The Full Package

Opening Day Memories 1994

2007-04-08T22:49:00.000-05:00

On the eve of my 17th consecutive home opener attended with my dad i thought i'd share with you one of my favorite opening day memories.
Usually opening day for the cubbies means one thing...cold cold cold. April is an unforgiving month in the midwest, especially in the beginning of the month. Typical home openers have temperatures in the low 40s, high 30s with lots of wind. But that means that the openers that have good weather stand out.
Now the 1994 home opener against the Mets on April 4th had great weather, 55 degrees and sunny, but there was something else about that game that stuck out. Affectionately known to Cubs fans as "The Tuffy Rhodes Game" this game featured a new centerfielder for the cubbies, Karl "Tuffy" Rhodes manning the position for the first time in a cubs uniform. What made this home opener special was that Tuffy Rhodes homered in his first 3 at bats, off the formerly great Doc Gooden no less. What people tend to forget is that the cubs ended up losing that game 12-8, but we all remember how Tuffy Rhodes for one day was king of Chicago.
I was 9 at the time, and i was a big fan of opening day because i got to skip half a school day, and this was a serious deal back in 3rd grade. I felt special because i got to miss class to watch my favorite team play.
The memories still make me smile, getting picked up by my dad at school, driving downtown to his hospital, taking the EL near his office to Wrigley, looking at Wrigley as the EL slowly made it's way to the Addison stop, and all the sights and smells surrounding Wrigleyville before gametime. My dad teaching me how to keep score, and cheering with the crowd when Harry Caray sang the seventh inning stretch. The Cubs may have lost on that day in '94, but it was pretty cool seeing a Cub hit 3 home runs.
Hopefully tomorrow's opener results in more good memories, as the Cubs take on the Astros, and Cubs nemesis Woody Williams. Lily hopefully puts up another good start, and maybe Soriano will break out in his home debut, but i'm wishing for a cubs win. let's say Cubs win 4-2 tomorrow and we all go home happy. Lets go Cubs!

Game 5 Recap: Cubs vs Brewers 4/7/07

2007-04-07T22:11:00.000-05:00

After Sheets dominant performance on opening day i was worried about today's match up. Fortunately, Big Z was dealing early today, and contributed to the early scoring with a clutch 2 out RBI single. Derosa continued his hot hitting with a triple to start the scoring, and D Lee and Aramis helped pad the total in the 6th inning. Big Z got into trouble a few times today, but a great stop by Lee at first for the unconventional 3-6 double play helped Z to his first victory in 2007. We're 3-2 now, and hopefully Wade Miller builds on the successes of the starting staff from the last 4 games. The hitting has improved since the first game of the season, and we're hitting against good pitchers, Dave Bush and Ben Sheets are no slouches. I like how Pinella works the lineup day in a day out, tweaking it based on the matchups. Hopefully the defense in the outfield doesn't disintegrate, but i'm pleasantly surprised with the team's play in the first 5 games.

I'm excited about going to my 17 consecutive opening day game at Wrigley with my dad, it's been a pretty special tradition for me. Tomorrow i'll share one of my favorite opening day memories, and preview the home opener against the astros. But for now i'm going to enjoy easter with the extended family and hopefully watch the cubs sweep the brew crew on the road.

A change to the blog

2007-04-07T19:14:00.000-05:00

I figured i need to change this blog up a bit, no more sad sappy college stuff. I'm giving you straight Cubs info with some reactions to my favorite TV shows. I know you'll all enjoy the switch, because my life is boring. So over the next few days, changes will be made, new posts will be put up, and will i find true happiness? Stay tuned...

One more semester to go...

2006-12-19T19:04:00.000-06:00

As i sit here typing this, i'm embarking upon my last semester at ND as an undergrad. It's a weird moment to reflect on, because earlier today i was cleaning up my room back home in oak park when i noticed my acceptance letter among the items i was looking through. That letter made me realize how far i've come since that moment in april when i excitedly tore upon the "big" envelope sent from ND, and the resulting state of happiness and relief after reading the good news. I remember that i had all these different ideas of how college was going to unfold, and all the great things i was going to do. Looking back at my 3 1/2 years i have no real regrets on how it all broke down, the only one being i wish i would have committed to a school publication, but even that's not that big of a deal now that i think about it. The best thing about ND is the relationships i forged between classmates, roomates, dormmates, and professors. The ND community is truly a family in every sense of the word. I don't think i would have had such an enriching experience if i had gone to my other choice, Northwestern, but that's not so much a knock on the wildcats as it is a ringing endorsement for ND. Yes parietals were lame, yes the campus life is similar to a summer camp with the same-sex dorms, and yes the ND administration imposed some pretty harsh rules on the students without consulting us, but these roadblocks were not that big of a deal when it really came down to it.

The best thing i've discovered at college the past 3 1/2 years is that you don't necessarily go to college to learn (you obviously do) but you start discovering who you really are. Most of us in college were cut off from our high school safety nets of family and friends, and being out on your own was a jarring experience. It's almost like starting your life over again at 18. And despite all i've learned these 3 1/2 years, i'm only starting to scratch the surface of who i really am.

I'm getting sappy, but i really don't care at this point, i've loved virtually every minute of my college experience, and i'm glad of the friendships i've made. I only hope that the last 6 months will be a wonderful bookend to an excellent part of my life, i think that it will. It's going to be hard going to the real world, where real responsibilities and pressures reign supreme, but if i've found out anything about myself this year it's that i'm ready for anything.

Cubs 2006 season in review(and hopes for 2007)

2006-10-09T13:35:00.002-05:00

Cubs record in 2006- 66-96

What went right in 2006:

1. The emergence of Matt Murton: it took awhile but matt murton "for certain" finally showed that he could major league pitching. He isn't a great defender by any stretch of the imagination, but he showed that he has the plate discipline and bat control of a good hitter, and deserves to start in the cubs outfield in 2007.

2. Rich Hill's second go-around: Finally! A cubs farmhand that showed that he was equal to his hype. Hill really struggled his first call up this season, culminating in the A.J./Barrett punch fest, but his second time around the big club, finally showed that he could locate his 92mph fastball and use his devastor of a curve to wipe hitters out. Besides Zambrano, Hill was the only consistent pitcher for the cubs down the stretch, and he should be a solid starter for years to come.

3. Bob Howry and Scott Eyre: These two showed they were worth the money, as they were both solid relievers all season. After the implosion of ryan dempster, howry might be in line to replace him as the closer next season, depending on how the new manager sees it.

4. Ryan Theriot: I know it was only a short time of exposure for Theriot, but i really liked what i saw out of him. He's got a chance to be a solid top of the order hitter, and he provided solid defense at 2B. In my mind he should be give all the opportunity to start at 2B next season, and given the space to develop.

