As always, me and my friend Art did a NCAA toruney auction for the 64(65) teams in the tourney. We have had a few weak years, but overall, we have done surprisingly well, and I had no reason to doubt this year would be any different. Our strategy is somewhat simple....we presume we don't know near as much as the people who seed the field. Also, we presume that past success from how seeds have performed can help dictate future results.
However, even though we were one of the most active bidding coalitions, we failed to secure very many teams. The 'best' teams we got were Marquette and Oklahoma. often it would come down to us and some other random team, and the other team would go the extra step to shut us down. So, teams we bid a fortune on, like UCLA, Kansas, Memphis, Pittsburgh, Tennessee and Xavier were taken away from us via different teams. Man, that sucks. An interesting note is, if I had a chance to do it over, we would've paid more for Kansas and UCLA, so, it'll be interesting to see how those two teams do and see if we would've taken a bath.
I also think Notre Dame has 2 good possible opponents for it's first 2 games, but I can not see a Irish victory of North Carolina. Maybe someone will upset them and the Irish will prevail!! I suppose the Irish can shoot the daylights out, and that gives them hope, but I think I prefer the aggressive Luke Harangody will carry us and we'll seal it with free throws down the stretch approach.
When I filled out my bracket, I had Kansas defeating UCLA in the finals, and the rest of the final 4 was North Carolina and Marquette. Yeah, I let my auction teams effect my selection...sue me.
Thursday, March 20, 2008
Wednesday, March 12, 2008
Colts Cap Space
Was reading an interesting article talking about cap space, and it never occurred to me that Colts would be under it?!? It seems like we sign every star on our team to a huge contract every week. it got me wondering what player would be cool to sign....An interior defensive lineman, a good run stopper...that'd be good. The only other thing would be some depth for pass rush, to spell our two awesome guys. Well, maybe a kick off dude, but Vinatieri at the end of the year had apparently rested his leg, cause he was booming them late in the year.
I just got done watching the tv miniseries Shogun, which I got via Netflix. I had read the book a few times, (James Clavell has got serious writing game), and figured what the hay. What a great miniseries, but dang, if I hadn't read the book, it'd be dang hard to figure out what the hell is going on. All the dialogue is in Japanese, well, most of it, and no subtitles. If you turn on subtitles, it only subtitles the part in English!! However, it is still dang good, and probably the whole can't understand thing is good for presenting the story so you feel for Anjin-san. After each disk of the 4 part set, I was walking around the basement talking in fake Japanese.
Sharon was watching one of them with me, and two of the characters do the Japansese Tea Ceremony. Sharon said they were doing the "Karate Kid Ceremony, which it will be forever now known as." I wonder if when they made Karate Kid II they realized they were forever changing it....probably not. MIAGI!! (That was in Kato voice)
I just got done watching the tv miniseries Shogun, which I got via Netflix. I had read the book a few times, (James Clavell has got serious writing game), and figured what the hay. What a great miniseries, but dang, if I hadn't read the book, it'd be dang hard to figure out what the hell is going on. All the dialogue is in Japanese, well, most of it, and no subtitles. If you turn on subtitles, it only subtitles the part in English!! However, it is still dang good, and probably the whole can't understand thing is good for presenting the story so you feel for Anjin-san. After each disk of the 4 part set, I was walking around the basement talking in fake Japanese.
Sharon was watching one of them with me, and two of the characters do the Japansese Tea Ceremony. Sharon said they were doing the "Karate Kid Ceremony, which it will be forever now known as." I wonder if when they made Karate Kid II they realized they were forever changing it....probably not. MIAGI!! (That was in Kato voice)
Everquest Stuff
Hey, important news....Staten Island hit level 80 yesterday!! I know, I know....earth shattering stuff and all.
