CATalog

Images of the season

2011-10-14T18:04:00.003-04:00

So much of the season has already been written, yet there is still so much to be seen. My teams are teetering on the brink of disaster, thanks Georgia and Florida, but it is quite interesting to see who will end up in the championship with LSU, Bama, OU, Wisconsin, Boise St, and even Clemson trying to get through. With the BCS standings come out next week and forgetting to post on my blog last week, I thought I would write less, and show more because we all know how much I will vent about the BCS system next week...join me won't you! Enjoy the pictures of what I think has summed up the season so far!

Top of Their Game

Pleasant Surprises

Heisman Trophy Winner

Uniforms

Major disappointments

Scandal

Conference, What Conference??

Anything I missed??

Now for the picks!

Mich vs Mich St-Mich
Baylor vs Texas AM-Texas AM
S.Carolina vs MSU- S.Carolina
Miami vs UNC-UNC!
FSU vs Duke-FSU
LSU vs Tenn-LSU
Oklahoma St vs Texas-Ok State

GT vs UVA-GT
OSU vs Illinois-OSU
Bama vs Ole Miss-Bama
VT vs Wake-VT
Clemson vs Maryland-Clemson
Kansas State vs Texas Tech-Kansas State
Florida vs Auburn-FLORIDA
Georgia vs Vandy-GEORGIA
Arizona St vs Oregon-Oregon

Battle of the Unbeatens

2011-09-29T18:37:00.000-04:00

Well it's the battle of the unbeatens. First of course we have the typical Big 12 teams with lack of schedule strength battling with Texas vs Iowa St and Baylor vs Kansas St. Nebraska goes against Wisconsin for not only another great matchup of two top ten teams but the first time Nebraska will play in it's new conference. On top of those four games we have up and coming Clemson on the road at Virginia Tech for Clemson's first road test to see if they are for real and Virginia Tech's first test the whole season as they haven't played an AQ BCS team yet. And of course, we have the game that interests me the most with Alabama heading down to the Swamp to play Florida and Will Muschamp(yet again...). What an exciting weekend.

This is always when college football becomes the battle of who lost a better game first. For instance, what if Florida beats Alabama, Alabama then goes on to win the rest of their games including the SEC championship, would they be a one loss team to go to the national championship over say an Oklahoma that loses to Texas later in the season?? People tell me that the BCS system works, but when push comes to shove, lose early because you will get more votes from coaches, the AP, and the mighty BCS system will throw the numbers in your favor. Regardless of the BCS, this middle part of the season is when we finally see conference foes go after each other with win or go home mentalities and I LOVE it! You don't see this in pro football, you don't even see it in college basketball, and the only time you see it in baseball is when your team goes the whole year winning and then decides that bringing your bat to a game is a bad idea(thanks a lot Braves...). This weekend is the type of weekend that reminds me why it is worth it to sit on my couch ALL day watching football. Who am I kidding, every weekend is like that in college football, I am just excited that two TVs won't be enough!!

Another good week last week as I posted a 10-3 record!

South Florida vs Pitt-South Florida
Texas A&m vs Ark-Ark
Minn vs Mich-Mich
Northwestern vs Illinois-Northwestern
Miss St vs UGA-UGA
Kentucky vs LSU-Lsu
Nevada vs Boise St-Boise St
Auburn vs South Carolina-Auburn
Baylor vs Kansas St-Baylor
GT vs NC State-GT
Arizona vs USC-Arizona
Michigan St vs Ohio St-Ohio St
Clemson vs VT-Clemson
Texas vs Iowa St-Iowa St
Alabama vs Florida-UF
Nebraska vs Wisconsin-Wisconsin
UNC vs ECU-UNC

Traditions

2011-09-23T17:23:00.002-04:00

With all the craziness that has been surrounding college football in the past year, I can't help but think about all the traditions that so many of us are accustomed to just vanishing. A tradition like the Oklahoma/Nebraska game that even if they played it, the game would never mean as much as it did when they were in the same conference. A tradition that must be started between Colorado and Utah rather than the bitter rivalry of mascots between Ralphie from Colorado and Bevo from Texas. As much as I don't really care about either of those teams, the tradition of both those animals was so fun to watch every year and now we only see it every now and then. And to think, now Syracuse and Pitt will have to form new rivalries on the football field against foes such as Florida State and Wake Forest? I think the thing that bothers me most in a conference like the Big East where they lose Syracuse and Pitt, it's not the football programs that take the hit of traditions, but it's basketball. The passion of basketball in the Big East is one of the best and to see football cause those rivalries to mean less is just sad. I guess it's hard to watch new rivalries attempting to be formed in football, old rivalries lost in football, and all the other sports having to deal with this just for money.

The irony of all of this is that for the past few years I have been complaining about the BCS system and how they will never go to the playoff system, one of their biggest arguments is the "tradition" of the bowl games. I absolutely LOVE bowl season. January 1st is like Christmas to me when football is on from 11am until midnight. But I also realize that it IS UNFAIR to teams like Boise State who go undefeated even if their schedule is weaker that they don't even get a chance. I can tell you coming from someone who played in a playoff system, it isn't always the best team all year that wins the tournament, it's the best team playing at that point in the season that wins. It just annoys me that because of traditions and money, the BCS system won't change, yet all the conferences will realign and take away what little tradition was left in the eyes of the students and alumni of that particular school.

What I don't understand is that I come from a generation where we are constantly changing. Social media is the best outlet for breaking news and the news feed on your home page is completely different 20 minutes later. I come from a generation where tradition is something we frown upon because we think it keeps us from ever being innovators and creating a better country to live in; so we keep moving forward. Mark Zuckerberg the founder of Facebook is from my generation. Food trucks are run by 20 and 30 somethings and are the new rage for a restaurant because as soon as a neighborhood is "so five minutes ago," you just pack up and move to the next trendy place. We don't like to stay in one place and I truly believe that my generation along with a few others will truly change the world(and that goes way beyond college football). It's just interesting that we want to change college football to a playoff system to seem progressive, yet all this conference realignment just makes us cringe. We see it all as a play on money and taking more steps backward rather than forward because the people who run these conferences just want the money. It's plain and simple to me and my generation, yet everyone is afraid to talk about it(ironically probably because they get more money not to say anything...).

I just love college football tradition. That's why I love college football so much. You play with an added passion for the sake of your school and the rivalry that has been formed for decades. Alumni go back to school to look at pictures of them playing their arch rival while cheering on the new generation to beat the same school they played 45 years ago. Where has that passion gone? Will it return? I sure hope so. I can adjust, I don't particularly like to change, but I can. I just hope college football(and all the other sports affected by this) will do the same.

OK, enough venting. Hopefully I didn't overstep any boundaries ;) I made up for the last time I picked with an 11-2 record. Let's hope I keep that up! It's gonna be a fun Saturday

UNC vs GT-UNC
ND at Pitt-ND
Ark vs Alabama-Bama
Ok State vs TAM-TAM
Florida St vs Clemson-Clemson(without EJ I just dont think FSU can do it, maybe he will play?)
Vandy vs S. Carolina-Vandy
UF vs UK-UF
Florida Atlantic vs Auburn-Auburn
Missouri vs Oklahoma-Oklahoma
LSU vs W.VA-LSU
USC vs Arizona St-Arizona St
UGA vs Ole Miss-UGA
San Diego St vs Mich-Mich

Early Season Guesses/Remarks

2011-09-16T17:10:00.002-04:00

Now that we are two weeks into the season, it has been fun to listen to some of the critics go ahead and put their Heisman front runners out there. Robert Griffin III from Baylor, Denard Robinson from Michigan, and Landry Jones of Oklahoma have been the players that I hear the most. Well, what about Andrew Luck from Stanford and Trent Richardson from Alabama? You could even put a Kellen Moore in there from Boise State which I am guessing most people will by the end of the season. While I heard those three names I mentioned first be put in the Heisman frontrunner position so soon in the year, I thought I could make some outlandish and quick remarks that with only two weeks of judgement, I will allow myself to feel like a real critic.

Now all of this is based JUST on the first two weeks of the season...just wanted to remind you of this...
-Mark Richt is fired
-Brian Kelly is fired
-Based on how Auburn won the national championship last year, Michigan will win the national championship this year
-Boise State will get locked out of the national championship again
-Florida State leaves the ACC
-Texas becomes this year's Ohio State
-The argument of whether the Big East should get an automatic bid will push more teams into super conferences
-Miami may not have a football program...
-It's LSU vs Oklahoma in the national championship game
-Robert Griffin III wins the Heisman and Baylor wins the Big 12 or whatever that conference is...
-Arkansas wins the SEC
-Arizona St wins the Pac 12
-Wisconsin wins the Big 10
-Florida State wins the ACC
-Notre Dame doesn't make a bowl
-West Virginia wins the Big East

So how close do you think this will be by the end of the season???

Now on to the picks...I was an abysmal 6-4 last week so I need to make up for that!

West Virginia vs Maryland-Maryland
Auburn vs Clemson-Auburn
Coastal Carolina vs UGA-UGA
Washington vs Nebraska-Nebraska
Michigan St vs Notre Dame-Notre Dame
Tennessee vs Florida-FLORIDA
Texas vs UCLA-Texas
Virginia vs UNC-UNC
Arizona St vs Illinois-Illinois
North Texas vs Alabama-Alabama
Ohio St vs Miami-Miami
Oklahoma vs Florida St-Oklahoma
Stanford vs Arizona-Stanford

Herschel

2011-09-09T17:08:00.002-04:00

So last night I sat down to watch the new series on ESPNU called SEC: Storied. It was on one of my favorite athletes and one of the greatest college football players of all time, Herschel Walker. The man was and still is a beast. Most of us know all about how when he was younger he would do around 5000 push ups and 5000 sit ups a day. There have even been rumors that he lived on 12 snicker bars a day. He still to this day does 1500-2500 push ups and sit ups a day and most recently ran a 4.39 40 yard dash as a 49 year old. Can we say comeback??

What I didn't know, and I bet most people didn't realize this either, was that Herschel suffered from multiple personalities disorder. When he was younger, he was bullied and he vowed it would never happen to him again. As a sort of coping mechanism, he imagined himself becoming a sort of "superhero" type person. When he was young, he figured it was a normal kid thing to do to imagine that you could one day be superman. But when he grew up, he began to realize that becoming superman wasn't a fairy tale to him, but reality. He was able to fuel his anger and aggression through football, but as soon as football was over for him, life became difficult as his anger became dangerous.

I have been thinking a lot about this as I have reflected on this amazing story of a man that overcame psychological issues to become such an gifted athlete. I can only imagine that something like this was very difficult to deal with everyday. So many athletes talk about how physically prepared they are because of all the hard work they put into practice, but what separates the good from the great is the mental toughness. To hear about this unbelievable young athlete to succeed at such a high level with this disorder is nothing short than amazing. It was really cool to watch Herschel reflect on his career and see how much more he enjoys his life now since he has gotten complete control of his psychological disorder. I really admire a man like him to come forward and talk about it, but also to embrace his problems and make the most out of life. It was also really nice to watch a Georgia team win and get to the national championship three straight years. Where has that team been these past two decades??

Now on to picks! I was 11-2 last week which is probably my best week ever! It's going to be another fun week

Missouri vs Ariz St- Missouri
Oregon St vs Wisc-Wisc
Miss St vs Auburn-sorry auburn...Miss St
Rutgers vs UNC-UNC!
Alabama vs Penn St- Bama(accidentally put penn st but I def DID NOT mean to)
South Carolina vs UGA-UGA! i beg you to win please!
Charleston South vs FSU-FSU
BYU vs Texas-upset special-BYU
UAB vs Florida-UF!
Notre Dame vs Michigan- Michigan

GAMEDAY!!

2011-09-01T10:57:00.003-04:00

It is finally here. A day I have been looking forward to since Auburn held up the National Championship trophy in January. It's a brand new year. It's a brand new season for my favorite teams and I must ask myself some questions before it all begins. Will part of my season be over on Saturday night when Georgia faces Boise State? I always walk into a new season with high hopes that Georgia or Florida will make it at least to the SEC championship, much less the national championship and if UGA loses to Boise, part of my excitement will flicker. Even with a #19 ranking, can they show that a lower ranked SEC team can still beat a team like Boise State or will BSU finally make some noise to the BCS analysts? If they lose to BSU and the following week lose to South Carolina, will Mark Richt get fired mid season? If they win one of these games does this mean he has saved his job one more year? Do UGA fans still want him as coach? I know I do, but I haven't heard many good rumblings down in Athens....Is the freshman phenom running back, Isaiah Crowell, going to pull in numbers like Lattimore of South Carolina?

Will Muschamp and the Gators surprise people? Will Brantley finally get his due? How different will UF look with Weiss, Brantley, and a genius defensive minded head coach? Will Gator nation like the change? How soon will Urban pull a Spurrier and find a new team to coach?

Can Everett Withers pull the Heels together? Since we still have Butch's recruits, can we still win? How good/bad will the ACC be this year? Will the UNC students still come to the games since the last few years we all bought into the Butch Davis regime? Will I look at the first date of basketball season before the third week?

