Mission WSOP

I’m done with new shows on CBS.  Sure, last year when "Jericho" was cancelled and the passion of the fans of "Jericho" forced CBS to overturn their decision.  After 7 episodes and NO SUPPORT, "Jericho" is done.  Again!  The series finale is next week and since I have a DVR I don’t even know what day it is on.  I know "Without A Trace" is coming back, I know Britney is on "How I Met Your Mother" and the ultra-lame "The New Adventures Of Old Christine" will allow the madness to continue, whatever the hell that means! 

I didn’t see one commercial leading up to the launch of "Jericho" - Season Two.  And despite seeing a number of commercials for every other show on CBS (even "The Ghost Whisperer") during NCAA March Madness, there was not one for "Jericho".  So, it was no shocker when I went on Yahoo tonight and read the story that "Jericho" is dead after next week. 

It will be hard for me to commit to a show on CBS anytime soon after this and a number of other shows over the past few seasons.  I’m too tired to rant on how inaccurate ratings are anymore now that there are so many other ways to watch a show.  All I’ll say is that if you’re reading this and have never seen "Jericho" before, go rent the first season and enjoy a show that was highly underrated and well appreciated by those who happened to tune in. 

Robert Hawkins and Jake Green, you will be missed!

And for you, CBS, I’m adding you to the Dumbest People In The World list!  I let you off the hook for the Dook-Belmont over USC-Kansas State programming decision because you lucked out with a great game but on this one, NO SOUP FOR YOU!

Last July, I began this blog to track my attempt to someday capture a WSOP bracelet.  At the time, I really didn’t know what it would look like or how I would utilize my blog or fill contact.  I started a few different categories and gimmicks and none have really stuck although they do resurface from time to time.  Today’s blog really has nothing to do with poker at all.  Instead it is about the actual blogging world and two of its opponents: Stephen A. Smith and Bill Conlin.

I happened upon some comments recently on a new site I had never seen before called The Bleacher Report.  The Bleacher Report is an Open Source sports reporting web site where anyone can be a sports journalist.  There was a recent article that really caught my interest and I wanted to comment on what I read.  Here’s the article if you would like to see… it’s called Memo To All Bloggers: Stop Blogging Immediately!

Thanks to this article, I am bringing back an old feature: The Dumbest People In The World!  So far, Pacman Jones, Michael Vick, anyone who defends Michael Vick and O.J. Simpson were all annointed the title.  Now, thanks to the above article, I must add two more names to the list:  Stephen A. Smith and Bill Conlin.

It seems that Stephen A. Smith has a small chip on his shoulder about the blogging community.  Here’s his comments:

"And when you look at the internet business, what’s dangerous about it is that people who are clearly unqualified get to disseminate their piece to the masses. I respect the journalism industry, and the fact of the matter is…someone with no training should not be allowed to have any kind of format whatsoever to disseminate to the masses to the level which they can. They are not trained. Not experts. More important are the level of ethics and integrity that comes along with the quote-unqoute profession hasn’t been firmly established and entrenched in the minds of those who’ve been given that license.”

"Therefore, there’s a total disregard, a level of wrecklessness that ends up being a domino effect. And the people who suffer are the common viewers out there and, more importantly, those in the industry who haven’t been fortunate to get a radio or television deal and only rely on the written word. And now they’ve been sabotaged. Not because of me. Or like me. But because of the industry or the world has allowed the average joe to resemble a professional without any credentials whatsoever."

I don’t want to spend a lot of time on Smith’s comments as their arrogance speaks volumes.  I rarely agree with Stephen A. and this is yet another example of a time where I don’t.  When I read Stephen A. Smith’s columns I do not know his credentials or his level of expertise.  All I know about him is that his newspaper decided he was worthy of being in print.  The difference with bloggers is that anyone can have a blog.  Thanks to the ease with which one can have a blog, there are a lot of ordinary and pedestrian blogs out there that add very little to the journalistic world.  On the other hand, there are some interesting, informative and provacative ones out there… and some of them may even have a degree.  Now, none of us attended whatever special super top secret training that Stephen A. underwent but one or two of us know something about writing.  And did I miss the correspondence on when I can apply for 100% certification on my expertise in sports like Stephen A. has?

