Cooperstown: July 2005

Saturday, July 30, 2005

I got your list right here.....

Everyone loves a good list, so I thought I would start a new series of list. This new series will look at my top 10 favorite and top 10 most hated athletes in each of the main sports. Since it is baseball season we will start with that.......

TOP 10 FAVORITES:

10) Austin Kearns: Gotta love the hometown boy.

9) Mike Cameron: Strikes out a lot, but you gotta love the way he cocks that hat to the side. A good fielder too.

8) Pedro Martinez: He's still got the stuff .

7) Scott Rolen: Mad glove skills. Best 3rd baseman in the league.

6) Johnny Damon: Brings comedy to the mix.

5) Juan Pierre: It's funny because his first name is Spanish and his last name is French. At any rate this kid is flat out speedy.

4) Edgar Renteria: Good hitter, great SS. I love his attitude.

3) Tori Hunter: One of the best outfielders I have ever seen.

2) Dontrelle Willis: That high kick, that smile, that wicked stuff from the mound. What's not to love?

And # 1 goes to.........

1) Ichiro Suzuki: Will go down as one of the best hitters the game has ever seen. He is one of the only guys I have seen who can run out a routine grounder to short. He's got a cannon from right field. Yet he remains a mystery still. That's what makes him so cool.

Now for the TOP 10 MOST HATED:

10) Roger Clemens: Can't get over the fact that he threw a bat at Mike Piazza.

9) Sammy Sosa: Sorry Sammy, at one point I liked you. But there is just too much against you now: the corked bat incident, your move to Baltimore, and not to mention that your home run production has dropped significantly since the crackdown on steroids.

8) Kenny Rogers: Recent events have revealed his true personailty.

7) Aaron Boone: For the 2003 ALCS.

6) Mariano Rivera: Actually, I kind if like him now since the Sox started beating up on him.

5) Randy Jonson: Sell-out.

4) Gary Sheffield: The dude is a jerk.

3) Derek Jeter: Too many reasons.

2) A-Rod: He was bad enough as it was, but when he tried to hit that ball out of Kevin Millars glove last year in the playoffs, that moved him way up on the list.

And the # 1 Most Hated Player is........

1) Barry Bonds: Slowly but surely, Barry is trying to get out of the game before it is discovered that he uses steroids. I am sick of hearing his complaints about how everyone is out to get him. I don't want to see Hank Aarons record broke by a guy who obviously juices.

NOTE: These are may favorites and most hated enemies, which will obviously differ from yours. But I would still like to hear who you think I should add or take off these lists.

Thursday, July 28, 2005

Back to School Shopping

So with school coming up soon for all the little kids running around town, it only means one thing for me : I will be busy at work selling new shoes to these kids. Today was crazy, I dealt with a lot of screaming, whining, indecisive kids who had to have the latest fashions in footwear. Now in order for one of these children to be able to have the coolest, hippest shoes on the market, mommy and daddy are gonna have to shell out around $70-$80. I don't know about you, but my parents never spent that much money on my shoes, despite my best efforts to convince them into purchasing them for me. However, I have noticed that the new generation of kids comiing up are becoming very crafty when it comes to getting what they want. And surprisingly, it has been working.

I can maybe think of one or two occasions throughout my entire childhood where I was able to convince my parents into buying something that they were originally opposed to. Yet it seems that todays child is remarkablly smart in coercing parents and playing on their emotions. Gone are the days of the temper tantrum. Here now are the days of logical reasoning by children who apparently are a little to smart for their own good.

I can think of one example today where a mother said to her son from the get-got that she refused to buy a certain pair of shoes for him because they were too expensive. Yet over the course of about 10 minutes he was able to talk her into letting him try them on, and before you know it she had bought those shoes for her smart little son. This kid new that once he was able to try the shoes on, they would look so good on him that his mother wouldn't be able to say. An he was absolutley right, his plan worked without a flaw. He put those shoes on, and her eyes lit up at the sight of her cute little boy with his adorable shoes. Remarkable.

I've noticed that such practices and techniques are especially efffective when used by females. Most fathers are suckers for the sad puppy dog face. This continues even into high school, so girls at at more of an advantage here. Guys can't really use the cute card so much once they hit puberty.

Another brilliant tactic I have noticed is that of wearing the parent down. Often times a child will pick out a shoe that they like, and the parent will say "Are you sure that is the one you want or do you want to look someplace else first? We can always come back." Now a smart kid uses this to his advantage. He/she picks out a shoe that he/she doesn't really like but that he knows his parents will buy. When they ask if he/she is sure about their choice, than he/she says no, and so the search continues. The child then drags the parents all over the mall (or all over town on many occasions) searching for that perfect shoe, until finally the parent is so tired that they don't care anymore, and they let them get what ever they want. Brilliant. However, this tactic is dangerous, as the parent may just end up picking out a shoe for them.

