It occured to me that I write about sports a lot, and things happening in my life, but they're more like actions I'm doing in the moment, not my physical surroundings. One might get the impression that I take my surroundings for granted, don't really care one way or another about them.
Truth is, I like living in Camarillo, CA. (For some parts of the year- other times I live near USC, last year it was on USC campus, TBD for the next 2).
Whenever I tell people from SoCal that I live in Camarillo, the response that comes up 80% of the time, (all the time), is "That's where the Camarillo Outlets are!" As opposed to Illinois people who say, "Camarillo sounds like Amarillo, Texas."
Yup, Camarillo's claim to faim are the outrights, but it has so much more. What struck me the first time I came was going down "The Grade" on the 101.......I was arriving from LAX in my mom's car ready to just go to the new home and sleep, when suddenly the Ventura Freeway dropped down into a massive downhill and before me the Camarillo Valley presented itself in its most grandiose form. I felt like William and Clark finding new land in the west, or reaching my final destination in the game Oregon Trail: It was a beauty to behold. Lights were lit everywhere, you could see pretty much the whole city from where I was. I knew I was gonna do just fine in Camarillo from then on.
Thing about Camarillo is, it enjoys all the benefits of surburbia while not being too far from LA, and it's really close to nature's exhibits like the Port Hueneme Mountains and Oxnard beaches. I'm often confused about why people are against the suburbs ("suburbia sprawling" is in the song Kids of America by Cascada, and it becomes the natural explanation for anything weird going on, like, "people came at me with Malibu Barbie dolls looking like they wanted to kill me!" easily explained away by saying, "well, it's the suburbs." Other popular TV references: "Weeds" with Mary Louise Parker basically showing everyone in the suburbs being so bored as to need weed all the time, and "Disturbia" with Shia LaBoeuf- weird movie.
Anyway, I like the suburbs. Got everything you need without the constant worry of crime, and plenty of open land, tennis courts, and bike paths for me.
Highlighting Camarillo's weather: When it's 100 degrees in Thousand Oaks/ Agoura Hills (a few surburbs away), it's 80 degrees in Camarillo because we're protected by the valley I previously talked about. Nice temperate winds, soothing temperatures, just a hint of rainfall once in a while, all good.
Camarillo: Where Delmon Young went to high school. I need that guy to start hitting and become an all-star so I can boast about it. C'mon, man!
Camarillo: Where I can operate my blog in peace.
Peace out!
-Robert Yan
Sunday, June 28, 2009
Friday, June 26, 2009
Back to basics - Buy or sell?
This post will be less gimmick, more analysis. Less fat, more meat. Less filler, more plot-pushing.
My mom, sister, and grandfather went to China for vacation and got quarantined because someone on their plane had signs of the swine flu. Sigh. Rather unfortunate that they'll have to just sit around for a week (25% of the whole trip), but gotta make sure about the most important thing (health), I suppose. Personally, I think the Chinese government is overreacting about a disease that's gonna go away pretty soon and doesn't kill as many as the ordinary flu does, but with the past experience that country has had w/ epidemics, I understand why they'd rather play it safe. Just a bad time to go to China right now.
Also may be a bad time to go to Angel Stadium. I went on wednesday to watch Halos/ Rockies, saw Vlad homer, saw my man Bobby Abreu have a solid game with a HR, SB, AND an outfield assist (underrated stat). However, after the game someone pulled a gun and bullets were fired, although it was probably a different part of the parking lot than I was......still, not a good sign. I might hold off from going there for a while.
Working at LA SUPERIOR has had its moments.....we've had some interesting stuff come in, like the Miley Cyrus slanted-eye (what we like to call it) case and a different judge is handlin the Perez Hilton- alleged assault case.
I've been listening to this Ryan for Roses stuff on Kiss FM LA in the morning (got a lot of time in the car going to court every day), and I'm convinced it's scripted. People just do not react like that. It's just too perfect for them. The husband always answers on the first call, always thinks there's a catch with the "free roses" call but ultimately gives in and sends them to a girl......and more than likely it's not the guy's girlfriend/wife. And the whole confrontation conveniently takes just enough time to keep listeners' interest. I'd say at least 70% fixed, maybe they've had a couple genuine calls in there to keep incredulity.
Alright, Here we go, the most reliable buy/sell segment out there:
1. Mark Reynolds: When he hit is 10th Homer, I said sell as soon as possible. When he hit his 13th Homer, I said a guy who strikes out more than 200 times is not gonna be on my team anymore. When he hit is 17th HR, I still immediately sent out 6 lopsided trade offers from them. Now, after hitting his 20th and 21st HR's, I'm beginning to think Reynolds is here to stay. Don't get me wrong, I'd still trade him for like the 20th best fantasy player, but no longer think there's a tremendous downswing on the horizon.
2. Joe Mauer: Sell. Still will hit above .300 rest of way, but are u really gonna bank on this ridiculous early-season power stroke he's had? Don't think so. And I know it's hard to move catchers around cuz of position scarcity, so free practice pointer (like the Rutter Guide for lawyers): offer Mauer and a lesser player for a lesser but still serviceable catcher (think Posada) and a better player than Mauer.....it does the trick.
3. Jimmy Rollins: Buy. Take it from me, Rollins owners are on the verge of clicking the drop button, they can't wait to release him for anybody with ANY value.
4. Ricky Nolasco: Buy. He burned me early season, I regret not picking him back up after the Marlins picked him back up from the minors. I see a 16-win season at the end.
5. Rafael Furcal: Sell. The definition of a lingering injury hampering his play.
6. Johann Santana: Buy. This would have been even better a week ago after some disastrous starts. Still, buy like it's Microsoft stock circa-1998.
7. Ben Zobrist/ Jason Bartlett: Sell. Same time, same story: hot start will not translate, physical limitations will hold them down.
8. Joba Chamberlain: Buy. One of my favorite movies is this little-known film (don't even know what category it is) called Boiler Room, Ben Affleck has a awesome scene about how to sell products to people: "Ask him questions. Ask him rhetorical questions, it doesn't matter, just get a yes out of them. If you're drowning and I throw you a life jacket would you grab it? Yes! Good, pick up 200 shares!"
Well I'm asking you now, if you've been in the desert for 7 days and I offer you some water, would you take it? Yes! Good, pick up Joba Chamberlain. He could save your season.
9. Rick Porcello: Sell. For some reason unbeknownst to me I think people are overvaluing the current Porcello, despite the good start. He's not a K pitcher, he plays in the AL, he walks quite a few per game, and his 8 wins are a mirage. Get off the Titanic before he sinks your ERA and WHIP.
10. Carlos Quentin/Aramis Ramirez: Buy. Someone in your league has Quentin or A-Ram stashed on their DL, or worse, have them occupying a valuable roster spot. Send a low-ball offer, the neighborhood of a Bobby Abreu or Nate McLouth, or Andrew McCutchen, or a combo of those. You play for first place in fantasy baseball, 2nd place does not get you extra fan base or any other props. Injured guys coming back is the best way to max your return.
Fantasize on,
Robert Yan
My mom, sister, and grandfather went to China for vacation and got quarantined because someone on their plane had signs of the swine flu. Sigh. Rather unfortunate that they'll have to just sit around for a week (25% of the whole trip), but gotta make sure about the most important thing (health), I suppose. Personally, I think the Chinese government is overreacting about a disease that's gonna go away pretty soon and doesn't kill as many as the ordinary flu does, but with the past experience that country has had w/ epidemics, I understand why they'd rather play it safe. Just a bad time to go to China right now.
