Eight Hours Of Football

"I have learnt through all my past mistakes, not to let the hurdles sap my energy, time will tell and time is all it takes, you won't see the bastards knock the running out of me..."
-Cutting Crew- (One For The Mockingbird)

"You see a person's true colors when you are no longer beneficial to their life..."
-via Jessica Johnson-

"We were timeless dreamers of another day, and we were free, in a dawning age we had so much to say..." -Boston- (Hollyann)



Good morning everyone.  This is going to be one of my shorter posts, but I may come back with a bonus entry sometime soon.  Just imagine that the photobomber in this picture is watching eight hours of NFL draft coverage, and it wouldn't be a stretch to say that we share the same expression...  :D  I have no idea what I'm going to do after 7:00 p.m. tonight when the draft ends, and the first preseason game kicks off in August.  Thanks for sharing the photo Brigette...

As you might imagine, if I continue typing this post after 11:00 a.m., I wouldn't be getting very far, trying to track the draft selections while simultaneously attempting to keep my thoughts straight. With that being said, it is now 11:00 a.m., so I'll see you soon.  Have a great weekend!

The Imperfect Storm

"Life begins at the end of your comfort zone..." -Neale Donald Walsch-
(via Training Truths:  The Good, The Bad, The Ugly - facebook page)



Good evening everyone.  There's gonna be a lot less raiding of my friends' lives and a little more content from me in tonight's post (I can hear your collective sighs already)...  As the days count down closer to my return to the desert, you'll probably see more of this trend, because I suspect that once I do return to Las Vegas, I'll have plenty of sports, poker, and Strip-related content to write about.  With that being said, let me share a couple of photos from my friends before we get underway...

This is a photo that my friend Craig shared on facebook last night.  Craig is a member of The Shady Rest Band www.theshadyrestband.com - the band is an Americana group from San Marcos (big surprise).  I think that this is an awesome photo, and I believe that it has the potential to be a future album cover.  You can find several Shady Rest songs on YouTube.  I know that you're thinking between The Shady Rest, Blue October www.blueoctober.com/amiaalbum, and Halleyanna www.halleyanna.com/home, this has the potential to become a music blog, but I'm not even doing sports and poker right yet...  ;)  This second photo that I found was shared on facebook by my friend Valerie...

   

I just think that the expression on this baby's face is AMAZING (and I happen to get this a lot too)...  ;)

What is "the imperfect storm" you ask?  Glad you asked...  Well, as you might imagine, I've been looking forward to the NFL Draft for quite some time.  When I talk here about sports betting, football is the sport that I will be focusing on for the majority of the year.  In case you've joined this party late, when it comes to following sports, this is my current sports year:  football (studying during the August preseason and watching through the Super Bowl in early February); college basketball (early February through the title game in early April); the NBA and NHL (early April through the title games in mid-June); and baseball (mid-June through the start of football)...  The addict that I am, you already know that I watch bits and pieces of other sports (soccer, golf, tennis, auto racing, etc...), and that I will continue to do so in hopes of finding something of value to wager on.  Okay, we'll get back to this betting stuff in a minute...

"The imperfect storm," they ask impatiently...  Tonight I'll experience a minor, yet significant storm, while Thursday will be a major headache.  As I started to say, I've been anticipating the NFL Draft for a while now.  Well, last night I looked ahead to Thursday in my Time Warner Digital Cable T.V. Guide, and this is what I found:  Boston Bruins at Montreal Canadiens (6:30 - 9:00 p.m.); 2014 NFL Draft (7:00 - 10:30 p.m.); and Portland Trail Blazers at San Antonio Spurs (8:30 - 11:00 p.m.). Have you ever met me?!  Yes, my favorite hockey team will be playing in a second round playoff game before and during the NFL Draft coverage, my favorite basketball team will be playing in a second round playoff game during and after the NFL Draft coverage, and ALL THREE will be taking place between 8:30 and 9:00 p.m. (and that's assuming that the hockey doesn't go to overtime, which would be JUST PERFECT)...  On the bright side, the Canadiens and Spurs are in the second round, but GEESH!!!  Now the NFL Draft coverage does continue on Friday and Saturday, but still..., it's the FIRST ROUND...  In case you're wondering, I passed on tonight's Texas State at Texas baseball game to watch hockey, basketball, and type this entry up for you, because I'm a team player...  ;)  By the way, I'm pretty happy at the moment, as Montreal is leading Boston 2-0 early in the 2nd period, and the Nets are only down 3 to the Heat at halftime.  P.S.  I'm rooting almost as hard for the Heat to lose as I am for the Spurs to win because I CANNOT STAND LeBron James (more to come in future posts, I'm sure)...  And yeah, get me started on the McDonald's commercial with James and Johnny Manziel, meeting in that place where the best players in their sports meet...  PFFFTTT...

Anyway, back to gambling (and to that quote at the top of the page).  First, I'll once again be leaving Texas, and everyone and everything that I'm very comfortable with to venture back out to the desert.  I'm very (persistent, tenacious, stubborn..., pick your word).  For those of you who think that I'm just a careless gambler, that's not the case.  Now I'm not saying that it's not possible that I'll lose every sports bet that I make, and every poker hand that I'm involved in.  What I am saying is that I study, and that I try to make informed sports bets, and that I play poker with a plan.  I'm also saying that I don't play slots, craps, roulette, blackjack, and the endless number of other table games with any regularity.  I might buy in for twenty bucks at the roulette wheel if a friend is in town - shoot me...  :)  Anyway, you can expect the sports and poker content to pick up here as I make my transition from the ATX to Las Vegas.  I also have to...  THREE NOTHING CANADIENS!!!  :D  ... revisit that post about the pros and cons of living in Las Vegas - so much to do...

