Update after one game... :)

The Most Extreme Scenarios-

Two-
White Sox win 3, Red Sox win 3
Result-Red Sox win the East, Yankees win the Wild Card

The Extreme Scenerios

Five-
White Sox win 3, Yankees win 2, Red Sox win 1
Result-Yankees win East, Red Sox win Wild Card

Six-
White Sox win 3, Red Sox win 2, Yankees win 1
Result-Yankees and Red Sox split the East and Wild Card (I don't know how this is solved)

Eleven-
Red Sox win 3, White Sox win 2, Indians win 1
Result-Red Sox win East, Yankees and Indians play a play-in for the Wild Card

Twelve-
Red Sox win 3, Indian win 2, White Sox win 1
Result-Red Sox win East, Indians win the Wild Card

The Likely Scenarios-

Thirteen-
White Sox win 2, Indians win 1, Yankees win 2, Red Sox win 1
Result-Yankees win the East, Indians and the Red Sox play a play-in for the Wild Card

Fourteen-
White Sox win 2, Indians win 1, Red Sox win 2, Yankees win 1
Result-Yankees and Red Sox split the Wild Card and the East (again, however this is decided, presumeably by record, which the Yankees have more wins vs. the Red Sox)

Fifteen-
Indians win 2, White Sox win 1, Yankees win 2, Red Sox win 1
Result-Yankees win East, Indians win Wild Card

and finally the ultimate scenario, Sixteen-
Indians win 2, White Sox win 1, Red Sox win 2, Yankees win 1
Result-umm...hard to say...the Yankees and the Red Sox tie for the East and have to play a play-in game to see who wins...but...the Indians have to play the loser for the Wild Card in a play-in game...oh my.

Boston- 6 in, 2 play-in, 1 out
88% Total Chance 77% Realistic Chance
Cleveland-2 in, 3 play-in 4 out
55% Total Chance 40% Realistic Chance
New York- 6 in, 2 play-in, 1 out
88% Total Chance 77% Realistic Chance

Cross your fingers!

Okay folks, let's talk baseball.

Whether you like it or not, the baseball playoff hunt is usually the best time of the year for myself, next to the playoffs themselves. In order to fully appreciate this year's contention race, you have to understand a few things.

1. Only four teams from both league make the playoffs, the top team in the East, Central, and West divisions, along with the top other team, popularly known as the Wild Card team. That gives us our four.

2. The Angels and the White Sox already have clinched their respective divisions, the former being the West and the latter the Central.

3. The Yankees are a game up on the Red Sox, thanks to Big Papi's heroic effort in the bottom of the ninth last night. This race is for the East.

4. The damn Cleveland Indians, who are having a good year (who knew) are tied with the Red Sox for the Wild Card. This sets up a unique situation. Usually there are two to three teams fighting for the wild card spot, but this year the East title is up for grabs also.

5. All teams involved plus the Chicago White Sox have exactly three games left. Where is gets even more interesting (if that is possible) is that the Yankees play IN Boston for the last three games, and the White Sox play in Cleveland for the last three games for those respective teams.

6. If a tie for the wild card, or AL East does occur, then baseball has a one day play-in game to see who makes the playoffs.

All of this comes down to one giant pile of confusion. I was bored subbing one hour today, so I made up a sheet that shows ever possible combination of the six games. Follow along if you can.

Ahem.

The Most Extreme Scenarios-

Scenario One-
White Sox win 3, Yankees win 3
Result-Yankees win the East, Cleveland and Boston have to play a play-in game

Two-
White Sox win 3, Red Sox win 3
Result-Red Sox win the East, Yankees win the Wild Card

Three-
Indians win 3, Yankees win 3
Result-Yankees win the East, Indians win the Wild Card

Four-
Indians win 3, Red Sox win 3
Result-Red Sox win the East, Indians win the Wild Card

The Extreme Scenerios

Five-
White Sox win 3, Yankees win 2, Red Sox win 1
Result-Yankees win East, Red Sox win Wild Card

Six-
White Sox win 3, Red Sox win 2, Yankees win 1
Result-Yankees and Red Sox split the East and Wild Card (I don't know how this is solved)

Seven-
Indians win 3, Yankees win 2, Red Sox win 1
Result-Yankees win East, Indians win Wild Card

Eight-
Indians win 3, Red Sox 2, Yankees win 1
Result-Indians win Wild Card, Red Sox and Yankees play a play-in for the East

Nine-
Yankees win 3, White Sox win 2, Indians win 1
Result-Yankees win East, Indians win Wild Card

Ten-
Yankees win 3, Indians win 2, White Sox win 1
Result-Yankees win East, Indians win Wild Card

