Opening Day is in March this year, but I was among the many who pretty much came away from this off-season's transactions basically concluding 2011 would be recorded as a Phillies-Red Sox World Series before it had even been played. If Cliff Lee had indeed gone to the Bronx for eleventy billion million dollars like we all assumed he was going to, then maybe we'd be wondering who the Yankees would be beating.
Of course, last year was another fairly pathetic showing for my own predictions—not that many people probably had the Giants beating the Rangers in the World Series. While I had four of the eight playoff teams correct, I only called a single division winner correctly (nailed the whole AL Central, actually) and had 10 of the 30 teams correctly called in their eventual final spots. Anyway, I need to get ready for work soon, so forgive me for rushing through these guesses a bit (I'll fix the layout issues later, I swear). At least we won't have to endure having Fox News on the television screens this afternoon:
Your author is hard-pressed to think of something that can cause an immediate loss of interest quite like hearing about someone's fantasy team. Having friends and co-workers recite their rosters with no real purpose other than to gloat about conquering leagues you're not involved in seems quite banal and pointless, no?
That said, the author knows full well that you the dear reader probably also couldn't give two shits about whatever fantasy team he's gone and created after so many years of taking that road less traveled where non-participation seemed cooler. Now the author has multiple fantasy teams, and while he tries mightily not to bring those into the other posts here on BMC that you might actually read, every once in a while, if for no other purpose than to help him remember who he had on such teams in a given year, he likes to keep a recorded entry of how he's done.
This is one of those times. Your non-interest in the remainder of this post is understood.
In this area, we've endured what I was told was a record amount of snow last month, but now nearly every last sign of white has all but disappeared and it's getting closer to being so comfortable outside that I can once again sit on the stoop in front of the house, drink coffee, smoke cigarettes and complete a puzzle or two. It's now becoming more frequent for the morning to begin with me actually asking myself, "Do I need a coat for this?"
But the shift feels a little bit more substantial this particular spring at this particular time, and not just because it appears that the shovel's not going to be looked at again until Thanksgiving. I'd be more giddy about the prospect of sitting outside for a couple hours again to start the day if I were even able to stand still right now.
That's largely because more than three years after I was being arrested for another DUI, I had my probation terminated early last Thursday. And now without any more check-ins at the courthouse to essentially document that I've been staying out of trouble, I'm finally free to go do whatever I want.
It's still sinking in as to what that even feels like. After three years of being what I described as a "prisoner of the state," I've now got two months to take advantage of this newfound supposed freedom.
Once again, the Bulls have gone through another quarter of their schedule and emerged having only lost five games. But unlike the last time I did one of these, when a majority of the schedule seemed fairly soft, the past 21 games have involved playing against some legitimate contenders. So it's certainly surprising that Chicago came away with not a loss more than the number they recorded over the previous 20 games.
But with the exposure gained following Sunday's victory and season sweep of the season's initially presumed monster, the Miami Heat (and subsequent "Crygate" fallout), basketball is quickly becoming the talk of the town once again. Last night's game against the New Orleans Hornets—minus the team's star, Chris Paul—delivered the highest Bulls game rating in Comcast SportsNet's history.
And you can certainly count me in for joining in the hype. (NOTE: This just arrived as I was typing that. Seriously.) I've got plans on going to the game this Saturday when the team will be honoring the 20th anniversary of the first championship squad. Somewhat ironically, they'll be playing the Utah Jazz, the franchise I compared the Bulls to in my predictions for this season. But now being just a couple games back from possibly going into the playoffs as the top seed in the Eastern Conference, this team's got just good a shot as any other to end up in the Finals this year.
Hold Me, Thrill Me, Kiss Me, E-mail Me
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"I don't know the key to success, but the key to failure is trying to please everybody."
— Herbert Bayard Swope
That Ship Has Sailed
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At least, *that's what all the signs and rumors are pointing to*:
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*In a Hail Mary attempt to keep the Bears in Chicago, developers of the
...
Casting bad joojoo on a jerk
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I had a trump voodoo doll years ago and gave it to the dog to chew up. I
think I am going to make a new one to get me through the coming years. I am
find...
Skandiewrap, or More Than You Wanted to Know
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"You run into an asshole in the morning, you ran into an asshole. You run
into assholes all day, *you're *the asshole."—Raylan Givens (though he
first as...
News of the Day for Friday, January 24, 2020
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The U.S. president first announced that there were no casualties from the
January 28 Iranian missile attack on U.S. facilities in Iraq. The Pentagon
later ...
Update: Execution put on hold
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Today a federal district judge granted Dexter Johnson's request for a stay
of execution - but not because of claims of brain damage and intellectual
disabi...
Bret Stephens is Wrong
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On February 9th, Bret Stephens penned an Op-Ed for The New York Times
entitled " The Smearing of Woody Allen". In the piece he argues that Woody
Allen is...
Tales from the Cryptkeeper - Giant Worm GIF
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Earthquake drills are being practiced all across the country (#ShakeOut),
just remember that 99.9% of the time the cause of an earthquake is not a
giant ...
