Woohoo!

Roothie is such a smarty!

Edit: I'm really sleepy... no more late night online poker!

2nd Edit: Gerald and I took down PokerStars. They're in maintenance until 7am EST

Move over, Mel

We held an online fantasy football draft last night for a league that I'm the commish for, so I feel obliged to comment on its results. The league started off as a small league with just Chang, Andrew, myself, and Ruth to continue the league we started last year, but since there were other folks who wanted to join and Chang's was already full, this became the overflow. Now that it's larger than Chang's it will soon be the dominant league :) The folks that have since joined are Gerald, Jeremy, Gina, Dean, Jeff, and Eric... without further ado, draft commentary:

Round 1
1. L. Tomlinson - Pansies
2. S. Alexander - Tighty Whiteys
3. P. Manning - Pocket Pairs
4. P. Holmes - Whoosh
5. E. James - aladdin look...
6. M. Harrison - G Dogg Jr.
7. W. McGahee - max_is_mine!
8. R. Moss - Gouts
9. J. Lewis - P Raise 200
10. C. Dillon - Taiwanese Ta...

Intriguing Pick: None; you can't really win the draft in the first round, but you certainly can lose it. Most of the picks went as expected, except...

Questionable Pick: M. Harrison; unfortunately, G Dogg had some technical difficulties so Y! picked up the drafting, but he probably would have been there the next round. Not a huge mistake, but definitely the only questionable pick

Round 2
11. D. Culpepper - Taiwanese Ta...
12. D. Davis - P Raise 200
13. D. McAllister - Gouts
14. J. Jones - max_is_mine!
15. T. Barber - G Dogg Jr.
16. C. Portis - aladdin look...
17. D. McNabb - Whoosh
18. R. Johnson - Pocket Pairs
19. K. Jones - Tighty Whiteys
20. M. Vick - Pansies

Intriguing Pick: T. Barber; the man I tried to trade for a sack of beans last year absolutely dominanted. On pure numbers alone, easily a first round pick. But solid value here in a bounceback from round 1.

Questionable Pick: M. Vick; the guy's an exciting player, but I hate him in fantasy, even with his rushing yards. Although, if you play +1 pt per int, sack, and fumble, he's so dominant it's ridiculous.

Round 3
21. C. Johnson - Pansies
22. M. Bulger - Tighty Whiteys
23. A. Johnson - Pocket Pairs
24. A. Green - Whoosh
25. T. Holt - aladdin look...
26. T. Green - G Dogg Jr.
27. B. Westbrook - max_is_mine!
28. C. Martin - Gouts
29. R. Wayne - P Raise 200
30. J. Bettis - Taiwanese Ta...

Intriguing Pick: A. Green; a former top 5 lock, if he can pull his act together, this is a huge steal to pair up with the Priest to give Jer some scary RBs.

Questionable Pick: J. Bettis; the Duce is a little gimpy and Bettis got a bunch of TDs last year, but even he thinks he can't last a full season. What a puss...

Round 4
31. T. Gonzalez - Taiwanese Ta...
32. A. Gates - P Raise 200
33. S. Jackson - Gouts
34. T. Owens - max_is_mine!
35. W. Dunn - G Dogg Jr.
36. J. Horn - aladdin look...
37. T. Bell - Whoosh
38. Ro. Williams - Pocket Pairs
39. J. Witten - Tighty Whiteys
40. L. Jordan - Pansies

Intriguing Pick: T. Owens; fallen from 2nd to 4th round given his crazy antics, but he's dominant and a steal here if he plays

Questionable Pick: Ro. Williams; I like the guy, but he could have been had later

Round 5
41. H. Ward - Pansies
42. D. Bennett - Tighty Whiteys
43. Mi. Clayton - Pocket Pairs
44. J. Walker - Whoosh
45. J. Arrington - aladdin look...
46. A. Crumpler - G Dogg Jr.
47. D. Jackson - max_is_mine!
48. B. Favre - Gouts
49. K. Collins - P Raise 200
50. L. Evans - Taiwanese Ta...

