Between Mouth & Mind

So You Had a Bad Day?

2012-01-23T21:46:00.003-05:00

I don't know if I'd say today was a bad day, but it was borderline crappy for me. It was one of those days that makes people say 'case of the Mondays', except I'm not someone who would say something like that. Did anything REALLY bad happen? Nope. I just couldn't get it going. I felt real scattered, my mind was in ten places at once, I dropped an excessive amount of F-bombs in the office, but right now, I couldn't really say why. When I was trying to get through emails, the phone kept ringing. When I was on the phone, people stopped in. When people were there, I couldn't focus because I was thinking about the calls or emails. Nothing terrible, just one of those days. When I went to work out at lunchtime and let off some steam, I somehow managed to hurt myself without really pushing that hard. Eff.

But the nice thing is that when I have one of those days, or even when I have a bad day, maybe a handful of people know. I share office with students quite often, so they know when I curse at the computer. My boss knows when I don't follow through on something. My co-workers know, because we're a pretty tight-knit bunch, and I hide emotions about as well as I tan. And Kalee knows because, well, she just always knows. But the list just about ends there. But you know what? My 'bad' day wasn't really that bad at all.

Especially when you compare my bad day to Billy Cundiff or Kyle Williams' bad days at the office yesterday, it's a walk in the park. How terrible would it be to have the whole country witness your bad day? Not just a bad day, but now a terrible offseason, and things that will scar their careers. That stinks. I was pulling for both those teams to some degree, and to see it come that close for their teams, and then have your name and season remembered by that? That's a bad day.
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You know what's kinda funny, mostly annoying? As I'm writing this and trying to include a pic, or anything else, the computer is giving me problems of course. So for no other reason except to smile, I put a recent pic of my smiling dog Toby.

Here's a pretty funny spoof we saw this weekend of Siri, which lets your phone talk back to you.

Slainte,
Gary

Guido vs. Cowboy

2012-01-20T21:34:00.002-05:00

On the heels of the last blog entry detailing how I plan to track the miles I run in 2012, my buddy Tex issued me a challenge. The challenge is that we both track our mileage for the year (starting yesterday), and whoever has more for the year gets a free dinner at the other one's expense at the 2013 NIRSA conference in Vegas. I'm all in. Any time I can use some lighthearted gambling to motivate my fitness routine, that's a win-win. Unless I lose. Which I don't plan on doing.

But of course we have to set a few ground rules, since there is something at stake here. Beyond the free dinner, there are bragging rights at stake. Maybe I should be a little nervous, since the bet was his idea, and he started thinking about the rules right away. But I'm not that nervous. Anyway, the rules.

1- Basketball doesn't count. He asked this in an email, since we both like playing pickup ball, and suggested the possibility of wearing a pedometer while doing so. While that is tempting, given my numbers nerdyness and now curiosity at how many miles you run while hooping, I don't think it should count. We agreed.

2- Warmup walking counts. Since we both work at rec centers, I am guessing a fair amount of the running may be on a treadmill. So the question was whether or not to count the quarter mile you may walk as a warmup. I voted for yes, if for no other reason than to not have to subtract warmup and cool down mileage from the number on the treadmill. So laziness plays a part in a bet focused on fitness. I seem doomed from the start.

3- Only workout mileage counts. We can't count any walking besides on the treadmill. Nor can we count any miles running from police or to the bathroom after a chili lunch.

4- The mileage started yesterday, not January 1. And will end on January 18, so it's a full year.

5- We update each other on mileage whenever the other calls for an update. Doesn't have to be once a month, just whenever. I am fine with going off honor code, though he brought up possibly keeping track on a calendar, scanning that, and emailing it. Hold on there cowboy, that's too much work for me.

And those are the rules. And before I close this out, I should explain the title. He suggested it, since we both live in stat that may unfairly stereotype it's inhabitants as being those- guidos in Jersey, cowboys in Texas, while neither of us are those things.

I'll close with a final vote of confidence in myself, because I won the only game of HORSE we have ever played against each other. So there.

Since I can't figure out how to embed a video using the iPad yet, I will just copy paste one that includes the words Guido and cowboy. Enjoy.

http://m.youtube.com/index?desktop_uri=%2F&gl=US#/profile?user=DomMazzetti

Slainte,
Gary

Stat Geek

2012-01-18T20:45:00.002-05:00

What's up dudes and dudettes. It's been nearly two weeks since I've blogged and my buddy Tex asked me if one of my resolutions was to write less. While he remains a jerk who likes Bieber YouTube videos, he is also right... Kinda. I have partly been a slacker. But also our laptop is on the fritz, I don't like blogging from the iPad because posting videos and pictures is a pain, and I don't want to stay late at work or bring home a work computer to write. So I apologize for sucking at updating this lately. It hurts me more than it hurts you.

Anyway, when I DO get back into doing this more often, one of the goals for the year is to do more reviews of stuff. But because I am a numbers nerd to some degree, I want to use those reviews to track things throughout the year. It is my hope that some day I will make it to Heaven, and when I get there, God will be able to tell me exactly how many baskets I have ever made in my life, how many total miles I have ever walked, how many hours I have spent on a toilet, and any other meaningless stat you can think of. Wouldn't that be cool?

I digress. The purpose of this was to share 5 things I want to track through 2012. Those are miles run, blog entries written (easy), movies watched, books read, and different beers drank. Entries written is tracked easily by blogger. I want to top 100. Miles run (ran?) will be tracked each month, and hopefully be enough motivation to disallow me from putting on all the weight I lost during marathon training.

The other three will be tracked and reviewed using the three links on the side of this blog. My Movies. My Books. My beers. Ideally I will start adding more detailed reviews, but it's a start for now, and a new feature on here, 100% free of charge to all readers. How bout them apples?

I have seen more movies than are listed on there, but I am keeping a list. Anyway, that's it for tonight. Just a quick update. More coming soon on the Polar Plunge, some tv watching, and whatever else I want today I will write about and probably forget to. Sorry for no pics or vid. Also, any grammatical errors are brought to you by our new sponsor, iPad.

Love you all, (new sign off to replace Slainte?)
Gary

Polar Plunge 2012

2012-01-05T21:14:00.002-05:00

It's about time I do something stupid for a good cause again. How about running into the ocean to fundraise for Special O? Sounds like a plan.

Next weekend, I'll be doing my second Polar Plunge, though this one is a little different than last year. In Michigan in February, we had to jump into a hole cut in a frozen pond. In Jersey, the lakes haven't yet frozen over, so we'll be heading to Wildwood next Saturday, and instead of jumping into a pond, we'll be running into the Atlantic. I'll be doing it with some of our student employees, as well as my buddy Travis, and every dime we fundraise is for Special Olympics NJ.

Over the past few years I have loved working with SONJ, and last week got a chance to meet a few of their staff members and visit their headquarters in Lawrenceville. They have a gorgeous facility, great energy, and some exciting things coming up that I plan on partnering with them for. But for the time being, it's shrinkage time. And I'm hoping you'll sponsor me for at least a few bucks.

I need a minimum of $100 to be an official 'Plunger'. But it's always fun to try and go above and beyond, right? That's why Trav and I decided that we'll set some fundraising goals and give more incentive for people to donate than just for a good cause (which is a damn good reason in itself). So if I am going to ask you for a few bucks, I have to be willing to humiliate myself, right? Here's the deal.

For $100 raised, I run into the ocean next weekend. I'll probably do it if I don't raise that, but I will.

For $200, I'll do it in my treasured mullet wig.

For $300, I'll do it in the mullet wig and shirtless (last year we wore ref shirts).

For $400, I will let Kalee pick any shirt/outfit for me to wear (besides a Speedo... I have limits) and do it in that... and the mullet wig.

For $500, I will run into the ocean in any of the above, and stay in there for a full minute.

So that's what is at stake. Thought I would throw a little wrench in things this year and incentivize donations. If anyone else has any suggestions, please post them as well. Anything for a good cause, right?

I would appreciate anything you are willing to donate. Donations can be as small as $5, and every bit helps. If you would like to donate, here is the link.

Thank you in advance for your help supporting Special Olympics New Jersey! Check back after next weekend for pictures and an update.

Here is the video from last year's Plunge at CMU. Our group starts around the 2:30 mark.

Polar Plunge from CMLifeVideo on Vimeo.

Slainte,
Gary

Life is Good- Resolutions

2012-01-02T18:00:00.002-05:00

I wrote en entry recently with a list of 2011 Reflections, with quotes from a Life is Good book. As mentioned in that entry, I love the LIG stuff because of its positivity. So I wanted to write some resolutions also based off of quotes from the book, and just share a little bit of what I liked. Contrary to last year, most of these are somewhat vague, and not as quantifiable. Seeing as how I didn't do TOO well with last year's resolutions, maybe this approach is better! Here's 11 I liked, a few of them close to one another.

Optimism can take you anywhere.
I just want to continue to try and be optimistic and have a positive outlook on life. It is SO easy to not do that, and criticize people, point out all the wrongs, and complain. Sometimes you can catch it, sometimes it just comes out. I want to at least try and catch it. We all need a little more optimism.

Whatever you are, be a good one.
When I first read this, I thought of work. And I should be a good 'whatever I am' at work. But it also applies to me as a husband, son, brother, friend, relative, pet owner, anything else.

Good vibes are contagious.
This ties in with being optimistic, but I think it focuses on being outwardly optimistic. It's good for me to keep negativity in, but also good to let the positivity out. It definitely is contagious.

Stick together.
I think this one applies to being a good husband. Of course, I want to stick together with Kalee, and just saying 'Stick together' doesn't mean that if we are still married on 1/1/13 that it's a successful goal. But continue to try and make each other better and have a healthy marriage.

Breathe.
So far, I have been able to do this in 2012. Duh. But 'breathe' applies to not getting too worked up when things don't go as planned. When my goal of being optimistic is tested, remembering to just breathe, things are going to be ok. Don't sweat the small stuff. I think I saw a quote once that said 'Don't sweat the petty stuff, and don't pet the sweaty stuff.' Words to live by.

Don't knock something, build something.
If you don't like the way things are going, don't complain or poke fun, do them better. Try and make positive change.

Get out.
I want to do a little more exploring, both near and far. It's been a long time since I have lived on the east coast, and who knows how long we'll be here, so I want to take advantage of the area I live in. It means more local trips in South Jersey and Philly, but also visiting the other cities that are in a short drive, DC, NY, Baltimore, Boston, etc... Get out.

Read em and reap.
My annual resolution of 'read more' is extended into 2012. I don't know if I want to set a specific amount of books, because even when I read a lot, I don't count the books. But just to read more in general, and read more than facebook posts and ESPN.com. More books, magazines, newspapers, and maybe even other people's blog entries. I love finding out when people read this one, so I need to pay it forward!

Celebrate.
Celebrate life's successes, both my own and others'.

Face the bumps with a smile.
Again with the positivity, I know. This one isn't always easy. You don't appreciate life's lessons as you are learning them. But after my time at CMU and other places, I can look back at the toughest times as some of the most rewarding after the fact. They're not problems, they are learning experiences. Ok, they're definitely problems. But what can you do? Make the most of em.

We will never know all the good a simple smile can do.
I love this. You never know what someone else is going through, and the power of a smile, a kind word, a held door. I was taught this lesson when I was in high school and working as a cashier in a grocery store. I had a line of people, and another cashier had an open lane. I pointed a woman to that lane, and she politely said no and stayed at mine. When she got up to me, she told me that I was always friendly, and she appreciated it, and would rather wait in my line than go to someone not as friendly. It reinforced the power of being positive. What difference did it really make? I don't know. But it made enough of a difference that she noticed. You never know when just being nice can have an impact, whether small like that, or something larger.

And that's about it. I don't know if I'll make specific resolutions aside from these. Of course I want to be in better shape, eat better, be more awesome, etc... But I like all this too. Sweet and simple.

Today's video is one of my favorite songs ever, Just Breathe by Pearl Jam. Beautiful song.

I wrote this today after finding out about a CMU alum who passed away on New Years Day. I don't know exactly how, but I know it was too soon. He was a positive person who I knew just from being at the SAC a lot, playing basketball, and was friends with a lot of my old student employees. I didn't know him too well, but hearing about his passing reinforced everything I planned on writing about. Life's too short. Be more positive in 2012.

Slainte,
Gary

Grading 2011's Resolutions

2012-01-01T09:15:00.000-05:00

Sometime later today or tomorrow night I will post a blog entry with 2012's resolutions. I heard on the radio or tv that it's good to share resolutions with other people to help hold yourself accountable. I shared my 2011 resolutions on here, but did it help hold me accountable? I set 5 main goals, and a bunch of smaller ones. We'll grade the 5 main ones with letter grades, and the rest as pass/fail. Let's grade them, with tonight's comments in italics.

1- I am going to update the blog more. A+. I wrote more blog entries this year than ever before.

2- I am going to get in shape. A-. I promise I won't give myself all A's, but I actually followed through on this, with the marathon, eating healthier, and trying to work out more. I give it the minus, because during marathon training, I didn't keep up with lifting.

3- Run more road races. C-. I think I set the goal of running 5 road races, which I didn't do. Maybe 3? Maybe I can do a few more 5k's this year.

4- Be more focused on work while at work, and more focused on my personal life outside of work. B. Definitely feel like I did better with this in 2011, but still room to improve.

5- Have a super-healthy January. No idea. I didn't even remember setting this goal. Maybe I did it? Who knows.

Alright those were the biggies. Time for the quick hit pass/fails.

- Read two books a month.Epic fail. That didn't seem too unrealistic, but I couldn't name 5 books I finished all year.
- Go skiing for the first time ever. Pass. And I had a blast, after taking 3 hours to get off the bunny hill.
- Take a trip to the Jersey Shore for my 30th birthday. Pass. Great time. Shaved my head after a few 7-Ups.
- Take at least one weekend trip to Mackinac Island, Traverse City and Chicago. Fail. Only because we never made it to Mackinac.
- Go to a baseball game in a stadium I’ve never been to. Fail. Though I did go to a football game in a baseball stadium I had never been to. (Rutgers at Yankee Stadium yesterday)
- Attend my first ever Red Wings game. Fail. Still can't get into hockey.
- Remember my one-year anniversary, instead of just being excited that Halloween is coming. Pass! Though the plans I had for it to get away for a weekend got cancelled due to an October blizzard.
- Remember all my family’s birthdays before they happen. Remember? Pass. Recognize? Fail.
- Volunteer more. Hmmm... Don't remember how much I did in 2010, so not sure if 2011 was more or not.
- Do another new Smitty fundraiser, and help start a new scholarship. Fail. Did the same old ones, but nothing new.
- Save to buy a house, new car, or child. (have a child in a few years, not buy a child) Fail. This is demoralizing to go and look back at all these!
- Be a good husband and surprise Kalee with ‘just because’ gifts. Hmmmm... I think I did a decent job with this early on, then tailed off. I'll go with pass though because too many fails are adding up.
- Go to church more often. If not every week, at least twice per month. FAIL>
- Remember to read my devotional book every day. Not every day, but most days. We'll give it a PAS. I don't get both s's, but it's better than a Fail.
- Call and/or email my mom at least twice a week. Fail. Why did I write so many resolutions? I did better with this, but not up to the goal.
- Stay in better touch with family/friends in NJ. Pass. I moved back, so that helps.
- Play basketball at least once a week. Fail.
- Figure out what is the next step in my career/ where we want to live. Pass.
- Get another dog? Fail but I'm ok with that.
- Have better posture so my back doesn’t always hurt. Hmmm... pass?
- Play an IM sport I haven’t played before. Scratching my head on this one here... I played Rowan CoRec flag football for the first time, does that count?
- Be less judgmental of others. Pass, but still need work.
- Don’t use the Lord’s name in vein, or use the words gay or retarded inappropriately. Pass.
- Try new foods. Pass.
- Learn how to cook more. Fail.
- Care more about current events. Fail.
- Just try and be a better person. Pass.

Alright, that wasn't fun, but maybe it will motivate me to do better in 2012. Or at least to set fewer goals!

Be back soon with some Life is Good resolutions. Until then, here is a Mumford song that's supposed to be on their new album, coming out sometime this year.

Slainte,
Gary

Family Fantasy BBall Update

2011-12-29T20:11:00.002-05:00

The same day I posted about the Baker Family Fantasy Basketball League, my cousin Zach sent me a message right away, asking if he could join, and even sent his draft picks in. Now he had the advantage of not drafting Christmas Eve while full of 7ups and anticipation of Santa as distractions. But his disadvantage was that he got to pick only from players we didn't. So we'll call it a wash. Zach's team:

John Wall
Tyreke Evans
Kyrie Irving
Klay Thompson
Luis Scola
Kris Humphries
Caron Butler
Andrei Kirilenko
Kendrick Perkins
Dajuan Blair

Not a bad looking team, and upping our ante to $125 winner-take-all. With the season young, and the most games any team had played heading into tonight being 3, I decided to just take a real quick look at how our teams are doing. Remember, the winner of the league is who has the most total points, rebounds and assists at the end of the season, and you can't replace injured players. You're stuck with who you draft, and that's that. So I looked at who has the most total points/rebounds/assists (PRA) as well as averages so far. It will be interesting at the end of the season to see who was consistent with the first few games, and who improved or declined.

If you want to look at the NBA's page for stats on PRA, here you go. For argument's sake, I rounded the averages. Here's a quick glance at our teams so far:

DAD
His most efficient player so far is Durant, averaging 42 PRA. He is followed by Ginobili, 33, and Spencer Hawes, 28. What's impressive there is that besides Zach's players, Hawes was the last guy drafted. Unfortunately for Dad, two of his players (Paul Pierce and Baron Davis) haven't played in a game yet. His least efficient player right now is Shane Battier, with only 2.3 PRA, the lowest of any guy we drafted who has played in a game. Dad has the only team with two guys averaging more than 30 PRA.

ME
My most efficient player is LeBron at 46 PRA, tied for the league lead with Kevin Love. My next most efficient guys are James Harden and Zach Randolph, both with 27. My least efficient is Omri Casspi, with 9 PRA. I have five guys averaging over 20 PRA.

BILL
Bill's most efficient player is Brandon Jennings, at 32, followed by Rose with 27 and Beasley with 26. Also in the 20's are Hansbrough 22 and Joe Johnson with 20, also giving him 5 above 20. His least efficient guy so far is Okur at 6.5.

JOE
Joe's best is Rondo with 37, followed by Chris Paul and Carl Landry (Carl Landry?) with 27 each. Joe had 3 other guys in their 20s (Garnett, Calderon and Turkoglu), giving him 6 of 10 guys above 20 PRA, most in our league. His least efficient guy is Kwame Brown, with an average of 9.

ZACH
Zach also had 5 guys above 20, but is the only one without a player above 30. His leaders are Luis Scola, 29, Kris Humphries, 28, and John Wall, 27. His least efficient is Klay Thompson with 6. However, while Dad has two guys who aren't playing due to injury, Zach has one playing because he isn't currently on an NBA roster, making it hard to accumulate stats. That guy is Andrei Kirilenko. I spent a few minutes looking for him in the stat list, before googling him and finding out that he is currently unsigned, making him and Gilbert Arenas the biggest unsigned guys. Also on the list is Nate Robinson.

So there's the quick look at averages, as far as total PRA, here are the standings:

ME- 508
JOE- 499
BILL- 391
DAD- 358
ZACH- 345

If you look at our average player (who has played so far), the list goes:

ME- 22 PRA
JOE- 21.4 PRA
ZACH- 19.9 PRA
BILL- 19.8 PRA
DAD- 19.75 PRA

Long story short, I am in first place, but my guys have also played the most games. If you look at averages, it's close. Until guys start getting injured anyway.

Like I said in the first entry, I am going to try and update on this maybe once a month. Until then, I am begrudgingly cheering for LeBron to put up big stats.
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Here is an amazing NBA video that gave me chills. Watch the full two minutes if you like, or ever liked, the NBA.

Slainte,
Gary

Good Sports

2011-12-28T23:15:00.003-05:00

The best part of watching Drew Brees break Marino's record the other night was his postgame speech in the locker room. After coach Sean Payton said a few words, he turned it over to Brees, who obviously thanked his teammates. But then he thanked the coaches. And the management. And the trainers. And the stadium workers. Here's a guy in the aftermath of breaking a bigtime NFL record, and he is humble enough to thank people that so many would overlook.

It was a very cool moment, and a very refreshing one. Especially in the midst of so much bad news that usually comes along with sports coverage. From things as horrific as Sandusky, to as shady as Tressel, to character-revealing like 'the decision', to Tiger's promiscuity, sports coverage goes so far beyond sport and rarely shines positively on athletes. So it was cool to see that moment. And also is why I have no choice but to like Tim Tebow. He has taken the country by storm, and almost everyone has an opinion, some very strong. But for all the Michael Vick and Roethlisberger negativity, why wouldn't anyone want to cheer for someone like Tebow?

Anyway, I just wanted share a little positivity from athletes here real quick tonight. Besides Brees last night and everything you have heard about Tebow for the past few months (and years), here are three real quick stories you may have heard. If not, cool to hear about. Especially when two are about guys that aren't really seen as good guys.

The first is from Christmas morning. The Knicks played in the NBA opener on Christmas, bringing hundreds of people, aside from the players and the fans, away from their families on Christmas. Amare Stoudemire provided breakfast for hundreds of those Madison Square Garden employees Christmas morning. Cool gesture.

The second was one Trav just told me about tonight. A few years back, Braylon Edwards
visited a Cleveland middle school and promised 100 kids that if they finished high school with at least a 2.5, he would give them each $10,000 toward college. Those kids are in college now, and Edwards kept his promise, totaling an amount that nearly matched his salary for the year this year.

The final story is about Lions' DE Ndamukong Suh and RB Jahvid Best. As soon as I started hearing interviews with Suh after he was drafted, I liked him. Personable and smart, but focused as well. A lot of his actions on the field have made him hard to cheer for, but this story makes it a little easier. A Detroit high school had their locker room robbed of uniforms and pads and were in danger of forfeiting their game, until Suh and Best donated all new gear for the team.

Just a few quick ones, but worth sharing if you hadn't seen them yet.

Also while I was at Trav's tonight, he showed me a video that had a little fun with Tim Tebow. I dislike when people blatantly and disrespectfully mock Tebow for being Christian. I thought this had a little fun with him, but tastefully enough. Hopefully you agree!

Slainte,
Gary

Unprotected Rex Acceptance Speech

2011-12-27T10:53:00.002-05:00

Mike Tirico: What a finish here tonight in New Orleans! In dramatic fashion, Drew Bees breaks Dan Marino's decades-old record for being a really awesome QB. But greater than that, with the late record-breaking touchdown pass from Brees to Sproles, he locked up the Rec Center Used-To-Be's fantasy football championship. Rather than settle for an interview with Brees, we're here with Gary Baker, owner/GM/head coach/ motivational leader of this year's first-place team, Unprotected Rex. Gary- how do you feel?

"As usual, Mike, I feel pretty awesome. I just wake up and pretty much exude awesomeness until I go to bed. And sometimes in my sleep, too."

Tirico: In the Saints locker room tonight, Brees took time to not only thank his teammates, but also the coaching staff, trainers, stadium workers... pretty much everyone short of the 'Ice cold BEER HERE' guy roaming the stands. Is there anyone you would like to thank?

"Yeah yeah, that was real sweet of Drew. I noticed how he was trying to steal my thunder here tonight. What a jerk. A selfish jerk. No, I'm just kidding Mike. I'd like to thank myself again for the whole awesome thing. After that, I'd like to first and foremost thank the good Lord for making this all possible. Happy belated birthday to my main man Jesus. What up JC. Also, Lord, please forgive me for cursing at the TV so much on Sundays, for being really pissed off late in the game tonight when I was down ten with 4 minutes left, would not talk to my wife, and was planning a hateful email to the other people in the league. But you understand, Father. After all, you created fantasy football."

Tirico: O....k.... anyone else you'd like to recognize?

"I have to thank my wife for putting up with my temper tantrums, my refreshing the fantasy page hundreds of times on Sundays, and for watching lots of football she probably doesn't care about. I'd like to thank Rex Ryan, not for being a good coach, but for inspiring my fantasy team name. I'd also like to thank the other owners in the league for being less awesome than me so that I could win the most money possible. To Bros B4 Shiancoes, My Ditka in Your Butkus, and the rest of the gang, thanks for playing."

Tirico: You seem really cocky for a guy who has never won a fantasy league before...

"Your mom seems pretty cocky Mike. It's true though, I have racked up my share of 2nd place finishes, but never the big cheese. I just wanted to build everyone else's confidence. It was like a 10-year game of possum. And it worked! So the previous fantasy failures of Jersey Sure, Nancy Lieberman, Leon Phelps, 3StacksOfHighSociety, Tony Danza, I Love Leadership, Northern Hospitality, Cobra Kai Dojo and I've got LeFevour... those were all just setting me up for this year's success. Over a decade of futility culminated in a championship. It's like Andy Reid, but the opposite."

Tirico: Interesting strategy indeed. Do you attribute any success to this year's players?

"Not really Mike. Fantasy sports is all about management. The guys on the field had little to do with my success. In fact, it's the other way around. Drew Brees, Rob Gronkowski, Darren Sproles, Megatron, Niners Defense... they all would have underperformed if I wasn't motivating them with threatening emails every week. I told Brees before the season that if he didn't break the passing record by throwing a TD to Sproles in Week 16 to wrap up my championship season, I would expose him as a fraud."

Tirico: And how is he a fraud exactly?

"I can't tell you, because he locked up the championship. I also motivated other guys just enough to keep them relevant and get me points as my role players, but not dominate too much, because then nobody would want to play in the league with me next year. That's why Stevie Johnson, DeSean Jackson and Ahmad Bradshaw all had some decent weeks, but refused to bring it all the time. They performed when needed. So what if DeSean is in a contract year? He couldn't show off EVERY week, because then he'd be forced to hold out. By being mediocre most of the time, he also played possum. Strategery, Mike."

Tirico: Interesting. So what's your strategy looking forward to next year?

"Well, since Santa's elves all got laid off last week, I picked them up off waivers and have them doing research for me for next year. Who will be the sleeper who changes teams like Sproles and thrives in a new system? What budding TE will blow up like Gronk and become a Pro Bowler next year? That's what I have Buddy and his elf friends working on right now."

Tirico: Pure genius. So what are you planning on doing with the winnings?

"Probably spending them wisely and making shrewd financial investments. I can get a Rickey Henderson rookie card on EBay for 3.99. Dozens of Starting Lineup figurines. You know how many chicken wings I can buy with a few hundred bucks? More than a few hundred wings. I'm going to talk to my financial advisor to see which of these is my best option."

Tirico: Very wise indeed. Great work, and congratulations on the victory.

"Thanks Mike. Congrats to you on this opportunity to interview me. It's truly an honor in itself, and I am proud of you."

Tirico: Thanks. Back to you guys in the studio!
---
Stupid, I know.

So I'll make up for it by posting this awesome trailer for anyone who hasn't seen it yet. Posted it on fb, so if you saw it there, no need to watch again. Unless you want to overdose on Batman.

Slainte,
Gary

Baker Family Fantasy Basketball

2011-12-26T10:54:00.003-05:00

Tonight, my fantasy football championship is on the line. I need big nights from Brees and Sproles to bring me in a few more bucks. But that's not the point here. Football is the only fantasy sport that can keep my attention. I've done baseball a few times, but never made it through the season. I used to do hoops, and did ok with it, but eventually that also lost my attention. Changing lineups several times a week, worrying about who had how many games, lots of different statistics... I just didn't care enough to keep up with other guys in the league.

But football is a good balance. You can update it once a week and be good. Probably should check again before the Sunday 1:00 games. But it doesn't take much to at least stay involved. Which is perfect for me. It also had made me a much bigger NFL fan than I was before I started playing fantasy football. Would I watch tonight's MNF game? Probably. Would I care about the Bills' Stevie Johnson or the Chargers' Mike Tolbert. Absolutely not.

But hoops is different. I've always had an interest in the NBA. While a lot of people could care less about it being gone if there was a season-long lockout, I actually like the NBA. Not as diehard as I once was, but still enjoy it. Just can't do it for an entire fantasy season. But I still wanted to do SOMETHING. Which is why we came up with the inaugural ('first annual' is incorrect... never say that... nothing is 'annual until the second year... I digress) Baker Family Fantasy Basketball League, or the BFFBL. I texted my brother Christmas Eve morning telling him we were doing a 2-person fantasy hoops league and would draft that night or Christmas Day. Rules to come later. The league later expanded to include my brother-in-law Joe and my Dad, making his fantasy sports debut. Here's the premise of how this incredibly simple league works in case you also struggle with paying attention to fantasy hoops, but maybe want to do something.

I printed off ESPN's top 200 ranked fantasy players. Each of us had to draft ten total players, using the 1-4, 4-1 snake draft format. But our teams couldn't be stacked with superstars. With your first round pick, you had to take someone ranked 1-20. Second round, had to take someone in the 21-40 range, on down to the tenth round where you had to pick someone from 181-200. So of the top 20 ranked players, only 4 of them are on rosters.

Since this league is for people who don't want to have to update teams, there are no drop/adds. You draft ten guys, and those are your ten guys for the season. If they underperform, get injured, get cut... well, that sucks for you. We're keeping things as simple as possible. The only stats that matter are points, rebounds and assists, all with equal value of 1 point. So when LeBron gets a triple double of 20/10/10, he gets 40 fantasy points in the BFFBL. Again, keeping it simple. Blocks, steals, shooting percentage hold no bearing. Maybe next year.

The only other rule is that we did say we had to fill certain positions. Ten spots, no 'bench' players, so no decisions on who to start and who to sit. Just need to draft 4 guards, 4 forwards and 2 centers. That's it.

Technically, we could just draft and look at the stats at the end of the season. But I think I will calculate 'standings' once a month just to keep everyone interested. There was zero research done for our draft, which happened around midnight on Christmas Eve over a few 7ups. We just passed around the sheet with the rankings, agreed that everyone would chip in 25 bucks, winner take all, and started drafting. The first two rounds went somewhat smoothly. Toward the end, we were taking people we knew little about. Whatever. Just having some fun. Here are the teams we ended up with. (not listed in order of draft picks, just by position)

DAD
G- Baron Davis
G- Manu Ginobili
G- JJ Barea
G- Leandro Barbosa
F- Kevin Durant
F- Paul Pierce
F- Lamar Odom
F- Shane Battier
C- Tyson Chandler
C- Spencer Hawes

ME
G- James Harden
G- DeMar DeRozan
G- Evan Turner
G- Omar Casspi
F- LeBron James
F- Zach Randolph
F- Aaron Afflalo
F- Rashard Lewis
C- DeMarcus Cousins
C- Deandre Jordan

BILL
G- Derrick Rose
G- Brandon Jennings
G- JJ Redick
G- Anthony Morrow
F- Joe Johnson
F- Michael Beasley
F- Corey Maggette
F- Tyler Hansbrough
C- Joakim Noah
C- Mehmet Okur

JOE
G- Chris Paul
G- Rajon Rondo
G- Jose Calderon
G- Hedo Turkoglu
F- David West
F- Kevin Garnett
F- Carl Landry
F- Grant Hill
C- Samuel Dalembert
C- Kwame Brown

And there you have it. Pretty simple. Took maybe an hour or so to draft, won't cost us much financially or time-wise, but something kinda fun. We'll see how it works out, and maybe post some updates on here.

For today's video, I was going to try and find something awesome on youtube to show some of the excitement around the Knicks, but found this instead and thought it was worth sharing.

Slainte,
Gary

Life is Good- Reflections

2011-12-24T16:13:00.006-05:00

I love the 'Life is Good' company. I have a book full of their quotes and pictures that I keep in my office. (Great little book which you can buy used on Amazon for as low as 93 cents)

A week or two ago, one of our student employees decided to do some re-decorating of my office, as pictured here, and left a note with a quote from the book- 'Blur the line between work and play'. Love it. It's pretty much all about optimism, and I try to be an optimistic person. Anyway, as we wrap up this year and head to the next, I thought I would use 11 quotes from the book to reflect on the year we are leaving, and use 11 to look ahead to the next year.

"Everything is a once in a lifetime experience."
I love having the opportunity to be back in Jersey, at my alma mater, and closer to my family. But it was reeeeaaally hard for us to leave Michigan. In my gut, I feel like we will be back in the Mitten when we're ready to officially 'settle down'. But coming back to Rowan was possibly a once in a lifetime experience. I realize I am blessed to be working where my career started as a 19-year-old flag football official.

Run like a dog."
I ran over 500 miles this past year, mostly thanks to the marathon and training. But a good amount aside from that as well. It's been fun, and it is an awesome feeling that I won't be over 200 pounds for the first time on New Years Day in probably 5 years.

The road to a friend's house is never long."
I think I meant to put this in the blog about next year, but we'll leave it here just because I already typed it. Anyway, I want to make sure I do a better job of staying in touch with friends. I use this blog to help do that, but need to go out of my way to specifically be in touch with friends and family both. The road to a friend may actually be pretty long, but these days it's easy to stay in touch with email, phone, facebook, whatever.

"Keep growing."
I got some great advice from my old boss Stan a few years ago. I was in a position at work where I was very comfortable with my main work duties, but there wasn't opportunity to move up in our department. So he encouraged me to grow 'out'. I got involved in more things around campus, took on some new responsibilities, and really grew a ton in my final year or two there. It's important to not get complacent, not just with work, but with life. Gotta keep challenging myself.

"Consider yourself a lucky dog."
I definitely do. Could things be better? Always. But could they be much worse? For sure. I am very fortunate and blessed in my life. My cousin Di wrote a recent blog entry about how she is fortunate in a lot of different ways, some of them as simple as having a roof over our heads, and a paycheck coming in. Even more so than just having a job, and having a family, I have ones that I actually like! A pretty awesome wife, two funny pets, good health... I am a lucky dog.

"Take your love everywhere you go."
Speaking of my awesome wife, I am incredibly thankful for her. With this move to NJ, we had to leave her home state and where all of her family is. I know it's tough to be away from family, and realize the sacrifice that she made in moving here. Even though I am home, I have been 'Michigan homesick' for some of my friends and things I got used to, having lived in that state for 7 of the past 12 years. But having my wife with me is pretty awesome. (not that coming here without her was an option, but you get the point.)

"The work will teach you how to do it."
Taking this new job was somewhat of a gamble. I had been doing Intramurals for a long time, and had only limited experience with Sport Clubs, and was coming to a new position at a school I had only been as an undergrad. But I never really worried too much about it. Just have to be confident that to some degree 'the work will teach you how to do it". Do I know it all now that I have a semester under my belt? Heck no. But I'm learning. And I am learning from my mistakes, as well as my successes.

"Write on."
I did a lot of blogging this year, and hope to do a lot next year. It is definitely a hobby, something I enjoy, but also a nice therapeutic outlet for me. I hope I can continue to keep up at the pace I did this year, and maybe even crack 100 blog entries in 2012, which would be the most ever in one year for me. We'll see!

"Blur the line between work and play."
Love this one. Again, I am blessed to work around sports and work with college students. The nature of the job makes it easier than most to have fun at work. Still, it could be easy to not have fun at work. But what fun would that be? Gotta have fun. Gotta laugh a little. At yourself sometimes too. Or at students who think they are funny when they rearrange everything in your office. I'll get revenge, Kimba.

"The little things in life are the big things."
You have to celebrate life's small successes, and not get TOO caught up in the big picture. Easier said than done, but you have to take time and smell the roses, enjoy the 'little things'. I was logging onto our bank account the other day, and one of the security questions we set up had to do with ice cream. I don't know how exactly that ties in here, but it was/is something that made me laugh, and went back to a little thing in life that I really enjoyed.

