NFL WIZARD Vol. XI

Red hot in the past three weeks ladies and gentlemen, with a 10-2 record. Bringing our season total to 28-23 only 55% winners so far this season, not one of our best. But we plan on finishing strong. Just like our fantasy football team in the bowl this week. Our team logo displayed. I will add fantasy football advice to this spot next season.

This week we have another four winners. The 4 Star Play is Chicago +7 over Minnesota. Two 3 Star plays starting with Philly -7 over Denver and Indy -5 over the New York Jets. And finally our 2 star play Green Bay -14 over Seattle.

Good Luck this week ladies and gentlemen, not to worry the worst will be 3-1 this week. Below is our complete record for 2009 for your information.

5 Star plays - 1-3 for 25%
4 Star plays - 8-4 for 67%
3 Star plays - 5-10 for 33%
2 Star plays - 14-6 for 70%

Totals - 28-23 for 55%

MARKET MAGIC REPORT issue VII - 'Update-Trade'

Ladies and gentlemen, the MMP would like to apologize as we had a nice trade for today and we meant to write this report on Friday so you could take advantage of the trade. Since I was late putting it up here I will not include it in our 'Working Mans Portfolio'.

However, we will put up one trade today that you can take advantage of, unfortunately it is not as solid as the AA call we wanted to play. But we are going to buy 10,000 shares of OPMG at 10 cents a share. Penny stocks are like options, you need to be prepared to loose all of the money you put into it.

So we are going to roll the dice with OPMG and see where it takes us. Again I apologize for the Alcoa trade as we did not expect there to be an upgrade today on the stock which has sent it soaring upward. However, our portfolio in whole will be taking advantage of this upgrade as we own 100 shares of Alcoa already.

We also should of kept our US Steel (X) call on the board a little longer as that stock has continued to climb the ladder. But the Working Mans Portfolio is still nicely in the green. Just remember only buy an amount of OPMG that you can afford to loose. Penny stocks can be extremely profitable but there is a tremendous amount of risk.

NFL WIZARD Vol. X

Sorry guys, I thought I put this up earlier this week. So will make this one short and sweet like last week but will get things updated next week for you. But we are 7-2 for the last 9 picks. On FIRE!

This week we have three selections two 3 stars and one 2 star. First is the Eagles -7 over the 49ers and the other 3 star play is Patriots -7 over Buffalo. And the 2 Star play is the Detroit Lions +13 over Arizona. These plays will keep the NFL WIZARD RED HOT, so lay the money down.

NFL WIZARD Vol. IX

We got the ball back. Last week was a 3-1 week and back into the winning ways. I guess a couple weeks off is just what we needed. This week is short and sweet.

We have five plays; 5 Star play San Diego +3 over Dallas. 4 Star plays Eagles +1 over the Giants and Jets -3 over Tampa Bay. And two 2 Star plays Colts -7 over Denver and Bengals +7 over Minnesota.

Take these five to the bank and we'll see you next week. Good Luck.

A TIGERS TAIL

The Mighty have fallen! Living a fairy tail life was too much for even the mentally tough Tiger Woods. What does that say about our society?

If even Tiger Woods can not live a perfect fairy tail life, how can any of us? Yeah, I know... your perfect! Point the finger at Tiger Woods and say he is bad. You would never do that.

A few years back I read an article that a University published about marriage infidelity. The cold hard facts are 82% of married men cheat on there wives. And even more amazing 87% of married women cheat on there husbands.

Hippocrates! He lived the perfect respectful for so long. And when most of us have fun playing the field in high school and college, Tiger was being groomed for the PGA. The man never got to see what that was all about and his curiosity got the best of him.

Tiger, Tiger, Tiger he is all the media ever talked about. He was there Hero, now they want to throw him under the bus. I personally was never much of a Tiger fan because he was too perfect for me. Now that I know he is just a regular guy, I kinda like him.

Nobody can wait until his next tournament to see how he handles the added pressure. Well we have all seen him shine in all kinds of versatility, especially when people call him out. Now the whole world is calling him out. I say he dominates every tournament he enters in 2010.

