Sports, love, movies and everything in between.

The Most Incredibly Detailed Game Ever Is?

2012-02-10T08:00:00.000-06:00

After about 5 weeks of playing this extremely detailed video game(25+hours) I have come to this conclusion: SKYRIM isn't going to end, ever...

Okay, that might be an overstatement but still, I haven't even touched the surface of this game and it's obvious when I turn it on. The side quests, the miscellaneous adventures, the long drawn out major quests, you name it. I'm a level 25 right now, which is pretty good considering I went the first 4 weeks without doing the necessities to level up quickly. What I didn't think would happen is this, I have to build up endurance(me personally) to play it. It's not a game you just turn on and play for 15 minutes, at least not for me. I have to dedicate an hour or two to feel any sort of accomplishment. You just can't do much in an hour in this game and that's pretty incredible, coming from a person who has played video games his entire life. I can beat most older games in under two hours...total! To think people out there are still adding tips and cheats to this game and it's been out for 3 months come this Saturday, it's amazing.

Honestly, at the rate I'm playing I might not play or even need another game til my 35th Bday which is a year and a half from now. You can literally walk around the world of Skyrim for hours and hours but not see everything, it's truly one of a kind. I still haven't discovered everything. Every time I find something I explore it, and that takes an hour which then deters me from what I was originally trying to do. It can almost make you feel as if your not making any progress but you are, it's just a slower pace than normal. Cory(Bro in law) has had the game nearly 6 weeks longer than I have and he's around level 34 or something like that, and he leveled up the fast way, smithing(building weapons) and such. I can't even fully get into the detail this game has, it's mind boggling. For an RPG(Role Playing Game) it's the best game I've ever played and I have played A LOT!

I highly recommend it if you like RPG's or enjoy something so large in scale you can't fully grasp it's potential. I haven't played Halo Reach since I got Skyrim if that's any indication of how much I like it and Halo was the only game I played for nearly a year and a half...

Try it, buy it, whatever...just give it a chance if your into that kind of thing.

Superbowl Week...

2012-02-09T08:00:00.000-06:00

So we all know the G-men outlasted The pats this past Sunday and I for one am thankful for that. No more talk about Brady and Montana being equals(rings at least) and so on...I went over to my friend Will's house for the big game, he's a HUGE Giants fan since he grew up in Jersey. Let's just say he was more than nervous at the end and he watches football games with his team playing like I do, Passionately. I made some homemade hot wings which everybody seemed to like a lot. I took some advice from my buddy Mike Tillman who's a big time griller/cook. He gave me some really good tips on how to maximize flavor. I thought they were really good, my only complaint is that they could have been a bit spicier and I like a hot wing to have a crispiness on the outside, mine didn't have that. I couldn't fry them so I baked them, tough to get em' crispy that way. Overall I'd say they were an 8 out of 10, not bad for my first go at it.

My new work schedule also started yesterday(Tuesday, same shift for everyone but me:(sad face), unfortunately I didn't go to work because Kim got sick Monday night, from what we have no clue. She's currently still sleeping in the bed, it's noon. Poor thing was having a really rough night Monday and so was I from hearing it, I hate it when you can't fix something.

The other thing I did this past weekend/week was go to the doctor to get some Blood work done. As a diabetic(I asked how much of one I was, she replied "full on", yay!) you are supposed to go every three months to do blood work unless it's under control or your doctor says otherwise, it's been 9 months...I don't fear the doctor like some people do, I fear results. Any way you spin it I have to do a better job or my diabetes will control me and not the other way around. I came home and took a swig of Dr. Pepper and then poured the remaining 11oz. down the drain, my tongue cried. Cancelling out soft drinks will be tough but I did it once, I can do it again, of course this isn't for lent, it's a permanent fix. I can have one with pizza or Mexican food every now and then but they won't be in my house anymore.

The thing I didn't get done was go to ATC fitness and start up my workout routine I've been planning for a while. Reading up on things and doing some research has opened my eyes a bit on how I'm gonna get back in shape and start to look better overall. It goes hand in hand with controlling my disease, the next part for me is eating better and that is a whole other ball of wax. I enjoy good foods, the problem is I wait to eat and then I don't have enough time to fix a decent meal. Instead I go for the quick out and pay for it with my health, dummy...I have got to be better about it, all of it or else I'm gonna be shooting a needle into my arm/leg/butt for the rest of my life and that isn't sounding very fun. The most nerve racking part is that I might have done too much already to prevent that from happening anyway. What an absolutely nightmare of a disease, there isn't a cure and I inherited it.

Movie Machine

2012-02-01T09:00:00.000-06:00

So we rented(Redbox'd) Moneyball this past weekend since we couldn't find 50/50 anywhere. I had already seen it but wanted Kim to watch it really bad since it was really good and had a stellar cast. Her only negative was that she didn't like Art Howe's portrayal or casting decisions for the movie, I somewhat agree since I love Phillip Seymour Hoffman but felt Howe wasn't made a very likeable guy in the movie.

Also, there was an HBO preview this weekend which I always love because it means I get to DVR 5-10 movies that I haven't seen or saw and loved. HBO sucks overall since it shows the same things over and over but having it for a weekend every blue moon is perfect. We use to have HBO for several years but found the repetition and constant price hikes weren't justified. As I have always stated, I would rather watch a good movie than a TV show any day. Movies are complete for the most part(unless sequels happen) where as TV is a long drawn out process where I tend to get bored pretty easily. TV is great and all but there is just something about watching a movie that gets me excited, especially if it's being watched in the theater.

I'm a Book Reader...

2012-01-31T10:45:00.003-06:00

It sounds stupid but it's official, I'm reading a book, on purpose, and discussing it. So far I really like it(Extremely Loud and Uncomfortably Close). We read one chapter a week which is tough since I wanted to keep going but my memory is horrible, so I go one step at a time. I have heard mixed reviews about the movie but to me, anything that has 9/11 themes will be scrutinized unfairly because of the nature of people and their personal feeling. Mainly, making money off a tragedy. I don't think this really applies here but again, I'm only one chapter in to the book.

I am looking forward to my Tuesday morning chapter and the discussions that follow it. Consider me a slightly cooler nerd if you will, not a book worm. Not that there is anything wrong with being a bookworm, practically everyone I know is one...except for me. And I'm not cool by any means but it's the stereotype I'm speaking of in general. Not sure how many posts about reading I'll do but since it's a new thing for me, I thought, why not?

Oscar Snubs

2012-01-30T09:00:00.000-06:00

So after showing the lists of nominees I wanted to dive right into the list for snubs and believe me, there are quite a few. Being nominated for this award is what every actor dreams of getting. It's instant recognition afterwards, even if you were a nobody before. You get scripts thrown at you instead of you searching constantly for them. If you win, oh man, you are a legend...just like that! From there on out you are referred as Oscar winning actor/actress...for every movie you make, it's a big deal. It's also the first award ever given in any kind of arts and entertainment genre. The Grammys are a joke and have been for over a decade now. The Emmy's are great and all but they lack the overall excitement since winners are usually crowned over and over again. You won't find many Oscar winners holding more than 2 of them. Two is a lot but only four actors have ever earned an acting Oscar 3 times or more, only one(Katherine Hepburn) has 4 trophies. Only one director has 4 wins(John Ford). They don't give these away to just anyone, the Academy is stubborn as hell and they like to play favorites(see Meryl Streep).

Anyhoo, here are my big snubs for the 2012 Academy Awards...

Best Actor:
Michael Fassbender: Shame - usually the academy loves something striking and different(see Rooney Mara for Dragon tattoo or Portman for Black Swan)but the omission here was ridiculous. I think the academy hates male nudity and apparently there was quite a bit of it.
Ryan Gosling: Drive/Ides of March/Crazy, Stupid, Love - Pick one and choose. He's at the top of his game and one of the 3 foreign nominees in the foreign films needs to go home. It's an American award show, lets have some American nominees, just sayin'.
Leonardo DiCaprio: J. Edgar - Not the best Eastwood movie but you couldn't argue about Leo, he was fantastic.

Best Actress:
Tilda Swinton: We Need to talk about Kevin - I heard amazing things about her performance but no love was shown her way.
Kirsten Dunst: Melancholia - A career defining performance in a very unique film, so I've heard.
Charlize Theron: Young Adult: Look, I hated the movie but I couldn't say it wasn't a fabulous acting performance. If you can make me hate you through a movie like that, you deserve some credit.

Best Director:
Didn't really have any snubs to my knowledge.

Best Picture: Honestly, no animated film should ever go here, there's an entire category for those movies and they take away from movies where people are actually acting in them.
Harry Potter 8: I know it's not quite LOTR but it's usually accepted to put a 10 year project like this in a category for overall performance. Bad move Academy.
Drive: The Academy hates movies like this so it's no surprise they left it out.
Water for Elephants: I just thought it was a really good movie.

Best Supporting Actor:
Albert Brooks: Drive - I heard he was amazing and totally different than anything he's ever done.
Armie Hammer: J. Edgar - He was just as good playing Leo's life partner(secretly of course)as Leo was playing Hoover himself. Great performance overall and better than his work in The Social Network where he played two roles.

Best Supporting Actress:
Shelene Woodley: The Descendants - If it weren't for Clooney's brilliance overshadowing her, I'd say this was a shoe in performance.
Carey Mulligan: Drive - Heard good things but it was a stacked list of supporting actresses this year.

Well, there's my list. Again, the Academy has their reasons for certain things making the cut but I though some omissions were just plain stupid.

And the Oscar goes to...

2012-01-27T11:05:00.004-06:00

I'm a movie buff, always have been and the one and only watchable awards show is only a month away and I'm only kind of excited about it this year. Sure, some of my favorite actors are up for some hardware(Pitt, Clooney) but what bothers me were the nominations themselves. Some of the nominations were blatantly overlooked and it irks me when good things aren't celebrated, especially when the good was actually great. I'll go into that next week with the snubs list. Here are some key nominations for this years golden award and my personal comments about them.

Best Picture:
The Artist: I'm sure it's deserving and all but a 20's themed silent film in black and white is the polar opposite of what I consider a good movie.
The Descendants: My personal favorite film of the year overall and my pick for best picture which it won't win because of The Artist.
War Horse: Eh, no thanks. I love Speilburg but any movie centered on an animal isn't my cup of tea.
Moneyball: Great movie, better acting and above all, it's about Baseball.
The Tree of Life: Haven't seen it but was super excited to before it ever hit screens.
Midnight in Paris: I can't stand Woody Allen, he's overrated and a complete weirdo.
The Help: Wonderful movie that really hit home(yes, my family tree can relate).
Hugo: No...cartoons... for... best... picture...ever!
Extremely Loud & Incredibly Close: Reading the book, movie looks depressing but I'll eventually see it.

Winner: The Artist, sadly.

Best Actress:
Glenn Close, Albert Nobbs - The movie is getting killed by critics but Close apparently gives her career best here, I like her chances.
Rooney Mara, The Girl With the Dragon Tattoo - My personal favorite and hopeful winner, deserving, um yes...Read about her preparation for the role sometime.
Viola Davis, The Help - Absolutely fabulous acting in a heart wrenching role, decent odds here.
Meryl Streep, The Iron Lady - From what I've heard the movie stinks but Streep as always gets her nomination, her record setting 17th nomination.
Michelle Williams, My Week With Marilyn - Heard good things about Williams but did enough people see it?

Winner: This is a really tough one> I'd like Rooney Mara to win it but Glenn Close is my pick.

Best Actor:
Demian Bichir, A Better Life - Who? What?
George Clooney, The Descendants - He's winning, bet on it!
Jean Dujardin, The Artist - Yawn...silent film acting but probably closest to dethroning Clooney.
Gary Oldman, Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy - I'd love Oldman(who is drastically underrated) to finally get some much deserved Oscar love here but Clooney was just spot on.
Brad Pitt, Moneyball - Pitt was exceptional as always but not good enough. I consider him the 4th-5th pick here.

Winner: Clooney by a mile.

Best Supporting Actress:
Berenice Bejo, The Artist - Again, who?
Jessica Chastain, The Help - If it wasn't for her coworker Spencer she might have won.
Melissa McCarthy, Bridesmaids - interesting pick. She was great but there's no way she wins...right?
Janet McTeer, Albert Nobbs - Not sure who this is but I heard she was really good, so why is this movie getting bashed again?
Octavia Spencer, The Help - My favorite...watch the movie and see why.

Winner: Octavia Spencer in a close one.

Beast Supporting actor:
Kenneth Branagh, My Week With Marilyn - nope.
Jonah Hill, Moneyball - wonderful look at his acting chops outside his normal funny stuff.
Nick Nolte, Warrior - Nolte, wow! Doubtful sleeper.
Christopher Plummer, Beginners - He's in his 80's and the academy loves a career story, well that and I heard he was fantastic in it.
Max von Sydow, Extremely Loud & Incredibly Close - Also a very old, well rounded actor who the academy loves.

Winner: I've only seen one of these movies and Hill won't win it, I'm surprised he was even nominated to be honest. Plummer gets my vote here.

Best Director:
Michel Hazanivicius, The Artist - I'm certain this nobody will win the award and why not, it's going to win most of the awards anyway.
Alexander Payne, The Descendants - I just can't see him winning this one.
Martin Scorsese, Hugo - He has a decent chance here with this piece that's a straight up 180 from his usual body of work.
Woody Allen, Midnight in Paris - Please God don't let this creep win it.
Terrence Malick, The Tree of Life - I heard this movie was insanely beautiful to watch, he's my sleeper pick.

Winner: The Artist guy with the crazy last name. Why? Because everyone else's movie isn't quite as hyped up.

Best Original Screenplay:
Michel Hazanivicius, The Artist - Pretty upset about this pick. It's a silent film so how does the screenplay(writing/actual talking required) get a nomination here?
Kristen Wiig and Annie Mumolo, Bridesmaids - I really enjoyed this movie and the writing was a big part of it.
Woody Allen, Midnight in Paris - Again, no...
J.C. Chandor, Margin Call - Heard wonderful things about this movie and I ca't wait to see it.
Asghar Farhadi, A Separation - Indie flick with a pretty decent chance to take the prize.

Winner: Not real sure about this one so I'll go with the Bridesmaids duo since I haven't seen the others. If I had to pick I'd go with Farhadi or Woody Allen.

Best Adapted Screenplay:
Alexander Payne, Nat Faxon and Jim Rash, The Descendants - I can't even sum up how awesome this movie was, this was a big reason why.
John Logan, Hugo - Cartoon...no.
George Clooney, Beau Willimon and Grant Heslov, The Ides of March - really wonderful script but I can't see it winning.
Steven Zaillian, Aaron Sorkin and Stan Chervin, Moneyball - Sorkin is a mastermind when it comes to this stuff, I hope it wins since it's subject is so dear to my heart.
Bridget O'Connor and Peter Straughan, Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy - I'm sure this movie is great and I look forward to seeing it.

Winner: As long as Hugo isn't the winner, I can live with the rest. I say give it to Payne first, then Sorkin and co.

Well, there are the heavy hitters as far as nominations go. Look for next weeks installment of the Academy Awards when I go into the snubs list.

Your would be Champs...

2012-01-26T08:00:00.000-06:00

So it's been a long 3 days for me in the Football sense. I haven't gotten over the Kyle Williams fumbles, yes, either one of them. I feel bad for the 22 year old, I really do. Knowing you are the sole reason for your team losing can't be easy, Lord knows I hate you right now. The death threats are way over the line and your father being the ChiSox GM isn't making it any easier I suppose. I just don't get it. You are the backup punt and kick returner and your only playing because Ted Ginn Jr. is injured. You waived off every punt but 2, the 2 you botched. The 49ers were winning before the first one, then trailing after. Then we were getting the ball back in OT and you did it again, ultimately costing us our well deserved 6th Superbowl appearance. I firmly believe the 49ers would've beaten the Pats just like we beat the Saints, Steelers, Giants, Bengals and probably the Packers as well had they met. I think our style of play was a perfect fit for a championship and I strongly believe we will be back in the hunt again next season.

I still can't wrap my head around the fair catch and knee touching first botched punt...which changed the score from 14-10 Niners leading with the ball to 17-14. But the second one, again, in our own 30 yard line...wow! They scored 10 legitimate points all day long with drives that led to scores. Our defense was better and they couldn't stop our running game(which we didn't use enough in my opinion). Why they kept asking Alex Smith to play like he did vs. the Saints(a way worse defensive team than the Gmen)is beyond me. I would've handed the ball off on 1st and 2nd down and played to my strengths. We couldn't get receivers open, so run the ball...durrr. Eli Manning was on his back more that game than any time I can ever remember, mainly because once again, you can't run the ball on us. 18 games played, 3 rushing TD's allowed and an average of 74 yards on the ground per game. Manning gets the hooplah for "driving" for the winning score, yeah, after we lost all hope and momentum when they got another fumble from Williams. The better team didn't win and no one will ever convince me otherwise...

I might never fully recover from that loss, there went #6.

Mother... Update

2012-01-25T12:43:00.002-06:00

My Mom recently found out she had melanoma, aka skin cancer. It turns out that out of her 8 bad spots, 7 were considered stage 1 out of a possible 4, 1 being the best and so on. The 8th spot was much bigger and deeper into her dermis. It turns out that she will have an operation on Feb. 3rd to remove the remainder of the cancer before it progresses any further. The doctor feels that he can get all of it but it will leave a sizable dent in her arm. I'll take a breathing Mother with a dented arm over the other choice all day long! So it seems she will be okay which is a load off of my mind. Hopefully the surgery goes well and this will be the end of it. My other friends Mom got some good news as well but her situation is more severe. I think about her and my friend on a daily basis, praying they are doing well with all things considered.

Katie's 3rd Bday!

2012-01-23T10:18:00.004-06:00

Happy Birthday to my one and only daughter Katie! Today she turns THREE from the "terrible 2's". I heard that some kids are much worse at age 3 than being in the 2's due to the full awareness of a 3 year old. Let's hope this isn't the case. For the most part Katie has been a very good toddler and I hope that behavior continues. She is truly the light of my life and she keeps me grounded on an every day basis. I honestly can't imagine life without her...and I never want to.

The love felt for your own child is unlike anything in this world. Love for your parents is different because you always knew them to be your guide in life, your protector. The love of a spouse is unique in that you not only choose to be with them, but you learn to live with everything that comes along with that love. A child's love is unparalleled because you created a life with someone you love and cherish on a daily basis(hopefully). Katie is absolutely everything to me and I live each day trying to become a better Father and person than the day before. I see her more than anyone on Earth and that makes me very proud. I'm not a lucky person but I consider myself very lucky.

Death and Cancer?

2012-01-19T08:00:00.000-06:00

This is a more serious posting so bare with me...
So last week I found out from my Mom that she has melanoma(skin cancer) and my best friends Mom has cancer as well(but a more serious kind). So far, both seem to be getting some pretty good news about their diseases. My Mom hasn't fully been told she's okay yet but the first batch of biopsy's indicated it wasn't in the bloodstream so that's a good thing. She had 5 more done Monday and supposedly won't find out the results til the 27th but she's hoping by her next visit on the 24th she will know so treatment can be determined.

All of this is too familiar with me. My Father died of Cancer at the age of 49 in June of '99 and my stepfather 2 1/2 years ago at age 65. Then one of my closest older friends in life died of cancer in January of '09 of cancer and another close childhood friend's mother died of it as well. Does anybody know someone who doesn't have some form of cancer? I'm beginning to seriously doubt it. Like I said, I have had too many encounters with it in my lifetime and I'm sure this isn't the end of it. The good news is this: it seems both Moms are going to be okay for the most part. Some cancers are more life threatening than others like my Father, stepfather or my dear friend Ralph. Everyone dies at some point, but to have it taken from you is something I'm pretty aware of.

Kim hasn't really experienced a lot of death in her life so far and I'm really thankful for that, it sounds odd to say that but it's true. I can't count the amount of family members I've lost over the years on both hands, maybe even a foot's worth of toes. I could but you might shed a tear or think about it at least. The way I have lost loved one's could truly make a decent dent in making a book. Somewhere in all of this I have realized that we as a society have had to make this possible, the Cancer part that is. The chemicals and pollution, the horrible way we eat, the smoking and drinking, all of it. I know it didn't just happen one day but we have definitely contributed to it. You just don't hear a whole lot of folks passing away in their sleep or by natural causes and that's troubling to me. I'm not trying to make you depressed, Lord knows I should be but I'm not. I guess I'm so used to this that it washes off me like soap in the shower. That's not to say I'm above sadness, far from it. I just believe I've had a lifetime's worth of death and cancer already...at age 33.

49er Fever

2012-01-13T08:00:00.000-06:00

It's been one heck of a decade for my beloved 49ers. A decade of what if's(Drafting Aaron Rodgers 1st over Alex Smith with the first pick in the '05 draft). A decade of underachieving from '03-10 the 49ers have gone 46-82 with zero playoff appearances. Before '03 the Niners were the NFL's best franchise for 22 years('81-02) going 191-63, making the playoffs 18 out of 22 years and winning 5 Superbowl's. They won 10+ games for a NFL record 16 straight seasons(8 of which led to 13 or more victories), think about that for a second. The Colts had the longest streak til this year with 10 straight. The fallout for my team was unparalleled. No franchise has ever gone so long and won so much only to turn the other cheek and play so bad in the past 4 decades. It's time for a change.

The 49ers will meet the Saints, the new NFL darlings this Saturday at 3:30 in SF. They are the underdog and honestly I can see why. The new NFL and it's pass happy rule making gives the Saints an edge in virtually every game they play in, especially indoors. This game is different. It's in SF, outdoors and against the best defense in the league. Long gone are the days where the Niners have Kevan Barlow at RB or Arnaz Battle as their top WR. The days where Alex Smith was benched for Trent Dilfer at age 36 or Tim Rattay and Shaun Hill are gone as well. Now Alex Smith is a top ten passer, hard to believe but it's true. He finished 9th in passer rating with a 90.7, just above guys like Roethlisberger, Rivers and Michael Vick. He threw just 5 INT's in 445 pass attempts this year. He's no Drew Brees but he manages the game well behind a strong running game featuring the underrated Frank Gore. The defense is anchored by all pro LB Patrick Willis and Justin Smith at DE. Add to that mix of talent with Aldon Smith, a rookie LB/DE who managed to have 14 sacks and Navarro Bowman, another pro bowl LB and the Saints will have their hands full for sure.

I look at this game and feel the Saints won't be scoring 45 points like last week vs. the Lions who were ranked 23rd in total defense. A shootout is unlikely and keeping Brees of the field is a must if the Niners want to win. I can see Brees dumping 20+ passes for short yardage and trying to establish a run game vs. the best run D in Football. Honestly, it will hurt more to lose to the Saints than most teams since we owned them for decades before they became good and we started to suck. Their new found love around the country also irks me a bit. I hate anything that's catchy or hip and that's what these Saints are. Hopefully it's a good, fairly close game and my team comes out on top, if not, consider me a huge Giants/Packers fan next week.

Regardless if my team wins or not I'm proud of them and their resurgence in the league.

True Freindship

2012-01-05T08:00:00.000-06:00

After numerous encounters with my apparent former friend of over 20 years I've realized something, we haven't really been friends that long. One of my favorite people to spend time with has turned the other cheek and basically refused to acknowledge what he's been doing for years, not being a true friend. I confronted this friend after I was verbally assaulted and made fun of on Twitter of all thing a week ago. I was talking about my usual boring stats when he climbed in the ring with one of his "new" friends who was trying to push my buttons. I retaliated after numerous threats of hash tagging me if I ever tweeted anything to do with stats(#hilltweet). What kind of a friend would do that? After I retaliated he made sure to say I was the culprit and that he was innocent of everything said that day. I made sure to point out he was egging me on and his apology wasn't valid and I wouldn't accept it because it wasn't pure in nature. He did it to make himself look better, something he's very good at. I called him out and he backed off, in fact, he hasn't attempted any form of communication and flat out told me to unfollow him.

Who is this guy? I'm certain his "values" and new church are partly to blame. I'm not trying to bash church in any way but he is a prime example of why I don't go anymore. The hypocrisy of it all makes me want to squirm. He's found his clique of new churchy friends who hate on anyone not in their inner circle. One of his closest new friends won't even acknowledge his own sister because she doesn't attend regularly, really? I've known this guy before he changed into this preaching wannabe and I turned my head and said he hasn't changed, I was wrong. If he really did practice what he preached he wouldn't be treating his "old" friend this way at all. I'm convinced his new found friends have pushed him in this direction as well. I'm not in the church clique so I'm no longer a friend. The saddest part was that I always held this guy up so high, proclaiming he was such a great person and it bit me where it hurts. Never in my life have I been treated so poorly by someone with such high moral standards and a love for God like this guy has. It's a real eye opening experience and one that I will never forget.

With that being said:

A friend doesn't take aim at your insecurities and put them out there in social media sites. A friend doesn't try to make you look bad in front of tons of other mutual friends to make a statement. A friend doesn't attempt to embarrass you while hurting your feelings or question how you live your life. A friend doesn't care if your a red or blue state. A friend doesn't mind if you don't think gay people are wrong and that they deserve everything us "normal" people get in life. A friend won't shut the door in your face when you ask for help. A friend won't judge you, he simply accepts who you are. A friend is supposed to hold you up when you are down, not step on you to keep you there. A friend will be there no matter what. A friend doesn't tolerate you, they sit beside you and nod accordingly. A friend can disagree and still be the same friend, we are not identical nor robotic. A friend wants to squash a dispute and make it right. A friend wants your friendship or else they aren't really your friend at all.

Back in the Saddle Again!

2012-01-04T07:00:00.001-06:00

For almost 3 months now I've had a broken down Xbox360, it got the dreaded 3 rings of death which means exactly what it says, it's dead. So I decided to purchase the much better, much smaller and thinner Xbox360s. The difference between these two consoles is this:

Xbox360s has all of the regular stuff the old model has plus:
Internal Wifi for online gaming
Thinner design for better game play(won't overheat or get the 3 rings of death)
Lighter
No buttons to push(sensors)
Black glossy finish
250 gig vs 20 gig
2 games came with it(Halo Reach and Fable 3)
Still in production

Anyway, I already have Halo Reach so now I have 2 of them. I probably need to give it to someone if they promise to play it since it's so bad ass, otherwise I'll keep it here. Fable3 is a RPG(Role Playing Game) which is fun if you enjoy that sort of game. I got Skyrim for Christmas. It's also an RPG but it's the top of the line, best RPG out there. You build a character of your choice and go through a world in which there are no boundaries. It's highly addictive considering it's game play is based on what you make of it. The game changes as you go through it. The graphics are very impressive and the game will probably take me months to get through. This is the 5th installment of the Elder Scrolls: Oblivion franchise.

Jinxed!

2011-12-31T10:12:00.004-06:00

So my new shift has turned into my old shift. I'm stuck at 3pm-11pm Tue-Sat til June, Boo on that! One co-worker decided last minute to shift her schedule and she has seniority.

Anyway, I hope everyone has a happy New year and I'll be seeing or hearing from you all in 2012.

Pssst... My new years resolution(which I never say or do until now)is to become more physically fit by summertime. Meaning, I'm thinking about either joining a gym and going after work on week nights or something of that nature. It's time to look better and take better care for myself.

What's your resolution going to be?

The New Shift

2011-12-30T07:00:00.001-06:00

So our shift bid at work went down last night and it looks like I'm getting the M-F, 8pm-4am shift. I'm cool with it because it was my #2 choice overall. My top choice was taken out of my hands by a lady with more seniority at the last second(M-F 3pm-11pm). I wanted that one only because I get to sleep normal hours and still get weekends off. Now Katie and I will be back on the later naps(4-6pm)and I will be getting to bed around 4:30am or later. That shift also means it takes away some free time from Kim at night since Katie will be up later but that's how it goes. I will get to eat at home for dinner with Kim again which is nice and I won't need any babysitters for Katie so that's a plus as well. The only draw back is that it's a swing shift. This means if anyone on the 11pm-7am shift calls in, guess who goes into work? This guy! So that sucks...It was the number one reason why I didn't have it ranked #1. Anyway, it's not a total 100% lock but that's because it needs confirmation from management.

Best of 2011 Lists...

2011-12-29T07:00:00.001-06:00

Since 2011 is only 3 days long now I decided to make some lists of my favorite movies, things I did and so fourth this past year, and here we go.

Favorite Movies:
1. Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows Part 2
2. The Descendants
3. Moneyball
4. The Lincoln Lawyer
5. Limitless
6. The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo
7. Bridesmaids
8. Mission Impossible: Ghost Protocol
9. Water for Elephants
10. Super 8

Favorite Sports Moments:
1. Grizzlies take OKC to double OT in a thriller at the Fedex Forum.
2. Tampa Rays eliminate Red Sox on final at bat of season.
3. Packers beating the Steelers in Superbowl 44.
4. L.A. Dodgers file for Bankruptcy(Only a SF Giants fan could understand).
5. Derek Jeter gets 3,000th hit on a HR.

Least Favorite Sports Moments:
1. Tim Tebow becomes popular.
2. USA Womens Soccer chokes away World Cup Final vs. China in last 4 minutes.
3. Peyton Manning lost for the season but proves how valuable he really is.
4. St. Louis Cardinals beat Rangers in World Series.
5. Penn State/Syracuse sex abuse scandals.

Celebrity News I hated hearing about over and over:
1. The Royal Wedding
2. Charlie Sheen and his constant tweets taking over the world.
3. The Kardashians
4. Anything Justin Beiber
5. Lindsay Lohan's legal woes.

Favorite out of town trips:
1. Gulf Shores, August 18-22
2. Ducktown Tn. Whitewater rafting trip, June 3-5
3. Family Reunion in Chattanooga, May28-31
4. Vermont wedding, July 27- Aug 2
5. ...........................................................

Best celebrations/events:
1. Welcoming Penny to the world(my only niece).
2. Katie and Penny's baptism.
3. McGlasson's weekend retreat/wedding.
4. Grizzlies double OT game at the Forum vs. OKC in semifinals of NBA playoffs.
5. Celebrating my new job at the Flying Saucer/Will's house.
6. Last years New years Eve party at Will's.
7. Scavenger hunt by Chris
8. Cory's birthday party at R.P. Tracks/Billy Hardwicks/Soniat house.
9. My cousin Ashley's 30th Bday party followed by Josh's house party.
10. Trip's wedding in Vermont.

Biggest surprises of the year:
1. Kim and I both starting new jobs on the same day, Nov 1st.
2. Epic collapse of the Red Sox and Braves in September.
3. How horrible my trip to Vermont was.

That's all I can remember folks. A year is a long time ya' know.

How was 2011 for you?

Big Time Numbers

2011-12-20T11:28:00.003-06:00

Everyone knows I'm a stat head, that's easy. But what a lot of people don't know is it's not just Baseball stats that I watch and care about, I enjoy a variety of big time sports and their hallowed numbers. From Golf and Tennis to Basketball and Football, I enjoy following who's climbing the charts yearly. This year Derek Jeter got his 3,000 hit. He's only the 28th player out of 15,000+ players all time. Or maybe Tim Lincecum is only one of 6 pitchers to ever record 1,000+ strikeout's in his first 5 seasons. Right now I'm looking at the NFL and the passing yards record set by Dan Marino in 1984, a record that I feel is very important.

Marino was the old school Peyton Manning, pocket passer who can't run but can sling the ball with precision and quickness. These two in my opinion are the greatest QB's ever, in the passing sense. A few younger active QB's are now in the mix(Tom Brady, Aaron Rodgers and Drew Brees). These three men are about to obliterate Marino's 27 year old record, and I hate that. I like Rodgers and Brees but never Brady. The reason I'm kind of upset that IT WILL be broken come two weeks from now is that it's due to the league changing it's rules once again to favor the passing game. Back when Montana, Marino and Favre played, they got hammered and receivers were clobbered on a weekly basis. Now the same combinations get flags thrown their way if they get brushed up on by a defender, thus allowing an easier way to get a completion and yards.

