It's Gonna Be May

"Nothing haunts us like the things we don't say..." -Mitch Albom- (via Francesca Welsh)

"Is it bad that while running over a rattlesnake that was 4-5 feet long with my car I still closed my eyes and screamed?..." -Kristen Williams Atwood-

"What did the sushi say to the bee?" - "WASABI?!" -Erin Vincent- (via Rhiannon Bilsing)

"Some people don't have to lose their blessings to remember to be thankful..."
-Jessica Johnson-

"It's official, I have perfected my rice.  My mom is eating out of the pan!!!!!" -Cristal Zamora-

"You know your hair has gone wild when you know you put 4 bobby pins in your hair but can only find 3..." -Leanne Calderon-

"Play your best game all the time..." -Mike Caro-

"I hate when I get stupid songs stuck in my head..." -Belyne Gonzalez-

"Every little thing I do, never seems enough for you, you don't want to lose it again, but I'm not like them, baby, when you finally, get to love somebody, guess what...,

" -NSYNC- (It's Gonna Be Me) -via Brittany Flores-

Good evening everyone, and I'm so, SO SORRY for that - Brittany, Brittany, Brittany...  ;)  My friend Crystal shared a photo on facebook which I connected with immediately (I'll share that picture with you and explain my instant LOVE for Crystal's status in just a second), and then I saw Belyne's tweet (which fit right in with Crystal's photo), AND THEN Brittany shared the Justin Timberlake shot above with her sister Carrie, and we suddenly had a theme...  Not too long ago at work, I had a song STUCK in my head almost all day, and I was not "happy" about it.  And then Crystal shared this gem...

   

My immediate reaction was "YES!"  :D  I'm generally a good-natured person, but OH does that song annoy me...  Brittany's status was equally (if not more) horrible, although I don't mind the song, and I actually think that Justin Timberlake is pretty entertaining, based on his 'Saturday Night Live' appearances, films that I've seen him in ('The Social Network' comes to mind), etc...  Despite how horrific Brittany's share was however, she makes an excellent point:  April is almost over, and it's gonna be May.  After writing a check today, I now have to pay rent here only two more times...  :)  The future is getting closer (and yes, you can quote me on that)...  ;)  

It seems that food has also managed to become a theme today.  First we had Annon passing along Erin's wasabi joke, and then Cristal had to talk about her rice that's so perfect, her "mom is eating out of the pan!!!!!"  Well, it seems like everyone must know that I'm trying to eat right and lose weight, because 'Team Flores' wasn't done posting facebook statuses.  Carrie hurt me with this photo over the weekend...

   

Shockingly, I've still never visited an In-N-Out location, but GOODNESS GRACIOUS, DOES THAT LOOK HEALTHY!  Just to pile on (and why not, he played a lot of football), my friend Tim posted this last night...

I hate facebook!  :P  Okay, let's talk about some more food that I didn't eat.  When I lived here in Austin a couple of years back, I went to a free crawfish boil at the Cain & Abel's here on West Campus.  Last week I saw a sign advertising their annual crawfish boil for Saturday, so naturally I stopped by.  When I arrived, they really didn't seem that busy for having a crawfish boil on a beautiful Saturday afternoon.  I asked the first employee that I encountered (as a courtesy), "How much is the crawfish?"  He promptly gave me an answer that I didn't expect...  "Twenty dollars for all you can eat..."  Hmmmm...  Remember, we're talking about the Coach that has been eating right and losing weight.  I just wanted to eat SOME crawfish, I didn't want to eat TWENTY DOLLARS worth of crawfish...  Yeah, so I still haven't had crawfish this year..., Carrie didn't bring me a burger..., Tim didn't bring me a burger..., Cristal didn't bring me any rice..., and I don't have any wasabi.  Life sucks...  ;)

Okay, life might not suck.  Like I said, I'm about three months away from returning to Las Vegas, and the lure of sportsbooks and poker tables has a very strong appeal...  I'm pretty confident that sometime in the near future I'll be redoing and republishing my pros and cons of living in Las Vegas blog post that I did some time back.  As much as I detest some aspects of desert life, I'm obviously eagerly anticipating other parts of it.  I'll also be talking more and more (in depth) about sports and poker as the days go by.  I came to the realization recently that I haven't gone into nearly as much detail as I easily could on several sports-related topics because it would just remind me how far I was away from returning to Las Vegas.  Not so much at this point.  For example, the 2014 NFL Draft begins a week from Thursday, and you will PROBABLY be hearing more about that in my next couple of entries...  #probably  ;)

Speaking of sports, we've got some playoff hockey and basketball that are vying for my attention right now, so I'll have to let you go.  Have a great week and I'll see you again on Saturday!

Iannuccilli

"Lifetime and M&M's..." -Yvonne Gonzales-

"I got some double-unders!!!" -Jennifer Hernandez-

"Experience may be the best teacher, but it's also the most expensive..." -Doyle Brunson-

"And I wonder..., when I sing along with you, if everything could ever feel this real forever, if anything could ever be this good again..." -Foo Fighters- (Everlong)

"Tomorrow is the big day.  I just have to survive a bunch of my closest friends trying to get me completely wasted tonight..." -Grrouchie- www.grrouchie.com

"James Harden to grace the milk cartons at your local grocery store..." -Randy Guzman-

"Chocolate... chip... cookies... I need this to sustain living...  This is way more serious than a craving..." -Jessica Johnson-



Good evening everyone.  I'm going to start with some photos tonight, which will help us segue into the monumentally important things that I want to talk about (you longtime readers..., well, both of you must love how I've transitioned from "rambles" to segues over time).

What you have to love about this photo that my friend Valerie shared is that it rings true.  You probably remember my recent post where I shared several seemingly professional-quality profile photos that my friends posted on facebook.  HOWEVER, if you've ever been TAGGED in a photo... :P  And no, we don't care at all about this being two different cats, so save it...  ;)  Sports?  Okay, twist my arm...

My friend Ana shared this picture with us, and it's a perfect example of how it's supposed to be done (well, except that I'd have the Spurs playing on the bigger screen)...  ;)  I actually stole this idea from my brother years back after visiting his place.  I have to tell you, tonight is the first time that I've really watched Brooklyn play for any significant length of time this season, and I think that they could be a handful for the Heat in the next round (if that matchup materializes).  Since we're talking about sports, these are the $1.00 bets that I have at Bovada tonight...

Nets (-5) vs. Raptors
Wizards (-3) vs. Bulls
Blazers (-3) vs. Rockets
Flyers (-1 1/2) vs. Rangers
Blues (-1 1/2) vs. Blackhawks
Ducks (-1 1/2) vs. Stars

Can you say "home team?"  You might also notice that some of these bets are hedges against the prop bets that I made heading into the playoffs (very complicated things are taking place here)...  ;) Since we're still speaking of sports, you may have heard that the NFL released it's regular season schedule this week.  First off, I have to say that I really love the schedule that my Steelers drew. We lost A LOT of players to free agency, but we'll have a fighting chance with the games that the league gave us for this season.  I shared the schedule with my facebook friends, and had to once again laugh at the fact that out of almost 750 people, Katelynn, Gabby, and Grrouchie are the only friends that I have on the social media outlet who share my love for the Steelers.  Speaking of Mr. Grrouchie, it's time to congratulate him once again as he is now officially married.  With the food theme that is permeating this entry tonight, I wanted to include the menu from his wedding (maybe the best that I've ever seen), but I'm not going to ask him for his permission since he JUST GOT MARRIED!  ;)  Congratulations y'all!

