Winning by Too Much: The Blowout Controversy

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Is it possible to win a sporting event by "too much?" Some believe it really has to do with the level you are playing in. For example, the Los Angeles Lakers beat the Cleveland Cavaliers 112-57 a couple weeks back which is most definitely a blowout in professional basketball. I do not believe a difference of that magnitude in professional sports is a display of poor sportsmanship. I would even go as far as saying a similar difference in a collegiate match would not be poor sportsmanship. Professionals of course get paid to play, it's their job to do their best at all times. College players may be on scholarships and always need to play their best if they plan on becoming a professional player someday. High school play is where winning by "too much" seems to cause some debate.

I read a news story about a girls varsity basketball game where the final outcome was 108-3. The article goes on debating whether or not the winning school should apologize to the losing school while toying with the idea that the winning school should have slowed up play to give a better chance to the losing school. It does note, however, that the winning team never used excessive defense throughout the game. Personally, I think that doesn't make any sense at all. I played high school sports, the highest level I ever competed at. I had played Basketball on a traveling team since the sixth grade. My teams throughout the years had definitely encountered blowouts, although none quite this bad. Sure, it was disappointing to feel like no matter what you did you couldn't make any progress against the other team. I've been beat by a team that played consistent tough basketball the whole game and another team that let up and passed the ball around the outside to give us a better chance. Without any doubt in my mind I enjoyed playing against the team that did not give us any special treatment than the team that "went easy" on us.

No person should ever be taught to let up, or not try their best. I read a comment on the article's page from a gentleman that claimed to be a coach. He said that the winning coach could have tried a new offense or played with only four players to challenge themselves. I immediately thought that would be incredibly embarrassing for the losing team. Still being beat even though the other team only had four players on the court while you had the full five. To me, that is even more disrespectful. Another comment on the same article stated something along the lines of: I guess Bill Gates should apologize to me and many others for making so much more money than I do. That statement hits the nail on the head. There is no reason to apologize. Yea, I know it's just high school, but you can't teach someone to not do their best just because they might hurt someone's feelings. Great high school players are, possibly, trying to get college scholarships and should therefore always play their best.

When I was on the receiving end of a blowout I would always pick, if that were possible, to have the opposing team play me their best, not play as if we should not be in the same league as them. To me, that showed the most respect to us as a team and motivated me to practice even harder for the next time we met. Sure, basketball is a game, but it is also a competition. No point in not giving it your all.

Reflection: First Week of Blogging

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I have been posting to this blog since last Sunday, January 9, 2011. If you have been reading since that first blog post I thank you and hope you have enjoyed most, if not all, of my posts thus far. I was attempting to write a new post each and every day which caused me to have a post I, personally, am not very happy with. You may be able to guess which one, but I will tell you just in case. It was the post entitled Boring and Lazy Day. I feel that post was very forced to allow me to post every day. After that I waited until I had something more interesting to talk about than what I did throughout my mildly ordinary day. I will definitely continue to post, as it is a fun way for me to pass the time and share my thoughts with the world...or at least whoever is reading my blog. As I am sure you have discerned from this post so far I will not be posting daily; I will post when I have something of particular interest, whenever that happens.

Again, I thank those of you that have been reading my blog since the beginning and I welcome those of you that are just joining me as well as those that will read in the future.

I Love Southwest Airlines

 
I love Southwest Airlines. I truly do. They have been the only airline I've flown with over the past couple of years and it always seems like their employees are truly happy. They have real smiles and treat everyone awesome. The flight attendants joke around and the pilots even seem to have a good time.

Let me explain what brought Southwest to the forefront of my mind. There was an impressive story I heard on the radio a couple days back. There was a man that had a flight with Southwest to go to his grandson's funeral. His grandson had been, tragically, murdered. The man got to the departing airport two hours before his flight was supposed to leave. I believe that is usually enough time unless you are flying around a major traveling holiday like Thanksgiving. He, of course, got stuck in security and was going to be late for the departure time of his plane. The security personnel would not do anything to help get him through the line, even with his present circumstances.

He finally got through security and rushes to his gate. He arrived 12 minutes late and barefoot. As I am sure you know, planes board half an hour before they are supposed to depart and are usually sealed up before the departure time. Instead the man was greeted with, "Are you Mark? We held the plane for you and we're so sorry about the loss of your grandson." Wow. That right there is customer service. When the man's family thanked the pilot, he simply replied, "They can't go anywhere without me and I wasn't going anywhere without you. Now relax. We'll get you there. And again, I'm so sorry." It's always nice to hear about those that truly care about their customers and wear their heart on their sleeve. The pilot could have left on time to keep his schedule and to keep other passengers happy. However, he did the right and noble thing. It's amazing.

