American Idol - 10 dudes

The guys started really slow last night. There wasn't a standout performance until David Hernandez halfway through the show. Four out of the last five were really good. Again, the * designates a J.Meeks lock to advance.

1. David Archuleta* - Still the favorite. Really, really good rendition of Imagine. People always sing it, but he made it his own. He's had the two best performances so far.
2. David Hernandez* - I've liked him from the beginning. Simon's criticisms have really driven him.
3. Chiekieze* - I liked his performance last week. We'll see how he does after the decade weeks.
4. David Cook*
5. Noriega - again, unfortunately, he passes to next week
6. Robbie
7. Castro - I like the guitar, not the strongest performance, but he'll pass on, too
8. Michael Johns - he's middle of the pack at best. seems to have lots of potential. he'll get by on that for at least one more week, should do well if next week is the 80s (INXS!!!)
9. Yeager - didn't think he did that bad of a job, judges harsh and he was towards the bottom last week
10. Luke M. - weird performance. I had him at the very bottom last week. its over this week.

New Jersey "King James/Jay-Z" Nets

http://sports.yahoo.com/nba/news;_ylt=Aj9mhzgQwwaMH.KAZNa3gx28vLYF?slug=aw-lebronjayz022508&prov=yhoo&type=lgns

This is the link to an interesting article on the close relationship between Jay-Z and LeBron James. Cleveland had better start planning ahead as the Nets currently are if they want to keep their franchise from falling back into the dump. Jay-Z and LeBron together in New York could be huge. With the plans for a new arena in the works and Jay-Z's guidance, LeBron could be one of the biggest stars, sports or not, this country has ever seen. On the basketball end....remember that trade the Nets just made? Well, they dumped some salary, picked up some younger players, and old balls Van Horne, and two first round draft picks in 2008 and 2010, the year LeBron is due for free agency. Could these be the complimentary players James is looking for? Expect the Nets to do something with Carter if they are serious of this pursuit of James. That free agency class could be huge with James, Wade, Bosh and I think Carmelo. Can you imagine James in New Jersey, Wade in Chicago, Bosh just in the US and Caremlo inside of a Hershey's bar? Sounds tasty. Read the article it makes more sense than me.

We're on Google!

We've finally made it! Someone out there found our blog somehow and that was it! We exist in the world of Google!!!




We also got our first comment spam. Such an exciting time!

Bonds

Sorry, I am really bored and just hooked up our wireless so I can sit on the recliner in the living room.
http://sports.espn.go.com/mlb/spring2008/news/story?id=3264187
The latest news links Bonds to the Tampa Bay Devil Rays. I think Bonds would be a good fit in Tampa. They could sign him for cheap and he would improve their offense. This is a team that will be fairly competitive this year without him and could make some noise with him. By DRays consideration, noise mean over .500. It would bring some fans to the Devil Rays and be good for baseball. His troubles will be overshadowed now by Santana and the Tigers and most of the buzz around the Devil Rays should be positive.

Baseball Season Again!

I have been looking forward to baseball season from the time the Cubs got swept by the Arizona Diamondbacks. The Cubs first Spring Training Game is this Thursday and although I am filled with much anticipation for the Cubs season, there are many intriguing storylines I look forward to following throughout the year.

Same Faces, New Places

It is always fun look at the same players in different uniforms. This offseason has been fairly active and has made some teams and divisions much different.

