-I really liked working on the random thoughts post from a few weeks ago, so I'll be continuing that trend in posts without a title. If I need to post something in more detail, I'll properly title it.
-I've had trouble sleeping recently. Probably due to stress and my genes (curse you genetics). This isn't the first time it's happened, but it's proof that I really could use a vacation day. Alas, I need to survive this next week.
-My dad had knee surgery the other day. He's doing well, recovering and resting as far as I can tell. Also, my mom has took away his laptop to prevent him from working. Good call, mom!
-Put together a poker tournament the other night. It went surprising well. No real complaints (a couple of minor issues and things I could have done better, but oh well).
-Well, the MSU-Penn State game is finally upon us. Right now, I give the Spartans a 25% chance to win. Not great, but I've seen worse. I think we can win if our defense plays like it did against Purdue, if our receivers can catch the ball, if Ringer plays like the Heisman hopeful he was toward the beginning of the year, and if Hoyer doesn't play like he did against Ohio State this year or in the bowl game last year. 25% chance of all that happening, in my opinion.
-And now it's time to dedicate this part blog to the wonders of the Michigan Wolverines. Well, sort of. As you should be aware, I almost always want Michigan State's arch-rivals in Ann Arbor to lose. But this is a rare situation. Michigan has an opportunity to help their "little brother" make the big game. All they have to do is beat their arch-rival, Ohio State. Likely? Probably not. But it is a heated rivalry, so you can usually throw records out the window. And all but 1 coach won against Ohio State in their first game against them. And it is college football, which recently has had a tendency for bizarre upsets. I'm not holding my breath, but I'm not completely ruling it out.
-Most of my Michigan fan friends response when I told them I was rooting for them this week. "Sure, just use us and throw us away again. We only matter to you when you can do something to us." Well, when it comes to football... yeah. Deal with it ;).
-Catchphrase (much like other "party games" like Apples to Apples) is only fun when you have a certain group that is playing them. As in, people who aren't ashamed to go to the most random details in order to win. We used an electronic Catchphrase game, and there were arguments about throwing and avoiding the machine at the buzzer. We also had some great descriptions that sounded dirty out of context. And then we had this description of a very famous movie. See if you can guess what it is. "The movie with the midgets, and the dog, and the midgets, and the dog and the scarecrow guy."
-It's been a few weeks since the election, and let me tell you, I don't miss any of the political junk at all. Still glad it's over, so we can move on with our lives. By the way, to President-elect Obama. As much as I want a college football playoff, government should work on more pressing issues than college football. Hopefully you'll figure that out.

A far-fetched bowl scenario?

Look at this scenario, and see how far-fetched this is. In order to do this, we need to make the following assumptions, none of which are terribly ridiculous.

1) All BCS rules are followed to the letter. This means that only two teams in each conference are allowed in the BCS. This also means that 1 non-BCS conference gets an autobid if they are in the top 12, and that the Big East and ACC still get their autobids, even though they suck.
2) USC wins the Pac-10. They don't control their own destiny thanks to Oregon State, but based on Oregon State's schedule, I'd call this very likely.
3) We beat Penn State, with Ohio State winning the Big 10 just so I can make a point. I realize that the likelihood of us beating Penn State isn't very good, but let me have my moment a second.
4) The polls reflect MSU's win and Penn State's loss.

So, this would give us this selection for the BCS (Note: 10 overall bids for the BCS).
ACC winner- Doesn't matter who.
Big 12 winner- We'll give it Texas Tech for now, but it really doesn't matter.
Big 10 winner- Needs to be Ohio State as stated above.
Big East winner- Doesn't matter who.
Pac 10 winner- Needs to be USC, as stated above.
SEC winner- We'll give it to Alabama, but it won't matter if Florida wins.

This leaves us with 3 autobids left. We'll base the teams taken off of current BCS rankings.

#3 is Texas. They would take a bid. I fully expect a second Big 12 team, whoever it is, to make a BCS bowl.
#4 is Florida. They would take a bid. I fully expect Florida to make a BCS bowl.
#5 is Oklahoma, they cannot take a bid because 2 Big 12 teams are already in the BCS. Same with #10 Georgia (for SEC), #12 Missouri and #13 Oklahoma State.

This leaves these top remaining at large teams, based on rankings for right now. #10 Boise State, #14 Ball State and #15 Michigan State! Yes, that's right, we'd be third in line for a BCS bowl. But, if we beat Penn State, we'd certainly pass Ball State. And is it completely unreasonable that we couldn't move past Boise for the #10 spot, or something like that. Especially if it is convincing! Yes, I am suggesting that, if we beat Penn State, there is a good chance that we would make a BCS bowl game. Even without winning the Big 10. What does this mean?

1) All this is moot without us beating Penn State. We must win. We must root for us to win, and pray that it happens.
2) It'd be so much easier just to make the Rose Bowl, so let's also root for Ohio State to lose. It'd help quite a bit. Yes, this means that if OSU didn't lose to Illinois, we need to root for Michigan.
3) Root for USC and against Oregon State. We need USC to take that autobid. USC would certainly take an at large bid above us.
4) Root against Utah and Boise State. Yeah, I know you like to see the little guy to make it. But, it'd be so much easier if one of them is out of the picture (keep in mind, if Utah loses and Boise State wins out, they take an autobid that I described earlier).
5) Expect that we'll probably lose to Penn State anyway and accept the Outback bowl. It's nice anyways. New Years Day bowl, after all

Random Thoughts I Think I Thought- 11/07

- Congratulations to President-Elect Barack Obama. I may not agree with some of his policies, but the fact is that he is the person in charge of our country. Because of that, I think it is important that, whether you like him or not, to accept this and more importantly, submit and pray to God for him that he makes good, Godly decisions. And with that, I go back to not caring much about politics. Thankfully, by the way.

- I can't be more excited for Michigan State football right now. Worst case scenario, we're remembering the Alamo in the Outback bowl. And we still have a shot to go to the Rose Bowl (and get the opportunity to be blown out by USC). How many people would have called that? I didn't. I would have been happy with barely getting into the Outback bowl, or simply back to the Champs Sports Bowl.

- Along with that, look at some of the stereotypes that MSU football has started to change. Since we got blown out by Ohio State, we've won a road game against a rival we haven't beaten in 7 years. We've had two 4th quarter comebacks. We've won a game we were severely outplayed in. It's a good feeling.

- Speaking of MSU sports, it's hard to complain when MSU's basketball team beats up on Northern Michigan. They won by 61 points! 61! Hard to find complaints in a game like that, but it is hard to tell what your team is like after just Northern Michigan. We shall see, we shall see.

- Lots of interesting conversations I've had over the last few weeks. I've debated the most important topics: most influential bands, best Bond movies, most influential video games, why I love sports, sense of humor. As I said, the most important topics. Some of them I should probably comment on in this blog, but we'll have to wait and see.

- Finally, just more evidence that God provides. After a rough day in my chemistry lab, I was overwhelmed. I had so much stuff to do and I wasn't really confident after some interesting mishaps in the lab. That was, until I saw a letter on my desk. I never get mail, and it didn't look like spam. So I open it up, and there is a little card signed by my church's youth group back home. Never expected it, but it was what I needed. Even in doubt, God cares and provides.

Little Brother Strikes Back

When I was younger, my brother would always compete with me in everything. Especially sports. We would shoot hoops against each other, run sprints to see who would finish faster, farther, anything like that. At this point, I was bigger, stronger and more coordinated, so it wasn't always that difficult to beat him. I also didn't see beating him as much of a big deal. However, I can only imagine how important it was for him to beat me at anything. Well, it started with basketball. While I had a physical advantage, he worked on the other aspects of his game. He would work on a solid jumpshot. He would work on his mobility. Me, I took victory for granted. I didn't care much. I just enjoyed winning, and growing through puberty helped in that regard, until that fateful day that Ryan finally took his big brother on and beat him down. He's now bigger, faster, stronger, and cares more. I'd never play him in sports again, because he'd probably wipe the floor with me.

Why do I bring up these painful memories? Well, Michigan State University, the school I attend, has often been described as the "little brother" university to the University of Michigan. One friend of mine (known as the Wandering Wolverine) assumes that we have a severe inferiority complex with them. And you know what, the little brother comparison seems to work. Our year is always compared to UM. And let me tell you, it's been many years of disappointment. We can't help but look at the school just down the way and think, "Why can't our football team be like that? What do they have that we don't?" We've been put down to the point where we really, really, really want to win. On the flip side, my sources at UM tell me that they really don't care about us. They want to beat us, obviously, but after that, they could care less. Some even root for us in games. Shocking, I know.

Well, now is the time. Big brother looks weak, tired, beat up. They've struggled against powerhouse teams like Toledo. They're in a rebuilding stage, obviously. On the other side, little brother is looking like a program with upside. They look like a team that can compete for a January bowl game (note: Compete does not mean always get it, it just means that they'll be in the mix for it. Considering where they were my freshman year, it's a big step in the right direction). They have a coach that preaches toughness and unity. Could this be the time big brother falls?