On a somewhat interesting note, I was in a Maiden's Group yesterday, when Staten hit level 80. I actually had one of my lvl 80 spells at master waiting for me, Repent. (Probably about the best spell I got now on that dude) I also had some gear upgrades that weren't wearable til I hit 80. Anyhoo, we were able to clear most of Maidens with no enchanter, including Drusella and the sisters...but we weren't able to do the Sandstorm guy. However, being the sport that I am, I logged my Illusionist, Faker, on, used him to help kill Sandstorm, and then bring back Staten for the Final scorpion dude. Hmmm, occurs to me none of you will know what the hell I am talking about.
Ok....Maidens is what is called an instance. An instance is a dungeon, that a group can go into, but it is only created on the spot for THAT group. If another group enters Maidens at the same time, they will go into a different Maidens instance. So, while you can do the dungeon with your group, you won't be running into any other groups while you are at it. Generally, as you kill things in an instance, they never come back. So, if you clear an area, you can be safe. Maiden's is one of those...once dead....stays dead.
There are 6 "named" in Maidens, and some must be killed to reach oth
ers. A Named monster is one that generally has the best loot, and are generally bigger, tougher, cooler looking, than the "trash" counterparts. Let me see if I can root up some pictures....(well, was sort of successful)Anyway, think of trash as being the run of the mill mosters you fight a horde of, and the named as being the bosses. When you first enter the zone, you fight some trash, including these two side by side dudes facing each other. Remember, those big dues are just trash, just trying to give you a feel.
Oh, one more thing about trash. When you fight any kind of trash, generally, every battle is exactly the same. The tank either charges them, or pulls them somewhere, often times so he is up against a wall, the monster facing him, and everyone else behind the evil beastie. The tank keeps his attention, the mobs ONLY damages the tank, the healer(s) only heal the tank, and the damage people kill the mob.
Bi'lithu of the Old Ways
See, that's how you can tell he's a named, he has a NAME. (Takes years of studying to become a true Everquest ex
pert, I tell you) The picture to the left is the best I could come up with, as my friend Zgog would say, a flying sperm monster. He, like most of the bosses in Maiden's, has his own little trick. His trick is at 75%, 50%, and 25% left in his health, he teleports everyone in the group to his room. He puts an incurable trauma on a basically random amount of people, and it is in essence a bomb that goes off, huring that person and people around them. So, when we all get teleported, we all scatter like the winds, in order to get out of range of each others bombs, and once they go off, we regroup and get back together and get ready for the next teleport/explosion. Until we figured out the trauma bomb thing, he was kicking our butts like we stole something from him, now he isn't so bad. Killing him allows you to flip the lever and progress through to the rest of the zone.
Sandstorm:
I couldn't find a picture close enough for Sandstorm, but he is basically a big golem dude made up of.....a grainy yellow/orange substance....best described as...hmmm....Sand. Anyway, this guy is a beast, and at this second, the absolute toughest guy in the freaking zone. (Which is weird, since he is the 2nd named) His trick is, he does a 20 second stoneskin at various times in the battle. (Stoneskin means he is impervious to all damage....whatsoever) When he goes into stoneskin mode, he immediately summons 2 sand dude lackeys, that hit hard as heck, and generally beat the the crap out of people. After some time, like 45 seconds, he stoneskins again, summons 2 more.....you get the drift. Generally, we have an enchanter, like my boy Faker, mezmorize the lackeys. The rest of the group concentrates on the sandstorm, while the enchanter keeps the 2 initial, and any subsequent lackeys, from doing anything. I'm not the greatest enchanter ever, but I'm not bad. This fight is more a product of complete luck and not having my/whomever spells resisted. Killing him allows you to raise the prison to the scorpion guy.
Gear of the Ancients:
I swear, SoE throws in this named as a reward for getting this far, because this guy is a total pushover. I mean, he hits harder than trash, some, but he doesn't do anything weird. Just charge in, start beating on him, that's about it. I couldn't find a picture of him either, but since he completely sucks, who cares. Killing him allows the pit elevator to function.