1) I am most looking forward to watching the 2008 Detroit Tigers. Dontrolle Willis and Miguel Cabrera are key additions. I don't look for Willis to be a dominating pitcher, especially in the AL where the hitters are better, and he can't hit. He will add some depth to their staff that has been oft injured the past few years. To me, Dontrolle Willis was free for the Tigers, the key to that trade was Miguel Cabrera. I have always been a big fan of Cabrera and I seriously believe he has the ability to win the American League MVP maybe not this year but possibly in the next few years, especially with this lineup in which Pudge Rodriguez could be hitting 8th or 9th! Oh yeah they improved at shortstop where they added another former Marlin Edgar Renteria.
2) The second best pitcher in the game has been traded to the National League. Johan Santana, who most refer to as the best pitcher in the game will undoubtedly change the National League and the Mets. To me, Josh Beckett is the best pitcher in the game right now. Santana had a down year by his standards last year (15-13, 3.33 ERA, 219 IP) and I look for him to improve on those numbers this year being in the NL and with the Mets. However, I don't think this move is as huge as everyone says. Santana's innings I think will be right around 200 this year because there will be games when he must be replaced in a game for a pinch hitter. The move will certainly improve the Mets and put the NL East winner at around 93-94 wins. I look for Santana to put together a season of around 19-7, 3.01 ERA and roughly 200 IP. He will get a few wins with poor performances simply because the Mets will score some runs and they have the Cabrera/Willis-less Marlins and the Nationals in their division.
3) Fukudome could be a great addition for the Cubs. Or he could turn out like the rest of the Cubs additions. I think he will have a good year after a slow start adjusting to the MLB. It makes the Cubs lineup more of a threat and adds some speed. It sounds like Pinella will use him in the third spot followed by Derek Lee and Aramis Ramirez. Pinella wants to add some speed to the top of the lineup with Soriano, Theriot and Fukudome followed with the power of Lee, Ramirez and rookie catcher Geovany Soto. I still would like to see Lee in the third spot, he is the best pure hitter the Cubs have and his power numbers were down last year. It will interesting to see it play out.

Players to Look For:

John Maine (SP NYM): With the addition of Santana and the health of Pedro Martinez, Maine will no longer be opposed with front-line starters and will have a chance for more victories. Maine still managed 15 wins last year couple with 10 losses and a 3.91 ERA. I look for him to add a few wins and subtract a couple losses with the Santana trade and lower his ERA just a titch. Maine is a young solid pitcher and will be overshadowed by Santana most of the year which could be an advantage for him. I look for statistics around 17-8 with a 3.75 ERA.

Hanley Ramirez (SS FLA): Ramirez will lose some protection and runs with the loss of Cabrera but Ramirez who came to FLA in the Josh Beckett trade is one of the best young players in the MLB. Ramirez is another guy I look for to potentially win an MVP if placed on a good team. His statistics last year (.332 BA, 29 HR, 81 RBI, 51 SB) from the leadoff spot were very solid. The Marlins are considering moving him to the three hole which I think could hurt his BA and SB but improve his HR and RBI. I look for him to have about the same statistics if left in the leadoff spot with fewer RBI's. His teammate Cameron Maybin could be a candidate for NL Rookie of the Year along with Cubs catcher Geovany Soto.

Chad Qualls (RP ARI): Traded from the Astros to the D-Backs for Jose Valverde, Qualls is one of the best set-up men in the league. Put on a good team in the Diamondbacks he will have an opportunity to record the oh-so valuable hold quite often. The Diamondbacks were smart in realizing how overrated the save statistic is and just rewarded themselves with an 8th inning shut-down man. He had a 3.04 ERA with 84 K's last year in just about 85 innings pitched last year. He could post an ERA below 3, very good for a set-up man, and compete for the prestigous Rolaid's Relief Award.


I'll include my predictions for the season as Opening Day comes closer.

Week Six

I haven't reported for awhile. In fact, not since my Super Bowl blow-up. You probably have figured I quit after that, or you probably don't care. I managed to back down to normalcy after a week or so following the Super Bowl. I regret eating so much because it put me back at least one week and if you really think about it, more like two because I could have lost weight that week instead of gaining, a double edged sword. However, it is behind me and I have continued my decline. I don't really report what I eat anymore, I use the site to look at healthier options and to report my weight to keep track of my progress and goals. This morning I weighed in at 214.4 for a total loss so far of 4.2 pounds. I have hit a low of 213.2 in the past week. I like to keep track of my lows overall as well as my weekly weight because it gives me more motivation and confidence. Water can fluctuate(sp?) my weight but as long as those fluctuations keep going down I am happy. I have noticed tremendous gains in the weight room too. I orginally started my bench press at three sets of ten repetitions at 115 pounds just to ease my way back into lifting. After six weeks I am currently doing three sets of ten repetitions at 165 pounds. I wouldn't say my bench has gone up 50 pounds because I could have probably started at more than 115 but it has improved dramatically. Part of this may be due to my regime in which I do two different excercises for the main upper body areas and make sure to lift the opposite muscles ex: (tricep and bicep or chest and lat). Almost all of my lifts have gone up at least 20 pounds in just six weeks. My goal is to get to 200 pounds and hopefully 185 pounds by Opening Day (March 31st).

