The Deal (with some fantasy sports, some other stuff)

Sneezes come in threes

2006-07-07T05:02:00.000-04:00

I guess dates do, too. So last week (something like the last week, with the holiday, I have no idea what day it is) I had three real dates. One with the woman of unknown age, one with the Florida dentist and one with PRJ.

And, what I've decided, is that if one is not in a relationship, one needs to have a rotation (thanks Polly!). I made my profile active on J-Date and then started chatting with MySpace people and at a certain point, I may have had eight women on the hook. Of course, I got too into a couple and probably scared them off, but there were still a few left that I couldn't screw up with, because I hadn't talked with them enough...

So, it's like, if you want to have three women in your life, you've gotta kind of have five, just in case you mess up with two.

So, I went out for a beer with the woman of unknown age...and she started getting very deep with me, talking about living life on a higher plane...like the Celestine Prophecy? I have no idea. I'm still curious about her. We'll see if I see her again.

I enticed the Florida dentist to come out to see the France/Brazil soccer game with me and some friends. Then they left and we spent a loooong time together. Dinner, drinks, and a kiss goodnight. She can certainly hold up her end of the conversation.

Went out to mee the PRJ and her friends at a fratty-type bar on the UES. I told her I would only come if she bought me four drinks (dollar drinks) and she did! Craziness. A few more drinks and a few kisses later, it was time to go home.

So, following my boy David's principles, I kind of laid back. I had work on Sunday and Monday, and I was off on the 4th and 5th.

Somewhere along the way, another MySpace girl came into the picture. She's been talking to me too much, and I'm such an attention whore. I can't resist IMing people when they're online. So I've been talking with...let's call her 23 for a while. She seems pretty cool so far. Trying to make plans to see her sometime.

So, anyway, on the night of the 3rd, I'm jabbering away on IM at work with the dentist, and she says she's at home and drunk. She says call her when I'm done (which was around 3 a.m.) It was my first-ever booty call...and I was the one who was getting called. How about that?

So, of course, the one I'm most interested in at the moment, let's just call her the curly-haired dancer, seems not to realize what I'm up to.

But, I have some others to keep my mind occupied.

And YKW is back from Israel. She IMed me today before she had to go take a drug test for her new job.

Sheesh...keeping up with the rotation is hard work! But good work.

Updating

2006-06-27T04:43:00.000-04:00

Get it? Up-dating?
Anyway, no go with Carmela. She e-mailed me and cancelled on our plans for the weekend, claiming she didn't connect with me on our five-minute phone call. Her loss, right? So much for "penning" me in.

The Flower came by, I saw her, she left. No kiss. She pissed me off. Double booked me and a friend of hers. Bitch, right? First time you're going to see your ex boyfriend in six months, and halfway through a wander around the Time Warner Center, you say, oh, yeah, I forgot to tell you...I'm meeting someone for dinner at 7. It was 6:51.

So, the interesting thing that happened is that I was standing on the outskirts of the swing dance on the plaza at Lincoln Center on Friday night, waiting for a friend of mine, and this woman, of some age (was she 30 or 40? I have no idea) comes up and starts chatting with me like she's my long-lost best friend. A little off-putting at first, but fun to have someone pay so much intense attention to me for five minutes. Anyway, at the end of the five minutes, she asks for my card. I'm still trying to figure out what her motivation is...is she just being friendly, or is she interested?

Anyway, I run the scenario by a few people, men and women, and they all say I'm gonna get a call from her by the middle of the week. And today, at 5, she calls. "Hey, do you want to meet for a drink sometime this week?" Wednesday it is. More later.

Where to begin?

2006-06-21T01:18:00.000-04:00

At the beginning, right?

Since today is day two of the new and improved blog, I'll start with today.

What's new...well, after a week of not talking, due to what seemed to be the end of our fucked up relationship (more on that as we go) YKW (which stands for "You Know Who") gets back in touch. She's upset that she's upset and upset that I'm upset. She's leaving for Israel tomorrow. We patched things up a little bit. Instead of plans to never speak to each other again (or at least a few months) we've resolved to get a beer sometime. As my Dad told me, the other day, about a different topic, "Be patient and expect nothing." Good advice to employ here with YKW.

