Sports – Page 2 – Sheila365

Fantasy Footballin’.

I have followed football all my life. And with the Seahawks’ great performance for the last several years, it’s all the more enjoyable for me. The 2014-2015 NFL season was my first foray into fantasy football. My sister invited me join to her all-ladies league. I also joined a random league on-line with a bunch of guys. My goal was to learn more about the current players across many teams. Over the last few years I have had blinders on, only watching my team.

And I think it worked! I also had alot of fun. It sure makes for a different fan experience when you find yourself rooting for someone on a team that is one of your favorite team’s rivals.

Last year I didn’t fare too poorly. In the all-ladies league, I just missed the championship game by 1 point (thanks SO much, Andrew Luck, for taking a knee 3 times in a row on tht last drive, losing just enough yardage to drop a point or two), so I finished with an 11-3 record, coming in 3rd in a 16-team league. In my other league, i finished 7-6, finishing 5th out of 10 teams.

We use ESPN’s fantasy football platform. They also have a great iPhone app, which makes it very easy to track and manage your team. Learning the ropes on how to draft and what the league rules is pretty easy, and you can find most of what you need explained here in their FAQ.

This year, in week one, I had a lopsided win in one of my leagues and lost (by 1 point again!) in the other. I mis-managed my bench in the game that I lost. And in the other, one of my wide receivers was injured and will be out for about 6 weeks. I’m going to have to make some changes between tonight and Thursday night.

Back in the real world, sadly, my beloved Seahawks played an ugly game and lost. My heart is still with the boys in blue and green.

Seventh inning stretch.

We hopped on the ferry tonight to watch the Mariners play the Angels. A group of ten of us sat together in King Felix’s court, rooting for the Ms. As the sun was setting I popped up to the 300 level to get a peek over the Port of Seattle towards Elliot Bay. The haze is still thick. The sun was like a pink ball glowing in the sky.

And we won!

Girl power!

I’ve been closely following the around-the-world sailing race, the Volvo Ocean Race, since it started back in October of last year. Seven boats/teams started in Alicante, Spain, and have been sailing individual legs from one port to the next over the course of these last 8 months. They have circumnavigated the globe and are driving to the end, later this month. Tonight they will finish leg 8 – which started in Lisbon, Portugal, ending in Lorient, France. One of the teams is an all-female crew, on-board the magenta Team SCA boat. They have competed well, but have not yet won a leg. Tonight they are in the brink of winning leg 8, and I am so rooting for them. Just a little over 40 nm to go, and they are still leading the pack by 10nm and holding steady on speed. Go Team SCA!!!

What an amazing adventure. Check it out!

Simply. Amazing. (you’re welcome)

Football fans are superstitious. Especially this Seahawks fan, who has experienced heartwrenching, emotional ups and downs over a lifetime of football seasons: the emptiness of too many vacuous losing seasons, then the joy of making and winning playoff games, then the devastation of playoff games lost in the final seconds, then a Superbowl disappointment that strikes at the very heart, then FINALLY an intoxicating Superbowl victory.

So it is that over all these years, I have come to believe that something as simple as my decision to either watch or not watch a game can, and has, affected the outcome. It’s just a superstition that I must live with. It’s a burden.

I have a friend who sits in the same blue recliner to watch every game, and if he’s not able to do that, he carries a picture of the blue recliner with him… all because once when he didn’t the Seahawks lost.

So, this morning when I found that my mylar Seahawks balloon, which I bought for Superbowl XL and have reinflated since then, had lost its helium and was dragging on the ground, I felt the first twinge of superstition: if i don’t refill it and we lose, it could be my fault. Sooo, we refilled it before the game.

Then, after experiencing those 55 tortuous minutes of highs and lows during the NFC championship game and the Hawks down 19-7, my emotions took me back to that helpless, superstitious place…. I couldn’t take it anymore. They could lose, and it would be my fault!