If there were any year to be confident in a Michigan State victory, this would be the year. UM looks bad; before last week, Michigan State has looked pretty good. UM is still learning a new offense; Michigan State knows their systems and is ready. The drought Michigan State has had in the Big House still looms, but does it affect these new players coming in to this new system? That is the big question, but I don't think it will. In fact, I feel like the time is now. The time that the little brother finally strikes back and takes victory. They just have a better team this year.

I hope.

In the future, NCAA requires all amateur athletes to remain in an 8x8 box, in order to retain their amateur status

At the beginning of my freshman year, there was a movement to try and get our preseason best player, Drew Stanton, on the early Heisman ballot. I mean, we believed he was going to be the greatest QB we've ever had. As part of that, someone made a bunch of "Drew Stanton for Heisman" T-shirts. Later in that year, after our season had started to collapse, and Stanton was injured...again... another group of people started a facebook group, along with T-shirts for sale, entitled "Brett Swenson for Heisman". Both shirts were fun, we realized that the odds of these winning the Heisman extremely low (for our poor kicker, absolutely no chance). Let's fast forward to this year.

It's after week 4 of the college football season. We now have a running back, the great Javon Ringer, with a legitimate, although small, chance to win the Heisman. And of course, I joined a "Javon Ringer for Heisman" facebook group and have received at lease one message saying that, surprise surprise, "Javon Ringer for Heisman" shirts are now on sale. I never planned on buying one anyway, but it's nice to know that the tradition still loves on. Well, so I thought. A few days ago, I got a message from the head of the group with this message (note: The bolded part is what I'll be focusing on for the rest of this post).

"hey guys, I guess the alumni club leaders got this email...so just make sure you arent buying the T-shirts or selling anything along these lines
===================

Dear Alumni Club Leaders,

Michigan State University was contacted this morning by the Heisman award organization regarding a t-shirt sale to promote Javon Ringer as a Heisman Trophy candidate. One of our regional clubs had been asked to forward an email solicitation from the individual promoting the sale. The sale of this t-shirt immediately jeopardizes Javon Ringers status as an amateur athlete. The Heisman award organization made it known that Javon’s candidacy for the Trophy would also be in jeopardy if the sale continues.

Please do not participate in any promotional activity regarding the sale of a Javon Ringer t-shirt. I have contacted the individual identified on the email solicitation and asked him to immediately stop the promotion and sale of the merchandise.

Thank you."

As it was explained to me, the problem is with Ringer's name being used in any sort of marketing. Because using a name is violating this idea of naming rights, which amateur athletes cannot have, this is a violation. To put it plainly, this means that if a fan uses his name in anyway way that might make money for someone, it's illegal. How stupid! This is awful! (As a sidenote, to avoid any rule violations, I will now refer to Javon Ringer as Spartan RB #23. Don't want to violate rules by posting his name in a public blog). Here's some of my reasons why.

#1) Why should an athlete be punished for a fan's thing, especially when the athlete has no knowledge of it and is not making money on it? I mean, as far as I know, Spartan RB #23 had no idea of any T-shirt designs, and was certainly not making any money off of it. He probably is flattered that we want to have him win the Heisman, but it's probably not much more than a passing thought, to be honest. So the NCAA is planning to punish a guy for doing nothing on his own? Yeah, that sounds logical. He is not responsible for doing anything, this isn't sanctioned by the University, why should the NCAA even bother?

#2) It isn't like Spartan RB #23 is gaining anything on campus or in his future because people are using his name. Guess what? Everyone on MSU's campus knows who Spartan RB #23 is, and how good he is. Everyone in the Big Ten realizes that Spartan RB #23 has the potential to get 200 yards on them. And everyone in the NFL knows is frantically figuring out how good of a prospect Spartan RB #23 is. So what is a few hundred T-shirts tops going to change. Speaking of how he got so big...

#3) Wait, doesn't ESPN among other places make money by analyzing these athletes, promoting these athletes, etc.? This is not a critique on ESPN. I would not want to hear analysis concerning Spartan RB #23, or Missouri QB #10, or any number of other athletes. It'd be confusing. Heck, they probably couldn't show anything, wouldn't want people to actually see on TV how these players are doing. But doesn't it seem a little hypocritical to you? Why would the NCAA allow ESPN to make money off these players by showing the games, analyzing the athletes, showing highlights, etc., yet they won't let a kid make a few bucks off a T-shirt to which there is no way it will benefit the athlete in question? (Wait, I know the answer to that. I'm guessing that the reason why the NCAA allows ESPN to function starts with a $).

Maybe the T-shirts are against the letter of the rule (though, I doubt it violates the reason why the rule was put in place). But, in my opinion, if there are rules to prevent shirts like this, a fun thing for fans, than maybe the rule should be changed. At least, I'd say so. Somehow, I doubt that'll happen.

The Rain Game

You know what I love? Going to football games. In the rain. Why? There's just something about it. The fact that it brings out the most hardcore fans. The idea of feeling cool water on your face as the game goes on. Watching the havoc that rain causes. And the feeling of accomplishment, knowing that you are a more awesome fan than anyone that left early. Just so awesome! 17-0 Michigan State over Florida Atlantic.

NFL Season Preview: What you (and me) have been waiting for

Let's go right into it, division by division.

AFC East:

1) New England Patriots: I looked at their schedule, and it's a cakewalk (it helps to be in a bad division). They also were really, really good last year. So it seems pretty logical that they'll run away with this division, and go deep in the playoffs. Final Record: 14-2

2) New York Jets: I'm not sold on them being that good with the Brett Favre circus in town. Maybe they will be, but I don't see them making a huge jump. Yeah, they'll probably win a game or two they shouldn't because of Favre, but they'll also lose a game or two they should win because of Favre. Also, I'm not sure their defense will be good enough. Was it good last year? I don't remember it being very good. Final Record: 7-9

3) Buffalo: I like Marshaun Lynch to make a jump into Top 10 Running Backdom (assuming he stays healthy). However, their coach is a coach that plays not to lose often times, I don't like their QB or their receivers, and I hate their defense. Final Record: 5-11

4) Miami: Uggh. Your biggest moves this year so far were trading away your best player (btw, I thought this was the right move), signing a pothead to a 1 year extension, and handing the keys to a QB that I might be able to out-throw distance wise (well, that last one is a huge exagerration, but I'm sure you get my point). The only good thing? It doesn't get much worse than last year. Final Record: 2-14

AFC North:

1) Pittsburgh: Mostly by default. They still have Roethlisberger, and their defense is solid. There's just something about them that I don't like. I don't know why. Final Record: 10-6

2) Baltimore: If they had any quarterback, any quarterback at all, I might pick them to win this division. I like their defense, I like McGahee, but I'm not sure Flacco or anyone else on their team is worth anything at QB this year. Final Record: 7-9

3) Cleveland: This has the look of a team that is just going to collapse this year. Overly high expectations? Potential 1 year wonder QB? Old running back? Semi-old defense? How does this sound to you? Final Record: 6-10

4) Cincinnati: All kidding aside, this team does not impress me. Yeah, they have offensive weapons, but their defense is bad. Ocho Cinco is a distraction, Chris Henry is a distraction, I'm not sold. Final Record: 6-10

AFC South

1) Indianapolis: I'm not that concerned about the Manning injury. I'm not that concerned about Freeney coming back from an injury. I'm not overly concerned about the Jeff Saturday injury. This team could win it all. They will be good. Final Record: 13-3

2) Jacksonville: I love Garrard this season. He will be great. The running game is still great, so is the defense. If they weren't in the same division as the Colts, they'd easily be the top team in their division. Final Record: 11-5

3) Houston: Yes, Houston. Shock of the year, they'll be that team that no one expects to come through, and they do. If Matt Schaub and Andre Johnson stay healthy, I'd watch out. Final Record: 10-6

4) Tennessee: Well, someone has to be the loser in this division. They'll be okay, but not great. Vince Young will make some small steps forward, but not enough. Their receivers still suck. Final Record: 7-9

AFC West

1) San Diego: Obvious choice here. LT wins the division single-handedly, basically. Still don't like Norv Turner. Final Record: 11-5

2) Denver: Jay Cutler could make some steps forward. That defense could be better than it was last year. I just don't see it. Final Record: 7-9

3) Oakland: An interesting team that could spoil a couple of teams seasons. However, I wasn't a big fan of JaMarcus Russell in college, and I still am not a fan. I'm not sure they have any weapons. Their defense is going to have to carry them. Final Record: 5-11

4) Kansas City: They just look bad. If Larry Johnson doesn't carry the load (and all signs point toward him getting injured again, in my opinion), then this season will be in huge trouble. Final Record: 3-13

NFC East
NOTE: The opinions in this section were finished BEFORE last night's game. The Giants/Redskins showdown had no effect on the rankings.

