I thought about offering to sing "Hail to the Redskins" backwards if the Redskins had beaten the Saints on Sunday. As noted by the Washington Post, a New Orleans man let his Facebook friends bring over their guns and take out his flat-screen—because the Saints won.
There's a whole article devoted to our favorite betting currency in the Express.
Yeah! It's a music video of ... the Society for Neuroscience meeting I covered Oct. 17-21? Yeah. It's not even very informative—recording is prohibited at most sessions.
Someone might want to tell Stub Hub that they have made a grievous error:
At least according to this potentially not-safe-for-work Onion article.
Did anyone else catch Dave Sheinin's All-Ryan Team? Reminded me of many ballpark conversations about themes for fantasy baseball teams . . . .
Usually, this time of year, at least one of us is sitting at the baseball stadium, filling out an All-Star Ballot with the All-PH4H team. I plan on doing that this Wednesday (while likely watching Randy Johnson get his 300th victory against the team that I usually root for, but am now just hoping that they don't screw up getting the number one draft pick for two years in a row).
So I did a little research. If I were to fill out my PH4H ballot today -- based on a complicated mathematical formula involving general ineptitude, propensity towards committing errors, and presence on the ballot -- my teams would likely be:
American League
C -- D. Navarro
1B -- C. Davis
2B -- J. Lopez
SS- O. Cabrera
3B -- A. Beltre
OF -- D. Murphy, A. Rios, B. Upton
National League
C -- J. Kendall
1B -- J. Cantu (even though I'd like to pick A. Dunn for the sheer awfulness of his infrequent play at 1B)
2B -- D. Uggla
SS -- R. Furcal
3B -- K. Kouzmanoff
OF -- A. Soriano, C. Young, J. Francoeur
If you're tired of watching the Nationals, perhaps a sausage-cannon fail will distract you.
Ok, so it's not exactly Panhandling FOR the Homeless, but it's the next best thing... making better, and much more amusing, signs for the panhandlers.
An empanada for all regular readers of this blog (a shout-out to both of you) if the following happen in a single half-inning another time this baseball season: 2 walks, a hit batsman, an error, a relief pitcher balks in a run before throwing his first pitch, a player steals third. They do not have to happen in that order.
This is a week and a half late, but I have a very good excuse.
Anyway, the winner of the Fourth Annual PH4H NCAA Tournament Pick-'em is Dan.
Here are the final standings:
1. Dan: 267 points, 46 correct picks
2. Steve: 258 points, 40 correct picks
3. Aaron: 239 points, 44 correct picks
4. Andy: 223 points, 39 correct picks
5. Rachel: 216 points, 39 correct picks
6. Jason: 203 points, 40 correct picks
7. Jeff: 193 points, 37 correct picks
8. Dara: 180 points, 37 correct picks
9. Inbal: 157 points, 34 correct picks
10. Caroline: 154 points, 27 correct picks
11. Bo: 139 points, 35 correct picks
If you had picked all the higher seeds, you would have wound up in 6th place overall with 210 points and 45 correct picks.
Anyone catch this on Friday? From D.C. Sports Bog and NBC News:
At last night's Marlins versus Nationals game, the Nationals' Ryan Zimmerman and Adam Dunn wore uniforms with their team misspelled. Look closely, see that? You see it's Nat-in-als? Where's the 'O' everybody? Anyway, later in the game both players changed into correctly spelled uniforms.
Yes, that's right. For Chileans, Passion Translates to Empanadas, reports the New York Times. Kudos to my sister for passing along this gem. I now totally want to travel for 10 days eating empanadas. Hmm, how could I raise money for a trip like that?
The winner of the Fourth Annual PH4H Men's NIT Pick'em contest is . . . Jeff, with 16 correct picks for 22 points. No one picked Baylor vs. Penn State in the finals, so the scores did not change at all since last week.
Here's the final tally, in case anyone still cares.
1. Jeff: 16 correct picks, 22 points.
2. Justin: 15 correct picks, 21 points.
3. Dan: 14 correct picks, 17 points.
4. Dara: 13 correct picks, 17 points.
For the record, I keep the NIT score sheets in my office -- in a yellow manila file in my desk file drawer. One of these days, someone is going to need something, and I'm going to tell them to look in my desk, and they are going to find this file of old NIT brackets. I'm hopeful that it'll be someone with a good sense of humor, or at least an appreciation of the absurd.
