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Basketball Blog North America Sport

Why Picking a perfect bracket is absurd

If you ask Google the odds of picking a perfect March Madness bracket, you’ll be shown:

This video explains why that number is not technically correct, because it assumes each team has a 50/50 chance of winning each game.

Warning, only click if you’re a math nerd.

Favorite stat from the video: You have a better chance at identifying exactly where a random individual grain of sand came from than picking a perfect bracket.

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Blog California Hiking North America Ultimate Yosemite

The Frisbee Swing

Back in my younger days, I used to be crazy. Well, maybe I still am. I came across this video from which brings two of my outdoor passions together: Climbing and Frisbee

Yes, that is the famous Alcove Swing on El Capitan in Yosemite National Park, with a Frisbee!

Now, before some of you ask, yes, we did hike down and recover the frisbee. #LeaveNoTrace!

El Capitán in Yosemite has been in the national spotlight this past year as two amazing documentaries have been released about climbers epic struggles to the top. While similar, the films show two very disctinct climbing styles.

First, The Dawn Wall came out. That film followed Tommy Caldwell and Kevin Jorgeson up the hardest route on the face of El Cap. They fell thousands of times, slept on a portaledge for 19 nights, and, well, no spoilers. Their journey involved ropes, and sheer will and energy.

Maybe more famous, after taking home the Oscar for Best Documentary, is Free Solo. Free Solo follows Alex Honnold’s epic free solo climb of El Cap. Honnold goes up a different, easier, route up the granite monolith. Yes, easier is a relative term here. What he did is unthinkable. He went up without any ropes or protection, just his shoes, his chalk bag, and his body. Absolutely nuts.

Both feats are impressive in their own right, and it really is hard to say which one is more impressive. In the end, I’d have to go with what Honnold did. Caldwell’s life was relying on his equipment to work as expected. Sure, he still could have died, but that would have required an equipment malfunction, or human error when placing the pieces. One slip, one unexpected bird flying out of a crack, one hold breaking, or one little slip, and Honnold’s a gonner.


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Blog Food North America Texas

Lubbock, Texas, and the South Plains Fair!

After the wedding, a quick trip to see my family in West Texas was in order. Since I live abroad, I don’t get to see most of my family as much as I’d like. Little ones like my niece and nephew get so big so fast!

So why is the fair so famous? Well food, of course!

There were moments of joy.

Followed by moments of crying.

Guess when you’re that little, those cars move really fast! 

Don’t forget about the livestock and tractors, we are in West Texas after all!

What do you think Miranda, did you have a good time? 

Overall, good times!

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Blog North America Texas

My sister got married!

Congratulations to my beautiful sister and her new husband! I wish them nothing but the best for the rest of their lives. It’s a beautiful thing to see how happy they make each other.

It was an amazing trip, one that I wouldn’t have missed for the world! I showed up just in time for the rehearsal dinner, which of course, was Texas BBQ.

Jpeg

I got to spend some quality time with my neice and nephew, who are getting big!

The ceremony was beautiful as well!

Once that was over, we had a great time dancing the night away!

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Blog California Food North America Road Trip Yosemite

After Worlds! A whirlwind trip around California in 9 days

It all began in Chicago, in more ways than one.


That’s my Great-Grandfather Ned Merriam’s HOF plaque, a 2011 inductee to the University of Chicago Athletics Hall of Fame!

After Chicago, we had a planned five hour lay-over in Austin, TX. No, it was no accident, it was to visit my sister!

After a quick stop-over in Austin, we had some quality family time in Sacramento and Lake Tahoe!

When Yosemite is closed for fires, find the closest watering hole!



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Africa Blog Grass Ultimate Kenya North America Ultimate

WUCC 2018 Cincinnati – World Ultimate Club Championships

Kisumu Frisbee Club

Kenya nchi nzuri, Hakuna Matata.

21 players came together in Cincinnati, Ohio to represent Kisumu Frisbee club in the 2018 World Ultimate Club Championships!

We brought a team together of 9 players from Kenya, 1 player from Uguanda, 10 players from USA and 1 player from Spain. Six More Kenyan players tried unsuccessfully to make the trip, but they were denied visas 😞.

Highlight video from our game vs UCT Flying Tigers from South Africa!

I’ll be honest, I was busy, you know, playing at the time, but here’s a timeline of how it went!

We made this happen!

View image on Twitter

Amazing catch from the women’s semi-final, by Laura Ospina from Revolution (Colombia)
SportsCenter #3 on the daily Top 10
I was sitting right there for the catch, amazing!

If you’re interested you can view our team page here: http://results.wucc2018.com/?view=teamcard&team=79

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Blog North America Twitter

Officially back in the good ol US of A. Feels good but it was an amazing trip! #Kenya #UAE #Jordan #TravelSkills #Home

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Blog California Hiking North America Twitter Yosemite

Some of the benefits of working in #Yosemite. Season #7 and I’m still not the least bit tired of this place.