May 06, 2010
Can't believe I'm to this point
So here I am, sitting in my room that has recently been stripped of many of the tacky decorations that adorn the walls, wondering where the time has gone. I have a tendency to get somewhat nostalgic when a long journey has reached its end - yet I still can't believe that this journey will be officially over in 15 hours. I know that graduation marks the official end of my college experience, but my last final is tomorrow, and in terms of completing everything necessary to graduate, I'll be finished by noon tomorrow. And I'm not sure I've made my peace with that yet. I've remarked over the past several weeks that having a job and an idea of what my future holds would make me far more likely to come to terms with my impending departure from the college. Now, I'm not so sure. I don't know that I want it to be over just yet. I know that most people say that college is the best four years of their life, but I actually mean it. At what other point in my life will I get to sleep in until 10 every day of the week?
Don't get me wrong, I am excited to see what the future holds. But there's something special about your college experience that I don't think will be duplicated at any point in the future. The friendships that I've built over the course of the last four years, the relationships and the fun times that I've had with men from different cities, states, and countries - I just don't know if the real world will be able to provide that experience.
Okay, enough of the sappy stuff. I still have a week before a graduate, and a lot of free time next week - therefore, my "leaving my legacy" blog will be in sometime next week. And as much as I love talking about the wonderful aspects of Wabash, there is a negative aspect to the school that I don't think I've ever ranted on before - price-gouging at the bookstore. And I'm not even going to get into diploma-frames that one would have to drop a month's salary on. I'm just talking about textbooks. Why must the textbooks be so ridiculously expensive? I understand that two different companies/entities are trying to make a buck here, but don't they realize that most college students don't have the funding to drop $160 on a book that will likely be used less than notes taken in class?
I get that books may cost a lot to make, and that the distributor needs to turn a profit - I get that. What I don't get, however, is that the bookstore can charge $120 for a used book that they will buy back from the student for $40. It just doesn't seem fair. The worst part of all is that when a book is being used for the last time (you know, after it's already turned an $80 profit for ten semesters), the student who bought it will take it back to the bookstore to resell it, only to find out that the course is using a different edition next year. This has happened to me numerous times, and it leaves me more and more fired up every time I walk out the bookstore door, feeling like I've just been robbed. With that stuff in mind, and given that I'm trying to provide advice to future generations of Wabash students, I'll finish this rant with this - buy your books online.
Something else that has fired me up lately - the fact that people make a huge deal out of situations in which the correct, albeit controversial, decision was made. Case in point: Monday night, a 17-year old fan at a Philadelphia Phillies game ran out onto the field. It was your typical "I want to make SportsCenter, so I'm going to do something incredibly stupid" exhibition. What this kid didn't know, however, is that the security guards in Philadelphia (much like their fans) show absolutely no mercy. Once the kid had evaded two or three un-athletic security personnel, one guy decided he'd had enough - and he whipped out his taser. The video is hilarious. If you haven't seen it, I strongly suggest that you go to Youtube and search for "Phillies fan gets tazed". It will be worth thirty seconds of your time. Anyway, the kid goes down like an early-90's Mike Tyson opponent, is handcuffed, and is escorted off the field.
Here's where the story gets interesting. Afterwards, there was all this whining from people about how using the taser was unnecessary, and that it was completely unjustified. REALLY? How did you know that it was unjustified? Did you know for a fact that the kid only wanted to run around and make himself look like an idiot? Did you know for a fact that the kid didn't have more sinister intentions for running around the baseball field? No, you absolutely did not. For all the people who thought that the tazing of this kid was a little over-the-top, I would encourage you to look up video of a couple rowdy fans at a White Sox game charging onto the field and beating the crap out of the elderly first-base coach. Or how about Monica Seles being stabbed by a crazed fan who ran onto the tennis court in the 90's? Would tazing have been unjustified then? Absolutely not. But the fact is, when someone runs onto the field, you have to assume that they have the worst intentions, and put them down by any means necessary. Just because we eventually found out that this kid was just a moron instead of a bloodthirsty criminal doesn't mean that they actions weren't warranted. Kudos to the security guy with an itchy taser finger.
The fact is, this kid got off lucky. There have been fans in the past that have run onto the field during NFL games and have gotten absolutely lit up - whether it was by a security guard or one of the players. This kid is lucky to get off with a bruised ego and a criminal trespassing charge - it could have been much worse.
Okay, gotta get out of here and study a little bit more. In using the taser whenever possible, I'm out.
