The weekend at large.

The weekend on a whole was a good one, I think.  I worked both days, but not for long shifts and so was able to survive.  Today, of course, my girlfriend is joining me at the prime age of 21 years.  So we went out last night, a bunch of us, to see Comedy Sportz.  If you’ve never been to a show, it’s a real good time and I highly recommend attending!  They have places all across the country, and a nifty website as well.  It is an improv stand-up routine, in which the comedians are split into teams and face off in competitions to see which team is funnier.  They have ‘games’ such as were on the show ‘Whose Line Is It Anyway’ and earn points that in this case do matter.  The games mostly depend on audience suggested themes and the whole show is fairly interactive.

Otherwise, the big attention grabber was of course the Divisional Playoffs for the NFL.  This weekend promised a good slate of games which, unfortunately, failed to deliver on their potential with exception to a single game.

To start with we had the Cards-Saints match-up which just sounded like a high-scoring, all-offense shutout.  Well it was high-scoring, but only the Saints were racking it up, leaving the Cards in their dust.

Indy and Baltimore sounded like a good game, especially after the nailbitter the two teams played the first time around.  This time Indy thoroughly dominated the Ravens, and coasted into the Conference Championship.

The Viqueens and Cowpies seemed like it would be a good game going in, but Romo showed his true play-off colors and the ‘boys o-line melted down as the ageless(witless?) wonder and the Purple people eater defense took the day.

The only game that DID live up to its hype was Jets-Chargers.  The Jets, fresh off their twice-straight dismantling of Cincinatti managed to come back and shock the heavily favored Chargers in San Diego.  I have to admit, I called that this could happen yesterday, but I’m as surprised as anyone that it actually did.  The Chargers certainly seemed like a team destined to play in the Super Bowl, but alas, Chargers fans have got another coach that can’t get it done in the playoffs!  And all that trouble with releasing the great Marty Schottenheimer for this?!

On another football-related, albeit much sadder, note.  I’d like to send out my wishes to the family and friends of Gaines Adams.  Adams, a former first round pick by the Tampa Bay Bucaneers and more recently traded to the Chicago Bears passed away this morning at the age of 26.  A shame to see a guy with such a bright future leave the world so soon…

Yours,

-Andrew

 

Stress and Surprises

I dislike surprises.  I am finding this out more and more as life moves on.  This is mostly because, as I get older, the surprises are often becoming less pleasant.

When you’re a kid, surprises can often be a wonderful thing!  A new toy, a visit from a friend, all kinds of wonderous situations.  However, as we get older these surprises are often far less savory.  I think this is mostly because, as we age we become more independent, we start to plan ahead, and we do not enjoy having our stability messed with.  Unexpected visits from family, surprise inspections at work, pop quizzes.  These things induce stress not pleasantness, and contribute to a lot of constant worry.

Unfortunately, in a competitive world employers and society often judge us by how we stand up to the unexpected, how we react to a less than fair situation.  Obviously with warning any of us could pass a quiz or do well in an inspection.  We know its coming, we can prepare.  But in those surprise situations they can see how we really are doing, right?  Because we just have to act how we normally do, rely on our knowledge, us against them.

But is a stressful situation like that a good gauge of an employee or a students true value or knowledge?  I tend to think that it is not, and props to those professors and employers that give the non-exact “Sometime this week” warning.  At least we know its coming, even if we don’t know when, even if we can’t study or prepare, at least we have the advance warning to steel ourselves to it’s coming.

Where am I going with this?  Well I heard something the other day that made me think.  It seems that students today suffer 2-3 times as much stress as students 70-80 years ago.  If your history isn’t the greatest then, allow me to helpfully add that during that time period this country was in the middle of two world wars and suffered through the Great Depression!  Talk about stressful times!  So what is there now that is so different?  I really can’t figure it out, but I think that is definitely something worth investigating.

Perhaps the government should be spending money investigating this rather than overpaying our govenment executives and bailing out highly-paid CEO’s who’d rather watch their company go under than take a paycut from their ridiculous salary or, God forbid, sell their private jets!  I welcome feedback on this matter.

Yours, as always,

-Andrew

 

A Man Amongst Men

A tip of the hat to Andre Dawson on getting voted into the Baseball Hall of Fame.  Not only a great outfielder but a guy who worked hard and was truly a good guy.  A shame he was playing on bad knees for so long at the end of the career.  Imagine what he could have done if he hadn’t started out on turf.  Congrats Hawk.

 

A New Year, A New Truck.

I finished off 2009 by purchasing a ‘04 Dodge Dakota to replace the truck I totaled in my accident.  So far so good, I like it well enough, but I’m holding off on my full judgment for now.  Going to take some time to see what I think of it.

Now, to today.  I’d like to start by wishing everyone a Happy New Year, and hoping you achieve everything your hoping to this year!

On to business.  What happened to Cincinnati?  You can’t tell me that the loss of Brian Kelly meant that much?!  They haven’t even fought Florida, it’s just been a blowout.

Moving on in Florida, Adios Bobby Bowden.  It’s a shame that they’re kicking you out.  And by the way, Congrats on kicking your old school’s butt in your final game!

To Miami where I’d like to add that, yes, John Clay is a freak.  Not even a hurricane can stop him.

 

Aha!

Well, it seems that once again I was drawn away from the blog.   But consider this a true ressurection.  My New Year’s Resolution is to make a blog post every night so I think I will be trying very hard to stick to it.  So, allow me to update you.

First, I’ve been in an accident and demolished my truck.  I had it for a few weeks and then promptly destroyed it.  Just my luck.

Second, I’ve had a really great Christmas, and hopefully will follow that up with a wonderful New Years!

