Hockey 9/11 - Thursday League - Championship Game

Game 3 of the playoffs
I've been in 4 championships in hockey and lost them all
no goals, no assists
the kids were amazing - we were down 5-0 to start, we won 8-6

my first championship in inline hockey - I got a t-shirt

referees were HORRIBLE as usual

Hockey 9/11 - Thursday League

Game 2 of playoffs
no goals, no assists
played D
played with the kids and John the goalie
we lead the game 5-2 quickly and then we were losing in the third 7-6
but we won 8-7
1 penalty for "kicking" although the ref admitted he wasn't sure if "kicking" was even a penalty
we played at 9 for the championship game

Foam Biot Emerger

Hey Scott - I figured I'd make a post for you on one of my favorite patterns to tie - I haven't had a chance to fish it yet. Someone gave it to me in a fly swap and I liked it a lot - I tie it slightly different with wire rather than a biot - but it is essentially the same thing.




I tie these in multiple colors - olive, grey, brown, tan, black - might even try red. I mix and match the color of the body and the the color of the antron. For instance I might use an olive body and white antron - or olive body and brown antron.

I assume you would fish it behind a dry as a dropper, or you could fish a couple of these unweighted as nymphs.

Send me your address and I will send you a few to try - my email is brandon722@yahoo.com

Steelers look good!!!

I'm impressed - simply impressed.  The Steelers looked amazing - offense was super efficient, while the defense was stifling.  The hits were hard, whether it is the offense slamming into guys or the defense slamming Schaub in the dirt - the team played smash mouth football. 

These are my observations:

Heath Miller - I have so much man love for this guy - he catches everything, and he stretchs out the defense because they can't handle him.  Ben has so much trust in him that he knows Miller will catch anything and get the first down.  Oh, and the guy can not be tackled by one tackler - he carries two or three guys with him.

Aaron Smith - it's great to have you back. Seriously - the guy was filling holes and in on a lot of pressures and tackles. I saw him sprint out on a screen and disrupt the play as well - nicely done. Welcome back big guy - we missed you.

Ryan Clark is a hitter - he slams into the run and whacks receivers constantly.  He went out hurt in the game, but came back to bitch slap a guy later on.  Yes he got a penalty late in the game, but it would have been a TD had he not.  We missed his presence last season.

The OL was tough. Mario Williams beat Smith once but MW is awesome. Williams was invisible after the first quarter though. The OL got better as the game went on. 

The LBs are unreal. We will easily lead the league in sacks - although I think they didn't try rushing all the time.  The pressure is amazing - the LBs were everywhere and physical.  Farrior is an animal - and Woodley will be the AFC defender of the week.

Ben had only we completions and 137 yards - but he was money. No mistakes, nothing fancy, accurate passing, don't do too much. Smart smart smart.

ST were good - no mistakes, nothing fancy.

Hines Ward is amazing.  He got a BS penalty on a PI against a LB who was grabbing him.  But he did manage 2 TDs. He just keeps smilin'.

FWP is simply an amazing back - somehow he had 130+ yards and 3 TDs.  He had a nice 30 yard run at the end of the game - then he came out and Mendenhall came in. 

Mendy looked mediocre - but I'm gald he got a chance to play. He'll give FWP a nice rest.  I would have liked to see the Steelers throw him (or any other RB) a pass.

I feel bad for that rookie left tackle for the Texans.

Reed is money.

Tomlin is money.

1-0, bring on the Clowns.

Flies to Tie this Winter

These are the flies I have to tie this winter:

RS2

Killer Midges

Mercury Midge

Black Mercury Midge

Black Beauty

WD40

Chironomid Bomber

Zebra Midge

Pheasant Tails - with legs

Copper Johns

Skinny Nelson Flashback

Scud/Czech

Baetis Emerger

Ultra Prince

Tricos

Hare's Ear - Olive

Green Machines


Larva

More to come....

Hockey 9/4 - Thursday League

first playoff game
no goals, no assists
played D
played with the kids
John was the goalie
played against Chris the goalie
Chris stoned me 4 times - one went off his hand then post then hand again and fell at his feet
won 11-2

Manny again!

