Browns Problems

Well new season, new coach, new GM same stinky browns. I'm not sure exactly what all their problems are, but I'll start a list.
1) You have an organizational problem. Clean up your facilities. The only thing a Browns wide receiver or tight end has caught in the last 3 years is staph infections. Get some bleach or something. You really should have gotten a clue this year when 20% of the team caught the flu so quickly. I mean put up some of those hand sanitizer stations, and maybe offer the players a flu shot. If I owned a team you can bet your rear-end that all of my players are getting a flu shot. And also they will be encouraged to wash their hands frequently.
2) Stop trading people to the Jets. Are we absolutely sure that Mangini isn't still working for the Jets. I mean someone check his bank account to make sure. First we trade our #1 pick away so they can get Mark Sanchez, meanwhile we are stuck with Derek Anderson and Brady Quinn. Yes I'm saying stuck with Brady Quinn although now I would say we need to go back to him. Then with the 19th pick or something we get Massaquoi or whatever or a center or something stupid, while Jeremy Macline is setting there. Dumb. And Braylon Edwards was worth more than Chansi Stuckey and some special teams guy. Ultra dumb. Seriously we are trading away first string guys for 3rd and 4th tier players.
3)Why have you not extended a contract for Josh Cribbs. I haven't heard anything bad off the field with this guy (I mean at least he hasn't gotten into a fight or killed anyone a-la Donte Stallworth), he is consistently a bright spot every week, he runs the Browns wildcat and is efficient (other than that pick) and he is an Ohio guy.

Ok, I'll stop for now but please stop being dumb, and also get some hand sanitizer and bleach.

Down but not Out

Even though Sampson came home sick today, it was still parent/teacher conference day. Sophie went so she could meet the teacher this time. She got Sampson's report card, which was essentially all A's (good job Buddy, just like old Dad. Hey that is how I remember it). So hopefully he will feel better soon and he can try and soak mom and dad for some stuff. Like I said, I am more than happy to pay for A's.

Corrections

Man I make a lot of mistakes. Apparently there are some there/their mistakes and I left the n't off of wasn't a couple of times. I would hope people are paying more attention when they read. . . but then I guess I should pay more attention when I type. Hey don't try to turn this on me. As soon as I can afford a proofreader I'll put one on the job, to make sure all my ideas are transmitted in a friendly easy to read way manner, with correct punctuation. Also I seem to leave prepositions at the end of sentences a lot, but you'll have that. Besides I think I already addressed that.

Illness 2009 edition

Well Sampson is the first one to come down with the Flu or flu-like symptoms. The Swine flu is the really big deal now, and since he got the regular flu vaccine you would be inclined to think that he has the swine flu. The bad news is he was signed up to get a shot like this Saturday or so and now I don't know what he'll do. Hopefully he can handle it, he says he is in pain, in his neck, legs and arms. I hope it isn't the swine flu though, as that is supposed to be pretty nasty. I guess the thing hospitals are doing now is just diagnosing everyone with the swine flu whether it is or not. That way they are at least erring on the side of caution. You wouldn't want to diagnose someone with regular flu that had the swine flu, but so what if you do the opposite. I guess that is okay, but when we are still waiting to see the real spread of this flu I think they would take more precautions. Like actually checking people to make sure they really have it. Anyway, whatever he got we will probably all get, so the good news is I'll get to update the blog a little more. Hopefully no one gets too sick. I hate sick kids. Well you know.

I gave Sampson a bell to ring if he needed anything, so he didn't have to try and yell. If I didn't know better I would say Sophie is not a fan of the old bell.

Sampson Scores his first points

Saturday finished the season for the old M.F.C.Y.F.F.L. (Martins Ferry Civics Youth Flag Football League) and the buckeyes came in 3rd. Sampson got to run the ball for the first time, or maybe the second time this year, but either way it was the first time he scored in flag football. It was so exciting and unexpected even though they were playing 8 on 8 since the other team didn't have all their players. Then he hiked the ball and even played quarterback some. It was really exciting to see him do everything, did I already say exciting? I guess it was just really awesome to see him do stuff for the first time and see him succeed at it. Then he scored again later when he got the ball and it was awesome because he started to the right and he seen a bunch of people there so he cut it back to the left side of the field and it was wide open and he ran it in untouched. Sorry for all the conjunctions there, but it was pretty exciting (man there is that word again) to see him score again. The coach looked over at me at goes "Why didn't you tell me he could do that?" and the truth is I didn't know he could. I mean I would like to think he could do that, but until he did it I didn't really know he was capable of pulling that off. Which is kind of ironic because when I look at him I just see so much potential and I really think that someday he can do whatever he wants, the sky is the limit. But I almost don't want him to depend to much on sports I want him to concentrate more on school, because I know if he works hard at that I can really help him. When it comes to sports I try to help, but I know if he is successful it will have more to do with him then it will with me. Not that that is a bad thing, but old dad wasn't exactly an all-star on the field of play. I mean the only sport I really enjoyed was basketball and it gave me nothing but hardship. I guess he gets his sportiness from his mother, which is cool, because it means he isn't an exact clone of me and all that potential hopefully means he'll end up better off than old dad. Not that dad isn't happy, but there is nothing I want more than for my kids to end up better than me.