Tiger is not perfect, neither are you. Tiger is the butt of many jokes these days, even Saturday Night Live has gotten into the act. How society loves to see there hero's fall.

A society that is less than perfect and that thrives on the negative things in life. Not to mention it takes something like 9/11 to get Americans to come together. Otherwise we live in a cut throat society, and now you want to blame Tiger. Maybe you should take a good look in the mirror. How perfect is your life?

NFL WIZARD Vol. VIII

The NFL Wizard is back after taking a few weeks off. The record was not good and the mind needed a rest from football.

Now we have a clear mind and are ready to post winners for my readers. Those of you that know me personally know it has been a long time since I have had such a bad run in NFL handicapping.

To re-cap the misery: 5 Stars are 0-3, 4 Stars are 5-4, 3 Stars are 3-9, 2 Stars are 10-5 for a total of 18-21. A less than 500 mark.

We have four plays for this week. 4 Star play is Giants +2.5, 3 Star play is Patriots -4, and two 2

Star plays are Detroit +13 and Washington +10. We hope that they are four winners for you to take to the bank.

Global Warming - Who's Kidding Who?

Let's go green! Society's favorite word or phrase these days. Global warming is happening and it is our fault. Society and humanity fail!

The only true fact is our weather patterns have been changing to some degree, but then again they always have. They know earth has gone through at least two ice ages. So why isn't global warming just part of earths weather cycles.

Is pollution contributing to this global warming? Of course it is, but are we causing it? Do not think so! Speeding up the process up to some degree is a good probability, but causing it, get real!

Driving to work one day recently, listening to the radio, they were reading the news and had some kind of scientific report on global warming. This report claimed that if all the ice on Greenland melted all the oceans of the world would rise 25 feet.

Are you kidding me? When I got home that evening I went straight for my globe. Figuring it out by the numbers, the results were amusing. The ice on Greenland would have to be twice as high as Mt. Everest to come close to making the oceans rise 25 feet. Impossible!

But yet these are the things they are trying to 'wow' the public with all this global warming junk. Simply improbable situations that they expect us to believe because it was a scientific report and most Americans can not think for themselves. So they believe anyway.

The first question that comes to my mind is who is giving the grant money to these scientists for these conclusions? Who is pulling the strings? And who has the true hard facts?

We are a society that will never have the cold hard facts as long as big business and big money are running this country and the world. And that will never change. It just might take another ice age to change that one. Then again they are the only people with the means to survive another ice age. And we wonder why we can not get the cold hard facts on global warming.

Some things never change, unlike the weather.

MARKET MAGIC REPORT issue V - 'Working Mans Portfolio update'

It was a busy day at MMP today as we took the Call options off the table in the Working Mans Portfolio. The QQQQ Call was not too nice too us as we lost a total of $440.00 including a $10 trade fee. However, the US Steel Call was very very nice to us as it brought in $1710.00 after trading fees. Then we turned around and bought a QQQQ PUT for $1.13 per option and bought 10 contracts for $1140.00. Leaving us with a cash total of $3028.00 which we will put some of that to work in the coming weeks as soon as we watch the market a little closer and check out some things.

The MMP, Working Mans Portfolio is off to a great start. A profit of $1437 after only a few weeks. Let's hope it gets better and better.

MMP will probably add some kind of option to the portfolio in the coming weeks. There are some keys levels we are waiting for the market to break before we commit more money at this time.

Greed and Panic and two emotions we do not want to have to deal with when looking to make money in the stock market. You might consider it a golden rule, Do not get greedy and never panic. And profits will come our way.

MARKET MAGIC REPORT issue V - 'Trade'

This is a update for the 'Working Mans Portfolio'. Sell options: You will take a small loss on the QQQQ option and a nice profit on the X option. Will put up chart later with new trades and a portfolio update. But until then you want to buy a QQQQ PUT 1 contract of .QQQRK at June 2010, 37 strike price @ 1.13 for a total of $1,140.oo.

