hoagie central

beautiful

2012-01-31T15:58:00.000-07:00

I found this image here. Too beautiful not to post.

HOW TO: make homemade biscuits and gravy

2012-01-29T14:20:00.000-07:00

First a little backstory.

At my old job, after working there for over three years, I discovered something special. The little cafeteria on the 14th floor sold biscuits and gravy on Thursday mornings. One biscuit with gravy cost 85 cents. With tax, 94 cents. Which lead to an abundance of six cents laying around our house. And it was self-service. So you could load up that biscuit with as much gravy as you wanted. So I did.

Now in Denver, that biscuit and gravy fix came calling. But I figured, if you want to do something right, you better do it yourself.

- - -

My first attempt was last week. Before I started, my concern was getting it thick enough. My only complaint from the cafeteria b&g was that sometimes they were too thin.

So last week I loaded it up with flour...and it was too thick. Something I wasn't prepared for. Still good. But room for improvement.

- - -

The first step is putting the biscuits in the oven. I'm not ready to make my own biscuits, and really, don't think I'll ever want to.

Today I browned half a pound of hot Jimmy Dean sausage, breaking it up into little bite-size chunks. Then I seasoned the sausage with Lawry's seasoned salt and spicy montreal steak seasoning. And then I covered the meat with a generous sprinkling of flour. Stir it up until you can't see the flour any more.

Then it's time for the milk. I poured enough to almost fill my small skillet. Considering I had eight ounces of meat, I needed a bunch of milk to find the right ratio. I added a bunch of Worcestershire sauce for flavor.

After cooking it on medium for just a minute or two, it starts to thicken up pretty good.

Right around now the biscuits were ready to come out. So I took the gravy off the heat. Sliced open two biscuits and got them on my plate. That extra minute off the heat helped it thicken up even more. I probably used 1/3 of the flour today as I used last week, and it still got to the perfect thickness, without being too heavy.

I think these were the best biscuits and gravy I've ever had.

Adventures in Curling: sub edition

2012-01-28T08:13:00.000-07:00

I signed up for a six-week league but that doesn't start until Feb 25. But because I'm a member, I can sub in the ongoing leagues.

First up, there are rookie leagues (0-3 years of experience) and open leagues (3+ years). I have 2 days of experience. But there was a team in the open league who needed a sub and I jumped at the chance. I responded to the mass mail 2 minutes after it was sent.

I didn't even bother to look that the team I was subbing on was 0-2. And we would be playing a team that was 2-0.

I met the three people I would be playing with. One couple had been playing for five years. I didn't catch the experience on the other person, but I suspect it was more. So yeah...

I told them they could put me first, where I could inflict the least damage. So they did.

A game is 8 ends.

After one end, we were down 4-0. Yikes.
After three ends, we were down 4-3. Comeback city.
We lost, 12-4. Yikes.

I didn't play great. I wouldn't even say that I held my own. But for my experience level, I'd say I was average. I got a few in the house usually to the left. And I left a few short but in front of the house that could be played with. But usually I would leave it short, out of play. And then occasionally I would throw it long, trying to compensate.

But I was glad I got to play.

down to the wire

2012-01-22T21:13:00.000-07:00

Team A
Welker
Gronk
Ridley (possibly inactive?)

Team B
Bradshaw
Green-Ellis
Manningham
Hernandez

Team A has a 17-point lead.

Here are the point totals that those teams scored today.

Team A 13
Team B 35

So if those players have the same performances...Team B will win by 5.

one more thing

2012-01-16T10:43:00.001-07:00

If the Chiefs had lost the way the Saints lost on Saturday, I'd still be crying.

man

2012-01-16T09:37:00.002-07:00

Packers vs Patriots or Saints vs Patriots would have be an awesome Super Bowl.

Now the best we can hope for is a rematch of 42, where surely the Pats will get revenge.

I predict no more drama in the postseason. Pats over Giants.

playoff hockey (on the ps3)

2012-01-14T13:19:00.001-07:00

Because I have to play the video game version of whatever sport I'm into at that moment, I've been playing NHL 11 since I got it for Christmas.

And just like NHL 94 on Genesis, it plays pretty realistic. You can see in the top row that my Western Semis with Vancouver went six games and the last four games were 1-3, 1-3, 3-0, 3-1. And some of those were empty netters. The point is, is that goals are hard to come by.

Which is why game one of the Western Finals vs Edmonton was so surprising.

Landeskog got a hat trick. They benched their goalie after I scored 6. And despite losing the faceoff battle, I dominated the shots.

And this was me playing on the most conservative strategies possible--as I've found playing aggressive doesn't help my offense but hurts my defense. The next game was 3-0 with an empty netter. And game 3 was tied 3-3 until Duchene scored with 7 seconds left. Game 4 went into overtime 0-0--I hit the series winner with a top shelf wrist shot.

And then another shocker. In Game 1 of the Finals, I scored...8 against the Caps. 8-2.

Uck You

2012-01-12T20:37:00.000-07:00

Boston Mayor on wagering beer with the Denver Mayor:
"We have the best. I mean, you know, Colorado beer? It hasn't even made it east yet. Sam Adams has made it to the west and Harpoon has made it out there, but Colorado Rocky beer? Uck."

Uck?

UCK?

FUCK YOU.

Colorado has more breweries per capita than any other state. Colorado also has one of the largest concentrations of craft breweries in the nation, with more than 120 located throughout the state.

And as for not making it out East..I'm pretty sure he's heard of Coors.

New Belgium, Odell, Avery, Breckenridge, Great Divide, Flying Dog, Wynkoop...

You can knock Colorado's seafood or our presidential voting history, but you can't knock our beer.

This is your night, Brandon Paul

2012-01-11T10:30:00.001-07:00

just realized i can't watch national championship

2012-01-09T18:07:00.002-07:00

22 minutes to kickoff on cable

Future Adventures in Curling

2012-01-09T12:26:00.002-07:00

I just signed up for a rookie league. 6 weekly games starting Feb 25.

What are you doing on your Saturday nights?

Adventures in Curling: day two

2012-01-08T11:26:00.001-07:00

Last night we got to play five ends (not quite a full 8 end recreational game) but good enough for our novice level.

Our team decided to rotate positions so I got to play one of everything, and vice-skip twice.

So five ends, that means I got to take 10 shots in an hour and a half. Spoilers: only my first and last shot were good.

I came out of the gate with a good shot that landed in the house and eventually scored.

My last shot was a perfect draw to the red circle, though it was tapped out by the next shot. In that 5th end, no one had gotten any in the house. I get one in the four foot and then the next guy does the same thing landing where I was and tapping me back.

In between, I had trouble making it pass the hog line or keeping it straight. I've got instructors in my ear telling me to do new things after every shot and I ended up overthinking a bunch of shots.

Here's the summary of ends, I was on the red team again.

1st:: Red 2 (vice-skip)
2nd: Red 1 (skip)
3rd: Yellow 1 (lead)
4th: Red 1 (second)
5th: Yellow 2 (vice-skip)

So the final ended up being Red 4-3. But we had better shots all night. They had a couple clutch shots that kept it close. In the second end, we had two on the button, but they had the hammer, and they managed to knock one out. And in the fifth end, I thought I would score one for mine in the red circle, and in their last three shots they get two scorers.

- - -

The game really is like golf. You can hit one great shot and think you have it figured out. And then duff four in a row. But it is really satisfying to land one on the green. I'm using to playing individual sports. It feels much worse to hit a poor shot and feel like you left your team down.

Also in golf if you land 6 feet from the pin, no one can knock your ball into the lake.

Adventures in Curling: day one

2012-01-07T01:40:00.000-07:00

Last night I had my first learn to curl class. It was a two-hour session.

The first 30 minutes consisted of "classroom" instruction. Really we had 40 people of all ages and both genders (only one race) in a junior hockey locker room. Everything that was covered I basically already knew.

Then we got about 50 minutes of practice. Getting comfortable in the hack, shooting, sweeping.

And then we got 40 minutes of scrimmage, which is enough to play two ends (innings). [4 people to a team, each shoots two rocks. So 16 rocks get thrown in an end. 8 ends in a recreational game, 10 in olympics.]

There are four positions. Lead, second, vice-skip and skip. Skip calls the shots for the other three, so he never sweeps. The vice skip sweeps for the first two, and calls the shot for the skip. The lead and second have to sweep every time they are not shooting, with the lead getting the honor three times in a row. Sweeping is kind of fun, but once is enough for half an hour. So it kind of sucks to have to sweep three times in an end.

It is surprisingly hard to get the stone to the other side. A good number of people never made it past the hog line (so it was cleared off.) Sort of the opposite of shuffleboard where you have to really try to keep it on the table. Here you have to really give it some oomph to put it in the house. In practice, I did put two through the house, so I at least figured out how to give it enough power.

For the scrimmage, we were assigned positions randomly. Here's a recap:

End #1
Position: Second

My two shots were poor. One knockout attempt that seemed on target slid left through the house. I put the wrong spin on my second shot (there's a lot to concentrate on while you're shooting) and it sort of sputtered short and right of the house. It was across the hog line, but too far to the right to be considered a guard. If this was golf it was in the bunker.

As a second, you get to sweep for all the other shooters. Our vice-skip threw a nice rock that I helped sweep into the house. (On this particular ice, sweeping only helps so much, but it still matters.) It ended up being the only rock in the house. Not because of knockouts, just it was the only shot that made it there.

At this extreme rookie level, the hammer is largely inconsequential.

Score for 1st end: Red 1, Yellow 0.

End #2
Position: Vice-skip

As vice-skip (also known as third) I was sweeping for the first two shooters. When it was my turn, there were two red rocks in the house, no yellow, and no real guards. My first shot was short and left. It didn't even make it to the hog line so it had to be cleared off. The coach down at that end gave me this advice.

Coach: You need to reel back more in the delivery.
Me: Like I need to stand up more.
Coach: Yeah. It's almost going to look like you're sticking your butt out.
Me: Stick your butt out. Got it.

At this point, I was 50/50 on curling. It was fun, but it seemed like the learning curve might be too steep.

I took my fourth shot. I stuck my butt out. And wouldn't you know that it had good speed, started just right of center, went pretty straight, and curled into the house and landed on the red ring. In my head I was screaming, "On the Goddamn BUTTON!" Of course, the button is the white circle in the middle. But still, it was the closest any of our group of 8 had come to the button. So now there were three red in the house, no yellow. The next yellow shot knocks one of red guards into the house.

As the vice-skip, it's my turn to come down and call the shot for the skip. And it's not an obvious choice. We've got four in the house. You'd like to add one, but you don't want to knock any of yours out. So I call for a soft draw to the front edge of the house. He lets it go and it's seems strong so I don't call for any sweeping, and then once it's halfway I shout "SWEEP" and then once it's almost to the hogline I shout "OFF." They only had to sweep for 10 feet or so. And sure enough, that rock came in ever so gently, tapped one of red rocks in the blue ring, and they both stayed in the scoring zone. That felt nice.

Up five-oh, with two shots to go, I called for our last shot to be a guard up front. I didn't call for enough sweeping and it stopped a foot short of the hog line. But it didn't matter. The yellow team couldn't do anything about it.

Score for 2nd end: Red 5, Yellow 0.
Final: Red 6, Yellow 0.

- - -

Every position gets to throw two rocks per end, so it would seem that if all you care about is shooting, it doesn't matter which position you are. But the lead (in theory) would place draws/guards. The second knockouts. And the third and skip are responsible for scoring plays. And the first and second have to do the most sweeping.

I haven't been a skip yet, but I think I would like it. But vice-skip is good too, since they get a little of everything.

