December 26, 2006

If you look up awesome in the Dictionary this morning...

Odds are you would see my picture. I managed to win both of my fantasy football leagues for the second straight year. To think that I was a single play (more on that to come in the future) away from a 3-peat in the league I really care(d) about. Anyway, the moral of the story here is, as I've stated before, I'm better at fantasy than the jokers I play against. Apparently even when I barely pay attention as was the case with one of my leagues.

It's nice getting to go out on top since I'm retiring from fantasy football. I wouldn't be surprised if I pulled a Mario and made a comeback someday, but I will definitely not be playing next year. I'm at the point now where I expect to win so I've basically set myself up for nothing but disappointment and frustration. I wouldn't mind finding a better league to play in, but that will have to wait.

Now if only "Fantasy Genius/Guru" were an actual job somewhere...

December 21, 2006

My take on the Pens' situation...

I feel a strong need to weigh in on what is going on with the Penguins right now. After the Isle of Capri lost out on the exclusive gambling license in Pittsburgh, the Penguins saw their Plan A for a new arena shot to you know where. As near as I can tell from what I've read online nobody seems happy about the plan that was chosen. All three Pittsburgh sports teams seem pretty upset about it, most notably the Pens of course. Local politicians seem confident that a new arena deal is still going to get done, and possibly soon, but Mario has already made his stance known; the team is no longer for sale and he is now actively entertaining relocation possibilities. How much of this is legit and how much is just him playing hardball remains to be seen, but I don't think anyone could blame him for taking the team somewhere else at this point.

Save the Pens! Do it for Marc-Andre!!

So here's my take. I am someone who has loved the Pens ever since my Dad started taking me to hockey games (I'll never be able to thank him enough for that). I also grew up in California and live in Texas so it gets hard to claim having super strong feelings about the Pens relocating. Going into the week my general feeling was that I didn't care where the franchise ended up as long as they had an owner willing to put up the moolah to keep the team we have now together (mainly Sid, Geno, and Fleury). Honestly, unless the team moves to Oakland or Houston the odds of me ever taking in a Pens home game are pretty slim, so what d
ifference does it make to me right?

Well then I got to think about it more and my mind and heart of flipped on the situation. I grew up obsessing over the Pittsburgh Penguins, not the Portland Penguins or the Kansas City Whatevers. It really does matter to me where the team ends up. The P
enguins were the first sports team I truly followed, and I want to continue following them, as the Penguins. I grew up with my walls covered with guys adorned in this:And I want to be able to keep that alive. There's a reason why I wore my Sidney Crosby shirt to the birth of my son. I selfishly wanted one of the first things he saw on this earth to be that beautiful skating penguin that meant so much to me as a kid. And for the record, Landon always lets out a gleeful yelp when I wear that shirt now (mission accomplished). The bottom line is that the team won't be the same if they move. And for that, and for all of the Pens fans out there (not just the ones who live in Pittsburgh) I want the Pens to stay. It's bad enough thinking that they won't be playing in the Igloo much longer (again, I don't get to attend games there so it doesn't really impact me if the place is run down), but I can't deal with them not being the Pens any more.

I guess what I'm getting at here is that even though I never have been to Pittsburgh and probably never will, I really need the Penguins to be there. There may come that day when I do get to finally take in a home game (I came real close during my trip to Toronto) and if it does, I want that game to be in Pittsburgh. This team means too much to too many people (read the comments on The Pensblog if you don't believe me) for it to move. And just for the record, I don't think it will. I think Mario has one more miracle up his sleeve. Here's hoping I'm right.

Word out of San Marcos is I'm nifty!

So I got this in the mail today:

Along with a letter telling me how proud myself and my family should be about this magnificent achievement. So, yeah... I guess the whole Dean's List thing is something of a to do at Texas State. I don't mean to make light of this, I know it's a nice accomplishment and all, I just felt like I was treading water for most of the semester so I don't know that I deserve recognition for anything more than just surviving.

December 20, 2006

All grades are in!

So I ended up with a B in Geology. As far as I'm concerned that was the best case scenario for that class. I don't think too many people, if any, were getting A's out of that guy and I sure didn't put more than a C level effort into that class. So that leaves me with 2 A's and 3 B's for Fall '06. Considering my mental state over the last six weeks of the semester I'll gladly take that thank you very much!

Fantasy Update: It all comes down to this...

So I have managed to steer both of my Fantasy Football teams into their respective championships. This gives me a chance to repeat in both leagues. Not a bad way to end my FF career (for the next year at least). The team I care about and put effort into managed to squeak by in week 15 despite getting about 2 combined points from two of my WR's. I now carry my top seeding into a matchup with the #2 team in the league (my arch rival and home teaching companion!) My other team, which finished in 4th to grab the final playoff spot after a big week 14 victory, upset the Ladainian Tomlinson powered top seed relatively easily to move on to the championship. I will sum up my fantasy seasons to this point by saying that my faith in Steven Jackson has been greatly rewarded.

