April 13, 2010: It's Official, the Mets Suck!

Were it not for the lowly Houston Astros (0-7), the New York Mets (2-4) would boast the worst record in the National League. But do not worry Mets fans, the season is still early, they could have the worst record before you know it. Mets fans nationwide (if there ARE Mets fans nationwide) had high hopes after their 7-1 drubbing of the Marlins on opening day, but since then it has been a train wreck. Tonight, by the 3rd inning the Mets were already trailing 8-0 to the Rockies. It seems I will have not have a team to get excited for until the fall when hockey season starts up again. I would like to say I could get excited for football, but let's be realistic, I am a Browns fan, what do I have to be excited about?

Today was an average day. I gave a LOT of notes to my honors classes today. I really hate doing it, but sometimes it has to be done. Some students began to complain citing the pain in their hands as the symptom. There was not much for me to do or say, so we trudged on until we were done. I am trying to catch up, not that I am behind, but I want to keep at the pace we have been - I want to give a test on Thursday.

I have been feeling a bit "lazy" lately, although I am not sure "lazy" is the correct term. Perhaps distracted would be more accurate. The weather is beautiful and the last thing I want to be doing is working (but I am sure that is true of everyone!). I am finding myself a little behind in my planning; I am getting to work needing copies for that day. Pretty much all year I have been doing well keeping ahead of my planning by turning copies in well in advance. I would like to get back to that and I think I will be able to after this up coming test.

I have also been having a difficult time exhibiting the will power to stay away from snacks at home. I am enjoying the taste of cookies and sweets of late and I really would like to lay off of them so that I can lose the rest of the weight I have set for my goal - ~15 more pounds to get to 160 lbs. I will continue to be more active with softball and getting in a few workouts here and there at the gym, but the will power just isn't where it needs to be. I need a little something to push me over the edge back to the level of dedication I had last year around this time. Maybe if I put on a bathing suit from last summer I may find the the incentive I need.

April 8, 2008 - Back to Business

So it has been a few days since I have posted. I guess I needed the time to recuperate from the North Carolina sports disaster that was Saturday. I went from following three sports to just one in a matter of a few hours. First, the Washington Capitals beat the Florida Panthers securing the final playoff spot in the east and eliminating the Carolina Hurricanes in the process. Well, it is actually the third spot since the Capitals won the southeast division. Hockey - done. Then UNC Tar Heels get their @ss handed to them by the Kansas Jayhawks in their Final Four match up. College basketball - done.

But at least I still have baseball. Ahh, baseball. How relaxing. A sport you can truly fall asleep to. Perfect for the long days I have off in the summer. And how about those Mets? Last place already. Great. If it weren't for fantasy baseball, I guess I wouldn't really care about baseball yet.

Yesterday, was my birthday. I turned 37 yesterday, but I don't feel any older than I did last week. In fact, in my mind I still think I am in my early twenties, but my body will, from time to time, remind me that I am not doing enough to keep it feeling as young. I did work on my birthday. It was a teacher workday. This is a day without students where teachers get the chance to catch up or get ahead in their plans or grading. Fortunately I was able to use it for some of both. Since the marking quarter ended with the beginning of spring break, I had one set of papers to grade and enter into the grade program at school. So, even though I officially worked yesterday, any day without the students doesn't feel like work. Last night we went to dinner at Biaggi's. For desert I had the cannolis - two sweet ricotta cream filled shells - my favorite. But what was even better, the waiter saw that one of the cannolis was not filled completely, so he brought a third. Bonus! Happy Birthday to me!

School is back in after Spring Break. The students seemed rested, and apparently, I am as well. I was at work this morning before 6:30 (I don't officially have to be at work until 6:55). I got a few last minute things done before class began. And when it did begin, I was ready! My energy level was high and my lesson plan was working. I had a good day. It is always a good day when I mix up the activities we do in class. Today the students in World History, for example, began with seat work (locating map items) followed by researching people of the Scientific Revolution, then on to discussion about those people, and finally a crossword puzzle to end the period. We'll see how tomorrow goes.

April 1, 2008 - In New York

Evan and I have been here in New York since Saturday night. We have been spending plenty of time with my parents and my sister. It has been fun. We have also been keeping busy, although today we are laying low and relaxing. You can see pictures at the links below.