Marino threw 564 passes, completing 362 passes in his record breaking 1984 season in which he threw for the current record of 5,084 yards. He also had a then record 48 TD's, a mark that seemed unbreakable until Manning hit for 49 in '04 in only 497 pass attempts and then Brady's 50 in 2007 where he threw 578 passes. SIDE NOTE: Still upset that Jerry Rice's record of 22 TD's in 1987 is not considered the record anymore considering he did it in only 12 games due to the strike, Randy Moss had 16 games to get to 23TD's in '07. Anyway, Brees has already attempted 583 passes(19 more than Marino had all year in '84, Brees still has 2 games to go). Brady is at 530 and should also get more attempts in the next two games. Brees nearly broke the record in '08, falling just 15 yards shy of the mark set by Marino but he attempted a league leading 635 to do it(71 more attempts).

Another reason this bothers me is the way the game has shifted into a protect the offensive player and to hell with the rest league. Defenses can't do anything without being flagged for something. Brady and Brees will break his record, there is not doubt about that. I just hate that a record set(like Rice's record)will be broken because of new rule changes to help the passer and his receivers. At least in other sports the records aren't broken because rules were made to help certain players while hurting others. Basketball did change it's hand checking rule a few years back and added the 3 second rule for defensive players in the paint but in that sport you play both side of the ball. I personally will not give credit to players helped by the system they play in. Randy Moss isn't the single season record holder for TD receptions just like Brees or Brady won't be for passing yards.

Tebow Time, Really?

2011-12-16T07:00:00.001-06:00

I posted this note on Facebook MOnday but got ZERO replies, kind of bummed me out because it took a while to look everything up. It's a decent read and will take several minutes to soak up but I felt(for my sake) that it needed to be heard. SO here we go...

Look, he's 7-1 as a starter, you can't overlook that. His team was 1-4 before he became the starter,also tough to ignore. But here's the thing, I'm going to point out why he's not the reason they win...at least not the only reason.

Kyle Orton played Green Bay(13-0), Cincinnati(7-6), Oakland(7-6), Tennessee(7-6) and San Diego(6-7) in his 5 games as a starter. Tebow played Oakland(7-6), KC(5-8), NYJets(8-5), San Diego(6-7), Miami(4-9), Minnesota (2-10), Chicago(7-6) and the Lions(8-5). Out of those games, Orton and the Broncos lost to Oakland by 3, lost to Tennessee by 3, and San Diego by 5, while beating Cincinnati by 2. The Green Bay game was the same result as all the GB games this year, a loss. The Broncos have played 4 winning and 4 losing teams with Tebow, Orton had 4 winning and one losing team(6-7).Tebow and the Broncos have won and lost their games by these margins:

3 point victory(18-15) in OT vs Miami(0-6)Matt Moore's first start all season. Miami blew a 15 point lead in 2:44 left in the game. Miami ran 3 plays up the middle for 3 yards and took 19 seconds off the clock. Denver then scores on a challenged catch that was upheld and then recovers an onside kick. Denver then goes 57 yards in 10 plays taking 2:27 of the clock and ties the game. In OT Miami and Denver each punt once and then Miami fumbles on their own 43 yard line. Denver runs 3 running plays for 2 yards and wins on a 52 yard FG. Big Play: Miami fumbles in their own territory setting up a game winning FG. Defense or Tebow: Tebow. He goes 13-27 for 161 and 2 TD's, 1 fumble and rushes 9 times for 59 yards.

REALLY???>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>

35 point loss (45-10)to the Lions(6-2). The score speaks for itself here. Tebow 18-39 for 172 1 TD, 1 INT and 3 fumbles(one lost) and rushed 10 times for 63 yards. Defense or Tebow: neither.

14 point victory(38-24) Carson Palmer's first start all season and no Darren McFadden. Oakland(4-3) is up 10 points with 6 and change to go in the 3rd quarter. Denver then scores on a 43 yard FG, a 60 yard run by McGahee, an 85 yard punt return by Eddie Royal and another 24 yard TD by McGahee. Denver rushes for 299 yards on 39 carries, Oakland is outscored 31 to 14 in the 2nd half. Big Play: McGahee goes for 24 yard TD score late in 4th quarter. Defense or Tebow: Tebow... He goes 10-21 for 104 and 2 TD's, runs 13 times for 118 yards.

7 point victory (17-10)vs the Chiefs(4-3). Chiefs lost Matt Cassell in first quarter and is lost for the season. Jamaal Charles is also out. Tyler Palko gets his first NFL start. Tebow goes 2-8 for 69 yards and one score, a 56 yard score to Eric Decker that puts the score at 17-7 with 6:44 to play. The Broncos run the ball 55 times and pass for 8, a new NFL record in a win. Big Play: Tebow to Decker for 56 yards. Defense or Tebow: Both. Cheifs only score 10 points and Tebow goes 2-8 for 69 yards and a score, runs 9 for 43 and a score.

4 points victory (17-13)vs the Jets(5-4) who have Joe McKnight starting his first NFL game due to Ladanian Tomlinson and Shonne Green being injured. The Jets blow a 10-3 lead in the 3rd quarter when a pick 6 is thrown by Sanchez. Jets retake the lead in 4th quarter on a 43 yard FG. Denver then drives 95 yards in just over 5 minutes for a TD score by Tebow. Jets drive and lose on a dropped ball by Plaxico Burress in the endzone as time expires. Big Play: Pick 6 in 3rd quarter to tie game. Defense or Tebow: Defense( allows 13 points) and Tebow goes 9-20 for 104 yards. 8 rushes for 68 and 1 TD

3 points in OT victory(16-13) vs the Chargers(4-6). Chargers playing without Antonio Gates and blow a 10 point lead. Game goes into OT as Tebow drives 68 yards and scores on a 24 yard FG. San Diego kicks to Denver in OT, they have a 3 and out twice. SD does it once then drives 45 yards on 10 plays and kicker Nick Novak misses a 53 yard FG. Denver gets ball at their own 43 and goes 38 yards on 6 plays and kicks a 37 yard FG to win game. Big Play: Missed 53 yard FG for San Diego and McGahee's 24 yard run to set up winning FG for Denver. Defense or Tebow: Defense(Chargers lowest scoring out put all year). Tebow goes 9-18 for 143 and 1 TD and rushes 22 times for 63 yards.

3 point victory (35-32)vs Vikings(2-10). This game had no Adrian Peterson and Christian Ponder playing QB for the Vikings. Tight game all the way until Ponder throws an INT ion his own 20 yard line leading to the eventual game winning FG as time expired. Big Play; Int thrown on own 20 yard line by Vikings. Defense or Tebow: Defense(in the end, their pick off Ponder lead to the winning points). Tebow goes 10-15 for 202 yards and 2 TD's and 4 rushes for 13 yards on the ground.

3 point victory in OT(13-10) vs Bears(7-5). Bears playing without Jay Cutler and Matt Forte. With 5:41 to go in the game, Bears run 3 plays with Keelan Bell for 6 yards up 10-0. Denver gets ball at own 37 and drives 63 yards in 7 plays scoring on a Tebow throw to D. Thomas. Bears go 3 and out again running 3 times for 6 yards and taking only 1;12 of clock. Broncos get ball at own 20 and Tebow throws 3 short passes good for 39 yards including 2 incompletions and one run for no gain. 59 yard field goal is good. OT. Bears get ball and drive 53 yards before Marion Barber fumbles and Denver recovers. Denver then takes 4:13 to go 33 yards in 9 plays to set up game winning FG from 51 yards out. Defense or Tebow. Both. Defense grabbed fumble when Bears were driving in OT and Tebow became good out of nowhere after stinking the whole game. Tebow goes 21-40 for 236 and 1 TD and one lost fumble. Rushes 12 times for 49 yards.

That's a plus minus of +2points (+37/-35) in 8 games total.

Now a win is a win no matter how you twist it right? Well, it ain't that simple.

Tebow faced 5 winning teams and 3 losing teams during this stretch. Of the 8 games he played, only the Lions game was a loss. The Lions were also the only team to field it's starting QB and RB vs. the Broncos. Some teams were missing both(Bears, Vikings, Chiefs and Oakland), others missed one or the other(Dolphins and Jets). Winning is winning but when it's against teams who are less than healthy(especially at the QB and RB positions) it's tougher to say they beat them straight up. Considering the margins won by just an average of 4.5 points shows that having those key starters was a huge advantage.

The defense has allowed only 20 points a game(16.7 without Lions blowout)in his 8 starts. With Orton the defense was giving up 27.4 points a game. That's over a TD per game difference and nearly a TD and FG score without the Lions blowout. Orton averaged 21 points of offense in his 5 starts, Tebow averages 20.5, so that's basically the same.

The difference between the two QB's overall is simple.

Tebow hasn't played one team that was at full strength at the QB and RB position and is winning games by an average of only 0.2 points, 164 for, 162 against in 8 games. His defense gives him a 7-10 point spread advantage over Orton who scored just as many points as he did on average. Orton completed 58.7% of his passes where as Tebow sits at 48.5. Granted, Tebow is a fabulous runner but that is helped by style in offense which helps him run more since he's not a pocket passer in the slightest. No one's talking about how Orton lost his games by only 3, 3 and 5 points not counting the Green Bay game, and that was with the defense struggling against better and healthier teams.

With all that said:

Is Tebow a good QB...no, but his one time GF is a hottie!

Is he a leader...yes.

Has luck played a part in all of this...yes.

Can we prove that the defense is better since he started playing QB...yes.

Is that because of him...we don't know.

Did Orton play that poorly...no.

Did Orton play better teams...yes.

Is coaching and the resurgence of the Broncos defense the reason their playing so well...yes.

Are they winning because the coaching plays a style to fit Tebow's capabilities...yes.

Has Matt Prater won several games on his long field goals...yes.

Did the defense create turnovers in those games that allowed Prater those opportunities...yes.

Did teams ultimately lose games they were winning because of Tebow...no

Did teams lose those games because they made bad choices and choked them away... absolutely.

If Orton were still the QB would the Broncos be 8-5...probably not.

If Tebow started the first 5 games, would they be 11-2...probably not.

Is Cam Newton a better QB and rusher than Tim Tebow...yes.

Does he play on a good team with a good defense...no

Is that why he's 4-8...yes

Andy Dalton is 7-6 as a starter with less talent on his team than either of them, is he better than both...maybe.

Does God in any way have anything to do with this...no.

God doesn't care about Football, I promise you. If he did, Tebow would never miss a throw or lose a game.

Is Tebow getting what he deserves as a person and as a NFL QB...absolutely.

Can this really keep going like this, lucky breaks and extremely close victories...who knows.

Feedback please...your thoughts?

What's The Haps?

2011-12-14T07:00:00.004-06:00

So my co-workers decided to give a little this year by allowing me to not only be off Xmas eve, but also New years eve. How awesome is that? It wasn't even warranted, they just volunteered. It put me in a great mood since I was down on my luck by getting this new schedule and working Saturdays.

We almost have all of our Xmas shopping done already, this is huge for us since we normally are shopping til the 24th. It's a nice change of pace and it's certainly making it easier to see the holiday come this season.

I'm in a movie watching mode lately. In 3 weeks I've knocked out The Prestige(which I loved, isn't Christopher Nolan brilliant?), Limitless, The Pianist, The Change Up, The Human Centipede(one of the most disturbing and tough movies to simply sit through), Toy Story 3 and J. Edgar. This weekend is MI4: Ghost Protocol and next week is The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo, I can't wait!

Been getting up around 9-9:30am for over a week now(mostly). It's a great feeling to go to bed with your wife and wake up not long after she leaves for work. It's certainly better than coming home and saying goodbye to her as you drag your feet into bed at 7:30am. Katie is getting good naps in the day and sleeping on a better schedule now, asleep by 9:30-10:30pm, it's great for Kim to get some private time. As a Mom it's nearly impossible to get.

Weekend Warrior!

2011-12-09T10:37:00.003-06:00

What's everyone doing this weekend? I'm working of course, but only til 11pm Saturday night, lol. Anyhoo, Sunday looks like this:

Church
Matinee movie with the wife and whoever wants to come with us to see The Descendants.
Cory's family Bday party at Kim's grandparents house where pizza is on the menu, FINALLY!
Ending the day will be our weekly catch up on all our shows.

Well, that's my whole weekend/Sunday. No point going over Monday because it's a work day for most and for me it's stay at home with the kiddo. Maybe I'll knock out some Xmas gifts that I need to buy or something, who knows. I might get crazy and never leave the house. I tell you, the excitement never stops, lol. Monday's off instead of Saturday is like having to go to the prom with your cousin. You do it because you never had an option to begin with, someone made you do it.

Anyway, have a great weekend for me. I look forward to my Sunday...hey, it's my fun day!

No life?

2011-12-08T07:00:00.001-06:00

I really hate having to talk about my work so much lately but honestly, it's all I have. I know, further explanation please.

So I walk in to work last Friday and my boss is there. First off, I'm not accustomed to seeing her since I worked the 11pm-7am gig for 5 weeks. Now I see her a couple of times a week which isn't bad at all, just different. So she mentions to me that I don't need to come to work til Tuesday the 6th, I'm like...3 day weekend, okay! Turns out there was a catch, and it's permanent til February. I now have a new shift and it looks like this.

Tue-Sat 3pm-11pm.

So what's my beef with this? I'll tell you. See Friday and Saturday nights, yeah, me neither. That's because I'll be at work till 11pm on those nights, boo. Also, my weekend got chopped in half since my off days are now Sun-Mon. Having Sundays is great but honestly, no one really does anything on those days anyway and Mondays off...well, it's pointless in my world. I'm home with Katie anyway, now I have to use an off day to do it, pretty upset about it. So basically I have a smaller weekend now and a weekday off, yay...

The biggest issue besides this is that Saturday's at work are one man shifts. I will be alone for 8 hours and I'm no where near prepared for that. I'm not even off probation for training til the new year hits. Why the sudden switch you ask? Someone got a job starting in January, moving to Houston and the shift fell in my lap because of seniority. She tells me how awesome it is because it's "sooo dead on the weekends". Yeah, I'm sure it is but I'm not feeling the - by myself thing, all responsibilities on me vibe just yet. To further my frustration a bit further, I'm working new years eve 3pm-11pm...by myself. It's even possible that I work Xmas eve which would send me over the top into pissed off mode(that's a HUGE day for Kim's family). I was told the lady would work that shift but now, anything is possible.

Anyway, don't expect to see this guy anytime soon unless it's on a Sunday or late Fri-Sat night til February.

Holla.

New Hours

2011-12-02T09:06:00.003-06:00

I started my new schedule/shift last night at work. Instead of the dreadful 11pm-7am shift I was on, now I'm a 2nd shift kinda guy(3pm-11pm). The lack of a social life will definitely take it's toll on me eventually but the sleep at night will make up for that, and then some. This shift allows me to interact with other regular hour workers such as yourselves even though I'm at work the entire time. The job isn't that different on this shift except for the lack of pilots in the room and a million more phone calls. Well that and the nature of the call. I swear, the first 4 calls I had yesterday put me in a bind, I had no clue on how to handle them. Apparently the calls in the wee hours of the morning are completely different than daytime calls, who knew? The workload is less if you ever get caught up at the beginning but time seems to go by quicker which is nice. I guess that 4-7am stretch where you have nothing to do tends to drag your work day out a bit.

Anyway, I'm on this shift til at least January or possibly February, we shall see. Then the 4 month bid comes and I'll have a scheduled shift til June.

Have a great weekend...

The Looking Glass

2011-12-01T07:00:00.002-06:00

Unfortunately, I'm not talking about LOST. Instead I'm thinking about things I'm really looking forward to for this month and some of 2012.

The list:
10. Christmas Shopping: I know what your thinking, what has this guy been smoking? I just enjoy buying things that I know people I care about like, want or especially need. This year is even more special to me because we have the money to spend, finally! Now the lines and people you deal with, that's another story.
9. Cory's Bday Bash: Maybe because it's this Saturday. Maybe because there is a slight bias here since I partially planned it, but I love a good get together. Better yet, celebrating someone else getting older that isn't me.
8. Movies, Movies, Movies: Everyone knows I'd rather go to the movies or watch one at home than watch TV. In fact, I'd go as far as saying I'd rather go to the movies than about 95% of the other things I love to do, it's high on my list year round. Specific movies I can't wait to see are: (in no particular order)...The Dark Knight Rises, The Man of Steel, The Avengers, Girl with the Dragon Tattoo, MI4, Chronicle, MIB3, Rock of Ages, The Amazing Spider Man, The Bourne Legacy and Total Recall.
7. New Years Eve: Not the movie. It's cliche and superficial at best but seriously, who doesn't love a countdown and a big party filled with all your friends? Oh, the possibilities...
6. Spring Training: Not the actual season, that would be much higher on the list. It's never the off season for this guy and MLB. Rosters change, pitchers and catchers report, the weather starts getting better, kind of... What's not to like?
5. Grizzlies basketball: I don't know about you, but I'm stoked to see if our very own Cinderella can go one step further in the Playoffs. The magic I felt last season was truly remarkable considering where this franchise was just 3 years ago.
4. NFL Playoffs: There is nothing quite like it, at all. College Football hasn't figured it out yet but a single tournament, single elimination, bracketed off between major heavyweights every January gets me super excited. March Madness has a similar effect as well(Especially if the Tigers are in it), but it's not Football.
3. Katie's 3rd Birthday: I know some of you would say this should be #1, well it's bittersweet to me. Of course I'm thrilled she's getting older and yet I'm not. Any parent can understand this dilemma. It's the only Birthday that really affects me day to day besides my own because I'm literally watching her grow in front of me. It's satisfaction meeting heartache all in one.
2. Christmas: Some people aren't huge on all that is Christmas, I get that. It feels rushed, all of it. The madness of it all, the endless parties you kind of feel obligated to go to, but don't. The money spent. The same meal you ate a month ago called Thanksgiving, if your a traditionalist(I could go for pizza honestly). The hallmark cards. The constant commercialization. Why is this #2 again? Oh yeah, because I love to make other people happy. That's it. The joy of watching someone else light up, if just for one second because of something I did for them. Priceless.
1. Tiger Basketball: Call me a lot of things, but never a bandwagon fan. I love my Tigers and their never ending pursuit of a championship. The atmosphere and the city brought together by 15 kids pushing themselves, believing in each other to become one dynamic group of athletes. We Memphis fans aren't the biggest bunch, but we love our basketball year round. From early commitments to the day a big recruit signs that letter. The first game where we usually win by 40 points only to lose a close one the next day. Our relentless opinions of what we should be and what we really are. Questioning every move our coach makes as long as it's a bad one. That's Tiger basketball.

What's your list?

Down with the Sickness

2011-11-30T12:04:00.003-06:00

No, I'm not talking about the Disturbed song, I'm thinking this in my head. Z-pak + cough medicine + eye drops + Melatonin + Hydroxyzine= moving in the right direction. I went from zombie apocalypse member to cave dweller in 12 hours. I bet the next 12 hours gets me suitable for light to medium contact with others and who knows, by this time tomorrow I could very well be a human again. I'm just thankful this happened before Christmas since I haven't even started shopping for presents yet, just ideas really. It did suck that I had it happen during Thanksgiving, which for some reason always has me in a blur anyway(thanks Toiletbowl).

Changing the subject for a minute here. Honestly, where in the world did 2011 go? I can distinctly remember this past Summer with great detail, from white water rafting to the 4th of July. My endless Vermont fiasco to Memorial day weekend in Chattanooga. I can't think of a place in time where it seemed everything went by so quickly. Now comes Winter, my most hated of seasons. Who wants to bet it seems like it will go on forever for this guy? I wouldn't take that bet with Charles Barkley, and he's a horrible gambler. I'd really like to make a list of why I hate the Winter so much but that might take to long, it's just loaded with things I despise. So instead I'll end it on a positive note.

Things I look forward to...in my next blog posting.

Pay Day

2011-11-15T13:48:00.003-06:00

So I finally got paid today from my new job and it feels awesome. My old paychecks were so tiny, this one had an attitude. I'm so excited to have money again and it really helps to see a much bigger number working this awful schedule. Kim also got her first paycheck from her new job today, it's a strange feeling to know you can finally save some money and pay down your debt. We are so thankful for our new jobs it's hard to put it into words. So many are out there struggling, searching for something to get them by, in many ways, we were right there with them. Working jobs you hate is tough, being underpaid and under appreciated is really tough. We are counting our blessings today for sure. Anytime you can feel like you have semi-made it in this world, it's a good thing.

Momma Mia

2011-11-14T07:00:00.001-06:00

So I went over to my moms tonight before playing basketball at the Holy Rosary gym, but not in the way I expected to. It all started when I called my mom Thursday night and got no response. Friday, same thing, so I began to worry. I call my uncle who happened to be out of town(I called him for info, if any)and woke him up to find out my mom has been dating. Hmmm... I guess I'm cool with that, whatever. The big thing that ended up happening was that no one had heard from her and he figured she was out again. So I began to shower for work and Kim tried to call, but no answer. Then the phone rang here, it was my mom. Turns out she was screening(avoiding)my calls but when she saw that Kim had called, she figured something was wrong. Uh, yeah, your not answering the phone mom...

So Kim had a one sided conversation for the most part and she wasn't being nice about it. My mom basically refused to speak with her, only to me. I wasn't going for it that night(Friday) but was told she would call back Saturday to speak with me. So she called like she said that evening but I was busy and didn't really want to get into it before my night began. So I basically avoided her call, but not totally without merit. I figured it would take up my night and I didn't want that, not after all this stuff had happened. So Sunday afternoon she called around 1pm and I was eating lunch at the Slider INN with Steph, Cory and Kim. We had planned to do some shopping for work clothes before we picked the kids back up from their Mom's house. I answered and said I couldn't talk, just call me back, she mentioned an hour or so. Turns out she asked me to call her back but I didn't hear that from the loud music and several conversations around me. This as it turns out was/is our biggest problem...miscommunication.

I try to call her back after 45 minutes had passed, no answer. I eventually call her around 4:30, several hours later. I assumed she would've called by then, apparently not. Again, a big problem, miscommunication. I call her and we finally talk.....for one minute. She wanted to talk face to face which I totally understood and wanted as well. I quickly left my mother in laws and made it to her house about 5pm, I left around 6:50. Without going into great detail(since I can't remember it all and because she talks around other stuff happening into our conversation)we mended the broken relationship. We both wanted each other to want more from each person but never really said it. Instead we played silly games that got pretty serious for quite some time. Apologies were made, hugs were given and in the end we agreed to try harder and COMMUNICATE better.

We are both going through things in each of our lives and quit on each other, which is childish. Hopefully this is all behind us and we can both look towards the future. Of course this new dude in her life will be at Thanksgiving, jeez...

Silence...

2011-11-09T07:00:00.001-06:00

SO it's been nearly 4 weeks(This Thursday) since I have heard a word from my Mother, I'm definitely going to have to stop this before it gets any stranger. I just don't understand her, not one bit. She has nothing holding her back. She's free to do anything and yet I hear nothing from her. Her grandchild is growing like a weed and she's missing it. I almost feel like I'm being punished for testing her obvious lack of commitment in our lives. What else can I do but lay it all down? I really, really don't want to do it because it won't come out very nice at all.

I have given her so many opportunities over the last 2 1/2 years to see us and only major family outings or me calling her has gotten her here. I tried to test her and I saw what I imagined would happen actually happening. It's given me a sickening feeling in which I can't rid myself of. Was I wrong to "call her out" by not calling her, begging her? Should I have just kept on doing it even though it killed me that she never really tried 100%? Sure, sometimes she would arrange something, but that was so long before I began this so called test. It's like she quit on me and I am nearing a point of no return. The holidays are here and family gatherings are no small thing for most of us. I don't want others dragged into this crap but still, I have my own life and she has hers. The difference in our minds is that we almost always instigated the contact and felt we should be the one's who were approached. I mean, we have a toddler and jobs, she's alone. If anything we figured she'd be busting down the walls trying to see us, at least that's what every other grandparent does, right?

I hate this...

White Collar Week

2011-11-08T07:00:00.002-06:00

Well, I'm 5 full days into this whole work at a desk thing, so far I really like it. Beyond the crazy hours I can say without a doubt that I don't miss the hub at all. Not riding with 34 other complete strangers to and from every night to get to work. No more depending on a bus driver to drive fast enough to get me to my job on time. All of it, no more. Instead I show up and park my car in a secure lot and walk 30 seconds to the front door. I go through screening(that will happen as long as I work on airport grounds)but it lasts about as long as it takes to walk through it, no lines like before. I clock in but it's only to ensure that I'm not a habitual late worker. I clock out but it's only to show if I worked over 8 hours(for OT sake). Those are the only reasons I ever clock in.

I sit at my desk with computer and phone nearby and do office things. I get reports from the printer and work the reports. I am in training for 2 months so I'm basically doing grunt work that will eventually be divided out amongst the other employees on that shift. For now, I do about 90% of it so I can learn the right and wrong way to do the job. This is only one of what seems like a million things I have to learn. In a nutshell the reports are flights that have to be altered for one reason or another. Flight status(whether the pilot, mechanic or FAA member)is flying business, personal or 5 other types of status is in the right order. Making sure the flight is under 4 hours or over is a big deal on some planes is another thing to look at. Planes that fly longer than 4 hours can only have certain people on it(Cockpit eligible). If they aren't qualified to ride in the cockpit, they cannot fly on that plane.

Other things like bumping a person off of a flight is tedious. Notice must be sent immediately and said person must be accounted for in a log book. All of this is very detailed oriented and precise. If not, people would come to get on a plane and would never know they had been bumped off a flight. Pilots for my company can come in and personally ask for a flight and it's status, other pilots from different airlines have to call in a reservation. Learning all of the flights(airplanes and their make/model) is intimidating. There are a ton of planes and each plane could have specific flight requirements. Think of a car dealership, each car is unique yet similar in features for the most part. If I were selling a car I would need to know the specifics, the same thing applies here.

Another thing I have to learn is where the flights are going. There are hundreds of flights going all over the world. I have to eventually know all of them, at least where we fly that is, by airport code(MEM, JFK, etc.). The thing is, pilots and or airlines named most of these places long ago after some random guy, not the city necessarily. So Louisville isn't LOU or LVL, it's SWL. Yeah, confusing is an understatement. The combinations are endless. I know a handful(15-20 out of more than 150) from back when I worked in heavyweight driving a forklift, but that was 3 years ago and I'm rusty. It's all overwhelming and I'm sure I'll get quicker with each passing day...er night. I haven't even tipped the scale on all the things I have to do. Making an actual reservation, doing online backup reports on mechanical flaws with planes and so on. And to think this is considered an entry level corporate position, lol. Dang!

I do get perks like endless amounts of coffee in various flavors along with all kinds of juices and all the popcorn I could ever want. All of this is in the pilots lounge where I have access to. Also the cafeteria which is open til 3am has everything but a Krispy Kreme in it(not really but still). I work 8 hours but I get a half hour for lunch and two 15 minute breaks, all by virtue of the honor system. So technically I work 7 hours but get paid for 8, nice! The people I work with seem pretty cool but I've only met 5 or 6 out of 15. My boss is the bomb diggity and unfortunately, we never see her(she works a normal shift form 7am-3pm). Weird to say I never see my boss, and that's a good thing. Most people wish that was the case I'm sure. Anyway, I'll keep on posting new things I learn as I go along...

Choices...

2011-11-02T07:00:00.002-05:00

Hopefully I can still blog on a regular basis but for the next month...maybe not. I'm going to get sleep whenever I can. I figure I can get 4 hours after I come home at around 7:15am before Katie gets up. Then she naps for an hour or two. How to deal with Scooter is another problem. I usually let him outside before Kim gets home, otherwise he might wake her up. If I get a nap in there I can live on 6 hours a night for a month, at least I hope I can. Then December will roll around and I can either do the 3pm-11pm and have zero life plus I barely see Kim for a month during the week. The 8am-4pm shift is my other option. I see everyone, I live a normal life except Katie now has to be watched by someone other than me all day, not sure how I feel about that. One way or the other, I have to choose. After that I bid on a shift(11pm-7am, 3pm-11pm or 8am-4pm) and that lasts 4 months before another shift bid. So this is my trial monthly run I guess. My biggest fear is that I will lose so much sleep and become the living dead. That and picking the wrong shift makes me nervous.

Ahh...The things we do to make more money and live a better life. It's always something isn't it? FYI: by the time this posting hits my blog I will have just left work after being up since 11am Monday. Let the sleepless nights begin.

Chris Cornell

2011-11-01T14:30:00.004-05:00

So tonight I get to see one of my favorite singers in action, Chris Cornell(Soundgarden, Temple of the Dog, Audioslave). His voice is iconic, as if he's singing in pain...literally. It carries like no other I've heard in a long time, maybe Ronnie James Dio from the band Dio is the most similar. Cornell never shy's away from doing something different, solo projects(which aren't always a good thing) or singing in various bands along his journey in music. I hope I get to hear the whole set list but with my job starting at 11pm, I might have to miss out on some encore songs: ouch!

Boo...

2011-10-31T07:00:00.002-05:00

Happy Halloween everyone...

Here are my top 10 favorite costumes I have dressed up like on Halloween.

10. Ninja
9. Axe from Road Warriors(WWF Wrestler)
8. Troll
7. Wizard
6. Football Player
5. Joe Dirt
4. Brian Wilson(The Baseball Player, not Beach Boy)
3. Glam Rocker from '80's
2. Jason Voorhees
1. Michael Myers(the serial killer)

Things you gotta do...

2011-10-28T07:00:00.001-05:00

So last night I got my annual flu shot like a good boy after work. Personally, anything to ensure my health is cool with me. I'll gladly take the needle(which doesn't hurt at all)instead of risking the flu later on and believe me, it will come. What I don't get is the people who choose not to get one. If it's free and available then why not? Would you rather be sick for 3-5 days, I know I wouldn't. A co-worker of mine last night says "no way in hell I'd let them stick me with a needle, too scared". Okay, when you miss a week's paycheck or even worse, get everyone around you sick after you show up like death, let me know how that's going...or not. I get it, I'm scared of needles too but there is no way in the world I miss a chance to avoid being sick, ever!

With all that said, here are my least favorite things I have to do once a year.

5. Getting new tags for car
4. Dental checkup/X-rays
3. Filing my taxes
2. Rake Leaves
1. Getting a physical

Halloween?

2011-10-26T07:00:00.002-05:00

So Halloween is This coming Monday and I'm saddened that no one had a party so we could all dress up. Instead I have to go to a wedding, yes, another wedding(#5 in 4 months). The problem is that nearly everyone who would be at the usual Halloween party is attending the wedding. The last time I didn't dress up for Halloween or had any plans for it was in '02, two years before I began to date Kim. I still get to have fun with Katie that night but the fun parties I remember won't happen this year, what a bummer...

My Top 5 Halloween Candies:
5. Blow Pops
4. Reese's Peanut Butter Cup
3. Skittles
2. Nerds
1. Candy Bars

Shake It Up

2011-10-25T07:00:00.001-05:00

So I have 6 more nights of work left before I begin my transition to full time scallywag, time to pony up. I'm slightly nervous about this week. Not because I haven't changed jobs before, it's more like I'm about to flip my world upside down. Between November 1st and January 1st I'm having one shift(11pm-7am) for a month, then another shift(either 8am-4pm or 3pm to 11pm). This is going to effect me tremendously in the sleeping department. Everyone knows I don't sleep well at all, having these crazy shifts won't help it but I know what I was getting into when I went for the job.

Now I have to make my bed and lay in it, even if it's in the middle of the day. I figure the 11-7 will hurt the most considering my bed time will start around 8am. Katie will be up by Noon, if not earlier. That's 3-4 hours of sleep IF I fall asleep immediately, which isn't likely. Nap's will be a necessity and I will have to play catch up on days I don't work. The only plus side to this shift is that I still see Kim and Katie as much as before and I can still do stuff before work if I'm not dead tired. I'm looking forward to the new job, just not the sleep you get when you have a newborn. I remember those days all to well. The good thing back then was that I had a mindless job for the most part and I didn't have to interact with other people. Rut Row!

