Results of the March Madness Hopefuls! ESPN Tournament Challenge #MarchMadness #results

 

So good to have March Madness again this year! We had a good group participating in the ESPN Tournament Challenge. We had 25+ participate in the selections this year. A wide range of picks started out the tournament. The selected winners ranged from a dozen votes to single votes to win it all.

• Gonzaga (12)
• Illinois (4)
  
• Michigan (3)
• Kansas (2)
• Alabama (1)
  
• Baylor (1)
  
• Iowa (1)
  
• Oklahoma State (1)
  
• Villanova (1)
  
• West Virginia (1)
  

Gonzaga had the most votes with 12 followed by Illinois (4), Michigan (3), and Kansas (2). The remaining teams all had one vote each to win the tournament. For the majority of the rounds, Javier G was at the top of the leader board. Going into the championship game Monday night, Javi was leading the group with the most points. Following the end of the game the winner of the group was Dina H. She was the only one in our group to have Baylor winning.

With a narrow margin of points, Dina H beat out Javi G 1,240 to 1,140. Followed by tsh34081. I am not sure who tsh34081 is but they came in third in our challenge. Congrats to Dina on winning the bracket this year with the only one picking Baylor from our league.

How did Dina compare to the entry winning all of ESPN? The winner of the entire ESPN bracket won with 1,690 points. What a fun tournament to watch. There were some heart breakers, some buzzer beaters, and a lot of efforts to watch in March Madness no one was able to enjoy a year ago. We are so happy to have it back and finish another tournament challenge.

Congrats to the winners, Dina H, Javi G, and tsh34081. 

Tent Set up with Happy Dog and Happy Tent Owners #Camping #Adventure

Carrie and I are going to try camping. Sure, we have both been camping a few times in our lives, but not with our own gear. For Christmas, we got a tent and we spent Saturday, April 3 in the afternoon attempting to put it together in our back yard. You know, so we test out the process before we get to a camp site and realize we have not idea what we are doing. The process went well!

We did the test run of putting it up in our back yard, but did not spend the night in the back yard. We are old and want to get some comfortable items so we can sleep on them when we are at the camp site. After getting the tent put together, we spent a while reviewing cots, mats, etc., for items that can make the camp site comfortable. Of course, we do not want to spend a lot on items in the event we go and camp and do not like it, so trying to keep costs down but also find items that will make the stay comfortable.

Carrie had the great idea to record us putting the tent together, so I set it up as time-lapse. It worked out great! If you watch carefully, you can see us put it up once and then take it down as we used the shorter poles instead of the long poles for the center section. The process went well and we now know how to put it together and which poles to use.

 

We are making plans to find our first camp site. Carrie has done the research and make a selection of Pomona, KS. Our plan is to do a test run of two night stay at this first camp site. See how it goes, what other items we might need, and whether we like the process. We plan to take Oliver with us, so that will be interesting. I think he will have a lot of fun at a camp site with us, visiting other campers, and smelling or hearing the noises that come with being away from home. The next phase of our plan would be to camp with Greg and Erin at another location. We need to do so before it gets hot, so trying to determine the best time to do the second camping date.

Oliver had a great time after we set up the tent. He thought it was fun to hear his paws on the tent floor. As you can see, he was jumping and running around like it was a big game. Carrie and I both laughing at him. Finally, he flew out the front of the tent and did two running laps around the tent before settling in the grass to rest. He spent Sunday sleeping most of the day as he had a fun Saturday helping us with the tent.

More pictures, or video, later this month as we begin our camping experience. We both can hardly wait and looking forward to taking Oliver with us on our adventures.

Happy Easter!

Happy Easter! Have a wonderful Easter Sunday. 

I will spend the day connecting with my family. I plan to call my sisters, my brother, and my Mom. I plan to watch some baseball. There might be some golf watching in there too. Might even do a Zoom session with everyone if I can get it set up and sent out early in the day. There is a chance for a nap but hopefully not during the baseball game. Easter Sunday evening I will be at the Shirrons’ enjoying a wonderful dinner and spending time with family.

Have a wonderful Easter!

Bally Sports Kansas City New #Royals Graphics #TogetherRoyal #BallySports

The start of the MLB season started on Thursday, April 1 and with it we saw a new branded channel. Formerly Fox Sports Midwest. It seems like we have watched Royals baseball on Fox Sports Midwest forever, but looking it up the channel launched in March 2008 (according to Wiki). The new branding is Bally Sports. Bally Sports officially launched April 1 but their web site still says “Coming Soon” and the app on my iPhone and Roku devices still says Fox Sports Go. The rumor was that everything was going to change on Opening Day of baseball, but that does not appear to have happened.

