Where have I been? Learning Korean.

Where am I now? Living in Seoul. Here is a picture out of the window of my US Government funded apartment…

I’ve never been proficient at learning languages, but as a wise man once said, “if you throw enough shit at a wall, some of it is bound to stick”… amen brother.  So here we are in the 2nd most populated city in the world (20.5M peeps), directly behind Mexico City (whose population is rapidly plummeting… drug war anyone?).

Greatest moment thus far? Winning a face peeling cream during a folk concert because I embarrassed the MC. True story.

Most un-Greatest moment thus far? 95 degrees with 90% humidity… unrelenting.

Second most un-Greatest moment thus far? Injuries to Pierre Thomas and Ryan Mathews early in this FF season. SHIT!!! I’m in the same league I’ve been in now for 5 years. This year, I picked 10th out of 10. Better than 8 or 9 because I had back to back picks. I took Mathews as my first pick because I didn’t want to get stuck with someone in a platoon and the other backs left were Mendenhall and S.Jax. I know, I know… you’re thinking “S.Jax is a perennial stud”, but I just didn’t like the off-season back surgery and I’m just not quite sold on Mendenhall (especially with Big Ben out 6 weeks). Mathews is on a high-octane offense with no one else behind him on the depth chart to vulture carries… Mathews was my man. Week 2… injured. FML. Pierre Thomas, same thing. High powered offense, can catch out of the backfield (we play in a PPR league) and, best of all, no more Mike Bell… week 3… injured.

So, it’s week 6 now and after week five I’m 2-3 and bringing up the rear of the league, but my guys are starting to get healthy again and I feel the tide is a’risin’. Wait… does that mean I’ll be drowning soon? Probably.

Anyway, my wife started up her blog again today (http://wouldacouldashoulda.wordpress.com). So once I saw that, it reminded me of this blog and that I should do a better job of getting some thoughts on paper. Plus, when I post this blog to my facebook, I’m going to be forced to keep it up for fear of public flogging. With that in mind, nothing keeps people off your back and thinking you’re awesome like puppies… enjoy…

My wife and I went to Vegas last week. I was deployed to Iraq from Feb. through early Aug., so we decided to take a couple of vacations. The first on was to Crested Butte, CO. We brought the dogs and did some hiking and even some horseback riding. My wife had never gone horseback riding, which is you could have only seen her go kayaking for the first time, was a worrisome predicament. BUT… she did great! There was no crying or fighting this time… seriously, we went kayaking in a still inlet off the coast of NH and she acted like a 12 year old because she had a hard time making the kayak go forward. Anyway, the horseback riding went way better and we went up to a mountain pass, had some lunch and then came back down. I’ve done some riding in college (thanks mom and dad), but being on a horse for 5 hours hurts like a mother. 

So, after the “family” vacation, we decided to throw down Paris Hilton style in Vegas. I used a VIP service that worked out awesome. They coordinated everything. We had a car pick us up at the airport, take us to the Forum shops for shopping spree (I’m sure my wife will tell you about her new Dior’s), they took care of getting us into Ghostbar and dinner reservations as well. I’ll just highlight the Ghostbar here… that place is sweet! This was my first time doing a VIP table/bottle service thing and it was well worth it. We got there just before it got crowded, got our seat and our first drinks poured and then the flood gates opened and the place got packed. Our table was right near the walking area, which made it a bit crowded, but it was perfect for watching all the people making fools out of themselves. There were these two guys right in front of us who seemed to be having a dance contest to woo the five girls that happen to be watching the out of pity. Needless to say, they didn’t score. The DJ was kickass, played and mixed hits and didn’t spin some crappy house music. I guess I shouldn’t be surprised since this place is a top end club in Vegas, but it was definitely good. Since it was just my wife and I, we only put a small dent in our bottle, but were able to take it with us when our car came to pick us up. Definitely great service… oh, and the view from the balcony was all it was advertised to be. I would suggest getting there early to get a good view as the balcony gets crazy packed during prime hours. 

We stayed at Red Rocks Casino off the strip. It was nice to be away from it and be nearer to the hills, but the truth is, once you’re in a casino resort, they are really all the same. They have restaurants and shops and, of course, gambling. Red Rocks, though, does have a great pool area. It’s got a main pool (full of kids), but then has maybe 6-10 dipping pools spread out around for kidless swimming. And the food out by the pool is REALLY good. Overall, I give the hotel a 8.5/10. I can’t give anything a 10 as nothing it perfect, and I would give it a 9, but the fact that they charge you $23/day for “convenience” charges is silly. They say it’s for the concierge and shuttle service, but they charge you that fee even if you don’t use these things… chincy. Just add it to the hotel room charge and be done with it. The place was clean, the food was good, the service and employees were friendly and it had plenty to do even if you aren’t gambling. There is a 20 screen theater and 60 lane bowling alley. 

