You Are Viewing Just For Fun

Well, I’m thinking about setting it up again. If you’re interested, send me a message (samuelisaacrichard [at] gmail [dot] com) or reply in the comments. The 111th Congress technically convened on the 3rd of January. But they’ll be there for awhile…

Cheers,
Sam
“Congress: Bingo with billions.”
Red Skelton

Finals are creeping up on me. So I’m not writing, just watching hilarious videos on Funny Or Die and passing them on to you. Enjoy:

Cheers,
Sam
“The Bible says a lot of interesting things.”
Jesus /Jack Black

Cheers,
Sam
“Education is a progressive discovery of our own ignorance.”
Will Durant

I, like a majority of Americans, am unable to play sports at a professional level. It’s a fact. At one point in high school, I thought I played tennis pretty well, but I couldn’t ever nail my serve with any consistency so I was perennially second best. And permanently not a professional. However, thanks to the ingenuity of a Harvard professor that goes by the name of Bill Gamson, we have fantasy sports.

Most sources date 1980 as the birth date of fantasy sport, when journalist Dan Okrent founded Rotisserie League Baseball over lunch with some colleagues at La Rotisserie Francaise in Manhattan. But it seems as this isn’t the whole story. In fact, if that historical lunch is known as the “live birth” of fantasy, then the National Baseball Seminar was its poetic conception. Dr. William A. Gamson, now a professor at Boston College, created the first speculative sports league (tracking only two batting categories and two pitching categories) in 1960 while he was living in Cambridge, England. As a sociologist, he has spent much of his professional research developing game simulations that address global justice and similar issues. Sweet irony that he will be remembered for the being the Founding Father of Fantasy…

Since then, the sport of fantasy has grown to pandemic levels. Even beyond anecdotal evidence, though, there is plenty of academic research to prove that fantasy has consumed people’s lives. And I am among those ranks.

Recently, my addiction has sunk to a new low. Fantasy Congress is a project started by a student named Andrew Lee at Claremont McKenna College. Enamored by his roommate’s preoccupation with fantasy football, Lee was struck with a thought. He wanted to channel the engaging obsession of fantasy sport into a game that would draw regular schmoes into a better understanding of the political world. With the help of software gurus Arjun Lall and Ian Hafkenschiel, Fantasy Congress was born.

Points are earned by writing legislation, cosponsoring legislation, attending Congress, and newsworthiness. For instance, Barack Obama scores some good points in the news category, but doesn’t get many attendance points since he’s out campaigning. It’s a great way to stay (or start to be) informed about what your local and national lawmakers are doing.

I started a league yesterday that will go live on Monday morning, and I cordially invite you to join. The league name is “Social Media Socrates.” I’m going to cap it 25, so sign up today! Now, about that weak backhand…

Cheers,
Sam
“I feel the way Robert Oppenheimer felt after he invented the atomic bomb. If I’d only known this plague that I’ve visited upon the world.”
Daniel Okrent

Enjoy, from Fail Blog.

Cheers,
Sam
“If any group of citizens is uniquely unqualified to tell someone else how to vote, it’s those of us who live in the sheltered, privileged arena of celebrityhood. It’s one thing to buy an ab machine because Chuck Norris recommends it (he’s in good shape, isn’t he?) or a grill because George Foreman’s name is on it (he’s a great guy, so it must be a great grill!), but the idea of choosing the Leader of the Free World based on the advice of someone who lives in the cloistered world of stardom seems a bit loony to me.”

Pat Sajak

Camel Joe gets a whole bunch of flack for getting kids excited about his product a little too early in life. It is my job to make my product seem attractive to a wide audience, just like Joe. But at least my product doesn’t have a trace amounts of rat poison or jet fuel. Plus, what’s wrong with a little college education, right? Everyone’s doing it…

Cheers,
Sam
“Education is an admirable thing, but it is well to remember from time to time that nothing worth knowing can be taught.”
Oscar Wilde

Next week is the All Star Game. This is the game that decides whether the National League or the American League have home-feild advantage for the World Series. It also means that fantasy football is right around the corner. And I couldn’t be more excited.

Cheers,
Sam
“Put ‘em on the board. Houshmazoli. Got it. Championship!”
Every Man Before That Commercial Aired

Tonight is momentous. And the crazy part is that it wouldn’t have been momentous if this happened ten (10) years ago. Tonight, I get to meet Nole in real life. This is huge because we’ve known each other for almost a year. I feel a part of his life, and I’m sure he feels a part of mine. How is this possible? It’s our New World…

Last year, we played in the same fantasy football league and got connected to each other’s blogs. Over the last few months we have had a handful of phone conversations, but tonight we become real friends.

This has happened before. Ron, Adam, and Kelli I all knew first through the blogosphere, but now I get to warmly label them “real friends.” Tonight is pretty much guaranteed to be epic. Just saying.

Cheers,
Sam
“Sam! We’re phone friends now!”
Nole (during our first phone call)

I have so many links of so many stories I want to write about. But I’m done feeling useless. Done feeling stressed out about it. I’ve started to catalog them, and forward date the posts. I feel like I can breathe again. I don’t think you know how much pressure you put me under, Constant Reader…

In the meantime, I have some news. There is now an official club on campus called ASU For Dan Saban. We have a blog, a Facebook page, and an email (asufordansaban [at] gmail [dot] com).

Looking forward to catching up a bit!

Cheers,
Sam
“Atheism is a non-Prophet organization.”
George Carlin

Thanks to Netflix, this is my new favorite show. Tina Fey is funny (read: understatement of the decade)…