Exams

As of now I am half way done with my exams for this semester. I would like to think that I have the two hardest ones behind me but I'm not sure. My history exam is looking harder and harder by the second, not because the information is difficult to remember, but because I have to write an essay from 5 different topics so I have to have information ready for each one of them in case that is the one on the test. All five could be available on the test or maybe only one, the professor won't tell us, so I just have to prepare for all of them and hope the one I am most prepared for is available to choose from. Other than that I am not worried about history, I just have to study a bit and refresh my memory of the Crusades, Renaissance, and Middle Ages as a whole. I also have an econ exam tomorrow, macroeconomics to be exact, and it is definilty going to be the easiest of all of my exams. I should only have to spend an hour or so studying for it to be prepared. It's one of those tests where the prof just recycles old questions, maybe re-words them a bit, and spits them back out on the final. Come 3:30 or so on Wednesday though and I will be free from school for 4 whole months, crazy, I know. I will literally be done April 29th and don't have class next semester until September 1st. Over 4 whole months of summer vacation, if getting a summer job is considered a vacation. Although, I don't have school and not to many real responsibilites yet so I suppose it is a vacation. 24 hours from now I will be starting my first exam and about 27 hours from now I will be finishing my last exam, putting everything in the car, and hitting the road. Mama, I'm comin' home.

Little League

Yesterday was opening day for the little league that I am a part of. I coach a 11-12 year old baseball team and our team sponsor is Cracker Barrel (pretty sweet I know). After enduring a parade with the truck full of animals I had to wait through one rain delay and a huge schedule dilemma before my game even started. The game actually went pretty well, better than I thought it was going to go, that's for sure. The kid I had pitching lasted the whole game, all 4 innings of it until it started raining again and we just called that game. He allowed basically 1 run an inning which isn't too bad for little league. My team's hitting was the problem; with only 1 run in 4 innings our productivity was minimal at best. The first two guys got on and I was thinking, great, we are going to be just fine, and then the next 8 batters proceeded to strike out; so all 3 outs of the first 2 innings and the first two batters of the 3rd inning were all strike outs, and when that happens, it makes it kind of hard to score runs, although, our only run came in the 1st inning off of stolen bases and passed balls. The 4th inning was actually pretty good batting wise. We had the bases loaded with no outs....but...we didn't score. One kid got thrown out trying to go home on a passed ball. One kid was out on a force play at third. The last kid struck out, just following the pattern I suppose.

This year is looking pretty good though. I was without one of, if not the best, players in the first game yesterday so when he is there we will have a lead off hitter and a shortstop/pitcher/catcher. Also it looks like I have about 4 to 5 solid pitchers which is good because you usually need 2 to 3 pitchers per game and once they pitch in one game, for me usually on Tuesday, they can't pitch in the second game, Thursday, but they can pitch again the next week. So if I can get them on a 2 pitcher per game schedule with one pitcher available for relief I should be straight. Fielding also looks very good. Solid 1st, 3rd, short, center field, and catcher so my important field positions are covered. Hitting is my one concern this year though. Last year my team had a problem with striking out a lot and it looks like they will this year as well. As long as they go down swinging I am happy though. Better to swing and get out than stand there and look like a fool.

Mac

I used to be an avid supporter of PCs. I used to tell everybody that Macs were too expensive and not worth the bother. I used to think that Macs were for hoity toity smell-me's. Now that I am sitting here trying to fix my mother's PC and just recently got done playing around with me girlfriend's Mac I may be swaying a bit. Yes, Macs are very expensive compared to PCs...but maybe it's worth it. I work at tech support for my school and hardly any Macs come in, which might be because less people have Macs, but I think it's actually because Macs have less problems than PCs...especially Dell. Every Dell computer I have ever seen has been a peice. At least half of the computers that come in to work are Dells. The combining Dell and Windows is like combining white people and dancing, they just don't work well. Windows has so many problems compared to Mac. My girlfriend's Mac runs flawlessly and is honestly more enjoyable to use than my Windows computer, which I happen to enjoy and have had hardly any problems with. Tell you what, if I had $1300 to drop on a new computer I would be all over a Mac. Funny thing is I saw a Windows ad on TV where a guy goes into a Best Buy and has $1500 to spend on a computer and he says something about the Mac being too expensive. Are you kidding me? He could have bought the Mac and still had money left to spend on other things. There is no way on God's green earth that I would go to Best Buy with $1500 for a new computer and now be walking out of there with a Mac, no way.

