schlagblogschlagbloghttp://www.schlagging.com/schlagblog/2012-01-13T01:31:09ZSquarespaceLord of the Rings Walking Directionshttp://www.schlagging.com/schlagblog/2012/1/12/lord-of-the-rings-walking-directions.htmlJosh2012-01-13T01:29:17Z2012-01-13T01:29:17ZNot to post two Google related items back to back, but this was too good not to share.

]]>Google: The Solution to All of Life's Problemshttp://www.schlagging.com/schlagblog/2012/1/9/google-the-solution-to-all-of-lifes-problems.htmlJosh2012-01-10T01:51:22Z2012-01-10T01:51:22Z

Yup. This really happened.

]]>Bowl-O-Rama 2011 Champion!http://www.schlagging.com/schlagblog/2012/1/5/bowl-o-rama-2011-champion.htmlJosh2012-01-05T13:45:00Z2012-01-05T13:45:00ZI don't tend to brag about things, but I'm not holding back on this one.  I'm thoroughly excited about winning this year's Bowl-O-Rama!  After a few years of toiling somewhere in the middle of the pack, I've figured it all out.  At least for one year.

So how did I do it?  Math!

I didn't have a great season in NFL Pick Em this year - I think it's because my Excel spreadsheet had far too few columns.  When it came to college games and this year's BOR, I extended calculations to include various statistics from at least four different sources, weighted them to my own preferences (critical to the outcome), and most of the work was done! After the number crunching, there were just a handful of games that the stats just couldn't figure out, so I had to make my own calls - but even so, I ended up doing all right.

I'm not about to give out the formulas involved, but I know a lot of folks just ended up making picks at random. This is how championships are won:

]]>Remember the 19th of November?http://www.schlagging.com/schlagblog/2011/11/28/remember-the-19th-of-november.htmlJosh2011-11-28T16:39:49Z2011-11-28T16:39:49ZMy dad pointed this out to me, as I had entirely forgotten about it, but I posted a fortune cookie last month that harkened to good things on the 19th of this month.

Well, this happened.

Bear Down!

]]>Christmas Decorationshttp://www.schlagging.com/schlagblog/2011/11/25/christmas-decorations.htmlJosh2011-11-26T00:00:17Z2011-11-26T00:00:17ZI seriously don't even know where all of this came from.  I think my mom keeps bringing old Christmas items she doesn't want and hiding them in my closet.

Hell, this is about as far as I'm getting today:

Nope, not even plugged in.

 

]]>Remember, Remember.. The 19th of Novemberhttp://www.schlagging.com/schlagblog/2011/10/19/remember-remember-the-19th-of-november.htmlJosh2011-10-19T20:49:36Z2011-10-19T20:49:36Z

Rarely is a fortune cookie so specific. Now I just have to wait a month and see..

]]>The Lazy Gamerhttp://www.schlagging.com/schlagblog/2011/10/15/the-lazy-gamer.htmlJosh2011-10-15T22:21:30Z2011-10-15T22:21:30Z

I'm both a gamer and an avid sports enthusiast.  That's not necessarily a unique combination, but it certainly doesn't fit the stereotype.  That said, I was thinking about two of my favorite things as of late:  tower defense games (thank you, iPad, for feeding that hunger so well.. Fieldrunners FTW!) and fantasy sports (shout out to The 06010).

Both games have several elements in common, which I feel oh so appealing, as a "lazy" gamer (StarCraft is fun, but man, it can be demanding and require quick reflexes).

Passive particpation

In fantasy sports, you set your lineups.  You just have to hope for the best.

In tower defense games, you set your towers.  You just have to hope for the best.

The Random Element

In fantasy football, you just have to put your faith in a guy sometimes and hope for the best.  Last week, Pierre Garcon and Curtis Painter developed a loving relationship and Garcon chalked up 100+ yards receiving and two touchdowns.  They're facing an even weaker secondary this week, but maybe that means Painter will spread the ball around to other guys.  Who knows...

In tower defense games, you often find yourself yelling at your towers, wondering why they won't target enemies more intelligently.  Rather than letting three tanks through, it could have kept focus on that one tank with the sliver of health remaining, and at least knocked him out - thus allowing maybe two tanks through.

Sit back and watch with pride (or horror)

Whether it's the barrage of 18 tanks and 37 soldiers that got past your last machine gun turret, or Adrian Peterson snapping his ankle on the third play of the game, there's not much you can do but cry into your beer along with your friends who are silly Minnesota Vikings fans.

Well, I guess there is one key difference...  In tower defense games, you can always just hit the "restart level" button!  Remember when you let those two tanks through?  Yeah, back to the drawing board..

]]>Well Boys...http://www.schlagging.com/schlagblog/2011/10/14/well-boys.htmlJosh2011-10-14T03:19:02Z2011-10-14T03:19:02Z

I guess we're going to the strip club after all!

]]>NFL in Das Autohttp://www.schlagging.com/schlagblog/2011/10/9/nfl-in-das-auto.htmlJosh2011-10-09T22:46:35Z2011-10-09T22:46:35Z

DIRECTV Sunday Ticket app via AT&T 3G on the iPhone 4.

]]>SEC Road Triphttp://www.schlagging.com/schlagblog/2011/10/9/sec-road-trip.htmlJosh2011-10-09T16:35:46Z2011-10-09T16:35:46ZUp before the sun rises, we made the journey from Shreveport to Baton Rouge.  It's a long drive at 5am on a Saturday morning, but well worth it.  Great views of the sunrise and unbelievable fog.

We got lots more photos of the tailgate, but I'm choosing to show this one:

One of the players has adopted the nickname "Honey Badger" and there is even a "Honey Badger for Heisman" movement in Louisiana.  Why, you ask?  I didn't understand at the time, but my brother filled me in:

The third largest attendance in the history of LSU home games, it was the gold game!  I'll tell you one thing for sure, Florida barely showed up.

Great view of the surrounding campus and town:

I'm thinking next year we may have to travel north to Camp Randall to watch the Wisconsin Badgers.  No, not Honey Badgers (though that would be awesome).

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