The Un-skip-ables

Everyone has those songs... you know the ones. Those songs that every time they come up on your iPod or on the radio you're hooked. You're not changing the channel or skipping to the next song, you're probably going to turn it up, and you may even push "repeat" when the song gets to the end. I was thinking about those songs the other day. Here's what I decided my list of un-skip-able songs looks like:

-Foo Fighters, Everlong

-Kenny Chesney, I Go Back

-Taking Back Sunday, This Photograph Is Proof

-AC/DC, You Shook Me All Night Long

-Dierks Bentley, Wish It Would Break (Live)

-Blink 182, Dammit

-The Used, Buried Myself Alive

-STYX, Come Sail Away

-Brand New, Okay I Believe You, But My Tommy Gun Don't

-Metallica, Turn the Page

-Thrice, To Wake and Avenge the Dead

Kind of a weird mix, I know. What does yours look like??

Sick Wife Update

Bri's been in bed since we left the hospital about 1:30 AM. Fortunately she hasn't vomited since then either. Her stomach still hurts, though not really as nauseous as it had been. She's been able to keep down some liquids, some bread, and a jello cup. She doesn't quite feel up to soup or anything like that yet.

I know a lot of people got freaked out when they heard we had to call paramedics. That basically came about because last night the only doctors open out here was the ER. I was going to take her but with all the dehydration and probably some hyper-ventilating, she wasn't able to stand. Her hands were clinched tight and her back couldn't straighten up (that part, I think, really worried her).

Thanks again to all you that are praying for her, please keep it up. She's had a little blood in her stool today, but from talking to our nurse sisters (Dani and Mandy), it's hopefully just from the irritation her body has gone through. I've been going in every 20 minutes or so to make her drink water. One good sign was when she started to give me attitude because I was bugging her. Pray that she doesn't regress tonight because she has come a long way today.

I love her. Thanks.

Wigan Athletic 0 - Manchester United 5

Coming off their stunning midweek defeat at the hands of Burnley, Manchester United was looking to bounce back and take it out on a much weaker Wigan Athletic.

With Man U on the rebound, their strikers looking to answer questions about their ability to finish, and playing a team with a keeper that wears a goofy hat and looks like Smalls from The Sandlot (HT to Nick Asolas for that visual); the Reds capturing three points didn't seem to be a matter of "if", more so a matter of "when".

The first half appeared to be dominated by the Reds (although half time stats would show fairly level play) with Darren Fletcher, Paul Scholes, Wayne Rooney and Nani all having good chances to put in the first goal. None were able to capitalize. Heading into intermission with the score tied at zero and leaving these chances on the table seemed to be heaping more pressure onto Man U. Could Sir Alex's men really fall to back-to-back bottom of the barrel EPL opponents? Well, whatever he said in the dressing room, it worked.

The three time defending Premier League champs came out in true form for the last 45 minutes and ended up turning a question mark into a laugher. In the 56th minute Antonio Valencia (whom I had been critical of in the first half for his lackluster play) steered a beautiful cross into the box finding Rooney's head, which in turn found the back left corner of the net. The goal was a milestone for the striker as it was his 100th in Man U colors. The goal not only got Rooney over a hump, but it opened things up for his teammates as well. Two minutes later, much criticized Dimitar Berbatov created an amazing opportunity for himself when he received a ball in traffic, flicked it over the keeper's headed, then bounced it by one more defender for a beautiful goal. In the 65th minute, Wayne Rooney capped off a historic day in style. His shot deflected of a defender and by the keeper and the route was officially on.

With the game well in hand, Sir Alex mixed things up in the 72nd using all three of his subs, one of them being off-season transfer Michael Owen. About ten minutes later, Owen took a crisp pass from Nani and reminded everyone why the Reds desired to bring him in placing a beautiful floater off the far post for his first goal with United. In the 92nd minute, Nani not only added to his already solid performance, but possibly helped answer some questions about who would be able to replace Ronaldo in taking free kicks. The winger curled a ball over the wall for a beautiful 25 yard strike that left the opposing keeper motionless.

The game, which went into halftime with some hope for the home side, ended with a resounding dominance that many expected from this fixture. Man U will need to keep this form as next Saturday they take on rival Arsenal at Old Trafford. The Reds aren't typically known for their blistering hot starts in Premiership, but beating the Gunners less than two weeks after falling to Burnley would be a good sign and help answer a lot of questions in Manchester.

NOTES: The starting 11 saw seven changes from the midweek game at Burnley. The most positive of these changes was welcoming back defensive star Nemanja Vidic, who has been battling calf problems to start the year. I don't know what time kickoff was at the venue, but to catch it here in Arizona, I was up at 6:45 (yes, I am a man). This is the first time I have seen EPL on the ESPN family of networks; I really hope the ratings are decent so it sticks around.

Gettin' the Squeeze

This story is ridiculous! I guess NYC has to get creative if they're going to pay for those two new ballparks they have.

http://www.nypost.com/seven/08162009/news/regionalnews/sweet_lemonade_kid_lapped_184770.htm

Turning a New Page

For those that know me well enough, the following is no real surprise: I skated through my school years doing as little work as possible. Do I regret that fact? Kinda. Is there anything I can do about it now? No.

Assigned reading was hands down, always my least favorite. I would rent the movie, read the Cliff's Notes, look for recaps online; anything to not have to read a book. What always left me scratching my head was how so many of my classmates were actually enjoying these books. Recently I have found myself thinking that maybe I really missed out on some good stuff.