"Remember where you came from."
Those goes with staying in touch, but not only with friends, but with family, and just with your roots. I've lived in a number of places now, worked at a few different places, so I feel like I 'came from' a bunch of different places, though my hometown and roots will always be MPNJ. Who I am today is a culmination of all the places I have lived, people I have learned from, and experiences I have had, so I am just trying to learn from it all, remember it all, good and bad, and let it shape who I am today.
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That's all I've got in this round of LIG. Hope it didn't sound too corny. It's a good book, with very simple messages, but some that we sometimes lose sight of. Anyway, everyone can use a little optimism, right?

Here's a video of my favorite dancing cartoon characters, but to a different song. Hilarious.

Slainte,
Gary

11 Monumental Blog Entries

2011-12-24T13:37:00.003-05:00

This is my 361st blog entry I have written since I started doing this back in Fall 2006. I started this just as a way to stay in touch with people, to continue writing once I was done with writing papers for class, and maybe just to have a cheap hobby. There have been lulls in writing where I take months off, and times when I crank out more than ten in a month. It's fun for me. I'm a nerd when checking how many people read it with the little ticker on the bottom, but love when I hear that someone reads who I didn't know about.

For some reason the other night, I started going back and reading old blog entries just for the hell of it. Then I thought it would be fun (and a real easy entry) to re-visit 11 (because I can't stick with a top ten list ever) old blog entries from monumental points in my life since I started blogging. Here they are in chronological order. Read whichever ones you'd like.

1st Blog Entry
November 2006
I mentioned before the reasons I started this blog. This kinda explains it, as well as the title. I don't really like the title anymore, but I'm sticking with it for now. I saw Katie Baker on Grantland calls her column 'The Bake Shop', and I wish I had thought of that first.

Getting our cat Duncan
January 2007
We got him when I lived in Alabama for a year while working at Samford. I wanted a dog, but couldn't have one. My cat is FAT right now, so it's crazy to see skinny pictures of him. As well as one of my thinning hair from 5 years ago.

On-Campus Interview at CMU
May 2007
I re-read this the other night, and it was an interesting read now that my tenure at Central is up. I took notes before and after the interview, along with the travel. Heck of a process, but glad it worked out.

Getting Engaged
August 2007
I proposed to my wife at an airport. Maybe not the most romantic place, but it makes for a good story!

Getting our dog Toby
May 2009
Our pets are awesome. Sometimes they are a pain in the arse, but we lucked out with two animals with pretty awesome personalities. Here's our story of getting our pup from the shelter.

The Day I thought I was going to die
December 2009
Two years ago I was traveling alone from NJ back to MI after Christmas, when my old Malibu decided to break down in the snow in Western PA. Scary, but another fun read AFTER the fact.

Ireland to get Married
October 2010
Getting married in Ireland is the highlight of my life. For now. If I win my fantasy football league Monday night, then the wedding is number 2. I wrote a few blog entries about the trip to Ireland, this one in October, and at least another one in January 2011.

Smitty
November 2010
Back in May 2008, a CMU student named LaMott Smith passed away. I've mentioned Smitty on here numerous times, but this is the most in depth entry I can find about a great young man who we lost too soon.

Turning 30
June 2011
These last three are pretty recent, but I guess 2011 has been a big year!

Taking the Rowan Job
August 2011
Hardest decision I ever made. And maybe the most-read blog entry, with an awesome title.

Running the Marathon
October 2011
I wrote a few entries about running the marathon right after this as well. Awesome experience. Never want to do it again.

Hope you enjoyed at least glancing through these. I'm planning on writing a lot over the next week or so, and not just linking to old posts. Until then, have a Merry Christmas everyone!
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Another good video from Tex, and a rare appearance on this blog that involves hockey. Skip to the 1-minute mark.

Merry Christmas,
Gary

Apes, Pigs, Cows, Tuna, Bird and the Zoo

2011-12-22T21:17:00.002-05:00

So you would think by the title that this entry is about animals... And maybe kinda weird. And I guess indirectly it may be both. But it is really meant to be just a semi-creative substitute title for a blog entry that could be called 'our trip to Michigan'. I digress.

Kalee and I talk a trip out to MI to celebrate an early Christmas, and had a great trip. We got to see a lot of people in a short amount of time, took a trip down memory lane, had some quality family time, and enjoyed a relaxing long train ride out there. The train ride went from Philly to Toledo, with a 4 hour stop in Pittsburgh. Which would have been awesome if their Amtrak station was anything like the one in Philly, which had numerous shops, places to eat, and at least one bar, which had more than one person in it. But Pitt was different.

The most their station had to offer was a vending machine. So with four hours to kill, we went off with luggage in hand to find a place to kill some time. Not knowing where we were going, we just started walking. The first place we saw looked too fancy, so we settled on a place called Mahoneys, which seemed like a good enough spot to grab a burger and a beer. We were the only people in the place, and when the owner/ waiter/ bartender walked past us, he had a gun visibly in his waist belt. That was a first.

Mahoneys aside, great trip. I'll use the animals to break down a few highlights. Please note that if it seems like I am leaving out part of the trip, it's only because I couldn't fit an animal into the title to include. No offense intended. Let's roll.

APES
Nothing too substantial here, only that one night at Kalee's Dad's house, we watched Planet Of The Apes. Since I sometimes do movie reviews, I figured it was worth mentioning that I liked this one. On a related note, though unrelated to our trip, we rented Warrior last night, and it is worth checking out if you are looking to kill a few hours over Christmas break. If you have a break. And if you think a movie about ultimate fighting is a good way to celebrate the birth of Christ.

PIGS
Kalee's mom is engaged to a farmer, Tim, and while we were at his house we went to see the animals. There were cows, a chicken, a laughing duck, and two large pigs. Next time we visit, we could possibly be eating any of them besides the duck, but it was good to see them this time. Especially the fat pigs, who eat marshmallows. No joke, I got to feed marshmallows to pigs, but they had to sit first. Which they did of course. I wish I had video of this, but I swear on everything that I am not making this up.

COWS
Keeping the farm theme, half of her family grew up on a farm. When we were first dating, we went with her Grandpa,Pip, to a dairy farm where Kalee milked cows, and I tried not to vomit or pass out when I saw from waaaaaay too close up what it looks like to see a massive cow poop and pee. From that moment on, I can count on Pip for a good cow joke any time I see him. This trip was no different, and I love it.

TUNA
On Monday we took a trip to Detroit to meet up with our friends Jessica and Scott aka Big Tuna for lunch. We went to apace near where Old Tiger Stadium was called Slows BBQ and it was delicious. Worth going if you're ever in the D.

BIRD
This should be The Bird,to signify our trip to Mount Pleasant and CMU. Great trip where we got to see a ton of old friends, go to some old favorite places to eat, including a nostalgic top guy lunch at Pisanellos. Our friend Eric had people over at his place, which was awesome because we got to see a lot of people we were close with. I'd love to list them all here, but it would take far too long and I'd leave someone out by mistake. So if I saw you, it was great to see you. Fun night in MtP that ended at our favorite bar downtown, The Bird.

THE ZOO
On Sunday night, we went with some family to the Toledo Zoo, which was decorated with a ton of Christmas lights. Very cool to see, especially because I am kind of a nerd for zoos. However, it also helped me confront a very weird fear of mine which I never shared with anyone- being at a zoo at night. When I was younger, I had a dream or two about being stranded I the zoo at night, wandering through animal exhibits. Anyway, that lead to the weird fear. Which is now conquered. The zoo is safe at night.

And that sums up our trip. Of course that doesn't cover everything, but a brief summary. Good to go visit,and good to be back as well, with our own two animals, Duncan and Toby.
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From now on, just assume that if a post doesn't include a pic and video, it was written on the iPad. Maybe I'll add some later and this comment will be irrelevant, or erased. But it can also excuse spelling errors too.

Slainte,
Gary

Santa Calling

2011-12-14T17:22:00.002-05:00

Last night, I took part in one of the most fun programs/services in my career called 'Santa Calling'. Here's the premise... We sent out a form to all parents of kids who come to our summer day camp and swim lessons for them to fill out if their child still believes in Santa. The form includes the child's name, what he or she wants for Christmas, what they will likely get for Christmas, and another spot for additional info for them to maybe list grandparents' names, names of pets, or any other interests or hobbies. They also mark off a night even they will be home for the child to get a call from Santa.

Then the magic happens.

Last night, I got to be Santa over the phone. We had a team of about five Santas, and a few elves, making calls last night, talking to Maddie or Benjamin about what they want for Christmas, and double-checking our list of naughty and nice.

The beauty of it is that if you're not around little kids, you can forget that they even believe in Santa. I don't have kids, I don't have really young cousins, and I'm not yet an uncle. I haven't had to pretend that Santa exists in quite a while. So actually BEING Santa was pretty awesome.

I had to practice my HO HO HO a few times with the rest of the Santas, but ultimately got it down pretty darn good. Talking on the phone to the kids was awesome. They were all very adamant that indeed they HAD been good all year. One boy told me in no uncertain terms that he wanted toy wrestlers, especially John Cena with the camo pants.

On another call, the Dad picked up and I asked for the first of two sons. Unfortunately, the other one was right by the phone, and I could hear him crying when Dad told him Santa wanted to talk to his brother first. When he, the older one, got on the phone eventually, he was quick to tell methat his little brother didn't really want to talk to Santa. Ok then, you just make sure that your brother is a good boy too, and go to bed early on Christmas Eve.

Another boy who asked for not just any toy car, but a Batman toy car, was ecstatic when I, Santa, told him that Santa also Lives Batman. "you DO? Mom, Santa loves Batman TOO!!!!"

But the highlight may have been when I used that extra info at the bottom of the form, and when wrapping up a convo with a little girl, told her to say hi to her pet hamster Snooki from Santa. "How did you know I have a hamster?" HO HO HO, Santa knows EVERYTHING! Plus, how could I not acknowledge that this child, or her Shore-loving parent, named a hamster Snooki?

All in all, it was incredibly fun and rewarding, and something I may try and do next year outside of work too just for the heck of it for any friends who have little Santa believers at home. HO HO HO!
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This is the first ever blog entry I have attempted on an iPad, and also the first on a train, so I'll use that combo to explain any spelling or grammatical mistakes. And we'll also use the fact that I'm still learning how to use it as the reason for no pic or video. Sorry friends. I'll say it's the elves' fault.

Slainte,
Gary

A Different Dream Team

2011-12-13T21:38:00.003-05:00

This is the final installment in what feels like 30 blog entries related to white NBA players in the past month. If you haven't been reading, I did one about the top ten white NBA free agents, then did an all-time NBA Dream Team with the promise of one with white players, then last did one about the best layup line ever. Not sure why, just seemed like a fun theme. If you are at all offended by the theme, allow me to apologize for you taking things too seriously. There's no hidden agenda, nobody meant to be offended. Just poking fun at the dearth in NBA White Players, and feeding off a running email theme between myself and two friends, Dan Ekonen and Dru Fairliss. But seriously, if you're offended and think that we shouldn't look at things by color, just as athletes, I'll save you the time (as I did in the free agent list)... you win the argument. Just having fun. I love you all, regardless of color. Ok, let's move on to the list.

Not as much math went into this as the All-Time Dream Team. (If you want to read the old blogs, see the tabs on the right side... I'm feeling too lazy to link to anything here tonight). The rules? THERE ARE NO RULES! I emailed my two friends with really no rules. I went with a top 15, they went with 5, a separate 5, and 8. To save time, I'll copy their emails into here, then list the correct list, which is my 15. Here we go:

DAN 'Serge Zwikker' EKONEN

All White All The Time
G- Stockton
G- pistol
F- bird
F - Dirk
C - Rik Smits
Bench - Oh Thunderous One

Please note the scoring comes at the 2-4 Stockton is the greatest PG ever. I guess i left off drazen, in all realisticness it makes more sense to bring him off the bench. However, who could guard MJ on this team. only Majerle. Since Serge Zwikker never made it to the league i have to go with my guy and my playground legend nickname, (no really that is my nickname on the playground i'll tell you about it on Friday).

All White (Team US)
G - stockton
G - pistol
F - havlicek
F - bird
C - Mark Eaton

This team is a toughie, I went with Eaton over Walton because we need a defensive presence and some interior rebounding. My first person off the bench would have to be a hard nosed big man, lambier david lee, bill bradley?
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Drew 'These Rules Aren't' Fairless

I had a hard time figuring out who to pick... Do I base it on career statistics when George Mikan was slapping up 20-10 seasons against the opposing team's center who was 6-3 and couldn't jump over the free throw line? Do foreign players count? I'm going to say no. And I'll base it on numbers, not just pure ability, because I think I could argue Chris Mihm was better than any player before 1970.

Larry Bird, Pistol Pete, John Stockton, Rick Barry, Kevin McHale, George Mikan, Bill Walton, The Logo and Bob Cousy

C- Bill Walton (Portland Bill)
PF- Kevin McHale (I'll take him with a broken foot)
SF- Larry Bird (With the mustache)
SG- Jerry West
PG- John Stockton

Sixth Man: Pistol Pete (highest career ppg average in college hoops history at about 44/game... if he got 35 one night, he'd have to go back out the next game and put up 53, all while not having a 3 pt line)
Role players: Bobby Sura( he won a dunk contest and cheated his way to a triple double that was later VETOED by David Stern) , George Mikan, and Rick Barry (Rick Barry is a prick, per Bill Simmons)
Head Coach: Lenny Wilkens

We may be a little undersized, and perhaps a bit limited defensively, but we'd be "disciplined", "tough", and a bunch of "gym rats." We'd also box out, set hard screens, and wear mouth guards.
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The inclusion of Bobby Sura is just absurd, there's clearly a man-crush going on there. I digress. Let's get to my list. Had to get it to 15, with a depth chart and all. Rather than give you the starting 5, we'll list by position and depth..

PG
1- John Stockton
2- Bob Cousy
3- Mark Price

Gotta have Stockton here. Cooz definitely gets in, and having Price may be generational bias. Also worth noting here that I went with only white Americans. MERICA!

SG
1- Jerry West
2- Pete Maravich
3- Jeff Hornacek

Shredding my usual generational bias and the urge to include Wally Szczerbiak here. West is an all-time great. Maravich maybe could be a PG, but we'll put him here and call him a combo guard. And any time you can include a guy who could be nicknamed 'Horny', he deserves to be on the list.

SF
1- Larry Bird
2- Chris Mullin
3- Dan Majerle

Love this position. Bird is obvious. Mullin was a Dream Teamer and had one of the top flat tops of all time. Thunder Dan makes it to bring some breakaway excitement and Chippewa pride.

PF
1- Kevin McHale
2- Kevin Love
3- Tom Chambers

The generational bias definitely puts Love over Chambers. Nothing interesting to say here really. Fundamentals.

C
1- Bill Walton
2- George Mikan
3- Chris Kaman

Not crazy at this position. But it would be fun to have Walton and Love in the lineup together grabbing boards and gunning the ball for fast breaks. Have to have Mikan just because. Kaman helps boost the Chippewa pride.

Nice little team. The starting 5 of Stockton, West, Bird, McHale and Walton is nasty. They'd win an NBA title if they were in the league together right now. And have the best layup line in the league. That's it for now. Sorry for not much more detail on this one.
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We have these energy strips at the Rec called 'Sheets'. They're terrible. Taste like NyQuil and didn't give me any energy. The only positive thing I can see from them is their marketing. See the vid here. Worth watching.

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This will probably be the last blog for a week. I leave in the morning to head to Michigan for a week. Sorry kids. Gotta enjoy the break a little bit. But maybe, just maybe, I'll check in from the Mitten to keep this big blogging month going.

If not, have a great weekend.

Slainte,
Gary

Nostalgic Christmas Wish List

2011-12-12T22:08:00.002-05:00

We're going to take a quick break from writing about white NBA players. It felt like it was becoming something of a creepy obsession, so new rule starting now- not allowed to write consecutively about white ballers. Done and done. So the All-Time White Dream Team will have to wait at least a day, being replaced by another list.

For some reason last night, the idle mind wandered, and I started thinking of old school Christmas gifts, that I would be ABOSLUTELY ok with receiving for Christmas this year. Of course, I wouldn't have much use for them and they'd probably sit on a shelf, but they would be awesome to receive as gifts.

Quick sidenote- we are hosting some cousins from my mom's side here at our place for New Years Eve, and going with an 80's/early '90's theme. In order to make it an awesome party, my plan is to raid my parents' basement on Christmas and see which toys are still left there from my childhood. I know there's some, but also know we gave some away. So it'll be like Christmas 20 years ago all over again. In fact, I'd be ok if my Mom didn't get me any presents, and instead just found old toys from my childhood and wrapped them instead. Now she has ideas for the future.

Onto the list... I wanted to keep it at a top ten, but it grew. As I write this sentence, it's at 17, but could grow by the end of the list. Instead of including pics directly in the blog entry, there's links instead. In no order other than the order I thought of them, here is my nostalgic Christmas wish list:

1- Wrestling Buddy- Fact: I have one of these in my house right now, the Hulk Hogan one. So do I need another one? No. But it was fun to link to Big Boss Man. Me and my brother used to do clotheslines on these things all the time. You reading Bill? We are reliving that on NYE after a few 7Ups.

2- Starting Lineups- I also have a buttload of these in my house. I had a shelf of them in my CMU office (probably like 50), but haven't yet infiltrated the Rowan office with the whole onslaught of these figurines (not dolls). I do have an extensive collection already, but no collection is complete without Al Toon.

3- Baseball Cards- I could get baseball, or basketball cards, every year and not get tired of opening them, and debating for a good 20 seconds whether or not to try eating the gum from the 1987 Topps pack. It could still be good, right? And what better set than 1987 Topps? Love that wooden frame.

4- Snapback Hats- I'm torn on whether to be thrilled or pissed that these are back in style now. The kids wearing them on campus were born between 1989 and 1993, when I already had a wall full of these hats. Companies like Mitchell and Ness can charge a fortune for hats they probably just had sitting in a warehouse for decades. I think I had both of them in this picture. I don't want new ones, they wouldn't be cool. I want the old ones I had 20 years ago.

5- American Gladiators toys- How ridiculous are these? How long did the newer version of this show last? Two episodes? Three? I can't say I had a lot of these, but thought of them, so kept them on the list. Gem-Gem-GEMINI!

6- Phoenix Suns Jerseys- I had two of these when I was in middle school- Barkley and KJ. That team was awesome. I wish I still had them, though they may not fit. But how did I not have Thunder Dan? I'm fighting the temptation to look this up on ebay right now... Don't need it... don't need it... Other good finds? Richard Dumas, Oliver Miller, Ced Ceballos. Don't need it... fight it...

7- He-Man Toys- Hell. Yes. I think He-Man was my first real childhood toy craze. Before others we're about to get to on here. How has this not been re-made in the past few years? Is it in the works? Someone look this up on IMDB for me. I am crossing my fingers right now that Castle Greyskull is somewhere in the basement of 104 Highwood Ave.

8- Ninja Turtles Stuff- So many different things to go with for a picture, but I remember the van that shot pizzas out of it. As weapons. What a dumb weapon though. If you were a bad guy, wouldn't it be cool to get pizzas thrown at you? Shredder's about to slice you in half with a sword, and you attach him with pepperoni pizza? I'm overthinking here.

9- Ghostbusters stuff- I had that firehouse, and still have the Marshmallow Man. There was a spot where you could pour the slime, but we weren't allowed to get that. Seeing as how I'm 30 and can't eat spaghetti without spilling sauce, Mom was probably right on that call.

10- NFL Zubaz Pants- If you wait long enough, everything comes back in style, right? It's time.

11- GI Joe Toys- This may be the most fun entry I've ever written. I think I had this one too. Unfortunately, I think once I was too old for GI Joes, we gave them to a family with younger kids. Yes, I meant it when I said 'unfortunately' before a sentence where we helped out another family.

12- Tapes- Bonus link- how awesome is this shirt? Before iPods, itunes, limewire, napster, file sharing or CD's, we had tapes. And I had a diverse collection, including Metallica, the first DMB album, Dr. Dre, and the green Beastie Boys Ill Communication.

13- Bart Simpson shirt- What kid (who was allowed to watch the Simpsons) didn't want to be Bart? And how crazy is it to think that Simpsons were considered inappropriate, by comparison to today's Family Guy and South Park stuff? But Simpsons were the first cutting edge cartoon, and I wanted to be cool like Bart on his skateboard. Actually, I think Bart deserves more credit than Tony Hawk for skateboarding's popularity.

14- Old School Posters- Best. Picture Gallery. Ever.

15- Madballs- I didn't have a bunch of these, but one of my friends did. Kinda weird honestly.

16- NES Games- We have a working NES system, so really any games are ok by me. The only ones we have are Mario 3, Punch-Out and Tecmo Super Bowl. The one pictured is Double Dragon.

17- Transformers toys- I didn't like these as much because they required more work than GI Joe, He-Man and the rest of the gang. But they're good enough to finish out this list!

PLEASE post some toys I've forgotten, and any other links you can come up with. This was fun.

We'll close out with a video I know I have posted before, but given the subject matter, deserves posting again.

Slainte,
Gary

The Best Layup Line Ever

2011-12-11T19:09:00.003-05:00

After doing the All-Time Dream Team a few days ago, buddy Dan Ek (who says his streetball nickname is Serge Zwikker) requested we do a list of the best white players ever. Why wouldn't we? The past few years while we were at CMU, most emails exchanged between us included a ridiculous pic of a player with skin tone similar to us. Just a stupid tradition.

So he emailed me his starting 5, and I put together my 15-man roster, and we'll have one of my former students, Drew Fairlss, weighing in with his thoughts as well. I'll post that maybe tomorrow night.

But for today's post, I looked at some guys who didn't make the cut, then decided to do a different list. 15 current or former white NBA players, who would make the most absurd looking layup line in the history of basketball. (I like going with the college 15-man roster over the NBA 12 so I can include more guys). But just imagine walking into a gym and seeing this group of guys taking turn with layups, then spending a little bit of time doing some pre-game dunk contest stuff, and throwing each other alley-oops, doing trick shots, and just hanging around together. I know I'd show up two hours early to watch that and try and get some autographs. Here's the list, complete with pictures linked just so you can get a picture in your head. The only rule for this list (SPOILER ALERT!!!!) is that nobody who made my real 15-man roster could be included. Because I know you care about my fake rules for my fake team.

Here we go. The Best Layup Line you have ever seen (or imagined).

Chris 'Birdman' Andersen
Kurt Rambis
Jack Sikma
Bill Laimbeer
Shawn Bradley
Greg Ostertag
Matt Geiger
Brian Scalabrine
Brian Cardinal
Brad Miller
Bryant Reeves
Adam Morrison
Robert Swift
Luke Harangody
Todd MacCulloch

Random thoughts to go with the random list... I love the MacCulloch Nets picture. Greatest team in the world? Nice work SLAM magazine.... Andersen wins that dunk contest in warmups... Scalabrine wins trick shot contest, I just feel like he practices those the most... Cardinal hustles the most... Ostertag, Big Country and MacCulloch battle to the death in a wing eating contest.... Rambis acts as player/coach, leading Laimbeer to resent him... Geiger and Miller get each other's backs in bar fights on road trips... and everyone picks on Swift for being weird.

Here's a video I've probably posted before... Did McHale even get ejected? People say the NFL has gotten softer... remember when stuff like this happened more often in the NBA? When the Bad Boys and Riley's Knicks just beat the crap out of people? Was a technical even called here? Today, he might be banned 10 games. This game? Personal foul?

Slainte,
Gary

Pardon The Huge Non-Sports Sports Day

2011-12-08T21:15:00.006-05:00

Today was a great day for PTI. Pardon the Interruption is the only show that comes on daily which I have my DVR set to record. It never stores more than one episode, just tapes over the old one. That's because if you watch PTI the next day, it's already old news. I usually watch it when I come home from work or after dinner.

The beauty of PTI is that it hops from one topic to the next so quickly, and doesn't require you to pay attention for too long at one time. The beauty of DVR is that I can fast forward through anything related to NHL, golf or NASCAR. Today wasn't a day to fast forward through anything. Today was a great day for PTI. So much going on. So I'm going to steal a page out of their book, and write a little bit about a handful of sports topics that came up today, none of which involved an actual sport in action. Let's roll.

CP3 to the Lakers
I heard about this via text message from Mike Fulldog Fuller. And it sunk my heart for about a minute. As a Knicks fan, I held out some unrealistic hope that my beloved Knickerbockers could land Chris Paul. Realistically, they didn't have the pieces to contend with the other 6 teams in the running. Paul to the Lakers though? Damn. Until you realize they gave up both Gasol and Odom, and that Paul was injured most of last year. So whatever. Am I downplaying it out of bitterness? Probably. But he wasn't getting traded to the Knicks if they were going to keep Carmelo and Amare. Which leads me to the next topic that I was excited about earlier in the day...

Chandler to the Knicks?
Not done just yet, but something I'm excited about. He'd be a protector for the Knicks, a rebounder and someone who doesn't need a lot of touches. I feel like I wrote this last week in a hypothetical blog about who the Knicks could get. Would I rather Paul throwing oops to Amare and pick and rolling with Carmelo? Duh. But I like Chandler at center.

(quick note... minutes after I wrote this, Trav texted me saying Stern vetoed the trade... damnit, I'm not re-writing or deleting this whole entry. My head hurts)

Battier to the Heat
This one wowed me more than the rest for some reason. I don't like it, because I do like Battier. He is a levelheaded guy and a very good role player who could bring some stability to a team that needs it. He was also one that I said I'd be happy with the Knicks getting. This one will fly under the radar with the Paul trade, but I think this is huge for the Heat. Damnit.

Pujols to the Angels
I didn't see that coming, but that's partly due to I didn't follow the Pujols rumors much at all. It surprised me. I thought either he'd stay with the Cardinals because, you know, they just won a World Series, or he'd go to the Miami (when the f did that happen) Marlins because of the Latino push they are making.

Bobby V to the Sox
I know this isn't breaking, but PTI did talk about his press conference and how he said he hates the Yankees. He has to say that, so I get it and am not angered by it. But damnit, I liked Bobby V and now I'm not allowed to. Screw you Red Sox. You know what? I hate YOU!

Big East
Also not breaking, but did they just add San Diego State? Despite the fact that conference realignment gave me a fun blog entry to write a few days ago, I hate it because it killed the Big East as we knew it. Sorry, Boise and SDSU don't belong in the Big East. Please change the name immediately, and forever retire the name Big East.

Charlie Weis to Kansas
Kansas has football? Whatever. Good for Charlie.

Oden to the Blazers
On one hand, I'm happy for Oden. On the other hand, did he just get 9 million dollars? Has he played a total of 82 games yet? I hope it works out for him and he gets healthy, but I don't see it. Poor Greg Oden. Not financially poor, just figurative poor. You get it.

Manning for MVP
Heard this on PTI... the new NFL magazine apparently had a column about how Peyton Manning is their MVP. Which doesn't make sense, but it does (I hate when people do that, and now I'm doing it). It makes sense because he has clearly proved himself incredibly valuable to his team, since they obviously miss him this year. But it's a jerk move in the faces of all the other Colts to write this. I guess they could avoid it by winning a game though.

Klosterman Tebow Column
Great piece on Grantland by smart person Chuck Klosterman about America's Tebow fascination, America's Tebow Christianity fascination, the meaning of faith, and the perplexity that is Tebow's success. Usually Klosterman's stuff is completely too intelligent for me, this was just mostly too intelligent for me. Worth reading. I'd link to it if my internet wasn't being lame right now, but if you google 'Tebow Klosterman', I'm sure it will come up.

And that's all I've got for you tonight.

As previously mentioned, my internet is not cooperating, and not allowing me to search for photos or videos. So Tony Reali can put that in his errors and omissions at the end of the show. Sorry gang for the incredibly bland looking post.

Slainte,
Gary

The All-Time Dream Team

2011-12-07T20:11:00.002-05:00

After writing the Super Conference blog, I wanted to do another sports list that I thought may generate a little discussion. And since I've been thinking about the NBA a lot lately, I wondered what would be my all-time NBA Dream Team. But since some others disagreed with some of the SuperCon selections, I thought I'd solicit some input for the All-Time Dream Team.

I emailed a handful of friends a few days ago, asking for their teams. The rules- everyone had to pick their own 15-man roster, and designate a first, second and third team. They didn't HAVE to fill it out with a specific PG-SG-SF-PF-C lineup, though they were encouraged to at least keep that in mind. No statistical analysis was required, but their own input on who they wanted or didn't want based off their own opinion was definitely factored in. I sent them all a link to Bill Simmons' top 96 players from his Book of Basketball if they wanted to use that as a starting point. Other than that, pretty much no rules.

Within 48 hours, I had 5 responses, plus my own. To put together the final list, a player received 5 points for each 1st team selection, 3 points for 2nd, 1 point for 3rd. In total, 29 different players made someone's team. Only three players made it onto one of everybody's team, and only one player was a unanimous first team selection.

To start things off, I'll give you my personal selection, then list the players who received votes, then everyone else's selections and comments, and finally, Gary and Friends' NBA Dream Team.

MY SELECTIONS
1st TEAM
PG- Magic
SG- Michael Jordan
SF- Larry Bird
PF- Bill Russell
C- Kareem Abdul-Jabbar

2nd Team
PG- Bob Cousy
SG- Jerry West
SF- Oscar Robertson
PF- Tim Duncan
C- Hakeem Olajuwon

3rd Team
PG- John Stockton
SG- Ray Allen
SF- Scottie Pippen
PF- Charles Barkley
C- Shaquille O'Neal

I don't think the first team needs any explanation. The most inconsistent position as far as voting went was Center, and I'm ok with Kareem, though not THAT ok with it. Could've gone 5 different directions there. For the 2nd team, I gave Cooz the nod over Stockton because there was definitely bias toward more recent players in my list, so I felt bad and gave the old guy the nod. Again, with the others you can't argue too much against. My third team could draw the most discussion outside of Stockton. I picked Ray Allen because the team needed one guy who can just shoot the lights out, and as a Knick fan, I couldn't take Reggie. I went with Scottie at SF because he was such a nasty defender, and could also provide some offense. I was surprised that I was the only one who gave him a vote. I've always loved Barkley, and thought he could stir the pot. Plus, he was so good on the 92 Dream Team, that that could refute arguments against him being bad for the team. And Shaq received three first place votes from others, so I'm not outlandish for his inclusion.

My tough omits were Wilt, Kobe, Nash, Isiah, Iverson, Dr. J and Rodman. I'm not a fan of Kobe, so he's out. Iverson wouldn't take well coming off the bench, even for this team. Could've put Dr. J over Scottie, but again wanted Pip's D. With Russell, Kareem, Olajuwon, Duncan and Shaq, Wilt becomes expendable. Honestly, the guy I wanted to include was Rodman because he wouldn't care at all about points, and just snag boards all day. But I couldn't kick the others off to put him in. So there's my list.

Now, the list of others receiving votes, starting with my 15. Magic, MJ, Bird, Russell, Kareem, Cousy, West, Oscar, Duncan, Hakeem, Stockton, Allen, Pippen, Barkley, Shaq, LeBron, Dr. J, Wilt, Reggie, Dirk, Karl Malone, Dwight Howard, Kobe, Isaiah, John Starks, Patrick Ewing, Steve Nash, Dwyane Wade and Kevin Garnett. Not a bad list.

Before getting to the final list, here are my friends' lists, with some explanations tossed in. (Disclaimer: I'm copy/pasting from emails, and not held responsible for their spelling errors!)
-----
Jeff 'Porkchop' Franklyn's list:

Just an FYI, I probably can’t have Larry Bird and MJ23 for all 15 spots, so I guess Ill follow the rules…

1st Team:
G-Magic Johnson
G-MJ23
F-Larry Bird
F-Bill Russell
C-Shaq

2nd Team:
G-Oscar Robertson
G-Kobe
F-Jerry West
F-Tim Duncan
C-Kareem

3rd Team
G-John Stockton
G-Isiah Thomas
F-Julius Irving
F-Karl Malone
C-Hakeem Olajuwon

16th spot: Ed Cota
-----
David Vincent Carmelo Anthony Giudice's List

Here's my list. I had to split up Jordan, Bird, and Magic because they shouldn't be on the same team.

Ewing was obviously headlining the first team. Then I got to thinking, if Ewing is on the squad, let's get Malone and Stockton their first rings as well. Best way to do that is to have Jordan and Oscar Robertson on there. Also, there is a clear alpha dog. Robertson and Stockton passed the ball. Malone would rather ride a horse than take a final shot. And Ewing would defer to Jordan.

I tried to go with the alpha dog thing onthe second team with Bird being the man. This team would win the rebounding battle against any team. They might struggle defensively, but I don't see a way that they don't score 300 points with Nash running pick and rolls with anyone else on the team.

For the third team I had Magic and Wilt, so I figured I should go all Lakers. I think this team would implode and brawl on the court. I want to see that. Kareem would absolutely punch Kobe within 3 minutes. Poor Jerry West.

First Team
John Stockton
Michael Jordon
Oscar Robertson
Karl Malone
Patrick Ewing

Second Team
Steve Nash
Dwayne Wade
Kevin Garnett
Larry Bird
Hakeem Olajuwon

Third Team
Magic Johnson
Jerry West
Kobe Bryant
Wilt Chamberlin
Kareem Abdul-Jabbar
-----
Dan 'Wish my last name was Majerle' Ekonen's List:
I did this before looking at Simmons. Let me know what you think. This was off the top of my head with little research, so i'm sure i'm forgetting a few.

First Team
Robertson
Jordan
Magic
Bird
Shaq

The drill: Alot of people will put magic at point here, however how many players have ever AVERAGED a triple double for a season in the NBA???? Oscar Robertson is one of the most underrated players ever. Shaq might also be controversial, sure wilt scored 100 and kareems the greatest scorer ever, but could either of them handle shaq in the post? he's the most dominant big man of all time. Big men are the key to this. They are hard to pick thru, still have kareem, wilt, hakeem, Duncan, Ewing, Russell.

Second Team
Stockton
Kobe?
Lebron - hate to admit it
Duncan
Russell
Stockton get's it done, Kobe is still debatably one of the best in the league in his 30's. When my buddy and i did this we had every reason not to put lebron on these lists, then we started looking at it and were like, who was a better 3-man, you really can't find one as good as him. Sucks he's on there but you really can't argue it. If you are asking me this in 5 years i'm putting Durant on there ahead of him, he's going to be one of the best ever. Timmy's the best 4 man ever, Russell has more championships than Jesus.

Third Team
Zeke
John Starks
Barkley
Kareem
Wilt

Big-time players, make big-time plays in big-time games... enter John Starks. this team needs one thing to compete, a hangnail player that is intense. There's nothing worse than having a hangnail and nothing worse than playing against Starks. Do you really see Jerry west putting up 20 against him? Isaiah is the man at the point, i'm partial being a michigander but he was tough. Barkley could straight out ball, had no business being that tough at 6-5 (maybe). Kareem and Wild deserve theirs. Can't argue them. Now that i look at this team, we have one volatile star after the next. Can you imagine what the locker room atmosphere was like here after a playoff loss. The funny thing is, if i take starks out, i'd consider having Iverson in there LOL.

The ones i hate to leave off are cousy, west, Ewing, the dream. Maybe you did this, but are we going to have an all white boy team? (Note: Yes, we will be doing that)
-----
Kenny 'Tex' Norris's List:

Aight, GareBear…here is my list.

I first thought I would lean towards older players because they played at a time when there was such a thing as defense. Then I thought about the fact that players these days have a lot more pressure on them and role players are better these days so it takes extra talent to have the spotlight.

