Mission WSOP

What happened this weekend?

• I won my 2nd event of Season III of the LAPT (my home game) and took home $302 to increase my total winnings to $2835 in 38 tournaments. 
• I went 3-1 again in the playoffs and am now 6-0 in games not involving the Giants.
• I failed to cash in the HORSE Championship but I did play-by-play for the final table which was fun. (I could only think of three songs about horses!)
• I failed to cash in the Silver Iron Man thanks to a bad beat.
• My bankroll climbed back to the $2125 range.
• Steps were taken to wrap up the Stake & Stock event on Surfers Poker as it grew closer and closer to a close.  The $2.20 Satellites to the Sunday Night Guaranteed tournaments contain the worst caliber of player I have ever played with.
• I played well enough over the weekend to repair all of the damage done by my Sit & Go Madness fiasco.  My Sharkscope is back where it was a week ago… flirting with +$200.

Sunday’s Actual Results

San Diego 28, Indianapolis 24 (Prediction: San Diego 24-21)

LT got hurt, Merriman was OK but nothing special… but the Chargers came through in a big way.  Norv Turner!  Who knew?  Now, the Chargers must face the daunting task of trying to knock off the undefeated Patriots and they might have to do it without Phillip Rivers, Ladainian Tomlinson and Antonio Gates may not be healthy.  No matter how my heart feels, I doubt there is any reason I can come up with to pick the Chargers but I know who I will be rooting for.

NY Giants 21, Dallas 17 (Prediction: Cowboys 27-20)

I’m 0-2 in picking Giants games and Packers fans everywhere are praying I don’t pick the Packers next week.  I did say that Romo was capable of a clunker at any point and there was another.  Romo has come out of his first two appearances in the NFL Playoffs not looking Playoff-ready.  And now I still have to suffer watching a Manning in the Championship Round of the Playoffs.

As far as the Marino thing, I know that public opinion would put Marino in the Top 10 of all quarterbacks but I have to disagree.  Here’s why:

First, anyone that has won two Super Bowls would have to go ahead of him.  That puts Montana, Brady, Elway, Staubach, Aikman, Starr and Bradshaw ahead of him.  That puts Marino no higher than 8th.

Next, I have to look at those players who have won one Super Bowl and would be considered the majority of their teams offense or gone to the Super Bowl more than once.  That puts Favre, Peyton Manning and Steve Young ahead of Marino to move him to 11th (out of the Top 10).

Then, there are the debatable ones.  I put four more QBs ahead of him but there are another 5 or so that I would accept an argument for.  Here are the four I felt were definitely ahead: Johnny Unitas, Warren Moon, Fran Tarkenton and Jim Kelly. 

Beyond that, I think there are a few that could be put in Marino’s class.  Len Dawson, Ken Anderson, Dan Fouts, Sonny Jurgensen and Phil Simms would all be comparable to Marino in their accomplishments with the exception of Marino’s inflated numbers.  In the end, I decided against those QBs and settled with Marino at 15th but I can’t see putting him any higher.

Debunking the usual pro-Marino arguments

"LOOK AT HIS STATS!"

Which one?  The 252 interceptions? Or the 8,000+ pass attempts (1,100 more than any player in the history of the NFL with the exception of Brett Favre).  It’s pretty easy to rack up the yards and TDs when all you do is drop back and launch 50 times a game. 

"LOOK AT HIS SUPPORTING CAST!"

Would that be 3-time Pro Bowler and 2-time All-Pro Mark Duper?  Or maybe 4-time Pro Bowler and 3-time All-Pro Mark Clayton?  How about when they added 5-time All-Pro and Pro Bowler Keith Jackson?  Or at the very end of Marino’s career when he had 2-time All Pro and 5-time Pro Bowler Irving Fryar to throw to.

"OK… SO HE HAD SOME RECEIVERS TO THROW TO… BUT WHAT ABOUT A RUNNING GAME?"

First of all, let’s get something straight, Marino would have never accepted a role where he wasn’t the main weapon.  Watch any game led by Marino and this guy threw more fits on the sideline than TO and Randy Moss combined.  The ‘86 Dolphins were 4th in Yards/Attempt in Rushing but 28th in attempts.  They were 10th in Yards/Attempt in ‘87 but 24th in attempts.  The team then continued to refuse to run the ball and built their team around the passing game.

The one argument that no one can dispute is that an 8-9 playoff record and just one Super Bowl appearance is not amongst the Top 10 playoff performers at the QB position.

