Boise State not Rewarded in the Asbury Poll after Beating Oregon State

This is slightly baffling. Boise State beat a solid Oregon State team and dropped from 5th to 12th. Likewise Alabama beat a very tough Arkansas team and dropped as well. The number 4 ranking of Missouri, who didn't even make the AP top 25, is also kind of interesting. Georgia Tech didn't fare well. At least the team that beat them, NC State, made it to #13 this week, although I expect they will not stay there long. Georgia Tech is #60 but still ahead of Georgia at #85, currently the lowest ranked SEC team.

Rank	Prev	AP rank	W	L		Team	Total Rtg.
1	3	7	4	0		UF	97.520
2	1	1	4	0		Alabama	95.607
3	4	8	4	0		Okla	92.866
4	9		4	0		Mizzou	84.354
5	11	10	4	0		Auburn	83.707
6	6	4	4	0		Oregon	82.929
7	14	14	4	0		Ariz	81.079
8	7	2	4	0		OhioSt	79.874
9	8	9	4	0		Stan	79.415
10	10	5	4	0		TCU	79.404
11	15	12	4	0		LSU	79.120
12	5	3	3	0		Boise	78.639
13	17	23	4	0		NCST	76.771
14	23	22	3	1		PennSt	71.805
15	13	18	4	0		USC	71.658
16	21		3	0		OkSt	71.060
17	2	21	3	1		Texas	67.286
18	12	6	4	0		Neb	67.078
19	22	25	4	0		nevada	66.142
20	20	24	4	0		michst	65.968
21	39		4	0		nwu	65.571
22	53		4	0		ksu	64.881
23	24		3	1		FSU	64.492
24	19	19	3	1		SC	63.955
25	29	17	3	1		Iowa	63.681

This coming week features two top 10 matchups, and would have had a third top 10 game if Texas hadn't lost to UCLA last week. Anyway, my computer was 24-6 last week in the ACC, SEC, and top 25 but things will get tougher now as more conference games are being played. Here are some score predictions for week 5:

Georgia Tech 54, Wake Forest 45
Colorado 46, Georgia 31
Alabama 24, Florida 21
Oregon 29, Stanford 27
Oklahoma 31, Texas 24
LS 38, Tennessee 23
Miami 35, Clemson 33
Iowa 27, Penn State 25
NC State 35, Virginia Tech 30

Week 3 Computer Rankings, Week 4 Predictions

So, the computer rankings are starting to conform a little more to the polls. But more intersting than the rankings at this point are the score predictions. My program predicts a score for all top 25 games - at least those are the games that I am counting in my official comparison with the odds. I was 11-11 last week against the official spread but 19-3 straight up, going wrong on Ark-UGA, Arizona-Iowa, and Auburn-Clemson.

Some score predictions for week 4:
NC State 33, Georgia Tech 28
UGA 45, Mississippi State 40
Pittsburgh 36, Miami 34
Alabama 28, Arkansas 16
Florida 30, Kentucky 19
Auburn 24, Carolina 21
Boise State 41, Oregon State 24
LSU 24, West Virginia 17
Florida State 50, Wake Forest 31
Stanford 47, Notre Dame 28

Rank	Prev	AP rank	W	L		Team	Total Rtg.
1	1	1	3	0		Alabama	96.448
2	2	7	3	0		Texas	95.125
3	3	9	3	0		UF	94.596
4	5	8	3	0		Okla	91.469
5	7	3	2	0		Boise	83.407
6	4	5	3	0		Oregon	82.519
7	6	2	3	0		OhioSt	80.891
8	16	16	3	0		Stan	79.748
9	14		3	0		Mizzou	79.585
10	23	4	3	0		TCU	78.465
11	20	17	3	0		Auburn	78.356
12	12	6	3	0		Neb	77.820
13	8	20	3	0		USC	77.226
14	31	14	3	0		Ariz	76.498
15	17	15	3	0		LSU	73.248
16	15		2	0		fresno	72.259
17	32		3	0		NCST	71.900
18	9	13	3	0		Utah	71.766
19	18	12	3	0		SC	71.581
20	27	25	3	0		michst	70.058
21	25		3	0		OkSt	69.207
22	46		3	0		nevada	68.676
23	26	23	2	1		PennSt	66.759
24	42		2	1		FSU	66.490
25	13		2	1		af	66.022

Georgia Tech is #43 with a 55.974 and Georgia is #56 with a 50.245.

