TwoBlog

Alas, I failed to win again. The darts was a wash. Euchre – we won the round robin and got the bye, but were ousted immediately by a lone hand thanks to Greg. Only 1 point there. Poker – well, in the 1/2 hr you have to make a move I didn’t hit any cards that could be played against a table that stays in on every hand. Ping Pong was a surprise as Doaner and I made it to the finals by upsetting the favourites (Rico and Tiger). So that garnered me 3 instead of 1. So a 4 pt finish which is average at best. Moving further in Euchre would have helped get me on the podium.

Next year I’ll man up and do the log saw (if I draw a good partner).

Anyway, it was another year of tradition and predictable schedule which is what lures me to Wonderboy: same people, same location, same weather, same schedule, same everything. It’s a nice way to shut off the mind if only for a little while.

Wonderboy has gone high tech. Along with the website, we now post standings realtime-ish. Expect this feature to get a major overhaul for next year that shows more detail regarding the in-game progress.

We also Twitter

Next year, expect to see live webcasts as we attempt to bring the Wonderboy to you. It also will be useful for the lazies that can’t make their way to the basement to watch the games live. They can now sit in the comfort of the main room and watch the events on the 55 inch LCD.

We’re hoping to someday create a Wii version of Wonderboy. Then our Mii’s can do all the work!

No Responses »

I am here at Wonderboy on Sat. morning, the traditional time of rest before the outdoor portion of the events. The results so far have been a little disappointing. Greg and I partnered up for the Darts this year and unfortunately drew a tough set of matches. We lost in a tie-break Around The World (new to this year’s format) that has ousted me from my traditionally strong event. On the positive side, With Doaner I have managed a first round bye in Ping-Pong, assuring me of at least one Wonderboy pt for 2010. The draw has us in tough to go further but we will give it our best shot.

The log and tug go soon. I’ve bowed out of both with a sore shoulder yet could win two pts if my tug team can win it. That would put me at 3pts min with Euchre and Poker still to come. The cards will dictate my success yet again.

You can follow the results at http://thewonderboy.org/standings/wb2010.htm
Later!

No Responses »

We took a trip to the Mayan Riviera last week. Yep, the 4 of us. We travelled to Mexico with a couple of other families, all with very small children.

Fortunately we stayed at a ‘family friendly’ resort called ‘Sandos Caracol’. I recommend going there if you have kids 5 and under. Along with the Kids Club (which was mediocre), there was a splash park with lots of slides and fountains that they kids spent most of their time in. As parents, it was nice as well because there was a bar there and LOTS of lounge space. The place was not busy since most non-parents were at the beach/main pool.

There was a lot of restaurant fare as well so there was always something to eat for everyone.

Although I recommend this place for young families, I don’t necessarily recommend travelling with 2 or more youngsters. It is certainly not a trip for everyone’s liking. I enjoyed the trip (mostly) and I know for the most part everyone else on the trip did as well, but to travel with young kids (especially one that is < 2yrs) is an exhausting effort. The getting to and going from flights can and usually are nerve-wracking.

Once there, be prepared to tailor your trip almost completely around the kids. This requires a significant resetting of expectations if you have been to resorts in the past without kids. Yet, fun can be had. Spending time with the kids alone is a great time, but you can also still have your fill of drinks and adult comraderie (we’re all in the same boat!). The real differences come down to the routine itself: you won’t unlimited or spontaneous moments to just lay down on the lounge chairs and relax. You’ll need to schedule any activity you want to do well in advance. And be prepared to be on your feet a LOT of the time.

As a whole, this vacation was well worth the effort and I won’t forget it for all it’s ups and downs. If we were to ever do this again while the kids are still very young, I would strongly consider a cruise. The amount of walking was SIGNIFICANT on the resort. Plus, a very good kid’s club (that cruises usually have) would go a LONG way to finding some free time for yourself.

See my kid’s blog sites for details on what they did during their exciting adventure!