1) Dallas: This team is too talented NOT to win this division. Jessica Simpson's boyfriend (I think she and Tony Romo are still going out, but I don't follow up on this celebrity garbage) will by default get 4000 yards, and their offense wins the division, and probably the NFC. But... all bets are off when the playoffs hit. Final Record: 13-3

2) Philadelphia: I believe that Donovan McNabb will stay healthy all season. If he does, he will only add to an already very good team. I'm sold (also, go Brian Westbrook. Lead me to my dorm Fantasy Football championship!). Final Record: 10-6

3) New York Giants: I'm not sold. They lost a few key players on defense. Will Eli Manning be the Manning of the playoffs, or the Manning of the last few regular season games? Final Record: 7-9

4) Washington: Their offense looks bad (even last night). Their defense doesn't look good enough to carry them. They're in a tough division. This looks ugly. Final Record: 5-11

NFC South

1) Carolina: They were really, really injured last year. They're bound to be healthier. Other than that, this is more of a hunch than anything else. Final Record: 10-6

2) Tampa Bay: Something about them just makes me wonder if they'll be that good. Could Earnest Graham be a 1-year wonder? Is there defense going to hold up? I just don't know. Luckily, they're in the NFC. Final Record: 9-7

3) New Orleans: I just don't think their offense can carry them this year. They started really slow last year, keep in mind. Reggie Bush seems to be more of a bust than the boom they were hoping for. Final Record: 7-9

4) Atlanta: You know, the team that finished last in the NFC South has finished in first the next year every year. I don't believe the pattern continues, this team just looks bad. It's not a good sign when you are starting a rookie quarterback, one whom I didn't like coming out of college, and I am forced to agree, thinking he is in fact the best QB on the team. Final Record: 2-14

NFC West

1) Seattle: Guess what? This team is good. They have been for a while. They'll still be good. And they'll be playing for their coach, who is in his last season. Final Record: 11-5

2) Arizona: I don't think they'll be that good. I think that Kurt Warner will be good enough so that Arizona might be better than the rest. But keep in mind, they still are Arizona. Final Record: 7-9

3) St. Louis: Well, they'll be healthier. Still won't mean that they'll be better, in this case. Final Record: 6-10

4) San Francisco: I didn't see the hype last year. I still don't see the small amount of hype they may have this year. Mike Martz is becoming more mad than genius. Final Record: 5-11


And now, the moment you've been waiting for. There is one division that features more bad quarterbacks than any other. 1 division that features potentially 4 bad teams (although I've talked myself into liking one). 1 division that features my favorite team. Here we go!
NFC North

1) Green Bay: They weren't my pick to win the division a week ago. And yes, I realize Aaron Rodgers has proven nothing, and has the weight of an entire city full of crazed football fans on his shoulders. But look at the rest of this team. Offensive line: good. Running back: probably good. Receivers: Very good. Defense: Excellent, and improving. If the Bears could make the Super Bowl 2 years ago with Rex Grossman as their quarterback, then Green Bay should at least win this division. Final Record: 11-5

2) Minnesota: Speaking of that Bears team a few years ago, this Minnesota team actually reminds me a lot of them. Good defense, good running back, good offensive line, awful QB. However, I am less sold on many things on this team. 1) Can that defense be great, like 2006 Chicago was? 2) Can Adrian Peterson stay healthy all season (he hasn't since his freshman year at Oklahoma)? 3) Can Tavaris Jackson even live up to Rex Grossman, 2006? I just am not sure. Final Record: 8-8

3) Chicago: So many things that could go wrong with my Bears this year. Their defense is starting to look old, and I think our really bad offense from last year may have gotten worse. I don't know how that happened, but it saddens me. Well, I am always the optimist, and will pick them to win for a while anyways, but I just don't like how this season could play out. Final Record: 6-10

4) Detroit: Because the average offense was a huge problem, especially compared to their awful defense, they fire their offensive coordinator. Yeah, that's a good move. But in more serious thoughts, their defense is still bad, Jon Kitna's a year older (and still Jon Kitna), they have no one good running the ball. This team looks bad.... again. But look at it this way, William Clay Ford is helping the mentally handicapped, by keeping his GM. Final Record: 5-11

The Unveiling

Here it is, my fantasy football teams. The moment none of you have been waiting for. Let's get into it.

League 1) My Church League. Unusual rules: 6 pts per Passing touchdown, 3 flex positions, no mandatory tight end.

Matt Hasselbeck
David Garrard
LaDainian Tomlinson
Marshaun Lynch
Ryan Grant
Maurice Jones-Drew
Thomas Jones
Torry Holt
Santonio Holmes
Donald Driver
Jericho Cotchery
Devin Hester
Jacksonville
Washington
Nate Kaeding

Strengths: My running backs are beasts, especially with a league with 4 flex spots. My receivers have a bit of upside with them. They should carry my team above any other.

Weaknesses: My defenses leave much to be desired. My quarterbacks are okay, and a great value where I got them in the draft, but there is a chance they won't pan out.


League 2) My floor league. Unusual Rules: 6 pts per passing touchdown, 1 pt per catch

Donovan McNabb
Matt Schaub
Brian Westbrook
Ryan Grant
Edgerrin James
Fred Taylor
Chester Taylor
Andre Johnson
Anquan Boldin
Brandon Marshall
Roddy White
Ted Ginn
Devin Hester
Chris Cooley
Dallas
Josh Scobee

Strengths- Again, I like my running backs and my receivers. This time, I like my receivers a little bit more, especially with point per catch.

Weaknesses- My quarterbacks are bad, unless McNabb finds the fountain of youth. I need a second defense, and I'm not sold on Dallas as a #1 defense.

Either team should still win my league, but we'll see what happens.

Stay tuned for a full preview tomorrow.

Cheers and Boos from Opening Weekend, College Style

I have a few random thoughts concerning this first week, and rather do small paragraphs about each, I'm going to give out Cheers (for things I enjoyed from this past week) and Boos (for things that just made me sick). Maybe this will be a trend, maybe not. But for now, here we go! These are in order of how passionately I feel about them, from high to low.

Cheers! to East Carolina, for the biggest upset of the weekend. It may not be Appalachian State, it may not be Super Bowl XLII, but it was a big upset nonetheless. Good show! You definitely deserved the win, and pulled off in dramatic fashion. Enjoy it while you can!

Cheers! to USC, Missouri, Illinois, West Virginia, Clemson, and Alabama. You are RANKED teams, and you had the guts to schedule your opening game against a team from a BCS school that had a winning record last year. Illinois and Alabama, double cheers for you for going ON THE ROAD against a ranked team. I love it. You guys got guts. On the flip side....

BOOS! to Georgia, Ohio State, Oklahoma, LSU, Auburn, Texas, Texas Tech, Wisconsin, Kansas, Arizona State, BYU, South Florida, and Penn State. Either you scheduled:
A) A team that was really bad last year in a non-BCS conference
B) A team that I'm pretty sure is Division 1-AA
C) A team that I didn't know existed until now
Some of you committed multiple infractions. You should be embarrassed. How does that cupcake taste, at the end of the day?

BOOS! to California. You beat Michigan State. You make me sad. And yes, I am going to ignore the fact that you outplayed us in basically every facet of the game, and that the game was not as close as the score was. Okay, more seriously...

BOOS! to Brian "Freaking" Hoyer. You know what? I'm guessing your summer wasn't that great. I understand that. But don't take it out on this year by sucking again! Along with this, BOO! to our coaching staff in general. Our team looked at times undisciplined and unprepared. Fix it for next game, please!

Cheers! to Otis Wiley. You singlehandedly kept us in the game. Your plays at the end of the half were incredible! You're becoming my favorite player for this year.

Cheers! to USC. Again. That play against a semi-real team? National Championship, anyone?

Cheers! to Utah. You beat Michigan. Gotta love that!

BOOS! to anyone that voted for Pittsburgh in the top 25. Congratulations! Don't you feel stupid. Also, BOOS! to Pittsburgh themselves. You obviously lost your pride. It showed.

BOOS! to ESPN. I realize that LSU-Appalachian State had to be moved up. But could you have moved that to a channel that I had High Definition on, not ESPN Classic which few people get?

BOOS! to ESPN/ABC announcers. You still aren't very good. You still say stupid and very obvious things. Half of you still are not exciting at all. Please fix this!

Cheers! to Duke. You won! You are 1-0. You won by 24, somehow. To everyone else: Repent, for the kingdom of Heaven must be near.

BOOS! to me. I wanted to have a Big 10 preview by last Friday done. But, as you can see, that didn't happen. I have no excuse (except that Big 10 season doesn't start for another few weeks, so I have some time).

