UngsungBlog: A (Fantasy) Sports Blog

When I first heard this rumor, I laughed at it, kinda like when the Shaq for Dirk and Nash “rumor” first came about. Now, according to ESPN, the Dodgers actually have the inside track to make a deal for Man-Ram.

What do I think about Manny possibly becoming an LA Dodger? THIS MUST HAPPEN!!!

I really wanted the Dodgers to pursue the greatest underachiever of all, A-Fraud (E-Rod?), but the Yankees ruined that dream when they announced that A-Rod would remain a Yankee in 07. I guess picking up one of the most feared hitters in the league (when he tries, at least) is a nice consolation prize. If anything, I’d rather see Manny quitting on the team than that former RF we had who showed zero emotion for the two years he spent here in LA, before backstabbing the team by opting out of his contract.

This trade MUST happen. I will forgive GM Ned Colletti for the Juan Pierre contract if he makes this trade.

Random thoughts:
- That overrated, backstabbing RF that formerly donned an LA Dodgers uniform is about to sign a 5 year, $70 million contract to play for Boston. I can’t wait to see him crash into the short wall in right field in Boston and shred both knees. By the way, I’m not bitter about his departure.
- The Dodgers’ best signing this offseason, so far? Randy Wolf. Not because he’s a superstar player, but because he only signed a one year deal, which, in this day and age, is a worthwhile gamble.
- Fantasy football news: I’m in the playoffs! Woot! Another team is in, and two others are a single win away from getting in. I still expect a monumental letdown in the playoffs, though :-P.

Next post: My laptop is a b!tch…

by Peter
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As promised, here’s my mini review of the DLink Omni-Directional 7dBi Indoor Antenna, mentioned in my previous blog entry.

I had wireless connectivity issues with my living room desktop–connected to my Linksys WRT54G router via a Zonet(?) Wireless PCI card–and figured, for ~$5 after rebate and Google Checkout, I would give this item a try. The antenna is impressively large, much larger than the pathetic antenna that came with my PCI card. The base is magnetic, which, I suppose, has its uses; just keep the base away from any electronics.

Hooking up the antenna + base to my PCI card, I went from a weak, 2-3 bar, 24-36Mbps connection, to a very stable 5 bar, 54Mbps connection. Part of the reason for this, though, may be due to the fact that the base allows me to extend the antenna away from the computer and allow the antenna a better line of sight to the router. To test this theory, I attached the antenna included with the PCI card to the Dlink base, and got about a 4-5 bar signal strength.

I then tried replacing one of the antennae on my WRT54G with this Dlink antenna. I had certain “dead” spots in my house, most notably in the far corners of the living room, as well as the master bedroom. I ran a crude experiment using my sister’s Dell Axim X51, measuring the signal strength in a number of areas. I noticed an improvement of 1-2 bars of signal strength in most of the areas I tested, as well as a weak signal in the “dead” spots. Also, in all the bedrooms, I noticed a more stable, less flaky, internet connection.

For ~$5, I really can’t complain, but I’m quite satisfied with the performance of this product.

In other news, my laptop is continuing to act up here at my parents’ place. The darn thing has restarted by itself four times, and BSOD’ed twice, in the past hour. I’m still not sure what is causing the problem in this house, and what’s really strange is the fact that I was able to use the laptop just fine in the living room for several hours earlier today…

No random thoughts today, as I am still trying to diagnose my laptop’s problem.

by Peter
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So it’s been a full day since I ate way too much food (what else is new?), and I’m still feeling the effects of overeating.

Turkey Day was great, if you don’t count the couple of hours after dinner, where I desperately needed an antacid or ten. Deep-fried turkey, green bean casserole, mashed potatoes, stuffing, steamed vegetables, and Grands! biscuits…good stuff all around.

