Saturday, December 30, 2006

Best Of 2006

Random Bests of 2006:
Best CD: “Continuum” - John Mayer
Best non-2006 CD: “How To Save A Life” - The Fray
Best Song: “Coming Home” - John Legend
Best non-2006 Song: “How To Save A Life” - The Fray
Best Movie: Blood Diamond
Most enjoyable Team (of mine): Notre Dame Fighting Irish
Player: Ryan Howard
Best Play: Vince Young’s TD
Best Family Event: Thanksgiving, again
Best Event: Bonnaroooooooooooo
Best Vacation: Wildwood
Concert Of The Year: Tom Petty & The Heartbreakers, Bonnaroo
Best Day of the Year: Pigfest XIII
All-nighter of the Year: Bonnaroo “4-cup” Night
Book Of The Year: “The Beatles” - Bob Spitz
TV Show Of The Year: How I Met Your Mother
Episode Of The Year: The Pineapple Incident

Best Albums of 2006:
10. “Broken Boy Soldier” - The Raconteurs
9. “Colorblind” - Robert Randolph & The Family Band
8. “Play Pause Stop” - The Benevento Russo Duo
7. “9” - Damien Rice
6. “Once Again” - John Legend
5. “Youth” - Matisyahu
4. “Safety In Numbers” - Umphrey’s McGee
3. “Yell Fire!” - Michael Franti & Spearhead
2. “Sam’s Town” - The Killers
1. “Continuum” - John Mayer

Best Songs of 2006:
10. “Chasing Cars” - Snow Patrol
9. “Better Days” - Goo Goo Dolls
8. “9 Crimes” - Damien Rice
7. “I Know I’m Not Alone” - Michael Franti & Spearhead
6. “Why Am I Still Counting?” - The Killers
5. “Dani California” - Red Hot Chili Peppers
4. “Waiting On The World To Change” - John Mayer
3. “Bold As Love” - John Mayer
2. “Crazy” - Gnarls Barkley
1. “Coming Home” - John Legend

Best Movies of 2006:*
10. V for Vendetta
9. Accepted
8. Borat
7. Pirates Of The Caribbean
6. The Da Vinci Code
5. Inside Man
4. Clerks 2
3. United 93
2. Flags Of Our Fathers
1. Blood Diamond

*These are only of the movies I've seen. There are a lot of movies from this year that I never got around to seeing.

Best Sport Games of 2006:*
10. Mets-Cardinals
Game 7
9. Notre Dame-Michigan State
Notre Dame's 17 point 4th quarter comeback
8. Uconn-George Mason
#11 George Mason upsets #1 to make Final Four
7. Trinidad&Tobago-Sweden
World Cup First-timers tie powerful Sweden 0-0, with only 10 men
6. Colts-Steelers
Peyton Chokes Again
5. Devils-Canadiens
Devils score 3 goals in final 8 minutes, in last game of season, to win division
4. Italy-France
The Head-Butt. Oh yeah, Italy wins Championship, too.
3. Rutgers-Louisville
Best game in NJ Sports history
2. Italy-Germany
WC Semifinal. Scoreless for first 118 minutes. 2 Italy goals in final 2 minutes.
1. Texas-UCS
BCS National Championship. 41-38. Vince Young's 4th down TD run. Possibly the greatest game I've ever watched, in any sport.

*Yes, I know I left off Ohio State-Michigan. Unlike the entire College Football world, I didn't think the game itself was great. Just the hype surrounding it.

Wednesday, December 20, 2006

Atlantic City

I can give lots of reasons why growing up in NJ is better than most anywhere else. But I'll save that post for another day. For now, the simple answer is Atlantic City. Every Tuesday night, myself and 5-10 co-workers go to moore's tavern for drinks after work. Last night, last call came & went, and for whatever reason, we weren't ready to go home. So at 2am, we packed into the car and headed for AC. Got into the casino at around 4am, got a free room, and gambled until noon when it was time to come back home. This is the sort of thing you can't do growing up in Wyoming.

Friday, December 15, 2006

Christmas Party

Since Chili's is lame and won't give us a Christmas party anymore, T threw one at her place last night.

From what I remember, good times. I drank a bottle of Jager basically by myself. And yes, I'm talking about the $25 bottle, not the flask sized one. Surprisingly, no hangover. But I am exhausted, just want sleep.

Good times last night. Shake your money maker.

Thursday, December 14, 2006

RIP Peter Boyle

Thanks for all the laughs...

Tuesday, December 12, 2006

Bonnaroooooooooo

2007 announced. June 14-17. You bet your ass I'm requesting off work tomorrow.

Only problem with it being announced this early is now I'm going to be uncontrollably giddy for the next 184 days. Yup, that's right, I already know the amount of days.

I'm such a loser.

Sunday, December 10, 2006

100th Post

I haven't used this thing on a regular basis in almost 6 months. I'm going to attempt to actually do this semi-regularly, since I lead such an exciting life.

I'll probably get bored with it in a few days, but we'll see what happens between now & then.

Great seeing all the familiar (and unfamiliar) faces from my past that I finally got to re-connect with today!

Monday, November 06, 2006

2006 SCS Week Two

WEEK TWO

1. Ohio State (90)
2. Michigan (83)
3. Louisville (74)
4. Texas (72)
5. Auburn (67)
6. Florida (63)
7. USC (49)
8. Cal (44)
9. LSU (34)
10. West Virginia (31)
t-11. Notre Dame (29)
t-11. Rutgers (29)
13. Arkansas (22)
14. Tennessee (14)
15. Boise State (11)

Others Receiving Votes: Boston College (5), Oklahoma (2), Wisconsin (1)

Monday, October 30, 2006

The Return of the SCS!

Only four people voted in this, the first SCS. Hopefully as the weeks go by, we'll get more.

A quick recap of how it works. Anyone who wants to vote, submit to me your Top 15 Poll any time on every Sunday. Email me (sharkeykeATgmailDOTcom) or IM me (shark675) with your poll.

I'll compile them, with each first place team getting 15 points, second getting 14, all the way thru 15th place getting one. Then I'll figure out who the collective Top 15 is, and will release the SCS on Sunday or Monday night (depending on how drunk I am on Sunday night, and if I'm capable of math).

Here's the week 1 poll. No real surprises.

1. Ohio State (60)
2. Michigan (56)
3. West Virginia (52)
4. Florida (43)
5. Auburn (42)
6. Louisville (41)
7. Texas (36)
8. USC (32)
9. Tennessee (31)
10. Cal (26)
11. Notre Dame (16)
t-12. Rutgers (11)
t-12. Boise State (11)
14. LSU (10)
15. Arkansas (9)

Others Receiving Votes: Wisconsin

Saturday, October 07, 2006

It's hockey season!


Too tired to give a detailed post, but the NHL is back again. Woohoo. Devils had their first game tonight, a nice 4-0 win at the expense of the defending Cup Champion Hurricanes. Marty got win #447, tying him with Terry Sawchuk for 3rd all-time. 105 wins to go until he's #1 alltime.

Newcomers Travis Zajac, Jim Fahey & Johnny Oduya played well in their first game, and I think all will be key contributors this season. Especially Zajac, the 21 year old kid from North Dakota who is centering the Elias/Langenbrunner line. Potential ROY darkhorse.

Next game tomorrow night @ Dallas, then four days off before the home-opener Thursday night, which yours truly will be attending.

Monday, September 11, 2006

September 11, 2001

Something I wrote for a local newspaper in 2004...



I remember standing on top of the north tower when I was 8 years old, feeling like I could see anywhere in the world from there.

I remember passing by the city hundreds of times in my youth, and always finding the twin towers right away, as if they were the only thing worth seeing.

I remember every little hill & bend in my town that the towers were visible from, and how cool it was to see them, regardless of how many other times I’d seen them, or how old they got.

I remember the first time I dined at Windows On The World, right after my HS graduation in June, 2001, and thinking how awesome it would be to work there after I got my Culinary Degree.

And I remember every detail of the day these all became just memories.

I had started my freshman year at Johnson & Wales University on Tuesday, September 4th, 2001. 250 miles away from home, and away from everything I ever knew, it was a scary time, as it is for every 18 year old at that point in their lives.

But a week into school, everything was great. I’d made some really good friends, met a bunch of people who lived really close to me, and was thoroughly enjoying my classes. I was having the time of my life, as every 18 year old at that point in their lives does.

And then, on the morning of September 11th, I got into class at 7am, just like I had each of the past 5 weekdays. We took notes for the first hour, as we always did, and then by 8 o’clock we were cooking. In my two years at that school, I must have cooked over 150 different menu items, and I couldn’t tell you what any of them were, except for that one. On that morning, I was making a very basic Tomato Chutney. I was an hour into my prep work, and a good two hours or so away from completion when the dean came into our classroom at around 9:30.

This wasn’t normal, we all knew this wasn’t normal. He spoke to our chef (that’s what we called professor’s at this school), and then asked for all of our attention. He said there had been an “accident” in New York City, and if anyone had any relatives or friends living or working there, he’d like them to come with him. Myself and one other kid left the classroom. Everyone else stayed behind, cleaned up, and left, as classes were cancelled.

We got down to the dean’s office in time to see the first tower collapse. We immediately knew why we had been pulled from class, and suddenly having classes cancelled didn’t seem like such a great thing anymore.

I spoke with the dean, and explained that my mother worked a block away from the World Trade Center, and took the train into the WTC Station every morning. He said I wouldn’t be able to get in touch with her, but to try her cell phone & office anyway, and then call anyone I could in my family. Like he said, I got no connection with her cell phone, and no answer at her office. I was still fairly calm at this point, reality hadn’t hit me yet. It was when I got in touch with my grandmother a few minutes later that I broke down. She was already a mess when she answered, and she said she hadn’t heard anything from my mother or stepfather (who always worked in the city, but not downtown).

This obviously put me in a state of panic. She had my number, and the dean office number, and the dean had my dorm number, so he suggested I just go relax in my dorm if I’d like, and everything would be ok. I could have stayed if I wanted to, but it didn’t seem the place to be at that time, so I went to my room.

The walk thru the dorm hallway was almost something out of a movie. Every room had their door open, and you could hear the same thing out of every room. The TV was on, and it was coverage of the attacks (which is what they were by this point, no longer just an accident). And there was an eerie silence to the place. No one was talking, everyone just watched and listened. Every now & again you would hear someone crying, but that was it. As I reached my room, I found the three girls from the room next door were in our room watching with my roommates. They asked where I had been, and I explained. One of the girls also had parents who worked in the city, both worked in the south tower. She, like me, was just waiting to hear from anybody. Unlike me, she had completely lost it by this point, knowing that her parents had to have been in that tower at one point or another before the attacks began.

So the six of us watched & waited. 11 o’clock, I called my grandmother, no new news. 12 o’clock, 1 o’clock, 2 o’clock, nothing. By this point, I was as big of a mess as the other girl. At 2:30 my phone rang, it was my stepfather. He was stuck in Long Island City, as there was no transportation anywhere, but he was OK. He said my mom caught the 6:45 train out of NJ that morning, so there was no reason for her to be anywhere near the WTC when the planes struck or the towers collapsed. As comforting as that was, we still hadn’t heard from her, and that was what we really wanted.

There was a candlelight vigil at 6 o’clock that evening in front of our dorm. I don’t remember too much of it, but the one thing I’ll never forget is the fact that everyone was crying. I’d never seen anything like it.

After the vigil, we went and got a bite to eat at the cafeteria, and then went back to our dorm. By the time we got back to our room, we’d gotten word that the girl who was with us earlier had left. Apparently her grandparents picked her up. Never saw her again. Found out from an RA a week later that both of her parents were killed.