Posted by hudsonma at 07:28 PM | Comments (0) | TrackBack (0)
April 28, 2010
Almost to Finals Week - so why am I busy?
As I've talked about the three previous semesters that I've been blogging, finals week has never been as stressful for me as it is for most people. For one thing, I write a lot of papers rather than have tests. So by the time the beginning of the week rolls around, I may have one test left, but all the papers are probably finished. For some reason, that doesn't seem to be the case as we approach finals week this semester. Of course, some papers, a test, but finals week doesn't have the same jovial, care-free attitude to it that it usually has. This, I believe, is the difference - I LOVED finals week in the past, because I had the opportunity to sleep in every day. No class, no getting up early, right? Well, I've been doing that for the past four months now, so it doesn't mean as much to me. Also, for the previous seven weeks that I've been approaching finals, I have been jacked to get the week over with and get out of here. Four of those times, I've been excited to get home for Christmas so I could get things like crocs, tie clips, and other things that are generally bought for 40-year olds, but that I have come to appreciate (although I never got the Playstation 3 that I asked for). The other three semesters, I've been fired up for a break from school, and not only that, but have known full-well what I was going to be doing for the next three months. And as I've mentioned for the previous few weeks, that is still, not the case this year. But in the meantime, mom and dad's basement has its perks, and the excuse, "Well, the job market sucks," is still a viable one (relax, dad, I'm just joking; I won't be in your house for more than two years).
Anyway, I'm really excited about an English paper that I'll be working on over the next few days. And I'm excited because it is a topic for a blog that I should have written a long time ago - but perhaps I was saving it. The only difference is, I can say things in a paper that one professor will be reading that I can't put out there on the Internet for everyone to see. I'm going to write something along the lines of, "The Top Ten Things I've Learned at Wabash." This has the potential to be epic. I think there's a strong possibility that I'll put an abridged version on here - but like I said, on here, I have to be more politically correct than in a single paper. For instance, something I can put in there, that I can put on here too, is that "Everyone wants to be your Facebook friend." For what reason, I'm not sure. Unless I'm really friends with that person, like in real life, as opposed to fake life, I don't need to be Facebook friends with that person, right? Theoretically. This, however, does not seem to be the opinion of the majority of people on the useful yet "frustrating when your dad tries to friend me, when I have clearly laid out the guidelines for being my friend" social networking site. An example that I can put in the paper that I can't really use on here, for fear of alienating a group of people, is, "_________ are always late to class." If you steal my paper, you'll find out.
It amazes me the stuff that can pass for a TV show these days. For the past hour, I've been watching NBC in horror as normal people play games with household and everyday objects to try to win a million dollars. It's painful. And possibly my favorite TV host of all-time, Guy Fieri (of Food Network Fame), is hosting it. And it's still rough. People play games with various objects, and it consists of different levels. Each level that the person passes, they get more money. Think "Who Wants to be a Millionaire", but actually performing semi-difficult task instead of answering a question. The first level was something like knocking over four cups with a yo-yo tied around ones waist. If they pass this seemingly simple task, they win $1,000, and then go to the second round where they have to stack and unstack a bunch of cups in a minute. Then it gets crazy. I just saw a girl win $125,000 only to risk most of it because Guy Fieri thought it was a good idea to be gutsy. Long story short, she couldn't win the beer-pongesque game that was next up, and she's now $75,000 poorer than what she would have been. This is awful. Yet, I'm oddly entranced by it. Boredom, I guess.
You know why I'm happy that I'm not employed by a company that takes itself too seriously? Because people can get fined that way. Case in point: Dwight Howard of the Orlando Magic got fined $35,000 for negative comments about the referees that he posted on his blog yesterday. Now, I get that 35 grand to him is like $35 to most of us, but still, that's pretty good jack. And for what, you ask? Had to be something bad right? Not exactly. Dwight said this, after a game in which he CLEARLY was called for some very questionable fouls: "I'm not looking to say anything to get myself in trouble with the league, but I just don't see other star players getting called for fouls the way I get them. No star player in the league is outta games the way I am." He went on to state that some of the fouls called on him were downright comical. But look, hee even clarified that he was not trying to disrespect the league. That should help his cause, right? Nope. When are people going to learn? When one has to start a sentence with a reservation about the following dialogue, it's not a good sign. It's like breaking something in your parents house and right as you get ready to tell your father, you say, "Now, before you get mad..." Just not a good way to start. Or if you start a sentence with, "With all due respect." Bad choice. Because, "with all due respect", means that you're probably going to say something disrespectful. So just skip it and get your point across as viciously as possible. I would like to think that I would have been fined by now, or at the very least gotten a slap on the wrist, if our public affairs staff were like the NBA.
