Aviously

What Defines A Sports Rivalry

@iAmAviG

March 27, 2015

People use the term “rivalry” very loosely in sports, and I think that it needs to be revisited.

For example, the Yankees-Mets do not have a “rivalry”, as they play each other 4 times a year (out of 162)…they have zero impact on each others playoff chances, and besides for the 2000 World Series, they haven’t had much to do with each other.
As a New Yorker, why should you care if both teams win the other 158 games a year, and in those four games you pick a team to root for. But to “hate” the other team is just plain stupid.

On the flip side you have the Rangers-Flyers in the NHL. Two teams that play each other multiple times a year, and each game plays a role in the playoff scenarios.

The players hate each other. The coaches hate each other. The fans hate each other

Even more relevant to my last example is the Rangers-Islanders. Since 1994 the two teams have been playing two different styles of game. They had their differences and hates, but big picture it didn’t really matter…until this year that is, as they fight it out for the top spot in the Metropolitan Division, and when they meet in the 2nd round of the playoffs (as they should) there will be genuine hatred between everyone with their hearts in these teams.

Other big rivalries that truly exists these days, and are still relevant: Yankees-Red Sox; Lakers-Celtics; Tom Brady-Peyton Manning.

Rivalries that don’t exist, but the fans like to think they do: Sidney Crosby-Alex Ovechkin; Tiger Woods-Phil Mickelson (Tiger is irrelevant in recent years and Phil is a choker); Kobe-Lebron.

One rivalry that didn’t really exist, but should pick up (rightfully so) in the next few months: Manny Pacquiao-Floyd Mayweather.
And that should be one heck of a fight.

BC Hillel Passover Deliveries

@iAmAviG

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March 26, 2015

This Sunday I went to the Tanger Hillel at Brooklyn College (at which I’m a board member) to do our yearly Passover Deliveries to the Elderly.

Every year we get in different goods to deliver, thanks in part to the Met Council on Jewish Poverty, and this year we had a nice haul to spread around to those who needed it:

Hand Matzah
Machine Matzah
Potatoes
Onions
Carrots
Apples
Apple Juice
Mayonnaise
Tuna
Pickles
Jam
Applesauce
Macaroons

I think that covered it all.

Our deliveries ranged all over Brooklyn, using lists that are built on year after year, and went out to over 300 families.

I started off at the Hillel, helping organize the groups going out, and loading the proper packages into each volunteer vehicle.
Those that didn’t come with a vehicle were either paired up in a car (in case the driver couldn’t find parking) or remained at the Hillel to help load cars and pack more packages as needed.

As the list wound down, me and another volunteer went out in my car to tackle two routes and delivered to 16 families.

All in all a great Sunday of volunteering!

If you want to, it’s not too late to donate to the cause, and that can be done HERE.

Vessel

@iAmAviG

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March 24, 2015

Vessel is a new video streaming service that launched early this morning at Vessel.com.

The service has videos from free sites (such as YouTube and the likes), but also will have exclusive videos a few days before they are available elsewhere online.
These videos will come from YouTube, Buzzfeed, CollegeHumor and many more providers.

The fee for this site is only $2.99 a month, but you probably have the same thoughts as me: “What do I possibly need this for?” or “Couldn’t I just wait a day or two and see it for free?”

Well, luckily for both of us, if you sign up in the next couple of days you will get a free year-membership, with no strings attached (aka: no CC required)!

So with the mindset of “If it’s free, I’ll take three” I signed up this morning and will maybe give it a test run over the next few days…but in reality since my college days are long over I haven’t gone on a “YouTube binge watch” in a long time, and don’t see myself starting again any time soon.
If I do, a better review should follow.

The Curtains Close on Glee

@iAmAviG

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March 23, 2015

Friday night marked the end of the sixth and final season of Glee.

A show that started off strong, with great stories and songs, fell apart in recent years, as the writers and creators moved on to other projects (American Horror Stories, etc.) and left this to fail.

But Friday night showed what the show could’ve been had they kept the glory of the early seasons flowing throughout.

