Author Archives: Rob MacD

Boys, this game isn’t any fun if you don’t get a hit once in a while.

I forget where I read it, but I saw Walter Johnson’s name somewhere in reference to baseball at the beginning of the 20th century. It reminded me of the great song about Walter Johnson, performed by Jonathan Richman & The Modern Lovers. I really only know about Walter through Jonathan’s song, but, based solely on that, he seems like a pretty interesting fellow. I love the idea of a pitcher purposefully allowing opposing players to hit the ball, so that they’d enjoy the game a bit more.

I’m an occasional fan of Jonathan Richman. I like a bunch of his songs, but can’t really listen to many of them in a row. His style and talent wears on me when there’s too much of him, I think. When a Richman songs comes on in a random rotation, though, it’s always great to hear it.

I remember where I read it. A sports article about the Expos moving to Washington. Walter Johnson played for the Washington Senators, back one of those times when there was a Washington Senators team.

Check out this song. I bet, like all of baseball, you’ll come to love and respect the player.
Download Jonathan Richman & The Modern Lovers – Walter Johnson.mp3 (3404.0K)

I am so confident that I have tweaked my system to perfection, that I am guaranteeing 10 of 14 correct.

Here are this week’s picks (winner in all caps):

CINCINATTI at Pittsburgh – This is one of those close picks where I pick opposite to whom I think will win. The Bengals will surprise… wait, does that mean I think the Bengals will win? Should I really pick the Steelers? One pick in, and I’m already confused. Remember the guarantee, Rob. Remember the guarantee. Yes, I think Pittsburgh will win, so I pick Cincinatti.

INDIANAPOLIS at Jacksonvilee – see using last week’s plan (picking only the opposite to what I thought) I’d have to go with the Jags on this one. But this time I’m using a distilled version of last week’s plan, combined with my good old absolute certainty. I am certain the Colts (they’ll be this year’s SB champs) will win.

NEW ENGLAND at Buffalo – Oh how I’d love the Bills to win. But they won’t. Pats win (damn them to hell).

New York Giants at GREEN BAY – Green Bay will win. Giants have already peaked for the season.

Oakland at HOUSTON – This is one of those inverse picks. Too close to call, so I go against the team I think will win. See, it’s simplicity itself, my plan.

PHILADELPHIA at Chicago – Another no-brainer. But watch for the upset, Rob. Nope, not this week. Eagles win.

Washington at CLEVELAND – I’m confused again. I expect the Redskins to win, so I pick the Browns. However, I will not be surprised by a Cleveland upset, which means perhaps I should pick against that eventuality… No, I pick Browns to win. See? Simplicity itself.

Atlanta at CAROLINA – I don’t care at all about this game. I’m not even gonna try and figure out my plan on this game. I’m just going with the home team. Whatever. Is anybody reading anyway?

New Orleans at ARIZONA – This is the pick that propels me into double-digit correctness this week.

Denver at TAMPA BAY – Denver wins, so I pick Tampa Bay.

NEW YORK at Miami – I always pick Miami, right, but with the Opposite Day pick I should pick the Jets. But if I really pick the Jets to win, then I’d be picking the Dolphins. See? This week, I actually think Miami is going to pull an upset and win. So, I go with the Jets.

Tennessee at SAN DIEGO – Do you think I’m picking the Chargers because I think they’re a shoe-in to win, or because I think the Titans will really win and it’s an opposite pick. If you follow football, you know the answer to that, don’t you.

St. Louis at SAN FRANSISCO – For a second, I convinced myself that the Rams were sure to win this game so I was ready to pick them. But then I realised that the Rams will never be sure to win a game this year. Even over the pathetic 49ers. So, since I think the Rams will likely win, I gotta go San Fran.

Kansas City at BALTIMORE – I fully expect KC to come out of their slump this game and win it. But not enough to waste my pick on them. KC wins, but I pick the Ravens to win.

