Boston's 11 Reunited

   This past weekend, 10 of my old high school buddies and I spent the weekend in Boston and went to a game at Fenway Park. We all had a great time, and thankfully, the city of Boston is still standing. No one was arrested or hospitalized, which in my mind, makes the whole venture an overwhelming success. It helped that the Red Sox won their game too.



Dustin Pedroia at bat

   We were part of the class of '92 (except for one of us). A couple of my friends I hadn't seen in over 20 years, and it was great to be able to catch up with all of them. It's funny how we all may look a bit older, but in many ways, we haven't really changed that much. So, being the numbers guy that I am, I felt compelled to compile some interesting staistics:

1. Marriage- 2 of us are not married. I am one of them. 1 divorced and re-married the same person.

2. Kids- Of the 11 of us, only one doesn't have kids. He also happened to be the valedictorian of our graduating class, so I guess that makes sense. One of us has five (yes that's the number 5) kids. The other 9 of us have a range of 1-3. The oldest of all our kids is 14, and the youngest is a couple of months. I wasn't able to compile enough information to make an accurate boy/girl ratio though.

3. Jobs- A perfect 100%. All of us are employed.

4. State of Residence- Florida (1), Virginia (1), Minnesota (1), Connecticut (1), New York (1), Massachusetts (6).

5. Smokers- 1 of us, and he's the one with 5 kids. Go figure.

6. Weight- I don't think any of us are at our ideal body weight, but I'd say 3 of us are hovering at or below the Mendoza Line.

7. Hair Loss- 5 of us could stand to join the Hair Club for Men. Thankfully, yours truly is not one of them (yet).

8. Beer Lovers- After Friday night, I think I can safely say that we are 100% in this category as well.

   The real highlight of the trip (other than running through the streets yelling "Free Tom Brady!"), was the Red Sox game. They won 6-3, but not before adding in some of that good old fashioned Red Sox drama they are so famous for. With a 6-3 lead in the 8th inning, Matt Barnes came in and walked the bases loaded with no outs. Enter Brad Ziegler. Ziegler not only got the Sox out of the jam, he struck out the side in 10 pitches, all of them went for strikes. The crowd went crazy, and the Red Sox picked up a very important win to go one game back of the division-leading Orioles.

   Aside from a couple of travel delays getting into Boston, the trip for me was an absolute blast. There are already mumblings of another get-together sometime next year, with a couple of possible additions to our already healthy sized entourage. The goal would be to make this an annual event, and given how easy it was to get everyone together for this one, I'm guessing it won't be another 24 years before we are together again. Until then...

Catching Up

Hello readers! Long time, no blog. I thought after a 3 year, 1 month hiatus, it was time to fill you in on how life has been going. This will probably have to be spread out across a number of posts, but you got to start somewhere so here goes.

For starters, I'm a dad now. For those of you who know me personally, this will not come as much of a shock to you. For those of you that don't, or haven't seen or talked to me in a long time, SURPRISE! She just turned 2 years old on July 8th, and her name is Julia (Juli for short). She is the center of my universe and makes me laugh on a daily basis. Needless to say, I am all caught up on my Sesame Street, Thomas the Train, Sid the Science Kid, and Wild Kratts episodes. Thankfully, she isn't too fond of Barney the purple dinosaur. Phew! There is so much to write about regarding Juli, but I will save that for future posts. Anyway, back to business.

I went back to school in January of 2014 and completed my bachelor's degree in Business Management from Westfield State University this past May. It was a tough grind for those 2 1/2 years (baby, new house, 2 jobs, one of them new), but I got through it, and did it entirely online. Not to make excuses, but school was a big reason why I have been failing at my blogging duties these past few years. I have plans to begin my MBA at MCLA in September of next year, and just recently was promoted to a back office position at the bank I've been working at since June of 2014. Given the sensitivity of the information I am privy to, I won't be discussing my job very much, if at all.