In other news: My situation with my Mother is still up in the air. I haven't seen her in over 3 weeks(23 days to be exact) and I have only talked to her once since Oct. 1st. She mentioned she needed to see us when we spoke on the 13th of this month, it's now the 24th and nothing has changed. Expecting me to offer is her obvious plan but it's not going to happen. I'm literally in a standoff with my own Mom and it's killing me. On the inside I think about it constantly but outside I play it off as an afterthought. Hearing my closest uncle tell me that she mentioned that if we stopped talking all together then "oh well" isn't helping this at all. What she's thinking in her head right now is anyone's guess and I'm tired of guessing/waiting for her to make a move. The holidays are coming up and this could get messy. I'm not in a good place mentally right now and I need to be since my new job starts in 8 days.

I'm beginning to think my Mother somehow believes this is a right or wrong thing, and she's not wrong. It's more than that to me. Not having my grandparents around as a child hurt, seeing her blatantly keep herself away from Katie is eating me up inside. Being upset with me or Kim for whatever reason(one we both can't figure out) isn't a good reason. Kim's Mom looks for every opportunity to see her grand children and she lives farther away and lives on her own. To be honest, I can't help but compare the two. The difference is how my wife and sister were raised and how I was. They were a tight nit bunch, I was alone most of my childhood. The trend continues on how they handle it all and I'm clueless on how to stop it without a massive confrontation. Something big must happen and I am the unfortunate soul who has to change it all.

The Sports Nut

2011-10-17T07:00:00.001-05:00

Everyone knows I'm a HUGE sports fan but they might not realize why or who I pull for and why. Sports were my outlet into the world ever since I was a little bugger. With no one to play with and a family life consisting of video games by myself or watching the tube in my room, it just appealed to me. So basically I made myself a sports fan so I wouldn't be so bored all the time. Back then(mid 80's)TV wasn't on 24/7 and video games were very limited.

The first sports event I ever watched on TVwas Superbowl XX on January 26, 1986 when the Bears beat the Patriots. The Bears won 46-10 and the Superbowl shuffle began a love affair with Football for me. Since I lived near San Francisco, the 49ers were my team from day one. My stepfather was a lifetime fan and so was his entire family. I had already been into Baseball but hadn't really watched it til the '86 miracle Mets season in which Bill Buckner was famously made the goat inevitably costing his team the 6th game of the World Series and eventually the title. I was hooked. Drama wasn't like that in peewee Football or little league. One, maybe two kids stood out on those teams, it wasn't even close to amateur status.

AS I grew older I became more obsessed with sports, particularly Baseball. In Football I was a QB but wanted to be a wide receiver like Jerry Rice. Instead I was labeled a QB because I could out throw the starting QB in every way. My problem was, I was a runt. In Football, at any age, that will keep you from playing that position because of the pure nature of the game. Kill the QB. So I focused on Baseball. A game in which a fat kid, skinny kid, short or tall can play with the rest of the bunch and compete fairly. Basketball and Football weed out the smaller kids at a younger age so Baseball was my outlet for sure. Of course I dabbled in soccer from the age of 10-12 and I was on the swim team for a while. I played whatever I could to get me out of the house and make friends. Honestly, Football was my first true love in sports but my lack of size prevented me from ever being successful there.

So Baseball became my passion. Basketball was always near to my heart because it's easy to play by yourself and Michael Jordan is, and always will be my all time favorite athlete. But Baseball just did something for me. The SF Giants were a great team back then and Will "The Thrill" Clark was my guy. I hated the Oakland A's because it was the cross town rival albeit different leagues. Once I realized that I was really good at playing Baseball, it became an obsession. I really didn't watch anything but Baseball if it was on TV. I wanted to play it over anything else, problem was, it takes a bus load to do that.

I found a love for pitching when I realized how easy it was for me to do it. I could over power the hitters and I found that in this sport, unlike other team sports, one guy can totally dominate without the help of anyone else(A catcher technically). That made me feel powerful. I became an animal on the mound, like Bob Gibson or Pedro Martinez. Get off my plate or I'll hit you, and I would. I wanted the hitter to fear me even though I wasn't a big guy at all. To me, it was payback for all the times I was made to feel smaller than I really was. I couldn't beat anyone up or intimidate anyone with my stature, but on that diamond I was the man.

With all that said, I have never really listed the teams I love and why before, I guess I had never thought of it in that way. I could go on forever about it honestly, but I won't. I got the Idea from Chris' blog posting from Thursday about listing my favorite teams and such. So here we go...

Teams I like

Tennessee Titans(Home town team)
Memphis Grizzlies
Chicago Bulls(MJ and D. Rose)
NY Rangers(loved the 94' Messier lead team, great story).

Teams I love with a passion. Hate when they are bad or lose and truly feel pain when they do so. Feel an ultimate sense of joy when they win.

1.San Francisco 49ers(Montana, Rice, Lott, Young...)
2.San Francisco Giants(Say hey Willie Mays, Bonds, Will Clark, Lincecum and Cain)
3.Memphis Tigers Basketball(Penny Hardaway, CDR, D. Rose, J. Dorsey, Kelly Wise, Chris Massey, C. Garner, A. Burks, E. Perry, Larry Finch, Lorenzen Wright...)

Teams I HATE

Dallas Cowboys
L.A. Lakers
NY Yankees(but I respect them)
Boston Red Sox
Any current team managed by Tony LaRussa
New England Patriots
Pittsburgh Steelers

Athletes I love

Air Jordan
Barry Bonds
Joe Montana
Jerry Rice
Tim Lincecum
Barry Sanders
Charles Barkley
Derrick Rose
Peyton Manning
Shaq
Wayne Gretzky
Josh Hamilton
Joe Mauer

Athletes I HATE

Kobe Bryant
A.J. Pierzynski
Curt Schilling
Dale Earnhardt Jr.(Not really an athlete, still hate him)
Tom Brady
Ben Raplisburger
Delonte West
Jerome Harrison
Tim Tebow(mostly his worshiping fans)
Johnathan Papelbon

Going Corporate

2011-10-14T07:00:00.001-05:00

I did it! I managed to turn a part time job throwing boxes and scanning documents into an actual full time career. I have spent almost 10 full years with Fedex(96-99, 05-current) and if I hadn't quit way back in January of '99, Oct 25th would've been my 15th anniversary with the company. I had my hopes here and there about possibly getting a full time salary gig one day, but it seemed so far away. No one really understands how different and sometimes difficult working part time is, especially there. Only about 5% of workers are full time at the hub if you exclude management. Being lucky, knowing the right people, and working your tail off are just some of the ways you can make it happen in the hub. Somehow, someway I made it happen.

I will begin my new job in November, the date will either be the 1st or the 15th depending on when my current manager can let me go(based on operational needs). I am now a salary paid employee. I will have a desk, phone and computer. I will get to wear my own clothes, not a uniform. I am a full time worker(40hrs. a week) for the first time EVER! To most people those things aren't so lavish, to me, it's heaven. I have always worked two or more part time jobs at a time even though those jobs might have me working 40+hrs a week, it's still considered part time. I have tended bar, waited tables, made pizza's, framed houses, landscaped, did security and even flirted with being a firefighter(I almost became one a while back). But in all of those jobs, I never had what I will have now, full time status.

I'm literally on cloud nine, I never understood that statement but I'm using it anyway. I'm doing what I planned to do out of high school, just 15 years later. Most of, if not all of my friends and family have passed me by when it came down to career's. I always felt left out in that sense. Embarrassing, but it motivated me to no end. I became aware that if I didn't do something fast, I'd be a 40 something working a job I hated for little money... and that sucks! Now, I can actually talk about saving some dough for Katie's college and (fingers crossed)retirement one day. We can talk about the possibility of getting a bigger home and the honeymoon that we never had. So many things come with this job, it's really exciting.

I don't think I have ever done something for my family and for myself bigger than this. I feel proud, as if I can finally hold my head up high. I can look my wife in the eyes and say I did it! I made my own luck for once instead of waiting for something to happen, I made it happen. Enough of the self exuberance, it's time to start thinking about how I'm going to spend my well earned cash, just kidding.

Kind of.......lol

STRESSED....

2011-10-05T07:00:00.001-05:00

I won't go into great detail about this but I'm definitely stressed out. Between the baptism of Katie this past Saturday and right now, things have become increasingly tight in my little world. I have several HUGE things wrapped inside my mind and unfortunately I can't seem to get them out. One has to do with my Mom and the other is about work. The work situation isn't as dire as the Mother thing but it's equally stressful. My job is safe, it's the job I'm trying to get that has me in knots. It's a corporate position, full time with a pay raise and a guaranteed 88 hours every two weeks. It's the biggest opportunity I have ever had in my career at the company. To say this would be life changing would drastically understate everything.

Meanwhile, my Mom is a whole other ball of wax. Since she lost her husband(my step father) in June of '09, she hasn't been the same person. She has no idea who she is in the world, what she wants or what do do about anything. She's an emotional wreck and it's slowly tearing me apart. My Mom and I aren't close like Kim and her Mother are and it's not even close. I grew up alone, without a sibling and a Father and my Mom was either working or with my stepfather 99% of the time. I was third on a list of three. I spent my childhood in my room and I never had friends over, I went to everyone's house instead. I played sports all my life yet my Mother and Father never saw a single game in any sport that I played, not one. I wasn't abused, I was simply ignored. Now my Mom is in a state where she doesn't have my stepfather to tell her what to do(not in a bad way, he was just a quiet man who knew what he didn't like) and it's driving her crazy. She doesn't know how to make decisions for herself since she's always been told what to do. I'm literally at my wits end.

Between preparing for this job, my Mom's mental health and normal everyday life, it's exhausting. Something has to give, luckily for me the job interview will be next Wednesday which means no later than 8 days from now I will know my fate. As far as my Mother goes, I can't say. I'm to the point where I have to confront her about her lack of motivation and her "woe is me" attitude to do anything and I don't want to do that, but I will. My stomach is literally in knots thinking about this stuff, I hate this feeling...

Day 162

2011-09-30T19:00:00.001-05:00

Holy shit balls!

Was that not the most exciting final day in the history of baseball, I think so. The Rays were dead in the water on September 2nd, 9 games back. Boston was red hot and looking towards October Baseball. Suddenly, the Red Sox starters couldn't get an out and their hitters couldn't find the water the Rays had been swimming in if they fell out of a boat. Boston starters ERA in September...7.07. Team record...7-20. The Rays went a very good but not great 17-10. Watching the epic meltdown of Papelbon was shear magic for me. My distaste for Boston sports is well known(Patriots and Red Sox fans mostly, throw in some Celtic wagon riders while your at it).

Coming back from 7 runs down in the bottom of the 8th inning against the Yankees, priceless. You think the Sox felt an extra bit of hatred for the Yankees after that? The Sox were down to getting a single strike/out, so were the Rays. How it ended will be remembered for eternity. Every single moment someone speaks of an epic collapse, they will think of this night and this month in Baseball. 3 minutes separated the teams from total failure to whimsical winners. A solo shot from Dan Johnson with 2 strikes and 2 outs was improbable to say the least. He had one HR all year(In April no less). Longoria then proved why he's the Rays franchise player, by hitting only the second regular season walk off HR to clinch a playoff birth ever(Bobby Thompson anyone?). John Papelbon might want to take a second and think about why he only throws fastballs. Carl Crawford might want to find a happy place. Theo Epstein and Terry Francona might be looking for jobs.

The Braves on the other hand had the mighty Phillies to deal with while the Cardinals had the worst team in MLB to help them out. This didn't seem so unreal to happen. I knew the Cards would win, but the Braves could have won and that's the disappointing part. I've said it for a month now, the Braves young arms were being used to much and it finally caught up to them. At least Atlanta fans can soak in this thought:

The Red Sox blew the largest lead in Baseball history(9 game lead)with 27 to play. If not, the Braves 8 1/2 game lead would be talked about a lot more.

This is Baseball. You never quite know the outcome, no matter what the teams look like on paper or even on the field. No one knows what might happen. This is why you never say never. This is why Baseball is so dramatic. Every pitch is meaningful, every out is big, every batter could be a hero. 162 games is a ton and this year it took everyone of them to prove who's worthy of the playoffs. Now, it's anyone's game to win or lose. My Giants are dethroned, is there a new Cinderella out there? If so, who is it?

Nevermind - 20 years

2011-09-27T07:00:00.001-05:00

Do you know this man?
He's the actual baby from the original Nevermind album re-creates his infant-swimming iconographic album cover two decades later to celebrate the anniversary of Nirvana's classic rock album. 9-24-91 Time flies.

The Great MO

2011-09-20T07:00:00.001-05:00

Anyone that knows about Baseball knows Mariano Rivera is arguably the greatest closer ever. I for one can't think of an argument to say otherwise. The Sandman, right arm of God, whatever you call him, he's the best at what he does. He's Gretzky, Air Jordan and Joe Montana, but in Baseball. Mo just collected his 602nd career save yesterday passing the future HOFame bound Trevor Hoffman for first all time. Jason Stark(the stat guru)points out just how great Mo has been, is and will be in his latest column.

If you really needed to see Mariano Rivera break the "all-time" saves record to anoint him as The Greatest Closer ever, we need to ask you this question immediately:

What the heck have you been watching for the past decade and a half?

This man would have been The Greatest Closer Ever if he'd retired a week ago, or a year ago, or even five years ago.

Mariano Rivera

#42 Relief Pitcher
New York Yankees

2011 STATS

GM61
IP59.0
SV43
BB7
K57
ERA1.98

He's a special man, with a special gift and a special pitch. And he's been riding that pitch and that gift to a level of dominance we shouldn't need a record -- any record -- to pay notice.

But sometimes these historic moments cause us to take a step back and admire men like this, and their unparalleled feats, in a whole new light. So let's do that now, as Three Strikes salutes the brilliance of Mariano Rivera:

Strike One -- Beyond Compare Dept.

There's no better way to measure any player than to compare him to his peers. Except in The Great Mariano's case, does he even have any peers?

He now has saved 602 regular-season baseball games. Not a single other active pitcher is within 100 of him. Or 200 of him. Or even 250 of him. Seriously.

The No. 2 active reliever in career saves is Francisco Cordero -- who is 279 saves behind, with 323.

So what does this mean? It means that Rivera has an incomprehensible 86.4 percent more saves than the CLOSEST active reliever. That's 86.4 percent.

And if your first thought is, "Has any other record-breaker in this sport towered over his "peers" quite like that?" We now have an answer:

No way.

We swapped a bunch of emails last week with loyal reader Chris Isidore on this topic -- and he got so fascinated, he went looking for somebody, anybody, who had a greater margin at the time he broke any other prestigious career record. And nobody turned up. Nobody.

• Babe Ruth? Nope. Back in 1921, when he set the career home-run record with his 139th, that was only 63.5 percent more homers than Home Run Baker (85), who ranked No. 2 at the time.

• Rickey Henderson? Sorry. When he swiped his 939th base in 1991, that was only 47.4 percent more at the time than Tim Raines (637). In fact, Lou Brock had a greater margin (50 percent) over Bert Campaneris 16 years earlier when he set the record Rickey eventually broke.

• Pete Rose? 'Fraid not. When he set the all-time hits record with his 4,190th in 1985, Rod Carew was at 3,030 (a 38.3-percent gap).

• Cy Young? Not even on the same radar screen. The all-time wins record was only 366 when Young broke it in 1903. So he was only 11 percent ahead of Kid Nichols, who was at 329.

In fact, Isidore found only one other gap that was higher than 38 percent. That was Walter Johnson's pad of 57.5 percent over Grover Cleveland Alexander when Johnson set the all-time strikeouts record in 1921.

Now we recognize it's almost laughable to use the term "all-time" to describe this saves record when, in fact, the save rule has only existed for about four decades. But all of Rivera's "peers" have been doing their thing in this same, save-crazed era he's been pitching in. And of the seven other active relievers with 200 saves or more, six are in their 30s and five are age 33 or older.

So it's hard to look at ANY other active pitcher in the game and think he has a realistic chance to break this record. And that, friends, is saying something.

Strike Two -- To The Whip

You know the biggest problem with this record? It's that it's causing us to celebrate a guy for compiling one of the most overrated stats in the history of Stat Land.

Not that saves are not particularly misleading in Mariano Rivera's case, but they can sure be dubious in general. So let's look elsewhere in our quest to define this man's greatness:

At WHIP, for instance.

Rivera has been pitching in the big leagues for 17 seasons now. And he's done something that ought to be impossible in this day and age. Check this out:

Innings pitched: 1,209
Baserunners (via hits and walks): 1,207

So what's his career WHIP? You can round it off to 1.00, but if you head far enough right of the decimal points, it's actually 0.9983. Loyal reader Aaron Heider has been tracking this for us for more than a year. And the more we think about it, the more we realize it's the most underappreciated stat on Rivera's whole encyclopedia page.

Try to comprehend this. Try to digest what it means to make more than 1,000 appearances, face more than 4,000 hitters and still somehow allow fewer baserunners than innings pitched.

Among all the pitchers who ever worked more than 1,000 innings in the big leagues -- and there have been more than 1,100 of them -- you know how many other men have had a lifetime WHIP of 1.00 or lower? Exactly two.

One was Addie Joss (0.97). He threw his last pitch in 1910.

The other was Big Ed Walsh (0.9996). He packed it in back in 1917.

In other words, this was achieved once by two guys who pitched, like, a century ago. And then NOBODY else did it -- until Mariano Rivera came along.

Only two pitchers from Rivera's approximate era have even come close -- Trevor Hoffman (1.06) and Pedro Martinez (1.05). Might as well start chiseling their Hall of Fame plaques right now.

Even if we lower the bar to 500 innings, we can find only one other modern reliever with a WHIP in Rivera's area code -- the underrated Billy Wagner 0.998 -- in 903 innings.

Next lowest by any active reliever: 1.108, by Joe Nathan (in 726 2/3 innings).

Next lowest by an active reliever with 1,000 innings or more: 1.304, by Arthur Rhodes.

Are we all in agreement that WHIP tells us infinitely more about any pitcher's level of dominance than his saves total? Of course, we are (meaning all those who disagree are now free to leave us and get back to work on their fantasy synchronized-swimming roster).

And if we are, isn't this debate officially over? Correct answer: Yessir.

Strike Three -- Useless Domination Dept.

In other news …

• In 10 of Rivera's 17 seasons, he's had an ERA under 2.00. Next most by any relief pitcher in history (in seasons of 50 innings or more) is six, by Wagner and Hoyt Wilhelm. The only pitcher in any role with more seasons with a sub-2.00 ERA: Walter Johnson (11).

• Rivera is headed for his eighth season with a WHIP lower than 1.00. The only other relief pitcher ever to do that: Wagner (also eight). The only starting pitcher in history with more seasons under 1.00: Johnson (nine).

• In all these years, Rivera has blown only 72 saves -- in 674 opportunities. That's two fewer blown saves than our old amigo Dan Plesac had in his entire career -- in 242 opportunities.

• In 15 trips to the postseason, Rivera has held the best hitters on the best teams on earth, in the most important games of his career, to this remarkable slash line: .176/.213/.229. When we went searching for any active hitter who hits like that, you know who we came up with? Zach Duke (.176/.205/.217). Yeah, he's a pitcher. When we confined that search only to active position players, we got Drew Butera (.172/.209/.252). In other words, when the Yankees have sent this man to the mound in October, he's turned EVERY hitter he's faced into the equivalent of a good-fielding, light-hitting back-up catcher, or a pitcher with a half-decent clue about what that piece of ash is used for. Unreal.

• Finally, there's one more modern stat that speaks volumes about any pitcher, and that's Adjusted ERA-Plus. And what's Rivera's Adjusted ERA-Plus for his career? How about 205 -- meaning he's pitched more than 50 percent better than your average pitcher. Just to put that in perspective, the only active starting pitcher who has ever had an Adjusted ERA-Plus that good just for one SEASON is Zack Greinke, who hit 205 on the nose in his 2009 Cy Young season. And the only active closers who have had more than TWO seasons with an Adjusted ERA-Plus that good are Nathan (with five) and Jonathan Papelbon (with three). Rivera? He's had 12. But if we head back to the career list, as Chris Isidore points out, the next best Adjusted ERA-Plus by any pitcher in history is 154 -- by Pedro Martinez. There are 575 pitchers within 50 points of Pedro -- but NOBODY within 50 points of Mariano Rivera.

So what most people are saluting at this historic moment is this man's save total. But what we prefer to salute is the astonishing career that produced all those saves. And friends, there has never been another career like it.

That's a case that should have been closed a long, long time ago -- long before this man collected Save No. 602, anyway.

BB 13 season recap

2011-09-16T12:13:00.004-05:00

So Rachel somehow won BB13 in surprising fashion. I say surprising because of the voting. We all knew who was voting for whom, or so we thought. Shelley of all people ended up giving Rachel the money and not Adam. The same Shelley who throughout the entire season in the house hated on, talked trash about and flat out hated Rachel. Whoda' thunk it?

Watching the voters(Jury house) talk it out and then on live air talk some more was interesting. Dani, who I could never pull for, seemed to point out how she was the mastermind in the breaking up of the vets and Dick selling that idea made it even worse. Well, good for you if that's a good enough consolation prize for your ego. Personally, finishing 7th isn't a big deal in anything in my opinion. Her final thoughts to Rachel and Jeff summed up exactly what I thought about her all along. Egotistical, self centered and mean like her dad. I really wanted to like her but in the end, her personality overcame everything else and killed any hope she had in my eyes.

Kalia is a bitch, jut like Dani. They deserve each other. Played your own game? Really? You rode her coattails like Adam rode the house until the last 2 weeks. You and Dani were HOH's and didn't get rid of the one person everyone wanted out, Rachel. Now Rachel has 500 G's and you and Dani have jack shit. I hope that festers into both of their hearts for a long time. Being evil and hating on folks in a game is uncalled for, especially when Rachel was a target day one.

Jeff wins fan favorite, which I called. Why did he win it? Because he played a fair game with honor, stayed true to his word yet competed and dominated for 8 weeks. Plus he's funny as hell... I still don't get why people call him a bully. Because he won't put up with bullshit? No one does...He speaks his mind and does exactly what he says he will do, my kind of guy and my favorite BB player ever!

Adam had a chance but as usual, choked it away. He probably got a lot further than he should have but he floated a long way, under the radar and sometimes that can get you in contention. I personally like the guy.

Porsche played well in the last 3 weeks, I'll give that to her. She was really good in competitions that involved endurance like Rachel was. Her biggest problem is that she's an idiot when it comes down to questions and trivia. I never had a problem with her and truthfully, she wasn't even a factor until week 7 or 8. Ultimate floater that almost won if Shelley hadn't flipped at the last second. Scary thought.

It seems like floating gets you a lot further than playing hard and winning early. You don't become a target but if you manage to last long in the house it will catch up to you in the end ala Adam and Porsche. No one wants to give the big prize to people who don't do anything but hang out for 3/4 of the time they live there and I don't blame them. I would vote exactly how Jeff and Brendon vote. Vote based on performance first, then social game. Performance can be summed up by your achievements, social game can be full of lies and deceit. Anyone can lie to people but rewarding a player such as Shelley(who confessed that it was the only way she could compete, and I agree mostly) wouldn't be right. Big moves are risky and usually end up getting you booted from the house. I say the winning formula is to try and become buddies with almost everyone(like Jordan) and get labeled as a nice person. Then play well enough to not look like Adam all year in competitions. Once some bigger threats get pushed out, because they will, make your move if you haven't done so already. Being good but not great can do wonders, the goal here is to achieve a shadow over strong players without standing out as a threat. Past winners like Jordan and Rachel were lacking in certain area's(gameplay/Jordan, social play/Rachel)but they overcame them by doing other things great. Other winners like Hayden(who was an overall great player) created monster alliances and side safety valves. These formulas can get you into the jury house at minimum.

Side note: I can't stand Julie Chen. She's rude, rushes players for everything and interrupts them constantly. I don't see the appeal to her and frankly, I wouldn't miss her if she ever left.

Here are my awards for various things this season:

Biggest floater: Porsche, Adam, Kalia
Biggest whiner: Kalia, Rachel
Dumb ass of the year: Lawon, Keith, Porsche(Pandora's box)
Biggest Ego: Dani, Kalia, Jeff
Worst game move: Kalia not evicting Rachel week 4, Shelley playing Jeff and Jordan, Lawon asking to be on the block
Best game move: Jeff evicting Dani, Kalia evicting Jeff
Player who could have won but didn't: Jeff, Dani, Shelley
Biggest liar: Shelley, Kalia
Worst social game: Porsche, Rachel
Best competitor: Rachel, Jeff, Brendon, Dani
Best social game: Adam, Jordan, Shelley(until her big move, otherwise she'd be #1)

Can't wait for next season.

The Substitute

2011-09-16T07:00:00.002-05:00

This is a short article by Jim Caple who covers MLB.

When this season began way back in late March, Steve Delabar was earning $75 a day as a substitute teacher in Elizabethtown, Ky. He was a couple of months shy of turning 28, had a steel plate and screws in his right arm, an ugly scar from Tommy John surgery and had been out of baseball for two years. He had never pitched higher than Class A ball and his last pro baseball game was in the independent Canadian-American League for the Brockton Rox. His most recent competitive action on a field, however, had been playing softball -- slow-pitch softball.

Now we're in the middle of September, and barely five months removed from coaching a high school team, Delabar is pitching in the major leagues for the Seattle Mariners. And Wednesday night he earned his first major league victory by pitching a scoreless inning against the New York Yankees on national TV. Dennis Quaid, call your agent.

"It's the coolest thing ever,'' said Seattle teammate Tom Wilhelmsen, who has his own amazing backstory. "The guy was teaching last year and he comes in and gets a win against the Yankees! Maybe they should make a movie. Or just watch a Mariners game -- then you'll have it live for you there.''

Delabar is still signed up to substitute-teach this fall but isn't sure what he'll do after the season ends. If he does return to the classroom, this is what he will tell his students.

"Whatever they want to do, stick with it," Delabar said this week in the Mariners' dugout while watching Derek Jeter and the Yankees take batting practice. "If their hearts are in it and that's what they really want to do, then they have to stick with it. This is something I always wanted to do since I was little. I even grew up a Mariners fan. For it to go the way it has, I just tell people it's awesome. That's the word I tell people -- awesome, great, amazing. I love it."

September is the month when the regular season ends and interest wanes for fans of teams out of contention. Which is a shame, because September is also the month filled with rewarding stories.

Great stuff. And people wonder why my love for Baseball runs so deep.

NFL week 1

2011-09-14T19:00:00.001-05:00

I usually don't blog about the NFL and here's why, it's already covered by everyone. Everywhere you look, it's there in plain sight. I, of course, have my own thoughts and opinions about it and here they are.

People are talking a lot about the kickoff rule(from the 35 instead of the 30), I really don't see the point so far. Less injuries? No way, it's football, Steven Jackson hurt his quad by running away from the defense untouched. In the NFL, anyone at any time can get rolled over or demolished by a hit. Trying to get more touch backs only accomplishes one thing,fewer exciting plays. With that said, through week 1, 8 kickoff's were run back for TD's, a new NFL record. Fixing what isn't broken is a waste of time in my opinion.

The lockout proved one thing to me, defenses are way behind the offenses. Most would think it would be just the opposite but that's just not the case here. Tom Brady, Cam Newton, Chad Henne and Drew Brees all passed over 400 yards this weekend. One of those guys was a rookie in his first NFL start. In all, 14 of the 32 starting QB's hit the 300+ mark. Defenses will catch up and offenses will slow down, believe that!

Why all the talk about Tebow already? I know he's a fan favorite and all because he's a nice guy but seriously? He's a 3rd string QB behind BRADY QUINN. If that doesn't say something, nothing will. Kyle Orton didn't lose that game(308 yards, 1TD, 1INT), the lack of defense(Broncos were 31st last year) and no running game did them in(33 total yards). This is why I can't pull for Tebow, his fans are ignorant as hell.

If I were to tell you that my 49ers would win a game in which they had 124 passing yards and went 1-12 on 3rd down, would you believe me?Thanks Ted Ginn for having 50 more total yards(268-218)than the entire offense and taking a pay cut before the game, priceless...

The Patriots look unstoppable, at least for one game they did. Can't say that about the Steelers or Cowboys and that makes me happy as a murf. Tony Romo isn't a winner, he's a choke artist plain and simple. The Packers are for real and the Saints will be tough once again. The Eagles proved to me how good they can be and how the Falcons aren't what we thought they were.

Matt Ryan and Joe Flacco are basically the same player in my eyes except for one small thing. Flacco has 4 playoff victories(all on the road), Ryan is 0-2(both home games). Their stats are almost identical for their careers.

Flacco - 61.9% 10,430YDS 63TD 34INT 88.5 Rating 26 years old

Ryan - 60.9% 10,380YDS 66TD 35INT 88.6Rating 26 years old

Who'd you rather have?

Cam Newton is a beast and I can totally see why someone payed his Dad that money and can't fathom why anyone would draft Tim Tebow in the first round. Weren't they the same player in college?

3 Teams that surprised me: Buffalo, Chicago, Washington
3 Teams that underachieved: Pittsburgh, Atlanta, Cleveland

The love affair people have with Tom Brady sickens me. Hearing the praise and the the flat out worship of a player is disgusting. He's great, no doubt, but the people who are in the booth should tone it down a notch or take his penis out of their throat.

I fully expect this teams to bounce back week 2: Pittsburgh at home vs. Seattle(with the ref who cost the hawks the Superbowl I might add).

Game of the week: Chicago at New Orleans or Philadelphia at Atlanta(Mike Vick goes home)

Stinker of the week: Cleveland at Indy

The Champs...

2011-09-07T13:26:00.003-05:00

Everyone knows my love for Baseball runs deep, deeper than most people's love for ice cream or a 3 day weekend. My SFGiants are currently the defending world champions of Baseball, but this won't be the case in 3 weeks if something drastic doesn't happen. The Giants currently sit in 2nd place with 21 games to go, trailing the Dbacks by 6 games(they meet for 3 more later this month in Arizona). Jason Stark(a Baseball blogger, ESPN employee and fellow stat geek)had this to say today on his blog about my Giants and their total lack of an offense.

Remember, these Giants have one of the best pitching staff's in Baseball. They rank no worse than 2nd in 10 of 16 pitching categories. Their margin of error is so small, it's amazing that they are a winning ball club. With that said...

Jason Stark-
Well, here goes. The 2011 Giants are averaging a mind-boggling 3.39 runs per game. Which means that, if they keep this up, they're going to score a mere 550 runs this year. And friends, that's not good. But here's how really, really not good it is:

• Only three teams in the last quarter-century have scored 550 runs or fewer in any full season.

One was last year's historically inept Mariners, who scored 513 -- and lost 101 games.

The second was Jose Offerman's 1992 Dodgers, who scored 548, lost 99 games and had one player on the roster (Eric Karros) who drove in more than 39 runs.

The third was Jeff Stone's 1988 Orioles. That team scored exactly 550. It also lost 21 games in a row to kick off the season and finished up 54-107.

But to link these Giants with those teams makes it sound as if at least they have a little company. And that's misleading. Why? Because this is THE WORLD SERIES CHAMPIONS we're talking about. That's why and they currently sit at 75-67.

And the fact is, no defending champs IN THE HISTORY OF BASEBALL have ever had as much trouble crossing home plate as this team.

If we ignore complications like labor debacles, you know the last team to win the World Series one year and score 550 runs or fewer the next year? That would be Nemo Leibold's 1918 White Sox. They scored a mere 457. But because of World War 1, their season was shortened to 124 games. So they scored 3.69 a game -- way more than these Giants.

If we look at "full" seasons, then, the only other defending champs that's even in this neighborhood was Doc Hoblitzell's 1916 Red Sox. They scored 550 on the nose. But that was in 156 games -- which computes to 3.53 a game. And you don't need a TI-84 to know that also would be considerably more than these Giants.