Ok that got a little philosophical there but all good stuff. Anyway Sampson's old team ended up winning the championship, but we didn't stick around cause we wanted to go watch Astro Boy. Our chairs ended up sticking around though because Sophie traded our seats for a couple of pictures with her friend Trisha's camera. Sophie didn't bring a camera because it was a little overcasty (oh come on google overcasty is so a word, ah overcast would have worked, but I leave this here to see my thought process, "exciting" stuff huh?) and since we had good seats because we were at the early game it was a fair trade. I might post some pics later once I get some good ones. I got a couple on my phone, but they aren't that great.

Oh two more things. 1) When Sampson was asked where he learned that cut back move he said he got that from dad, because dad taught him to run where the people weren't. I guess dad did help a little there. 2) Shoot what was I going to say here, oh yeah since we were playing in the 3rd and 4th game all the pressure was off so to speak, even though this is still like an instructional league and there really shouldn't be any pressure. And since the pressure was off everybody got a chance to run the ball and hike the ball and sometimes during the regular season it is hard to get everybody the ball. Especially if the game is close or the first year kids don't really understand what they are doing, but it does make for a much more interesting game. Also I think the kids get into it a lot more and since Coach said at the beginning of the season everyone was going to get to run the ball I was glad to see it actually happen. I would have hated for him to promise that and then not been able to deliver because we "had to win at all costs". Anyway I thought it was great and was glad that it happened, even if it meant we played for 3rd, because that way the season ended on a really good note.

Civic league playoffs. . . playoffs, don't talk about playoffs

Well the old flag football season is winding down and what is a kindergarten/1st grade playoff without a little controversy. We lost tonight in the first round thanks to some creative score keeping, but since it just happened I will recount the events as they are fresh in my mind. Also Sampson got two flags tonight and he blocked really well, way to go buddy. Ok so the Broncos started with ball in the first half drove down and scored 0-7. Then we drove down and scored 7-7, it was actually kind of dramatic as the Buckeyes had to convert a fourth down in order to keep the drive alive and a penalty on the conversion gave the Bucks a much needed second shot on the conversion. Then they scored 7-14. Then we scored but missed the conversion 13-14. Then the Broncos scored to make it 13-21 before the half. We got the ball one more time, but ran out of time before the half ended. Little kids flag football plays two 20 minute halves with a continuous clock until the last minute of the half and then apparently the clock stops for everything, so games last like 5 hours. Just kidding it is like an hour, but tonight's game took a little longer.