And lastly...why is it every year the college football analysts pick a Big 12/ Pac 12/ Big 10 team to win the national championship while the SEC keeps on winning? Is it because they are just tired of the SEC winning all the time or do they truly believe it? Oh and can the conferences please stay the same...if college football is all about tradition, i.e BCS/Bowl games, then why do we take away the tradition of the conferences and put teams in new ones? I guess there isn't such a purity with tradition in college football after all. Maybe we should try a small playoff at the end of the year since tradition has just been thrown out the window.

Now it's time for me to start a brand new season of my picks. Once again my dad beat me in our college football picks so I will try and do better. So now it's time to grab my nachos, grab a seat in the middle of my couch, turn on Beth Mowins doing the defending national champions first game(with a Briarwood alum at QB!) and enjoy my day of sitting in front of the tv all day and only getting up to cheer!

Thurs game:
Wisconsin vs UNLV-Wisc
Fri game:
TCU vs Baylor-upset special...Baylor
Sat games:
Akron vs OSU-OSU...but barely...
Utah St vs Auburn-Aub
Kent St vs Bama-Bama
South Florida vs ND-ND
Minn vs USC-USC
James Madison vs UNC-UNC!
Florida Atlantic vs Florida-FLORIDA!
Richmond vs Duke-Richmond
Oregon vs LSU-LSU
Boise St vs Georgia-GEORGIA!
Mon game:
Maryland vs Miami-Maryland

disclosure-i know i havent included all games but these seemed the most interesting to me...

Awww...college football

2011-08-22T19:22:00.004-04:00

I guess it is that time again folks. I have been out of commission with soccer and broadcasting where I haven't said much about the college football season. Here I am again though, hopefully not annoying you with my love for college football. The problem with my love for college football is the fact that right now, I barely know who is in the top ten. I barely know the heisman candidates. All I know right now is how corrupt college football has become. And who do we blame for that?? Do we blame the media? Do we blame the NCAA? Do we blame the colleges? To be frank, it's hard to blame one person. The media obviously wants the "drama." The NCAA wants the power. The colleges want to win. Is there a way that we can combine all three in a manner that is civilized? Would this mean the teams of yesteryear, like Army and Navy, finally get back into the National Championship scene? Or would this mean we resort to paying these so called college athletes, yet by paying them we make them professional athletes on a much smaller scale? I have heard so many arguments one way or the other, yet I am a purist(except when it comes to the playoffs). I want to see the best athletes coming out of high school, play the game of football and appreciate a free education(a type of payment if you look between the lines...). I guess I would hate to see these specific college athletes getting paid when basketball has yet to be paid and of course no other athlete gets paid in college. I know, I know, you can make the case that college football brings in all the money, but it is just sad that all the money goes to the athletes, yet all the scholars are told they must pay more to the college so "athletes" can make more....

Ok, OK...I am done with that, I just want the games to begin. Who will finish #1? Is Florida State is the real deal? Will Oklahoma actually make it out of the easiest conference and win a BCS bowl game? Will the SEC win again?? Is Auburn really a #3/4 pick in their division? Will the PAC 16 truly be a competitive conference? Legends and Leaders, really?? Does the Big East deserve an automatic bid? Which coaches will get fired? Which coaches will get fired from more NCAA violations? Which athletes will pull a "Terrell Pryor" and leave early because they broke NCAA rules? Will there be a non BCS conference national champion? So many questions, and there may be even more to come, but what excites me most is on September 1st, college football begins. We can put away the drama that all of us hate and we can finally get between the lines and play football. This is the only part the NCAA, the universities, and the media can come together and be at peace.

2011-06-30T15:43:00.003-04:00

Here are the guys of the Blue team after a great dinner in Augsburg! Luke, Prince, and Carsten
I love seeing all the sights. It's such a different perspective when you aren't playing. I've been to Germany four times before, but this is the first time I have really gotten to experience how great Germany is!

2011-06-30T15:37:00.005-04:00

Our first game! Japan vs New Zealand. It was a great start to team Blue as Japan beat New Zealand 2-1 in a great game!

Soo cool to see Japan walk around with this banner. What a terrible time for this country, yet these women are representing their country well

2011-06-26T05:33:00.003-04:00

A lil celebration in Frankfurt!

Picks!!

2011-06-25T12:23:00.002-04:00

Since I normally do a weekly pick for the college football teams, I thought I would do the first round games for the Women's World Cup. I will do the quarterfinals and beyond once we reach that stage, so for now I am keeping it to the first round. Let me know what you think, whether I am right or wrong!

Nigeria/France-France 2-1
Canada/Germany-Germany 3-1
Japan/New Zealand-Japan 3-0
England/Mexico-England 1-0
Colombia/Sweden-Sweden 4-0
US/North Korea-US 2-1
Norway/EQG-Norway 3-0
Brazil/Australia-Brazil 2-1
Canada/France-Draw 1-1
Germany/Nigeria-Germany 3-0
Japan/Mexico-Japan 2-1
New Zealand/England-England 3-1
North Korea/Sweden-Sweden 2-0
US/Colombia-US 3-0
Australia/EQG-Australia 3-0
Brazil/Norway-Brazil 2-0
Canada/Nigeria-Canada 3-1
Germany/France-2-0
England/Japan-Draw 1-1
New Zealand/Mexico- Mexico 2-1
North Korea/Colombia- North Korea 2-1
Sweden/US-Draw 2-2
Australia/Norway-Australia 2-1
Brazil/EQG-Brazil 4-0

2011-06-25T12:21:00.003-04:00

Guess this was a sign-"Women's World Cup starts TOMORROW! Stop playing pickup soccer and get to work!" We are hoping the ball makes it in time for the Canada/Germany match tomorrow night in Berlin.

2011-06-25T09:48:00.003-04:00

Playing pick up with some guys in Germany...let's just say they were impressed with our team consisting of Brandi Chastain, Alicia Ferguson, Monica Gonzalez, Adrian Healey, Beth Mowins, and myself.

2011-06-25T08:23:00.006-04:00

Kate trying to read the specials at dinner...she did take one full semester of German...
Just a nice picture of all the advertisemens in a beautiful downtown Frankfurt
The set up in downtown Frankfurt for people to watch the game and festivities along the Main River(that big ball lights up real nice at night!)
Brandi, Julie and Monica "getting ready" for our first production meeting

Women's World Cup

2011-06-24T13:16:00.002-04:00

Since I am in Germany and getting ready to commentate on the biggest event of the summer, the women's world cup, I have taken a new step for this blog. I am going to do some entries all about the world cup and what I am up to! Before I go one step further, did you even know there was a women's world cup? If you did, do you think that it is being covered enough by any other outlet other than ESPN? If you didn't know there was a world cup, that's just sad. I mean, even ussoccer.com's focus is on the Gold Cup! No offense, MNT, but the gold cup just isn't as big of a deal. You had your summer last year, and now it's time for the women.

Remember how amazing last summer's world cup was to the American public? People were in a bar watching the games way before work, but we all knew it was five o'clock in South Africa! Do you remember the big let down for England when their keeper let a floppy shot slide right on by him? Do you remember where you were when Landon scored the goal to push us through to the next round? Do you ever wonder what has happened to that referee that so awfully called our second match? Do you remember Spain hoisting the trophy? Who were your breakout stars? Landon? Xavi? Mueller? Forlorn? Someone else?

Now just think that the same thing could happen this summer if you just pay attention! Germany is the host country and is doing an amazing job so far. They have almost sold out the whole tournament, they have made each team feel first class, and all of their fans want to know what the German team is doing. Every newspaper has them at least on the front of their sports section. It is so fun to be over here and experience such an amazing event. Soon I can be asking you questions like where were you when...you just need to watch. I promise you won't be disappointed. I promise that this world cup will be the biggest event of the summer and I hope that it will be even bigger than 1999(for women's soccer sake). ESPN looks at it like they want to make it bigger, the athletes know they are ready to make it bigger, the only piece missing is you. Please watch the greatest soccer players in the world compete for the World Cup title. It will be worth it. So watch it with me and when I come back to my blog, we can talk about how amazing all of this was!

Why is Everybody Pickin' on Me??

2010-11-12T10:06:00.003-05:00

It seems as though all the talk of college football is about the Cam Newton scandal. Of course most people have already counted him as a thief, cheater, and a selfish guy after he stole a laptop, supposedly bought a paper off the internet, and asked for each school who recruited him to pay $200,000. I am not going to refute any of this happened, but what I am going to refute is the NCAA and what they pick and choose to care about. We have been through the UNC scandal this year where half of the team was dismissed or suspended, Reggie Bush lost his Heisman trophy for similar allegations that are against Cam Newton, and Michigan had to self impose punishments on their football team for working out too long. What about all the arrests that have taken place? Isn't LaMichael James from Oregon in the running for the same Heisman trophy that Cam Newton is up for that talks about how important integrity is to the voting panel yet he has admitted guilty to physical harrassment? James was only suspended for ONE game this year and the NCAA stayed out of it! Wasn't Carlos Dunlap from Florida arrested for a DUI last year but the NCAA still didn't step in? How many arrests have there been this year alone yet besides the law of the land stepping in, the NCAA has stepped aside?

My point to all of this is that the NCAA can't control everything. Agents will always have power and former players that still have friends on the team will always pay for a friend to come and visit. Alums from the school will do whatever it takes for the highest recruit to come to their school and they will still give extravagant gifts once they get there. Should their be regulations, ABSOLUTELY! I don't think that the college football players should be paid regardless of how much money they bring into the school, but I also don't think the NCAA should have as much power as they do either. Do I think agents and alums should give money, absolutely not, but at the same time do I think it is going to stop, probably not. Here is how I look at the NCAA-they are like our government. The Government seems to have too much power with their rules and how they spend their money, but when they delegate that power to each state's government, more seems to get accomplished. So do I like the SEC stepping in on the Cam Newton situation, absolutely YES! Each conference should concern themself over the internal happenings of each school. When the problem takes them outside of their conference, that's when the NCAA should step in and help. The NCAA can still make their rules and regulations within reason but with the help of each conference, I feel like they will get a lot more done and I truly believe there will be less problems like the Cam Newton sitauation.

PICKS of the WEEK Last week's record- 12-5

Miami vs GT-GT
Ole Miss vs Tenn-Ole Miss
Michigan vs Purdue-Michigan
Kansas St vs Missouri-Kansas St
Utah vs Notre Dame- Utah
Georgia vs Auburn- GO DAWGS
Penn St vs Ohio St-Ohio St
Texas Tech vs Oklahoma-Oklahoma
Virginia Tech vs UNC-GO HEELS
Texas A&M vs Baylor-Baylor
Miss St vs Bama-Bama
South Carolina vs Florida-GO GATORS
Oklahoma St vs Texas-Oklahoma St
USC vs Arizona-USC
Clemson vs FSU-FSU

What the Heck was I thinking??

2010-11-04T10:12:00.003-04:00

You know that new segment on college gameday, "What the Heck was I thinking?" Well I think that segment is genius. For example, the first segment on the first show was Kirk Herbstreit saying "What the Heck was I thinking saying Notre Dame would win ten games last year??" Needless to say, I thought I would do a similar segment looking at how the year has shaped up so far and maybe this can be your chance to tell me What the Heck was I thinking?

What the heck was I thinking putting Florida and Texas in my preseason top ten??

What the heck was Cam Newton thinking throwing a laptop out the window and forcing him to leave Florida??

What the heck was I thinking when I was excited to hear that Marvin Austin and Robert Quinn had decided to come back for one more year??

What the heck is the BCS thinking giving the Big East an automatic bid??

What the heck was Jeremiah Masoli thinking when he got in trouble and was forced to leave Oregon??

What the heck is Nebraska and Colorado thinking by leaving the Big 12??

What the heck is going on with Auburn being the best in their state right now, Michigan State being the best in their state as well, three non automatic qualifiers are in the top five, a 6-1 LSU wants their coach fired, Texas is probably the fourth best team in their state, Steve Spurrier lost to Kentucky yet can possibly be in the SEC Championship game, and the BCS is still around??

It has been one crazy year. Great coaches are on the hot seat(Mack Brown and Mark Richt to name two), schools who were once second tier in their states are now national contenders, and Republicans have taken back Congress. What else will happen this year??

Picks of the week. I was 8-5 last week...I went for too many upsets. I hope to do better this week

GT vs VT-VT
NC State vs Clemson-NC State
Illinois vs Michigan-Illinois
Florida vs Vandy-GO GATORS
Baylor vs Oklahoma St-Oklahoma St
Idaho St vs UGA-GO DAWGS
Chattanooga vs Auburn-Auburn
Washington vs Oregon-Oregon
TCU vs UTAH-TCU
Hawaii vs Boise St-Boise St
Alabama vs LSU-Bama
UNC vs FSU-GO HEELS
Northwestern vs Penn State-Penn State
Oklahoma vs Texas A&M-Oklahoma
South Carolina vs Arkansas-Arkansas
Missouri vs Texas Tech-Missouri
Arizona vs Stanford-Stanford

Starting a Petition

2010-10-30T21:10:00.003-04:00

This year has been a very disappointing year for me, not just because my football teams have been sub par or involved in major cheating scandals, but also because my favorite Pacific Life commercial has been taken off of TV. I want to start a petition to get this commercial back as I have a theory that when it came on, my team's momentum would normally change in a good direction(I also have a special dance for it that only a few special people have had the unfortunate opportunity to see!). Anywho, who's with me?? It's the best commercial ever-doesn't it make you think of life insurance...?

