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From Donkey To Champion
Tuesday, October 30, 2007

"Crikey, mate, pocket Aces again?"

If I heard that once, I heard it 20 times over the course of my week in Australia. What a magical week it turned out to be. Just a few weeks earlier, I had been a Low Limit Grinder, but with some fortuitous flops and one tournament in particular, when I was run over by the deck, I was now sitting at my first live final table at the Aussie Millions.

--

Flash back to the Mookie, a month or so before, and I was able to parlay a few timely hands into a final table finish, hoping to finish the job and gain entry into the Tournament of Champions. It was a stacked final table, but I had plenty of chips and was choosing my spots carefully.

Seat 1: Hoyazo
Seat 2: Fuel55
Seat 3: HighOnPoker
Seat 4: The host himself, Mookie
Seat 5: Cracknaces
Seat 6: Surflexus
Seat 7: TripJax
Seat 8: MiamiDon
Seat 9: yours truly, with the 3rd highest chip stack.

The play was fairly cautious at the beginning of the final table, with each of the combatants eying entry into the TOC. The hand of destiny occurred shortly after the final table began with a cooler to end all coolers. MiamiDon moved his shortstack into the middle from UTG and I quickly called with.......what else........A-A. It folded around to Cracknaces, who re-shoved over the top of me and I insta-called and was thrilled to see Don and Chad both held K-K. I had them both covered and my Aces held, allowing me to take over the chip lead that I would not relinquish.

I sat back and played big stack poker, putting everybody to the test at every opportunity. It was as if an alien had taken over my body and I had turned into Jamie Gold right before their eyes. Nobody could believe the aggression coming from me, but truth be told, "It's easy with Aces."

I went heads up with Hoyazo for the championship and my A-K dominated his JackAce for the title. I had somehow waded through 125 people, the biggest Mookie field to date, and won my entry into the TOC, with a chance for the spot at the tables in Australia, courtesy of AlCantHang and Full Tilt Poker.

--

Fast forward to the Tournament of Champions. 26 of the best players the blogging world has to offer.........and me.

Three full tables with mine fields at every turn. Raises, re-raises.......steals, re-steals happening all around me and suddenly, it happened. The deck began to cooperate. I was able to see a few cheap flops and flopped huge several times in a row, eliminating a solid player every single time.

The first time, I flopped the nut flush and slow-played it to perfection, allowing Lucko to make two pair on the river.

Next was Iggy, who flopped TPTK, only to run into my well-disguised set of 10's.

Then came Fuel55, who couldn't get away from his Aces, when I had flopped my set with Presto! Presto is gold and I used the magical powers against the coiner of the phrase.

The final table was a blur, as the Keystone Light kept flowing and my huge hands continued to get paid off. Finally, heads up with AlCantHang himself, I called his desperation push with the JackAce, only to see Al flip up A-Q. Two Jacks on the flop and another on the river gave me DQB! and I had won my entry into the Aussie Millions. Dreams couldn't come true and be this freaking good, could they?

I was on cloud nine and although everybody thought I was a lucksac, pffft, I said, I'm the champ and I'm headed to Australia to do some damage.

--

The flight to Australia seemed to take forever and there was absolutely no way I could get any sleep. I was entirely too nervous, excited, eager (insert your own adjective) to close my eyes for even one second. By the time we reached the casino, I hadn't slept for nearly two days, but sleep would soon come.

I slept so long that I missed the start time and a complete hour of play at my first table. I arrived just in time to pick up my hand from the big blind. Gus Hansen had raised from middle position and everyone had folded around to me. I peeked down at the weapons of mass destruction. Show tunes were going off in my head, the whole nine yards.

I calmly ask Gus for a count and he laughs out loud at me, so I move all-in. Yup, almost 9000 chips in the second level. He. I guess I was a bit too excited, I sit back and think. He had raised to 500 and I just over bet to nearly 9K. I guess that will get me the blinds, but wait a second, Gus is actually contemplating a call........and then..........he does call, flipping up pocket Kings. Wow. No King comes and I double up just like that. Maybe this overbet thing is not so overrated.