After I made that shot and called another one into score, I felt like I was all in on curling. And I get to go back tonight for another two hours, which will have less practice and more gameplay.

Until next time, good curling!

2011 Amazon Kindle Sales

2012-01-06T11:39:00.001-07:00

I put Autopilot on Kindle on March 1, 2011. Here are my sales numbers for 10 months of 2011:

Sales: 251
Royalties: $143.19

(Advertising Cost: -$20.00)

Almost all of the sales were to strangers. I stopped promoting it in April. Without any promotion, sales never dipped below 16 copies per month. And then in November and December, there was a significant uptick. Holiday season? More kindles in the market? We'll see.

- - -

Considering it cost me zero dollars and I'm now on the virtual shelf along side every other author and I got to have my cover the way I wanted, and I'm not responsible for a warehouse full of unwanted printed copies, I'm quite pleased that none of the hundred literary agents I contacted wanted me as a client.

At this rate, I'll be able to quit my day job in 2478. Not that I want to anyways.

One of my resolutions is to publish a volume of essays on Kindle in 2012. Obviously it's not for the money. It's just nice to live in a time where I can publish as officially as Palahniuk on my own terms.

Fired

2012-01-05T16:51:00.001-07:00

The Sac Kings fired their coach after going 2-5.

Fired after 7 games. Even in a 66-game season, that's the equivalent of firing a NFL coach before the 4th quarter of the 2nd game.

In other words, if he was the right coach at the beginning of the season, don't you at least have to give him 15-20 games? Or, if he was bad enough to be fired now, why wasn't he fired in the off-season?

Playoff Time

2012-01-05T12:36:00.000-07:00

Ranking the 4 games in order of my interest:

4. Bengals at Texans

Two bad teams. Houston was good, but not the Houston taking the field on Saturday. Two rookie quarterbacks. Two franchises with no history. Pass.

3. Falcons at Giants

Blah. Two teams that have some talent, but are boring.

2. Steelers at Broncos (Sun, 2:30 mountain)

If this game was in Pittsburgh, it wouldn't be as exciting. I would think the Steelers blow them out. But now with Clark sitting, Mendenhall out, and Roethlisburger banged up, we've got a recent Super Bowl champion who should win but may be missing too many pieces. Versus a team that's not that good but has a great home field advantage and a quarterback that's not good but somehow wins weird comebacks.

1. Lions at Saints (Sat, 6pm mountain)

Two historically troubled franchises now with lots of talent. Two offenses that love to score with defenses that either say meh or stomp on people (literally). Two dome teams. The Lions haven't been in the playoffs since god knows when and they've got a tough matchup here, but they have a knack for comeback victories and the Saints lost in the first game last year when they were favored. I hope this game is 55-49.

- - -

Here are my stupid picks:

Bengals +3
Lions +11
Falcons +3
Broncos +8

UNDERDOG CITY

The Top Ten of 2011

2012-01-04T12:53:00.001-07:00

Honorable Mentions

Symbolism?

Shitty Movie Posters

A classic gif at the buzzer

10. How the Illini court keeps getting uglier

9. Sports Colors by Cities

8. Long sports analysis: NHL realignment and playoff contenders

7. Burnsy Brew logo and labels

6. Writing the future

5. HOW TO: make chili, homeade pretzels and my first turkey

4. I tweeted a lot trying to get a job in Denver. Top tweets and a rejected tweet.

3. After over a year of trying, we finally moved to Denver.

2. Outstanding Achievement in American Airlines Films

1. There could really only be one choice for what was the best of 2011:

thoughts on AFC West and playoffs

2012-01-03T12:14:00.000-07:00

From the very beginning, it was clear the Chiefs were not going to make a playoffs run this year. In fact, I thought they were the worst team in the league after two games.

And since someone had to win the AFC West, I suppose beating the division champion at home to give them their 8th loss is as good as it gets.

Having Tebow back his way into the playoffs might actually be a good thing. As I think it cements his position for another two years at least, and I think that's good for the Chiefs. I do think he's a good football player, but he's not a good quarterback/passer.

I've probably said this before, but look at the recent Super Bowl Champions and look at the top teams this year. You need a Rodgers, Brees, Brady, Manning. At least a Roethlisberger, who's played pretty well when healthy.

So I'm fine with Tebow being the quarterback of the future for Denver.

And I think it's hilarious that the Raiders panicked and spent a #1 pick on Carson Palmer. Even if he wasn't as terrible as I expected, he's not going to help them moving forward, especially when they seemed like they had a good thing going with Campbell.

And it's nice to see the Chargers waste another year of Rivers in his prime with Gates. So funny to think that five years ago they had LT, Turner, and Sproles in the backfield. They still have a good back, but they've really underachieved.

- - -

Also, it's pretty retarded that the Ravens and Steelers are both 12-4 in the same division, yet one is a 2 seed with a bye before a home game next week, and the other is a 5 seed playing on the road this week.

I'm fine with division winners getting an automatic berth, but it's silly to make them automatically the 4th seed. Pitt should be #3, Denver #6, so that game would be in Pittsburgh.

On the other side, Giants should be the 6th seed, Lions 5th, Falcons 4th, Saints 3rd.

So the Giants should be on the road in New Orleans, while the Lions visit Atlanta. The current setup hurts Detroit and Atlanta, while helping New York.

2011-12-21T11:13:00.001-07:00

strange avs trends

2011-12-21T09:33:00.000-07:00

The Avs started 6-0 in road games. Since then, they are 0-8-1. Their last road win was October 22.

They started 1-5 in home games. Over their last six, they are 6-0. Their last home loss was November 28.

They are 6-0 in shootouts. Only one other team hasn't lost a shootout--the Red Wings are 1-0 in shootouts.

way to go, spokane

2011-12-20T16:20:00.003-07:00

fantasy 2011 lessons

2011-12-19T13:56:00.000-07:00

(since I'm writing this monday, season stats do not include week 15)

There are seven top QBs. We have 12 teams. 3 of the 4 playoff teams have one of the top seven.

Here's where they were drafted:

Rodgers - 409 - 4th overall
Brees - 353 - 13th overall
Brady - 340 - 11th overall
Newton - 323 - undrafted*
Stafford - 298 - 92th overall
Eli - 282 - 86th overall
Romo - 277 - 31st overall

*(Mac picked him before week 1 to be Bradford's backup. Newton had completed 42% of his preseason passes with a passer rating of 64.)

Not a big surprise that the two teams that got tremendous value at QB were the two best teams--Mac and Mark. And the team with Rodgers made the playoffs while the team with Brees was tied for second best record in the league, though missed the playoffs due to tiebreakers.

There are nine top RBs.

McCoy - 8th overall
Rice - 5th overall
Jones-Drew - 14th overall
Foster - 6th overall
Forte - 30th overall
Jackson - 67th overall
Peterson - 1st overall
Lynch - 81st overall
Sproles - 160th overall (and then dropped)

If you wonder how Cobb could draft Peyton Manning and make the playoffs, here's your answer. He had 3 of the top 6 running backs. Fred Jackson missed the last three games and he's still a top 6 back. Though unfortunately he lost Forte and Jackson before the playoffs. When Mac picked up Cam Newton, he dropped Sproles--probably should of dropped Thomas Jones instead.

8 top WRs:

Welker - 64th overall
Johnson - 20th overall
Cruz - (undrafted)*
Smith - 85th overall
Wallace - 29th overall
Jennings - 18th overall
Nelson - 119th overall
Fitzgerald - 22nd overall

*(picked up after getting two touchdowns in week 3. scored 2 points through the first two weeks)

This year more than others I can remember, the best players weren't drafted in the first rounds. Everyone had chances to grab these players.

- - -

It's amazing (as always) to look back at the first couple rounds and see the disappointments, some due to injury: Vick, Charles, Chris Johnson, Andre Johnson.

Should Orton be back next year?

2011-12-19T10:01:00.001-07:00

A lot of Chiefs fans have had it with Cassel. And after seeing one game from Orton in red and gold, they're ready to proclaim him the QB of the future. But how does he stack up to Cassel?

Cassel played 10 games for the Chiefs this year.
Orton has played 1.

Orton's game had a better completion percentage, yards, yards/attempt, and passer rating than ANY of Cassel's 10 games. And compared to last year when Bowe was going off, and Cassel threw 27 TD, 7 INT, Cassel still never had that kind of completion percentage or yards/attempt more than twice in 16 games. In fact, if Orton had yesterday's stats for every game this year this would be his ranks in the NFL this year:

Yards: 5th
Rating: 4th
Yards/Attempt: 1st
Completion %: 1st

So certainly, by any measure, Orton had a terrific game yesterday.

- - -

But it was one game. How many times have you seen no-so-great quarterbacks have great games?

And it was against the Packers. Yes, they were undefeated. But their defense hasn't been that great this year. And they're still going to have home-field throughout. While I'm sure they would have liked to keep winning, this wasn't life or death for them.

- - -

If Orton could play like he did yesterday, everyday, then sure, we should bring him back because he'd be a top-3 NFL QB. But let's not assume, after one freaking game, that he can do that every week.

- - -

P.S. It's funny that it was Orton who I railed against in my first sort of NFL column from 2005. Although if you look at his stats, I don't think you can blame me. Amazing that the Bears went 11-5 with a QB averaging 51%, 116 yards, and a 59.7 rating. (This year, Josh Freeman is throwing 61%, 217 yards, and a 73.5 rating and the Bucs are 4-10.)

And it's just as amazing that the 2006 Bears went the Super Bowl with Grossman putting up these numbers. He had two games where he combined for 0 TD, 7 INT, a 5 passer rating, and 35% completion. And Chicago won both games.

good day to be a chiefs fan

2011-12-18T15:20:00.000-07:00

I don't know if it's possible (and I know this means that I'm sort of but not really rooting for the Raiders) but I would absolutely love for the Orton Chiefs to beat the Tebows on the last game of the year and knock them out of the playoffs.

Illinois in the National Championship

2011-12-16T09:18:00.000-07:00

UCLA, Illinois reach volleyball final

Illinois wins with Hollywood ending

avs-sharks

2011-12-14T09:57:00.000-07:00

So just yesterday I posted how I shouldn't get sucked into hoping the Avs make the playoffs this year. And then last night I turn on the Avs-Sharks game. I had to work around Harrison's nap schedule. So I got to see a little bit of the first and then all of the third.

Down 1 going into the last period, the Avs tie it up with a wraparound during 4 on 4 play with 13 minutes to go. I LOVE wraparounds. They never seem like they should work, but they're a thing of beauty when they do.

And then with 8 minutes to go, the Avs on the power play, move the puck from Elliot to O'Reilly to Hejduk to Duchene to the back of the net.

The Sharks pull their goalie. And then with only 30 seconds to go, the Avs McClement fans on clearing the puck and San Jose ties it up.

So now we're in OT and then a shootout.

Avs score first but only go 1/3. San Jose miss their first two. One save wins it. And the Sharks score.

Then the Avs miss. So the Avs need a save. And they get it.

Then the rookie (#2 overall pick) Landeskog scores for Colorado on his first career shootout attempt. And San Jose...hits the post.

Back and forth, and Colorado pulls out two points for the standings. Sure San Jose got one, but whatever.

Good times.

i could've been a contender

2011-12-13T11:03:00.001-07:00

So one thing that I thought about with the Chiefs over the last couple years, particularly in 2005 when they missed the playoffs at 10-6, and in 2006 and 2010 when they lost in the wild-card round...is that it's not really enough to just make the playoffs--you need a Super Bowl contender.

Take the Raiders this year. They're only one game out of the division. But even if they won the division and hosted a playoff game...they're not winning the Super Bowl this year. So what's the point of getting all excited about making in to the playoffs? But then you have teams like the Packers who win the Super Bowl as the 6th seed and the Cardinals that win the World Series as a wild-card. So you have evidence that all you need to do is make into the playoffs and anything can happen.

