Bouton's Briefs

New Blog

2009-12-24T02:21:00.001-05:00

Finally switched over.

Here is the new and improved version:

http://abouton.wordpress.com/

Hope it makes me want to write more often. I guess we'll find out.

Check it out! Have a good X-mas everyone!

Switching Sites

2009-11-23T00:47:00.002-05:00

It's time.

Blogger.com has been great, but I think I'm ready to switch blogging homes. I know I have some followers of this site and I'll hopefully make sure to notify all of you when I do indeed start blogging somewhere else.

Now that I have a good internet connection and I'm writing for a living, I'm in the groove much more often these days. Hence why I'm trying to find a new, upgraded site.

I'll let everyone know when I get the new one up and running.

5-7

2009-11-21T15:01:00.002-05:00

It's been a horrible decade against Ohio State for Michigan. They've not lost eight out of the last nine against the Buckeyes.

Today, turnovers at key moments killed the Wolverines and the squad will finish another season under .500 and without a bowl bid.

I believe Rich Rodriguez's job is safe, but he needs to start winning in the conference if he's going to be in Ann Arbor much longer. He's gone 8-18 in his first two seasons.

Let's hope that some of the recruiting classes shine in the years to come, especially incoming Inkster quarterback Devin Gardner. They have another top class coming in next year, so as long as players stay and believe that things will be better in the future, Michigan should again resemble the program that has the most wins in NCAA football history.

Year three is in 2010 for Rodriguez and his different brand of football.

Hopefully it'll be better than the previous two.

Thoughts on my new job

2009-11-20T00:55:00.003-05:00

Well, here we are.

Months of waiting and I finally found a job in Michigan in the field I want to be in.

Moving to Saginaw was a little weird because I've never really visited the place. I go by it all the time on I-75 but I've never even saw the city until my interview. I haven't explored too much, but the area that I live in doesn't appear to be too bad and the complex I live in seems to be safe.

So far, so good.

The job has gone well thus far even though I really haven't been asked to do too much and I walked into the job during the slow period for Saginaw sports. Everyone that I've worked with has been pretty cool and has helped me out a lot. Once high school basketball (boys and girls) swings into full gear, I'll find out really what it's all about to work the sports desk on a week night.

We cover 45 high schools in the Saginaw area and also cover Central Michigan, the Saginaw Spirit, the Great Lake Loons, Alma college and Saginaw Valley State University, along with some other smaller local colleges.

Again, everything is pretty good so far.

I'm trying to find another job in the area as well. It would be something for during the day. I work a lot of nights and weekends now and have uber amounts of time to spare. Not sure what the job market is like in this area, but if it's like the rest of Michigan, it probably isn't very good. Maybe I'll find something in this busy holiday season.

I'm hopefully heading back to Harbor Springs for Thanksgiving next week. My sister and Steve are having a family dinner at her new house. It'll be the first time we won't be heading down to Tennessee in a long time. Going to miss it.

Have a safe holidays everyone. Cheers!

Officially Fa... err... Winter

2009-10-18T00:00:00.006-04:00

Looks like Fall was bypassed this year.

Snowflakes made a cameo appearance just yesterday and it looks like the white stuff could beat the colorful leaves to the ground in 2009. It has been dipping well below 30 most nights and I could see my breath while sitting in my sister's house today -- not fun.

Speaking of which, my kid sister just closed on a new house. She and Steve bought a house in Harbor Springs, outside of the city and it's a nice starter home. They officially move all their stuff in tomorrow with painting not far behind. For those of you that know that Harbor area, she lives at the end of Five Mile Creek, right where the road T's with the adjoining road. The house is built into a hill with the basement flowing out in the front and a big deck overhanging from the front of the one story house. There is also a two-car garage in front of the house.

It seems everyone is buying a house these days. Two of my friends, Matt and Drew, have also purchased homes recently and are fine tuning their establishments. It's a good time to buy, especially if you live in the Detroit area or Michigan in general.

I'm heading back to Kalamazoo next weekend for a long overdue return to the city I called home for seven years. Homecoming is next Saturday and this will be the first time I've been back in quite some time. I've missed Kalamazoo a lot, and some of the people there, so I'm looking forward to visiting.

I've got a couple of prospective jobs on the horizon.

Hopefully one of them pans out pretty soon. I'm getting a little anxious sitting here at home and I'm ready to get back to writing. One might be a bridge to the other and that is always a good opportunity.

Hopefully I'll be on here blogging a little more. I'd like to blog more than give monthly updates, but that's all it seems to be these days.

Michigan Football

2009-08-25T14:36:00.004-04:00

Hey everyone.

Sorry I haven't really posted anything in awhile, but my internet is spotty at best because I'm living at home with not much more than a dial-up connection. Plus, most of my time I spend writing has been exhausted over here: http://bleacherreport.com/users/111435-adam-bouton

Check it out.

I've been mostly on Michigan and Western Michigan football recently with the new college football season on the horizon, but I've wrote some other articles as well.

I hope to be living somewhere else pretty soon. Living at home is great and the rent is ridiculously cheap, but being out on my own is something I feel pretty strongly about. Hopefully some kind of job falls into place pretty soon.

I'll try to get on here more often, but it could be September before you hear from me again.

Wedding Pictures

2009-07-30T20:29:00.008-04:00

Here are some photos from Drew and Emily's wedding on July 12.

The wedding was in Chicago and it was a very successful and excellent weekend. It's a bummer that it went by so fast.

Goodbye Kalamazoo

2009-07-21T23:20:00.003-04:00

Goodbye Kalamazoo. Goodbye my home.

Well, my time living here has come to a close. I'm deeply saddened because this has grown to be my home and one of the best places to live. Harbor Springs will always be the place where I grew up, but Kalamazoo is the place where I became independent and an adult.

I'm pretty lucky to have called this home for the past seven years. I remember coming here a tentative college student, not certain whether I would survive my first year. I leave ready to tackle the world and ready for whatever life has to throw at me. I realize this could be the last time I live here, but it certainly won't be the last time I go to Kalamazoo—that is for sure.

I loved Kalamazoo so much I went back to get a second major at WMU. I could have easily left and gone somewhere else, but WMU was going to be my only college and it was. I loved it so much that even when most of my friends left, I stayed behind and searched for more...

I lived in several different places in the city and loved them all for several different reasons. There isn't much I have bad to say about Kalamazoo and for that reason, I'm going to miss it all.

Not many people realize the uniqueness this city has to offer and even though the winters can absolutely be brutal, I wouldn't mind staying here forever.

My first go-around in college was amazing and the second wasn't far behind. I met some of the best friends I will ever know during my six and half years in college and while I might never use the first degree, the second major will be used and I was lucky enough to work at WMU's newspaper during my latter stages in college. I met some good folk there as well and I know that all the relationships I made during my stay in Kalamazoo is part of the reason that makes my time here special.

It's safe to say that all seven years were great, even the up-and-down freshman year.

I won't list all the things I love about Kalamazoo because frankly, there are just too many. I will miss just about all of it though. I'll miss the different parts of Kalamazoo, the way it's exactly between Chicago and Detroit and all of the little quirks and excellent attributes that make it Kalamazoo. I'll even miss writing Kalamazoo down as my address.

Something about the name always seemed cool to me.

I'll miss Maggies, Burdicks, East Hall, WMU's campus, Waldo Stadium, Tiffanys, the Den and several other places that are absent from my memory at this moment.

I'll even miss the insanely loud train that runs through the heart of the city. I'm probably the only one.

Hopefully I can relocate somewhere in Michigan so that trips to Kalamazoo aren't completely foreign. I'd love to make it back here often—especially this fall when school is in session and sporting events are once again in full swing.

We'll just have to wait and see what happens, I guess.

It won't be long before I'm down here once again—actually it's just next weekend for a reunion party.

I guess it's not really goodbye at all. It's more like see you later.

Ohh maybe I should tell you where I'm headed. I'm actually heading home to where it all started. I vowed strongly several times that I would never move home again, but that's where I'm ending up, haha. It's short-term and until I find a job in Michigan or elsewhere.

New Computer

2009-07-09T20:08:00.002-04:00

Hooray, I got a new computer! I'm typing this from my new laptop. My parents are inheriting my old Dell laptop (they seem to like collecting my old computers...). My old desktop is way past it's prime and my huge laptop is still in good shape, so that's the reason they are taking that one. Plus, I get a smaller laptop that should be easier with the occupation I'm in -- journalism.

I've got some new updates and possibly a couple new jobs, so everything is going well right now. I had a job interview in Saginaw yesterday and I think it's a good possibility that I'm going to be moving there at the end of July/beginning of August.

I'm heading to Detroit this weekend for Drew's bachelor party. It's going to most likely be a crazy day on Saturday. Golfing, Tigers game, limo and I'm sure a lot of madness (knowing my group of friends).

I'll hopefully have some "decent" photos to get online here at the beginning of next week.

Until then, cheers!

End of June Update

2009-06-28T23:54:00.004-04:00

Man is this summer flying by.

I can't believe that it's almost July already.

I'm heading home to Harbor Springs for the first time this summer for the fourth of July. I haven't been back up north in a long time, so I'm looking forward to it. It'll definitely be good to see the family once again.

I was just in Detroit for almost a week and was able to take in four straight Tigers games. They won all four, including a sweep of the Chicago Cubs. It was fun to be there for all of those games.

The job hunt is still just that. I haven't really heard much from anybody, so it's not looking too great right now. I might have to start searching for other jobs, so that I have some sort of cash flow while I try and find a job in journalism.

Hopefully something pops up before my lease ends in July.

Hope everyone is doing good. I'm trying to have as much fun as I can this summer because I know that this could be my last in terms of having a generally open schedule.

If you're in HS this weekend, give me a shout, otherwise I hope everyone else has a good holiday. Cheers!

10K Run

2009-06-20T15:48:00.003-04:00

Well everyone, I made it.

I've never ran close to six miles, except for maybe a few training runs when I was on the Harbor Springs Middle School track team, and it wasn't as bad as I feared.

The first three miles weren't bad, but right at that point, there was a monster hill to run up.

It was steep.

If it were a ski hill, it'd be double black diamonds.

I made it all the way up without stopping, even though my brain was telling me numerous times, "just stop!"

After that, I slowed considerably, but it was all downhill and I didn't make any stops en route to finishing the 6.2 mile run in around 54 minutes.

My time is hardly flashy, but my goal was to just simply finish and not make any stops.

I did that.

Just about died afterwords, but hey, I finished.

Hopefully, the next 10K I run won't have a massive, ridiculously long and steep hill in the middle of it.

Headed to Detroit for the next few days. Catch everyone soon.

Formula One Fallout

2009-06-19T17:59:00.003-04:00

Today could prove to be the beginning of the end for Formula One.

It was announced today that several teams -- including Ferrari, McLaren, Sauber, Toyota and others -- are expected to pull out of the series next year if Formula One doesn't lift the $60 million spending cap, among other reasons.

Here are my thoughts on the situation.

Hopefully they will resolve the issues so that all of this is avoided. Formula One has a long, historic tradition and it would be a shame if they had to begin a whole new series.

It'll be weird watching F1 next year, especially if many of the current drivers and current teams are not apart of it.

As of right now, there will be no Lewis Hamilton, Felipe Massa, Fernando Alonso, Kimi Raikkonen if the proposed teams were to leave.

It's a black eye today in the world of racing.

Job Interview

2009-06-08T22:45:00.003-04:00

I have one on Wednesday in Saginaw. Hoping it goes rather well. I would love to take a job anywhere in Michigan and the Saginaw/Bay City area wouldn't be too shabby at all. Anything sports reporting and somewhere in the lower half of the state would be simply amazing.

Wish me luck!

Coldplay Concert

2009-06-06T11:22:00.001-04:00

My birthday was on June 2. Coldplay was in Detroit on June 2.

It was meant to be.

I went to the concert with the one person who appreciates Coldplay probably just as much as I do: Drew.

Good performance put on by the British group. They played hard and often and it was a good show. Hope they make it back to Michigan in the near future.

I'm going to try and upload a video I took of "Clocks," however it might take forever because it's over 3 minutes long.

(Sorry the pictures are semi-blurry; we were way in the back and my camera doesn't take the clearest pictures when I zoom in)

Bottlecap Table

2009-05-30T00:22:00.006-04:00

So a few years ago, I told my parents that I wanted to put together a bottle cap table. I had been collecting various caps throughout the years for some reason and had put together quite a collection.

I told them just before Christmas.

Whalah!

Come Christmas, my parents found a perfect table for me to put hundreds of little caps in. I could have easily had it done by now, but I want a bunch of different caps inside instead of the table being littered with hundreds of Oberon and Bud Light caps.

It's really coming along though, as you can see from the pictures above.

I just recently glued more caps and I think it's finally nearing the end. I hope it's done by the end of the year.

Part of the fun of the table is searching for new and unique caps. I've bought beer that I probably would have shrugged off in most instances. Most of it has been good too. I think I have effectively shredded the label of only being able to drink light beer. Still, you won't find many Guinness caps on my table.

The Bell's circular logo in the middle of the table is from the half-barrel Oberon keg I just purchased for my graduation party.

I recently tried counting, got to 160 and gave up, but I think that there should be close to 400 caps on the table as of right now. There's probably room for 100-120 more.

Not bad. I'll get there eventually.

So, for now, if anyone has any opinions on caps that should go on the table that they don't see in the top picture, let me know! I'm sure that I'm missing dozens.

I also signed up for a 10K run today. Yikes! Not sure why I did it, but I've been running a lot recently and feel that it will give me a good challenge for the summer (if finding a job isn't a big enough challenge). I ran four miles yesterday, but still have to get a couple more out of my legs. Plus, I'm pretty sure there is a killer hill that I have to run up twice during the race (called the Kalamazoo Klassic). Hope I can get through it. It will be a truly tough test.

Ohh Sweet Summer...

2009-05-27T21:47:00.002-04:00

Above: Most of the group fills the steps of our "old camping grounds," otherwise referred to as East Hall.

Summer is officially here.

That much was evident after the graduation party I had at my apartment last weekend. Warm weather is here to stay and the joy that is summer is in full swing.

I had one of the best weekends in awhile last weekend and I'm sure it won't be the last one this summer. Just next week, I am headed to Detroit on my birthday to see one of my favorite bands perform live: Coldplay.

Later in June, I'm going to about three Tigers' games (two against the Cubs) in the matter of just five days.

Not too far beyond that a certain bachelor party will occur and the weekend after that craziness, Drew is ending his bachelorhood and getting married. Towards the end of the summer, my buddy Don is also waiving his bachelor status and tying the knot.

Another stellar summer line-up.

I'm doing all of this while trying to line up a job for the fall/next year and interning at B/R. I've applied for a few more jobs and have an interview coming up, so I'm still hoping something comes through for me.

Until then, enjoying the summer is my No. 1 goal.

So far it has proved to be a good one and we're just getting started.

Memorial Day Weekend

2009-05-18T19:34:00.007-04:00

Above: Me at a recent West Michigan Whitecaps game with a cold one. Whitecaps lost, but, hey, it's minor league baseball, so who cares? We had fun either way.

Traveled to Tennessee last week for my grandparents' funeral. All and all, it went well. I'm thankful for the people who were there to support my family and thankful for all of the well-wishes as well. I'm back now in Kalamazoo and ready for the summer to begin!

This coming weekend could prove to be one for the ages.

We've got some pretty cool people coming in for some pretty cool times. I haven't seen a few of the friends that are migrating to Kalamazoo this weekend in quite some time, so it's safe to say I'm pretty excited. It'll be good to get everyone back together and have some fun. Glad that it could be done in the familiar stomping grounds of Kalamazoo as well. Who knows what kind of shenanigans we might get into.

Still trying to rake in a few interviews as far as sports writing goes. I've got a pretty good internship right now, but that's not deterring me from not trying to get something else too. The internship is just that and it'll be over before I know it. Plus, it's the kind that doesn't dish out any money in return for my services, so I need to find some source of income this summer. I've got a couple leads, so we'll see where that takes me.

Good time to be a Detroit sports fan. The first-place Tigers swept the A's and the Red Wings are already up a game in the Western Conference Finals. Hope both teams keep it going.

