I'm back. Enjoy the pics.
Almost done transferring the old stuff to the new, but more posts to come.
Peace.
Mommy loves Mason
10 years ago
Tuesday, December 25, 2007
Tuesday, November 20, 2007
Comp is down... for the count!
Hey everyone!!
I can tell you for a fact those Geeks and Geeks Squad do not know their ass from their elbow. I was desperate. I have been without Internet access at my home for a little over a week. I attempted to complete a secure ID log on for work. I have done this hundreds of times in my past... even on this very same PC. Well, my attempt was partially successful and when I attempted to sign out and sign back in... my internet access was corrupt. I tried all the usual suspects... checked the dam cords... reset my cable service... reset my system in order from cable box; router; pc; and xbox. The silver lining to this tragic story is my xbox. NO PROBLEMO... and I want to keep it that way.
Anyways... friends attempted to trouble shoot with me and it did not work...
So I take my PC to BestBuy. I bring my Dell to the black/white/orange section of the store where men and women in muted black and white surry around from PC to PC staying for a max of 30 seconds as they multi-task software loads and the like. A cheeky fellow name Greg asks if he can help me....
I can tell you for a fact those Geeks and Geeks Squad do not know their ass from their elbow. I was desperate. I have been without Internet access at my home for a little over a week. I attempted to complete a secure ID log on for work. I have done this hundreds of times in my past... even on this very same PC. Well, my attempt was partially successful and when I attempted to sign out and sign back in... my internet access was corrupt. I tried all the usual suspects... checked the dam cords... reset my cable service... reset my system in order from cable box; router; pc; and xbox. The silver lining to this tragic story is my xbox. NO PROBLEMO... and I want to keep it that way.
Anyways... friends attempted to trouble shoot with me and it did not work...
So I take my PC to BestBuy. I bring my Dell to the black/white/orange section of the store where men and women in muted black and white surry around from PC to PC staying for a max of 30 seconds as they multi-task software loads and the like. A cheeky fellow name Greg asks if he can help me....
- he does a diagnostic
- he reviews my settings
- he loads some basic fixes
- he makes a determination it could be my network card or something within the operating system program - either way to determine is a max of 40.
- "the sucker okays the work"
- he installs the brand new network card
- FAILED to access the internet!!!
- he then asks about my connection at home (I have one - xbox live)
- he starts chatting about live... his gamer tag... I respond... I'm the 'It's not your fault' guy... he chuckles... "not vs. me" and I respond with "SCDA - any time" it will not be your fault....
- he attempts to sell me on a total reinstall after telling me the network card was flawed - which is clearly was not...
- he was not shocked when I declined that option...
So I have been without PC at home for eyons... it seems!
Friday, November 16, 2007
Still Here...
just nothing to say recently.
On my current play list:
Call of Duty 2 ------> preparing for the Call of Duty 4 recently released.
Halo3 -------> playing whenever the group is on... and not much recently.
TenchuZ -----> Very fun game. Just completed it.
Dead Rising ----------> will be playing this game next. Should be fun.
Racquetball:
I'm recovered. I dropped my first game back, which was a waste since my lack of conditioning actually cost me the game.
3-2 at this point. However the season timeframe is almost up and I cannot get anyone to reschedule.
I may very well end up 3-8.
I'm in the process of reaching out to my peeps I speak with every now and then, but have not lost anything with I hope.
just nothing to say recently.
On my current play list:
Call of Duty 2 ------> preparing for the Call of Duty 4 recently released.
Halo3 -------> playing whenever the group is on... and not much recently.
TenchuZ -----> Very fun game. Just completed it.
Dead Rising ----------> will be playing this game next. Should be fun.
Racquetball:
I'm recovered. I dropped my first game back, which was a waste since my lack of conditioning actually cost me the game.
3-2 at this point. However the season timeframe is almost up and I cannot get anyone to reschedule.
I may very well end up 3-8.
I'm in the process of reaching out to my peeps I speak with every now and then, but have not lost anything with I hope.
Saturday, October 27, 2007
Still Here...
just nothing to say recently.
On my current play list:
Call of Duty 3 ------> preparing for the Call of Duty 4 release.
Halo3 -------> playing whenever the group is on... and not much recently.
Chromehounds --------> for the elusive fight at every map achievement... I will get it!
Dead Rising ----------> will be playing this game next. Should be fun.
I love getting great games for less than 10 bucks and usually closer to 5.99. It is awesome, since I have the patience to wait and favorites to play in the meantime.
_________
_________
Racquetball:
While I recover from injury all is quiet. I'm 1 and 1 and 4 games to make up so far. I hope to be back in action within 1-2 weeks.
_____________
_____________
Halloween Party tonight... my kids look adorable and cannot wait to see them in action.
6 yr old = Princess
4 yr old = Pirate
2 yr old = Raggity Anne
the Mrs... Devil (oh la la)
I'm going as a schlep that works on Saturday (right now!!)
On my current play list:
Call of Duty 3 ------> preparing for the Call of Duty 4 release.
Halo3 -------> playing whenever the group is on... and not much recently.
Chromehounds --------> for the elusive fight at every map achievement... I will get it!
Dead Rising ----------> will be playing this game next. Should be fun.
I love getting great games for less than 10 bucks and usually closer to 5.99. It is awesome, since I have the patience to wait and favorites to play in the meantime.
_________
_________
Racquetball:
While I recover from injury all is quiet. I'm 1 and 1 and 4 games to make up so far. I hope to be back in action within 1-2 weeks.
_____________
_____________
Halloween Party tonight... my kids look adorable and cannot wait to see them in action.
6 yr old = Princess
4 yr old = Pirate
2 yr old = Raggity Anne
the Mrs... Devil (oh la la)
I'm going as a schlep that works on Saturday (right now!!)
Wednesday, September 26, 2007
I play with Twelve Year olds...
and lose. No, that is not accruate. I lose badly!
I opened the fall season in the Purple division (again) with a refreshing beating. A 12 yar old took it to me beating me in less than 25 min 41-5. I did what I could. I made adjustments. I found what he does not do well too late to make a come back. Next time, and there will be a next time, I hope to score more.
I opened the fall season in the Purple division (again) with a refreshing beating. A 12 yar old took it to me beating me in less than 25 min 41-5. I did what I could. I made adjustments. I found what he does not do well too late to make a come back. Next time, and there will be a next time, I hope to score more.
Monday, September 17, 2007
Pictures...
We have many more. Most of all the pics of the kids are just darling. I am putting my foot down, but before today comes to a close I need to post some new ones.
Thursday, September 13, 2007
Tea Bag
Switching gears to another topic this blog has registered as fair play, last night I played good old Splinter Cell. I say good old since like most things fun but dated it is nearing retirement. I have been play Splinter Cell as my number one game since around this time last year.
Heck, when good people recommend a good game it is hard to deny that impulse.
Splinter Cell has evolved. With this change the old guard rotates out to other games of their preference (WoW in some tragic cases) and newbies graduate to elite status. There are a few that just like to play a game for the game itself and I wish I was one of them. Honesty dictates that I am not one of those individuals. I play the game to have fun and when pushed I reveal all my tricks and less used paths in order to get files on those that had been previously winning. That is the part of Splinter Cell that is most enjoyable. Last night this happened...
I was just playing after racquetball and prior to Infamous joining me, I was running with nameless strangers. Without a solid team member, these very good players were having their way with me. Heck, they were good matches. I'm always last to die, so of course my teammates kept dropping as is custom for dead spy's to do. When I was on the mercenary side, the same applied since these guys were good enough to kill the bold mercs lacking the sense not to enter a kill room. So every game these fellas would win and be fairly modest about it. Well that was until this one player entered that surely was the patriarch of this group. Man - if confidence was liquid this dude could fill a 10,000 gallon pool. First game in with this clown and I am doing my normal game at yellow. Try to kill the spy that won't be killed. Even with three mercs in that room - I survive a great deal longer than 99% of other people. Mostly due to their skill, but I probably use several tricks that are not wide spread and if you are anticipating too much it could cost you your neck and a catch phrase... "It's not your fault."
Well, after I grabbed one guy turning up my game play a bit I get killed with a solid grenade. Next life, still a bit reckless, I goto yellow and get knocked down with a good elbow. Clean play - but enter the wise crack and the subject for this post. I immediately bring it back to the lobby and offer my thoughts on the topic. Thankfully, the kids were asleep. We started up game two about 2-3 min into it I set the trap for an easy kill on me to see if we can proceed without this nonsense... sure enough. Subject line #2.
We go back to the lobby and the room empties due to the start stops. Finally, I found an effective way to deal with these losers. Do not get confrontational... just hold them accountable.
Anyways... the rest of the night was fine, but I am putting my foot down on this crap.
Heck, when good people recommend a good game it is hard to deny that impulse.
Splinter Cell has evolved. With this change the old guard rotates out to other games of their preference (WoW in some tragic cases) and newbies graduate to elite status. There are a few that just like to play a game for the game itself and I wish I was one of them. Honesty dictates that I am not one of those individuals. I play the game to have fun and when pushed I reveal all my tricks and less used paths in order to get files on those that had been previously winning. That is the part of Splinter Cell that is most enjoyable. Last night this happened...
I was just playing after racquetball and prior to Infamous joining me, I was running with nameless strangers. Without a solid team member, these very good players were having their way with me. Heck, they were good matches. I'm always last to die, so of course my teammates kept dropping as is custom for dead spy's to do. When I was on the mercenary side, the same applied since these guys were good enough to kill the bold mercs lacking the sense not to enter a kill room. So every game these fellas would win and be fairly modest about it. Well that was until this one player entered that surely was the patriarch of this group. Man - if confidence was liquid this dude could fill a 10,000 gallon pool. First game in with this clown and I am doing my normal game at yellow. Try to kill the spy that won't be killed. Even with three mercs in that room - I survive a great deal longer than 99% of other people. Mostly due to their skill, but I probably use several tricks that are not wide spread and if you are anticipating too much it could cost you your neck and a catch phrase... "It's not your fault."
Well, after I grabbed one guy turning up my game play a bit I get killed with a solid grenade. Next life, still a bit reckless, I goto yellow and get knocked down with a good elbow. Clean play - but enter the wise crack and the subject for this post. I immediately bring it back to the lobby and offer my thoughts on the topic. Thankfully, the kids were asleep. We started up game two about 2-3 min into it I set the trap for an easy kill on me to see if we can proceed without this nonsense... sure enough. Subject line #2.
We go back to the lobby and the room empties due to the start stops. Finally, I found an effective way to deal with these losers. Do not get confrontational... just hold them accountable.
Anyways... the rest of the night was fine, but I am putting my foot down on this crap.
Wednesday, August 29, 2007
Shot Fest 2007
I registered for the best tourney of the year in my geographic region. I paid my 30 dollar entry fee. I was set to play the "C" bracket. I had prepared as much as I could for the test.
then...
I get a message over an hour after it was left that I missed my first match. I was suppose to play my first match at 8:00am on this past Saturday. I was specifically told I was set to play at 11. I was pissed. The person that won "C" just barely beat a player I own. I would have liked to just got a chance to play.