Then there’s Bill Conlin.  Conlin also has disdain for bloggers.  Here’s his comments:

“The only positive thing I can think of about Hitler’s time on earth–I’m sure he would have eliminated all bloggers. In Colonial times, bloggers were called “Pamphleteers.” They hung on street corners handing them out to passersby. Now, they hang out on electronic street corners, hoping somebody mouses on to their pretentious sites.”

“Most of you guys are unreadable. That’s one of my gripes. And while many of you–not all–can get away with a level of insult and ridicule that would be actionable in a publication governed by standards and libel and slander laws, professionals must abide by those standards and laws. My columns are read by a minimum of three editors for fact, style, fairness and balance. Who checks your facts and deletes a line that is over the edge of good taste or might demean or defame an athlete or subject? Did you take a course in the libel and slander laws? Or do you merely throw it against the wall and see what sticks? That’s what most of you do. I can’t pin that on you specifically because I have never read your blog.”

Conlin’s comments are as ridiculous as Stephen A. Smith’s comments.  Firstly, a Hilter reference never quite seems to hit the mark, in my opinion.  Granted I don’t have an army of editors to tell me if my opinion is ok to write but I’ll chance it.  Apparently, Bill can’t put together a group of thoughts and information without at least Manny, Moe and Jack to take a stab at editing what is going to be read.  Finally, these were comments made to a blogger that were made public.  What is interesting about these comments is that Conlin ends the rant on bloggers by stating that he had never read the blog of the person he was talking to… isn’t that a little bit irresponsible commentary then?  Maybe it’s just me.

What both Smith and Conlin miss is that there is always a court of public opinion that will decide on these matters.  If a blogger lacks talent, no one reads it.  As a reader of blogs, I understand the risks I take in the possibility of the information being presented in an amateur fashion OR information not being 100% factual.  At the same time, I’m not one to blindly accept what I read in newspapers just because three editors may have read and reviewed the material. 

It doesn’t take a genius to put a few words on a page and be entertaining or intriguing.  Declaring someone an expert is not a certification process as Stephen A. Smith contends.  Exactly how did Stephen A. Smith become a certified expert?  What about Conlin?  I can’t find one of these amazing experts that had a clue about the Gasol to L.A. trade in the NBA… shouldn’t an "expert" be on top of these things?

Before the Top 10 list, the charges versus Pacman Jones were dropped.  The original report said he "sucker punched" a stripper when he entered the Body Tap strip club’s office because he was upset that his bracelet and money were stolen.  Now, the charges have been dropped.  Hmmmmm…

I did this a while ago and thought I’d update it:

My Top 10 Top 10 (My Favorite 10 Things At This Very Moment)

10. Sirius
9. Puzzle Quest for Wii 
8. Qdoba 
7. The Wire
6. You Tube
5. Catching up on ‘Curb Your Enthusiasm’ On Demand
4. The Chargers
3. My Blackberry Curve
2. The pickle on the Chic-Fil-A Sandwich
1. Chicken, Egg & Cheese On  A Sunflower Multi-grain Bagel from Chic-Fil-A

I haven’t had a chance to review the details but it seems that Pacman Jones is back in the frying pan for yet another strip club incident.  He is now being accused of punching a stripper?  If this is true, all I can say is what the —-!  Pacman… the Titans need you back… stay out of strip clubs, please!

Finally, a real quick look at what is going to drive me absolutely insane today.  My two socks are different and one sock has more elasticity than the other.  How do I know they are different?  One has ‘HANES’ and the other has ‘Hanes’ written on them.  UGH!!!

Christmas has come and gone and now I’m a rock star thanks to Guitar Heroes.  Actually, I pretty much am finding the game difficult on any level other than Easy.  I am looking forward to spending my gift cards at Borders and Best Buy and will smell much better doing it thanks to some new soap and cologne for Christmas.

My bankroll is stuck in neutral lately and after a 4th place finish in a Stud tournament last night, I’m at $2075.

A message to all of you out there who feel compelled to ask me to stake you… don’t!  If I want to stake you, I will seek you out and do so.  In the mean time, I am losing my patience with all of the requests as of late.  I feel like I’m walking through a village of homeless people every time I sign on to AOL Instant Messenger.

Finally, I was so disappointed recently when Yahoo ran a story featuring the Top 40 Most Interesting Sports Figures of 2007 as voted on by bloggers… but no one asked this blogger to participate!  Sure, I have a readership of maybe 43 but still… I have an opinion and I fit their expectation of being "basically a big city white guy in their 20s and 30s."

