One thing I love is the sound of a Harley. I really do. I'd never really be tempted to ride a motorcycle but I'd love to wake up to the sound of one everyday. One of the things I love about auto racing is the sound of the engine. It's such an adrenaline rush. It really gets the testosterone flowing.
I love cycling. Cycling is my way of getting away from the world and my way to keep myself healthy and active.
How about combining cycling and those engines?
Well that happened today. Cycling + Adrenaline Rush = Happiness...oh and faster speeds.
I was cycling today on Route 119 in Rindge, New Hampshire and into Ashburnham, Massachusetts when all of a sudden I heard the thunderous roar of Harley's and motorcycles in the distance. I got excited. I didn't see them though. I checked back looking for the motorcycles probably 5 times in 30 seconds before I finally saw them. Once I heard that they were really close to me I picked a road sign to race them too. Did I win? Not sure...My guess is no, but it was close.
From then on (probably the last 4 or 5 miles I was riding my road bicycle right next to two Harleys or in some cases cheap bikes with non distinct sounding engines) Wow did that get me excited. I went as fast as I could next to the motorcycles because I wanted to keep up with them. I was in my zone and I was moving. Wow I was moving. I got a thumbs up from a man on his motorcycle. Another guy said something to me but it's hard to hear when you have 100s of motorcycles around. I just smiled at him. I think two more people asked if I wanted to race, which I of course wanted to do. It's actually what I was doing. I was going as fast as I could to keep up with the motorcyclists. When I got onto Route 101 in Ashburnham I (and the motorcyclists, I am not that selfish) was greeted with waves from on lookers.
At one point I also kept even with a motorcyclist. I almost past him. Holding even with a man on a motorcycle is quite an experience. That guy must have been so pissed off to see me riding next to him and with him for 5-10 seconds while on my bicycle. (It felt longer than that but I'm guessing I was so in the zone that it made it seem like it went on longer)
I can't tell you how amazing it felt to bicycle next to Harley's with their engines humming. It felt so amazing. I was in a whole different world. It was just such an amazing feeling. Such a great emotional high, the kind Ricky Williams used to dream about. That was so relaxing and so amazing. It was one of my favorite experiences of the year so far. Bicycling next to them just got me going and I was cycling in a gear (not on the bicycle, my body) you only use on special occasions.
It felt so awesome. I think I've said that a lot.
Can you also just try and picture a motorcyclist and a cyclist riding next to each other. Many motorcyclists look...well...distinct. The ones with the patches and leather jackets. They have their white beards and bandannas. Than you have a cyclist with his expensive bicycle that he has to pedal and the spandex cycling gear too. It's such an odd combination when you think about it.
Imagine if cycling in motor cycle rallies became a sport? Sounds like something I might read about in Rick Reilly's next "Sports From Hell" book. I will say that I would certainly take part in that if it became a sport.
Sunday, May 30, 2010
It's Normal
I don't think people are aware of how normal it is for a new pro sports league to go through growing pains with teams and franchises. The WPS has lost two teams and added one in two years.
I haven't researched the specifics but to me these problems are more natural then what people make them out to be. The hardest part for WPS is that people's perception of the sport is poor. This magnifies any issues that the league has and mitigates any good that happens.
I wish I knew more about leagues like the NBA, NFL and MLB when they were first starting up. Obviously there were changes in those leagues but I'm not sure how those changes actually occurred.
If I can find information I will post it, but keep in mind that when new leagues are formed they have franchises that move and fold. Any new business has to find out what works and doesn't work and where they can sell and where they can't. It's natural to go through problems in start up. If you are prepared for these problems you can survive them.
I haven't researched the specifics but to me these problems are more natural then what people make them out to be. The hardest part for WPS is that people's perception of the sport is poor. This magnifies any issues that the league has and mitigates any good that happens.
I wish I knew more about leagues like the NBA, NFL and MLB when they were first starting up. Obviously there were changes in those leagues but I'm not sure how those changes actually occurred.
If I can find information I will post it, but keep in mind that when new leagues are formed they have franchises that move and fold. Any new business has to find out what works and doesn't work and where they can sell and where they can't. It's natural to go through problems in start up. If you are prepared for these problems you can survive them.
My house is a museum
Apparently I won't be able to write much today because I need to clean the house. (Like that would stop me) TWO people are coming to the house for the first time. Two people that I mean I barely know. We barely know them. (Will make for great awkward conversation all day long)
So we have to give them a tour. Why? Why must they get a tour? Do they even want a tour?
Why must this tour include my room? What's worse is that I know the bathroom will be part of the tour. It always is. Like bathrooms are all so different...
"Here is where Tim shaves. Back in 2007 Tim set a knew dental record in this sink by brushing and flossing in 42.14 seconds. There will be an historical plaque placed here upon the five year anniversary of it's occurrence."
So we have to give them a tour. Why? Why must they get a tour? Do they even want a tour?
Why must this tour include my room? What's worse is that I know the bathroom will be part of the tour. It always is. Like bathrooms are all so different...
"Here is where Tim shaves. Back in 2007 Tim set a knew dental record in this sink by brushing and flossing in 42.14 seconds. There will be an historical plaque placed here upon the five year anniversary of it's occurrence."
Saturday, May 29, 2010
My starting five
If I were to pick an all recent time period NBA Finals Team this is who I would want.
PG Derek Fisher
SG Michael Jordan
SF Robert Horry
PF Tim Duncan barely edges out my favorite current player Kevin Garnett
C Shaq
So I have watched the last couple of NBA finals games. They were good games. I got into the games. I am a Celtics fan, but I consider myself a casual one.
I said this last year and I will say it again this year. Derek Fisher is a winner.
Kobe Bryant made two ridiculous shots that you can't do anything about. He won the game for the Lakers in the 4th quarter.
If I can figure out how to get Celtics vs Lakers tickets I will be on cloud nine.
PG Derek Fisher
SG Michael Jordan
SF Robert Horry
PF Tim Duncan barely edges out my favorite current player Kevin Garnett
C Shaq
So I have watched the last couple of NBA finals games. They were good games. I got into the games. I am a Celtics fan, but I consider myself a casual one.
I said this last year and I will say it again this year. Derek Fisher is a winner.
Kobe Bryant made two ridiculous shots that you can't do anything about. He won the game for the Lakers in the 4th quarter.
If I can figure out how to get Celtics vs Lakers tickets I will be on cloud nine.
I'll pick sides
I was pulling for the Ravens today even though both teams had UConn players. Only one team had a player who had a birthday. Plus I like working with the goalies.
Strange places
Sports can take people to strange places. I never thought that I would be promoting Women's Pro Soccer on Memorial Day Weekend in New Hampshire. I was the only person thrilled that New Hampshire was a place that the Breakers market too. I love the state and my drive was very convenient.
I was in Amherst, New Hampshire which isn't all that far from Manchester and Nashua or Ashburnham.
I've never really been to a big soccer tournament before because I never played soccer. I think it's amazing that people travel so far for games. Some travel from Rhode Island on both Saturday and Sunday for games. Those parents are really committed to their children. They spent their weekend with soccer.
One thing I found really unique about this tournament was that I heard what sounded like a tons of mosquitoes above my head. I looked up and instead they were high tension wires. I'd say today was the first sporting event that I was at that had high tension wires going above the parking lot and were almost going above a field or two.
I think the tournament represents so much that is good about sports. It brings families together, kids play and run around and have fun with friends and learn the game of soccer.
I also think it can bring out some of the worst in sports. I think one of the worst things about sports are over zealous youth coaches and parents. Parents who get so involved that they think they coach the team and coaches that take themselves so seriously that they do their best to act like Patton did when he forced the Germans out of North Africa.
Today I saw a really bad slide tackle that could have injured someone. The parents went nuts and yelled at the referee who at these sort of events are in such a bad situation as far as I am concerned. They aren't respected the way referees in a major soccer game are barely respected. They also don't have the luxury of being sent through a tunnel so that they can avoid parents and fans. When I umpired I had one father complain to me after a game wondering how I could possibly let his child play baseball through DRIZZLE. He said he was going to call the league on me. I can't wait for their parent to complain that it was too sunny and that the game should be canceled because the children hurt their eyes looking for a pop fly. Trust me at the rate things are going a lawsuit is coming on that last one.
Another thing I don't understand are things like soccer academies. I don't know that six year olds should be signed up to join an academy to play soccer or any sport all the time. I feel that some parents often falsely invest money in their kids with the hopes they will get a scholarship. Few realize how few actually get a scholarship let alone a full one. Soccer academies and training centers are great for serious athletes who want to be the best that they can, but I feel like some people might feel pressured to join those things because everyone else is. I think its bad if a child goes to that but doesn't really want to be there.
I hope that well educated people coach in youth sports. It's needed, especially a coach who understands not only the game but sports psychology, so that the game can be made educational and fun at the youth level.
Today I also ran into an 11 year old and he made me feel old. I started talking about the Breakers and tried to explain to him who Kristine Lilly was. Then I realized that this kid was either not born or a few months old when the World Cup game took place. I felt old.
I can't tell you how Happy I was to work in New Hampshire today. I can't tell you how many of my co-workers were relieved that I was going and that they didn't have to.
New Hampshire rocks. Best state in the union.
I was in Amherst, New Hampshire which isn't all that far from Manchester and Nashua or Ashburnham.
I've never really been to a big soccer tournament before because I never played soccer. I think it's amazing that people travel so far for games. Some travel from Rhode Island on both Saturday and Sunday for games. Those parents are really committed to their children. They spent their weekend with soccer.
One thing I found really unique about this tournament was that I heard what sounded like a tons of mosquitoes above my head. I looked up and instead they were high tension wires. I'd say today was the first sporting event that I was at that had high tension wires going above the parking lot and were almost going above a field or two.
I think the tournament represents so much that is good about sports. It brings families together, kids play and run around and have fun with friends and learn the game of soccer.
I also think it can bring out some of the worst in sports. I think one of the worst things about sports are over zealous youth coaches and parents. Parents who get so involved that they think they coach the team and coaches that take themselves so seriously that they do their best to act like Patton did when he forced the Germans out of North Africa.
Today I saw a really bad slide tackle that could have injured someone. The parents went nuts and yelled at the referee who at these sort of events are in such a bad situation as far as I am concerned. They aren't respected the way referees in a major soccer game are barely respected. They also don't have the luxury of being sent through a tunnel so that they can avoid parents and fans. When I umpired I had one father complain to me after a game wondering how I could possibly let his child play baseball through DRIZZLE. He said he was going to call the league on me. I can't wait for their parent to complain that it was too sunny and that the game should be canceled because the children hurt their eyes looking for a pop fly. Trust me at the rate things are going a lawsuit is coming on that last one.
Another thing I don't understand are things like soccer academies. I don't know that six year olds should be signed up to join an academy to play soccer or any sport all the time. I feel that some parents often falsely invest money in their kids with the hopes they will get a scholarship. Few realize how few actually get a scholarship let alone a full one. Soccer academies and training centers are great for serious athletes who want to be the best that they can, but I feel like some people might feel pressured to join those things because everyone else is. I think its bad if a child goes to that but doesn't really want to be there.
I hope that well educated people coach in youth sports. It's needed, especially a coach who understands not only the game but sports psychology, so that the game can be made educational and fun at the youth level.
Today I also ran into an 11 year old and he made me feel old. I started talking about the Breakers and tried to explain to him who Kristine Lilly was. Then I realized that this kid was either not born or a few months old when the World Cup game took place. I felt old.
I can't tell you how Happy I was to work in New Hampshire today. I can't tell you how many of my co-workers were relieved that I was going and that they didn't have to.
New Hampshire rocks. Best state in the union.
Friday, May 28, 2010
What would Jesus Christ do?
WWJCD?
This is such a popular phrase. What Would Jesus Christ Do?
My Uncle is a priest and I go to church often. I don't like writing about religion so I won't. (My Uncle was Steve Phillips Priest. [no pun intended] You can never keep all your sheep in the herd.)
I wonder what Jesus would do if he was a sports fan because I don't think Jesus is a sports fan. I think it creates too many conflicts of interest for him. I think he wants everyone to be safe and beyond that he doesn't care.
What if he did?
I think if Jesus did care these things would happen:
You would be able to buy bottled water for less than a dollar at a sporting event. Two WHOLE Chicken Tenders plus fries also wouldn't cost $8.25 or $8.75.
UConn Women's Basketball would play Tennessee in a home and home each year and would also play in the NCAA Tournament every year.
The Yankees would suck
A team in Boston could close out a 3-0 lead by game 4 or 5.
Tiger Woods would be castrated. (So would half the NBA Players Association)
Alex Rodriguez would have a syringe for his number and A Roid written on the back of his jersey.
NHL players would still have a full set of teeth.
The Buffalo Bills would have beaten the Giants in the 1991 Super Bowl.
Girls wouldn't ever tear their ACL's
The Knicks would be sent to the D-league
No soccer game would ever be decided on penalty kicks.
The Yankees never would have been able to trade for Babe Ruth.
We'd still know who David Duval was.
Hartford would still have the Whalers.
Poker would be off television.
Ron Artest would have missed that shot last night.
The Mets would actually have a star player on their team when they were good.
The media would pay attention to female athletics.
There would never ever be rain delays (unless you are a Orioles fan. It beats watching the team)
The Lions and Cowboys would always WIN on Thanksgiving (Bigger problem for the Lions of course)
Terrell Owens would always have the ball thrown to him by Donovan McNabb.
Butler would have beaten Duke.
Barry Sanders wouldn't have retired early.
NFC West games would never be put on prime time.
College Football would have playoffs.
Army and Navy would be good at sports.
Chad Ochocinco would still be Chad Johnson, but he would be allowed to entertain during games.
The Yankees LOOOOOOSSSSEEEEE The Yankees LOOOOOOOSSSSSEEEEEE would be played after every Yankees game regardless of outcome.
Florida State would miss every kick wide right.
Kristine Lilly will play soccer as a grandmother.
All Baseball Managers would be as entertaining as Ozzie Guillen.
We would always be in March Madness.
Traveling would be properly called in the NBA.
All professional athletes who make over a million dollars and complain about their salary would be kidnapped and brought to Africa to see how hard life really can be.
John Madden and Pat Summerall would still be broadcasting games together.
Maya Moore would be more famous than Tim Tebow.
The Clippers would always beat the Lakers.
Howard Schnellenberger never would have left Miami.
There would be no designated hitter.
The Blue Jays would be moved to another division. They are good, but never good enough to compete with the Yankees, Rays and Red Sox.
No player on steriods would ever be elected into Cooperstown.
The Yankees would be the first baseball team to go 0-162
Notre Dame Football would be irrelevant...Wait, Maybe Jesus is a Sports Fan?
This is such a popular phrase. What Would Jesus Christ Do?
My Uncle is a priest and I go to church often. I don't like writing about religion so I won't. (My Uncle was Steve Phillips Priest. [no pun intended] You can never keep all your sheep in the herd.)
I wonder what Jesus would do if he was a sports fan because I don't think Jesus is a sports fan. I think it creates too many conflicts of interest for him. I think he wants everyone to be safe and beyond that he doesn't care.
What if he did?
I think if Jesus did care these things would happen:
You would be able to buy bottled water for less than a dollar at a sporting event. Two WHOLE Chicken Tenders plus fries also wouldn't cost $8.25 or $8.75.
UConn Women's Basketball would play Tennessee in a home and home each year and would also play in the NCAA Tournament every year.
The Yankees would suck
A team in Boston could close out a 3-0 lead by game 4 or 5.
Tiger Woods would be castrated. (So would half the NBA Players Association)
Alex Rodriguez would have a syringe for his number and A Roid written on the back of his jersey.
NHL players would still have a full set of teeth.
The Buffalo Bills would have beaten the Giants in the 1991 Super Bowl.
Girls wouldn't ever tear their ACL's
The Knicks would be sent to the D-league
No soccer game would ever be decided on penalty kicks.
The Yankees never would have been able to trade for Babe Ruth.
We'd still know who David Duval was.
Hartford would still have the Whalers.
Poker would be off television.
Ron Artest would have missed that shot last night.
The Mets would actually have a star player on their team when they were good.
The media would pay attention to female athletics.
There would never ever be rain delays (unless you are a Orioles fan. It beats watching the team)
The Lions and Cowboys would always WIN on Thanksgiving (Bigger problem for the Lions of course)
Terrell Owens would always have the ball thrown to him by Donovan McNabb.
Butler would have beaten Duke.
Barry Sanders wouldn't have retired early.
NFC West games would never be put on prime time.
College Football would have playoffs.
Army and Navy would be good at sports.
Chad Ochocinco would still be Chad Johnson, but he would be allowed to entertain during games.
The Yankees LOOOOOOSSSSEEEEE The Yankees LOOOOOOOSSSSSEEEEEE would be played after every Yankees game regardless of outcome.
Florida State would miss every kick wide right.
Kristine Lilly will play soccer as a grandmother.
All Baseball Managers would be as entertaining as Ozzie Guillen.
We would always be in March Madness.
Traveling would be properly called in the NBA.
