot that we were trying to get a first-week bye for kickball (yes, I would have counted kickball) because some people were going early to WSCA.

So now my face looks like this...

...and we have one game left before WSCA (we lost our first soccer game last week).

I guess my question is not really based on whether I have to keep my promise to myself, but honestly if things like this actually motivate people. I wonder if I am truly going to play differently with the added pressure of the possibility of a hairy face at WSCA, or if I do it because I want to add a little more excitement to the game. You would think wanting to win would be exciting enough!

We'll see how it goes on Tuesday night; I'd imagine Heather might pay off the other team.

I Would Have Passed Out Around Mile 2

Darrell and Becky came up from San Antonio a few weekends ago to run in the 3M Austin Half-Marathon. Many of you may think that is admirable, to run 13 miles. But isn't it more admirable to show up and watch people run? When you could have slept in? No? Okay.

For the record, Darrell and Becky have two small children, so the easiest plan for them was to sleep for a few hours in own home, wake up at 3:30 a.m., drive for two hours, and then run. In honor of them, below is a picture of many tired people crossing the finish line.

The only way I will ever run 13 miles for fun is if you have someone chasing me. Or a steak at the end.

Live Blogging the Super Bowl

I've decided to live-blog the Super Bowl, as I'm watching the game here at home and I don't think my dad will appreciate my inane comments and questions too much. I'll be talking about the game, the announcing, the commercials, and of course, CBS's predictable use of hip hop songs during montages about Peyton Manning and Rex Grossman. If you are viewing this blog during the game, please hit your refresh button every few minutes. Enjoy! (all times Pacific)
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8:58 pm Pacific - Well, I gotta say that the game delivered more on its hype than the commercials did. Even though the game was sloppy, what with all the turnovers and everything, it kept my attention from start to finish. I'm glad Tony Dungy mentioned his Christian faith in his post-game speech--that type of openness about Christianity on national television (in this case, the most watched event around the world) is welcome anytime to me.

As for the advertising, I would give the best overall Superbowl campaign to CareerBuilder for their "Don't just survive the workweek" spots. That first animated spot for Coke was probably my favorite single commercial. As for the other advertising, I am disappointed that there was not more creative in-game stuff. Actually, off the top of my head, I can't think of a single non-commercial that was creative enough to turn any heads. Maybe it's because CBS is a little more traditional. FOX would have changed the shape of the football during all instant replays to look more like a Coke bottle. Couldn't you just hear Joe Buck saying: "This Super Slo-Mo FoxTrax Instant Replay brought to you by Coke. Coke: Everything Tastes Better With a Coke."

Tim McCarver: "The point of football is to score more points that the other team."

Peace out from my first live-blog.

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7:00 - Who will be the first Colts player to say: "No one believed in us!"? My guess is Bob Sanders.

6:58 - Congratulations to the Colts, 29-17! I was one Bears TD and one Colts negative safety from getting the score exactly right.

6:56 - Well, this game is pretty much over. Let the Tony Dungy praise commence. If someone poured Gatorade on me, I would drink it.

6:49 - It's stopped raining, and we're approaching the 2-minute warning here and the Colts have a 12-point lead. If the Bears can keep them from running right into the endzone, then they still have a chance. Oh, and Devin Hester has to run it back because their offense has been inept.

6:37 - Our TV just exploded. Figuratively of course. I think we missed a sweet Delay of Game call.

6:30 - Is Rex Grossman trying to make it rain with these super high passes? Because IT'S ALREADY RAINING REX.

6:28 - Phil Simms said that the Colts wanted to put the Bears in a situation that they are not good at, which is coming from behind. Really? It's a good strategy to be winning? Fair assessment, I guess.

6:21 - I really hoped Rex Grossman would play well today so everyone would get off his back, but that was a crappy pass. It was like a Hail Mary to the flats. Colts TD, 28-17, but there's a challenge.

It's close, but the review evidence isn't overwhelming. And my predicition goes out the window. Booger McFarland is happy.

6:11 - Commercial Break: Katie Couric, Pro Bowl, The Masters...three in a row for CBS shows. Probably all in 30 seconds, so I guess that's okay.

6:04 - I think if I was allowed to be an NFL player for a day, I'd be a nose tackle. Offensive playmakers (quarterback, wide receiver, running back) get hit too much--I'd get snapped in half. I could never cut it on the O-Line. I'm not fast enough to play cornerback or linebacker. Nose tackle would be just right, because if I got one sack, or just one tackle, I'd be pretty satisfied.

6:03 - I'm pretty sure Barbaro is rooting for the Colts. Chicago hits a FG, 22-17 Colts. Go Barbaros.