With that being said, my NFL preview is in the works and will be up tomorrow, along with the unveiling of two future Championship Fantasy Football teams. Until tomorrow!

Lessons From Summer

It's kinda funny. I did a lot of stuff at work. I accomplished quite a bit at home. Yet, if I were to sum up basically everything I learned this summer, it would be a simple sentence, that I believe to be completely true.

It is better to do nothing in the company of friends than to be doing the greatest things in the world with no one around to enjoy them.

It's a little ironic, don't you think? Especially considering that I have friends that want to know some of the things that happen at work. But the thing is, instead of talking about my job and some of the misadventures there, I'd much rather talk about spending an afternoon with my friend Ben, laughing at the most random things (like Star Trek 2: The Wrath of Khan). Or I could talk the hours I spent working on blogs, or just random new insights I gained. But, I'd probably not mention those and talk about singing "I'm a lumberjack and I'm okay" with my friend John, and having people look at me like I'm crazy (correction: more crazy than usual).

It took me a summer where a lot of the time where I was alone, but I was reminded the value of friendship. Good thing too, because school is about to start. After all, seeing all types of people will eventually cause me go back to my more normal, somewhat shy self and wondering why all these people are bothering me because I need a moment's peace!



Completely unrelated announcements to this topic but need to be brought up.
1) I'm going to work real hard and doing updates weekly. Why? Football season is starting, school is in full force, which means I should have a lot more to talk about.
2) I now have a facebook group called "People who read All About 42 or just want to join another facebook group"
http://www.facebook.com/groups/edit.php?info&gid=27150146510#/group.php?gid=27150146510

Is The Joker the Greatest Movie Villain Ever?

Before reading this, let me warn you that there are spoilers for The Dark Knight, as well as the original Star Wars Trilogy and The Silence of the Lambs. If you haven't seen Dark Knight, go look up the earliest time at your local theater and go see it. Now. This will be here when you get back. Along the same vein, if you've never seen the Star Wars Trilogy, you've not only lived a deprived life, but you need to watch Episodes IV, V, and VI now. Silence of The Lambs is also a must watch, so rent that too while you are at it (although that one may not have the same universal appeal, if you don't like thrillers, you may want to just read this blog without watching the movie, because it is creepy. But awesome too. If you have liked any thriller movie ever, rent it).


Anyone who has seen The Dark Knight can agree, Heath Ledger's performance as The Joker was awesome. The Joker creeped me out in many ways, and the only way he could have been more scary is if he walked out of the movie screen, into the movie theater and started shooting members of the audience. But is the character the greatest villain ever portrayed on the big screen? I don't believe this question has been asked... until now. Only seen here on All About 42, we have a great competition between the new guy (The Joker) and two contestants who are legendary in the world of movie villains.

But first, it is my sad duty to report that a third invitee could not make it tonight. Norman Bates was originally scheduled to attend, but sadly, his dear mother has fallen ill, and is already somewhat crazy (or so I'm told). We are waiting to hear from our correspondents on the scene (they were supposed to check in at the hotel earlier today, but I'm not that worried).

With that out of the way, let me introduce our other two contestants.

Coming to the stage now is a towering beast. Standing at over 6'8", he has ruled over many galaxies as the second in command of The Galatic Empire. He is the master of the Dark Side, merciless, and a living legend. Give it up for.... Darth Vader!

Our last contestant was once considered a brilliant psychologist, but I wouldn't recommend going to his sessions. He isn't only a murderer, but he goes so far as to eat his victims. His 17 minutes in The Silence Of The Lambs are enough to scare you for life. Please, give your applause to.... Dr. Hannibal Lector.

Our three contestants will be judged on a variety of catagories to determine which villain is the greatest. The panelists are an esteemed group of three (me, myself, and I). Now without further ado, let's get on to the first category.

First Impression: Pretty simple. What did you think of the first time you saw the character on screen.

Darth Vader- While still trying to figure out what's going on, all of a sudden Darth Vader walks on to the ship with some menacing music come on. And he just looks proud, strong, ready to kick some rebel butt. Certainly someone powerful, but does he really do much on this first trip? Yes, he shows himself to be a total badass later, but just through this, I'm not convinced.

Hannibal Lector- Heading down to this cellar, you see him in his cell. And he doesn't look that bad. But then, hearing him speak to Clarice, you get shivers down your spine. And all I could think was "Oh my God, this guy has got to be the creepiest guy I've ever seen." Very impressive.

Joker- In the middle of a robbery, people are killing each other left and right. Then, after being the last man left in the robbery, the mastermind reveals himself to be the actual Joker. On top of that, it is shown that he robbed the mob. Smart, crazy, merciless. All good things to show for a villain.

Final Verdict: Lector's "I ate his liver with some fava beans and a nice chianti." at the beginning still freaks me out. He wins this category easily. Second: Joker. Third: Vader.

Greatest Strengths: What are these villains best at?

Lector- A great psychological mind. He convinced a guy to choke himself to death, he escaped by having a mask using another person's face. Although maybe not impressive on the outside, his mind is a most powerful weapon.

Joker- Creative use of weaponry. He kills a guy with a "disappearing" pencil. He straps a bomb to a cell phone to escape. Works on a great "social experiment" and has explosives on some ferries, and tries to get the passengers to blow them up. Gifted, as well as impressive.

Vader- The dark side of the Force. Seriously, he is one of the best with a lightsaber, he can use powers that most Jedi couldn't imagine, and he's a great pilot. Force choke is one of those special things that shouldn't be trifled with.

Final Verdict: This is a hard one, because all three have great gifts (would beat any other villain that has ever appeared). But, considering that the Force is superhuman, while the others are not, I'm going with Darth Vader. Second: Lector. Third: Joker

Moment of Weakness: Who screwed up the least in their moment of weakness?

Joker- He could never convince Batman to kill (aka, break his only rule). To counteract this, he created Harvey Two-Face. "An ace in the hole." Clever, and a good solution. Plus, failing on dying is a decent consolation.

Vader- He ended up showing mercy on his son, killing his former master and turning into a good guy at the end. In terms of the movie, it was a touching moment and a good way to end it. In terms of movie villainy, poor show Vader. Poor show.

Lector- He may be a bad guy, but he's still helping Clarice find another bad guy. Also, he does appear to have a sense of a little morality, based on Clarice saying to her friend "He won't come after me... he'd consider it rude." Interesting, but not convenient for him.

Final Verdict: It's probably obvious, but Joker's failings keep him alive. Good job for him. Second: Lector. Third: Vader.

Diabolical Schemes: Who has the best goals in life?

Vader- Rule the galaxy as the most powerful being. Hardcore, to the point, and overall, very good, even though it's tradtional.

Lector- His main plan is to escape, so he can get a good meal. More plans of necessity than anything else, but considering how he gets a good meal, they are still solid.

Joker- Total anarchy. How fun. How crazy. How awesome.

Final Verdict: Yeah, it's traditional, but I really like how Darth Vader rolls here. Second: Joker. Third: Lector

Legacy: How are you going to remember these guys years from now.

Lector- He is the creepiest character I've ever seen. Seeing him on screen will always give me chills.

Joker- I will remember him more as Heath Ledger's last role, and how psychotic this guy was. Because I'm convinced the only thing crazier he could have tried was walking out of the movie screen and killing a few audience members.

Vader- So much here. Hearing the Imperial March, and seeing him just demand presence. Just awesome.

Final Verdict: Really grasping for straws here. I can't choose. It's a tie. Between all 3.

Greatest Moment: What defines their greatness.

Joker- "I'd like to show you a magic trick." Is there any way to strike fear into someone else, in such an entertaining way?

Vader- "No, I am you father!" It isn't just the line. It's all that's going on. Vader is threatening to KILL his own son. Also, he has already cut off his hand, leaving him defenseless.

Lector- His escape. Well planned, violent, creepy, but very, very well done.

Final Verdict: It was his own son after all. Vader wins. Second- Lector. Third- Joker (It's sad I have to put the magic trick third).


Conclusion

In the end (without looking at the catagory wins, granted), I'd still go with Darth Vader and Hannibal Lector over the new Joker. But it's close. I think anyone can agree that this Joker is incredible, and makes the Dark Knight the best film of the year (so far).

Let the debating begin.

Something of Note I found

I realize I haven't actually blogged in a while, and I'll probably have a real update soon (okay well maybe, maybe not). However, I was sent this earlier today and I feel it should be shared.


Michael Jordan having "retired," with $40 million in endorsements, makes $178,100 a day, working or not.

If he sleeps 7 hours a night, he makes $52,000 every night while visions of sugarplums dance in his head.

If he goes to see a movie, it'll cost him $7.00, but he'll make $18,550 while he's there.

If he decides to have a 5-minute egg, he'll make $618 while boiling it.

He makes $7,415/hr more than minimum wage.

He'll make $3,710 while watching each episode of Friends.