Just a couple of more notes from the sports world for ya, and then we'll move on.  Based on early facebook statuses, I think that this season's Cowboys/Texans game could easily sell out a 500,000-seat venue if one were available.  Also, I wanted to take a moment to thank the NBC family of networks for broadcasting all of this season's NHL playoffs.  I remember moving to Texas from New Hampshire after I graduated from high school, and it was like hockey was nonexistent... And now it's time for some bottomless..., BROCCOLI?!

My friend Kyle posted this shot from Red Robin tonight, and not only had I never considered the possibility of a restaurant offering "bottomless broccoli," but I never thought that anyone would ever be interested...  :)  I've actually been sticking to my diet so well over the past month that I'm looking at the SANDWICH BUN with jealousy in my heart.  Okay, yeah, in my stomach... Speaking of people who continue to make strides to be healthy, I guess it's time to explain Jennifer's quote now.  When I read that on facebook, I was like, "WHAT is a DOUBLE-UNDER?!"  I was thinking to myself, "Jennifer Hernandez, is that appropriate for facebook?"  :P  I had NO IDEA what it was...  As it turns out, a "double-under" is a CrossFit thing (yeah, CrossFit, what all the cool kids are doing)...  As Jennifer explained this to me, she said, "I get to do my first real class on Thursday.  I'll let you know if I die or not..."  You see?  My friends..., funny...  ;)  Well, I'm happy to report that Jenn did her first class tonight, and that she is "Not dead!!!"  :D  The following is a text message to my friend Tasha from her mother (who was babysitting), and I was going to share this in a photo, but then I realized that a phone number was showing in the picture...


"Last night your son kept tossing and turning.  He couldn't get comfortable, so he started hitting on Ray, so they started fighting back and forth til he fell asleep.  So around 3:30 in the morning, your son wakes up, he looks at Ray while he was sleeping, and just slaps Ray in the face.  Ray wakes up hollering, "Boy you better stop," and they both roll over and fall back asleep.  Oooooh it was so funny I was cracking up laughing..."


What makes this even more funny to me now is that I had already planned on including it tonight when I watched an episode of 'Mad About You' this morning.  Jamie was just beating the crap out of Paul while they slept...  Yeah, and we'll get to me being off of work this morning in a second...  :)

While we're pondering jobs, let me pick on my friends Carmel and Amy, who live out in Las Vegas. As I'm preparing to move back to the desert this summer, BOTH of these ladies have been on facebook this week, looking to hire people.  Can't you just wait about three months ladies?!  :)

Okay, back to Austin and the University of Texas.  As I said, I didn't have to work today (which is the reason that you're getting this post right now, and not tomorrow).  Due to the classification that I'm under at work, I HAD TO take today off, because I haven't missed a scheduled workday since October (remember that Carmel and Amy, and every other employer in the desert who is reading this post)...  ;)  So it naturally follows that this would be the day that I give you some stories from work.  For starters, in the course of my job this week, I met a woman whose last name is 'Iannuccilli' - I thought to myself, "WOW, that's a cool name, and IMMEDIATELY thought of my friends Verissimo and Castelluccio (you have some competition now ladies)...  ;)  Iannuccilli seemed amused when I told her the story about Verissimo and Castelluccio, and how I said that their names were so cool that they'd have to consider the prospect of marriage very carefully.  And ladies, just so you know..., Iannuccilli married INTO her name...  :)

My job presents me with several interesting opportunities (hey, I met someone with the name 'Iannuccilli'), and one of those occurred a few weeks ago when I worked ahead of the Civil Rights Summit that took place on campus.  As 4 of the 5 living U.S. Presidents were preparing to speak on campus, I got to see some members of the Secret Service up close (I'd like to tell you more, but then I'd have to kill you..., or they'd have to kill me, or something)...  :P  Also, immediately after South By Southwest took place here in Austin, Dave Grohl of the Foo Fighters walked RIGHT BY ME in a building here on campus, and having become a relatively recent fan of their music, of course I had NO IDEA who he was when I saw him...  :P

So Coach, what are we doing besides staying home from work and not recognizing celebrities you ask?...  Well, I knew that it was bound to happen (I did the math), and as I suspected, when Grrouchie got married, my countdown to Las Vegas was indeed under 100 days.  To prepare myself for this, I've been eating better in an attempt to lose weight.  I've also been going through my possessions in an attempt to whittle down the amount of things that I'll be taking with me.  I started the "whittling" process much too late two years ago, and although I don't mind giving things to my friends (they're cool people, as you know), reducing my inventory took way too long.  I was still giving extra things to a friend LESS THAN AN HOUR before I left San Marcos, as I proudly/trepidatiously (fearful of the long trip ahead) showed her my PACKED vehicle (Carmel can testify to this also, as she saw my LOADED SUV)... Very soon I will start seriously surveying the housing and job opportunities in the desert, as I begin making phone calls and filling out applications.  I've been reading my poker books (again) and watching a little bit of sports (SHOCKING), and I'm excitedly anticipating the NFL Draft (I'm an addict) and the release of the NFL and college football preview magazines.  I'm disappointed (as I was two years ago) that I'll be arriving after the World Series of Poker (May 27th - July 14th, and you're welcome) has concluded (along with visits to town by several of my fellow bloggers), but this probably won't be the last WSOP (65 events this year, by the way).

And that's all for tonight.  It's obvious that I have things to do, so have a great weekend and I'll see you on Tuesday!  ;)



    





  

Why In The World?

"So when is this old enough to know better suppose to kick in?..." -Brittney Carney-

"Never trust an atom.  They make up everything..." -Woody Paige-

"Do I wanna know, if this feeling flows both ways?
Sad to see you go, was sorta hoping that you'd stay..."
-Arctic Monkeys- (Do I Wanna Know?)

"Compliment people.  Magnify their strengths, not their weaknesses..."
-via Training Truths:  The Good, The Bad, The Ugly- (facebook page)

"Everything that seems obvious was once obscure..." -Doyle Brunson-

"And the same black line that was drawn on you was drawn on me, and now it's drawn me in..., Sixth Avenue heartache..." -The Wallflowers- (Sixth Avenue Heartache)

Brittany:  "Happy MCM to two of my absolute favorite and most handsome heartbreakers..."
Coach:  "I just learned TBT - what is MCM?"
Brittany:  "Man Crush Monday!  Keep up Coach...  ;)"
-Brittany Flores-




Good evening everyone.  Yeah, I know that I'm throwing you off with another early post.  I figured that I had to mix up my game after Brittany told me to keep up (which is by far my favorite part of that exchange above)...  :)  Since Brittany brought up man crushes and it is Monday, I thought that I'd include of photo of myself playing poker...

