With the amazing weather of Oklahoma spring finally starting to show I am ecstatic. The sun is out and the temp is hovering between 70 and 80. It makes sitting inside feel like a sin. This weekend was full of outdoors for me. Whether it was watching baseball, doing some yard work, or hitting the links for 18, this weekend was full of sunshine and the outdoors.
Friday night me and two buddies went to the Dodgers game. There is something about the stars and baseball that just go together like peanut butter and jelly. The Dodgers buying that baseball team was the best thing that's ever happened to them. The stadium is in great shape. Attendance is up and the field looks great. It is refreshing to go to a baseball game where OKC fans are engaged and supporting the team. It was an awesome way to start the weekend.
Saturday morning I headed over to my parents to pull the pool cover off of their pool. Nothing really signifies the warmer weather like annual pool opening. It is also nice to get out and do a little work to start your Saturday. It wakes you up and you get to enjoy the sunshine. After we got the pool taken care of I headed the course for nine holes with some friends. No need to discuss how I played, we can save that for another time. The day was capped with the UFC fight. A great Saturday.
Sunday was more relaxed. Me and my roommate cooked out. Burgers and brats are the two greatest things in culinary history. Well, maybe not, but they sure seemed liked it this afternoon. The spring and summer cookouts are things I never take for granted, The times with friends and family are some of my most cherished. We wound down the weekend with some homework and a little jog through the neighborhood. Spring is finally in full effect! Get out and enjoy it!
Sunday, April 24, 2016
Sunday, April 17, 2016
Christmas in April
It's the most wonderful time of the year. The playoffs are here. Not just the NBA playoffs either, but the NHL playoffs as well. I sit patiently all year waiting for now. Most people its waiting on a birthday or a holiday, but not me. This is the time when I can sit on my couch with remote in hand and pass an entire day. The action, the intensity and the desire to win never shine so much in all of sport.
I wish I could go back in time and hug the genius that invented the concept of playoffs. So many of my greatest memories stem from that person's inventions. Feelings of triumph and the feeling of having your heart ripped from your chest still beating go hand in hand. You can go from riding high into the sunset, to wanting to sink down to the bottom of the ocean in a matter of seconds. Where else can you get that? Where else is that a good thing? That is why the playoffs are so special. The emotion.
So I beg you, please get into the beautiful, terrible thing that is the playoffs. There is a place for everyone. It is Christmas in April, only this Christmas lasts for 6 weeks. Each and every day is like opening the best present ever. Win or lose, there is little in life I enjoy more than right now. Grab some buddies, the remote, sit back and enjoy. It's the playoffs. See you all in June.
I wish I could go back in time and hug the genius that invented the concept of playoffs. So many of my greatest memories stem from that person's inventions. Feelings of triumph and the feeling of having your heart ripped from your chest still beating go hand in hand. You can go from riding high into the sunset, to wanting to sink down to the bottom of the ocean in a matter of seconds. Where else can you get that? Where else is that a good thing? That is why the playoffs are so special. The emotion.
So I beg you, please get into the beautiful, terrible thing that is the playoffs. There is a place for everyone. It is Christmas in April, only this Christmas lasts for 6 weeks. Each and every day is like opening the best present ever. Win or lose, there is little in life I enjoy more than right now. Grab some buddies, the remote, sit back and enjoy. It's the playoffs. See you all in June.
Sunday, April 10, 2016
A Great Weekend
There isn't many better things in life than a good weekend away from home with some good friends. So often it's easy to get stuck in the rut of daily responsibilities that it's easy to forget what's important in life. Sitting under a little pop-up tent, with a little charcoal grill cooking, I was in heaven. A great weekend away in the midst of the busiest part of the semester.
Me and five of my friends made the trek down to the Dallas - Ft. Worth area to attend one of my favorite events on the planet, the spring NASCAR race at the Texas Motor Speedway. It was an awesome three days full of tailgating, fun, and racing. There's not much more I could ask for life. Aside from a little rain to put a slight delay to things everything went as expected. It's hard to worry about all the troubles facing you when you have nothing to worry about but who's gonna win the race.
After the weekend away I have to return to the real world. The trip I looked forward to for months is come and passed. Though I'll be able to come back with a little more of a smile on my face. Vacations are few and far between and it's important to take advantage of all them. Whether at a beach in a tropical paradise or a redneck oasis in the middle of Texas, it's the company you're with that makes the trip. This semester winding down and my weekend away makes it that much easier to finish strong.
