Song As Outline

Finally, a good use for PowerPoint.  I’m not sure why, but this “song as outline” meme struck me as quite funny.

Dook Sucks

I would be remiss not to take this last opportunity for some potshots at Dook before the basketball seasons ends.

For starters, did anyone else notice how the alleged ACC Player of The Year wasn’t so great when he didn’t have ACC refs to put him at the free throw line every time he put the ball on the floor?  Either that or the guards from Deleware State, Mississippi State, and Michigan State must all be faster and better defenders than every guard in the ACC.  Yeah, that must be it.

Columnist Jim Caple of ESPN.com’s Page 2 is touring a bunch of basketball schools during March Madness.  Last week he was on Tobacco Road and filed this gem from Dook.  I’ll fill you in on some of the highlights, like this nugget from a Dookie rationalizing the Dook backlash..

 ”It’s the whole aura we put out,” said Bonnie Gregory, a freshman from Greensboro. “I understand that we give out a snobbish attitude, that we’re better than you. But I feel like we can completely back it up. We really do have the best of both worlds.”

Hard to see why everybody hates them, right?  Not to worry, apparently they even hate on themselves sometimes….

Another example. Duke senior Jon Wedrogowski mentioned in his offer to host me that this Sunday is a very big day on campus. Not only is it the day the Blue Devils could advance to the Final Four, he said it also is Seersucker Sunday, marking the first day of the seersucker season. “If you wear it out of season you’ll get ridiculed,” he told me when we met Wednesday … and as soon as he said this, he stopped and turned to his friend, Cassie Young, with a worried look. “We’re going to sound so obnoxious.”

I have nothing to add to this, except BWWWWAAAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAAA!!!!!

That’s all for this season.  I know it’s small of me to pile on the Dookies now that they are out of the tournament and Carolina is going to the Final Four.  I should take off my Hater Hat for now and be the bigger person.

It’s just that if I wore it out of season I’d get ridiculed.

Hairball

Has there ever been a bigger choke job in a bigger game than the one the Arizona Wildcats pulled last night against Illinois?  It doesn’t help that the refs let Illinois mug the Arizona guards at will, but this one is ultimately on Lute Olsen.  He stopped dancing with the “Attack the Basket and Dish Out“ girl that brought them to the 15 point lead and dropped her for the seemingly hotter “Play 4 Corners and Shorten The Game” girl. 

I hate when coaches do this, especially against good teams.  You can get away with it against lesser competition but not against a team like the Illini.  They played great last night in that final stretch and you have to hand it to them.

I hope that Illinois and the Heels keep winning so we can get a piece of them for the National Championship.  Win or lose, it would be one of the better final games in recent memory. 

In the meantime, Go Heels!   Beat the Badgers!

Yikes

That was one of the most excruciating basketball games I’ve ever seen.  Congratulations to Villanova for an unbelievably gritty performance tonight against the Tar Heels.  Carolina should also be commended for gutting this one out.  Great game.  My stomach hurts. 

End of an Era

Birth Certificate
Originally uploaded by blizzog.

As you can see, my birth certificate says that I wasn’t born until 5:27 PM, so I’m not quite 30 yet.  I’d like to end my 20s just as I started them, with a NewCastle in hand, an eye towards the future, and fond memories of the past.

I thought that I was going to be somewhat sad today, but I find myself more reflective and content than anything else.  When it comes down to it, I don’t have anything to be sad about at all.  By all accounts, my 20s didn’t suck.  Check out this sampling of things that have happened in the past 10 years.

• I found the love of my life and married her.
• The friendships I formed in my early and late teens with my Ohio and UNC crew have only strengthened with the passage of time and continue to bring me laughter and joy.
• I met JT.net, MT.net, Scoot-Dawg, and the entire Raleighwood crew, friends who will always be dear to me despite their misguided NC State leanings. 
• I made lifelong friends in Eddie, Willis, and Timmay and learned both the value and hardship of completely devoting yourself to doing the thing that you love.  I think we’d all agree that KFBS brought us some of the best and worst working experiences we’ll ever have.  As much as I hated it at times, I’d give anything to go back in time for just one day and re-live us running the show.  Good times.
• I graduated from the greatest university under God’s Carolina Blue Sky.  (Okay, that bit of embellishment was for the benefit of my aforementioned Raleigh friends, but you get the point.)
• I left everything and moved to Virginia to chase my Internet dreams.  It didn’t work out how I’d hoped, but it taught me not to be afraid of following your heart.
• I started (or helped start) two businesses that have allowed me to make a living doing what I love to do.
• I left the comfort and safety of a known environment in Raleigh to start my business all over again in a tougher market and have succeeded beyond my expectations. 
• I have been able to travel places that I always wanted to travel, see things I’ve always wanted to see, and do things that I’ve always wanted to do.
• I started the blizzog, which isn’t really on par with these other accomplishments, but still brings me a sense of satisfaction all the same.
• I learned that there is more to life than work, and that in the end one’s friends, family, and experiences will be one’s epitaph.
• I learned that there is a lot that I don’t know.  I also learned to embrace this ignorance and use it as the fuel that drives me out of bed each morning.

