ALL I WANT FOR CHRISTMAS IS...

All I want for Christmas is.....the new Blackberry Bold.

The Bold is THE phone to have for guys like me. It has everything! However, there is only one reason I want it. Slingbox finally works with Blackberry! The Blackberry Bold's screen is insane. It is bright and clear and perfect. Like watching a mini plasma TV. With Slingbox on my Bold, I'll be able to watch any NFL, NBA, or MLB game I want. I have Direct TV, and I subscribe to all sports packages, naturally.

Imagine playing poker and having $500 bucks riding on the Heat/Rockets game. Just turn Slingbox on your Bold and there ya go! Watch the game live!
Imagine being at the airport waiting for your delayed flight, knowing you are missing the big football game. Not any more! Watch it live on your Bold. Oh man this will be heaven on earth.
Imagine being at some chick's house trying to get laid when you remember you forgot to record The World Series Of Poker on your DVR. Just open up Slingbox on your Bold and you can control your TV from anywhere.

Sure, Slingbox has been available for certain phones for over a year now, but most of those phones suck! And most had to have the Microsoft operating system. Apple's iPhone is cool, but I just can't stand touch screens. That, and I am addicted to Blackberry's superior email capabilities.

It's been a long time coming as Slingbox originally announced they would be Blackberry compatible way back in January 2008. Better late than never.

I've had the Blackberry Curve for over a year now. Fantastic phone, but after a year or so it's time to upgrade. I know from my Curve experience, Blackberry makes a quality phone. The new Bold boasts a terrific battery life, another important issue for me. What else? How about 3G. What does that mean? Hell if I know. I just know it makes surfing the internet much faster. What else? The keyboard. As stated before, I'm not a touch-screen guy. The Bold's keyboard is perfect. I am super-fast at typing on my Curve, and the Bold's keyboard is even better. Lastly, did I mention the screen. Unbelievably beautiful screen!

Why do I want one from Santa? Because the price tag is hefty! $500 or more.

Oh well, I'll get one sooner or later.


~ Cat

THE DEMISE OF AMERICA'S PASTIME

BASEBALL F%#KING SUCKS NOW!

Is anyone else sick and tired of New York teams signing every top free agent baseball player every single damn year? The Yankees just signed the two best free agent pitchers this year, CC Sabathia and AJ Burnett, and the top offensive player in Mark Teixeira. All three received enormous $100+ million contracts. This is over-the-top ridiculous!

New York’s other team, the Mets, signed the two best relief pitchers for enormous contracts. Most teams would kill to have one dominant closer. The Mets just signed two! Is major league baseball trying to lose loyal fans? Remember how exciting it was when the team you followed signed a big name player out of free agency? Remember how you and the entire city looked forward to the upcoming season? Remember when baseball was competitive?!

What if this happened in football? What if the New York Giants signed Ray Lewis, Champ Bailey, Larry Fitzgerald, Albert Haynesworth, and Jared Allen. Would we enjoy watching the Giants beat the Browns 42-3 every year? Would we tolerate the Giants and Jets taking every good free agent? Would we enjoy a Giants/Jets Superbowl every year? Hell no! That would ruin football, right? Well, that’s where Bud Selig has baseball headed.

Does anybody else feel the way I do? I grew up as a baseball lover. I grew up a baseball player. Baseball was a religion to me and my friends. Baseball was clearly our #1 sport. Now, it’s not even #2. Football and basketball are much more exciting and competitive.

What will it take for Major League Baseball to understand how they are ruining America’s pastime?

Here’s what it will take. It will take 3 or 4 consecutive World Series of the Yankees versus the Mets. Every year! Then it will be clear as day, and finally there will be hope for a change.

So what if teams like the Devil Rays or Twins get lucky once every 10 years? Their best players will be playing for the Mets or Yankees a few years later! It’s just not fair and something needs to be done.

