Is it skill or luck?

I've been watching the World Series of Poker (WSP) on ESPN for a few weeks now. I find it facinating to watch "the pros" play hand after hand after hand with guys (and some babes) who coughed up 10K to play because they won a couple games of kitchen table poker on tuesday night at Amber-D's house while drinking a Gin and Tonic. These so called pros look stunned that "Don", the physics teacher from Grosse Pointe (feel free to insert your own character here, Don is just a made up person to add flavor to the story) has the nutz (that is a poker term by the way) to go "all in" with pocket jacks when the "pro" tries to bluff them out of the hand... No, when the pro tries to bluff them out of the game... No, when the pro tries to bluff them out of the tournament... No, when the pro tries to bluff them off the planet because nobody but a "pro" has the right to play in the WSP. Right?

HOW DARE YOU CALL MY BET DON?
Don't you know I'm a PRO!!!
YOU SHOULDN'T EVEN BE HERE.
Says the "pro"...
to himself
with his inside voice
(because cameras are rolling, can't say that kinda thing on TV)

Anyway, "Don" got me thinking, is it luck or is it skill that wins a poker game? I'm convinced that over time, oh say a brazillion days or so a "pro" will win more than, um... Don. But the problem is that every now and then Don will catch five wild cards (not talking holdem anymore) and beat a pro with five queens. And the cycle begins... Bluff enough, play it slow enough, catch on the river enough, GET LUCKY ENOUGH and you just might think you are, in fact, a "pro" yourself and plop down 10K to play in the WSL (world series of luck)...

So, Luck or Skill? If you ask me, the difference between a "pro" and "Don" is TV, money and time. See, we all think these "pros" are "pros" because they show up in movies (you gotta see Rounders), all they do is play poker, and more poker and even more poker to the point that they get on TV every tuesday night. Money because they can afford to live in casinos playing poker game after poker game. Time because they don't have the kind of jobs we have like teaching our youngsters the importance of doing more physics homework to get a magical "A" on their report card. Rather than grading "more" homework, "Pros" play more poker. What happens when you play more poker? You get on TV, you make more money and you can afford to waste your time playing more poker... see how that cycle goes?

Take away the TV, the money and the time and what do you have left that differenciates a "Pro" from a "Don" LUCK, LUCKITY LUCK LUCK LUCK. Which any "pro" will tell you, without luck, they'd never be a "pro" in the first place.

Since we all get lucky some times be we rarely get the TV, money and time the "pros" do, When and if you get the chance... I say GO ALL IN with your pocket jacks when that "pro" puts you all in. Chances are it's YOUR turn to get lucky! And the cycle begins again... only this time the "Pro's" name is "DON"!!!

Nine lives wasn't enough

I had to scrape my neighbor's little girl's cat off the street today with a shovel. It was hit by a car, right out front of her house. Driver didn't even stop. It was a very sad sad day.

If I could save time in a bottle...

I was thinking today while in the shower ( don't we all do our best thinking there?) what would I put in a time capsule to represent the last five years of our lives.






Right away I thought of the Lance Armstrong "Livestrong" yellow bracelets.


Then of course the evil empire Apple and their overly hyped ipod... you know you can get better MP3 players for less money with more features don't you? Just go to http://www.evatt.blogspot.com/ and ask Chris about it.

After that and one of my personal favorites would be the poker craze... so we would have to put some poker chips and cards in the time capsule.




Oh, what about the game boy... the single most anti go out and play sports, anti use your imaginationto keep yourself busy and anti do your homework video game device ever created. Just ask any fat 13 year old... I'm sure he has the latest version.




Speaking of fat 13 year old kids, why does everything have to be supersized, biggie sized, over sized? Do we really need to drink 24 ounces of soda water mixed with syrup every time we go to a fast food joint?



Anyway, that's all I could come up with before the water started getting cold. And you know what happens when the water is cold... SHRINKAGE JERRY SHRINKAGE!!!
Maybe tomorrow I'll think of a few more things. Till then, what would you put in YOUR time capsule.