Also may be a bad time to go to Angel Stadium. I went on wednesday to watch Halos/ Rockies, saw Vlad homer, saw my man Bobby Abreu have a solid game with a HR, SB, AND an outfield assist (underrated stat). However, after the game someone pulled a gun and bullets were fired, although it was probably a different part of the parking lot than I was......still, not a good sign. I might hold off from going there for a while.
Working at LA SUPERIOR has had its moments.....we've had some interesting stuff come in, like the Miley Cyrus slanted-eye (what we like to call it) case and a different judge is handlin the Perez Hilton- alleged assault case.
I've been listening to this Ryan for Roses stuff on Kiss FM LA in the morning (got a lot of time in the car going to court every day), and I'm convinced it's scripted. People just do not react like that. It's just too perfect for them. The husband always answers on the first call, always thinks there's a catch with the "free roses" call but ultimately gives in and sends them to a girl......and more than likely it's not the guy's girlfriend/wife. And the whole confrontation conveniently takes just enough time to keep listeners' interest. I'd say at least 70% fixed, maybe they've had a couple genuine calls in there to keep incredulity.
Alright, Here we go, the most reliable buy/sell segment out there:
1. Mark Reynolds: When he hit is 10th Homer, I said sell as soon as possible. When he hit his 13th Homer, I said a guy who strikes out more than 200 times is not gonna be on my team anymore. When he hit is 17th HR, I still immediately sent out 6 lopsided trade offers from them. Now, after hitting his 20th and 21st HR's, I'm beginning to think Reynolds is here to stay. Don't get me wrong, I'd still trade him for like the 20th best fantasy player, but no longer think there's a tremendous downswing on the horizon.
2. Joe Mauer: Sell. Still will hit above .300 rest of way, but are u really gonna bank on this ridiculous early-season power stroke he's had? Don't think so. And I know it's hard to move catchers around cuz of position scarcity, so free practice pointer (like the Rutter Guide for lawyers): offer Mauer and a lesser player for a lesser but still serviceable catcher (think Posada) and a better player than Mauer.....it does the trick.
3. Jimmy Rollins: Buy. Take it from me, Rollins owners are on the verge of clicking the drop button, they can't wait to release him for anybody with ANY value.
4. Ricky Nolasco: Buy. He burned me early season, I regret not picking him back up after the Marlins picked him back up from the minors. I see a 16-win season at the end.
5. Rafael Furcal: Sell. The definition of a lingering injury hampering his play.
6. Johann Santana: Buy. This would have been even better a week ago after some disastrous starts. Still, buy like it's Microsoft stock circa-1998.
7. Ben Zobrist/ Jason Bartlett: Sell. Same time, same story: hot start will not translate, physical limitations will hold them down.
8. Joba Chamberlain: Buy. One of my favorite movies is this little-known film (don't even know what category it is) called Boiler Room, Ben Affleck has a awesome scene about how to sell products to people: "Ask him questions. Ask him rhetorical questions, it doesn't matter, just get a yes out of them. If you're drowning and I throw you a life jacket would you grab it? Yes! Good, pick up 200 shares!"
Well I'm asking you now, if you've been in the desert for 7 days and I offer you some water, would you take it? Yes! Good, pick up Joba Chamberlain. He could save your season.
9. Rick Porcello: Sell. For some reason unbeknownst to me I think people are overvaluing the current Porcello, despite the good start. He's not a K pitcher, he plays in the AL, he walks quite a few per game, and his 8 wins are a mirage. Get off the Titanic before he sinks your ERA and WHIP.
10. Carlos Quentin/Aramis Ramirez: Buy. Someone in your league has Quentin or A-Ram stashed on their DL, or worse, have them occupying a valuable roster spot. Send a low-ball offer, the neighborhood of a Bobby Abreu or Nate McLouth, or Andrew McCutchen, or a combo of those. You play for first place in fantasy baseball, 2nd place does not get you extra fan base or any other props. Injured guys coming back is the best way to max your return.
Fantasize on,
Robert Yan
Tuesday, June 23, 2009
Fallen Heroes
As you might imagine, this post will be all about heroes.
Remember when you were a little kid, you had a hero, or multiple heroes that you looked up to? (And even as an adult, when you go to leadership seminars or personality training, they ask you about them in a questionnaire or face to face) I remember one of my heroes, believe it or not, was Bill Cosby. Yup, 1:00PM on weekday afternoons in the summer, I would turn on the Cosby Show, whichever season it was, and catch up on the latest happenings with the Huxtible family, whether it was Theo getting his ear pierced, Vanessa sneaking out to a concert, or Denise bringing home a husband and a stepdaughter, Olivia (who turned out to one of the funniest characters on the show). I loved Bill Cosby. I thought he was funny, charismatic, successful, and most importantly, family-orientated. He was at the head of a very loving, supportive family that got along great, so much so I wanted to be with that family. I wanted to be Bill Cosby when I grew up, wanted to sound like him, make jokes like him, click my dance shoes as well as he did, and be a doctor.
So you can imagine, then, why I felt betrayed, confused, and skeptical after I heard about Bill's sex scandal several years ago. I had built such a high regard for Bill that I didn't think he was capable of anything but good; indeed, I needed him to be good-natured, to be good, to know that there solid symbols of good in this world. Haha, looking back on it, that seems a little too idealistic, expecting one guy to be good. And Bill is still an all-right guy, everybody makes mistakes. But I think that for me he proves an important point: Heroes can fall; they can become fallen heroes.
Our media is inundated to references of fallen heroes: "The old king is dead. Long live the king." (Coldplay- Viva La Vida), "Not a real hero." (Spellbound), "I'm not a role model" (Charles Barkley), "Our hero has been slain!" (Warcraft III- Orcs). Every superhero movie you've ever gone to has facets of a fallen hero, who encounters seeminly insurmountable obstacles and needs to overcome in the face of adversity. There is, however, one major difference between the comic book heroes and heroes in real life:
Real life heroes do NOT always come out ahead by the end of the movie. In fact, in the 2 examples I'm about to discuss, they are guaranteed to fall and remain fallen.
Heroes- the TV show. I have never felt such a rollercoaster of emotion about any TV show, and that's INCLUDING the Cosby Show (Cosby show was more of a subway ride then a rollercoaster, straight line, no bumps, know what you're gonna get). Heroes started out on an emotional high for me, when in early 2007 (Coincidentally, also around when this blog was created) I heard about the show from a friend of mine, who in passing hinted that I should watch the show "for my own good." Never one to pass up anything for my own benefit, I went on nbc.com to catch up on the show, and the rest was addiction. I literally could not stop watching the show. The first night I started watching at around 9:30PM, watched the first six episodes straight till about 3:00PM in the early morning. This was when I had roommates in college living in the same little room, too, so I had to go the extra mile to put on headphones and not disturb them, but those were the sacrifices I was willing to make. I think being allowed to watch the first, O, 19 episodes of the season whenver I wanted and having them at my fingertips didn't help the addiction.