Bleacher Report

2009-05-09T21:03:00.005-04:00

Well, I was offered the internship with BleacherReport.com. I will be editing for the Web site 15 hours every week for the next three months. I get to choose the hours, which is the best part. I wrote an article for the site and created a profile, so now the next step is to be trained by the managing editor and, I believe, some of their other staff members.

If anyone wants to check out the profile I created on the site click here: profile.

My first article was about a pair of rookie Tigers pitchers: Ryan Perry and Rick Porcello.

You can check that out here if you feel so inclined.

I'm going to try and keep writing for the site while I edit. It'll be good to stay in the sports writing groove until I get another job somewhere. I'll try and remember to post the articles I write over here.

Heading to Tennessee on Monday for about five days for the funeral. Not sure how much I'll be blogging, but I know that I might need to use the internet often for the new internship.

Things are looking up

2009-05-06T12:53:00.004-04:00

I was rightfully worried heading into this summer about job prospects, but things seem to be starting to pick up a tad bit. I've applied for a few jobs and have already heard back from a couple of them.

I've got a couple interviews within the next few weeks for internships and potential jobs. One is with www.bleacherreport.com which is a sports-based Web site where fans can log on and write their own articles. I would most likely be doing editing for them (about 15 hours every week) and would create my own hours from home, which would be nice. The company is based out of San Francisco, Calif.

I also received a call this morning from the sports editor at the Saginaw News, Paul Neumeyer, who wants me to drive up there for an interview some time this month. He wanted me there next week, but I'll be down in Tennessee for my grandparents' funeral. He said that the job would be part-time, but I could work up to 29 hours a week.

Hopefully one of these two fall into place because it would really give me a jump start at life in the post-college world. I'm looking forward to seeing what happens within the next couple of weeks. It's definitely positive and I'm actually a little surprised that I'm getting responses so quickly.

I'll take it though.

In the meantime, I'm going to crack a few golf balls in hopes of finally finding a consistent swing this summer. My first outing was promising (I was hitting it straight), so we'll see if I can keep it going...

Behold the power of summer

2009-05-02T18:48:00.003-04:00

Above: Harry, Drew and Robbie pose uniquely for a picture (as they often do) while huddling around a table in the restaurant that sits perched down the right field line at Comerica Park. We were on hand to watch the Tigers lose to the New York Yankees on a cold Tuesday evening.

I went into this late spring/summer a little down after watching college suddenly disappear right before my eyes. College truly was the best time of my life and I was fearful to watch it go.

However, this past week really offered a different perspective on how this summer is going to roll along. I was fortunately able to attend all three games of the Tigers-Yankees series at Comerica and that really helped to lift my spirits. I found myself in a much better mood when I headed back to Kalamazoo on Thursday then when I bolted for Detroit on Monday.

I'm planning on making the most of this summer, even if it takes me awhile to find a job. I have a lot to look forward to (Drew's wedding, bachelor party, Don's wedding, Tigers' games, trips up north and who knows what else). If this is indeed my last hoorah in Kalamazoo, I want to make the best of it.

The weather has been generous the past few days which doesn't hurt the self esteem by any means.

I feel fortunate to have the opportunity to have one last summer here in the zoo and to spend it with my friends. Hopefully what I foresee as a being a great summer really happens and I look back in August and note that it was a much more successful summer than I predicted.

I'm going to leave you one more little snippet from the Western Herald. This link takes you to my final article that I ever wrote for the WMU student-run newspaper, but it certainly won't be the last article I ever write. I've been on the job hunt and I've sent my resume and clips out to a few different newspapers, so we'll see how that turns out. Just looking for anything at this point.

Hopefully with some more time, I'll get on here and blog a little more often.

School's Out Forever

2009-04-23T16:12:00.004-04:00

Well, I'm finally finished.

It only took seven years, but I finally have concluded my college career. I ended it with a degree in education and an added major in journalism. Whew.

The last few days have been pretty eerie. I haven't ever been completely done with school until now and it's really kind of depressing. Going to school at WMU was easily the best time of my life and I'm going to miss it. I think working at the Herald and making a lot of friends added to the depression of it all because now that is over too.

I'm eager to see where my life goes now, however. It'll be very interesting to see where I end up at the end of this fall. Scary, but exciting at the same time. We'll see what happens!

Hopefully, with my family here this weekend, that will help lift my spirits. But for now, I'll keep twisting my mind around the thought that this is all over with...

Off to drink a few beverages and watch the Red Wings.

Western Herald Banquet

2009-04-12T15:44:00.004-04:00

2008-09 Western Herald editorial staff: (From left to right) Managing Editor Zach Reichard, Arts Editor Chris Kato, Photo Editor Karie Kuiper, Editor in Chief Sara Waisanen, News Editor Ashley Wioskowski, Sports Editor Mike Feld, Web Manager Kris Hitchcock.

Above: Zach giving me the thumbs up before everyone handed out their awards for the year.

Most of us are nearing the end of working at the Western Herald. We had our banquet last Friday and it was a lot of fun. We inhaled some food, took lots of pictures, bought each other drinks and danced like crazy (even I made it out there -- shocking!). We then followed that up by continuing the party at Chris' apartment. Twas a lot of fun. Just four more papers due out before I'm done and moving on to something new! We'll see what this summer holds.

We are in-season (sports, that is)

2009-04-07T00:34:00.005-04:00

We are officially now in-season for sports, according to me. Baseball season has started, basketball and hockey playoffs are about to begin and racing and golf season is in full swing. I am a follower of Formula One racing as well and that has been of interest to me as of late. A brand new team -- Brawn (with veteran driver Jenson Button at the helm) -- has won the first two races nearly from start to finish. The picture above is Button driving through the rain-shortened race (just 31 laps) in Malaysia last weekend. He cruised to the victory for his second straight win. It's nice to see him have some success after years stuck with mediocre teams.

The Tigers had a rough go at it in their opener today. They lost 12-5 to the Blue Jays and Verlander gave up eight runs in the loss. It's only one game, but it's not the start the Tigers obviously wanted. Tomorrow is a new day however. Brand new Tiger, Edwin Jackson takes the mound to hopefully flash his repetoire. There is no doubt in my mind that the offense will get things going soon to help out the questionable pitching.

I'll have more of sports-related randomness and other doings later this week or this weekend.

Bracket Busted

2009-03-31T18:34:00.004-04:00

Well, like every year, my NCAA Tournament bracket was utterly destroyed by the end of the first round and second round. Wake Forest let me down big time, as they lost their second game. I had them going all the way to the finals. My champion, North Carolina, did, however, make it to the Final Four, so I reserve hope that they'll still win the whole thing -- I've got a few bets riding on it.

There has been a lot of complaining this year about how the tournament hasn't lived up to all the hype as in years past. I can partially agree, but I still think it's been a great tournament to take in. I wrote an editorial this week on why it's still been a good tournament. There have been some blowouts and their haven't been any great Cinderella stories, but most of the games have been contested and well worth watching. I know that I've been glued to my TV set for most of the games -- especially because Michigan States is once again, alive and well in the tourney.

This weekend should be fun. Pagel is coming into town to hang with Corey and I. Should be just like the old days -- kicking back, playing videogames, shooting the breeze.

Baseball season is upon us again. The Tigers first game is Monday at 7:05 p.m. against the Blue Jays in Toronto. The team just released Gary Sheffield and has made a couple other moves, but a lot of uncertainty still surrounds the team. It'll be interesting to see how the season goes in the first couple of weeks for the Tigers.

I'm sure I'll be blogging a lot more once Tigers games begin. I also have some neat story assignments, so I'll post those up once I finish doing them.

With every loss, there is a gain

2009-03-28T23:56:00.002-04:00

I just recently lost both of my grandparents (my last two) in a span of three days. It really blindsided me. My grandpa was expected to go and I'm glad he did (he was in so much pain), but my grandma passing was a hard pill to swallow. I can still feel the emotion waiting to burst like a balloon behind my eyelids. What kills me is that I didn't get to say goodbye to her and I talked to her just one day before her passing. I'm going to miss her egging me on ("beetle-bom!") while playing cards and our chats during the summer about the Braves and baseball. I'll definitely miss those long trips to Tennessee and seeing her waiting in the doorway as we pull in the driveway.

My mother has been down there for awhile and was there for both the passing's. She was holding my grandma's hand as she took her last breath and I really think that helped give her some closure. Those were her parents and she got to see them both go. Everyone down there has been pretty supportive for my mom and that always helps.

Although it's hard to see them gone, what is comforting is that I know they are together once again. They knew each other for practically their whole lives and they can continue that on in a better place. My grandpa was so sick for the past few years that I'm glad his ailments are over with. I wouldn't want to live like he did in the final years of his life.

I do feel fortunate that they were around for so long. My other grandma died when I was just one and my dad's father died when I was a teenager. To have them all the way through college and through my sister getting married is a blessing.

Now that my family is smaller, it makes me appreciate the family members that are left. Our family has always been tight knit, but I can see it being ever more so from now on.

Ten years ago, even five, this would have been something that would have torn me apart completely. I am dealing with it pretty well considering, I think, and know that both my grandma and grandpa are in a better place, with each other and that I'll see them again someday.

As my grandma was a big Atlanta Braves fan and baseball season is just over the horizon, it's going to be weird watching this season and thinking that she isn't watching the games. Check that. She will be watching, just not in her robe and slippers and from the recliner. Personally, I hope they do well this year in honor of her - I know I'll be rooting for them (as well as the Tigers, of course).

Thanks everyone for the support that you have provided during the past couple of weeks.

Optimism for Bronco hockey squad

2009-03-17T15:18:00.004-04:00

I wrote a column yesterday about what direction I think the hockey team is headed. You can check it out here.

Weather's mind-boggling today. I wore shorts and sandals to class and I think we're firing up the grill tonight. Woohoo!

Above is a picture for the Tiger's winter caravan when they were in Kalamazoo.

Broncos' season ends at Yost

2009-03-16T00:39:00.006-04:00

It's been a whirlwind couple of days this past weekend. I finally made it out of Kalamazoo for a couple days (I've been there for at least a couple months straight) and headed over to Ann Arbor/Detroit to cover the WMU-Michigan hockey series. The Wolverines were ranked No. 3 in the nation before the game and it looked as if the Broncos had their hands full against a well-rested team.

Well, they did. The Broncos dropped two straight to the Wolverines, 5-2 and 6-1 on Friday and Saturday night, respectively. The U-M sweep abruptly ended WMU's season. The Broncos fought valiantly, but Michigan just overwhelmed them. The Broncos were in the game Friday night up until the last few minutes, but Michigan pulled away at the end. Big starts killed the Brown and Gold both nights. U-M jumped out to 3-0 leads after the first period each night.

While in Detroit, I went with Drew to Joe Louis Arena Saturday morning. They ran a blood drive and people wishing to donate their blood received free tickets to a future Red Wings' game this season. It was the first time that I've ever been to the Joe and hopefully it won't be the last. It's a shame that I still have never witnessed a game in person. I certainly have seen many college hockey games, but still no NHL games.

We also took the chance to travel past what's left of Tiger Stadium. As you can see from the picture above, most of the stadium is completely gone. What remains is a small portion of the stadium behind home plate and the lonely foul poll, still standing upright in it's spot in center field. It had been a long time since I had seen the stadium and first since they started tearing it down, so it was very eerie to see the stadium in that state. Hopefully, the city of Detroit will make all the right decisions in deciding what to do when it comes to the property.

Today was freakishly warm. Corey and I even went outside today and tossed the frisbee around for a few minutes. Tomorrow's weather is even supposed to be better -- 72 degrees! I didn't wear a jacket today and it doesn't sound like I'll need one tomorrow too. I know it'll probably get chilly again, but spring seems to be fighting it's way into our lives. Hooray!

The Tigers are on TV Monday (today). They play the Cardinals at 1 p.m., so be sure to check it out. This is one of three (I think) games that are being televised during spring training. It'll be good to hear the voices of Rod Allen and Mario Impemba once again.

Two Overtimes, Two Wins

2009-03-09T15:16:00.004-04:00

Well, it was another weekend of hockey for me. After a 6-3 loss Friday night, the Broncos won a thriller of a game Saturday in double overtime and came out Sunday and finished off the Lakers 3-1. It was exciting to watch the comeback even though I was probably one of the only ones. The stands were pretty empty all three games of the weekend for some reason. It's too bad because it's the first time in 15 years that WMU has won a home playoff series. But, who cares that nobody showed up? They won and they're heading to Yost Ice Arena next weekend to face the Michigan Wolverines. WMU actually won there this season (I think it was 2-1) and Riley Gill has played very well there in his career, so they aren't exactly the underdogs. Michigan did have a powerful win over the Broncos here in Kalamazoo though this season.

I'll be at the Friday and Saturday games next weekend at Yost. Does anyone want to go?

Embarrassing

2009-03-07T11:35:00.003-05:00

Not what I expected last night. Lake Superior State scored five goals to open the game and scored six overall to cruise to a 6-3 victory. What made it worse was that hardly anyone was there to see it. The crowd was announced at a little over 600... To my knowledge, we haven't had a crowd under 1,000 all season and we've been closer to 2,000 most games. Pathetic. Spring break is still in full swing, however you would think that the students and fans in the area would come out in support for this one. It was like a crowd for a high school hockey game last night. Sadly too, the LSSU fans seemed louder and more represented than the Bronco fans. Just all and all, a bad night.

We lost badly to the Lakers too weeks ago in the first game and came back the next night and nearly shut them out. So maybe tonight will be similar and Gill and the Broncos can tussle away a victory away at home. Not holding my breath though...

More interestingly, I doubt any fuss will be made if the Broncos get swept or lose this series. Culhane probably has a safe job just because of the end stretch run to get into home ice position. I saw Athletic Director Kathy Beauregard walking down the stands after the game and she was all smiles. It's like she didn't even notice they lost. She fires the women's basketball coach after a superb season last year and Culhane's team finishes the season dead last and he gets a pat on the back and a, "You'll do better next year."

I have nothing against Culhane. He's been great to deal with all season and had been very gracious to deal with in my tenure at the Herald. Just a little more mystified as to Beauregard's position and why Culhane's job seems so safe. Should be interesting to see what happens in the next couple of seasons, especially as the super freshman the hockey team possesses continue to grow.

Drew and Emily are coming in town for the game tonight. Making a pit stop on their way to Chicago. Hope they don't have to witness the brutal mess of last night. It'll be good to see some familiar faces from the east side of the state. Haven't seen many of those folks in a good long time.

Playoff Hockey in Kalamazoo

2009-03-06T11:30:00.006-05:00

First photo: The puck drops to begin the decisive third period. WMU tallied two goals in the third to win 5-3 and clinch a home ice spot for the first round of the CCHA playoffs.

Second photo: Bronco senior captain Chris Frank and a Bowling Green player discuss a penalty with a referee during Saturday's contest.

When I first took on the Bronco hockey beat after football season, the hockey team seemed headed to another long season and perhaps a slot at the bottom of the standings. However, after a superb second half of the season highlighted by CCHA scoring champion and senior Patrick Galivan, WMU captured the seventh spot (out of 12) in the standings to finish the season. The first four seeds get byes in the playoffs and the Broncos (seven seed) are hosting the 10 seed (Lake Superior State) in the first round this weekend. The series is best out of three with games coming Friday, Saturday and, in necessary, Sunday night. All games are set to begin at 7:35 p.m. and tonight's game is on Fox Sports Net Detroit Plus.

It was exciting to watch the scene unfold last weekend here in Kalamazoo. The Broncos needed to win both games to get home ice and the playoffs and that's exactly what they did. They scored ten goals in two games to overwhelm Bowling Green and sweep the Falcons and earn a spot hosting the first round of the playoffs.

Behing goaltender Riley Gill, Galivan and several young freshman, the Broncos have made quite an improvement in the second half this year. Hopefully that trend will continue this weekend as they try and make strides as they head into next season. While getting to the CCHA Championship isn't likely, if there is one thing I learned from this season it's that anything is possible in college hockey.

On a more somber note, both of my grandparents are very sick. My grandpa is nearing the end and according to his doctor should pass within the next couple of weeks. He's been sick for years now and I'm just hoping that he drifts into another world one of these nights in his sleep. Nobody wants to go out experiencing the kind of pain I'm sure he is dealing with.