MARKET MAGIC REPORT issue IV - 'The Buying Issue'

The Market Magic Report realizes we said to wait until the S&P breaks above 1100 to buy, but we are retracting that and giving you another option. We beleive it is still a buy situation and pulling the trigger is not the wrong thing to do.

The other option is to wait until the correction we believe the market will have sometime next year. Basically when the US Dollar starts to recover from it's bear run. This market correction should be a 10 to 20 percent pullback.

MMP also believes that you can not go wrong either way. Maybe the best thing to do is buy now and cover them during the correction next year with PUT options.

One important thing to remember about trading options, that we forgot to mention in the last issue, is always choose options with plenty of open interest in that options chain. If there is no open interest it will make it very hard for you to get out of the trade when the time comes.

As we all know to buy stock, there has to be someone out there willing to sell you there stock. It is the same with options, but because thee are so many choices in options you need to make sure there is interest in the option you wish to buy, or it will be almost impossible to get out of the trade.

MMP does have four more stock referrals to add to the twelve we gave you in the first issue; CHU - China Unicom, LTD, CNI - Canadian National Railway, WMT - Walmart, MCD - McDonalds.

This brings the total number of referred stocks by MMP to sixteen stocks. Please do your own research and determine which ones your like the most. Another play could be to just buy the US Dollar since it has been beaten down pretty good.

MMP received a question the other day. Well more of a request which we thought might be a fun idea. The question was if I gave you $10,000 how would MMP invest it?

Well here is the first MMP portfolio and we will call it the 'Working Mans Portfolio'. We hope this will help some of you. We will show every movement to this portfolio but do not expect MMP to sell any of the stock anytime soon. But every option trade will be shown here at the time of the trade and we will keep track of every penny right down to trade fees.

The goal of MMP is to please and inform our readers and hopefully make the financial side of your life more secure. Financial stress is probably the leader for causing health problems today. So let's avoid all that and become financially secure together.

Please remember that MMP is just a source of information for the investor and suggests that you consult a professional advisor before entering the stock market or any other type of investment.

MARKET MAGIC REPORT issue III - 'What are your options'

When buying and selling stocks you need to decide whether you are a trader or an investor?

Traders work the stock market on a daily basis and it becomes a full time job, 9:30 to 4pm est.

Investors are in there trades for the long haul. This is were most of you will fall, and is a good way to play the market.

In fact, if during the last down turn in the stock market, you were able to just look the other way, you will soon be back to where you were before the down turn depending on which companies you were invested in. And should not be too much longer for the others.

Some of you might of made money with PUT options during the down time. A PUT option makes money when your stock falls in price. A CALL option makes money when the stock price goes up. Some traders buy and sell options instead of stock because they are much cheaper. Just a fraction of the stock price.

However, options are truly a different animal in the market. It is hard to loose all your money in stocks because they rarely go to zero. But options expire and can become worthless in a couple different ways.

Options cost a fraction of the stock price and are bought and sold in groups of 100 options per contract. Some options expire in a week, some expire in several years depending on which one you choose as there are many different options in options. No pun intended!

The safest way to use options is as a back-up for your stock in down times. An option can also be exercised, which means you buy the 100 shares of stock at the strike price you bought the option at. But more commonly the options are just sold for a profit or lose. But unlike most stock you can loose every penny you put into the trade.

It too MMP some time to become familiar with options so we do not expect you to completely understand them in one issue of MMP. So we will cover more of options later as there are several ways to play options. But the most practical way to use options is to protect the stock you own in your portfolio in down times.

The first thing you need to do is have an investment strategy. The MMP strategy is simple: 10% cash and savings, 20% commodity's, 20% options, 50% stocks. There are plenty of ways to play commodity's with commodity companies such as Canadian Natural Resources, US Steel, Alcoa are just a few and ones we gave you in the first issue of MMP.

Please feel free to ask MMP any questions you may have, or stocks you wish MMP to check on and give you an opinion on. But please also remember that we are just another tool for you to use and you should always check with your professional financial advisor before committing your money to a trade.

