Best Day of My Life

Really digging the song “Best Day of My Life” by the American Authors, especially set to the tune of a highlight reel of the baseball season. BASEBALL IS COMING!!!!!

It’s had to a single “best day of my life” in my 26+ years of life. There have been stretches of my life that were very enjoyable, like being on vacation, or spring break trips, or vegetating, stress-free holidays during which I could do anything I wanted. There’s definitely been days that ended where I went, “Wow, I had a great day today!” or mornings during which I wake up and say, “I’m gonna make this the best day of my life!”  but I’ve never went to bed thinking, “That was the best day of my life!”

Candidates:

10.) August 3, 2013………. Orange County Fair, Caged Dodgeball Championship. A beautiful California summer day, it turned into the epitome of my dodgeball career to this point, I was on the best team I’ve probably been on in my whole life, 7 dudes called “The Gun Show” who dominated most of the competition but had a close game against the other contender in the league. In Game 3 of the Best-of-3 matchup against that team, it was down to me against 3 other guys. I caught one guy straight on in what was one of the hardest fastballs I’ve ever taken (but right to the chest, making it catchable because the ball had nowhere to go), then when it was down to 2 v. 2 I surprised Handsome Costanza, one of the pioneers of dodgeball and a really good player, with an anklebiter. We won the tournament.

9.) Previously detailed Sept. 23, 2013 day of fantasy baseball where I came from behind in my fantasy baseball matchup while coming back from LA. The epitome of my fantasy baseball career (sensing a theme here).

8.) My first full day in Tokyo, Japan during a week-long vacation I took around Japan. Started out the day in mid-town Tokyo, woke up at dawn, walked around the Imperial Palace, walked all around the city, Ueno Park, ended the day at Tokyo Tower in one of the biggest cities in the world. A great experience proving that I could survive on my own in a foreign place in another country; I felt free. Only problem with it: I was alone. That alone rules it out as one of the best days of my life: you need to have people to share it with.

7.) One of my last days as camp counselor at Camp Kinneret in Agoura Hills, CA: one of the last jobs I remember as more fun than work. Had a full day of fun with kids on the bus, at camp, went on a hike, played Foxes & Hounds, magic tricks were involved, jokes were made, and followed with the Great Camp Kinneret Sleepout, which involved skits and ghost stories and camping followed by sleeping in the field under the stars. Basically an under-10 kid’s dream, but I got to live it out as a kid while being paid. O and I performed a skit involving my violin that turned out really well and “brought down the house,” one of the best feelings to have as an entertainer.

6, 5, 4) These 3 all go together as individual parts of 3 Alternative Spring Break trips that I went on during my college/law school years. They were all very enjoyable and I wouldn’t have changed any of them. 2007 I went to Eustis, Florida, for child disability camps, 2008 I went to Alexandria, Virginia just outside of Washington, D.C. for understanding gang-related issues among teens, and in 2011 I went to Seattle, Washington for environmental issues. On each of these alternative spring breaks there was a seminal moment of the trip that stood out: In Florida we were near the beach and saw the sunset after a long day of work, in Alexandria it was it a fulfilling day of hanging out with kids followed by going to the National Mall in D.C., in Seattle it was leaving the island full of memories and going to Seattle for a food tour and my first taste of Seattle. All essential memories of great times in my early-20’s.  

3.) Happened when I found out I passed the bar exam, or when I got my first legal job, or when I found out I got into USC Law School, or when I got my first substantial paycheck for my first legal job. These were individual moments of career satisfaction/ personal achievement that weren’t significant for the day that they happened but that I like to group together. And it might not be over……it could

2.) 2 will be when I get married/find the person I will marry. I’ve had what I would call a unique experience in that regard, filled with many disappointments and failures but also in the process of those disappointments I’ve had hope, and I still have a great deal of hope to find who I am looking for. And when that day happens, it will be all the more glorious due to everything I went through to get there.  