So with a little over 3 minutes left in the game, I left. I went for a walk. I took my iphone/earbuds and listened to the NFL.com audiocast of the game instead. And then magic happened. I was less than a football field’s length away from the house when we scored. And i kept walking. Then the beautiful onside kick happened. And i kept walking. Then we scored again to take the lead! ohmigod. I started running. Then we made the 2 point conversion to force a tie if we could hold Greenbay to only a fieldgoal – and we did. I kept running. Then we won the coin toss in overtime. Then the TOUCHDOWN for the win! OHMIGOD! I ran all the way back to the house and celebrated with Monte.

I’m so happy for my team. And I can’t help thinking, just a little, that this 12th man in Austin made it all happen 🙂

GO HAWKS!

Consolation prize.

The Seahawks game wasn’t carried on our cable in Austin, so we headed to a nearby bar that hosts the local Seahawks booster club. Sadly, our brilliant team lost today. 😦

But we won a set of these cups in a raffle drawing during the game. 🙂

Sweet Lou.

I went to the Mariners game tonight with Fran and Art. They were inducting their former manager, Lou Pinella, into the Mariners hall of fame – a big deal for the team and fans.
I collected my Lou bobble head.

And got some awesome shots at sunset from the waterfront.

Is it August yet?

Seen in the North satellite terminal at SeaTac airport. Go Hawks!

Oh YEAH!

So sweet. I’ve been rooting for this team for 37 years. This season made it all worth it. Congratulations Seattle!!!!!

Getting ready for Mercury.

According to Sky and Telescope, Mercury is at its highest tonight, and reportedly the best view of it, all year. So, after sunset, I toodled over to my favorite nearby west-facing vantage point and caught this shot of it to the top left of the crescent moon.

140131

For those of you that are inclined to look towards the stars for influence on our day-to-day lives, be warned that Mercury will enter retrograde from Feb 6 to Feb 28. Get ready for some weird happenings and funky vibes. More background here. And you may want to bookmark this link for future reference.

And, let me wish everyone a happy Chinese new year. 2014 is supposed to be the year of the horse. But let me just add….. GO HAWKS!!!!!

Laps lapse.

Last year I started swimming laps at my gym. I’d never been a swimmer-for-exercise before that. But I really enjoyed it. Several months ago, because of the drastic change in my fingernails, I stopped. The chemicals in the pool had turned my otherwise strong, long healthy nails into splitting, cracking stubby messes. I’ve tried OPI nail strengtheners of all kinds. I started taking biotin. I’ve increased calcium. I put oil on them before and after. Nothing helps. I finally gave in and decided I would rather get the exercise than have my nice nails back. Oh well. If anyone has other suggestions on how to protect my nails, I’d love to hear them.
So… I’m back to swimming again for about a month now. Lets see how long I can keep it up.

Here we go again!

I wish you a most happy, loving, and exciting 2014! I’m counting my blessings while reeling through memories from the year we just wrapped up. Here’s to the next lap ’round the sun. Cheers!

Sunday ups & downs.

The ups:
A trip to the Armadillo Christmas Bazaar.

The music was really nice, as usual – the band Sons of Fathers was playing while I was there.

This afternoon we found a nearby bar that the local Seahawks club meets up to watch games, which was a fun experience.

The downs:
The Seahawks lost 😦

Next week I guess…

Seeing Stars.

We went to a Texas Stars hockey game tonight with John. The Cedar Park Center is a nice facility; this is my first time seeing it. The Stars won tonight 2 – 1. Happy Thanksgiving Eve !

Determined 12th (wo)man.

I ended up traveling to New York today. Unfortunately, the only flight I could make work had me in the air during Monday night football – Seahawks vs Rams.

I worked the technology angle to listen to the game while I was eroute: iPhone + NFL App + NFL Audiopass + airplane mode + inflight wifi + earphones = 🙂

The streaming would drop from time to time, but I followed most of the game.

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