We need a playoff (again)

I feel like I wrote this post last year. I checked, though - I didn't. Odd.

This has been a good year in college football. I've enjoyed upset after upset after upset, without one dominant team truly standing out. It's been refreshing to watch.

Of course, it just further highlights the need for a playoff system. I've ranted a few times about a playoff system using the conference champions and at-large teams to fill a 16-team bracket, and to use existing bowls to make it happen. It could start after exams (in this case, Dec. 22nd) and still end in early January (in this case, Jan. 12, only 5 days after the actual BCS"championship).

11 conference champions give the small schools a chance, and the at-large bids give props to the really tough conferences like the SEC and Big 12 (at least, this year)

So, what would that yield?

ACC: VT or BC
Big 12: OU or Missouri
Big East: WV
Big 10: Ohio State
C-USA: UCF or Tulsa
MAC: Bowling Green
Mtn. West: BYU
Pac-10: Arizona State
Sun Belt: Troy
WAC: Hawaii
SEC: LSU or UT (but come on, UT is not winning this game - bastards, I hated Saturday's game. I fricking HATE Rocky Top. HATE HATE HATE.)

Use the current "ranking system to seed the teams and figure out the other 5 at-large teams. Right now, that would be:

Loser of Missouri/OU (both ranked high enough)
USC
Georgia
Kansas
Florida or BC/VT loser (close call)

Any way you sort them, this would result in a lot of really good games.

As it is, we'll have a bunch of meaningless bowl games in San Francisco, Boise, and Mobile, and only a couple of games that people will care about and a championship game which is not going to determine who really is the best team in the country.

You get what you pay for, I guess.

At least Georgia will get to go to Pasadena (probably) or Miami (maybe). It's a nice change of pace and a nice payday.

Now if I could only get free tickets and a package out.....

What a week

Well, it's been a fun week here.

After the whirlwind trip twelve days ago out west, we decided to stay in town for Thanksgiving.
We all woke up late (meaning, after 8 AM), and watched the Macy's parade together. We went over to the house of one of Alex's classmates, who also has a baby sister close to Sammie's age. We all had a good time, watching football, playing games, and having a great dinner. I did find it funny that all the kids stayed up really, really, REALLY late - as in, to the end of the Falcons game - and still wanted to keep going.

While Kim helped in the kitchen, I tried to corral all the kids in a separate wing of the house, out of the way of the kitchen. It worked for a while, as they were all up for reading books and then playing with trains. By the time they got bored, dinner was ready. Go me.

Of course, Sammie awoke around 6 AM on Friday, but eventually went back to sleep until about 10 AM. We did not indulge in any of the Black Friday hoopla, as we are sane people who do not like mobs. However, we did get to see a polar bear.

We decided to go downtown, to Centennial Park. I took Alex ice skating for the first time, and he loved it, even though he had absolutely no balance at all. We went to see Santa, and Alex was very happy, as you can tell by the picture. I would put up a picture of both kids, except that Sammie had the reaction of WHO THE HELL IS THIS??? AHHH, SCARY BEARD! MOMMY!!!!! so that picture didn't come out very well.

We went inside the World of Coke, as we haven't been inside the new site (and I haven't been since 1995). Once inside, we saw another of Coke's Christmas icons - the polar bear. There was someone dressed as a polar bear for the kids, and taking pictures. I don't have them developed yet, so they aren't here. Alex was thrilled, gave the bear a big bear hug, and sat nicely for pictures. Sammie looked up and thought WTF IS THAT???DADDY!!!!!! as she screamed her head off for us, again. Since Alex used to do this too, I'm not too worried.

Anyway, Alex had a lot of fun, and got to try soda for the first time. He actually didn't like it very much. It's very strange - he doesn't like soda, chocolate, or anything excessively sweet, but he will eat apples, bananas, melon, oranges, and any other fruit all....day.....long.

Saturday - slow day. Cleaning. Studying. Cursing out Kentucky for not finishing off Tennessee. More cleaning.

Sunday - a trip to the store. It's amazing what you make seem fun to a three-year old. He loves going to the store. He loves picking things off the shelves, putting things on the belt, and bringing in the groceries. I am hoping that I can convince him that mowing the lawn is even more fun when he's older.

Aside from that, more studying, paper-writing, and cleaning.

Monday - tax office, where I finished about 2/3 of my problem set (basically, training on the computer systems). I also got some more grades, including a perfect score from a presentation last week which gives me an A for now in that class. I came home, and kept doing schoolwork until 2 AM preparing for papers due Thursday in classes that I do not have A's in.