1.)    My first Christmas with my parents, age 6. My parents came to this country without me first to study as graduate students in Chicago, then sent for my grandpa and I when I was 5 years old, they saved up enough money to send for my grandpa and I. We lived in a tiny apartment in urban Chicago in an austere lifestyle; there wasn’t much money. But my first Christmas in America, I was hyped up by Christmas and the thought of getting a video game. A Super Nintendo! I really wanted one and I had been so good that year. On Christmas morning 1992, I woke up and found what I wanted: A Super Nintendo! Santa was real! Looking back, that was the day I was so happy to have my mother, father, and grandfather (my sister came later) in the family . We’ve been together ever since and hopefully for a long time to come.

Anyway, the point is not to read about my mostly insignificant candidates for best day of my life, but to appreciate that at some point you had the best day in your life and that to cherish it, remember it, but also to set about trying to make a best day in your life. 

Fantasize on, 

Robert Yan 

The David Ortiz Theory

In a few short weeks, baseball season will be upon us (and all my free time will be soaked up). This year, the MLB season starts March 22^nd with a game in Sydney of all places between the Dodgers and D’Backs, then resumes again March 30^th with Sunday night baseball with the Dodgers again, v. the Padres. Therefore, theoretically, one could get 2 Clayton Kershaw starts in the first 2 games of the baseball regular season! Very intriguing reason to draft the best pitcher in the game. With the slight downside, of course, that he would be putting more wear and tear on his arm earlier than anyone else.

But I don’t really like Clayton Kershaw this year for fantasy purposes. It’s not that I don’t like him as a pitcher, he’s admittedly the best pitcher in the game. However, when everyone knows and assumes that’s who he is, that’s when a savvy fantasy manager needs to take a step back and sell on the hype (I traded Kershaw this offseason). Conversely, one a player is for whatever reason devalued because he a.) is injured, b.) is coming off a down year, c.) not getting enough love for what he did the previous year, d.) getting old, or various other reasons, that’s when the same savvy fantasy manager needs to pounce. Last year, David Ortiz fit into a) and d) as he started off the season on the DL, had no hype in the preseason, and was 38 years old. What fantasy managers forgot, though, was that he was one of the best sluggers in the game on one of the best offenses in the game in one of the best home parks in the game, batting cleanup with a history of 30 HR-100RBI-.300 seasons. And he delivered, hitting .309-30-103 despite missing the first 2.5 weeks of the season, in the process becoming my favorite player of 2013 and spawning my David Ortiz theory.

I used to always think that a player was undervalued after a down year and overvalued after a great year. Not a bad baseline to start out with, but not the complete story. Only if a guy who had a breakout year and is overvalued BECAUSE of that breakout year should you avoid him. And vice versa, of course. For example, it’s usually good idea to take out the sexy guys. I will never own Yasiel Puig in any of my drafts. Here’s a rookie who’s being ranked around 28/29 by ESPN fantasy leagues for half a season of production that wasn’t even elite. Puig is overvalued BECAUSE of what he showed in limited time last season and the expectation that he will continue that, and media talking heads have talked to each other so much that it’s almost taboo NOT to Basically, you’re betting on Mike Trout once-in-a-lifetime production. Not to say it won’t happen, but the chances aren’t that good, and you don’t want to pay for that to happen.

Other options I like better than their higher-valued counterparts:

1.)    Everth Cabrera rather than Elvis Andrus: Andrus’s value really comes only in the form of speed, and he was an albatross for most of the season until the 2^nd half. Cabrera could easily be just as good as Andrus and has more natural speed.

2.)    Kendrys Morales rather than a bunch of other 1B’s, including Anthony Rizzo. Not sure I buy the “huge bounceback seasons” that are coming for Rizzo and Starlin Castro in Chicago, and even if they do bounce back I feel like it’s been “priced in.” Meanwhile Morales looks like he’s about to sign with Baltimore, a great spot for him.

3.)    Any 91-92 mph fastball pitcher with a history of good numbers over a 96-97 mph thrower with no history and just hype. This season’s starting pitching hype has all been about the hard throwers like Michael Wacha, Danny Salazar, Gerrit Cole, etc. None of those guys have pitched a full season, but they’re sexy because they throw really really hard. You know who else threw really hard? Alexei Ogando. Michael Pineda. Take the pitchers who have shown the ability to last a whole season or 2 with good numbers and have figured out how to pitch.

