Another thing I commonly do is compare my predictions with those of the "experts" at TSN. For those unfamiliar, they have a panel of hockey people who make predictions along with a monkey who spins a wheel to randomly pick a winner for a series. What's interesting is that oftentimes the monkey does better than the experts. :)
The picks from the people at TSN for this year can be found here.
So how did I do? Here's the breakdown:
Bob McKenzie 6-2
Mike Milbury 5-3
Darren Pang 5-3
James Duthie 5-3
Maggie the Monkey 5-3
Adam "Pedle Zelnip" 5-3
My wife 2-6
So basically I was about the same as the people at TSN. Here's hoping I can improve in round #2.
Wednesday, April 23, 2008
Round 1 Results
Okay, round 1 is now over, time to summarize.
Also as well, I didn't mention this in the blog post relating to my initial predictions, but every year my wife and I compete to see who has the better predictions. To resolve this argument we needed some sort of quantifiable, mathematical evaluation scheme. In the past what we've done is we awarded 1 point for predicting the correct winner of a series, and another point for predicting the correct number of games. Thus each series was worth a maximum of 2 points.
However, this year we're changing the formula, now predicting the winner is 2 points, and predicting the correct number of games is 1 point, for a total of 3 possible per series.
So, how does this play out with this year's round 1? Well, I had two perfect predictions (Colorado in 6 and San Jose in 7), and 3 where I predicted the correct winner (but not the correct number of games) so I have:
2 x 3 + 3 * 2 = 12 points
She had two perfect predictions (Colorado in 6 and Montreal in 7), and 4 where she predicted the correct number of games (but not the winner), so she has:
2 x 3 + 4 x 1 = 10 points
So yes, that's right, I'm currently whooping her. :)
Also as well, I didn't mention this in the blog post relating to my initial predictions, but every year my wife and I compete to see who has the better predictions. To resolve this argument we needed some sort of quantifiable, mathematical evaluation scheme. In the past what we've done is we awarded 1 point for predicting the correct winner of a series, and another point for predicting the correct number of games. Thus each series was worth a maximum of 2 points.
However, this year we're changing the formula, now predicting the winner is 2 points, and predicting the correct number of games is 1 point, for a total of 3 possible per series.
So, how does this play out with this year's round 1? Well, I had two perfect predictions (Colorado in 6 and San Jose in 7), and 3 where I predicted the correct winner (but not the correct number of games) so I have:
2 x 3 + 3 * 2 = 12 points
She had two perfect predictions (Colorado in 6 and Montreal in 7), and 4 where she predicted the correct number of games (but not the winner), so she has:
2 x 3 + 4 x 1 = 10 points
So yes, that's right, I'm currently whooping her. :)
Wednesday, April 9, 2008
My wife's turn....
And here's her predictions for this year's NHL playoffs:
Eastern Conference
Ottawa vs Pittsburgh - Ottawa in 6
New Jersey vs New York - New Jersey in 5
Washington vs Philadelphia - Washington in 7
Montreal vs Boston - Montreal in 7
Western Conference
San Jose vs Calgary - Calgary in 7
Anaheim vs Dallas - Anaheim in 6
Detroit vs Nashville - Nashville in 7 (HA HA!)
Minnesota vs Colorado - Colorado in 6
Eastern Conference
Ottawa vs Pittsburgh - Ottawa in 6
New Jersey vs New York - New Jersey in 5
Washington vs Philadelphia - Washington in 7
Montreal vs Boston - Montreal in 7
Western Conference
San Jose vs Calgary - Calgary in 7
Anaheim vs Dallas - Anaheim in 6
Detroit vs Nashville - Nashville in 7 (HA HA!)
Minnesota vs Colorado - Colorado in 6
Monday, April 7, 2008
And the playoffs are here....
So, as per usual, it's about time for me to make my predictions about the 2K8 version of the NHL playoffs. Will I be able to repeat my 14 correct predictions out of 15 performance from a year ago? Let's find out:
Western Conference
Detroit Red Wings vs Nashville Predators - for me, this is the only series in this years playoffs where there is a clear, definite favourite. If Nashville wins this, pigs will fly, hell will get frosty and I'll give up my Xbox (okay, maybe not....). My prediction: Detroit in 5.