All professional athletes who make over a million dollars and complain about their salary would be kidnapped and brought to Africa to see how hard life really can be.
John Madden and Pat Summerall would still be broadcasting games together.
Maya Moore would be more famous than Tim Tebow.
The Clippers would always beat the Lakers.
Howard Schnellenberger never would have left Miami.
There would be no designated hitter.
The Blue Jays would be moved to another division. They are good, but never good enough to compete with the Yankees, Rays and Red Sox.
No player on steriods would ever be elected into Cooperstown.
The Yankees would be the first baseball team to go 0-162
Notre Dame Football would be irrelevant...Wait, Maybe Jesus is a Sports Fan?
I miss UConn football
I miss UConn Football. I miss watching us beat Notre Dame.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-Bj5dJuCrT0&feature=related
This video ought to fire you up. It ought to get you emotional. It did for me. I'm going to cut short talking about how much that game meant to me, and just how much I was into that game so I can go on a run.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-Bj5dJuCrT0&feature=related
This video ought to fire you up. It ought to get you emotional. It did for me. I'm going to cut short talking about how much that game meant to me, and just how much I was into that game so I can go on a run.
My Weekly Log
My Weekly Log Line of the Week:
About being academically prepared for my job this week:
I once again felt well prepared for all of my work. Especially this week since copying and pasting is only one rung above making license plates at Sing Sing.
About being academically prepared for my job this week:
I once again felt well prepared for all of my work. Especially this week since copying and pasting is only one rung above making license plates at Sing Sing.
No Field Turf
From my impression of the situation Rentschler Field will remain a natural grass surface. Some people are worried that the UFL team will have say in the situation.
(UFL, Un-Ubiquitous Football League)
Having the UFL decide the surface would be like having your new next door neighbor decide how they want your back patio to look.
The team that primarily uses the facilty is UConn and it is my impression that whatever UConn wants, it will get.
(UFL, Un-Ubiquitous Football League)
Having the UFL decide the surface would be like having your new next door neighbor decide how they want your back patio to look.
The team that primarily uses the facilty is UConn and it is my impression that whatever UConn wants, it will get.
Thursday, May 27, 2010
Moving far far away
I think I have had enough rants for a little bit now.
All of my friends are important to me. All of them. I write about some here. Some I mention by name and some I don't. Some I don't mention at all. There really is no rhyme or reason for it so don't feel left out if you don't get a direct shout out. It means nothing. Sometimes I don't write about people because I'm not sure that they would take it the right way or appreciate being mentioned. Sometimes they don't know I have a blog. Being mentioned or not mentioned has no bearing on how important a person is to me.
One person who is very important to me is Meghan Nanfeldt. Meghan is actually the person who inspired my post on athletes diets. I watched her eat tater tots today while back in Storrs.
Meghan is about to embark on a final project for her graduate studies. She has organized a cross country (From Storrs to San Francisco) bike ride for charity that will start on June 5th. After that she will be living in Colorado a long ways from me.
I will really miss Meghan. She has been a great friend and has been someone that I have hung out with often.
I will always remember seeing Meghan after a close loss, maybe to Brown, in her red-shirt senior season and asking her if she needed a hug. I had never said that to a person before but I could sense that the way the game and season had gone that a hug was probably the best thing she could have had. I went to almost all of her games in her senior season.
I will always remember our trips to watch the Western Mass Lady Pioneers last summer. We also spent a good amount of time playing soccer together. The last two Thursdays, that I have had off from work, I went back to campus and went biking with her in preparation for the trip. I had so much fun cycling with her.
It's funny how we met through Husky Sport. We were just sitting next to each other in the van and we just clicked. It's funny I remember challenging myself to not be shy and to just have a conversation. It's funny that it lead to such a good friendship. It's also funny that I recognized Nanners from my lacrosse poster in my game room.
I wish nothing but the best to Nanners and I hope her bike ride "Bike for Books" is a complete success. I hope to see Nanners again, and hopefully before she leaves Connecticut on her ride. We'll have to see how my schedule will work.
Mostly I will remember Nanners as a great friend. I hope she accomplishes all that she wants to in life. I will certainly help her if I can.
All of my friends are important to me. All of them. I write about some here. Some I mention by name and some I don't. Some I don't mention at all. There really is no rhyme or reason for it so don't feel left out if you don't get a direct shout out. It means nothing. Sometimes I don't write about people because I'm not sure that they would take it the right way or appreciate being mentioned. Sometimes they don't know I have a blog. Being mentioned or not mentioned has no bearing on how important a person is to me.
One person who is very important to me is Meghan Nanfeldt. Meghan is actually the person who inspired my post on athletes diets. I watched her eat tater tots today while back in Storrs.
Meghan is about to embark on a final project for her graduate studies. She has organized a cross country (From Storrs to San Francisco) bike ride for charity that will start on June 5th. After that she will be living in Colorado a long ways from me.
I will really miss Meghan. She has been a great friend and has been someone that I have hung out with often.
I will always remember seeing Meghan after a close loss, maybe to Brown, in her red-shirt senior season and asking her if she needed a hug. I had never said that to a person before but I could sense that the way the game and season had gone that a hug was probably the best thing she could have had. I went to almost all of her games in her senior season.
I will always remember our trips to watch the Western Mass Lady Pioneers last summer. We also spent a good amount of time playing soccer together. The last two Thursdays, that I have had off from work, I went back to campus and went biking with her in preparation for the trip. I had so much fun cycling with her.
It's funny how we met through Husky Sport. We were just sitting next to each other in the van and we just clicked. It's funny I remember challenging myself to not be shy and to just have a conversation. It's funny that it lead to such a good friendship. It's also funny that I recognized Nanners from my lacrosse poster in my game room.
I wish nothing but the best to Nanners and I hope her bike ride "Bike for Books" is a complete success. I hope to see Nanners again, and hopefully before she leaves Connecticut on her ride. We'll have to see how my schedule will work.
Mostly I will remember Nanners as a great friend. I hope she accomplishes all that she wants to in life. I will certainly help her if I can.
Hockey at the Rent
Found this story to be really interesting.
http://www.courant.com/sports/uconn-huskies/hc-web-rentschler-hockey-20100526,0,7713770.story
Men's and Women's Ice Hockey will be playing at Rentschler field in February.
http://www.courant.com/sports/uconn-huskies/hc-web-rentschler-hockey-20100526,0,7713770.story
Men's and Women's Ice Hockey will be playing at Rentschler field in February.
I think I know why kids are obese
So as I was traveling today to UConn, (Yes I am in the Natatorium right now) from Ashburnham. On the way out of Ashburnham I was caught behind a bus and I started to realize why children are dealing with an obestity problem.
The bus stopped every four houses. IT WAS BRUTAL to have to be behind that bus. The traffic problems that a bus, plus the designers of a Massachusetts roadway cause is unbelieveable.
(Seriously in Massachusetts someone thought it would be a good idea to put a rotary in the middle of a highway...or have unnumbered highway exits that confuse you when you are trying to get off the next exit)
These children didn't have to move far at all to get to their bus. I was amazed. It was like door to door service. I had to walk about a half mile to my bus stop from middle school on. In elementary school it was still probably a quarter mile.
I know we are trying to balance safety from whack jobs who are in too many neighborhoods, but at the same time just having kids walk a little further to their bus (and their bus could also make less stops!) would be such a small thing to help keep kids healthy.
The bus stopped every four houses. IT WAS BRUTAL to have to be behind that bus. The traffic problems that a bus, plus the designers of a Massachusetts roadway cause is unbelieveable.
(Seriously in Massachusetts someone thought it would be a good idea to put a rotary in the middle of a highway...or have unnumbered highway exits that confuse you when you are trying to get off the next exit)
These children didn't have to move far at all to get to their bus. I was amazed. It was like door to door service. I had to walk about a half mile to my bus stop from middle school on. In elementary school it was still probably a quarter mile.
I know we are trying to balance safety from whack jobs who are in too many neighborhoods, but at the same time just having kids walk a little further to their bus (and their bus could also make less stops!) would be such a small thing to help keep kids healthy.
Wednesday, May 26, 2010
Diets
So I want to dedicate a post to the diets of athletes because it seems like such an interesting thing to talk about. Everyone assumes that athletes eat so healthy. So HEALTHY.
In reality saying that athletes don't eat poorly would be like saying the Marlboro Man doesn't smoke cigarettes. (Smoking to me is one of the MOST DISGUSTING things in the world)
I know a professional athlete, and alternate Olympic athlete, who I've seen in pictures drinking a soda after a game. She also likes to eat bacon.
I know a former athlete who could down a big bag of skittles quicker than lead could sink to the bottom of a pool.
I know a two sport athlete who eats more gummy worms in a day than most elementary school kids eat in a year. (Now I am obsessed with eating them because of her)
I know another former athlete who could eat anything anywhere. I went to a soccer game with her and she needed to go to get some fast food at halftime.
I brought Christmas Popcorn to the office and the track team apparently demolished it.
When I was cycling 20 miles everyday I could easily down a whole row of double stuff oreos without thinking twice or putting on a pound.
Think about Michael Phelps diet???
The amazing thing about everyone I spoke about is that we, (including me) are all in great shape. You would never know by looking at them as to just unhealthy they can and often do eat.
Athletes eat so much and they don't all eat as healthy as you might think. They usually eat healthy...healthier before competitions and in season, but out of it or when they are retired...forget about it with some of them. Too many athletes look like the average sports reporter five years after retirement. Basically overweight and unable to run a quarter mile without throwing up.
I remember one athlete who ordered a salad for a post game meal. There is one athlete I think of when I think of healthy eaters. She plays her position like the Great Wall of China and hopefully those close to her won't contradict what I just said.
One thing we learned in sports psychology is that athletes are some of the most disordered eaters. I can think of so many reasons why this is true.
In reality saying that athletes don't eat poorly would be like saying the Marlboro Man doesn't smoke cigarettes. (Smoking to me is one of the MOST DISGUSTING things in the world)
I know a professional athlete, and alternate Olympic athlete, who I've seen in pictures drinking a soda after a game. She also likes to eat bacon.
I know a former athlete who could down a big bag of skittles quicker than lead could sink to the bottom of a pool.
I know a two sport athlete who eats more gummy worms in a day than most elementary school kids eat in a year. (Now I am obsessed with eating them because of her)
I know another former athlete who could eat anything anywhere. I went to a soccer game with her and she needed to go to get some fast food at halftime.
I brought Christmas Popcorn to the office and the track team apparently demolished it.
When I was cycling 20 miles everyday I could easily down a whole row of double stuff oreos without thinking twice or putting on a pound.
Think about Michael Phelps diet???
The amazing thing about everyone I spoke about is that we, (including me) are all in great shape. You would never know by looking at them as to just unhealthy they can and often do eat.
Athletes eat so much and they don't all eat as healthy as you might think. They usually eat healthy...healthier before competitions and in season, but out of it or when they are retired...forget about it with some of them. Too many athletes look like the average sports reporter five years after retirement. Basically overweight and unable to run a quarter mile without throwing up.
I remember one athlete who ordered a salad for a post game meal. There is one athlete I think of when I think of healthy eaters. She plays her position like the Great Wall of China and hopefully those close to her won't contradict what I just said.
One thing we learned in sports psychology is that athletes are some of the most disordered eaters. I can think of so many reasons why this is true.
Fly Over
So lets talk NASCAR.
(You will probably skip down to my next post)
One thing that always happens at NASCAR races are fly-overs. It's a big deal and it's really cool to see planes flying so fast right above the track.
I went to the Pocono 500 one year and I was really looking forward to the fly over. Really looking forward to it.
I saw a plane coming and I got excited. It got closer and closer and I got more depressed and depressed.
It was an unmarked DC-10. WOW
For all I know that could have been Flight 223 in route to St. Louis.
It wasn't loud, it wasn't cool, it was like watching a plane fly over my house.
One thing about NASCAR races is that they are LOUD. LOUD LOUD LOUD. Although not as loud as a Craig Sager outfit.
I could hear the cars racing two days later back at home. My ears were ringing. I mean I literally could hear the cars running in my mind for a long time. I wasn't even in seats right next to the track, which is definetly a place that NASCAR newbies want to stand. Standing that close to cars moving that fast is quite an experience and well worth the $10,000 you will spend on getting your hearing fixed afterwords.
I guess if a Craig Sager outfit is louder than that then a Craig Sager outfit would probably burn your eyes out as quickly as watching Battlestar Galatica (which I have never seen, but it sounds AWESOMELY bad) while someone sprays mase in your eyes.
(You will probably skip down to my next post)
One thing that always happens at NASCAR races are fly-overs. It's a big deal and it's really cool to see planes flying so fast right above the track.
I went to the Pocono 500 one year and I was really looking forward to the fly over. Really looking forward to it.
I saw a plane coming and I got excited. It got closer and closer and I got more depressed and depressed.
It was an unmarked DC-10. WOW
For all I know that could have been Flight 223 in route to St. Louis.
It wasn't loud, it wasn't cool, it was like watching a plane fly over my house.
One thing about NASCAR races is that they are LOUD. LOUD LOUD LOUD. Although not as loud as a Craig Sager outfit.
I could hear the cars racing two days later back at home. My ears were ringing. I mean I literally could hear the cars running in my mind for a long time. I wasn't even in seats right next to the track, which is definetly a place that NASCAR newbies want to stand. Standing that close to cars moving that fast is quite an experience and well worth the $10,000 you will spend on getting your hearing fixed afterwords.
I guess if a Craig Sager outfit is louder than that then a Craig Sager outfit would probably burn your eyes out as quickly as watching Battlestar Galatica (which I have never seen, but it sounds AWESOMELY bad) while someone sprays mase in your eyes.
It took me
It took me less than three weeks to get in touch from someone from college to help me with a project for work.
I guess I will work very hard to stay in contact.
I guess I will work very hard to stay in contact.
Tuesday, May 25, 2010
How about some good ones
Here were a couple of promotions I read about that I liked.
One was the couch potato promotion. If the team has a video board they can zoom in on the most bored fan and then move them to a couch close to the field.
Another was the dancing dad promotion where it had to do with dad's dancing. Guessing it was that the best dancer won, but not sure.
I'm guessing that second promotion looked like the Weber grill commercial.
One was the couch potato promotion. If the team has a video board they can zoom in on the most bored fan and then move them to a couch close to the field.
Another was the dancing dad promotion where it had to do with dad's dancing. Guessing it was that the best dancer won, but not sure.
I'm guessing that second promotion looked like the Weber grill commercial.
I have come far
So for some reason my mom decided to save a lot of my work from Pre-K through 1st or 2nd grade. I went through it and threw away almost all of it. It is pretty much garbage, but I kept the thing I made that said "Tim's Mom is a Princess." It was my thoughtful mothers day gift for her.
It amazed me how far I came from then. I couldn't write sentences in straight lines. Actually I still can't write legible sentences. I atleast can spell my name the right way. For a while I spelled it backwards as MIT.
I drew pictures of my family and how they grew through the year while in school. For some reason I made my tallest cousin the shortest in my drawing. For some reason my drawings of my family all looked like popsicles. I also gave my dad squares for arms. CREATIVE.
More than anything though I am amazed by how much the human brain can absorb and evolve. It was actually sort of fun to look through it after just graduating from college.
Sadly, I now realize upon throwing this stuff away that I could have made a fortune selling this as modern art in New York.
"The way theeee liiines move show me how expressive and thoughtful theeesss person eez. I see what he eez trying to saaay by using zeee same crayon for zeee entire project and by making zeeze peeecctturres out of unorganized liiines. Eet eeez a metaphor for life. Theees is a masterpiece...theees is brilliant. Thees arteeest eez a prodigy. I geeev you $1,000 for eeet"
"Sure, would you like the tissues I used when I had allergies last week too?"
It amazed me how far I came from then. I couldn't write sentences in straight lines. Actually I still can't write legible sentences. I atleast can spell my name the right way. For a while I spelled it backwards as MIT.
I drew pictures of my family and how they grew through the year while in school. For some reason I made my tallest cousin the shortest in my drawing. For some reason my drawings of my family all looked like popsicles. I also gave my dad squares for arms. CREATIVE.
More than anything though I am amazed by how much the human brain can absorb and evolve. It was actually sort of fun to look through it after just graduating from college.
Sadly, I now realize upon throwing this stuff away that I could have made a fortune selling this as modern art in New York.
"The way theeee liiines move show me how expressive and thoughtful theeesss person eez. I see what he eez trying to saaay by using zeee same crayon for zeee entire project and by making zeeze peeecctturres out of unorganized liiines. Eet eeez a metaphor for life. Theees is a masterpiece...theees is brilliant. Thees arteeest eez a prodigy. I geeev you $1,000 for eeet"
"Sure, would you like the tissues I used when I had allergies last week too?"
Dumb promotions
Lets look at a dumb promotion.
Like Skydiving.
Why don't we have someone jump from a plane and throw out the first pitch? or skydive and put a football down for a kickoff. That will be cool! I'm sure they will land on the field and not on the roof, or on top of fans in the stands...or in the dumpster next to the stadium...or the river behind the stadium.
Guess we will have to delay the start of the game because they still haven't landed.
