Here are my MLB picks for Thursday, May 8, 2008 (Previous day’s record = 10-5, cumulative record = 20-10).
American League
New York Yankees over Cleveland
Chicago White Sox over Minnesota
Boston over Detroit
Toronto over Tampa Bay
Kansas City over Baltimore
Seattle over Texas
National League
Pittsburgh over San Francisco
Atlanta over San Diego
Colorado over St. Louis
Arizona over Philadelphia
Florida over Milwaukee
Houston over Washington
Steve's Blog
- By Steven Mardekian
- Published 05/8/2008
Steven Mardekian
I am 26 years old and reside in Hillsborough, New Jersey. I work for Kohl's as an overnight associate. I am the ad set supervisor and also assist with merchandising, freight processing, and truck unloading. I graduated from Rider University in 2003 with a bachelor's degree in business administration. In 2006, I received my MBA from the same school. I am hoping to use my education and retail experience to find a management training program. In my spare time, I enjoy sports and blogging.
Thursday, May 8, 2008
MLB game predictions for 5/8/08
Wednesday, May 7, 2008
I rediscovered how great Burger King is!
Like many Americans, I really enjoy fast food. Growing up, I used to eat several fast food meals at McDonalds and Burger King. When I went to college, I didn’t eat at a lot of fast food restaurants. In the past few years, however, I developed an affinity for Wendy’s. I like their chili, Frosty dairy desserts, and Super Value Menu.
Recently, though, I have been eating all of my fast food meals at Burger King. I tried their Steakhouse Burger about three weeks ago when I saw a television commercial for it. It was one of the best burgers I’ve had. When I was there, I also checked out the dollar menu and I was excited to see the Whopper Jr. on there. I’ve eaten a few Whopper Jr.’s recently, and I forgot how great a flame-broiled burger tastes. The main reason why I keep going back to Burger King is because of a promotion they have. If you call the number on the back of your receipt, take a survey, and write down the validation code that will be given to you, you can get a free Whopper or TenderCrisp Chicken Sandwich with the purchase of any size fries and drink. This is an amazing value for the money. Last night, for example, I got a medium fries, medium drink, Whopper Jr., and Whopper all for $4.52 with my receipt and survey code. What a deal! I hope this offer continues, and next time I will have to try the new BK Cookie Dough Pie that is available for a limited time. It sounds delicious!
MLB game predictions for 5/7/08
Here are my picks for Wednesday, May 7, 2008 (Previous day’s record = 10-5, cumulative record = 10-5).
American League
Oakland over Baltimore
Boston over Detroit
Cleveland over New York Yankees
Toronto over Tampa Bay
Kansas City over Los Angeles Angels
Minnesota over Chicago White Sox
Seattle over Texas
National League
Cincinnati over Chicago Cubs
Los Angeles Dodgers over New York Mets
Atlanta over San Diego
Pittsburgh over San Francisco
Florida over Milwaukee
Houston over Washington
St. Louis over Colorado
Arizona over Philadelphia
Tuesday, May 6, 2008
MLB game predictions for 5/6/08
I have always loved Major League Baseball. I wish I thought of this at the start of the season, but starting today I am going to make predictions on who will win each game. Hopefully, I’ll be able to continue this for the rest of the season and keep track of how I fare. Now, on to the picks!
Tuesday, May 6, 2008 (Previous day’s record = 0-0, cumulative record = 0-0)
American League
Boston over Detroit
New York over Cleveland
Toronto over Tampa Bay
Los Angeles Angels over Kansas City
Chicago White Sox over Minnesota
Oakland over Baltimore
Seattle over Texas
National League
Atlanta over San Diego
Pittsburgh over San Francisco
Florida over Milwaukee
Cincinnati over Chicago Cubs
Houston over Washington
St. Louis over Colorado
Arizona over Philadelphia
New York Mets over Los Angeles Dodgers
Monday, May 5, 2008
update on 2007-2008 NBA season predictions
Back in November, I had an entry where I predicted how the Boston Celtics would do this year. I said they would win 50+ games and advance to the NBA Finals against the Spurs, Suns, or Mavericks. Well, the Celtics, a 66-win team during the regular season, defeated the Hawks yesterday in Game 7 of their first-round series. They will now play LeBron James the Cleveland Cavaliers in the Eastern Conference semifinals.
