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Tuesday, October 30, 2007A-Rod to Cincinnati??OK, while I realize this is a ridiculous discussion to have, as there is a 0.000001% chance of A-Rod coming to the Reds...but just pretend he would is interested. Would you sign him? His next contract will likely be in the range of 5 years, $150 million. If you are Bob Castellini, do you go for it? B-Cast can afford it, we know that. But would he want to increase his payroll by about 30%...for one player? If he wants to win more games he would. If he wants to make a large amount of money he would, which he could then turn around and reinvest in the team and make it better. Imagine what A-Rod could do in GABP...especially hitting 4th with Adam Dunn behind him. National League pitching is generally weaker than American League pitching. I can honestly imagine him hitting .330 with 75 Home Runs and 130 RBI's. He would totally dominate the National League. He could play 3rd or shortshop, doesn't matter. The top of the lineup would look like this: Hamilton, Phillips, Griffey, Rodriguez, Dunn. That's monster. Even with terrible pitching we would win a lot of games. it would also take the pressure off of Dunn. B-Cast would make a fortune in merchandising, games would sell out (at least for a while), and he could renegotiate the TV contract...all for a very large down payment. Of course...A-Rod likely does not want to play here...but it's fun to dream.  Subscribe to the DIA FeedLabels: Alex Rodriguez, Baseball, Cincinnati Reds Sunday, October 28, 2007Reason # 15Reason # 15 I don't like Marvin Lewis as the Cincinnati Bengals head coach: Not going for it 4th & 1 on the Steelers 2 yard line. They could have gotten a first down. They could have gotten a touchdown. Or they could have forced the Steelers to go the length of the field in 2 minutes. Nope. Lewis decides to kick the worthless field goal. Forget the fact that Bengals defense couldn't stop an 8th grade team at this point. Let's get 3 points and have our terrible kickoff team go out there. Steelers return it to the 35. March down the field and score a touchdown. Halftime Score: 21-6. That's bad coaching. That's making a weak decision so you can blame the players when they lose (which he will do...he always does). So that's reason #15. Out of 1 million. It's time to bring in "The Chin", or at the very least, someone who doesn't appear totally outmatched by whoever the coach is on the other sideline. Subscribe to the DIA FeedLabels: Cincinnati Bengals, Marvin Lewis Saturday, October 27, 2007No RespectCheck out these Stats: 2005
2006
2007 (after 9 games)
Another interesting stat: 27 consecutive regular season wins. As I am sure you have guessed at this point, I am talking about The Ohio State Buckeyes. Why don't they get any respect? If these numbers were put up by USC, or Florida, or Texas, or LSU people would be fawning all over them. They would be talking about a Dynasty. There would be ESPN specials and movies made. But because of how the Buckeyes lost in the Championship game, very very badly, they don't get any respect. Which isn't exactly fair. The Buckeyes have been on an awesome run over the past 2.5 seasons. They have had exactly 1 bad game, where they were totally outplayed, and now no one gives them any credit for what they have done? Meanwhile, people are talking about what an upset it was today when a 5TH RANKED Oregon beat a 12TH RANKED USC team. A. Just based on the rankings, it is not an upset. B. USC isn't a very good team this year. Anyone who has watched their games this year can see that they weren't very good. But for some reason people still consider them a great team. WRONG. They were good 2 years ago. They were pretty good last year. They are not good at all this year. A twelve ranking was too high for them. They should drop down to about 22 after today. But they won't. They'll drop to about 18. The inconsistency drives me insane. Makes me too wordy. Makes me want to beat up people who live with me. Subscribe to the DIA FeedLabels: College Football, Ohio State Buckeyes, USC Trojans Tuesday, October 23, 2007NFL Week 7 ThoughtsIt's been 4 weeks since I have enlightened you with my NFL Thoughts. For that I apologize. Here they are though:
Subscribe to the DIA FeedLabels: Cincinnati Bengals, Dallas Cowboys, ESPN, Indianapolis Colts, New England Patriots, New York Giants, NFL Tuesday, October 16, 2007Guest Post: What Does It Feel Like to Always LoseThis is a guest post by my friend Brad Johnson. Brad is a huge Buffalo sports fan, for some reason. I asked him to write an account of what it feels like to be a fan of the Buffalo Bills. What follows is his sad, heartbreaking story. - AFW Look out your window. See that group of guys doing construction over there? Good, now look at the guy on the right. No, not the guy air-guitaring to Zeppelin, the guy next to him with the skull and crossbones painted on his helmet. Go up to him and say “Hey, T-bone” (note: if his helmet is red it is also acceptable to say “Hey, Big Red”), pause for a few seconds, then kindly but firmly ask him to use his size-13 steel-toed boots to give you a swift kick in the crotch. What just happened? Five minutes ago you were relaxing in the comfort of your home perusing over a mildly-entertaining blog [editors note: mildly??] and now after an inexplicable bout of self-destruction you’re laying on the cold, wet ground with a sore groin as several larger-than-average men are standing over you laughing, all to a “Free Bird” soundtrack. Welcome, my friend, you are now in an acceptable mental state to fully understand the complexities that are forever intertwined with being a lifelong fan of the Buffalo Bills. When I was first asked to describe the feelings associated with being a lifelong Bills fan I felt pride at taking some time to explore the team I have followed so devotedly for 25 years. My first thoughts were pleasant ones, from my first Bills game in the late-80s when the Bills beat the Colts 24-13 to the tailgates I attend annually as my dad and I try to make one game a year and have been running at about an 80% success rate. I think of the 51-3 drubbing the Bills put on the Raiders in their first AFC championship game to reach their first super bowl, the inductions of Jim Kelly and Andre Reed into the Hall of Fame, and of course the greatest comeback in NFL history when the Bills rallied from down 35-3 in the 3rd quarter to the Houston Oilers to win 41-38 in overtime and advance to the next round of the playoffs that year. Then, as I’m forced to think over all of the events that I have witnessed involving this team, the floodgates open for all of the haunting memories these games have provided. The problem isn’t that we never get kicked in the groin; it’s that we keep forgetting how painful it is so we volunteer to have it done on a way too consistent basis! In order to hold the attention of you, the reader, I will not go on for pages about the low points of the Buffalo Bills as you will get bored and I will pursue actions that will send me one step closer to attending a 12-step program. The problem here isn’t so much losing; every team loses and there’s no shame in losing to a better team (see Super Bowls 26-28). The problem here is continuously snatching defeat from the jaws of victory with crushing last-second losses that leave you paralyzed in depression and confusion for days. After analyzing hundreds of moments swirling through my thoughts I give you my top 3 defining heartbreak moments: #3 – tie between this year’s season opener vs. Denver and last Monday’s game vs. Dallas. I know what you’re thinking, you’re thinking I’m letting the freshness of these moments speak louder than they should and in the history of Bills franchise there have to be bigger heartbreaks in the grand scheme of seasons. Know what? Maybe you’re right. Guess what. I don’t care, and you’ve got some nerve calling me out on what’s supposed to me my list, you jerk. All right, everyone take a deep breath. Here’s the thing, these games are simply the definition of heartbreak served up in Western New York. I know this team won’t make the playoffs, and even if they did there’s no way we’d make it to the Super Bowl in the same conference as the Colts, Pats, and Steelers. But it doesn’t matter; we should be 3-2 with a huge, emotional win over Dallas that could do wonders for this young team’s psyche. Instead, 1-4 with 2 losses where the winning field goal sailed through the uprights as time expired. Minor detail: technically, Buffalo NEVER TRAILED IN THESE GAMES!!! Only after time had completely evaporated were the Bills on the wrong side of the score. In case you were wondering this little detail doesn’t help much. #2 – Super Bowl 25, and no I don’t mean “wide right.” Look, we missed a long field as time expired, it happens. To pin this loss on Scott Norwood makes as much sense as pinning the heartbreak of the ’86 Red Sox on Buckner and the ’03 Cubs on Bartman. History wants you to, but any true fan who knows anything about these events knows that these were simply contributors to the eventual outcome and probably not even the main ones. (the Sox had already blown a 2-run lead and Dusty Baker is allergic to the bullpen phone – sidebar, have fun with that headache, Cincy) If you ever get a chance, re-watch Super Bowl 25 as it really is a great game. The problem is that the Bills had lots of little things add up to beat them as they were clearly the better team. Being the better team doesn’t mean much though, if you can’t execute in crucial situations. I think the Giants had a time of possession advantage of about 9:1, converted 14 of 13 3rd downs in the 2nd half, and just had an all-around calmer and more-poised