(Switch to Dramatic Mode)
So the Buckeyes were down at half time, but not dejected. Determination shown through on their little faces as they took the field for the second half and the referee signaled 1st down Buckeyes to start the half. Methodically the Buckeyes marched the ball down the field to score and draw back to within a point, 20-21, of the hated Broncos. Well not hated, but greatly disliked at least tonight. Anyway we let them go back down the field and score and make it an 8 point game at 20-28. On the next possession the Buckeye marched down and scored, but failed on the two point conversion leaving them in a two point hole at 26-28. On the Broncos next play from scrimmage a seldom used 1st-year player was given the ball, I assume he was a first year player because he instinctively ran backwards where he was taken down for a safety, allowing the Buckeyes to draw even at 28-28. I give the Broncos credit for giving the ball to one of the younger guys in that situation as it would turn out to be pivotal, unless they just thought they had the game in the bag then that was silly. After the safety, by rule, the Buckeyes get to go back on the offensive. Now with the game even and new life breathed into the offense again the Bucks went to work dismantling the Bronco D for another score 34-28 Bucks as they took their first lead. But missing on the conversion had left the door open for the Broncos to come down and score and tie the game, before converting and regaining the advantage at 35-34. Undaunted the Buckeyes huddled having less the a minute now to work they had to be quick yet manage the clock. Two running plays and two timeouts moved the bucks near the goal line, but not in. Now in a creative genius mode our coach pulls the boys together and decided to go for the deep ball. I say deep, but really a pass play in flag football is pretty spectacular at any yardage. Our QB drew back passed the ball to a wide open slanting receiver who caught the ball, but stopped short. Desperate the bucks used their last timeout, because let's face it trying to line up a bunch of kids in a timely manner is like herding cats. So effectively if the Bucks failed now it would be game over. Calmly and probably not realizing the enormous weight of the moment the QB settled under center now, quick snapping the ball and running into the end zone for the go ahead score 41-35 Bucks, after the conversion. The crowd was going crazy now, but the Bucks had made one error . . . too much time remained 33 seconds showed...the broncos would need only 22. Two plays and they succeeded in making a touch down and subsequent conversion vaulting them ahead and seemingly leaving the Buckeyes staring at the short end of a 41-42 score. All hope was lost, down 1 point, no timeouts and facing an entire field, but hope was not lost not yet the 5, 6, and 7 year-olds lined up. Knowing no fear they stared down the enemy for one last play. . . Go said the QB and the Bucks where off, but the hand off had been mistaken and the ball dropped to the ground. Game Set Match Broncos. . . but wait. A penalty, off sides Defense. New life had been given to the Bucks and this time fate would be made their b... well fate was dealt a blow as the Bucks answered the bell with now only 4 seconds left. Go they yelled and this time there would be no one catching the speeding back as he zigged and zagged through the Bronco D one last time to cap the scoring and deliver the win to Bucks, 47-42. But wait, controversy had reared its ugly head and the score was in doubt. Down by 2 the Ref Said. WHAT?!!?!? Panic set in on the crowd for the Bucks as they would now have to score a two point conversion just to "tie" the game. Alas the Bucks were stopped short yet again and the Broncos were announced the winners and would move on to the championship game. Disgusted by what I had just seen, and feeling terrible for the boys as they had played hard and deserved to win the hard fought game (legitimately as they had scored more points) I yelled at the ref to voice my concern, but to no avail. I pleaded with the coach who agreed as did several of the by standers, which relieved me because then I knew I wasn't some insane parent just ranting and raving for the sake of being a lunatic. So we confronted the head ref and he kept score on like a sheet of paper with no rhyme or reason. Our coach looked at it, he pleaded one last time and I think he thought he had made his case but the announcement had been made. Now what... the Bucks play for third.

Sophie's Surgery - Done

Sophie got out of her surgery fine. Thanks for the prayers. It took a little over an hour and then she was in recovery for like another hour. By the time she got to her room she was a little groggy and in some pain. So the nurse gave her a couple of shots after they got her status updated in the computer ( and I don't mean her face book status, I had to update that for her). Then I went and picked up the kids, brought them home, got them something to eat and then took them down to the hospital to see her. She should get to come home tomorrow. I'll let everyone know. Now I just have to make it through the night with kids . . .

Sophie's Surgery

Sophie goes for surgery Tuesday. So if you could shoot out a prayer for her that would be great. She is getting her gal bladder taken out. They said it could have been the cause of her back trouble and stuff too, so hopefully after it comes out she will feel a ton better. She is in a lot of pain right now and any time she eats she gets doubled over, but she is very nervous about her surgery. She has to stay in the Hospital over night too, so I get the kids all by myself. Hey shoot me a prayer too. Thanks.

The Bucks

Sampson is playing flag football again this year. He is doing much better his second year and is usually one of the biggest kids on the field. He isn't exactly angry guy though so he gets pushed around a little, I keep waiting for him to just explode though as he can pack some punch for a 7 year old. Today we complete the regular season. So far we lost 1 game to his team from last year. That is the first game he lost and it happened to be the second game of a double header, which was tough on the youngsters. He couldn't get on his old team because Sophie's brother had his little boy and they wanted them to be on the same team. Next year though Sampson moves up and Sophie has already declared that she wants 'her friends' back.

Peach is dancing again too. This year she picked up ballet along with tap and acro. She can touch her head with her feet when she does her seal now too. I think Sophie was a little disappointed that she liked ballet so much, because Sophie hated it when she took it. Peach is definitely her own little person though. This year we will try and keep her away from any injuries so she doesn't have to wear a cast for her recital.