As good as the first season of Heroes was, it has been that disappointing ever since. Looking back, there were signs, little hints that the show would not ever be as good at the end of season 1. First of all, Sylar visiting his mother- I kinda get the closure part, but was that necessary? Then the ending: Overly hyped, lots of build-up towards it where the heroes finally all meet up in New York- didn't go so hot. Yes, the prophecy came true, but did we really need all those heroes there? Like Jessica/Mom, was it really absolutely crucial that she get in some extraneous punches on Sylar before Hiro plunged the sword into his heart? And Linderman, the all-knowing, all-seeing, all-healing bad guy that was such a key villain the entire season, was killed by......DL????????
Even then, I didn't recognize the fallen heroes for what they were. The 2nd season was still on my list of priorities, I planned my schedule weeks ahead to catch the season premiere. The 2nd season was not average, it was POOR. Random characters, people who shouldn't be dying getting killed off, people who should be dead coming back from the dead (DL), it was atrocious. Unlike Bill Cosby, I did not recognize the fall for what it was at first, so there was no gigantic shock, no stunned silence as I slumped back into my seat. Only until the 3rd season did I finally give it up: I realized that Heroes had become like a movie trilogy: Producers cashing on one great first season/movie by mailing in 2 subsequent ones. Big flaw with Heroes: stale characters. Sylar wasn't big and bad enough anymore, so they had to make him good for a while to accentuate the badness. Peter's powers were too great cuz he just sucks up everybody's powers, so we need to take them away for awhile. Claire: what can you really do with a character who's only ability is a defensive one (to heal?) And how flying guys can there be on one show? AND WHEN WAS ALI LARTER'S CHARACTER GOING TO DIE FOR GOOD SINCE SHE WAS THE WEAKEST CHARACTER SINCE THE VERY FIRST EPISODE???? (I'm not bitter at all).
Anyway, since this is a fantasy blog, here are some Fantasy heroes who have fallen (Criteria for fantasy "hero" is someone who legitimately carried fantasy teams for an entire fantasy season at some point.
Rafael Furcal: Best Role: 2006 Season, 113R's, 15 HR's, 37 SB's, .300 AVG. Shell of his former self, gets about a hit per game (hence his .249 avg). It's like Quicksilver became just Silver: Only 4 out of 8 in SB attempts, can't run when his back is killing him.
Russ Ortiz: Best Role: 2003 Season: 21 W's, 3.81 ERA, 149 K's. Yes, chances are, even if he was a hero he was a hero for a sparse number of teams in 2003, but he did contribute. Took the loss tonight despite dropping his ERA to 3.47 on the season. He's fallen all right, he's just struggling for one last battle before giving it up..
Magglio Ordonez: Best Role: 2003 Season: .320 AVG, 38 HR's, 116 R's, 135 RBI's. Reverently referred in to in "Fantasyland" as a fantasy DEMIGOD, Thor has lost his thunder bolt as Ordonez no longer hits for power, no longer steals any bases of any kind and recently was benched. That's the problems with heroes in fantasy baseball: Besides being tarnished by PED's, juiced ball's, and corked bats, they also contract a 35-and-older disease where they're doomed to fail.
Vlad Guerrero: Best Role: 2002 Season: ..336 avg, 39 HR's, 111 RBI's, 40 SB's. It's sad, really, the Impaler seems to have been impaled.
Fantasize on,
Robert Yan
Remember when you were a little kid, you had a hero, or multiple heroes that you looked up to? (And even as an adult, when you go to leadership seminars or personality training, they ask you about them in a questionnaire or face to face) I remember one of my heroes, believe it or not, was Bill Cosby. Yup, 1:00PM on weekday afternoons in the summer, I would turn on the Cosby Show, whichever season it was, and catch up on the latest happenings with the Huxtible family, whether it was Theo getting his ear pierced, Vanessa sneaking out to a concert, or Denise bringing home a husband and a stepdaughter, Olivia (who turned out to one of the funniest characters on the show). I loved Bill Cosby. I thought he was funny, charismatic, successful, and most importantly, family-orientated. He was at the head of a very loving, supportive family that got along great, so much so I wanted to be with that family. I wanted to be Bill Cosby when I grew up, wanted to sound like him, make jokes like him, click my dance shoes as well as he did, and be a doctor.
So you can imagine, then, why I felt betrayed, confused, and skeptical after I heard about Bill's sex scandal several years ago. I had built such a high regard for Bill that I didn't think he was capable of anything but good; indeed, I needed him to be good-natured, to be good, to know that there solid symbols of good in this world. Haha, looking back on it, that seems a little too idealistic, expecting one guy to be good. And Bill is still an all-right guy, everybody makes mistakes. But I think that for me he proves an important point: Heroes can fall; they can become fallen heroes.
Our media is inundated to references of fallen heroes: "The old king is dead. Long live the king." (Coldplay- Viva La Vida), "Not a real hero." (Spellbound), "I'm not a role model" (Charles Barkley), "Our hero has been slain!" (Warcraft III- Orcs). Every superhero movie you've ever gone to has facets of a fallen hero, who encounters seeminly insurmountable obstacles and needs to overcome in the face of adversity. There is, however, one major difference between the comic book heroes and heroes in real life:
Real life heroes do NOT always come out ahead by the end of the movie. In fact, in the 2 examples I'm about to discuss, they are guaranteed to fall and remain fallen.
Heroes- the TV show. I have never felt such a rollercoaster of emotion about any TV show, and that's INCLUDING the Cosby Show (Cosby show was more of a subway ride then a rollercoaster, straight line, no bumps, know what you're gonna get). Heroes started out on an emotional high for me, when in early 2007 (Coincidentally, also around when this blog was created) I heard about the show from a friend of mine, who in passing hinted that I should watch the show "for my own good." Never one to pass up anything for my own benefit, I went on nbc.com to catch up on the show, and the rest was addiction. I literally could not stop watching the show. The first night I started watching at around 9:30PM, watched the first six episodes straight till about 3:00PM in the early morning. This was when I had roommates in college living in the same little room, too, so I had to go the extra mile to put on headphones and not disturb them, but those were the sacrifices I was willing to make. I think being allowed to watch the first, O, 19 episodes of the season whenver I wanted and having them at my fingertips didn't help the addiction.
As good as the first season of Heroes was, it has been that disappointing ever since. Looking back, there were signs, little hints that the show would not ever be as good at the end of season 1. First of all, Sylar visiting his mother- I kinda get the closure part, but was that necessary? Then the ending: Overly hyped, lots of build-up towards it where the heroes finally all meet up in New York- didn't go so hot. Yes, the prophecy came true, but did we really need all those heroes there? Like Jessica/Mom, was it really absolutely crucial that she get in some extraneous punches on Sylar before Hiro plunged the sword into his heart? And Linderman, the all-knowing, all-seeing, all-healing bad guy that was such a key villain the entire season, was killed by......DL????????
Even then, I didn't recognize the fallen heroes for what they were. The 2nd season was still on my list of priorities, I planned my schedule weeks ahead to catch the season premiere. The 2nd season was not average, it was POOR. Random characters, people who shouldn't be dying getting killed off, people who should be dead coming back from the dead (DL), it was atrocious. Unlike Bill Cosby, I did not recognize the fall for what it was at first, so there was no gigantic shock, no stunned silence as I slumped back into my seat. Only until the 3rd season did I finally give it up: I realized that Heroes had become like a movie trilogy: Producers cashing on one great first season/movie by mailing in 2 subsequent ones. Big flaw with Heroes: stale characters. Sylar wasn't big and bad enough anymore, so they had to make him good for a while to accentuate the badness. Peter's powers were too great cuz he just sucks up everybody's powers, so we need to take them away for awhile. Claire: what can you really do with a character who's only ability is a defensive one (to heal?) And how flying guys can there be on one show? AND WHEN WAS ALI LARTER'S CHARACTER GOING TO DIE FOR GOOD SINCE SHE WAS THE WEAKEST CHARACTER SINCE THE VERY FIRST EPISODE???? (I'm not bitter at all).