Starting Weight: 218.6 lbs
Current Weight: 214.4 lbs
Total Loss: 4.4 lbs

Average weight loss of a little more than 2/3 of a pound per week.

American Idol Season 7 - First Vote Off

I did pretty well. 3 of my bottom 4 were voted off. And the one dude who wasn't in my bottom four was in my danger zone. Obviously, I have an eye for this. Or I've just watched way to much AI in the past. No surprises yet, either good or bad. The group song sucked - which is to be expected. Don't know what next week's theme is. Look for David A. to do well again, look for David Hernandez to get a little more face time. I think Alexandrea Lushington is one to watch, even if she isn't the most talented. Again, I say the top of the dude pool is strong, even if the girls might be a little deeper top to bottom. If we're counting advances, I'm 19 of 20. Should hav started an AI pool.

American Idol Season 7 - 12 Girls

The girls started out slow. They picked up towards the end. Same format as with the guys. No one really stood out. There's a lot of potential with the girls, but the top guys had better performances than the girls - not good, considering the genre nights generally lend themselves better to the females.

Ramiele*
Carly
Alexandrea Lushington* - fun performance, gets props for singing Amy Winehouse during Hollywood week
Asia'h
Syesha - maybe thinks she's better than she is
Alaina Whitaker
Kady Malloy
Overmeyer
Brooke White
Kristy Lee Cook
Joanne
Amy Davis - yawn

American Idol Season 7 - 12 guys

For the real American Idol fans, the season has finally begun! Just got a chance to watch the 12 guys perform for this season's American Idol. You can find recaps anywhere else on the internet, so I'll just drop my rankings from the first show. Looks like 10 will advance, and I didn't see 10 worth advancing. With the rankings, some comments. Also, the * designates a J.Meeks lock to advance.

1. David Archuleta* - got after it while singing, immediately knew he didn't nail it, favorite so far
2. D. Hernandez
3. Cook - good take on familiar song
4. Jason Castro* - AI finally caught on to let people play an instrument. They probably wish they would have with Chris Daughtry.
5. Robbie
6. Michael Johns - he thinks he's a little better than he is. liked the beginning of the song, lost intensity/focus
7. Chiekieze
8. D. Noriega - unfortunately he'll move on
9. Colton - ditto
10. J. Yeager
11. Garrett - not good
12. Luke M. - didn't even listen to the whole song

Week Three

I would first just like to say that the Super Bowl killed me. My approach going in was not conservative by any means and I decided I would eat and drink all that I wanted to and I did. Was it worth it? The drinking yes, the food no. One of the best football games I have watched was the culprit of a weight gain this week. For the first time I gained weight and I did it in one day. I was 215.6 going into the Super Bowl day. If I could have maintained it would have been a loss for the week but instead I ended up at 217.4 the next day for a gain of 1.6 pounds for the week. Some of this hopefully is water weight. This helped me realize though that I can't eat and drink whatever I want and I have to watch myself. Here is to a better week, gotta go to class.

The lending 'crisis'

If I had money, I could offer to loan it to an individual. In offering that loan, I would evaluate the probablily that said person would repay the loan. Depending on that evaluation, I would request that they pay it back in a manner that is front loaded, based on how I evaluate their ability to repay the loan. Should I give a loan to said person, I am taking on the risk that the loan will not be repaid. However, I have assumed the risk that my loner will not repay me. And with that, I apologize for all those whom have take an elementary economics course.

My point comes now! This is the state in which many lenders (read: huge, huge banks) find themselves. Big banks, along with the investment houses that bought consolidated loans, assumed huge risks through giving loans to individuals and families that perhaps could not have paid them.

My point is that banks, not the federal government, should shoulder the burden of loans that have defaulted. These banks, which have posted incredible returns, should be assuming the burden of these defaulted loans. There is no reason why the federal government should be bailing these companies out. Banking is a for-profit endeavor. Or for-loss endeavor.

Patriots Song!

I found this on youtube. It is pretty sweet. Pretty much sums up how I feel about the whole thing. Enjoy!

