An Update, Really?

Well I wonder if anyone still stumbles on this?  I will assume yes and if no one does, no harm done.  I'm deep into grad school now.  I'm really busy with Adult Fitness working in the labs, and especially my thesis research.  I have a very simple/boring blog set up for my thesis research, mostly for me to more easily share ideas with my advisors instead of e-mailing everything and waiting for them to reply (one in particular who never responds to e-mails).  Feel free to take a look and comment on anything.  Right now it is really basic and just some introductory information on what I intend to do.   Well this should do for now, I have some downtime in the labs coming up, so I will be able to update more I think, at least more frequently than twice/year.

Grad School, Really?

Just as I thought I was done with school forever, I stumble upon an opportunity to get my masters degree paid for.  I will be back here at EIU for another long year starting in the fall, as a graduate assistant in the Kinesiology and Sports Studies department working on a degree in exercise science.  Right now I'm more excited than worried, but I have been told that changes as soon as you leave orientation in August.  Before I start graduate school however, I will be doing a summer internship at Velocity Sports in Tinley Park.  I will be training athletes as well as running camps throughout the summer.  There is only one more week of classes as an undergrad, and then I have 2 finals and I will be done.  I am suffering from such a severe case of senioritis right now too, so it couldn't come at a better time.  I should have more time to post more in the coming weeks, and with all the social things that seem to be filling my calendar there should be plenty to talk about (assuming I remember what happens).  I will be kicking it off with Beer-in-Hand Kickball this weekend at Fox Ridge State Park.  Should be a good time, and a bunch of really good guys are buying all the beer and filling some inflatable swimming pools with it (its still in the can don't worry).  Should be fun, and we finally have some nice weather here, mid 70s, SPRING BREAK WHAT!

I LEAVE TOMORROW AND I'M NOT SICK ANYMORE!

EVERYONE GET READY!!

some sports stories I've liked lately

Well it's about time that Brett Favre retires so that I can get to being a true Bears fan, and hate the Packers with all my heart.  I have always had a general dislike for the Packers players and coaches, except Brett Favre.  So I am pleased to hear that he (as of now anyway) is not going to be playing in the football anymore.  Thanks Brett, now I can take some of the anger I'm bound to have this season due to the Bears being terrible, out on the Packers.

I found this story on Deadspin today.  This guy is a scout for the Bo Sox and got caught being a Michael Jackson type creep!  

Most people that I talk to regularly have already been bothered by this next story, but I just can't get over how much pain, one Mr. Felix Pie, must be going through.  The Cubs have their fair share of pussy little injuries right now, but this injury could not be further from "a pussy injury."  I know, I know, grow up.  

The weather here is terrible.  Sunday, I was outside grilling steaks and playing bags.  I also snuck in some golf ball hitting at the driving range.  All of these activities took place in shorts.  It was 70 degrees out and sunny.  The only downfall was the wind, but I can handle some wind when it's that warm out.  Right now outside (note: only 2 days later)  There is a freaking blizzard outside.  There has been ice falling all day, in the form of sleet, and at other points hail.  Now it's snowing, and blowing, and if this keeps up for very much longer we are going to have numerous inches of snow!  I HATE ILLINOIS WEATHER! 

West Coast can SUCK IT!

This is the parking lot of my apartment building looking east. Do you see..... no? Because there is nothing to see! Except that black car has been parked there since I moved in, in August, it hasn't moved an inch.

This is a view of Lincoln Ave. which is the main road in Charleston, on my way out of town. It was raining with some sleet, but I figured it would just be a wet drive home. Little did I know what lied ahead.

This is me driving on I-57 at 25 mph. from Charleston to Champaign. Could easily be the worst 2 hours of my life. I'm pretty sure that the entire road was a sheet of ice. I don't think there was a single moment when I thought I could relax and not be in a ditch. Except for this moment when I took this picture, and it scared this shit out of me.