No Responses »

I don’t know about the Olympics, but my goal this weekend is to Own the Podium at Wonderboy! And to go one up on the Canadians in Vancouver, I will do this with my own personal funding!

Go Team Roach!

No Responses »

I just received an email from Elena with the subject:

“I want you now, tell me reciprocate and get me!”

The body of the email isn’t very earnest either. I spare you the details except for one sentence:

“Come on, help me to remove my sadness”.

I have a hard time believing (s)he is sincere. It breaks my heart.

One Response »

We took Olivia (sorry Christien!) to see Disney Playhouse Live last Saturday. She is a huge Mickey & Minnie fan as well as the Tigger and Pooh show. Fortunately the show featured both of these groups as well as the Little Einsteins (curse them!) and Handy Manny.

Olivia absolutely loved the show. She yelled and screamed when requested and danced and clapped throughout the show. One thing I thought was hilarious was that she would wave to the characters when they appeared on stage as if expecting them to notice and wave back. Very cute.

Afterwards in the car she pretended to be the host of the show and to organize the party that they were having in the play. That was before the classic meltdown that happened at Swiss Chalet.

Before the show, Olivia had her first skating lesson. She had only been on skates a couple of times before this so we started her off in the ‘never have skated’ group.

I could not believe how quickly she was able to stand up on her skates and start walking/gliding without any assistance. Soon enough she was even pushing off and getting some distance in her glides. The instructor noticed this and quickly promoted her to the next level where I think she is properly aligned. That is, she isn’t the worst skater in the group, but she isn’t the best….although I would say she’s in the top 3. Now that the groups are set she will start learning skills as they rotate around stations that will teach them how to skate backwards, hold a hockey stick, etc. etc. Before next class however, we have to upgrade her skates.

Back to the meltdown: after skating for 45 minutes, Olivia said “I exhausted myself”. Add that to attending the play for a couple of hours and it’s not hard to see why she had a meltdown. I forgot how taxing skating can be.

Yet, she loves it so I’m happy to take her….considering it’s at 1:45 in the afternoon, not some unholy early time.

One Response »

Yes, I have re-acquired the coveted Dick Butkiss Tropy as the champion of the Monday Morning QB Fantasy Football League. It has been three years since the trophy has resided in my home. And the timing couldn’t be any better. The last time I won it, Olivia was the same age as Christien, and she had a blast putting poker chips inside the cup.

This is the 4th championship in 10 years that my franchise has won the trophy. Twice with the former owner, and twice myself. The first time I won was a back-to-back for the franchise where I would say 75% of the team was inherited from the previous owner. This time however, only 3 players remain from the previous owner….and NONE of them were in play on championship Sunday. (more…)

No Responses »

Evening life has settled in more nicely these days. Just recently I remember basically chasing Christien around as soon as I got home from work right through to bed. Sprinkled in with trying to find time for Olivia and keeping the peace between the two. Over the holidays there was a transition that took place. Now Christien is more involved in his play and is willing to sit with his toys or at the very least run around in the same room with his toys for an extended period of time. Or even watch a bit of TV. This has allowed me to either sit in the chair for a noticeable amount of time or better yet, sit on the floor and play with him. Yes, there is still the need to do damage control and chase him around the house, but it is not as constant and tiring.

Also, Olivia and Christien are playing more and more together….and better and better. All this leads to less ‘on alert’ behaviour for me and more enjoyment. As many can attest to, I am a little more apprehensive than the average bear and as such have often fallen into a mode where nighttime homelife was considered to be more of a ‘work’ thing than enjoying it as the everyday life that it is. I think this is something I am putting into the past and am settling into this life of watching my kids go psycho around me and loving it. Part of this change I’m sure is because we are sleeping more consistently now that Christien is older.

