NBA 2015-2016 Predictions

NBA Predictions

Eastern Conference:
Cleveland
Atlanta 
Washington
Milwaukee
Toronto
Boston
Miami
Chicago

Indiana
Charlotte
Detroit
New York
Orlando
Philadelphia
Brooklyn


Playoffs:
• Cleveland over Chicago, Miami over Atlanta, Washington over Boston, Milwaukee over Toronto
• Cleveland over Milwaukee, Washington over Miami
• Cleveland over Washington




Western Conference:
San Antonio
Golden State 
LA Clippers
Oklahoma City
Houston
Memphis 
Phoenix
New Orleans

Minnesota 
Dallas
Utah
Portland
Denver
LA Lakers
Sacramento

Playoffs:
• San Antonio over New Orleans, Golden State over Phoenix, Memphis over LA Clippers, OKC over Houston
• OKC over San Antonio, Memphis over Golden State
• OKC over Memphis



More notes:
• Really high on Milwaukee this year
• The West will be a dogfight. Golden State’s a great team, but they had phenomenal luck last year. I think they stumble sometime this year
• Lottery: (1) Boston (via Brooklyn) (2) Philadelphia (3) Sacramento
• The Clippers are the team that is the biggest Wild Card; I could see them win the title, I could see them blow up completely.
• The Finals: I thought Cleveland would pull it off last year. Despite injuries to two of their big three and one of their key roleplayers, they took a loaded Golden State team to 6 games. LeBron’s peak window is closing- he’ll still be a great player for another decade, but the era where he’s clearly the best player in the NBA has only a year or two left. If the Cavs are going to win a title with LeBron as the best player, this is the best year to do it. CLEVELAND OVER OKC IN FIVE GAMES.

MLB 2015 Playoff preference

MLB Playoff preference:

1.      Chicago Cubs- Yes, I stopped following them after the Soriano signing.  But they finally learned how to act like a smart team.  They hired Theo Epstein.  They drafted well.  They brought in Joe Maddon when he was available.  I’m sure Harry Caray is up in Heaven, drinking a Budweiser, and having a great time watching this team.

(Giant Gap...)

2.      Houston Astros- my rule; if a team I don’t actively root for can’t win it all, go for the team that has not won it all in my lifetime

3.      Texas Rangers- hence putting the teams from Texas as #2 and #3, with Houston ahead of the Rangers because the Astros are a more impressive story

4.      Pittsburgh Pirates- They won the World Series in my lifetime- but when I was seven. 

5.      Toronto Blue Jays- the only game I attended this year was in Toronto; this was before they had a huge win streak, but even then they looked impressive with their hitting. 

6.      Kansas City Royals- Pro:  Small-market team.  Con:  In the same division as the Indians

(Small Gap...)

7.      St. Louis Cardinals- I don’t hate the Cardinals, but they win.  All.  The.  Time.  It’s boring

(Large Gap...)

8.      New York Mets- Blargh.  Not a Mets fan.  Still think they are karmically paying back all of the luck they used to win in 1986.

9.      Los Angeles Dodgers- But at least the Mets aren’t as obnoxious as the Dodgers.  Or have anywhere near the payroll

10.   New York Yankees- oh, that’s right- they already lost.

Economics- a blinding flash of the obivous

I hate to just cut and paste what someone else wrote, but Kevin D. Williamson's comment about the deficit and taxes is so spot-on that I want everyone to see it:

Every Republican tax-reform plan should be rooted in this reality: If you are going to have federal spending that is 21 percent of GDP, then you can have a.) taxes that are 21 percent of GDP; b.) deficits. There is no c. 

If, on the other hand, you have a credible program for reducing spending to 17 or 18 percent of GDP, which is where taxes have been coming in, please do share it.  

The problem with the Growth Fairy model of balancing budgets is that while economic growth would certainly reduce federal spending as a share of GDP if spending were kept constant, there is zero evidence that the government of these United States has the will or the inclination to enact serious spending controls when times are good (Uncork the champagne!) or when times are bad (Wicked austerity! We must have stimulus!). So even if we buy Jeb Bush’s happy talk about growth, or Donald Trump’s, the idea that spending is just going to magically sit there, inert, while the economy zips forward and the tax coffers fill up, is delusional.  

There are no tax cuts when the government is running deficits, only tax deferrals. 

This applies to both parties and everyone's economic plan.  

