National Spelling Bee 2014- Just the Beginning

 

Bobby News Network here again just before the Final Round of the National Spelling Bee 2004, with just TWELVE contestants left for tonight’s rounds. (After a controversial computer test that whittled the field from 31 to 12 after the semifinal round, something that the bee has just recently been doing that not everyone likes due to the sentimentality for live, in-your-face, traditional spelling where speller has to spell the word up there on live television). Anyway here on the (hypothetical) betting odds for chances to win tonight:

Hathwar: 5 to 2 (the Mike Trout of this competition)

Venkatchalam: 6 to 1 (the Edwin Encarnacion- the hot hitter that could easily slide in should the top falter)

Abiad: 8 to 1  (the Max Scherzer- not the best player in fantasy, but rock solid)

Veeramani: 10 to 1 (the David Ortiz – the track record and his demographics support a possible win)  

Konakella: 10 to 1 (the Matt Carpenter- not very well known, needs some stuff to go right)

Gibbison: 16 to 1 ( the Dee Gordon- the one-hit wonder)

Horton: 20 to 1 (Brandon Belt- maybe even better a year from now)

Field (Others): 20 to 1

 

As betters would know, Hathram is a really prohibitive favorite as 5 to 2 gives him almost a 40% chance of winning. Others might disagree that it’s actually HIGHER now that preseason favorite (and my pick) Vanya Shivashankar didn’t make it to the final, it’s now a clear track for the Sriram Express. Taj Gibbison (seriously, I’m loving this guy’s name) gets a 16 to 1 because it’s been 16 years since a Jamaican won the National Spelling Bee, so it could happen, it’s just difficult to predict for those guys cuz they have a new representative each year, and there are some siblings that get some odds because who knows how much of a leg up their siblings gave them.

As I was watching the semifinals today, however, one reason why I love the NSB came to me: you’re watching really, really smart kids before they’ve even fully developed. They’re going on to bigger and better things. I  googled a random assortment of ex-speller’s names (mostly champions, but some non-champions) and colleges like Cornell, Harvard, and Stanford came up. Anurag Kashyap went on to win a Jeopardy. George Thampy works for the National Spelling Bee. A lot want to be neurosurgeons; some actually do become neurosurgeons. These kids are smart, and it certainly doesn’t hurt that “won the National Spelling Bee 2004” shows up on their resume to set them apart from the crowd, but it’s certainly evidence that these kids are motivated and eager. When we watch professional athletes, they are at their absolute peak and winning championships, etc. It’s not gonna get any better for them, they’re already at the top of their game. Lots of times it gets significantly worse for those people when they step down from the limelight, as we hear stories of bankruptcies, life-altering injuries, and worse. But for National Spelling Bee participants, they’re only just getting started, and the best awaits. It’s really refreshing to read about those stories years later.

It’s also a purely merit-based competition. Think of successful politicians, world leaders, businesspeople, the most powerful people in the world. Yes, some of them built their company from scratch from their garage. That’s pretty lucky. I’d say most of all the most powerful people in the world had some connections, had political capital, was the right demographic or had the right background, had the right parents, had the right financial capacity, etc., to make it big (think George Bush, Paris Hilton, etc.) These kids don’t. These kids literally have to study from scratch and fill their minds with information from a very young age, and it takes a great deal of determination especially nowadays with so many clubs, activities, sports, and school things going on that spelling has been their life for a long time. Yea you can be smart, but you also have to work really hard and refresh your brain all the time to get to the level of some of these spellers. Lot of time, lot of dedication, and for some, the possibility of it ultimately paying off(see Rajeev Patel, Lauren Newcome, Finola Hackett, Matthew Evans, etc., etc., just to name a few recent ones as greatest spellers not to win the big one)

With that said, I usually don’t have too much of a vested interest in the Spelling Bee’s outcome, but tonight I’d like to see Sriram Hathwar win the National Spelling Bee. Here’s a kid who’s been in the National Spelling Bee since age 8, who knows when he started actually studying spelling words at a competitive level, and every year he gets disappointed, but he gets back up on his feet and keeps grinding. 7 years his season has ended in disappointment and every year he’s come back more motivated than ever. His written round to the finals showed it: he got the best score. He’s more prepared than ever. He deserves it. Sriram for championship.

 

Fantasize on,

 

Robert Yan

Bobby News Network Presents........The Exclusive 2014 National Spelling Bee Preview!

Welcome to Bobby News Network’s coverage of the 2014 National Spelling Bee! I’m your host, Bobby Burgundy, and I’ll be giving you a full preview of the 2014 Semi-finalists. Yessir, we already have whittled down the massive field of children in America (and other territories, countries, and provinces) to 46 well-deserving semifinalists. We’ll be taking a look at favorites, dark horses, and intriguing stories in a second. But first………..

