Return of the Sports Geek

Anyone who’s known me for a while know that I have been a sports geek since I was a little kid, long, long before anyone had ever coined that term.  When I first discovered baseball stats and understood what they were I was completely fascinated with those numbers.

Then my cousin Gary introduced me to the next element on the road to sports geekdomhood, sports gaming.  This was ages before EA Sports, video games, or personal computers.  No, these were board games.  Basketball, baseball, football, golf, Gary had them all.  And these weren’t the kind of games that had flippers, spinners, or balls that tested your reflexes.  These were simulations that had player cards with dice, action cards, and result charts.  These were the kind of games that were intended for people who took their sports gaming seriously.

My mom got me started with a few titles of my own.  The first was Avalon Hill’s Statis-Pro Basketball.  The game included player cards for every player of all 26 teams (yes, there were only 26 teams in the NBA at the time).  I was in heaven.  I played game after game.  I wore those cards down to paper rags.  Part of playing the game properly was having to record each players stats.  You had to keep track to reasonably emulate each players’ playing time.  A light went on.  Stats!  I had stats of my own now!

Of course, I couldn’t just throw my stat sheets in the trash.  I had to keep them and tabulate them and record them.  Ultimately, this is why I believe I’m good in math.  I kept and calculated those numbers by hand.  Before too long I could tell you things like 2/7=.286 off the top of my head without even thinking about it.  It was tedious and time consuming but it was a labor of love, and boy, did I love it.

It turns out I wasn’t alone in my love of sports gaming.  Avalon Hill (sadly, no longer in existence) had their own quarterly magazine devoted to their own line of sports games.  I read an article written by someone who was reporting on his results from a league he had put together using one of their baseball titles.  His league had six teams, all fictional, playing a 50 game season.  The teams consisted of players he had drafted from a pool of all major leaguers.  They were all-star teams playing against each other in an all-star league.  I HAD to do something like this myself!  And an obsession was born.

My own efforts included my NAFL football league, NABL baseball league, and the NABA, my basketball league.  The “NA” always stood for “North American”.  For some reason my leagues always have to include at least one Canadian team.  However, as a young and foolish teenager I couldn’t fathom the work involved in keeping all those stats.  I never completed any one season.  All of my leagues ended up being abandoned no more than halfway completed.

At 19 I decided to give an all-star basketball league another try.  The NABA consisted of exactly six teams playing a 30 game schedule playing each game on my old, tattered Statis-Pro Basketball board game, keeping all stats by hand.  It was a lot of work and although it took over a year to finish, I actually completed my entire season, playoffs, finals, and all.

I was proud of my work but felt it would be more meaningful if I could establish continuity.  I was able to complete a second season under the same parameters.  I was satisfied with myself but was questioning the value of doing so much work.

By then I had my first IBM PC clone and discovered APBA computer basketball.  The program was also a simulation, not an arcade game.  I could still run my all-star league and best of all it kept stats.  No more pencils with worn erasers for me.  No more hours being bent over my coffee table with score sheets and cheap calculators.  Running my league was now a breeze.

The NABA enjoyed a six-season run that ended about 15 years ago when I eventually grew bored and lost interest.  In those six season the league enjoyed regular rookie drafts and expanded three times, eventually ending with 12 teams, double the number of its humble start.

I haven’t mentioned hockey yet.  Yes, there was an NAHL, but about a third of the way through my inaugural season I came to the conclusion that the program I was using just wasn’t producing satisfactory results and called it to a halt.

Since then I haven’t bothered much with games like this but they’ve always held a special place in my heart.  They’re a dying breed, too.  With EA Sports offering video games with photorealistic graphics people just aren’t interested in text-based sports gaming any more.  Games like the ones I enjoyed so much are few and far between.

Fortunately, there are a few old-school, hardcore lovers of text-based sports games like me out there.  This one in particular has inspired me to revive my efforts and carry on once more.

Quest Hockey Simulation is the singular effort of Mr. Joe Gucciardo of Howard Beach, NY.  As a rooter of underdogs I had to give this one-man endeavor a try.  I downloaded the demo and found it very impressive.  I’ve discovered that the program isn’t set up to do draft leagues but can be done with a little work.