NFL WIZARD Vol. VII

The Wizard, not really, more like Chris Berman. Ha Ha! But as we all know Chris is terrible at picking winners. And so is the Wizard this year. There has never been a time were I have been below 50%. And with an overall, 17-18 there is no were to go but up. More amazing than that is 5 Star plays at 0-3 for the year so far.

All I can say at this point is I will do my best to just find winners of any kind.

This week I tightened up my rating process and let's see what happens. The Titans -6.5 should get the job done at home against the Bills a 4 Star play. Also a 4 Star play is Miami -10 over the Buccaneers. Two 3 Star plays as the Saints -13.5 will have way too much offense for St. Louis and Detroit +16.5 might catch the Vikings a little soft after a week off. Well those are Week 10 plays, I hope the Wizard gets back on track this week.

MARKET MAGIC REPORT issue II - 'Special Report'

The first Special Report from Market Magic Report. Do NOT buy until the S&P 500 Index closes about 1100. We might be playing a game with the 1100 level.

If it breaks through and closes above this level the market will continue up until the end of the year sometime. Or we will drop down again then come up and test the 1100 level again by the end of the year.

If it does not break above 1100 this time we will be looking at a double dip and the market will then have a significant pull back. So lets keep an eye on this before we pull the trigger. Unless we want to put some PUT's on the board. The MMP will get into options in our next issue.

MARKET MAGIC REPORT issue I - '12 Bars of Gold'

Gold has had an incredible run up and has reached new highs and probably has more room to run. However, that is not what this article is about, it is about twelve stocks Market Magic is going to refer to you today.

For the past seven years we have been learning and studying how to make money in the stock market. The Market Magic Report is now at the point were we are ready to share our thoughts, predictions, and strategies for making money in the market.

This introductory issue to the Market Magic Report will be simple and to the point. We will give you twelve companies that you can check out while we wait for the perfect entry point.

Timing is everything when dealing with the market. We use the S & P 500 index to determine timing for buying and selling stock as well as options. We will get into options in later issues of the MMP (Market Magic Report).

Until then here are the '12 Bars of Gold' with there stock symbol and current price:

# Symbol Company Stock price as of 6 Nov.

1. AA Alcoa, Inc. $12.86
2. ASTI Ascent Solar Technologies, Inc. $ 4.92
3. BAC Bank of America $15.05
4. CELL Brightpoint, Inc. $ 7.64
5. CNQ Canadian Natural Resources, LTD $65.14
6. FDX FedEx $77.12
7. HPOL Harris Interactive, Inc. $ 1.02
8. JNJ Johnson and Johnson $60.30
9. MO Altria Group, Inc. $18.54
10. OXPS Optionsxpress Holdings, Inc. $15.61
11. PWAV Powerwave Technologies, Inc. $ 1.28
12. X US Steel Corp. $37.38


The S & P 500 Index broke out above 1080 since I wrote this article over the weekend. Making it a buying point for the stock market. So jumping in on some or all of these is warranted.

As time goes on I will have more stock recommendations and will keep you informed on these twelve at the same time. This is a great time for investing in the stock market. Just remember timing is everything and there is a ton of money to be made over the next five years or so. So let's get rich together just look for the next issue of the Market Magic Report. Which will be out no later than next week.


* The Market Magic Report is basically just a stock analyzing source and suggest that you consult a professional investment advisor before investing your hard earned money. *

NFL WIZARD Vol. VI

Sorry guys little late this week. So here we go since it is Sunday. 5 Star play: Denver +3, 4 Star plays: Indy -9 and Philly -3, 2 Star plays: GB -9.5, Balt. -3, Chicago -3, Ten. +4, and Giants -5. I know alot of plays this week, all I can say is stick with the 4 Stars and 2 Stars as they are hitting 85% and 5 Star and 3 Stars are hitting only 25% of the time. Good luck will get things up earlier next week.

