Be Merry and Streak!

Hope everyone was imbibed with the best of the best yesterday for Christmas! The best hard liquor, the best wine, the best chocolate, hot dinner, and memories.

As you might know, Streak for the Cash yesterday was a bunch of Sports Fan choices, i.e. leaving young Grammy out of the cerebral loop. My game plan was left to the die hard methods of Flip a Coin, copy the majority, copy the mate or take a look at the photos of the opposing two men (in questions such as who will score more points in the nth quarter on the moon during the 11th hour while balancing a tray of twinkies on their third eye?) and see in the first few seconds, which one appeared to look like the winner. Is he sorta edgy looking? Will a edgy face score more than a smile that a grandma can love?

My first pick of the game was at noon right before leaving the house to go a-visiting. The dilemma was the Chicago Bulls Derrick Rose vs NY Knicks Amare Stoudemire blah blah blah. That was my problem. Right there I saw Stoudemire’s name and due to consistent name dropping by TV and the mate, immediately checked it off. If I had been hanging from a cliff, I’d have checked it off as a sure bet. And immediately would have plunged to my demise. First pick of the day was incorrect.

My mother has a record breaking slow computer. We figured it would take us at least 20 minutes each to check a box. Thankfully that wasn’t the case. Another Bulls @ Knicks pick - will a 3 pt basket be made in last 2 min of 2nd quarter? In my inexperienced young grammy brain, I figured yeah, of course it will be! I might as well have been drunk by now….another wrong pick.

By this time I was safely sure that neither mate nor I (we’d chosen exactly the same for both losing picks) were going to win the special Christmas Day streak for $10K. Ok, time to work on just having a good month then. And luckily, I went with the minority school of thought for the next game.

I finally must have brushed against a 4 leaf clover field on my way out of mom’s house because I did guess (and I use that term whole heartedly) correctly that Celtics’ combo Allen & Pierce would score more 3 quarter points than Magic’s superhero duo of Howard & Nelson. I’d love to say that I was drunk because I don’t really remember thinking about that pick but I’m going to have to go with the fact that the majority chose it and that’s probably what I did. A losing streak of 2 will break you down to desperate measures.

My next pick at 6:46pm was my favorite. Who will score more points in the 2nd half of the Miami Heat vs LA Lakers game – LeBron James or Kobe Bryant? I had to go with LeBron. After all, if he’s good enough to be mentioned in the High School Musical movies, he’s good enough for my streaking habit. I’ve HEARD things about Kobe Bryant. But I went with the 35.4% minority that was LeBron James and DINGDINGDING! Thanks for the love, LeBron.

This game is like a yo-yo diet though. I ended up gorging at the 10:47pm table. Would Aldridge of the Portland Blazers score more points in the 1st quarter than M. Ellis of Golden State Warriors? I’m starting to have that forgiving type relationship with GS. They’ve helped me gain, they’ve helped me purge the evil ascension of numbers. I took them. I don’t hate them yet. Plus I like their blue and yellow circular logo….I can find them easily on everyone’s play schedules. It’s just so Fisher Price. They did cause me to purge however – even with me checking the PPG statuses. I don’t hate them just yet. I think we can still carry on a bit.

And why is that? How can I still picture GS and I still holding hands in the field dancing in a slow motion maniacal blue circle? Because I chose them again in my last pick of the night….oh wait. I lie. I shouted over to mate from the fireplace at that point as I read a book. “I’ll have what you’re having!” So really I just got tired of being cold and wouldn't leave the blazing logs. Being lazy is how I won. I really am going to order those waistband jean pajamas. The grounds for thinking that a 3 point basket would be made in the last 2 minutes of the second quarter? I think for the most part if there is ever a 3 point question, we’re always going to choose yes. I’m no expert but who isn’t going to try for a 3 pointer?

Having a streak of the most basic building blocks – One – is nice. But gets boring. Tired of eating at this diner on a daily basis. I do love the fancy dishes and hot drinks that the 13’s and 14’s offered me once. But alas, I will change that. I WILL pass THROUGH 13 and 14 to gain a bigger streak next month! You’ll see! You’ll ALL SEE!

Post Titles are For Overachievers

Ahhh…the sweet smell of ascension brewing in the air. “2” and I have met before. Nice to shake that clingy, cranky, blank Zero for now. Hopefully I didn’t leave a trail of breadcrumbs behind me.

