Corner Store

Macklemore is back! I am seriously digging this new Macklemore album, "Gemini." Macklemore rolls out an impressive number of guests, yet never loses himself or outshines his talent. A lot of his guests are up and coming, and from his home in the Seattle area, which is cool. I enjoyed a number of tracks, but one that immediately stuck out was the beat and great verses on Corner Store.

Fantasy football is still a struggle in two leagues, where I'm 0-3, despite what I think is a couple of decent teams.

However, my dynasty league, where I inherited a terrible team in January is absolutely dominating. I scored 174 points this week and am currently 3-0 with by far the most points scored. A lot of that has to do with Rookie draft first round pick Kareem Hunt. I also happened to trade for the No. 10 RB so far (Tarik "Chicken Salad" Cohen) and the No. 1 receiver so far (Stefon Diggs). Shout out to my Vikings. I did inherit Tom Brady (No. 1 QB) and Zach Ertz (No. 2 TE), so I can't take all the credit, but I did most of the work. Oh, and the whole league is super salty toward me, changing their names to some form of "Tyler Sucks" and such. That's the biggest compliment I could receive, honestly. Makes me feel better from the crap I'm doing in my other two leagues.

I've already talked a lot about myself, but one more thing is that I'm back to bowling again. The good ole Over the Hill League in Albany on Monday nights. I've been steadily getting better. Week three was last night and I finally broke a 500 thanks to a clean 214 last game. I missed four 10 pins in the second game (a 148) or I could have rolled a much higher series.

Anyhow, check out the link below for photos from the Lucky Lindy cross country meet, a swim/dive meet, Little Falls football in Albany and girls soccer. It was a Flyer-dominated week, but I'll have some other schools next week.

****Sept. 14-19 photos****

Subterranean Homesick Blues

Nah, not another Bob Dylan opus today. Just heard a cover of this by The Lumineers feat. Andrew Bird (violinist). I'm glad the version is really different, and I really enjoyed the violin, but the words were so rushed and fast, that the meaning of the song, which is what Dylan really did well (lyrics and stories) were lost. No need to rush boys, just chill.

Anyways, I'm doing really well (2-0, 1st place) in dynasty. However, I'm in dead last in my two redraft leagues. Things haven't been panning out for some of my thoughts thus far. However, it's not time to panic yet, I can still scrape together some wins yet. If I'm winless in two weeks though, then I'll start to panic.

Enjoy these photos from Sept. 7-12: Gallery

Ride My Llama

Considering that there are a few artists (cough) Bruce Springsteen (cough) that I hate almost exclusively because of their voice, it may come as a surprise that I LOVE Neil Young. His creativeness and uniqueness is transformative. Honestly, his voice doesn't bother me that much either. I really enjoy that the majority of his songs compellingly tell a story. Recently, Young released his 38th (Wow!) studio album, "Hitchhiker." The album is a number of re-releases of songs, mostly from the late 1970s, and a few previously unreleased tracks. It is a well-selected collection that shows off Young's story telling abilities. Personally, I enjoyed "Ride My Llama," which was a song off of 1979's "Rust Never Sleeps."

Fantasy football began with the start of the NFL season. I went 1-2 as I'm only in three leagues this season. The winner was a dynasty team that I inherited and instantly made into a contender. One loss was a brutal loss to the highest scorer in the league. It was brutal because my team scored the third-highest score of the week. I would have beaten seven teams in my league. Ughhh.

I have quite a number of photo albums to share, since I didn't last week. Here are the photos, which can also be purchased. It is really convenient. Pick out some photos, edit how you want them, and they are printed and mailed to you:

Aug. 25-29
Aug. 31-Sept. 5

Annual cruddy NFL predictions

This is the year. Of course I borrowed that slogan from the Madden '18 campaign, but I truly mean it, 2017 is the year that I finally have a great year that is far from cruddy, and maybe even could be construed as genius. This is THAT year. I may have thought that last year. Lets see how 2016 went, it couldn't have been that bad right?

NFC
Redskins v. Giants (WC)
Cardinals v. Packers (WC)

AFC
Bills v. Browns (WC)
Texans v. Jets (WC)

Divisional:
NFC
Panthers v. Packers
Vikings v. Giants

AFC
Bengals v. Jets
Chargers v. Bills

Conference Championships:
NFC
Panthers v. Giants
AFC
Bengals v. Chargers

Super Bowl:
Panthers over Bengals

So, a year ago I picked the Panther over the Bengals!? That can't be. Two teams that didn't even make the playoffs. Two teams that were a combined 11-19-1. Wow. That was off.

To breakdown the nastiness that was 2016, I had 2-of-6 NFC playoff teams right, and only one (the Texans) in the AFC. The AFC was particularly bad as I had 1-15 Cleveland (Cleveland!?) and the 5-11 Jets as playoff teams.

This year, you'd think I'd probably change up my formula. Do something different. Pick the exact opposite. Nah, I'm going to do it the same way I've always done it. Game by game, gut picks. Remember, this is the year.

So, without further ado, here are my picks for 2017 (Winners in Italics):
Round 1: 
NFC
Arizona (WC) at Green Bay 
Carolina (WC) at Seattle
AFC
Cincinnati (WC) at Pittsburgh 
Kansas City (WC) at Tennessee
Divisional Round: 
AFC
KC at New England 
Pittsburgh at Oakland 
NFC
Carolina at Atlanta
Green Bay at Dallas
Conference Championships: 
NFC
Green Bay at Atlanta
AFC 
Oakland at New England 
Super Bowl: 
New England vs. Green Bay

Champ: New England

Yep. The Patriots do it again. A healthy Gronk wins the MVP, as the Pats top the Packers in a rematch of Super Bowl XXXI in front of a horde of Cheeseheads who made the short trip to Minneapolis from their farms in Dairyland. Uh huh, Tom Brady has to start using his right hand to wear his rings. Remember now, this is the year, and that means you can take these picks straight to the bank. That might not get you too much, because New England is the prohibitive favorite to win the Super Bowl, as previous winners often are, but it is what it is.