4.)    Jimmy Rollins, Michael Bourn, Josh Hamilton, Pablo Sandoval, over young stud guys. These are this year’s candidates to be David Ortiz. Won’t have that much upside and won’t hit .300 or hit 30 hrs like Ortiz did, but great ability to bounce back, and the hate on them has gone way overboard.

5.)    Glen Perkins rather than Greg Holland (I love Holland, but his 2013 numbers made him jump into an “elite category” in experts’ minds even though for most of the season Perkins was just as good and gave up slightly more runs.

Fantasize on, 

Robert Yan

The Morning Gopher Theory

Is your mind fresher in the morning? There’s2 prongs to what I call the “Morning Gopher” Theory.

One prong is that you’re actually smarter in the morning. I feel like I’m more kashikoi(賢) in the morning. I feel like I’m more productive, I get distracted less, and I remember more. My theory is that in the morning, our brain hasn’t been used for all the other junk stuff during the day, including games, news, instructions from bosses, errands, spam emails, etc., that we can just focus on one thing. The brain, like the body, needs rest too, and after a long rest at night (helps to have a good deal of REM sleep as well) it is in the best shape to be stretched, molded. It’s like a computer that’s been restarted after being on for a whole day, it clears away all the memory and cookies that were accumulated before and runs slightly faster.

I also feel sugasugashii in the morning (すがすがしい,  清々しい), refreshed like I want to learn. I’m motivated, I feel like anything can happen, I can be a better person today, etc. Not that I’m necessarily a morning person, I have plenty of days where I don’t want to get out of bed, etc. Those days tend to coincide with days where I didn’t get enough sleep the night before, did poorly in dodgeball the night before, etc. I haven’t done much scientific research or experiments on this, but anecdotally I would say my best and productive days come from waking up after at least 8 hours of sleep, remembering (vaguely) at least one dream during that sleeping span, and going right into learning/heavy activity. Don’t check any fantasy news, don’t chat with your friends online, don’t go on facebook, because once you do that your mind is poisoned and you want that more, especially in this digitially connected age where everything except learning is more interesting. Lot of discipline is involved here. Then in the afternoon or evening after I feel content with a day’s worth of work, then I finally get distracted, because I know it’s ok to be “not at my peak performance” while I am saboru (slacking off in Japanese).

Anyway, just a suggestion for those who don’t have to go into the office on a daily basis or have some flexibility. Otherwise, please don’t get fired for using my advice, I assume no liability.

Fantasize on,

Robert Yan

February Hibernation

Compared to the bedlam that is March Madness and the all-sports nature of October, February is a very dry month for sports. The NBA is in its dog days (often sandwiched around a lackluster All-Star Weekend), college basketball is still in its pre-March Madness days and thus irrelevant, football usually wraps up with the Super Bowl very early in the month (if at all), and does anyone actually watch hockey? This year we’ve been blessed (or burdened, depending on the perspective) with the Winter Olympic games, but to be honest they’re nothing compared to the Summer Olympic Games, especially since China and U.S. aren’t the auto top-2 medal winners. Bo-ring. O and baseball is barely picking up with pitchers and catchers reporting. What do pitchers and catchers do between reporting and spring training starting up, by the way? Does it really take 20 days to warm up the pitchers’ arms?

This winter, “February Hibernation” is even more appropriate for most cities in the U.S. as pretty much every city in the Midwest/East Coast and even places like North and South Carolina are being hit with snowstorms. Although part of me wishes I can experience some of that in L.A. (just a dose), I fully appreciate how nice it is not to have blinding flurries flying at my face every time I go outside or trying to shovel a half foot of snow just to get out of the driveway. Here’s my typical day in L.A.: get up, enjoy the bright summer sun, go to work, walk from parking lot to office building in 60-degree weather, the faint smell of cherry blossoms lingering somewhere, grass as green as it can get in L.A. (not very, doesn’t have the lush texture of northern states), enjoy the view of downtown L.A. as the sun rotates from east to west, go home with a pink/red/purple sunset depending on the day, run around the Hollywood sign in shorts just as the sun is setting, play some tennis in the evening on outdoor courts if feeling up to it. Winter in LA is like getting away with a crime…….enjoy it while it lasts and boast about it to people on the East Coast. (Until it catches up to you, which I’m sure it eventually will). It’s like a winter fantasyland, where it’s Summer in January every year.