Jr

Ken Griffey Jr is one of my favorite baseball players. He has over 600 home runs, 400 now with the Mariners, and he has done it clean...as far as we know. He hasn't taken steroids to get all of his numbers, he is just a good player who loves playing the game. If he hadn't played so hard when he was younger and hurt himself so much I honestly believe he would be the home run king instead of Barry Bonds. I loved watching him play as a kid and now that he is back on the Mariners I love it again. I really don't know what else to say about him and this post was kind of a waste. I am watching Sportscenter and they just showed highlights of the Seattle game so that's what sparked my interest in the subject. I just love the way he acts when he hits a homerun; drops the bat and just kind of stares at the ball as he walks a couple steps down the first base line...I think I am going to start doing that walking around campus.

Anchor

Today may have been the beginning of a beautiful friendship...between me and the school newspaper. I applied to be either the Sports editor or Voices (Columns) editor and had my interview this afternoon. My hopes are high that I impressed next years chief editors and will get one of the jobs. Working for the school newspaper would be such a great opportunity, especially since I want to become a journalist. In all honesty, I would love to be a column writer for the paper but I believe all of those positions are taken, so editor it is, not that editor is a bad job, just more responsibility...once again, not a bad thing.

In other news...nothing is really going on in my life. I don't really have anything interesting or pressing to talk about. I'm pretty much just waiting for school to be over so I can go home, coach Little League, and find a summer job. Hopefully, all goes well, but if not, here's looking at you, summer.

School

Now that there is only two weeks left of school everything seems to have slowed down...a lot. I have a presentation and an essay due on Thursday and it seems like the last two days have lasted forever. Part of my thinks that these two weeks will fly by and I will be one my way to summer in no time, the other part thinks a little different. Also, I seem to be tired all of the time too and I don't know why. I have slept 8 hours for the past couple nights and haven't really done anything physically straining, I just feel tired. Maybe its the weather, stupid rain. No matter what it is I just want school to be over so I can go back home and look for a job that I won't get. Today's forecast...gloomy.

The Masters

As I heard on some TV show on Sunday morning, "There are only three things you do on Easter, go to Church, eat food, and watch the Masters" (actually I don't think the Masters are always on Easter weekend...have to figure that out). Seemed like a pretty good list of things to do on Easter to me. I skipped out on the first one, but I definitely ate some food, and definitely watched the Masters. Just like everybody else, I was rooting for Tiger to come from behind and win, and it actually looked like he was going to until he hit that tree on the 17th hole. And all you can really say is that he tried hard and came up short because even though he didn't win he still shot 4 under par on Sunday and still had a pretty damn good round. Phil Mickelson...probably another story. Talk about terrible putting! This guy missed a couple 5 footers that would have given him the lead, especially that eagle put on the 14th or 15th. True, he did have a pretty good round as well, but I feel like he had a better chance to capture the lead then Tiger. And don't even get me started on Kenny Perry...this guy had the lead, in his hand, covered in gold and green jackets, and he choked...big time. Bogey's on the last two holes to go into a three man playoff and then totally falling apart on the second hole to give ol' Angel the win was pretty pathetic to watch. Now, I play golf myself and am in no way better than any of these guys, but I honestly think I could have done almost as well as he did on that second playoff hole. And I wonder what size jacket Angel wears...probably not as big as Craig Stadler or John Daly. The most interesting thing from the Masters I saw on Sunday was Asian Cowboy Shingo Katayama...a solid 3rd place finish, I wonder if he rides panda bears instead of horses?

