Random Thoughts on the NFL

I’ve been giving a lot of thought of what I want to post here. I think it’s just going to be my rambling thoughts. Today, I’m going give you little take on the NFL Collective Bargaining Agreement.

As you may know, the owners opted out the current agreement that ran through 2013. The opt out took 3 years off the agreement, so it now runs thru 2010 season. Also, the salary cap portion of the agreement runs through this season. I affect, 2010 will be an uncapped year.

The players feel the owner want to lock them out in 2011. They would be willing to continue under this contract.

The owners have an agenda (who doesn’t?). First, they want to reduce the portion of revenue that goes to players (The Cap). It is now at about 57.5% defined gross revenue (127M per team). There is a formula to go with that. To see a more detailed explanation go to Ask the Commish.com. I’m talking in big picture. Second, they want cost certainty. In other words, a rookie pay scale. There are other issues I’m sure, but these are biggest.

I think the cap is good for football, so it should stay. The percentage is going to need to be negotiated. I don’t see any overt trouble with any NFL teams. There are teams in trouble in all the other major sports. While the owners would like to make more, they are good shape right now.

The players should give in a rookie cap. I think it should be base on draft position and average player salary at defined position. The number one pick would get a say 60% of the player average plus a defined bonus, like 10M dollars. Then it would drop down through the 1st round. The only limit on the 2nd rounds and later should be that it couldn’t exceed the lowest 1st round pick. In return rookie contracts would be limited to 3 years and be partially or fully guaranteed. There should a restricted free agency in the 4th year & full free agency after 5 years. Compensation for the restricted free agency would be reduced than what it is now.

I think it is also time for partially guaranteed veteran’s contracts. It should be based on years of service. So any player cut would get something. The NFL needs to reward the veteran players more.

Of course, this is just an outline of the big picture. I can think of bunch of questions (Define avg. player salary. What about previous rookie contacts that run 4 or 5 years now? Ect.)

Let me know what you think!

My Last in the Dessert

Monday, 9:00am

At McCarran Airport

Sunday was a better day for gambling. I still lost, but only a few dollars. I finished down $287.00. But that include $50 in sports bets on the Pats & Bruins. $40 really. $10 I put down on the NY Giants for Al at work. Not bad for the week.

I played some 3 card poker at the Casino. I lost the $60 I started with. So I had a fast food breakfast. Then made my sports bet then head back to my room to check in. I check in at 10:16 for a 10:15 flight. My pass was B-1. One minute. Well, I’m alone, so it doesn’t matter too much. After check in, I went to the ticket place.

I was going to buy tickets for Blueman Group, but the only show was 10:00pm. I didn’t want go that late. I bought a 6:30 ticket for the Torments of Kings at Excalibur. Then I went to NY NY to ride the Rollercoaster. I was determined to not chicken out this time. I never have been on a regular rollercoaster. I did go on Space Mountain at Disney, but I don’t count it because was total darkness. I was fun, but too short. I considered re-riding, but my legs were rubbery. I did buy the picture though.

After that, I went to Excalibur to get my tickets. While there I played some Blackjack. Came away a few dollars up (62 vs 65). At about 2:00, I headed back to the Monte Carlo to crash a bit. At 4:30, I went back to the Excalibur to the show.

I was in line for the Show and there was loud guy trying to figure out where to get tickets. He had a large plastic jug of a drink. It was 100oz cocktail from a place called Dick’s Last Resort. How do I know about AJ’s drink? Yes, he sat next to me during the show. The show itself was pretty good. Lots of good riding and stunts. My king, the Emperor of Austria lost and was killed early in the big melee of good and evil. AJ kept getting up and making an ass of himself. All in good fun I suppose. I pity the city of Seattle though.

An open seat was waiting for me at the $5 blackjack table when I got back to hotel. It was the most fun I had. Everybody at the table was engaging. Two women from NJ, an older guy, a guy for Oklahoma. One of the women’s husband and son came in and out. The guy from OK was funny. One time he would be $5.00, the next bet would $100. He was betting normal until he girlfriend showed up. Then he started betting big. He was winning so he continued even after she left. For me it was up and down. At about 10:30 called it quits up $33.00.

Well that’s it from Las Vegas! Next Year San Diego! 2 weeks!

Taking a Bite out Las Vegas & it taking a Bite out me!

Sunday, 8:00am

Friday night was interesting. I drove over to the Stratosphere for the show. I guess I got there around 7:30. With the show at 10:30, I had plenty of time. The first thing I did was sign up for the Ultimate Rewards program. I know I say I don’t like slots, but they had Star Trek Slots. The actually have episodes (levels). The only one I remember is the Enterprise Incident. But it had characters, ships, logos and equipment. Like all slots matching gave you points. I don’t know how, I could figure it out. It was a penny machine, but you end up betting like $1.00 per button push. I burned through my $10 pretty quick. I was supposed to get $5.00 in play, but the machine didn’t read my card correctly. I would have had to put in more money to get it.

