UngsungBlog: A (Fantasy) Sports Blog

Four days between updates? Yikes!

Let’s get to it.

One quick thought about the Dodgers, before I get started…

- If that stolen base, by a PITCHER (the Giants’ Brad Hennessey!!!), who came in as a pinch runner, who stole second because our All-Star catcher—Russell Martin—wasn’t paying attention on the play, costs the Dodgers the National League West crown, I am going to be royally pissed off.

That is all.

- For the love of ***, I am going to flip if I see one of those stupid Mercury Insurance commercials again!!!

(Have you seen these abominations? In one, some douchebag wants to call heads and tails on a coin flip. In other, some woman wants to send a packages to two places. HILARIOUS!

Or not.)

Speaking of dumb commercials, what’s with the new “I’m a PC” commercials??? Seriously, is Microsoft trying to out-douchebag Apple?

- Shot-Online update: I’m now at level 44, thanks to Shot-Online giving us a triple EXP/NG day for apparently forgetting to turn on double EXP/NG on Sunday, along with the daily evening double EXP/NG times. A healthy supply of Mageias doesn’t hurt, either. Seeing as how triple EXP/NG day is going to run until 8pm tomorrow night, and seeing as how I have lots of Mageias left, I could probably get to level 50 by tomorrow :P.

As far as my semi-pro quest is concerned, I was also able to shoot -6 on Gladsheim from the semi-pro tees. That’s fairly reassuring to me, considering that one of my guildmates passed the semi-pro test with the exact same score.

(Tangent: As you might recall, I am a Shot-Online Auction House whore. Well, I’ve moved on from flipping Werdandis, Sagittariuses, and Capricornuses, to eight-figure Mageias! In preparation for the events of the past few days, I’ve been flipping Mageias purchased for at ~ 10-10.5 million for nearly 12 million each!

Well, I should have thought about selling the Mageias during the triple EXP/NG times, because they are now selling for ~ 15 million NG each! Whoops!)

Time for this week’s NFL thoughts:

- Is it bad that I got a lot (and I mean a LOT!) of satisfaction out of watching Brett Favre look completely lost in the NY Bretts’ 48-29 loss against the previously unbeaten San Diego Chargers? I laughed hysterically at every terrible pass, every duck, and every pick he threw, especially the Pick-Six!

I wonder if Diva Favre is re-thinking his decision to play this season. Would it surprise anyone if he retired tomorrow?

- How in the hell did Miami put up 38 points on New England???  Was that Ronnie Brown in the Fins’ backfield, or freaking Jim Brown?

Speaking of lots of points, Atlanta (???) scored 38 against KC, Denver and NO scored a total of 66 points, Seattle put up 37 (well, that one’s not THAT surprising), and of course, there’s the 77 point explosion by the Jets and the Chargers.

Fantasy football dorks, rejoice!

- What a backbreaking loss for the Colts against the Jags on Sunday!  A great rally—including a gutsy bomb on fourth and two—only to be stymied by a bad pass interference penalty and a game-winning 51-yard field goal!

Look at the Colts’ remaining schedule.  Is a 4-7 record before Thanksgiving really that far out of the question?  The Colts have no running game, they can’t protect Manning, their run defense is AWFUL, and Marvin Harrison and Peyton Manning don’t seem to be clicking at all.

- If Dallas goes 16-0 this season, how much buzz would THAT generate?  It should generate at least as much as the Patriots did last year, right?  Between Terrible Owens being a model citizen, and the whole circus that is Tony Romo, this team has just as much intrigue as the Spygate-infested Patriots of last year.

I don’t see them going undefeated, though, as they have quite a few tough matchups left.

My head hurts, so I’ll stop here.  Until next time!

Tags: auction house, dallas cowboys, diva favre, i'm a pc, indianapolis colts, mageia, mercury insurance, miami dolphins, nfl, ny bretts, peyton manning, ronnie brown, san diego chargers, semi-pro test, shot-online, stupid commercials, triple exp/ng, undefeated, week three by Peter
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Let’s see if I remember how to do this.

(Week 1 NFL thoughts to come tomorrow…I hope.)

Random thoughts from the past week:

- Stupid commercials I’ve seen lately:

1) These two about high-fructose corn syrup. I was going to attempt a long-winded rant about these commercials, but I’ll let The Consumerist and their readers handle it.

2) “Pasta player-hater!” WTF.

- I have something like ten rebates that need to go out in the next week or so.

