This has been a huge argument amongst my friends for the past season of football.
I am an advocate, a fan, the only spokesperson left... of the 2-pt conversion, to say the least. Most of my friends believe "the extra point" is always the way to go, as the 2-pt conversion will almost never be successful.
My argument:
1. What is the point of playing the game if you are going to be safe ?
2. If teams consistently practiced scoring with a 2-pt conversion like they practice kicking the extra point perhaps it would be more successful more consistently.
3. Go big or Go home.
My friends argument:
The chances of scoring on a 2-pt conversion is slim to none - the extra point is a given.
This is all.
Mind you, all my friends believe this which questions the guts vs glory feeling deep in my stomach which I hold for some of my friends. How can you patsy out and just take the point b/c it's a given?
Who doesn't go for the gold?
Were we raised to just take a giveaway and not fight for something bigger?
What happened to the passion of the game?
Last night - Idaho vs. BGSU - Roady's Humanitarian Bowl
http://www.bgsufalcons.com/news/2009/12/30/FB_1230091322.aspx?path=football
All I have to say is kudos to a coach who will go down in history not only for winning a great bowl game with a 2-pt conversion but for teaching his team players that "Life does not give you any free points...if you want to win...YOU TAKE THEM."
Bravo Idaho Head Coach Robb Akey - That's how you play the game!!
http://www.2news.tv/news/local/80419527.html
Thursday, December 31, 2009
Tuesday, December 29, 2009
Urban Living
The best and the worst of any city. Downtown has always been developed into a place where the best money can be made by the industrous and driven and the young party like it's 1999. Yet the cons weigh just as heavily as the pros. It takes a certain mentality to raise kids downtown. You have little to no yard. Rules need to be set about everything, "you can't walk here, you can't talk to them, don't open the door to strangers, etc etc".
It's definetely a lifestyle choice.
For those who choose to live downtown, there are any number of reasons. When I was in Boston, I wanted to be in the epicenter of all the action. I loved going to university in the middle of it all.
In Denver, it has never occurred to me to live downtown because Denver's offerings culturally are so much different than most other cities.
It's a small slice of the American Culture Pie - Plus, you can live in a perfectly good suburb simply 10 minutes in any direction. Why move 10 minutes in town where it is 75% more likely for your car to get broken into? Why bother?
the view from my front porch...
This morning, I was awakened to sirens blaring outside my window. Here is the irony. I lived on a busy corner in the suburb where sirens blew by my home every night, and because I lived on the corner, the traffic sounds cut through my sleep on a daily basis from 5:30a-9a, every day. Again in the evening between 4p and 7p...every single day. But it didn't matter, my kids could walk to the park or the playground. I could rollerblade in my neighborhood. I could run to and from , my local park and jog in peace, without a worry for my safety in the least.
I realized this past week, I can jog to Coors Field and all around downtown. I can run to my friend's downtown loft. I can walk home from any bar/ restaurant I generally had to to drive to in order to frequent. I can walk...but, with more apprehension about my surroundings. The sirens in my old neighborhood never gave me notice because I assumed they were going someplace else. Leaving my neighborhood and headed someplace...not so safe.
This morning at 6a, I looked out the window...wondering if something was going down on my block. Was a home on fire? Had someone gotten stabbed? What was the emergency? Funny. The 1st time in weeks I hear a siren, and I conjur up all sorts of stories about what's going down in my hood. Where in my "safe" neighborhood, the sound of a siren every day gave me no notice at all.
What is wrong with this picture?
Today I am going for a jog downtown to explore my neighborhood and challenge myself to drop some of my concepts about what my new environment means to me.
Also, one of my goals for the new year.
It's definetely a lifestyle choice.
For those who choose to live downtown, there are any number of reasons. When I was in Boston, I wanted to be in the epicenter of all the action. I loved going to university in the middle of it all.
In Denver, it has never occurred to me to live downtown because Denver's offerings culturally are so much different than most other cities.
