NUTTY PROFESSOR AND THE BUZZ FROM BACK HOME.

All I do is win, win, win, win, win, win....get yo hands up!

I'm not going to leave my small but loyal following in suspense, this blog will not be about Barcelona, although Barcelona was amazing with all the Gaudi Parks and Architecture, the Football Club Barcelona, and the great Catalan culture and history.  Nope this blog won't be about how our Catalonian friends don't eat dinner until 10 or 11pm or how the Mediterranean provides some of the best fresh food in the world.

Nope, this blog is mostly about what's been happening back home.  Like for example, my White Sox are sitting with a winning percentage less than .400.  I can't even motivate my Sox by saying, "Hey the Cubs are making you look bad, let's get it going" because the Cubs stink as well.  My fantasy baseball team isn't  fairing much better.  It's been announced that the Chicago Bulls Head Coach, Tom Thibodeau, was named NBA Coach of the Year and our point guard, Derek Rose, is the league MVP.  The youngest MVP in league history!  But then they go out and let the Atlanta Hawks thump them in Game 1 of the second round.  At home, at home! THE HUMANITY.  I can usually count on the NFL draft to uplift my spirits but the lockout removed a major equation from the draft, crazy player trades.  Draft day trades just add that extra element that is pretty much unrivaled.  In grad school, I had a professor, Richard Thaler, for Behavioral Decision Making and seeing that he has written countless books and "officially" advised slightly more governments than myself, I naturally disagreed with 90% of all his lessons.  For example, he tried to convince me in one lecture that there was no such thing as the "hot hand" in sports.  Michael Jordan '92 Finals game 1...I know in my heart of hearts that Michael Jordan was going to make a higher percentage of shots, that day, than his season or playoff average.  I KNEW THAT and so did 24,000 other crazy Bulls fans.

But Thaler, author of Nudge, and I do agree that NFL teams don't usually trade their own players unless they absolutely have to or have a pressing need.  It's because the fans, that drive the business end, psychologically get attached to "their" players.  Carolina could have traded the first pick 8 times, but as soon as they chose Cam Newton and he held up that #1 Carolina Jersey, he became a Panther and the fans owned him, psychologically at least.  And THAT is what makes the draft interesting.  Saying goodbye to Donovan McNabb, wondering which QB was going to be traded from the Broncos roster; Tebow, Quinn, or Kyle Orton.  That didn't happen.  All I got was Mel Kiper talking about certain players being a "reach" or having a "motor" or "great upside".

But alas, I can always count on my favorite Southern technical school to cheer me up.  Firstly, a very important person in our family...we'll just call him the Nutty Professor, was the recipient of the highly coveted Charlie Sheen Tiger Blood Business School  Professor of the Year Award.  The award came with unlimited "winning" and a guest appearance by Sheen himself.

I win a little here, I win a little there...just a bit outside!

I wanted to get into the spirit as well (see pic below).  Ok...in a all seriousness the award is not named after Sheen but it is a pretty nice honor for a very nice young man.  Here's to him defending his crown during the 2011/12 school year, may his hot hand continue, regardless what Thaler thinks.

Congrats to the Nutty Professor!

My head is really not this big...it really isn't.  Go Tech!

SPEECH, SPEECH, SPEECH!!! (Notice all the fans waiting for autographs)