So which is it?

- - -

What made me think of this? The Avs are currently 12th in the conference. They've played 30 games. If they had won 3 more, they'd be 8th in the conference and in the playoffs. So I've been eyeing that line and hoping they could win enough to get to that 8th spot. But should I be? Is getting in the playoffs with a mediocre team enough? Or to win a championship, do you have to have one of the best teams?

- - -

Going back for the last ten years, here are the regular season records for the Cup winners:

2011: Bruins (7th best record in NHL)
2010: Blackhawks (3rd)
2009: Penguins (8th)
2008: Red Wings (1st)
2007: Ducks (4th)
2006: Hurricanes (4th)
2004: Lightning (2nd)
2003: Devils (4th)
2002: Red Wings (1st)
2001: Avalanche (1st)

I think this is pretty revealing. For seven seasons, the Cup winner had a top-4 record in the league. Over the last three years, it's expanded, but not by much. The Bruins were a 3-seed and the Penguins were a 4-seed.

So in modern hockey, in a league where SIXTEEN teams get in the playoffs, you still have to be a top team to win it all. I suppose the 7-game series nature helps that quite a bit.

So what about other sports?

NFL

2010: Packers (8th best) [They were a 6-seed but 10-6, while the 4-seed Seahawks were 7-9.]
2009: Saints (2nd)
2008: Steelers (5th)
2007: Giants (8th)
2006: Colts (4th)
2005: Steelers (9th)
2004: Patriots (2nd)
2003: Patriots (1st)
2002: Bucs (3rd)
2001: Patriots (7th)

Considering only 12 teams make it in, the fact that 4 of the last 10 NFL Champions were 7th best or lower does suggest that the NFL playoffs are more wide open than the NHL playoffs. Though it should be noted when we've had 6-seed winners, they were still in the top 9 in the league.

MLB

2011: Cardinals (8th best)
2010: Giants (5th)
2009: Yankees (1st)
2008: Phillies (5th)
2007: Red Sox (2nd)
2006: Cardinals (13th) [Won a 6-team division with a 83-78 record. Only played 161 games due to a rainout that was never made up because it didn't matter.]
2005: White Sox (2nd)
2004: Red Sox (3rd)
2003: Marlins (7th)
2002: Angels (4th)

There's just as many winners from outside the top-4 teams as from the top-4. Considering only 8 teams get in, I'd say it's reasonable for a fan to just hope their team makes the postseason.

NBA

2011: Mavericks (5th)
2010: Lakers (2nd)
2009: Lakers (2nd)
2008: Celtics (1st)
2007: Spurs (5th)
2006: Heat (4th)
2005: Spurs (3rd)
2004: Pistons (6th)
2003: Spurs (1st)
2002: Lakers (3rd)

Much like the NHL, it's not enough to sneak into the playoffs. You need to be a top-5 team in the league during the regular season. So come the 2012 NBA playoffs, we should look at the top 5 teams and be able to cross off the other contenders.

Of note: The Cavs with and without LeBron. I didn't realize how good their regular season records were since they never won a title.

2009: 1st in the NBA
2010: 1st in the NBA
2011: 29th in the NBA

Also of note: From 1980-2010, there were 31 NBA Champions. They were distributed among 8 franchises: Lakers, Celtics, 76ers, Pistons, Bulls, Rockets, Spurs, Heat. The 2011 Mavericks make it 9 franchises out of 32 titles.

In other words, of all the NBA fans born since 1976, only one-third of them has seen their team win a championship.

- - -

So to get back to the original question. The Avs currently have the 25th best record in the NHL. Right now the 8th seed in the West is the Sharks with the 14th best record. I guess I should stop hoping they sneak up to the 14th best record, and hope they rebuild enough to be a top-5 team.

if mcdaniels gets hired

2011-12-12T12:19:00.000-07:00

...I don't know how to finish that sentence without my head exploding.

the haley era is over

2011-12-12T10:05:00.001-07:00

Let's review:

He inherited a 2-14 team with Tyler Thigpen.

In 2009, in Matt Cassel's first year, the Chiefs finished 4-12.

In 2010, they finished 10-6, winning the division.

In 2011, Berry, Charles, Moeaki go down at the beginning of the season. Somehow they regroup and get to 4-4. Then Cassel goes on IR and in comes Palko, who doesn't even deserve to hold a clipboard in the NFL. Haley is fired at 5-8.

- - -

I'm not saying that Haley is a great coach. He may not have been good enough to coach the Chiefs to a Super Bowl. And it's certainly possible that Kansas City could hire someone better.

But I don't see how you can fire someone for that tenure. (Even without the injuries, the Chiefs probably only finish 8-8 this year. But it sure seems like Haley would still be the coach if it wasn't for all those ACL tears.)

anonymous commenter has good idea

2011-12-09T16:25:00.002-07:00

This guy came up with a simple, yet intriguing nhl playoff fix.

2011-12-09T13:31:00.001-07:00

Urban Meyer to Ohio State.
Charlie Weis to Kansas.
Tim Beckman to Illinois.

troy and abed in the christmas

2011-12-07T14:56:00.001-07:00

avs win three in a row (then get blanked 6-0)

2011-12-07T13:41:00.000-07:00

Good weekend for Avs hockey. After posting a 6-1 win, they come back against the Blues, almost win it in overtime (goal was reversed) and then win in the shootout, improving to 4-0 in shootouts this year.

And then two days later they beat the Red Wings. Even though the rivalry is really dead, based on ticket prices and fan reaction, Detroit is still the team that Colorado wants to beat the most.

Colorado came back again and won it with a one-timer in the third:

NHL realignment: Playoff Problems

2011-12-06T14:34:00.003-07:00

30 teams.

Currently in 6 even divisions. With wild card spots.

Next year in 4 uneven conferences. With possibly no wild-card spots?

The plan is for the top 4 teams in each conference to make the playoffs.
So half the teams will have a 50% chance of making the playoffs.
And the other half will have a 57% chance.

Okay, so I understand that it sucks to have teams like Columbus and Detroit playing a bunch of games on the West coast throughout the regular season. I don't have a beef with the schedule, though it does take rivalries like Avs-Red Wings down to 2 games a year (ie, Detroit plays only once in Denver.) Applies to Blackhawks-Canucks, Bruins-Flyers, etc.

But what is unacceptable is having unequal chances to make the playoffs. How to fix this?

Plans

Plan 0: The old system
Plan A: As proposed, top four from each conference
Plan B: Top three from each conference, with four wild cards - divisional playoffs
Plan C: Put a 7-team conference and an 8-team conference on one side of the bracket, top two from each conference, four wild-cards
Plan D: Contract two teams, get down to 7 teams in each conference and do the top four just fine.

Personally, I like wild-cards as it keeps interest in playoff races. Anyways, let's compare plans 0-C using last years records. I know that Plan D would work, but contracting two teams is it's own ball of wax.

Plan 0

Notes: The Rangers had the 18th best record but made the playoffs over Dallas and Calgary because the West was stronger this year.

Plan A

Conference A
1 Vancouver
4 Phoenix

2 San Jose
3 Anaheim

Conference B
1 Detroit
4 Dallas

2 Nashville
3 Chicago

Conference C
1 Boston
4 Buffalo

2 Tampa
3 Montreal

Conference D
1 Washington
4 NY Rangers

2 Philadelphia
3 Pittsburgh

Notes: Changes from Plan 0--LA with 98 points misses the playoffs, Dallas with 95 points makes them. All divisional playoffs for the first two rounds, every year.

Plan B

Conference A
1 Vancouver
4 Dallas (wild-card: Vancouver was #1 division winner, so they get Dallas the #4 wild-card)

2 San Jose
3 Anaheim

Conference B
1 Detroit
4 Los Angeles (wild-card: Detroit was #3 division winner, so they get LA the #2 wild-card)

2 Nashville
3 Chicago

Conference C
1 Boston
4 Phoenix (wild-card: Boston was #4 division winner, so they get Phoenix the #1 wild-card)

2 Tampa
3 Montreal

Conference D
1 Washington
4 Buffalo (wild-card: Washington was #2 division winner, so they get Buffalo the #3 wild-card)

2 Philadelphia
3 Pittsburgh

Notes: Top 16 teams in NHL made playoffs, even better than Plan 0. While fair, this creates playoffs that aren't close in travel.

Plan C

This is a pain in the ass only because they put the two 7-team conferences on the east coast. If Columbus was in Conference D (green on the map) it would be pretty simple.

I'll do it both ways to see what I mean.

Plan C.1

Conference A + D Bracket

1 Vancouver
8 Los Angeles

2 Washington
7 Phoenix

3 Philadelphia
6 Anaheim

4 Pittsburgh
5 San Jose

Conference B + C Bracket

1 Detroit
8 Dallas

2 Boston
7 Buffalo

3 Tampa
6 Montreal

4 Nashville
5 Chicago

As you can see the B/C bracket is easy. The A/D bracket sucks, east-west travel all over.
But if we swap Columbus to conference D...

Plan C.2

Conference A + B Bracket (West)

1 Vancouver
8 Chicago

2 San Jose
7 LA

3 Detroit
6 Phoenix

4 Anaheim
5 Nashville

Conference C + D Bracket

1 Washington

8 NY Rangers

2 Philly

7 Buffalo

3 Pitt

6 Montreal

4 Boston

5 Tampa

Would you look at that, it's virtually identical to Plan 0. We still don't get the top 16 teams in the league, but the travel is fine. It's the easy way to fix the regular season travel without affecting the playoffs.

Conclusion

Plan 0: Has worked well for the playoffs. But it's going away.

Plan A: Unfair percentage wise. Negatively impacted 1 team in 2011. Could be fixed with a tweak that says a 5th place team in an 8-team C could take the spot of a 4th place team in a 7-team C. In this example, LA would have taken the Rangers spot to play Washington. But then that makes Washington one of the only teams travelling far and they had the 2nd best record.

Plan B: I prefer it to Plan A. I think the wild-card races create more interesting games in the last two months of the regular season, which is always important. And I don't mind forcing teams to travel in the playoffs, if it's been helped in the regular season. At least we get the top 16 teams in the NHL.

Plan C:
C.1 sucks.
C.2 is pretty darn good. Requires flipping a team like Columbus (though they are in the Eastern time zone and are relatively new, so I don't see the big deal) to an Eastern division. Fixes regular season travel and keeps the playoffs as they have been. Edit: It would also work to move Phoenix to Quebec and put them in Conference C.

Plan D:
Would be sweet. But isn't on the table right now.

Post Script

Plan A vs Plan 0 in modern history...

How unfair is Plan A? Since this is the proposed plan, I think it warrants a larger investigation.

Plan A in 2010

Colorado, with the 12th best record gets bumped for St. Louis at 15. Philly and Montreal still get in at 18 and 19.

Plan A in 2009

Carolina and the Rangers get bumped with the 11th and 12th best records for Florida and Buffalo at 14 and 18. Interestingly, Carolina and Rangers were teams 5 and 6 in a 7-team conference. So this isn't a product of 7 teams vs 8, this is just what happens because conferences are never perfectly balanced.

Plan A in 2008

Another strong year for 7-team conference D. Washington at #12 gets bumped for #20 Chicago in an 8-team conference.

Plan A in 2007

Here the Thrashers with the 12th best record get bumped for Toronto at 18. This was the case of a 5th team in an 8-team conf vs a 4th team.

Verdict on Plan A

In the last 5 seasons, 6 teams that made the playoffs would not have under the proposed new rules. All 6 would have been replaced with teams with worse records, as would always be the case.

