The Gambler

Come on Kenny! You gotta know when to hold em know when to fold em. You got to not punch coolers or kick cameras. Damn Damn Damn. My fantasy team was poised to take it all this year I had the most dominating starting pitchers in the game. I had SIX! starting pitchers with ERA's around 2.00 (Mike Hampton, Eric Bedard, Kenny Rodgers, Adam Eaton, Jake Peavy and Bartolo Colon.) I also had Dan Haren and Jon Patterson before he got hurt. I traded for Eaton and he promptly got hurt before he started a game for me. I got Patterson back but he's not that great. I could have got Haren back but I put him in the wrong order of waiver priorities. Now Bartolo has the flu. Man come on! Just my luck I am the king of hosting injured players on my fantasy teams. I can't believe I was able to trade Clint Barmes literally 5 minutes before he tripped on a can of Campbells Chunky soup.

Laundry

Sorry I didn't get a chance to post yesterday. I had a job interview (I got the job whoopty freakin doo) and then more importantly we had a softball game. After the game (loss) we went out for a couple drinks and to watch the draft (Villeneava 7th and Warrick 18th? pathetic) anyway we pulled up to the house around 10 or 10:30. Its never a good sign when half the people that live in your building are waiting for you outside with their arms folded across their chests. "We have been trying to reach you all night. "We think your water heater busted and it is in turn flooding all of our places," said Luis (Angela's PuertoRican boyfriend). Fuck Fuck Fuck. I wanted to run up the stairs as fast as I could to see the damage. Unfortunately, because I am a fat and out of shape bum after pitching a whole softball game (which is equivalent to doing about 100 lunges) I am unable to walk up stairs or get up from a sitting position. I was finally able to drag my sorry ass up to the fourth floor. Turning the key in the lock I was terrified as to what I was gonna find in our brand new condo. Truthfully though I wasn't as scared about the condo as I was worried about the dog. I opened the door and everything looked O.K. to me. No wet floor. No dog drowned in his crate. Angela inspected a little further and found that our laundry machine had overflowed. Apparently the lid to the washing machine was left open (not by me) and the washer was on for 5 hours. It has a function in which it automatically shuts off, but I guess this function was on summer vacation because it didn't work.
We decided to go down and survey the damage that we had caused. The woman under us has not moved in yet so we couldn't see the worst of it. We went down another floor to Luis' place. There we encountered Niagara Falls flowing down onto his hot water heater and furnace. He was busily mopping up all of our water with a dozen pairs of hospital scrubs (he is an x-ray tech). I didn't really have too much to say "ummm, damn man sorry." It is 95 degrees out, and the south side of our building is afraid to turn on their central air because their furnaces are covered in water. We then go down to the garden unit. Same scene there with perhaps slightly less water. The poor Ethiopian family is afraid to even turn on their lights or use the gas stove. The poor Ethiopian babies will have to suffer through the hot night.
I needed a cigarette bad and Yao needed to pee so we went outside. There we encountered a gigantic possum. That's all I need is for Yao to get messed up from some possum that is bigger than he is. Luckily possum are not that confrontational and our possum scurried away. Yao and I crawled back up to our fourth floor apartment. We relaxed in the luxurious central air as all the tenants below struggled in their hot wet apartments.
What to do, what to do? I know, I'll turn on the TV to see how that NBA draft turned out that will take my mind off things. Ten minutes later I hear a pounding on our door. The woman from the condo directly under us (the one that doesn't even live here yet) is here and she's pissed. "Hi, nice to meet you," I say.
At first she and Angela are about to cat fight but things simmered down a bit as we went to survey the damage. Seems that her furnace was holding quite a bit of water.
"Well first thing in the morning I'll get on the horn and call whoever we need to call to help us fix this problem," I say. She doesn't seem too impressed with my solution but that's pretty much all we can do. The gay guy from across the hall (who also is the new tenants friend) is there to laugh at us. He does act as a tension breaker in the room so that's nice.
"I guess nobody on the south side of the building is gonna want to come to our party on Sunday," I say.
Today we have been on the phone calling repair men and Goodman Furnace dealers in our area. Most are just telling us to wait for everything to dry out and then fire up the furnace and see what happens. We may have to pay for them to be repaired we may not. Our neighbors don't seem too thrilled with the "wait till it dries," suggestion. So we have someone coming out to look at them on Friday. Angela and I went down to the garden unit (our Ethiopian former friends) to try to see if their furnace was dry yet. It was a little wet on top but the important part (the electrical wiring down below)was dry. Luckily they don't use the air conditioning anyway so that made me feel a little bit more at ease. Angela and I tried to hurry out of there as we were interrupting a traditional Ethiopian meal this woman was having with some friends. Instead of us leaving, much to my dismay, the woman booted her friends from the table and made us sit down to a homemade Ethiopian meal. Don't get me wrong Ethiopian food is the bomb, but now her poor friends have been booted to the couch we have our backs to them. We are both ready to get out of there as soon as possible. Anyway our friend is gonna teach Angela how to cook Ethiopian food (yeah right) and everything is all good.
I guess the moral of the story is homeownership is a major hassle. A warning to all you out there (especially my lazy ass friends.)