My grandma is also sick and has a kidney and head infection (scary). She was fine until just a couple days ago when she started feeling weak and sick. We thought it was the flu but, when checked out at the hospital, it was found to be more serious. My sister and mom are down there right now and hopefully their presence will help ease the stress in my grandma. Praying hard for her recovery right now.

Just waiting for the call that puts me on a plane down to Tennessee...

Don't think too many people that live in Kalamazoo are reading this, but if there are, come out to the games at Lawson this weekend. It would be excellent to have some support as the Broncos try to win a home playoff series for the first time in several years.

Taking a Look Back

2009-02-21T15:15:00.004-05:00

I've been blessed throughout my life. My parents put me through college once and are again helping me for the second time. I've had amazing support from so many angles -- family, friends, teachers and strangers -- that it's almost surreal.

The opportunities extended to this past year when I started working for the Western Herald. I was hired on towards the beginning of March 2008, right before the spring semester ended. I had no experience writing for newspapers and writing sports. It was almost like landing in a foreign country where I don't speak the language. I was definitely excited, but nervous at the same time.

I wrote just one article before the end of the Spring 2008 school year, but I was patient and knew that if I stuck around, I would be able to wrote more frequently during the summer and possible thereafter (most of the staff last year graduated).

I contacted the new sports editor as the summer semester started at WMU and because I was the only returning member of the staff -- even though I had produced just one article -- I was one of main writers. We had few writers during last summer -- I think three, but it was a blessing in disguise. I was given opportunities to write early and often and wrote stories on a variety of topics all summer-long.

Towards the end of the summer, I was offered by Mike to tackle the football beat in the fall. It wasn't really what I expected, but I was excited to be given such a great opportunity once again. WMU football, like at so many other schools, is kind of a big deal and 2008 was no exception. The Broncos had one of their best seasons ever in school history capped off with a trip to the Texas Bowl in Houston, Texas.

My fingers were punching buttons often during the fall and my head was a constant encyclopedia for WMU football. It was a lot of fun and again, the opportunity was amazing. I'm thankful for being able to write about the football team and even to travel to Texas Bowl and get some great experience covering a "big-time" game.

After football season was sadly over, I started covering the WMU hockey beat for the Herald. Another great opportunity. Even though the hockey team has had "one of those seasons," I've been able to greet head-on the challenge of writing stories about a struggling team. It was a complete 180 from football and I'm kind of thankful for that. Nothing should be easy and covering hockey certainly has been anything but that. They've recently turned around their fortune, but remain mired at the bottom of the CCHA standings.

I'm thankful to Mike to putting so much faith behind me this year. The Herald has been a great place to work and even though I don't realize it, I've probably grown ten-fold in the last year. I know that I have much to improve on and that includes making the giant leap from writing for a college newspaper to one that isn't.

I'm hopeful that the experiences I have learned will guide me in my transition to the real world. Copy editing has been a blessing as well as I've really learned a lot about how a paper is put together and I've been through the journalism bible (AP Style book) many times. I'm still fairly new at my position there, but each day seems to be better.

Another great experience was being able to talk with some of the Detroit Tigers - my idols. There I was, up close and personal, with players I usually root for, ask autographs for. This time I was standing there with a recorder in my hand and questions rattling in my head. I wasn't as nervous as I thought I'd be, although having Mike there next to me asking questions as well was very helpful. Interviewing Brandon Inge, Fernando Rodney (among others) will certainly be something that helps me down the road. Interviewing college athletes (most of them younger than me) is one thing, but interviewing professionals who get paid millions of dollars and hold a certain swagger to them is another.

I've only got a few months left at the Herald and it's been a thrilling ride. Met some cool people and earned some necessary experience in the process. Hope what I've learned, wrote and breathed in in the past year will all help me find the job I'm looking for next year.

Another opportunity. I'm excited.

Conan's Big Night

2009-02-20T20:19:00.002-05:00

Sad night tonight. It's pretty safe to say that I'm an avid Late Night with Conan O'Brien fan. Tonight is his last episode until he takes over Jay's slot this summer. I'm looking forward to seeing him in that spot, but I know many of the crazy, hilarious things he does on his current show he won't be able to do in prime time. Oh well. This week has been a great week of highlights and clips from shows past. Tonight, he should go out with a bang.

That is pretty much the highlight of the weekend for me. The Oscars are Sunday night which I'm looking forward to. I've got a meeting at the Herald Sunday, but nothing out of the ordinary.

The hockey team traveled north this weekend to battle Lake Superior State - where I used to go to so many games as a kid. They have just two weekends left before playoffs and are fighting for one of the last home playoff spots so this weekend is very significant for them. Two victories would be ideal. The Broncos had a semi-successful weekend against a tough Alaska team, so hopefully that will help them against a poor LSSU squad.

My Grandpa is still very sick. Doesn't look like he's going to be improving much and the doctors have told my Grandma and parents that "they'll do everything to make him comfortable." Yikes. I know he's in a lot of pain and he's also been very angry at the nurses and staff at the hospital. Hopefully all his pain ends one of these nights as he sleeps. I know it's ultimately what he wants. I hate seeing him in such pain.

Looking forward to spring break, which begins for me next Thursday. Hopefully going to get some time to head up to Harbor Springs and then I'm definitely heading to Detroit the second weekend for a Pistons game and other craziness. It's always nice to cut the semester in half and give the mind a break. I've got some pretty large midterms after spring break, so hopefully I won't completely slow down my brain.

Two months to graduation and the scariness that is finding a real job! Part of this weekend is dedicated to officially finding myself a job or internship.

Hockey Cares Weekend

2009-02-12T16:25:00.003-05:00

Bronco hockey is involved in its second annual "Hockey Cares" weekend this coming weekend. This weekend is designed to help celebrate cancer awareness with the American Cancer Society. The WMU players will be wearing pink jerseys and using pink tape this weekend. They are also going to have pink laces on the skates and pink stickers on their helmets. It should be interesting to say the least. They are handing out pink shirts for the students, so the whole place should be pretty festive for Valentine's Day on Saturday. I wrote an article this week about some of our hockey players who are from different parts of the country. It's cool that Culhane has brought in people from all over the place to play hockey here in Kalamazoo.

I'm finally starting to feel better. Still have a semi-serious cough, but with some sleep this weekend, I think I'll be able to kick it out of me. I'm looking forward to finally getting rid of this two-week sickness.

Valentine's Day this weekend. Big deal. I've never been one to celebrate it and am not starting this year! One of these years I'm sure I'll start when I'm given an opportunity to celebrate it. But at the moment, I'm content saving money and not buying flowers and chocolates. I remember back in the college hey-day when we used to revolt against V-Day and we would party and forget there was even a holiday that day. Good times.

Hope everyone is staying away from sickness. This round certainly did me in. Looking forward to being healthy for a very long time now. I'm off to take a nap. Hopefully I'll be doing a lot of that this weekend and I have no reason not to. See everyone later.

By the way, spring training begins in less than one day! Pitchers and catchers report tomorrow! Hooray!

Trying to Survive

2009-02-09T15:18:00.004-05:00

Somehow, I'm still sick. Whenever I get the flu, I get really sick. This was the case again this time. I slept just about all weekend and drank a lot of liquids and somehow I'm still sick. I feel better though and think that I'm finally coming out of the woods. Hopefully by tomorrow or the next day I'll be fine, but if not I'm taking my business to the doctor's. This is getting a little ridiculous.

The hockey team played brilliantly this weekend in Nebraska, beating a pretty good Omaha team that is above WMU in the CCHA standings. They didn't move up in the standings, but they're going to most likely have to go on the road and defeat a pretty good team in the playoffs and they did that this weekend - twice.

I have a test tomorrow and a big article due Thursday in one of my classes, so the semester is starting to heat up a little bit. No complaints since I only have three classes, but the classes I do have are tough. Western is not letting me go without a fight.

Here's my take on the whole A-Rod steroid situation: Thank God it's over. I'm sooooo tired of all the steroid stuff and I'm glad that he came out and admitted to using them. Hopefully everyone can just move on and let him play baseball. It's just cool that he was honest about it and he didn't have to live a life of lies for the rest of his playing days. Yes, what he did was wrong. I'm not saying that it wasn't. But he is a great player regardless and what he's done with the Yankees when he has been clean proves that. He's still a Hall-of-Famer in my book.

Three days until spring training begins! Someone's excited - this guy. I just read today that all 162 Tiger games will be on TV again this season. Hopefully the Tigers will give fans a reason to watch all 162 games this year, unlike last season... if not, it could be a long summer...

Super Bowl Weekend!

2009-01-29T18:27:00.002-05:00

It's Super Bowl weekend and I'm sick... It sucks.

I felt this one coming yesterday when I was at the Herald and I think my stupid eating habits finally caught up with me. Nobody's invincible and I'm definitely not.

Even though I'm sick, I'm going to attend both hockey games this weekend. The Broncos are playing Northern Michigan and both teams are riding some solid play into the series. WMU earned three points against Ohio State last weekend and NMU has won five out of its last six. Hopefully the Broncos can finally win a conference game on home ice this weekend.

I wrote an editorial on the Super Bowl for our paper. It was fun and different to write. I struggled a little bit with it, but feel like it came out pretty good. Tell me what you think below in the comments box. I can't believe that in our harsh economic times, we can still dish out as much money as we do for advertisements. Kind of ridiculous.

We also did some Super Bowl predictions for the game and they came out pretty even: three for the Cards and three for the Steelers. I'm also rooting for the Cards. I just feel they have the confidence needed to win and won't be distracted by all the hype. Many probably feel like it should be the other way around, but I just have a hunch.

Hope everyone enjoys the Super Bowl parties. Hopefully I will be able to as well and that's why I'm currently chugging the OJ. Have a good weekend everyone.

Interviewing Brandon Inge

2009-01-26T18:25:00.002-05:00

This past weekend I had the unbelievable opportunity to interview some of the Detroit Tigers as they were in Kalamazoo for the 2009 Winter Caravan. We were able to meet with the Tigers before they took the stage when they were interviewed by the local media. Mike and I interviewed Brent Clevlen, bullpen coach Jeff Jones, Fernando Rodney and the man himself, Brandon Inge. It wasn't as intimidating as I thought it was going to be. They were very cool with us and it probably helped that there were two of us throwing questions at the players and coach instead of one. Pretty cool experience though. There were a bunch of people at the Miller Auditorium and even though they weren't on stage that long, it was pretty neat.

The hockey team also had a pretty neat weekend. They earned three out of a possible four points against Ohio State and shocked the No. 11 team in the country. The team is picking up steam for the rest of the schedule, which could prove to be vital as they head down the stretch. Hopefully they can turn in another good performance this weekend against Northern Michigan. Riley Gill played solid this weekend and I'm sure coach Culhane will be looking to him quite often in these last 10 regular season games.

Harry came in this past weekend and it was pretty fun. Smoked some cigars, demolished some Maggies and played way to many videogames. Need a few lazy weekends like this past one once and awhile. Next weekend I'm heading to Detroit for the Super Bowl. Just going to be in town for that one evening unfortunately because I have two home hockey games next weekend as well.

Tigers in Kalamazoo

2009-01-22T14:30:00.005-05:00

Tonight I'm going to try and shake Brandon Inge's hand. Won't be easy, but I have full faith that I can accomplish the task. The Tigers are in town as apart of the Winter Caravan 2009. Two squads are traveling around lower Michigan and one group will be at the Miller Auditorium tonight in Kalamazoo.

We have the "B" group coming into town. The players coming include Inge, Armando Galarraga, Brent Clevlen, Eddie Bonine, Gerald Laird, Jeff Larish and Bobby Seay. Coaches Andy Van Slyke and Rafael Belliard will be in attendance, as well assistant general manager Al Avila. Radio broadcaster Dan Dickerson will be the emcee for the event.

Supposedly there is a special media-only press conference beforehand, which I am going to try and get into. Also, I wrote an article last night about a "Detroit City of Champions" book and the author will be on hand to try and generate some interest for the book and the 1935 Detroit sports season. Hopefully, with the Tigers in town, the author has some success selling a few copies and hopefully he picks up steam for his book and the 1935 season. Everyone should check out the book - it's fairly interesting.

The hockey team is away this weekend, playing against No. 14 Ohio State in Columbus. The Buckeyes haven't dropped a contest in 12 games, so the Broncos have a seemingly impossible task this weekend. They looked good last weekend, however and they have done well against ranked teams on the road this season (they beat Michigan, Alaska and went to a shootout with No. 1 Notre Dame). Any points this weekend will be a success.

Harry is coming into town this weekend, hooray! Some fun times will be had. See you next week.

Inauguration Day

2009-01-20T21:37:00.003-05:00

Today was a historical day. I haven't witnessed too many in my still-young life. But today was definitely one of those days. I don't care if you voted for McCain or just don't care at all about politics and current events. This was big. This is something that will be talked about for years and I was able to participate in it.

My 11:00 class ended about 45 minutes early today and I went to WMU's Miller Auditorium to watch the inauguration and all the other happenings. There were about 2,500 students, teachers, children, adults and just about everyone else you can think of. Black, white, old, young, rich, poor. It didn't matter. Everyone was there to witness the breathtaking event.

They hadn't even planned to open the balcony at the Miller, but that is where I sat. I even had to sit towards the back because the rows near the front were just about full. They had a big screen on the stage pulled down and that is where PBS' broadcast was playing for everyone to see. People stood, people cheered, people cried, people rejoiced. It was one of those moments where everyone was involved and it didn't matter if you were there by yourself, you were not alone.

I was there as a bystander watching a piece of history unfold, but I was also there as a journalist. My 4100 class blogged today's happenings. It was truly a unique opportunity that I got to take apart in. This could to be one of the most historical moments our generation ever sees. I hope that everyone was able to catch some of the broadcast today, even if just to see the speech and oath taken by President Obama. If not, check out CNN.com. They have some pretty good recaps on what happened.

I know that one day, I'll be able to tell my kids about today and that I'll remember it as clearly as I do right now. It isn't something that I'm likely to forget and even if I do, that's what youtube is for!

The hockey team earned the sweep over the weekend which was cool. Haven't had too much fun covering Bronco hockey games this winter, but this weekend was a rare treat. They have a brutal schedule the rest of the way, playing some ranked teams, but maybe they can scrape together a few wins and make a run at the tournament at the end of the season. The team is tied for last right now, but they seem to be improving. This is an all-important weekend for them.

More coming this weekend. Until then, adios!

My hands are shaking as I type this...

2009-01-16T14:20:00.003-05:00

This is getting a little ridiculous. I love living in Michigan, but I would happily give up this place for just about anywhere else at the moment. I think I'm physically tired from all the shivering I've been doing.

Not much to update on this end, other than the fact that I'm currently expending most of my energy trying to stay warm. I'm covering two hockey games this weekend (both in Kalamazoo) for the Herald and I'm finally getting my left front tire checked out. Other than that, I think I might head to the rec center one of these days and that's most likely it. Oh, and football will also be watched (Go Eagles, Go Steelers!).

Harry's coming into town next weekend to hang out. He hasn't been here in awhile and I think we'll probably demolish some Maggie's stew and smoke a cigar or two (among other things of course). Should be some good times. I'm starting to think that I'll probably just stay in Kalamazoo for the Super Bowl. Save the gas money and just kick it.

Classes are pretty easy so far. Can't believe that we are already two weeks in. I only have three classes and all of them are from 11-3:15 on Tuesdays and Thursdays. A couple of the classes won't be a worry at all and my journalism class will be some work, but nothing that I shouldn't be able to handle.

Hope everyone is staying warm. Everyone should check out the Kalamazoo Gazette Web site next Tuesday and Wednesday after the inauguration. Our journalism class is blogging all semester for the Gazette and our posts should be on the Web site by Tuesday evening (I think). Have a good weekend everyone!

2009: Year I Grow Up

2009-01-12T02:28:00.000-05:00

So, I decided that I haven't really truly been blogging so much as I have been just posting articles and rambling on about the weather and sports-related things. I've decided to write a entry on what my 2009 holds and what a monumental year it could be for me. The new year is traditionally filled with broken resolutions and dreams, but I simply made just one resolution this 2009: start my life.