San Jose Sharks vs Calgary Flames - SJ is my pick to win it all this year (although I've been saying that for the last 2 or 3 years....). They are a rock solid team, with lots of post-season experience, and should be desperate for some success. It's a shame Calgary ends up meeting these guys in the first round as I think if they had ended up playing Minnesota in the first round they would've done quite well. This one should be fairly hard faught, and I don't think an upset here would be all that surprising (Kipper, Iginla and Phaneuf could easily cause some real headaches for the Sharks) but my prediction: San Jose in 7.
Minnesota Wild vs Colorado Avalanche - The Wild are the only team in the west with home ice advantage who I think are also favoured to lose. The Avs really stacked up at the deadline, played very well down the stretch, have a tradition of post season success, and Theodore is actually starting to look like the MVP from Montreal again. This one shouldn't be too much of a battle. My prediction: Colorado in 6.
Anaheim Ducks vs Dallas Stars - Funny how if these two teams would've met 4 months ago people would've picked the Stars hands down, but now the tables have turned somewhat. Dallas more-or-less limped into the post season, whereas Anaheim really started to pick things up and look like defending champs as the season wore on. The Ducks are largely the same team that one it all last year with the punishing defense and tenacious forwards, so my money's on them for this series. My prediction: Anaheim in 4.
Eastern Conference
Montreal Canadiens vs Boston Bruins - ahhh yes, the classic Habs/B's rivalry renewed. The Habs were this years Cinderella story, achieving far higher than anyone expected. Having said that, I still don't think they have what it takes to go deep, and they're still a very young and relatively inexperienced team (particularly in goal). However, I do think they'll have a lot of enthusiasm for the first round, and the Montreal fans will most definitely be a boost (it's been a long time since fans in Hab-land could feel as though their team is a favourite). Should be a good series either way, but my prediction: Montreal in 6.
Pittsburgh Penguins vs Ottawa Senators - Wow, how about these Pens? A lot of people thought they'd improve over last year as all those young stars matured, but I don't think too many people thought they'd be the #2 seed in the east (narrowly missing the #1 spot). And that was with their biggest star player in Crosby injured for much of the stretch. This is a fun team to watch with an insane amount of depth up-front. Goaltending is still a question mark, as is the defence and leadership. Ottawa went all the way to the final round last season, and at times this season had some of that form, but this still doesn't look like they are a cohesive unit right now, and the injury to Alfredsson is huge. I hate to say it as if it's true heads will roll in the nation's capital during the off-season, but my prediction: Pittsburgh in 5.
Washington Captials vs Philadelphia Flyers - As surprising as the Pens were this season, I don't think anyone would disagree that the Caps were an even greater surprise. Just a few weeks ago it didn't look like they'd make the playoffs and now they're the #3 seed. Ovechkin is coming off of a possibly Hart-like season (in addition to Rocket Richard and Art Ross trophies) and this will be his first taste of post-season play. Philly on the other hand just doesn't look like a team to me, but rather a collection of off-season free-agents that at times looked great and at other times looked completely mediocre. I don't think they'll go far after this round, but my money's on the Caps for this one. My prediction: Washington in 6.
New Jersey Devils vs New York Rangers - This should be a great battle, as these two teams are great rivals. Brodeur is coming off of yet another Vezina like season, and for much of the year the Devils looked like the team to beat in the east. New York should make this one interesting, but I don't see them getting past the Devils. My prediction: New Jersey in 7.
And there you have it. Usually what happens as well is my wife makes her predictions and we have a friendly little competition to see who ends up doing a better job of predicting the playoffs so I'll post her predictions once she gives them to me.
At any rate, even though my boys (the Canucks) aren't there this year, I'm really looking forward to the playoffs this year. As mentioned earlier San Jose is my pick for the west and to win it all. The east is much tougher to call, so much parity in the Eastern Conference and moreover a lot of the high seeds are teams that are new to being high seeds. If push came to shove at this point I'd pick the Devils in the East, but I could just as easily see Crosby going on a tear and taking the Pens to the finals. Stay tuned....