This last half year, I’ve been trapped in another kind of fantasy land.  I’ve kind of lived through Japan vicariously through its TV shows. I mentioned Great Teacher Onizuka last summer, but since then I’ve engulfed 2 seasons (and 2 special movies- the Japanese love to do just 10-11 episodes of a TV show per season but then do a 90-minute “special” movie at the end of each season) of Liar Game, 2 seasons of Legal High, one season of “Nihongo no shirinai Nihonjin,” one season of “Hanzawa Naoki,” random episodes of “Gokusen” and “Hana Yori Dango,” one season of “Attention, Please” and various short Japanese webisodes/ movies. These TV shows are mainly dramas, and many are very popular (Hanzawa Naoki in particular reached MASH-like level ratings in Japan, or like the last episode of Breaking Bad). Not only do these shows help me learn Japanese, but they’re also (believe it or not) really good. I think the shorter nature of these seasons in Japan force them to put more into each episode and move the plot along, something that U.S. TV shows can learn a thing or two about (Ahem, Game of Thrones, Walking Dead). And the programs reveal a different lifestyle/culture in Japan than in U.S. There’s some inside jokes I still don’t understand. But here are some trends about Japan I’ve learned from their TV shows:

1.)    They love their Manga- almost every tv show I just named in the above was based on a manga. Also, manga artists are portrayed as a very profitable/reputable profession that might carry the same weight as like a talented writer/artist/movie producer.

2.)    Love when people get other people’s names wrong- a constant theme in most of these TV shows used for comedic relief.

3.)    Lot of human values- Hanzawa Naoki preaches honor and getting along with others, Attention Please preaches self-development, Liar Game preaches consideration for others.

4.)    Villains easily are turned good: Much like a good Disney flick, Japanese values rarely have truly “bad” people. Usually these bad people are shamed into admitting the error of their ways and totally reformed by the end of the episode/TV series, which while not very realistic, goes to understand why Japanese are mostly respectful to everyone they meet.

Fantasize on, 

Robert Yan 

The Joakim Noah Theory

You ever play basketball with friends and see a fair-complexioned guy who has nice features (not in a homosexual manner but just an admiring kind of way) but then realize he’s awful at basketball. This is the antithesis to the brand new “Joakim Noah” theory I have developed that might revolutionize fantasy sports and maybe sports talent evaluation as we know it.

Like Joakim Noah, I am not a handsome guy. I was born with bad skin and was conscious of not being the prettiest guy in the room almost regardless of which room I entered since I was a kid. However, to compensate for not having that crucial god-given ability of aesthetically pleasing features, I try HARD on the basketball court/dodgeball court/whichever sport I engage in because the sports gods do not discriminate based on looks. I think that’s what Joakim Noah and other “non-GQ” guys do. In Japanese, it’s醜い (minikui) or the “Busu”(ぶす)Theory. These guys compensate for not being the prettiest of people by tearing it on the court, playing angry, and what not. This “playing angry” leads to breakout years, etc. (obviously still have to have the skill set, talent, etc.) that a fantasy manager can capitalize on.

As evidenced recently by Michael Crabtree stating he’s “not a TV guy” after Richard Sherman called him out, players are motivated by what other players say/act like/look like, and want to be better than those guys. I guarantee you that’s part of what motivates Joakim Noah to

Let’s test out the “Joakim Noah” theory on different sports: best player in the NBA: Kevin Durant and LeBron James, it’s debatable. Neither are very “GQ.” Both vaunted past Kobe, a perennial Teen’s Choice “hottie.”

Football: tough to say because lot of ugly guys just from the beating they take (and possibly PED use) but Jamaal Charles, a mammoth of a human being, had a breakout year this year, as did Peyton Manning who has an ugly red mark from wearing his helmet every time he gets off the field (as opposed to Tom Brady, the Pretty Boy). And in baseball, Edwin Encarnacion, a modern day Frankenstein, had a breakout year (helped by playing home guys at the Toronto Homerdome). Miguel Cabrera, plump, slow, and stogey, but packs a mighty swing.