No Responses »

So let’s recap what I thought were the Key Factors leading into this week’s matchup against the #1 team in the division:

he has 3 NE players: Brady, Moss nad RB Lynch. In Buffalo. Weather may play a huge factor for yet another team that has the ‘overload on one team and ride them to victory’ approach. Plus, Moss is pouting. I do have Welker that will alleviate some of the damage that Brady might do.
Well, the RB was actually Maroney….anyway, the weather was not a factor. No wind, perfect conditions. Fortunately, Buffalo has a stout secondary and so this triple threat fared ‘good’ but not ‘great’. Brady: 115 Pass Yards and one TD. Poor. Moss: 70Yd, 5 Recpt, 1 TD. Average. Maroney: 81RuYd, 1 RuTD : above average. I was more than happy to sacrifice my Welker to this mediocre outing: 40ReYd and 4Recpt – by far the worst of the season. But a small price to pay. Chalk this factor up to Ruddigers.

he has Dallas Clark, who I traded to him earlier this season. He is having a monster season – but Indy has clinched homefield. So will he play a full game? Or just enough to still do damage?
This player went on Thursday night to open the week. I went to my buddy Ian’s house to check out his newly finished basement and watch the game in HD on his 50″ Panasonic (you had to outdo me!) along with Pat. This game was a worst case scenario for me and was a very poor way to start things off. Poor enough that I was preparing myself for inevitable defeat. Clark came to play for the whole game and it was a close one a high scoring. He was involved to say the least: 95Yd, 2TD, 7Recpt. That is a 15.1 pt monster. And as this is the guy I traded to him earlier this year, you might was well call this a 30pt swing in the scoring. Ouch. Even though I fared well in that trade at the time, it is a clear reminder to me that I should think twice before trading within division. Besides, now that V.Y. is back, I don’t even need the QB he traded to me, I don’t even play the TE he gave me, and the only value I see in his draft pick he sent me is that he is forced to drop 4 players next year to satisfy the agreement. But wait, this might be more value than I initially thought: I’m certain he is going to have a very big problem trying to find 4 players to drop without giving up a great player. He probably doesn’t want to draft next year. I’m thinking I can probably offer him back that draft pick so he can avoid this altogether. Since his pick is going to be 10th, I can either offer to delay the pick for a year hoping he does worse next year and/or trade that pick for a couple of guys I see on his team that could go before I would get a chance at them with his 10th pick (my personal draft pick will be no higher than 11th for reasons to be revealed shortly)

he has Andre Johnson, the primary receiver for my QB Schaub. This may limit the damage I can do to him. But since they’re up against the lowly Rams, I have to ride my QB.
Well, I rode my QB and he played to his average, which is top 3 QB scoring caliber so not complaining. Unfortunately, as expected, everything was offset by the fact that he threw most of his yards and his only TD pass to Johnson. We effectively negated each other. Which in the end was probably a plus for me since my Welker effectively did the same to his Brady. I’m loving the fact that his 2 best players were offset by these two players. The remainder of my team is by far better than his.

I have Grant going against Pitt. Not a great matchup. Could be a bust, but I don’t have viable alternatives because…..
Well, I played Grant, and it was looking like a serious bust with only 5 carries with 6min left in the game. 13 yds rushing = 0.4 pts. The Pack was constantly trying to keep up with Big Ben’s record 500+ passing yds. By the time this was playing out, I had the towel in my hand and was about to throw it in. Then, and truly it is one of those miraculous fantasy moments: even though behind in the game with 6 min to go (i.e. not ever likely to be another running play), they hand off to Grant and he busts through the #1 rushing defence known as ‘The Steel Curtain’ and breaks out a 24 yd Rushing TD. That, my friends, was THE pivot to the game. After being down all day by 20-25 pts (thanks to Dallas Clark), I finally clawed over the top and took a slim 3 pt margin. A couple of late game passes to S.Holmes (same game by the way…next drive in which Pitt took the ball down to the endzone and made a game ending/winning TD) and I was 5.1 points ahead going into Monday night.