GoogleTrends Hot List - 01/14/08 @ 10:30 PM

• burl
  A burl is a rounded outgrowth on a tree trunk or branch that is filled with small knots from dormant buds.
• Belinda Gavin
  Episode 3 of ‘American Gladiators’ featured this rodeo pro.  I haven’t seen it but I guess she made a splash at some point.
• zetia
  A cholesterol-reducing drug has caused a stir. 
• Knicker Picker
  This is turning out to be the strangest Hot List yet… is this a bad NBA hoops handicapper?
• Hasan Elahi
  An FBI target has put his life online. 
• vytorin
  The other cholestoral-reducing drug that has caused a stir.
• flip i flap
  What?
• unabomber manifesto
  I’m afraid to look out of my window, I might see a Delorean. 
• BPM 37093
  The largest diamond was found at the heart of this star.  It is a diameter of 40000 kilometers.  It is 50 light years from Earth but there are a number of women out there that feel that isn’t too far to travel to pick up. 
• New York sex tape
  The star of VH1’s ‘I Love New York’ might be on a sex tape… catch it this week on the "Who Gives A Shit" Channel! (Broadcast in HD, of course!)

To all those people who felt Oklahoma had a claim to an opportunity to play for #1… wrong!  It’s West Virginia who can cry foul about being dropped as many as 10 spots in the polls after their final game loss to Pitt.  Ah, college football!  I almost turned the game on but I resisted temptation and just read the press clippings.  Until there is a playoff, I’m boycotting college football.

Frustrated due to a stagnant bankroll (stuck on $2100), I decided to go to old faithful when it comes to having fun with poker… crashing a few private tournaments!  Tonight, I found my way into the Rounders Radio Chat Room $2 buy-in tournament and The Dookie, a $5 Stud Hi/Lo tournament hosted by Mookie, a more well known blogger.  I was dominating both tournaments early and held on to the chip lead in both deep.  Unfortunately, I collapsed in The Dookie and finished 5th (out of the money).  I was able to take down the Rounders Radio Chat Room tourney and be the first to keep MurryTheCat from cashing this year.  Everyone at Rounders Radio were in good spirits and a lot of fun chatter at the table which is something you typically get in the private tournaments but rarely get in a normal buy-in tournament.  Here’s the result:

So, that got me to thinking… maybe I should host my own tournament on Full Tilt or Poker Stars.  I think I’ll have something set up soon but more to come later.

Happy New Year everyone!  I rang in the New Year playing Wii at my brother’s girlfriend’s house along with my girlfriend.  I think we had a good time… a prettay, prettay, prettay good time.  There was a casualty, however.  As some of you may know, playing the Wii can be dangerous and a Penn State Christmas Ball bit the dust during Wii Bowling.  RIP Mr. Penn State Christmas Ball.

I have a new restaurant that I like - Pei Wei Asian Diner… a fast version of PF Chang’s.  I had some edamame and some Blazing Noodles with Chicken yesterday that was superb!  I can’t wait to get back there although my eating habits have seriously deteriorated over the past couple of months and I am starting to feel like I’m putting some of my weight back on.  Once these holidays are over and all the candy and snacks are gone, I can get back to normal.

I bought the new Mike Caro book today, Caro’s Most Profitable Hold’em Advice.  It looks like a good read and I will be digging in soon.  I also picked up a Chris Paul New Orleans Hornets jersey for $10 at the mall… I love cheap jerseys!  It’s the cheaper version of this one.

I figure I’d kick back into gear with the GoogleTrends Hot List for 2008 as well.

GoogleTrends Hot List - 01/03/2008 @ 2:10 AM

• Noel Devine
  12 carries, 105 yards and 2 big TDs for the true freshman for the Mountaineers in the upset.  Just think how great of a first round of a playoff that a game like this would have been.
• Owen Schmitt
  West Virgina fullback that scampered 57 yards to put West Virginia up 13-3, a lead they never relinquished.  And then after the game, put himself in prime position to be the next big YouTube star as he cried and talked about West Virginia being the greatest State in the Union.
• Willard Library
  Can you spot the library ghost?  Here’s your chance… click here.
• Bill Stewart
  Interim WVU head coach is feelin’ the love.  Will the honeymoon continue or will this impromptu marriage be annulled?  Either way… this is a great image:
  
• Make Me A Supermodel
  People still like reality shows and this one is on Bravo.  I think I’ll sit this one out.
• Vivica Fox Sex Tape
  To quote the SOHH.com: ‘Word on the Streetz is that Vivica apparently got sloppy ass drunk recently dropped to her knees and performed a professional on a proud suitor. But get this, the eager receiver recorded the entire act on his cellphone. So you know what that means right? We should all be seeing it online real soon.’ A professional… haha… you learn something new everyday!
• Alana De La Garza
  The new "Law & Order" cast member is getting some attention after the premiere episode tonight.  I hope I have it on DVR.  She’s got a website, too… and she’s 5 days younger than me. 
• West Virginia football
  My boycott isn’t going to work, is it?
• Kumari Fulbright
  Stop the presses… we are barely 3 days into 2008 and this may be the greatest story of 2008 (even though from the details, it looked like it happened in 2007).  Here’s the story.  And a pre-mugshot and mugshot of Ms. Fulbright… wow!
   
  And the mugshot of the decade!
• Supernanny
  More proof reality TV will never (ever!) die… this show returns and despite so-so ratings, it still gets a lot of ‘net attention.