I finish the 1st day around 40K in chips, mostly from steals and re-raises in position. Dr. Pauly and Change100 stop by on a break and Pauly mentions that I am playing "normal GCox poker." Weak-tight, I ask? Nope, fairly tight-aggressive. He also tells me that Gus is the only person in the room that makes that call, at that level, that early in the tournament. Genius, he calls it. Heh, scared stupidity is the more like definition, but I like genius.

During the second and third days of the tournament, my hands basically play themselves, with the exception of one hand:

Phil Hellmuth has just been moved to our table on my immediate right. He has a nice stack, but I have him well-covered for the time being. He is quiet today, for some reason, but the fireworks start up soon enough.

I force him to lay down an EP raise when I come over the top of him with the hammer. I show. He doesn't quite explode, but he's close. I plan on trying to help him to explosion status.

He raises again and I look down to see..........A-A again. This time, I decide to be tricky and just smooth call his raise, allowing both the blinds to call with proper odds. The flop is A-9-4 rainbow. I'm not sure I could have drawn that up any better and again, the show tunes are going off so loud in my head that I am sure Phil can hear them.

He makes his standard continuation bet, representing a big Ace and I pretend to go in the tank. He starts his prattling about being run down by donkey after donkey all week and I continue to take my time. Finally, I smooth call his C-bet and both the blinds fold.

Now I've got him exactly where I want him. He has taken the betting lead and I have him dominated, how do I get the most out of him? A King hits the board on the turn and after some consternation, Phil checks it to me and I immediately say "All-In" with my best shaking hand impersonation as I move my chips to the middle. I don't even get All out of my mouth before he yells call, stands up and slams down Big Slick.

The look on his face will forever be etched into my memory as I table my A-A and he quickly realizes that he is drawing dead. My tournament could have ended right then and there and I would have been a happy man. I shook his hand, leaned over and whispered into Phil's ear "Don't you know who I am?"

--

The rest of the tournament is a blur. A whirlwind of all-in moves and calls. About the only thing I remember is eliminating Doyle Brunson. He had flopped two pair with "the Brunson" but, unfortunately for him, Presto is again gold and my set held up. Doyle was as cordial and genuine as he always seems on TV. "Take it down, son" were his parting words as I shook the hand of a true legend.

I eventually ended up heads up with Joe Hachem, the hometown favorite. I had him outchipped more than 4 to 1 but Joe had absolutely no plans of rolling over for me. He chipped away at my stack and finally had drawn almost even, down just a couple hundred thousand chips. That's when it happened.

He made a standard raise and I looked down to again find.......A-A. I re-raise about the size of the entire pot.

"Crikey, mate" Joe says, "pocket Aces again?"

My heart sank, he was reading me like a book. He will surely fold this hand and wait for a better spot now.

I sat motionless and prayed for a call. Suddenly, Joe stood up and announced, "I'm all-in." I called immediately and Joe's pocket Queens couldn't find another Hilton Sister. The rush of emotion that came over me was something I had never experienced before in my life. All I could come up with at the time was "Pass the sugah, my brothah."

I had played great poker for the last three weeks, but even more important, I had been completely run over by the deck for the entire time. Lucksac or not, I was the champion of the Aussie Millions and suddenly had more money in my possession than I had ever seen in my life. Things would begin to change for me immediately and I couldn't wait to begin.

--

After a couple of months, the "new" eventually wore off and I was back to playing in the weekly blogger games on Full Tilt. Even though I was now somewhat of a "celebrity" things never seemed to change much from where they were before I left. I am still the donkey avator at Full Tilt and I still get called a donkey by other players on a regular basis. I have but one answer for them when that happens:

Aussie, Aussie, Aussie.......... Oy! Oy! Oy!

