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The 33 Strategies of Sports: The Intelligence Strategy

  • February 29, 2012 12:01 am

The days you get your ass kicked, it’s usually not because of the situation, the person or organization you are facing – it’s because of your lack of preparation and attention. If you’re humiliated in a job interview, it’s because you didn’t know enough about the company’s philosophy. If you’re on a date and suddenly become an asshole, it’s because you’re not paying enough attention to the person sitting opposite you. In either case, you have become trapped in your own narcissism.

The greatest weapon is never more money or manpower, it’s the ability to read the mind of the man or woman you are facing. If you can read minds, you can literally accomplish anything. This is what the government calls “intelligence”. They never send agents out without having “Intel” brief them on their mission – like in a 007 movie.

In sports, when a favored opponent loses to a weaker one, they call it an “upset”. And if you’re into sports, the bigger the upset, the more thrilling the experience (unless you were cheering for the team that lost). Because, there is nothing like a good ass kicking that mirrors real life more accurately. Welcome Back to “The 33 Strategies of Sports”, a concoction of Robert Greene’s “33 Strategies of War” and sports history.

YOMYOMF Podcast: On The Offensive — the Itch Edition 2 (And Yes, We Talk about LINsanity)

  • February 22, 2012 12:23 am

Tune in to our latest podcast featuring members of the YOMYOMF family answering questions about why the hell we’re talking about sports (fantasy basketball in particular) and opining on the teeny-tiny phenomenon known as LINsanity, a topic that we may (or may not) actually have some insight to. Featuring family members Justin Lin (not to be confused with Jeremy Lin), Anderson Le, Greg D’Auria, Anson Ho, and Jimmy Tsai.

Click here to listen.

Kristi Yamaguchi: Making Asian American Sports History 20 Years Before, Well, You Know Who

  • February 21, 2012 9:55 pm

Twenty years ago today on February 21, 1992, Kristi Yamaguchi became the first Asian American to win an Olympic Gold Medal in the ladies singles category. Her performance brought her worldwide celebrity and an immense sense of pride within the Asian American community. Not unlike another Asian American athlete experiencing his own fair share of worldwide celebrity and Asian American pride at the moment.

But sadly some things haven’t changed much in 20 years. China may represent the growing “yellow peril” these days, but back in 1992, it was Japan in the role of the threatening Asian superpower. And Yamaguchi wasn’t immune from the ensuing racist backlash against Japan.

In the aftermath of her Olympic victory, there was much talk of how her Japanese heritage would prevent her from winning commercial endorsements and if you thought some of the media’s reporting on Jeremy Lin has bordered on racism (“chink in the armor” anyone?), on the heels of her victory, the media criticized Yamaguchi for everything from not being able to speak Japanese to fellow Japanese figure skater Midori Ito (conveniently ignoring that Yamaguchi was an American, born in California) and taking the victory away from a “real” American (that would be fellow skater Tonya Harding).

It’s Time To Have The Talk

  • February 17, 2012 4:20 am

Okay.  Let’s do it.  Let’s talk about Jeremy Lin’s faith.

We here on the coasts tend to gloss over talk of religion, or dismiss it as a funny family foible, or – when it shows up in our superstar athletes and celebrities – treat is as a big unsightly mole on an otherwise pretty face.

Lin hasn’t been as outspoken as Tebow about his Christianity,

but in an exclusive interview with the Oakland Tribune newspaper (hi Warriors, what’s up, how  you doin’?), he made it a precondition of the interview that they discuss only his faith.

Talk to me about God, or don’t talk to me at all.

The Tribune chose to talk.

Who Wants to Shell Out $500,000 to Buy a Useless Jeremy Lin Domain Name?

  • February 15, 2012 1:39 pm

Yup, it’ll cost you half a million dollars if you want to buy the domain name LinSinsation.com:

It’s not a surprise that with the nation in the grips of LINsanity (well, with the exception of SNL), people are going to try to make a buck off the Knicks sensation and one way to do it is to scoop up domain names that people may be interested in. But with the most obvious ones related to Jeremy Lin already taken, these enterprising individuals have to be more creative and the good folks at jockular have compiled some of the most ridiculous ones that are for sale on ebay as of this writing.