By 9 o’clock, my stepfather had gotten in touch with my mother, and he had gotten back to NJ. She didn’t get home until God knows what time morning. She called me as soon as she did, and I once again lost it. She retraced all her steps for me that day, and it turns out she watched it all unfold, and then had to walk from 4th all the way up to central park (55th) before anything else could happen.

It truly was a day nobody will ever forget. It’s also a day not many people are too willing to talk about. Three years later now, and this is the first time I’m sharing my story with anyone, other then my family.

Classes were cancelled the next day, and resumed on Thursday.

My cousin, Philip, who worked on the 88th floor of the south tower was missing. That Saturday we had a memorial service for him. Two weeks later, after his mother had finally accepted that he wouldn’t be coming home, we had another memorial service/”funeral” for him. Three weeks after that, remains of his body were found, and we gave him a proper funeral. 39 years old. He didn’t deserve three wakes & a funeral, he deserved to raise a family, and live his life.

My friend’s father was a victim. As was a neighbor. And a friend’s sister’s friend. And 43 other people from my hometown. And a total of 148 people from the county in which I live. 700 from New Jersey.

Over the days, weeks & months that followed, any phone call I got made me nervous. Who was next? How many memorial services am I going to this weekend? When will it stop?

I’ve finally found the answer, and accepted it, and it’s never. Three years later , and every September I find myself attending 1, 2, 5, 10 more memorial services. I find myself visiting ground zero every time I’m in New York City. My house still has pictures, plaques, books & posters everywhere commemorating the heroes, and remembering the lost loved ones.

I sometimes wonder if it will ever end. But I know it won’t. If it ever does, then people have forgotten. And for the people of New York City, New Jersey, Washington DC, and the 83 countries around the world that lost someone, forgetting this is not an option. It is not possible. We choose to remember.

To remember is to honor.

Monday, September 04, 2006

Friday, September 01, 2006

It's football season!

Rally sons of Notre Dame:
Sing her glory and sound her fame,
Raise her Gold and Blue
And cheer with voices true:
Rah, rah, for Notre Dame
We will fight in ev-ry game,
Strong of heart and true to her name
We will ne'er forget her
And will cheer her ever
Loyal to Notre Dame

Cheer, cheer for old Notre Dame,
Wake up the echoes cheering her name,
Send a volley cheer on high,
Shake down the thunder from the sky.
What though the odds be great or small
Old Notre Dame will win over all,
While her loyal sons are marching
Onward to victory.

Wednesday, August 16, 2006

CLAMMING

Went clamming today with my Uncle Brian & cousin Brooke. Had never done it before. It was a near perfect day weather wise. Mid 80s, nice breeze, no humidity, no clouds, calm waters. We had sandwiches, we had chips, we had beer, and we had extra beer.

I was stoked, as this was my first clamming expedition. But nobody told me clamming was so damn hard! I'm sore all over now. I'm exhausted. I'm sunburned. I'm biten alive from stupid green-head flies, and my entire body aches. Stupid clamming.

On the plus side, we got about 100 hardshell clams (which I will soon be turning into stuffed clams) and about 200 steamers.

Saturday, August 05, 2006

Little League Time

August is one of my favorite months of the year. Not because summer is finally almost over. Not because football is finally almost starting. Because of Little League Baseball.

Is there an annual sporting event that's better than the Little League World Series? I'm hardpressed to find one.

The World Series starts Saturday, August 19th. But it's never too early to get into the mood. Regional tournaments are underway today, and you can keep track of all the action here.

Last year, Toms River was back in the Regional tournament for the 6th time since 1995. No such luck this time, as we lost a heartbreaker to Brick American in the District semifinals. But, never the less, I'll be in full-force rooting for NJ to get its first LLWS title since 1998.

Our team this year? Livingston American Little League. Looking forward to them having a successful run in Connecticut.

For anyone who is around on Monday, August 14th, the boys and I will once again be heading to Bristol, Ct for the Mid-Atlantic Region Championship game. It's a blast every year, and even better when NJ makes it to the title game. You should come.

And if you can't, fear not, it'll be televised on ESPN at 8pm.

Go Livingston!

Friday, August 04, 2006

And if you're lost...

I got a bobblehead Jesus.

Get on your knees, that Jesus will please ya.

Thursday, August 03, 2006

Damn you, Summer!

I'm not a summer person. Never have been. I mean, when I was a kid, it was great. But that was more because of the no-school factor, not because of the weather. Let's just get it out there, I sweat. A lot. Probably too much for someone my size, but oh well, what are you going to do about it? So therefore, I don't do summer. And I especially don't do 115 degree heat index days in August while I have no A/C in my car and am dressed in a suit for work. Yesterday wasn't fun.

Now, I'm not really a winter person either. I mean, I'll take snow & cold over the summer anyday, but for me it doesn't get any better than September and early October. Best six week stretch of the year, weather-wise. Of course, it doesn't need mentioning that it wasn't always this way. When I was in school (not college, but school) I hated this time of year, because it meant school was starting again. But now that I'm just a working-world kinda guy, I need this time of the year to get here.

Tuesday, August 01, 2006

Download Shark Mix IX!

Download It Here: Shark Mix IX (left click)

It's done! Finally. Been almost four months since Shark Mix VIII was finished. Guess it's been a slow few months in new music. Oh well. In the end, the wait was worth it. I'm extremely happy with how this CD turned out. It's a great summertime, sitting on the porch drinking beers relaxing CD. Very laid back.

Download it. Enjoy it! I hope you do. And if you don't have the first 8 Shark Mixes, ask me, and I'll tell you how/where to get them.

Tracklisting::
1. The Benevento Russo Duo - Best Reason To Buy The Sun
2. John Mayer - Waiting On The World To Change
3. Hot Buttered Rum String Band - Idaho Pines
4. Brothers Past - Simple Gift Of Man
5. Habib Koite & Bamada - Wassiye
6. Michael Franti & Spearhead - One Step Closer To You
7. Ziggy Marley - Love Is My Religion
8. Umphrey's McGee - Women, Wine & Song
9. Gentleman - Superior
10. ALO - Wasting Time (Island Vista Song)
11. Blueground Undergrass - Faces
12. Family Groove Company - The Charmer
13. The Whatnot - Apathy
14. Jonah Smith - My Morning Scene
15. American Minor - Mr. Queen
16. Mike Perkins - My Friend
Total Time: 73:44

Enjoy!!

Ladies, Ladies, Ladies...

Can I ask what is with the huge bug-eyed sunglasses? When did those become cool. And even if they are "cool" why do you wear them? They aren't attractice. They make you look retarded. Even the not so huge ones are pretty stupid looking. Why are you hiding your face?

This trend has to be right up there with "Uggs" as one of the worst things ever. Uggs=ugly, as someone I know once said. I'm still surprised when I see people wearing these stupid things.

These two things in particular, along with stupid crap like shorts under skirts (what's the point?), jeans under dresses, crappy designer A&F/Hollister/etc clothes, and some other stupid shit that I can't remember right now, are on the list of clothes you will never see a girl of mine wear.

And it's not because I'll ever tell a girl how to dress, it's because I wouldn't be caught dead with someone who for some reason think that crap makes them look better.

Friday, July 28, 2006

Rest In Peace

Jillian Paige Earle 1982-2006.

You'll never be forgotten. We'll never know why now was your time to go, but know you left behind a great legacy in your daughter Rosie, who will always be in wonderful hands. We love you.

East Hall Forever.

Thursday, July 27, 2006

Rest In Peace

Bryan Robert Paff, 1987-2006.

Tuesday, July 25, 2006

I have nothing to write about...

I came back to thesharkey.com today to once again make an effort to post much more often than I actually do. But once I got here, I realized I have absolutely nothing to say. I lead a pretty boring life. Nothing exciting ever really happens, thus my blog is far less exciting than some other people's blogs. For this, I apologize.

On the plus side, Shark Mix IX is now available in my get-file, and will be available for download shortly. Full details are coming.

Get excited!

Friday, June 23, 2006

I shaved my beard off...

I look like a complete douchebag. I went from a 23 year old who looked 28 to a 23 year old who looks 18. I'm growing this bitch back asap.

If I was all cool & computer savvy, I'd post a picture of clean-shaven sharkey, but I'm not. Plus I don't really want you seeing me in this naked state.

The ultimate proof that I look stupid like this? My mom said she likes the beard better! When a mother admits that, you know it's got to be grown back.

Thursday, June 22, 2006

Who Misses Bonnaroooooooooooooo?


This fucking guy does!

Another great Bonnaroo has come & gone. Lots of alcohol, lots of "other stuff," lots of great music, and no sleep. Except for the 45 power naps I took during sets. Here is my shorthand Reviewaroo.

Thursday:

Temperature- Hot As Balls

Got in line around noon, got to our camp around 2:30. CAMP YAO! Our setup was glorious. We had 6 or 7 tents right along a chainlink fence right on top of a lake. A nice swift breeze once every 4 hours really helped cool things down. In the middle of the tents was 3 shade tents & a tarp which gave us the most rocking setup ever. We also had a foam Yao Ming head on a makeshift flagpole about 25 feet in the air, that was glorious.

Saw three bands.

Cat Empire - Top 5 show of the weekend. Just fun upbeat jam/dance music, highly recommended.

Devotchka - I fell asleep like 8 minutes into this set. Best sleeping music ever.

Toubab Krewe - Also a Top 5 show of the weekend. Purely instrumental, these guys rocked plain & simple. Ended the set with an 11 minute drum solo.

Friday:
Temperature - Hotter than balls!

Woke up 830ish on Friday. Hung around camp for a few hours, headed to centeroo about 130ish. Not many non-musical highlights on this day.

Saw five bands.

Ben Folds - Disappointment. Not sure if he just doesn't go over well in front of huge festival crowds, or if it was the fact that I was about 8700 yards from the stage, or if it was the fact that the temperature was floating somewhere around 150 degrees at this point, but I didn't enjoy this set.

Nickel Creek - Kristen & I were dying of heat at this point, so we found a nice little patch of shade behind a portapotty row and layed down for this set. Sounded fantastic though. Great cover of Britney Spear's "Toxic" was the highlight of the set. I'm pretty sure I took a nap during this set.

Robert Randolph & The Family Band - Met up with my friend Reg from college during this set. RRFB never disappoints, and they kept that streak going here. Played a bunch of new stuff of their fall release, which I'm stoked for. G Love come out for like 30 minutes, which was sweet. G Love was the stagewhore of the weekend.

American Minor - I had pumped these guys up to the people I was camping with the previous two days, and they were kind of a letdown. I am still absolutely in love with their CD, but their live show leaves a lot to be desired.

Tom Petty & The Heartbreakers - Best set of the weekend far & away. Finally got a chance to see this man, and he did not disappoint. Played all the classics. Played the yardbirds. Played the Traveling Wilburys. Brought Steve Nicks on stage for a Fleetwood Mac song, and she stayed on stage for like a half hour. Ended with a fantastic double-encore performance of American Girl. All in all, just amazing.

Saturday:
Temperature - damn near perfect

Woke up bright & early again on this day, all pumped for the USA-Italy soccer match. Hung around camp for a few hours before Chris, Pat & I met Doozer in line to get into the cinema tent to watch the game. Unfortunately we waited in line for 2 hours only to be told when we were 40 feet from the entrance that they were letting no one else in. Bullshit if you ask me, we got screwed. Oh well. Was still able to catch some of the game.

