non poker related junk
24 March 2008
As mentioned earlier, I haven't had a ton of time to sit at the tables over the past few weeks. A combination of corporate slave-labor, fantasy baseball, NCAA March Madness, and Easter holiday traveling have cut into my table time, and although it's not the best for my bankroll or development, I think the break has been good for me mentally. I'm excited to get back into the swing of things later this week, and will likely push to get in 3000 more hands prior to the end of the month. Let's hope for more green figures! Unfortunately, I will be going at it alone since the poker group I belonged to has disbanded. I guess I'll probably start looking for some consistent 100nl or 200nl winners to team up with, as being part of a group was extremely beneficial to me. I'll get on that in April and set a goal to have another group set up before the end of the month.
NCAA March Madness
Well, my dad is a Pitt alum and ever since I was a kid I've been a Big East fan (making a trip to the Big East tourney at Madison Square Garden for at least one of the four day even each year since 1992). Unfortunately, this bias translates into my bracket pickings as I just cannot pick against this conference. Every year Pitt gets a top 5 seed, and every year I am convinced that "this is their year" to make the Final Four. Every year they disappoint me and destroy my bracket. This year is no different. (On a side note, I did get the Nova and WVU Sweet 16 picks correct due to this bias... yay me.) Despite the fact that I did in fact burn my brackets on Saturday night, I love this time of year and the craziness that ensues. Here's hoping Stephan Curry takes his team to the Final Four and scores 8 billion points along the way.
Fantasy Baseball
A few years ago a colleague at work convinced my boss and me to join his fantasy baseball league despite our constant protests and complaining that "we don't know anything about MLB." Said co-worker played on our competitive nature and goaded us into joining his head-to-head league by mocking us and insinuating that we were not up to the challenge. Despite the fact that I had only ever competed in fantasy football prior, and hadn't watched any MLB outside of ESPN highlights for years, I had to accept and defend my honor. That year I autodrafted a team that consisted of 21 players whose names I did not know and could not pronounce (seriously, who is this Mark Teixeira guy I got in the first round?). Being the competitive person that I am, I piloted that team to a 1st place victory against some seasoned fantasy baseball vets and have been hooked ever since. For anyone out there who doesn't play, you should -- it's a heck of a lot of fun (especially the trash talking).
Anyway, I decided to do 3 different leagues this year with both friends and co-workers. The one that I'm most focused on winning is our 10-person H2H league (which includes BTimm this year). This league's format isn't the best, nor is it the highest buyin league that I'm in, but I want the win for bragging rights. Nothing is better than smack-talking your boss over the interweb via Yahoo! Fantasy Baseball (renaming my team name to "Cry Eyes" after he complained about a particularly demoralizing loss last year is a personal favorite -- subtle, yet effective). My team, as drafted, is below. I plan on dominating.
C: Joe Mauer (4)
1B: Adrian Gonzalez (10)
2B: Kelly Johnson (16)
SS: Rafael Furcal (8)
3B: Alex Rodriguez (1)
OF: Carlos Lee (3)
OF: Corey Hart (6)
OF: Matt Kemp (11)
Util: Ryan Zimmerman (9)
BN: Brad Hawpe (15)
BN: James Loney (17)
BN: Evan Longoria (19)
BN: Billy Butler (21)
SP: Jake Peavy (2)
SP: Brandon Webb (5)
SP: Francisco Liriano (12)
SP: Rich Hill (13)
RP: J.J. Putz (7)
RP: Matt Capps (14)
RP: George Sherrill (18)
RP: Jonathan Broxton (20)
Posted byM0NIKER at 10:42 AM