Western Conference
Detroit Red Wings vs Nashville Predators - for me, this is the only series in this years playoffs where there is a clear, definite favourite. If Nashville wins this, pigs will fly, hell will get frosty and I'll give up my Xbox (okay, maybe not....). My prediction: Detroit in 5.
San Jose Sharks vs Calgary Flames - SJ is my pick to win it all this year (although I've been saying that for the last 2 or 3 years....). They are a rock solid team, with lots of post-season experience, and should be desperate for some success. It's a shame Calgary ends up meeting these guys in the first round as I think if they had ended up playing Minnesota in the first round they would've done quite well. This one should be fairly hard faught, and I don't think an upset here would be all that surprising (Kipper, Iginla and Phaneuf could easily cause some real headaches for the Sharks) but my prediction: San Jose in 7.
Minnesota Wild vs Colorado Avalanche - The Wild are the only team in the west with home ice advantage who I think are also favoured to lose. The Avs really stacked up at the deadline, played very well down the stretch, have a tradition of post season success, and Theodore is actually starting to look like the MVP from Montreal again. This one shouldn't be too much of a battle. My prediction: Colorado in 6.
Anaheim Ducks vs Dallas Stars - Funny how if these two teams would've met 4 months ago people would've picked the Stars hands down, but now the tables have turned somewhat. Dallas more-or-less limped into the post season, whereas Anaheim really started to pick things up and look like defending champs as the season wore on. The Ducks are largely the same team that one it all last year with the punishing defense and tenacious forwards, so my money's on them for this series. My prediction: Anaheim in 4.
Eastern Conference
Montreal Canadiens vs Boston Bruins - ahhh yes, the classic Habs/B's rivalry renewed. The Habs were this years Cinderella story, achieving far higher than anyone expected. Having said that, I still don't think they have what it takes to go deep, and they're still a very young and relatively inexperienced team (particularly in goal). However, I do think they'll have a lot of enthusiasm for the first round, and the Montreal fans will most definitely be a boost (it's been a long time since fans in Hab-land could feel as though their team is a favourite). Should be a good series either way, but my prediction: Montreal in 6.
Pittsburgh Penguins vs Ottawa Senators - Wow, how about these Pens? A lot of people thought they'd improve over last year as all those young stars matured, but I don't think too many people thought they'd be the #2 seed in the east (narrowly missing the #1 spot). And that was with their biggest star player in Crosby injured for much of the stretch. This is a fun team to watch with an insane amount of depth up-front. Goaltending is still a question mark, as is the defence and leadership. Ottawa went all the way to the final round last season, and at times this season had some of that form, but this still doesn't look like they are a cohesive unit right now, and the injury to Alfredsson is huge. I hate to say it as if it's true heads will roll in the nation's capital during the off-season, but my prediction: Pittsburgh in 5.
Washington Captials vs Philadelphia Flyers - As surprising as the Pens were this season, I don't think anyone would disagree that the Caps were an even greater surprise. Just a few weeks ago it didn't look like they'd make the playoffs and now they're the #3 seed. Ovechkin is coming off of a possibly Hart-like season (in addition to Rocket Richard and Art Ross trophies) and this will be his first taste of post-season play. Philly on the other hand just doesn't look like a team to me, but rather a collection of off-season free-agents that at times looked great and at other times looked completely mediocre. I don't think they'll go far after this round, but my money's on the Caps for this one. My prediction: Washington in 6.
New Jersey Devils vs New York Rangers - This should be a great battle, as these two teams are great rivals. Brodeur is coming off of yet another Vezina like season, and for much of the year the Devils looked like the team to beat in the east. New York should make this one interesting, but I don't see them getting past the Devils. My prediction: New Jersey in 7.
And there you have it. Usually what happens as well is my wife makes her predictions and we have a friendly little competition to see who ends up doing a better job of predicting the playoffs so I'll post her predictions once she gives them to me.
At any rate, even though my boys (the Canucks) aren't there this year, I'm really looking forward to the playoffs this year. As mentioned earlier San Jose is my pick for the west and to win it all. The east is much tougher to call, so much parity in the Eastern Conference and moreover a lot of the high seeds are teams that are new to being high seeds. If push came to shove at this point I'd pick the Devils in the East, but I could just as easily see Crosby going on a tear and taking the Pens to the finals. Stay tuned....