Okay, I'm out of here. I'm sure I have some work to do. In hopefully not getting fined anytime soon, I'm out.
Posted by hudsonma at 08:40 PM | Comments (0) | TrackBack (0)
April 21, 2010
Will Someone Humor me and do the Right Thing?
Throughout the course of my time as a blogger here, I generally go into every blog with a general idea of what I want to write about. Whether it's football, something going on in school, etc, I generally have no trouble coming up with three things to write about over the course of the week. Tonight, I have like one. It seems like this time of the year is just the calm before the storm when it comes to school. For one thing, there doesn't really seem to be anything going on event-wise at our school over the next few weeks. Truthfully, it's very hard for me to believe that there are only two and a half weeks of school left. Normally at this point, I would be completely ecstatic. I would be thrilled about the impending summer break, and would just be ready to get out of this joint. I don't feel that way now. I know I've complained once or twice over the previous month about how I don't have the desire to get out of here like all of my companions. But now I really mean it. Not knowing what you're going to be doing in a month will do that to someone, I guess. I assume the people who want to get out of here are those with jobs or grad school plans. And those (like myself) who have no problem with riding school out as long as we can are the ones who may or may not be bunking with the parents for a few weeks while the job search continues. But I digress.
The one thing that I was dead-set on talking about tonight is something that has driven me nuts for a long time. When people get busted for stuff, generally something that will get them into trouble, suspended, etc, why don't they just come out and admit what they've done wrong? And most of you probably think I'm going to get into the whole Ben Roethlisberger deal, but that's actually not the direction I'm heading. I understand (not approve of, but understand) the reason why he has probably lied throughout his whole scandal. Quite simply, there are legal implications. If he tells the truth, he probably goes to jail. The ones that set me off are these Major League Baseball players who get busted for steroids, the ones whose fate has already been sealed whether they tell the truth or not. Over the course of the previous few years, since the MLB has instituted their revamped, and very strict, performance-enhancing drugs policy, there have been many high profile players linked to steroids. Sammy Sosa, Manny Ramirez, David Ortiz, Mark McGwire, and A-Rod, just to name several. You know how many of them are guilty of knowingly taking banned substances? ZERO. That's right. None. Because all of them have come up with bogus excuses as to why they tested positive. For Manny, it was some kind of female fertility drug (only God knows why he would have been using that); for McGwire, it was steroids to help him stay healthy, not hit homeruns (okay...). Ortiz has "no idea" why he tested positive. Is the system just flawed or what? Or could it be that all of these men who have rewritten the record books for power actually took illegal supplements that led to, hold your breath... increased power?
And the reason I'm ranting now is this: just a couple of days ago, Cincinnati Reds pitcher Edinson Volquez, who is by all accounts one of the best young pitchers in the league, tested positive for a banned substance and was subsequently suspended the mandatory 50 games. Did he do anything wrong? OF COURSE NOT! He claimed that it was a drug used to "help start a family with his wife" that was (not) surprisingly banned by the MLB. Seriously? Enough of this already. Do these players not have any shame? Do they not have any sense of honesty, or common decency for that matter? Over the course of my time as a sports fan, there are three things that I've learned: 1) Young athletes with a large income and desire to live the fast life are going to screw up (see Bryant, Kobe). 2) These same athletes will push the very limits of legality when it comes to fair competition in their respective sports (See Bonds, Barry). 3) We're a forgiving society (see Woods, Tiger).
Here's the thing that I don't get - using performance-enhancing drugs, in the grand scheme of things, seems like a lesser offense than say... brutally murdering dogs. But Michael Vick is back in the league, caught on with a new team, and by most accounts, is at least partially forgiven for his heinous actions. Tiger Woods - MOST people wanted to see him win the Masters! The same Tiger Woods who put together a Wilt Chamberlain-type run in his private life, thus humiliating his entire family and forever tarnishing his spotless reputation. Yet people forgave him - and quickly too. The point is, we as Americans are willing to forgive people, especially if said people are willing to say the five magic words: "I screwed up. I'm sorry." That's all it takes. But for some reason, the public relations staff for these morally misguided athletes try to get creative instead of being honest and lobbying for forgiveness. Maybe someone can explain these ill-fated PR strategies to me sometime, but until they convince me otherwise, it seems that honesty truly is the best policy.
First rant in a while, but considering my life is boring right now and I needed to fill space, it probably came at a good time. Time to get out of here now; more playoff basketball on (and there will be for the next two months). In hopefully telling the truth when I inevitably get busted for steroids, I'm out.