As I touched upon in the above paragraph, Jac and I bought a house in Richmond, MA back in November of 2014. It's pretty cool being a homeowner, and I don't miss apartment life at all. It's very private, down the road from my mom, and a 5 minute walk to the beach and boat launch. We kayak as much as we can, and Juli absolutely loves going down to the small private beach to play in the water. We are loving the pond life.

I haven't been keeping up too much on what's been going on in the sports world. We don't have real cable so ESPN basically doesn't exist in my world. Plus, SportsCenter has been reduced to filling viewers in on what athletes and coaches are tweeting about, and is more entertainment news than it is actual sports news. Like, I really don't care what Kevin Durant had for breakfast this morning, or how Dwyane Wade likes to spend the off-season. I want numbers, and stats, and highlights! That's sports! Save all the other crap for the morning talk shows and senseless radio banter. My fantasy baseball teams are holding on by a thread this year, mostly because I am not up to date on who's hot and who's not, but I shouldn't complain. In one of my leagues, I've won the championship 4 of the past 5 years. Too bad that one isn't for money. Oh well, bragging rights still count for something don't they? At least football is right around the corner, and that I can actually watch on TV. Plus, I'm in a pick 'em league where you can actually win some real money. I came close the past two seasons, but I kept getting screwed right at the end. This is the year I break through so watch out! By the way, congrats to the city of Cleveland! You finally get to hang your hats on LeBron's golden coat rack! Maybe the Indians will follow suit, and the Browns...ok let's not get carried away. Guess this means the Cubs will win the World Series this year if current trends are any indication.

And now, on to poker. Ah, poker. Feels like just yesterday that the government pulled the plug on all of us online players because we were getting royally screwed over by the greedy, high-up executives that were using stacks of $100 bills as kindling to fuel the fires in their giant fireplaces. It only took three years, but I did get my money back from Full Tilt, or the government, or whoever was getting interest on it. The WSOP just wrapped up for the summer, and as usual, the November 9 is full of names I have never even heard of. There were a few highlights to mention however. We should start with what I consider to be this year's most impressive accomplishment which was Brian Rast's second Poker Player's Championship victory. The 34-year old poker pro put up the $50,000 buy-in, and bested a field of 90 of the world's best players to take down $1,296,097. This is especially impressive given the fact that when he finally got heads-up with Justin Bonomo, he was facing a 4-1 chip disadvantage.

Another one of the summer's big stories involved well-known poker pro Jason Mercier. Mercier began his incredible run with a win in the $10,000 No-Limit 2-7 Lowball Championship earning his 4th bracelet. Just an hour later, he entered the $10,000 Razz Championship where he finished in 2nd place. As if that wasn't enough, his next event, the $10,000 HORSE Championship, was another win, and Mercier's 3rd consecutive final table, and 5th WSOP bracelet. In all, Mercier cashed 10 times at this year's World Series, and now finds himself in a rather exclusive group of poker players with 5 or more bracelets. Oh yeah, and he also proposed to his girlfriend Natasha Barbour immediately following her 3rd place finish in the $5,000 No-Limit Hold-Em event. Hell of a summer for Jason!

Other highlights of this year's WSOP include kindergarten teacher Lisa Meredith's 3rd place finish in the $1,500 Millionairre Maker. She took down $500,000 for her effort, and it was her first ever WSOP event! Nicely done!

Benny Glaser also made news after he became the player ever to win bracelets in back-to-back Omaha Hi-Low Split-8 or Better events in the same WSOP. He now has 3 career WSOP bracelets.

So what about me, you ask? Have I been grinding out small scores in nearby home games and local charity tournaments, or travelling back and forth to Foxwoods and Mohegan Sun playing various tourneys and cash games? Have I been crushing poorly playing amateurs and taking their lunch money while they go out to the parking lot to cry in their cars and try to explain to their significant others why they came home broke? Am I preparing to head west for the bright lights of Las Vegas with $30,000 in my pocket like Matt Damon at the end of the movie Rounders? Sadly, no. No personal poker highlights to speak of these days. No bankroll, no big games, and no time. Hopefully all that will change in the near future, and you will all be the first to know when it does. Until then...