Tail Slaps (Music Only - Pacific Life Fight Song)

2010-10-30T21:10:00.000-04:00

My Least favorite College football weekend!

2010-10-27T16:28:00.003-04:00

So this is the weekend I hate every year. Last year I talked about the best things of the greatest cocktail party on earth and this year, it is going to be one painful game to watch. Not only are these teams struggling more than they have in years(and may I add what an incredible change Mark Richt and the Bulldogs have done since my last blog post!), but they have very similar records and very similar motivations. Both Florida and Georgia can play for the SEC championship despite their dismal records. Florida is in the driver seat and controls its destiny, while Georgia basically needs to win out and get another loss from South Carolina. Regardless, they both have a chance which means, who has a slight advantage of me cheering for them this year? Lately, the Tebow factor gave the Gators a slight edge over Georgia, plus Florida was having an opportunity to play for the National Championship. When David Pollack was with Georgia, they had a slight advantage, and so on.... Literally this year is going to be a celebration and despair on each play. Quite a bittersweet feeling when these teams are both your favorite. If you think it is hard on me, ask my parents! They can't really even watch the game together as one must watch upstairs and the other downstairs. Honestly, my dad has played a lot of golf on this day so we shall see if he decides to actually sit down and watch the game this year. Oh well, at least I get to eat nachos and a chick-fil-a biscuit in celebration of my first weekend home with Robert! I do love Saturdays in the fall regardless of what awaits for me at 3:30pm on CBS!

Picks for the week! My last picks I was 9-4 so I hope to keep this nice streak going!

FSU vs NC State-FSU
Miami vs UVA-Miami
Tennessee vs South Carolina-S. Carolina
Michigan St vs Iowa-Iowa
Missouri vs Nebraska-Nebraska
Florida vs Georgia-???
William & Mary vs UNC-GO HEELS
Auburn vs Ole Miss-Auburn
Stanford vs Washington-Stanford
Vandy vs Arkansas-Ark
Kentucky vs Miss St-Kentucky
Baylor vs Texas-Baylor
Oregon vs USC-USC
Michigan vs Penn St-Michigan

Georgia, Keep Richt one more year please!

2010-10-08T15:10:00.003-04:00

All of you out there probably know I am a Georgia fan and not only that, I am a Georgia fan that loves to win. It has been a pretty good last couple of years. In this Richt decade ('01-'10), Georgia has been ranked number one, won the SEC Championship twice, won seven bowl games(and only lost two), won two BCS bowl games, 16-11 versus the big three rivalries(Florida, Auburn, and Georgia Tech), and almost every year has been in the top ten in recruiting. Yes, the list goes on and on, but the only thing us Georgia fans are looking at right now, and let me tell you, it is BLARING right in my eyes, is the 1-4 record, 0-3 in the SEC and the embarrassing loss to a terrible Big 12 team that is about to be a PAC 10 team. So you are probably asking this Georgia fan who always likes to win, why do you still want to keep Richt??

Well I say to you, this man is a great man. He does know how to win, he is just in a black hole right now. If one fumble here, one bad call there, one player playing in the first four games, and this team gets one of those SEC wins and they have confidence again. It's a young team that goes into a stadium expecting to lose and surprised if it wins. I know what it's like to be in a black hole of losing and it's not fun, but I also know what it's like to come out of the hole and you need a leader like Richt to do it. I want him to stay. I don't want another Bobby Bowden(and I know Richt doesn't compare to Bowden) fiasco where Richt leaves a beloved school and doesn't want to come back because of how he was asked to leave. I want a great man like Richt to get one more year, see how the recruits and confidence can change next season and see how Richt can lead a pretty down team this year. If Richt does make some strides and the team gains confidence, it could be an amazing run(and the run must last into next year)!

OK, on to the picks. It's a big week of games and I am so excited, as always! Even more excited because I am going to my first ever Notre Dame football game! My record was 11-4 last week, not too shabby!

Indiana vs Ohio St-Ohio St
BC vs NC St-NC State
Tennessee at UGA-GO DAWGS
Alabama vs S Carolina-Alabama
Arkansas vs Texas A&M-Arkansas
Michigan St vs Michigan-Michigan St
Virginia vs Georgia Tech-Virginia
Clemson vs UNC-GO HEELS
Oregon St vs Arizona-Arizona
Auburn vs Kentucky-Auburn
LSU vs Florida-GO GATORS
Florida St vs Miami-Florida St
USC vs Stanford-Stanford

PICKS!! (finally)

2010-10-02T11:52:00.002-04:00

Georgia vs Colorado- GO DAWGS
Florida vs Alabama- GO GATORS
UNC vs ECU-GO HEELS
Oregon vs Stanford-Oregon
NC State vs VT- NC State
Notre Dame vs BC-Notre Dame
FSU vs UVA- FSU
Vandy vs UCONN-Vandy
Miami vs Clemson-Clemson
Tenn vs LSU-LSU
Auburn vs LA Monroe-Auburn
Penn St vs Iowa-Iowa
Wisconsin vs Mich St-Mich St
Oklahoma vs Texas-Oklahoma
Michigan vs Indiana-Michigan

Big Weekend

2010-09-10T07:57:00.002-04:00

I am still a little rusty with my blog since I had it put away for the eight months college football wasn't on tv, so this post is all about my picks. I do have to say I am so excited about this weekend as so many great games are going on around the country. What's the most exciting part is a lot of the games are between teams that have a major history amongst each other, but we haven't had the pleasure of them going against each other in the bowl games in awhile. For instance we have the much anticipated Penn St versus Alabama where two very storied universities go against each other for the first time in the regular season in over twenty years, Florida State and Oklahoma who in the late nineties and early 2000s ruled the BCS championship games, and a new rivalry possibly brewing between Miami and Ohio State. We also have old rivalries going against each other like Notre Dame and Michigan and Georgia and South Carolina. I need eight tvs just to make sure my saturday is done right! Plus the Washington Freedom has a HUGE game this Saturday and if we win we are in the playoffs, so Saturday September 11th is going to be a great day...I hope!

UGA vs S Carolina-DAWGS
Duke vs Wake-Wake
S Florida vs UF-GATORS
Florida St vs Oklahoma-FSU
Mich vs Notre Dame-Mich
Miami vs Ohio State-OSU
Penn St vs Alabama-Bama
Oregon vs Tenn-Oregon
LSU vs Vandy-LSU
Virginia vs USC-USC
Stanford vs UCLA-Stanford

Picks for the week

2010-09-01T16:00:00.003-04:00

Here are my picks for the week...have I mentioned how excited I am about the season starting??

Southern Miss vs South Carolina- S Carolina
Pitt vs Utah- Pitt
USC vs Hawaii- USC
Miami(OH) vs UF- GATORS
Samford vs FSU- FSU
Louisiana-Lafayette vs UGA- DAWGS
Purdue vs Notre Dame- Purdue
Louisville vs Kentucky- Louisville
UConn vs Mich- Michigan
Richmond vs UVA- UVA
Oregon State vs TCU- TCU
UNC vs LSU- HEELS
Boise St vs Virginia Tech- VT

Preseason TOP TEN!

2010-08-31T17:36:00.003-04:00

Hello everyone! Wow it feels good to write on my blog again. The main reason it feels so good is because this means that college football is back! I do have to admit I am going to be sad to watch Florida Tebow-less, but I am still pumped that the season has begun! I wanted to start by giving my preseason top ten. Let me preface this post by saying this is not how I think the season will end, but based on the fact that none of the teams play in preseason games, we can only assume how teams will be based on last year. (Just another reason the BCS is not a good system as no one really knows anything about teams but the preseason poll is applied to the BCS calculations! ha) I have to give mad props to the non automatic qualifiers for making it into my list. I will probably write about the non AQs because I still don't believe they would necesarily make it into the national title game with a hard schedule day in and day out, but I do believe they deserve a top ten ranking for now.

I am so excited about this upcoming year. I don't feel like there is a team that will run the table, which means this season will be full of upsets and crazy game winning field goals to save the season. I am ready to be stressed!

TOP TEN
1. Alabama
2. Ohio State
3. Florida
4. Boise State
5. TCU
6. Texas
7. Iowa
8. Nebraska
9. Virginia Tech
10. Oregon

What should I write about next? Any suggestions? I am going to try my best not to scream at the BCS, diss the Pac 10/12, and I will keep my Tebow mentions to a minimum!

Realignment-REALLY??

2010-06-08T16:34:00.002-04:00

I know it has been forever since my last blog post, and to be honest I thought I wouldn't be posting too much during the summer as not much happens in college football during this time, but I couldn't help but post something about all of this realignment talk. As of now nothing has happened, thank goodness, but I just don't understand why anybody would want to go to another conference. I know the main reason why so many teams could be realigning is money, and well let's face it, money seems to rule a lot, but it just doesn't make sense. Here is my take behind the real reason people want to go to another conference....

To preface this paragraph, remember that I am extremely biased. Needless to say, I truly believe the reason that these teams want to go to another conference is because they are sick and tired of hearing that their conference is second to the SEC. If Texas and Oklahoma were to enter the PAC-10, then they have an incredibly good argument that they are the toughest conference. Would this then make the SEC try and get other teams, say from the ACC or the Big East? It just seems like a total domino effect for all of these conferences and I just don't see the real advantage to any school. What I DO understand are teams like Boise State or even Notre Dame looking at going into a different conference because this would make getting into the BCS national championship game a lot easier. What I DON'T understand is why Texas and Oklahoma would want to separate from their conference and rivalries like Nebraska and Missouri.

What attracts me to college football more than the NFL is the tradition. When Tebow went to the Broncos, I had to research who the major rivalry was to the Broncos(because now I am a HUGE Broncos fan!). I don't much care for USC as I have expressed before, but I do know there rivalries are with Cal and UCLA. I don't just know this because of the football rivalries, but because of the soccer, water polo, and volleyball rivalries. Why change something that is obviously working? What if the SEC comes after North Carolina(especially after we beat LSU on the first weekend of the season next year) and they don't go after Duke. The SEC doesn't care nearly as much about basketball as the ACC, but they would offer a lot of money to UNC if they really wanted them and it would be a hard offer to turn down. Would this separation of UNC and Duke take away from one of the greatest sports rivalries ever? Probably. Texas versus Nebraska? I won't be as interested. Money does rule a lot in sports, so if this realignment does happen, it will be a sad day for college football and it will be a very sad day for me!

Draft Time!!

2010-04-21T18:11:00.002-04:00

With the draft starting tomorrow, and may I add I am pretty excited that it is primetime, I am very excited about finding out who is going to pick whom. More than ever, I am going to watch this NFL draft. The obvious reason I am going to watch this draft is to find out which team I am going to be cheering for these next few years(wherever Tebow goes, of course!). Secondly, I am excited to see how the trades that have happened or are going to happen will affect the draft. While I don't really care THAT much about the NFL, I do care about how the Steelers are going to deal with Rothlisberger, or will Terrell Owens and Donovan McNabb be teammates again, or will anyone pick up Pacman Jones(oh wait, I REALLY don't care about that!) Needless to say, with all of the drama that has happened this offseason, I am guessing Chris Berman and his crew will have plenty of filler while we wait FOREVER for each team to make their pick!

As promised, I am going to give my top five draft picks. Now, this is who I think is going to be taken first, not necessarily who I think are the top five best players!

St Louis-Sam Bradford
Detroit-Russell Okung
Tampa Bay-Eric Berry
Washington-Ndamakong Suh
Kansas City-Gerald McCoy

How wrong or right do you think I am???

It's Springtime!

2010-04-05T17:19:00.003-04:00

While I sit here watching the opening day of Major League Baseball(watching the Braves beating up on the Cubs, for now), I can't help but think of what a wonderful time of year it is. I love spring time for so many reasons. Like I said, MLB has begun and for the first time in a long time I am excited about the Braves, thank you Jason Heyward. Living up in DC allows me to enjoy the cherry blossoms that make the Potomac look like a clean body of water for a couple of weeks.... The opening day for Women's Professional Soccer is this weekend, Go FREEDOM! And of course, there is spring football!

Being a Tar Heel normally makes the spring time a sadder time of the year compared to say, SEC schools. We are normally on the end of the celebrations on Franklin Street after winning the national championship or at least beating Duke at Hansborough Indoor Stadium, but unfortunately, this was not that year. Instead, all I hear about right now is people planning on tailgating this weekend for the UNC football spring football game. I remember back to my freshman year and going to what was then the "infamous" spring football game. I walked right into the stadium and amongst the hundreds(mostly family members) I sat down and wondered if there was a possibility of making it to a bowl. I don't even think they were selling concessions that day.... Now with all the commotion about our spring football game, I am hoping for more than just a bowl, I want an ACC championship! Is it too much to ask for on April 5th? Is it too much pressure to have the game being televised(thank you ESPN) and the predictions flying off the experts tongues that maybe this will be UNC's year? Let me just say two words...Marvin Austin! He's like a skinnier mount Cody that can run faster but still scare the living daylights out of any running back or QB. I say bring on LSU on opening day and bring on the ACC! I wish I could be at the spring game, but I do know I will be watching. If it can't be autumn for regular season college football, then I say let it be spring so I can go ahead and start scouting and getting excited for what is going to be another fun-filled football season(well at least I hope so, and probably so do all the UNC basketball fans)! Plus, my WPS season will fill the void of a college football-less summer so I am pretty excited about the spring, especially April 10th!

