Jared working on his motorbike
Sunday, January 31, 2010
Saturday, January 30, 2010
Good One, Mr. President
I'm not sure how many of you out there are watching the Georgetown-Duke men's college basketball game on CBS right now -- I'm sure most of you are waiting for the big showdown between Northwestern and Michigan State later tonight -- but if you were watching you may have caught this amusing exchange between Verne Lundquist and President Barack Obama, who took a few minutes away from governing to take in this afternoon's game and sit down with Lundquist and Clark Kellogg.
Barry has made it very clear that he is a big sports fan, and doesn't appear to be afraid of throwing his weight around on the topic. The three watched a clip of Obama practicing with UNC earlier this year and after watching the President miss a layup after driving the lane Lundquist asked him, "It's obvious that you're lefthanded, but can you go to your right, Mr. President?"
"Well, I met with the Republican House Caucus yesterday."
Say what you will about his governing. At least he's got a sense of humor.
Barry has made it very clear that he is a big sports fan, and doesn't appear to be afraid of throwing his weight around on the topic. The three watched a clip of Obama practicing with UNC earlier this year and after watching the President miss a layup after driving the lane Lundquist asked him, "It's obvious that you're lefthanded, but can you go to your right, Mr. President?"
"Well, I met with the Republican House Caucus yesterday."
Say what you will about his governing. At least he's got a sense of humor.
Weekend Video Time
This is the red-band trailer for Hot Tub Time Machine, which sounds like the dumbest name for a name ever. Fortunately the trailer is pretty funny. This reminds me, why are they making The Hangover 2? I guess the first one did not resolved, apparently Hollywood never learns that sequels like that never work...anyways, enjoy the video.
Friday, January 29, 2010
So Here's An Interesting Tid Bit
One of my most shameless attributes is that I will miss no opportunity to glorify my favorite teams. Given that I like the Mets and the Knicks, these opportunities are sometimes quite rare, but today I came across this piece of informations which, somehow, I had never realized.
The New York Giants are the only NFC team to make multiple Super Bowl appearances in the last decade.
Did anyone realize that? I, and I pay more attention to this team than is healthy, somehow had absolutely no idea. Fortunately, though, even in a brutal season like this one, I will still have this fact to fall back on. Of course, dubbing the G-Men the "Team of the 00's" is probably foolhardy. For those who remember, 2003 and 2004 were painfully brutal campaigns, and the Giants only made the postseason six of the ten years of the decade. This is a good clip, but by no means on the level of, say, the Patriots, Colts or, well, Eagles.
Given that the Eagles still haven't won an NFL Championship since 1960, however, it'd be hard to give them that title either. Unless Chuck Bednarik comes out of retirement that streak is probably sticking.
In any event, with no football games this weekend -- unless you consider the Pro Bowl a football game -- I'm glad I can dig up chestnuts like these. Some of you may be quick to remind me that the Giants got their keisters handed to them in Super Bowl XXXV, and they did, but they also won Super Bowl XLII in the greatest fucking game ever fucking played.
At least in my mind.
Given that it's currently Friday night and none of you will probably be perusing this site until Monday morning, if then, I've decided to take some time deciding what story to post next, but I promise you all, Monday morning you will have another exciting tale about my life to read.
In the meantime, entertain yourself by watching tonight's Devils-Maple Leafs game -- because hockey's awesome even if you don't want to believe it -- or by watching career highlights of Kurt Warner, who announced his retirement today. I won't go into too much detail on his career, mostly because his years with the Giants were outstandingly forgettable, but if Warner doesn't make the Hall of Fame, it will be a total joke. Besides, don't you all want to see him thank Jesus just one more time during his induction speech?
The New York Giants are the only NFC team to make multiple Super Bowl appearances in the last decade.
Given that the Eagles still haven't won an NFL Championship since 1960, however, it'd be hard to give them that title either. Unless Chuck Bednarik comes out of retirement that streak is probably sticking.
At least in my mind.
Given that it's currently Friday night and none of you will probably be perusing this site until Monday morning, if then, I've decided to take some time deciding what story to post next, but I promise you all, Monday morning you will have another exciting tale about my life to read.
Deconstructing Music's Biggest Night. . . .
Sunday evening is being billed as "Music's Biggest Night." It's the Grammy Awards. At 8pm Eastern Time, the annual music awards show kicks off. Culture watchers should be watching. The Grammys are one of a handful of annual pop culture events that I believe are "can't miss" opportunities for those who desire to take a walk throught the landscape of 21st century Athens (Acts 17). The room and the stage will be filled to capacity with the music movers and shakers who not only regularly throw ingredients into the cultural soup that serves to guide and shape kids in today's world, but who offer us a window into the world into which we've been called to live out and communicate the Gospel of the Kingdom.
This year, I want to encourage you to watch with a critical eye. . . an eye that thinks Biblically and Christianly about everything you see and hear. As you watch, ask questions. That's how we learn.
Here are some questions I've pulled from our How To Use Your Head to Guard Your Heart: A 3(D) Guide to Responsible Media Choices that I've written as a tool for use by youth workers and parents with their kids.
• What is the main topic and theme?
• What is the mood?
• How is the piece intended to make viewers/listeners feel? How does it make me feel? Does the piece manipulate viewer/listener emotions in any way?
• Does the piece make any overt or covert suggestions to viewers/listeners on how to think, talk, act, or live?
• What does the piece say about the way the world is? What does the piece say about the way the world ought to be?
• Is there right and wrong? What is portrayed as right and what is portrayed as wrong? How are right and wrong determined?
• Is there a hero? Is there a villain? What do they stand for?
• What values and beliefs are presented as virtuous? What values and beliefs are portrayed negatively?
• Who or what is the source of authority? What is the attitude toward authority?
• How is God portrayed? What does it say about God? Who or what is God (god)?
• Is the one true God replaced by some other deity (self, money, sex, etc.)?
• How are human beings portrayed?
• Where is human value and worth found?
• How is beauty established, portrayed and defined?
• What does it say about how to treat others? Are people “used” or portrayed as a means to an end?
• What is the source of happiness and satisfaction in life?
• Does the piece send any messages about what makes a person “successful” in life?
• What does the piece say about what’s wrong with the world? Does the piece suggest a solution(s) to life’s problems? If so, what are those solutions?
• Who or what is glorified?
• What does it say about peace and hope? Are suggestions made on where they can be found?
• Is it hopeful or hopeless?
• What character traits are portrayed as positive? Negative?
Go a step further and watch with your kids. Talk about the show as it unfolds. Then, take the opportunity to guide your kids into an understanding of how the Scriptures agree or disagree with the answer the Grammys give to these questions.
This is a great opportunity to not only learn about the way the world is, but to teach your kids about the way the world should be.
Girlfriend of the Week
I will give you some hints.
1. She is an actress (or is the term female actor?)
2. She will be playing the wife of a certain mead drinking god.
3. She made an appearance in episode 103 of a certain hilarious comedy show.
So, let us see how well you know your hot chicks. Good luck!
Thursday, January 28, 2010
Damn Earthquakes Taking All The Good Jobs in This Country!
As many of you know, I work at The-Place-That-Shall-Not-Be-Named-For-Fear-That-Someone-From-Human-Resources-Reads-This-Blog-and-Will-Fire-Me or TPTSNBNFFTSFHRRTBAWFM for short. Sometimes the stupidity of the customers amazes me, and yesterday was another one of those funny moments.
These two old ladies were at the cash register and they are checking out the water jug we have set up for Haiti. This is the exchange, almost verbatim.
Old Lady One: What's this jug for?
Old Lady Two: For those ungodly Haitians.
OL One: Ethel!
OL Two: What? If those people had used condoms this problem would not be happening right now! I am serious! They all have AIDS and this is what happens to people like that.
Unfortunately for me, I could not say anything. Mainly because they were old, which means they cannot be reasoned with. It is true, most old people (and these ladies were well over 80) refuse to listen to anything that contradicts there point of view. Sadly, she probably got her information from the 700 Club or maybe from Paul Shirley.
Another gentleman said something about the jug, and at first I thought he was being a prick, but then he clarified himself. He basically thought it was sad that it took a massive loss of life for people to decide to drop some changes into a jug or for companies to take up a collection. He feels that these kinds of jugs should be out all year and should support numerous charities. I agree with him, unfortunately TPTSNBNFFTSFHRRTBAWFM would probably argue that people would be less willing to give year around and that would make them look bad come Christmas time when they do their annual charity drive...
I also noticed quite a number of people on facebook saying idiotic things like "we need to be focused on the people here who are suffering, not the people in Haiti."
Ugh, I hate this argument. Well, it is not really an argument, more of a ridiculous statement. It is true there are people here in America who have lost their jobs, have no insurance, been screwed over by the government, etc.
This was a natural disaster that hit Haiti. Not caused by crappy government leaders or greedy corporations, but instead by tectonic plates that cannot be reasoned with, or say voted out of office...That is the thing most of these people do not understand. The problems in America cannot be fixed by tossing some charity money at it, but instead by people becoming educated before they go into the voter booth. Instead of believing that the main issues are abortion and gay marriage, start reading about what policies these folks will be pushing for concerning trade, corporate shenanigans, etc.
I know someone is thinking, "well what about Hurricane Katrina!?" That was a natural disaster. Yes it was, very good. And look at how the rest of the world responded. Even Albania joined in with some money. I realize that some of those donations seem paltry compared to the hundreds of millions the US plans to give to Haiti, but hey, we can afford it. Albania cannot.
Okay, that was my rant for the day.
These two old ladies were at the cash register and they are checking out the water jug we have set up for Haiti. This is the exchange, almost verbatim.
Old Lady One: What's this jug for?
Old Lady Two: For those ungodly Haitians.
OL One: Ethel!
OL Two: What? If those people had used condoms this problem would not be happening right now! I am serious! They all have AIDS and this is what happens to people like that.
Unfortunately for me, I could not say anything. Mainly because they were old, which means they cannot be reasoned with. It is true, most old people (and these ladies were well over 80) refuse to listen to anything that contradicts there point of view. Sadly, she probably got her information from the 700 Club or maybe from Paul Shirley.
Another gentleman said something about the jug, and at first I thought he was being a prick, but then he clarified himself. He basically thought it was sad that it took a massive loss of life for people to decide to drop some changes into a jug or for companies to take up a collection. He feels that these kinds of jugs should be out all year and should support numerous charities. I agree with him, unfortunately TPTSNBNFFTSFHRRTBAWFM would probably argue that people would be less willing to give year around and that would make them look bad come Christmas time when they do their annual charity drive...