After SuperJam, Pat, Chris, Kristen & I pull what was basically an all nighter playing 4cup & beer pong. Good times.

Saw three bands.

Rusted Root - Finally got to see these guys, good shit. Only caught the 2nd half of the set, but was definitely not disappointed.

Blues Traveler - This was the Holy Shit set of the weekend. Definitely #2 behind only Petty. I knew this set would be good, but I never thought it would blow me away. So freakin' good. G Love came out for a SIC cover of The Joker. Ended the set with a fantastic medley of Run Around > Crash Burn > Shout > Hook. Wow. Simply wow.

Superjam - I was half asleep for this set, but it was pretty damn ridiculous.

Sunday:
Temperature - Not quite hot as balls, but pretty freakin' humid

Went to bed at like 630 Sunday morning, woke up at like 11. Packed up camp a bit, then headed back for one last hurrah at Centeroo.

Saw four bands.

Soulive - Disappointment. Have seen & loved this guys before, they just didn't bring it this weekend.

Bela Fleck & The Flecktones - Great set. #3 of the weekend for sure. Their cover of Come Together was my favorite cover of the weekend.

Matisyahu - I think I'm losing interest in him, he was a disappointment.

moe. - Good shit. Glad I finally got to see these guys. Will definitely go see them next time they're around.

All in all, Bonnaroo fucking rocked. What else would you expect from the 4 greatest days of the year? God I can't wait for 2007!

Friday, June 09, 2006

World Cup

I'm insanely stoked for the World Cup to start in 90 minutes. There really is no event in sports that compares to a World Cup. None. If you've never watched a match, sit down at some point this weekend and just watch one. You'll be blown away by the intensity, I guarantee it.

Germany-Croatia at noon.
Poland-someone at three.

Not the greatest schedule to kick things off, but I'm excited. I'm ridiculously excited for USA-Czech at noon on Monday.

The World Cup!

Monday, June 05, 2006

The next month at a glance...

...it shall rock, and it shall rock hard.

June 5-9: work
June 10-11: weekend
June 12: USA-Czech republic world cup opener
June 13: weeba arrives at night for bonnarooooooooooooooooo
June 14: Drive from NJ-Cookeville, TN for bonnaroooooooooooooooooo
June 15-18: bonnarooooooooooooooooooooooooo
June 17: USA-Italy at Bonnarooooooooooooooooo
June 19: Drive from bonnaroooooooooo to DC for a bbq at the DCP
June 20: Drive home from bonnarooooooooooooooo
June 21: Random day off
June 22: USA-Ghana, back to work
June 23: miss bonnaroooooooooooooooo, mas work
June 24-27: Round of 16 at world cup, work
June 28: work & miss bonnarooooooooooooo
June 29-30: World Cup quarterfinals, work
July 1-9: no work
July 4-5: 4th of July bbqs, moms birthday, world cup semifinals
July 7-9: cincinnati, oh for mike perkins, pigfest & the world cup finals
July 10: My world returns to normal

Tuesday, May 30, 2006

The Big Toes

April 2002. Playing catch barefoot. Rip the toenail off my left big toe clean off. Fucking hurt. Had like 3 weeks worth of vicodin. Worst pain ever.

Memorial Day 2006. Playing kickball barefoot. Rip half the toenail off my right big toe. Hairline fracture to the toe. About a weeks worth of weakass vicodin, and a band-aid on the toe. Hurts like a bitch.

Moral of the story. I need to learn to start wearing shoes when playing sports. Or just in life in general.

And I need more vicodin.

Wednesday, May 24, 2006

Lost season 2 finale

Warning: Don't read this if you haven't watched the season 2 lost finale and plan on watching it. If you've already seen it, or don't watch the show regularly, read away.

Lingering questions from tonight's finale that I will think about thru the entire summer (in somewhat chronological order):

1. How does Desmond have a never-ending supply of liquor?
2. How did Calvin, Sayid's-teaching-in-torture, get to the island?
3. Will they ever reveal what Libby was doing in the nuthouse with Hurley, or is that a lost (no pun intended) storyling?
4. Now that we kind of know what "the monster" is, does that mean it'll just completely stop appearing for the rest of this series? I liked the monster.
5. What happened to the 3rd stick of dynamite in the sack that Eko grabbed (there were definitely two sack's of 3 in last years finale. One sack blown up, the other hidden where we just found it)?
6. WHAT THE HELL WAS THAT GINOROUS FOUR-TOED FOOT STATUE?
7. How did Eko & Charlie survive that fireball?
8. Where are Michael & Walt going that they are about to be saved?
9. Why is Henry Gale in charge? He's a dickwad. And why was he so upset that "Tom" wasn't wearing his beard?
10. Why did they want Sawyer, Kate & Jack as their 3 prisoners?
10a. Why did they choose Hurley as the representative to report back to camp?
10b. Where exactly are they taking Sawyer, Kate & Jack?
11. What happened at the hatch, exactly?
11a. Did Locke or Eko survive?
11b. Will they show us some flastback at some point next season to let us know what happened at the hatch?
12. Why did the electromagnet thing cause the entire sky to go brightwhite like that and give everyone a splitting headache?
13. Who were those Portuguese-Siberian guys, how exactly did Penny (Desmond's loverladyfriend) know to look for electromagnetic anomalies, and why oh why did Matthew Fox (Jack) play one of the two Portuguese-Siberians?
14. When is the season 3 premiere?

Sunday, May 21, 2006

Corn on the Cob

Sitting at a traffic light in Matawan on the way home from the Da Vinci Code (good flick!) with Logan today, when I happen to glance at the driver of the car next to us. Don't we all do that like 80 times a day? Yup. Does anyone see what we saw today? Nope.

The guy was eating Corn on a Cob. It was all going on. Corn. On. The. Cob. The works. Butter, salt, pepper, cob. Who does that? To add to this already classic moment, as we're watching, one of the kernels manages to tumble off the cob, out of his mouth, down his chin, and roll right down his shirt.

You can't script this sort of thing. Who eats corn on the cob while driving? Anyone? I'll eat a bagel, or a sandwich. Occassionally fries or chips or something. Usually sunflower seeds. But that's about it. Never even considered corn on the cob. THat's up there with Ribs as things I'll never try while behind the wheel.

Saturday, May 13, 2006

Sports

Unwilling to accept the fact that tomorrow may be the last time I ever watch Patrik Elias in a Devils sweater. That would be disastrous. They need to resign him this offseason. He's top priority for sure (but they can't forget about Langenbrunner, we need him back too).

In other sports news, Cole Hamels looked great tonight for the Phils. His presence in the rotation (coupled with sending Madson back to the bullpen) makes the Phillies a much better team, and you'd have to consider them definite contenders in the NL East from here on out.

Thursday, May 11, 2006

Today is...

Did you ever have one of those days where nothing all that monumental happened, but by the end of it you have no idea who you are or what you're doing with your life?

Wednesday, April 19, 2006

Division Champs!

That's all I've got to say, for now...

Thursday, April 13, 2006

I'm on Survivor!

Not really.

But I had a dream last night that I was. I was on this season's. I don't think all the characters were there, but Terry, Danielle & Courtney were.

And it didn't take place in Panama. It took place in my 7th grade english classroom. No idea how that happened.

But anyway, we were the final four, which was nice, because I didn't know if I could do that good! And somehow Terry & I had guaranteed ourselves being the Final Two (we even high-fived). So basically the dream was us figuring out if we wanted to get rid of Courtney or Danielle first.

I don't know who we ended up getting rid of first, but if I ever do get on Survivor, I hope it's in a more exotic location than Toms River Intermediate East!

Wednesday, April 12, 2006

I Know I'm Not Alone

Warning: Anti-War topics at hand.

I just got done watching the Michael Franti documentary I Know I'm Not Alone, and I have to say, I'm impressed. I knew the movie would be moving, as it has a touchy subject, but I didn't expect it to be so good.

For those who don't know, Michael Franti is the lead singer of a band named Spearhead, a band who classifies themselves as "political, hip-hop, jam." Quite a mouthful. They're also just a plain great band, and put on arguably the best live show I've ever seen.

In the summer of 2004, Franti and about 10 friends went on a two-week trek thru the streets of Baghdad, Israel, and the Gaza Strip. Just him, them, his guitar & a camera. He interviewed people. Victims of bombings. Soldiers. Widows. Children. Restaurant owners. Taxi Drivers. Israelis. Palastenians. Pro-American folk. Anti-Americans. And he got their views on what's going on with the world.

The end result was this 90 minute documentary. Franti is an admitted outspoken liberal, and this movie does nothing to hide that. But if you don't like that, and are able to just put that aside for 90 minutes, you'll see there is more to the movie than just anti-war propaganda. There is a bunch of good messages hidden in there. And if you're liberal, well then, you should have no problem convincing yourself to check this movie out.

And for all his anti-war sentiment that he has shown, Franti actually does a good job putting that to the back, and just listening to every side of it. And it effects him. In the end, he says "I'm neither for America, Iraq, Israel nor Palastein. I'm for peace, and whichever country takes the first step towards reaching it." Whether left or right, I think that's what everyone wants.

Oh yea, and there are like 8 new spearhead songs on the soundtrack, which is also a huge added benefit for watching this movie!

Monday, April 10, 2006

The Beatles

Went to this new Sushi Bar in Brick today. Delicious.

Met one of the owners, John is his English name. That's easy. I was there with my Uncle. He's also John. He was working the Sushi Bar itself (where we sat). Love Sushi.

Then I met one of his three partners. His American name is Ringo. Isn't that funny, I thought to myself.

I then found out the other two owners go by Paul & George. Apparently to make things easier on themselves, and everyone they work with, as well as all their patrons, they just adopted the four Beatles names.

Not only is that absolutely hysterical, it's pure genius. Who's going to forget the Fab Four?

Wednesday, April 05, 2006

Shark Mix Eight...

...coming real soon!

Looks like it's going to be thirteen tracks, and just about 73 minutes.

Dave Matthews Band, Todd Martin, & Matisyahu are the only repeats from the previous 7 Shark Mixes.

10 new bands, woohoo!

Tuesday, April 04, 2006

Change in format

thesharkey.com will now be a normal blog, as opposed to the sports blog that it attempted to be in the last 6 months.

2400 hits in 6 months, I can't complain with that. Roughly 100 hits a week. I guess I was doing something right.

But I just don't have the time, or motivation/interest, in writing some new glittering article/entry on a sporting event 3 or 4 times a week. I don't have that much info on sports, either.

So, with that said, my sports writing abilities have been transferred to ColdAsWeiss, my buddies website, which is 97 times better than thesharkey.com (except for the fact that it is philadelphia-sports obsessed. I'll try to bring some NY flavor to the table.

My first article over there went up this morning, and has already had over 75 hits. Clearly I'll get read a lot more over there than over here.

So this now becomes someplace for me to bitch & moan about everyday life, and that becomes my sports-haven (I'll probably contribute 3-5 articles a month).

For those worried about the future of the SCS, don't worry, that's not going anywhere. Haven't even talked to Jason (who runs the site) about what will happen to it, but it will either be over there, or over here. Wherever it is, those of you who were into it last year will obviously get preference on voting over new readers at CAW.

Sharkey out.

Friday, March 31, 2006

2006 Baseball Over/Unders

Opening Day is just around the corner. Thank God! That means spring is here! Not a second too soon, too. I'm not going to sit here and give you my complete preview... yet. But here are each teams win/loss over/under's for the 2006 season, and what I think they'll do.