So, here is my Top 15:

15 (tie). Randy Moss/Terrell Owens
Two guys who just can’t help you win and are a major distraction are on teams with a combined 28-2 record.  Lucy, you got some ’splainin’ to do!

14. OJ Simpson
The former Heisman winner turned retired bumbling detective. (Hint: OJ, look in the mirror… you’ll find what you are looking for!)  Now, he’s a candidate for America’s Dumbest Criminal with a brief summer news affair where he was caught on tape committing a heist of his own stuff.  Way to go, OJ, we knew you had it in you.

13. Tim Donaghy
In the scandal that just couldn’t get any steam behind it, I still think Tim deserves some kudos for costing (or winning) millions of degenerate gamblers everywhere some dough.

12. Floyd Mayweather
I want to make a joke about Dancing With The Stars but I’m afraid Floyd Mayweather might read this and come to my house at 4 am when I’m sleeping and hurt me real bad.  An MMA run in 2008 could make Floyd a Top 10 candidate for sure. 

11. David Beckham
I had something realy interesting and funny to say about Becks but I’m going to hold out for millions and then totally not deliver.

10. Tony Romo
He went from bumbling the snap in a key playoff game to 13-2 and nailing Carrie Underwood and Jessica Simpson.  This guy might be my hero.

9. Roger Clemens
He’s retired… no wait… he’s not retired… no wait… he’s retired… no wait… he’s not retired.  Boy, that’s old.  I guess Clemens thought so, too.  Here’s a new suggestion.  He used steroids… no wait… he didn’t use steroids… no wait… he used steroids… no wait… he didn’t use steroids.  If ESPN makes a reality show about this guy I hope I can account for my whereabouts when the program director is found dead.

8. Tom Brady
All he does is win.  And now they give him some real targets to throw to and he makes the game look easier than ever.

7. Barry Bonds
He probably should be higher but eclipsing the home run record was anti-climactic and the rest of the Bonds story is so played.  Although the highlight has to be the 100s of interpretations of the Hank Aaron speech.

6. Bill Belichick
Cheaters never win?  Someone needs to put out an inquiry on this one then!

5. Brett Favre
It’s always big news when you are able to get off my "I hate how overrated this guy is" list.  Somehow Favre put me in my place in 2007.  Has he always been that good and I was just blind to it?  I’m sure he’ll make two or three well-timed choke throws in the playoffs to help me get to a place where I can put him back on that list.

4. Gilbert Arenas
Agent 00… helped his team in the best way he knew how: he got injured and out of their way.  I’m rooting for him though.  Maybe he can go the route of TO and Randy Moss and end up on some juggernaut of a team and we’ll forget all about the mugging and trash talking.  The Celtics could use one more player.

3. Pacman Jones
Made it rain, wrestled and then disappeared into oblivion as he tries to convince the NFL to let him back.  Adam had such a lock on the #1 spot for me that he only slipped two spots when he failed to make the news in the second half of ‘07.  Someone call up Jones and tell him I got a big stack of $1 bills for his 3rd place finish!

2. Michael Vick
Public enemy #1 finishes #2 on my list and in most eyes, Vick equates to a pile of #2.  Now he’s behind bars and fading out of the hot button topics of the public.  This is a good thing as he was a mine waiting to blow up in the face of anyone who stepped out and commented in any way other than Michael Vick should be burned, stoned, hung, shot by firing squad, etc.

1. Jimmy Rollins
Allow me to go local… he told us the Phillies were the team to beat in 2007 and then went out and backed it up by helping the Phillies storm from behind and put a dagger in the heart of millions of Mets fans.  Plus, he was named MVP and had 20 doubles, triples, home runs and stolen bases in the same year.  And then there was his biggest feat of 2007: he knocked the Eagles out of the top news spot in Philadelphia and put the Phillies into the spot of team most talked about going into 2008.

Wow… what a hectic week so far and I haven’t even done anything.  Where to start?

The bankroll?  Well, it’s spread out now across three sites: Bodog, Full Tilt and Poker Stars.  The total tally is $966.  The highlight of the week so far was making two final tables last night, finishing 2nd in a $1 Razz tournament on Poker Stars and 6th in a $3 Stud tournament on Poker Stars. 