Posted by hudsonma at 08:24 PM | Comments (0) | TrackBack (0)
April 13, 2010
Lucky Number 80
According to the little figures that accompany the opening screen of my blog, this will be the 80th blog that I've written in the past two years. I would very much like to make it to 100 by the time this semester is over, but that would require me to write about four a week until graduation, and although my life isn't boring, it's not that exciting either. Tonight will be one of those blogs where I'm basically getting into whatever is on my mind, not necessarily Wabash stuff. Truthfully, it doesn't seem like there's a whole lot going on around here that is too worth mentioning. Pan-Hel Week was last week, but it came and went without incident, so not really a whole lot to talk about there. Pan-Hel has certainly changed since my freshman year (and for good reason, I suppose). I won't get into specific details about how things used to be (listen to me; I make it sound like I've been here forever), but suffice it to say that Wabash has cleaned up quite a bit, and it's more obvious during Pan-Hel than any other week of the year.
Another Wabash-related thing that I can talk about is the sports review that I've been doing lately. For those of you who haven't seen it, Adam Bowen (who runs the media center) and I put together (he puts it together) a recap of the sporting events that Wabash has had throughout the previous week, and it's generally ready by the weekend. It's not exactly SportsCenter, but I'm hoping it will lend me some credibility in the sports broadcasting world, and not cast me as completely incompetent. But the main reason I bring this up is because I'm planning (planning, being the key word) on getting up early tomorrow morning to go in and film some of the football team's spring practice. The problem is, they start at 5:30 in the morning. The good thing is, they go until about 7:30 in the morning, meaning I will hopefully be able to drop in at 7:15 and get some decent footage. But the other problem is that I haven't been up before 8:00 once this semester. Ahh, the joys of being a second-semester senior. And I've mentioned on here numerous times that I'm not ashamed of the fact that I sleep until nearly 10 every day. Hey, I've earned it, right? But it's days like tomorrow that make you wish you had an established routine that had you getting up at some point before breakfast at the Sparks Center is closed. But I digress. Be looking for that spring football expose at some point during the weekend.
My Uncle Kenny (possibly the first time I've mentioned him in a blog; a fact he will resent) has numerous times throughout my life talked to me about the concept of "Over-promising and under-delivering." Examples include (but are not limited to) promising a Bell Game victory and following it up with a 4-interception performance, promising to ace a test and bringing home a 64, or promising to mention a family member as an inspiration when being interviewed by the media, but consistently forgetting. Well I had one such moment a couple of weekends ago, and I feel the need to share it with the world. Thankfully, I'm not the person who under-delivered in this case. In fact, it was the almighty "The Rusty". My much-shorter-than-me and well-intentioned father has become quite the running aficionado over the course of the past few years. He does it to stay in shape, stay healthy, etc. He's currently in the process of training for a marathon that he will run in Louisville on April 24th. The dude is a workout animal. He runs all over town (although many often mistake his "running" for walking) no matter the conditions. And regardless of how fast he runs (trust me, he's not breaking any records), at least he's out there doing it. I promise I will make a point here soon.
Often times, the Rusty encounters animals while sauntering through town. Apparently, there are two types of dogs - the nice ones who seem to smile and wag their tails, and those whom the Rusty deems "hostiles". The "hostiles" are the ones who chase after the Rusty, often causing him to take drastic action. Now, prior to buying this new weapon that I'm about to tell you about, I'm assuming the Rusty just tried to run faster until they left him alone. But no more. Recently, he tells me about this stun-gun type thing that he has bought to neutralize the "hostiles". Maybe stun-gun isn't the right word. It's this little remote-type thing that sends out a high-pitched sound (humans can't even hear it) that apparently drives dogs crazy and will scare them away. While he's telling me this, I imagine the dogs scurrying away from him, yelping uncontrollably, and running around in circles until they finally collapse. He assures me this is not the case. In fact, he calls it a "non-lethal" weapon. But whatever the case is, the image of my father stunning all these "hostiles" with his little weapon is pretty hilarious. I need to take a picture of it and put it up here. Again, he claims it is "non-lethal", so all you animal lovers out there, calm down.