(For those who have no idea what this is, it's simple. Vegas has set the Yankees win total at 98. You can either bet the under {they'll win less than 98} or the over {they'll win more}. That's what I'm showing you here. Each team, what Vegas has set them at, and what I think they'll do in respect to that number)

AL East:
New York Yankees: 98 under
Boston Red Sox: 92.5 under
Toronto Blue Jays: 86 under
Baltimore Orioles: 76.5 under
Tampa Bay Devils Rays: 71 over

AL Central:
Chicago White Sox: 93.5 under
Cleveland Indians: 88.5 over
Minnesota Twins: 80.5 over
Detroit Tigers: 76.5 over
Kansas City Royals: 62 over

AL West:
Los Angeles Angels: 91 over
Oakland Athletics: 90 over
Texas Rangers: 81.5 under
Seattle Mariners: 74 over

NL East:
New York Mets: 90 under
Atlanta Braves: 88 over
Philadelphia Phillies: 83 over
Washington Nationals: 76 over
Florida Marlins: 63 over

NL Central:
St. Louis Cardinals: 94 under
Chicago Cubs: 86 under
Houston Astros: 83.5 over
Milwaukee Brewers: 79.5 over
Pittsburgh Pirates: 74 over
Cincinatti Reds: 72 under

NL West:
Los Angeles Dodgers: 85.5 over
San Francisco Giants: 84.5 over
San Diego Padres: 78.5 over
Colorado Rockies: 68.5 over

My Pre-season Predictions:
AL East: Yankees
AL Central: White Sox
AL West: Angels
AL Wildcard: A's
NL East: Braves
NL Central: Astros
NL West: Dodgers
NL Wildcard: Cardinals
World Series: Angels over Cardinals (same as last year)

Friday, March 24, 2006

A New thesharkey Creation...

...the fantasy blog!

Last Sunday myself & 9 people I work with had our first work Fantasy Baseball draft. Good times. There were some pretty ridiculous draft-day decisions that needed to be written somewhere for permanent record, and this idea popped up. With a league full of people who have never played fantasy baseball before, plus myself & one or two other people who are sure to be absolutely dominant, why not record the entire season?

From draft day to the championship.

A permanent record of the madness that is "Chili's Fantasy Baseball."

So it's what I will do.

We have a 10-team league, head-to-head style. Each matchup runs from Monday thru Sunday. So every Monday (or Tuesday if Monday is busy) I will give a weekly report on the goings on of the CFB. Matchup breakdowns, trade breakdowns, a look ahead, plus a few random jokes about Robbie's team. Good times.

So where else to start? The draft.

10 teams.

Myself (The Montaquito), Kip (The Confederate Flag), Tim (Tenacious Tim's Team) & Duke (Duke's Kunta Kintay's) have already emerged as the serious players in this league.

Chris (knuckleheads), Doug (F*ckinallstars), Josh (Josh for now), Erin (Duffy's Donkeys) & Kelly (kfairs) are players who if they stick with it should be in this thing until the end.

And Robbie (Bo-byy Knows Baseball) is the league laughingstock. For those of you who live in the northeast of the country, you know every league you join always has that one kid who drafts all Yankees or all Red Sox on their team. Robbie is this leagues culprit. A roster full of Yankees. And the jokes are just getting started.

The Draft:
Time & Date: Sometime last Sunday afternoon
Location: The Freehold Racetrack, clubhouse, smoking section
Important pieces of info: Lots of angry men betting on horses around us, a bar nearby, and the ncaa tourney games on our tvs

The draft hasn't even begun and we have our first major development. Kelly & Erin are stuck in Chicago where they are apartment shopping. Having faith in me, they've asked me to draft their teams. So before we even begin, I am now stuck with drafting 3 teams in a money league. Talk about pressure.

We pull out of a hat to decide the draft order.

Kip, Tim, Duke, Chris, Erin, Robbie, Kelly, Josh, myself & Doug is the order, with it going in reverse in every other round.

All you really need to know about the draft is that the first four people I mentioned had the best drafts, everyone else had good drafts, and Robbie had a ridiculous draft.

In fact, after the 11th round he had to go to work, so he gave Duke a list of 9 or 10 people that he wanted to be drafted on his team for him. Included in this list were Robinson Cano, Curt Schilling, Jorge Posada, Mike Mussina, a few other Yankees, and the fantasy legend himself, Bruce Chen. This was the point everyone in our league lost it. Bruce Chen? Someone seriously wanted to draft him? Apparently Robbie did. Every other fantasy baseball league in the country this year will see Bruce Chen sitting on free agency somewhere. But not ours. We all agreed that none of us would take Chen (a not so hard thing to agree on) and that we'd give him to Robbie in the 21st round.

As for everyones rosters, here they are, with their first 10 draft picks with their round number in parantheses next to their name.

The Confederate Flag (Kip), 1st pick in draft.
C Joe Mauer (8)
1b Todd Helton (5)
2b Jeff Kent (10)
3b Alex Rodriguez (1)
SS Bobby Crosby
OF Bobby Abreu (2)
OF Ken Griffey, Jr (9)
OF Vernon Wells
Util Chone Figgins (3)
Bn Jeremy Hermida
Bn Ryan Zimmerman
Bn Prince Fielder

SP Rich Harden (4)
SP Andy Pettitte (6)
SP Mark Prior (7)
SP Scott Kazmir
RP Derek Turnbow
RP Bob Wickman
Bn Mike MacDougal
Bn Ervin Santana
Bn Chris Young

Tenacious Tim's Team (Tim), 2nd pick in draft
C Jorge Posada
1b Albert Pujols (1)
2b Chase Utley (3)
3b Troy Glaus (8)
SS Felipe Lopez (10)
OF Carlos Beltran (4)
OF Juan Pierre (6)
OF Cliff Floyd (7)
Util Nick Johnson
Bn Edgar Renteria
Bn Nomar Garciaparra
Bn Mike Jacobs

SP Jake Peavy (2)
SP Josh Beckett (5)
SP Cliff Lee (9)
SP Jose Contreras
RP BJ Ryan
RP Francisco Cordero
Bn Fransisco Liriano
Bn Brandon Backe
Bn Chin-Man Wang or whoever you spell his name

Duke's Kunta Kintay's (Duke), 3rd pick in draft
C Bengie Molina (10)
1b Paul Konerko (5)
2b Brian Roberts (8)
3b Eric Chavez (7)
SS Julio Lugo
OF Ichiro Suzuki (2)
OF Hideki Matsui (4)
OF Jim Edmonds
Util Richie Sexson
Bn Willie Taveras
Bn Mike Sweeney
Bn Garrett Atkins
Bn Yadier Molina

SP Johan Santana (1)
SP Roy Oswalt (3)
SP Tim Hudson (6)
SP CC Sabathia (9)
RP Eric Gagne
RP Chris Ray
Bn Roger Clemens
Bn Rodrigo Lopez

knuckleheads (Chris), 4th pick in draft
C Viktor Martinez (4)
1b Carlos Delgado (7)
2b Jorge Cantu
3b Hank Blalock (3)
SS Clint Barmes
OF Vladimir Guerrero (1)
OF Johnny Damon (6)
OF Pat Burrell (10)
Util Carlos Lee (5)
Bn Jose Video
Bn Moises Alou
Bn Sean Casey
Bn Milton Bradley

SP Roy Halladay (2)
SP John Lackey (9)
SP Zach Duke
SP Matt Morris
RP Chad Cordero (8)
RP Bobby Jenks
Bn Greg Maddux
Bn Tom Glavine

Duffy's Donkeys (Erin), 5th pick in draft
C Javy Lopez (8)
1b Ryan Howard (4)
2b Ronnie Belliard
3b Melvin Mora
SS Michael Young (2)
OF Manny Ramirez (1)
OF Scott Podsednik (9)
OF Brian Giles
Util Rafael Furcal (7)
Bn Shawn Green

SP Pedro Martinez (3)
SP Mark Buehrle (5)
SP John Smoltz (6)
SP Freddy Garcia
RP Billy Wagner (10)
RP Trevor Hoffman
Bn Noah Lowry
Bn Keith Foulke
Bn Doug Davis
Bn Chris Capuano
Bn Daniel Cabrera

Bo-bby Knows Baseball (Robbie), 6th pick in draft
C Pudge Rodriguez (10)
1b Jason Giambi (7)
2b Robinson Canu
3b Chipper Jones (5)
SS Derek Jeter (3)
OF Gary Sheffield (4)
OF Torii Hunter (9)
OF Jermaine Dye
Util David Ortiz (1)
Bn Jose Guillen
Bn JD Drew
Bn Andrian Beltre
Bn Mike Lowell

SP Randy Johnson (2)
SP Barry Zito (6)
SP Jon Garland
SP Curt Schilling
RP Mariano Rivera (8)
RP Ryan Dempster
Bn Mike Mussina
Bn Bruce Chen

kfairs (Kelly), 7th pick in draft
C Jason Varitek (8)
1b Mark Teixeira (1)
2b Bill Hall
3b David Wright (2)
SS Jose Reyes (4)
OF Aubrey Huff
OF Jeff Francoeur (9)
OF Grady Sizemore (5)
Util Jim Thome
Bn Johnny Gomez
Bn Luis Gonzalez

SP Chris Carpenter (3)
SP Mark Mulder (7)
SP Danny Haren (10)
SP Kevin Millwood
RP Brad Lidge (6)
RP Huston Street
Bn Javier Vasquez
Bn Jake Westbrook
Bn Gustavo Chacin
Bn Carl Pavano

Josh for now (Josh), 8th pick in draft
C Kenji Johjimi (10)
1b Derek Lee (1)
2b Marcus Giles (8)
3b Aramis Ramirez (4)
SS Jimmy Rollins (5)
OF Jason Bay (2)
OF Adam Dunn (6)
OF Randy Winn (9)
Util Matt Holliday
Bn Rocco Baldelli
Bn Garrett Anderson
Bn Ryan Freel

SP Ben Sheets (3)
SP AJ Burnett (7)
SP Bret Myers
SP John Petterson
RP Armando Benitez
RP Brian Fuentes
Bn Brad Radke
Bn Kelvim Escobar
Bn Paul Byrd

The Montaquito (shark), 9th pick in draft
C Michael Barrett
1b Lance Berkman (6)
2b Rickie Weeks
3b Scott Rolen (9)
SS Jhonny Peralta (7)
OF Miguel Cabrera (1)
OF Carl Crawford (2)
OF Coco Crisp
Util Travis Hafner (3)
Bn Placido Polanco

SP Felix Hernandez (4)
SP Carlos Zambrano (5)
SP Joe Blanton
SP Brandon Webb (10)
RP Francisco Rodriguez (8)
RP Tom Gordon
Bn Oliver Perez
Bn Jon Lieber
Bn Erik Bedard
Bn Adam Eaton
Bn Estoban Loiaza

F*ckinallstars (Doug), 10th pick in draft
C Paul Lo Duce
1b Justin Morneau
2b Alfonso Soriano (2)
3b Morgan Ensberg (7)
SS Miguel Tejedga (1)
OF Andruw Jones (3)
OF Barry Bonds (8)
OF Maglio Ordonez
Util Chad Tracy
Bn Mark Loretta
Bn Brad Wilkerson

SP Bartolo Colon (4)
SP Dontrelle Willis (5)
SP Jason Schmidt (6)
SP Livan Hernandez
RP Joe Nathan (9)
RP Jason Isringhausen (10)
Bn Jeremy Bonderman
Bn Matt Clement
Bn Kenny Rogers
Bn Bronson Arroyo

There you have it, all 10 rosters for the 2006 CFB.