It's a small slice of the American Culture Pie - Plus, you can live in a perfectly good suburb simply 10 minutes in any direction. Why move 10 minutes in town where it is 75% more likely for your car to get broken into? Why bother?
the view from my front porch...
This morning, I was awakened to sirens blaring outside my window. Here is the irony. I lived on a busy corner in the suburb where sirens blew by my home every night, and because I lived on the corner, the traffic sounds cut through my sleep on a daily basis from 5:30a-9a, every day. Again in the evening between 4p and 7p...every single day. But it didn't matter, my kids could walk to the park or the playground. I could rollerblade in my neighborhood. I could run to and from , my local park and jog in peace, without a worry for my safety in the least.
I realized this past week, I can jog to Coors Field and all around downtown. I can run to my friend's downtown loft. I can walk home from any bar/ restaurant I generally had to to drive to in order to frequent. I can walk...but, with more apprehension about my surroundings. The sirens in my old neighborhood never gave me notice because I assumed they were going someplace else. Leaving my neighborhood and headed someplace...not so safe.
This morning at 6a, I looked out the window...wondering if something was going down on my block. Was a home on fire? Had someone gotten stabbed? What was the emergency? Funny. The 1st time in weeks I hear a siren, and I conjur up all sorts of stories about what's going down in my hood. Where in my "safe" neighborhood, the sound of a siren every day gave me no notice at all.
What is wrong with this picture?
Today I am going for a jog downtown to explore my neighborhood and challenge myself to drop some of my concepts about what my new environment means to me.
Also, one of my goals for the new year.
Monday, December 28, 2009
100 posts... WOW!
Congratulations to myself for reaching a goal...albeit a goal I didn't know I had. I hit 100 posts this weekend.
Note to self: I miss Paris. Not just living abroad. Not living in a big city. I miss cheese, pain and wine everyday and walking past La Tour d'Eiffel every day.
Note to self: I miss Paris. Not just living abroad. Not living in a big city. I miss cheese, pain and wine everyday and walking past La Tour d'Eiffel every day.
Sunday, December 27, 2009
Gossip and the downfall of woman
Whoever gossips to you will gossip about you. ~Spanish Proverb
This is something my mother told me a long time ago, "If people are telling you things they have no business sharing, they will do the same thing to you." Which taught me at a young age not to share secrets. Then I became a teenager and within the group of my small handful of friends, we shared everything.
I had to learn the hard way.
I started overhearing things at school that only my small handful of friends knew, and I realized that it didn't matter if people called themselves your best friend or not, they would sell you out for a better opportunity (or simply in a moment of weakness).
I pretty much became a vault in high school - I didn't talk to anyone about personal stuff because I couldn't take the chance of having people know too much about me. When I got to college, I translated that concept into the, "fun girl", just laugh and party and make everyone smile and they won't realize that you aren't sharing personal information. It worked.
It is very easy to imply things without actually sharing anything.
As an adult, I have been told over and over, good girlfriends are hard to maintain. Life gets away from you. People get married and have kids and between family and career, women just don't have the time commitment to friendship that they once had. I got married and had kids and realized that my single friends and I no longer spent as much time together. I attributed this to the fact that I wasn't out drinking and picking up guys 5 days a week anymore. They attributed it to me being serious and boring.
The price of motherhood.
There is an episode of S&TC where the core group of single women go into the suburbs to visit an old friend who used to be the life of the party, and this woman desperately wanted her single life back. As the episode unfolds, this woman gets drunk and naked at a party, where the core group of friends realize how they have all matured and changed on some level, even if they are still single.
And some women never change even when they get married and have babies.
The funny thing about gossip is, no matter whether or not the information is true or not, the intent in spreading it is hateful. The kind of hate that ruins friendships, tears apart realtionships, and spoils good people like old milk. The distrust that forms between people curdles underneath the surface waiting for a new opportunity to stink and taste bad.
