Second Gen (2003-2016, 2016- )
Rumours that GX40 sports pool management practices have been cited in the new Federal Accountability Act have been vastly over-rated. All references to Byzantine complexity and subjective point calculations are to be removed at the committee level, as illustrated. I am assured on that point particularly by my new friends in fat capital city.
Remember – this year I am promising fabulous prizes and this year I may actually follow through.
Shaking hands open
A small letter from New York:
Reds, Pirates shall play.
The tenth annual internet pool in a row. That is mind-numbing in the evident dedication to the pursuit of idleness and lack of productivity. Here are the rules in the most complex and utterly unwinnable pool yet:
1. NHL playoffs
Pick five scorers, one goon, one goalie, eight teams and a dark horse.
- A point for a goal by a scorer.
- A point for an assist by a scorer.
- A point for a penalty minute by a goon. If your goon is kicked out of the playoffs and thereby the pool, you double the penalty minutes he has achieved to that point. The logic here is that the goon is a nut-bar. The later that he freaks and gets tossed for the balance of the playoffs, the more nut-bar like he is, the more he is the essential goon.
- A point for each thousandth save percentage over .900 by your goalie
- 5 points for picking each of the teams in the second, third and fourth rounds.
- 25 bonus points for picking the dark horse – the team with the lowest regular season points to go the farthest in the playoffs. The dark horse must be seeded in the lower half of their conference.
2. Other Hockey
- Name the winner of the Memorial Cup, Canada’s Jr A Men’s hockey championship. 10 points.
- Pick four scorers in the Memorial Cup. One point for each goal or assist.
- Pick the winner of the AHL’s Calder Cup. Ten points.
3. World Cup Fitba
- Which team goes farther: Togo or Trinidad and Tobago? Ten points. Total goals breaks the tie.
- Who wins the World Cup? Ten points.
- Who wins the golden shoe for top scorer? Ten points.
4. Other Fitba
- Pick the two teams in the English FA Cup Final. Five points each.
- Pick the winner of the FA Cup. 10 points.
- Pick the winner of the Scottish Premier League – not a Cup, #1 in the league table. Ten points.
- Does Morton go up to the First Division of the SFA? Ten points if you are right.
5. Baseball
- Who wins when the Red Sox and Yankees play on 1 May 2006? Ten points.
- Who wins when the Red Sox and Yankees play on 2 May 2006? Ten points.
- Who starts as pitcher for each team when the Red Sox and Yankees play on 1 May 2006? Ten points for each correct pick.
- Which of thse two teams will be ahead of the other in the standings at 9 am 3 May and by how many games? Ten points for correct team and ten points for nearest to the lead in games.
6. Other Sports
- Who wins the One Day International Series on Saturday, 20 May 2006 between teh West Indies v India, held at Jamaica? Twenty points. Guess the final score and you get ten more points if you are within 25 wickets on the score differential. Ten more points if you can explain how you exactly you know the score is what it is.
- Who wins the World Snooker Championship at The Crucible Theatre, Sheffield, England held from 15 April – 1 May? Twenty points.
- Who wins the British and Commonwealth super middleweight title match to be held on May 26, York Hall, London between Carl Froch v Brian Magee. Ten points. Ten more points if you name the exact round that the fight ends.
- Who is the top scorer in the NBA playoffs. Twenty points.
I have to think of a few more questions on international sport. These will be posted in a bit. Get your picks in by 18 April 2006 at a reasonable hour.
Here it is. The beginning of the good part of the year. Baseball begins tonight and I am already figuring out how and when to make the drive to Cooperstown – maybe even for the Hall of Fame game. Four and a half hours according to Google but I think it is more like three and a half if Syracuse is two from here.
Baseball’s beginning also means eyeing those two Watertown Wizards double headers on the Canada Day long weekend. Maybe a game at Auburn or Syracuse or Ottawa as well. Staying away from major league tickets means you can take the family to half a dozen games instead of buying a good pair of tickets to one.
This year I play catch. I am taking my glove to Maine in two weeks and, just for the record, note that Binghampton’s in town then. Maybe I’ll buy a bat and get the kids some mitts as well and start working on their double play. Six ain’t too young – not if you want to make sure they are more interested in the game rather than something grimly isolating like fly fishing or reading. And then there are those Sox games on the car radio fading in after sunset from 1080 Hartford. And on the computer during the day.
When does it get to be too much? How many times does it take for ice cream to become boring?
Update: A few lessons learned. First, price objects of kids’ desire before exposing kids to those objects. What they do not know will not hurt you. Second, Walmart has a good range of well made little kid gloves which are are sized by the inch. The lad got a ten and herself an eleven and a half. Who knew? Canadian Tire, no so much but it may just be that the stock is not out yet because hockey season lasts until July, dontcha know. Third, test the glove by having kid hold ball in glove and turn glove over to see if kid can hold ball in glove while shaking. Passing that test move on to the grip test wherein the kid with glove on tries to keep it on as you try to tug it off. This test can be confused with the no-kid-you-are-not-getting-the-129-buck-glove situation so be clear on the verbal instructions at that moment. Finally, good to see a league baseball is still under five bucks, though you no longer get them in individual boxes.
Now, off to throw three throws, roll my ankle and lay on the ground as the kids say “Gedup! Gedup!” knowing ten years from now in the same situation they will not be as kind.
Once again it is the day before Saturday. It has been a good week around
here. No rocking out or anything but spring sprang and, really, that is half the
battle of the entire calendar:
Of course, part of the reason the provinces are so
loose with the coin is the benefactions of Uncle Ottawa, which Ontario and
Quebec in particular have proved adept at squeezing in all the right places. The
McGuinty government, which made the fictional “$23-billion gap” its war cry,
quietly pocketed over $13.2-billion in federal cash last year, a 34% increase
from just two years ago. Quebec, likewise, enjoyed an 8% increase in the last
fiscal year.
It is not surprising, given the fine fiscal
understanding behind Tory-nomics, that he would not get the difference between
gross and net in his stunning analysis of Ontario’s position but equating Saudi
Albertia and Quebec as co-horts in economic solidity it dumbfounding. Compared
to this, David Frum comes across as
lucid.
…from a Sunday nap. First, an unholy pool crashing upset…thought I am secretly happy some place called George Mason won…but I can’t tell you why. And then I see the goofiest whack across the temple of the English language by CBS sports when you try to check out what happened…they appear to have even registered “GLOG“ as a service mark.
What next? Good Lord, what next???
Back. Just like that. Two hours and a bit ago I was in Toronto and now I am not. Intercity highways are the business:
Two more thoughts. I was impressed how the exposure of shoulder musculature was key to the entertainment experience at the concert. I was unimpressed how the lady in front of me – devoid of any sense of rhythm or shame as she was – had secretly for years harboured the secret love of “Radio Ga Ga” and unleashed her spastic passion therefore directly in front of me. I never knew there was something other than finding a cat air in one’s mouth that made one feel like one had found a cat hair in one’s mouth.
Which is worse during bachelor week? Talking to the cats or the computer. At
least the computer does not run away when it sees you. But being cats they make
you do things through the power of staring…like making you think it is Friday
and making you want to post stories in bullet format.
Well there you go.
The cats are staring at me so I now have to make some changes to my bank
accounts. I must. Then, I am off to buy new larger cat carriers. Cat treats,
too. I obey.
I said no way but I said, yes, it was happening. Tag the first guy out at first. Then leave Lee looking at his knees. Then get A-Rod. No sweat. Especially for guys who likely sell real estate all winter.
Woot!