Yeah, I have to work on not giving away my hand...  This cartoon does remind me of a hand that I played in the WinStar poker room in Oklahoma however...  Now let me preface this by saying that I think that I'm usually pretty tough to read.  If I'm involved in a hand, I won't talk, and once we go to the flop, I will sit with my left hand covering my mouth, while I pose stone-faced, wearing my shades.  Well, as I'll do from time to time, I'll watch the other players as the flop hits the board (looking for their reactions) as opposed to watching the cards.  In this case I held 10's, and 5 of us saw the flop.  After watching everyone's reaction to the board, I looked down to see 10 x 10, and in a moment that was very uncharacteristic for me, my throat emitted the most suspicious, guttural noise that you've ever heard...  I tried to play it off by coughing afterward, like something had gotten stuck in my throat while swallowing (like an elephant), but although I was first to act, 4 players proceeded to check behind me on the flop and the turn, and when I bet out 10 (into a pot of 50) on the river, they all folded FAST...  Okay, so maybe I should take up something else, like golf...  This photo and caption from my friends David and Scott sums up my golf game PERFECTLY!

    

The accompanying caption was, "Ready to start another Easter Egg hunt!!!"  :D  Ask my brother Pete if you don't believe me - I'm not much better at betting golf than I am at playing the game, which says a lot...  :P  However, as often as I see David and Scott posting on facebook about their outings, I'm positive that they could find these Titleists...  Speaking of colorful things, our favorite Texans fan Alyssa is making her triumphant return to the blog tonight...

Note the Texans cap - SOOOO predictable...  :P  Alyssa obviously had a successful Easter Weekend fishing outing, reeling in these Black Drum and Redfish (you didn't think that I was referring to Alyssa as being colorful, did you?)...  ;)  Knowing Alyssa, I'm sure that there is a nice little fish market nearby that sold a pair of Black Drum and four Redfish shortly before this picture was taken...  Okay..., in all honesty, this is more fish than I've ever caught in the ocean (by about six), but Alyssa will always be in my debt for teaching her how to peel crawfish...  :P  Nice catch Alyssa...  :)  And since we're on the topic of colors, let's talk about the Orange and White Scrimmage...

Yeah, Coach got out of his apartment on Saturday and took the twenty-minute stroll over to DKR to watch the Texas spring football game.  This shot was taken from the eighth-row of the endzone, which was my original seat at the game.  Just before halftime, I moved to the other side of the endzone, and let's talk about THAT...  :P  I'm now sitting in the first row of endzone seats, it's the last play of the half, and the ball is at midfield.  The quarterback is scrambling to his right, and he heaves a prayer toward the promised land.  As this ball is in the air, this very educated fan sitting to my right screams, "WHY IN THE WORLD WOULD HE THROW THAT?!  As my eyes roll while I'm thinking, "well..., it's the last play of the half..., the ball is at the fifty..., may I phone a friend???," this goofy-looking, awkwardly-rotating DUCK OF A PASS manages to navigate its way through triple coverage and into the arms of a diving wide receiver just beyond the goal line - TOUCHDOWN!!  Life was very good at that moment...  :P

Speaking of sports, these are all of my current prop bets on the NHL and NBA playoffs (if you want something to root for or against)...

NHL - To Win The Stanley Cup

Kings 10/1
Avalanche 14/1
Flyers 20/1
Red Wings 20/1
Canadiens 20/1
Wild 40/1
Blue Jackets 50/1
Stars 50/1


NBA - To Win The Title

Spurs 11/4 (This bet was a $5.00 "bonus bet" that I earned for my NCAA Tourney action - if the Spurs don't win it all, I get a refund of my $5.00).


NBA - To Win The East

Nets 6/1
Bulls 12/1


NBA - To Win The West

Rockets 9/1


All of the bets other than the Spurs prop are for $1.00, and are obviously based on their value/hedging value.  If you're unaware, I'm a Spurs fan, and although I'm very concerned about our age and susceptibility to injuries, I'm hopeful that we can make one more last run (and one more the year after that, and so on)...  Don't get me started on the quality of the Western Conference or the cupcake-like quality of the East...

Now let's take a moment to send our best wishes to our friend and fellow blogger Grrouchie (www.grrouchie.com/) as he will be getting married very shortly.  I may or may not post again before his wedding, but I've been so unpredictable lately, who really knows???  ;)  Remember, when in doubt, ALWAYS support the Steelers fan...  :D

I have a little hockey and basketball waiting for me right now, but I'll post sometime on or around Saturday...  Until then, have a great week!
          

  

Money Talks

"We took baby boy to the doctor today, and of course everything is good.  They always say, "well, we know he's eating good."  LOL my little chubs..." -Valerie Saenz-

"The value of preparation cannot be overstated..."
-Pete P. Peters- thepokerbarrister.blogspot.com

"Omg Channing Tatum is at my work right now...  Luckily I just ran here from my house only to look sweaty and disgusting...  Lovely..." -Casey Castleberry-

"It's about looking for good spots and being smart..." -Brent Hanks-

"Thirty minutes on treadmill just to burn one bag of Cadbury Eggs?  Wth?  At 43 - will I ever learn?  :( lol" -Patti Thompson-



Good evening everyone.  How's this for a surprise?  Your late Saturday post is coming to you on Friday night...  ;)  On that note, let me cry a little bit about today first.  While some people were updating their facebook profiles with news of their engagement (Congratulations Valerie), and other people were letting their birthday brunches, lunches, and dinners begin (Happy Birthday Cristal), and others were playing at Knott's Berry Farm (I hope that you enjoyed it Lauren), and someone was preparing to get married (Congratulations Cecily), SOMEBODY was at work (insert tears for me)...  However, the main reason that I'm doing this entry early is because I'm attending the Texas Longhorns' Orange/White Scrimmage (the spring football game) tomorrow (okay, cancel those tears for me)...  ;)

Let's start with bridges and a big sign that states "NO TRUCKS."  This photo comes to you from my friend Linda, and this took place in San Marcos, America yesterday...

My mind immediatly went to these (edited) lyrics...  "Uh oh..., (you're) in trouble, something's come along and it's burst (your) bubble..." -Shampoo- (Trouble)  Drive safely during this holiday weekend my friends...  The following photo comes to you all the way from France.  My friend Heather posted this with the caption, "Sometimes it's good to be a picky eater - French version of steak and fries.  Beautiful presentation and delicious..."

This obviously looks outstanding, but you should be well-acquainted with my ever alert and sarcastic mind by now...  :P  I commented to Heather how I loved that these were supposed to be "French fries," and yet...  ;)  Okay, we'll leave Heather to enjoy her vacation while we give some attention to cats.  You're probably familiar with 'Cat on a Hot Tin Roof.'  Well, this is 'Cat on a Ten Foot High Cabinet' from my friend Jess...

Of course the best part of this story came in the comments section to this status.  Jess was asked how in the world she got up there, to which she replied, "She climbed like Spiderman."  As far as getting down, Jess explained, "Well I climbed the cabinet to help her, but she wouldn't have it, sooo she almost fell on her face climbing down head first - hahaha..."  Evidently this is the second time that "Spiderman" has been up on this cabinet...  :P

My friend Renetta posted a status about her daughter playing softball yesterday, and you remember how I'm ever alert, right?  Yeah, yeah...  Well anyway, I'm sure that you're familiar with the line, "Diamonds are a girl's best friend."  Having coached softball before, I've often seen this motto printed on t-shirts and the like.  What I found amusing in Renetta's facebook status was learning that her girl plays for 'Davis Jewelers' - goodness gracious...  :D

Once again, just for my friend Lightning, we have a little poker content tonight.  First, we have the quotes above from Brent Hanks and the well-renowned poker guru himself, Pete P. Peters. Second, we have this cartoon that my friend Brigette shared...

