Hey now, I'm in all stars...

I was checking up on the USA v. Algeria soccer match the other day and found myself staring at the Algerian flag. It's nothing spectacular, but I noticed the five-point star and its tilt. Right away, I realized I could do something with my initials. Could this be the logo that was meant to be? (And would I need to take a trip to Algeria to realize my destiny or something? We'll hold off on that part for now.)

After some doodling, I took to the trusty Paint program on my ancient computer and dirtied up a couple renditions of what I think looks pretty neat-o. Check it out below. Feel free to comment or even help a brother out with your (most likely) superior CAD skills. And make sure to check out my previous doodles in case you don't exactly know what I'm talking about!

More Personal Logos

I came across an article on confiscated counterfeit sports gear on Philly.com, and in one of the photos was a Flyers jersey. I took what I saw - I also fooled around with this idea in my last logo post - and made a quick and dirty personal "DF" logo.



Anyway, I have drawn a lot more logos since my last post. I worked a lot with interwoven figures and was inspired by the Phillies and Sixers logos and baseball logos in general. Check them out below!

Personal Logo Design

Over the years, I've developed an interest in designing my own personal logo. This has manifested itself through mostly sketches and doodles on notepads and Post-It notes during working and non-working hours. Inspiration has come in spurts, the largest of which took place today. Ultimately, I'd like to be able to slap a "DF" or "DJF" (can you guess my middle name?) logo on everything I do, whether it be a resume or this here website or whatever endeavor(s) I decide to take on down the road.

Below are over 200 logos I sketched out over a span of a few hours. Check 'em out and feel free to pick out your favorites!



I started out pretty basic, trying to keep a steady font. My favorites here are #2 and #4.



Creativity seemed to be lacking here. I like #15 a lot, though.



On this page, I experimented with mirror/inverse images. I like #28. It looks like a face with glasses on and one lens broken.



Here I was experimenting with ten-keys (number pads) and grids. I'm an accountant, so this makes sense! Hard to see the numbers here, but #40 at the top is my favorite. It seems to incorporate a plus sign in addition to a grid and a number sign. Not too shabby.



Continuing along with the number sign and grid inspiration. A little more bubbly. Nothing really sticks here, but I think one or two could use some sprucing up and look a lot better.



On this page I went back to messing with lowercase and uppercase, testing out all 3 of my initials. I sort of stumbled onto #74. Like it a lot. Also a fan of #72 and #76.



Here, I'm messing around with shadowing (primarily with the "F" in my name, as that's the only letter I can seem to figure out how to do) and combining two initials. Big fan of #83, #86, and #87.



Incorporating a dollar sign was a bit too difficult, so instead I turned to shading and negative space, a la the USA Network logo. Neat how some of this turned out. I like #99, #111, and #112.



Went back to some simpler designs here, as I started using sharper edges and a triangular "D". I like #130, #132, #133, #135, and #136.



Started thinking a little more outside of the box here. Some interesting designs, in my opinion. I like #143, #150, #152, and #154.



No doubt inspired by the Philadelphia Flyers here. We're in the heart of the Stanley Cup Finals, so what did you expect? Works out well with my initials in an inverted kind of way. I like #172, #173, and #175.



Clocks, targets, and bullseyes were the inspiration here. Got a little bubbly. Nothing too extraordinary, but I like #180 and #186.



#191 might be my overall favorite here. I used shadowing and the plus sign as my inspiration to come up with it. #188 was the precursor. I also used math symbols to come up with #195, #196 and #199.



Seems here I got my inspiration from the symbol of The Artist Formerly But More Recently Known As Prince and The Dan Patrick Show. I like #203 and #207. I used the T-account symbol for #211.

Let me know what you think! My next task is to get these designs onto Photoshop or Illustrator, clean them up a bit and add some color. Thanks for reading!

AJBL - Semifinals

Another hot one out there today. I wouldn't be shocked if it was 100 degrees in the gym. But the game must be played, and played it was.

One thing we did do was not give up an early lead. Check. No team really gained any separation, as solid plays were made on offense on both sides. I made an early reverse lay-up and that got me pumped up. At half, it was 22-20, bad guys.

The other team had a second big threat that we hadn't seen in either game we played against them during the regular season. It lead to some matchup problems, and I'd say the other guys had an edge on the boards because of it. But also, we couldn't defend as well down low.

Our two top scorers struggled on the offensive end as well, missing easy baskets. Knock a few more down and it may have been a different story.

We lost a close one, 46-40. Season over. The other team had too much size and it really hurt us. We did shut them down from the outside, but it didn't matter.

As for me, I had a sweet knifing dribble-drive from the top of the key for an easy lay-up to follow up my other points. I only shot one other time, going baseline, but coming up short on the lay-up. Defensively, I played well, with many deflections. I forced a turnover late in the game that gave us some hope. I didn't get the ball too much on offense or on the break, but again, if those easy shots fall for our big men, it would have been a different story. I can't complain.

Stat line: 4 pts, ~1 assist, ~1 reb.

Uni-tracker: White jersey, Blue Nike Dri-fit shorts, "Milwaukee" undershirt, completely soaked through in sweat. Eeewwwwwww.