Since I have so much to do, I better rest up (watch hockey and basketball)...  ;)  Have a great week and I'll see you again on Saturday!

        







       

See You Sunday SA!!!!

"Exercising would be so much more rewarding if calories screamed while you burned them..."
-via Francesca Welsh-

"Surround yourself with those on the same mission as you..." -via Courtney Parisi-

"I probably have like the worst patience ever.  Like I don't even like to plant seeds because I hate waiting for them to grow..." -Belyne Gonzalez-

"The reason good men are hard to find is because they're usually busy working..."
-via Kastle Ford Durst-

"It's simple things I appreciate and look forward to..." -Melanie Ramirez-

"But it's our story and my favorite story ever..." -Megan Stremmel-

"WOW!  I love playoffs!!" -Katherine Jennings-

"What a game!!!" -Analuisa (Salsa) Salcedo-

"If you can't love our determined Dallas Mavericks, we just can't be friends!  Game 7!!!  MFFL!!!!"
-Traci Rust Benson-

"See you Sunday SA!!!!" -Jenny Marie Morales-



Good evening everyone.  There's a very high probability that we'll talk a little bit about sports tonight, so prepare yourself accordingly (Miletus).  ;)  Since that's the case, we'll begin with our semi-regular pictorial showcase.  I spotted this gem today from my friend Alyssa, with the caption, "It took all of my willpower not to adopt this little one..."

And we're going to call that just about the cutest photograph ever...  I've had several complaints (actually, no one has said anything at all) about my recent absence of Las Vegas snapshots, and you're not getting one tonight either...  However, I wanted to show you a couple of views that you're not likely to see from the Strip.  This is a beautiful shot from the Lone Star State that my friend Mike took...

A gorgeous frame full of water is about as anti-Strip as you can get.  This next shot speaks to how Mother Nature can sometimes solve your problems for you.  Up in Canada, my friend Matt was wondering if he should mow his lawn this weekend...

Problem solved...  So now we'll proceed with our sports programming.  Has anybody been watching any basketball?  My friends have...  Those last four quotes above were plucked from the MANY hoops statuses that have graced my facebook page recently.  As I suspected entering this season's playoffs, the Western Conference has been cutthroat since the postseason began.  We were 9/10 of a second last night from seeing all 4 first round series in the West decided by a Game 7.  The Mavericks, carrying the #8 seed in the West, won 49 games during the regular season.  That would have given them the third best record in the East.  Yes, the only teams from the East whose records would have qualified for the playoffs in the Western Conference are Indiana and Miami - think about that for a minute...  Although I'm a Spurs fan, I'm here to tell you that anyone is capable of coming out of the West (except for the Rockets of course), and I've addressed this in the blog dating back to last year's finals.  I put my bonus prop bet from Bovada with the Spurs (where my heart is), but nothing is going to surprise me in this postseason.  Five first round series are going the distance this season, a first for the NBA.  As I write this, the Pacers have advanced against the Hawks in the East.  For those of you keeping up with my monumental $1.00 "warm-up wagers" at Bovada, I took all of the visitors with the points tonight (Hawks +6 *Loss*, Grizzlies +9, and Warriors +7).  Ha ha - Rob from robvegaspoker.blogspot.com just commented on my most recent post here, saying that myself and three members of the Dallas Cowboys Cheerleaders could have placed third in the Eastern Conference.  All I can say is that those cheerleaders must be REALLY GOOD basketball players...  ;)  A friend of mine at work told me that I shoot like Manu Ginobili on Friday (which of course, I will ALWAYS take as a huge compliment), but the comment came in reference to me firing at (and missing) a trash can, and I was promptly informed that the remark was indeed NOT praise...  :(  Katherine happens to be the only Spurs fan that I quoted above, and I'll give all of you the same advice that I gave her - if you're a fan of the NBA, do yourself a favor and attend a playoff game if you ever get the chance.  The electricity in the building during the playoffs makes regular season games pale in comparison.  The atmosphere and intensity is INCREDIBLE!  As for Salsa, Traci, and Jenny, I don't know where I went wrong...  ;)  However crazy the Mavs/Spurs matchup is tomorrow (in addition to the rest of these seventh games), I'm borrowing this photo that my friend Linda was tagged in, just to remind you where my heart is...

                       

Hopefully we'll be talking about Spurs/Blazers here next week...  Actually, that reminds me that I forgot to talk about something here in my blog that is equal to few and superior to none.  :)  I wanted to revisit the Orange/White football scrimmage that the Longhorns held recently.  I think that I neglected to tell you that one of the highlights of the day was the fans booing because the defense wasn't allowed to hit the quarterbacks (two-hand touch), followed by additional disappointment because every punt resulted in a fair catch.  The popular sentiment seemed to be, "C'mon, let us crush our own players..."  :)

Speaking of football, I can't begin to elaborate on how excited I am about the upcoming NFL Draft, and I'm talking about, "Young child waiting to open up his presents on Christmas excited..."  For one thing, once the draft has concluded, then the various college and NFL magazines can go to the printer.  Second, I can't wait to see how the make up of each team is going to shake out.  The draft begins on Thursday night my friends...  :D

As for me, my countdown to Las Vegas is now at 89 days, and the countdown for the number of blog entries that I'll make before leaving for the desert is now at 25 (and yeah, I am always counting things down - SHUT UP)...  :P  It appears that I have some more preparations to make in order for this to happen, so I'll get you go for now.  Have a great weekend (Sunday), and I'll see you again on Tuesday!  ;)


 

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!