Bush's Last Tax Cut

Bush's last tax cut just took effect at the beginning of this year. It doesn't apply to me, as I own no stock, and don't have the deductions to get under the earned income limit. If either of you know someone who has stock, this would be a good year to sell. The article didn't say, but I'd assume this only applies to long-term capital gains. Otherwise this would be a great time to dabble in some daytrading.

Side note: What percentage of people in this tax bracket do you suppose own stock? What percent do you suppose have a savings account? I'd guess more have a savings account, as should every American. So why does long-term capital gains get taxed at 0% whereas interest gets taxed at the normal rate? This to me, is a joke. Just like the reduced tax rate on dividends. Tax cuts for the top 10%!

Side side note: Why is bank interest taxed, anyway? The government should be promoting savings, rather than penalizing it. At the very most, interest should be taxed at the same rate as dividends, 15 percent. With the tax "rebate" and reduced interest rates, the government is telling us to take our money out of the bank and 'invest' it in $600 LCD TVs. Good for Wal-Mart, bad for Americans.

Week Two

Another week, another drop in weight. Although not as good as last week's loss of 2.4 pounds, this week still resulted in a loss which puts me closer to my goal. I idled around my previous weight most of the week. I managed to lose .4 pounds over the weekend. Oddly enough I think I need to consume more calories than I did last week. Many times I was well below 2,000 calories and the site recommends 2,650. This stopped my metabolsim and I think inhibited my weight loss. In the weight room I am making significant gains and my workout routine seems to be working and is easy to follow. I considered moving my weigh-in day to later in the week because Monday's can be pretty brutal at times. I decided not to, to help limit my intake on the weekends. This next Monday should be interesting being the day after the Super Bowl, but if nothing else it may keep me from super bloating myself. My goal for this week is to get below 215 pounds. My rate in weight loss has declined but I am still making progress and as I have learned before patience is weight-losses best friend.

Week Starting Weight: 216.2
Week Ending Weight: 215.8
Week +/-: -.4 pounds
Total +/-: -2.8 pounds

Jay Borschel

Jay Borschel, a high school friend of mine, has finally got the respect he deserves. After losing only one match his entire high school career he was recruited heavily but was still not even the best recruit in his Virginia Tech recruiting class. After Brands jumped ship for Iowa, so did his recruits. All of them lost a year of elgibility for the move. Now Jay, a third year Sophomore, is in his first season of collegiate wrestling attached to a university (the last two years he spent wrestling in collegiate tournaments unattached). After beating two wrestlers ranked in the top five at the National Duals the other weekend in Cedar Falls, Borschel has climbed up to 2nd in the nation. It was always fun watching Jay in high school prove his doubters wrong. When I would go to his house to play PS2 or plan something for our tailgating club his wall was covered with inspirational quotes and newspaper clippings of people who doubted him. Jay was not once ranked pre-season #1 in his weight class in high school. He proved everyone wrong winning 4 state titles at 103 lbs, 125 lbs, 152 lbs, and 171 lbs, the first to ever win four titles at four different weights. I am happy for Jay after the troubles he has faced between Virginia Tech and Iowa. Now that he is finally getting a chance to prove himself at the college level he is taking full advantage of it. How sweet would that be for him to add a National Championship title to his resume? Best of luck to Jay, the #2 ranked wrestler in the nation.

Week One

After one week my resolution is still intact. Even with using Monday as a marking point, I was still able to lose 2.4 pounds. My goal is to keep this pace up so that every 4 weeks I will lose 10 pounds. This would result in a loss of 20 pounds by Spring Break, not that I am going anywhere that will require less clothing than four shirts, long johns, a hat and mittens. However, 20 pounds is a nice "milestone" if you will and it would put be under 200 pounds for the first time in awhile. Cutting calories has been easier than I imagined. The website told me to shoot for 2,650 calories per day. I have been keeping it under 2,000 calories except for the weekend. I am pleased with week one's results after a weekend that included 50 cent draws, Hickory Park and Old Chicago. I will try to keep a weekly tab on my progress, not that anyone really cares.