Here is my question for the spring...we need a new pack of players that "competed" for the heisman last year like Tebow, McCoy, and Bradford. Who are they going to be? Will it be more of running back year this year as we have Mark Ingram returning as the heisman trophy winner? Will it finally be a defensive person's turn to win? Give me your thoughts and let the scouting begin!

Top 5?

2010-03-25T15:10:00.003-04:00

With the draft less than a month away, I decided to ask some of the National team players who they thought should be the top 5 picks in this year's draft. Most of my teammates don't know college football like I do(or really anything about college football). They actually make fun of my vast knowledge of college football, but then they always come back to me if they have any questions. I thought this could be a fun experiment to see how well my team knows college football.
Disclaimer:
1. I asked them in our meal room with no internet help or outside help.
2. If they don't have a clue, I told them just to give me the football names that they know and we will insert that into their top 5.
3. Most of them only know about Tebow and it's probably because of me!

So here are the results. I have come to find out my team really doesn't have a clue and they desperately need outside help(one was actually lucky and did receive outside help). Maybe I should teach them a little bit, but I do know I am going to watch this year's draft and see how well my teammates did! We will post results after the draft...

Kristine Lilly Heavey(help via Dave Heavey)
1. Sam Bradford
2. Ndamukong Suh
3. Eric Berry
4. Colt McCoy
5. Gerald McCoy

Alex Morgan(Cal student)
1. Tim Tebow
2. Mike Tepper
3. Jahvid Best
4. Toby Gerhart

Casey Noguiera
1. Tim Tebow

Jill Loyden
the only name i know is tebow but I know he won't go high

Stephanie Cox
1. Sam Bradford
2. Colt McCoy
3. Dexter McCluster
4. Joe Haden
5. Tim Tebow

Kelly O'Hara(stanford grad)
1. Toby Gerhart
2. Colt McCoy
3. Sam Bradford
4. Tim Tebow

Nicole Barnhart(Stanford grad)
1. Toby Gerhart
2. Ndamukong Suh

Really?

2010-02-04T14:08:00.003-05:00

Here is a little something that a Jacksonville Jaguar recently wrote about Tebow making it into the league. My advice to him would be to try and play the game better and make the playoffs so people would actually WANT to come rather than criticizing other players.

Remember those rumors, way back in the fall, about the Jacksonville Jaguars setting their sights on hometown hero Tim Tebow before he'd even played his senior season? That owner Wayne Weaver was said to be considering plucking the Tebow Child early in the draft as a sales-boosting gambit? Lately, the scorn of the scouts and his obvious struggles in the Senior Bowl haven't tempered local enthusiasm for Tebow as the draft draws nigh, but at least one member of the franchise isn't afraid to express his, let's say ... misgivings about adding Tebow to the roster, according to the Florida Times-Union:

[Offensive lineman Uche] Nwaneri posted on the Jaguars’ Web site that, while cashing a check, a bank teller started talking about how Tebow will save the Jaguars.
So Nwaneri posted his five points on Tebow, with capital letters:
"1. He can't throw, PERIOD.
2. He can't read any coverage other than probably cover 2 or man.
3. The QB Wildcat WILL NOT WORK IN THIS LEAGUE. PERIOD.
4. He doesn’t know how to take a snap from center.
5. HE CAN’T THROW, and that’s really something you either have or not."

I guess that settles it, then. Obviously, there's nothing the kid can do to help the team. Oh, and one more thing:

Nwaneri then urged fans to buy tickets because he doesn’t want to come out "for pregame warmups to a COMPLETELY EMPTY STADIUM ANYMORE."

Let's talk business, Uche: Whether or not the Tebow Child can make a successful transition to the pro game on the field, putting warm bodies in seats is obviously among the greatest of his many other talents. Give the people what they want. And even if Nwaneri and the legions of critics are right that Tebow is bound for NFL flopdom, I guarantee thousands of Georgia fans would be willing to make the drive down to the site of so many Cocktail Party aggravations for the sole purpose of watching their former tormenter operate behind a line that might not feel much like blocking for him.(Holly Anderson, rivals.com)

As for me and my thoughts on Tebow and whether he can play in the league-I agree with what Urban Meyer said yesterday- if he plays on a good team and you get someone to develop his throwing skills, then he has a great chance at making it. Also, as everyone keeps saying, the intangibles are irreplaceable. And who are these critics anyways? The same ones that told us Ryan Leaf should go ahead of Peyton Manning??

Let's go Bowling...

2009-12-31T07:56:00.003-05:00

With the year coming to an end and me being quite the lackluster in not updating my blog to give all of my bowl picks, I decided New Year's Eve would be a good time for that update. With BCS bowls, the Chick-Fil-A bowl, and the end of Bobby Bowden happening in the next two days, it's nice to have great sports on for three straight days that don't involve players doing extra dances in the end zone just to get attention. For the next three fun filled days, players will do whatever it takes to win, coaches will take crazy chances(like Idaho going for two and winning), and careers end for great some of the greatest college football players ever(Tebow). Amidst all the allegations of coaches putting their players in sheds, things seem to be looking up for us college football fans. For me, Georgia has already blown out a Big 12 foe, UNC gave a great Pittsburgh team a scare which in my world gained respect for us heels, and the best game of the bowl season was last night when Idaho took 30 seconds to drive down the field, score a touchdown, go for two, and win their first bowl game since 1998. Enjoy your New Year's Eve, New Year's Day, and the day after as college football will be filling my screen for the next 72 hours! I am so excited!

Houston vs Air Force-Houston
Oklahoma vs Stanford-Oklahoma
Navy vs Missouri-Mizzou
Minnesota vs Iowa State- Minn
Va Tech vs Tenn-Va Tech
Northwestern vs Auburn-Auburn
Penn St vs LSU-LSU
West Va vs FSU-FSU-for Bobby's sake
Ohio St vs Oregon-Oregon
Cincy vs UF-Go GATORS
South Fla vs Northern Illinois- N Ill
Okla St vs Ole Miss-Ole Miss
South Carolina vs UCONN- So Carolina
Ark vs ECU- Ark
Mich St vs Texas Tech
Boise St vs TCU- TCU
Iowa vs GT- GT
Central Mich vs Troy- C Mich
Texas vs Bama- BAMA

Give to the SPCA and SAVE lives!!

2009-12-16T18:04:00.001-05:00

Athletes for hope is doing a competition amongst athletes to help raise money for different charities. Please help the SPCA of Wake County in North Carolina as this is the charity that I wanted to help this holiday season. Pets affect our lives as much as we affect theirs!

Ode to Tebow

2009-12-10T13:44:00.002-05:00

It was Robert's turn last week to send out one of the greatest football coaches, so it is my turn this week to send out one of the best college football players. I don't think there has ever been another athlete that has inspired me more...and he's five years younger than me!

I have been asked on numerous occasions during my soccer career as to who is my favorite athlete. I have always had a tough time trying to figure out who that may be because in all the athletes I have watched and aspired to be, in my opinion, there is always one piece missing in their career that I would want to have in mine. Whether it is a male athlete who outruns all records in football, basketball, or baseball, yet lacks passion and faith. Or a female athlete who withstood the tests of time to create a path for players like me to keep playing the game we love, yet lacks leadership and skill. I just never seemed to find that one athlete that inspires me to run on all cylinders. That is until Tim Tebow declared to come to Florida over Alabama. (Yes that's right, I have to put some jab into Alabama as they beat him last week).

When I heard that he was coming to Florida, I was obviously excited as I knew he was a great player, but I also took it with a grain of salt as so many big time recruits never seen to pan out-especially at the quarterback position. But when all the hype began to swirl around Florida and whether or not Tebow and Urban Meyer would be a perfect match, I also heard all about his family and their faith. I heard that the basis of Tebow is not just his athleticism, but it is his faith and love in Jesus. His mom even helped my mom love Jesus! How cool is that! And now that his career is over(and his numbers and heisman trophy speak for themselves), what he has done and who he has become are what inspires me.

To find a man like Tebow who is a great athlete, an incredible leader, extremely passionate about so many things(even enough to cry), and a man of great faith is rare. He has the whole package. His passion inspired me when I had a torn ACL to keep going. His leadership made me review my own and try to get better. His faith in Jesus just made my faith grow stronger because I saw how God can transform a great man into an even greater one. If there is a more well rounded athlete out there, I would like for someone to show me. His inspiration to me, and I know so many other fans, will forever be implanted in my memories and I want to be an inspiration to someone one day like he was to me. Because let's face it...athletes are role models whether you like it or not and to see a man like Tebow take that responsibility and inspire more than just Gator nation is impressive.

I want him to go out with a win. I wanted him to go out with a national championship, but that won't happen. A couple of tears fell with Tebow(yes I'm strange) after the national championship because I wanted him to let his light shine even more to the entire nation. Soon after those tears fell, I did find myself smiling as I realized that his light is shining even greater as the nation got to see his class and faith even in a loss. For those people who wanted to see him lose, they saw a real man cry on tv because he is so confident in himself and his faith. He was able to show people what Jesus can really do in your life just by playing the game he loves and playing it for the right reasons.

Dadgum, Bobby is gone

2009-12-03T20:14:00.008-05:00

I asked Robert to be a guest writer for my blog this week because of the retiring of Bobby Bowden. You may think that Robert should be the main writer of my blog after you read this, but I don't think there could be a better definition of what a great coach and MAN that Bobby Bowden has shown us throughout the years. Enjoy! Well done, Robert!

The day was January 1, 1994. As an 11 year-old I was glued to the television with my family as FSU took the field against Nebraska for what would soon be Bobby Bowden's first national title. Truthfully, I was partially excited just to be staying up this late since it was well past my bedtime. The atmosphere was electric and I knew if they were to win then all the 'Canes and Gators in my classes at Lakeland Highlands Middle School in Lakeland, FL would be quieted until next year. Only a few hours later, the FSU sideline emptied and Bobby was soaked in Gatorade when the 'Noles won, believe it or not, on a missed field goal by the other team. I remember vividly leaping around the room and then being hoisted on my dad's shoulders doing my best Broadway Joe imitation while wagging my index finger high in the air. The moment was captured by my mother on camera as my dad and I took a victory lap around the living room. To this day the picture remains one of my favorites and the memory one that I will forever cherish.

"Your reputation is what people say about you, your character is what God knows about you."

As Bobby Bowden steps down from his post after 34 seasons, we will continue to hear how much he meant to FSU and college football. We will hear how FSU was a women's school without a win when he arrived and how he constructed one of the most successful runs by any program in all of college sports. People will comment on what a good interview he was, how he always said what he meant and how great of an ambassador he was for the sport. Of course there will be some that bring up the discipline problems that plagued his program, the cheating scandal and the losses that became too much to stomach for the FSU powers that be. For now, however, I will selfishly ignore all of those voices and indulge in what Bobby meant to me as epitomized by the photo of a young Seminole fan celebrating in the living room with his dad. The time shared over football extended beyond Saturdays in our family. Whether over dinner the following week or on Sunday afternoons for "The Bobby Bowden Show" on the Sunshine Network sponsored by Golden Flake. The victories continued in droves through the years. No doubt about it Bobby was a winner. Yet over time the wins became harder and harder to come by. Eventually my family left Florida for North Carolina and I enrolled at UNC where my fervor for a different school and different sport quickly kindled. Yet that photo from the first night of 1994 forever represents the joy of victory and the bond between father and son that was created by the slow-talking charmer of a coach from FSU.

"I would want the boys that played for me to think they were better persons for having played for me."

The mystique of Bobby's career extends well beyond the playing field, a cliche that we too often use in our society to describe athletes and coaches. The quote above was taken from a recent interview with ESPN as his career was winding down which shows that finding meaning beyond football was his purpose. He represented all that was good about sport and always used the game as a means to change lives and share his faith. For such a role model, I'm sure my father and many other parents are thankful to him. If his measure for success was having his players think they were better people for having played under him, then in that too he far exceeded expectations. Not only the players, but the young fans who grew up listening to a man who was at the top of the sports world talk about what was really important in life are better for having watched him. I wish that I could have another season to say goodbye and listen to his unintentionally engaging halftime interviews. Instead one more bowl game will have to suffice. If they are to win one more for Bobby, I will probably not jump on my father's shoulders or jump around the living room. Inside, however, I am sure that my memory will take me back to that feeling when united by the Florida State Seminoles, my family and I shared a joyful moment in time that we owe to ol' Coach Bowden. Dadgum Bobby, you will be missed.

