My wife, son and I went to Sage in Chesterton for lunch Sunday for my birthday. I thought it was a seafood place. It's not, it's an Italian restaurant. They do have some seafood dishes however. For an appetizer we ordered the Mussels and Sausage (it says they make it there). While it was really good, for $10 we got 3 mussels and some sausage. They brought out bread with a couple of spreads: hummis and an olive spread (had some fancy name that I can't remember). I really liked the olive spread and my family seemed to like the hummis. I ordered the Sea Scallop special and they do a fantastic job with the scallops....I got 3 of them...Everyone's food was really good but the portions were kinda light. I don't know if they have a different menu for dinner and different portion sizes? Overall, the food is excellent but if they don't have a separate dinner menu then I will probably pass in the future.
You know, I have been avoiding ranting about politics, and then I saw that "president" on TV last night and promptly threw up in my mouth. How embarrassing that we are "lead" by this man that has no interest in the United States of America. He has no interest in our history or how we built this country. I have no doubt about his citizenship, I question his heart. I have yet to have anybody tell me what he has done that is good. He doesn't know diddly about healthcare or running a government funded healthcare system. He attacked an industry, health insurance companies, that average probably less than 5% profit while ignoring pharmaceutical companies that routinely show 40% profits. Why do you think health insurance costs so much obama? I don't want to get started on that, he's putting me out of a job. What jobs has he added? He bused all the poor and minorities to the polls to vote for him and are they working? Nope, they are still going to the welfare office monthly not doing anything, and they aren't looking to do anything either. Again, obama, how did the good ol' USA become so strong? Hard fucking WORK! Not through more entitlements. And how nice is it that the deficit has tripled under obama? You know while the rest of the USA should be tightening its collective belts, obama's admin has opened the floodgates on spending. I have a friend, a good friend, and I care for him dearly, but I get tired of hearing him say, "Well obama (he capitalizes the name for some reason) didn't really have control over that." You know what, that's a cop out! Plain and simple. He did have control and he blew it over and over again (that's what she said...). Seriously, when do the excuses and finger pointing stop before we hold HIM accountable; Bush is not to blame, so get over it. I have to go, lots more to say follower(s?), but the train is firing up and I need to go bowl.
Bum
Wednesday, January 25, 2012
Tuesday, January 24, 2012
Poker and such...
Well, we had our first poker league action of our 5th season. This season we have the same 10 guys that played last season. I am the 4-time defending champion....I had the worst month I have ever had in the history of the league...I finished 9th and 10th in the 2 NL Hold'em tournaments. I don't think I played horrible, well, one horrible hand to go out 9th in the first tournament, but other than that hand, I thought I played relatively well. First tournament, as Dealer, everyone folds around to me, I have A7, I raise from 100 to 350 I think. Seems pretty standard, I might steal the blinds or the blinds might think I'm stealing with a worse hand than what I have. Either way, I have position. Small Blind calls, BB folds. Flop: 10, 9, 8 (two clubs); eh, straight draw, he checks, I bet 600, he raises to 1200...pot now has 2600 and I have to call 600. I worry about JQ a little but as quickly as he called pre-flop I'm thinking more like JJ or QQ or heaven forbid a set...I call. Turn = 6 (non-club); yahtzee! I bet out 1500 an have about 2500 left. He thinks about it, I tell him I will show him or call an all-in, either way he gets to see it! :) He thinks for a while (and maybe I should have just kept quiet) and calls. River = 10 of clubs...uh...not what I wanted to see for quite a few reasons...Here's where there are so many choices: I bet 1000 to try and see what that did for him. He called and flipped pocket 9's over for a boat...sigh...I don't think I played that badly and I stayed in the game only because he thought I might have 10's or 10,9...