I'm alive.
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Hello! My hubby talked me into posting on my blog. What.... it's been about
3 years? It seems like forever. Life has had so many twists and turns
since th...
I want to be a photographer
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All I have is my eye and a lens. I want to start a new life as a
photographer. I only have a few months of sobriety. I know that drinking
will only le...
It Only Hurts When I think... I Think, OUCH!
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In this era of space-age technology and Velcro, you’d think that the
construction industry could invent a form of concrete that is anti-slip; if
not for ...
Now Available on Amazon
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So, I dug up some old zip disks and 3.5" diskettes (amazing, I know—what
was that technology? My current desktop doesn't even have a firewire port)
to see ...
Fandom Awakens
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The internet almost broke last week with the debut of the *Star Wars: The
Force Awakens* trailer. It was viewed over 30 million times in the first 24
hour...
We've Moved!
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My new website is up! For all the latest information on myself and my
books, go to www.hockingbooks.com.
All my old blogs from here have been moved over t...
Time Keeps on Slippin' ... Into the Future
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I disappeared again. I feel as though I am just resurfacing. After the
holidays. After life changes. After ... It all just goes fast, doesn't it?
This past...
Dat dere orange spray tan
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Unnatural looking, streaks, overpriced, wears off in just a few days, weird
chemicals cause you to break out.....what more could you want!?!?
Hibernation
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Thanks for dropping by!
I'm taking a break from blogging (or more to the point, taking a break from
feeling guilty about the lack of blogging but stil...
Oh dear
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I am not a patient person.
I couldn't finish the healing journey I had the other day.
I was taken to a deep blue pool and many of the gods and people I kne...
Where To Find Me
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As I mentioned in my last post, my writing was in the process of being
moved, and that process is complete. Going forward, you'll be able to read
my stuff ...
60 Days of Art... round 2
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I missed last years 60 days of art by roughly 2 weeks. I'm going to try and
officially complete it this year.
I started July 30 with this version of Adam W...
HOCKEY HOCKEY HOCKEY HOCKEY HOCKEY
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"THE BOYS ARE BACK IN TOWN," - sings Uncle Jesse with a mullet.
The boys are back (but not in town)! However, according to NBC's broadcast,
they were playi...
Jordan
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I saw this and this a while back but never shared it, since it's probably
BS. Nevertheless, it's still funny and I've sent both links around to
people b...
He who blogs and runs away
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*He settled *Hoti*'s business--let it be!--*
* Properly based *Oun*--*
*Gave us the doctrine of the enclitic *De*,*
* Dead from the waist down....
Icon Packages Download
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Dear users, I'm having trouble keeping the downloads directly from my
website, because the high traffic. Therefore, some links are broken.
Some of my works...
Book #9 -- The Dirty Life
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I had the pleasure of reading The Dirty Life by Kristin Kimball over spring
break. I say pleasure because it seems appropriate. This book was a
complete...
Pheasant Tale
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*Pheasant Tale Fascinator by Arturo Rios*
*Artist Statement:* This is a beautiful hat i love from my collection, its
made on small pillbox covered with a...
the year of living almost celibately
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it's been a strange year.
for someone who advises people to have plenty of sex and plenty of wild
sex, i've had little of late. I'm like a reverse-christ...
Taiwan's International Athletes
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So after a long hiatus from the world of blogging...... I AM BACK!
Since I've been in Taiwan for the past bit, I will write about the world of
sports and cu...
Un-Baked Ziti
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I bought the largest package of Italian sausage I had ever seen. Three
dinners? Four dinners? Three dinners. I can get three dinners out of this
package....
Life changed
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I don't really know where to begin with this post because of how much life
changed since the last time I wrote. Well first things first, Evan is into
his s...
Finding The Flow To Let Yourself Go
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This is supposedly how you find your flow to let yourself go. The point is
to just write and see where the words take you. However, I am currently
listenin...
HOME PAGE:
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Click sequentially on the topics below to experience God's presence among
us:
*1. "I am who I am*"
2. "Understood from what has been made"
*3. "Male and f...
work in progress
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Our world of wealth and prosperity
Religions with alien deities
No spirit left in our arteries
Fat bellies from food made in factories
And terror danc...
Beautiful Steampunk Art and Video
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Courtesy of Natania Barron, authoress of the the book and blog The
Aldersgate Cycle, I discovered the winning entries to a steampunk art and
video contest...
Happiness
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What do you know? Happiness is IN! How do I know this? From a November 27,
2008 *New York Times* article about a convention on happiness in San
Francisco...
Post #1377: The Relatively Short Goodbye
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Hello, everyone.
After 21 years, and almost 40 million posts (we'll have to check those
numbers, but it's something like that), we have decided to bring F...
Jesus Christ...Martin Luther King, Jr...Ken Lay
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Until I became a martyr recently, the only time my name was uttered in the
same sentence as God's only son and that black civil rights guy would be
when so...