The Flower is going to be in New York this weekend. She says that since we're not dating anymore, she won't kiss me. We'll see what happens.

In the midst of my first phone call with Carmela, yesterday, YKW sends me an IM, utimately resulting in the patch-up. However, I had an interesting chat with Carmela. She's a fan of researching the Mafia...hence the nickname, in honor of Carmela Soprano. Anyway, she gave me her e-mail address on the phone, and I sent her a short message. However, I didn't get a reply, which means I might have typed it down wrong. I'm not too worried, because I can pick up the phone and call her, right?

Interesting note came out of my conversation with Carmela...I went to the fancy Equinox gym in the basement of the Time Warner Center on Friday evening for a tour. She was there. She recognized me from my photo...which is kind of cool, and kind of an interesting coincidence. I don't, however, think I'll be joining that gym, even though the showers were incredible. It's way too expensive.

More to come...

Chapter One

2006-06-20T04:03:00.000-04:00

Okay, I've been egged on enough by the fellow daters out there to make this blog a little more about dating and a little less about other stuff. Who really cares who's starting for me at second base?

So, let me introduce you to some characters in my life:

YKW -- someone, who was extremely involved in my life over the last 10 weeks. She was tall, cute, funny, sporty, shared some key background commonalities. She was making "girlfriend noises" before I was making "boyfriend noises." Yet, we could never get our shit together to meet, and finally broke up, or so I thought, last week.

Making me free to contact:

Carmela -- she seems cool based on her profile on Salon's personals site. A high school teacher in one of the five boroughs. Likes the Pittsburgh Steelers and the Yankees (could there be a worse combination for a Cleveland boy?)

And possibly meet up with:

The Flower -- a young lady from upstate who gave me a gift most men don't get to experience, and helped me end a multi-year drought. She'll be visiting her cousin in NYC this weekend.

Now that you know some players, we'll see where this goes.

Okay, I'm in New York

2006-05-07T04:37:00.000-04:00

Come and visit me or something. I live right next to the GW Bridge. In Manhattan. It's easy, as long as you don't end up in New Jersey.

Checking In

2006-03-26T22:11:00.000-05:00

So, it's been a few months. How's everybody doing? Not that I expect that there are a lot of people out there checking this...but anyway. I figure that when I was last blogging, my life was moving forward. Since I've stopped, nada. So, here's to a new blog entry. More to follow.

I'm Completely Insane

2005-11-21T20:26:00.000-05:00

Okay, so last night, I said to myself - I can still win this week's fantasy football matchup if Larry Johnson, the Chiefs' running back, has a monster game against the woeful Houston Texans. Something like 3 touchdowns and 150 yards would have done the trick. So, what do I do but sit on the couch for two hours with my roommate watching Desperate Housewives and Grey's Anatomy, to flip back to ESPN as soon as the shows are over, and find that Johnson has like 175 yards and 2 touchdowns, and there is still about 8 minutes to play in the game. I check the live scoring on CBS.Sportsline.com and find out that I'm trailing, something like 98-95. All Johnson needs is a touchdown, and I win the game with the 6 points that's worth. But does he get a touchdown? No. The Chiefs give him the ball a couple of times right by the goal line, one time he gets tackled in the backfield (apparently for the first time of the game by the sucky Texans) and the next time the whistles blow signifying offsides. So, instead of having the ball at the half-yard line, the Chiefs have to go back to the 5.5 yard line. Next play, pass to Samie Parker for a touchdown. Johnson is stuck on something like 186 yards and my team is still down 98-96. So, damn you Samie Parker and Chiefs offensive linemen who went offsides!
Anyway, next thing you know, the Chiefs get the ball back and Johnson gets two carries to get up to 211 yards and I take the lead 100-98.
I can't believe how thrilled I was to win this game - especially since I had been so close the previous two weeks (a Reggie Wayne sure touchdown dropped steps from the end zone in the Pats/Colts Monday night game a few weeks ago, and Lee Evans coming out of nowhere for two touchdowns - 0n the bench of course - prevented me from being 5-5 or 6-4 and fighting for first place.)
Anyway, thanks to LJ, I'm back in the playoff hunt. I've moved to 5-6 and I may be just a game out of first place in the parity division.
Stay tuned.

