Tuesday, November 21, 2006

What Kind of Geek Am I

Thanks to John Kovalic's Dork Tidings, a fun little quiz.

You scored as Storyteller. The Storyteller is in it for the plot: the sense of mystery and the fun of participating in a narrative that has the satisfying arc of a good book or movie. He enjoys interacting with well-defined NPCs, even preferring antagonists who have genuine motivations and personality to mere monsters. To the Storyteller, the greatest reward of the game is participating in a compelling story with interesting and unpredictable plot threads, in which his actions and those of his fellow characters determine the resolution.

With apologies to Robin Laws.

Storyteller

90%

Character Player

70%

Casual Gamer

55%

Weekend Warrior

50%

Tactician

45%

Power Gamer

40%

Specialist

10%

What RPG Player (Not Character) Type Are You?
created with QuizFarm.com

Thursday, November 09, 2006

Should be writing a paper

Law school did me no favors in failing to punish me for my habitual procrastination, so I've found myself more often than not pulling late nighters every time I have a paper due in my courses here at Michigan. Of course, my continued failed resistance to the lure of the 'net doesn't help things either. So, I have to make this appearance brief, but I realized it's been a bit of time since I last posted. So:

1. Check out LibraryThing. I'm writing about it for my "Social Systems & Collections" course paper and have found it to be an interesting, even fun, concept. Look for a LibraryThing button to appear around here before too long.

2. Proposal 2. I really want to write something about Proposal 2, but considering the gravity of the subject, it'll probably wait until I've better collected my thoughts. In fact I want to write something about all of the recently voted-on proposals. But, being a student at Michigan, I've seen the center of the storm around 2.

3. No word on who's going to take John L's place on the sideline. There's lots of talk about Mooch and I've even heard mention of Michigan's defensive coordinator. I can't say either would dissapoint me. As my Dad and I discusses, after four years of a high flying, electric spread offense, perhaps it's time for State to return to a more traditional balanced attack. Caulcrick would make for perhaps the most talented carrying fullback in the league, and with him as a blocker, Ringer, Jimmerson or Khan would be outright deadly. If Hoyer was only a bit more mobile and our offensive line stronger, I might actually find myself advocating an occasional triple option offense! :o

On a related note, Izzo's comments about the role he should have taken in fostering John L's acclimation to State are interesting. I've long advocated that Smith just wasn't getting the support from the school that he needed, with the institution seemingly just assuming that he could fix a bad situation all by himself. I hope that whoever the new guy is, Izzo and the rest of the fixture coaches are there to offer some advice and friendly encouragement.

Wednesday, November 01, 2006

Four in Twelve (Or the Pain of Bleeding Green)

Blame it on players who were either too undisciplined to stay out of trouble or too lacking in heart to buckle down and play with abandon when it really mattered. Blame it on a program reputation that can't possibly hope to compete with that other school for the best in-state prospects (and let's not kid ourselves, Sparty doesn't have a chance in the football player factories). Blame it on commentators and fans who predicted a second-half collapse each season and then patted themselves on the back when it occurred. Blame it on assistant coaches who, from a fan's perspective, didn't seem capable of realizing the potential brought in by a head coach. Or blame it on a head coach who seemed incapable of whupping his team's ass when they were in need of it.

These are all aspects of John L. Smith's tenure as Michigan State's head coach. But these are only concerns for historians now, as Sparty has decided to take a different path next year. So, as this post's title notes, the Green and White will be lead by their fourth coach in twelve years next season.

Some say this was inevitable and the program really doesn't have what it takes to be great. As a long suffering fan of State, not to mention an alumnus, I pray this isn't the case and hope that it's just going to take a coach who brings innovation in more than just offensive scheme to turn things around. I wonder if Coach Kelly would be interested in moving up another rung to a big time conference.