What the hell?  Why not give it a go?  Joe’s only charging $17 for the full version of the game.  Why not show an independent programmer and fellow sports geek a little support?

Preparations are now being made for the NAHL’s revival.  This will be an eight team league with two four-team divisions playing a 40-game season.  I’ll be creating a website where I’ll be posting the results of my nerdy efforts.

A Post Script to my July 4 ramble

There is one more name to add my list of people that I feel embody the spirit of the American Dream.  His recent death was overshadowed by the passing of Michael Jackson.  It’s TV commercial spokesperson Billy Mays.  You know who I’m talking about, “HI, THIS IS BILLY MAYS FOR OXY-CLEAN…”, the bearded guy with the blue shirt that always talked REALLY LOUD.

He had a TV show on the Discovery Channel called “Pitch Men”.  On this program different inventors would bring their ideas to Billy and his partner.  If they decided it was a product they’d believe in they’d produce the commercial themselves, usually with Billy as the spokesperson.  In one episode I watched as they helped a man sell a bi-directional, hand-held circular saw.  At the end of the episode they’d sold over one million units.

What embodies the American Spirit better than an inventor, a person that envisions a product or an idea that makes everyone’s life easier and makes themselves rich in the process?  Billy Mays helped those people realize those dreams.  That’s what made Billy Mays a great facilitator of the American Spirit, the American Dream. 

There aren’t enough Americans like him.  Billy Mays, you will be missed.

Happy Birthday, America!

This weekend the United States of America turns 233 years old.  On this occasion my thoughts turn to the ideal of the American Dream.  To me, the definition of the American Dream is the idyllic image of a house with a white picket fence with a dog and raising 2.5 kids, and having the opportunity to be a success at anything you aspire to.  There are many people that embody the spirit of the American Dream.  These people come to mind.

Cesar Millan, otherwise known as The Nation Geographic Channel’s The Dog Whisperer, a Mexican immigrant who entered the United States as an illegal like many others with nothing.  He found a passion, stuck with it, and grew his success to a point where he’s been a guest on Oprah, got his own TV show, has written many books, and now has his own signature line of dog supplies sold at what is probably the country’s biggest chain of pet stores, Petco. 

The man that does yard work at my mom’s house, Martin.  He is and will probably always be an illegal alien Mexican immigrant.  Like many tens of thousands like him, he’ll stand on a corner at the crack of dawn waiting for someone to choose him as a day laborer.  He hustles his butt off, doing any odd job that pays.  He has to stash away a large reserve of cash because at any given moment he could be caught by immigration and be deported to Mexico.  He has to pay thousands of dollars to the “coyotes” that smuggle him back to the States.  Despite these obstacles he’s a co-owner of the house he lives in, is raising a family, and is undoubtedly making a better life for his children.

My late cousin, Tony.  Tony was originally from Bolivia and was married to my cousin Yolanda.  Tony returned to Bolivia to bring back his daughter Isabel.  When she first got here as a little girl Isabel didn’t speak a word of English.  Now, she’s grown woman, serves in the Navy, there’s not a trace of a Spanish accent when she speaks.  Even years after his passing, Tony’s memory still represents the fulfillment of the American Dream.

Our governor, Arnold Schwarzeneggar, is himself an immigrant.  Where else but in America can someone migrate here speaking barely comprehensible English, become a movie star, marry into a family that is almost American royalty, and be elected to the highest office in the most populous state in the union?

Our nation’s president, Barack Obama, is only one generation removed from a man that grew up in a small village in the African nation of Kenya.  Imagine a man with that background having a son that would one day become the most powerful man in the free world.  Where else on the entire planet could a dream like this be achieved?  In the words of everyone’s favorite boxing promoter, Don King, “Only in America”.

I also think of the blue-coated militia that constituted America’s first army.  They fought and died to protect America’s independence against the British Empire, the centuries long most powerful empire on Earth at the time.