Sunday: Visit Grandpa in the Rehab center, play miniature golf, Dinner with Ag and Eric at their apartment

Monday: Atlantis Aquarium in Riverhead

Tuesday: Just hanging out, not up to much, Ag came to my parents

Wednesday: Not sure of the exact plans yet, but Evan thinks we are going into the city to the Bronx Zoo. But, we instead got tickets to the circus at Madison Square Garden. He has no idea. I am sure he will be exstatic since he was so disappointed that he didn't get to go when the circus was in Raleigh (he had the flu). We are also planning on meeting up with Lisa before the circus, however I have not yet got intouch with her about it. We shall see.

Thursday: Hang out until the afternoon when we return home.

Baseball season is officially underway, and the Mets' key acquisition, Johan Santana (from the Twins) dominated the game opening day. Let's hope that the Mets can start off as hot as last season and sustain some of that energy for the rest of the way (unlike last year). The newspapers here in New York are still calling the Mets' missing of the playoffs last year an "end of season collapse." As I pointed out in my post September 29, 2007, their missing the playoffs was no last minute collapse, but was a long decline over the course of the season, from June on.

Fuel prices remain high, and are predicted to break the $4.00/gallon mark this summer. And on Capitol Hill, the biggest fuel companies denied they have anything to do with it. In fact, they claim that despite making record profits, they are doing average for the industry and just slightly above average for the Dow Jones Industrial Average for major companies. And, of course, there is "W" promising to veto any legislation that will cut into money received or earned by these major oil producers. More at Matt's Meandering Meditations...

October 8, 2007

mo-sa-ic (moh-zey-ik), n., adj., v., -n. 1. a picture or decoration made of small, usu. colored pieces of inlaid stone, glass, etc.


Did you the definition of mosaic? If you saw one, would you know you were looking at a mosaic?




Believe it or not, a senior, that's right, a senior, in my Civics and Economics class could not tell me what a mosaic was. We were discussing different opinions of America: "melting pot", "salad bowl", and "cultural mosaic." This senior could not understand the metaphor of "cultural mosaic" because he did not know what a mosaic was.


Congressman Roman Pucinski in 1970 described American society as a “cultural mosaic” when he said that he objected to the tendency

. . . to homogenize [blend] 200 million human beings into a single monolith
[single block of stone], instead of recognizing that America is a magnificent
mosaic, made up of many cultures . . . I find the whole idea of the melting pot
frankly very repugnant [distasteful]. I don’t want to be melted down into a
monolith.

Yesterday my Media PC died. It just wouldn't turn on. After getting over the initial shock, I suspect that it was either the power supply or the power switch. I brought the machine to Mercer and through some troubleshooting and switching out parts, we discovered that it was the power supply. So now I am down to one computer until I have an opportunity to get over to Tiger Direct and pick up a new one. I might have some difficulty this week because my schedule is ridiculous. I thought it was over once the sporting events ended today with Evan's soccer practice. Oh, no. Not by a long shot. This week is homecoming and so we have a parade float to work on. In addition, there is a tradition of senior crowns. These are Burger King crowns that are spray painted blue and green (school colors) and then distributed to the seniors. It is up to the senior how they want to decorate their crown to wear on Friday, which includes a pep rally and the homecoming parade. Basically, everyday this week is booked after school because in addition school responsibilities, I will need to pick Evan up from Michelle's work while he is tracked out this week. I am seriously putting in a motion to have him enrolled into a trackout program in January. It is too much for all three of us to keep this schedule while he is out of school.


Darren was here this weekend. It was a nice visit, even though he got to watch the Yankees win game 3 last night against the Indians. (Sorry, I have to give Darren a hard time, he is #1 on my hated Yankees fan list). Yeah, I know, the Mets didn't even get this far, blah, blah, blah. So what else is new? Mets fans are used to it by now!


Today's Headlines:


Marion Jones Surrenders Medals from 2000 Games (USAToday.com)
First Floyd Landis, now Marion Jones. Are you surprised? I'm not. It only makes sense that she should lose the medals. In addition she also must wait out a 2 year ban from competing. I didn't know she was still competing. It is only a matter of time when sports in the US get as serious as these international agencies with regard to doping.

