Finals Week

Out of the fifty two weeks that we endure during a year, there are two of those weeks that I could easily live without and those weeks are finals week. Theres one in December and theres one in April and every student knows it's coming but they don't wat to accept it. You may be able to procrastinate and put stuff off during the beginning of the semester but it all boils down to this one week that is clustered with tests that determine a huge portion of your overall grade. I'm not proud to say it, but I admit that I am one of those students that puts things off until the last minute, graned i get everything done in the end so its not that big of a deal, but I could make things a lot easier on myself thats for sure. As I sit here writing my blog, I have countless thoughts about the things that I have been putting off racing through my head and it annoys the hell out of my.

I truly under estimated college. All throughout high school I was thinking "oh just get me through these four years and im off to college where nothing matters except for partying and a little bit of school work" but i was wrong. I never expected college to be so stressful. It's not really the work load that gets to me, its more of the fact that you really have no room for error. In high school you can miss homework assignments and fail quizes with having the ability to bring it back up no problem. Truly not the case in college. You have to make sure that the work you turn in, is your best every time because if you slip up once you could be screwed for the rest of the semester because there aren't that many chances to revive yourself. If i was to give one tip to current high school student about college, its that you should stay organized and plan out when you need to study and set your schedule accordingly because you dont want to be that kid (me) scrambling the last week before finals to catch up with everything.

My Fantasy team

So me and some of my buddies every year create a Fantasy Football league made up of ten of us, and its a league where if you dont check your teams roster every week and not make any substitutions or anything then you're classified as a "scumbag" to us. Now this year was a little different, with all the commotion of moving into college and re-adjusting our lives schedules we didn't do the annual Fantasy Football league like we always do, instead we decided to do Fantasy Basketball. Now all of us are sports fans and watch sports-center everyday so we see highlights of NBA and stuff but its not like all of us follow teams and pay really close attention to the league. So we all go into the draft with general knowledge about players and who the superstars are but nothing crazy. I pick my team and I think I'm stacked. I mean if you look at my roster there should be no reason for me to lose, but somehow I am currently 0-4. How? I honestly cant answer that for you, all my players are producing and if you go by position to position match ups  every player on my team will have the higher average. I mean how can you lose every game with players like Kevin Durant, James Harden, Kevin Love, Derrick Rose, and Brandon Jennings (just to name a few).

So basically what I'm trying to say is I HATE FANTASY BASKETBALL. It is literally so stupid. First off, I hate checking my team every single game. Im used to Fantasy Football where i check my roster every Wednesday and theres nothing I have to worry about heading into Sunday's games. But thats not the case at all in fantasy basketball, you have to check that shit every day and its annoying! It makes me not like the NBA even more than I did previously to the Fantasy season. I still think it's an individualistically ruled sport and until a team makes the playoffs they put no effort in, especially on defense. So I can guarantee you that I won't be participating in Fantasy Basketball next season.

Thanksgiving sporting event

When I think of Thanksgiving, of course you immediately think of family and food but not far behind those two things lies sports. Whether if it's you watching the seasonal NBA games or the classic traditional NFL games, i guarantee at least one of your family members has a sporting event on the television. Personally I love watching the NFL games. I mean it usually is pretty boring watching the Lions and the Cowboys but theres usually at least two games on that are worth watching. This year I finally got the opportunity to sit down and watch Tom Brady pick apart the Jets defense.

Obviously I've watched Tom Brady play before with the numerous super bowls that he has played in, but I really have never sat down and watched an entire patriots game before. Until this weekend I respected the fact that Tom Brady is a tremendous quarterback and a courageous leader, but I never knew how good he truly is. Ive watched a lot of football in my day and I can confidently say that Tom Brady is the best quarterback alive RIGHT NOW. I mean to be honest, I'm not even a Tom Brady fan, I actually think he's kind of a tool but I gotta give it too him. You wonder why Wes Welker is such a dominant receiver and I dont care how good he is, but i guarantee that he would be nowhere where he is without Tom Brady throwing him the ball.. I mean look at him, he's a 5'9 white reciever

Thanksgiving memory

Out of the eighteen Thanksgiving dinners that I have participated in, there is for sure one memory that sticks out in my mind, and that's when my mom turned our kitchen into a lake. You would never expect such a simple task to turn into a total catastrophe like this incident. Just like many families our family was hosting Thanksgiving this year and the preparation for the feast began early. My Mom, Aunts and Grandmas collected in the kitchen to start the cooking while the guys sat out back at our bar and watched football. My mom is usually the one that is praised for her delicious mashed potatoes, but this year was a little different indeed.