Me and five of my friends made the trek down to the Dallas - Ft. Worth area to attend one of my favorite events on the planet, the spring NASCAR race at the Texas Motor Speedway. It was an awesome three days full of tailgating, fun, and racing. There's not much more I could ask for life. Aside from a little rain to put a slight delay to things everything went as expected. It's hard to worry about all the troubles facing you when you have nothing to worry about but who's gonna win the race.
After the weekend away I have to return to the real world. The trip I looked forward to for months is come and passed. Though I'll be able to come back with a little more of a smile on my face. Vacations are few and far between and it's important to take advantage of all them. Whether at a beach in a tropical paradise or a redneck oasis in the middle of Texas, it's the company you're with that makes the trip. This semester winding down and my weekend away makes it that much easier to finish strong.
Sunday, April 3, 2016
Give 'Em a Break
I received a text early Saturday evening that simply read, "I'm starting to get tired of being an OU fan." An understandable notion after watching the 44 point bludgeoning that the Sooners took in the first of two final four games. Understandable, but is it fair? Only four teams have the right of making that far, no other school put their teams in the final four of both major college sports, and only one Big 12 team made it that far. When you look at that it seems that being an OU fan should be something to brag about, but for some reason the fan base is embarrassed? Something is not right.
Tradition is big word thrown around Oklahoma. People take pride in customs passed own from generation to generation; especially in our neck if the woods. It just so happens that when tradition is metnioned with OU athletics the word winning soon follows. So it seems fair that fans begin to get restless when a major championship hasn't been brought home since 2000. But there's a key word there, "seems." It isn't fair to think that way. It isn't fair to criticize these young men. Championships are few and far between. Championships don't grow on trees. Championships only come around once in a blue moon. And before you start, I know what you're going to say, "but Jordan, look at Alabama, they've won four championships in nine years!" or "what about North Carolina and Duke, they always win in basketball." And let me stop you there. Ask any college football fan that has followed the sport for decades, this current Alabama run is absolutely unprecedented. It's something that the sport has never even come close to seeing. Just look at USC in the early 2000's, they looked like they would never lose, but they did. And now they can't even make it to New Years Six bowl. Oh, and by the way, what was Alabama doing just 10 - 15 years ago? From 2003 to 2006 the Tide held an incredibly average 26 - 23 record. Everyone in the college football world would have laughed you off the planet if you told them that in 2009 the Crimson Tide would begin one of the greatest dynasties in the history of sport. So is it really that embarrassing to have a team that consistently wins in both major sports?
Not if you ask me. Trust me, I sympathize. I was in Miami to watch OU turn a half time lead into a 20 point loss in the Orange Bowl. I know the hurt. I watched as OU gave away our incredible basketball season last night, and by 44 points I'll say again. I mean, this was supposed to be our year! We had Buddy Buckets! I get the pain. But let me say, be patient. Who knows what will come of the following years? Starting next year the football team could rattle off 3 titles in 5 years. Who knows? Nobody predicted the Tide. We have many freshman on basketball that played valuable minutes all season long. Not to mention they now have the experience of being in the Final Four. So cut them a break. Keep cheering. Don't be tired of being fan, get excited. Contrary to what you think, we can't win every game. You have to take the loss sometimes. It's not the end of the world. After all, it's just a game.
Tradition is big word thrown around Oklahoma. People take pride in customs passed own from generation to generation; especially in our neck if the woods. It just so happens that when tradition is metnioned with OU athletics the word winning soon follows. So it seems fair that fans begin to get restless when a major championship hasn't been brought home since 2000. But there's a key word there, "seems." It isn't fair to think that way. It isn't fair to criticize these young men. Championships are few and far between. Championships don't grow on trees. Championships only come around once in a blue moon. And before you start, I know what you're going to say, "but Jordan, look at Alabama, they've won four championships in nine years!" or "what about North Carolina and Duke, they always win in basketball." And let me stop you there. Ask any college football fan that has followed the sport for decades, this current Alabama run is absolutely unprecedented. It's something that the sport has never even come close to seeing. Just look at USC in the early 2000's, they looked like they would never lose, but they did. And now they can't even make it to New Years Six bowl. Oh, and by the way, what was Alabama doing just 10 - 15 years ago? From 2003 to 2006 the Tide held an incredibly average 26 - 23 record. Everyone in the college football world would have laughed you off the planet if you told them that in 2009 the Crimson Tide would begin one of the greatest dynasties in the history of sport. So is it really that embarrassing to have a team that consistently wins in both major sports?