Conferences with teams negatively affected
D: 3 times
A: 2 times
B: 1 time

Conferences with teams positively affected
C: 3 times
B: 3 times

In case you forgot, A & B have 8 teams. C & D have 7 teams. At least for the last five years, it's more about who's in your conference than how many teams. If you're in conference B or C, you should be pretty happy that 4 of your teams are getting in the playoffs. D or A, not so much.

Every year the 12th best team in the NHL doesn't make the playoffs. But it's plausible for Bettman to argue that the increased rivalries and decreased travel is worth that tradeoff.

Fighting Illini in the Fighting Hunger Bowl

2011-12-05T15:26:00.000-07:00

72 of 120 FBS teams were bowl eligible.
35 bowl games means 70 bowl berths.

Western Kentucky and Ball State are not going bowling.

- - -

Illinois started 6-0. They finished 0-6. You know what that means....

Illinois went 2-6 in the Big Ten.

One of those wins was to Northwestern.
The other was to Indiana. They are 1 of 2 Big Ten teams that are not bowl eligible.
Which means we lost to a non-bowl eligible Big Ten team, Minnesota.

- - -

Here's how the Big Ten bowls shake out:

1. Rose - Wisconsin (1) vs Oregon
2. Sugar - Michigan (2) vs Virginia Tech
3. Capital One - Nebraska (4) vs South Carolina
4. Outback - Michigan State (3) vs Georgia
5. Gator - Ohio State (8-tie) vs Florida
6. Insight - Iowa (6) vs Oklahoma
7. Meineke of Texas - Northwestern (8-tie) vs Texas A&M
8. TicketCity - Penn State (5) vs Houston
9. Little Ceasars - Purdue (7) vs Western Michigan
10. Fight Hunger - Illinois (10) vs UCLA

In parens, I've ranked the teams within the conference. By BCS standings where applicable, and then by overall record and conference record.

Since bowls don't have to invite based on finish, we can piece together trends:

Nebraska is more appealing than Michigan State
Ohio State carries a lot of cachet.
2011's Penn State players got punished for something that had nothing to do with them.
Purdon't.
No one wanted Illinois.

- - -

Back on October 3rd, I made my Big Ten Bowl predictions. ESPN had two analysts do the same.

Here's how I saw it:

1. Wisconsin (correct)
2. Michigan (correct)
3. Nebraska (correct)
4. Illinois (6 spots too high)
5. Iowa (1 spot too high-though Insight bowl was correct)
6. Michigan State (2 spots too low)
7. Penn State (1 spot too high-though Ticket City bowl was correct)
8. Ohio State (3 spots too low)

- - -

ESPN's Schlabach:

1. Wisconsin (correct)
2. Michigan (correct)
3. Illinois (7 spots too high)
4. Michigan State (correct)
5. Nebraska (2 spots too low)
6. Iowa (correct)
7. Ohio State (2 spots too low)
8. Penn State (correct)

ESPN's Edwards:

1. Wisconsin (correct)
2. Nebraska (1 spot too high)
3. Michigan (1 spot too low)
4. Illinois (6 spots too high)
5. Michigan State (1 spot too low)
6. Ohio State (1 spot too low)
7. Penn State (1 spot too high)
8. Iowa (2 spots too low)

To sum up, no one saw the Illinois collapse coming.

this game was not worth $94

2011-12-05T13:26:00.000-07:00

Quarterback and Running Back have long been the most marquee positions.

The Chiefs and Bears started the season with Matt Cassel, Jay Cutler, Jamaal Charles, and Matt Forte respectively.

Sunday the crowd was witness to Tyler Palko, Caleb Hanie, Jackie Battle and Marion Barber.

- - -

Palko was replaced by Orton to start the second quarter. Orton was injured on the first play and Palko played the rest of the game.

- - -

On 4th and 1 from the Chiefs 4, Barber split out wide left and was not covered at all by the Chiefs. It was an easy throw to him wide open in the end zone. The touchdown didn't count because Barber wasn't on the line of scrimmage.

- - -

In four games in November, the Chiefs scored one touchdown. Now they've scored two touchdowns in their last five games. The touchdown from Sunday: a 38-yard Hail Mary at the end of the first half.

- - -

The Chiefs' season was already over. But Sunday's defeat and injury to Forte may have ended the Bears' season.

Community

2011-12-05T12:58:00.001-07:00

Following in the history of Anchorman, here's our friends as the cast of Community.

Jeff Winger: Savan

Britta Perry: Brit

Abed Nadir: Niraj

Troy Barnes: Dave

Annie Edison: Missy

Shirley Bennett: Nirali

Ben Chang: Kirat

Star-Burns: Eve

Magnitude: Katie

Pierce Hawthorne: Matt

Dean Pelton: Mark

Nirali: Once you make a boy pee his pants, you think about where you life is headed.

Nirali: Matt has got a girlfriend!
Brit: That’s great. What’s she do?
Matt: She’s an escort.
Nirali: Oh ...
Savan: Some mysteries solve themselves, don’t they?

Niraj: I hate when they finish each other's...
Dave: ... pies.

Mark: Add Eat, Pray, Love soundtrack to workout mix.

Katie: Pop-pop!

Matt: Brit, you're the selfless one in the group, right?
Brit: Wouldn't know, haven't thought about myself in years.

Missy: Accidents don't just happen over and over and over again. This isn't budget daycare.

Niraj: Savan, you’ll have to play the part of my dad.
Savan: I don’t wanna be your father.
Niraj: See? You already know your lines.

Mark: I hope you like getting balled.

yet another BCS mess: part two

2011-12-05T11:54:00.000-07:00

All these years I've been pushing for a 8-team playoff. Even though it's the best solution, it's asking a few teams to play too many games.

So what would recent history look like if we had a four-team playoff (aka plus-one)?

2011
#1 LSU 13-0 vs #4 Stanford 11-1
#2 Alabama 11-1 vs #3 Oklahoma State 11-1

Improvement over #1 vs #2?
A big yes. We can't agree on who should play LSU. Let them fight it out.

Any problems?
Not really fair that Stanford gets into the mix. Though impossible, best solution would be a Alabama-OkSt semifinal and give LSU a bye to the title game.

2010
#1 Auburn 13-0 vs #4 Stanford 11-1
#2 Oregon 12-0 vs #3 TCU 12-0

Improvement over #1 vs #2?
Yes. TCU was undefeated and beat #5 Wisconsin in the Rose Bowl. They deserved a shot at the title.

Any problems?
No.

2009
#1 Alabama 13-0 vs #4 TCU 12-0
#2 Texas 13-0 vs #3 Cincinnati 12-0

Improvement over #1 vs #2?
A substantial yes. Four undefeated teams have a shot at the title instead of just two.

Any problems?
Still excludes an undefeated Boise State. Would need an 8-team playoff to fix that.

2008
#1 Oklahoma 12-1 vs #4 Alabama 12-1
#2 Florida 12-1 vs #3 Texas 11-1

Improvement over #1 vs #2?
No. Even though Florida beat Bama by 19 in the SEC title game, Alabama has just as good of a chance to win it all.

Any problems?
And this excludes a 12-0 Utah. They would go on to beat Alabama and deserved a title shot. Need an 8-team playoff.

2007
#1 Ohio State 11-1 vs #4 Oklahoma 11-2
#2 LSU 11-2 vs #3 Virginia Tech 11-2

Improvement over #1 vs #2?
Not really. If you just look at the records, I suppose Oklahoma and Virginia Tech have just as much claim to the title game as LSU--though LSU's losses were both in triple overtime and Oklahoma and VaTech both lost their bowl games.

Any problems?
Just that there are ton of teams with 2 losses. An 8-team playoff would eliminate a lot of complaining.

- - -

Time to speed things up.

- - -

2006
Improvement: No.
Problems: Still excludes undefeated Boise.

2005
Improvement: Actually a downgrade. This is the one year we only had two worthy teams.

2004
Improvement: HUGE yes. 13-0 Auburn gets into the mix.
Problems: Still excludes undefeated Boise.

- - -

There you go. The plus-one only helps 3 out of the last 8 years.

The 8-team playoff is the perfect system...except for the amount of games. Sigh.

yet another BCS mess: part one

2011-12-05T11:08:00.001-07:00

Every year, the number of college football teams that have a right to play for the championship is different. In 2009 it was five. In 2004, it was four or five. This year, it really seems like there's only one. Or three.

- - -

This problem doesn't happen in the NFL. There's 12 teams in the playoffs every year. Most years, there are good teams that get barely shut out, but that's life--if you wanted to make the playoffs you have to be not just good, but in the top 6 out of 15 teams in your conference. Some years, a not-so-good team makes it in. But if the Seahawks had won the Super Bowl, I don't think anyone would have said that the Saints or Packers really deserved to win.

My point is that every year the NFL has a set number of teams in the playoffs, and there's hardly any complaints about who is selected to the postseason.

- - -

Two years ago, I made the point that it's possible for the two best teams in the country to be in the same conference.

- - -

The reason we have computer rankings in the BCS is because after the AP poll in 1997 elevated Nebraska to National Champion, (conveniently in the year that Tom Osborne retired) the computers were seen as more trustworthy than human polls. This year, the computers favor Oklahoma State. The humans favor Alabama.

- - -

Here's the final case for teams to play LSU:

Alabama
Pro: only loss was overtime loss to best team in the country
Con: not conference champion, already lost to LSU at HOME

Oklahoma State
Pro: conference champion, only loss was a fluke double overtime loss after a tragedy
Con: loss to a bad team

Oregon
Moot because they have two losses

Stanford
Moot because they lost to Oregon and not conference champions

Boise State
Moot because they lost their only real challenge, not conference champions

- - -

In the end, we have a two-team playoff. Regardless of whether Alabama or Ok St got picked, there would be a team left out.

- - -

I don't think it's fair to LSU, that they beat Alabama at Alabama, went to the SEC championship and won that, and now are on equal footing with Alabama. If Bama wins the title, they will still have a worse record than LSU (overall with a split head-to-head).

- - -

This is what we get:

#1 LSU vs #2 Alabama

This is what a 8-team playoff would look like:

This iteration is based on rankings, restricting each conference to maximum two teams, and including at least one non-BCS team if they are in the top 12.

January 1st, Sunday
Sugar: #1 LSU (SEC) vs #8 Wisconsin (Big Ten)
Orange: #2 Alabama (SEC #2) vs #7 Kansas State (Big-12 #2)
Fiesta: #3 Oklahoma State (Big 12) vs #6 Boise State (non-BCS)
Rose: #4 Stanford (Pac-12) vs #5 Oregon (Pac-12 #2)

This includes EVERY team with a viable claim. It rewards LSU and Alabama with easier first round games.

January 9th and 10th:
Semifinal #1: Sugar winner vs Rose winner (likely LSU vs Standford/Oregon)
Semifinal #2: Fiesta winner vs Orange winner (likely Alabama vs OkSt/BoiseSt)

If we assume that LSU rolls to the title, here's where we have the teams settle it on the field who deserves it.

January 17th, Tuesday: BCS Championship

Here's my only problem with this playoff. LSU has already played 13 games, including a conference championship. This would project them to play 16 games this season. The SEC isn't about to get rid of their conf. championship, so the best we could do would be to get SEC teams to play 11 games in the regular season. Even that is a stretch.

Here's what a plus-one would look like:

LSU vs Stanford
Alabama vs Oklahoma State

That pretty much says it all.

- - -

to be continued in a part two

my sleep last night

2011-12-05T08:18:00.001-07:00

came in 6 chunks:

1 hour
2 hours
1.5 hours
1.25 hours
1.25 hours
30 minutes

Yep, Midnight to 7:30am, just how we drew it up. I feel like I could hit something with my car and and keep driving.