The spelling bee is HARD. I just took the written round and would not have qualified for even the semifinal round. Sure I haven’t studied a long time for the spelling bee like these kids have, but I am also TWICE most of these kids’ age, and have had much more life experience, and I still can’t measure up to these kids. This is definitely a fierce competition and some of the smartest kids in America on display, and we get the privilege of watching it on live TV. I’ve done it for almost a decade now and I just don’t get tired of it, especially the Semifinal/ Final rounds on Thursday. Can’t wait. Let’s get to some of your calls.  

 

Q: Who are the favorites this year?

A: That’s easy. There’s 2 that ESPN will surely be focusing on and you should too.  Sriram Hathwar, the lone 5-year returner in the field, and Vanya Shivashankar. Sriram is remarkable because he started this thing in 2008!!!!! And made the finals as early as 2011. Yes, THREE YEARS AGO he was one of  6 spellers left at the National Spelling Bee and really had a chance at winning. Then there were a couple years in there that he messed up in the Regional round, not even making it to the bee, really a blip on the radar of catastrophic proportions. Without those 2 eliminations in regional rounds he would be the bee’s first ever SEVEN-YEAR repeater! He’s gotta be focused this year as he’s 14, it’s his last chance, and he’s had SEVEN CHANCES at this thing, but don’t you have to think in the back of your mind what happened those 2 times he messed up? Whatever the case, it’s truly a remarkable story, and I look forward to seeing the end of the Sriram Express Tomorrow.

Also in my Top 5 are Gokul Ventkatachalam from St. Louis who’s gone 10^th and 19^th the last 2 years. Don’t take that lightly, that’s a big flashing sign that says, “I’m ready to be in the finals and win this year!” I like Alia Abiad not just because she’s one of the few Oriental Asian representatives and not only cuz she goes to school in Chicago but she’s a 4-year returner and can do some major damage. Lucas Urbanski could be inspired by his favorite Happy Potter series to pull some magic this year after a 19^th place finish last year.

 

Q: Paul from Minneapolis, I was wondering if you have a dark horse in the field we should watch out for in this year’s spelling bee.

The classic darkhorse of course was 2012 (and to an extent, 2010 o) with the win of Snigdha Nandigphati.  Even 2008 seemed like a bit of a shock with the less-heralded yellow-shirt numnah win of Sameer Mishra. It’s an even year, so it might seem like a good time for another dark horse, but this year has what those other years lacked: 2 established frontrunners that have tons of experience, and a 3^rd who’s finished just outside the finals the last 2 years. Those magical years in front of the ESPN lights cancel out the maturity of a renegade 8^th-grader, 14-year-old making his/her  inaugural or 2^nd appearance.

 

Q: What’s a theme of this year’s spelling bee I should look out for?

Siblings, siblings, siblings. Seems like an exceptionally high number of past contestants’ siblings in the field, including 2010 Champion Anamika Veeramani’s brother Ashwin, Joseph Delamerced who had BOTH his sister and brother compete in the national bee (don’t try to get out of the Cincinaati, Ohio regional on those guys), Paul Keaton, sister of Kentucky legend Emily Keaton, Mary Horton, sister of jovial and remarkable kid Jonathan Horton, and of course none other than sister of 2009 Champion Kavvya Shivashankar and perennial ESPN favorite Vanya. Seriously, this is the 7^th year I’ve been watching the bee, Vanya has been involved (first as adorable watcher, then as fierce competitor) EVERY year. And yes, having a sibling be in the national spelling bee would appear to help. At the least, you have access to years of experience and all their notes/words.

 

Q: Cool spellers?

A: Yaah man, after a one year hiatus, sir, the Jamaican speller is back in the semifinals. Thank you, sir. The representative this year is Tajaun Gibbison, no not Taj Gibson from the Chicago Bulls, Tajaun Gibbison, a 13-year-old 8^th grader from Knox College. Hannah Jackson from Saginaw, Michigan is a “natural athlete” and has climbed the Sierras in Yosemite National Park twice, that’s some lofty accomplishments (get it?). Lydia Loverin from Albany, new York is on her way to become a writer; no pen name needed that name will sell some novels.  And Max Danner from Athens, Ohio still likes playing Minecraft. Welcome to the 21^st century, Max.

Q: Who wins this year?

The name is the same, the story still there, the proud father, the beaming mother, the sister who had a climactic rise to the top of the spelling bee ladder in 2009, the pedigree, the support of ESPN. A great story is there, the dedication, the repeater status, the national finals experience , basically casting The Shivashankars as the Spelling Bee’s equivalent to the Williams sisters. . Seriously, TWO YEARS ago Vanya had the highest score on the written round and was touted as the FAVORITE of that spelling bee! She was 10 years old! She’s had 2 more years to study words and review the dictionary. Who knows what she’s been doing during that time? She could have been going over the entire Webster’s unabridged Dictionary TWICE during that time! It is insane, and if she doesn’t win this year, she still has ANOTHER year to do it, although ESPN would be disappointed with not having their marketing headliner.  Five years after her sister accomplished her dreams, Vanya takes home her own title.