Why do people come up with stupid ideas like this, and then actually try to follow through with them?
I'm sure fans will love staring into the sun and sky or just sky for two minutes as they watch someone slowly float to earth. Where is the excitement in that?
"Man that skydiving, man without that I wouldn't have ever have come to the stadium"
Like Skydiving.
Why don't we have someone jump from a plane and throw out the first pitch? or skydive and put a football down for a kickoff. That will be cool! I'm sure they will land on the field and not on the roof, or on top of fans in the stands...or in the dumpster next to the stadium...or the river behind the stadium.
Guess we will have to delay the start of the game because they still haven't landed.
Why do people come up with stupid ideas like this, and then actually try to follow through with them?
I'm sure fans will love staring into the sun and sky or just sky for two minutes as they watch someone slowly float to earth. Where is the excitement in that?
"Man that skydiving, man without that I wouldn't have ever have come to the stadium"
World Sauna Championships
Part of Sports from Hell. This is about the World Sauna Championships.
http://sports.espn.go.com/espn/news/story?id=5198604
http://sports.espn.go.com/espn/news/story?id=5198604
Stramge schedule
Now that I work and have an hour long commute my day is so much different. I find myself falling asleep by 9-10 and up by 5:30-6.
Monday, May 24, 2010
Monday Weekly Log Entry
Here is my entry for my weekly log for school:
On Monday I did this: On Monday I did this: On Monday I did this: On Monday I did this:
Ctrl c + Ctrl v, Ctrl c + Ctrl v, Ctrl c + Ctrl v, Ctrl c + Ctrl v, Ctrl c + Ctrl v, Ctrl c + Ctrl v, Ctrl c + Ctrl v, Ctrl c + Ctrl v, Ctrl c + Ctrl v, Ctrl c + Ctrl v, Ctrl c + Ctrl v, Ctrl c + Ctrl v. Copy and Paste, Copy and Paste, Copy and Paste, Copy and Paste, Copy and Paste, Copy and Paste, Copy and Paste, Copy and Paste, Copy and Paste, Copy and Paste, Copy and Paste, Copy and Paste, Copy and Paste, Copy and Paste, Copy and Paste.
On Monday I did this: On Monday I did this: On Monday I did this: On Monday I did this:
Ctrl c + Ctrl v, Ctrl c + Ctrl v, Ctrl c + Ctrl v, Ctrl c + Ctrl v, Ctrl c + Ctrl v, Ctrl c + Ctrl v, Ctrl c + Ctrl v, Ctrl c + Ctrl v, Ctrl c + Ctrl v, Ctrl c + Ctrl v, Ctrl c + Ctrl v, Ctrl c + Ctrl v. Copy and Paste, Copy and Paste, Copy and Paste, Copy and Paste, Copy and Paste, Copy and Paste, Copy and Paste, Copy and Paste, Copy and Paste, Copy and Paste, Copy and Paste, Copy and Paste, Copy and Paste, Copy and Paste, Copy and Paste.
Back to work
Back to work today.
So the reason I have posted those videos of "Scoops Callahan" (search in you tube if you want) is because when you report on teams things can get REALLY boring.
Sometimes coaches can be fun to listen to like Geno. I miss listening to him speak, especially at the end of a press conference when you hear the things he says when the cameras are off.
However, the players, while I love them, can be SO BORING, SO BORING AND MORE BORING to listen to. After about two weeks you realize that your going to hear the same answer to every question. "Well we work hard and listen to coach. We stay humble and were only focused on one thing (saying something to get you to leave) right now. We have to take things one game at a time and this team that we are playing next are really going to give us a good game. (even though they are 2-12 in conference play)
You need humor at press conferences. Without those funny sound clips reporting on a game can be SO BORING.
So the reason I have posted those videos of "Scoops Callahan" (search in you tube if you want) is because when you report on teams things can get REALLY boring.
Sometimes coaches can be fun to listen to like Geno. I miss listening to him speak, especially at the end of a press conference when you hear the things he says when the cameras are off.
However, the players, while I love them, can be SO BORING, SO BORING AND MORE BORING to listen to. After about two weeks you realize that your going to hear the same answer to every question. "Well we work hard and listen to coach. We stay humble and were only focused on one thing (saying something to get you to leave) right now. We have to take things one game at a time and this team that we are playing next are really going to give us a good game. (even though they are 2-12 in conference play)
You need humor at press conferences. Without those funny sound clips reporting on a game can be SO BORING.
Sunday, May 23, 2010
Another compliment
I went to the grocery store yesterday, the A&P that I worked at while I was in high school. According to one of the long time employees I was the best ever.
Thankfully I am pretty sure I will never have to work in a grocery store again, but it was a nice compliment.
Sometimes I am amazed by how highly people think of me. To be quite honest I am amazed when people know my name. I take it as a huge compliment when people know something about me before I meet them.
Someone also referred to me as a magician this year. Guess that's cool, as long as I don't ever have to prove my magic in Salem, Massachusetts.
Thankfully I am pretty sure I will never have to work in a grocery store again, but it was a nice compliment.
Sometimes I am amazed by how highly people think of me. To be quite honest I am amazed when people know my name. I take it as a huge compliment when people know something about me before I meet them.
Someone also referred to me as a magician this year. Guess that's cool, as long as I don't ever have to prove my magic in Salem, Massachusetts.
Saturday, May 22, 2010
This is stupid
There are a lot of stupid things on my blog. This is closer to the top.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9N2eHWHuDQM&feature=related
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9N2eHWHuDQM&feature=related
A great Phil Mickelson Interview
This is just awesome right here. This makes me like Phil Mickelson a lot.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ryPHtiL_RnY&feature=related
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ryPHtiL_RnY&feature=related
I like my golf the way I like
I like my golf the way I like my ham, sliced.
So I went to the driving range today at Sterling Farms with my long time friend Brian Callahan. It was a first for me at Sterling Farms. I hit 100 golf balls today. I only swung and missed once...maybe never not sure. There was atleast one where I was so bad that I died laughing.
There were 10 I hit that I had no idea where they went. Probably was a bad thing.
There were probably 20 that I hit straight or mostly straight with a small slice or hooked.
The other 70. The other 70 were just like the ham I eat, sliced.
Sliced pretty badly.
I made fun of myself the entire time I was there. I'm sure the other golfers liked that. I'm sure they appreciated it when I laughed when I hit it 6 feet.
I started getting better by ball 75. I think I managed to hit it 155-160. Not impressive, but good considering I had no instructor and haven't played much in my life. I was so good at slicing that I actually was able to hit a green pretty frequently. The problem was I wasn't aiming at the green. Atleast I could fairly consistently hit it.
I was successfully able to develop a blister today too. I have a lot of work to do when it comes to golf!
I also ran into a neighbor of mine at the course and their two little kids. I told them that their kids could outdrive me. The parents didn't think so, but their 4 or 5 year old son thought he could. He challenged me. Knowing my skills I backed down.
I actually said he should give me lessons. Then they said they would charge me $50. Then I ended the conversation.
So I went to the driving range today at Sterling Farms with my long time friend Brian Callahan. It was a first for me at Sterling Farms. I hit 100 golf balls today. I only swung and missed once...maybe never not sure. There was atleast one where I was so bad that I died laughing.
There were 10 I hit that I had no idea where they went. Probably was a bad thing.
There were probably 20 that I hit straight or mostly straight with a small slice or hooked.
The other 70. The other 70 were just like the ham I eat, sliced.
Sliced pretty badly.
I made fun of myself the entire time I was there. I'm sure the other golfers liked that. I'm sure they appreciated it when I laughed when I hit it 6 feet.
I started getting better by ball 75. I think I managed to hit it 155-160. Not impressive, but good considering I had no instructor and haven't played much in my life. I was so good at slicing that I actually was able to hit a green pretty frequently. The problem was I wasn't aiming at the green. Atleast I could fairly consistently hit it.
I was successfully able to develop a blister today too. I have a lot of work to do when it comes to golf!
I also ran into a neighbor of mine at the course and their two little kids. I told them that their kids could outdrive me. The parents didn't think so, but their 4 or 5 year old son thought he could. He challenged me. Knowing my skills I backed down.
I actually said he should give me lessons. Then they said they would charge me $50. Then I ended the conversation.
Love Hate
I've sort of had a love and hate relationship with golf.
(I've ALWAYS LOVED MINI GOLF)
One thing I can't stand about golf is how expensive it is to play a round and buy clubs, and wear the right clothes..etc.
One thing I like about golf is that it is an established sport with money in it. There are courses everywhere so getting a job in golf probably would be a good career.
I initially hated golf when I was at my grandpa's Country Club while in middle school. He isn't much of a golfer. I think he played occasionally because his friends wanted too. All that I remember about my experience there was that I had just gotten off a plane and was really hungry. We wanted to eat someplace close by so grandpa suggested the country club dining room. Since we just got off a plane we weren't dressed sharply. A few of us didn't have collared shirts on. When we got to the dining room I was stared at by 70 or so people who had there mouths wide open in shock. Their looks made me think that I was wearing a bloody shirt while holding a knife. Since we couldn't eat, were stared at as if we were aliens and were forced to travel around for an hour trying to find a place to eat, I wasn't a big fan of golf.
Once I went to a NASCAR race I realized that golf is actually ok. I saw a lot of guys with white tank tops, unkept beards and tattered clothes. I even saw a video of NASCAR fans and saw a guy with a three shaved into his back hair. At this point I WANTED everyone to have to wear collared shirts and khakis.
I also had a good experience at my Great Aunt's country club. I felt better about the game of golf.
Golf, like Tennis, Swimming and Cycling are leisure sports. These are the sports you begin to play as you get older, but you want to learn them while you are young. At a certain age you realize that your never going to play like Jordan, run like Usain Bolt, hit like Ray Lewis, or pitch like Johan Santana. You begin to be a little less competitive and have more fun playing sports. You don't worry about having to work out to win a state championship or having to do a preseason fitness test. You play sports for fun and for mainly social reasons. You transition from sports like basketball, baseball and football to those leisure sports that are easier on old bodies...not that I would say that I have an old body yet. My parents have old bodies and they tell me all about them.
These leisure sports are things that you want to be able to do as you get older. To me Golf is one of the most important sports to learn if you are in sports management or business. To me it is something you must know and should honestly be a required course in a college sports management or business curriculum. Everyone in business seems to play golf and everyone in sports management seems to play golf. That is why I have been dying to learn golf. It's so useful. Everyone I have met who has said that they play golf is someone that I responded to with "I want to learn!"
One thing I don't understand about golf is how athletes who play basketball, football or really action oriented sports also enjoy golf. Golf is so different from those other sports in terms of action. I feel like you might have trouble going from sprinting up and down a court to walking down a green.
I guess golf is something that you will read about if I actually do play it this year. (I mean I could have written a post just like this last year for all I know detailing how I was going to play golf all summer)
Golf could be this years waterskiing, except I still have a lot to learn with waterskiing too. I haven't quite mastered that yet.
I've learned the sports of Tennis and Golf before but not to the point where I feel comfortable playing. By that I mean, not making a complete utter fool of myself. In those sports I still feel like I could be so bad that the game itself is not fun for the others playing in it.
"I know the ball hit off of that tree, and that pavement. I think if we spend an hour looking in the woods over there we should find it. If you call in back up and special forces we could cut the time in half"
Or in tennis
"The object of the game is to hit homeruns into the swimming pool right?"
It might be fun for me, but it wouldn't be much fun for those that I would be playing with.
Swimming is something that believe it or not, I just learned at UCONN. It was also my lowest grade all year, a B. How do you get a B in swimming? Try hard, but still not be the greatest swimmer in the world. Although, I am pretty confident in the water now. I've beaten one person in the backstroke.
BTW I had a 3.75 this past semester. That means I had a 3.77 I guess for my senior year...so far. Senior year was my favorite year of college...by far.
So anyway my golfing adventure starts about right now, when I head over to the driving range.
(I've ALWAYS LOVED MINI GOLF)
One thing I can't stand about golf is how expensive it is to play a round and buy clubs, and wear the right clothes..etc.
One thing I like about golf is that it is an established sport with money in it. There are courses everywhere so getting a job in golf probably would be a good career.
I initially hated golf when I was at my grandpa's Country Club while in middle school. He isn't much of a golfer. I think he played occasionally because his friends wanted too. All that I remember about my experience there was that I had just gotten off a plane and was really hungry. We wanted to eat someplace close by so grandpa suggested the country club dining room. Since we just got off a plane we weren't dressed sharply. A few of us didn't have collared shirts on. When we got to the dining room I was stared at by 70 or so people who had there mouths wide open in shock. Their looks made me think that I was wearing a bloody shirt while holding a knife. Since we couldn't eat, were stared at as if we were aliens and were forced to travel around for an hour trying to find a place to eat, I wasn't a big fan of golf.
Once I went to a NASCAR race I realized that golf is actually ok. I saw a lot of guys with white tank tops, unkept beards and tattered clothes. I even saw a video of NASCAR fans and saw a guy with a three shaved into his back hair. At this point I WANTED everyone to have to wear collared shirts and khakis.
I also had a good experience at my Great Aunt's country club. I felt better about the game of golf.
Golf, like Tennis, Swimming and Cycling are leisure sports. These are the sports you begin to play as you get older, but you want to learn them while you are young. At a certain age you realize that your never going to play like Jordan, run like Usain Bolt, hit like Ray Lewis, or pitch like Johan Santana. You begin to be a little less competitive and have more fun playing sports. You don't worry about having to work out to win a state championship or having to do a preseason fitness test. You play sports for fun and for mainly social reasons. You transition from sports like basketball, baseball and football to those leisure sports that are easier on old bodies...not that I would say that I have an old body yet. My parents have old bodies and they tell me all about them.
These leisure sports are things that you want to be able to do as you get older. To me Golf is one of the most important sports to learn if you are in sports management or business. To me it is something you must know and should honestly be a required course in a college sports management or business curriculum. Everyone in business seems to play golf and everyone in sports management seems to play golf. That is why I have been dying to learn golf. It's so useful. Everyone I have met who has said that they play golf is someone that I responded to with "I want to learn!"
One thing I don't understand about golf is how athletes who play basketball, football or really action oriented sports also enjoy golf. Golf is so different from those other sports in terms of action. I feel like you might have trouble going from sprinting up and down a court to walking down a green.
I guess golf is something that you will read about if I actually do play it this year. (I mean I could have written a post just like this last year for all I know detailing how I was going to play golf all summer)
Golf could be this years waterskiing, except I still have a lot to learn with waterskiing too. I haven't quite mastered that yet.
I've learned the sports of Tennis and Golf before but not to the point where I feel comfortable playing. By that I mean, not making a complete utter fool of myself. In those sports I still feel like I could be so bad that the game itself is not fun for the others playing in it.
"I know the ball hit off of that tree, and that pavement. I think if we spend an hour looking in the woods over there we should find it. If you call in back up and special forces we could cut the time in half"
Or in tennis
"The object of the game is to hit homeruns into the swimming pool right?"
It might be fun for me, but it wouldn't be much fun for those that I would be playing with.
Swimming is something that believe it or not, I just learned at UCONN. It was also my lowest grade all year, a B. How do you get a B in swimming? Try hard, but still not be the greatest swimmer in the world. Although, I am pretty confident in the water now. I've beaten one person in the backstroke.
BTW I had a 3.75 this past semester. That means I had a 3.77 I guess for my senior year...so far. Senior year was my favorite year of college...by far.
So anyway my golfing adventure starts about right now, when I head over to the driving range.
Jeez
As of the last RPI rankings only five teams in NCAA Division One baseball have more wins than UCONN.
UCONN Baseball is 2nd in the country with wins on the road.
UCONN Baseball is 2nd in the country with wins on the road.
Friday, May 21, 2010
Gummy Bears
Lets put this in one sentence.
Gummy bears, first down markers and snow.
Ok that was a fragment for all you English majors.
So a long long time ago I played football with my neighbor Patrick in the snow. It was a pick up game with little kid rules. We had first down markers for this game in the snow. We used gummy bears.
Imagine the Super Bowl using Gummy Bears for first down markers?
"It's two inches short of a gummy bear for a first down"
(Somehow I think a marketer will come up with this idea as a way of cramming in more advertisements into the Super Bowl)
So anyway by the 4th grade I knew that players would stretch for a first down. Players would stretch out their arms before their knee hit the ground for a first down.
I understood that rule, my neighbor Patrick did not. He thought you placed the ball where the arm stretched out after your knee was down.
Obviously this caused a huge argument between two very competitive people. We argued about stretching for a first down. After that we argued about gummy bears. I think we used a couple of bears for the line of scrimmage and the first down marker. We argued about which gummy bear was the first down marker.
"No red gummy bear was the line of scrimmage and yellow gummy bear was the first down marker"
"No yellow gummy bear was the line of scrimmage and red gummy bears was the first down marker"
(Basically it was a much more heated exchange of the white zone/red zone scene from the classic movie AIRPLANE...http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VTZUjJXlU90 If you haven't seen that movie there is something wrong with you. Apparently there is something wrong with me because I've never seen Mighty Ducks...atleast 10 people can't believe I've never seen that movie)
"No"
"No"
"I quit"
"Fine"
Lesson of the day:
Don't put gummy bears, snow and first down markers together.
