- Teachers and tech support have two very different perspectives on questions. Teachers say, “there is no stupid question.” Tech support asks, “why does everyone ask stupid questions?”
- The only things to fear are fear itself and bad code.
- Java was designed by software engineers who think programmers are better when their jobs are so structured there is no room for error. Unfortunately, the lack of room for success forces errors.
- Programming in Java is like trying to draw a picture using only straight lines.
- Agile development is the hippy approach to programming
- Upon experiencing deja vu while looking at code, it is time to refactor.
- Do not sit at the head of your bed late at night when you have gas if you intend to sleep on said bed.
- Some people just don’t get “while [1]; wget –delete-file $file; done”
- “Hierarchy is natural.” -Dr. James Robinson
- TVGuide.com does not consider the World Series of Poker to be a sport despite it being broadcast on ESPN.
UNI beat St. Francis 30-0 in a game that was rather mediocre given the circumstances. St. Francis was expected to be even worse than South Dakota. The good news was I got to stay in Cedar Falls for the game. Being back at the dome was probably the highlight of the game for me. I showed up at the dome with a friend at around 1:45 PM when the game started at 4:05 PM. We also got to pick up a one square foot piece of the old turf from the previous years. UNI bought new turf in the off-season and gave out pieces of the old stuff. Anyways, we got to be the front of one of the admission lines. When they let students in at 2:30 PM, we charged down and got our traditional seats in the front row on roughly the northern forty yard line. We managed to hang on enough seats for a couple friends that could not make it until closer to the start of the game.
Yet, the best moment did not happen until the second half of the game. I had run up the stairs during a timeout to try to fill up a couple water bottles at a water fountain. Stepping back out of the halls to the field was the reason I live for college football. I came walking down the stairs with fans packing the seats on either side of me and across the field. The teams were walking back out onto the field to resume play. Everyone who enjoys college football and has been to a game knows what I am talking about. There is just something about walking down the stairs in a full stadium, or dome, and looking down at the field where the teams are standing.
As for the play itself, UNI looked off, but they still won 30-0. The offense appeared as if it got a little full of itself from the previous week. Any of the passing plays were called to go down the field as if the Panthers thought they could put up a touchdown anytime they wanted. Grace also had his typical inaccuracy when he did throw under fifteen yards by throwing high. It seems to me that his high throws come from a combination of a strong arm and not keeping his front shoulder down. The shoulder is a problem that comes from constantly throwing the ball fifty yards down field. St. Francis’ defense did a good job with blitzes and stunts to confuse our offensive line. This only made matters worse for the long passing plays. Rather than helping out our offensive line, by throwing underneath and letting Grace get some confidence, the Panthers spent the game continuing to try to throw down the field. The result was a halftime score for 14-0 which included a touchdown on the opening kickoff. The defense ran its “bend, but don’t break” scheme with cover 3 as its foundation. While not exactly my favorite scheme, UNI runs it well, and it works against weaker opponents. All said, UNI did not play its best, but still won 30-0. It is a win, and I will take it.
UNI beat South Dakota by a score of 66-7 in this game. The crowd held UNI’s first blackout, and the team even bought special black uniforms to join in the fun. I was sadly away to my niece’s birthday party and unable to watch the game. However, my experience with the game was receiving text updates from a friend every time points were put on the board. It got pretty entertaining as the entire party was intrigued by how frequently my phone was alerting me with the next score update. I remember realizing it was halftime when I had not received any updates for five to ten minutes. This blog post really sucks, but the Panthers rock!
On Saturday, September 5th, 2009, the University of Northern Iowa lost to University of Iowa by a score of 16-17. It took the FBS team two blocked field goals in the final seven seconds to beat the FCS team. I was in the crowd that day. I must say that was one of the most enjoyable football games I have been to in my life, and I have been to a lot. Going into the game, my only concerns were that UNI did not have any major injuries. Being an Iowa and UNI fan, I was not too concerned with who won. Iowa winning might have been the best since it hardly effects UNI to lose to an FBS team.
Iowa was ranked #22 in the nation in the preseason. However, that was before a few season ending injuries to HB Jewell Hampton and CB Jordan Bernstine. Both of whom were to be key figures in the success of the Hawkeyes on the season. I felt like Iowa came out a little flat and might have slightly underestimated UNI. That being said, it is hard to say how much was bad play versus struggling against a quality team. Not to mention, there will always be the cobwebs and shaky play that come with the first game of the season.
I believe UNI was ranked #4 in the nation preseason in the FCS. While there were brief moments of questionable play, overall, the Panthers looked pretty sharp. They attacked Iowa on both sides of the ball. There was some luck in that Iowa was still trying to sort out who the primary ball carriers would be to setup the play-action for Stanzi “the Manzi.” One of the things I noticed early on was Billy Hallgren was kicking some line drive kickoffs. His extra points were not too high either. This did not surprise me as he always struggled during warm-ups last year, and I knew the kicking game would be a weakness for UNI this year after losing our starter from the 2008-2009 season. Perhaps the thing that surprised me the most was the ability of UNI’s linemen to compete in the trenches against Iowa. I thought this would be where the game was decided, and that UNI would simply be overmatched. I was wrong. Overall, I would call it a draw as was the game in most areas.