There is a great film with Joan Allen called The Contender. In this political thriller, indiscreet sexual photos are released with the Vice President candidate and a group of men, labeling her and her moral values - and she refuses to address the photos. Throughout the film, her advisor cant understand why she will not defend herself, and she explains... "I just can't respond to the accusations, because it's not ok that they are made."
http://www.imdb.com/video/screenplay/vi3096838425/
Defending yourself against gossip is the same as adhering to it...and it will never go away. I believe that as humans (and women especially), we tend to want to defend ourselves automatically because we have an innate sense of survival. This movie was a very powerful reminder to me that intellect is a powerful tool - that our emotions don't have to make every chess move for us. The people you care about will stand by you, even in the light of gossip, hate, and classlessness. Belief systems are more powerful than you think - it's like having faith in God. Faith in your own strength will keep you strong.
This is something my mother told me a long time ago, "If people are telling you things they have no business sharing, they will do the same thing to you." Which taught me at a young age not to share secrets. Then I became a teenager and within the group of my small handful of friends, we shared everything.
I had to learn the hard way.
I started overhearing things at school that only my small handful of friends knew, and I realized that it didn't matter if people called themselves your best friend or not, they would sell you out for a better opportunity (or simply in a moment of weakness).
I pretty much became a vault in high school - I didn't talk to anyone about personal stuff because I couldn't take the chance of having people know too much about me. When I got to college, I translated that concept into the, "fun girl", just laugh and party and make everyone smile and they won't realize that you aren't sharing personal information. It worked.
It is very easy to imply things without actually sharing anything.
As an adult, I have been told over and over, good girlfriends are hard to maintain. Life gets away from you. People get married and have kids and between family and career, women just don't have the time commitment to friendship that they once had. I got married and had kids and realized that my single friends and I no longer spent as much time together. I attributed this to the fact that I wasn't out drinking and picking up guys 5 days a week anymore. They attributed it to me being serious and boring.
The price of motherhood.
There is an episode of S&TC where the core group of single women go into the suburbs to visit an old friend who used to be the life of the party, and this woman desperately wanted her single life back. As the episode unfolds, this woman gets drunk and naked at a party, where the core group of friends realize how they have all matured and changed on some level, even if they are still single.
And some women never change even when they get married and have babies.
The funny thing about gossip is, no matter whether or not the information is true or not, the intent in spreading it is hateful. The kind of hate that ruins friendships, tears apart realtionships, and spoils good people like old milk. The distrust that forms between people curdles underneath the surface waiting for a new opportunity to stink and taste bad.
There is a great film with Joan Allen called The Contender. In this political thriller, indiscreet sexual photos are released with the Vice President candidate and a group of men, labeling her and her moral values - and she refuses to address the photos. Throughout the film, her advisor cant understand why she will not defend herself, and she explains... "I just can't respond to the accusations, because it's not ok that they are made."
http://www.imdb.com/video/screenplay/vi3096838425/
Defending yourself against gossip is the same as adhering to it...and it will never go away. I believe that as humans (and women especially), we tend to want to defend ourselves automatically because we have an innate sense of survival. This movie was a very powerful reminder to me that intellect is a powerful tool - that our emotions don't have to make every chess move for us. The people you care about will stand by you, even in the light of gossip, hate, and classlessness. Belief systems are more powerful than you think - it's like having faith in God. Faith in your own strength will keep you strong.
Thursday, December 24, 2009
Monday, December 21, 2009
The Holidays
This is the time of year when families and friends reconnect. When people celebrate the season with good food and cheer. The time of year when all the year's bad things are forgotten and hugs are exchanged instead.
Well, in theory at least.
This is also the time of year when you are forced to hang out with your inlaws and relatives that you can't stand; that smelly aunt, and your drunken uncle. You are forced to sit at the table with your loudmouth cousins and your slutty niece. Some people drive for hours and hours to spend 24-48 hours with those they would rather not spend 15 minutes with during the course of the year.
So, raise your glasses and enjoy this holiday season.
Cheers friends!
Well, in theory at least.
This is also the time of year when you are forced to hang out with your inlaws and relatives that you can't stand; that smelly aunt, and your drunken uncle. You are forced to sit at the table with your loudmouth cousins and your slutty niece. Some people drive for hours and hours to spend 24-48 hours with those they would rather not spend 15 minutes with during the course of the year.