So if you catch our drift, by now you've figured this out. Barring a monumental offensive resurgence in the next three weeks, the 2011 Giants are going down in history -- by scoring fewer runs per game THAN ANY INCUMBENT WORLD SERIES WINNER EVER.

And again, that was EVER. In the live-ball era. In the dead-ball era. In any era. EVER.

Now it's still possible, technically, for them to avoid that fate. But by our calculations, they're going to have to score 91 runs in their last 20 games to do that -- a level of offensive eptitude they've reached in just one 20-game stretch all year (late June, early July). And if they don't reach it again, well, we have a feeling we won't be talking about Doc Hoblitzell and his 1916 Red Sox next year at this time -- or any year at this time.

Long Weekend

2011-09-07T07:00:00.001-05:00

My 3 day weekend started off by almost being a 4 day weekend. My boss had told me the day earlier that I might get Friday off as well as Monday, well she never called and I went in anyway. Turns out she wanted to call me and tell me to take off but they don't allow managers to do that anymore. So I thank Fedex once again for making something so simple, so difficult. I go to work and stay for 15 minutes, then turn around and go home. It's definitely frustrating since it takes 20 minutes at least to get to my area from the main screening area. So I "worked" for 15 minutes but I was gone for 1 hour and 15 minutes.

Saturday was basically a wash. I had two events planned(birthday party, FF draft) throughout the day. The Bday party was awkward at best. Kim didn't know 90% of the people there and I knew maybe half. I thought it was a family Bday party, it wasn't. Instead it was a friends party and it wasn't very fun to be at. Cashion(my cousin) was super cute in his Air Jordan outfit top to bottom and he never fussed which was normal to me. Katie on the other hand was an angel til 4pm when she went ballistic on us. Too many kids and toys mixed in with nap time looming spelled doom. We left, barely staying an hour.

I had my draft at Chad's house in MS, 25 minutes away. It started at 8pm and as always, I arrive early(5 minutes), of course, no one was there. I call Richie and he's 5 minutes away, problem is, Chad isn't home. Apparently Chad, his wife and another FF member were at church for something and were running late. Anyway, we ate and hung out a while, waiting on another member who didn't show til 10:15 because he was at another draft. I had one pick and should have just called it in, stupid Jeff.

Sunday was different. We went to church(catholic church to be exact) at 12:15pm. First off, that in itself was strange to me, starting so late, I'm use to getting out by noon. I was going to wear a tie and button up but was told not to, no one dresses up there, really? So I go with a polo and khaki's. We sit in a room that is directly behind the entire service. It has speakers and a window so we can see and hear the service without making noise since we had Katie and Penny with us. It was strange to be so isolated for nearly an hour and a half in a closed off room. The service was my first in a catholic church and I must admit, I was very uncomfortable. You get up and then sit down over and over so much, it was so frustrating. I'm used to once or twice and that's it. I couldn't follow anything they were doing because the speaker in the room wasn't on so you couldn't really hear anything and it was back and fourth between singing and preaching. I had no clue what they were doing, I felt so out of place.

We leave and go eat at Patricks for a nice lunch before I go home and change. I picked up Cory and we headed to Will's for a Madden franchise night. We spent 4 hours sitting there while Will formatted, tweaked and changed various little things before we ever drafted a single player. We created our own players from our likeness + a bit of excessive intangibles so our players wouldn't suck. By 7:30pm(we got there at 3:30)we started our first game. Originally we were supposed to eat lunch with Will and he was going to cookout a bunch of man food. Since we ate before we didn't but figured by 7 or 8 we would start cooking, we were wrong. By 10pm Cory was wondering about it and asked "when are we eating dinner"? Will responds with "since you guys ate lunch before you came I'm just gonna cookout tomorrow". Uh, okay. So we never ate dinner. We play 6 games before we realize it's 3am so we get moving.

Monday I decided to call up Cory and Steph to see if they would be interested in going to the fair that night. They were headed to Sam's Club to get a mattress and I tagged along thinking it wouldn't take long. I was wrong. They decide to take the mattress home themselves instead of forking $50+, I don't blame them. The problem was we didn't have anything to strap the mattress to the car so she went home. 45 minutes later she comes back, we strap it on and manage to get a mile away before I'm getting out, pushing the mattress back on the car. The wind was so strong that it was taking it off the car even though we were only going 25 MPH. We stop 2 or 3 more times before getting to S+C's house. Cory eventually drops me off and I give Kim her hour old hot dog which managed to still be hot.

Katie took her nap as usual, then we headed to the fair. We piled up in the Pilot to save $5 per car and arrived around 7:45pm. We quickly grabbed some overpriced fair grub since rides were out of the question anyway. I had the cajun chicken on a stick for $7. It was really good but lacked the "cajun" taste I was looking for, still yummy though. Kim and Steph got a footlong pronto pup for $5.50 each. Cory got the $7 cheesesteak which was smaller than it should have been and lacked flavor besides the cheese(his words). We get Katie some $3 nachos and I get a drink for $5 without ever getting a refill...dang it! Kim gets her $4 4-H corn while Cory gets the Saratoga chips w/bacon bits and cheese for $6 bucks. C+S think the chips are soggy and are just okay, Kim's 4-H corn is off tha hook as usual. We walk around a bit, take some pics and begin to leave around 9:15pm. Steph gets her "traditional' funnel cake for $5 while we search for a prize for Katie. We eventually get her a toy trumpet which makes her extremely happy since she couldn't ride any rides yet. I manage to bump into Betsy from softball circa '08 and get the ball rolling on me playing some ball before I die, I'm super happy about this...

We end the weekend by hitting up BK since all I had for dinner was a chicken on a stick. I try the California Whopper which has bacon and guacamole. Not bad, but it's no regular Whopper. I get home and get an email from Chad saying our new site for FFootball is up and running, less than 3 days before the season starts, cutting it a bit close. All in all it was a decent weekend. As usual, it goes by way to quickly.

The Best in Memphis

2011-09-02T07:00:00.001-05:00

Memphis Most did their annual list of the best dining, entertainment, Health and Fitness, places, nightlife and shopping. I'm here to comment on the dining aspect since most of the other things don't appeal to me. Here is the top three from each category in 2011.

2011 Dining winners and 2010 finish: NR = not ranked

Best Bakery:
1. Muddy's - Winner in 2010
2. Place La Baguette - 2nd in 2010
3. GiGi's NR

I'm sure my friends and family are pleased with this result. I however can't spend $2 on a cupcake, sorry.

Best BBQ Ribs:
1. Rendezvous - 3rd in 2010
2. Corky's - 2nd in 2010
3. Central BBQ - NR

Really Memphis? #'s 1 and 2, how original...

Best BBQ Sandwich:
1. Central BBQ - 2nd place 2010
2. Corky's - Winner in 2010
3. Germantown Commissary - NR

Again, the obsession with Corky's??? Never had Central but have always heard good things about it. Commissary was really good the one time I went.

Best Biscuits:
1. Red Lobster - NR
2. Bryant's Breakfast - NR
3. Cracker Barrel - NR

Somewhere Kim is smiling since she loves #1 and 3 like no other person on earth. Always wanted to try Bryant's. Red Lobster is always on my shit list since their service is always horrible and the food is average at best for the price you pay, not worth going for biscuits alone in my opinion. CB is always good but the biscuits are made by the jelly and jam you put on them.

Best Breakfast:
1. Brother Junipers - 2010 Winner
2. Bryant's - 2nd place 2010
3. Cracker Barrel - NR

Never had #'s 1 or 3 and couldn't even tell you where Juniper's was. CB is an obvious choice(Big Boy Breakfast or sunrise sampler).

Best Burger:
1. Huey's - 2010 Winner
2. Topps BBQ - 2nd Place 2010
3. Belmont - 3rd Place 2010

Huey's always wins this and I can never understand why that is. They haven't been the best burger in nearly a decade. I've always heard really good things about Topps' burger but can't seems to go there for one, just seems odd to me. Belmont is always top notch and I would put them either #2 or even #1 along with Half Shell's burger. Memphis, take a chance for once, jeez!

Best Business Lunch:
1. Houston's - 2nd place 2010
2. Buckley's - 2010 winner
3. Majestic Grill - NR

Any of these are great choices, I personally love Buckley's and Houston's, never been to Majestic Grill.

Best Catfish:
1. Soul Fish Cafe - 2010 Winner
2. Olive Branch Catfish Co. - 2nd place 2010
3. Flying Fish - NR

Never been to any of these places even though I love fried catfish.

Best Deli:
1. Fino's Italian Grocery - 2010 Winner
2. Jason's Deli - NR
3. Lenny's - 3rd place 2010

Never even heard of #1 which probably means it's in Midtown or even further west. You can't go wrong with #'s 2 and 3. Lenny's chicken philly is phenomenal.

Best Memphis Donut:
1. Gibson's - 2010 Winner
2. Howard's - 2nd place 2010
3. Krispy Kreme - 3rd place 2010

Hard to win in a category of Memphis Donut if in fact your company isn't from Memphis. Gibson's is great as long as you get them fresh or within the first several hours, after that they get stale pretty quickly. Never had Howards' and KK is always my favorite but we only have 2 in the city...in the ghetto'.

Best Pizza:
1. MPC - 2010 Winner
2. Exline's - NR
3. Giribaldi's - NR

You must be joking Memphis. Exline's? What a joke. Mellow Mushroom is 2nd on their worst day. MPC and Giribaldi's are both great pizza places. Fox Ridge Pizza is also really good, just crappy service.

Best Seafood:
1. Bonefish - 2010 winner
2. Tsunami - 2nd place 2010
3. Half Shell - 3rd place 2010

Never had the first two places but would go if asked. Half Shell is one of my favorite restaurant's in the city, never had a bad meal there, ever!

Best Southern Fried Chicken:
1. Gus's - 2010 winner
2. Jack Pirtle's - 2nd place 2010
3. Popeye's - 3rd place 2010

I just laugh at #3 since it's a chain, it's like saying KFC or Church's is original. I would figure Uncle Lou's would have been on here from the reviews I've heard. Of course I don't eat fried chicken unless that's my only option which is never. Pirtle's has great gravy, good fries and a wonderful steak sandwich.

Best Steak:
1. Folk's Folly - 2010 winner
2. The Butcher Shop - NR
3. Ruth's Chris - 3rd place 2010

It's hilarious to me that I was just commenting on Chris' blog about these exact places. FF is top notch and worth the price I promise. Butcher Shop is also very good. Never had RC since Kim refuses to spend that kind of money on a chain steakhouse when she could go to FF for the same $, I agree.

Best Sunday Brunch:
1. Owen Brennan's - 2010 Winner
2. The Peabody - 2nd place 2010
3. The Beauty Shop - NR

I've had OB once, it was a bad experience for me but not because of the food(long story). Never had the other two. I'm not a brunch kind of guy anyway and The Beauty Shop's name turns me off of food because I think of hair when I hear it, sorry.

So there it is, last years winners followed by the 2010 rankings. It kills me to see any chain restaurants on here(chain meaning in other cities, not just locally). Why call it Memphis ___ if you have national chains on your list? Just sayin'

Dad Dad Daddio

2011-08-31T12:58:00.005-05:00

That's a Back to the Future reference by the way...(Dad Dad Daddio)

This is a more personal blog posting:

I sent an Email to my cousin Adam yesterday. It's been quite a while since I spoke with him and even longer since I saw him(his Dad's funeral on 4-6-09). His dad was my Dad's little brother. Adam is one of two blood relatives I have on my Dad's side of the family, the other is his sister Andrea. Adam graduated FSU law school in May and took the Bar exam recently. He did all of this AFTER his dad(my uncle)passed away. I felt the need to acknowledge his huge accomplishments after his devastating loss at such a young age since I had experienced the same loss at 20 years old. He expressed to me how he was slowly rotting away by studying so hard for so long to make a good living for himself. He hasn't gotten the results from the bar exam yet but said if he somehow failed, he'd go at it again. This conversation was brought upon him when I was telling him how Kim and I were doing.

I told him that Kim was doing very well at work but was under-appreciated and underpaid for all the work she has done. I told him that I felt that my dad would be ashamed at me knowing how he was in life, successful, well off and a power player in his business. I told him that I was a lucky man to have Kim support me and that I did what I could job wise. I told him that money has never driven me to do better because I saw what it did to my dad, he lived and breathed the all mighty dollar but sacrificed his son and their relationship to get it. He expressed how he knew money had driven his parents apart years ago somehow and that he knew it didn't bring happiness. He told me that I'm a very lucky man(which I have never doubted)and that I was the richest man in the world. A healthy daughter, a nice home and a loving wife that makes money(his mom was a stay at home wife). He also said that he hopes he can have such a prefect family when he's my age(he's 25 now). He told me that he's worried about his future because it will only consist of trying to make more money and drinking too much to ease the pain of working all the time(a family trait)and being alone, I felt bad.

Kim and Katie

It's crazy being a dad in today's world. It seems so far removed from our fathers days of being the sole bread winner. Women have surpassed men in college attendance and are working towards being where men were, alone at the top of the food chain work wise. I have that feeling deep inside my gut that says Kim should be at home and I should provide, but I do provide, just in different ways. Since I don't have a job that makes the money my father made or Adam's father did I work nights. This allows me to have free daycare and more importantly, a relationship with my daughter, something my dad never had with me. Adam on the other hand had a relationship with his dad, and a good one, but he now struggles with thinking his success in the world will be his downfall at home. Would I trade a single life filled with money and a career but no one to share it with? Is having less really having more? It's like you have to trade one for the other, at least in my world it is.

I saw my father die of cancer rather quickly, he was scared to die alone. All that money, the fancy cars and humongous houses he lived in by himself added up to what at the end, nothing? He ended up living with his little brother in their spare bedroom because I was too young to do it and he had no one else. Adam's dad died knowing he had made a huge mistake by leaving his wife for another woman, only to regret that decision later on. He worked so much he saw the lady he worked with, and eventually dated her instead of being with his own wife. Obviously this is my families situation, it's not the common thread but it's all I have to compare. My dad never played catch with me and he never took me to a ballgame, a boy's typical childhood memory so I've heard. He didn't teach me how to talk to girls or give me any advice on how to avoid smelling like a dirty sock. I barely knew the guy on the inside, just the outer layers.

MOM AND DAD>>>

My dad was a monster in my eyes. He scared the shit out of me. He never laid a hand on me, not once, but he was so intimidating because he had a tremendous temper and demeanor about him. I knew he had done things in the past that I wouldn't be proud to admit. I slowly figured him out over time. I became who I am without my dad's leadership, his advice or any of his knowledge. I'd like to think I managed to turn out okay for a guy who had a mom who I barely saw because she had to work for us and a dad I saw twice a year at best. I swore to myself to be better than him and in some ways I have, I'm a better dad and husband than he ever was. What if my dad had been there for me all these years, would I be the same person I am today? Would I have wealth and a great career, probably. Would I be an asshole, probably. Would I have Kim and Katie, no, no I wouldn't. So that's my answer to this riddle. But the real question is why can't we have all of it? I see families with all of those things, or do I? Adam grew up in that family, together with money and daddy had a career while mom stayed home. Look at what he worries about now that he's grown up.

Isn't life a total mindfuck sometimes?

For One Night Only

2011-08-29T12:19:00.004-05:00

So Saturday afternoon a proposition came a calling on our phone. Kim's Mom decided to watch my niece Penny for the night. She felt it wouldn't be fair to us if she didn't at least ask if we wanted Katie to do the same, we accepted. So we got everyone in the Pilot and headed down south to the wonderful world of Noni(her mom's name that Katie gave her). The four parents drove back and went on our separate ways.

Kim and I quickly decided that P.F. Chang's sounded good(despite Chris' efforts the previous night, lol)so we went there to eat. It was a good 30 minute wait but well worth it. I like Chang's for four reasons:
1. It was the first Chinese place I had ever been to. (Kim, Cory and Steph were witnesses).
2. The food is always great or has been for me.
3. It's never too pricey.
4. We always get great service. Anyone who knows us well enough knows that Kim and I get horrible service wherever we go about 75% of the time.

So anyway, we ordered an appetizer(rare for us). We got the fried Calamari which Kim absolutely loves(so do I). It had an amazing sauce with is, kind of sweet with a slight tangy part to it and a bit of spice. We ate that stuff like it was our last meal on Earth. For dinner I ordered something I never had there, pepper steak, it was really good. It was chunks of tender grilled steak served with green and red peppers and onions, smothered in a spicy sauce. Of course I avoided the green peppers since I hate them. Kim ordered her usual, double pan fried noodles with chicken. We had a side of white rice to compliment my dinner. We both shared our meals(they encourage it anyway). No room for desert though, this is nothing new for me since I rarely, if ever, get one.

During the meal we we talking about what to do next without Katie(only 2nd time ever she stayed the night away from home). I mentioned a movie, putt putt or maybe a drive down to the river and take a walk, Kim voted movie or putt putt. Our wait at the restaurant plus eating the meal itself took longer than expected so we thought, why not redbox a movie after putt putt? So that's what we did.

Putt putt was SLAMMED! Luckily for us, it was also free since I had a $25 gift card for my 31st Bday from Sarah. In short, I won 41 strokes to Kim's 47. We went inside to see if there were any games worth playing, skeeball and hot shot basketball were the only one's. In skeeball I won all 3 games which is shocking since I usually suck. I think Kim was just off a bit, normally she would school me in skeeball. Then we played 3 games head to head on Bball, Kim won 2 of 3 to my disbelief and to her amazement. Then she turns around and gets a free game, lol. I forgot the golden rule of hotshot Bball, bank your shots because the rim is as tight as a republican on Sunday morning. She schooled me for sure. We took our tickets and got Katie some little prizes and left. Kim wanted me to make a real bloody mary drink at home but we didn't have any plain vodka, just citrus vodka. We run to the liquor store only to see that it's closed at 11pm. Damn you bible belt.

We head to Redbox to find Hall Pass. It wasn't the biggest hit this year but it seemed good enough to spend $1.09 to find out. We balked on renting Limitless(which is probably better)and Arthur(thank God, looks awful). Hall Pass was funny at times but it didn't have the Farrelly Brothers usual touch like Kingpin, Dumb and Dumber or Something about Mary. It was closer to Me, Myself and Irene, Fever Pitch or Shallow Hal, funny at times but no classic. After the movie we hit the sheets.

Waking up without Katie here was odd. We slowly decided to eat lunch and then do yard work, party animals over here! After that it was a short trip to the often visited, sometimes occult like, Target and then to the Grandparents house for the usual 5pm meal on Sunday afternoon. Katie was super excited to see mommy and daddy, so were we of course. The 21 hours apart felt so much longer than it really was but that's probably normal, if not expected. To think, twice in 2 1/2 years is a very long time to go without a sleepover for the parents. It was well deserved on both parts and much appreciated. Now all we have to do is think about the next time it happens and when that will be.

Trying to improve myself

2011-08-26T14:59:00.004-05:00

Wednesday night at work I put in for a job(Bid) for a Ramp Agent position at Fedex. For those of you who do not have the slightest idea what that is, well, here ya go.

A ramp agent is solely responsible for making sure all freight for a certain flight(Denver or Miami for example)is loaded properly(by other employees who scan the packages and physically put it into cans which are then put on the aircraft). The aircraft, based on it's size or model(DC-10, MD-11, 727, etc.)has certain load regulations and procedures, the ramp agent's job is to configure the weight accordingly(some planes are front heavy, some are tail heavy and so on) so the aircraft flies without crashing, pretty intense. Every can is tracked and every can has a loading slip which tells it's destination and origin as well as it's weight. All of this has to be carefully done and in a timely manner to ensure an on time delivery. Also, any dangerous goods(DG) must be placed accordingly inside certain cans but not to mix with certain kinds of DG which can result in a fire. Fires in the air aren't good.

It can be a very stressful job and I'm not totally convinced I want it, but, it pays really well and it's one step away from management. Whether I want to be a manager remains to be seen but it's the closest an hourly employee can get that has major responsibility. I'm scared to death to be honest, I'm not a born leader, I know this but I also know I can do anything if I put my mind to it. It's a terrible cliche but a true one at that. My hours would at least double and my pay would be between 15-17% an hour higher for starters. I don't have the job, not even close. Right now I'm finishing the touches on my application(only leadership positions require an app) and then I have an interview if they accept my app. As of today I rank #1 on the list on the job which means I'm guaranteed to at least have the app looked at and considered, that's usually the biggest battle of all, beating out the other employees bids based solely on seniority.

I will let you know what happens, for now, keep your fingers and toes crossed for me.

Vermont Trip, day 7

2011-08-23T11:54:00.003-05:00

Tuesday Aug 2nd, 9am

I wake up and find myself in a very good mood considering everything that has happened in the last 6 days and the total lack of sleep I have had. Today I get to have a brunch with Trip and Leiha and the rest of the wedding party back at the lodge. Before I get there I sit and gaze upon the lake for at least 30 minutes knowing it will be the last time I'm ever here. I shower, pack my things and leave with Lisa around 10:30am.

10:35am
The truck I borrowed from Leiha's dad is overheating, thank God this didn't happen last night because that would be the icing on the cake. I blasted the heater to suck the heat out of the engine and rolled the windows down. It's a 15 minute drive but luckily we made it. It was a sign that today was not what I was hoping and deserving of.

10:50am
We arrive at the store and wait for Trip and Leiha to get finished getting ready and then we leave for the lodge. Leiha is pumping me up for this wonderful meal we are about to eat and I'm believing every word of it, as if nothing wrong has happened this entire trip. As usual, she was dead wrong.

11:30am
We arrive 30 minutes late and at this point I could care less, it's standard here. We walk up to find Josh eating leftover's from last nights wedding along with Tonya, the cabbage patch girl, Ace and Miranda(the lake swimming "boy stealer"). We ask why in the hell are they eating that? They respond by saying "what else is there"? My heart sank. No friggin' way...So I run inside to find GM cooking away with Leiha's brother John(the hippie from New Mexico), they are heating up leftovers for sure, I just walk away.

Noon
I decide I need to eat and fix myself some grub, by now it's nearly all gone. I get 4 potatoes(they are very small), a spoonful of some kind of homemade mango sauce and a piece of maple chicken, Yay! Needless to say I was hungry in 10 minutes after finishing. We quickly find out from Leiha's mother that we are needed inside to break everything down. Say whaaaaa? Yeah, we spent the next 3 hours taking down everything we spent 7+ hours putting up yesterday. Glad I took a shower. I was livid. I was moving so fast, people looked the other way when I was coming. I was cursing up a storm in private, as if I was talking to someone else but wasn't. I booked it for one important reason, I'm leaving today and this guy isn't missing his fucking plane for anyone. I said that out loud to everybody...

3pm
We wrap up most of the work that was needed to be done and left. I was so pissed off and sweaty that I barely said goodbye to anyone, I was ready to go home.

3:35pm
I pack my stuff up, buy the only souvenirs I had time(or a chance)to get and get Bobby to get us some road food. Josh's plane leaves at 5:45pm and we currently sit 2 hours away. Bobby is a former police officer driving with FOP(Fraternal Order of Police) tags, he's doing 90+ the entire way if possible. Josh and I both figure we can't make it there in time despite Bobby's efforts and he calls to book a later flight. Actual good fortune on the other line of the phone call for someone...They tell Josh that his plane is an hour and a half late so he's good to go.

6pm
We sit at the airport with Josh until he leaves to board the plane to Newark and then Nashville, we are heading to Charlotte, then Nashville.Our plan is too meet up in Nashville and take him to his friends house, it works out perfectly.

11:45pm
We tell Josh goodbye and head home. Ashley is driving the car, the baby is in the back sleeping and I'm slowly beginning to feel like I will get some well needed rest soon.

2:00am
Were 30 minutes away and the baby wakes up screaming. He's starving apparently and he's letting us know it. Its the longest 30 minutes of my life, seriously. It's one thing I can't listen too, even now, especially when I'm so tired from traveling and being on that trip.

2:30am
We get to Bartlett and Ashley goes in to hug and kiss her hubby Chris, I get her bags and bolt. I quickly load up, blast some Pearl Jam(rearviewmirror from Vs.) and get home in 15 minutes flat. I'm finally home at 2:45 from quite possibly the most tiring, non exciting week long trip to a first time place in history. It's the longest I had been away from Kim since we first started dating nearly 8 years ago and the longest ever away from Katie. Looking back I feel like I made some new friends, saw a few cool things(NYC from the plane, my cousin being married a year later) and had a less than stellar time. Ashley doesn't even talk about the trip since she hated it so much, I for one will always tell people what not to do when...and avoid this type of stuff, blah blah. That is really all I have to offer for something like that, Vermont...eh?

Mini Vacation

2011-08-18T13:23:00.005-05:00

Headed out to Gulf Shores today, in fact, two hours from now, so thanks to McGlasson, his new bride Kristen and his new in laws. They have a condo on the beach and we get to live it up for the low low of on the house. They can't make the trip as planned unfortunately but we are still a go. It will be Katie's first experience at the beach and I can't wait to see the look on her face when we get there. Kim and I haven't been to the beach in over 3 years, any beach for that matter. Last time we did we were in Kill Devil Hills NC and the water was bitterly cold so we did very little swimming. I assure you, this will be different. Kim and I love the beach, it's safe to say it's our favorite place to be on earth. It makes you feel like you are actually away from it all, even for a short while.

Blogging will obviously stop till I get home Monday night at the earliest, more like Tuesday though. I will wrap up my last day of the Vermont fiasco and possibly get into some sports talk.

Wish us a safe journey, traveling with a 2 1/2 year old can be very tricky.

Vermont Trip Day 6

2011-08-16T12:28:00.006-05:00

Monday, August 1st 9:30am

Getting just over 6 hours of sleep for the first time was nice, but I'm still really tired. Waking up with a view like I had made it better for sure(overlooking lake Champlain). Today is the wedding and I'm slightly nervous and majorly anxious to get it over with. I let Lisa get ready first since she's a notorious slow starter and finisher(Josh's words). Josh and Trip meanwhile are heading into town to get their haircuts and then quickly come back to get ready. I do what I've been doing all week, I wait.

11:00am

I'm getting nervous. My electric razor stopped working(I've had it for almost 9 years)and it's too long to shave with a razor(which I don't have). So now I have to wait for Josh and Trip to get back before I even start to get ready. When I text them I realize that they are running way behind (which I saw coming) and now I'm super worried about being late, the wedding is at 3pm and it's 45 minutes away. We are supposed to be there by 1pm.

12:15pm

Trip and Josh get back to the cabin, boy that was a quick little trip wasn't it(2 1/2 hours). I quickly shave and take a shower which takes much longer since the water shuts of periodically for 10 minutes at a time. We aren't getting fully dressed here, just showers and such.

1:15pm

We finally leave the cabins and were already 15 minutes late. The fact that we have to stop by the store to pick up some stuff and switch cars with Leiha because of her dress(the car we are in is bigger). We borrow her brothers 99 Camry and it's filthy mcnasty. The trunk is so full we can't get our bags in it, so me and Lisa hold them instead. It's the hottest day so far on the trip and he has no A/C in the car, did I mention the car is black? So anyway, why bother showering since we have another 45 minutes of driving, right? On the way Josh has a revelation, he needs better shoes for the wedding, really Josh...so we head to the mall.

2:00pm

The wedding starts in one hour and we are currently sitting in the hot car, waiting on Josh to find matching shoes for a wedding we are in an hour from now. We are still 15 minutes away.

2:10pm

Josh took ten minutes which was exactly how much time we said he had to find the shoes and go. We floor it to the lodge.

2:25pm

Arriving to your own wedding 85 minutes later than you needed to be can't be good. People everywhere are still setting stuff up for some reason and my clothes(and Josh's) are wrinkled and nasty from being thrown around for a week in varous bags. Supposedly our wedding garb was said to be "taken care of" while we were here, here meaning in Vermont. A steam cleaner thingy was supposed to be brought for our stuff, it wasn't. The night before we begged to borrow it and do it ourselves, they said "we'll take care of it". Thanks guys...thanks for nothing. Lisa and my cousin Jill(who just drove in from Chattanooga today) offered to iron our stuff for us but there wasn't anywhere to do it. We unloaded some random round table that had a couple of things on it to start ironing, that lasted all of 5 minutes. The caterer decides she needs that table right now and we are left with a dirty table outside to iron it on. How sad is this? Meanwhile...

2:50pm

We are sweating up something fierce in the tiny boys bathroom. Trip is getting in his dress uniform(Air Force), Josh and I are waiting for clothes, we have 10 minutes and were dripping with sweat from the lack of air. Good call on the 3pm wedding guys...

3:10pm

We finally get dressed and are ready to go outside for the ceremony. While were waiting for everyone else to get out there we are asked to bring out more chairs from inside, OMG! As I bring out my 2nd set of 4 chairs I stop to get a piece of cheese from a huge cheese wheel and a cracker. As I eat it(since I've had nothing to eat all day) the head bitch caterer tells me not to eat anything before the wedding. I explain how I'm diabetic, I have the shakes a bit and I happen to be the Grooms cousin and groomsman. She says loudly "I don't give a damn who you are" and walks away. Okay. Walk away. I walk ten feet to my left, pour a beer and guzzle it down so I have something, anything on my stomach. No telling how long this ceremony will last based on how things are going.

3:30pm

Wedding ceremony begins. I walk my Aunt Rachel down the aisle(Trip's Mom), it was nice to get to do that. I stand after the best man and wait for the rest to enter. The ceremony lasts 20 minutes but it feels like an eternity since the wind suddenly stops and we are so hot. My cousin Ashley(who's a bridesmaid) is about to pass out, literally. She's looking dead at Rachel saying I'm gonna faint. My uncle Bobby had to get her some water while the ceremony was going on, it was a tense. Wiping my forehead full of sweat as I walk with Kate down the aisle I feel relieved, it's all over.

3:55pm

Pictures, pictures and more pictures are taken by 16 year old white girl named Porsche. She has a great camera and is very professional but still, she's 16 and it's a bit odd.

4:45pm

Josh and I start playing frisbee since the reception area and food aren't remotely close to being ready, common theme huh? I felt since I was already sweaty, who the hell cared...

6:30pm

Dinner is ready, everyone is called inside for the formal introductions. I must say, I wish I were a bit more prepared for this moment. The wedding party, one at a time were called out from behind a curtain. Going from the last groomsman/bridesmaid up to Trip and Leiha. 100 people waited on the other side as you could hear someone saying on the mic how Trip and Leiha knew this person and such. My name is called...JEFF HILL, Trip's cousin and close friend. Then A vivid description of things Trip wrote for me were shouted out as I walked out of the curtain to a round of applause and a video camera following me. HOLY SHIT BALLS! I felt like royalty for a moment. I felt appreciated and respected. I was so surprised I suddenly became a shy little boy again. I felt a lot of emotion.

6:45pm

We all sit down looking over all the guests like a roast on comedy central looks, it's quite intimidating. I know so many faces out there but I don't know even more of them. Now the toasts begin. Music plays in the background as everyone gets comfy in their seats. Heidi(Maid of Honor)leads off the toasts to the bride and groom, it's super quiet and short and I barely heard a word she said. Josh follows with a 2-3 minute speech that was unrehearsed, it was really good. Then a minute or two of silence. Leiha asked all the wedding party, before we ever got to Vermont to say something at this moment. Jessica(already drunk) says a nice little speech to the surprise of everyone and then Silence... Suddenly GM is asked by several people, he's nearly in tears already and declines. Everyone else turns their cheek as if they are being scolded for being bad. No one else wants to say anything, Leiha asks? No response. So a minute of awkwardness goes by and someone yells out "put the music back on"! I feel pressure mounting inside of me. Everyone is expecting Jeff to say something, anything. I stand up and ask everyone to hold on a minute, it aint' over yet!

