Shyzer.com

For as much as I’m into technology and newfangled whizbangery, every now and then I’m way off the mark. I dropped the ball on RSS feeds being useful only to reverse course six months later after I finally stopped being a bitch and tried them out. I once thought Macs were far overrated until I actually tried one and became a poster fanboy. And now after this weekend, I can’t figure out how in the hell I ever used to watch non-HD TV.

Long story short, one of our TVs had HD capability but we never bought the upgraded cable package since all of the other TVs in the house were analog. Then while waiting for game 6 of the ALCS on Saturday, I happened to figure out that we actually got a few HD channels, but I couldn’t find them. 10 minutes later and I’d stumbled to channel 103.1131 (which makes plenty of sense for a channel, right?…) I thought it was some sort of screw up, but then the picture popped into view and Holy Christ.

I’m not really a huge TV watcher, but this stuff is like crack. I’ve currently got Univision on and while I can’t understand a damn thing they’re saying, it certainly looks good. Are there support groups or anything that I can join?

It’s been a while since I’ve done one of these “sorry for not posting” posts, so I’ll try not to break the streak now. That said, I really don’t have much to say.

HIF has taken off beyond my wildest dreams. It was mentioned on The Today Show (still looking for a vid) and CBS’s Up To The Minute last week, as well as a gazillion local radio, tv, and newspapers. My personal favorite local news segment has been KOVR’s Saving with Dave segment, which used some stock footage of some random dude at a computer to represent me. HIF was also accepted into the prestigious 9rules network over a month ago (before any of this media play) and I have to say the day I woke up and saw that it’d been accepted, I practically jumped for joy. It doesn’t bring with it any huge source of traffic or revenue, but it’s an enormous thumbs up from a collective group of creative and talented individuals whenever they allow a new site into their club.

The New York Times might not be knocking down my door for an interview, but HIF’s certainly become a full time gig that consumes my every waking moment. I don’t want to jinx anything though, so I’ll just leave it at that and say that I’m earning more “on the job” training of how to run a big website than I ever learned in the past 5 years combined.

I’m heading to Orlando next weekend. It’s been a year since I’ve had a vacation. I’m trying to come to South Carolina for at least a week come November as well because it’s been even longer since I’ve seen my dad and buddies down there.

Playoff baseball has consumed my every second of spare time to boot. Busted suicide squeezes! Dominant pitching! Second biggest comeback in baseball history! My predictions being far more accurate than I could have hoped! Jaime Moyer pitching while collecting Social Security! The White Sox are no more! Good times all around.

And that, my friends, is everything I’ve been up to lately. Now if you’ll excuse me, I’ve got more freebies to hunt down.

Remember Dancing Matt? Of course you do. Well Stride gum not only helped fund his awesome venture, but they’re also hosting a massively high def version of his latest video, which you can download here. It’s like watching it for the first time all over again.

I freaking love the song as well. Best 0.99 cents I’ve ever spent.

Dear Facebook,

Please follow Google’s lead and enable a similar feature that prevents drunken e-mails.

Whoever came up with this idea needs to get a raise. Or at the very least a free case of brew.

It’s that time of year again!

National League Division Series

  vs.  

This is essentially Manny versus the Cubs. I’m not sure if Los Angeles has any additional players, but from what I gather the Dodgers sucked until July 31, traded for Manny Ramirez, and then proceeded to win every game for the next two months thanks to Manny hitting a gazillion home runs. Or something like that.

On the flip side, I didn’t think Chicago was that good until recently. I saw them play a bit over the past two weeks and I’m a believer. A believer that Chicago beats Los Angeles in 4 games that is.

  vs.  

Dammit, of course the two NL teams I could root for end up playing each other in the first round. I could go back and forth on this, but it boils down to two things. Who I want to win and who I think will win.

Two of my favorite ex-Mariners are located in this series – the Phillies pitcher Jamie Moyer and the Brewers centerfielder Mike Cameron. Moyer is older than dirt and yet he still makes players half his age look like fools at the plate. Toss in the fact that I (honestly) could probably throw harder than he does and it baffles the mind that he’s still playing. I love Cameron, but it’s hard to top Moyer. Thus, go Phillies?

Yeah, not so fast. I know they’re the better team on paper and they’ve had a chance to rest their starters and the Brewers are banged up and their pitching is a mess and blah blah blah. Milwaukee is hot and in recent seasons the hotter teams have done better than the rested (02 Angles, 03 Marlins, 05 White Sox, 07 Rockies). But then I look at the recent schedule and notice that Philly swept Milwaukee just last week and that’s enough for me. Plus, Milwaukee can only go so far with running CC Sabathia on short rest, right? I think Vegas has the odds of his arm flying off his body during the series somewhere around 48%. Philadelphia beats Milwaukee in 5.

(This is like the third version of these predictions I’ve written. At first I had Milwaukee winning this, beating the Cubs, and then losing in the WS. Now I have them losing in the first round. Let this be a lesson for anybody who is thinking about using my predictions as a guide to gambling.)

American League Division Series

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Repeat after me: You don’t win the AL East without being good. You don’t. You can’t. Not in this century. So to everybody thinking that Tampa is a fluke, they’re not. At the time I’m writing this, I don’t even know who they’ll be playing seeing as Chicago and Minnesota are still playing tonight. No offense to the AL Central, but it doesn’t matter either way. Tampa beats Chicago in 4 or Minnesota in 3. That said, seeing Ken Griffey Jr. playing in the World Series would put a giant smile on my face.

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First off, let’s take a moment and enjoy the fact that the New York Yankees aren’t in the playoffs this year. Ahhhh. There’s nothing quite like gloating, huh?

On paper, the Angels are a better team than Boston, right? Better record, far more rested, they have home field throughout the playoffs, the Mariners finished more than 40+ games behind them – and yet I’m still not sold. Their hitting is downright finicky. Their OBP (on-base percentage, which factors in hits and walks) is 19th in the league. Slugging (total bases / at bats) is 18th. They’re 25th in walks, a stat where Boston, Chicago, and Tampa are 1, 2, 3.

Long story short, their record is so good simply because they played the majority of their games against three shitty teams! I honestly don’t even think this will be close. I wanted to say Boston wins in a sweep, but I’ll toss Los Angeles a bone and say Boston wins in 4.

League Championship Series

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Philadelphia’s lineup is freaking stacked and yet every time I watch them, it seems like their 3-4-5 hitters are going 1-10. And which Myers is going to show up and pitch? Hopefully not the one that sucks. Because he really sucks. Badly enough to blow at least one of these games and help Chicago beat Philly in 5.

  vs.  

Boston is a good team, Tampa is a good team, whatever. I want Tampa to win this and I’m blatantly going to favor them for no reason other than desire when I say Tampa beats Boston in 6. I know damn well this is just a passionate pick, but whatever.

World Series

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I want to pick Chicago. I really do. But this is the fucking Cubs we’re talking about here. Something’s going to happen like it always does and Tampa wins in 6, thus ensuring that Cubs fan worldwide cry themselves to sleep for another winter.