Hand 2: I have AA, blinds are 100/200 (2nd tournament), my stack after running into AA twice is at about 3700 (started with 5000). 3 people limp in front of me, I am the cutoff (1 short of the dealer), I raise to 800 thinking that will shrink the field. Dealer calls, BB looks like he is going to raise (which momentarily makes me happy on the inside...) and decides to calls, call, fold, call...so 5 to the flop with a pot of over 4000...sigh, not exactly what I wanted. Flop= 10/7/2 (two hearts). BB goes all in for 1850, everyone folds to me...I thought that since he about re-raised pre-flop that he probably had AK, KK, or QQ...so, I went over the top all-in. Dealer reluctantly folds (had 99). BB flips AJ hearts...sigh...I know I have no chance to win here...and just for entertainment purposes, both the turn and the river are hearts...again, "I don't think I could have done anything different there," it just worked out poorly for me.
In a nutshell, those two hands pretty much describe my night at the table poker-wise. We did have fun though. It was my birthday, which makes you think that the cards could have been nicer...there was plenty of jawing back and forth and tons of jokes flying. A few shots of Jack Daniels Honey made it that much sweeter. It's going to be a fun season and I think the battle for the title is going to be wild to say the least.
Other things of note: I am officiating 7 games this week. woohoo! I love it. It's so much fun for me.
IU won a game...Wisconsin coming up Thursday, not a good matchup for IU.
Friday night heading to Bowman Academy to see them play Ft. Wayne Luers and James Blackmon (sophmore and future Hoosier).
Hand 2: I have AA, blinds are 100/200 (2nd tournament), my stack after running into AA twice is at about 3700 (started with 5000). 3 people limp in front of me, I am the cutoff (1 short of the dealer), I raise to 800 thinking that will shrink the field. Dealer calls, BB looks like he is going to raise (which momentarily makes me happy on the inside...) and decides to calls, call, fold, call...so 5 to the flop with a pot of over 4000...sigh, not exactly what I wanted. Flop= 10/7/2 (two hearts). BB goes all in for 1850, everyone folds to me...I thought that since he about re-raised pre-flop that he probably had AK, KK, or QQ...so, I went over the top all-in. Dealer reluctantly folds (had 99). BB flips AJ hearts...sigh...I know I have no chance to win here...and just for entertainment purposes, both the turn and the river are hearts...again, "I don't think I could have done anything different there," it just worked out poorly for me.
In a nutshell, those two hands pretty much describe my night at the table poker-wise. We did have fun though. It was my birthday, which makes you think that the cards could have been nicer...there was plenty of jawing back and forth and tons of jokes flying. A few shots of Jack Daniels Honey made it that much sweeter. It's going to be a fun season and I think the battle for the title is going to be wild to say the least.
Other things of note: I am officiating 7 games this week. woohoo! I love it. It's so much fun for me.
IU won a game...Wisconsin coming up Thursday, not a good matchup for IU.
Friday night heading to Bowman Academy to see them play Ft. Wayne Luers and James Blackmon (sophmore and future Hoosier).
Tuesday, January 17, 2012
Well, my Follower(s?) was upset that I hadn't blogged recently...I haven't played poker recently...I did officiate 3 games this past Saturday: 5th-7th grade girls...Very exciting. I tried not to blow the whistle, but really they didn't foul that much. 7th grade game got a little catty but otherwise pretty standard stuff...stand in the lane and throw it at the basket until the backboard gives in and the ball falls through the net...no, surely it was better than that!
Season V of my poker league starts this Saturday. I have won the first 4 seasons, yet I have never placed better than 4th in the Main Event...I know it would be best for the league if someone else won the league, however, I am way too competitive to let anyone win. But, it is way too early to think about that. I spent the last half of the season last year protecting my points. It's now time to cut loose and play poker and see where that takes me. We have the same 10 guys we had last season. We have 4 guys still from the beginning of the league.
Our league consists of probably 2 pretty aggressive players, 1-2 rocks, and a several players in between. I am not going to categorize myself as I feel that I am often mis-categorized; however, that can be used to my advantage at times. Are there soft spots in our league? Eh, nothing real soft. As a matter of fact the play just gets better every season. Players that have played together for years and should know certain consistent plays of their cohorts and still our NL Hold'em events were probably averaging over 5 hours this past season. And when you play 2 tournaments a night, that becomes an issue, especially for some us older guys. We start with 5000 in chips and 20 minute blinds which should keep the game going...This season, we installed a rule that takes us down to 10 minute blinds when we are down to 3 players. ShortStacks will be pressed a little harder to force the action late in tournaments this season. I think that will speed things up a bit but there will be some bruised egos with the forced action and the resulting suckouts and such which are inevitable.