Impaler Tzilug:
Not only does he have the coolest name, he is the most lucrative name to kill, since killing him completes the Anaphylaxis quest, which means you get to choose an awesom
e weapon....like the Staff of the Impaler, which both Manratten and Faker both use. (And a cool sounding name...Staff of the Impaler...) He looks like a half human, half scorpion dude. Like a centaur thing, if you are familiar with them, except instead of legs of a horse...legs of a scorp. Like the guy pictured...just bigger. His trick is that he puts a curable noxious on people, and if it isn't cured in like 3-4 seconds, it is certain death. Since a cure takes just under 1 second to happen, you have 2-3 seconds to notice it and cure it. This is the kind of 'split second' ability that separates us experts. (You'd be surprised at how many healer's can't seem to cure this thing in time, was ready to kill someone) Anyway, that's it...cure that noxious every so often and the dude is dust.
Ok...breaking news....in the middle of typing this, I just found out my boss went to the Big East tournament....wtf!! Noone asked me. Remember me!?! Notre Dame #3 seed in Big East tourney, and I don't get to go?!? Oh wait, just remembered, the tickets are like 3.2 million dollars.
Thera'ta, Xe'ziza, and Derzitha (the sisters):
Ok...the sisters used to be a total nightmare, but now they aren't so tough. In essence, they all do mammoth damage, but you can only mez/root one of them. So, we mez/root Derzitha, and then beat the crap out of Thera'ta and then Xe'ziza. That in essence is the 'trick', but mostly it involves killed Thera'ta as fast as humanly possible. Really no big deal if everyone level 80 and awake at keyboard. Couldn't find a picture, but they don't look all that cool anyway.
Drusella.
Drusella is the boss of Maidens, and drops the best loot. Probably about the best loot you can get without raiding is found right here, like the Robe of Royalty Manratten is wearing. Anyway, her trick is that she goes into a shield stance like every 20 seconds, and anyone who hits her whatsoever during that time heals her....ALOT. So, you just hit her some, everyone stops attacking, she goes into defense mode, we stand around, she comes out, we start up attacking again. Fight takes forever, she heals every so often because most people playing everquest2 pretty much suck, and after awhile she dies. A typical named fight takes 1:30, this fight takes like 12 minutes. This is alot like a raid mob, in that raid mobs often take strategy and execution far more than raw power, but I got to tell you, I am sick of doing it with different people whom have never done it....spend too much time explaining what to do.
Ok...more breaking news...Just got a text message joke from Sharon.
Why did Governor Spitzer go to a prostitute instead of his wife?
Because his wife is a Spitzer, not a swallower.
On a somewhat interesting note, I was in a Maiden's Group yesterday, when Staten hit level 80. I actually had one of my lvl 80 spells at master waiting for me, Repent. (Probably about the best spell I got now on that dude) I also had some gear upgrades that weren't wearable til I hit 80. Anyhoo, we were able to clear most of Maidens with no enchanter, including Drusella and the sisters...but we weren't able to do the Sandstorm guy. However, being the sport that I am, I logged my Illusionist, Faker, on, used him to help kill Sandstorm, and then bring back Staten for the Final scorpion dude. Hmmm, occurs to me none of you will know what the hell I am talking about.
Ok....Maidens is what is called an instance. An instance is a dungeon, that a group can go into, but it is only created on the spot for THAT group. If another group enters Maidens at the same time, they will go into a different Maidens instance. So, while you can do the dungeon with your group, you won't be running into any other groups while you are at it. Generally, as you kill things in an instance, they never come back. So, if you clear an area, you can be safe. Maiden's is one of those...once dead....stays dead.
There are 6 "named" in Maidens, and some must be killed to reach oth
ers. A Named monster is one that generally has the best loot, and are generally bigger, tougher, cooler looking, than the "trash" counterparts. Let me see if I can root up some pictures....(well, was sort of successful)Anyway, think of trash as being the run of the mill mosters you fight a horde of, and the named as being the bosses. When you first enter the zone, you fight some trash, including these two side by side dudes facing each other. Remember, those big dues are just trash, just trying to give you a feel.Oh, one more thing about trash. When you fight any kind of trash, generally, every battle is exactly the same. The tank either charges them, or pulls them somewhere, often times so he is up against a wall, the monster facing him, and everyone else behind the evil beastie. The tank keeps his attention, the mobs ONLY damages the tank, the healer(s) only heal the tank, and the damage people kill the mob.