ONLY 10 DAYS UNTIL CALIFORNIA!!!

Oscars, what was that like?

Well last night I had to miss the Oscars because I had to work on a presentation at the library.  Of course the kid I had to work with would not let me do anything.  He had to do the powerpoint, which took forever!  Seriously, who types out everything word for word on a powerpoint presentation for a 20 slide presentation then prints those off, then goes back and changes everything to what it should be?  Put the main points on there, type your own notes afterwards.  Oh, and he totally fucked us today, by not knowing how to pronounce words that he should have known for almost a year now.  I'm just bitter, because I just wanted to sit down after a long weekend and watch the oscars without a library involved.  

I've been watching the NFL combine some too.  Those guys are pretty impressive.  McFadden was clocked at 4.27 seconds, but officially it was dropped to 4.33, still flying.  I still don't think that he will be as good in the NFL as Mehndenhal.  Mehndenhal is a complete back, where has McFadden is just a 3rd down back like Reggie Bush, but he lacks Bush's size.  Either way, if he tries to run between the tackles he will get destroyed.  

More importantly, the Cubs start spring training play in 2 days.  Dempster is getting the nod in the first game, he joked that Zambrano didn't want it this year.  What a jokester.... not that funny of one, but a jokester none the less.  DeRosa was sent to the hospital a couple days ago with an irregular heartbeat... stay off the drugs my man!  I like what Ryan Theriot said, "Everyone goes through that at some point in their life" I don't know many people who's heart rate goes up like that and they lose vision and almost lose consciousness.  Especially when they get to the hospital and their EKG is all fucked up.  Right, that is a normal thing that everyone goes through.  If you play Major League Baseball and put anything in your body that won't show up on a test, regardless of whether it actually does anything positive for you.  

Pretty good weekend in the Bourb.  Mr. Jeck came home for a few days.  Had a few beers and a lot of laughs on Friday night with one Chris Kelly.  Sat. night I went out to shoot some pool with the family.  My brother and I were mistaken for exotic dancers.  I'm not sure if I should take that as a compliment or if I just looked like a giant tool!  Oh and it was male exotic dancer night at the bar we went to, didn't know, and it was in a separate room, so it wasn't as gay as it sounds.  Pretty good night the family though, and then had a couple more beers with Dan Saturday night before we both went our separate ways.  Only 10 more days until I will be back in California for another great weekend!  I can't wait to get out of this cold.  I need to see an ocean and temps above 35 degrees.  There are also a couple people out there that it will be alright to see too.  All in all it should be a pretty fantastic start to spring break.  The tail end of spring break will hopefully include some internship interviews.  

I'm rambling now, with no structure to this at all.  I have senioritis pretty bad right now.  I just don't go to class sometimes.  Dumb school.  I will have pictures soon of why I hate the snow and cold.  A 2 hour drive turned into a 3.5 hour drive last friday.  Booo! 

Pitchers and Catchers Finally Report

Tomorrow marks the day pitchers and catchers reports to HoHoKam Park in AZ to kick off the 100th season since the Cubs have won a World Series. I couldn't be more excited. This has motivated me to make some preliminary picks for the upcoming season. And look back to last year and see how I did with those picks. First I will make the picks for the Divisional Winners for the 2008 season. Now these are just preliminary and are subject to change after I look at the teams closer.
American League
East: Boston Red Sox
Central: Detroit Tigers
West: Los Angeles Angels
National League
East: New York Mets
Central: Chicago Cubs
West: Colorado Rockies

Now lets take a look back to see how I did last season picking the Divisional Winners. Here is a direct quote from last March 7th. These picks were made later in the spring training season and may have been influenced by some four letter word or a sports network. Not this year. Making my first picks before they start to make me believe things I don't really believe.