What did change was the broadcast. Broadcasters saying “Bally Sports” now and graphics indicate we are watching “Bally Sports” just to remind us over and over. I am still upset that I cannot get Royals baseball on YouTube TV and have to watch through my Mom’s streaming account from Midco. I am happy that is working and hope it continues to work to watch Royals baseball. I am one of the lucky ones as many people are not able to watch their favorite teams with blackouts or their provider no longer carrying the games (see Contract Disputes posted back in January).

For years we have had the same graphics and I have to admit I missed them when I first started watching the game on Thursday. I was so used to seeing the layout in the lower right hand corner when watching Royals baseball that I missed not seeing it in the corner. I am not sure, but I would guess the graphic for pitcher, batter, score, inning, outs, and count had not changed since Fox Sports Midwest launched in 2008, or if it did change it was not by much.

Having seen the same graphics for so many years, I get set in my ways, and expect to see them to start the new season. I think it will be fine with the new graphics, but I can still complain about what I do not like and then compliment the new changes that I do like.

Typical information on the graphics with the score on the left. Inning, bases, outs, and count in the middle. Then on the right side displays other games. The whole graphic is along the bottom of the screen. The center section is also where it displays MPH for a pitch. 

The addition of the running scores of other games is a new addition. I do not recall where scores of other games would post/scroll on Fox Sports Midwest  but I believe it might have been at the top and only if there was an interesting game in session. The most part, I do not think they showed scores of other games at all. That is a nice new addition with the scrolling scores to help keep an eye on those other games.

The center section section where it displays inning, who is on base, outs, and count needs some work is fine, but could use some color changes. Instead of outs showing as black dots, I would rather see red. The other complaint is that outs usually show left to right so it is odd to see them right to left. Again, not a huge issue, but it is going to take a little while to get used to the change. Although it appears this was only for the first game of the season on Opening Day. The second game of the season on Saturday had corrected the sequence of going left to right on outs, so it was better.

Overall, I like the new graphics and especially the scrolling scores of other games. It will take a while to get used to saying Bally Sports Kanas City, but I am sure we will all get used to it as they say it over-and-over throughout the game, commercials, and via social media.

I am so excited to be watching baseball and happy that at least for now, I get to watch Royals baseball. Enjoy the season for whatever team you follow.

4 Months Peloton and Losing Weight Motivation

Weight Tracking from November 2020 to March 2021

Making progress at exercising and reducing weight. As with much of the population, 2020 and COVID caused me to max out my weight. Pants did not fit, did not feel great, and did nothing really other than work, watch TV, eat, sleep, and drink lots of beer. As indicated in November 2020 post (see New Peloton Bike+ Delivered...), we have been exercising and enjoying our Peloton experience.

When we received the bike back in November 2020, I was at my largest weight of my life of 259.2. Granted, I think a few times I have gone above 260 during 2020 year, but toward the end of the year and through the summer months, we started trying to focus more on eating better and not having a beer every evening, so by the time I started exercising it was a lower weight.

A lot of variation in my weight, as I would expect, but I did not expect to go three or four weeks at a time and not lose, or gain, a thing. The dates between February 13 and March 5, I remained a constant 256 with just an increase, or decrease, in a point. Suddenly, I went from 256.2 up to 258.2 and the following week I went down to 252.2. The most recent weigh-in being 251.2. 

It is sure interesting how the body works and decides it is time to let go of the weight. My weigh-in days are Sunday mornings. A few changes during the time I stayed at relatively the same weight included eating more vegetarian dinners during the week with a meat introduced on the weekend. For the past few months since prior to when we got the bike, I have been limiting myself to only beer on the weekends (with a few exceptions such as watching sporting events during the week), so that has helped with weight decrease. Amazing how much weight can be lost just by doing away with any type of alcohol!

I have increased my bike riding to four times a week with at least one of the days being at least an hour of riding. The other three days are typically 30 minute blocks but broken up into smaller chunks or even two twenty minute rides that are easier than my 60 minute block. I continue to have fun and enjoy the experience that is Pelton. I am also trying to stay motivated to work out everyday with the Peloton app by doing weights, mediation, or Yoga. 

My motivation for doing the other non-bike days has been tough the past week or two. I tend to skip weights, or cardio, for mediation which is not ideal. Carrie tells me at least I am focusing on myself, but it feels as though I am cheating on the process. I have debated to just doing the four days of bike riding and not worrying about the other, but I do enjoy the feeling after I finish cardio or weights.

