Happy 2012!

Happy New Year, blog! It's been a while, hasn't it. It's because, well, I'm just prioritizing differently these days. You know, with...uhh...other things that are more fun than forced writing. I guess it isn't really forced, or anything. Whatever. I did something.

Perhaps this is my "I'm going to be healthy!" resolution. I also made one of those this year, but a bit different. We'll see how things go.

Anyway, way to go, Internet. Another year or not destroying the world. HIGH FIVES.

Gameday.

Don't call me Cinderella because I'm throwing this here party, and I don't see your invitation, bitch.


We Do This.


I-L-L I-N-I

Alert Level Orange: False Hope?

UNLV – 62

ILLINI – 73

I’m bursting with absolute giddy about this win. We dominated an opponent the way this team was built to dominate an opponent – tough interior defense, transition buckets, and clutch shooting. That style of play has eluded us for a better portion of the year, but it finally returned at a very opportune time tonight. Individually, McCamey played like a man possessed with 17 points to accompany his 7 assists. DJ Richardson also broke out of a cold funk with a very productive offensive-15 minutes (10 points, 2-2 on treys) while being able to resume his roll as a lockdown defender.

But with a top-seeded Kansas team coached by you-know-who waiting in the 3^rd round, I can’t let this optimism carry me too far. If anything, this team is far from consistent as evidenced by their inability to win consecutive games since early January. Awww, screw it. We won as a lower seed in the tournament for only the 2^nd time in history, and boy was it ever a convincing win. I don’t know about you, but I’m going to kick back and enjoy the hell out of it. Call me mad; let the good times roll.

I L L - I N I

It's GAMEDAY

My recent television obsession with Parks and Recreation (Ron Swanson is a model American and my personal hero) has almost distracted me from the excitement building inside of me for the most wonderful time of the year. It’s MARCH MADNESS! Holy crap do I love this time of year. In fact, convincing my employers for a work holiday party to take place on the first day of the tournament (which also happens to be St. Patrick’s Day. EPIC) is perhaps the crowning achievement of my 7-year tenure with the firm. I’m going to have a resume just for this moment.

But anyway, my ILLINI have often been a tease offering glimmers of false hope only to take my breath and sanity away by blowing it in the most frustrating way possible. But that stops here. I’m going to say this here and now in a public forum: the ILLINI are going to have an amazing postseason. I feel it. This team has the talent to be special and loved forever, and I think they are going to do it. I really do. While this homer has been drinking the Kool-Aid, I truly, deep in my heart believe it.

I-L-L , Bitches. It’s GAMEDAY!!!!!!!!!!!

Image via http://www.sportslogos.net/

Happy New Year!

2008, you sucked. (Well, not entirely. As a devoted Illini fan there is no conceivable way that I could say any year involving a trip to the Rose Bowl is anything short of awesome. ) But one thing I've never understood is the concept of a New Years resolution. I mean, if you know of something that you'd like to change about yourself to make yourself a better and happier person, why wait until once a year to make amends? With that said, I've got a few things that I am resolving to take care of in the new year:

1) Getting better at poker. I am really going to try to practice this year so I'm no longer the laughingstock of the Foster Tuesday Night Poker Club. This is going to happen. You just wait.

2) Read more. I'm almost done with one book (Freakonomics, which I embarrassingly admit I have not read yet.) There are many books that I've had on the proverbial "To Read" list, and this year I vow to get to them. I will even chronicle them here with reviews and such. Interactive!

3) GYM! This is every one's goal, but the whole marathon thing was rather intoxicating. So this year we've got the Shamrock Shuffle, the Sprint Triathlon, and the Half Marathon on the docket. Call me Forrest, but I like running.

4) PHISH CONCERTS. I'm going to them. Sounds strange, but if you've been to one, you'd understand.

5) Be a little more consistent with the whole blogging thing. I'm just too lazy to do a lazy man's job, but this is going to change. I'm taking my laziness to the next level and entering the draft.

So there you go. Hypocrisy and and useless information about me all in one post.

PS - Tedd Sucks.

Turkeypalooza IV

Drew and I needed to go grocery shopping after work for the world's greatest party: Turkeypalooza IV: No Fu(#!ng Around. To give you an idea of how awesome this party really is, here is what we acquired this evening:

44 lbs of Turkey
4 bags of stuffing
10 lbs of potatoes
1 box of bisquick
4 tubes of crescent rolls
4 packages of lil smokies
64 rolls
420 napkins
2 jars of pickles
12 egg

And that is just the first grocery run.

Now, for those of you who don't know, it's time I sit you down and tell you the story of Turkeypalooza. It all started many years ago in a land far, far away: Champaign. It was the last game of the football season, and Illinois was playing Northwestern on Thanksgiving Day in 2001 with a Big Ten Title on the line. As members of the Marching Illini, us beloved bandos were required to be in town for the game (and for those who know me, I would have been there anyway). Well, several of us got this great idea that we should cook dinner for our parents at the beloved 1004 W. Nevada, also known as the Trombone House. We acquired groceries, a turkey, and did all the things that our mothers and grandmothers had always done for Thanksgiving dinner.