So it looks like my guesses on the Western Conference were far off. The Spurs beat the Suns in five games, while the Mavericks lost to the Hornets in five. If the Spurs don’t advance to the NBA Finals, it would be neat if Boston and the Los Angeles Lakers got a chance to renew an old rivalry that really peaked in the 1980’s.
We’ll see what transpires over the next month-and-a-half or so.
2008 Stanley Cup Western Conference Semifinals Game 5, San Jose Sharks/Dallas Stars 40T thriller
Last night, the San Jose Sharks and the Dallas Stars played a quadruple-overtime game in their NHL Stanley Cup conference semifinals series. The game lasted five hours and fourteen minutes and was decided 9:03 into the fourth overtime. The Stars defeated the Sharks 2-1 to advance to the conference finals versus the Detroit Red Wings. It was the eighth-longest game in NHL history in terms of playing time. Dallas has actually been involved in three of the ten longest games in NHL playoff history, and they must be ecstatic about finally winning a lengthy game. In 2003, they lost to Anaheim in five overtimes after playing 80:48 of overtime. In 2007, they lost to Vancouver 18:06 into the fourth overtime, meaning that 78:06 worth of free hockey was played.
I just love NHL playoff hockey. It’s too bad the NHL has a television deal with Versus, a network that I don’t have. That makes it much harder to follow the league and its playoffs. What other sport has the capability of producing marathon games on a somewhat yearly basis? Double-overtime, triple-overtime, and longer games are almost unheard of in any other sport. The fact that the game can be decided in a few minutes of overtime as opposed to a few PERIODS of extra time makes it that much more entertaining to watch. Personally, I start hoping for a goal in the third overtime of any playoff game. That’s when the teams are playing their sixth full period of the match, and it slowly starts to get frustrating to watch a game where there is no scoring. I am offense-minded when it comes to any sport, and thus prefer pucks in the net.
San Jose and Dallas played a little more than two full games last night. However, the Stars should be able to recover for Game 1 versus Detroit on Thursday. They played hard against the Sharks. It was just a shame that I don’t have Versus, because I know I would have loved to see this game (Wait, I would have been at work anyway, so it wouldn’t have been any use). Oh well, maybe I’ll be lucky enough to have time to watch a game that goes two or three overtimes.
Monday, April 28, 2008
idea for new NHL playoff format
I just took a look at what the NBA playoff matchups would look like if the top 16 teams in the league qualified for the postseason, and it produced some interesting results. Now, I want to do the same for the NHL. If such a format were to be adopted, the NHL playoff bracket would look like an NCAA basketball tournament bracket. I wanted to take a look at what the playoff bracket would look like for this year if the 16 best teams qualified for the playoffs, using current tiebreaker procedures and ignoring conference affiliations. Here are the 16 best teams with their seed in parentheses:
(1) Detroit
(2) San Jose
(3) Montreal
(4) Pittsburgh
(5) Anaheim
(6) New Jersey
(7) Minnesota
(8) Dallas
(9) New York Rangers
(10) Colorado
(11) Philadelphia
(12) Washington
(13) Ottawa
(14) Calgary
(15) Boston
(16) Carolina
Again, travel becomes an issue. How about San Jose versus Boston, Montreal versus Calgary, Anaheim versus Washington, or Dallas versus the New York Rangers as first round matchups? The NHL also re-seeds after each round, which complicates matters. Clearly, a format such as this would be bad for the NHL. At least you would get a rematch of the 2002 Stanley Cup finals with Detroit versus Carolina in the first round.