Steven Jackson may not go this week. This is the most critical point. Without him going, I’m in serious trouble. Already scrambling for alternatives and deciding if my backups are viable.
I lost the most sleep with this one: I flip-flopped between Hightower and Jackson right up to game time. But when Jackson was listed as starter avoiding both H1N1 and playing through herniated discs, I opted to roll the dice on my stud and let the gods decide. Hightower unpredictably ended up with more points, but S.JAX did not disappoint and finished with a strong 82RuYd and 41ReYd on 4 catches. A very respectable outing that made a difference.

My kicker has a dream outing against DET. Unfortunately, he has a groin issue and will likely be a game time decision. Which means I may need to scramble minutes before the game.
Well, that kicker was actually held out so I had to scramble for an alternative. I ended up picking the right one off the waiver: the one who is kicking in a dome against a poor defence. Tough to say no, even though he is having an awful season. True, he ended up missing a 52 yarder, but he more than made up the miss with 3 FG and 1 XP. A very strong outing for a kicker.

So, in the end, every key factor was a winning choice for me. And then, well, there were key factors that I hadn’t even thought about that played an even bigger role in winning:
1) Even though my Packers defence had a better matchup on paper, I swapped them out last minute for my Eagles defence (both are #1 and #2 fanasy wise BTW, nice problem to have) and avoided certain demise. The Pack were smoked by Big Ben and ended up -0.5 while the Eagles enjoyed a robust 14 point outing agains the surprising 49ers.
2) What will likely be talked about as the luckiest move of the week: at the last minute I sat my TE from the trade and started an unknown Fred Davis from Washington that I grabbed from the waiver. Owned by <40% of leagues and started by few, I made a gut call and sat my proven #1 for this apparent wildcard. This brought about the biggest drama of all…..

So after clawing all Sunday to absorb the Dallas Clark debacle, with the help of a dream last minute TD from Grant, I was finally in a lead. A slim lead of 5.1 points. a very magical number indeed.

With his kicker yet to go, 5.1 points covers even a 50+ fieldgoal (5pts). My last second TE replacement also yet to go. Very uncomfortable security. I was anxious the entire day for this game to go. Thinking about all the hard-luck loss scenarios that I might encounter. It would suck to lose by mere tenths of points.

Pregame: weather ideal for both kicking and passing….narrowly avoiding a blizzard that just came through. Game in WAS gives me some hope that my hometown TE can produce enough to stave off whatever his kicker will produce: 9-10 points is a typical outing.

What proceeds to happen over the 1st half I would consider to be on the verge of WORST-CASE-SCENARIO: By half time, the kicker’s team has accumulated 24 points: 1FG and 3XPs = 6 pts. Enought be .9 ahead of me with 30min to go. My TE MUST produce and improve upon the 0 points thus far. Aside: My other TE that I swapped out had ended up with 2.3 pts…enough to be still on top if I had stayed pat. At the end of the 1st half, to add insult, I was a hare’s breath away from a TD score. I’ll never forget the feeling: a dropped pass that brought me from exultation down to ‘what could have been’. This, of course, is the reason for Fantasy Football. The feeling of winning pitted against the agony of defeat. If you don’t know what I mean, watch ‘The League’.

This game was going poorly. Washington’s offence was ridiculously inept and I was certain I was toast. I had studied this TE and felt he had other wordly catching skills. Useless skills if the QB cannot get the ball out of his own hands, or, at least on target. The only positive thing to take from the 1st half is that he was the primary target for most inept pass attempts.

Then, as it happens after many halftimes, Washington changed strategy and went to a playaction strategy and lo’ they started clicking….and Fred Davis was the focus of the attack. Just as I had planned it! Soon into the 3rd quarter, he received a 5 yd pass on the 5yd line and, what felt like an eternity, he dodged two apparent tackles and dragged 2 defenders into the endzone. One of those moments where you can’t believe what your seeing as it unfolds in your favour. To a limited few in the world, that play was as exciting as any sporting play ever to have happened. To the rest of the world, it was a meaningless TD in a meaningless game where the game was already way out of reach.