After a couple of weeks of watching fellow Surfers member Ouch Bad Beat go deep over and over again in the 2-7 Lowball MTTs on PokerStars, I decided to give one a shot.  Shockingly, I took down the tournament of 60 players and (after a small concession of a deal when down to final two) I walked away with $220 on a $11 entry… 2000% ROI is not bad for my first shot at 2-7 Lowball.  Here’s the link on Surfers if you want to check out the action at the final table. (If you are not a fan of Hand Histories stay away)

My bankroll is now at $1800+ and, at this pace, I will hit my goal before the ball drops in Times Square.

I just watched the Curb Your Enthusiasm finale, finally!  It was extremely funny.  I regret getting into the show so late.  I have to admit that it is good… prettay, prettay, prettay good.

In November, I was awarded the Surfers Poker Member Of The Month award and also earned a Thread Of The Month award to for my posting about the FTOPS Main Event final table.  For that, I was also awarded $33 in prize money.  Thanks to Venice for running a great forum and a great site.  I am on there every day and always find something to post about.

I have a STAR next to my name on SharkScope now.  Currently, I’m 15th on the “Mixed Game 8 Seat @ $2 or less Buy-In Total Profit” Leaderboard.  It’s not a huge accomplishment but I now have a shot at climbing the leaderboard with a little focus.

More achievements: I just noticed I was the 37th player in the Online Poker world in low buy-in Razz tournaments in November according to thepokerDB on Bluff Magazine’s website.  For 2007, I’m ranked 186th which is a pretty amazing feat considering I didn’t start playing until July and have played just 32 Razz tournaments that qualified.  Of the players ahead of me, only 2 have played in less games with many in the triple digits.

I qualified for Full Tilt’s Iron Man contest again.  I’m a Silver Iron Man again.  December is important for me to qualify for because I will earn a $175 bonus in January if I qualify, in addition to the normal Freeroll entry.

Lindsay Lohan earned the dubious distinction of being recognized as the dumbest person in Hollywood.  I don’t remember who put up the list but it had the usual suspects.

Looking at my Web Server Stats, searches have been sending people the way of my blog more than ever.  I’m sure it has a lot to do with adding the GoogleTrends Hot List.  Most of the searches were for women or sports.  Here’s the list of searches:

    3: 15.00%:    3: 14.29%: anna lynne mccord nude pics
    3: 15.00%:    3: 14.29%: anna lynne mccord
    2: 10.00%:    2:  9.52%: randall cunningham unlv jersey
    1:  5.00%:    1:  4.76%: nhl picks winner cash prize
    1:  5.00%:    1:  4.76%: anna lynne mccord nude photos
    1:  5.00%:    1:  4.76%: brian williams wsop
    1:  5.00%:    1:  4.76%: victoria schattauer
    1:  5.00%:    1:  4.76%: annalynne mccord nude pics
    1:  5.00%:    1:  4.76%: wsop ron kubler
    1:  5.00%:    1:  4.76%: brandi ryan nude
    1:  5.00%:    1:  4.76%: annalynne mccord nude pics video
    1:  5.00%:    1:  4.76%: donna rosetta
    1:  5.00%:    1:  4.76%: luke zeller you tube
    1:  5.00%:    1:  4.76%: mark mcmillan football player
    1:  5.00%:    1:  4.76%: pokerstars $1.20 45 tournament strategy
    0:          :    1:  4.76%: clonie gowen cocaine

My favorite is that someone was searching for Mark McMillan… talk about obscure searches!

GoogleTrends Hot List - 12/05/07 @ 2:30AM

• female circumcision
  My guess is a quick scene in tonight’s “Law & Order: SVU” catipulted this to the top of the GoogleTrends list.  What do you say to that… way to go, female circumcision!!!???
• Amanda Ireton
  Tila Tequila’s “Shot At Love” has generated another hot search item in the form of Amanda Ireton.  She’s currently the 6th most viewed Verified Personality on IamonMTV.com.
• Pimp C
  Rapper Pimp C was found dead in an LA hotel.  Anyone have Pimp C in their 2007 Dead Pool?  Anyone surprised to see a death push a name high up in the GoogleTrends list?
• Debra Lafave
  On probation for sleeping with one of her students (well, not really sleeping!), Lafave was found to have violated her probation by talking to one of her co-workers at her new job.  Lafave, under house arrest, was ordered to not interact with any minors but decided to share her history with a 17-year-old girl that was also waitressing with her at her latest job.  The 27-year-old working at Danny Boys’ Restaurant in Ruskin, FL is facing a few years in prison for her conversations about family problems, high school, friends and sex.  All I have to say is… duh!  Here’s a pic of Lafave.
• Victoria’s Secret Fashion Show
  A recent Paris Hilton incident put this into the top searches… I’m finding it hard to care!
• Miranda Kerr
  The incident involved Miranda Kerr.  I’m starting to care a little more.
• Seal’s face
  My guess is Seal was on TV and a bunch of people were inclined to find out what the hell was going on with that face of his.
• David “Chip” Reese
  Another death hits the GoogleTrends list.  This one is from the poker world.  56-year-old high stakes poker player and WSOP bracelet winner Chip Reese died from complications due to pneumonia.  The poker world will be mourning a tragic loss.
• Peter Davi
  First it was the world of hip hop, then the world of poker and now the world of surfing that suffered a loss.  45-year-old Davi drowned off the Pebble Beach coast.  A surfing location known as Ghost Trees claimed the life of a known surfer in the area.  Add this to the list of crap I’m too scared to do.  Here’s a pic of an example of the waves in the area.