I turned my Red Sox calendar to September today and there he was - Manny Frickin' Ramirez. I don't want to have to look at him all month. Bad enough he's hitting something like .450 with 10 HRs since leaving - which is a joke - because it just shows he wasn't really trying in Boston. The best part is? Even if he hit 1.000 he couldn't get those Dodgers into the playoffs!!

Poker

Played Poker at Johnnies last night - came in first place - won $100 out of 10 people.

Hockey 8/29 - Thursday League

nothing
played D
played with the kids
John was the goalie
Played against Scott the goalie - probably one of the only goalies I have not scored against.
Lost 9-5

Friday, August 22 - Saturday, August 23, 2008 - Colorado River Liver Abuse Festival - Lone Buck Camping Area

Friday, August 22 - Saturday, August 23, 2008 - Colorado River Liver Abuse Festival - Lone Buck Camping Area

Kyner, Cabo and I attended the LAF this year (my first time) by driving up on Friday night, arriving at 7pm. We set up the camper quickly, said hello to some of the other attendees and headed to the water to fish the Parshall hole for an hour or so. I have fished this area a bunch of times, but never the Parshall hole. The Hole is amazing - a long chest deep rifle that is prime trout water - especially for nymphers.

Kyner took a bunch of pictures, and even caught a couple of nice trout. I hooked a few, but only landed one 14 inch brown trout. It got dark quickly and I couldn't see to tie on a streamer, so we called it a night. The bugs were furosious, even after dark!

The night's festivities included me trying to cook sausages over a roaring fire! No luck, so I went back to the camper and set up the stove. I ate and fed the dog half of it and headed back to the camp fire. The guys (and Kelly - the lone girl) were whooping it up - including Kyner doing a little dance to IanB and Old Frat playing the guitar and singing. Kyner drank more than a 12 pack of Coors Light tall boys and everyone had a pretty good time. Cabo and I called it a night first around 12:30am, Kyner crashed back at the camper closer to 2am.

We got a late start on Saturday - on the river just after 9am. We drove by the Parshall Hole again and there was at least 10 cars in the lot. We decided to move up a bit, another mile or so to a spot I can't remember. The river was wide and never over waist deep. Kyner hooked into a thick rainbow right away and I hooked a 6 inch brown. We moved down quite a ways, but I didn't even get a hook up the rest of the way. The fish were keying on trico spinners - there were clouds of them moving up and down the river. I didn't have my dry fly box with me, but I had a little caddis that I tried - to no avail. Kyner managed another nice rainbow further down river.

It was hot and we were ready to move on. We headed back to the parking lot and met up with Zackdog who was ready to go down and fish the same spot. We moved back to the Parshall Hole and met up with most of the gang. We chatted for a while and then headed up to the confluence of the Williams Fork. The Parshall Hole was completely full. I had never been to the confluence, so it was nice to sneak a peek. There are some nice holes in that area, including the Cable Hole and the Confluence Hole. We crossed over to the other side and fished down the Willy. I hooked and almost landed a small brown right off the bat - it was a pretty yellow/brown color of about 13 inches.

I didn't have much luck on the Willy, I did however fall into the river in a spot that looked shallow but was much deeper. I was trying to stay within the river bank and not cross the barbed wire fence. I bit it into the river and lost my breathe for a second until I realized I was taking on water. I had a ton of water in my shirt and more in my waders. Luckily there was a nice breeze and it was hot, so I dried out quickly. Of course there was a huge black cloud blowing in with some thunder and soon the wind kicked up and we got hit with some big drops. Cabo and I met up with Kyner and got out of there.

Back at the Parshall Hole (where you walk into the Willy from) we met up with the gang. We fished the area by the island split and I hooked into a nice 16 inch brown that fought well. Kyner got a cool picture of me the fish and dog. We fished the deep hole on the far side and landed a couple of other fish, including a nice fat colorful rainbow for Kyner.

We hung out a little while longer chatting - then decided to call it quits. We headed back to the campground, broke down the camper and headed home. I was home around 6:15pm. It was a fun trip and although I didn't catch many fish, it was good meeting everyone and getting the chance to fish.

