New Berger On The Menu!

I never have time to blog anymore (or maybe I have nothing to say), but I wanted to document the arrival of the newest Berger, son # 2, ETHAN MILO BERGER, on May 28th, 2009. Head over to Jody's Blog to see pix and details!

http://jodyberger.typepad.com/jody_berger/

I've got the horse right here.....

KENTUCKY DERBY DAY 2009

***BREAKING NEWS*** # 13 I WANT REVENGE (morning line favorite has been SCRATCHED!. I will revise my picks.


ALL CHURCHILL RACES

race 1. 1,3,5
race 2. 4,7 (2,8 if it rains)
race 3. 2 with 5,7
race 4. 5,6 (1 if it rains)
race 5. 4 with 7,8,9
race 6. 3 with 2,6,9
race 7. 1,4 with 7,8,9
race 8. 1,2,9
race 9. 9,3 with 4,5,7
race 10. 2,6
race 11. Trifecta Box: 2,7,15,16

March Madness: From the Penthouse to the OUTHOUSE!

Thanks to Pitt losing I went from first to no chance of winning. Now I know how those teams on Amazing Race feel when they have dominated 5 straight legs of the race only to come in last ONE time and have it be an elimination leg. Oh well....

Sweet 16 - "Good times Never Seem So Good"

4 for 4 on Sweet Sixteen Friday!! Moved into 1st place in one of the money pools! Earlier in the NCAA regular season, I said Oklahoma would be my pick to win it all. Then Blake Griffin suffered a terrible concussion and then The Sooners would potentially draw Pitt in the Final Four which I thought was the ONLY team that matches up with them; especially Blair vs. Griffin. But the Sooners look VERY good and Pitt keeps limping along. Hope I dont regret NOT picking the Sooners as NOBODY has them to win it all!

Ladies Man!

While I was on ESPN.com last week I entered their NCAA WOMEN's Basketball Bracket Challenge. After the 3rd Day I was ranked 13th OVERALL on ESPN.com. First prize is $3,000 gift card to BEST BUY!!!!!

March Madness Day 4 Recap: "Steady Rockin' All Night Long"

Down to the Sweet 16 and I remain in 2nd place in both money pools. So far so good!

March Madness 2009: DAY 3 - "That Boy Good"

Another solid day of Madness. Currently in 2nd place in both money pools. 14 of 16 Sweet 16 teams remaining....

March Madness 2009 - Day 2: "Rinse and Repeat"

Different Day, Same Results. 13-3 again on day two. That leaves me in the money in BOTH money pools I am in. Only ONE Sweet Sixteen team eliminated thus far (Wake Forest)....Let's see how the weekend treats us.......

March Madness - 2009 Day 1 Recap

Went 13-3 on day one. the 3 losses were non consequential as none of the three were picked to advance after round 1. All in all a solid day.

For the record my final four: Pitt, Oklahoma, UCONN, Louisville

I have Pitt beating Louisville in the title game.

one quick note: I entered several bracket contests using the same picks. However, it looks like on some of the brackets I picked a different winner in the BYU/Texas A&M game. So in a couple pools I am 14-2.

"Draft Junkie, That Funky Monkey..."

As we get older, busier, etc., we find that we have to cut things out of our lives. My first cut was collecting baseball cards when I realized I needed the money once spent on those wax packs to spend at the "UA" in Granada Hills, CA since that was where all the "cool chicks" from all of the junior highs hung out.

Then as I got married, added a mortgage to the portfolio, had a child, I lost the time and the will to create the time for video games (still play; just not an addict anymore).

A couple years ago, after several years of domination, I retired from Fantasy Baseball, as I was unwilling to put in the time that was demanded to win the cash.

But as I tried to get out, they dragged me back in by offering the one thing that could get me back...The FREE AUCTION DRAFT. Basically that means that instead of the old fashioned serpentine; wait for your turn for 20 minutes draft, you are given a salary cap, and can openly bid for any players you want as long as you realized you only have $260 for 25 players. IT IS AWESOME!!! AND I CAN'T STOP!!! now I can apply any "philosophy" I want and see if my way is the right way!!! I am like the guy on that CBS show NUMBERS with complicated algorithms I come up with in the middle of the night on how to build the best team with $260 while bidding against 9 other teams.

Once you go auction, you never go back!!!

Don't call it a McComeback!

I would be lying if I told you I don't eat fast food from time to time, but not since my pre-teen years have I made multiple visits per week. Back then, I used to count my change in hopes of having enough for a couple McDonalds Double Cheese Burgers. As I got older, I discovered, Burger King and Carl's Jr., and of course Taco Bell and In-N-Out. With all those options, my loyalty to McDonalds ran dry and was reduced to an occasional visit or two per year. But now , IT'S BACK!!! Not because The Big Mac tastes better, not because they only use one slice of cheese in their double cheese burgers and changed the name to McDouble, but because of the.......GRILLED CHICKEN SNACK WRAPS!! I can't get enough of these! The funny thing is they are so simple. The Chipotle BBQ Grilled Snack Wrap is just a third of a grilled chicken breast with lettuce, a few shreds of shredded cheese and some spicy bbq sauce wrapped in a palm sized tortilla. As the saying goes, "Simple. Sccop of Choclate, Scoop of Vanilla, Don't waste my time..."