So Here's a Quick Update

2005-10-26T13:13:00.000-04:00

Anyway, I initially thought I would use this blog as a kind of brain dump for all of the fantasy sports stats, names and numbers accumulating in my head. However, I haven't felt the need for that lately, which is why I have posted about numerous other things...but who cares, right? A blog is a blog is a blog, unless it is a world famous one like my friend Marty's

So, here's an update on my fantasy football squad. My team is 4-3 and in the midst of a two-game winning streak, which has propelled "Fat Actress" into a multi-team tie for second place in the division. In fact, almost all of the teams in the league are 4-3...talk about parity! The one problem with my team so far this year is that my one stud keeper, Michael Clayton of Tampa Bay, has been a huge bust. I could have taken him or Jason Witten, the Cowboys' tight end, back from last year. Let's just say that as of now, I made the wrong choice. Maybe he'll have a huge second half. We'll see.

Also, in the blogworld, I just wanted to send a shout out to the girls I know at Grow Some, because they rock, especially Kristin. And, I couldn't have gotten this far in the blogosphere without my pal Always who just missed being born on August 29, 1975 (my birthday).

Take it easy out there.

Sports Night

2005-10-24T01:32:00.000-04:00

All I have to say is that I have been re-watching Sports Night. It's a great show. If you like Desperate Housewives, you'll like it, because two of the "housewives" have roles on the show.

Soccer

2005-09-23T02:25:00.000-04:00

So, I went to cover a soccer game today...probably for the first time since I was the sports editor of my college paper back in the mid-1990s. And...it was pretty cool. First, it was one of the nicest days of the year. Imagine it being Sept. 23 and the leaves are turning out in a small town near the finger lakes of Central New York...now imagine it being like 75 degrees!
And, with soccer, unlike baseball or football, you don't have to write every play down. When the kids are kicking the ball around in the middle of the field and nothing major is going on, guess what? You don't have to write that down. It's only when there's a shot on goal, or an actual goal, that you have to write it down. And, in soccer, both benches are on the same side of the field, so you can actually hear what the coaches are saying to the refs and the players! It's like your very own reality show.

As a reporter, you can ask better questions because you can actually hear what the coaches are yelling!

So, three cheers for soccer. (I never thought I would write that!) And, by the way, Odessa-Montour defeated Union Springs 3-1.

Miscellany

2005-09-14T02:55:00.000-04:00

Okay, time for various rants and raves:

Rave:
My new fantasy football squad, named "Fat Actress" by the league's comissioners, squeaked out a win this week over "Those are some great NY Man Breasts," by the rousing score of 60-57. Rousing, that is, because nearly every other team in the league would have beaten my paltry 60 point week, but I got lucky with a good matchup.

Rant:
When I left Syracuse to go to my internship earlier this summer in North Carolina, my TV viewing habits got thrown off by the lack of a DVR at my aunt's house. Consequently, I missed the final two episodes of "24." So, lo and behold, now that I'm back in DVR land again, I find out that the most recent season of "24" was being replayed on the A&E network...ONE WEEK TOO LATE! How is it possible that someone who spends way too many hours on the Internet and watching TV missed this thrilling development? Shame on all my friends for not telling me, too.

Rave:
The Single-A short season Auburn Doubledays will be playing in the New York-Penn League championship series against the Staten Island Yankees this week. Look out for some kick-ass coverage by The Auburn Citizen (www.auburnpub.com)

Rant:
Something else should go here, but I can't remember what it is...

High School Sports are worth a shot

2005-09-11T22:46:00.000-04:00

While I say in my intro to this blog that this is going to have some rantings about fantasy sports, indulge my commentary on some of the local sports that I have seen recently.

Notably, I witnessed a great high school football game on Friday night. The Weedsport Warriors defeated the Onondaga Tigers 6-0 in a matchup of the teams that have won the last four small school state titles in New York.

One thing I've noticed, from both my days as a mediocre high school football player in the early 90s and today as a sportswriter, is that high school games can easily become lopsided affairs, with one team winning a basketball game by 30 points or a baseball game by 10 runs. However, the games when the two teams are evenly matched are some of the most exciting and emotional on any level.

