One-Hundred Things About Me

After reading another journal (The Wisdom of a Distracted Mind) and his One-Hundred Things..., I thought it would be cool for me to do the same thing.  There is much more to me than sports.  I like reading books, magazines and newspapers like the USA Today and the Chicago Tribune.  I just happen to read the Sports section first.  And throw the rest away....

 

1.  I live in Wisconsin.

2.  I drive a Nissan.

3.  I like tennis.

4.  I love college basketball.

5.  I have been to Great Britain a few times.

6.  I have started selling things on eBay.

7.  I have a one-bedroom loft.

8.  I just hooked up my printer after having it for two years.

9.  I love Seinfeld.

10.  I love Coldplay.

11.  I love Manchester United.

12.  I love my fleeces.

13.  I think Saddam Hussein didn't deserve to live on earth.

14.  I have visited Taliesen and loved it.

15.  I have been in Sports Illustrated next to Tiger Woods.

16.  I know my mom is the most amazing woman on earth.

17.  I want a border collie.

18.  I wish my journal hit count would stop going back to zero. 

19.  I used to play the violin.

20.  I would like to start playing again.

21.  I wish Britney would wear underwear.

22.  I also wish she would grow up and be a mother to her kids.

23.  I love northern Wisconsin.

24.  I love being outdoors.

25.  I love going to concerts.

26.  I think Madison is the best city in the world.

27.  I love Target.

28.  I wish Nicole Richie would gain some weight.

29.  I still think Michigan is the No. 2 ranked team in the country even though they aren't playing for the national title.

30.  I think Greg Oden is out of this world spectacular.

31.  I think the British Open is the best golf tournament in the world.

32.  I think St. Andrews is the best golf course in the world.

33.  I will never put 10,000 songs or 25,000 pictures on my iPod.

34.  I know my sister was wrong about that.

35.  I hate the NBA.

36.  I don't have Microsoft Word on my computer.

37.  I want to see the final of the UEFA Champions League sometime in person (Manchester United vs AC Milan would be perfect).

38.  I want to meet Bob Stoops.

39.  I hate Duke men's basketball.

40.  I miss my cat Charlie.  He was the greatest. 

41.  I would like to do an Ironman sometime.

42.  I don't think my body could hack it.

43.  I think AOL is great. 

44.  I know a lot of people do not.

45.  I would like to get my writing published sometime.

46.  I don't think any sporting event can compare to the World Series.

47.  I would love to live in London for awhile.

48.  I would love to know who Jack the Ripper was.  

49.  I buy books and don't read them.

50.  I love the ESPN commercial with LaDanian Tomlinson where he plays a mailman.

51.  I was born on the 8th day of the 8th month.

52.  I was 8 lbs, 8 ounces

53.  I bought a bike.

54.  I never ride it.

55.  If I could be anything, I would love to be a Designated Hitter in baseball with homerun ability.  Like Big Papi in Boston.  He gets paid a long of money to just drive in runs.