My blogging has been slowed recently by other distractions like that four-letter ‘W’ word and my poker has been limited as well.  I have, however, had some minor success and been able to slightly increase my bankroll but still have not eclipsed the $1600 benchmark.

What I can’t figure out is why am I so much more successful on Full Tilt than I am on Poker Stars.  I made another final table in my favorite tournament last night… the $1 Razz Tournament (called The Ferguson) on Full Tilt.  I finished 4th for the 2nd week in a row and this time it was out of 509 players.  I won $38 which is a 3800% ROI.

Over the weekend, I struggled in the Razz tournament for the Team Event despite being the early chip leader.  However, Poker Stars extremely slow structure allowed some players to dig out of their holes and I slowly fell back to the pack and finished 6th.  My last chance in the Team Event I was able to finish 3rd in the Hold’em event and score 7 points for my team.  My other team member, lapchong, finished 2nd and we were able to finish 2nd overall in the team event.  It was where I saw us finishing as we had some holes but if I would have played better in the Stud and Razz, we might have had a real shot at taking it down.

What was Cam Cameron thinking on Sunday?  My +10 Dolphins bet looked like a lock at halftime but than a series of unfortunate events (including the ineffective Donovan McNabb going down) led the Eagles to a resurgence in the second half and the Dolphins found themselves down 10.  On 4th & Goal with about 5 minutes to go, Cameron not only goes for it on 4th down instead of taking the 3 points and getting within one score but also runs a horrible sweep play where no one blocks and the Eagles put up a great goal line stand.  The game ended as a push so I didn’t lose anything but it was frustrating.  I got a push in the Browns game too after that goofy end of regulation play… quite a bizarre weekend.  At least I was able to pick up one win with the Vikings over the Raiders and I stayed away from the Titans on Monday night for a small profit.  Sports betting is not good for the heart.

Jimmy Rollins was announced as the National League MVP today… a well deserved reward for the greatest short stop in Phillies history and a fun player to watch.  I’m really looking forward to baseball season to see if this team can improve.

I was promoted today on the Surfers Poker Forum to Green Room access granted.  There’s only 10 of us and I’ve only been on there since August.  I guess I’m adding to the value of the forum.  I’ve only been on there since August and I think I’ve posted 1100+ times… that’s pretty disturbing when you think about it.  I think I average about 10 posts a day.  I really find it to be more of a credit to the forum and not me because the people on there are fun to interact with.  I am on many forums and rarely post on others… this one just always catches my attention.

This holiday season is going to be rough… I have no idea what anyone wants and I always wait until the last minute. 

Y2J, Chris Jericho, is back on WWE.  I can’t believe I still watch wrestling every week and was slowly starting to lose interest with John Cena gone.  Jericho returning should be enough to keep me entertained until the Royal Rumble and then I’m hooked until Wrestlemania.

Heroes is getting really good again… it’s about time!  The hero/villain who bleeds black from her eyes was not on last week… that’s good for me.  George Takaei was back on as Hiro’s dad but I think he is really killed off this time.  It’s tough to say with there always being an opportunity to do some time travel. 

Since I haven’t done this in a while:

GoogleTrends Hot List - 11/20/07 @ 8 PM

• Lakers trade
  It didn’t take moving Kobe for a Lakers move to register on GoogleTrends.  Brian Cook and Maurice Evans to Orlando for Trevor Ariza.  Ariza is a former UCLA product and is probably going to be a popular move with the fans. 
• Johnny Estrada
  Estrada was traded to the Mets for pitcher Guillermo Mota today by the Brewers.  (Is everyone on Google while they watch SportsCenter?)  It looks like Estrada will join the ranks of the many in baseball who play for a number of teams.  Estrada, originally a Phillies product, will be suiting up for his 5th team in 8 seasons come opening day.  This gives me an opportunity to say that I don’t like the Mets and I hope they get off to a great start in ‘08 only to crumble and finish a game out like they did this year.
• Trevor Ariza
  The key player in the Lakers-Magic trade today. 
• Monique Idlett
  Have a baby, die or get engaged and you are almost a lock for the GoogleTrends list.  Idlett gpt engaged to uber-producer Timbaland AND they had a baby.  It’s a ‘two-for-one’ Hot Lister. 
• Oprah’s favorite things
  Oprah makes Christmas come early for whomever she decides to grant most favoritest product status.  This year it is the LG HDTV Refrigerator, the Clarisonic (a skin care device), the Scrabble Premiere edition, The Pillars Of The Earth by Ken Follett, a $100 panini press and a whole bunch of other crap no one needs… but you’ll click on Oprah’s Favorite Things anyway… sucker!
• Scott McClellan
  In his memoirs, former White House press secretary admits he was a mere pawn of the public deception machine that was the Bush Presidency.  I have no respect for these people who do such a thing and then wait on the information until they can profit from their inability to do the right thing at the right time.  Thanks, Scott for becoming this week’s Captain Obvious!
• Clarisonic
  One of Oprah’s Favorite Things!  Can someone write Oprah and tell her about my blog and see if she’ll declare it one of her favorite things… I really didn’t mean the sucker comment, I swear!!!
• toy watch
  Another day, another dangerous toy!  It reminds me of that SNL skit with Dan Akroyd with the dangerous toys… Bag O’ Glass… good stuff!
• Planet Earth DVD
  On behalf of the Discovery Channel store, I would like to thank Oprah for her designation of this product as one of her favorite things.  I can see the mass-manufacturing of that sticker now to be thrown on a box.
• Sweet Caroline lyrics
  Neil Diamond revealed that his muse for this song was Caroline Kennedy.  I also learned that the BOMP, BOMP, BAH is not actually in the lyrics at all.  Who knew?