Bi'lithu of the Old Ways
See, that's how you can tell he's a named, he has a NAME. (Takes years of studying to become a true Everquest ex
pert, I tell you) The picture to the left is the best I could come up with, as my friend Zgog would say, a flying sperm monster. He, like most of the bosses in Maiden's, has his own little trick. His trick is at 75%, 50%, and 25% left in his health, he teleports everyone in the group to his room. He puts an incurable trauma on a basically random amount of people, and it is in essence a bomb that goes off, huring that person and people around them. So, when we all get teleported, we all scatter like the winds, in order to get out of range of each others bombs, and once they go off, we regroup and get back together and get ready for the next teleport/explosion. Until we figured out the trauma bomb thing, he was kicking our butts like we stole something from him, now he isn't so bad. Killing him allows you to flip the lever and progress through to the rest of the zone.Sandstorm:
I couldn't find a picture close enough for Sandstorm, but he is basically a big golem dude made up of.....a grainy yellow/orange substance....best described as...hmmm....Sand. Anyway, this guy is a beast, and at this second, the absolute toughest guy in the freaking zone. (Which is weird, since he is the 2nd named) His trick is, he does a 20 second stoneskin at various times in the battle. (Stoneskin means he is impervious to all damage....whatsoever) When he goes into stoneskin mode, he immediately summons 2 sand dude lackeys, that hit hard as heck, and generally beat the the crap out of people. After some time, like 45 seconds, he stoneskins again, summons 2 more.....you get the drift. Generally, we have an enchanter, like my boy Faker, mezmorize the lackeys. The rest of the group concentrates on the sandstorm, while the enchanter keeps the 2 initial, and any subsequent lackeys, from doing anything. I'm not the greatest enchanter ever, but I'm not bad. This fight is more a product of complete luck and not having my/whomever spells resisted. Killing him allows you to raise the prison to the scorpion guy.
Gear of the Ancients:
I swear, SoE throws in this named as a reward for getting this far, because this guy is a total pushover. I mean, he hits harder than trash, some, but he doesn't do anything weird. Just charge in, start beating on him, that's about it. I couldn't find a picture of him either, but since he completely sucks, who cares. Killing him allows the pit elevator to function.
Impaler Tzilug:
Not only does he have the coolest name, he is the most lucrative name to kill, since killing him completes the Anaphylaxis quest, which means you get to choose an awesom
e weapon....like the Staff of the Impaler, which both Manratten and Faker both use. (And a cool sounding name...Staff of the Impaler...) He looks like a half human, half scorpion dude. Like a centaur thing, if you are familiar with them, except instead of legs of a horse...legs of a scorp. Like the guy pictured...just bigger. His trick is that he puts a curable noxious on people, and if it isn't cured in like 3-4 seconds, it is certain death. Since a cure takes just under 1 second to happen, you have 2-3 seconds to notice it and cure it. This is the kind of 'split second' ability that separates us experts. (You'd be surprised at how many healer's can't seem to cure this thing in time, was ready to kill someone) Anyway, that's it...cure that noxious every so often and the dude is dust.Ok...breaking news....in the middle of typing this, I just found out my boss went to the Big East tournament....wtf!! Noone asked me. Remember me!?! Notre Dame #3 seed in Big East tourney, and I don't get to go?!? Oh wait, just remembered, the tickets are like 3.2 million dollars.
Thera'ta, Xe'ziza, and Derzitha (the sisters):
Ok...the sisters used to be a total nightmare, but now they aren't so tough. In essence, they all do mammoth damage, but you can only mez/root one of them. So, we mez/root Derzitha, and then beat the crap out of Thera'ta and then Xe'ziza. That in essence is the 'trick', but mostly it involves killed Thera'ta as fast as humanly possible. Really no big deal if everyone level 80 and awake at keyboard. Couldn't find a picture, but they don't look all that cool anyway.