Tournaments are a very different breed of racquetball. All the matches are officially judged with their calls standing. Anyone that has watched racquetball knows that the balls moves so quickly it can be hard for the players to keep track of it. Judges often make bad calls, but you did not hear me say that. Another aspect to tourney play is the audience and their impact on game play. There could be anywhere from 5-30 people watching your match. Bad shots seem to become even worse... poor decisions are second guessed like crazy in the gallery (I've been there!) and most of all - the players are increasingly aware of tight game situations. I usually do not fare well in tourney games for all these reasons, but I have been working on that. I wanted to exercise what I have been working on.
ALL FOR NOT!! or at least until next year...
P.S. My trick is simple. Never look back at the gallery... not even for a second. Make a bad play... back pedal into position. Turn to face your opponent in the back court - I'd lock my eyes on them or the ball alone. After a while the crowd fades... what I did not have a chance to work on was the man (referee) with the microphone... that could be unsettling if not worked routinely!
then...
I get a message over an hour after it was left that I missed my first match. I was suppose to play my first match at 8:00am on this past Saturday. I was specifically told I was set to play at 11. I was pissed. The person that won "C" just barely beat a player I own. I would have liked to just got a chance to play.
Tournaments are a very different breed of racquetball. All the matches are officially judged with their calls standing. Anyone that has watched racquetball knows that the balls moves so quickly it can be hard for the players to keep track of it. Judges often make bad calls, but you did not hear me say that. Another aspect to tourney play is the audience and their impact on game play. There could be anywhere from 5-30 people watching your match. Bad shots seem to become even worse... poor decisions are second guessed like crazy in the gallery (I've been there!) and most of all - the players are increasingly aware of tight game situations. I usually do not fare well in tourney games for all these reasons, but I have been working on that. I wanted to exercise what I have been working on.
ALL FOR NOT!! or at least until next year...
P.S. My trick is simple. Never look back at the gallery... not even for a second. Make a bad play... back pedal into position. Turn to face your opponent in the back court - I'd lock my eyes on them or the ball alone. After a while the crowd fades... what I did not have a chance to work on was the man (referee) with the microphone... that could be unsettling if not worked routinely!
Tuesday, August 14, 2007
Optimism is good...
… and it is the bedrock of my outlook and personality. However, regardless of how I may want to perceive and conduct my affairs I must accept reality when it rears its ugly head sometimes.
I last reported my record was 5-2. Giving my readership something to look forward to, I predicted I would finish the season strong. That did not happen.
I did win my next match, but I was not even close to my usual playing form and played someone that could never ever beat me. Cool – now I was 6-2 and things were looking good. I have shook off the Carlos incident and put two more wins under my belt.
A week after my second straight win, I played three matches and lost them all within 36 hours of each other. I'll comment in detail on the first match and give the outline on the others!
I played an opponent I beat last season, but again I was not close to my normal playing level. (I will get to that shortly.) I can beat this player, but I dropped the first game 15-13. I came back in game two and won 15-14. This is the part that will bother me for a while... a league rule I was not aware of until this match just killed me. To be honest, it is just another rationalization I came up with to compensate for my playing shortcomings!!
I opened up the match with the serve. I won that privilege by hitting a lob shot closest to the short line. Every league match starts this way and I love my serve as an opening welcome for the opponent. I work pretty hard to get this lob almost every match. In my head, I also thought I got the benefit of serving game three. The tie breaker game is needed if players split the first two games of the match. Well, up until this point I guess I never had this problem or people were as clueless as I was on this day. The rule in league play is simple. The player with the most cumulative points of game one and two gets the serve in game three. I was short one point and psychologically I was ready to open game three up 4-5 points as is the custom when I get the serve! I was even in the box ready to serve when he informed me. I shook it off and opened the game down 3 points. (I know – I know - nice way to shake that off!!) After a pretty good game three I lost 11-9. I was really pissed for two reasons. #1) I could beat that guy and did not. #2) I purposefully did not play at 100% since I had back to back matches. I should have taken game one when I had a chance and this third game would have never have even come up.
I do not know why I approached that game thinking I could play half ass and still win. I never schedule back to back games since I am not the kind of player that can do that. I play my game… it takes about an hour (usually) and if I play another game for fun great… I do not have to be concerned with my energy level.
My second match was versus someone I have never played before in singles. I have played them in doubles and cut-throat (3 player game) and won easily or outplayed them. I really figured I could pull a back to back off and come out okay. I thought entirely too much!
To my opponent's credit, SHE played a great game. She watched my loss vs. my first opponent and saw a couple of things to press in our game. To her credit… she pressed them very well. #1 almost as if she planned it, she deliberately made me run, which I did because I wanted to win and get it over with. In hindsight I was masterful… and like a little wooden puppet I ran. She hit shots that were never intended to gain a point; unless I chose not to run after them… when I did I easily put them away. I took game one 15-7. I won the game but lost the war. As if I hit a brick wall, I could not play at any level after that. The tactic of hitting the shots away from me worked extremely well in game two. When ever I got the box I got my points, but I just never got to the box much. I dropped game two 15-5. Yes, I lost my chance to open up game three, but she was also dead tired. (No – she did not play an earlier match, but who cares at this point.) I could not beat a child in that third game. I was taken out, by a woman, 11-4. I was beside myself and I have not been able to remedy it. I had to play the next day and lost in straight game 41-5.
Why: I do not play regularly anymore. I have not played regularly in 8 weeks. When you are not in the best of shape, you cannot afford to layoff and return to form quickly. I am not compensating for my lack of play time with anything… which is also not very good.
I need to get to the gym when I can… if there is nobody to play then I need to go work out on the treadmill or bike. If I do not do those things… then I will be going backwards in skill.
Incidentally, my overall lack of time has affected a couple of other things… I get home for work and after the kids and the house are done… the Mrs. And I crash. I have been going to sleep closer to 9 pm. I do not play my beloved Xbox anymore or at least consistently, nor WoW, or really anything. It is a sad time for us, but the summer is getting to everyone. The kids have so much energy and without school to drain them of it… we are left with task. I am not complaining about this… as I love this part of my job! I think this is all related… I need to increase my exercise to increase my energy level! That will start now.
P.S. I have a chance to get even with everyone in the tournament. That starts in September, so no excuses if I start increasing my exercise today!
I last reported my record was 5-2. Giving my readership something to look forward to, I predicted I would finish the season strong. That did not happen.
I did win my next match, but I was not even close to my usual playing form and played someone that could never ever beat me. Cool – now I was 6-2 and things were looking good. I have shook off the Carlos incident and put two more wins under my belt.
A week after my second straight win, I played three matches and lost them all within 36 hours of each other. I'll comment in detail on the first match and give the outline on the others!
I played an opponent I beat last season, but again I was not close to my normal playing level. (I will get to that shortly.) I can beat this player, but I dropped the first game 15-13. I came back in game two and won 15-14. This is the part that will bother me for a while... a league rule I was not aware of until this match just killed me. To be honest, it is just another rationalization I came up with to compensate for my playing shortcomings!!
I opened up the match with the serve. I won that privilege by hitting a lob shot closest to the short line. Every league match starts this way and I love my serve as an opening welcome for the opponent. I work pretty hard to get this lob almost every match. In my head, I also thought I got the benefit of serving game three. The tie breaker game is needed if players split the first two games of the match. Well, up until this point I guess I never had this problem or people were as clueless as I was on this day. The rule in league play is simple. The player with the most cumulative points of game one and two gets the serve in game three. I was short one point and psychologically I was ready to open game three up 4-5 points as is the custom when I get the serve! I was even in the box ready to serve when he informed me. I shook it off and opened the game down 3 points. (I know – I know - nice way to shake that off!!) After a pretty good game three I lost 11-9. I was really pissed for two reasons. #1) I could beat that guy and did not. #2) I purposefully did not play at 100% since I had back to back matches. I should have taken game one when I had a chance and this third game would have never have even come up.
I do not know why I approached that game thinking I could play half ass and still win. I never schedule back to back games since I am not the kind of player that can do that. I play my game… it takes about an hour (usually) and if I play another game for fun great… I do not have to be concerned with my energy level.
My second match was versus someone I have never played before in singles. I have played them in doubles and cut-throat (3 player game) and won easily or outplayed them. I really figured I could pull a back to back off and come out okay. I thought entirely too much!
To my opponent's credit, SHE played a great game. She watched my loss vs. my first opponent and saw a couple of things to press in our game. To her credit… she pressed them very well. #1 almost as if she planned it, she deliberately made me run, which I did because I wanted to win and get it over with. In hindsight I was masterful… and like a little wooden puppet I ran. She hit shots that were never intended to gain a point; unless I chose not to run after them… when I did I easily put them away. I took game one 15-7. I won the game but lost the war. As if I hit a brick wall, I could not play at any level after that. The tactic of hitting the shots away from me worked extremely well in game two. When ever I got the box I got my points, but I just never got to the box much. I dropped game two 15-5. Yes, I lost my chance to open up game three, but she was also dead tired. (No – she did not play an earlier match, but who cares at this point.) I could not beat a child in that third game. I was taken out, by a woman, 11-4. I was beside myself and I have not been able to remedy it. I had to play the next day and lost in straight game 41-5.
Why: I do not play regularly anymore. I have not played regularly in 8 weeks. When you are not in the best of shape, you cannot afford to layoff and return to form quickly. I am not compensating for my lack of play time with anything… which is also not very good.
I need to get to the gym when I can… if there is nobody to play then I need to go work out on the treadmill or bike. If I do not do those things… then I will be going backwards in skill.
Incidentally, my overall lack of time has affected a couple of other things… I get home for work and after the kids and the house are done… the Mrs. And I crash. I have been going to sleep closer to 9 pm. I do not play my beloved Xbox anymore or at least consistently, nor WoW, or really anything. It is a sad time for us, but the summer is getting to everyone. The kids have so much energy and without school to drain them of it… we are left with task. I am not complaining about this… as I love this part of my job! I think this is all related… I need to increase my exercise to increase my energy level! That will start now.
P.S. I have a chance to get even with everyone in the tournament. That starts in September, so no excuses if I start increasing my exercise today!
Friday, July 27, 2007
Racquetball Update
I'm 5-2 with three games to go. I will certainly be seeking to go undefeated the rest of the way. If last nights game was any indicator, then I have found my stroke again.
I'll get to my loss to Carlos in a min.
Tim was the opponent last night and it started off pretty rough, but that is sometimes the case. Tim's whole game are precision short shots. Tim jumped out 9-1 on me and I simply adjusted and took some chances that created a blow out. His shots were good, but not that good. I crashed the front court. After each shot, I simply ran up and proceeded to take his game away. Tim needed to make an adjustment and hit some passing shots or at worst some ceiling shots, but nothing offered took me out of the front court. He never scored another point in game one and I took it down 15-9. The second game was 13-1 when I decided to chill, since I thought I was playing back to back. As it turned out, my opponent asked not to play that night, but next week. Apparently, he was watching my shots and wanted me to cool off a bit. (Okay that probably was not it, but it sure feels good to think that way!!) The match was concluded with a 15-6 win.
My match with Carlos, a week ago, is a game that will haunt me for the rest of the season. First off, he was 30 min late to the match. After he arrived and warmed up we started our match.
First serve, first return, I was set to hit a shot off the backwall. I turned and nailed it. Probably as hard of a shot as I can hit on a given day. The problem with this shot is it hit Carlos in the head. To be more specific, I hit the side of his head right above his ear and he went down - hard.