Saturday and Sunday were fairly heavy poker days but not for buy-in tournaments and after a disappointing Saturday it was nice to recover on Sunday with a tournament win in the Surfers Poker After Dark Freeroll.  The win was worth $20 and an early lead in the PAD competition on Surfers.  Unfortunately, my Saturday results were tough to swallow falling short in the Silver $15k Freeroll and The Full Tilt Forum Freeroll.  I finished abruptly in the Silver Freeroll when AK walked into Aces and barely missed the "money" in the Full Tilt Forum Freeroll.  Then, my home game cash streak was snapped uneventfully when I was knocked out in 11th place out of 12 players… my worst finish in over a year.

Since then, work has consumed my time and I’ve only been able to play sparingly but with excellent results.  On Monday, I finished 4th in the $1 Ferguson Razz Tournament on Full Tilt for $28.37 and last night I was able to win two Sit & Gos (one PL Omaha Hi and one Razz) for a total of $20 profit.

Finally, this upcoming weekend, the 2nd Surfers Poker Team Event is taking place.  I was not part of the first Team Event and was a little surprised to see that I was the second overall pick in the Draft.  I was drafted to Ouchbadbeat’s team and I think that we have a pretty decent team going into the event this weekend.  There are 5 tournaments played with us being allowed to enter two players into each of the first 4 events and the 5th event being able to be played by everyone.  It looks like I might be playing the Razz and the Stud events but we’ll see.

GoogleTrends Hot List 11/14/07 @ 7:15 AM

• AnnaLynne McCord
  A new show that is airing on the MyNetworkTV network called "American Heiress" features this new starlet.  She’s pretty hot… I expect to see her more often.
• Justin Chatwin
  The "Dragonball" movie is coming!  It looks like Chatwin will play Goku… and I can’t feign interest anymore… didn’t the interest in this die yet???
• iamonmtv.com
  The "Shot At Love With Tila Tequila" home page.  Her next web site might be my15minutesarealmostup.com
• Brandi Ryan
  One of the more popular contestants on the "Shot At Love With Tila Tequila" show.  I’d tell you what that means but I would have to then pretend that I give a crap.
• Anna Lynne McCord
  A variation on the first search on the Hot List for the new hot girl in town.
• Fergie sex tape
  Big girls don’t cry but they do make sex tapes.  I guess we are going to get to see what it looks like when Fergie’s london bridge goes falling down… not just hear it!
• auctioneer
  A new add-on for the World Of Warcraft game has caused a searching frenzy.  I’m surprised I didn’t hear about it at my most recent home game.
• wow patch 2.3 download
  Talk about a specific search to hit the radar!  More evidence of how popular that goofy game is.
• John Ziegler
  The host of a Los Angeles radio show is popular these days on Google.  Too bad it took his show airing for the last time to make that dubious distinction.
• blacksite area 51
  The new First Person Shooter in video game land.  The graphics look pretty impressive.  I’d rather play Smackdown vs. Raw 2008 though… just a personal preference.

The bankroll is at $1500 which puts me at 75% of my bare minimum goal.  I had a few Sit & Go cashes mixed in with a few bad beats.

I have a full slate this weekend:

2:45 PM Saturday -> Full Tilt 100k Full Tilt Poker Points Freeroll (Qualified during the week)

3:00 PM Saturday -> Full Tilt $15,000 Silver Iron Man Freeroll (Qualified in October)

9:00 PM Saturday -> LAPT Hold’em Eliminator Tournament - Check out the website for more details: LAPT Home Page

2:00 PM Sunday -> Surfers Poker Poker After Dark Freeroll

Only the home game costs any $$$ and I have a shot to win up to $2k.  Plus, I could really pull away on the leaderboard at my home game.