They still use cards in poker, right?  ;)  Finally, we have the early January photo from my friend Joey that I point to as the deciding factor in making my decision to return to Las Vegas this summer.

  

I mean, if JOEY can take all of these chips off of players at the Flamingo, I surely can, right???  :P Again, nice win Joey...  :D

So here we are, watching hockey and giving you a post EARLY for a change.  Well, as luck would have it, I was watching hockey two nights ago, and after an exciting overtime win by my Canadiens (yes, they're DEFINITELY "my Canadiens" when they're up 2-0 in the series), I didn't change the channel right away.  This resulted in the start of the broadcast for the show that followed the game on CNBC.  That show was 'Money Talks.'  As it turns out, this show is about (wait for it..., wait for it...), SPORTS BETTING!  Not only had I never seen this show before..., I had never even heard of it.  Let's be honest..., we all know that I'm not smart enough to watch CNBC, right?  :)  Well, if you like Las Vegas, you have to check out this show (because you'll see different parts of Las Vegas).  :P  As far as the content of the show goes, well...  As soon as I saw what the show was about, I messaged my brother Pete to ask him if he had ever seen it before.  He hadn't, but like myself, he had watched the hockey game, not changed the channel, and he was now recording the show.  So I watched the show...  This program consists of MAYBE ten seconds of analysis concerning why a certain side of sports bet was chosen, while the remaining hour focuses on how this consultant sells his service, and tries to convince his clients to bet as much money as possible on each pick (he gets 50% of what they win if the pick is right, although they take all of the risk).  In the first episode that I watched, his "sure thing" was Louisville (-28) against Connecticut in football.  The Cardinals ended up winning the game by 21, and the client lost $30,000...  #ouch  Anyway, that's something that you can be on the lookout for if you want to see different shots of Las Vegas and a bunch of sportsbooks...

Well, I'm giving up for tonight (since I did post early and all), but have a very safe and happy holiday weekend, and I'll see you again on Tuesday!      

You Idiot

"Spoil me with loyalty, I can finance myself..." -Brittany Flores-

"If you can't go to war, don't start one..." -Marcel Luske-

"Looking at you, holding my breath, for once in my life, I'm scared to death, I'm taking a chance, letting you inside..." -Lifehouse- (First Time)

"Dear IRS, I would like to cancel my subscription.  Please remove my name from your mailing list..." -via Scott Marshall-

"We are born in one day.  We die in one day.  We can change in one day.  And we can fall in love in one day.  Anything can happen in just one day..." -Gayle Forman-
(via Training Truths:  The Good, The Bad, The Ugly - facebook page)



Good evening everyone.  So I took a long nap and I'm posting a little later than usual tonight (than I usually INTEND TO POST that is).  In related news (you guessed it), you will probably being seeing my entry on Saturday no earlier than early evening.  It seems that the Texas (yeah, that would be Longhorns) spring football game (orange/white scrimmage) is taking place at 1:00 p.m. on Saturday, and will be preceded by a free 'Fan Fest' at 11:00 a.m.  Since there are rumors that someone is going to be moving back to Las Vegas before the end of the summer, someone decided that they should attend these events.  I'm apologizing to you in advance (yes..., because I'm going to be subjecting you to another blog post)...  Y'all are so mean...  :)

Speaking of university-related happenings, our good friend Gabby has some graduation photos that could easily end up on a Texas State University brochure...

Well..., if I WAS IN CHARGE of putting Bobcats on the brochures, Gabby would be on them...  :) What an incredible collegiate career she's had (I've documented a significant portion of Gabby's senior year achievements here in the blog)...  And just when you think that your opinion of Gabby couldn't be any higher, the caption that she included with her nine photos (yes, nine - see, I only pilfered a third of them) was, "Bye Texas State!  You have been so good to me!"  Gabby..., I think that you've been pretty good to Texas State as well...  :D  Just like the photo of Paige, Brooke, and Caitlin that I posted here recently, Gabby's snapshots are here to serve as a reminder that the school year and another round of graduations is now SERIOUSLY CLOSE to being upon us.  The next round of ceremonies down in San Marcos will begin three weeks from Thursday at my alma mater (yes, the same day that the NFL Draft begins - you WERE paying attention!).  As I was preparing to begin this blog entry tonight, I actually noticed that Brooke was seeking help in solving some sort of Candy Crush Saga dilemma - oh..., the stress that these Bobcats have to deal with these days...  :P  To all of you out there who are preparing to take your final exams, I wish you the best of luck, and to all of you who are about to graduate, CONGRATULATIONS!  :)

Back to Gabby (and really, to all of my friends who have appeared here), I truly appreciate how they take being featured in my little blog in stride.  When I sought Gabby's permission to post her photos and brag about her some more, she replied, "I mean if you insist!!"  :)  Our friend Brittany (who you've seen once or twice here recently) responded, "No problem!  I'm getting used to these weekly features..." when I asked about using her photo for a facebook blog "ad."  Interestingly enough, when I notify my facebook friends of new blog entries, facebook allows me to choose from 1 of 3 random photos that has appeared here to include with my link.  About once a month, I get to choose from 1 of 7 photos (yeah, it's pretty weird).  And again, I REALLY DO appreciate all of you who have let me share pieces of your life here...

Speaking of sharing and stealing, let's see what else I've got for you tonight...  My friend and fellow blogger Lightning recently made a comment that I haven't been posting much about poker lately, so I specifically included the quote above from Marcel Luske just for him (yeah, Luske was referring to poker in that quote, but I think that it can be taken as a "life quote" also)...  Also (just for you Lightning), I decided to share this specific Las Vegas photo tonight (note the lightning)...

  

Hopefully this gets me off the hook for the lack of poker content for a little while.  This is probably one of my favorite Vegas photos that I've come across recently, as I mull over the days til I return to the desert...  Speaking of fellow bloggers, this cartoon shared on facebook by my friend Timi actually got an "LOL" from Memphis Mojo, so I thought that I'd share it tonight...

And speaking of animals (just SO MANY nice segues tonight), my friend Valerie put this photo up recently...

The caption that accompanied Valerie's photo was, "Bacon wrapped stuffed with cream cheese and jalapeno!  It was delicious!"  I was honestly stumped as to what this was originally (although I've eaten it before), but the comments section (as always - and hey, let somebody else ask, right?) cleared things up...

Friend:  "Is that a frog? lol"

Valerie:  "Ha.  No, it's a bird..."

When I jumped in, admitting that I had been confused also (I think the photo makes them look smaller than they actually are), Valerie told me that these are (do you know already?...) quail. Yeah, should have known...  And yes, anytime that I see a sentence that starts with the words, "Bacon wrapped stuffed with cream cheese," you've got my undivided attention...  ;)

Okay, now it's time to revisit my highly unsuccessful golf experiment, and to talk about happier (hopefully) sports betting ventures...  If you read my last entry, you know that I wasted eight dollars by betting against Bubba Watson to win the Masters.  But guess what?!  TOMORROW NIGHT the NHL playoffs begin!!!  For those of you who have been reading my drivel here for quite some time now, you know that I LOVE the NHL playoffs, and ESPECIALLY the multiple overtime games. Well, I visited Bovada last night, and decided on a new futures sports betting experiment.  First, for $1.00 each, I took each of the following teams to win the Stanley Cup, at the odds specified...

