The Bowl Championship Series: What a Bunch of Bulls#$%

Last night we got the BCS Championship game. People are buzzing about what a great game we saw, with the game coming down to a last second chip shot field goal to win the game for Auburn, 22-19. Wow. What drama. This was amazing!

Bulls#$%. That game had an over of 74. They scored just over half of that. There were 3 INTs thrown in the first quarter. And they were not amazing INTs; they were horrible throws. The scoring picked up in the 2nd quarter, with 27 points in that quarter. That's more like it, right? Well, 3 points were scored in the 3rd, and 11 points in the 4th. Wow. What an offensive explosion!!!! Amazing playing!!!!

Do I blame the players or coaches? Possibly. Were the defenses amazing? Not really. I blame the lack of production by two of the highest scoring teams in the regular season to the 12th man. Rust! These two teams had 37 days off between their last game and this title game. 37 f#$%ing days. How good would you be at your job if you went to training classes for over a month. You were technically working and learning new things, but when you step back in your chair to start back up at your job, you would be rusty. You would be trying to find out what was going on while you were out. You would be getting a feel of any new systems put into place while you were gone. And you would be flustered when people started calling you asking for updates of things you were still trying to find out about on your own.

Try doing all of that with 275 pound beasts running after you trying to beat you into submission.

37 days is a joke. I understand wanting to have your biggest game on its own night. But the last BCS game before this title game was played 7 days earlier. You are not the Super Bowl. You do not need that much lead in for this game. Especially since the match-up was announced over 5 weeks earlier. Do your press earlier. What - ESPN is not going to cover your presser just because another BCS game is happening later that day? Whatever. The game should have been played the day after the Sugar Bowl. That cuts out a week.

And who says the BCS games have to start on New Years Day? They have already f#$%ed with the tradition of these games so much with the BCS system, why not move up the games some? Why can't the national title game be on New Years Day, and the other BCS games the days leading up to it? Having the National Title game on New Years day cuts out 10 days of waiting, making the wait 27 days. I still think that is too long, but I think that is as good as you can get for this situation.

If you must keep the system where the National Title game is a week after the last BCS game, then it should be moved to a 4+1 model (or 5+1 model). This situation would also fix the situation we have with TCU having an undefeated season and not having a shot to play for the title. Under the 4+1 system, you eliminate two deadweight BCS teams invited to play, and you play the 4 BCS games. Then at the end of those games, the Top 2 BCS teams would play for the title. Also, this model would require that certain limitations be placed on what teams can play in the BCS games, such as conference champions with horrible records and/or BCS rankings would lose their automatic qualification unless their record and/or ranking was at a certain level. This would also allow original traditions for the bowls could be restored (i.e. this year, Oregon would have played Wisconsin in the Rose Bowl). In this situation, you still get all of the games, and the rust that may have been built up over the 27 day delay can be worked out in those games, and then in the Title Game a week later the two teams can be playing at an optimal level.

But as you already know, this would never happen. Why? Because the BCS school presidents are making a s#$%load of money using this system. And when it comes time to renew the BCS contract, they will tweak it in any way that makes them the most money. And the masses who watch college football will continue to watch it, and the schools will continue to get rich off of it. And until the consumers actually revolt against the system, the system will continue to move forward as is. Too many people are too wrapped up into their teams to ever boycott watching them in an effort to make the experience better down the road.

I am not so much in favor for a tournament. I am neither for it or against it. I just know that the chances of it happening are so remote that I am not even wasting brain power to even think about it. And I am not one of these people that think that non-BCS teams deserve anything under this system. The NCAA sold their soul for the BCS system, and therefore it is almost like the non-BCS teams are just the annoying guy at the door of a party trying to get in, and being told by the bouncer to go to the back of the line. You are not invited - stop crying. Boise State had a chance to go to a BCS conference to prove their worth, and they decided to take an easier road in another non-BCS conference. TCU went the other way, and they went to a BCS conference. I absolutely respect what TCU did (albeit, going to the Big East was not an amazingly strong move), and I hope it benefits them down the road. But non-BCS teams, stop b@#$%ing about not having a legit chance at a BCS title. Non-BCS says it all - you don't get a chance until you become part of a BCS conference. Work on getting your conference part of the BCS, or go to one. And shut your mouth.