Who wants to bet that I won’t send them out until two days before the postmark deadline?

- Eight straight wins, and now nine of ten. A 2.5 game lead over Arizona. Four wins against Arizona aces (Brandon Webb and Dan Haren).

Three thoughts here:

1) Why aren’t teams giving Manny the Barry Bonds treatment? Manny had another HR today, as well as a scoring fly ball. Can we etch his name on the MVP award right now?

2) Speaking of Manny…hey, Jeff Kent, Andre Ethier is Exhibit B of the Manny effect, is he not? He had four more RBI today, including a huge bases-clearing double to give the Dodgers’ bullpen some breathing room.

Don’t rush back, Kent.

3) Derek Lowe just made himself a ton of money over the past few weeks. And who knows how much more money Manny made himself.

- So some of you might be thinking that I was kicking up my heels and celebrating the season-ending torn ACL that Tom Brady suffered.

You’d be wrong, and I will neither confirm nor deny that that eleventy billion replays I’ve seen of the hit that Brady took might have changed my opinion of the injury. Despite what I may have written in the past about the Cheat-riots, nobody deserves a season-ending knee injury, especially on a fluke play in the first quarter of the first game of the season.

And please stop with the “karma’s a b!tch” talk. If anything, the Pats got what was coming to them in last year’s Super Bowl.

I first heard of the injury when I woke up late Sunday morning, fired up my laptop, and saw something about Brady leaving the Chiefs-Pats game early in the first quarter with a knee injury. When I first read that headline, I immediately thought “Oh oh…season ender?” After seeing the replay for the first time, I was about 90% sure he was done for the year.

Was the hit dirty? I don’t think so. It seemed desperate, and definitely unnecessary, but I didn’t think it was dirty at all.

What sickens me about the entire situation is the fact that one could argue that Diva Favre’s Jets team might very well be the favorites in the AFC East. If the Jets win the East (even with Brady’s injury), we might not hear the end of it until after the Super Bowl, even if the Jets lose in the first round of the playoffs! Worse, we might have to suffer through weeks and weeks of “See? The Packers should never have gotten rid of Favre!”

(shudder…)

More NFL thoughts next time…

- My two fantasy football drafts had one thing in common: I somehow missed the first pick of each draft.

Both leagues are Yahoo! standard, ten-team leagues. Unfortunately, I was not able to get twelve players to partake in a BargainShare league. Oh well.

(Note: For some reason, I’m having difficulty getting screenshots of my draft results. As soon as I figure out what is going on, I’ll post the full draft results. For now, I’ll just list my team.)

Team 1 (currently 0-1 and in DEAD FREAKING LAST):

• Round 1, Pick 4: RB Steven Jackson

(Grrrr…I was going to draft Joseph Addai here. I was also considering Tom Brady here, so at least I didn’t do that!)

• Round 2, Pick 17: WR Reggie Wayne

(Peyton Manning better get back into “game-shape” real soon.)

• Round 3: RB Maurice Jones-Drew
• Round 4: QB Carson Palmer

(This is the pick that is going to make or break my team. So far, I’m leaning towards “break.”)

• Round 5: WR Roy Williams

(I was going to take Williams in round 4, and was very happy to see him fall to me in round 5.)

• Round 6: TE Dallas Clark
• Round 7: DST Minnesota

(Don’t ask.)

• Round 8: WR Donald Driver
• Round 9: RB Thomas Jones

(Sleeper! And with the way Steven Jackson and the Rams are playing, he might be a starter soon enough.)

• Round 10: WR Bernard Berrian
• Round 11: WR Reggie Brown
• Round 12: K Phil Dawson

(He has since been dropped.)

• Round 13: RB Kevin Smith (Lions)
• Round 14: WR Drew Bennett

(Rams’ loyalty :P)

• Round 15: QB Jeff Garcia

I could see this team easily finishing 5-9 or something like that. I am not too thrilled with this team, and believe it or not, this was my “casual” draft.

Team 2 (1-0, second place after scoring 111 pts):

• Round 1, Pick 4: RB Brian Westbrook

(I actually wanted Addai here too. I think I’ll live with this pick.)

• Round 2, Pick 17: RB Ryan Grant
• Round 3: WR Andre Johnson
• Round 4: WR Roy Williams
• Round 5: TE Antonio Gates

(Why was I not notified that he still has a foot injury???)

• Round 6: QB Donovan McNabb

(Possibly my best pick of both drafts, if he stays healthy.)