attitude. Sure the field goal was doable and who knows how history would have changed had they won that game, but watch that game again and I guarantee that at halftime you’ll be convinced the Bills will actually win this time. (By the way, this is the exact reason I can never watch this game again.) #1 – Music City “Miracle”. Even if you hate the Bills you have to admit they know how to lose in style. After benching the more mobile Doug Flutie in favor of statuesque Rob Johnson despite the fact the Bills o-line was decimated and they were playing against Jevon “the Freak” Kearse, (oh, and another minor detail is that Flutie started the entire season minus 1 game was very healthy) somehow, in spite of Wade Phillips’ idiocy this team rallied to take a 16-15 lead with 16 seconds left. What happened next defied physics and left me literally unable to move for 20 minutes as I watched replay after replay of what I still think is a forward pass but have to admit was a hell of a play. So there you have it, a glimpse of what it’s like to be a Bills fan. Sure, your groin is sore, but that’s not all you remember. You remember the spontaneity involved with the decision, the stunned looks on everyone around you as you self-destructed, and of course the excruciating pain. But it’s not a total loss. You now have a good story, and as the pain subsides you start to think it really wasn’t that bad. I mean, if nothing else, that’s the worst pain you’ll ever feel, right? Besides, one of these days that guy is gonna miss and the joy you’ll feel will be 100x greater than for anyone who never had to go through any pain at all. If the Bills ever do win a Super Bowl, only the 2004 celebration in Boston will rival the sheer ecstasy that will flow through the streets of Western NY. Plenty of room left on the Bills bandwagon, let me know if you’d like me to reserve you a spot. Subscribe to the DIA FeedLabels: Brad Johnson, Buffalo Bills, Guest Post Monday, October 15, 2007Group Writing Contest: Financial Success StoryJD at Get Rich Slowly is sponsoring a collective writing contest where participants are asked to write about a personal finance success story. What follows is my story: When I thought about what to write, I was a little torn. You see, I have never been in any sort of consumer debt. I have never not paid off my credit cards in full. I had no student loans (thanks mom and dad!) So I was in fear that my story wouldn’t be very dramatic; and I suppose it’s not. My story is about the everyday decisions that help keep us (me and my wife, Mikah) out of debt. Mikah and I talk about money a lot (ok – maybe I talk about money a lot and she puts up with it!). We are constantly going over our budget and trying to figure out a way to increase our wealth with the jobs that we have. Budgeting has been so valuable in keeping us within our means. I mean, we are both savers by nature, but I know without having a budget to restrain me, I would probably spend a lot more on stuff I don’t need. The most significant change I have made is taking my lunch to work. The amount of money that frees up is astounding. For a while I was going out to lunch every day. If I went to McDonalds, it cost $4.08, Arbys was $6.08, Burger King ran me $5.47 and Chipotle over $7. Even if I ate at McDonalds every day (which I never did!) it would still cost over $20 per week. More realistically I was spending over $25 a week. Over an entire work year, that comes out to over $1250! That is a lot of money! I have since cut down to eating out 4-5 times a month. That equates to some significant savings. I also suspect that I may live longer now that I don’t eat fast foot everyday. I just take last night’s dinner in for lunch the net day. I like leftovers so I don’t mind at all. And having that extra money means I have more to invest with. Which leads us to the next point. I spend a fair amount of time trying to find the best places to put our money for long and short term investments. We had some extra cash, so we decided to pay off my car loan. Now the only real debt we have is our mortgage. We have our regular checking & savings account (that earns about 1 lousy percent). We have our high yield online savings account at E*Trade, earning 4.7% (it just dropped last week because the Fed cut their rates. It was 5.05%). We have our “investment portfolio” (just saying that makes me feel pretentious) invested entirely in EXTREMELY low fee index funds, also at E*Trade. We also have a small amount of money in the Paypal money market at 5.05%, although that amount is currently negligible. I try to move the money around to ensure we have enough to pay our bills and make the most interest at the same time. It takes a little bit of effort, which probably isn’t really worth the time actually, but I enjoy doing it. All of the daily efforts we make with budgeting, keeping spending down, and maximizing our liquid investments means that at the end of the year we will have some extra money to work with. We haven’t decided what to do with that money yet. Our main options are to keep it stashed away, building interest, until one of us needs another car, make a principle only payment to our mortgage, or give it away to charity. We will probably end up doing some combination of the three. What do you think we should do? What would you do? Subscribe to the DIA FeedLabels: Finances, Get Rich Slowly, money