All that being said, I can't wait for next fall!

Todd's Blog Post About Music: Part I (The Formative Years)

OK. Enough emotional stuff. Time for me to write about something that evokes other emotions. And that is music.

I am not a music afficianado by any stretch. I don't listen to free-form jazz, and I don't think someone who uses a drill bit on a guitar string on college radio is music. I like all kinds of music. I used to say I hated country music, but as time goes by a VERY select FEW country artists intrigue me. Maybe even just one: Johnny Cash is one country musician I have grown to appreciate. "At Folsom Prison" is an amazing album.

My musical tastes as to what I liked the most at any one given time have changed dramatically over the years. I grew up during the infancy of MTV. Back when that stood for Music Television. Even before that I liked music. When I was very young, one of my favorite things was my 45 of "Disco Duck" by Rick Dees. I wore that single out. I also remember having a single of "Don't Stand So Close To Me" by The Police. See - even when I was young I had diverse taste.

I remember for my 10th birthday getting "1984" by Van Halen for my birthday. One of those moments where you are wondering what the parent was thinking letting their child give that as a present to another 10 year old. I mean, we all know that "Jump" was a MTV classic video, and harmless enough. But the cover of the album, a cupid smoking a cigarette, kind of puts you in awkward spots when dealing with fairly conservative parents. But surprisingly, my parents never really objected to me playing the album, which included every parents favorite anthem for their 10 year old son, "Hot For Teacher."

I don't think my parents were quite as conservative as they let on, at least not when they first started our family, as I learned when I was older that my favorite song when I was too young to remember was "Feel Like Making Love" by Bad Company. Why was this my favorite song? Maybe because my parents owned the Bad Company album "Straight Shooter" on cassette (which at that time was almost like cutting edge technology). I later in life inherited that cassette, and I ended up wearing it out. "Shooting Star" ended up being my favorite track of that album. So I guess my love for rock music really was embedded in me by my parents, which I just find absolutely hilarious this day and age.

The very first cassette I ever owned, which I got at the same time as my very first boombox, was "Seven and the Ragged Tiger" by Duran Duran. And thus began my pop phase of my youth. Granted, I still liked rock, but I absolutely loved Duran Duran and all of the music from the videos of the MTV days. I remember staying up one night to see the premiere of "The Reflex" on MTV. All of Duran Duran's videos seemed so interesting. "Rio". "Hungry Like the Wolf". "Save a Prayer". "New Moon on Monday". "Union of the Snake". None of them ever made sense to the song they were singing, and yet you could not get enough of them. Back then, a music video's debut was an event, and no one delivered quite like Duran Duran.

And then in the mid-80's (and I cannot believe how long ago that was), the event that went on to shape my high school years happened (that will be my next music blog post). When "Licensed to Ill" came out, The Beastie Boys had already released "Fight for Your Right to Party" as a single, and it was blowing up on MTV. I loved that song. I guess I was just about at the age where I was beginning to rebel a little bit before big time rebellion in my teenage years. I was in middle school, and when that album was released, I was sick as a dog. But I was not about to let a little flu keep me from that album, so I had my parents drive me to Turtles Records (for those of you old enough to remember, Turtles absolutely rocked when it came to music. Absolutely my favorite record store chain from back in the day). I bought the cassette and layed in bed and listened to song after song of music I had never really heard before. I had listened to just a little Run D.M.C. before this, but I fell in love with "Paul Revere", "Brass Monkey", "The New Style", etc. And with that one purchase, the seed of love for hip-hop was planted.

And on my next blog post, I will explain how my love for hip-hop went way overboard in high school, and how a purchase of a cassette as a joke, right after I graduated high school, turned me into the dude you are all getting to know today. Until then, have a great day.

