Dream Season Part 2

The ALCS and the NLCS are underway.  After storybook seasons, neither of my teams are in the championship series.  As you may have discovered in a post from earlier this baseball season, Dream Season, I am a lifetime fan of the Chicago Cubs and the Detroit Tigers.  

After amazing first half of the season records for both teams, both the Tigers and Cubs stumbled into the playoffs.  The Tigers' fate came down to the last day of the regular season to confirm their playoff birth.  It was a nerve wracking finish to the regular season, but both teams made it to the Wildcard series.  The Tigers moved past the Cleveland Guardians 2 games to one, as the Cubs did the same to the San Diego Padres.  

Then, in the Division Series, the Tigers would  face the Seattle Mariners, and the Cubs went head to head with division rivals and the hottest team in baseball with the best regular season record, Milwaukee Brewers.  The Cubs scored in the first inning of each game (except game 5), but struggled to put runs on the board.  The Brewers took the first two games but the Cubs came back to take games 3 and 4.  The Cubs dropped Game 5 with a score 3-1.  It was the same result for the Tigers, but it went down quite a bit more suspenseful.  The Mariners and the Tigers each took one of each of the first two games.  Then, power surged for each team as the Mariners won 8-4 in game three, and the Tigers tied it all up 2-2 with a 9-3 win in game four.  Then came game 5.  The game sat at a score of 2 to2 as the 9th inning came to a close.  The game went past midnight in the central time zone as the home team, Mariners, scored in the 15th inning on a walk-off single.  

It is hard to see both of my teams lose in the playoffs in back-to-back nights, but in reflection, it was a great season.  I have never been so proud to be a Cubs and Tigers fan as this year with their dominant first half of the season.  It was fun to entertain the question from friends, "who do you cheer for if they both get to the World Series?"  It was nice to dream about that, but I will have to continue my wait. 

Regardless of the struggles and frustrations of the last couple months and the team power outage of both teams' bats, it has been fun.  You might even say it was almost a Dream Season.  

Reading/Viewing Stats Quarters 1-3 of 2025

The third quarter of 2025 has flown by for me.  A quick rundown: RPG Summer Camp, Gen Con, School Starting, marching band dad (pit crew and trailer driver), tennis dad, college student dad, and all the things that I normally am, librarian, husband, podcast co-host, etc.  Time moves right on by.  

Even with all of that, I still find time to enrich my life with content like reading, listening, and watching.  I have added a (+) note next to categories so we can see what I added this quarter.  Not so much this year in quarter 3.  I also wanted to note that it is pretty cool to include in my book reading a book published by a student who was a Dungeon Master in my game club and a student I coached in speech team.  Her book, Meirlich and Oga's Children's Home (pictured), is definitely worth checking out!    So, here are my 2025 quarters 1-3 stats: 

Movies Watched: 16 +5

Rewatch: 8

First Time: 8

In Theater: 4

T.V. Shows Streamed: 94 +1

First Time: 78

Rewatch: 14

Podcast Episodes: 30 +2

Time Listened: 1742

Books Read: 12 +4

Fiction 8

Nonfiction 4

Pages Read: 3,033

Audiobooks: 0

Fiction:

Nonfiction:

Books Abandoned:

Fiction 2

nonfiction 0

Pages Read:

Short Stories Read: 0

Fiction:

Nonficiton:

Comic Books Read: 153 +27

Print: 65

Digital: 88

Book Titles:  

Void Rivals: Vol. 1 More than Meets the Eye by Robert Kirkman Art by Lorenzo de Felicia (Graphic Novel)

The Salt Thief: Ghandi's Heroic March to Freedom by Neil Bascomb

The Library Mule of Cordoba by Wilfred Lupano and Leonard Chemineau, art by Christopher Bouchard (Graphic Novel)

Phandel we and Below: The Shattered Obelisk 

The Davenports (abandoned)

I Must Betray You by Ruta Sepetya

Dungeons and Dragons: Worlds and Realms by Adam Lee

Love & Gelato by Jenna Evans Welch

Meirlich and Oga's Children's Home by Annabelle Hiel

Star Wars X-Wing: Rogue Squadron by Michael Stackpole

Operatic by Kyo Maclear art by Byron Eggenschwiler (Graphic Novel)

X-Men: Bizarre Love Triangle by Peter Milligan Art Salvador Larroca

Starfinder: Era of the Eclipse by Tim Pratt

Movies Watched:

Pirates of the Caribbean: Curse of the Black Pearl

Dungeons and Dragons: Honor Among Thieves

Wicked

Captain America: Brave New World (Theater)

Inside Out  2

Rogue One

Star Wars: A New Hope (theater)

Elemental 

Star Wars: Revenge of the Sith

Thunderbolts (theater)

Hamilton

Avengers: Infinity War

Superman (theater)

Ferris Buehler's Day Off

Back to the Future

 

T.V. Series Watched: 

Skeleton Crew

Friendly Neighborhood Spider-Man 

Music By John Williams

Andor season 1

Fur Babies

Disney Treasure

Light and Magic season 1

Andor Season 2

Star Wars Rebels

Dance Moms Season 2

Dead to Me season 1

Dead to Me season 2

Dead to Me season 3

Star Wars: Tales of the Underworld

Pepsi, Where's my Jet?

