Catch Up
So again, I've been doing a great job keeping the blog updated. Here's what's new. I was in Northern Ireland last weekend for the World Solo Drumming Championships. Once again I made it to the semi-finals but not through to the 12 man final. I was disappointed as I thought I played better than last year, and had a good shot at qualifying. As for the final, I was very disappointed. There was a lot of "uninspired" playing, and a lot of judges results I do not agree with. As far as I'm concerned 3 players were WAY in front. They were, my brother Blair, Steven McWhirter and Jim Kilpatrick. Congrats again to Steven. He's one of my good friends in Pipe Bands and it was amazing to see him win. For the record, the rest of my top six would have included Barry Wilson, J.Reid Maxwell, and Phillip Bell. Another Congrats must go out to the under 19 World Champion (and my host for the weekend) Chris McNichol. I have a few months relatively pipe band free until January which is Winter Storm. I intend to write a lot of music in the next few months, and keep getting things ready for my book that I'd love to have published by next summer.
In other news, I've started playing Magic: The Gathering again. "Magic" is a card game that's always been described as a mix between Chess and Dungeons and Dragons. The Dungeons and Dragons thing is really just to say it's fantasy based. You could also compare it's world to Lord of the Rings. As far as I'm concerned it is the best game in the world, ever. Magic is extremely difficult to master. When a lot of the top Magic Pro's were leaving to become top Poker pro's, people were debating what game was tougher. I originally said Poker, but the more that I've thought about it I think it's Magic. Next Saturday will be my first Magic tournament in 3 years. The event is a Pro Tour Qualifier for Pro Tour Geneva. I'm hoping I can drag some of my friends along, but if they bail I'll still be heading out with "Hayseed" Jamie Archdekin, who for the past 3 years we thought had died in a horrible Tractor accident. My friend Boyd and Archdekin once drove the tractor all the way down to Florida for a tournament...
In movie news, I saw "The Departed" a few weeks back, and it is simply awesome. I'm trying to think what else I've seen this year, but I'm pretty sure "The Departed" is the best movie I've seen. The cast is fantastic, and for me Mark Whalberg stole all the scenes he was in. Brilliant!
Well isn't college football interesting? Last week my second most hated team (Southern California) lost, and last night West Virginia fell. So, as of now there are only 3 undefeated teams with a shot at playing in the National Title game (sorry Boise State and Rutgers, you don't count). Those teams are Louisville, Ohio State, and Michigan. Barring any huge upset, Michigan and Ohio State will meet November 18th, ranked as the Numbers 1 and 2 teams in the country, with a spot in the title game on the line. Then there's Louisville, who I don't think is safe just yet. They still have to play Rutgers in New Jersey, and Pittsburgh, in Pitt. Neither of those games should be easy. So if Louisville loses, what one loss team is gonna play against the Ohio State/Michigan winner in the final? Right now the two leading 1 loss teams would be Florida and Auburn. But both of them might lose another game in the regular season, plus there's the SEC title game. Texas is next in the rankings. They've still got to play Texas A&M (who are currently 8-1) and most likely the Big 12 Championship game. Believe it or not, my Fighting Irish still have a chance. If some teams currently ahead of them lose, and ND beats USC, the Irish could probably get as high as 3-4 in the Harris and Coaches polls, and right now they're ranked 5th by the BCS computer average which would most likely also improve. Whether that would be enough for the BCS computers to have them finish the season at number 2 I don't know. Lost in this is the Michigan/Ohio State loser. I hate the fact that losing your one game at the end of the year as opposed to the start affects things so much. After a late season loss if the pollsters drop a team too far down the rankings then they have no more games to play to make it up, and they end up missing out on a big game because they lost late in the season instead of early. If say Michigan loses to Ohio State in a close game, and the voters don't drop them farther than 3-4 in the polls, they could still finish number 2 in the final BCS standing. Needless to say, the next few weeks are going to be great.
Well I think that's enough for one post.
Bizzle Out
In other news, I've started playing Magic: The Gathering again. "Magic" is a card game that's always been described as a mix between Chess and Dungeons and Dragons. The Dungeons and Dragons thing is really just to say it's fantasy based. You could also compare it's world to Lord of the Rings. As far as I'm concerned it is the best game in the world, ever. Magic is extremely difficult to master. When a lot of the top Magic Pro's were leaving to become top Poker pro's, people were debating what game was tougher. I originally said Poker, but the more that I've thought about it I think it's Magic. Next Saturday will be my first Magic tournament in 3 years. The event is a Pro Tour Qualifier for Pro Tour Geneva. I'm hoping I can drag some of my friends along, but if they bail I'll still be heading out with "Hayseed" Jamie Archdekin, who for the past 3 years we thought had died in a horrible Tractor accident. My friend Boyd and Archdekin once drove the tractor all the way down to Florida for a tournament...
In movie news, I saw "The Departed" a few weeks back, and it is simply awesome. I'm trying to think what else I've seen this year, but I'm pretty sure "The Departed" is the best movie I've seen. The cast is fantastic, and for me Mark Whalberg stole all the scenes he was in. Brilliant!
Well isn't college football interesting? Last week my second most hated team (Southern California) lost, and last night West Virginia fell. So, as of now there are only 3 undefeated teams with a shot at playing in the National Title game (sorry Boise State and Rutgers, you don't count). Those teams are Louisville, Ohio State, and Michigan. Barring any huge upset, Michigan and Ohio State will meet November 18th, ranked as the Numbers 1 and 2 teams in the country, with a spot in the title game on the line. Then there's Louisville, who I don't think is safe just yet. They still have to play Rutgers in New Jersey, and Pittsburgh, in Pitt. Neither of those games should be easy. So if Louisville loses, what one loss team is gonna play against the Ohio State/Michigan winner in the final? Right now the two leading 1 loss teams would be Florida and Auburn. But both of them might lose another game in the regular season, plus there's the SEC title game. Texas is next in the rankings. They've still got to play Texas A&M (who are currently 8-1) and most likely the Big 12 Championship game. Believe it or not, my Fighting Irish still have a chance. If some teams currently ahead of them lose, and ND beats USC, the Irish could probably get as high as 3-4 in the Harris and Coaches polls, and right now they're ranked 5th by the BCS computer average which would most likely also improve. Whether that would be enough for the BCS computers to have them finish the season at number 2 I don't know. Lost in this is the Michigan/Ohio State loser. I hate the fact that losing your one game at the end of the year as opposed to the start affects things so much. After a late season loss if the pollsters drop a team too far down the rankings then they have no more games to play to make it up, and they end up missing out on a big game because they lost late in the season instead of early. If say Michigan loses to Ohio State in a close game, and the voters don't drop them farther than 3-4 in the polls, they could still finish number 2 in the final BCS standing. Needless to say, the next few weeks are going to be great.
Well I think that's enough for one post.
Bizzle Out
posted by Graham at
9:04 AM
2 Comments:
Graham,
Stumbled in and got a nice kick out of reading whats up with you. Congrats on the world's solo's. You felt as though you should have been playing in the finals and really thats all that matters...........right? Keep knocking on the door like you are and they will have to let you through sooner or later. I am probably going to be in Winter Storm so I will see ya there! Writing a book eh? That should be good. How many scores are you going to throwing in it?
Let me know when you want to go heads up on Poker Stars..............I'll find you then I'll take your money. HAHA yeah right
Later bro
R Barrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrr
Holy Cow ... a post.
Don't forget that the loser of the Michigan/Ohio game will also be a one loss team. Just like Wilbon and Kornheiser say ... if the first game is good, why not play it again?
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