Rick Umali's Home Page

Bio
Blog
Sports
Pictures
Contact

Born in the Philippines in 1968. Moved to the United States with my family when I was three years old. Raised in Jersey City, New Jersey. Went to Catholic schools (St. Aedan's, St. Peter's Prep). Graduated college from Rensselaer in December 1990. Moved to Boston. Married Jenn in 1995.

I have two brothers, Ron and Renato. My Mom and Dad still live in New Jersey.

Jenn and I live in Arlington (a suburb of Boston). We have a daughter named Mia.

Yes, I write a blog. I've been writing Rick's Ramblings since 2001. Below are excerpts from my most recent BLOG entries. Click on the title to read more. Also, please visit my Technical BLOG.

Winter Solstice

December 20, 2011

The winter solstice is the day with the least amount of light (for those of us in the Northern Hemisphere). This means that after the winter solstice, the days gradually...

The Long Way to Work

November 23, 2011

A few weeks ago, I took the long way to work. My commute takes up to 45 minutes, and it is all city driving. To take the long way means adding 20 minutes to the...

Bowing Out of Novel Writing Month

October 30, 2011

A few months ago, I got it in my head to write a novel during National Novel Writing Month (aka NaNoWriMo). I started plotting some scenes, and conjuring up some...

Husband First

June 3, 2011

In the various places where I get to write a profile of myself, I invariably put down husband first. Then father. And then maybe a little bit about "me". The husband...

Take It All In

May 15, 2011

My family and I finished catching up with this season's "The Amazing Race", the popular television show (CBS) that's "a race around the world." The last episode...

Ice Skating: Still Gliding

January 31, 2011

After I retired from playing ice hockey, I stopped ice skating. I was somehow able to close the book on ice hockey. I had had my fill. The rest of my life took over:...

Ice Skating: Looking Out from the Ice

January 28, 2011

Not long after I dropped out of figure skating class, I learned about and started attending an evening ice hockey 'school' for adults. Think of this as ice hockey...

Ice Skating: Finding my Edges

January 24, 2011

After Paul's visit, I joined a group figure ice skating class at The Skating Club of Boston. Not content to be dazzled anymore, I paid attention to the instructor...

Ice Skating: Paul Nunes

January 19, 2011

When I think about ice skating, I often think about my college friend Paul Nunes. We were freshmen in the same dorm, and in our later years we were roommates. Paul...

I'm a sports nut. I didn't used to be. But now I am. My sports blog is on ESPN's SportsNation.

Conference Championship Picks

January 20, 2012

We're now down to two games: the AFC Championship and the NFC Championship. My picks against the Vegas line (the favorite has the betting spread next to them). Baltimore...

Division Playoff Picks

January 13, 2012

I got two out of four picks correct last week (against the Vegas line). Let's see how I do this week. (The favorite team has the betting spread next to them.)

Wildcard Weekend Picks

January 6, 2012

Four NFL wildcard games this weekend, and I've got your picks! (Or, at least, I've got my picks.) (The number next to a team in parenthesis represents the line and...

Memorizing the NFL Teams

December 21, 2011

I spent the past few months memorizing the 32 teams of the National Football League, by division and conference. Every morning, I'd jot down one or two divisions...

Boston's Beefy Goal Differential

December 6, 2011

I watched the Boston Bruins beat the Pittsburgh Penguins last night. Pittsburgh is at the top of the Eastern Conference, so taking them down is a great result, and...

The Big Break: Ireland

November 23, 2011

I'm a big fan of "The Big Break", the reality show produced by The Golf Channel. Tonight was their finale episode, pitting Mark Murphy against Julien Trudeau. Mark...

Bruins Climbing Out

November 8, 2011

The Boston Bruins won their game tonight against the NY Islanders, and they have begun the ascent. With this win, they're no longer the worst team in the Northeast...

Bruins in the Basement

October 31, 2011

ESPN's Scott Burnside's Power Rankings (Week 5) have the Boston Bruins in the next to last position (above the Columbus Blue Jackets). Columbus is in the Western...

World Series Prediction

October 17, 2011

I enjoyed keeping an eye on the ALCS and NLCS. I said to my wife that this was the series of underdogs (i.e. not the Yankees, or the Red Sox, or any other "big money"...

NLDS 2011 Game 5 Predictions

October 7, 2011

I just found out that there are two Game 5s tonight: Arizona and Milwaukee, and St. Louis at Philadelphia. I'm an American League fan, but when there's a deciding...

Thanking Tito

October 1, 2011

I spent most of last night watching the separate (and perhaps dueling) press conferences of Terry ("Tito") Francona and Red Ownership (represented by General Manager...

The Last Game

September 28, 2011

Red Sox baseball comes down to the last game of their season against the Baltimore Orioles! A win ensures at least a play-in game for the Wild Card spot with the...

200 Wins for Wakefield

September 14, 2011

I can remember in the early 1990s when Tim Wakefield was pitching for the Pirates. One of my favorite roommates was watching the slow motion of Wake's knuckleball....

My Sporting Roots (Part 2)

September 13, 2011

I have written before about my "baptism" into Red Sox nation. I often remark to anyone who'll listen that baseball was the "entry drug" of sports for me. I spent...

My Sporting Roots (Part 1)

September 12, 2011

I grew up in Jersey City, New Jersey, where I lived up until I moved to upstate New York for college. By all rights I should be a NY/NJ sports fan, but instead I...

Welcome, Sports Fans

September 10, 2011

Welcome to my sports BLOG! I originally had a sports BLOG on SportingNews. That site ended up moving all their comunity BLOGs to Rowdy, a terrific website with a...

I have plenty of pictures at a bunch of places [1] [2] [3] [4] [5] [6] [7] [8] [9] [10] [11], [12], but I primarily update Flickr. Below are the last few photos that I have uploaded there. Click on the title to see more.