As for the live games, I played in the US Poker Championship Stud Event.  I did poorly.  The good news is afterwards I won most of my buy-in back at a $1/$2 No Limit cash game.  The Stud tournament at the Taj had a horrible structure and it was very disappointing how poorly it was run.  I started at Table 70 but the Taj does not have a Table 70.  Then it turned into Table 73.  The registration wasn’t spread out so all of the people at my table knew each other because they all signed up together.  The worst part is that our table started 7 minutes after the rest of the tournament started.

Then, the tournament itself.  I was outdrawn every step of the way.  I had made hands on 5th at least three times and they were outdrawn on 6th or 7th.  Two flushes cracked by full houses and a straight outdrawn by a flush.

The cash game was great, I was on point every step of the way.  I made great laydowns and minimized my losses, including only losing $13 with pocket Kings.  Overall, I pocketed +$201 which was most the buy-in for the Stud event.

What about the Phillies?  They won again last night in exciting fashion.  A 14th inning win that pulled them to within just 1 1/2 games of the Mets.  I’m fully immersed now in this playoff race yet again.  Maybe this really is the year! 

And a member of the Dumbest People In The World Hall Of Fame has returned to the news: O.J. Simpson.  O.J. has nearly topped himself this time.  Caught on tape robbing those who apparently robbed him.  You know, I don’t care to know the story all that well but how this guy doesn’t completely lay low after what he did is beyond me.  O.J. should be front page news for at least a few months.  O.J. will be using the "What Happens In Vegas Stays In Vegas" defense with a side order of "I Was Set-Up By The Big Bad Police".  This shouldn’t be as entertaining as it is considering we’re talking about a double murderer who now is accused of robbery and possibly even kidnapping.

I should be heading back to A.C. tomorrow to get in some more cash game play and maybe check out the Borgata Poker Open final table depending on who makes it.  Friday is the Poker Stars WCOOP Razz Event… I can’t wait.  I still have the logistical challenge of transferring the money around but I might have driven my Poker Stars bankroll to that amount by Friday anyway.

A tough Saturday led to my first losing day of poker in about a week.  I had bubble-itis on Saturday and finished at the final table of a PL Omaha Hi/Lo MTT but out of the money (finished 9th but 8 cashed) and 4 times in Sit & Gos, I finished 4th with top 3 paying.  The bankroll was down to $1140.

I played very little poker on Sunday and spent most of my day with my girlfriend and caught up on my RSS Feeds on Newsgator.  Here were the highlights… my commentary is free of charge:

• The poker world received "exciting" news that the federal government has put safeguards in place to ensure the casinos take 25% of any cash prize awarded in a poker tournament.  There is now a new law that states that casinos MUST take 25% of any prize over $5000 awarded at a poker tournament.  This should make for some interesting chops.  Anyone want to take a bet that you will see a chop at a tournament of $4999 (or something very close to that)?
• Fox’s Anchorwoman received a lot of hype… and now it is cancelled!  Despite Lauren Jones previously being a Bob Barker beauty, Miss New York and a WWE diva, only 2.7 million people turned out for the first (and only) airing.  If you were one of those people or someone who saw the commercials but are disappointed you missed it, fear not!  You can catch the show on Fox’s website.  There’s 5 episodes over there.  I think they are calling it the Who Gives A S–t channel.
• Dumbest People In The World #3: Anyone who sticks up for Michael Vick.  Look, I’m not crazy about any domesticated animal… especially dogs.  However, I really thought about this argument that a few people are throwing out there (including me at one point) where the public is coming down harder on cruelty to animals than cruelty to humans.  The most recent to come out to defend Vick was comedian/actor Jamie Foxx.  Boxer Roy Jones did too.  The argument presented was that people can shoot someone and not go to jail but Michael Vick fought dogs and he is going to jail.  Let’s get one thing clear about this argument.  If Don King were to shoot and kill one of his boxers after he lost a fight, I think he would be doing some hard time.  I still think there was a rush to judgment here but in the end everyone who did rush to judgment was bailed out by Vick being that stupid. 
• Amy Winehouse’s father-in-law wants us to boycott her music.  For some reason it is our responsibility to put Winehouse in the poor house which will apparently end her drug addiction.  You know, that makes a lot of sense… you never, ever see poor people addicted to drugs.
• I’m shocked!  CBS’s "Kid Nation" is under scrutiny.  The show will premiere September 19th but it will under a cloud of negative press.  First, it was the 22 page release parents had to sign to pimp their kids to the network.  Now, it is the allegations that children were hurt on the set and were forced to work unusually long hours.  I find it hard to believe that kids aged 8 to 15 left alone and without adult supervision could possibly get injured.
• Enrique Iglesias has a small penis!  And in true celebrity-blessed fashion, his small penis has not hurt him.  It seems that now Enrique has a modelling offer for a brand of extra small condoms. 
• Finally, the most exciting movie news since the release date of Transformers is that G.I. Joe will be hitting theaters in 2009.  The project also has a director: Stephen Sommers of ‘Van Helsing’ and ‘Mummy’ fame.  Now that a director has been named, the important question of who will be cast in the roles of Duke, Cobra Commander, Snake Eyes, Bazooka, Destro, Zandar and others.  Mark Wahlberg has been the only rumor so far. 