***The preceding is a completely fictional account of the dreams of a Low Limit Grinder. I hope you enjoyed it, because I enjoyed writing it.***

Until next time, I fold,

G

posted by GaryC @ 5:28 PM, ,

BBTououo
Monday, October 29, 2007

posted by GaryC @ 3:05 PM, ,

Book Em Danno
Thursday, October 25, 2007

posted by GaryC @ 3:47 PM, ,

Premature Pimpage
Tuesday, October 23, 2007

I know it's only Tuesday night, but I felt like throwing this up in honor of our Esteemed Host from the great state of Texas! That reminds me,

Do you know the best thing to ever come out of Texas?

I-35 North

Cue rim shot, thank you very much, I'll be here all week, try the veal.

In an effort to change things up and perhaps invoke some good luck, I am switching beers this week and this week only! I've stocked up on the nectar of Texas....Shiner Bock! I'm normally a light beer drinker, but I am switching things up in an effort to try and wade the mine field tomorrow night.

Come out and join us for the Third Event of the BBTue.(sorry Trip, I don't have $5)

***EDIT***


I found a couple of things to add to this post.

Just for Fuel, Presto is gold!

--

You know how you can tell when your 11 year old is paying too much attention to what her Dad is doing?

I'm trolling along last night, playing in a few MTT's and I decide to fire up my micro-stack on Poker.com. I get seated on a .02/.04 NL table and my daughter comes in and plops down on the bed beside me. My first hand dealt is A-Ko. "Ooh", she says, "raise it up." Heh, okay, so I pop it to .12 and get three callers. The flop comes out and is 6,7,9 all diamonds and I have no diamonds. Everybody checks to me and I look over at her with an inquisitive look and she says:

"Check, fold Dad."

Fucking classic. I almost shot beer out my nose. My daughter plays poker as tight as me, heh.

--

Until next time, I fold.

G



***This post sponsored by the good folks at GNUF poker room.

posted by GaryC @ 3:32 PM, ,

Defending Chump
Monday, October 22, 2007

Come one come all, I'm taking on all comers and will probably be out by the first break tonight. I am the defending chump in tonights MATH tournament but it seems I used up every bit of luck I had last Monday night. If the rest of last week's results are any indication, I definitely used up every bit of my donk-tard luck-skills during the MATH one week ago. I am going to try to get back on the horse tonight though and will be angling toward at least another final table and perhaps even, a cash.

Leave it to the host of the biggest blogger tournament on the web to come up with this gem:

"I’ve been biting my tongue and resisting the urge to write replies on some of the posts I’ve seen complaining about the play in some of the blogger tournaments. A wise man once said fighting on the Internet is like running in the Special Olympics…ya, you know the rest."

posted by GaryC @ 3:08 PM, ,

Idio(m) Of The Day
Friday, October 19, 2007

"People who live in glass houses should not throw stones!"

That is all.

posted by GaryC @ 6:17 AM, ,

Riverchasers
Thursday, October 18, 2007

Tournament: Riverchasers
Online Poker Tour
When: TONIGHT. 21:00 ET
Game: NLHE Deepstack
Buyin: $10+1
Password: Riverchasers



--

Another tuneup before the BBTwo ($5 my ass) gets under way on Sunday night with MiamiDon's Big Game. Riverchasers is tonight at 9 pm EST on Full Tilt. I'm sure this is news to some of you so feel free to come out and join us for the most fun you can have on-line for $11.

I started my preperation for the BBTwo Tuesday night with a host of $8 + .70 two-table SNG's. I was able to cash 3 of 3 , so I have three shiny $26 tokens sitting in my account. In the past, I've gone home on Monday night and always tried to earn my token for the MATH prior to the event. I almost always got there, but there were occasions when I didn't get to play. The main reason is that the buy-in is a tad more than I am comfortable with buying in straight for. That is not so much the case anymore, but if I can stock up on tokens beforehand, that is just that much more money that I will be able to save.