Fantasize on,

Robert Yan

 

Mother's Day Post - Appreciation for my Mom (Chinese and English)

美国的母亲节是每年五月初举行的，主要是庆祝母亲的努力和重要性。世上有很多母亲属于可畏的女强人， 但我觉得我妈可称头号队员。

 

我妈一直做了不少的牺牲。 我真的不能想象她来美国有多么困难，有多么艰难。一个人来了人生地不熟的地方，英文能力也是有限的。 要换我的话可能无可耐和，人仰马翻地大矢败, 半途而废地狼狈回家了。 可我妈拼命奋斗， 为了我和我还未出生的妹妹争取一片光，总算是活下来了。

 

我妈在中国是一位老师，工作了好多年才积累了一笔钱来美国留学，而且当优秀学生获得了奖学金在一所美国大学做研究生. 就算如此我妈还必需打工，不学习时做外快， 哪里有什么玩的时间。这一点我很羡慕我妈，所有付出的精神和赚来的钱都是为了家里的人，全心贯注地奋斗, 争取可以让我也搬到美国一起住。虽然她吃了不少苦而她的青春就渐渐失去了， 但她从来不跟我埋怨， 低声不响地，咬咬牙坚持下去。 我看妈妈那么能干吃力也没借口了， 只好在学习上多用工， 用好成绩和奖状来表示我的感谢。

 

我记得我第一次在美国过圣诞节， 一直盼望着要一台任天堂游戏器。 我妈那时没多少钱，但是因为是儿子的心里愿望，她就不顾一切地省钱，总知最后买了一台，我在圣诞节打开礼物时笑容满面，连续喊＂盛诞老人是真的！＂那时我没发现我妈比我还高兴， 因为对她来说我的幸福就是她的福。在我生活中这样的例子发生多次，比如说上足球队是我妈出钱，上中文学校也是她出钱。 不管多少钱，要是花在我身上她都觉得值得。

 

 

Mother's Day happens every year in early May, and for me it celebrates the hard work and importance of mother's. There's a lot of mothers in this world who can be considered strong women, but my mom ranks right near the top.

My Mom has always made many sacrifices. I really can't imagine how hard it was for her to come to America, a place where she knew no one and possessed limited ability to speak the language. If it was me in her place, I would be all out of sorts, suffer a miserable fail, and would have to surrender and go back home with my tail between my legs. However, my mom persevered through thick and thin, and survived (thrived, really) so taht my sister and I could have a place in this world.

My Mom was a teacher in China and had to work for a long time to accumulate money to study abroad in America. On top of that, she was accepted to a graduate university under a scholarship program. Even so, my Mom still had to work to pay the bills, and when she wasn't studying she would do part-time work, so recreational time was out of the question. I really admire my Mom for this point, as all her effort and money went towards her family, as she focused all her energy on being able to bring me to America (from China) and live together. Although she suffered a great deal and her youth gradually slipped away, she has never complained to me about it and has always perservered without complaint, always striving on. Seeing my Mom so persistent, I have no excuses but to study hard and express my appreciation with good grades and awards.

I remember my first Christmas spent in America, I was looking forward to getting a Nintendo video game system. My mom didn't have much money at the time, but because it was her son's wish, she broke the bank and bought a console. I was so happy that Christmas when I opened my present, exclaiming continuously, "Santa Clause is real!" I didn't realize then that my mom was even happier than I was, because for her my happiness was her happiness. This is just one example in my life, with others including instances where my Mom paid for soccer, paid for Chinese, etc., etc. No matter the cost, my Mom has always spared no dime when it comes to me. Thank you, Mom.

 

Fantasize on,

 

Robert Yan

 

 

 

 

Chaos Theory

Chaos theory is the theory of apparent randomness, the theory that complex natural systems obey rules but are so sensitive that small initial changes can cause unexpected final results, thus giving an impression of randomness.  It’s amazing how the fantasy baseball world resembles the real world: minor little changes in the world (Martin Prado has blurry vision, leaves the game, but is fine afterwards, for example) interlaced with some BIG, catastrophic changes that alter the entire landscape (Jose Fernandez out for the season with a UCL Tear comes to mind). I’ve always adhered to a similar philosophy in my daily life: human beings actually have very little control of what happens in the world, contrary to what one might believe. Sure humans can decide what to wear in the morning, but society determines what is acceptable to wear, so you’re really only given a select few options.  When life gives you lemons, make lemonade. And because humans are so defined by external forces, it’s those who adapt to what happens to us (and not surprised and go into the panic mode) who succeed the best.