And...here are my picks:

Cincy vs Pitt-Cincy
Houston vs ECU-Houston
West Va vs Rutgers-Rutgers
Arizona vs USC-USC
FLORIDA vs bama -GO GATORS
Texas vs Nebraska-Texas
Georgia Tech vs Clemson-Georgia Tech

A Lil Football Survey

2009-11-19T08:09:00.004-05:00

With the college football season winding down, and I can't express to you how sad I am about this, I couldn't really think of anything fun to write about. Players are complaining about their coaches saying "hurtful" things, Tennessee is proud of eleven "strong" months when no player got in trouble(maybe their goal should be a year next time), and the inevitable college coaching carousel has begun. I could write about whether Charlie Weis and Rich Rodriguez will remain at their respective schools, but I think one will stay and one will go, so enough said(plus ESPN needs something to talk about Tuesday through Friday). Instead I decided to take a little survey from what has happened over this past year in college football. It is all about this year- last year and past years just don't matter when you think about answering these questions. Let's see what you think....

Who would you rather run on 4th and 2?
-Tim Tebow or Mark Ingram

Who would you rather pass the ball on 3rd and 25? And to which receiver?
-Ryan Mallett or Jimmy Clausen
-Jordan Shipley or AJ Green

Who would you rather take over your struggling football team?
-Gary Patterson(TCU) or Chris Peterson(Boise St)

Which conference would you rather play in?
-ACC or Big East

Which player would you want to return kicks, rush every down, and receive all passes?
-Jahvid Best or Noel Devine

Who would you rather block a kick?
-Mount Cody or Mount Cody

Who would you rather have as a real mascot?
-UGA or Ralphi the buffalo

Who would you rather have guarding your best receiver?
-Joe Haden or Eric Berry

If you think of better questions or better options, let me know!!

On with the picks- It's hard to beat last week but I was 12-6, so not too bad

Ohio St vs Michigan- Ohio State
Maryland vs Florida State- FSU
UNC vs Boston College- Go HEELS
Miss St vs Arkansas- Ark
Florida International vs Florida- Go GATORS
UConn vs ND- UConn
LSU vs Ole Miss- Ole Miss
UVA vs Clemson- Clemson
Penn St vs Mich St- Mich St
Cal vs Stanford- Stanford
Kentucky vs UGA- Go DAWGS
Kansas vs Texas- Texas
Oregon vs Arizona- Oregon

BCS-Bowl CATalog Series

2009-11-10T14:03:00.005-05:00

It's now that time of year when the season is starting to heat up and teams are jockeying for spots in the all-important BCS standings. No it's not the money driven Bowl Championship Series laugher of a poll that has been robbing college football of pure, unbridled competition for years with no end in sight. That's right sports fans, its time for the Bowl CATalog Series where I, in my infinite wisdom, elucidate the top ten teams in the country that is sure to alter the college football landscape for the remainder of the season. I have yet to have my rankings included in the BCS computer formula but with your help maybe one day I will. I mean does anyone really know what goes into that formula anyways? They might as well put my standings in there along with which team's punter has the largest shoe size and whose marching band trumpet section can reach the loudest decibel. In fact, thats not a bad idea. Then we might see Texas recruiting a 7-1 punter just to get that size 25 shoe and the extra 0.001 points they need to get into the title game. Or just picture Pete Carroll walking into some high school trumpeteer's room and promising him a date with a Song Girl if he commits to USC. Anywho, without further ado I bring you the inaguaral BCS standings. Enjoy.

1. Florida
2. Alabama
3. Texas
4. Cincinnati
5. Boise State
6. TCU
7. Georgia Tech
8. LSU
9. Pittsburgh
10. Iowa
11. Miami
12. Oregon
13. USC
14. Houston
15. Utah

Here's the question of the week- Who has the better accessory to his attire?
Jim Tressel's vest versus Steve Spurrier's visor

On to the picks of the week- My best week ever was last week! 14-2!

South Fla vs Rutgers- Rutgers
West Va vs Cincy- Cincy
Michigan vs Wisconsin- Wisconsin
Tennessee vs Ole Miss- Tennessee
Clemson vs NC State- Clemson
Florida State vs Wake Forest- Wake
Va Tech vs Maryland- Va Tech
Florida vs South Carolina- Go GATORS
Stanford vs USC- USC
Iowa vs Ohio State- Ohio State
Miami vs UNC- Go HEELS
BC vs Virginia- BC
Alabama vs Miss St- Bama
Auburn vs UGA- Go DAWGS
Utah vs TCU- TCU
Notre Dame vs Pitt- Pitt
Texas Tech vs Oklahoma St- Texas Tech
Arizona vs Cal- Arizona

Dook vs UNC

2009-11-05T09:58:00.007-05:00

When you look at the schedule for the upcoming weekend, only two games really stick out as major head to head battles. I have to admit, I am extremely excited about watching the Alabama/LSU game as the winner of this game will most likely be the opponent to Florida in the SEC championship. I might even switch over to watch the Penn State/Ohio State game as two ranked teams face off in a Big Ten clash. With all that said, the funny thing about this weekend, is that the UNC/Duke game is being played at the same time as these other two games and it is the first one I am going to turn to.

You are probably thinking to yourself right now, 'well of course she is going to turn to the UNC game as she is a Tar Heel.' Of course that is one reason it will be the first game I watch. But the main reason I am going to switch to ESPNU is not because I am going to be on there the very next day doing the SEC soccer championship, but because Duke is actually pretty good. It is frightening for all of us tar heels to admit it, but we are all a little nervous that Duke could come into Kenan stadium and beat us on homecoming. Normally I would watch the first quarter and then turn it because we would have the game pretty secure. Now, I don't even know what is going to happen. Duke is on a three game ACC winning streak, tied for first in our ACC division(and we are last), and coach Cutcliffe comes from the SEC and obviously knows how to win. It's obvious that the UNC/Duke rivalry in basketball is one of the best rivalries in all of sports, but the football rivalry is so bad that we don't even wait until the end of the season anymore. I just have one thing to say...The TAR HEELS better WIN!!

On a completely different note, I thoroughly enjoyed making fantasy matchups(even though no one refuted them), so I am going to give you some more throughout the last few weeks. Again, I stay in a comfort zone of the SEC, so please feel free to get me out of it!

Best coaches fight- Lane Kiffin vs Nick Saban or
Mark Mangino vs Charlie Weis

Here are my picks for the week. 6-4 last week.

Va Tech vs ECU- Va Tech
Northwestern vs Iowa- Iowa
UVA vs Miami- Miami
South Carolina vs Arkansas- Arkansas
Tennessee Tech vs UGA- Go DAWGS
Maryland vs NC State- NC State
Furman vs Auburn- Auburn
LSU vs Alabama- Bama
Wake vs GT- GT
Ohio State vs Penn State- Ohio State
Duke vs UNC- Go HEELS
Oregon State vs Cal- Oregon State
Vandy vs UF- Go GATORS
USC vs Arizona State- USC
Okla vs Nebraska- Okla
FSU vs Clemson- Clemson

It's Florida-Georgia weekend...You READY??

2009-10-27T17:44:00.004-04:00

First of all I want to apologize for not writing anything last week. It was a little more difficult than I expected here in Germany. Well, to be honest, I just didn’t fork out and pay for the internet since it was 30$ a day, just on principle alone, plus I was able to get skype for free and email on the phone. Needless to say, at our new hotel in Augsburg, I have free internet. Plus it is the Florida/Georgia weekend and can I really miss this week? Absolutely not!

Secondly, this blog entry is a little different than my other blogs. I am guessing you have noticed that each week I have complained about something different. Whether it’s the BCS system, Lane Kiffin, or why I should be on college gameday, I have decided to have a little fun. Not unlike my other blog entries, I will be completely biased. What I have decided to do is to write my “Dream Game” scenario. My dream as a sports commentator would to be on the sideline of the Florida/Georgia game, so let’s just say I am watching Tracy Wolfson very closely to find out how I can take her job…haha! With my dream scenario, I am putting my favorite two teams on the field and matching up what I believe to be their best players. Before I keep going, those who don’t understand how I can cheer for both of these schools, get over it. I can truly do it and it can just be one of those phenomenas that you just don’t understand. Also, remember I am just 27 years old, so my knowledge of these two school’s history is limited. I am just going with my favorite players that I have personally watched. When I finally put this whole game together, I imagine how awesome it would be to have all of these people playing with or against each other. I mean, how cool!

I would love for you to add anything to my dream scenario or even put together a fun matchup of your own. I know my mom and dad can add a few changes of their own, but I would be open to any and all changes. Let me know what you think!

Game- Florida vs UGA
Stadium- Half swamp/Half between the hedges
Quarterback matchup- Tim Tebow vs Hines Ward
Running back matchup- Emmett Smith vs Herschel Walker
Wide receiver matchup- Percy Harvin vs AJ Green
Defensive line matchup- Brandon Spikes vs David Pollack
Cornerback matchup- Joe Haden vs Champ Bailey
Coach’s matchup- Urban Meyer vs Vince Dooley

Onto the picks- I am working on getting better, but I am just not picking the upsets. I won't go to my record from two weeks ago because that's just not fun. I am just going to try and keep looking forward!

UNC vs Va Tech-Go Heels(I'm dreaming, I know)
West Va vs South Fla- West Va
NC State vs FSU- FSU
Ole Miss vs Auburn- Ole Miss
Indiana vs Iowa- Iowa
UGA vs UF-I don't pick this game
Miami vs Wake- Miami
Miss St vs Kentucky- Kentucky
South Carolina vs Tenn- South Carolina
Texas vs Okla St- Texas
USC vs Oregon- Oregon

It's BCS time...don't get excited

2009-10-16T08:14:00.002-04:00

Why oh why was this system ever created? I have been told that it was a true effort to try and make college football as equal as possible, but when you review the criteria for the BCS, I just can't seem to find the "good" in the system. I could give you stats, stories, and reasons the BCS doesn't work, but I'm guessing you have heard them all. If you are from a small conference, you are screaming for Boise State to finally get in as you cheer for Oklahoma, South Carolina, and Arkansas this weekend. If you are from the SEC, you are still wondering how an undefeated Auburn didn't get in over Oklahoma when they got decimatted by USC(plus a SEC team has won the last three championships which proves it definitely would have been a better game!). If you are from the Big East you are even cheering for Cincinnati so they can finally get a team in the championship game. Why is there more cheering against the team ahead of you in the polls than actually cheering for your own team?

This blog entry will be short and simple... create playoffs! Top eight playoff? Why is it that every other sport figured out that a playoff would be the simplest way to find a champion? I appreciate tradition, and I would love to keep the bowls, but I also would love it if there wasn't arguments against the national champion. Of course, people would argue for that ninth spot, but wouldn't we rather an argument for the ninth best team rather than the third? I know we all want a playoff...let's try and get it one!

Here are the picks for the weekend. I went 7-5, but had I not picked Florida State and Michigan for my husband's sake, I would have been 9-3. He told me that I just shouldn't pick them at all anymore(needless to say he is frustrated with this football season). So here we go...

Okla vs Texas- Texas
Wake vs Clemson- Clemson
UGA vs Vandy-go DAWGS!(please win...)
Ark vs UF-Go GATORS!
USC vs ND- USC
NC State vs BC-BC
UVA vs Maryland-UVA
Va Tech vs Ga Tech-Va Tech
Kent vs Auburn-Auburn
So Carolina vs Bama-Bama
Missouri vs Ok State-Missouri
Texas Tech vs Nebraska-Nebraska

Pet Peeve #1

2009-10-08T19:37:00.001-04:00

For those of you that know me, you know how many crazy pet peeves I have in my life. Leaving the blinker on, smacking of gum, crunching of ice right in my ear, any kind of tick, and of course the "barely touching" are just to name a few. After this week of football, a few more pet peeves have been added to my list. I know that these two stories are already being run into the ground but frankly I want to add to the fire. When it comes to pet peeves, the only way to get rid of them is to tell everyone you know about them!

The first pet peeve has to do with everything surrounding Bobby Bowden. This peeve comes in the fact that the "big" donors are the ones asking for the retirement of Bowden, when the people who have the control are the ones trying to put out all the fire. When the president of your school and your athletic director are backing the coach, then I personally believe that everyone else should also leave it alone. I understand that people are entitled to their opinions(as I am doing right now), but when you think that your opinion will sway the people in charge to fire one of the greatest coaches of all time, then I find that a little annoying. I come from a position as a Florida fan who has never enjoyed the Bowden victories(especially the 31-31 tie, even though it wasnt considered a victory it sure did get under my skin!), yet as a person who appreciates how hard it must be to get as many wins as Bowden. Bobby should be able to retire whenever he wants to and he has obviously earned that right. Who's to say that one day soon Bobby does exactly what Joe Paterno has done-have some pretty subpar seasons and now at 83, he is leading a top 15 Penn State football team. It seems to me like Bobby has relinquished a lot of his duties on offense and defense, yet the team seems to do worse with lesser input. When I watched him step into the huddle right before the last play of the Miami game, it looked to me he made the play call which gave FSU it's best opportunity in the end zone. The guy just didn't catch it.

So for this pet peeve...let's just let the powers do their job, talk to our friends about our real opinions, and let one of the greatest football coaches of all time finish out his legacy when he so chooses.