Oh and third, I am now Twenty-one.

 

Posting.

It seems that betweent school, the nfl season and work I’ve managed to quite lose track of a lot of things.  Time, which is everything, is not something I have.  I do homework and I keep on top of my fantasy sports, and in what little freetime I get, I like to sit back and enjoy the show.  Alas, writing isn’t something that I’ve managed to do.  Hopefully soon I will be able to get back to work…

 

NFL Projections Part 2: AFC West

Is the AFC West really a one-trick pony this year? With turmoil in Denver, shuffling in Kansas City and Al Davis still running the show in Oakland that’s bound to be the question on everybody’s mind. In Denver the departure of Pro Bowl QB Jay Cutler leaves a gaping whole in the offense that without Mike Shanahan’s plug and chug running scheme probably won’t be able to make up for it with the run. Add in an injury plagued backfield and an uncertain receiving corps and their set-up for a long season. In Kansas City the addition of Matt Cassell was supposed to be a huge boost to a team that lost Tony Gonzales in the offseason and signed… wait.. they lost their biggest receiving threat and think Matt Cassell is going to fix it? Good luck. In Oakland JaMarcus Russel and Darren McFadden make up an all SEC dual threat and have another year under their belts. But Al Davis’ sporadic tendencies make the team hard to predict.

1. San Diego Chargers 10-6; While good, the Chargers aren’t quite the powerhouse team of a few years ago. A big part of this is the slow decline in L.T.’s performance. The workhorse back is aging and there’s only so much Darren Sproles can do to replace him. The pass game is good, but lacks a true number one receiver and the defense seems to remain just outside the great range.

2. Oakland Raiders 7-9; Admittedly, Al Davis’ decision making ability is just terrible, and they may begin the season with the services of star CB Nnamdi Asomugha but the Raiders aren’t nearly as bad as advertised. If Davis can resist firing another head coach they might just win a few games yet.

3. Denver Broncos 6-10; New coach, new quarterback, new running back… a lot of new parts in Denver. There’s going to be a transition phase before those parts all fit together smoothly. Give them a few years.

4. Kansas City Chiefs 4-12; The Chiefs are bad. Downright bad. Dwayne Bowe came into camp out of shape and now faces the task of taking on double coverage all season without Gonzales in the middle. The backfield is questionable and the quarterbacks are even more so. Cassell was good in New England with talent around him in a system he was comfortable with. Don’t look for the same in Kansas City.

 

NFL Projections Part 1: AFC East

Calling this division, especially the top, is something that a lot of people would consider pretty easy to do. However, there is a lot more to consider here than most people realize. We know Tom Brady’s back, but just how healthy is that knee, and how about this sore shoulder? And how’s his timing with his receivers? What does the addition of TO mean in Buffalo? And how will Marshawn Lynch’s suspension affect them? How will Mark Sanchez do as a rookie in New York, and what about their first year coach as well. And finally, does Miami really have the personnel to do it again?

Here’s the breakdown of what to expect.

1. New England 13-3; Yes Brady’s back, yes he’s healthy, and yes, his timing is fine. BUT, that defense isn’t quite as good as it used to be and this division is much better. Expect the Patriots to have a much harder time running over opponents than they did in that incredible 2007 campaign but to still be the cream of the crop out east.
2. Miami 9-7; Obviously this team over-performed last year, the introduction of the Wildcat and some great play by under-rated veterans made them a big time surprise. With Parcells in his second year managing personnel and with a now second year coach the dolphins will have a much greater hold on the system in place and should remain a play-off bubble team.
3. New York Jets 8-8; Sanchez might be good in the future, but for now he is what he is. An inexperienced rookie. Remember, Sanchez only has one season under his belt at the collegiate level and once lost a quarterback competition to John David Booty. I’ll give that a second to sink in shall I?
4. Buffalo Bills 7-9; Dear Buffalo; T.O.? Are you kidding me? I know Edwards hasn’t really shown a lot, but the guy is young and very intelligent. If nothing else he’s a game manager that you can build around.  Expect TO to draw a lot of double teams, leaving Lee Evans to shine on the other side. I expect problems with this to develop by the time Lynch gets back for week 5.

 

Starting School.

So, Wednesday is the first day of the new semester.  And to be honest, I’m not sure if I should be excited or just wish for it to go by quickly and painlessly.  From the sounds of things two of the classes should require a whole lot of homework and studying.  But I will see when it gets here I suppose.

Otherwise, what have I been doing?  Working and taking care of all kinds of other things.  Playing soccer and relaxing as much as possible before the school year.  So, nothing of interest to report I’m afraid.

 

Writing the genders.

Somewhere towards the end of May I was discussing rp characters with a friend of mine over at the fifthwind writers forums and we got onto the topic of opposite gender characters and how to write them.

So, you’re a guy/girl writing about a girl/guy.  If you’re anything like me, you’re probably not too sure on how well you’re going to be doing when you do.  So naturally, the best thing is to ask someone of the opposite sex right?  All guys and gals think just like all other guys and gals so its bound to work, right?

WRONG.

Here’s the basic facts folks.  While it is true that there are traits more common to males or females, most traits are FAR from gender unique and in fact your can’t really classify any one trait as either feminine or masculine!  The truth of the matter is that a person’s personality traits and general behavior has much more to do with the upbringing and social standing than with their gender.

For example, a child brought up by a single father that enjoys the outdoors is much more likely to be outdoorsy than a child brought up in a family that hates camping.  A child from a rich and open wallet family is more likely to spend lots of money than a child brought up learning how to conserve money.

There is no true and proper way to write a character of the opposite sex, but as long as you remember that they are more than just their gender, you should do fine.