When people new are starting out at fantasy baseball and ask me for advice, my tip is always: Don’t assume you know any particular thing will and MUST happen. You can’t predict the future.  That’s why I scoff (and many fantasy experts do too) when some theorists rave about one guy, predicting a LOCK of certain statistical prowess and numbers. Sure, those things might happen, but there’s no absolute certainty, there’s no one who can say for sure. I used to be arrogant about fantasy baseball (and the world, really), thinking that I KNEW that Nick Markakis would have a breakout year in 2008 (he didn’t) or Kevin Youkilis would be just fine in 2011 ( he wasn’t). I’ve been right a lot of the times too, but I don’t pretend that I KNEW that that boon would come, I only made an educated guess, positioned myself in the best position possible, and adjusted accordingly when other things changed. Simiarly, I thought law school would be a sure way to get a high-paying job (it wasn’t), I thought Chipotle stock would have tumbled by now (it hasn’t), but I didn’t sell the farm or mortagage my house on those investments………you adjust accordingly.

In fantasy baseball, many call my philosophy the “agnostic theory”- I have no idea what’s going to happen. Under my  agnostic theory, during the chaos of the long, long, long fantasy regular season,  I save my FAAB dollars or Number of moves allowed or whatever format the league uses to make the most amount of moves as possible, because I’m constantly reacting to chaos……Billy Butler had been slumping recently but is now getting hot, pick him up. Closing jobs are up in the air all around the league, pick up speculative adds. That’s how one applies the chaos theory in fantasy baseball- don’t complain about it hurting your team, embrace it and enjoy it, utilize it to your advantage while leaving your opponents in the wake.

More Chaos on Game of Thrones, but (Spoiler Alert kind of but not really giving it away) the characters who have thrived so far on the chaos are Varys and Littlefinger, coincidentally my favorite characters: always reacting to different changes, not being surprised when rulers fall and wars break out, and taking advantage of certain opportunities that arise when chaos is at its peak. Especially Littlefinger. Especially this past episode. That’s all I’ll say.

Some recommendations to deal with this 2014 version of Fantasy Baseball Chaos:

1.)    Might just be me but there’s been a record number of blown saves in baseball this year and a record number of bullpen jobs in flux. Don’t overpay for any of these newly aligned closers, just follow all the bullpens in flux and try to get one of these newly anointed closers on the cheap. Ex: Chad Qualls.

2.)    Might also be a record year for injuries.  A lot of teams are probably holding on to injured guys who take up otherwise useful roster spots, so having an extra couple spots can help get the edge on shorthanded teams.

3.)    A LOT of slow-starting hitters out there: Carlos Santana, JJ Hardy, Billy Butler, David Wright, just to name a few. These are multi-category hitters who have put up numbers over a long period of time, and May 20 is still not the time to panic. Pick up those hitters who have been kicked out of cars dropped by other baseball drivers on the fantasy baseball road of chaos.

The Importance of Tradition

The spelling bee is only 2 weeks away! Orthographers, unite!

The World Cup 2014 is only 4 weeks away! Footballers, unite!

The Amazing Race 25 Finale is this Sunday!

The Survivor 28 Finale is Wednesday!

I have recently been hooked AGAIN onto Amazing Race and Survivor (I started watching both shows in 2003) and can’t believe they’re STILL both on. And they still produce at near-elite levels, although both clearly are past their prime. For Amazing Race, that was the 10 or 11 seasons where there were 2 races a season and all-star seasons lined up and powerhouse teams and drama like Rob and Amber, The Globetrotters, etc. whereas now they resort to recycling a lot of these done-before teams to try to rekindle some of that old flame, and Survivor does the same…….the best season in my opinion and should be consensus was Survivors Heroes v. Villains, a season that truly came together in terms of great characters (Rob v. Russell), great gameplay (especially on the Villains’ side) and intense outcomes. Absolutely riveting TV that gets evoked occasionally in spurts in the current shows, but not to the degree of those times. Why do I still watch, though? The answer partly is because I still like these competition shows (not the drama part of it, CBS, c’mon!) where normal people compete against others, but a big part of it is……..

Tradition.  As I get excited about all of these repeating events, I find myself succumbing to tradition…..something that’s reliable, the tried and true, and realize that I have a penchant for relying on tradition, and things that I can trust. Tradition is important, like being excited about Christmas and getting ready for fireworks on Fourth of July, tradition allows one something to look forward to, some continuity in one’s life. It’s the same reason why companies use the same suppliers over and over again, or why I eat tuna sandwiches over and over again……..I know what it does for me, and I am satisfied with it.Especially in cases of the spelling bee that come only once a year, I like to inundate myself with it for that day, and then log it away in the back of my mind. If life is a marathon, every year would be a cycle or a lap, where you pass the same roadsigns and scenery each time you pass. Each time you see something you notice something different about it, look at it a different way, or form a new opinion about it. And that’s what’s exciting about these events. You know what you’re gonna get, but there might be a bit of a twist. It also preserves some order in one’s life, like, “OK I’ve made it to Memorial Weekend and the Spelling Bee. What do I need to accomplish for the rest of the year?”

