Sing Praise to God

A Hymn of for Sunday Worship


http://www.cyberhymnal.org/non/sv/ostoregu.htm

NCAA Basketball Big Bucks!

REVIEW: Rounds 1 & 2; Monday, March 20, 206

Heading to the Final Four, Maybe.

All four teams I picked to go to the Final Four survived thier first and second round games over the weekend. That doesn't mean I'm any closer to winning the $10,000 first prize in ESPN's Tournament Challenge.

Of the three entries I submitted to ESPN, only one is still performing well, showing 91 % percent accuracy. But I have only earned 450 points ot of a possible 640. ESPN's Leader Board

shows the top contender at 94 % with 540 points. My ranking is 223478 out of 2.2 million entrants.

Since the point system is an assending scale, the next round of games are worth 60 and 80 points each, with the Final Four netting 120 points for correct picks. The championship game is worth 160 points. So, it's easy to catch up quickly, if the leaders miss one or two games from here on out.

This ESPN contest is lods of fun. I recommend it for any NCAA turney

UPDATE: Saturday, March 18, 2006

WARREN, PA--I did the math. And, it doesn’t figure to my advantage. I will not be collecting $10,000 as the winner of the ESPN Tournament Challenge for the NCAA men‘s basketball tourney.

I cannot accumulate enough points to overtake the current leaders, about 200 of the 2.2 million entrants who have near perfect scores.

My highest possible score in 1550 of 1680.

But, it’s not all gloom and doom. I’m currently running at 81 percent, having correctly picked the winners in 26 of 32 games in the first round. I only have three future loses straight through to the championship game, so I’ll probably move up in the rankings. I’m in 506,785 place right now.




Keep the bragging rights, I'll take the $10,000 from ESPN

After about 20 years of participating in a local “office pool” for the NCAA Men’s Basketball Tournament, I opted this time for the Internet and found several national pools that offer cash., cars and Final Four tickets as top prizes.

The local pool required a $2 entry fee. Since it’s a small office there is only about $75 in potential winnings, and bragging rights.

The ESPN national challenge contest offers $10,000 for a winning entry. There is no entry fee and you can submit as many as five entries FREE! Other free pools I’ve entered are CBSSports, which offers two tickets to the 2007 Final Four as top prize, and NCAA Challenge, a pool apparently sponsored by General Motors, which offers a Pontiac Gran AM as top prize.

Preliminary results for my entry in the ESPN Challenge finds that after half of the first round games on Thursday, my best showing is the entry I submitted picking all the top seded teams to win their games.

I scored 120 of a possible 160 points to yeild an 89 % performance. I rank 305,196 out of 2.2 million entries. Currently there are 78,456 perfect entries.

Then, I’ll turn my attention to horse racing in April as we head to the Triple Crown followed by the NHL playoffs and Stanley Cup finals in June.

While most of my weekend will focus on watching the NCAA tourney and the prospects of winning big cash, I’ll take a break here and there for some socializing. My friend Vicky and I are set for lunch at Taco Hut on Saturday. She has an active interest in the tournament and has been participating in the local office pool from the beginning. She has won first place honors at least twice now.

On the arts and culture scene this weekend, is the season finale Saturday evening for the Warren Concert Association, which is closing this year with the jazzy big band sound of the Gene Krupa Orchestra.

Think and Act Effectively

Here are more theories and practices that you can apply to all types of situations in life to obtain a positive and proactive result. They are culled from The Four Agreements of the Toltec by Miguel Ruiz and James Covey’s Habits of Success.

These are the last in the series. Scroll down this page to find the first section. I’ll compile both sections later this week and publish them as a whole next Monday, and repeat them once a month thereafter.

Don’t make assumptions - Find the courage to ask questions and to express what you really want. Communicate with others as clearly as you can to avoid misunderstandings, sadness and drama. With just this one agreement, you can completely transform your life.

Always do your best - Your best is going to change from moment to moment; it will be different when you are healthy as opposed to sick. Under any circumstance, simply do your best, and you will avoid self-judgment, self-abuse and regret.

Put first things first-This the practice of personal management. It is about organizing and implementing activities in line mental and physical creation.

Think win-win
Develop interpersonal leadership, which is necessary because achievements are largely dependent on co-operative efforts with others. A win-win strategy is based on the premise that there is plenty for everyone, and that success follows a co-operative approach more naturally than the confrontation of win-or-lose.

Seek to understand so you can be understood- One of the great maxims of the modern age: direct and effective communication; in short, diagnose before you prescribe. It's extremely powerful, and essential for developing and maintaining positive relationships in all aspects of life.

I’m a M-A-N!
Male of the species. God’s first human creature.
The original procreator. First to kill another, brother.

I’m a manley man! I use power tools, cut wood.
I enjoy making and eating gourmet dinners.
I wash white and colored clothes separately.

Male of the species. Protector, provider.
I don‘t hunt or fish. I have no firearms.
I’m a lover-man! I get satisfaction!
Long-legged redheads, busty blonds
I cried when Elvis died. I speak French.
I write poems, drink Port, sing hymns.

Male of the species. Leader, competitor, winner.
I only make dollar-bets on sports. I don’t play the lottery.

I’m a strong man. What! Feminine side!
I climb the ladder, bang the hammer.
I love my two cats, enjoy flower gardening,
bathe daily, put on hair gel, clean underwear.

Male of the species. I’m a man!
That’s what I am. That’s all I am.
And so is Lola, L-O-L-A, Lola, L-O-L-A....

Inspired to Poetry

After watching the conclusion of Charles Dickens Bleak House on PBS Masterpiece Theater Sunday night, my friend Sandi sent an e-mail with this observation:

“I was thinking how garden scenes in Dickens always deal with love--the real and confessed love. Think of Pip and Estella in Great Expectations; every critical love conversation was held in a garden.”

Bleak House ended with a delightful garden wedding scene in the English countryside. On Monday, I was listening to Vivaldi’s The Four Seasons. Sandi’s observations and the music inspired this poem:

Love’s Garden
in four season

Amid tulip, daffodil and phlox
first love buds, springing new.
Discovering that honeysuckle kiss
embracing tight as Vine Rose

Amid daisy, lily and mint
lasting love renews, heart’s true.
Savoring that honeysuckle kiss
rooting firm as English Ivy.

Amid mum, aster, and sage
lost love forlorn, memories to mourn.
Longing that honeysuckle kiss
bracing for the Autumn storms.

Amid frost-frozen leaf decay
death takes love, bones bare.
Absent now that honeysuckle kiss
sealing life’s bliss in Winter’s snow.

Amid all flowers, plants and greens
God makes blossom love for all.
Creator of that honeysuckle kiss
His hand tills, Love’s Garden fills.