 

 

 

Friday, August 22 - Saturday, August 23, 2008 - Colorado River Liver Abuse Festival - Lone Buck Camping Area

 

 

 

 

Hockey 8/21 - Thursday League

1 goal
played with the kids
played against Chris the goalie
played defense
I scored off him and while skating away to the faceoff circle he clunked me in the head with a long fling of the puck - what an amazing 1 in a million shot
we won 9-1

Hockey 8/19 - Tuesday League

zipped
played basically my same team from Thursday nights - all the young kids
Played with Chris the goali e- who played his best game ever
lost 9-0

Summer Vacation - Boston & Narragansett

We returned from our summer vacation last night at 2am. We had a great trip back east but are glad to be home, and are just about ready to go to bed early.

We started our trip by flying out on Tuesday, August 5th by flying out at 11:30 pm - which is pretty late - however, Avi does really well on the over night flights and she slept like a baby. Wednesday mroning we got in at 5 and were at Poppy's at 7 and napping by 7:30am. We got up around noon and had a nice chat with Poppy and then were on our way to Narragansett. We stopped in Foxboro at the Bass Pro Shop and picked up a fishing rod for me. We then made our way to Narragensett around 3:30.


Everyone was there and it was good to see everyone. We played it cool that night and just visited - but I wanted to go fishing! The next morning the boys got up and tried our luck out on the docks - not much luck other than a few pogies and a fluke. We did have a good time though and it was a lot like our fishing expeditions of two years ago - minus the stripers of course.

We had chowder that night and it was good. Thursday and the weekend were a bit of a blur - but we all tried fishing again, went clamming one day (although I didn't do much clamming) and even hit up some crabbing as well. We couldn't find a blue crab anywhere! The girls all hit the beaches with Avi and even hit the cove out by Point Judith lighthouse. The weather was hot and balmy with the occassional thunderstorm thrown in. We ate well - doing 10 lobsters one night, and then a dozen crabs and chowder another night. Monday Jen, Avi, Michelle and I met Dale, Hillary and Luke at the PawSox game in Pawtucket - it was a chance to break up the week and do something fun. Of course it was storm before the game too, but the game was played and we all had a good time.



Tuesday was Avelyn's birthday and we had the whole gang there - including my Mom and Dad who came up from Raleigh, and down from Boston to see her. It was a nice birthday and Avi had fun being the center of attention.

I kept busy fishing and clamming and crabbing - and eating my share as well - we did another 12 lobsters on Wednesday and more crabs on Thursday. I snuck out for some fishing on Thursday and managed a few more fish - a nice little black seabass and 4 searobins. The searobins were really cool - and they "barked" at me when they were sitting on the docks waiting to get unhooked. I had a blast chatting with the lobster guys and doing my own thing.




We spent Firday driving to Connecticut to see Jennifer's grandpa and then back to Boston to see the Red Sox. We got to the game about 30 minutes early and sat in the rain - about an hour and a half later they finally called it a rain out - and we headed home. It sucked that Avi and Poppy couldn't see the game - it would have been fun. Saturday we went to see some college friends who live in the area, then we rushed to the airport and landed around midnight - we were in bed just after 2am on Sunday morning.

It was a great trip - very relaxing and fun. It is very good to be home however.

Softball 7/31 - Thursday League

2-3, 2 doubles, fly out deep
first game of playoffs
I was secret squirrel - didn't play defense in 1st inning, and of course the first ball is hit to LC and is dropped - other team got 1 run off it
won 22-2 in 3 innings
no defensive plays in 2 innings
I USED THE GOLD BAT! which means nothing to you, but I hit two balls to RC which I have never done in my life.

Hockey 7/31 - Thursday League

1 goal, 1 assist
played with John the goalie an dthe kids
won 12-3

Manny Ramirez an LA Dodger

Good ridance!

Manny was dealt with Brandon Moss and Craig Hansen in a three team deal for Jason Bay of the Pirates. The Sox seem to have given up a lot in order to rid themselves of Manny the cancer. Moss would never have been a regular in Boston, and was unnecessary because the Sox will have 4 OFs in Crisp, Ellsbury, Bay and Drew. Hansen wasn't showing any real progress. having seen him a few times on TV, he had amazing stuff some games and then would lose it - he gave up something like 16 base runners in his past 5 innings - which is attrocious. So, those two being moved is hardly a worry.



