Braman's Wanderings

Well I have wandered away from this blog. Perhaps some time next year I will actually post some things here.

Just a quick little post to break the drought of updates.

De Vinci's Deli and Catering

De Vinci's is opening March 17th on 10th street in Downtown Tracy. The deli is the newest location for this small chain that was started in Stockton. The chain will now have eight locations scattered up and down the valley from Modesto to Elk Grove.

If the name alone doesn't clue you in, De Vinci's specializes in Italian favorites.

Famous Dave's

Another national chain will be opening soon in Tracy. Famous Dave's will be opening right next to the Olive Garden across from the West Valley Mall. You can read more about Famous Dave's at http://www.famousdaves.com.  I am looking forward to another BBQ restaurant in town. I enjoy Shorter's, in downtown Tracy, but it is also nice to have some variety.

Gigi's Pizza

Gigi's Pizza closed in mid February. I ate here a few times when it first opened, but I am not a big pizza eater so it was not on my list of regular haunts. It is sad to see a downtown restaurant close. It is expected that another restaurant will take it's place. Hopefully soon, it is a good location.

Rumors

I heard recently that a brew pub restaurant may open in the old Penny's building downtown. I would not expect this to happen, as it would take extensive renovations to bring it up to code in respect to earthquake safety.

Another year has started, and that brings the question: What New Year resolutions do you have?

We had a good Sunday night service and our preacher brought out five points from Acts 2:42 - 47 that he asked each of us to work on during the year.

1. Engage My Worship
2. Enrich My Relationships (Fellowship)
3. Enhance My Walk (Knowledge of the Word)
4. Enlarge My Sharing
5. Expand my Involvement (Family)

These will be something that I will be working on during the year.

For other resolutions? Well, some of these align with what is above, and others are just standard ones that come most every year.

• Keep from gaining weight.
• Exercise more, get back to walking and using small weights for toning.
• Listen to the entire Bible while walking for exercise (see previous point).
• Complete at least five more courses towards my Master's Degree in Adult Education and Training.
• Work on forming better relationships with friends, family and co-workers.
• Read at least 12 books :-).
• Practice playing the piano more often.
• Get started on landscaping my backyard now that I have automatic sprinklers there.
• Cut down on the clutter in my house.

These should be enough. Now to get to work on them.

Happy Thanksgiving to everyone.

It has been an interesting year, and I am thankful for all the support of my friends, family and colleagues.

Earlier this year I decided to start working on a master's degree in Adult Education and Training. This is probably the main reason why I stopped writing in my blog. I am currently on break from classes after recently passing the 1/3 mark of the program. I took a break for several reasons, but mainly because I would be out of the country for four out of the six weeks of class. Even though my program is entirely on-line, the logistics of attending class from Australia or India for extended periods of time was too much to handle. I also decided it was best to give my self a break and to be able to relax while traveling. Also, the tuition reimbursement from work had run out for the year.

I am currently home between trips to Australia and India. The trip to Australia was a good trip, and it was great to see both people who I work with there and friends from the church that I attend when I am there. The upcoming trip to India will be interesting, as I will be facing the largest classes that I have ever had. I will also be using some innovative training methods to accomplish this. Wish me luck.

I recently passed the Two Million step mark in my walking program. The second million came a lot faster than the first one. I now walk anywhere from two to five miles every night, so the steps have been adding up quickly.

So, did the second million come with any benefits? Well, the dial on the scale is moving just a little bit less. I have lost a solid five pounds, compared to nothing during the first million. I now walk much further, and look forward to the walks each night. Clothes continue to fit better, and am actually down a waist size on the jeans that I use to work in the yard.

I have also found a way to make my walks more interesting. I downloaded an mp3 version of the Bible, and now listen to it while I walk. I downloaded it about three weeks ago, and am already up to II Kings. It is a different experience to hear long passages of the Bible read. It is a different dynamic than reading as well. Usually, you hear no more than a chapter or two read at a time. It really gets you into the flow of the story. Of course, some sections are downright boring (Leviticus and Deuteronomy), and I have to work hard to keep my mind from wandering. However, it has been a good experience, and I enjoy going over some of the little repeated stories from OT history.

In my last post, I mentioned that Chili's would have a grand opening on April 15th. The actual opening date has been announced in the Tracy Press.

Picture by Glenn Moore/Tracy Press

I have a few pictures of the restaurant that I took myself, but it is simply easier to link to one of Glenn Moore's excellent pictures. One of the reasons that I like the Tracy Press. I think that Glenn is an excellent photographer.

The time is fast approaching for the next big restaurant opening in Tracy. The last big opening was the Texas Roadhouse. It is still difficult to get a table there. Especially on weekends. Of course this is just what I hear from others. I have still not eaten there, but still see lines out the door when I go to Panda Express for my regular Saturday night dinner.

So, what is the next big opening, and when does it open?

The next big opening is Chili's, which is slated for a grand opening on April 15th. I walked by the site at Grant Line and Corral Hollow last night and read the sign on the door. They are currently undergoing training, so they may have a soft opening earlier. Luckily, April 15th is still a few weeks off. I haven't started on my taxes yet.

Ground has also been broken to the North of the Olive Garden. Last I heard, this was to be the site of a Famous Dave's. It will be nice to have another BBQ restaurant in Tracy.

Well, my teams are all eliminated. It only remains to see if this year will have record Yahoo Points (YP) against a bracket where the higher seeded team always wins.