5.Carlos Zambrano: he's a stud, a workhorse, he managed to have one of his best seasons despite walking everyone and their sister, if he can cut the walk total down, we are talking about a potential 20 game winner here(he won 16 games with this team for Christ sakes!)

What went wrong in 2006:

1. Aramis Ramirez and Juan Pierre's first halfs: both of these guys are to blame for the tailspin the team took after D Lee went down with his wrist injury. They didn't step up when the team needed them to, and only started to heat up after the season was lost for good.

2. Every starter on the team except for Zambrano and Hill: Marshall, Mateo, Marmol, Ryu, Guzman all started, and they all stunk for the most part. They had no idea how to control the strike zone, and showed few adjustments on the mound. There's talent here, but these guys need to figure out how to command the strike zone before they can be relied upon.

3. Ryan Dempster: He stunk, he's not that good, and it might get worse. It's true that he didn't get much consistent work, but c'mon he was real real bad.

4. Ronny Cedeno: wow, do not let this man back on the roster next season, he stinks at defense, and he has worse plate discipline than corey patterson. Get rid of this no talent ass clown.

5. The Cubs Defense in general: just plain bad, the outfielders all have below-average arms, cedeno was a disaster at short, barrett still doesn't know how to call a good game, and a lack of fundamental baseball killed the cubs in many close games this season.

6 Injuries: i hate using this excuse, but D Lee's injury really killed the cubs. The cubs were already short a bat before D Lee's injury, and his loss put that much pressure on A-Ram, and he couldn't come through. Prior and Wood should never be relied upon again, and i'm still wondering what the hell is wrong with Prior. If it's physical, get it fixed, but methinks prior is a sissy who can't tell the difference between pain and injury. He needs to start getting on the ball and step up. Hopefully Lee will come back strong next season and provide a solid bat in the middle, but wrist injuries are notoriously difficult to come back from.

7. The Farm System: despite the injuries, the cubs should have been able to fill the injury spots with promising young talent from the minors, instead they put out retreads like phil nevin, and john mabry...yikes. Something in the organization needs to be done to fix our lack of positional talent, or we'll always have our bench filled with past-their-prime blowhards like phil nevin, john mabry, and awful young players like fast freddy bynum.

8. The Fans: i know i'm going to get grief for this, but the fans sucked this year. I attended the game this year where fans at Wrigley did the WAVE! The fucking wave is not allowed at wrigley, i couldn't believe it when i saw it. It speaks to the fact that many fans probably sold their tickets off, and the resulting attendees were newbies who think the wave is cool. The fans need to step up as well as the team and show that we're loyal to the team, and not sell our tickets to these wannabees.

Things to do, to improve for 2007

1. Lockup Zambrano Longterm

2. Lockup Aramis

3. Say goodbye to Pierre

4. Sign Carlos Lee or Alfonso Soriano and platoon Murton and Jones in right.

5. Go after 2 veteren pitchers(one of them preferably being jason schmidt)

6. Give Ryan Theriot the 2B job

7. Make Zambo the number 1, a veteren acquisition the no. 2, and Rich Hill the no. 3. The last two spots in the rotation are up for grabs between all the rookies and Prior.

8. Make Kerry Wood an incentive laden deal, based on games finished/appeared, or games saved. Give him all the opportunity to become the lights out reliever we saw a glimpse of at the end of 2005.

9. Dump Dempter from the closer role, or at least make him earn it this off-season.

With these nine steps, the cubs should definately compete in the awful NL Central. It's not that hard to field a competitive team in the NL, and the cubs don' have to go overboard to do it. The Cubs should field a mix of young talent(theriot, murton, hill, pie) with solid veterens, that play hard and the right way. Hopefully Hendry will hire Girardi within the next 2 weeks, and the pieces will start coming together. I have high hopes for this Cubs offseason, and look forward to seeing what Hendry does, now that he's under the gun.

Lost Season 3 Premiere

2006-10-04T23:22:00.000-05:00

OH DOCTOR....that's pretty much all i have to say about that....

the others were living in a suburbian like community straight out of an M. Night movie... that's just crazy...not much else was revealed except that Henry Gale's name is really "ben." well that's just splendid, the new hottie was a good character, jack was fucked with, kate was handcuffed, and sawyer, well he is dumber than a polar bear evidently. Good start to the season, looking forward to the next 5 episodes(since lost is dividing the season up into a 6 episode arc to start the season and then 17 more starting in january) and i can't get enough others action

Cubs 2006 Season in Review coming friday

until then, peace out

The times, they are changing

2006-10-02T13:41:00.000-05:00

My first post in a while, but what else is new. The house is going great, we've had a few parties so far, finally utilized our kick ass backyard for a few bonfires, and haven't had any problems with the police or neighbors so far. Classes have been for the most part decent, with a few exceptions, but i'm excited for the rest of the year. I joined a tutoring program at ND called Teamwork, and i'm now tutoring a 8 year old named Marco. It feels good doing service again, and i love the look on Marco's face when he reads a passage in a book successfully.

In sports news, the ND football team has started the season off 4-1, and while they haven't played as well as i thought they would, they are playing hard. The Cubs are cleaning house after another dismal season, with president Andy Macphail and Dusty Baker both out the door. There are so many problems with the cubs( another post for another time) that the rise back to respectability will take some time. Da Bears look real real real good after their sunday night demolition of the NFC champs, and the Gunslinger, or "Sexy Rexy" for you females out there, is getting better every game.
Things are starting to round into place, i hope to have a job in chicago(whatever field that wants me) lined up by the spring, and you better believe i'll use any connection possible to get my foot in the door, i'm not above grovelling.

Lost is premiering this week, and like most of you out there, i'm really looking forward to it. Season 2 was a disapointment for some people, but not me. Henry Gale was the saving grace of Season 2, and Season 3 looks to be more focused on the "others" and Gale himself. The season ended on such a great note in may, that it's hard not to be pumped for a action-packed season.

Cubs 2006 wrapup to come before the weekend

End of Summer Angry Post

2006-08-13T03:13:00.000-05:00

Yes its been almost three months since my last post, but i don't give a shit. This summer except for my family and uncle's generosity has been an unmitigated disaster. I thought that this summer would be different, that things would change now that all my friends were turning 21. I have never been more wrong.
Things first went bad when i lost out on an internship downtown with the Newberry Library, which sucked because i had to wait the last two weeks in May for an answer. Then i learned Ascension couldn't hire me for the summer due to budget concerns, which screwed me out of a good paying stable job. So at last resort i turned to my uncle and his newly acquired pier company. My uncle was generous enough to set me up with a place to live during the week and employed me for most of the summer.

I cannot stress how much my summer was saved by this.

