Fantasy Baseball

I've never really gotten into the whole Fantasy league thing.  I did a fantasy hockey league one time with people I didn't know and it wasn't that fun and I didn't check it that often.  Then I did fantasy football with some people from work and it was pretty cool.  I came in second only because I was in Canada on vacation and didn't have a chance to get to a computer to change my starters for the last week.

Now I'm doing a fantasy baseball league with a few friends and it's only been two days and I'm thoroughly enjoying it.  The season hasn't even started yet but making trades, placing guys on waivers, and picking up free agents is a lot of fun.  I never thought that I would actually enjoy the whole nit picky roster moves, but I'm really into it and can't stop analyzing who I should trade for, or what position I should try to make stronger.  

Knowing that I'm the type of person who enjoys alternate reality, video games, and overall expansion of the mind type things, I should've seen this one coming, but I didn't.  However, I'm happy to say that it's been a very welcoming and enjoyable surprise.  

ARGH! STRESSED!

School, work, friends, family, responsibility, obligations, the list goes on and on.  I’ve reached the home stretch of this semester for school; there is one month left.  Four weeks, that’s all I have left and then I can start taking classes that actually excite me; classes that I actually would want to attend.  But the stress from this semester, and the workload that I’ve received has been building and building and the crescendo is going to be tomorrow.  Everything that has happened so far this year will culminate tomorrow.  I have an assignment due tomorrow that I’ve most regrettably held off until now and I’m paying for it. I’M STRESSED OUT!  I’m not doing well in this class because of the format and the absolute stupidity of the class, and I’m probably going to end up dropping it and having to retake it over the summer.  Not the end of the world, but being the people pleaser that I am, I hate to disappoint, and that’s exactly what I’m going to do when I tell my parents what is happening.  (10 minutes later)  It’s not even disappointment that I’m going to cause my parent’s that upsets me the most, It’s disappointing myself that is really getting me upset.  I have been doing awesome in all my other classes and I’ve been making decent sized steps in my life as a whole, but this one class has been stressing me for almost 3 months now and It’s time to just sever ties and move on.  If I try to hang on to the sinking ship, I’m only going to end up going down with it at some point in the future.

I’m not going to dwell on this.  I’m going to move on and continue to do well in my other classes, and when summer comes around, I’ll have a second chance at it and I will take this course by the reins and ride it to the ground!  After all, the only way to succeed is to have hope, be enthusiastic, and stay positive!

Don't postulate, ask questions.

Does anyone else enjoy reading the dictionary?  I work at a job where I have some free time and a spare dictionary.  I've found myself reading it a lot, and it has really helped my vocabulary.  I'll just flip the dictionary open to a random page and start looking for words I've never seen before.  Like the other day, I found the word, "postulate".  Awesome word!  It means to assume something to be true.  In a sentence it would go something like this, "Well you shouldn't have postulated that I would stop by the store and get milk should you?  It is fun to say and is a word you can use a lot.  I could go on for a while but there's really no need to.  Just pick up a dictionary for yourself and start reading.  An average American only knows about 1/4 of all the words in the English language; crazy right?  Think about it this way, English speaking people don't know 75% of the language they speak everyday.  That's crazy!

Negative Thinkers

You've got to really put some effort into trying to make me angry to get me mad; I can't remember the last time I was furious.  But when people are blatantly rude, vulgar, or completely inconsiderate towards another person, I can't help but get angry towards them.  I can understand being mad or sad with something going on in someones personal life, or even just having a bad day, but when they begin to take out those feelings on others that they surround themselves with or just random people, that's when they cross the line.  I have absolutely no respect for someone like this and cannot be around them.  

These people are what I and some others like to call, "Negative Thinkers".  The only things that come out of their mouths are negative thoughts and negative ideas.  Being around a negative thinker is difficult, because they're unconciously trying to bring you down to their level.  The only way to fight back with a negative thinker is with positive thoughts and positive self talk.  Believing the negative thinker only hurts you.  You must learn to ignore the negatives and replace them with positives.  

Negative people want others around them to feel the same way they are feeling; they want sympathy or empathy.  They don't want a resolution to their problems, they want others to feel their pain.  Don't let Negative thinkers hold you back.  They want you to stumble, they want you to fail.  Don't give them the satisfaction.  

Fishing: Better Than Work

I went fishing today and I'm going again tomorrow.  There's something about fishing that is just so relaxing and care free.  When you're fishing anything you're worrying about or stressing over in your day to day life just fades away.  Nothing else matters but catching some fish.  This is the reason why you see so many different types of people fishing.  They're just trying to get away from something.  Fishing is like taking a vacation without having to go anywhere. (I wonder what it's like to live further than 10 minutes from the ocean)  Even if you're not catching anything or you stab yourself with a hook, it's still better than being at work, or going to school.  Sometimes stabbing yourself with a hook is even a blessing in disguise.  The day after you fish and you're sitting at your desk at work or school and you go to pick something up and feel the pain caused by the pressure put on the hook wound, you remember fishing the previous day.  You remember the joy it brought you to not be doing what you're doing at that precise moment.  You can let your mind wander for a minute or two and think about standing in the ocean at sunset or on a pier at sunrise, or whenever or wherever you went fishing.  

People who don't fish miss out on the opportunities to just think.  Think about anything that's bothering them or anything that's putting a damper on their life.  Some of my best thinking gets done when it's just me, the ocean, and my fishing pole.  There's is nothing like time alone or with friends or family fishing.  Fishing is infectious and possibly contagious.  It sucks that I wasn't introduced to fishing until I was 18, but what am I going to do?  Continue to go fishing and enjoy every minute not spent doing daily obligations that's what; and a beer or 12 couldn't hurt.  ;-)

Hockey: A Shunned Sport

I was watching Sportscenter this morning and they were showing a clip from David Letterman last night; it was the top ten list that Letterman has made so famous.  On this particular list they had a few baseball players come on the show and say the top ten which was, "Reasons why you should watch the World Baseball Classic."  There were a couple of funny ones, but then they reached number 1 and my mood shifted 100 percent.  Derek Jeter (who I hate anyway being a dedicated Red Sox fan) came on and read this as the number one reason why you should watch the World Baseball Classic, "What else are you going to watch, Hockey?"  Now I enjoy a good laugh anytime of the day, probably more than most people, but this was just an ignorant comment about a sport that people don't invest the time into to comprehend the rules.  I have watched and played hockey since before I can remember.  It's attitudes like this towards hockey (the best, most intense, and skilled sport of the major four) that make the sport a laughing-stock.  People who don't understand the sport or don't like it because it's slow or boring (which is not true) undermining the talent required to play it. 

In my opinion the NHL is the best of the four professional leagues and it suffers from not having a television contract with ESPN.  MLB, NFL, and the NBA all have games on ESPN and other national television stations multiple times a week.  The NHL has a game on Versus once a week if it's lucky.  If people can't watch the sport how can they like it or even understand it; especially in markets such as Phoenix or Tampa where people didn't exactly grow up with an understanding of the sport.  It saddens me to think that people out there are missing out on everything professional hockey has to offer its fans.  In the NHL players can legally fight each other, if you did that in the street you'd be arrested.  

The comment just really rubbed me the wrong way and I had to say something about it.