Open Mic Night 3

2010 MLB Predictions Revisited

Way back on April 4th, a now-younger version of myself posted some predictions for the 2010 MLB season on his Facebook page.  Let's break them down to see how Nostradamus-like that Zach turned out to be:

1)  Predicted Division Winners: Yankees, White Sox, Rangers, Rockies, Cardinals, Phillies.
     Actual: Rays, Twins, Rangers, Giants, Reds, Phillies (2/6)

2)  Predicted Wild Card Winners: Rays, Dodgers.
     Actual: Yankees, Braves (0/2)

I predicted 3/4 of the AL Playoff teams correctly.  The Yankees and Rays came down to the final day and the White Sox finished in 2nd place.  The NL was a little more cloudy, but it usually is.

3)  Prediction: "The Reds make a serious play at the Wild Card."
     Actual: The Reds won the NL Central.  Considering they finished in 4th place last year (7 games under .500), this was a bold prediction.

4)  Prediction: "The Mets and Twins are huge disappointments."
     Actual: 1/2 right -- the Mets self-destructed as usual.  Their relief pitcher got arrested for an in-stadium fight, their big offseason acquistion, Jason Bay, didn't even hit 10 homers, and they paid Bret Saberhagen $250,000 even though he hasn't put on their uniform since Clinton was in office (need I mention it was during his first term?).  The Twins won the division...maybe because of that Mauer guy.

5)  "Stephen Strasburg has season-ending arm surgery."
     Actual:  I have to admit I scared myself with this one.  I was completely correct: late in August he underwent some tests and it was determined he needed Tommy John Surgery.  The most insane part about this prediction is that he hadn't even pitched an inning in the Major Leagues when I made this claim.

6)  "Richard Hidalgo joins and quits a baseball team in South America."
     Actual: While this most likely happened, I don't care enough to research it.

So there you have it.  All in all, I'd have to consider my predictions to be pretty accurate.  I'm most proud of having picked the Rangers to win their division and the Reds to make a splash in the playoff picture.  My final prediction was a Yankees World Series victory.  Stay tuned for that one...

Concussions in the NFL

Open Mic Night 2

The colonel was more than happy to help overthrow the government, but he didn't appreciate the general trying to putsch him into it.



Celebrity Guess Who

Try to guess the identity of the following celebrity:

The Day in History

We're coming up on the start of the 23rd of September, which marks the 230th anniversary of the uncovering of Benedict Arnold's plan to surrender West Point to the British.  In light of this, I give you famous traitors through history:

Benedict Arnold

Judas Iscariot

Marcus Junius Brutus

Adam Banks

Open Mic Night

So today on my way to work I drove by a mum farm.

I've always wondered how business is there, but customers I've spoken to have been very apprehensive about giving me information.

I'm Back

It's been three long years since I've made a post on this internet doohickey, but I have been inspired to return.  In Jordanesque terms, this site is the #45 equivalent to my now-defunct #23, zachgood.com.

If you didn't know me during my junior year of college at Penn State, I wanted to be an opinion columnist at the time and purchased the domain name zachgood.com to post my writings.  I may have even made copies of some of my columns and passed them out on the street under the title "The Good Times."  It's a play on words.

Some of my compositions were influential; others monotonous; and a few were straight-up car accidents.  I wrote about topics ranging from on-campus housing at Penn State to voter apathy to why dollar coins are stupid.  That last one was even published in the Penn State Daily Collegian newspaper.  I think my editor was out with mono that week.

After spending countless hours trying to drum up discourse and plugging my site without any shame whatsoever, I simply got bored and one day I pulled the plug on zachgood.com.  I imagine Joseph Pulitzer did not roll over in his grave that day.

So here I am, back online.  But why the title, Zach?  Why not "The Good Times 2" or "Two Good Times" or "Home Alone 2"?  Excellent question.  This blog will be part muckraker, part non sequitur, part inane rant.  One day I might make a serious post about a societal observation -- one with immense significance -- and the next day I might discuss how I saw Henry Winkler doing a commercial for a reverse mortgage company (that's quite a Fonzi Scheme, eh?).  If I have five daily readers by this time next month, I will consider it a success.

There you have it.  Sit back, relax, and enjoy the insanity that is sure to come.