I will continue to fly Southwest, not just because of this story, but because I have had my own set of wonderful experiences. Plus, your bags fly free, as they should. I don't mind the whole check-in-early-to-get-a-good-spot-in-line free seating system either. Check in 24 hours before your flight and you should be good to pick a window, aisle, or middle seat. Fly Southwest. They're the best. Period.

Source: http://gizmodo.com/5731946/pilot-stops-plane-for-family-of-murdered-son

Boring and Lazy Day

Today was a day of boring and lazy. Having a boring day is fairly lame, but having a lazy day is nice every now and then. Typically I save my lazy days for Sunday with my wife, but I really needed one today. I'm sure we'll still have a fairly lazy day this Sunday...scratch up two for me I guess.

My alarm went off at 5:00 am as always so I dismissed it as I have a secondary alarm that goes off at 5:15 am. I absolutely need a backup alarm if I'm getting up anytime before 8:00 am. However, I either dismissed my second alarm or it didn't go off. I can never be too sure what exactly happened since I know I have groggily dismissed an alarm and passed out again. Luckily I woke up on my own around 5:38 am. Enough time to brush my teeth, take a pisser, throw on some clothes and start the car up. The car, 2000 Subaru Impreza Wagon, needs a tune up, but I don't really have the money right now. I always do my best to let it warm up in the morning, but now if it's really cold over night it gives a short squeal after I start it. Sigh...I really need to take it in.

Fast forward through my morning shift and it's around 8:00 am. Time to go home...at this point I really need want to nap. I get home and as always I immediately go to the computer. It's some what of an addiction I have and it's such a waste of time. O well. I check up on the blogs I follow and check my Facebook. Then, I turn on the tv for some background noise and curl up on our futon in the living room. I slept until about 11:30 am and snoozed my alarm until it was noon. What can I say? I like to sleep.

I made a few phone calls and then I made myself a lunch. Smaller than normal but I wasn't too hungry. I had myself a bologna sandwich, pretzels, and an apple. While I ate I decided I'd watch Mythbusters. I love that show. Pulled it up on the instant queue of our Netflix and watched an episode about viral videos. Mythbusters tested all these things that happened in viral videos to see if they were actually possible. Every single video they tested was actually confirmed as possible. I don't think I've ever seen that happen. It was really neat.

Speaking of viral videos...here is one of my favorite that I discovered about a month ago. (I know it's not mythbustersable):

Anyway, back on the subject of my uneventful day. After lunch I showered and cleaned up around the house. Then off to the afternoon shift of my job. Nothing too exciting happened today at work. However, towards the end of the shift one of the kids and I decided to turn a bench at the lunch tables into a ramp for the Hot Wheels cars we have. That was neat way to end the day. He had a blast, which is what my job is all about.

Now on to home and I come home to help my wife sort out the rest of her shoes and find good spots for them. Then we took Lola out and threw her toy squirrel around for her to chase as she slid all over whatever ice and snow is still left. Next comes dinner...one of my favorite times of the day.

Dinner was absolutely delicious. I had myself two turkey cheese burgers; the wife had one. Along with the burgers we had some baked beans and some awesome couscous. I don't remember what flavor it was, but I remember Brooke said it was "pearl" couscous or something. It was formed of larger spheres than the couscous I was used to eating.

While eating dinner we watched this new show, "Million Dollar Money Drop." I'm not sure if you've seen or heard about that show so I'll give you the low down. There are two contestants, either related or best of friends, that start out with one million dollars...in cash...sitting on a table in front of them. They have to answer a series of eight questions wagering all of the money on all but one answer. In other words, one answer space must remain clear so there is a chance they can lose all of their money. In the beginning there are four answers and they have 60 seconds to answer. Then they have three answers with 90 seconds. On the last question, if they have any money left, they have unlimited time but only two answers to choose from. All I know is that being on that show would be SO nerve racking. Sitting at home I yell the answers to the contestants as if they can hear me and I wonder why they're putting any money on a certain answer, but at the same time I know it would be so tough making those decisions under all that pressure.

Now it's time to wind down my night. I do apologize for the less awesome post today, but I feel like I am going to try to make this a daily deal...even if some days may not be worth writing about, it's like keeping my place in history. Goodnight blog world.

What?! Icy roads are slick?!

Quick sketch of an accident I saw at 8:00 am

Yes, icy roads are slick...hence the "icy" part. I don't know where you're from reading this, but in Colorado for some reason people still haven't figured out how to drive during and after a snow storm. Okay, yes...our big storm was Sunday into Monday morning and it is now Wednesday. We got a light dusting Monday and Tuesday night; plus, the temperature was below zero Fahrenheit. I know it was that cold Monday night, and I never checked the temp last night, but it was COLD.

Anyway, one would think (at least I thought they would) that if it was that cold over night the roads will probably be icy in the morning. Yea, at 8:00 am the sun has been up for about an hour and things look good, but that doesn't mean nothing is slick especially when the road happens to look all shiny.