Today - Samantha turned one. We started the day with a doctor's appointment - her one year checkup, which meant a bunch of shots in the legs. She did not enjoy that. We made it up later, though, with cupcakes at school and muffins at home (which Alex helped make).

So, that's the week in a nutshell. Very low-key, but fun for the whole family.

Let's hope I am able to get my Thursday classes in better shape and keep my Monday classes where they are right now. Two and a half more weeks....

Happy Thanksgiving

Later.

Crank dat?

Hey, at least this mashup isn't using the assumed meanings of the phrases in the song. Which I'm not linking, any supposed meaning...you can find it yourself.

Back from the whirlwind

Well, the 44-hour cross-country extravaganza is over, and I'm back home.

It was an interesting trip, to say the least.

I learned again why I hate taxis so damn much. I really wish the monorail went all the way to the airport.

I learned Henderson is very boring.

I learned that it's very hard to sleep after dozing on a cross-country flight.

I learned that doing homework on this sort of trip is impossible.

I learned that I should never, ever, EVER step foot in the Flamingo again. I never run well on anything there, and probably never will.

I learned that it's very difficult to stay up all night when lugging a duffel bag around the Strip until your 8 AM flight departs.

Lastly, I learned that I should play poker in Vegas whenever I can, because OHMIGOD there is a lot of terrible play.

I went to Caesar's poker room, and it is definitely the nicest poker room I've ever seen. I was up and down and up and down thanks to the riverchasers at the table who kept sucking out on me - which is expected at 3/6, I've seen it enough times.

Best hand of the night: pocket 3's. I limped in late position, because everyone was getting in and I really wanted a good pot if I hit a set.

It's the best hand of the night because of the flop of 3-3-2.

DQB!!!!!!!

I finished up a couple bucks on the night, but it was an overall fun time. If we ever get the chance to do it up right, we'll stay there, because it's really, really, really nice.

As for work.....

I met with the CEO and about 10-12 other area developers and corporate folks. There were about 30 interested franchisees there - aside from myself and one woman from PA, everyone was from Utah, California, or Nevada. It lasted until about 3:00, so it got out a lot earlier than I thought it would.

I've got my UFOC, and materials, and supplemental docs to fill out....yay. But I have two problems:

1) Financing: Still trying to see if it's possible.
2) Timing: The enxt step, if I get financing, will be to go to Virginia Beach for 5 days of training in December. Unfortunately, on the fourth day of training, I have a final exam and a final presentation. While I could move the exam, I might not be able to move the presentation, so this could be a BIG problem.

To be continued.......

NOOOO!!!!!!!!

$8 million for Glavine to return to Atlanta in 2008.

I don't care if it's $5 million less than what he would have gotten as a Met, it's still too much.

And, of course, the article has the obligatory "Mike Hampton may return next year" line that's caused me to throw things at walls.

Ugh.

I'm ready for my close-up now

What Classic Movie Are You?
personality tests by similarminds.com

H/t to Jacks R OK.

Arrival

Safe and sound in Henderson, NV. I'm checked in before midnight, even - I'm shocked at the rapid pace I was able to get to the sirport, breeze through security, and get here. From school to hotel took approximately 8 hours - and I got to sleep for half of it.

Tomorrow, it's off to the Strip and NYNY to meet with John Hewitt, the CEO of Liberty Tax Services.

I should also hear from the bank.

Hope for the best!

So, no profit-sharing?

Bank of America Writes Down $3 Billion in Debt

Combined with the 15% drop in the stock price, I don't think the company will be Rewarding Success anytime soon.

Especially in GCIB.

Not that I'm gloating or anything.

Yes, I've been saving this post for a while. I've been very slow this months on posting items of interest, even though I'm not on strike.

On The Road

Well, it's done. My flight leaves in five and a half hours. I'll be back Saturday afternoon. I will probably post some from the road.

Let's hope this meeting goes well and I get some really, really good news for once!

Decisions

A couple of weeks ago, I wrote a post detailing a new possible job that looked extremely likely to happen. The more astute readers will realize that the post disappeared the day after I wrote it.

I took it down due to some complications arising with the position. Well, it now appears it's not too likely it will happen after all. Some things came up and it may not end up working out after all.

So now what? And why have I been barely posting for the past couple of weeks?