Obviously these are self-selecting cases, and at this point the theory is in its infancy. But here’s some actionable fantasy advice for guys I think might break out (or have unexpectedly good years) this year under the Joakim Noah theory:

1.)    Aramis Ramirez: hippos look better and possibly run faster.

2.)    Tyson Ross/ Marco Estrada: great down the stretch last year, could be ready to take their Joakim Noahness to the next level.

3.)    Hiroki Kuroda/ Masahiro Tanaka/Hisahi Iwakuma: All 3 must be tired of all the hype about their countryman Golden Boy Yu Darvish. 

Fantasize on, 

Robert Yan 

The Trials and Tribulations of Online Dating

In this most recent update on Bobby’s dating life, we bring you the dreaded “I’m gonna stop using Match.com from now on.

1.)    Guys have to pay. I went on a “benefits of online dating” news article and read that women like to use online dating because they get a free meal/drink or something out of it, so “the registration fee pays for itself.” So, basically, guys have to do double-fee? Especially in this gender-neutral world we live in, that’s somewhat unfair, and the social balance that we experience in the real world should extend to dating, in my opinion. I’m not saying that girls just sign up for online dating to get free dates, but it certainly is not a nice benefit to have.

2. ) The whole “not responding to emails as a form of rejection” is irksome. Like some girls will wait a whole week before they get back to me. Yes, I know you are talking to other people. Yes, I know when some of those other contacts don’t work out I’m the “second choice.” But could you get back to me a little sooner? Especially when in online dating a no-response is equivalent to a “no.”

3.) You don’t really get to know a person. Usually when you go on a date with someone, you’ve known that person from somewhere and actually LIKE that person, which is why you proposed the date /accepted the date in the first place. Going on an online date, you really have almost no idea if you’ll like that person, it’s almost a total stab in the dark (you know what their profile says and limited information based on online conversation), so you can be stuck talking to someone who is a fine person to talk to, but have no chemistry (or worse, someone you despise). This is probably the biggest issue with online dating: it’s a giant world out there, and to meet someone and actually develop chemistry is really hard, and in my opinion, pretty rare, and unless you’re a supermodel or a very good-looking person (which, to be honest, if you’re using online dating, chances are you’re not- I admit I’m not) then the personality compatibility stuff becomes REALLY important, and often it’s not there.

4.) Even after a few dates, you might still not know. You don’t know how they’ll be like to be in a relationship with for a few weeks, a few months, a few years. I know my friends for at least 3 years now, I know exactly what they’re like, I know if they can change, and I know I can rely on them to be my friends. The first 3 dates with someone, they can be really nice, really cool, someone who you might think you could EVENTUALLY get in a relationship with, but there’s no guarantee that’s gonna happen.

5.) Meeting people for the first time ALL THE TIME. So as a result of the previous 4 problems, one usually goes back to the well and have to start the process all over again, and you go to that first date only knowing the barest amount of information about a person, you have to go through your whole spiel again, you have to go through the process and try to develop something. It’s really tiring and makes one sometimes go, “can’t someone just like me for who I am?”

At least it is for me. Sigh.

5.) Finally, probably the No. 1 thing I dislike about online dating..........the feeling of self-doubt you feel one you've been "rejected." Why even total strangers won't take a liking to you.....makes you evaluate who you are in life, what I have to do to improve myself, what I did wrong during the date, etc. It's not a great feeling, and makes one wonder. 

The foregoing is not a problem in fantasy baseball. First all, I'm great at fantasy baseball and I know it, so the foregoing is not a problem. You know all about a player before you “date them,” their birthdate, their career stats, their wikipedia page, what team they played for. Lots of information out there that you can know exactly what you’re getting when you reach out and date them. And when you draft them, they don’t say no or just don’t respond to your emails…….they actually perform, unless they get hurt (looking at you, Hanley Ramirez).

Fantasy baseball players who I might want to have a summer romance with this year:

1.)    Jimmy Rollins: one last flame, value’s never been lower.

2.)    Brandon Belt: very intriguing first baseman.

3.)    Brett Lawrie: Fool me once, shame on me. Fool me 5 times………

Btw, I won a significant amount of jelly beans at a Super Bowl party playing squares (a popular game, google it if you don’t know). All luck, but it’s a great feeling to win random chance!

Fantasize on, 

Robert Yan