Eleven-
Red Sox win 3, White Sox win 2, Indians win 1
Result-Red Sox win East, Yankees and Indians play a play-in for the Wild Card

Twelve-
Red Sox win 3, Indian win 2, White Sox win 1
Result-Red Sox win East, Indians win the Wild Card

The Likely Scenarios-

Thirteen-
White Sox win 2, Indians win 1, Yankees win 2, Red Sox win 1
Result-Yankees win the East, Indians and the Red Sox play a play-in for the Wild Card

Fourteen-
White Sox win 2, Indians win 1, Red Sox win 2, Yankees win 1
Result-Yankees and Red Sox split the Wild Card and the East (again, however this is decided, presumeably by record, which the Yankees have more wins vs. the Red Sox)

Fifteen-
Indians win 2, White Sox win 1, Yankees win 2, Red Sox win 1
Result-Yankees win East, Indians win Wild Card

and finally the ultimate scenario, Sixteen-
Indians win 2, White Sox win 1, Red Sox win 2, Yankees win 1
Result-umm...hard to say...the Yankees and the Red Sox tie for the East and have to play a play-in game to see who wins...but...the Indians have to play the loser for the Wild Card in a play-in game...oh my.

Now, here are the totals as I see them

Red Sox-7 in for sure, 4 play-in games, 5 out
69% Total chance, 56% Realistic chance for playoffs

Yankees-11 in for sure, 3 play-in games, 2 out
88% Total chance, 78% Realistic chance for playoffs

Indians-8 in for sure, 4 play in games, 4 out
75% Total chance, 63% Realistic chance for playoffs

The good news is after tonight, we can cross off six of the scenarios. It's going to be a wild ride.

Enjoy the greatest game on Earth, baseball!

Cody

Yesterday, September 26th is the day I will remember. I woke up and just felt...different. So, my current catchphrase is Cody 2.0. I'll make this short and sweet. I feel way different. I smile more, and I'm looking forward to life for the first time in a while.

Lindsay, I just want to say thank you for everything. I"m ready to let you go in my mind finally. I don't know that anyone will ever match up as well we did, but I just want to say thank you for everything. You were everything I ever wanted, or could have wished for. I hope you have found that again with Andrew, and I hope that someday I can find that again as well. No hard feeling and best of luck in whatever life brings you. Thank you.

Kelli, I hope someday you find whatever it is you are looking for. Best of luck in all you do, and may you find someone better than the person you are with now. You deserve better.

Here's to fresh starts and letting the past go.

Thank you both for everything.

Cody

And there she was...

Well, against my better judgment, last night I approached Kelli at work. I wanted to tell her off so much, but mainly I just wanted to get us on talking terms again. So I cornered her while she was working and asked her if her plan was to just never talk to me again. She said no, and I left, my heart beating faster and harder then I thought it would. Later we talked again, briefly, and I told her to wait for me to leave work.

We walked out together and I tried my best to get to tell me about her boyfriend. All I can gather is that she is A-happy, B-not happy, and C-really fucked up. She told me that she fucking hates her parents (almost in those words) and that if it wasn't for them, we might be a thing right now. Women, I tell ya. We hugged several times and it felt good. Too good. Apparently she is still going to have the talk with me about the things we never had a chance to finish up, but unfortunately I don't know when. Who knows...but its a tough talk to look forward to.

Exercise Fiend

It started pretty much once I was single. I decided to get into better shape. At first I tried doing the occasional run, dancing, jogging, etc., but I pretty much grew bored with them all. Which is made even more sad by the fact that I purchased an MP3 player to persuade myself into doing it. I have pretty much bombed on this aspect of my health log. However, there are two aspects in which I succeeded.

I was able to limit myself to having only one pop a day. That was my goal, although I do allow myself more if it is a special occasion, such as a ritzy dining place or someone's birthday. Its an odd sensation, and I go through rough desires, such as thinking I don't want pop ever again, to wanting a million glasses when I get that first taste. But overall, I don't miss it all that much. I drink tons of water, especially raising my flavored water intake, to keep me hydrated.

Where I really get in shape is my daily routine. Kelli calls them my "sitties" and "pushies", or at least she did when we talked to each other. I started in June doing 50 sit-ups and 30 push-ups a day. Everyday. No exceptions. This was something I tried while I was dating Lindsay, but is easier now that I have more time. In July I added ten to each. In August ten more. And now I'm halfway through September and doing 80 sit-ups and 60 push-ups each day (except on Sunday when I work a 12 hour shift at Wal-Mart. To day these are my very proud totals...