I attached a picture of my SharkScope Sit & Go graph.  I am close to my highest point… since July I went from -$325 to +$65.  I have done most of my damage playing PL Omaha Hi Sit & Gos and sometimes don’t even have to play very many hands to get into the money.

GoogleTrends Hot List - 11/10/2007 @ 4:15 AM

• Natavia Lowery
  Natavia Lowery confessed to 2nd degree murder of her boss, Linda Stein, realtor to the stars.  Lowery beat Stein to death with a yoga stick after Stein shoved the yoga stick in her face.
• Lee Haney
  He has 4 steps to safe weight loss.  (1) Cleanse and detox for 7 days.  (2) Use supplements to enhance body’s metabolism.  (3) Increase activity. (4) Cut calorie intake by 250/day.  Sounds good to me.
• My Life lyrics
  The theme to Bossom Buddies made Google Trends HotList… I’m looking for the marathon now.  Billy Joel must be proud!
• Steve Barry s
  Most likely a search for the new clothing store: Steve & Barry’s.  Extremely cheap clothing store specializing in university-wear but expanding to low cost options that are definately in style.  This is probably one of my favorite stores around.  I look forward to them expanding across the country… and hopefully getting closer to where I live than Franklin Mills Mall.
• Kyle Dunnigan
  Stand-up comedian who recently appeared on Comedy Central.  Haven’t seen ‘em… probably not funny (it’s a safe bet anymore).
• Wizard Of Us hanging
  The urban legend still rages on and has now hit Google Trends.
• Ray Mancini
  ESPN will be showing a documentary on Ray "Boom Boom" Mancini.  That’s about all I got on this one.
• pupeteer tony
  The only thing referred to that ties into this search is that there is a musical comedy featuring "full puppet nudity".
• Billy Joel my life lyrics
  This week on "The Next Great American Band" is all Billy Joel covers… up until this point, I had no interest in watching the show but now I want to watch it.
• Judy Garland
  A play about her called "End Of The Rainbow" is playing in New Zealand.  A three-night trip to Auckland is ONLY $2033… maybe I’ll go!

I had a solid performance tonight… here were my results:

• Finished 21st in the $4,000 Guaranteed HORSE tournament on Full Tilt - $56.16 cash & $30.16 PROFIT
• Finished 18th in the $1 Ferguson RAZZ tournament on Full Tilt - $3.18 & $2.18 PROFIT
• Finished 2nd in a $1.20 45-Player SnG on Poker Stars - $10 & $8.80 PROFIT
• Played 30 minutes of $0.25/$0.50 NLHE on Full Tilt - Cashed out for a $51.30 PROFIT

The only setback of the night was in the MBJWDOP Limit Omaha Hi/Lo where I went out quickly. ($5.50 Buy-In)

The bankroll is now at $1470 and I was seriously in the zone tonight.  If I weren’t so tired and didn’t have work in 4 hours, I would be playing into the afternoon at this point.  Alas though, there is some responsibility in my life.

I didn’t win any of the major prizes in the Full Tilt Sit & Go Madness Raffle but I’m really rooting for them to run it again.  I think that was one of the best events they have ever run on Full Tilt.  I hope that it becomes a monthly event on FT.

GoogleTrends Hot List - 11/06/07 @ 5:00 AM

• avant gaudy
  Vintage clothing store in Chicago which got its owner named as one of the brightest young entrepeneurs in the US.
• dancing with the stars tour
  I’ve been waiting for the death of this reality show.  Alas, this search shows that the public is still all over this washed-up celeb-fest.
• asr clothing
  I think it has something to do with the first search but I have no idea.
• Carol Burnett
  Some show called American Masters honored Carol Burnett earlier tonight.  I missed it.  I’m devasated (hint: that was sarcasm!).
• Tyler Zeller
  Big news for Tar Heel fans (Bob… are you reading this???).  The brother of Luke Zeller and 7′ center from Indiana has been stolen away from his home state by Roy Williams & Co.  Despite Purdue, Indiana and Notre Dame all being in the running, Tyler chose Carolina.  Zeller marks the third big man from Indiana to head to North Carolina.  The others?  Eric Montross and Sean May… he’s in good company.
• Giada
  The Food Network’s Giada de Laurentiis has announced that she is expecting a baby.  I’m starting to notice a trend here with GoogleTrends… life and death hit the trends pretty hard.
• Victoria Schattauer
  If you haven’t heard the story, Victoria Schattauer is the Cheerleading coach from Ohio that was recently fired for taking nude pictures with a 15-year-old student at a party.  Here’s the pic (you must be 18 to view - nudity inside the link!)
• Carrie Hamilton
  The oldest daughter of Carol Burnett, Hamilton died of lung cancer. 
• Goshen High School
  A proud moment for the Ohio high school.  See Victoria Schattauer above.
• Colts crowd noise
  More cheating in the NFL?  This time, the Colts might have pumped in crowd noise to make it seem louder!  At least basketball and baseball are clean or I would think there were shenanigans taking place in all sports.