I also noticed quite a number of people on facebook saying idiotic things like "we need to be focused on the people here who are suffering, not the people in Haiti."
Ugh, I hate this argument. Well, it is not really an argument, more of a ridiculous statement. It is true there are people here in America who have lost their jobs, have no insurance, been screwed over by the government, etc.
This was a natural disaster that hit Haiti. Not caused by crappy government leaders or greedy corporations, but instead by tectonic plates that cannot be reasoned with, or say voted out of office...That is the thing most of these people do not understand. The problems in America cannot be fixed by tossing some charity money at it, but instead by people becoming educated before they go into the voter booth. Instead of believing that the main issues are abortion and gay marriage, start reading about what policies these folks will be pushing for concerning trade, corporate shenanigans, etc.
I know someone is thinking, "well what about Hurricane Katrina!?" That was a natural disaster. Yes it was, very good. And look at how the rest of the world responded. Even Albania joined in with some money. I realize that some of those donations seem paltry compared to the hundreds of millions the US plans to give to Haiti, but hey, we can afford it. Albania cannot.
Okay, that was my rant for the day.
Team No. 31 is Officially On the Docket
I've got some exciting news for all of you, and no, it's not the Blackhawks-Sharks Preview I have up this morning.
Yes, that's right. The next step on the journey is officially scheduled for Feb. 8, 2010, when I and the painfully coerced Bert Wyman will drive down to Philadelphia to see the Flyers face off with the Devils at Wachovia Center.
After all, I figure it's the least Bert owes me after I froze my ass off at the Jets-Bengals game earlier this month with him.
The showdown will be the 31st different team I've seen play a home game and so I'm officially calling it the "Mike Piazza Game", though I'm not sure how comfortable I am associating a hero of my teenage years with Philadelphia. I'll find some way to manage.
It will be my first new team of the year, which is good progress since I'm trying to get to six or so new ones before 2011. Of course, that will all depend on how my schedule breaks down. 2010 is already looking like an awfully expensive and busy year.
Stay tuned, though, a full update and a story will be up.... eventually.
In other news, I think we're going to get a pretty strong indicator of just how powerful Sports Illustrated is soon. And by that I mean the New Orleans Saints officially have no chance of winning the Super Bowl. Yes, the SI Cover Jinx doesn't always come through, but after knocking off the two teams featured on regional covers on Championship Sunday, this irrational superstition looks like it's on a roll. Fortunately for Drew Brees and company, there is still another issue set to come out before Super Bowl XLIV kicks off. I would expect a lot of people in the Bayou to hope their native son, Peyton Manning, gets some cover love before the big game.
Yes, that's right. The next step on the journey is officially scheduled for Feb. 8, 2010, when I and the painfully coerced Bert Wyman will drive down to Philadelphia to see the Flyers face off with the Devils at Wachovia Center.
The showdown will be the 31st different team I've seen play a home game and so I'm officially calling it the "Mike Piazza Game", though I'm not sure how comfortable I am associating a hero of my teenage years with Philadelphia. I'll find some way to manage.
It will be my first new team of the year, which is good progress since I'm trying to get to six or so new ones before 2011. Of course, that will all depend on how my schedule breaks down. 2010 is already looking like an awfully expensive and busy year.
Stay tuned, though, a full update and a story will be up.... eventually.
Wednesday, January 27, 2010
God Loves Traffic Jams
I pass a church every day on my way to work. This church loves to put up stupid little quotes on its marquee, which usually make me laugh at the idiocy of religious folks. Today's was especially good.
Also, why the hell would a church in Philipsburg think this would change people's lives? There are no traffic jams around here. Rush hour traffic happens for about three minutes in this area. I could understand putting a sign like this in Pittsburgh, maybe on the Parkway. Might make a bit more sense. Unfortunately, driving 65 mph past the church around 5 p.m. makes me think God was not paying attention today. I also used his name in vain approximately 25 times, before lunch.
Or maybe I misread the sign. Maybe they meant that God will punish you by lengthening the movie Rush Hour, which I believe is one of the circles of hell. Although, this problem seems to be easily rectified: avoid watching Rush Hour, and you should be fine. Damn, God is easy to defeat.
Sadly I could not take a picture of the sign so I had to find one on the internet. Turns out, churches have some kind of idiot sign maker they use together because this place has also used this sign as well.
I actually almost wrote a large post about this sign once. I went through and typed questions into google and found that I did in fact get answers, whereas asking God got me zero results. I ended up not posting it for some reason. Or if I did, I cannot seem to find it. Oh wait, I found it, I posted it over at the yummypancake.
In conclusion, please keep up the awesome church signs, they give me something to laugh about for 38 minutes.
"The next time you use the Lord's name in vain,Wow, what a petty God he must be. "Ugh, those shitty Christians are using my name in vain again, I'll show them, they will sit in traffic for two hours!" Sucks to be those really good Christians during rush hour who did nothing wrong.
God will make rush hour longer."
Also, why the hell would a church in Philipsburg think this would change people's lives? There are no traffic jams around here. Rush hour traffic happens for about three minutes in this area. I could understand putting a sign like this in Pittsburgh, maybe on the Parkway. Might make a bit more sense. Unfortunately, driving 65 mph past the church around 5 p.m. makes me think God was not paying attention today. I also used his name in vain approximately 25 times, before lunch.
Sadly I could not take a picture of the sign so I had to find one on the internet. Turns out, churches have some kind of idiot sign maker they use together because this place has also used this sign as well.
In conclusion, please keep up the awesome church signs, they give me something to laugh about for 38 minutes.
Tuesday, January 26, 2010
24: 8:00 p.m. to 9:00 p.m.
And just like that, I am right. I said that it would only be a matter of time before the show got bogged down with stupid crap, and here we go. I actually fell asleep during the show last night (had nothing to do with being up at 3:30 a.m.) and had to watch it today after work.
Jack basically did nothing all episode. He sat in the car and tried to help Renee and did a bad job since she almost took a bullet. No lies though, Renee only gets hotter each time I see her (she does have a sexy lazy eye, that is such a turn-on.)
The Dana subplot is absolutely retarded. She is going to help her ex-boyfriend steal money or something by using CTU? Sounds like a good plan. DC Universe makes a good joke about how CTU should have the best background checks ever. I made the same joke to a friend the other day. Although, I wonder if she went into witness protection?
Hopefully next week is better. Well it does have an almost naked Renee, that does sound better than this episode.
Jack basically did nothing all episode. He sat in the car and tried to help Renee and did a bad job since she almost took a bullet. No lies though, Renee only gets hotter each time I see her (she does have a sexy lazy eye, that is such a turn-on.)
The Dana subplot is absolutely retarded. She is going to help her ex-boyfriend steal money or something by using CTU? Sounds like a good plan. DC Universe makes a good joke about how CTU should have the best background checks ever. I made the same joke to a friend the other day. Although, I wonder if she went into witness protection?
Hopefully next week is better. Well it does have an almost naked Renee, that does sound better than this episode.
Blogging and Me
Blogging has affected my life in more ways than I have imagined. It has played important roles in the way I was living particular chapters of my life. Let me tell you how…
During the past 4 years of my life, blogging became a venue for…
Freeing My Thoughts.
I discovered blogging back in College -specifically in 2006. I first knew about it in the once most popular social networking site in the Philippines, Friendster. I have no idea then what the word “blog” means and how to actually create one. I googled it out and I understood that it’s simply an online journal.
Since then, I used it the way I understood what it is. I immediately set up a blog using Friendster’s user-friendly interface. At first, I thought it was hard but I was wrong. It was as simple as creating an email. It is just intimidating at first because of the “this-one-is-new-I-don’t-know-how-to-do-this “idea. But I tell you, you can easily learn it.
Yup… It was just timely since I also needed a venue to vent out my thoughts and feelings because I was away from my family for school – I don’t have anyone but myself to share them to. I was a probinsyano submerged in a whole new environment of urban living. That’s the reason why I started blogging when I can have time after school, especially when I felt like I needed to get some things out of my system and when I have enough money for I only used to rent a computer in a café near my “boarding house” before.
Most of the time I blogged about school stuff – basically just commenting on a professor’s mustache, telling how I was feeling on a particular subject, describing how my day at school was, etc. I also blogged some family stuff: my thoughts on my Tito’s death, how I was missing home, some family problems and similar topics. I also wrote on personal stuff like how awful the smell of my laundry was, my longing for someone, my wishes on my birthday and the likes. (Yeah… I like the word “stuff”… :D)
I would say that it helped me a lot since I was able to ventilate my feelings. It was a good feeling of letting them all out – may it be a good feeling or thought or a bad one. It took me back to my sanity. :D
Sharing My Self. The whole idea of just freeing my thoughts changed when people started commenting on my posts. I realized that my network of friends and their friends in the social networking site were actually able to read my blog. They started airing their thoughts, gave me advices as well and exchanged ideas with me.
Yes, the entire thing suddenly got interactive. I thought I was just writing a diary that no one else reads. But yeah, I was wrong again. (Haha.)
I also got a little embarrassed somehow since some of the posts I made were too personal and too funny to share. I just said to myself, “It’s just my opinion, eh!” (laughter). Another thing that I was ashamed of was my grammar. I admit that I don’t have much words stored in my vocabulary and my English is faulty. I just then said, “Who cares. It’s my blog!” (But everyone gets to read it, Noypi! lol).
Yeah, during this phase of my blogging experience, I was able to communicate and share myself with others. I made friends with strangers and my old friends knew me better. (Isn’t that great? :D)
Providing Information and consequently Earning.
In January 2009, while waiting for the results of a board exam that I took, I thought of creating a webpage that would provide information about the upcoming results. I put up a blog at Blogger.com dedicated for that purpose. While I was doing this though, I was already active on finding ways to earn and I thought of “online”. Indeed, there are ways to make money on the internet and I was amazed to find out that one of them is through blogging.
Yeah, all the time that I was posting on my blog, I never thought that I could have been more fruitful if I only knew that I can also earn from the thing that was giving so much benefits on me, beforehand. All I had to do was to figure out how it actually works.
And so, I read lots of online articles about earning through blogging. I applied what I learned but it wasn’t easy. I thought I would get instant results but my first month only gave me $10. And take note, so much hardwork has been exhausted to earn that amount in a month.
Yes I gave up learning how to earn through blogging. I focused on some other things although I posted once in a while when I felt like to. I also got an offline job that was taking so much of my time.
Until late September last year, when I came a across this advertising company which I got interested on… What’s good about it is that I get to interact with the community of publishers which mostly are bloggers. I started learning their ways and more other ways on how to improve my blog and my rankings.