She began peeling the potatoes which you would think is the easiest part of making mashed potatoes but she never knew that potato peels don't work too well with garbage disposals. So she continued shoving the peels down the drain, turns on the disposal and what do you know...the disposal is jammed with potato peels and the sink drain is completely clogged. After about 10 minutes of trying to unclog the drain, the pipe under the sink built in pressure and eventually split causing a steady stream of water to shoot out. So of course everyones going nuts trying to fix this thing, while im standing there laughing at my dad try and fit under our sink. By the time someone got to the main water valve outside there was standing water in our kitchen, and a couple soaked indivuals. I mean for as un-eventful as Thanksgiving usually is, that memory definantly stuck out to me

Tyler's Ad Buster

Tyler's idea of an ad buster is the idea of putting Lance Armstron in a Nike ad and instead of "Just Do It", the ad will say "He did it" referencing to his six Tour De France wins that were influenced by juicing. My point of view on this issue is usually a lot different than the normal sports fan. How many americans do you know that actually watch and follow cycling? Yeah, you may hear the occasional Sports-center highlight of Lance or Floyd Landis winning the Tour De France but thats about it. If you actually watched and followed cycling you would know that almost all of the professional cyclists are juicing. So in that case, I am a huge Lance Armstrong fan. He's not doing anything wrong in the world of cycling because everybody does it, he just get ridiculed over and over about it because of how he mastered the sport and dominated all of his competitors for years upon years. With his fame that came out of his numerous victories, Lance did many good things. He wasn't an athlete that you would hear getting in trouble for getting a DUI or something stupid, and he has donated millions of dollars to his world renewed Livestrong foundation which is now one of the worlds leading charities. I see where the average sports fan can complain about Lance, but until you really know the sport of cycling and see what it revolves around, you would know that Lance was simply the best cyclist to ever live, hands down.

Politics in Sports

Politics have an influence in almost everything we do, just like our self image does. My ad buster is all about self image and how people perceive athletes (in my case it's Dez Bryant) after they do something wrong. Politics is very similar in a sense that there are different groups of people categorized by their political views, whether its if you agree with them you will tend to like them more compared to if you didn't agree with there views then you will tend not to like them as much. Just like if you dont agree with something an athlete does off the field, you will instantaneously have a negative attitude towards them.

BCS Rankings

This 2012 NCAA Football season is nuts! There have been countless upsets that have bobbled the rankings all over the place. What I want to know is who's running this ranking system? I mean it's clearly a native to the SEC and is now corrupting the entire system and probably just sitting back and laughing. I would love to hear this guy explain to me why Florida still deserves to be ranked number six after almost losing to Missouri, and then they follow it up with a seven point victory over the Ragin' Cajuns of Louisiana Lafeyette. I mean don't get me wrong, the Ragin' Cajuns are a very reputable team with a strong football history... and apparently in the eyes of whoever's running the BCS rankings they're a powerhouse and Florida's win against them should propel them up the polls!

I'm not going to lie, I am very biased on this issue being a beloved Seminoles fan. Im not saying we should be a top five team because I do understand how the ACC is ranked poorly and that's just from the teams not showing up when they play big out of conference schools. When you look at it, the ACC has some good teams. Every year you can count on FSU, Virginia Tech, and Clemson being highly ranked at the end of the season but the other teams need to show more of the talent that they have. But every year theres just a bunch of ACC teams that just manage to finish in the middle of the pack. For example you have Miami, North Carolina, NC State, and Georgia Tech that have good teams every year and for some reason can never string any victories together, and once they play a top tear team they fold like a cardboard box. I think the BCS rankings need to quit favoring the SEC so much, when you look at it right now we have five of the top ten teams in the SEC and two of which have two losses each. Not to mention that they dont have an undefeated team in the conference after this weekends upset against Mr. Mink's beloved Crimson tide ;)

Ad Buster

The ad buster that i envision incorporating into my third essay has to be something that I'm both interested in and find funny. I have multiple ideas of an ad but its hard picking just one to write a six page essay on. My first idea of an ad buster was to photoshop Dez Bryant's face onto the cover of Motherhood Magazine. If you're not familiar with the recent Dez Bryant scandal here you go. In the off season after the 2011 NFL season Dez Bryant allegedly "beat up his mom". I dont know if this was just a desperate mom thats trying to squeeze every penny out of her superstar son, or if its an actual true story. Either way I think you catch my drift of why you would put Dez Bryant's face on the front of Motherhood magazine for an ad buster. 

