Mission WSOP

Lots of random stuff today.  I continued my hot streak with a few more cashes and two more final tables.  One final table in a PL Omaha Hi/Lo tournament (I think it is my first ever MTT cash in PL Omaha Hi/Lo - a game I don’t play much) and a disappointing 7th place finish at the $2000 Guaranteed Stud tournament last night.  It was disappointing only in the fact that I always expect to win when I play Stud.

Through my play the bankroll has been bumped to $1275+.  I am playing “lights out” poker right now.  Last night, John Juanda was holding a chat session on Full Tilt and I got to ask him a few questions since the chat session was at around 5 or 6 am.  I talked to him about cashing in tournaments and he basically said you need to Top 3 in tournaments and don’t sweat the cashing part.  That’s always something I struggle with when I get really close and I tend to tighten up a little more than I probably should. 

I texted myself yesterday to remember to mention a few things during my next blog and hopefully I can cover those here.

It’s fantasy football season again and I am still retired from playing.  The last season I played of fantasy football I went undefeated and the season before I lost only 2 games.  I just can’t get into it anymore.  If you play, draft a strong running back and if you have the top pick and pass on LaDainian Tomlinson, you are insane!  You are going to hear something from me that you never hear from any other person talking about fantasy football… the quarterback position is overrated and the tight end position is underrated.  I’m not saying that you should draft a tight end high and wait until your 5th or 6th pick to grab a QB but I have done that before and it can work out.  The reason?  Take the #1 QB and compare him to the #8 QB and then take the #1 TE and compare him to the #8 TE… you’ll see a huge productivity difference.

Here’s this year’s example: (Using a random fantasy football prognosticator online)

QB #1 - Peyton Manning - 360.4 points
QB #8 - Tony Romo - 296.1 points
Difference of Production - 64.3 Points (4.0 PPG)

TE #1 - Antonio Gates - 160.9 points
TE #8 - Alge Crumpler - 94.6 points
Difference of Production - 66.3 Points (4.2 PPG)

Now, this may not seem like a huge difference but the key to fantasy football success is beating your opponent position-by-position.  When you look at the combination, which one would you rather have?  Manning & Crumpler or Romo & Gates?  You know if you have Manning or Gates you are going to get exactly what is expected but the upside of Romo is huge compared to Crumpler.  And the downside?  If Crumpler gets hurt, his replacement will be lucky to receive for 40 yards per week.  If Romo gets hurt, the biggest gold mine in fantasy football is nailing the right backup quarterback.  Don’t neglect the tight end!

Quick Top Ten

My Top 10 Favorite Sports Jerseys I Own:

1. 2007-08 LaDainian Tomlinson #21 Chargers Jersey (Powder Blue)
2. Vince Young #10 Titans Jersey (Dark)
3. LeBron James High School Jersey
4. Randall Cunningham UNLV Jersey
5. Randall Cunningham Vikings Jersey
6. Personalized Sixers Jersey (Joseph #13)
7. Terrell Owens Black #81 Eagles Jersey
8. William Thomas #51 Eagles Jersey (Been Worn Out)
9. Cris Carter Ohio State Jersey
10. Carmelo Anthony Dark Blue Nuggets Jersey

Sure, it isn’t the traditional top ten and sadly enough, some jerseys missed the cut!  What was I thinking when I bought that Mike Modano Dallas Stars jersey… I hate hockey!

So, why did I bring up jerseys?  I noticed something about 6 months back and it keeps coming up time and again.  The reverse racism of football jersey choosing.  Before I see the person, if I see an Eli Manning jersey, I know it is going to be worn by a black guy and if it is a Plaxico Burress jersey it’ll be worn by a white guy.  On the field Marvin Harrison is black and Peyton Manning is white… off the field Harrison is across the back of a white guy and Manning is across the back of a black guy.

Yesterday, I saw 6 jerseys and it was the same thing:  Jeremy Shockey, Drew Brees and Tom Brady were all worn by African-Americans and Larry Johnson, Donovan McNabb and Brian Westbrook were all worn by Caucasians.  It’s such a weird phenomenon.  Maybe it’s just a coincidence.

The Phillies are hotter than ever.  They swept the Mets and have won 6 straight and are now 2 back… this is where they suck me in and it ends in disappointment in October.  You know what… i don’t care!  It was lots of fun the last two years and will be lots of fun this year too.

Finally, the final numbers are in for the month of August and I’ve had a few more visitors this month than last but still not a ton.  Thanks to those of you who have stopped by.  I’m thinking of a way to drive traffic to my site.  Any suggestions, please e-mail me at bjoseph22@comcast.net. 

The best feature though is anyone who found my site through a search.  Here were the two searches that clicked on my site:

“Where can I buy a spiderpig?” and “Pearljammer interview”.  I can’t wait to see why people accidentally come across my site through searches.  Maybe I should just start typing Britney Spears and random thoughts afterwards… I’m sure that’ll get some net attention. 

You know… I almost forgot to mention that David Beckham is most likely out for the rest of the season in his MLS debut year.  This will bring the Year 1 Beckham season to status of huge disappointment.  So much for Becks revolutionizing soccer in the US… he may have actually set it back this year.