Not if you ask me. Trust me, I sympathize. I was in Miami to watch OU turn a half time lead into a 20 point loss in the Orange Bowl. I know the hurt. I watched as OU gave away our incredible basketball season last night, and by 44 points I'll say again. I mean, this was supposed to be our year! We had Buddy Buckets! I get the pain. But let me say, be patient. Who knows what will come of the following years? Starting next year the football team could rattle off 3 titles in 5 years. Who knows? Nobody predicted the Tide. We have many freshman on basketball that played valuable minutes all season long. Not to mention they now have the experience of being in the Final Four. So cut them a break. Keep cheering. Don't be tired of being fan, get excited. Contrary to what you think, we can't win every game. You have to take the loss sometimes. It's not the end of the world. After all, it's just a game.
Sunday, March 27, 2016
March Madness
Every year the sports world looks forward to third week in March. A phenomena that grips the attention of those who hardly watch a half of college basketball the entire season. It seems like everyone you run into asks about your bracket. Every season you tell yourself this your year. The perfect bracket created by the bracket master, one bracket to dominate them all. It only takes until two o'clock Thursday afternoon for that mindset to change. Rarely can one go from hero to zero in such a small time. March Madness is exactly that, madness.
This year's March action has not disappointed, either. A first round riddled with upsets as usual. The biggest being the defeat of the Michigan State Spartans, a two seed, by fifteen seed Middle Tennessee State. A fifteen seed has won their opening round game only times in the long history of the NCAA Tournament. The Spartans were a favorite pick by many experts, in fact, I had them in my championship. After two days my bracket found itself in the trash. Not many predicted the Ivy League champs Yale to defeat a five seed Baylor Bears. A game Yale dominated.
The first round is not where the Madness stopped, however. Northern Iowa was fresh off of a half court buzzer beater upset over Texas and looked poised to continue that trend over Texas A&M. The Aggies from College Station thought different. Down twelve with 44 seconds left in the game, the Aggies pulled off one of the craziest comebacks in sports history. Or maybe it was of the biggest chokes in sports history. I tend to lean towards the latter, but that's just college basketball in March.
Even the elite eight saw its fair share of upsets. Ten seed Syracuse, who many think is lucky for even getting invited to the Tourney this year, managed to topple the one seeded Virginia Cavaliers and make it to the Final Four. On the other side of the bracket both two seeds, Oklahoma and Villanova, outlasted their respective one seeds to punch their tickets to the Final Four. In fact, only one one seed made it the Final Four, the North Carolina Tar Heels. The school that has the most Final Four appearances with 19. This weekend in Houston promises to be an action packed weekend. Admittedly, I hope to see the Sooners cutting the nets down on Monday night. Maybe Syracuse can be the first ever ten seed could pull it off. Or maybe the dynasty will continue with the Tarheels. We'll just have to tune in to see. It's going to be Madness.
This year's March action has not disappointed, either. A first round riddled with upsets as usual. The biggest being the defeat of the Michigan State Spartans, a two seed, by fifteen seed Middle Tennessee State. A fifteen seed has won their opening round game only times in the long history of the NCAA Tournament. The Spartans were a favorite pick by many experts, in fact, I had them in my championship. After two days my bracket found itself in the trash. Not many predicted the Ivy League champs Yale to defeat a five seed Baylor Bears. A game Yale dominated.
The first round is not where the Madness stopped, however. Northern Iowa was fresh off of a half court buzzer beater upset over Texas and looked poised to continue that trend over Texas A&M. The Aggies from College Station thought different. Down twelve with 44 seconds left in the game, the Aggies pulled off one of the craziest comebacks in sports history. Or maybe it was of the biggest chokes in sports history. I tend to lean towards the latter, but that's just college basketball in March.
Even the elite eight saw its fair share of upsets. Ten seed Syracuse, who many think is lucky for even getting invited to the Tourney this year, managed to topple the one seeded Virginia Cavaliers and make it to the Final Four. On the other side of the bracket both two seeds, Oklahoma and Villanova, outlasted their respective one seeds to punch their tickets to the Final Four. In fact, only one one seed made it the Final Four, the North Carolina Tar Heels. The school that has the most Final Four appearances with 19. This weekend in Houston promises to be an action packed weekend. Admittedly, I hope to see the Sooners cutting the nets down on Monday night. Maybe Syracuse can be the first ever ten seed could pull it off. Or maybe the dynasty will continue with the Tarheels. We'll just have to tune in to see. It's going to be Madness.