So for just $3500, you can be the proud owner of Linister.com:

Around the Horn: special fantasy basketball JLin17 vs. Kobe edition

  • February 10, 2012 9:37 pm

I’ve been getting a lot of requests since the Bill Simmons article to share more about what we do in our fantasy league.  Besides intense daily player movements and watching Sal “the machine” chase after us like the Terminator, we usually do a lot of trashing talking on our message board. Today, however, we stopped hatin’ on each other to unify and stand against the one self proclaimed Black Mamba– Kobe Bryant. Sure he’s an easy target, but anyone who gives themselves a nickname should never go unscathed. Plus, is this how a superstar should act?  You judge for yourself. It all started with a little note from Lou in the morning.

LOU: Hello fantasy basketball family,
Thought I’d start off your mornings with this one. Haha

This clip confirms my love/hate relationship with Kobe. Haha

thanks for nothing

  • February 7, 2012 1:31 pm

Been getting some well wishes from people since Monday.

The only problem is that I do not play for the New York Knickerbockers.

That’s Jeremy Lin.

Pro Athletes Have The Best Names

  • January 20, 2012 4:29 am

Forget about Apple, Banjo, Blue Angel, Camera, Jazz Domino, Diva Muffin, Puma, Tabooger, Ocean, Zowie Bowie, or Pilot Inspektor (well, maybe not Pilot Inspektor – what were Jason Lee and Beth Riesgraf thinking?), because musicians and actors have got nothing on pro athletes.

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ding, ding, ding! Yes, it's Jacquizz Rodgers!

We live in the Bay Area – the Oakland side – and since we won’t be able to root for the Raiders this playoff season, my fifteen year old son Rafael and I have decided to jump on the 49ers bandwagon.  But it’s hard to muster much umph for a QB named Alex Smith.

One Man’s Mental Process When Documenting Fantasy Basketball When He Doesn’t Know How to Play Basketball.

  • January 16, 2012 12:00 am

PROLOGUE:

I’m seriously being asked to document the fantasy basketball league? I don’t know the first thing about sports, let alone basketball! How will I know what to take pictures of?

This is gonna be like a still photographer being asked to document the behind-the-scenes stuff for a movie and only taking pictures of the craft service table.

It’s been how long since I touched a basketball? That’s one of the bigger sports balls, right? Justsayyesjustsayyesjustsayyes.

“Yeah, I’ll do it!”

…crap.

The Bet

  • January 13, 2012 4:31 am

Here’s the bet: if the Broncos win the Superbowl, and Tebow is named MVP, my 15 year old son Rafael will “convert to whatever religion Tebow is, but not as devoted as him, because that’s not possible.”

And as we all know, ever since the NFL banned eye black Bible references because of Tebow (John 3:16), he’s a Christian.

Me, I’m a fence sitting wannabe doubting Catholic (well, “doubting’s” a bit of a gloss: I’m 90% atheist, 10% agnostic, and somewhere in that 10% I concede that God may exist), but then again, last Sunday, even though he wasn’t allowed to write “3:16” on his face, Tebow did throw for 316 yards in his, ahem, miraculous win against the heavily favored Steelers.

YOMYOMF Podcast: On the Offensive – The Itch Edition

  • January 10, 2012 3:00 pm

If you’ve been following YOMYOMF over the holidays, you may have read about some of our members’ moment in the spotlight of the fantasy sports universe via an ESPN/Grantland Bill Simmons column. Well, if you’re interested in following our soap opera of a fantasy league (declared by Simmons as “the greatest fantasy league EVER” – his words, not mine), we’ve got a bit of a follow-up.

Several of our basketball-crazed Offenders and extended members of the Family gathered together last week to present the second official podcast of the YOMYOMF network, which we’ve come to name “On the Offensive,” with this version aptly being the sports edition, or what we like to call, “The Itch.”

Best Victory Celebrations: Touchdowns vs. Soccer Goals

  • December 27, 2011 4:32 am

My fifteen year old son Rafael’s DVR season passes include No Huddle, Sound FX, NFL Total Access, NFL Fantasy Live,The League, The Rich Eisen Podcast, and The Coach Show.

My DVR season passes include the Spanish Primera Division Soccer, Oh My Gol!, Bundesliga Soccer, and the UEFA Europa League Soccer.

I was born in Spain.

My son was born in the U.S. of A.

But whether you like or despise universal health care, like or despise a big military, like or despise stinky cheeses, I think we can all agree that NFL player Joe Horn’s “cell phone” celebration is the best victory celebration on either continent.