• Round 7: WR Donald Driver
• Round 8: WR Jerricho Cotchery
• Round 9: DST Pittsburgh
• Round 10: RB Selvin Young

(Michael Pittman? Andre Hall? Stupid Mike Shanahan :P)

• Round 11: WR Nate Burleson

(Ouch…torn ACL? Now who is Matt Hasselbeck going to throw to?)

• Round 12: K Phil Dawson

(Dropped.)

• Round 13: RB Justin Fargas
• Round 14: QB Matt Schaub
• Round 15: WR Ronald Curry

If (and that’s a huge IF) my top six stay healthy, this team is going to be a force to reckon with…I think.

Until next time!

Tags: andre ethier, derek lowe, fantasy football, hfcs, high fructose corn syrup, jeff kent, los angeles dodgers, manny ramirez, new england patriots, season ending injury, stupid commercials, tom brady, torn acl by Peter
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Wow.  It’s been a week since I last blogged?!?

Whoops!

I’ve got lots to talk about, but I’ll split it over two or more blog entries.

Random thoughts (aka an extended version of “Quick-hitters”):

- Speaking of not blogging lately, apparently one week of not blogging has absolutely killed my blog traffic statistics.  I got about one-third of the normal hits over the past few days.

- This is a very cool Eddie Izzard fan site, which I found via Google Analytics shortly after I posted my Stripped mini-review.

Check it out!

- How great is it that Diva Favre is no longer the top sports news story out there?

Thank you, Michael Phelps (more on him another time).

(And do we really have to hear about how his arm was fatigued after a practice?  What’s next?  Will we get an article about him being constipated before a preseason game?)

- In succession, I just viewed the following annoying-as-hell commercials:  a McDonald’s commercial advertising their apparently still “New” Southern Chicken sandwich, a Wal-Mart commercial (Do you know what I like about Wal-Mart?), and a really obnoxious Target commerical (You…say…goodbye…and I…say…hello…).

I need a TiVo.

- Current rebate-o-meter:  $1,100.  I received a couple hundred bucks in rebate checks and gift cards in the last week, and, naturally, I added about $200 in unfiled rebates over the weekend.

- Hey Dodger fans, do you realize that your team could easily be on an eleven game winning streak?

Stupid bullpen.  Damn you, Broxton, Kuo, and Park.

And what the hell was Matt Kemp thinking in the Dodgers’ most recent loss, a 4-3 decision against Milwaukee on Saturday?  For those of you that didn’t see the game, Kemp was at first, and Andre Ethier hit a towering drive to center.  Brewers’ CF Mike Cameron missed the ball as it bounced off the base, but Kemp was only able to get to second?!?  Apparently, he went back to first, thinking Cameron caught the ball.  What the hell?  If Kemp were standing at or near second, like he should have been, he ends up at third at the absolute worst, and a Kent sac fly (he lined out to center eventually) ties the game!

Dumb base running, a terrible bullpen, games choked away…I’ve seen this script before.  Oh yeah, I saw it last year.

Other Dodger thoughts:

- Two more bombs by Ethier, including a game winner.  Shouldn’t that all but cement Andruw Jones’ status as a $36 million cheerleader, and seriously shorten Juan Pierre’s playing time?

- I know Manny has only played a few games as a Dodger, but is it too crazy to consider him a possibility as the NL MVP?

(Call me a homer.  Go ahead!)

Isn’t it amazing what happens when this guy tries?  Six HRs, an NL-leading 21 RBI in August, and look what he’s done for Jeff Kent and Andre Ethier!  Ken’t BA has gone up 20 points or so, and Ethier’s raking!  Now, if Manny can rub off on Loney and Martin, look out!

What scares me about the Dodgers is that, despite their very nice run of late, they’re only tied with the D’Backs, and we know that the D’Backs won’t run into too many prolonged losing streaks (not with Webb and Haren on the mound).

Until next time!

Tags: andre ethier, bullpen woes, chan ho park, diva favre, eddie izzard, fan site, hong-chih kuo, jonathan broxton, los angeles dodgers, manny ramirez, matt kemp, nl mvp, stupid commercials by Peter
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(Note: This was supposed to be posted last night. As usual, I misremembered.)

Happy Mother’s Day!

I’ll hold off continuing my story from last night as I recap Mother’s Day weekend.

Quick-hitters:

- Don’t you hate it when you need a critical piece of data or an application to do something, and the site hosting said file just happens to be down?