We are all so competitive that we fight over small $$ amounts like it means everything. And by "fight" I don't mean fisticuffs. It just gets real intense sometimes and we say stuff like "I can't force you off AQ huh?" repeatedly. Or "1200 isn't an amount that you can call with AJ." My favorite retort is "fuckin' John." But alas, those generally end up with a knuckle bump and a "sorry about that, you played it well." Except for the "fuckin' John;" that one gets left in the air! You see, we are all friends and for the most part we all respect each other's game. To be sure, we respect each other and in the end it's the friendship that means the most in these events. On a side note, I would put the competitiveness and the talent/play in our league up against any league. I think it would really be hard to find a game with better poker play than ours; and we don't just play Hold'em; our games also include PL Omaha, PL Omaha 8, Limit 7-Stud along with Limit in the Omaha games.
I think several of the players in our league have the talent and patience to play in the World Series and WPT events (not to mention the Heartland stuff) but for most of us, right now our world revolves around raising our families in this tight economy. Could I take $1000 and fly to Vegas and play in a World Series event? Sure. But right now, with the economy the way it is and Obamanation running things, I prefer to choose to be a bit more conservative with my cash. I would love to take a shot at a few events in the World Series but I think it is going to be awhile, if ever. And I'm ok with that.
So, I have rambled on a bit and I'm sure my Follower(s?) has fallen asleep from boredom (I never said I was good at this by the way). I can't wait till Saturday to get together with the guys and play some poker. We will have fun, that's for sure!
Bum
Season V of my poker league starts this Saturday. I have won the first 4 seasons, yet I have never placed better than 4th in the Main Event...I know it would be best for the league if someone else won the league, however, I am way too competitive to let anyone win. But, it is way too early to think about that. I spent the last half of the season last year protecting my points. It's now time to cut loose and play poker and see where that takes me. We have the same 10 guys we had last season. We have 4 guys still from the beginning of the league.
Our league consists of probably 2 pretty aggressive players, 1-2 rocks, and a several players in between. I am not going to categorize myself as I feel that I am often mis-categorized; however, that can be used to my advantage at times. Are there soft spots in our league? Eh, nothing real soft. As a matter of fact the play just gets better every season. Players that have played together for years and should know certain consistent plays of their cohorts and still our NL Hold'em events were probably averaging over 5 hours this past season. And when you play 2 tournaments a night, that becomes an issue, especially for some us older guys. We start with 5000 in chips and 20 minute blinds which should keep the game going...This season, we installed a rule that takes us down to 10 minute blinds when we are down to 3 players. ShortStacks will be pressed a little harder to force the action late in tournaments this season. I think that will speed things up a bit but there will be some bruised egos with the forced action and the resulting suckouts and such which are inevitable.
We are all so competitive that we fight over small $$ amounts like it means everything. And by "fight" I don't mean fisticuffs. It just gets real intense sometimes and we say stuff like "I can't force you off AQ huh?" repeatedly. Or "1200 isn't an amount that you can call with AJ." My favorite retort is "fuckin' John." But alas, those generally end up with a knuckle bump and a "sorry about that, you played it well." Except for the "fuckin' John;" that one gets left in the air! You see, we are all friends and for the most part we all respect each other's game. To be sure, we respect each other and in the end it's the friendship that means the most in these events. On a side note, I would put the competitiveness and the talent/play in our league up against any league. I think it would really be hard to find a game with better poker play than ours; and we don't just play Hold'em; our games also include PL Omaha, PL Omaha 8, Limit 7-Stud along with Limit in the Omaha games.
I think several of the players in our league have the talent and patience to play in the World Series and WPT events (not to mention the Heartland stuff) but for most of us, right now our world revolves around raising our families in this tight economy. Could I take $1000 and fly to Vegas and play in a World Series event? Sure. But right now, with the economy the way it is and Obamanation running things, I prefer to choose to be a bit more conservative with my cash. I would love to take a shot at a few events in the World Series but I think it is going to be awhile, if ever. And I'm ok with that.