Pet Peeve #2

2009-10-08T19:03:00.004-04:00

Now for my second pet peeve. REFEREES! My dad always told me that his lease favorite thing about soccer was how the referees could change the game. With one blow of the whistle and a signal to the penalty spot, the momentum of the game changes and normally so does the outcome. As a former football player himself, he always knew the refs had some control, but he knew it was good control. Not until this weekend did he realize, and I am right with him, that the refs had WAY too much control. Of course there have been games before this past weekend where we all wanted to blame the refs, but knew the actual outcome of the game was not dictated by their calls. When the referees decided to call an unsportsmanlike penalty on AJ Green which was put on the kickoff and two plays later LSU runs in the winning touchdown, the refs had actually decided the outcome of the game.

When it comes to SEC football, every play matters. When it came down to last Saturday between the hedges, the tension was constantly mounting as the first half was a full defensive battle, but the fourth quarter was all about the offense. When 90,000 people are screaming at the top of their lungs, you just made one of the best catches of the season, and possibly the winning touchdown over a top 5 team, are you not supposed to celebrate? I have watched the replay over and over again in hopes that I find someone who tried to draw attention to himself or someone who just celebrated too long, but I just haven't found that someone. LSU fans can even argue that they also got the same call against them after they scored, but it never affected the outcome and we all know that the first call was the one that took all the momentum away from Georgia and it was just too late to get it back.

I feel bad for Georgia and all the players and coaches involved. I appreciate that the SEC is reprimanding these refs for the blatant bad call, but unfortunately it won't change the score. I feel bad for my dad as he realized that the one thing he hated about soccer has now come true to his first sports passion, college football. It was a sad day for all dawgs fans and I just hope it doesn't completely ruin this season.

So for this pet peeve...refs, try and call the game properly and don't leave your mark. No one remembers the refs UNLESS they make a bad call.

OK now for the picks and let me tell you I HAVE to make up for last week. I was 4-8, YIKES! That's really bad. I am letting myself go! Here we go for a better effort!

Neb vs Mizzou-Missouri
BC vs Va Tech- Va Tech
Aub vs Ark- Aub
UGA vs UT- Go DAWGS
Kent vs South Carolina- S. Carolina
Bama vs Ole Miss-Bama
Oregon vs UCLA-Oregon
Georgia Southern vs UNC-Go HEELS
Maryland vs Wake Forest-Wake
UF vs LSU-GO GATORS
GT vs FSU-FSU
Mich vs Iowa- Mich

Please Come Back!

2009-09-30T12:21:00.003-04:00

For those of you that know me really well and for those that have been paying attention to my blog, you all know that I have been paying a lot of attention to the recent headline in college football. My favorite player in college football now and probably my favorite athlete ever is Tim Tebow, and when he fell down lifeless I was like any college football fan when I held my breath until he was able to lift his head on his own. With my experience as a soccer player, we deal with a lot of concussions, so once I heard that was his only diagnosis, I was very relieved. I know concussions are a very dangerous injury, especially when you have a lot of them(and probably even more dangerous in football), but with the proper care, concussions are injuries that allow you to come back and play again. My bigger worry to this injury is the fact that with Tebow going down last week and Sam Bradford going down with a shoulder injury the first game of the season, young college football players and highly recruited high school players will look at these heisman trophy winners and opt to leave school early for the NFL in fear that they would also get injured.
I totally understand why players who are highly touted would want to go to the NFL early, but there is so much about the college life that these players would miss. It's not just the pride of playing for your school, but one more year of college means one more year of maturation and one more year learning what not to do when you sign a contract worth millions of dollars. There are almost more stories of young professional athletes who receive major contract deals that end up bankrupt than stories of players who keep signing lucrative deals and stay out of debt. There are also a lot of stories of players who come out in the first round and don't actually play until years later because they still need to work on their weaknesses that they could have worked on with one more year of college football. It's more of a rarity to see someone like Mark Sanchez in the NFL and more common to see someone like Ryan Leaf(ok, maybe not as dramatic as Leaf, but a highly touted athlete who ends up with a below average career). I don't even need to go into why another year of actual learning will help just about anyone! That's pretty obvious!
My point to this whole entry is to say to these athletes please come back to school! I know that you can finish your college degree anytime you want, but as someone who had to come back to finish just ONE semester, it is not nearly as easy as it sounds! I look at players like Peyton Manning and Tom Brady who played all four years and now look at their careers. They were able to experience everything a college education gives you along with how staying in college football can truly help your NFL growth, on and off the field. I truly hope that Sam Bradford, Colt McCoy, and Tim Tebow have wonderful NFL careers. I also hope that the media will stop questioning the players and the coaches as to why these players decided to come back. I saw a quote from Bob Stoops on espn.com and he responded well to the annoying questions the media were asking him.

"Everybody's entitled to their opinion, but for me to force a guy to go out and then what if it isn't the right decision? I don't need to tell you how things can always go in the draft," Stoops said."In the end, it's not my job to force a guy to come out. It's my job to educate my players on all the possibilities and then it's up to the individual and his family to make that decision."

In the end, no one can predict what will happen, but why take the chance of failing in the NFL so early? Enjoy all the experiences life gives you, and never stop learning. I admire these athletes and their desire to just be better people.

OK, so last weekend was a pretty bad weekend for me. With all the random upsets that I just didn't see coming, I wound up 6-6. Here's hoping for a better week!

UNC vs UVA- Go Heels!

Mich vs Mich St-Mich

Clemson vs Maryland-Clemson

Bama vs Kent-Bama

LSU vs UGA- Go Dawgs!

Washington vs ND-ND

FSU vs BC-FSU

Wake vs NC State-State

GT vs Miss St-Miss St

Auburn vs Tenn-Auburn

USC vs Cal-USC

Okla vs Miami-Okla

Will the real Lane Kiffin please shut up?

2009-09-25T00:23:00.002-04:00

After another wonderful weekend of college football where Georgia, Florida, North Carolina won, plus Florida State and Michigan won (to make my husband happy), I was still quite annoyed at the end of the day and into this week. Why would I be disappointed, I ask myself? With the UNC and Georgia offense finally producing and Florida getting its first SEC win, how could I even consider not enjoying my whole day? First of all, it started when Tennessee decided to hire Lane Kiffin. He is a man with very little on his resume besides being the offensive coordinator to USC when we all know that Pete Carroll is the mastermind. Plus his miserable stint as the Oakland Raiders head coach where he blamed everyone but himself for his pathetic effort. Then, as we all heard about 100 times on ESPN last week, he made the infamous speech where he said he was going to be singing Rocky Top all night long after beating Florida. He also accused Urban Meyer of cheating when he himself has been reprimanded too many times to count AND he was dumb enough to be on ESPN breaking rules when he decided to talk to recruits on the air..."smart guy." Even worse, he accused Mark Richt of cheating...really? An incredible Christian man is going to be accused of cheating by a man with that track record? Let's be serious.
After all of this, plus losing to UCLA(again), he was still in the state of mind that he was going to beat Florida. While most of the experts were saying the spread was over 25 points(and with my expertise hoping for something like 35), he still believed he could win. I totally understand why he would want his team to believe they could win, plus in the SEC anything can happen, but he just got plain annoying. So when UF didn't beat them by a whole lot, I was a little disappointed, but even more disappointed by what has happened since the game. First of all, no sideline reporter in their right mind should ask a coach whether he is happy that the team did better than expected even though they lost(another reason I should be on the sidelines). Secondly, why does Kiffin keep talking? He claims that Urban Meyer didn't talk about the flu his players had until after they didn't play as well as they wanted. Would any coach tell another team they were playing before the game that their players were sick? Not too smart of a coach to tell the other team that some of their best players are weak? So why does Lane Kiffin keep jabbing his mouth and digging deeper holes? Do Tennessee fans like all of this talk? Do they think this is good for the university just to have a little flare? Is breaking NCAA rules the only way to catch up to the other SEC schools? Is he inspiring his team? I truly want to know the method to his madness as I would hope he is smarter than what keeps flying out of his mouth!
This is the reason I can't wait for this weekend. I mean, we have already had an upset with the overrated Ole Miss team losing to South Carolina, UNC has a chance to start its bid at winning the ACC, Georgia has yet another tough game against a PAC 10 team, and Florida can't rest while visiting Kentucky. No more drama. No more talking. Just regular, PURE college football where everything is decided on the field instead of in front of the tv camera. My only worry is that I am sitting on the west coast without my husband and doggies, where I may miss some games because I will be stuck watching PAC 10 games. What a bother, but at least it's football. Another fun week in the fall so either way I am going to enjoy and make the most of every Saturday!
My picks last Saturday were only ok with me going 9-5, so I hope to make the most of this weekend.

SoFla vs FSU-FSU
UNC vs GT-Go Heels!
IND vs Mich-Mich
LSU vs Miss St- LSU
CAL vs ORE- CAL
TCU vs Clem- Clemson
MIA vs VT- Miami
ARK vs BAMA-BAMA
UF vs Kent-Go Gators!
ASU vs UGA- Go Dawgs!
Iowa vs Penn St- PSU
Wake vs BC- BC

Why I should be on GAMEDAY!

2009-09-16T18:35:00.002-04:00

As a lot of you know, I have a "slight" dream of one day being a sideline reporter for college football along with helping out the boys on the set of gameday. Now any person in their right mind who loves college football wants a shot at being on the show(as you can tell by all the signs), but here is my reason why I should be the ONE.
First of all, there isn't a woman on the show. They used to have one, but I am guessing that they just thought it was a waste of space. I'm not saying this is bad for any feminist reason, so please don't take it that way-ZACK! haha! All I am saying is that there should be someone going into the crowd and asking why do fans have specific signs and what was their motivation for coming up with their saying. For instance, why did someone write, "Barkley wears a snuggie?" First of all, snuggies are AWESOME. I should know since I cuddle up in one every night! Secondly, was this a USC fan saying that Barkley is cool for wearing a snuggie or was it a Ohio State fan saying it was a bad thing? One will never know because no one was there to ask. Or should we interview the Washington State flag bearers that are at every game. I mean, first of all, impressive, secondly even more impressive when your team is terrible. And then there is the inevitable distasteful signs talking about Charlie Weis's weight. Now I am not saying that a Biggest Loser for football coaches wouldn't be something that we would all love to watch, but the poor man doesn't need to see his weight flashing up on a screen every saturday. My segment wouldn't need to be a long segment, just fun and short-anything to get me on GAMEDAY! hahahaha! If anyone has even better ideas as to why I should be on gameday, please let me know! I need all the ideas I can get!
As for last weekend, what a great, stressful weekend. I think it was the first weekend where both Robert and I came out victorious for all of our teams. It all started at noon when UNC went up to Connecticut to try and make me have a heart attack until the last two drives. I can't believe that we won on a safety. I feel terrible for the offensive lineman who gave up the holding call for us to win the game. It's like a defender in soccer. No one really knows your name until you make a mistake. Then came the Michigan/Notre Dame game where I could relax but Robert cheers for Michigan since he was born in Ann Arbor and his dad went to grad school there. It was like one heart attack after another. Thank goodness Florida was sandwiched in there and gave us a close call for only one quarter. Then came Georgia and Florida State. The UGA offense didn't even really get on the field until the second quarter and the bottom line kept telling Robert and I that Jacksonville State was still beating FSU. Thank goodness for last drives offensively for FSU and defensively for UGA. At least we went to sleep happy!
So here are the picks for this week. A lot of good games coming up this week, especially for Lane Kiffin and his big mouth. The ACC did a great job last week making up for the first week by going 9-2, and one of those losses was two ACC teams playing against each other. Last week I was 9-2 with my picks, so not too shabby!

GT vs Miami- GT
Duke vs Kansas- Kansas
ECU vs UNC- Go HEELS
Boston College vs Clemson- Clemson
UT vs UF- Go GATORS
USC vs Washington- USC
Nebraska vs VT- Nebraska
Utah vs Oregon- Utah
Michigan State vs Notre Dame- ND
FSU vs BYU- FSU
Miss State vs Vandy- Vandy
Georgia vs Arkansas- Go DAWGS
West Virginia vs Auburn- Auburn
Texas Tech vs Texas- Texas

Retraction...

2009-09-12T20:59:00.002-04:00

BYU and TCU are in the Mountain West...oops. Both the WAC and Mountain West have legitimate arguments for a BCS bid. It really hurts me to say this....