Someone has taken our idea and made it a reality. Courtesy of the guys at Freakonomics:
Does panhandling work better through the web? A Houston father and son team thinks so. They gave a homeless man named Timothy Dale Edwards a sign to hold while panhandling; it directed passersby to his website, PimpThisBum.com. In less than two months, the site has garnered $50,000 in pledges and donations. The project’s creators believe its success has to do with the sign’s humor and the faux-tactless domain name. We’d like to suggest another reason: appeals for money encouraging credit card use are far more effective than appeals calling for cash, according to a a recent study. Somebody please notify Gay Talese.
The third and fourth rounds of the Fourth Annual PH4H NCAA Tournament Pick 'em Contest are over. Here are the standings:
1. Aaron: 239 points, 44 correct picks, 0 possible points remaining
2. Andy: 223 points, 39 correct picks, 48 possible points remaining
3. Dan: 219 points, 44 correct picks, 48 possible points remaining
4. Rachel: 216 points, 39 correct picks, 0 possible points remaining
5. Steve: 210 points, 38 correct picks, 48 possible points remaining
6. Jason: 203 points, 40 correct picks, 0 possible points remaining
7. Jeff: 193 points, 37 correct picks, 0 possible points remaining
8. Dara: 180 points, 37 correct picks, 0 possible points remaining
9. Caroline: 154 points, 27 correct picks, 0 possible points remaining
10. Inbal: 141 points, 33 correct picks, 64 possible points remaining
11. Bo: 139 points, 35 correct picks, 0 possible points remaining
If you picked all the higher seeds, you would be in 7th place overall, with 194 points, 44 correct picks, and 16 possible points remaining.
... of the Women's NIT. But it's still the first time they'll be playing in April.
The NIT final four is now set: San Diego State, Baylor, Notre Dame, and Penn State. Accordingly, the scores from the quarterfinal round of the 2009 PH4H Men's NIT pool are in:
1. Jeff: 16 correct picks, 22 points, 0 possible points remaining.
2. Justin: 15 correct picks, 21 points, 8 possible points remaining (if San Diego State wins).
3. Dan: 14 correct picks, 17 points, 0 possible points remaining.
4. Dara: 13 correct picks, 17 points, 0 possible points remaining.
The next round takes place on March 31. And, as in the past, our competition will be decided before it gets to the actual NIT championship game.
Says an Arlington Alert message today:
“Tomorrow March 25 between 9:30 and noon, CBS Paramount pictures will be filming a TV scene on the Potomac River near the Key Bridge in which special effects (loud noise and fire) will simulate a small water vessel being blown up. This will be a heavily monitored and controlled event lasting only a few seconds. There is no cause for alarm.”
Thought you might want to know. And it's kind of funny.
The scores from the second round of the 2009 PH4H Men's NIT pool are in:
1. Jeff: 15 correct picks, 18 points
2. Dan: 14 correct picks, 17 points
2. Justin: 14 correct picks, 17 points
4. Dara: 13 correct picks, 17 points
The second round ends on Thursday, and the points will again double. For the record, the only team left in Jeff's final four is Notre Dame. Dan and I both have St. Mary's and Florida in our final four. Justin also has two teams left -- San Diego State and Penn State.
The second round of the Fourth Annual PH4H NCAA Tournament Pick 'em Contest is over:
1. Steve: 178 points, 33 correct picks
2. Rachel: 176 points, 34 correct
3. Aaron: 175 points, 37 correct
4. Andy: 159 points, 33 correct
5. Dara: 156 points, 33 correct
6. Jason: 155 points, 33 correct
7. Dan: 147 points, 34 correct
8. Caroline: 130 points, 25 correct
9. Jeff: 129 points, 31 correct
10. Bo: 115 points, 30 correct
11. Inbal: 105 points, 27 correct
Of course, everyone knows this contest was designed to encourage picking upsets. If you picked all higher seeds, you would have gotten 146 points with 36 correct picks -- which is statistically better than any of us, but only 8th place in terms of points. On the other hand, if you picked all upsets, you would have gotten 108 points with 10 correct picks -- and would be unable to get any more points. Both illustrate that favorites generally win. But I'm also considering this as statistical validation that the scoring system is, indeed, achieving its desired result -- and that you can't game the system by "picking chalk."
The first round of the tournament is over. My heart is already broken, and my bracket is already busted. Still, life goes on. Here are the current results of the Fourth Annual PH4H NCAA Tournament Pick 'em:
1. Andy: 121 points, 23 correct picks
2. Jason: 119 points, 24 correct
3. Dara: 116 points, 24 correct
4. Steve: 116 points, 23 correct
5. Aaron: 113 points, 24 correct
6. Rachel: 112 points, 23 correct
7. Caroline: 106 points, 20 correct
8. Jeff: 85 points, 21 correct
9. Dan: 83 points, 20 correct
10. Inbal: 77 points, 19 correct
11. Bo: 69 points, 19 correct
By way of comparison, if you picked all higher seeds, you would have gotten 82 points with 22 correct picks -- and if you picked all lower seeds, you would have gotten 108 points with 10 correct picks.