I re-applied what I previously learned and added the new info I got. Lucky enough, I got my first Adsense payment that month. Another advertising company also paid me for the first time the same month. I focused on providing information and amazingly, it gave me some income.
My Blogging Plans and Goals for 2011.
I still consider blogging as a hobby that takes my stresses out and makes me a social being. But the fact that I could also earn while having those benefits, I thought, “Why not make the most of it and earn more?”:D
So far, I am receiving my monthly Adsense payment but it is too little for me though. I have to do a lot of things still. It’s a brand new year and so let me share to you my blogging plans and goals for 2011.
1. Improve My Stats. I am hoping for better stats this year - from the pageranks and alexa ranks of my blogs, up to their daily traffic. There is only one way to do this – I need to post as much quality content as possible.
My readings told me that “content is the king” and I have to agree with that. It is the most effective SEO (Search Engine Optimization) technique, I believe. So I better work my ass off and keep writing.
Aside from my limited vocabulary, being lazy has always been my problem. I hope I could win more battles against laziness this year. I need to be more dedicated and perhaps more inspired as well to do so. (Emo much? Haha.)
2. Get a Domain. I am realizing this in 2011. Yeah, I never had a domain since I thought it is expensive and I don’t have much savings to pay for it. I just realized a few months ago that it is affordable after all.
Having one I believe is an important aspect of SEO and would make me free from the fear that Blogger/Blogspot may delete my blogs hosted to them at anytime as what other bloggers experienced. And so I am willing to spend some of my savings and eager to learn setting up domains and backpacking to other hosts.
Well, I am also hopeful that writing this post would actually make me have one. (You’ll know why at the end of this post… :D)
3. Develop my Writing Skills. I am no writer and I don’t have much background on journalism either. Although blogging in its sense is just free-form writing, I think one must follow basic journalism principles if he/she intends to create a blog that deals with information. Since I am also relaying info through my blogs, I think I have to ponder more on those principles and maybe read news articles also so that I could have a grasp on how to write those.
To address my grammar and vocabulary issues I guess I have to spend more time in reading books and magazines also.
4. Be More Creative. I have found out that being creative is an important aspect of one’s “blogging for money endeavor”. From making a blog header to its layout and widgets, one has to show his/her creative side. He/She also has to demonstrate creativity on his/her attack on SEO. I am hopeful that I could exhibit this side of me more this year.
5. Hold a Blogversary Giveaway. One sign that a blogger is successful or contented on his/her blogging venture is when he/she already holds a giveaway. I hope that by mid-September which will be my blogging re-birth 1st anniversary, I could already facilitate a giveaway of my own. (Wish me luck! :D)
During the past 4 years of my life, blogging became a venue for…
Freeing My Thoughts.
I discovered blogging back in College -specifically in 2006. I first knew about it in the once most popular social networking site in the Philippines, Friendster. I have no idea then what the word “blog” means and how to actually create one. I googled it out and I understood that it’s simply an online journal.Since then, I used it the way I understood what it is. I immediately set up a blog using Friendster’s user-friendly interface. At first, I thought it was hard but I was wrong. It was as simple as creating an email. It is just intimidating at first because of the “this-one-is-new-I-don’t-know-how-to-do-this “idea. But I tell you, you can easily learn it.
Yup… It was just timely since I also needed a venue to vent out my thoughts and feelings because I was away from my family for school – I don’t have anyone but myself to share them to. I was a probinsyano submerged in a whole new environment of urban living. That’s the reason why I started blogging when I can have time after school, especially when I felt like I needed to get some things out of my system and when I have enough money for I only used to rent a computer in a café near my “boarding house” before.
Most of the time I blogged about school stuff – basically just commenting on a professor’s mustache, telling how I was feeling on a particular subject, describing how my day at school was, etc. I also blogged some family stuff: my thoughts on my Tito’s death, how I was missing home, some family problems and similar topics. I also wrote on personal stuff like how awful the smell of my laundry was, my longing for someone, my wishes on my birthday and the likes. (Yeah… I like the word “stuff”… :D)
I would say that it helped me a lot since I was able to ventilate my feelings. It was a good feeling of letting them all out – may it be a good feeling or thought or a bad one. It took me back to my sanity. :D
Sharing My Self. The whole idea of just freeing my thoughts changed when people started commenting on my posts. I realized that my network of friends and their friends in the social networking site were actually able to read my blog. They started airing their thoughts, gave me advices as well and exchanged ideas with me.Yes, the entire thing suddenly got interactive. I thought I was just writing a diary that no one else reads. But yeah, I was wrong again. (Haha.)
I also got a little embarrassed somehow since some of the posts I made were too personal and too funny to share. I just said to myself, “It’s just my opinion, eh!” (laughter). Another thing that I was ashamed of was my grammar. I admit that I don’t have much words stored in my vocabulary and my English is faulty. I just then said, “Who cares. It’s my blog!” (But everyone gets to read it, Noypi! lol).
Yeah, during this phase of my blogging experience, I was able to communicate and share myself with others. I made friends with strangers and my old friends knew me better. (Isn’t that great? :D)
Providing Information and consequently Earning.
In January 2009, while waiting for the results of a board exam that I took, I thought of creating a webpage that would provide information about the upcoming results. I put up a blog at Blogger.com dedicated for that purpose. While I was doing this though, I was already active on finding ways to earn and I thought of “online”. Indeed, there are ways to make money on the internet and I was amazed to find out that one of them is through blogging.Yeah, all the time that I was posting on my blog, I never thought that I could have been more fruitful if I only knew that I can also earn from the thing that was giving so much benefits on me, beforehand. All I had to do was to figure out how it actually works.
And so, I read lots of online articles about earning through blogging. I applied what I learned but it wasn’t easy. I thought I would get instant results but my first month only gave me $10. And take note, so much hardwork has been exhausted to earn that amount in a month.
Yes I gave up learning how to earn through blogging. I focused on some other things although I posted once in a while when I felt like to. I also got an offline job that was taking so much of my time.
Until late September last year, when I came a across this advertising company which I got interested on… What’s good about it is that I get to interact with the community of publishers which mostly are bloggers. I started learning their ways and more other ways on how to improve my blog and my rankings.
I re-applied what I previously learned and added the new info I got. Lucky enough, I got my first Adsense payment that month. Another advertising company also paid me for the first time the same month. I focused on providing information and amazingly, it gave me some income.
My Blogging Plans and Goals for 2011.
I still consider blogging as a hobby that takes my stresses out and makes me a social being. But the fact that I could also earn while having those benefits, I thought, “Why not make the most of it and earn more?”:D
So far, I am receiving my monthly Adsense payment but it is too little for me though. I have to do a lot of things still. It’s a brand new year and so let me share to you my blogging plans and goals for 2011.
1. Improve My Stats. I am hoping for better stats this year - from the pageranks and alexa ranks of my blogs, up to their daily traffic. There is only one way to do this – I need to post as much quality content as possible.
My readings told me that “content is the king” and I have to agree with that. It is the most effective SEO (Search Engine Optimization) technique, I believe. So I better work my ass off and keep writing.
Aside from my limited vocabulary, being lazy has always been my problem. I hope I could win more battles against laziness this year. I need to be more dedicated and perhaps more inspired as well to do so. (Emo much? Haha.)
2. Get a Domain. I am realizing this in 2011. Yeah, I never had a domain since I thought it is expensive and I don’t have much savings to pay for it. I just realized a few months ago that it is affordable after all.
Having one I believe is an important aspect of SEO and would make me free from the fear that Blogger/Blogspot may delete my blogs hosted to them at anytime as what other bloggers experienced. And so I am willing to spend some of my savings and eager to learn setting up domains and backpacking to other hosts.
Well, I am also hopeful that writing this post would actually make me have one. (You’ll know why at the end of this post… :D)
3. Develop my Writing Skills. I am no writer and I don’t have much background on journalism either. Although blogging in its sense is just free-form writing, I think one must follow basic journalism principles if he/she intends to create a blog that deals with information. Since I am also relaying info through my blogs, I think I have to ponder more on those principles and maybe read news articles also so that I could have a grasp on how to write those.
To address my grammar and vocabulary issues I guess I have to spend more time in reading books and magazines also.
4. Be More Creative. I have found out that being creative is an important aspect of one’s “blogging for money endeavor”. From making a blog header to its layout and widgets, one has to show his/her creative side. He/She also has to demonstrate creativity on his/her attack on SEO. I am hopeful that I could exhibit this side of me more this year.
5. Hold a Blogversary Giveaway. One sign that a blogger is successful or contented on his/her blogging venture is when he/she already holds a giveaway. I hope that by mid-September which will be my blogging re-birth 1st anniversary, I could already facilitate a giveaway of my own. (Wish me luck! :D)
Goodbye College, Hello Cleveland
Originally written January 14, 2010
The last few days of college are a bizarre time, particularly for those of us who are without a job or any real idea of where they’re going in life. I had no job lined up and prospects were pretty scarce. I applied to 100 or so over the final few weeks as I wrote my last papers and began packing up. Most of the calls had come from news clipping organizations I had little interest in working for that would have required me to be in the office by 4:30 a.m. on some days. Beyond that the ways to find a job writing in sports in New York without having ever actually interned for a major newspaper seemed few and far between.
I believe it was my stepmother, Audrey, who asked me what I wanted to do for a living the day I graduated. The latter of my two commencements ended at Welsh-Ryan Arena in Evanston and as we went through the obligatory picture taking session by Ryan Field, Northwestern’s football stadium, she posed the question.
“I want to watch baseball,” I said. “For money.”
It was always good for a laugh, and yet I wasn’t particularly sure where I’d go. I had tried my best to balance mailing out resumes, packing my things, and squeezing in all the necessary goodbyes and drunken memories that the final two weeks after finals provide you with. Those goodbyes are tricky. You’re not sure which of the people you’ve spent the last four years with you’re going to still be in contact with and who you need to say goodbye to for good.
And there are some.
But you can’t afford to be too schmaltzy or else your life will never get where it’s going. You just have to take it in stride. And it ain’t easy. But you manage.
I tried not to let it on as I packed my room and scrambled to sell furniture that I wouldn’t be taking back east, but jobless me was a nervous wreck and what laid ahead was a mystery. Fortunately, I had one carrot to distract me from the uncertainty before my mother and I caravanned two cars full of four years back to New Jersey.