Week One Start: 218.6
Week One End: 216.2
Week One +/-: -2.4 lbs
Total +/-: -2.4 lbs

Another reason why Time Warner sucks

Apparently, Time Warner wants to charge users for total data transmission. I'm not sure if this is in addition to the bandwidth rates they charge for now. In any case, they are trying to get their piece of the content-on-demand pie. Essentially, they are going to tax anything you don't get through their set-top box. (Assuming they offer video on demand)

http://bits.blogs.nytimes.com/2008/01/17/time-warner-download-too-much-and-you-might-pay-30-a-movie/

Here's my comment,

Data networks are RATE limited. Therefore, providers current process of charging for Mbps is appropriate. Even at this, they are apparently over selling their bandwidth, because I've heard that cable companies do not provide the rates they advertise. This would contrast with power companies. They charge per kilowatt-hour because they have to input coal, natural gas, whatever to generate the electricity. Some of the charges are going to transmission costs, sure, but the majority is to the creation of energy. In essence, Time Warner is taxing content that they did not create - or even provide!

This is not the first questionable pricing scheme by TW. When looking into cable service, I was informed that TW would charge me $25 per outlet to have analog cable installed. I attempted to discover what this charge was for. Of course the sales rep did not know, but she switched my call to a technical service rep. She said that the charge was to "turn on" the service. I told her that I didn't think the service needed to be "turned on" for each outlet individually, that it needed to be hooked up at the box, then all my outlets would work. We didn't get anywhere, and I didn't get the TV service (I did, however, get cable internet). It turns out that the "installation" consisted of the technician making a coax cable and screwing one end into the wall and the other into your TV. That's something I probably could have handled.

New Year's Resolution to Look Like Zach Morris

Roughly five years ago I hit my pinnacly of obesity. Standing around 5'10 and weighing in at 25o pounds I was just about as wide as I was tall. I finally decided to put an end to it. Over the next year and a half or so I changed my lifestyle and transformed myself into a 6 ft tall 175 pound 21st century Zach Morris. I vowed to never get hefty again. Half-way through my third year in college I have once again turned into a chubster. Fully equipped with sugar tits, a flat tire and two chins, I have decided to change my lifestlye once again. Five years ago I didn't enjoy some of the greater pleasure life has to offer, namely Keystone Light and Jack Daniels. That is one more obstacle I am going to have to overcome this time. To help me in my quest to once again look like Zach Morris I found a site (Calorie-Count Plus) that keeps track of your daily allotment of calories taken in and calories burned. It gives you healthy alternatives for a variety of foods and also can serve as a poor man's facebook. It is my latest craze and hopefully it will last. To hold myself accountable I will try to keep updates of my progress.

Week One
Started January 14th
218.6 pounds

If done right I should lose approximately 1-2 pounds per week. I will use Monday's as my weighing date although I weigh myself daily. Wish me luck.

2008 Presidential Nomination Season Heating Up

A quick thought, isn't it interesting that all the candidates keep saying they are running for president. Technically, they are running for their party's nomination. It's hard to argue that we wouldn't be better off with more choices when it actually comes down to ballot box time, but the truth is there will be two presidential candidates: one representing the democrats, one representing the republicans. The current candidates seem to have forgotten this. One step at a time, and if one of the players (especially on the Democrat side) stepped up to say they wanted to lead their party, I think it would resonate with a lot of voters.

Well that wasn't that quick, at all. Here's what I wanted to include in the blog. USA Today has a Presidential Nomination Poll Tracker. It gives a neat look at where public opinion is headed and where it has been. Also, its about the only practical application of regression analysis I've ever seen.

Roger Clemens

Roger Clemens is slimy. The tape released at today's news conference reeks. McNamee seems like he's upset about something. Clemens sounds like he's acting. When Clemens says "I don't know who's on the line." He lies to him. Then Clemens talks about a press conference, but doesn't say that he's going to throw McNamee under the bus. McNamee starts breaking down at the end of the call and asks Clemens what he wants him to do. Clemens asks McNamee why he would tell everyone that he did steroids. Clemens didn't ask McNamee why he lied and McNamee didn't say that he lied. It sure sounds like McNamee is at the end of his rope. Someone who has everything to lose has nothing to gain by lying.

Clemens and his lawyers came across as pretty greasy, taping a phone call without the other person's knowledge and exposing that person's raw emotions to the world. If Clemens was really "pissed off" like he told Mike Wallace, why wasn't he screaming at McNamee, the person who started this whole thing?