One thing I’ve gleaned from watching YEARS (even a decade now!) of Survivor/Amazing Race: the gameplay towards the end can actually get a little worse, especially in Survivor. By Day 39/40/41 or whatever it is on Survivor, these guys get hangry (angry because you’re hungry) and belligerent with each other and just generally can’t stand each other, as well as possibly getting tired of being there and ready to go home. Whatever the case, it seems to lead to poor decisions in the endgame and allows for only the most steadfast and iron-willed of players to separate towards the end (as well as go on immunity runs). This was observed last night by Jeff Probst – “Tony could just be losing his mind out there!” Very possible indeed. On the Amazing Race, I find that boneheaded driving directions and not reading the clue itself actually occurs MORE towards the end of races than towards the beginning when everyone’s still excited and motivated, a product of most likely travel fatigue, sleep deprivation, and irritation. Good thing to remember if I ever………EVER get on reality TV.

In fantasy baseball, I ALWAYS get streaming pitchers like Bronson Arroyo, Mark Buehrle, and Joe Saudners. These guys have been there for me, one knows what they are, and once in a while they’ll give you something different, like a  10-K game.

 Fantasize on,

 

Robert Yan

 

Road to Fluency

I just celebrated my 27th birthday. A lot of people I work with (who are older than I am) say "O you got plenty of time, you're still young." But when is young not young anymore? Is there a cutoff? A deadline?

"The Road to Fluency is Dark and Full of Verb Conjugations." For the last 2 years or so, I've been trying to learn Japanese from scratch (OK not scratch, I knew Chinese and English, which was a start). Learning a new language is tough, and I can see why it takes years of practice, years of training, and no breaks. Your brain doesn't just simply memorize words, it has to use them. That was my first mistake of learning japanese: I tried to rote-memorize all the words I needed to know in Japanese. NOT SO FAST, my language-learning friend! It doesn't quite work out like that. Language is, like almost anything else, best learned through practical usage. Saying a complete sentence in a foreign language, going through the motions of learning, requires a lot more than memorizing what each word in English means in Japanese. If you only did that, you would have no idea where the words should go in order, where to put the stress on the words, how to connect sentences together, idioms that have no meaning in other languages but are full of culture in their native languages, etc. So many different elements to learning a new language than just "How do you say _____ in (Insert Foreign Language)?"

And you can't just get away with only 1 hour or 2 hours per day, or going on and off once in a while. Learning a language, if one wants to be serious about it, has to be an every-day sort of affair. Always thinking about it, always being immersed in the language, that's the best. It's really an involved affair, and really tough if you're working on other pursuits (like practicing law, for example). It is a full-time job that allows for no moonlighting.

One of the underrated, hidden ways of learning language, I've found, AFTER learning the basics of the language and all the grammatical rules, putting in the work, is to watch a TV show/movie/news in the new language with subtitles IN BOTH YOUR NATIVE LANGUAGE AND FOREIGN LANGUAGE. Improved my Japanese in leaps and bounds, plus you will actually want to do it as opposed to dreading language practice and having to take breaks all the time. Your brain is not only visually seeing the words on paper (reading practice) but getting the audio listening practice. But you don't want to watch shows that are high on action (crime drama, for instance) and short (or too basic) on dialogue. You want a comedy or drama that has a lot of speaking and high vocabulary (watch a variety of different shows for diverse sets of words) meant for native speakers so you know you're not just getting flush.

Some great TV shows for Japanese are:
1.) Hanzawa Naoki: The Game of Thrones of Japan, EVERYBODY in Japan in 2013.
2.) Legal High: A legal drama/comedy. Hilarious even for Westerners and has very high-tech vocabulary with idioms, cultural references, and rarely-used words. And the characters talk really fast, but it's not for the faint of heart but absolutely helpful for people wishing to be fluent in Japanese due to
3.) Sailor Zombie - inspired by the hit manga Sailor Moon (almost everything in Japan is inspired by Mangas)


The most difficult thing about learning language for me: the different verb forms and verb conjugations. I come from 2 languages whose verb forms are not that hard, with the verbs not needing to be altered dramatically or in 13 different ways (although English requires "had," "have," and different rules too, just not as many), but it seems like all the other languages in the world have a million ways to conjugate verbs based with potential, causative, past tense, future tense, past perfect (for French), etc., etc., etc. FEAR THE VERB CONJUGATIONS!