For me, I generally would drive from my childhood home in Millburn to Evanston in one shot if I were by myself – all twelve hours of it. My mother couldn’t stand to sit in the car that long in one day and whenever I made the trip with her, we would break it in two, often staying at the same Hampton Inn in Milan, Ohio that had a rather pungent textile factory across the highway from it. That wasn’t always bad, as we would usually eat at the same restaurant, a BBQ grill joint called the Roadhouse, which was the type of place that served you your rack of baby back ribs with a side of 5 oz. grilled sirloin.
But for the trip home my mother had suggested that we instead stay in a nice hotel in Cleveland and treat ourselves. The actual hotel itself that we stayed in was of little interest or import to me, but I did notice one thing that was.
The Indians were in town.
That sealed the deal. When I originally asked my mother if the Indians were in town she told me she had already checked and that they were not playing the Mets. Of course, given that they play in two different leagues, the chances that the Mets would be there that week were scant anyway, but Cleveland was playing Philadelphia. At the very least I could root against the rival Phils. I decided to be the generous one and buy the tickets – after all, my parents had just paid for four years at a private college, I could give my mom a break – and I found two seats in row GG not far behind home plate for the Wednesday evening tilt on June 20, 2007.
And the seats came out to a mere $50 each. I love being impressed by ticket prices that aren’t in New York.
Of course, before the game came there was still the nasty business of graduating, writing my final papers, doing my drinking, saying my goodbyes, packing for home and selling my furniture. The furniture would be the most immediately impactful as I slept on my own bed one night before selling it, then slept on the bed my roommate had left before selling that, and then spent the last night sleeping on our disgusting couch.
The abruptness of the transition is confusing if for no other reason than that you’re not always sure how sentimental to get. Luisa had come over to give me company while I packed my final things and when she left nonchalantly said, “Well, it was fun going to college with you.” It seems simple, but sometimes you aren’t sure how serious to take these things, particularly since in the case of Luisa, we have kept close contact since graduating and college no longer appears to be the basis of our friendship so much as one chapter of it.
This is the case with a number of my close friends, but not so much with others. Knowing who will and won’t stay a part of your life is probably the most uncertain and difficult aspect of transitioning to the real world. Perhaps that's one of the reasons I'm doing this: To have an excuse to go around the country and keep in touch with all of them.
Still, at the time I was far more preoccupied with packing and getting on the road quickly on the 20th. The game itself was the night that we were leaving Evanston, which meant we’d have to make a quick exit to ensure we made it to Cleveland in time for the 7 o’clock start. This would be delayed by, as so often happens between children and their mothers at moments of heightened stress, a fight. In this case it revolved around a parking ticket my mother had gotten while we were loading up the cars that morning and my juvenile insistence that she simply ignore it so we could hit the road.
With the city backlog, my logic went, they’d never know the difference.
This, of course, did not sit well with my mother who made a point to go to the town municipal center and pay the ticket. Considering town hall was next to my apartment building, this wasn’t too big of a diversion.
After getting on the road, cooler heads began to prevail and we left one car behind the other on Lake Shore Drive, where I got my last looks at the city I had called home for four years. As I teetered between lead-footed and sentimental we eventually found our way onto I-80 and, with 90 minutes or so to spare, pulled into the Hilton Garden Inn in Cleveland.
My mother and I checked in and headed to the stadium just a few blocks away. Jacobs Field, or the Jake as it is colloquially known, is often considered one of the best parks in the Majors. This doesn’t come from any sort of trendsetting architecture. The modern trend of faux-retro parks still pulls its impetus from Camden Yards, which beat the Jake to opening day by a few years.
But indeed the intimacy and sight lines are among the best in baseball. To me, however, the most striking architectural feature is outside the stadium. The building’s structure features visible steel beams all around its exterior that give the appearance of an exoskeleton holding the stands up. What was most fascinating to me, however, is that the skeleton and its older style stadium lights are painted a bright white, making them stand out and giving the building an individualized and unique appearance that straddles the line between antiquated and futuristic.
The inside has a few features that might make it seem noteworthy, but nothing overwhelms anything else – with, perhaps, the notable exception of the 149-foot long video screen in left field. At the time it became my favorite park in the Majors. I can’t begin to imagine how much more pleasant it is to watch a game there than it was to do so in the Indians’ former home, the monstrous Cleveland Municipal Stadium, which housed 74,438 fans as opposed to the relatively cozy 43,515-seat capacity of the Jake.
I decided, as I often do, to take a stroll around the park and view it from different angles and see what it has to offer. As I continued my walk I happened upon Heritage Park, a circular museum dedicated to the Indians’ hall of famers and major moments that resides behind the batters eye in center field. Apparently it had just opened that year, but regardless, I hadn’t seen a hall of fame section that was quite so aesthetically pleasing in its subtle appearance and seamlessly weaved into the style of the ballpark. As I’ve visited more parks that have added their own hall of fame sections, I’ve enjoyed seeing the different orientations, but this one teaches you about the club’s history while still maintaining its presence as part of a stadium.
And speaking of being part of a stadium, the outfield concourse at Jacobs Field features a beer garden. Yes, these are common now, but this was the first time I had spotted it, or perhaps as a 21-year-old this was the first time I took note. I don’t much like drinking at ball games. If you have too much the whole experience moves too quickly and you lose track of what’s happening on the field. In the case of baseball, I understand this is preferable for some people but I’m far more concerned with seeing the tension that develops between the pitcher and the batter, and having five too many beers in me makes that infinitely more difficult to keep track of. Regardless, I suppose having the open air beer garden is necessary considering Jacobs Field was paid for by a 15-year sin tax on cigarettes and alcohol.
I will say this, though. The fans at the beer garden certainly looked like they were having fun. In the end that, I suppose, is the key to the experience.
And speaking of beer, as I walked back to my seat I passed by a stand that was selling Leinenkugel’s Sunset Wheat on tap. Sunset Wheat, as any of my close friends could tell you, is my favorite beer on the planet. It’s like candy. The big problem with this lies in the fact that Leinenkugel’s, based in Chippewa Falls, Wisconsin, hadn’t spread much out east. In fact, I had never seen it east of Chicago in my lifetime, to the point that I had made sure to buy a six pack of it before driving back to New Jersey much like I had always made sure to bring a healthy supply of Yeungling back to Evanston.
I don’t really buy beer at baseball games, both because it distracts me and because, usually, it’s outrageously expensive. I don’t need to spend $9.75 on a Miller Lite. But with the prospects of never seeing Sunset Wheat when I returned to the east coast staring me in the face, I bit the bullet – it was only seven dollars – and bought myself a beer to take back to my seat.
Ironically, I would see a six pack of it at the Kings Supermarket in Short Hills, New Jersey a week later. Leinie’s, evidently, had chosen to expand just in time.
The park was more than 50% full that night, but I was still surprised with the turnout after being accustomed to always seeing a full house on TV. In fact, Cleveland sold out the first 455 games at the Jake, a Major League record at the time, which is commemorated with “455” being among the retired numbers that hang against the brick walls in the right field portion of the upper deck.
Granted it was a week night, but the night I was there, the official attendance was a mere 53.7% of capacity at 24,278. For me, however, the average crowd didn’t take away from the game, which, for its first 5 ½ innings was a rather taut affair. Cleveland and Philadelphia had been tied, 2-2, leading up to the sixth inning, when the Phillies took a 4-2 lead courtesy of a two-run homer by Rod Barajas. The Indians responded in the bottom half of the inning by scoring eight runs and having eight consecutive batters reach base to put the game away. C.C. Sabathia pitched six innings to earn the win, becoming the first Indian to get 10 wins in seven consecutive seasons since Addie Joss turned the trick for Cleveland a century earlier from 1902-1909.
As a rule I will almost never leave a game early, particularly if I’m in a new stadium. My diligence paid off in the top of the ninth inning when Shane Victorino came to bat for Philadelphia with two outs. Victorino had two strikes on him when he fouled off a high pitch that banged off the façade of the second deck and dropped down directly in front of my mother and I.
I never will understand why we scrape so violently and irrationally for a dinged up piece of cowhide, but there I was diving to the ground with my sole competition a glasses bedecked woman who appeared to be in her mid-30s. The woman may have been closer to the ball.
But I don’t care. I got it. It was mine. After two decades of watching baseball games and dozens of close calls, at long last, I had caught a foul ball.
The man sitting to my right asked if he could look at it, and perhaps I was too used to trusting everyone in the Midwest as I handed it over to him. Fortunately, he, too, was a trusting non-east coaster. He glanced at the black scuff mark left by Victorino’s bat, handed it back to me and, with a smile, said, “Congratulations.”
On the way out of the park my mother anxiously told me to stop staring at the ball as we walked back to our hotel for fear someone would steal it. Once we returned, I began telling the world, which seemed far less excited about it than I was, before finally getting some rest for the next day’s drive home.
24 hours later, I pulled into our driveway behind my mother, walked inside, and that was it.
College was over.
I remember the morning after my bar mitzvah dealing with the depression that comes after the passing of a major life event. I was older and more capable of handling it now, but this was far more daunting. I now had to find a way to move on. I had to find something to do.
My first post-college job interview was with an HR person at Time Inc, who was testing my worthiness to be employed at SI.com. I admit that I was unprepared. At the very least I should have gone to the website that morning to familiarize myself with it. Of course, that problem didn’t really prepare me for the woman’s first question:
“If an unexpected occurrence were to arise in the office, what contingency would you have prepared for that paradigm?”
I stumbled my way through some nonsense response that showed how unprepared I was and probably cost me the job immediately – I was ushered out of the office shortly afterwards – but what I wanted to say to her was, “You know people don’t talk like that in the real world, right?”
After killing time with my friend Matt for a few hours, I headed to Chelsea Market to interview at MLB.com for the position of a night shift web producer. The atmosphere was far more relaxed and much less formal, and the first thing I had to do was take a written test on baseball trivia. At the very least, even if I blew another interview, at least I’d have some fun.
Afterwards, I went home to continue my post college malaise as I tried to find direction and, most importantly, a source of income, uncertain of what the immediate future would bring.
Two nights later I got an e-mail from the night production manager at MLB.com. I would be watching baseball for money.
I believe it was my stepmother, Audrey, who asked me what I wanted to do for a living the day I graduated. The latter of my two commencements ended at Welsh-Ryan Arena in Evanston and as we went through the obligatory picture taking session by Ryan Field, Northwestern’s football stadium, she posed the question.
“I want to watch baseball,” I said. “For money.”
It was always good for a laugh, and yet I wasn’t particularly sure where I’d go. I had tried my best to balance mailing out resumes, packing my things, and squeezing in all the necessary goodbyes and drunken memories that the final two weeks after finals provide you with. Those goodbyes are tricky. You’re not sure which of the people you’ve spent the last four years with you’re going to still be in contact with and who you need to say goodbye to for good.And there are some.