Too Tired To Cry

Have you ever been too tired to cry? You have the feeling that you are about to bawl, and for some reason you just never do it. And the only thing you can think as to why you are not letting it out is that you are so tired, you just physically don't have it in you?

I feel like that today. And I could cry over many different things. My wife got through her surgery fine. But she is in a lot of pain. I just had someone who has been out on maternity leave come back to work this week, and all of the responsibilities that I had taken on in her absence are about to be passed back to her. At the same time, I have been informed that within the next couple of months three major projects will be starting up that I will be responsible for managing. I physically hurt, but know that it is nothing in comparison to what my wife is going through. It is things like this that I am talking about.

I can FEEL the tears in my eyes. I really just wish I would break down and just let the emotions all out. But I just can't. It is not about being tough for my wife right now. She is upstairs resting and I am downstairs working. So I could have this little outburst of emotion all by myself, and not worry my wife while she is recovering from surgery that her husband, who is responsible for taking care of her right now, is having a nervous breakdown. But the tears just won't come. And the only thing I can think of is that I am so tired I physically cannot cry. I have no medical basis to base this on - I just know that I really wish I could cry right now, because I think I would feel so much better.

I am a crier. Maybe that makes me less of a man, but I do. I cry at sentimental stuff all of the time. I cannot watch those "Make a Wish" segments on ESPN about some child who is very sick without losing it. Anything that deals with children and something bad happening to them just takes me to a very emotional place. So I tear up a lot. I don't usually bawl, but I do tear up, and usually a tear or two will roll down my face. So why I am having this problem now is beyond me. My luck: when I want to cry, I can't. Go figure.

Maybe it is the husband in my sub-conscious that is not letting me right now. That at any minute my wife could come downstairs and see me like this and get worried. I remember when she was pregnant with our first child, and she had to go on bed-rest two months before her due date. I was at work and she called me very emotional with worry, because her doctor had told her how serious her preeclampsia was. I remember like it was yesterday (and this was well over 9 years ago) keeping her calm over the phone. And then after hanging up with her having one of the most tearful conversations with my mom on the phone, because it broke my heart to hear my wife so worried. The same thing happened after I had spoken with my friend @CounselorGA the day his sister passed away. I tried to keep it together the best I could for him over the phone, but after I got off the phone with him I lost it. I remember that day too very vividly, and it was one of those days I was grateful to have an office door to shut, because I was not able to function there for awhile. I did not know his sister very well, as she was much older than us and not around much when I had met him in middle school. But the hurt I could hear in his voice when he told me what had happened was so intense, and he was such a good friend, that there was no way you could not have been emotional at that point. I am usually really good about keeping it together in front of the people that need me to be their support at the time they need the support. But when I am away, I usually have to let it go, or I start to lose my own mind.

I don't plan for my posts on this blog to be all about sadness, but the past two days have been a real roller coaster for me, and I am glad to have this outlet to vent, because if I did not have at least this avenue to let some things out, I very well may lose my mind. I actually feel better just typing the words, but I am really hoping that in the very near future I will feel good enough to have a good cry to finish off the job and get back to my old self. Plus, you guys need to see my insane side anyway. Just ask @CounselorGA - he'll tell ya. I am slightly less insane than he is. :)

Don't Call It A Comeback

Seriously. Don't call it a comeback. I had to really be here to be able to comeback. As you can see from my last post, it has been almost 3 years since my last post. Back then I had dreams of gradually winning enough money playing small stakes poker to being able to go to Vegas and play in one World Series of Poker event, and somehow coming back with something to show for it. As it always does, mainly because I am a bad poker player, it never panned out and I just gave up on the poker blog.

Then my good friend John started a new blog the other day, and it moved me. I am by no means a good writer at all. Far from it. But I usually have a million things on my mind, and nowhere to really outlet those thoughts. I work from home, so I don't interact face-to-face with people very much. When I talk to someone from work, it is about work. I have my family, but there are some things you can't talk about around the children, and there are some things that your spouse is not very interested in talking about. And even other times, there are things you want to talk about with other people for various opinions. I abandoned Facebook a long time ago, and there is only so much you can say in 140 words or less. So here I am. I am back.