Anyone that plays racquetball knows that you could be hit or you could hit anyone at any given time. With all that said, hitting a player usually happens once a match. In some games, it could happen 2-3 times a match. I have never hit anyone in the head. I have never seen anyone get hit in the head. Let me just say, that I am not the hardest hitting person in our league. I am the hardest hitting person in my division and probably pretty well known for it. How hard you hit the ball is only as good as your accuracy. I give away power to make my shots all the time.
I connected with this shot. I did not let up at all. Carlos went down hard and did not get up for 5 min. Poor Carlos... poor Carlos as he just stayed down on the floor and I was pretty shaken up about it. I seriously could have killed him... racquetball physics I will not get into, but what I do know is a racquetball has a double impact. First it strikes something, but then the ball compresses together and recoils in a millisecond and effectively hits you again, but with more pressure.
On TV during the US Open, slow, still shots of the pros hitting on average double my best speed show a violent event. The balls are literally get ripped apart. The pros go through a dozen balls in a game. In our league, a ball lasts maybe three or four games before it breaks.
So there I am not feeling to hot about myself and there is Carlos still down on the court. After a few more mins, he starts to get up and seems okay. More shocking than me hitting him is Carlos asking me to continue the game. I basically told him, there is not way I am getting on the court again today. After that shot, I do not feel very confident I will be playing my game. We should reschedule. Carlos then tells me that he does not want to reschedule, I barely hit him and we need to play or I need to withdraw.
Well, I was not going to withdraw and we started up play again. I never hit another shot anywhere near him again and I think he knew it. I was just interested in taking the risk of hitting him again in the same game. We played and I played to lose. Carlos seemed pretty happy with himself, I was content at the time avoiding further injury.
Well, I lost. I will crush Carlos in the playoffs. I probably should have just withdrawn.
I'll get to my loss to Carlos in a min.
Tim was the opponent last night and it started off pretty rough, but that is sometimes the case. Tim's whole game are precision short shots. Tim jumped out 9-1 on me and I simply adjusted and took some chances that created a blow out. His shots were good, but not that good. I crashed the front court. After each shot, I simply ran up and proceeded to take his game away. Tim needed to make an adjustment and hit some passing shots or at worst some ceiling shots, but nothing offered took me out of the front court. He never scored another point in game one and I took it down 15-9. The second game was 13-1 when I decided to chill, since I thought I was playing back to back. As it turned out, my opponent asked not to play that night, but next week. Apparently, he was watching my shots and wanted me to cool off a bit. (Okay that probably was not it, but it sure feels good to think that way!!) The match was concluded with a 15-6 win.
My match with Carlos, a week ago, is a game that will haunt me for the rest of the season. First off, he was 30 min late to the match. After he arrived and warmed up we started our match.
First serve, first return, I was set to hit a shot off the backwall. I turned and nailed it. Probably as hard of a shot as I can hit on a given day. The problem with this shot is it hit Carlos in the head. To be more specific, I hit the side of his head right above his ear and he went down - hard.
Anyone that plays racquetball knows that you could be hit or you could hit anyone at any given time. With all that said, hitting a player usually happens once a match. In some games, it could happen 2-3 times a match. I have never hit anyone in the head. I have never seen anyone get hit in the head. Let me just say, that I am not the hardest hitting person in our league. I am the hardest hitting person in my division and probably pretty well known for it. How hard you hit the ball is only as good as your accuracy. I give away power to make my shots all the time.
I connected with this shot. I did not let up at all. Carlos went down hard and did not get up for 5 min. Poor Carlos... poor Carlos as he just stayed down on the floor and I was pretty shaken up about it. I seriously could have killed him... racquetball physics I will not get into, but what I do know is a racquetball has a double impact. First it strikes something, but then the ball compresses together and recoils in a millisecond and effectively hits you again, but with more pressure.
On TV during the US Open, slow, still shots of the pros hitting on average double my best speed show a violent event. The balls are literally get ripped apart. The pros go through a dozen balls in a game. In our league, a ball lasts maybe three or four games before it breaks.
So there I am not feeling to hot about myself and there is Carlos still down on the court. After a few more mins, he starts to get up and seems okay. More shocking than me hitting him is Carlos asking me to continue the game. I basically told him, there is not way I am getting on the court again today. After that shot, I do not feel very confident I will be playing my game. We should reschedule. Carlos then tells me that he does not want to reschedule, I barely hit him and we need to play or I need to withdraw.
Well, I was not going to withdraw and we started up play again. I never hit another shot anywhere near him again and I think he knew it. I was just interested in taking the risk of hitting him again in the same game. We played and I played to lose. Carlos seemed pretty happy with himself, I was content at the time avoiding further injury.
Well, I lost. I will crush Carlos in the playoffs. I probably should have just withdrawn.
She's Two; She's Two; My little Angel is TWO!!
You wanted a post... here it is.
Yesterday, my little girl turned two years old. It was a fun day. The party was fun and she was totally digging all the attention. With each new gift, the audio and visual was priceless... awww.. I am gonna miss not having a one year old ever again.
SAC and I were talking about it after everyone left, as my little girl grows up we will never have what she was ever again... We have mixed feelings both positive and negative about it.
The big hit was her baby doll. I do not think she has put it down yet.
Yesterday, my little girl turned two years old. It was a fun day. The party was fun and she was totally digging all the attention. With each new gift, the audio and visual was priceless... awww.. I am gonna miss not having a one year old ever again.
SAC and I were talking about it after everyone left, as my little girl grows up we will never have what she was ever again... We have mixed feelings both positive and negative about it.
The big hit was her baby doll. I do not think she has put it down yet.
Monday, July 9, 2007
Troy is good. I am now 4-1.
As it turned out, I know Troy pretty well. He plays challenge nights fairly often. I knew his face. I knew his name from the schedule. I just did not know the two were one in the same.
Now, if I knew Troy was "Troy" I would have given him alot more credit and sorta predicted this outcome. He is not a purple level player... Troy is right now as good as I hope to get. Troy is a Bronze player or three up from where we are now. Troy had no trouble with pretty much anything I threw at him. Progressively and with speed, he picked up point after point on his way to a 15-7 and 15-4 win. I do not think there was much of a challenge, although a few spectators said I was playing quite well. (Not very encouraging when someone says you played good and you still got creamed!)
As it turned out, I know Troy pretty well. He plays challenge nights fairly often. I knew his face. I knew his name from the schedule. I just did not know the two were one in the same.
Now, if I knew Troy was "Troy" I would have given him alot more credit and sorta predicted this outcome. He is not a purple level player... Troy is right now as good as I hope to get. Troy is a Bronze player or three up from where we are now. Troy had no trouble with pretty much anything I threw at him. Progressively and with speed, he picked up point after point on his way to a 15-7 and 15-4 win. I do not think there was much of a challenge, although a few spectators said I was playing quite well. (Not very encouraging when someone says you played good and you still got creamed!)
- Great drive serve to all parts of the court.
- Great Z serve to my backhand.
- Great court presence... seemingly everywhere I wanted to put the ball.
- Killer - meaning he rarely needed more than once chance to hit a kill shot and end a rally.
- Probably the most important - great backhand passing shots.
I have no doubt he will finish 11-0. Second place in this case is my only alternative...
Friday, July 6, 2007
Transformers
This is not an editorial review.
The movie was entertaining with several hokey parts that could have been edited out. I liked Even Steven as the main character. It was youthful enough for me to identify with, yet actually performed well considering...
Here are the considerations:
Transformers can squash humans without even thinking about it. Other than certain types of weapons... what does a Transformer really need to fear??? I ask this since several times on film Transformers, even the almighty Optimus Prime, was viewed ducking machine gun fire. Machine gun fire, even a truck load of it, would do no damage to an Autobot. C'mon Michael Bay... at least talk to a few journey men that watched the cartoons growing up.
I give the movie a B-. I also liked the battle scenes Transformer vs Transformer. Those parts are really the best elements of the movie. Aside from the opening scene with a Decepticon, the human assaults were rather sad.
I do think Megatron was totally sold out. Megatron was almost as important as OP, but in this movie his focus was too much, his role was too small, and in the end his popularity was never showcased. Seriously, how could they have a Transformer movie and not have any emphasis on StarScream taking Megatron and shooting him as the ultimate weapon. Eventually, when Megatron is snuffed out... I know how could I blow the surprise... (its your fault for reading is blog) the manner in which he was is all that matters. Megatron, the mighty and evil ruler of the Decepticons was defeated by Even Steven. Talk about an ending that simply blows...
With all that said, my rating holds, which means the other parts were good enough to compensate the massive holes in the story line.
P.S. Megatron stands at what? 95-120 feet tall... he was killed by a 5 ft nothing human...? The item used to kill him was within inches of Megatron and he made no attempt to take it? The whole movie was about the Decepticons need for this item. Megatron could have picked up the item and flew away as a jet... OP was out of position... or all that was required was for Megatron was to place his foot on Even Steven and snuff out his insignificant life.... that is all - and he could not do that?
P.S.S. The scene with Bumble Bee strapped to the back of a Tracker Trailer Tow truck driven by little Miss criminal was just so absolutely cliche!
The movie was entertaining with several hokey parts that could have been edited out. I liked Even Steven as the main character. It was youthful enough for me to identify with, yet actually performed well considering...
Here are the considerations:
Transformers can squash humans without even thinking about it. Other than certain types of weapons... what does a Transformer really need to fear??? I ask this since several times on film Transformers, even the almighty Optimus Prime, was viewed ducking machine gun fire. Machine gun fire, even a truck load of it, would do no damage to an Autobot. C'mon Michael Bay... at least talk to a few journey men that watched the cartoons growing up.
I give the movie a B-. I also liked the battle scenes Transformer vs Transformer. Those parts are really the best elements of the movie. Aside from the opening scene with a Decepticon, the human assaults were rather sad.
I do think Megatron was totally sold out. Megatron was almost as important as OP, but in this movie his focus was too much, his role was too small, and in the end his popularity was never showcased. Seriously, how could they have a Transformer movie and not have any emphasis on StarScream taking Megatron and shooting him as the ultimate weapon. Eventually, when Megatron is snuffed out... I know how could I blow the surprise... (its your fault for reading is blog) the manner in which he was is all that matters. Megatron, the mighty and evil ruler of the Decepticons was defeated by Even Steven. Talk about an ending that simply blows...
With all that said, my rating holds, which means the other parts were good enough to compensate the massive holes in the story line.
P.S. Megatron stands at what? 95-120 feet tall... he was killed by a 5 ft nothing human...? The item used to kill him was within inches of Megatron and he made no attempt to take it? The whole movie was about the Decepticons need for this item. Megatron could have picked up the item and flew away as a jet... OP was out of position... or all that was required was for Megatron was to place his foot on Even Steven and snuff out his insignificant life.... that is all - and he could not do that?
P.S.S. The scene with Bumble Bee strapped to the back of a Tracker Trailer Tow truck driven by little Miss criminal was just so absolutely cliche!
Friday, June 29, 2007
Down 9-13 and a magic 8 ball somewhere reveals...
"Outlook does not look good!"
If you recall from my earlier post, "3-0" I talked about my next three games are going to be rubber matches, where my season will be defined. Victor, Carlos, and Troy are the names of my opponents.
Yesterday, I was scheduled to play Victor. The first stop on this three game tour. Victor, before yesterday, had a record of 1-2. Not all that impressive, but I knew who Victor played and lost versus Carlos and Troy. Victor can play, but he is still shaking off rust from a few years of not playing.