Ultimately, language is about hearing and trying over and over and over again. I've gotten depressed and resigned and excited (due to feeling like I'm improving) and everywhere in between, but no one gets worse at language, and hopefully it's like riding a bike: One day I wake up and I just get it, everythign comes to me naturally, and I never forget it again. Be ready to put in some work on the road to fluency, though.

Fantasize on,

Robert Yan

Wallet, Keys, or Phone?

Welcome to our newest edition of the smash hit game show, Wallet, Keys, or Phone! In this edition, you pick which item you can't do without and would least like to have taken from you/ lost on the train/ stolen. Let's ask our first contestant!

Most people nowadays, like myself, carry 3 essential things with them at all times: wallet, keys, phone. Obviously there's probably other things depending on the person like a briefcase or headphones or separate Blackberry, whatever, but those 3 are the "Core Items" in anyone's pocket at any time, I would say. And I can't imagine losing any one of them. In one corner, The Wallet is the key to your finances, with your identity, your credit cards, and cold hard cash. Next are The Keys are your ticket to getting anywhere, whether it be into your own home or transportation to and from other places (car keys, etc.) And finally, last but not least, the Cell Phone contains all of one's contacts, the ability to get in touch with everyone that you know, and almost more importantly nowadays, the INTERNET. Information. Connectivity. Knowing things. The ultimate product. It's a very, very difficult choice, I think.

I really just thought of it recently when I (for the umpteenth time) forgot my cell phone in my car and had to go back and get it, but I think the dichotomy between the Holy Trinity of personal items is fascinating. Surely nowadays one can recover any and all of their personal items pretty quickly by taking the necessary steps, and a replacement will be given quickly (and cash can always be replaced, depending on the amount), but which item one would LEAST want to lose reflects a lot about one's personality, I think, especially at a crossroads in life like I am. (Forget the nuances of how easy it is to recover one's wallet, or how much financial damage one would incur if one loses one item over another, this is a strictly philosophical discussion!)

Choosing the Wallet would reveal a preference towards one's financial security, to being able to purchase things readily and a preference for worldy possessions. For people in their late-20's like me (urgh am I in my late-20's now? That's frustrating), this would be starting a savings account, thinking about retirement already, and chasing the mighty dollar. Stable job, stable career, steady cash flow, maybe even a new house! Real life example: If you're without your wallet (or purse) you can't buy things, you don't have any method to pay for things. That's a very scary feeling for some.

Choosing the Keys, however, entails a sense of travel, to get out into the world and see things, to be on the move and have a means of transportation. It's not just being a tourist or vacations, however, it's the sense of always being on the move, still surprising oneself with where one might go on a day to day business, wanting to move to new locations all the time and have new experiences. Those are the keys. Real life parallel: If you lose your keys, there's no way of retracing your steps quickly, no way of getting around for awhile at least, you're stuck, immobile. Some people can't stand that.

Choosing the Cell Phone (and let's be honest, everyone has a smartphone now) entails a sense of belonging with others, having other people's information and being able to contact them at any time, to have friends, to be in touch with loved ones/ liked ones, to be socially connected to Facebook, group texts, whatever is the rage. Human beings are social animals, and for some they can't stand the feeling of not connecting with others. In a broader context, this could mean for a late-20 year old settling down and having the marriage talk, and/or building relationships with people, professional or social. Real life example: can't call your friend to pick you up, or don't have anyone to call.


I think I just came up with a new personality test! The Wallet-Keys-Phone Test! Move over Meyers-Briggs and Big 5 and whatever tests are out there now, this is the Next Big Thing! For the record, I think I would choose keys, because I hate not being able to have access to my car or my house (I sometimes live in my house too), but it's very very close and I haven't thought of a definitive answer or anything.

Fantasize on,

Robert Yan

The Tim Lincecum/ Buyer's Remorse Theory

"O man I want that tie!" "I want to go to that concert so bad!" "I am so excited for the series premiere of _____ show!" "Finally, "Who do I want to add to my fantasy baseball team? Tim Lincecum!"

The above are quotes many have uttered right before making an indulgent purchase or engaging in a worthless experience, right before getting a dud of a product/ service or having a bad time, and buyer's remorse sets in. Tim Lincecum is the ultimate Buyer's Remorse player in fantasy baseball. He is very tempting and juicy due to his strikeout potential (pretty much 9 K/9 every year) and past success (former Cy Young, no-hitter last year) and with that in mind he's always an attractive candidate. However, nowadays anytime you pick him up, he is prone to giving up lots of baserunners, inflating one's ERA and WHIP, not getting a W, not getting that many strikeouts due to not going deep into games (this is when one realizes that the high K/9 rate is not so impressive when the pitcher it's tied to goes nowhere near 9 innings), and in general just does damage. It's generally better NOT to even use him, having an open bench on the roster. When watching Lincecum, "Team cancer" (not to make light of cancer, a very serious condition) or "saboteur" come to mind each time he undergos his funky delivery, winds up as if he's still in Cy Young form, whisks back his signature long hair covering his always-boyish face............and throws a 90 MPH meatball right down the middle that someone hammers.