I had to tell this story though. I thought it was funny since it was from 4th grade pick up youth sports.
Gummy bears, first down markers and snow.
Ok that was a fragment for all you English majors.
So a long long time ago I played football with my neighbor Patrick in the snow. It was a pick up game with little kid rules. We had first down markers for this game in the snow. We used gummy bears.
Imagine the Super Bowl using Gummy Bears for first down markers?
"It's two inches short of a gummy bear for a first down"
(Somehow I think a marketer will come up with this idea as a way of cramming in more advertisements into the Super Bowl)
So anyway by the 4th grade I knew that players would stretch for a first down. Players would stretch out their arms before their knee hit the ground for a first down.
I understood that rule, my neighbor Patrick did not. He thought you placed the ball where the arm stretched out after your knee was down.
Obviously this caused a huge argument between two very competitive people. We argued about stretching for a first down. After that we argued about gummy bears. I think we used a couple of bears for the line of scrimmage and the first down marker. We argued about which gummy bear was the first down marker.
"No red gummy bear was the line of scrimmage and yellow gummy bear was the first down marker"
"No yellow gummy bear was the line of scrimmage and red gummy bears was the first down marker"
(Basically it was a much more heated exchange of the white zone/red zone scene from the classic movie AIRPLANE...http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VTZUjJXlU90 If you haven't seen that movie there is something wrong with you. Apparently there is something wrong with me because I've never seen Mighty Ducks...atleast 10 people can't believe I've never seen that movie)
"No"
"No"
"I quit"
"Fine"
Lesson of the day:
Don't put gummy bears, snow and first down markers together.
I had to tell this story though. I thought it was funny since it was from 4th grade pick up youth sports.
Baseball books
So I got really interested in finding out how many books I have on the sport of baseball. The answer would be: 53.
Yes I have 53 books on baseball. Atleast...53...just on the sport of baseball. A few might be novels, a few are kids books and some are books on stats...actually I'm sure I have more than 53 there are probably more in odd places in my house.
53
That's a lot of unread pages.
I mean that's a lot of unread books.
Can you believe that in 21 years on this earth that I had atleast 53 books on baseball. I'm still wondering if I have one on Ted Williams that I brought up to Ashburnham. This count is unofficial because I haven't officially looked in Ashburnham yet. I can think of atleast three there, but there could be more.
Baseball is just a part of American culture. It's nostalgic I guess. Everyone is supposed to play. I'm not quite sure if that will be the same for the next couple generations of kids. I'm not sure how much steriods and PED's have really damaged the game.
53 books though. Yikes that is a lot and I'm fairly sure almost all of those were gifts. I have books on Hank Aaron, Bob Gibson, Jackie Robinson, Joe Torre, and Sparky Anderson to name a few.
I also noticed in the book store today that the majority of the books on sports was overwhelmingly on baseball. Obviously part of this is a regional thing. Living in the Northeast with the Yankees and Red Sox...and my Mets, means that baseball will be front in center in the world of sports. I'd estimate that 20-25% of all the books were on baseball. It definetly had the most amount of sections dedicated to the sport.
I went back to the book store for two reasons. First of all the book I was going to read for the summer, Sports from Hell, only took one week to read. Part of that was that I had plenty of time to read. Somehow I'd be up at about 5-6am and there isn't much to do at that time but either read or go fishing when in Ashburnham. It was too cold at that time to exercise.
I really enjoyed reading Rick Reilly because his writing combined two of my favorite things in life, sports and humor. I LAUGH OUT LOUD when I read his work. Hopefully you laugh when I write too. I love Kenny Mayne too. I found his book to be really entertaining and funny, but he doesn't write as much as Reilly does. I bought a book on golf by Reilly because golf is a sport I want to learn about. I don't expect to learn how to hit a golf ball, but I expect to be entertained and learn about the culture of golf aka LIME GREEN PANTS, PINK CHECKERED SHIRTS, AND ARGYLE SOCKS THAT STICK OUT MORE THAN THIS SENTENCE.
I may have a few clothes that are obnoxious enough for me to bring to the course. I guess anything to distract your opponent is good.
I like reading things by Rick Reilly, and as with anything I like I get almost addicted to it. I need it all the time. At one point I will have read all his books and then I will get really mad that he hasn't written another book.
Hopefully people don't check in on my blog and get really annoyed when I don't have a new post. Sometimes I get busy and I can't write. Sometimes I can't write about things because I'm too close to what I would write about. I know that I hate it when I check on a blog and it hasn't been updated since the last time I checked on it. I try my best though to keep things interesting.
Yes I have 53 books on baseball. Atleast...53...just on the sport of baseball. A few might be novels, a few are kids books and some are books on stats...actually I'm sure I have more than 53 there are probably more in odd places in my house.
53
That's a lot of unread pages.
I mean that's a lot of unread books.
Can you believe that in 21 years on this earth that I had atleast 53 books on baseball. I'm still wondering if I have one on Ted Williams that I brought up to Ashburnham. This count is unofficial because I haven't officially looked in Ashburnham yet. I can think of atleast three there, but there could be more.
Baseball is just a part of American culture. It's nostalgic I guess. Everyone is supposed to play. I'm not quite sure if that will be the same for the next couple generations of kids. I'm not sure how much steriods and PED's have really damaged the game.
53 books though. Yikes that is a lot and I'm fairly sure almost all of those were gifts. I have books on Hank Aaron, Bob Gibson, Jackie Robinson, Joe Torre, and Sparky Anderson to name a few.
I also noticed in the book store today that the majority of the books on sports was overwhelmingly on baseball. Obviously part of this is a regional thing. Living in the Northeast with the Yankees and Red Sox...and my Mets, means that baseball will be front in center in the world of sports. I'd estimate that 20-25% of all the books were on baseball. It definetly had the most amount of sections dedicated to the sport.
I went back to the book store for two reasons. First of all the book I was going to read for the summer, Sports from Hell, only took one week to read. Part of that was that I had plenty of time to read. Somehow I'd be up at about 5-6am and there isn't much to do at that time but either read or go fishing when in Ashburnham. It was too cold at that time to exercise.
I really enjoyed reading Rick Reilly because his writing combined two of my favorite things in life, sports and humor. I LAUGH OUT LOUD when I read his work. Hopefully you laugh when I write too. I love Kenny Mayne too. I found his book to be really entertaining and funny, but he doesn't write as much as Reilly does. I bought a book on golf by Reilly because golf is a sport I want to learn about. I don't expect to learn how to hit a golf ball, but I expect to be entertained and learn about the culture of golf aka LIME GREEN PANTS, PINK CHECKERED SHIRTS, AND ARGYLE SOCKS THAT STICK OUT MORE THAN THIS SENTENCE.
I may have a few clothes that are obnoxious enough for me to bring to the course. I guess anything to distract your opponent is good.
I like reading things by Rick Reilly, and as with anything I like I get almost addicted to it. I need it all the time. At one point I will have read all his books and then I will get really mad that he hasn't written another book.
Hopefully people don't check in on my blog and get really annoyed when I don't have a new post. Sometimes I get busy and I can't write. Sometimes I can't write about things because I'm too close to what I would write about. I know that I hate it when I check on a blog and it hasn't been updated since the last time I checked on it. I try my best though to keep things interesting.
Best gift
The best gift that the Mets have given me this past week is that they aren't on the news enough in Boston for me to find out how they are doing. Now that I am in Stamford I hear about them and I just want to laugh.
Cycling made the news
Three straight cycling posts? Que?
Well if cycling is making the news on ESPN it's for one of three reasons. The least likely of those three is that someone won the Tour de France. The more likely reasons are that a man dressed up as the Burger King mascot ran into a cyclist and causes a crash or it involves performance enhancing drugs.
I'm waiting for the day that we find out Lance Armstrong got some help. It's not a day I look forward to, not a day I hope happens but I just have that feeling that he probably did some funny business to help him win. I like Lance, I think he was one of the best sports stories of the past decade. He's done a lot of good with Livestrong. He's also a Nike athlete which makes me like him even more. (I wonder what would happen to Nike if two of their biggest high profile athletes were involved in scandals with him and Tiger)
Floyd Landis seems to be implicating a lot of people and Lance Armstrong made some comments that didn't particularly convince me that he was innocent. He seemed more defensive then offensive. He didn't come off to me as "No I did not do that." Rather he was saying that Floyd Landis has no credibility.
I think Lance probably did some things to help him. I hope and pray that isn't true, and I've also always maintained that his story is so good that even if it was true I'd hope we would never find out.
You can judge for yourself.
http://sports.espn.go.com/oly/cycling/news/story?id=5204726
Well if cycling is making the news on ESPN it's for one of three reasons. The least likely of those three is that someone won the Tour de France. The more likely reasons are that a man dressed up as the Burger King mascot ran into a cyclist and causes a crash or it involves performance enhancing drugs.
I'm waiting for the day that we find out Lance Armstrong got some help. It's not a day I look forward to, not a day I hope happens but I just have that feeling that he probably did some funny business to help him win. I like Lance, I think he was one of the best sports stories of the past decade. He's done a lot of good with Livestrong. He's also a Nike athlete which makes me like him even more. (I wonder what would happen to Nike if two of their biggest high profile athletes were involved in scandals with him and Tiger)
Floyd Landis seems to be implicating a lot of people and Lance Armstrong made some comments that didn't particularly convince me that he was innocent. He seemed more defensive then offensive. He didn't come off to me as "No I did not do that." Rather he was saying that Floyd Landis has no credibility.
I think Lance probably did some things to help him. I hope and pray that isn't true, and I've also always maintained that his story is so good that even if it was true I'd hope we would never find out.
You can judge for yourself.
http://sports.espn.go.com/oly/cycling/news/story?id=5204726
Going yard three times
UConn Baseball's Mike Olt hit three home runs to help UConn beat Seton Hall yesterday. Olt now has the single season record for most home runs in UConn history.
And a UConn Athletics video not on basketball or football!!!! This is on Mike Olt.
http://www.courant.com/videobeta/?watchId=c228774f-3817-48d0-85b3-bc201e175fd4
And a UConn Athletics video not on basketball or football!!!! This is on Mike Olt.
http://www.courant.com/videobeta/?watchId=c228774f-3817-48d0-85b3-bc201e175fd4
More to the cycling
I knew there was more to what I wanted to write about when it came to cycling yesterday. I loved riding on campus. I never brought by bike to campus much after freshman year. If you knew what I paid for it you'd probably have done the same thing.
Just because I didn't have my bike there didn't mean that I didn't want to have it there. I wanted to have it. I wanted to be able to ride it around but there were a lot of problems for me. You have to blow up the tires in my bike about everyday so it makes little sense to just take it around campus because by the time you set your bike up you could have probably already walked to where you needed to be.
On top of that I would not want to have to lock up my bike. I needed to lock up both my wheels because the wheels can come off the bike pretty easily. (not when you are riding of course) You don't need any tools to get the wheels off.
The weather sucks so often that I wouldn't want to ride my bike in Storrs unless it's September, October, April or May.
The other problem is the fact that I go pretty fast on my bike. When there is a lot of car traffic or people traffic I am constantly on my brakes and that drives me crazy. If it's flat I'm easily going 20mph. Sometimes I can pick it up to 25 or more for bursts when I feel like getting my heart rate up...or moving. When I am on my bike I like to move quickly. I rarely go at a leisurely pace. I almost don't know what that pace is, even though I rode like that with Nanners.
So anyway for numerous reasons I don't usually have my bike on campus, but I always wish that I could have it there. It felt awesome to be able to ride around Hilltop Apartments and ride by Gampel. I rode past my old building for the first time since I left it. There were slightly more cars than I expected, but still not many were there. Campus was pretty desolate which was a good thing since I was cycling. I didn't have to stop every two seconds for people.
Just because I didn't have my bike there didn't mean that I didn't want to have it there. I wanted to have it. I wanted to be able to ride it around but there were a lot of problems for me. You have to blow up the tires in my bike about everyday so it makes little sense to just take it around campus because by the time you set your bike up you could have probably already walked to where you needed to be.
On top of that I would not want to have to lock up my bike. I needed to lock up both my wheels because the wheels can come off the bike pretty easily. (not when you are riding of course) You don't need any tools to get the wheels off.
The weather sucks so often that I wouldn't want to ride my bike in Storrs unless it's September, October, April or May.
The other problem is the fact that I go pretty fast on my bike. When there is a lot of car traffic or people traffic I am constantly on my brakes and that drives me crazy. If it's flat I'm easily going 20mph. Sometimes I can pick it up to 25 or more for bursts when I feel like getting my heart rate up...or moving. When I am on my bike I like to move quickly. I rarely go at a leisurely pace. I almost don't know what that pace is, even though I rode like that with Nanners.
So anyway for numerous reasons I don't usually have my bike on campus, but I always wish that I could have it there. It felt awesome to be able to ride around Hilltop Apartments and ride by Gampel. I rode past my old building for the first time since I left it. There were slightly more cars than I expected, but still not many were there. Campus was pretty desolate which was a good thing since I was cycling. I didn't have to stop every two seconds for people.
Thursday, May 20, 2010
Bike Ride
I went on a bike ride with Nanners today. It was a lot of fun. When I was biking I was sort of actually taking in the scenery. I wasn't just going, I was taking in the scenery and enjoying my company. It was a different way for me to ride my bike. I am so used to riding it for exercise so I usually completely miss out on just having fun, socializing and taking in the scenery.
Nanners is biking across country starting June 5th. Be sure to follow her and support her. Here is a link to her website that you should check out.
http://bikeforbooks.weebly.com/index.html
Nanners is biking across country starting June 5th. Be sure to follow her and support her. Here is a link to her website that you should check out.
http://bikeforbooks.weebly.com/index.html
Guess where I am?
So I am writing to you from the Natatorium right now. Yes I am at UConn now. It's Thursday between 2-3:15 so I expect Dr. Fink's Sports Marketing class to be out at any minute right now. I expect that half the class will ask me what I thought of the lecture and for them to be disappointed to hear that I am actually not in there class. Instead I have a study hall outside their room every time they have class.
It's weird being on campus when school isn't in session. It's so quiet. I actually feel like I am in a time travel machine today. It's so weird when it's so quiet.
So what is going on here? Well not much.
I noticed they are putting new turf on the soccer field.
They also updated Gampel Pavilion and added Tina Charles and Maya Moore to the Player of the Year list. There is only room for three more players of the year on the boards in Gampel now. I'm sure they can make room though. They haven't updated the amount of Final Fours yet for the women.
It's weird being on campus when school isn't in session. It's so quiet. I actually feel like I am in a time travel machine today. It's so weird when it's so quiet.
So what is going on here? Well not much.
I noticed they are putting new turf on the soccer field.
They also updated Gampel Pavilion and added Tina Charles and Maya Moore to the Player of the Year list. There is only room for three more players of the year on the boards in Gampel now. I'm sure they can make room though. They haven't updated the amount of Final Fours yet for the women.
Impossible IS NOTHING
How do you hit an inside the park home run and turn a triple play and have your team lose a baseball game?
You are a New York Met!
Angel Pagan did this yesterday. I can't understand how you can do that and still have your team lose...even if you are a New York Met.
You are a New York Met!
Angel Pagan did this yesterday. I can't understand how you can do that and still have your team lose...even if you are a New York Met.
Wednesday, May 19, 2010
Never looked in the mirror
I've never looked in the mirror to see how I would look dancing but I have a feeling it's probably like the people in the Weber grill commercial.
Good day
I had an eventful but tiring day...Spent three hours in the car...Will do that again tomorrow I guess.
My advice to all Sports Management majors: learn Adobe Photoshop
Also putting together a list of sports management contact information from UConn. I'm including all the information I know. At some point I will distribute it, but then again I don't want to distribute phone numbers if people don't want those distributed.
Anyway, sports is a lot about networking and I think it's useful for me and everyone who I graduated or will graduate with to have this valuable information too. So you can email me if you want a copy of it at some time. I can't fill in all the information though because I don't know everyone.
My advice to all Sports Management majors: learn Adobe Photoshop
Also putting together a list of sports management contact information from UConn. I'm including all the information I know. At some point I will distribute it, but then again I don't want to distribute phone numbers if people don't want those distributed.
Anyway, sports is a lot about networking and I think it's useful for me and everyone who I graduated or will graduate with to have this valuable information too. So you can email me if you want a copy of it at some time. I can't fill in all the information though because I don't know everyone.
The Yankees Should SHUT UP
Ok so I read about how the Yankees are protesting their loss yesterday because Boston reliever Manny Delcarman got extra time to warm up because they claim Josh Beckett was taken out even though he wasn't injured.
Of ALL things to protest this is not one of them. This is by far one of the dumbest reasons I've heard for a protest. Extra Warm Up time has little or no effect on the outcome of the game. The Red Sox won because they scored 6 runs in the last two innings, not because their reliever through too many warm up pitches. This is poor sportsmanship.