I learned the hard way that working for your friends is never good idea, when i worked briefly for my friend Alex. I thought i had found a great summer work situation but it didn't work out that way. At the darkest moment in the summer, in mid july, i was able to rely on my family and they came through for me. My uncle's business picked up again and i was able to work steadily for the last 6 weeks of the summer, but i learned a valuable lesson about true friendship and loyalty.

I'm angry i didn't post enough this summer, although for a good part of it i was unable to reach a computer. I guarantee i'll post more now, i've got so much to say its insane. I don't care if my diction is flawed or my grammer is spotty, i just want to put words out there and get shit off my chest.

I'm looking forward to senior year, i'll be leaving for ND in a week, and hopefully i can get this bad taste of summer out of my mouth.

Getting back at you fools tomorrow

Welcome to Summer

2006-05-17T21:32:00.000-05:00

It's been over 2 months, so i figure i was due for a rollicking good post eh? Lot of work this past semester, i was fucked over in one of my english classes by my prof who just didn't like my writing. Every other class was B+ or higher, yet this guy decides he doesn't like my style and he rolls a C+ my way. Whatev, i can bounce off that shit, it don't matter, it's the fucking summer now anyway. Couple of my buds aren't going to be in oak park this summer which sucks, a couple of my friends that are still around are tight, but we aint kicking it like we used to. I don't know why i'm channeling this funky vibe right now, but i'm going to flow with it so bear with me.

Spring break was a blast, just take a look at my facebook pictures for that. Hopefully my summer will be a fraction of that fun, but i'm not holding out any hope. The Cubs are consistently disapointing me, even though i'm 4-0 when i attend games. Lost and 24 are almost over, which means i'll have to find other options other than TV to occupy the boredom. I've started working out again, running and such, and i think i'll stick to a routine now. I'm waiting on a answer from the Newberry Library regarding a summer internship in manuscript research, but if i don't get it, i'll be able to work as a janitor again, or my uncle up north. Working with my uncle would be profitable, but the only reservation i had was that i would probably have to stay up for a week at a time, and come home on weekends, but seeing as how the summer has started off on a thrilling note(not) that option looks better and better every day.

The old Mike Spangler might have been frustrated with the way the social situation is panning out thus far, but I am nothing but patient. It is what it is, and i'll cherish the fun times whenever they occur. It's always an adjustment from college where plans are made on the fly, and there's a dorm section full of guys willing to do something crazy. Out here in the real world people have jobs, families, and other obligations. it's not easy getting stuff together, especially now that we are all approaching adulthood. Nonetheless I vow to make this summer as enjoyable, profitable, and restful as humanly possible. I love talking in the third person by the way, makes me feel like i'm important or something.

Regardless of this rant, I'm happy summer has arrived. There's a fresh start to almost everything, and now that most of my friends are finally 21, more options are available. I'll just have to convince my friends to have fun i guess.

Back with a post on Lost and 24 tomorrow.

wow i suck at posting

2006-03-02T00:59:00.000-06:00

well another month= another post not much to talk about, internships apps are starting to go out, i'm not confident in getting any, i would like to have one, but it's not the end of the world if i don't get one...my classes are probably the toughest i've had since i've been at school here, i have 5 english or history classes and 4 of them are intensive reading classes. i've never had to read so much, but i'm enjoying most of my classes for the most part which is good. this weekend will not be fun as i prep 3 essays that are due march 20th. most of you are thinking why now? well, spring break is coming up and i know i won't be doing any semblance of work down in panama city Fl, so it makes sense to do it now and hopefully write well. spring break....starts in 8 days

it's going to be so much fun, except for the driving part, driving a total of 18 hours for me on friday/saturday plus another 20 hour trip on the way back because i'll have to drop my car off in chicago. that's going to be a suckfest. but i'm looking at the positives, i'll be having the time of my life for a week and my team partner during spring break is my good buddy adam higgins, i think our team name is team belligerent, but we'll just have to see.

24 and lost this week btw? fantastic episodes, lost answered a lot of fucking questions that i had about the show, and im convinced that the captive they are keeping hostage is an "other".
24 this week was great as well, and it looks to get bettter with the kick ass 2 episode set next week.

on another note i did not get any tickets on friday, i was shut out for cubs tickets online, i wanted to get 4 tickest for the sat april 8th game so i could go to opening day and the saturday game, but i'll manage

finally my good friend soffer came into town last thursday and i tried my best to show him as best a time as possible. We watched some good olympics, enjoyed a fun night at Club 23, and i capped off the night by finishing a paper as he was driving back to chi-town, i'm sorry i couldn't show soffer any more of our beautiful campus, but he was able to score a free meal at the Dining Hall at least.

now that baseball season is starting to get underway i might have to start posting more, we'll see but you know how bad i am with that shit

internships

2006-02-07T13:29:00.000-06:00

this week has been quite productive, i'm doing my readings ahead of time for class, i'm going to sleep around 2am now, and i'm setting up meetings at the career center to apply for internships. I plan on sending out around 15 applications to various companies in the fields of journalism, politics, publishing, multimedia, etc. Hopefully i'll get 1 or 2 positive responses and i'll have something to do this summer besides paiting houses or picking up grade school shit. I'm really looking forward to spring break this year, we're taking a group down to panama city beach fl for a week in a condo, a week of debauchery if you will. I'm pumped for the 16 hour drive(no..no i'm not) but i'm more pysched for the hot hot females(yeah zona and ASU chicks). it should be a good one, plus eakins might break our condo's telescope, yes our condo does really have a telescope.
hopefully this week is a start of something good, until then peace to everyone

A New Year means same old same old

2006-01-09T22:12:00.000-06:00

A week until i return back to ND, this winter break has been just what the doctor ordered: lots of rest, lots of friends and family, and some contemplation. Since i do not have a job during winter break it has been a time of reading, online poker, and just general hanging out. I still dont know what i want to do for a living and it's starting to worry me. When i first arrived at ND i was planning on becoming a sports writer or broadcaster, then i wanted to be a lawyer, then i decided i wanted to go to journalism school for grad school, and now i'm just in a total state of confusion. Oh well i'm having a good time in college and there will be other times to fully consider the future.