Podcasts:

Rebel Base card Podcast (3)

60 Songs that Explain the 90's (2)

The Colbycast (4)

Teachers in the Dungeon (1)

Lost Ballparks (13)

Classic Baseball Radio (5)

Coffee with Kenobi (2)

MLB Team's Games listened: (min 5 innings)

Chicago Cubs (30)

Detroit Tigers (24)

San Francisco Giants (5)

Seattle Mariners (4)

New York Yankees (2)

Texas Rangers (2)

New York Mets (2) 

Kansas City Royals

Washington Nationals

Pittsburg Pirates (2)

San Diego Padres 

Miami Marlins

Milwaukee Brewers 

Boston Red Sox (2)

Philadelphia Phillies 

New York Mets

Tampa Bay Rays

Second Quarter 2025 Post

First Quarter 2025 Post

2024 Final Stats

Fantasy Football: Kamino Clone Kids

Captain Rex by maharlika
Deviant Art 25

Just like in Fantasy Baseball, I can't help myself and just have one fantasy team.  I like to double my chances at maintaining middle-of-the-road teams that aren't terrible, but definitely aren't winners either.  

This is the second season of the Jedi Knights Fantasy Football League.  The Kamino Clone Kids actually fared well in the inaugural season with a record of 11-5 and finishing third in the league of 10 teams.  We wiped the slates clean except for choosing draft order, and started fresh with the 2025/2026 season teams.  

Be sure to check back here each week of the season for updates through Week 8 of the season. 

Week 1: Kamino Clone Kids vs. Pabu Porgs 141.45 - 175.70 

"Kids Get Steamrolled by Allen and Henry"

(5th Place Light Side Division)

Week 2: Kamino Clone Kids (0-1) vs. Khofar Nights (1-0)  189.60 - 174.05 

"Kids Lose Burrows in Win, but St. Brown Carries the Club to 1-1" 

(4th in Light Side Division)

Week 3: Kamino Clone Kids (1-1) vs. Mustafar Moof (1-1)  148.85 - 169.10  

"The Kids Find Subpar Play in Week Three and Fall to the Mustafar Moof" 

(4th in Light Side Division) 

Week 4: Kamino Clone Kids (1-2) vs. Naboo Gungans (1-2)  184.15 - 141.64 "Kids Bring Balanced Attack led by George Pickens"  (4th in Light Side Division)

Week 5: Kamino Clone Kids (2-2) vs. Crait Vulptex (2-2) 205.67 - 170.00  "Kids Air Attack Dominates Week 5" (2nd in Light Side Division 4th in League) 

Week 6: Kamino Clone Kids (3-2) vs. Kessel Revolutionaries (4-1) 210.70 - 165.05  "Pickens, Smith-Njigba Carry the Kids to Victory"  (2nd in Light Side Division, 2nd in League)

Presenting the Kamino Clone Kids Football Club: 

QB: Joe Burrow, Cincinnati Bengals (IR)

RB: Chase Brown, Cincinnati Bengals

RB: Jaylen Warren, Pittsburgh Steelers

WR: Amon-Ra St. Brown, Detroit Lions

WR: J. Smith-Njigba, Seattle Seahawks

TE: Tyler Warren, Indianapolis Colts

WRT: George Pickens WR, Dallas Cowboys

WRT: Calvin Ridley WR, Tennessee Titans

WRT: Cooper Kupp, WR, Seattle Seahawks

DL: Maxx Crosby, Los Vegas Raiders

LB: Edgerrin Cooper, Green Bay Packers

DB: Budda Baker, Arizona Cardinals

Bench: 

QB: Baker Mayfield, Tampa Bay Buccaneers (starter week 3)

QB: Russell Wilson, New York Giants

RB: Jaydon Blue, Dallas Cowboys

RB: RJ Harvey, Denver Broncos

TE: Jonnu Smith, Pittsburgh Steelers

TE: Jake Ferguson, Dallas Cowboys

LB: Fred Warner, San Francisco 49ers

DB: Julian Love, Seattle Seahawks

Coca Cola Kids "B Team" Baseball Club makes the Playoffs

Semifinal (lower bracket):

Coca Cola Kids vs. Trot's Cardinals  10-5 "Kids Move Past Trot's Cardinals to make it to the Fifth Place Finals Matchup with Gourmet by Gorman" 

Finals (5th Place Match-up)

Coca Cola Kids vs. Gourmet by Gorman  7-8 "Kids Can't Hold the Lead and Drop the Final Contest to Gourmet by Gorman"  

6th Place finish

The Coca Cola Kids "B Team" Baseball Club missed the top bracket of the playoffs with three games back.  It is disappointing as they spent the majority of the season in the top three spots of the league.  But, if you go back to the Week One opening back in April, you'd find that the Kids excel at mediocrity.  