Victor played Troy and lost 2 games to one. Victor could have beat Troy, but Troy eventually made adjustments and took him out. Victor lost in straight games to Carlos. By all accounts, Carlos is highly athletic and will track down shots most won't get to. I'll chat about Troy next week. My most important match for the season.
Back to Victor and an outlook that just was not promising. I was down all of game one. I never hit a shot I was truly impressed with. My serve was hit early and I went away from it. Victor had control and was closing out game one.
Down 9-13 and a magic 8 ball somewhere reveals 'outlook does not look good' for me. I call time out. A friend was there watching the game and pulls me aside. Rick asks me, "what the hell am I doing? You are not serving consistently and you are playing like shit. You can beat this guy."
Man I felt like I had a coach in that instant. Kinda like an insignificant wake up call, but he was so right. I break serve after the timeout. Victor hits my serve again gets a side out and quickly picks up match point on a service ace I should have hit. I call timeout again. Rick says nothing. He starts to walk away... about twenty feet away he mumbles, "go ahead and mail it in loser."
That was all I needed. Like a shot of adrenaline - I got back on the court facing match point and I just did my thing. It was a long rally, but I broke his serve. I got back in the box and the rest is history.
I served the ball extremely well. I did not change a thing. I lined up and just hit the ball. Victor only put a racket on three shots for the rest of game two and I ended those points after he returned those few shots. I went from down 9-14 to game one winner 15-14. I also officially broke my in ability to comeback from being down at least 5 points.
Victor was beside himself. Pacing, having a conversation with himself, seriously I was a little shocked with his reaction to the close of game one.
Game two starts exactly where I left off. I did not change a thing and really the game took as long as I would expect when I just serve after serve after serve. I closed the door on Victor with a 15-2 decisive victory. This game was all about the effectiveness of my serve and not getting cute trying to mix it up. I also found my stoke with a host of mid to long range kill shots that just did not present well in game one.
4-0 with two games to make up already.
If you recall from my earlier post, "3-0" I talked about my next three games are going to be rubber matches, where my season will be defined. Victor, Carlos, and Troy are the names of my opponents.
Yesterday, I was scheduled to play Victor. The first stop on this three game tour. Victor, before yesterday, had a record of 1-2. Not all that impressive, but I knew who Victor played and lost versus Carlos and Troy. Victor can play, but he is still shaking off rust from a few years of not playing.
Victor played Troy and lost 2 games to one. Victor could have beat Troy, but Troy eventually made adjustments and took him out. Victor lost in straight games to Carlos. By all accounts, Carlos is highly athletic and will track down shots most won't get to. I'll chat about Troy next week. My most important match for the season.
Back to Victor and an outlook that just was not promising. I was down all of game one. I never hit a shot I was truly impressed with. My serve was hit early and I went away from it. Victor had control and was closing out game one.
Down 9-13 and a magic 8 ball somewhere reveals 'outlook does not look good' for me. I call time out. A friend was there watching the game and pulls me aside. Rick asks me, "what the hell am I doing? You are not serving consistently and you are playing like shit. You can beat this guy."
Man I felt like I had a coach in that instant. Kinda like an insignificant wake up call, but he was so right. I break serve after the timeout. Victor hits my serve again gets a side out and quickly picks up match point on a service ace I should have hit. I call timeout again. Rick says nothing. He starts to walk away... about twenty feet away he mumbles, "go ahead and mail it in loser."
That was all I needed. Like a shot of adrenaline - I got back on the court facing match point and I just did my thing. It was a long rally, but I broke his serve. I got back in the box and the rest is history.
I served the ball extremely well. I did not change a thing. I lined up and just hit the ball. Victor only put a racket on three shots for the rest of game two and I ended those points after he returned those few shots. I went from down 9-14 to game one winner 15-14. I also officially broke my in ability to comeback from being down at least 5 points.
Victor was beside himself. Pacing, having a conversation with himself, seriously I was a little shocked with his reaction to the close of game one.
Game two starts exactly where I left off. I did not change a thing and really the game took as long as I would expect when I just serve after serve after serve. I closed the door on Victor with a 15-2 decisive victory. This game was all about the effectiveness of my serve and not getting cute trying to mix it up. I also found my stoke with a host of mid to long range kill shots that just did not present well in game one.
4-0 with two games to make up already.
Monday, June 25, 2007
I broke down... I am still a bit shocked...
After all this time gaming on xbox live, I finally broke down and purchased a video communicator. How could I avoid it when I essentially got it for free?
I have heard of people replacing their headphones a half dozen times and with each story I use to chuckle about how my original works just fine. Prior to my 360 headset, my original head set with the origianal xbox worked forever. Even on that console, I heard about heat sets getting busted. I thought it would never happen to me... well that was until MJ came to town.
My youngest is truly unique in almost every way from my other two children. She has an uncanny ability to react completely against logic and anticipated moves. There was this one time I came home from work and due to schedule and some plans I had not seen her in three days. (Settle down people... I saw her plenty but not while she was awake. Every night I spend times with my kids watching them sleep - sometimes a moment or just a few minutes, but I love to see them perfectly at peace sleeping. Call me crazy!) I hate doing this, of course, but sometimes it happens. Well, when I did eventually see her, MJ ran over with zeal screaming Daddy. I lovingly pick her up and gave her a big hug. In this instance, I remember specifically getting a hug in return. Microseconds after the hug, I pull back and prompt her for a kiss...
WHAM - WHAM - WHAM!! Yes, that would be me getting smacked across my face three times by a 1 year old with precision accuracy. Yes, she is a girl fellas. You would think it was programed into her DNA regarding technique and speed needed for the perfect most painful slap. Mind you she is one... well after being stunned from my apparent boxer in disguise, I held her suspended in mid air away from me... only for her to start crying. Wait a second, who just took three right hooks from Joe Lewis again???? ME - and she is crying. In my heart, those slaps were an expression of I miss you Daddy. How dare you leave me for three days for the birds without love or hug. Five seconds after the pelting, I was getting my usual hugs and kisses and she pretty much forgot all about it.
Friday night was that day and what drove me to my suspicious purchase.
There I was sitting in my office playing some good old Splinter Cell Double Agent. Like so many times before when I game prior to the house going to sleep, my kids would take turns coming in and out of the room. My two oldest clearly know that when Daddy is in the zone, please do not disturb. They can yell and scream, but they know not to address me or present a want or desire as I am not taking requests at these moments. Friday, MJ joined the circus that runs around the house and frequents my office on the route. She came in screaming Daddy and I immediately stop playing, picked her up, got my hug and kiss (minus the right hook) and promptly put her down and continued my game. Everything is fine! There were at least three rounds of this and finally I stopped picking her up. Dad needs to set the rules and boundaries, right? As I expected, she started crying as she viewed me talking into my headset and not paying attention to her. She switches tactics and starts holding her arms up for a hug while tears stream off her cheeks. I pick her up for the last time, I tell myself, and again with lighting speed she grabs the headset and literally yanks it off my head throwing it to the floor. I go to put her down and my other two kids ambush me and divert me from my immediate intention to recover my headset. Too late, MJ has it and she is running. Some how she gets half way across the house and I find her jumping up and down on my head set in the kitchen. This is how these things break. This is why mine never does. I am very protective of my gaming tools since I use them quite often. I get it back and stop playing, yes I got the hint, and attend to my little ones.
Later that night, my headset stops working. It kills the gaming night, at least socially, and I head off to bed.
The next day I go to best buy. I am seeking a head set. Nothing more.
I find the accessory aisle I need and locate the head set. Enter the BB salesman.
After brushing him off as no help needed, thanks he buts in and says the killer phrase. I can give you that head set for free if you wanted.
How can I resist that? Is he gonna steal it?
Brian told me about this package. I blew him off too, at least in my mind. I wanted the damn headset - nothing more.
Basically, there is a neat package where you can buy a head set; xbox live gold account for one year; video camera; two arcade games (Uno and Robotron); and 200 Microsoft points all for 77 bucks.
The head set was 25 bucks.
Uno and Robotron are 800 ms points each.
Xbox live gold account for one year is 65 bucks.
The video camera is positioned as free, but for my sales man it was 49 bucks.
To boot, I also get 200 Microsoft points which is like 10 dollars.
How could I say no? The head set is free and for this logic alone my purchase made sense. I will be buying a lifetime of xbox 360 live accounts. My next one is due in September. The one included does not expire until July of 2008. (What I did not know was: can I apply it to an existing account... this may present a small problem but with a happy ending if the worse case was to play out.) I already have Uno, but my brother does not and it is the perfect gift.. Muhahahaha!
Getting back to where I was originally headed with my post... I have made fun of so many people with the dopey xbox live video camera... and now I have one. What I did not know was my good friend has one so now our kids can chat live. Little B and my eldest should get a kick out of that.
I have heard of people replacing their headphones a half dozen times and with each story I use to chuckle about how my original works just fine. Prior to my 360 headset, my original head set with the origianal xbox worked forever. Even on that console, I heard about heat sets getting busted. I thought it would never happen to me... well that was until MJ came to town.
My youngest is truly unique in almost every way from my other two children. She has an uncanny ability to react completely against logic and anticipated moves. There was this one time I came home from work and due to schedule and some plans I had not seen her in three days. (Settle down people... I saw her plenty but not while she was awake. Every night I spend times with my kids watching them sleep - sometimes a moment or just a few minutes, but I love to see them perfectly at peace sleeping. Call me crazy!) I hate doing this, of course, but sometimes it happens. Well, when I did eventually see her, MJ ran over with zeal screaming Daddy. I lovingly pick her up and gave her a big hug. In this instance, I remember specifically getting a hug in return. Microseconds after the hug, I pull back and prompt her for a kiss...
WHAM - WHAM - WHAM!! Yes, that would be me getting smacked across my face three times by a 1 year old with precision accuracy. Yes, she is a girl fellas. You would think it was programed into her DNA regarding technique and speed needed for the perfect most painful slap. Mind you she is one... well after being stunned from my apparent boxer in disguise, I held her suspended in mid air away from me... only for her to start crying. Wait a second, who just took three right hooks from Joe Lewis again???? ME - and she is crying. In my heart, those slaps were an expression of I miss you Daddy. How dare you leave me for three days for the birds without love or hug. Five seconds after the pelting, I was getting my usual hugs and kisses and she pretty much forgot all about it.
Friday night was that day and what drove me to my suspicious purchase.
There I was sitting in my office playing some good old Splinter Cell Double Agent. Like so many times before when I game prior to the house going to sleep, my kids would take turns coming in and out of the room. My two oldest clearly know that when Daddy is in the zone, please do not disturb. They can yell and scream, but they know not to address me or present a want or desire as I am not taking requests at these moments. Friday, MJ joined the circus that runs around the house and frequents my office on the route. She came in screaming Daddy and I immediately stop playing, picked her up, got my hug and kiss (minus the right hook) and promptly put her down and continued my game. Everything is fine! There were at least three rounds of this and finally I stopped picking her up. Dad needs to set the rules and boundaries, right? As I expected, she started crying as she viewed me talking into my headset and not paying attention to her. She switches tactics and starts holding her arms up for a hug while tears stream off her cheeks. I pick her up for the last time, I tell myself, and again with lighting speed she grabs the headset and literally yanks it off my head throwing it to the floor. I go to put her down and my other two kids ambush me and divert me from my immediate intention to recover my headset. Too late, MJ has it and she is running. Some how she gets half way across the house and I find her jumping up and down on my head set in the kitchen. This is how these things break. This is why mine never does. I am very protective of my gaming tools since I use them quite often. I get it back and stop playing, yes I got the hint, and attend to my little ones.