I hope Georgia beats LSU

2011-12-03T14:57:00.000-07:00

That way the National Championship would feature TWO teams from the same conference--and neither one would be the conference winner.

recipes i should make before i forget about them

2011-12-02T15:06:00.004-07:00

http://www.thelondoner.me/2011/06/slutty-brownies.html
http://www.circle-b-kitchen.com/food-and-recipes/2011/6/2/cinnamon-toast-rolls.html
http://www.food.com/recipe/oreo-balls-52035
http://hoagiecentral.blogspot.com/2011/11/bloomin-bread.html
http://www.recipegirl.com/2011/03/30/chocolate-chip-cookie-dough-truffles/
http://hoagiecentral.blogspot.com/2011/09/best-mexican-food-ive-ever-had.html
bacon + pitted dates + herbed goat cheese

burgundy and blue

2011-12-01T12:43:00.002-07:00

I don't know what it is, but I'm enjoying this 11-13-1 Avs season like they're still in first place.

I suppose it's better than the Chiefs miserable season and the Illini 2-6 Big Ten record.

Anyways, here's a sweet highlight from a couple weeks ago.

And here's a beauty of a shorthanded goal from last night's 6-1 win.

Maybe I just like the Avs so much because I know Mark hates them.

death to pennies

2011-11-30T13:58:00.000-07:00

Somehow in almost 2000 posts I've never mentioned how stupid it is that we still have pennies. Not only that, in all those posts I've never used the word penny or pennies, until now. Anyways, getting rid of pennies is so common sense...that it's no wonder our government hasn't done it.

Yes, that's a cheap joke. It's also true.

how the illini court keeps getting uglier: a timeline

2011-11-29T10:49:00.000-07:00

2000-2005
Nice logo at center court, nice orange lanes complementing the center logo.

2006-2008
A negligible downgrade. The lanes switch from orange to blue. Not atheistically negative, but not as warm, not as "paint the hall orange." And now that the orange is along the outside, it's not as strong, not as good of a divider. But still, not that bad.

2008-2010
Umm..gone is all the color from the lanes. Even the BigTen logo. The logo at center isn't that bad, though I preferred the basketball specific logo--this one feels a little more generic and suited for football, but still not that bad. But 80% of the time, the camera is positioned in a half-court set and there is no color, no design, nothing Illini or even BigTen. Just generic two-tone parquet.

2011-present
What the fuck. The fonts around the outside look terrible--cheap and generic. The center logo has lost even more character. The orange top of the key is an attempt, but a poor one. The worst is the two-tone treatment has the area outside the lane looking washed out. When I loaded up some highlights, I seriously thought they must have been in some shitty Chicago arena, not Assembly hall.

Using the state shape at center is a good idea in theory (see second picture) but it shows up quite poorly (see third picture). At first I thought it was a mistake, a washed out section in progress.

At this rate, by 2015 the Illini will be playing on a solid pale court with an orange square in the middle.

my first turkey

2011-11-25T11:52:00.000-07:00

So this was my first time cooking a full turkey. I bought a 15.5 pound bird. I put it in the fridge to thaw on Sunday night. The package said 2-3 days, but it was still partly frozen when I got it out Wednesday night.

I made a brine: water, salt, brown sugar, some all-purpose rub, rosemary and sage. I had to keep it in the fridge but that was a challenge. I couldn't get the bird fully submerged even though I had enough liquid--it was the angle and the fridge space. And even double bagged, when I opened the fridge at 8am, a couple cups of brine fell on the floor. I would be better off using a bunch of trash bags and putting it in a cooler.

I cooked it in an oven bag with a couple apples and some onion inside. Canola oil on the outside. I cooked in the bag for 2.5 hours, and then about another hour until the thermometer popped up.

Then I waited an hour and carved it like so.

And then I made a simple glaze with some honey, apple cider and butter. Probably should have used less cider and butter to keep it thicker and stickier.

All in all, a pretty good success.

linger birthday dinner

2011-11-23T10:41:00.000-07:00

Went to Linger for my birthday. It was awesome. Here's the review.

And here's a crappy photo taken by someone else of my favorite dish, "Devils on Horseback."

another day, another avs loss

2011-11-18T09:24:00.000-07:00

After being in 1st place for the first two weeks, they're 2-7-1 in their last 10.

Still, a really nice save by a defenseman in a game that was scoreless until the final three minutes.

nifty duchene goal

2011-11-16T10:14:00.001-07:00

I saw the Avs give up 4 in the 3rd. But this was nifty.

my 3 favorite tv shows since college

2011-11-14T16:45:00.000-07:00

Arrested Development, 30 Rock, Community.

(Sure I had a Studio 60 phase, but it ran off the rails a little bit. Should have been renewed for more than one season, but that's life.)

None of them are ratings winners. AD barely got 3 seasons. Though you don't hear rumors of cancellation, Fey's show has never performed well. And now Community is getting benched mid-season. I was just thinking about writing a post of how good Community has been.

It started slightly rough but became smart and funny pretty quickly. The Second Season was flawless. Episodes 4, 5 and 6 of the third season have been amazing.

It's been so good that I guess I shouldn't be surprised it's getting benched. NBC says it won't be off the air for long, but it's never a good sign.

chiefs thoughts

2011-11-14T12:18:00.001-07:00

The Chiefs were 4-3 two weeks ago. They will finish 5-11.

This time lost consecutive games AT HOME to a winless team and a team that only completed two passes. One of those was a screen pass. Denver couldn't even complete a shovel pass.

So much for the Arrowhead advantage. This team is terrible. Of course they won just enough games to not get a top draft pick now that rookie salaries make top draft picks super valuable again. [Side note: Cam Newton got 22M guaranteed. Sam Bradford got 50M. Panthers got lucky to be the team with the #1 pick the first year of the new wage scales.]

This says a lot.

The Chiefs wins can be explained pretty easily:

Rivers fumbled the game away.
Palmer hadn't learned any plays yet.
Manning is out = Colts are winless.
McNabb on Vikings was 1-5.

This still holds up pretty well.

tebow thoughts

2011-11-14T11:57:00.000-07:00

So with Tebow taking the snap the Broncos are great at running the ball. They don't want to throw it that much. But they can occasionally throw the ball deep, almost as a surprise, to some success.

I realized that is not the description of a starting NFL quarterback.

That is the description of a wildcat QB.

Why not have Orton (or any moderate pocket-passer) be your starter and have Tebow come in at the goal line, or on a random 3rd and 3, or on a drive when you need a boost?

OT win

2011-11-11T12:27:00.000-07:00

So I know there's exactly 0 people that read this that care about the Avalanche. And I don't care.

I checked ESPN in the second period and the Avs were down 3-0 at home. Figures. At that point they had only 1 win in 6 home games. (I was there for the 11/6 loss to Calgary. Colorado scored in the first 40 seconds and lost 2-1.)

So this morning when I checked on the final score I was pretty shocked to see a 4-3 overtime win.

Here's your game winner in OT:

a thanksgiving birthday

2011-11-11T09:25:00.001-07:00

My birthday is November 22. Which means that it occasionally lands on Thanksgiving. Because Thanksgiving is a variable holiday, it's more interesting then having a birthday of December 24. In that case you know every year that Christmas Eve is your birthday. And it sucks.

Also, because of leap years and crap, it's not as simple of a pattern as it might seem initially.

Here's my future, relative to turkey day.

2011: tuesday before
2012: on thanksgiving
2013: friday before
2014: saturday before
2015: sunday before
2016: tuesday before
2017: wednesday before
2018: on thanksgiving
2019: friday before
2020: sunday before
2021: monday before
2022: tuesday before
2023: wednesday before
2024: friday before
2025: saturday before
2026: sunday before
2027: monday before
2028: wednesday before
2029: on thanksgiving

- - -

But Hoagie Central takes you deeper. The pattern would be easy to predict, except that every four years my birthday skips a day of the week.

2011-2012: wednesday
2015-2016: monday
2019-2020: saturday
2023-2024: thursday
2027-2028: tuesday

And the skipped day is always two days minus (or five days ahead if you think that way) then the previous skipped day. So my birthday is on Thanksgiving every 6 years, except once every 28 years or so, it skips.

By the way, the last time my birthday was on Thanksgiving was 2007. I remember thinking that it sucked. That it didn't really feel like a birthday. But who knows. Maybe 2012 will be totally different.

I never really realized, but my birthday can't fall after Thanksgiving. But it falls anywhere from 6 days before to the day of.

the local team is on tv

2011-11-10T16:51:00.003-07:00

I've been an out-of-town fan for so long that I'd forgotten that basically every local game is televised. Considering how many times I've listened to the Chiefs via online radio, or found a p2p video stream, or just followed a ESPN Gamecast because they suck and lose 3-31 to the winless freaking Dolphins...it amazed me to realize that Denverites with cable get to watch every Avalanche game.

Of course...I don't have cable. So I don't get the Altitude Network. But still it's sort of exciting. Oh and it would be nice if they would stop losing too.

Right now:

Chiefs 4-4
Illini football 6-3
Avs 7-7-1

Even though I feel like I've been Zooked, Illini football is the best thing I've got going. Although really they're 2-3 in conference, 8th best Big Ten record. So yeah. Hey look, Illini basketball hasn't lost yet! (season starts tomorrow) And they get to play Nebraska twice.

not quite a foodie

2011-11-10T16:20:00.001-07:00

The term foodie has been around for a while. When asked for our work website, are you a foodie?, I instantly said yes.

But foodie implies certain things. That you can appreciate a menu like this. Which I can. It also implies that you wouldn't be caught dead eating something like this. Which I would.

But I realized something this morning as I was talking to myself. I was thinking that while I enjoy the occasional pale ale, whiskey sour or Burnsy Brew, I'm not really a drinker. I'm more of a fooder.

And there you have it.

I'm a fooder.

There are drinkers. They like to drink lots of things. They are not beer snobs or cocktail connoisseurs. They are drinkers. And then there's me. I'm a fooder.

yelp short list

2011-11-10T15:41:00.004-07:00

I love yelp and bookmark places to try all the time. So I end up with a list of 120 places that is unwieldy when it comes time to actually go out. So here's a short list. Not to be confused with the already made Denver burger list (haven't had any on the list since then).

India's Pearl - 1475 S Pearl St - 5280's choice for Best Indian CLOSED

Ming's Dynasty - 4251 E Mississippi Ave - lunch buffet or Hong Kong duck

Pulcinella Pizzeria & Wine Bar - 1400 E Hampden Ave

D'Corazon - 1530 Blake St - downtown mexican

Rioja - 1431 Larimer St - possibly the best restaurant in Denver

Steuben's - 523 E 17th Ave - fancy comfort food

Linger - 2030 W 30th Ave - a place I keep hearing about, concept is global street food 11/22/11

Tag - 1441 Larimer St - modern american, kobe beef sliders

Vesta Dipping Grill - 1822 Blake St - romantic special occasion place

Virginia Village Liquors - 1455 S Holly St - make your own six pack

Real Mascots: AFC West

2011-11-09T13:42:00.001-07:00

Part 8 of 8. A note on the Chiefs. I knew the story but I researched to make sure. The official statement is that there was a fan contest to name the team. 42 people submitted Chiefs. Lamar Hunt was considering Chiefs and Mules. Lamar was good friends with the Mayor of KC, who had the nickname The Chief.

There's no way to know what those 42 people were imagining when they submitted Chiefs. Lamar allegedly was thinking of his good friend the mayor. But that could be a modern PC revisionist history to make it seem like it's not offensive.