I was driving home from work this morning around 8:00 am and I saw at least three accidents on my drive. No joke. One was on a straight road while the other two were on a curve. I don't understand how people in Colorado, right up against the front range of the Rockies, do not know how to drive their car in uncertain weather. I've lived here for six years and had never driven in snow before I moved. I've never got in an accident because I take it slow. I drive up to the mountains to snowboard where things are way worse and there are less accidents.

Sorry for the rant...I just don't understand. If anyone can enlighten me, please do. Don't get me wrong; I had an amazing day. Now, time for sleep...got to get up early to warm up the Subaru.

Thought of the Day: Zombies

Before I jump into my thought for today, let me give you a brief rundown of the morning. Don't get too excited; nothing crazy happened, but I did talk to the school I work at about the whole "snow day, 2 hour delay" thing. I asked the secretary at the school if I can just follow the district outages since the school takes so long to post their own (it was up this morning at 5:00am). She said, "yea, we usually follow the district." I already knew that much..."usually" didn't help me at all. Hopefully we don't get too much more snow that would cause delays or outages. Typically we don't get enough snow...Jack Frost is really getting after it lately.

Now, back to the thought of the day: zombies. I'm sure most, if not all of you, have heard about all the dead birds and fish. Last week it was dead birds and fish in Arkansas and around the area. Dead fish, to me, is less of a "weird" thing. You've got all sorts of things in the water that the fish need to survive and if things get thrown off it's not too far fetched for fish to die. Birds, on the other hand, is a weird one for sure. I don't know if it actually happened this way, but I just kept picture birds falling out of the sky. Time has passed (only a week or so) and I started to give less and less thought to it. Honestly, I had almost forgot about it.

Today, while I was sitting at home eating lunch watching the news, there was a story about all these dead birds in California. What?! So...there were dead birds in Arkansas, and now they're in California? If it's the same "disease," or whatever it is, it most definitely jumped since I didn't hear any news of dead birds between those two states. Now the thought of these strange occurrences are right back at the front of my brain. My brain, creative as it is sometimes, starts thinking up all kinds of different reasons why this could be happening. One thought: zombies. Yes, I said zombies.

I have always been one of those people that believes, very lightly, zombies are a possibility. I even have a "zombie escape plan." I mean with the creation of synthetic life who knows...hasn't anyone ever seen a zombie movie? Create this awesome thing that will help humanity, but then it turns humanity against itself. You know the drill.

You might be thinking to yourself, "come on, The Sleeve, zombies aren't eating the animals. they're all fully intact." You're right, zombies are not eating the animals. Duh. However, what if they're dying from some sort of zombie disease? "Sleeve, they aren't reanimating either." Yea, I know. Maybe it's some disease that would only cause a human to reanimate or maybe it takes a month or even longer for things to reanimate. Obviously it's not airborne either or we would all be dropping like birds. I know this is a huge stretch, but hey, my mind was feeling creative.

Zombies, be prepared...either way I don't think all these groups of dead animals are a sign of something good.

Side note:
The picture I attached is the cover of a book written by Max Brooks, comedian. The book, of course, was meant as a joke, but there are many that have taken many of the techniques as good ideas. I own this book and I would agree that the techniques to survive are definitely viable. Honestly, they would be viable in any sort of massive disaster, like nuclear fallout. I recommend giving it a read, even if you don't believe, as it is still fun for the mind.

Snowy Morning

Downtown around 10:30 am

Last night all the news talked about was, "look out for that icy commute." Or, "we'll be keeping you up to date on closings and delays." Okay cool...possible snow day or 2 hour delay (I work at an elementary school). There wasn't really anything definitive when I went to bed so I had my alarm set for 5:00 am and figured I would check then.

Fast forward to this morning...I yawn and stretch myself awake and pull up the internet on my trusty G2, check the local news web page, and see LOTS of delays and even closures. Sweet, I might get to sleep in two more hours. I scroll and scroll through the list, but I don't see the school I work for listed (it's a charter school and usually gets its own listing). I go to the school's website which tells me to check the local news page I was already looking at...alright. Now what? Let's call the school and see if there is any automated message. Hmmm...their message says to follow one of the school districts. Back to the local news page, which shows a 2 hour delay for the aforementioned school district. YES! Well, I'll just text my boss just to make sure I do the right thing. She says I should wait until the elementary school posts under its name specifically, but then we ultimately decide to follow the school district. Oddly, as soon as we make that decision the school posts that it is on a 2 hour delay. Awesome...back to sleep...zzzzz

I wake up later and get ready for work with my wife, something we have not been able to do yet in our marriage. It was a neat way to spend time together, different from our normal routine. We both drove in opposite directions to work and for me the only road plowed on my commute was the interstate. I love it when that happens, seriously, I do. I love driving my Subaru in the snow and getting a little sideways when there is no one around. Definitely enjoyed the drive to work.