There, a guaranteed double-digit correct pick this week. Guaranteed.

Tomorrow night we stage episode 4 of the improvisational soap opera Enemies. at the arts guild, at 8pm. Episodes 5 & 6 will occur on the next two following Thursdays.

This is the third season for Enemies. I was involved last year and enjoyed it enough to come back this year for another set of episodes. This year, most of the scenarios take place in Las Vegas.

Tonight’s dress rehearsal went better than I expected. I am not one of those who believe a good dress rehearsal means a bad opening night. I think a good dress rehearsal means a good dress rehearsal.

Anyway, if you’re looking for something to do, drop by and see the show.

Seven and seven. Is that the name of a drink? 7-Up and some brand of gin, perhaps?

Anyway, I went 7-7 last weekend in my football picks. Yay, I made it to 50%! I made to “Guessing Quality” picking!
I’ll have to re-tune my picking strategy further. Last week I picked opposite to what I’d normally pick, even though on some games I was almost 100% certain I’d be wrong (and I was). By picking opposite, I did quite well on the games where I was unsure of the outcome.

So, this week, I’m going to go with my gut on those games that I think are certain of their outcome. And I’ll stick with the Opposite Pick strategy on those games where the outcome is closer to a guess.

I’m on my way to a perfect pick week, I tell yas!

Jacques Villeneuve is my favourite race car driver.
Ever since, about a year ago, Jacques Villeneuve left Formula One racing, I’ve been checking TSN’s Formula One racing page, hoping to someday see the headline that “Jacks is Back”. Well, I was pleased to see that headline about a week or two ago, annoucing he’s signed with Sauber-Petronas for the next two year. I wasn’t so pleased that it was Sauber, a middling team at best, that he signed with. I was hoping it would be Renault. That displeasure was somewhat lessened though, when, the next day, it was announced that Jacques would finish out this year (3 more races) with Renault, starting with this weekend’s race in China. (does that mean he was this >

This week, I attemp to better my (sad) 2-week-in-a-row 7-9 record by picking the exact opposite of who I pick as winners in the games this week. This week there are only 14 games scheduled, so I am aiming at going 8-6.
My Picks This Week will be ALL IN CAPITALS

NEW ORLEANS at St. Louis – I expect the Rams to win, so I will say the Saints will take this game.
PITTSBURGH at Miami – This is a tricky one. I always have to bet on the Dolphins, because they are my team. However, I expect the Steelers to win. However, I would have picked Dolphins. So, I have to pick Steelers to win.
CHICAGO at Minnesota – I am so sure that the Vikings will win this game that I expect Opposite Day to fail me on this pick.
Cleveland at NY GIANTS – This one could go either way. Normally, I’d pick the Browns because I’d kinda like them to be successful. Therefore, I pick the Giants.
Arizona at ATLANTA – First I all-capitalized Arizona, thinking that Atlanta would win this game. Then I thought for a moment: I bet this is a game where the Cardinals surprise and win. Therefore, I pick the Falcons.
Baltimore at CINCINATTI – There is no way that the Bengals will win this game. My pick: Bengals.
Philadelphia at DETROIT – In the past twenty years, have the Lioins ever started a season 3-0? Not in the last ten, and certainly not this year. Therefore, I pick them to win this game and go 3-0.
JACKSONVILLE at Tennessee – Quite simply, the Titans will win, so I’ll pick the Jags.
HOUSTON at Kansas City – I gave the Texans two weeks to disappoint me. Each week I picked them to win, and each time they lost. This week, I cannot pick Houston to win, so, Houston wins.
SAN DIEGO at Denver – I couldn’t possibly bet against the Broncos in this game: Chargers win.
GREEN BAY at Indianapolis – I am still proclaiming the Colts to represent the AFC in the Super Bowl this year. To that end, they will defeat a not-so-potent Packer team. My pick: Packers.
SAN FRANSISCO at Seattle – I cannot pick the 49ers again until they show me something, anything that gives me reason to pick them. They’ll lose this game, so I’ll pick them to win.
TAMPA BAY at Oakland – okay, I find it very hard to pick the Raiders, just because I don’t like the team. However, I don’t think the Bucs can beat them at home. I pick the Bucs to beat them.
DALLAS at Washington – I had a hard time picking who I thought would win this game. I decided on the Redskins and that’s why I’m going with the Cowboys this week.

