Monday, December 25, 2006


Christmas By the Bay

I have spent the last several days visiting my sister and three nieces in northern California for Christmas, a family tradition since 1999. While spending the holidays out here means there is pretty much a 100% chance that it will not be a white Christmas, there is something to be said for shopping in short sleeves and sipping a latte (or in my case a raspberry sorbet smoothie) afterwards on Christmas eve.

Before I arrived my sister said that my two oldest nieces, Caroline (age 7) and Meredith (age 5) wanted to go to the movies to see either "Happy Feet" or "Charlotte's Web." It was put to a vote and on Friday afternoon Uncle Grant, Nana (my mom) and the two girls headed out to a 2:05p showing of "Happy Feet" in Mountain View. A slight panic set in when we arrived at the theater and the show was sold out, but a quick call to my sister with information on a 3:05p showing in Redwood City got us back on track.

The movie was cute, kind of an animated "March of the Penguins" with more singing and dancing and less of the death stuff. The music is great, from an opening performance of the Prince classic "Kiss" to songs from the Beach Boys and Stevie Wonder. Robin Williams plays every other character in the movie (or so it seemed) from the latino penguin Ramon who befriends the lead character, Mumble, after he is banished from Adelie Land because of his, um, happy feet to Lovelace, the guru who dispenses wisdom to the citizens of Adelie Land for a small fee.

The movie goes a little Al Gore on us with the "we're overfishing and polluting our oceans without considering the effect it has on the marine life" environmental message towards the end, and there was a bit too much over-the-top Robin Williams for my taste. However, I still enjoyed the flick and give it a thumbs up. My nieces also liked it and even went so far as to say it was better than the last movie we saw together,"Over the Hedge."

My activities on Saturday were I believe a testament to just how evolved I am as a man. First, I joined my sister, mom, brother-in-law's mom and two nieces (that's right, all females) for a performance of "The Nutcracker" by the San Francisco Ballet. I went on the condition that I'd be back in time for the Chiefs/Raiders game at 5pm. I am still a guy, after all. My sister said that my brother-in-law wanted nothing to do with the outing and let's just say that his dad didn't put up much of a fight for the extra ticket when it was offered to him and me.

So yes, I went to the ballet and actually enjoyed it. Also, I got the added bonus of being told afterwards by my nieces that I looked like the Prince. Damn right I do. Happy holidays to all!

Sunday, December 17, 2006

Working for the Weekend
December 9-10 and 16-17, 2006

As my loyal readers you’ve probably been wondering what I’ve been up to teaching-wise the last couple of months since my last “Sub Life” entry. Unless you’ve talked to me, of course, but even if you have please humor me and read on. A full-time teaching position in an elementary school classroom – my ultimate goal – has eluded me to this point but I am once again working with children in an educational setting. How, you ask? I recently took a job with an education service who shall go unnamed for legal purposes (i.e. I don’t want them to read this and sue me) and am working with children of a variety of ages in a variety of subjects on the weekend.

While it is similar to the classroom in that I am working with children and doing lessons on various subjects such as reading, writing and math, the educational philosophy of the center is quite different than that of the public schools where I have worked previously. Basically, I work with anywhere from 2-3 children at a time (usually 3) for 1 hour blocks of instruction. The kids can be of any grade level and in some cases will not be working on the same subject at the same time. In other words, I could have a 2nd, 5th and 8th grader doing reading, writing and math, respectively at the same time.

As a teacher it is the ultimate juggling act, trying to keep the children consistently busy as they are finishing assignments at different intervals during the hour. Also, there is a whole system of paperwork and coded books for me to figure out as I go. If I don’t have the right book or need copies made, I call out for the teaching assistant and she takes care of it for me. The first few times I was hesitant to yell out the TA’s name, like I felt guilty for having her get the stuff for me. Those that know me understand I am not a bossy person by nature and don’t particularly like to raise my voice. However, I have to understand that the TA’s are there to help me, and in the often frenzied atmosphere of the center it is sometimes necessary to raise the voice to be heard.

I just finished my second weekend today and have to say that I am enjoying the chance to teach kids once again, even if it is a somewhat different dynamic than the classroom. The reality is that kids are still as unpredictable (in good and bad ways) at the center as they are in the classroom so just like with the classroom there is never a dull moment. I also have my share of funny moments, like last weekend when I bonded with a kid over Weird Al Yankovic. That is not a misprint.