Did I mention the high for today was supposed to be 9 F? Cold. It's -2 F right now as I write this. Anyway, around 10:30 am the roads were doing much better and it was sunny, the best way to melt snow in Colorado. I figured, meh, most of this will be gone by tonight...but whats left will freeze. Then, tonight it decides to start snowing around 4:00 pm; something that was not in the forecast at all, but hey, that's Colorado for you.

Now I start to realize it will definitely get icy overnight. That's all good with me. Look online and the school district I mentioned earlier is already on a 2 hour delay. Guess what? My school has still not posted anything. Had another long discussion with my boss and we decided we would go with the school district again. My school STILL has not posted anything (at 10:50 pm). Hopefully they have the delay also. I guess I need to have a talk with them tomorrow and let them know how confusing their information is. Bleh. Talk to you tomorrow blog world.

First Post and New Home

Hello there blog world! I am brand new to the world of blogging, but I plan on giving it my best shot. If you have any tips feel free to let me know :)

Let me begin by introducing myself. My name is Stephen, that's all you'll get for now. I am newly married (6 months); my wife's name is Brooke and we have a pup named Lola. We are very happily married, as we should be (it's only been 6 months after all :-P). One thing we absolutely love to do is snowboard; good thing we live in Colorado. Our favorite place to ride is Copper Mountain and I also proposed to Brooke there. Enough of an introduction for now, if you have any questions I'm an open book so ask away.

We just moved into a new home. No, we didn't buy; we're just renting for now. It's a cute little two bedroom perfect for us and our dog, Lola. We got our keys yesterday and started moving everything over from our crammed 1.5 bedroom apartment. Luckily my younger brother, Joshua, was able to come down and help. Unfortunately he had a HEAVY lifting day at school on Thursday so he was extremely sore before we started. He was a champ, however, and powered through to the end; I cannot thank him enough for everything he did for us. We were, luckily, able to unpack almost everything yesterday and get all the furniture where it belongs. Once it hit around one in the morning and we couldn't keep our eyes open anymore we decided to go to bed.

This morning is when the excitement happened...sort of... We started putting up all of our decorations and finished unpacking whatever we had left. I, of course, spent most of my time making sure all of our electronics (especially our internet and my xbox 360) were set up correctly. Our internet was transferred yesterday and a guy came out, but of course when I went to check it this morning it wasn't working anymore. I attempted to reset it myself with no success, but a 5 minute phone call later and we were running smoothly as long as the computer was connected directly to the modem. That's not good enough.

The wireless router had retained all the settings from the network I had set up at our old apartment, yet it wouldn't let the computer connect even if it was wired straight through the router. Tried resetting different things while plugging in and powering on in different orders still with no success. I finally decided to google the model number of our router and download the set up. Ran the set up step by step with the on screen instructions and voila everything was working great. Sweet. Now for the xbox; should be able to just turn it on and connect to the wireless right? Wrong. Turned it on, went to the network settings and it showed it was already connected. Weird. So I tested the connection, which of course failed. Power cycled a few times and it still wasn't working. Now I'm definitely getting frustrated. Something that should have taken 5-10 minutes has now turned into and hour and then some. I finally reset the connection from the xbox and it's good to go, phew.

Hooray! We're all moved in! Wait...what? Our Comcast bill is how much??!? Apparently our Comcast service was upgraded when we moved even though Brooke repeatedly told them not to when she called to tell them we were moving. First call to Comcast: Brooke gets a woman that is willing to do her best to help us after explaining and re-explaining what was wrong, of course. She says she will get the extra charge off our bill but she is unable to downgrade our service...transfer to supervisor, also unable to downgrade service. So, the supervisor says she'll put in the notes (uh oh) that we can have the service for 19.99 for six months for our trouble, but she has to transfer us to the department that can downgrade. Awesome, sounds great. A male answers in the other department and decides he is going to mock Brooke for what she is asking...dick (too extreme? nah)... When she asks to speak with someone else he promptly hangs up on her. Call number two to Comcast: Brooke gets another female who seems to be truly empathetic of everything. In fact, she upgrades our service for less than we were paying before for one year. Truly awesome. She did have to transfer us to billing to get that credit, but the woman in billing gave credited our next bill without question. Wow! True customer service, if only they could all be that awesome! Seems that at Comcast you want to speak to the women to get what you need taken care of.

Anyway, now we're all moved in and all that's left is for me to hang all my pictures and posters in our office/my man cave area. Long story short, we've had the ups and downs of a move, but are extremely happy with our new place and ready to have a long wonderful life together.

p.s. sorry for the super long first post, I hope it was worth your time