If the Kids round out the bottom of the bracket with two wins and a fifth place finish, that is, well, right in the middle of this 10 team league.  Kinda feels, mediocre.  

Well, here is the line-up for the 2025 playoffs for the Coca Cola Kids "B Team" Baseball Club: 

C: Cal Raleigh, Seattle Mariners

1B: Matt Olson, Atlanta Braves

2B: Mookie Betts, Los Angeles Dodgers

3B: Blaze Alexander, Arizona Diamondbacks

SS: Jose Pena, Houston Astros

OF: Siya Suzuki, Chicago Cubs

OF:  Kyle Schwarber, Philadelphia Phillies

OF: Ceddanne Rafaela, Boston Red Sox

Util: Steven Kwan, Cleveland Guardians

Bench: Kyle Tucker, Chicago  Cubs

SP: Nick Pivetta, San Diego Padres

SP: Shota Imanaga, Chicago Cubs

SP: Bryan Woo Seattle Mariners

RP: Ryan Helsley New York Mets

RP: Fernando Cruz, New York Yankees

RP: Luke Weaver, New York Yankees

BN: Jesus Luzardo Philadelphia Phillies

BN: Jason DeGrom Texas Rangers

BN: Carlos Vargas Seattle Mariners

IL: Kyle Stowers OF Miami Marlins

IL: Daniel Palencia, Chicago Cubs

Fantasy Football: The Coca Cola Kids Football Club

Every year it kills me to have to think about football before the baseball season is even over.  Don't get me wrong, I love football, but baseball is king in my kingdom.  Nevertheless, we are two weeks into the season, so time to address the fantasy team and how the first two weeks have gone. 

This post will update weekly through week 8 of the season, so be sure to check back in to see how things are proceeding.  Also, you can check out my second team "The Kamino Clone Kids" right here next week.  

Weekly Results: 

Week 1: Kids vs. Foot Wedge Mafia 182.46 to 209.71 "Kids Can't Top Big Week 1 Performances by the Mafia's QB's"  (6th in League)  

Week 2: Kids (0-1-0) vs. Roll Tide (0-1-0) 146.81 - 188.30 "Kids Lose Burrows in Week 2 Loss to Roll Tide"  (10th in League)

Week 3: Kids (0-2-0) vs. Ritz Boyz Blitz (1-1-0) 155.02 - 141.23 "Kids Receivers Dominate in Week 3"  (8th in League) 

Week 4: Kids (1-2-0) vs. LukeIAmYourFather (1-2-0) 126.86 - 158.84 "Kids Struggle to Get Any Traction in 2025" (9th in League)

Week 5: Kids (1-3) vs. Peoria Powells ((3-1) 179.21 - 147.99 "Kids Clutch in Starting Spencer Rattler" (8th in League) 

Week 6: Kids (2-3) vs. Blood Sweat and Beers (2-3) 122.36 -173.28 "Power Outage in the Air as the Kids Drop One in Week 6" (9th in League)

Week 7: Kids (2-4) vs. The Watergirl (4-2)  

Presenting the Coca-Cola Kids Fantasy Football Club: 

QB: Joe Burrow, Cincinnati

WR: Garrett Wilson, New York Jets

WR: Courtland Sutton, Denver

RB: Derrick Henry, Tennessee 

RB: JK Dobbins, Denver

TE: Brock Bowers, Las Vegas

W/R/T: Rome Odunze, Chicago

Q/W/R/T: Baker Mayfield, Tampa Bay

K: Evan McPherson, Cincinnati

DEF: Baltimore

Bench: Cam Ward, Tennessee

Bench: Tre' Harris, Los Angeles

Bench: Chig Okonkwo, Tennessee

Bench: Jaydon Blue, Dallas

Bench: Matthew Golden, Green Bay

Bench: Christian Kirk, Houston

Bench: Rhamondre Stevenson

I went with a new strategy in drafting this year.  I did my best to take the top pick in each category available at the time I decided to draft.  Then, when it came to the bench, I went with as many top rated rookies at each level.  So far it hasn't really worked out for me as none of the rookies have come out hot, and my starters didn't carry the team with any big scorers the first week.  

We shall see how the season fleshes out.  I am hoping that some of the young players on the bench will get some opportunities and catch fire.  