Bay for Manny is a plus for the Sox. Bay is under the Red Sox control through the 2009 season and only costs $7.5M next season. Although the Sox would not have picked up the $20M option on Manny, now they have a position filled and $12.5M to use on other areas (C, RP, another ace - which they should have tried to get one of at the deadline as well).

Manny spent 8 years with the Sox, and none were without his challenges. The Sox were over gracious in their dealings with Manny, and finally Manny forced his way out. He is quirky, happy go lucky and rich - but that doesn't make him any less of an ass. He has been a cancer to this organization and a cancer to his teammates. Any player that loafs and doesn't appreciate his $20M salary doesn't deserve to be playing a "game" for money. I hope Manny does poorly in LA and I hope he kills his opportunity at making a huge contract for next season.

Good ridance and good bye - I hope the door know left a nice mark in your ass on the way out. As Fitzy would say - Manny GFY!

My (former) Baseball Card Fetish

When I was a kid I was a freak about baseball cards. Sure, I dabbled in hockey/basketball/football cards, but I lived on baseball cards. That is probably the number 1 reason why I am in finance and a numbers geek. I love stats, I love averages, deviations, means, everything about numbers. I'm not a Sabermetrics guy, which surprises me, but I love prediciting and forecasting stats.

I have started looking at some of my cards over the past couple of weeks and thinking about my favorite set (1985 Topps) and it got me thinking about cataloging my cards and reminiscing about all the cards I used to have. Back before I moved out to Colorado I sold 100's of thousands of cards on eBay to make my collection a little more portable. I have about two to three thousand left - and most are worth more than commons (although some are just personal favorites or complete sets).

I also started last night cataloging my cards in Microsoft Access - I'll probably start looking for want lists online and start contacting collectors and trying to find good homes (at a price) for my existing cards.

But the internet has become such a great tool - and I was scanning it to find cool sites that show the cards from my era (1970-1990). I have found a bunch - check them out:

The Baseball Card Project - pics of all your cards in one spot. From the creator of the baseball cube, comes an awesome site that I myself wanted to start (but don't have the time or energy). Help him complete lots of sets and make this a more complete database!

The Baseball Card Blog - this is a cool site that does reviews on older sets, that does a six pack habit where they open six packs of cards and analyze the cards inside.

The Ugly Baseball Card Blog - a funny look at those cards we loved.

1988 Topps Blog - a day by day card by card look at the 1988 Topps set.

A Pack a Day Blog - it ain't cigarettes, but it is just as tough to quit! Who needs Starbucks.

The Completist - Wax Heaven - just a casual look at baseball cards or today (and sometimes yesterday).

Squeeze Play Cards - fun site.

Fielder's Choice Baseball Card Blog - another addict.

These are just some sites that I peruse. I think they are fun to look at - although all the new sets are a bit overwhelming. Which is why I stick to the older sets.

It amazes me to think that rookie cards are worth hundreds of dollars straight out of the pack. When a guy has a whole career to fall on his face, after a great rookie season (or maybe he hasn't even played yet!) that seems like quite a leap. Especially after my hall of famer rookie cards hardly change and they already have proven themselves! And although I somewhat believe that the circulation of a card has an exponential relationship to the value - I have trouble believing some of the prices that an "excellent" rookie card of a HOFer gets when I highly doubt there are 200 or so in that condition of that very card. The non-mint stuff has to be worth more than they are being sold for on eBay. Sorry, but I don't get the price of these cards. If it was a 1973 car it would be priceless - but a 35 year old baseball card is just so-so in value? Whatever.

And don't get me started on grading! That's for another time.

Well, I just wanted to get something in writing here on some of the cool baseball card sites I have found. Mission accomplished.

MLB Trade Deadline

I can not believe I am going to say this - but thank God it is almost here - I can't take reading the 28 pages + on SOSH about the Manny deal that is dead/alive. Just trade him already, he makes me sick.

Hockey 7/29 - Tuesday League

2 goals
subbed for Andy
played D
played with Chris the goalie
played against the NetSeakers - they are the team with the kid I called a penalty on when I was reffing and he flipped out - but in a good way, he is not even a dirty player - I still feel guilty about calling that penalty
drew two tripping penalties - I would have had breakaways on each
played crappy D - we had 5 defensemen
won 8-5