My wife has no idea I am doing this blog at all. She hates social networking and everyone knowing our business. She does not want me to post pics of the kids on the web, and she has never been to Facebook or Twitter, and just does not have a use for it. I basically quit Facebook because she was really concerned about privacy. And to be quite honest, Facebook had lost its luster a long time ago. I was intrigued by Twitter because it was so simple, so I switched and have really enjoyed it. All that said, she probably would not be thrilled about what I am about to post, but for my own sake I need to do it.

My wife is having surgery later this afternoon. It is supposed to be a very simple surgery for a non-critical problem she is having, but this problem did land us in the emergency room last Friday, and I know it is bothering her. It is an outpatient procedure, but will require her to be put under anesthesia. I know in my heart of hearts that nothing bad is going to happen. I guess I have heard too many horror stories of how seemingly simple surgeries have turned into disasters, and not enough of the overwhelmingly more stories of how everything turned out just fine. But I love my wife more than I could ever express in words, and I guess the husband in me is worried sick about something happening to her. But the husband I am cannot show this fear at all, as I just want to be the rock she needs me to be right now. I know she is worried too, even though she is not showing it. So for her, I will never let her know what I am feeling right now, for her sake. But for my sake, I needed to outlet this now. Thank God for the internet!

For those of you who happen upon this blog, don't bother reading the older posts unless you just absolutely like to bore yourself with stories from a poker junkie. I am not sure I will even go back and look at them, but I have left them here to remind myself what I was, and to show myself what I have become. I have a lot left to do around this big rock of ours, and I will blog more about my ambitions and thoughts on the world in future posts. But for now, I am signing off so I can go be the best husband I can be for my wife today. Have a great day everyone.

First Week of March, Not So Much

http://www.pokerhand.org/?2204537

This is typical of what I have experienced the past couple of days. The guy who won this hand had been playing this motherfucking trash the whole way. He was up and down the whole tourney (was all-in for 900 chips earlier with 93 and flop comes 993). Anyway, I just need to dodge a 3, J, Q or K on the river and I more than quadruple up. But I knew this was going to happen. Too many guys to dodge, but psychologically it hurts worse to lose AA versus 43 to a total donk. He literally said he plays like that because FTP rewards bad play. What a fuck.

Steak

Last Week of February is Mine!!!!

I cannot remember the last time I won a tourney online. Not a qualifier tourney; satellite tourney; or single table SNG. I am talking about a MTT. Oh yes I can - I did it exactly one year ago, when I won the 2nd Razz Guarantee I had ever won within a 5 day span. Since then, I have come close, but had never won anything too big.

Today, I am back in the winners circle. I am busy with work today (that was the crazy part, as I got a bunch of agreements processed and out the door while I was playing the beginning of the tourney). I am not going into a lot of detail now - will save that for a later post. It was a 90 man SNG Knockout tourney. I lost track of exactly how many bounties I collected, but I think it was a total of 13 @ $4 a pop. Plus I got the first place money of $576. Biggest cash I have had in a long time. After I had posted yesterday, the poker gods decided to humble me a bit, and I took a big hit to my bankroll, ending up about $160 down for the day. So needless to say, this win was a huge pick-me-up.

As I said, when I get some more time, I will post more specifics and any interesting hands that came up.

Steak

Razzing an Opponent

I have been just taking things very easy on FTP recently. Slowly building my bankroll on there. So far - so good. I have gotten my roll back to almost $300 on a $50 deposit playing micro limit games and SNGs, and I have started stockpiling $26 tokens for my next trip to NJ for business. Needless to say, evenings in West Orange, NJ mainly consist of me eating room service, drinking Dew and playing FTP. I want at least 5 tokens ready to go so I can play the nightly Razz tourney every night (08:15PM). After that I will start stockpiling tokens for the nightly PLO tourney (09:15PM). And then I will try for 5 more for the nightly Limit Hold 'Em tourney (07:15PM). I try not to start any big tournaments later than the 9:15 while I am gone, simply because I have to be in the office early each morning and I don't want to be up until 4:15 playing the HORSE or O8OB guarantees, as they tend to last a long time. I have to sit through many meetings during these trips, and the last thing I want is to fall asleep in the middle of one. Funny story for another time about a bid defense meeting I flew to London to attend - I will have to remember to share that later.