ACC redo

2009-09-09T20:25:00.002-04:00

After the great response I got from my first college football post, I have decided to make my blog more of a college football blog rather than just about my life. I mean, let's be serious, I am not extremely witty or funny, so the more interesting thing for me to do would be to fill you in on my obsession...college football. This week it's all about an ACC redo. I mean, let's face it, the ACC was an embarrassment to me and all the college football fans out there that went to an ACC school(even college football fans that didn't go to an ACC school).
So here we go.... The ACC went 5-7 the OPENING week. For most respectable conferences, winning seven games is embarrassing, much less losing seven. When I watched the Alabama/Virginia Tech gameday and saw a sign that said "Almost Competitive Conference," I found myself agreeing. When teams like BYU and the WAC conference have an argument as to why they should get into a BCS game and the ACC has an opening week like this, it scares me a little. (Good thing we aren't as bad as the Big East who didn't even have a team in the top 25 until this week).
Here's to the good part though. I believe the ACC can change. After watching another epic battle between FSU and Miami(sorry Whitehills-me not included), I realized that the ACC can make a great comeback by the end of the season. One of the greatest aspects of college football is that you NEVER know what will happen next. Miami and Florida State(as hard as it is for me to say this) seem to be back on the rise. Now, as a Florida fan, I think this is still going to take awhile for them to get back to where they were, but I thoroughly enjoyed the game and I think it is good for college football for these two teams to be good. Since Virginia Tech and Boston College have arrived, the Big East (since these teams came from there) still makes arguments that they are a better football conference than the ACC, but I believe that with UNC, FSU, and Miami having a much better showing than say, Virginia Tech, this past week I think it is a great sign for the ACC. (Some of you may be saying to yourself that VT played Bama and they were supposed to look bad, but coming from a #6 position they shouldn't look that bad. Plus, "T-mobile" was a little embarrassing for you VT fans.) There are a few key games for the ACC to revive their season and to dismiss that William and Mary defeat....For instance, UVA and Clemson can come through and beat a WAC conference team in TCU, FSU can beat another WAC team in BYU and hopefully show BYU it was a little lucky to beat the Bradford-Gresham less Sooners on Saturday night. Virginia Tech can redeem themselves with a Big 12 win against Nebraska and Miami can do the same to Oklahoma(hopefully Bradford will return by then and make it a highly competitive game). I guess we shall say that BC can beat Notre Dame to help us gain respect, but after the slashing that the UNC women's soccer team put on the Notre Dame soccer team, it's hard for me to say 'respect.' And then of course there is the end of the season where the SEC/ACC rivalries come into play. Needless to say, A LOT of time for redemption. Maybe we can call this second week of college football a "redo" for the ACC. A kind of "first week" all over again so they can prepare for week three where a lot of ACC teams can really redeem the conference. I believe.
Here are my picks for the week. Let's see, I was 7-6 last week, which wasn't too good, but I changed some picks to compete with my dad and I ended up winning the weekend. I am going to try and do better this time....

Clemson at GT- GT
UNC at UConn-Go Heels
Stanford at Wake-WF
Troy at UF-Go Gators
TCU at UVA-TCU
Notre Dame at Mich-ND
UCLA at Tenn-Tenn
Vandy at LSU-LSU
South Carolina at UGA-Go Dawgs(please redeem yourself!)
Miss State at Auburn-Auburn
USC at Ohio State- USC

college football

2009-09-03T07:52:00.002-04:00

I am so excited about today at 7pm and I hope everyone out there is too. South Carolina(the other carolina) and NC State play on espn. Robert and I are just going to sit and eat a pizza and enjoy the beginnings of a beautiful fall. There are so many great games this weekend, a first for the first weekend in football. Even on Thursday there are a couple of good games. One is the south carolina game, but there is also Oregon and Boise State. You are probably thinking why do I care about Oregon and Boise State since they don't affect my fav teams? They will once the BCS rolls around. Boise State is one of those spoilers and if they remain undefeated(and most likely they will if they win this game), they will probably be in the BCS game...especially with what happened last year.
Then we have Saturday. One of Robert and my favorite days of the year(well every Saturday in the fall). We just sit in front of the tv all day, eat really bad food, and enjoy all the football. You may be thinking to yourself, how sad is that, but we love it and we will cherish these days for the rest of our lives.
One of my favorite parts of college football weeks is making my weekly picks with my dad. Every Thursday we take the list of college football games, pick the most competitive ones, and pick who we think will win. We add up who gets the most right at the end of the year and whoever loses buys the other dinner. What a great way for my dad and I to get a fun date! We have been doing this since I was in high school and I love it. Here is a preview of my picks for the week...how well do you think I did?

South Carolina vs NC State- NC State
Oregon vs Boise State- Oregon
App St vs East Carolina- App State
UGA vs Okla St- Go UGA!
Baylor vs Wake Forest- Baylor
Citadel vs UNC- Go Heels!
Charleston Southern vs UF- Go Gators!
BYU vs Oklahoma- Oklahoma
Richmond vs Duke- Richmond!
Alabama vs Virginia Tech- Bama
Maryland vs Cal- Cal
LSU vs Washington- LSU
Miami vs FSU- FSU

Plane Etiquette

2009-08-04T13:58:00.002-04:00

#3- If you have earphones in, it means "DO NOT talk to me!"

#4- Unless you are missing a flight, it is unnecessary to run up as many rows as you can just to try and get off the plane first.

Plane Etiquette

2009-08-02T20:50:00.002-04:00

I have decided, and I am guessing that many people who fly often have done this, to write a little blurb on the blog about plane etiquette. It is something that people who don't fly often should know and people who do fly often should make a part of their everyday flight. I cannot express to you how annoyed I get when people do not follow these simple rules to flying. If you are like me at all and you have this annoyance to people slightly touching you, plane etiquette is crucial to an enjoyable flight experience. I mean, is it not enough that take off and landing scare the living daylight out of me? Plus, how many flights have had some kind of problem this year...people, let's make flying as pleasurable as possible!
#1- If you are the unlucky person who gets the middle row, you have the right to both armrests. If you have the window or aisle seat, you are already designated one armrest where there is no fight. Why not be a kind flyer and give the worst seat in the plane two places to put their arms so that you can lean far away to your own designated place and give them some kind of comfort. Again, the whole touching thing can really get in the way if you are in the middle seat.
#2- Please put your bag above your OWN seat. Just because you see extra space as you are walking back to your seat that is the closest one to the bathroom, DO NOT put your bag in that spot. My guess is there will be space near your own seat. The most annoying thing is when your seat is near the front of the plane and the only place to put your bag is ten rows behind your seat. What this means is you have to wait for everyone to leave the plane(which takes FOREVER!) or you have to go against the grain and try and get your bag. Please tell me that you don't find this annoying!
Stay tuned for more complaints to come!

What a weekend!

2009-06-15T15:22:00.002-04:00

What a wonderful weekend! I am sitting on my couch right now thinking about how awesome this weekend was and how tired I am from having so much fun! The Mansfields came to visit which was so amazing, especially for Izzy and Maeby as Tracy practiced her motherly skills and was constantly showing some kind of affection to the two of them.
I just love hanging out with the Mansers as we are so content sitting around and chatting about life and catching up. Even though we enjoyed the apartment air conditioning, we still made it outside a few times to enjoy the wonderful sunny weather that neither one of us had the whole week. We ventured to the dog park, I played and they watched a soccer game, strolled around rocking Rockville with the pups so that Zack and Tracy could remember surburbia and hit up Panera, and we went to eat at a sport's bar to watch our tar heels give up an amazing performance by our starting pitcher and lose 5-2 in ten. Needless to say, it was soo much fun! Thanks for hitting up the bus and taking a trip to the DC area!
We also got a treat with the Whitehills visiting. Although we didn't get to see them very much, we still had a great time. They got to experience their first Women's Professional soccer game plus their first DC United game which turned out to be a very good game. Plus the fans from United were in rare, but good form! We then met them in good ol' Bethesda for some good grub and chat time and it was some good quality time with the in-laws. Sadly, they left today, but the short but sweet trip was a whole lot of fun for Robert and I.
As I reminisce about the weekend, I am just filled with the joy that these great families bring me. I love being around them and I love that they were here to see the first shutout(finally!) of the Washington Freedom! Now it's nap time so I can recover from the weekend and so I will be ready for our next game...St. Louis. They did just take second place from us after the weekend so we need to go there and take it back!

2009-05-25T22:09:00.001-04:00

2009-05-25T22:06:00.001-04:00

2009-05-15T15:30:00.000-04:00

I love my team

2009-04-06T08:23:00.002-04:00

So...yesterday we had a small practice to help us recover from our game against Virginia on Saturday. We all know that we have Monday off and one would think that we would take this long break from each other since we have literally been together 24/7 the last three weeks. Instead, we get together for a pizza party to watch FC Gold play the Boston Breakers. I just love how we love to hang out with each other.
I also was able to see the cherry blossoms with some of my teammates and it was just beautiful. Izzy and Maeby were also able to take in the beautiful, yet crowded cherry blossoms, and we just had a blast. I was told that they were quite a site to see, but I guess I didn't know that trees could be so pretty(especially when they are all in a row around the memorials). It was fun to get a glimpse of how great Washington DC can be.
So...I love my team. It's just nice that we have great chemistry on this team, and I just know that as the season keeps going that is really going to pay off. And I just know that even though we lost our first game, that is definitely NOT going to be a common trend!

You ready?

2009-03-26T14:24:00.002-04:00

I sure am! The WPS is getting ready to get started and it starts at 6pm east coast time with us(the washington freedom) and LA Sol playing against each other! Tune in on Fox Soccer Channel because I am so excited! I'm excited to be playing in the first game, but mostly I am just so excited to be playing.... What a year, but I am glad that a new year has begun! If you are in LA, come to the game, but if you aren't, you better be watching! Hope to see you there or I hope to hear from you after the game! Go Freedom!

Rockville Rocks

2009-03-19T08:17:00.002-04:00

Just wanted to give a small update on what is going on with the Freedom. I am living in a town called Rockville, Md and I am thoroughly enjoying it. It is about 15 minutes from our fields which means I don't have to get in the crazy traffic of DC! The dogs are up here with me and Robert has been up every weekend, so we have been working on finding the ins and the outs of Maryland. I can honestly say I never thought I would be living in Maryland, but I like it!
The team is looking great. We did lose in a scrimmage to Sky Blue, but I felt our chemistry got better as the game went on. I would say for our first ever game, we did pretty well. I am just excited for the league. It is truly a great opportunity for so many different people and I am just glad I get to live in this moment!
We head down to Wilmington, NC tomorrow to play my old team, UNC, which I am pretty excited about! Then we head to LA the next weekend to play in the inaugural game! I can't believe this is finally getting started. I am just having fun and I hope you have fun watching!

Jackson Hole, Wyoming!

2009-02-19T09:14:00.001-05:00

Snow Day in NC!

2009-02-19T09:10:00.001-05:00

Long time, no update

2009-02-19T08:38:00.002-05:00

I just realized that it has been over a month since my last blog entry, and well, that is just too long. The good news with this entry is that I will also be adding two new photo albums so you can SEE what I have been up to for the past month.
Basically all I have been doing this month is getting ready for the new Women's Pro Soccer league. I head up to Maryland to play with the Washington Freedom next week and I am pretty excited about it. I am just excited that we are finally getting our league off the ground and I am also excited about getting to play a lot of games. It has been awhile since the last time I stepped onto the pitch in an organized game, but I am so excited that the Inaugural game is just around the corner.
January and February have been a lot of fun. We actually had a snow day here in North Carolina(which is one of the photo albums), the Tar Heels have finally gotten their act together with leadership and big time play by EVERYONE, Grace and I headed out to Jackson Hole, Wyoming to visit our wonderful friends, Ashley and John Merritt(the other photo album, and don't worry about me in the skis. It was cross country skiing so there was no worries with the ACL!), me and the dogs had a lovely birthday given to us by the greatest hubby, my parents and Brandt came to visit, and well I have just loved being in the Durham/Chapel Hill area. Not only have I had a wonderful winter, but Robert was able to go to the Duke game(thanks to Neill) in Cameron and cheer on the Tar Heels as we dominated the dookies! With Neill being at the game and Zack arriving the next day, Robert was able to celebrate the whole weekend! And let's face it, we all know that the Dook game was all those three talked about! And really, that's all that Grace, Ashley, John, and I talked about! It was quite a great day sending all the Duke seniors away without ONE win at Cameron against us Tar Heels!
To say the least, January and February were two great months(I guess it is a good thing we have a little bit left of February!), but I am going to be sad to leave my Durham home. I love my house and I love the memories that I have formed these past seven months of ACL recovery. BUT I am excited about the new memories up in DC and the idea of playing in a real professional league! The only question remains, what is Bailey and Ellie going to do without doggie day care? Or I guess the better question is going to be, what am I going to do without doggie day care??? HAHA

Hansbrough versus Tebow

2009-01-12T14:30:00.002-05:00

Now a lot of us sports fans watched some fun games this past weekend. The national championship in college football and a regular season college basketball game with two top four teams playing against each other. Both obviously had a lot on the line, one a little more than the other, but with UNC starting out with one loss and no wins coming into the Wake Forest game, it was crucial that the tar heels don't start out 0-2. Obviously, this game was pretty crucial as well. Another thing that sports fans watched, and my guess is that if you aren't a Tebow or Hansbrough fan you were sick of hearing about this, but ESPN did quite a job on comparing these two national players of the year in their respective sport. It was all very interesting and fun, especially because I am a HUGE fan of both, but I don't think you can compare the physical aspects of these two players. When it comes down to greatness, your mentality sets you apart.
So here is my opinion...and well I don't care if you don't care! HAHA! Plus, the reason I am writing this is because I got so mad last night watching Hansbrough crumble in the face of pressure. I felt like our team had just stepped off the court in San Antonio after playing Kansas and brought the same intensity into Wake Forest. When I watched Tebow put on a show in person, and yep I am bragging that I saw it in person, and after the debacle of the Tar Heels last night against Wake, there is one main difference between the both of them. Both are obviously amazing players, both have an amazing passion for their sport, both are rather large, and both can take over a game and help their team to a victory if they so choose. The difference is this, Hansbrough doesn't have the leadership that Tebow displayed in the National Championship nor the right mentality to take over a game when his team is struggling(he can take over a game obviously, but I have yet to see him do it when we are completely down like last night). I watched Hansbrough let his team fall, I saw the passion slip from his face, I watched as Danny Green and Deon Thompson were yelling in disagreement, and Tyler did nothing. I watched a lower classman take over for the deacons and I watched all of our upper classmen watch him do it. As you sports fans have most likely heard that the Tar Heels could beat a few NBA teams and our second team could be in the top 20, we sure aren't proving it. It's just disappointing to see someone like Tyler let his team fall so hard when he has such a great opportunity to be a great leader. That's the difference between Tebow and Hansbrough; both are great players, and again, I LOVE them both, but Tebow decided to be that leader that the team needed. I sure hope Tyler steps up because I would hate for someone like Hansbrough to leave without a championship. Plus it would make Robert sooo happy!!
So call me lame for writing this, but I really want a national championship and I needed to vent!