My second idea was one that has a much smaller topic so i dont know if there would be enough to write about to include into my paper. But it has to do with Florida's utility player Trey Burton. Although he is not a 'superstar' for the Gators he has had a couple games that have mad his name a representable one. He went to my high school back in Venice, FL and was our starting quarterback, and even though he went to the same high school as me, I am still not a fan (not to mention hes my girlfriends cousin too). All throughout high school he was the "Golden Boy". He could do no wrong. I remember his senior year he had 6 classes and all of the classes were taught by football coaches, so you do the math. As he transformed into a Florida Gator he started carrying this Tim Tebow religious mentality and it pisses me off. First off, you weren't that religious in high school and never boasted about god on Facebook, and now ever since you're a 'Big Shot' my news feed is littered with his obnoxious religious antics about how he is so grateful for blessing his beloved Gators. I didn't mean to be rude, im a religious person myself but Trey you have to cool your jets on the religious stuff, especially after i found out about a month ago that you are having a premarital baby! So somehow id love to create an ad to incorporate that somehow.

Mark Cuban Commercial

Mark Cuban who many people know as one of the most successful team owners in all of sports (own the Dallas Mavericks) stars in a sketchers commercial acting as a spokesperson for there new "relaxed fit" shoes. He starts off the commercial by attacking a small group of people that are called Hipsters by making fun of there skinny jeans and man scarf that the guy is waring in the commercial. First of all I have no idea why sketchers would think this is a creative, or funny idea because attacking a small group of people and how they dress is not going to convince viewers to buy your shoes. Second of all, I have no idea why they would pick Mark Cuban of all people to be the spokesperson for their commercial. I mean he is very successful dont get me wrong but I can think of many other sports figures that I would pick to represent my company other than Mark Cuban. He seems like a super nice guy who can get along with almost anyone, and in the commercial they put him as a character who is making fun of someone for how they dress . Another thing is, Mark Cuban is worth 2.5 billion dollars so i can guarantee you that he isn't walking around his office or the streets wearing the new relaxed fit Sketchers, thats for damn sure. In my opinion this is a stupid commercial and did not convince me one bit to buy a pair of sketchers. (not that i would anyways)

The underlying battle in the film "Greenstreet hooligans" is the battle between two football clubs in London and the fight between the two teams fan base. In Europe soccer is the royal sport, thats what everyone grows up playing and watching so the two teams fans are pretty crazy. Each team has there own 'gang' of fans that will take everything to the next level and start fights with the other teams gangs for no reason, just strictly for the love for their team. I mean these gangs are full of all of the same people (London natives) and there killing each other just because of a meer game of soccer. I mean I've seen some pretty intense fans in the United States, that will do almost anything to insure their team a victory, but the degree these fans take it too is nuts.

Trigger

Every time I play golf in the morning I still feel like I'm in tournament mode. Even if its just a casual round with one of my friends or family, once i hear the mowers mowing or see the dew glistening off the blades of glass, I think back to the countless summer mornings that I spent competing in junior golf tournaments. Its not necessarily a trigger to all good memories because sometimes I think about the staggering humidity and miserable conditions I had to play in also. Its not just on the golf course either, if i'm just riding my bike in the morning and see the dew on the grass or hear a lawn mower it takes me back to that time also and makes me think about golf.

The poem and the essay both have a very similar concept in that they are basing culture off of sports teams. The Lakers and Celtics have a tremendous rivalry and the essay explains how both teams have total opposite influences on culture which stems from the two teams being on complete different ends of the spectrum in all aspects including the players on the teams. It's not just the Celtics and Lakers who affect the surrounding cultures, its every city that has a sports team; mainstream or not it doesn't matter. There are tons of towns that revolve their entire culture around even the smallest of teams including high school athletics. For example, in my home town you dont even have to ask anyone what they're planning to do with their Friday nights because you already know that everyone is going to the high school football game. The days leading up to that are spent anticipating the kick-off and talking about matchups and how "we" look stacked up against our upcoming opponent. I put "we" in quotes because when we talk about the game or sport in general we always refer to the fans as "we" even though we will have no affect on the outcome of the game. But the surrounding culture is so into the game and the team that we all consider ourselves part of the team when we really aren't.

Steve Bartman

Dear Steve Bartman,

Dude... you ruined the only chance we had man! I've been a loyal Cubs fan my entire life and the one glimmer of hope you gave me and the Cubs nation, was shot down by you merely wanting a souvenir. I mean I remember when I was eight years old and wore my glove to a game to maybe catch a foul ball but I never thought I'd ruin a teams only chance at winning a world series. If I talk to anyone about what happened that game they always respond with "awh come on man, give the guy a break, all he was trying to do was catch a foul ball!". Yeah, I get that but do you know what it feels like to be a fan of a team that hasn't won a world series since 1908!? All you had to do was stay seated and listen to your damn headphones like you were doing the entire game. By the way... why in the hell were you listening to headphones at a baseball game?