Already, this will be by far the least upsetting tournament. The UF (Upset Factor) will end up at 26, 27 or 28 vs. a previous low of 53.

The YP will end up at 93 (where it stands now), 109, 141 or 157. Of course it all depends on how the #1 seeds remaining play.

In my own bracket, I ended up with only 69 points, which will probably put me in the lower half of all Yahoo participants. Oh well, that is what I get for picking with my heart. Of course, I didn't know that Yahoo changed to where you could enter multiple brackets until it was too late. Next year I will put in a bracket where all top seeds win just to see how it does. It will probably be my best one. It certainly would have been this year.

 

This year will be the least upsetting NCAA Basketball Tournament since the field expanded to 64 teams. Not sure about all time, I only did an analysis of the tournaments since 1985.

I analyzed the tournaments in two ways:

1.  Upset Factor (UF)

Upset Factor is determined in the following way. For each game where the lower seed wins, the Upset Factor increases by the difference in seeds. If a 15 seed beats a 2 seed, the Upset Factor increases by 13. If a 9 seed beats an 8 seed, the Upset Factor increases by 1. If an 11 seed beats a 14 seed, there is no Upset Factor. The 11 seed should have won the game. You should get the idea.

2.  Yahoo Points (YP)

Each year, Yahoo hosts a contest where you fill out a bracket. You are given 1 point for choosing the winner in the first round, 2 points for a second round win, 4 points for a third round pick, 8 points for picking the teams that go to the Final Four, 16 points if you pick a team for the Final and finally 32 points for picking the ultimate winner of the Tournament.  For my analysis, each year was compared with a bracket where the highest seed always won. For the Final Four, if a number 1 seed won, appropriate points were rewarded.

So, is there a coorelation between Upset Factor and Yahoo Points. I didn't think that there would be, and I was right. In the case of the year with the highest YP, the UF is the lowest. 1993 had a YP of 158 and a UF of 53. This would be expected.

The largest UF's (103) were in 1999 and 2006, however 1999 had a high YP of 136 (2nd highest) and 2006 had a YP of 65 (Lowest). So we see that opposite ends of the YP scale have identical UF's.

Ranked by YP (Year/YP/UF)

1. 1993   158   53
2. 1999   136   103
3. 1996   135   64
4. 2005   132   76 
5. 2002   129   95
6. 1987   127   85
7. 1995   126   62
8. 1992   122   64
9. 1994   121   64
10. 2001   115   93
11. 2000   109   74
12. 1997   103   74
13. 1990   103   96
14. 1985     99   93
15. 1998     97   75
16. 1986     88   100
17. 1991     81   74
18. 1998     71   64
19. 2003     70   66
20. 2004     68   61
21. 1989     66   68
22. 2006     65   103

Ranked by UF (Year/YP/UF)

1. 2006    65   103
2. 1999   136   103
3. 1986     88   100
4. 1990    103    96
5. 2002    129    95
6. 1985      99    93
7. 2001    115    93
8. 1987    127    85
9. 2005     132   76
10. 1998      97    75
11. 1991      81    74
12. 1997     103   74
13. 2000     109   74
14. 1989       66   68
15. 2003       70   66
16. 1998       71   64
17. 1994     121   64
18. 1992     122   64
19. 1996     135   64
20. 1995     126   62
21. 2004       68   61
22. 1993     158   53

So where does this year stack up? The UF is currently at 24, and at most can increase to 31. This year is easily the least upsetting tournament. Will it be the year with the highest YP points? That remains to be seen. If all number 1 seeds lose in the next round, the YP points will stand at 77, which would rank 18th. However, if a number 1 seed wins all the remaining games, the YP will be 173, which will be the highest. A number one seed must win the final for the YP to be the highest. It is not possible without the 32 points from the Final game.

In my own bracket, I would have been better off picking the highest seed in each game. I would have 77 points instead of my current 69. The current Yahoo leader has 91 points out of the possible 96 points so far.

OK, enough playing with numbers. I need to go walk to meet my daily goal.

Go KU. If KU wins out I will end up with 125 points.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

The first weekend of the Tournament is over and it is good news/bad news for my bracket.

First the Good:

Missed only two games on Thursday and Sunday.
Perfect picks for Saturday's games.
14 Sweet Sixteen teams.
In the 99th Percentile on Yahoo Pickem after the first weekend.

Then the Bad:

Missed five of 16 games on Friday.
The two picks I missed on Sunday cut deep, both Wisconsin and Texas were in my Final Four. Luckily not my Final Two. That would be Texas A&M and Kansas. Two Big 12 teams in the Final? It has happened before. Maybe history will repeat itself.

Overall it has been a Tournament with very few upsets. However, I did pick the two big upsets of the first round. Winthrop over Notre Dame and VCU over Duke.

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Now on to other topics. I am teaching again this week. This makes four straight weeks teaching and eight of the last ten. I will be so glad next week to not be teaching. I just need some time to catch up on some other projects at work, and also take a few days off and get things done, including getting my car serviced.

I am starting to work on a travel schedule that could involve visiting up to nine or ten countries in the space of a month or two. It will be an interesting travel schedule. We will see if it all comes together.

My walking continues, which probably accounts for not very many entries in my Blog. I usually walk two to four miles each evening.

However, since hardly anybody reads this Blog, I don't think I have been missed :-).