Coca Cola Kids "A Team" Baseball Club makes the Fantasy Playoffs

It was a season to remember for the Coca Cola Kids as they dominated the first half of the season.  Players that contributed to the historic first half are Cal Raleigh, Pete Crow-Armstrong, Josh Naylor, Katel Marte, Elly de la Cruz, Julio Rodriguez, Matthew Boyd, Jason Adams, Freddie Peralta and Shota Imanaga.  The Kids blew out teams week after week mid-July.  

July and August was a different story for the Kids.  As players like Pete Crow-Armstrong, Elly de la Cruz, and the starting pitching went cold and players like Spencer Torkelson, and Bryson Stott cooled off the Kids' dominance ended.  They lost the last six weeks of the regular season, and their first place in the league.  

Some roster changes heading into the playoffs include bringing in Blaze Alexander 3B (Arizona), Mike Yastrzemski OF (Kansas City), Zach Gelof 2B (Las Vegas), Will Vest RP (Detroit) to help fill or back up some spots that have shown weakness in the last several weeks.  

The Kids did manage to hold onto, by a thread, the second spot in the playoffs, earning a first week bye.  This post will update the results of the playoffs for the Kids, so stay tuned. 

Until then, here are the regular season leaders for the Coca Cola Kids "A Team" Baseball Club: 

Team Leaders after 18 Weeks:

Runs: 94 - Elly De La Cruz

1B: 95 - Julio Rodriguez

2B: 34 - Pete Crow-Armstrong

3B: 6 - Elly De La Cruz

HR:  50 - Cal Raleigh

RBI: 107 - Cal Raleigh

SB:  32 - Elly De La Cruz

BB:  81 - Cal Raleigh

K's: 160 - Cal Raleigh

Ave:  .291 - Ketel Marte

IP: 164.1 - Framber Valdez

W:  16 - Freddie Peralta

L: 13 - MacKenzie Gore

SV: 20 - Will Vest

Hits: 142 - MacKenzie Gore

BB: 58 - Freddie Peralta

K: 173 - MacKenzie Gore

HLD:  29 - Jason Adam

SP ERA:  2.58 - Freddie Peralta

RP ERA:  1.81 - Jason Adam

QS:  18 - Framber Valdez

Putting Away the Family Legos

At the beginning of the summer, my youngest daughter and I pulled a bag of our family Legos out of my office.  I wanted to open up some space and clean out the clutter, so this seemed like an easy start.  

Years ago, when my girls were young, we introduced them to Legos through the Duplo line.  Those
were fun; they loved the idea of building and breaking apart and building again.  Good times.  A few years later, I bought my oldest daughter her first set of Legos with the Lego Friends line.  This was a fun theme of Legos as it was girl focused in marketing and product.  Over the years we purchased several, well okay, lots of these sets from small ones like the dog training set, to the large sets like the Lego Friends house.  I loved to help them build the sets and play when they were built.  I have no doubt that these Lego friends toys were the most played with toys in the house.  I liked to build my space sets from the 1980's and have space invasions of the Lego Friends town.  They didn't always like that.  Hehehe...

Flash forward to this summer when both of my girls graduated.  One graduated from high school heading to college and the other graduated from 8th grade heading to high school.  They are growing up.  Something I haven't been very supportive of, but there is no stopping it, I suppose.  Anyhow, the youngest and I were cleaning up a tote bag of partially build or broken sets with random pieces spread across the bottom of the bag.  The goal was to figure out what pieces went to which set and deconstruct what was left of the partially build sets.  Lets just say, there was a lot of organizing to do.  As we got started, my daughter decided the best way to get the lose pieces organized with the sets was to just rebuild the sets.  She told me what she needed from the lose pieces and we hunted for them together.  We spent several hours rebuilding about 5 sets that were in the bag.  We hunted, built, talked, shared memories with the sets (I didn't mention the alien invasions), and had a good old time.  It was a nice way to start the summer.  

I couldn't bring myself to tear down the sets we had just built, so we took them to the basement to display and look at for a while.  Our mission was accomplished as we found a home for all of the lose Legos from the bottom of the tote bag.  

Now, school has started.  One daughter off to college and the other navigating the landscape of high school.  It was time to change out the display of Lego Friends in the basement.  I took them down one-by-one and started taking them apart and organizing them in their own Ziploc bags with the directions.  In this process, I was struck.  I will probably never build Legos with them ever again.  I let it sink in.  I will never build Legos with them ever again.  

Of course, the hope is some day when the grandkids come to visit, we will pull those "old" Legos out of the basement.  I don't know what that will be like, but I don't imagine it will be the same as building them with my daughters.  Maybe it will be more wonderful.  I don't know.  Nevertheless, the family Legos are now put away.   

I guess it is just me now as building Legos isn't really my wife's thing, so I pulled out my Star Wars Legos that I have gathered over the years.  I started rebuilding those.  Even though I am building those on my own, I have the memories of all the hours of fun I had with my daughters as children building the Family Legos.