Author: Sneezler

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The Beer-Only Spiritual Practice

Young people aren’t flocking to become monks or nuns these days, but Iowa man J. Wilson has just proven that the life of a Fransiscan monk isn’t all that bad.

Wilson took a Fransiscan pledge of poverty over Lent and limited his diet to only one thing for 40 days:  beer.

“I want to educate beer people about God, and I want to educate God people about beer,” Wilson said.

Wilson drank beer at work, first thing in the morning, at noon, with friends, by himself, and so on.  He even drank beer after he’d had nothing but beer for days in a row.

“Forty-six days is a long time. I’ve lost 22 and a half pounds, I think, as of today,” Wilson said. “My energy is high. I can do anything. I can go out and chop wood right now.”

Wilson supplemented his beer-only diet with water.

“It’s not a drunk fest. My body couldn’t sustain a drunk fest for that period of time.”

Still, he consumed nothing but beer and water for a total of 40 days.

As for Wilson’s plans for Easter Sunday, he says,  “I’m totally having a bacon smoothie on Sunday morning.”

Thanks, Wilson, for the great story and the good example!

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Hockey Playoff Pool Picklists

> > Update: 2012 Hockey Playoffs HERE < <

Hockey pool fans, the season is near. Soon we will be surrounded by 7-game series, unexpected playoff heroes, and dark horse teams pushing conference champs deep into overtime.

And we get to win our fantasy drafts, collecting bevy money based on correctly guessing which teams will win 10+ games and which players will head to the World Championships after a first round sweep!

So who do you plan to take as your #1 centerman? Who will be your sleeper pick? Which goalie has the best chance of winning 16 games? These are the questions that NHL fans will be pondering RIGHT ABOUT NOW!

Pulling off a flawless hockey playoff draft is nearly impossible, but what’s the fun in being a hockey fan if you don’t go out on a limb every once in a while?

So without further ado…

2011 Fantasy Hockey Top 5 Picks: Centers

  1. Henrik Sedin – Team bound to play a lot of games = a lot of points.
  2. Ryan Getzlaf – Really hot down the stretch.
  3. Joe Thornton – Jumbo Joe could be #1 if the Sharks finally win games.
  4. Steve Stamkos – Team is iffy, but Stamkos is electric.
  5. Nicklas Backstrom – Playing with A+ wingers doesn’t hurt…

Picking the top center of the team you think will advance furthest is a good strategy here, even if the player isn’t a top 5 scorer. For instance, if you think the Wings will keep winning series, take Datsyuk over Sedin any day. Playoff pool drafts are all about taking the best players from the TEAMS you think will play the most games.

Stanley Cup Fantasy Draft Top 10 Wingers

  1. Martin St. Louis – An ageless assist machine.
  2. Claude Giroux – Haven’t heard of Giroux before? That’ll change…
  3. Alex Ovechkin – Enough said.
  4. Milan Lucic – Possible sleeper pick, Lucic was born to play playoff hockey.
  5. Alex Semin – If the Caps make a run, Semin could pot 15 goals.
  6. Patrick Marleau – Red hot down the stretch
  7. Marian Hossa – If you think the Hawks will win games, a good pick.
  8. Henrik Zetterberg – Like money in the bank.
  9. Bobby Ryan – Sleeper pick on a fringe playoff team.
  10. Daniel Sedin – Oh right, we forgot about the Art Ross trophy winning winger playing on the President’s Cup winning team…

Again, it’s all about picking a winning team. Or, if you’re feeling risky, wait until the 8th place teams settle into place and pick 100% off their rosters.

Fantasy Playoff Top 10 Defensemen

  1. Nick Lidstrom – Possibly his final kick at the can?
  2. Brian Rafalski – Possibly the best #2 d-man in hockey.
  3. Drew Doughty – The Kings could go deep this year.
  4. Zdeno Chara – The East’s top team?
  5. Tomas Kaberle – Could well score a point every time the B’s play.
  6. Chris Pronger – Love him or hate him, he might be the safest bet on this list.
  7. Jack Johnson – Possible sleeper pick.
  8. Alexander Edler – If Vancouver keeps winning, Edler will get points.
  9. Dan Boyle – #1 D on a top contending team.
  10. Christian Ehrhoff – Another solid Canuck option.