56.  If I could go back in time to meet one person, I would love to meet Arthur Ashe.

57.  I wish life wasn't so complicated.

58.  I don't go to church.  

59.  I love Fish & Chips.

60.  I love Fritos, but I don't eat them anymore.

61.  I love the movie 'When A Man Loves A Woman.'

62.  I buy dvd's and never watch them.

63.  I liked the WWF.  

64.  I don't like WWE.

65.  I have ALWAYS loved the White Sox.  

66.  I actually have a picture of me when I was 7 with a White Sox t-shirt on.

67.  I think Sacha Boren Cohen is a genius.

68.  I thought Borat, the movie, was great.

69.  I think if Ali G was ever made into a movie it would be better than Borat.

70.  I have been writing my journal for nearly four years.

71.  I was in a huge contest for sports journalists on AOL to go to the World Series.

72.  I didn't win.

73.  Looking around my loft, I have enough stuff for a house.  

74.  I think Peyton Manning will win a SuperBowl.

75.  I think Maria Sharapova cheats.

76.  I have met Pete Sampras.

77.  I think Roger Federer needs some competition.

78.  I love carbohydrates.

79.  I think Kobe Bryant is an idiot.

80.  I love golfing.

81.  I hate watching it on tv.

82.  I love getting dressed up.

83.  I hate asking for help.

84.  I had a huge picture playing tennis on the cover of my hometown newspaper when I was a sophomore in high school.

85.  I was on Leno, along with other UW-Oshkosh players, while on Spring Break in Cali.

86.  I am going to go deaf because I listen to everything way too loud.

87.  I have 11 tennis racquets. 

88.  I think the Bears suck.

89.  I am glad the Packers didn't draft Rex Grossman.

90.  I never watched Seinfeld until it went to reruns.

91.  I forget things.

92.  I don't clean very often.

93.  I lit a garage on fire when I was in Elementary school.

94.  The firemen found me by following my burnt sneakers to my house.

95.  I have been arrested (Shh, not many people know).

96.  I don't drink beer.

97.  I have to quit drinking soda which will be the hardest thing I'll ever have to do.  Seriously.

98.  I make the best grilled cheese's ever.

99.  I can't believe the technology with cell phones.

100.  I am in love with someone and I always will be. 

The Lists Are Back!

 My New Year's Resolution, Chris, is a good game.  Wait, does that mean it won't happen because I said it out loud?  Eh, doesn't matter, won't happen anyways.

 

My Top Eight Bowl Games I Am Looking Forward to:

 

1.  Tostitos BCS Championship -- Ohio State vs Florida for the National Title.  No-brainder for #1.

2.  Capital One -- Wisconsin vs Arkansas.  Darren McFadden vs a great Wisconsin defense.  Something has to give.

3.  Rose -- Michigan vs Southern California.  Chad Henne and Mike Hart vs the best linebacking core in the country from USC.

4.  Fiesta -- Oklahoma vs Boise State.  Nobody else cares about this game as much as I do.  All Day Adrian Peterson is back and healthy.  Giddy up.

5.  Sugar -- LSU vs Notre Dame.  There are two reasons I am looking forward to this game at all.  1.)  To see how much the Tigers can trounce the Irish by and, 2.) How many points will Lou (Duh) Holtz pick the Irish to win by?

6.  Orange -- Wake Forest vs Louisville.  The Demon Deacons can't score and the Cardinals score in bunches.  Louisville should win this game easily.

7.  Gator -- Georgia Tech vs West Virginia.  See #6.  GT is Wake and WVU is Louisville. 

8.  Alamo -- Iowa vs Texas.  Can Iowa win a big game and can Colt McCoy, back healthy, help the Longhorns get a good win to end 2006?

(One bowl game I would like to see LSU vs Louisville.  LSU has the best front four on D in the country and Louisville's offense is fantastic.  Great game that would be.)

 

My Top Eight Sports Stories of 2006:

 

1.  Tiger Woods winning two majors since the death of his father.  Love him or hate him, he's still going to be one of the top golfers of all time.

2.  Zinedine Zidane headbutt.  If that Italian defender had called my mom 'a terroist who*re' I probably would have done the same thing....if not worse.

3.  Clemson football player Ray Ray McElrathbey taking custody of his 11-year-old brother, Fahmarr, because his mother is a drug addict and their father isn't in their lives.  Read all about that here.

4.  Vincent Young's completely dismantling USC himself.

5.  Jason McElwain going crazy in his first action.  Austistic senior in high school was manager of his high school team and got a few minutes on the court near the end of a game and went crazy, hitting 6 3's in the last four minutes.  See his story here.

6.  Roger Federer dominating tennis.  Nadal might be great on clay, but Club Fed is the best by far.

7.  George Mason making the Final Four. 

8.  The Duke lacrosse team being accused of sexual assault.  What a crock this was!  That prosecutor better get what he has coming to him. 

8A.  Andre Agassi playing in his last U.S. Open, beating Marcos Baghdatis in a great five-set match, before losing in the third round.  Incredible career and a great human being for all that he does for kids in Las Vegas.