2009 is... the year that I finally graduate from college. Yes, I've graduated before, but this graduation will promptly end my reign at WMU. I'll finally have a degree that I value and will put to good use in the future. I've spent most of my life going to classes, cramming for tests and worrying about grades and come April, all of that will be an afterthought. Even more exciting than all of that, I'll be looking near and far for journalism jobs, internships, whatever this spring and summer. I'm excited and unsure heading into the real world, but it is definitely time (right Dad?).

2009 is... my departure from Kalamazoo. This place really has become my home. Harbor Springs will always be referred to as my hometown, but I don't doubt that I'll miss the Zoo when I pack my bags and hit the road this August. I wasn't so sure about this place when I arrived in 2002, but I now know why people love living here. Halfway between Detroit and Chicago. 30 minutes from Lake Michigan. College Atmosphere. Cool hangouts and unique restaurants/bars/breweries (Bell's, Maggie's, Shakespeare's). There is just a certain electricity about the city that I don't feel other places. Wouldn't mind coming back to live here at some point in my life. This is the place where I schooled, partied, prepared and matured. It's where I met and lived with some of my best amigos. I'm sure I'll have a much more detailed goodbye to the city when that time comes. Who knows? Maybe I'll find a job close enough that I won't have to leave the area.

2009 is... my time to enter the adult world. I'm ready. Gosh... I would hope so. It only took me seven bloody years. In all seriousness though, I am ready. I'm also ready to move for a job. Nothing ties me down except moving away from the only state I've ever called home. It would be extremely tough to move away from my friends and family. That much is certain. I'm ready to move though, if it means a job in journalism and more importantly, sports. I have no girlfriend, no obligations, just the thought that I would be leaving my comfort zone. Chances will be made and hopefully for the better. I'd really like to try the east coast if I'm given the opportunity. That or out west. But, above all, if I'm able to stay in Michigan and still pursue my dreams, than I hope that happens. It's exciting to see where I am residing in eight or nine months. I'm the last remaining non-real world guy left and I'm ready.

2009 is... probably going to hold another exciting summer. My best friend is getting married. I foresee a lot of craziness in terms of bachelor parties, Tiger's games, the time leading up the wedding, etc. I see a lot of trips back up north for time in Harbor Springs - summers are always good up there. I see trips to Detroit, trips to the beach, trips to wherever... just to have fun. Got to enjoy the time while you can. Last summer was a blast. Why can't this one be?

2009... the year the Tigers make a serious run at the playoffs. Sorry... I couldn't hold off on sports-related topics. I truly believe that the Jim Leyland-led team has a shot at pursuing the postseason this year. They will find some more pieces before the season starts (hopefully in the bullpen) and the offense will easily have enough firepower to take care of that side of the ball. Cabrera will put together a monster year (as will Granderson and Maggs) and the Tigers will find some unity and chemistry and put together a season that will make fans forget about 2008 and reminisce about the 2007 year. Hopefully, this season upcoming year will be the kind where I can throw back a beer during the game in enjoyment instead of downing a beer in disgust during Tiger's games.

2009... it's so many more things that escape my mind right now. I hope that this year is all that it could be. I'm eagerly awaiting the next few months and hope that this is one year where my life changes forever. Because, it's finally time.

I'm back and so is the snow...

2009-01-11T20:17:00.004-05:00

Hey everyone. Sorry about the long delay between my last post and this one. I've been busy with the holiday season and the new semester already starting. I'm sure I'm not the only one who is already ready for the spring season and green grass. I love living in Michigan.... until December.

I was fortunate enough over the winter break to travel down to Houston, Texas to cover the Texas Bowl. Western Michigan lost miserably to Rice University, but it was a fun experience. I've never been to Texas before and we really got to see a lot of the city. I'd rather forget staying up all night because of our very early flight the morning after the game, but to get out of the cold and snow for a couple days was absolutely priceless. The Herald footed the bill for the trip as well, which made it even better.

Hope everyone had a good holiday season. I'm already getting used to the new semester and I know that this one will fly by. It's my last semester ever at college, hooray!

I will post some stories below from the most recent Herald's. Looking back on my last entry (before the Ball State game), it looks like it's been awhile for articles too. I'll post all the ones that I can find.

Football Stuff:
Blog from WMU vs. Ball State
Blog from Texas Bowl
Recap Article on Texas Bowl
Staff BCS Bowl Predictions

Hockey Stuff:
Preview for WMU vs. Miami
Recap Article on WMU vs. Miami
Recap Article on WMU at Dodge Holiday Classic
Recap Article on WMU vs. Ferris State

Stay off the roads these next couple of days. I hear that we're supposed to get an insane amount of snow. Does that mean I can skip my classes? ;) Just kidding.

Last Game. Biggest Game.

2008-11-25T02:22:00.003-05:00

Big game tomorrow (actually, later today). I'm heading down to Muncie, Ind. for the Ball State-Western Michigan game. BSU sits at 11-0 and is ranked No. 15 in the nation. WMU is 9-2 and should they win, they could crack the Top-25 for the first time in school history. It would also be the first time in school history that a Bronco team earned 10 wins in a season. The game is being televised on ESPN2 and it should prove to be one of the better MAC games this season. I know the team is jacked up. I'm equally ready for this one.

Here are some of the recent articles:
Preview of Ball State game - http://www.westernherald.com/?p=2564
Matchup Breakdown - http://www.westernherald.com/?p=2569
Pritchard Feature story - http://www.westernherald.com/?p=2515
Article on Sumney - http://www.westernherald.com/?p=2428
Recap of Toledo game - http://www.westernherald.com/?p=2249
Blog of Hockey game - http://www.westernherald.com/?p=2219

Have a good Thanksgiving everyone and go Broncos!

Recent Articles

2008-11-13T14:27:00.002-05:00

Last home game for Bronco football this weekend against Toledo. Should be fun.

Articles:
Preview of Toledo game: http://www.westernherald.com/?p=2157
Feature on Bronco Freshman: http://www.westernherald.com/?p=2099
Column on Football Season: http://www.westernherald.com/?p=2085

This weekend should be pretty busy. My dad is coming down tomorrow for the weekend (Mom is in Florida) and I'm covering the football and hockey game on Saturday. Weekend should fly by.

Bronco Football Article Updates

2008-11-10T18:59:00.002-05:00

Haven't posted any of my articles in awhile. Sorry.

Here are some of the most recent ones:

Preview of WMU vs. EMU Game - http://www.westernherald.com/?p=1770
Live Blog of WMU/EMU Game - http://www.westernherald.com/?p=1804
Feature Article of Bronco Receiving Trio - http://www.westernherald.com/?p=1887
Preview of WMU vs. Illinois Game - http://www.westernherald.com/?p=1948
Recap of WMU/Illinois Game - http://www.westernherald.com/?p=2056

Should have some more articles this week, so be sure to check back. Hope everyone is staying warm... I'm not ready for this.

Head-Clearer

2008-10-31T23:40:00.002-04:00

If anyone is having a bad day and needs a little something-something... I recommend listening to this song: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aMEE9AW94Hs

Cheers me up everytime I listen to it. Even when I'm not in a sour mood. Personal guarantee.

Bronco football game tomorrow at 2. Excited for another home game... it's been almost one month.

Week off... sort of

2008-10-26T23:17:00.002-04:00

Well, I had a week off from football because the team was on a bye. However, I stayed busy at the Herald, covering hockey this past weekend. It gave me a glimpse of the future, as that is what I'll be doing once the football season is over.

It was a great game on Friday (our only home game this weekend), as we played in and won our first ever shootout. It was truly an electrifying experience for everyone there and I'm glad I got the chance to cover the event. Hopefully there will be more of those for me to cover this season. The hockey team probably isn't due for the kind of season the football team is having, but they should play hard this season and maybe climb up a few spots in the CCHA. Many picked them to finish last this season in our conference, but I believe we'll do better than that.

Here are a few of my articles from the past week:

World Series predictions: http://www.westernherald.com/?p=1534
Hockey weekend preview: http://www.westernherald.com/?p=1569
Hockey weekend recap versus FSU: http://www.westernherald.com/?p=1644

Too bad the Rays are playing poorly right now. I was rooting for them and it almost looks like they are done. If the Phillies hold onto the 10-2 lead right now, they'll be up 3-1 in the series and have Cole Hamels pitching for the clincher tomorrow. Not looking good. The Rays will have to win the rest of the games and that is very unlikely. You never know though. Hope they can at least get the series back to Tampa Bay or make it to a Game 7.

Broncos fall short

2008-10-19T23:35:00.003-04:00

The Broncos fell short this weekend against the Chippewas and lost the game 38-28. WMU QB Tim Hiller set a school record with 471 passing yards, but it wasn't enough. The defense couldn't get off the field on third down and that seemed to be the underlining story. The whole game was an experience however and I was glad that I was apart of it, even though it was on the losing end. Let me tell you, I've never seen so many disappointed faces then when I watched the Bronco players walk out of that locker room. Hope I don't have to witness that again. The Broncos are now on a bye week this week and are 6-2 heading into it (not bad at all). This gives me a chance to cover hockey this weekend for the Herald, which I am looking forward to. It sounds like that is what I'll be covering after the football season is over.

CMU-WMU Recap article: http://www.westernherald.com/?p=1455

By the way, I'm extremely glad the Tampa Bay Rays held off the Red Sox in the AL. I don't think I could stand watching the Red Sox win again. Whoever wins the World Series, it will be a fresh scene for baseball and the sporting world. I'll be happy with whoever takes it, but secretly I'm rooting for Evan Longoria and the Rays. Side note: Does anyone else wonder why nobody gets hurt in the mayhem of the pileup that unfolds after a team wins? I always wonder how players hurt themselves with flukey injuries (sleeping or lifting your groceries wrong) and then hurl themselves into a massive pile but don't come out with a scratch. Interesting. You wait - it'll happen one day and it will totally change how teams celebrate. Watch.

Central-Western Weekend

2008-10-16T18:41:00.002-04:00

This weekend is a big one for WMU students and alumni. The annual WMU-CMU game is this Saturday in Mount Pleasant. I'm heading up there for the game on Saturday and making a stop at Matt's place on Friday. Hopefully there is good weather this weekend. This series the last couple of years has had some lousy weather. Hopefully the game is a good one as well. The game last season had several questionable calls down the stretch that ultimately doomed Western Michigan. We'll see what happens this year though. Both teams are undefeated in MAC play and if WMU wins, they'll be heading into their bye week 7-1 (5-0 MAC). Go Broncos!

Preview Article for the game: http://www.westernherald.com/?p=1365
Predictions for the CMU-WMU game: http://www.westernherald.com/?p=1371
Hiller, Cubit Feature Article: http://www.westernherald.com/?p=1309

The good and the bad

2008-10-13T12:33:00.002-04:00

Well WMU won this past weekend in a thriller over Buffalo. They were down and out and came back to tie the game and then win it in overtime. Wish I had been there. This weekend is a big one - Western vs. Central. Rival game. Hopefully the refs won't give the game to Central like they have been the last few seasons. And I hope Dan LeFevour gets devoured by our defense. Looking at the media packet this morning, he is the only CMU player that doesn't do player interviews past Monday. Some team player they have over there in Mount Pleasant. Can't wait to take them out and claim supremacy over the defending MAC champs.

Buffalo recap article: http://www.westernherald.com/?p=1254

This week has been rough so far and it's a little after noon on Monday... Sheesh. My prof in two of my classes (he teaches both my journalism classes) has just been a cancer to have this year and I'm going to be real glad when I'm out of his classes. No fun at all. Just having one of those blah kind of days. Just ready for this week to be over... already. At least I don't have class at all Wednesday or Friday as the esteemed professor I spoke of earlier is traveling to London. I'm thankful for that at least... Hopefully this weekend will more than make up for a subpar week so far.

Check back later this week as there should be a feature story on Tim Hiller and his relationship with QB Coach Ryan Cubit as well as the preview for the Central-Western game this weekend.

Just a regular post

2008-10-10T16:07:00.002-04:00

So, I've been writing a lot of posts about the Bronco football team and I decied to write a normal one today. Most of the past month and a half has revolved around the football team, but this weekend they are away, so I can take a semi-break from bending my brain around random stats and the hometown of our back-up kicker. That is until Saturday evening.

I'm also going to try and put some pictures up in this post and this is a semi-reminder to myself.

This semester has gone by extrememly fast so far. We are already six weeks through the semester. Six weeks! I had an exam today in my Journalism class and it wasn't too bad. My instructor for the class I have in two classes and I failed his first test (as did just about everyone else in the class). I think it's safe to say that I at least passed this one. The instructor in this class has been about the worst thing in a pretty good semester so far. I think he is trying to whittle us down so that only "the best" are left in the journalism school. Even if he doesn't accomplish that, he is making most of us doubt whether or not we're in the right profession. I'm not doubting myself though. I know I belong here, but it's never fun to hear disapproving remarks from your prof or receive countless papers with a big red rewrite on the top of it.

Other than that, the semester is going well. I like my other classes and they're pretty easy (they should be - I've only been a undergrad college student for six years). I actually enjoy going to class and look forward to walking onto campus. Being on Western's campus is like an addiction. Kalamazoo has been my home for six and a half years and I've had my best years here. I know I'll have to leave here eventually, but for now, I'm having a blast. Just wish I had a few more people around here to enjoy it with.

The football team and working for the Herald has definitely made the experience that much better. It's still exciting every time I walk into Waldo Stadium to interview a player or sit in the press box for a game. I'm not sure if that will ever get old. It's just cool too because I know many of these players can relate with me because they are students too. I feel as though we have that connection and I think it shows in the interviews. They have more fun with me than with someone of a bigger publication. Hopefully I can carry that excitement down the road when I do work for one of those larger papers or radio stations.

Speaking of which, I'm thinking it's going to be terribly hard to find a job next summer. I will most likely have to leave Michigan, which I'm ready to do and hopefully I can just find a full-time job somewhere. I've applied for an internship at the Kalamazoo Gazette (biggest paper we have around here), but they only take two interns a semester, so the likelihood of that happening is slim. You never know though.

I'm looking forward to the next few months however. I'm traveling to Mount Pleasant next weekend for the all-important CMU-WMU football game, which should be a good game. Then we have three straight home games to begin November with the second home game at Ford Field in Detroit (it's technically a home game, but we aren't at home). That game should be cool cause I'll get to function out of the Ford Field press box (very nice - I've been there once briefly). Side note: Western could be at Ford Field three times this year. The MAC Championship is played there and if Western goes to that and wins that, they would play in the Motor City Bowl at Ford Field again. I wouldn't mind doing that at all.

I'm just excited for the last regular season game when WMU plays Ball State (who are ranked number 25 in the country right now). I'm going to get excused for class and probably even miss my next day's classes as well. It's a Tuesday night game. Hopefully WMU is still undefeated or close to it in the MAC. Potentially a very big game in the MAC and nationally. I can see Ball State still being undefeated heading into that game.

There I go again. Getting back into the football frame of mind. In all seriousness however, this semester needs to slow down! I'm really enjoying it and wish that it could just slow down. Because most likely, this is my last few months of college. Yeah, we've all heard that before.

Broncos look to tackle second half of season

2008-10-09T11:16:00.002-04:00

Here are my articles from the past couple of days...

10 Q's with Austin Pritchard: http://www.westernherald.com/?p=1184

Preview article of Buffalo Game: http://www.westernherald.com/?p=1215

One thing that sucks about working so much for the Herald is that I really haven't been able to work as much at the hospital. And since I get so much for each article (can you feel the sarcasm?), I've been left eating PB & J a lot. Strawberry jam never tasted so good.

Oh well, I'm getting some very good experience that hopefully will help me down the road and I feel like each article is getting better. It's hard to tell with me writing them, but I feel like they sound better. Hopefully I'm developing my writing style a bit more. Let me know what you think in the comments box below or you can email me. Thanks dedicated readers.

Go Broncos this weekend. Another win and we'll be 6-1 (4-0 in the MAC)!