The student had the spelling word “parody” and mentioned Weird Al as someone who parodies other singers. I was like “Yeah, did you ever see his video for Michael Jackson’s “Beat It?” It was called “Eat It” and Weird Al stuffed his face with food and burped a lot. Good stuff.” If our exchange had been on TV this would have been the time that you heard the crickets chirping and saw the tumbleweed blow across the room. The student looked at me with a confused, quizzical expression. However, we got back on the same page when he mentioned an Avril Lavigne song (“Complicated”) that Weird Al had done. The generation gap was once again closed.

There was a very nice teacher moment yesterday when I was working with a young boy who, after a solid start to the hour, was fading fast while trying to do a comprehension assignment. The task was to look at a series of marked shapes (e.g. 6 squares with an “X” through two of them) and write the instructions he would give to someone else to make shapes and mark them appropriately. The child kept saying “I can’t do this” and was on the verge of tears and I knew that I had to do something to change his mood so he could get back on track.

I quickly looked in his binder at a “Get to Know Me” sheet with different questions he answered. I saw that he liked basketball so I was like “Who is your favorite basketball player?” He said Ben Gordon of the Bulls and I was like “Me too. He played college ball with Emeka Okafor for my favorite team, UConn and I really like him. See, we have something in common.” The ice was thus broken and things went much better for the remainder of the hour. One of the other teachers complimented me on how I handled the situation and told me a little bit more about the child’s history. It was a very nice way to end the day.

Friday, December 15, 2006


The Dice-K Era Begins in Boston

Thursday was a rather historic day in my co-favorite city, Boston, as my beloved Red Sox announced the signing of Japanese pitching phenom Daisuke (pron. "Dice-K") Matsuzaka. The final price: 6 years and $52 million with incentives that can push the value to $60 million.


This was but the final step in a rather arduous process which included the initial submission of a $51.1 million bid to his Japanese club, the Seibu Lions, in what effectively was a blind auction to win the exclusive rights to negotiate with Matsuzaka. That's right, the Sox paid $51 million just to talk to the guy and another $52 million to sign him. Welcome to baseball economics in 2006.

Once it was announced that they were the highest bidder, beating out teams such as the Yankees (whoo hoo!), Mets, and Angels, the Sox had 30 days to negotiate a contract with Matsuzaka and his agent, the notorious ball buster Scott Boras. As expected when dealing with Boras, who represents players such as the $250 million man Alex Rodriguez, Johnny Damon and Barry Zito, the negotiations came down to the last couple of days and the two parties were several million dollars per year apart. The Sox initially offered 6 years and $48 million; Boras wanted 6 years and $66 million.

In a rather bold move the Red Sox brass - GM Theo Epstein, president/CEO Larry Lucchino and owner John Henry - flew out to Boras' house in L.A. uninvited to "take the fight" to Boras in terms of the stalling negotiations. The move paid off big time as the entire group along with Boras' client, Matsuzaka, were on Henry's privtae plane back to Boston on Wednesday with a preliminary deal in the bag. All that remained was for Matsuzaka to pass his physical on Wednesday before the Sox rolled out the welcome wagon on Thursday afternoon.

There are some interesting connections here with Matsuzaka and J.D. Drew, another recent Red Sox acquisition and Boras client, as well as the aforementioned former Red Sox Johnny Damon. At one point earlier in the week with the negotiations lagging, Boras stated that he would be more than willing to let the 30 day window expire without a deal and let Matsuzaka return to Japan. The logic being that he could go up for bidding in another year and would be an unresticted free agent in 2008.

As it turned out this was merely a stall tactic as Matsuzaka had no interest in returning to his former club in Japan because: 1) They are near broke and losing the $51.1 million posting fee by him not signing would have devastated them, and 2) He would have lost major face with his adoring fans for not playing in the major leagues. Going back to Japan was not an option.

In 1996 J.D. Drew, represented by Boras, was drafted by the Philadelphia Phillies. Boras demanded $11 million per year for his rookie client. The Phillies offered $3 million. The two sides never budged and Drew never put on a Phillies uniform, opting instead to play in the independent Northern League for a year before eventually signing with the Cardinals and becoming the scourge of Phillies fans for life. Now Drew, like Matsuzaka, is a new member of the Boston Red Sox.