Golden State Warriors apparently wanted my affections back and chivalry won out. They won. Just for me obviously.

This morning, as my stomach growls and I run a work program, I take a quick look at the first game.

I don’t know why I think it’s magically going to be an easy NBA game everytime I check. Of course it’s soccer. It’s like morning breath. It’s present and one way or another it will go away. Sigh. Do I want to spend my 2 at the Soccer vendor? I say out loud “no way”. And then compulsively click on both teams to see. You know, just in case.

Olympiakos’ information opens nicely for me, if not a brutal red color dominating the site for an eye slap.

I may have to ignore this game. Any page that bounces off our firewall is probably a sign for me to turn around before entering the forest of hungry, heartless banshees. Asteras Tripolis is not willing to give me any info unless I want to go the extra distance of website hoop jumping and do some real research. Which I don’t.

Lazy? Nah! Just have to keep up the good work here at the job! I have teddy bears, onesies and baby’s first Winnie the Pooh books to buy for the grandchild who is currently baking. A Starbucks paycheck might not hold up as well as the one I get here.

If I still needed to create a streak, I’d take this game. But because I’ve watched my Empire of 14 crumble into a losing streak of 4, I’m going to be a teensy bit cautious. This game is a predator, trying to steal my 2 with its insistence of attention mongering. If I don’t further research it, it won’t tell me who it really is.

High maintenance pick + Job = Forget it.

Instead, I’ll enjoy the breakfast potluck here at work. Everyone is walking around with just one crumb on their lip or under their nose. I’ll join the herd. Baaaaaaaaa. (If this were a pick I’d be tempted to starve, just to be down with the Underdog!).

*****Much Later After Consuming Cookies to the Nth Power****

Things that I did instead of choosing another pick:
*Ate things that other co-workers brought in. Something by the name of Monkey Bread. I will marry it someday when it’s legal to exchange vows with a pastry. I dropped hints at the chef that I’d pay her to make more.

*Laughed a lot. This is important when playing Streak for the Cash. If you aren’t laughing a lot, you are probably messing with your chances of winning. Actually, I’ve no proof of that but laughing will get you through those cold nights when snuggling with Zero.

*Laughed then calmed down. Then burst out again. You know that type of laugh. The kind where you burst out and finally calm down….only to dwell on the replay button in your head and burst out again. It incites others to ask What the Hell is So Funny? This was caused by my darling beautiful daughter (who currently houses my GrandFetus) emailing me with today’s vile pregnancy symptoms. I will spare her dignity by not repeating but will thank her for being such a good sport and sharing anyway at least with me.

*Hosted my weekly online radio show, Scorpion Equinox while the fireplace blazed and a hot cup of coffee was had. Nice!

As soon as the show was over I had a few moments to check out the next pick….the one I’d been waiting for all days since I wasn’t going to take any of those fancy ones that involved point spreads. The only spreads I like go on food. Emeril’s horseradish mustard is an excellent case in point.

So in my rush, I went with Oklahoma City Thunder vs New York Knicks. And maybe I was still feeling a bit smug about The Heat beating the Knicks last week – right in their own front yard! So I figured, Oklahoma City looked pretty good. Mostly because the Knicks skidmark down the stats sheet lately looked rather discouraging. But then again, maybe they’d have rested well, kicked some old ladies and got their mojo back! I chose Oklahoma City. And then found out that Mate chose the Knicks. He thinks I chose against him on purpose but HA! He is wrong. What might not have been wrong was HIS pick. I’m still watching this one while chewing on fingernail stew. Sheesh…someone stole Oklahoma City’s Thunder!

That would have to be my last move of the night since there are no more straight up picks.
My mate sits down next to me and checks out the remaining questions and researches.
I let him know that for a One Time Only deal, he gets to choose a pick and I’ll copy him! Imitation is the sincerest form of flattery! Now in order to avoid curling up in the center of a Zero for tonight, I copied with all my might and chose Gonzaga’s Winning Margin to be higher than Xavier’s 3 Pointers Made. I might as well have just read a Chilton guide for Pinto’s because I have no idea what any of that means. Hopefully my intuition is hiding somewhere in the winning margin and Gonzaga will unearth it to start my day tomorrow with an actual number instead of a hope, wish and a prayer for one.