Regular season: 10-4
Playoffs: 1-1
Total: 11-5

Great season. These guys (and gal) were fun to play with. Very competitive all season. Now it's my chance to work on my free throws, lay-ups, and general conditioning to come back strong for the Fall.

AJBL - Quarterfinals

We earned the #3 seed and were up against a #6-seeded team we had beaten twice soundly. I was expecting their big bully to show up, but apparently he blew out an ankle. So be it. It worked to their favor, as they were much quicker on the court despite only having 6 players show.

We got off to another slow start in this one and were down 11-1 before we knew it. I had a chance to cut into the lead as I picked the point guard cleanly and had a breakaway opportunity. The only problem - my goggles were knocked around and I couldn't see! In hindsight, I should have pulled up and waited for my teammates. Instead, I clanked the ball off the backboard. Oops.

It didn't matter, as we roared back with a 10-0 run of our own to tie it up. It was a tight one throughout the first half, and we were tied at 21 at the break.

We clamped down on defense in the second half, shutting down their big man. We also demonstrated a bit more patience on offense, finding our big man in the process. As for me, I was not at full strength. Slight cough and cold going on. Perhaps the week lay-off didn't help. The immense heat in the gym didn't help either. I got out on the break, but we weren't scoring in transition. I shot the ball twice all game, missing both times. I did have a nice assist late in the game, which helped us pull away from them, winning 47-40. Survive and advance is the name of the game in the playoffs!

Stat line: 0 pts, 0 rebounds, 2 assists, 2 steals.

Uni-tracker: White jersey, Blue Nike Dri-Fit shorts, "Collaborative" undershirt.

Next up: As a result of the #8 seed upsetting the #1 seed, we will play the #5 seed, while the #2 seed gets #8.

2010 College World Series Predictions

In this week off before my first AJBL playoff game, I've decided to take a stab at predicting what's going to happen in the CWS this year. My Virginia Cavaliers are a 5-seed overall, which is friggin' awesome, even though we should be a 3 or 4 (at worst). Despite that hosing, I'm pretty pumped up about our chances.

I've followed the season a lot more closely than I did a few years back, when I first took a stab at the tourney. I think I'll have a better feel for it this year.

Without further ado...

Tempe Regional
I see Arizona State having little trouble here. They've been pinned as a top 3 team all year long. Darkhorse: San Diego.

Fayetteville Regional
Arkansas is a tough team, but I have a feeling Washington State comes through here. Arkansas would be my second favorite here.

Auburn Regional
Clemson could pose a threat, but they've been inconsistent all year. I like the home Tigers to pull it off. Darkhorse: Brett Favre's Southern Miss team, who has a little extra motivation this year with Favre's retirement on their shoulders.

Atlanta Regional
Georgia Tech grabbed that last national seed, and I think it'll go to their heads. Look for Alabama to come out of here.

Charlottesville Regional
I see Ole Miss giving UVA all we can handle, and I'm not fully confident here, given they also have the revenge factor from last year in their pockets. I'll go with Ole Miss so I don't look like a homer. Hoping the reverse jinx works.

Norman Regional
I don't see why Oklahoma doesn't win here. Cal got a gift and UNC didn't even make the ACC tourney, although I feel like they could show up and pull it off.

Columbia Regional
I think Virginia Tech has what it takes to come out of here, but South Carolina has a chip on their shoulder after not receiving that last national seed. USC will advance.

Myrtle Beach Regional
Coastal Carolina is just way too scary not to win this one. Otherwise it's NC State, as they've shown some mettle as of late.

Austin Regional
Everyone is going with Texas, and I will too. Possible upset would be Rice, but they're not the Rice we've known from years past.

Fort Worth Regional
TCU has a lot to prove here. Darkhorse is Arizona.

Norwich Regional
In this strange regional, UConn is the 2-seed but is hosting. I say they ride this to the Supers, as FSU will be like a fish out of water up there.

Louisville Regional
Just gave the nod to one Big East team, but I feel like Vandy is going to prove the strength of the SEC here. Louisville will make it close, though.

Los Angeles Regional
LSU is still the defending champs, and I think experience takes over here. UCLA will be a tough out, but LSU still has a lot of pride.

Fullerton Regional
Cal State has been the hottest team in baseball over the last 30 games or so. I say they move on.

Coral Gables Regional
Miami has had a great season, but I see the hot Texas A&M Aggies giving them a run and advancing.

Gainesville Regional
Florida has played the toughest schedule in baseball this year, and they will have an easy time moving on.

Now on to the Super Regional matchups. I'm suddenly an SEC lover. And no ACC teams!!! Stranger things have happened, I suppose. Predicted winner in bold:

Arizona State vs. Washington State
Auburn vs. Alabama
Ole Miss vs. Oklahoma
South Carolina vs. Coastal Carolina
Texas vs. TCU
UConn vs. Vandy
LSU vs. CS Fullerton
Texas A&M vs. Florida

My 8 entrants are: Arizona St., Alabama, Ole Miss, Coastal Carolina, Texas, Vandy, CS Fullerton, and Florida.

Assuming the groups are clear cut from the left and right sides of this bracket, I see Arizona State and CS Fullerton in the finals with Arizona State taking home the hardware.

Out of 7 SEC teams in my sweet 16, I have 4 making the CWS. Interesting! Let's see how it plays out for real this coming weekend. Enjoy the CWS, everyone!