Again, I'm almost to my main point. So the Saturday night before Easter, when we are having a big family get-together, the neighbor dog keeps accosting all of those in my family who pull into my driveway. She's a sweet dog, but is overly protective of my yard (even though she doesn't belong to us). After the dog barks at a few family members, the Rusty deems her a "hostile" gets the bright idea to bring out the secret weapon (I think more than anything that he just wanted to show off how he neutralizes all the canines in the county). After all, he's been talking about it for weeks, about how it never fails, and about how the dogs are now terrified of his less-than-imposing self. A large chunk of the family is outside enjoying the family recreation, and all are anticipating a show for the ages. The next car pulls up. Dog goes wild. The Rusty pulls the weapon from his waistband in John Wayne-like time and aims. BOOM! Nothing. The dog looked more confused as to why the Rusty was aiming a remote control at it from point-blank range than concerned about its livelihood. No yelping. No running in circles. No explosions. No nothing. I could tell the Rusty was embarrassed, but the rest of the family thought it was hilarious. At least we know now that he was telling the truth when he said it was "non-lethal". More like non-functional. Talk about over-promising and under-delivering.
Okay, enough about my family's shortcomings. I have a quiz tomorrow that I need to study for, and I have to get to bed early if I'm going to be up by the time that most people rise. Hope everyone has a great week. And protect your dogs, because the Rusty is on the loose. I'm out.
Posted by hudsonma at 07:17 PM | Comments (0) | TrackBack (0)
April 06, 2010
Time of my Life
When Green Day wrote the song "Time of your life" some 15 years ago, I think they were talking about my life right now. I feel like this semester has been a time that 20 years down the road, I'll want to relive. It's not because I've done anything crazy or out of the ordinary. It's not that I've done nothing school-related for the past few months. No event really stands out as being incredibly significant in the course of my life. But here I am, six weeks from graduation, and I'm kind of wishing it didn't have to end. I love my friends, I like school, I love the people that I'm around on any given day. The weather is turning nice, so I don't even have that to complain about now. Maybe it's the fear of change that makes me want to stay this way forever. Once school is over, and I hit the real world, how many weekends will I be able to go home and spend with my family? This question really kind of hit me this past weekend as I headed home for Easter. "Will this be the last time over the next couple years that I'll get to spend this holiday at home", was the question that kept rolling around in my head. I certainly hope not, but given that I don't really know where I'll be six weeks from now, there certainly isn't any way to predict what I'll be doing one year from now. And I think for me, it's less of me being afraid of the real world, and more of me just really liking my life right now. For one thing, I don't have class before 11:20 on any given day. So every day, there's really no reason for me to be up before 10. In all likelihood, this will be the last period in my life where that is the case. Better take advantage of it now.
Easter is an underrated holiday in my opinion, and one that quite frankly, I was surprised to see on Sunday, is apparently undervalued in my small little Southern Indiana town. We took care of our family Easter dinner on Saturday night, for simplicity's sake, and had all Sunday to rest up. Well, after two meals of ham, mashed potatoes, etc, I had gotten to the point where I wanted something else. So as the Rusty, my brother, Denver Wade (who had made the trip to Salem, because San Francisco is too far away for a weekend visit), and I traveled across town for a lovely Easter dinner at the Chinese restaurant (which was sure to be open, because they are even open on Christmas), I noticed that pretty much every restaurant in town was open. McDonald's, Wendy's, Taco Bell, all of them. Am I wrong here, or hasn't it always been a given that Christmas, Thanksgiving, and Easter are untouchable holidays that everyone gets off? Apparently not in my homeland. On a really positive note, I got an Easter basket this year. It seems like last year I didn't get one, but my mom disputed this. Maybe it was the year before. But whatever year was missed, the Easter Bunny certainly made up for it this year, because apparently he gives cash and McDonald's coupons now. Score.
So upon Butler's win last Saturday night over Michigan State, I came to the conclusion that it would be fun to go down to Indianapolis for the championship game on Monday night - not necessarily to go to the game, but just to go down and enjoy the environment. So Evan Isaacs, Mr. Wade, and I loaded up the family Grand Prix Monday evening and headed down to Indy. When we left Crawfordsville, it was absolutely gorgeous outside, so we figured we would walk the streets of Indy and have fun interacting with all the Butler fans. By the time we got down there, it was absolutely pouring, and there was a severe thunderstorm warning - not weather conditions that are conducive to walking the street. So we stopped and ate, and tried to determine what we were going to do. Given that we weren't likely to get cheap tickets, and we weren't far from Butler's campus, we decided to go watch the game with the Butler faithful at Hinkle Fieldhouse (where Butler plays their home games, and where they were having a viewing party). We got there, and the place was absolutely packed with people. I would venture to say that every student who didn't get a ticket to the game was packed into Hinkle. And it was awesome. I've never been so excited watching a college basketball game.