Drusella.
Drusella is the boss of Maidens, and drops the best loot. Probably about the best loot you can get without raiding is found right here, like the Robe of Royalty Manratten is wearing. Anyway, her trick is that she goes into a shield stance like every 20 seconds, and anyone who hits her whatsoever during that time heals her....ALOT. So, you just hit her some, everyone stops attacking, she goes into defense mode, we stand around, she comes out, we start up attacking again. Fight takes forever, she heals every so often because most people playing everquest2 pretty much suck, and after awhile she dies. A typical named fight takes 1:30, this fight takes like 12 minutes. This is alot like a raid mob, in that raid mobs often take strategy and execution far more than raw power, but I got to tell you, I am sick of doing it with different people whom have never done it....spend too much time explaining what to do.
Ok...more breaking news...Just got a text message joke from Sharon.
Why did Governor Spitzer go to a prostitute instead of his wife?
Because his wife is a Spitzer, not a swallower.
Wednesday, March 5, 2008
Favre has had enough
I was watching Mike and Mike this morning, and they talked alot about where Favre ranked in the scheme of things. Was interesting, and different people will rank QBs based on dif things, but I certainly agree with Greeney on this point....How can anyone rank Marino in front of Favre? I mean, want to say Montana has more championships, fine. Want to say the combination of Elways career with his two late SBs, ok. Hell, want to say Jim Kelly with 4 Sbs in a row...ok, whatever. (I'm not saying I agree with this, just saying you can argue dif ways) The only way I can see arguing for Marino is with raw numbers, and since Favre has more, (And a championship), I guess I don't get it. Any Marino fans out there that can clear this up?
(That said...Manning is far better than those guys regardless)
On the Everquest2 front, a group of guildies, (including me playing Staten), was able to clear Maidens, the toughest single group instance in the game. Wasn't exactly flawless, as I died a few times, but we got it done. I scored zero loot personally, and pretty much everything that dropped was pretty lame. Maybe we'll do better tomorrow.
Oh, reminds me, in case I mention these dudes later...
Manratten Island: My Ratonga Necromancer. Strong DPS, and an excellent soloer. I play him mostly when by myself, or if dual boxing.
Staten Island: My Froglok Templar. Supreme healer, but can't kill crap by himself. I end up getting suckered to play this guy alot because we always need healers.
Faker Outer: My Gnome Illusionist. Most overpowered class in the game, illusionists. Crowd control, great DPS, and can buff people too. Get asked to play him alot as well since there is a general shortage of mezzers. I guess everyone just wants to play Assassins and Rangers and Wizards.
(That said...Manning is far better than those guys regardless)
On the Everquest2 front, a group of guildies, (including me playing Staten), was able to clear Maidens, the toughest single group instance in the game. Wasn't exactly flawless, as I died a few times, but we got it done. I scored zero loot personally, and pretty much everything that dropped was pretty lame. Maybe we'll do better tomorrow.
Oh, reminds me, in case I mention these dudes later...
Manratten Island: My Ratonga Necromancer. Strong DPS, and an excellent soloer. I play him mostly when by myself, or if dual boxing.
Staten Island: My Froglok Templar. Supreme healer, but can't kill crap by himself. I end up getting suckered to play this guy alot because we always need healers.
Faker Outer: My Gnome Illusionist. Most overpowered class in the game, illusionists. Crowd control, great DPS, and can buff people too. Get asked to play him alot as well since there is a general shortage of mezzers. I guess everyone just wants to play Assassins and Rangers and Wizards.
Monday, March 3, 2008
Rock Band
Well, it was my GF's daughters 13th birthday party this weekend, so I went pretty much nuts and bought a xbox 360 and a Rock band game. Talk about a cool game, and I can totally throw down on the drums. I have a feeling I am going to regret it when I am trying to sleep though, laugh. I'll probably pickup Halo3 at some point as well. Until then, if you go past our house between 9 and 9, you'll me totally rocking out on the drums, because I pretty much rule! Before I bought it, since it is actually available for both the 360 and the ps3...I wanted to ensure I was getting the right one....dig the comparison.
