Quick Note

Anybody watch ESPN Motion? You can download the Software for free from ESPN.com. The reason I'm mentioning this is because today there was a clip from a meeting between Tracy McGrady and Roger Clemens.

First, McGrady schools Clemens in a quick game of PIG, which is to be expected. Then to even things out, McGrady steps in the batting cage for 3 swings against the Rocket. Guess what, McGrady shows Clemens up. He hits 2 out of the 3 pitches. It was awesome.

Just wanted to share that with the world because Clemens is pure evil... and yes, at one time I waited in line to shake his hand and get his autograph... but that was before he started worshipping the devil.

The Streetball Champs

Get ready for a super boring post, but I need a place to vent and this is it. You guessed it, I'm going to talk about fantasy basketball.

It really is amazing. Previously I mentioned that every week someone from my team gets injured. That statement is still holding true with Shaq going down last night. My team would be amazing if I could just keep people off the Injured Reserve list. Here's my list of injuries this year.

Shaq - Strained knee
Kobe - Sprained ankle
Al Harrington - Tendinitis in knee
Steve Nash - Some sort of back problem
Ben Wallace - Suspended for instigating the fight (yes, the fight)
Jim Jackson - Refused to play because he didn't like being traded. Now he's got a sprained ankle
James Posey - Strained right Achilles
Kerry Kittles - Degenerative disc in lower back
Richard Jefferson - Torn ligaments in wrist (out for season)
Charlie Ward - Knee contusion? Is this guy ever not injured?
Vlade Divac - Being way too old

Ok, Vlade Divac was never on my team, but the rest are true. I had to drop the last 4 players I listed because I couldn't take it anymore. Ward was on my team last year and I think he played 10 games total all season.

...and if you're wondering, I drafted Kobe first, then Shaq, then Nash, then Wallace, then Jefferson... and yes each of my first 5 draft picks have been on the bench at some point throughout the season.

Anyway, even with all my injuries (I say that like they really happened to me) I'm still managing a hold on 3rd place in our league. If Shaq can suck it up and play, then I think I can make a late season run for the title. I'm sure you guys can't wait to find out so I'll keep you posted.

...and if you're wondering, my team name is the Streelball Champs.

TV time

I just realized last night that since I began working, my time spent watching TV has skyrocketed. I started thinking about this and figured it's all because my brain needs more time to shut down. After working 9 hours throughout the day (yes, I work 9 hour days), I need to be able to stop my brain from retaining any more useful information. Zoning out in front of the TV for a couple of hours provides me with exactly what I need.

A great example of this is "The O.C." This is a show that I never would have imagined myself watching. However, it has an uncanny knack for allowing it's viewers to stop thinking completely. The show consists of lots of beautiful people (mostly in high school), fighting and making out with each other... and that's it. That's all you need to know to enjoy the show. I could probably write a lot more, but if I write anything else about "The O.C." I may need to check to make sure I'm not turning into a woman.

Let's change shows to "Lost". Was anybody else confused by last week's episode? Twice in the same episode they mentioned the phrase "and that's why the Red Sox will never win a championship."

...ah hem, cough, weeze, cough cough, a hem....deep breath.... ok.

Was this show really filmed that long ago? Didn't they have plenty of time to come up with a new line and re-shoot? Even if the Sox didn't win last year, the line still wouldn't have worked in the show. It just seemed forced and out of place. It's like the guy who wrote the show was a Yankee fan who just wanted to get in a cheap shot at Sox fans.

Ok, I'm probably thinking about this too much. I should probably get back to work. Although it is Friday and there is nobody here in my office... and I just spent an hour drafting an email to my boss requesting 2 weeks off within the next 2 months. I think I'll go check out what's new on Boreme.com.

More ramblings

The Sports Guy’s Ramblings yesterday have inspired me to do another round of random thoughts. Here we go.

Is it weird that I'm excited about Zooey Deschanel playing Trillian in the upcoming "Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy" movie that's coming out in May? Yeah, I thought so too.

I was watching “I Love the 90’s: Part 2” the other day and found out that the haircut I’ve had the last 15 years is called “The Caesar” and apparently it’s not cool anymore.

Every week one of the players on my fantasy basketball team gets hurt. It’s like clockwork. I'm not kidding, every single week.

One of the good things about XM radio is that I’m always hearing new music. Check out The Pushstars when you get a chance. They’ve got a sort of Counting Crows type sound. Very good.

Another thing about XM radio is that anytime I want to hear Usher, Mario, Lindsay Lohan, Jojo, Kelly Clarkson, J-Lo, Jesse McCartney, or Ryan Cabrera then I just change to channel 20 and one of them will be on. Yes, I realize it is very sad that I can ramble off those names off the top of my head.

Star Wars 3…. Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy…. War of the Worlds…. Harry Potter 4…. Indiana Jones 4…. Batman 4... Oh, I'm sorry, I was just getting excited again.

I’m setting the over/under for spam emails in my personal inbox to 175 on any given day.

My favorite quote of the week is Trot Nixon talking about A-sob:

“Like Rodriguez says, [he’s] running stairs at six in the morning while I’m sleeping and taking my kids to school… I’m like, well, I’m not a deadbeat dad, Alex… he’s got kids now too, so I guess he’ll have his limo driver take her to school.”

This is why I love the Red Sox.

Congrats to Wilco and the Pats!

Congrats to Wilco for winning the Grammy last night for Best Alternative Rock Album. It's so nice to see them recognised for the great work that they do. Have I mentioned that I'm a Wilco fan yet???