Championship

It was over as soon as it started, Michigan State had no chance against North Carolina last night. Within a couple minutes UNC had a double digit lead and they never looked back. Everybody around campus was buzzing about the game, most being from the state of Michigan meant they were all hoping for a green and white victory...not this time. Carolina Blue was just too overpowering and too skillful for the Spartans. Sure, they Spartans had a ridiculous amount of turnovers, most of them unforced, but the loss can't be blamed on that; the Tar Heels were just plain better last night. Michigan St. started out the game shooting terribly, something like 30% at one point, while North Carolina was shooting about 60% at the time. By the end of the game, though, it evened out with shooting percentages of 40 and 46% respectively. I don't think shooting percentage was the story of the game however, I think Tyler Hansbrough, Ty Lawson, and Wayne Ellington for the Tar Heels were the story; they accounted for 58 of North Carolina's 89 points. I personally believe that Ty Lawson, with 21 points, 8 steals, 6 assists, and 4 rebounds should have been the most oustanding player, but it was the most oustanding player of the Final Four, so Wayne Ellington recieved it. Also, the Spartans were in foul trouble early in both halves so they couldn't be as aggressive as they really wanted.

Even though the game was essentially over in the first 5 minutes I watched the entire game and still found it entertaining. Once UNC got a 20 point lead the game was good because MSU pretty much kept the deficit at around 20 points, so at least it was competitive in that respect.

To follow up on my bracket I finished in the 96th percentile on ESPN and finished first among all of my friends on Facebook. Overall, a pretty good year and a pretty good bracket. Next year I'm pulling for St. John's Red Storm baby!

Nothing

I'm sitting here and I can't think of anything to write about. Besides the NCAA tournament nothing of significance, to me at least, has happened in sports all weekend. The Masters are coming up this weekend and that should be great, hopefully Tiger wins. The NCAA tournament game is tomorrow. I want MSU to win because I am from Michigan, yet I want UNC to win because I have them winning in my bracket, so I guess either outcome will please me. The women's NCAA tournament championship is Tuesday and UConn will probably win by like 20, which is good because a perfect season is always interesting. The MLB season started tonight and the rest of the games will be tomorrow, I think, unless some aren't until Tuesday. This is always a good time of year for sports, ya know? The baseball season has just started so we have like 6 more months of that, the NCAA tournament is winding down, the Masters is this weekend, the NBA and NHL regular seasons are coming to a close so the race for the playoffs is getting tight. Unfortunately there is no football, soon enough though. I know a lot of people who don't like watching baseball, but I just love it, especially during the summer when Baseball Tonight is on every night and Sportscenter is dominated by baseball. The only bad thing about baseball starting up is that I can no longer play; this will be my second spring with no baseball and it's getting to me already. Last year wasn't too bad because it was the first time, but I'm thinking that pretty soon I am going to have to join a slow pitch softball league or I will go crazy. Sure, coaching Little League helps me cope but I need some real, on the field action. I am coaching with my high school coach this year...that should be interesting, me being the manager and him the coach. A real reversal of roles seeing that I didn't play very much during high school. Anyways, the itch to go out and play catch is killing me right now, I need my arm to be sore from throwing, I need by mouth to be raw from eating sunflower seeds, I need my hair to me matted down from a cap every night, and most of all I just plain need baseball.

See how a post about nothing turned into something...great isn't it? Speaking of great...it would be great to go to Iowa and go to the real Field of Dreams...have a catch with the old man...cry a little...go home...sounds great. My philosophy with this blog...if I write it, they will come.

Cartoons

I just came across a huge list of cartoons from the '90's and I just have to make a list of all the ones I used to watch...a * next to it means it was one of my favorites.

• Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles *
• Pinky and the Brain
• Gargoyles
• Batman
• DuckTales
• Animaniacs *
• Darkwing Duck
• Dexter's Laboratory
  
• Rugrats
• Captain Planet
• Chip and Dale: Rescue Rangers
• X-Men *
• Hey Arnold! *
• Doug *
• Aaaah! Real Monsters
• Dragonball Z
• Rocko's Modern Life
• Biker Mice from Mars *
• Bonkers
• Garfield
• Johnny Bravo
• Sonic the Hedgehog
• Spider-Man
• Street Sharks *
• Tailspin *
• Timon & Pumbaa
• Ren & Stimpy
• Aladdin
• Courage the Cowardly Dog
• The New Adventures of Winnie the Pooh
• Recess
• The Magic School Bus
• 2 Stupid Dogs
• The Angry Beavers
• Goof Troop
• Arthur
• Beavis and Butt-head
• CatDog *
• Celebrity Deathmatch
• Cow & Chicken
• Ed Edd n' Eddy
• The Wild Thornberrys
• Pokemon
• Marsupilami
• Action league NOW
• Kaablam!

Besides animated series I also liked to watch...

• Fresh Prince of Bel Air
• Home Improvement
• Mighty Morphin Power Rangers *
• Spin City
  
• Seinfeld
• Friends
• All That
• Kenan & Kel
• Solute Your Shorts
• Double Dare
• GUTS
• Legends of the Hidden Temple

There are probably many more that I just can't think of fight now but, jeez look at that list, I don't think I could list that many shows that are on right now. We had it good growing up in the '90's, now all of the shows for kids are stupid...I guess as a 19 year old that would make sense though. 20 year olds during the '90's probably thought all of our shows were stupid too but I love them to death. If only for one day I could go back to the '90's...

Like

What is up with the fascination with the word like these days? It seems as if people use it as a spacer, when they don't know what else to say they figure they can just throw it in there and take up time. Instead of saying umm during a presentation or speech people turn to the word like now. Like also seems to be the stereotypical word for the ditsy blond who doesn't know how to speak right and only talks about shopping and boys; I was like yeah and then he was like no and I was like whatever and he was like fine, so I went shopping and I found like the most gorgeous shoes like ever! And I know that may seem like an exaggeration, but trust me, there are people out there like that and when I hear them speak it makes me want to plug my ears with wax. Some people just need to learn how to talk for God's sake! Learn how to use grammar the correct way and don't insert the word like into your story 50 times. If you can't talk for five minutes without using the word like, maybe you should stop and think before you say something, and then you can continue to talk, like ok?

Perfection

Perfection. What comes to mind when you think of that word, in a sporting aspect? When you think of a perfect team or a perfect player, what comes to mind? Only the Miami Dolphins can claim to be the perfect football team, sure the Patriots won 18 straight a couple years back but they lost the Super Bowl. I suppose you could say the expansionary Buccaneers and the 2008 Detroit Lions were perfect...losing every game in a season. Besides the NFL there are plenty of instances of perfection in sports. The '95-'96 Chicago Bulls are the closest thing to perfection in the NBA since there are 82 games in a season and I doubt any team will ever win all of them, but the Bulls won 72 out of 82, not perfect, but pretty damn good. NCAA basketball has had it's fair share of perfect teams, The UCLA Bruins of the early 70's, with back to back perfect seasons, are the epitome of perfect. Of course the Bruins were also perfect in twice before that in '64 and '67, which is awesome, but not back to back like in '72 and '73. Everybody knows about the Indiana Hoosiers perfect season in 1976 thanks to a particular movie of the same name. NCAA football has so many perfect teams that the list would be too long to put on here and after a while would get boring. No golfer has ever won all four majors in one year since the Masters was added in the 1930's, Tiger had his own Grand Slam when he won the four majors in a row, but he did it over two seasons. Now, though, there is a perfect team in the making. The Connecticut Women's Huskies have dominated almost every game this season and are skating through the NCAA tournament with ease. They won the ACC tournament easily, so easily in fact that they doubled the other team's points in the final...ridiculous. Hopefully in a week we will have one more team to add to the small list of teams that can bask in the glow of the word PERFECTION.