June 550 sit-ups, 330 push-ups
July 1620 sit-ups, 1080 push-ups
August 1895 sit-ups, 1300 push-ups

September should be on pace to beat that.

I'm looking good and feeling good!

Cody

Next "And there she was..."

"Path of Least Resistance"

Before I get going on this journal post, I would just like to give my condolences to both the victims of hurricane Katrina, as well as the everyone that was involved with the 9/11 debacle. I still remember waking up that morning and having Michelle (my girlfriend at the time) call me and tell me to turn on my television. I sat in awe at the utter damage that I was witnessing. I spent almost the entire day watching it with her. I remember sitting in the marketplace eating and having the broadcast coming on over the radio. It was the eeriest meal of my life. I remember the oddest thing was that my favorite class that day--U.S. History--would not let us watch the broadcast. Irony, no?

Okay, today's very deep felt journal is called the Path of Least Resistance. What I wanted to talk about was human nature. I don't fully expect anyone to get my point of view or fully understand what I've been through, but here goes nothing. I have three people which I need to vent about. I guess this is more about human decisions than anything else.

First off, is Lindsay. Go ahead and roll your eyes, I know, beat the dead horse right? I haven't spoken to her in months, but I do see her very frequently in the store, probably more so than she knows. After I cheated on Lindsay, which perhaps was my path of least resistance, Lindsay chose to do what she always does, not take any time to for once in her life figure out who she was. I guarantee she may think she knows who she is, but I would have serious doubts for that assumption. She chose to move on to Andrew, a whopping two days after we broke up. I know for a fact how Lindsay thinks, and how she treats life. She moves on completely, rapidly, and without hesitation, her own path of least resistance. It would be too much pain to go through to stop and think about what was really great in her life, instead she just moves on to whatever is a decent match. I'm not going to say in any way that her and Andrew aren't a great couple, I don't really know them since they've been them. But I do know that when someone has only been single two days in over six years, and has been with at least three guys in that time, that they are looking for the path of least resistance. I think Lindsay moves on like she does out of fear, uncertainty, and a true lack of understanding for the way people are really tied to each other. I've seen her places that she hasn't seen me, and it took me a while to recognize the twinkle in her eye. At first I thought it may have been anger towards me, then perhaps I thought it was some sort of sadness about what happened with me, now however, I realize that it was none of those...its uncertainty. I see it every time I see her, she may think and feel like she is truly happy, but I do see a bit of that look in her every time I see her from afar. How can every match your whole life be the best ever? Would only seem that you don't really know what the best can be. She has used the path of least resistance many times, and I guess I don't blame her. If I could have moved on and felt different emotions this summer I would have. We as humans are weak, and those that see the weakness in others are the ones that appreciate the strength in the same ones.

My second tryst is about Kelli. Realizing that many of you don't know Kelli as well, she was the person I spent the entire summer trying to 'get with', 'date', or whatever you want to call it. She had been playing both me and her ex-boyfriend on and off. What I lost in Kelli was a bit of respect. She had gone home to Wisconsin for a week and came back. We were very huggy, kissy, snuggly on the night that she came back. Then, as I find out from a mutual acquaintance, she is back with her boyfriend. While the end result is sure to bother me, perhaps it isn't for the worst anyway, as I am a very confident outgoing person while she is very shy and withdrawn. What really irks me are two things. One, she hasn't spoken to me once since then. Not once. I've tried, thinking that at least she and I could be friends, at the very worst people who spoke to each other. The other thing is that for months and months she told me about how great I was to her, showing her how great a guy could be, while reminding me how her last boyfriend was emotionally abusive to her 24-7. I can understand going back to someone. I see my friend Stacey deal with this day in day out. Hell, not a day goes by that I don't think about Lindsay in some capacity. But when you know that the other person is worse? That's just choosing the path of least resistance. In this case the end result is really sad. I understand that some people are fucked up in the head, but could we not just spare some common sense so that everyone had some?

Third and finally, is myself. Obviously I shouldn't be preaching, when I am the one who created this spiral for myself in my life. I took the path of least resistance on that one night and I created a monster in myself. I lost track of who I was. Perhaps I was lost before that; I'm not sure, what I do know is that I took my own path of least resistance. Since then however, I have been doing a good job, for the most part, of taking the road less traveled. Shaking Andrew's hand seemed to me to be the biggest thing I could have done this summer, short of apologizing to Lindsay, which I will always feel I was never given the chance to do. I have had several girls approach me this summer and possibly they would have been dateable, possibly could fill a void that I have sorely lacked the entire summer, possibly I could have even thought I loved them as much as anyone I have ever met, but that would take a long feeling out process, and my gut feeling of correctness. And believe me, I'm doing what I can to eliminate the path of least resistance when it comes to the bigger things in my life.

