Jayhawks Rise Over This Year’s March Madness Lunacy

March Madness this year has been even more maddening than usual. I knew someday a team seeded sixteenth would win against a team seeded number one, but I assumed such a fluke would be close. Virginia’s twenty-point loss to the University of Maryland – Baltimore County (UMBC) completely surprised me. I expected Roy Williams to cast his usual spell during halftime and have North Carolina be competitive in the second half of their game against Texas A&M. Instead, they were fortunate to lose by only twenty-one points. Wichita State’s performance was also disappointing. After consistently being poorly positioned in the brackets, the Shockers went to a more prestigious conference, got seeded appropriately, and were eliminated in the first round. Loyola-Chicago of the Missouri Valley Conference - Wichita State's former conference - meanwhile will be playing in the Final Four after embarrassing Kansas State in their Elite Eight game.

The final game of the Elite Eight, though, was the best game of the tournament so far. Although fans of both schools thought the referees made some dubious calls, in the end, the officiating did not decide the game. Kansas and Duke fought a classic bout. Malik Newman had not played up to my expectations most of the season. In the post-season and particularly in this game, he was the difference, scoring all the Jayhawks’ points in overtime. For the first time for an entire game, this squad played as a team and looked deserving of being seeded first in the Midwest bracket.

In celebration of the 120-year history of Kansas basketball, nearly two hundred former KU players were honored February 3. The alumni endured the unthinkable - watching the current Jayhawks lose their third game of the season at Allen Fieldhouse. Two more blowout losses subsequently happened on the road before the Big XII Tournament. Questions were asked if this team was worthy of being called Jayhawks. The answer is yes. If the Jayhawks continue to play with the intensity and confidence they showed against the Blue Devils; they should win the national championship. Rock Chalk!

Basketball results, my wardrobe, and chaos theory

Does the flap of a butterfly’s wings ultimately cause a tornado? That is the question Edward Lorenz, a meteorology professor at MIT, asked in postulating “sensitive dependence on initial conditions” or the “butterfly effect,” the founding principle of chaos theory. Well, does the flap of a butterfly’s wings cause a tornado? After years of study and debate, Dr. Lorenz stated his conclusion in a 2008 lecture: “Even today I am unsure of the proper answer.” Given there is a possibility that such seemingly unrelated events may have a cause and effect relationship, I apologize to my fellow fans of Kansas and Wichita State basketball.

Throughout the 2017/2018 basketball season, I had not worn my Jayhawk and Shocker attire regularly. Saturday, I put on a Jayhawks tee-shirt. KU was embarrassingly swept by Oklahoma State. On the chance I had not been sufficiently enthusiastic, Sunday I put on a Shockers tee-shirt AND sweatpants. Wichita State had a chance to tie for the American Athletic Conference Championship. Instead, WSU lost at home in a tight game to Cincinnati. As the Shockers were much closer to winning than were the Jayhawks, am I to conclude it was because I was wearing team sweatpants? Would the Shockers have avoided two five-minute scoreless streaks had I also been wearing their socks? Dr. Lorenz, I need a less ambiguous answer! March Madness begins soon! Do I need Jayhawk and Shocker socks? Can Amazon get them here on time? Am I blaspheming the basketball gods even to consider there is any significance of crimson and blue, and black and gold on my feet?

I am confident that as a butterfly flaps its wings, I had a part in the Cubs winning the 2016 World Series, the Blackhawks winning the Stanley Cup in 2010, 2013, and 2015; and the Seahawks winning the Super Bowl in 2013. I accept no responsibility, though, for the boneheaded play call for the Seahawks Super Bowl in 2014 - that is entirely on Pete Carroll! As for this year’s Blackhawks, there are no wardrobe choices that can explain this awful season.

Go Jayhawks! Go Shockers!

Coincidences on the anniversary of Bill Langbehn's death

My father-in-law, Bill Langbehn, died one year ago yesterday. I surmise when he was little, Bill wanted to be a firefighter. My wife remembers her dad leaving their house to watch the firefighters battle the fire when Sutro Baths burned down in 1966, and his always wanting to chase the fire trucks whenever he heard sirens.

