Wednesday, April 28, 2010

I'm all grown up. Now what?

As always, the opinions in this blog are only those of the author. And, well, probably your mother.

I feel like I always have to apologize for not posting much. Of course, there's really no need to actually apologize; I'm a grown man, and I can do what I want. Still, two entries per month is just not enough. I do have lots of things to say, but I usually run into problems like:

1. Wasting time: I always, always, always waste time. I usually wake up around nine in the morning on weekdays. With four hours to spare, I'm still rushing to get out of the house in time to have a "sufficient" workout at the gym. Why does this matter for blogging? Well, everything. I think. Just when I'm sitting in front of my laptop, I'll end up reading other stuff and completely forget what I want to write about. As a matter of fact, there's a good chance that I'll end up scrapping this post altogether.

2. My opinions aren't exactly...original:
Because I usually talk about sports, most of the stuff I want to discuss has already been dissected by others. I wanted to do a "mock" NFL Draft. But after reading ones that were real, truly made up, and ridiculously in depth, I felt that there was nothing I could offer that would be remotely entertaining. In other news, I may have some self-confidence issues.

3. Blogging is kind of boring!: Most of the posts I have are really long. While I'm a rather patient person, I find it way tempting to do anything but what I'm actually supposed to be doing. So while I'm spending two hours hammering out a post about football, I usually get side tracked by reading someone else's opinions on what I want to talk about. So yes, this is something I'll just need to get over.

Now, should you care about these stupid excuses? Probably not. But just know that the intent to ramble is always there, even if there's no real evidence of it. But with a little more time (to waste) on my hands, here's hoping that I can be a little more consistent with quality posts.

Now back to our regularly scheduled madness...

I'm in the middle of a "transition" at work. I say this because it's yet another change in what I actually want to do. I've been out of college for three and a half years, yet I'm nowhere closer to figuring out what I actually want to do. One would think that I could figure this sort of thing out by now, but that would make things too easy. Anyway, I figured it would be fun for me to look back and go over all the things I've wanted to become. And since I want to give people a little glimpse into the things that make me who I am, I figured this would be a pretty good blog post. So, anyway, here goes...something I'd like to call my Ever Evolving When I Grow Up Plan:

Elementary school: Doctor

This really wasn't an idea that I came up with on my own. I just heard my teachers mention this. I could say that I was a great student in elementary school, (I made all A's, but didn't everyone?) but it was really more like Florida State football in the ACC during the 90s (let's just say it wasn't very difficult). I never really had any idea why I wanted to do this; I just figured that it sounded fun. Want to know what else seems fun?
1. Being on acid.
2. Bungee jumping
3. Lap dances
4. A Bobcats playoff game
5. Throwing a stick in front of an unsuspecting skater at a park
So needless to say, the whole doctor thing didn't go very far.

Middle/high school: Computer engineer

I wanted to actually be involved with developing video games, but that didn't seem "wholesome" enough. I had it all figured out: I would go to Clemson to study computer science, graduate, and then...well, I guess I didn't have it all figured out that much. I suppose the allure of being able to work with computers was mildly intriguing...until I realized that I hated science. A lot. Obviously, this would be a big problem if I was ever going to be a computer engineer. So...toss that idea also!

For about five minutes in high school, and another few weeks after college: Nurse

Believe it! My mom's a nurse, so I would be carrying on the family legacy (or use that as an excuse when people asked me about it). I flirted with the idea in high school; there was a program where we could take "classes" at the local hospital, then work there during the summer while in college. I scrapped that idea because I was worried that I wouldn't like it enough. While I felt OK with my decision at the time, I re-visited a nursing career again twice since then. I believe that this was more of me not being happy with my current job than me actually wanting to become a nurse. I mean, the allure of showing off my "chiseled body" in scrubs is...creepy to think about. I think that I would enjoy the role of helping people, but am I really ready for all the bodily fluids and insane hours? Eh, not so much. So, scrap this idea also!