If he wanted to save up for a new Acura NSX ($90,000) it would take him a whole 12 hours.

If someone were to hand him his salary and endorsement money, they would have to do it at the rate of $2.00 every second.

He'll probably pay around $200 for a nice round of golf, but will be reimbursed $33,390 for that round.

Assuming he puts the federal maximum of 15% of his income into a tax deferred account (401k), his contributions will hit the federal cap of $9500 at 8:30 a.m. on January 1st.

If you were given a penny for every 10 dollars he made, you'd be living comfortably at $65,000 a year.

He'll make about $19.60 while watching the 100 meter dash in the Olympics, and about $15,600 during the Boston Marathon.

While the common person is spending about $20 for a meal in his trendy Chicago restaurant, he'll pull in about $5600.

This year, he'll make more than twice as much as all U.S. past presidents for all of their terms combined. Amazing isn't it?

However...
If Jordan saves 100% of his income for the next 450 years, he'll still have less than Bill Gates has today.


$$$ Game over. Nerd wins.

My 20 Year Story

I forget where I heard this (I think it was an event at South Church, the church I go to in Lansing), but I was at some kind of event where my generation should be described “The Surviving Generation”. And he (or maybe she, once again, not sure) described how a third or so of my generation didn’t make it through childbirth due to abortion or miscarriage. A large number of other people in my generation had to survive through broken families, be it divorce, abuse or any number of other problems that seem to be more prevalent today than they have in the past. I bring this up because today is my 20th birthday. A day to celebrate that I have survived in this world for 20 years.

These past 20 years have been interesting to say the least. I’ve experienced some of the highest of highs and the lowest of lows. But, maybe that’s part of the wonder of the story. I’ve changed and grown so much that if you told me 5 years ago what type of person I would become, I probably wouldn’t have believed you. But, I think that’s part of the wonder of the story. It’s strange for me to look back, and see some of the things God brought me through and some of the things I just couldn’t trust him with for so long. But, that might be part of the wonder of the story too. So, in honor of today being my 20th birthday, I’ve decided to share this story. I’ve done my best to remember these events correctly (or in some cases, remember how my parents told me the stories later on). This isn’t meant to be a testimony; it’s much more than this. It’s a collection of stories, bottled up into one big story. There will hopefully be moments where you’re laughing with me, and at other times laughing at me. There will be moments where you will probably want to sympathize with my shortcomings, but maybe also want to stay away from me for a little while (okay, hopefully not to that extreme, but I have done some stupid things throughout my life, as you’ll see). But enough intro, let’s get to the story.

On June 20th, 1988, I was born to my parents, Henry and Sandy Young in Downers Grove, Illinois. Both my parents are Christian, and did their best to raise me on the right path. I am happy to call them my parents, but in order to save time, we’re not going to go into to much detail about them. Apparently, we moved around a bit when I was really young, until we moved to Michigan when I was 3. However, once we got to the first house I actually remember living in, we would only move once more.

Quick side-track before we go on. When I was something like 2, my parents tell me that I was fascinated by this “Wheel-of-Fortune” game. So there would be times when they would set me in front of the computer, set it up so I was one of the players (which is an interesting concept for a 2 year old) and let me go crazy. Anyways, one day, both my mom and my dad were outside of the room while I was in front of the computer. All of my sudden, my parents hear, from the computer, “You just solved the puzzle!” Keep in mind, I’m 2 years old. They are obviously intrigued, because is it possible that a 2-yeear-old could honestly solve a puzzle on Wheel-of-Fortune? Now, in actuality, that noise also comes on when a computer player solves the puzzle. I’m gonna go out on a limb and say that a computer player solved the puzzle, instead of me, but I guess we will never know.

Now, despite my parents’ lack of faith in my 2-year-old brain, they learned quickly that I was, in fact, a pretty quick learner. According to them, I could read and do basic addition at 3 or 4, well earlier than most. I would gain some more knowledge during my preschool years and they would encourage me to learn at a young age. However, my fine motor skills, such as coloring between the lines and tying my shoes still needed at lot of work. So, of course, it gets interesting when my parents go to a Kindergarten orientation, when the teacher talks about teaching us students all the things I have already learned to this point. My parents, being the concerned parents that they are, go up to her and ask her about me. From my understanding, the conversation went something like this.

Mom: Well, my son can already read. What will you do with him?
Teacher: Many parents think their children can read at that young of an age. He probably is just imitating you right now. Don’t worry, we’ll have him reading by the end of the year.
Mom: No, seriously, my son can already read. He isn’t just imitating.
Teacher: Well, we’ll see about that.

Needless to say, my mother wasn’t real happy about this. Anyways, from what I’m told, a few weeks later my mom and dad got a note from the teacher, requesting that I take a special-ed test. At this point, I was apparently acting OCD, not always getting along with the teacher, and of course, showing off my very poor coloring, letter making, and shoe-tying skills (you know, the really important stuff). My mom, I can imagine is furious, but she eventually agrees (probably had to). So I took this test (I have absolutely no recollection of taking this, by the way), and my parents and the teacher are asked to meet with the test administrator (I’m guessing the special-ed teacher). When they get there, my concerned parents ask me how I did. She apparently was thrilled, as I had passed the some math sections and reading sections… designed for 3rd graders (or something like that). I can imagine the grin on my parents’ faces and the shock of the teacher’s face. I’ll be honest, I have few memories of school for a little while, so we will not focus on school for a while.

The few early childhood memories I do have revolve around sports. When I was 5 or 6, I started playing soccer. Maybe that is just an optimistic view, but it’s my story! My dad was an assistant coach for a while, and then he became the head coach sometime. This was a fun experience for him and me. At first, I really enjoyed playing. It was a good growing experience and a good release for my energy. However, the more I played the game, the bigger, faster and stronger everyone else got. And, let’s just say, I didn’t grow at quite the same rate. It also didn’t help that God did not compensate my size with the gift of just being completely awesome at sports (He decided to give me other gifts instead. Things worked out okay after all). I stopped playing soccer somewhere around 4th grade, but my dad wouldn’t stop influencing my love of sports there.

At some point (based on the year I thought it was, I was 8), my dad introduced me to the great game of basketball and the king of basketball, Michael Jordan. I immediately became a fan (this was the great 72-10 season) and would watch what I could (usually the first half of the game, before I would have to go to bed).A year later, on June 11, Game 5 of the Finals between the Bulls and Jazz. With the series tied 2-2, and my dad waving me inside, told me at that point the MJ was sick, and that he heard that MJ wasn’t going to play. “He’ll play”, he said defiantly, “he’ll play”. Sure enough, there goes Jordan, playing through the first half. The second quarter looked good (I only remember the specifics of the game because my dad got a collection of complete Bulls basketball games from the Jordan era, including this game), but we were down by 4. As I was preparing to head to bed at the half, my dad told me something that would ultimately grow my fandom for any sport. “You know what Danny, why don’t you stay up? It’s the summer anyway. I’ve got a feeling that something special will happen.” This game is forever known as “The Flu Game”, a game where MJ would somehow take over with 38 points and need help off the court. One of the greatest performances in NBA history.

Anyways, I could go on and on about sports, but that wouldn’t be fun either. Let’s go back to my school days. I’m going to jump ahead to late in my 3rd grade year. At this point I’m at the top of my class grade-wise, and I end up getting interviewed by some people who are teachers at the new elementary school, talking to me about an advanced placement program for students. What a difference a few years makes, eh? My family and I decide this is the best move for me, and it was. It ended up being a good experience. It was nice to learn in an environment at a pace I liked better (with all due respect to my lower grade teachers and classes, why do we have to wait for the stupid people?). This was the first time I was ever challenged at school (although not outrageously). It was a good opportunity and I needed to do it. This kept me going through 5th grade.

Sometime during the 4th grade, I got really scared about something (I think it was a tornado warning, not sure). Before this point, I had grown up in the church. I knew that God existed, and that Jesus wanted to have a personal relationship for me, as my savior. However, in a way, this tornado scare (or whatever it was) somehow got me to trust God and it was the first time I really accepted him as my savior. I soon was baptized, and I thought that I had got my ticket to heaven. Nothing left to worry about, in fact, God was going to make sure nothing bad would happen. Well, that’s what my 9 year old self would have told you.

Let’s skip ahead to my 6th grade year (age 11). I was back into a regular program at school, and doing well. But that wasn’t my concern at this point. You see, over the previous few years, my grandpa on my mom’s side of the family (known for the rest of the post as Pap-Pap, what all us grandkids would call him), was sick with cancer. He was a Christian and a good man, and of course with my messed up thinking, I knew that God would heal him. I mean, look at all the stories in the Bible about healings, especially through Jesus. Of course, as time went by, things got worse. But somehow, Pap-Pap always remained faithful, at one point even saying “May God Bless you” when our family was leaving. At the time, I didn’t get it. I didn’t understand why he would say something like that. I didn’t understand why God would end up taking him to heaven on May 7, 2000 (I think that was the date, I don’t feel like double checking). Our whole family was sad, but I took this very hard. I even started to doubt whether God was real, or if God cared. It didn’t take long for me to accept that God is still caring, but it did take me a while to mourn.