BTW, one thing I never said about the game of delays which was more than 10 days ago was that on top of rain delays their were too many pitching changes including two for injured pitchers. As if the game hadn't been long enough already two pitchers came in after the rain delay and got about 5 minutes or more to each warm up. It was awful.
Of ALL things to protest this is not one of them. This is by far one of the dumbest reasons I've heard for a protest. Extra Warm Up time has little or no effect on the outcome of the game. The Red Sox won because they scored 6 runs in the last two innings, not because their reliever through too many warm up pitches. This is poor sportsmanship.
BTW, one thing I never said about the game of delays which was more than 10 days ago was that on top of rain delays their were too many pitching changes including two for injured pitchers. As if the game hadn't been long enough already two pitchers came in after the rain delay and got about 5 minutes or more to each warm up. It was awful.
Tuesday, May 18, 2010
What does Geno Think?
What does Geno think about expansion. I always listen to what he says...
http://www.newjerseynewsroom.com/professional/big-ten-expansion-to-start-game-of-musical-chairs-among-big-time-college-sports-schools
http://www.newjerseynewsroom.com/professional/big-ten-expansion-to-start-game-of-musical-chairs-among-big-time-college-sports-schools
They took down my Uncle's Banner
So basically My Uncle, Rev Michael C Palmer of class of I'd say 1953 (yes he is my uncle...my dad is old and he was the youngest of five) had his name up for being city champion or something like that in either badminton or tennis and I feel like he deserves to be able to be googled.
That might be the best accomplishment athletically on my dad's side of the family. Obviously my cousin beating Michael Phelps in swimming when they were 10 or 11 is the best out of both sides. Brian Medlin can already google himself and find out that he was better than Michael Phelps at swimming once. Apparently this is on film. I'd love to see it, especially so I can validate what I wrote because it seems so hard to believe that my cousin beat Michael Phelps.
My dad actually does own a record for most miles running away from a ball being thrown towards him and also for the most dropped passes. He'd win an ESPY for the Worst throwing motion ever too.
That might be the best accomplishment athletically on my dad's side of the family. Obviously my cousin beating Michael Phelps in swimming when they were 10 or 11 is the best out of both sides. Brian Medlin can already google himself and find out that he was better than Michael Phelps at swimming once. Apparently this is on film. I'd love to see it, especially so I can validate what I wrote because it seems so hard to believe that my cousin beat Michael Phelps.
My dad actually does own a record for most miles running away from a ball being thrown towards him and also for the most dropped passes. He'd win an ESPY for the Worst throwing motion ever too.
I'm amazed
One thing I know about myself is that I talk a lot. I am a talker and I seem to always get the last word.
I am atleast aware that I talk a lot and I always tell my friends to tell me to shut up. I never know when I am really pissing them off and I don't want to drive my friends crazy so I actually encourage them to tell me to shut up.
I am amazed by how few actually tell me to shut up. They must think it, but I wish they would just tell me. I might take it as a compliment.
Yes it would be funny if someone commented on this "Shut Up" but I when I write a blog I am having a one way conversation and you are choosing to read it so it just wouldn't make that much sense for you to write that.
I am atleast aware that I talk a lot and I always tell my friends to tell me to shut up. I never know when I am really pissing them off and I don't want to drive my friends crazy so I actually encourage them to tell me to shut up.
I am amazed by how few actually tell me to shut up. They must think it, but I wish they would just tell me. I might take it as a compliment.
Yes it would be funny if someone commented on this "Shut Up" but I when I write a blog I am having a one way conversation and you are choosing to read it so it just wouldn't make that much sense for you to write that.
In sports
I feel that in sports you don't get paid in money, but paid in clothes. I have more free T-Shirts then I could ever know what to do with. I have them from UConn, Stonehill, Franklin Pierce, The Breakers etc.
I also think you exchange half your college tuition for free t-shirts.
I also think you exchange half your college tuition for free t-shirts.
Sometimes you have great
Sometimes I come up with great facebook status's or great things to talk about.
You can usually blame two things for that, exercising or traffic. I'm around Boston so that means traffic.
Yes, I believe that my course work prepared me to count ticket stubs and cut and paste photos.
You have to have fun when you write about your weekly logs. I know I do. I think my adviser actually enjoys reading them.
Also I feel like I had an epiphany this morning. As much as I miss college I realize that it's over and that I should adjust my attitude and be happy because this is the new world that I will be in. Either I can embrace it or miss the past. The sooner I embrace it the quicker I will forget about the past.
That doesn't mean I'll forget the people. You never forget the people because I believe you learn something from everyone that you ever meet. However, I think I have embraced my new situation. It took sometime, and I'm not completely feeling like myself yet but I think my adjustment process took a huge stride forward today.
You can usually blame two things for that, exercising or traffic. I'm around Boston so that means traffic.
Yes, I believe that my course work prepared me to count ticket stubs and cut and paste photos.
You have to have fun when you write about your weekly logs. I know I do. I think my adviser actually enjoys reading them.
Also I feel like I had an epiphany this morning. As much as I miss college I realize that it's over and that I should adjust my attitude and be happy because this is the new world that I will be in. Either I can embrace it or miss the past. The sooner I embrace it the quicker I will forget about the past.
That doesn't mean I'll forget the people. You never forget the people because I believe you learn something from everyone that you ever meet. However, I think I have embraced my new situation. It took sometime, and I'm not completely feeling like myself yet but I think my adjustment process took a huge stride forward today.
Great first impression
So at work today I met the communications director. She found out that I was from Connecticut. She asked me where and I said "Stamford." Then she asked if I had heard of Madison and said yes, although I'm not totally familiar with it, but I've been through it. She said that her ex-boyfriend was from Madison.
Then I said that I was living in Ashburnham for the summer. She laughed and I asked if she had heard of it. She said "Yeah, I have an ex-boyfriend from there." I of course responded with "You mean there are people in Ashburnham?"
I must have made a great first impression on her. I'm from the places of her two Ex-Boyfriends, Connecticut and Ashburnham.
I will say that Ashburnham is a beautiful place and it's a great place to go and spend time if you own a house on the water, but you need to have your friends with you because there aren't many people there nor many places to go to meet people.
Then I said that I was living in Ashburnham for the summer. She laughed and I asked if she had heard of it. She said "Yeah, I have an ex-boyfriend from there." I of course responded with "You mean there are people in Ashburnham?"
I must have made a great first impression on her. I'm from the places of her two Ex-Boyfriends, Connecticut and Ashburnham.
I will say that Ashburnham is a beautiful place and it's a great place to go and spend time if you own a house on the water, but you need to have your friends with you because there aren't many people there nor many places to go to meet people.
Another thank you
So The Brooks are going to teach me golf at some point this summer. Golf is a sport that I say that I will learn how to play every year and every year it never happens. The same goes for tennis. There are actually courts by my house in Stamford. I could walk to them, it's a tennis club. Always say I will learn and never do, although I did get lessons in both sports when I was in 9th or 10th grade.
In order to prepare for this golf outing I am going to probably go to the driving range this weekend. I'm not going to go in order to lessen the days that it will take me to finish 18...I mean 9...holes. Rather I'm going so I can learn how to hit the ball straight enough to avoid getting sued by people I hit with my "wicked" slice. (I guess two days around Boston has effected my use of wicked)
In order to prepare for this golf outing I am going to probably go to the driving range this weekend. I'm not going to go in order to lessen the days that it will take me to finish 18...I mean 9...holes. Rather I'm going so I can learn how to hit the ball straight enough to avoid getting sued by people I hit with my "wicked" slice. (I guess two days around Boston has effected my use of wicked)
Monday, May 17, 2010
First day
The first day at a new job or internship is always interesting. You meet a lot of new people and you begin to get a feeling for what you will be doing.
Today I counted ticket stubs, saw a map of markets that my team tries to hit. I saw some computer programs used to keep track of sales and customers. I mailed a thing or two too.
I can tell that I will learn a lot from my internship. It will be a learning experience but it will also be really challenging logistically for me because I will be traveling all over the place and going places that I am unfamiliar with. I will learn a lot from this but it will be a challenge for many reasons.
Today I counted ticket stubs, saw a map of markets that my team tries to hit. I saw some computer programs used to keep track of sales and customers. I mailed a thing or two too.
I can tell that I will learn a lot from my internship. It will be a learning experience but it will also be really challenging logistically for me because I will be traveling all over the place and going places that I am unfamiliar with. I will learn a lot from this but it will be a challenge for many reasons.
your not the only one
Well I hope I am not the only one who thinks like this, but if you do at least your not the only one.
I must say graduating college is a very difficult process. Graduation is like a warning track in baseball, once you run through it your going to hit a wall. I think you want to get the day of graduation itself over with, but after a few days of not having college you start to miss it and then you start thinking that not only do you miss it, but you'll never have it again. I think many people swear they won't miss it, but I think deep down they are lying.
The transition is difficult and much more difficult than I had anticipated and I am coming back for graduate school next year.
A friend and I spoke on the phone and we already went through the list of people in our major and the chances of us ever seeing or hearing from them again. "Maybe, No, No, No, Never knew them in the first place, hopefully, I really hope so, maybe, no, no, I'm sure we will."
Now that college is gone I feel like it's easy to feel aimless and without something to anchor you in life.
I feel a bit lost but it's natural. I'm sure you can google for advice if you really need some. I will say for any fellow grads that happen to read this that, if your feeling different, that I'd say it's natural to feel that way. It will get better as you fully adjust to the real world.
I must say graduating college is a very difficult process. Graduation is like a warning track in baseball, once you run through it your going to hit a wall. I think you want to get the day of graduation itself over with, but after a few days of not having college you start to miss it and then you start thinking that not only do you miss it, but you'll never have it again. I think many people swear they won't miss it, but I think deep down they are lying.
The transition is difficult and much more difficult than I had anticipated and I am coming back for graduate school next year.
A friend and I spoke on the phone and we already went through the list of people in our major and the chances of us ever seeing or hearing from them again. "Maybe, No, No, No, Never knew them in the first place, hopefully, I really hope so, maybe, no, no, I'm sure we will."
Now that college is gone I feel like it's easy to feel aimless and without something to anchor you in life.
I feel a bit lost but it's natural. I'm sure you can google for advice if you really need some. I will say for any fellow grads that happen to read this that, if your feeling different, that I'd say it's natural to feel that way. It will get better as you fully adjust to the real world.
Sunday, May 16, 2010
Challenge me
I think just based on logistics that this internship that I have will really be a challenge. I'll be living with another family and having a long commute and may have to face traffic. This will certainly test me and be challenging. I look forward to it.
Special Thanks
Special thanks to the Brooks family for taking care of me and giving me a place to stay while working with the Boston Breakers. I am in Sudbury when I work in Westwood the next day.
I do what?
I wonder if those of you who know me could picture what exactly I am about to tell you. One of the things I like to do while in Ashburnham is to run up Mt. Watatic. It's a small mountain and I can't run all the way up it because it certain places that would be really un-safe.
Anyway there are two things I do. I try to imitate Barry Sanders when I run down the mountain. I try to dodge rocks and have quick feet...No joke. Not sure that it really works but atleast I'm trying.
I also always have my Ipod with me. Sometimes I get really into it and sometimes I just start dancing in the middle of the woods. It's me dancing so it's not anything too complicated, but more dancing then you would be used to seeing from me.
Anyway there are two things I do. I try to imitate Barry Sanders when I run down the mountain. I try to dodge rocks and have quick feet...No joke. Not sure that it really works but atleast I'm trying.
I also always have my Ipod with me. Sometimes I get really into it and sometimes I just start dancing in the middle of the woods. It's me dancing so it's not anything too complicated, but more dancing then you would be used to seeing from me.
Definition of Bored
You know you are bored when you are writing your internship weekly log before you've even started work.
Saturday, May 15, 2010
Interesting things you learn
So I was talking with my mom tonight and I learned that I was never hugged when I was a kid. My dad thought it was bad or something. What interesting things you learn when you grow up. I guess that explains a lot.
I am awaiting the results of the New England Mutiny's first game. Sadly with pink eye I was not able to go and make it. Although I am feeling much much better.
Also, I don't care about the NBA draft at all. However, I got bored and wanted to note to all UConn fans who have hyped up Stanley Robinson and Jerome Dyson (yes I am a UConn fan, but you'd also know that neither of them are my favorites) that Robinson is projected by one website to be a second round pick and Dyson isn't predicted to be picked at all. Have no idea how accurate this person is, but I do think they have a lot of common sense.
Kemba Walker is listed as a late first round pick in 2011 for those interested. That makes sense to me.
I am awaiting the results of the New England Mutiny's first game. Sadly with pink eye I was not able to go and make it. Although I am feeling much much better.
Also, I don't care about the NBA draft at all. However, I got bored and wanted to note to all UConn fans who have hyped up Stanley Robinson and Jerome Dyson (yes I am a UConn fan, but you'd also know that neither of them are my favorites) that Robinson is projected by one website to be a second round pick and Dyson isn't predicted to be picked at all. Have no idea how accurate this person is, but I do think they have a lot of common sense.
Kemba Walker is listed as a late first round pick in 2011 for those interested. That makes sense to me.
Tina Charles
Tina Charles had 17 points and 10 rebounds in her WNBA debut...Double-Double is not bad. She also did that against Sylvia Fowles...
Some posts mean more than others
Facebook wall posts are not something I would usually write about. Most posts are quick and short and not full of much meaning.
Mandy Schwartz left one that was full of a lot of meaning to me. It takes a good post for me to want to write about it.
One of my favorite quotes is by Jackie Robinson "A life is unimportant except for the impact it has on others." I don't know if that's word for word but it's pretty close. It meant a lot to me that somehow I impacted her. I try to have an impact on as many people's lives as I can. I think Coach Auriemma mentioned the importance of something similar to that in his commencement speech.
Mandy Schwartz left one that was full of a lot of meaning to me. It takes a good post for me to want to write about it.
One of my favorite quotes is by Jackie Robinson "A life is unimportant except for the impact it has on others." I don't know if that's word for word but it's pretty close. It meant a lot to me that somehow I impacted her. I try to have an impact on as many people's lives as I can. I think Coach Auriemma mentioned the importance of something similar to that in his commencement speech.
Big Papi
I was very impressed with the home runs David Ortiz hit yesterday. I've been to two Sox games and I've never seen him start. As a matter of fact I've only seen him get one at bat.
I saw him when he was on the Twins once and he went 0-4.
So for some reason David Ortiz doesn't hit well or even play when I am in the stands, but it's good to see him hitting because I really think the Red Sox need another hitter if they want to challenge the Yankees and Rays. I HOPE they over take the Yankees...soon.
I saw him when he was on the Twins once and he went 0-4.
So for some reason David Ortiz doesn't hit well or even play when I am in the stands, but it's good to see him hitting because I really think the Red Sox need another hitter if they want to challenge the Yankees and Rays. I HOPE they over take the Yankees...soon.
Friday, May 14, 2010
I need to get started
So I'm glad I got a vacation for this past week, but now I'm getting tired of it. I need to go do something to get my mind off of uncertainty. I've been sitting around counting sheep. I'm getting bored silly and need some structure to my life again. I miss school!!!
Sports Experiences
When I was a sophomore I think I knew that I wanted to do sports management. At the time I was worried because I had very little experience working in sports. My dad isn't into sports at all and has very little in terms of contacts in the sports industry. On top of that Stamford, a big city, didn't have a lot of options to gain experience or atleast when I was there experience that I wanted. Yes I could have worked in a sporting goods store or at a golf course or tennis courts, but those things never interested me.
I got concerned as a sophomore and I saw the athletic director Mr. Hathaway and I asked him how I could get his job. I had a meeting with him and he sent me in the right direction.
By my sophomore year I had done some things in terms of sports reporting. I had experience with that but nothing else in sports other than that. That year I reported on the Women's Final Four and the UConn Women's last loss and also reported on a football game.
It's actually amazing to look back at all the experiences that I have had now. Most sports management majors have similar experiences to mine. I'm not some amazing person, I do what they do, except unlike them I guess I choose to tell everyone and thats probably because I have a big mouth.
Since I decided that reporting was not for me...(almost for me because I love sports information, but not for me because I don't like asking annoying questions all day) I have had these expierences. Some are short term ones like events and some are long term like internships or jobs.
Short Term ones like events:
2010 NCAA Division II Regional Women's Basketball Tournament
Volunteered for Athletic Operations at a few Softball, Baseball and Track and Field events...maybe five total.
Long Term ones
Job as Gameday assistant in Athletic Marketing (Worked at the XL Center, Gampel and Rent and worked games for each different UConn team that has marketing tables)
Job in Athletic Communications as the Field Hockey Public Announcer
A year as a team manager with women's soccer
Intern at Franklin Pierce University and worked mostly in Sports Information and Compliance
A Husky Sport staff member (Husky Sport is when you spend time with youths in Hartford...it would be relevant if you wanted to work in a community outreach sports organization like NBA cares)
A write this blog...Believe it or not, I do write this partly because I can show people that I write about sports. Not lots of experience but it is better than nothing.