So are the parents getting weaker, or are the children getting smarter? Both, I think. Children have learned that yelling and screaming are rarely successful, and that appealling to the emotions of the parent is a much more beneficial option (See? Public school is good.) And parents are quickly learning that in order for their children to have nice shoes, they are going to throw down some serious cash. If only they really new how bad they were being ripped off.......

Wednesday, July 27, 2005

I got nothing to say, so you know what that means......

That's right family, it's time for What I Think/ What I Know. Need I say more? YEEEEEEAAAAAAH BOOOOOOOOOYYYYYYY! (That's my best Flava Flav impression).

What I Know: The summer is slowly waning away, and school is creeping up on us.

What I Think: Believe it or not, I am ready for school to start back up. Summer is cool and all, but I'm the kind of guy who needs a set schedule. Plus, I think I will enjoy the classes I am taking this semester. I am going to DOMINATE.

What I Know: With the start of school comes the annual UK/UL football rivalry.

What I Think: Several things. First, of all, UL will win. So will I go to the game anyway? I think this is what I will do....I will give UK one chance to impress me.....if thety are competive, I will consider coming back. If they play like last year, forget it. Either way, I will be pulling for the 'Ville to do well this season in the Big East. It would be good for a school from Kentucky to actually succeed at football. Oh yeah, and if UK doesn't win more than 4 games this season.....Rich Brooks, you're fired.

What I Know: This summer needs a theme song.

What I Think: Anyone got any suggestions?

What I Know: When I don't have to work, I have been watching such shows as Step By Step and Family Matters on ABC Family.

What I Think: Although I enjoyed both of these shows, watc

hing them again, I have realized that pretty much the same thing happens on every episode. On nearly every Step By Step episode, JT does something stupid to get a date and at some point calls Dana "Barky". On Family Matters, Urkel tries to get a date with Laura, and then ends up doing something stupid, blowing something up, or getting one of the others into a bad situation. Yet these shows made 4 or 5 year runs. Don't get me wrong, I think these shows were great, but it amazes me that they could change each plot so little each week and continue to be successful.

What I Know: It has been freakin hot this week.

What I Think: While many may enjoy heat, I prefer 60's and 70's with cloudy skies. The sun is my enemy...ever does he seeks to burn me to an Opie Crisp...and forever I will thwart his advances with SPF 40 sunscreen. I'm the dude that goes to the beach and sits under an umbrella. So I look forward to Fall.

What I Know: I recently boycotted all new movies.

What I Think: I think my boycott was a little too much. This does not mean my opinion of Hollywood has changed. Only my approach toward new movies has changed. Instead of depriving myself of movies, I will just be more careful and selective when deciding what films to see.

What I Know: There was recent comment on Bryan Gotcher's blog about his poor grammar in said post.

What I Think: This is totally idiotic. The commenter pretty much said that Bryan was a poor representative of Christ becasue he made some typos in his posts. While I think we should all strive to look and sound professional (especially in a position such as Gotch's, which is that of a youth pastor), I think that this taking it way to far. It is just a casual blog, not a sermon. No one cares about going back to check for typos, and you are certainly no less of a person (or Cristian) for having them in your blog. I say rock on, Gotch, you are the man. Keep posting that mad blog action.

What I Know: I went to Applebee's tonight with Troy, Matt, and Justin.

What I Think: The lady right next to me would laught extremely loud every 5 minutes. I almost commited murder tonight.......no seriously, I was pretending to play the drums with the silverware while it was still wrapped in the napkin, and the knife almost flung out and hit her.

What I Know: I watched David Blaine in TV the other night.

What I Think: For those of you who don't know, David Blaine is this magician who does these crazy magic tricks. These aren't kiddie stunts either......he does stuff like pull the head off a chicken and put it back on. So either one of two things is going on: he is either staging all this stuff (which would make him a conjurer of cheap tricks), or he is Satan himself come to Earth in bodily form to punk kids like me and creep people out.

What I Know: There are many posers in the world, but there can be only one LORD OF THE POSERS, and he does not share power. And of course, he must have a Queen.