For the second straight year, I did all my Black Friday shopping in the comfort of my own home. It was only about a month ago that I was owed $90 in outstanding rebates; I’m now over $800 and rising. Buy.com, Amazon.com, and Circuit City have been getting most of my business for the past few weeks, and I actually bought some stuff at Staples.com for the first time in years. Unfortunately, I still haven’t completed my Christmas shopping yet…

Random thoughts:
- Tony Romo! Tony Romo! 5 TDs! Despite a 49-2 lead, I could still lose this week, since my opponent has LaDainian Tomlinson…
- How did I not end up with a new TV after today? Oh wait, Staples still has the Mag 32″ LCD TV in stock for $499.99…
- Green-bean casserole is so awesomely good that it would have to be a side dish on my “Last Meal” menu

For my next blog entry, I will do a mini-review on a product I purchased recently: a D-Link 7dBi Omni-Directional Indoor Antenna.

by Peter
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(Disclaimer: Crap…I haven’t updated this blog in a couple days! I better post something here to give Krunk something to do.)

So I went to a Korean BBQ place on Saturday with my sisters–it was an all-you-can-eat place in Downtown LA, and the name eludes me at the moment. Somehow we were able to mow down four huge plates of meat; I guess cooking the meat ourselves built up quite the appetite.

About five minutes after the meal was down, I fell into a food-induced coma that brought me back to my High School years. As soon as I got home, I didn’t make it two steps into my front door without collapsing on a chair. I was hoping the food coma would allow me to get to sleep quickly; unfortunately, the food coma wore off, and the effects of eating too much kicked in, and I didn’t sleep for more than an hour.

That being said, the food coma was so worth it!

Random thoughts:
- I hate you, Time Warner.
- So my Dodgers made a huge signing, picking up…Juan Pierre? For $45 million over 5 years??? Huh?
- Fantasy football update: I won again, beating the league leader. I’m now tied for first, but I play the team that has LaDainian Tomlinson next week, and LT plays Oakland!!! Oh well, I guess my winning streak had to come to an end eventually.
- I hate you, Time Warner.

by Peter
1 Comment »

(Disclaimer: Yeah, I know, the title sucks…)

So I was dining out last night at a Mongolian BBQ restaurant, awaiting the refill on my Pepsi. The waiter placed my glass on the table, and accidentally tipped the glass over, spilling most of the contents on the table, towards me. By the time I was able to react, I wore most of the soda all over my jeans.

Rather than making a big scene over the spill, I started cracking jokes about the entire situation. Some of the gems included:
- Well, I wouldn’t mind taking my soda to go.
- I feel the urge to sing the song, “Pour Some [Soda] On Me”
- Can you spill some red wine on me? I hear red wine is great for removing stains.

The poor waiter kept apologizing profusely, and I kept reassuring him that accidents happen. I’ll just say…the spilled soda was certainly a chilling experience (groan).

Random thoughts:
- I think Christmas presents should be tax deductable.
- I think I deserve this TV. Screw financial responsibility!
- I stopped by McDonald’s to get some Fruit n Yogurt parfaits. We went via drive-thru, and ordered the parfaits, when I had a craving for apple pies. We ordered two apple pies, and I guess the cashier didn’t hear us well. He asked, “Would you like the two pies for $1.00, or just one?” That’s when I peered at the prices, and noticed that one apple pie was $0.99. I wonder if anyone has ever ordered a single apple pie at that McDonald’s. By the way, McDonald’s apple pies topped with plain vanilla ice cream is pretty tasty.
- On some rebate forms, there are two check boxes (labeled yes and no) asking if you want to be contacted regarding “special offers” from the manufacturer of the item in question. Does anyone actually want these offers? One day, I’m going to leave those boxes unchecked, and see if a rebate processor rejects my rebate for not checking one of those boxes. My bet is that a rebate mailed to Miami, FL (Parago, aka Para-suck) will be rejected for this reason first. After all, this processor once rejected a rebate of mine because I didn’t include the rebate form with my submission…

by Peter
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(Disclaimer: The title of this blog entry has absolutely nothing to do with the contents of said entry.)