Intriguing Pick: D. Bennett; Whiteys picked up the best available white WR, without him the team would have been toast

Questionable Pick: L. Evans; see Ro. Williams in previous round

Round 6
51. D. Mason - Taiwanese Ta...
52. N. Burleson - P Raise 200
53. A. Boldin - Gouts
54. S. Smith - max_is_mine!
55. A. Lelie - G Dogg Jr.
56. L. Coles - aladdin look...
57. C. Chambers - Whoosh
58. C. Williams - Pocket Pairs
59. M. Bennett - Tighty Whiteys
60. J. Shockey - Pansies

Intriguing Pick: N. Burleson; if Daunte's still going to be dominant, he has to throw to someone... Burleson's the frontrunner for that

Questionable Pick: L. Coles; he's back in NYJ with Chad, but he was pretty poor last season

Round 7
61. D. Staley - Pansies
62. B. Stokley - Tighty Whiteys
63. L. Smith - Pocket Pairs
64. D. Driver - Whoosh
65. D. Foster - aladdin look...
66. M. Muhammad - G Dogg Jr.
67. F. Taylor - max_is_mine!
68. E. Moulds - Gouts
69. J. Porter - P Raise 200
70. J. McCareins - Taiwanese Ta...

Intriguing Pick: F. Taylor; unquestionably top RB talent, but he needs to return to full health to showcase those skills.

Questionable Pick: J. McCareins; see Ro. Williams and L. Evans

Round 8
71. A. Vinatieri - Taiwanese Ta...
72. T. Jones - P Raise 200
73. T. Heap - Gouts
74. T. Brady - max_is_mine!
75. J. Elam - G Dogg Jr.
76. M. Hasselbeck - aladdin look...
77. R. McMichael - Whoosh
78. Ma. Clayton - Pocket Pairs
79. D. Branch - Tighty Whiteys
80. I. Bruce - Pansies

Intriguing Pick: T. Jones; the longer Benson holds out, the less likely he'll contribute this year. TJ's looked good in preseason so far, too.

Questionable Pick: D. Branch; 1) he's not white and 2) there were a lot better non-white players available

Round 9
81. D. Akers - Pansies
82. M. Stover - Tighty Whiteys
83. R. Brown - Pocket Pairs
84. Baltimore - Whoosh
85. Ji. Smith - aladdin look...
86. K. Barlow - G Dogg Jr.
87. L. Fitzgerald - max_is_mine!
88. R. Longwell - Gouts
89. M. Anderson - P Raise 200
90. M. Faulk - Taiwanese Ta...

Intriguing Pick: K. Barlow; another steal to get a talented starting RB this late.. they'll need him to keep the pressure off A. Smith

Questionable Pick: M. Stover; what a boring white kicker

Round 10
91. Philadelphia - Taiwanese Ta...
92. New England - P Raise 200
93. Atlanta - Gouts
94. C. Benson - max_is_mine!
95. Buffalo - G Dogg Jr.
96. Da. Clark - aladdin look...
97. J. Hall - Whoosh
98. Ro. Smith - Pocket Pairs
99. C. Palmer - Tighty Whiteys
100. Pittsburgh - Pansies

Intriguing Pick: C. Palmer; Whiteys followed up a couple questionable picks with a solid one here. A ton of upside and definitely someone I was hoping to snag

Questionable Pick: C. Benson; probably still holding out and won't get much PT early, but has potential to oust T. Jones. Mostly to mess with Seahang.

Round 11
101. D. Brees - Pansies
102. E. Johnson - Tighty Whiteys
103. K. Brown - Pocket Pairs
104. C. Brown - Whoosh
105. C. Rogers - aladdin look...
106. A. Brooks - G Dogg Jr.
107. E. Kennison - max_is_mine!
108. J. Delhomme - Gouts
109. S. McNair - P Raise 200
110. J. Plummer - Taiwanese Ta...