6:01 - I have a good feeling the Bears will do something good with this short field. Could be a tie game going into the 4th quarter.

6:00 - Still waiting for the first John Cougar Mellancamp commercial. This IS our country, by the way.

5:56 - Robert Goulet.

AND AN OLD T-MOBILE COMMERCIAL. COME ON PEOPLE. I'm tuning out when I see these things.

5:52 - Phil Simms just intimated that Dominique Rhodes is a great sixth man. I'm pretty sure Simms played quarterback for the Giants, and I'm almost certain they played with eleven.

5:47 - Rex Grossman looks ridiculous, flopping around, dropping the ball. This Taco Bell thing with the lions saying "Carne Asada" is annoying.

Hey Van Heusen! A clothes ad for a brand I actually wear.

5:46 - Booger just tackled Rex.

5:44 - I wonder if guys change their cleats at halftime so they can have longer spikes.

5:35 - I know this is old news, but how in the world did we ever watch football before Sportvision created that yellow first-down line? I still don't understand the technology behind it. I don't get how it stays in the same place when the camera moves, and how it can appear on top of the grass but behind a green Jets jersey. Someone please explain this to me.

5:21 - There have been A LOT of promos for CBS shows...I would guess about 20 during the first half. I wonder if CBS wanted to reserve all those spots, or if they really couldn't get their asking price for say, 5 more spots. The network has a ton of power in a situation like this; they can embed show promos into the game itself (which they have done a little of, but maybe not enough). A important factor in paying for the rights to an event like this is the ability to promote your own shows, but I wonder if it can be done better in CBS's case.

I wonder how many people will start watching Two and a Half Men because of the commercials. I won't.

5:10 - This is as good a time as any to fold my laundry.

5:05 - Halftime show. I never cared much for Prince, but there is a pretty ridiculous In Living Color skit with Jamie Foxx playing Prince, selling jeans. Find it on YouTube.

From the neck up, with that front-tying headscarf on, Prince looks like he shoud be cleaning someone's house right now. He just looks like he's ready to scrub tile or something.

4:53 - Who's running KPIX exactly? Our reception cut out during the Frito-Lay Black History Month commercial for the first time today. Conspiracy.

4:51 - I'm pretty sure the American Heart Association was telling me to eat another sausage sandwich. I'm very full.

4:42 - I know this is not the point of High Definition (yes, it needs to be capitalized), but inclement weather looks so much cooler in HD. I'm actually kina hoping this rain will turn into snow.

4:38 - Weird replay graphics, but I like them . I never understood why networks don't try out new graphics in earlier playoff games, but I guess most networks want people to go: "oh, I've never seen that before." Of course, using that logic, you could insert a digital Koala Bear onto Joseph Addai's head at the start of every play.

4:36 Non-HD commercial, American Heart Association? That commercial was so unclear on my TV screen that I'm not sure if I'm supposed to exercise more or eat a tub of Crisco.

4:34 - Touchdown, Colts, good extra point, 16-14. Really good game so far.

4:30 - In all seriousness, the "user-created" commercials for Doritos and Chevy disgusted me. Seriously. "Cleanup at the register"? Gross. Stop it.

4:28 - I feel like there have already been 10 punts in this game.

4:26 - Over/Under on people Tank Johnson will shoot if the Bears lose: 1.

4:25 - I now want to drink Bud Light because a white dog got mud splashed on it and now looks like a dalmatian.

4:17 - That animated Coke commercial was pretty awesome. It certainly got my attention without having to resort to showing cleavage (c'mon Go Daddy, you said your commercial was going to be different this year).

4:13 - One year in Davis, Brian and I brought our desktop computers into the living room so we could work while we wached the Super Bowl. I don't even remember who was playing.

4:11 - I'm pretty sure Cedric Benson was lying on the ground because he wanted a rest. He looks sleepy.

4:08 - This game has more turnovers than a pie shop! HiyOOOO! Take that Woody Paige.

3:59 - YES. A commercial with immigrants trying to speak English. That'll get me every time. Bood Light.

3:56 - I've already seen that commercial, Schick! I'm not watching this game to see things I've already seen. Garbage.

3:53 - Is there a better name in football right now than Booger McFarland? Maybe Poopie McGee on the Seahawks...

3:51 - Two fumbles in 15 seconds. It's sloppy in Miami! Shoulda held the game in Buttonwillow.

3:50 - Yes, you did just hear "The Final Countdown" by Europe. Funny FedEx commercial. Except for the fact that there would be gravity on the Moon.

3:47 - Touchdown, Colts! I missed it--Dad asked me to check if the cat had food. I did see that botched X-point though.

