How Long Should You Wait To Discuss TV Shows?

I had a terrible time coming up with a title for this post, but I think it sums up everything I'm curious about.

It's premier week on TV, and I haven't had time to watch any of the shows I love. A friend asked me if I'd caught the premier of "Glee," and when I said that I hadn't, she didn't go into anything about the show, but said that I needed to hurry up and watch it so she could get someone else's opinion on it. And this got me thinking...

Technology has changed the game. In the past, you could watch something on TV, then the next day you would go to work and talk about it. Now, you tweet while you're watching the show, and everyone around the world can see it. This is a great way to discuss what's going on with other people, as it happens, but it can also sting if the wrong person sees it.

Living on the west coast, I'm part of the group that gets burned. I remember a few years ago logging onto Yahoo, and finding out that Carrie Underwood had won American Idol....2 hours before the show aired where I lived.

Yahoo has since learned their lesson, and they (like most other sites) won't post anything crucial on their main page. You have to click through to see it. I think I even saw that MSN wouldn't put Olympic medal news on their main page until after it had aired.

But major websites aren't the real problem. It's the individual on Facebook or Twitter. And when I say "problem," I don't mean to imply that most people do it intentionally (like the assholes who went around to Harry Potter midnight release parties shouting "Dumbledore Dies!"). I just mean that individuals tend to say what's on their mind, without an editor saying, "Wait, we can't post this just yet."

Recently on Facebook, Chef Kevin Gillespie, a former contestant on Top Chef posted something about this season's winner. He quickly took it down and apologized to the west coast viewers who hadn't seen the show yet.

So when is too soon to spoil something? I think we can all agree that if you're on the east coast, maybe give the west coast their 3 hours to catch up. But most people don't seem to follow that. You can hop on twitter and your east coast friends are tweeting away about what just happened.

OK, so you can avoid social media for a few hours if your on the west coast. It doesn't seem fair, but it's probably the best way to avoid spoilers.

But then we get to the next dilemma: DVRs. Lots of people have busy lives, and I know I'm one who tends to let shows accumulate, then catch up on the weekend, or maybe on a weeknight later in the week if there's time.

I've spoken to several people who seem to agree that most shows deserve at least a day or 2, because of the DVR situation. Let your friends catch up before you start dropping spoilers.

But what's an acceptable time frame? Do we give people 2 days before we drop any spoilers? Give them through the weekend? That might be basically a full week if the show is on Monday. What do you think is a fair amount?

NFL Picks - Week 3

Ouch, not so hot last week. Only got 6 games right. Time to make up for it! I'm going to be out of town this weekend, so I'm posting my picks a little bit early.

Here are my pick's for week 3 of the 2010 NFL season. Remember, I'm an unabashed San Diego Chargers fan, so I'm not going to pick their games for this weekly column. Home team in caps:

GIANTS over Titans
Bengals over PANTHERS
BUCS over Steelers
PATRIOTS over Bills
RAVENS over Browns
CHIEFS over 49ers (I had a tough time with this one. I'm not 100% sure I picked right)
TEXANS over Cowboys (I've been going against the Texans all year, and I've been wrong. And the Cowboys don't look good)
Lions over VIKINGS (It has to happen eventually, right?)
SAINTS over Falcons
Redskins over RAMS
Eagles over JAGUARS
Colts over BRONCOS
CARDINALS over Raiders
DOLPHINS over Jets (Remember what Brandon Marshall has done to Antonio Cromartie in the past?)
PACKERS over Bears

Last week: 6-9
Overall: 18-12

The Next Day - Jaguars at Chargers

My week 2 thoughts the day after the Chargers game.

Wow, what is there to say? The team played well in all aspects of the game. There were way too many turnovers, and that wasn't cool, but the defense got plenty of takeaways.

So here's my summary:

THE GOOD

*Philip Rivers - What can I say? He's always good!

*The defense was aggressive. Sacks, QB hits, turnovers, I liked it all. At least one of the pick's came because Garrard was getting hit as he tried to throw and the ball just popped up.

*Mike Tolbert could be our starter. I would like to see him get his carries, kind of mix it up with Ryan Mathews. Keep both of them fresh.

*Antoine Cason is proving that the Chargers were right in trusting him to take over Antonio Cromartie's CB spot.

THE BAD

*The turnovers. The picks might have been dropped or off of receiver's hands, but Rivers wasn't always perfect on the throws. A better throw, an easier catch, and it's a completion.

*The return game. Sproles averaged 18 yards per return yesterday. I'd like to see Sproles return to being that guy who was a major threat as a returner. Maybe it's the blocking, I'm not sure, but I do want to see better returns.