Sunday, March 13, 2016
We're Sorry Scott
As I sat on my couch late Saturday night, I once again found myself shaking my head in frustration and confusion. Only thirty minutes ago I was hopeful that this night, this game, would be different. As the night would show, however, those hopes would not come true. So there I was, stuck in the same emotions that have become ever so common throughout the past month. The fourth quarter blues were in full effect.
With a risky move last may, the Oklahoma City Thunder hired long time University of Florida coach Billy Donovan to replace the recently fired Scott Brooks. Brooks had just finished his worst full season as the head guy for the Thunder. A season riddled with injury to his top players. A season where his point guard cemented his name among the greatest to ever play the position. A season where his team of battered athletes missed the playoffs by a lone game. A season that would be his last. The man that brought our city's first ever professional team from the depths of last place to three conference championship series in four years, was let go. At the time the majority of the fans seemed to be pleased with the decision. Admittedly, I was in that group. But, oh, how long ago that was.
Since February the Thunder have blown 12 fourth quarter leads, the most in the NBA. Something that doesn't seem right when this was supposed to be the deepest, most talented roster the Thunder have ever had. So what's wrong with this team? An inexperience college coach that seems to be drowning in quick sand. Billy Donovan took the keys to a Ferrari, and it seems like the only thing he's done is run that Ferrari into the ditch. Somehow he's lead a preseason title contender into a team that has no hope among its fan base, one of the most loyal in the NBA. Changed the feeling that superstar Kevin Durant would return from optimistic to almost no hope. Taken a roster with two all-star starters, the only team in the NBA to achieve that, to a dismal 3rd in the West and struggling to keep that. All things that this city is not used to. All reasons for outrage. But where is that outrage, where are the callings for Billy's job? Last season it seemed so easy to do it to the man that brought greatness to our organization. Why does it seem so hard now?
I honestly believe it seems so hard because we were wrong. We don't want to be wrong again. It's easy to want more when you're so close to the top, but we got greedy. Instead of attacking the man that lead us when he struggled, maybe we should have supported him. Instead of sending him packing from everything he's built, maybe we should have given another shot with a healthy roster. Instead being forced into a risky, unproven hire, maybe we should have stuck to what got us here. So on behalf of this great city, on behalf of our great fan base, and on behalf of my friends, I say sorry Scott. I also say thank you Scott, for giving us six years of greatness. For putting this city on the map. For giving us taste of winning it all. It was certainly better than getting beat every night in the fourth quarter.
With a risky move last may, the Oklahoma City Thunder hired long time University of Florida coach Billy Donovan to replace the recently fired Scott Brooks. Brooks had just finished his worst full season as the head guy for the Thunder. A season riddled with injury to his top players. A season where his point guard cemented his name among the greatest to ever play the position. A season where his team of battered athletes missed the playoffs by a lone game. A season that would be his last. The man that brought our city's first ever professional team from the depths of last place to three conference championship series in four years, was let go. At the time the majority of the fans seemed to be pleased with the decision. Admittedly, I was in that group. But, oh, how long ago that was.
Since February the Thunder have blown 12 fourth quarter leads, the most in the NBA. Something that doesn't seem right when this was supposed to be the deepest, most talented roster the Thunder have ever had. So what's wrong with this team? An inexperience college coach that seems to be drowning in quick sand. Billy Donovan took the keys to a Ferrari, and it seems like the only thing he's done is run that Ferrari into the ditch. Somehow he's lead a preseason title contender into a team that has no hope among its fan base, one of the most loyal in the NBA. Changed the feeling that superstar Kevin Durant would return from optimistic to almost no hope. Taken a roster with two all-star starters, the only team in the NBA to achieve that, to a dismal 3rd in the West and struggling to keep that. All things that this city is not used to. All reasons for outrage. But where is that outrage, where are the callings for Billy's job? Last season it seemed so easy to do it to the man that brought greatness to our organization. Why does it seem so hard now?
I honestly believe it seems so hard because we were wrong. We don't want to be wrong again. It's easy to want more when you're so close to the top, but we got greedy. Instead of attacking the man that lead us when he struggled, maybe we should have supported him. Instead of sending him packing from everything he's built, maybe we should have given another shot with a healthy roster. Instead being forced into a risky, unproven hire, maybe we should have stuck to what got us here. So on behalf of this great city, on behalf of our great fan base, and on behalf of my friends, I say sorry Scott. I also say thank you Scott, for giving us six years of greatness. For putting this city on the map. For giving us taste of winning it all. It was certainly better than getting beat every night in the fourth quarter.
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