I also took a shot Tuesday night at the $75 Token Frenzy on Full Tilt. That didn't turn out so well, as I went down in flames, failing to believe that the card rack at our table had K-K. He did, after busting IslandBum on the previous hand with A-A, and my Jacks went down in flames. Oh well, there's always tonight. I will definitely be trying for the $75 token this week, as well, so I will be able to join the festivities at the Big Game on Sunday.

--

I've also started a little self-challenge over at Poker.com. I logged into there for the first time in a while last week and found that I had about $4 left in my account. After quickly scanning their tables, I noticed that they offered 2 cent/4 cent No Limit. I set out to turn my $4 into something playable and so far at least, I am headed in the right direction. It is slow going for sure at this level, but my $4 has grown to around $15 and that includes one horrendous suck out on Monday night for my $4 buy-in:

I limp in with 4-4 and 54 of us see a 4-5-K rainbow flop. I lead out (to try and thin the field, hah) and get raised by one person. Everyone else folds and I call. The turn is another King and I just know this guy has a bare King. I check and he insta-shoves and I insta-call. He shows K-Jo and I let out a little woot that my reading ability is so good, until the case King hits the river and my buy-in slides across the table.

I have seen some horrendous beats so far at these tables, luckily, I've been able to avoid most of the danger. I am usually playing this table in the background of a tournament and am playing strict ABC poker. I either flop my set with small pairs, raise out the drawers with my big pairs or I stay out of the way. So far, at least, it is working well, I just need a few more notches upward and I plan to start playing a few SNG's there as well.

--

I am also going to try and get some money on Bodog one of these days. If anybody has any ideas on the best way to deposit, other than a credit card, leave me a comment. Also, does anybody know if they are going to ever have a player transfer option on Bodog? If that ever happens, it would sure be easier to swap dollars with somebody.

That's all I have for today, I'll see you tonight at the Riverchasers.

Until next time, I fold.

G

posted by GaryC @ 3:06 PM, ,

Hammer Time
Tuesday, October 16, 2007

If you didn't already have reasons to be loading up on tokens for the BBTwo, courtesy of one AlCantHang, here is even more proof for you:

I won the MATH last night!!!

Further proof that, yes, even blind squirrels find acorns once in a while.

I played my typical MTT strategy throughout the tournament. Tight, aggressive, fold or raise poker, for the most part, until we got down to 4-handed. Two hours of solid play, folding the garbage to obvious steal attempts and raising to take the blinds when appropriate and then all hell broke loose.

We burst the bubble and were three handed, with Bayne, Columbo and myself and me on the short stack. Two aggressive players and me with the shortest stack, my run should be over soon. Except.......I decided to switch gears.......from tight, aggressive and patient....to......complete idiocy. In fact, I went back to my old HU strategy: Suck out better cards to win!

I sucked out three huge hands along the way and luck-donked my way to the win.

Suckout #1
I had K-10 and Columbo had K-J. I don't remember the pre-flop action, but I can't imagine I called a raise with this, but perhaps. Anyway, we got to 4th street and neither of us had squadooosh. I shoved and after a brief delay, Columbo called, much to my chagrin....until a 10 peeled off on the river and I had new life from the three-outer.

To be perfectly honest, Columbo made a great call here. I doubt if I could have made it in that spot, but a great call nonetheless and he just got unlucky.

Suckout #2
After a good little while and some more blinding away, I look down at the HAMMER and pop it from the button, also pot-committing my stupid ass. Bayne re-pops me from the blind and, rather than folding prudently, I pushed. Doh! My timing is impeccable as always and we get it all in with Bayne holding Q-Q and me holding 7-2o. Well, all I can say is I channelled my inner-Grubby, because a 7 peeled off on the flop and a 2 came on the turn to give me two pair and double up again.

Suckout #3
It may have been the very next hand, if not, it was very close to the hammer hand. I have A-J and Bayne has A-Q and all the chips go in again. I spiked a Jack and just like that, was heads up with Columbo. Every single time I decide to look Bayne up, it seems he has a hand. Oh well, tis better to be lucky, lucky, lucky on occasion.