First Team

PG – Bob Cousy (we did “Cousy” drills growing up in my school. He had Magic’s moves before Magic had Magic’s moves)
G – Michael Jordan (although not a very good bball executive, he was a great competitor and the clutchest player in the game)…yes, clutchest!
G – Larry Bird
F – Tim Duncan (the most boring greatest player on the list)
C – Olajuwan (maybe some UH and Houston Rocket biased, but he was awesome to watch in his day. Only Center I know who broke ankles consistently)

Second Team

PG – Magic
G – Lebron (if his brain could catch up with his skills, he will be scary)
G – Julius Erving
F – Bill Russell (yeah, yeah he has so many championships)
C – Wilt Chamberlain

Third Team
PG – John Stockton (greatest PG to never win a title)
G – Reggie Miller (greatest shooter the league has ever seen)…yes better then Ray Allen, I don’t care what the records say
G/F/C – Dirk (maybe a little premature, but he was crazy in the last playoff run)
F – Karl Malone (I hate Karl Malone, but wouldn’t feel right leaving John Stockton on this squad without him)
C – Dwight Howard (his only knock is his offense, but on this team he doesn’t need it)

People that would absolutely not make my list!

1.Allen Iverson: Complete Idiot and thug! Him winning a championship would have been a disgrace. He is everything about basketball that I am not

2.Dennis Rodman: Complete Idiot and horrible at basketball. He was a great rebounder and that is it!

3.Shaq: Not good enough at basketball to make my list. He was big and an athlete, but have very little basketball skills

4.Tracy McGrady: Having to watch him in Houston were some of the worst years of my bball life. He is horrible and the worst clutch player I have ever watched.

I will add the disclaimer that I did zero research and went completely from the hip, however I stand by my opinion. : ) (his smiley face, not mine)
-----
Travis 'I'mnevergoingtoletGarylivedownthetimehewokeupfromdrunkensleepandproclaimedAtleastI'mnoNancyLieberman' Haskins' List:

Team 1
PG-Magic
SG-Jordan
SF-Bird
PF-Shaq
C-Russell

Team 2
PG- Oscar
SG- Kobe
G-West
PF-Hakeem
C-Karim

Team 3
PG-Lebron
SG-Julius Erving
SF- Barkley (just wanted to put small in front of his name)
PF- Duncan
C- Wilt
------
There you have em, lists from me and five friends. As mentioned, only one unanimous first-team selection (MJ), and only three who made everyone's lists (MJ, Magic, Bird). Not really a shocker there. The most curious inclusion has to be Starks, but I love it and am now somewhat jealous I didn't find a way to work Oakley onto the team. After totaling up all the points, here are our final Dream Teams:

1st Team
MJ
Bird
Magic
Russell
Oscar

2nd Team
Shaq
Hakeem
Duncan
Kareem
Stockton

3rd Team
West
Cousy
Kobe
LeBron
Karl Malone

Now, if you look at these teams, everyone appears like they legitimately deserve to be considered for an all-time list. But if we were looking to really fill out an actual roster and actual line changes if you will, that second team would be pretty funny to watch. John Stockton (and his short shorts) just running the floor dishing it to four seven-footers.

So, for argument's sake, let's say that we need to fill out the team with everyone reasonably playing within one spot of their natural position. Which means our first team can stay intact. Magic at point, MJ at shooting guard, Oscar at small forward, Bird bumps from a 3 to 4 at power forward, and Russell plays Center. I had him listed as a PF, which he would probably be today, but was a center in his day.

For the 2nd team, Stockton stays at point, West gets bumped up from 3rd team to play SG (he had the same amount of points as Kobe, but I bump him up, continuing by Kobe dislike), Duncan plays SF. Duncan's listed position has varied between PF and C, so I counted him as a PF. If we count him as a Center, he can't slide two spots... and then we bump up Karl Malone from the third team. I feel like Duncan is a more realistic SF. I digress. Hakeem plays PF, and Shaq C.

Our 3rd team on the adjusted Dream Team has Cousy at point, Kobe shooting guard, LeBron at SF, Malone at PF, and Kareem at C. Pretty nice third team.

In all, we didn't need to adjust the lineups all that much for them to actually make sense.

And so there you have it, your All Time Dream Team. If you disagree with the outcome, leave a comment, or don't and just concede defeat.

Another fun list to make, thank you guys for your input!

And for today's video, we include highlights from the person on the list you are least likely to have ever seen play if you are reading this blog. Complete with really cheesy music, but without a 3-point line.

Slainte,
Gary

Don't Give Up

2011-12-04T14:24:00.003-05:00

Every year around this time I post the same video. You've probably seen it by now- the famous Jimmy V speech. Jim Valvano, with his body full of cancer, and only weeks away from his death, gave his inspiring speech about life, laughter, emotion, and other things. It was the start of the Jimmy V Foundation, but also serves as an annual reminder during this week at the start of college basketball season, to listen to his words.

Even if you have heard it 100 times, hear it for time 101. Enjoy your life. Be enthusiastic. He quotes Ralph Waldo Emerson, "Nothing great can be accomplished without enthusiasm." I love love LOVE his optimism and inspiration. A friend of mine, Porkchop, posted this on facebook, and how it inspires him. It should be required watching for everyone at least once a year, along the lines of the Last Lecture and Tuesdays with Morrie should be required readings. Life lessons from people who have no agenda, other than to inspire a few other people, and share some of their final thoughts.

It also helped to fund millions and millions of dollars of cancer research, for which I am personally thankful. We just got the news this week that my grandpa Charlie's cancer is in remission. Great news. GREAT news.

Cancer took its toll on my Grandpa, seemingly aging him 20 years in a few months. But when you listen to Jimmy V say "It cannot touch my mind, it cannot touch my heart, it cannot touch my soul," that relates directly to my grandpa. It has touched his body. But while he has lost a step, in many ways, he is still sharp as a tack. It maybe even increased his smart-ass-ness (a compliment in our family). And he sat a few weeks ago and was telling about the Red Auerbach book I got him, and what an asshole he was. In those ways, it did not touch his mind.

The day he was telling me about the book was the day of my Grandma's birthday party, which my grandpa planned. He got everyone to cheers their glasses to her, and gave her a kiss on the cheek in front of all the kids and grandkids. It did not touch his heart.

And when he first learned of the cancer, before the chemo, before the weight loss, before an accompanying stroke, but while everyone in the family was rightfully upset, he told me over the phone, "Gar- I'm gonna beat it". Done. It did not touch his soul.

Jimmy V's words changed a lot of lives, either just through their meaning or the subsequent cancer research. Everyone has in some way felt the effects of cancer. If you want to support the V Foundation, you can donate $10 by just texting jimmyv to the number 85944, and it will add $10 to your next phone bill.

But whether you want to donate or not, you can pause or mute the tv for ten minutes, stop browsing facebook, or just use the rest of your smoke break at work, and listen again to the speech, and see how you can involve his words in your own life.

Slainte,
Gary

Super Conference

2011-11-27T13:00:00.007-05:00

For a while, I've been toying with the idea of writing something about creating a college sports Super Conference. The idea came up either in the late summer or early fall, when all of the different rumors started swirling about teams hopping from one conference to another, aligning themselves to not be the ones left behind in a soon-to-be weak conference (Big East, ACC namely). It was hard to keep up with who was going where.

In the past, I have talked with friends about which school you would pick if you were a big-time 2-sport recruit in football and basketball. That conversation, combined with all the realignment, spurred the idea of creating a hypothetical Super Conference, based solely off of those two sports. I posted the question on here and on facebook about which schools you would include, and got some responses. I've had notes laying around for a while, listing different schools, but now it's time to get down to business.

The Super Conference consists of 16 teams, and again, is based off of the best combo of football and basketball. There were very few no-brainers of the bunch, but some were easy to exclude. Two ground rules used to create this list: If a team was listed in both AP Top 25 polls (as of Saturday), they get automatic nods. After I looked at those lists, there was only one team that I probably wouldn't have thought of. The only other rule is that in order to be considered for the Super Conference, a team has to be either currently ranked, or 'also receiving votes' in one of the two conferences. At first glance, I don't think that excluded any teams off the bat that deserved inclusion.

Alright, let's get down to business. I look forward to any arguments or comments over who does or doesn't belong.

THE AUTOMATICS
These four teams were currently ranked in both top 25, as of Saturday night anyway, and therefore receiving automatic bids into the SuperCon.
1- Wisconsin
2- Alabama
3- Michigan
4- Baylor

Kind of a surprising first four, but those were the ones ranked in both. Of those four, I think I would have come up with Michigan off the top of my head, and maybe given Wisconsin consideration. Wisconsin is a team that never really wows you in either sport, but always has a solid program. You never think of them as an electric team. Bama is obviously dominant in football, but not one I would consider as a hoops powerhouse. They're currently ranked 14th in BB, good enough to get their auto-bid. The dark horse here is Baylor. I would not have thought of them, but they were ranked 19th in football and 10th in hoops. Some other schools are going to be upset Baylor got the nod over them. (if this actually meant anything)

For the next round of inclusions, I took another four teams. Two were currently ranked in football (at the time I wrote this anyway), and also received BB votes. The other two are ranked in basketball, and traditionally have good football programs.

5- Michigan State
6- Notre Dame
7- Ohio State
8- Florida

This conference is already looking to have some midwest bias, with Michigan, Wisconsin, Michigan State, Notre Dame and Ohio State. We'll add another rule as a result- no more Big Ten teams. Michigan State is ranked in football, but not in basketball right now, and it's usually the other way around. Notre Dame sneaks in because they were ranked when I started this, but after the Stanford game knocked out of the top 25. (Actually as I was writing this, ESPN updated its online rankings and ND was dropped... luck o the Irish.) But I think I would have kept them in for being relevant in both sports, and also just for the ND appeal. In creating the SuperCon, I (as commissioner) would have to factor in national attention, and ND certainly has that. As do Ohio State and Florida, who are both usually solid in both sports. They are the same as Michigan State right now in that they are currently ranked in one sport, but not the one that you usually think of as their strength. I think if I were making this list off the top of my head, they would have been two of the three teams I included right off the bat.

Which brings me to that third team, which isn't ranked in either current Top 25, but received votes in both.

9- Texas

I don't think you can argue this one. National appeal, competitive in both, and sometimes a powerhouse in both at the same time (though football is more likely), similar to Ohio State and Florida.

So we have our top 9. I don't feel entirely comfortable including Baylor, but that was one of the rules (which I made up, and could break or change, but what fun would that be). The only other rule I had was that they have to be either ranked or receiving votes in one or the other. That left 67 teams. To my chagrin, CMU wasn't on either list, and neither is Rowan, even in D3. The 67 teams even up for consideration are:

LSU, Arkansas, Stanford, Oklahoma State, Virgina Tech, Boise State, Houston, Oregon, USC, Oklahoma, Georgia, South Carolina, Kansas State, Clemson, TCU, Penn State, Nebraska, Virginia, Georgia Tech, West Virginia, Tulsa, Auburn, Southern Miss, Rutgers, Arkansas State, Iowa State, Cincinnati, UNC, Kentucky, UConn, Syracuse, Duke, Louisville, Memphis, Xavier, Kansas, Marquette, Pitt, Vandy, Gonzaga, Cal, Missouri, Florida State, Arizona, Mississippi State, Texas A&M, Cleveland, Creighton, Washington, UNLV, Villanova, Temple, San Diego State, St. Mary's, Oregon State, Kent State, Belmont, St. Louis, Purdue, NM State, Long Beach State, Harvard, Illinois, Georgetown, Middle Tennessee, Minnesota and Marshall.

That's 66 teams that we have to trim down to 7. Whoa. The easy part is to knock out some teams before considering who DOES belong. So let's start with eliminating teams that either don't have D1 football, are laughable in one of the two sports, or just have zero appeal whatsoever. By doing that, gone are 28 teams:

Boise, Houston, TCU, Virginia, Tulsa, Southern Miss, Rutgers, Ark St, UConn, Duke, Xavier, Marquette, Gonzaga, Cleveland State, Creighton, UNLV, Nova, Temple, St. Mary's, Kent St, Belmont, St. Louis, NM State, Long Beach, Harvard, GTown, MTSU and Marshall. Sorry gang.

Now we're down to 39 teams. We said no more Big Ten teams, so see ya later Minnesota, Illinois, Purdue, Nebraska and Penn State. Down to 34 teams, and still only 7 spots left.

For the next round of cuts, we'll just say these teams don't do too much for me. No scientific reason for why to exclude them, they just don't seem like they would belong in a Super Conference based off the 2-sport combo.

See ya later Georgia, South Carolina, Kansas State, Clemson, Auburn, Iowa State, LVille, Memphis, Vandy, Mizzou, Washington, SDSU, Oregon State. And you know what, time to take my BB bias out. Also gone are Syracuse, UNC and Kentucky. Just not enough football power there.

That leaves 18 teams left for the final 7 spots. Our final 18 are LSU, Arkansas, Stanford, Oklahoma State, Virginia Tech, Oregon, USC, Oklahoma, Georgia Tech, West Virginia, Cincy, Kansas, Pitt, Cal, Florida State, Arizona, Mississippi State and Texas A&M.

I think my next five cuts are Oklahoma State (not sure why), Georgia Tech, Cincy (solid effort, but doesn't feel like they belong), Kansas (not enough of a football draw), and Mississippi State (how did they last this long?). That leaves 13 spots for 7 teams. Now we can start thinking about who does get in...

I think my next three teams in are Stanford, USC and Oklahoma. We need another school in there to bring some kind of academic balance so this isn't a complete joke, hence the nod for Stanford. They're usually good in both, have produced some solid pros to have some following, and give another west coast team. Oklahoma is solid in both, adds a rival for Texas into the mix, and also produces some good pros. As for USC, we need someone to spice things up, and it will give someone for everyone to hate (for those of us who don't hate Notre Dame.

Recapping, our teams in at this point are:

1- Wisconsin
2- Alabama
3- Michigan
4- Baylor
5- Michigan State
6- Notre Dame
7- Ohio State
8- Florida
9- Texas
10- Stanford
11- Oklahoma
12- USC

Four spots left for ten teams to fight over. We just added two California teams, so let's eliminate Cal. And we have two teams from Texas, so we'll get rid over Texas A&M (I know that's a very arbitrary way of doing things, but bear with me, it makes things convenient here in a sec). We now have 8 teams left, representing four different conferences. LSU and Arkansas from the SEC, Virginia Tech and Florida State from the ACC, Pitt and WVU from the Big East, and Oregon and Arizona from the PAC 12. For simplicity's sake, we'll say we take one from each of those conferences for the final four spots.

LSU vs. Arkansas: Arkansas feels like Wisconsin for me. They're always kinda there, but I never think of them as dominant. As for LSU, I think of them more as a football school, but they also gave us Shaq, Pistol Pete and Big Baby. LSU gets the nod here.

Pitt vs. West Virginia: Good matchup here. I'd give Pitt an edge in BBall, WVU in football. Let's go to some stats to solve this, since I don't think 'national appeal' gives us a clear tie-breaker. WVU's all-time football win percentage is .600, Pitt .579. WVU has made 24 NCAA Tourney appearances, Pitt 23. Wow, close on both counts, but the Mountaineers get the edge.

Virginia Tech vs. Florida State: Again, I wish there was a team that clearly was more appealing of these two to the naked eye of someone who really doesn't care much about either school. For a personal tie-breaker, I hired a Grad Assistant from VT, but Travis likes Florida State. Toss-up. Let's look at stats again. FSU has the edge in both football (.664 to .608) and tourney appearances (13-8). Seminoles are in.

Oregon vs. Arizona: For the final spot, the PAC 12 teams face off. I'd say Oregon for football, Arizona for hoops. I'd also say Oregon gets the national appeal vote, and maybe can get a Nike sponsorship for all the teams in the SuperCon. So I'm leaning toward Oregon, but let's check stats just for argument's sake. Arizona surprisingly has a better all-time football win percentage, by .031 points. For hoops, it's not even close. Zona made the tourney 29 times to Oregon's 10. Hmmmmm, stats or gut? I'm going with Oregon for the national allure and the Nike connection.

So our final 16 teams in the Super Conference are:

1- Wisconsin
2- Alabama
3- Michigan
4- Baylor
5- Michigan State
6- Notre Dame
7- Ohio State
8- Florida
9- Texas
10- Stanford
11- Oklahoma
12- USC
13- LSU
14- West Virginia
15- Florida State
16- Oregon

Let's split them up into two different divisions, warm and cold. For some of these, it was obvious, some I'm not really sure. I placed 14 of them off the top of my head, and had 7 in each division, with Stanford and Oklahoma left, and checked which campus was warmer as I was writing it to split them up. Since we'll probably be able to give the athletes some kind of payment in the next few years, we'll agree to give the teams in the Cold Division an extra thousand dollars to buy winter clothes. Here are the two divisions

COLD
Wisconsin, Michigan, Michigan State, Notre Dame, Ohio State, West Virginia, Oregon and Oklahoma

WARM
Alabama, Baylor (I have no idea if Baylor is in the north or south in Texas), Florida, Texas, USC, LSU, FSU and Stanford

Sound like a good conference to you? Sounds ok to me. Not sold, but interested to hear arguments, outrages, and observations from the peanut gallery on who should be omitted, and who should be included, any other additions or rules you'd put into play.
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I wrote a while back about how I dislike a lot of NFL celebrations these days. Because of that, I loved Bob Costas' little halftime rant on sportsmanship. Enjoy.

Slainte,
Gary

Free Agent Frenzy?

2011-11-27T10:08:00.002-05:00

Welcome to part 2 of my heavily researched sabermetric completely analyzed analysis of the top NBA Free Agents. Or something like that. If you didn't see Part 1, click here for the list of the top ten white NBA Free Agents. Today I'm doing a top ten list of the NBA free agents I'd be excited to see come to my favorite team, the NY Knicks.

Now I know you're surprised that there is a difference in the two lists, given that the NBA is loaded with American born white superstars. But this year's free agent class must be something of an anomale. I digress.

I honestly did not put any advanced metrics into making this list. I looked at the list of free agents for about 90 seconds, and I looked at the Knicks' roster for about 30 seconds, and then jotted down some names. With Carmelo, Amare and Chauncey (or Toney Douglas) in the starting lineup, it looks like Shooting Guard and Center are the biggest needs for the New York Knickerbockers. The likely fit would be just to target two fan favorites, Brians Cardinal and Scalabrine, have them play whatever position they want since they are known for their versatility, and launch a marketing campaign called the Killa B's. But since they are team players, and wouldn't want to upset Melo and Amare, they'd probably go for being role players. With that most likely scenario having been discussed, let's look at ten other free agent possibilities I'd like to see play in the Garden.

THE BIGS
The Knicks best two players are frontcourt guys, but beyond them, the other guys are underwhelming. Ronny Turiaf, Jared Jeffries, Shelden Williams, Renaldo Balkman... just not getting me too excited. Now they may have filled the need for size inside by drafting Josh Harrelson, but could probably afford to sign him a backup. Here are three guys they won't get, but are free agents and it's fun to daydream.

NENE: One list I saw had him as the top available free agent, and he's big and mean, which is something Amare isn't necessarily. Plus, he already has the hat, so he's good to go.

MARC GASOL: Wasn't he a bust pretty recently? Now he's a beast. If I were to sign him, I would require him to make this face at least 20 times per game. But like Nene, he scores a lot, and maybe with Carmare (we'll combine them instead of writing out Carmelo and Amare) eating up a lot of possessions, there may not be enough scoring to go around. Which makes me excited about getting someone like this next guy.

TYSON CHANDLER: He's a big who doesn't need to score, and could just spend time protecting the rim while Carmare spend time resting on defense so they could score points.

THE WINGS
If the Knicks were able to sign any of those three bigs, they could use the other underwhelming guys to go out there, grab a few boards, play some d and foul the crap out of people. So now onto the next group, the wings. Again, I have put very little time into this. Some of these guys could play the 2 and 3, some could play the 3 and a small 4 in a run and gun offense. Some I'd just like to see for whatever reason.

J.R. SMITH: I like him only because he is exciting to watch, about half the time. I know half the time he probably doesn't care, but the other half he could go off for 30 points. At least he'll keep you on your toes.

WILSON CHANDLER: Maybe they could get him back.

GRANT HILL/SHANE BATTIER: Hill somehow still has some gas left in the tank, but I wouldn't expect much out of him. And Battier would be a good guy to add who could provide some D on a team that would be more concerned with playing O. Plus either one of these guys could come in and provide some leadership and stability on a team that probably needs some of that.

THE POINTS
Chauncey isn't a long-term solution. Maybe Toney Douglas is, but even so, you need a backup. Or just another guard to throw out there in a 3-guard combo if you go small ball. Here are a few who could possibly work.

JJ BAREA: Exciting to watch, can score from the point position, and probably wouldn't mind coming off the bench and running around like crazy for 20 minutes a game. Or he could start at the point.

AARON BROOKS: Another guy who could score from the point, come off the bench, dish some assists, and provide a lift.

RODNEY STUCKEY: He replaced Chauncey in Detroit, maybe he can do the same in NY. I don't like him as a starter though. He would be a good combo guard coming off the bench for either position.

HONORABLE MENTION: Those are my top ten guys I wouldn't mind seeing in blue and orange, here are a few other real quick hits from the list who I'd be at least intrigued in getting to NY (besides the Killa B's).

Greg Oden- he'll probably get hurt, but what if he didn't...
Jamal Crawford- Instant offense
Delonte West- entertainment value
Kurt Thomas- never know when you need a hard foul or a top of the key jumper
Tayshaun Prince- just to come in and play some D
DJ Mbenga- Who wouldn't want this guy's championship experience?

Alright, that's all I've got. Please feel free to post your suggestions from this list as to who you'd want to see on the Knicks (or your team if you like someone else).

Just for the heck of it, here's some highlights of the best team ever assembled.

Slainte,
Gary

Top White NBA Free Agents

2011-11-26T11:16:00.002-05:00

I woke up this morning to the news that the NBA owners and players have tentatively reached an agreement. For the sake of this blog, let's remove 'tentatively' and just say the lockout is done. This means that once Notre Dame and the Jets are done, I will have more mediocre regular season sports action to watch. The league is supposed to start on Christmas, with free agency opening up December 9th. That means just over two weeks for everyone to sign and get acclimated to their new teams. Which got me really excited, because the shortened NFL offseason resulted in an awesomely chaotic few days of free agency.

But then I looked up the top NBA free agents, and realized it will be somewhere far short of awesome. This definitely isn't the summer when LeBron turned all of America against him, and other big free agents were on the market. Far fewer big names available, if any big names at all. If you want the complete list, here you go. But I've got two awesome lists of my own.

Since a top ten list wouldn't be that much fun, here's a top ten of players I'd be excited to see the Knicks get (coming tomorrow because I have to straighten up the house before my parents get here), and a top ten white free agents. Note- some of these 'white' players are international players who may or may not call themselves white. They may be Hispanic, albino, light-skinned, Yugoslavian, American, or Martians for all I know. But the people on this list are on this list because to a person passing them on the street, they may appear to be white. If you want to get offended by my classifications and want to get into an argument, I'll save you the time- you win the argument. Just trying to have some fun. Let's start with that list, complete with a link to the most ridiculous pic I could find in a 20-second search of each player.

TOP TEN 'WHITE' FREE AGENTS
1- Brian Cardinal: I was incredibly disappointed to find out that the Brian Cardinal facebook page I liked a while back was replaced with the Official Brian Cardinal facebook page. The old one talked fake trash all through the playoffs, and mocked LeBron. Damn.

2- JJ Barea: Probably earned himself a ton of money in the playoffs.

3- Brian Scalabrine: If I were an NBA GM, I would absolutely sign Scalabrine as my 12th man. How often do you use the 12th guy? And wouldn't you want to spend the minimum salary on him for comedy's sake?

4- Jonas Jerebko- the 2nd best JJ on this list.

5- Darius Songaila- though I think he is committed to playing in Europe this summer.

5 1/2 (replacing 6)- Shane Battier- I give him a half, because he has a black father and a white mother (I looked it up). I would love having this guy on my team. Plus, he is going to be President some day.

7- Andrei Kirilenko- Maybe he should be higher, but clearly not much thought went into this list. As owner, I would require him to put AK47 on his jersey.

8- Troy Murphy- because he's from Jersey AND Notre Dame. Had to make the list.

9- Mike Dunleavy Jr. (see previous pic)- running out of people for the list

10- Chris Quinn- because I refused to include Sasha Vujacic on the list.
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Alright, that's all for today. I'll have that Knicks list posted tomorrow too.

It's only fitting to include a video of white guys dunking. (I noticed several Hispanic players on this video... so if youtube can have them in this vid, I can have Barea on my list!)

Slainte,
Gary

Thankful 2011

2011-11-22T18:29:00.003-05:00

I think around this time every year I write a similar blog entry about what I am thankful for. It may be somewhat cliche this time of year, but I think it is absolutely worth taking a few minutes to think about.

I am thankful for a wife who wasn't afraid to leave her home state to move to mine.
I am thankful that I am fortunate enough to be closer to my family this time of year, for the first time since 2003.
I am thankful that I have four grandparents who I can see.
I am thankful for two awesome parents, both of whom I have learned very valuable lessons fro, and who I have inherited many qualities from.
I am thankful for my siblings who have put up with the smartass middle child for all these years.
I am thankful that I was able to get married in Ireland.
I am thankful that I have an able enough body to exercise and play sports without trouble, that I have eyes that can see, ears that can hear, and a mouth to voice my opinion. These are things we take for granted. Imagine living without any of them.
I am thankful to have grown up somewhere where I received a good education, and that I was fortunate enough to go to college.
I am thankful that I've had some awesome mentors in my life.
I am thankful that I've had some awesome students in my life.
I am thankful for two pets, each with their own unique personality.
I am thankful that I've been blessed with a career that allows me to experience diversity that I didn't experience in my upbringing, and I've made friends from 8 Mile to Hoover High, that some of my best friends hail from Pascagoula Mississippi, San Diego, Nacagdoches Texas, Negaunee in the UP to Belfast Ireland.
I am thankful to be able to work at the school I went to. I am thankful that I can share stories of my stupid college mistakes with other students in my shoes, so that maybe they make fewer of the same mistakes.
I am thankful for four of the best years of my life in Mount Pleasant.
I am thankful that even though I'm far from rich, I can still spare a few bucks for people who need it more.
I am thankful for my faith.
I am thankful for my opportunity to choose to live out my faith.
I am thankful that I've had friends my whole life to share laughs, and to keep me in check.
I am thankful for a bunch of more lighthearted things...
I am thankful that I grew up in an area with good sports teams.
I am thankful for my huge muscles and astonishingly good lucks.
I am thankful for my sense of humor, and humility.
I am thankful that God created the guy who created ice cream.
I am thankful that I can afford to not drink Keystone Light like my students do.
I am thankful for Bill Simmons writing, Ben Harper's music, and for Sons of Anarchy.
I am thankful that I have made friends in life who willingly introduce themselves as Porkchop, Bubba, and Crunchy.
I am thankful for my Dwight Schrute bobblehead.
I am thankful for my GPS.
I am thankful for my new Mac computer at work.
I am thankful for my DVR.
I am thankful that I can tell stories from college which include Nancy Lieberman, jumping off a balcony, hustling for car bombs, and hitting golfballs off a pitcher's mound well past midnight.
I am thankful that I've grown away from those things.
I am thankful that my friends didn't call me a slacker even though I'm clearly slacking with blog entries lately.
I am thankful for the Jersey Shore (the place, not the show) and Lake Michigan.
I am thankful for all the other places I've been able to see. I just found out that one of the students I traveled to Syracuse with had grown up in Jersey but never been to NY, and another has never been on a plane. So much to see!

In all, I am thankful for the people I love and who love me, all the blessings I have received in my life, the lessons I have learned, and for the freedoms that have been bestowed upon me. And of course, I am thankful that you are reading this.
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Our old buddy Tex sent this video after the last blog entry which included some Bama/Auburn talk. I am thankful I was never threatened with the discipline of having to go to the Auburn store.

Slainte,
Gary

Sports Shorts

2011-11-09T19:33:00.003-05:00

No time for coherent thoughts, let's go to some scattered sports thoughts. Boom.

-Just watched Roll Tide/ War Eagle. A friend of mine posted on facebook last week, "I see you with your documentaries lately, ESPN.' They stepped it up again this week with the doc about Alabama/Auburn. I've lived in Michigan where people think Ohio State vs. Michigan is the biggest rivalry in college football. They're wrong. Nothing compares to Alabama/Auburn. Yanks/Sox doesn't compare to it, because Yanks and Sox don't play in the same state. During my one year in Alabama, I remember reffing youth flag football and having little kids yelling ROLL TIDE/WAR EAGLE at each other. They may have been 7. Crazy stuff. If you get a chance, watch the documentary. Crazy, and also sad when it gets to the poisoning of Auburn's trees.

-Speaking of sadness in college sports, you can't turn on ESPN without hearing about Penn State. Very sad story, incredibly depressing to think of what happened to young kids on PSU's campus, and that it wasn't stopped sooner. But also somewhat sad that this is the way JoePa goes out.

-I don't want to hear ANY more stories about how the NBA players and owners are CLOSE to an agreement. Just shut up and stop reporting anything until a deal is done.

-Speaking of hoops, I get to go to a Syracuse game next week. I'll be at the university for a NIRSA Conference, and one of the social events is a game at the Carrier Dome. Can't wait.

-My short-lived flag football season came to an end last night, bowing out in our first playoff game. I had some Gatorade drink right before the game that we were supposed to drink before the marathon but forgot. I joked to Kalee that I was going to have 3 TD's because of the Gatorade. Not quite. 2 TD's and a pick. Our team may have lost, but I had a solid fantasy night. Plus I have a new pre-game drink for any athletic event I ever participate in.

-Speaking of fantasy, kinda... my team Unprotected Rex is hurting after starting 7-0. 2 straight losses. Not worried though, still in first. #falseconfidence

-I have had some notes written up for a little while for a blog entry that I keep procrastinating, because it would actually take some thought. Anyway, the idea was to write a blog selecting 16 teams to be part of a college sports Super Conference. With all the schools realigning, I started thinking about which would be the best schools to select to be part of a conference, if based purely off of football and basketball. No other sports matter, geography doesn't matter, loading up from one existing conference doesn't matter. It has to be based off the best combo of those two revenue-generating sports. So Duke, despite being a basketball powerhouse, wouldn't get in because their football program stinks. So I'll end with this... If you're reading this, which schools come to mind for you as the best combo of football/basketball? Thanks for helping me write this blog entry!
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Since I couldn't think of any good videos to include, and Barkley gave a great quote in the documentary (see above right), we'll just give you a reminder that Chuck wasn't always just an overweight smartass commentator. He was the best power forward in the league.

Slainte,
Gary

Fall Reviews

2011-11-02T19:55:00.002-04:00

It's been a long time since I've done any movie reviews on here, so I thought I'd write a few quick ones here tonight. But I haven't seen too many movies lately, so we'll mix them in with a few TV reviews and call it a night. Rapid fire, starting with three movies. Ready? Ready.

SOMETHING BORROWED
This stars some girl named Ginnifer, a pretty boy male character, Jim Halpert and Kate Hudson, who I don't think is that attractive. Anyway, the main girl character sleeps with her best friend's fiance, leading to two hours of tomfoolery, other guy likes main girl, fiance guy is a cheater, but best friend girl is also a cheater, and the main character ends up breaking up their wedding and ending up with pretty boy cheater fiance guy. I think that was supposed to be a happy-ish ending, but I didn't like all the cheating. C-

X-MEN FIRST CLASS
And this is the reason why I picked out the chick flick, for the most part. I know if I am going to pull off renting a comic book movie, I have to be willing sit through something I wouldn't normally like and earn some brownie points so that Kalee doesn't stop talking to me because I like movies geared toward 8-year-olds. I had heard good things about this X Men, and was kinda disappointed. It tells the story of how Professor X and Magneto get started, and I feel like a tool for having just written that. Mediocre comic movie. C

COMPANY MEN
Ben Affleck really branches out by playing a rich guy from Massachussets. Loses his job because of downsizing, has to make ends meet being a carpenter, ends up renewing his relationship with family. I think this also was supposed to be uplifting in the end, but was mostly depressing. Kept my interest though. B-

TV SHOWS- a few new ones, a few old ones.

REVENGE
This is a new show, which is pretty soap opera-ish, but we like it. The premise is that a girl's Dad was framed for something by a bunch of rich snobs and went to jail and died, I think. This happened when she was a little girl, but now she comes back to the Hamptons to seek revenge on anyone and everyone who had anything to do with her dad's injustice. Some pretty corny characters and bad acting, but it has kept us entertained. C+

PRIME SUSPECT
Another show with a female lead. I read an article in the Philly Inquirer that there were like 12 new shows on the major cable companies with female leads. Which is irrelevant really, but I felt like sharing. Prime Suspect is a cop show (we're suckers for cop shows), with Maria Bello as a badass, smart-mouthed cop trying to hang with the guys. Pretty good show, and better than watching Law and Order reruns from the 90s. B-

LAW AND ORDER SVU
Not the same without Stabler. I give it this season, maybe one more if they don't bring him back. C

THE OFFICE
Not the same without Michael Scott, but I rate it better than SVU without Elliot. I'm not a big fan of Robert California, but think the rest of the gang is doing ok. They get to develop other characters a little more, and since I was always a big fan of Nard Dog, mixing things up a little was ok with me. I don't think other people like it as much though, and it's definitely losing some edge. I hope this show survives. B-

JERSEY SHORE
The Italy season was terrible, and makes me even more embarrassed that I actually watch this crap. But I can't stop. I feel ashamed... but still look forward to it. They are ridiculously dumb, I really can't stand Deena to the point where I make an uuugghh sound every time they show her on TV, and there's really nothing productive that comes out of watching it, except maybe a few good Pauly D lines. That said, I'll probably watch it again. D

SONS OF ANARCHY
Best show on television. For my money, there is no contest with what's on right now, but I'm running out of shows to watch so please leave suggestions. I have loved every season of Sons, and this season hasn't disappointed. I find myself despising certain characters like Clay and the new creepy agent, but that means they are doing a great job of character development. If you haven't watched Sons, rent season 1, and I guarantee you'll be hooked. A+

And that's all I have for right now. Like I said, several of 'our shows' aren't on TV anymore (Wire, Rescue Me, Lost, Chicago Code, regular L&O), so let us know what to set the DVR for and I'll try it out.

Two more bonus reviews actually. One documentary, one book, both solid. The doc was called Unguarded, and was on ESPN last night about former college star and brief NBA player Chris Herren, whose career was ruined by his drug problems. I can't say it was a good story, because it was sad, but it was a very good documentary about him and his addiction. Worth checking out if you can find a rerun. The book I'm currently reading is called 'Odd Man Out', which is written by a guy who spent one year playing for an Angels single-A baseball team, and this is his account of that year. I'm about 100 pages in so far, and it's been a great read.

Today's video is crappy footage of one of my favorite Office openings ever.

Slainte,
Gary

Happy Halloversary

2011-11-01T20:16:00.003-04:00

Since I've been slacking on blog entries lately, we're going to cover two holidays in one entry. If you can't figure it out, then maybe it's time to start exercising your brain a little more often.

The past four days saw the passing of my first Anniversary and my first Halloween in Jersey since 2003. Both are pretty awesome, and I'm not sure which I would rank where. Kidding, kidding. Everyone knows you can't beat bite-sized candy. So we'll start with the other one.

On Friday, Kalee and I celebrated our first anniversary. Maybe celebrated isn't the best word, because we didn't celebrate a ton on the actual day, as we had plans for the weekend. But on our way home from work Friday night, we stopped at a local liquor store and picked up some Guinness and some Magner's Irish cider. For those who don't know us too well, you might think that's a pretty lame anniversary celebration. But for the quicker of you reading this who know that we got married a year ago in Ireland, maybe you saw the connection. We decided that since it's unrealistic that we'll be able to return to Ireland annually to celebrate, we'd make sure we had a little Ireland here with us. Hence, the Irish drinks.