Monday, April 28, 2008
idea for new NBA playoff format
I just read an article on espn.com that said NBA officials might consider changes to the current playoff format that could be implemented in time for next season. These possible changes are based on the fact that teams in the Western Conference were once again far superior to those in the Eastern Conference this year. One proposal calls for the 16 teams with the best records to qualify for the postseason. If this were to happen, it would look like an NCAA basketball tournament bracket. I wanted to take a look at what the playoff bracket would look like for this year if the 16 best teams qualified for the playoffs, using current tiebreaker procedures and ignoring conference affiliations. Here are the 16 best teams with their seed in parentheses:
(1) Boston
(2) Detroit
(3) Los Angeles Lakers
(4) New Orleans
(5) San Antonio
(6) Houston
(7) Phoenix
(8) Utah
(9) Orlando
(10) Dallas
(11) Denver
(12) Golden State
(13) Cleveland
(14) Washington
(15) Toronto
(16) Portland
Boston versus Portland in the first round? How about the Los Angeles Lakers versus Washington or Utah versus Orlando? It seems to me that such a format would give certain teams a huge advantage since they would have to travel less to play the opposition. While I think the best teams deserve a shot at an NBA championship, a proposal such as this should be scrapped. A better idea might be to keep the qualifying and seeding rules as is, but then re-seed the teams after each round (just like the NHL).
future NHL outdoor games
On January 1 of this year, the Pittsburgh Penguins and the Buffalo Sabres played an outdoor game at Buffalo’s Ralph Wilson stadium. Over 70,000 fans witnessed the “Winter Classic”. This was a fun game to watch on television, but it must have been 100 times better for the people who were actually there. The only bad part about this game was the fact that there were numerous stoppages to deal with the accumulating piles of snow on the ice. The 2 10-minute third periods were a little odd too.
I am a huge hockey fan. As the season winds down, I hope there is talk about staging another outdoor game in a cold-weather city. I recently heard that the New York Rangers were interested in having an outdoor game at Yankee Stadium, in what would be the final event in the legendary venue. This sounds neat, but I do not think the weather would cooperate, given how unseasonably mild winters have been in that area over the past few years. Realistically, an outdoor game in Chicago or Montreal would be a better possibility. Hopefully, an outdoor game becomes an annual ritual in the NHL.
retail is a struggling industry, so now I can focus on this again
It's been several months since I've posted. I used to be very busy with a "part-time" job. In the past, I always seemed to be working 32-40 hours per week. Lately, however, that has changed dramatically. You see, I work overnights in retail doing price management, freight processing, and merchandising for a Fortune 500 company. As everyone knows by now, the economy is hurting. The housing market is poor, gasoline and food prices are constantly rising, stocks are struggling, and consumer spending is down. This has had a negativc impact on retail.
I don't like the fact that I am working fewer hours. However, being that I have business degrees, I can certainly understand the economic factors and other reasons why retail is struggling. A few months ago, I think I heard that retailers had their worst holiday season in 5 years. You wouldn't know it if I said I was working 40+ hours per week from October through December. Oh well, I guess I'd better find something to occupy my time, such as posting in my blog.
Tuesday, November 6, 2007
New Jersey Devils at the Prudential Center
Clearly, the New Jersey Devils aren't off to such a great start, but then again they are only four points away from the first-place Flyers. This last-place team got a tough break early on in their schedule when they were forced to play their first nine games on the road so their new arena could be completed. Now that they have played four home games at the new Prudential Center, I must say I am shocked by their home attendance figures through four games. The team drew 17,625 versus Ottawa, 13,218 against Tampa Bay, 14,523 versus Toronto, and 14,032 against Pittsburgh. This averages to 14,850 per game in the 17,625 seat building. meaning the arena is an average of 84.3% full on game nights. With any new venue, one would expect a team's attendance to be close to the maximum capacity, but this clearly is not the case for the Devils. Maybe the numbers are low because 2 of the games were on weeknights, or maybe they were low due to the fact that fans care more about other sports such as football and basketball. Hopefully, the numbers will improve toward the end of the season.
exercise your brain - 11/6/07
Multiply the number of teams for the Arena Football League’s 2008 season by the number of vowels in the word “mountain”. Now, divide this number by the number of syllables in the word “nation”. Add to your result the number of roommates on the fourth season of the MTV show “The Real World”. Multiply your result by the highest prime number greater than 10. Finally, subtract the number of laps around the Indianapolis 500 track that total 500 miles. What is your answer?
Friday, November 2, 2007
exercise your brain - 11/2/07
Multiply the number of teams in the NHL's Atlantic Division by the number of teams in the NBA's Central Division. Take your result and add to it the number of feet in a mile. Now, take your result and subtract the value of 5^5 (5 raised to the fifth power). Lastly, divide your result by the number of nickels in a dollar. What is your answer?