I'm curious to see who you all think is the favorite? I know who I think is (hint; it's not me).

Next league update: opening day

Thursday, March 16, 2006

Live March Madness

I'm off from work these next two days, and while I'll probably be going to bars at night to watch basketball, for now, I'm sitting in my basement watching by myself. So I'll update this site every half hour or so with some insight to whats going on.

Last update: 6:13

3:43- That BC/Pacific game was ridiculous. According to Yahoo! I'm one of 3.2% of all bracketologists who picked Pacific, so needless to say I was pulling hard for them. They had it in the first OT, but when BC came back to force a 2nd OT they just got deflated. I knew then they wouldn't win, but I thought they'd do better than getting outscored 14-2 in the 2nd OT.

Tenneessee & Winthrop on now. Winthrop is still hanging with them, it's 30-24 Tenn. But you just get the feeling Tennesse is going to turn things on really soon. I predict a 20+ point victory.

3:52- So I immediately regret my decision on the outcome of the Tennessee game. They'll still win this, but Winthrop is hanging a lot tougher than it looked like they would 10 minutes ago.

Montana/Neveda tips off now. I'm excited! Sucks they're not showing it now, but I should get to see some hopefully. Montana is my definite sleeper pick of the year. I fully expect them to not only beat Neveda, but also BC next round.

4:03- Umm, wasn't it the Winthrop player who stepped out of bounds with 8.4 seconds left in the half? Why did they get to inbound the ball? I'm confused. 2-point Tennessee lead at half-time. Way closer than I was expecting.

I'm going to go get chips & salsa.

4:19- Passed on chips & salsa, got Tortellini Alfredo instead. They're pretty similar. Montana is making me look really good right now. Hopefully they keep this up for the rest of the game.

2nd half of Tennessee-Winthrop about to start, I'm very excited. Tennessee better hope Watson (3 fouls) stays out of trouble. Losing him would be a disaster.

4:31- Here we go. CJ Watson of Tennessee jsut got his 4th foul! Winthrop is up 1 with 15 minutes left. First BC/Pacific, now this. This tournament is off to a banging start!

Marquette is getting raped by Alabama! 0-2 for the Big East? :(

4:40- "Please Hammer, don't hurt 'em!" That's the line that just got thrown out by some buddies of mine in referrence to the hammerance/shuffle step that the Winthrop coach just did. This guy is a nutcase, he might kill sombody before this game ends.

He's definitely my new favorite coach. He just got a 10 year extension at Winthrop, too. I hope they make some more tournaments in the next few years so I can watch him pulsate.

6:13- The end of that Tennessee game was insane. What a great shot by Lofton. Nothing for Winthrop to be ashamed of, they gave them a run for their money.

'Bama/Marquette was really good, too. Some great three point shooting towards the end.

Gotta love those Grizzlies. That's my Montana, they played a hell of a game. Can't wait to see what they do to BC on Saturday!

Wednesday, March 15, 2006

March Madness

Best three weeks of the year are here! Tomorrow starts March Madness. You can definitely make a case that tomorrow & Friday are the two greatest sport days on the calendar year. I'll believe it. I enjoy it more than any of the four major opening days. More than the Super Bowl, of conference championships. More than the first day of the MLB Playoffs. More than rivalry weekend in college football. A game 7? Nah.

Tomorrow & Friday. Two days. 32 basketball games. Nonstop television coverage from noon-midnight. Two back-to-back days of twelve hours of coverage. It's glorious. At any given moment there are always at least 3 games being played, so odds are that there's always at least one really good game on. How can that be beat?

But before we get to tomorrow, a few things need to be cleared up. Like, for instance, some clarification on the 64 teams still alive in the hunt for the 2006 National Championship.

To make things easy for you, I've broken them down into 7 easy groups for you.

Group #1: Happy to be there.

This group is mostly 14-16 seeds who realistically have no shot at winning a game, and they know it. But they're going to make the most of their weekend in the NCAA's, regardless.

Minneapolis #16 Monmouth
Washington #16 Albany
Atlanta #16 Southern
Oakland #16 Oral Roberts
Atlanta #15 Penn
Oakland #15 Belmont
Minneapolis #15 Davidson
Atlanta #14 N'western State
Minneapolis #14 Southern Alabama
Atlanta #13 Iona
Washington #13 Air Force
Atlanta #12 Texas A&M

Group #2: One Victory Makes A Season

This group is just a step ahead of group one. They're still in the 'happy to be here' state of mind, but they're not quite settling. They realize they have a realistic shot at being a major spoiler, and winning one game isn't out of the question. Their eyes aren't quite set on the Sweet 16, but Round of 32 sure looks appetizing.

Washington #15 Winthrop
Washington #14 Murray State
Oakland #14 Xavier
Oakland #13 Bradley
Washington #12 Utah State
Washington #11 George Mason
Oakland #11 San Diego State

Group #3: Bracket Busters

These teams not only have a shot at winning a game, they have a shot at winning two. They are still mostly lower seeded teams, but they can make the Sweet 16 if they play right. And in doing so, they'll be taking out two other teams that many people had going pretty far in the tournament, thus busting their brackets. This is also far & away the largest of the groups.

Minneapolis #13 Pacific
Minneapolis #12 Montana *Sharkey Sleeper Pick of 2006*
Oakland #12 Kent State
Minneapolis #11 Wisconsin-Milwaukee
Atlanta #11 Southern Illinois
Washington #10 Seton Hall
Minneapolis #10 Northern Iowa
Oakland #10 Alabama
Atlanta #10 N.C. State
Atlanta #9 UNC-Wilmington
Washington #9 UAB
Oakland #9 Bucknell
Oakland #8 Arkansas
Washington #8 Kentucky
Minneapolis #8 Arizona
Washington #7 Wichita State

Group #4: The Mountaineers

For lack of a better name, this group is named after the West Virginia Mountaineers, who accomplished what this group is capable of. That is being a decently high seed that is often overlooked, but definitely can make the Sweet 16, has all the tools to make the Elite 8, and should give its Elite 8 opponent a fit, and be in the game until the last shot. One or two of these teams could hit that last shot, and make the final four, if their cards all fell right.

Minneapolis #9 Wisconsin
Atlanta #8 George Washington
Atlanta #7 California
Oakland #7 Marquette
Minneapolis #7 Georgetown
Atlanta #5 Syracuse
Minneapolis #5 Neveda
Atlanta #4 LSU

Group 5: The Hot Picks

Every year there are a few teams that somehow emerge at tournament time as the hot picks, teams that all of a sudden a lot of people are paying attention to, even putting them in their final four. All of these teams are good enough to make the final four, or even the championship. But be warned, like #4 Syracuse in 2005, #5 Providence & #5 Florida in 2004, and #4 Mississippi State in 2003, there will always be at least one of these teams that absolutely ruins somebodies bracket by losing in the first round to a far worse team than them (a group 2 or group 3 opponent).

Washington #6 Michigan State
Atlanta #6 West Virginia
Oakland #5 Pittsburgh
Oakland #4 Kansas
Minneapolis #4 Boston College
Washington #3 North Carolina
Oakland #2 UCLA

Group 6: The Over-rated

These teams all got top-6 seeds, and deservingly so, because of either strong regular season or strong conference play. But beware of them, because they aren't as good as advertised, or there is a chink in the armor that isn't highly publicized. Picking any of these teams to win 3 or more games is a very dangerous proposition.

Minneapolis #6 Oklahoma
Oakland #6 Indiana
Washington #5 Washington
Oakland #3 Gonzaga
Washington #2 Tennessee

Group 7: The Contenders

The last group. While most people will have at least one team from groups 4-6 in their final four, the person who plays it safe will have a final four loaded with four people from group 7. This person will also likely be guaranteed to finish near the top of their pool. If your final four has 3 or more people from this group, be excited, because you're in your pool until the end, and have a definite shot of winning.

Washington #4 Illinois
Minneapolis #3 Florida
Atlanta #3 Iowa
Minneapolis #2 Ohio State
Atlanta #2 Texas
Oakland #1 Memphis
Minneapolis #1 Villanova
Atlanta #1 Duke
Washington #1 UConn

There you have it, my guide to this years NCAA Tournament. If you haven't finished your bracket yet, hurry up.

And if your wondering, I've lost my mind this year, and gone with an all #1 seed final four, with UConn beating Memphis for the National Championship.

Monday, March 13, 2006

Ninety-Eight

Today is my great-grandfather's 98th birthday. 98! That's ridiculous. I can write so much about him that you'd be reading this blog for 3 straight weeks, but that might get boring. So I give you this not so long blog, about how he became a Yankees fan. (For those of you who read my myspace.com blog last summer, you'll remember the Yankee one I did about him).

Anyway, my entire life he has been a Yankee fanatic. No one ever questions it, or wonders about it, it's just who he is. He's Italian. He's Catholic. He's a family man. He's a carpenter. And he's a Yankee freak. Everything you need to know about the man is in those last 5 mini-sentences.

Then tonight, we're out to dinner at Angelina's, his favorite Italian ristorante. And we're talking about the World Baseball Classic, which naturally leads to a discussion about Derek Jeter & A-Rod, which naturally leads to a discussion about the New York Yankees. And then, for no reason, curiousity got the best of me. Probably something I've been wondering for 23 years, but never even knew I was wondering it, let alone thought to ask, but tonight, I did.

"Grandpa, how did you become such a big Yankees fan anyway?"

Flash back 86 years, to the fall of 1921. My grandfather is a 12 year old kid growing up in Corona, NY. (In Queens, right near Flushing, which would eventually house the NY Mets, coincidentally). The New York Yankees have finally ended a long stretch of suffering & futility, marked by too many losing seasons to count, and reach the 1921 World Series. Their opponent? The New York Giants, a team now playing in its 6th World Series (the 1921 World Series was the 18th World Series).

Yankee Stadium? Non-existent. The Yankees? Doesn't exactly mean what it means today. So there sits Pasquale Cioffi in Corona, NY, miles away from the Bronx, and even further away from West 159th Street, the home of the Polo Grounds. What's baseball to him? Something about as foreign as Mars. His two buddies and him are walking around Flushing Park one day talking, when they start goign on about the World Series.

"What?"

You know, the World Series, between the Yankees & Giants.

"Who?"

The New York Yankees and the New York Giants. Baseball teams.

"Oh, baseball. I don't follow it." Pasquale obviously just didn't have any interest.

"But you have to care," said his friend. "Babe Ruth is playing."

"Who's Babe Ruth?"

"He's the best player on the Yankees! He's great!"

"Oh, cool (or some other phrase that kids were using in 1921), I'll like the Yankees then."

Later that day he went home and told his Dad he was a Yankees fan. "The Yankees, but they're so bad. Are you sure son?" "Of course I am, they have Babe Ruth!" "OK, just remember though, if they're your favorite team this year, they always have to be your favorite team. You can't not like them when they're bad."

Clearly, the elder Cioffi had no idea what was in store for the New York Yankees, but regardless, young Pasquale swore he'd always be a Yankees fan.

And over the course of the next week, he followed the World Series. No one in his family, or that he knew, had a radio. They were too expensive, not something common people had, so he had no way of knowing who won until the next day. Until game 3. The Yankees were up 2 games to none. And the three boys discovered a barber shop a few blocks away that would put the score of the game on a chalkboard in the window, and update it every half-inning.

Unseasonably cold that fall was, the three boys stood in front of that window for the next 5 days, 5 games, eagerly awaiting every score change to see how their beloved Yankees were doing. Unfortunately, they lost all 5 games, and the World Series. The NY Giants were kings of the world.