I did sit a $5.00 Blackjack table & put down $40 dollars. This was the best time. There was guy playing $25 bets. If it was only the two of us, he would play two hands. The dealers were also friendly. I got up with my $50. So I did break even for the night.

At the Stratosphere, there is an observation tower. Normally there would be Outdoor and Indoor viewing, but the Trek Convention had rented out the indoor part for a party. The also have two rides. Insanity will spin out over the city 866ft up. You would be looking right down at the ground. The second, X-Scream, puts on a rail. From the top of the rail you get shot down. Again out over the city. At this point I was a bit depressed. The seats are in groups of 2. I chickened out. The view was nice, and I did get photos.

Back down stairs, I grabbed a pretzle. While eating, I saw the actor who played Tuvok on Voyager. Man did the looked spaced out. At the check-in desk, there was another actor. I know the face, but can’t place the B-movies he’s been in. My bush with fame,

By that time I was time for Bite!

My ticket was the back of the theatre, but the head usher took pity on me and sat me in front. I sat with a couple with 4 boys. (Yes). They where either foster kids, adopted or for 4 years straight this women was pregnant by racially diverce fathers. The kids, youngest just 18, were all in school and had saved up and paid for the trip themselves (including the parents and 2 sisters). So what ever you think about this woman for taking four young men to burlesque show, she did something right. (& they are adults in their own rights).

Bite is erotic (meaning breasts) vampire show. A king vampire needs to find his true love. There are 5 vampire dancers who strut around topless (20% of the time). Cat was the hottest. Meow. (I have pictures, not topless). At one point, 6 or 7 people get picked out the audience to go up on stage. 4 of there are plants. A couple does acrobatic thing on a rope. The other one is singer, OK. The last one is king’s true love. Each in turn is turned into a vampire. There was another woman doing acrobatics on two suspended lengths of clothe. She would wrap herself up and tumble down. Some magic and stage fight scenes (pretty bad) were tossed in for good measure. It was worth the $30.00.

After the show the cast (females) posed for pictures. I’ll post them sometime.

Saturday wasn’t the greatest of days. I did go yards saleing, and bought about $20 worth of stuff. I forgot all the papers for the other things I wanted to do in the city. When I got back to hotel at noon, I really didn’t feel like heading out again.

I played Blackjack. I lost $250.00. My worst sitting yet. But I did have 50% off coupon for the Spice Buffet at Planet Hollywood. So I took a walk down there. Food was good and for $11.50, it was worth it. I also sat at Pleasure Pit to play more Blackjack. In the Pit the female dealers are dressed in these Red Corsets showing off there bust line. It was a nice view while losing another $100.

On the way back, I collected a bunch of Las Vegas Hooker cards. I have about 200. At the hotel I relaxed a bit, and sorted my Hooker cards. I cleaned up bit went down to the casino. I watched some the Rays-Mariners & Dodgers-Braves games. I stopped at the Pick 6 table. While I did really want to gamble any more I figured it was only $20. Pick 6 is that big spinning wheel you see at carnivals. You can 1, 2, 5, 10, 20 or 40 to bets. They spin the wheel and where it stops determines the winner. Of course, I lost. I watched some other games 3 card poker, let it ride and roulette. Those other table games seem too complicated. And there is really no ‘skill’. I know roulette, pretty easy. Spin the ball, if it stops on you number you will. Play 35-1 to boot. But I got down the all the little side bets. Turns out that house has almost 6% advantage on the game (Blackjack the house advantage is 1 to 1.5%). It is worst game to play, but the big payout keeps ‘em coming back. Maybe I’ll play some on Sunday.

Take a Bite out this!

Friday, 6:00pm

It’s all coming together.

Weather is great - mid to high 80's. Same as tomorrow. Great for Yard Sales!

Rented the car from Alamo (pains to deal with, but better prices). $130 through Monday. Glad to have it. A Dodge Avenger

I ate at the buffet again. For $13.00 dollars it was worth it. Unless I wanted to go fast food, it was going to cost me that much. Things are picking up as the weekend hits. I think I’m going to have problems finding $5.00 tables. I did play some after breakfast. I sat down with $50, got up with $80.

I stopped at the ticket place and got a ticket for the show Bite. It’s at 10:30pm and was $30.00. The Stratosphere seems like a cool place. They got an observation deck & roller coaster that may be better than the one at NY, NY. So, I’ll check those out before the show. I’m not sure, but the guy at the ticket place may have scammed me $20. I gave $100 plus some change. He then gave me the change and rushed though their ticket policies & promotions. When I next checked my wallet, there was $50 next to some ones. No $20 bill was next to it. No way to prove it.