7 days, 5 nights, 3 jobs, 1 summer

   Once again readers I must apologize for my lack of posts on this blog lately. There is much to discuss, and despite my ridiculously busy work schedule (see Title) I have managed to find a quiet moment to sit down and do a little writing.

   First things last, the NBA season has come to its conclusion, and the Miami Heat once again reign supreme. I gotta hand it to them. They are one tough team! For those of you that missed the last two games of the Finals (especially Game 6) that was as good a performance as you will EVER see by two NBA teams. If the Finals were a heavyweight boxing match, it would have gone 15 rounds and ended like Rocky 1. I loved every minute of it, despite the fact that the Heat won. I was rooting for San Antonio. I'm a huge Tim Duncan fan, not just because of his longevity, but because he is a true professional and represents the NBA very well. Classy, hard-working, likeable, and he was mentored by an even classier professional by the name of David Robinson who in his own right is an NBA legend. I have to hand it to the NBA as an organization. It had one really entertaining season, despite many key players absent in the playoffs due to injuries. (Russell Westbrook, Danny Granger, Rajon Rondo, and Derrick Rose to name a few). The off-season has been even more entertaining. 13 of the 30 NBA coaches lost their jobs. Jason Kidd is now the coach of the Brooklyn Nets after being retired for 5 minutes as a player after 20 seasons. Paul Pierce and Kevin Garnett are no longer Celtics, and are in fact going to be coached by Kidd next season! Doc Rivers took off for LA, Lionel Hollins was fired after taking Memphis to the Western Conference Finals (take note Boston!), George Karl was fired from the Denver Nuggets shortly after receiving the league's Coach of the Year Award (seriously, what do you have to do to keep your job as a coach in the NBA???), and Dwight Howard continues his search for a new home. And it's only July 3rd!

   In other news, the World Series of Poker continues to roll along. Erick Lindgren and Mike Matusow are the two big names to win bracelets so far this year. Lindgren's 2nd career bracelet coming in the $5,000 NL Hold 'Em 6-handed event for $606,317, and Matusow's 4th career bracelet coming in the $5,000 7-card stud hi-lo event for $266,503. The biggest news so far though, in my humble opinion, has been "The Magician" Antonio Esfandiari's 4th place finish, and $1,433,438 payout in the $111,111 High-Roller event. This is the 2nd consecutive year he has had a million dollar plus payday at the WSOP. If you'll recall, he won the WSOP's first ever $1,000,000 buy-in last year for over 18 million dollars. He has $21,102,878 million dollars in career WSOP earnings and 3 bracelets. Is it time to start the debate on whether he is the best performer at the WSOP over the past 10 years? I would say yes, and I would say he is in the Top 5 along with Hellmuth (who currently sits on 99 career WSOP cashes) and Matusow with $3,568,716 in career WSOP earnings, who have also been phenomenal. In fact, Matusow recently defeated Hellmuth heads-up to take down NBC's National Heads-Up Championship for $750,000. He has been on an absolute roll over the past few months.

   So I know you must all be wondering: what about you Ben? Been playing any poker lately? The answer to that question is simply: "no". I plan to in September when I go on a "work-related" two-night trip to Atlantic City, but my bankroll has been severely depleted due to a stagnant employment situation over the winter. In fact, that isn't even the most common question that's been asked lately. It's been: "So, where ya workin' now?" The answer to that question is a bit more complicated. Once again, drawing your attention back to the title of this post, I currently hold 3 jobs. Chocolate, bagels, and booze are my business baby! M-W at a chocolate shop, Th-Sun at a bagel shop, and 5 nights a week service bartending at a local restaurant. It breaks down to 75 hours a week for 2 months straight, and June 24th-August 27th without a full day off.  Many of my closest friends and family worry that I'll burn out before summer's end. What they all fail to realize is I've been burnt-out for the last 5 years, which was the last time I had an actual vacation. I know what most of you must be thinking: Am I crazy? The answer to THAT question is also quite complicated. See ya in September!! Until then...

