The Braves' Fourth Quarter: "A tremendous disappointment"

Such were the words of Chipper Jones, and really, how else are you supposed to describe what just happened? Incredibly, just a few months after what I titled one post, I'm actually thinking that right now somebody from Boston can probably relate pretty well. Actually, this Braves fan is particularly grateful that the Red Sox have received far more national attention for their failure. That's a small comfort, though.

In the end, the disbelief is still settling in. I typically do a post I refer to as "My Final Thoughts" when one of the Four B's seasons ends, and ever since I started regularly doing these posts, they always made the playoffs.

But seeing as there won't be any more games played after I post this, what would the Final Thoughts offer any additional dwelling on? Maybe somebody will get fired?

In case you couldn't tell, this particular quarterly update is easily the worst I've ever had to reflect on.

2011 Division Series Predictions: Minus my pick and my fave

I suppose I'll be elaborating more on what transpired last night, an admittedly exciting finish to the regular season, when I write up the sad conclusion to a certain team's certain fourth quarter. Of course, seeing as this is also when I typically reflect on how I did at predicting back before the first pitch was thrown, I suppose the good news would be this: I improved to a dozen teams correctly placed this year. I ended up with only four of the playoff teams correct (it would have been six had two certain teams not, you know ... oh, God), two in each league, and had three of the division winners correct. So once again, nothing terribly admirable.

But now we shift into the baseball playoffs, and I'll obviously be a little less giddy this year, seeing as the Bravos will not be playing. I have no real vested interest in the "toldja' so" sense because the Red Sox collapse also eliminated my supposed World Series winner this year. Nice.

I don't know who I'll be rooting for, in all honesty. Right now, I suppose I'm leaning heavily toward a Milwaukee-anybody but the Yankees Series.

2011 NFL Predictions: This year's going to be different

I knew when I moved that the number of hours I typically dedicated to NFL posts during any given season was probably going to be reduced. And as this year's season get set to kick off on Thursday, I'm even more certain that I won't be bothering with a number of posts I was doing on a regular basis for the past couple years.

While I've already had my two fantasy football teams drafted, I've already made a roster adjustment to both without screencapping either original roster. That should be a sign that this will hopefully be the last you hear about either of those fantasy teams—unless, of course, I end up winning the whole thing this year.

Currently, that's the only football-related matter I'm enlisted to tend to. And while that's a bit concerning to have heard nothing from either of the confidence pools I've participated in the past few years, even if I do suddenly enroll in either one again this year, I'm already determined to axe the usual Power Rankings segment—even if I do end up privately maintaining that information, maybe saving the posting just for the sort of year-end annual report or something.

So like I said, things are going to change here. But, hey ... at least there's going to be a season.

The Braves' Third Quarter: Can't whine too much

The Braves season actually passed this point on August 15, the day after the last time I posted here. I recognized the date then, but knew I'd probably end up running a little late with this post. Seeing as I haven't altogether quit the restaurant gig I was working before starting the new Monday-Friday gig, I still have not had an entire day off work ever since then.

I'm still waiting tables tonight, so tomorrow's going to be a big day when for the first time in ... what, three weeks? I'm going to have a whole day free from having to report somewhere for work.

I won't lie ... The new job more or less involves many hours of blogging every day. Even just now, typing on my own where I'm free to say whatever I want, I still found myself wondering if I was adhering to style requirements. It's somewhat difficult for me to now spend eight hours a day at the computer and then come home and add a couple more hours to write something like this. Don't get me wrong; I really like the new job. It's the restaurant I want to drop, but I'm sure that I'm letting a fear of "leaving money on the table" prevents me from working a few more hours a week.

I'm saying that now to justify that most of the posts I made regularly scheduled things here at BMC are probably bound to change again. Life can sort of get in the way like that, but it's not as though a little lack in the frequency here necessarily equates to a bad thing. When you consider how often I have used this space to bitch and moan about lack of work, any further near-grumbling about working too much risks making me sound ungrateful. And we certainly wouldn't want that.

After all, we've probably got playoffs to look forward to this year.