Of course, the logo and name of the stadium came later once Chiefs was already established, so it's not evidence that the team was named after Native Americans. This one could have gone either way, so I'm giving the benefit of the doubt to Lamar Hunt's official statement.

bloomin' bread

2011-11-04T15:55:00.000-06:00

YES PLEASE

Bloomin' Pizza Bread Recipe

Bloomin' Cinnamon Bread Recipe

Real Mascots: NFC West

2011-11-04T15:48:00.002-06:00

Time for the thrilling conclusions to this series. Sorry for the delay. I got my new job the week after part 6 went up. And I've been a little busy.

sports colors by city: volume one

2011-11-03T15:21:00.000-06:00

This is a project that I've thought about for a while. Perhaps it was inspired by the Seinfeld quote that we're just rooting for laundry. Anyways, each square represents a sports team. I used my best judgement of how to split up the percentages. This could be its own website so you could sort colors by cities, divisions, etc. And then pick your favorite teams and get your own color block.

It would take me forever to make all 120ish pro teams. And I didn't want this to sit forever. So here's a sampling. I might do more one day. (New York, Boston, LA, and Miami would be next up.)

Chicago

Denver

Detroit

Kansas City

if the season ended today

2011-11-03T12:30:00.000-06:00

Three teams from the NFC North would be in.

The Bills and 49ers would have byes.

And the Chiefs and Lions would both make the playoffs for the first time since 1997.

team logos in team names

2011-11-02T14:51:00.000-06:00

hc takes you deeper

2011-11-01T13:29:00.000-06:00

When you look at this:

5. Dave 860 (3-5)
6. Steven 833.5 (5-3)
7. Kirat 822.5 (5-3)

it could mean:

A. I got robbed on the scheduling and should be at least 5-3
B. My performances have been inconsistent and I would be 3-5 no matter what

But as you know...Hoagie Central takes you deeper.

- - -

If I would have played Steven's schedule, I would be 4-4
If I would have played Kirat's schedule, I would be 5-3

Let's go deeper.

If I would have played Mark's schedule, I would be 6-2
If I would have played Ted's schedule, I would be 6-2 on a four game winning streak.

That's the craziest part. I'm on a four game losing streak. But if Burnsy's random number generator comes up differently, my record goes from .375 to .750.

fantasy check-in

2011-11-01T11:04:00.000-06:00

Because of nothing in particular, totally random, I wanted to check and see how our teams points totals relates to wins.

1. Mac 987 (6-2)

2. Mark 971.5 (6-2)

3. Spencer 901.5 (6-2)

4. Adam 882 (6-2)

5. Dave 860 (3-5)

6. Steven 833.5 (5-3)

7. Kirat 822.5 (5-3)

8. Niraj 799 (2-6)

9. Savan 794.5 (4-4)

10. Drake 748 (2-6)

11. Ted 702 (2-6)

12. Harlan 676.5 (1-7)

- - -

Wow. I figured I was just imagining things, the tendency to always blame the schedule, etc.

But based on point totals, it seems that I should be at least 5-3. Niraj should be at least 4-4 and Savan should probably be 3-5.

Sure enough, Niraj and I have both faced 912 points against. That's an average of playing a top-3 team every week.

Stevo and Kirat? 770 or less. A bottom 4-team every week.

half a point

2011-11-01T09:48:00.001-06:00

normally after a loss i am livid. last night, this morning, just whatever. what can you even say?

4th highest total this week
5th most points total on the season
lost four in a row
only 1 game out of the playoffs with 6 to go

predicting the national championship

2011-10-31T14:27:00.000-06:00

Assumption #1: The winner of LSU/Alabama will win the SEC Championship game.

That SEC Champion will play in New Orleans. Who will join them?

First candidate: Oklahoma State, if they win out. They've got home vs K-State, on the road at Texas Tech, Iowa State, and then home vs Oklahoma. I see them losing one.

Second candidate: Stanford, if they win out. They've got a road game against Oregon State, and then three home games against #8 Oregon, Cal and Notre Dame. Those games are tough. Conventional wisdom says they lose one of those. But if I had to guess, I think they win out.

Third candidate: Boise State. I have no doubt they go 12-0. But they need OSU and Standford to lose. And...

Fourth candidate: Oklahoma if they win out. The way the timing shakes out, if OU beats an undefeated OSU it will be the last game of their season and could be enough to vault them above the Broncos.

- - -

Really though, I'd love it the championship was an undefeated Boise State vs an undefeated SEC team.

3 central division matchups come down to mnf

2011-10-31T13:25:00.000-06:00

Savan's got a half point lead with Gates against Stevo with Vincent Jackson.

Burnsy trailing 4.5 with the Chargers D against Cobb with Bowe.

And I need Jackie freaking Battle to get 14 tonight.

4 of my 7 fantasy weeks involved late prime time comebacks. Now it will be 5 of 8. So far I'm 2-2 in those situations. Can my team's running back get 80 yards and a touchdown? Probably not. But we'll see.

avs highlights

2011-10-31T12:01:00.002-06:00

Here's an amazing shorthanded wraparound from Kobasew:

Here's the top shelf game winner from Duchene:

colorado inspiration

2011-10-28T13:51:00.000-06:00

here are some photos i've gathered from the intertubes

one of the best baseball games I've ever seen

2011-10-28T11:20:00.000-06:00

I'm not even sure what else is on the list? I suppose this one, and the 2004 ALCS games 4, 5, 6.

But last night might be the best.

(highlights) (win% graph) (Will Leitch article)

Let's breakdown the Cardinals play-by-play from the 9th on.

Bottom 9th: Rangers 7, Cardinals 5

Theriot strikes out.
Pujols doubles.
Berkman walks.
Craig strikes out.
Two out, two on, down two, 1-2 count: Freese triples, scores two.
Molina lines out.

Bottom 10th: Rangers 9, Cardinals 7

Descalso singles.
Jay singles.
Lohse sacrifices, moves the runners.
Theriot ground out, scores one.
Pujols intentionally walked.
Two out, two on, down one, 1-2 count: Berkman doesn't swing, takes a ball VERY close to the plate. 2-2 count: single, scores one.
Craig grounds out.

Bottom 11th: Rangers 9, Cardinals 9

Freese homers.

- - -

14 at bats
4 unproductive outs
2 outs that moved runners
2 walks
3 singles
1 double
1 triple
1 home run

- - -

The Rangers threw pitches 3 times, 1 strike away from winning the f'ing World Series.

1st chance: Freese triple, tied the game
2nd chance: Berkman takes a ball
3rd chance: Berkman single, tied the game

Amazing.

gamblin' man

2011-10-28T10:08:00.000-06:00

Last night for our work Halloween party, they took us to the Ameristar Casino in Black Hawk, CO and gave us $50 to play.

I started by putting $10 into a video poker machine, because that's what my mom always plays.

I played for ten minutes and the $10 was gone.

So then I put $50 down at the Roulette table. I had never played the inside numbers before, sticking to red and black. But it looked fun.

They gave me 50 single dollar chips. It was a $5 minimum table. So every round I put 5 chips out. For example: 29, 22, 11/8, 1, 31/32/34/35.

I hit a few quadrants, that paid 8 bucks. But the real story is that I hit 3 single numbers: 29, 22 and 1. Which pay out 35 bucks each.

I walked away from the Roulette table with $120 dollars. Up $70.

Subtracting the $10 that I lost at the machine, I profited $60 at the casino.

Plus, they gave me $50 to play, so I walked out with $110 more than I walked in with.

Our first Colorado snow

2011-10-27T10:59:00.000-06:00

Call me crazy or biased, but I swear the snow is prettier in Colorado. The first four are from yesterday the day it snowed. The next three are from today with blue skies. Here are my best snow pics from Chicago for reference.

lock of the year

2011-10-26T16:49:00.000-06:00

Chargers -3.5 over Chiefs

It's remarkable that the Chiefs are .500 right now. But it's only because of who they played. They still could finish 4-12 or worse.

This one isn't even close.

solving nhl realignment

2011-10-26T14:28:00.000-06:00

For the 2012-2013 NHL season something has to give. Because the Atlanta Thrashers moved to Winnipeg and became the new Jets, we've got a geography problem.

We need to get Winnipeg to the Western Conference, which means we need to get a different team to the East.

Move #1: Nashville Predators goes to the East, Southeast division.

Solves the vacant SE division spot, creates a border rivalry (Tennessee/Carolina) and Tennessee feels more like a southeast team then a midwest team anyways. (Think SEC football not Big Ten)

Now we could just move Winnipeg to the Central, taking the Predators spot and call it a day. But...

Move #2: Minnesota Wild goes to the Central division.

In the 80's the North Stars played in the same division as Chicago and Detroit, and just feels more like a midwest division. Minneapolis and Chicago and Detroit are already football, baseball rivals, etc.

Move #3: Winnipeg Jets goes to the Northwest division.

Now you've got the Jets playing in a division with the three other Western Canadian teams.

Simple, elegant.

- - -

The only team this makes for long travel is...the Colorado Avalanche. There's not a great solution for this. But if you wanted to do one it would be: swap the Sharks and Avalanche.

Reasons for: You could rename the Pacific division, the Southwest. Which fits better for Dallas, Phoenix, Colorado.

Reasons against: It makes sense to keep the California teams together. Colorado is a legacy Canadian team so it makes sense for them to be in the division with 4 Canadian teams.

OR

If you wanted to keep thinking...why not put both Minnesota and Winnipeg in the Northwest? Minnesota feels more Canadian than Colorado. Which means Colorado would slide into the Central and get divisional games against Chicago, St. Louis and Detroit! To me, Denver feels more like a midwestern city--they already play Kansas City in football. I think adding rivalries with the Red Wings and Blackhawks would be awesome.

illini basketball 11-12 preview

2011-10-25T14:23:00.000-06:00

Last year, I looked at the Vegas odds for making the Final Four. Illinois was 3rd on the list of Big Ten teams, behind MSU and OSU.

MSU was a #10 seed, losing in the second round.
OSU was a #1 seed but lost in the Sweet 16.
Illinois was a #9 seed, losing in the second round.

So Vegas was a little hit or miss, perhaps overrating MSU's experience.

Regardless, I trust Vegas lines more than I trust a sportswriter's conference preview. I'd prefer odds to win the Big Ten, but I can't find that right now. So I'll rank the odds for the Big Ten teams plus the favorite for reference.

North Carolina 3/1
Ohio State 17/2
Michigan State 25/1
Indiana 30/1
Michigan 35/1
Wisconsin 55/1
Illinois 75/1
Minnesota 75/1
Purdue 75/1

Right now, Vegas has Illinois as tied for 7th best in the Big Ten, with only 3 teams behind them.

- - -

And as opposed to the last three years, the recruits for incoming fall 2012 are not in the top 25. I'm getting my info from A Lion Eye, Jalen James and Malcolm Hill might be good players for us, but it seems that our 2012-2013 roster won't have a ton more talent than our 2011-2012 roster.

Which is sort of a shame, because this year we don't have any seniors. Meaning if we're good this year, we have the chance to go to great next year.

But despite three top-25 recruiting classes in a row:
Juniors: Richardson, Paul, Griffey
Sophomores: Leonard, Head
Freshmen: Henry, Shaw, Abrams, Egwu, Langford, Djimbe
(incoming 2012: Hill, Orris, James)

It doesn't seem that Vegas thinks we're going to be that good, but looking at that list we have a ton of incoming freshmen. So we'll see. Maybe they're better than advertised?

I hate 2-3-2

2011-10-24T13:31:00.000-06:00

2-2-1-1-1 is so much better.

Glad that NHL uses 2-2-1-1-1 always. Wish the NBA wouldn't switch to 2-3-2 for the Finals. Figures that baseball always uses 2-3-2.