Also a huge congrats to the Patriots for winning the Super Bowl last weekend. If you read my gambling blog, you may have noticed that I didn't post a pick for the Super Bowl. That's because obviously I would have picked the Pats (who didn't cover by the way, so I picked wrongly) and I didn't want to give them any of my bad luck. It all worked out in the end because we can now offically call the Patriots a dynasty team. I already miss watching football. I watched the Pro Bowl (which I won 10 bucks by betting on the AFC), but it's not quite the same. The players don't care nearly as much (except for a select few), which makes it a lot less exciting. Also, Brady looked like he was about to pass out at any second, which was a little scary.

I am now turning most of my attention to the NCAA. I'll begin posting some of my favorite picks on Ryno's Picks. March Madness will be here soon!

I recently finished my first Homebrew which I'm calling Ryan's Nor'easter Ale. It turned out pretty good, but I think it may be a little low on alcohol content (probably 3 or 4%). I'm currently working on a Stout that as of now, I am calling Ryan's Snowstorm Stout. I'll let you know how it turns out.

Oh, and by the way... I hate Valentine's day.

Upcoming shows

I may not be going to see Wilco this year, but I am finally going to see Oasis. I've been an Oasis fan since 94' (or 95' but who can remember that long ago, honestly) and I've never gotten the chance to see them live. Friday, my buddies and I bought tickets to their show with Jet at Madison Square Garden. It's going to be awesome.

I also bought 27 tickets to Yankees games this coming season. You're probably wondering what is wrong with me, but trust me, there is nothing better than going to Yankee games and watching the crowd when the Yankees get crushed. I was at the 22-0 Indians/Yanks game last season and it was one of my highlights of the year. We won't talk about how much it costs to buy 27 Yankee tickets... if I say the Y-word one more time I give you permission to shoot me.

I may be going to the upcoming Nets/Heat game if I can convince any of my friends to go. Since everybody around here hates basketball, I may be out of luck.

I went to see a band called Spankin' the Freak on Friday night. Not bad for only 5 dollar admission. Also, we were the only people there, so we basically got our own personal show. During their rendition of "Fight For Your Right to Party", the lead singer went around our table and had us sing parts of the song. It was much fun. The band came over to us after the show and thanked us for coming and cheering for them.

Is there a possibility that I will be playing at Max's Stationhouse in the near future? Yes, yes there is. Tickets will be $20.... Just kidding, you'll get in for free... if it ever happens.

Wedding bets

I attended a wedding of a good friend of mine in Long Island last weekend. Great times all around. I started thinking about how there are tons of fun things to bet on at a wedding. Here are some of the things that I would have put money on this weekend.

Best Speech:
If the best man is also the brother of the groom, the he's probably the best bet here.

First guy to throw up:
I'm picking the guy who's chugging Johnny Walker doubles like it's his job. I should mention we had the best waiter in the history of waiters. I never got more than half way through my beer without the waiter bringing me another one. Bad news for the guy downing the whisky.

Number of times my date will dance with someone other than myself:
I would have set the over/under at about 4. Anybody picking over would have cleaned house. In all fairness she was the sister of the groom.

Number of times I would trip over the Bride's dress while on the dance floor:
You would think this would be a relatively low number. Maybe it would happen once, but you would have been way off. I had a whooping 3 times with a close call that could have been 4... and yes, I was drunk.

Number of Irish Jigs I would do:
If I were betting, then obviously I would have said 0, however the band was actually a 12-piece Irish band so I would have changed my bet to.... umm, still 0. I would have lost this one since I believe I was out there at least twice jumping on one leg and swinging my arms back and forth. Definitely a dance that becomes more enjoyable the more you drink. I'm just praying the video camera didn't catch any of it.

Number of times the groom's Mom would pull me into the dance circle:
Oh God, did that really happen? Oh God.

What time would I start to black out:
I didn't black out at all... ummm, yeah I'll stick to that story.

Superbowl Schedule

Lately I've been slacking off a lot and not posting very much. I've been way too busy spending tax-payer money and other miscellanious government activities that I'm not at liberty to talk about. Haha, that actually sounds like I do something important.

Anyway...

Superbowl XXXIX is coming up this weekend. I can't wait. My buddies and I are holding our Second Annual Ice Fishing Tournament / Superbowl party this Sunday. Here is our schedule for Sunday:

4:00am - Wake up

5:00am - Walk out on the ice (Lake Hopatcong)

5:02am - First beer of the day

8:00am - Realize we started drinking too early because we are already drunk

8:01am - Open next beer

10:00am - Start playing frozen fish baseball

11:00am - Start taking pictures of fish in compromising positions

11:00am to 3:00pm - Tends to be a blur. All I know is there will be lots of fish flying through the air. There's always the possibility of getting hit in the head with a Pickerel

3:00pm - Con one of our friends to drive us home

3:10pm - Pass out

6:00pm - Wake up and get ready for superbowl (getting ready consists of drinking more beer) and watching lots of pre-game stuff.

The rest of the night will feature some sort of ordered food, lots more beer, lots of chips and dip, and lots of yelling at the TV. It's the perfect recipe for a good time. I can't wait. Also, after the Superbowl is the premier of American Dad, the newest project from the creator of "Family Guy".

I also want to mention that I love XM radio. There are like 2000 sports channels and I've gotten to listen to all kinds of interviews and press conferences. Guess what, TO is going to play, but not the whole game and he won't be affective. There, I got that out of the way, now we can stop talking about it.