Well, hopefully, I’ll get back on the winning track soon.

After committing to the restart on Thursday, I took Friday and Saturday off to spend some quality time with my girlfriend and clear my head.  As I restart, when I get a few days ahead I am going to start taking a little time off here and there to keep the game fresh and prevent the boredom that can occur which makes me do stupid things.

In my first day back, I added $18 and bumped my total to $152.54.  A little behind where I should be but I’m happy with how I played in my first online foray.  I also played at the lowest level on the site and was able to earn 36x the big bet in about an hour.  If this were a 5/10 game, I would be +360 instead of +18 (although that is a much tougher game).  But, I have realized I can’t push it if I want to do this right and need to grind it out.

Secondly, my poker calendar may slowly fill up as there will be some opportunities to test my poker skills in some fairly big events.  Two of them are online and two are live.

The first online series has already begun and I’m looking at the August 16th Seven Card Stud event on the Full Tilt Online Poker Series as a possible event for me to play in.  The event takes place at 9 pm and top prize is $25,000.  I haven’t decided yet if I was going to play and with my work schedule, it looks like an unlikely event for me.

The other online series is the WCOOP on Poker Stars.  I played in an event last year and just missed the money by 4 places after leading the tournament for about 75% of the first 4 hours before taking two rough beats and getting decimated in chips only to finish close to the bubble.  I’m hoping to play in either the 7-Card Stud event or the Razz event in September. 

Live events upcoming are the Borgata Poker Open in September which is disappointingly Hold’em only.  I doubt this is a tournament I’ll play in but if I go on a hot streak then I’ll be there.  I’m very disappointed in the Borgata’s total abandonment of non-Hold’em games.

The most likely event for me to play in is the Seven Card Stud event at the Taj on September 17th.  I have talked about playing in this event every year for the past 5 years and I never participate (including one year where I actually went to AC and stayed over with the intention on playing ONLY to oversleep after a late night session and not participate).  I think this is the event that I’ll be targeting to play in and hope I stick to my guns and actually participate. 

If I play in any of the events, I will be updating my blog during the events.

Moving away from my life, Michael Vick should be suspended by the end of the week.  I’m surprised it has taken this long.

Pacman Jones is a wrestler… sort of.  Apparently, he can’t be touched or harmed in any way.  TNA has its’ work cut out for them to make this work.

Finally, I haven’t done a Top 10 in a while so after catching a movie with one of my favorite characters of all-time in it, I came up with a list.

Top 10 Favorite Movie Characters Of All-Time

10. Drexl Spivey (True Romance)
Sure, Gary Oldman’s character has a very small part in my favorite movie ever but it is just one of the best performances in one of the most underrated movies of all-time.  It was tough to decide between Oldman’s character and Christopher Walken’s character but Oldman edges Walken out.

9. Teddy KGB (Rounders)
John Malkovich’s underground Russian villain of the greatest poker movie of all-time is absolutely a performance to see for any poker fan.  You play poker with anyone that has seen this movie and they are bound to mimic Malkovich’s Russian accent and one of the many memorable lines that KGB says during the movie.

8. Rick Blaine (Casablanca)
Humphrey Bogart is one bad m-f-er in the only love story a guy can get away with saying he likes without being called a wuss. 

7. Mr. Blonde (Reservoir Dogs)
"Are you gonna bark… little doggy… or are you gonna bite?"  Michael Madsen is the highlight of the pre-Pulp Fiction Tarantino film era. 