The difference with this negotiation is that Boras did not have the leverage he did in 1996. No other major league team could negotiate with Matsuzaka, so Boras’ hardball tactics could only get him so far before he would have to bend a bit to fulfill his client's dream of being a major leaguer. Furthermore, Matsuzaka did not want to face the shame of returning to Japan without a deal. In a sense the Sox had Boras over a barrel, as it appears his client was not willing to hold out as long as he was.

The Damon connection? At the welcoming press conference on Thursday the team held up Dice K's new jersey for all the Boston media to see. The number – 18 - is very familiar to Sox fans. It used to be the one worn by centerfielder Johnny Damon, who left the Sox last year to patrol center for the hated Yankees. Talk about your rich irony. I’ll be counting the days until pitchers and catchers report to spring training.

Monday, December 04, 2006

BCS Mess

It is fitting that last night's BCS Selection Show on FOX aired just before an episode of "The Simpsons," as quite frankly the whole process of determining the college football national champion is worthy of Homer's signature exclamation "D'oh!" In the end, the SEC champ Florida Gators jumped two spots in the final BCS poll to finish second behind undefeated Ohio St. and set up a matchup between the two schools in the Tostitos BCS National Championship Game on January 8th.

Of course, Florida's victory over Arkansas wouldn't have meant much had USC defeated UCLA in its final game of the regular season, thus locking up the second spot and a trip to Glendale, AZ for the title game. However, the BCS's latest doomsday scenario played out when Southern Cal was shocked by the Bruins and voters were left to decide between the 11-1 Wolverines and the 12-1 Gators. Yes, I said the voters since college football still can't seem to get it right when it comes to deciding a champion.

Mind you, these voters that made Florida #2 and Michigan #3 in the final poll were the same ones that kept Michigan #2 after their narrow defeat to Ohio St. on November 18th, with an 86 point lead in the Harris Poll and 30 point lead in the USA Today coaches' poll. So, basically, the same voters who thought Michigan was 86 and 30 points better, respectively, than Florida a few weeks ago have done a complete about face and moved Michigan below the Gators. And all this despite the fact that they haven't played a down since the Ohio St. game. I agree with ESPN.com columnist Pat Forde in that I do not have a problem with Ohio St. vs. Florida as the championship. It's how the voters got to this result that makes little sense to me.

Florida coach Urban Meyer made no secret of his desire to have a shot at Ohio St. and he has been working the pollsters like a pro for weeks. Well, it obviously worked. Maybe the voters felt guilty over denying fellow SEC member Auburn a shot two years ago after an undefeated season. Maybe there was a regional bias outside the midwest against an all Big 10 rematch, or voters didn't want to see two teams play each other again. Ohio St. coach Jim Tressel did not even vote in the final USA Today coaches' poll, curious given that the voter-by-voter results of the final poll were made public and that he had voted in every other poll during the season.

Heck, you could even make the (weak) argument that Ohio St. should not have to beat the same team twice in a season to win a national championship. But it happens in other sports - notably college basketball - all the time. As for the assertion that Florida gets the nod because the SEC was a stronger league than the Big 10 this year, I counter with the following question: If this was the case then why did voters not drop Michigan below Florida after they lost to Ohio St.? If the SEC was a better league than the Big 10 on December 3rd then logically it would have been on November 19th as well. Right?

I also do not buy the "Well, Michigan had their shot (against Ohio St.) and they lost" argument for a second. For one, Michigan was undefeated going into the Ohio St. game while both Florida and USC already had one loss. Second, with the Ohio St./Michigan game coming at the end of the year the loss was fresher in people's minds than Florida's October 14th defeat at Auburn. I have to think that this also worked against Michigan to a degree.

My point here is that the polls should be little more than a curiosity in deciding the national champion. How about this crazy idea: Settle the matter on the field with a 4-team playoff. Teams 1-4 and 2-3 play each other first followed by one final game with the two winners to decide the champion. So, this year you would have Ohio St. vs. LSU and Florida vs. Michigan in the "semifinals" with the winners going head-to-head for the title. Only one extra game, which should mollify all those AD's concerned about academics and a longer season.

It is not that hard to decide a championship legitimately, folks. College football just makes it seem that way.