So, there they are. The picks that are opposite to what I would normally pick. 8 and 6, here I come. It’s guaranteed. Maybe even 9 and 5. That’s right, I’m THAT bad at picking, normally.

For the past couple of months, I’ve been daily driving by the site where Sears is being built. I’ve been seeing all the workers, some in their machines, some on the road, others in other places. Mostly they seem busy.
Lately I’ve been wondering how it is they remain busy. Are they each told, each day, what they are expected to accomplish? When the bulldozer guy, for instance, goes to work in the morning, does he have a good idea of what he’s going to be doing that day, or does he wait to find out from a foreman what his job is? Is the bulldozer guy in fact a “bulldozer guy”? Or does he somedays work the bulldozer, and other days pour concrete?
Who is it that decides these things, and how early in the process are they decided?What if bulldozer guy calls in sick?

What if foreman calls in sick?

Is it stressful work, or just tedious hard work, or both?

Will I be able to sleep tonight?

Today, I was wondering how the world would be different if, through whatever means necessary for it to be possible, some of our thoughts were randomly broadcast out loud to those around us. Kind of like a bull-horn type affair.
Because it’d be random, one would never know when or what thoughts would be amplified. Would people have learned to adapt, to keep those dangerous or embarrassing thoughts tamped down in their brains in some way? Or would the world be more accepting of these random audible bursts of thought? Would we become more thick-skinned or thin-skinned people?
Having given practically no thought to this, I think people would have learned to keep thoughts like “boy is that guy ever ugly” from happening, for fear of that thought being a random burst. I also think we’d be a more sexually liberated society, because we’d be hearing people’s thoughts like “Great ass!”. I think we’d be a more honest society. Whether that’d be good or bad, I don’t really know.

Would we have more friends or less friends?

Well, really, seven of sixteen. Yes, once again I manage to get 7 correct picks out of a potential 16. Yes, that is a statistic that is less than random guessing would have garnered.
But I’m not gonna give up. In fact, I’m gonna take the opportunity each week (until I get bored with the whole affair – kinda like my Word of the Day posts) to test out different approaches and theories in regards to picking winning football teams.

So, this week and last, I tried to pick who would win each game. Each time I got 7 out of 16 correct. For the upcoming weekend, I am going to pick who I think will win each game, and then present the opposite team as the winner. This should net me a third week record of 9-16.

Let the experimental picking begin.

Lordy, lordy, look who’s 39.

Yes, today is my 39th birthday.
Happy Birthday, Mom.
Thirty-nine sounds like an ‘old’ age to be. I don’t have the “oh my god, what have I done/will I do with my life, I need to leave my mark” panic that some people do around this point in their lives. The only regret or sadness I have is that my body has aged more than my mind. In my brain, I still feel like a twenty-seven year old (the pinnacle age to be, I suppose), but my body tells me otherwise. I’m the anti-Dorian Gray. Sometimes, I walk by a mirror and I think “who the hell is that old geezer?”. And I think the regret is there because I still believe that I could reverse the trend. There’s still time to get healthier.

So, it’s not the “time’s running out, when will I write that great novel” neuroses that occupies my mind. It’s more a sighing of “I couldn’t play a competitive set of tennis now”.

The “write a novel, quick!” panic will likely strike next year when I turn four-oh-my-god. By that time, of course, I’ll have completely given up the belief that I can still improve my body and physical health, and all I’ll have left are frettings over more intellectual pursuits.