I did mention that I was taking tax classes for the past few weeks. However, a new opportunity might make itself available. There are two franchises within a few miles of my house which might be available for purchase at reduced rates, so it might be possible to own and operate one of those franchises at a discounted rate because the current owners want to get out.

I don't know if I'll able to pull off such a purchase. Since it's already November, I'd have to move fast to ensure a good flow of customers come January 2, and a good staff to handle them.

One interesting point, though, has arisen: In order to receive the UFOC (basically, a standard franchise offer), I'd have to attend one of their one-day gatherings this week, as well as a week-long stay in Virginia for all new franchisees in December.

There are only two sessions left, and I'd have to attend one of them to be considered.

One is in Dallas this Saturday, but I can't get a Skymiles flight or a Hilton or Holiday Inn room for my points so that won't work.

The other is on Friday in a city I am quite familiar with, and there ARE flights available that I can use my mileage (shockingly, because they are almost NEVER available). I'm trying to determine if I can do a hotel room, as I don't know where in the city the gathering would be......but I do love going there and there are rooms in Summerlin or Henderson, so it might work......

So, if any of you Sin City readers happen to be reading this, I might be dropping by your lovely town for a very, very short stay.

Hopefully, I can get some sort of good news about either franchising or the other position by Wednesday, as that's when I'd have to book the flight out.

If bth options fall through, I still have the option of working a lot of hours preparing returns during the season while taking a lot of classes (and maybe finishing the MBA in 2008 instead of 2009) and resuming a search in May when the Spring term and Maymester end.

I haven't mentioned my classes lately, so now's as good a time as any. I have 3 classes with A- or A and one class which is probably a B. Hopefully, the B will improve greatly with a final group presentation and final exam. I'm signed up for a whole bunch of classes next semester and will drop some of them depending on however I set my work schedule but it could be anywhere between 6 and 18 hours.

Bottom line: everything is just as crazy as it has been for the last several months, and I still have no idea what's going to happen next, and I'm still hoping things turn around for the better.

Keep your fingers crossed.....I'm hoping the merry-go-round stops soon and things get to an even keel soon so I can have some direction about what's next.

A good sleeping technique

Several nights this week, I've found myself actually going to bed at a decent hour instead of staying up to all hours studying, watching TV, etc.

The secret? Let a baby fall asleep on you or in your arm(s). Apparently, it's contagious because you will fall asleep soon after. Several times, I've fallen asleep with a baby on my chest, next to me, or in the crook of my arm.

I'll need to keep that in mind the next time I have one of my trouble-sleep spells.

Local Magnifying Glass

College Poker Life: Georgia State University

That is all.

Tagged

Looks like I'm it, thanks to Kaja (thanks for hosting yesterday)



A). Link to the person that tagged you and post the rules on your blog...

B). Share 7 random and/or weird facts about yourself...

C). Tag 7 random people at the end of your post and include links to their blogs...

D). Let each person know that they've been tagged by leaving a comment on their blog.



OK, here goes:



1) I've lived in only two states my entire life - New York and Georgia. I spent three weeks in New Jersey, but I'd rather not count that. I think most people who live in Jersey would want to do the same.



2) I have stared down an elk. Gotta love the Rocky Mountains in July, where you can see snow. Estes Park was very nice - and it gets really, really cold at 11,000 feet.



3) I did not start playing poker until 2002. I did not play in college, I did not play in high school. I did not play live for the first time until 2006, in a casino or a home game. My first trip was to New Orleans, which went pretty well. My Vegas play consists of about 20 minutes at Mandalay Bay and a weekly tourney at the Rio. Neither went well.



4) I've visited almost every state in the country, but only been out of the country once, just a few hours in Tijuana while in San Diego.



5) I changed my major eight times in college. I had to take 23 hours or some insane amount my last semester to finish out because I didn't want to get screwed with another semester of gigantic fucking loans. But, I finished a double-major in four years, despite all the switching.



6) I had my first drink and smoke at 15. I quit smoking cigarettes right before I got married but still smoke the occasional cigar. Even the crappy ones.



7) I still have the New York mentality in many ways. I hate stupid people, I want everyone in front of me or around me to hurry up or get out of the way, and I'd rather just take the subway if I could to go somewhere. I'm sure there are a lot of other ways - we'll see when we go next year.



I tag:



Cranky Conservative

Geek Soap Box

AlCantHang

Drawing Dead (if he can find a way to stop counting his winnings in Australia)

Surflexus

Riggstad's Nut Straight

Mellow Cotton