So our actual anniversary didn't see anything too romantic, but we had planned a trip for the weekend. We had talked about doing an overnight trip to Philly, NYC, Baltimore, or somewhere on the shore, but ultimately decided on going to a nice little Bed and Breakfast out in Lancaster, PA. Not too far, not too busy, and just something different for us to do. Nice little anniversary trip.

But here's the catch- on Friday night, the local news started including phrases like 'flood warning', 'Snowtober', and 'cancelanytravelplansyoumadefortomorrow'. So, we played it safe, called the B&B and cancelled our trip. And since millions of people lost power and certain areas near us had record snowfalls for October, I'm glad we did. With no backup plan, we ended up spending our anniversary weekend in our house watching some DVD's, wearing our sweats, and enjoying a few 7ups. Is it romantic? Nah, prolly not. But it's something we'll remember, and we had fun with it.

One year together. Pretty cool. It's been a quick year, and in some ways it feels like we were in Ireland years ago, in some ways it feels like yesterday. I can't wait to go back someday with Kalee and experience the country more, do some sightseeing, revisit old places, fraternize with the locals, have another Guinness/Magner's/Bulmers in an authentic Irish pub, and end the night at a SuperMacs. One year together. It started at Floor Hockey, became 'official' in Ireland, and has taken us from Michigan to Alabama/Syracuse, back to Michigan, across the Atlantic, and now to Jersey. I'm looking forward to seeing what the years ahead of us have.
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So the other half of my incredibly creative blog title references Halloween, which was yesterday officially, but really the past four days.

One of the things the Rowan Rec Center does is All-Staff meetings which are optional for students to attend, and usually a lot of fun. After I graduated in 2004, they started doing Halloween All Staffs, and I had seen lots of pictures of awesome costumes, so I was excited to take part in my first Halloween All Staff. Actually, I got to plan my first Halloween All Staff.

One of the fun traditions is that the different student staffs plan different costume themes for their groups. Not just the student staffs though, but the pro staff as well. This year, we went as cereal characters, including Tony the Tiger, the Lucky Charms leprechaun, a few Cheerios Bees, some of the Flintstones (Fruity Pebbles), Frankenberry, and a Wheaties Box. My own costume was Chef Wendell from Cinnamon Toast Crunch, pictures above.

The students had some awesome group costume ideas too, including Toy Story, Noah's Ark, a Chick Magnet (one dude as the magnet, and his female co-workers dressed as chicks), and a group of high school stereotypes. Very good stuff. Once I get the pics off the camera, I'll try and post them on here.

Kalee and I played flag football last night at 8. Partner that with the fact that we live in a pretty remote area, and we weren't prepared for or expecting any trick or treaters. I stayed at the Rec until our game, so thankfully for me, I didn't have to answer the door when some unexpected kids came looking for candy. We jokingly (kinda jokingly) said that we are going to get kicked out of our neighborhood. ESPECIALLY considering we still had a bucket with some beers in it from Homecoming weekend by our backdoor where the kids came. Let's hope nobody came looking for Kalee, and left with Miller Lite. Kids may have thought it was weird, but when I'm a Dad someday, I think I would find that awesome.
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This video is neither related to our anniversary nor Halloween, but was definitely worth sharing. Kevin Durant got a little flag football in last night at Oklahoma State.

Slainte,
Gary

I ain't as good as I once was

2011-10-23T22:07:00.001-04:00

"I aint as good as I once was.
I got a few years on me now.
But there was a time, back in my prime..."

Those words from Toby Keith feel like they come right from my mind, or at least, from my lower back and hips, and maybe from the calves a little bit too. This weekend was Homecoming at Rowan, and an annual tradition of the Rec Center's is to have a team of alums play against current students in a friendly flag football game. I played in this game once before when I was in grad school, and still playing flag football regularly.

Fast forward five years to yesterday. Since the marathon two weeks ago, I have gone for one run around campus, and that's the extent of my physical activity. Since the move two months ago, I have played zero basketball, softball or flag football. Meaning I haven't done any kind of fast running or short sprints. Meaning, I am sore as hell after playing an hour of flag football. We the alums lost to the students by three points. It was a hard fought battle (translation: ugly flag football game), and a shot to our egos. But also a humorous reality check.

Back in our day, we were all pretty good at flag football. We thought so, anyway. But for most of us, that was at least five years ago. Put us in the huddle on Saturday though, and we start talking about plays and techniques and different things we can do to beat the students. 'Ok, first play of the 2nd half, we are going to run the hook and ladder. I'll go 8 yards, turn around, you run an under route, and I'll pitch to you.' Except we forgot to run it. 'Alright if they keep the pressure coming on us, we'll switch to a 2-QB system, flank the 2nd one out and hit him with a backward pass, freeing up more time.' Didn't even try it. Our minds work faster than our legs these days.

But it was a fun trip down memory lane, and we gave them a run at least. Possibly with a little help from the sympathetic refs. Since you know you're curious about my fantasy stats, I did catch a touchdown. Somehow, I got open in the corner of the endzone, and as the ball was coming to me, it seemed to float in as slow as a beach ball. The whole time I was thinking 'I am going to drop this... I am going to drop this... Kalee is going to laugh at me, I'll never hear the end of it from our students... damnit damnit please don't drop this.' Well, I ALMOST dropped it. Bobbled it, held on, kept my feet in and caught it while falling backwards. But I caught it. Phew. Embarrassment averted.

The football game was only part of a fun weekend. A few friends of mine from the college days, as well as my brother and his girlfriend, came down on Friday night, and we all enjoyed a few 7ups. Maybe a few extras, possibly leading to us playing a little more sluggishly Saturday. So not only do I not move as nimbly as I did at 21, my body doesn't recover as quickly from drinking either. 7ups, that is.

Saturday after the alumni game, the Rec Center hosts a tailgate with a few other departments, and that was a lot of fun, with some great food. And I learned something there as well. I participated in my first egg toss contest in a long time, and definitely the first since I've gotten married. Why does that matter? The lesson I learned is that in the future, you should take off your wedding ring before doing an egg toss. It didn't splatter on me, but it did crack. So take note, newlyweds. That is my useful obscure advice to you.

Saturday night, my sister and brother-in-law came into town, and my brother stopped back after a race in Maryland, and we all hung out for a while, with Kel and Joe staying the night. Years ago, we would've stayed up late and probably gotten rowdy. But there's no way I can pull that off two nights in a row these days, plus Kel is preggers and we're all a little old. By 11:00, I was the only one left awake. We're all grown up now.

All in all, great weekend with some great friends and family. Now it's time to go take some ibuprofen before bed and tell Kalee some stories about my flag football glory days.

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Here is Toby Keith's video which gave the inspiration for today's title. Enjoy.

Slainte,Gary

J-E-T-S Chaperone!

2011-10-18T20:07:00.002-04:00

Two nights ago, I attended my first Jets game since... the 90s? And I attended a sports game not just as a fan, but also as a chaperone. For the record, I am now married, in my 30's, chaperoning college trips, and am officially old. But I'm ok with that. Know why? I got a free trip to a Jets game.

My friend Cos who works with Student Activities asked me about a month ago if I'd chaperone a bus trip from Rowan to the Meadowlands for the Jets Monday Night game with about 50 students. Heck yeah. And I was excited and not at all nervous about that. Not until this weekend when my hometown friend Dan said something like, "What would we have been like on a trip like that when we were in college?" Then I was worried. Dan is one of two friends who, on a trip to a Nets game on my 21st birthday, got into a fight with Celtics fans and went to 'Nets jail.' Yep, his comment had me worried.

Alas, I survived, as did the students, without TOO major of an incident. All in all, great trip to 'MetLife Stadium', which I had no idea was the name of the new stadium. I just assumed it was something like 'New Giants Stadium', but am glad now that the Jets don't play in a stadium named after another team.

We were pretty high up in the stadium. I won't say they were bad seats, we'll go with a positive spin. I got to sit with the true fans. Jets fans, and I am one of them, are a class act. They started antagonizing Dolphins fans early on. Some witty, and some vulgar. While I won't directly quote, I'll leave your imagination to translate what I heard only minutes into the game. "Hey Dolphins Fan- Cuck You, You Cucking Funt!" Make of that what you will.

MNF scrapped the Hank Jr. 'Are you ready for some football?' intro because of ole Hank's comments comparing our President to Hitler. So instead, they are going with different intros, and this week's was Fireman Ed pumping up the crowd, talking about being a Jet fan. Good stuff, see below. During the pre-game, hearing the crowd roar, I got chills. Very cool feeling. It reminded me of my Uncle Bob, and going with my Dad to watch games on Sunday at his apartment.

As for the game itself, it was pretty mediocre. The Jets converted zero of what felt like their first 74 3rd downs, had minimal yardage in the first half, and seemingly rode the enthusiasm of Revis' TAINT to victory. The winless Dolphins looked terrible, and their fans not too optimistic, as evidenced by the guy wearing a Dolphins Andrew Luck jersey a few rows ahead, prompting some SUCK FOR LUCK jeers.

Fun trip, free ticket, Jets W, and got a Jets hat that fits my fat head, which could be considered the accomplishment of the night. Good times. Here's the world's most famous Jets fan.

Slainte,
Gary

12 Pieces of Marathon Advice

2011-10-13T19:30:00.003-04:00

As someone who has now run exactly one marathon, I consider myself fully qualified as a marathon expert, and ready to give out advice to others. Maybe not the most qualified, but definitely qualified enough to give some people advice based off of things I hadn't thought of or felt the need to emphasize, especially for first-time runners. As usual with my lists, this was intended to be a top 10, expanded to 12, and now I'm even going to cheat that with an introductory piece of advice. Look at the picture. My advice- try and smile a few times, especially if you see marathon photographers. In any action shot, I look like I hate life. Maybe I did at that moment. Still, in that pic, Kalee is pumped and raising her arm, and I am already cranky. That's at the START of the race. Oh well, lesson learned. Let's get into the top 10... or 12, other pieces of advice Kalee and I came up with.

1- Wear spandex. Or 'compression shorts' if you don't want to admit they're spandex. But they're spandex. I had these, and am glad I did. You feel kinda dumb wearing them, but a friend of mine didn't have them, and he needed the baby powder pretty bad afterward.

2- Write your name on your bib. People will cheer for you regardless, but some people wrote their names, which helps because then random strangers can give you a more personalized cheer.

3- Bring/wear sunblock. I traveled for this marathon, and didn't think to pack it. If you're not traveling, and are skin-tone challenged like I am, just check the weather in the morning. Thankfully, I didn't get tomato-red, but I could have. I am peeling today.

4- Invest in good shoes. This was advice given to me early and often, and I bought my first $100 pair of shoes either ever, or in a reaaaalllly long time. Wear them for a while before the marathon during training to break them in.

5- Try out your clothes pre-marathon. This ties into #4. But not just the shoes, but also socks, shorts, shirt, tank top, whatever. It's one thing to try something on and have it feel good, another to run for hours in it. We bought a dry-fit tank top a few weeks before the run and I tried it on a short run, and it didn't work too well for me, leaving some nipple chafage (note- I love that I can say 'nipple chafage', and not have it be inappropriate at all). Anyway, because of that trial run, I ended up going with my Special O 5k cutoff t-shirt. Sure I didn't look as official as some other runners, but at least my nipples weren't bleeding.

6- Do any sightseeing beforehand. We got to Chicago Saturday, ran the race Sunday, and went and did some touristy stuff on Monday which involved walking around. Mistake. It was more like hobbling around. The day after the race was the worst combination of stiffness and pain, and not suitable for walking anywhere. Throw in a few trips up and down subway stairs, and walking a bunch of city blocks, that didn't help.

7- Train with someone if possible. I did this with Kalee, and wouldn't have survived without her. We had a few days where we had to run separately, and those days were especially hard to get motivated on. Plus, I don't have the best attention span, so running alone got really boring.

8- Get as close to the starting line as possible. They had people broken into corrals based off their anticipated time-per-mile, and we made it close to ours. Still, we wish we had gotten closer to the start, because even though they adjust your total time to only go from when you crossed the start to when you cross the finish, we still would have liked to have been closer so there were less people that we had to get around if need be. And whatever your goal time is, add a few minutes on due to that lost time with getting by people, walkers, stopping or slowing for water, etc...

9- Know exactly where you're going after. If you're meeting someone, pick a meeting spot. If you're running with someone, awesome. Still, have a plan for after. If you're in a city you're not familiar with, be familiar with your 'escape route'. The last thing you want at that point is to be like us, and spend unnecessary steps walking around town trying to find your train station after you've just labored through 26 miles of running.

10- Run for something. Pick a charity and raise a few bucks. Or find a team that is fundraising for something and join them. For one thing, it's for a good cause. I dropped the ball on fundraising. But besides doing it for a good cause, if you are wearing a shirt as part of a team or for a popular charity like Susan G. Komen, people will cheer more for you. But if you still don't do that and want people to cheer for you...

11- Wear a Mexico shirt. There were more Mexican supporters in Chicago than any other nationality. Maybe it's not the same in every city, but the Mexicans were representing in Chicago. And while I don't have an ounce of Mexican blood in my body, had I worn a Mexico shirt, I would've gotten some more supporters and Viva La Mexico cheers.

12- Try nothing new. No new clothes during the race, no new food leading up to the race, and no new energy supplements throughout the race. If you didn't eat bananas during training, don't eat them during the race. If you trained on water, maybe stay away from the Gatorade during the race. And if you haven't tried the Clif shot gels, don't experiment at mile 20. I made that mistake, grabbed a Mocha flavored gel without looking, and almost threw up while running. Turrbull.

And that's about all I've got. If you've run one before, leave some advice of your own on here.

I think that's it on the marathon-heavy blog entries now after three days in a row. It was fun, and I don't regret doing it, but man, I am glad it's over.
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I'm out of marathon videos, but saw this today and liked it enough to share.

Slainte,
Gary

Signs of Life

2011-10-12T21:13:00.002-04:00

I knew the marathon would be tough. I knew it would feel good when/if I finished. I knew it would be exhausting. I didn't know I would get some unexpected humor and inspiration from some of the signs along the route.

The various signs and shirts provided some needed comic relief throughout the day, and even a little inspiration. They kept things in perspective a little bit, and helped take my mind off the fact that I decided to torture my body by running 26.2 miles. Some of them were simply humorous, some were somewhat relevant. Here are few I took note of.

CHUCK NORRIS NEVER RAN A MARATHON
This one made me laugh... the first time. I love Chuck Norris jokes. But we also saw a ton of these. But the one in that first mile was awesome.

WORST PARADE EVER
Another one we saw multiples of, but pretty funny. Random sidenote... how pissed would you be if you tried driving somewhere along the marathon route, but didn't know there was a marathon going on? What a terrible thing. On the Chicago news, they interviewed someone that had planned a weekend to Chicago without knowing the marathon was going on. This guy couldn't have cared less about the marathon, and vowed to stay away from the race.

THIS SOUNDED LIKE A GOOD IDEA 3 MONTHS AGO
I'm sure a ton of people felt this way, and at points, I definitely did too.

BECAUSE 26.3 WOULD JUST BE CRAZY
Good point. Very random number. So why IS a marathon 26.2 miles? Here you go.

GOOD JOB RANDOM STRANGER!
I saw a few people holding signs which on one side were cheering somebody on- Good Job Gary!-, then they turned it around and it said Good Job Random Stranger! The simplicity made me laugh. It was awesome how many people were out cheering. You wonder how many were there for specific people, and how many just because.

YOU'RE NOT ALMOST THERE
Seeing this sign at about mile 6 was a kick in the balls.

16.2 MILES UNTIL FREE BEER
Or any countdown til free beer, or til beer in general. I got a free beer at the end, and it honestly didn't even taste that great. I was excited to enjoy a beer or 8 that night, but simply didn't have it in me. Still, beer is always a good motivator.

I THOUGHT YOU SAID 2.62 MILES
Spectators having a little fun. It was fun to see some people at multiple stops along the way. Or maybe they were lookalikes to people I saw earlier. Or maybe they were twins. Or maybe I was hallucinating.

DON'T POOP... OUT
My greatest fear was pooping. I survived. There were multiple signs regarding poop, and because I have the intelligence equivalent of Beavis and Butthead when it comes to this subject, I got amusement out of most of them.

THERE WILL COME A DAY WHEN YOU CAN NO LONGER DO THIS. TODAY IS NOT THAT DAY.
I loved this one. I saw this several times, and a few times late in the race. It definitely helped me. I could've quit at certain points, but I had trained for this, and I am in the best shape of my adult life, running-wise anyway. I didn't think I'd ever sign up for another marathon throughout the race, so I didn't want to fail at this one. Great sign.

IF IT WERE EASY, WE'D ALL BE DOING IT
Along with the 'There will come a day' sign, I saw several variations of this one. Pretty cool to see.

CHAFE NOW, BRAG LATER
Very true. Not that I am trying to brag (for anyone reading this thinking I'm bragging, I'll give myself an ego check shortly). But the chafing part is definitely true. Without getting into the details, the 5 of us that I spent time with who ran this marathon Sunday all had some chafage in very inopportune parts of our body. I'll end the details there.

THIS IS MY 17TH TIME TRYING TO WIN THIS THING
Contrary to what I got some people believing on facebook, I did not actually come in 3rd overall at this marathon. Nobody that I could see at any point during the race had any shot whatsoever of finishing close to 3rd. Which made seeing a guy running in our pack wearing this shirt pretty funny. One of my friends in Michigan made fun of us for running a marathon. He runs 5k's trying to compete for first, and just doesn't see the point in running a race that he doesn't have a chance to win, or just doesn't get why anyone would want to run a marathon. Fair enough. It's not for everyone, and I've thought that way before. But it was something to work toward, something to have fun with, and it is an accomplishment. Some of my competitive friends ask me what my time was, no doubt to see if theirs beat me (my time was 4:44, you more than likely beat me). But I don't care. I finished it. It's a bucket list item. I had fun with it, like the dude wearing that shirt. I hope I never run anything near 17 marathons.

I mentioned the self-ego-check. I'm not trying to sound pretentious or elitist talking about this stuff. I'm proud that I did it, but not trying to be 'that guy'. So for anyone who rolls your eyes at marathon runners, touche. You should find this blog entry humorous.
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Here's a marathon-related video. Crazy story if you didn't hear or read about it.

Slainte,
Gary

Run This Town

2011-10-11T21:07:00.003-04:00

I ran a marathon. Honestly, I never thought I'd say those words. I don't even like running that much. I'm the only sibling in my family who doesn't have a runner's build. I was never fast, or that good at running long distances. But I ran a marathon.

It began as part of a conversation with friends over some 7ups on Kalee's birthday last year, took months to train for, and hours to run, and my first, and more than likely final, marathon is in the books.

When I pledged Phi Kap years ago, we described pledging as one of the best times of our life that we'd never want to do again. It was fun, but it was tough. There was a lack of sleep, which often left you wondering what the heck you got yourself into. That's kind of how I felt about the marathon experience. It was dedication, I lost sleep over it, I wanted to quit sometimes, but now that it's done, at least I've got a story to tell.

Running the marathon was an awesome experience, for the most part. There were about 45,000 people registered, though they estimated a few thousand less actually ran. It was a gorgeous day, a little hotter than it should have been, but not too overbearing. It was a nice running tour of Chicago, including Grant Park, Wrigleyville, Little Italy, the financial district, Chinatowm, Boystown, and a handful of other neighborhoods. And though there were thousands and thousands of runners, there were infinitely more fans there cheering us on.

My favorite part of the race was seeing all of the different creative and humorous signs that spectators had, as well as some creative t-shirts that runners wore. I won't elaborate too much, because that's a blog entry in itself. The neighborhoods all seemed lined with people, making the miles seem to pass by a little quicker. At least for most of the race.

My least favorite part was the pain. I didn't expect to escape this marathon without a little wear and tear, but I was banged up much worse than I thought. Which surprised me, because after our longest run of training, 20 miles, I felt surprisingly good. But at about mile 16 of the marathon, I started getting nervous. Some days in training, I just felt better than others. Some days you have it, some days you don't. Sunday felt like a day that I didn't have it.

By mile 17, the pain really started kicking in. I was heavily favoring one hip, and had to take a break from running. Walk for a minute, then back into gear. And it was almost as if my body parts were taking turns punishing me. Then the pain combined with the fear of not finishing really started overwhelming me. So many people say that running a marathon is all mental. I may have even said that at some point. Well pardon my language, but that's horseradish. If it were all mental, I wouldn't be limping down stairs two days later. It is a very physical experience. But a good portion is mental too. My mind started messing with me, and my emotions started getting the best of me. I honestly believe that if Kalee wasn't there to encourage me, I may not have finished. Thankfully, she is awesome and stuck with me. Or, as she tells it, she would have felt guilty running ahead because she was the reason I got into it in the first place. So stick with me she did, right til the very end.

Heading into the race, my greatest fear wasn't that I wouldn't be able to finish. Honestly, my greatest fear was that by about mile 7 I would have to take a poop break, and that would throw everything off. Complicating things farther, when I travel, my body gets out of whack, and my poop schedule kind of gets out of whack. I know not many people care to read about this, but it's relevant. After months of and hundreds of miles of training, I would have been pretty upset if an upset stomach or untimely bowel movement ruined the marathon experience. Not to mention that PortaPotties probably don't look too pretty after being used by thousands of people. I digress. My body held up. At least that portion of it did.

Music was another thing that kept me going. I started off in a great mood when the official starting song was Bruce's Born To Run. Excellent choice. The first song on my ipod was the Rocky song, followed by a collection of recent rock, pop and rap songs with a fast beat. I also included a handful of crappy older rap songs that I found on a CD from summer 2003 that we made when painting our house before senior year at Rowan. Maybe not the best music, but a nice trip down memory lane took my mind off the running for a few minutes. Closed out with some Dropkick, Modest Mouse, and the Rob Thomas song 'Let's See How Far We've Come'. Another song that gave surprising inspiration was Eminem's 'Til I Collapse'. It was just kinda on there, but when it came on and I listened to the words, it was pretty awesome. I had a few other songs I planned on listening to at the end, but for the last mile or so, I just took the headphones out and took in the atmosphere. By then, I have no idea how my legs were moving, but somehow they carried me to the end.

A few weeks ago, my friend Cos found out I was training for the marathon, and said 'Great, let's train for the next one together.' When I laughed about him saying 'the next one', he said just wait til you cross the finish line, and the feeling you have will be amazing. How I felt right then was far short of amazing. Don't get me wrong, it did feel amazing... in a way. But at that moment, I felt terrible. I could hardly stand. Walking hurt. I think I drank a gallon of Gatorade and water in 4 minutes, then inhaled a banana and grabbed a free beer and walked what felt like another mile before we could sit down. Sitting down hurt. Then getting up hurt. Then we couldn't find our train station right away, an that hurt both emotionally and physically. But now, the hurt was worth it. I have a medal. And I feel like I earned it.

Yesterday we walked around Chicago doing some touristy stuff. It was me, Kalee, our friends Dan and Erin, Erin's sister Nicole, and their parents. 5 of the 7 of us ran in the marathon, and we all wore our medals. And countless people on the streets congratulated us. It was cool. I felt a little like a celebrity. One person asked us if our medals were real. On the Navy Pier, we ran into an old couple, probably about 65, and the woman nudged her husband saying 'I told you to wear it.' He had ran the marathon too, and even ran well enough to qualify for the Boston Marathon. But he felt a little bashful about walking around with the medal on, but had it in his pocket. We convinced him to put it on, and he grinned like an 8-year-old after hitting a home run. Very cool moment.

In the end, am I glad I did it? Absolutely. I got to cross the finish line of a marathon holding my wife's hand, which was a pretty awesome experience. It was a culmination of a lot of training which has been a constant in a very transitional period in our lives right now. It wasn't easy, but we did it. And if she tries to talk me into doing it again? I think I'll be there for her... cheering with the thousands of other people on the sidewalk.
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I plan on writing two more marathon-related entries. One about the different signs and shirts I enjoyed seeing, and another about advice from a few first-time marathoners for anyone gearing up for one or thinking about one. Some things I wish I knew.

Here is a Nike video with a tour of the race, a little different than it looked to me, but a quick tour through Chicago for you. Enjoy.

Slainte,
Gary

I Was Run-ning

2011-10-03T19:11:00.003-04:00

We're 6 days away from the marathon, and I'm ready.

Am I ready physically? I hope so. But I feel like I am ready mentally, or emotionally. And I don't mean that in the sense of 'I've finally built myself up mentally to handle running 26.2 miles', but more like 'I'm so ready to be done running and have this marathon out of the way.'

Don't get me wrong- I'm pretty darn excited. This is the culmination of months of training, hundreds of miles of running (literally, and you don't often to use the word literally without exaggerating, which defeats the purpose of using literally).

This week we wrap up our training, and our culminating the 'tapering' stage of training, which feels incredibly counterproductive to the months we spent building up our distances. Only a few weeks ago, we ran a total of 40 miles in the span of 5 days, culminating with a 20-mile run on a Saturday morning. This week we have three total runs of 3, 4 and 2 miles, and have Saturday off. That feels more like it, but does seem counterproductive (and I now sound repetitive).

We're also in our week-long healthkick, which sucks. Yesterday morning we went to breakfast in Ocean City, and I enjoyed a plateful of Apple Cinnamon pancakes from a place called Uncle Bill's pancake house. Knowing it was the last unhealthy meal for a week, I made sure to get a side of bacon, and not go easy on the butter. But then I had to watch Sunday football without beer or snacks, which felt sacreligious. Could I get by with having that Shocktop and a few chips? Sure, but I don't want to have ANY reasons why I didn't feel good running, so I can torture myself with a week of cutting out the crap.

It's been weird to try and tell people that yes, I'm running a marathon, but no, I don't consider myself a runner. I've never felt like a runner, I'm just a guy who is running a lot right now. People tell me this is just my first marathon, and when I cross the finish line, I'll feel like doing another one. We'll see. The jury is definitely still out on that. I will tell you that I will not at all miss any of those Wednesday mornings when the alarm clock goes off around 5am so we could get a 10-miler in before work.

On the other hand, while I don't like all the time that I've had to commit to running, I do enjoy being skinny. In December or January when Kalee and I got a new scale with one of our wedding gift cards, I started tracking my weight. The most I weighed right then at the start was 203. After one of our runs on a Saturday, the lightest I've weighed in at was 170. And with all the running, I have still been able to get my beers, ice cream and cheetos in. When you burn thousands of calories running throughout the week, you can afford to. So that's the strongest supporting evidence that I may continue running after the race.

I shouldn't be such a negative Nancy talking about the training. It hasn't been all that bad. It's been a ton of quality time with my wife, and is really cool to be working toward this goal together. I feel good physically. We have gotten to run along the boardwalk looking out on the Atlantic, and also along the coast of Lake Michigan, take in sights along the Schuykill, and even a few runs along the less-touristy Chippewa River. Some pretty cool stuff.

The sore legs throughout the week are a downer, being a size medium rather than a large is an upper, though I'm not too naive to throw away all my large shirts just yet. At the start of marathon training, I said I wanted to take this as an opportunity to be in the best shape of my life, and started out strong by working in lifting three days a week. That dropped off once the moving period begun with packing, doing a lot of goodbye lunches and stuff like that, and I haven't settled back into a lifting routine yet, but plan on it once the marathon is over.

So this week I'll be loading up on fruits, updating my ipod playlist, and getting ready to head out to Chicago for my first marathon. 26.2 miles? I got this.
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Here's a peek into what my mornings have been like for the past four months. Every Tuesday, Wednesday, Thursday and Saturday. Just like this.

Slainte,
Gary

Two Electric Nights

2011-10-02T17:19:00.003-04:00

Back when I was in grad school, seeds were planted that would lead to two concerts I've gone to in the past few weeks. Two very different kinds of music, with very different crowds, but both at the same venue- the Electric Factory in Philly. Here's the tale of two concerts...

In March 2006, my brother Bill and friend Travis came out to Michigan to visit for St. Patrick's Day. Details of the day became hazy at an early hour, and included a memorable trip to Chicken Shack, a friend falling asleep in my closet, and a whole lot of Guinness. But one other thing that resulted from the debauchery of that day was Trav and I making a pact that when we were both 30, we would make the trip to Boston on St. Patty's Day to see Dropkick Murphys play one of their annual shows there. That would've been this year.

Plans changed though. On my first night back here in Jersey, after driving all the way from Michigan, with all of our belongings in the back of a moving truck, Trav met us at the house, and had the audacity to tell me that he wouldn't be able to go to Boston for the concert in March... because his wife is pregnant and due right around that time. Which is awesome, congrats to Trav and Brooke. Other good news he gave me that day was that since we couldn't see Dropkick in Boston, he got tickets to see them in a few weeks (now two weeks ago) in Philly.

The show was awesome. The crowd was about what I expected from a Dropkick show... a little rough, a lot of tattoos, a lot of beers, a good amount of Irish old-man caps, which made me pissed because I didn't think to bring mine.

It was more than just a Dropkick show though, it was called 'Shamrock and Roll Festival', with bands alternating between the indoor main stage, and a smaller outdoor venue. The other bands were mostly small names, but as we were walking up, we got to hear The Mahones' Paint the Town Red, which was the song Mickey Ward walked into in 'The Fighter'. Also got to hear a band called Street Dogs play a song I like to think is about my dog.

The main attraction didn't disappoint. All the details aren't as fresh as the other, more recent concert (which I was smart enough to take notes on after so I'd have more to write on here), but Dropkick was definitely a good show. They had a ton of energy, knew how to work the crowd, supported a good cause by promoting their Claddagh Fund, and played lots of the songs I was hoping they would- Dirty Glass, Kiss Me I'm Slightly Intoxicated (may not have that one right), Warrior's Code, and their most popular one (and my ringtone), I'm Shipping Up To Boston.

Trav and I watched safely upstairs, a good distance from the moshpit, and I received some compliments from some guys from Ireland on my shirt, which had this on it , is an Irish call for unity in Northern Ireland (ironically with a fist) and I didn't think anyone would know what it meant (Our Day Will Come). That definitely made the experience even that much more awesome.

So would it have been cool to go to Boston on St. Patty's Day? Yeah, but I guess I'll let Trav off the hook with these tickets and the whole baby thing going for him. Great show.
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My second year in grad school, my roommate and his girlfriend had a dog named Harper. The dog was named after Ben Harper, a musician who can be described as rock, acoustic, acoustic rock, and even at some times, gospel. He's not exactly obscure, or exactly mainstream. Not someone nobody has heard of, but also not someone when you say what concert you're going to, everyone would know who you're seeing. I guess in that sense, he is similar to Dropkick. But the similarities probably end there.

Alas, I started listening to Ben Harper in grad school because of my roommate. And I started loving his music. It is incredibly eclectic, switching between loud electric guitars and slower songs with just him and the acoustic, has some good religious messages and some appeal to potheads as well.

I missed my first chance to see him before I even knew him. I probably first heard of him my freshman year at Calvin, but never heard his music and skipped the concert. Since I started listening to him though, he was at, or near, the top of the list for me of people or bands I wanted to see live. When we knew we were moving to Jersey, I looked up and found out he was playing in Philly within the first month we'd be back in the area. I never pulled the trigger on tickets, but was checking Stubhub and ebay the past few weeks. One day last week, my wonderful wife surprised me by buying two tickets as an early anniversary present, and I couldn't think of a better gift. I've been wanting to see him live since 2005 (rhyming not intentional).

The concert was possibly the best I've ever been to, really a toss-up between him and Zac Brown Band. It may not be for everyone, but I enjoyed the heck out of it. As with Zac Brown, when Kalee and I watched Ben Harper, we just really felt like he was an artist enjoying playing for the crowd as much as the crowd enjoyed listening. Electric Factory is a small enough venue that is feels more personal, and you could see the facial expressions of the artists and just tell that he was putting a lot of soul and energy into it.

He started out with a few newer, harder songs, and in the first one of the night broke into Pearl Jam's Jeremy. Works for me. To the crowd's delight, he played familiar songs like Amen Omen and Forever. Even more to the crowd's delight, he played 'Burn One Down', an unofficial Pothead anthem. Before playing it, he told the story of how he was performing the National Anthem at the NBA Finals a few years ago, and it was a night where they were honoring former NBA greats, and as he walked out to center court, Bill Walton yells 'BURN ONE DOWN!!!' As he was playing the song, you could see smoke rising up from the crowd, which I'm pretty sure means something illegal was going on. You're not allowed to smoke indoors anywhere these days, so I hope their cigarettes were confiscated.

It's hard to pick which song I liked the best. He was great singing Where Could I Go, a song he recorded with a group called the Blind Boys of Alabama. This was the gospel side of him kicking in, and a good portion of this song, he sang without the mic, which was amazing to hear the whole crowd silent and one man's voice take over the venue.

You could really tell he was an artist who cared about his music, when he sang Walk Away, and struggled to hit a high note, stops and tells the crowd 'You paid too much money for me to mess up that note', and just starts over. Awesome. I love when an artist connects with the fans. He definitely is cut from a different mold. He started talking about illegally downloading music, and before playing his song 'Rock and Roll is Free' says (paraphrasing):

'People stop me on the street and say, 'if Rock and Roll is Free, why do I have to pay for your concerts?' I say, you got the album free, right? Would I like if you paid for my music? Sure. Who doesn't want money. But what I really care is that you HAVE the music. So downloading it illegally and having it is better than not listening to it. What really gets me is I was at the airport, and bought a Reese's Peanut Butter Cup for 2 dollars. That's more than my songs are!'

He did several solos, played the guitar sideways on his lap, worked the crowd, and played the longest encore I've ever seen, had to be about 6 songs. And he played two songs that aren't on albums, including this one and another one called 'You're better than I deserve'.

All in all, I was amazed with the show. A great gift from Kalee, and just a great concert. If you like him at all, he is worth seeing. And Dropkick was a great show in its own right. Thank you to both Trav and Kalee for great surprise tickets to awesome shows. Electric Factory was a great place to see a show, and I look forward to my next trip there. It'll be hard to pass up either of those experiences.
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Here's one more video of Ben Harper playing with another guy who is now right up near the top of the 'people I want to see perform' list.

Slainte,
Gary

Bartman, Baseball, and the Bakers

2011-09-29T17:53:00.002-04:00

When I last checked the baseball scores last night, the Yanks were up 7-0, and the Sox were up 3-2. That's what I get for not watching, and being a mediocre sports fan. I missed out on one of the best nights ever of regular season baseball. Instead, I caught up on some DVR shows. Modern Family, Sons of Anarchy, and the last 20 minutes of an ESPN documentary. All good in their own right, but I definitely missed out on something special.

One of the students I work with is a Sox fan. Somewhat inexplicably, I might add. The kid grew up in North Jersey, had the choice of two NY teams, and goes to school near Philly. But he likes the Sox because his dad likes them. Ok, I guess since that's the reason I like the Jets, I can accept that. Anyway, I am still getting to know people, and they're still getting to know my humor. So he was a little caught off guard when I asked him how many days there were left until Spring training. It's about the only time I can gloat to a Sox fan the day after the Yanks blow a 7-0 lead.

The ESPN doc I was finishing was 'Catching Hell', which was largely about Steve Bartman (not the one pictured above) and the 2003 Cubs, but also had a ton on Bill Buckner and the 86 Sox, and was centered around scapegoats in sports. It was amazing. And also very saddening to essentially see how sports, the love of Bartman's life, also basically ruined his life as a sports fan. If you get a chance to catch a rerun of Catching Hell, watch it. Worth two hours.