Poker kept me up late tonight as I went deep in a $2 MTT on Full Tilt.  I finished 5th and won $24 despite some rough beats throughout.  It was a fun tournament though as I was up and down more than a $2 hooker.

With one Sit & Go pending this morning, I am sitting at $1380… a late night Sit & Go win could push me over the $1400 threshold… I’ll update such a thing if I’m still writing this entry.

I got my final check mark for October earlier and I’m curious to see if that gets me qualified for an additional freeroll on Full Tilt, in addition to the Silver Iron Man.  I guess I won’t know until Thursday.

I bought the new Britney Spears CD today also.  I’ve never been that uncomfortable buying a CD before… but the CD is good.

On Howard Stern today, they were discussing a documentary called "Animal Passions".  It’s a BBC doc about zoophilia.  Zoophilia is the love of animals.  You can find the documentary on You Tube… it’s sooooooooooooooo disturbing!  The MOST disturbing clip was the one guy talking about the first time he started desiring animal sex.  He was brushing a pony and the pony lifted it’s tail.  He saw the pony’s private parts and the rest was history.  The same man told a tale of the first time he told his first horse love, Cherry, that he loved her.  During his story, the man broke down into tears… I couldn’t believe what I was listening to. 

Google Trends HotList - 10/31/07 @ 5:45 AM

• San Jose earthquake
  A moderate earthquake struck the bay area tonight.  The Google population was all abuzz as evidenced by the rest of the Hot List.
• bay area earthquake
  Edged out by San Jose, the Bay area held a press conference announcing they would actively be pursuing hurricanes and tsunamis.
• USGS earthquake
  The US Geological Survey made the list as they reported the earthquake at a 5.6.  That equates to being as unnerving as watching Ashlee Simpson lip sync.
• California earthquake
  Yadda, yadda, yadda…
• san francisco news
  Even without Ron Burgundy, the northern California earthquake made searches hungry for San Francisco news.  Talking about San Francisco made me hungry for Rice-A-Roni.
• us geological survey
  Anyone sensing a "Google Trend" trend here?
• recent earthquake
  Did you hear?  There was an earthquake tonight!
• earthquake map
  For the visual searcher, it was an earthquake map some Googlers wanted to see.
• Alum Rock
  The Alum Rock area in San Jose was a big hit thanks to the quake.  It also made me think of another disaster, Reunion Rock… see the YouTube clip of a recent mishap on the Van Halen Reunion tour.  I swear this stuff writes itself.

Time hasn’t been on my side this week but my game has stepped it up.  The bankroll broke $1300 and is ever so close to hitting the $1400 mark at $1390.  In addition, I was able to qualify for the Silver Iron Man Freeroll on Full Tilt.  The Freeroll will be in a few weeks and gives me a shot at a share of $15k with the top prize most likely being around $3k.  Hopefully, I won’t have the bad beat bug like last time. 

I had some minor tournament success this week but nailed the cash games and sit & gos this week.  I’m finally on the threshold of recovering from last year’s Sit & Go debacle and close to being on the positive side of things on SharkScope, a site that tracks your Sit & Go play online.

I watched a few movies this weekend.  I caught "Shaun Of The Dead" on Comedy Central and was surprised at how much I liked it.  Also, I watched "Knocked Up" tonight and was somewhat disappointed in it, although it wasn’t bad.

Lisa’s dad took a turn this weekend and I spent a lot of time with her at the hospital.  He’s at a hospital about an hour from home and it looked pretty bad on Saturday morning.  We had to go up there at about 4 am and stayed there for about 5 hours.  I caught some sleep in the lobby of the building, once again proving that I can sleep practically anywhere.  Luckily, he made a turn for the better on Saturday and is slowly recovering in the ICU although he’s back on a vent.  The only good thing out of going up there was some opportunities to get some good food.  I had Filet Mignon on Sunday from J.B. Dawson’s.  The wait staff there declared that they used "team service" which is apparently French for "we can all ignore you and assume someone else is helping you".  Anyway, good steak… bad service!

The Red Sox proved they were the hotter team and swept the Rockies.  I wish I could say I was right but I overestimated the Rockies coming into the World Series hot and underestimated the Red Sox winning the last three games of the ALCS.