In the near future, or now
I will be an intern with the WPS's Boston Breakers
I should have a position for the next two seasons with women's soccer
I have explored getting experience with the Compliance office at school but will try to do something new and different next summer
Finally I have another internship in two years. My goal is for this internship to be a very different experience for me and one that will open new doors. I will probably look for an internship in a sport such as golf. There would be so much for me to learn and I would expand my network and experience to things beyond soccer and college athletics. I think it's important for me to do that for a multitude of reasons. Don't worry I love women's soccer but it is also good for me to get experience in other things too. Specializing in something is something that I have sort of refused to do. I think it's important to know how it all comes together. Everyone has their strengths and weaknesses but I think it's important to do a lot of different things so that you have more diverse experiences that open more doors.
And on top of that I should have a Masters in Sports Management. If I have all these things and experiences by 23, I should be very happy with myself.
I got concerned as a sophomore and I saw the athletic director Mr. Hathaway and I asked him how I could get his job. I had a meeting with him and he sent me in the right direction.
By my sophomore year I had done some things in terms of sports reporting. I had experience with that but nothing else in sports other than that. That year I reported on the Women's Final Four and the UConn Women's last loss and also reported on a football game.
It's actually amazing to look back at all the experiences that I have had now. Most sports management majors have similar experiences to mine. I'm not some amazing person, I do what they do, except unlike them I guess I choose to tell everyone and thats probably because I have a big mouth.
Since I decided that reporting was not for me...(almost for me because I love sports information, but not for me because I don't like asking annoying questions all day) I have had these expierences. Some are short term ones like events and some are long term like internships or jobs.
Short Term ones like events:
2010 NCAA Division II Regional Women's Basketball Tournament
Volunteered for Athletic Operations at a few Softball, Baseball and Track and Field events...maybe five total.
Long Term ones
Job as Gameday assistant in Athletic Marketing (Worked at the XL Center, Gampel and Rent and worked games for each different UConn team that has marketing tables)
Job in Athletic Communications as the Field Hockey Public Announcer
A year as a team manager with women's soccer
Intern at Franklin Pierce University and worked mostly in Sports Information and Compliance
A Husky Sport staff member (Husky Sport is when you spend time with youths in Hartford...it would be relevant if you wanted to work in a community outreach sports organization like NBA cares)
A write this blog...Believe it or not, I do write this partly because I can show people that I write about sports. Not lots of experience but it is better than nothing.
In the near future, or now
I will be an intern with the WPS's Boston Breakers
I should have a position for the next two seasons with women's soccer
I have explored getting experience with the Compliance office at school but will try to do something new and different next summer
Finally I have another internship in two years. My goal is for this internship to be a very different experience for me and one that will open new doors. I will probably look for an internship in a sport such as golf. There would be so much for me to learn and I would expand my network and experience to things beyond soccer and college athletics. I think it's important for me to do that for a multitude of reasons. Don't worry I love women's soccer but it is also good for me to get experience in other things too. Specializing in something is something that I have sort of refused to do. I think it's important to know how it all comes together. Everyone has their strengths and weaknesses but I think it's important to do a lot of different things so that you have more diverse experiences that open more doors.
And on top of that I should have a Masters in Sports Management. If I have all these things and experiences by 23, I should be very happy with myself.
In less than a week
Between Monday and Friday I read a book. That's probably the quickest I have ever read a book. I am done with Rick Reilly's "Sports From Hell." It was a great read and loved every moment of it.
The last two sports were Jarts, which are darts for the lawn and homeless soccer. The use of Jarts is actually 100% illegal in the U.S. Homeless soccer was inspirational when you find out the positive that came out of homeless people playing in a soccer tournament.
Here is a story about lawn darts by one of the actors from the office. I should probably know his name in the office, but unfortunately I forget. Maybe if he played soccer at UConn in 1980 I'd know exactly who he was. He's the guy who is always with Pam from the office. Anyway his story is basically why jarts are illegal.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AsAEWSl00yk&feature=related
The last two sports were Jarts, which are darts for the lawn and homeless soccer. The use of Jarts is actually 100% illegal in the U.S. Homeless soccer was inspirational when you find out the positive that came out of homeless people playing in a soccer tournament.
Here is a story about lawn darts by one of the actors from the office. I should probably know his name in the office, but unfortunately I forget. Maybe if he played soccer at UConn in 1980 I'd know exactly who he was. He's the guy who is always with Pam from the office. Anyway his story is basically why jarts are illegal.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AsAEWSl00yk&feature=related
The UN-Super Conference
Ok, I'll admit as a college sports fan I am interested in these expansion talks. I've written about scenarios and my thoughts before. I'm however getting tired of fans talking about how rumor has it that BC wants to join the Big East etc. I mean there are so many dumb rumors and so many people also trying to come up with the best sports super conference.
My job is to come up with the most confusing and worst conference that you can imagine.
Seton Hall- Eddie Griffin went there. I think Mo Vaughn and John Valentin did too. I'm trying to think of a sport they are relevant in and I'm completely blanking.
Army- This is awful to say, because I love our armed forces and wish that Army was relevant in sports but they really aren't anymore. It's really sad to be honest but they HAVE to be on this list.
Rice- Wouldn't you know that the first conference I went to to search for bad teams was Conference USA. Rice was last or almost last in every big sport. Their Volleyball was solid. Their baseball is really good. However, their football and basketball was pretty awful.
Washington State- Pretty much the doormats of the Pac-10. 1-11 in Football and 6-12 in conference play in Men's basketball. Last place in their conference in football and men's basketball makes them perfect candidates for my league. 2nd to last in Women's Basketball is just icing on the cake.
Colorado-Remember when they were good at Football? Remember them being good at basketball? Well Actually I don't remember that second part. Going 2-18 in Volleyball (2nd worst) stood out to me.
University of Louisiana Monroe- Football team went 6-6! Not bad! Looks like everything else was. Near the bottom in conference in basketball, baseball and soccer. A Whopping 3-30 in Volleyball
New Orleans- I noticed they were neck and neck with Louisiana Monroe, plus we need a big time rivalry for ESPNU4 to broadcast. Their baseball team is in last place and neither basketball team was above .500. They were decent in Volleyball.
Michigan- Why did you jaw just drop? Dr. Fink is my adviser.
It could certainly get more awful than this but I think an 8 team league is an awful size for a conference and it would take an awfully long time to do any more research on finding the WORST teams because generally its hard to find rankings of the worst programs. Maybe I'll be able to add some more teams to our conference, but lets just leave these to be the original eight.
With 6 football teams in our conference it would be way too small and we couldn't have a conference championship game, which is AWFUL. We wouldn't have an east and a west division either. We'd have an American and National Division. We'd put Seton Hall and Army in different divisions because we think it's best that we make our divisions geographically diverse and as expensive as possible when it comes to traveling. We'd keep New Orleans and ULM together for their big rivalry. That will bring in TV revenue.
The Un-Super Conference doesn't work for a name though. It makes too much sense. How about the Big 3 Conference. (But we will have atleast these 8 teams) If we added another team or four more teams we could sell it as the 3 squared or the three times four conference.
Maybe we'll start a TV network too. Hopefully it can reach the level of the Pack Network. (yes that is a TV network, based from somewhere)
My job is to come up with the most confusing and worst conference that you can imagine.
Seton Hall- Eddie Griffin went there. I think Mo Vaughn and John Valentin did too. I'm trying to think of a sport they are relevant in and I'm completely blanking.
Army- This is awful to say, because I love our armed forces and wish that Army was relevant in sports but they really aren't anymore. It's really sad to be honest but they HAVE to be on this list.
Rice- Wouldn't you know that the first conference I went to to search for bad teams was Conference USA. Rice was last or almost last in every big sport. Their Volleyball was solid. Their baseball is really good. However, their football and basketball was pretty awful.
Washington State- Pretty much the doormats of the Pac-10. 1-11 in Football and 6-12 in conference play in Men's basketball. Last place in their conference in football and men's basketball makes them perfect candidates for my league. 2nd to last in Women's Basketball is just icing on the cake.
Colorado-Remember when they were good at Football? Remember them being good at basketball? Well Actually I don't remember that second part. Going 2-18 in Volleyball (2nd worst) stood out to me.
University of Louisiana Monroe- Football team went 6-6! Not bad! Looks like everything else was. Near the bottom in conference in basketball, baseball and soccer. A Whopping 3-30 in Volleyball
New Orleans- I noticed they were neck and neck with Louisiana Monroe, plus we need a big time rivalry for ESPNU4 to broadcast. Their baseball team is in last place and neither basketball team was above .500. They were decent in Volleyball.
Michigan- Why did you jaw just drop? Dr. Fink is my adviser.
It could certainly get more awful than this but I think an 8 team league is an awful size for a conference and it would take an awfully long time to do any more research on finding the WORST teams because generally its hard to find rankings of the worst programs. Maybe I'll be able to add some more teams to our conference, but lets just leave these to be the original eight.
With 6 football teams in our conference it would be way too small and we couldn't have a conference championship game, which is AWFUL. We wouldn't have an east and a west division either. We'd have an American and National Division. We'd put Seton Hall and Army in different divisions because we think it's best that we make our divisions geographically diverse and as expensive as possible when it comes to traveling. We'd keep New Orleans and ULM together for their big rivalry. That will bring in TV revenue.
The Un-Super Conference doesn't work for a name though. It makes too much sense. How about the Big 3 Conference. (But we will have atleast these 8 teams) If we added another team or four more teams we could sell it as the 3 squared or the three times four conference.
Maybe we'll start a TV network too. Hopefully it can reach the level of the Pack Network. (yes that is a TV network, based from somewhere)
I completely missed this
Well here is a link to watch Marcus Easley on ESPN's First Take. I'm pretty sure he was in my major, but not 100% sure. If he wasn't he took a lot of my classes and had a similar major to mine. I also drove him to Husky Sport several times. I doubt he would remember me but it's cool to say that I drove an NFL player somewhere.
http://espn.go.com/blog/afceast/post/_/id/13342/easley-traveled-unlikely-path-to-buffalo
http://espn.go.com/blog/afceast/post/_/id/13342/easley-traveled-unlikely-path-to-buffalo
The U
So Miami Football has such a bad reputation so I thought I should write about what I heard on ESPN yesterday. No player on the team has been arrested and all of the seniors are on track to graduate.
Stanford
So I got really bored this morning and I haven't slept well with my pink eye. My actually was shut when I woke up and had to work at it to get it to open up. I'll be fine soon enough so don't worry about me.
Anyway Stanford has 35 athletics teams. Wow that's a lot. They have some obscure sports in terms of college athletics like synchronized swimming and fencing. When it came to synchronized swimming and another sport that I forget, Connecticut (Greenwich and New Canaan) was well represented with a few athletes on those rosters.
Anyway Stanford has 35 athletics teams. Wow that's a lot. They have some obscure sports in terms of college athletics like synchronized swimming and fencing. When it came to synchronized swimming and another sport that I forget, Connecticut (Greenwich and New Canaan) was well represented with a few athletes on those rosters.
Thursday, May 13, 2010
Quadruple double?
Wow Lebron James almost went out in style with a quadruple double. Points, Rebounds, Assists and ONE TURNOVER shy of achieving that feet.
I can't stand Anderson Varejao. I know I wrote that last year, probably after a Celtics vs Cavs game. I am a Celtics fan for those of you who don't know. I have always liked Kevin Garnett. Ray Allen went to UConn and I love watching Rajon Rondo, except when Rondo shoots free throws. I think I have the Rondo floater in my arsenal when I play basketball. Except it goes in a lot less often.
Varejao is a whiner and complainer to me. Stop complaining to the referees, stop asking them to blow the whistle because you are bleeding. PLAY DEFENSE.
I thought the end of the game was pathetic. The Cavs didn't seem to care at the end of the game. They showed no urgency, didn't foul and lallygagged across the court. I wonder if their coach lost them.
Lastly I heard that Tony Parker might want to be traded to the Knicks. That's like saying that you want to go to Manitoba for spring break. Why would Tony Parker want to be traded from the Spurs to the Knicks? Why? If he has any brains he'd stay where he is. Good coach, good organization.
I can't stand Anderson Varejao. I know I wrote that last year, probably after a Celtics vs Cavs game. I am a Celtics fan for those of you who don't know. I have always liked Kevin Garnett. Ray Allen went to UConn and I love watching Rajon Rondo, except when Rondo shoots free throws. I think I have the Rondo floater in my arsenal when I play basketball. Except it goes in a lot less often.
Varejao is a whiner and complainer to me. Stop complaining to the referees, stop asking them to blow the whistle because you are bleeding. PLAY DEFENSE.
I thought the end of the game was pathetic. The Cavs didn't seem to care at the end of the game. They showed no urgency, didn't foul and lallygagged across the court. I wonder if their coach lost them.
Lastly I heard that Tony Parker might want to be traded to the Knicks. That's like saying that you want to go to Manitoba for spring break. Why would Tony Parker want to be traded from the Spurs to the Knicks? Why? If he has any brains he'd stay where he is. Good coach, good organization.
Maybe I will write
So it looks like I might be coming down with Pink Eye. I am pretty sure I have it so I doubt I will be at the game tomorrow so I will most likely write something.
First day
So tomorrow is my first day working with the Boston Breakers. Should be fun, should also be a long day, which is ok. I will not be writing anything tomorrow. Atleast I doubt that I will write anything tomorrow.
One thing that I think is crucial is for people to keep bumping into each other and to make an effort to see how they are doing. Yesterday I went to Franklin Pierce and just stopped by and briefly saw the Athletic Director, baseball coach, director of compliance, and sports information people. I thought it was important just to pop in and remind them that I am alive and well.
I would always visit my teachers during office hours, probably too much. But again it's better to see them more often then too little.
I think when I was 7 or 8 I talked football with a Raiders fan named CB who worked at our old family business. Even though no one in my family has anything to do with the business anymore I always make a point to stop by the shop and see CB whenever I am in Stamford for a few days.
I'd always stop by and say good bye to Patti B before I left for the year. Same goes for pretty much everyone else in athletics. They probably see me too much, but again it's better than never. Just walking around and seeing people has definitely helped me get my foot in the door.
One thing that I think is crucial is for people to keep bumping into each other and to make an effort to see how they are doing. Yesterday I went to Franklin Pierce and just stopped by and briefly saw the Athletic Director, baseball coach, director of compliance, and sports information people. I thought it was important just to pop in and remind them that I am alive and well.
I would always visit my teachers during office hours, probably too much. But again it's better to see them more often then too little.
I think when I was 7 or 8 I talked football with a Raiders fan named CB who worked at our old family business. Even though no one in my family has anything to do with the business anymore I always make a point to stop by the shop and see CB whenever I am in Stamford for a few days.
I'd always stop by and say good bye to Patti B before I left for the year. Same goes for pretty much everyone else in athletics. They probably see me too much, but again it's better than never. Just walking around and seeing people has definitely helped me get my foot in the door.
And two more chapters
So since I graduated college, ok well walked in my graduation ceremony, I've read 176 pages of Rick Reilly's book "Sports From Hell." It's a great read and EXTREMELY funny. Too funny for me to write most of the lines here.
I have to say that reading 176 pages of a book right after finals is like trying to eat food when you are sick and can't keep it down.
The next two dumbest sports in the book were baseball and nude bicycle riding. I've done 1.5 of those sports. Baseball I played and I do ride my bike a lot but NEVER NUDE. I also have no plans on ever doing that.
The baseball chapter is for anyone who hates baseball. This chapter would be your study guide for any argument over what you think about baseball.
There is nothing to say about the other chapter. Pun intended.
I have to say that reading 176 pages of a book right after finals is like trying to eat food when you are sick and can't keep it down.
The next two dumbest sports in the book were baseball and nude bicycle riding. I've done 1.5 of those sports. Baseball I played and I do ride my bike a lot but NEVER NUDE. I also have no plans on ever doing that.
The baseball chapter is for anyone who hates baseball. This chapter would be your study guide for any argument over what you think about baseball.
There is nothing to say about the other chapter. Pun intended.
Next chapter
So I read about drinking games at 7:30 am on a Thursday. I actually was up at 5:30.
I've heard of a couple of the games in the book, although I've never played any of them. The first part of the chapter talked a lot about throwing up, which is something I'm really not interested in doing at all. I only drink a little bit to relax. I don't chug to see what it's like to be Joe Namath with Suzy Kolber on Sunday Night Football.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HQqIQyT-RuM
By the way I saw that live while watching the game with my mom.
Me: Mom, he's drunk right?
Mom: He's just a little happy
Then I read about zorbing which actually looks sort of fun. You are put into a inflatable ball and are sent down a hill. So basically you are thrown around in this inflatable ball.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SBezSbvi9Pc
I've heard of a couple of the games in the book, although I've never played any of them. The first part of the chapter talked a lot about throwing up, which is something I'm really not interested in doing at all. I only drink a little bit to relax. I don't chug to see what it's like to be Joe Namath with Suzy Kolber on Sunday Night Football.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HQqIQyT-RuM
By the way I saw that live while watching the game with my mom.
Me: Mom, he's drunk right?