The NBA Draft Special

I wanted to do something for the NBA draft tomorrow but I have a job interview (whoopty doo) so I thought instead of preparing for that I will give my full attention to the NBA draft. Before I get started I would like to say ESPN.com has gone straight to shit. They don't let you read anything anymore unless you pay to be an Insider. I remember the days of participating in live chats with Chad Ford but forget about it now.
The NBA draft is usually more important to me than Christmas. In fact, all sports drafts (especially live fantasy drafts) are my religious holiday's. I don't know what it is about them that gets me so excited? I guess its just the element of surprise. So I have been puzzled as to why I am not feeling as excited about it this year.
I finally realized that the main reason I'm not as excited is because for the first time in forever the Bulls don't have a pick. They usually have the opportunity to ruin not one but two lottery picks. Since they won't be able to do that this year I'll have to wait for the free agency period for them to screw up. (On a positive note it seems that Skiles and Curry will be coming back.)
In this NBA draft special I will go over all of the lottery teams and give my opinion on who they should pick.

1. Milwaukee Bucks-Andrew Bogut? There ain't no way in hell I take this guy over Marvin Williams. They are calling him the next Luc Longley.) I was at a wedding in Milwaukee a couple of weeks ago and my cheese head friends were practically in tears over what their team is gonna do.

2. Atlanta Hawks-Marvin Williams They got to go with him if he's still there. They say Williams coulda been the first pick last year. Now after helping lead his team to a national championship he is behind some doofus from Australia and Utah (not basketball powerhouses). This might be a Sam Bowie and Michael Jordan situation. If I am the Hawks I definitely take Williams even though their four best players, no check that, their only four players play the same position as Williams. They need to trade someone, not Marvin.

3. Portland-They are going to trade this pick to Utah. Its a good thing too because the two next best guys are both point guards and they just used their lottery pick last year on a PG. Which brings me to the question who is better Deron Williams or Chris Paul? A month ago this woulda been a no brainer. Damn that east coast bias. ESPN doesn't even know who Deron Williams is. I hear the Jazz are moving up to take Deron Williams and why not he's the next Jason Kidd right? (well at least they kinda look alike)

4. New Orleans- It doesn't matter who this team picks because they will never be good again, at least not in my lifetime. This team needs to be contracted. I hear they want a point guard so Chris Paul it is. I don't know why they want a point guard Dan Dickau is their best player. How sad is that?

5. Charlotte-They want to move up and supposedly are willing to trade their other lottery pick in order to do it. I would never do that. Especially when the next "TMAC" will be available here in Gerald Green.

6. Portland (from Utah)- This team is pathetic too. They should draft Rashad McCants he would fit the mindset of this perpetually ghetto ass team. Or maybe they should just go with that Carlton Dotson guy. The one from Baylor who murdered his teammate a couple years back is he still available? I guess they need a shooter (no pun intended) so Martell Webster.

7. Toronto-They are talking about drafting a big man which they also did last year. Ummm how'd that work out for ya? I've also heard talk about them getting a point guard even though they threw all that money at Skip to My Lou last year? The NBA is retarded. I say they get that Granger dude the one everyone is calling the next Shawn Marion.