You know everyone in Chicago hates you when after you got numerous beers, and food thrown at you and the security guards didn't even help you because they themselves were just as pissed as the rest of the fans. But I hope you're doing okay now after you got chased out of the city and had to change your name because of the numerous death threats, and hate mail like this. By the way, the "Bartman curse" is in full affect now because we are in second to last right now, so congratulations man...you win.


Sincerely,

Ryan Muzzonigro

Blog #3

Throughout my life I have been an avid participant and spectator in sports. Growing up, I used sports as  a tool for making friends, keeping busy, and having fun. As my life progressed so did my participation in competitive sports. I started weening out the sports that I couldn't see myself focussing on and one day decided to put my full attention into Golf. From ages 10-18 I competed in many tournaments and spent every day working on improving my game, so when it came tournament day I'd be ready to face anything that came at me. My hard work paid off and I had the option of continuing my competitive career in the collegiate level, but I realized what was more important and mattered more to me, and that was to get a good education. If i would've gone down the collegiate path it would've been at a smaller school where I wouldn't be able to get the full college experience, and honestly I would've gotten burnt out of golf very quickly. So now I still enjoy a more recreational style of sports just to stay involved and keep in shape. The spectator side of my life has always been constant throughout the way and I don't see that changing at any point in my lifetime. I feel like most high-school athletes (at least at my former school) don't even enjoy playing the sport they are doing, and I think thats wrong. They keep playing it every year even though they hate going to practice just because there parents pressure them. If you dont enjoy the sport you're playing then why play it? I never let anyone else influence my decision to either stop, or continue playing a sport and I think more kids should do that because I'm tired of hearing "ughh I really don't want to go to practice today, I cant wait for the season to be over"

Blog #2

The poem and essay are both similar in a sense that they are both in the past and now we are just reflecting on them. The juco basketball game was un-noticed for so many years until we realized how significant the victory was, and how the UT team had to overcome numerous disadvantages to come away with a win, the game didn't affect the surrounding culture too much because no one knew about the game in the first place. The poem on the other hand was just a general summarization of high school football season in the fall and how the game itself influences the surrounding environment and culture. Personally I think the poem is more universal to culture in the United States because the majority of the country has the same general feelings toward football in the fall, what i dont understand is the reference to "Polacks nursing long beers in Tiltonsville" because honestly I don't even know if they play football in Poland. The basketball game isn't as universal because in this particular instance, the surrounding culture could care less about the game of basketball and didn't even realize the significant victory that the UT jack's had and it was in their hometown! Most small towns would at least care enough to know if their hometown team won or not.

The great thing about sports in general are the memories that it leaves in our head. If you're a die hard seminoles fan you know that they were National Champions in football during the 1993 and 1999 seasons, and you can always say that. For example, i guarantee people who stopped paying attention to college football for the past couple years would still say that Miami is still a dominant football team just because of how good they were in the 80's and that sticks into the mind of many football fans that paid attention in that era. Memory is very important to sports.

If i was going to use one of these pieces in my first essay I would use the essay about the basketball game because I think its an interesting story and i can relate to it more since i grew up playing basketball. Honestly the poem was more confusing to me also.

Draft #1

Growing up, my entire life was revolved around sports whether it was watching the seminoles contend for another ACC championship on television or balancing soccer and baseball practice on the same day. Instead of watching cat-dog on Nickelodeon like the average kid would, Instead I would sit there and watch sportscenter all day and night, just waiting for the "Not Top 10" to come on. But the first instance that I knew that sports would be a major part in my life and something I would always cherish, was when I was seven years old at my first Florida State football game. After hours of tailgating and  anticipation, my dad and I enter Doak Cambell stadium and took a walk around. We noticed that part of the walk-way was blocked off by a gate, so we stopped. After about ten minutes of waiting renegade and chief Osceola storm past the gate and run onto the field, a couple minutes later they are followed out by the entire football team. At that time the seminoles running back was Greg Jones who was my favorite player, and at the time i was rockin' his jersey. When the players were standing around in the tunnel anticipating running onto the field, Greg Jones looks right over at me and says "Whassup lil' man" and being a seven year old sports fanatic that i was, those three little words made my day and opened my eyes to the sports world. Every year following that game, my family and I went to at least one seminoles game per year and im still Greg Jones #1 fan even though hes a washed up Jacksonville Jaguars fullback.