New Blog... Perhaps?

        So August huh? Yeah it is. It's been awhile since I last posted. Which would be interesting if anyone read this blog... 

        Maybe I should switch it to a more specific group, like say focusing on the Packers, my favorite team. I could do that. Actually it'd probably be best to just scrap this blog and make that one a different website altogether. 

        Actually I won't scrap this one. This one will be for my personal thoughts on things I hear or parts or my life that don't relate to the Packers. Like other sports and teams I follow. And my terribly boring life... Maybe I'll just watch tv instead though. This could be my last post, really. Peace.

Thoughts on Chris Andersen's New Contract

        Why did the Nuggets sign Birdman for five years? He is already 31 years old and years spent taking drugs have taken a toll on his body. He’ll be a legit back-up for two more years. then he’ll be done. Five years 26 million? Why?

        I do agree with re-signing him. He had to be re-signed. He is a fan favorite and a dynamic player. He draws in fans. All he does is dunk and get monster blocks. Who wouldn’t want to watch a player like that?

But five years? Stupid. In a few years the Nuggz will regret this. 

        I do however, have big expectations for the upcoming season. The addition of Lawson is a bigger deal than people think.

        I think he can be a good player and him giving a break to Chauncey will be huge. Plus you have to watch out for the players with tons of skills who get drafted low because they are “too small.” Lawson will be out to prove everyone wrong and I believe he will. He plays hard and is already a good, smart player. 

        Having Billups as a mentor will make him much better. He’s mature, seasoned, and a winner. I think he is a great addition. And with all the scorers on the Nuggets, all he needs to do is distribute and knock down open shots. And if he can get into the lane it will be easy to dump it off to Nene of K-Mart for the score. 

        It will be good for him to grow on a team like that. They are good enough for him to make mistakes and still be okay, while keeping his confidence up because they will be winning. 

        I look for the Nuggets to at least make the Conference Finals again. I think they can beat everyone, save possibly the Lakers. 

The Lake Show

        I think Artest does make the Lakers better. He plays hard and I believe he can fit in. He was fine in Houston being the third guy and he should be fine again.

The Spurs

        The Spurs will be an interesting team, though. (For the first time in a while. Holy crap these guys are boring!) The addition of Jefferson and the pick of DeJuan Blair will make them an interesting team to watch. They should be good. Blair will be a premier player in the NBA. I think so at least. He is already good. 

        Oh and his knees are fine. He tore his ACL in high school. Big deal. The guy didn’t miss a single practice in two years at Pitt. I think he can stay healthy. 

        With Duncan mentoring him (I love mentors) he should be able to develop. It really is the same situation I just described with Lawson. Different position, but behind a veteran all-star on a good team. I like their chances.

Everything's all a Twitter

        Why would anyone Twitter? It’s an invention that’s already been invented. It’s like one little aspect of Facebook, the comment space, without the other aspects.  

        But it makes people feel connected. It feels good to be part of the online community. And it’s another group of friends. A group you’ve never met and probably won’t meet, but you still know them.  

 

        And depending on how much they lied, you may know them very well. 

        I don’t understand our need to be connected. But it is there. I have no idea why. But people like to be a part of something. Usually something bigger than ourselves. 

        That’s why most people play sports. To be part of a team. part of something bigger than themselves.  

        That’s why we join clubs and churches. That’s why we joined Twitter. It’s another group. Another team.  

        People feel good when they feel like, as part of the team, they helped someone in Iran to get their message out, or followed Nick  Barnett to help him raise money for charity. 

        So join the Twitter team. It’s fun and often interesting. It’s a look into people’s lives you can’t get unless you actually hang out with them (the internet is taking the place of actual human interaction.) But that’s ok. Because even though we aren’t connected, we really are.

Follow me on twitter. www.twitter.com/jacob_dunn

America's Team

        Why does ESPN do this? 

        Now they are on a new campaign to find America’s Team. Umm... It’s the Cowboys. As much as it pains me to say it. And Titletown is Green Bay. Stop messing with these historic nicknames. We understand what you are trying to do. Get ratings and update these older nicknames. Don’t. 

        Sports fans (real sports fans) LOVE sports history. That’s why we got mad when we found out the guy (Barry Bonds) who broke our historic home run records was a cheater. We love history and most of us hate when people mess with it. 

        Unless the history is real. We embraced Michael Phelps because we didn’t think he was a cheater. And ignore the marijuana. That doesn’t factor into this convo. Fine. We embraced him. Maybe not anymore. But we did. So we can embrace the changing or making of history. But not when it destroys older history. We hate that. 

        So stop with your attempts to get the casual sports fan interested in your network. Or don’t stop. But go at it differently. Don’t hurt the diehard fans to get to the casual ones. Please. Just stop.