Homecoming game recap

2008-10-06T18:41:00.002-04:00

Great game this past weekend. The Broncos won their fifth straight and also earned their 500th school victory on Homecoming 2008. Had a lot of fun and wish that the weekend was still around as it is Monday... haha.

Here is my recap article of the game: http://www.westernherald.com/?p=1139

It actually made the front page which was a surprise to me. Pretty cool though. Hopefully we can continue our win streak on the road this next weekend. Buffalo will be a tough test.

Homecoming at WMU

2008-10-02T01:10:00.003-04:00

This weekend is homecoming. I'm looking forward to it as are so many other people around Western's campus. Should be a good weekend for our school. I've got quite a number of friends coming in, so it should be a pretty crazy time. Just hope I can survive the 3.1 mile run I'm doing Saturday morning... my body isn't liking me as much as I get older...

Here is my article for the Herald previewing the upcoming Homecoming game against Ohio:
http://www.westernherald.com/?p=1038

Hopefully we'll have a good weather day Saturday for the game. It's supposed to be cold and possibly rainy, but hopefullt that will hold until after the game. It will be fun nonetheless. Catch everyone next week!

Go Broncos!

Yikes Offense...

2008-09-28T22:40:00.003-04:00

The WMU Broncos won this weekend yes. Was it because of their offense? No. They won just 7-3, marking their lowest point total in a win since 1995. Hopefully the offense won't disappear now that we are playing some meaningful MAC games. We need the offense to carry us like it has throughout the season so far. It's going to be a real long season if we can only muster 36 yards rushing and only convert on 4 of 16 third downs.

On the plus side, the defense looked very solid after being touted as one of the best before the season started. I was wondering when the team was going to pick it up and it picked the right time to step up. Hopefully the defense will hold and the offense will pick it back up for the remaining games.

Here is my game recap article on the Herald website: http://www.westernherald.com/?p=878

Homecoming this coming weekend. Sounds like a good crowd is coming over for the weekend and the game. Should be fun.

Broncos head to Temple

2008-09-24T23:55:00.002-04:00

Well after the Bronco slaughter against Tennessee Tech (41-7 win), they now head out East to face-off against Temple University. This is the first game of a five-game stretch against Mid-American Conference opponents. Actually, this is the first of tough games that will likely shadow the WMU schedule for the rest of the season. Should be a tough road the rest of the season. Hopefully the momentum the Broncos (3-1, 1-0 MAC) have developed in the last three weeks will guide them the rest of the season. Temple is coming off a loss against Penn St. and also lost their starting QB in that game. Hopefully the Broncos can take advantage of this and take care of business this weekend. Game-time is set for 2 p.m. Saturday at Lincoln Financial Field in Philly.

Western Preview Article: http://www.westernherald.com/?p=824

Football team comes home and I hit the road

2008-09-18T00:51:00.003-04:00

Well, the Broncos are playing at home for just the second time this season and I suddenly leave Kalamazoo. This will be the only game I miss this season and it's for a good cause. I'm heading to NYC to visit Yankee Stadium before it closes and visit my friends that live there. I've been to New York City once before and I hope that this time will be as good as the last. Hopefully warmer too. Sunday, I'm also golfing with a lot of my family and I'm looking forward to that. Should be a pretty crazy and fun weekend.

The football team is coming home to play against Division I-AA opponent Tennessee Tech. They should win the game, but I'm not completely sold yet. This could by a challenging game for the Broncos. Definitely a hand-cuff game for the team. Hopefully they can pull out the victory while I am gone. With the win, they have the possibility to head into the tough conference schedule with a 3-1 record. Three wins would look mighty good this early in the season and they need all the momentum they can get. Go Broncos!

Here is my preview article for the game at the Herald website: http://www.westernherald.com/?p=615

Article on Bronco Secondary

2008-09-17T00:10:00.002-04:00

We've had a very good secondary for a few years now and it doesn't seem to be a coincidence. All four of the players we have right now are four-year starters and real close with each other. It was fun writing the article and getting to know some of the players that I interviewed. This is the second time that I've interviewed Delmas and he's just a real down-to-earth nice guy. Real complimentary and thanking me sincerely on what I'm doing. It's fun to write the articles when the subjects are cool and really appreciate what your doing. It makes everything more rewarding. That has been one of the biggest surprises so far. Everyone, including coach Cubit, has been real great to talk to and it's only helped me in terms of getting used to interviewing.

Here is the article: http://www.westernherald.com/?p=580

Broncos 51, Vandals 28

2008-09-15T13:16:00.003-04:00

The Broncos took it to the Idaho Vandals this past Saturday, defeating them on the road 51-28. I wrote a game recap article for the game and the article is now posted online.

You can see it here: http://www.westernherald.com/?p=517

This weekend will be the only WMU game I miss this season, as I will be in New York City with my buddy Drew to witness the second to last game at Yankee Stadium ever. I've never been to the Bronx and I'm looking forward to it. I can only imagine some of the emotions that will be running through that stadium and I'm not even a Yankees fan. It will be fun to be in the same place that housed Lou Gehrig, Joe DiMaggio, Yogi Berra and of course, Babe Ruth. Should be fun.

Herald Articles

2008-09-11T11:11:00.003-04:00

There seems to be quite a bit of confusion surrounding which articles are mine on the Western Herald website, or so I am told. I will attempt to make things much easier for everyone then and just post them on this website, so that everyone will know which ones are mine. I'm going to post articles or the links to them every time they add one of mine to the Herald page, so everyone can continue to visit this location.

They've been keeping me very busy at the beginning of the semester. The football team is probably one of the bigger sports WMU has and the job takes up quite a bit of time each week (going to practices, the Tuesday press conference, writing the articles, etc.). Each week, I tackle a game recap and game preview article and starting this week, I started doing a feature story on the football team (this week I wrote an article on running back Brandon West and his new role in the offense).

The writing seems to be getting easier and easier everytime I write an article and I find myself taking much less time as well. I've started a nice system when writing and it has been beneficial. It's much easier when you get good quotes from coach Cubit and the players. They've been pretty good so far this season about giving me time to ask them questions. I'm thankful for that.

Another cool perk about working for the team is I get to sit in the press box during the games. Our stadium, although small, is very modern and new (or so it seems) and even though I had the sun in my face for most of the first home game, it was pretty neat to be up top with all of the other sports dudes. I don't travel with the team for away games, however I will be traveling to some of the closer road games including Central Michigan, Ball St. (?) and our "home" game at Ford Field against Illinois. I'm still bummed about missing next week's home game against Tennessee Tech., but that should be the only game I miss this season.

Here are the articles as posted on the Herald website (most recent first):
http://www.westernherald.com/?p=450 - Game Preview of WMU vs. Idaho
http://www.westernherald.com/?p=384 - Feature story on Brandon West
http://www.westernherald.com/?p=206 - Game Preview of WMU vs. Northern Illinois
http://www.westernherald.com/?p=124 - Game recap of WMU vs. Nebraska

They didn't post my game recap of the Northern Illinois game, but I've got it in case anyone wants to read it. No biggie.

The semester is going pretty well. We're already almost through the second week already. There has been a lot of news in Kalamazoo concerning the Professors strike on campus and right now they are actually working without a contract. Both WMU and the Union are trying to work something out soon so that this doesn't get uglier than it already is. There have been some picketing going on around campus and they even showed up at the football game last week (they were right across from where I sat most of the game). At least classes haven't been cancelled yet - many of the students are worried about how that would affect their graduation date if something serious happened and the university closed for an extended period of time.

Next weekend I'm traveling with Drew to NYC to witness first-hand the second to last game at Yankee Stadium ever. Should be a crazy time. I've been to NYC once before for a few days and it will be cool to go back, even if just for one day. I'll be sure to take plenty of pictures.

This weekend should prove to be uneventful. I think I'm working a couple days and then I'm going to listen to the WMU football game on Saturday (they play in Idaho). And I may switch on the TV for the Lions game Sunday... I haven't decided yet. Not sure if I want to depress myself again after last week...

Eat. Breathe. Live. Football.

2008-08-30T23:21:00.002-04:00

This is my motto right now. As of today and actually a couple weeks ago I am all things Western Michigan University Football. That's pretty much my job this fall for the Western Herald newspaper. The season started today against Nebraska of all opponents and I was listening to every snap over the radio (I wasn't sent to Lincoln with the team - I'll probably only be headed to close away games). Western had a full plate in front of them and it showed in the first half as they were down 34-10 at halftime. However, they caused a few turnovers in the second half and even outscored the Cornhuskers 14-13 in the second half. They pulled to within 20, but that was as close as they got and they ended up losing 47-24. Our offense and more specifically our passing game was very good and QB Tim Hiller finished with around 350 yards throwing in the air. TE Branden Ledbetter also showed up big catching 9 balls for 120+ yards. It'll be interesting to see if this game will give the O-Line and the passing attack some added confidence heading into this MAC schedule. The run game was non-existant, but that was expected and WMU was playing catch-up the whole game. Well, those are my thoughts on the game for now. If you want to check out my game recap, it should be up on the website on Tuesday (if the website is ready, which it should be). I'm excited for this season and my experience with the football team. Can't wait for the home opener next Saturday versus Northern Illinois. Should be a good time.

Mid-June Update

2008-06-19T01:27:00.002-04:00

I'm avoiding blogger. No, not really. Just haven't had the time or drive to write a post until now - 1:30 in the morning on a Thursday morning. I've finally got some time off (the next 4 days) from class and work.

I've been actually very busy this summer thus far. Taking one class (which is done next week), working pretty steadily at Borgess and then also writing articles for the Herald. I wasn't sure if I'd get much work this summer with the Herald, but I've wrote about two a week for about a month at least now. The type of articles and sports have been different which is good because it gives me some experience with everything. I've had the most fun talking and interviewing the different players and coaches from around WMU. I also was able to go to a Kalamazoo Xplosion (indoor football team) game two weekends ago and actually finally cover a live event. I'm glad that I'm finally able to get some experience writing and I'm gearing up for the fall and spring semeters coming up.

Tigers are looking good. They've been on a roll as of late and it doesn't look like they'll let up anytime soon. The pitching is finally coming around and the offense seems as though it's starting to click on all cylinders. If the bullpen shapes up with the return of Zumaya and Rodney, it could be a dangerous summer for the other teams in the AL.

Looking forward to taking it easy this weekend. My next two weekends are filled with Robbie's bachelor party and the big trip home to Harbor for the 4th of July and Robin's wedding. Robin got a dog named Achilles. Awesome name for a dog.

Anyways, tomorrow is a big day of videogames, hanging out with friends and general laziness so I best be making my way to the other side of the room and my bed.

Goodnight.

May?

2008-05-29T23:54:00.002-04:00

It's already almost over, but I don't even recall having a month of May. Seriously. I've been traveling a lot this month all over Michigan, making two trips (three once you count tomorrow) to Detroit and one up north to Harbor Springs. I've also been pretty busy while here in Kalamazoo working a lot at the hospital, writing articles for the Herald finally and I'm also taking a class this summer. In short, this summer should fly by.

Since the Herald sports section graduated a lot of seniors following the spring semester and as a result, I've taken one of the lead spots on the team - I think. So far this summer I've done various articles and actually conducted a few face-to-face interviews with WMU coaches. This is still all new to me, but so far its been fun and I'm looking forward to writing even more when all the fall sports begin in August/September. It sounds as though everything is going to slow down now with the paper and it's only going to run once a week starting July. The only real sport we have going right now is Track and Field and my editor said he might start doing columns later on this summer. That could be interesting.

Getting pretty jacked up for the month of July. My sister has the countdown on until her wedding. I'm just looking forward to having everyone at my house for a couple days and seeing many people that I haven't seen in years. Not everyone will be there and there are a few people that I will miss, but it's going to be a fun time no matter what. I think that I'll probably head home for at least a couple weeks to be around and help out my mom and dad in that crazy time and that will probably be the longest I've been there since I stayed home after sophmore year - long time ago. Robbie's wedding is also at the end of that month and I'm moving into my new apartment in July too. That month will be gone in a flash as well.

Heading over to Detroit to see the Red Bull Air Race tomorrow. We're going to the qualifying session on Saturday. I've seen these guys on TV before and they're pretty nuts - should be fun. I'm doubtful many people read this because it's been awhile since I posted, but to those of you who still are reading this, I'll make a more concerted effort to post. However, promise is too strong of a word.

To those of you who want to read the Herald articles, they aren't posting any online issues this summer due to most of Western being away from Kalamazoo and the internet world. Plus, we only do two smaller issues a week now, so it seems kind of rediculous. I've saved some of the issues, so if anyone wants to read them, let me know.

Back to the Books

2008-04-21T00:02:00.004-04:00

I have three exams this week - it's finals week here at Western. They should be fairly easy and even though I missed a whole week of class because of the trip, my professors have been pretty good to me and allowed me to make up most of the work. I should be good to go for this week and then I'll be done for the summer - excellent. Next semester is almost locked down for classes - I'm taking three communications classes next semester and I'm trying to get into two journalism classes. Five classes, working at the Herald and working at Borgess should keep me very busy this fall.

It already feels like summer and that's probably because, it is. Today we went to the IM Fields and tossed the frisbee around. The weather here in Kalamazoo was great - 60's, sunny with a light breeze. It felt good to run around in my bare feet and actually take a cold shower afterwards. Today was a glimpse that this is probably going to be a pretty good summer.

Not sure if anyone follows racing out there but Danica Patrick won her first IRL race. Pretty sweet. She's got a lot of talent and I believe that one of these years she could challenge for the Indy 500 or the IRL Championship.

Pistons lost their first game of the playoffs today - that was kind of a shocker. I am fairly confident that they'll be able to take at least one game in Philadelphia however. The Red Wings moved on to the second round (finally) and the Tigers are still struggling losing another series, this time to the Blue Jays. They have some major problems in their rotation - problems that hopefully will end soon. Pretty exciting times for Detroit sports fans right now.

Trip Analysis

2008-04-19T23:54:00.002-04:00

Hey all! Back from my travels out west and I'm going to declare that it was one of the best weeks of my life. I'm happy and sad to be home, but am thankful that I was able to take this kind of trip (especially during the school year). I'm not sure how much sleep I had throughout the trip, but I can tell you the first few nights we maybe had a couple hours at best. Vegas was the big culprit, as was our early flights to and from Portland. Drew and I estimated that we traveled over 6,000 miles (1,500 driving, the rest by plane or train) during our trip and we hit a total of 10 states (most of them ones I had never been to or through. All this in only 7 days - ahh the joys of being young.

I'm going to try and break this down by city and day and just write a summary about each.

Day One - Las Vegas
I flew into Los Angeles by myself and had the daunting task of picking up the car and driving like mad through the rush hour traffic in LA on a Saturday. I survived and picked up Drew's sister, Andrea at the other L.A. airport and then we made our way along highway 15 to Las Vegas. Our Ford Focus was amazing and we made pretty good time. I can't say enough about the weather and the view around us while we were out there - just awesome. We made it into Vegas while the sun set and found our hotel ok. We stayed at the Mirage which is right on the strip. I somehow got myself a penthouse suite and we supposedly stayed on the same floor as Jay Leno (he was preforming at our hotel that night). We never saw him though - too bad. Once Drew flew in, the three of us walked the strip and stopped at various places. We didn't gamble too much - I think I maybe spent 20 dollars total and of course, lost it all. We did get to see the fountain in front of the Bellagio, which was cool at night. We stayed up very late (2 am in Vegas - but 5 am to our bodies) and since we had been up since a little before 5 the morning before, I was exhausted by the end of the day. One thing about Vegas and this can be said about Portland as well - very clean. Everything was clean.

Day Two - Portland, Oregon
We flew up to Portland for leg two of our journey. We got in fairly early and got downtown via train (very cheap) by noon or a little after. Drew and I met up with our friend Rob (buddy from WMU) and his two friends and we spent the afternoon with them. We had lunch at Rock Bottom Brewery (some tasty beer by the way) and then made our way to a nickel arcade (in an old movie theatre) and some local stores. It was very different from our day in Vegas, but Portland altogether is a very different place. Very reserved, but very cool too. Kind of like a gentle giant. Just a beautiful city with lots of unique characteristics to it. It didn't remind me of any place I've ever been to. I can see why lots of people like to live in the area. The weather was crazy too - rained periodically three or four times with no clouds and sunshine in-between (I'm told this is the norm out there). Welcome to the Pacific Northwest. It was neat just walking around the city and not necessarily going a lot of places, but experiencing everything.