A few quick thoughts... Moises Alou could've helped avoid Bartman's fate if he hadn't reacted on the field like a 2nd grader... ANY fan in ANY park would have done the exact same thing Bartman did in reaching for that ball. In fact, most people around him reached even farther than he did. He was just the unlucky one... It's worth it to remember that Bartman and Buckner didn't solely lead to their teams' collapses, but were just part of a series of events that contributed, but they are the ones remembered... I didn't realize how great Buckner's career stats were... Watching the way other Cubs fans reacted that night was sickening... Buckner throwing out the first pitch at a Sox game a few years ago was a class act by Boston. Ok, done with random thoughts.

Lastly, for some reason I thought that the Yanks and Tigers would only meet in the ALCS, but then realized today they start their series tomorrow. Darn. Not darn because I don't like the Yanks chances... Darn because this will inevitably lead to tension in the Baker house over the next week or two. This is lose-lose. Maybe even lose-lose-lose because one of us will not like the outcome, there will be tension, and we probably won't even watch the games together. Baseball has lead to more stupid arguments in our relationship than anything else. This should be fun. On the other hand, Sabathia/Verlander tomorrow night? Daaaaaamn. Should be a great matchup. Let's go Yanks.

Alright, that's it for tonight's real quick entry, because we are heading out to Philadelphia to see a Ben Harper show, which I am ecstatic about.

Here's one of my favorite BH songs for today's video. Enjoy.

Slainte,
Gary

NFL Week Threeview

2011-09-27T20:09:00.002-04:00

After three weeks of NFL, and watching less than most serious NFL fans, I feel more than qualified to write a quick-hit review of all 32 teams. Actually, I am definitely less than qualified to write this. As I've stated before, I have morphed into a slightly-more-than-casual sports fan. I watch more than some people, but less than serious fans. Whatever. This is a longer intro than it needs to be. Let's get rolling with some reviews of teams by a guy whose opinion on the NFL you shouldn't value at all. But we can at least have some fun.

Dallas Cowboys- I am unsold on Tony Romo. I watched about a quarter of last night's game. Call me crazy, but games without touchdowns just don't grab me. Anyway, I did catch Romo yelling at several teammates, and it made me just have a bad feeling that this season will end in Romo-like fashion. But kudos to him for playing. I wouldn't have even gotten out of bed with bruised ribs and a punctured lung.

Washington Redskins- I will cheer for their success only to keep Rec's Grossman culturally relevant. I have a picture of our flag football team that played at Maryland under that name hanging in my house. Long live Rex.

NY Giants- I live in the perfect area to care about the NFC East, but I am a Jets fan. It's great to hear Eagles/Giants banter, and I really don't care who wins. I guess I'm happy the G-Men won, but would've been fine with Philly winning, as long as Ahmad Bradshaw did ok for my fantasy team.

Eagles- Can we please please please please please agree to never ever ever call another team the Dream Team ever again? Please? There was one Dream Team, and it starred Christian Laettner in 1992. Random trivia- can you name all 12 Dream Team members without googling them? I can. I challenge you. I just gave you one of them. Hint- there were 4 white dudes.

Lions- Good for them. I just wished they would have been relevant in maybe one of the 7 years I lived in that state. If you haven't watched them play at all, or seen any highlights, you have to do so just to watch Calvin Johnson, aka Megatron. Beast. I love when their play call is simply have IfStaffordStaysHealthy throw the ball up to Johnson. Quiz question 2- where did he go to college? No cheating. Whoever answers all questions correctly gets a free beer.

Green Bay- They're really good. I haven't given up yet on Ryan Grant, currently buried on my fantasy bench, but I know the week I drop him he will score 2 TD's.

Chicago- Meh. Don't care. Jay Cutler sucks. Let's move on.

Minnesota- Whose fault is it that they are 0-3? I know it's not McNabb's, because nothing has ever been his fault. Weren't the Vikings really good like 2 years ago? We need them to be good just to keep Jared Allen in the spotlight.

Tampa Bay- Anything I know about them, I learned from Bill Simmons' man-crush on Jaaaassh Freeman, so you should read whatever he has to say about them.

New Orleans- So a recap of something you don't care about- my fantasy draft. I had pick 10 of ten teams, and all the best RB's were gone at that point. So at 10 and 11, I chose to take the best QB and WR available. I got Drew Brees and Calvin Johnson, and that's been working out for me and my team Unprotected Rex. In a later round, I took Darren Sproles, because he seemed like he was MADE for a team like NO. He seemed like it would be better at being Reggie Bush than Reggie Bush was. Not good as the feature back on any team, but perfect for their system. Dear Saints Defense- thank you for giving up lots of points so Brees has to keep being Brees.

Carolina- Is Cam Newton a superhero? I feel like he might be. And he is treated like one. I saw a highlight of his rushing TD and liked him more after he celebrated... by running to the sideline. Brownie points, Cam. War Eagle.

Atlanta- They're 1-2? I thought they were supposed to be good.

San Fran- I drafted their D because it was the top-rated one left in the 2nd to last round of our draft when I pick my D. So far, decent. But how did they not upgrade from Alex Smith at QB? Or at least just TRY someone else? Clearly, he doesn't work as a starting QB. So just take chances. Sign like 6 other mediocre QBs and hope one strikes lightning. They have other decent pieces, right? Why does this make sense to me?

Seattle- What a meh football team. I don't care. We need more teams like this to help the blog move faster. If someone has something interesting to say about them, feel free to comment on here.

Arizona- Wow this division sucks. I know everyone who knows anything knows this... but wow. And I'm not even talking from a talent standpoint. Just from sheer interest, I couldn't care less about this division.

St. Louis- I also drafted Sam Bradford as my backup QB. Seemed like a good bet until everyone else on their team got hurt in Week One.

Buffalo- Where did this come from? Another 'good for them' like the Lions. I can name two players on this team. One, Ryan Fitzpatrick, because he is the QB and shares the same name as one of my college buddies, and the other, Stevie Johnson, because I drafted him as my third WR without knowing who he was and he's working out great. Go Bills.

New England- I wasn't that sad about the Jets loss because the Bills beat the Pats. Love that. But Tom Brady is still the prettiest QB in the league, hands down.

New York Jets- I talk about the Jets more than any other team, so I won't get in any football talk here about them except to say that I was asked by a friend on campus to chaperone a student trip in November from Rowan to the Jets Monday Night Football game. And I get a free ticket to the game? You got it. I love my job.

Miami- At least they won't play on a baseball field next year.

Baltimore- Their team is always well-documented, easy to hate, but I kinda like them. Ray Rice, Flacco, and the fact that the Wire was based there and this is the city's nickname. Even if I didn't like them, I'd pretend to out of fear that Ray Lewis may attack me.

Pittsburgh- Is Antonio Brown doing anything at all? I feel like I haven't even seen a highlight of Pittsburgh this year.

Cleveland- What week will Peyton Hillis get hurt? Over/under 8.5? I'll go over. #maddencurse... Haven't used hashtags in a while, that was fun.

Cincy- WHERE IS DAN LEFEVOUR??? Damn you Andy Dalton, you're holding him back! Since we've made two CMU references in the last three teams, I should mention that even though the Chips are doing pretty bad this year, I miss CMU football. Little to zero fanfare on campus here over football.

Houston- Just released Steve Slaton today. Weird. Wasn't he a fantasy football lottery pick a few years ago?

Tennessee- Another unexciting division, especially without Peyton Manning. It bothers me that Houston and Nashville both have football teams, but neither are named the Oilers.

Jacksonville- Another meh. How does Jacksonville have a football team and LA doesn't?

Indy- So depressing to see them 0-3. They are bringing in Brody Croyle and Dan Orlovsky with Collins now hurt. If one of them works out, I hope the Niners take notice. For any team hoping for Andrew Luck, they should just sign a different mediocre QB every week and let him start. Whoever does best stays on for a year until Luck is ready.

Oakland- They beat the Jets. Whatever. Screw you Raiders.

San Diego- Don't really care about this division either. This blog entry kinda sucks. I know little about half the league. In a note of randomness, I wish they wore throwbacks every week.

Denver- If you're gonna put Tebow at receiver, how about letting Brady Quinn play linebacker? I'd watch that.

Kansas City- Outscored 109-27 so far this year. Wow.
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And there you have it... Possibly the least thought-out full-league review ever written. Here's some Calvin Johnson highlights just because:

Slainte,
Gary

23 Days in Jersey

2011-09-24T21:06:00.002-04:00

It has been 12 days since my last blog entry. Nothing interesting has happened in my life in nearly two weeks. ORRRR... I'm a slacker. I take notes for potential blog entries, and never follow through on them. Oh well. There has been lots to write on, but I am bad with putting together coherent thoughts. So instead, I'll ramble for 23 somewhat incoherent thoughts, for the 23 days since we moved to Jersey. In no particular order, here's some random notes about the move, the job, the state, or anything else in that timeframe.

1- For our move out here, we rented a 24-foot Budget rental truck. It is scary that they let anyone with a license to operate these things. I was nervous as anything driving through West Chester and into Jersey. Kalee was a champ though. Thank goodness.

2- Toby and Duncan have settled nicely into the new house. Toby loves that he gets to run up and down the stairs. And Duncan has made a neighborhood cat friend which he plays/fights with, and has killed two mice outside... and others we haven't found yet.

3- After a hectic week or so with moving and chaos, we settled back into our marathon training and are in the final weeks before Chicago. We did 20 miles last Saturday in Philly along the Skookul River. I know that's not how it is spelled, but that's how it sounds, and I'm too lazy to look it up.

4- Not sure if I mentioned it on here or not, but we lucked out with a new house. Found a rental well within our price range, 5 miles from campus, living on a private lake in a quiet neighborhood. Nice little place, ready for visitors. If you're friends with Kalee on facebook, she has a good photo album full of pics of it.

5- We love having some different food options that aren't chains. There's nothing right by our house, but just in this area there are so many more small places like Little Beef's, Gino's, Nick's, Little Sicily, etc... Beats Pizza Hut and Domino's.

6- I dislike seeing all the Phillies stuff everywhere. I forgot how much I could dislike Philly sports teams. But the fans are passionate. It could be fun if it ends up being Yanks/Phils in the WS. But if it ends up being Tigers/ Phils, we could have some Michigan visitors sooner than we thought.

7- Gas is much cheaper, groceries are much more expensive. Also, it's weird to adjust to not being able to pump your own gas after doing so for the past 7 years.

8- Tomorrow I get to go to my Grandpa's birthday party. Then my sister may come down in a few weeks. Then a few week's later I'm hoping to go to my cousin Ryan's final college football game. It's awesome to be able to make it to more family stuff.

9- I am that older guy at work around our students. This year's seniors will graduate 8 years after I did, and I can tell them about when this building was here, when Eben Street was there, and when we didn't even have lights on the flag football field. Sounds like ancient times to them.

10- We went to see Lion King in 3d the other night. Not relevant specifically to Jersey, but worth mentioning. Hakuna Matata.

11- It's great to hear Jersey accents everywhere. I hope I am getting mine back. People say my name with the hard A in GAry, and say TOURnament. That's the hardest word to adjust back to so far.

12- I've treated Yuengling like it was a long lost treasure the past 7 years whenever I could get it, and just picked it up for the same price as Miller Lite. It is everywhere here, and I couldn't buy it anywhere in Michigan. NOWHERE.

13- It's been an adjustment at work from IM's to Clubs, bigger school to smaller school, veteran on staff to new guy, but it's been good so far. Making strides, but lots to do. I have a to-do list for my to-do list. But the weeks are flying by, and I feel like I am making good contacts.

14- We have a house phone with an answering machine. It came with cable and internet, and makes me feel old. Not interesting, but it's hard coming up with 23 things right now.

15- It's good to be close to Philly. Not for the sports fans, but to have easy access to a major city. Doing our run there made 20 miles go faster than around our rural neighborhood, and I got to go to an awesome concert with Trav. More details on that hopefully to come in a later blog entry.

16- Get to spend more time with old college friends, and see people I haven't seen in ages, even in random passings.

17- WaWa and Dunkin Donuts. If after the marathon training, I put on the 30 pounds I have lost since January, I blame it almost exclusively on Dunks and WaWa pretzels, chicken parm and pizza cheesesteaks.

18- More student development in the workplace. CMU was focused on it, so is Rowan. Had a great presentation last week with students on appropriately using social media, and yesterday had a great planning meeting with a student Community Service committee. Excited to be connecting with Special Olympics- NJ as well.

19- I will no longer be paying for haircuts. As of my 30th birthday, I just started having my head buzzed with number 1 and 2 razors. But I still went to the barber because of customer loyalty, and they did it pretty cheap. But Kalee will be doing it from now on right in our house. I have to make sure I am nice to her on the days leading up to haircuts. Not that I'm ever not nice to her.

20- Learning more about different sports through my job. With IM's, I knew flag football, basketball, volleyball, and floor hockey... for the most part. But with Sport Clubs, I've learned a little more about Rugby, Field Hockey, MMA, Paintball and even Parkour. It's a completely different nature to the job, and a change of pace that I am enjoying. This may be a little repetivie of one of the previous numbers. Oh well.

21- Readjusting to Jersey drivers. More aggressive, less patient, a little crazy. Kalee has said she can't stand the driving, but I think by December she'll be cutting people off, doing the illegal but socially accepted lead left, and flipping people off more often.

22- Starting over. Professionally, personally, socially. Professionally is obvious, it's a new job. Personally, it's different being back at Rowan, but not in student-mode. Maybe that ties into professionally. But also personally, starting a Jersey life together with Kalee. Which ties into socially. That's probably the hardest part. We have a few friends here already, but we had a great group of friends in MI, and had a routine. So now while we have some great friends here too, they are fewer and farther between, and we have no routine. But we'll get there. I have to remind myself that I didn't have a routine at first in MI, or even when I started here as a student.

23- Trips down memory lane, adjusting to a new environment, getting the accent back, making new connections, more Yankee fans, decorating a new house, spending more time with my wife, being closer to fam, experiencing a faster-pace environment, rainy weather, Italian food, Wise Cheeze Doodles, endless cheesesteaks, watching new TV shows, Philly sports radio, meeting new neighbors, and anything else I have or haven't mentioned already.

Sorry if I left anything out. It's late, this entailed zero planning, and I just kinda rambled.
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Here's a video from my good buddy Tex that I would've posted earlier if I wrote more often. Not sure if it's real or fake, but if it's real, it's amazing.

Slainte,
Gary

Act Like You've Been There Before

2011-09-12T21:05:00.003-04:00

Back in 2005, I was working a flag football tournament at University of Maryland. A team with some friends of mine from Rowan, Rec's Grossman (a team name I came up with in 2003), was playing in a night game and just getting destroyed. Not even close, just waiting for the game to reach the two-minute warning so they could call it a mercy rule.

At one point late in the game, my friend Drew caught an insignificant short yardage catch in this blowout, and after his flags were pulled, he loudly and enthusiastically did the championship belt thing while letting out a loud WOOOO, a la Ric Flair. Drew was making fun of the situation, not showboating.

Watching MNF, a few minutes ago Brian Hartline scored a touchdown and while getting patted on the back by teammates, cleared room so that he could do some idiotic celebration that looked like he was trying to jump rope with a rope that was too small. That's the best way I can describe it. I hope you're envisioning something as dumb as it sounds. Maybe it's some dance I don't know. Could be, I haven't been to the club in a few days.

It's a trend I hate- dumb endzone celebrations. But they don't even have to be endzone, just celebrations. Receivers catching a first down pass in the 2nd quarter of Week 1, or Preseason, and getting up and pointing for the first down as if they are directing a plane to a terminal. A fat DE making a tackle for a loss of one getting up and doing a jig that makes his gut dance like a bowl of Jello. Please. Act like you've done it before.

When is it ok? Is it ever ok? When did it go too far? Who knows. It could go back to the Icky Shuffle, or some guy named White Shoes. Thanks fellas. Thanks for getting us to this point of celebrating the slightly-better-than-mediocre play with a celebration that clearly took time to think out, yet still looks like Ronnie at Club Karma after a few too many cups of Ron Ron Juice.

I'm not against being excited for doing something good, but I like the spontaneous, raw emotion of it. A fist pump, maybe a quick flex, or a pure adrenaline scream. One of my favorite TD's ever actually got flagged for excessive celebration, when Marvin Harrison did this a few years ago. But I'm ok with it, because 1- it was an amazing catch, 2- it was in a huge moment, and 3- because Marvin Harrison NEVER did stuff like that. He was a classy 'been there, done that' type of WR in the same time when TO and Chad EightFive were coming to prominence. He was the quiet success. You know, before he started shooting people in Philly. Allegedly.

Wherever you draw the line, we're past it. Whether it's grabbing pom poms, creating a gold jacket, hiding a cell phone, or an 8-step handshaking, fist pumping, paddy-caking embrace with a teammate on the sidelines, it's come too far.

You know what you get when you do a Youtube search for 'Barry Sanders Touchdown celebration'? Nothing with Barry Sanders. The first video that comes up is this ESPN Top 10 list that helped us get to where we are, but no Sanders in it. If you watch this college highlight film of Barry, you see his wild celebrations at OK State that he carried over into his time with the Lions. Pretty crazy stuff. Too bad he wasn't as good as Brian Hartline, otherwise maybe Sanders could pull off a jump-rope dance.
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For today's video, I was hoping to go with a movie scene, but couldn't find it online anywhere. It's the scene in Coach Carter where he is teaching his kids a lesson in over-celebrating, by tying his shoe, then celebrating it. "Look at that bow- I tied that shit!" Good stuff. Wish I could find it, but oh well.

So instead, more Barry Sanders, in case you forgot how awesome he was.

Slainte,
Gary

10 Years Later

2011-09-11T20:56:00.002-04:00

For my parents' generation, JFK's assassination marked a day where everyone could tell you where they were and what they were doing when it happened. For my generation, it is 9/11. I know where I was and what I was doing that morning ten years ago today.

This morning, I was in our house in Monroeville, NJ. I woke up and turned on the TV, the same as I did ten years ago. Today, I knew I would see stuff on the TV that would remind me of that day, possibly get me choked up, definitely make me think back ten years ago, and absolutely get a mixture of emotions going.

It felt crazy that I have come back to where I was. Back at Rowan. This morning I went on a 9/11 Remembrance Walk around campus, led by SGA, and with some other university staff members, and lots of students. There were signs along the walk telling some of the story of 9/11. Of the youngest person to die that day, a 2-year-old on the way to Disney. Of the hundreds of firefighters who died. A few signs, but countless stories. Everyone has a story from that day. Of how they left school early. Of how they watched the second tower hit. Of how they tried calling their family members. Some to see if they were alive, some just to talk to them. Everyone remembers.

We saw a Memorial plaque outside Savitz Hall with the names of two Rowan alumni who died that day.

We walked past Edgewood Apartments, where I lived and woke up and turned on the TV that day to first find out what was going on.

We walked by Chestnut Hall to an empty lot where students planted a pear tree, symbolic of the remnants of a tree found at Ground Zero, burnt but not dead. The pear tree near Chestnut was planted today as the beginning of a new memorial on campus.

We finished at the Student Center on campus. That day ten years ago, I remember many students outside the Student Center, many of them with relatives in NYC, trying frantically to call their loved ones, but with many not able to get through.

Everyone remembers. Nobody will forget. The day changed us all in some way. Ten years later, what effect does it have? When I see footage of the Towers, or hear a touching story, I get choked up. It gets me emotionally. But what else does it mean? Something different to everyone. Forgive me for being corny, but let me share a little more of my day.

The walk today ended at the Student Center, with the SGA President saying a few words, another student donating a beautifully painted patriotic violin and what it meant to her, and the head of Public Safety talking about his own experiences. In summary, he said that it was a terrible day, but a day that also made us stronger. That we don't walk around afraid, but should be more thankful of our civil liberties.

Today I am more thankful. He was right. Next time I am at the airport, I won't complain about the security line, or hesitate to take off my shoes. A small price to pay. We sometimes forget just how great we have it as Americans.

And the last word of his short speech was Love. We need more love. This was coming from a tough, law enforcement type, not a carefree tree-hugging type. He was right. We need more love. I receive a daily devotional email, and the title of today's was 'Why Does God Allow Evil?'. It spoke of how we are given free will, and how love is an option we can take. Obviously, it wasn't taken ten years ago by those terrorists. That is the extreme. But too often, it isn't taken by us on a much smaller scale. Small decisions in our lives to not 'love thy neighbor', have big effects. We need more love.

After the reception in the Student Center, we went to church in Glassboro together for the first time. We found a church on our runs, St. Bridget's. Today felt like a good day to start going.

After the readings and during the sermon, the priest told us how the church readings and Scripture for a certain day are set by the Catholic church decades in advance. Today's Gospel was all about forgiveness. It included anger, sin, healing and death, and concluded with a Gospel on forgiveness.

I mentioned before that 9/11 brings about a mixture of emotions. Sadness, patriotism, anger, love, thankfulness, pride, mourning, and many others. Forgiveness may not be a frequently found thing in that list. But I believe everything happens for a reason, and God works in mysterious ways. That spoke to me. We need to forgive. Maybe some wouldn't agree, especially in the magnitude of 9/11. And I'm not telling anyone else what to do. But however big or small, harboring evils and bad feelings in our lives doesn't do anything to move forward. We need to be more thankful for our freedoms and liberties, we need more love, and we need more forgiveness.

We also need more humor, and just to enjoy life more. This was evidenced to me on our way out of church. A father and son came to church wearing Chicago Bears shirts. Another parishioner was busting their chops on the way out, and said to the priest, "Father- you let them into church wearing that?". Without missing a beat, the priest said, "Well, today IS all about forgiveness." We need more humor and laughter in our lives. It is a great healer, and a great way to take time away from the anger, the seriousness, the busyness, and the stress of our lives.

So where were you ten years ago? If you took time to read this, take time to leave a comment, whether on the blog or on facebook. And also take time to think of something you can appreciate more, some way you can show more love, someone you can forgive, and a way you can laugh more.
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I hope this doesn't come across as 'holier than thou'. I had no script for this, just wanted to write something about today and what it meant to me. My faith has been something that has been a big part of my life at times, and sometimes is an area that needs improvement. I don't try and push it on people, but today, as with ten years ago, I just found myself in that mixture of emotions, and ending up in prayer. Sometimes I don't even know what for, but the things I did today I think helped me, as someone who lost nobody close to me to 9/11 but just felt impacted. Today just felt like it helped to remember, but also to mourn, to commemorate, to love, forgive, to laugh, and just to be more thankful. Please feel free to share your own thoughts or stories.
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Today's video is tough to watch, but just listen to the music at least.

Slainte,
Gary

Welp, See Ya Later CMU

2011-09-05T22:08:00.003-04:00

I meant to post this before leaving Michigan, but I guess moving got in the way. As I've said on here a bunch of times, leaving CMU was a tough decision, and this will be the last entry built around that, as tomorrow is my first day of work at Rowan. But I ended my time at CMU with a farewell BBQ, and was able to work in one of my weekly traditions, the rhyming Facility Manager announcement. I thought it would be a good farewell. Anyway, I'll stop talking and let the poetry take over...
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Good Evening URec Staff
This is Gary checking in one last time
Not actually as your FM
But I had to go out with a rhyme.

I'm leaving Central Michigan
For the land of Cake Boss and Jersey Shore
I appreciate those who say they'll miss me
Though I'm sure I'll miss you all more.

This really is a bittersweet time for me
Bitter for leavin but sweet for goin
To the school where I got my start in this field
At my alma mater, the Rec Center at Rowan.

Mt. Pleasant, Central and URec
Really mean the world you see
Because for the first time since my last time in Jersey
I found a place that felt like home to me.

I'll miss the pro staff, my students and friends
And to some degree, late nights here at the SAC
And I'm already looking forward to seeing you
Whenever I get away Jersey for a trip back.

So thank you for all the great memories
It's the people here I'll miss the most
And if you're ever up for a good road trip
You'll have a friend to visit on the East Coast.
---
I also included a great quote I read the night before from Helen Keller that I thought was fitting:

"What we have once enjoyed, we can never lose. All that we love deeply becomes a part of us."
---
Lastly, I have to include a video that our friend Layne made for Kalee and I that they played at the BBQ.

Slainte Central,
Gary

Ultimate Blogging

2011-08-24T19:08:00.014-04:00

A few months ago during the NHL Playoffs, I did a running diary of one of the Red Wings games. I'm about as qualified to write about hockey as I am to write about giving birth to a child. Ok, maybe that's over the top, but you get it. I'm not a hockey fan, never pretended to be one, have no aspirations to really become one. But that's what made writing about it fun. I didn't have to try and sounds like that guy who pretends he knows about the sport. I could just have fun, poke fun at the sport, and poke fun at myself. My buddy Trav commented on that entry that I needed to make that a recurring theme (writing about sports I'm not a fan of), and he's been trying to get me to watch a UFC fight ever since.

I'm not a UFC fan. I respect it, think it's a legit sport that has overtaken boxing, and people that say it's not a sport are just stubborn traditionalists. But it just doesn't grab me that much. While I get that there are different styles of fighting, and many of them technical, I get turned off a little when I see pictures like this. But maybe I just need to give it a chance. I always wished I had more time and focus to get into boxing as a fan, and spent a ton of my childhood watching pro wrestling, which I get totally different and totally fake, but had to mention it so I could link to a video like this one. I'm embarrassed, but also amused by how many of those (dead) wrestlers I recognized.

But I digress. This blog entry is me giving UFC a chance, on my last night in Jersey before moving back to Jersey. So bear with me and my scattered thoughts. Let's roll.

-The name of this event is UFC Live 5. More creative than the usual PPV's that are just UFC 169.

-What we're watching is an event from a few weeks ago. But I have no idea who won any of them. I don't recognize any of these names from the intro. The death metal playing is not going to increase my chances of ever watching again. While I think UFC is a real sport, death metal isn't real music.

-One of the announcer's last name is Goldberg. But unfortunately not this one. The other announcer is Joe Rogan, whose Affliction shirt apparently came without the top button. Good. I was wondering what his chest hair looked like.

-They're making a big deal of this being Chris Lydel's (Lytle?) last fight. This could be emotional for me. He was always my favorite fighter. Bug Light is the first official sponsor they mention. Also not helping UFC's chances with me. Bud Light gives me real bad gas.

-First match- Amir Sadolla vs. Duane Bang Ludwig. According to the pre-fight interviews, they're both ready to fight. Sounds like a good gameplan to me. Bang wants to keep his win streak going. Also a good gameplan.

-Amir wants to show his skills.

-Both of these guys are taller than me, but weigh less. Must mean I am stronger, and therefore could beat them both up. My money's on Bang. He has way more fights. But the other guy Amir won a UFC reality show. Whatever.

-Bang has tats on his shins. More money on him. That had to hurt. I feel like fighting barefoot would be weird. I get it, but it would be weird. Bang is sponsored by AmmoToGo.com. That sounds like a great business venture.

-Both men apparently fighting Thai style. I don't know what that means, but it made me want Asian food. From what I can tell, Thai style means hug it out. Oh no, now some kicking. Nice.

-I think one of these guys is bleeding. I think that's a health code violation. But I won't report it.

-Trav makes a good point- one of those kicks to the ribs would put me down too. I'd probably cry. Amir is hurting, but Ludwig has frosted tips, so I still give him a chance. Announcers just said 'shot to the liver' and 'beautiful shot to the midsection' back-to-back. Good family fun here in UFC.

-Round 2 of 3 rounds. Good sport for those of us with short attention spans.

-Trav mentioned that someone won a match recently with a Karate Kid Crane Kick. That would get me to watch this regularly. Also if someone had a manager like Mr. Miyagi or Mr. Fuji. UFC needs Asian managers. Or something.

-Punches. Kicks. The little kicks to the shins look like something a 3rd grader does on the playground. Bang also has tattoos of Angel Wings. I guess if you're gonna get those, you have to be ready to defend yourself. Ronnie would definitely try and fight that dude on the boardwalk.

-The official sponsor of this blog entry is Yuengling. And by sponsor, I mean that's what I'm drinking. Airhorns to end each round. Seems a little less official than a bell. Like they didn't budget for it. Round 3 here. Amir's hurting, but comes out aggressive.

-These guys have about 12 sponsors on their shorts. I've heard of none of them. Amir with a kick to the face, that makes Bang Ludwig laugh. Under two minutes left. I'm ready for some awesomeness. Amir is bearhugging Ludwig through his crotch. Not the awesomeness I was looking for. And that's how it ends. Official decision coming... Ludwig wins by unanimous decision. And comes out for the interview with a Joe Rogan action figure for him to sign. Awesome. He's my favorite fighter. Tells Joe he knows he's awesome. Also "not to be boastful, but I'm good at what I do". At least he's humble. His Extreme Couture shirt looks like the cover of a Pirates of the Caribbean DVD, if Satan designed it.

-Next fight is Charles Oliveira vs. Donald Cerrone. Little needs to be said, according to the announcer Goldberg, who then says a lot anyway. One guy is giving his pre-fight interview in Spanish, the other one is wearing a cowboy hat. Awesome. Awesome. Awesome.

-Cerrone's nickname is Cowboy. Felt like an obvious nickname. His back tattoo is... I'm not sure what it is. Plus full leg tattoos, but none on the arms. Interesting choice. Money's on him. I'm 1-for-1.

-Cowboy with a kick to the nards. Which pauses the fight for a minute. More importantly, it prompted me to look up this video,so it was worth it.

-Cowboy takes other dude down with a hit to the stomach, and then hit him with about 95 punches in 6 seconds, resulting in the ref calling the match. Or fight. Or game. Or battle. Or brawl.

-Cowboy rocks the cowboy hat in the post-match, while other dude wears a flat-brim. Always bet against the guy who wears the flat-brim hat. I'm 2-for-2.

-Perfect cowboy segway to a story that has nothing to do with fighting... Two weeks ago we went to a wedding between Kalee's cousin Terra and her man Kyle. Great wedding, great people. Kyle grew up in Oklahoma, in a family of Oklahoma Sooner fans. But when it came down to the college choice, Kyle went to Oklahoma State, apparently breaking his mom's heart. Which made it awesome that the mother/son dance was this.

-Next up, Jim Miller vs. Ben Henderson. Easy names to spell. Good for writing. Thanks guys.

-Henderson looks like UFC's Joakim Noah. Miller has a red goatee. I need more to make my pick. Henderson looks like a guy who knows he looks dumb but doesn't care. Miller looks like a guy who always has a 30 of High Life in his fridge, and possibly isn't allowed within 500 feet of a school. But he's from Sparta, NJ, right by where my sister lives. Henderson's nickname is Smooth. Points for him. Supertight spandex, minus points. Full back tat, plus points. Angel wings though, minus points. I'll go with Miller, from Jersey. The ref looks like he could kill both of them though.

-Miller has Smooth in a chokehold in which he is giving him a piggyfront ride, while Rogan tells us it's hard to finish in this position. Sounds inappropriate.

-Miller keeps trying these holds on Smooth, who is too smooth for them. A few times I thought he was going to snap his arm off at the shoulder. Smooth lands a few haymakers to end the round. Not terribly confident in my pick. Cmon Jimbo from Jers.

-STOP THE MATCH! MILLER IS BLEEDING! WE NEED BAND-AIDS! Nevermind, fight on. I bet they get tested for diseases. Have to, right? It's like how they don't let porn stars do their thing if they have something. I think I saw that on SVU one time anyway.

-Smooth is dominating Miller, who is bleeding a lot. Not alot or allot, a lot. Tonight's grammar lesson is my gift to you.

-Rogan- "He wants to yank it out, but Henderson has it planted deep between his legs." 8th graders across the country laughed at that with me.

-Round 3 coming up, and good for Miller, because Smooth came really close to actually decapitating him.

-Smooth just owning Miller right now. Probably because he's an angel, and everyone knows angels can fight.

-Miller is done, but they are still fighting. NFLPA needs to fight for this guy to have better benefits. I don't even know what their benefits are, but they need to be better. I've watched the last two minutes with a frightened look on my face. Miller looks beat to crap in the postfight, while Smooth is barely out of breath. He then says something in another language. I have no idea what language. He then says some quote in English that was maybe supposed to be poetic, but made no sense. Stick to whatever the other language was.

-Main event time- Hardy vs. Lytle. Lytle's final match. Hardy is British and has a red mohawk. Imagine this old-school wrestler's hair, but minus the mullet. Lytle's nickname is Lights Out. Good enough for me. I pick him. Lights Out was an above-average FX show about a Jersey boxer, that won't get carried into a second season. Damn shame.

-Lots of tattoos to digest here. Arm sleeves and a belly button tattoo for Hardy. I'll forget his name, so we'll call him Redhawk from here.

-Lytle's a midwestern firefighter and father of 4, who is retiring to spend more time with his family. How can I root against this guy? If he loses, I may stop being a UFC fan.

-Lytle's tats- giant Lion on left side, scary bird/dragon thing on his right side. Something on his back. Looks like a BA to me. This guy doesn't fight fires, he beats them up.

-Redhawk comes out to the Clash, with his face covered like this. Quadruple minus points. I hope he gets destroyed.

-Ref looks a lot like Cutty from the Wire, but with a ponytail. Any time you can work in a Wire reference, you have to do it.

-Final fight! Redhawk also has angel wings. 3 of 4 matches featured a guy with angel wing tattoos. Weak. Lytle just caught a kick with one hand. This guy is awesome.

-Crowd chants U-S-A. Love it.

-Lytle, who apparently wins often by submission, apparently made a promise that for his last fight he would come out throwing instead and wants to put on a show trying to win by KO. Fulfilling first part of his promise. Throwing some bombs at Redhawk.

-Round 1 comes to an end, neither guy having done TOO much damage. Rogan made a Rock Em Sock Em Robots reference. Which reminded me how terrible this movie looks. And they don't even credit the toys. Ludicrous. Or ludacrisp, as Mike Tyson would say.

-Redhawk lands a few big ones on Lytle. Damnit. I can't stand British people. If this guy wins, I'm boycotting the next royal wedding.

-I just yelled 'GET EM' at the TV, connecting with my college days when I had pothead friends who made me able to reference bad movies. GET EM!!!

-Hardy's hair is painfully bright. If he was American, he wouldn't have that, because his mom would never let him come home for Thanksgiving looking like that. I don't think Brits do Thanksgiving anyway.

-Round 2 comes to an end with Lydle landing another nice punch, but no clear winner yet. Lots of haymakers though. I hope this third round is like the first two, on speed. Or steroids. Or speederoids. If they don't exist, I hope someone invents them for the 3rd round.

-3rd round has lots of punches, no huge ones landed. Hardy goes in trying to take down Lydle, who then gets him in a hold of his own, and you can then actually see Redhawk's body going limp, only with enough energy left to tap out. Game over. Lydle wins by submission, and I go 3-1 for the evening.

-Lights Out Lydle goes out a winner, with his kids joining him in the ring after his final fight. Cool moment. Big cheers from the crowd.

And that's a wrap. Am I now a UFC fan? Prolly not. Am I more likely to watch it with Trav over some beers? Prolly. But I don't see myself getting into it too much. Made for a fun blog entry anyway.
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Trav chose tonight's video, an awesome 'superkick' knocking out Joakim Noah, the only guy to ruin my perfect UFC gambling record.

Slainte,
Gary

Rowan Run

2011-08-23T10:40:00.002-04:00

I went for a nice little run yesterday. I started in front of the Rec Center, where I spent countless college hours, playing pickup basketball, working to help pay for college, and forming lifelong friendships.

I ran past the intramural field, where 11 years ago I was scared as anything to ref my first ever flag football game, nervously looking over the rulebook on the sidelines before taking on my first daunting task- working as a back judge.

I made a right on Carpenter Street, and past the Edgewood Apartments, where I lived for one semester with three other Phi Kaps from North Jersey. The semester was Fall 2001. Those were the apartments where I turned on the TV one Tuesday morning before class, and watched the towers fall.

