soapbox

So, yesterday was the first time that I didn’t go to work on Memorial Day in a long long time, if ever.  In fact, I wasn’t allowed to go to work (well, not go and get paid for it).  While I appreciate the taking of a day to honor those who have served our country and paid with their lives, I’m not entirely comfortable with how the “day off” has turned into a day of beer and grilling and baseball, much as I like those things.

This NYT article echoes this sentiment and provides a bit of history of the holiday, for those interested.

Having not served in the Armed Forces, I feel like I need to be careful, but my personal feeling about Memorial Day is that I’m not comfortable just not showing up for work, hosting a party, getting misty-eyed during the national anthem shown on TV before the game, but that’s about it.  We as a nation do a shitty enough job taking care of those veterans who make it back with a heartbeat - I think those that don’t deserve a bit more remembrance, y’know?  On the East Coast I would always try to make it down to DC to visit the Vietnam Wall for Remembrance/Memorial Day; somehow that seems more appropriate.

That said, were I to number among the fallen, I would want my kids, wife, family and friends to have the day off and have a good time, maybe place some flowers on my grave while on their way to take in a minor league baseball game.  Hmm, that sounded a bit morbid, but I think the sentiment is clear.

Well, it’s that time again, to waste most of this coming week poring over articles and different sites’ analysis, trying to figure out which 5-12 upset to go with, flipping coins on 8-9s, and so on.

Mostly, winning a pool is just dumb luck.  Both times that I’ve won (in almost 20 years of playing, hmmm, that’s worse than the Florida Marlins, ugh) it has been a case of knowing who my competition liked and going a different way, then lucking into those guys winning.

My buddy Joe* has found the most reliable solution - asking his very ditzy girlfriend about each pairing and going with that.  Seriously, oftentimes that bracket beats his carefully-crafted one.

*not his real name.

Anyway, for more analysis on the detrimental effects of sports knowledge on March Madness brackets, check out this entertaining read.  I really like the Mascot Fight Club method, although that’s also the most difficult to clearly define.

So, it’s that time again to spend 4 hours of tedium and gluttony waiting for occasional moments of genius - let’s just hope that we get more of “Buzzword Bingo” quality and less of GoDaddy.com shallowness… um, nevermind the latter there, GoDaddy.com ads are just fine!  (And this year will feature Danica Patrick!)

First person to present a properly Bingo-ed gamesheet to me in person* receives a free beer!

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Wow, thanks for the intro, Ethan! I confess that I’ve been keeping tabs on soapbox for a few months now, but haven’t taken the initiative to get in touch with Nathaniel and learn how to log on. Thanks to Mike’s thesis defense, I had the opportunity to introduce myself to Nathaniel, which I did with remarkable poise and grace.

Anyway, I look forward to posting frequently and commenting regularly. I can’t wait to choose my categories! Also, I had a fabulous time at Brian’s wedding, and if you want to hear more about it you should talk to Tim (totally sober), to me (mostly sober), to Joel (OK!?!), or to Chris (…).

So, happy birthday to Nick and Becky! I learned from NPR today that they share the day with a pretty cool list:

Hunter S. Thompson
Anfernee ‘Penny’ Hardaway
Vin Diesel
Steve Forbes
John Glenn
Nelson Mandela

(1) 7-Eleven is turning into Kwik-E-Mart.

(2) Which Springfield will win? It could be you! The deadline for submissions was last Thursday, but you have until July 9th to vote. Vote early, vote often!

Freedom for the people!

The 26th Great American Beer Festival  is less than four months away!