Most Americans can recite the opening words to Declaration of Independence, “We hold these truths to be self-evident that all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their creator with certain unalienable rights, that among these rights are life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness.”  Those words speak of a promise, and it is thanks to people like the ones I have mentioned above that prove that America’s promise can and will be fulfilled.

God bless America.  And happy birthday, too!

 

Father’s Day Thoughts

Before I begin I’d like to regress to a story that actually relates to Mother’s Day.  This is an excerpt from the article that was run on the June 18, 2009 edition of the Contra Costa Times:

Earlier this year, Alfred Rava and the Oakland Athletics came to a preliminary settlement concerning a three-year-old class-action suit over a Mother's Day weekend giveaway of free plaid reversible bucket hats. Rava accused the A's of sex discrimination after he did not receive a hat during a promotion at a game May 8, 2004.

Bob Rose, a spokesman for the A's, said the organization will no longer offer male- or female-only giveaways, in part due to the suit. As an example, Rose cited this year's Mother's Day giveaway. On May 10, the A's gave away tote bags to the first 10,000 fans.

With all due respect to my gay friends what kind of so-called man pulls a faggy move like suing someone over not receiving a free trinket on Mother’s Day?  Mother’s Day, for Christ’s sake!  I think even my gay friends would agree that was a faggy thing to do. 

Mr. Alfred Rava, on behalf of all fans of all sports, you are no longer allowed in any venue, indoor or outdoor, that hosts any sporting event of any kind.  I hope your kids (I assume you have kids since you claim to be a mother) are ashamed.  I hope you were heckled, harassed, and teased.

In the words of Don Corleone to his godson Johnny, “You can act like a man!”

I had just one quick, funny story to share.  Bryan and I took Dad and Betty to Skates in Berkeley for Father’s Day brunch.  As we were leaving a man at an adjacent table asked Bryan, “Is that Senator Mike Honda?”, referring to Dad.  (And he’s a congressman, not a senator, by the way)  When we all got outside Bryan told Dad about it to which Dad replied, “It’s an easy mistake to make.  After all, we all look alike don’t we?”

I wish I’d quit forgetting that.

Pedal to the Metal

A few days ago an acquaintance of mine in North Carolina dodged a bullet, figuratively speaking.  His 20-year old son was the passenger in a Mitsubishi Eclipse that was attempting to round a curve at 120 mph and wound up smashing into a tree.  He broke one of his vertebrae, his collarbone, and an arm, but escaped any permanent damage.

It’s hardly surprising that in North Carolina, the heart of NASCAR country, you’ve got large proportion of the population that have been bitten by the speed bug.  Racing is simply part of the culture.  Unfortunately, a by-product of the need for speed is speeding under unsafe conditions.  That’s what makes me so grateful that the Laguna Seca raceway in Monterey holds events like the ones they had yesterday.

Auto racing isn’t all about NASCAR and the Indy 500 and the 24 Hours of Daytona.  Those are the high profile things that everyone knows.  There’s racing at a grass roots level that exists as well, and in some ways they’re even more fun to attend because the drivers are ordinary everyday people that don’t race for that fame or the glamour or the money.  They’re there for the love of the sport. 

This club event featured mostly Mazda Miatas but there was a sprinkling of Honda S2000s, some BMWs, and a few others makes, including an Acura NSX, a Panoz, a Lotus, and assorted others.  Bryan was there with his Miata to get in a few laps of his own.

If you’re unfamiliar with the track at the Laguna Seca raceway you should know that it’s world famous, one of the best race tracks in the US with one of the most famous turns in the world, a downhill left-right-left chicane simply known as “The Corkscrew”.  When I had a Playstation 2, I had a game called “Gran Turismo”, a racing simulation that features Laguna Seca one of the tracks.  It’s a pretty accurate recreation, and I must have run hundred of laps in the game.  But I tell you, I was a passenger during one of Bryan’s sessions, and no matter how accurately a video game simulates the track there is nothing, and I mean nothing, that can simulate the true experience of actually being in a car, hitting 120 mph at the end of the start/finish straightaway, feeling the negative G-forces under heavy braking as you slow to enter the double-apex Andretti hairpin, feeling those same G’s pulling you sideways as you round the hairpin, and being pushed back in your set as you start heading toward turn 3 at full throttle.  And taking my first on-track trip through The Corkscrew was a rollercoaster thrill. 