Door-holding Etiquette

Almost every day someone somewhere makes some attempt to hold a door open for me, and almost every day I get irritated about it. Why, you ask - they're just trying to be helpful. Well, I've found that most of the time when people hold a door open, they get in my way more than anything. Let me give you a few examples of when not to hold a door open, and I wish I had visual aids for this but I'm too underpaid at this writing job to go through that trouble. This will probably seem like I'm an ungrateful bastard who dislikes helping people but really I just want to make things more efficient.

1) When I'm still about 20 feet away, someone holds a door open and waits for me to get there. This bothers me because I feel rushed to get there so he doesn't have to stand there as long. I want to take my sweet time walking in the building. Sometimes I will go so far as to slow down or even stop, pretending to tie my shoe or something to avoid this.

2) Standing in the doorway while holding it open for someone. I'm not a very big guy but even this sometimes requires getting a bit too close for comfort. If you're going to hold the door open, get out of the door way so people have plenty of room to get through.

3) Holding the first door open when there's a second door immediately behind. Really, it's just more efficient to hold the second one, and much like #2, you often are clogging up the space between the doors when you hold door #1 while door #2 is still closed. I recommend going through both doors and then maybe you can hold door #2 as long as you can do this without being in the way.

4) Expecting me to say thanks for holding the door open and slowing me down by half a second. It's one thing if my hands are full with lunch for the office or with boxes, or if I'm elderly, but I rarely am any of those. Obviously, if any of those conditions apply, you should hold the door open for someone as long as you don't violate #2.

5) This one is a lot like #3. Holding a door open when you have to unlock the second door. Don't bother holding door #1 for me just so I can get in the cramped space sooner and wait for you to open the second door. Where I work, There's an unlocked door followed immediately by a door that we have to enter one at a time with our personal ID code. Then we go up the stairs where there is another door. And sometimes the person in front of me holds door #1, thereby making me wait to get through door #2, then holds door #3 for me when I'm still halfway up the stairs. grr.

6) Of course, this might all go out the window if you're on a date. As a guy, you generally should go out of the way to make sure you are in position to make a good holding of the door, and not in a good position to make it difficult for her to get by without rubbing against you.

Flex Leagues

Lately the Macon Tennis Association has been trying to promote flex leagues. This means you can play in your normal league but you can play your matches whenever you want rather than at a fixed time. In theory this is a good idea. Many people may still set aside time to play but many will not and scheduling becomes a nightmare. I have not tried this and I will not try this, but I have talked to a few people that say it's just too hard trying to schedule a suitable time to play, especially in doubles. They've said they went a whole season and only got to play maybe 2 matches while about 10 were scheduled.

Flex leagues are designed to suit the "busy lifestyles" that people today have. In reality it takes a lot of the team spirit and social aspects of team tennis away, and puts more stress on people to call up strangers and arrange a match. There is really something comforting in knowing that you'll always play at a given time each week. For my level, men's 4.0, it's Saturday at 9:30. I would prefer 11:00 or even later so that I can stay up as late as I want on Friday night without being concerned about sleeping through my match (which I have done only once in 3 years of this) or being too tired or hung over to play. But it's really the best situation. I don't mind the early time so much now that I don't have friends that want to stay out late with me like I did once upon a time. BBO is the only thing that keeps me up late.

And the whole team concept goes away when the team plays its matches at different times. There is a certain joy that comes with all being there playing at the same time, then cheering on the others when your match is finished. I have a tendency, however, to be one of the last matches to finish, so I don't get to do much spectating.

Flex time at work, however, IS a great idea, as long as people can still be trusted to get their work done. Assigning some core hours, maybe 1-3pm when everyone should be in so you can be sure to see the co-workers some, is probably necessary. But in a professional environment when we are mostly working alone or with another one or two people, why stay tied down to a fixed schedule? I find myself frequently wanting to work something like 10, even 12 hours on Monday or Tuesday so that later in the week I can sleep in a bit or take off early to head out of town. I'm way more productive on Monday than any other day so why not allow me to take advantage of that.

College Football Week 2 Rankings

So, These rankings are still pretty meaningless after only 2 weeks but here are my computer rankings for this week. Obviously there is a big discrepancy between these rankings and the polls. It was a bad weekend for fans of any Georgia or ACC team. Except maybe Wake Forest - they won in overtime over Duke. Following the rankings are some computer predictions for week 3 games.