Other than those three hands - cough - I played really good poker last night. Columbo and I ended up all-in not long after that with me holding A-Q and him holding A-7, I think, and my hand held up and I actually won a freaking tournament. Not without ALOT of luck, mind you, but hey, after the run I've experienced over the previous 6 months of this year, I think I'm due a little luck on occasion.

I felt like I played really good poker throughout the tournament until we got down to 3 handed, when the aw-fukkits crept into play. Prior to the above noted donkery, I was probably around 10% pre-flop, which is pretty standard for me to make it deep into a tournament. Some nights you get good cards and you get action and some nights you don't. Those nights when I either don't get good cards or don't get action with my good cards are the nights that I go to bed early. I'm aware of that and, although I am trying to change things up a bit, it is something that I am having a hard time doing still.

I rather enjoyed winning a tournament for a change and am thinking of trying to do that on a more regular basis, so be forewarned. Thanks to everybody who railed and gave encouragement, I do appreciate it and GG to Bayne and Columbo. Without some luckboxity, I go out 3rd and you two battle for 1st and 2nd, I know this. GG. And yes, I just made that word up.

Until next time, I fold.

G

posted by GaryC @ 3:27 PM, ,

Tournament Pimpage and Al's Big Announcement
Monday, October 15, 2007

Here's the list for this week, check out down below for some big news from the Good Reverend.

Tonight, $24 + 2 token for the MATH tourney at Full Tilt.

Wednesday night, as always, the Mook!

























And, this Sumday, the return of MiamiDon's Big Game and the beginning of......

AlCantHang and Full Tilt Poker have outdone themselves this time for the BBTwo.

Shamelessly copied and pasted from Al's site:

Full Tilt Poker has given us an $18k Aussie Millions package to give away for our next challenge.
$18,000 Prize Package for you and a friendThe 2008 Aussie Millions Main Event begins Monday, January 14th and promises to be bigger than ever. Play for your $18K prize package, including:

* Aussie Millions Main Event entry worth AUD $10,500

* 10 nights stay at the luxurious Crown Casino Resort

* Round-trip airfare for the winner and a guest from Los Angeles to Melbourne

* $3,000 in spending money

* Winner & Pro golf outings, dinners, winery tours, seminars and a bounty tournament

Pretty god damn cool if you ask me and I was stunned when they brought it up. This was the package I really hoped to give away but thought was lost since I started so late on the planning. An opportunity to send a player and companion to the Land of Oz for 10 days with a $10k tournament thrown in there.

During the original BBT there was some positive and negative comments about the point system plus the number of people awarded points. For the BBTwo you won't have to worry about those points. We will be awarding the Aussie Millions package to the winner of a Tournament of Champions. So if you'd like to win the trip, you have to win one of the events during the eight week run. No worrying about making the points. No worrying about who made the most money during the challenge. Win an event and you are in the TOC and a shot at the Aussie Millions package.

So if you are interested in winning the Aussie Millions package, play them to win them.

But only so many people can win an event during this stretch so what about everyone else? We want everyone to play, enjoy themselves, and have a shot at winning something. Full Tilt Poker has given us the Aussie Millions Package but that's not all they're giving us.

FTP is giving us an entry into their weekly big Sunday guarantee tournaments whic we will reward to the Player of the Week. This is where that pesky point system comes in again. We will be using the same point formula as the last Challenge but this time around only the top 25% of players in each event will receive points. Whoever earns the most points during the week will get a ticket into the FTP Sunday Guarantee Tournament.

The point system will also be used to determine players to qualify for an end of challenge freeroll which is still being worked out.

There are just a couple more things to finalize and we'll get back to you with the details. I have an FTOPS Main Event seat to give away and we're just kicking around ideas of what to do with it. I also have an iPod Touch to give away courtesy of the folks at donkit.com. So many things to give away, so little time to figure out how to give them away.

So there you have it. BBTwo is about to kick off and it's time to reload your FTP account, start firing up those Token Frenzies, and strap in for an 8 week, 27 tournament challenge to see what you are made of.We are going to kick things off on Sunday, October 21st with the big prizepool in Miami Don's Big Game. The rest of the Blogger Schedule will go as planned except now the Riverchasers events will also be weekly during the challenge. The challenge will run for 8 weeks ending on Sunday, December 16th with another Big Game.

If you have any questions, feel free to drop them in comments or shoot me an email.Feel free to pimp your heart out. This is just the beginning, just wait until you see what happens in the spring. More details to come but I wanted to get the information out there.

Start loading up on those tokens.

posted by GaryC @ 2:58 PM, ,

Tourney Time
Sunday, October 14, 2007

posted by GaryC @ 7:19 AM, ,

10 Things
Friday, October 12, 2007

Having done this little exercise before and also done the 100 things about me, it gets a bit harder coming up with new information that is a) not ghey and b) not incriminating. Having said that, I am like most others that do this on a regular basis and I do like talking about myself, so here goes 10 more things. Thanks Sean.


1. I've mentioned this before on this humble little blog, but the only males I have in my life now are friends and co-workers. My little extended family consists of my wife, two daughters, my Mom and Mother-in-law and my Grandmother. We also have two cats, two dogs and a guinea pig. One of the cats is supposedly a male, but we have largely determined that he is ghey, not that there is anything wrong with that. So, if you ever see me a bit weepy, you'll know that the estrogen is starting to take effect.

2. I'm extremely competitive, no matter the game or sport, to the point that most of my family will not play board games of any kind with me anymore. This is probably the driving force that keeps me banging my head against the computer every Wednesday night during the Mookie.

3. I have lived in Bixby, Oklahoma, Oklahoma City, Oklahoma, St. Joseph, Missouri, Phoenix, Arizona and Los Angeles, California at different points in my life. I will take my lake place, with the nearest mall 100 miles away, any day over any of these locations. I'm a small town boy and I like everything about being out and away from the city. Of course, my Dad would probably roll over in his grave when he heard that our lake place has 400 channels of satellite TV and central heat and air.

4. I made straight A's all through school until we moved right before my senior year. I ended up in an Honors Calculus class and wound up barely making a C for the year. Suffice it to say, my small town high school had not prepared me for Honors Calculus. 3.89 gpa during high school, considerably less during college.

5. I went to a small college in St. Joseph, Missouri on a baseball scholarship. Who knew they only got to play baseball for only about two months of the school year. Jebus, that was winter like I had never experienced. 35 degrees and sunny meant the bullpen took off their shirts to work on their tans. I lasted two years in Missouri before moving back home and finishing up at UCO, the college in the town my parents lived in at the time. I lived at home, worked and went to school full time and finally graduated in 4 and a half years.

6. I am a hunter. I wouldn't say avid yet, but it is certainly leaning that way. I have hunted more in the last month than I had in the previous 41 years of my life, so, to say it is something I am enjoying would be an understatement at this point. I'm also learning how to prepare and cook the meat that I have been hunting, which is half the fun. I'm no chef, by any means, but I like to cook and learning how to cook new things is exciting for me.

7. My oldest daughter will be 18 in November and is a senior in high school this year. It does not seem possible that is has been 18 years since they laid her in my arms out in a California hospital. She has grown into quite a young lady and is making good grades and working part-time already. She called me last night to tell me that she had chosen me to accompany her to the robing ceremony next May before graduation. Her momma is not happy and that right there makes me ecstatic. I'm very proud of her and the person she has become and I look forward to being able to spend more time with her when she gets away from her mom. (my ex-wife)

8. I will be 42 in January of next year. I say that only because any of you that are nearing that big 4-0 milestone have nothing to worry about. I almost made myself sick, thinking about finally turning 40, but you know what? You are only as old as you feel. I still attack life with the same zeal that I always have, and, although it takes a bit longer to recover, the fun times are still fun times. Ask me about last December in Vegas some time.