That happened to me TWICE this past weekend. I’ll recap what happened in a later blog entry.

- More stupid commercials that have caught my eye lately:

• The DQ commercial where the little girl gets a boy to buy her a sundae: “It’s like shooting fish in a barrel.”
• ALL the McDonald’s commercials advertising their new Chicken sandwiches, especially the one with the guy screaming words to ever-changing backgrounds. I might have had a seizure after watching the commercial once.

- Super quick thoughts on the latest in the NBA playoffs:

1) You don’t understand how tempted I am to complain about the horrible officiating in Game Four. You don’t know just how badly I wanted to throw something through my TV after every ticky-tack call went against LA. I spent several minutes explaining that “it’s hard to beat the Jazz when you’re playing 8-on-5.”

It took a while, but the rational side of me realized how the Lakers blew a golden opportunity to end the series, for all intents and purposes. Naturally, the Kobe injury hurt their chances badly, but so did horrible FT shooting (14-25?), terrible 3pt shooting (9-26), little help from role players (APBs are out for V-Rad and Farmar), and just awful shot selection in the fourth quarter and OT. I saw glimpses of 1998 Kobe, jacking up those terrible shots in OT.

And yeah, the bad officiating didn’t help either :P.

I fully expect the Lakers to play well in Game Five, and take a 3-2 lead back to Utah, where I expect the refs the Jazz to force a Game Seven. Anyone wanna put money on that?

2) As much as I dislike LeBron James, that insane dunk he threw down on Boston late in Game Four of Boston-Cleveland was SICK.

- Mother’s Day weekend unofficially started on Friday, when my sister (the one that doesn’t have karmic powers) swung by, and we headed out for some Korean BBQ.  Note to self:  stop ordering the beef brisket; beef brisket is OK in pho, but not particularly good with Korean BBQ.

The bulgogi was quite good, and they offered Jumuluck (sp?) (unmarinated sirloin).  Good stuff, but some of the sirloin pieces were pretty fatty.  Also, for some reason, the waitress would, every now and then, meander towards our table and start flipping the meat around on the grill.  I was tempted to ask her to stop.

(I have a system in place when I go to a Korean BBQ restaurant :P).

After dinner, we swung by Ross; it was already 9:15, so we knew we only had a few minutes to shop, which (we hoped) would minimize the amount of wallet-damage we would do.

(Tangent:  Ross is quickly shooting up the list of evil stores, along with Trader Joe’s, Target, and Costco.  I’ve been to Ross four times in the past few weeks, and even though I’ve been returning some of the stuff I purchased, I still end up buying something else and paying the difference out of pocket.

(Sub-tangent:  Sooner or later, I’ll have to organize all my Lists :P))

I spent five minutes going through the Men’s Activewear section, and grabbed a two-piece sweatsuit marked down to $15 from $50 and a $70 Nike Fit Dry long-sleeve collared shirt marked down to $15.  The sweatsuit was woefully small, which got me thinking that the suit might have been a women’s suit, misplaced and mislabeled.  The Nike shirt, unfortunately, fit perfectly, and now I’m stuck with 2 very nice shirts (remember this?).  Oh what to do…

On Saturday, the family gathered to go to Olive Garden to celebrate an early Mother’s Day.  We arrived at the restaurant at 1pm, and there was a huge wait.  This is what happens when you don’t make a reservation on a big holiday weekend, and only figure out where to go eat two hours before leaving the house.

We found out that Olive Garden was still doing their soup and salad lunch special, and I was contemplating between that and the “Tour of Italy”:  lasagna, fettuccine alfredo, and a chicken parmigiana.  Somehow, I managed to finish the entire plate, and it didn’t dawn upon me that I did so when someone (I forget who) asked me how I managed to polish off the plate.  I felt it immediately afterwards, though :P.

My dad roasted a chicken for dinner in his Ronco Rotisserie (yep, we actually have one!), and the rest of the night was spent playing poker with my two sisters.  All I have to say about our poker game is this:  who calls two raises, including an all-in, with seven-five of hearts?????????

Grrrrrrr…

Sunday was spent on my covert ops mission, so I’ll save that for when I get to that point in my story.  I will mention this:  we got even more tasty food on Sunday!  My mom and aunt prepared spring rolls (not the fried type, but more like this).  I could eat this stuff every day for the rest of my life if I had to.

Until next time!

Tags: jazz, korean bbq, lakers, lebron, mother's day, olive garden, ross, stupid commercials by Peter
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