Later that night, my headset stops working. It kills the gaming night, at least socially, and I head off to bed.
The next day I go to best buy. I am seeking a head set. Nothing more.
I find the accessory aisle I need and locate the head set. Enter the BB salesman.
After brushing him off as no help needed, thanks he buts in and says the killer phrase. I can give you that head set for free if you wanted.
How can I resist that? Is he gonna steal it?
Brian told me about this package. I blew him off too, at least in my mind. I wanted the damn headset - nothing more.
Basically, there is a neat package where you can buy a head set; xbox live gold account for one year; video camera; two arcade games (Uno and Robotron); and 200 Microsoft points all for 77 bucks.
The head set was 25 bucks.
Uno and Robotron are 800 ms points each.
Xbox live gold account for one year is 65 bucks.
The video camera is positioned as free, but for my sales man it was 49 bucks.
To boot, I also get 200 Microsoft points which is like 10 dollars.
How could I say no? The head set is free and for this logic alone my purchase made sense. I will be buying a lifetime of xbox 360 live accounts. My next one is due in September. The one included does not expire until July of 2008. (What I did not know was: can I apply it to an existing account... this may present a small problem but with a happy ending if the worse case was to play out.) I already have Uno, but my brother does not and it is the perfect gift.. Muhahahaha!
Getting back to where I was originally headed with my post... I have made fun of so many people with the dopey xbox live video camera... and now I have one. What I did not know was my good friend has one so now our kids can chat live. Little B and my eldest should get a kick out of that.
Thursday, June 21, 2007
3-0
I'm off to a good start, but I am not playing as well as my last season.
I consider myself to be in a solid position as I head into the toughest part of my schedule. Obviously, if I go undefeated over my next three games, then I will be in great shape to win the division and possibly go 11-0. However, I will be quite happy taking 2 of 3.
One opponent that is busting up the league and is 4-0 thus far. He is certainly placed wrong according to those that have played and lost to him. Let me explain what I mean in saying placed wrong. New players are tried out by various players during trials to determine thier skill level at the start of the season. Based on the account of those that played him so far, he is too good for purple. I think this is a blessing. I have asked if they think I could beat him and most have said, not sure but I would like to watch the game. He has a playing style like mine - powershots and good tactics. Even though I have played a level below my normal game intensity and all my matches lasted longer than they needed to, I am looking forward to the contest with Mr. 4-0 and in the next three weeks we will see where I stand versus him.
I played a lefty last night and it was very interesting. We had opposite strengths and weaknesses. His back hand was strong. I kept busting him to his forehand and saw no reason to stop. He busted my back hand I did a better job of compensating, but the big difference was the service line.
I had a total of 17 aces. That is just killer. I can't recall a game where that many of my points came off serve. With that said, it also should highlight just how poorly I was playing if the matches came out like this:
15-5
9-15
11-6
in my favor.
I hit this guy with 7 shots as he crowded the middle a great deal. By the looks of him, one would think he could crush the ball. Seriously, he had the biggest chest I have seen on a racquetball player - ever. He could probably bench press 400 pounds without sweating much. My sense is all that muscle gets in the way of his swing - just like female golfers and their obstacles to a perfect swing. Several times during the match we got awfully close, due to this lack of movement and my poor game play and he just moved me around the court. This is not easy to do, I must confess. I am not in athletic shape despite my active lifestyle. I am usually the one conducting how my opponent moves and to be more specific move around my court presence. I felt a bit uneasy most of the game as I was pushed around the court. I certainly did not want to hit this fellow once let alone seven times! I laughed out loud several times, as did the audience that happen to see me beam his most holy of areas twice with 35-37 foot shots off the back wall. After those very nice gifts, you would think one would make an adjustment... you think?
My opponent certainly made an adjustment... instead of moving and giving me the required straight shot and one of the corners, he simply put his hand behind him to block his most sacred of regions... I messed several shots up laughing out loud about those nifty moves. As I turned to the audience, I could see several people pointing and laughing... it was quite the comic show. Now when I say audience, I really mean other players passing by, waiting for a match, or people that just happen to be there whenever one looks outside the court. I doubt very much they were watching the match. My games are rarely that exciting. I watch several matches a week at the Gold level (5 above my current level) to pick up shots and tactics in a game.
One last note on the match from yesterday, for the fourth time in my recent racquetball revival I have failed to stop the hemraging and come back to take the game from a lesser opponent. Yesterday I fell down 8-0 in the second game. I successfully implemented my time out strategy and took two of my three TO's over the next couple of service breaks and stop his momentum. I climbed back in the game down 8-6, but could not sustain it. I eventually fell down 11-9, 12-9, several service exchanges (no aces - which would have been useful) and no points and lost 9-15. Even though I lost the game I figured out what I would do in the tie breaker... slam his forehand and make him beat me with quality shots. That task was not equaled by my opponent.
I consider myself to be in a solid position as I head into the toughest part of my schedule. Obviously, if I go undefeated over my next three games, then I will be in great shape to win the division and possibly go 11-0. However, I will be quite happy taking 2 of 3.
One opponent that is busting up the league and is 4-0 thus far. He is certainly placed wrong according to those that have played and lost to him. Let me explain what I mean in saying placed wrong. New players are tried out by various players during trials to determine thier skill level at the start of the season. Based on the account of those that played him so far, he is too good for purple. I think this is a blessing. I have asked if they think I could beat him and most have said, not sure but I would like to watch the game. He has a playing style like mine - powershots and good tactics. Even though I have played a level below my normal game intensity and all my matches lasted longer than they needed to, I am looking forward to the contest with Mr. 4-0 and in the next three weeks we will see where I stand versus him.
I played a lefty last night and it was very interesting. We had opposite strengths and weaknesses. His back hand was strong. I kept busting him to his forehand and saw no reason to stop. He busted my back hand I did a better job of compensating, but the big difference was the service line.
I had a total of 17 aces. That is just killer. I can't recall a game where that many of my points came off serve. With that said, it also should highlight just how poorly I was playing if the matches came out like this:
15-5
9-15
11-6
in my favor.
I hit this guy with 7 shots as he crowded the middle a great deal. By the looks of him, one would think he could crush the ball. Seriously, he had the biggest chest I have seen on a racquetball player - ever. He could probably bench press 400 pounds without sweating much. My sense is all that muscle gets in the way of his swing - just like female golfers and their obstacles to a perfect swing. Several times during the match we got awfully close, due to this lack of movement and my poor game play and he just moved me around the court. This is not easy to do, I must confess. I am not in athletic shape despite my active lifestyle. I am usually the one conducting how my opponent moves and to be more specific move around my court presence. I felt a bit uneasy most of the game as I was pushed around the court. I certainly did not want to hit this fellow once let alone seven times! I laughed out loud several times, as did the audience that happen to see me beam his most holy of areas twice with 35-37 foot shots off the back wall. After those very nice gifts, you would think one would make an adjustment... you think?
My opponent certainly made an adjustment... instead of moving and giving me the required straight shot and one of the corners, he simply put his hand behind him to block his most sacred of regions... I messed several shots up laughing out loud about those nifty moves. As I turned to the audience, I could see several people pointing and laughing... it was quite the comic show. Now when I say audience, I really mean other players passing by, waiting for a match, or people that just happen to be there whenever one looks outside the court. I doubt very much they were watching the match. My games are rarely that exciting. I watch several matches a week at the Gold level (5 above my current level) to pick up shots and tactics in a game.
One last note on the match from yesterday, for the fourth time in my recent racquetball revival I have failed to stop the hemraging and come back to take the game from a lesser opponent. Yesterday I fell down 8-0 in the second game. I successfully implemented my time out strategy and took two of my three TO's over the next couple of service breaks and stop his momentum. I climbed back in the game down 8-6, but could not sustain it. I eventually fell down 11-9, 12-9, several service exchanges (no aces - which would have been useful) and no points and lost 9-15. Even though I lost the game I figured out what I would do in the tie breaker... slam his forehand and make him beat me with quality shots. That task was not equaled by my opponent.
Friday, June 8, 2007
Purple
Yes, I have been moved up to the purple division. I am excited about this division, but I am eager to actually get started. We just completed week three, yes I know that was fast, but I will explain.
So many new players have joined the league, the directors did not want to turn anyone away. I like this since I prefer more players anyway. I do not like the gaps between season as it is, so a longer season is okay with me.
Week Zero was a flex week and my opponent was not available to play. That will be completed in the near future.
Week One was cancelled. My opponent contacted me to let me know he could not make it.
Week Two was cancelled. Again, my opponent was not able to play.
Week Three, Four, and Five I am playing people from my last division. Since there were so many new people more people with good records moved up. I went 3-0 vs these competitors for a combined score of 118-26, so I am not busting at the seems to play them, but I am going to be comfortable.
In addition, since I always look at the numbers, my week zero through two opponents are a combined 1-3... so again not to read too much into it... I may be off to a good start. The major assumption is that I start - soon!
To purple I also bring a new serve. It is not new to racquetball by any means, but it is new to my playing style. I have added a pretty effective lob serve to my array of shots to mix things up at the service line. As I have communicated in previous posts, my money maker is a low fast drive serve to their backhand. I make it more difficult by shifting over to the extreme left side of the court, but not too far to make it an illegal serve. This does many good things for my overall service effectiveness, but I benefit mostly from the weak return serve offered by opponents.
To review, I do not serve the ball to the other side of the court until I have them at the breaking point. Here is my outlook for this approach. If I am constantly busting you with drive serve after drive serve to your backhand, rarely if not ever giving you anything else to hit, then people end up cheating, which means they start to move over to cut that option off. Since I am so far over already, opponents really need to cheat to negate my aggressive stance. Once more, for most of the match even if they are blatantly moving over, I will maintain serve. Luckily for me, the shot is still pretty hard to hit or the return shot is so weak or calculated I end up getting more points. So, if I get and hold a lead pushing the score to specific break points, opponents will get very aggressive and basically move to cut the serve off altogether. That is when I simply switch sides with an obvious weaker serve, but they are so far out of position it does not really matter how hard I hit it... it will go without return. The best part is after getting burned on a weak shot I completely get them out of their cheat and then I go back to the grind all over again. In practice matches, as well as prior league play, it has worked almost like clock work. There are a few players that can return this shot very well, however, they do not have much of an angle to hit their shot. The return must be perfect, so I can live with that shot percentage!!
As I stated, for purple I have added the lob serve and this will have immediate impact. Number one and the most important, I do not have to exert as much energy in volley and volley of drive serves. It takes a good amount of energy to hit those drive serves and I am thankful we only play to 15 twice! Purple level players will undoubtedly push me to play harder and for longer periods of time, so energy conservation is not important. Another big benefit in store for me is the change in speed. After a few low hard shots, it does take an adjustment to be patient and wait for the lob shot to develop. It is a high arching shot that just barely misses the ceiling and hugs the wall without hitting it directly to the corner. The effective return shot is to wait for it to bounce off the back wall and take your best low shot possible. In the purple division, players just do not have this shot in their array at a high percentage. This includes me as well! The hardest serve for me is a high slow lob serve to my backhand. I put up a defensive shot every time, which is exactly what the opponent wants. The lob serve is also called the error maker. More self made errors come off trying to hit a great shot instead of a high percentage or defensive shot.