Probably the most vital vehicle into God healing me was music. Now, at this point, I listened to a little bit of music, and I enjoyed singing. Despite initial complaints, I was learning the piano and enjoying it quite a bit. This culminated in a fateful trip with another family to a pizza place to watch a Chicago-Tampa Bay football game (our family being big Chicago fans, as I’m sure you know, and the other family being Tampa Bay fans). Somehow, some of us got onto the topic of music, specifically the youth praise team (since one of them happened to be a part of the youth praise team). Well, this guy, Bubba, found out I was a piano player, and that they were looking for a piano player for the youth praise team. Next thing I know, I’m at a praise team practice, playing piano with a group, instead of just in private. That next Sunday, I was playing piano in front of our youth service. And, for the first time since Pap-Pap died, I really felt... joyful. And they invited me to play the next week, and the next week. It became the thing I looked forward too most in a week, for quite a few years.

Back to overall school and people stuff. As I grew older, I would continue to do well in school without really trying. On the flip-side, the older I got, I got more and more awkward around people. I had friends in both middle school and high school, but I can’t say I had a lot of close friends. I don’t feel I needed them, I guess. At this point, I believed in a very work-based idea of faith, because I had seen that hard work paid off in many things of my life (namely, school and piano). And I had a high view of myself, so I didn’t always want to “hang out” with people that I wasn’t comfortable with, because obviously, the people I was comfortable with must be good people. I was never wrong in my judgments. So, this was my life for a couple of years, until eventually, I made the stupidest decision I ever made in my life.

I don’t know why I went to that website in the first place. I don’t know why I felt that like I needed to stay there and stare for so long (other than the obvious endorphins and such). But for some reason, I saw my first pornographic website sometime my freshman year (it might have been a little before, not sure). I knew it was wrong. I knew I never should go back to that website, but I did. And that linked me to another site. Next thing you know, any chance I could (of course, when no one was looking), I’d do my best to look at some naughty pictures or some bad videos. I guess, in my mind, I was already good enough, and that it was okay to be a little bad. It’s worth noting that this decision still affects me. I have to do battle every day, and there are many days I don’t win.

Well, my dad caught me once by looking at the history of the computer and figuring out who could have watched it on those days and times. And it should have ended there, but instead, I just got more sneaky. But it didn’t. By this point, I was addicted, although I never would have admitted it. So there I was, living what was essentially a double life. In public, I would portray this image of being the good guy, doing my best to live perfectly (by the way, looking back, it’s easy to see that I wasn’t as good as I thought I was). In private, I was just as bad as anyone else, but since it was in private, and I wasn’t hurting anyone, it wasn’t as bad (another brilliant observation by me >_<).

I never had felt so alone in my life. I felt like I was the only guy that was doing this. So it would just eat at me. There were few times when I could truly say that I was happy throughout my first 3 years of high school. There was going to church, not because of the fact that I knew I could worship God (although it did feel right), but because of the true friends I had there, whether it was the praise team or just other people my age. There were our school musicals, which I enjoyed for performing and for the music in general. There was watching sports with my family. The frequent video game playing too. That’s about it. That’s about it. Shockingly, I was never depressed. I never hated life. I was just doing my own thing, and no one else was entering my little world. I still did well in school. But I was never the life of the party. Although I knew quite a few people, I feel like I had few close friends.

Because I really don’t have a whole lot of good stories, I’m gonna skip ahead to a good part. The summer before my senior year, I ended up going to a Christ In Youth event. Don’t remember why I felt I should go, but I did (man, my memory is terrible, if you couldn’t tell). Anyways, there were 12 of us from our church (along with lots of other churches), 6 guys and 6 girls. Better yet, of the 12 people that went, I only knew 4 of them well, 1 being myself (at the time, this was not a good revelation, but you’ll see why this was important in a few seconds). So we get there, and we have our first session of the week. And it really affected me. It was the first time I was really confronted with how bad of a person I was, and a reminder of the idea of grace, something that I had heard many times, but didn’t understand fully.

That night, the 6 of us guys were in one of our rooms just talking about our lives, struggles and stuff. The conversation was finally getting around to me. I was listening intently, offering up some words of encouragement if I had any, but mostly being quiet. I was thinking of something to say, because I didn’t feel comfortable sharing what actually was going on in my life. Then, it was finally my turn to confess some things, and I broke down. I confessed everything about my addiction to them, and expected the worst (also, I was crying a lot at this point). But the worst never came. Instead, each of those guys showered me with love and kindness. People I only knew a little bit were caring about me in my moment of weakness.

The next couple of days, I had some time to reflect on my life, what it had become. And, my life didn’t look that pretty, to be honest with you. But I kept coming back to this idea of love, and grace, and forgiveness. So, on the Wednesday of that week, I rededicated my life to Christ, with my new friends standing beside me. That night, us guys hung out with another group. We were laughing, singing having a great time together. It was the first time I felt this joy for a long time. And you know what, it felt so right. That week is probably the most important week of my life. I don’t know where I’d be at without it.

Well, I’m long overdue for a funny story. That week, since there were an even number of guys and girls, that each guy would pick one of the girls’ names out of a hat, and each guy would pray specifically for that girl. At the end of the week, we’d write them a quick note, letting them know we prayed for them and be on our ways. The girl I picked was Cari, who basically is like a sister from another family (if you look on facebook through my profile at Cari’s, it actually says “You are Cari’s brother”. My hunch is that she feels the same way). So, I pray for her, like I promised the guys I would. I write her a note, (took me about 15 minutes) leave it for her in her bag or something like that, and the job is done. Well, she finds the note, finds a quiet place and next time I see her (pretty quickly after she finished reading the note) she’s going crazy, jumping for joy. She gives me a hug, and we go on our way. Now, you’re probably thinking, “Well, that isn’t very funny.” Well, let’s look at it from an outsider’s point of view.

A semi-awkward boy is good friends with a girl. Both are single. Boy writes girl a note, and leaves it for her to find. What are you thinking the note is (If I remember correctly, I was one of the first guys to actually bring the note to the girl)? Think about it for a second. It probably isn’t a note saying “Hey, I’ve been praying with you over the past few days. Have a nice day, life, yada yada yada.” If I were looking at it from the outside, I’d probably guess the letter would say, “Hey, I know we’ve been friends for a long time. Can we go out, on like a date? Cause I really like you, and I’m awkward so I can’t say it to your face.” Yeah, probably should have thought this one through a little more before I actually did it this way. By the way, Paul, one of our youth leaders, would later joke that, “The reason she was so happy was because it wasn’t a love note.”

Well, after that, I’ve seen my life change and grow so much. That first year, my senior year, I look back and see myself growing spiritually. In many ways, I was still an awkward kid, but I grew in the fact that I had a certain joy about life. I started praying, more than just at dinner. I read my Bible more and more. There was a desire in me to grow to be a better man. When college hit, I not only grew spiritually, but I grew out of a few awkward shells. I think being in a new environment, without knowing really anyone where I was, really helped. I may not be the most outgoing person in the world, but I know that I have people I can go to if I have problems.

I could go on and on, mention story after story, talk about person after person. But it’s already 2:30 in the morning, and I’ve filled up 6 pages on Word (single spaced) over the last few hours. So let me end with this. I never could have made it here without my friends, my family, anyone that ever cared even a little for me. My life hasn’t been perfect by any stretch of the means, but you guys have stuck with me. So thank you so much, for being friends to me in the good times and the bad. It’s been a long, strange and interesting road these last 20 years. But I’d be hard-pressed to change a lot about it. So thank you for being a part of my life, my story (this is only a cliff-notes version. I have more stories I could share). The first 20 years are over, the rest of my life begins.

Sometimes, God Just Provides

You know, I don't understand why God works the way he does sometimes. Had you told me two weeks ago what was going to happen, I don't know that I would have believed you. But, despite some of the craziness, I'm glad it happened. Because sometimes, you just need to be reminded that God knows best, and he will provide for even when you aren't sure what is going on. I think the best way to describe it is to just go day-by-day (btw, these stories are accurate on my memory. If you think anything is wrong, well as my dad has told me many times, "That's my story, I'm sticking to it").


Monday, May 19th, pretty late at night (actually, I think technically it was Tuesday morning at this point, it's kinda fuzzy).
I'm looking on facebook and I see that the church overnight is that coming weekend. Of course, I'm a little sad, because I know that I have to work, and that I couldn't get it off. Oh well. I missed it last year, and still turned out okay. Whatever.... wait a second. I had to think about my schedule a second, because there may be a loophole.