A bit of hilarity ensued over new years when i was partying it up at my buddy's place at Northern Illinois. Rod, Alex, Marder and myself drove out for the night expecting a night of drunken hijinks and hilarity, we got that plus some unexpected time spent in the Kishwaukee hospital. The night started off innocently enough with dinner and a beer run. We were playing one on one beer pong and set up a huge tourney between 8 people. I ended up winning the tournament in grand style, beating Alex, marder's roomate, Jose and then finally marder by a wide margin for the championship. By that time we had finished the beer we had bought and decided to run over to one of marder's friends party's so we could celebrate the new year's countdown with more people. It was about a 15 minute walk and we got to this girl's apartment just in time for the countdown. Alex, Rod and myself finished an entire bottle of champagne we found at this girl's place in about 5 minutes and before we knew it we were outside again on our way back to marder's place for more drinking.
It was the walk back were tragedy struck....Running on a very icy parking lot, i fell and hit my head, passing out for a few minutes. Everyone else ran over to me and saw that i was going to be fine, i was just drunk and groggy. However, the NIU police were driving by and saw me fell, and preceded to investigate. After asking me a few questions, they deeemed it necessary to call for an ambulance and a trip to Kishwaukee hospital. I was put in a neck brace and then placed on a stretcher and was whisked away while my stunned friends snickered about drinking some more. The hospital ran a few tests, including a cat scan and it was determined that i was fine, albeit with a mild concussion. I got back to marder's apartment 4 hours later to find that the party was still in high gear. I was able to get some sleep, and the next day headache and all, i returned back to Oak Park with some fun memories and a 75 dollar check from the hospital.

since then it's been a lot more subdued, with no more trips to any hospitals, and i'm looking forward to two of my favorite shows coming back on the air. Lost is finally putting out new shows after a month and a half haitus. But the real news is the return of "24" and Jack Bauer. I'm a big fan of 24's previous 4 seasons and this new season looks to be just as good as the first 3 maybe better. The incredible ending for season 4 really left the door open for a lot of possibilities for season 5 to go on. If you haven't seen the promos for season 5 make sure you do, because it's looking real exciting.

That's all for now, i'll try and post later in the week, or maybe sooner if i get the urge, but for now peace to everyone

A Rant after a hiatus

2005-12-29T19:56:00.000-06:00

Back again after a long break from blogging and it has been a swell time. Firstly, i turned 21, and that was a fun night. Secondly, i had finals which went pretty well even though i wrote over 50 pages my last week and a half of school. Thirdly, i enjoyed the holiday season thouroughly, as Christmas was fun as it allways is. But i have come to a sobering conclusion during my time back home that was hard to come to grips with. The fact that the social situation back home won't be as good as i always idealize it to be.

Reason being that i have a solid group of friends back home, and i'm grateful for that. Blair, Eddie, Alex, Rod, Marder, Bobby, Soffer, and Gordan are all good guys and no one could ask for more than that. We hang out with other people we knew from high school occasionaly but for one reason or another we are just not as good as friends with them. When i went to high school i was coming from a Catholic grade school where my graduating class was 27 kids. I went from knowing everyone in my school to knowing nobody at high school except for the few kids from grade school that went to high school.
As a result it took me a long time to make a new group of friends because everyone was stuck in their own cliques, while i was an outsider. I didn't do anything special to stand out in high school besides my rapier wit, but it took me a while to endear myself to a new group of people. High school was a good learning experience as i learned how to hold my head above the fray of cliques and went through high school as a floater, a kid who really didn't conform to one clique, who was willing to chill with anyone.
I thought after people went to college and had to break away from their high school cliques, that things would be different when i got back to Oak Park. That somehow kids would be more open to hanging out with kids they didn't hang out with in highschool, but unfortunately that has not been the case. I've always prided myself on being open to hanging out with anybody that treated me with respect and was fun to hang out with. I didn't care if you were a jock, a nerd, a druggie, or any other stereotype, as long as you were loyal to me, i would be the same back. But it seems like i'm stuck in a rut right now back home with my same group of friends from high school. It's great and all, but i wish i had a bigger pool of kids to hang out with so i wouldn't have to rely on my solid group 100% of the time to hang out.
Take for instance last night, i saw a bunch of guys from high school that i hadn't seen in a while, a couple of them i knew back from ascension when i rolled into Sub T after a night of beers and bowling. I said hi to the guys, and what did i get in return? Nothing, absolutely nothing. Those kids just plain thought they were too cool to acknowlege my greetings. This town is just full of tools and jerks. It's a sobering conclusion, but it will help me on my path to adulthood to realize that some people just aren't worth the time or effort. And it was funny to realize how few kids from ascension turned into decent people. From a class of 27 i decided that only 5 or so were worthy of being called a "good person" and i barely made the cut myself.

After that realization its easier to let things like that go. I have a great situation at Notre Dame with my group of friends, and my buddies back home are great people. I really have no complaints except for a lack of female companionship but all good things come to those who wait. Hopefully i'll find one while i'm drunk out on the town this new year's but we'll have to wait and see.

Until next month i bid you all a happy new years

It's been a long time in coming

2005-11-21T13:16:00.000-06:00

It's been well over a month since my last post and a lots happened since then: midterms, fall break, the game of the century(ND vs USC) Ole Miss trip, and three home games in a row in november. There's a lot going on this week as well, i have a big paper due tomorrow for my history of medicine class, and three papers due around my birthday on nov 28. Speaking of my birthday, i'm turning 21, and i couldn't be more happy. For the past 2 1/2 years in college i've been terrified of the authorities, because that's just the way i am, i'm a pussy when it comes to doing unlawful actions. That's precisely why i never got a fake ID at school: number 1 i didn't want to disappoint my parents if i had gotten caught. number 2 ever since i've been able to drive people have always assumed me to be at least 2-4 years younger than i am. One of my favorite stories about this is when i was umping a 11-12 year old baseball game two summers ago and one of the coaches asked me if i was looking forward to eighth grade. Wrong decision or not to get a fake ID, the time is over and i'm about to begin a new phase in my life, so i should forget about the past. Unfortunately my 21st occurs at a bad time during this semester as i have 3 papers due in 3 days nov28-dec1, so i won't be celebrating my legality until dec 1 night.
The question of to get a fake or not to get a fake is one that many kids consider at ND. After dealing with disapointing dorm parties, absolutely packed house parties, and long walks to TC that go unrewarded and met with excise police, i would have to say that a fake ID is necessary to have the maximum amount of enjoyment at this school. With the crackdown on off-campus parties, the bars have never looked more appealing then they do now. This of course should be ignored by big pussies, like me, because they'll be too scared(like me) to actually sack up and get a fake.

In other news, the football team had its last home game on saturday and it was a wondeful experience. The team did not play its best on offense, but the defense played well, and the team sent off its seniors on a fine note. The only sad part about the game is that anthony fasano went on the victory lap with the fifth-year seniors, and is all but certain to forgoe his fifth year of eligibility and enter the NFL draft. Hopefully we'll get the number 2 recruit in the country Konrad Reuland to commit to the school to fill the void, but i don't doubt that Weis knows what to do without Fasano in the mix.