Jeno's Pizza recall
I absolutely love Jeno's individual frozen pizzas. I bring one to work with me to eat each night. I just found out about the recall of the frozen pizzas and I am really disappointed to hear the news. Jeno's is by far my favorite brand of individual frozen pizzas. It's a shame that I won't be eating any more for a long time. I really don't care much for any other brand.
I guess it's back to eating fast food for lunch at work, an option that truly becomes expensive over time.
Thursday, November 1, 2007
exercise your brain - 11/1/07
Add the number of nickels in $4.35 to the number of years in a decade. Multiply your result by the number of Stanley Cups won by the New Jersey Devils. Subtract from this number the highest prime number less than 100. Now, subtract from this the number of letters in Canada’s capital city. Divide your result by 4. What is your answer?
Wednesday, October 31, 2007
exercise your brain - 10/31/07
Yesterday I posted a math problem where you had to figure out what the numbers were and then do the computation. I will try to post one every day. Here is one for today:
Multiply the number of runs scored when a player hits a grand slam in baseball by the number of letters in the English alphabet. Next, subtract the number of states that begin with the letter “V”. Then multiply your result by the number of home runs hit by Alex Rodriguez in the 2007 regular season. Now, divide your answer by the only even prime number. Finally, subtract the number of dimes equivalent to $175.00. What is your answer?
Tuesday, October 30, 2007
2007-2008 Celtics prediction
Another NBA season is upon us. I am looking forward to seeing how much the Boston Celtics have improved now that they have Kevin Garnett. They had the worst record in the Eastern Conference last year and the second-worst record in the league at 24-58. I wouldn't be surprised if they won 50+ games this year. In fact, they'll probably advance to the NBA finals. In the end, they'll lose in the last round because I think the Western Conference has three dominant teams - the Spurs, the Suns, and the Mavericks.
Boston-area sports teams
It must be awesome to be a fan of any Boston-area sports team right now. The Red Sox just won the World Series by defeating Colorado 4 games to 0. The Patriots are undefeated at 8-0. The Celtics have a very promising season coming up, with the acquisition of Kevin Garnett. The Bruins, despite being in fourth place in their division, are 6-4-0. While I am not a fan of Boston teams, I think it would be remarkable if the Patriots win the Super Bowl and the Celtics win the NBA title. Any fan, regardless of which teams they like, would be amazed if this scenario were to happen.
exercise your brain - try this math problem
Multiply the current number of National Basketball Association teams by the number of states that begin with the letter “A”. Then subtract from this number the number of living United States presidents. Then divide your result by the number of letters in Google’s ticker symbol. Next, subtract the number of vowels in the word “football”. Now, subtract the number of Canadian provinces. Multiply this number by John Elway’s uniform number when he played for the Denver Broncos.
What is your answer?
interesting bagel combinations to try
I often eat onion, plain, or egg bagels for breakfast. While most people put butter or cream cheese on theirs, I like to be creative and combine interesting ingredients. Here are two bagels I make often that are delicious, using these varieties of bagels...
1. “Steve’s Five Cheese Bagel” – Place cream, sliced American, shredded mozzarella, shredded cheddar, and grated Parmesan on top of your bagel. To add spice, use hot sauce, cayenne pepper, or black pepper. Top it off with some creamy salad dressing. I like Italian or Parmesan.
2. “Steve’s Pizza Bagel” – Start by placing a layer of tomato sauce on each half of the bagel. Then add slices of American, cheddar, and/or mozzarella cheese. For spice, use hot sauce, cayenne pepper, or back pepper. To top it off, use your favorite creamy salad dressing. Again, I like Italian or Parmesan.
I’ll post more great-tasting bagel ideas another time.
Sunday, October 28, 2007
2007 World Series
Well, it looks like the 2007 World Series will end tonight. Boston is just too good for Colorado. I finally was able to see a game in the series, and it lasted 4:19, making it the longest 9-inning game in World Series history. I am a Yankee fan, so I was sort of hoping that Colorado would stick it to Boston and win the championship. However, I knew the Rockies' World Series inexperience would be a factor, despite coming in with 21 wins in their prior 22 games. They were on quite a streak, but all good things come to an end, and the Rockies' season will be over in about ten hours.