"But it didn't matter, I was forever changed. I'd found my first love, the NY Yankees." Over the next few summers, he spent over half of each season in front of that barber shop, awaiting score updates. Then, in 1923, the NY Yankees won the World Series "and we savoured it, because even though we knew Babe Ruth was great, we didn't know if we'd ever win another one."

Over the next two seasons, the Yankees didn't make it back to the Fall Classic, but something even better happened in the 1924 season. Pasquale Cioffi first stepped foot in the outfield bleachers of Yankee Field. "And I knew immediately that the barber shop just wouldn't cut it anymore, that I'd have to be here as much as I could." So at 15, he got a job so he could afford to go to as many Yankee games as he could. And he went. And went. And they won. And won. World Series after World Series after World Series. "Has to be close to 1000 games I've seen there," he guesses.

Now he just watches them on TV, but the passion is still there. Only three weeks until the season starts, "and dammit they better win another World Series while I'm still young..."

Sunday, March 12, 2006

Coming This Week


Breakdown of all 65 tournament teams, including predictions for all 6 rounds, as I look to beat my personal best of 172 points in a tournament.

Thursday, March 09, 2006

All hope is lost...

It's official, 24 is better than Lost. For the first three years of the show, there wasn't another show on TV that rivaled it. THen, last year, along came Lost. And for a solid year, many people jumped ship, actually believing that Lost was the better show. And you know what, I was one of them. And really, for that year, it might have been. Lost was crazy last year. But then something happened.

Monday night. 24. Two hours. Pure insanity. Pure brilliance. 24 is back hard. Back in a way it hasn't been since the first season. Couple that with Lost's insanity, aka their refusal to air more than like 2 episodes out a time without taking a break, and 24 is the top dog once again.

But this is less about 24 and more about Lost. Why the hell can't they show a few episodes in a row anymore? I can't give up on this show because the mystery is too great, and I need to know what happens in the end, but I'm passed the point of really aggitated. You don't have to give me answers al the time, but at least give me new episodes.

Once again last night, the show was a repeat, just as it was three weeks ago. Two repeats sandwiched around one new episode. That's a pace I can't possibly live with. Thank God there's plenty of College Basketball on now to keep me occupied. For 2.5 horus last night ESPN turned into espNJ. Rutgers-Seton Hall on one channel, and Fairleigh Dickinson-Monmouth on another. It was glorious. Even better was the fact that Rutgers & Monmouth both won. For Rutgers, it wsa a win for pride. Unless they win the BIg East Championship, this team isn't going to the ncaa tourney. But still, they beat their biggest rival in a game their rival absolutely needed to win. As for Monmouth, they're going dancing baby! On to the tournament. Good for them, congratulations.

Monday, March 06, 2006

Thursday, March 02, 2006

Thesharkey.com Tournament Challenge

Time for the 4th thesharkey.com challenge. The Men's College Basketball Tournament. You can join the group now (on yahoo), just don't forget to make your picks after the lineup gets announced on March 12th.

http://tournament.fantasysports.yahoo.com/men

Go to the above link. Create a team. Then "Join Private Group."

ID# is 2559
Password is shark

Good luck bitches.

Tuesday, February 28, 2006

Going for history...

31-for-31. Has it ever been done? Doubt it. Has it ever been attempted? Probably. Will it ever be done? Someday. Do I have any chance in doing it? No way in hell.

But today begins my lifelong quest to correctly predict all 31 conference champions before the conference tournaments begin (tonight). I'd write a little bit about each champion, but the fact is I haven't even heard of half these conferences, so I can't really say it's thinking that brought me to the conclusion that that team will win its championship. Most of this is guesswork.

Your guess is as good as mine.

In alphabetical order, your 31 conference champions are:

America East Conference: Binghampton
Atlantic 10 Conference: George Washington
Atlantic Coast Conference: Duke
Atlantic Sun Conference: Belmont
Big 12 Conference: Texas
Big East Conference: UConn
Big Sky Conference: Montana
Big South Conference: Winthrop
Big Ten Conference: Illinois
Big West Conference: Pacific
Colonial Athletic Association: UNC-Wilmington
Conference USA: Memphis
Horizon League: Wisconsin-Milwaukee
Ivy League: Pennsylvania
Metro Atlantic Athletic Conference: Manhattan
Mid Continent Conference: Oral Roberts
Mid American Conference: Kent State
Mid-Eastern Athletic Conference: Delaware State
Missouri Valley Conference: Creighton
Mountain West Conference: Air Force
Northeast Conference: Monmouth
Ohio Valley Conference: Murray State
Pacific-10 Conference: Arizona
Patriot League: Bucknell
Southeastern Conference: LSU
Southern Conference: Georgia Southern
Southland Conference: Northwestern State
Southwestern Athletic Conference: Southern
Sun Belt Conference: Western Kentucky
West Coast Conference: Gonzaga
Western Athletic Conference: Nevada

There you have it, your 31 conference champions! Only 12 days until Selection Sunday.

In the meantime, back to my Beatles book, which is taking me way longer to read than a normal book does because its so damn huge and the font is so damn small. But that's ok, it's a great book, I'm not really wanting it to end.

Sunday, February 26, 2006

Coming Soon... Me.


I know I said I'd post, but I have to be honest, I'm not interested. My mom got me "The Beatles" by Bob Spitz for Christmas, and for whatever reason, I decided to read three other books that I got before I picked this one up. Why? I don't know, it wasn't my smartest move. But anyway, I finally got around to it recently, and I'm sucked in. I feel like I'm letting the book down just by posting this, but I had to give you all something to live off of for the next few days.

By Tuesday, I promise I'll have the book finished, and the horrible month of February will be over, and thesharkey.com will be on to bigger and better things.

What you can look forward to in the near future:
Tuesday: The start of the college basketball conference tournaments, when I will attempt to become the first person to ever correctly predict all 33 conference champions. Is it possible? I doubt it. But why not try & find out?

Sometime after Tuesday: I will start an NCAA Tournament Challenge, hosted by our lovely partners at Yahoo, and we'll see who can join Scott (twice) and Logan as a thesharkey.com champion.

Sometime after that: Baseball season begins, and with it comes my breakdown of all 30 teams, as well as my breakdown of myself, a 4-time fantasy champion in the last 5 years, now officially the most dominant force known to the fantasy baseball world.

Saturday, February 25, 2006

Yea Bronze

So the first week of the Olympics I was so wrapped up in Curling it was ridiculous.

Than week 2 hits.

I get ready for Sunday's game, someone tells me the result right before it's about to start.

Then Monday's game. They had already clinched the medal round, so I just kinda watched it on fast forward, took about 10 minutes.

OK, go time. Wednesday, the semi-finals, vs Canada. I'm at work. I TiVo it. Too tired to watch it Wednesday night, I wait for Thursday. Only I stupidly open the sports section Thursday morning only to see, in huge letters, that the Canadians "sweeped the floor" with us, winning 11-5. Ugh.

So I missed three games in a row. Tear. I was able to get myself up earlier enough this morning to watch the bronze medal game before I went to work. Great game. Up one. Tied. Up three. Up four. Up one. Up two. Up one. Up two. Victory. Bronze!

If curling was the "it" sport at the 2002 games, it truly took off this year. Everyone and their mother watched this men's team to the unthinkable, going 7-4 and capturing a medal, beating Great Britain twice to make that possible.

Very excited. Can't wait for 2010. Wasn't exactly the result I was looking for, as watching these guys play 8 or 9 or however many matches it was clear to see they could beat any team on any day if they played their best game. Unfortunately, they didn't always play their best game, so they settled for Bronze. Nothing to complain about, but hopefully in four years they are a little better prepared, because nothing less than Gold will be acceptable.

Thanks for putting up with my curling rants for the last two weeks. Now back to your regularly scheduled thesharkey.com reading material (starting tomorrow)...

Saturday, February 18, 2006

Out of the doghouse...

So the US' mens team (curling, in case you haven't noticed which sport I'm totally sucked into by this point in time) has a nice win over the Swiss yesterday, giving them back-to-back wins for the first time this tournament, and putting them at 4-2, in a 3-way tie for second place.

Then today they get Germany, a 1-4 team just going thru the motions at this point in time, no real chance at anything. After Germany, the US has Great Britain (5-1, first place) tomorrow & Canada (4-2, t-2nd place) on Monday. That will then conclude their 9-game round robin. AFter that, the top 4 teams will play in a playoff to determine the gold medalist.

So obviously the Germany game is big. Going into Great Britain/Canada at 5-2 would be nice, because a split in those two tough games gets you to 6-3, which will be good enough for Top 4.

Of course, though, you can't overlook Germany.

USA didn't. They came out aggressive, scoring 2 in the first end. Then stealing a point in the 2nd end to make it 3-0. Fast forward to the 5th end, it's 3-1 America. Germany has one stone left, then America gets their last stone. The American's are currently lying 4. A 2, 3, or 4 point end is in their reach. The game could easily become 6-1, and out of reach for the Germans. Unforunately, the German skip hits a beautiful shot, knocking out all 4 American stones. Pete Fenson, America's skip, with the last shot, seemingly flustered, blows it, and the Germans end up coming away with the point. Now, isntead of 6-1, it's 3-2, and the Germans are right back in the game.

You can tell in the 6th end that it got in the Americans heads. Their first two shooters, John Schuster & Joe Polo, don't perform up to standards, and its looking like the Germans may steal a point or two in this end. Then Shawn Rojeski comes up. I've made it perfectly clear that he's the weakpoint of this team, in my opinion. He shoots too hard, has no accuracy, and never hits the big shot. Well, today he redeemed himself. He throws a beautiful shot which allows the Americans to get 2 in the 6th, making it 5-2.

From there, the Americans were in control, and eventually went on to win 8-4.

Their confidence is restored, and my confidence in Rojeski just went up a notch or two. Tomorrow, Great Britain, at 4 o'clock. A win puts them in a tie for first place with one game left in the round robin. A loss may shake their confidence a little, but shouldn't do too much harm in the standings.

The men continue to roll, and a medal definitely isn't out of the question.

Thursday, February 16, 2006

Rojeski Out

Anyone who's watched men's curling so far this Olympics knows what an up-and-down ride it's been.

Beat the defending Gold Medalists Norway 11-5.
Lost to Finland 4-3.
Beat New Zealand handily.
Lost to Italy, a team who only qualified because they're the host country, 6-5.
Beat Sweden, easily one of the three best teams (with Norway & Canada) 10-6.

Can't really take the madness anymore. The Finland loss still stings since it was on the very last stone of the game. And the Italy loss hurts even more, because they are a team who is admittedly just happy to be there and getting some recognition for their country. We're a team with a legitimate shot at a medal, and we lose to Italy? How does that happen?

There are a lot of reasons for this crazy first 5 games, but the one that sticks out more than any other is our third, Sean Rojeski. He's barely hitting an 70% accuracy mark. Anytime there is a big shot needed to be made, he misses like he shot with his eyes closed. If we have an alternate, I think we could be much better with him in there over Rojeski.

This isn't to take the blame off Pete Fenson, our skip, who isn't doing much better, but at least when it matters he hits the big shot, and has won us quite a few points.

All in all, it's been interesting so far. 4 games left in the round robin. A 3-1 record should get the USA into the medal round. They can do it, but I'm not sure if they will. This is a team that could very easily be 5-0 right now. They've beaten two of the top three teams in the world by convincing margins, but they've struggled in all 5 games so far. It doesn't help that we still have Canada on our schedule, as the last game of our Round Robin. I hope we don't go into that needing a victory, or things could get ugly.