National Champs! Go Gators!

2009-01-12T14:25:00.001-05:00

Robert and I in NYC!

2009-01-06T13:01:00.001-05:00

New Year's Party!!

2009-01-06T12:56:00.001-05:00

Doggies Christmas!

2009-01-06T12:51:00.001-05:00

Christmas Tree Shopping

2008-12-02T13:47:00.001-05:00

Thanksgiving in the Mountains!

2008-12-02T13:27:00.001-05:00

here's to nothing

2008-11-13T15:01:00.002-05:00

so here's to nothing. yep, that's what i do...nothing. i work out, then nothing. i make a movie about my dogs, then nothing. i sit and watch ellen and college football live at the three o'clock hour waiting for grace to pick up ellie, then nothing. you may be thinking to yourself, poor thing, she seems to bored. well, at first i was. at first i was like, man, what do i do with all this time, but then i realized, there is so much more i can do. and maybe i waste some time, but that's ok. maybe i should volunteer more, and yes i do volunteer. maybe i should travel more, but wait, that's what i do for my job. maybe i should take a dance class, but have you seen me dance?? who needs dance classes when you can dance like me?? maybe i should add another dog to the pack, whoa, maybe four more? yes, there may be a lot of things i could do in my free time, and you can give me your two sense if you would like, but i am enjoying these moments. so if you are sitting at your desk wishing you had some free time to waste and do nothing, think of me. i am sure enjoying my time!! haha!! miss you too!

Something other than photos

2008-10-22T16:47:00.003-04:00

I decided it has just been too long since I have written something on my blog. While I know that people enjoy the idea of staring aimlessly at their screen while at work and not having to read anything, you may still stare aimlessly at this blog entry because it probably won't be that exciting.
Anywho, so life has been busy for the first time in a few months. The nice thing is it has been good busy. I have been doing some broadcasting for espnu on sundays for college games. It has been really fun to finally get my feet wet into the broadcasting business. The games have been fun and I am really learning a lot. If you want to watch, check out espnu this sunday and next sunday. After that, I am doing the ACC championship on Fox Sports South and the national championship on ESPN2. All in all, busy has been good. The weekdays are different. I am working out like crazy and I love my personal trainer. He is kicking my butt and I love it. It's nice to finally be able to do almost everything. The only thing missing from my workout is sharp lateral movements. I actually got cleared Monday to get back into lateral movements slowly, so I tried to do some shuttle runs, let's just say my knee was fine, but the rest of my body was in a lot of pain. It's amazing what no lateral movements for four months will do to you when you try to come back!
Doggie day care is at its all time high! We of course have Izzy, Maeby, and Ellie as seen in the pictures, but Bailey Narvesson has now become quite the member. She is a six month black lab puppy and maeby and ellie just love playing with her. Izzy loves it too, but we all know how much Izzy plays. She is still the pack leader and they all know not to mess with her. It's pretty entertaining. If anyone would like to come visit me in the afternoon, make sure you arent afraid of dogs. Needless to say, maybe when I am done with soccer I should start a real doggie day care instead of being a broadcaster....
So all in all, life is good. Robert and I are having a blast getting to play husband and wife for the first time in our marriage. College football has proven to be full of fun, even though I am worried about penn state. If penn state gets in before a SEC team because of Joe Pa, I am going to have major issues. I drove through Atlanta and Birmingham to see Brandt in Tuscaloosa and it was so fun seeing my family and Brandt in a whole week-even though I went to Tuscaloosa after the UGA game:( Everyone is doing wonderful and it's just nice to go places when I want to! I am hoping to make more trips, anyone want a visitor??
Well I hope your workday was as productive as mine!! Enjoy the latter part of the week!

Weekend at Brandt's

2008-10-22T14:37:00.001-04:00

My own doggie day care!

2008-09-30T17:14:00.001-04:00

Ivey's Baby Shower(mccauley style)

2008-09-30T16:53:00.001-04:00

THE Heisman Trophy!

2008-09-25T08:01:00.001-04:00

David and Steph's Wedding

2008-09-22T15:40:00.001-04:00

Beach Bums:)

2008-09-08T14:16:00.001-04:00

GAME DAY!!

2008-09-06T11:43:00.001-04:00

I love Fall

2008-08-25T16:00:00.005-04:00

So I told you I would answer your questions last week, but oh well, here they are. There are only three band members in Ben Folds Five and Tom Landry and Vince Lombardi coached for the Giants. Lots has happened since my last blog entry, the US won the gold, woohoo! I went to LA and saw some of my favorite peeps, Tink Tink and Eller, and then the most monumental of all was Robert went to a couples massage with me! That's right folks, I finally broke him down and made him go with me, I mean his body is in tangles, and he feels so much better now. And for all you men out there who have a problem with massages, Robert will tell ya, it is totally worth it!
Life is obviously exciting for me nowadays! haha! Rehab is going well and the beach is waiting for my arrival all next week so I can't wait! And even better, college football starts this thursday which means my life is complete again! So for all those espn analysts who have already counted Georgia out because of a hard schedule, I can't wait for this season to begin! I LOVE the fall!

Our short but AWESOME trip to NYC

2008-08-18T18:15:00.001-04:00

Lots of pics!

2008-08-12T17:07:00.001-04:00

a lil update plus some brain teasers!

2008-08-12T16:34:00.004-04:00

Well here's to the quarterfinals! Of course it's Canada! I hate that we have to play them in the quarters. Playing Brazil definitely would not have been our ideal team to play, but Canada is up there as one of the worst teams. We just seem to play each other all the time and we have fortunately come out victorious lately. The problem is, we play them too much. Knowing your opponent can definitely help, but knowing them too well can sometimes hurt. I just hope our team comes out and plays like we did today- beating New Zealand 4-0!
As for me, recovery is going really well. I am pretty sore right now considering I was released to jog a week ago, but I am pumped I can JOG! I never thought that jogging very slowly for five minutes then walking five minutes and doing that for forty minutes would be so exciting! I am just taking each step with excitement and willingness to take it slowly but to also push myself. Cody, my trainer, has been awesome and it has been fun doing agility and jogging. The funny part is when I watch all the Olympic games, I get pretty nervous when I see a knee go another way because I feel like all knees are unstable. Thank goodness God made them ready for just about anything!
So I figured that since most of the people who are actually reading my blog know how my life is, I would spice it up a little bit. Plus, I am hoping that people will actually respond to my blog. People tell me they read it, but how can I really believe that, huh? Haha!! So here goes: I will ask these questions, riddles, or whatever comes to mind and then in the next week I will tell yall the answer. Oh and don't be lame and go to google or wikipedia and find the answer!!
Question 1- In 1956, Tom Landry coached the defense and Vince Lombardi the offense for what NFL team?
A-Bears B-Colts C-Giants D-Eagles
Question 2- How many band members were there in Ben Folds Five?

HAVE FUN!

GO USA

2008-08-07T08:22:00.002-04:00

I just want to put a small plug to my girls over in China. I know that a lot of people are doubting the US soccer team, but I am definitely not one of them. We may have never lost an Olympic first round game, but I think this will be major motivation for us to dominate throughout the rest of the tournament. We have a lot of talented players out there and I know we can come together and beat Japan and New Zealand and make it to the next rounds. Keep watching because I believe we still have a lot of exciting soccer to watch! Go team!

Fun slideshow

2008-07-31T14:10:00.001-04:00

Goodbye to the Mansers

2008-07-31T10:12:00.000-04:00

So we say goodbye to our good friends, the mansfields. Over the last couple of days we have been able to eat our favorite foods, chick-fil-a and armadillo grill, and reminisce on the fun times of living in the radius(that would be durham, nc). There were some definite sad moments since they have been living in the state of north carolina for most, if not all, of their lives, but I am extremely excited for them. New York doesn't know how lucky they have it now. I will definitely miss them, but I guess I am kind of glad that I tore my acl(i would have definitely liked it another way) because this meant I was able to spend lots of quality time(my love language for those of you who need to know!) and really say my good byes! Izzy and Maeby were even able to say proper goodbyes this morning as the Fultons and Whitehills brought Starbucks and Chick-fil-a. (Starbucks wont be a problem in New York, but this may be their last chick for awhile-how sad!) If you are bored while typing numbers in the office, check out zackmansfield.com and watch their move to new york LIVE! I know, so exciting! I am going to leave all of you with the advice that Robert and I left to these two wonderful and sweet people-- "don't lose your southern flare" "don't forget how to drive a car" "be green and stay republican" "good luck driving a rental truck through manhattan" "go to Tao!" There were many other words of advice, but I think we can leave it at that!

up and moving!

2008-07-11T10:29:00.001-04:00

It has been almost a week and I can honestly say I am mobile. I am still having a slumber party with Robert, Izzy, and Maeby in the den, but I am now able to walk without crutches for small amounts of time. I will have to say I am almost done with the pain medicine which is always a sad and scary thing, but I am excited that we are on the last day of meds because I can finally move about without nausea and the feeling that I am about to fall over.
Now it is time for rehab. I never thought it would be so difficult to bend a knee, but I am sure learning a lesson of humility! My knee has gotten to 90 degrees which is great for just the first two days of rehab so I am excited for that and I can't wait to bend it all the way back. If anyone has acl stories they want to share or any tidbits that might help me, please let me know! Ok, now I am off to start my new hobby-making a quilt out of all my favorite t-shirts!! We shall see how it all works out, but I am very excited to get it started! Check out some funny videos of my visit to atlanta and robert's birthday. At least I am keeping myself busy!!
oh! PS-im not celebrating tearing my acl(just wanted to be a part of the toast, haha! and I wasnt picking my nose! haha!) i guess i am not very afraid of making a fool of myself!

Surgery is DONE!

2008-07-08T14:43:00.000-04:00

I am very excited to report that my surgery is over and done and everything went really well. I must admit I am glad to be done with everything and I even feel really good. My whole leg was numb all day yesterday but the thing that was amazing was how good I felt. I wasn't groggy, I was fully alert, and I felt as if I was ready to go and play a soccer game. Ok, maybe that is an exaggeration, but my leg feels great and I am very excited to get my recovery rolling. I am going to keep updating my blog, so please keep reading and checking in! Thank you so much for all your prayers and I can't wait to hear from yall soon!

thanks!

2008-06-24T14:17:00.001-04:00

I just wanted to say thank you to everyone for all the support you have given me during this hard time. Tearing my acl is definitely a setback for this year and I am totally bummed I will be missing out on the Olympics, but I am excited for what is to come. Right now I am enjoying being home, being a wife, a mother to izzy and our new addition, maeby(a white german shepherd mix), and doing what people who are home consistently do! August definitely won't be an easy time for me, but with friends, family, and God, I know I can get through this and come out better because of it. Again, thanks for the words of encouragement and all of the support. I won't be able to do this without you!--oh and I will be keeping up with my blog even if I am not at the Olympics. It's fun! So keep reading!

Korea Bound!

2008-06-04T12:14:00.000-04:00

Off to Korea we go! Well, the main reason this is exciting is because the olympic team went from a pool of over 50 players to just 22. The team was named Sunday and after a small celebration, we are all now home for much needed rest and relaxation. We leave for South Korea on Sunday where we will play a very difficult schedule including teams like Brazil and Australia. Once this tournament is over, the team will go from 22 players to the 18 who will be going to the Olympics. I just can't believe we are only 65 days away from the opening ceremony and only 63 days away from our first game! It is getting exciting!!

The beginning

2008-05-29T01:12:00.000-04:00

I am very excited to begin my new blog. I don't know why it has taken me so long to write about all of my adventures with soccer for people to read, but I guess it is better now than later. I am excited to finally start it as the Olympics are right around the corner. I am sitting in my hotel room in Los Angeles as we are in another training camp getting ready for our first game August 6th(a little earlier than everyone else, just so you know!!) This camp has been really hard with the theme these two weeks being all about fitness, but I know we are all excited to do this now so it will hopefully pay off later. We are also working really hard right now because we have a lot of games over the next two months leading up to the olympics and we want to make sure we are peaking at the right time. I mean after this camp, we head to south korea for two weeks, norway and sweden for a week, we play a game in denver and san diego and then head over to china!! I cant believe we are getting so close to the beginning of the games and I really CANNOT wait!! I hope you are excited as well!! OK, enjoy the pics and videos and I can't wait to write again soon!