As the weather gets warmer, I do intend to introduce running into my workout again which will likely be one of my four days of workout. As I get older, I notice my knees hurt even following bike riding, so I am not sure how long I will be able to continue my runs. I do enjoy running outside though as compared to a treadmill but Oliver gets a walk following my run and I love how excited he gets when I put on my running shoes.

What are your exercise routines? How do you keep yourself motivated? What is your favorite workout? Do you wake up and workout in the morning? Do you work out in the middle of the day? Or, wait until the last of the day to get your workout completed? 

I would love to hear from you and discuss through comments on this post, Twitter, or FaceBook.

Vaccine One is Done and Second Shot is Scheduled #MyTime #Vaccine

Carrie and I were able to take advantage of the early vaccinations for Shawnee County thanks in large part to various staff at Washburn University. We received notice from Washburn that we could sign up on Friday, March 12 and we had our appointment scheduled for our first shot on Tuesday, March 16. Grateful to have our first shot and be scheduled for our second shot on April 8.

The process was extremely easy. We did not have to wait at all to get into the Expo Center, to be seen, or get our shot. The process was very smooth.

Following our first shot, we both experienced minor discomfort in our arms and shoulder where we had the shot. A dull feeling was all we both encountered. Tenderness at the point of the shot, but nothing more. We have heard that the second shot might have more side effects, but looking forward to getting our second and final shot on April 8.

As more and more of our community, and country, get the vaccine, the hope is that before long we will be back to normal activity in terms of going out, seeing family, friends, and strangers. We will all be wearing masks for the foreseeable future even after the vaccine from what I can tell but really at this point wearing the mask is second nature. I hardly think about it when I grab it to put it on.

Following our second shot on April 8, I will post another update to share how that goes for us both. Everyone I have spoken to thus far as not had terrible reactions to the second shot although a few people have had some reactions. I am excited to get it completed and will continue to wear my mask when out in public.

Oscar Movie Nominations and Impressions of Those We Have Watched So Far

The nominations have been announced for the 2021 Oscar Awards. Carrie and I have already watched half of the movies and plan to finish up the four four before April 25.

Congratulations to the Best Picture nominees! #OscarNoms pic.twitter.com/UaSUkyrvha

— The Academy (@TheAcademy) March 15, 2021

Having watched half of the nominated movies, I will post a brief description of each and my reaction to each movie thus far.

Watched Movies

Judas and the Black Messiah is a story of Bill O’Neal infiltrating the Black Panthers. Based on true events the movie kept my attention throughout. Powerful story of true events that I had never heard before. At this point through four movies watched, this is in the top two of my favorite movies.

Nomadland is a story of a woman who lost everything and lives in her van traveling the country. Another movie based on true events with some of the actors in this movie being people living as nomads. While not in my top two movies, it is a very well done movie and compelling story that kept me watching to the end.

Sound of Metal is a top two of the movies I have watched so far. This movie is based on a true story as well about a man that loses his hearing and his struggle through the process. The acting is excellent from the entire cast. The directing was also very good with special effects where I had myself questioning if I had lost my hearing while watching the movie. It helped to make a connection with he main character. I highly recommend watching this movie.

The Trial of the Chicago 7 is about the trial of seven individuals that started at the 1968 Democratic Convention in Chicago. This is close to being in my top two movies watched thus far. Had some funny moments and also surprising as the story unfolds that this happened in our country.

Not Watched Yet

Mank sounds interesting about a 1930’s process of writing Citizen Kane. I do not believe I have ever watched Citizen Kane but might have to do so following watching of this movie.

Minari looks very interesting. A Korean family starts a farm in Arkansas in the 1980’s. I think this will be an interesting movie to watch and look forward to doing so before the Oscars.

The Father is a movie about a father who refuses assistance from his daughter as he ages. As he ages, he begins to question everything about him including those that love him.

Promising Young Woman is a story about a woman who has something bad happen in her past and then seeks out revenge against those that went against her. Again, sounds interesting and look forward to seeing how this plays out.

In Summary

There appear to be a number of nominated movies that are based on true events. Of the four we have watched so far, all four were based on true events. After we watch the other four, I will do another update on impressions of those movies and whether they too are based on true events.

If I had to pick my favorite movie today, I would say it would be Sound of Metal. Although after we watched Judas and the Black Messiah, I told Carrie it was my favorite movie. So, it might depend on the day which is my favorite. All four have been very good and highly recommend watching any or all of them.