What I Think: The Lord of the Posers is that name that we dare not speak......Aaron Carter. He took the throne many years ago with such lame hits as "I Want Candy". Recently I found out t

hat we almost lost a young lass by the name of Hillary Duff to his cruel and dark

rule of terror, but fortunately she escaped his pathetic grasp. Soon after his presence was revealed to the Wise among us and he was cast down and broken. Yet his spirit endured, and now he lurks in the shadows, biding his time, waiting for a time when the music world is at his weakest. Then he will rebuild his old kingdom of lame cover songs and attempt once more to cover all the music land in a second darkness......and of course his Queen must be the dark and terrible Ashlee Simpson (do you see a trend here?), who we all know can't sing a lick. Should there be a time when both of these extremely HUGE posers return to the throne, may God help us all..............

Friday, July 15, 2005

The Summer of 2003

As I promised, a post devoted entirely to all the goings-on of the summer of 2003, the best summer in my recent memory. Truly a Golden Age compared to the compared to the last two, summers as well ones before it. And what made it so great I think was that it started out great in late May, then went horribly wrong in mid-June early July, but then made a HUGE rebound in mid-July July and on throughAugust. Ahhhh, so many memories come rushing back.............

*First let me say that I when I said that the beginning of the summer sucked, I meant that it sucked for me. It may have been great for a lot of you, but I had a lot of stupid crap going on at that time that was fortunately cleared up later in the summer. For various resons, I will avoid discussing said crap. Now, onto the good stuff.

-One of the first things that comes to mind about the Summer of 2003 is that a lot of card games were played. From simple games such as no-limit UNO and Cowboys and Indians (thanks to Chris for that one), to more complex games such as Shanghai Rummi, Screw Your Neighbor, and , of course, Spades. Thanks to all who participated and hosted such outings (mostly it was Matt's and Lindsey's houses that we played at).

-I must also mention here that I believe the GREATEST SPADES COMEBACK EVER took place during this time, where Jason and I came from 500 points down, only to fall at the end.

-Thusrsday Night Bible Studies. Or, as I liked to call them, Thursday Night Religion Bashings

-Robert Patterson. Truly a men among boys. The first time I saw him, I thought he was at least 25, when actually he had just turned 19. I can only think of one word to describe Bobby: P.I.M.P. The man was a stud. Who can forget his fruit drink machine that he kept in the kitchen?

-Troy dropping his cell phone in the toilet.

-Playing tennis for all the wrong reasons.

-Lindsey's world-renown cheesecake.

-Hollice's banana pudding

-As I mentioned before, Hawiian Shaved Ices almost everyday.

-I finally quit working at Winn-Dixie and got a job at AllSports. Back in those days, working at AllSports was a great job. My how times have changed.

-Canoeing on Elkhorn Creek. My favortite part of the day came when Micah made a joke about my mom, to which I repleid "My mom is dead" with a terribly sad look on my face. Micah didn't know me to well at this point, so he thought I was telling the truth. He kept apologizing for like 15 minutes. The best part was that everyone else in the group was like "Yeah, amn didn't you know that? She got hit by a car a couple months ago". Also, it was cool to watch Mark Smith risk his life by jumping of that tree on top of that cliff into the creek that couldn't have been too deep.

-Cedar Point with the Wherles and the Soks

-Riding Milfo (Millenium Force) with John Wherle

-"Stacy's Mom" hit radio waves everywhere. Other popular songs of the summer that come to mind: "I Hate Everything About You" by Three Days Grace, "Only Hope" by Switchfoot, "Sweetness" by Jimmy Eat World, "Commication Breakdown" by Led Zeppelin and "Holiday Inn" by Chingy.

-The summer I met Chris Smith, then later Dustin. Dustin was so quiet then.

-Going to the Outer Banks with Mike Davis.

-Getting beat at a roll eating contest by Sarah Kinney at O'Charley's.

-Remember Chris from O'Charley's?

-Moving into the house on Joshua Circle with Troy and Andy.

-Troy yelling "Freedom" Braveheart-style at 2 in the morning.

-Troy playing "Pomp and Circumstance" on the electric guitar really loud at 2 in the morning.

-Trying to get those stupid Tiki torches to light in the backyard.

-Hiking in the gorge, and nearly having to carry Troy and Lindsey out of the woods becasue they were so tired.

-Troy calling Allison on her cell phone at 4:20 am and saying "Hey, guess what. It's 4:20 (chuckle, chuckle). I jus thought I would let you know".

-Shakespeare in the Park. The people behind us smoked so much weed it gave me a little buzz (and a headache).

-Hangin' out at Travis's.

-When we first met Preece, and everyone kept calling him Priest.

-Super Monkeyball

-Ultimate Frisbee

-Scrabble with Andy and Chris (remember Femijock?)

-Eric Orr-isms

-Grab Bag

-A little bit before summer, but Freedom Weekend at Matt's house

This list is what I could think of off the top of my head. Any additions by others are welcomed, for I cannot remember everything. I will contiue to add to it as I think of other things and as other people suggest them to me.