Mom: He's just a little happy
Then I read about zorbing which actually looks sort of fun. You are put into a inflatable ball and are sent down a hill. So basically you are thrown around in this inflatable ball.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SBezSbvi9Pc
Rain Delay
So at the Yankees Red Sox game there was an hour and fifteen minute rain delay. I think that is the longest rain delay that I have ever been through. Maybe the only one I have been through although I do remember sitting in the upper deck of Shea Stadium for a Mets vs Braves game and had the wind blowing rain off the roof and onto our backs. Quite an experience. The Mets also lost. Well worth the trip! Sort of like that time I went to a Mets vs Mariners doubleheader at Shea and the Mets lost a combined 20-1. Also AWESOME!
Sitting at a ball park with a rain delay can be brutal because you have no idea what the heck is going on. On TV you can switch channels and come back to check the weather radar and status of the game. At the ballpark you can't do that. You text people you hope and pray are watching the game for updates.
You get no information when sitting in the seats and my uncle had an interesting explanation as to why fans never hear about what is going on. He thought that it was so the fans would go to the concessions and buy the food that was cooked for the game. You wouldn't want to tell the fans that the game is postponed if you have already prepared a lot of food to be sold. You wait to tell fans until the last possible second so you encourage people to buy things before they leave. Interesting theory, and I wonder if there is any truth to it.
Sitting at a ball park with a rain delay can be brutal because you have no idea what the heck is going on. On TV you can switch channels and come back to check the weather radar and status of the game. At the ballpark you can't do that. You text people you hope and pray are watching the game for updates.
You get no information when sitting in the seats and my uncle had an interesting explanation as to why fans never hear about what is going on. He thought that it was so the fans would go to the concessions and buy the food that was cooked for the game. You wouldn't want to tell the fans that the game is postponed if you have already prepared a lot of food to be sold. You wait to tell fans until the last possible second so you encourage people to buy things before they leave. Interesting theory, and I wonder if there is any truth to it.
Wednesday, May 12, 2010
Next was
Next dumb sport was chess boxing. I read that tonight for a couple reasons. Actually mostly because I want to read about drinking games which is the next chapter. I'm not really much of a drinker but I am curious to read about research about how drinking games are sports.
Chess boxing is what it sounds like. It combines the sport of boxing with chess. You alternate and play each until someone wins or is knocked out.
Chess boxing is what it sounds like. It combines the sport of boxing with chess. You alternate and play each until someone wins or is knocked out.
Every once in a while
Every once in a while I come up with a good one that I have to share or write to make people think that I am actually funny.
So I've been contacting and checking in and calling friends and my allergies have made me sound just like a 75 year old women with a smokers cough who sits and plays slots at Mohegan all year long.
The great thing for anyone who reads this is that when I am in Ashburnham I can do some quality writing. The reason why is that I have absolutely nothing better or else to do. I've been here for three days and was excited to take a 25 minute trip to the grocery store. WHAT A LIFE! Granted May and June can be slow here, in July and August too much will be going on. I'll have lots of family here which is nice for a lot of reasons and I won't say anything else.
I mean you also want peace and quiet too right?
The other eventful part of the day, I almost got into a car accident. This is actually sort of funny because I almost got into one on the Mass Pike on the way to the Yankees Red Sox game too. (surprised that never happened considering what else went wrong on that day..although in the end I had lots of fun) All of a sudden traffic went to a dead stop. It really wasn't that close but I did have to slam on the brakes. My friend in the passenger's seat then asked "So have you ever gotten into an accident before?"
The answer is no, but thought it was funny that it was asked.
For Husky Sport I once drove Kemba Walker and Donnell Beverly in the middle of the basketball season. I was always afraid to drive them because I knew that if I got into an accident that I would be DEAD MEAT. I would be one of the most hated people in Storrs. I bet some people would also think that I did it on purpose because I like the Women's program better than the Men's. (I would think that's common knowledge about me by now) AND NO I'd never get into an accident for any reason on purpose.
Anyway I live on a one lane dirt road, with basically no traffic unless someone comes in the opposite direction, then you move to the side of the road and out of their way so they can get by. It's almost impossible to get into an accident here. You have to try to get into one. Someone tried to get into one with me today. I am two feet from these people, literally and they start turning into me while they are on their cell phone. KEEP IN MIND I WAS GOING 15 MPH and nothing was obstructing the view of the driver. They were on their phone and almost turned into me. This is amazing in itself because I HAVE ALMOST NO CELL SERVICE HERE. My battery dies almost everyday while trying to search for a signal.
In Ashburnham I start calling friends and because I talk so much I end up talking to myself for two minutes because I can't tell that I had a dropped call. I start thinking to myself "jeez I haven't even gotten an amen to what I was preaching." Then I check and notice that no one is on the other end any more. Even my text messages don't always go through. HOW COULD ANYONE ALMOST GET INTO AN ACCIDENT WHILE TALKING ON THEIR PHONE ON MY STREET!?!?!?!?!
Had to write about that. Hopefully it was atleast entertaining even though it has nothing to do with sports. You would think that if I have over 1,000 posts that I might have learned how to write a half way decent story.
I could probably tie it in to NASCAR for you, but somehow I doubt that most people that read this are interested in NASCAR. Well if you can read your not interested in NASCAR.
Just Kidding on that last one.
So I've been contacting and checking in and calling friends and my allergies have made me sound just like a 75 year old women with a smokers cough who sits and plays slots at Mohegan all year long.
The great thing for anyone who reads this is that when I am in Ashburnham I can do some quality writing. The reason why is that I have absolutely nothing better or else to do. I've been here for three days and was excited to take a 25 minute trip to the grocery store. WHAT A LIFE! Granted May and June can be slow here, in July and August too much will be going on. I'll have lots of family here which is nice for a lot of reasons and I won't say anything else.
I mean you also want peace and quiet too right?
The other eventful part of the day, I almost got into a car accident. This is actually sort of funny because I almost got into one on the Mass Pike on the way to the Yankees Red Sox game too. (surprised that never happened considering what else went wrong on that day..although in the end I had lots of fun) All of a sudden traffic went to a dead stop. It really wasn't that close but I did have to slam on the brakes. My friend in the passenger's seat then asked "So have you ever gotten into an accident before?"
The answer is no, but thought it was funny that it was asked.
For Husky Sport I once drove Kemba Walker and Donnell Beverly in the middle of the basketball season. I was always afraid to drive them because I knew that if I got into an accident that I would be DEAD MEAT. I would be one of the most hated people in Storrs. I bet some people would also think that I did it on purpose because I like the Women's program better than the Men's. (I would think that's common knowledge about me by now) AND NO I'd never get into an accident for any reason on purpose.
Anyway I live on a one lane dirt road, with basically no traffic unless someone comes in the opposite direction, then you move to the side of the road and out of their way so they can get by. It's almost impossible to get into an accident here. You have to try to get into one. Someone tried to get into one with me today. I am two feet from these people, literally and they start turning into me while they are on their cell phone. KEEP IN MIND I WAS GOING 15 MPH and nothing was obstructing the view of the driver. They were on their phone and almost turned into me. This is amazing in itself because I HAVE ALMOST NO CELL SERVICE HERE. My battery dies almost everyday while trying to search for a signal.
In Ashburnham I start calling friends and because I talk so much I end up talking to myself for two minutes because I can't tell that I had a dropped call. I start thinking to myself "jeez I haven't even gotten an amen to what I was preaching." Then I check and notice that no one is on the other end any more. Even my text messages don't always go through. HOW COULD ANYONE ALMOST GET INTO AN ACCIDENT WHILE TALKING ON THEIR PHONE ON MY STREET!?!?!?!?!
Had to write about that. Hopefully it was atleast entertaining even though it has nothing to do with sports. You would think that if I have over 1,000 posts that I might have learned how to write a half way decent story.
I could probably tie it in to NASCAR for you, but somehow I doubt that most people that read this are interested in NASCAR. Well if you can read your not interested in NASCAR.
Just Kidding on that last one.
Your tickets are overpriced
So I got bored and started looking for Yankees Red Sox tickets because in my mind I have to go to another game between these teams. I don't want my only memory of Yankees vs Red Sox to be a Yankees win.
I started looking for tickets, expecting for it to be a sellout. It wasn't, tickets were available on yankees.com. I got really excited and even more excited when I saw them hold tickets for me to attempt to purchase. I looked for best available and I got tickets almost behind home plate. I got really excited until I saw a price of $300 before you include the fees. Add in food and transportation and it's about $400.
Now the other trick is finding someone else that you would want to spend $400 on or would be willing to spend $400 for a game so that you don't go by yourself. If I just go by myself it would be pretty boring and pointless. I don't want to get stuck next to some chatterbox that I don't know for three hours. (Which means a lot of people don't want to sit next to me...although I usually don't become a chatterbox with a complete stranger)
Who would go to a baseball game by themselves? I would under very rare circumstances, like a UConn baseball game. Never a pro game though, unless it's the world series.
So anyway if you have tickets remaining that are really close to the field and are unsold for your biggest rivalry than your tickets cost too much. Cut the price in half and I'd certainly buy.
Send the Yankees a link to this with hopes they can cut a deal with me!
I started looking for tickets, expecting for it to be a sellout. It wasn't, tickets were available on yankees.com. I got really excited and even more excited when I saw them hold tickets for me to attempt to purchase. I looked for best available and I got tickets almost behind home plate. I got really excited until I saw a price of $300 before you include the fees. Add in food and transportation and it's about $400.
Now the other trick is finding someone else that you would want to spend $400 on or would be willing to spend $400 for a game so that you don't go by yourself. If I just go by myself it would be pretty boring and pointless. I don't want to get stuck next to some chatterbox that I don't know for three hours. (Which means a lot of people don't want to sit next to me...although I usually don't become a chatterbox with a complete stranger)
Who would go to a baseball game by themselves? I would under very rare circumstances, like a UConn baseball game. Never a pro game though, unless it's the world series.
So anyway if you have tickets remaining that are really close to the field and are unsold for your biggest rivalry than your tickets cost too much. Cut the price in half and I'd certainly buy.
Send the Yankees a link to this with hopes they can cut a deal with me!
The next two chapters
I read about rock, paper, scissors and there isn't too much to talk about from that. It was a funny chapter and you learn that in this "sport" you can get nicknames like the "tax cut" by the pattern of choices you make with your selection.
The next chapter, well quite frankly you can read for yourself because the stuff in their is stuff I can't write about. Funny, but can't write about. You will have to buy the book because I will not even tell you what the name of the chapter is.
The next chapter, well quite frankly you can read for yourself because the stuff in their is stuff I can't write about. Funny, but can't write about. You will have to buy the book because I will not even tell you what the name of the chapter is.
Research with nothing to do with sports
So I was just fooling around on Wikipedia discovering interesting things about the world and my neighborhood of North Stamford. I stumbled upon this, which is a writing on a headstone in North Stamford on wikipedia.
Oren S. Palmer, 1865, age 1:
Two more little hands
Close folded on the breast
One more little form
Is gently laid to rest.
I'm very curious to find out if there is a relation to me. I think that there might be because Oren was a name that was in my family...I believe it was my great great grandfathers name. I guess it would make sense for that name to have been used again had another "Oren" died young. It also said it was found across the street from a Methodist church and if you went through my family history my great grandpa was a Methodist who was an only child who was completely disowned from the family farm around the Greenwich and Stamford border because he fell in love with a catholic. (Sounds like a decision I might do if I really wanted something or someone badly) Anyway you never know what you might research and find out while on the internet.
Oren S. Palmer, 1865, age 1:
Two more little hands
Close folded on the breast
One more little form
Is gently laid to rest.
I'm very curious to find out if there is a relation to me. I think that there might be because Oren was a name that was in my family...I believe it was my great great grandfathers name. I guess it would make sense for that name to have been used again had another "Oren" died young. It also said it was found across the street from a Methodist church and if you went through my family history my great grandpa was a Methodist who was an only child who was completely disowned from the family farm around the Greenwich and Stamford border because he fell in love with a catholic. (Sounds like a decision I might do if I really wanted something or someone badly) Anyway you never know what you might research and find out while on the internet.
President Hogan
I actually was just about to write about President Hogan because he threw out the first pitch at a UConn Baseball game a couple of weeks ago. I thought it was cool that our baseball team had gotten to the point where we could have a ceremonial first pitch.
I just graduated so my friends who just graduated might be wondering why I care about a new president...well I am coming back for grad school.
I hope the next President is like President Hogan because Hogan made it a habit to be visible and to interact with students. I liked him for that simple reason. He also supported all of our athletic teams and seemed genuinely interested in making the school better. I am sad to see him leave. He had become a fixture at the University.
I just graduated so my friends who just graduated might be wondering why I care about a new president...well I am coming back for grad school.
I hope the next President is like President Hogan because Hogan made it a habit to be visible and to interact with students. I liked him for that simple reason. He also supported all of our athletic teams and seemed genuinely interested in making the school better. I am sad to see him leave. He had become a fixture at the University.
Tuesday, May 11, 2010
Expansion
So according to ESPN four schools would be contacted about Big Ten expansion, Missouri, Nebraska, Notre Dame and Rutgers. I don't really care about the first two schools, but the last two are worth talking about.
Do I think Notre Dame would join the Big Ten? No not really because I think they like being an independent. Although if other teams leave to join the Big Ten like Missouri and Nebraska they might want to take a second look at it. I think if Notre Dame can still play USC and Boston College and a few other rivals that it would make sense for them.
If they leave the Big East in all sports than the Big East would have a real problem. Notre Dame does add a lot to the conference in sports such as Women's Basketball and Women's Soccer. As a matter of fact I'd say that if the Big East lost Notre Dame that Women's Soccer as a whole in the conference would lose a lot of prestige. If Notre Dame and Rutgers left UConn Women's Basketball would be without a rival. The strength of UConn however does not damage the reputation of the Big East in Women's Basketball. Men's Basketball would be relatively unaffected by the move. If Notre Dame loses than every Big East Women's Soccer school would push for Central Florida to be added to the conference. On top of that Central Florida football is decent and would do better by being in Big East Football. Central Florida would add a natural rival for South Florida too.
Rutgers leaving hurts Women's Basketball and Football. Once again if just Rutgers were to leave the first school I'd try to add would be Central Florida. If Notre Dame left too than Memphis or East Carolina would make sense. Memphis makes the most sense because it could become a natural rival of Louisville. It would also possibly add something in terms of Men's Basketball.
Do I think Notre Dame would join the Big Ten? No not really because I think they like being an independent. Although if other teams leave to join the Big Ten like Missouri and Nebraska they might want to take a second look at it. I think if Notre Dame can still play USC and Boston College and a few other rivals that it would make sense for them.
If they leave the Big East in all sports than the Big East would have a real problem. Notre Dame does add a lot to the conference in sports such as Women's Basketball and Women's Soccer. As a matter of fact I'd say that if the Big East lost Notre Dame that Women's Soccer as a whole in the conference would lose a lot of prestige. If Notre Dame and Rutgers left UConn Women's Basketball would be without a rival. The strength of UConn however does not damage the reputation of the Big East in Women's Basketball. Men's Basketball would be relatively unaffected by the move. If Notre Dame loses than every Big East Women's Soccer school would push for Central Florida to be added to the conference. On top of that Central Florida football is decent and would do better by being in Big East Football. Central Florida would add a natural rival for South Florida too.
Rutgers leaving hurts Women's Basketball and Football. Once again if just Rutgers were to leave the first school I'd try to add would be Central Florida. If Notre Dame left too than Memphis or East Carolina would make sense. Memphis makes the most sense because it could become a natural rival of Louisville. It would also possibly add something in terms of Men's Basketball.
Facilties
So I should have written about this a long time ago but I forgot too, or atleast I think I forgot too so I will talk about it now.
For my Sport Event and Facilities Management class we had a women from the Arena at Harbor Yard in Bridgeport come in and speak with us. She talked about a few things that you wouldn't expect an arena to host, but has the ability to host. When you own an arena you want it operating and generating revenue, no matter how possible. This might mean for example that an arena plays host to a band or performers rehearsals. For all you know Jay-Z or Kenny Chesney could be singing in an arena by you without anyone knowing. It could be a show for an empty arena. Arena's can also become movie production sets. Some movies can rent out an arena for a couple days to shoot a scene or two. Even with all the cost involved there is no guarantee that those parts will make it in.
Rentschler field was also an interesting tour that we went on. We got to see the holding cells for unruly fans. Usually the worst fans at Rentschler field are the kids who are just out of college, AKA me, and people who have had a few too many drinks. In order to combat any bad fan behavior Rentschler has security cameras at different locations around the stadium that are monitored downstairs. They can zoom in to a specific person. If you are acting stupidly chances are good it will be captured and people will be able to tell that it is you.
I thought it was interesting how Rentschler also has to deal with weeds and crab grass. They start to take out those bad patches of grass and plant seeds in the spring.
Rentschler does has room for more seats as many people have speculated on. Most people know this. I think they can add to somewhere in the neighborhood of 10,000 more seats. They can add opposite of the Press Box and opposite of the scoreboard. The scoreboard is supposedly going to remain an open end.
Also Rentschler allows some people who are needy or trying to raise money to collect cans in the parking lot the morning after games. I think they said one person was able to buy a car after the season was over but I could be wrong on that.