"I'm not gonna quit. They will have to drag me out of here. I know I'm still a good football player."

The lions desperately need Joey Harrington to step up and be the guy. To show he has what "it" takes. Consider the options... Starting a quy who was so bad even the Browns let him go or a Rookie who has a slim to no chance of winning his first year. Then don't need either of those two options. They need Joey to play better. They need Tolner to call better plays. Look at the successfull teams in the NFL... they all have QBs that have been with the team for a while, who know the system and knows his wide receivers... That won't happen in Detroit unless Joey becomes the Guy... I'm hoping he can do "it"... God help us if he can't beat the Browns on Sunday!

What Would Jesus Blog?

Thought you might find this CNN article interesting


What would Jesus blog?

That and other pressing questions drew 135 Christians to Southern California this weekend for a national conference billed as the first-ever for "God bloggers," a growing community of online writers who exchange information and analyze current events from a Christian perspective.
The three-day conference at Biola University marked an important benchmark for Christian bloggers, who have worked behind the scenes for years to spread the Gospel and infuse politics with religion.
Topics included God bloggers' relationship with the traditional church, their growing influence on mainstream politics and how to manage outsiders' perceptions.
Some predicted bloggers could play a role in reforming the modern church by keeping televangelists and other high-profile Christian leaders honest.
Joe Carter, author of evangelicaloutpost.com, compared blogging to the 95 Theses posted by Martin Luther nearly 500 years ago that launched the Protestant Reformation.
"It's like putting 95 blogs out there," said Carter, who previously said God bloggers offer an "uncensored and unadulterated" view of contemporary Christian thought on politics and organized religion.
Many bloggers are now writing about religious oppression, poverty and world hunger, instead of hot-button issues such as abortion, homosexuality and assisted suicide, said the Rev. Andrew Jackson, a seminary professor and pastor at the Word of Grace Church in Mesa, Arizona.
"With blogging you tend to break out of those circles and you see other points of view," Carter said. "There's a bigger world out there than gay marriage and abortion."
At one well-attended workshop -- "When Non-Christians Read Your Blog" -- Biola University professor Timothy Muehlhoff gave instructions on writing about faith without alienating nonbelievers.
He stressed that God blogging has the potential to be a "train wreck" because done wrong it can reinforce stereotypes of evangelical Christians as angry and close-minded "pit bulls of the culture wars."
"As Christians today we are embroiled in the argument culture and we have forgotten this one thing: 'Blessed are the peacemakers.'," he said. "Wouldn't it be nice if we could say we brought a level of civility back to the conversation?"
Jackson, who blogs at smartchristian.com, said he wasn't as sure what long-term influence blogging would have on evangelical Christians -- but he knew it would be important.
"We are just at the beginning of what is going on," he said. "We need to start thinking about how we can harness and focus the Christian blogosphere for greater impact."

Why I Hate the Sound of Silence!!!

Hey, see this thing over there. Leave me a message on what you would like to read about. I'll do my best to comply. Thank you bud!

Why I Hate Being Told How to Live My Life!

J.A.R. (Jason Andrew Relva)
My friend drove off the other day, And now he's gone and all they say, Is you gotta live cause life goes on But now I see i'm mortal too I can't live my life like you Gotta live it up while life goes on

And I think it's alright That I do what I like cause that's the way I wanna live And so I give And i'm still giving

And now I wonder about my friend If he gave all he could give Cause he lived his life like I live mine If you could see inside my head Then you'd start to understand The things I value in my heart

You know that, I know that, Your watching me

Gotta make a plan Gotta do what's right Can't run around in circles If you wanna build a life But I don't wanna make a plan For a day far away While i'm young and while i'm able All I wanna do is....

Why I Hate Walt!!!

Well, I don't actually hate Walt... but in keeping with my theme... Anyway, this is pretty cool Don't know if its true or not, but if you look at the milk carton below, you will see Walt's face on the side. Sweet huh? By the way, how did the milk stay fresh for 30 years?