While we’re on the subject, here is another problem contributing to the demise of baseball. The Yankees playing the Red Sox forty times every year! Enough is enough! Remember when you’d get pumped up for a big Giants/Dodgers, Cubs/Cardinals, or Yankees/Red Sox series? Now these teams play each other so often, nobody pays any attention to a Red Sox/Yankees series. Well, at least not until late September. Baseball got greedy. They know these rivalries sell tickets, so they tripled the number of times these teams played each other, and cut out most of the other non-rivalry series. They found something the fans loved, so they marketed the hell out of it. Now it is oversold. The Yankees play the Cubs once every three years. Can't we see that more often?! I get much more pumped up nowadays for a Giants/Angels series, or a Cardinals/Dodgers series, or two random teams playing each other! I want to see Ichiro face CC Sabathia, or Albert Pujols face Tim Lincecum. I’m sick of seeing Derek Jeter face Josh Beckett. I’m sick of seeing the Mets play the Phillies all the time!

Teams should play each other an equal amount of times throughout the year. That would maintain the sacred luster and lore of heated rivalries. That would give baseball fans something to look forward to.

Baseball, do ya hear me talkin?



~ Cat

2009 FANTASY FOOTBALL MOCK DRAFT

Top 20 ~ Fantasy Football early Mock Draft 2009

10-team leaugue / standard scoring

1. RB Adrian Peterson
2. RB Michael Turner
3. RB Brian Westbrook
4. RB Marion Barber
5. QB Drew Brees
6. RB Chris Johnson
7. RB Thomas Jones
8. RB Clinton Portis
9. RB DeAngelo Williams
10. RB Matt Forte

11. RB LaDanian Tomlinson
12. RB Frank Gore
13. RB Steve Slaton
14. RB Steven Jackson
15. RB M Jones-Drew
16. WR Larry Fitzgerald
17. WR Andre Johnson
18. RB Brandon Jacobs
19. QB Peyton Manning
20. QB Tom Brady


That's my take so far. 2009 will be a running back heavy draft. Many good RBs. WRs are down this year. QBs do all the scoring, but you need to start two RBs, so RBs are much more valuable. LT might even fall further. His legs really look tired, and he seems afraid to take a hit now. Brady is the tough one to judge. He is the best fantasy player in history - it will be interesting to see how his comeback goes.

This list will be updated every month or so, with possible 3rd & 4th rounds added soon.


~ Cat

TOP 5 COLLEGE BOWL PICKS 2008

FREE COLLEGE FOOTBALL BOWL PICKS / BOWL PREDICTIONS

1) NC State +7.5 ~ Everybody and their mother is jumping on the Rutgers bandwagon, simply because they finished the season strong against some mediocre Big East opponents. So What! The Big East is weak! NC State finshed the season on a roll too! NC State has a phenominal freshman QB. Take the points here for sure!

2) Texas -8 ~ Can't believe this spread is down from -10!? Texas is clearly the dominant team here. Ohio State can't score like Texas can. Terrell Pryor is totally over-hyped. Cody McCoy is the real deal. Texas' mammoth offensive line will control this game.

3) Kentucky +3 ~ Have you seen East Carolina play this year? This is not a good football team. They are mistake prone. Their offense is dismal. Gotta love getting points here with an SEC team. Kentucky is a smart play.

4) Missouri/Northwestern Over 65 ~ Missouri might put up 65 on their own. Chase Daniels is due for a monster game. So is Maclin. Northwestern is built for offense too. This game in the Alamodome will be a shootout.

5) Pitt +3 ~ Check out the injuries for Oregon State. This is not the same team that defeated USC long ago. They have zero running backs! Word is they are changing their entire offense for this game due to the lack of a healthy running back. Pitt should cover.


~ Cat

STILL IN VEGAS

One Strange Hand.

Still battling my way through $2-$5 no limit poker. I am determined to play at this level until I learn enough to feel confident moving up to a larger game.

I was playing at the Venetian yesterday, still on my Vegas vaca. Sat down at the same $2-$5 table from the previous day, and after just a few hands, I get 7-7 in the small blind. Five people limped in so I can either check to see a flop, raise to $15 to build the pot, or raise to $30 to try and steal the blinds. Hmmm.

I kicked ass the day before so I was in a good mood. I raised from $5 to $35. Young bald dude from Arizona calls and this lesbian blond biker chick calls.
Flop comes J-4-5 offsuit.
Actually a pretty decent flop with two unders. I am first to act, and the only way I can win now is with a bet. I bet the pot, $100 straight. (a pretty big bet in this game)
Bald guy folds.