6. John McClaine (Die Hard)
Hard to believe I still haven’t seen Die Hard 4.  Bruce Willis as McClaine is easily my favorite action sequel-fest character.

5. Gunnery Sgt. Hartman (Full Metal Jacket)
The main reason to watch the first half of Full Metal Jacket is R. Lee Ermey’s turn as a ball-breaking drill sergeant who pushes Private Pyle… well, if you haven’t seen it, I am not going to ruin it.

4. Jules Winnfield (Pulp Fiction)
The baddest of the bad m-f-ers in movie history.  He has a wallet to prove it.  Screw John Travolta, it’s Samuel L. Jackson that makes this movie one of the best dialogue-driven movies of all-time.

3. Roy Hobbs (The Natural)
This movie gets me every time.  I can’t stand when this movie pops on my TV because I can’t turn away.  You have to make me turn it off.  I defy any true baseball fan to not get caught up in this movie and end up rooting for Hobbs to win it all for the New York Knights.  Hell, he made me root for a New York team.

2. Patrick Bateman (American Psycho)
Christian Bale carries this movie as a businessman by day/psychotic killer by night addicted to 80s music and serial killings.  I’d quote some of the many memorable lines from the movie but since practically the entire movies is on the Internet Movie Database, you can look for yourself.

1. Leon (The Professional)
Assassin turned father-figure turned protector of Matilda, a 12-year-old played by Natalie Portman who loses her family when they are all murdered.  Jean Reno is amazing as the assassin with a heart.  If it weren’t for the chemistry between Reno and Portman, this movie would be ordinary. 

Honorable mentions: Jason Vorhees, Clark Griswold, Hoke Colburn, Private Trip, Private Pyle, Clarence Worley, Alonzo (Training Day), Jesse & Celine (Before Sunrise/Before Sunset), Worm, Knish, Todd Wodds & Reggie Kane (Duets), Tyler Durden, The Joker, Mike McDermott, Boba Fett… too tired to continue but I think you get that I had a long list to pare down to 10.

I have yet to have back-to-back losing days as I added $19.45 to the bankroll and moved the figure to $280.51.  Since July 1st, that was my 5th best day and much needed after my biggest loss the previous day.  I started off the day dropping about $20 in a rash of bad beats when my opponent managed to hit 5 gut shots over the course of 10 hands.  I stepped up to the $1/$2 table and took my biggest risk and quickly won the $20 back and then as the table grew to 7 players, I left as I prefer more short handed games.

Pacman Jones may be joining TNA (the rival wrestling operation competing with WWE).  Sounds right up his alley.

David Beckham continues to be hurt and may not play the next game whenever that is.  You’d think by my blog that I was a big soccer fan but I’m just fascinated with the Beckham invasion and the ineptitude of the LA organization in thinking that Beckham will revolutionize the American game.

On the flip side, Freddie Adu is leaving the US to play in Portugal.  Losing a great American talent such as Freddie Adu seems to me as a bigger deal than it is being made out to be.  Maybe I just don’t understand the game.

Armed with feedback from my small readership, I will attempt to write a more solid blog entry tonight.  The grind toward $2k continues to bode well as the bankroll went to $233.09 tonight.  That’s +$11.80 for you math wizards out there.  I wish I had more time to devote to playing as I think I could really go higher with my goal.  I hit the nearly $12 mark in less than 40 minutes and am loving playing mostly stud.

So, why the limited time?  Let’s break down a typical day in the life:

9 AM - 10 AM: At some point in this hour, I roll out of bed.

10 AM - 11 AM: Check work e-mail, personal e-mail, send information to store teams (I’m a District Manager for Blockbuster Video), call stores, check voice mail, check work e-mail #2, call more stores.

11 AM - 11:15 AM: Shower, dress, out the door.

11:15 AM - 11:30 AM: Hit Wawa, grab a Red Bull, eat some toasted ravioli.

11:30 AM - 12:30 PM: Drive, listen to Howard Stern in between calling stores and returning customer complaint calls.

12:30 PM - 4 or 5 PM: Visit a store, log the visit.

5 PM - 7 PM: Varies… sometimes it’s just checking work e-mail again sometimes it’s returning more phone calls.  Tonight it was teaching a New Hire Orientation class until 8:30 PM.  Occassionally, I have to interview, hire or fire someone too.