I can't wait to see how it plays out this season. I'll keep my 1 and a half loyal readers posted!! (P.S. My oldest child reads this, so her plus me is 1 and a half.)
So many new players have joined the league, the directors did not want to turn anyone away. I like this since I prefer more players anyway. I do not like the gaps between season as it is, so a longer season is okay with me.
Week Zero was a flex week and my opponent was not available to play. That will be completed in the near future.
Week One was cancelled. My opponent contacted me to let me know he could not make it.
Week Two was cancelled. Again, my opponent was not able to play.
Week Three, Four, and Five I am playing people from my last division. Since there were so many new people more people with good records moved up. I went 3-0 vs these competitors for a combined score of 118-26, so I am not busting at the seems to play them, but I am going to be comfortable.
In addition, since I always look at the numbers, my week zero through two opponents are a combined 1-3... so again not to read too much into it... I may be off to a good start. The major assumption is that I start - soon!
To purple I also bring a new serve. It is not new to racquetball by any means, but it is new to my playing style. I have added a pretty effective lob serve to my array of shots to mix things up at the service line. As I have communicated in previous posts, my money maker is a low fast drive serve to their backhand. I make it more difficult by shifting over to the extreme left side of the court, but not too far to make it an illegal serve. This does many good things for my overall service effectiveness, but I benefit mostly from the weak return serve offered by opponents.
To review, I do not serve the ball to the other side of the court until I have them at the breaking point. Here is my outlook for this approach. If I am constantly busting you with drive serve after drive serve to your backhand, rarely if not ever giving you anything else to hit, then people end up cheating, which means they start to move over to cut that option off. Since I am so far over already, opponents really need to cheat to negate my aggressive stance. Once more, for most of the match even if they are blatantly moving over, I will maintain serve. Luckily for me, the shot is still pretty hard to hit or the return shot is so weak or calculated I end up getting more points. So, if I get and hold a lead pushing the score to specific break points, opponents will get very aggressive and basically move to cut the serve off altogether. That is when I simply switch sides with an obvious weaker serve, but they are so far out of position it does not really matter how hard I hit it... it will go without return. The best part is after getting burned on a weak shot I completely get them out of their cheat and then I go back to the grind all over again. In practice matches, as well as prior league play, it has worked almost like clock work. There are a few players that can return this shot very well, however, they do not have much of an angle to hit their shot. The return must be perfect, so I can live with that shot percentage!!
As I stated, for purple I have added the lob serve and this will have immediate impact. Number one and the most important, I do not have to exert as much energy in volley and volley of drive serves. It takes a good amount of energy to hit those drive serves and I am thankful we only play to 15 twice! Purple level players will undoubtedly push me to play harder and for longer periods of time, so energy conservation is not important. Another big benefit in store for me is the change in speed. After a few low hard shots, it does take an adjustment to be patient and wait for the lob shot to develop. It is a high arching shot that just barely misses the ceiling and hugs the wall without hitting it directly to the corner. The effective return shot is to wait for it to bounce off the back wall and take your best low shot possible. In the purple division, players just do not have this shot in their array at a high percentage. This includes me as well! The hardest serve for me is a high slow lob serve to my backhand. I put up a defensive shot every time, which is exactly what the opponent wants. The lob serve is also called the error maker. More self made errors come off trying to hit a great shot instead of a high percentage or defensive shot.
I can't wait to see how it plays out this season. I'll keep my 1 and a half loyal readers posted!! (P.S. My oldest child reads this, so her plus me is 1 and a half.)
Monday, June 4, 2007
Pictures
Here is a half ass attempt to catch up with all of you regarding my pictures. I have said to many of you... I will put them up. Well, I have finally done this.
You will see our little ones and some other stuff that will be removed and replaced with more of our little ones.
Pay attention to the house shots, especially the outside ones because the outside is finished and I will reveal that in a later edition of this cool picture display.
Thanks to Backwards Attraction for bringing this tool to my attention.
You will see our little ones and some other stuff that will be removed and replaced with more of our little ones.
Pay attention to the house shots, especially the outside ones because the outside is finished and I will reveal that in a later edition of this cool picture display.
Thanks to Backwards Attraction for bringing this tool to my attention.
Friday, June 1, 2007
Tuesday, May 22, 2007
My next trip...
I am currently debating where to go on my next trip. Here are possible locations... in no particular order or preference.
NY, NY
Phx, AZ
Costa Rica
WC, CA
Charlotte, NC
Minneapolis, MN
For obvious reasons, I really should be thinking of Costa Rica. Sun, fun, family, and eco-tourism are all good reasons to start off with. The reason I am not still even thinking about CR is I will be going alone or possibly with Michael. I really enjoy Costa Rica more with SAC (supreme allied commander)... for obvious reasons yes, but I enjoy the cultural aspects so easily handles. It really makes travelling in an area with a language barrier a breeze.
NY, NY is high on my list because I miss NY. Plain and simple, there is no getting around that point. Besides, I miss my friends and family in the region. NY also would allow me to finally terminate my NY insurance. Geico has forced me to carry NY insurance since I turned in my plates eons ago, yet they need a receipt. Short of cancelling my insurance and going with another company, I need to once and for all deal with that. (Public transportation is another big plus.)
WC, CA - that is the place we just left... in a hurry I might add. Depending on PTC schedule though... I would not want to invade the home of Mrs. Prego! I mean that with all courtesy and respect...!
Charlotte, NC - now this trip would be fun. I was in Charlotte a couple of times, but never for very long. I would enjoy being in the South... (wait as second... I live in the South... but Charlotte is old South... so it is a differentiation I can hang my hat on.) I have friends there and a good amount of Intel on the local history. I would enjoy that very much.
MN, MN - Well thank the lord... it is not winter. I could stand to visit under that condition.
Phx, AZ - my beloved and I feel we will be there soon enough... so travelling there for the fun of it seems a bit severe. We will see.
My money is not on travelling at all - since I really really have too much work on the honey do list... and if I want to continue gaming and playing racquetball as much as I do... I better put sometime into SAC management.
NY, NY
Phx, AZ
Costa Rica
WC, CA
Charlotte, NC
Minneapolis, MN
For obvious reasons, I really should be thinking of Costa Rica. Sun, fun, family, and eco-tourism are all good reasons to start off with. The reason I am not still even thinking about CR is I will be going alone or possibly with Michael. I really enjoy Costa Rica more with SAC (supreme allied commander)... for obvious reasons yes, but I enjoy the cultural aspects so easily handles. It really makes travelling in an area with a language barrier a breeze.
NY, NY is high on my list because I miss NY. Plain and simple, there is no getting around that point. Besides, I miss my friends and family in the region. NY also would allow me to finally terminate my NY insurance. Geico has forced me to carry NY insurance since I turned in my plates eons ago, yet they need a receipt. Short of cancelling my insurance and going with another company, I need to once and for all deal with that. (Public transportation is another big plus.)
WC, CA - that is the place we just left... in a hurry I might add. Depending on PTC schedule though... I would not want to invade the home of Mrs. Prego! I mean that with all courtesy and respect...!
Charlotte, NC - now this trip would be fun. I was in Charlotte a couple of times, but never for very long. I would enjoy being in the South... (wait as second... I live in the South... but Charlotte is old South... so it is a differentiation I can hang my hat on.) I have friends there and a good amount of Intel on the local history. I would enjoy that very much.
MN, MN - Well thank the lord... it is not winter. I could stand to visit under that condition.
Phx, AZ - my beloved and I feel we will be there soon enough... so travelling there for the fun of it seems a bit severe. We will see.
My money is not on travelling at all - since I really really have too much work on the honey do list... and if I want to continue gaming and playing racquetball as much as I do... I better put sometime into SAC management.
Monday, May 21, 2007
Chromehounds gets dusted off...
Last night was the first time in a very long time I played this game and really enjoyed the experience. The only bad aspect of the night was playing late, which consequently forced me to end my fun early and get some sleep.
Many months ago when I played this game with my new 360, the crew (Twiki / Bubba (field Generals) and myself) played mostly humans but occasionally computers. Chromehounds, for those that do not know, is a live xbox 360 game based on mechanized or robotic like machines in total war scenarios. To achieve victory a team, or a solo mech, only needs to defeat the opponents or their base. In addition, a team could win if time runs out and control of the communications network was in your favor. The strategy and time needed to be proficient at this game is considerable, but if one puts in the time the game play is very good.
In recent weeks, Bubba and Twiki have been doing considerable homework increasing our squad size. Recruiting players that will put the time needed to be successful is easier said then done, but results are tangible at this point. We have six players in our squad and if we can get some people off the fence, then we could have as many as nine. Another aspect of what it takes to be a field General (FG) is also focused on creating a Chromehound or mech that will be durable, fast, and when put to the test accurately lethal! It could also be effective to build a squad with specific strengths that fights well as a team. A team full of M1A1 US tanks, for example would be pretty lethal until a team with an Apache tank killer came along. You get my drift, since a team blended in a host of capabilities should prevail - as long as you can kill effectively. The last part is actually not as important as you would think. FG's role in addition to getting the game going is battle tactics and strategy. Within that aspect, FG's need soldiers to do their job, hence the challenge of this game. I am not a very good soldier, but if needed I can execute orders. I like to play fast and loose, which sometimes means I am caught in an isolated battle without advantage. Sometimes I do my thing and get the kills needed to make the game easy to win, but more often I get crippled or worse killed turning the momentum over to our opponents. Such is life when you role with Grizzley, but a FG usually can count on me doing the power move successfully.
Getting back on point, last night we played, like I said, for the first time in a while. We had four mechs rolling, which was a first for me, and it was a lot of fun. I almost like my support role as much as my wild and wreck less solo approach. If we blend our capabilities and fight as a team, I do not think we will have too much trouble winning the war on our terms. With that said, we do have a bunch of newbies... so Bubba - Twiki and I just can't miss that often until these noobs get up and running.
I think I may put SCDA on the shelf for the time being... that or get my copy of SC II as soon as it comes out.
Friday, May 11, 2007
Work Place Conflict
I recall this topic is unavoidable. Since I was in Management all these years, I was accustom to a certain level of professionalism.
Well, I am not in management, so the conflict is more primal. Essentially, I sit next to an indecisive buffoon that cannot make a clear decision unless it is an easy one. Mr. indecisive does not bother me on this topic, thankfully, since we are not on speaking terms, but that does not stop him from running the old mouth.
The few times I chose not to be a door mat, he shouts to whomever is listening stop making comments under your breath. Recently, today in fact, when he did this for like the third time in two weeks I needed to put my foot down. Actually, I would prefer to put my foot elsewhere, but that is a horror story of the future. So, I stand up and say in the same level voice I had initially commented on... "Joe - I do not feel the need to have social support of statements of truth. You need to shout out whenever I or anyone for that matter challenges your behavior and comments. I am simply reflecting back what you are saying is totally unprofessional. The shouting out to co-workers just makes my point that much easier to understand." If I know this clown well enough, I will be needing to defend myself aggressively if the issue comes to a head. I would rather diffuse the issue and just avoid all confrontation... that is until he decides to treat me like a door mat again.