Also the bears kicked some ass yesterday. They absolutely destroyed the Panther's Offense, sacked jake delhomme 8 times and thouroughly manhandled the Panthers. This bear's team is fun to watch because they hurt people, and it's fun to watch teams leave chicago with at least 5 people injured due to the bear's hard hitting defense. I hope they do well the rest of the year, because the bear's are the one team in chicago that unite everyone(Sox fans and Cub fans together? you bet!) and this team is certainly making chicago proud.

Also after further review, i really enjoyed the show Rome on HBO, watching this show the same time as taking a History of Rome class i enjoyed the show's interpretations of the famous figures of the classic age. I thought they captured how much the mob mentality and the fear of the mob influenced politicians during this time. Plus i thought they did a great job portraying Caesar and the men who eventually murdered him, while also intermixing a story about two regular soldiers(Verenus and Pullo) and how their stories intertwined with the story all history buffs know about. Rome is one of my new favorite shows, it's somewhere between Entourage and Lost(which i'm just starting to get into) and i'll release a top 20 list of my favorite tv shows soon, but the show i'm really looking forward too is Season 5 of 24. I can't wait for the return of the Jack Bauer Power Hour, and hopefully they'll be a new character who has nothing to lose with his/her actions(i.e. George Mason of Season 2).

Well that should be enough to tide you over until further notice, hopefully the next time i write you, i'll be recovered from my debauchery on Dec 1.

Sunday's Wrap-Up

2005-10-09T19:51:00.000-05:00

Well i didn't get as much work done today as i would have liked, but what are you going to do, i woke up on a fouton today for christ sakes, again thanks to gerardi and eakins for the sleeping quarters. Today was loads of fun, watching some playoff baseball, and this blog's inspiration, Kyle Farnsworth, showing why he is "the full package". Blowing that 5 run lead in two innings to the anemic houston offense was hilarious. Anemic you say? Well the astros failed to score for almost 9 more innings after the full package left the game, case closed on Farnsworth's closing career.

Section Football was played against 1A today, i don't know why they were so adament on a 3pm start time, but we went out there in full force again. We had about 18 people out there, while 1A had...8. They started off fast with 2 quick td's to take a 14-0 lead, but we rattled off 4 unanswered td's to take it 4-2. The keys to the game was our qb Faus throwing some great deep bombs, and our receivers making some great catches. Keith was exceptional with two deep bombs in the corner, and every receiver made at least one nice play. Our D played solid after the two quick scores, as the d-backs really pressured the wide receivers and the D-line put constant pressure on their qb. Once again i tipped a ball that resulted in a interception which was nice, but it was jimmy t-shirt's relentless pass rush against their smaller linemen that really set the tone on the line. Plus with only 8 guys, 1A got gassed by the end of the game and we were clearly the fresher team. All and all it was a great time(except for Kurt getting nailed in the face with a vicious block, ouch) and we improved to 2-0. We have a pretty good squad for this type of game, so i hope the success continues.

Well im gonna start studying for some russian history so i'll get back to you later in the week
peace out everyone

i hate being in the library

2005-10-08T23:41:00.000-05:00

yeop, im a big loser, i actually have to go to the library on a saturday night, im studying for my russian and roman history midterms and they are quite extensive. Not to mention that i have a take-home history of medicine due on thursday and a shakespeare paper due on friday. Lest i forget i also have my victorian poetry midterm on wednesday that could be the biggest clusterfuck since my american politics final in 04'. It's been almost a week since my last post, but i'd like to say that things for the most part are going ok, not great, but not bad. I'm looking forward to the oncoming fall break, and hopefully the weather will be nice enough so that i'll make 500 dollars finishing my uncle's property fence painting. I really need that money. Looking forward to the big showdown between ND and USC, and im hoping to see my first ND home victory at home this year
(3-0 on the road, 0-1 at home this year). Oh well, i'll probably post tomorrow as i recollect my lost fun this weekend as 98% of the campus is out having a good time while i'm stuck writing notes on Julius Caesar and Lenin. It's the price we pay sometimes, it hurts, but it has to be done.
Til the next time

I love being proven wrong

2005-10-02T17:31:00.000-05:00

I just absolutely love surprises, and watching ND in person at Ross-Ade Stadium blow out Purdue was certainly not expected. I was extremely nervous before the game started, but after watching how great and efficient the offense executed i'm not worried about the team anymore. This team will be in every game because of the great schemes and gameplan from Weis and the rest of the coaching staff, then only thing standing in the way of ND and a New Year's Day Bowl is an injury to Brady Quinn(knock on wood). Purdue had no chance yesterday, our offense did whatever it wanted to do in the passing game, another great catch by Samardzija, stovall had a great game despite the dropped TD pass in the 3rd quarter, fasano(hands of God), and the entire o line had a great game. Darius on the other hand is looking more and more indecisive as the year progresses, he seemed to stretch out plays to the outside with more and more regularity, but other than that, hats of to Charlie Weis for proving me dead wrong.
That makes me 3-0 on the road with ND this year improving my all-time road record to 6-0, and i'm really really really looking forward to our big showdown with USC on OCT 15, gameday will be there will you?

More general stuff about the weekend to come later tonite

Week Wrapup

2005-09-29T20:33:00.000-05:00

Hey y'all it's been an entertaining week to say the least and i'm here to recap it for you.
For starters, i had a great time this week trying to get a simple 3-5 page paper for my Roman History Class started. I tried to start writing the paper on several occasions: sunday night, monday afternoon, tuesday night, and i didn't actually finish my intro paragraph until, 2:30am this morning, nice work spangler. My procrastination has become legendary in Keough, last year i didn't start one of my english papers until 4:30am the day it was due. But at least i got in some running last night, im starting to run about 30-45 minutes a day at the Rockne and it feels great. I've been lazy about starting to get in shape, and i think this time i'll actually do it. We had our section football game today(2 hand touch please) against section 2b and we won in overtime 21-14. I played d-line and o-line during the game, and even though i was dominated most of the time, i came up with one of the biggest plays of the game, deflecting a pass that turned into a game-clinching interception in the third overtime. It was a good time getting dirty and grungy in the trenches, and i was super glad that we beat the kids we were playing, because there was one fucking annoying asian kid on the other squad that was talking a lot of shit. Mr. Angry Asian decided after one of our guys dropped a tough catch in the endzone to berate the shit out of our man as he walked back to the line of scrimmage, and i got angry enough at what i was witnessing to walk over and yell, "hey lets play some football guy, stop this bullshit" i was then subject to the angry asian reply, "that's right were playing fucking football, and i'm fucking killing you guys right now." This asian kid got burned for our winning touchdwon in the third overtime so i guess all big mouths are silenced every now and then...funny i didn't hear him trash talking after the game.
In other news, after much fence-sitting i'm finally set on going to the Purdue game. I scored tickets through one of my friends in the section and we're driving down on saturday and coming back that night. The game should be a good one and my 5-0 record attending ND road games is under serious jeopardy as Purdue should give us a good test. Here's my analysis of the game:

ND Rush Offense vs. Purdue Rush Defense: Purdue got run all over by Lawrence Maroney and the mighty mighty gophers of Minnesota. Granted they have two All-Americans on the o-line and Maroney is a heisman hopefull, but i think we should have some success running the ball on the ground if our O-line comes to play. I think our offense will have more success throwing the ball on Purdue, but i think we'll have our share of some long drives due to our running prowness. EDGE: ND

ND Pass Offense vs. Purdue Pass Defense: Purdue has a decent secondary, but its nothing Brady can't handle if he gets time to throw. Our O-line has had trouble picking up delayed blitzes, actually blitzes in general, so a key is going to be how much time Brady has to throw the ball. I think our O-line gives Brady enough time to throw the ball and Brady should be able to move the ball vertically to Stovall and underneath to Fasano and Samardzija effectively. EDGE: ND

Purdue Rush Offense vs. ND Rush Defense: I don't see Purdue running effectively against our front seven, we're just too good against the run. Purdue is running some option with their qb Kirsch this year and we did get hurt by the option against MSU, but i think except for a couple big gains we should be able to contain their running game. EDGE: ND

Purdue Pass Offense vs. ND Pass Defense: Yikes, this could get scary, really scary. I remember last year when Kyle Orton put up 4 td's on us last year for Purdue, and i could very well see Kirsch having great success in the air against our secondary. The key for us is going to be getting pressure on Kirsch, i don't think our d-line alone can get pressure on Kirsch so it will be interesting to see what defensive scheme we come out with. Kirsch isn't supposed to have the greatest accuracy in the world, so we might be able to get a couple turnovers, as our secondary has been very oportunistic in the takeaway department. Quite Frankly, i think Purdue is going to throw and throw often on us and i see Kirsch having a good game. EDGE: Purdue

Coaching: As much as i want to give the edge to us, Purdue is just like MSU they always bring their A-game for the irish. I don't want to hear how Purdue is going to stink up the joint because they lost last week to Minnesota. Joe tiller is going to have his squad ready to play and they're going to play us hard. Allthough tiller sometimes shits the bed when it comes to play calling(the 2000 game when Drew Brees didnt start throwing until the 4th quarter) so maybe we'll luck out. Charlie's going to have a great offensive gameplan, and our team's play on the road has been great this year, but again Purdue will throw everything they can at us. EDGE: EVEN

Intangibles: Yikes, i really don't like how we're entering this game. Purdue is coming off a tough loss to Minnesota so you know they're focused to turn it around right away. Ross-Ade stadium is going to be boilering up all night as the kickoff at 6:45pm is going to make for a raucous atmospher in West Layfayette. ND historically hasn't had a great time winning games on the road at night, but the Weis effect probably negates that historical bullshit. Like i said though, i really think Purdue is going to bring their A-game to the table against us, and how we respond to the boilermakers challenge might be a predictor of the remainder of the season. EDGE: Purdue

Prediction: wow, i am really worried about this game if you couldn't tell already. The secondary's play has to be concerning as they got torched last week by Washington, and if Kirsch gets time to throw he will pick us apart. i see this game the same way i saw the Michigan game, but this time i think the shootout prediction will hold true. If ND wins the turnover battle i think they win, but i'm just too concerned about our defense right now to pick an irish victory.
Prediction: Purdue 38 ND 34

We'll that's all for now, that was a damn long post.

It was Ugly but i'll take it

2005-09-25T05:36:00.000-05:00

I guess the return of the "Dawgs" isn't coming for a couple years at least. Ty had his guys play us tough today, and it seems that his new offensive coordinator is superior to Bill "Defensive" Diedrick, but our talent and scheme was too much. I'm just glad this game is over, if notre dame went 1-10 this year, this was the one game to win, just to silence everyone who thought firing TY was a bad idea. I was worried when we failed to convert on 2 consecutive 4 downs in the third quarter but the offense finally punched in some touchdowns and made it a comfortable 4th quarter. Next week comes Purdue and coach Joe Tiller's self described "Basketball on Grass" with Brandon Kirsch as the point guard between the hash marks. Purdue is going to be a real rough game, i could see it either being a close victory for the irish, or a blowout for purdue, i can't see us blowing out purdue at Ross-Ade but i hope i'm proven wrong. Right now my gut tells me that purdue throws all over us like washington and MSU did, and we are going to have to score some points on a defense that was embarassed by Lawrence Maroney and the mighty gophers of minnesota. Purdue always plays ND tough so you know it will be physical, i just hope our d-line decides to put some pressure on the qb next time so our woeful secondary can get a break. Call it 34-30 purdue as of this point, but i'll have to get back to you this week.

In other news, i saw USC dismantle Oregon at Autzen Stadium a historically touch place to win on the road, but USC is in another class when it comes to college football. I seriously think that if all the conferences pooled their teams together into all-start conference teams, that USC would still put up 70 points a game. Their offense is scary good, i mean Matt Leinart might as well hold his dance class behind that o-line he has so much time to throw the ball, and if his phenominal receivers are ever covered(like twice a game) his safety valve is REGGIE BUSH!! Holy shit, that would be a number one option for all 116 other D-1 schools, but since USC is so good, Bush is a luxury to be the safety valve. However, i forsee Pete Carroll finding some way to fuck up the season for USC, because he's been keeping the starters in way too long in some of these blowouts. For example, last week against Arkansas Carrol had the first team offense stay in the game until USC was ahead by 50, you know, just to be safe. I mean the guy was calling play action passes, end arounds, i even saw reggie bush throw a pass for christ sakes to matt leinart(allright i made the last one up, but it could have happened, im sure pete would have called it). Someone is going to get hurt, like reggie bush or matt leinart, because one of these embarassed coaches is going to be like, fuck this game, i'm sending the house on leinart so i can end his college career, fuck if he gets a touchdown, i'm making sure my guys try their best to destroy Leinart. We'll see if that happens coming up to the ND vs. USC game on oct 15, but i've already made a bold decision on that game, i believe that USC will score on their first play from scrimage against ND, whether it be a run or pass, i believe that USC will have a 7-0 lead after the first play, gut feeling, i really think pete carrol is going to try and embarass Charlie who upstaged carrol in the NFL, and show Weis, "see chuck, this is what you're going to have after 3 super-charged recruiting classes, you'll actually have a fast RB"

enough about college football, dorm life is surely sucking lately, i'm just getting tired of the drag, there's really nothing to look forward to at this place other then sports. But, things will get better, most assuredly, at least i'm playing whiffle ball again, great fucking sport. And i'm back on a roll in poker, so some things are looking up, love on the other hand is nowhere to be found, but i've pretty much decided that no love is to be found this early in my life, and i'm just going to let it ride and not be such a pansy. I'm going to bring back some IntegriTY back into my persona, wait i've never had integrity, mostly gas, oh well