Day Three - Big Sur, California
Today was a big travel day and our last long car ride. We flew back to Las Vegas (past the mountains which was awesome) and picked up our Focus. From there - we traveled all the back across the desert and up the California coast - a grand total trip of about eight hours. The Focus drove excellent (really great on the gas too). I had fun again watching the scene around me change as we went from the city, to the desert, to the green mountains of California and finally to the Pacific (my first time seeing it). Our drive on highway one was very cool. We were driving along the highway while the sun set and it was a very cool to experience. We didn't reach Big Sur until after dark and our campground was closed. They left us the key however (so graciously) and we stayed in a little log cabin that night. Ate some food at the Big Sur Roadhouse - excellent place - and finished the night with a campfire (can't beat that). Driving on the rocky cliffs of that coast was unlike anything (there were a lot of firsts this trip) I've ever done. Drew referred it to like driving in a videogame. I quickly reminded him that if you fall of the edge though, you can't hit the reset button. Great weather while there. Just awesome.

Day Four - San Francisco, CA
We departed Big Sur the next morning having a better look at our surroundings now that it was daylight. Continued on highway one again (my turn this time) and made our way towards Frisco. Our GPS system (saved us countless times) guided us to our hotel in downtown San Fran and luckily we were able to park in a safe place for the day/night. We walked pretty much the rest of the day (if I would do it again - I might rethink this strategy) climbing and running down the hills of San Fran. We passed the famous zig-zag street called Lombard St. Pretty neat. We toured Alcatrez Island and took a tour of the island - pretty sweet. Very cool place with an almost eerie feeling (I would've hated to be there at night). Fisherman's Wharf was also cool. We ate some seafood and walked around, doing some shopping, etc. - just taking it all in once again. We also saw the protestors as the olympic torch was in the city the day we left for Santa Barbara (but we didn't see Richard Gere - darn!). Crazy that we were there at the same time. San Fran very different from the cities we had been to so far - lots of homeless and very dirty. Drew and I commented numerous times about these facts. All and all though, very neat city and we even caught a Giants-Padres game that night - not bad for a day.

Day Five - Santa Barbara, CA
We made our way back down the coast (but avoiding highway one this time) towards Santa Barbara. We originally were thinking San Diego, but by the time we would have got there, it would have been night and we would have missed out on everything and wasted a day on travel. We made it to S.B. in the afternoon, after of course my speeding ticket - ugh (didn't see a cop all day until the guy in my rear-view mirror). We acutally found a pretty good deal for the kind of city it is (very nice). The city is set on the coast with the mountains in the backdrop. There were tons of stores in the city itself, but no skyscrapers or anything. Just a very big Harbor Springs perhaps, but with more variety and more glitzy. We ate at the Santa Barbara Brewing Co. that night and walked around the town a lot (bought some wine!). The next morning before we left we even went to a winery to taste some wine (very good). Drew wouldn't let us leave California without going to at least one winery and I agreed. We went down by the harbor and the Wharf as well and went through some of the shops. Very good place to stay at - I'm glad we stopped there that night.

Day Six - Los Angeles, Union Station
After a lot of hassle between getting to the train station, dropping off the car, and getting to the train station we made it with an hour to spare before our train departed that afternoon/evening. We both checked one bag and had two bags with us on board - we had to each buy one bag to put the stuff we had collected/bought on the trip in it. We had coach seats (no sleeper car) next to each other and sat in the very last car of our amtrak train. The first night we made it as far as eastern California before the sun went down. We spent that night trying to find a good way to sleep in those uncomfortable seats. What a battle that was. Cool looking out the window and just taking it all in after having to do everything ourselves over the previous five days.

Day Seven - Cross-Country Travel
Today was our continued travel onboard the train. We passed through New Mexico and by nightfall, Colorado. We were going at a pretty slow pace through N.M. because of the turns and the mountains. We actually got some snow while on the train and for me, it was a sign that we were returning home and our trip was close to its end. Took a lot of neat pictures that day and saw a lot of cool things that people don't normally see driving through Michigan or other areas of the country. Just neat taking it all in. Drew and I watched DVD's on his laptop when we weren't stareing out the window and just having a good time relaxing. Let me tell you - there were some kind of different people in the seats all around us, so there was always someone watching our bags (we never both left the seats at the same time).

Day Eight - Chicago & Kalamazoo
Today we arrived in Chicago. Our friend Mel was there to meet us as we got to the train station. The train was actually on-time, almost exactly on-time (3:20 pm). We did some more Drew and Adam running around to get a rental car and made in back to Kalamazoo around 10 pm our time. Whew. What a trip.

I'm sure I made a bunch of typos in here, so please forgive me. But I got pretty much most of the trip on here, so be thankful for that. I'm just glad I didn't try and copy my trip log onto here - that would have taken hours. I'm going to try and put some pictures on here soon, but it's sometimes hard to get them on here. Hope everyone enjoyed the entry.

161-1?

2008-04-01T00:47:00.003-04:00

Game 1
Today was Opening Day for Baseball around the country and most importantly in Detroit. The Tigers have a new-look team this year with some off-season additions and should make a solid run at the pennant and the World Series this year. They opened at Comerica today against the Royals and while they fought pretty hard, they fell to the Royals in extras, 5-4. Miguel Cabrera hit his first official Tiger homer deep to left field and Justin Verlander pitched a very solid game, but it wasn't enough to hold off a pesky Kansas City team, who showcased a play til the last pitch attitude. Can't win 'em all, but it always is nice to win the first one in a long season. We'll try again on Wednesday. Kenny Rogers takes the ball for the Tigers.

We're staying at a different hotel in Vegas now. We'll be on the strip after we moved from the Hilton to the Mirage. Hopefully this will enhance the trip and the visit to Vegas even more. The trip is fast approaching and I'm very excited about leaving this Friday. I'm pretty sure I have everything all squared away and am set to leave for a week. Just 4 Days until my train leaves for Detroit and the beginning of my tour of 9 states in just 7 days.

Check out the Herald tomorrow (Tuesday) if you get a chance. Nothing big, but some of the staff, including myself, made predicitions for the upcoming MLB season. There could be some surprises on who I picked to win the different divisions, but probably not surprise on who I picked to win it all!

I'll probably post once more before I leave Friday, so see you then.

Two Week Itch

2008-03-20T20:38:00.002-04:00

In light of my recent purchase for the trip, http://catalog.belkin.com/IWCatProductPage.process?Product_Id=257315 I am asking everyone for some good songs to have on my Ipod for the West Coast trip. So I am asking you - what songs need to be listened to while driving up and down the coast of California? I've got a bunch of songs on my Ipod rearing and ready to go, but am probably missing some of the most worthy ones. Let me know if you get a chance.

March Madness begins today. I'm feeling fairly confident in my bracket this year, but I say that every year and usually end up broken-hearted. My teams this year are Pittsburgh and Purdue. I think they are going to make some lengthy runs, considering their seeding.

Two weeks from tomorrow I head out West to the Pacific Ocean. There is no word to describe the excitement I have built up for this trip. We currently have a winter storm watch in Kalamazoo and the further I can get away from this kind of stuff, the better.

Happy Green Day

2008-03-17T23:06:00.000-04:00

Happy St. Patrick's Day Everyone.

Had a pretty good weekend. Sunday we went out to Flint for Steph's sisters visitation. I think she enjoyed us being there for a couple hours and it was definitely worth going out for. I hope that it got her mind off things, even if just for a bit and I know that having friends there would definitely help in a situation like that. The rest of the weekend was pretty relaxing. Just took it pretty easy and went out on Saturday night to celebrate the "first" St. Patrick's Day with some friends.

There are some trip updates. Tomorrow I'm going to purchase the last hotel (or in this case Cabin) that we are scheduled to stay at. It's in Big Sur and it's a pretty neat log cabin in the woods near the Pacific Ocean. Here is the website: http://www.bigsurcamp.com/index.html
After that our trip we be pretty much complete. We're also for sure going to see a San Francisco Giants - San Diego Padres baseball game in San Fran on that Tuesday when we are staying in SF. Only eighteen more days until we head out to California and the West Coast on the 5th of April. Wow - until I just counted, I didn't even know it was that close!

Thanks to everyone who has read my first article in the Western Herald and since given me some positive feedback. It was a pretty big deal for me and I'm very excited to be published in the paper. Hopefully you'll see more from me in there soon.

Opening Day is in exactly two weeks. I'm almost as excited for this as I am the trip.

Hope everyone has a good week. You'll most likely hear from me again later this week.

First Article for Herald

2008-03-13T03:36:00.002-04:00

I'm up real late tonight - first time I've done this in a long time. And I wasn't doing homework. Suddenly I don't feel so old anymore. Reminds me of some of the all-nighters we had on Bouton nights. Just thought I would post that my first article is being published by the Western Herald for the Thursday, March 13, 2008 edition.

The Herald has a website - www.westernherald.com and the Thursday edition is our last edition for the week, so my article should be there all weekend. You can find it in the sports section and it's entitled, "Lacrosse earning more than wins." There really aren't many changes that the editor put in except for a few word changes here and there and seperating some of the paragraphs that I had to help the article flow better.

Let me know what you guys think about the article. I'm pretty happy with the way it turned out and I'm hoping to get some more feature stories soon. They might have me follow some of the matches being played by the lacrosse team this year which would be cool.

Anyways, it's pushing 4 am and I have class in 7 hours. Goodnight... errr, Good Morning.

Spring Sports

2008-03-06T13:37:00.000-05:00

Really looking forward to a couple of things this month. First, the Western Michigan Broncos Basketball team is having a pretty solid season again this year and have clinched the MAC West Title with an 11-4 recond in MAC play (they lost last night to Central - ugh). I'm pretty sure they have locked up a bye for the MAC Tournament and if they can put a real good stretch together, they just might come away with a MAC Tourney Title and an automatic bid into the NCAA Tournament. They have to beat a couple of good teams (Akron, Kent State, Ohio) along the way, but it can be done. Would love to see them play in the national spotlight again.

Also, the Tigers are in the beginning stages of spring training down in Lakeland Florida playing and tuning up for the season to start. They have a load of talent under their command this year and are expected to do well. There are a few key pieces that still have to be figured out like what to do with Brandon Inge and how to set up the bullpen behind Todd Jones and Rodney. As long as there are no major injuries so far though, then spring training can be considered a success.

Starting to get excited (even more so than before) for the season and there is actually a spring training game on TV today, so I'm going to go watch. Check everyone later.

Harbor is Where the Heart Is

2008-02-28T22:25:00.003-05:00

Making my way home to Harbor tomorrow afternoon. The students (me - yay!) here at Western are on a Spring Break (never thought I'd have one of those again) and I'm going home for a couple days. My sister will be up as well, so it will kind of be like a shortened Christmas break - and with the weather the way it is, I'm sure everyone will agree. Sounds like a relaxing, movie-watching weekend (not much of a shift from my normal weekend) that we have on tap, but in a different place with some different faces.

Not sure if I mentioned this in any previous entries, but I am going to begin writing articles for the Herald after Spring Break. The sports editor told me a little about what I'll be writing about for the rest of the semester and it seems promising. Since I have little experience and I can't really pick up any beats right now (middle of the winter sports season), he said I'll probably be writing about some of the club teams and do some feature articles to get my feet wet. His goal is to have me write about 6-7 articles (probably one a week) before the end of the semester and then I would have some good experience going into next year. Most of the sports staff is graduating this spring (including the editor), so he said I have a real good opportunity for next year. This leaves me at a crossroads. I wasn't exactly planning on staying into next year, but this opportunity forces me to re-think about my plans now.

Well, I'm off to sleep. The extra day of February (and thus an extra day of winter - ugh!) is going to be a long one with me working 8 hours and then traveling 4 plus hours home. Hope everyone has a good weekend and we'll catch ya in the hopefully much warmer March.

Good Riddance?

2008-02-26T23:54:00.003-05:00

I haven't much time to blog tonight because I'm studying for two evil exams tomorrow, but I'd just like to point out that Miguel Cabrera's first AB as a Tiger was a 420-foot homerun over the Centerfield fence. The Tigers were playing a college team today, however, I think it bodes well for the year to come. Real Spring training games begin tomorrow.

Herald

2008-02-23T17:23:00.002-05:00

I finally got an email back from the Sports Editor at the Western Herald. He told me to come in and we'll discuss some of the articles and sports that I will be writing about. I'm going to try and get Monday off from work so that I can go visit him at the office. Hopefully I can get some steady work here before the semester is over. I'm really going to push writing articles about the baseball team and/or the Tigers - although I'm really not going to be picky 'cause I'm the new guy.

This job opportunity comes at a perfect time because I'm really starting to get tired of Borgess. On most days it's really not a bad job (get paid to do homework and watch TV), but other days I really wonder why I'm working in a hospital when I'm not sick or even going into any medical profession. This Herald job is right up my alley.

Waiting patiently for the next few weeks to go by before:
1) Spring Break
2) More Wii Games coming out (Smash Brothers & Mario Kart)
3) It gets warmer
4) Getting even closer to "the trip" in April

Man-Crush

2008-02-21T23:31:00.004-05:00

Throughout this whole political process this 2008 election year, I have developed one large man crush... and it's not John McCain. Yes, I'm not going to lie - my heart started beating a little faster when I saw Senator Barack Obama walk across the stage tonight at the University of Texas. I'm even going to go ahead and say that it's probably weird that I've declared a man-crush on Barack, but I'm ok with that. Maybe it's for the fact that I can't stand Hillary or for the fact that he struck a heisman pose today with a heisman trophy. Maybe it's because he reminds me of JFK or because he's being compared to FDR - who knows? All I know is that he's my man and after watching the debate tonight, I am certain on one thing... the man's got style.

GObama!!! (thanks AOTS)

In other news: I'm ready for baseball season and the weather that it brings.

WHY?

2008-02-15T10:40:00.002-05:00

I was very saddened by the news regarding the shooting at Northern Illinois University yesterday. Hearing that it took place in a large lecture hall was a little eerie because I have a lecture every single day of the week in 250+ seat classrooms. I didn't think it was possible for something like Virginia Tech to happen again (at least not for awhile) and it happened within a year and this time even closer. Northern Illinois, like Western, is in the Mid-American Conference and has roughly the same amount enrollment. Western was supposed to travel to DeKolb this weekend to face the Huskies in basketball, but that is an afterthough right now.

Something is going to have to change at colleges and universities across the nation because this is starting to get a little scary. The first thing I thought about today walking into my lecture was, should I start sitting a little closer to the front in case that one person walks through the door and decides that it's his or her turn to make national headlines. I'm not sure if metal detectors are necessary, but campuses need plans for emergency situations. All it takes is one little thing to snap inside someone's head and dozens of innocent people are put in danger. All I know is, that everytime someone walks through the door during my lectures in the weeks to come, I'll be more aware and alert about who it is.

Trip Update

2008-02-14T14:05:00.002-05:00

It's official. I've began a countdown. Exactly 50 Days until Drew and I depart on our epic quest of the West Coast. Things are going to be a little different at the beginning of the trip. Drew has a class that weekend that will keep him in the classroom on Friday night and Saturday morning. He had to switch his plane ticket from flying out with me Saturday morning and instead is going to meet Andrea and I in Las Vegas that evening. I'm in charge of getting to Los Angeles, picking up the rental car, picking up Andrea (who will fly in to L.A. at a different airport) and then we'll meet Drew in Las Vegas that evening. Hope my incompetence when it comes to being responsible doesn't hurt me on this one. Other than that, everything else on the trip is the same as planned, so no worries there.

I'm really being careful with my money these days in awareness for this trip. I've got some money saved and I'm trying my best to not use up all those funds on useless stuff before the trip. Buying the camera and getting all that settled ahead of time was good and the fact that we have almost all the hotel rooms, plane tickets and car rental taken care of is huge.

Was thinking about heading over to Detroit this weekend to bum around but I really don't have the cash to do this and my cold is still winning battles, so I will most likely stay put this weekend. I'm going to probably be over there during Sprink Break anyways.