Just before Main Street, I made a right into a parking lot marked 'Lot X'. X marks the spot that used to be Mansion Park Apartments, where I lived and worked as an RA for just under three semesters. It was here where I learned that there really are consequences for your actions. It was also here that I spent a lot of time hanging out with my Theta Chi friends Tommy and Abe, and a few years later Travis, Sean and Koeller.

I wrapped through the Mansion lot, and around the water tower and past the trail that we used to take from campus to the Phi Kap house. Kept running past the Chestnut courtyard where I spent some of those first fall nights throwing the football with friends. Then past Magnolia, and then Willow, where I lived my first year at Rowan, an Irish kid paired with an Italian named Joe Ascolese, and sharing a suite with friends with nicknames like Filipino Paul, Big Country, Snife, and Flem.

The run continued past the outdoor basketball courts, where I once won a 3v3 game despite playing barefoot, and then past Mimosa and by the Student Center, where we would pack the pit for Greek events, spend late nights downing greasy food at the Rat, and spent my share of late Wednesday nights up on the third floor putting the final touches on the Whit sports section in Quark XPress.

I ran past the library where I didn't spend enough time, past Savitz where I took out too many loans, and through Lot A where I spent too much time looking for a parking space in those few semesters I had a car at school.

After running up the steps at the far end of the lot, I went past Triad where we gave out a handful of bids to pledge the fraternity by surprising then ambushing rushes and tackling them to the ground, and then past the little strip where there used to be the 'Ghetto WaWa' and a pizza place that my roommate Timmy used to deliver for.

I went past Beau Rivage, where they used to blockade the drive so that drunk kids couldn't drive off. Then I looped around Crossings, where I went to a few 'upperclassmen' parties my first year.

Done with Crossings, I came back down 322 and past the townhouses that were being built when I was a student, and made a right at the light and up to Bozorth, where I spent the majority of my time in classes, developing my lasting pride for being a Word Nerd, and being a TA for Mrs. Cuddy's, the Quark Queen, Publication Layout and Design class.

Kept chugging along by the baseball field and around the other side of Bunce, both of those the locations of my graduation ceremonies in May 2004. Then wrapped through Oak and Laurel, what I liked to call the 'quiet dorms', but really the nicest spot on campus. Then back behind Evergreen and out to 322 and starting down West Street and the most depressing parking lot on campus, where the Whitney House once stood and was known in its final years as the Phi Kap House. Spent many days and nights there, whether during summer cleanup, rush week, Thursday nights in the basement, and called the attic home for a few months.

After I poured out a 40 in memory of White Trash Wednesdays on the porch, at least in my mind, I kept running and made a right through Rowan Boulevard, which when finished should be gorgeous and a great asset to Rowan. But what now stands as a Barnes and Noble used to be a gem of a college neighborhood called Eben Street, where many friends lived.

I ran through the new townhouses and turned left on Main, past the Landmark on the right, and a lot on the left where 3 West used to stand. My first night at Rowan, I roamed the town with Joe and Flem, and ended up talking to some people on their steps outside of that house. 3 years later, it would be home for my senior year.

With that memory behind me, my Adidas running shoes kept me going down Main Street until I turned left down Campus Terrace, where my buddy Fitz used to live. This apartment complex was the inspiration for my college softball team, Terrace Squad, because most of our guys lived there. It also was home to a 2001 Cinco de Mayo party, which I still say was the most outrageous event I ever witnessed.

I took Campus Terrace back to Carpenter, turned right and ran down the road I paraded down a few times with Phi Kap during Homecoming. Kept going until I hit the football stadium. I can only remember seeing Rowan lose once there, on a Friday night against TCNJ. But the stadium was also the home to a candlelight vigil Rowan held after 9/11.

As I ran back behind the stadium, very fittingly the song 'Coming Home' came on the ipod to finish my run. I ran past a few other fields, then back past Esby, where I went and watched Tylee Thomas play for four years, sometimes watching with my suite mates as a fan, and sometimes with a notepad as a Whit reporter.

I finally ended back where it all began, at the Rec Center. Where I thankfully took a walking tour in Summer 2000 with my mom during transfer orientation, and picked up a job ap.

And now 11 years later, I'm sitting in the office at the Rec, reflecting on a run yesterday, but really on the four years I spent here as a student, and the seven since then, and just really thinking that it feels pretty good to be back.
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Here's another song I heard recently that made me think about this move. It is nice to be coming back home, and get to the 'sweet' part of this bittersweet transition.

More to come in the next few weeks (hopefully) on some final CMU thoughts and memories, an entry about the awesome new place I'm moving into, and whatever else comes to mind. As long as I don't slack off with writing. But it's been very busy.

Slainte,
Gary

10, or 11, IM/URec Memories

2011-08-10T21:37:00.006-04:00

As I’ve been saying since making the decision to leave CMU, it was not an easy decision, and the whole process has been bittersweet. While the sweet part is that I am moving on to another awesome opportunity in my home state, closer to my family and at my alma mater, another unexpected ‘sweet’ is that I get to reflect on how awesome an experience CMU has been. And with that, here are ten OF my favorite memories from my time at CMU, more specifically, working with Intramural Sports and URec. I emphasize ‘of’, because surely I am leaving some out, and these aren’t my top ten in any order, other than the order I wrote them down. Coming in another blog entry soon are ten other memories of our time here, but more general to Mount Pleasant or CMU. So here we go… ten OF my favorite IM/CMU memories.

1- SMITTY STUFF
If you have had any contact with me the past four years, you probably know what this is referring to. But if not, allow me a quick second to explain… In May 2008, one of our URec employees, LaMott Smith, passed away due to bacterial meningitis. Very sudden, very sad. LaMott was beloved by many people, and the loss took its toll on many. On the heels of his death, we decided to do a fundraiser in his honor to hopefully start a scholarship in his name. And born were the Smitty sporting events.

In May 2009, we held a 3v3 Basketball tournament, a Softball tournament, and a ‘Shootin’ for Smitty’ basketball game between Smitty’s All Stars (a group of LaMott’s friends, classmates and URec employees) and the 9&10 All Stars (a group of TV reporters and producers from the local TV station where Kalee worked at the time). The game was accompanied by a silent auction, raffles, door prizes, and a variety of other fun things. It was a collaboration between several departments and organizations, but more importantly it was the result of many people’s generosity in order to honor a student who meant a lot to many people. Between that game and the tournaments, we made over $9,000 that first spring, and were able to start the Smitty Scholarship.

The experience of that event, and starting the annual tournaments, has been the most rewarding professional experience in my time here, and one of the most rewarding things personally in my life. I have built great friends, remembered great memories of LaMott, and hopefully helped turn a negative experience for many into a positive memory.

2- FLAG FOOTBALL CHAMPIONSHIP NIGHTS
Flag football is my favorite IM sport. Maybe I shouldn’t admit that bias, but it’s the truth. I get excited for it every year. But I’m also excited for it to end every year. When I started at CMU, we started doing the champ nights in the varsity stadium, and really turned it into a special event. It has been a fun experience to see teams get excited to play where they usually watch games, and add to what would already be a fun time. It’s a culmination of 6 weeks of work for staff and teams, and just a fun time even for the refs (and IM director) to toss the football on the turf, try kicking field goals, and work the scoreboard from the press box.

3- NOONBALL WITH STAFF
Playing basketball is one of my favorite ways to try and stay in shape, and it’s an interactive sport, so I can get to know my staff better by doing it. So we started playing Noonball, and I got to have a fun way to burn calories and ‘develop students’. I sent out some emails talking trash to my staff, offering free basketball lessons, and telling them I had Jimmer’s shooting range combined with Dwight Howard’s athleticism. I like to think I walked the walk too. Whether I actually did or not, I’ll leave to your imagination. But those noonball games were fun opportunities to get to know staff better, and for them to see that their 5’9” boss with the receding hairline can shoot the 3 a little.

4- GREAT WALL LUNCH BUFFETS
As an undergrad, my boss Keith took us to lunch buffets as team-building. Or maybe just ways to eat together. I don’t know. One time, we had to give our one friend Tommy the Heimlich as he choked on some sweet and sour chicken. Thankfully, I never had to save a CMU student from choking, but the buffets with staff lived on. Our destination was usually Great Wall for mediocre Chinese food, an always-hanging Happy Birthday sign, and desert rolls that our old GA Micah would eat about 3 at a time. Sometimes we’d go to Pisanello’s pizza downtown, but it was usually Great Wall, and we had some great convos about work, sports, or anything else, and I lived vicariously through my IM Staff’s stories. I will miss the mediocre Chinese food tremendously. Or maybe the staff bonding.

5- TUESDAY NIGHTS
Tuesday nights at the Student Activity Center became a tradition that at the time I didn’t appreciate. Once a week, I had to serve as Facility Manager. The first year, we had to stay until 10pm. I ended up scheduling our IM Sup meetings for late Tuesday nights at 10pm, just because I was already there and it worked with the students’ schedules. The next year, we only had to stay til 8, but the 10pm IM Sup meetings stuck. Tuesdays became my late night. I got to know the Tuesday staff, usually got my AMP energy drink around 7:30, and was always tired on Wednesday. This past year, I started incorporating the rhyming Facility Manager announcements, which surprisingly became something the students looked forward to after rolling their eyes at the first few weeks. So will I really miss working the occasional 14-hour Tuesdays? Probably not. But they were fun while they lasted.

6- POLAR PLUNGE
I’ve loved working with Special Olympics during my time here at CMU (more on that in the next blog). I have also tried to spread that enthusiasm to my staff members. Last year at our IM Sup training (in August), I got the staff to agree to do the Polar Plunge (in February). Easy to agree to jumping into freezing water while you’re still wearing shorts in summer. Once January came around, they were less enthusiastic, but still on board. Come the day of the plunge, I think we had about 8 or 9 come out for it, stand in line outside, and freeze our butts off by jumping into the not-so-sanitary Rose pond. We did some fundraising, and ended up raising I think $1500 or more for Special O. Great times.

7- UGLY SWEATER CHRISTMAS PARTIES
Another IMS tradition. First year we went to Mountain Town, a nice steakhouse. I don’t think we had the sweaters yet. 2nd year, BDubs, sweaters and all. 3rd year, Micah’s apartment and this past year my house. We do a Secret Santa, which one year included an obscure knife, one year a sweatshirt from the IM Lost and Found, and one year I received a framed pic of Charlie Weis. Some random gifts, but some good ones too. This year, the staff really nailed it with the ugly sweater component, and Kalee was gracious enough to cook us some great pasta. I’m glad that the last one was at our house. I’ll miss the Secret Santa and the sweaters, and just wrapping up the fall semester with my staff that way.

8- MAINSTAGE
To start every CMU school year, there is a big event called MainStage. It’s like a welcome back to school fair, where all the student organizations and departments promote their programs and services, they have free food, games, and usually a concert of some sort. I love it because people are always fired up to be back at school, are genuinely interested in what you have to offer, and marks the start of a new schoolyear. It also has always been a gorgeous day, which is convenient because it’s an outdoor event.

9- IM REF TRAININGS
Along with the Tuesday night FM shifts, these weekend or nighttime trainings aren’t something I’ll miss tremendously in the sense that they aren’t at the most desirable times to be at work. But I also have a Charlie Brown figurine in my office that says ‘Happiness is the start of a new season.’ Charlie speaks the truth. Ref trainings, like Mainstage, are exciting because it’s the first time with a new staff, people are (mostly) excited for the new season and eager to learn, and I guess they are genuinely optimistic because they haven’t gotten yelled at yet by participants who always think they can do better. The IM Sups were the staff I directly supervised, so the ref trainings gave me an opportunity to get to know the staff more. I was just talking to Kalee earlier tonight about how it’s going to be weird to NOT have ref training anymore.

10- LEADERSHAPE
Kalee and I have both been fortunate enough to work a camp called LeaderShape. It’s the week after school gets out, and a great opportunity for students to really develop and set goals for themselves that serve a greater good. As someone who worked there as a ‘Cluster Facilitator’, I can say that the week probably had as much of an impact on me as it did on the students. One of the best-spent weeks of my time at CMU.

11- OPEN-DOOR CONVOS
I’m bad at top-10 lists. Good at top-11 lists. Bear with me, this one just came to mind. Some of the best times with students weren’t planned lunch buffets, noonball, or fundraising events, but these impromptu open-door convos. We always say we practice an open door policy, and I like to try and preach it. Some staff take advantage, some don’t, which is fine. I have gotten to know a lot of students just by BSing with them in my office. I’ve had serious conversations with crying students and given advice on how to cope with tough situations, and I’ve had sports talks, and conversations about Dwight Schrute and who should replace Michael Scott. You never know what you’re going to get. I’ll do the same at Rowan, but will definitely miss my CMU ‘kids’.
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Quick note from the last blog entry… I’m an idiot. I talked in detail about Gus O’Connor’s and the fun St. Patrick’s Day there, but failed to mention it’s where Kalee and I went on our first date. I could say I wasn’t in the mindset of writing about dates, but in the mindset of writing about Irish bars. Which is true. But I could also say that I am an idiot, who forgot to mention a big moment in our relationship that also happened at the bar/restaurant. Also true. But I didn’t forget the event. I can tell you that she had chicken pot pie for dinner, that we went to see Syriana afterwards, and that I drove the wrong way down a one-way entrance to the parking lot going into the theater. And despite my bad driving, and worse sense for acknowledging things like that date, she still married me. Love you.
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Today's video is actually an audio slide show I found from Flag Football Champ Night a few years ago, but couldn't figure out how to embed directly here, so you'll have to click the link. Well-done by our CM-Life CMU newspaper staff. Another thing I've enjoyed.

AUDIO SLIDESHOW: Intramural Co-Rec Championship Football

Slainte,
Gary

Irish Michigan

2011-08-06T15:08:00.007-04:00

As I get ready to depart the great state of Meeeeechigan, I'll be spending some time writing top ten lists of things I've experienced, things I'll miss about Michigan and/or Mount Pleasant, or just whatever else I can come up with a list for. To start, we'll go with something near and dear to my heart- 'Irish' pubs. This is a list of ten bars or pubs in Michigan I've been to, which call themselves an Irish place. Few places which have some kind of Irish name or the tri-colors hanging outside there establishment have any kind of feel to them like the places we visited in Galway, but I'm still more inclined to visit an American bar if it advertises Guinness on the window.

So here is a list of eleven bars (an extra one, for good measure) in Michigan that claim any kind of Irishness that I have spent a few bucks at enjoying some fine libations. Ranked in reverse order of how Irish they felt, or how much I enjoyed my time there. And if you consider yourself an Irish bar aficionado, before you argue with the order of this list, please realize that I just ranked them by putting about 15 seconds of thought into the rankings.

11- The Shamrock; Beaver Island, MI
The name is the only think Irish about it. Other than that, it was pretty basic. Still, the best bar on the Island. It beat out the other one.

10- The Green Spot; Mount Pleasant
This place is a townie bar in a college town, and not Irish at all. They have shuffleboard and cheap beer. So that makes it decent. I think I went there three times in four years. And once was by myself to get a burger because it was the closest place to my first house in MtP, and I hadn't bought groceries yet. It was that awesome that I went back twice in the next three years.

9- Gallaghers; Kalamazoo
Another place that's really not Irish. This is like an Applebee's that has a shamrock on it. But anytime I was unfortunate enough to travel to (CMU rival) Western Michigan for a work trip of some kind, this was across the parking lot from the hotel we stayed in. So it was the default bar to go to.

8- McGeady's; Monroe
I went to this place one time, and it was for dinner and maybe a drink. I don't remember it being that great or that bad, I was only there for an hour. And it is where Kalee grew up, and her favorite number is 8. So there you go.

7- The Doherty; Clare
The Doherty is a hotel in name, but I have only been to the bar. For the past two years, we have run the Clare St. Patrick's Day 5k, and have celebrated our healthy accomplishment with a Guinness immediately afterwards. The 5k is fun, because almost everyone is wearing green. The bar is ok. This really only gets ranked where it is because of the atmosphere that comes with it.

6- O'Kelly's; Mount Pleasant
This is a huge sports bar, and huge Thursday night hangout for students. BroKelly's doesn't have THAT much of an Irish feel as a whole. It has 6 huge screen TV's, is connected to a dance club, and doesn't look much like an Irish pub... as a whole. But I think if you only looked at the upstairs level near the bar, and took out the big sports TV's and the dance side (really, if you took out all the things people like), the upstairs part kinda feels a little Irish.

5- McFaddens; Grand Rapids
This is a kinda cool place that I've only been to once or twice. Why does it make the top 5? I don't know. Probably just because I feel like I need to give downtown GR some love. We love taking trips there, and have had good times at the various bars. This one probably wasn't the best of them, but we liked it. And for anyone planning a trip to GR, make sure your night ends at Georgio's.

4- Patrick Sinclair's; Mackinac Island
Pretty similar to why McFaddens got ranked high, this one gets love just because I really liked Mackinac Island. Not specifically for this bar. Whatever. My list sucks. I'm happy about the top three though.

3- Old Shillelagh; Detroit
I know when I think of Detroit, Irish people is the first thing that comes to mind. I've been to the Shillelagh a handful of times, and it has never disappointed. This is a great place to visit downtown, whether before or after a Tiger or Lions game, visitng a casino, or for... whatever other reason you would venture to downtown Detroit. For the Tiger games, they have a green bus that will take you to the ballpark from the bar. There is a downstairs bar and some seating, and if you go up the staircase that feels like it belongs in an old frat house, you can hear some live traditional Irish music upstairs. I've enjoyed singing along to Black Velvet Band and Fields of Ahtenry at the Shillelagh. Not that it compared at all to hearing this song at Tig Coili in Galway.

2- Gus O'Connor's; Rochester
When I was at Oakland, Gus O'Connor's opened up in downtown Rochester. My roommate tended bar at a few different places, and got on here for a bit, so this became a place I liked going in downtown Roch for a pint or two, or... Gus O's had a legit Irish feel to it. Probably because parts of the bar were actually built by a Guinness-approved bar-maker (whatever that means) in Ireland, and shipped to the states. Sounds good to me. This is also the home of the rowdiest St. Pat's celebration I've ever had, when my brother Bill and friend Travis came out to Michigan the same year. Our festivities began before the sunlight did that day, and had us happily calling my mom at work while the time still ended in 'am'. Very good times.

1- Kilkenny's; Traverse City
Maybe our favorite place to visit these past four years in Michigan has been Traverse City. It's 2 hours from MtP, on the water, has lots to offer, and just has a charm about it. And none of our visits to TC are complete without a trip to Kilkenny's. Located on Front Street underneath the better-known North Peak Brewery, Kilkenny's has the same dimly-lit feel of some of the Galway bars. And it has the same feel with some friendly people. A few years ago, Kalee and I went to TC and Kilkenny's on St. Pat's, but without any friends. We made some though. Perched atop some bar stools in Kilkenny's with the beers going down easy, we talked to anyone who would listen, and had a blast. Fergive me fodder for this may be a sin to say, but I think Kilkenny's Shirley Stout is (arguably) better than Guinness. In two weekends, we'll be spending our last Saturday night before the big move up in TC, and you can bet your wee arse we will be going to Kilkenny's for a few pints of that black stuff. Cheers, Michigan.
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Today's video is for Bill and Trav. Look forward to cheersing one with you guys soon.

Today's sign-off is as fitting as ever.
Slainte,
Gary

Taking My Talents to South Jersey

2011-08-04T15:11:00.003-04:00

In late August of the year 2000, I loaded up the car, took what felt like a long 2-hour drive down the Parkway and Turnpike, and arrived in Glassboro to move into Willow Hall Room 117, on the campus of Rowan University. This summer, I'll be packing up more than a car, taking a longer trip than two hours, and hopefully moving into something bigger than 165 square feet. Later this month, I'll be joining Rowan's staff as Assistant Director of Club Sports & Youth Programs.

It's a move that is very bittersweet for me. On one hand, I am thrilled to be moving closer to my family, living back in my home state of New Jersey, being around college and high school friends, and joining the staff at my alma mater.

On the other hand, the 'bitter' part of the bittersweet, I am leaving CMU and the state of Michigan. From the time I graduated high school, I've spent 7+ years living in Michigan. It's not my home state, but in a sense has become my new home. And while Rowan is my proud alma mater, I have spent just as much time, a little more even, on campus here in Mount Pleasant. The people here- students, staff, friends- have made this an amazing professional and personal experience. I really love CMU. Kalee and I started our life as a married couple here. Well, technically in Ireland, but you get the point.

This has become our life. But life changes. And we are very excited for the next chapter, a change in scenery, that change personally and professionally. And ultimately, the decision came down to us wanting to be closer to good pizza, cheesesteaks, and WaWa.

The decision actually came down to us doing a lot of praying, deliberating, making pro/con lists, weighing options, changing our minds on which direction we were going every hour, adding to the lists, then deciding on changing things up.

For almost all the same reasons we said to leave, we could have stayed. Family, friends, jobs... so many things fit into both categories that if I tried explaining it all in detail, I'd just be running in circles.

So I won't try and explain it all, not just yet anyway. I am as excited to go as I am sad to leave. We've already started packing up the house a little bit, and are figuring out all of our moving plans now. My last day as a Central employee will be August 26th, and my first official day as a Rowan employee will be September 1st. It's going to be a very quick turnaround, and a crazy month of both looking forward to our new start in NJ, and saying our goodbyes to things here in MI. Last night was our final softball game in Mount Pleasant. 'Just' a softball game, but still sad. (If you're scoring at home, we won by 7, and I struck out about 6 batters... in slow-pitch, stiff competition).

I could write forever on here about the things I'll miss about Mount Pleasant and look forward to at Rowan, but we'll hold onto those as ammo for more writing later.

So if you're reading this from Jersey, I look forward to seeing you again soon. If you're reading it from Michigan, I hope to see you before I leave. If you're reading from somewhere else, I'll see you... sometime!

That's it for now, much more to come on all this in the next few weeks.
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Here are highlights from one of my favorite memories during my time at CMU, and probably the best sporting event I've ever attended. Fire Up Chips!

Slainte,
Gary

Locked In

2011-08-02T09:30:00.005-04:00

Two years ago, I went home to NJ for Christmas break, and spent a night out with some of my hometown buddies. By the time I got back to my parents' house, they were in bed, the doors were locked, and my house key (along with car keys) was inconveniently inside the cozy confines of 104 Highwood. Their bedroom phone was disconnected, and I didn't feel like breaking a window, and therefore spent the night shivering under blankets in my Chevy Malibu. That was my worst experience of being 'locked out'.

After months of picturing Roger Goodell and DeMaurice Smith shivering in their own cars at night, I'm told that the NFL Lockout was something slightly different, but I'm still going to imagine that's what happened to them. For NFL fans though, it was a nerve-racking experience not only to think about a fall in which they may not get to cheer on their beloved J-E-T-S, G-Men, Lions or Iggles, but also to think about a year without fantasy football. I'm guessing most fantasy owners were NFL fans before they started drafting QB's from teams they never thought they'd cheer, but the past decade's obsession with fantasy football only magnifies America's love for the NFL.

So I thought it would be fun to reach out to a few friends of mine who are fortunate enough to work in the fantasy industry and get some of their thoughts on the lockout, and the upcoming fantasy season. The first friend is Matt Camp, a fellow Rowan alum and intramural frat league legend (in our own minds), who works for fantasyguru.com. Enjoy, and as always, feel free to weigh in with your thoughts.

What did you do to celebrate the end of the lockout?
MATT CAMP: As soon as NFLPA Spokesman, George Attalah tweeted “It’s unanimous” I popped a bottle of champagne I bought the night before with my co-workers.

What would you have done had the lockout extended into the NFL season? If it canceled the season like what may happen with the NBA?
MC: Probably would have gone back to my roots and threw the stripes on to ref some Pop Warner and high school football. Also, cried.

Do you think other fantasy sports would have picked up considerably if NFL was absent? College football?
MC: No. I think interest in college football might have picked up, but fantasy football is king and without the NBA and baseball done in October, I don’t think hockey would have seen their fantasy relevance increase.

On a scale of 1-10, how depressed were people who work in fantasy during the lockout?
MC: I’ll admit that following every little detail on Twitter was a terrible idea that had me at a constant 6, which occasionally rose to 8. Tough not to feel hopeless at times.

While the NFL was on hiatus, did you consider trying out for an MLS team, becoming a boxer, or competing on Dancing with the Stars?
MC: Actually, I submitted my resume to become the play-by-play announcer for the Urban Wrestling Federation. I’ve never really hidden my love of wrestling, so figured I’d give it a shot. Sadly, I never got a response.

True or false: You were arrested for drug possession during the Lockout after being pulled over driving 75 in a 25. In a school zone.
MC: False. As LT once said, “Don’t smoke crack.”

Who is the top NFL Free agent, or player on a trading block, with the greatest potential impact depending on which team he lands on?
MC: Kevin Kolb comes to mind right away when it comes to potential. He got derailed by the amazing Michael Vick last year, but now gets his chance to have his own team with a great WR in Larry Fitzgerald. He might have some early bumps in the road, but he gives this team the true starting QB they lost when Kurt Warner retired.

Of any of the recent handshake deals this week, any of those players likely to see a fantasy boost with their new teams? Any of them to see a dramatic drop-off with their new teams?
MC: None of the names really jump out at me as player who will get a serious boost, but I’m very intrigued by what Darren Sproles can do in New Orleans. We saw how well Reggie Bush was utilized by Sean Payton and while Bush might have more natural talent, Sproles seems to have a better grasp of what it takes to be a RB in this league.

Sidney Rice must really like money, rain, Soundgarden, coffee, and Tarvaris Jackson to go to Seattle. I don’t like that move at all.

Do you feel like a kid at Christmas (or Hanukkah) right now with all the NFL buzz? If not a kid at Christmas, what corny simile would you use?
MC: As a fan, this has been as exciting as the first two days of March Madness. As a someone in the business, I’m glad to get back to talking about real football as opposed to courtroom football.

What are some of the most creative fantasy team names that come to mind off the bat? Most inappropriate?
MC: Pinching Lofa Tatupus.

Who do you consider to be the top overall player to be taken in fantasy drafts this year? At QB? RB? WR? TE?
MC: Tough not to consider Arian Foster although I think all the 1st-round RBs have questions about them.

QB – Aaron Rodgers is the guy I want, but Michael Vick is the most dangerous player in all of fantasy football, although that also makes him an injury risk.

WR – Give me Andre Johnson any day of the week, although Calvin Johnson is right with him in terms of talent and could match his numbers if Matthew Stafford can stay on the field this year.

TE – Antonio Gates. I can’t remember a TE who led ALL receivers in fantasy points like Gates did when he was healthy. He’s the best TE I’ve ever seen play the game.

How did you get started with the fantasy industry?
MC: I’ve been playing fantasy football for 15 years when a friend’s older brother showed us the scoring system for his league. I’ve been working in the industry since March of 2009 when a friend from college saw an ad for my current job in the local newspaper.

I just turned 30. Does that mean it's ok for my work productivity to drastically slow down like an NFL Running Back?
MC: Only if you’ve been carrying 75% of the lead for the last eight years. If you’ve been in a committee and things are slowing down, it’s time to restructure your contract.

If you could go out for beers with one NFL player, who would it be?
MC: Actually, instead of a player, I’d like to hang out with Colt Owner Jim Irsay. His Twitter account (@JimIrsay) details the amazing life of Peyton Manning’s boss and someone who has no problem sending nonsensical messages at all hours.

Who do you think would be the most obnoxious NFL player to deal with as an official?
MC: I know for a fact this title used to belong to Warren Sapp. Some surly guys on the field now include Tom Brady and Jay Cutler, and I like both of those guys as players, but they don’t like to be wrong or have things go against them.

What's your best advice for fantasy GM's right now?
MC: I usually like being aggressive, but this isn’t the year to do that.. Drafts aren’t as important as they used to be, so don’t think a good draft will get you into the playoffs. Working the waiver wire is huge and can win you a championship if you’re proactive enough. Also, I’m staying away from rookies unless they’re a good value. Their lack of development scares me.

Do Rex Ryan's feet turn you on? If not, does his coaching style?
MC: The foot jokes got old in a hurry. Enough. He may talk a lot, but people forget how good of a coach this guy is when it comes to teaching his players and developing a gameplan. I’ll always be a Rex supporter.

What is the overall impact of the lockout on fantasy? Any?
MC: As I said, I’m worried about the development of rookies. Also, I think we’ve been seeing defenses ahead of offenses early on, but that’ll be especially true this year. If you’re looking for a deciding factors when deciding between players, look at how stable their situation is. Teams like the Packers, Saints, Eagles, Texans, and Chargers aren’t going through a lot of changes on offense. Teams like the Seahawks, Vikings, Bengals, Redskins, Titans, and Panthers are going through big changes.

If you're hosting a fantasy draft, what does the food spread look like? What beer is in the fridge?
MC: I’m a big proponent of BYOB. You need to be in a comfort zone when making your picks. For me, that includes some pretzels, wings, and a Stella Artois.

Is Plax worth drafting? In which round?
MC: Burress is obviously a great red zone threat, but if he can also challenge defenses vertically, it’s worth noting that Sanchez throws a good deep ball. His upside is that of a #3 fantasy receiver. If you’re going to draft him, I wouldn’t give it serious thought unless you feel very good about your top 2. A safe spot is the 10th round, but I have a feeling he’ll go much earlier.

What is your personal crowning fantasy achievement? Crowning athletic achievement?
MC: I’ve won two championships with a Cleveland Brown as my starting QB.. Tim Couch and Derek Anderson. Hasn’t all been bad for Cleveland.

I won the caddie tournament at the country club I worked at with a 76 back in 2005. It made me a lot of money in the weeks that followed and I like to think the ghost of Rodney Dangerfield was proud of me.

How many fantasy-draft-coaching magazines is someone allowed to buy before they're considered a loser?
MC: I’ll be honest: One. If you’re still using outdated fantasy magazines in 2011, you’re asking to lose.

Any final thoughts for fantasy geeks?
MC: Despite covering teams for a living, a lot of NFL writers, including some national ones, don’t always know what they are talking about no matter how good their sources are. Don’t listen to people who say things like “Vince Young is a winner” or “That Max Hall sure is gritty.” You should like me on Facebook (facebook.com/fantasygurudotcom), follow me on Twitter (@TheMattCamp/@Fantasy_Guru), check out my work at FantasyGuru.com, and listen to the Weekend Edition Sirius/XM Fantasy Football (Sirius 210/XM 87) with me and “Big Game” Joe Dolan (@FG_Dolan) on Saturdays from 12-3pm ET and Sunday 10-1pm ET as well as the weekday edition with John Hansen M-F 2-5pm ET. I’m done promoting now.

Thanks Gary, you did a great job putting up with my mouth during failed attempts at intramural football.
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Thank you Matt for taking some time and having some fun with this.

Now let's hope NBA comes around before their season is supposed to start. But if not, at least these guys are safe.

Slainte,
Gary

O Captain! My Captain!

2011-07-25T13:04:00.006-04:00

Because I'm a nerd, I went to see Captain America in theaters this weekend. Kalee was heading out of town Saturday night, most of my friends were out of town, and I considered painting a star on the lid of our trash can and turning it into a shield and going by myself, but then she said she would see it with me on Sunday, pretty much just to get out of the un-air-conditioned house of ours. So for now, I still have no shield. But I did go see the movie.

Quick sidenote- For those who don't know, the title of this entry is a reference to Dead Poet Society's (skip to about the 2:50 mark) reference to a Walt Whitman poem.

I was pumped for this one heading in, thinking it would be the start of a good new series of movies for me to follow, along the lines of Spider-Man and Batman. I don't go see EVERY superhero movie in the theaters, only some. I saw a few of the X-Men ones in theaters, but not the most recent, nor did I go see the most recent Thor or any of the Iron Man ones in theaters. But I am already anxious for next summer's Batman and Spider-Man movies. Again, I'm a nerd, and I am ok with that.

So how was Captain America? Looking at the previews, it didn't look as dark as the Batman movies, or as cheesy as the Spider-Man ones, but somewhere in the middle. And it was about what it looked like. It was neither the best superhero movie I've seen, nor the worst, but somewhere in-between. It had a good story with him fighting for America against Germany in the 1940's, had good effects, and did a fair amount of foreshadowing for upcoming movies. I'd probably give the movie a B. If you're into this kind of movie (or are just looking to see something that's not Harry Potter), it's good enough to see in theaters. If not, it's definitely worth renting when it comes out.

And that's pretty much how I rate movies now. Worth seeing in theaters, worth renting, or save those few bucks on the DVD and go buy... whatever you can buy with a few bucks. A beer?

I mentioned before which movies I'm a fan of, and to some degree consider myself a nerd for liking them but (thankfully for Kalee), I'm not diehard, gotta see everything Marvel puts out, super-comic nerd. I've turned lots of them off, and regretted even renting some. Iron Man doesn't grab me. Neither did Daredevil, Ghost Rider, anything with Hulk, Punisher, or Fantastic 4 in the title.

So that leaves us with Batman, Spider-Man and X-Men. Even those have misses though.

Of the Batman movies, I liked the one with Jack as the Joker, though it's 'comical' to watch now in comparison to the Bale-Batman series.

For whatever reason, I like the cheesy Spider-Man movies, but look forward to the darker looking series of them starting next summer. And for an even stranger reason, despite being a bigger fan of Batman, I have collected a handful of Spider-Man, ummm, toys. I keep a bunch of pens, markers, and highlighters in a Spider-Man lunchbox in my office. I'm 30. More surprisingly, I'm married.

So Captain America carried my nerdyness into another superhero series. If you go see it in theaters, there is something to watch at the end of the credits. I'd say it's worth staying for, except that you can probably watch it online too. Here's a hint.

With that, I'll leave you with two more videos today. The trailers for NEXT summer's movies. I'll be 31. And counting. The 2nd one has a commercial before it. Enjoy.

Slainte,
Gary

Texas Forever

2011-07-25T11:13:00.002-04:00

Another one of my favorite TV shows ever came to an end two Fridays ago. 'Friday Night Lights' concluded its severely underrated run on TV, making more room in the DVR for Law and Order reruns, and taking away one more show that I looked forward to every week. For whatever reason, FNL never caught on with a lot of viewers, but it was one that Kalee and I both tremendously enjoyed.

The show came on the heels of the movie, which came on the heels of the book, which was based on the true story of a Texas powerhouse football team, Permian High School. The show wasn't based on Permian, rather on fictional Dillon, and later East Dillon, High School and the coach and the players that made up the team. I think we liked it so much because it not only revolved around sports, but also great and (mostly) believable story lines. It also wasn't focused on one main character throughout, but did a great job of developing different characters and getting you interested in several different subplots. It also successfully dealt with the challenge of basing a show on HS kids by being able to let go of certain characters entirely, or greatly diminishing their roles and developing new ones. And the show evolved a ton over the span of its existence, and not just appealing to and creating meathead football players. It had overzealous boosters, unconfident backup QB's taking the reins, drug addiction, paralysis, white trash, rich snobs, going away to college, husband/wife marital struggle, teen pregnancy, and unlike most football shows or movies (including the FNL movie) which have countless unrealistic helicopter football hits, the action scenes were pretty believable.

It also didn't always have the good guys winning. The team didn't always win State, the Coach got fired, and the good guys often lost. In the series opener, the most talented football player's career ends. But they kept the character involved. It was just a great show that focused on the characters and their growth, or lack of, more than it focused on football. Which is what gets us into a series in the first place, right? When I think of my favorite TV shows, they don't keep me hooked solely for the premise of the show. It's about the characters. I don't watch Rescue Me (sadly also in its final season) because I'm obsessed with firefighters. It's for the character's and their family drama, 9/11 grief, alcoholism and quick wit. Some may have been different, hit I didn't care as much about LOST's sci-fi, as I did for watching Jack, Kate, Locke and Sawyer. Even the Wire, while watching cops vs. crooks was fun, you get caught up in McNulty's personal life, and also find yourself rooting for a shotgun carrying gay Robin Hood like Omar.