Intriguing Pick: J. Delhomme; damn good pick... my only satisfaction is that I wouldn't have gotten him anyway because Seahang was targetting him too. Just look at his numbers and compare to drafted QBs starting from Vick. Quietly very solid.

Questionable Pick: K. Brown; I know you wanted to keep paired names, but in the 11th? Nobody would have taken him... and his name is Kris for crying out loud.

Round 12
111. M. Robinson - Taiwanese Ta...
112. B. Edwards - P Raise 200
113. R. Droughns - Gouts
114. C. Pennington - max_is_mine!
115. S. Moss - G Dogg Jr.
116. B. Leftwich - aladdin look...
117. T. Duckett - Whoosh
118. L. Johnson - Pocket Pairs
119. K. Curtis - Tighty Whiteys
120. P. Burress - Pansies

Intriguing Pick: L. Johnson; at this point, you're looking for upside and there's no higher upside than if the Priest gets injured with LJ ready to step in and dominate. Guessing Jer would've snapped him up if he was participating live

Questionable Pick: K. Curtis; hard to say since most players here do have intriguing upside, but I'll pick on the white guy

Round 13
121. J. Wiggins - Pansies
122. B. Hoover - Tighty Whiteys
123. New York - Pocket Pairs
124. T. Houshmandzadeh - Whoosh
125. T. Henry - aladdin look...
126. L. Suggs - G Dogg Jr.
127. J. Putzier - max_is_mine!
128. Ke. Johnson - Gouts
129. M. Vanderjagt - P Raise 200
130. B. Franks - Taiwanese Ta...

Intriguing Pick: T. Houshmandzadeh; with a name like that, how can I not mention him

Questionable Pick: B. Hoover; Genius makes me laugh

Round 14
131. S. Janikowski - Taiwanese Ta...
132. C. Buckhalter - P Raise 200
133. M. Shipp - Gouts
134. K. Colbert - max_is_mine!
135. D. Blaylock - G Dogg Jr.
136. J. Wilkins - aladdin look...
137. B. Griese - Whoosh
138. New York - Pocket Pairs
139. C. Cooley - Tighty Whiteys
140. Carolina - Pansies

Intriguing Pick: C. Cooley; I don't really like anyone here (well, maybe Keary's upsdie), but the dude has a good name and where else would you find RB - TE

Questionable Pick: C. Buckhalter; hahahhahahhahahhahaha

Round 15
141. V. Morency - Pansies
142. Dallas - Tighty Whiteys
143. E. Manning - Pocket Pairs
144. S. Graham - Whoosh
145. Seattle - aladdin look...
146. Denver - G Dogg Jr.
147. Tampa Bay - max_is_mine!
148. D. Graham - Gouts
149. H. Miller - P Raise 200
150. M. Pittman - Taiwanese Ta...

Intriguing Pick: M. Pittman; actually has a decent shot at retaining some PT, nice value this late

Questionable Pick: V. Morency; just because I have no idea who he is

Round 16
151. Kansas City - Taiwanese Ta...
152. T. Williamson - P Raise 200
153. L. Tynes - Gouts
154. J. Brown - max_is_mine!
155. C. Owens - G Dogg Jr.
156. E. Shelton - aladdin look...
157. J. Kleinsasser - Whoosh
158. Ro. Johnson - Pocket Pairs
159. Minnesota Tighty - Whiteys
160. M. Williams - Pansies

Intriguing Pick: M. Williams; might be buried on the depth chart in the early going, but clearly lots of talent with a fragile starter in front of him

Questionable Pick: J. Kleinsasser; ah, the fruits of a Y! draft, a last round TE with no upside

Dang, that took a really long time... to wrap up quickly, obligatory draft grades and season outlook. This stuff is usually premium content on sports sites, so you're lucky I'm offering this for free:

max_is_mine!
Grade: A
Outlook: It's her league, so she's the frontrunner. Strong starters at both RB/WR with good depth. Only real hole is at TE with the Putz.