Ultimately, the game came down to a field goal with seven seconds left. I told Jessa to not be surprised to see a blocked kick. I knew Hallgren had been kicking low all game, and Iowa is one of the best teams in the nation at blocking critical field goals at the end of games. Everything screamed for an adrenaline surge up the middle of the formation with outstretched arms to deflect the ball. Amazingly, I was dead on. I was a little surprised to see one of the Iowa players telling everyone to get back from the ball, but did not have time enough to process the reasoning it was a bad move. UNI recovered the ball.
The referees gave UNI the ball on the right hash at the spot where the ball was located and with a stopped clock. My problem with the ruling of the referees is the stopped clock. When the ball does not cross the line of scrimmage on a field goal attempt, the ball is considered live. This means when a UNI player fell on the ball, it was as if they were attempting a running play or something similar. Since this player did not go out of bounds, the clock should have been started as soon as ruling was decided and the ball ready for play. There was only one second on the clock. This means the ball would have had to been snapped immediately upon the whistle signaling ready for play. This makes it more difficult for the kicker because he does not have the opportunity to wait until he is ready to have the ball snapped. On the other hand, the defense would have a little less time to get ready and organize their attempts to time the block. Normally, the upright defenders can get a jump on the snap by watching the backfield for the kicker and holder to signal their readiness for the snap. Considering the kick was blocked by Jeremiah Hunter, an upright defender, maybe the second kick would not have been blocked. It is hard to say either way. I just wish the referees would know the rules of college football better than a guy out in the stands. Maybe we should give them a phone call or a poll the audience lifeline…
The 4-3 defense in football is the premiere formation. It is by far the most common seen throughout all levels of play. The four implies there are four down defensive linemen (DL). The three designates the number of linebackers (LB). This leaves four defensive backs (DB). It is a common formation due to its great balance. There are enough people on the line to hold a run and also attack on pass plays. The linebackers are able to step up on the run and back off on passes. Meanwhile, there are enough defensive backs to prevent getting burned deep by fast receivers, but not too many that an offense can manhandle the defense by running the ball. It is a good base from which to adapt to alternative formations depending on the situation. Because of this, it is probably the best defense to teach younger kids who are just learning the game. It focuses on the fundamentals on which everything else builds. Read the rest of this entry »
So as I am watching the Green Bay Packers play against the Chicago Bears, a play got me thinking. Let me layout a hypothetical situation for you. Let us say the Packers have the ball on 3rd & 10. They hike the ball and throw to the sideline. The receiver makes a tip-toe catch for the first down. There is also an offsides penalty on the Bears. The Packers decline the penalty because they want the first down. Then the Bears challenge the catch in hopes the receiver was out of bounds. The referee reverses the call upon further review. Thus the pass is incomplete, and it becomes 4th & 10 for the Packers. Does this mean the Packers can now choose to accept the offsides penalty they had previously declined considering the supposed outcomes of their options have changed? Anyone know the exact rules on this? I am too lazy at the moment to go find the official rulebook and dig through it to find out.
For those that do not know, Michael Jordan is being inducted into the NBA Hall of Fame as I type this. He is being inducted along with John Stockton, David Robinson, Jerry Sloan, and Vivian Stringer. Beyond any doubt, this is the greatest Hall of Fame class as far as I am concerned. The reason no past class rivals it and I doubt any other will touch it is because these figures represent my childhood. I grew up to the greatness that is Michael Jordan. I recall watching the 1993 NBA Finals when I was only six years old.
Jordan retired to play baseball shortly thereafter when his father passed away. I followed him as best as I could with his limited career. He was on a Chicago White Sox farm team, Birmingham Barons. Perhaps the most resounding image of this time comes from the movie Space Jam along with a news clip on the television.
Then one day the world stopped to watch as Michael Jordan returned to the game of basketball. I had a cheap knockoff of his jersey. I wore it as much as I could as long as it would fit. I somehow convinced my parents to let me stay up way past my bedtime to watch the end of some of the epic games against John Stockton’s Utah Jazz in the 1997 and 1998 NBA Finals. The sixth championship ended with Jordan’s final shot as a Chicago Bull.
Jordan retired for the second time after the 1998 season. I lost interest in basketball as no one could rival the greatness of the Chicago Bulls in the 1990′s. There was a brief stint when he came out of retirement with the Washington Wizards. He was older than everybody else around him on the court, and yet, he still challenged his opposition night in and night out. After retiring for the final time as a player, Jordan was involved in the Charlotte Bobcats organization as a partial owner.