Blog Action Day: CFL's Today, October 15th, is the Official Blog Action Day. This group wanted to see what would happen if all the blogs would post on one topic on the same day. They intend to do this every year. This year they have asked that everyone write a post about something "green", which we all know what that means at this point. There are over 15,000 blogs currently signed up to participate. We'll see the stats afterwards and see exactly how many blogs and readers are involved. Should be neat. For my part I - and thousands others, I'm sure - am writing about CFLs, or Compact Fluorescent Lights. These are those spiral bulbs you see on the news and probably in the newspapers, if those even exist anymore. There are a number of positives to using these:
Of course, there are some negatives to using the CFLs:
In my opinion, the bulbs are totally worth the extra upfront investment and hassle of returning them. They save A LOT of money over their lifetime. I've changed all the bulbs in my house that I can. Have you changed any of yours? What do you think about CFLs? Subscribe to the DIA FeedLabels: Blog Action Day Friday, October 12, 20075 free iTunes Downloads via Facebook This post is for those who have a Facebook account. You can get 5 free iTunes downloads by following the directions below. I know this works because I did it!! 1. Log in to Facebook 2. Search for "ticketmaster live" 3. Join the group 4. On the next page there will be a link to Redeem the 5 free songs 5. Leave the group if you want. ------------------------------------- On a VERY related note - my new album is now available on iTunes. You can search for "Adam Wilson" or "Take My Hand If You Want To Live." This is very exciting! My first album, "Between the Lines" is also available for purchase through iTunes. It would be awesome if you used 1 (or more!) of the free downloads to download some of my music. I get paid a decent percentage of each sale that is made! Subscribe to the DIA FeedLabels: Facebook, iTunes, Music Wednesday, October 10, 2007Stacy Hedger...Miss Douglas!!Hat Tip to Abby Wilson for pointing me towards this awesome video. I bet this would make Stephen Hawking roll over in his grave, and he isn't dead. Nor does he play the trumpet. John Williams must be furious. And he's not an astrophysicist. But Stephen Hawking is. Subscribe to the DIA FeedLabels: Funny, Video, You Tube Tuesday, October 9, 2007The UpDown: A Stock Market Game About a month ago, I was pointed to an online stock market game called The UpDown. I checked it out and signed up to play the game. It is A LOT of fun. If you are at all interested in the stock market, you should have a good time with this. You start with $1 million dollars and can buy pretty much any stock available on the American markets. Your goal is to beat the S&P 500 for the month. Here is the kicker, if you do beat the S&P 500...you earn real money! They'll send it to your Paypal account (they probably have other methods of payment too). Now, you won't make very much money...I only made $1.03 for September. But hey...it's real money for playing a fun game. There are other ways to make money on the game as well. You can write up stock analysis that all the other players can see. If it gets voted as being a good, solid analysis...you get paid. Pretty cool, although I have yet to write one. Mostly because I don't know what I am doing. you can also refer other people to the game (I guess like I am doing now) and win a small percentage of what they won. I'm sure the person who referred me is ecstatic about the 10 cents I won him! So if you are interested in the stock market at all...or just want to have a little fun: click the image at the top or bottom of this post. Warning: Be ready to enter a land of sunshine, puppy dogs, and pure, unbridled joy. Subscribe to the DIA FeedLabels: Finances, money, Stock Market Monday, October 8, 2007How Many Germs Do You Have On Your Keyboard?I have 2,067,240! Or at least I do according to this online test. It asks about 10 questions about your keyboard environment and then gives you a number (albeit probably arbitrary) of germs living on your keys! Gross! In all seriousness...your keyboard and mouse are a fertile ground for bacteria, especially if you are not the only one to use your computer. I highly recommend giving them a good anti-bacterial cleaning every so often. I have also heard that you can put your keyboard in your dishwasher with no ill effects, but I have not tried it and have a lifelong motto to avoid mixing electronics and water! Click the image below to see how germs you have! 2,067,240 Subscribe to the DIA Feed