I've seen three bad mistakes this summer and I'm doing my best everyday to make sure I don't see anymore for a long time.

ROAD LESS TRAVELED

Two roads diverged in a yellow wood
And sorry I could not travel both
And be one traveler, long I stood
And looked down one as far as I could
To where it bent in the undergrowth

Then took the other as just as fair
And having perhaps the better claim
Because it was grassy and wanted wear
Though as for that, the passing there
Had worn them really about the same

And both that morning equally lay
In leaves no step had trodden black
Oh, I kept the first for another day!
Yet, knowing how way leads onto way
I doubted if I should ever come back

I shall be telling this with a sigh
Somewhere ages and ages hence
Two roads diverged in a wood
And I took the one less traveled by
And that has made all the difference


Robert Frost


--Cody--

Next "Exercise Fiend"

Virginity Lost...

Okay, so my core group of friends, Karen, Katie, and Nate have created this thing called losing our viginity. Its whenever we do something new together that at least one of us hasn't done, we say that we have lost out -----viginity. For the most part this summer it was me taking the virginity of the others and having them go places they hadn't gone or doing things they hadn't done before, but as of recently it has been me that was losing our virginity.

It all started when we took our trip to Hidden Beach, which I maintain is the only natural wonder left in Marquette that I ever wanted to visit. We spent the night there and it was a fucking blast. The water was beautiful, and the temperature was just right. We had about 25 candles around our campsite and I was in charge of the fire all night. Katie, Karen, Matt Fleming, Dave, and myself spent the night, while Nate chose to go home to to several bad leg injuries sustained on the way there. If you have ever been to this place, let me tell you it is not just a walk in the park to get to the frickin beach. While that trip was fun, I was about to lose more virginities than even I was thinking I would.

It all started this past Friday, and for those of you who know me, no one is not letting this go down as the biggest thing ever to happen to me. I have been getting shit from everyone because of who I am and what I did. Oh well, I'm not complaining at all, in fact, I find the repsonses to be quite humorous. Jamie Van Buren, one of my dear Wal-Mart pals was going out to dinner and whatnot for her 21st birthday. They asked me if I wanted to come and oddly I was in a strange mood and said yes.

Meeting at the Upfront at 830, Matt Fleming, Lars, Danielle, Jamie, Dan, their friend Jerry, our old friend Jake (who used to work at Wal-Mart) and myself had dinner at the Upfront and Company. It was a great dinner, as I elected to have the Meat Lover's Calzone. In addition, a band was setting up, Phat Phunktion. Matt had to return home, so I drove him back and then went back to the Upfront. By this time the band was playing and we sat and listened to them until about 11 or so. At this point, they wanted to meet a friend of theirs (Kadie perhaps?) at the Dog House, so that is where we went next. I should point out as a big surprise to everyone that at this point, I have had no alcohol in me whatsoever. And thus the spiral begins. So thus far they have taken my regular dining at Upfront Virginity and my Dog House virginity. As people bought her more and more kinds of drinks, I of course had to sample some here and there, and in fact continued to sample way more than I ever thought possible to me. We left the Dog House at midnight or close to and went to the Matrix(xx)(xxx)(or however many damn x's it has). As soon as I walked in people that knew me almost fell over. I think I could feel the alcohol consumption double as they tried to adjust to seeing me. It was a bit odd, mostly a million Wal-Mart people, but several that I knew from school and whatnot as well. We sat around for a while and then as the place filled up, they took to the floor while I sat and talked to some Wal-Mart peeps. Finally they played an electronica dance song, and I hit the floor, where I remained until they kicked us out. I sampled more drinks here and actually even had someone buy me a "whatever-the-fuck-is-in-the-test-tube-drink". I gulped mine, while others sipped. I had numerous ladies grinding on me, which I can honestly tell you I did not enjoy. One wasn't so bad, but the other didn't need to be giving me lapdances, or crotch dances as it were. I also finally met my friend Kerri's friend from Washington that she was trying to hook me up with. We danced and talked for a while, but I don't think I have any interest in her. All in all I've had a million people ask me to go out with them since then. People who I barely know are inviting me out for their birthdays, and I have the Lars crew, the Stacey crew, and the Katie crew all telling me I need to go with them. They are all convinced it was a one time thing. Who knows, maybe it was. But for this night, there was more virginity lost!

Quote of the night-"...no that's you!" LOL get Dan, Lars and me together and try not to laugh, fucking dare ya!

Next up-Path of Least Resistance!