NFL WIZARD Vol. V

Another 5 Star play bites the dust. The New York Giants want to make the Wizard look like a fool this year. Oh well, guess they are just not as good as I was giving them credit for, typical for a New York team. However, my other three picks were winners and we are back on track.

The Wizard will be adjusting his rating system a little from here on out. No half star plays anymore. Three and half stars will become three stars and two and half will become two stars. The only major change is two star plays are now one star plays. With this adjustment my 5 Star plays are now 0-2, 4 Star plays are 3-1, 3 Star plays are 2-5, and 2 Star plays are 9-2, Overall 14-10. Still not good enough but I will get to 75% at least.

Four plays for this week. And all four plays are 3 Star plays. They consist of Minnesota +3 over Green Bay. The Colts -12 over the 49ers. San Diego -16.5 over Oakland, and the Bears -13 over the Browns. I think they are four winners so load up on them if you wish. However, they are all 3 Star plays and 3 Star plays have not done well to this point. Good Luck......

NFL WIZARD Vol. IV

The Wizard is off his game so far this year. We will work had to get things back on track. The 3 Star plays or better are 4-7, however 2.5 Stars are 7-2. For an overall 11-9, not very good for a Wizard. And for the record 5 Stars = 0-1, 4 Stars = 2-1, 3.5 Stars = 0-1, 3 Stars = 2-4, and 2.5 Stars 7-2. So you make the call this week.

This week I have one 5 Star play, the Giants -7 over Arizona should be a lock. A 4 Star play in the Indianapolis Colts -13 over St. Louis. Then two 2.5 Star plays in San Diego -5 and Philly -7. Good luck guys but I think they are solid plays this week.

NFL WIZARD Vol. III

This week is a quick one. Bad week last week so this week we will have nothing but winners. Have two 4 Star picks for you. The Giants and Broncos both +3.5 pts and are nice plays. And for those of you following the 2.5 Stars, there were three this week. Kansas City, Cincinnati and Philly. I will get caught up with stats next week. Good Luck guys......

NFL WIZARD Vol. II

Well we got off to a not so good start last week as we went 2-3 for a loss of -$130. Unless you played the 2.5 stars, then you went 6-3 and won $270. But they were not official for me so.

This week Indianapolis -3.5 will be a 4 Star play. The I have three 3 Star plays, first of which being the Jets -1.5 on Monday Night Football. Also love the 49ers -2.5 and Jacksonville +1 over Seattle. I hope these picks work for you better than last week.

If you are curious there were two 2.5 Star plays this week and since they went 4-0 last week, they are the Bengals and Eagles. Nothing but winners this week I can feel it.........

NFL WIZARD

The NFL Wizard is now here. Sorry it took until week four to get going but we are here. The solidest picks you can get on NFL games against the spread. And I know what you are saying, 'another pin head picking NFL games'. Not so as I have lost enough money over the years and with experience and a network to work with I have learned where, why, and when you lay your money on the table.

So let's get to it. For dollar purposes all my picks will be worth $100. I will grade the picks with one to five stars but all bets stay the same at $100. The top pick this week is Cincinnati -6 over Cleveland a 5 Star pick. Then Tennessee -3 over Jacksonville for 3.5 Stars. The last three picks are all 3 Stars which is the lowest value for a bet. Indianapolis -10 over Seattle. And for your Sunday and Monday night pleasure San Diego +6 over Pittsburgh and Minnesota -4 over Green Bay in the most interesting match up of the week.

Do not always expect five selections a week from the NFL Wizard as not this many plays make it to 3 Stars. This was a special week, especially when four other teams only came up a half point short with 2.5 Stars. They were Baltimore, Houston, San Francisco, and the Giants.

The NFL Wizard should have his selections by the end of the day on Saturday from now on and just so you understand more about the NFL Wizard. We make the final decision on which picks are put up here but we consult with many different sports writers and insiders before making our selections. From Bottom Line J to Hardcore Sports and others we get the best information available and put it to work for you my readers. If you put $10 on every golfer, Bottom Line J selected this season you would of made $1,500, not bad. I will do my best to keep the money flowing in your favor.