A wave of horror fills my body, I'm in shock. I'm about to to the one thing I've never been able to do, speak in front of a large crowd. And I lead it off with..."Guys, I'm absolutely terrified up here but I have to say something." The room goes silent, Oh Crap! The eyes get glossy...oh no, I can't stop it. And here they come...tears of joy and happiness. I say"Trip is my little cousin and I'm so proud of him". Yep, that's all I got out before my tears overcame my body and mind. I barely got those words out. I quickly turn to him and give him a bear hug, "love ya' buddy" I tell him. I bolt out of the room so fast my head spun. I quickly call Kim to tell her what happened, I needed to hear her voice. I needed comfort for some reason, and I couldn't stop crying. I honestly think that between the emotions of the wedding and the culmination of Trip becoming a man at that moment, the lack of sleep and the frustration from everything else, I broke down. I cried for ten solid minutes, a new record. I stay outside so long people came to see me and congratulate me for such a moving speech. I tell them it was barely ten words and that I'm sorry I cried so suddenly. Sasa tells me it meant more to everyone else because it truly came from the heart and it showed.

I was looked at differently from that moment on in the eyes of many.

7:15pm

Dinner is served. Maple glazed chicken, couscous, broccoli salad, beef stew, new potatoes and other stuff as well. Dessert followed. Sadly, because it was so hot the wedding cake melted due to the fact that several unnamed people stood with the freezer door open to cool off, killing the wedding cake GM spent hours on end making. Now I know why he was crying, lol. I miss the cutting of the cake, I was over the wedding stuff at this point. It was so melted that it was mistaken for an ice cream cake, how sad and unfortunate.

8:00pm

Dancing and music ensue. I'm asked by several to dance(Aunt Rachel, Lisa, drunken Jessica to name a few), I decline except for Leiha asking me. You never turn down a beautiful woman in a wedding dress, at least I don't. The song was nearly over before we got out there and then a slow song starts and I vanish, lol. I'm ready to go by now and get some well deserved R&R, nope, not gonna happen. Jeff hasn't begun to relinquish his babysitting duties, not by a long shot.

9:00pm

The crowd is quickly slimming down to the main guests, friends and such are gone. Almost everyone is outside because it feels so nice compared to in there. Josh disappears, so does the Miranda chick. Turns out, they went swimming in their underwear in the lake. Jessica finds out and unleashes the fury. Oh shit, it's your high school prom up in here. She takes all their clothes and Miranda's glasses(FYI, they are good friends) and hides them. By now, Josh has realized this but he stays down by the lake due to his lack of clothing. Mind you, his mother is still here which would be enough for me. Other drunken couples begin to fight, it's hilarious. Eventually some of the wedding party decide it's time to bounce, I want to catch a ride with them but I can't. I get the shaft once again because I didn't drink, now I'm a DD because of it. I'm Lisa and Josh's ride and apparently I'm taking the Father of the bride's truck to do it. The problem with this is that Josh doesn't want to leave(girls fighting over him, 3 to be exact, can you blame him?)and the FoB can't find his keys. Maybe it's because he's lit up like a Xmas tree and high as a kite on top of it. It's Vermont, hippies everywhere and close as hell to America's hat, Canada.

10:30pm

Still trying to find Josh's clothes while Jessica is getting ripped apart by everyone for being a punk ass bitch at her friends wedding. She's eventually asked to leave by the FoB, she does immediately, drunk and all(she leaves the wedding and goes straight to a bar of all places). She posts on Facebook an hour later of how "finally in a place where I'm appreciated with actual nice people", no joke...

10:45pm

I finally get the damn truck keys and leave the wedding behind but not before the FoB decides I'm not sober enough to drive. He thinks I'm wasted because I'm attempting to get out of the insane parking job he put me into. I'm literally doing an Austin Powers in the hallway bit. A ditch behind me, a car on one side, a steep hill on the other and a trailer at one end. We all convince his drunk/high ass that I haven't had a sip of anything in 6 hours and he walks away. So we leave. We are supposed to be meeting GM, another groomsman and several others at the hotel to go swimming. A 15 minute ride of Lisa grilling her son about his constant partying ways and girl problems, he ain't having it. It's a great drive lemme tell you. In short, he makes her cry and she opens pandora's box about his drug use and sexual prowess towards women, I'm totally stunned and embarrassed. Awkward doesn't even describe the feeling.

11:15pm.

We get to the hotel and go get GM and the other guy, turns out they aren't roomies anymore and we have no idea how to get a hold of them. Kate answers the door instead. She leaves early in the morning and Fran is somewhere picking her car up, she also leaves in the morning. Josh convinces them to come swim, she says she hasn't got her bathing suit but she will hang out. Tonya and Ace show up with another girl(can't remember her name, she's referred to everyone as the cabbage patch girl because she looks just like one). They are also staying at the hotel and are leaving in the morning. It all makes sense to stay here doesn't it, but no, we stay at the cabins. Anyway, we swim for a bit until we are asked to leave. Josh stays at the hotel with Cabbage patch girl and Ace/Tonya. Lisa and I say goodbye to Kate and Fran who just showed up and then we leave.

12:45am

Lisa and I arrive back at the cabin, Trip and Leiha stay at a lodge somewhere celebrating their day. Oh, did I mention just a couple of hours before the wedding I found out that they were married last July, right before he was deployed in Afghanistan? Yeah, that one hurt...

1:15am

After talking to Kim for 30 minutes I decide to hit the hay after a strange day. Tomorrow I go home and I can't fucking wait!

Vermont Trip day 5

2011-08-15T12:00:00.006-05:00

Sunday, July 31 9:15am

Lisa wakes me up after my nap...er 4 hours of shut eye, that's 4 days in a row with fewer than 6 hours in any night since leaving. I'm in a daze at this point, vacation my ass. Vacations are usually spent doing things you like and relaxing at some point, this was becoming a painful experience and it's just begun. I roll out of bed and take a quick shower since we need to be at the Store by 10am. Today is the day we set up the Wedding venue in Wallingford VT. It's a small town 5 miles south of Rutland where I slept last night. Unfortunately I have to drive 30 minutes in the opposite direction to meet everyone before we head there since I don't know where it is.

10am

Lisa and I arrive at the store and wait... and wait some more...Leiha and Trip aren't ready, well duh!

11am

We decide to go to the cabin for clothes for myself and move into the bigger cabin that had been occupied by one person for the last week. It's cleaner, bigger and has zero spiders, sold! This is where I spend my remaining two nights in Vermont, Yay! Two nights in the same place, two nights where my stuff and I will be at the same time. It's sad to be this excited about a place with no cable/satellite, A/C or anything resembling a vacation spot, oh well.

11:30am

We finally leave to go to the wedding venue.

12:15pm

Arriving over two hours late is not in my vocabulary and I feel horrible about it, this feeling quickly changes. Leiha says this will take no more than 2-3 hours at the very most since we have over 30 people helping out. What she failed to mention was the size of this place and the fact it was completely empty. We built this wedding from the ground up. Filling tiny bottles with water and putting flowers that were hand picked outside in various places across Vermont. Unfolding 80-90 chairs and lugging them 100 yards away and then back again for people to sit during the actual wedding and then the reception inside. Yes, after the wedding we moved all the chairs back inside. We tied all the ribbon on every chair. We made big hanging balls of different colors and hung from the rafters that were 15-20 feet high from a less than stellar ladder. We moved tables, put up lighting, blew up balloons and hung them everywhere. We set up the dinnerware. We set up the food stations. We set up the bar and handmade beer keg cooler(4 spouts). We also did this without the help of half the "30" that were present. Some of them were playing outside with the frisbee or swimming in the lake behind the lodge. Some just sat in the way the whole time. We did everything.

7:15pm

After 7 hours of non stop work, one lunch break and countless problems, arguing and such, we finish...or so we thought(tomorrow will be an epic failure aside from the 20 minute ceremony). Now we finally leave and go get showered in various locations and get ready for the rehearsal dinner at....The Wheel. The same place I ate at the first night I arrived in Vermont. This time was different, way, way different.

8:45pm

For some reason we arrive exactly when everyone else did for the first time all week. It's a nice change of pace, too bad we arrive nearly an hour late, all of us. We go inside, it's slammed. Really? Are you fucking kidding me? It's Sunday night in a place that has less than 50 people in the whole town and it's packed. So we wait for tables to open up....... for 50 people because they forgot about the wedding party even coming. How in the hell can you forget something like that especially when the parents of the Bride run the town store which said town revolves around? Wow! Did I mention since there isn't any A/C it's brutally hot inside? Yeah, fun times.

9:15pm

We finally get a table but it's not together with everyone else, we are scattered around everywhere. Are waitress is terrible and slow to boot. Trip and Leiha sit with Josh, myself, Tonya and Ace(not his real name, it's Moustafa...no kidding, people call him Ace). We are the last to order and we have the Bride and Groom at our table. By this point people are moving outside to get fresh air since we won't get our food for a long time.

10:15pm

Food arrives. By this time everyone else is on desert or completely finished, I'm beyond ready to go get some well deserved sleep.

Midnight

Yup, it took that long to get to the cabin. We spent nearly 3 1/2 hours at the restaurant, at least it was free right. Woopty frekin' doo da! Josh, Trip and I play darts for an hour or so and chill the hell out in the cabin. It's the only time the three of us are by ourselves the entire time we are here. They both go sleep in the smaller cabin, I hit the sheets at 1:15am on a futon even though there are two other beds upstairs(one occupied by Lisa) because it's too damn hot up there. By 3am I cool off after eyeballing the clock and fall asleep shortly after. Tomorrow will be an interesting day to say the least.

Vermont Trip, Day 4

2011-08-12T13:56:00.004-05:00

Saturday July 30th, 10:30am

A door flings open... I wake up suddenly feeling like I'm outside because a draft is hitting me. The room where I passed out is also the side of the house which has a deck, for some reason the door was open all night. I slowly get up, close the door and walk into the living room. There I find Jessica watching The Office again on netflix(no cable). I ask what's the deal for today, she's clueless. Josh stumbles downstairs from her room, I say nothing, just a wink. Since this is now the 2nd straight night I have slept without my belongings I beg to go retrieve my stuff.

11:15am
Today's plan was simple, go do something, anything. Originally the plan was to go to Boston for the bachelor party but it seemed this was never going to happen. We leave Jessica's to go to the hotel where everyone was meeting. Today the rest of the wedding party was showing up except for one groomsman. The rest were driving up from either NC or NY or flying in from somewhere. As we enter the hotel room of my cousin Ashley and her baby + her mom and dad Josh and I clean up. I borrow an entire outfit from Josh since we are identical in size except my shoulders are apparently broader(everyone was commenting on how similar we were besides that). I put on a shirt and immediately get made fun of because it's snug around my shoulders. My uncle(who wears camo everything 90% of everyday) starts the haggling. I come back with a series of camo jokes that everyone laughs at and he quickly shuts up. At this time I'm feeling sick. Not sick as in I'm Ill, just hungry sick. It's been nearly 24 hours and a lot of drinking since I had a meal, I'm an idiot!

12:30pm

We leave to go to eat lunch at Friendly's. It's basically a Chili's but less known except in New England. I meet one more bridesmaid, Kate, Who's married and separated from her hubby who's in the Army who lives in S. Korea. and is extremely self conscience for some reason. We quickly down some lunch and figure out the next move. Fran, who drove up with Trip has had car trouble(a common theme this weekend) needs to figure out the problem before Sunday, otherwise she's stuck in Vermont once the wedding's over. So we all split up, the 13 of us in 3 cars. One group goes to the mall so Trip can get a belt for something, one group with my aunt and uncle back to the hotel so the baby can nap and the other with Fran, who I get stuck with.

2:00pm

Ashley and I are with Fran and Jessica looking for a place to fix Fran's car. Currently it's sitting at the Store and we are riding in Jessica's old Rav4(everyone has an all wheel drive vehicle out here because of the harsh winters). We go everywhere looking for answers and parts, no luck. We get a call from Leiha saying she wants to go to Rite Aid for some liquor. Say what? Yes, Rite Aid, your all inclusive medicine, grocery and Liquor outlet, weird huh? Anyway, We basically give up on the car parts search and meet up at Rite Aid of all places. I get nothing. I don't want to see anything resembling a drink other than a soft drink or bottled water. We leave in 2 cars, Trip, Josh, Fran and Leiha in one, Me, Ashley, Kate and Jessica in the other. We are meeting at the store and plan on hitting up either the waterfalls or Ben and Jerry's. Jessica gets lost, she lives here.

4:00pm

After a solid hour of back woods driving(which I actually didn't mind, it was beautiful) we arrive at the store, an hour after they do. Leiha still isn't ready to go somehow, shocker! So we sit at the store, anxiously waiting to leave to do something. And we wait, and wait, and wait.

6:00pm

It's been 3 hours since Leiha and co. got to the store, 2 hours for us. Waterfalls are an hour+ away and B&J is 30 minutes past that but in the other direction. Decision time. Josh and I are pretty upset at this point, in fact, everyone is except Trip and Leiha(for once). Everyone meets outside on the front porch and is ready to go except Josh and I have been thinking. If it's 90 minutes in one direction to B&J and 60 minutes to the falls, how in the world do we have the time to do either of them? The answer is, we don't. We haven't even discussed dinner yet and the sun will be gone in 2 hours. The B&J tour is an hour + 3 hours of driving there and back, it's 6:15pm. If we hit the falls we have an hour at best but 2/3 of the people didn't bring bathing suits like Leiha asked them to. Game over.

6:30pm.

Josh and I decide to go back to the cabin and go canoeing. Everyone agrees. It's the only thing we did the entire trip outdoors besides the actual wedding, it's saddening. We have a ton of fun but it goes by too quickly. By 8pm the sun is setting and we have to leave. now we prep for the bachelor/bachelorette party. Yes, a dual party, how lame.

9:00pm

Trip, Josh, and I get some KFC with Lisa(Josh's mom) and take it back to the hotel. After that we get ready in GM's room. Who's this you ask? It's a groomsman(his nickname is GM) who drove from NY. He's had one hell of a day. Broke down car, stuck at shop for 5 hours, picked up by other groomsman(Sasa, pronounced Sasha) driving from Florida with maid of honor(Heidi). They were canoeing with us but aren't in a great mood either(Sasa backed into a tree at the cabin in their brand new Mazda 6). Heidi was hysterical and even mentioned going home, DRAMA! Anyway, GM is a cool dude but we never met him before, now we are using his room to get ready in. This night is a Train wreck in the making...

10:45pm

Finally everyone is ready to go out. We all meet at Jessica's crib. She's been planning this for a while now. She has the pink sash's for the girls and all that. It's not impressive, not one bit. We sit there for 30 minutes, watching the office in dead silence. Everyone is tired, or pissed off with the exception of myself, Josh, Jessica, Leiha and Trip. That's 5 pissed of tired people out of 10, not good numbers. We walk to the bar, smart move, or so we thought. It's only 10 minutes away at best.

11:45pm

We have been at the bar(same bar as the night before) for 15 minutes. We passed 3 bars that were bumping, this one had a band, they blew ass! It's half empty(last night was packed)and they are only playing 60's and 70's rock music(Stones, Pink Floyd, etc.). Not exactly young people music and not for this group in particular. I'm sober, not having a thing and I didn't. Trip is getting pissy because Leiha wants to party...Duh! It's her last hurrah and he's being an ass. I'm backing him off and so is Josh(who's already in his groove). See why these two parties need to be separate. See why Josh and I planned the Boston gig? Damn this!

1pm

I'm sitting in the back of the bar in a well lit room with a pool table and a sober Ashley, a sober Kate, a sober Fran, and a sober Heidi sit along side me . That's 4 sober bridesmaids, one sober groomsman. Leiha is trashed, Josh is wasted(as always), GM(Greg Miller) and Sasa are drinking beer, but slowly because they're so tired. Up comes a childhood friend of Leiha's(Miranda). Miranda was pouring the drinks at this bar last night, I had no idea. Josh really digs this girl, he's quite in favor of all the single girls if you haven't guessed by now. Miranda is wasted as well. The usual loud behavior for the last hour ensues, I'm beyond ready to leave.

2:15pm.

We finally walk back to Jessica's house. We notice the others(the drunk people)are no where to be found. Durrr... And now I hate this night. The sober people wait for over 30 minutes for the others to arrive. Leiha comes back crying and yelling at Trip, nothing new here. Josh walks straight into Jessica's house, we don't see him again. The rest of us pile up in Trip's new Rav4 and wait. Jessica comes up and starts acting as if nothing is wrong, Trip verbally abuses her to the delight of everyone else. You see, Jessica isn't liked by anyone apparently, not just Trip. Her attitude stinks, her language is foul in any company and she's a boozer. I tell Trip to give me his keys, I'm taking GM, Kate, Fran and Ashley to the hotel because I'm a good guy knowing I'm about to get the shaft somehow. Trip and Leiha agree to meet me at the store while they argue/discuss whatever the hell is up with them. Heidi and Sasa also go there since that's their pad for the weekend.

3:30am.

I'm driving by myself to the store, in a dense fog, and I've never been here before. Good thing I'm an excellent driver and I pay attention. I arrive at the store in 20 minutes flat(usually 30). Trip meets me outside and tells me he's staying there for the night, I'm a bit pissed off right about now but I let it go. I drive to the cabin...

3:50am

It's beyond dark in the woods, I'm alone in a cabin, it's the beginning of a horror movie. I quickly get ready for bed. I pull the sheets out to find.......................A HUGE FUCKING SPIDER! Motherfucker! Now I can't sleep here. I rush to the car, bringing my suitcase with me since I never know where the hell I'm ever staying. I call Lisa of all people. I call her because I can't reach the store(No cell service there) and everyone else is either with a baby or already sleeping in a full room(GM, Kate and Fran are in a room,). Lisa happens to be in a room by herself tonight. I call, she's terrified thinking something bad has happened. Honestly, nothing good ever comes from a 4am call right? Anyway, I assure her everyone is safe, except for me, lol. I now drive 45 minutes back into town in the fog. I have had 4 hours of sleep for the last 3 nights and can barely function. Why didn't I just drink and crash somewhere? Stupid Jeff...

4:45am

I arrive at the hotel. The front desk won't reveal Lisa's room number and I forgot of course because I'm a walking zombie by now. Waking her up again, she tells me and I get in there just before 5am. in the morning. We have to be up at 9am to meet at THE STORE of all places to set up for the wedding. ARE YOU KIDDING ME!!! It's 5:05am and I hit the sheets for my 3 hours and 45 minutes of sleep. WOW!

2011-08-10T12:31:00.006-05:00

Vermont Trip, day 3

Friday, July 29, 8:45am (7:45 Memphis time)
I get out of bed, exhausted, hot and ready for a shower. Taking a shower anywhere but Memphis is an adventure, especially here because the soap doesn't like to leave your body in a timely manner. So far, not off to a great start in my mind. Turns out, life at the cabin wasn't much better the night before. No A/C and very little breathable air since it's a tiny place. Only fans and the hope of an outside breeze can cool it off in there, no such luck was the consensus. My cousin Ashley, her Dad and Mom and baby + Lisa stayed there, but only last night. They all decide to get a hotel room in Rutland(a small city around Germantown's size but way less people). I should have followed.

Waiting with no timetable is miserable for a guy like me. I'm prompt and I hate missing out due to other people's lazy habits. Today we(Bobby, Rachel, Lisa and myself) wait for Trip(my cousin and the groom)and his best man to arrive in Vermont. Trip has driven with Francesca(his and Leiha's roommate from N.C.) 14 hours to get here. We meet them at a the Adirondak grill near Fort Ann NY around 1pm. Fort Ann is located on the historic route linking the French and English colonies and was a major part of the Revolutionary War. Not much to see but it was cool to say I was there. Eating lunch was interesting since our waitress had "bitch" written all over her face. She didn't seem involved in her job at all and even handed the bill to us on one check after we asked for separate one's. She explained how she was just too tired to separate the checks. We all felt that we were too ignored to tip her, but we did. Trip shows up with Francesca like a zombie from a movie, worn down and kind of smelly. In his defense he came straight from work the day before. Anyway, someone still needed to get Josh from the airport in Albany(another hour and a half away). We decided Trip and Fran needed to get some rest so I figured a way to get out of going back to Albany but going with them. They didn't get any rest which turns out to be a big deal later on.

6:30pm
Josh arrives in Rutland Vermont at the hotel. We meet up with him around 9:30pm because we wasted most of the day going back and fourth between the cabin and the store(15 minutes each way). At this point I'm pretty frustrated knowing that the day has basically come and gone due to poor planning and such, and then we see Josh. Josh grew up with Trip, best friends since they were both 5. Josh is a party machine and is more than ready to go out while Trip is ready to go to bed. I'm indifferent and could really care less at this point. We haven't had dinner and it's been over 8 hours since we ate. Josh immediately wants to go to the hotel bar located next to the indoor pool we were lounging by. 11:00pm. The 3 of us go inside the bar and some girl sings a terrible karaoke version of What's going on by the 4 non blonde's. Josh can't wait to buy us shots to get the "party" going. We shoot two shots of Jameson Irish whiskey. From there it gets interesting.

11:30pm
We quickly leave the bar after the shooters and head to Jessica's house(a bridesmaid and childhood friend of Leiha). Trip is not so willing to go since he despises Jessica for some reason, we go anyway. So it's me, Josh, Trip and Leiha heading to Jessica's house which is a mere 3-4 minutes away(told you Rutland was tiny). We arrive to a beautiful 3 story house on a steep hill and I immediately perk up a bit. I love old houses and Vermont is full of them. We walk upstairs since the bottom portion is actually another persons living space(it's like a big apartment/duplex). Once we get inside I quickly see a reason why Trip might not like this girl. She's a party girl and curses like a sailor, not Trip's type of person. Inside, a whiteboard filled with random pictures and curse words are scribbled all over the place. It reminds me of a college dorm room. Did I mention she works at radio shack? Anyway, We take the short tour and RedSox crap is everywhere, I cringe. By now Trip has fallen asleep on the floor and we speculate what to do next while watching The Office on Netflix. Josh has made me a drink after making his own in a solo cup(Vanilla vodka and coke). I can barely taste the alcohol so I basically chug it in a couple of minutes. Meanwhile, Jessica is looking to go to her favorite spot, a bar. Josh quickly agrees but Trip wants no part in it, proclaiming"I'm fucking exhausted and I need to rest!". Uh, dude, then why are you even with us? Anyway, We all decide to go to a bar since the future bride wants to, regardless of Trip's fussiness. And Boom goes the dynamite!

Saturday, 12:30am
Trip is going ape shit! He's cursing everyone out, he's erratic and has gone off the deep end. He's fighting with the bride 3 days before the wedding, not good. Leiha claims she's never seen this side of him, I agree with her. Trip gets his last words out and goes back to the hotel even though his stuff is at the cabin. 1:15am We go to the bar where Jessica knows everybody. I have two heavy jack and cokes...I'm toast! We barely settle in and then the bar closes at 2am so everyone decides to go to Denny's of all places. Denny's! I'm in no mood to smell food, much less Denny's even though I should. I decide to walk outside since I'm getting dizzy, I do this for what seems to be an eternity. I go back inside until we leave Denny's and go to the Hotel to Drop Leiha off so she can meet up with Trip, Trip is not asleep and he's totally flipping out, it's 3:15am. They fight for at least an hour before I calm him down enough to get in a car and drive Leiha and him to the store to talk and figure stuff out. Now I'm stuck with Josh, Leiha and her roommate(can't remember her name). We head back to Jessica's house. I stumble into my hot room with an air mattress and pass the hell out, it's 5am.

Vermont trip, days 1&2

2011-08-08T15:19:00.006-05:00

Wednesday July 27, 7pm

I begin to panic just a bit. I'm trying to figure out what I haven't packed in my overnight bag and what I already packed away in my suitcase that was in Vermont. That's right, I had a bag sent with my uncle to Vermont a week before I even got there, checked bags are pricy. Anyway, after the initial frustration passed I ate dinner with Kim, her Mom and Katie and went on my way to Bartlett to stay the night with my cousin Ashley and her hubby Chris. In the morning we travel to Vermont, we are beyond excited. All we did that night was watch Big Brother one last time before we are away from the tube for a week(that's a real vacation). I stayed up til 1am with Chris playing COD: Black Ops, even in games I don't even play or own, I killed it! I go to bed at 1:05 am.

Thursday July 28, 5:15am
Ashley thinks she's waking me up, she isn't. I've actually been up the whole time. Mixing an early bedtime(usually 4am or later) with excitement and dread of travel plus a baby music machine(she has a 11 month old) isn't exactly my ideal sleeping situation anyway. So I get up from my somewhat drunken somber(at least that's what I feel like), take a quick shower and get dressed. The best man's mother Lisa is already at the house meeting us for the long drive. Chris gets up, kisses his wife and baby goodbye and we are on our way. The drive to Brighton Tn is already too long and Lisa realizes she left her phone in her car back in Bartlett, great start. It's too far to go back now so we stop to pick my aunt Rachel up(Ashley's mom) and load some goodies for the road to Nashville.

6:10am
I realize that I left my headphones at home, damn it! Lisa realizes her phone was at the bottomless pit she calls her purse, good for her. Now we can get a hold of her son(the best man)Josh who lives in Nashville. This is extremely important since we are leaving the car we came in(and return home in)at his house. The trip is pleasant, it's going pretty quickly and anyone knows that the trip from here to Nashville is long and boring at best. I won't go into the conversations since it's mostly family talk and it's not super important. Anyway, without stopping we arrive in Jackson around 7:00am, pretty good time from Brighton.

9:00am
We all come to the conclusion that we can't make our 10:30am flight if we go to Josh's house(it's 20min from the airport) so we take the long term parking lot B since A is full. Lot B is a 5 minute drive from the front of the airport but it costs $10 instead of $24 a day, bonus! We drop the baby, Lisa and Ashley at the front door and park, giving them a chance to pee and check in. Me and Rachel get the bags and take a bus back to the airport from the lot(which sits directly next to the runway). We get our printed tickets from the computer in under a minute without hassle, it's a great feature. So no one has eaten yet, we get in line at Wendy's to grab a bite. 10:00am. Everyone who's ordered has come and gone even though we were first, figures...I get a call from Ashley saying final boarding call has been announced, oh shit! Me and Rachel get the food and literally run to the gate to meet Ashley and Lisa. We are the last one's to board the plane. It's not only a first for me but a shining example of what was to come.

1:45pm
We land safely in Washington D.C. For some reason Ashley and I thought we were going thru Chicago, oh well. For some reason we sit in the taxiway, way way too long. Like 40 minutes to long. Suddenly Lisa asks me if I knew who Kieth Urban was, I said "no". Then I corrected myself after a minute of thinking about it, "hey, isn't that Nicole Kidman's hubby?" She replies, "uh huh, and he's sitting 5 rows in front of you"! I looked over the seats and surely enough, she was right. He walks directly between our seats to the bathroom, they are freaking out about now. "I touched his jeans, yada yada". I'm asked to get a pic from my phone, I couldn't. The angle from my window seat was a bad one. I told them to let me out into the isle, then I can stop him for sure. Without a response he walks slowly back past us and poof...he was gone. Oh, no Nicole Kidman either.

After we board a bus from the plane(we never went inside the D.C. airport)we arrive at the other plane that will take us to Albany NY. 4:10pm. We land in NY and head outside to meet my Uncle Bobby(Ashley's step dad and Rachel's hubby). He's in a Sport track, not exactly a suburban. We have 6 people including a baby. So I guess I'll be the nice guy(who happens to be the biggest person there)and ride in the back. It's cramped with luggage but fortunately not boiling hot like D.C. or Memphis. It's 81 degrees and breezy. 2 1/2 hours of this later(we stopped for groceries) we arrive in Benson, Vermont. A village no less. No police, no A/C, no nothing. 30 minutes from any town/city.

7:00pm
We unload some luggage, meet the bride Leiha and her parents(we have meet Leiha before). They live above a country store that they own, it was built in 1845. It's the village store, post office, market, luncheon, gas station and everything else in the size of a McDonald's. We move upstairs where all of a sudden it gets very warm very quickly. The thermostat reads 80. Windows are open but they have zero fans. This is the norm up here. 8:30. We eat at the Wheel Restaurant which is where the rehearsal dinner will be Sunday night. It's located across the street, the only building besides the store. No A/C here either and I begin to worry. I did manage to have one of the best burger's I've ever had here so that was a plus. 9:30pm. We leave the Wheel and everyone else leaves me at the store. I get picked to stay here somehow instead of the cabin(15 minutes away on lake Champlain). Leiha talk for over 3 hours about everything from how she met my cousin Trip to the bridesmaids and the disappointment of trying to find matching khaki's for the groomsmen. 1:00am. I'm exhausted. I end up sleeping in the same room, 5 feet from the eventual bride. Of course the neighbors who have kids are out til 3am screaming and such and they are just a fart in the wind from our window. This is now my second day without adequate sleep and it's slowly taking it's toll on me.

Guess Who's Back?

2011-08-08T15:07:00.003-05:00

I have decided to get back into blogging for the immediate future. I can't say how often I'll do it but for now, I'm back! A lot of things have happened over the past 7 months that I've been away from blogging and I felt that it was time to start again after a long rest.

My first of several postings will be about my recent trip(in detail) of Vermont and what we did...ahem, said we would do but didn't.

Until then...

The End

2011-01-03T16:24:00.002-06:00

I haven't really blogged in quite a while and I don't plan on doing it anymore. I guess part of me enjoyed the rants about various things in my life or the world as I see it, the other part wants feedback. It's the second part that's ending this whole debacle. I had fun doing so but with my new working hours it's just not going to happen. Not having anyone read something you take time out to do makes it not worth your while. I never had enough followers(9) in the first place, but with only one or two people commenting every now and then, I just can't spend my time on it anymore. I did do it for myself at first but that isn't enough for me. I obviously didn't write about enough things that interested people or I didn't do it often enough. So I'm doing what I really hate to do, I'm quitting.

For the ones who did follow me all this time, I really appreciate it. You made it last longer than I thought it would.

C-ya!

New Job for Sho...

2010-11-05T16:05:00.003-05:00

Yes, it finally happened. Waiting on jobs at Fredex is like pulling teeth, it's painful and tedious and it's never done quickly. The process is simple on paper, bid on a job and after a week you get it, so that's the idea at least. The problem is when you have 15-20 people with various time with the company bidding on the same job you are. I have just over 5 1/2 years(8 total) with the company, would have been 14 years(6 years in between) if I didn't quit at age 21 after 2 1/2yrs like a dumb ass.

So here's the scoop, in a nutshell. I bid on a job, others put in on it as well. After a week goes by the bidding process for said job is closed. No one can bid for it but you can withdraw your name from the list. The list is a seniority based system they like to use to be "fair" when offering a job. Obviously this can be bypassed knowing the right people which I apparently do not. Anyway, you then get hired if several things happen, here they are in no particular order:
1. You can actually bid on the job(meaning you don't have any bad stuff on your file).
2. You aren't currently under contract with your current position(unless it's a promotion, no lateral moves under contract).
3. You happen to out bid the others who apply(which is totally seniority based and out of your hands).
4. The position you apply for has so many openings. Example: A job is posted for 3 people, you rank 10th. You can still get the job if others withdraw or they can't meet the other requirements. This number can dwindle down if these things happen.

This happened.

I was ranked 9th out of 15 people and 4 jobs were available, not great odds. The kicker is that this process takes weeks if not months to figure out because people either don't qualify or they withdraw because of the wait or whatever reason. You can only bid on two jobs at a time and you have to withdraw one if you want another one and so on. This is to limit bidding amounts that would flood the managers looking for people. Anyway, apparently 6 people withdrew their names and 5 others didn't qualify for the job when their turn came around(attendance reasons, punctuality or performance reviews were bad). This left 4 more and guess who #4 was, me...

So starting the Sunday after Thanksgiving I am back at the Hub working graveyard shifts from 11ish PM to who knows AM. I have 3 weeks and tonight to go with my current job and this time I can't lose this one due to my driving record, lol. I get a pay raise and I will be working with a boss who was hand picked by a friend of mine who's in management in Fedex. I feel confident about this move and I look forward to it. Sleep will be tough to come by but I get every night at home with my family and that trumps everything. Softball will be played come springtime, I am still off weekends(minus 2 Sunday's of OT a month in which I can move around and sub a Friday night for if I want). Apparently moving up has a much better chance in this department(International customs). I only have a one year contract instead of two and best of all, it's indoors.