Anyway, since this is a fantasy blog, here are some Fantasy heroes who have fallen (Criteria for fantasy "hero" is someone who legitimately carried fantasy teams for an entire fantasy season at some point.
Rafael Furcal: Best Role: 2006 Season, 113R's, 15 HR's, 37 SB's, .300 AVG. Shell of his former self, gets about a hit per game (hence his .249 avg). It's like Quicksilver became just Silver: Only 4 out of 8 in SB attempts, can't run when his back is killing him.
Russ Ortiz: Best Role: 2003 Season: 21 W's, 3.81 ERA, 149 K's. Yes, chances are, even if he was a hero he was a hero for a sparse number of teams in 2003, but he did contribute. Took the loss tonight despite dropping his ERA to 3.47 on the season. He's fallen all right, he's just struggling for one last battle before giving it up..
Magglio Ordonez: Best Role: 2003 Season: .320 AVG, 38 HR's, 116 R's, 135 RBI's. Reverently referred in to in "Fantasyland" as a fantasy DEMIGOD, Thor has lost his thunder bolt as Ordonez no longer hits for power, no longer steals any bases of any kind and recently was benched. That's the problems with heroes in fantasy baseball: Besides being tarnished by PED's, juiced ball's, and corked bats, they also contract a 35-and-older disease where they're doomed to fail.
Vlad Guerrero: Best Role: 2002 Season: ..336 avg, 39 HR's, 111 RBI's, 40 SB's. It's sad, really, the Impaler seems to have been impaled.
Fantasize on,
Robert Yan
Sunday, June 21, 2009
I am not an ESPN "expert" analyst
You ever watch sportscenter (and if you're reading a blog like this you probably do) and an ESPN basketball "expert" (ahem, Tim Legler) or ESPN baseball analyst (ahem, Jaysen Stark) comes on and just gives these rash, unsubstantiated, irresponsible, and just irrational picks? It's AMAZING how often these guys get it wrong, even though usually there's a 50% chance of getting it right (who's gonna win this basketball series, Denver or LA?) or is this player gonna be this good the rest of the year? (Either yes or no). These guys, time and time again, do worse than my picks and just make "gut" calls that turn out to be wrong.
The WORST part is, they NEVER take account of how bad they've messed up. Anytime they are prompted for their "picks" (random dart tosses at a board describes it better), they always just give the pick, expecting us to nod our heads at home and be in unison. Uh, no. Don't buy their bull. They should have a disclaimer every time they give out a pick, saying, "Warning: picks may be highly prone to inaccuracy." Seriously, if I learned anything in tort, in product liability cases disclaimers to the customer are VERY important. These guys clearly don't show the same appreciation.
Can you tell I'm a little ticked about it? I was especially peeved when Tim Legler went on a radio talk show and said Nuggets in 6 when facing the Lakers this year, and he didn't want to say Nuggets in 7 because a potential Game 7 would be in LA. Really, Tim? 35 years of basketball experience, and THAT's ur pick? AND your justification for number of games was THAT? geez. C'mon, bro.
Anyway, unlike the so-called ESPN experts, I take account of my picks, and here's what i wrote about different fantasy players for each team before the season started for our USC Law fantasy baseball league: 16-team mixed league, standard Yahoo!:
Memorandum – Points and Authorities
To: Only Cool People in the
From: The One and Only True Commish, RobertDaManYan
Re: The Upcoming Fantasy Baseball Season
Statement of Facts
On Sunday, April 5, 2009, a new fantasy baseball begins, a season sure to be full of joy, disappointment, waiver wire pickups, solicitous smack talking, maniacal managerial moves and much more. To preview all of these upcoming situations, “The Man” takes a look at all 16 teams, their strengths, their weaknesses, question marks, as they have been formed after the draft. The Man also would like to remind the few kids who haven’t pay to pay up, or I’m coming around w/ a lead pipe and breakin’ some knees.
1.) PhillyRepeat:
Manager: Joe Clark, Duke University
The Mantle ( Best Draft Pick): Jason Bay. Surprised the Man went so far after Pedroia……This is a perennial 100-30-100 player that’s now in a loaded Boston lineup.
The Olowakandi: (Worst Draft Pick): Felix Hernandez. Queen Felix disappoints every year, and Joe already had Haren as a #1 SP.
The Brady: (Sleeper Draft Pick drafted later than 100 that could come up huge): Shin-Soo Choo: Who? This guy was sick for Cleveland at the end of ’08 and could be big in the middle of that lineup. Think a better version of Matsui circa 2003.
2.) Lawyroids – Manager: Ian Bonifield, Rutgers University
The Mantle: Vladimir Guerrero. Don’t age-discriminate this guy (that would be a tort). Doesn’t matter if he’s 30 or 39, he can hit a ball w/ his bare hands. As well as strangle a chicken.
The Olowakandi: Mariano Rivera. Could have waited a round for an aging closer. (K-Rod + others still available).
The Brady: Paul Konerko (170). Distinct chance of 30 HR’s at a low draft position. Konerko’s a guy who can actually “PutitontheBoard”
3.) Herbie & Buddy- Manger: Lee Linderman, Northwestern University
a. The Mantle: Ian Kinsler. Got the best player at a scarce position who plays in a sandbox w/ a loaded lineup. I rode on this guy’s back (not his dick, Derek) all year last year....he might do the same for Lee.
b. The Olowakandi: Shane Victorino. As much as you love the Flyin’ Hawaiian, he probably woulda been available couple rounds later, especially with fantasy powerhouses like David Ortiz and Carl Crawford still available
c. The Brady: Delmon Young. A product of Camarillo, California, where I now live. This guy still has a lot of potential inside him, including the potential to throw more bats at umpires.
4.) inAD- manager, Vikram Bhargava, University of California- Berkeley
a. The Mantle: Ryan Zimmerman. Young power hitter who plays every day. Love him.
b. The Olowakandi: Edinson Volquez. I will bet 300 rupees that this guy fails this year. Take it to the bank.
c. The Brady: Mighty Max Scherzer. K/9 rate sick, on a good team. Could be this year’s Lincecum.
5.) IceCream Socialists- manager: Hayden Alfano, American University
a. The Mantle: Andre Ethier. Been pimpin’ this man for many years now. Dodgers just gotta let him operate. Check out the facebook group “Andre Ethier is the Man”
b. The Olowakandi: Corey Hart. I smell homer pick. Never trust guys named Corey. (Corey Patterson, Corey Maggette, Corey Williams (Chicago Bulls 1990’s, Corey Pavin- lost me a golf bet once).
c. The Brady: Yovani Gallardo. The draft forum exploded when this guy was picked. Your fantasy baseball professionalism grade was beneficially impacted by this pick.