On Friday night at Weedsport, a small town just a couple of miles off the New York Throughway, two small high schools produced a game that was just as compelling as a Division I college affair. Neither team had a distinct advantage throughout the night and a fumble here and a clutch first-down run there were the difference in the game. Weedsport ended up scoring the game's only touchdown late in the second quarter, when the sophomore backup quarterback, filling in for a senior all-stater, threw a 19-yard pass into the end zone.

Throughout the second half, both teams fought to score again, but neither team could really get a sustained drive going, and the final score ended up 6-0. This reminded me of a game my high school team played 13 years ago. We were playing a late-season game against our most hated rival, on a chilly Saturday afternoon on a muddy field that claimed our star tailback's shoes more than once.

The game ended 0-0 in regulation and each team had a chance to run some plays in overtime. Sadly, I only got in the game for a couple of plays, so I can't say I had any impact on the game's result.

We ended up losing 6-0 when University School scored a touchdown after we failed to score on our possession. It was one of the more frustrating games of the season, because we played very well, had the ball near U.S.'s goal line in regulation more than once, and failed to score. However, neither team outshined the other, and the winning score was more a result of the fact that in Ohio, they don't allow high school football games end in ties, than anything else.

So, take from this the suggestion that if you decide to head out to a high school sports event near you, make sure you do some research and attend a game that features two good, evenly-matched teams. You won't be disappointed, and it will be a lot cheaper than even seeing a movie.

What's the deal with the first week of college football?

2005-09-06T02:31:00.000-04:00

So, all you hear about in the NFL preseason is how the professional, multi-millionaire NFL players don't want to play preseason games. You don't hear much about the college players and their two-a-day summer practices. Maybe the tables should be turned. If the professionals are really that, maybe they don't need practice games. But, golly gee, the college players certainly do, as anyone who watched the two recent nationally-televised games on Sunday and Monday can attest.
The Syracuse-West Virginia game at the Carrier Dome, the big bubble over Syracuse University's campus, was so underwhelming that I'm surprised the roof didn't collapse. The much-hyped Orange team, led by new coach Greg Robinson (new to head coaching and new to Syracuse), barely scored a touchdown (they had to be helped to the shadow of the goal line by a personal foul from WVU) and ended up losing a punt-fest 15-7. The most exciting moments for the fans were the 5 (count 'em, 5) turnovers that the Orange forced. If you force 5 turnovers, Bill Belichick would say, and you only commit two yourself, you should win the game. Yet, somehow, Robinson managed to not do that. The good news, however, is that the defense looks tough. If you don't give up any points, as some coaches say, you can't lose.
The Florida State-Miami game, which I didn't watch, by the way, because I was out covering the New York-Penn League game between the Auburn Doubledays and Mahoning Valley Scrappers, (you can find it here at www.auburnpub.com), finished 10-7. How about that for a thrilling game.

Here's what I say. Elminate one regular season game from the college schedule and let them play an exhibition game somewhere around August 25. Give them a week to sort things out, then start the season around Sept. 3.

No wonder why most big-time schools start their seasons with cupcake games...Iowa 56 - Ball State 0; California 41 - Sacramento State 3; USC 63 - Hawaii 17, etc.

A New Season

2005-09-01T22:33:00.000-04:00

So, the high school football season is afoot here in Central New York. I'm going to head out to a game tomorrow. It should be fun. Probably the first HS game I'll have seen since I covered one for the Waltham (Mass.) News Tribune back in the 1990s.
Check out my articles on Syracuse.com:
http://www.syracuse.com

And by the way, I had my first fantasy football draft of the year on Sunday. My top 3 picks were: Willis McGahee, Daunte Culpepper and Reggie Wayne. I chose to keep Michael Clayton over Jason Witten (from last year's team). I also ended up with Ronnie Brown, Randy McMichael, Lee Evans, Thomas Jones and a bunch of other dudes.

Christian Bros. Football

2005-08-16T00:46:00.000-04:00

So, I went to the opening practice of Christian Brothers Academy's football team here in Syracuse. I stayed for about an hour. The Brothers are the defending NY State Champion in the highest division of high school football.