This is how I watch football now

2011-10-24T09:22:00.002-06:00

Notice that it's on mute with closed captions. And it's the Broncos. (though it was a good game to watch the end of.)

my wife is awesome

2011-10-21T10:09:00.000-06:00

Not only does she take care of Harrison ALL THE TIME but she's been super great about taking care of him while I'm not working, allowing me to get out of the house and do some fun Colorado stuff.

Just recently I:
Played golf on 10/16
Went to a Saves The Day concert on 10/18
Will be going to the Avs game on 11/6
Attending a Learn to Curl clinic on 1/6 & 1/7

sweet

understanding hockey rosters

2011-10-20T13:53:00.000-06:00

So I'm all in on the Avalanche. I got the hat in June. They're winning in October. I want to go to at least one game this year. So I'm learning.

One of the first things I learned is that backup hockey goalies get far more playing time then I imagined. I figured it was like backup quarterbacks. And while it's not quite like a pitching rotation, through 6 the backup has already played twice. Two on, one off for the starter.

The other thing I was curious about was the playing time for lines. So because I'm a huge nerd, I built this chart from scratch.

Takeaways from the chart:

The first three lines all get equal playing time, and the fourth line of forwards gets half the time. The first three lines all have a combined 10 points, while the fourth line has a single point.

On defense, the lines get playing time according to rank, but all three lines get plenty of action. Erik Johnson has the most playing time, most assists, but the worst plus/minus. (I know +/- has its flaws.)

Landeskog was the #2 overall draft pick this year, and through the first six games he's already playing up the level of his peers.

I know it's early, but this was interesting and a good way to learn a team.

Recognizing Outstanding Achievement in American Airlines Films

2011-10-19T16:51:00.002-06:00

To date, American Airlines Films has produced four quality pictures:

Van Quattro (2004)
Van Quattro 2 (2010)
The Interview (2010)
Glen Undercover (2011)

To honor these films, I present the following awards.

- - -

Best Acting by Dave

And the nominees are:
P.T. Pontino in Van Quattro
Scotch in Van Quattro
P.T. Pontino in Van Quattro 2
The Colonel in Van Quattro 2
Mr. Petérs in The Interview
The Captain in Glen Undercover

And the winner is...

Mr. Petérs in The Interview!

A classic comedic performance.

Best Acting by Niraj

And the nominees are:
Van Quattro in Van Quattro
The Professor in Van Quattro 2
Van Quattro in Van Quattro 2
Mr. Pullman in The Interview
Dellamonte in Glen Undercover

And the winner is...

Dellamonte in Glen Undercover!

I know I really believed he was a drug dealer with a heart of stone.

Best Guest Actor

And the nominees are:
Katie Byrne as Action 5 Reporter in Van Quattro 2
Matt Horan as Glen in Glen Undercover

And the winner is...

Matt Horan as Glen in Glen Undercover!

Taking nothing away from Katie's performance, this was the role Matt was born to play.

Best Writing

And the nominees are:
Dave & Niraj for Van Quattro
Dave for Van Quattro 2
Dave & Niraj for The Interview
Dave for Glen Undercover

And the winner is...

Dave for Van Quattro 2!

It 11 minutes long, had multiple flashbacks, and not only connected to Van Quattro 1, but changed viewer's perception of the first film.

Best Accent

And the nominees are:

The Colonel in Van Quattro 2

Dellamonte in Glen Undercover

And the winner is...

Dellamonte in Glen Undercover!

When you nail it, you nail it.

Best Editing

And the nominees are:
Niraj for Van Quattro
Niraj for Van Quattro 2
Niraj for The Interview
Niraj & Dave for Glen Undercover

And the winner is...

Niraj for The Interview!

A close call with VQ2. But The Interview really showed off his editing skills as there were lots of different takes that had to be cobbled together just right to be seamless. Glen Undercover wins worst editing.)

Best Special Effects

And the nominees are:
Niraj for Van Quattro
Niraj for Van Quattro 2
Niraj for Glen Undercover

And the winner is...

Niraj for Van Quattro 2!

Multiple use of green screens, blood splatters, infomercial overlays, chest blurs...this one had it all!

Best Soundtrack

And the nominees are:
Van Quattro
Van Quattro 2

And the winner is...

Van Quattro!

The music may be the best thing about first film. Every time I hear the soundtrack I want to play poker.

Best Direction

And the nominees are:
Dave & Niraj for Van Quattro
Dave & Niraj for Van Quattro 2
Dave & Niraj for The Interview
Matt, Dave & Niraj for Glen Undercover

And the winner is...

Dave & Niraj for Van Quattro 2!

This one had tons of cool shots and reveals. I love the shot of me changing clothes in the closet and walking toward the mirror.

Best Production

And the nominees are:
Van Quattro
Van Quattro 2
The Interview
Glen Undercover

And the winner is...

Van Quattro!

This one had a ton of shots we were both on screen, with no one behind the camera, and the camera was panning. Technical marvels involving string and wheeled chairs.

Best Picture

And the nominees are:
Van Quattro
Van Quattro 2
The Interview
Glen Undercover

And the winner is...

Van Quattro 2!

This was the most ambitious of all four and the most rewatchable. Humor, drama, action, intrigue. What more could you ask for?

man, i still love rugby

2011-10-19T15:32:00.001-06:00

I've rambled on about rugby before, but every time I see it, I can't get enough. The best part is how after they score a try (touchdown) they have to kick the conversion from a spot in line with where they scored. So if you score at the pylon, you're kicking from any spot on the sideline. And because tries are worth 5 and the conversion worth 2, there's a lot of strategy to either score near the center of the field or have a great kicker.

Also, who doesn't love laterals? Every play looks like the last play of an NFL game.

- - -

The 2011 Rugby World Cup is almost over, France will play host nation New Zealand on Sunday. The good news is that there's lots of good video highlights up.

NZ vs ARG: A great Argentine try, and two super-close All Black attempts at the pylon.

NZ vs AUS: Great All Black try right off the bat with a last second pitch.

In general though a little disappointing how many points came from kicks after penalties instead of tries.

healthy food master list

2011-10-19T13:12:00.001-06:00

Back on the train. (Healthy train.)

One tool that is super helpful is Livestrong.com's food diary. You just type in what you ate and it has a database of all the calorie info. I've set a daily target of 1700 calories and each day I add it up and make sure that I'm staying on track.

Of course, knowing what to eat is the first step. So for future reference, here's a master list of healthy options:

Fresh lean burgers with jalapeno salsa and roasted asparagus

Trader's Orange Chicken with added vegetables

Green Chile chicken tacos

Turkey hot dogs

lean pockets

roasted potatoes with peppers and onions

mashed potatoes/baked

homemade chicken salad with apples and craisins

broccoli slaw with vinegerette

optimum slim with almond breeze

trader's mutligrain o's

homemade soft pretzels

dried mango slices

arby's regular size beef and cheddar

chick-fil-a sandwich with buffalo sauce

chocolate pudding cups

microwave popcorn

kettle corn

halloween costume ideas

2011-10-19T11:37:00.000-06:00

Marty McFly
Cereal Killer
Ceiling Fan (sportsfan)
Catcher in the Rye
Blackmail
Iron Chef (Fe apron)
Price is Right contestant
Where's Waldo
iPod dial around neck
Sims (green diamond above head)
Banana
blank Wikipedia Entry shirt

thoughts on last night's Saves The Day show

2011-10-19T09:35:00.002-06:00

I've never seen so many children drinking cans of PBR.

secret to Avs success

2011-10-18T10:56:00.000-06:00

Last year the Avalanche didn't make the playoffs.

This year, they're the hottest team in the league.

And the only thing that changed is that I bought this hat in June. Me, me, me.

the way to a man's heart

2011-10-18T09:34:00.000-06:00

The silly old cliche is that the way to a man's heart is through his stomach. And the reason stupid cliches exist is because THAT IS THE TRUEST STATEMENT OF ALL TIME.

Last night I came home and Brit's mom surprised me with a full Thanksgiving-style dinner from HoneyBaked Ham.

- - -

There are some brands that have a nice name and logo and even reputation that make you think this is something special. Omaha Steaks comes to mind. But once you order, you're like "why did I have meat shipped through the mail?" These aren't anything special. And they're really expensive.

Somewhat related, I've never even tried those take & bake pizza places. They charge as much as a pizzeria but still want me to cook it. Look, I'm either going to pay 4 bucks and get a frozen pizza or pay 9 bucks and get a hot pizzeria pizza.

Anyways. So if you've never had HoneyBaked Ham, you might think it fits into one of this camps. It is fairly expensive. How good could it be?

Really damn good is the answer.

I walked in the door and was greeted with the smell of Thanksgiving. In the oven were 5 side dishes: mac & cheese, broccoli rice casserole, mashed potatoes, sweet potatoes, and whole green bean casserole.

In the fridge was a spiral cut, honey-glazed ham and a sliced honey-glazed turkey breast.

And there were fancy egg buns, and three-pepper mayo as well.

The meat is awesome. Super-premium. The honey glaze adds a nice crunch on the outside.

But I had never had the sides before. The sweet potatoes were my favorite. Crunchy baked brown sugar topping, full of flavor. The mac & cheese was wonderful as expected. The surprise was how good the broccoli rice dish was. I don't even like broccoli. But this was awesome.

So yeah. I'm all about home-cooking at Thanksgiving. But if someone sneaked in the sweet potatoes and broccoli rice casserole on our table, I would not complain.

2011-10-17T12:24:00.000-06:00

One day I should write something really long about my dad. But I don't want to put in the effort.

How appropriate.

music/reading

2011-10-17T11:31:00.000-06:00

So I've had this idea for a while: Write a piece of fiction that is designed to be read while listening to a piece of existing music. Sort of a Pink Floyd/Wizard of Oz thing for a story/novel.

I thought it would be the future.

Well, turns someone came up with a better way to do that:

a good walk spoiled: part six

2011-10-17T09:58:00.075-06:00

I couldn't let 2011 go by without playing at least once.

I picked this course because it was a par 3 that was 2 minutes away. It only cost 9 bucks. The course was fairly nice, water hazards on a couple holes but not too crazy. The only drawback is how cramped the layout is. It's so tight that they have protective screens around many of the tee boxes, as they are often along the fairway/green of surrounding holes.

Funny moment: I'm getting ready to tee off on #2, when the group behind me whistles at me. And points. I was turned the wrong way, aiming for the #9 hole. Whoops.

I didn't play that well, not surprising considering how long it had been. My first shot was great. Then I duffed a chip. Then a great chip and one putt.

Of course I did the worst on the shortest hole. I took out my 7-iron and swung lightly...and still carried over the green, bounced it on the parking lot behind the hole, and landed it on the roof of a garage with a loud clang.

The 5th hole was my best chance for par. My drive was an ugly sort of shot that kept rolling up the left side of the fairway and landed literally on the edge of the green. All I had to do was two-putt for par. My But I went too far past the hole on my 2nd shot, leaving me with an unrealistic par putt. But since there was no one behind me, I replayed my lie from the drive twice, and both times nailed the two-putt. Too bad it didn't count.

The 9th hole was long enough to be a short par 4 on some courses and I had a 6 foot putt to make 4, and I missed it right by an inch.

The worst part of my game is my chipping. Without fail, my first chip on a hole goes three feet. And then usually my second one goes 15 feet past the hole.

The best part of my game is shots 40-90 yards away on the fairway. These seem like they would be hard to get the distance right, but I usually nail them. (Of course, if I have a 80-yard tee shot, I land it on a garage).

My putting and driving are both not that great, but not as bad as my chipping.