The 2009 Masters

The Masters golf tournament is the biggest event on the PGA tour.  Playing in the Masters or simply playing a regular round of golf at Augusta National is like entering a new relm of existance.  It is so majestic it is like playing a round of golf in the clouds.  The only tournament that even comes close is the oldest tournament in golf, but only when it is played at St. Andrews (the home of golf).

The 2009 Masters had everything you could of hoped for; Tiger on the prowl on Sunday, paired with a very hot Phil Mickelson.  The oldest man ever to win a major leading by two strokes, but could not seem to hold that title with only two holes to play.  Gary 'The Black Knight' Player playing in his last Masters tournament.  Extra holes to find someone to wear the green jacket.  And so much more, what else could you ask for in a golf tournament?

Those of us that play the game of golf understand how hard it is to play golf when the pressure is on, don't we?  Getting off the first tee because there are other people around watching is extra pressure we all have trouble with.  Can you imagine having to make that same shot with thousands of people watching with TV cameras and all kinds of other newspeople and photographers.  I just hit a banana slice thinking about it.

Now try and hit a three or four foot putt under those conditions to win the Masters.  That's right go and change your shorts then come back and finish reading......

........OK, feel better?  Well that may of not been the situation Sunday for Kenny Perry but a 40 plus foot chip is not much easier.  His twitchy right wrist, as he put it, failed him again.  And he put the 60 degree wedge in the bag just for this tournament and this reason.  What was he thinking... then again it is called the pressure of winning the Masters.

To come up short in the Masters with a two stroke lead, with two holes to play, has to be so depressing.  It was for me as I had put ten bucks on Kenny to win the Masters at 60-1.  During this economy that win would of been welcome.  Then again I could of been the one that brought Kenny bad luck by betting on him!

Congradulations to Angel Cabrera for hanging tough and getting it done when he was struggling also with the pressure of the Masters.  Just about the only two that did not struggle with the pressure on Sunday was the worlds number one and two.  Phil and Tiger put on a show and both made a very nice Sunday run which probably added to the leaders pressure.

And I would like to take this moment to thank Gary Player for the memories.  A classy man and a great golfer, the Black Knight is easily one of the top ten golfers of all time.  Thanks for 52 Masters Gary.

The Masters.......  In a league of it's own.....

Peace, Love, Faith, and Dreams

Peace, Love, Faith, and Dreams these are the things that make life enjoyable for everyone.  And we all find Peace in different places.  For instance, being out on the golf course with some good friends brings me peace.  And for you it could be something completly different.  But we all find peace of mind one place or another.  Or we all would go completly insane.

And sharing your life with a loved one is also very important to most of us anyway.  Being able to confide in a soul mate or life partner is very important to ones self.  Knowing your loved unconditionally by another is the most gratifying feeling in the world.  Someone you can count on through thick and thin.  Someone you can laugh or cry with.  Someone you can always count on.  Trust me, finding your soul mate is a true gift of a lifetime, don't waste it.

And what motivates you?  Dreams!  Dreams are what motivates me.  Weither it is a Dream for a better life or something simple we all dream of something.  Dreams create goals that we try and achieve.  Some of us achieve these goals, some of us don't achieve them.  Either way Dreams keep us alive and motivated to improve ourselves.

Saved Faith for last because it is the most complicated.  When you mention the word Faith most people think of God instantly.  And that's fine, the thing that bothers me the most about that is people have more Faith in God (someone they only have Faith that he exists) than the people around them.  The flesh and soul right in front of them and they have less Faith in them, than in God.  That makes no sense to me because if there is a God I would think the most important thing for you to do for him is Love and care for the people around you.  God would rather you spend Sunday morning at a soup kitchen than at church worshiping him.  Not that spending time at church is wrong, not by any means.  I just think in his eyes he would rather you care for another human being.

All I really want to say is "Keep your 'Dreams' alive, find 'Peace' and have 'Faith' and 'Love' for one another".  And most importanly enjoy your life, it is way too short.