And that's it for this week! Next week, the Chargers head up to Seattle!

2010 NFL Picks - Week 2

Wow! What a great week 1! I picked 12 out of 15 games correctly. Must be early season luck! On to week 2.

Here are my pick's for week 2 of the 2010 NFL season. Remember, I'm an unabashed San Diego Chargers fan, so I'm not going to pick their games for this weekly column. Home team in caps:

PACKERS over Bills
VIKINGS over Dolphins
BROWNS over Chiefs
COWBOYS over Bears
FALCONS over Cardinals
PANTHERS over Bucs
Eagles over LIONS
Ravens over BENGALS
TITANS over Steelers
BRONCOS over Seahawks (We get to find out if the Seahawks are actually good, or if the 49ers are that terrible)
Rams over RAIDERS (The Rams have to win eventually, and the Raiders looked terrible last week)
REDSKINS over Texans (I think last week's win over the Colts was big for the Texans, but they definitely came to play for that one)
Patriots over JETS
COLTS over Giants (Peyton at home on a prime time game. I'm still not going against that)
Saints over 49ERS


Last Week's Picks: 12-3
Season Pick's: 12-3

Supercooling Water

This morning I decided to try out a simple experiment I had seen online: supercooling water. What is "supercooled" water? According to Wikipedia, "Supercooling, also known as undercooling, is the process of lowering the temperature of a liquid or a gas below its freezing point, without it becoming a solid." (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Supercool)

Upon aggitation, the water will instantly freeze, as you can see in the video below:

So how do you do this experiment at home? Very simply! You need some very pure water. I read that Fiji water works well, or also distilled water. I used Fiji water.

1. To start, find a flat surface in your freezer and leave the water in there. I left it overnight to make sure everything got nice and cold.

2. Once the water is below freezing, carefully remove it from the freezer (One way to gauge that it's cold enough is to leave another bottle of tap water next to it. Once that's nice and frozen, you know it's cold enough).

3. Agitate the water and it will freeze! As you can see in my video, I attempted to shake the bottle, although that didn't quite do it. After I picked it up to shake it, I ended up putting some force into setting it back down, which did it.

You will find that the water doesn't freeze into a solid block, but rather it's more of a hard slush. But it's a simple experiment, and pretty cool to do!

What Was Your First Album?

Lately I've been listening to lots of old CDs in my collection. For whatever reason, I've just been feeling like listening to old stuff from high school, and this morning I ended up pulling out one of the very first CDs I ever bought - "Garbage" from Garbage. It was actually the second CD I ever bought.



The first CD I ever bought? Another self-titled one. "The Presidents of the United State of America." Why? I don't really remember. I do recall my friend James introducing me to them, somewhere around 7th grade. And I really did like them a lot (and I do still enjoy listening to those first few albums.



So what was the first album you ever bought? Leave a comment below with your first album!

The Next Day - Chargers at Chiefs

Week 1

My weekly thoughts after having a day to think about the week's Charger game.

Even though I've had time, my thoughts on last night's game are pretty much the same. San Diego should have won that game. Kansas City really had 3 big plays: the big run by Charles, the punt return by McCluster and the forced fumble. Outside of that, the Chiefs couldn't convert on 3rd down and couldn't drive the ball. San Diego had their times in the game where they couldn't move either, but also had times where they couldn't be stopped. So what are the good and bad things to take from this game?

The Good

*The defense looked good. Other than the one big run, the Chiefs were held to 141 net yards. I'm sure part of this is on the Chiefs offense, but the Chargers defense was good.

*Philip Rivers can lead a comeback. If my team is down by a touchdown with 2 minutes to go, he is one of the few quarterbacks I want leading my team.

*Antonio Gates is a beast. The Chiefs had to double and triple team him to take him away.

The Bad

*The punt coverage. Need I say more? I wish I could find stats on hangtime, but it seemed to me like the Scifres wasn't getting as much hangtime as he normally does. Maybe I'm wrong.

*The receivers need to step up. They had their moments, but when Kansas City was attacking Gates, it seemed like there wasn't anyone picking up the slack, or maybe no one that Rivers felt comfortable/trusted enough to throw the ball to.

Next week the Chargers return home to face the Jacksonville Jaguars. Kassim Osgood returns to San Diego, and he'll probably be fired up now after catching a touchdown last week. I think the return home will help the Chargers get the victory.

Chargers at Chiefs - Halftime Report

Wow. This game is looking rough so far. The Chargers came out pretty strong before the rain started.

So what's wrong? The Chargers were big favorites in this game, yet they're down 21-7. there is no single answer, but if I had to pick one, I would say "stop the big plays." 50+ yard TD run, 95+ yard punt return for a TD, and Ryan Mathews was stripped and the fumble was returned close to the goal. Kansas City has the momentum right now.