This score placed me back up in front with a 4.5 point lead. Enough to cover a 30-49yd FG. With 1.5 quarters to go. Without going into gorey details, the next 1/2 hr was a see-saw of emotions where situation after situation unfolded where there was a great possibility that a FG was likely to happen. And this is when watching football gets weird. You start hoping for certain plays to succeed or fail depending on the situation. Sheer confusion for somebody who watching with me but not vested in the game….sorry Pat, but I’m sure you enjoyed watching the agony. One minute your praying for a reception. The very next play, at the same yardline, you are praying for the exact opposite. You want whatever scenario to unfold that minimizes points.

And, when all is said and done, it unbelievably worked out in my favour. The Giants continued to score TDs instead of FGs which resulted in my team preserving a lead that was never less than 3pts. Everytime an XP was scored, I countered with a reception. It was always tight, but I never relinquished the lead. Fantastic!

Now I’m off to the finals….and, I think I may have my TE for the future. Fred Davis has skills and is only in his 2nd year. Definitely softens the *mistake* I made trading away Clark.

No Responses »

Well, against my instincts – I ended up demolishing my week 1 opponent. Even though his big three in Baltimore went nuts against a weak Detroit defence. It was frustrating at the time to turn to that game and see bizarre play after bizarre play that resulted in huge outings for him.

Thankfully the pain was offset by my team coming out strong. Within the 1st 20 seconds of the games, Schaub had already thrown a 64 yd TD and Ryan Grant ran off a 62 yd rushing TD.

The final score was 107.7 – 80.3. I’ve been on the other end of these outings where you score enough to beat EVERYONE ELSE but the guy you went up against. I gather he, along with many other owners, is infuriated by the display put on by Brandon Marshall. I had the pleasure of owning this WR who set an NFL record by catching 21 passes. And then to add 200 yds receiving and 2 receiving scores results in a monster to beat all monsters. He netted 35.3 points. Without that outing, I lose.

My friend Pat was over so I didn’t have the computer on until after halftimes. After seeing Baltimore go crazy on Det, I figured I was a goner. Very nice surprise to boot up and see the huge margin I had. Coming into last nights MNF, I was 38 pts up. He had TE and ARZ DEF/ST to go. So it was not out of reach.

A little anxiety early on in that game as his TE quickly gets a TD and his DEF a couple of picks. By half he narrowed the margin to 18 pts. That’s the closest he got as his DEF crumbled and my kicker made 1 FG.

So now I play the #1 position in the division. I squeaked one out earlier this season. Some keys to deciding this match will be:
- he has 3 NE players: Brady, Moss nad RB Lynch. In Buffalo. Weather may play a huge factor for yet another team that has the ‘overload on one team and ride them to victory’ approach. Plus, Moss is pouting. I do have Welker that will alleviate some of the damage that Brady might do.
- he has Dallas Clark, who I traded to him earlier this season. He is having a monster season – but Indy has clinched homefield. So will he play a full game? Or just enough to still do damage?
- he has Andre Johnson, the primary receiver for my QB Schaub. This may limit the damage I can do to him. But since they’re up against the lowly Rams, I have to ride my QB.
- I have Grant going against Pitt. Not a great matchup. Could be a bust, but I don’t have viable alternatives because…..
- Steven Jackson may not go this week. This is the most critical point. Without him going, I’m in serious trouble. Already scrambling for alternatives and deciding if my backups are viable.
- My kicker has a dream outing against DET. Unfortunately, he has a groin issue and will likely be a game time decision. Which means I may need to scramble minutes before the game.

So, if everybody were healthy, I would be a slight favourite. Because they are not, I’m certain I’ll be going in as an underdog. This is going to be a tough one. But now that I’ve defeated that one team I thought to be undeserving of a playoff berth, everything is pretty much gravy from this point on.

No Responses »