I made some wacky picks earlier right after this year's super bowl ended. I'm going to amend a few of those and give my full predictions before the year begins:
Playoff Teams:
AFC East: New England Patriots
AFC South: Tennessee Titans
AFC North: Baltimore Ravens
AFC West: San Diego
Wild Cards: Pittsburgh Steelers
Houston Texans
NFC East: Washington Redskins
NFC South: Atlanta Falcons
NFC North: Green Bay Packers
NFC West: Seattle Seahawks
Wild Cards: Minnesota Vikings
Chicago Bears
Worst Teams:
AFC: Denver Broncos
NFC: Detroit Lions
Super Bowl: New England over Atlanta
Awards:
Coach of the Year: Mike McCarthy (Green Bay)
Offensive Player of the Year: Michael Turner (Atlanta)
Defensive Player of the Year: Patrick Willis (San Francisco)
Offensive Rookie of the Year: Percy Harvin ( Minnesota)
Defensive Rookie of the Year: B.J. Raji (Green Bay)
Comeback Player of the Year: Fred Taylor (New England)
20090909
20090702
What Football Doesn't Teach You - Unlearning What I've Learned
"It's not just a game. Football teaches you about life... <insert points to support this claim>" - this was the typical line of rhetoric I heard from various coaches throughout the entirety of amateur football career which spanned three years of high school five years of college (red-shirt year, included), four head coaches, five positional coaches, three strength coaches, and numerous other folks in authoritative coach or coach like positions. You know what, these men were mostly correct. I have Brian Aldridge and Wayne Jackson, my varsity high school head/position coach respectively to thank for teaching me how not to quit when I wanted to walk away after the first two weeks because it was too hard. That's a lesson that rare few things can teach a human being, and grueling competitive sports is one of them. I most definitely wouldn't be at this point in my life without their help. There are other various and similar lessons I learned as a player that have been pivotal themselves as well.
But there are lessons that just really don't apply to real life the way that coaches would have you believe they would. One must keep in mind that a coach basically has his or her paycheck in the mouths of a bunch of kids running around, so anything that can be said or done in order to demand near complete submissiveness to their goals/visions is necessary. Team sports just happens to one of those rare activities where maintaining such order is paramount to the success of a team. This applies to football even moreso, as cowboy behavior very rarely results in positive results. As a result, football players are trained to do exactly what they are told, to a tee, in a near militaristic format. Any subordination or even questioning is met with physical punishment in the amateur ranks (in the form of extra running, conditioning, etc. etc) and with fines in the professional ranks. So essentially, a collection of football players who perform well as a team and are regarded as good team players, for all of our brawn, strength, and athleticism, are really nothing more than a bunch of subservient sheep. It's necessary for the job...
I personally just happened to be a prototype example. I sucked it up and didn't question anything regardless of whether it made sense to me or not. I was referred to as a "very coach-able athlete". I took it as a compliment then. It is still somewhat of a complement now. But now that I'm out of that business and working as a full time employee in private enterprises, the equivalent statement would label me as a "company man", a "yes man", a "stooge", or even "a very political worker", since I automatically did anything anyone with authority requested of me and agreed with what they said. In other words, the perfectly coachable football player is just a warm bodied replaceable pawn not able to voice constructive criticism and objective thinking in the grand scheme of thing - an absolutely horrible attribute to have.
The fledgling years of my professional career were stifled as a result of this. Granted, I have done quite well given my age and background - way moreso than I would have ever guessed while still in high school/college - but I could have been much, much better and contributed much, much more had I let myself not been the passive receiver of dirty work and random oddball tasks for the longest time only because I was subservient and just happened to be a hard worker and good at what I do.
See, despite the fact that I got the work done, the marketplace doesn't provide even rewards based on how long or how hard someone works on the necessary but relatively lower profile tasks that require moderate to lower skillsets when compared to high level, highly skilled and critical work that knowledge workers today must perform to provide value (nor should it!). Said differently, those performing the menial work can be replaced, just like the labor of the wonderful employees behind the counter at your local <insert franchise here>. Those who are able to develop ideas, organize people, and even do the work when absolutely necessary due to their advanced knowledge/skillsets will always be most valuable because they are the irreplaceable ones.
But how does one develop such skillsets? It's certainly not able to be accomplished when one is mired in menial tasks. But how does one not get bogged down in menial tasks that someone else finds convenient to shuffle off to them? By dissenting! By learning how to constructively refuse to get bogged down in the work and contributing to the creative processes and decision making that has to occur in getting work done instead of just sheepishly accepting the work that one gets assigned by a superordinate. Sure, some amount of work still has to be done - the rubber has to meet the road somewhere, but that should be a shared burden and not to be carried by one person or one set of people who blindly accept it.