6.) Tony’s Tigers: manager: Anthony Portelli, Georgetown University
a. The Mantle: David Ortiz. Just read the book “Fantasyland” by Sam Walker. Many have banged their heads against walls for passing on this guy. I think I probably will.
b. The Olowakandi: Eva Longoria. This season, Eva will cheat on her husband again, turn lesbian, and find another gardener……o wait, we’re talking about Evan…Evan will strike out a lot, not be a man crush for Anthony, and not justify his #18 selection
c. The Brady: Jorge Posada. Could be the best catcher this season. At #175.
7.) Team Katinja: Manager- Scott Shannon, Occidental College.
a. The Mantle: B.J. Upton. B.J. stands for Big Juice, what they should call him at Tropicana Field.
b. The Olowakandi: Joe Mauer. Fitting cuz he was also once a #1 pick. Anytime you hear “no definite timetable for his return,” you definitely stay away.
c. The Brady: Mark Reynolds. Matthew Berry projected him for 40 HR’s last season. All craziness aside, Reynolds could easily hit 30 and a ton of RBI’s.
8.) Purple Parrots: Manager- Jibraun Riaz, Washington University in St. Louis
a. The Mantle: Joey Votto. Never mind that he’s Canadian, Votto will pulverize some bad NL Central pitching, like Chris Carpenter, Todd Wellemeyer, Kyle Lohse, Adam Wainwright…….
b. The Olowakandi: Adam Dunn. He’s Dunn hitting 40 HR’s every season now that he’s in Washington.
c. The Brady: Clayton Kershaw. I had to pick a pitcher since all of Jibraun’s picks after #9 where arms. Kershaw best of bunch.
9.) Joe’s Bombers: Manager- Joe Volk, Colorado College.
a. The Mantle: Dan Uggla. Uggla’s numbers are anything but ugly. Only 2nd baseman capable of hitting 30 Hr’s besides Utley.
b. The Olowakandi: Jaysen Werth. Ew. He is NOT good. But his mom is really hot. http://willdo.pwblogs.com/2008/04/25/jayson-werths-hot-mom/
c. The Brady: you have no Brady’s. Only failures.
10.) UCanPutItontheBoard: Manager- Lance Williams, Cornell University
a. The Mantle: Carlos Pena.
b. The Olowakandi: Derek Jeter. He would be a top-3 pick if we counted appearances on covers of baseball video games, but this is real life and he’s deteriorating.
c. The Brady: Howie Kendrick. Howie-wood should be given plenty of opportunity this year, has already established .300-BA, now just needs to build some muscles.
11.) KevDog’s Ballers: Kevin Reyes, Harvard University
a. The mantle: Carlos Delgado. 38 HR’s last year should not be trimmed down too much.
b. The Olowakandi: John Lackey. He sweats too much. On a side note, one of the best parts about Lost: showed Red Sox winning World Series 2004.
c. The Brady: Taylor Teagarden. Sounds like Teabag. I like Teabagging.
12.) A-Rod Blows Jeter: Derek Doherty, UMass- Amherst
a. The mantle: Nick Markakis: Nick the stick will not blow dick this season
b. The Olowakandi: Nate McLouth. McLovin’ is gonna get his ID taken away, along with 15 of last year’s homers.
c. The Brady: Not really a sleeper, but Ricky Nolasco’s numbers last year were no different than Cole Hamels. Yet Nolasco got drafted at 102.
13.) LearnedHandJob: Shouvik Biswas, Purdue (Purdon’t) University
a. The Mantle: Adrian Gonzalez. Love, love, LOVE the Mexican Sensation.
b. The Olowakandi: Miguel Tejada. Friggin’ Cheater.
c. The Brady: Chris Ray. Ray will force George Sherrill into early retirement, settle into closer position.
14.) Pirate Shoes: Blake Horn, Cornell University.
a. The Mantle: Chris Iannetta. Quietly had a coming out party last year. Should be good.
b. The Olowokandi: Chipper Jones. Like I said, he was good about 50 years ago. Now he’s pretty much Frankestein.
c. The Brady: Torii Hunter. The word “Torii” was a spelling word in the National Spelling Bee last year. Means a type of bird. Watch the Spelling Bee this year, ESPN May 26-28.
15.) 2Yankees1Cup: Imran Haque, Boston College.
a. The Mantle: Manny Ramirez. Manny was being 1.000+ OPS on the dodgers last fall.
b. The Olowakandi: I dunno what the fascination w/ J-Roll is. He’s not a top-10 worthy fantasy pick in any league.
c. The Brady: Travis Hafner. Pronk.
16.) RobertDaManYan: Robert Yan, University of Illinois.
a. The Mantle: All of my players are Mantles
b. The Olowakandi: I talked other managers into taking Olowakandis.
c. The Brady: Don’t need Brady’s, ain’t nobody’s gonna stop me. I ain’t never scurred.
Ok....after getting some time to digest all that, here are the highlights of my picks:
1.) Jason Bay and Shin-Soo Choo: How right I was......... lovin' life.
2.) Not so much on the Vlad Guerrero rejuvenation pick: not my best moment, but redeemed myself w/ the Paulie sleeper pick.
3.) Kinsler's a beast.
4.) Scherzer didn't start that hot, but now he's revvin' to go and will only get better as the weather heats up. Pat on back for picking some good young players (Zimmerman as well)
Volquez's 4.33 ERA not a fail, but mediocre at best.
5.) Love myself with the Gallardo pick. Ethier will only get better w/ Manny back.
6.) Worst picks have not coincidentally been old guys, Guerrero and Big Papi so far. Mental note. O and Longoria made me eat my words. This was not a good set.
7.) Ha, picking against Joe Mauer, not good, but Mark Reynolds as Brady almost made up for it, they could be co-MVP's of the fantasy world so far.
The rest: Loved Carlos Pena, was right, was inaccurate in pikcing Olowakandis like Werth, Jeter, and Dunn, and my Brady's were like 80% on. (Best Brady pick: Torii Hunter, even referenced the National Spelling Bee in there. Nice.
Conclusion: I'm a better analyst than Tim Legler. Gimme a whole season of NBA picks one-on-one with that guy, he can go to any number of games and do any number of ESPN telecasts I want, I will beat that guy up and down and in the parking lot. Bring it.
Fantasize on,
Robert Yan
The WORST part is, they NEVER take account of how bad they've messed up. Anytime they are prompted for their "picks" (random dart tosses at a board describes it better), they always just give the pick, expecting us to nod our heads at home and be in unison. Uh, no. Don't buy their bull. They should have a disclaimer every time they give out a pick, saying, "Warning: picks may be highly prone to inaccuracy." Seriously, if I learned anything in tort, in product liability cases disclaimers to the customer are VERY important. These guys clearly don't show the same appreciation.
Can you tell I'm a little ticked about it? I was especially peeved when Tim Legler went on a radio talk show and said Nuggets in 6 when facing the Lakers this year, and he didn't want to say Nuggets in 7 because a potential Game 7 would be in LA. Really, Tim? 35 years of basketball experience, and THAT's ur pick? AND your justification for number of games was THAT? geez. C'mon, bro.