College: Sports journalist

My co-workers at my previous job always called me Jordy Gumbel. Since both Bryant and Greg (pictured) are rather well-known, successful sports journalists, I took this as a compliment. I don't think it's really possible to explain my passion for sports. There's not going to be a way for me to really illustrate it in a way that does it justice. I enjoy talking about it. Sometimes, I actually present interesting viewpoints on it. So why not pursue a career in sports journalism? (Well, it's rather quite difficult to break into...but whatever) In one of my first classes, a fellow classmate had the same aspirations as myself. We were going to end up on Sportscenter one day. Well, she is working her way up the food chain, and I seem to be stuck in neutral. Now, this is not to say that I didn't try. I tried, tried, and tried again. After a year of sending out resume tapes, doing interviews, and trying everything to break into the industry, nothing stuck. Have I given up altogether? I don't know. I make pretty good money doing what I do now, and I am taking some graduate classes toward a Master's in Public Administration. But if I could find the right avenue into the sports journalism industry, I'm pretty sure that I would take it.

I should take solace in the fact that I have a job with great benefits. But what fun is that when I find myself wanting to sometimes take shots of lighter fluid when I'm at work? (Let's say it all together: NOT FUN AT ALL!) So I suppose I'll do what I can to make the most of things now, still hoping that I can break in somehow and end up talking about sports even more...and actually get paid for it.

Thursday, April 8, 2010

Real men lose to their girlfriends in made up Bracket Challenges

As always, the opinions in this blog are shared only by the author. Besides, who else would be proud of being such a nut?

Even the most casual of sports fans had to come away pleased with this year's NCAA tournament. Plenty of surprises, close games, buzzer beaters, over-sized arenas, and cheerleaders with way too much makeup to keep people satisfied. While some would complain that there was no "star power" in the Final Four, the championship game literally came down to the last shot. Can't beat that, right? Right??!!??

For the past two years, I've done a bracket challenge with my girlfriend. I'm not much of a competitive person, but I have gone in with the belief that my "knowledge" of college basketball would be enough to prevail in a "friendly" challenge between lovers. Of course, I probably should have considered the fact that she had won this challenge twice before, and studies show that three year olds (who knew NOTHING about college basketball) do better on brackets than "experts." So really, there was no way that I could possibly win this challenge.

But it's the NCAA tournament. March Madness! Throw conventional wisdom out of the window! So the bet was on. Winner gets dinner at a restaurant of their choice. I'll just recap the Elite Eight/Final Four picks, and maybe try to give a little "insight" on why in the world my picks turned out to be so stupid. I figured it would be kind of cool to wait a couple of days before actually posting this, because it makes my choices look even more crazy. And, let's just say that I've been crying myself to sleep the past few nights over losing this thing.


My picks
Elite Eight: Kansas, Ohio State, Syracuse, Brigham Young, (no, really) Villanova, Duke, Kentucky, New Mexico (did I actually watch any basketball?)
Final Four: Kansas, Kentucky, Syracuse, Duke
Championship: Kansas over Kentucky
My Take: I almost went with calling this an "expert's take," but we all know that this would be a lie. From "watching" basketball, (translation: occasionally watching ESPN analysts make their "case," with a few games here and there) I felt pretty good about the fact that the number one seeds were the best teams in the field. Kentucky's complete lack of making free throws? Who cares! Syracuse limping down the stretch? We're not here to talk about the past? Duke not being in a Final Four since before Justin Bieber was born (that's probably not a fact...or is it?)? I didn't CARE. I also felt good about BYU (they had God on their side, can't beat that!) and New Mexico (apparently I was in my own hot tub time machine). But once again, I'm not here to dwell on the past...


The Lady's Picks
Elite Eight: Kansas, Ohio State, Syracuse, Kansas State, Villanova, Duke, Marquette, Kentucky
Final Four: Kansas, Syracuse, Duke, Kentucky (Wait a minute, did she copy my bracket?!!!?!?)
Championship: Duke over Kansas
Her take: She made her picks by using complete voodoo. OK, maybe that's not accurate. Her "strategy" is picking schools that sound familiar, or names she liked. For example: she had Xavier in the Sweet 16 because she "liked the name." Hey, whatever works!

Anyway, you have to like the fact that she picked the eventual national champion. Not her fault that Kansas decided to crap out in the second round! Anyway, a few words from the winner: "I'm pretty sure I've picked Duke to win for the past three years...so my persistence has finally paid off. Everyone else may hate you, but thanks Coach K!"


So, there you have it. Maybe I should give up this Bracket Challenge nonsense. (Are you kidding?!!? We're totally doing a suicide pool next year!) It's proof that trusting college aged people to do anything is just a very bad idea. But then again, I bet Kanye and his girlfriend didn't do a bracket wager!