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.

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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.

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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!!)

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.

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.

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.

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!

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!

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.