But you can’t afford to be too schmaltzy or else your life will never get where it’s going. You just have to take it in stride. And it ain’t easy. But you manage.
I tried not to let it on as I packed my room and scrambled to sell furniture that I wouldn’t be taking back east, but jobless me was a nervous wreck and what laid ahead was a mystery. Fortunately, I had one carrot to distract me from the uncertainty before my mother and I caravanned two cars full of four years back to New Jersey.
For me, I generally would drive from my childhood home in Millburn to Evanston in one shot if I were by myself – all twelve hours of it. My mother couldn’t stand to sit in the car that long in one day and whenever I made the trip with her, we would break it in two, often staying at the same Hampton Inn in Milan, Ohio that had a rather pungent textile factory across the highway from it. That wasn’t always bad, as we would usually eat at the same restaurant, a BBQ grill joint called the Roadhouse, which was the type of place that served you your rack of baby back ribs with a side of 5 oz. grilled sirloin.
But for the trip home my mother had suggested that we instead stay in a nice hotel in Cleveland and treat ourselves. The actual hotel itself that we stayed in was of little interest or import to me, but I did notice one thing that was.
The Indians were in town.
And the seats came out to a mere $50 each. I love being impressed by ticket prices that aren’t in New York.
Of course, before the game came there was still the nasty business of graduating, writing my final papers, doing my drinking, saying my goodbyes, packing for home and selling my furniture. The furniture would be the most immediately impactful as I slept on my own bed one night before selling it, then slept on the bed my roommate had left before selling that, and then spent the last night sleeping on our disgusting couch.
The abruptness of the transition is confusing if for no other reason than that you’re not always sure how sentimental to get. Luisa had come over to give me company while I packed my final things and when she left nonchalantly said, “Well, it was fun going to college with you.” It seems simple, but sometimes you aren’t sure how serious to take these things, particularly since in the case of Luisa, we have kept close contact since graduating and college no longer appears to be the basis of our friendship so much as one chapter of it.
This is the case with a number of my close friends, but not so much with others. Knowing who will and won’t stay a part of your life is probably the most uncertain and difficult aspect of transitioning to the real world. Perhaps that's one of the reasons I'm doing this: To have an excuse to go around the country and keep in touch with all of them.
Still, at the time I was far more preoccupied with packing and getting on the road quickly on the 20th. The game itself was the night that we were leaving Evanston, which meant we’d have to make a quick exit to ensure we made it to Cleveland in time for the 7 o’clock start. This would be delayed by, as so often happens between children and their mothers at moments of heightened stress, a fight. In this case it revolved around a parking ticket my mother had gotten while we were loading up the cars that morning and my juvenile insistence that she simply ignore it so we could hit the road.
With the city backlog, my logic went, they’d never know the difference.
This, of course, did not sit well with my mother who made a point to go to the town municipal center and pay the ticket. Considering town hall was next to my apartment building, this wasn’t too big of a diversion.
My mother and I checked in and headed to the stadium just a few blocks away. Jacobs Field, or the Jake as it is colloquially known, is often considered one of the best parks in the Majors. This doesn’t come from any sort of trendsetting architecture. The modern trend of faux-retro parks still pulls its impetus from Camden Yards, which beat the Jake to opening day by a few years.
But indeed the intimacy and sight lines are among the best in baseball. To me, however, the most striking architectural feature is outside the stadium. The building’s structure features visible steel beams all around its exterior that give the appearance of an exoskeleton holding the stands up. What was most fascinating to me, however, is that the skeleton and its older style stadium lights are painted a bright white, making them stand out and giving the building an individualized and unique appearance that straddles the line between antiquated and futuristic.
The inside has a few features that might make it seem noteworthy, but nothing overwhelms anything else – with, perhaps, the notable exception of the 149-foot long video screen in left field. At the time it became my favorite park in the Majors. I can’t begin to imagine how much more pleasant it is to watch a game there than it was to do so in the Indians’ former home, the monstrous Cleveland Municipal Stadium, which housed 74,438 fans as opposed to the relatively cozy 43,515-seat capacity of the Jake.
And speaking of being part of a stadium, the outfield concourse at Jacobs Field features a beer garden. Yes, these are common now, but this was the first time I had spotted it, or perhaps as a 21-year-old this was the first time I took note. I don’t much like drinking at ball games. If you have too much the whole experience moves too quickly and you lose track of what’s happening on the field. In the case of baseball, I understand this is preferable for some people but I’m far more concerned with seeing the tension that develops between the pitcher and the batter, and having five too many beers in me makes that infinitely more difficult to keep track of. Regardless, I suppose having the open air beer garden is necessary considering Jacobs Field was paid for by a 15-year sin tax on cigarettes and alcohol.
I will say this, though. The fans at the beer garden certainly looked like they were having fun. In the end that, I suppose, is the key to the experience.
I don’t really buy beer at baseball games, both because it distracts me and because, usually, it’s outrageously expensive. I don’t need to spend $9.75 on a Miller Lite. But with the prospects of never seeing Sunset Wheat when I returned to the east coast staring me in the face, I bit the bullet – it was only seven dollars – and bought myself a beer to take back to my seat.
Ironically, I would see a six pack of it at the Kings Supermarket in Short Hills, New Jersey a week later. Leinie’s, evidently, had chosen to expand just in time.
Granted it was a week night, but the night I was there, the official attendance was a mere 53.7% of capacity at 24,278. For me, however, the average crowd didn’t take away from the game, which, for its first 5 ½ innings was a rather taut affair. Cleveland and Philadelphia had been tied, 2-2, leading up to the sixth inning, when the Phillies took a 4-2 lead courtesy of a two-run homer by Rod Barajas. The Indians responded in the bottom half of the inning by scoring eight runs and having eight consecutive batters reach base to put the game away. C.C. Sabathia pitched six innings to earn the win, becoming the first Indian to get 10 wins in seven consecutive seasons since Addie Joss turned the trick for Cleveland a century earlier from 1902-1909.
As a rule I will almost never leave a game early, particularly if I’m in a new stadium. My diligence paid off in the top of the ninth inning when Shane Victorino came to bat for Philadelphia with two outs. Victorino had two strikes on him when he fouled off a high pitch that banged off the façade of the second deck and dropped down directly in front of my mother and I.
I never will understand why we scrape so violently and irrationally for a dinged up piece of cowhide, but there I was diving to the ground with my sole competition a glasses bedecked woman who appeared to be in her mid-30s. The woman may have been closer to the ball.
But I don’t care. I got it. It was mine. After two decades of watching baseball games and dozens of close calls, at long last, I had caught a foul ball.
On the way out of the park my mother anxiously told me to stop staring at the ball as we walked back to our hotel for fear someone would steal it. Once we returned, I began telling the world, which seemed far less excited about it than I was, before finally getting some rest for the next day’s drive home.
24 hours later, I pulled into our driveway behind my mother, walked inside, and that was it.
College was over.
I remember the morning after my bar mitzvah dealing with the depression that comes after the passing of a major life event. I was older and more capable of handling it now, but this was far more daunting. I now had to find a way to move on. I had to find something to do.
My first post-college job interview was with an HR person at Time Inc, who was testing my worthiness to be employed at SI.com. I admit that I was unprepared. At the very least I should have gone to the website that morning to familiarize myself with it. Of course, that problem didn’t really prepare me for the woman’s first question:
“If an unexpected occurrence were to arise in the office, what contingency would you have prepared for that paradigm?”
I stumbled my way through some nonsense response that showed how unprepared I was and probably cost me the job immediately – I was ushered out of the office shortly afterwards – but what I wanted to say to her was, “You know people don’t talk like that in the real world, right?”
Afterwards, I went home to continue my post college malaise as I tried to find direction and, most importantly, a source of income, uncertain of what the immediate future would bring.
Two nights later I got an e-mail from the night production manager at MLB.com. I would be watching baseball for money.
Monday, January 25, 2010
The SI Cover Jinx Lives
I think it's hard to be surprised by the fact that the Saints and Colts will be facing off in the Super Bowl. And no, that's not because both the Jets and Vikings were on the cover of Sports Illustrated in their respective regions this week -- though I wouldn't entirely discount that I suppose.
New Orleans and Indianapolis were simply the best teams in the league for most of the year, even if both slowed down near the end of the season. Regardless, I do have some sympathy for the Jets, who, after they had taken a 17-6 lead late in the first half, I really started to believe they were going to win the game. But in an eerie similarity to their last AFC Championship appearance in 1998, one big pass play by a future Hall of Fame quarterback turned the tide for good.
As for the NFC, this was a great game marred by a drawn-out, booth-review and penalty-flag filled overtime that was fairly unsatisfying. For me, however, the highlight -- beyond Brett Favre throwing another pick on a potential conference-winning drive -- was when Joe Buck pointed out that the Vikings hadn't won an NFC Championship Game since their last Super Bowl appearance.
Keen insight.
So who's going to win Super Bowl XLIV? Hell, I don't know. Give me 13 days to think about it.
In the meantime, I hope you all can stand the wait. I'll have a full-fledged story up for you all tomorrow.
New Orleans and Indianapolis were simply the best teams in the league for most of the year, even if both slowed down near the end of the season. Regardless, I do have some sympathy for the Jets, who, after they had taken a 17-6 lead late in the first half, I really started to believe they were going to win the game. But in an eerie similarity to their last AFC Championship appearance in 1998, one big pass play by a future Hall of Fame quarterback turned the tide for good.
As for the NFC, this was a great game marred by a drawn-out, booth-review and penalty-flag filled overtime that was fairly unsatisfying. For me, however, the highlight -- beyond Brett Favre throwing another pick on a potential conference-winning drive -- was when Joe Buck pointed out that the Vikings hadn't won an NFC Championship Game since their last Super Bowl appearance.
Keen insight.
So who's going to win Super Bowl XLIV? Hell, I don't know. Give me 13 days to think about it.
In the meantime, I hope you all can stand the wait. I'll have a full-fledged story up for you all tomorrow.
Books For Parents. . . Now My 2nd Favorite. . .
I knew more. . . alot more. . .about parenting before I ever had kids myself. Then I had kids. Then I had teenagers. Then I got to the age I'm at now. Along the way, reality came at me through experience, and then even more importantly, God's Word.