You see, I had said to myself (correctly, by looking at the request schedule) that there was no way I could get Friday night and Saturday morning off to go. But after looking at my schedule for a second or third time that week, I saw this part, finally.
Friday- Off
Saturday- 4pm to 10pm.
Then, I take a look at the Overnight schedule
Friday- 6pm to Saturday- 4pm. Wait a second! I can go! I can go, assuming my parent's say yes (which they did, with no convincing whatsoever).

Skip ahead to that Friday. I get there, and of course, there are some good friends I haven't seen in a while. Let me say this, it is nice to live in my house, but I miss being in a dorm with stuff always going on. I got a taste of that at this overnight, starting right off with seeing Joy and remembering just how crazy she can get (no offense Joy). It was fun. Got to play some volleyball, bumper pool, but more importantly, got to catch up with some good friends. Heard some good things about the ministry that night, had some things to think about and all that. But first, more fun. Beginning with the cartoon Robin Hood, I got to spend some time with some friends that I didn't know great, but it was a good time for me to listen. I told myself that I was gonna go to bed by 2, so I could get 6 hours of sleep. I did still had to work the next day. Yeah, right. Next thing I know, I still can't stop laughing (things get funnier when you should be sleeping) and it's 4:30 in the morning! Ah, I've survived on 3 hours of sleep.

Woken up at about 8 (as expected) on Saturday morning. And boy, it did not feel good. I think it took me about 15 minutes to get off of the couch I was sleeping on. But, chug on I must. I had to somehow make it to the morning session and leave after lunch (it was the most convenient time). But, I wasn't sure if I could make it through a 6 hour shift (okay, so I've written papers on less sleep, I'm sure I could have done it). However, during the session, God decided that I shouldn't work all 6 hours (especially since it would have put me over 40 hours, I covered for someone on Tuesday). Instead, I got a text from my mom saying that work called, and that I was to show up at 7, not 4. Normally, I'd be upset that they cut some hours, but in my tired haze, I needed to take some more hours off. Plus, I could stay for the last session, which had some things I needed to hear (so much, I should probably talk about it in another post. Too much to talk about). Long story short, I made it home and made it through the work shift.

Fast forward a day, which I had off. My family went to see Indiana Jones (a good movie, but once again, not worth it to talk about it here), but as we're going back, my mom gets a call on her cell phone. Apparently, my Granddad was in the hospital because of a seizure. He wasn't in good health to begin with (diabetes, among other things), and obviously this was a scary situation. My dad decided to head down to Indiana to see him, leaving my family and I here in GR.

The good news is that, despite almost losing him twice, he not only pulled through, but according to my Granddad, he is feeling better than he has in years. We suspect that he had been on so many pills, they needed to be flushed out of his system (like they were with dialysis). But even more importantly, his heart changed. My Granddad believes in God and Jesus, and I have no doubt that if the worst happened, we would see him in heaven. But he is also a pretty proud person. On Monday, when my Dad arrived and told him about everyone at our home church and at my church in Lansing (among others), Granddad basically said, "Well, it couldn't hurt." However, through the week, it became obvious to my dad that his heart was changing. And maybe that was the most important thing to happen these past two weeks.

Finally, I'd be remiss if I didn't mention that God provided a Stanley Cup for the beloved Red Wings ;) . But that's another story as well.

A Near Tragic Loss

At approximately 1:00 AM this morning, a great tragedy happened. Something dear to me had a shelf of books fall upon it. After a massive cleanup project, what once appeared lost turned out to be able to be fixed with a little bit of glue. What was this object, you ask? My first fantasy football championship trophy.

Okay, so I'm sure that some of you are probably thinking, "Danny, you are going crazy now. It's only a trophy for fantasy football." And you are right in this, I definitely over exaggerated the preciousness of this trophy. However, I'd be lying if it was no deal at all. I'm sure some of you will be shocked to hear that I am not very good at sports at all. I never had that many chances to win a trophy. And yes, I do take great pride in my fantasy football exploits. So, yeah, it was a little frightening to see it crash (not quite as frightening as, I don't know, waking up to here a huge crash, realizing that a shelf had fallen from my bookshelf, but frightening nonetheless).

Well, that's all I got for today. Until next time.

Why I love... Superheroes

Yeah I know I said this would be posted yesterday. Well, I ended up going to the theater to watch "Iron Man", which gave me the inspiration to write about superheroes. (By the way, I did enjoy Iron Man, it is worth watching if you like movies with some cool action, and some good laughs too).

Ever since I was a young kid, I was fascinated by superheroes. Watching old cartoons portraying an unbeatable Superman, defeating the forces of Lex Luthor or Brainiac. Seeing the incredibly rich Bruce Wayne turn into Batman, and use new and interesting gadgets to defeat the likes of Joker or the Riddler. I could go on and on, with no end in sight. As I grew up, some would think that this fascination would go away. On the contrary, it continues to fascinate me. Call me childish or just crazy, I don't care. I love it. Let me explain.

I always love to hear stories about the never-ending fight between good and evil. Two powerful beings stand against each other, representing so much about each side. On one side, the morally right. Fighting for someone other than themselves, representing a perfect ideal about how life should be. On the other side, the morally wrong. Fighting for themselves, they only care about ruling over all and oppressing everyone to their will.

In a similar way, there is always a human aspect to the heroes, both physical and emotional. Superman has kryptonite. Iron Man has his special heart. Most superheroes are simply men, that can be killed in the same ways you or I can. But even more telling is their emotions. Spiderman is never sure of himself. Superman sometimes feels awkward around people. Many lose loved ones, making it very difficult for them to move on. Despite all these things, they continue to fight for all that is good.

Why does this matter so much? Because I see this fight happening all the time today. Maybe we aren't seeing someone fly around fighting another behemoth. But there are clear battles between powerful adversaries. Ultimately, there is a huge war between the superheroes and the villains. The question is, which side will I fight for? Who do I see myself as? The best answer I have for you is that I'm like Wolverine, from the X-men. Wolverine, although basically good, is not perfect in the least. He often lives on the edge, which makes for a good story. But it doesn't make for a good role model.

Despite my faults, God has still allowed me to stand with the superheroes instead of fighting against them. I try my best to live that way, but it still is a struggle. The good news is, there are others fighting beside me in the same way. And all of them are growing, even though none are perfect. And the most encouraging thing, that continues through all this is simple.

Somehow, someway, good will defeat evil in the end.

More Friends of 42

Another friend of mine has decided to start a blog. She's a good person and I'm sure that she'll provide good commentary about life, and whatever she wants to talk. Check it out here

simonmeg.blogspot.com

As a sidenote: I'm planning on another post tonight. Stay tuned.

And now ...for Sports...with 42

The most enjoyable yet scariest series in any playoffs are those games/series between rivals. Why do I bring this up? I am a huge supporter of the Detroit Red Wings, who happen to be playing their biggest rival, the Colorado Evilanche.

Quick story before I go on. I was planning on watching Game 1 on Fox Sports (since they showed the first round games that were supposed to be on Versus) my friends John and Paul. The three of us are excited; we know it's going to be a good night. So we go to the local 7-11, get some Slurpees (ice, slurpees, yeah we were stretching it. Deal with it), get back to John's room, and turn on Fox Sports. It is literally right at 7:30. Of course, Fox Sports doesn't have the rights to second round games. Instead, they are showing a REPLAY of the Tigers-Rangers baseball game. A REPLAY! I wasn't happy, neither were my friends. Ultimately, we end up going to our local Buffalo Wild Wings, watch most of the game there, and cheer our Red Wings to a 4-3 victory. Red Wings to the Stanley Cup (please?)!

Anyways, I am more anxious about hockey than usual. I've grown to like hockey over the past couple of years, and now I get to experience, as a big Red Wings fan, the greatness of a Red Wings-Evilanche series. Colorado, although nowhere near as good as those teams in the past those two teams were trading Stanley Cups, is still a solid team. And it is still hockey, anything can happen. The Red Wings didn't win the President's Cup for nothing. That hasn't meant much recently, but we'll see for this year. All I know is, this will be good.


And because it's still Sports day here,

5 predictions about the NFL Draft (guaranteed to be at least as accurate as Jake Long falling to the Bears at 14).

1) Matt Ryan will fall to the Baltimore Ravens at 8, avoiding the newly renamed "Brady Quinn Private Crying Room" (Note: The Ravens will end up regretting this pick).
2) The Chicago Bears will NOT take a quarterback in the first two rounds (and they will NOT regret this).
3) Chad Johnson will not be a Cincinnati Bengal by the end of the weekend (yeah, it's not directly related, but they'll need draft picks).
4) The Patriots are not going to find anyone to trade down with, and their pick will surprise people. They will make a pick that seems like a reach, but isn't (Don't know who, but it will surprise).
5) For humor's sake, the Lions will draft Devin Thomas. I will start laughing very hard, and Detroit fans will pummel me for it.