Thursday, July 14, 2005

A Couple of Tidbits

Just a couple of things.............

-I got another job. I will now be working at Dick's Sporting Goods in Fayette Mall in the footwear department alonside John Wiley.

-I got up this morning and noticed that the lamp in my room was in the floor. I must have sleptwalked last night and somehow put it there. It was pretty freaky.

Wednesday, July 13, 2005

I was up all night, but it was worth it....

Now I know that the title of this post sounds a bit shady, but I assure you it is not. Yesterday, me and Matt Woodyard went to Heartland Shopping Center after Bible study to get a Hawaiian Shaved Ice. Now, this was my first of the season, and let me say it was a beautiful experience. On my way home, I was thinking about Hawaiian Shaved Ices, and I decided that there are few things better in the world. Whether you prefer cherry, lemon-lime, blue raspberry, or ozark mountain berry (that is my favorite), you can be assured that every time you dip your spoon into that cup of sugary goodness you are experienceing a little bit of heaven. I have no doubt in my mind that God has a Hawaiian Shaved Ice machine in heaven. Day or night (I have even heard of some people eating them for breakfast), there is nothing more satisfying to the appetite.
Of course, as with most good things in this world, there are a few drawbacks to Hawaiian Shaved Ices. First of all, there contain no nutritional value. That is why I have decided to nickname them "Diabetes in a Cup". They also rot your teeth if you don't brush or floss (like Troy "Nightclub" Woodyard). Secondly, they leave your tongue stained for hours. I was spittin' blue for a long time last night. Lastly, they give you a sugar buzz like no other. That is why I was up all night last night.
Yet none of these drawbacks are enough to keep me from enjoying my Hawaiian Shaved Ice. So, if anyone ever gets the urge for one, give me a call, there is a good chance I will join you.

FUTURE POST UPDATE: Matt and I were talking last night about Hawaiin Shaved Ices last night while we were partaking of them, and we decided that they really made their comeback in the summer of 2003. You see, the Summer of 2003 has been a topic of discussion for me, Matt, Jason, and Andy for a while now. So many good (and bad) things happened that summer, which made it the best summer ever. Hawaiian Shaved Ices were jsut a part of it. SO, I have decided that the next post is going to be about the Summer of 2003. I just wanted to let everyone know ahead of time, becasue I know a lot of people who frequent this site were involved in the events of 2003, and if I can get a lot of feedback from them, it will make this post awesome, because I am sure there are many things out there that others remember that I have forgotten.

I won't get addicted. I swear.....

Well kids, I finally gave in and set up a profile on Facebook. Looks pretty cool so far, and I can see how people get addicted to it. However, I have promised myself that I will not become a slave to the Facebook as I was once a slave to AIM.

Oh yeah, I almost forgot. Hey Ben Judd, HERE'S WHAT YOU DID: You came to Bible Study Tuesday night, and when everyone went downstairs to play pool, you went out to your car and got your own poolstick that that you keep in a case and carry around with you in your car, then brought it into the house so you could play pool too. That's what you did.

Friday, July 08, 2005

Wofo and Me

Well it has been almost 2 months since I moved to Woodford County (which the natives refer to as Wofo), and I must say nothing relly exciting goes on out here. Most of you know I prefer the city over the small town scene (although, in reality, Versailles is really just a suburb of Lexington), so I find Wofo quite boring. But in my time here I have noticed how a lot of things are different here. Some of my observations:

-There are a lot of Mexicans out here. Let me clarify: this is not a racist comment, it is truth. There are a ton of Mexican employees here, most of which work on my street building houses. Most days I can open my window and here some Spanish music drifting down the lane. It os pretty cool.
-Everybody here really does know everybody else.
-There is pretty much nothing to do, unless you like to do stuff with horses, which I do not.
-There is no Wal-Mart, only a K-Mart. Wofo needs to do something about this, cause everyone else in America has a Wal-Mart. Sorry, but K-Mart just isn't as good.
-The girls in Wofo drive really fast. Especially on Versailles Road and the Parkway. I never really saw to many girls in Lexington break the speed limit by more that 20 miles an hour, but out here, they fly.
-I guess I was expecting people to be friendlier than in Lexington, but so far they are about the same.
-There are a lot of elderly people in the community, and they like to hang out at Kroger.

Just a few things I have noticed since I have been out here. It's not a very exciting place, but hey, I don't have to pay rent, and it's not as far out as most people think.

Monday, July 04, 2005

Suddam Hussein Update

We never really hear what Saddam is up to these days, but I found some photos that may give us a hint...........

Cooperstown