I will label this post as venting. I wish I could solve this just like SCDA.
Well, I am not in management, so the conflict is more primal. Essentially, I sit next to an indecisive buffoon that cannot make a clear decision unless it is an easy one. Mr. indecisive does not bother me on this topic, thankfully, since we are not on speaking terms, but that does not stop him from running the old mouth.
The few times I chose not to be a door mat, he shouts to whomever is listening stop making comments under your breath. Recently, today in fact, when he did this for like the third time in two weeks I needed to put my foot down. Actually, I would prefer to put my foot elsewhere, but that is a horror story of the future. So, I stand up and say in the same level voice I had initially commented on... "Joe - I do not feel the need to have social support of statements of truth. You need to shout out whenever I or anyone for that matter challenges your behavior and comments. I am simply reflecting back what you are saying is totally unprofessional. The shouting out to co-workers just makes my point that much easier to understand." If I know this clown well enough, I will be needing to defend myself aggressively if the issue comes to a head. I would rather diffuse the issue and just avoid all confrontation... that is until he decides to treat me like a door mat again.
I will label this post as venting. I wish I could solve this just like SCDA.
Monday, April 30, 2007
AFL
The Tampa Bay Storm in a word simply stink. I cannot really fault them since the entire league format stinks too.
Yesterday, my little dude and I went with a friend and his son to a Storm game. The Storm were playing another terrible team from OH. I have been to several Rattler games (by far more entertaining... at least the atmosphere etc.), Dragon games, and now a Storm game. Unlike most of the readers of this blog, I have enough experience to make these statements. I have been to ten NFL games including 3 at Candlestick or 3.com park, 2 Giant games, 2 Jet games (which as we all know really means 4 trips to the same field), a Ravens game, and last but certainly least 2 Cardinal games at Sun Devil Stadium. I won't get into College games, but I have been to over 24. With all this history I can say with authority that AFL ball stinks. The lack of talent is apparent. The lack of play calling is obvious (3 play offense for the most part) and the field looks ridiculous. A total of 50 yards and maybe 25 yards across???? I have watched better high school ball!
My little dude loved the experience, so really what does all that hot air equate to? I will be going back again. (YEAH - not!) The ride home... he was talking football! The price of admission is wonderful since I will simply tell him he went to NFL games and omit the AFL reference or the third class show we viewed yesterday.
Did I come across too negative? I am sorry - I am just an impatient NFL fan waiting for the next season. Thanks Andy for the tickets... no reflection whatsoever... the company was great!
Yesterday, my little dude and I went with a friend and his son to a Storm game. The Storm were playing another terrible team from OH. I have been to several Rattler games (by far more entertaining... at least the atmosphere etc.), Dragon games, and now a Storm game. Unlike most of the readers of this blog, I have enough experience to make these statements. I have been to ten NFL games including 3 at Candlestick or 3.com park, 2 Giant games, 2 Jet games (which as we all know really means 4 trips to the same field), a Ravens game, and last but certainly least 2 Cardinal games at Sun Devil Stadium. I won't get into College games, but I have been to over 24. With all this history I can say with authority that AFL ball stinks. The lack of talent is apparent. The lack of play calling is obvious (3 play offense for the most part) and the field looks ridiculous. A total of 50 yards and maybe 25 yards across???? I have watched better high school ball!
My little dude loved the experience, so really what does all that hot air equate to? I will be going back again. (YEAH - not!) The ride home... he was talking football! The price of admission is wonderful since I will simply tell him he went to NFL games and omit the AFL reference or the third class show we viewed yesterday.
Did I come across too negative? I am sorry - I am just an impatient NFL fan waiting for the next season. Thanks Andy for the tickets... no reflection whatsoever... the company was great!
Friday, April 27, 2007
16 Inches...
That is right. I said sixteen inches. That is the length of the bass my friend caught two nights ago. This is what I am fishing for. Yes, I use worms to catch these. No, I am not a bass channel watcher. Yes, I know for a fact it works, however this one was caught on a lure. Big popper or something...
P.S. I will be assisting in the construction of a proper platform to fish from in the near future. That - I am sure - will be lots of fun. If he waits a little bit longer... it will be hot enough to keep mosquito's away. Personally, I would choose the flyer's that never bite me over the heat, which could kill us or make us slow enough to be eaten by the 4 ft gators out there.
P.S.S. This is not going to become a fishing blog, but I will update my favorite list!!
Monday, April 23, 2007
Gone Fishing - II
Yesterday, the whole clan went over our friends house to do some more fishing. Have you ever heard the phrase it pays to be lucky?
After a good 15-20 of our bait in the water, the next door neighbors come out and decide to join the fishing outing. Our friends house does not have a deck at present and I am slated to do some heavy lifting to improve that situation in the coming weeks, but the next door neighbor does.
After co-fishing, Joe (the neighbor) yells out... throw some chum in the water to lure the smaller fish in and the bass will follow. Now the only word the actually registered for me was chum. What the heck are we fishing for that requires chum. To me, chum refers to sharks and shark fishermen... not bass fishing on a pond I could walk around in 7-8 min. Without a moments notice, my friends shouts back.. what are you chumming with? I am sorry, but even worse than using the word chum is to use it in connection with BREAD!! Yes, sir they chum the pond with bread... after a good solid laugh... we continued to fish.
Would you know it... FISHING RESULTS:
7-0
We lost. Plus they reeled in a snapping turtle. My eldest broke the news to me gently... Dad - we did not catch anything. Why are you using worms?!?!
After a good 15-20 of our bait in the water, the next door neighbors come out and decide to join the fishing outing. Our friends house does not have a deck at present and I am slated to do some heavy lifting to improve that situation in the coming weeks, but the next door neighbor does.
After co-fishing, Joe (the neighbor) yells out... throw some chum in the water to lure the smaller fish in and the bass will follow. Now the only word the actually registered for me was chum. What the heck are we fishing for that requires chum. To me, chum refers to sharks and shark fishermen... not bass fishing on a pond I could walk around in 7-8 min. Without a moments notice, my friends shouts back.. what are you chumming with? I am sorry, but even worse than using the word chum is to use it in connection with BREAD!! Yes, sir they chum the pond with bread... after a good solid laugh... we continued to fish.
Would you know it... FISHING RESULTS:
7-0
We lost. Plus they reeled in a snapping turtle. My eldest broke the news to me gently... Dad - we did not catch anything. Why are you using worms?!?!
Islanders
In case you did not know, I am an avid Islander fan. I love hockey. I like to attend games when the tickets are free; I love the sport for the speed and violence; but most of all I love hockey because the playoffs are so exciting. No other sport can match the intensity and mental toughness needed to prevail.
From the old days until now, the Islanders have been a mystery. Why does a team with the market strength of Long Island have a problem hiring the best talent and wining more consistently??? These are questions that only one family can answer, but if I was as rich as the current owners and I loved hockey... I would do it right. Heck, I would be as avid an owner as the crazy Cuban!
From the old days until now, the Islanders have been a mystery. Why does a team with the market strength of Long Island have a problem hiring the best talent and wining more consistently??? These are questions that only one family can answer, but if I was as rich as the current owners and I loved hockey... I would do it right. Heck, I would be as avid an owner as the crazy Cuban!
Friday, April 20, 2007
Out of the League Tourney!
Before I get too serious, let me just set the record straight. When I learned I lost by forfeit - I was very pissed off.
I no like to lose. I no like to lose cheap. I especially do not like to lose twice to a player I can and should beat, but failed to do so the first time I had the chance.
I messed up the schedule and did not realize the game was played on a different day. Anyone that knew me specific to this topic knew, at least in my mind, the game was Thursday. Well, that was just not the case. The game was Wednesday and my friend made several attempts to reach me, even going as far to come to my house when learning I was not there. Thanks Andy for going the extra mile.
The part that is actually the most frustrating is my desire to play from a position of underdog. Let's face it, this player beat me straight up and I wanted a rematch. I won't get that chance in all likelihood, since he won't win the tourney and not move up to Purple with me.
Oh well!
I am still not pleased with my time management skills.
As a side note, I was discussing some racquetball topics with players up at the Y and a player from the Purple division over heard me and pulled me aside to "straighten me out!"
Of course, I am gonna spill the details as they are so interesting I cannot be silent. After hearing me say, "I want to compete in a division where I will win 3 out of 10 games." This person took it upon themselves to tell me that I should just shut up and play and not worry about my record. It offended them since they are in Purple and they are going to do everything in their power to make sure I win less than that. Surprised by the comment and reasons for pulling me aside, I asked them several questions:
I no like to lose. I no like to lose cheap. I especially do not like to lose twice to a player I can and should beat, but failed to do so the first time I had the chance.
I messed up the schedule and did not realize the game was played on a different day. Anyone that knew me specific to this topic knew, at least in my mind, the game was Thursday. Well, that was just not the case. The game was Wednesday and my friend made several attempts to reach me, even going as far to come to my house when learning I was not there. Thanks Andy for going the extra mile.
The part that is actually the most frustrating is my desire to play from a position of underdog. Let's face it, this player beat me straight up and I wanted a rematch. I won't get that chance in all likelihood, since he won't win the tourney and not move up to Purple with me.
Oh well!
I am still not pleased with my time management skills.
As a side note, I was discussing some racquetball topics with players up at the Y and a player from the Purple division over heard me and pulled me aside to "straighten me out!"
Of course, I am gonna spill the details as they are so interesting I cannot be silent. After hearing me say, "I want to compete in a division where I will win 3 out of 10 games." This person took it upon themselves to tell me that I should just shut up and play and not worry about my record. It offended them since they are in Purple and they are going to do everything in their power to make sure I win less than that. Surprised by the comment and reasons for pulling me aside, I asked them several questions:
- Correct me if I am wrong, but are we in a competitive league?
- I have asked to be moved up more aggressively, but is it my fault that I was placed in the wrong league level to start off with and have subsequently won every league I have played to date?
- Lastly, I am willing and able to learn how they play at their level and if I lose in the process so be it. Are you prepared to deal with your issues if I happen to beat you?
(To my self I really wanted to address the facts... I'm 34-4 in competitive play (1 of those the forfeit loss I just took)... should I not move up for the challenge???)
Obviously, I was not happy with the side-bar and I've had one other confrontation with a player. The other player did not agree with me playing them as if it was the first point in game one - for every point in a match! I am sorry, but if being competitive is a point of issue with anyone else, then stuff it! I am not changing a darn thing.
As another perfect example which highlights how I approach things... when the DIAW brothers are kicking my butt all over the place as I readjust back to Halo2 play... I am not happy, but I also like the push back that says... you have been weighed measured and found to be wanting! It is the same deal. Competition is always present... at least with me. I love it!
Wednesday, April 11, 2007
NFS - Carbon
For my b-day, I went out and bought Need for Speed - Carbon. I obtained some recommendations and did my homework on the game variations. I do not buy a lot of games, so I like to know exactly what I am getting!
The game is pretty awesome. The graphics are wonderful and the game play is fairly realistic. The achievement points are pretty stingy, which is also good as I like a challenge.
As I progress through career mode, I may comment on specific elements. Otherwise, please consider this my recommendation to rent or own the game.
Good Stuff!
P.S. There are no sexist comments or visuals and no blood splattering going on in the game... take that as a positive or negative - its up to you. I find it refreshing! If you want to break some one's neck without them knowing it until it is too late... well for that come play SCDA!