Anyway, last night I had already had a pretty good day, and then I got online again that night and started playing $1/$2 Heads-Up Razz. This guy was really bad. And then this hand happened:

http://www.pokerhand.org/?2161807

Now call me jaded, but I just thought the entire way the hand played out (plus a previous hand two hands earlier where the same thing played out and my 9 lo beat his 10 lo) it was obvious all the way down that I needed to stay, and by the end I was pot committed. Especially considering what I was putting him on. Since I play these low-level Razz games alot, it just seemed second nature to me. Well, this set off a chat session which went as follows over the next 17 hands:

b1j23: lol
b1j23: what a idiot
JZs72ndProblem: funny
JZs72ndProblem: so obvious
b1j23: u stay broke dont u?
JZs72ndProblem: no - fish like you keep me fed good
b1j23: yea i can tell by way u play
JZs72ndProblem: play all of the time - more than welcome to take it back whenever you feel like you can
b1j23: im here every day only seen u a few times
JZs72ndProblem: i play almost every day too - but I play everything
JZs72ndProblem: not just razz
b1j23: wana up da limit?

This is every good player's dream. A complete fish who thinks he knows what he is doing when he has minimal knowledge of the game he is playing asks to raise the stakes while he is tilting. It actually feels a little dirty. The convo continues:

JZs72ndProblem: 3-6?
b1j23: 510
JZs72ndProblem: waiting

I had signed up for a $5/$10 HU table as fast as I could, and he did not dissappoint me. Let's just say his demeanor changed just a bit after a few hands at $5/$10. Here are all of the hands of this session (all 14 of them - minus the hands that did not get past 3rd street, which pokerhand.org will not let you upload).

First Four Hands: I fold on 3rd the first two hands (including one bring-in by him when we both had Q's showing, but I had QJ buried as well); then he folds after bringing-it the next two hands. I am now up $1.50

Hand 5:
http://www.pokerhand.org/?2165548
(Profit $7.00; Total rake $0.50)

Hand 6 I take on 3rd (Profit $9.50; Total Rake $0.50)

Hand 7:
http://www.pokerhand.org/?2165574
(Profit $12.00; Total rake = $0.50)

Hand 8 he takes (his next to last last pot of the session) when I bring it in and fold. (Profit $9.50; Total Rake $0.50)

Hand 9 he folds when I bring it in. (Profit $10.50; Total Rake $0.50)

Hand 10:
http://www.pokerhand.org/?2165595
(Profit $13.00; Total Rake $0.50)

Hand 11 he wins when I bring it in. (Profit $10.50; Total Rake $0.50)

Hand 12 (the smackdown starts):
http://www.pokerhand.org/?2165617
I actually screw up 6th street here, but at the same time I like to keep him guessing. A check would look fishy, and I think the same result occurs here. Plus, now he has no hole card information for me. Little did I know the match was going to be over 2 hands later.
(Profit $31.00; Total Rake $1.00)

Hand 13 (the humiliation):
http://www.pokerhand.org/?2165992
Is there anything better than someone calling you all the way down with a K9K showing? Absolutely nothing better than having the nuts on the end and still getting called. What a rush.
(Profit $68.00; Total Rake $1.50)

Hand 14 (the smackdown abruptly ends):
http://www.pokerhand.org/?2166026
Just a fitting way to end this guy's day. And mine as well. Ship It.
Final Tally:
- Profit = $98.00
- Rake = $2.00 (not a bad ratio)

14 hands (I take the pot in 10 of those, and the four he took never went past 3rd). Life was very good that evening. And I will be looking for this guy again!!! You should too.

Steak