NBA Playoff Predictions- Round 2

Memphis and Golden State kept me from predicting a perfect first round, but Round 2 I think the winners and losers will be much clearer.

Miami Heat vs Chicago Bulls- Heat in 5. Enough said. Bulls are banged up and the Heat have been sipping on margaritas on a beach somewhere for the past week.

New York Knicks vs Indiana Pacers- Pacers in 6. New York showed major signs of weakness against the Celtics. Carmelo is a one man show that doesn't pass the ball enough, and the Pacers are just huge in the paint. Not picking Indiana just because I'm a Celtic fan, but...

San Antonio Spurs vs Golden State Warriors- Spurs in 6. Yay Golden State and welcome Steph Curry to superstar status. Now beat the Spurs (who have also been on an island somewhere sipping on margaritas) who should roll right through into the finals. Best of luck.

Oklahoma City Thunder vs Memphis Grizzlies- Grizzlies in 7. Yes. The Grizzlies. The loss of Westbrook seriously jeopardizes the Thunder's chances. I love Durant, but one man does not a championship team make. See NY Knicks.

NBA Playoff Predictions- Round 1

The NBA Playoffs are back and so are my predictions. There are some really tough matchups to call here but I'll do my best.

We'll start in the East:

(1) Miami Heat vs (8) Milwaukee Bucks- Heat 4-0. If this series isn't a sweep I'll be shocked. Miami is in the zone and locked in on a 2nd straight championship. This shouldn't be close.

(2) New York Knicks vs (7) Boston Celtics- Knicks 4-2. This series will be one for the ages. Celtics should win a couple of inspired games at home, but the Knicks will be too much for them shooting the 3. Rooting for Boston of course (Boston Strong!), but reality sets in and the Knicks should prevail. Game 6 will be won by less than 5 points.

(3) Indiana Pacers vs (6) Atlanta Hawks- Pacers 4-1. The Pacers are a classic "big-boy" team. Hibbert and West will dominate the boards and handle the, at times, inconsistent Atlanta Hawks. If Indiana had to face Chicago instead, it would be a very close series as these two teams are very similar.

(4) Brooklyn Nets vs (5) Chicago Bulls- Bulls 4-2. This is a tough series to call. I initially wanted to pick the Nets, but I feel their playoff inexperience will come back to haunt them. The Bulls are a very good rebounding team, and that should give them the edge in the series. Not sure how banged up Joakim Noah is, but the Bulls and their blue-collar work ethic in the paint should be enough.


And now to the West:

(1) Oklahoma City Thunder vs (8) Houston Rockets- Thunder 4-1. I'm being generous giving the Rockets one game here. I think James Harden will be inspired to play well against his former team for a game, but the Thunder have too much firepower and will win in 5.

(2) San Antonio Spurs vs (7) Los Angeles Lakers- Spurs 4-1. How in the world did the Lakers get in? Talk about a season of adversity! Howard and Gasol will keep this series interesting. All 5 games will be very close, but I give the edge to the Spurs. Tony Parker will be too much to handle and will be the MVP of the series. This one will be fun to watch!

(3) Denver Nuggets vs (6) Golden State Warriors- Nuggets 4-1. Kudos to the Warriors making the playoffs this year and congrats to Steph Curry for setting the record for most 3-pointers in a season. The Nuggets have played great this year and get no press. Even without Gallinari, they are a high octane offense that will roll over Golden State and their inferior defense.

(4) Los Angeles Clippers vs (5) Memphis Grizzlies- Clippers 4-3. This was another really difficult series to predict. I don't know very much about Memphis, but it seems that they quietly put together a nice season. This should be a highly entertaining series and the only one I think will go 7 games. Again, tough to call, but I like Lob City in this one. Yuvo, play funk!

Stay tuned for Round 2 predictions! Till then... Stay strong Boston! We love you!