Again, fantasy baseball can teach one a lot about life (sensing a theme here with some of these posts?) In life, there are many things that are negatives. If time is the most valuable resource (and I posit that it is due to opportunity costs and the infinite supply of it for each and every human being) you don't want to waste that resource on trivial pursuits (unlike Trivial Pursuit the Board Game, which is actually a pretty fun time). The worst feeling in the world is spending money for something you really wanted, not getting what you expected, getting a bad experience, and realizing you could have used the time spent on that endeavor on something else. It leaves one empty inside and is probably how the phrase "Could I get my [insert amount of time here] back?" origniated. Going to a movie that one could have watched in the comfort of one's home comes to mind. Certain dates I've gone on with girls who are good people but just not for me comes to mind. Going to certain baseball games that are over in the first inning after certain pitchers (like Tim Lincecum) give up 5 runs comes to mind.

The lesson here? In fantasy baseball and life, one realizes sometimes no matter how tempting something is, one has to assess the risks/alternatives and just say no. If something has a 1% chance of making you feel really good but about a 75% chance of being a negative experience  (reserving 24% for being neutral/wishy-washy/not sure how you feel about it), then don't do that activity. Buyer's remorse is very real, and by this point (I'm guessing and hoping if you're reading this blog you're at least in your mid-twenties, otherwise all this talk about fantasy baseball/internet dating/dressing for success/ game of thrones will be lost on you) you should know what makes you happy, what won't be so fun........carpe diem (Latin for seize the day), but also caveat emptor (something you learn in Contracts/ law school/being screwed by a shady business man has "buyer beware.")

This is not to say try new things. DO try new things, but not things you know will not satisfy you and just waste time. Try a bit of Tom Kohler, try a bit of Brian Dozier. Just know that there's a chance they will do more damage to your team than good. Kind of like Tim Lincecum.

Fantasize on,

Robert Yan

The Aaron Harang Theory

Often in fantasy sports one hears the phrase “he is who he is.” This comes about when a player has performed for 5 (I’m just making up a number here, but 5 sounds about right) at or about the same skill level, with similar production (think Brandon Phillips 18 homers every year for the last 5 years) that hasn’t been limited disproportionately by injury or missed time. That’s when we get enough of a sample size on a player to know that that player “is who he is.” Aaron Harang is a perfect example of a major league player who “is who he is.” He is a serviceable pitcher who eats inning for a major league club, possibly 200, with a bearable ERA and WHIP (4.00 ERA, 1.30 WHIP) and limited strikeout potential and manageable number of walks. He is the Panda Express of lunch options. You’re not gonna get excited about it, but it’s cheap and it’s there, and it gets the job done. So when Harang got off to a sub-1.00 ERA and sub-1.00 WHIP and 3-0 start (with a 7 IP no-hitter throw in there), the fantasy community responded with a yawn, because “he is who he is.” Aaron Harang did not add a crazy screwball over the offseason, he did not add 5 MPH to his fastball, and he did not procure a special genie lamp that allows him to summon a genie that grants him 3 wishes. Harang promptly got lit up in his next start to the tune of 9ER, and the fantasy community realized “he is who he is.” This does not apply to fast starters Dee Gordon, Charlie Blackmon, Jesse Chavez, Jose Abreu, etc., to name a few. We do not know who these players are, and they very well may have added a much skill over the offseason, so their fast starts are not to be trusted, but they’re not to be distrusted neither: hence the beauty of owning a player like that: the sexiness, the hype, the excitement when they do well, the disappointment when they flounder in the dust.

There are other players who probably have slowly but surely fit into the Aaron Harang theory that some owners are just in denial about: We know who Jay Bruce is. He is a former top prospect who got massive appeal from the fantasy masses in his “breakout” 30 HR campaign leaving fantasy community yearning for more. 4 years later, though, he is not getting any better. One more year of upper-mediocre production but not elite levels and we’ll have to accept that we know who Justin Upton is and that he’s not going to be the fantasy superstar everyone thought he would be.