It was not until the last year and a half or so until I started to force myself to do this after getting run ragged during a grueling march to finish a software release in early 2008. I was accepting every possible menial task I could because that's how I was wired up to think from all of those years of having subservience beaten in to my brain and I thought this was the best way to contribute to the success of the project. At the end of the day, the launch itself happened, but was full of flaws. This was not my fault. The reality of it was that no matter how hard I worked or how many of me there were, the same result was imminent. It was after this point I started speaking up. I started questioning my managers and my VPs. I spoke my mind. I disagreed with people without the proverbial fear of getting benched or having to run stadiums... and this amazing thing happened - I found myself involved in alternative ways to do things, being asked for my own opinions and designs on how to implement things. I eventually helped make things better at this particular workplace *and* for myself because I started dissenting, sometimes outright refusing to do a few things because they did not make sense.
Fast forward a year later and I've already been promoted twice since the start of that aforementioned project, and I'm not so bogged down in work that I can't spend time sharpening my brain with new things related to my field. Had I kept the the same mentality I had that actually made me a successful football player, I'd probably be laid off, burnt out, or both by this point as just another code/systems monkey that can be replaced later, if needed.
"Think for yourself; question authority", said Timothy Leary. That's one vital life lesson that you will never ever learn from football. In fact, I learned and thought the exact opposite to a fault. Thankfully I was able to unlearn what I had learned...
But there are lessons that just really don't apply to real life the way that coaches would have you believe they would. One must keep in mind that a coach basically has his or her paycheck in the mouths of a bunch of kids running around, so anything that can be said or done in order to demand near complete submissiveness to their goals/visions is necessary. Team sports just happens to one of those rare activities where maintaining such order is paramount to the success of a team. This applies to football even moreso, as cowboy behavior very rarely results in positive results. As a result, football players are trained to do exactly what they are told, to a tee, in a near militaristic format. Any subordination or even questioning is met with physical punishment in the amateur ranks (in the form of extra running, conditioning, etc. etc) and with fines in the professional ranks. So essentially, a collection of football players who perform well as a team and are regarded as good team players, for all of our brawn, strength, and athleticism, are really nothing more than a bunch of subservient sheep. It's necessary for the job...
I personally just happened to be a prototype example. I sucked it up and didn't question anything regardless of whether it made sense to me or not. I was referred to as a "very coach-able athlete". I took it as a compliment then. It is still somewhat of a complement now. But now that I'm out of that business and working as a full time employee in private enterprises, the equivalent statement would label me as a "company man", a "yes man", a "stooge", or even "a very political worker", since I automatically did anything anyone with authority requested of me and agreed with what they said. In other words, the perfectly coachable football player is just a warm bodied replaceable pawn not able to voice constructive criticism and objective thinking in the grand scheme of thing - an absolutely horrible attribute to have.
The fledgling years of my professional career were stifled as a result of this. Granted, I have done quite well given my age and background - way moreso than I would have ever guessed while still in high school/college - but I could have been much, much better and contributed much, much more had I let myself not been the passive receiver of dirty work and random oddball tasks for the longest time only because I was subservient and just happened to be a hard worker and good at what I do.
See, despite the fact that I got the work done, the marketplace doesn't provide even rewards based on how long or how hard someone works on the necessary but relatively lower profile tasks that require moderate to lower skillsets when compared to high level, highly skilled and critical work that knowledge workers today must perform to provide value (nor should it!). Said differently, those performing the menial work can be replaced, just like the labor of the wonderful employees behind the counter at your local <insert franchise here>. Those who are able to develop ideas, organize people, and even do the work when absolutely necessary due to their advanced knowledge/skillsets will always be most valuable because they are the irreplaceable ones.
But how does one develop such skillsets? It's certainly not able to be accomplished when one is mired in menial tasks. But how does one not get bogged down in menial tasks that someone else finds convenient to shuffle off to them? By dissenting! By learning how to constructively refuse to get bogged down in the work and contributing to the creative processes and decision making that has to occur in getting work done instead of just sheepishly accepting the work that one gets assigned by a superordinate. Sure, some amount of work still has to be done - the rubber has to meet the road somewhere, but that should be a shared burden and not to be carried by one person or one set of people who blindly accept it.
It was not until the last year and a half or so until I started to force myself to do this after getting run ragged during a grueling march to finish a software release in early 2008. I was accepting every possible menial task I could because that's how I was wired up to think from all of those years of having subservience beaten in to my brain and I thought this was the best way to contribute to the success of the project. At the end of the day, the launch itself happened, but was full of flaws. This was not my fault. The reality of it was that no matter how hard I worked or how many of me there were, the same result was imminent. It was after this point I started speaking up. I started questioning my managers and my VPs. I spoke my mind. I disagreed with people without the proverbial fear of getting benched or having to run stadiums... and this amazing thing happened - I found myself involved in alternative ways to do things, being asked for my own opinions and designs on how to implement things. I eventually helped make things better at this particular workplace *and* for myself because I started dissenting, sometimes outright refusing to do a few things because they did not make sense.