Kings 10/1

Avalanche 14/1

Canadiens 20/1

Flyers 20/1

Red Wings 20/1

Wild 40/1

Blue Jackets 50/1

Stars 50/1

You will notice that I took the underdogs in most of the first round series to win it all - this is my thinking...  If these teams get through, I'm going to be in line to make a nice profit.  However, if one of these teams is on the brink of elimination, I can go back to that hedging, betting the favorite in their series to win the final game, where I'll either win that bet, or my underdog will still be alive.  I'll let you know how this goes, as usual.  By the way, I am a Montreal Canadiens fan, due to their success when I was very young (yes, 100 years ago).  However, I don't get to see them play very much, because they're located a million miles from Texas and don't receive much t.v. coverage here.  However, I will be rooting for them, and my other prop teams, and my double and triple and quadruple overtime games...  ;)

I think that's enough for one night, but I will be back on Saturday (or Sunday..., you know me) to bother you again.  Have a great week and I'll see you then!

      

       

        

  

Taking Inventory

"Even the bravest of creatures have some fears, but it is not enough to stop them from moving in the path they are destined to walk upon..." -via Training Truths:  The Good, The Bad, The Ugly-
(facebook page)

"Just got told I look like Selena!!  I'm beyond thrilled... #chineseeyes #whenismile"
-Amanda Villalpando-

"All my friends are getting engaged/married and having babies and I'm just over here like, "I really love tacos"..." -via Jessica Johnson-

"Just scanned a baby from India and ssshhhhh'd my way through the whole exam.  Calming babies has no language barrier..." -Sara Hawkins-

"I tried to eat healthy today..., then my son wanted pizza..." -Belyne Gonzalez-



Good afternoon everyone.  Yeah, it's not Saturday - your guaranteed money-back refunds are in the mail...  ;)  We're going to start with sports today (to get it out of the way Miletus).  Let's start with golf, because that's what I'll be watching today.  When I returned home from work yesterday (more about that shortly), I looked at the proposition (prop) bets for the Masters golf tournament. At the time, Bubba Watson had a 5-stroke lead (at -8).  Due to that, he was a 1/1 favorite to win the tourney (win a dollar for every dollar that you bet).  However, the oddsmakers were giving the rest of the field really long odds, so I decided to jump on some of the underdogs (it was still early in the round, leaving the majority of two rounds to play - yesterday and today).  Over the years, I have seen many leaders in major golf tournies unravel, so I bet a $1.00 each on the following golfers to win the Masters:  Speith 9/1; Furyk 15/1; Senden 28/1; Fowler 16/1; Bjorn 25/1; Jimenez 25/1; Blixt 33/1; and Stadler 40/1.  What happened basically is that I skipped over Watson and Matt Kucher (who was only paying 6/1), but I then took every other golfer who was at -3 at the time. This is what the leaderboard looks like right now after yesterday played out...

Watson -5
* Speith -5
* Blixt -4
Kuchar -4
* Jimenez -3
* Fowler -3
Westwood -2
* Bjorn -2
* Furyk -2
* Senden -1
* Stadler -1

There are a couple of others at -1 right now, but you get the point.  All 8 of my golfers are on that list right now, so if I can fade Watson, Kuchar, and Westwood, and get one of my picks in that green jacket, I'll have a very interesting day for only an $8.00 investment.  This is a lot like my little NCAA Tourney experiment, but just more condensed...

Speaking of that investment, this is the follow-up for those of you who have stayed tuned.  If you haven't, I bet a $1.00 on 12 different teams to make the Final Four, and another $1.00 on each of those 12 to win the national championship (at different odds, much like the golfers above).  Long-story short, Kentucky was my little angel, paying 12 to 1 to reach the Final Four, and 33 to 1 to win the title.  When the experiment began, I had $48.00-ish bucks in my Bovada account, and obviously $24.00 and change left after making the bets.  Having the long odds allowed me to hedge (bet against myself) to ensure making some money once the Final Four and title game approached.  I lost like 4 bucks betting against the Wildcats in a hedge in the 'Elite 8' - however, I bet 13 bucks on UConn in the title game.  Again, long-story short, I ended up with $55.78 in my account after the tourney ended, including the other little bets that I made in the meantime.  I was just over $57.00 when I made those 8 bets yesterday, so send me your good karma and let's enjoy some golf today!  ;)

So how can I lay around and watch golf all day you ask (other than my MASSIVE investment in the tourney)?  Well, for the last four days at work, I was doing inventory.  Now numbers, and counting, that's pretty much right up my alley, but after four days on my feet...  I'm not doing JACK today...  And I did A LOT of counting...  Belyne's quote up top was very relevant to my diet yesterday also.  I've been doing very well watching what I eat, avoiding the bread and the sugar and the fatty foods.  WELL, Wednesday through Friday were just "normal" work days, where we took inventory, then ate the lunch that we brought, and then counted some more.  HOWEVER, yesterday we received the help of about a dozen current Longhorns to help us in finishing up the counts.  Since they enlisted the help of the college students, they decided to provide us with breakfast and lunch, along with drinks.  SOOOOOOO, yesterday Coach ate 2 breakfast tacos, 4 slices of pizza, and had 3 cokes.  HEY, it's against my nature..., and it goes against everything that I believe really, to turn down FREE FOOD...  :P  So yeah, I'll just be laying around today, and eating more healthy, and watching a lot of golf...  :)

I'm still preparing to move back to Las Vegas, and I think about it every day.  I thought that I knew about sports before (you know otherwise of course), but I'm going to be putting in a SICK amount of studying for this little sports betting venture that I'm about to embark upon.  I'll PROBABLY show up in a poker room or two along the way also, but I'm going to be an extremely well-informed bettor, you can count on that.  Oh yeah, here's another photo of Las Vegas for you...

Well, it appears that the golf is underway for today, so you're spared from further torture (for now).  Have a great Sunday and I'll see you again on Tuesday!

  

  

 

We Live Life

"How many guys does it take to break down an NCAA game at halftime?  Apparently EIGHT!  SMH..." -Pete Wyatt- (In reference to the Connecticut/Florida Final Four matchup)...

"If you don't like where you are, move.  You are not a tree!" -Belyne Gonzalez-

"Thanks for the AWESOME write up!  What an incredible world to have a past teacher turned friend at my show right before the big tour!" -HalleyAnna Finlay-

"Thanks Coach (Chris Wyatt) for givin' me a legit shout out on your blog, plus always offering an honest opinion and great conversation..." -Jessica Johnson-


"From my boyz in the band Chicago:

So hard to be
Free to love only you
People starin' at me
Try to take you away

There's no time to delay
We've got to live for today
I've got so much to give
And there is so much to say

Night after night
Day after day
In spite of our words
They all turn away" -Lightning36-


"Get out and do the things YOU want to do because time isn't slowing down..."
-Chris Wyatt- (via Brittany Flores)

Good evening everyone.  It would be an understatement to say that I'm very pleased with the very positive response to my most recent post here.  Brittany posted this photo of her sister Carrie and herself on facebook not long after sparking my blog entry.  "We Live Life" was the simple caption provided, and was all that needed to be said (which doesn't explain why I typed so much here on Saturday)...  ;)  And you remember Carrie, right?