Tourism Is Up In Cody, Wyoming And I Somehow Make Sense Of It (In My Own Mind)

        From what I have gathered, despite the economy and terrible weather in Cody, the amount of visitors is up. Yellowstone Park is up 11 percent! Which got me to wondering...

        How is tourism up in Cody? Nobody has jobs and it rains everyday. Why are so many people on vacation? 

        It doesn’t make sense to me. If you’re broke and the weather is lousy, why come to Cody?

        It is funny though. Even my family is going on vacation this summer. We almost never go on vacation. I mean, yeah, we go on smaller ones close to home, but this one is to Missouri, which is pretty far away. We’re flying. And this is like the third legit vacation we’ve been on. Why? Because life has been rough and we need to get away. We don’t really have much money, or even a real source of income (I call it cash flow.)

        Maybe that’s it. Everyone is stressed out about life and money and the economy and their jobs and they need a break (of that Kit-Kat bar. Wait. Is it off that Kit-Kat bar? What happened to those commercials?)

        No but that has to be it. People need a vacation now more than ever. That’s unfortunate because they have no money to pay for this relaxing vacation, which means the vacation will probably turn into more stress. It’s simply a temporary cure. Once the family gets back it will just put more stress on them to pay off the vacation.

        I’m a genius. 

        I should write more. I seem to figure things out better when I write about them. Which is weird. I guess the writing categorizes my thoughts. Once they’re written down I can be done with them and move on to newer, occasionally better thoughts. I think that’s why I get so much thinking done. Without writing, my mind gets clouded trying to remember points I already made and it gives me less room to create new thoughts.

        By the way, I think everyone would be surprised by the lack of thoughts flowing through my brain. I spend so little time thinking. Almost everything I do is by instinct.

        My brain gets clouded so easily by like on song lyric. I repeat like three words from a song over and over again in my head, sometimes for almost 20 minutes. Actually maybe longer. I just repeat it in my brain for so long. And that’s all that will be in their. Often I just empty my brain of thoughts altogether. I’m good at it. I can empty my head is a few seconds. And keep it blank. It’s weird. I’m smart, but I don’t let my brain take over. I do get super self-conscience but I can let go and be a normal person. Many intelligent people can’t. My brain works surprisingly well considering I almost never exercise it.

Old Things That Are New To My Brain

        

        You know what I just realized? 

        Roger Maris is still the single season home run king. I mean, the clean one. Bonds, McGuire, and Sosa are all tainted. I had to look it up. They are the only ones who have hit more than Maris. So Maris is still king. (So is Hank Aaron, by the way.)

        This makes me excited. We still have somebody, a legendary player of a past generation, to chase after. But not completely. Every time someone from now on comes close the conversation will still include Bonds and McGuire. It's sad.

        By the way, 61* is an awesome movie. Go watch it if you haven't before. It chronicles Maris's classic 1961 season. Him and his times with Mickey Mantle. It's a great movie.

More eBay Troubles (but more hope)

So I sent a request to eBay, trying to get the contact information for the lady (it is a lady, even though I for some reason assumed it was a man). eBay sent the information to me. Well a little bit of it. Her name, city, and phone number. A disconnected number. Awesome. But eBay somehow found the tracking number of the package. I tried to track it but all it said was that the post office in Ohio got the information on June 8, and I assume shipped it. No other information has been found by the USPS. So maybe it shipped. Maybe not. Who knows? The United States Postal Service doesn’t. I don’t know how they don’t.

        Oh and I also sent another e-mail to eBay giving them complete details on what happened. The person I got barely read it. They told me to talk to Paypal. Even though my opening sentence said that I paid through Moneybookers. So... I’ll send another e-mail. I want to get her e-mail address. I want to talk to her. Just to see if she shipped it. eBay is not being helpful. I know they have more information for her. They have more info on me. They at least have my e-mail address. They should have hers. They have to. Don’t you need an e-mail address to sign up for an account? Or like do anything on eBay? And I think they have her address also. Which isn’t that helpful. But I could send a letter I guess.

        So I just took like an hour or so (I’m at work, settle down) trying to find Karen Vasquez. The number I was given, which is disconnected, belonged to Rex TV & Appliance, which Karen may have worked for. That would make sense. Maybe she sold stuff online for them. A lot of businesses do this. But there is also a chance she moved. DEX can’t find her. She seems to not live there anymore. It would make sense. From looking at Piqua, Ohio’s newspaper (where she lives/lived) she has lost a son and mother I believe in the last few years. But I don’t know. Maybe her number is registered with her husband, whom I cannot find, if he even exists.

        Hopefully she shipped it and the USPS didn’t lose it. It seems like they may have. Ahh.