8. New York- I'm sure Isaiah will find a way to blow this one. It's getting harder and harder to claim him as one of our own. Everyone says Channing Frye. Where did he come from? Two months ago he was a second rounder. Didn't Isaiah just trade Kurt Thomas? Isn't he the same player as Channing Frye? Oh well, at least they still have ten 6'8" power forwards and ten guard/forwards who are ball hoggin non defenders.

9. Golden State-They better get someone to compliment Baron Davis because I think I'm gonna cross my fingers and select him as one of my keepers for next season. This team was really turning it around. They are supposedly gonna try to imitate Phoenix's offense. Sounds good to me. So they need a big man who can run.

10. Lakers- They need to draft a little bitch for Kobe. I'm hearing Charlie Villanueva. I guess Phil Jackson likes head cases. They would be better served by Raymond Felton.

11. Orlando- This team could be awesome. Although I am also starting to think that Steve Francis may be a mini Stephan Marbury, destined to be a career loser. Anyhoo they need to build around Howard because he is the real deal. Jameer Nelson is good too.

12. Charlotte-How does this starting line up sound: Okafor, Gerald Green(remember he's the next TMAC) Gerald Wallace, Brevin Knight, and with this pick Hakim Warrick or maybe Sean May? Their names both fit nicely there.

13. Clippers- Who cares?

14. Minnesota- I was going to stop at 13 but its not too often Minnesota gets to pick this high. Wait a second, its not too often that Minnesota gets to pick at all. Can you picture KG and Hakim Warrick in the same frontcourt?

Who would of I wanted the Bulls to get? Well, I love Hakim Warrick and he fits a need we have for an athletic big. I wouldn't mind Sean May or Ike Diogu. I like Francisco Garcia we need someone who can shoot. Maybe even a Salim Stoudemire or a Luther Head in the second round. Speaking of Illini players Dee Brown is so lucky he broke his leg. Because of the NBA's CBA (collective bargaining agreement) he has a much better shot at getting drafted next year when a very strong high school class will be forced to play one year of college.

Phew! This blogging thing is hard work. I hope someone is reading this crap.

Raves

I promised you this site wouldn't only be about sports. In Raves I will feature stuff (books, movies, tv shows, websites, music) that I have been into lately.

The Boolu Master The Boolu Master is the best DJ I have ever heard. He plays a very eclectic mix of white 80's music, Motown, disco, funk, hip hop, house and reggaetone without skipping a beat. The Boolu Breakfast Mix comes on from 8:00-8:20 am on Power 92.3 Hammond, Chicago. It's the only enjoyable moment of my work day. He also has an extended mix at 5:00 everyday. His website (which isn't quite up and running yet) is boolumaster.com (sorry I don't know how to link yet I am a fool.)

Best Week Ever On VH-1. Have you all ever seen this show? It's hilarious. The show basically reviews this week in pop culture. I don't know who these comedians are that make comments on the show but most of them are very funny. It comes on at 10pm on Friday nights but is replayed throughout the week.

IFC The Independent Film Channel is great. I have seen two interesting documentaries on it recently, "Dogtown and Z-boys" and "Z Channel: A Magnificent Obsession." Dogtown is the documentary that this new movie "The Lords of Dogtown" is based on. The documentary tells about a group of kids who were inspired by a certain style of surfing and used it to invent skateboarding as we know it today.
Z Channel is about an eccentric (actually insane) director of programming on a movie channel in Los Angeles in the late 70's and early 80's. The Z Channel was revolutionary. They only played cool obscure movies. They would find copies of movies that had never been given a chance in Hollywood and put them on this very popular movie channel. These were the early days of cable tv at the time Z Channel was more popular than HBO. The movie is also about this eccentric programming director, Jerry Harvey, and his dysfunctional personal life.

The White Sox

The White Sox top five list was way more challenging to make than the Cubs list. Not because I can't stand the White Sox. It was hard because (as with the last list) I am only taking into account the players time with the Sox, not other clubs. Also, probably their best player ever had his career cut in half. The Sox list is very different than the Cubs list. Probably because of the ball parks they played in. The Cubs had tons of power hitters and the Sox hardly any. Also I couldn't really decide on a pitcher to use for the Sox. Anyway...