2013 MLB Predictions

As promised, here are my picks for how the season will shape up.

AL East

1. Tampa Bay Rays
2. Toronto Blue Jays
3. New York Yankees
4. Baltimore Orioles
5. Boston Red Sox

I'm a Red Sox fan, but even I can't fool myself into thinking they have any legitimate shot at the playoffs this year. The Yankees don't look nearly as scary as they have in the past and I can't name anyone other than Sabathia on their pitching staff. The Blue Jays are my pick for most improved in the division and the Rays are still the team to beat.

AL Central

1. Detroit Tigers
2. Chicago White Sox
3. Kansas City Royals
4. Cleveland Indians
5. Minnesota Twins

This is the hardest division to call 2-5. My vote for the worst division in baseball has the Tigers winning by more than 10 games. The new look Indians with Terry Francona at the controls will be the team to watch for, but probably not this year.

AL West

1. Los Angeles Angels
2. Oakland Athletics
3. Texas Rangers
4. Seattle Mariners
5. Houston Astros

The loss of Josh Hamilton to the Angels will have an affect on Texas as they begin their inevitable digression. The Angels are nasty this year and are probably the best team in the AL as they are loaded with talent. Welcome to the American League Astros. I think they'd finish last no matter what division you put them in. They stink.

AL Playoff Teams:

1. Los Angeles Angels
2. Detroit Tigers
3. Tampa Bay Rays
4. Oakland Athletics
5. Toronto Blue Jays

NL East

1. Washington Nationals
2. Atlanta Braves
3. Philadelphia Phillies
4. Miami Marlins
5. New York Mets

This is an interesting division. The Phillies could go either way depending on its team's health. If healthy they could be 2nd, but I'm giving it to the Braves who seem to be the model of consistency. The Marlins aren't very good this year, and the Mets... well they're awful. Just awful.

NL Central

1. Cincinnati Reds
2. St. Louis Cardinals
3. Milwaukee Brewers
4. Pittsburgh Pirates
5. Chicago Cubs

The Reds should win this division but it will be very close. The Cardinals are no joke and will be within 5 games. Milwaukee should rename itself to Mediocre, the Pirates need another big bat to go with McCutchen, as well as a bit more pitching, and the Cubs are almost as bad as the Mets. Almost.

NL West

1. Los Angeles Dodgers
2. San Francisco Giants
3. Arizona Diamondbacks
4. San Diego Padres
5. Colorado Rockies

Los Angeles seems to have put together TWO very good baseball teams. The Dodgers and Giants will be trading 1st place back and forth I predict, but I'll give the edge to the Dodgers by 2 games. They will score a lot of runs with that offense, and San Fran's pitching is very tough. Should be an exciting battle between these two teams. The rest of them, put in any order you want. None of them have a chance at the playoffs.

NL Playoff Teams

1. Los Angeles Dodgers
2. Washington Nationals
3. Cincinnati Reds
4. San Francisco Giants
5. St. Louis Cardinals

There you have it. Can't wait for the season to start. Meanwhile, on the fantasy front, following my disappointing football showings, my NBA team won its regular season by 16 games, and has been on a bye this week. My playoff starts Monday. My free baseball team has been selected, and my two NCAA brackets (one free one for money) haven't gone to shit yet. My fantasy baseball team for money drafts on Thursday. There are 18 teams in the league. 18! Yikes! Stay tuned for those draft results as well as my NBA playoff predictions coming soon! Till then...

Fantasy Baseball 2013 Draft Results

   Well it's that time of year again folks. Baseball is back baby! I recently had my fantasy draft for bragging rights in The New England League. I won the championship the past two years and am going for the threepeat. So without further adieu...