I'll never forget Tedd, Jon Hakes, Susan, and myself working on things in the kitchen with our respective mothers standing in the doorway watching. They were all commenting to each other on our techniques and recipes, and how they wouldn't be caught dead doing it the way we were. I've never seen 5 mothers standing so desperate to get into a kitchen in my life. Remember, we're still in college so macaroni and cheese and cereal are pretty much the limits of our culinary ability, so their critiquing glares weren't exactly helping our already shaky nerves. Fortunately for us and our intestinal tracts, the dinner turned out to be a smashing success and everything went off smoothly.

So Tedd and I started thinking to ourselves - why don't we do this for our friends? And get loaded. And deep fry the turkey. Well, turn the clock forward to 2004 when we finally got the down to business and had Turkeypalooza I. No catchy title was necessary because we had a deep fryer and a keg. We had everything ready, except a plan. We started drinking at 10 am, and when everyone showed up at 3, we realized the only thing we managed to accomplish was get loaded. We were saved by some ladies who knew their way around the kitchen better than we did (not much had changed since college). But, most importantly, it was good. Really really good. So good, we needed another one: Turkeypalooza II: The Revenge. And then Turkeypalooza III: This Time We're Serious.

Which brings us to where we are today. It's Saturday, and it's going to be totally kick ass. No Fu(#!ng Around.

Post for the sake of Posting

I'm forcing myself to get to this more on a weekly basis, so I'm taking this opportunity to share a few things with you, my many adoring and sexy fans:

1) This past Sunday at the Bears game was totally kickass.
2) We're getting a keg for tOSU this weekend. The Illibuck is ours to stay!
3) I love video games again.
4) JW and I just made some AMAZING chili. Bring it, Tedd. Your chili ain't got nothin!

Thank you, and good night.

Saturday TW

So, in case you haven't noticed, I kind of have this thing for Illinois sports and Champaign. So come football season, I accumulate quite a few frequent traveler miles along I-57 to Champaign and back to Chicago. Today was a road game, (and no one would go with me), so I got to spend the weekend at home. I woke up early, got my car washed, went to the bank, went to the cleaners, bought a halloween costume, and managed to watch the Illinois game all by 4. Since the previous 18 weeks had been consumed by marathon training and weddings, this whole free time thing is relatively new to me. I was actually so bored at one point today I thought about going into work. I'll repeat that - I was so bored going to the office was a viable option for entertainment.

The me of 2 years ago would find this totally unacceptable. The me of 2 years ago lived in a nonstop action packed world guided by the mantra of if you weren't workin, you're playin. What' s happened in this period? I blame the economy and credit crisis. I'm just too bummed out to enjoy myself.

I wonder if the economy of 2 years ago is also disappointed with its current day self.

Feel the Heat Rays!

I'm the world's biggest Tampa Bay Ray fan. Well, probably not, as I've only just jumped on the bandwagon, but I'm sure I'm not that far off from being the biggest Rays fan. How can you not be? They are the true American Underdog - horseshit one year, belle of the ball the next year. What's there not to love? Not one damn thing, that's what.

Hip Hip Hoo Rays!!!!!!!!!!

Super Champaign Happy Awesome Time

This past weekend marked a tremendously awesome occassion: home opener for the University of Illinois Fighting Illini. I know many more people get excited for the Sunday games, but having attended a Big 1T1en school, there is something about the college game that gets me more excited.

My personal attachment came from being a member of the Marching Illini for 4 years. This was, without a doubt, the best way to see a game. Sure, there were lots of things I didn't care for (namely people I didn't care for), but this is probably the only consistent stretch in my life waking up at 6 am for a rehearsal was not only easy, but I looked forward to it. The days were long, and when the team was less than great they weren't always as exciting, but they were great all the same. I think thats because everyone in the entire organization had one consistent goal: beer. Seriously, those who have ever heard me talk about college would tell you I swore that a Marching Illini party was the best show in town on Saturdays, and its true. What was great about them is that almost everyone came to the parties, and everyone always had a great time.

It's hard to imagine that you can be truly close to a group of 300+ people, but I was always amazed at the sense of camaraderie that was enjoyed by most people. And it shows - to this day you will see a large contingency of people marching with the band to their postgame show at the Ed building, and I'd say at least half are fossils (what you become when you leave the band and enter the hell of the real world). Most of us still go down to games, and I can easily say that some of my best friends were made in those first few days of band camp. Yes, it exists, and yes, it's totally awesome.

The point of this? Nothing, other than its another reason why college is awesome and why I love going back to Champaign.

GO ILLINI!