 

 The coolest kid the world's ever seen.

 

My Top Eight College Basketball Freshman of 2006-07:

 

1.  Greg Oden (Ohio State) -- This is obvious.

2.  Kevin Durant (Texas) -- He makes his team better than any other freshman.

3.  Chase Budinger (Arizona) -- This kid is fantastic.  If he played volleyball, he could be the next Karch Karily and he wants to play basketball.  Lute Olson says he could be the next Sean Elliott.  What does that tell you?  I'll answer that.  He's amazing.

4.  Brandon Wright (UNC) -- Fantastic power forward, but also is helped by having Hansborough on the other side of the lane.

5.  Spencer Hawes (Washington) -- Do-it-all center for the Huskies.

6.  Paul Harris (Syracuse) -- Stud for theOrange.

7.  Ty Lawson (UNC) -- Best freshman point guard in the country.  Stepped right into the starting lineup in the first few games for one of the top couple teams in the country.

8.  Jon Scheier (Duke) -- Gives the Blue Devils a solid outside shooter and also gives them some much needed toughness.

8A. Bill Walker (Kansas State) -- Top 5 pick in the draft if he's able to be selected this year.  Long story with him, but he is Vince Carter-like. 

 

 Mr. Kevin Durant of Texas.

 

My Top Eight Idiots of 2006:

 

1.  Terrell Owens -- He could be my #1 for the next decade.

2.  Floyd Landis -- Never won the Tour de France in my mind. 

3.  Kobe Bryant -- He really needs to shut his mouth.  After Gilbert Arena's scored 60 on his team, Kobe said Arena's doesn't take good shot.  This coming from Kobe.  Funny.

4.  Houston Texans -- 2 words.  Mario Williams.

5.  Ben Roethlisberger -- Wear a helmet next time.

6.  Randy Moss -- 'I don't care.'

7.  Phil Mickelson -- Double-bogeyed the 72nd hole to lose the U.S. Open.  He actually called himself an idiot.  I should put himself at #1 for calling himself one.

8.  Albert Pujols -- Said Ryan Hoard didn't deserve the NL MVP because his team wasn't in the playoffs.  Suck an egg Albert.

8A.  Raiders owner Al Davis.  Has completely run the Raiders into the ground.  Time to sell the team fella.

(This is a sports-oriented list.  If it wasn't, Michael Richards would be #1)

 

 'But Coach, I really didn't mean it.  I was joking....'

 

Top Eight Things I Am Looking Forward To In 2007:

 

1.  Will Daisuka Matsuzaka be worth all the fuss...and money?

2.  Will the Cubs' signings make some noise?

3.  Will Kevin Garnett be traded to a contender?

4.  How many more Slams will Roger Federer win?

5.  How far can Greg Oden take the Buckeyes (IF they give him the ball) before turning pro?

6.  Will somebody finally punch Terrell Owens in the face?

7.  Can Reggie Bush and Drew Brees lead the Saints to the Super Bowl?

8.  Will LeBron James gets some 'i want to pull your heart out of your chest and shove it down your throat' toughness ala Michael Jordan so the Cavs can with some titles?

(Can Man U upend Chelsea to win the Premier League?)

Some songs hit you more than others.

Artist:	Augustana
Song:	Boston
Album:	All The Stars And Boulevards

in the light of the sun, is there anyone? oh it has begun...
oh dear you look so lost, eyes are red and tears are shed,
this world you must've crossed...you said...

you don't know me, you don't even care,
you don't know me, you don't wear my chains...

essential and appealed, carry all your thoughts across
an open field,
when flowers gaze at you...they're not the only ones who cry
when they see you
you said...

you don't know me, you don't even care,
you don't know me, you don't wear my chains...

she said i think i'll go to boston...
i think i'll start a new life,
i think i'll start it over, where no one knows my name,
i'll get out of california, i'm tired of the weather,
i think i'll get a lover and fly em out to spain...
i think i'll go to boston,
i think that i'm just tired
i think i need a new town, to leave this all behind...
i think i need a sunrise, i'm tired of the sunset,
i hear it's nice in the summer, some snow would be nice...
boston...where no one knows my name...