With a great flashback episode to 2009 showing how everyone came to join the glee club, as well as some auditions to the current stars, the two-hour finale was off to a great start.

With keeping spoilers to a minimum, the second episode flashed forward 5 (or more) years to show where our main cast ends up, and it left fans wanting more of this great group.

Pushing aside political points and drama the Directors/Producers put together one final performance with all the characters the fans have grown to love/hate coming together and singing “I Lived” by OneRepublic.

With every broken bone, I swear I lived.

And as the final curtain came down during the dedication of the Finn Hudson Auditorium, they zoomed in on one final plaque with a quote on it, reminding the fans why they watched, and the creators why they created it, saying:

See the world not as it is, but as it should be.

The potential was there for Glee in the beginning and the very end…it’s a shame the middle had to be so painful.

MTA Hikes This Sunday

@iAmAviG

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March 20, 2015

This is a PSA post 🙂

This Sunday, March 22nd, the Metropolitan Transportation Authority (MTA) of New York City will be raising their rates.

MetroCards
- Fares will be going up .25 to $2.75 a trip (reduced fare = $1.35)
  Bonuses when you buy a card increase to 11%
- Single Ride cards will be $3.00
- 7-Day cards are $31
- Monthly cards will now be $116.50
- $1 fees still apply to all new cards
LIRR & Metro-North
- Fares will increase by up to 6% in some zones
- Most fares will be under 4.25% higher
Bridges & Tunnels
- Tolls are rising ~4%
- Verrazano-Narrows Bridge (One-Way Toll)
  Cash – $16.00
  E-ZPass – $11.08
- Major Crossings (RFK Bridge — Bronx-Whitestone Bridge — Throgs Neck Bridge — Hugh L. Carey Tunnel — Queens Midtown Tunnel)
  Cash – $8.00
  E-ZPass – $5.54
- Minor Crossings (Marine Parkway-Gil Hodges Memorial Bridge — Cross Bay Veterans Memorial Bridge)
  Cash – $4.00
  E-ZPass – $2.08

Safe travels!

#NYPD Fails On Shift Change

@iAmAviG

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March 19, 2015

I am a big supporter of law enforcement and the NYPD. They do a great overall job getting it done. But when I needed them this past weekend, they failed pretty badly.

Saturday night at 11:15PM we suddenly heard loud voices in our driveway.
For context, we have a full length driveway, plus a garage behind the house.
Looking out the windows I saw a group of 4 guys smoking and talking loud, and heading towards the back of the house…where we have had break-ins in the past.

So at 11:16PM I called 9-1-1, and asked for the NYPD to stop by. They asked if I saw any drugs or weapons and, being the stupid person I am, I told them that it didn’t appear like their was.

As I watched out the window, I saw a few more people emerging from behind the house, and the group was now up to 8 guys.

The larger the group got, the rowdier they got, including horsing around near the cars in the driveway (mine and my neighbors) and urinating against the houses.

BTW, the cops still haven’t arrived.

At 11:25PM the group walked out of the driveway and into the street, at this point I noticed a 9th guy and a girl come out of the driveway…so who knows what they were doing down there…as they had been up against my house and I couldn’t see them from the windows.

And by 11:30PM the group had fully dispersed, with no sign of our boys in blue.

At 11:46PM, 30-minutes after the initial call was made, two cop cars (with two officers in each) pulled up outside, and I went down to talk to them.

They were extremely apologetic, and said that it had been a shift change, so their wasn’t anyone available to come quicker.

This is very good to know…especially since I am the furthest block from my precinct (2 miles away), although their is a precinct or two closer to me…criminals should do their actions at 11PM, since no one is apparently around at that time, so you have a few minutes to do your deeds and get lost.

After this was over I went back and looked at security footage of it all, and with the help of some coworkers, saw a nice “exchange” of some sort that happened before they came into the driveway, in which money definitely changed hands.

The NYPD needs to implement staggered shift changes, so that everyone isn’t off the streets at the same time…and if they already do this, then it doesn’t work very well.

#Community Is Back!!!