Google Trends Hot List - 10/29/07 @ 5:15 AM

• Red Sox Parade
  Bean Town is looking to find out where the block party is at.  Meanwhile, the Rockies bittersweet end is good news for the football town of Denver.
• ophiuchus
  The 13th zodiac sign.  If you are born between Nov. 30th and Dec. 12th, you have been lied to all these years thanks to precession, the wobble of the Earth (the things we learn when reading Google Trends).  Welcome to all of you ophiuchans!
• Mike Lowell
  Lowell is the MVP of the ‘07 World Series… now quick, tell me the last 3 MVPs of the World Series.  OK, I’ll wait… hmm…
• Lonestar
  I can’t quite figure out where this one has come from unless Lonestar opened Game 4 of the World Series or something.  Also, the current Lonestar singer is leaving the band and some new guy is coming in.  The best news is that Cracker Barrel is sponsoring Lonestar’s next tour… guess singin’ country wasn’t country enough for these guys.
• Abby McGrew
  Eli Manning is engaged!  Oh wait… who cares?  The web surfing public does or so it seems.  No pressure, Abby… hope those genes can produce the next great NFL QB.  Too bad, you are working with the inferior side of the Manning gene pool.
• Daylight Savings Time
  Does you calendar make the grade?  If so, then it didn’t tell you to erroneously give yourself an extra hour this week.  It’s next week, everyone.
• Soda club
  Based on the searches that went along with this, I’m guessing that the Soda-Club was advertised on Sunday Night Football.  Soon enough, tens of thousands of people will be picking up the Soda-Club for some unsuspecting relative.  The unsuspecting relative will then feign excitement and then be forced to use it whenever said relative comes to visit.  To not further support this occurence, I will not be providing a link to this wonderful product… find it yourself!
• Guitar Hero 3 cheats
  For every big video game that hits the shelves, there is a line a mile long of people who want to know how to get through it as quickly as possible.  Then they can shelve it and move on to the next $50 game that hits the shelves.  This one is even better because you have to buy the gigantic guitar that you use as a controller.  Fun, fun, fun!!!
• world series MVP
  See Mike Lowell.
• Edgar Casey
  Somehow this psychic guy (actually spelled ‘Edgar Cayce’) edged out A-Rod’s news that he was opting out of his Yankees contract.  Maybe if Cayce was still alive he could predict which team A-Rod will fail to deliver for in the playoffs next.

The bankroll is stuck at right around $1200.  It’s getting really grinding at this point, too!  I really can’t seem to make any ground towards the $2000 goal in almost two or three weeks.  I did qualify for the Iron Man Challenge again, though, and have a shot at moving up to the Silver Iron Man Challenge, also.  I blanked in the WSOSP, sleeping through the HORSE event today.

On Saturday, I won my first LAPT tournament in 25 tries and cashed for the 5th consecutive time.  The 5th consecutive cash is a record there and I’m the first player to bust the $2500+ plateau.  I’m also points leader for Season III… the first time in three seasons that I’ve actually held the points lead (this despite finishing top 5 in Season I and second in Season II).  It felt really good to finally win after so many opportunities.  I got completely smacked with the deck at the end and finished off the last 5 opponents.  The amazing part was 5th, 4th, 3rd and 2nd place were wiped out pretty quickly by me with Danny Doops going out in 5th at 2:33AM, Rob A. out in 4th at 2:43AM, Josh out in 3rd at 2:47AM and Kevin out in 2nd at 3:01AM.  It took me less than 30 minutes to finish off the last 4 players.

Finally, despite missing the Eagles pick in the NFL today, I did nail both LCS’s in baseball and am now looking at the tough task of picking the final series.  I think I have to ride the hot hand and take the Rockies.  How can you pick a team that is 21-1 in their last 22 games?  I can’t.

Google Trends HotList - 10/22/07 @ 6:45 AM

• Kiari Malformation
  Figures that the misspelling would be searched more often than the actual correct term.
• Chiari Malformation
  The family chosen for this week’s tear-fest on Extreme Makeover: Home Edition was stricken with this disease.  And in Montana, I’m sure the makeover crew had plenty of room to build a sizable monstrosity of a house with lots of bells and whistles.
• Kevin Millar
  An Oriole threw out the first pitch in Boston before the Red Sox pulled off that amazing series comeback.  Sure, he used to be a Red Sox player… and sure he helped them win in ‘04 over the Yankees but allow me to call it a little bit tacky.
• Plumpynut
  Mmmm… peanut paste, dry milk and vegetable fat.  This 500-calorie concoction is supposedly the #1 weapon against malnutrition in hungry countries.  It apparently looks like mashed potatos and tastes like sweetened peanut butter. 
• Orange County fire
  It seems like every year there is some part of California burning down.  Acres and acres of wooded areas have burned down in California… Smokey the Bear will be busy after this.
• 1986 ALCS
  It’s a Red Sox tradition to fall behind in the ALCS and then come back.  It started 11 years ago here.  Rockies fans are hoping that their World Series performance will lead Google’s finest to be searching for “Buckner World Series” in a few days and not ”2004 World Series”.
• San Diego fire
  More searches on Cali’s latest fires.  This one apparently killed 1.  No, not the search!
• Chiari Syndrome
  More searches thanks to Extreme Makeover: Home Edition.
• Resistance Records
  The music label of the violent skinhead set.  This wholesome company has also made a video game called “Ethnic Cleansing” where you get to choose to be a Nazi skinhead or a Klansman and run through the ghetto killing blacks and Latinos.  If you make it through that level, you get to enter the subway and take on the Jews.  The final level is the “Jewish Control Center” where you must stop the evil Ariel Sharon who is hellbent on World Domination.  Surprisingly, this game never really caught on.
• Kiari disease
  This search in its many forms just dominated Google Trends tonight.  Here’s a link to learn more.