I'm ready for a change and this is the first step...

Top 10 list: Scary Movies

2010-10-29T15:11:00.004-05:00

So my buddy Chris put up his list of the best Halloween movies ever and a lot of them are great films. So I decided to put out my list of scariest movies for me in honor of Halloween this Sunday. Note that these are based on my thoughts on the first showing(scare/creepy factor) and how many times I came back to it because(it was still scary and creepy). Two numbers will be used for the first time I saw it and then the repeated viewings afterward(example 8/5). Ratings don't reflect my love for the movies, they just point out the scary factor in them.

Jeff:
1. The Ring(2002) 10/10 This movie just scares the crap out of me regardless of how many times I have seen it. When the girl is crawling out of the well...OMG! Creepy factor, scary, intense, suspenseful, it has it all.

2. The Exorcist(1973) 10/10 To imagine that the girl(Linda Blair) in this movie is only 12 at the time is hard enough, the things she says and goes through is terrifying. The actual exorcism scene is flat out the most realistic scary movie scene ever.

3. The Blair Witch Project (1999) 10/6 Only when you realized that it wasn't real is when it became less scary. The actors had no idea about any part of the film(the were shooting a documentary about something entirely different) and that's what made this film a great one, when they were scared, they were really scared. The last scene with the guy against the wall is just standing there...ugh, creepy!

4. Event Horizon(1997) 9/7 Probably not on many scary lists but it's up there on mine. A ship that goes to hell yet no one knows that and it knows your fears, uh, no thanks. There is nothing worse than being on a possessed spaceship in which you cannot leave right? Too many creepy scenes to even mention.

5. Saw(2004) 9/7 I love this movie for it's simple message delivered in a not so simple story. The ending in which Jigsaw stands up and the music that ensues during the reveal that he has been there the whole time is classic terror.

6. 28 Days Later(2002) 9/6 To think about a disease that takes out humanity as we know it is scary. To wake up not knowing it happened at all, scarier. To be alone in England with zombies who are pissed, uh oh. It's I am Legend but better. Also Cillian Murphy's first film.

7. Halloween(1978) 9/6 That music is famous for Michael Myers character. A boy who is straight from hell, um yeah, kids in scary movies are terrifying to me. The creepy factor in this movie is one of the best ever. Part 2 was decent but the original stands alone here.

8. The Silence of the Lambs(1991) 9/5 To imagine this movie if it were true would only make it scarier. Hopkins wins an Oscar for only 16 minutes of screen time, that's impressive. A psychotic doctor who eats people gets to solve a murder case, what a concept. To me this is the greatest overall movie on the list but it doesn't creep me out like it did when I was a kid. Still one of my all time favorite films ever.

9. The Shining(1980) 8/4 Isolated, broken past, questionable methods of parenting, alcoholic, abusive, these words describe Jack. Danny is a psychic creepy kid who sees the future. Mix in a haunted Hotel in the middle of nowhere during a blizzard, Jack gets cranky. Love it!

10.Se7en(1995) 8/4 The original mind f**k in a deranged view of a serial killer. John Doe is utterly insane but he claims his actions are Gods will. Killing because of peoples individual sins, that's bad ass.! The ending was shocking to say the least. Imagine if someone actually did this, wow! What's in the box?

Halloween, eh...

2010-10-28T14:13:00.005-05:00

^ Joe dirt circa 04' ^

I usually love Halloween, I mean, who doesn't really? But last year was painful, well part of it was. I doubt any Halloween will be quite the same after the hospital visit for Katie and Kim. With that said, I really didn't have a clue this year on my costume. So, my costume is(in my opinion) unoriginal and been there done that. It sucks. I always try to outdo last years costume but I was a mess trying to figure it out this year. Going to a Halloween party will be fun no doubt but looking forward to the party more than the dress up isn't my idea of fun. Let me rephrase that, it will be fun but not as fun because my costume blows! I'm still halfway thinking about doing something else entirely but with just two days to do it, I might be stuck with what I got.

Last years costume> 80's glamrocker!

The Freak

2010-10-08T12:12:00.005-05:00

Move over Roy Halladay, Tim Lincecum can be just as dominant and I think we already knew that. Don't get me wrong, a no hitter is more impressive than a two hitter, that's obvious. Here's the dilemma I have of comparing the two games. Halladay struck out 8 while walking one batter on 104 pitches. Lincecum struck out 14 and walked one batter on 119 pitches. On http://www.baseball-reference.com/ they have Lincecum's game score at 96 while Halladay is at 94. How can that be you ask? It's simple really, pitchers are given a higher score for higher strikeouts. Lincecum almost doubled Halladay's total while only allowing 2 more hits and that makes him more dominant. I watched both games from the 6th inning on and were both amazing. Halladay's gem had 21 swing and misses while Lincecum had 31(the highest total in 10 years). Lincecum also posted the single postseason record for K's by a rookie postseason pitcher(the old record was 13 set in 1906) and his miss percentage was 56%. Lincecum allowed a hit on the first batter of the game and then the next didn't come until the 6th inning.

I honestly can't say who I thought was more dominant. Pitching a no-no has an extreme amount of pressure but he had a 4 run lead heading into the 5th inning while Timmy only had one run to play with all game. Again, Baseball reference says Tim's game was more dominant 96-94. If you are wondering if a perfect game would give a 100 score, no it doesn't guarantee it. Again, if you only have 3 K's in a perfect game it suggests that your defense had a big part in your game. 14 K's shows that the pitcher did more than half the work all by himself. Either way, in two nights of postseason ball we got to see two unbelievable gems pitched by two extraordinary pitchers in their first postseason game. Year of the pitcher, maybe, but no one has done what these two did in a very long time.

Roy Halladay and the no-no

2010-10-07T13:53:00.003-05:00

So Halladay throws a no-no last night, no biggie to some, others(aka smart people) it's the stuff of legend. Let me say this, I hate that Randy Moss got traded the day before this happened, it cheapens it because: A. Baseball is only #2 in America now behind Football B. All the other No-no's and perfect games pitched earlier this season(6 in all, 3rd most ever in a single season). With that said, what Halladay has accomplished this season is otherworldly. Not only did he throw a perfect game in May but he throws a no-no in his very first playoff appearance. Did I mention that he is only the 4th pitcher to ever throw two no hitters in a season and is the ONLY one to have a perfect game and no-no in one season, truly remarkable. There have been 269 total no-no's in Baseball history counting Halladay's last night, 20 of which were perfect games. 28 pitchers have thrown 2 no-no's and only 5 have reached 3 or more( Nolan Ryan (seven), Sandy Koufax (four), Cy Young (three), Bob Feller (three), and Larry Corcoran (three).

Roy Halladay is the best pitcher in Baseball, that is my opinion but I would find it hard for any other MLB fan to disagree. Not only does he save his teams relievers on days he pitches because he goes so deep into ballgames but he also manages to study the opposition better and more frequently than any other player. He's humble in a city that isn't. He's durable for a guy that throws 230+ innings a year which in today's game is crazy to comprehend. To think that this is the same pitcher who was once sent back to the minors to work on his delivery because(to this day) he holds the MLB record for highest ERA in a season (10.64 in 67 innings). He's already the active leader for pitchers in WAR(Wins above replacement player54.30) and he's only 33. He's 62nd all time in that category, just 0.20 behind Sandy Koufax.

Last night's performance put me in awe. The dominance of the best hitting team in the league with the best hitter statistically (Joey Votto, my pick for 2010 MVP). Only 4 of the 28 batters he faced got a 3 ball count and he managed to throw 104 pitches, 79 for strikes...are you kidding me? Lets not forget the countless hitters who not only got out, but never even touched the ball swinging the bat. The only pitcher I have ever seen who pitched like that in a big game that just couldn't be hit was Pedro Martinez. Pedro of course had a limit on his pitches because he threw so hard on a tiny frame, Halladay never gets tired. Last night someone said on the broadcast that Halladay reminded him of Greg Maddux but with velocity, that's a scary thought. Now I'm not saying Halladay is Maddux or Martinez but I do think he's a bit of both. Whether he can do this another 6-7 years or so will determine if we are watching an all time great or not. Either way he's in his prime and just like Pedro Or the Professor, Doc Halladay is a force to be reckoned with for sure.

Our family Vacation to California '10

2010-09-23T12:34:00.011-05:00

This might end up being a long posting but I will try to shorten it as much as possible.

Friday Sept 10: I leave for vacation all excited to forget about my work problems. We get sweet seats directly behind 1st class because of Katie and the super nice flight attendant(bonus points already). We arrive in Salt Lake City around 11:00pm and eventually make it to Sacramento at 1:30pm Memphis time. Then the 2 1/2 hour drive to West Point, Ca. My aunt hates the freeway(it's referred to that in Cali) and the construction caused her to miss her exit, adding an hour to our drive, not good. Meanwhile Katie is hating life and Kim is in pain from the lack of room on her side of the back seat from the brand new car seat my Mom and Aunt bought to avoid shipping ours. I rode up front almost the entire trip because, well... I'm tall.

Sat and Sun, 11-12: Basically we just hung out in the mountains and ate great food. My cousins came over with their families/Girlfriend and we just kicked it, it was really nice to see them and catch up. Sunday we went out to breakfast with everyone and then one of my cousins(John Murphy, we call him Murf) had to get back to the city(he's been in a band for years, it's his main job). We then went to my other cousin's house(Mike) and Katie met a trampoline for the first time, fun stuff. We ended up back at the house and ate another great meal. I ended both nights with a soak in the hot tub, looking up at the clear sky and the fresh cold air, good stuff.

Monday , 13th: Had breakfast and once it was close to Katie's nap time we headed out to Lake Tahoe. Man, the drive to and from is amazing...it was almost better than Lake Tahoe. Tahoe is more commercialized than the last time I was there(1988) so it was really strange. The casinos were a bit dated and the traffic was pretty slow moving but man what a view. We ate at a little pub while MNF was on and I had an amazing Reuben sandwich, Kim had a Crab melt. This place has live music nearly every night, even bagpipes. We decided to head back before it got too close to dark since we didn't have anyone with us to guide us around. The drive back was so nice, sunset and mountains, really cool.

Tuesday, 14th: We headed into town(town meaning like a couple thousand people 30 minutes away) for shopping and stuff. Kim was treated at a spa by my mom and Aunt while I had Katie for 2 hours or so. Katie had McDonald's 3 or 4 times during our trip, lol. Poor thing was basically in a car seat or plane for what seemed most of the trip so we felt like letting her have what she loves...french fries. We left the "town" for a smaller place called Sutter Creek(pop. 300+). It's one of those movie small town type places with cool little stores and an original ice cream emporium. I about died when I had the Vanilla Malt and then saw their selection of Root Beer, none of which was the big guys(Barqs, A&W, IBC, Stewarts or Mug). I wanted to buy all of it but I refrained from doing so. We ended up leaving mid afternoon and headed back to the house for one last get together with Mike and his wife and son. Another hot tub night followed and that was that.

Wednesday, 15th: The drive from West Point to San Francisco isn't short by any means. My aunt drove us through a million vineyards to avoid any major city along the way(there are cities everywhere in the Bay Area). Think Dallas/Fort Worth times 10. We left at 10:30am and arrived in Concord(which is one hour from SF)at 1:30pm. Total driving time that day...4+ hours, total mileage...145. Yeah, going through mountains and major cities will give you an average of 37 miles an hour. Anyway, we get to Millbrae(10 minutes south of SF) where my other aunt lives and immediately leave for the train station. Why the train station? Because parking in SF will cost you $25-30 bucks. Two train tickets $16 bucks round trip. We arrive at AT@T park 2 hours before game time to see my Giants beat the Dodgers 2-1. Memphis' own Matt Cain pitches 7 scoreless, 3 hit ball and gets the win. We eat clam chowder out of sourdough bread bowl and eat the best crab sandwich we had ever tasted...at a ballgame. Later came the garlic fries which are just phenomenal. We sat directly behind MLB announcer and former player Steve Lyons and watched the one and only Marissa Miller throw out the first pitch only to see her walk right past me, literally, up my isle...WOW! How could this night get any better? Oh, I dunno, maybe see Joe Montana in the flesh? Yup, that happened too! Holy Shit! Joe F 'N' Montana, I can die now...

Thursday, 16th: Wake up, eat breakfast(which is really nice to wake up and have ready for you every day for 9 days) and head to the Oakland petting Zoo. This Zoo was pretty cool if you ask me. I was skeptical about Oakland since well, it's Oakland. Not known for anything really but crime and insane fans of Raider football. It's the west coast version of Memphis without the Football or baseball. Anyway, you can pet lambs and sheep in their environment which was nice. Too bad Katie dislocated her elbow while pulling away from Kim near the Lion exhibit, we never actually petted the animals. We were saving that for last because getting Katie out of her stroller is a one and done thing, she ain't going back in it once she's out. So we drive an hour to the nearest ER that will see an under 2 child and wait(By the way, it's my Mom's Bday). Turns out it's very common for children 5 and under to do this. Doctors say it's due to their bodies ligaments not being fully developed in those areas. The doctor put it back in place(screaming for about a minute happened, so I heard. I was getting drinks for us and they called them back into a room that no one could tell me how to get to. It was just one of those days. We got back to the house and ordered some amazing pizza from Toto's pizza. Man, they load the toppings on this stuff for sure. That was pretty much the whole day.

Friday, 17th: Woke up, breakfast and then the problem...I call to put our name on the list for standby for our flight home Sunday morning. I am told that all flights that day are booked and that Saturday would be the day to travel, okay. After that phone call we decided since we just lost a day in SF we would site see and eat dinner. So we went everywhere(6 hours of driving around the city to be exact). We saw the ocean, huge mansions over looking the ocean, George Lucas' industrial lights and magic, where Jefferson Airplane lived and began(and no, I am not a fan) and so on...we ended the day at Nick's restaurant overlooking the ocean. Great seafood but you can get burgers and such too(my aunt hates seafood). We head back home, eat some dessert and call it a night.

Saturday, 18th: The day from hell. We(Kim and I) are on day three of little to no sleep due to the air mattress/box spring combo on the fold out couch, yeah... Anyway, we arrive at the SFO airport at 8:18am pacific time, 10:18 Memphis. Our flight leaves at 10:25 so we have plenty of time, not! Apparently when the lady I confirmed my Saturday tickets with didn't mention to me that since I had a non-stop flight on that Sunday which was booked, I now didn't have a connecting ticket to get to Memphis. I only had tickets for the first leg of the flight home...panic mode just went into over drive. So from there I called global travel through my work, they are closed on the weekends, uh oh. So then I call a 1-800 # to speak to anyone to try to help out. Their suggesting is to talk with my manager to see if they can help, we are screwed. So our options are this.

1. Leave SFO to whatever city gets us closest to Memphis and then figure out the rest.
2. Purchase new guaranteed tickets.

We chose #2 obviously. Otherwise the closest we get to home is Atlanta at 10pm Memphis time then drive 6 hours home, uh...no. Did I mention the fact that I went to 4 different airlines to try and resolve this before buying new tickets? By then, our original flight had left and now we were looking for a 12:35pm flight. Of course as we get set to go through security the lady who we bought our tickets from forgot Katie's ticket(which is essentially just a boarding pass since she doesn't require a ticket because of her age). So I go back only to sit in line for 30 minutes because one lady forgot to purchase a second over sea's ticket for her husband...wow! It took 30 seconds to get Katie's thing fixed and it cost me 30 minutes to get it. On to the flight...nope! 45 minute delay, so now we have been in the airport 4 1/2 hours at this point and we haven't even boarded the plane. We board the plane at 1:15pm and then sit in the very last seats in the back. We are now sitting in the plane for 30 minutes for no reason while sweating to the notion that our connecting flight leaves at 5:25pm Denver time, it's now 1:55 our time(2:55pm Denver time)and we are still on the ground. It's a 2hr 10 minute flight, do the math. In the air at 2pm sharp(1 hour and 35 minutes late) and we land at 5:10pm in Denver right on the 2hr 10 min line.

We are at gate 46, our connection is at gate 94 out of 95, uh oh! The Denver Airport is big and it takes us (Kim carrying Katie and I have our carry on with me) every minute to get there but we make it with a couple of minutes to spare, ahh... So we land in Memphis at 8:45pm only to arrive at the baggage claim area with no bags in site. Turns out that delay in SF cost us our bags getting from one plane to the next, yay! So we try to figure out what's next. The rep from US Airways comes over to assist the travelers who flew under them, we were on United. No one comes for us(there are 4 people including Kim, Katie and I). The US Air rep tells us that someone from United will come shortly, no one does. The airport is empty and I mean desolate. Kim asks if the US Air guy can help, he slams the door in her face and locks it. Okay, we are pissed beyond repair now. Turns out no one from United ever comes, even after several pages over the terminal loud speaker. One lady who flew with us from SF and Denver was livid. She called customer service and was on the phone for 45 minutes. We each had to file baggage claims and wait for further assistance. Eventually our bags showed up Sunday evening around 7:30pm, one day later.

So there was our vacation in a nutshell.

2 more days...

2010-09-08T10:31:00.003-05:00

Well, it's finally here. My vacation starts in just 2 days(technically when I clock out Friday morning at 1am). The cool thing is it's also 2 more days until I am finished with my current job. I will miss seeing some of my coworkers and some of our clients but that time has come and gone. Needless to say, I am ready for this change. New job, new sleeping habits(hopefully), softball once again with friends, I can't wait. I have been about as anxious as a kid in a candy store in the last week or so. Every day is a countdown to something.

I will say this, flying sure isn't what it use to be. I get a lower rate for working where I do on air travel which is nice but it comes at a different price. Flying standby can be a bit scary and I don't mean the actual flying part. We will be sitting in the terminal, patiently waiting while everyone else boards the plane one by one. After everyone has boarded the plane they begin to call out the standby list(last time Kim and I were dead last on this list of 6 people, but we made it). They tell you to prepare to be "bumped" which means, not making said flight, there are no guarantees. Like I said, scary stuff. The one good thing is we can fly on any airline at any flight time we choose with those same rules applied. I honestly think this will be the last time we do this, it's just too stressful. Paying more for your tickets definitely has it's advantages.

The other part of flying that has become shitty is the baggage/food and overall idea of traveling through the air. Now your bag must weigh less than a certain amount or they tack on additional fees. The bags can only be so big or again, more fees. You can't bring liquids on board nor will you eat a meal on your plane. Hell, they even charge you for peanuts and drinks, WTF? I miss the days where you could watch your friends and family fly off from the gate, now you can't even get past the front security without a ticket. Speaking of security...oh now you want to check everything I own in case of... I get it. It's important now, after everything has been fucked up beyond repair, thanks for that.

I use to fly at least twice a year from the age of 5-18 from California or Memphis to Atlanta. I have always loved to fly but it's such a hassle now I don't even look forward to it anymore. Bringing Katie on a plane is the next challenge. I don't want to be the parents who have the screaming baby, I really don't. We are coming as prepared as a parent can be, we have no choice. We can't just go outside if she's upset this time or just leave all together. The funny thing about all of this is how prepared Kim and I are. We started packing Sunday(5 days before the trip)and we continue to think of things. Lists are a prerequisite for us, we always make one which is why we never forget anything important.

Scooter is already with Kim's mom and the house already feels half empty. When we come back I will have changed jobs mid vacation and start fresh. I talked with an old friend from back home and we might even get to hang for a couple of hours when I am there, I am so ready. There really is nothing quite like California. It should be it's own island because it's so different. People who live there could care less about everywhere else. My buddy even said to me"man, what's the closest big city near you, Chattanooga?" Lol. Not quite. People there think Graceland is in a rich neighborhood, lol. It was, in 1975. Pictures will be taken for sure. Wish us a safe journey through the friendly skies will ya'.

Love, peace and chicken grease.

New Job

2010-08-25T11:52:00.003-05:00

So 12 hours ago I signed my letter of intent to travel from the 2nd floor of my work place back to the 1st one. A big move regardless of the short distance traveled. In this move I will not only be doing a completely different job but I will also work a much different schedule. I first started working at the station on Getwell and Shelby Drive in November of '08, my last day will be September 9th, 2010. I am excited for the change but I can't lie about being apprehensive about the shift change. Working the graveyard shift isn't exactly a dream situation for most people. The hours are unbearable and the fact that you work while the rest of your friends and family sleep is a bit hard to swallow.

This job will require me to get a DOT license(Dept. of Transportation). With that said, it means I have to take a physical, no big deal right? Wrong! It's everything in this job. If I fail it means no new job for me. I failed the last physical I took for the company two years ago when I found out I had Diabetes. My blood sugar while fasting the night before was at 157(normal is between 70-110). This time I am on my medication but still, I am sweating about it. I still don't have a target date for said physical but bet your ass I am passing it even if I have to starve myself to do it. You see, a type one diabetic(one who's body cannot make insulin on it's own) cannot legally drive DOT because it's a liability. I am a type two diabetic(meaning my body uses and makes insulin in my body but at an abnormal rate). This is the only obstacle between my new job and my current one, which I am tired of to say the least.

This new job will have me starting my work day at the end of the day, literally...11pm. I won't be going to sleep at night til 5am or later which will be tough considering I have a little one who requires my attention 5 days a week by 9am sometimes. I will now learn(or be forced to)take naps to properly function, yikes! I love a good challenge and this will most likely be one of the toughest one's yet. There are some good things besides the new job and new boss that made this decision easier for me to make. They are:

1. I get to see my wife as much as any other husband does every day in a normal atmosphere(9-5 work day).
2. I also get to see my daughter for the same reasons.
3. I can now do things I couldn't do before...like play Softball, go out to eat, see a movie or watch TV programs the same day they are on.

The only con to this is the sleep or lack thereof. only four of the seven days a week will be tough and here is why. I will be fully rested(hopefully) going into Monday's so only Tue-Fri will be spent with a big lack of sleep. Sat and Sun I can catch up(if there is such a thing)on sleep if needed.

I look forward to this new challenge/job and I can't express how excited I am to be able to be home all night with my family every night.

Over And Over Again

2010-08-17T14:01:00.003-05:00

I'm somewhat of a spontaneous person and one thing I hate is repetition. Whether it's with food, a routine(unless totally needed to live a normal life) or just hearing about things outside my own little world. I say this mainly because hyping something up drives me up the wall for sure. My job is very repetitive(most jobs are to think of it) but when I am away from that I want nothing to do with it. I never eat at the same time every day and I never eat at the same time for any meal except dinner(which is needed because of the health thing for energy).

I say all of this for a reason, lately everything I have read, watched or heard has been done over and over again. AM radio has shows that are played more than once for some reason, as in two weeks later. FM radio is self explanatory. TV stations like TNT show the same movie for 3 straight days on purpose...why? Hyping Tim Tebow because he looked decent against a 3rd string defense? Talking about LeBron and the decision as if it just happened. Constantly talking about Glee and it's newest cameo appearance or Idol's "what if" judge for ratings. Shoving Betty White down every American's throat out of nowhere. Eating has even become more of a chore than something I should enjoy. I hate knowing what we have because it's a certain day of the week regardless if I like it. Spontaneity is so underrated.

Maybe I'm by myself here. Maybe I am asking too much to want a little this and that in life. I am waiting for September 10th to get here so badly, just so I can taste life in another place than work or home. New foods to try in a never visited place perhaps or maybe seeing someone out of my circle of friends(not that I mind any of you). A routine is usually needed to live life for survival and organization, but is it needed at a constant level? I for one hope not. Growing up in my house as a child meant eating this and that on this day and it was seriously growing older by the minute. I am not a robot and I don't plan on ever being one. I guess I want to have my cake and eat it too, is that too much to ask, lol?

I have been saying this for years

2010-08-12T12:44:00.007-05:00

Michael Cera's new, overly hyped(for almost two solid months)new movie comes out tomorrow and I'm sure a lot of my friends are dying to see it, why? I have no idea. Last time I checked I hated every video game movie/look alike I have ever seen. Add to that the actual plot(fighting his wannabe Gfriends 7 evil ex's???) and I'm avoiding it all together. I'm not a big Michael Cera fan, most people know this about me. He's the "it" nerdy guy right now and that fine, but his time will run out if he can't shake this same ol' character bit he plays right now. Once or twice is fine, but every single movie he's been in? Even Sly Stallone or Arnold tried something different. With that said, click the link above.

The Pickle

2010-08-11T14:13:00.002-05:00

In the last week or two I have been in constant limbo about a job and whether I want to take it or not. This job is different than my current one but with the same company. I would be changing managers and job location(same station but first floor instead of 2nd). My fellow employees would change and so would my hours...and there lies the pickle.

The job will be tougher most likely, which I can handle. The new boss is unknown on how he runs stuff and communicates with his staff which I can also handle/get used to. The hours part is the area where I am stressing about and here's why, I start at around 11pm. That's right, the graveyard shift. Now I have worked this shift before, when I was between the ages of 18-21, I'm 32. I didn't get a ton of sleep back then because sleeping when everyone else is awake has major consequences, like people knocking on doors and ringing phones. Add a 18 month old little girl that I have to watch and we have issues.

The question remains the same...can I work the graveyard shift and still perform my fatherly duties while keeping my sanity? The answer is TBD. I asked my possible(if I accept this job) new manager about additional hours and he told me they are always available so that's a plus. A raise is almost a certainty since I am moving up in my driving status(barring a setback taking my physical)from handler to courier/handler. Moving back to my original station(downstairs) and leaving the current one(2nd floor) is also a plus. It would put me back in the 20-30 range as far as competing for vacation time and stuff rather than #77 out of 117 number I am currently against. The only negative is the time I have to go to work and possibly the job itself. Right now my job is fairly easy minus the constant harassment from my boss and the constant scheduling changes he makes for no reason. This new job wouldn't really change, which is a plus. I would also have more time at home at night with Kim and Katie before work(if it's not spent sleeping).

Sleeping seems like a no brainer to say no but the sleeping part is HUGE, it's the single hit or miss part in all of this. I wouldn't get home til nearly 4:30-5am. Kim gets up around 7-7:30am and Katie is anywhere from that point on(usually around 9:30am or later). Can I deal with only 4 hours of sleep for 5 days in a row, probably not. I could nap when she does which is a possibility and really more of necessity to function on a daily basis. It's not as if this is a permanent job, I can bid out after the contract ends(usually one year). What's really sad about all of this is I wouldn't leave if it weren't for my bosses relentless, almost non-stop approach to what he calls managing. When has your boss ever called you at home or how often if so? While he was on vacation? While you were on vacation? On the weekends? The list goes on...The words micromanaging is under used in so many ways here.

I don't love my job, in fact I don't really care for it but it's what I have right now. And to think I would change all of it(hours, shift, relocation) for a little more hours tells me how important working for someone I respect means to me. No one said you have to love your boss/co workers but you have to be able to do your job without sacrificing too much to do it. I sacrifice a lot for my part time job...keyword here...PART TIME. It's unbelievable the hassle I go through for this job and that's why I'm leaning towards taking this job offer. On the bright side, I can probably play softball again.

What weekend?

2010-08-02T14:10:00.004-05:00

So in light of our California trip just 5 weeks from Friday I have started to work some OT to increase the funds for the trip. I knew from the moment I signed up it would suck and sucketh it did. Here's how my weekend ended up looking like(if you call it a weekend at all).

Woke up around my usual time since I work nights(around 10am) and just hung around the house until my Mom came over at 11. Kim , Steph my Mom plus Katie left shortly after Steph arrived near noon. I quickly ran up to Wendy's(12:15pm) on Mendenhall to grab lunch, I wasn't hungry but knew I had to eat before the work day started. Ate all of my chicken club(it's really good but pricey)but only ate a few bites of my side salad(ran out of time). I quickly drove to a location where they work almost everyday, it's now 12:50 and I have 10 minutes to clock in. It's a massive warehouse where the security is tighter than fort knox. They literally make even the people like myself take a picture and then they give you a sticker to wear from said picture. God forbid that sticker falls off and you can't find it, game over for you. You won't be leaving til it's found and that's no joke. Needless to say, I look down every 5 minutes to ensure it's there. Did I mention you can't bring in anything other than a clear bottle of any drink? Not your wallet, phone, keys.....nothing. You leave it in a cubby hole for everyone to see. What kind of a place does that? Daycare would have been my answer, nope, try again.

Working in a warehouse where the isn't any AC is tough, in the middle of Summer in Memphis is tougher. Fans blow hot air that circulates throughout the place doesn't really cool you off, just imagine getting in your hot car and cranking the AC, not so cold is it. The boxes shipped at this place are small and light weight which is a plus and much different than my usual locations. The only difference is that instead of several hundred a stop like normal, they usually ship over 10,000 a day. Both days I worked it was nearly 12,000. In the trucks loading is where you consider quitting all together. Loading lightweight freight is easy but in a truck that's parked under the sun all day long...it's over 120 degrees in there and no moving air. My completely frozen over ice water(34 oz.) I brought melted in less than 30 minutes in there. Now do this for 5 hours straight. The boxes never stop coming because the workers take breaks in shifts to keep a moving stream coming for us. Time and a half is nice but at what cost?

I heard things at this place that made me question how some companies treat their workers, what I heard was incredible. They barely make minimum wage and they work in a place where there is zero heat in the Winter and no AC in the Summer. They top out(a pay scale) less than my job starts people with. This company is a worldwide heavy hitter folks, it really bothers me.

Back to my weekend...so I work 5 hours, come home exhausted and completely drenched in sweat and salt, yes, salt. You know you sweat a lot when your elbow is salty when you rub it, gross but effective, I know. I drank over 120 ounces of water in that time frame(both days) and I still feel slightly dehydrated today. Anyway, I quickly took a shower and then we(Kim, Steph, Cory and Katie)drove to Kim's uncles house in bartlett for a cookout. We received a phone call asking why we were so late(it was 7:00pm) and we were supposed to be there at 7, we were 10 minutes away. They were acting like we were holding them up from eating so we gave the okay to start without us, they gladly obliged. Her uncles new step son Ryan cooked an amazing array of ribs, bbq chicken, brats and hot dogs for everyone. He mentioned he would like to go to cooking school, we all agreed, do it. We stayed for only 2 hours or so due to her uncles uncontrollable urge to show us the true power of his surround sound, good Lord...you couldn't hear anything but the movie he put in(which no one actually wanted to watch), The Bounty Hunter(which was awful). We left half way through it actually, lol. We also became extremely upset in the fact that no one listens to us in the "don't do that" part for Katie. It's like we tell someone something and whoever hears it completely ignores it. So anyway, we headed home, Katie wouldn't go to bed(she finally did...at 12:20am), we caught up on a couple of shows and called it a night.

I wake up Sunday not having to go to work til 3:15pm so I chill at home until I have to go at 2:45pm. Different day, same result except this time I'm not only starving but it's getting dark outside and my grass looks like the Amazon. Seriously, I bet Lions and some sort of other wildlife are in there somewhere. My lawnmower quit on me 2 weeks ago and I have been borrowing Tillman's ever since. So I'm rushing home to hopefully get his mower and quickly cut the grass before the light is gone, I fail. I get a phone call from Kim and no less than a minute goes by when I pass a cop going 48 in a 40(I always thought it was 45 through there). The lady cop was not friendly at all. The only words spoken were "license", "pay here", "slow down". So there went all the money(not really, but still)from the OT I just busted my ass for, FUCK!!!

I come home, Kim clearly stays away to let me cool off(literally and figuratively). By the time I do, it's 8:45pm and I'm shaking I'm so hungry. We decide to order Papa Johns on line. We get the email saying it will be 85 to 95 minutes, uh what? Is the Superbowl on or something? Can I catch a frekin' break? Turns out she pizza girl gets here in just over 40 minutes(they were shorthanded and that was their estimate). Give a guy a mild stroke why don't ya', lol. We eat, finish our Big Brother shows and call it a night...until Katie wakes up screaming like a banshee at 2am, what a weekend...or lack thereof.

