Monday, January 19, 2009

Predictions and Predilections

First off, let me say that I have the utmost respect for people who put their names and asses on the lines to bring us the sports predictions every week. I don't have the guts to put stuff like that in writing. And beyond saying that I'm a HUGE Boston sports fan (Thanks to my father's hometown of Quincy and my childhood summers on the South Shore), Go Sox! Go Pats!... Ok, maybe the Bruins are just getting lucky this year. And I'll admit that the Celtics are a bandwagon that I've tried not to jump on. I'm not going to risk my pride by promising wins in any sporting events.

That being said. Bill Simmons (aka The Sports Guy) went 0 for 4 on his second round NFL picks. That alone could be demoralizing, but the man came out with a column to appease even the most cynical (and now deeply in debt to a bookie) fan. Here's one of my favorite bits:

The good news: We have to redo the Mount Rushmore of Faces. I can't narrow it down to four from these seven: The Troy Aikman Concussion Face (really, the face that got this running joke going 10 years ago); either the Joel Goodson "I Can't Believe I'm Having Sex With Lana The Hooker On a Train" Face or the Thomas Hill "I Can't Believe Laettner Just Made That Shot" Face (they're basically the same face); the Mike Myers "Did Kanye really just say that?" Face; the Manning Face (bonus points because not one but TWO brothers use it, as we saw these past two weekends); the Art Shell "I Died Two Quarters Ago" Face; and now, the Jake Delhomme "Seriously, I Might Get Beaten Up In My Own Locker Room After This Is Over" Face. If you think you can top any of them, knock yourself out. You won't.

He followed it up with a solid and 100% correct prediction for the AFC and NFC championship games, and I'm looking forward to the Superbowl suggestions. (The full article is linked to the title of this blog and has an amazing list of awards... totally worth the read).

After all that, may I say that I think the Steelers are after winning another Superbowl. My only justification for this is that being from Minnesota, my wardrobe is well equipped to handle some of the worst weather when it comes to cold. And I don't think that the devil is that good to me. I mean, what is the temperature in hell right now? -10? I mean... the Cards? Really? Sure, maybe the same Arctic cold front that's hit the States and Ireland has blown through hell as well. It's possible. But a Cardinals' win would make it a permanent winter there, and I think Satan only owns a banana hammock.

Onto things that govern my life a little more than American Football (sadly, yes, there are other things). Right now I'm on a GP rotation (GP=General Practice... much similar to Family Practice in the States). As with any medical specialty, there are pros and cons to GP.

Pros: The hours are great, 9-5 on most days; there isn't much stress or emergency; the GP I'm working with lives across the street from his clinic, is raising 5 kids, and takes a few minutes off to pick up the kids from daycare and drop them back at home while most people are on a tea break. Basically, the life style is nice. The money is nice. And if you have a good office assistant to grease the wheels, the business end of things can run smoothly.

Cons: You spend about 30% of your day on small talk (that's great for some people, but not my thing). You spend another 30% of your day trying to convince people to quit the bad habits that are slowly killing them (ie: no, that's not an infection... your cough is from smoking 3 packs a day). If you do your job well, you don't see your patients very often. But I'll tell you, the ones you don't want to see are the ones that keep coming back.

I really get why people like GP... But I don't think it'll be my thing. 2 more weeks in the surgery then I'm back in the classroom. I like working with my GP (he's great and let's me be ridiculously hands on), so don't get me wrong. I'm also learning a lot. But on the heels of Psych, I'm starting to itch for "real" doing. (Don't get mad. GPs do really important things... but for a student, it's not the glitz and glamour that I'll remember on my exams).

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