So, lets review. Healthy! Tasty! Cheap! McDonalds!!!!

BOWL SEASON: Big 12 Fraud < Pac 10

I dont get too caught up in college football (although I do enjoy it immensly), but I had to comment on how bad "America's Conference" the BIG Fraud 12 looked during the bowl season while the Pac 10 proved once again that they are a top conference year in and year out.

And in case you were wondering, I had Florida to the Under!!! WINNER!!!!!!!!!

Male Order Berger

Some good news to kick off 2009! Just found out that child #2 will be a.....BOY!!

"Amber light of death!"

"Amber light of death." That is how one frustrated "blogger" described the very same problem I was dealing with when my work laptop crashed before I was able to back up my hard drive. Sure, I have had computer problems before. And some of the ways I recovered from them would even impress Johnny 5 himself!

It was 6:45am on a SATURDAY morning and I went into the office to prepare for a conference call with the owner of my company and one of our Project Managers. I set up my laptop as I had done literally a thousand times before and NOTHING would come on. Sure I had my theories, and I was oddly calm about my chances for full power and most importantly full data recovery.

Upon arriving home, I went straight to GOOGLE and searched using keywords, DELL Laptop, Orange Light. I then found a message board for which I will always be grateful. My heroes at www.randomfix.com specifically at http://www.randomfix.com/2007/04/19/dell-dimension-%E2%80%93-flashing-orange-power-light/ had a thread that described my very problem. I was reading at the speed of Will Hunting and Johnny 5 combined , absorbing all of the "input." My heart then sank to the center of the earth when somebody actually called the problem the "Amber light of death." There it was, nearly two years of posts on this message board with people claiming 538 different possible solutions for the same problem, the "Amber light of death!" I don't know why I kept reading, but something told my the answer for me was out there. And sure enough, one of the most simple of remedies, remove the lithium battery, led to the end of four hours of flashing from the amber light of death. A few steps later, I was able to reinsert the battery and power on the laptop for the first tme that day.

I quickly backed up all my data and followed the additional steps to safely charge the battery back up and safely turn off and then power back on the laptop. Seven days later, I am amber light free!

The Sweetest Victory

Deepest cut that can be healed

By the gun...or by the sword:

It's hope that you can turn yourself

Outside at the end of the war

The cold sweat sticks...to your heart.

Your mouth gets drier and drier.

The battle inside rages on.

Your pulse races higher and higher.

Sweetest victory;

I love you more than life itself.

Sweetest victory; you give me strength to know myself.

Oh, sweet victory; my soul is yours and the glory is mine.

Sweetest victory; the far-off stars will always shine.

I Wish Everybody Agreed With Me, But At Least Make Sure That You..

My Blackberry Pearl is NOT a New York Yankee fan..

I was trying to text the word YANKEES today, and instead , my Blackberry Pearl suggested TANKERS.

"I'll have a grande mocha java and a rubber please..."

Ethiopians claim they hate condoms because the smell of latex sickens them. To combat the odor, DKT International, a United Sates nonprofit, created coffee condoms.
These dark brown condoms allegedly (I'm not testing the products) taste and smell like the favorite coffee of Ethiopia -- the macchiato, an espresso with cream and sugar.
One college student claimed the smell reminded him of the beauty of Ethiopian women (it's not clear if that's a compliment). These condoms bolster national identity because
Ethiopians claim to have invented coffee. DKT International also created flavored and scented condoms for Indonesia (durian fruit) and China (sweet corn). - {Credit CNN.com}

Alfred E. Smith Dinner, Granada Hills High, Fantasy Football, and In-N-Out Burger

I am way behind on things I have wanted to post, so here are some quick blogtoids (I may have just made that word up!!)

Alfred E. Smith Dinner - The Alfred E. Smith Dinner was awesome this year. I HIGHLY....no I INSIST that you go to YouTube and check out the funny that both McCain AND Obama brought to the festivities. Some great writing indeed! Laugh OUT LOUD funny!

Granada Hills High School (Granada Hills, CA) - Yeah I know it is Granada Hills Charter now, but you know the quote, "Mama called him Clay, I call him Clay..." so GHHS it will always be! Anyways, some yahoos got a hold of the SAT and almost got away with it. DAMN, I thought it was risky when some unnamed individuals would sneak a peak at Mr. White's old history tests. Of course, I loved history, so i actually studied and got my 'A' on my own.......

Fantasy Football - Oops, I did it again. Picked up Brian Westbrook on the cheap and now my Superfast Macaroni look to steamroll to the playoffs!