Life Sucks!

A very popular phase that we all have used once or twice in our lifetime. Well 'Life Sucks' is the moto I now live by thanks to our wonderful country and it's leaders. How in the world does our government expect us all to live right now. While I am starving our government is giving Insurance companies billions of dollars, are you kidding me? I pay more for insurance every month than I do my mortgage payment. They should give the banks a few more billion since they have been so helpful lending it out. So where is all the money going? Oh yeah, those big bonus need to be paid to those people who already have more money than they need.

I own and run my own small business that hasn't seen a customer in five months due to this economy. So where is my bailout package? Guess I am not worthy enough for any help.

So where is our country headed? The rich get richer and the poor die, and the middle class, well what middle class. So are we all still proud to be American? This country needs a good old revolution. Remember those days? OK, well maybe not but how nice was it to live in a truly free country. But what do we have these day..... Well Massachusetts charges eight dollars for a pack of cigarettes but your not allowed to smoke them anywhere. And about 75% of that cost is taxes. And what about New Hampshire, the live free or die state. You don't have to wear a helment on a motorcycle but behind a steel frame car it is the law to wear your seat belt. Makes sense!

So be honest with yourself for a minute and ask yourself; Is our country really the land of opportunity, or is it the land of opportunity for a chosen few? If we all did not have family members that have died for our so called freedom, would you truly be proud to be an American? You should all really think about it.

The Competitor

If it is possible to be born with a competitive spirit, Stephen James was certainly born with it. Horrifying his mother by walking after just 134 days and running a week later she knew she had her hands full. Stephen's competitive spirit started early as everything became a competition from building things with Lego's to drawing pictures to throwing rocks! Anne, Stephen's mother, was always apologizing for his behavior, mostly because one of his favorite competitions was turning on the neighbors hoses and seeing how many people he could drench with water. Some of Stephen's neighbors found his antics very entertaining.

Having a competitive spirit of his own Stephen's father, Jim, started getting him into sports. As something was needed to consume some of Stephen's energy and competitive spirit. Starting to compete at everything from racing to the car to board games father and son begin to compete. They watched sports on TV and went to local games. Stephen often talks about his first Red Sox game at Fenway Park. Sitting in right field he got to see how the fans ribbed Reggie Jackson and how Reggie gave it right back. One of my oldest memories of Stephen is a day he and I spent as ball boys for a tennis match his father and a friend were having together. Jim's friend screamed, "Look out!" Stephen turned, raised his right arm behind his back and caught the ball. The guys was totally freaked out, walking towards the net he was very apologetic, and was amazed that Stephen caught the ball in the manner he did. Jim just laughed and said, "Don't worry about it". They continued the match and the guy never stopped saying how amazing the catch was, especially since Stephen was only 4 or 5 years old at the time.

Then Little League baseball and Pop Warner football followed. And Stephen's skills and athletic ability rose to the top and he excelled a both sports. But that was not enough for Stephen. In fourth grade during recess everyone played kick ball so Stephen organized a kick ball league, picked captains and made schedules, etc. even gave out all his fathers football trophies at the end of the year. And it did not stop there he also started a wiffle ball league but with a catch. He wanted each one man team to pick major league baseball players and bat like them. And having to use at least half lefty and half righty hitters. He kept every players batting average, earn run average and so much more. But we played all kinds of sports and other activities also. And I just remember whenever we played a pick-up football game in the snow, no one could touch Stephen. Sure footed and extremely quick and still able to cut on a dime, he made the rest of us look silly.