The day almost ended disasterously after Bryan’s first session.  He said he felt his brakes start to go after only a lap or two forcing him to go slower than he wanted to until the end of the session.  Luckily, Bryan was able to find someone with an extra set of performance brake pads and the day was salvaged with Bryan only having to miss one session.

Bryan rounding turn 3

The one session I got to ride with Bryan was a lot of fun.  It was my first time in a car being driven under racing conditions.  I now have a greater appreciation of the physical pounding professional drivers take being pulled around by all those G-forces along with the heat under the helmet and the mental wear of having to have your wits about you at every moment.

I attended the drivers’ meeting beforehand and also now have a greater appreciation of the amount of work involved in keeping everyone safe.  In fact, at the end of my first lap with Bryan spun exiting the final turn.  He was signaled to go to pit road.  Bryan later said he was fully expecting to get yelled at but the pit worker just wanted to check if everything was okay.

An element of the racing environment provided were the presence of the flag men and corner workers.  I have to express how much I admire these guys.  Nearly all volunteers, these guys are like guardian angels watching every car as they enter the corners making sure is driving safely, watching for signs of erratic driver behavior or car malfunction all day long in the hot sun with no shade.  Many thanks to all these guys.

I was very impressed with the sense of community there.  Everyone we encountered were friendly.  We exchanged advice and ideas, looked over each others’ cars and gave setup opinions.  Overall, it was a positive experience worth doing again.

June 4 Rants-Real Men and Compelling TV

I’m watching President Obama’s address to the Muslim world from Cairo on Anderson Cooper 360 on CNN.  His words are compelling.  While I will never blindly follow anyone, President Obama included, I must say I am in total agreement with his position of conciliation between the US and the middle east.  Apparently, he didn’t use the word “terrorism” at any point.  This is reminiscent of his inaugural speech where he said that America would extend a hand if they would “unclench [their] fist”.  I still have tremendous confidence that the president will ultimately remembered by history not as “the first Black president”, but as “the great uniter”. 

Before AC360, I was watching the crew of the Steve Irwin being interviewed by Larry King.  The Steve Irwin is featured in the popular Animal Planet series Whale Wars.  They fight Japanese whaling vessels.  God bless these people.  We still don’t comprehend what intelligence these majestic creatures may possess.  We do know that they have larger brains than our which suggests that may be as smart as humans, maybe smarter.  I have no reservations in saying it is absolutely wrong to kill sentient beings for profit.  When that sentience is in question the right thing to do is err on the side of caution and give them the benefit of the doubt.

I’ve found three shows on the History Channel I cannot stop watching.  The first is Ice Road Truckers.  These guys carry extremely heavy loads in their big rigs across the iced over arctic seas of winter.  Talk about insanity, I watched one episode where this 25 year old kid carried this 95 ton oversized load to its destination.  He had to fight keeping the load from tipping over, not going too fast yet going fast enough to have the momentum to make it up the hills, not to mention the weather and the delicacy of the ice road.  This was an amazing feat of precision driving.  You’ve gotta have balls of steel to do a job like this.  There is no doubt in my mine guys like these are real men.

Ax Men is another great History Channel program.  We follow the stories of loggers in the Pacific Northwest.   I never had an appreciation of the difficult jobs these guys have.  Aside from the obvious physical rigors I never realized how mentally sharp you’ve got to be.  If those guys dislodge the wrong log they could start an avalanche or have a long branch snap up and hit them in the face.  It is not a job for the timid.

