Fun with tables

I’m taking this course on Cascading Style Sheets, which is kind of like HTML except more powerful.

I’m almost done with the course. Last week, we had to format a table. I have found that I enjoy homework much more when the subject matter is meaningful to me.

My dad and I have always talked about how none of the DFW teams are ever all good or all bad at one time. So I did a little research and had some fun with my project.

I compiled a table that shows the success of Dallas-area sports teams by year since 1994, which is when the Stars came to town, making it a four-sport area. (The year refers to the year the playoffs were in, except for football.)

I concluded that in fact  in no year have all four teams made the playoffs. However, at least one team did go to the playoffs every year.

Thanks to the Stars’ sub-par season, 2009 will not be the exception. I’m optimistic about their future though, especially because they have played in the postseason the most of the four teams.

The Rangers have some talent lurking. Will 2010 be the year?

P.S. If you are really interested in the nuts and bolts of my fancy table, right-click on that page and select “View Page Source.” Doesn’t that look fun! Glad the course is nearly over.

A little bit about a lot*

First things first, since I’m old-school, I need to issue a correction for yesterday’s post. I had the Rangers’ record incorrect. It should have been 7-9. Had I known that, there might have been quite a bit less belly-aching, especially considering they won Saturday night and are second in the AL West.

Second, I’ve been playing with the photo at the top of the page. I thought the night snow was pretty for a while, but it’s almost May.

Moving on, I really wish I could have watched the whole Penguins-Flyers playoff game today. I saw Philly score two quick goals at the end of the first and the orange crowd went berserk. When I read later that Pittsburgh came back to win 5-3, I was stunned. Hope that game is replayed later.

I guess if I have to root for someone, it’s Pittsburgh. I like Sid the Kid, and I hate the Flyers. So it’s a no-brainer.

I saw the first half of Mavericks-Spurs Game 4 today. I think it’s kind of hilarious that Tony Parker scores 43 and they still lose.

Also, I should note: I have this strange mental block where I often get Phil Jackson and Gregg Popovich confused. I think I have some kind of old-white-guy dyslexia. Obviously I know who is who, but it’s the darndest thing.

Most of my day was spent in football mode thanks to the NFL draft. The most memorable part was Chris Berman’s fugly outfit (pinkish pinstriped shirt with orange, yellow, green and blue striped tie. Ew.). Did he get dressed in the dark??

Today will be the really fun day. (And I use the term “fun” loosely.) Dallas has 12 picks after trading their second-rounder on Saturday. Due to intense reader interest, we basically consider the Cowboys a local team.

Also contributing to the fun is that the majority of OU, OSU and TU guys that we are watching will probably go today as Brandon Pettigrew and Phil Loadholt went Saturday.

Speaking of the Pokes, attention all O-State (or Big 12) fans: World columnist Dave Sittler has a bold (some might say “crazy”) prediction for next football season.

Pick up the Sunday World to find out what he thinks. (Or check out the RSS feed on the right side of the screen: “Call me crazy, but OSU could start 11-0″. If it’s not in the feed, it’s on the site.) If you’re not intrigued, you should be.

*Best headline ever!

Musings in the wee hours

It’s approaching 5 a.m. and I’m in that dreaded “physically tired, mentally wired” state.

But I usually get off work around midnight to 12:30. So if midnight is like my vampire version of 5 p.m. (when “normal” people get off work), right now it’s like 10 p.m. for me. Looking at it in that light always makes me feel better.

I just finished some of my CSS course homework and now I need to unwind. There’s no weekly due date for the homework, except of course for last week. Long story short, I crammed three weeks worth of homework into three days and now I’m caught up until Monday. Which is nice.

I have a list to the side of me of blog topics I’ve been meaning to bring up. I just can’t seem to find the motivation.

I’m a perfectionist, so I can’t just bang out some halfway thought-out blog about how bad the Rangers are, or how surprisingly competitive the Mavericks-Spurs series has been. I guess that’s a good thing.

But…

I guess I can make an exception this one time. After all, this post is titled “Musings.” And I haven’t posted anything in nearly a week.

*Vicente Padilla: We know he has the stuff. Is he really just that inconsistent? He is killing my fantasy team’s ERA and WHIP. Maybe I should drop him and pick up…

*Brandon McCarthy: If this guy has ONE MORE good start, I’ll officially renounce his status of “fool’s gold.” Why? Because of what happened last start to…

*Kevin Millwood: Ah, so much promise. Hopefully it was just one bad outing. Kind of like…

*The kid who debuted in Kason Gabbard’s jersey: I was halfway asleep, but I heard rumblings of this from Josh and Tom. I was interested in his situation and even drowsily considered blogging about him, but sleep won out. Speaking of winning, if it were opposite day, I could be referring to…

*The bullpen: One word – BLECH.

This is how all loyal Rangers fans have been rewarded this season: 6-10. Really? From 3-0 to 6-10. They won just enough to evoke dreams of red and blue November parades and shiny rings.

I guess the “best farm system in the nation” will get plenty of practice this year.

Remember, my fantasy team last year was named “Rangers in 2010″ for a reason. You gotta believe. Just not right now. (And I do hope they prove me wrong.)

Mavs-Spurs: As far as that series is concerned, I don’t have a whole lot to say. I’m not a huge NBA fan, but I do like Dallas when it is good, and I’m not ashamed to admit it.

I’m pleasantly surprised to see the Mavs lead the series, 2-1. It’s good they got that road playoff monkey off their back. They had lost, what, nine straight road playoff games, dating to 2006? (The best chance they ever had to win the title, in my opinion.)

Not sure what the deal was in the blowout game the other night. Why did Popovich sit his stars?  I didn’t see most of the game, and when I found out that not only was it on, but the Mavs were up by 32, I decided it was good luck that I wasn’t watching.

So, all that being said, it is clear that my knowledge of the series is seriously lacking. You can bet I’ll be paying better attention from here on.

Final thought: It’s kind of a fact that Dallas’ four major teams can’t all be good at the same time. I promise I will back this up in a future post.