Pot calling the Kettle?

2010-07-22T14:04:00.004-05:00

I have been called negative a lot by some friends of mine for going on 15+ years and it really bugs me. Today I made a comment on Facebook(knowing it would ruffle at least a few feathers) about Alabama's Football team. This wasn't my posting, it was just a comment(the 13th in fact, 12 of which were others). The post was "I'm thanking God I'm not a Bama fan". I agree...here lies the problem. Of those other comments, 5 of those were bashing Alabama not including my lone comment. I didn't say anything that wasn't truthful or accurate and yet I got hazed and called a constantly negative person for it. I get the same comments from the same people for anything I do or say regardless of topic and it hurts.

I'm not the most positive person on the planet that's for sure, but I've certainly tried to change that image. Kim has gotten on to me about it for a long time a while back and she hasn't done it since I vowed to fix it. That was several months ago, I blogged about it in fact. I think I have made a significant dent in it if you ask me. Sure, I'm opinionated... and? I'd rather speak my mind then sit back like some people I know and silently bitch about the end result like I use to. But what do I get for speaking my mind(and speaking with a filter no less on the web)? I get bombarded with "you complain too much", "you need therapy" , You need a positive coach". Really? Sorry I don't wake up every day and rejoice that I'm alive, maybe I should, who knows? I have good days and bad just like everyone else, I just express it more often.

Today I woke up in a great mood until I was hit with that garbage. Here is exactly what I said to induce the verbal hit.

What about the fact that Bear Bryant was a racist who didn't want blacks to play for him? Or the fact that 5 of those 13 "championships" came in a year where there were other teams with better records(1941, 1964, 1965, 1973, 1978) yet somehow Alabama won the "title" or got credit for it. I can't stand College Football as a whole...as long as there isn't a fair way to determine a true champion, I'm NFL or bust. There is nothing worse than living in the south come August. You have to listen to this junk for 5 months straight.

Now, as anyone who doesn't like Football(and these people do exist, I know plenty), this doesn't hurt a bit. As for the others, this is all fact except my opinion on why I hate it. Here are the responses from my comment.

Wow, who would have guessed, Jeff Hill negative about something? Complaining about something? Completely Shocking!!! As far as the rest goes... In the spirit of the great Ric Flair "If you ain't cheatin'... you ain't tryin'!" Woooooooo!!!!

I respond:

Whatever...everyone else says stuff yet I get picked on. I call it like I see it.

Their response: So do I... stop complaining and being so negative all the time! Read your own posts. If you comment or post 100 things 99 of them are negative or complaining about something. I love you enough to tell you the truth! This is an Eeyore intervention! Dude you need help! We can try to hook you up with a positivity coach, Richie are you available?

I'm not saying one person is right or wrong here, but why single me out and let the rest of the comments slide? Why am I attacked? I'm really tired of it all to be honest. Getting under my skin is tough to do but this has really gotten out of hand. My whole fantasy football league acts this way when I say anything...and I mean anything at all, in any context.

Thoughts...

A Healthier Me

2010-07-21T15:09:00.003-05:00

Day 10...

That's how long I have gone so far from drinking any juice or soft drink that didn't say diet on it. Honestly, the first 3 days were tougher than I thought they would be. The reason I am doing this, as well as eating a whole lot healthier these days is my personal health. I went to the doctor four weeks ago for my sinus infection that wouldn't go away, what I didn't expect was this...

He gave me a blood test right there once he found out I was a diabetic(different doctor than usual, but I liked him). I was surprised and nervous at the same time since I don't work well with needles. The nurse was super gentle and I barely felt a thing(thank goodness). What I got back were some results that were less than appealing to me. Granted, I have been sick for two weeks and a diabetic's sugar levels are always elevated when sick. Blood Sugar...336, normal range 80-120. YIKES! So he begins to ask certain questions...Do you drink and how often? smoke? Eat well? Exercise? Take your prescribed medicine? And so on...about half of the answers were good, the other, well...

I had to make a choice and quick. Was I going to let this diabetic crap beat me or was I going to fight it. Let me say this, any type of disease sucks and no one wishes it on their worst enemy...but being diabetic controls everything. What you eat/drink/exercise and how much/often. You see, most peoples pancreas regulates all of that regardless of how hard you push it, a diabetic is just the opposite. It effects your eyesight almost immediately if your levels are off. My 20/20 vision can be 20/100 super quick if I get too high or low. If I do yard work one day I have to make sure I eat enough and drink enough because my blood sugar will plummet if I don't. Any type of exercise drains a diabetic, quickly. It's very frustrating to constantly have to watch what you put in your body, but isn't that what we should be doing anyway? You know that feeling when you get super hungry and you start feeling weak and sick? Imagine that feeling every couple of hours if you don't take care of it. The difference is once you eat it goes away, a diabetics body is hindered therefore it takes much longer to regenerate the energy lost.

This is where I started thinking about going cold turkey on the soda's and junk food(frozen pizza's, chips, etc.). I drink Crystal Light(which tastes pretty damn good for having zero sugar, sodium, and carbs). It only has 40 calories per 2 quarts of it compared to one single 12 oz. Coke which has 140 calories and 39 carbs-g. Do the math...If I drank enough Coke to match the two quarts of Crystal Light I would have had over 700 calories and over 200 carbs-g. Now I didn't drink a six pack of Coke a day, maybe 2 at best per day but you can see how it could really change things.

I have been drinking the end all of diet drinks here lately because I can get my fix(soda taste and that fizz I crave) without the sugar. Diet Dr. Pepper has the reputation of real taste without the sugar and I agree, it's darn close. The only thing it does have is caffeine and sodium(the latter is almost impossible to avoid). With the diet soft drink, water, Crystal Light and some flavored water which has nothing in it, I'm bound to improve my sugar levels. Eating healthier and more frequently will also improve my health. I was at a peak weight of 204 lbs. during Christmas this past year and as of the end of May I was in the high 190's. Today I'm at a slender 182lbs, I'm not trying to get real thin or anything but I can definitely see how eating better and drinking less soda and juice can really help me.

Anyway, I was just thinking about my struggles with not having Coke or whatever and my usual crap meals I fix myself because it was the norm. It makes me feel a bit better and my body is obviously thanking me for it. Now if they could just figure out a cure for this thing...

Bashing Baseball...

2010-07-15T00:44:00.002-05:00

I was listening to the AM radio on my way home tonight and had to clear my mind on some topics I heard. I'm sick of hearing how this years MLB All-Star game was the lowest rated ever and how the World Cup championship game drew a higher rating, ya think? Let's see, the World Cup happens every 4 years and the championship game was on a Sunday. Also, the USA Soccer team actually played well enough to advance to the semi's, there's that added umph. Baseball has always played it's mid Summer classic on a Tuesday...81 straight years in fact. That's 7 years less than the NFL has been in existence.

Since Baseball has to play 162 games by rule, they must also have a break in between(3 whole days, Mon-Wed). Listening to the radio guys pronounce that MLB is in trouble because the Soccer game got higher ratings baffles me. Let's see how much America cares from now til 2014, they won't. They were even saying how the NBA is surpassing baseball as the #2 sport in our country, yeah right. Why does everyone all of a sudden dislike America's first team sport so much? Is it because Baseball refuses to change? No salary cap? What is it exactly. Kids grow up wanting to play Football or Basketball because it's the hipper sport to play. Our hip hop generation has some part in this but what's the other reason?

Calling Baseball boring kills me, it just does. Watching someone else on the computer, that's boring. Calling it old fashioned...true, but it's the oldest sport. I'm sorry we don't need an extra 15 minutes added to look at a teleprompter to get 8 bad calls reversed. The human element is Baseball, the perfect game that wasn't. Everyone always tries to re-vamp the game, speed it up or something, what's wrong with the way it is and always has been? Change is a good thing if it's needed to improve something, there isn't anything wrong with baseball but it's Commissioner. Hearing these guys rant on and on about how it's losing fans and such is bullshit.

Now comes training camp around the corner...All I will hear is non stop NFL/College talk til February. I love the NFL, but the constant chatter bothers me. It also makes irritates the hell out of me during the Pennant races in September. Again, is Baseball that bad America? It was your game for 100+ years, what happened? Damn...I hate living in the South come August, I HATE IT!

MLB mid season awards...

2010-07-12T15:52:00.002-05:00

Tonight is the HR derby, tomorrow is the All Star game, it means we are half way home already this year in Baseball. So here are my first half studs and duds in '10.

AL MVP: Miguel Cabrera. He leads the AL in Avg(.346), slugging(.641), OBP(1.074), RBI(77), extra base hits(50), and intentional walks(8). He's also in the top 3 in virtually every other category. He's also 27 years old and we all know what that means(career year/5 year prime).

Close but no cigar: Justin Morneau, Josh Hamilton, Vlad Guerrero, Robinson Cano

AL Cy Young: Cliff Lee. He is the only pitcher in either league to have a WHIP under 1(0.95) and he played for a bad team(Seattle) until last week. 6 walks in 112 innings is Christ like to go along with 91 K's. He also leads the AL in complete games pitched with 6. at 8-4, 2.62 ERA for a team that's 18 under .500, yeah, he's my pick.

Close but no cigar: David Price, John Lester, Jared Weaver, Felix Hernandez, Trevor Cahill

AL ROY: Brennan Boesch. (.342 avg.), 12 HR, 49 RBI and he wasn't even playing til late April.

Close but no cigar: Mitch Talbot, Austin Jackson, Neftali Feliz

AL Manager of the Year: Ron Washington(Texas Rangers). After dealing with the media and all of Baseball about his using of Cocaine last year its a miracle he even has a job. All he's done is turn a failing team who hasn't seen the postseason since '99 into a legit contender(adding Cliff Lee isn't hurting either).

Close but no cigar: Mike Scoscia, Ozzie Guillen, Terry Francona

NL MVP: Joey Votto. Sorry Pujols, you have two ace pitchers(Carpenter and Wainwright) and another All Star in Matt Holliday, Mr. Votto has rookie pitchers and a bad manager(although I despise LaRussa)in Dusty Baker. Oh, and Votto has carried this team on his back, leading the NL in HR(22), OBP(.422) and SLG(.589). Defensively he's better than Pujols as well, making one fewer error in more attempts. By the way, the wrong guy is starting tomorrow at first base for the NL in the All Star game. Beating "The Machine" in one category is tough, but nearly all of them, WOW!

Close but no cigar: Albert Pujols, David Wright, Adrian Gonzalez, Martin Prado

NL CY Young: Roy Halladay. I know about Ubaldo, and Josh Johnson is amazing on a bad team but Halladay's perfect game mixed in with 4 shutouts and 7 complete games is just too much. Honestly, either of the three would be fine with me.

Close but no cigar: Ubaldo Jiminez, Josh Johnson, Adam Wainwright

NL ROY: Jason Heyward. He's cooled off a bit lately due to injury but he leads rookies in nearly every offensive category on a first place team. He came in with tremendous hype and so far has lived up to the billing. Tough call but he wins so far.

Close but no cigar: Jaime Garcia, Tyler Colvin, Mike Leake, Buster Posey

NL Manager of the Year: Bobby Cox. No one thought the Braves would be sitting a top the NL East, much less having the best record in the NL yet there they sit. A rookie basher, a slumping future HOFamer, a nobody all star infielder and another bench playing all star(which has to be a first). This team isn't so scary on paper but the resurgence of Tim Hudson and a encore for Billy Wagner, this team is for real, and it starts with Bobby.

Close but no gigar: Bud Black, Dusty Baker, Jerry Manuel

HOFamers?

2010-07-07T14:02:00.005-05:00

Johnny Damon just entered a statistical realm in which only 6 others have been able to get to...So I thought about that and decided to post a short blog on some borderline HOFamers and their chances of getting in.

Johnny Damon: I know, I know...it doesn't seem possible does it? The man known for being the lead "idiot" for the Boston Red Sox actually has a real argument for his case. Granted, he's still playing every day which also helps stack his numbers every time he bats. With 2,500 hits, 400+ doubles, 300+ stolen bases, 1,500 runs scored and 200+ home runs Damon now is only one of 7 players to ever achieve this feat. The others are: Barry Bonds, Craig Biggio, Rickey Henderson, Joe Morgan, Willie Mays and Roberto Alomar, not a bad list at all.

If this list of stats and the 6 players on it(3 HOFamers and 3 future's), he should be a lock, but, I don't see that happening. Chance of enshrinement...05%.

Roger Craig: on the other hand is not as well known as Damon is in his sport. Maybe because he played with Montana, Rice and Young for so long, or maybe he was more of a giver than a taker, who knows. Only 3 players ever have reached where Craig has statistically. Craig was one of three players in NFL history with 8,000 yards rushing, 4,900 yards receiving, 70 total touchdowns and four Pro Bowls. Marcus Allen and Marshall Faulk are the others. Craig was the first player in NFL history to top 1,000 yards rushing and receiving in the same season. He led the NFL in receptions with 92 in 1985(which is insane considering no one caught passes like that back then) and set the 49ers' season rushing record with 1,502 yards three years later. Craig was among the more versatile running backs in league history, earning Pro Bowl honors at running back and fullback. He was a three-time Super Bowl champion and four-time Pro Bowl choice.

Roger has a tough crowd to surpass given the recent RB's to reach 10,000 yards regardless of his 3 rings...I give him a 40% chance at best.

Kurt Warner: None of the 14 quarterbacks enshrined in the Hall of Fame since 1985 can match Warner in completion percentage (65.5), yards per attempt (7.95) or yards per game (260.8). Of the 14, only Steve Young had a higher passer rating. Only Dan Marino had more 300-yard games. Warner reached 10,000 yards passing in fewer games than anyone in NFL history. Only Marino reached 20,000 and 30,000 yards as fast (they tied by reaching 30,000 yards in 114 games). Warner and Peyton Manning are the only players with a perfect passer rating in three games.
Warner was also about winning. He has a 9-4 starting record in the playoffs and has posted the three highest passing yardage totals in Super Bowl history. Only Bart Starr has a higher career postseason passer rating. Warner averaged 66.5 percent completions, 304 yards and 8.55 yards per attempt in the playoffs. Warner has 31 postseason touchdown passes in only 13 games (the three players ahead of him own between 18 and 24 playoff appearances). Warner started more than 11 games in a season only four times. He started between nine and 11 games four times and didn't accomplish much for a five-season period beginning in 2002. Any argument against enshrinement for Warner will focus on the nature of his career and the fact that he produced sporadically as a result. The consistency simply wasn't as good with Warner as it was with the typical Hall of Fame quarterback.

Kurt Warner is a winner, a lead example of sportsmanship and likeability and when healthy was as dominant as any QB ever. Canton Ohio awaits...100%

I'm Back!

2010-07-06T10:39:00.002-05:00

After nearly 2 full weeks being sick with a bad sinus infection and a bout with my diabetes(kind of) I'm back feeling like Jeff again. Man, I assume everyone takes for granted being healthy and feeling well at some point but that was just awful to deal with. It jacked up my entire vacation, my Birthday/Fathers Day and burned 4 of my 5 sick days the first month I get them. I actually went to work last Tuesday and it about killed me, so I went to the doctor the next day, got the Zpack(which is wonderful and fast acting)and boom, had a normal weekend. I have always stressed how much I hate being sick(some take it better than others, I'm not one of them)and I'm glad that crap is out of my system for the most part. Again, the only downer is knowing I go back to work today even though my plans for my vacation were totally demolished(stuff around the house, plans for September Vacation, getting A/C in Accord fixed...). My boss is overwhelmed with joy, texting me at 9:15 am to see if I was working tonight(That's 5 hours earlier than ever before and the word Awesome was used). My boss loves me, I get stuff done. I never look forward to work but I will always prefer my job to being sick...

Pity Party

2010-06-24T13:47:00.002-05:00

You are correct in thinking I'm throwing one...and why shouldn't I be? I was soooo excited about having my extra week of vacation this year. That's a great thing isn't it? Extra time off from your job with pay, I think so. But what isn't great is being sick the entire time. I would rather be sick and call in repeatedly while getting paid and save up my vacation for something truly great. Instead I have the complete opposite happen. Yes, a pity party I have here and I don't care who doesn't sympathize with me, you would if it were you. Here is a recap of my first 6 days so far...granted I didn't begin to feel anything til the night of the party(after the party technically which was Sunday), not Saturday morning.

Saturday: stayed home all day until my party at Stephanie's house, fun party but people left early and showed up late. Also, some people didn't show at all and the usual party killer showed up.....TV and a laptop.

Sunday: Fathers Day/Birthday. Kim woke up feeling terrible, I felt alright but feared the worst. Steph and Cory brought Gibson's over for breakfast at 12:30pm and then we hung out til around 3:30(kim and Katie napped most of that time frame, they needed it). Then we went to Kim's grandparents to celebrate the day with family. We ate pizza at my request and had homemade Cheesecake for dessert, good stuff. I began feeling worse as time went on, Kim was doing okay considering how she felt that morning/day. We went home and went to sleep earlier than imagined due to feeling sick.

Monday: (3 doses of DayQuil)Kim toughed it out and went to work since she spent a couple of sick days the week before(ironic)because of Katie being sick that week. Took out the garbage in the Kitchen and Katie's room. I felt pretty bad now but insisted I play softball that night. I played well(2-4 with a 2 run HR)and no errors in the field. I came home, took a shower and felt downright horrible. Playing ball was a bad decision.

Tuesday: (2 doses of DayQuil, one Advil)Woke up miserable from not getting any sleep because I couldn't breathe through my nose(how people sleep or breathe through their mouth baffles me to this day, it's absolutely devastating to my already constant dry mouth and it leads to a sore throat). I do all the laundry for this week and last week. Emptied the dishwasher out, put it all away and loaded a new load of dishes. Took out the never ending garbage in the kitchen again. I don't go to trivia with Will and Cory due to my sickness.

Wednesday: (2 doses of Advil, one DayQuil)Wake up sore, feeling worse then better, then worse all day long. Eventually felt good enough to cut the grass, then totally regretted it afterward. It had been almost two weeks and the grass was getting really high. Took a shower and I felt worse after that as usual. Kim had to clean her Grandparents house(from top to bottom) for this weekends festivities on Saturday(her Uncle is getting Married...yay(sarcasm). So she still felt bad but had to clean in temperatures exceeding 77 degrees(as always over there) for the reception to follow. I eat Taco Bell for dinner, a highlight I guess for the day but a bad choice for cutting grass in the heat while being sick. Kim gets home at nearly 11:30 and I saw her hardly any point that day.

Thursday: Woke up more rested but slept for the third straight day with toilet paper in one nostril to suppress that side of my nose so I could breathe. Didn't take any medicine today to see how I felt. Fed Katie two month old yogurt from Schnucks(Which is another reason to go to Kroger) that cost almost a dollar more there(I'm done with that place). Why they have infant/toddler yogurt for sale that's 2 months expired....you got me. I'm just happy I caught it after that serving. Stomach is now on the fritz from Taco Bell I assume, not so much a highlight anymore.

Sadly, the culprit seems to be the doctors office we visited for Katie's virus last Wednesday. We can't come up with another suitable idea of who or what it could be. Nothing better than searching for a cure to something un-curable(a virus) then getting sick yourself by being in that same place. And people wonder why I hate going to the Doctor's office. So what did you do on your vacation?

I can only hope that this goes away before Monday, when I go back to work...

Promises...

2010-06-21T13:15:00.007-05:00

The Birthday/Cookout was a success in my opinion this past Saturday evening, what wasn't a success is the problem. To me, a friend is someone who will tell it to you straight regardless of topic. A friend is someone who is not bias that they will agree just because, rather they will offer their point to the conversation or said topic. Honesty and loyalty are a friends job and it comes without pay or much hype. I say these things because this party lacked a lot of that friendship and it wasn't anyone at the party.

At least the two Mike's showed up>>>>>>>>>>>

I have a big problem with friends who say or do one thing, then do another. In fact I say it's almost as bad as lying to me, I hate liars. Nothing is so bad that you can't just tell me the truth, even if I hate what you tell me. I can at least respect someone who fesses up or acknowledges my intelligence enough to know I can feel a lie coming. With that said, here lies my beef with some folks from this past weekend...and yes, I am name dropping the hell out of this.

Josh...I want to like you, I really do. I want to like everyone in fact, but every time to say you are coming to anything I can't believe you anymore. You have the label of a flake and that won't change in my eyes. I can be civil to you and even hang out if you show up to something, but you are not my friend anymore. Not coming to my sister in laws wedding(where you are her friend before she knew me) was bad enough(I came and my uncle killed himself the morning of), but you don't come to the party after you specifically say you are. If a former best friend of mine(Joe) can show up being hungover, I know your ass can. You excuses have become lamer every time I hear them, grow the fuck up!

Sarah and Lara>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>

Ashley and Chris Scott...You are both family and I love you guys to death but not one time ever have you come to a get together for my sake. It bothers me to a point that I almost don't want to bother with it anymore. Bad day at work? Then come over and hang, drink a bit and let off some steam. You promised you would come...don't promise this guy because I hold you to that. You have become my family version of Josh except I love you regardless. I have twisted plans around and left other activities to come be with you on your special days before, time to show me some love, God knows I have done the same for you.

Will and Kelli

How hard is it really to live up to your word? If I tell someone I am doing something damn it, I do it. A lot of people showed up to that thing, but a lot didn't as well. I got excuses from Charlotte that she couldn't come because she didn't want to drive back home to drop the children off yet she told Stephanie she could get a sitter just days earlier. If hanging out is an inconvenience then don't, but lying or telling stories to justify it isn't going to fly over my head. My Birthday isn't the end of the world but I look forward to hanging out with people and I spent a lot of time on the phone(which I hate to do)trying to get folks to show up. Some might think this is a bit harsh, it isn't. Asking a friend to do something for one another is a big part(and the very definition) of a friend. Everyone knows if you ask me I will bend over backwards to help someone out. Hell, Tillman showed up knowing he had an 8 hour drive on Fathers day for work the next morning, he showed.

Things happen, I understand...but things don't happen every time, that often. I hate this shit, I really do, but I gotta get it off my chest. I do appreciate everyone who did make it, I had a lot of fun.

I called it...

2010-06-18T12:39:00.003-05:00

That's right, I called a 7 game series with the Lakers winning it. I also said that Kobe would win the series MVP(which is never a stretch) even though he didn't deserve it(Pau Gasol or co-MVP at best). Besides being a horrible finals(maybe the worst ever, no game went down to the wire or finished closer than 4 points), I am glad it's over. Time to focus on Baseball, a sport that doesn't have the guys calling the game alter the outcome on a frequent basis. Can you believe the constant foul calls on the big men of the Celtics? I can. Every player on Boston in game 7 had at least 4 or 5 fouls on them(and not having Perkins cost them the title). No LA big man had more than 2 on them, SHOCKER! That's an easy way to allow Pau to get 19 boards on an injured and old as hell Rasheed Wallace and Glen Davis.

The Lakers had a whopping 51+ free throw margin....50 frekin' 1. How in the hell does that happen? Last night, Lakers had 37, Boston 17, there's your answer on how Kobe and Phil won another ring. Kobe had 15 free throw's by himself on another horrible shooting night(6-24). Refs bailed him out several times, the big one on his triple fake three point attempt. I don't know what's worse, his pump fakes or Fishers ability to flop on every play. I still can't believe how many people actually thought Boston would win last night. There was no way in hell they were winning that game. At no point did I believe it despite the score, LA was home, that's all that matters. The NBA is sooo easy to predict it's almost pointless to watch any of it. LA was favored to win and they did, form the beginning of the season. That's what happens when you can get any player you want like the Yankees. I told a guy after game 5 at work about the blowout the Lakers would give Boston in game 6, he laughed, it's just too easy. Just like everyone(not the blind fans) knew game 7 would be close and that LA would win. I told everyone the end result 5 hours before the game on FB.

When was the last time the NBA gave us a 7 game series that was good? How about 1988...Lakers vs. Celtics. Only too other times has a finals even got to a 7th game besides this year since then(Houston/NY in '95 and Detriot/San Antonio '05). 6 teams in 26 years who have won the title. The sad part is Kobe will probably win another one or two before it's over for him(because players will take less money (ala Malone, Payton, Artest). I might be finished with pro Basketball for good. Go Grizz!

The NBA and Kobe

2010-06-11T13:11:00.002-05:00

Everyone already knows my pure hatred for Kobe Bryant, this should surprise no one. But my love for the NBA has diminished tremendously in recent years. Why you ask? Because the crap refereeing(is that a word)mixed with the simple fact that only a hand full of teams ever win anything in this league. Take away the Lakers, Celtics, Bulls, Spurs, Pistons and Rockets, who has won in the last 25+ years? The answer is Miami in '06...that's it. The same 6 teams have won the last 25 years plus one Miami Heat championship. Now compare that to the NFL who has had 15 different winners in that same time frame. Or try MLB for another example. In Baseball there has been 17 different winners in 25+ years. One difference in these sports besides the obvious, in the NBA you only need two dominant players to win a ring. Another reason is the refs. David Stern knows that his league is known for it's players before team recognition first and foremost. It's a player driven league. Sure other sports have superstars, but few can alter the games by complaining about a call(Kobe)like the players in the NBA can.

The refs are a whole other story. Make up calls can almost be called by the fan watching from home. Kobe gets called for a charge last night(a questionable call), then low and behold he gets 3 free throws called his way just seconds later. Like no one thought a foul would be called there. In Football we see make up calls every now and then(too much replay to allow it), in Baseball it hardly ever happens. The NBA's past referee/mob/betting scandal proves this point to a tee. Refs can keep any team from running away with a game or keep it close by simply calling a foul here or there to a big time star(Ray Allen and Kobe in game 1, Garnett in game 2 or Pierce and Garnett in game 3). Keeping the score close brings in ratings and allows betting on the game much more vital to the outcome.

Enough of that...lets talk Kobe Bryant for a second. The comparisons to Jordan will always be there all though in my mind the accolades and the way MJ won his rings far surpass Kobe. Bryant has proven to me once and for all that he is merely Kobe and not MJ. In this Finals series alone he hasn't even been the best player on his own team. They won game 1 because of Pau Gasol(23pts, 14reb, 3 asts, 3 blks, 1 steal), Bryant had 5 points in the 4th quarter(3 of which were on a 3 point attempt up 9 points with 3 seconds to go). Game 2 had Pau being the top man again with 25 pts, 8 reb, 6 blks, 3 asts and 1 steal on only ten shots attempted. Bryant was 8-20 for 21 pts, 6reb, 5 asts. Game 3 Bryant stunk up the joint but won because Derek Fisher bailed his team out with 11 points in the 4th quarter(Bryant was 10-29 shooting). Game 4 had the same amount of turnovers (8) than assists and rebounds combined and he shot 10-22 from the field. Statistically Kobe's best game was last nights game 4 in which he lost. Kobe is now in a 2-2 series in which he has shot 40% on 93 shots(38-93). He has had 18 turnovers and only 9 steals in 4 games. My point of all this stat stuff is that in these four games he has yet to dominate, something Jordan did on a nightly basis come finals time. How many Finals games were won because the fifth best player on the Bulls(Steve Kerr? B.J. Armstrong?) took over the game(Fisher reference)? Or Pippen(Kobe's Pau)was dominant and Jordan couldn't shoot his way out of the D league. Kobe has been carried by Pau and others this whole series, when has that ever been said about MJ?

By the way, Kobe pump fakes more than any player I have ever seen and gets the foul call most of the time.

Matt Cain is very able.

2010-06-09T13:45:00.007-05:00

A lot of hooplah has been about Ubaldo Jimenez this year and rightly so but Matt Cain(Houston High School, Germantown, Tn) is on a tear as of late. Cain, a 25 year old Pitcher for the SF Giants has recently done what only two pitchers in the last 10 years have done, go 8+ innings over 4 games and allow one total run. Since May 22nd Vs. Oakland, Cain has thrown 34 innings and given up one run while striking out 18 and allowing a mind boggling 17 hits allowed. Only Roy Halladay(2003) and Randy Wolf(2002) have had similar streaks this decade. Cain's current stat line this year is a 5-4 record with a 2.11 ERA(tied for 9th) and 3 complete games(2nd in the NL),(2 shut outs, 2nd in the NL). His WHIP is .996(3rd in the league) and his ERA+ is 203(4th). If he had better run support(he has 3.74 per game now) he would be 8-1. He allowed a total of 9 runs in his 4 losses this year. In those 4 starts he lost his team scored a total of 3 runs for him. All star anyone?

Soccer Sucks; a top 10 list

2010-06-09T11:55:00.004-05:00

Since the crappy "World CUP" is starting in a couple of days(how could you miss the constant coverage)I decided to rant about why it sucks so badly. And the list goes something like this(no particular order):

1. David Beckham: This jerkoff made $250 million and never played a game for the MLS Galaxy team that signed him. He married a Spice Girl and does Armani ads. He was never the best player yet he is idolized like it. It's like putting Dale Earnhardt Jr. at the top of the NASCAR list of drivers who actually win races even though half the competition is better...wait, that already happened. I'm sorry but this guys hair changes daily...and if you google his name and look up images, the first thing you see is him NOT playing Soccer.

2. The fans: They kill players if the said player doesn't do something they like. Fans have set fire to one another or themselves even. They sing ridiculous songs throughout the game as if it were helping anyone. One fan actually killed a Soccer player because he sucked. Soccer fans justify the activity based entirely on its popularity which is an argument against the sport. Just look at what had to be done for security reasons in South Africa for this whole thing to happen.

3. 55% of Soccer games end in a tie.

4. Single word names. Seriously...are we talking about pop stars or Soccer players?

5. Soccer Moms. 30-50 year old white female, middle to upper class who drives an SUV/Minivan, thinks the world revolves around her "perfect-angel" children. She lives the good life only because her husband is the success. The soccer mom bitch will commonly cut you off in traffic without warning, and then honk rapidly. On the back of her blue minivan/SUV there is ALWAYS a stupid generic soccer ball sticker. There are also about 2 to 3 stickers saying "my little fucker is an honor roll student at _____ Middle School."

6. The Goalie wears a different jersey to signify he's "special". Try that in Football. Hey, lets put a red jersey on the QB to make sure the other team knows who can touch the ball with their hands.

7. Soccer has no honor. There are codes of behavior in sports like hockey, baseball, football and basketball. There is no code of behavior in the activity of soccer: the penis biting should make this fairly obvious.

8. Soccer counts time up. Soccer games count the time that has elapsed, rather than the time remaining. This is stupid for a number of reasons. First, soccer games don't refer to time anyway, so why even keep it? Second, why the concern on the past? The score already reflects all important information of what has already happened in the game. In soccer, this is most likely irrelevant anyway, since the score is most likely 0-0. The focus should be on the result.

9. Penalty kicks. You are determining a winner by a random event that has no relevance to the rest of the game. It would be as stupid as replacing extra innings with a home run derby, see Hockey.

10. No hands: I have hands. If someone kicks a ball at me, I'm probably going to use my hands.

Just missed the list:
11. Players and fans brag about the lack of protection they use to further say how tough the sport is yet they wear shin guards, but no cup. Brilliant!

12. Soccer Riots: When we have riots here in America, we address the problem. Remember the LA race riots? Soccer games are like meth for Europeans. They just go nuts for it. and everybody's all like "Oh, those crazy soccer hooligans." No. It's a game played with feet, and no one should be getting this excited.

13. It's eerily like Rugby minus the high scoring, physicality, the ability to touch the ball with your hands unless your jersey signifies it.

14. Scoring is virtually impossible yet essential in determining a winner, similar to Hockey yet the goal is 10 times the size, still can't figure that part out.