I went into my wallet, because I was at Luxor and decide to play some BLACKJACK!
Very good time. It was at a $10 table. One guy was betting $25 and if it was only the two of us, he would play two spots. I plunked my $50 down, and walked away with…wait for it…$180.00. Nice hour indeed.

So with my $20 bet on tonight’s Red Sox, I’m up $160. Not to bad. Let see how I do tonight.

What a bummer!

Friday, 7:45am.

Yesterday, head over to the Hilton for the Trek convention. Got there at 8:30am and the doors didn’t open until 10:00. There weren’t many people in line at that point. I did talk with two fans from Orlando, Kit & Denise. Big Klingon fans. They had a Klingon wedding and during the Batlif fight, Denise actually cut her husband. I guess that was a good sign. They were not in costume. Their website is www.IKVwidowmaker.com. Also, I talked Patricia from DC. She made Dianna Troi councilor dress. She did look good. But she was an isolated Trek fan. She didn’t know about fan club or local Balt/DC Conventions. I did say I talked to her, but she really didn’t talk to me back. I guess I creeped her out.

It was $30 to get into the convention. I was very disappointed by the dealer’s room. It was small, and not a wide verity of stuff. One person was selling prop stuff for the latest movie, but it was weird stuff: Side panels, half pieces of machinery, barely recognizable computer screen. He did had photo from where the appeared, but wasn’t great. I did buy a Red Uniform Tee, but not the one I really wanted (nowhere to be found in room). And I got two sound activated Tribbles. That dealer did not bring bag, but the members of USS Las Vegas gave me one. Nice people.

One big disappointment was with the only artist there, David Reddick. He does two Web strips at www.Roddenberry.com.: Gene’s Journal, Rod & Barry. They look cool. He was doing caricatures for $25. So I decide to get one. I was going to have him do me in an Orange uniform with katanas on my back with the caption, “Did I Err?” So we started talking, but somebody he knew (He had done work her before) came over. She wanted to get one done of her son (an Adult). He blew me off, with out a word. I even gave him the benefit of the doubt and went back 20 minutes later. He was still working on the one sketch. I see a theme, maybe it was me.

Next, I went opening talk. They were supposed to a fan video thing. They showed two 3 minute videos. One stunk, the second one was OK. The Masochist Waltz. All the dance scenes and pain scenes for the series put to a composed song. I didn’t write down the woman’s web site, but she is from Alberta, Canada.

They had a Klingon panel Tony Todd , Suzie Plakson, John Schuck, Spice Williams-Crosby and William Morgan Sheppard. Standard stuff on how it was to play a Klingon vs other roles, what they were doing now and other junk. By that time it was past noon and I was hungry. I left with intention of going back for Jonathan Frakes & Michael Dorn, but my heart wasn’t in it.

I ate at Hilton buffet, again only OK. Headed back to Monte Carlo to rest a bit. I did stop at the ticket place. I want to see a show called Bite, a topless vampire revue, at the Stratosphere Casino. Of course it was dark.

At the hotel I stopped and put a bet in on the Red Sox. After I crashed and called home, I went down to casino. Stopped at a Blackjack table around 4:00, by 5:30 I lost the $100 I started with. Went to the sports book and saw the Red Sox implode once again. Was very bummed out by that time. I spent some time watching the poker action. Still haven’t got the courage to sit in. Then back to Blackjack. Again, it was brutal. Three hands in a row, I had 19 or better and lost them all. On a $15 bet I hit a blackjack only to have the dealer hit one ten showing. A push! Went though 4 dealers. Tracey was the best. I did my best with her and she was funny and engaging. Then we had this guy, Jeff. Man talk about dead. No personallty at all. Brusk abd dower. He replaced Tracy, then when he went on a break, she came back, but for only 20 minutes. I was litterly down to my last chips. Even with Jeff back, I cought a few hands. Placed some big bets at good times. Worked my way back to $110 I started this round with.

So over all, I’m break even on all my bets (including the $60 I’ve lost on the Red Sox)
I’m going to see about rent a car for tomorrow. At the hotel it $99 for the day. I’ll check the airport companies.

Good 1st Day

Thursday, 6:00am

Good first night.

Went to the sports book and placed two $20 bets on the Red Game
Over 5.5 runs after 5 innings @-105 (Meaning, I would win $19.05 on the bet)
Red Sox to win @+130

Red Sox had men on 2nd & 3rd in the 5th trailing 4-1. I lost my first bet
Of course, they also lost 6-4. 2nd bet goes down the tubes.
I did debate on the full over/under of 9.5 runs, but I want ‘something different’. Plus after I played Black Jack, I watched some the game (till the 5th).