While CBA only has an enrollment in the upper school of about 500 students, which is just a few more than my high school had, there had to be 70 kids out for practice on Day 1, split evenly between the JV and Varsity. That, among other things, was impressive. When I was in high school, in a school that had about 400 kids in the upper school, we were stretching to have 30 players on Varsity and about 20 between the 9th grade team and the JV. There is strength in numbers, that's for sure. I mean, what if a kid comes out for football as a 9th grader and is all gawky and uncoordinated, but has a great experience, and then two years later has learned the game and grown into his frame...next thing you know, he's an All-State candidate.

So, the question of the day seems to be which kid is going to make the team as the starting quarterback. Based on the passing drills - where the receivers were running routes with names like Kentucky and Honda - and the quarterbacks had to hit one of three receivers, the early favorite looks to be Mike Paulus, the younger brother of Duke University basketball player to be, Greg Paulus. He's competing for the spot with a guy named Pete (I can't remember his last name) who just looks like a player who has been taught how to play quarterback, but doesn't look like he has the natural aptitude that a star needs. Pete may be a little quicker than Mike, but he doesn't have the arm that Mike does. It couldn't have been more evident. Paulus takes the snap, drops back, and with a flick of the wrist, the ball is 20 yards down the field. Pete on the other hand, seems to have to put everything he's got into a 20 yard out...sort of like the way Cardinals' shortstop David Eckstein has to throw the ball with all he's got just to get it to first base on a routine grounder. So, after day one, advantage Paulus.

2005-08-14T19:07:00.000-04:00

I have feet.

Comments?

2005-08-14T00:13:00.000-04:00

Okay everyone, how about some comments about how thrilling and stimulating my blog is?

I

2005-08-12T03:17:00.000-04:00

Just wanted everyone to know, it's my intention to be the king of the world.

2005-08-11T01:26:00.000-04:00

Well, it's been a day, so it's time for another update. As of 1:26 on Thurs. A.M., the fighting sandwiches have taken the lead over Triple H - thanks to Milton Bradley and Bronson Arroyo for leading a 63 point day for 17 Point squad.

On the other hand, the Fight Club is having issues, still facing a 3-digit deficit in both games.

Okay, basta con la fantasia. Me voy a ver el nuevo capitulo de Rescue Me.
Hasta la proxima.

so much fantasy, so little time

2005-08-08T21:43:00.000-04:00

So, as of now, The Fighting Sandwiches are down by almost 20 points to Big Bob - AKA Triple H. If the Yankees win and Mike Mussina gets the win, I'll get a 10 point boost to close the gap. Let's see what happens. Mondays, however, are usually pretty slow because there aren't so many games and there's not much fantasy up and down. On the other side, the Fight Club team is still in the hunt, but I had a seriously disastrous day on Sunday and scored something like 6 points, so I have my work cut out for me. A note about the team names. When we had our fantasy baseball draft a year ago, I was heavy into weight watchers, and heavy as well. So I was counting points in everything, so I figured that I was eating a 17 Point Slice of Sandwich at the draft last year. In the other league, my squad is called Just Like Fight Club...because...and this can be confirmed by an independent party on the internet - it happens to be said in the commentary track of Old School - that Old School is "Just Like Fight Club." None of the boys in Jersey that I saw the movie with agree, so it's their joke that my team is called "Just Like Fight Club."

3-0 Baby

2005-08-07T15:15:00.000-04:00

Despite my pessimistic post from yesterday, all of my teams prevailed. Sweet.

The First Post

2005-08-06T11:22:00.000-04:00

So, this is my first ever blog post. I hope you enjoy it.
My teams are 17 Point Slice of Sandwich and Just Like Fight Club.
More on the team names later.
As we head into action on Saturday, I'm barely leading my matchup with HIM The Protest Warrior, 312-301.5. I'll probably lose, seeing as how if I don't have a 100 point lead going into Saturday, I usually do.

In my other league, Fight Club is staring down the barrel of an 0-2 week. We'll see what happens today, maybe I'll be surprised.

In other news, my fantasy football draft is coming up in three weeks. The decision to make: keeping Jason Witten, TE, Cowboys; or Michael Clayton, WR, Bucs.