So, I have rambled on a bit and I'm sure my Follower(s?) has fallen asleep from boredom (I never said I was good at this by the way). I can't wait till Saturday to get together with the guys and play some poker. We will have fun, that's for sure!
Bum
Wednesday, January 4, 2012
Jeremy Hollowell - Bowman Academy
I drug my son to Gary again last night. We went to watch Bowman Academy lace them up against Lawrence Central (top 5 team in the state with Jeremy Hollowell, IU recruit for next season). Well, first off, I didn't get directions to the High School...I ended up driving up and down 6th Avenue right in downtown Gary for 25 minutes before stopping at the Family Dollar at 5th and Jackson-ish...after we came out of there with directions, my son said, "my hands were shaking the whole time we were in there." I said, "they were very nice to us." He said, "yeah, but I was still scared."
We made it to Bowman High School about 2 minutes before tip-off. Perfect. Bowman came out firing on all cylinders, taking a 22-13 lead in the first quarter with their suffocating full court trapping defense. DeJuan Marrero, who is supposed to be their star, picked up 2 fouls in the first quarter and sat all but about another minute in the first half. Lawrence Central took the lead at halftime 38-37. 2nd half, Marrero immediately picks up foul #3 and heads back to the bench. Insert arrival of Carlos McCormick for Bowman who went off for 18 of Bowman's 25 in the 3rd quarter as Bowman took a 62-53 lead into the 4th quarter. Apparently LC had decided to ignore Hollowell in the 3rd quarter and let the guards handle it...That quarter proved to be LC's doom as Hollowell took over the 4th quarter but Bowman matched him point for point and held on for a 84-76 win.
Jeremy Hollowell: by far the best player on the court. Ridiculous talent! He hit at least 7 3's in the game and I really believe it was closer to 10. He is listed at 6'8" and he probably weighs in 210 range. He has great hands and is athletically out of this world. He appears to be super laid back, which has caused some to say he is lazy. I didn't see any laziness. He beats people to the ball, he is super quick off his feet, and he is lights out shooting the ball. He seems smart enough to stay out of foul trouble. For the game he had 38 points (18 of them in the 4th quarter). He probably had 3-4 blocks and 2-3 steals. He also had several rebounds but I wasn't counting. To be honest, I don't know if I have ever seen a better High School basketball performance or a better High School basketball player. He's out of this world talented. I can't wait to see him in an IU uniform.
All that aside, I am very thankful that my son has taken on a similar love for basketball (and Oregon football!) that I have. I know that when I was 15 and on into my 20's, my Dad and I had very little interest-wise in common. Pretty rocky time period between my Dad and I. I really am enjoying the time I am getting to spend with him as we go to games together and talk about the players and the play on the court. We also talk about the officials and now that I am one, I oftentimes have a different perspective than most "fans" do.
If all works out, I think my son and I are headed to Laporte this Friday to take in a game with LaLumierre and Hanner Parea, another IU recruit for next year.
Bum
We made it to Bowman High School about 2 minutes before tip-off. Perfect. Bowman came out firing on all cylinders, taking a 22-13 lead in the first quarter with their suffocating full court trapping defense. DeJuan Marrero, who is supposed to be their star, picked up 2 fouls in the first quarter and sat all but about another minute in the first half. Lawrence Central took the lead at halftime 38-37. 2nd half, Marrero immediately picks up foul #3 and heads back to the bench. Insert arrival of Carlos McCormick for Bowman who went off for 18 of Bowman's 25 in the 3rd quarter as Bowman took a 62-53 lead into the 4th quarter. Apparently LC had decided to ignore Hollowell in the 3rd quarter and let the guards handle it...That quarter proved to be LC's doom as Hollowell took over the 4th quarter but Bowman matched him point for point and held on for a 84-76 win.
Jeremy Hollowell: by far the best player on the court. Ridiculous talent! He hit at least 7 3's in the game and I really believe it was closer to 10. He is listed at 6'8" and he probably weighs in 210 range. He has great hands and is athletically out of this world. He appears to be super laid back, which has caused some to say he is lazy. I didn't see any laziness. He beats people to the ball, he is super quick off his feet, and he is lights out shooting the ball. He seems smart enough to stay out of foul trouble. For the game he had 38 points (18 of them in the 4th quarter). He probably had 3-4 blocks and 2-3 steals. He also had several rebounds but I wasn't counting. To be honest, I don't know if I have ever seen a better High School basketball performance or a better High School basketball player. He's out of this world talented. I can't wait to see him in an IU uniform.