In-N-Out Burger - Brief history lesson, I have been going to In-N-Out Burger for almost twenty years and I thought I have done it all including in 1996 when I ate four 4x4's IN ONE SITTING! Anyways, I recently heard some folks talking about getting the french fries Animal Style, which I couldn't believe I never tried. Sadly, I thought it was a bit much and I would tell you to try it once and move on. Of course this comes from a guy that ate 16 patties and 32 slices of cheese in one sitting.

Inspiring Words for Troubled Times

Try to be best
Cause you’re only a man
And a man’s gotta learn to take it
Try to believe
Though the going gets rough
That you gotta hang tough to make it

History repeats itself
Try and you’ll succeed
Never doubt that you’re the one
And you can have your dreams!
-Joe E. (Thank you Eric S. for reminding me!)

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-Qae_TUTeGo

And then a Hiro comes along...

For the record, lovable little Hiro is one of my LEAST favorite HEROES, but it made for a great title. NBC's 3rd season of HEROES has been nothing short of AWESOME so far. Heroes, along with LOST, and The Office are the only MUST SEE Scripted Shows left on network television. Simply put, Heroes just scratches me where I itch. The funny thing is that aside from Superman (which in a later , in depth blog, I would like to discuss), I never really hooked onto any other super heroes. As I have aged and experienced life, I have learned to appreciate the vulnerability of more human heroes like Batman and Spiderman, which is why I think Peter Petrelli is my second favorite only to Superman on my list of such characters. Superman is who I guess I wish I could be, while Petrelli is who I would most likely become if given such power. Much like Petrelli, my real life is a quest to "save everybody" and make those around feel special, but I occasionally fall prey to my own selfish needs. Kind of like that mentality of "I dont mind if everybody else is doing well, as long as I am too"....Wow that turned into a tangent and a Psycho self evaluation. Guess I just saved myself an hour on the couch and $100 from my account.

Scott Berger: Jedi Knight - Fantasy Sports General Manager Chapter

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ME!

"It ain't braggin' if it's true...." Well, guess what, it's true. Year after Year, Sport after Sport, I find a way of getting players via trades that I want without giving up anything I covet. Whether it be Baseball (5 years in the money league - Two Championships and Three Silver Medals), Basketball (One Championship and One second place finish in two years of money league play), Hockey(One ESPN.com fun league years ago, but made a few trades and won the banner), and of course FOOTBALL (Money League Champ two of the last three years), I just have a knack for evaluating the situation and making the best decisions. Find what you want and pursue it until its yours! Simple mantra, I suppose.

Now before you assume I am some 30-something playing fantasy sports against a bunch of 12 year olds (Like Cosmo Kramer in his karate class), let me tell you I am just another has been playing against other has beens and never were(s?). Anyhow, injuries or bad beats aside, I tend to dominate this form of entertainment that walks the fine line of gambling and dungeon and dragons. My most recent Jedi Mind trick unleashed was back to back trades that ended with me receiving Stud WR Larry Fitzgerald, while only parting with depth from my bench. I now have the best roster in the league as I try to win my 3rd Money League Championship in 4 years. Good luck to me!

Voodoo, Witchcraft, The Knuckle Ball, and Wii Bowling

Any person who has dabbled in any of the items mentioned in the title of this blog entry unknowingly have something in common. All of these people can tell you that the above mentioned abilities take a great deal of "feel" in order to execute. After half a dozen games of Wii Bowling I am now convinced it is the toughest of them all. Just when it seems I have figured out exactly where to stand, figured out the exact spin/rotation to put on the ball, and then roll a turkey (3 Strikes in a row!) , I follow that up with what seems like sudden mental and muscle memory loss resulting in a 1978 Boston Red Sox like collapse (Not the only famous collapse, but as a native New Yorker, I required by law to backhand the Sox at any opportunity.). And I am not the only mental midget participating in this game. I have seen plenty of people on the road to the magical 300 only to request gutter bumpers by the 7th frame. It's true witchcraft I tell you!

Wait, I have an idea......

Beetlejuice

Beetlejuice

Beetlej...............Nah, I will conquer it myself

Fantasy Football

I would like to introduce you to the 2008 opening day roster of the defending money league fantasy football champions (actually champs in 2 of the last 3 seasons) known this year as SUPERFAST MACARONI.




At quarterback, #12, the captain STAN GABLE!!

Okay, there is no Stan Gable, T.D. Parker, or any other "fantasy" player, but here are the players you WILL root for on a weekly basis!

Steven Jackson, StL
Braylon Edwards, Cle
Reggie Bush, NO
Jason Witten, Dal
Brandon Marshall*, Den
Earnest Graham, TB
Jerricho Cotchery, NYJ
Eli Manning, NYG
Jonathan Stewart, Car
Chris Johnson, Ten
David Garrard, Jac
Aaron Rodgers, GB
Stephen Gostkowski, NE
Ravens D/ST, Bal
Steve Slaton, Hou

Goodbye Trotter (Trotter, Trotter Boy, T-Bone, Trotter Buddy, Ooda-Bada-Bida-Bada, He Who Trots a Lot)

Rest In Peace.