Beakers, Blood and Band-Aids (A true story)

Every Monday, I have my Organic Chemistry lab. This past Monday's was a little more eventful than past labs. Let me start at the beginning.

At the beginning of lab, I take out all of the glassware that I need, and if something needs to be cleaned, I must clean it (don't want to mix the new lab stuff with the previous lab stuff). I try to clean at the end of lab, but sometimes you just need to do a little bit more. For this lab, I had to clean a 250 mL beaker. No big deal, so I clean that, and bring it back to my lab station. Then I drop it and it breaks. Whoops, but not the first time I've done something like that. Not a big deal, until after I start cleaning up, because all of a sudden, my thumb is a little bit of pain. Not much, but still worth looki...OH MY GOSH MY THUMB IS COVERED IN BLOOD (okay, I didn't shout this, but I was thinking it). Well, that sucks.

I finish cleaning up the glass, being extra careful. Then, I do enough until I can get a band-aid to stop the bleeding and not get an infection. Wash my hands, wrap it in a paper towel, yada yada yada. I figure that there are band-aids upstairs in the stock room, and I have to go up there anyway to get a new beaker. So I do. The people upstairs are pretty friendly, and they gave me quite a few band-aids. I put one on, they gave me a few more just in case, and it should be no big deal. Right?

Well, I put my beaker on the table, and decide to wash off my hands again (because although my thumb is bandaged up, I still had some extra blood where the band-aid couldn't cover, once again, no big deal). I look inside my band-aid, and realize that it is covered in blood. And I mean, covered (see also, useless). Well, got to replace it. Of course, this becomes difficult, because as soon as I try to place another one on there, it quickly becomes covered in blood like the first. Now this is a big problem.

Now, if you've ever taken a lab class at Michigan State, you'd know that it would be grade suicide to miss one. So, I've got a bloody thumb that won't stop bleeding, a lab to do that I'm already falling behind on because of all of this, and only a small glimmer of hope that maybe the stock room would have some gauze tape (also, a very likely trip to Olin Medical Center, and I hate going to the doctor's if it is at all avoidable). Luckily, when I went up there, they managed to have some, and gave me a hand taping it on. That managed to stop the bleeding, and I finally felt okay about completing my lab and maybe, maybe not going to Olin. After I signed a few forms (so I can't sue the Chem department, I guess), I went and finished my lab. It ended up being uneventful.

The end of lab arrives. I'm anxious to head home, take off my gauze pad, and figure out what to do with it. The cut did look deep at first, but when I took off the gauze (to my surprise) there was no blood. None at all! Maybe this would be okay after all. That is, until I started to move my thumb. Some blood came out, and I decided (with help from my roommate Josh) to go to Olin after all.

I don't like to go to the doctor. I guess I kind of have too much of a god complex to admit that something is wrong with me that I need to see a doctor for. This should give you an idea how concerned I was. Anyways, I get to Olin, and the lady at the front desk is not really that helpful. After finally getting an answer I was looking for, I went over to Urgent Care. That went better. The person at the desk was more helpful. After waiting for a few minutes, a nurse comes to take a look at things. Of course, they ask me questions about allergies, medical conditions, etc. and take my height, weight and blood pressure. Finally, she looks at my finger and says "Well, a doctor needs to look at this". Great.... I have a quick chance to eat, and then get back so a doctor can look at it and hopefully stitch it up. When the doctor comes by, she asks me the EXACT SAME QUESTIONS the nurse asked me. Apparently, they thought that I could develop an allergy over 15 minutes and know about it or something. Finally, the doctor decides that I need stitches and injects some lidocaine in my thumb. And everything appears fine.

Since I had a lab report due the next day, I ask the doctor how long the lidocaine lasts, and she says about a half hour. Cool. I can take a small break, my thumb will be fine, and I can do everything I need to do. Of course, an hour passes and my thumb is still completely numb. Normally this wouldn't concern me, but my mother has an allergy to many medicines/numbing agents. I wasn't showing her symptoms like shortness of breath, but my thumb being numb for longer than I expected makes me concerned. My roommate, who's dad is a doctor, kindly calls his dad and asks him how long lidocaine takes to wear off. He said a couple of hours. Great job Olin! You ended up only being off by 4 hours! Well, everything seems to be going fine since then.

This is my story, and I'm sticking to it.

The True Friend

What I'm about to post is just some random thoughts I had this week. They are not meant to represent society as a whole, since not everyone is like me. That being said, I think there is some good advice in here (advice I need to listen to as much as anyone else).




Lean on me
When you're not strong
And I'll be your friend
I'll help you carry on
For, it won't be long
Till I'm gonna need
Somebody to lean on
Lean On Me, Bill Withers

How many people would you trust to lean on during your toughest times? For me, this is a hard question. When it comes to talking to people during my worst days, it's hard. I have a lot of trouble opening up to people. Growing up as a guy, you learn not to share your feelings. You deal with problems by keeping them inside you. The only thing you show on the outside is a smile, a grunt, etc. That'll work in good times, yes. But I know I like to brag in the good times. I'm excited to share those. But, the bad times... well... I don't know. There is value in venting about when life sucks. There is value in (gasp) crying when you are sad. But that's so hard for me to practice. I mean, I'm not going to share my life story with someone I only know a little bit. I always wonder "What would they think of me? What are they going to say/do?" I have a few friends I can talk to, but even those guys I won't talk to unless I'm pressured to (usually).

In the same token, how many people trust me to lean on during their toughest times? I know I haven't exactly been the greatest person in the world. I can even think of a couple of times where someone was talking about something serious, and I didn't take it seriously. I'm such a jerk sometimes. Back on the point, do I put myself out there for people to see that I can help them through there problems? Do people trust me? I hope that some do (I know that some do, in fact), but I know that there are many people that probably don't.

I guess here's some closing thoughts. I need to be more open and more approachable. Maybe we as a society need to as well, but I can't speak for everyone. Imagine if all your friends could help you carry your burdens. Imagine how much joy it can give you to help a true friend get through a tough time for him. I realize that it takes a lot of work, and to some extent, I fail a lot at this. But I hope we can try together.

Some quick sports predictions

Since I know that you care about what I think will happen in today's Final Four, it's time for some quick analysis.

Prediction 1
The most important game of the day involves two giant programs meeting at a storied stadium. Of course, I am referring to the WNIT championship between Michigan State and Marquette. The only thing I know about these teams is that they are playing today in the WNIT championship, so I will still make a bold (but extremely biased) prediction. MSU-60 Marquette-52.

Prediction 2
Kansas probably has the most talented team in college basketball, with a coach I still don't trust. North Carolina has the best player on the floor, and a much better coach. I'll take the best player and better coach. NC- 72 Kansas-66

Prediction 3
Memphis looks really good, but UCLA also looked pretty good in its Elite Eight game. I picked UCLA to make the national championship, and I won't change that pick at this point. Plus, I love Kevin Love. UCLA- 74 Memphis-73 (but it won't be because of free throws).

Other stuff to come later today, so be ready!

Friends of 42

Because I promised a friend I would...

Hey readers (maybe assuming too much here)! A friend of mine also has a blog, and it's pretty cool. He talks about cool subjects most of the time (ie, everytime he doesn't talk about a certain school which shall remain nameless). Go check him out at thewanderingwolverine.blogspot.com

If you want to become a friend of 42, here's how you go about doing so. You ask me via posting in this blog, email, instant message, phone call, facebook message, or face-to-face. Your blog then goes through a rigorous screening process (Does this blog contain stuff that is R rated? If not, then you are approved). Finally, I post on here that you are a friend of 42. Simple, easy, and awesome!

A New Blogger in town

Hello, faithful readers (if I'm lucky anyway). I'm sure that you have some questions for this blog, so I'll address them now.

Who are you?

My name is Danny. I'm a sophomore at Michigan State University, working toward a chemistry degree (eww, right?). I decided to do a blog because everyone else is doing it, and I need something to do during my job.

Why did you name your blog "All About 42"?

In the book, A Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy, there are some scientists who ask a computer what the meaning to life, the universe, and everything (or something like that, I've never actually read the book). The answer the computer gives out is 42. I thought it'd be an appropriate name for a blog, anyway.

What is this blog going to talk about then? And how often will it update?

Well, the name suggests that I'm going to talk about life, the universe and everything, right? Basically, I'm going to talk about whatever I feel like posting when I post (which will be about once a week, probably).

Here's some things that will most likely be talked about a lot:
My faith (Not religious? Deal with it)
Music
Movies
Sports
Funny stuff
Things that seem nerdy
Things that seem random (aka weird)

And some things that won't be talked about:
Politics
Things that I think are lame
Things that I would only post because everyone else is posting them (unless they fall under the categories in the previous section).

That's about all I have for now. We'll see how things go from here.