The transition from Little League to Babe Ruth was a difficult one for Stephen. "It's like trying to run dragging cinder blocks", he said often. Stephen left Little League with the third most home runs and found it hard to hit the ball out of the infield in Babe Ruth. With the encouragement of great coaches it did not take him long to become one of the teams best players. By the time he was 15 years old he made the Babe Ruth All Star team that went all the way to North Carolina for the National Championship. Playing right field with his strong arm and the lead off hitter that was only caught stealing once all season. It was not that he was blazing fast, but he was incredibly quick. The Babe Ruth team did not win the National Championship but seven out of the nine starters played at least semi-pro baseball and three making it to the majors, while one of them spent 13 seasons pitching for three different major league teams. During this same period Stephen was playing basketball for his school team and quickly became a star in basketball also. Or maybe more of a showman in this sport. In the ninth grade he made fantastic play after incredible shot every game and it was amazing how many people would squeeze in our small gym to just watch him play.

Headed for high school sports Stephen started to realize that his size would now start to become a problem. It was going to take hard work and some breaks to get a chance to show his stuff. But high school also brought a whole different set of challenges. The partying lifestyle for one and Stephen took the drinking as just another competition which he wanted to dominate. Around this same time gambling and fantasy football came into the picture. And in order to be the best at these other things, income and a job became necessary. As a result high school sports had taken a back seat. All decisions Stephen would later regret.

Now out of school and in the real world Stephen's competitive spirit was appeased by playing softball, basketball, gambling, and fantasy football. The gambling did not last long as the lesson was learned when he had to look to his father to pay a gambling debt. It took some years after that for Stephen to regain his fathers respect but he did. Sponsoring his own softball team, he fielded a very competitive team but after a few years a knee injury ended his softball and basketball careers. But the fantasy football league he built was still going strong, but would just that be enough?

No, there needed to be more to satisfy his competitive spirit. Then Stephen found golf. A very difficult game that seemed to completely consume Stephen. All he talked about was golf and wanted to play as much as possible. Eventually he started a golf club and took it as far as he could. Building a website for the league, keeping statistics for over twenty guys, with pictures and the whole nine yards, including four major championships a year. With the handicap coming down year after year he started to wonder why he did not take up golf earlier. Who knows maybe the PGA tour if he started sooner! Then again, Stephen was born under the sign of Pisces and they are dreamers!

Even though Stephen was never good enough to play professional sports it does not mean he did not have a competitive spirit. I have known Stephen all my life an one thing sticks out in my mind. One day Stephen and I with two other friends, Leo and Dan, were out on the golf course and on the fifth tee box, Stephen was throwing something out there like 'I'll give each of you a stroke on this hole for a buck'. I just remember Leo snapping at him and saying, "Does everything have to be a competition with you?" Stephen just smiled and said, "It's just my nature, sorry". But Leo was no different, a very good athlete himself was just frustrated always coming up second to Stephen.

Obama

The 44th President of the United States, Barack Obama. What will he and his administration end up being recognized for? Or has it already been defined? There seems to be a lot of motivation on his behalf not just to be recognized for being the first African American President. But to right a ship that has almost capsized. To right the ship that Bush has left is a tall task. The good thing for Obama is it can't get much worse, so there is a lot of upside.

One of the greatest moments in the history of this country was when it became official, and Obama took the stand for his victory speech. At that moment I do not remember feeling more proud to be an American. More so than 9-11 and when the Olympic hockey team won gold in 1980. It was an amazing feeling because it felt like our country finally became ONE.

It was funny leading up to the election in conversations with people, friends and family, etc., everyone would say the same thing, 'I do not think a black man can get elected president but I am going to vote for him anyway'. And I am glad they did! The most disturbing element during the election were the emails and rumors that went around saying that Obama was a radical Muslim and not a Patriotic American. It is amazing that some people can be so disrespectful and despicable.

But seeing the faces on my fellow Americans on TV the evening of Obama's victory speech took me to a special place. It is a night I certainly will not forget for as long as I live. We can only hope that Obama will be as great a President as we all hope he will be. His spirit and faith will certainly carry him through tough times and his determination to help his fellow Americans will be the greatest asset.

By American citizens electing Barack Obama as there 44th President we brought our country instant credibility internationally and maybe one of our best achievements since the founding fathers wrote the Declaration of Independence.

An American citizen proud to have Barack Obama as President. And I thank my fellow Americans for helping make it happen.