Lubomir Visnovsky would be one of the top picks if you liked the Ducks’ chances of winning games, but those are pretty slim odds.

2011 Hockey Pools’ Top 10 Goalies

  1. Roberto Luongo – The West’s #1 safest choice?
  2. Ryan Miller – Great goalie, mediocre team.
  3. Jimmy Howard – Okay goalie, great team.
  4. Carey Price – For Habs fans this is the start of a good era…
  5. Antti Niemi – If the Sharks can score, Niemi will win many games.
  6. Cam Ward – Maybe not his year, but who knows?
  7. Marc-Andre Fleury – Prime Conn Smythe Trophy candidate.
  8. Nichal Neuvirth – Will he play or won’t he? Risky pick.
  9. Ilya Bryzgalov – Great goalie, mediocre team.
  10. Tim Thomas – Likely Vezina winner and possibly the best Eastern Conference playoff choice

Who will win 16 games? That’s the big question.

2011 NHL Stanley Cup Team Predictions

This is an intriguing year in the Eastern Conference. The Penguins have key injuries in Crosby and Malkin, the Flyers have struggled of late, the Caps have goaltending questions, and there are several hot goalies in the lower seeded teams that could steal series all by themselves. The Bruins are the clear #1 pick for the Eastern Conference because they constantly outmatch their opponents in goal and defense. Their scoring is just good enough, plus deep throughout the lineup, making them the odds-on favourite to emerge out of the East. If you believe in odds when it comes to playoffs, that is…

The West is more of a question mark. Yes, the Canucks are #1 and seem relentless, but do they have the passion to win games 5, 6 and 7? Really?

The Sharks are highly motivated, led by former Captain Marleau who has once again proven why he was chosen Captain in the first place. Of all the Western teams, their desire to win it all may be the highest.

The Red Wings are always good, so barring major injuries, they could easily again emerge as the Cup finalist.

The remaining teams all have pros and cons. Pekka Rinne could win the playoffs all by himself, and the defending champ Blackhawks might not even show up for the party.

Sneezl is predicting a final series between the San Jose Sharks and the Boston Bruins, with the Sharks winning the series in 7 games. I sure don’t like the Sharks, but their chances to win are as good as anyone’s!

 

(Remember: have fun and don’t gamble!)

 

Good luck with your drafts!

> > Update: 2012 Hockey Playoffs HERE < <

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World’s Shortest Fairy Tale?

Once upon a time, a guy asked a girl “Will you marry me?” The girl said, “NO!” And the guy lived happily ever after and rode motorcycles and went fishing and hunting and played golf a lot and drank beer and scotch and had tons of money in the bank and left the toilet seat up and farted whenever he wanted.

The end

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Fantasy Hockey Draft Picklist 2010-2011

For hockey pool fans who come to their fantasy drafts prepared, ’tis the season for pre-draft homework.

 

Who would you take if you get the #1 pick? Who will be your #3 defenseman? Who’s the top available goalie?

Since every pool has its own scoring system and guessing the future is impossible, we can’t give a perfect picklist. But, that won’t stop Sneezl from trying anyway…

2010-2011 Fantasy Hockey Top 10 Picks: Forwards

  1. Alex Ovechkin
  2. Sidney Crosby
  3. Joe Thornton
  4. Steven Stamkos
  5. Henrik Sedin
  6. Daniel Sedin
  7. Nicklas Backstrom
  8. Martin St. Louis
  9. Evgeni Malkin
  10. Dany Heatley

People will sit around and debate the order of this list more than any other, but Ovechkin has to be near the top of nearly everyone’s list. Rather than debate it here, just be happy if you get any 3 of these guys on your team.

Fantasy Draft Top 10 Defensemen

  1. Mike Green
  2. Dan Boyle
  3. Drew Doughty
  4. Sergei Gonchar
  5. Tomas Kaberle
  6. Chris Pronger
  7. Duncan Keith
  8. Mark Streit
  9. Zdeno Chara
  10. Dion Phaneuf

With the offensive powerhouse in Washington, Mike Green again should go #1 among D-men.

2010-11 Hockey Pool Top 10 Goalies

  1. Roberto Luongo
  2. Ryan Miller
  3. Jimmy Howard
  4. Marty Turco
  5. Mikka Kiprusoff
  6. Cam Ward
  7. Marc-Andre Fleury
  8. Martin Brodeur
  9. Ilya Bryzgalov
  10. Jonas Hiller

Goaltending skill is not the right question when picking a fantasy draft goalie – its all about the # of games they’re going to play and how many games the team will win. Not many goalies regularly play over 65 games, and not all of them are on teams that win 65% of their games.