I played Black Jack at $5.00 table. At first, I sat alone. That is bad thing to do. The game goes very fast and you can lose very fast. I was down $50 before I knew it. They were bad beats, too. One hand I was dealt 20. The dealer had 14. Of course, she drew a 7. A pregnant woman then sat down next to me, and my luck changed.

I have a system of betting. I start with minimum bets. Stay with that for a while. If I’m over my buy in (in this case $100), when I win I’ll increase my bets. At first I up it to $10, and then to $15. When I lose a single bet, it’s back to $5. But as long I’m over the base $100, I’ll again increase on the bets. I don’t always go straight from $10 to $15. I’ll play the $10 for a while, but on wins, I always go from $5 to $10.

I played for about 2 hours (goes by fast) and left the table with $254. I gave $11 that to dealers. (On a $5 Black Jack, you get a pay out of $7.50). I had 6 one dollar chips plus the table minimum of $5 = $11.

I came away the game $103 up.

After that, I was planning on heading out the Hilton to check out the Star Trek prep. I really went out side for the 1st time. IT WAS HOT. Though the wind was blowing. I didn’t really know where I was going, so spent time walking around things to get where I wanted to go. I stopped at the Coke store & M&M’s Store.
Went though the MGM Grand. They have a lion exhibit, kind of cool. I decided to stop at the Hooter’s Casino next door for $100 free slots play to sign up. As I expected it was a bit a ploy. Up played promotional machines and the minimum bet was $10.00. You only one cash if hit the top two jackpots. Though, I did OK enough to spend about ½ hour playing. That cured me of any desire to play slots. I was about 8:00pm & I was hungry. Hooter’s has a Dan Marino’s in it. I had dinner there. OK BBQ beef brisket. Nothing to right home about (Oh, wait a minute.). Dinner was $14.00 w/tip.

Note to all: I don’t drink, and with food I mostly have water. I don’t do it not spend the money, but that is the way I like.

Plans for today include brunch and checking out the monorail and Trek convention. I thinking I may spend two days there

Las Vegas, Baby

Wednesday, 1:30pm

The flight out here was fine. Typical Southwest style. Everything ran smoothly. The flight was courteous and efficient. There was incident with a bottle of water and two glasses of cranberry juice. It took place in the bathroom during a bit out turbulence. Not to worry, I was not injured and I cleaned up after myself.

I sat in the emergency row and my seat mate was Greg. Nice guy. He just got or is getting a job with FDIC. He also sells sporting goods on eBay, SportsPlus 2000 & at the Raynham Flea Market. He was a mortgage broker and does financing on high end auto sales. We’re talking 100K plus. He was heading to Reno for a classic car auction. It sounded cool.

I am staying at Monte Carlo. So far I’m not impressed. Room is pretty standard, I got a double though I wish I had single. I can live with it. Scoped out the casino. Stopped by the Sports Book. I didn’t make any bets yet. I will though, tonight.

Baseball is the only real action right now and it’s kind of funky. Take the Red Sox – Rays game. The Rays are -130 and Red Sox are +110. If I bet on the Rays, I would need to bet $130 to win $100. Cashing in the bet, the casino would give $230. If I bet on the Red Sox, I bet $100 to win $110. The odds change if the pitchers change. You can bet just on the team or the team & pitcher (the bet canceled if the pitcher doesn’t start). You can also be on the over/under. In this game it’s 9.5. The also have 5 inning bets. I’m going to put $20 on Penny & Red Sox (I get 22+20) and 20 on the over.

I’m also going to play some Blackjack. Maybe an hour or two ($100) Then I’m going to head out to the MGM Grand and take the MonoRail. At end at the Las Vegas Hilton, site of the Star Trek convention this weekend.

My Worst Fear

It happened!

After a bottle of water & 2 glasses of cranberry juice, I need to go!

I'm sure you can guess what happened! TURBULANCE!

I was not hurt, but it took me few minutes to clean up!

Sent from my iPod

Leaving for Las Vegas

1st e-mail post.

Getting ready to head out to Vegas, Baby! Found out there's a Star
Trek convention out there this weekend! Big plus!

Slept well last night unusual for the night before flight.

Also, got a great photo of Red Sox pitcher John Lester. My niece,
Nina, took it at the game last Thrusday! I love it. I'll post it as
soon as I get back from Vegas!

Sent from my iPod

Sergio & Stan cards

My fellow Grooarian, Gary was kind enough to get me 4 ACEOs at ComicCon this year. 2 were from Sergio & 2 were fron Stan. Here they are: