Risk

I like to play Risk. It's pretty much probably my favorite board game. Sometimes I play it 2 or 3 days in a row until the wee hours of the morning. I have a problem, though. I also hate the game. It's so frustrating, it ticks me off hard core.
The first time I played Risk was about 5 years ago up at a cabin in Idaho with my boy scout troop. It was a great game. I was immediately hooked; I knew I would spend the rest of my life trying to master the beautiful game.
After I got a few games under my belt, the game started to bug me. No, I still played it, but it bugged me at the same time it enthralled me. I just can't stand to lose. Not all the time, though. Sometimes I don't care, but sometimes I can't stand to lose. Don't ask me why. It's not just losing that ticks me off, however, it's the way I lose.
This past weekend I was enjoying an excellent game of Risk with 3 of my "friends". I deserved to win, I really did. I was stuck in South America between 2 opponents, 1 had control over N. America, the other Europe and Africa. What the heck would you do in a situation like that? I did what I felt I was obligated to do, for the good of me and the other player. I spent all my guys trying to stop them from their guys. I was quite successful at this, but it had a drawback. The other fella just built up his guys while we were all weakening each other, and he just swept through and won. It wasn't fair. To top it off, the other players, instead of trying to stop him, just attacked me over and over out of spite. This was not conducive to winning.
I wasn't that angry when I first lost, but then something extraordinary happened. I asked for a little recognition from the winning party. All I wanted was for him to say that I was the reason he won. He would not admit it. It was ridiculous! I obviously beat him, but he took credit for my hard work. It was very frustrating.
Well I hope you enjoyed that, my blogs have officially reached the bottom. See you at the Risk board.

Why My Grades Suck

I have crappy grades. Really crappy grades. I haven't made honor roll once yet this year. How can this be so? 3-time spelling bee champion Cuyler Frisby doesn't get a 4.0? I know, it's shocking. I still don't even believe it. It's not that I'm not smart enough. I'm probably the smartest kid in school. I've just got some procrastination/motivation problems.
All through 7th and 8th grade, I posted a perfect mark of 4.0. I had every intention of carrying this trend on through my senior year. Then something terrible happened. I got an A-. I tried as hard as I could to avoid it. I even scraped gum off chairs for my band maestro, but it was not enough. Actually, it was. Mr. L. Hill, just broke a promise. He told me he would change my grade if I would shape up my act in second term. As it turns out, he never did, and I never bugged him about it. This proved to be a fatal error, and a turning point in my high school career. I lost my will to get perfect grades.
I got through the rest of 9th grade posting upwards of 3.9 marks, which are very respectable. I also got through 10th grade without too much of a hitch, making honor roll each term. But here I am in 11th grade, yet to make the honor roll this whole school year. It is really ticking me off. I start each term with the intention of getting a 4.0, but then something happens. I don't even understand exactly what it is, but I slowly lose focus of the goal at hand.
Here I am, near the end of the 3rd term of my junior year, once again staring sub-honor roll marks in the face. I keep telling myself, I'll shape up next term. But will I? I posted a 31 on the ACT assessment, which, if you read my blog on the subject, you will know I did poorly on. This was a lightning bolt to me, reminding me how smart I really am. I was once again motivated to get good grades, retake the ACT, and get a scholarship. This goal is still probably not out of reach, but I can't let my shaping up go one more term. My cumulative has slowly been slipping, and I must reverse the trend now. I will try to finish high school with a 3.8 gpa or higher, and score like a 33 or better on the ACT. I only hope I feel this motivated in a couple months time.

The Problem with Jr. Jazz Refs

Well, the Quiet Bus Ride was finally defeated. Our high hopes were dismantled as we saw the Eagles take our rightful place in the next round of the tournament. While I would still regard this season as a success, it was also a disappointment. I was not disappointed in my team, however, they pulled together and did an excellent job making a recovery to our slow-starting season. I was grotesquely disappointed with the league-mainly the Refs, but also the score keepers.
We deserved to win our last game. It shouldn't have been our last game. We deserved to win. The game started out decent enough. While there was the usual amount of questionable calls in the game, nothing happened which is uncommon at a Jr. Jazz game. We cruised out to a comfortable 12-point lead at the half. The second half is when the trouble started, however.
While I can't pin our second-half breakdown on 1 thing, it was most definitely not Jake leaving to go to work. I think I can point the finger at two main causes: the 2 referees. Allow me to explain.
55-53. That was the final score. In a close game like that, there are always crucial points in the game which you go back to and think, "If only..." In this game there were about 5, and they were more like, "If only the refs..." The bus ride made about 3 or 4 layups, on which they were fouled. This should have given us 3 or 4 possibilities for 3-point plays. However, on each one, the ref called the foul on the ground, thus giving us the ball out of bounds. If any one of those calls would have been RIGHT, we would have won the game, no doubt.
Now the team we were playing, the ALA Eagles, were not a good team. They had one like 6'5" black kid, and that was it. All he did was sit under the basket and get second-chance points. Not once the entirety of the game did the refs blow a 3-second violation on him, but they did call one on us.
But why would the refs have it in for us? The answer is simple. We kept asking them to make certain calls which they did not. The psychology of a Jr. Jazz referee is, "if they ask you to watch the other team doing something, call it on them, just to spite them." Case and Point: (excuse my improper use of a colon) We kept telling the refs, "Watch their screens" because they pushed, grabbed, and used their arms whenever they set one. The referees reaction? "They're not setting very may screens." At a crucial point in the game, I set a screen for my teammate, only to be whistled for a moving screen call. This happened with less than a minute left in the game and is a perfect example of the way Jr. Jazz refs will shove a call in your face. They are so immature.
Overall, the Jr. Jazz season was a success. We started out 0-4, but rallied to post a 4-7 record. Not elite, but ok, seeing as we were a younger team. I don't know what I'm going to write by blogs about now that the season is over, but I'll find something. Next year, we're winning the championship. NO DOUBT.

Student Teachers, Part II

When I wrote my blog last week, I thought I knew what disgust for a student teacher was really like. I was wrong. This past week, I experienced an experience that made my dislike for my unnamed student teacher much deeper.
The date was March 1, 2006--Last Wednesday. I was enjoying my lunch break, when I received a phone call from my mom. She was extremely upset. She ranted and raved about how I was so disrespectful to my teacher, and gave her "defiant" looks, and made a fool of her. in front of the class. While I don't deny doing some of these things to some extent, she took it totally out of context. She asked my mom for permission to send me to the principal's office, to which my mom gave her consent. Can you believe this? I submit that you cannot.
By disrespectful, I guess she meant that I talked in class or something. See, the problem with Mrs. Blank and many other student teachers is they think they have to have total and complete control over every tiny aspect of the classroom. They will not allow you to speak a few words to your neighbor, even though you are diligently working on your assignment.
I do admit to giving her defiant looks, but I think they are in order. Everytime she tells someone to stop talking for no reason, I roll my eyes. She totally deserves this though, she needs to tone it down.
While I may have contributed to making a fool of her in front of the class, it was basically her fault. She asked a question, "What does 'fiscal year' mean?" When no one responded she simply said, "You guys should take accounting," and preceded with the lesson. Out of my curiosity, I asked her, "Are you going to tell us what it means?" She said "No." As you can see, she brought that upon her self.
But why do student teachers feel like they have to inflict such strong dominion over their pupils? My conclusion is this: they feel insecure about their teaching capabilities, and therefore have to make up for it by being in absolute control. It's a downward spiral that can only be reversed by...It can't be reversed. We'll all just have to deal with it.