The game is pretty awesome. The graphics are wonderful and the game play is fairly realistic. The achievement points are pretty stingy, which is also good as I like a challenge.
As I progress through career mode, I may comment on specific elements. Otherwise, please consider this my recommendation to rent or own the game.
Good Stuff!
P.S. There are no sexist comments or visuals and no blood splattering going on in the game... take that as a positive or negative - its up to you. I find it refreshing! If you want to break some one's neck without them knowing it until it is too late... well for that come play SCDA!
Too Fast; Too Furious
The tourney is upon me. The number one spot has some pressure, especially since some of my opponents feel they could have won during league play. Laughable, I know but here is how my first match went.
My opponent lost to me during the season in just less than 20 min. He advanced to this game by virtue of a forfeit win. This is just bad luck for my opponent, since this match ended up lasting only a few minutes longer that our league match.
My serve was on and jumping from the get go. If you refer to the picture of the racquetball court in a previous post, I serve on the extreme left, but far enough from the left side not to break the drive serve line with my racket. 75% of my serves will stay on that side of the court by design optimizing the fact that most players are right handed. Since a backhand return shot is usually much less effective than a forehand return shot, this ends up serving my needs nicely. Unless I hit a poor serve, there is only one or two shots players at my current level can return and both I am ready to kill as soon as they do. 25% of my serves go to the back right corner, which can be devastating since most opponents creep over to the left to handle the main serve. Usually, they do not even move or give a vain attempt to return serve.
Like I said earlier... the serve was on and jumping! My opponent was down 7-0 before the 2 min mark. At this point, the game is over since he was not able to even return serve. I hit a right side serve and he does not even move. 8-0 and visibly unhappy with how this are going, my opponent calls time out. You get two of these each game for 30 seconds. After 2-3 minuets he gets back on the court – ‘grrr’ that is just poor sportsmanship!! I usually pace around the front court to stay in rhythm and await their return. The TO works, since he returned a solid serve and eventually killed a shot to give him side out. One serve and I hit a kill shot from 38 feet... I am pretty happy and proceed to take a 13-0 lead. At this point, I mail it in and allow a few points to be scored and take game one 15-4.
Game two is no different and starts and ends almost the same way. I won 15-7 and took the match. After the game, we are cordial, but I know he is pissed and I am very pleased with the beating I handed out. I am a fish out of water in this division and the other players know it, but it is still fun to win lop-sided matches! I honestly think people expect opponents to change how they play to have a competitive game. It is an interesting concept, since I sometimes do that very thing without planning or forethought. In those cases, I think that player wins the mental game over me and controls tempo and rhythm. I try never to let another player hang around and usually hit the ball as hard on point 15 as I do on point number one! To each their own!!
My next match is on the 18th and it is versus the only player to hand me a loss during the league play. I have wanted a rematch and I got it!! As long as I do not fall 0-8 down, I should be in great shape! ;)
My opponent lost to me during the season in just less than 20 min. He advanced to this game by virtue of a forfeit win. This is just bad luck for my opponent, since this match ended up lasting only a few minutes longer that our league match.
My serve was on and jumping from the get go. If you refer to the picture of the racquetball court in a previous post, I serve on the extreme left, but far enough from the left side not to break the drive serve line with my racket. 75% of my serves will stay on that side of the court by design optimizing the fact that most players are right handed. Since a backhand return shot is usually much less effective than a forehand return shot, this ends up serving my needs nicely. Unless I hit a poor serve, there is only one or two shots players at my current level can return and both I am ready to kill as soon as they do. 25% of my serves go to the back right corner, which can be devastating since most opponents creep over to the left to handle the main serve. Usually, they do not even move or give a vain attempt to return serve.
Like I said earlier... the serve was on and jumping! My opponent was down 7-0 before the 2 min mark. At this point, the game is over since he was not able to even return serve. I hit a right side serve and he does not even move. 8-0 and visibly unhappy with how this are going, my opponent calls time out. You get two of these each game for 30 seconds. After 2-3 minuets he gets back on the court – ‘grrr’ that is just poor sportsmanship!! I usually pace around the front court to stay in rhythm and await their return. The TO works, since he returned a solid serve and eventually killed a shot to give him side out. One serve and I hit a kill shot from 38 feet... I am pretty happy and proceed to take a 13-0 lead. At this point, I mail it in and allow a few points to be scored and take game one 15-4.
Game two is no different and starts and ends almost the same way. I won 15-7 and took the match. After the game, we are cordial, but I know he is pissed and I am very pleased with the beating I handed out. I am a fish out of water in this division and the other players know it, but it is still fun to win lop-sided matches! I honestly think people expect opponents to change how they play to have a competitive game. It is an interesting concept, since I sometimes do that very thing without planning or forethought. In those cases, I think that player wins the mental game over me and controls tempo and rhythm. I try never to let another player hang around and usually hit the ball as hard on point 15 as I do on point number one! To each their own!!
My next match is on the 18th and it is versus the only player to hand me a loss during the league play. I have wanted a rematch and I got it!! As long as I do not fall 0-8 down, I should be in great shape! ;)
Saturday, March 31, 2007
Friday, March 30, 2007
Racquetball
One of the topics for this blog is racquetball.
Above are some pictures of a racquetball court. Below is a link to a site focused on the sport.
U.S. Racquetball Association
http://www.usra.org/
Above are some pictures of a racquetball court. Below is a link to a site focused on the sport.
U.S. Racquetball Association
http://www.usra.org/
[PTC - You need to show me how to add these links seamlessly like you do.]
The last player to challenge my domination of the black division was 6-1. I, 7-1, barely lost to a player he beat soundly [41-26], which for you non-racket swingers means... Three games comprise a match. The first two games are decided by a player scoring 15 points first. You don't need to win by two points, so in some cases, it is a race and chess duel to achieve a win. If you split the first two games, then a third game is needed to complete the match. The third game is played to 11, otherwise referred to as OT.
So, if I win game one 15-12 and game two 15-14, then I automatically pick up the 11 points in the third game, which was not needed. That is how a player wins by the usual score of 41 to ?? or in the example provided 41-26.
A decent win is 41-30.
A great win is 41-twenty something.
A player dominates if their opponent cannot score enough to break 20 total points.
A mismatch is a score of 41-5 or anything under 10.
You get the point... I will break down the mechanics of winning a game in another post.
At my local YMCA, two very fine individuals run a league that is very successful. Success can be judged in many ways, but the one that is most important is growth. Every year the wait list for this league grows longer, which attracts more and more of the better players in the Tampa Metro area. Within ten plus divisions racquetball players of all skill and gender can be matched up against similar talent creating a super competitive sporting environment. If you never played racquetball before, then the Green division would make you feel comfortable and provide an opportunity to play the game. The skill level increases all the way up to Open level players. I love playing in this league.
From an exercise and activity perspective - this is my passion. However, I am locked into the competitive aspect almost as much as my love for the game itself. I am building my equipment base with each season, so I am in this for the long haul.
Okay, back to the division show down...
My opponent lost to a fella I squashed 41-5, so this was certainly a match I had my eye on. Game One: 15-14 - I won. Tough, tough game that lasted way longer than it needed to. I broke out like I usually do to a huge lead. At 12-3, I was sitting pretty and actually starting to wind down so I can continue the high pace into the second game. All of a sudden, my opponent discovers my Achilles heel, which is not normally discovered until late in the second game if at all. A high bounce shot to my backhand in the corner is my most challenging shot to return. A player has two main options. Return a ceiling shot to the player (a defensive shot) or try for a kill shot. I am not at a level where my kill shot attempt is above 80% accurate. Playing with a lead, I don't go for it often and focus more on the defensive shots. Much higher percentage closer to 98% accurate, but it leaves a very hittable shot for my opponent. Before I knew it, the game was tied. I took timeouts like I should. I hit my shots in the places I normally do, but nothing was working. Just like in the match I lost, I was not playing smart and utilizing my strengths. Totally mental - this is everything! Well, I ended up breaking his serve and I hit an ace to close out game one.
Incidentally, I win 70% of my points off service. I have a very good drive serve and I am lefty, which to a right handed player is freaking lethal.
Game two started out just as tough... and hour and twenty minutes into this match we were only 5-4 in our second game. Usually, a match is completed well within an hour - so I was getting tired. Unfortunately, this match was never to be... at 10-7 when I was just starting to take over the game and compensate for my glaring exposed weakness my opponents back went out and I won WBI. (Win By Injury)
Very unfulfilled, I took the win. My final match could not make it so I took a WBF. (Win By Forfeit)
Black Division Champ: 9-1
The tourney will start next week and I will get a first round bye. I am expecting every player to know where the put the ball on me... now it is up to me to practice and surprise them with something they do not expect!
Pay Day...
So this is what it is like to be paid for time served? Unlike some people I know, my first meal (not my last) was a pizza from our local pizza shop. It is a tribute to my new found infusion of cash... as we all know -
I SCREAM AND HOLLER FOR THE ALMIGHTY DOLLAR!
The coffer is empty.
I got a pay check.
... what would you do?
When asked, my eldest child replied, "Daddy, I would put the money in my piggy bank. Now go put that away so you do not lose it."
I can't make this stuff up. If you knew El Tornado, then you would chuckle and simply say the apple does not fall far from the tree. After a very good laugh, I threw out that sound advice and put the gang in the car and went to go buy pizza. Not that I need to actually say this, but there was change from this transaction to go put in the piggy bank. It is not the greatest job, but it does pay higher than unemployment!
PTC - remember our transition from Mill to Wall. I am back at that exact figure!
I SCREAM AND HOLLER FOR THE ALMIGHTY DOLLAR!
The coffer is empty.
I got a pay check.
... what would you do?
When asked, my eldest child replied, "Daddy, I would put the money in my piggy bank. Now go put that away so you do not lose it."
I can't make this stuff up. If you knew El Tornado, then you would chuckle and simply say the apple does not fall far from the tree. After a very good laugh, I threw out that sound advice and put the gang in the car and went to go buy pizza. Not that I need to actually say this, but there was change from this transaction to go put in the piggy bank. It is not the greatest job, but it does pay higher than unemployment!
PTC - remember our transition from Mill to Wall. I am back at that exact figure!
Thursday, March 29, 2007
Good Idea
Fantasy sports, as we all know, is fun when you have the information. Here is my personal time allocation:
Debra
kids
family
friends
email / comms with everyone
racquetball
xbox 360
--------
at this point I am nearly 99% utilized even when out of work... now it seems that is just time enough!
-------
list continues...
fantasy sports
educational studies
TV (science, discovery, animal planet)
Movies
I can't even tell you when I saw movies on a regular basis... 300 was the last, but i was not gonna miss that for anything.
Did you see it btw? Thoughts?
Without a cell phone I am really disconnected. Until I get another, this will have to serve as my communicator.
Debra
kids
family
friends
email / comms with everyone
racquetball
xbox 360
--------
at this point I am nearly 99% utilized even when out of work... now it seems that is just time enough!
-------
list continues...
fantasy sports
educational studies
TV (science, discovery, animal planet)
Movies
I can't even tell you when I saw movies on a regular basis... 300 was the last, but i was not gonna miss that for anything.
Did you see it btw? Thoughts?
Without a cell phone I am really disconnected. Until I get another, this will have to serve as my communicator.
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