1. Frank Thomas- Gotta give this one to Big Frank but I could have given it to almost any of these guys. He has the total offensive package. The only one of these guys who could also hit for power. He will end up 2nd in hits, and 1st in runs, HR's, RBI, walks, total bases, doubles, and he hits for average. Too bad he is a total jackass that everyone in Chicago hates. Also he is a DH in the juiced ball era but not on the juice himself.

2. Eddie Collins- Probably had a better career than Frank but only played half of it with the Sox. Has a way better avg. (.331 to .308) than Frank. In almost 2000 less AB's has almost as many hits and runs as Frank. Good amount of RBI's and tons of steals(seventh all time in MLB).

3. Joe Jackson- Coulda been one of the best ever if he played a full career. Dude hit .408 one year (not on the Sox) and has one of the best career averages at .356. He hit .340 for the Sox. He would have been second all time in hits behind Ty Cobb (don't count Rose he played for like 30 years.)

4. Luke Appling-Played twenty years for the Sox. 1st in hits, second in runs and RBI's. He had a career average of .310 (better than Thomas). Didn't get to play DH.

5. Nellie Fox-Could have went with a pitcher or with Carleton Fisk here I guess. Fisk didn't even enter the Hall of Fame as a White Sock though so I went with Nellie. He is second in hits and up there in runs and rbi's.

Minnie Minoso had some of the most entertaining stats. Started his career in 1949 probably later than he should of due to segregation. Played until 1964. Then played 3 games in 1976 and 2 games in 1980. Played in 5 decades.

Top Five

A feature of this site will be the Top Five list. Some of you who have played fantasy sports with me know of my infatuation with the top five list. In honor of the Cubs/Sox series this weekend I will showcase my top five Cubs and Sox players of all time. First the Cubs. Let me say this was tough. Do you allow players who retired before the turn of the century? Do you pick players who were really really good for a short period of time or do you reward longevity? I pretty much allowed everything and I think it makes a pretty good list.

1. Cap Anson-The real Mr. Cub. Played with them forever. Leads all Cubs in hits, runs, RBI, with a .329 avg and less AB's than Banks. Problems: Retired in 1897. Played in a segregated league. Played before Wrigley (where did they play?)

2. Ernie Banks- Second best career numbers. Played in the modern era but not the juiced ball era. Most well known spokesmen for the team. Problems: Played on crappy teams. Only hit .274 lifetime.

3. Sammy Sosa-Maybe has the best numbers if you look at how few AB's he had compared to the rest of em. Problems: Roids?

4. Hack Wilson- Forget Sammy this guy was a stud. Had less than a third of Sosa's AB's but more than half as many RBI's. Same with hits. Had almost as many runs as Sosa again with less than a third of the AB's. He hit about 370 RBI's in the 1929 and 1930 seasons. That wasn't that long ago but still they were playing in a segregated league.

5.Mordecai Brown- It was very hard to leave Billy Williams off the list but this guy was great and I had to put a pitcher up there. He was 188-86 with a 1.80 ERA. Pretty nice. Yes he did pitch a long time ago but at least it was in the 1900's. I mean I coulda went with Larry Corcoran who threw 250 complete games in a five season span. Man whoever had him on their fantasy team in 1880 was making bank!

Stay tuned for the Sox list.

No this is my real first post.

I decided to start a blog for a few reasons. I don't work in the summers. I am a teacher. Rather than look for a new job, which is what I am supposed to be doing this summer, I have decided to devote my summer to entertaining the two people who will end up checking this site out. No really since I spend about 6-8 hours a day online I thought I might as well share my misery with you all.
I have high expectations for my site but it may take a few to figure out how to use it. I promise not over analyze my current fantasy sports teams on this site (sorry ladies). I guess I should go outside once in awhile so I will have something else to talk about. If you prefer your blogs to be free of run on sentences you have come to the wrong place.

This is Yaomingki as a baby.

My first Post

Hey this is just a quick post to see how this thing works. I have never blogged before and my technology skills are limited but I am sick of totally dominating all fantasy sports message boards so I figured this was the next step. Expect to hear from me more than you would like.