NFL Predictions 2015-2016

NFC

East:
Dallas 10-6
NY Giants 9-7
Philadelphia 9-7
Washington 3-13

North:
Green Bay 12-4
Minnesota 9-7 (Wild Card)
Detroit 7-9
Chicago 7-9

South:
Carolina 9-7
New Orleans 7-9 
Atlanta 6-10
Tampa Bay 4-12

West:
Seattle 13-3
Arizona 10-6 (Wild Card)
St. Louis 8-8
San Francisco 5-11

Playoffs:
Arizona over Carolina
Dallas over Minnesota

Seattle over Arizona
Green Bay over Dallas

Green Bay over Seattle


AFC

East:
New England 11-5
Miami 10-6 (Wild Card)
Buffalo 7-9
NY Jets 4-12

North:
Cincinnati 11-5
Baltimore 10-6 (Wild Card)
Pittsburgh 10-6
Cleveland 4-12

South:
Indianapolis 11-5
Houston 9-7
Tennessee 7-9
Jacksonville 5-11

West:
Denver 9-7
Kansas City 8-8
Oakland 6-10
San Diego 6-10

Playoffs:
Indianapolis over Miami
Baltimore over Denver

New England over Baltimore
Cincinnati over Indianapolis

Cincinnati over New England

Super Bowl: Green Bay 34, Cincinnati 20

They say the first decade is the hardest...

Ten years ago today, Katie White and I were married by the State of Ohio.  

Since then, we've added one more cat, been in a few shows and several dozen Improv Jams together, lost one kidney, added several nieces and nephews, burned a few bridges, slaughtered millions of pixels in online games, won e-wrestling tag team titles together, lived, fought, cried, and loved.

It hasn't always been easy- you don't share two lives together without a few ups and downs.  But we've been together through a lot, and I can't imagine what live would be like without her.

We're both private people- Katie doesn't even a facebook page, and my philosophy is never to put anything online that I don't want the whole world to see.  But I'm good with the whole world seeing this.

I love you, Katie White-Sonby

Once,
Forever,
and Always

Finding humor where we can.

I don't really want to discuss the Charleston tragedy, because... I don't know what to say.  An evil person walked into a church and killed 9 innocent people.  In theory, I'm on the fence about the Death Penalty- but I won't be losing sleep if the shooter loses his life.

But the talk has gone from the tragedy to the Confederate flag (the shooter wore the flag prominently).  Since the flag is used as a symbol of the Confederacy (and therefore, slavery), there is talk to remove it from the flag of South Carolina.  

Governor Nikki Haley and several of the state's top politicians on both sides of the aisle are calling for the flag to be removed.  I think this is a great idea, and a needed one.  Too many people associate the Confederate Flag with Slavery.  The Swastika has several meanings in Hinduism, Buddhism, Jainism, and Odinism- but to the vast majority of people, it is associated with Nazism and the Final Solution.  It is considered wrong to display the Swastika, and it should also be considered wrong to display the Confederate flag.

So myself and two friends (Don Mewha and Chris O'Brien) had a discussion of what should be on the South Carolina flag.  My first suggestion is a cartoon Calvin peeing on North Carolina.  But then my friend Don remembered a famous citizen from South Carolina, and this would be right up his alley.  

Let's face it- Stephen Colbert redesigning the South Carolina flag would be fantastic.

And since we live in this virtual world, we can start up a petition to push this idea.

Click here to encourage Stephen Colbert come up with the new design of the South Carolina flag

2016- Presidential Candidate's Net Worth

Thought I’d check out the Net Worth of the 2016 candidates and see where they were.  I couldn’t find anything on O’Malley:

Candidate	Net Worth
Fiorina	$120,000,000.00
Clinton	$21,500,000.00
Jeb Bush	$10,000,000.00
Carson	$10,000,000.00
Warren	$8,750,000.00
Santorum	$5,000,000.00
Huckabee	$5,000,000.00
Christie	$4,000,000.00
Cruz	$3,500,000.00
Jindal	$3,000,000.00
Perry	$3,000,000.00
Paul	$2,500,000.00
Walker	$2,000,000.00
Rubio	$1,200,000.00
Sanders	$500,000.00
O'Malley	unknown

I’ve heard different amounts of Net Wealth needed to be in the top 1%.  Some show the number needed as 2.5 million, others almost 8 million.  It looks like most of the candidates are right around the 1% mark, but only Clinton and Fiorina are really in the stratosphere.