I'm going to try and get some more pictures in here soon, although I really don't have too many that are blog-worthy right now.

Oh, and it's Valentine's Day. I'm currently in hiding.

Lies, Lies and More Lies...

2008-02-13T17:06:00.004-05:00

As I have previously stated, Wednesday's are perhaps my favorite day of the week this semester. Not only do I get a 7+ hour break between classes, but I get to enjoy my only journalism class on this day. Today, I was also able to watch just about all of the Clemens-McNamee hearing today on ESPN. There were no shockers in what they said to Congress today and I'm actually somewhat disappointed that watching almost 5 hours worth of hearing really led nowhere. Nothing was decided although I found myself rooting for Clemens more than McNamee (Clemens' former personal trainer). McNamee seems like he is more believable as he's got nothing to lose and Clemen's has his reputation on the line, but I am rooting for Clemen's for the mere fact that I'm worried about what might happen to the game of baseball if he's found he lied today. I really don't want to see the game tarnished by any means and it seems that these never ending steroid hearings involving the United States government are starting to give our national pastime a black eye (if it already hasn't). Lou Pinella, manager of the Cubs, said today that he didn't mind what they were doing but didn't want to see it upstage the game and spring training. I think it would be a shame if this kept going into the season because the game doesn't deserve this. So here's to hoping that the next five years aren't overshadowed with steroid talk and accusations about famous ballplayers using banned substances. We've all got the right to hope, correct?

Valentine's Day tomorrow. Brace yourself.

Worst Holiday Ever

2008-02-08T21:59:00.001-05:00

With Valentine's Day fast approaching, I find myself in the same mood I'm in every year around this holiday - annoyed. I've always had disdain for V-Day and this year is no different. Every time it's brought up by my friends or I see a "cute" commercial on TV adversitising various gifts, I find myself overcome by feelings of anger, sadness and disgust. I'm not sure when this all started, but I can tell you that I'm not normally taken with these kinds of emotions. I guess maybe it's for the fact that I'm not usually participating in this holiday, but I really don't think that's the whole reason. I just flat-out dislike a holiday to me - is pointless. A real waste of money if you ask me. So come next Thursday, you won't find me wearing red and handing out cards like their candy. Instead, you'll probably find me rejoicing the end of the terrible holiday and dreading the fact that there is still another one to come next year.

"Super" Bowl & Tuesday

2008-02-04T10:32:00.000-05:00

Until the fourth quarter last night, the game between the Patriots and Giants wasn't much of a game at all. The commercials were more entertaining and I actually got up to get food and beverages during the gameplay. Realizing that the game was actually going to be in the ballpark of Plaxico Burress' prediction, it was gametime in the fourth. There was some very good defense throughout the game, which isn't appealing to your outside fan but was riveting in the fourth quarter. Everyone expected the game to come down to the last couple of minutes and that always makes for a good Super Bowl. Blowouts mean loss in interest, but these teams kept everyone tuned to the TV for the mere fact that the Patriots weren't blowing anyone out of the water. Tom Brady looked human. The Patriots looked panicked for the first time all season and could have even lost that edge they had over the Giants - confidence. I had a hard time rooting for the Patriots because most of those players have rings already at home. I had an easier time rooting for Eli Manning in getting his first ring than Randy Moss receiving his first. I just read somewhere that it is most likely the highest game ever rated, which is expected. Maybe one of these years the Lions can put together some momentum leading into the playoffs like the Giants this year (funny, right). The Giants showcased that anyone can win the Super Bowl - who cares what anyone else says? Very good game in my opinion.

Tomorrow is one of the bigger days politically, as well. I'm interested to see who pulls ahead on the Democratic side (Obama or Hillary). It seems that John McCain has the Republican nomination in the bag, unless Romney comes out of nowhere. I'm kind of new to all this politic stuff, but Super Tuesday is apparently a pretty large day so I'm going to take it all in tomorrow. Where was I four years ago? I'm hoping that John Edwards finds it somewhere in himself to support Obama rather than Hillary because I think he has a much better chance at winning the presidency than Hillary over the Republican front-runner.

And now that football season is officially over, it's time to turn to baseball. Pitchers and catchers report to spring training in less than two weeks and my favorite Tiger, Brandon Inge is reporting with them. Once sworn off from ever having to play catcher again, he now finds himself right back where he started. There is still a chance that the Tigers will trade him, but as of now, he's the third catcher/back-up infielder/possibly outfielder on a suddenly very-dangerous and playoff contending Detroit Tigers squad.

My Playlist

2008-02-03T00:03:00.000-05:00

Yes, music is good. I like music. I have a hard time believing that there is anyone who doesn't like some kind of music or artist. There have been several songs and artists that have influenced me during my still young life (some in middle school, others more recently). If I was forced to create a playlist of songs that embodies my life so far, this is what it would look like. If I was famous, you'd be able to see this on itunes.

There really is no particular order.
1. Snow Patrol - "Run"
2. Moby - "God Moving Over the Face of the Waters"
3. Coldplay - "Clocks"
4. U2 - "Beautiful Day"
5. Linkin Park - "Numb"
6. Explosions in the Sky - "Your Hand in Mind"
7. Eric Clapton - "Cocaine"
8. Sigur Ros - "Samskeyti"
9. Boston - "Livin' for You"
10. Lostprophets - "Last Train Home"
11. Moby - "Porcelain"
12. Metallica S&M - "No Leaf Clover"
13. Death Cab for Cutie - "Marching Bands of Manhattan"
14. Aerosmith - "Dream On"
15. The Verve - "Bittersweet Symphony"
16. Thrice - "Stare at the Sun"
17. Straylight Run - "Existentialism on Prom Night"
18. Incubus - "Dig"
19. Guns n Roses - "November Rain"
20. Smash Mouth - "All-Star"

I'm sure I'll look at this list in five years and feel completely embarassed by it, but these are a few of the songs and bands that have filled my ears from when buying cds was cool to the current age of the ipods.

C-C-Cold

2008-01-31T14:20:00.000-05:00

Seeing how my fingers were too cold to even type yesterday, I had to wait until today to write this entry. Yesterday was one of those winter days where all you want to do is stay inside under the covers. I knew it was going to be a rough day when even poking my head out from underneath my blankets made me shiver. Go away outside world.

Just about every college, university and school system was out in this region except of course for Western and Kalamazoo College. I drove to class with my window down because my windshield was frozen on the inside as well as outside - don't try this... your head then abruptly freezes as well. It's scary watching all of these southern Michigan drivers try and manuever in the snow. One strong push on the breaks and you could end up looking into the headlights of someone else.

Still no word from the Western Herald guy. Although I'm going to email today to see what's up. Hopefully I can get a response and a job soon. I've started writing beat articles for my journalism class, so I have some work to showcase for him.

Locked down a few more hotels for the West Coast trip. I purchased a hotel in Portland which is fairly close to the airport - which is good because we're only there one night. I believe sometime soon Drew is going to get a real neat one in downtown San Francisco for when we spend a night there. We're going to leave the last part of the trip open just in case we get behind or find something we hadn't anticipated before going out there.

This weekend is going to be pretty laid back. No work. No school-work. No money. The last of these limits me of doing pretty much anything, so I'll most likely be hitting the rec center, hanging out at home and gearing up for the Super Bowl.

So I now realize that I've been complaining a lot (no money, it's cold) so I'm going to try and not complain as much on my next entry, but of course no promises. This is me in my mid-winter rut.

Pictures Aplenty

2008-01-24T18:30:00.000-05:00

Well, today I became even poorer by telling myself that I had enough money to buy a camera. It was something that needed to be done, however. With the trip creeping up and my older Canon in shambles, I purchased a smaller, cheaper PowerShot. I've read good things about it online with one customer even claiming he lost it in the snow for 3 weeks before finding it and is still using it to this day. Even the Best Buy guy liked my purchase. He didn't even try to offer me something more expensive - thank god. The memory card holds about 1200 pictures which should suffice for the upcoming trip - I would hope so!

The costs should be pretty fair from here on out. We need to reserve a few more one-night stays at different hotels and I need to make sure that I have enough cash to cover other random costs - like taxis, food, gas and other random stuff. But the large costs are done and over with. My wallet is barely recognizeable.

Still no word from the Sport Editor dude at the Western Herald. He's probably a busy man. If I don't hear from him soon, I'm going to pay him a visit on campus to further push my interest in writing articles. It's only been one week though, so I can't get overly-aggressive.

My camera ---> http://www.bestbuy.com/site/olspage.jsp?skuId=8266164&type=product&id=1170290185654

Well, I'm Officially Pumped

2008-01-20T02:13:00.000-05:00

I reserved today at the Hilton in Las Vegas for just 104 dollars - not bad. It's right on the strip and is only a few miles from the airport. Just a few more hotels to reserve and we should be all set for this trip. I don't know if I've ever been more pumped for anything more in my life. Experiencing the west coast like this with my best bud and seeing all of the major cities in one trip is going to be one for the memories. Here's to hoping that the money situation holds up.

I'm going to predict some of tomorrow's games. I'm going to go ahead and say that I'm fairly excited for these championship games and that I'm not so excited about going boarding tomorrow in single-digit weather. So instead, I think I will sit at home and watch Green Bay and New England hopefully own and meet up in the Super Bowl. I would love to see a Brett Favre and Tom Brady match up. Pack is going to win 33-14 and New England will win 31-16. Those are my predictions and I'm sticking to them.

Alright, what a late night for me. More good news to come hopefully and may my extended weekend (we at WMU get Martin Luther King Jr. Day off) give me oodles of rest for the upcoming haul until spring break.

Closer...

2008-01-19T16:04:00.001-05:00

Finalizing! We have purchased the plane tickets from Las Vegas to Portland and back and Drew last night made reservations for the car rental which was real cheap because we bought the plane tickets through Southwest. Pretty much the only thing left to do is to check into some hotels in the spots where we're staying. Drew said that he found some pretty cheap and neat hotels in Big Sur that are right on the ocean and I'm going to make it my duty to find an affordable and awesome place to stay in Las Vegas. But everything is falling into place for sure, which is definitely cool...

Western Herald

2008-01-18T23:47:00.000-05:00

As of the other day, I will most likely be working for the Western Herald - which is the student-run newspaper here on WMU's campus. I spoke with the Sports Editor during a tour of the Western Herald that we took for my journalism class. He sounded pretty confident that he would be offering me a job because they always need writers. What I will be writing and how much is yet to be determined, but I am pretty pumped about actually producing some polished work for other's eyes to look at. This is the direction my life is heading in these days and I'm excited to get this opportunity which should definitely give me a leg-up for the future. It's going to be cool to speak with the Western coaches and players and get an inside look at college sports. If you want to take a look at the Western Herald's website, click on the link below.

www.westernherald.com

Ahh... the Joys

2008-01-16T11:09:00.001-05:00

The joys of being a college student again are many. There are some parts I wish would remain hidden. One of those is feeling so poor that you cringe when you drop quarters into the washing machine. I thought I was smarter than Western this time around and could beat the system. I thought wrong. After two parking tickets in less than two weeks, I have folded and purchased a parking sticker. Apparently, they even figure out when your a student without a parking sticker just based on your license plate number. So instead of dropping quarters into the meters this year, I'll take the 180 dollar hit and park in the student lots. No more parking tickets at least.

And when did books get so expensive? I just paid 225 dollars, for ONE class. The books were all used too which made me wonder how much they would have been had they been new. Yikes. Looks like I'll resort to dinners of Easy-Mac and Peanut Butter Sandwiches this year. Just hoping I'll be able to save a few dimes for my trip this spring. In the meantime, you'll find me shivering in the coldness of this dark apartment (heat=money) and wondering what I'll be able to sell on ebay for 5 dollars.

The Trip: Enhanced Version

2008-01-14T20:46:00.000-05:00

Drew and I did some pretty insane planning this weekend and we came out with a very awesome trip. To say the least, I'm stoked. We pretty much ironed every detail for what we should be doing each day. Here is what the awesomeness appears as of now:

Friday - I take the train from Kalamazoo to Lapeer. Drew and Emily pick me up (it's about 20 miles from Lake Orion). Stay night at Drew's.

Saturday - Fly out of Flint Airport early in the morning. Arrive in Los Angeles after a stop in Minneapolis. After picking up rental car, drive to Las Vegas - barely escaping the traffic. Hopefully get there late-afternoon, early-evening. Visit multiple Casinos, buffett bars, lose all money and then return home. Naw, just kidding. Stay night at hotel somewhere on strip.

Sunday - Fly out of Las Vegas airport with destination Portland in sights. Spend day in Portland visiting sights, including Voodoo Doughnuts. I'd really like to take some sort of memorial to the place where my friend Mike passed away as well. Hopefully meet up with Drew's sister Andrea and Rob.

Monday - Wake up early again to fly back to Las Vegas where we pick up car and head for Big Sur, California (small town on coast, about two hours south of San Francisco). Reach Big Sur, chill and relax.

Tuesday - Head for San Francisco. We would really like to visit Alcatraz Island and there is also a San Francisco Giants-San Diego Padres game that night and that is a good possibility. Stay night somewhere in San Francisco.

Wednesday - Make our way back south towards San Diego. Stop either there or somewhere else - we're trying to give ourselves some lee-way in case we get behind on some of there other days.

Thursday - Travel to Los Angeles (we pushed our train departure date back a day). We are to board our train and depart at 6:45 at night. Sleep a ridiculous amount of hours.

Friday-Saturday - Enjoy views aboard the train as we pass through Arizona, New Mexico, Colorado, Kansas, Iowa, Missouri and Illinois. We even pass parts of the Grand Canyon. Relax and recharge our inner batteries all the while. Reach Chicago Saturday afternoon after 42 hour train trip. Travel with Emily (who will be in Chicago) back towards Kalamazoo and Lake Orion.

Sunday - Sleep, sleep and more sleep. Upload a very high amount of pictures. Attempt to amount for a week's worth of missing class. Mentally tare myself away from the Pacific Ocean and to the dreary thought of finals in a couple weeks.

http://voodoodoughnut.com/ - here is the site for Voodoo Doughnuts, a store that sells very unique and odd doughnuts in Portland.

http://www.amtrak.com/servlet/ContentServer?pagename=Amtrak/am2Route/Horizontal_Route_Page&c=am2Route&cid=1081442673827&ssid=132 - Our Amtrak route.

Our road routes - not as bad as if we drove all the way to Portland and back (1,000 miles each way).

10 States (not including Michigan), 7 Days, 5 Big-time West Coast cities. Excellent.

I Am Old: Part Two

2008-01-10T23:44:00.000-05:00

I saw someone on campus I knew today. I was really excited. Turned out I had no idea who this person was or where I had seen her before, but the idea that I recognized someone's face was uplifting. It was the first time all week I had seen someone I at least recognized (disregarding seeing Geoff at the rec). Wow.

Heading to Detroit this weekend to partake in lots of craziness - and mostly with the man, Drew. We have the U of M (#1 in nation) vs. WMU Hockey game tomorrow in Ann Arbor. We have a Saturday filled with absolutely nothing - awesome! Trip planning. And I'm overjoyed at the thought of meeting up with Robbie, Matt and maybe Don Saturday night for some drinks and/or general hanging out (remember we are old and the bar scene might be a bit much). Just hoping the snow... excuse me, rain doesn't hold us back.

Want further proof that I'm old. Here ya go. I actually care about politics now. I'm going to go ahead and say that I'm a superfan of Obama's. Actually, I do like Edwards too, but Barack is the man. I was giddy when I head Kerry supported or "endorsed" him today.

Well, I better shore this up. Seeing how I'm old now and it's 11:57 pm, I better rush into bed because Conan's coming on and I'm never awake for that anymore and for the reason that my body pretty much completely shuts down on me at midnight. And I actually finished all my school-work before midnight. There is no way I even started homework for another hour three years ago. So proud.

I Am Old

2008-01-09T12:03:00.000-05:00

Long gone are those days when I dreaded Mondays and was gung-ho for Fridays. Long gone are the days when I feared I would oversleep my 9 am class. Long gone are the days when I disliked going to class and once in class, nodded off on more than one occasion. Long gone are the days when I would stay up until 4 am the night before a test. Diagnosis: I'm Old. Yes, I realize that I'm 23 years old and for many of you reading this it might seem juvenile for me to be calling myself old, however I beg to differ.