Anyway, we enjoyed the show right up to the end. It was interesting, funny, relatable, and entertaining. If you haven't seen it, it's a great show to get into from the start. For good measure, Kalee and I re-watched the movie last night, which came out in 2004, and neither of us had seen in forever. The show takes some actors from the movie, and some other themes, but has completely different characters. The movie is worth watching as well.

Clear eyes, full hearts can't lose.
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Today's video is the final coach's speech from the movie. I mentioned it was a true story, but haven't yet mentioned that it was based off of my good friend Tex's own high school football career. He was the star running back who got hurt. And then changed his skin color.

Slainte,
Gary

Derby Diary

2011-07-12T16:10:00.002-04:00

I first hit a ball over the Junior Field fence in my hometown of Midland Park. NJ when I was in 7th grade. It felt awesome to hit one over that first time, and I really enjoyed playing our own childhood homerun derbies there. The problem? That was the field that 5th and 6th graders played Little League on. I sucked at baseball. Couldn't hit that well, and I wasn't that great at fielding either. I've had three black eyes in my life, all as a result of playing baseball. Maybe I needed a bigger glove. Or maybe I needed to give the sport up, which I did after 6th grade.

The point of telling this isn't just to show you how mediocre of an athlete I am, though it was a fun trip down memory lane. It's more of just a lead-in to doing a running diary on last night's Home Run Derby. I'm not a DIEHARD baseball fan. I would call myself a casual baseball fan. I try and keep tabs on where the Yanks and Tigers stand, and know the rest of what I know through PTI and SportsCenter. And I'm not a huge fan of the derby, but it was the only thing on, we didn't have anything good saved in the DVR, and hey, it's a cheap idea for a blog entry. So after recording about the first 45 minutes, I hopped in and started watching. Here is what I can decipher of the sloppy notes I wrote down. Enjoy.

-There are 4 guys in the studio. One is wearing pink, and no tie. No idea who this dude is, but he must be a guest.
-And to get everyone revved up, here's B-List country star Jason Aldean! Sad part is, I recognized him. Things that didn't happen before Kalee: Me recognizing B-list country stars.
-I'll go out on a limb and say most of the stadium didn't enjoy Jason Aldean. Crowd's not exactly rockin' right now.
-Berman comes out wearing a Craig Sager-esque tie, and tries/fails to pump up the crowd.
-Boom explains the different format this year, and introduces the team captains. Here comes Big Papi, who charges violently at Berman, takes two swings, and misses badly on both before other participants separate the two. Or that's what I imagined happening anyway.
-The 4 guys representing the 'American' league are Ortiz, Cano, Gonzales and Bautista. Great day for America.
-Prince Fielder comes out with his son, mini-Anderson Varejao.
-I don't think Rickie Weeks will win, but at least he got to see his favorite artist, Jason Aldean, perform live.
-I hate when they refer to John Kruk as 'Krukie' or 'Kruky' or however you spell that absurd nickname. Some names don't sound better with the 'ie/y' on the end. I think Kruk is a name that does fine on its own.
-Is that Mia Hamm's husband?
-So we have Berman, Kruk, Nomar, Pedro Gomez, Buster Olney... couldn't ESPN have survived with just Berman?
-Cal Ripken throws out the first pitch... Ball, inside. Who let this guy into the Hall of Fame? What a joke.
-During the second captains meeting, Ortiz makes a change. I have no idea what he just said, but he thought it was really funny.
-Adrian Gonzalez hits first, sends his 2nd HR into the pool. I hope those people are paying attention. Also, for the record, I do NOT see a lifeguard on duty. This isn't safe.
-ESPN has some animation that immediately shows how far the ball traveled on each HR. It looks like a combo between a fan holding up a sign, and something from VH1's pop-up video. I don't see the 'Virtual Tracker' coming back next year.
-Unlike most of tonight's contestants, Matt Holliday doesn't leave the batter's box after every pitch. Which I appreciate, but isn't working for him. He must need more Gatorade.
-Berman: "That ball went on holiday!" He tries too hard.
-Cano up, Go Yanks. His dad is pitching to him. Cool story.
-Announcers are openly talking about how 'hopefully they'll get the crowd going!' Great atmosphere here tonight!
-OH MY! That one's off the G SERIES sign! The winner tonight is definitely Gatorade.
-As Cano bats, they show Curtis Granderson. And my wife cries a little bit on the inside. Who's Your Tiger?
-Rickie Weeks up next. What team is he on again?
-Weeks has four outs before he even reaches the warning track. Ends up hitting three out, fouls out on the last one. Finally, he can go get Jason Aldean's autograph.
-Matt Kemp has 9 outs, zero home runs. It's weird that I don't get caught up in watching this every year. He must need more Gatorade. As I was writing that, he steps out of the box, chugs some Vitamin G, and blasts one. It must have been their new HGH flavor.
-If Papi or Gonzalez pulled a back muscle tonight, I'd be ok with it.
-I'd like to see Prince Fielder do well. Although he is almost hitting the roof every time, and nearly killing a Little League outfielder every time the ball comes down. I hope their parents signed waivers.
-The first round ends with a 3-way tie for 4th place, I think, which results in something called a Swing-Off. I am below-moderately interested at this point.
-And now, I am caught up on the DVR, and can't fast forward anymore. Dangit.
-Papi hits one 459 feet. YIKES says Berman. You think he gets tired of being fake-excited?
-The announcers disagree on the rules of the swing-off, a disagreement that ends in silence. Quality television.
-Prince goes 5-for-5 in the Swing-Off, which by all I can tell, is pretty darn good. What are the chances he is a career Brewer? 2%?
-How much longer does this thing go? Are there 2 rounds or 3? ESPN had it programmed for 2 hours. No chance.
-ESPN cuts to Ravech, Barry Larkin, Bobby V in the studio. That's 8 people on my ESPN staff counter.
-Bobby V sounds like Kermit.
-Adrian Gonzalez' facial hair kinda looks like it's drawn on with a Sharpie.
-I am riveted by this derby.
-I'm going to watch round 2 from bed, not the living room. There's a 50/50 chance I finish watching this. Ok, maybe 75/25, not in favor of actually finishing.
-Buster Olney to Gonzalez: "You guys seem TOTALLY into this!" Oh hey there, fake enthusiasm.
-Did Papi just hit a walk-off in the 2nd round? I thought they ended on outs. Did I miss something?
-For some reason that reminds me that Detroit's closer's nickname is Papa Grande, which translates to Big Potato.
-Ok, I'm tired of writing. Let's just quote Berman through one batter's entire at-bat.
-WOW!
-THAT'S DISGUSTING!
-POWDERED!
-ABSOLUTELY CRUSHED!
-THIS IS LONG GONE!
-YIKES!
-HOLY TOLEDO- THAT'S OVER THE G-SERIES!

-And I didn't do that in all caps by accident. I said it in all caps.
-Prince Fielder's son is taking BP in a cage behind the scenes, and looks like he would've done better than Matt Kemp. Pre-Gatorade Matt Kemp of course.
-Cano's dad looks pissed off and/or bored at this point. Maybe it's because he knows his ERA is through the roof.
-I hate baseball for originating the 10-step handshakes. So dumb. When I was at Samford, there was an IM Bowling team who did this. And not as a joke. They thought they were cool.
-There's about 8 girls in bikinis in the outfield pool, and a creepy Santa sitting in a chair nearby watching them. I feel like Benson and Stabler will be back here later inspecting the crime scene.
-Why am I still doing this? I'd rather read my ESPN book.
---
And with that, I threw in the towel on the Home Run Derby. Sorry, folks. Couldn't keep going. That's right- I had a better chance of staying awake READING A BOOK than watching this thing. As it turns out, Cano won in an interesting final round, making me a bad sports fan for not watching this until the end. And you know what? I accept being a bad sports fan. That's not even the best example of the past week. With the US women down 2-1 in overtime, and only stoppage left, I turned off the soccer game the other day. Huge mistake. HUUUUUUUUUGE mistake. But clearly, I didn't learn my lesson. Although I don't feel a speck of guilt for turning off the derby. I do for soccer, but I also wouldn't call myself a diehard women's soccer fan either. Meh. So be it.
---
Here's a fun baseball video. Current Tigers' announcer Rod Allen charging the mound during his playing days in Japan. Enjoy.

Slainte,
Gary

Pretty Good 8

2011-07-11T08:43:00.002-04:00

This weekend was incredibly hot and humid, by Mount Pleasant standards anyway. Our house doesn't have central air, and we didn't feel like spending all day holed up in our bedroom, the only room in our house with a window AC unit. So we decided to go pay 20 bucks to sit in an giant air conditioned room for a few hours. And the place we went was gracious enough to throw in a free movie in the process. Kalee looked up what movies were playing, and we had several options that looked good, none great. By process of elimination, we chose Super 8 over Transformers, Horrible Bosses, Cars 2, Larry Crowne, and Green Lantern. I had been somewhat wanting to see both Super 8 and the new X-Men movie, but X-Men wasn't playing here anymore, so that made the decision easy. I read an article about Super 8 saying it was a cross between E.T., Stand by Me, and something else I liked. Plus the guy who made LOST was involved in the making, and Coach Taylor from Friday Night Lights was in it. Count me in.

My review is the title of this entry. I wouldn't call it Super, but pretty good. Worth seeing in theaters if you're looking to get out of the house, but maybe also worth holding onto your money to go see something else later in the summer. The story was about some kind of creature or extraterrestrial life form attacking a town in Ohio. Dogs disappeared, cars are being destroyed, and even a few people went missing. But that's not really what the story was about. While it's easy to say it's about an alien, it's more about the kids in the movie bonding together, bringing it closer to Stand By Me or Goonies. I thought the kids who were in the movie were the best actors. In all, a good summer movie, but didn't have me leaving the theater thinking 'Wow- one of the best movies ever!', quite the way I did after watching 'Air Bud- Seventh Inning Fetch.'

Which made me start thinking, what movies coming out am I interested in seeing in theaters? The list is short. It doesn't include Harry Potter (never seen any), Transformers (wait for rental), Smurfs or Winnine the Pooh, or anything with Ryan Reynolds. After a quick look at a list of movies coming out during the rest of the year, here are 5 I'm interested in, and trailers to watch.

CAPTAIN AMERICA
I'm a nerd for comic book movies. Some of them anyway. Batman, SpiderMan, X-Men are all ones I'll go to see in theaters. I wasn't a huge fan of Iron Man for some reason, and a lot of others have been terrible. But I've been excited to see this one. I see this becoming the next big series of them.

RISE OF THE PLANET OF THE APES
I don't know why this interests me that much. It's not like I was a huge fan of the other Apes movies. Maybe it's because I've seen two trailers for this at the theaters, and anything looks good on the big screen with sound you can FEEL. Or maybe I'm curious as to how James Franco is going to stop the apes after he cut one of his arms off. Wait, they aren't related? He has both arms? Ok, maybe I won't go see it.

WARRIOR
This may be one you haven't heard of. And if so (Trav), you're welcome. I am a sucker for boxing movies with a story. This isn't boxing, but the story looks good.

MONEYBALL
Have I linked to this already? Feel like I have, or at least mentioned it. Good book. Hopefully the movie follows suit. I would normally say it's for sports nerds only, but they threw Brad Pitt in there so dudes can bring their ladies with them.

MUPPETS
Fantastic. I am such a nerd.

And if those weren't enough, we've got a new SpiderMan, Batman, Bourne, Avengers (Captain America), possibly Ghostbusters and Ninja Turtles movies all coming out in 2012. Oh, and another Tyler Perry movie. Can't forget that that.

That's all for today. A few links of the day. Let me know what you're looking forward to.

Slainte,
Gary

RIP Hammer Time

2011-07-07T16:17:00.003-04:00

I've always said that the only reason I became a Knicks fan instead of a Nets fan was because we got to watch every Knicks game on TV. But when it comes to watching games in person, I've probably been to more Nets games than any other professional sports team, although the Tigers may be closing in on that. Nets tickets were always easy to come by. Even when they were competing for championships, we were able to buy 11 tickets for an Eastern Conference Finals game something like two days beforehand. They NEVER sold out.

Anyway, going to Nets games was fun. But I have fun at any pro sporting event. The teams weren't good, let alone great, but I just enjoy the atmosphere of live sporting events. And I was a kid, so of course it was fun. We used to go way before the games would start, and try and get player autographs down at shootaround. Didn't matter which team, home or away. Or which player. At a Nets/Hawks game, I think I was 'lucky' enough to get basketball cards signed by Kevin Willis and Jon Koncak. I have the Willis one in my house right now. Koncak's is MIA. So it looks like I won't get that early retirement I planned on by selling that one.

As for the Nets, the players I got to watch in the '90s were a collection of promising and underachieving young guys like Kenny Anderson and Derrick Coleman, and sadly I remember the death of Drazen Petrovic. There was also the dunking Chris Morris, the not-dunking Chris Dudley, flops like Dwayne Schintzius and Yinka Dare, and of course Rex Walters.

One of the things I enjoyed about the games was the Nets announcer having fun announcing players after they scored. He was over-the-top, infomercially cheezy in how animated he was.
P! J! BROOOOOWN!
D-C! DERRICK COLEMAN!
I don't remember what he said when Dare scored. Maybe because Dare never scored.
Later on, he would say 'Jason Kidd' as quickly as possible, and leaving out half the consonants. JASOKI is what it sounded like.

Another I remember, and the reason for this post, is when he would just say 'HAMMER TIME!'. Armen Gilliam played for three seasons for the Nets, averaging double digits the whole time, and increasing each year in points. I can't say I remember it too vividly, but when I heard the news that he passed, I immediately thought of HAMMER TIME! He died yesterday during a basketball game at the age of 47. Rest in peace, Hammer Time.
---
Keeping with the throwback basketball theme, today's video is from Grantland's Youtube Hall of Fame. Some familiar faces in there.

Slainte,
Gary

Welcome to Beaver Island!

2011-07-06T15:55:00.003-04:00

Last week I had the opportunity to visit Beaver Island, which lies in Lake Michigan about 32 miles from what the 'Islanders' refer to as 'the Mainland' (Michigan's Lower Peninsula... also known as 'Michigan'). The trip was work related, as I went with my boss and two other staff members who work with Camps & Conferences, where I am starting to get my feet wet this summer. How that ties to CMU is that the university owns property there, on which there is a Biological Station. Several CMU classes are held there each summer, with students coming and staying in either cabins or camping out. It is like a very small campus. There are a few classrooms, bio labs, a cafeteria, computer lab, study lounge, and even a workout room with about 6 pieces of equipment. Not as good as a rec center, but better than what you would find in a hotel.

But the thing worth mentioning is the view. All of these buildings and classroom sit right on the shoreline. Unbelievable view. Look at your classroom: water. Need a break from the bio lab- walk down to the water. At one point, I walked down to the water, looked all the way to my right, all the way to my left, not another soul in sight. Just very peaceful. I would have loved to have that kind of experience as an undergrad. I'm glad I got to experience it for two days as a staff member.

To be able to take class on an island, do bio research in the woods or in a lake rather than in a classroom would be an awesome opportunity. While I was there, I was constantly on the lookout for snakes anywhere I walked. One time I saw one when I was looking out for them. I simply sidestepped, avoided the snake. Another time I saw one when I wasn't looking for it. Surprised by it, I can't say I sidestepped, but rather sidejumped. I'm not used to seeing snakes all the time. Saw a few deer, lots of chipmunks, and unfortunately more than my share of mosquitoes.

While the cell service there was less than accommodating, the people there couldn't have been nicer. There are several staff members living at the Bio Station, and everyone went out of their way to make us feel welcome. There was one couple, John and Carolyn, who both work for Central, but have lived on the island for years doing almost every job you can imagine. Politician, golf course manager, fire department, gravedigger, cook, maintenance man... the list went on. But very nice people. Our first night there ended up with me somehow on a golf course with a club in my hand for only the second time in my life. I warned the others that this could be ugly. I didn't golf the first 5 holes until my boss talked me into trying it. And I tee off for my first shot... and probably had the best drive of anyone in the group. I could've retired right then. Of course, it only went downhill from there, but it at least sparked my interest in wanting to learn how to play a little more.

But probably the most interesting part of the whole trip was the travel. To get to Beaver Island from the mainland, you have two options. Well, three if you really like to swim. But you can take a ferry ride which takes about 3 hours, or you can pay a little more and take a plane ride that takes less than 20 minutes. We opted for the plane ride. Beaver Island has about 500 people living on it year-round. It is 13 miles long, and 7 miles wide. There is not much of a need for large planes to travel to Beaver Island.

So we drove up to the airport in Charlevoix, MI. And if you followed the Austin Hatch story at all, yes, THAT Charlevoix Airport. This was the smallest airport I have ever flown out of. There were no gates, no different terminals. Someone came and told us we could head toward our plane, so we walked behind the desk, through the garage and onto the runway. And that was our security checkpoint. Our boarding passes? You see them here. No names on them. Small pieces of paper that looked like something you'd find in Monopoly.

Our plane over there was booked to capacity, which meant 7 passengers and the pilot. I could feel the wind through a tiny window on the plane, and I could feel the wind as we fishtailed our way in like when you're driving on an unplowed Michigan road in February. It was definitely a unique experience. This was a true puddle jumper.

And Charlevoix Airport was the smallest airport I had flown out of for all of two days, until we took off out of Welke Airport on Beaver Island, which after a quick search I have determined doesn't even have a website. The airport building was about the size of a two-car garage. Maybe three. The security? Even lesser than at Charlevoix. We go to 'check in', and give them our four boarding passes, and the girl says she only has three of us listed.
Uhoh.
This could be a problem.
She names the other three guys and then asks who the 4th is.
I tell her it's me.
Ok, what's your first name?
Gary.
Ok, you're all set Gary.
...
...
...
SHE DIDN'T EVEN NEED MY LAST NAME!!!

We walk outside as we wait to board the plane, and started talking about how one of us may get to ride in the co-pilot seat like another passenger did on our way there. I tell them I would LOVE to do that. So it is said, so it is done. I boarded the plane, sat right up by the controls, and for the first time in my life, I was nervous of flying. I have never had any anxieties at all about flying. I love it. I love the view, and am just amazed by the whole experience. But riding shotgun got me a little nervous for some reason. Oh crap. What if something happens? Don't touch anything. How much farther? Our pilot looks like a college kid, and is wearing cargo shirts and a t-shirt. Is this a problem? Ok, I can see land. Just get us down. I hope those feelings don't stick with me the next time I fly. You can't tell it by my goofy grin in the picture at the top, but I was very tense the whole trip. But we landed safely. Thank goodness. A good experience being 'co-pilot', but I think I'll let someone else do it next time.

And so there is the abbreviated version of my trip to Beaver Island. Definitely a cool place, and I am glad I got to experience. But I am also glad to be back on the mainland, and away from all those darn skeeters.

Here is a video about some of the history of Beaver Island, and the only king in the history of the United States, no disrespect to Elvis, LeBron, or anyone who plays for Sacramento's basketball team or LA's hockey team.

Slainte,
Gary

Feliz Miercoles

2011-06-29T11:23:00.002-04:00

I'm a slacker this week. This will be probably the only blog entry of the week, and it's not even going to be good. Oh well. It gets me up to 9 for the month, tying for the most of any month this year. Let's get to some quick bits of nothing...

-We had a garage sale this past weekend. I originally intended to do a running diary of it, but it was hard to take notes when you are busy taking in thousands of dollars every hour, breaking up fights between middle-aged women who want the same $5 vacuum, all while working on your already-almost-perfect tan. Ok, none of those things happened. But we did have a garage sale. And made a few bucks off of it. More importantly, we cleared out our basement a little bit. Probably had about 150 t-shirts on sale. Maybe sold 8 of them, the rest to Goodwill. Garage sales are somewhat awkward. I don't think I could work in retail. I think people feel awkward and guilty when you are friendly to them, and then they don't want to buy any of your crap. Maybe if I didn't call it crap, we would have sold more. Oh well. What's equally awkward is the slow drive-by of people looking to see if your garage sale is even worth stopping at. I wanted to start mooning people who didn't stop, but it probably wouldn't have been worth it. Would have made for a better story on here though. Maybe next year.

-Watched a movie worth renting. Kill the Irishman. Watch the trailer if you're looking to kill a few minutes and are disappointed at the length of this entry.

-While I may suck at blogging this week, I have been really good at coming up with blog entry ideas that I'll probably never follow-through on:

-Entry about my trip to Beaver Island. Called something like 'America's Emerald Isle'. Positives: Irish things, trip to an island on work time, a bar/ restaurant called Beachcomber (Jersey Shore reference). Negatives: Bugs, using this airline (good writing material). Should be fun, or at least interesting.
-Entry about a trip to Detroit this weekend. Always has potential to be interesting.
-More entries about watching other sports. I really need to do these. Have two things in the DVR I need to get to- boxing and UFC. We'll get there.

I'd write more, But I have to pee. Enjoy this video. I didn't record this, but absolutely met this guy on our last trip to Detroit for a Tigers game. Hoping to meet 'Littlefoot' again on Saturday. And hopefully it's not snowing.

Slainte,
Gary

NBA Draft Diary 2011

2011-06-24T08:30:00.003-04:00

Wings- check. Beer- check. Notebook- check. Wife rolling her eyes at me- check. It's time for the 2011 NBA Draft, as well as my annual cheap knockoff version of Simmons' draft diary. Although this is getting posted on Friday, I watched it (almost) live, on a slight tape delay at the Maxwell House (I live in a house, on Maxwell Street), taking notes throughout.

David Stern got things rolling with a slightly enthusiastic 'Let's here it for New Jersey!' Either he is unabashedly biased in rooting for the Nets, or the draft is being held in New Jersey. Whichever. It's always fun to here Stern's sarcastic enthusiasm as he tries to override the crowds annual booing. Everyone is saying this is bound to be a bad draft, worst in years. I agree with this one. Very few recognizable players, lots of foreign players, and pretty much nobody who is considered a guaranteed All Star. I brought home a draft preview for Kalee to check out, and heard her say 'I don't know any of these guys'. Yep. And although not a diehard fan, she is still a sports fan. I'd say the list of recognizable players in this draft to the casual sports fan would be maybe 3 or 4. Jimmer, Kemba, and however many of the Duke guys you want to include. You could say that Nolan Smith and Kyle Singler are more recognizable than the first overall pick, only because Kyrie Irving only played in a handful of games, and they were all over ESPN their whole careers.

On the topic of Kyrie, Cavs were on the clock first, and not surprisingly picked him first. Not sure how to feel. What you saw, you had to like. But you saw very little of him. Still, it's more of a body of work to pick from than a few years ago when high school players were dominating the draft. So either him or Derrick Williams from Arizona had to be the top pick. Especially since Cleveland's area of improvement is 'every position'. So I guess you flip a coin. Or go with the Jersey kid, Irving. Can't say I knew that ahead of time, but that throws me on the Kyrie Irving Bandwagon.

It's got to be weird for these players to hear what Jay Bilas and the Gang say about them as they are waiting to be drafted or walking up to the podium. After the Irving pick: "There are no superstars in this draft." Thanks, Jay. They also talk about filling LeBron's shoes. Prolly not. But let the rebuilding begin. And keep the LeBron talk coming. Every time he gets mentioned, the crowd booed. LeBron James has Brian Cardinal posters in his bedroom.

According to Stuart Scott, the Timberwoofs are on the clock. He keeps saying their name that way all night. Or my TV is messed up. I'll go with Timberwoofs. So the T-Woofs just got Ricky Rubio officially, have Jonny Flynn, Luke Ridnour, and I think another PG on the roster. So no way they take another... right? Right? As I ponder this, Jay Bilas tells us you can't get a veteran in the draft. Must be a new rule. Thanks for pointing that out, Jay. They take Williams. Phew, didn't mess it up. Although they did take a guy last year, Wes Johnson, who plays the same position, SF. Maybe they can just have 6 PG's and 6 SF's on their roster. That would be fun. Williams says he can play 3 or 4. Shot 57% from 3 last year in college. Impressive. That's about double what Rubio shot in Europe last year. On a team that was not an NBA team. The same team he averaged 6 points for. Off the bench. I'm not on the Rubio bandwagon.

3rd pick, Jazz on the clock. This is where it would get interesting... if I knew anything about the remaining players. So let me rephrase- this is where the uncertainty kicks in. The Jazz take Enes Kanter, aka Big European guy who was ruled ineligible at Kentucky for getting paid to play in Europe. Which is weird, because I always think of John Calipari's programs as squeaky clean. Kanter also has been paid for his career as a pro wrestler and actor. Apparently, Kanter actually does want to be a WWE wrestler. Honest to goodness, I am not making that up.

Kalee made fun of it, I wrote it down, then Van Gundy started making fun of it, in that order: Why do they keep showing the draft rooms with the team execs? All these guys in white shirts awkwardly clapping and applauding themselves when a pick is made. It's not like the excitment on Selection Sunday when they show colleges celebrating getting picked for March Madness. This is just weird. Show the player's family in the crowd. Or highlights. Or anything else. Kanter dedicates his getting picked to Kentucky and Coach Cal... where he didn't play. Said he learned his 2nd language there. Great. He learned English in Kentucky.

Van Gundy stutters over an international player's name, and doesn't even try to cover it up. "I'm terrible with foreign names. I'm gonna go with 'the Lithuanian'." Awesome. Nobody blames you, JVG.

Tristan Thompson picked next to the Cavs, considered a surprise. I have nothing interesting to say, so I'll tell a quick story. I was driving into work the other day, listening to local radio. Mount Pleasant doesn't have a ton of radio stations, and even fewer quality ones. And the local guys on the pop station were talking NBA Draft. Not sports guys. They mention that the Cavs have picks 1 and 4, and say 'well they HAVE to trade pick 4. There's no way they could afford to sign two guys in the top ten. Not in Cleveland!' I don't think these guys are familiar with salary caps, rookie wages, or the difference between NBA and NFL. Nerds. Or, I guess I could be the nerd for knowing the difference. Oh well. At least one or two people reading this are nerds with me on this one.

Bilas loves Thompson's wingspan. I think he must get a few bucks every time he says 'wingspan'. He also says 'Thompson just needs to learn how to play and learn how to score.' Oh, that's all? He should be fine.

Raptors take the Big Lithuanian next. He won't play in the NBA for at least a year. Good time to start fast forwarding to get caught up with live TV so I can actually start reading texts people are sending me, and not have the draft 'spoiled'. Next, the Wizards take another foreign dude named Jan, who starts making out with his girlfriend in the crowd. Go ahead big fella! Fast forward again.

Bismack Biyombo drafted next by some team. Whatever. Biyombo. Fun name. BIYOMBO! Made me think of this for some reason.

Pistons on the clock now. "Joe Dumars is always highly respected." Oh, really? At what point does that run out? I like Joe D, but he hasn't exactly lit the world on fire lately. Earlier in the day, I asked my friend, and Pistons Assistant GM Kenny Marion what he felt Detroit needed. Here's what he said, verbatim:

"Right now I WANT size...whether it be in Euro form or not...not too sure about Tristan Thompson but it looks like we like him a lot...heard a bit about us trading down w/ Houston and taking Markief Morris at 14 and getting the 23rd pick as well. I am open to that as we'd be taking either Thompson or Biyombo at 8...both are risks...Biyombo has a higher ceiling and Thompson seems a bit undersized to play the 4...I want a 5 (and would be willing to wait a year for Jonas because he'd compliment Monroe so well...and we're more than a year from competing any way) So many possibilities...."

Note: Kenny is not an assistant GM for the Pistons, but he is the biggest Pistons fan I know. And WAS the biggest Shock (former Detroit WNBA team) fan. He was genuinely upset when the Shock got moved to... wherever they got moved to.

Of course, they take a guard, Brandon Knight, who is described as a combo guard, not quite a point or a shooting guard. Great, so just like Stuckey and Ben Gordon then. Next the Bobcats take Kemba Walker, whose name always makes me think of Simba. Thank goodness we don't have to watch him play Syracuse anymore. Kings on the lock, Jon Barry proclaims it's Jimmer Time. And he's right!

JIMMER! Crowd goes wild, while everyone in Utah probably cries. They cut to a shot of 'Jimmer Jam', being held at a Civic Center in his hometown of Glens Falls, NY, where I expect to see thousands of fans going nuts. Nope. About 100. They show Jimmer's brother, and talk about the contract they had where Jimmer vows to become an NBA player or something. So what's the brother's end of the contract? I wish I had written a contract like that for my brother so I could cash in on his millions. They talk about how Jimmer played some ball in the Glens Falls prison against inmates, and dropped 40 in a game. Glens Falls: population 14,000. I'm guessing prison ball there isn't the best competition. Why not go for a drive and play at Rucker Park, see if you drop 40 there. Which he might have.

Warriors take Klay Thompson, who Dave really wanted for the Knicks, I think. Music playing: Life is a Highway. I'm guessing they don't pick their own songs. Jazz take Alec Burks. I know nothing about these guys. I need to watch more college (and international) hoops. Phoenix then takes Markieff Morris, not to be confused with his twin brother Marcus. ESPN guys tell us Marcus is thought of as the better one. So maybe Phoenix WAS confused. Marcus gets drafted next. Twins go back to back. Good story.

The chicken wings (Parmesan Garlic from BDubs)have me feeling bloated. I've been eating healthy for the marathon, and not training for a night of wings and beers. Very disappointing. Positive note: I'll have leftover wings. I aint as good as I once was. In college, I did a wing-eating challenge against my friend Tommy Craig on an IM Staff trip to Hooters. I think we called it a tie at about 32 wings. I was really healthy in college.

At this point in the draft I'm pretty much just waiting on the Knicks' pick. Pacers on the clock. Best white dude available? Nope. Kawhi Leonard from San Diego State. My old GA Micah went there. Neither interesting nor exciting. But he did witness a huge drug bust right outside of their rec center. It was the summer before he came to CMU, and it involved a lot of frat guys. I remember texting him saying something like 'You're not in a fraternity, are you?' He wasn't.

Sixers take a guy with a fohawk. Knicks on the clock. Boos or cheers? Kalee says cheers. Dave wants Singleton from FSU, doesn't want Kenneth Faried, who I like. They take Iman Shumpert. Shumpert has to deal with the embarrassment of the home crowd booing. Wait, no he doesn't. He's not there. Spike Lee looks confused, disappointed. Great start to the I-Man era in New York. Some fat kid in a green Knicks jersey boos enthusiastically in the crowd. Spike Lee makes a good point. "I never heard of Landry Fields either." This kid plays the same position as Fields. Let's hope this works out. Immediately, the Wizards take Singleton. I'm really only interested in where Keith Benson from Oakland goes now. There's only been one trade all night so far, and it involved three teams I don't care about. Kalee and Toby are sleeping now. Feel the excitement!

Consecutive commercials for Malibu Black (is it racist?) and the new Transformers movie. I'll try Malibu Black before I see Transformers. Portland takes Duke's Nolan Smith. Bilas, who is openly critical of EVERYONE, says solid citizen, solid pick, solid teammate. Worth mentioning that Bilas is a Duke alum.

Nuggets take 'Newark's Own Kenneth Faried' (Stern's words). Stu Scott says 'Brick City STAND UP!' about 5 times in 35 seconds. I don't know what that means. To translate, I visit urbandictionary.com.

"BRICK CITY: Nick name for Newark New Jersey, derived from the large amount of crack bricks that can be purchased. The hardest, most ghetto city in America, possibly the world. If you think your city is ghetto, come here and prepare to be blown away. An average of 4 people are murdered every day in the brick city."

Great reference, Stu. Let's get that on the NJ Tourism Bureau's website.

Thunder take Reggie Jackson, the straw that stirs the drink. Oh, not that Reggie Jackson? Ok. Classic mixup. Celtics take Marshon Brooks from Providence, then trade him. Some say he's the next Kobe. Yeah, that's why he went this late. Norris Cole goes next. I haven't even heard of this guy. Sweet flattop in his highlights though.

I see on the bottom line that Ron Artest wants to change his name to Metta World Peace. Good to see he has his act together. I think it's almost bedtime. 3 Texas players taken in the first round. Was Texas good last year? Bulls take Jimmy Butler with the final pick of the first round. I know I've linked to a lot in this entry, but this is a good story. Think 'The Blind Side', but in basketball. And if you haven't seen or read Blind Side, well, do it.

The Heat are the first team to pick in the 2nd round. Boos. LeBron models his game after Brian Cardinal. The Heat take someone, and trade him. LeBron watches Brian Cardinal highlights on Youtube.

And this is about when I started falling asleep. Wake up to a text from David saying 'Golden Bears Represent!' Either he became a Cal fan, or is confused and the Oakland University Golden GRIZZLIES player Keith Benson got drafted. Yep. He did. To the Hawks. First Oakland player ever drafted. GO OU!

And that's a wrap gang. Hope this diary of a boring draft gave you some reading pleasure. And if not, I'll share my favorite commercial from the night.

Slainte,
Gary

All I Do Is Win

2011-06-22T14:13:00.002-04:00

Time for a scattered blog entry where I can't come up with a title. So, I figured I would use it as a way to get feedback on our potential IM Champ shirt for next year. I think we're going with 'All I Do is Win', after having used 'I'm good at sports' a few times. What I'm looking for from you, my loyal reader, is a vote on which of the color combos you like the most. So feel free to leave a comment at the end of the blog. Onto a lot of nothingness...

-NBA Draft is tomorrow. I'm pumped. I'll be doing a running diary, either posting tomorrow after the draft or Friday. I'm only curious about a few things, the rest, meh. I'm excited for the opportunity to justify getting BDubs while marathon training (justification: it's a tradition). I'm curious to see who the Knicks get, who the Pistons get, where Jimmer goes, and what trades are going to be made. The rest of the draft should pretty much suck. WOOHOO!

-I'm about 175 pages into the 700 page ESPN book. It really had me at first, lost me for a little while, and has me again. It has spent a lot of time talking about the people who managed the company, who owned shares, management struggles, and some other boring stuff. But it's cool when they reference talent you are familiar with early on in their careers, like Berman and Bob Ley. Still think it is worth reading, but I'll do a final book report when it's done.

-We are 2+ weeks into marathon training. Did a 7-mile run on Saturday, which marks the longest distance I've ran in my life. So far, things are going well. Pretty much sore most of the week, but nothing too serious, knock on wood.

-Softball team is currently 4-0 and kicking butt. I know you've been wondering. Glad I got that jinx out of the way so we can start losing games.

-Is it really almost July? Where is the summer going? Still have a few trips coming up though... Kalamazoo/ Grand Haven/ Grand Rapids in a few weeks, Detroit for a Tigers game and a wedding, just found out about a work trip to Beaver Island in Lake Michigan, which will include a 20-minute plane ride to a place with about 600 people living there. A few more weddings, possible trip to Chicago to meet Trav for a baseball game, and hopefully a concert at some point. And there goes summer. Crazy.

-Watched a few movies recently. Here are some very quick reviews.

TRUE GRIT
Waited for this one to come out on DVD, and really enjoyed it. I never saw the original, so I can't compare Jeff Bridges to John Wayne, but I thought this was well-done, and surprisingly somewhat funny. And I think my Grandpa even liked it, and he is a huge John Wayne fan. So there you go. Worth renting.

HANGOVER 2
This was supposed to be another one we waited for the DVD, but the local theater does a movie on special every Sunday, and this was the one for this week. And we had a coupon for a popcorn/ soda deal, so how could we NOT go? Anyway, you pretty much know what you're getting with this movie. It wasn't hilarious, but there were funny parts. Not as good as the original, but still decent. If you haven't seen it, wait for the DVD. It's a good movie for when you don't want to have to think about the movie.