9. My favorite meal would be a thick, juicy, medium-rare Kansas City Strip Steak. Give me some fried shrimp on the side, a huge baked potato (or mashed potatoes, I'm not picky) and a Caesar Salad. Wash it down with a 22 oz. beer in those big old mugs and I am a happy man. Ready for bed soon, but a happy man, nonetheless.

10. I come from a working family. If I could list one trait that parents should pass on to their kids, it would be work ethic. My Dad worked 40+ years for Sun Oil Company as and accountant and my Grandpa worked 45+ years for McDonnell Douglass as an airplane mechanic. They didn't call in sick....ever. They showed up for work every day and put in their time, saving every penny they could save along the way. Other than giving them every bit of unconditional love in your heart, teach your children to work for a living and this world will be a better place and they will be better for having learned it from you.

Okay, there's 10 things you may or may not have wanted to know about me. It is kind of difficult to come up with different things when you already listed 50.

Thanks for stopping by and until next time, I fold.

G

posted by GaryC @ 3:18 PM, ,

Tourney Time
Wednesday, October 10, 2007

posted by GaryC @ 2:57 PM, ,

Truckin'
Tuesday, October 09, 2007

In case you live under a rock, here is the latest issue of Truckin' from the good Doctor. Shamelessly copied and pasted from his email.

http://mcgtruckin.blogspot.com

Truckin' - October 2007, Vol. 6, Issue 10

And we're back...

1. AlCantHang and I Walk Into a Bar... by Paul McGuireWhenever you walk into a bar with AlCantHang, you're immediately assuming full responsibility for your actions. You always know what you are getting yourself into. There's no false pretense. You will drink and drink and drink and drink as life unfolds around you. You surrender to the flow of the liquor... More

2. Morrissey by Betty UndergroundI did my usual, obvious, snooping about, inviting myself in to use the powder room after the long drive. I knew my way around. I knew what it looked like the last time I was there. I was looking for signs. Girl things. Grown up girl things. A woman's touch in the decor. Pictures of the happy couple. Anything. Nothing... More

3. Driving to See Mama by John "Falstaff" HartnessWell, there was six of us in that car, and we'd been drinking and smoking cigarettes since we left base, so when Briggs rolled down that window, all that smoke just chimneyed up out of that window and that policeman had to jump back... More

4. A Mawmag's Dream by Sigge S. AmdalI was flirting, no, I was dancing with my own future's certain death. And why? There was no love to speak of. Love can come later in some cases, I know, but if there's nothing, no great emotion to ride on – why on earth was I still dancing? ... More

5. What Might Have Been by Sean A. DonahueThe struggles of life are few and far between. We walk through life looking for the elusive, looking for the elite, or looking to be the elite. Sometimes in our search for what we want, we find what we really need. But we are too self absorbed or blind to see it... More

What a Long Strange Trip It's Been...
From the Editor's Laptop:Welcome to the October issue Truckin' which features a gem from Falstaff and includes returning authors Sigge S. Amdal and Sean A. Donahue. This issue contains another installment of Existentialist Conversations with Strippers in a piece titled AlCantHang and I walk Into a Bar.... And we also have a story from Betty Underground. She's making her first appearance in Truckin' with an impressive showing by hitting a home run on her first submission.If you like these stories, then please tell your friends about your favorite stories. It takes a few seconds to pass along Truckin'. The writers certainly appreciate your support. Feel free to shoot me an e-mail if you know anyone who is interested in being added to the mailing list.Thanks to the writers who exposed their souls to the world, and did it for free. Thanks for inspiring me and taking that leap of faith with me.Thanks again to everyone for wasting your precious time month after month with Truckin'. Until next time.Salukis,McG

* * * * *
Tao of Poker -- http://taopoker.blogspot.com
Tao of Pauly -- http://mcgrupp.blogspot.com
Truckin' -- http://mcgtruckin.blogspot.com
Las Vegas Blog -- http://www.lasvegasvegas.com

"Life is all memory except for the one present moment that goes by you so quick you hardly catch it going." - Tennessee Williams

posted by GaryC @ 3:11 PM, ,

Pimp
Monday, October 08, 2007

posted by GaryC @ 3:14 PM, ,

I'm in too!
Wednesday, October 03, 2007

--





Being as this is OU-Texas week here in my fair state, I thought I would take the opportunity to comment on my favorite team, the Oklahoma Sooners.