I can honestly say that I've never fallen in love with a team over the course of a game like I did last night. And I've been one of their biggest doubters all along. I thought they would lose in the first round. I thought Syracuse was far too athletic for them (check my blog two weeks back). I thought Kansas State's 1-2 punch would be enough to knock the Bulldogs out. I thought Michigan State still had enough magic for another title run, one year after playing for the championship in front of their home fans. And quite simply, I thought that Duke was far too talented for Butler to pull a David to their Goliath. But I was wrong. As I stood in stunned silence as Gordon Hayward's final shot bounced off the rim, standing amongst about 10,000 of the Butler faithful, standing there with no allegiance to Butler prior to this tournament, I couldn't help but become a fan of this team. I couldn't help but admire their commitment to defense. I couldn't help but be astounded by the fact that ten - yes, TEN, of their players went to class on Monday, the day of the National Championship (think ten Kentucky players went to class yesterday? No way). I couldn't help but to respect this team of hard-working Indiana kids who care far more about their pursuit of education than spurning college after one year for a chance at NBA riches. Not to try to sound too philosophical, but this was a team that our country could root for, a team that embodies the qualities that most people aspire to have - hard work, determination, and overcoming the odds. Regardless of the final outcome of the game, this team was a Cinderella story. And regardless of the fact that Duke ultimately won the final game, this tournament will always be remembered for not only what this small school did, but for how they did it. This is what Indiana basketball is all about.
Okay, time to call it a day. Hope everyone has a great week. In hoping that Tiger's handlers won't let him do anything stupid this weekend, I'm out.
Posted by hudsonma at 08:09 PM | Comments (0) | TrackBack (0)
March 30, 2010
Hoping my Predictions Continue to go Wrong
I can't believe we're almost to Easter. This semester has gone by so quickly. I remember back when I was nearing the end of high school, it didn't seem like college could get here soon enough. Now, it's amazing to me how quickly the last semester of my college life is flying by - and that isn't necessarily a good thing. Unlike quite a few seniors by this point in the school year, I'm not to the "please just let me get out of here" stage yet . Not sure I will be either. Most students here are ready to go when they've reached this point, and call me afraid of change if you want, but I don't think I'm ready to leave here just yet. Maybe it's because I still don't know what I'm going to be doing with my life in two months. But for the sake of me trying not to sound unprepared, we'll just say it's because I like this place so much.
So last week, I discussed how I was kind of concerned about how our national act of Three Six Mafia was going to go the other night. After all, I haven't always heard that rappers put on the best shows, and given that only two weeks earlier, I was subjected to a heavy dose of lip-synching by Akon in Cancun, I didn't go in with the highest of expectations. But when it was all said and done, and the Mafia had been on stage for a little over an hour, I concluded that it was overall, a pretty good show. They played most of their hit songs (albeit generally abridged versions of these songs), and seemed to enjoy themselves. I mean, it wasn't like they got up there, asked where all the girls were, and bounced. In fact, the best part of the show was that in between songs, they would generally talk about all the women in the crowd and how they needed to party with all of them after the concert. But not at their hotel room, like most people would think. The Mafia wanted to party at the best sorority house. That's right. Apparently no one told them that the "little Indiana school we've never heard of" (as they so eloquently put it) was an all-dudes school. I wasn't about to bust their bubble. Although I was tempted to point north or south and find a way to tell them that the nearest sorority house was only a 30 minute drive. The best thing about their relative lack of knowledge about Wabash, though, was that it clearly indicated we occasionally have the ability to be perceived as a co-ed school. Now if they were here through the week, it would have looked much different. All in all, they put on a good show. Money well spent, Wabash.
I'm officially about to renounce the faith that I've previously had in my ability to talk about / predict sports. This tournament has officially damaged my psyche. This is the first time I can remember that I've had zero Final Four teams. In fact, the only number one seed that I didn't pick to make it to Indianapolis, did. The others let me down big time. I guess I should have had a little more faith in the "little school that could". Butler's run has truly been astounding. To think, everyone made such a big deal about Michigan State last year when they made it to the Final Four in their home state. Well, Lansing is not Detroit. This year, Butler is playing in it's home town, six miles away to be exact. Six days ago, I wrote, "Butler can't possibly compete with the far more athletic Syracuse." Shows how much I know.