   

Yeah, I thought that would help (speaking of the professional-quality profile photos that I've seen from my facebook friends)...  :)  Well, after I published that post on Saturday, Brittany actually quoted ME on facebook.  As I told her, I'm always stealing from other people, but no one ever quotes me.  Brittany also shared the link to my last entry on facebook, as did Jessica, who also had very kind things to say about me.  Above their statuses up top is the message that HalleyAnna sent me from Memphis regarding that post.  In addition to all of the kind words and gratitude that I received from these young ladies, Lightning36 (from the blog 'Lightning Strikes' in the links to the right) left the lyrics to the Chicago song, 'So Much To Give, So Much To Say' in the comments section of that entry.  It is pretty eerie how closely the themes in those lyrics resemble what I wrote about in that blog post, especially since I had never heard the song before...  Thanks again to everyone who contributed to that entry (and to all of the posts that I make here), and I really do appreciate all of the positive feedback that I received from y'all.

Speaking of stealing from my friends, I have a little story from my friend Amanda that I noticed on facebook over the weekend.  This is the same Amanda that I wrote about almost a year ago now (can you believe that it's been that long?) when she graduated from college ('BEEP BEEP!!!' - 5/20/13).  Now Amanda has a young son who is playing t-ball.  A family member shared a video on facebook with the caption, "This ones soooo funny!!  He ran to the bases with his eyes closed!" Now Amanda is one of my former softball players, and she is an excellent mother.  I've seen Amanda with her son, I've seen the photos and the comments that she shares on facebook..., just an awesome person and mother (and very unassuming, just like Bianca, if you want another segue to my last post)...  :)  With all that being said, you KNOW that Amanda is just going to JUMP to her little boy's defense.  The very first comment under the video (from Amanda of course) was, "I'm telling you he didn't get his base running from me!!"  :)  Amanda already knows this, but for those of you who may have missed my last post, I only pick on people I like (and that comment made me smile)...  :)

And then there are punks like Alma, posting photographs like this...

  

My friends Kate and Sean were kind enough to invite me to their annual crawfish boil once again.  I wrote a VERY LONG POST about last year's event (and Kate was right, it WAS too long)...  :) Well, as you may know, my vehicle hasn't been running for a while.  However, I could have contacted someone about giving me a ride to San Marcos for this popular event.  Honestly, I might have rented a car just so that I wouldn't miss out on this (THAT would have been a good story)...  ;) As luck would have it however, I was on call Sunday as 4 of the 5 living Presidents are going to be speaking here at the University of Texas at Austin over the next few days.  LUCKILY though, I had friends like Alma posting photos from this party.  GRRRRR...  And that's all, carry on...  ;)

I have to do inventory at work for the next four days, so I'm going to quit for right now, and I'll probably see you later than usual on Saturday (yes, Saturday would be the fourth day)...  Have a good one and I'll see you then!



     

I Have So Much To Say

Lyndi:  "Mommy, what you doin'?"
Me:  "Trying to pop a pimple.  Owww..."
Lyndi:  "Mommy, your nipple hurt?"
Me:  "WHAT??"
Lyndi:  "Your nipple hurts??"
Me:  "OH!!!  My pimple....yes, it hurts... lol"

"And now we are eating 'sloppy jokes' for dinner... lol" -Kelley Senn Leeds-

"I do five sit-ups every morning.  May not sound like much, but there's only so many times you can hit the snooze button..." -via Francesca Welch-

"If you don't have emotional control, all your other skills are useless..." -Daniel Negreanu-

"If you want me to go running with you, I'm going to need some motivation...  Like a clown chasing us with a bloody knife and margaritas at the finish line..." -The Bikini Model Cookbook-
(via Leanne Calderon)

"According to this 3yr old, he won't get dressed unless I iron his clothes..."
-Monica Rodriguez-



Good afternoon everyone.  Yeah, this would be the alter ego of the 'I Have Nothing To Say' post that I did last time.  Lucki from 'Small Potatoes Poker and Sports Betting' in the links to the right left the comment, "For someone who didn't have anything to say, you sure said a lot."  Well just wait y'all, because I PLAN on saying a lot this time.  Since I obviously don't have any time to waste on all of this small talk with you, let's get started...  ;)

Yes, let's lead off with HalleyAnna.  Right here we also have to recognize the power of "advertising" on facebook.  When I worked at Harper's last year in San Marcos, I would constantly post statuses on the social network because I didn't want to be at work alone.  I also post blog 'ads' on facebook every time that I write a new entry (and still no one reads the blog).  :P  Yeah, we're going to pass 67,000 total pageviews here today, but we're here to talk about HalleyAnna, so PLEASE focus...  I powered up my facebook after I got home from work on Thursday, and as I was about to take my semi-traditional nap, I saw that my friend HalleyAnna was going to be headlining that night at the Cactus Cafe on the campus of the University of Texas at Austin.  I hadn't seen HalleyAnna headline anywhere, and some of you might be aware of the rumor that I'm moving to Las Vegas in four months.  Although this venue was going to be way out of my way, I decided that I would do my best to make her show.  "Wait Coach..., don't you work at UT, and don't you WALK to work???"  Know-it-alls...  Yes, I work at UT, and the Cactus Cafe is located in the Texas Union, which is about half as far as I walk to work, and I walked to the show from my apartment in less than ten minutes...  ;)

Well, I was the first one in the door (I like arriving to shows early too, just like sporting events).  I took a seat right up front, but against the wall, so that I would have a good vantage point, but hopefully wouldn't make HalleyAnna nervous, being front and center.  (Oh, and HalleyAnna, when I spoke to you after the show, and forgot what I was going to ask you, I meant to ask you what the biggest crowd was that you've played for)...  :)  As it turns out, Thursday night's show on campus was her last performance before embarking on a three-week tour, and HalleyAnna had a lot of friends in the intimate setting of the cafe.  The obvious sign that I enjoyed the show was that it went by way too fast.  Have you ever gone out and the time just FLEW BY?  HalleyAnna's music is Americana (defined by the Americana Music Association as "American roots music based on the traditions of country").  She hit a note in a song and I had to stop and think, "WHO does she remind me of?"  The answer was Bonnie Raitt.  Thank God that HalleyAnna knew who Ms. Raitt was when I asked her after the show, AND that she likes her...  :D  She's versatile in that a write-up that I read on Thursday afternoon likened her to Patsy Cline.  I have to brag on HalleyAnna a little bit here by letting you know that she's been nominated for 'Lone Star Music's Emerging Artist of 2014 Award.'  You can find several of her songs on YouTube, and you can visit her webpage at www.halleyanna.com to learn more about her.  I even gave HalleyAnna a suggestion for the name of a new song of hers that has yet to be titled.  I really enjoyed the show, both the music and HalleyAnna's interaction with the audience.  She's going to be in the Little Rock, Nashville, Alabama, South Carolina area soon if you're in the neighborhood (yeah, BIG AREA, I know), and she's due to be back home in Texas near the end of the month.  Give her music a spin and get out and see her if you get the chance...