Coming into this season, with a wealth of talent and a very deep team, many OU fans still thought we were in sort of a rebuilding situation. After all, we were starting a redshirt freshman quarterback that hadn't taken a snap in a major college situation yet.

However, after the first 4 games, the fans of Oklahoma, as they are wont to do, were already proclaiming this a National Championship contender. I even gave some credence to that thought after watching them demolish a fairly weak non-conference schedule.

Rewind to last Saturday in Colorado. Utter devestation for the typical OU fan. They got their asses handed to them in a way that we aren't used to seeing in these parts. Oh, we've lost our share of close games on the road, but the type of collapse that occurred on the football field last Saturday in Colorado is something that we are not used to seeing.

Coach Stoops and his staff, since he first started at Oklahoma, have always made great in-game adjustments, especially on the defensive side of the ball. They have always seemed to find a way to put a stop to whatever the other team's offense was doing to us that was succesful. Last Saturday, that all went out the window. Colorado was able to move the ball fairly consistently against what most people around here were calling our best defense in years.

They were able to keep the pressure off of their young quarterback and gain just enough yardage running the ball to keep the Sooners on their heels. Couple that with our pitiful showing on offense and our defense spent entirely too much time on the field during the second half of the game.

Our offense was so inept in the second half of the ball game that our defenders were dog tired at the end and had very little chance to stop a Colorado offense that was feeling pretty damn sure of themselves.

Oh, there were a few controversial calls that did not go our way and they certainly COULD have made a difference in the outcome. There was a play that was ruled a catch on the field for a first down that the instant replay officials overturned, even though we say no conclusive proof in any of the replays that Fox Southwest showed. Perhaps they saw a different replay, but nothing on the replays shown to the national audience showed anything close to warranting overturning the call on the field.

There were several holding calls, one on the punt return and one during a scrambling completion by their quarterback, that were not called and most certainly would have had Colorado in a big hole to start that last drive. The one on the punt return was actually a tackle right in the middle of the field and would have forced them to start at least 30 yards farther back on their side of the field than they did.

These are really just excuses though, as the lack of adjustments made on the part of the coaching staff played the biggest part in their demise last Saturday. We also turned the ball over three or four times and had numerous dropped passes by our veteran crew of receivers. You cannot make that many mistakes on the road in the Big 12 and complain about one call here or there. The fact of the matter is we got our asses beat because of on-field mistakes and lack of off-field adjustments. I blame the coaches and players equally for that loss.

Now, does that mean our season is over? Well, your typical OU fan probably thinks so, because if OU isn't playing for the National Championship, most typical OU fans consider that unacceptable. I, on the other hand, think this is still a very good team. They are very young, very deep and very talented and I fully expect them to win the South division of the Big 12 and then go beat whoever happens to win the North division in the Big 12 Championship game.

Starting this week, with the Red River Rivalry in Dallas, the Sooners are going to have to show a little more heart, play a little bit better and get a little bit better coaching. I fully expect all those things to happen to this young team and, although the National Championship is probably out of question this year now, I also fully expect them to be competing for National Championships for years to come. They have too much talent and their coaches are too good to let them settle for mediocrity.

I like Oklahoma, minus the 11 points, this weekend in the Cotton Bowl. Texas hasn't been very impressive this year and, although you can never tell about this rivalry, I expect this to be at least a 3 touchdown win for the Sooners. What do you think Will? A little Mookie entry fee side bet on the game?



--

posted by GaryC @ 2:54 PM, ,

Porch Update
Tuesday, October 02, 2007

posted by GaryC @ 3:14 PM, ,

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