If I can find some G rated photos of the trip, I’ll be sure the throw them up here.

We play in a 10 team league so it’s fairly shallow, but nothing like the 8 team leagues I’ve see… that’s just crazy. How do you play in an 8 team league? It just be comes a crap shoot every week as everyone’s team is so strong! Anyway, we play 10 teams AND we have a deep roster with two RB’s, two WR’s, and THREE flex spots (2x RB/WR and 1x WR/TE), that’s a lot of deep drafting! Not to mention you still have your QB, Defense, Kicker and bench to worry about.  Needless to say, the draft for this league is like going to war. By round 13 when your eyes are cracked and dry from perusing cheatsheets and your fingertips are bleeding from navigating the web in search of SOME sort data, ANY data, on a third string running back from West Des Moines Community College, you have to stay FOCUSED! It’s that guy, that guy from WDMCC that could make or break your team. Could HE be the next Ryan Grant? Only the experienced and prepared will know… and I need to be that guy. That’s how championships are won. In “The Art of War”, Sun Tzu stated: Know your enemy and know yourself and you can fight a thousand battles without disaster. Well, what I do know that is that Mr. Sun Tzu was a genius and a playa, but more importantly, I’ve got the draft strategy.

The day of the RB-RB draft order is dead. You can even look to the “professional” players drafts from ESPN and they’ll give you the stats. Brady is going in the first round and I’ve even seen him go 2^nd overall for God’s sake and then there are the plethora of top receivers going early too. Oh, did I mention we are a points-per-reception league… yeah, the receivers are gold. Reggie Wayne and T.O. are studs and I think Braylon Edwards comes in a close third. “But what about all those flex positions”, you say. “Don’t you need to pick up some RB’s quick?”. Nay. RB’s are deep this year. You can get a solid RB in the third and even in the fourth rounds. Yes, you should open up with a quality back (Brady is maybe the exception, but I wouldn’t take him until the 7-8^th pick after all the stud backs are gone), but after that, there are only a few WR’s that can get it done week after week. Take a WR in the 2^nd round… if you think about drafting Peyton Manning, don’t do it. He’s a third rounder! Plus, then you’ll be stuck with drafting your first WR in the third round. However, the third round is where the money can be made.  Assuming you’ve gone RB-WR and have a two solid picks there, this third pick can shore up either corps. For example, in a recent mock draft, I took Addai, then Wayne and then in the third round I Marques Colston. Those are two, every week WR’s. The only RB I could have taken there would have been Fast Willy Parker, but look what happened… in the fourth and fifth rounds I took The Burner Michael Turner and then the workhorse Fred Taylor. Sure, Turner plays for Hotlanta and they will assuredly suck this year, but he will be their bright spot against a week schedule. And there is no doubt Taylor will not repeat his amazing second half stats from last year, but he guaranteed carries and can still break a long one from time to time… as a fourth back, he’s a steal. And if you’re not a big fan of the time share with Jones-Drew, you might still be looking at Matt Forte or even Rudi Johnson at that point. All in all, with a RB-WR combo, you set yourself up well for subsequent round and give yourself some much needed flexibility to play the board and take “best-available” options, rather than requiring a certain position in round three having taken two RB’s in the first two rounds. In the end though, “know yourself”. Have a strategy and stick with it.

Dear WordPress, thanks for the vote of confidence, but I think I’ll start with a bit of a smaller audience. Ahem… Hello Wife!

There, that’s more appropriate! I mean, I’ll be sure the let the world in on what I’ve got cookin’ here, but all in due time.  First off, a bit about me (for those of you who are not my wife): I’m a 29 year old living and working in the great state of Wyoming. And, no, before you ask, I don’t live in Jackson and the rest of the state does not look like that. I have a lovely wife (http://www.wouldacouldashoulda.wordpress.com) and two cock blocking dogs (Pitch and Chloe); but we love them dearly. Oh, and there are two cats here as well, but they’re cats and, as such, don’t really count as much as everyone else; but we love them dearly. I’m left handed, so that’s awesome and when I whistle or play the trumpet (which I haven’t done since a tragic high school performance) my mouth is crooked. Ok, well that’s the important stuff, ther rest you can glean from  psycho analyzing my posts (don’t worry, I’m as transparent as one of my dad’s jokes).

Lastly, for those of you who are not my wife, I’m a lot like you. I’ll spare you the details for the future ramblings of this blog, but if you don’t find a bit of yourself in me (and vice versa, of course) then you, my friend, are something I like to call “special”