7 PM - 8 PM: Drive home.

8 PM - 11 PM: Varies (especially the arrival time home).  Sometimes I spend some limited but valuable time with Lisa (my girlfriend), sometimes I get a chance to dig into playing poker early, most of the time it is spent combining one or both of these activities with catching up on my massive DVR recordings.  And somewhere in there I have to eat.

11 PM - MIDNIGHT: Hit the gym.  I try and do 2 miles on the treadmill, exercise my torso and abs and then stop at Wawa on the way home for a pint of milk and a banana.

MIDNIGHT on: If my perfect schedule works out then I’m hitting the online tables at an earlier time than normal.  I catch up on the news through my Newsgator account or on Yahoo and fit in some time to blog and if necessary any work I let slide through the cracks that I can complete at home on my work laptop.

Around 4 AM: Nap… I can’t call it sleep anymore… sleep would be more than 4 or 5 hours.

And this is a less hectic day.  No fire-drill conference calls or issues in stores or the day having to start earlier because I have to drive to a Maryland store or have a debrief with my boss.  I estimate that I have slept 20 hours in 4 days this week.  That’s roughly the amount of Red Bulls and Moutain Dews I’ve had.

I mentioned Newsgator earlier… this is a dream come true for me.  If you are not familiar, Newsgator is an RSS Reader.  Basically, an RSS reader allows you to sign up for various News Feeds (including the Mission WSOP blog) and check in for the latest updates on a daily basis.  Tonight I found that I could link to Norman Chad’s articles in the Washington Post.  His latest article talks about how it is impossible to make any form of gambling illegal because people will always find away to drink, gamble and make whoppee.  His words, not mine.  It’s one of Chad’s less funny pieces but a slam dunk once again.  Chad has to be my favorite writer and I’ve been reading his stuff for at least 15 years.

The Newsgator Feed Reader is amazing because it’s like setting up your very own online newspaper.  Never will I have to worry about accidentally reading an article by Michelle Malkin again. (How am I doing with the links?)  While I’m new to Newsgator, I am an instant fan and recommend it to anyone who is a news junkie like myself who just has failed to find the time to sit down and enjoy a newspaper.

Poor Becks!  It looks like David Beckham is not going to be able to play this weekend where his expected debut with the LA Galaxy was supposed to occur.  The ankle is too swollen and he left just a glimpse of hope for those waiting to see his debut.  The annointed savior of American soccer has said he may step into the game late.  "I’m here for five years.  I’m not here just obviously for the game on Saturday."  Maybe I’m a bit pessimistic but I feel like the Beckham-era will be more prima donna than premiere player. 

More Bad Newz for Mike Vick.  Despite his apology to Falcons’ team owner Arthur Blank, animal rights group PETA is planning to protect in front of the NFL league offices in NY on Friday morning.  Last time a public figure experienced this Don Imus was fired… let’s see if this forces the NFL to take action.  Vick’s new shoe has been shelved by Nike and it probably doesn’t help that PETA has planned to tell its’ 10 million members to boycott Nike, too.

So many roads this nightmare of a situation could go for all parties involved but it would be nice for Vick to ask the team for an unpaid leave while he handles the business of a federal trial but then again, who am I to ask a guy to walk away from $6 million.  The guy hasn’t been convicted yet so I really don’t see how the league or the team can react until due process has been followed.

I’m not sticking up for Vick in any way.  I just think these ultra-sensitive groups consistently overreact prior to all of the facts being sorted out.  The difficult part is that in the end, they are probably right to call for such a swift action taken… it looks bad for Ron Mexico.

The best news of the day was that Vick’s trial was assigned to US District Judge Henry E. Hudson.  Hudson is known for keeping trials moving and US District Court in Richmond is known as the "rocket docket" for getting cases handled quickly.  No word on whether or not Vick has considered Rocket Docket as a name for his next canine purchase. 

Finally, Poker After Dark should be excellent Friday night (well… Saturday).  If you can stay up late or DVR it, the final four of Poker Analyst Week is going on and Gabe Kaplan is the chip leader.  Mr. Kotter is always fun to watch and I’m glad to catch the replay of this since I missed it a few months ago.  Joining Gabe will be Mike Sexton, Phil Gordon and Howard Lederer.  All week, Kaplan has been on point with his play and his humor and it’s been a great week on one of the best poker shows on TV.