GREAT Bucks trade - WE'RE #! SOM Opening day

Thousands of baseball fans are making the annual pilgrimage from across the country to Glen Head NY for OPENING DAY.  The day Strat-o-Matic begins sales of this years baseball cards.

Lines start early in the morning with television crews broadcasting and live streams.

One kid had a dream to invent a table top baseball game that INCLUDED a pitcher. All games at the time only used batters stats, never pitcher stats.  The young kid invented a game using dice and for years tried to market it.

His dad wanted him to be an insurance salesman but the kid took out a $500 loan from his dad and on his very very last attempt before he gave up the dream he put a 1 inch ad in The Sporting News saying he would send free cards to anyone that purchased the trial version.

Fifty seven years later the game is in the Hall of Fame and most say it was the very first fantasy sports game and the very first attempt at analytics in baseball.

Iv'e never made the trip to Glen Head but have stayed home from school AND work waiting for the mail to arrive (next Tuesday).  When I was an alderman the cards always came on a meeting day.

It's a big deal!  I played my first SOM game in 1967.  I will guarantee that anybody that plays SOM knows more about individual players then the average fan.  Things that are missed in a normal stat line.  Many sportscasters have played the game and most MLB managers will admit they are better managing because of SOM.

SOM really did have a major influence on my life.  I used a slide ruler for batting averages (still have my bamboo slip stick) until my dad spent $75 on a calculator that had all four functions.  Since I was dyslectic with words but not numbers I was deep into numbers and this was my way of satisfying my craving for all things numeric.   

But I digress.

Strat-O-Matic Devotees Celebrate Its 50th Anniversary
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So Gus and I are playing with a ball. I throw it down the stairs and he chases it.  GREAT FUN and I can just sit on my butt.

He gets a squeaky rubber chicken and is playing with it. I grab and and toss it down the stairs.

" BUT!  Why, why did you do that daddy. Have I done something wrong? "

 I think he is going to cry LOL

I go fetch it but am a buzz kill I guess. Play time is over.

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SNOW - watch out next week.  Combined we're looking at somewhere between 5 and 11 inches of snow early next week.  Normal February temps. Snow Sunday, Monday, Tuesday, Thursday and Friday!

YIPPEE!

Hope everyone enjoyed the #frostquakes last night. Gus was barking randomly all night and a few shook the house.  One this morning was especially loud. 

Water seeps into the ground and with the quick freeze it expands and creates a mini earthquake.

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The Milwaukee Bucks made a big trade that many experts now believe they are the #1 team in the East.

Bucks acquire Nikola Mirotic from Pelicans as part of 3-team trade

another sharp shooting 3-pointer big man.  Only one team in the NBA shoots more 3-pointers then the Bucks,  Houston.   They took lots of spare parts and 4 second round picks and got the perfect player to compliment the team.

Of course Golden State has already won the Championship in a a couple months but at least we can dream.

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SO - there was a study about mixing alcohol (I was not involved) and if you got a bigger hangover when you mixed different booze.  Beer and then wine and so forth, you get the idea.  The answer?  NO - it's a myth.  Its the amount of booze you put in your system. Not the KIND of booze.

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There are twice the number of gun stores compared to McDonalds AND Starbucks combined. There is ZERO minimum security needed to operate a gun store. There are only four states that require ANY kind of security and in the last 4 years 32,000 guns have been stolen from gun stores.

Thank you NRA for making sure America is NOT safe.

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Thanks to the GOP banks in America saved $21 BILLION in taxes from the tax break for the rich. To celebrate all this extra cash they purchased back stocks and cut 4300 jobs.

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John Boehmer, you might remember him is launching a new federal lobbying outfit called the National Cannabis Roundtable.

Former Rep. Dana Rohrabacher (R-CA) (Ronald Reagans speech writer) tweeted - A HEMP-BASED CONCRETE BORDER WALL a win for USA security & taxpayers, farmers, veterans; environmentalists. Bold thinking! It’s affordable & will work.

ummmmmm OK.  I can see that happening LOL

The Colorado House of Representatives unanimously passed a bill adding autism spectrum disorders as medical cannabis qualifying conditions.

The Georgia Senate Judiciary Committee approved a bill to increase the amount of marijuana possession that constitutes a misdemeanor from one ounce to two ounces.

What is it in Wisconsin?

Canopy Growth plans to invest up to $500 million in hemp production in the U.S.

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Finally - Bezos vs. Natl Enquirer - I have my money on Bezos

Be warm - watch out for snow late Sunday