The NBA Draft Lottery

In professional sports there is a seemingly constant pursuit of the number one picks for teams that did not make the post season. The most common way to "achieve" this is by tanking.  Tanking is intentionally losing games to achieve a better pick and is typically frowned upon in the sporting world.  Some sporting leagues have taken measures against taking, but others such as the NFL still let teams get away with it.  The main league that has done this is the NBA.  They use a draft lottery and it does not guarantee the team with the worst record the number one pick.  In recent years, the NHL has adopted a lottery system and it seems to be working.  Overall, I think the draft lottery has been a positive for the NBA.  It doesn't befriend teams that tank, but also brings excitement to the draft order.  I don't think the NFL will ever adopt a lottery system, but if they did it could prove to be beneficial.

The Effects of Drinking Five Water Bottles During First Period

On Monday last week, I drank five bottles of water during first period.  My goal was to break my record, which I did.  There was no greater feeling of accomplishment and joy, until I relieved myself during second period.  I typically get headaches throughout the day, but coincidentally I did not get one on Monday.  I think the water bottles played a big part in that.  I did however also break my three year old record of most times using the bathroom during the school day with five.  That makes since, because your bladder, as CJ and I found out, is the same size as a water bottle.  Overall, it was definitely a positive and a good experience to look back on it.

Steelers Draft Review

As a Steelers fan, I was very happy with the results.  I stayed up the night of the first round to watch the Steelers make their selection.  My friends came over, but they had left by the time of the pick.  I was actually studying for an AP Stat exam.  Before the draft I was hoping that they would pick TJ Watt, but I didn't think he would fall to the Steelers.  Watt did fall and I was awaiting their pick.  When they announced the pick and TJ Watt became a Steeler I jumped with jubilation.  The other player I wanted the Steelers to get was Josh Dobbs, a quarterback from Tennessee.  The only recent back up quarterback for the Steelers, who I actually liked was Mike Vick, but I like Dobbs.  I watched Dobbs, Gruden's QB Camp, and found out that Dobbs majored in aerospace engineering.  He is a rocket scientist.  Overall, I was very happy with the Steelers' Draft picks and am excited for the future.

Basketball One Minute Challenge

My FNF comrades, Griffin, CJ, and I, decided to put together a basketball one minute challenge video.  It was a competition to see who could make the most half court shots, free throws, and three pointers in one minute.  I won all three categories.  I only made one half court shot, which was a poor performance, but it was good enough to get the job done.  I got hot from three and made three in a row and ended up with 7.  And I made ten free throws.  It was a purely dominating effort and I put my competition to rest.

NFL Mock Draft

The 2017 NFL Draft begins on Thursday.  This year the draft will be in Chicago.  For teams like the Cleveland Browns, it is the only hopeful day of the season.  Two years ago, I correctly picked the first nine draft picks.  Here is my 2017 Top-10 NFL Mock Draft:

1-  Cleveland Browns: Myles Garrett, DE, Texas A&M
2-  San Francisco 49ers: Mitch Trubisky, QB, North Carolina
3-  Chicago Bears: Marshon Lattimore, CB, Ohio State
4-  Jacksonville Jaguars: Leonard Fournette, RB, LSU
5-  Tennessee Titans: Solomon Thomas, DE, Stanford
6-  New York Jets: Malik Hooker, S, Ohio State
7-  Los Angeles Chargers: Jamal Adams, S, LSU
8-  Carolina Panthers: Jonathon Allen, DE, Alabama
9-  Cincinnati Bengals: Mike Williams, WR, Clemson
10- Buffalo Bills: OJ Howard, TE, Alabama

FNF March Madness Tournament

After my heartbreaking loss in the GamePigeon basketball tournament,  I challenged the guys to an actual one-on-one basketball tournament.  I received the number one seed, CJ got the two, Griffin the three, and Bryce got the fourth seed.  We decided to make it a double elimination tournament.  I knew that I would win before the Tournament even began.  I began the tournament with an easy win over Bryce. There was no dramatics, it was classic 1vs16 game.  CJ defeated Griffin, so we played for a spot in the championship game.  I was able to defeat CJ, but it was a little close, because he made a couple threes.  Griffin was able to knock off Bryce and CJ to come out of the loser's bracket, however he had to beat me twice in a row, which let's face it, is nearly impossible for him to do (I had to lose twice, because it is double elimination).  He was able to win the first game, because he made three straight threes to take an early lead and was able to finish.  However, I was able to respond in game two and calmly seal the win.  I was the last one standing and was able to claim the FNF March Madness Championship.

Game Pigeon Tournament Upset

The past couple of weeks, CJ, Griffin, Daniel, and I competed in a 64 team Game Pigeon tournament.  The bracket was set up like an NCAA Tournament bracket, where each person had four teams in each region.  Each person was seeded based on a random number generator, but the maximum number of teams each person had in a region was four.  Because it was random, it was possible for a person to play himself in the first round and automatically advance.
I was the clear favorite after the opening round as I put up unheard of scores with a 77, 76, 74, and a 80.  Of  my 16 entries, 10 advanced to the second round, the most of any competitor.  I only lost three games in the second round, but in one of the games I had to play myself, so I lost an entry that way.  I occupied 6 of the "teams" in the Sweet 16, tied for the most with Griffin.  I lost two entries in the Sweet 16, because I played myself.  I was able to defeat CJ by a score of 73-69, but lost to Griffin after he broke my record for most points with 84.  Griffin and I were the only players left in the Elite 8, but Griffin had 5. Griffin defeated me in every Elite 8 match, with the closest being a score of 82-79.  Griffin composed all of the Final Four teams and won the Championship by defeated.
I lost an opening round game to Griffin 63-62 on a buzzer beater.  That entry ended up knocking out two of my entries and if I had won that game, I would have made the Final Four by default.

T'was disappointing that I easily could have won the championship, but I had a few lapses of judgement.  We followed this up with a one on one tournament, so tune in next week to see how the favorite does then.