Monday, August 6, 2007
Spyglass Board Games Achievement Guide
Okay, I've written up a short little achievement guide for the Xbox Live Arcade game "Spyglass Board Games". It can be found at:
http://www.gamertagblog.com/get/333/SpyglassAchList.txt
Enjoy!
http://www.gamertagblog.com/get/333/SpyglassAchList.txt
Enjoy!
Wednesday, July 11, 2007
What Geeks Do On Holiday
I'm currently on holidays up in the Kooteneys of beautiful British Columbia, Canada. Specifically, I'm hanging out at the in-laws place in a small town called Kaslo. However, I wanted to share with the world how us geeks do things differently. Most people when visiting a summer town in the month of July enjoy the sunshine, go swimming, hiking, enjoy the beautiful outdoors (and believe me, the scenery here is truly breathtaking).
Geeks, like myself, however instead spend their time writing documents on lambda calculus to appear in their master thesis'. Or even more so, when they get tired of actual work, they decide they want to play some Xbox.
However, the router that my father-in-law uses to connect to the Internet is in a different room than the TV I get to use for my Xbox. But wait, I want my E3 downloads, how can I possibly download them if I cannot connect my 360 to the Internet?
If you're a non-geek you go out and fork over the $100+ for the Xbox 360 wireless adaptor. If you're a geek, and you have a laptop with an Ethernet jack and a wireless network adaptor, an old 10BaseT hub, and a few network cables, you jerry-rig your 360 to connect through your laptop. :)
I'm writing this while sitting in a small bedroom with my 360 hooked up to an old VCR which is hooked up to an old 22" or so TV. The 360 is also plugged into an old 10BaseT network hub, a hub which my laptop is also plugged into. I'm using all 4 sets of power outlets in the room (because there's A) so many devices I have floating around in here, and B) because most of them have big power plugs/adaptors which limits the ability to have more than one device in a wall outlet). There's wires all over the floor.
BUT, I'm also writing this blog entry, while downloading the Halo 3 E3 2007 trailer on Xbox Live. In short -- this is paradise!
When the holiday ends is in a half hour or so when my wife comes downstairs to watch her show (Men In Trees) on the laptop. "Sorry hon, but you can't take the laptop upstairs -- I'm downloading on the 360!"
Geeks, like myself, however instead spend their time writing documents on lambda calculus to appear in their master thesis'. Or even more so, when they get tired of actual work, they decide they want to play some Xbox.
However, the router that my father-in-law uses to connect to the Internet is in a different room than the TV I get to use for my Xbox. But wait, I want my E3 downloads, how can I possibly download them if I cannot connect my 360 to the Internet?
If you're a non-geek you go out and fork over the $100+ for the Xbox 360 wireless adaptor. If you're a geek, and you have a laptop with an Ethernet jack and a wireless network adaptor, an old 10BaseT hub, and a few network cables, you jerry-rig your 360 to connect through your laptop. :)
I'm writing this while sitting in a small bedroom with my 360 hooked up to an old VCR which is hooked up to an old 22" or so TV. The 360 is also plugged into an old 10BaseT network hub, a hub which my laptop is also plugged into. I'm using all 4 sets of power outlets in the room (because there's A) so many devices I have floating around in here, and B) because most of them have big power plugs/adaptors which limits the ability to have more than one device in a wall outlet). There's wires all over the floor.
BUT, I'm also writing this blog entry, while downloading the Halo 3 E3 2007 trailer on Xbox Live. In short -- this is paradise!
When the holiday ends is in a half hour or so when my wife comes downstairs to watch her show (Men In Trees) on the laptop. "Sorry hon, but you can't take the laptop upstairs -- I'm downloading on the 360!"
Thursday, June 7, 2007
And it is over
Well it was a good run for Ottawa, but the Ducks just would not be stopped. Great playoff season this year, and of course I'm quite pleased as I managed to predict 14/15 of the series this year. Not too shabby. :)
More importantly though I won my "bet" with my wife, which makes two years in a row that I've whooped her sorry NHL predictions. ;)
More importantly though I won my "bet" with my wife, which makes two years in a row that I've whooped her sorry NHL predictions. ;)
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