As I type and as you read, we are co-creating electronic footprints. Somewhere it is being recorded that you, the reader, have pulled up my blog site; it is also noted that I am creating this log.
Some entity - NASA, Microsoft, extra-terrestrial life - may choose to review my e-footprints. They can examine phone records, noting who I talked to and for how long. (Two-plus years of long-distance relationships will give them plenty of material.) They will see my purchasing history. They can note what web sites I frequented and how often I checked e-mail.
They will also discover that I'm a pretty darn good Fantasy Baseball general manager.
In 2002, a group of fellow Notre Dame alums assembled a ten-player league through the Yahoo web site. My friend Lance, a baseball fanatic, invited me to join. He made me an offer that I couldn't refuse. I had no idea what I was doing, but I stumbled along and learned on the job. The records from year one have not survived, but I'm pretty sure that my team struggled.
Check out the run that followed:
2002 - ? place, did not make playoffs
2003 - 1st-place finish in the regular season, 3rd in postseason (bye, loss, win)
2004 - 2nd in reg season, 1st in postseason (bye, win, win)
2005 - 7th place, did not make the playoffs
2006 - 2nd reg season, 1st post (bye, win, win)
2007 - 4th reg season, 2nd post (win, win, lost Championship in tiebreaker)
2008 - 2nd reg season, 1st post (bye, win, win)
2009 - 1st reg season, 3rd post (bye, loss, win)
2010 - 2nd in the standings, only one game behind the first-place team (as of week 12 in the 22-week season)
Team names: "Time On My Hands" (2002-05), "Bristol Babylonians" (2006-07), and "Cambridge Prophets" (2008-present).
In eight years, I have won 3 championships, 1 second-place finish, and 2 third-place finishes. I have finished in the top 3 in six of the last seven seasons.
My postseason record is 10-3.
Let's hope that my skill/good luck in fantasy b-ball carries over into some real-life skill. For instance, it would be nice to be good at pastoral ministry, homiletics, automobile maintenance, home repair, being a loyal friend, finding a mate, getting things done on time, financial management, fighting for social justice... it's a long list.
Play ball!
you are invited to follow my blog
ReplyDeleteP.S. Yours truly finished first in the regular season and proceeded to lose BOTH platoff rounds, thus posting a fourth-place finish. In the semi-final round, one extra save & save appearance would have given me the victory. The Consolation Round wasn't as close. Maybe I jinxed myself with my victory-lap blog post.
ReplyDeleteTao Te Ching #56:
Those who know don't talk.
Those who talk don't know.
-Stephen Mitchell translation, 1988