Wednesday, May 11, 2016

50-40

Yesterday, I went to my doctor who wanted to see me after the results of the multiple blood tests I took because I am now 50. She noticed that I am borderline on many things (still NOT diabetic) but nothing that would require me to take any additional medication.

Then it was time to address the white elephant but to be honest it was more a white Penguin/Cat combo as I was wearing my Bill and Opus for president in 2016 shirt. Though I was 2lb lighter than I was three months previously, I was still medically extremely obese as my BMI was over 40.

I told her I know my weight divided by 6.97 is by BMI which is 40.45. The doctor, impressed by my math skills, asked why am I doing what I am doing and not something like curing cancer?

I felt obligated to explain to the female of Asian descent that because my knowledge is so biased in math and science and I could not stand written fiction, my GPA would not allow me to get a college scholarship unless I provided something special to the school. Her face turned when I explained that meant I am a white male.

I then explained that even though I could do integral calculus in my head and knew 95% of the atomic table when I walked onto the campus of the Illinois Institute of Technology in August 1983, I did not know how to masturbate. All the awkward moments teenage boys go through in high school and earlier I started to have about the time I legally became an adult and the college world is not really a place for that. I then talked about how I tried to do what others said I should but to be honest, I was not socially ready at that time.

The doctor brought the subject back to my weight asking what could fix it knowing that if my weight was 1/4 lower, many of my current issues would be a whole lot better. Of course my first thought was eliminating a couple hundred pounds of burden.

I stated that I know my wife is real stupid because she married me and then tried without too many details to explain why I find myself a very disturbed individual. As a coworker once recently suggested, there are things I believe which I know if stated would get others angry with me without providing any benefit to anyone. In the past, I have stated a couple of ideas only to find that someone I know and care about would have their current or past significantly altered if my ideas were incorporated. The conversation even got dark after explaining how I got stuck in my situation but lack the courage to change it though I know many ways to get unstuck.

By the time I was done, I felt like my doctor was deciding if she should call police, the hospital or even the "men in white coats" and I did not even get to talking about the chain of ignorance she prominently displays.

Anyway, she wanted me to see a nutritionist. I stated that I know what foods I should eat and that I am fat because I eat things that make me happy forgetting for a short time the long term effect of my intake.

She then suggested what I associate as a "fat doctor". I know there is a name but like calling the grain quin-o-a, I am going to say fat doctor. Deal with it. Apparently, they do more than surgically reduce a person's intake.

As I left the building, I did not immediately throw the referral in the garbage.

Monday, May 9, 2016

"Home field" playoff games

Many times over the years a team in the playoffs ends up being the "home team" due to timing or luck and many times that has changed sports history.

10) Super Bowl 14 and 19

Twice a team has played the game (which is determined years in advance) in its own metropolitan area. The LA Rams gave the Steelers a game in #14 and 49ers coach Bill Walsh stated playing #19 at Stanford University Stadium made pregame preparations feel like a home game.

Both times the team with the better regular season won the title including the one loss champ who came closest to a 19-0 season.

9) 2008 AL Central playoff

The White Sox hosted the Twins in a one game playoff for the division title because of a coin flip. What made home field so important was that 17 of the 18 regular season games they played were won by the home team with the Twins winning the one road game.

The winning White Sox playing the game hurt the team in the Division series since it had to use its best pitcher in the playoff game.

8) 1972 AFC Championship game

The Steelers hosted the undefeated Dolphins because that is how the yearly home team rotation worked.

Though the Dolphins won the game, the NFL a few years later adapted the rule allowing teams with the better record to host the home playoff game.

7) Super Bowl 48

The NFL decided to play a Super Bowl outdoors in a cold weather city so Met Life Stadium (home of the Jets and Giants) was chosen.

Peyton Manning returned from surgery and was league MVP though he struggled near the end in Denver with the weather.

Seattle is a turf team that prefers bad weather in an outdoor game and it led to the blowout.

6) 1997 MLB playoffs

The rotation of home field advantage in MLB was changed to better record after 4 of the six series to determine the pennants were hosted by the team with fewer wins.

5) The Big 8 champ vs Florida teams in the Orange Bowl

Until the BCS, the Big 8 champ (later Big 12) always played in the Orange Bowl against a team that did not win the SEC, Big 10, PAC 10, or when it existed SWC.

Many of those games that determined the national champion were against Florida State or the University of Miami which played home games in the Orange Bowl Stadium.

Most of the Big 8 teams played home games on a fast artificial turf field while the Orange Bowl surface after grass replaced artificial turf in 1975 was slow.

4) 1954 World Series

Home field flips between NL and AL. I referenced game 1 in a prior post.

http://notnormalworld.blogspot.com/2015/05/lose-is-four-letter-word.html

That game lead to a Giants sweep over a team that won 114 regular season games.

3) 1984 NLCS

Due to the year the Padres hosted the Cubs and the home team won all 5 games allowing the Padres who won fewer regular season games to win the pennant.

2) 1987 Minnesota Twins

Four AL East teams and four NL teams won more games in 1987 than the 85 the Twins won but due to rotation the Twins had home field advantage in the World Series.

The Twins won every home game while losing all road games to win their first title.

1) 1967 NFL Western Conference Championship

In the first year the NFL had 4 divisions, the Green Bay Packers who finished 9-4-1 hosted the LA Rams who went 11-1-2 because home teams was on a rotational basis.

The Packers winning that game led to the Ice Bowl league championship game the following week.

No doubt the Colts 11-1-2 record is the best record of a non playoff team in league history as it lost a tiebreaker to the Rams to determine the Costal Division champion.