2010-2011 Fantasy Hockey Top 10 Picks: Enforcers

  1. Colton Orr
  2. Ian Laperriere
  3. Zenon Konopka
  4. Matt Carkner
  5. Jared Boll
  6. George Parros
  7. Cam Janssen
  8. Zack Stortini
  9. Dan Carcillo
  10. Steve Downie

As a dark horse to win this category, Zack Stortini of Edmonton will have the most work to do protecting 3 rookies at once. He may not be the biggest heavyweight, but he’ll have to drop the gloves every night if no-one else on the Oilers does.

2010-2011 NHL Rookies Top 10

  1. Jordan Eberle
  2. Taylor Hall
  3. Magnus Paajarvi-Svensson
  4. P.K. Subban
  5. Tyler Seguin
  6. Nazem Kadri
  7. Brayden Schenn
  8. Tyler Ennis
  9. John Carlson
  10. Mikael Backlund

Aside from being highly talented, the reason 3 Oilers top this list is that they’ll all be getting powerplay opportunity and top-6 forward minutes. The only real question is, “which will finish 1-2-3?”

John Carlson could score 50 points if Washington’s goalies play well enough that they can gamble on his untested defensive abilities.

 

 

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M-Audio BX8a vs Yamaha HS80m

I just spent the afternoon comparing a pair of BX8a’s versus HS80m’s and the conclusion was simple: I now own a pair of Yamahas.

This is as unpaid as a review gets, by the way 🙁

Simply put, the Yamahas are better.

The boxes are roughly equal in the bass end in terms of frequency response and woofer flappage (there’s some on both if you push them right). But since the Yamahas have a variable low cut filter switch, they win in the low end.

Its in the higher mids and high end that the Yamahas really showed their superiority. Comparing the two sets side by side with a Korg SV-1, it sounded like the M-Audio’s were playing through a thick cloth or as though my ears were full of wax. By contrast, the Yamahas were clear, revealing all kinds of detail that was completely invisible on the BX8a’s.

Now, don’t get me wrong – I tried out a lot of other monitors in the price range and the BX8a’s were still preferable to many others (like smaller Yamahas, Dynaudio, Behringer, Yorkville, KRK).  But comparing 8″ boxes side by side, the price difference for me completely disappeared once I heard them both in action.

If you’re considering getting a pair of BX8a’s, I’d recommend that you spend some time comparing these side by side too. Monitor selection on a budget is more art than science, but I’d say that you owe it to yourself to compare 8″ apples to apples before taking the cheaper BX8a’s home.

M-Audio BX8a Pros:

  • Price
  • Decent sound

Yamaha HS80m Pros:

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Balance

God was missing for six days. Eventually, Michael, the archangel, found Him resting on the seventh day.

He inquired, “Where have you been?”

God smiled deeply and proudly pointed downwards through the clouds, “Look, Michael. Look what I’ve made.”

Archangel Michael looked puzzled, and said, “What is it?”

“It’s a planet,” replied God, “and I’ve put life on it… I’m going to call it Earth. It’s going to be a place to test Balance.”

“Balance?” inquired Michael, “I’m still confused.”

God explained, pointing to different parts of earth. “For example, northern Europe will be a place of great opportunity and wealth, while southern Europe is going to be poor. Over here I’ve placed a continent of white people, and over there is a continent of black people. Balance in all things.”

God continued pointing to different countries. “This one will be extremely hot, while this one will be very cold and covered in ice.”

The Archangel, impressed by God’s work, then pointed to a land area and said, “What’s that one?”

“That’s the Province of Alberta, the most glorious place on earth. There are beautiful mountains, rivers and streams, lakes, forests, hills, and beaches. The people from the Alberta are going to be handsome, modest, intelligent, and humorous, and they are going to travel the world. They will be extremely sociable, hardworking, high achieving, carriers of peace, and producers of good things.”

Michael gasped in wonder and admiration, but then asked, “But what about Balance, God? You said there would be Balance.”

God smiled, “There’s Calgary…Wait till you see the hockey team I put there.”