CEDAR RAPIDS
This stars Ed Helms from the Office and Hangover as an insurance agent who goes to a conference and essentially leaves his hometown for the first time. It was supposed to be funny, and it really wasn't. Dangit. I had high hopes. It was a new release, which at Family Video on weekdays means it comes with a free not-too-new release, which I used on a chick flick Nicholas Sparks movie Kalee wanted to see. After Hangover and True Grit, I owe her one.

Lastly, I was sad to hear about Ryan Dunn from Jackass dying in a car crash. By all accounts, his drinking and speeding in a Porsche let to his own demise. Which makes it even more sad, because it sounds like an easily avoidable accident, when a millionaire could've called a cab, or not driven 130 MPH in suburban Pennsylvania on Route 322. But it's still sad, for his family and friends, and for those of the passenger who died as well.
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For a lack of any other videos, enjoy you some Jimmer.

Slainte,
Gary

Goodbye, Foster Pup

2011-06-20T21:37:00.002-04:00

Last Monday I got an email from Kalee along the lines of 'Call me as soon as you have a minute... Please :)' Uhoh. Smiley face always means trouble looms. A friend of her's from Oakland was looking for a new home for their dog because it wasn't working with them having two small children at home. And we had talked about getting a 2nd dog for a little while. So this could be the one. The day we would pick it up if we were interested? Tuesday. The next day.

I think I agreed to it without really thinking about it. We were going to do it on a trial run. Take the dog until at least the weekend and see how she, Zoey, gets along with our current dog, Toby. I was neither convinced of her name nor her breed, a Golden Retriever/ Poodle mix, or as they are creatively named, a GoldenDoodle.

As we went to bed Monday night, Kalee was excited, I was not convinced. My gut told me that this dog would not become 'our dog'. But we were giving her a shot.

Tuesday, we went and picked up Zoey. We had decided against renaming her until we knew if we would keep her. But it was in the works, with Penny, Bailey and Maggie as possibilities. But we still went with Zoey, which allowed me to shorten it to Zo and come up with nicknames like Zobot.

And for the next six days, we hardly ever relaxed while at home. The Zobot was full of energy, keeping Toby on his toes, not allowing us to sleep much, and just adding another dimension to our lives. She was annoying, but growing on me a little bit.

But all along, she never seemed like the 'perfect fit'. Could we have made it work? Probably. But we LOVE Toby. When we adopted him, there was a connection right away. I have spent about 28 years of my life without Tober, and only 2 with him. But it's hard to imagine it without him. We like his look, his personality, his dopeyness, and have a genuine bond with him. For some reason, we weren't getting that same vibe from Zoey. Maybe it was that we never got more than about 3 consecutive hours of sleep while she was here. Or maybe she just wasn't meant to be our dog. But after talking for a few days about it, we decided we would just be a temporary home for Zo. Kalee put out some feelers at work, and immediately found several people willing to take her.

And so tonight, after six days of being 'foster parents', someone else has Zoey. A home where she will hopefully get more love than she would have here. It was strangely a little sad to let her go. Dogs, as annoying as they can be, have a tendency of reeling you in. Even if only after a few days. Zoey wasn't a bad dog, but we just don't think she was meant to be our dog.

So if you're a dog owner now or ever have been, hopefully you know what a dog can mean to a family. So say a quick prayer that our now-former-foster pup has found a good home. I will do the same. Right before I get a good night of uninterrupted sleep.
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This is a really crappy video of a joke from the Office we like using around the house. Hopefully it's not blocked right away.

Slainte,
Gary

Happy Fodder's Day

2011-06-19T20:50:00.003-04:00

I spent my Sunday afternoon watching golf. I don't think I have ever done that before. For whatever reason, after Day 1 of the US Open, I had a slight interest because this Irish-sounding kid was setting records. So I kept checking in on it the past few days, and today Kalee and I watched a chunk of the final day. Had I planned it out before, I would've done a running diary of it, going with the theme of writing about sports I typically don't care about. I can't say I was glued to the TV, but I was interested.

And when Rory McIlroy (from Northern Ireland for the record) won today by a landslide, NBC caught a shot of him embracing with his father after the final hole. You could hear, with his brogue, him say to his Pop, "Happy Fodder's Day".

So I want to use this blog, late on Sunday night, to wish my Dad a Happy Fodder's Day.

It was cool to see the McIlroys share that moment together on tv. And to hear Costas talk about the family vacations they missed out or passed up on, because Dad was taking Son to a tournament or an event somewhere, and the sacrifices that he made for his son to succeed.

While my career as a professional athlete didn't quite pan out, I do need to thank my Dad for all he gave up for my athletic career. Since I know almost everyone who reads this is a sports fan, you can probably all think of someone in your life who gave up a lot to take you to practices, games, tournaments, camps, anything. It could have been your Dad, Mom, older sibling, grandparent, or someone else. For me, it was my Dad.

I started playing basketball in probably 3rd grade or so, but started playing competitive basketball in 6th grade on our CYO team, Nativity. We would travel all over Bergen County, and into the Bronx for a few tournaments. In 8th grade, I went through a really rough time socially. It seemed like overnight I went from being the popular kid to not having friends. Then I saw an ad in the paper for an AAU team in Tenafly, which was a 40 minute drive from our house. We practiced two nights a week, and played tournaments all over the state on weekends.

In high school, basketball all four years, from Freshman games at 4:00, to sitting the Varsity bench as a sophomore on a State Champ contender, again leading to games all over the state. I got involved in a Fall/Spring AAU league that played weeknights in Teaneck, another town not too close to Midland Park.

The point isn't to recap my high school hoops career, but to show the dedication of my dad, who took me to all of these practices, games and tournaments. From the freshman games to the varsity to the AAU, I can't remember my dad ever missing out on any of them. He was there for me, enabling me, but never forcing me. Supporting me, but never embarrassing me. Being the kind of sports dad every kid should have. Too many dads push too hard, coach too much, expect too much. I didn't have that kind of Dad.

My dad wanted me to succeed, I'm sure. Nobody wants to see their kid fail. But I never felt pressured. Basketball was a bond I could truly enjoy with my dad. From driveway 1on1 games, to sharing my excitement about being able to touch the rim, to letting me play with his friends on Friday nights, to those drives to Teaneck and Tenafly, and to the glory days of the sophomore year team, and the countless losses of the senior year team, I never once felt pressured or pushed by my dad. I felt supported. I hope I can be the same kind of Dad for my kids someday.

Obviously my dad has meant more to me beyond basketball, but that was a significant bond for a long time. Sports can be that. I can't imagine not sharing sports with my dad. We still talk Jets, Knicks, and maybe some college hoops. He took me to my first Yankee game on my 7th birthday, making me a Bombers fan for life. I'm glad he didn't get Mets tickets.

My dad has shown also the importance of being a good father, family man, the importance of being a good son-in-law, having a good sense of humor without being obnoxious, having a good work ethic, and to appreciate a cold beer at the end of a long day.

So Happy Fodder's Day to Garry John Baker.
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Today's video isn't the best quality, but when I was trying to think of a good one to share for Father's Day, this seemed appropriate. My dad and I became basketball fans together, both thoroughly enjoying those rough and tough early 90s Knicks teams with Pat-rick Ewing as the headliner, Oakley as the enforcer, Starks as the streaky shooter, Mason as the point forward with the crazy haircuts, and other fun players to watch. So for nostalgia's sake, here is their starting lineup intros from the '94 Finals.

Slainte,
Gary

A Tale of Two Stars

2011-06-13T12:40:00.003-04:00

One took his talents to South Beach. The other was traded for a Tractor. One now has a ring, the other does not. One is now glorified in the public eye, having cemented his legacy. The other is continuously vilified in the public eye, perhaps also continuously fulfilling his legacy.

I wouldn't say with any certainty that LeBron James will not someday get a ring, but I'm happy that last night wasn't the time. I'm equally happy that Dirk Nowitzki won't go down in history with Malone, Barkley, Ewing and Stockton as a superstar that never won the big one. Not that that would be bad company to keep, but that certainly would be a blemish on the resume. Dirk (and Jasons Kidd and Terry) got his ring. He certainly earned it during these playoffs, playing his butt off, taking big shots, keeping the Mavs in it all along. I was as happy to see a team I didn't care about win a championship last night as I can ever remember. I have no vested interest in the Mavs, I don't call myself a fan, and would certainly still be able to sleep at night if they hadn't won. But the combination of them being a likable team and the Heat being a dislikable team made it very fun to watch.

So good for Dirk, who was traded on draft night for Robert 'Tractor' Traylor (Rest in Peace) from the Bucks to the Mavs. I hope Dirk retires a Mav. I may be old fashioned, but I always admire players for their commitment to one team over their career, and not chasing rings by hopping somewhere else after committing umpteen years to one franchise. Kudos to players like Stockton, Ripken, Peyton Manning, Derek Jeter, etc. who make their career with the same franchise.

Not to say it isn't a player's right to choose where he plays. I don't dislike LeBron for leaving Cleveland. Just the way he left. And when he, or any of his defenders, try to make the media look bad, and say he is overly criticized, and bash LeBron haters, or whatever else... well that's just nonsense. LBJ is the guy who held an hour-long special, who wanted to be a global icon, who predicted countless championships, and who took part in a welcome party that outstages most championship parties... which he hasn't taken part in yet. So spare me any feeling bad for LeBron. I think he'll get his ring. But until then, expect all this criticism.

Also, good for Mark Cuban. He's been a pain in the arse for a number of years, but isn't he an owner you'd want to play for? Invests in his team, cares about the league, truly passionate. Sure he doesn't know when to shut up sometimes, but I would take that over other owners.

And good for the rest of the Mavs. For JKidd, also finally getting his ring after coming so close with the Nets. For Jason Terry, making his tattoo not look like a terrible idea. For JJ Barea, hopefully earning a new contract and giving hope to little guys everywhere. For Tyson Chandler, for scrapping and being a poor man's KG. For Brian Cardinal, the People's MVP. And for the people of Cleveland, probably just as happy as the people in Dallas with last night's result.

And for everyone who loves LeBron jokes and can laugh at this commercial.

Some other favs:
-To make LeBron James feel better, today has been declared national LeBron James day. To celebrate, we can all take the last twelve minutes off at work.
-Now I know why Lebron didn't go to college... he didn't wanna show up for the finals...
-This site has a few more.

Enough Bron bashing. Good for the Mavs. I'm glad Miami didn't get in in their first year of this 'dynasty'. I hope they don't ever, but think that's honestly unrealistic. We'll see though. That's why they play the games.
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I really do hope LeBron grows up, learns how to talk to the media, eventually appreciates his gift, and becomes a little more self aware and can have fun again with basketball. It's easy to forget he is so young. He has potential to be one of the all-time greats, and I think in this day and age, he needs to change in the public eye to get there. Clearly the attention off the court impacts him on the court. And it would be fun to witness 'greatness' the way we did with MJ. Maybe someday we tell our grandkids about him. For now though, we'll revisit this video from last summer.

Slainte,
Gary

Safety Education

2011-06-10T17:39:00.002-04:00

Please note that besides the title of this entry, nothing you will read today has anything to do with Safety Education. Kalee is working on something on my work computer after work hours, and I am doing a blog entry from a co-worker's computer, couldn't come up with a title for this entry about miscellaneous nonsense, so I looked up at the bulletin board and saw a flyer for safety ed. Hence the title. Sorry to disappoint anyone looking for some safety education info. Alright then, leggo.

-A little belated, but I thoroughly enjoyed Shaq's retirement press conference. I also really enjoyed Shaq's career. Shaq came into the league when I was a newer NBA fan, so I really witnessed his entire career. I saw him drop almost 50 on the Nets, watched him bust backboards on TV, enjoyed his press conferences and fun-loving attitude, and always got frustrated wondering why he couldn't make more free throws. Anyway, not doing a whole blog entry on him because that would take more work than I want to do, so just go watch that video.

-I'm too much of an old fart to stay up for the end of all these NBA Finals games. But I always enjoy the 3rd quarter, turning the TV off when I wake up at 2am, then watching highlights in the morning. I'm hoping the Mavs pull this out. Not because I hate the Heat. Not because I'm a huge Dirk or Mavs fan. And not because I bet any money. But because JJ Barea and Brian Cardinal inspire me. Read somewhere today that the Mavs haven't lost a playoff game that Cardinal has played in. BC for MVP!

-After I wrote my blog entry about hockey, Travis suggested that be a running theme- watching different sports I typically wouldn't watch and am not that familiar with, and blogging my thoughts throughout. Trav suggested Ultimate Fighting, and I think that's a great one to start with. But I forgot to tape the free reality show on it because I'm an idiot. But I think there is a lot of potential with this idea. Other suggestions for sports?

-Speaking (or writing) of running diaries, we are 13 days away from the NBA Draft. Can't wait. Even though this draft is the least stacked one I can remember. Whatever. It's more about making fun of people, eating wings and drinking beer, and doing a terrible knockoff of Simmons' annual column.

-Another great transition... speaking of Simmons, his new website Grantland debuted this week. I can't say I have read a ton of the stuff on there, but it seems like it means he will be writing more often, and I am in favor of anything that leads to that. Some other pretty cool stuff to check out on there if you've liked his writing, themes, and guests on podcasts over the past few years.

-There are a series of billboards going up around Metro Detroit with the theme of '2 Word Stories'. They are supposed to give insight into Detroit's character, or be a religious message, or both. I noticed one, checked out their website, and found this 'Empowered? Empowered.' story of Henry Covington. Henry was one of the subjects of the Mitch Albom book 'Have a Little Faith' book, and I got to meet him a few years ago at his church/homeless shelter in Detroit. I found out through this site that he passed away right around Christmas. If you have about ten minutes, watch his video. And if you are looking for a book to read, check it out. Good read, and it was an honor to meet him.

-These bugs are ruining my summer. I have killed several hundred of them outside my house. It's a war.

-Between vacations, volunteering for Special O, conferences or anything else, I don't think I worked a full work week at all in over a month. Until this week. And here I am now blogging after hours at work. I'm a dork.

-Just bought the book 'Those Guys Have All The Fun', a verbal documentary of ESPN done through interviews with employees, former employees, competitors, and anyone else with the opinion. Can't wait for this one to come in the mail. Maybe this will be the book that gets me back into reading.
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And I think that's it for now. Time to head out. Even though this title made no sense, it did segue into a video to include. I came up with something by looking at the bulletin board. Which made me think of this awesome movie. If you haven't seen Usual Suspects, go rent it. This video won't make any sense to you. If you have, enjoy.

Slainte,
Gary

Life ain't a track meet, it's a marathon

2011-06-07T11:53:00.002-04:00

The alarm went off at 6am. Then it went off again 5 minutes later, thanks to the snooze button. At 6:05, Kalee and I lumbered out of bed, got dressed, and ventured off to begin our training for the 2011 Chicago Marathon. And so it began.

I am not, and have never professed to be, a runner. I grew up playing team sports, not running. I didn't run, because I was decent at sports. That, and I was slow. But the past few years I've done more (voluntary) running than ever before in my life. Mainly because I like eating bad foods, and don't want to get too fat. So running helps with that. But I had seen friends and family members run marathons, and never had any interest in running 26.2 miles. Not all at the same time, anyway. Maybe if I could split it up into ten runs over the course of a month. Maybe. I might not have ever done that in my life actually. I was the kid on our freshman track team who would take shortcuts and breaks, and stop at my house and have a snack. Not exactly Steve Prefontaine.

But two things motivated me to sign up for this Chicago marathon. Well, maybe three. I have to include Kalee in that list of three. Without her suggesting it, I would never be doing this. But the other two... one was in Ireland, one was on my couch. In Ireland, my brother and cousin ran the Dublin marathon. It was the first time I had seen a marathon in person. And I saw people running who looked in worse shape than me. So the competitor in me said 'I can do that'. Also, I saw a lot of people running for charities, so the philanthropist in me said 'Why not do that?'.

The part that motivated me while on my couch was watching ESPN's 30 for 30 documentary 'Into the Wind', documenting the story of Terry Fox, who essentially ran more than 3,000 miles across Canada on a prosthetic leg, all to raise money for cancer research. Watching that motivated me for some reason.

So I am 3 miles into my marathon training. We have a training program that starts us on a few 3-mile runs this week, our first 6-mile run on Saturday, and gradually intensifies until October 9th, the day of the race. My goals? To finish. To not get injured. To get in the best shape of my life in the process. And to hopefully raise some money for a good cause. Not sure what yet, but whenever I decide, don't worry, I'll come asking for some money.

I'd like to say this will be fun, but I don't know. Like I said, I'm not really a runner. So getting up at 6am, or earlier, every day, running in summer heat, aching throughout the week, and running a total of 464 miles between training and the race... I can't say that sounds like that much fun. But it will be fun to have completed it. It will be fun to have earned one of those 26.2 stickers. It will be fun to be in good shape, and to have accomplished something many people have on their bucket list. That will be fun. So away we go, you'll be getting plenty of updates on here. Wish me luck, and I'll see you at the finish line in Chicago.
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For today's video, I don't know of any inspiring running videos, so I'll link to the video that provided you with the lyrics that are the title to this blog entry. I'll have to make sure this gets on my playlist for the race.

Slainte,
Gary

Dirty Thirty

2011-06-06T17:39:00.003-04:00

A few people have given me crap the past few days about not updating this, and I'll blame it on my old age. On May 29th, my 20's officially ended. I am now a 30-year-old. People ask what it's like to be 30. Wow. Where to start. So much changed when the clock struck midnight. My body just started aching, I began acting more like a grown-up, and my hairline receded another whole inch. Well, the last one may be true.

We made a trip out to Jersey for my 30th/ Memorial Day Weekend. Good times. Rather than try to tie things together coherently, here are some scattered highlights.

-We made the trip with our friends Scott and Jessica Trudeau. I met Scott a while back when I was a GA at Oakland and he was the IM Guy at Lawrence Tech. They're good peeps. Making the trip with 4 people in the car made it seem to go much quicker than if it was just Kalee and I, or just me by myself. And thankfully we didn't break down in Beaver Falls, PA.

-We spent our first night in NJ at my parents' house in Midland Park, and enjoyed some delicious Brothers Pizza and wings. Always the go-to first meal home. And that was the first of four consecutive days that I had the Happy Birthday song sang to me. By the time of my actual bday, we were all tired of it. Nonetheless, I got to enjoy my favorite Jersey pizza and open a few presents. My parents and brother came through with some Yankees gear, which is essential because Kalee has made a lifetime vow to never by me anything Yankees. Their presents included this gem, which I have already used on my dog.

-Friday morning we stopped and saw both sets of my grandparents. Both visits were great. Always good to see them, and be reminded of how fortunate and blessed I am to have 4 awesome grandparents.

-After visiting Mom's folks, we headed all the way down the Parkway to Wildwood to Trav and Brooke's shore house. We spent much of the next few days hanging out there. The first night, after some drinks before, during and after dinner, we broke out the clippers and took them to my head. I didn't have long hair to start with, but after that night, it became the shortest it has ever been. 2 on top, 1 on the sides. Military cut. For the past few years I've been thinking about just buzzing my head and not trying to do anything on top. I thought 30 would be a good time to take that plunge. No more trying to really comb anything. And I'm too proud for Rogaine. So I think it's buzz from here on out. Easier to maintain, save money on shampoo. And I have freckles higher up on my forehead than I have ever had before.

-We spent three consecutive days at the beach. I can't remember the last time that happened. Typically, I have to put on 4 layers of sunblock, and only have my body exposed to the sun for about twenty minutes before I have to put on a hat, a t-shirt and more sunblock. I managed to escape NJ without looking like a lobster, and actually got somewhat of a tan, by my standards anyway. Also got to swim in the ocean a bit, which is always a summer highlight.

-One night we went and walked the boardwalk, played a few games, experienced fried oreos, and even witnessed a Boardwalk fight. So we got the full Jersey Shore experience.

-Before we left for NJ, Kalee had told me not to plan anything for Saturday night of our trip. She wouldn't tell me why, just that I couldn't make plans, we were doing something just the two of us. So when we left the beach Saturday, we got ready and hopped in the car, and headed up to Atlantic City, which I didn't know ahead of time. After we checked into the hotel overlooking the ocean, she told me we were heading out for a dinner reservation. Cool. We went to this place called 'Game On', which is like a sports bar on steroids. Something like 57,000 flat screens, which I think is a record. Anyway, we walk in and head over to a table where Trav/Brooke, Scott/Jess are sitting with my friend Kristin from Rowan and her fiance, and my sister and her husband were on their way. So at this point, I start flipping over tables and yelling at Kalee because she lied to me, and lying is a sin. But then cooler heads prevailed, and I appreciated the surprise of having dinner and a night on the town with some of my closest friends. Excellent work and secret-keeping by my wife. But I still haven't forgiven her for lying to me. Kidding, of course. We stayed at Game On for a bit, went to a cool Irish pub called 'Trinity', then ended at a hole-in-the-wall bar called Ducktown, where we could work the jukebox, play photo hunt and order appetizers after midnight. What more do you need? It also allowed me to endlessly say 'Ducktown... wooOOO!' Never got old. Without getting into too many details, the night ended with me shirtless in the hotel room we ended up sharing with some of the others, with my mullet wig on. So yeah, fun night.

-All in all, an awesome trip home. I had a birthday cake on my birthday with Sleeping Beauty on it. I got to see my immediate family and grandparents. I got to spend a milestone in my life in my home state. I got to eat Cheez Doodles, a WaWa pretzel, and drink Yuengling. I got to see some of my best friends from college. We had gorgeous beach weather. So I guess, it feels pretty good to be 30. I'm officially an adult.
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Now that I'm married and 30, I guess the next logical step to adulthood would be to have a kid. Easy, easy, I'm not announcing anything or even suggesting anything. We're not there yet. But I needed a good transition to today's video. WHEN it is time to have a kid, I hope I am a better dad than this guy. Thanks to Tex as always for sharing.

Slainte,
Gary

Ernie

2011-05-22T20:41:00.003-04:00

This weekend Kalee and I traveled downstate to go to a wedding for one of her friends from growing up. On the way down on Thursday, we first went to Detroit for a play about the life of Ernie Harwell, longtime radio voice of the Detroit Tigers, and someone who meant far more to Kalee than to me. I can appreciate him from the standpoint of a baseball throwback to 'America's pastime', but I don't appreciate him as much as my wife, who grew up with him. To read what SHE had to write about him when he died, go to this link from the archives.

The play was written by Mitch Albom, and was pretty awesome. Anyone living in Michigan who likes the Tigers or just appreciates baseball really ought to go check it out. (an actor portraying) Harwell tells the story of his life to a boy, inning by inning, with the innings telling stories of a different part of his life. From his childhood in Georgia, to meeting his wife in college, to calling games for the minor league Atlanta Crackers, to his final days with the Tigers. As someone who is not a thespian and really has no basis to judge plays by, I have to say it was very well done. Only two actors in the whole thing, no intermission, just dialogue, a lot of pictures, and a good amount of storytelling.

And the storytelling is the best part. Harwell seemed to appreciate himself as more of a storyteller than a baseball expert. He talked of how when, in the days of the play by play in away games coming to him on a ticker tape, the machine would break and he would make up a reason for the delay. 'And a dog just ran onto the field!' A far cry from the cutaways during an inning to another game, or having every game available to us on our computer.

The best stories to me were of Ernie as a man, not as a baseball guy. He established himself of a man of high moral character, a Christian family man who always treated others with respect, and who was very humble. One verse used in the play stood out to me, as did another quote about just being a good person.

"For whoever exalts himself will be humbled, and whoever humbles himself will be exalted."- Matthew 23:12

And the quote, I'll paraphrase- "The next time you have the choice between being right and being kind, choose kindness."

So if you have a chance, check out the play. If not, maybe just re-read those two quotes, and take a minute to listen to this poem Harwell wrote about baseball. It starts at the 24-second mark. Enjoy.

Slainte,
Gary

Shenanigans

2011-05-17T09:14:00.002-04:00

No time for coherent thoughts, only miscellaneous brain droppings. Leggo.

Countdowns are on. 9 days til Jersey. 12 days til my 30th. 37 days til the NBA Draft. Don't act like you're not excited about all these things. Ok then, at least I am excited.

Last night was the official start to summer softball season. Umped 3 coed games, had zero complaints. Either I have gotten better, these teams are more laid back, or it's just a matter of time before I get yelled at. Regardless, good start to the season. Tomorrow is our coed team's first game. Team name 'Should have called a Cabrera'. Trying to get sponsored by a local taxi company.

I am not moving to Georgia. Which means I have a summer full of weddings, weekend trips, and more time in Mount Pleasant. I am cool with all of these things. Everything happens for a reason.

6 losses in a row. What's up with the Yanks? Dave- are you out there? Haven't commented on here in forever.

New addition to next year's IM Calendar- a week-long NFL Combine type event. Beyond excited for this. Partnering with Residence Life, will have a bench rep contest, 40-yard dash, shuttle run, vertical leap, other suggestions?

Kalee got me to go to the gym at about 6am this morning. Alarm clocks should not be allowed to go off before 6am. When I take over the world, that will be my first order of business.

Another countdown- 304 days until St. Patrick's Day 2012. If Travis and I hold true to a drunken promise we made a few years back, we will be spending that St. Pats, the first when we are both 30, in Boston and going to a Dropkick show. Let's make this happen. #IrishFools
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About halfway through doing this, I forgot I was doing it, got distracted, and started doing other things. So we're just gonna post it as is. #lazy

If you haven't seen these yet, you're welcome. If you have, enjoy again. Taj Gibson could do nothing the rest of the series, and have earned his paycheck for these.

Slainte,
Gary

RIP Bill Gallo

2011-05-11T12:55:00.006-04:00

Just saw an ESPN headline that gave me a quick sad chill... NY Daily News cartoonist Bill Gallo passed away. I grew up with two newspapers- the Bergen Record, and the Daily News. I always enjoyed Gallo's cartoons and the News' coverage of New York sports, including more than enough Yanks' coverage. It had seemed like Gallo was around forever, which apparently he was. He worked for the News for seven decades. Wow.

Anyway, I'm not going to write a long obituary on here, because it wouldn't do him justice. So instead of taking time to read whatever I have to say today, scroll through this gallery of cartoons on the NY Daily News website.
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If you're keeping score at home, that's four consecutive days with blog updates. Maybe a record. And if you aren't keeping score and are checking for the first time in forever... I don't blame you. I have been terrible with updating the past few months. Just wanted to give you a heads up to go back and read the previous few!

No video today.

Slainte,
Gary

Running diary about... Hockey?

2011-05-10T21:30:00.005-04:00

Just got home from an ump meeting, BBall is on but not too late in the game yet, and Kalee's not home. So I am trying something new... store brand BBQ potato chips. But something else new worth writing about, possibly. Hockey. I don't claim to be a fan at all. If I had to claim a team, it would be the Islanders, because I know of nobody who cares about them. I digress. Here is a sorry attempt at a running diary of the Red Wings/ Sharks game, from midway through the second period.

9:24- within 30 seconds of turning the game on, the announcers have two outbursts of excitement, that resulted in nothing. 0-0 ballgame. Do we call it a ballgame? Prolly not. Another reason not to watch hockey.

9:26- after a commercial break, announcer interviews Sharks coach, who says they are getting out-hustled by the red team. Is it possible he doesn't know their team name? Or was that a dig? Or does Versus not really have rights to the NHL, so they can't use team names?

9:27- always wanted to go to a Wings game. But I guess not that much, or I would have gone. Seems like fun atmosphere to go drink at without caring about the game. Like minor league baseball.

9:28- penalty on Holmstrom whose parents didn't know how to spell 'Thomas' correctly. The crowd boos at the misspelling. Or the penalty.

9:29- a fight would make this more interesting. Before turning this on, I probably couldn't name 5 guys in this game. Zetterberg. Datsyuk. That's it? And those just sounded familiar when the announcers said them. May not have gotten them on my own. GO HOCKEY!

9:31- save by the white guy on the other white guy's shot! Excited announcers!

9:33- Announcer- "Goaltending has just been fabulous." Translation- nothing THAT exciting has happened. Translation- I don't fully appreciate this sport. Calling myself out. Save it, hockey nerds.

9:35- there is a guy named Marlo playing. Immediately becomes my favorite player, don't know what team he is on, and it's probably spelled differently. Whatever. He is my favorite, unless there is someone named McNulty waiting to come in for him.

9:37- I remember when the Sharks came into the league. And they haven't changed their logo. That is neither humorous nor interesting. I'm excited to see Hangover 2. Kalee's not.

9:40- everyone of these guys looks like lumberjacks. You know, just like the NBA, if Marc Gasol was every player.

9:41- ALMOST GOAL!!! ANOTHER ALMOST GOAL!!! END OF THE PERIOD!!! HOCKEY!!!!

9:47- this studio crew looks the opposite of the NBA studio crew. I really don't care about the game, so I definitely don't care about the analysis. Time to check the NBA score.

9:50- not that interested in seeing Thor. I wish they would stop making all these superhero movies and trying different characters to see if it catches on, and instead just make a new Batman, Spiderman and X-Men movie every summer. Yep, I'm married and turn 30 this month.

9:53- just accidentally published... if you are reading this, and this is the end, come back and read the rest tomorrow.

9:54- Derrick Rose is nasty. I met Jeff Teague two years ago when I met Blake Griffin. Along with James Harden, Stephen Curry, a few other dudes.

9:55- Joe Johnson from downtown! Definitely worth 120 million! Hockey still at commercial. Thank goodness.

9:57- Carlos Boozer looks like a bad guy from an action movie. And Joakim Noah looks like the bad guy's ugly wife.

9:58- these chips are dangerously counterproductive to my workout today. Dangit.

9:59- back to hockey. I feel like I am cheating on basketball. Good thing my TV was made in the 90s, or else I may be able to do a split screen or picture in picture. I would hate to have convenience. #needTVupgrade

10:00- I think I am going to start doing that # sign followed by words to pretend like I am a cool twitter user. Really, it just means I am too lazy to write a coherent sentence, so the pound sign and a few words will do. It may annoy people, but I don't care. #nobodyreadsthisanyway

10:04- I wonder if these announcers get tired of announcing all these almost goals. As I type this, there is a possible goal. Puck crossed the line. Officials discussing. Do they have replay in hockey? #diehardhockeyfan

10:06- and it's official, hockey has review. Here to help you out, sports fans. It's a goal. By the Sharks. Or, the white team.

10:12- left for 6 minutes, missed nothing. At least no goals. 14 hockey minutes til I get to go back to basketball.

10:14- if the Red Wings lose, you think their gear will be on sale in stores tomorrow? If so, I think I'll buy a shirt. They are playing Dropkick in the arena. I definitely need to go to a game.

10:15- PTI interviewed Verlander today about his no-no, and Johnny VanderMeer came up in conversation about the most unbreakable record in sports. I hope Verlander doesn't tie or break it, because JVM is from Midland Park, my hometown. But I hope he does tie or break it, because I have his rookie card and if he does that, I could probably retire next week. If you don't know who VanderMeer or what the record is, shame on you.

10:19- Red Wings score, and it sounds like fireworks go off in the building, simultaneous with a steamboat passing through. I need to go to a game. #JoeLouisArena

10:23- Both hockey and basketball game have 9 minutes left. Awesome.

10:24- this hour of hockey I have watched tonight is more than the entire season combined. No exaggeration.

10:25- Datsook goal!!! Mispelled last name!!! Fireworks!!! Steamboat!!! Excited announcers!!! I've always been a Red Wings fan!

10:26- facebook newsfeed now blowing up with Wings comments immediately after the second goal. I may have to join them. #bandwagon

10:28- ten second difference between hockey and hoops. Which ends first? I say hockey.

10:31- under 4 minutes left in hockey. BB at commercial. Yesss. Hoping to see the end of both.

10:33- Wings are in the Western conference? I think I knew that. If they win, they go to San Jose and play Thursday? Crazy. They'd have 4 days off in the NBA.

10:35- 2 minutes left. DO YOU BELIEVE?!?!?! #lamerallycry

10:36- SJ pulled the goalie. I like the other meaning of that saying better. And the Wings capitalize!!! 3-1. STEAMBOATS!!! Angry ugly SJ Coach! JOURNEY!!! #SouthDetroit

10:39- there are squids on the ice. An apparently embraced tradition. "The cleanup of creatures has ended. Will it be back to San Jose for Game 7?" What if someone threw a squid on an NBA court? Would Chris Bosh cry? Would Andrew Bynum tackle it?

10:41- 9.5 seconds left. Fight breaks out. I think they are angry about the squid. Sweet Caroline playing. Rethinking my trip to the Joe. #EffTheRedSox

10:42- Can we finish this game so I can watch hoops?

10:43- Does Gordon Bombay coach the Red Wings?

10:44- ballgame. In time to see the final 5 seconds of the NBA game. Oh well.

There you have it, a hockey running diary. That was fun, prolly won't do it again.

That's 3 consecutive days with blog entries. I rule. I think I may take a month off now.

If this happened all the time in hockey, I'd watch more.

Slainte,
Gary

What's In A Name?

2011-05-09T20:42:00.002-04:00

As I watch the NBA playoffs, I'm enjoying all the story lines in play. Are the Spurs done as a dynasty? Are the Lakers? Are Durant and Rose the future, more so than LeBron and Carmelo are the present? Is Andrew Bynum a punk for taking a cheap shot on a guy smaller than me? That one's not really up for debate.

Kalee's away this week, meaning I can watch as much of these playoffs as I want. I don't do a great job of keeping up with the NBA on a daily basis. I think with this sport more than any other, the hype leading up to the games is better than the actual games. Think about it- you were probably much more intrigued in where LeBron was going to sign than you were by your favorite team's midseason games. And if you're like me, you probably are more into the draft than you are the regular season. It's truer for me in the NBA than any other sport.

But whatever. I'm not going to try and back it up with any more examples. One thing I would consider doing if I was an NBA GM is to use my draft picks to target guys based off of one thing you don't hear as much about on draft night as you would wingspan, upside and motor. And that is the value of a guy with a double first name. They have a lot of success in the NBA. Maybe not as much as guys with regular last names... but maybe. Looking at guys that have a first name for a last name, I think I would take my team over yours. Let's look at current players. I think only one of these is a stretch, but here is my 15-man roster, with one on injured reserve.

C- Dwight Howard
PF- Tim Duncan (Duncan can be first or last)
SF- LeBron James (James is as much of a first name as LeBron)
SG- Ray Allen
G- Chris Paul

That's a nasty starting five right there. Let's look at our bench.

Tyson Chandler, Nene (is it a first name? last? I say both), Carmelo Anthony, David Lee, Joakim Noah, Kenyon Martin, Brandon Roy, Derrick Rose (it can be a girl's name), Ben Gordon & Eric Gordon.

Tell me that squad can't win the Olympics. It's got size, shooters, swingmen, maybe lacking another creator for when Paul (Chris Paul), needs a break, but James LeBron can run the show for a few minutes. I like it.

So that's my free tip to NBA GM's this summer- go for the first name last name guys. Guys who couldn't make this squad, but may get a call up from the D-League are Kurt Thomas, Tony Allen, Joel Anthony, Darrell Arthur, Steve Blake, Avery Bradley, Kevin Martin, Jarret Jack, Xavier Henry and Josh Howard. On our injured reserve is Yao Ming. I think Yao is actually his Chinese last name, making Ming his first name, but it's backwards here, so we'll let the confusion sneak him onto the team if he ever gets healthy.

And when our guys retire, hopefully they can join our Hall of Famers Jerry Lucas, Gary Payton, Walt Frazier, Willis Reed, Isiah Thomas, Bill Russell and of course, Michael Jordan.

Please feel free to share some of your own in the comment section or on facebook.

And to stay with the theme, here is an NBA video.

Slainte,
Gary