Profile photos...  Brittany, this is all your fault, but I'm going to start with my friend Rose.  This picture came across my newsfeed a couple of days ago...

             

I KNOW that Rose posted this shot just to bother me, and I'm sure that Jessica, Leanne, Kari, and Pete (among others) will appreciate that.  Then, when the Yankees were winning a game recently, she gave a "what what" in a status.  I made a clever (or so I thought) comment about being confused by the Yankees success also, and Rose replied, "Are you Dazed?"  Now you cool kids will get that...  #dazedandconfused  Oh..., it's going to be a LONG baseball season...  ;)

Now for our troublemaker, and the reason that this will turn into such a long (but worthwhile) entry today.  I saw Brittany's new profile photo on my Droid Wednesday, and when I saw it again on my computer after I got home, I was really impressed with it.

I wasn't the only one who liked it...  I'm sure that you've heard of instances where people have ended relationships by sending a text message.  WAY on the other end of that spectrum is something that I don't ever remember seeing (or hearing about) before...  One of Brittany's friends commented, "Would you like to marry me?  I'm available right now..." beneath her photo.  Wouldn't that be something if someone successfully proposed marriage via a facebook comment??? Unfortunately, Cupid missed the mark in this case, as Brittany replied, "Ooooh so tempting...ha ha..."  Her response surely had NOTHING TO DO with the additional comment stating that he wasn't sure if he would feel this way for more than a couple of days...  #friendsarethebest  :)

Truth be told (and why would I lie?), there were A LOT of comments about this photo, including a touching family moment when her aunt commented on her mascara, and asked Brittany who taught her how to put it on (I'll give you one guess...  NO..., it wasn't me, it was her aunt)... #keepuppeople  To be totally honest, what stood out in the photo to me was Brittany's Chanel "I go out more and have had more fun in the past month than some people do in their entire lives, AND I'm very possibly going to Las Vegas in MAY COACH, BEFORE YOU" shade of pink lipstick...  Or is it Dior..., Clinique..., Revlon???  ;)  As you can obviously tell, Brittany is a really good sport about letting me share her stuff, and it makes me wish that her sister posted more also.  However, I'm sure that Carrie is probably saying, "Blog?  Who wants to be in a blog?  Blogs are so two thousand and late..."  Okay..., Carrie PROBABLY ISN'T saying this, but then I learned that Carrie and Brittany used to RAP, so who knows?...  :)  As these young ladies are enjoying strawberries today (strawberry festival, wouldn't you know it?), the point of using Brittany's lipstick to tease her about her awesome social life was to segue back to my last blog entry (and yes, I'm now segueing between posts).  Get out and do the things that you want to do, because time isn't slowing down...

Shortly after I first saw Brittany's photo, this picture appeared on my facebook page...

Now this is my friend Jessica, and she hits twice on the segue meter...  Jess has a cool new profile photo, and she's doing what she wants to do.  Jess is incredibly bright, and I'm talking both "book smart" and "street smart" - she's very sharp.  She studied International Business Management, and after college Jess decided to go into modeling and promoting and I don't think I can even begin to do justice trying to list everything that she does...  ;)  Back to her being bright (and talented), Jessica was about the only true post that I had on a junior varsity girls basketball team with A LOT of guards.  Now we were scrappy and we hustled, but we just weren't very tall. Jessica was so coachable and so smart that she managed to pull in A TON of rebounds AND stay out of foul trouble despite being the focal point of our opponents underneath.  Editor's Note: I'm still saying all of these nice (and rest assured, they're true) things about Jessica, DESPITE THE FACT that she broke out the word 'Coachella' a few days ago...  ;)  One day she's a j.v. post player, and the next day she's art...  :)  Jessica told me that this work was done at 'Beyond The Canvas' in San Antonio, and that the theme of this piece is 'Witchblade' (a comic book superheroine).  Alright, so I've seen the new photos from Brittany and Jess, and then Jennifer posts this shot...

You might remember Jennifer from the 'Pompadorable' post that I did not too long ago.  Jennifer said the greatest thing when I asked her if I could use this picture in the blog:  "Yes, but you have to mention I really do have a shirt on!  Lol  :)"  Totally Pompadorable...  ;)  Okay, so now that's THREE pictures (I cannot in good faith praise the photo with the Yankees jerseys, sorry Rose... :P), and it dawns on me that my friends have some REALLY INCREDIBLE profile photos.  Earlier in the week, I would have been completely satisfied just picking on Brittany, but now I have a theme, so I'm keeping my eyes open, and trying to remember some of the older profile photos that my friends have used.  There's Lindsey...

    

Now this is the same Lindsey that contributed the photograph that looked like art from the Bobcat baseball game recently (her snapshot and Jessica's picture are about the only art that you're ever going to find in my blog, unless you count the art from Charli of course)...  ;)  Going further back (to the fall), this is also the Lindsey who commented on the pizza that I was eating at Harper's, and who proceeded to BUY ME A PIECE after I let her try my slice...  :)  I like the similarity between Jennifer's photo and this one, but at this point there are far too many similarities and segues to keep up with...  ;)  However, with that being said, Lindsey and myself have a mutual friend named Bianca...

    

Now I really don't remember when this started, but I know that more than once in the past, I've addressed Bianca as 'supermodel' when our paths have crossed.  Just like Jessica (and HalleyAnna and Carrie for that matter), Bianca is a former student of mine who I was more than happy to add as a friend on facebook once I joined (which was obviously long after I taught and coached, since that was 100 years ago, as we've covered here before)...  ;)  Now Bianca has always been just the most level-headed, unassuming person that you would ever want to meet. Editor's Admission:  I knew that 'unassuming' was the word that I wanted to use, but I did recheck the definition just to be sure, and the word means, "lacking in arrogance, pleasant, polite..."  So yeah, 'unassuming' is EXACTLY the word that I wanted to use to describe Bianca - she might beat you up and steal your lunch money, but she's always been nice to me...  :)  This points us in the direction of my personal moral of this "little" blog entry (and thanks again for starting all of this Brittany - my blog entries never required "morals of the story" before), which we'll get to shortly.  I now find it ironic that 'supermodel' is the word that I've sometimes used to address Bianca, because unassuming (see definition above :P) is about the last word that I'd associate with supermodels...  And then there's the young lady who breaks us away from the profile photo theme, but that theme only...

  

Heather is being tagged to photos on facebook constantly due to the fact that she dances for the Austin Toros, but her current profile shot is a little bit..., grainy??? (for lack of a better word)... However, I wanted to include a photo of Heather here because I didn't know her very well (I had actually just met her) when I first mentioned her in the blog.  This is the young lady who was waiting tables at Bobcat Nation when I visited back in the fall, the one who told me, "you better stop watching me," which were the first words EVER spoken between us...  Like I said, I thought this was AWESOME, and now you have a face to put with that story.  I think I mentioned in that post that I already knew several of the other people who worked there, and that Heather could see that, but it was still one of the most memorable first encounters that I've ever had.  And that brings us to our last photo, until we get to Joey and myself, who are obviously the real supermodels here...  :)

  

As I continued to find and remember all of these amazing profile photos, I recalled something that I told my good friend Kelley (not quite 100 years ago)...  Obviously, in every photo from HalleyAnna all the way down to Kelley (and YES, you too Rose, EVEN in that YANKEES jersey ;) ), this is an extremely photogenic group of people.  I wouldn't hesitate to use the word beautiful to describe any of them, and I don't just throw that word around recklessly.  Since you've been with me for 67,000 pageviews now, this is something that you should know about me (and hopefully you already do). What I told Kelley is that no matter how physically attractive somebody is..., if they aren't cool..., if they're jerks..., if they don't treat other people with respect..., then I don't care about them at all. They're not attractive anymore...  If you want a Las Vegas segue right here, we can talk about cocktail waitresses (who are generally considered to be pretty attractive)...