MMO RPG Reviews

I finally finished Evony. Well I quit playing anyway, which should be obvious since I am blogging again. So I finally figured out that the deal with MMORPG's is that there is no way to get out. They just kind of drag on for ever and ever, and you get to a point were you have done everything you wanted to and there just isn't anything else to accomplish. Evony ended up being pretty good one of the best things about it is the alliance chat, i don't like the idea of being attacked when your not online and because people are from different areas it becomes very easy for them to attack you when you are sleeping. Unless you never sleep which didn't seem to be a very good option for me. The other thing I didn't like was the war system itself. Once you get an army to a certain size it becomes unsustainable and the only thing you attack on a regular basis is NPC's. Granted it takes a while to get there, but then you have to keep your army up to defend yourself. Then the bigger alliances just get a bunch of their member to send 100k troops at a time to bring your defenses down. I achieved the highest population in the game for a short period, before I started getting attacked by an old alliance, conveniently while I was off line, but I had already decided to quit by then anyway. Someday I may recap the story of my old buddy Casca Van Furey and how he held the evil VersusB alliance at bay when I was off line, lol.

So after I quit evony I was looking for something that didn't require as much time, that you could play when you wanted to and was failure secure if you were off line. So I started playing Tribal Wars, but it is like a watered down evony, without the alliance chat. I don't really care for it but I log on every once and a while and upgrade stuff. I guess I need to upgrade my army in that game too since I just got attacked.

Next I tried Tagoria, which is just a game where you control one single player. You complete quests and fight other people in order to gain experience and gold. It is all text based too essentially, as it is your stats versus someone else stats. It at least is a fairly quick game, but it gives you something to do on a day to day basis. you can only attack every 10 minutes or so then you just wait so not too bad, but definitely not the most exciting game on the web.

Then I found Dogs of the Seas. This game is fairly unique among the MMO's as you actually take the battles in your own hands. You pilot your own ship, complete missions and look for treasure. You have your own home base that you can build ships in and cannons and when you need supplies you can go out and plunder or fight an NPC. And if you were really skilled you could take down a bigger ship with a smaller one as it is not completely based on text stats. I reminds me of the old pirates game I had for the Tandy 1000SL. Anyway your home base is protected when you are off line (yeah) and you only put at risk the ship you are sailing. You could also join up with an alliance and double team or triple team an enemy. But if you are good I think you could pretty much get out of anything as you could navigate back to your home base or to a protected area. It seems like a pretty decent game at least, probably the best of the ones I have played so far.

Random Stuff

Have you noticed that Tony Stewart is now endorsing Burger King and the Whopper. Hey didn't he endorse Subway last year? Burger King is probably a better fit.

Taylor Swift's video was better than Beyonce's.

This is just funny:

Techno Stuff

If you get a smart phone that isn't an iphone, you can download a browser capable of full web browsing with flash capability (which the iphone doesn't have). The browser is 'Skyfire' and it works well on the LG Incite.

Fantasy Baseball - 2009

Well the old Ninja Frogs were transformed into the 'Revenge of the Frogs', and did exact their revenge on the league this year. After being mired in 3rd or 4th for most of the first half the Frogs kicked it up after the all-star break. The good thing this year was that I had a decent enough team that I didn't have to trade much or hit the free agent wire. Once A-rod came back off the DL my team was pretty well set. Ian Kinsler did go on the DL for 15 days in August, but other than that he was pretty dependable. I didn't mess around with catchers even though Russell Martin severely underperformed he was still solid and not worth tieing up a roster spot with another catcher. I had too many outfielder to start with, but they were all pretty decent and I held on to Corey Hart for as long as I could before I ended up dropping him when A-Rod came off the DL. I think that was how that worked or else Gil Meche went on the DL right about the same time and bought Hart another month. Either way out of Bay, Damon, Eithier, and Fowler I had to get rid of Hart. I didn't want to get rid of Fowler because I thought he would be decent, but he never got enough playing time, oh well. I think I still like the Roto format better as head to head provides for new opportunity every week there are some match-ups that people just flat out tank. The guy I took over for second played a guy he beat 10-0 one week then the last two weeks of the season I played the same guy and he beat me 7-2-1, go figure. Anyway I had a 10 game lead so it didn't matter. Oh and for Stevie, well he limped in at third ha ha. I guess his team name the '3 peters' meant he was going to come in third. Who knew. It definitely wasn't because he 3-peated as league champ. Hey at least you had a good run, but in the last year and a half I have taken over as fantasy champ. If it wouldn't have been for the first half of baseball season last year when I was learning about fantasy sports I could have won that too. Well maybe not, but next year the Frogs will look to "repeat" themselves.

Pres Obama wins Nobel Peace Prize

Wow

I'm Back.....

Well at least for now. What were you worried? I took off 2 years before, 4 months is nothing.