The scores from the first round of the 2009 PH4H Men's NIT pool are in:
1. Jeff: 12 correct picks, 12 points
2. Dan: 11 correct picks, 11 points
2. Justin: 11 correct picks, 11 points
4. Dara: 9 correct picks, 9 points
The second round ends on Tuesday. As usual, point values double.
This is what everyone's really been waiting for: The Fourth Annual NIT pool.
Here's the bracket. Get me your picks before the first game tips off tomorrow evening.
The PH4H Tournament pool is back for the fourth straight year! Like the last few years, it utilizes a scoring system that uses a point multiplier based on seeding, to encourage picking upsets.
And, in our inimitable fashion, the winners are the people with the highest and lowest scores (i.e., even if your picks stink, the only way you're not in the running is if you don't play).
So all you need to do is log in with the username and password you used before, and you should automatically be back in the user group. And once the brackets are released, all you need to do is make your picks before the tournament begins.
If you want to invite others, go ahead. Just have them go to this website (http://ph4h.mayhem.sportsline.com), and enter the password "reverse."
Good luck!
The inaugural award goes to ... Carlos Alvarez Daniel "Esmailyn Gonzalez" Lugo (whose name, but not DOB, has been corrected on the linked site). He gets the award even though he "may have been duped as much as anyone"—at least that's what his agent says.
As I told Dan last night, the good news for me is that Illinois held Penn State to 38 points last night. The bad news is Penn State held Illinois to 33.
Dan is wondering when the second half starts.
Since it has been awhile since the last post, and since some hadn't heard of this site when I mentioned earlier, check out failblog.org.
The results of the Second Annual PH4H Empanada Bowl are in. (Actually, they've been in since late Thursday night, but I've been lazy.)
Apparently Northerners have not forgotten the Civil War and they are subversively taking it out on the South through the Presidential Inauguration. I think I overheard the Secret Service saying "They tried to split off of our country in order to continue slavery, causing some 600,000 casualities...how can we exact our revenge? I got it! Close four bridges for a day! That'll do it."
Alright Confederacy, we're even now.
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2009/01/08/AR2009010803900.html?hpid=topnews
So I get this e-mail from the "Arlington Alert" system:
Subject: Inauguration Alert from Arlington County
To: "Arlington Alert Subscribers"
Date: Thursday, January 8, 2009, 3:21 PM
Arlington is proud to be an important part of the Presidential Inauguration and celebrations. Arlington is expecting record crowds during the entire inaugural weekend January 17-20. Crowds and events during this weekend will affect all residents.
To prepare for this event, pretend a hurricane is coming during that weekend and expect large crowds, congestion, traffic and many delays. Getting around will be difficult at best so a common sense approach will be important. Be informed, make a plan, be prepared.
For tips on preparing for this historic event, road closures, and other information about the inauguration activities, visit www.arlingtonva.us search for 'inauguration."
Sunday night, I was watching football with Andy and it was very very cold. I told him that I wanted one of those blanket things with sleeves -- a Slanket -- which had been recommended to me by a friend. But then we saw a commercial for another version of it -- a Snuggie -- for less than half the price, plus a free book light.
So, being me, I decided to investigate. Before I went to bed, I sent an email to the Slanket people:
I am trying to decide between buying a Snuggie and a Slanket. I have a friend that recommended your product, but yours costs $44.95 -- whereas I can get two Snuggies and a book light for $19.95, plus shipping. So why should I buy yours instead of the other one? What makes yours worth the extra money?
Thanks.
Jan 5, 2009 06:31:25 AM, gary@theslanket.com wrote:
Hello!
Thank you so much for reaching out to us and The Slanket. We appreciate your interest and you for taking the time out to drop us a note.
The facts are: We are the original for this type of product and have been making a quality Slanket backed with attentive customer service and appreciation for a few years now. This knock off is an extremely poor quality product. It is smaller, the material is half the weight, and is overall not something you would want laying around your living room.
The Slanket is much larger, and is 310gsm, which refers to the weight. This knock off is 170gsm. Besides the blatant product differences, I can assure you that the other company could care less about their customers and you will see this through the service you get, if you get any. We will always take care of you, from today on to the future. Having contacted us now, we now consider you part of the Slanket family and will always be available for anything you might need.
I hope I have answered your questions.
We wish a happy and healthy new year to you and your family,
Gary H. Clegg
SlanketLounginLLC
www.theslanket.com