No, my 20s didn’t suck at all, my friends.  In fact, one could say that they ruled. 

So here’s to you, my 20s.  I raise this NewCastle to you and cherish your lessons and experiences.  Rather than be sad that you are gone, I’m going to be happy that you were there.  For without you, I wouldn’t be able to write the next chapter.

Cheers.

30 Going On 13

The blizzog would like to wish a  happy birthday to Johan Sebastian Bach, Matthew Broderick, Rosie O’Donnell, Ananda Lewis, and that dude who played “Misfit 2” in Big Money Hustla$.

More Tourney Thoughts

We’re back from the cabin.  We had a great time.  As smerf said earlier, there’s nothing better than getting back in touch with nature by watching the NCAA tournament on satellite in HD and surround sound while you breathe in that fresh mountain air.  Good times.

I have a few remaining observations to share on the coverage over the past few days….

Is Coach K’s publicist working on commission this year or what?  It’s like RatFace is in every commercial.  The funny thing to me is that even in that ridiculous GM commercial K can’t hide the contempt on his face as that ball bounces in front of his stupid car.  I want to see the outtakes so I can see him yell, “You f#!&ing kids keep your motherf#!&ing ball out of the g#$%amn street!!!!”

It’s impossible for me to understate how much I dislike Chris Paul.  I actually picked Wake to win in the second round, but started actively rooting against them because my hatred for him overcame me.  That play where he actually got called for jumping on top of a player with the ball on the floor and then threw his little mini-fit did it for me.  Grow up.  I like your team and I’m sorry they’re still not playing but I don’t like you and I’m glad you’re not.  Have a nice summer.

The “Spring Break Shark Attack” spots have worn me down.  I’ll be watching tonight, no question.  In fact, I’ll be looking forward to it.  I’m going out on a limb and guessing “that chick who was on ‘The OC’ for a bit this season“ figures out a way to outwit the 10,000 sharks and save the day.  Is there a way for me to bet on this?

I’m going to have to flat-out work my tail off to remove the phrase “flat-out” from my vocabulary after having it flat-out rammed down my throat for the past few days. 

I’m just sayin’, but doesn’t that white dude who plays center for West Virginia look like you’d expect the white dude who plays center for West Virginia to look like?

What’s with the chick in the McDonald’s commecial who eats that other dude’s McGriddle when he tells her that his girlfriend just dumped him?  Aren’t we supposed to surmise that she wants to get with this guy?  I’m no love expert, ladies, but take some advice from me here.  You don’t get guys to like you by a.) stealing their food, and b.) proving that you are nasty enough to eat a McGriddle.  Double bad move.  She might as well have tried to bite off a toenail right there at the table.

Alright, I think I’ve exhausted my randomness for now.  You have to spend the last day of your 20s somehow, right?  Now if you’ll excuse me I need to go Google the over-under on “the 10,000 pissed-off sharks” for tonight’s contest.

“Nowhere Great” Revealed!

As I suspected, “nowhere great” is actually pretty awesome!  After some driving trickeration on her part, meant to confuse me, Ashley finally brought me to a gorgeous mountain cabin here in Fancy Gap, Virginia, just over the NC border.  It’s called “The Lazy Bear” and it is very cool.

In addition to the wonderful scenery, the place is really nice on the inside.  The centerpiece for me, of course, is the widescreen plasma TV on the wall that is hooked up to some DirecTV.  We’ve got all the tourney action we could want here.  Good times.

We’re going to do some exploring today before taking in the afternoon slate of games.  I couldn’t think of a better way to spend the last few days of my 20s.  Thanks, Ashley!

“Nowhere Great”

As some of you know, Ashley is taking me away this weekend to a secret, undisclosed location so we can celebrate my upcoming birthday.  (Hint: It’s on Monday, so there’s still plenty of time for you to get me something nice.) 

This has been in the works for a couple months now, and I really have no idea where we are going.  When I ask about it, she tells me that I shouldn’t get my hopes up because it is “nowhere great.”  How could I not be excited about going “nowhere great” to celebrate my birthday?!  I mean, this is going to be awesome.  It’s not very often that one gets to go “nowhere great”, right?

In all seriousness, I’m excited about our trip.  It’s kinda cool to not know where we are going, and wherever it is I’ll have fun because I’ll be spending it with my sweet wife.  Thanks for doing this for me, AG.

I’m not sure if “nowhere great” will have Internet access or not, so this may be my last post for a few days.  I’m taking my camera though so I can show you pictures of “nowhere great” when we get back.  More later….

The Morning After

As I climbed out of the rubble this morning and surveyed the damage to my NCAA Tournament Bracket, I realized that things might not be so bad.  11 of 16 picks correct.  Only 2 Sweet Sixteen teams gone.  It could’ve been worse.  Of course, it could’ve been a lot better.  If I had stuck to my original guns, I’d be 15/16 with 1 SS team gone. Oh well.  Something tells me I’m going to be in for it today.  We’ll see.