Bears' recap coming sunday night

Wow it's been awhile

2005-09-23T03:37:00.000-05:00

What can i say, i've been super super lazy but i'd better get to the point and say that i will from now on try and post at least once every two days if not everyday. I've just put off posting forever it's been real bad i admit, because i'm the only person that pays attention to this blog.
So let me give you some details, i live in Section 2A of Keough Hall with about 37 other guys in a resident hall of about 272 people. My section is an eclectic mix of partiers and hardcore studiers and we always pay everything "at face value." This year has gotten off to a funny start as the upperclassmen are starting to get to know the freshies and figure out what makes them tick. for the most part our freshmen are sweet, no complaints, but they are a little too hyper right now but that might be contributed to the massive amounts of Monster@ they are consuming, but we'll have to see. Section 2A can be just as crazy as everyother section in Keough, but we also are very chill and not over the top insane(cough..cough...4A). Not that i have anything against 4A, very chill section to hang out in, but when you have 8 inch black dildos flying around in the hallways you know you've reached a point of no return. But i digress, i've been to both the pitt and michigan away games this year and have been victorious in each. That improves my away attendance record to 5-0(@navy in 98(30-0 win) @air force in 2002(win 21-14) @tennessee in 2004(win 17-13) @ pitt in 2005(win 42-21) @michigan in 2005 (win 17-10). In 4 of those five games, ND was the underdog going in, and ive enjoyed victory everytime. I'd have to say i had a blast in Ann Arbour despite the fact that i walked about 15 miles the entire two days i was there, but i'm looking forward to a road trip to Purdue, and definately a road trip to USC my senior year, but that's getting ahead of myself. anyway, this year should be great as i'm turning 21 in less than 70 days and i'll probably be carded for the next 20 years of my life, but it won't matter cause i'll be legal. I've never been able to pull off the i'm older than i really am thing, i fucking got carded at movie theatres for christ sakes for rated R movies just this past summer, i swear i have no chance at pulling off a fake ID, but it's really not that big of a deal especially when you have a nice jew like eakins to go beer shopping for you.

Allright i'm wrapping this up, but i'd like to say that my prediction for the football season is 7-4 like i stated in my last post(one month ago) and that i'm sticking too it. I see a 3 td plus victory this weekend against Ty and those tricky huskies from washington, but don't be surprised if washington hangs around for the first quarter, emotion plays a big role in college sports and the initial adrenaline will make washington play out of their minds for the first 10 minutes, and then we can go about the business of putting the backup qb in(higgins do you have your ticket for washington yet?).

one last thing, i'll be mentioning stuff about both my football fantasy drafts later, but i'd like to say that in my oak park league that i'm 2-0 after two convincing wins and facing a bye-depleted team this weak, look likely to move to 3-0. I'm glad i'm blogging again, and let's hope its not until oct 23 until my next post

peace

Back at ND, some housecleaning

2005-08-22T01:16:00.000-05:00

Well it's been over a week since my last post, but it's been a great last week. As i type this i'm finally situated back in south bend and very excited for possibly the greatest year of my life. I had to say goodbye to all my buddies from oak park/river forest, and i'm gonna miss all you guys. Alex, Eddie, Blair, Rod, Soffer, Bobby, Marder, provided some good laughs and some great times. I learned the great sport that is "cornhole" this summer, i worked as a janitor at my old grade school for really good pay, worked as a painter as well this summer and ended up making almost three times as much money this summer than summer 2004. So i'm very excited for the freedom and possibilities that await me junior year. I turn 21 in about 3 months from now, and i also plan on doing something for spring break this year. I just hope the Football team lead by Weis can be 'nasty' and bring me something i haven't seen my first two years at ND....a winning record. My initial prediction is 7-4 at this point, but i'll give a better season breakdown later this week.

Hopefully being back at school will make me post more often, maybe even turning the blog into a online "roos news" but for now that will all have to wait...I'm fucking tired

Finally a new post

2005-08-15T09:53:00.000-05:00

yeah its been a long time,but i've been real busy, doing double duty working at ascension and my uncle's house, it's been a real drag, but i've been making some serious bank. The oak park fantasy football draft is being held at my house tonite, and i am excited. Live offline drafts are fucking incredible, and this is my first one in a while. I'm still putting good odds, let's say 20-1 that eddie drafts Rex "The Gunslinger" Grossman, AKA "The most fragile man in Chicago not named Nomar or Wood"

Trip to Cooperstown

2005-08-01T23:18:00.000-05:00

Let me tell ya, Cooperstown, NY is a great place to spend a weekend with your dad and brother. My dad had always told me growing up that when Ryne Sandberg got inducted in the hall of fame that we'd go up to see him get enshrined. That opportunity presented itself to my father this past january when Ryno was announced with Wade Boggs as the class of 2005. Along for the ride with my dad, my brother pete and I was my dad's friend from ND, John Ziegman, an eccentric personality to say the least. The funny part about the trip was that my dad had just arrived back into town from England the very same day we were scheduled to fly to New York. His flight got back into Chicago around 12, and 4 hours later we were back at O'Hare awaiting our flight to Albany to get off the tarmac. We were delayed until 7:30 and didnt get into Albany until 10:40. But we were able to complete the hour journey from Albany to our Bed and Breakfast outside Cooperstown and our trip had officially begun.

We went down to the HOF the next day(Saturday) and enjoyed all that the museum had to offer during induction weekend. I got to meet Tim Kurkjin, Espn baseball analyst, and saw various Hall of Famers out on the streets.
Sunday was the ceremony, but to get a decent view of the precedings, we needed to arrive at the large field holding the inductions at about 8am, while the ceremony wasn't supposed to start until 1:30pm. Fortunately i had brough a book my dad had bought the previous day in Cooperstown about the Fall of the Yankee dynasty, it was delicious. When the ceremony finally started we had to endure the introduction of all 52 current HOF's that were in town for the ceremony, and Boggs and Ryno's speeches didn't begin until 3:30.

Ryno's speech was an angry speech bemoning in his opinion the lack of respect in today's game held by players. Ryno is probably angry that his stats look pitiful compared to the stars in today's offensive-oriented game, either enhanced by illegal enhancements, or other alterations within the game itself, and that his other fellow stars of the 80's are being overlooked(such as Andre Dawson, Ryno's teamate on the Cubs from 87-92 who won a MVP on a last place ballclub) in favor of stars that might not being competing on a level playing field.

Overall i enjoyed my trip to cooperstown, i got to bond with my brother and father, but this trip only reminded me that i only have 20 days to go, until i return back to ND. The summer is 4/5's done, but that doesn't mean the fun is over.