Lezbian broad calls me.
Uh-oh! I'm fucked.

Next card is an 8.

I've probably lost. If I check now though, I am pretty much giving her the pot. If I bet small, she will see my weakness. If I bet big and get called, I am surely beaten, and soon to be the loser of a huge pot. Hmmm. Three choices. And they all suck.

I push out two big stacks of chips and say "$250." (trying not to show how nervous I was)
She pauses, and then calls. She has about $400 left, so do I.

Oh fuck oh fuck son of a bitch! I am an idiot! That's what I was thinking.
I just gave away most of my stack with pocket 7s. What a dummy I am.

River card is a meaningless King.

Reluctantly, I check. She checks. I say "you got me." I flip over my 7s.

She says "no, I missed" and flips over 2-3 offsuit.

I was shocked as I raked in this monster $800 pot.

Only in Vegas man.

VEGAS POKER TRIP

Vegas Poker Trip $2-$5 NL

Met my buddy Frank from the Bay Area here in Vegas. He loves poker and pussy too, so we get along great. We played yesterday for 8 hours at The Venetian here in Vegas. Venetian probably has the best poker room in Vegas. Huge, and very nice.

I played at the $2-$5 game where the max buy-in is $1000. I bought in for $500. First hand I get K-Q in late position. After two guys limped in for $5 bucks, I raised to $30. The two guys call. Flop comes A-J-8. Both guys check and I continuation bet out $75. One folder and one caller. Next card is a 4. I bet out $100 straight, bluffing again, and the guy calls. Fuck! Next card is a 4. Guy bets $200. I mucked my bluff. Lost $200 already on the first hand! 40% of my stack! I re-bought up to $500.

Didn't lose another hand for about 3 hours. There were a couple wild n crazy players at the table. One hand I had 6-7 offsuit in the big blind. First guy raised to $20 from $5, three callers, and I almost folded. It was only $15 more so I called.
Flop comes 3-4-5!
Flopped the nuts!!!!!!!!!!!!!
I bet $45, fold, fold, raise to $90, then the last guy pushes in $500 bucks! This guy was the one I was after. He was a loose player, and had just raised the prior pot and won, and while he was raking in the pot he told the Asian kid he beat "I am going to raise $100 because you use too much hair gel and you probably haven't been laid in a year." LOL!! The Asian kid didn’t know what to think. This guy was a pompous ass and I wanted to stack him off.
So, I have the nuts. I am loving it. He only has $200 more, so I wait a minute, then push all-in. Other guy folds, but the $500 guy pushes all-in for his last $200 and shows his cards A-2 for a straight. The sucker straight. I show 6-7 for the nut-straight and he literally almost started crying and was making all these funny sad faces. Frank was sitting right next to me imitating his faces and cracking up at how animated this guy was. I took down the monster pot and he stormed off to the ATM machine.

He came back and I made him go broke an hour later too.

I built my stack up to over $4000 in $5 dollar chips. People kept walking by and stopping at staring at me and my stack. (imagine what $4000 in $5 chips looks like, it was HUGE) Two regulars said its the biggest stack they've seen in months.

Frank and I kept playing and started drinking beer and laughing with everyone at the table. Usually I don’t drink when I play, but we were leaving soon. (I tightened up and didn't play many hands) This pretty hot married chick with a huge rock on her finger and a nice rack on her chest came to the table to play and Frank started flirting with her. She liked us, especially Frank, She said she has hot friends and they all going to Pure at Caesars tonight. She asked Frank to call her. Frank won a nice pot off her, and then they exchanged phone numbers so it is on tonight! After she left, two players told us that was a famous poker player’s wife. He will remain un-named.

I stopped playing at 2am, won $2800. (immediately lost $700 playing craps afterwards. Need to stop doing that!) Frank is still playing and it is 9:30am right now as I am writing this! We never made it to the nightclub, and the chicks never called. That's ok. We'll tear it up tonight. There is so much ass in Vegas! Frank texted me, there are some new suckers at his table so I might head over there now have some suckers for breakfast. Vegas is just a poker orgy. It's great.

end of blog.