Finally, I’m completely hooked on Warriors.  This program profiles the elite soldiers of different civilizations throughout time.  I’ve learned how truly tough King Leonidas’ Spartans were, the US Army’s Alamo Soldiers that rescued American POWs from Japanese prisoner camps in the Philippines that were the pre-cursors to today’s Special Forces, and the forces commanded by Hawaii’s Kamehameha, the man that would eventually conquer all of the Hawaiian islands and become Hawaii’s first king.  The thing that impressed me most were the warriors of Shaka of the Zulus.  Not only were the brutally fast and smart but when they came home from a battle the first thing their warriors would do is visit a shaman that would cure their souls.  You see, when they first enter the village they came home as killers.  The shaman would make them right again.  I think that’s a brilliant idea that could help any soldier.  Too bad this is seemingly a unique concept.

Today’s rants – Socialist America & Motorcyclists

What is it with us Americans and fear of the word “socialist”?  Any concept where we contribute to a pool and draw benefits from that pool Republicans just love pointing at it and love to scream, “Socialist! That’s socialism!”.  They just love that word because they know it’s so inflammatory.  I guess it’s supposed to evoke visions of Karl Marx and the Soviet Army stomping through Red Square or of a full-bearded Fidel Castro leading Communist, poverty-stricken Cuba. 

Reality check time, folks.  That ain’t us and never will be.  So there are some concepts that you could put the alarmist tag of “socialistic” on.  So what?  Will it result in us being redefined as “Communists”? I don’t think so.  Canadians have socialized medicine.  So do Brits and the French.  They also have higher taxes.  Do they suffer a lower standard of living because of it?  I don’t hear them complaining.

And guess what?  We already have plenty of things that are “socialist” already.  The public school system, for one.  Oh, sure, you can decry public schooling all you want.  Getting a good education in the public school system vs. private education still comes down to the basic concepts of a student willing to apply themselves and parents to enforce it.

Sure, it’s easy to complain about taxes being too high, but are you willing to pay the price for lowering them?  Recently, the Contra Costa County District Attorney stated that because of  reduced manpower the DA’s office they would not be prosecuting anything below violent felonies (or something to that effect).  Just this morning BART announced they’d be raising parking fees and fares by as much as $2.50.  There have been plenty of schools that are seriously considering shutting down their sports programs.  There’ll be fewer public swimming pools open this summer.  How do you like your lower taxes now?

And for Christ’s sake, all you anti-Obama people, the man’s been in office for five fucking months.  He’s got eight years of George Bush’s mess to clean up.  Give the man a chance.  Shit.

That being said, President Obama’s decisions are not above being questioned on all matters.  I’d like to know why he’s making it so hard for the auto manufacturers to get their bailout money while AIG and Bank of America practically had their bailout money thrown at them.  Why are you giving such a hard time to companies that employ union labor?   Union labor helped you get elected, sir.  Please don’t forget about us.  We’re not a special interest.  We’re hard-working, tax-paying Americans that are a vital part of the backbone of this country, and we deserve consideration.  Please don’t treat us with the same disdain that the last administration had.

On to my next subject, motorcyclists.  You know how you can tell a veteran cyclist?  They give you a thank you when you move aside to give them room.  I can’t tell you how many times in traffic I’ll swerve to the shoulder to give cyclists room to pass and they don’t give you that courtesy thanks.  Let me tell you something, you fucking guys that don’t do it, I’m gonna stop swerving over for ANY of you.  This is common courtesy I’m giving you, and I’ll guarantee you I’m the one car out of fifty or more that does it.  It’s called “being considerate”.  And if you fuckers can’t give acknowledgement then I can be like every other asshole on the road and not give you any space to pass.  And you veteran cyclist that do do it, you’d better teach these newcomers some manners.

Speaking of other assholes on the road these assholes that talk on their cell phones while driving are making me think I should keep a digital camera with me at all times so I can take your pictures.  Hey!  It’s against the fucking law for a reason.  Yesterday, I saw this flower delivery guy with a phone up to his ear makes all kinds of last minute turns and generally drive poorly.  I could have kicked this guy’s ass for all the lives he put in danger.  He was driving a 1-800-Flowers truck that said “Bay Area Flower Exchange, Alameda, CA” on the side.  Get off the goddamn phone and get a GPS before you kill someone, asshole.