Not sure why I didn't give Butler any respect. Maybe it's because they look more like the Indiana Pacers than any other college basketball team. Maybe it's because they play in a non-BCS conference. Maybe it's because they're 45 minutes away, yet IU, Purdue, and Notre Dame all get more publicity than they do. Whatever the reason why, it's gone now. I respect the heck out of them. And for the sake of Butler, considering I've picked against them in all four games of the tourney, I'm going to do it again. Because I want to see them make it to the final game. Can you imagine? A school only about five times bigger than Wabash making it to the national championship game in its hometown? People have compared this team to Hickory High all week, and I'm beginning to think they fit the bill. Hickory was a Cinderella team, and did win the Indiana state championship in Hinkle Fieldhouse... where Butler happens to call its home. Fate, perhaps??? For the sake of Indiana basketball, go Michigan State. I sure hope I'm wrong.
As far as the other games go, I thought Tennessee would win. I thought Baylor would win. And I thought Kentucky would win. In other words, I was perfect on the weekend. This tournament truly has been unpredictable, but has been two of the best weeks of sports I can ever remember watching. It's a shame it has to come to an end.
Before I go tonight, I'm going to have to end on a somber note. My grandfather, who most of you know by now lives in Crawfordsville, lost a great friend today. I did too. Dennis Magstadt was my grandpa's nextdoor neighbor, and he finally lost his long battle against cancer earlier today. I can honestly say that few people have ever touched my life like Dennis has. Since my grandparents moved into the condo nextdoor to Dennis and his wife Diane about five years ago, he had always been such a welcoming presence. Since I started actually playing in games my sophomore year, Dennis attended every home game that his health would allow him to. He and Diane even traveled to Wittenberg in the fall of 2008 for the wonderful game that turned out to be. A couple years ago, when I spent the summer in Crawfordsville with my grandparents while interning in Indy, Evan Isaacs, Skip Tokar, Tony Neymeiyer, and I had the fortune of having dinner with Dennis and Diane, and all my friends came away from the table talking about nothing but how wonderful of a man he was. From that point forward, he was their biggest fan, attending our games regularly, and often going down on the track to watch the linemen warm up before the games. The funniest thing that I ever saw him do was go sit by himself on the visitors bleachers, because "there was no one to cheer for the visiting team." He battled long and hard against cancer that most people would have succumbed to long ago. He fought every single day, never complained, and his positive attitude is something that I will always remember about him. Whenever I was down, he could always pick me up, and it comforts me to know that he is in a better place. Wabash has lost a great supporter today, and please keep Dennis and his family in your prayers. You will be missed.
I hope everyone has a great Easter weekend. Go Bulldogs. I'm out.
Posted by hudsonma at 07:58 PM | Comments (1) | TrackBack (0)
March 24, 2010
Oscar winners and bad brackets
Tonight is probably going to be one of those ramble on about whatever hits my mind nights. I've generally believed that has served me well in the past, but not until a couple days ago did it occur to me that my ramblings apparently are not always understood. I gave a presentation in English class a couple days ago, dealing with how writing relates to my future career, which in this case, was sports broadcasting / journalism. In doing so, I contrasted one of my blogs about the infamous Colts - Patriots game in November with a Sports Illustrated article that did the same. As I'm preparing to give my presentation, my good friend Evan comes in and tells me that the first line of my blog is completely incoherent, and never should have made it past the editing stage. I looked at it, and realized that things don't always sound as good in print as what they sound in my head. That wasn't the first criticism I've gotten on the blog either. It seems that my conversational style is a little bit atypical, so it may not always come across as well put together. Hopefully this blog does not fall into that category.
Is it just me, or has American Idol officially jumped the shark (old school phrase meaning "worn out it's welcome", or "drastically declined in quality"; derived from a Happy Days episode in which the Fonz jumps over a shark on waterskis)? I mean, I don't watch it very often (clearly indicating that I'm rambling because I have nothing else to talk about), but the 40 minutes that I saw last night, I can honestly say, was not very impressive. And the thing that bothered me the most about it, was the fact that the girl who I thought sucked, was actually the most popular among the judges. What's up with that? Shouldn't the best singers on that show be universally recognized as the best singer on the show? It doesn't seem to me that there should be any gray area as to whether or not these people are awesome, or sing like me (bad). Then again, aren't we scraping the bottom of the barrel by now? How many talented people can possibly be left out there after we've been doing the same song and dance for what seems like a decade now. Kelly Clarkson - fine. Carrie Underwood - awesome, and beautiful by the way. David Cook - not the best, but somewhat entertaining. Kris Allen (I think that's his name) - okay, time to find a new reality TV obsession. I recommend anything on VH1. Because if nothing else, you will come away from the show feeling darn good about who you are.