My own personal history from one who was sure of and dependent on the "foolproof" stuff I once believed. . . to sure of the ignorance of the "foolproof" stuff I once believed and currently experiencing the joy and freedom of riding along while God's at the wheel. . . has been quite a journey. Early in the journey I immersed myself in every Christian parenting book I could find. I was in search of the foolproof formula that would enable me to become the perfect parent raising perfect kids. I don't know how many books I digested before giving up. I'm glad that it didn't take too long to realize that those books leave you feeling quite beat up. I stopped reading them. Why? Because as your eyes are locked on the pages, they're also locked on your own heart. And what you see on the page doesn't mesh with the complex darkness that exists inside, which explains why the formulas don't lead to fruit.
Now, I run into parents each and every week who are looking for the "how to." It's not there. Rather, I'm convinced that our certainty, joy, and wisdom as parents is dependent on who we believe. If there's a secret, it lies in knowing, worshiping, following, and believing the One who made us for Himself. It comes in bathing ourselves in the truths of His Word. I was reminded of this yesterday when our pastor preached on the Resurrection from Matthew 22. The answer Jesus gave to the ignorant Sadducees applies to all of us and our confusion in life. . . even when it comes to our misplaced priorities and beliefs regarding parenting and our kids. Jesus said, "You are in error because you do not know the Scriptures or the power of God" (v. 29).
If we only knew the Scriptures we would see that many of our parenting beliefs and practices are about replacing the Creator with created things. . . including our parenting skills, our twisted beliefs, the family, and even our kids. They can all become idols.
So for the last few years I've been committed to answering the question, "What's the best parenting book I can read?" with this simple answer: "The best parenting book I've ever read is Paul Tripp's "Age of Opportunity: A Biblical Guide to Parenting Teens." For one, Paul gets the Creator and created priorities right. Paul knows how sinful we and our kids really are. Paul knows how dependent we are on God. Paul knows that there are no foolproof formulas. Paul knows because he knows the Word, and he's been through it as a dad. It's a great book.
This morning I finished a book that joins "Age of Opportunity" on my list. A few weeks ago I mentioned Leslie Leyland Fields' article - "The Myth of the Perfect Parent" - in Christianity Today Magazine. The article was full of truth that is liberating to those of us who have bought the lies. It made me want to hear more from this mother of six. She sent me a copy of her book, "Parenting is Your Highest Calling. . . and 8 Other Myths That Trap Us in Worry and Guilt." Now I've got a number two on my list. Fields addresses each of the 9 myths straight from the Scriptures in a way that leaves readers wondering, "Duh, how did I ever miss that?!?" She busts through the myths by taking us into a deeper understanding of the sovereignty of God and His grace in the lives of fallen humans who cannot save themselves.
The myths (and idols!) Fields' says we believe? . . .
1. Having children makes you happy.
2. Nurturing your children is natural and instinctive.
3. Parenting is your highest calling.
4. Good parenting leads to happy children.
5. If you find parenting difficult, you must not be following the right plan.
6. You represent Jesus to your children.
7. You will always feel unconditional love for your children.
8. Successful parents produce Godly children.
9. Why God is not limited by imperfect families.
Do you scoff at any of these myths? Don't. . . until you've read the book.
My own personal history from one who was sure of and dependent on the "foolproof" stuff I once believed. . . to sure of the ignorance of the "foolproof" stuff I once believed and currently experiencing the joy and freedom of riding along while God's at the wheel. . . has been quite a journey. Early in the journey I immersed myself in every Christian parenting book I could find. I was in search of the foolproof formula that would enable me to become the perfect parent raising perfect kids. I don't know how many books I digested before giving up. I'm glad that it didn't take too long to realize that those books leave you feeling quite beat up. I stopped reading them. Why? Because as your eyes are locked on the pages, they're also locked on your own heart. And what you see on the page doesn't mesh with the complex darkness that exists inside, which explains why the formulas don't lead to fruit.
Now, I run into parents each and every week who are looking for the "how to." It's not there. Rather, I'm convinced that our certainty, joy, and wisdom as parents is dependent on who we believe. If there's a secret, it lies in knowing, worshiping, following, and believing the One who made us for Himself. It comes in bathing ourselves in the truths of His Word. I was reminded of this yesterday when our pastor preached on the Resurrection from Matthew 22. The answer Jesus gave to the ignorant Sadducees applies to all of us and our confusion in life. . . even when it comes to our misplaced priorities and beliefs regarding parenting and our kids. Jesus said, "You are in error because you do not know the Scriptures or the power of God" (v. 29).
If we only knew the Scriptures we would see that many of our parenting beliefs and practices are about replacing the Creator with created things. . . including our parenting skills, our twisted beliefs, the family, and even our kids. They can all become idols.
So for the last few years I've been committed to answering the question, "What's the best parenting book I can read?" with this simple answer: "The best parenting book I've ever read is Paul Tripp's "Age of Opportunity: A Biblical Guide to Parenting Teens." For one, Paul gets the Creator and created priorities right. Paul knows how sinful we and our kids really are. Paul knows how dependent we are on God. Paul knows that there are no foolproof formulas. Paul knows because he knows the Word, and he's been through it as a dad. It's a great book.
This morning I finished a book that joins "Age of Opportunity" on my list. A few weeks ago I mentioned Leslie Leyland Fields' article - "The Myth of the Perfect Parent" - in Christianity Today Magazine. The article was full of truth that is liberating to those of us who have bought the lies. It made me want to hear more from this mother of six. She sent me a copy of her book, "Parenting is Your Highest Calling. . . and 8 Other Myths That Trap Us in Worry and Guilt." Now I've got a number two on my list. Fields addresses each of the 9 myths straight from the Scriptures in a way that leaves readers wondering, "Duh, how did I ever miss that?!?" She busts through the myths by taking us into a deeper understanding of the sovereignty of God and His grace in the lives of fallen humans who cannot save themselves.The myths (and idols!) Fields' says we believe? . . .
1. Having children makes you happy.
2. Nurturing your children is natural and instinctive.
3. Parenting is your highest calling.
4. Good parenting leads to happy children.
5. If you find parenting difficult, you must not be following the right plan.
6. You represent Jesus to your children.
7. You will always feel unconditional love for your children.
8. Successful parents produce Godly children.
9. Why God is not limited by imperfect families.
Do you scoff at any of these myths? Don't. . . until you've read the book.
Sunday, January 24, 2010
ASAP XV's Launches A-Pop
After successful performances by the four young male singers together in the show, ABS-CBN's Sunday top-rating noon-time variety show, ASAP XV, has officially launched a new singing group called, 'A-Pop', today. The new group is composed of the 'Little Big Star' champion, Sam Conception; Ilo-ilo RnB/Hip-hop pride Young JV or Eduardo JV Kapunan II; the Filipino-Colombian 'MYX VJ Search 2009' winner, Nel Gomez; and the acoustic singer, Jaco Benin.
i feel it in my fingers, i feel it in my toes
maple bourbon french toast - gwood.
Meanwhile, it's taken a turn for the colder today so I am wrapped up on my couch drinking hot tea and watching 17 Again (yes, Zac Efron, I love it). As much time as I spend over the the guys' apartment, I always love coming home to my little 500 square foot treehouse. Though it's a total mess right now with laundry all over the floor (albeit clean laundry) it's a warm, safe, happy place to be. I love the yellow walls, the pieced together hardwood floors, the skylights that let me listen to the falling rain (pitter, patter, pitter, patter)... It's home.
And while I'm curled up here Indy is over at his buddy Jonas' working on his bike for the first time in over a month, which I love. It's been weighing so heavily on his mind lately, not being able to get anything done on it, so this is fantastic. I have a feeling this is going to be a good year for him. He's been applying to all the National Forests in the state to get on a firefighting crew so please, keep him in your thoughts and prayers and keep fingers crossed.
We're all figuring life out. Indy's dream of being a wild land fire fighter is now tantalizingly close and I am getting more of an idea of what I can do with my life. I know I want to be a writer and I will always be writing, but I can't bring myself to ever be back in LA, which I realize proposes a real problem when it comes to screenwriting. However, I know of many successful writers who have made it in the city of their choice and I see no reason why I can't do the same.
In the meantime however, I am starting to look into the world of non-profits. I have known a few writers who are grant-writers by day and they make a good living doing something worthwhile - that could be a good life. So I went to Powell's and bought a book on the subject to brush up on what I'll need to know to get into the field, even just to test the waters.
I admit, I am a little lost on the career trail. The only thing I know how to do it write and to make it in the literary world is a long-shot. Not the say that I don't have it in me to shoot that far, it's just a long-term goal. I don't know... Plenty to figure out, just hope I've got plenty of time to do so. Until then, I'm thinking more and more about trying for a job at Trader Joe's. I do have fun at my job now, and I love the people I work with, it's just time for a change is all.
So in a nutshell, that's where I am right now. Nothing special in the wrap-up here, that's all. Love to everyone.
It's Championship Sunday
That's right.
Today is the 75th anniversary of the beer can. Few things have changed humanity quite so profoundly.
Oh, and I'm taking the Jets and the Saints. Everyone enjoy your football.
Football Sunday
Well today is Championship Sunday, and since I am keeping myself awake after working third shift, I figured I might as well make my picks.
NFC
I will be rooting for the Saints in this one. I like the Saints, who doesn't? Cool uniforms, great back story, and Drew Brees, what is not to like? If the Vikings win, I will just tune out sports for the two weeks because I cannot imagine the idiotic crap I will be forced to hear about Brett Favre.
AFC
This might be a pretty good game. Great defense vs great offense. Or it could end up being a really crappy game. I will go with the second option. Mainly because every time I think a game will be awesome, it ends up being boring and slow, with 46 punts. Shoot me now. Anyways, I will go with the Colts. I like Peyton Manning, sue me.
And here is the new video from adultswim, but without my true father, Carl. Try to make sense of anything Earl says, it is pretty rough.
NFC
I will be rooting for the Saints in this one. I like the Saints, who doesn't? Cool uniforms, great back story, and Drew Brees, what is not to like? If the Vikings win, I will just tune out sports for the two weeks because I cannot imagine the idiotic crap I will be forced to hear about Brett Favre.
AFC
This might be a pretty good game. Great defense vs great offense. Or it could end up being a really crappy game. I will go with the second option. Mainly because every time I think a game will be awesome, it ends up being boring and slow, with 46 punts. Shoot me now. Anyways, I will go with the Colts. I like Peyton Manning, sue me.
And here is the new video from adultswim, but without my true father, Carl. Try to make sense of anything Earl says, it is pretty rough.
Saturday, January 23, 2010
New TV Shows
There are two new TV shows I have been watching that I figured should be mentioned. One is hilarious, the other is umm, well we shall get to that.
Archer
Archer is the new show from the guys behind Sealab2021 and Frisky Dingo. Instead of being on adultswim though, the new series is on FX. Since it is on Thursday nights, I guess it is the season replacement for Always Sunny and The League. If you are fan of those shows, you will probably enjoy Archer.