Anyway, unlike the so-called ESPN experts, I take account of my picks, and here's what i wrote about different fantasy players for each team before the season started for our USC Law fantasy baseball league: 16-team mixed league, standard Yahoo!:
Memorandum – Points and Authorities
To: Only Cool People in the
From: The One and Only True Commish, RobertDaManYan
Re: The Upcoming Fantasy Baseball Season
Statement of Facts
On Sunday, April 5, 2009, a new fantasy baseball begins, a season sure to be full of joy, disappointment, waiver wire pickups, solicitous smack talking, maniacal managerial moves and much more. To preview all of these upcoming situations, “The Man” takes a look at all 16 teams, their strengths, their weaknesses, question marks, as they have been formed after the draft. The Man also would like to remind the few kids who haven’t pay to pay up, or I’m coming around w/ a lead pipe and breakin’ some knees.
1.) PhillyRepeat:
Manager: Joe Clark, Duke University
The Mantle ( Best Draft Pick): Jason Bay. Surprised the Man went so far after Pedroia……This is a perennial 100-30-100 player that’s now in a loaded Boston lineup.
The Olowakandi: (Worst Draft Pick): Felix Hernandez. Queen Felix disappoints every year, and Joe already had Haren as a #1 SP.
The Brady: (Sleeper Draft Pick drafted later than 100 that could come up huge): Shin-Soo Choo: Who? This guy was sick for Cleveland at the end of ’08 and could be big in the middle of that lineup. Think a better version of Matsui circa 2003.
2.) Lawyroids – Manager: Ian Bonifield, Rutgers University
The Mantle: Vladimir Guerrero. Don’t age-discriminate this guy (that would be a tort). Doesn’t matter if he’s 30 or 39, he can hit a ball w/ his bare hands. As well as strangle a chicken.
The Olowakandi: Mariano Rivera. Could have waited a round for an aging closer. (K-Rod + others still available).
The Brady: Paul Konerko (170). Distinct chance of 30 HR’s at a low draft position. Konerko’s a guy who can actually “PutitontheBoard”
3.) Herbie & Buddy- Manger: Lee Linderman, Northwestern University
a. The Mantle: Ian Kinsler. Got the best player at a scarce position who plays in a sandbox w/ a loaded lineup. I rode on this guy’s back (not his dick, Derek) all year last year....he might do the same for Lee.
b. The Olowakandi: Shane Victorino. As much as you love the Flyin’ Hawaiian, he probably woulda been available couple rounds later, especially with fantasy powerhouses like David Ortiz and Carl Crawford still available
c. The Brady: Delmon Young. A product of Camarillo, California, where I now live. This guy still has a lot of potential inside him, including the potential to throw more bats at umpires.
4.) inAD- manager, Vikram Bhargava, University of California- Berkeley
a. The Mantle: Ryan Zimmerman. Young power hitter who plays every day. Love him.
b. The Olowakandi: Edinson Volquez. I will bet 300 rupees that this guy fails this year. Take it to the bank.
c. The Brady: Mighty Max Scherzer. K/9 rate sick, on a good team. Could be this year’s Lincecum.
5.) IceCream Socialists- manager: Hayden Alfano, American University
a. The Mantle: Andre Ethier. Been pimpin’ this man for many years now. Dodgers just gotta let him operate. Check out the facebook group “Andre Ethier is the Man”
b. The Olowakandi: Corey Hart. I smell homer pick. Never trust guys named Corey. (Corey Patterson, Corey Maggette, Corey Williams (Chicago Bulls 1990’s, Corey Pavin- lost me a golf bet once).
c. The Brady: Yovani Gallardo. The draft forum exploded when this guy was picked. Your fantasy baseball professionalism grade was beneficially impacted by this pick.
6.) Tony’s Tigers: manager: Anthony Portelli, Georgetown University
a. The Mantle: David Ortiz. Just read the book “Fantasyland” by Sam Walker. Many have banged their heads against walls for passing on this guy. I think I probably will.
b. The Olowakandi: Eva Longoria. This season, Eva will cheat on her husband again, turn lesbian, and find another gardener……o wait, we’re talking about Evan…Evan will strike out a lot, not be a man crush for Anthony, and not justify his #18 selection
c. The Brady: Jorge Posada. Could be the best catcher this season. At #175.
7.) Team Katinja: Manager- Scott Shannon, Occidental College.
a. The Mantle: B.J. Upton. B.J. stands for Big Juice, what they should call him at Tropicana Field.
b. The Olowakandi: Joe Mauer. Fitting cuz he was also once a #1 pick. Anytime you hear “no definite timetable for his return,” you definitely stay away.
c. The Brady: Mark Reynolds. Matthew Berry projected him for 40 HR’s last season. All craziness aside, Reynolds could easily hit 30 and a ton of RBI’s.
8.) Purple Parrots: Manager- Jibraun Riaz, Washington University in St. Louis
a. The Mantle: Joey Votto. Never mind that he’s Canadian, Votto will pulverize some bad NL Central pitching, like Chris Carpenter, Todd Wellemeyer, Kyle Lohse, Adam Wainwright…….
b. The Olowakandi: Adam Dunn. He’s Dunn hitting 40 HR’s every season now that he’s in Washington.
c. The Brady: Clayton Kershaw. I had to pick a pitcher since all of Jibraun’s picks after #9 where arms. Kershaw best of bunch.
9.) Joe’s Bombers: Manager- Joe Volk, Colorado College.
a. The Mantle: Dan Uggla. Uggla’s numbers are anything but ugly. Only 2nd baseman capable of hitting 30 Hr’s besides Utley.
b. The Olowakandi: Jaysen Werth. Ew. He is NOT good. But his mom is really hot. http://willdo.pwblogs.com/2008/04/25/jayson-werths-hot-mom/
c. The Brady: you have no Brady’s. Only failures.
10.) UCanPutItontheBoard: Manager- Lance Williams, Cornell University
a. The Mantle: Carlos Pena.
b. The Olowakandi: Derek Jeter. He would be a top-3 pick if we counted appearances on covers of baseball video games, but this is real life and he’s deteriorating.
c. The Brady: Howie Kendrick. Howie-wood should be given plenty of opportunity this year, has already established .300-BA, now just needs to build some muscles.
11.) KevDog’s Ballers: Kevin Reyes, Harvard University
a. The mantle: Carlos Delgado. 38 HR’s last year should not be trimmed down too much.
b. The Olowakandi: John Lackey. He sweats too much. On a side note, one of the best parts about Lost: showed Red Sox winning World Series 2004.
c. The Brady: Taylor Teagarden. Sounds like Teabag. I like Teabagging.
12.) A-Rod Blows Jeter: Derek Doherty, UMass- Amherst
a. The mantle: Nick Markakis: Nick the stick will not blow dick this season
b. The Olowakandi: Nate McLouth. McLovin’ is gonna get his ID taken away, along with 15 of last year’s homers.
c. The Brady: Not really a sleeper, but Ricky Nolasco’s numbers last year were no different than Cole Hamels. Yet Nolasco got drafted at 102.
13.) LearnedHandJob: Shouvik Biswas, Purdue (Purdon’t) University
a. The Mantle: Adrian Gonzalez. Love, love, LOVE the Mexican Sensation.
b. The Olowakandi: Miguel Tejada. Friggin’ Cheater.
c. The Brady: Chris Ray. Ray will force George Sherrill into early retirement, settle into closer position.
