Mr. Jamelli, The Person
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If you wanted to know more about me, this is the place to come. I have several interests and hobbies. I am an avid New York Yankees fan. I've been rooting for the pinstripes since I was able to watch TV with my dad. I remember going to Yankee Stadium for the first time and seeing my favorite player, Don Mattingly, hit a double. My all time favorite Yankees memory occured on July 18, 1999. I was in the stands as David Cone mowed down 27 straight Montreal Expos to pitch what was, at the time, the 16th perfect game in Major League Baseball history. I am a big fan of the Michigan Wolverines football team. I've been rooting for them since I started watching college football in 1991. While the Wolverine's major rival is, was, and will always be ohio state (not capitalized purposefully) - MY rival for Michigan will be Penn State for as long as I live here. I can remember during my years in High School when Penn State first joined the Big Ten Conference. Michigan won the first head to head meeting, but lost the next three in a row. My classmates rarely let me forget that. Then 1997 happened. The year Michigan rolled into Happy Valley undefeated to face an undefeated PSU team. The media called it "Judgement Day". Michigan rolled to a 34-8 win and the final score wasn't even indicitive of how dominant the Wolverines were that day. The Wolverines claimed an AP National Championship that season and that win against PSU started a 9 game winning streak that I rarely let my former classmates forget about. One of my other major hobbies is board gaming. Now, when I tell people I play board games, they immediately think of Monopoly, Risk, Scrabble, etc. I do NOT enjoy these board games. The board games I enjoy are more strategic in nature and allow for more interesting decisions. There is an online database of strategic family games called BoardGameGeek. I look at board games as being beneficial for several reasons. The biggest reason for me is that they foster increased face-to-face social interaction. Todays students (and professionals) encounter digital communication more than anything else. Texting, emailing, Skype, etc. have all taken communication global. But the more people we reach, the less personal communication we have. Board games force people to interact with other people in different ways. My favorite game is called Air Baron. It's a game that involves players trying to build a market share of airports and foreign interests. It's also a game that is easy to learn and play. There are several games that are rather complex that require a lot of reading and playing to really figure out. There are several boardgaming events that I attend each year and my favorite is the World Boardgame Championships. This event is held annually and sponsored by the Boardgame Players Association. Each year, players from all over the world get together and play in tournaments and open gaming. I've been attending this event for five years. My latest board game endeavor is a project with my father. My father had an idea for his own board game - a card driven baseball game where each player would take on the role of team owner and try to build his organization up from nothing. Players build major league teams, farm teams, front offices, and hire staff to score the most victory points. We are currently working with a large game publisher to try to get our game published. You can find more information on that project at our BGG page - linked here. Personally, I am married and together my wife and I have a 5 year old son named Derek. NO, he is NOT named Derek because of a famous shortstop, but that didn't hurt when considering names. Derek is a very special part of my life personally for obvious reasons. Even when I'm having a tough day, seeing a picture of him makes me smile. Many of my students will tell you I may look like a tough guy, but when it comes to Derek I'm just a big kid who wants to play with LEGO blocks. If there's anything else you're curious about - feel free to ask. |
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