Fast forward a year later and I've already been promoted twice since the start of that aforementioned project, and I'm not so bogged down in work that I can't spend time sharpening my brain with new things related to my field. Had I kept the the same mentality I had that actually made me a successful football player, I'd probably be laid off, burnt out, or both by this point as just another code/systems monkey that can be replaced later, if needed.
"Think for yourself; question authority", said Timothy Leary. That's one vital life lesson that you will never ever learn from football. In fact, I learned and thought the exact opposite to a fault. Thankfully I was able to unlearn what I had learned...
20090221
The Power Of Delegation
Yesterday I had some delivery guys from Best Buy carry a new clothes washing machine I recently purchased up to my 2nd floor where the laundry closet it. It felt great, because neither myself or Kris needed to lift a thing other than a credit card out of my wallet and a pen to sign my name.
We moved relatively recently from a condo to a townhouse. In our youthful stubbornness, we decided we could handle the move ourselves without any outside help, excluding her parents helping us with organizing and packing up the kitchen and clothes. In other words, we we were going to tackle the big and heavy stuff ourselves. That worked out alright, effort wise, for the beds and a few random smaller pieces of furniture. It was not quite as nice for the bigger things. We nearly broke Kristin's back carrying up our couch and one of the chests we have. I myself was dog tired and lost productivity for the Sunday/Monday that we moved. But we got the job done without paying a single mover a dine.
What was the net amount of money kept after doing the job ourselves? In hindsight, probably -$400.
Despite my former college football player frame that might be conducive to manual labor (read: lifting heavy stuff), I make my living as a software engineer - a job that only requires mental lifting. I get paid to produce what my mind tells my fingers to type. Considering that particular line of work requires me to 1) stay constantly abreast of what is happening in the industry 2) learning new skills almost daily and 3) work on current projects, every minute of my time that I can spend or every ounce of energy that I can conserve in order to do one of those three things carries monetary value. In hindsight, it would have been a hell of a lot easier to just pay movers to handle all of that big stuff while I geeked away at my machine or reading a book.
The old me would have probably tried to find a way to pick up my new washing machineand carry it in myself, based on some stubborn pride and inkling that I could save some money. Instead, I let the movers tote it in, for about half the cost that my hourly wage would probably be were I earning one, whilst I worked away yesterday afternoon staying focused on my task.
Delegation is a beautiful thing, and something I need to learn to do more often.
We moved relatively recently from a condo to a townhouse. In our youthful stubbornness, we decided we could handle the move ourselves without any outside help, excluding her parents helping us with organizing and packing up the kitchen and clothes. In other words, we we were going to tackle the big and heavy stuff ourselves. That worked out alright, effort wise, for the beds and a few random smaller pieces of furniture. It was not quite as nice for the bigger things. We nearly broke Kristin's back carrying up our couch and one of the chests we have. I myself was dog tired and lost productivity for the Sunday/Monday that we moved. But we got the job done without paying a single mover a dine.
What was the net amount of money kept after doing the job ourselves? In hindsight, probably -$400.
Despite my former college football player frame that might be conducive to manual labor (read: lifting heavy stuff), I make my living as a software engineer - a job that only requires mental lifting. I get paid to produce what my mind tells my fingers to type. Considering that particular line of work requires me to 1) stay constantly abreast of what is happening in the industry 2) learning new skills almost daily and 3) work on current projects, every minute of my time that I can spend or every ounce of energy that I can conserve in order to do one of those three things carries monetary value. In hindsight, it would have been a hell of a lot easier to just pay movers to handle all of that big stuff while I geeked away at my machine or reading a book.
The old me would have probably tried to find a way to pick up my new washing machineand carry it in myself, based on some stubborn pride and inkling that I could save some money. Instead, I let the movers tote it in, for about half the cost that my hourly wage would probably be were I earning one, whilst I worked away yesterday afternoon staying focused on my task.
Delegation is a beautiful thing, and something I need to learn to do more often.
20090213
Five Wacky NFL Predictions for '09
I am waiting for massive svn commits to go through to our central repo. While that is going on, I figure it is time for a troll worthy post of wacky things I am going on a limb to predict to happen in the NFL in '09. I have absolutely no legitimate insight behind these predictions, for what it is worth.
- Plaxico Burress will be the Comeback Player of the Year
- Tom Brady's comeback will be underwhelming and he will not be one of the three QBs selected to the AFC for the pro bowl.
- One team in the NFL will make the playoffs with a losing record. There is a 99% chance this team will come from the NFC West or NFC North. There is a 30% chance it will be the Arizona Cardinals with Matt Leinart at QB
- For the first time since 1986 (Lawrence Taylor) the NFL MVP will be a defensive player. I am going to be really bold and predict that player to be Mario Williams of Houston.
- Super Bowl: I have <drumroll /> the Washington Redskins over the Baltimore Ravens. It will be given a stupid label such as the Beltway Bowl.
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