14.) Pirate Shoes: Blake Horn, Cornell University.
a. The Mantle: Chris Iannetta. Quietly had a coming out party last year. Should be good.
b. The Olowokandi: Chipper Jones. Like I said, he was good about 50 years ago. Now he’s pretty much Frankestein.
c. The Brady: Torii Hunter. The word “Torii” was a spelling word in the National Spelling Bee last year. Means a type of bird. Watch the Spelling Bee this year, ESPN May 26-28.
15.) 2Yankees1Cup: Imran Haque, Boston College.
a. The Mantle: Manny Ramirez. Manny was being 1.000+ OPS on the dodgers last fall.
b. The Olowakandi: I dunno what the fascination w/ J-Roll is. He’s not a top-10 worthy fantasy pick in any league.
c. The Brady: Travis Hafner. Pronk.
16.) RobertDaManYan: Robert Yan, University of Illinois.
a. The Mantle: All of my players are Mantles
b. The Olowakandi: I talked other managers into taking Olowakandis.
c. The Brady: Don’t need Brady’s, ain’t nobody’s gonna stop me. I ain’t never scurred.
Ok....after getting some time to digest all that, here are the highlights of my picks:
1.) Jason Bay and Shin-Soo Choo: How right I was......... lovin' life.
2.) Not so much on the Vlad Guerrero rejuvenation pick: not my best moment, but redeemed myself w/ the Paulie sleeper pick.
3.) Kinsler's a beast.
4.) Scherzer didn't start that hot, but now he's revvin' to go and will only get better as the weather heats up. Pat on back for picking some good young players (Zimmerman as well)
Volquez's 4.33 ERA not a fail, but mediocre at best.
5.) Love myself with the Gallardo pick. Ethier will only get better w/ Manny back.
6.) Worst picks have not coincidentally been old guys, Guerrero and Big Papi so far. Mental note. O and Longoria made me eat my words. This was not a good set.
7.) Ha, picking against Joe Mauer, not good, but Mark Reynolds as Brady almost made up for it, they could be co-MVP's of the fantasy world so far.
The rest: Loved Carlos Pena, was right, was inaccurate in pikcing Olowakandis like Werth, Jeter, and Dunn, and my Brady's were like 80% on. (Best Brady pick: Torii Hunter, even referenced the National Spelling Bee in there. Nice.
Conclusion: I'm a better analyst than Tim Legler. Gimme a whole season of NBA picks one-on-one with that guy, he can go to any number of games and do any number of ESPN telecasts I want, I will beat that guy up and down and in the parking lot. Bring it.
Fantasize on,
Robert Yan
Friday, June 19, 2009
Thanks for a great year, 1L!
So yesterday the final 1L law school grade came in, and I was not terribly pleased, but content with my scores. What's more important is that it provides closure, final confirmation that my first year of law school is over, and I haven't failed out or dropped out, 2 scenarios that had about a .001% chance of happening but I'm happy didn't happen anyway.
In many ways, law school was a labyrinth. It was a constant battle between the vast expanse of law school, the intricacies of the law, and the whole morass of the law school process and me, and many times, "I fought the law and the law won."
However, through the mass confusion, I was able to decipher some clarities in my one year there.
1.) Law school is AMAZINGLY like high school. Wouldn't you know it, when you have the same classes with the same people all the time, you get along with them and become friends with some. Add to that our personal lockers and limitation to one building, and it's high school all over again, which for me was not very long ago. Along with the physical stuff was the social, psychological, and emotional: Because the stakes were so high with grades, it was inevitable that people with view each other with some sort of competitive flair, no matter how much emphasis everyone put on NOT being competitve.
2.) Law school has some SMART people. I thought I was smart before coming to law school and was in the top echelon of people in the country, at least among incoming law students (scored in the 97th percentile of LSAT scores). Not anymore. Problem is, everyone at USC got around the same LSAT score, and everyone took a long and arduous route to get there. So not only were they smart, they had worked hard. Usually in high school or undergrad you see one or other other; in law school most were both: Everyone knew they had to work hard, so the "work hard, play hard" playbook wen't out the window, or at least was simply amended to "work hard."
2b.) Law school professors are SMART. I'm glad to know them. Not all the teachers were known as great teachers, and many arguments between students ensued as to general effectiveness, but students NEVER griped about a teacher not being bright enough to teach....these were smart cookies, and everyone knew it. Sometimes, they were even TOO SMART for their own good, assuming students knew the material already and talking about stuff that was too high level.
3.) There's a LOT of law out there. After 3 weeks of legal research, I figured that I could do just legal research for the rest of my life and not be able to get to all the legal sources and authorities out there. It's just not possible. Law school is a nice condensation of the major introductory law subjects (contracts, torts, civ pro), but even in those classes we get a professor-selected abbreviation of those topics into a well-confined class where there are limits to what is taught and what is expected of us on the test; there's worlds of stuff out there that we haven't even touched, and it's very humbling, considering some of the stuff we DID learn I haven't even grasped yet.
4.) Law school can be fun. With the downs often came the ups. I lived in a law dorm with 40 other 1L's the first year, so that helped. I have good memories of SBA Beer Pong Tournaments, LAAB Spring Break trips to New Orleans, USC football games/ basketball games, Lost parties, fantasy football rivalries, and general hanging out, plopped down in the couches at the law school. I'm not sure if the activities were more fun because it was had in the midst of "hard times," but time was not completely lost in the library or buried in supplements: some fun was had.
5.) The actual case book is not that important. Incoming 1L's, take note: don't spend all your time in the casebooks. In fact, I spent very little time in the casebook 2nd semester. It was almost to the point I regretted spending hundreds of dollars on them, when I could go the library, check it out occasionally, get what I needed, and study mostly out of supplements/old outlines. Coming from academic environments where textbooks were king (people made undergrad legacies out of just reading the textbook the night before the exam and doing fine), this was definitely unexpected. Isn't law school all about the cases? those unfamiliar with law school will inquire. Nope, it has something to do with cases, but it's the law behind those cases that is the real heart and soul, the real blood and tears behind it all. You gotta grasp that; before you do so, the casebooks are a mirage.
6.) Law school is not everything. Beyond all those stories about law school consuming one's life, changing your perspective, becoming the "be all and end all," I am still who I am, I have not lost my identify, and from time to time I remind myself, I'm still who I am. I'm proud of myself for being in law school, but I keep it in perspective: My life will only partially be defined by what I do in law school or even what I do in my law career: I am much more defined by being a good son to my parents, a good brother, a decent human being towards others, doing good deeds, and generally living life to its fullest. I will always remember to do those things, and I'm happy to say I still did them during 1L year and will continue to do so afterwards.
That all said, I am SO glad 1L year is FINALLY over!!!!!!!
(o and I'm looking forward to being on Moot Court or any of the journals, I just want to do something! )(crosses fingers)
Fantasize on,
Robert Yan
In many ways, law school was a labyrinth. It was a constant battle between the vast expanse of law school, the intricacies of the law, and the whole morass of the law school process and me, and many times, "I fought the law and the law won."
However, through the mass confusion, I was able to decipher some clarities in my one year there.
1.) Law school is AMAZINGLY like high school. Wouldn't you know it, when you have the same classes with the same people all the time, you get along with them and become friends with some. Add to that our personal lockers and limitation to one building, and it's high school all over again, which for me was not very long ago. Along with the physical stuff was the social, psychological, and emotional: Because the stakes were so high with grades, it was inevitable that people with view each other with some sort of competitive flair, no matter how much emphasis everyone put on NOT being competitve.