        

Okay, I guess this is a bonus photo for you before we get to Joey and myself, but we both worked with Maly, so this is like a double or triple segue...  :)  This is my favorite cocktail waitress, and for exactly the reason that I stated above.  Maly is an extremely cool person (she even started betting football games with us).  Maly became less cool when she started winning more bets than we did, but that's another story...  ;)  Anyway, if a cocktail waitress is rude to me, I will tip her for whatever she brought me (having a lengthy service industry background myself), but that's the last time that she'll be my cocktail waitress.  The next time that I need something, I will find another waitress.  If the waitresses are only allowed to provide service to their specific sections in the casino, then I'll go to the bar, or to the gift shop, or I'll just go without.

As my blog continues to pick up a greater following, and as I prepare to move back to Las Vegas (where I'm bound to meet exponentially more people this time around), this message is very timely (thanks again Brittany - I knew that you had a plan in mind all along)...  ;)  Treat myself and others with respect, or I won't have anything to do with you.  To all of you above who gave me permission to use your photos and quotes today, thanks again.  You're an AWESOME group of people, as are all of my friends.  For those of you who don't already know this (and I told Rose this earlier in the week), I only pick on people I like, so if I do tease you, please take it in stride...  ;)


And now onto the Final Four.  Because this post has taken me longer to write than I originally thought, I'm going to go out on a limb and predict that Connecticut will upset Florida.  WOW, I got it right!!!  Yeah, the game just finished, and we're waiting for the second game to tip off...  Hold on, let's make this official...

Coach (4-6 in the NCAA Tourney)


Kentucky is my only prop team that is still alive.  The good news is that I bet them at 33 to 1 to win the championship.  I went ahead and hedged $4.00 today on Wisconsin at (+1 1/2).  PLEASE root for the Wildcats!  ;)  I'm going to predict that Kentucky wins this game 65-57 over the Badgers (and hopefully I'll hit the 'publish' button before the game begins, so this pick isn't sketchy)...  :P Now, live from the Palace Station Sportsbook in Las Vegas, here's Joey...

Joey (4-6 in the NCAA Tourney)


Final Four picks - I'll keep it short and sweet.  Florida is the best team in the country (uh oh Joey). They are playing great and coach Billy Donovan will have them focused, plus U. Conn is the last team to beat Florida (don't do it Joey).  I'm not big for revenge games, but this game is too important.  Florida jumps out early and keeps the hammer down.  Florida 72  U. Conn 62 (Awwww, sorry Joey)...  ;)

Everybody is supporting Kentucky.  The public was behind Michigan State and Louisville, and they both lost, so I'll bet against the Wildcats.  Wisconsin 65  Kentucky 60

That's it for the parlay card til football season.  Come by Palace Station and say hi.  By the way, Florida wins the national championship 72-65  (Try again Joey???)


Thanks again for stopping by, have an outstanding weekend, and I'll see you again on Tuesday!


 
  



    

I Have Nothing To Say

"The radio won't let you leave my mind, I know it's over but I don't know why..."
-Richard Marx- (Should've Known Better)

"I saw your eyes..., and you made me smile..., and for a little while..., I was falling in love..."
-A Flock Of Seagulls- (Space Age Love Song)

"Well excuse me, guess I've mistaken you for somebody else, somebody who gave a damn, somebody more like myself..." -Jewel- (Foolish Games)



Good evening everyone.  With the exception of a few pictures that I've brought for you, I've come to you with nothing specific to say tonight, thus the title.  "So Coach, you're saying that when you normally write the blog, PLANNING goes into that?"  Yes my friends, and thanks for the support... ;)  Okay folks, here's your old-timey Vegas photo...

I actually stayed at the Imperial Palace on my most recent visit to Las Vegas (a year ago at Christmas), but the name had just been changed to The Quad.  This photo is a little bit older, and was probably taken closer to the time that the Imperial Palace was built.

The following photo is here to remind us that time keeps marching on...

This snapshot came across my facebook newsfeed a few days ago with the caption, "We're done forever!  #txstcheer"  Pictured above (from right to left) are my two all-time favorite Bobcat Cheerleaders, Paige and Brooke, along with their cheermate Caitlin (who is cool also obviously, or she wouldn't be in the picture)...  ;)  I know that Caitlin must appreciate that I took the time to find her name on Paige's facebook page, as opposed to referring to her as "cheerleader on far left..." :P ANYWAY,  these young ladies will be graduating from my alma mater (soon to be OUR alma mater) in a little more than a month.  A weird but completely cool coincidence just clicked with me, as I realized that the dates of the Texas State graduations (May 8th-10th) are the same as the dates for the NFL Draft.  Yes, more proof that my alma mater is the best school ever!  ;)  I actually saved and uploaded this photo with the tag 'bittersweet' when I saw it (yes, you can go and get your box of Kleenex now)...  :)  Another group of Bobcats is about to graduate and leave San Marcos, America, and another group will be arriving in the fall.  I guess my point here is that if you have things that you want to do, then go ahead and do them, because time isn't going to slow down for you...  (Let me take a quick moment here to congratulate these young ladies, and then I'll continue with that last thought).  Paige, Brooke, Caitlin..., study hard for your finals and CONGRATULATIONS!  #eatemupcats  :D

Doing the things that you want to do...  This brings us back to my impending move to Las Vegas (because we all know that I don't talk about that enough)...  As I've said here before, I'm 100 years old (but not really), and that's the main reason that I want to move back to Las Vegas this summer (as opposed to next year, or the year after, etc)...  I am probably (most definitely) going to have to work, but I want to spend as much time as possible trying to make as much (losing as little) money as I can betting sports and playing poker.  These are things that I really enjoy doing, and although the prudent thing might be to wait another year until I've saved up more money (or another, and so on, and so on...), I'm ready to head west again.  As I've said before (and I really ought to revisit the 'pros and cons about living in Las Vegas' entry that I wrote here once upon a time), living in the DESERT does not thrill me in the least.  What I'm talking about here is the surroundings and the lack of water.  However, on the 'pros' side, I am a "people person," and I LOVE the wide variety of humanity that you're exposed to in Las Vegas.  In addition to the diversity of the city's residents, Vegas also gets a huge influx of tourists (in case you weren't aware of that)...  #breakingnews  ;)  I'm sure at this point that you're looking forward to me moving as much as I am (so that I'll stop talking about it).  As the weather continues to get warmer here in Austin and the time keeps passing, I find that my anticipation continues to be offset by the stress that I have over the things that I need to get done before I leave...

On that note, I'm going to go to bed now so that I can wake up on time to make some more money to put toward this endeavor.  ;)  Have a great week and I'll see you again on Saturday!