Archive for the Fun Category

At the break, I’ve got the lead! Some things I’ve learned so far:

  • Go for more than just batting average. Those RBI, home runs, etc.. count too.
  • Start as many players as possible every day. Players get days off, especially catchers so have backups.
  • Get a good multi-position backup - e.g. Freddy Sanchez can play 2nd, 3rd and SS so I can play him when my regular/s take a day off or during slumps.
  • Get pitchers - starting and relief. I’m not sure of the best balance here but more than 1 good closer from a consistent winner, e.g. Jonathan Papelbon, is a must. Have more than 3 starting pitchers and rotate the starting ones in.
  • Make daily starting line-up changes based on the DL, days off, starting pitchers, etc
  • Don’t be afraid to pull a starter if he’s sagging during the last 7-15 days. Points matter, not loyalty
  • Keep an extra outfielder. There are 3 OF positions and more times than not one of them is out.

I’m not a guru on this by any means, but this is what I’ve leaned so far in a 1/2  season. Playing fantasy baseball has made the past-time more real to me and as a result I’ve payed more attention to the games, players, etc.

I’m anxious to see how the 2nd half of the season goes!

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With my oldest about to finish high school, it’s a shame I didn’t know about this wonderful grade improving technique years ago.

Perhaps there’s hope for my middle school daughter!

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I like fantasy football and every fall/winter I play in 3-4 leagues. Sometimes I win it all, sometimes I’m an also ran, other times I loose horribly. Every year after the SuperBowl I look forward to the next season so I can play again. I’m not much of a hoops watcher, although March Madness grabs my attention, and hockey, although watchable isn’t something I follow. Baseball is OK, but I don’t pay much attention to it until late September and the playoffs. However, I miss the fantasy sports world and figured I give Fantasy Baseball a try, at least for a year. Who knows, I might get into the game if I have a more vested interest in the players.

ESPN.com has free leagues and I found the most appropriate league to give this a try. The league is called “I Hate Baseball” and my team is the Keene Black Flys. Since I know next to nothing about “who’s who” in baseball outside the household names in the paper, I picked an autodraft leage that scores points based on pitching and batting stats.

We’ll see how this goes. Might actually be fun. At the very least I’ll have a new topic to talk about with my buddies that do follow baseball.

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So if the expresssions are:

“A penny for your thoughts”

and

“Here’s my two cents”

Then that would imply that my own thoughts are worth more than the thoughts of others. Or put another way, your thoughts are not worth as much as mine.

Something to consider.

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Before this goes too far, I should explain the title of this blog. Several weeks ago, while working on a problem at work, I ran across this article in the Sacramento Bee titled: “Let your flamingos go

You see, I work with news stories day in and day out. I’m the Director of Software Development for NewsBank, inc. We republish news. At any rate, the search terms that retrieved this article from our search engine were “ducks and dogsâ€?. When that article appeared as the number one hit from our search engine, I had to read it. The article’s about lawn ornaments and when enough is enough – as the article says “the line between chic and tacky”.

The best line from the entire article is this:

I think they are all pretty much tacky. Actually, they’re the epitome of tacky, but they do appeal to a certain personality. If you want one, fine, but try to stick with a theme. Buddha and St. Francis just won’t work with a metal dog and a plastic duck.

The part about Buddha, St. Francis, a metal dog, and a plastic duck sent me howling! I dropped it into my email sig almost immediately. Since then I’ve had a lot of fun telling others about it

When I started thinking about putting a title to this blog I wanted one that would reflect that the Blog’s contents would likely be disjointed – a “mish-mash” of topics, info, ideas, etc. My thoughts returned to that article and the disjointed feeling that my favorite line evoked.

So, I decided on “The Disjointed Kitsch” to pay homage to Darcie Nunes of Custom Plantings who has seen way too many disjointed lawns. Hopefully “The Disjointed Kitsch” speaks to that same disjointed nature that causes someone to publicly display a Buddha, St. Francis, a metal dog and a plastic duck all together in one spot and call it “chic”.

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