P Raise 200
Grade: A-
Outlook: Strong team with a potential hole at the flex if Thomas Jones and Mike Anderson both lose their starting jobs. Will be tough to beat if either remain and the Raiders passing attack meets expectations.

G Dogg Jr.
Grade: A-
Outlook: Very quietly solid all-around. Dunn, Barlow, T Green, Mush... none are flashy, but put up numbers. Just need more of the same to be competitive.

aladdin lookalike
Grade: A-
Outlook: Some definite question marks, especially at QB. Between Deshaun/JJ, Rogers/Coles, Hasselbeck/Leftwich, need one of each pair to step up to be strong.

Gouts
Grade: B+
Outlook: Three very good RBs and the top WR in the game. Just needs some of the other WRs to step up and be respectable to field a consistently strong team.

Pocket Pairs
Grade: B+
Outlook: Has the all-world QB in Manning, but needs some RBs to pan out to be strong. Cadillac and Ronnie are frontrunners but not guaranteed to have it sewn up. His young WRs need to keep stepping up. Will be interesting to see how he manages waiver pickups while keeping true to his name...

Whoosh
Grade: B
Outlook: Tough to autodraft; two potentially great backs, but both come with baggage (off injury or a bad year). Other two RBs will be great *if* they get the majority of carries. Could be a real boom or bust depending on his RBs.

Pansies
Grade: B
Outlook: Two strong RBs and Brees was a good backup for Vick. I'm a little hesitant to trust Duce in the flex.. he's banged up and gets no TDs. If Vick learns how to throw or Brees repeats from last year, this would be a strong team.

Taiwanese Taigerz
Grade: B-
Outlook: Some real questionable RBs after Dillon (Bettis is a puss and Marshall is old). With any luck, the reaches at WR will pan out to pair up with Daunte and Tony G at the other spots. Running back is really really iffy, though.

Tighty Whiteys
Grade: C+
Outlook: Had to dish out a C somewhere. Whiteys actually ended up with three pretty good RBs. The WRs are okay, but fall off after Stokely and he has no depth to speak of. Now I'm mostly likely going to lose to him.


Phew! That's finally it; can't wait till the season starts and see how all this shakes out. Then again, there's still one more draft waiting in the wings...

Swing batter batter batter, swing!

I can't believe I'm doing so much athletic activity these days. I guess Chang moving in was a good influence on us. Not only are there regular workouts, but we randomly play sports like golf, grass volleyball, softball, and tennis. This past weekend was the first time we headed out to nearby park to hit some softballs around.

Look at the nice form of all the studly hitters that came out to the ballpark:







When I got tired of those fools, I had to mesmerize them with my good stuff:





The result?

Brushback pitch:


Swing and a miss:


They're clearly no match. I should go pro.

The results are in, amigo! What's left to ponder?

Wow, what a day! It was definitely a fun afternoon for Casa CHAnG to hang out at the Shoreline Golf Links with the company of Lisa and Drew. It was the first time ever for Andrew and Gerald out on a course and the first time Chang or I had been out in a while. Nevertheless, armed with low expectations and a high tolerance for futility, the four of us embarked on an adventurous nine holes. We started the afternoon off full of enthusiasm:



The starting hole was a daunting par 5 that was almost 500 yards, so there were definitely some jitters. We hacked a bunch to get started, lost at least three or four balls as we slowly trudged across the fairway. All of us pretty much got toasted and it was painful with the group behind us totally waiting for to get on the friggin green and playing out. Here's Andrew on one of the over forty strokes we took combined on the first hole:



I found my way into a sand trap on this hole and it was pretty stiff so it was crazy hard to blast out of. Notice that I've already swung through the ball and yet it's still barely moved:



We didn't fare much better on the 2nd hole and it was looking like it was going to be a long day, but we started to show some signs of life by recording a couple triple bogeys on the 3rd. And then came the 4th hole, a nice little par 3, about 136 yds over water to the green. I was up first with the honor and hit what I thought to be a fairly solid 5 iron which I can generally count on for ~150 yds if hit cleanly. It went way up, but then seemed to get caught in the strong winds, and finally promptly splashed about 10 yds short of the dry land. At this point, Chang already had out his driver, which seemed absolutely ridiculous, but he got a hold of it and sent it off near the pin. When we walked over to the other side, it turns out that his ball was only a few feet from the hole. He just missed the birdie putt, but completed the two putt for our first par of the day! Going through the pics, he clearly has the best form and that certainly came in handy on this hole. Look at this.. textbook!