Pardon me while I go back to playing!!
(A friend of mine was gleeful in informing me I had left out a key word here in this post....my be fun and try and determine which word I could leave out and make it sound the most damaging)
Thursday, February 28, 2008
Got Milk?
Ok, kind of related to the morning cereal, but only tertiary.
Brought in some Chocolate Honeycombs, (which pretty much sucks, btw, there's a review for you), and went to the fridge here to grab a cup of milk. So, I am pretty paranoid about milk, and sniff it to ensure it passes the Sheehy smell test (tm). Smelled ok. What the hay, checked the expiration date, and it was then I saw something curious. The expiration date was Mar 7th. (Since today is Feb 28th, way in the clear) However, underneath that, was a NYC expiration date. It was Mar 4th. Now, while that is still in the clear, it implies to me that in all the world, milk goes bad faster in NYC than anywhere else. Too bad Seinfeld isn't on, they'd clearly be forced to cover this after my admittedly astute journalistic skills turned this up. I presume you don't believe me, (and I wouldn't), but I have proof of this!!
And, because it's been a few days since I ripped on the Patriots!! I see they have a new official soda for the Patriots. Be sure to buy some.....
Tuesday, February 26, 2008
Go Irish!!
Notre Dame is totally hanging in there in the Big East regular season race. They have had an astoundingly beneficial schedule this year, and are making the most of it. I saw McAlarney dropped 9 3 pointers on a zone playing Syracuse. Zone against ND?!? I guess Syracuse plays zone against everyone, but sheesh, ND? I'll have to do some research and see if they play zone against West Virginia, the other Big East long range bombers. The upcoming game against Louisville, (unfortunately at Louisville), could be for the Big East title, as ND has 3 pretty easy games down the stretch. Go Irish!!
Saw Jeff Gordon came in 3rd in the delayed Nascar race. I'm not the biggest Nascar fan in the world, but have some marginal interest. Maybe I'll bet on the races again like me and Art did before, that is what prompted my interest. Kind of funny turning on the race at home, on my tv, in my basement, and my girlfriend goes ballistic. "Turn it off.....I don't want to watch it....I'm serious!!". (By funny, I mean, not that funny) My girlfriend is cool and all, but I don't think she understand s that down in the basement, I am allowed to fart, and I am allowed to watch Nascar!! I'll put the foot down and let you know how it goes.
Was building a snowman a couple of days ago, and somehow in the process of pushing the snow around I hurt my left shoulder something fierce. I can life stuff with that arm, but if I try to reach across my body, dang does it hurt. I'm nervous to go to a doctor, since I know he'll charge me a visit and tell me, "try not to use that arm/shoulder until it doesn't hurt." I'd go kick ole Frosty when I got home, but would probably then injure my foot.
Saw Jeff Gordon came in 3rd in the delayed Nascar race. I'm not the biggest Nascar fan in the world, but have some marginal interest. Maybe I'll bet on the races again like me and Art did before, that is what prompted my interest. Kind of funny turning on the race at home, on my tv, in my basement, and my girlfriend goes ballistic. "Turn it off.....I don't want to watch it....I'm serious!!". (By funny, I mean, not that funny) My girlfriend is cool and all, but I don't think she understand s that down in the basement, I am allowed to fart, and I am allowed to watch Nascar!! I'll put the foot down and let you know how it goes.
Was building a snowman a couple of days ago, and somehow in the process of pushing the snow around I hurt my left shoulder something fierce. I can life stuff with that arm, but if I try to reach across my body, dang does it hurt. I'm nervous to go to a doctor, since I know he'll charge me a visit and tell me, "try not to use that arm/shoulder until it doesn't hurt." I'd go kick ole Frosty when I got home, but would probably then injure my foot.
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