Why I Hate Double Churn!!!

It gives me attomic explosive megga gas. Whew! And stinky too!

Why I Hate Saudi Oil!!!

WHERE TO BUY YOUR USA-GAS WHERE TO BUY YOUR USA-GAS, THIS IS VERY IMPORTANT TO KNOW.

READ ON--



Gas rationing in the 80's worked even though we grumbled about it.
It might even be good for us! The Saudis are boycotting American goods.
We should return the favor. [KSW] I'm posting this in my car to remind me! An interesting thought is to boycott their GAS. Every time you fill up the car, you can avoid putting more money into the coffers of Saudi Arabia. Just buy from gas companies that don't import their oil from the Saudis. Nothing is more frustrating than the feeling that every time I fill-up the tank, I am sending my money to people who are trying to kill me, my family, and my friends. I thought it might be interesting for you to know which oil companies are the best to buy gas from and which major companies import Middle Eastern oil.

These companies import Middle Eastern oil:

• Shell............................ 205,742,000 barrels
• Chevron/Texaco......... 144,332,000 barrels
• Exxon /Mobil............... 130,082,000 barrels
• Marathon/Speedway... 117,740,000 barrels
• Amoco............................62,231,000 barrels

If you do the math at $30/barrel, these imports amount to over $18 BILLION! (oil is now $55-$60 a barrel)

Here are some large companies that do not import Middle Eastern oil:

• Citgo......................0 barrels
• Sunoco...................0 barrels
• Conoco..................0 barrels
• Sinclair.................0 barrels
• BP/Phillips............0 barrels
• Hess.......................0 barrels
• ARC0.....................0 barrels

All of this information is available from the Department of Energy and each is required to state where they get their oil and how much they are importing. But to have an impact, we need to reach literally millions of gas buyers. It's really simple to do. Now, don't wimp out at this point.... keep reading and I'll explain how simple it is to reach millions of people!! I'm sending this note to about thirty people.

If each of you send it to at least ten more (30 x 10 = 300)... and those 300 send it to at least ten more (300 x 10 = 3,000) .. and so on, by the time the message reaches the sixth generation of people, we will have reached over THREE MILLION consumers !!!!!!! If those three million get excited and pass this on to ten friends each, then 30 million people will have been contacted! If it goes one level further, you guessed it ..... THREE HUNDRED MILLION PEOPLE!!! Again, all you have to do is send this to 10 people. How long would all that take? If each of us sends this e-mail out to ten more people within one day, all 300 MILLION people could conceivably be contacted within the next eight days!

Why I Hate IT!!!

Quote from a very smart football guy "So far in this young season it’s been one epiphany after another for me. Last week, I finally figured out what ultimately makes a NFL QB a great Fantasy QB: “IT.” I’m more convinced than ever that Eli Manning has “it” and that youngsters Joey Harrington, David Carr, Byron Leftwich, and JP Losman don’t have “it” and might never have “it.” They may still be good for fantasy, but they’ll never be great, according to me."

Why I Hate Commercials!!!

Because most commercials make guys look dumb... like the new Domino's steak fanatick pizza. Not group of men would ever sit around ordering statues on the QVC channel.

Because the burger you get any any fast food shop never looks like it does on TV.

Because crest white strips cost like 20 bucks but the commercial makes me want to buy them... I refuse but am so very currious to know if they work.

Because everyone advertised the Vikings would kick ass this year and all they do is lose football games.

Because they interrupt my shows. (not so bad when you need to pee or grab a cold beer)

Because if I didn't know there was a shiny new tech thingamajig on the market I wouldn't want to replace my shiny old tech thingamajig.

Because this is the biggest ever furnature sale in the history of gardner white furnature.

Because now THIS is the biggest ever furnature sale in the history of gardner white furnature.

No wait... because THIS IS REALLY the biggest.... oh forget it, you know the rest.