All that aside, I am very thankful that my son has taken on a similar love for basketball (and Oregon football!) that I have. I know that when I was 15 and on into my 20's, my Dad and I had very little interest-wise in common. Pretty rocky time period between my Dad and I. I really am enjoying the time I am getting to spend with him as we go to games together and talk about the players and the play on the court. We also talk about the officials and now that I am one, I oftentimes have a different perspective than most "fans" do.
If all works out, I think my son and I are headed to Laporte this Friday to take in a game with LaLumierre and Hanner Parea, another IU recruit for next year.
Bum
Tuesday, January 3, 2012
2012...Happy New Year and stuff!
Happy New Year reader...er readerS! I thought everything from 2011 got left in 2011? My cold carried over...my debt carried over...and my job carried over...yeah, on January 2nd, a national holiday to celebrate the new year and to sleep off the New Year's first hangover for some, and to watch football, I was at work...yep, a company paid holiday. Yeah me! I did get to watch the Oregon game (cause I had my son dvr it; and yes dvr is a verb!). I also saw the end of the Oklahoma State "win" over Stanford...My advice: Stay aggressive and don't rely on kickers unless you have to! Oregon is awesome; I can't think of a college football team that I would rather watch play; so much fun!
By the way, that crappy team from Bloomington delivered a beat down to what used to be "the" Ohio State University! What a game! Who woulda thunk that while Zeller played only 5 minutes or so in the 2nd half, that IU could have not only beat Ohio State but basically shut down Sullinger the last couple of minutes? Let me get this out there: At halftime my father-in-law and I noted that Craft had 3 TO's; I said (and I will quote people or person) "if we (IU) get 3 more TO's from Craft in the 2nd half, we will win this game." Naturally, my father-in-law saw the wisdom of my statement and agreed. Well, by golly, I just looked (a few days after the fact) and Craft had 6 TO's in the game (now I know why VJIII had 6 TO's, he was trying to keep up with Craft!), which just proves that sometimes I might just know what I'm talking about...well, maybe, still, you can give me this one. On a side note: who would have thought that Derek Elston could sack up and hold Sullinger down the last 2 minutes of the game??? Tremendous! Very exciting to see those kids step up without Zeller and win this one; just shows how much these guys have improved!
Note: IU got their 3rd 2013 commitment in Luke Fischer, a 6-8 Power forward from Wisconsin. Latest video of him (he's number 40; number 3 is going to walk on at Wisconsin): Luke Fischer
Michigan is next on Thursday (ESPN2)
Bum
By the way, that crappy team from Bloomington delivered a beat down to what used to be "the" Ohio State University! What a game! Who woulda thunk that while Zeller played only 5 minutes or so in the 2nd half, that IU could have not only beat Ohio State but basically shut down Sullinger the last couple of minutes? Let me get this out there: At halftime my father-in-law and I noted that Craft had 3 TO's; I said (and I will quote people or person) "if we (IU) get 3 more TO's from Craft in the 2nd half, we will win this game." Naturally, my father-in-law saw the wisdom of my statement and agreed. Well, by golly, I just looked (a few days after the fact) and Craft had 6 TO's in the game (now I know why VJIII had 6 TO's, he was trying to keep up with Craft!), which just proves that sometimes I might just know what I'm talking about...well, maybe, still, you can give me this one. On a side note: who would have thought that Derek Elston could sack up and hold Sullinger down the last 2 minutes of the game??? Tremendous! Very exciting to see those kids step up without Zeller and win this one; just shows how much these guys have improved!
Note: IU got their 3rd 2013 commitment in Luke Fischer, a 6-8 Power forward from Wisconsin. Latest video of him (he's number 40; number 3 is going to walk on at Wisconsin): Luke Fischer
Michigan is next on Thursday (ESPN2)
Bum
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