3:45 - Dad's prediction:

"31, Colts."
"And the Bears?"
"Less than 31."

3:43 - Never gave my pick: Colts 27, Bears 24. Or 25.

3:40 - By the way, I'm hoping there will be at least one commercial this year that actually says something awesome about the product, hence justifying the 2.6 million dollars spent. I mean, it's cool to go for the whole irreverent thing, but it doesn't make me want to drink Sierra Mist.

3:39 - Wow. Beard Combover. Fantastic.

3:34 - First Bud Light commercial features physical humor. Got a chuckle out of Dad.

3:30 - Sweet team intros. I like that we get to hear each players' voice.

3:27 - In a roundabout way, Phil Simms agrees with me. On a completely contradictory note, there goes Devin Hester. Touchdown. No one has ever returned the opening kick for 6 in the Super Bowl.

3:24 - The Bears fans seem really excited about winning the coin toss, which is actually not an advantage at all. It's like being happy that your team is first alphabetically.

3:19 - It's unfortunate that miltary flyovers are not that impressive on TV, because they are so exhilarating when you are in the stadium. I've seen a couple live, and they can take your breath away. I think it's because of the timing and spacing precision involved.

3:17 - Dude it's raining all over Billy Joel's piano.

3:14 pm - First commercial break after team introdcutions, and all the commercials are in HD. Very nice. One of them is for that Ghost Rider movie. Not so nice.

I Could Watch This FOREVER

I think Charles Barkley did this once with Barney. This video is four years old and I still love it:



In retrospect, I should have paid John 5 bucks to put up shots that I could block easily and made a much more exciting video. He was actually pretty good, too. I might need to refilm this with me wearing a headband.

EDIT: Okay, just to let everyone know, John is practically my cousin and he had a lot of fun doing this. I showed this to some of the parents of the kids I coached in little league and they said that this was basically the exact opposite of me. I guess that's what makes it fun.

Ishak with the Assist

We all had a good time at our first basketball practice of the season this last Sunday. And by "we all" I mean "I", and by "our" I mean "my", and by "good time" I mean "I drove 20 minutes each way to shoot around on a shoddy rim by myself when I could have stayed home and used our glass backboard and not even have had to get in my car." That's what I get for scheduling practice in between two NFL playoff games.

On the bright side, the enjoyment/cooking-time ratio of my spaghetti dinner that night was pretty high, so that's good.

Boom shakalaka!

Brian and I have been doing some plyometrics the last three weeks and I have been using my Jumpsoles. If you want a full description and sales pitch, you can go to the Jumpsoles website; the best way for me to quickly describe them is that they are weighted platforms that attach to the front of your shoes, and you wear them to increase the workout for your feet and calves.

Maybe your wondering why I'm using Jumpsoles. Well, I'll tell you anyway. There are three things you need to know: 1) I can't jump as high as I'd like to, 2) I'm only 5'9", and 3) jumping high is advantageous in the Sport of Basket Ball. I would love to grow taller but most people stop growing before they turn 24, so I'm not counting on that. I'd also love to invent some sort of basketball game where average-height, small-vertical-leap people have an advantage over tall people. It probably won't catch on.

I've decided to change Point 1, meaning I'd like to be able to jump higher. The Jumpsoles 8-week program supposedly adds 5 to 10 inches to your vertical leap. You should see the testimonials--they are windows into the soul of Caucasian high school basketball players in Ohio. They read like this:

"I decided to use JUMPSOLES before my freshman year in high school. I arrived on campus as the only freshman who could dunk! I was doing WINDMILL DUNKS with my LEFT HAND--and I'm only 5'8" and 14 years old!!! At the first game, after a SWEET BREAKAWAY DUNK, I heard cheers from the crowd: "That white boy can dunk!" My new nickname is Springy Springmeister!"

I'm not gonna fall for these testimonials of people I've never met. Luckily for me, my cousin's friend Symon said that he used Jumpsoles and they DO work. He said he gained about 6 inches on his vertical leap after 8 weeks. Sounds good to me!

Sweet Coptic Basketball Action is only 143 days away, and I do want to improve this year. Yes, I was second in the league in rebounds last season, but my brother was first, and unfortunately he won't be playing with us this year as he'll be married and living on the East Coast. An increased vertical leap will help my shooting as well as my defense. Who knows...with Jumpsoles and a weight loss program, maybe I can write a testimonial:

"I'm 24 and I play in a church basketball league. I was JUST OKAY last season. After using JUMPSOLES, I can do DOUBLE-PUMP LAYUPS now! I did a sweet WNBA-STYLE LAYUP this season and I heard someone in the crowd say 'HE JUST MADE A LAYUP.' Thanks JUMPSOLES!!!!"