I wonder what the world record is for the most number of self-inflicted injuries in a week. Since this past Sunday, I have done the following to myself:

- Injuring my wrist while falling, extending my arm to break the fall
- Hyperextending my elbow
- Jamming my fingers
- Four, yes, four papercuts
- Tweaking my ankle stepping on a mouse that was on the floor (computer, not animal)

and that doesn’t include the eleventy billion times I hit my elbows, knees, toes, or fingers against a wall/bed/door/etc.

Oh yeah, and I’m also practically out of Tylenol.

Random thoughts:
- True story: the LA Clippers’ announcer announced on Tuesday that the game that day between the Utah Jazz and the Los Angeles Clippers was for the best record in the Western Conference…
- So Bob Kraft (NE Patriots’ owner) signed Vinny Testaverde to a contract. I heard he was interested in Emmitt Smith too; darn that Dancing With the Stars commitment!
- I must own this football card. This ranks right up there with the Billy Ripken “F**K FACE” baseball card.
- Oh joy! Roughly 20 hours until the next episode of The Office!
- I just realized that this blog has nothing about fantasy sports in it. So here’s a quickie: Larry Johnson better run all over the Oakland Raiders’ D this weekend.

by Peter
3 Comments »

So I’m bedridden, feeling miserable–I hate the fall/winter months–and so I decided to do something that puts me in the upper 1% of all fantasy sports geeks: I have started on a thorough analysis of one of my Fantasy Football leagues to date.

Records of the eight teams participating can be seen here. I am the Commish of the league.

- Colts4Life is riding the arm of Peyton Manning, and is going to make the playoffs, barring a complete disaster.
- Dasnufus had Shaun Alexander, but still has a very strong team (Holt, Kevin Jones, Steven Jackson, Darrell Jackson, Javon Walker, and Baltimore’s D). His team was my preseason pick to win the championship, and I’m sticking with that pick.
- Commish is riding the play of Larry Johnson, and is praying that Chad Johnson is back. I have the toughest remaining schedule (based on remaining opponents’ W-L record), and I could easily end up out of the playoffs.
- Crimson’s Tidal Wave wins my award for “Most Successful Fantasy Team while Maintaining Team Loyalty.” Her draft consisted of a number of NE Patriots, and yet her team is up a game on the 5th place team. Crimson’s remaining schedule is brutal, though (second toughest)
- L4ZyPatriots rode Donovan McNabb to a 3-0-1 start. He has since rode McNabb to a 1-5 record.
- ying! started the season 0-6, but thanks to the fantasy football MVP (LDT), he has four straight wins, and a favorable remaining schedule. It is not out of the question for ying! to win it all.
- garsh wins the “Streakiest Team” award; his team started out with 2 losses (one to me, by a stinking point), followed up with 3 wins, then four losses, and then a win).
- I thought The Intimidator had a very strong team, but four straight losses has pretty much ended his playoff hopes.

My fearless predictions (cross-posted in the thread linked above):
- Eight wins, or seven wins and a tie, will be good enough to make the playoffs (7-7 if the tiebreakers fall your way and you get help)
- Ten wins will win the regular season championship.
- Dasnufus over Colts in the championship; I expect Peyton Manning to only play a half in Week 16 against the Texans. Hopefully I did not just jinx Dasnufus.

Random Thoughts, special edition (free of fantasy sports talk!):
- The “Print Preview” option in most programs will be neglected by me no more. I printed out a bunch of Excel docs for my sister, expecting 26 pages to print out. Instead, 104 pages printed out. Of the 104, 3/4 were either blank or had the information of a couple cells printed on it. Print Preview, you shall never be neglected again.
- I do not own a land line, because I don’t use the phone enough to warrant paying for one. In fact, I haven’t owned a land line in 2 years. Unfortunately, I racked up about 200 minutes of cell phone use yesterday, none of which were personal calls. I will now turn my phone off until the next billing cycle.
- Why can’t cough medicine taste better than it does? Actually, if it did taste pretty good, I might become addicted to the stuff. I guess that’s why cough medicine tastes like crap.

by Peter
1 Comment »

and my laptop thanks me. The darn thing locked up again on Sunday, and my sister’s laptop locked up twice (it barely has any issues either). On the plus side, watching football games on HDTV was quite enjoyable.