September 29, 2007

"Collapse" is the name of a Jared Diamond book. It is subtitled, "How Societies Choose to Fail or Succeed." For those of in Mets nation it should be subtitled "How TEAMS Choose to Fail or Succeed." Last night, when I heard that it finally had happened, the Mets loss combined with the Phillies win puts the Mets 1 game back pf the Phils in the NL East, I thought I was going to be sick. I literally took two Tums and lied down hoping to fall asleep so the feeling would pass. I know it seemed possible since September was one of their worst months going 13-13 (so far) and losing the last 5 in a row. August didn't prove to be much better with a record of 15-13 making the Mets barely an average team for the last two months. What is worse, is the Yankees who most non-Yankee fans ruled out of any possible post season play early this season was in contention to win the AL East, but at least wrapped up the AL Wildcard earlier this week. It is a disaster for Mets fans. I am just glad I do not live in New York and have to hear it from Yankee fans non-stop. Let's take a look at this more closely.

1) The Mets' collapse is not as sudden as it seemed. They got out of the gate hot and have been mediocre ever since. 34-18 through the first two months and then only one month over .500 since, and that was only by 1 game. 53-55 over four months, hardly a surprise that they are fighting for their playoff life in this last weekend of the regular season. But, honestly, does a team that is below .500 for the last four months of the season really need to be going to the post-season? How exciting will that be to watch them get trounced in the first round?

2) The Phillies have played very well since their "poor start." Poor start? They had a bad April, that's it. They keep getting hotter and if any team deserves to make the post-season it is the Phillies. They are an exciting team to watch and they are peaking. That makes for some exciting games. Their 77-58 record since April shows that they are a team to be reckoned with, while the Mets have been swept by the Phillies in the last SEVEN games they met.

3) The Milwaukee Brewers are already on the outside looking in. The Cubs have clinched the NL Central and the Brewers are don't even have a record to contend for the Wild Card. So their hot start was for naught. Again, just as the Mets, two good months are not good enough to cover for the four poor months. And what it was that Lou Pinella said to his team got them fired up enough to play to their potential and now they have a chance to break the curse.

4) Back in April, newspapers and critic everywhere were certain that Joe Torre would be done as the Yankees' manager at the end of this season (if not sooner) and now they are the Wildcard team for the AL, and until a few days ago, were contending for the top spot in the AL East. For the last four months, the Yankees have been playing fantastic baseball (although it actually makes me gag to admit it). Their bats have been on fire and their pitching has been good enough, most nights, to allow the Yankees' 10 run leads to hold. But it is really the Yankees who deserve the most credit for turning the ship around. The Red Sox record will prove this.

5) The Red Sox was another team that started off the season hot. But unlike the Mets, they didn't self destruct. They continued to post winning records month after month (except for June's 13-14 record). They were in it for the entire season despite the talking heads' discussion of their collapse. The Red Sox continued to win, though looking more human than early on, but it was the Yankees inspired play that put the Red Sox lead in jeopardy. As usual, having the Yankees and Red Sox in the post-season makes for an exciting series, assuming both teams can get through the first round.

As for me, I was delighted (of course) to see the Mets win and the Phillies lose today, putting them in a deadlock going into the last day of the season. Both teams will need the other to lose in order to avoid a head-to-head playoff game on Monday. Which could also occur if both teams lose. I am also watching with interest the Padres and the Brewers today hoping for a Padres loss. This is where it starts to get a little complicated. It is possible that all three teams (Mets, Phillies, and Padres) will end up with the same record making two play-off games necessary. The Mets and Phillies will have to play each other to see who wins the NL East, then the loser of that game will have to play the Padres to see who wins the Wildcard. That scenario would happen if both the Mets and Phillies win their games an the Padres lose theirs. But, if either the Mets or Phillies lose their game, the Padres clinch the Wildcard and the winner of Sunday's game, or if both lose, the winner of the play-off game between the Mets and Phillies wins the NL East. Ugh. That is the way it stands and at least I feel some hope for my Mets, unlike Friday night when all I felt was nauseous.