As for hockey, real quick, a tie with Latvia doesn't bode well for our future. If we don't beat Kaz convincingly today, things are going to turn sour real quick. As for Slovakia, a buddy has predicted (before the tourney started) that they'd shock the world and win the Gold. After yesterday, I now think its a definite possibility.

More Olympics tomorrow.

Tuesday, February 14, 2006

Olympics

After my hiatus grew & grew & extended & extended Commander-In-Chief style over the last few weeks, my 4 loyal readers wondered if I'd ever return.

I'm back.

It's olympics, and that means one thing. Curling. If this isn't your favorite sport yet, you're wasting your time watching the Olympics. And if you don't have a TiVo, you're also wasting your time, because odds are you're missing all the curling.

Most matches are shown on USA at either 3am, 7am or 5pm. That's right during sleep/sleep/work hours, so it's inconvenient to watch. That's where TiVo comes into play. Combine this tidbit of info with the glorious fast forward thru commercials & slow parts of the match feature, and a 2.5 hour curling match just got condensed to 40 minutes.

Yesterday the American's beat the defending Gold Medalist Norwegian team 11-5 (actually made the Norwegians concede in the 8th end*), only to then lose to the Fins 4-3 in their second game of the day. Beating the Norwegians is a great showing, but you can't follow that up with a loss to the Finnish and their 15-letter-last-named captain. (He's nicknamed U-15, because most people, himself included, can't pronounce his last name, which begins with two U's. I'm not even going to attempt to spell it). 1-1 after 1 day, poor showing.

Today they have New Zealand. The match has already been played, but I haven't watched it yet (God Bless TiVo), and will do so at some point tonight. Here's hoping for a win.

*What is Curling? I don't know.

Here's thesharkey's quick overview to Olympic Curling & everything you need to know.

*There are 10 ends to a game. An end is like an inning, except there are 10, not 9.
*In each end, each team has 8 stones to throw. They slide them across 93 feet of ice, trying to get as close to the center of a 10 foot target as possible.
*4 members make up a curling team, and each member throws 2 stones per end.
*Scoring is done like Bocce Ball. At the end of each end, the team closest to the center gets a point. For every stone you have closest to the center inside the other teams closest stone, you get a point. ie, if the four closest stones are American-American-American-New Zealand, the boys of the red, white & blue get three points.
*At the end of 10 ends, the team with the most points win.
*There are 10 teams in the Olympic Curling Tournament. The teams will play a round-robin tournament, and then the four teams with the best records will face off in a 4-team playoff for the Gold Medal.

God Bless Curling.

Tomorrow, more on Curling, plus a breakdown of the men's ice hockey tournament, which begins tomorrow.

Wednesday, February 08, 2006

Challenges update

Sorry I haven't posted in nearly two weeks. I'd like to tell you I've been way too busy to write anything, but we all know that's not the case. I'm just lazy. After having a few people yell at me to start updating again (a major boost to my ego to find out that people actually read this site) I'm going to do just that, start updating again.

Nothing special here, just final standings to the Shark Playoff Challenge & Playoff FF Challenge. New article coming tomorrow, I promise.


Playoff Challenge final standings:
(out of 38 possible points)

1. Logan 32
2. Hordell 19
3. Shark 16
3. Pat 16
3. Vols 16
3. Ponce 16
7. Wizzzah 15
7. AJay 15
9. Bennett 14
9. Dphew 14
9. Brooks 14
9. Bader 14
13. Tom 13
13. Badfish 13
15. Ace 12
15. Reverend 12
17. Scoot 11
17. Scott 11
19. Thouse 10
20. Telecasting 9
21. Cityondown 8
21. uwlax 8
23. Irishfury 5
23. Doozer 5
25. Schmike 1
25. Mark 1

Fantasy Football Final Standings:

1. Scott 2536
2. Cityondown 2278
3. Doozer 2193
4. Shark 2081
5. Ed 2064
6. Weeba 2057
7. Hordell 1966
8. Wizzzah 1991
9. Vols 1937
10. Eoin 1851
11. Scoot 1813
12. Mark 1804
13. AJ 1793
14. Tom 1774
15. Timeagle 1727
16. Bauer 1582
17. Thouse 1541
18. Pat 1501
19. Brooks 1432*
20. Ace 1310*
21. Chiefs 1243*
22. Mrmoon 482*
23. Bader 357*
*didn't play all 4 weeks

Here are the week 4 player scores:

QB:
Matt Hasselbeck 358
Ben Roethlisberger 198

RB:
Shaun Alexander 97
Jerome Bettis 43
Willie Parker 144

WR:
Darrell Jackson 50
Hines Ward 191
Antwaan Randle El 137
Bobby Engram 70


Here are everybodies final scores:

Shark:
Week 1: Eli Manning 113, Rudi Johnson 120, Santana Moss 29
Week 2: Ben Roethlisberger 294, Clinton Portis 52, Steve Smith 344
Week 3: Jake Plummer 303, Willie Parker 55, Darrell Jackson 125
Week 4: Matt Hasselbeck 358, Shaun Alexander 97, Hines Ward 191
Total: 2081

Tom:
Week 1: Carson Palmer 66, Clinton Portis 98, Chad Johnson 59
Week 2: Peyton Manning 340, Shaun Alexander 9 , Hines Ward 68
Week 3: Ben Roethlisberger 438, Nick Goings 2, Steve Smith 142
Week 4: Matt Hasselbeck 358, Willie Parker 144, Darrell Jackson 50
Total: 1774

Scott:
Week 1: Tom Brady 360, Cadillac Williams 59, Steve Smith 196
Week 2: Ben Roethlisberger 294 , Thomas Jones 120, Santana Moss 154
Week 3: Jake Plummer 303, Shaun Alexander 232, Darrell Jackson 125
Week 4: Matt Hasselbeck 358, Willie Parker 144, Hines Ward 191
Total: 2536

Doozer:
Week 1: Tom Brady 360, Willie Parker 129, Santana Moss 29
Week 2: Ben Roethlisberger 294, Tatum Bell 19, Steve Smith 344
Week 3: Jake Plummer 303, Mike Anderson 97, Hines Ward 113
Week 4: Matt Hasselbeck 358, Shaun Alexander 97, Darrell Jackson 50
Total: 2193

Ace:
Week 1: Carson Palmer 66, Clinton Portis 98, Steve Smith 196
Week2: Tom Brady 390, Edgerrin James 132, Marvin Harrison 52
Week 3: Jake Delhomme 261, Nick Goings 2, Hines Ward 113
Total: 1310

Wav:
Week 1: Jake Delhomme 190, Rudi Johnson 120, Plaxico Burress 0
Week 2: Jake Plummer 255, Clinton Portis 52, Marvin Harrison 52
Week 3: Matt Hasselback 346, Shaun Alexander 232, Darrell Jackson 125
Week 4: Ben Roethlisberger 198, Jerome Bettis 43, Hines Ward 191
Total: 1804 (703)

Eoin:
Week 1: Ben Roethlisberger 361, Tiki Barber 69, Steve Smith 196
Week 2: Jake Plummer 255, Willie Parker 78, Santana Moss 154
Week 3: Matt Hasselback 346, Mike Anderson 97, Rod Smith 61
Week 4. Seneca Wallace, Shaun Alexander 97, Antwan Randel El 137
Total: 1851

Wizzah:
Week 1: Carson Palmer 66, Clinton Portis 98, Steve Smith 196
Week 2: Ben Roethlisberger 294, Willie Parker 78, Santana Moss 154
Week 3: Jake Plummer 303, Mike Anderson 97, Hines Ward 113
Week 4: Matt Hasselbeck 358, Shaun Alexander 97, Antwan Randel-El 137
Total: 1991

Rudybrooks:
Week 1: Tom Brady 360, Tiki Barber 69, Hines Ward 60
Week 2: Peyton Manning 340, Shaun Alexander 9, Marvin Harrison 52
Week 3: Jake Plummer 303, Mike Anderson 97, Steve Smith 142
Total: 1432

Bader:
Week 1: Jake Delhomme 190, Clinton Portis 98, Joey Galloway 69
Total: 357

AJ:
Week 1: Chris Simms209 , Tiki Barber 69, Steve Smith 196
Week 2: Jake Plummer 255, Shaun Alexander 9, Reggie Wayne 97
Week 3: Matt Hasselback 346, Willie Parker 55, Darrell Jackson 125
Week 4: Ben Roethlisberger 198, Jerome Bettis 43, Hines Ward 191
Total: 1793

Tim eagle:
Week 1: Mark Brunell 47, Corey Dillon 62, Steve Smith 196
Week 2: Tom Brady 390, Shaun Alexander 9, Santana Moss 154
Week 3: Jake Plummer 303, Nick Goings 2, Hines Ward 113
Week 4: Matt Hasselbeck 358, Jerome Bettis 43, Darrell Jackson 50
Total: 1727

Cityondown (chris loughman):
Week 1: Carson Palmer 66, Tiki Barber 69, Santana Moss 29
Week 2: Tom Brady 390, Thomas Jones 120, Steve Smith 344
Week 3: Ben Roethlisberger 438, Willie Parker 55, Darrell Jackson 125
Week 4: Matt Hasselbeck 358, Shaun Alexander 97, Hines Ward 191
Total: 2278 (850)

Bauer:
Week 1: Carson Palmer 66, Tiki Barber 69, Hines Ward 60
Week 2: Ben Roethlisberger 294, Tatum Bell 19, Santana Moss 154
Week 3: Jake Delhomme 261, Jerome Bettis 89, Antawn Randel-El 65
Week 4: Matt Hasselbeck 358, Shaun Alexander 97, Darrell Jackson 50
Total: 1582

Vols:
Week 1: Carson Palmer 66, Clinton Portis 98, Steve Smith 196
Week 2: Matt Hasselbeck 336, Edgerrin James 132, Marvin Harrison 52
Week 3: Jake Delhomme 261, Shaun Alexander 232, Hines Ward 113
Week 4: Ben Roethlisberger 358, Jerome Bettis 43, Darrell Jackson 50
Total: 1937

Pat:
Week 1: Mark Brunell 47, Tiki Barber 69, Joey Galloway 69
Week 2: Ben Roethlisberger 294, Shaun Alexander 9, Steve Smith 344
Week 3: Matt Hasselback 346, Mike Anderson 97, Hines Ward 113
Week 4: Seattle’s QB2, Jerome Bettis 43, Bobby Engram 70
Total: 1501

Ben Hordell:
Week 1: Tom Brady 360, Tiki Barber 69, Steve Smith 196
Week 2: Ben Roethlisberger 294, Edgerrin James 132, Santana Moss 154
Week 3: Matt Hasselback 346, Nick Goings 2, Darrell Jackson 125
Week 4: Tommy Maddox, Shaun Alexander 97, Hines Ward 191
Total: 1966

Weeba:
Week 1: Tom Brady 360, Tiki Barber 69, Chad Johnson 59
Week 2: Ben Roethlisberger 294, Shaun Alexander 9, Steve Smith 344
Week 3: Jake Plummer 303, Willie Parker 55, Hines Ward 113
Week 4: Matt Hasselbeck 358, Jerome Bettis 43, Darrell Jackson 50
Total: 2057

Chiefs:
Week 1: Carson Palmer 66, Cadillac Williams 59, Plaxico Burress 0
Week 2: Ben Roethlisberger 294, Shaun Alexander 9, Steve Smith 344
Week 3: Jake Delhomme 261, Mike Anderson 97, Hines Ward 113
Total: 1243

Thouse:
Week 1: Jake Delhomme 190, Jerome Bettis 102, Steve Smith 196
Week 2: Ben Roethlisberger 294, Clinton Portis 52, Marvin Harrison 52
Week 3: Matt Hasselback 346, Nick Goings 2, Hines Ward 113
Week 4: Neil Odonnell, Willie Parker 144, Darrell Jackson 50
Total: 1541

Mrmoon:
Week 1: Tom Brady 360, Corey Dillon 62, Hines Ward 60
Total: 482

Scoots:
Week 1: Jake Delhomme 190, Willie Parker 129, Steve Smith 196
Week 2: Tom Brady 390, Shaun Alexander 9, Marvin Harrison 52
Week 3: Matt Hasselback 346, Mike Anderson 97, Hines Ward 113
Week 4: Ben Roethlisberger 198, Jerome Bettis 43, Darrell Jackson 50
Total: 1813

Ed:
Week 1: Jake Delhomme 190, Clinton Portis 98, Steve Smith 196
Week 2: Ben Roethlisberger 294, Shaun Alexander 9, Santana Moss 154
Week 3: Jake Plummer 303, Nick Goings 2, Darrell Jackson 125
Week 4: matt Hasselbeck 358, Willie Parker 144, Hines Ward 191
Total: 2064


The first three Shark Challenge Winners:
College Bowl: Scott
NFL Playoff: Logan
Playoff FF: Scott

Next Challenge: NCAA Tournament Brackets Challenge

Friday, January 27, 2006

The problem with kids today

Is they can't relate to any other generation of the last 75 years.