Taking it to a TV level, Unfortunately Game of Thrones is what it is. It’s not really a knock on GoT, really any show in its 4^th season of 7 is going to be like this. (except once-in-a-lifetime shows like Breaking Bad that kept taking it to another level over the course of the series) At this point, the fourth season (seventh season) you know what Game of Thrones is. Unlike other shows, it won’t suffer a sharp decline caused by writers leaving or decreasing popularity; the show  is probably the most popular of all TV shows right now and will thrive until its 7^th season. But it also won’t get any better. There’s no “next gear” that it’s going to get to, there’s no more evolving. For the next 3 seasons we will get a barrage of skipping around, flipping back, and general joggling of various story lines that it’ll make one’s Iphone apps look limited. There’s always the supposed payoff in the future, the gold at the end of the rainbow, when the “Ice” and “Fire” of the Song of Ice and Fire unite and we get the final battle that culminates the series and brings it all together, but until then we know where it’s headed. The show could actually be a lot more if would just encorporate more magic, more excitement, more battle scenes, more action instead of the monotonous tea party dialogue it hits slowly. It will have the breathtaking (pun intended) moments like earlier in the season leaving everyone gasping for air, but it’ll leave plenty of time (3 episodes since where it seems like nothing has happened) for everyone to catch their breath. It’ll describe more battles being played out and strategies taking fruit than it will actually show them, and it will forever tease us with things that might come in the future, like a certain epic ABC drama a few years ago teasing the ending which would explain everything, that never came. (GoT’s version of that is an aging writer who hasn’t finished the series and is getting stalled repeatedly in finishing the books). I, for one, have seen this movie before. We know what Game of Thrones is. It’s not Aaron Harang (of the TV series world, that would be like “The Bachelor 26” or “Everybody Loves Raymond” reruns), but it sure seems like Jay Bruce.

 

Fantasize on,

 

Robert Yan

Looking Good

I’ve never been someone who was the most fashionable, the most stylish, (Japanese for stylish = kakko ii) had the best hair, had the best smile, or had girls flock to me. When I first arrived in America from China, my parents dressed me in an all-yellow outfit and sent me to the wolves (literally) in 2^nd grade…….I was called a “banana” for that day and a long time after that, and not because I am “yellow on the outside and white on the inside.” It was not fun. I have noticed as I grow older that no matter what one’s naturally given talents, they can shift their outer appearance with some nice tricks. 

So here goes, a VERY rudimentary guy to looking good (i.e. this is like blinking for really stylish people, but for former semi-slobs like me this could be a nice beginner's course) 

1.)    Have proper posture. Not a big one for me, I finally realized that posture makes one looks confident, and more importantly it makes one FEEL more confident. Every time you get up to walk, remember to stand up straight (have internal reminders), and when sitting don’t slouch and often do a “penguin maneuver” to get the shoulder muscles straightened out. Someone once told me that when I was hunched over a bit, I looked like I was "up to something." I don't want to give that impression. 

2.)    Be conscious of what you look like. I think that’s the No. 1 thing. For a long time I didn’t really care, took the “who cares what other people think” approach. This does not work well in the dating world, nor in the business world, and especially not in the interviewing world. In each of those scenarios a snap decision is made, in interviewing it’s like 2.5 seconds, in dating it’s like 5 seconds (time to see the whole profile), and in the business world there could be really high standards in landing a client depending on how well one dresses. I’ve never been a big fan of mirrors, but they do come in handy.

3.)    Wear concealer. A bit of a cheap trick that doesn’t really work for serious acne or other skin conditions, but concealer does work. I don’t know if there’s a stigmatism to males wearing it or anything, but it’s certainly effective.

4.)    Wear shirts that fit. Shoes don’t really matter, socks can be concealed into the legs, and pants/slacks can’t be outrageous (there’s a whole “how tight can your jeans be” analysis there, but shirts are the big one…….they can’t be too baggy. It just makes one’s appearance look slovenly, bloated, etc. I’ve gone too many days with a guy in my office telling me my shirts are too baggy, and wearing the right shirt (with the right color) definitely provides a boost.

5.)    Black socks. I buy more black socks than white socks at this point in my life.

6.)    Watch- probably going to be my next purchase. I’ve always had nostalgia for the old stopwatches that I used at camp, waterproof, $19.95 armitron, but nice watches definitely get a lot of compliments.

7.)    Wear an undershirt. May be my own personal preference, but seeing someone dripping sweat through their shirt at work is depressing and somewhat revolting, even for me, who is the lowest maintenance possible. Seems counterintuitive especially in the summer to wear another layer underneath, but definitely helps to soak up whatever it is one gives off, and preserves the actual shirt a bit from the wear and tear.

8.)    Fancy haircut. I used to get haircuts from my dad all the time. Not the greatest. Some people have great hair; I don’t, so I need to go to a professional to at least make it presentable.

9.)    Beards are terrible. I do not understand the recent beard craze. I could never grow my beard out like that (physically impossible for me, I don’t grow much hair in the first place) but also somewhat ugly. If I were fashion czar of the world, first order of business is to ban massive beards.

10.) Hand crème. Not only does it help moisture, helps another part of the body smell good. Smells are very memorable.