 

**  Don't you feel tired somtimes?  Like you just want to pick up and just get out of where you are?  That's me right now.  I need something new.  Life is too important and too fast to be around people who don't care.  I get it now. -- Ryan (Where it says 'She said I think I'll go to Boston...change that to He.)

Janesville Craig Cougar Tennis!

High school tennis.  Those were the days.  Mike Bush, Edgewood senior, said I am making a ridiculous face.  Let me explain something to you.  That little yellow tennis ball was heading, pretty quickly I might add, straight for my....well, um...stones.  I was trying to get out of the way.  Get it?  Got it.  Good.  (By the way, we were good.  Yes, Craig tennis was good at one point.)

Yes, That Was Brian Butch!

 FINALLY!

For three years, we have waited.  Some patienly, some not.  He was a McDonald's All-American; one of a handful to do so in the state of Wisconsin's history.  He dominated high school basketball.  We have expected big things and they haven't come.  Until yesterday.

Wisconsin center Brian Butch came out of hibernation yesterday against one of the best centers in the country, Aaron Gray of Pitt.  The junior, out of Appleton East, scored 27 points and had 11 rebounds in the seventh-ranked Badgers win over the second-ranked Panthers. 

"He's a McDonald's All-American, everybody in the country wanted him and he played like it," Pitt coach Jamie Dixon said of Butch, who finished 8-for-11 from the field and 9-for-12 from the foul line. "He's a good kid, he plays hard and you guys should be proud of him. It's good to have a homegrown kid play as well as he did and win a game against us like that. He deserves it, he played well."

Having a mother being diagnosed with cancer his freshman year, we should have been more patient.  If we can get Brian to play like that more, we can expect this winter to be warmer than normal. 

The Cat That Ruled The World!

 Enzo, is that you?

This cat didn't have clean kitty litter this morning.  Imagine if he didn't have his Meow Mix for lunch.  Rawr!  Haha.  Funny, this cat looks like my mom's cat, Enzo.  Hopefully, he won't be like this when I go home for Christmas.

Lou Holtz is Braindead

 'Is it okay if I sing the Notre Dame fight song during the show today guys?'

Last night I watched ESPN Classic’s All-Time Greatest College Football Playoff.  I would have had a couple different choices, but that's for another time.  What did upset me is Lou Hotlz on the show, his comments are just plain dumb.  Here is how the show went down (know that the games/teams were voted on by fans online):

The 32 teams were put into four 'regions' of eight teams; Cotton, Sugar, Orange and the Rose.  They had two tables of commentator's and ex-coaches and another table of young guys.  The older table was Lee Corso, Barry Switzer and Lou 'I'm not smart and Notre Dame is the greatest even with 2 losses' Holtz.  The younger table included Kirk Herbstreit, Todd Blackledge and Mark May. 

I won't get into the entire show because I could write 1,784 pages on how Lou Holtz is completely clueless.  I'll just talk about the final game.  It ended up being the Johnny Rogers Nebraska 1971 team vs the 1995 Nebraska team of Tommie Frazier and Lawrence 'Girl, if you don't shut up I'm going to push you down the stairs' Phillips.  First of all, this is a joke.  Two teams from the same university should not be in the final...but I digress.  The '95 Nebraska team beat the 2001 Miami team that had 6 first round choices on defense and the 1971 Cornhusker team beat the '05 Vince Young's....I mean, Texas. 

Kirk Herbstreit was upset, as I would have been.  Two Nebraska teams in the final is wrong.  Just because ESPN Classic was the only station people could watch in Lincoln last night doesn't mean they are the two best teams.  Herbstreit was saying how this is a joke and Mr. Holtz came up with one of his BRILLIANT quotes.  He said 'Well, obviously this is right because this is how it was voted.'  No Lou, that is not right.  Just because Nebraska fans crammed ESPN.com to vote last night does not mean they are the two best teams in college football history.  (By the way, Lee Corse helped Nebraska win; in one round he said 'Come on Nebraska, you guys should be voting more than this).  Oh yes, this is a very real tournament.

