Robert E. Lee

I've just started reading The Killer Angels by Michael Sharra. It's a work of fiction set during the Civil War, but I hear it's very close to historically accurate.

Coincidentally, I ran across a blog posting today about combat leadership and how it applies to business, which discussed a scene from that novel:

Confederate Gen. Robert E. Lee understood the importance of giving praise along with criticism. At the Battle of Gettysburg, Lee's cavalry commander, Jeb Stuart, failed to provide needed intelligence. Stuart was an exceptional cavalry commander and Lee didn't want to lose him. But he had to make certain that Stuart would not repeat his actions. Gen. Stuart was only 30 and very temperamental. If Lee was not careful in his criticism, Stuart might quit the army.

Here's how he did it. After condemning Stuart's failure in no uncertain terms, Lee said: "There has been a mistake. It will not happen again. I know your quality. You are a good soldier. You are as good a cavalry officer as I have known, and your service to this army has been invaluable. I have learned to rely on your information; all your reports are always accurate. But no report is useful if it does not reach us. And that is what I wanted you to know. Now, let us talk no more of this."

I know the author (not Sharra, the blog author) was trying to make a point about how to learn from General Lee and become a better leader, but to me that anecdote just reinforces my mental picture of Robert E. Lee as a really cool guy. I first read a story about him when I was about 8 years old, and it was pretty flattering. I haven't read anything since then that seriously suggests otherwise; that includes a couple biographies as well as Connie Willis' strangely titled Lincoln's Dreams, which is actually a novel about Lee.

Besides, when I read new articles about JFK and his philandering, I can't help but think that it's easier to have heros that are long dead.

fantasy football 2003

Fantasy football season is starting! So much stress, so much effort, so much pain, and so much fun.

Last season, I had the best team in the league (overall point total, by more than 150pts), and didn't make the playoffs. How did that happen? I played the owner with Shaun Alexander during his 5 TD week. I played the owner with Michael Vick during the Vikings-Falcons game. I played the owner with Quincy Morgan in the last week of our regular season, and thought I had clinched a playoff berth, until Morgan pulled down his third catch of the game for his second TD, as time ran out. I'm hoping conservation of luck applies, this year.

Did you think I was done with that topic? Sorry, I need to dwell on last year's league for another minute, if only for the benefit of my mental health.

Last year, I landed the 5th spot in the draft, which I was happy with. I picked up Ahman Green in the first round, Priest Holmes in the second, Torry Holt in the third, and Deuce McAllister in the fourth. I had crap for quarterbacks all season (Griese, Green, ...) until I picked up the fairly respectable Chad Pennington after he took over for Vinny. I wound up the season with six receivers: Holt, Plaxico Burress (6th round), Laveranues Coles (7th round, and yes I did have to look up the spelling of his name), Hines Ward (free agent), Donald Driver (free agent), and Tai Streets (free agent) in addition to my primo running back core of Holmes, McAllister, and Green. I know, how did I lose that league?

I'm going to attempt to keep my compulsive fantasy news reading in check this year. No, really.

old and ignorant

I'm starting to feel old, and I'm wondering if I'm going to feel old for the rest of my life.

Things that make me feel old:

- my baby brother going to college next month
- having my knees creak and my wrists crack
- meeting up with an old high school friend who's been married for four years
- going to weddings, in general
- my friends graduating from law school and med school

I used to always feel young and ignorant. Now I feel like I have no excuse for my ignorance.

bridge, poker, and driving

Our weekly bridge night, which had been going on continuously for almost a year and a half, seems to have morphed into poker night.

I'm guessing it's because the learning curve has flattened out; we've all figured out the basic conventions, and a couple of more advanced ones, and it doesn't feel like we're improving as much anymore.

Poker, on the other hand, involves cash. There's always an adrenaline kick when there's money on the table.

However, I'm still not fully convinced that even Texas Hold'em is a skill game. There's just too much luck involved; if you're a sucky player and you get great cards you can do fine. In bridge, luck gets factored out because each pair gets compared against a whole bunch of other pairs who have played exactly the same boards. In poker, there's no such comparison.

Speaking of adrenaline, I was talking to someone the other day about getting sleepy while driving. In all the driver's ed classes they tell you when you get tired you're supposed to pull over and take a nap. In practice, most people keep driving, maybe a little more slowly. I have a different strategy, which I developed during my sleep-deprived high school days, when I commuted from Marin to San Francisco. I drive faster, and more aggressively.

Yes, it sounds like a dumb thing to do. But, what happens is, I get on an adrenaline high, and I become very, very alert and focused. When I get out of the car, my hands are usually shaking a little bit, and it takes me a good half hour to relax completely. I think this only works because I like driving, and I like finding paths through mild to moderate amounts of traffic. My trusty Impreza RS, although cheap (no trunk light, I'm not joking), is excellent at handling curves, has a surprising amount of pep for a 165 hp car, and is extremely responsive to both gas and brake. Anyway, I'm sure it sounds crazy, but don't knock it unless you've tried it.

Ocean Beach

Trying out the Blogger Pro upload file feature...

A friend took this when we were at Ocean Beach on July 4th. Pretty, huh?

A's vs Yankees

Yesterday I went to the A's vs Yankees game at the Coliseum. It was a gorgeous day, the game was sold out, and both pitchers (Mulder and Pettitte) were kicking serious ass. I'm not sure what all the stats were, but Mulder struck out a side, and wound up with 5 hits over a complete game. Pettitte, poor guy, pitched a 1-hitter through the 9th, walked one batter, and got yanked for Rivera, who proceeded to lose his first game of the year by giving up a single to Chavez and a walk-off hit to Tejada. That's the second time in three games that Tejada has pulled through in the clutch.

Anyway, I wanted to make a point about how going to games is an extremely exhausting activity. Every time I get back from a game, I just want to shower, sit down on a couch and then not get up until it's time to go to sleep. My theory is it's something about sitting around on the edge of your seat for 3+ hours. It's worse than playing a sporting event in some ways, because you can't actually do anything to affect the outcome (unless you're one of those fanatics who thinks that his/her especially spectacular display of fandom actually makes a difference), but you still have that adrenaline rush. The better (closer) the game is, the more tired you get.

I'm looking forward to seeing the A's make a run for the division. I like the Giants too (rooted for them in '89), but the current A's are more likeable; they're the perpetual underdogs. You can't help but love a team who keeps digging up great prospects, bringing them up through the farm system, having them kick ass for a few short years, and then losing them when they become stars, for lack of money. I heard some guy say that the Yankees bullpen makes more than the whole A's team. I don't know if that's true, but the fact that it's believable makes a point in and of itself.