As for Fantasy Hockey, I'm pretty much right where I want to be. My team is going great except for some up-and-down goaltending. I'm in 4th right now (was as high as 3rd for a couple days) but the three teams ahead of me are dooming themselves and they don't even know it. I have a feeling things will work out like last year and I'll make a steady climb to the title in the closing weeks. The good news is I probably won't have to work my up from second to last like I did last year.

December 18, 2006

Texas State grades are in...

And the final results are:
  • Discrete Math 1 - A
  • Intro to Probability and Stats - A
  • Human Factors - B
  • Intro to Database Systems - B
That's about all I could have hoped for. I thought I bombed my Database final so that B is a relief, and my Human Factors professor was such a nutcase that I'm just happy to escape that class with a passing grade. So after one semester at Texas State I have a 3.5 GPA and am on the Dean's List. I'll take that any day considering what a struggle this semester was.

December 14, 2006

And the grades start to roll in...

So I got an A in both of my math classes. I figured I would since I knew I had an A in both going into the finals and the finals were take-home. Now I just have to wait until noon tomorrow to see how I did in my CS classes. I'm real interested to see my Database grade. I don't know when ACC will post their grades, but I don't care about my Geology class that much anyway. I know I passed, that's enough for me.

December 13, 2006

I guess Donna Summer was right...

Somehow I managed to survive this semester. My assessment may change once I see my grades on Friday (I don't think I did so hot on my Database final), but it's over and that is the truly important thing. Now I have a little over a month to spend with my family, Jack Bauer, "How Soccer Explains the World", and the new Legend of Zelda game. Things could be worse.

Oh, and the Pens smoked the Flyers 8-4 tonight, including 6 points for Sid. Like I said, things could be worse.

December 10, 2006

On the brighter side of life...

This weekend:
  • I found out that Minute Maid makes Cherry Limeaid... GOOD TIMES!
  • Liverpool beat Fulham 4-0!
  • The Pens beat Atlanta in OT!
So what I'm getting at here is that the weekend wasn't a complete loss.

Progress is as progress does.

My Database term project is printing out right next to me as I type this. 84 pages of crap! Okay, 2/3 of it is pretty decent, but I'm not too thrilled with how things went down the stretch. My database definitely would have been a lot better if he had let me do it the way I originally wanted. Oh well, tomorrow is another day.

Speaking of tomorrow... I have a Geology test that I have yet to study for (what do you think the hour before class is for?) and my Database final that I have yet to study for (what do you think the 90 minutes before class are for?) So yeah, tomorrow can't get here fast enough is what I'm saying. On the bright side, after tomorrow all I have left to do is a Geology lab quiz (assuming I decline to take the optional final) and I'm done.

This semester has been a bear for me. I hit the wall around the end of October and it has been a struggle ever since. I guess this is my "Welcome to upper division" semester. At least I've learned some valuable lessons to take forward with me. The good news is that in about 24 hours I being what amounts to a little over a month of school-free livin'! Let's see if I can make it that long...

**UPDATE** The black ink cartridge in our printer may or may not make it to page 84. Plus the e-mails I have to print out for the appendix.

December 5, 2006

Apparently I'm awesome and stuff...

So I had to give my presentation on my Human Factors project yesterday and my crackpot professor freaking loved it. He said he thought it was a legitimately marketable idea and everything. You excuse me if I don't start coming up with ways to start spending all the money I get for selling my idea to Wal-Mart, now gimme an A!!!!!

If you want you can check out my retarded masterpiece here.
Just remember that I had to do it on Wal-Mart... it wasn't my choice I swear!!!!!!!

December 3, 2006

It's gonna be a long 8 days...

  • 3 (possibly 4) Final exams
  • 2 Term Project papers
  • 1 Test
  • 1 Lab quiz
Can't you just feel the holiday spirit in the air?

December 2, 2006

One for the road!

Stop the presses!!! The Reds finally won a Premiership match away from Anfield! And they did it in style too, topping Wigan 4-0. Craig Bellamy celebrated being cleared of beating women by scoring two quick goals and setting up Dirk Kuyt for a third. The win moved the Liverpool into a tie for third in points, but they are fifth on the table thanks to their meager +4 goal differential.

I'm not even going to mention the Pens right now. Like I said before, they have come back to earth. Let's just leave it at that. On the plus side, if voting ended today Crosby, Malkin, and Fleury would all be starting in the All-Star game. And yes I have had something to do with that thank you very much. Now if you don't mind I'm off to go vote again... write in Gonchar!!!