In looking back now that Jordan is being inducted into the Hall of Fame, I realize he is one of a few individuals who inspired me to give everything in an effort to be great. While I may not think about it consciously, I get up in the morning because of Michael Jordan. I have poured sweat playing sports because of him. I have passed out face first into textbooks late at night because of him. I sit here writing this blog post now because of him. We all have our role models growing up. Jordan stood on a pedestal with a select few others in my childhood.
This NBA Hall of Fame class is the greatest because it symbolizes Michael Jordan’s career. John Stockton and Jerry Sloan were the arch-nemeses as the Utah Jazz after Jordan’s return to the game of basketball. David Robinson was one of the greats in the league, but never met with the success he was capable of until Jordan retired. When I was watching perhaps my greatest role model growing up, these were the guys I saw facing him on the court. They were the sort of opponents one had to respect. This is the greatest NBA Hall of Fame class of all-time.
In the past few months, three broad classes of people have been made really obvious to me. I have seen it online playing videogames, at work, and in my classes. I have decided to throw them out here and see what sort of a reaction I get. The three classes are the leaders, advisors, and sheeple. Because I find they have very interesting parallels to common class distinctions in ancient cultures, I have listed their historical parallels in parentheses after the class name.
Sheeple (Commoners)
The sheeple class is by far the largest of the three. The people in this group do the grunt work. They show up at their eight-to-five jobs day in and day out. They will gain a few raises and promotions as their experience grows, but their destiny is limited. They exist because work needs to be done. Most of their purpose will be replaced by mindless drones in the coming decades, maybe centuries, but I doubt it. In all honesty, if one dies tomorrow, the world will never know. Those in direct contact will be upset momentarily before work resumes once again. Their lives are grinding. Fortitude and endurance for monotony are perhaps their most redeeming qualities. They have either come to accept their place in life or live on with misguided delusions of grandeur. It is a sad, cold, hard life they live.
Advisors (Priests)
Advisors are the experts in their respective fields. This includes not only professors, but also those out actively working. While they may very well be doing some of the same work as sheeple, they are working constantly to push the limits. They are inventing new techniques and technologies. They have come up through the status quo, and now challenge it. They have seen how things are, but yet understand how they could be. Their passion is for their work. This most often prevents them from organizing large change. They do not have time to bother with engaging others and convincing them of the greatness of their ideas. More often than not, they publish their ideas in some way that a leader can get a hold of them. They are rewarded for their insight and talents. They will not be glorious figures, but footnotes in history books. History remembers them not as changing the direction of civilization, but as the creators of new things. Those things are then responsible for impacting society. More often than not, there are several advisors behind every great leader.
Leaders (Warriors)
Leaders have a natural skill for knowing when and how to connect the new creations of advisors with the common sheeple. They craft mass opinion in a way to drive their respective communities forward. Their talent is not in new creations, but in rallying the masses around the developments of others. Leaders have best-seller autobiographies. The greatest of them are remembered forever in history books. They are self-starters. They seize upon an idea, and strive to make it reach its full potential. It is not about developing further upon the idea, but rather, embracing the idea into current practice. Their knowledge is more diverse than an advisor, but not as deep. They are dependent on advisors for guiding them in the right direction as well as providing a new direction to guide the sheeple. They also require the sheeple to affect the mass change which makes their efforts meaningful. While perhaps the most prestigious of the classes, it is a symbiotic relationship.
- Successful people are busy. I am busy. Does that mean I am successful??
- Bad things happen to good people because God is kept up all night answering prayers. Then he gets tired and cranky. That’s why I am known for taking days to sleep 12+ hours.
- Man created fire, and then he became a social creature.
- Then man created dukies, also known as cops, and fires became less fun.
- “In theory, there is no difference between theory and practice. But, in practice, there is.” -Courtesy of Jeremiah Grossman
- No football defense should use the Cover 3 as its base coverage scheme.
- Andy Roddick lost in the 2009 US Open because CBS chose not to show his match on national television.
- The “your computer might be at risk” warning provided by the Windows operating systems may be one of the dumbest warnings known to mankind.
- The word short is longer than the word long. The word skinny is fatter than the word fat.
- When asked in a job interview, “Are you a self starter??” Do not respond, “I set myself on fire once. Does that count??”
How we define things is critical to communication. My friends have gotten used to me responding to their questions with “define ‘x’” where x is some key phrase in the question they asked me. This is usually either because my friends were ambiguous themselves or the phrased they used has become ambiguous thanks to society. Last night I got a slap in the face thanks to definitions. I was driving out to my meeting in New Hartford to discuss their website when I saw a toad on the side of the road. After arriving at my destination, I sent a text message to my girlfriend regarding it because I knew how much she loves toads. Her response was, “Cute! you[sic] should have caught it.” It was at this point that I put two and two together. My girlfriend thinks toads are cute. What does that say about me? Ouch… Fortunately, the heartache was short-lived due to a good meeting, US Open tennis, and my girlfriend coming to visit me after classes and homework.