It was as if Bill was making sure we remembered him on this anniversary of his passing. Yesterday afternoon Caitlen smelled gas at our house. We could not find the source, and I called 9-1-1. Three fire trucks and an ambulance were sent. Two of our neighbors to the west also stated they smelled gas. The lead firefighter assumes a valve on the pipeline to our north released some gas. The firefighters gave the all-clear after a thorough search.

My wife, Donna, is in California with her family in remembrance of Bill. Last evening, she answered the telephone and Pacific Gas and Electric told her there was a gas leak in the area. Soon sirens were heard. The all-clear was given, and as far as we know, everyone in the area was safe.

Then Donna's brother called, distraught, saying the Cobb Mountain fire in Lake County has burned the family vacation home. My understanding is no one is allowed in the area yet, but the entire community is likely destroyed. News reports show the fire is still out of control. Maybe Bill did not want to have the vacation home split from the rest of the estate. If so, it is poetic fire would be the reason for the change in plans.

Yes, Bill Langbehn, we remember you.

Is the difference race, media, community?

Rioting occurred in Ferguson, Missouri after Michael Brown was shot by police. Rioting occurred in Baltimore, Maryland after Freddie Gray died in police custody. Yet, when John Paul Quintero was fatally shot allegedly when his hands up were up and his back was towards the Wichita, Kansas police (reference), there was no public outcry. Why?

Reference: Potter, Tim. "Lawyer: Man Had Hands up When Fatally Shot." The Wichita Eagle 30 May 2015: 1A+. Print.

Complexity of Simplicity

In the life cycle of innovation adoption, I have never been an Innovator. The displaced pieces of hardware strewn throughout the house and storage suggests I have experience as an unsuccessful Early Adopter. Contrary to my nature, I forced myself to wait until the second generation of iPads. I no longer immediately jump at any fanciful software that makes claims of organizing my life or making me smarter, faster, or more insightful. For more than a year I have been reading about the amazing, simple yet powerful capabilities of ifttt.com - IF This Then That. After yet again reading about it in another "best tools" article, I finally signed up. Now I have an account and have exactly no idea of how to make it do what it claims it so easily can do.

So far I have written multiple "recipes", all of which I have deleted, except for one. The single remaining "recipe" is to have my Blogger posts be saved on Evernote. It seems simple, but I had to watch multiple YouTube videos to try to figure it out. Each of the videos should have said there are young, technically savvy people in this world, and there is everyone else. I recognize I do not fit in the category of young anymore, but I hoped and considered myself technically savvy. Until now. What should be so hard about having e-mails from a given address be automatically sent to a folder in Evernote? I suspect for that group of people of whom I am not one, there is nothing hard about it. I will continue to plod along trying to simplify, even though it is incredibly complex for me and hopefully this post will show up in my Evernote account in the right folder.

Carry-on v. Checked Luggage and Incentives

Velocity is the key to making money for the airlines. An airplane on the ground does not make money. Turn the airplane around as quickly as possible to make the most amount of money. Yet, by charging for checked bags, airlines have taken away the incentive for checking bags. Thus, many travelers use a carry-on bag, slowing boarding, slowing velocity.

Spirit Airlines now charges for carry-on bags. The charge though, is less than for a checked bag. Passengers on Spirit, then, still do not have an incentive to put up with the inconvenience of checking their bags, walking to baggage claim, waiting, and hoping their bag is not lost.

American Airlines is experimenting with letting passengers without carry-on luggage to board the airplane before those who do. Not having to stand in the aisle as people in front of you try to put their carry-ons in the overhead bins is not much of a benefit, but it is a start.

Reference

http://www.economist.com/blogs/gulliver/2013/04/american-airlines

Chicagoans only 6th most miserable in U.S.

I cannot say it is surprising to find Chicago ranked sixth of the most miserable cities in the United States. Weather, commute times, and taxes all contributed to the unfavorable ranking. Unremarkably, residents of Detroit and Flint are even more miserable. I am surprised by the other three cities where residents are more miserable than we Chicagoans: Miami; West Palm Beach; and Sacramento. At least we Chicagoans have legitimate reasons to be miserable. I suspect those of you from Miami, West Palm Beach, and Sacramento simply have miserable dispositions and would no matter where you live. Now admittedly the weather this winter has been mild in Chicago, but I dare you residents of Florida and Northern California to come here where there are reasons for our misery!

Reference