- - -

To make me feel better about myself, I want to compile a list of the five greatest holes I've ever played.

5. Hole #9 - Par 4 - 368 yards - Columbus Park, Chicago, IL - 7.5.10

Score: Bogey
Long holes are challenging for me because I lack distance. Scores of 7-9 are typical on par 5s. So a bogey on a 368-yard hole is a notable feat. It took me three shots to get near the green, but a great chip and 1-putt saved bogey.

4. Hole #4 - Par 3 - 113 yards - Walnut Greens, Schaumburg, IL - 8.27.05
Score: Par
I don't have a recollection of my shots. I guess I didn't think it was that notable to get a par (what was I thinking?) I probably landed on the green and two-putted.

3. Hole #6 - Par 4 - 322 yards - Columbus Park, Chicago, IL - 7.5.10
Score: Bogey
This was my only Green In Regulation (on in 2 on a par 4 or on in 3 on a par 5). Of course I three-putted, but still two good shots to get on the green.

2. Hole #6 - Par 3 - 139 yards - Detweiller Golf Course, Peoria, IL - circa 1998
Score: Birdie
This is still the only birdie I've hit after all this years. My drive was short and left. I had a 40-foot approach. I hacked at it and it bounced short of the green, and then rolled right into the cup. Sheer luck.

1. Hole #6 - Par 4 - 322 yards - Columbus Park, Chicago, IL - 10.3.10
Score: Par
My only par on a par 4. My third shot was an 120-yard approach that landed 8 feet from the pin. And I only needed one shot on the green.

parenting

2011-10-17T09:13:00.000-06:00

On a more serious note, parenting is the hardest thing I've ever done.

And I'm only home with him from 6pm - 11pm on weeknights, and changing 3 diapers during the night. I'm hardly ever alone with him. He's not particularly fussy and doesn't have any special needs. And I basically have a stay at home mom.

And it's still kicking my butt.

This post isn't to complain. It's to say I'm not sure how single parents do it. I'm not sure how my wife does it.

I'm incredibly thankful to have a healthy baby boy who is smiling every day and a wife that keeps him smiling.

3-3

2011-10-17T09:08:00.000-06:00

I have played 6 weeks of fantasy football. 3 wins, 3 losses.

2 of the wins were late night comebacks, one which needed a stat correction.
2 of my losses were games that I thought I had sewn up and then got the late night comeback pulled on me. (I suppose what's good for the goose is good for the gander.)

But seriously, I figured even if the Bears get a defensive touchdown (6) 4 sacks (4) allow around 14 points (1) and force 4 turnovers (8) that's still only 19 points.

Instead they got a touchdown (6) 5 sacks (5) a safety (2) under 300 yards (4) and under 14 points (4). That's 21. To beat me by 1.5.

All I needed was the Vikings to get 14 more yards OR 4 more points. Not both. Either one. Or not take a stupid safety.

But that's life. Or rather, fantasy football.

Illinois holds Ohio State to one completion for 17 yards!

2011-10-15T21:00:00.001-06:00

I'm not even going to bother looking at the rest of the stats, we must have crushed them!

Avs-Red Wings Rivalry

2011-10-14T15:08:00.002-06:00

The Avalanche is the easiest Colorado team to adopt. I like hockey and have never had a team. They've had some success but I'm not jumping on a bandwagon.

(The Nuggets are the second easiest as I've never had an NBA team. But outside of the playoffs, basketball can be pretty dull. And they're not even playing this year.

The Rockies are fine. But baseball...sigh. I think I'd prefer to go to a Rapids MLS game.)

Anyways, so to get into the Avalanche mindset, I thought I would break down the history of their rivalry with Detroit.

- - -

1995-96
Colorado's first year with a hockey team. Detroit's previous Stanley Cup win was in 1955, so I'll disregard any of their pre-95 Cups.

Detroit and Colorado both win their divisions, Detroit's the #1 seed. They meet in the Western Finals.

Colorado wins in 6, CCDCDC.

Then sweeps Florida for the Cup.

Head-to-head: Colorado 1, Detroit 0
Stanley Cups: Colorado 1, Detroit 0

1996-97
This time Colorado's the #1 seed, Detroit #3. They meet in the Western Finals.

Again the visitor wins, Detroit in 6, CDDDCD. Then sweeps Philly for the Cup.

Head-to-head: Colorado 1, Detroit 1
Stanley Cups: Colorado 1, Detroit 1

1997-98
Colorado's the #2 seed, Detroit #3.

But the Avalanche lose to Edmonton in the first round. The Wings win the Cup again.

Head-to-head: Colorado 1, Detroit 1
Stanley Cups: Colorado 1, Detroit 2

1998-99
Again Colorado's the #2 seed, Detroit #3. They meet in the Western Semis.

After losing the first two games at home, Colorado wins in 6. DDCCCC.

But the Avs lost in 7 to Dallas in the Western Finals.

Head-to-head: Colorado 2, Detroit 1
Stanley Cups: Colorado 1, Detroit 2

1999-2000
This year Colorado was the #3 seed, Detroit #4. They meet again in the Western Semis.

Colorado wins in 5, CCDCC.

The Avs fall to Dallas in 7 again.

Head-to-head: Colorado 3, Detroit 1
Stanley Cups: Colorado 1, Detroit 2

2000-01
These two teams were the best in the West again this year. Colorado #1, Detroit #2.

But the Wings lost in the first round.

The Avs beat the Devils in 7 to take the Cup.

Head-to-head: Colorado 3, Detroit 1
Stanley Cups: Colorado 2, Detroit 2

2001-02
A year later Detroit is the #1 seed, Colorado #2. They meet in the Western Finals.

The Wings won in 7 in a series that included three OT games, though game 7 was 7-0. DCDCCDD.

Detroit then beat Carolina in 5 to take the Cup.

Head-to-head: Colorado 3, Detroit 2
Stanley Cups: Colorado 2, Detroit 3

- - -

Though the teams would reach the playoffs throughout the 2000s they wouldn't play each other or win a Cup until...

2007-08
The Wings were the #1 seed, the Avs #6.

They meet in the Western Semis and the Wings sweep. They go on to win the Cup again, defeating the Penguins in 6. (Pittsburgh would beat the Wings in 7 the following year.)

Head-to-head: Colorado 3, Detroit 3
Stanley Cups: Colorado 2, Detroit 4

- - -

Seven years. 5 times Detroit or Colorado won the Cup. 5 times they faced each other in the playoffs. Amazing.

I'm actually surprised it was that close. If you exclude the 2007 season, which featured different players, the total is:

Head-to-head: Colorado 3, Detroit 2
Stanley Cups: Colorado 2, Detroit 3

As a neutral observer it seemed that Detroit usually got the better of Colorado. I suppose the extra championship and the 7-0 shellacking of Roy will do that to someone's memory.

breaking down early season performance

2011-10-14T12:34:00.000-06:00

In 2009 I tried to figure out if your record after 5 weeks is make or break for getting to the postseason.

Let's try something new, inspired by an off-hand comment on the BS Report.

I'm going to compare finishes to Simmons' first power poll of the season. Data from 2007-09, since he didn't do an early one last year. I'll take a look at the top 5 teams in the power poll and the final four in the playoffs.

October 5, 2007

1. Patriots (loses in Super Bowl 18-1)
2. Colts (2nd seed in AFC, lost divisional round)
3. Cowboys (1st seed in NFC, lost divisional round)
4. Packers (2nd seed in NFC, lost conference round)
5. Steelers (4th seed in AFC, lost wild-card)

14. Chargers (loses conference round)
19. Giants (wins Super Bowl)

September 19, 2008

1. Cowboys (miss playoffs at 9-7)
2. Eagles (6th seed, loses conference round)
3. Titans (1st seed, loses divisional round)
4. Giants (1st seed, loses divisional round)
5. Chargers (4th seed, loses divisional round)

13. Ravens (11-5, 6th seed, loses conference round)
16. Steelers (wins Super Bowl)
18. Cardinals (loses Super Bowl)

October 2, 2009

1. Giants (misses playoffs at 8-8)
2. Ravens (6th seed, loses divisional round)
3. Colts (loses Super Bowl)
4. Saints (wins Super Bowl)
5. Jets (5th seed, loses conference round)

6. Vikings (2nd seed, loses conference round)

- - -

Pretty interesting. Small sample size so hard to make many conclusions.

2 out of 3 years, the #1 power ranking team missed the playoffs. But the other year the team almost went undefeated.

2 out of 3 years the Super Bowl winner was ranked 16th or lower. But the other year the Super Bowl was #3 v #4 and the final four were ranked in the top 6.

In general, a strong start means you should make the playoffs but doesn't translate to playoff wins. Not the most groundbreaking conclusion, but what can you do?

thinking about an Illini conference championship

2011-10-13T16:22:00.001-06:00

Wouldn't it be sweet to win the first ever Big Ten Championship game? That's something that can never be taken away.

To even play in the game will be a huge challenge as the #4 team in the country stands in our way. If you look at Wisconsin's schedule, I don't see a game they lose. Which means:

1. Illinois has to beat Wisconsin.
2. Since that must happen, Wisconsin would have one loss. Since Illinois would own the tiebreaker, they can afford another loss.

Ohio State, @Purdue, @Penn State, and Michigan are all tough games, Michigan being the hardest. But Illinois only has to win 3 of them.

Because Michigan is in the other division, they don't really matter. They could lose to Michigan State or Nebraska or they could go undefeated. But it doesn't affect Illinois.

you know your life is different...

2011-10-12T11:43:00.001-06:00

when you get excited about sleeping from 12:15a - 6:00a with only one 15-minute interruption.

all that hullabaloo...

2011-10-04T15:32:00.000-06:00

about the Rays making the playoffs. Epic playoff race! One for the ages! Incredible finish!

And it's over.

Two home games. Two losses.

Today 29,000 Rays fans saw the end of their season less than a week after playing 6 months of grind it out baseball.

I'm not saying the MLB playoffs should last longer. I'm saying everyone should cool out when it comes to the wild-card race.

mark sucks

2011-10-04T12:19:00.000-06:00

This is new for me. All of my great fantasy wins have always been miracle comebacks and close finishes. Crushing Mark is a new experience.

I'm so proud of my guys. They really showed up to battle Mark.

So being 3-1 is not the same thing as winning the championship. But this is a new feeling and it feels pretty good.

I guess the secret was not drafting live.

Illini Bowling: 2011 Edition

2011-10-03T13:56:00.000-06:00

Back in 2007, I examined the bowl possibilities for Illinois. Here were the options back then:

But it's a whole 4 years later and things are a little different: (2011 bowls wiki)

1. National Championship (New Orleans)
2. Rose (Pasadena)
3. Capital One (Orlando)
4. Outback (Tampa)
5. Gator (Jacksonville)
6. Insight (Tempe)
7. Texas (Houston)
8. TicketCity (Dallas)
9. Little Ceasars (Detroit)

I love that Detroit is the last place bowl. Like it's a punishment.

At this point, I think it's safe to assume that the Big Ten will not be represented in the National Championship.

So here's what seems likely to me:

1. Rose - Wisconsin
2. Capital One - Michigan
3. Outback - Nebraska
4. Gator - Illinois
5. Insight - Iowa
6. Meineke of Texas - Michigan State
7. TicketCity - Penn State
8. Little Ceasars - Ohio State

- - -

Here's ESPN's two projectionists:

Rose: Wisconsin / Wisconsin
Capital One: Michigan / Nebraska
Outback: Illinois / Michigan
Gator: Michigan State / Illinois
Insight: Nebraska / Michigan State
Texas: Iowa / Ohio State
Ticket City: Ohio State / Penn State
Little Ceasars: Penn State / Iowa