Today I started something that I hope to carry out for sometime forward. While at B&N with Bri's family, I bought myself a book. It's a classic that I was supposed to have read my sophomore year in high school. The book is To Kill a Mockingbird by Harper Lee. I want to start catching up on some of the good things I think I may have missed. I'm going to build myself a little list of some American literary classics, and slowly work my way through them. Each time I complete one, I will VOLUNTARILY do a little book report on this blog stating my thoughts on it (my mom just passed out).

Here are just some of the books on my list so far:
-Great Gatsby, Lord of the Flies, Catcher in the Rye, Grapes of Wrath, Old Man and the Sea, Adventures of Huck Finn, Farewell to Arms, The Audacity of Hope (hahaha I kid, my mother-in-law just passed out)

This is just a small sample of some I want to read. But what do you think? Any I should add to the list? Let me know.


___________________________


On a separate note. Tomorrow morning I start volunteering with the jr. high group at church and am really looking forward to it. Bri and I have been attending Mission Community Church in Gilbert for a little while now and are going to start getting involved. I'm going to work with the youth group and Bri has tryouts for the worship arts ministry later this week.

Flex those golden pipes girl!!!

Baseball's Big Problem

I have had several people ask me over the last couple days, "so, what do you think of Manny and Papi?" Usually my answer is something short like, "not surprised." The truth is that there are many different layers to my feelings on this issue. One thought I have that I don't think anyone disagrees with is that this steroid controversy is eating away at America's Past Time and it's going to take a long time to get over it. That's obvious; here are some of my other opinions on this topic:

Fan ignorance
One of the main parts of this controversy is rooted in the fact that for so long baseball fans have had their heads in the sand. When the players are bigger, stronger, faster and performing at superhuman levels, the game is often more enjoyable to watch. But when all of a sudden someone calls "foul", the other side rears its ugly head; the juicy gossip-loving, lynch mob mentality. Joe Fan says, "I didn't care that you guys looked like the Brawny Paper Towel guy and a Dominican Popeye when you were chasing Maris in the summer of '98 and entertaining the crap out of me... but now that I hear you may have cheated??? String 'em up!!"

This ignorance gets ten times worse when you mix in a fan's loyalty to his/her favorite team. Perfect example of this is what's going on in BeanTown right now. Sox fans have been fat and happy the last few years, and why not? Great team success, while their arch-rivals have not only struggled on the field, but have been faced with more of this controversy than any other single team. The Chowds were loving life when no Sox players showed up on the Mitchell Report (funny how a team executive was the one heading the investigation). Now let's fast forward to Thursday when the story dropped about the two offensive cornerstones of their championship teams being dirty; you could hear the rug being pulled out from Sox Nation across three time zones.

And what about you, Dodger fan? Sorry to pull you away from your love affair with Manny; but weren't you the ones leading the charge up the hill against Public Enemy Number 25 a few years back? You vilified Barry worse than anyone! All the while you're riding your record setting closer that went from an ineffective no namer to one of the best in the game while adding 8 mph to his fastball in ONE OFFSEASON. Don't get me wrong, I'm not a Barry guy. But it has a lot more to do with him being the worst teammate ever than it does with "the clear". Sorry to pick on you guys, I'll let you get back to your dread locked left fielder that's trying to get pregnant. But hey, it's not like you "raped or killed anyone", right Manny?

Who's to blame?
First, there are the players. For those who feel like the ones that have been outed are the only perpetrators, you're sorely mistaken. And honestly?? You're also pretty stupid. It's unfortunately reached the point where I feel like there should be a list of those who DIDN'T cheat. The sad part is, is that it's getting so old hat, I'm less and less outraged by it every time. I heard a quote from Hall of Famer Bob Gibson yesterday saying that had this been available to him in his day, knowing it would have given him a competitive edge, he can't say for certain that he wouldn't have made the same choice. Yes Mr. McCarver, THAT Bob Gibson.

Okay Mr. Ballplayer, so you did it. Just knock it off with the charade that comes with getting caught. Don't half ass an apology, don't blame a trainer, don't say you didn't know what it was, and don't say you're glad to get it off your chest when you had to be called out to begin with. Just once would I love to hear someone say, "Yeah, I did it. I did it because it worked. It wasn't illegal at the time. I'm competitive and wanted an edge, and wanted my team to win." Will we ever hear that from one of these guys? I don't know, but I can hope.

In my opinion, Commissioner Selig is probably the one to point the finger at the most. He has personified the ignorance of MLB fans times 762*. When the sport was reaching its height of popularity, where we you with drug testing being proactive on this issue? And once Canseco starts pointing fingers, you're the one ready to crucify the racehorses you rode to such success. Until this list of 2003 drug failures gets completely released, this will keep happening. Every couple months, a new name, a new player's rep dragged through the mud, towing the game of baseball behind it.

Where do we go from here?
It's going to take a while to get through this thing, but I think we can do it. First of all, we need to be told every day that drug testing is in place and that it's working. We often forget that the things we're discussing are from six year back, or further. We need to have faith that the people out there that love this sport as much as we do will not let it cannibalize itself. I think it's also going to take a little bit of looking in the mirror and being honest with ourselves. We knew what it was and we knew what we were watching; and if we didn't, we darn well should have. If we're going to hold this sport to the same regard we hold the others we'll be fine (don't tell me, NFL purist, that you think it's normal for 300 lb men to run 4.6 40's). But if we stay in this current mentality: that we want to live in the past, and talk out of both sides of our mouths, and act outraged by the things we once cheered so loudly for... then we may be in a lot of trouble. I love baseball and will never apologize for it. I have complete faith that this sport I love will get through these trying times.... hopefully coming out stronger than it's ever been.