I entered back into a scene where college "kids" live for the weekends, party on Wednesday nights and can't even picture waking up before noon. Out of place, ancient... name it what you want but no matter what, I'm an old man. I find it hard anymore to even keep my eyes open past midnight. I think my body is telling me that yes, you used up all your college-type days awhile back and you must conform to being an adult. A grown-up college-student? Hrmmm... I'm at a loss for words to describe my situation because most people go back to college to get a masters and not ANOTHER bachelor's degree. In no way, shape or form am I knocking what I am doing. I'm just citing several reasons for my feeling aged.

Wednesdays are going to be days I live for this year. Class at 9 and Class at 5:30 which means about 7 hours of either rec center craziness or homework busyness. Either way, I like the huge break and have always been a big fan of the once-a-week night classes. I could also hit the rec for a couple hours after my class ends at 8. Options, options... I feel like I've never had so much freedom in college even though I did (and usually spent it playing videogames, sleeping or lounging).

No more all-nighters for this guy. Well... at least not yet. It's only the first week.

When Affliction Becomes More...

2008-01-08T21:29:00.000-05:00

There are many problems in this world that are under-appreciated. Kids starving in nations we've never heard of. People dying every minute for the wrong reasons. For many living in the United States, they are oblivious to these problems. It seems as citizens of this nation we are becoming increasingly more aware of these issues and problems, but there is some work to be done.

I'm guilty of being an oblivious member of our society for the fact that I could do a lot more to prevent some of these problems that plague us today. For part of my life, I struggled deeply with depression and was actually diagnosed in high school. It even carried into my college years and I believed that I had some symptoms of bi-polar disorder. I know first-hand how hard life can be and how depression greatly affects someone's life. Through aging and support from many people in my life, I have mostly overcome this affliction but it remains a thought in my mind always.

I've really wanted to participate in Out of the Darkness Overnight for awhile now. This suicide prevention walk is supported by the American Foundation for Suicide Prevention and I found out about it through a friend in college. I've talked about doing it for awhile now and think that this year might be the appropriate time to do it - because it seems to be my year of traveling. The only thing is, I need some help. When you register for one of these walks (the spots this year are Seattle and New York City) you need support through donations. I'm real interested in doing the Seattle one - enhancing my West Coast experience even further. I promised myself I'd do this one year and this year seems like the right year for some reason. If you're interested, check out the website below.

http://www.theovernight.org/index.cfm?fuseaction=home.viewPage&page_id=742C7D2A-FEAB-2DA6-FE0972E0264CC80E

Student Again

2008-01-07T12:12:00.000-05:00

Today was my first day back as a student at WMU. Ironically, my first class was in the College of Education building. The same building I thought I would probably never set foot in again. When the professor remarked this morning something about being old, I was overcome with the feeling that I probably belonged more in front of these students than with them. I definitely wasn't the oldest in the class (some 280 strong), but it was close.

It's going to be a weird semester, but I'm sure the initial feeling of being old and out of my element will pass soon and I'll move through the semester smoothly - we can all hope. I only have three classes and the fact that I'm taking a break from these in April to road-trip relaxes things even further.

Also, I can now start using the rec center on a regular basis which I'm extremely thrilled about. New Years resolution of course - isn't it everyone's? Seems so until people give up halfway through January because of the combination of cold weather, being busy and being lazy. Hopefully none of these attribute to my quitting on working out this year and I've got Corey to push me as well. Plus, we just lost all of our snow due to extremely warm temperatures - bummer. I might even be able to start running outside in the middle of January... crazy.

Twenty-08

2008-01-02T12:00:00.000-05:00

There are several things I'm looking forward to and many of them are coming soon. I'm returning to school to start working on another degree. Where this will lead me I have no idea, but I'm hopefull these classes will lead me in the right direction. This is also the year when my younger sister gets married. This has certainly been a different and special time for my family and I'm anxious for this summer when the wedding is set to take place. It will be different not seeing her as often around holidays and on trips, but in all seriousness I'm happy to be gaining a member to our family, in Steve.

Perhaps the thing I'm most excited about this year, is the trip I'm taking out west this spring. I'm traveling by plane, car and train across the country to Califonia and back again, soaking in as much as I can in-between. Going with Drew will definitely be awesome and I'm now counting down the days until we depart to the Pacific Ocean and all the lays in its boundaries.

I hope everyone had a relaxing and family-filled holiday. Mine was relaxing and went by way too fast, but I'm excited for some of the reasons I listed above. Happy 2008!

White Christmas?

2007-12-24T12:47:00.000-05:00

We lost a lot of snow this past week and have just a few inches on the ground up here in Harbor. However, I'm holding judgement on the weather because it's currently snowing right now and we're supposed to get dumped on sometime soon. One year we came home from downstate and we had to basically swim to our garage.

Last night a few of us went to the Austins house to spend some time with them. I think it was uplifting to them and I was glad we did it. It's important that we remain apart of their lives because we were all close friends with Mike and I'd like to think he'd want us to remain in contact. We went to the bowling alley afterwards last night where I saw my name on the list of shame (as Danny calls it) or the successful finish of the Beer list plaque. Saw a bunch of classmates and other people last night, most of whom I haven't seen in quite awhile.

Another reason we need snow up here is because my friends are coming up on the 27th to board/ski and we need some fresh powder to hold our reputation as a good place to ski.

Well, I was just summoned to work out with Corey at some place he knows about here in Harbor, so I'm off in hopes of turning nothing into something. Have a brilliant Christmas!

Can Smell the Pacific...

2007-12-18T18:26:00.001-05:00

Well, we made it official. Last night, Drew and I purchased our tickets for our trip out west this coming April. We are taking the trip during his spring break which runs from April 5th to April 13th. The plan is to leave Flint on Saturday morning early with a flight from Flint to Los Angeles, with a stop at Minneapolis. From there, we have a lot of decisions to make about what we want to do. We should be getting in Los Angeles in the middle of the day and have the rest of Saturday, Sunday, Monday and Tuesday to kind of do what we want. There are many options that I've been pushing around in my head. We'd really like to get up to Portland and Seattle and visit a couple friends. Our friend Rob lives in Seattle and we'd like to get there to see him. Also, Drew's sister is going to school in Spokane and could probably meet us in Seattle or somewhere closer. We'd have to book it up the coast, but that is kind of what I wanted to do anyways.

Portland is somewhere that I really want to stop. My late friend Mike lived there and I really want to experience some of the same things he did. I was even thinking about visiting the bridge where he passed away... but I'm not sure if that will happen. San Francisco is another city that I hear is awesome and a must-stop, so that will most definitely happen. We may even be able to sneak away for a Giants game - with or without Barry playing. No matter what we choose, we have time to stop and check out different areas. We've got a bunch of leeway.

After we finagle our way up and down the western seaboard, we are to return to Los Angeles for a train trip back east. The train leaves Wednesday afternoon/evening and we should be getting into Chicago Friday night. We should be passing by the Grand Canyon, through Albuquerque and Kansas City and will go through a total of seven states. We didn't get a room because of the price and instead will be sleeping on train seats that recline. Hopefully we don't go too stir crazy, but I think it's not a matter of when, but where (hopefully close to the end). By getting back to Chicago and the Michigan area before the weekend, we allow ourselves some time to decompress and pout about how much we miss the west coast already.

I'm obviously elated about the prospects for this trip and have now taken it upon myself to move the priority in getting my camera fixed several slots up on the importance list. I will be missing a full week of class, but will get everything taken care of way ahead of time. And because we purchased the tickets so far in advance, we saved ourselves a bunch of money. The plane ticket and train ticket were around 140 dinero each. The most expensive cost we're looking at is the rental car plus gas which could be a pretty penny. All the more reason that we got some of the expenses out of the way early.

Here is a link that shows the route of our Amtrak train: http://www.amtrak.com/servlet/ContentServer?pagename=Amtrak/am2Route/Horizontal_Route_Page&c=am2Route&cid=1081442673827&ssid=132

Here is some of the places I'd like to visit:

Portland, Oregon

Big Sur, California

Seattle, Washington

I Am Legend

2007-12-15T00:10:00.000-05:00

Not a bad movie. Ending wasn't what I expected, but I wasn't really expecting anything either - does that make any sense? Will Smith was pretty stellar though. And I'm pretty sure that I hope our world never ends up like the movies that Will Smith star in (think Men in Black, Independence Day, and now I am Legend). If your looking to be scared, go see it. If you hate movies that make you jump, go see Alvin and the Chipmunks instead.

So I came home to different photos all of a sudden being showcased in my Slideshow - maybe they change once and awhile. Who knows? Now none of the early nine are there, but the rest are. I'm out of ideas and my body is telling me to put my mind to rest. A battle for another day.

I Give

2007-12-14T20:44:00.001-05:00

I give up for the time being fighting with stupid internet programs. I may have to set up a whole different account to get more pictures in my slideshow, but if you want to see all the pictures I have proposed, you can click on the "Flickr" link below the slideshow to the right. I'm sure 9 pictures with me in them is way too many anyways - don't hate me for it. Sometimes you just can't escape.

New Layout

2007-12-14T16:23:00.000-05:00

I'm expanding my knowledge when it comes to creativity on this page and it's starting to show. I now have pictures and links on the right side of the page. I'm wrestling with flickr and blogger at the same time in trying to upload and showcase more photos, but at the moment, I'm losing that battle. So for now, you get to cycle through a grand total of nine pictures. I'm going to eat some food and maybe magically when I get back, all my photos will be sideshowing.

I'm also tackling the idea of starting a webpage, but that might be a huge undertaking and I'm not sure if I'm ready for that. Maybe if I'm bored over Christmas break... maybe.

Inspirations

2007-12-13T23:03:00.000-05:00

Some come. Some go. Some are engraved in my mind forever. Others come with a vengeance, only to drift away a few days later. They are sometimes people. Other times it's an idea, a concept. Some are larger than life, while others are humble, yet important. If you haven't figured out what I'm talking about (you could have just looked at the title too), I'm writing about the ideas, people, concepts, objects and just about anything else that can be rolled into an inspiration. What is an inspiration to me? It's who I am and what I want to become. Inspirations are deeply important to me and have become more so as I age. I'm going to discuss what some of my first inspirations were and what some of them are today.

Mitch Albom has always been a big inspiration. For a long time, he has epitomized what I have always dreamed about becoming - a journalist. He used to be strictly a sports guy working for the Detroit Free Press, but now has taken on larger endeavors such as writing top-selling books, hosting his own radio show and even making apperances on ESPN's Sunday morning Sports Reporter Show. I am a big fan of his writing style and of his books. Tuesday's with Morrie, The Five People You Meet in Heaven and For One More Day are his top-selling books and I look at each in the highest regard. Maybe I'm biased because I've enjoyed his writing for so long. The way his books, articles and demeanor affects others makes me want to pattern my career like his. He is a true inspiration to me.

J.K. Rowling is another inspiration. Her inspiration is more recent and is because of her successful Harry Potter series. The reason she's an inspiration to me (aside from the fact that she's a writer and I love her books) is because she really came out of nowhere. She was sitting in a cafe, just writing every day, trying to raise her child on book grants and she became an overnight success. She has done everything so modestly and graciously and this inspires me.

I'd say another general inspiration for me is sports. It's really provided me with a lot of direction even though much of it I didn't see until recently. In high school, sports provided me with a hobby and as I always said in high school, sports was my "anti-drug." I've never, ever, even for a second really lost my love for sports. It's always been there in my life and it's a comfort for me. Without sports and without the knowledge of sports, I'd probably be a lost individual. I can't see a day in the future when I will wake up and want to look at the stocks before the sports page in the newspaper.

Lastly, my parents have had a very large impact on my life - obviously. They are inspirations for me not only because they are my parents, but because they are strong individuals. They are dedicated, honest and fairly hard-working (haha). They have both had some very unique life experiences and many of these are engraved in my mind and have really shaped who I am today. They are model parents and should be credited with the difficult upbringing of yours truely, among other things. They have supported me everyday of my life and have encouraged me to follow my dreams - which I know can't be said about all parents. Their constant care and encouragement helps me everyday and I'm not sure where I would be without them.

There are several other important inspirations that I'd like to mention, but seeing as it's pushing 1 am and I've been up since 6, I'm going to call it a night and possibly continue this another day. In closing, I'd just like to say that as a baseball fan, I actually feel embarrassed because of the steroids report submitted today and hope that baseball gets all this nonsense cleared up so that America's favorite pastime can continue on in a more positive light. Let's leave all this behind when we enter the new year... please.

Nothing but Time

2007-12-12T13:57:00.000-05:00

I find myself once again, starring at a big day of nothing. This seems to be happening much too often recently. This is the second straight day that they have refused my services at work. Ahh, the joys of working at a hospital which is currently trying to cut back on the budget. It'd be nice to find a steady job where I know that I'm actually working, instead of crossing my fingers everytime I call to see whether they have a room for me or not. Oh well. Hopefully I will get a few more shifts before I travel home next week.

I'm going to go on record right now and say that this is the earliest that I have ever had my Christmas shopping done - by far. I remember once year in high school, I was at Walmart at about 7:00 pm Christmas eve, shopping for just about everyone. I almost did it all in one day this year as well. So this is a virtual pat on the back for getting it done early. I even splurged this year and bought wrapping paper, instead of taking all the gifts home and using mom's. Wow.

Update on the west coast trip: we're getting closer to purchasing some tickets that will take us to the Pacific Ocean and back. I'm pretty excited and we've still got about 5 months until this actually takes place. I might have already said this in a previous post, but the plan is to fly from Michigan to one of those coastal California hotspots (San Fran, L.A.) and then do some aimless wandering up and down the coast, even going to Portland and Seattle. Then after we get sick of that (which I'm sure we won't), we'll be traveling by train back to Michigan or somewhere close. If we do it right and get the tickets now, this trip won't be nearly as bad as I once originally thought. Can't wait to see the other side of our country. I'm sure it's going to blow my mind. Just need to get a working camera in the meantime.

White Substance in Air

2007-12-08T00:14:00.000-05:00

Well... winter is finally upon us. Today was officially the first day of really doing some work on my car before departing. Always nice spending that extra few minutes every morning removing mother nature's doing. Don't get me wrong though. I'm actually giddy with the sudden snow we have received within the past few days. Three weeks from this moment (or close to that), I'll be sliding down the slopes in Harbor at non-safe speeds. This is also my chance to extend an open invitation to anyone who would like to snowboard/ski for a few days up in Harbor a few days after Christmas. We already seem to have a pretty safe amount of "crazys" coming, so it should be some good, old-fashioned fun.

I'd also like to pat myself and Harry on the back for not even questioning ourselves on keeping the heat off so far this winter. Our last bill was our lowest yet and we're trying to best that one this month. I've lived all winter wrapped in a blanket before and look forward in doing so again this winter. Stubborn, maybe... cheap, probably... stupid, most likey.

Also would like to mention that as of today, I'm officially paying Western money again... I mean, I'm registered for classes next semester. Two communications classes and one journalism class. All this is geared towards another major - which would end up being journalism. We'll see how it goes this semester, but I'd like to think these classes are going to benefit me in the long run.

Watched Pursuit of Happyness tonight. Pretty good movie. Could see why Will Smith was up for an Academy Award. Can't wait for I am Legend.

Detroit Pride!

2007-12-05T23:39:00.000-05:00

I've been meaning to write something for awhile, but have either been away or busy. I've started writing something and although I'm not sure it's going to turn into anything, it's a start. I've got a pretty good storyline and basis and it incorporates a lot of personal feelings from the past. We'll see where it goes.

Just like to say that I'm ecstatic about the Tigers trading for Miguel Cabrera and Dontrelle Willis. If I do recall, I predicted this in a blog a few weeks ago and although I didn't think the trade would be this large, it's blowing my mind right now. I'm pretty excited for the season to start and can't wait to see the Tigers at Comerica this year.

I'll try and write a more detailed post in the immediate future, but for now I'm going to sleep before my 6 am wake-up call tomorrow morning.