15. Soccer jerseys look like an advertisement for everything, kind of like NASCAR.
5. Soccer Moms. 30-50 year old white female, middle to upper class who drives an SUV/Minivan, thinks the world revolves around her "perfect-angel" children. She lives the good life only because her husband is the success. The soccer mom bitch will commonly cut you off in traffic without warning, and then honk rapidly. On the back of her blue minivan/SUV there is ALWAYS a stupid generic soccer ball sticker. There are also about 2 to 3 stickers saying "my little fucker is an honor roll student at _____ Middle School." Maybe this one should be #1 on the list.

Griffey Jr.'s Legacy

2010-06-03T11:25:00.003-05:00

I'll be honest here, I never was a big fan of Ken Griffey Jr. Maybe it was the fact that he stole a lot of the spotlight from my guy Barry Bonds because he was "Nice" and Barry wasn't, which is a lie. Maybe it's the fact that he gets a free pass in the steroid era even though he's best friends with Bonds. Maybe it's the free pass he gets admiring his homerun's, but not Barry Bonds. Maybe it's because I hate the AL so much, lol. With all of that said he is probably one of the top 5 greatest all around Baseball players ever. I put him below these guys:

1. Babe Ruth
2. Barry Bonds
3. Willie Mays
4. Hank Aaron
5. Ken Griffey Jr.

That's a hell of a list. My reasoning for him being at #5 has several reasons behind it. (1). He was never a stolen base threat. He never stole more than 24(20 or more twice) in any season and only had 184 in 22 seasons or just over 8 per year. (2)He struck out a lot more than he walked, almost 500 more K's to be exact. (3)Injury plagued, which I'm sure contributed to the first two reasons at least a little bit. (4)He played his whole career in several of the greatest Home run hitters park ever built. The Kingdome(AKA the Homerdome)was a hitters paradise(he played 11 seasons there). I also believed that playing in the Kingdome helped in his injuries(astroturf). He played in Another great hitters park in Cincinnati(The Great American Ballpark) for 5 seasons and for the White Sox in their hitter friendly park(U.S. Cellular Field) for 2 years. (5) Protection in the lineup. He had Alex Rodriguez and Edgar Martinez for his #2 and #4 hitters between 1993-1999 which happen to be 6 of his 7 best seasons.

Defensively he had little competition, he was the best in our Era(with due respect to Andruw Jones and Jim Edmonds). Balls hit to him or anywhere in his area were outs, period. Only Willie Mays trumps him in this department(Mays had HUGE ball parks to play CF in which is another reason Mays is higher on the list for offensive and defensive reasons). Highlight reels were made because of his ability to catch and track down any ball. This relentless defensive play was also his downfall. I think that years of playing on turf along with his jumping and diving everywhere on it played a significant role in his 2nd career's demise(life in Cincinnati). His legs were never quite the same once he got a bit older.

It's a good argument to say the what if's for Griffey...because they are big what if's. What if Griffey played where Mays or Bonds played(horrible hitters parks)? What would his numbers be then? What if he had stayed healthy? He was once the "next" player to challenge Hank Aaron's Home run mark of 755(he hit 630). What if Griffey had stayed in Seattle(where he practically saved the franchise)? The questions and what if's can go on and on. He will always be remembered as the fun loving kid with the huge smile, carefree attitude and that sweet left handed swing. A sad way to end it all... A broken and battered .184 hitter who just 3 weeks ago was caught napping during a game in which he was called to pinch hit in. He calls it a career 75 years to the day that Babe Ruth said goodbye to the game. I respect Ken Griffey Jr's game, I always have. He will be missed by many(except pitchers)in the Baseball world. Lets all hope that we never hear that he took PED's, let's have one true superstar remain a legend in our time.

By the numbers:

.284 lifetime hitter
.370 OB%
.538 SLG%
2781 hits
630 Home Runs (5th All time)
1836 RBI's (14th all time)
135 OPS+
1662 runs scored
524 doubles
.907 OPS
10 Gold Gloves (tied for 2nd in outfield all time)
1 MVP
$151 Million made
Never played in a World Series

Jimenez' fast start

2010-06-01T12:28:00.006-05:00

It's funny, a full year ago today I blogged about this same subject, with a different pitcher though(Greinke)...Ubaldo Jimenez is on fire, not literally, but almost. At 10-1 with a 0.78 ERA and a 0.89 WHIP he's the front runner for NL Cy Young with Roy Halladay coming on strong with his perfect game Saturday. Back to Jimenez for a minute. Although he seems unbeatable at this point and is currently 27(the prime peak year for Baseball players usually)he hasn't really done anything other worldly. He threw a no hitter recently...again, EN FUEGO!!! Why do I say this? I'll show you...

Pedro Martinez at age 27(1999) had these numbers...10-0, 1.95 ERA, 1.03 WHIP and 107 K's in 73 innings with only 15 walks. Jimenez only has 70 K's in 80 innings with 26 walks but his ERA and WHIP are far better.

Greg Maddux in 1994 at age 27 had a 9-0 record with a 0.87 ERA and a 0.76 WHIP in 72 innings. Maddux also had more K's(66) and fewer walks(12) than Jimenez in more innings pitched.

Jimenez has also had 11 consecutive starts allowing 2 or fewer runs to start a season, one start off of the all time record held by Edison Volquez in 2008. Last year Zack Greinke had a streak of 10 starts to open the season of 2 or fewer. The scariest part of all, Ubaldo has only allowed 7 runs to cross home plate in 11 starts spanning over 80 innings.

What I am trying to say here is while he has been the most dominant pitcher in the first two months, he has a tough task of surpassing some amazing full seasons past. There are numerous others who have had starts like this, the question is can he keep it up?

LOST: Across the sea

2010-05-12T13:57:00.003-05:00

Still not sure where this is all going, surprise!!! Does anyone. I have been reading tons of comments on random blogs and such but one of them is so out there, so far fetched...it almost sounds believable. Here it is...

May 12th, 2010 10:30 am ET

I figured it out. What we see over and over again are characters going about a mission without knowing why, just on the faith they will learn about it at some point. After all, the island is a compelling mythological mystery and I have to say, even more than the characters, I am even more interested in the islands story. I'm guessing most fans are the same. But we now see that everyone is just a patsie. Locke is the ultimate patsie, but we've seen how Ben, Richard, Jack, Desmond and now even the mighty Jacob and MiB were just pawns in a game that was never explained to them. Well guess who the next patsy is? US! The show will end (we will figurativly die) without revealing the mysteries. Like Desmond going on pressing a button every 108 minutes on faith alone, we've gone on pressing the remote control button every week for 6 years on the faith we will finally see what this mysterious island is all about. Just like all those aforementioned characters, we will expire in utter disappointment. The joke is on us.

Now I don't think this is how it would end. First off it would kill credibility for Abrams(who has a history of not finishing the way he starts things)and it would undermine everything about the show. It seems too out there, but it would be a sick way to end it all.

Anyway, I wasn't totally hooked on this episode. Not that it wasn't good or anything. We found out who Adam and Eve were and how the smoke monster actually arrived. We also find out that MIB and Jacob are brothers from a ship wrecked vessel(their mother was either on the Black Rock or something, how else could she get there?). I believe that the fake mom(Allison Janney) might have been a smoke monster herself, just a guess though. She said thank you as she breathed her last breath, as if she was relieved to be dying. Why would she say that? I am confused a bit on how Jacob and MIB can't kill each other yet Jacob in fact killed the MIB by putting him in the water.

We found out that the "light" is also the magnetism of the island. And if it is compromised(as in touched like MIB did) that it can do far worse than kill you. Another question, how can Jacob leave the island to recruit candidates but the MIB couldn't before he was actually smokey? Again, more questions with answers thrown in. I think the biggest question still remains...how can they sum all of this up in 3.5 hours of TV time? I just hope they do it, and do it well. Too much time has been invested in this thing to ruin it all but I'm sure that won't happen.

Oh yeah, I almost forgot. Does anyone care that the MIB's name hasn't been revealed? So many comments have been about that...I'm wondering why? The true mother of Jacob and MIB said she didn't have a name for him, but why wouldn't Jacob or the fake mom not say his name, if he even has one?

Pitchers who don't get any support

2010-05-10T11:35:00.002-05:00

Zack Grienke is a great pitcher, we all know this. But to go through what he does must be tremendously difficult. How would you(minus being wealthy and a pro athlete)like to go out every five days and pitch great, only to see your offense totally suck every time you did it? Zack knows...Other players(two are on my Giants) know this feeling too well. Others like Josh Beckett or Tim Wakefield haven't really suffered like Zack has, they get a ton of run support. Let's put this into simple math/statistics.

Zack Grienke is 0-4 with a 2.51 ERA, he has walked 8 batters in 47 innings and given up 41 hits with 36 K's. HIs WHIP is 1.05. In his 7 starts this year he has had a total of 17 runs scored for him or 2.39 per game. It's tough to win with 2 runs of support even with a 2.51 ERA. His game totals are like this.

1 game of zero runs scored for him
1 game of one run
1 game of two runs
2 games of three runs
2 games of four runs scored for him.

Of course my boy Tim Lincecum can feel pretty jipped as well. He is having another monster season while Halladay and Jiminez get all the hype. While they have both pitched well, their teams haven't blown three games in which they left with a lead like he has. Both Halladay and Jiminez have a loss where Tim has not lost yet. But they have 6 wins and Lincecum has 4. Lincecum has wayyyy more K's(64 in 48 innings)than Jiminez(49 K's in 48 innings or Halladay's 48 K's in 56 innings). His WHIP is lower (0.91) than both Halladay(0.946) or Jiminez(0.993). Halladay will always have more complete games pitched since he has lower pitch counts due to his lack of K rate. He also plays for a dominant team with crazy good hitters on it. Granted, Jiminez has pitched a no hitter this year, a feat neither of them have done so far. My point of all this is that while Grienke pitches well, he gets zero run support and that leads to poor W/L totals. Halladay and Jiminez look better because they have 6 wins and 1 loss due to high run support. Lincecum is 4-0 with 3 no decisions in games he left the game with a lead of at least 3 runs. Run support for pitchers is everything. The pitcher who got the win for the Giants yesterday(lincecum's latest start) pitched a whole 2/3 of an inning.

Jaime Moyer for God sake has 4 wins with a 4.38 ERA, nearly twice what Grienke's is, why? Because he gets a whopping 6.58 runs a game, that's 2 times what Grienke gets. See the big picture here? Twice as much run support with an ERA double another pitchers gives him 4 wins Vs. 4 losses. Moyer has had 4 of his 6 starts with at least 7 runs. Guess which games Moyer lost(he has two losses so far)? How about the two starts where he got a total of 3 runs of support. I think run support hit home last year when Grienke and Lincecum won CY Youngs while having low win totals...about time. Now Grienke isn't as good as he was last year but he isn't 0-4, his team is. Lincecum on the other hand should be 7-0 and his ERA would be lower than 1.86 if he wasn't pulled for relievers who consistently give up inherited runners.

In one last attempt to put this into perspective, Tyler Clippard is 6-0 for the Nationals. He has only piched 23 innings and he's not a starter. He's tied with Halladay and Jiminez for the league lead in wins. Wins and losses are total bullshit since the modernization of the middle reliever/closer. Almost as silly as the save is the fact that you can win a ballgame in which you came in already up in score where you inherited the starters runners...then you allow those runners to score and you somehow get the win as your hitters comeback as you pitched one or two innings. You didn't win, you just blew a lead then were fortunate that your offense bailed you out of a loss. And after all that, you get the win. Now Clippard has been hella good this year, but 6 wins for a reliever good? While Grienke is 0-4 or Lincecum has had 3 leads blown for him this guy has more wins than both combined. Baseball is a crazy game sometimes...just ask Dallas Braden. Two weeks removed from banishing Arod from his mound he throws the 19th perfect game ever even though he has never pitched into the 8th inning before. Maybe it's like Livan Hernandez who all of a sudden is Pedro Martinez without the K's at age 35. NO other sport can match Baseballs complete mysteries of success and failure so eloquently, which is why I love it...of course Fantasy Baseball can kiss my white ass!

It's been a month

2010-05-06T11:07:00.002-05:00

So I really haven't blogged about Baseball like I usually do(at least not as often). I was looking at some stats and realized how underrated a certain pitcher was from another well hyped one even though they have very similar career numbers. Check it out below.

GS W - L Win% Inng ER BB K's ERA ERA+ HR BF

Pitcher A. 319 153-77 .665% 2095 788 459 1534 .338 135 174 8,618

Pitcher B. 316 150-79 .655% 2091 808 644 1414 .348 127 166 8,731

Pitcher A walks about a third less hitters and K's just a tad more per inning than Pitcher B. Win loss is almost identical and so are the innings, batters faced, earned runs allowed, ERA, HR's allowed. Now what if I told you one of these pitchers was Tim Hudson and the other was Roy Halladay. Pitcher B is Hudson. I find it strange that Halladay is so hyped and Hudson is clearly over looked as an Ace. I mean, Halladay is awesome, no doubt there...but look at how close these guys are career wise.

Random thoughts...

2010-04-30T12:08:00.005-05:00

With the recent announcement of a remake of Commando I ask this question, is anything sacred anymore? Now before you laugh so hard your throat gets sore I want to tell you that while I love that movie(for what it is) it's not a great movie by any stretch. But when has remaking every fucking movie regardless of the success of the film become the norm? If I were to put a list on here of the movies as recent as ten years ago that have been redone, I'd bet there are a ton of them. Oh why not....(I'm not even counting the foreign remakes and TV adapted movies)

Get Carter
King Kong
The Producers
Fun with Dick and Jane
Charlie and the Chocolate Factory
War of the Worlds
A Nightmare on Elm Street
The Texas Chainsaw Massacre
The Amityville Horror
The Pink Panther
Poseidon
The Shaggy Dog
Flicka
When A Stranger Calls
3:10 to Yuma
All the Kings Men
Assault on Precinct 13
Bad News Bears
Bangkok Dangerous
Clash of the Titans
Bedazzled
The Big Bounce
The Cat in the Hat
Cheaper by the Dozen
Chicago
Dawn of the dead
The day the Earth Stood Still
Death Race
Disturbia
Fame
The Flight of the Phoenix
Four Brothers
Freaky Friday
Funny Games
I'M STOPPING HERE!!!

You can see that this list literally goes forever...that's 35 movies that had big releases in the US. Are people out there writing books that have already been written? NO. That would be illegal. So why is it okay to consistently make movies(albeit with different actors and directors) that have been done before? It's like music...how many "different" versions of tainted love can they make? TV shows are all different but most have a universal theme for the most part. Hell, one of my favorite shows ever is a remake(The Office). What is the obsession in doing this? Is it strictly about money? Or is it a lack in original thought? Either way it's getting tiresome. Notice that out of the 35 films listed above, most of them were duds.

Movies I saw over the weekend.

2010-04-21T13:16:00.004-05:00

So we rented a couple of movies over the weekend from Redbox which I love by the way. A $1.09 for a movie at home, no wonder Blockbuster is going bankrupt. So anyway, here are the two movie we (Kim, Sarah and I) watched over the weekend.

Julie and Julia: Okay, I actually wanted to see this for a couple of reasons. 1. I love most cooking shows since I dab in it anyway. 2. Meryl Streep as Julia Child. I never realized how tall Julia Child was, my height to be exact(6' 2"). She was a former spy and she revolutionized the cooking at home industry for mothers in the mid 1900's. She was the original TV chef and all others are following her lead. Amy Adams was a bit over the top and she looked dreadful from the norm but she was quite believable playing the crazed Julie. The movie was well made and other than the ending that left me feeling a bit flat, I liked it.

B

The other movie we rented was Up in the Air which was fabulous. Clooney and Vera Farmiga had a ton of chemistry and they fed off of it. Great performances all around made this quirky film worth seeing again and again. Although a bit depressing depending on how you see things I loved this flick regardless. Love trying to find it's way into Clooney's self absorbed life was fun to see since he's a real bachelor anyway. You can see why he had an Oscar nomination for sure. This movie had a great message as well as a eerie look into relationships which I found strangely appealing.

Clooney's character is a travel guru who's sole purpose is to fire people but tell them to look on the bright side of it. He isn't your normal house owning man though, he lives in the air, in hotels 340 days a year. He has a one bedroom craphole he calls "home" even though he never quite says where home is. His boss(Jason Bateman) wants to stop the constant traveling for all employees including Clooney so the company he works for can save money. He hires a Cornell grad (Anna Kendrick) to sway the traveling job killers to do it via computer, leaving Clooney's personal touch(his best quality) at the door. But while Clooney is learning the ropes from Kendrick he finds Farmiga at a lounge for the well traveled businessman and things quickly heat up. Soon Clooney is in between losing the love of his life(his job) and a woman who might be the key to a normal one.

A+

Awake, a movie review

2010-04-15T13:28:00.003-05:00

So I decided today to get some stuff off of my DVR by actually watching something and not deleting it instead. I started off with a movie that came out a couple of years ago('07) very quietly called Awake. It stars Hayden (Darth Vader) Christensen, Jessica Alba and Terrance Howard. Hayden plays Clay Beresford, a Billionaire finance guru who is following his father's footsteps in the business world. He is in love with his mother's secretary(Alba) but cannot commit to telling his mother how he truly feels about her from fear that she won't accept it. As he is dealing with his ailing heart(he's waiting for a transplant) he struggles with Alba's constant pressure to commit to her and tell his mother about them. His doctor(Howard) happens to also push his opinion onto Clay since he tells him that this procedure isn't always successful and that he needs to live his life now. During his translpant he suffers from "Anesthetic Awareness" (An occurrence where during surgery where not enough anesthetic medication for the patient's body weight). There lies the suspense.

I wanted to see this movie when I first heard of it but it came and went in theaters fairly quickly. There isn't the A list star power here to drive it like other films with bigger names would have. I enjoyed seeing it finally and recommend it to those who like suspense(although a bit confusing at times)and an actual decent Alba performance. Since I have never had a surgery performed on myself I was intrigued by this movie. Running time is a shade over 90 minutes.

B-

The list...my top 10 favorite TV characters

2010-03-30T13:05:00.003-05:00

I was thinking about how we(Chris and I) have a ton of lists. Well, here is one I thought of at work last night, favorite TV characters. Now this isn't an all time list, just a current one. An all time list would take some serious dedication and time spent. I can do this one fairly quick and be satisfied. So starting out this list will be shows that are currently on TV as we speak and are shows I watch(obviously I can't put someone on here I haven't seen on the tube). Also, no reality shows will be represented because of failure to know if it's indeed real(not actual acting from script), not because I watch so few of them. This is based on total body of work, not just this seasons show.

So here it is...

1. Jim Halpert (The Office)
2. Sheldon Cooper (The Big Bang theory)
3. John Locke (LOST)
4. Jason Stackhouse (Tru Blood)
5. Jeff Bingham (Rules Of Engagement)
6. Dwight K. Schrute (The Office)
7. Hurley (LOST)
8. Tom Haverford (Parks and Recreation)
9. Ben Linus (LOST)
10. Dr. Bailey(Grey's Anatomy)

Just missed the cut...
Barney Stinson (How I Met Your Mother)...which I no longer watch.
Dr. Miranda Bailey(Grey's Anatomy), not enough screen time for me.
Andy Dwyer (Parks and rec)
Jack Shepard(LOST)
Sayid Jirrah(LOST)
Ron Swanson( Parks and rec)
Derek Shepard(Grey's Anatomy)
Michael Scott(The Office)
Kevin (The Office)
Arizona Robbins (Grey's Anatomy)

Movie review...Lions For Lambs

2010-03-29T14:46:00.002-05:00

I just finished watching Lions For Lambs and I have to tell you I liked it a lot. There are three stories told simultaneous in ninety minutes of real time for the viewer and in the movie.

Lions for Lambs begins after two determined students at a West Coast University, Arian and Ernest, follow the inspiration of their idealistic professor, Dr. Malley(Robert Redford), and attempt to do something important with their lives. But when the two make the bold decision to join the battle in Afghanistan, Malley is both moved and distraught. Now, as Arian and Ernest fight for survival in the field, they become the string that binds together two disparate stories on opposite sides of America. In California, an anguished Dr. Malley attempts to reach a privileged but disaffected student who is the very opposite of Arian and Ernest. Meanwhile, in Washington D.C. the charismatic Presidential hopeful, Senator Jasper Irving(Tom Cruise), is about to give a bombshell story to a probing TV journalist(Meryl Streep) that may affect Arian and Ernest's fates.

This film was directed by Robert Redford...The dialogue in this film is swift and the acting is what you would expect from three A list actor/actresses. For only being a 90 minute movie it packs a punch. It received 27% positive votes from Rotten Tomatoes which is very low and I totally disagree. I think what hurt this movie was that is was about political activism and the war on terror at a time where no one wanted to hear any of it. Having 3 powerhouse names to get the point across including Tom Cruise(who no one likes anymore except me) apparently didn't help. Costing only $35 million to make it brought home nearly double that worldwide but just $15 of that was domestic. It also didn't help going against a kids movie(Bee Movie) and American Gangster. Still, I like anything political in nature and or controversial. I give it a solid B or B+ for the acting, great dialogue and the overall message it tried to achieve.

My Jobby Job

2010-03-25T12:42:00.003-05:00

Don't get me wrong, I love being employed...because I need money, that's it. I don't enjoy my work and my boss could be the dumbest person with authority since W. and I mean that in all seriousness. I don't want to leave Fedex because of the benefit's and my time spent there(don't worry Kim, I'm not quitting) but it just seems impossible to move up. If I wanted to be a full time courier(the guys you see driving around) I would have to wait years...and I mean 5-10 years minimum. I cant move up from what I do now because there isn't anything to move up to. People who do what I do tend to stay there for good. Some part timers have done just that for over 20 years, DANG! I'm not looking for that to ever happen because I'm not a lazy bum(granted, some of those people work another job or do this in retirement from another job).

I say all of this because I am underpaid for my time spent there. I should be making well over 2 dollars more per hour which is a lot, do the math. Not getting my usual 6% raise hurts me in several ways(I got 2.1% like everyone else "apparently"). Expecting your usual raise based on performance and attendance/being on time didn't factor this year...at all! We don't get raises like most companies do. You can't just go to your boss when you feel like you are underpaid and request a raise. Here you need either a promotion because everything else is a lateral move regardless of job title or you get your annual raise. They say we got this little raise because of the economy yet every month I am forced to watch a video explaining how well Fedex is doing considering just that. Frustrating, you have no idea. Last year we didn't get raises at all and when I moved to nights I took a pay cut. Factor in that most people who work in my station or any station was hired directly into it. It took me almost 4 years to get out of the hub and then I take a pay cut to move there. I don't qualify for the extra dough for working nights because it isn't considered the graveyard shift(midnight-5am) even though I am at work til 1am some nights.

Some might feel that complaining about having a job is a bad thing, I disagree. I'm thankful everyday that I have one, I just hate how I get screwed out of my money. My insurance goes up every year enough to kill my annual raises. Therefore I never fully make any more money than the previous year. I understand inflation and such but our company pays out based on performance and I wasn't compensated on it this year or last. 2.1% in 2 years? With one of the two years not having a raise? Add into all of this our "new" seniority rules. We are now in one big boat when it comes to vacation and such. Last year I was ranked around 8 out of 20 somethings, now I'm 77th out of 118. Our senior manager decided that since she absorbed my managers people that she would just take everyone and lump them together. It use to be that you are only under your manager, competing with those people for vacation, now it's everybody. Which means until a lot of people(40 or 50 at least) leave, retire or quit, I will never get any vacation that I truly want. Oh, by the way, my boss was the reason we moved upstairs due to his poor performance review. They didn't want him screwing stuff up downstairs(OLV station) so they moved him to the (GHMA) one. The list goes on and on...

I would love to move up in this company instead of starting over some place else but that seems far, far away. Until Katie is in School I am stuck here unless Kim gets a massive promotion or we win the lottery. It's not the worst job ever, but making a dollar more than people who just started because you didn't have a friend hook you up still sucks! Some people always feel underpaid and I get that. I actually get paid less because I started in the hub and moved to a station working nights. If I had been hired directly into the station I would be 2 dollars or more richer per hour. BULLSHIT! I just can't catch a break and I am doing the right thing. If I were to quit Fedex and work days somewhere else, the difference in the hours wouldn't make the switch worth my time. Add into that Katie being in day care(which costs a fortune) filled with germ filled little kids, no thanks. I regret not going to college more everyday and it's slowly eating me alive. A degree in ditch digging would help me here, lol. Well, my rant is over for now...

Top 5 most annoying actresses/actors

2010-03-17T14:54:00.002-05:00

I decides to do this list based on two things. 1. No one apparently gave a shit about my last 3 posts. 2. I just watched Jurassic Park 3. This doesn't take into account the truly bad one's(Paris Hilton, Tom Green, Jessica Biel...you get the picture).

Top 5 Most annoying Actresses:
1. Tea Leoni: everything I have ever seen makes me want to hurt her. It's called over acting.
2. Julia Roberts: that huge smile, the same characters, never plays anything unflattering.
3. Drew Barrymore: isn't being able to speak clearly a critical part of being an actor?
4. Sarah Jessica Parker: Ugly + bad fashion sense + movies made strictly for women= hate.
5. Kiera Knightley: pout her lips and period pieces...that's all she does.

Top 5 most annoying Actors:
1. Nick Cage: The voice, the constant bad movie making to get out of debt piece of trash.
2. John Travolta: When was the last time(if ever) this guy made a good film?
3. Will Farrell: Same movie with slightly different characters plus non stop shouting.
4. Brendan Fraser: School Ties and.....sorry, I was naming his good films.
5. David Arquette: I just can't stand him. He's like Bobcat Golthwait but not totally retarded.

Thoughts?

MLB, the best of the NL West

2010-03-12T10:59:00.004-06:00

Continuing on with my salute to the greatest ball players of all time we come to my division, the West.

Giants: San Francisco/New York (1885 - current)
1. Willie Mays
2. Barry Bonds
3. Christy Mathewson
4. Mel Ott
5. Juan Marichal
6. Willie McCovey
7. Carl Hubbell
8. Bill Terry
9. Will Clark

Dodgers: Los Angeles/Brooklyn (1884 - current)
1. Sandy Koufax
2. Jackie Robinson
3. Don Drysdale
4. Steve Garvey
5. Duke Snider
6. Zack Wheat
7. Don Sutton
8. Gil Hodges
9. Mike Piazza

Diamondbacks: Arizona (1998 - current)
1. Randy Johnson
2. Luis Gonzalez
3. Steve Finley
4. Brandon Webb
5. Curt Schilling
6. Tony Womack
7. Matt Williams
8. Chad Tracy
9. Jay Bell

Rockies: Colorado (1993 - current)
1. Todd Helton
2. Larry Walker
3. Vinnie Castilla
4. Dante Bichette
5. Matt Holliday
6. Andres Galarraga
7. Aaron Cook
8. Jason Jennings
9. Pedro Astacio

Padres: San Diego ( 1969 - current)
1. Tony Gwynn
2. Trevor Hoffman
3. Jake Peavy
4. Dave Winfield
5. Phil Nevin
6. Adrian Gonzalez
7. Ryan Klesko
8. Brian Giles
9. Andy Benes

A couple of thoughts here...

The Giants have a scary team and I have no doubts that they would pound on everyone but the Dodgers. Arizona is awful but they haven't been around very long either. San Diego has had some major talent but none of them stay long enough to make the list(Ozzie Smith, Fred McGriff). All of the Rockies players could be hitters because o the park they play in but I had to give some love to the veteran leaders of the ball club. The Diamondbacks really had a great team from 2000-2003 but they were all borrowed talent, no home grown players really. Again, the Giants would dominate this division with L.A. and maybe the NL as a whole.

My overall rankings (top 5 ) for the NL.

1. Giants- not being a homer here but look at that team and make an argument against them.
2. Reds - A ton of HOFamers that played together but zero pitching.
3. Braves - pitching and hitting are equal here but neither is overall better than any above.
4. Pittsburgh - this team is loaded with tremendous hitters, just a lack of pitching.
5. St. Louis- 4 unbelievable hitters but not enough pitching.

MLB, the best of the NL Central

2010-03-05T11:20:00.005-06:00

Here is my best of list for the NL central.

Cardinals: St. Louis (1900 - current)
1. Stan Musial
2. Rogers Hornsby
3. Albert Pujols
4. Bob Gibson
5. Lou Brock
6. Ozzie Smith
7. Enos Slaughter
8. Joe Medwick
9. Dizzy Dean

Cubs: Chicago (1903 - current)
1. Ernie Banks
2. Ryne Sandberg
3. Ron Santo
4. Sammy Sosa
5. Cap Anson
6. Fergie Jenkins
7. Mark Grace
8. Mordecai Brown
9. Billy Williams

Astros: Houston (1962 - current)
1. Jeff Bagwell
2. Craig Biggio
3. Nolan Ryan
4. Lance Berkman
5. Roy Oswalt
6. Joe Niekro
7. Larry Dierker
8. Billy Wagner
9. Jose Cruz

Brewers: Milwaukee (1970 - current)
1. Robin Yount
2. Paul Molitor
3. Jim Slaton
4. Ben Sheets
5. Prince Fielder
6. Cecil Cooper
7. Dan Plesac
8. Geoff Jenkins
9. Ryan Braun

Reds: Cincinnati (1882 - current)
1. Pete Rose
2. Johnny Bench
3. Joe Morgan
4. Barry Larkin
5. Tony Perez
6. Dave Concepcion
7. Frank Robinson
8. George Foster
9. Eppa Rixey

Pirates: Pittsburgh (1882 - current)
1. Honus Wagner
2. Roberto Clemente
3. Ralph Kiner
4. Willie Stargell
5. Pie Traynor
6. Barry Bonds
7. Paul Waner
8. Lloyd Waner
9. Bill Mazeroski

Looking at this group as a whole I would say the Reds have a slight advantage over the Pirates for best team overall. I say this because of the fact that the Reds listed all played together minus Larkin, Robinson and Rixey. The Pirates actually have the most HOF players (tied with St. Louis) with 8 and that's not counting Bonds. Coming in third would be the Cardinals whose top 3 hitters are just scary, followed by the Cubs, Brewers and then the Brewers.

MLB, the best of the NL East

2010-03-04T13:46:00.005-06:00

Since it's spring training around the majors I thought I would emphasize my thoughts on each teams all time greats. I will attempt to separate from the best pitcher to greatest slugger through out all the ball clubs and then compare who has the greatest overall franchise as far as players go. Also, I will only select 9 players per team overall (including both pitchers and hitters)some positions will not be selected because of this. Players will also be chosen on overall impact and my personal belief on who is the best in that franchise in order of importance. I will start with the East in the NL.

NL East:
Braves:Atlanta/Milwaukee/Boston. (1876 - current)
1. Hank Aaron
2. Warren Spahn
3. John Smoltz
4. Chipper Jones
5. Eddie Matthews
6. Kid Nichols
7. Tom Glavine
8. Dale Murphy
9. Greg Maddux

Mets: New York(1962-current)
1. Tom Seaver
2. Dwight Gooden
3. Darryl Strawberry
4. Keith Hernandez
5. David Wright
6. John Franco
7. Mike Piazza
8. Howard Johnson
9. Jerry Koosman

Phillies: Philadelphia(1883 -current)
1. Mike Schmidt
2. Steve Carlton
3. Ed Delahanty
4. Richie Ashburn
5. Chuck Klein
6. Robin Roberts
7. Curt Schilling
8. Ryan Howard
9. Chase Utley

Marlins: Florida (1993 - current)
1. Miguel Cabrera
2. Dontrell Willis
3. Hanley Ramirez
4. Jeff Conine
5. Mike Lowell
6. Josh Beckett
7. Gary Sheffield
8. A.J. Burnett
9. Luis Castillo

Nationals: Washington/Montreal Expos (1969- current)
1. Andre Dawson
2. Gary Carter
3. Vladimir Guerrero
4. Pedro Martinez
5. Tim Raines
6. Dennis Martinez
7. Larry Walker
8. Tim Wallach
9. Jose Vidro

Thoughts... Also, keep in mind that some players didn't play their entire career for one team which may keep them from being higher than other players(Maddux, Pedro, Piazza, etc.)