For my Sport Event and Facilities Management class we had a women from the Arena at Harbor Yard in Bridgeport come in and speak with us. She talked about a few things that you wouldn't expect an arena to host, but has the ability to host. When you own an arena you want it operating and generating revenue, no matter how possible. This might mean for example that an arena plays host to a band or performers rehearsals. For all you know Jay-Z or Kenny Chesney could be singing in an arena by you without anyone knowing. It could be a show for an empty arena. Arena's can also become movie production sets. Some movies can rent out an arena for a couple days to shoot a scene or two. Even with all the cost involved there is no guarantee that those parts will make it in.
Rentschler field was also an interesting tour that we went on. We got to see the holding cells for unruly fans. Usually the worst fans at Rentschler field are the kids who are just out of college, AKA me, and people who have had a few too many drinks. In order to combat any bad fan behavior Rentschler has security cameras at different locations around the stadium that are monitored downstairs. They can zoom in to a specific person. If you are acting stupidly chances are good it will be captured and people will be able to tell that it is you.
I thought it was interesting how Rentschler also has to deal with weeds and crab grass. They start to take out those bad patches of grass and plant seeds in the spring.
Rentschler does has room for more seats as many people have speculated on. Most people know this. I think they can add to somewhere in the neighborhood of 10,000 more seats. They can add opposite of the Press Box and opposite of the scoreboard. The scoreboard is supposedly going to remain an open end.
Also Rentschler allows some people who are needy or trying to raise money to collect cans in the parking lot the morning after games. I think they said one person was able to buy a car after the season was over but I could be wrong on that.
Three Mile Golf
So chapter four of Rick Reilly's book is on a Three Mile Golf hole. You start by hitting a ball off of a mountain and then three miles to a hole that is big enough to justify having to hit it three miles. To be fair the hole is big enough that even I would feel confident enough to make one out of two chip shots in. Trust me, that is saying a lot.
http://sports.yahoo.com/golf/blog/devil_ball_golf/post/The-world-s-toughest-golf-tourney-one-hole-thr?urn=golf,167776
You have to go to New Mexico to do this. It's brutally hot as you might be able to imagine.
If I played I'd probably end up in Texas or Louisiana. That is how bad my slice is. I have no idea how to rate my golf game. I hit the ball with a driver as far and as straight as I can. 1 of 4 shots probably goes sort of straight. I remember going to a driving range in New Hampshire. I actually sliced the ball over the netting on the side of the range. I never was quite able to hit the car in the middle of the range, but I tried valiantly. I'm probably ok at putting. I did win a putting contest in study hall in high school. My teacher brought in a carpet and putter and I took one shot and made it. The kid on the golf team didn't do as well. I was proud and not dumb enough to try and prove I could do it again...although I probably could have.
I've had golf lessons before. I probably forgot about those lessons as quickly as I forgot about chemistry. We did chipping and that's all I remember doing to be honest. I don't remember learning how to hit the ball straight.
One time I played golf at Steele Hill in New Hampshire. I remember playing on the first hole and trying to hit the ball over the trees and ended up either hitting the tree or landing in the water. Not sure which. Then on the next hole I had an unbelieveably straight shot that may have gone just short or just beyond the green. Either way I was thrilled I didn't hit the ball just two feet in front of me or sliced it into the woods.
The Steele Hill course was muddy, very muddy. My khaki's changed colors and my feet seemed to sink in to the ground. I wouldn't call this a real golf course. It was nine holes to be fair. I remember hating the greens at Steele Hill. I thought they were awful. Maybe it's because I was used to putting at Pirates Cove Miniature golf course. I was prepared to hit the ball off of the wood and into the hole but not prepared to hit the ball with hills on the green.
The third hole was next. Now I have to admit I hate losing a ball, whether it's a baseball, tennis ball, golf ball or soccer ball. I go crazy trying to find them. I hate losing things and don't want to have to pay to replace golf balls. So I hit three, four, five, ten shots maybe straight into a swampy area and spent probably 20 minutes trying to find them. Those shots were ground balls. Literally ground balls. I was getting frustrated, but then I whacked the ball. I was so proud of myself. It looked like it was going to be really good for me. It looked like it was either going to be on the green or just off of the green. I saw the ball and got excited, it kept going and going. I then was like, "ok ball sit down now, sit down, get down!" The ball kept going and going and going and going. It landed over the stone wall and either bounced on the street and into tennis courts or bounced into the tennis courts and then went somewhere else.
That was enough for that day.
The fourth hole at the golf course was a hole I would never play. It was way to close to cars and buildings. My lack of control would have been bad. Although with my slice I probably would have landed in the woods. I would have had to have had aimed ninety degrees to the left of the hole for the ball to have had a chance to strike a car or window or actually land on the green.
On another hole, maybe the sixth or seventh I once hit an amazing shot. It was actually during some sort of resort partner competition. Everyone seemed to be trying to go around the trees that were in the middle of the fairway. I decided that I'd be a maverick because I decided, what the heck, I'll hit the ball over the trees. Plus I figured I had nothing to lose. The person I played with wasn't relying on me to make a shot to win. I hit the ball perfectly straight and far. It went over the trees and landed on the other side. It was so perfect I thought for sure I might have gotten a hole in one. I didn't, and my partner actually said that he thought my ball got stuck in the tree so we used his shot. Whatever, I know my shot was the one that actually went over the trees. Plus I'm the story teller so the story will go how I want it to go. I am confident that I really did have the best shot on the hole. If my mom remembers she'd back me up.
http://sports.yahoo.com/golf/blog/devil_ball_golf/post/The-world-s-toughest-golf-tourney-one-hole-thr?urn=golf,167776
You have to go to New Mexico to do this. It's brutally hot as you might be able to imagine.
If I played I'd probably end up in Texas or Louisiana. That is how bad my slice is. I have no idea how to rate my golf game. I hit the ball with a driver as far and as straight as I can. 1 of 4 shots probably goes sort of straight. I remember going to a driving range in New Hampshire. I actually sliced the ball over the netting on the side of the range. I never was quite able to hit the car in the middle of the range, but I tried valiantly. I'm probably ok at putting. I did win a putting contest in study hall in high school. My teacher brought in a carpet and putter and I took one shot and made it. The kid on the golf team didn't do as well. I was proud and not dumb enough to try and prove I could do it again...although I probably could have.
I've had golf lessons before. I probably forgot about those lessons as quickly as I forgot about chemistry. We did chipping and that's all I remember doing to be honest. I don't remember learning how to hit the ball straight.
One time I played golf at Steele Hill in New Hampshire. I remember playing on the first hole and trying to hit the ball over the trees and ended up either hitting the tree or landing in the water. Not sure which. Then on the next hole I had an unbelieveably straight shot that may have gone just short or just beyond the green. Either way I was thrilled I didn't hit the ball just two feet in front of me or sliced it into the woods.
The Steele Hill course was muddy, very muddy. My khaki's changed colors and my feet seemed to sink in to the ground. I wouldn't call this a real golf course. It was nine holes to be fair. I remember hating the greens at Steele Hill. I thought they were awful. Maybe it's because I was used to putting at Pirates Cove Miniature golf course. I was prepared to hit the ball off of the wood and into the hole but not prepared to hit the ball with hills on the green.
The third hole was next. Now I have to admit I hate losing a ball, whether it's a baseball, tennis ball, golf ball or soccer ball. I go crazy trying to find them. I hate losing things and don't want to have to pay to replace golf balls. So I hit three, four, five, ten shots maybe straight into a swampy area and spent probably 20 minutes trying to find them. Those shots were ground balls. Literally ground balls. I was getting frustrated, but then I whacked the ball. I was so proud of myself. It looked like it was going to be really good for me. It looked like it was either going to be on the green or just off of the green. I saw the ball and got excited, it kept going and going. I then was like, "ok ball sit down now, sit down, get down!" The ball kept going and going and going and going. It landed over the stone wall and either bounced on the street and into tennis courts or bounced into the tennis courts and then went somewhere else.
That was enough for that day.
The fourth hole at the golf course was a hole I would never play. It was way to close to cars and buildings. My lack of control would have been bad. Although with my slice I probably would have landed in the woods. I would have had to have had aimed ninety degrees to the left of the hole for the ball to have had a chance to strike a car or window or actually land on the green.
On another hole, maybe the sixth or seventh I once hit an amazing shot. It was actually during some sort of resort partner competition. Everyone seemed to be trying to go around the trees that were in the middle of the fairway. I decided that I'd be a maverick because I decided, what the heck, I'll hit the ball over the trees. Plus I figured I had nothing to lose. The person I played with wasn't relying on me to make a shot to win. I hit the ball perfectly straight and far. It went over the trees and landed on the other side. It was so perfect I thought for sure I might have gotten a hole in one. I didn't, and my partner actually said that he thought my ball got stuck in the tree so we used his shot. Whatever, I know my shot was the one that actually went over the trees. Plus I'm the story teller so the story will go how I want it to go. I am confident that I really did have the best shot on the hole. If my mom remembers she'd back me up.
This is even dumber
Here is a sport that makes sauna championships and ferret legging look, well, normal.
In Sports Law we learned a lot about negligence, care for spectators, or invitees. We learned about waivers and all sorts of other things to keep you protected legally.
I love how the woman basically said that when it comes to Bull Poker, when you sit at a card table and wait for a bull to charge at you, that she thought it must be safe if they let spectators participate in it.
How about A. the people who run the event are stupid B. The people who run the event are lawyers who need business C. The people who run the event never took sports law with Dr. Fink.
Here is a video of Bull Poker...also warning it gets disgusting after you see the bull charge the table..after that you might want to turn it off
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fHjXhOj-GFs&feature=related
Sadly I can't figure out who won either.
In Sports Law we learned a lot about negligence, care for spectators, or invitees. We learned about waivers and all sorts of other things to keep you protected legally.
I love how the woman basically said that when it comes to Bull Poker, when you sit at a card table and wait for a bull to charge at you, that she thought it must be safe if they let spectators participate in it.
How about A. the people who run the event are stupid B. The people who run the event are lawyers who need business C. The people who run the event never took sports law with Dr. Fink.
Here is a video of Bull Poker...also warning it gets disgusting after you see the bull charge the table..after that you might want to turn it off
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fHjXhOj-GFs&feature=related
Sadly I can't figure out who won either.
Monday, May 10, 2010
I want to write a book
I'm searching for ideas to write a book on.
I have an idea of writing about all the different types of athletes that I have met in my life.
I'd also be happy to write about my experiences in Women's Soccer. The first one is interesting to me right now.
I have an idea of writing about all the different types of athletes that I have met in my life.
I'd also be happy to write about my experiences in Women's Soccer. The first one is interesting to me right now.
Sports from hell videos
Here is Ferret Legging
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KPQ6TuvqX7w&feature=related
World Sauna Championships...This is bizarre..reading about it was bizarre, watching this and how much they care about it is even more bizarre. I will warn you that these videos contain finnish men in bathing suits. It's as some people might say "unfortunate looking"
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=X89ewiVCQCY
The competitors are being introduced to "Eye of the Tiger"
http://www.youtube.com/user/SaunaHeinola#p/u/1/pZxYkEKM3hE
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KPQ6TuvqX7w&feature=related
World Sauna Championships...This is bizarre..reading about it was bizarre, watching this and how much they care about it is even more bizarre. I will warn you that these videos contain finnish men in bathing suits. It's as some people might say "unfortunate looking"
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=X89ewiVCQCY
The competitors are being introduced to "Eye of the Tiger"
http://www.youtube.com/user/SaunaHeinola#p/u/1/pZxYkEKM3hE
Knew it would be good
I like to be careful with my money. I try not to spend money on things that I won't like so I will usually thoroughly inspect whatever I am buying to make sure its good. I usually consult more people than the board of education does when deciding on history curriculum when it comes to buying things.
I guess the title, "Sports From Hell, My Search For The World's DUMBEST COMPETITION" really tickled my fancy. I bought the book without even reading part of it. It was like an arranged marriage, but at least I could take it back if I didn't like it. I also wouldn't have to pay any alimony if I did.
Love at first sight would also work and obviously I believe in love at first sight. Why? I don't really know.
So anyway I have to write this part of the book by Rick Reilly because it is just way too darn funny not to write. These are his words not mine:
"This eliminated buzkashi, which is exactly like polo except instead of a small wooden ball, they use the bloody corpse of a recently beheaded calf. Fun at parties!"
Buzkashi, Fun at Parties!
*Disclaimer for this video about Buzkashi...No I WOULD NOT play this game at a party. I would like to keep the friends I have.
This is me paraphrasing his words.
Then I read the first chapter, which is the World Sauna Championships in which contestants try to sit in a sauna at 261 degrees (yes there whole body is in there) for as long as they can. The winner lasted 12 minutes and 26 seconds.
These are my words.
The World Sauna Championships take place in Finland, and there is a women's soccer player from Finland so I guess I'll have to ask her about it. Apparently it is a big deal there. Some countries have basketball tournaments, and others have sweating (or grilling) in sauna championships.
This book by Rick Reilly is a GREAT READ, and I am only on the second chapter. This one is about putting ferrets down ones pants.
I'd actually be interested to see how long I could last in a sauna that hot. I HAVE NO INTEREST in having a ferret running around in my pants. (Although I heard that does turn on Tiger Woods.)
I guess the title, "Sports From Hell, My Search For The World's DUMBEST COMPETITION" really tickled my fancy. I bought the book without even reading part of it. It was like an arranged marriage, but at least I could take it back if I didn't like it. I also wouldn't have to pay any alimony if I did.
Love at first sight would also work and obviously I believe in love at first sight. Why? I don't really know.
So anyway I have to write this part of the book by Rick Reilly because it is just way too darn funny not to write. These are his words not mine:
"This eliminated buzkashi, which is exactly like polo except instead of a small wooden ball, they use the bloody corpse of a recently beheaded calf. Fun at parties!"
Buzkashi, Fun at Parties!
*Disclaimer for this video about Buzkashi...No I WOULD NOT play this game at a party. I would like to keep the friends I have.
This is me paraphrasing his words.
Then I read the first chapter, which is the World Sauna Championships in which contestants try to sit in a sauna at 261 degrees (yes there whole body is in there) for as long as they can. The winner lasted 12 minutes and 26 seconds.
These are my words.
The World Sauna Championships take place in Finland, and there is a women's soccer player from Finland so I guess I'll have to ask her about it. Apparently it is a big deal there. Some countries have basketball tournaments, and others have sweating (or grilling) in sauna championships.
This book by Rick Reilly is a GREAT READ, and I am only on the second chapter. This one is about putting ferrets down ones pants.
I'd actually be interested to see how long I could last in a sauna that hot. I HAVE NO INTEREST in having a ferret running around in my pants. (Although I heard that does turn on Tiger Woods.)
Graduation felt like
Graduation felt like I was writing a really good book. I was just about to write the best part of the book, but then I had to
I left you hanging for a reason
I feel like the best part of being an undergraduate in college was still about to happen. I felt like I had to end the chapter right in the middle of the best part.
College isn't ending for me per se because I am going to graduate school. For a long time this year I thought that being an undergraduate and graduate is one big long chapter but I think I have realized that they are two different ones, mainly because there will be too many new characters in graduate school.
Like all stories characters emerge, and some are in many if not all chapters. I don't know who will be part of multiple chapters. I also don't know if the stories and themes of the past chapter, of being an undergraduate, will be brought up again in the future chapters. I feel like there were some stories that I was about to write in my undergraduate chapter, but I had to stop them before the ending. I hope some of those stories continue into the future.
It goes by too fast so enjoy college and take advantage of its opportunities. That's my advice to those on the soccer team and still in school.
It's funny how your mood can change so much in a day. I went from happy this morning, to a little sad. Then I ran up a mountain and I feel great again. I think all in all that I grew a lot as a person and student in college and there are very few things that I would have done differently. Maybe I would have started a few things earlier but overall I feel like I accomplished a lot. I don't have many regrets about college and that is a very important thing.
I left you hanging for a reason
I feel like the best part of being an undergraduate in college was still about to happen. I felt like I had to end the chapter right in the middle of the best part.
College isn't ending for me per se because I am going to graduate school. For a long time this year I thought that being an undergraduate and graduate is one big long chapter but I think I have realized that they are two different ones, mainly because there will be too many new characters in graduate school.
Like all stories characters emerge, and some are in many if not all chapters. I don't know who will be part of multiple chapters. I also don't know if the stories and themes of the past chapter, of being an undergraduate, will be brought up again in the future chapters. I feel like there were some stories that I was about to write in my undergraduate chapter, but I had to stop them before the ending. I hope some of those stories continue into the future.
It goes by too fast so enjoy college and take advantage of its opportunities. That's my advice to those on the soccer team and still in school.
It's funny how your mood can change so much in a day. I went from happy this morning, to a little sad. Then I ran up a mountain and I feel great again. I think all in all that I grew a lot as a person and student in college and there are very few things that I would have done differently. Maybe I would have started a few things earlier but overall I feel like I accomplished a lot. I don't have many regrets about college and that is a very important thing.