Iron Dirigible Draft 2012

You know what this blog needs? MORE SPORTS TALK! But not just any sports talk, I need something that is both abstract in concept and requires an immensely deep understanding of a particular sport. This leaves only one logical option: FANTASY FOOTBALL!!

P.S. It's more fun if you imagine me saying "Fantasy Football" in the Denzel Crocker "Fairy Godparents" voice.
P.P.S. This blog has started out with me discussing sports trivia and a tacit admission of watching Nickelodeon as late as high school. I am seriously not making good decision re: the Fine Honeys.

This blog post is spiraling out of control and heading to a very dark place. I'd better engage in some course correction stat. Save me, Peeta Mellark!

 "This bread is like our district: soft and white."~Peeta Mellark
What?! You were supposed to help me, Peeta. Noooooooo!

Okay, so quoting Peeta isn't helping me at this precise moment. I'm just going to back away slowly now. Hunger Games, you'll get your day. Soon. You're the blog update that the English Muffin Power hour deserves, but not the one it needs right now. So we'll postpone it, because you can take it. Because you're not a hero. You're a silent protector. A watchful guardian. A dark knight.

Anyways, earlier this month, I held the 6th annual Iron Dirigible Draft at my apartment, because I was straight power tripping. Additionally, it was the largest attended draft in our brief history. We had 6 of the league's 8 members gathered in one place at one time. And when you consider that Sam never shows up for the draft, it's pretty good to only be missing one guy. Let me say, nothing compares with drafting with your friends in person, all together. My personal highlight of the night was when Pimpmaster Doug took Brandon Lloyd the pick before me, I shouted "Are you a wizard?!" because that was the second pick of mine he stole from under my nose out of a possible three times that night.

Anyways, on topic, the point is I'd thought I'd do a quick recap of the draft. I figure I'd do rounds 1-4 individually, rounds 5-12 by pairs, and rounds 13-16 as one big group because drafts become increasingly desperate and therefore less controversial. Also, it makes a nice bit of symmetry in that I will do exactly 9 recaps and that appeases my neurotic side. Plus there will be nine recaps to counter the nine Black Riders of Mordor, so that's nice.

"Did he just make a Lord of the Rings reference right after inadvertantly dissing The Hunger Games AND quoting The Dark Knight?"
"Yeah, I think he did. Player does not have his head in the game today."

N.B. This draft took place on August 9th, because it was the last day everyone was going to be in town. So a number of picks look really silly in hindsight.

Things Went Horribly Right

So, in a change of pace, I'm actually going to talk about myself on my blog. I know, it's shocking, scandalous and uncalled for on every level. Unexplained month-long hiatuses are nothing new to the English Muffin Power Hour (sadly). But this time there is an actual legitimate explanation.

People who have been keeping up with me know that on July 31st, I was offered and accepted the position of Resident Director at Corlew Hall. Literally the only downside to this job was that training officially began about 18 hours after I was offered the job. In some ways, it's awesome to be the first alternate. In other ways, it can really, really suck. In the weeks since then, I've been swamped almost every single day. If I've not been swamped, I've been desperately trying to recover from being swamped. Or playing Starcraft 2. I won't lie to you, in the early days, playing Starcraft 2 was time that probably could've been spent better blogging or something. But you live and you learn. Plus, I couldn't say no to Tychus's voice.

"Jimmeh boy, nothing says I can't fufill my obligations to the survival of the human race and get paid at the same time." ~Tychus

When I started with RD training, it was a lot of 9-4:30 days in a row, which was a bit of a jarring transition from summer break. Nothing I couldn't handle. But then RA training started and the 8 hour days became eleven hour days with some extra curicculars. That was brutal. But it's over and I'm back to the sweet 3 hour days with some classes and a few extra projects. So I'm going to give a brief recap of the good, the bad, and the ugly of the past month of being an RD.

The Good

• I'm enjoying a level of freedom, autonomy, responsibility, and respect far greater than anything I have previously experienced.
• White Parking Pass
• My co-workers are some of the most outgoing and clever people I've met outside of the Brain Trust (you know if you're in the Brain Trust).
• White Parking Pass
• A free apartment conveniently located next door to the building where all my classes are
• I went to the Pizza Hut Buffet during the middle of the busiest school day at MTSU and my parking spot was there when I came back. That's power you can't buy. That's the power of faculty parking.
• I'm get paid in apartments and American currency to update my blog during "Office Hours". (NB: Yes, I've finished all my busy work creating flyers and updating rosters. FYI, nothing trumps a penguin wearing sunglasses)

"You DARE challenge me in my domain?! This shall be a rap battle... FOR THE AGES!!"

The Bad

• Somehow, it has gone from August 1st to August 28th in the span of about a week. I think the space-time continuum has been damaged.
• I haven't had a day devoid of professional obligations since August 11th and most of those days were long.
• My bathroom has all the luxuries and amenities reserved for minimum security prisons.
• I guess ice cubes could be easier to access?

The Ugly

• The aforementioned crate of dirty clothes. There were green cartoon stink lines emanating from the box. I had to get a hazmat suit before I was legally allowed to start my laundry.

So the net effect of this is that there will be substantially more blogging. Why? Because blogging is indistinguishable from writing important emails about the state of residential life. Also, I got to fill 3 hours a day somehow.

Speaking of which, there are 90 minutes left today and I just finished my last goal...

I guess I'll finish listening to George Washington: A Life or something...