First, we survived being born to mothers who smoked and/or drank while they carried us.

They took aspirin, ate blue cheese dressing, tuna from a can, and didn't get tested for diabetes.

Then after that trauma, our baby cribs were covered with bright colored lead-based paints.

We had no childproof lids on medicine bottles, doors or cabinets and when we rode our bikes, we had no helmets, not to mention, the risks we took hitchhiking.

As children, we would ride in cars with no seat belts or air bags. Riding in the back of a pick up on a warm day was always a special treat.

We drank water from the garden hose and NOT from a bottle.

We shared one soft drink with four friends, from one bottle and NO ONE actually died from this.

We ate cupcakes, white bread and real butter and drank soda pop with sugar in it, but we weren't overweight because WE WERE ALWAYS OUTSIDE PLAYING!

We would leave home in the morning and play all day, as long as we were back when the streetlights came on. No one was able to reach us all day. And we were O.K.

We would spend hours building our go-carts out of scraps and then ride down the hill, only to find out we forgot the brakes. After running into the bushes a few times, we learned to solve the problem.

We did not have Playstations, Nintendo's, X-boxes, no video games at all, no 99 channels on cable, no video tape movies, no surround sound, no cell phones, no personal computers, no Internet or Internet chat rooms..........WE HAD FRIENDS and we went outside and found them!

We fell out of trees, got cut, broke bones and teeth and there were no lawsuits from these accidents.

We ate worms and mud pies made from dirt, and the worms did not live in us forever.

We were given BB guns for our 10th birthdays, made up games with sticks and tennis balls and although we were told it would happen, we did not put out very many eyes.

We rode bikes or walked to a friend's house and knocked on the door or rang the bell, or just yelled for them!

Little League had tryouts and not everyone made the team. Those who didn't had to learn to deal with disappointment. Imagine that!!

The idea of a parent bailing us out if we broke the law was unheard of. They actually sided with the law!

Ahhhh, the good old days. I do miss being a kid. And as much as I complain about how much cool stuff kid's have these days compared to when I was their age, I wouldn't trade places. I'd much rather have been playing outside all those wacky games my friends & I invited then sitting inside having a Madden Tournament for three days.

Wednesday, January 25, 2006

Shark Mix VII

Now available for download, rejoice!

Sorry I haven't been posting much the last week, been busy. That'll change, I promise.

For now, enjoy 14 rockin' tunes!

Go to this link to download:
http://www.letterstoyou.org/sm7

You can also grab it out of my getfile if you'd like.

Here's the tracklisting.

1. The Fray - Over My Head
2. Joseph Arthur - Dear Lord
3. Mike Perkins - Have Fun Today (live)
4. Todd Martin - Time For Good
5. Soundrabbit - Hazel
6. Roger Clyne & The Peacemakers - Green & Dumb (live)
7. O.A.R. - Heard The World
8. Soulive - Reverb
9. My Morning Jacket - Off The Record
10. Matisyahu - King Without A Crown (live)
11. Garaj Mahal - Blueberry Cave
12. The Saw Doctors - Wisdom Of Youth
13. Hothouse Flowers - Si Do Mhamo I (live)
14. The Frames - Fitzcarraldo (live)
Total Time: 72 minutes, 47 seconds

It is id4'ed, so it'll fit nicely into your iPod. Not as good as Shark Mix Six, in my opinion, but after some more listens I think it may challenge The Shark Mix (one) as my 2nd favorite.

Let me know what you think. Enjoy!

Saturday, January 21, 2006

NFL Playoffs Fantasy Football

Here is the week 3 breakdown, followed by everyones rosters from the entire thing so far (so you can see who is in trouble for the SB, and who has clear skies ahead).

Quarterbacks:
7 people have Matt Hasselback
7 people have Jake Plummer
5 people have Jake Delhomme
2 people have Ben Roethlisberger

Runningbacks:
6 people have Mike Anderson
6 people have Nick Goings
4 people have Shaun Alexander
4 people have Willie Parker
1 person has Jerome Bettis

Wide Receivers:
10 people have Hines ward
7 people have Darrell Jackson
2 people have Steve Smith
1 person has Rod Smith
1 person has Antwan Randel-El

Shark:
Week 1: Eli Manning 113, Rudi Johnson 120, Santana Moss 29
Week 2: Ben Roethlisberger 294, Clinton Portis 52, Steve Smith 344
Week 3: Jake Plummer, Willie Parker, Darrell Jackson
Total: 952

Tom:
Week 1: Carson Palmer 66, Clinton Portis 98, Chad Johnson 59
Week 2: Peyton Manning 340, Shaun Alexander 9 , Hines Ward 68
Week 3: Ben Roethlisberger, Nick Goings, Steve Smith
Total: 640

Scott:
Week 1: Tom Brady 360, Cadillac Williams 59, Steve Smith 196
Week 2: Ben Roethlisberger 294 , Thomas Jones 120, Santana Moss 154
Week 3: Jake Plummer, Shaun Alexander, Darrell Jackson
Total: 1183

Doozer:
Week 1: Tom Brady 360, Willie Parker 129, Santana Moss 29
Week 2: Ben Roethlisberger 294, Tatum Bell 19, Steve Smith 344
Week 3: Jake Plummer, Mike Anderson, Hines Ward
Total: 1175

Ace:
Week 1: Carson Palmer 66, Clinton Portis 98, Steve Smith 196
Week2: Tom Brady 390, Edgerrin James 132, Marvin Harrison 52
Week 3: Jake Delhomme, Nick Goings, Hines Ward
Total: 934

Mark:
Week 1: Jake Delhomme 190, Rudi Johnson 120, Plaxico Burress 0
Week 2: Jake Plummer 255, Clinton Portis 52, Marvin Harrison 52
Week 3: Matt Hasselback, Shaun Alexander, Darrell Jackson
Total: 669

Eoin:
Week 1: Ben Roethlisberger 361, Tiki Barber 69, Steve Smith 196
Week 2: Jake Plummer 255, Willie Parker 78, Santana Moss 154
Week 3: Matt Hasselback, Mike Anderson, Rod Smith
Total: 1113

Wizzah:
Week 1: Carson Palmer 66, Clinton Portis 98, Steve Smith 196
Week 2: Ben Roethlisberger 294, Willie Parker 78, Santana Moss 154
Week 3: Jake Plummer, Mike Anderson, Hines Ward
Total: 886

Rudybrooks:
Week 1: Tom Brady 360, Tiki Barber 69, Hines Ward 60
Week 2: Peyton Manning 340, Shaun Alexander 9, Marvin Harrison 52
Week 3: Jake Plummer, Mike Anderson, Steve Smith
Total: 890

AJ:
Week 1: Chris Simms209 , Tiki Barber 69, Steve Smith 196
Week 2: Jake Plummer 255, Shaun Alexander 9, Reggie Wayne 97
Week 3: Matt Hasselback, Willie Parker, Darrell Jackson
Total: 835

Tim eagle:
Week 1: Mark Brunell 47, Corey Dillon 62, Steve Smith 196
Week 2: Tom Brady 390, Shaun Alexander 9, Santana Moss 154
Week 3: Jake Plummer, Nick Goings, Hines Ward
Total: 858

Cityondown (chris loughman):
Week 1: Carson Palmer 66, Tiki Barber 69, Santana Moss 29
Week 2: Tom Brady 390, Thomas Jones 120, Steve Smith 344
Week 3: Ben Roethlisberger, Willie Parker, Darrell Jackson
Total: 1014

Bauer:
Week 1: Carson Palmer 66, Tiki Barber 69, Hines Ward 60
Week 2: Ben Roethlisberger 294, Tatum Bell 19, Santana Moss 154
Week 3: Jake Delhomme, Jerome Bettis, Antawn Randel-El
Total: 662

Vols:
Week 1: Carson Palmer 66, Clinton Portis 98, Steve Smith 196
Week 2: Matt Hasselbeck 336, Edgerrin James 132, Marvin Harrison 52
Week 3: Jake Delhomme, Shaun Alexander, Hines Ward
Total: 880

Pat:
Week 1: Mark Brunell 47, Tiki Barber 69, Joey Galloway 69
Week 2: Ben Roethlisberger 294, Shaun Alexander 9, Steve Smith 344
Week 3: Matt Hasselback, Mike Anderson, Hines Ward
Total: 832

Ben Hordell:
Week 1: Tom Brady 360, Tiki Barber 69, Steve Smith 196
Week 2: Ben Roethlisberger 294, Edgerrin James 132, Santana Moss 154
Week 3: Matt Hasselback, Nick Goings, Darrell Jackson
Total: 1205

Weeba:
Week 1: Tom Brady 360, Tiki Barber 69, Chad Johnson 59
Week 2: Ben Roethlisberger 294, Shaun Alexander 9, Steve Smith 344
Week 3: Jake Plummer, Willie Parker, Hines Ward
Total: 1135

Chiefs:
Week 1: Carson Palmer 66, Cadillac Williams 59, Plaxico Burress 0
Week 2: Ben Roethlisberger 294, Shaun Alexander 9, Steve Smith 344
Week 3: Jake Delhomme, Mike Anderson, Hines Ward
Total: 772

Thouse:
Week 1: Jake Delhomme 190, Jerome Bettis 102, Steve Smith 196
Week 2: Ben Roethlisberger 294, Clinton Portis 52, Marvin Harrison 52
Week 3: Matt Hasselback, Nick Goings, Hines Ward
Total: 886

Scoots:
Week 1: Jake Delhomme 190, Willie Parker 129, Steve Smith 196
Week 2: Tom Brady 390, Shaun Alexander 9, Marvin Harrison 52
Week 3: Matt Hasselback, Mike Anderson, Hines Ward
Total: 966

Ed:
Week 1: Jake Delhomme 190, Clinton Portis 98, Steve Smith 196
Week 2: Ben Roethlisberger 294, Shaun Alexander 9, Santana Moss 154
Week 3: Jake Delhomme, Nick Goings, Darrell Jackson
Total: 941