Cubs finally win a series in St. Louis

2005-07-25T00:05:00.000-05:00

Sure the cards didn't have rolen, sanders, or walker.

But we got Neifi!!!!

Eddie is the River King in poker

2005-07-24T04:30:00.000-05:00

Enough Said with that picture.

Spankapalooza Rules

2005-07-19T01:28:00.000-05:00

Allright the parents have left for Austria as of Sunday afternoon so the time has beugn for......
SPANKAPALOOZA. From July 17-29 no parents means no responsibilities and a house under my complete control. People are welcome to stop by whenever i am around and enjoy the bliss that is no parents. I plan on having at least one decent sized party, probably this friday/saturday night. But i'll have to work on it. Other then that, the hype is real, Spankapalooza is here.

On another note, i finally sacked up and replaced my stolen cell phone, my ring tone is no surprise, 50 cent's "Hate it or Love it". Sweetness is a new phone. Any hoo i started working at my uncles, so far so good, we'll see how it goes. One month left in the summer, and i can honestly say i've enjoyed my summer quite well. My jobs have been more enjoyable this summer, and i don't have to deal with a Asian Asshole named Dean Ng. Ah the Bliss of Blogging

Sunday recap

2005-07-13T17:17:00.000-05:00

Last Sunday was great, it started with a 11 am wakeup call to shoot the shit at Indian Boundary Golf Course up north on Cumberland. It was myself, my bro pete, alex, rod, and riff. Since we stupidly came up with an odd number we had to divide ourselves into a group of 3 and 2. Pete and rod split up into the first group and the me alex and andy took up the second. It wasn't until about 1 when we finally teed it up, and it wasn't until 4:30 until we were finished with...9 holes. I actually hit the ball pretty well ending up with a 57 through nine(my goal had been 60), what screwed me over this time was my putting, i had the touch of a gorilla on the greens. I constantly three putted. Usually my driving and long irons are the reason my score is so high, but i actually drove well and hit my 3 and 5 irons magnificantly. My chipping was still dead on, but my putting needs some work. I ended up finishing second in our group as Andy finished with a 47(he actually drove the green on a par 4 and had a chance for an eagle!) and alex finished with a 61. I have to admit that i liked playing at indian boundary, it was a nice change from Columbus, even if it was twice as expensive, it was at least 4 times nicer. We all then came back and grilled at my house, enjoying some delicious hot dogs, and played baseball til about 8, great great day. I can't believe im getting the golf itch again, i thought i got rid of it, but i think i'm ready to keep playing again. Thank goodness there's a golf range within 10 minutes of my house now, i need to work on my putting.

World Series of Poker Update, some other stuff

2005-07-13T02:08:00.000-05:00

i just had to post one more time before i went to bed tonite, my main man in the WSOP Phil Ivey is still going strong at this point in the main event with over 2 million dollars worth in chips at this point, i'm not quite sure how many chips the winner is going to end up with but i think ivey has about 5-10% of the chips in the entire tournament right now. Poker can turn on you in a second so by the time you read this, Ivey might already be packing his bags. But i want either him or Mike Matusow to win the tournament at this point, don't know really why but i just do.

By the way t-minus 6 days til Spanglerpalooza.

corey patterson optioned, Kept, and my latest bad beat

2005-07-08T00:45:00.000-05:00

i was driving my brother to the forest park pool when i heard the news about corey. He's been sent down to triple A Iowa and i think this might be good for corey, he's been struggling big time and hopefully he'll find his groove because it's evident he's got a world of talent, i think corey's going to be a fine player eventually, but he needs to figure out if he wants to be a leadoff hitter or a middle of the order guy. He has all the skills, but he needs to get his head straightened. A cubs fan has nothing but hope since the team is tanking down the stretch again, 8 straight, the cubs are gonna have to pull a Houston Astros circa 2004 comeback to have any chance. We'll see what happens.

My new favorite show is Kept on vh1, alex and i agree that it's phenominal. All these american guys are basically competing to become a male giglio for Jerry Hall(Ex-Mick Jagger) and become a 'kept' man. What makes the show so great is that you have a eclectic mix of guys: models, joe schoes, and of course jonny blaze. The elimination process is great because they do it bouncer at a club style by announcing which guys they want to continue in the show instead of the guys they want eliminated. It's down to the final four and i think its between Anwar and Maurizio, i can't pick a winner just yet.

finally Eddie won again in poker due to his incredible luck. He busted out fairly early in the night, not really making a impact at the table. He buys back in, and wins a couple of hands, but still isn't doing anything. Blair goes all in for 3 dollars pre flop and him fischer, and myself call. I hold K/Q and the flop comes 8/8/K, fischer bets 1.50, eddie calls and i go all in for 10 dollars more, both call, and i'm thinking i'm screwed cause someone has a/k, or a/8, fischer turns over K/Q, blair turns over pocket 9's, and eddie turns over......10/8. I was astonished that he had called 3 dollars preflop with 10/8. Not only was that a stupid call, but then he got incredibly luck to get trips on the flop and both the other players at the table made good hands. I'm sorry but when someone calls 3 dollars preflop i don't expect them to have an 8 in their hand so i felt justified in my action, eddie once again got lucky, he seems to pull off shit like that all the time, but he'll get his, oh he'll get his

more trouble for the cubs and an introduction

2005-07-06T19:00:00.000-05:00

if there's going to be one constant in my blog, it will be my constant bitching about the sports teams i am fated to die rooting for. The Cubs, Bears, ND Football/Basketball, and the baby Bulls all are conspiring to bring me to an early grave. Rooting for these teams bring little pleasure, and even less to boast about. Ever since the bartman incident in game 6 in 2003 i have had to struggle with DL stints for everyone on the cubs 40 man roster, see the cardinals trade snake oil for gold(walker/mulder/rolen, etc) and turn their lame starters into cy young candidates. But 2005 might be pushing the limit on the depression meter. Derrek Lee is having a career season, and the cubs are still 2 games under .500. Kerry Wood and Mark Prior lead the league in simulated starts, and nomar is still mrs. hamm. ND football was recently mentioned by Trev Alberts on ESPN(the worldwide leader) as being one of the 5 most Overrated teams in college football. Are you kidding Trev? don't you have to at least be ranked in the top 25 to be rated? ND was 6-6 last year, and i don't see college football prognasticators putting ND in any pre-season top 25 poll.
But I digress, this blog will be full of pop culture references, slams on my home town Oak Park which is a hit and run away from "the jungle" that is the west side of chicago, comments on the goings on at ND while i pursue my education in the arts and letters, and of course, lots of sports chatter, so as my good friend hawk harrelson would say, Sit back relax and strap it down, because Derrek Lee is only day to day with shoulder inflammation.