2.) Law school has some SMART people. I thought I was smart before coming to law school and was in the top echelon of people in the country, at least among incoming law students (scored in the 97th percentile of LSAT scores). Not anymore. Problem is, everyone at USC got around the same LSAT score, and everyone took a long and arduous route to get there. So not only were they smart, they had worked hard. Usually in high school or undergrad you see one or other other; in law school most were both: Everyone knew they had to work hard, so the "work hard, play hard" playbook wen't out the window, or at least was simply amended to "work hard."
2b.) Law school professors are SMART. I'm glad to know them. Not all the teachers were known as great teachers, and many arguments between students ensued as to general effectiveness, but students NEVER griped about a teacher not being bright enough to teach....these were smart cookies, and everyone knew it. Sometimes, they were even TOO SMART for their own good, assuming students knew the material already and talking about stuff that was too high level.
3.) There's a LOT of law out there. After 3 weeks of legal research, I figured that I could do just legal research for the rest of my life and not be able to get to all the legal sources and authorities out there. It's just not possible. Law school is a nice condensation of the major introductory law subjects (contracts, torts, civ pro), but even in those classes we get a professor-selected abbreviation of those topics into a well-confined class where there are limits to what is taught and what is expected of us on the test; there's worlds of stuff out there that we haven't even touched, and it's very humbling, considering some of the stuff we DID learn I haven't even grasped yet.
4.) Law school can be fun. With the downs often came the ups. I lived in a law dorm with 40 other 1L's the first year, so that helped. I have good memories of SBA Beer Pong Tournaments, LAAB Spring Break trips to New Orleans, USC football games/ basketball games, Lost parties, fantasy football rivalries, and general hanging out, plopped down in the couches at the law school. I'm not sure if the activities were more fun because it was had in the midst of "hard times," but time was not completely lost in the library or buried in supplements: some fun was had.
5.) The actual case book is not that important. Incoming 1L's, take note: don't spend all your time in the casebooks. In fact, I spent very little time in the casebook 2nd semester. It was almost to the point I regretted spending hundreds of dollars on them, when I could go the library, check it out occasionally, get what I needed, and study mostly out of supplements/old outlines. Coming from academic environments where textbooks were king (people made undergrad legacies out of just reading the textbook the night before the exam and doing fine), this was definitely unexpected. Isn't law school all about the cases? those unfamiliar with law school will inquire. Nope, it has something to do with cases, but it's the law behind those cases that is the real heart and soul, the real blood and tears behind it all. You gotta grasp that; before you do so, the casebooks are a mirage.
6.) Law school is not everything. Beyond all those stories about law school consuming one's life, changing your perspective, becoming the "be all and end all," I am still who I am, I have not lost my identify, and from time to time I remind myself, I'm still who I am. I'm proud of myself for being in law school, but I keep it in perspective: My life will only partially be defined by what I do in law school or even what I do in my law career: I am much more defined by being a good son to my parents, a good brother, a decent human being towards others, doing good deeds, and generally living life to its fullest. I will always remember to do those things, and I'm happy to say I still did them during 1L year and will continue to do so afterwards.
That all said, I am SO glad 1L year is FINALLY over!!!!!!!
(o and I'm looking forward to being on Moot Court or any of the journals, I just want to do something! )(crosses fingers)
Fantasize on,
Robert Yan
Sunday, June 14, 2009
In memory of the NBA season
Tonight ended one of the greatest marathons in all of sports: The NBA season. Here are the top 10 things about the 2008-2009 NBA season (some of these things may have happened so long ago you don't even remember):
10.) it was better than the NHL season. Ask me one player other than Crosby on the Pittsburgh Penguins roster, and I give you a blank look. Mario Lemieux?
9.) Charles Barkley not saying, "Ginobbbbbbli!!!!!!" 7 billion times this season, cuz he was hurt.
9b.) Best Barkley quote ever: "First of all, you don't want the Chinese mad at you: they can fight!"
8.) The Suns not making the playoffs. I loved steve kerr's game-winner in Game 6 1997, but he has totally destroyed that suns team. Traded away shawn marion, got an old Shaq that bogs down the defense, not gonna cut it in the West. Back to TNT, steve.
7.) The LeBron-Kobe commercials: Ohio! Woo! Playoffs, Baby, Playoffs! Chinese Food! Ohio! Akron, Ohio!
6.) Ron Artest flopping all over the place and doing better acting than Keanu Reeves after getting "elbowed" by Kobe, then after Kobe calls him out, showing tongue to show he bit it.
6b.) Artest's hairdos throughout that series.
5.) Yao Ming finally putting up a (almost) full season.... another season-ending injury would have put his life in danger......were Rockets better w/o McGrady?
4.) All-Star Weekend Sprite Dunk Contest: Nasty Nate w/ his Kryptonite shoes (literally) throwing down on D-12 Superman.
3.) This game: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=61dRAp0voaM. Further proof (albeit just a nice decision on the pass) that rafer alston is key to your team.
2.) Glen Big Baby Davis: From zero to hero, at beginning of season pouted on the bench when KG raised his voice on him, then hit amazing playoff shot while shoving greasy, Mickey Mouse-loving white kid in Orlando. Incredible.
1.) Bulls - Celtics series: why we watch basketball. Although, I must admit, after so many overtimes of basketball, another shot of Joakim Noah's face would have made me vomit.
Good job, NBA. Further proof that the NBA pretends, i mean, cares.
Fantasize on,
Robert Yan
10.) it was better than the NHL season. Ask me one player other than Crosby on the Pittsburgh Penguins roster, and I give you a blank look. Mario Lemieux?
9.) Charles Barkley not saying, "Ginobbbbbbli!!!!!!" 7 billion times this season, cuz he was hurt.
9b.) Best Barkley quote ever: "First of all, you don't want the Chinese mad at you: they can fight!"
8.) The Suns not making the playoffs. I loved steve kerr's game-winner in Game 6 1997, but he has totally destroyed that suns team. Traded away shawn marion, got an old Shaq that bogs down the defense, not gonna cut it in the West. Back to TNT, steve.
7.) The LeBron-Kobe commercials: Ohio! Woo! Playoffs, Baby, Playoffs! Chinese Food! Ohio! Akron, Ohio!
6.) Ron Artest flopping all over the place and doing better acting than Keanu Reeves after getting "elbowed" by Kobe, then after Kobe calls him out, showing tongue to show he bit it.
6b.) Artest's hairdos throughout that series.
5.) Yao Ming finally putting up a (almost) full season.... another season-ending injury would have put his life in danger......were Rockets better w/o McGrady?
4.) All-Star Weekend Sprite Dunk Contest: Nasty Nate w/ his Kryptonite shoes (literally) throwing down on D-12 Superman.
3.) This game: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=61dRAp0voaM. Further proof (albeit just a nice decision on the pass) that rafer alston is key to your team.
2.) Glen Big Baby Davis: From zero to hero, at beginning of season pouted on the bench when KG raised his voice on him, then hit amazing playoff shot while shoving greasy, Mickey Mouse-loving white kid in Orlando. Incredible.
1.) Bulls - Celtics series: why we watch basketball. Although, I must admit, after so many overtimes of basketball, another shot of Joakim Noah's face would have made me vomit.
Good job, NBA. Further proof that the NBA pretends, i mean, cares.
Fantasize on,
Robert Yan
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