@iAmAviG

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March 18, 2015

The hashtag has been around for a few years already: #SixSeasonsAndAMovie.

Yet every time Community cancelled, someone gave it life again…and this time it is Yahoo, via Yahoo Screen.

Season 6 premiered yesterday (HERE) with two fresh episodes, and they were amazing!!!

This show has been given a fresh start, and everyone was happy, even “Jesus Wept”.

Looking forward to fresh episodes every Tuesday for the next couple of months, and maybe even a Season 7?

Amazon Customer Service (Almost) Shines Again

@iAmAviG

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March 17, 2015

I put in an Amazon order last Wednesday, using the standard Prime Two-Day delivery. Yet Friday came and went with no package…

And since it had been scheduled for Friday, it wasn’t eligible for Weekend delivery, so it wasn’t delivered yesterday (I still need to figure out why….) and I have to pick it up from an unknown location today…six-day delivery…hopefully.

It’s strange, because had I ordered it Thursday or Friday, I would’ve qualified for weekend delivery…

So I contacted Amazon on Saturday night and inquired about where my package was, and found out that a UPS truck had broken down delaying my package.

Since I hadn’t paid shipping to begin with (as it was included in my Prime), they couldn’t give me money back on the shipping, so instead they extended my Prime by a free month.

Thank you Amazon for your cooperation with the delayed delivery! And hopefully it’ll show up somewhere in Brooklyn later today!

#NYCFC Home Opener

@iAmAviG

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March 16, 2015

I went yesterday to Yankee Stadium for the historic home opener of the New York City Football Club (NYCFC).

I had bought a parking pass beforehand, saving a few dollars over paying there, and parked close to the exit ramp for a quick getaway afterwords.

We marched to the Stadium with The Third Rail, which is the fan group for NYCFC. This was a fairly large crown, a little unorganized (which is to be expected in the first game ever), but slowly getting their stuff together.

The field didn’t look as bad as I had thought it would, especially after the pictures that had come out Wednesday.

I of course took the customary soccer photo:

And lastly I took the scoreboard shot at the end of a great 2-0 win!

The game itself was great, and the crowd was really into it. Chants were starting in most sections, sometimes even louder than the supporters sections in the bleachers.

I’ve been to many events at Yankee Stadium including a Yankees playoff game (which was “alright”) and a Stadium Series NHL game (which was “incredible”), yet the atmosphere for this game was better than all of those combined!

I took a lot of videos and not as many pictures during the game itself…but realized today, after it is all over, that pictures are much easier to post…

So on that note…videos are available on my Facebook page!

My Moto Family

@iAmAviG

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March 13, 2015

For those that aren’t aware, I am a big Motorola user.

I use their products because quite simply: They work.

Each function of their devices may not be better then a competitors, but as an overall product Motorola always comes out on top.

My Moto Family keeps growing as I try each technological advancement that Motorola puts out there.

Here is a brief rundown of my recent Motorola devices…so it doesn’t count the original Moto Razr, the Moto Razr HD, Bluetooth, etc.:

Moto X (1st Gen) – I got this through Moto Maker, but kept it simple with a black front and a black textured back, with orange trimmings…what a mistake. If you are going to design your own phone, don’t go simple like I did on this one!
Moto X (2nd Gen) – I didn’t make the same mistake twice! The black front is obvious (as it gives the “larger screen” effect), and a bamboo back (absolutely gorgeous) with olive green trim. One of the best phones I’ve owned!
Moto Skip – A simple NFC unlock device that can be clipped to belts/collars/etc. It also comes with “stickers” to put on car dashboards/desks/etc. for convenient unlocking in common places.
Moto 360 – The watch that I’ve talked about many times before on this blog.
Moto Hint – Tiny Bluetooth earpiece, with a small case that acts as a portable charger as well. There may be a fuller review on this some point soon…
Power Pack Micro – Small pocket charger. Adds a powerful 80% charge to most phones, and is smaller then a pack of tic-tacs, so it’s easy to carry around.
Power Pack 4000 – Another portable charger. This one holds 2-2 1/2 charges in it, and is smaller/lighter then most phones.

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