American League:
East: Toronto Blue Jays. No explanation needed. (I have no idea why I didn't think there was an explanation needed to not pick the Sox or the Yanks)
Central: (Toughest Division in Baseball) Cleveland Indians
West: Angels (wherever the hell they are from)

National League:
East: New York Mets (Seriously, they should have won it.  Choke worse would you!)
Central: St. Louis Cardinals (or the Cubs, but I figure I pick the Cubs every year and I will change in hopes of actually winning this season.)     (IT WORKED!)
West: San Francisco Giants  (This pick is seriously embarrassing.  One of the worst teams in baseball)

In case you didn't notice, Red means wrong, Green mean correct, and blue is the stuff that I just added this year.  So I didn't do that great last year, but there were some picks that I remember picking to try and make myself seen smart if it was right... I look really dumb when they are terrible though, and I picked them to win their division.  Wild Card and some award winning picks might be up later on in the spring, but I make no guarantees.  

So....

That really didn't turn out as well as I would have liked. But at least I was entertained until the very end of the game. I may have even become a little less of an Eli hater as the game went along.
Congrats Giants. I only wish now that I could fall asleep. I need some sheep to count.

SUPER SUNDAY

Alright, so I'll admit that I am cheering for the Patriots today. I will stand up for myself by saying that I am merely cheering for them because I dislike them less than the other two teams involved. Other two teams you ask. Yes, the New York Football Giants and the 1972 Miami Dolphins. I DESPISE them both. Eli Manning does not deserve the last name Manning. I have disliked him since that week before he got drafted. Don't cry about being the number one overall pick because you don't want to play for them. Then go cry to your daddy. I don't even want to get started on the 1972 Dolphins... Mercury Morris, SHUT YOUR FUCKING MOUTH! Don Shula can stop trying to kiss everyones ass now that he realizes that the Patriots are about to "be in their neighborhood." I'm so sick of hearing, Perfectville, population 1. You know who I like from the 1972 Dolphins? Everyone I've never heard of. I had never heard of Mercury Morris before he started shooting his mouth off from a golf course in Florida at some rich retirement center. I hope he gets run over by a car. (one of my less mature moments, but I apologize for nothing)
I do hope that the game is entertaining though. I get so disappointed when the games over by half time. I was watching some pre-game coverage and they were doing some fun stats about money spent during super bowl weekend. It's estimated that 9.5 Billion dollars will be spent this year on Super Bowl related items. 30 second commercial spots are going for 3 millions dollars. My favorite though was that antacid tablet's sales will double tomorrow.

My super bowl pick: New England Patriots 34, New York Giants 21

Nothing is really new in my life. Pitchers and Catchers report this month though. So excited for baseball season this year! GO CUBS GO!

School's Back

Well back at EIU for the last leg. One more semester of undergrad work and I will finally have a degree to "brag" about. This is all assuming that I will complete an internship this summer. I figure if I can get through all the coursework the internship shouldn't be bad at all. This semester has gotten really busy, really fast. I have been reading a lot already, I have a quiz on wednesday over a class from last semester. It's pretty much our final in quiz form. It shouldn't be too bad though. Like a steal trap (points to head). I just finished applying to graduate school here at EIU. I have to get three references and write a small essay about my experiences that could help with graduate study to finish my application for an assistantship. The only way I will be attending is if I get the GA spot and they cover the tuition. I recently found out that EIU is one of the top Exercise Science graduate programs in the midwest, ball state is another top one. Either way, that should look pretty good on a resume later on. I think that me sticking out Charleston for another year is going to make me such a strong person (read: this place sucks).
My roommate has mono! That will hopefully workout for me. I really can't afford to get something like that. If I'm more tired than I usually am and have to get through the days that I do... could be bad. He is in bad shape right now, hope he gets better soon. poor guy.
Is it baseball season yet? Sports right now are probably more terrible than ever. It's so bad that I find my self rooting for the Green Bay Packers, and as a Bears fan, pretty sure that could constitute as an all time low. The Cubs should get Brian Roberts.