So I had the 8th pick out of 10 teams. This is my 10th year of participating in this league and I've had a top 3 pick once. Once. Ridiculous. Not that I need a top 3 to win this league, but it would be nice to have a sure thing in the 1st Round. I had four players targeted for a first round pick. Miguel Cabrera, Robinson Cano, Albert Pujols or Prince Fielder would've been fine. They all went 3-4-5-6. Crap. I didn't have a plan for that scenario. After throwing up all over my cheat sheet, I took Giancarlo Stanton first. Yes, Giancarlo Stanton. Who is Giancarlo Stanton? Vegas oddsmakers have him tied with Jose Bautista to win the HR title in 2013. He hit 37 bombs in just 449 ABs last season. I didn't want Votto or CarGo and I feel like Andrew McCutchen won't top what he did last season. I learned something long ago. Never draft a pitcher in the first round, and when in doubt, draft home runs. Here were my first 4 picks:

1. Giancarlo Stanton (OF)
2. Clayton Kershaw (SP)
3. David Price (SP)
4. Edwin Encarnacion (1B)

Two top 5 pitchers and between Stanton and Encarnacion I'm looking at 80-90 home runs. So far so good. I'm excited by the Encarnacion get. He hit 42 HRs last season and is on a MUCH improved Toronto Blue Jays' offense. In fact, at the time this post was published, Encarnacion smacked a two run double to give the Dominican Republic an early two run lead. They went on to win the game and the World Baseball Classic. Come get some!

Picks 5-8 went like this:

5. Starlin Castro (SS)
6. Ryan Zimmerman (3B)
7. Madison Bumgarner (SP)
8. Joe Mauer (C,1B)

I locked up my SS position quickly with Castro, and Bumgarner is an absolute STEAL in round 7. He is young and plays on the SF Giants which means now he has a ring to go with his 191 strikeouts from last year. Stick him with Kershaw and Price and that's the best 1-2-3 in the league. Starting pitching; check. Zimmerman seems like a nice player and went late in round 6. He should've been gone in the 4th round. Joe Mauer is a career .300 hitter. Sweet.

Picks 9-12:

9. Jonathan Papelbon (RP)
10. Carlos Beltran (OF)
11. Rickie Weeks (2B)
12. Brandon Morrow (SP)

I took Papelbon as my 9th pick figuring my starting pitching is good for a bit let's get some relief. I am notorious for drafting terrible relievers and I'm looking to break that trend with Paps in 2013. Carlos Beltran hit 32 HRs last season and goes nicely with Stanton in the outfield. The one position I neglected this year was 2B. That's ok given that the position isn't very deep to begin with and Weeks hit 21 homers last season. The only downer is his .230 batting average. Brandon Morrow has a lot of upside given the improvement of the Blue Jays who are my pick for 2nd in the AL East and a wild card in the playoffs.

Picks 13-16:

13. Joe Nathan (RP)
14. Chris Davis (1B,OF)
15. Nelson Cruz (OF)
16. Norichika Aoki (OF)

Joe Nathan secures my relief pitching and is in a different league than Paps so no chance they play each other unless there is an interleague matchup between the Phillies and Rangers. Chris Davis is another HR hitter (33 last season) and Nelson Cruz rounds out the outfield nicely. Round 15 is super late for him to be going off the board so there's some added value there. I like Aoki and his speed. He'll be a nice compliment to the power on my offense.

Picks 17-22:

17. Tim Hudson (SP)
18. Chase Utley (2B)
19. Jason Grilli (RP)
20. Alcides Escobar (SS)
21. Jeremy Hellickson (SP)
22. Grant Balfour (RP)

Hudson and Hellickson both play on good teams and should help my win total in pitching. Utley in Round 18 could be the steal of the draft if he stays healthy. In fact, I have him poised to take the starting job from Weeks at 2B. Utley is a potential 20/20 guy when at full strength. Escobar is a speedy backup to Castro at SS and Grilli and Balfour round out my bullpen nicely.


Hopefully this team can produce enough offense to compete. I love my pitching staff this year and I feel like I made the most of my draft position. Interestingly, I don't have anyone on my offense that I had last year. These are all new guys so we'll just have to see how it goes. Hopefully everyone stays healthy. Check back to this blog for my 2013 predictions on how the MLB standings will turn out. Till then...