So 3 6 Mafia is coming here this weekend for our national act of the spring semester. I gotta say, I was really excited when this decision was announced back in the fall, because I'm a fan of rap music, and they have a lot of good stuff that I've listened to over the years. Plus I can honestly say that this will likely be the first time Wabash has hosted Oscar winners for our national act... yes, Oscar winners. As in, the Academy Awards. If you don't believe me, look up 3 6 Mafia acceptance speech on Youtube and enjoy. You've never seen anyone be so jacked up (and look as out of place) as what this rap group did after their song "Hard out here for a pimp" won best original song in 2006. At the very least, they injected some much needed enthusiasm into an otherwise boring awards show. And not that I'm not excited now, but the more I think about it, the more I'm worried that they're going to be a "five songs, then we're out of here" number. I hope that's not the case, but pleasing the crowd at an all-dudes school may not be incredibly high on the priority list. But I'll keep everyone updated.
I used to consider myself somewhat intelligent when it came to picking NCAA tournament games, but I no longer feel that way. I would say it was around 3 p.m. last Thursday, and I was feeling pretty good about myself. After all, I had successfully picked 11 Old Dominion to upset 6-seeded Notre Dame in the first game of the tournament, my Final Four pick Villanova had risen from the dead to avoid a startling upset, and BYU had taken down Florida in double overtime. As of right then, I was 3-3. Then all hell broke loose on one shot. After Murray State won at the buzzer, by bracket fell apart. As I watched basketball for the following 8 hours (the Murray State game ended at about 4:30, and I literally watched every other game that day), I couldn't believe what I was seeing. A buzzer-beater here, a 14-3 upset there, and I came to the conclusion that what I was seeing was without a doubt, the best single day of basketball in history. I think few people could argue with that.
And it only got better when Kansas went down Saturday night (nothing against Kansas, but seeing a 9 beat a 1 in the second round was awesome). All in all, it was an amazing four days and it only stands to get better. So, a few thoughts.
1) Has there every been a greater paradox in a Sweet Sixteen game than Cornell versus Kentucky? I would argue no. After all, the kids from Cornell are paying to go to school (the Ivy League does not give athletic scholarships), and have no talent on their team that will likely make it at the next level. Kentucky, on the other hand, is paying their kids thousands of dollars to go to school (most of it illegally, in all likelihood), and has four players in their starting lineup that will be playing at the next level next year, and likely will be making an average of $5 million. Unfortunately, however, a good story usually loses to a good team, and Kentucky marches on.
2) I guess I was wrong about the Indiana schools. I had all three going down in the first round, and two of them are still standing. Can you imagine if either one of them made a run to the Final Four with it being in Indy this year? That would be wild. Sadly, it's not going to happen, as Butler can't possibly compete with the far more athletic Syracuse, and Robbie Hummel's absence will finally be noticeable against Duke.
3) Looking for someone to cheer for now that your team is probably not still playing? Look no further than Northern Iowa. What an unlikely story. Some people will argue that Kansas lost the game against NIU in the second round - not true. NIU won that game. They were up the entire game, and made the plays necessary to win the game. Case in point; with about 35 seconds left in the game, 30 seconds left on the shot clock, and NIU up one, the now famous for having the biggest pair I've ever seen, Ali Farokhmanesh jacks up a three when he probably should have held the ball. This is one of the gutsiest plays I've ever seen in the NCAA tourney. But as Herm Edwards fatefully said, "You play to win the game." You don't play not to lose it. Look for my new favorite player to carry NIU to the Elite Eight over a Lucas-less Michigan State.
4) Has anyone else noticed how many former IU players have made a huge impact in this year's tournament? Armon Basset, who played at IU in 2006-2007 before having a falling out with Kelvin Sampson, led 14-seeded Ohio over Georgetown (who I had in my Elite Eight, foolishly) with 32 points. Jordan Crawford, who was a freshman at IU two years ago, has exploded for an average of 27.5 points per game over the first two rounds, and has a great shot at leading Xavier to the Elite Eight. And Ben Allen, a big Australian guy who was serviceable at best while at IU, has been very efficient in helping Saint Mary's to an unlikely Sweet 16 run. You can't tell me that if those three guys were still at IU, that they wouldn't be a threat to make the tournament, possibly even a threat to win the Big Ten. IU fans, just think what could have been...
And that's about enough for tonight. I hope everyone has a wonderful end to their week, and I hope to see you up here for the Oscar winners this weekend. In being the worst bracket picker ever, I'm out.
Posted by hudsonma at 07:29 PM | Comments (1) | TrackBack (0)