So, raise your glasses and enjoy this holiday season.
Cheers friends!
Friday, December 4, 2009
The Arrogance of Man
Oh, this is going to be a difficult one. I said I was not going to blog on the Tiger "transgression", as he so politically correctly called it. I did not want to be one more person feeding into the PRIVATE lives of a celebrity; the same privacy completely ignored by the media. I knew it would be difficult to remain objective because I am so impassioned and disgusted by American culture and the value given to personal and private affairs of celebrities. I despise celebrity-mongers.
But yes, it burns my butt.
Not that he cheated.
Not that he got caught.
Not that we are invading this man's privacy and affecting his personal plight, and the life of his family, with our judgements.
Not that these aren't all valid issues.
What has been on my mind lately and what is really turning me off is the blatant arrogance of Man. Mankind that is.
I watched Frost Nixon this week, which, if you have not seen it, go rent it...today. Not only is it a poignant reflection of the Nixon Watergate scandal, but a brilliant film put together so well it made my passion for film rise (if that is even possible). The characters are outstanding and it is a great study on politicians, media personalities, and passion for the truth and what is right.
The turning point in the film, for me, was when Nixon called Frost on the telephone to lecture him, and in fact, challenge him to beat him in this interview process. Nixon basically alerts Frost to the fact that Nixon is the most competent adversary, and in this blatant show of arrogance, lets his guard down. It was this slip, this show of weakness, for a split second which allowed Frost to rally up for the most important interview of his life... and catch Nixon off guard.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ejvyDn1TPr8
Frost was not smarter, Nixon, in fact, defeated himself with his arrogance and his own ego.
This is the plight of man.
Men cheat, for one reason. Because they can. They think they are smarter. They think they can get away with it. Their arrogance and their ego's lead them down a path of blind surety; destined to fail, because if we are to be reminded of any one thing on a daily basis - it is: we are human.
This voice-mail details the humbleness all men must face when their ego takes over for their sense of self, family and what is right:
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2009/12/02/tiger-woods-voicemail-aud_n_376692.html
Hey Tiger,
Any woman willing to ignore your marriage and show what lack or morality and family value she has not only for you, your wife, and your children, but also for herself, is NEVER going to do you a favor.
But yes, it burns my butt.
Not that he cheated.
Not that he got caught.
Not that we are invading this man's privacy and affecting his personal plight, and the life of his family, with our judgements.
Not that these aren't all valid issues.
What has been on my mind lately and what is really turning me off is the blatant arrogance of Man. Mankind that is.
I watched Frost Nixon this week, which, if you have not seen it, go rent it...today. Not only is it a poignant reflection of the Nixon Watergate scandal, but a brilliant film put together so well it made my passion for film rise (if that is even possible). The characters are outstanding and it is a great study on politicians, media personalities, and passion for the truth and what is right.
The turning point in the film, for me, was when Nixon called Frost on the telephone to lecture him, and in fact, challenge him to beat him in this interview process. Nixon basically alerts Frost to the fact that Nixon is the most competent adversary, and in this blatant show of arrogance, lets his guard down. It was this slip, this show of weakness, for a split second which allowed Frost to rally up for the most important interview of his life... and catch Nixon off guard.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ejvyDn1TPr8
Frost was not smarter, Nixon, in fact, defeated himself with his arrogance and his own ego.
This is the plight of man.
Men cheat, for one reason. Because they can. They think they are smarter. They think they can get away with it. Their arrogance and their ego's lead them down a path of blind surety; destined to fail, because if we are to be reminded of any one thing on a daily basis - it is: we are human.
This voice-mail details the humbleness all men must face when their ego takes over for their sense of self, family and what is right:
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2009/12/02/tiger-woods-voicemail-aud_n_376692.html
Hey Tiger,
Any woman willing to ignore your marriage and show what lack or morality and family value she has not only for you, your wife, and your children, but also for herself, is NEVER going to do you a favor.
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