The Chargers really need to get composed at the half and come back in the 2nd half and march down for a TD. Get momentum back and control the game.

San Diego is down by 2 TDs, but they have a half, and we've got Philip Rivers, so I feel like we can do this.

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2010 NFL Picks - Week 1

OK, I'm a little late getting this posted, but I'm going to try to pick all of the NFL games this year. Just win-loss, not against the spread. I already had picked the Saints over the Vikings (you'll have to trust me since I didn't get it posted). I'm late, so I can't get too much description going, so here are this week's picks (home team in caps). I won't be picking any Chargers games since I'll pretty much always pick them to win, and I refuse to pick against them. I'm a homer, I know.

BUCS over Browns

Dolphins over BILLS

PATRIOTS over Bengals

Colts over TEXANS (sorry, Texans. Get it done and prove me wrong)

JAGUARS over Broncos

FALCONS over Steelers

TITANS over Raiders

GIANTS over Panthers

BEARS over Lions

Cardinals over RAMS

PACKERS over Eagles

49ers over SEAHAWKS

REDSKINS over Cowboys

Ravens over JETS

Rough Day for Former Fresno State Football Players

Today was decision time. NFL teams had to cut down to their 53-man roster today, and the rookies from Fresno State did not fare well.

Ryan Mathews was the only Bulldog drafted in the 2010 NFL Draft. He went 12th overall to the San Diego Chargers, so there was really no way he wasn't going to make the roster.

No one else on the team was drafted, so they were long shots to make an NFL team.

Also picked up by the Chargers, as an undrafted Free Agent, WR Seyi Ajirotutu was cut today. San Diego Union-Tribune writer Kevin Acee has speculated that Ajirotutu will make the practice squad, however.

RB Lonyae Miller was cut by the Dallas Cowboys. He was a long shot to make it anyway, behind veterans Felix Jones, Marion Barber and Tashard Choice.

On a positive note, CB A.J. Jefferson did not get cut by the Arizona Cardinals. Although I didn't see any of their preseason games, I imagine that Jefferson's abilities as a returner had to have helped him there.

Rookie WR Chastin West was also cut by the Green Bay Packers.

And finally, although he was not a rookie, former Fresno State QB Tom Brandstater was cut by the Indianapolis Colts.

2010 Chargers Starting Lineup - 9/4/10 Edition

To view the 2011 Chargers starting lineup, please visit http://www.jaimeh.com/blog/chargers-starting-lineup/



Check out the Chargers lineup for 11/28/10 against the Colts here: http://jhowrites.blogspot.com/2010/11/chargers-starting-lineup-against-colts.html

Today is the day that NFL teams have to cut down to their 53-man roster. I'm not brave enough to take a shot at guessing who will or won't make it, but I think now is a good time to update my guess at who will be the in the starting lineup for the San Diego Chargers when they open against the Kansas City Chiefs.

Not much has changed since my original lineup, which you can find here: http://jhowrites.blogspot.com/2010/08/2010-chargers-startin-lineup.html. The changes are marked with an asterisk, and I added some more comments about various players.

Offense:
QB - Philip Rivers
RB - Ryan Mathews (No notes about his roster spot, I'm just really excited to see him in a game!)
FB - Jacob Hester* (Looks like the coaches like him as a FB, and Mike Tolbert will get more action as a running back in certain situations)
TE - Antonio Gates
WR - Malcolm Floyd
WR - Legedu Naanee (The trade for Patrick Crayton makes me wonder where they want him on the depth chart, but he's only got a little bit of time to get adjusted)
LT - Brandyn Dombrowski
LG - Kris Dielman
C - Nick Hardwick
RG - Luis Vasquez
RT - Jeromy Clary

Defense:
CB - Quentin Jammer
CB - Antoine Cason
SS - Stephen Gregory (Experience counts. Darrell Stuckey has talent, but he's not starting on opening day)
FS - Eric Weddle
OLB - Shaun Philips
MLB - Stephen Cooper
MLB - Kevin Burnett
OLB - Larry English (The fact that Shawne Merriman has been limited in practice and hasn't played in a played in a preseason game since signing make me nervous.)
DE - Luis Castillo
DT - Antonio Garay
DE - Jacques Cesaire

Special Teams
P - Mike Scifres
K - Nate Kaeding
LS - David Binn

And that's it! What do you think? What changes would you make? We'll see how I did when the final depth chart comes out!

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*Please note, this lineup is based of of my guesses and information taken from www.Chargers.com and www.SignOnSanDiego.com/news/sports/chargers