Lou said something just as ridiculous the Sunday night the BCS Championship game was revealed.  After all the talking between all the commetators (please understand I love everybody else...Fowler, Corso, Herbstreit, May, etc), Lou said the EXACT SAME THING.  He said, 'Well obviously we have the two best teams in the BCS Championship game because that's what the voters have said.'  Again NO, that is not right.  Just because Florida is playing Ohio State and not Michigan doesn't mean Florida is better than Michigan.  It means that a lot of the voters don't want to see a rematch for the National Title.  Completely fine, but don't say these are the two best teams just because thats what was voted.

Mr Holtz knows FOR A FACT Notre Dame is going to beat LSU in the Sugar Bowl.  Just like the Irish beat Michigan and USC.  Oh wait, he was wrong.  He said South Carolina would 'DEFINITELY' beat Florida.  Yep, didn't happen.  Please ESPN, get Lou Holtz off the air.  I am sick of his bias and I'm sick of his stupidity.

** You are telling me these two Nebraska teams are better than every USC team, every Oklahoma team, every Michigan team, every Miami team, every Texas team.  Give me a break.  What is the best team of all time?  I'm still young but I say the 2004 USC team.

 

Allen Iverson

 You are under contract, shut your yapper!

Ah yes, Allen Iverson.  He wants to be traded from his 76ers.  Tuesday afternoon he nixed a trade to the Charlotte Bobcats and General Manager/Part Owner, Michael Jordan.

Let me explain something to you Allen.  You have no right to do anything.  You are under contract, you should be playing.  If the 76ers want to trade you to Charlotte or Minneapolis or Beijing or Jupiter, you should be all smiles and be on your way.  You don't have a no-trade clause so the 76ers' should be able to do whatever they want with you.

I know one thing.  The Philadelphia 76ers should not be paying A.I. to sit at home and not play.  Iverson doesn't want to play for the 76ers, don't pay him.  Philadelphia should send Iverson wherever they want to send him and whoever gives the 76ers get the best deal.  Don't listen to anything Iverson has to say ever again.  He's a baby.

Get Ready America, Here Comes Greg Oden

 Oden shoots a left-handed free throw.

College basketball hasn't seen a dominant center in nearly 20 years (think Dikembe Mutumbo, Alonzo Mourning, Patrick Ewing, Shaquille O'neal).  Well, it's time for another and this one might be better than all of them.  Ohio State's freshman Greg Oden made his debut on Saturday vs Valparaiso.  He broke his hand in the summer and has been on the shelf ever since.

But Oden, from Indianapolis, didn't stop working.  Thad Motta, OSU's head coach, has been working on Oden with his footwork, defense and free throws.  Last week before the Buckeye's, ranked No. 1 for the moment (a 98-89 loss to North Carolina on Wednesday will probably knock them down a couple pegs), Oden made 17 free throws in a row with his left hand.  Roy Williams, the Tarheels coach, came up to Motta and said 'Wow, I didn't know he's left-handed!'  The thing is...he's not.  Oden has been working so hard in the last few months with his left hand, he's become almost as good with his left hand as he is with his dominant right hand.

 Do you really think Oden is 18?  He looks 36 to me.

Saturday's win over Valpo, 78-58, solidifies the Buckeye's spot as one of the top couple teams in the country.  "It felt really good. I had fun out there with my teammates," Oden said after getting 14 points and 10 rebounds "I didn't get a chance to dunk. You could tell I was anxious. I traveled, like, eight times."

With the best recruiting class in the country (Oden, Mike Conley, Jr., Daequan Cook) and a good returning squad, the Big 10 has been forewarned.  Oden, who has been called the next Bill Russell because of his defensive ability, has it all and the help to go far in March.  Greg Oden and Ohio State will be ready for anybody this year.