The show is about a secret agent, who is very James Bondesque. Well he likes to drink and have sex, that is where they are similar. After that, Archer is a complete moron. Luckily his mom runs the organization he works for or he would probably be out of a job. Not a show that you have to sit down every week and watch, just something great to tune in for 22 minutes, laugh a bunch and then flip the channel. And that is not a bad thing. Sometimes my brain cannot handle all the shows out there that have way too intricate of plots.
If you are wondering, the picture is of Lana Kane, Archer's ex-girlfriend, and the top agent at ISIS (where they work). She is dating the nerdy comptroller in the show, which causes for some hilarious banter between her and Archer.
Human Target
The other show I am watching is Human Target on FOX. I guess it is based on the comic book, which I never read. Yes, I am a comic book guy admitting that I have not read everything out there. Big deal, wanna fight about it?
The show is a formulaic action show. Or at least it should be, unfortunately it will have this whole mystery angle, like how Christopher Chance got into the bodyguard business and how he used to be some kind of really bad guy. Whatever, that can be eliminated. Just blow stuff up, have some fights, guest star hot girls, and accept what you are.
There was a very funny moment during the pilot where Jackie Earle Haley gets threatened by some goons hired by some company. He then tells them that they can go outside and rough him up since that is all they are authorized to do and that when everything is over he will pay a visit to their houses and murder (I think he implied murder) them in their sleep, as well as their families. He then tells them all their personal information (full names, children's names, address...) The dude plays a pretty funny/creepy guy on the show.
This could be a guilty pleasure show, or it could just annoy me fairly quickly. Time will be the judge on that one. Actually, I will be the judge over time. Whatever.
Archer
Archer is the new show from the guys behind Sealab2021 and Frisky Dingo. Instead of being on adultswim though, the new series is on FX. Since it is on Thursday nights, I guess it is the season replacement for Always Sunny and The League. If you are fan of those shows, you will probably enjoy Archer.
The show is about a secret agent, who is very James Bondesque. Well he likes to drink and have sex, that is where they are similar. After that, Archer is a complete moron. Luckily his mom runs the organization he works for or he would probably be out of a job. Not a show that you have to sit down every week and watch, just something great to tune in for 22 minutes, laugh a bunch and then flip the channel. And that is not a bad thing. Sometimes my brain cannot handle all the shows out there that have way too intricate of plots.
Human Target
The other show I am watching is Human Target on FOX. I guess it is based on the comic book, which I never read. Yes, I am a comic book guy admitting that I have not read everything out there. Big deal, wanna fight about it?
The show is a formulaic action show. Or at least it should be, unfortunately it will have this whole mystery angle, like how Christopher Chance got into the bodyguard business and how he used to be some kind of really bad guy. Whatever, that can be eliminated. Just blow stuff up, have some fights, guest star hot girls, and accept what you are.
There was a very funny moment during the pilot where Jackie Earle Haley gets threatened by some goons hired by some company. He then tells them that they can go outside and rough him up since that is all they are authorized to do and that when everything is over he will pay a visit to their houses and murder (I think he implied murder) them in their sleep, as well as their families. He then tells them all their personal information (full names, children's names, address...) The dude plays a pretty funny/creepy guy on the show.
This could be a guilty pleasure show, or it could just annoy me fairly quickly. Time will be the judge on that one. Actually, I will be the judge over time. Whatever.
sun sun sun
I love Saturdays.
It's the only day of the week that Indy and I both have off from work and this particular Saturday finds all of us free to enjoy the day. To put a cherry on top, the sun is awake and shining which means, for the time being, today is perfect.
This morning I made a big breakfast for Indy, Mike, Flounder and me: the aforementioned Maple Bourbon French Toast extravaganza. According to the "Mmm's" and such, it appears to have been a success. I'll also point out that Jared is now half passed out in the recliner after eating too much and will probably be in a food coma for the next hour or so.
I love mornings like this. None of us have a thing to do today (except me, needing to mail Blake's present - moment to point out the 23rd birthday of HRH Blake Knight, The Plebeian Hedonist!!!) and it's exactly how Saturdays should be. It's already after 1 o'clock but the day is just beginning and there are endless possibilities - hundreds of 'em even!
Anyway, for now I'll call that a wrap. I'm going to finish my coffee and see where I end up today. With the sun as bright as it is, there's no telling what we'll get up to.
Friday, January 22, 2010
let the great experiment begin!
I'm making breakfast for the boys tomorrow morning.
Maple Bourbon French Toast, scrambled eggs & bacon.
I'll let you know how it goes.
Jersey Shore
I have never watched an episode of Jersey Shore. No idea why anyone would want to really. I understand the whole "it's like watching a train wreck...", but how does it not get old after three minutes. I mean the bodies are all smashed up and there is tons of blood and carnage, but then what? I mean, not that I ever stop and check out train wrecks.
I saw this Craig Ferguson skit about the show and it made me laugh. Therefore, I will force you to watch it as well. Damn it, sit still and watch it! Sorry, did I hurt you? I will buy you a pony.
I saw this Craig Ferguson skit about the show and it made me laugh. Therefore, I will force you to watch it as well. Damn it, sit still and watch it! Sorry, did I hurt you? I will buy you a pony.
Working In the Madhouse on Madison
Originally written July 2, 2009
At the front of the United Center on Madison Ave in Chicago, there is a statue of Michael Jordan making one of his legendary dunks with the ball palmed in his right hand. It’s a truly remarkable statue, and one that I’m particularly fond of, partially because it reminds me of an Arena that I wound up spending a profound amount of time at during my senior year of college, and partially because the innocent defenders Jordan is dunking over don’t look so much like basketball players as they do hellish demons.
It is peculiar and yet a reasonable metaphor, as it presents Jordan not so much as an athlete but as a god-like figure commanding his kingdom and those beneath him. In a sense, this is exactly what Jordan was. He was the single most dominant basketball player ever. Yes, there are those that would argue for players like Wilt Chamberlain or perhaps more legitimately, Bill Russell. I was not alive to see those legends of the hardcourt, but for my money, his Airness was king. He was a brilliant and unstoppable force while his Bulls took six NBA titles in eight seasons, and while those titles wouldn’t have come without the quality supporting cast around him – players such as Scottie Pippen, Horace Grant, Steve Kerr, Luc Longley, B.J. Armstrong, Dennis Rodman – there was no man in the history of the game that you’d rather have on your side with a Championship on the line.
One of my great regrets as a sports fan is that I never saw Jordan play in person. The closest I would come was seeing the building that might not have existed without him. For decades the Bulls and Chicago Blackhawks called the ancient Chicago Stadium home, but in the mid-1990s, the outmoded building was replaced by the sparkling new United Center, or the UC as I would come to call it. Reaching the arena by car is somewhat confusing if you don’t do it every day, and it’s not in the greatest neighborhood in the city, but those issues aside, it is a spectacular place to watch basketball or hockey. It is deceptively large, with capacity reaching well over 22,000 seats, and it is filled with the sports bars and luxury boxes that have come to dot the landscape of the modern basketball or hockey arena.
My first visit came on January 17, 2004, when I noticed in the morning that my torturous Knicks were in town and found two nosebleed seats available on the Bulls’ website. Josh Sherman, a friend of mine from high school that also attended Northwestern was my first thought to try and bully into going to the game with me. Josh, a tortured Knicks fan himself, decided to tag along, but noted that his roommate, Andy, would also be attending the game with his father in courtside seats. Not only could we go to the game, but Andy and his father were also willing to give us a ride.
Josh debated for quite some time whether or not to charge his cell phone and then opted against it, assuming there would be more than enough power in it to last the night. This would be put to the test later on in the evening, but first Andy’s father took us all out to dinner, a particularly generous move on his part considering he had never met me before, and that he seemed rather shocked that Josh and I both loved Latrell Sprewell. After eating we got to the stadium where Josh and I found we were in the very last row of the entire arena, in the corner of the court no less. Our seats were so far away that we were actually in folding chairs rather than typical stationary stadium seating.
Despite the seating arrangements, the view was perfectly fine, as the Knicks pulled out a surprising victory, sending Josh and I home happy amidst a sea of disappointed Chicagoans. Our mood would drop moments later, however, when Josh, after finding that his cell phone had died in the second quarter, found out from Andy that a pair of courtside seats sat empty the entire game and we could have moved down had he only been able to get in contact with us.
Shit happens.
Interestingly, in four more years of living in Chicago, I would only attend one more Bulls game, a group affair with my friend Evan’s softball team, where I spent most of the time dazzled by how easily Houston’s Yao Ming covered the entire court in what couldn’t have been more than five strides. I would have plenty of time with the Blackhawks however, whom I first saw from the top bowl of the stadium on January 13, 2006, as Blake Kluger, with whom I had traveled to St. Louis to see the Mets play the Cardinals four months earlier, my friends Abe Rakov , Pat Dorsey and I took the absurdly long L ride to the UC to see Sidney Crosby and the Pittsburgh Penguins. At the time, the Blackhawks offered student tickets in the last rows of the stadium for just $8. I took this opportunity to break a $100 bill my father had given me for Hanukkah, completing a quest I had set off on to break the large bank note with the smallest purchase possible. Our seats were so high up and the Blackhawks were so bad at the time, that the highlight for me was getting the Chicago Blackhawks Mr. Potato Head giveaway as we walked in.
Little did I know at the time that I would be watching quite a bit of Blackhawks hockey just eight months later, when I applied for and accepted a web internship with the team. I had been faced with a quandary before my senior year of college. Fortunately for my parents and unfortunately for me, I had enough credits from high school to fill out an entire quarter of classes at Northwestern. The upshot of this was that my parents made it abundantly clear to me that if I didn’t want to take a quarter off my senior year, I could pay for the classes myself.
With that, I spent summer applying for internships in sports media in the Chicagoland area and found myself with a few options. That summer I had been toiling away as an intern for NBC Sports and Olympics. Eventually, I settled on a schedule that had me splitting time between working in on-air promotions at a regional sports channel called Comcast SportsNet Chicago, working on the web for the Chicago Blackhawks and working at nights as an editor for the Daily Northwestern.
Despite not taking any classes, burning the candle at both ends – and in the middle – took its toll on me. I would be lying if I didn’t admit to falling asleep at Comcast SportsNet’s offices more than once, something not lost on my superior, who would tell this to his brother, whom I would also wind up working with, some years later. The balancing act would be a tricky one, but one that was entirely worthwhile.