It was at this point that we started picking up the quality of play. The 5th hole a bit of water to start with, but being the veterans we now were, we easily cleared it. I started connecting well with my 4 and 7 woods and launched a bunch of shots that led to a bogey. Andrew, Chang, and I picked up reasonable bogey scores on this hole and the next couple.

We wound down with the last two holes of the day: a par 3 and another long par 5. The par 3 was about 143 and having fallen in love with my 7 wood, I launched one that hit the slope behind the green and back down near the fringe. It was a back pin location and relatively flat, so I may have even had a reasonable chance to chip in. But my chipping was pretty atrocious and it barely cleared the grass and rolled a couple feet on the green, leaving me about an 8 footer for par. It was pretty straight, so I gave it a solid knock and it just trickled in as it was dying. Our second par of the day!!

The final story of the day would be Gerald's turnaround. After struggling through the early holes finding a rhythm and staying ahead of the previous group, he outdrove all of us on one of the later holes and turned in solid double bogeys on the last two holes. Once he gets it down, you best watch out. This is natural genius heading your way (wait, is this a practice swing?)



It was definitely a fun time out and a special thanks to Lisa for taking these pics with my new digital camera! If all you care about are the results and not the special time we shared together, then the scorecard's below:



Looks like there needs to be some re-seeding for next time :) We're going to try take some lessons staring September, but who knows, maybe we'll head out there another time before then...

Who's your money on?

I just reserved a tee time for our house this Friday at Shoreline Golf Course. I don't think any of us have played there nor have practiced anytime recently, so it will be a good opportunity for our true natural talent and genius to shine through. The course layout is below:



I don't think I've lost any balls when hitting to an island green, but it's always a little nervewracking... can't wait till hole #4!

The last time we went to the range (maybe a couple months ago already now), Ayeh was definitely spanking the ball and is likely the early favorite to dominate. However, golf is as much a mental game as any sport that I know of and probably more frustrating, so there's always meltdown potential. :) If Seahang can put his game together, then his experience might be able to pull him through. Finally, since it's a measurement of pure genius and talent, Geraldoh is definitely capable of springing surprises. As for me? I think I'm resigned to mediocrity in all sports... in this case, have the 2nd most experience, arguably the 2nd most likely to be a headcase, and no comment on the pure genius aspect :)

It's too bad that no matter how much natural talent we have, it's a little too late in the game to turn pro. I'd be satisfied just looking like I crushed the ball.



At any rate, it should be a fun late afternoon out on the course. If we continue playing, I'm sure it's only a matter of time before it turns into some sort of skins game. :)

Leaping into the digital age

Okay, so I guess I'm more crawling into the digital age. I normally wouldn't post twice in two days since 1) I'm lazy and 2) it ensures my limited readership actually reads everything I write. But this is a pretty momentous (is that the right word?) occasion: I finally have a digital camera!! Courtesy of Roothie, I received a Canon SD400 in the mail today!



It's so spiffy and ridiculously small. I don't really have anything to take a picture of, but I'm sure my blog will soon be populated with loads of pictures taken with this camera. How long has it been since digital cameras have been around for the mass market? Must be at least 5 or 6 years, if not more than that. *Sigh*, I guess this just goes to show that I'm a late adopter of technology after all. Maybe it's just hard for me to see how I need new things or a new lifestyle. I suppose that's why I'm still driving my Corolla, have a 19" flat screen CRT taking up space on my desk, and still just listen to music on the radio and the occasional MP3. Life is simple :)