So I picked up a 160GB Seagate drive from Circuit City to replace the one in my sister’s computer, and apparently customer service doesn’t exist there. From the “Next!” I got from the clerk–mid 20s woman, by the way–to the way she bagged the hard drive and tossed it in my general direction before uttering “Next!” to the next customer, I’ll have to make sure never to return there again. My sister also picked up a drive, and it took about 15-20 minutes for their clerk to locate the drive. At least she was apologetic and looked somewhat sincere…

By the way, it’s freaking cold! I think I need a fleece blanket or something similar.

Random thoughts:
- An ungsunghero PSA as well as a note to self: the next time you tell something “It’s not that difficult,” assume the task is next to impossible to do.
- A $100 rice cooker really does cook rice a heck of a lot better than a $20 rice cooker. The rice doesn’t quite taste 5x better, though…
- San Diego and Cincinnati combining for 90 points…was that a pro football game or a game of Tecmo Super Bowl?
- A quick fantasy football update: if my math is correct, I pretty much blew out my opponent this week, and I am looking good in the playoff hunt. Unfortunately, I play the league leader next week, and the hottest team in the league the week following, and I could easily be out of the playoff picture two weeks from now. I intend on boring my entire audience (all one of you) with a thorough analysis of my fantasy football league to date sometime in the near future :-P.

by Peter
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So I am visiting my parents in Monterey Park this weekend, and I swear there is something in my sister’s room that is causing trouble…

First of all, my laptop locked up twice in the past 24 hours; up until today, my laptop had never locked up. Also, my sister’s computer’s hard drive started acting up. After running Western Digital’s Data Lifeguard Tools, I got this error message:

“Too many errors detected. Please contact technical support.”

Hooray…at least lunch (thanks David) and dinner (thanks Nancy) were quite satisfying.

Random thoughts:
- HDTV is awesome! I finally hooked my sister’s Samsung HDTV with an HDTV antenna, and promptly tuned to NBC…to see Alec Baldwin and Steve Martin in high-def…
- Battery-operated toothbrushes are garbage.
- I thought dumping 100webspace and coming back to blogspot was the reason for my rapid increase in hits lately. Then I find out Krunk posted a link to here in one of his recent posts. By the way, I take offense in his saying my blog consists of a “bunch [of] random interesting stuff.” My blog is full of uninteresting, low-brow, lame crap, and I’m proud of it! Also, notice this post is fantasy sports-free!

by Peter
1 Comment »

I really have nothing else to add to the title…though I like how it ties in with the last blog post I made about JD Drew.

By the way, I added a link to a web site entitled “Twenties Retirement.” It’s a neat little web site with basic information about retirement investments, emphasizing the fact that people shouldn’t be thinking about retirement five years before they reach retirement age.

You may notice that I’m no longer using 100webspace. Apparently people were unable to access my blog while I was hosted there. In the four hours after I kicked 100webspace to the curb, my blog hits nearly tripled!

Random thoughts:
- I hate how my electronic toothbrush beeps and vibrates at 30 second intervals (apparently the feature is there to remind you to move the brush to another quadrant of your mouth every 30 seconds). If I want to take 5 minutes to brush my teeth, then I should be allowed to, uninterrupted!
- The message “[a certain operation] may take a few minutes” that occurs when some software is installed annoys me. I think the message should be changed to “if [certain operation] takes a few minutes, upgrade your computer, for heaven’s sake!”

by Peter
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