My start with the Blackhawks would be a rocky, however. On my second day on the job, my boss let me go home early only for me to find that my car had a flat tire. I spent three hours in the United Center parking lot on an 80-degree day waiting for AAA to show up and produce absolutely no ability to fix it. Despite that one particularly long afternoon, I would eventually learn a great deal about the sports industry, and having the experience on my resume set me up well for my first two jobs out of college.
Also, it was really, really cool.
You always need to exude an air of professionalism when you’re representing an organization bigger than yourself, in this case a professional sports team. But, I’d be lying if I didn’t admit 21-year-old me felt like a big shot when he got to flash his employee photo ID and go through all the doors with restricted access listed on them. I got to prowl the bowels of the United Center on game nights as I watched and updated chicagoblackhawks.com from the press box, grabbed viewer questions for the Hawks’ radio commentators to answer during the second intermission and went into the visiting locker room to get quotes after each game. I have fond memories of getting confused, if not nasty looks from Chris Pronger, and holding a tape recorder to Mike Modano, Roberto Luongo, Jacques Lemaire, Barry Trotz and Wayne Gretzky, among others.
The most stressful night for me was when the Mets, trailing 3-2 going into Game 6 of the 2006 NLCS, were trying desperately to hold off the Cardinals in the ninth inning. At the time Billy Wagner was nailing down the save, I was following the tense final moments in a flurry of text messages from my friend Tania in one hand, while my other hand was holding a tape recorder to Detroit Red Wings coach Mike Babcock. Some might argue that my priorities were not in order. They’d probably be right.
Still I came to know the UC like the back of my hand. I shared many awkward elevator rides with players such as Michal Handzus and Martin Havlat, and managed to pull strings where I got prime seats for my roommates and my girlfriend at the time. To this day, I’m still pretty sure she and her roommate were most excited by the fights. In fact, I recall getting them tickets for one game and looking down from the press box at their section during on-ice altercation to find her roommate pumping her fist and cheering enthusiastically.
The interesting thing about working for the Blackhawks was, for me, that despite not caring for them at all before my internship, I developed a fondness for the club despite the fact that, well, they weren't very good. With the aging Bill Wirtz holding the purse strings, the Hawks weren’t competitive and drew a mediocre crowd any night the Red Wings weren’t in town. Wirtz had even prevented home games from being broadcast on TV for fear that it would dissuade Chicagoans from making a trip to the arena. The front office staff was smaller than most and even those who were employed had to forgo luxuries such as bottled water.
Despite those things, I still enjoyed my time there. Even if I missed a few major moments, such as when the Hawks fired head coach Trent Yawney – I was on a plane flight back from New Jersey at the time – I always felt like I had something to do. Most days at the office were followed by a hockey game at night, and whenever there was downtime, the interns always managed to pass it by playing bubble hockey in the back room. Even though I probably shouldn’t have, I walked around the UC with impunity, catching free shows of the circus during lunch time, or walking around the court when Bulls coaches were taking each other on in pickup games.
Of all the experience I gained at the UC, I would say one discussion with General Manager Dale Tallon, set the bar as far as life lessons would go. Tallon was a friendly and astute hockey man. Long a part of the Blackhawks organization as either a television commentator or part of the front office, he would lead the Hawks from perennial cellar dwellers to Cup contenders after I graduated by drafting players like Jonathan Toews and Patrick Kane, and acquiring or signing others such as Patrick Sharp and Cristobal Huet.
I will always remember him fondly as the guy who would playfully jab me in the stomach when we were stuffed into an overcrowded elevator after games on the press level. Most important however, was one day at lunch, when he sat down to eat with all the interns, an unusually common occurrence for someone in such a lofty position. I, as a college senior with little business experience, was washing my dress shirts at my apartment in the washing machine. As well, like most college students, I was prone to bouts of laziness that left my dress shirts with more folds in them than a poker game. On that particular day, Tallon pulled out the seat next to me and grabbed a hold of my sleeve.
“Is this one of those new ‘perma-wrinkle’ shirts?” he asked.
From that day on, my dress shirts have been laundered.
It is peculiar and yet a reasonable metaphor, as it presents Jordan not so much as an athlete but as a god-like figure commanding his kingdom and those beneath him. In a sense, this is exactly what Jordan was. He was the single most dominant basketball player ever. Yes, there are those that would argue for players like Wilt Chamberlain or perhaps more legitimately, Bill Russell. I was not alive to see those legends of the hardcourt, but for my money, his Airness was king. He was a brilliant and unstoppable force while his Bulls took six NBA titles in eight seasons, and while those titles wouldn’t have come without the quality supporting cast around him – players such as Scottie Pippen, Horace Grant, Steve Kerr, Luc Longley, B.J. Armstrong, Dennis Rodman – there was no man in the history of the game that you’d rather have on your side with a Championship on the line.
One of my great regrets as a sports fan is that I never saw Jordan play in person. The closest I would come was seeing the building that might not have existed without him. For decades the Bulls and Chicago Blackhawks called the ancient Chicago Stadium home, but in the mid-1990s, the outmoded building was replaced by the sparkling new United Center, or the UC as I would come to call it. Reaching the arena by car is somewhat confusing if you don’t do it every day, and it’s not in the greatest neighborhood in the city, but those issues aside, it is a spectacular place to watch basketball or hockey. It is deceptively large, with capacity reaching well over 22,000 seats, and it is filled with the sports bars and luxury boxes that have come to dot the landscape of the modern basketball or hockey arena.
My first visit came on January 17, 2004, when I noticed in the morning that my torturous Knicks were in town and found two nosebleed seats available on the Bulls’ website. Josh Sherman, a friend of mine from high school that also attended Northwestern was my first thought to try and bully into going to the game with me. Josh, a tortured Knicks fan himself, decided to tag along, but noted that his roommate, Andy, would also be attending the game with his father in courtside seats. Not only could we go to the game, but Andy and his father were also willing to give us a ride.
Josh debated for quite some time whether or not to charge his cell phone and then opted against it, assuming there would be more than enough power in it to last the night. This would be put to the test later on in the evening, but first Andy’s father took us all out to dinner, a particularly generous move on his part considering he had never met me before, and that he seemed rather shocked that Josh and I both loved Latrell Sprewell. After eating we got to the stadium where Josh and I found we were in the very last row of the entire arena, in the corner of the court no less. Our seats were so far away that we were actually in folding chairs rather than typical stationary stadium seating.
Despite the seating arrangements, the view was perfectly fine, as the Knicks pulled out a surprising victory, sending Josh and I home happy amidst a sea of disappointed Chicagoans. Our mood would drop moments later, however, when Josh, after finding that his cell phone had died in the second quarter, found out from Andy that a pair of courtside seats sat empty the entire game and we could have moved down had he only been able to get in contact with us.
Shit happens.
With that, I spent summer applying for internships in sports media in the Chicagoland area and found myself with a few options. That summer I had been toiling away as an intern for NBC Sports and Olympics. Eventually, I settled on a schedule that had me splitting time between working in on-air promotions at a regional sports channel called Comcast SportsNet Chicago, working on the web for the Chicago Blackhawks and working at nights as an editor for the Daily Northwestern.
Despite not taking any classes, burning the candle at both ends – and in the middle – took its toll on me. I would be lying if I didn’t admit to falling asleep at Comcast SportsNet’s offices more than once, something not lost on my superior, who would tell this to his brother, whom I would also wind up working with, some years later. The balancing act would be a tricky one, but one that was entirely worthwhile.
Also, it was really, really cool.
You always need to exude an air of professionalism when you’re representing an organization bigger than yourself, in this case a professional sports team. But, I’d be lying if I didn’t admit 21-year-old me felt like a big shot when he got to flash his employee photo ID and go through all the doors with restricted access listed on them. I got to prowl the bowels of the United Center on game nights as I watched and updated chicagoblackhawks.com from the press box, grabbed viewer questions for the Hawks’ radio commentators to answer during the second intermission and went into the visiting locker room to get quotes after each game. I have fond memories of getting confused, if not nasty looks from Chris Pronger, and holding a tape recorder to Mike Modano, Roberto Luongo, Jacques Lemaire, Barry Trotz and Wayne Gretzky, among others.
The most stressful night for me was when the Mets, trailing 3-2 going into Game 6 of the 2006 NLCS, were trying desperately to hold off the Cardinals in the ninth inning. At the time Billy Wagner was nailing down the save, I was following the tense final moments in a flurry of text messages from my friend Tania in one hand, while my other hand was holding a tape recorder to Detroit Red Wings coach Mike Babcock. Some might argue that my priorities were not in order. They’d probably be right.
Still I came to know the UC like the back of my hand. I shared many awkward elevator rides with players such as Michal Handzus and Martin Havlat, and managed to pull strings where I got prime seats for my roommates and my girlfriend at the time. To this day, I’m still pretty sure she and her roommate were most excited by the fights. In fact, I recall getting them tickets for one game and looking down from the press box at their section during on-ice altercation to find her roommate pumping her fist and cheering enthusiastically.
The interesting thing about working for the Blackhawks was, for me, that despite not caring for them at all before my internship, I developed a fondness for the club despite the fact that, well, they weren't very good. With the aging Bill Wirtz holding the purse strings, the Hawks weren’t competitive and drew a mediocre crowd any night the Red Wings weren’t in town. Wirtz had even prevented home games from being broadcast on TV for fear that it would dissuade Chicagoans from making a trip to the arena. The front office staff was smaller than most and even those who were employed had to forgo luxuries such as bottled water.
Despite those things, I still enjoyed my time there. Even if I missed a few major moments, such as when the Hawks fired head coach Trent Yawney – I was on a plane flight back from New Jersey at the time – I always felt like I had something to do. Most days at the office were followed by a hockey game at night, and whenever there was downtime, the interns always managed to pass it by playing bubble hockey in the back room. Even though I probably shouldn’t have, I walked around the UC with impunity, catching free shows of the circus during lunch time, or walking around the court when Bulls coaches were taking each other on in pickup games.
I will always remember him fondly as the guy who would playfully jab me in the stomach when we were stuffed into an overcrowded elevator after games on the press level. Most important however, was one day at lunch, when he sat down to eat with all the interns, an unusually common occurrence for someone in such a lofty position. I, as a college senior with little business experience, was washing my dress shirts at my apartment in the washing machine. As well, like most college students, I was prone to bouts of laziness that left my dress shirts with more folds in them than a poker game. On that particular day, Tallon pulled out the seat next to me and grabbed a hold of my sleeve.
“Is this one of those new ‘perma-wrinkle’ shirts?” he asked.
From that day on, my dress shirts have been laundered.
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