Sunday, October 7, 2007NFL StatsI have a question I am hoping one of my intelligent readers can answer. I have yet to find a legitimate answer. Maybe someone can Google it or something? Why are tackles not an official stat in the NFL? Isn't tackling the most important part of defense? Isn't tackling the entire point of defense. When the other team has the ball...you tackle them. But for some reason, the NFL does not keep tackles as an official stat. I don't understand. They keep interceptions. They keep game specific stats (how a team does on 3rd and 6). But they don't keep a stat on the main goal of the defense. Anyone? Subscribe to the DIA FeedLabels: NFL
Click for Cans Every year Campbell's Soup has contest where you can go to their site and click on your favorite football team. The team that gets the most votes (and the Most Improved from last year) gets a donation of Campbell's Chunky Soup to the team's favorite food bank. It's a cool idea, no matter which team wins. But let's get out there and vote for the Bengals! Vote Here! You can vote once a day until December 15th. There is also a fun field goal game you can play after you vote. For each field goal you make, they add 1 click for your team. Go play the game for a great cause! Subscribe to the DIA FeedLabels: Charity, Cincinnati Bengals, NFL Saturday, October 6, 2007Fairweather Fans or Something ElseThis week Mikah went into school early (she goes to the University of Cincinnati) to wait in line to get tickets to the UC vs. Lousiville game next Saturday. Apparently people had camped out all night to get their share of the 5,000 available tickets. She ended up getting 2 tickets (awesome!), but that's not the point of this post. I am wondering if we are just lousy fairweather fans here in Cincinnati? (this case probably applies to all cities too) 2 years ago it would have been very difficult to give away UC football tickets. Only a few die hard fans went. And probably a lot of those fans went because they were forced to buy football season tickets with their basketball tickets. But basically no one went to the games...mostly because they were terrible. Fast forward to this season, and people are camping out for tickets. UC is very good and has a very exciting future ahead of them (assuming Brian Kelly doesn't leave for the NFL!). Now the city can't stop talking about them. The games are sold out, merchandise sales are probably up, and there is a buzz about them. But my question is if we are just cheering for them because they are winning? Are we guilty of being Fairweather fans? Or are we allowed to get excited because they are finally good? Should we feel bad that we actually care now? Doesn't that make us bad people for only supporting college students when they perform for us? Shouldn't we have been supporting them the whole time? I'm not sure if I should be mad at people for suddenly turning to the Cats, or just happy they are. What do you think? Subscribe to the DIA FeedLabels: Brian Kelly, Cincinnati, UC Bearcats, Univeristy of Cincinnati Monday, October 1, 2007Monday Night BeatdownI am writing this post as the 4th quarter of the Monday Night Football I was right. Tonight's game was embarrassing and depressing. At this point, after watching the Bengals for 4 games, I will be surprised with an 8-8 record. The Bengals are a bad football team. The offense can be good at times. A lot of times they are just OK. Palmer is awesome. Chad and TJ are awesome. Everyone else on the team is average. The entire defense is miserable. I don't care how many linebackers are injured. The Bengals posed no threat to the Pats at all tonight. When Brady wanted to run, they ran. When Brady wanted to throw, they threw. There was nothing to stop them. Meanwhile, the offense stunk it up. I'm not sure whose fault this is. I do know that Marvin Lewis doesn't appear to be getting the job done. I will be interested to hear his press conference tomorrow. I am guessing he will be smug, condescending, and jerkish. Yes, jerkish. Looks like we have an exciting rest of the season to go. And not to be over dramatic or anything...because it is just one loss...but it's seasons like this, after so much was promised in the off season, that makes you question all the time and energy we put into our favorite teams. No, I am not quitting. Just thinking out loud. But the only thing I can really think at this time is...Brian Kelly for Head Coach!! Subscribe to the DIA FeedLabels: Cincinnati Bengals, Marvin Lewis, Monday Night Football, New England Patriots, NFL
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