Rank	Prev	AP rank	W	L		Team	Total Rtg.
1	1	1	2	0		Alabama	99.670
2	3	4	2	0		Texas	98.767
3	2	7	2	0		UF	97.747
4	4	6	2	0		Oregon	92.019
5	6	9	2	0		Okla	86.082
6	5	2	2	0		OhioSt	83.575
7	7	3	1	0		Boise	76.061
8	15		2	0		USC	75.823
9	9	14	2	0		Utah	75.635
10	13	23	2	0		Houston	75.295
11	20	10	2	0		Iowa	73.891
12	21	8	2	0		Neb	73.573
13	31		2	0		af	73.188
14	16	25	2	0		Mizzou	73.134
15	32		1	0		fresno	71.679
16	18	19	2	0		Stan	71.634
17	10	12	2	0		LSU	71.336
18	33	16	2	0		SC	71.148
19	22	24	2	0		Cal	70.722
20	26	15	2	0		Auburn	70.595
21	27		1	1		Cinci	69.386
22	8		1	1		BYU	68.296
23	24	5	2	0		TCU	68.292
24	19		2	0		Clemson	67.834
25	34		2	0		OkSt	67.804

Georgia Tech 31, UNC 31

Georgia 28, Arkansas 27

Clemson 24, Auburn 23

Virginia Tech 33, East Carolina 28

BYU 37, FSU 32

Alabama 35, Duke 17

Texas 27, Texas Tech 20

Florida 29, Tennessee 21

Stanford 28, Wake Forest 18

West Virginia 22, Maryland 17

Teacher, Coach, Mentor

What’s the difference between a teacher, coach, and mentor? Are they all the same – just different terms are used for different tasks. Clearly, all three are people whose goal is to help someone else improve in some aspect of life. Are teacher and student (coach and athlete, or mentor and mentee) supposed to have a relationship that extends beyond the “classroom.” In other words, does a coach play with the athlete in whatever activity they are involved in? Does a teacher actively engage in said activity with student or a mentor with mentee?

Mentor – a trusted counselor or guide

Coach – one who instructs of trains in the fundamentals of a competitive sport.

Teacher – one whose occupation it is to instruct.

Here’s how I have grown up understanding these terms. Teachers only work with students in a classroom setting – in bridge, teaching general concepts, bidding, more theoretical things. In tennis I guess this would compare to watching videos, doing drills. Coaching would include some teaching but involve more observing and commenting on the student’s play when playing with someone else, giving constructive criticism as an observer. Coaching in tennis would be watching the athlete’s matches and then going over things the player could have done better, giving encouragement, and helping prepare for a match. Mentoring would include coaching but include actually playing together and then giving constructive criticism afterward.  Mentoring in tennis might be more along the lines of playing a set or match against the student (presumably with the coach playing at less than 100%), and then discussing things to work on later.

Do You Want You Marriage Counselor to Be Happily Married for 30 Years or Struggling Through His 4th Marriage?

There's an old saying that you learn from making mistakes and failuring more than from succeeding. I think we all basically agree with that but does it follow that you learn better from other people's failures than their successes? People who have advice columns and who are in the business of helping people are people with experience who have ultimately experience success but is their road to success generally more or less curvy than normal or ideal?
This morning on the radio, Kid Kraddick and company were talking about how big name celebrities who get in trouble with the law, mostly doing drugs, wind up eventually speaking to kids as a role model as part of restoring their image and supposedly getting back on the right track themselves. I think this discussion got started with TI being arrested yesterday and Paris Hilton last week on possession of marijuana and cocaine. They likely will end up being some sort of spokesperson for some anti-drug organization and be an example of what not to do.

Anyway, I'm not so much concerned with them in particular or people in drug rehab but for the more common person seeking guidance in relationships or careers, is it generally better for the counselor to be someone who found success right away or someone who stumbled and mis-stepped and had several setbacks before being successful. I have no idea who writes the dear Abby columns or whether marriage counselors are people with more or less relationship success than the average person, but I think that would be something interesting to find out. I kind of think someone who had been married a few times, has a few kids, and now finally is in a good marriage would make the best counselor because he's experienced more and can more likely identify with the patient. Likewise, are career counselors mostly people who made it through college on schedule and found jobs relatively easily or are they more likely to be people who changed majors several times, took 6 years to get a bachelor's degree, struggled to find a suitable job, possibly changed jobs a lot before finding their niche?
One part of me thinks publicity for wrong-doings should be minimized - that making a headline out of people being arrested for drug abuse gives other messed up people the idea that they can be famous if they do something dumb. We should publicize the people for doing things well - the 6:00 news should contain all positive stories rather than the way it is not with 90% of the news including someone getting arrested. Another part of me thinks that showing these people and their ensuing punishment might make an example of them and help people learn lessons without having to make the mistake themselves. At least, with some it will help improve the spectator's self-esteem by seeing someone who is even more screwed up. But people are hard-headed - they're still going to have to make some mistakes themselves, often several times, before getting on a good track.