I wrote an entire post today and then sat on it. I went back and forth on whether I wanted to post it based on how I was feeling and the ups and downs of the day.
In the end, I wasn’t ready to click “Publish” on that one. So I’m not going to give myself credit for writing for the day, and I seem to have missed another deadline in my attempt to do 90 posts in 90 days through my internship … um, I guess before school starts?
But maybe the 90 in 90 wasn’t about meeting the daily deadline as much as it was making sure I kept trying to put something in print (even if it’s just this blog). I’ve received some wonderful compliments about my writing, and I really appreciate anyone who has taken the time to read my site, even if it’s just one post for a few seconds.
Anyway, back to today’s content. I decided not to post it, but that doesn’t mean I wouldn’t be willing to talk about it. I just didn’t feel like this was something I wanted to just throw into the ether of the Internet.
So, I guess if you want to know what I was going to write about (I didn’t change the title), talk to me. I’m not hard to find. Let’s have a conversation rather than me talking at you all the time.
I can’t promise how much more I will be able to write this weekend. With the end of the internship, saying goodbyes and moving out, life will be a little hectic. If you need me though, I’ll be around.
Good night.
Brett,
Brett, it’s me, America. I can’t let this go on anymore. You have used me and abused me too much for the past four years. It’s time to move on. I have to move on.
Don’t tell me you didn’t want this. You’ve claimed to want to be out of our lives for years now. You hemmed and hawed about leaving me since 2006. When things were bad, I kept you around (for better or for worse). And you rebounded in 2007. But, just like every time, you got my hopes too high and crushed them at the last minute. Your overtime interception made Lawrence Tynes a hero and me wondering what could have been.
Then you said you had to leave Wisconsin to “find yourself.” Sure, everyone gets an Empire state of mind once in a while. But you flirted with her for almost a year and broke New York’s heart in the same way you did GB’s– a last-second mistake. My heart broke everytime, too.
With ESPN starting its 50 most painful outcomes in college football history series today and my knowledge that Ball State will appear nowhere near this list (no inside information, just a touch of common sense), I’ve decided to delve into the archives and come up with the five most painful Ball State football games in history.
Honorable mentions:
Kent State 13, Ball State 12 (1977) — Loss prevents an undefeated MAC season for the Cardinals and possibly a second straight MAC title
Nevada 18, Ball State 15 (1996 Las Vegas Bowl) — Not a heartbreaking last second loss, but the Cardinals’ closest bowl defeat
Central Michigan 27, Ball State 21 (1999) — A win breaks that awful losing streak and prevents a winless season
5. Toledo 37, Ball State 30
Heading into Homecoming 2009 was a pretty dark time for Ball State. The Cardinals had lost four straight to start the season, Stan Parrish had yet to earn his first victory as Ball State coach and fans were turning on the team (en route to finishing 118th out of 120 in attendance). But this was Homecoming and the start of the MAC season; it was a fresh beginning for the Cardinals. It was a back-and-forth game, featuring seven lead changes all together. The sixth was a big one for Ball State, as freshman quarterback Kelly Page led the team on a 10-play, 66-yard drive to score a touchdown and make the game 29-28. Not wanting to go to overtime, Parrish opted to go for two. After an ugly, but successful, Statue of Liberty play, the Cardinals led 30-29. The joy was short-lived, though, as Toledo scored a 51-yard touchdown in one play to defeat Ball State. Page broke his thumb two weeks later; he enters 2010 still seeking his first win and battling to keep his starting job.
So, believe it or not, but golf’s final major is coming up soon. The PGA Championship will be played at Whistling Straits in Kohler, Wis., starting on Aug. 12.
I think it’s also the first major where we can definitively say Tiger Woods is not the presumptive favorite to win as he searches for his 15th major.
Now, I’m not saying that Tiger it would be a shock if he did well this weekend. He is a 5-1 favorite to win according to Bodog. Phil Mickelson is next up at 10-1 — although that doesn’t necessarily make sense at the more Europeans links-esque course. Lefty’s never been outstanding at the British Open.
Tiger has played pretty well at the majors this year. Only a few golfers could be disappointed with two fourths and a 23rd in the first three majors of the season. And he did have a lot of birdies at the Whistling Straits course in 2004. So there’s some history, both “ancient” and recent, on his side.
But this will be the 10th major since his historic win at the U.S. Open in 2008, which he won on one leg, blindfolded with just his putter (or something like that. You know how big fish stories are.) Since then, the chinks in the armor have been plentiful. He missed the last two majors of 2008 after surgery, missed the cut in a debacle of a 2009 Open Championship and blew a 54-hole lead for the first time at a major, being outplayed to unheralded Y.E. Yang. And all that’s not to even mention the implosion of his personal life and the effect that is having on his psyche.
With all the signings going on this week in the lead-up to training camp, I wanted to come up with some ways you could have $78 million. In the interest of giving you options, here’s 78 ways to do so.
1. Win the lottery
2. Work 40-hour weeks at minimum wage for 5,172.4 years
3. Collect 1.56 billion cans
4. Take your talents to South Beach
5. Run for president, skim 10 percent of all donations
6. Put $100 on red, win and let it ride 19 more times
7. Win the World Series of Poker main event 10 times
8. Release a goofy movie with vampires, werewolves and no acting
9. Be a high school principal for 1,478.6 years
10. Sell 22,285,715 boxes of Girl Scout cookies
On Monday, we did the ESPN tour. Of course, I had already been on the tour so most of this wasn’t exactly breaking news to me (I kept saying things right before the guide did accidently), but Katie’s camera did give me the opportunity to take some pictures and have visual documentation that, in fact, I have been on the campus all summer and not just hanging out in Hartford or something.
This is the lobby of my building, No. 4. It’s actually the second floor of the building, and I’m on the fourth. The security guard on this floor rotates among three or four people, and they’re all really friendly, especially if I’m not missing my badge that day.
Once you get past the first door — either with your ID or as a guest — the first thing you see is a set of approximately 40 photos. They’re part of a collection of many of the present and past’s top athletes and only so many exist. The photos are all black and white, too. (Maybe I wouldn’t be a great tour guide…)
This is the third floor of Building 4, where most of your news stories on ESPN.com come from. Along the back of this photo is the set of ESPN News. I always find it amusing that there’s a television set in the middle of the newsroom (although I guess it’s not that strange).
On Sunday, we decided to go to Mohegan Sun Casino in Uncasville, Conn. Admittedly, I really enjoy the casino; I certainly have at least a small gambler’s itch. Sadly, I can’t really afford to play much more than the slots, as least not on an intern’s salary. But I still like the atmosphere and just killing a little time at a casino once in a while.
Of course, the decorations at the casino were interesting. There were basically three main areas of the casino with a different theme for each. I think this one was outdoorsy or something. And yes, the wolf moved.
Each of the areas was connected by a shopping/restaurant section. There were a lot of cool shops and I’m 2-for-2 so far on finding good food.
I, sadly, left home empty-handed Sunday (although I’m still pretty sure I have more of the casino’s money at this point). Katie, on the other hand, left with more money than she arrived with, even after lunch and a little shopping.
I didn’t include this in yesterday’s post about New York City because I wanted to write about it on its own.
This is a photo that was taken of the construction site at Ground Zero. Maybe it’s just me, but the fact that rebuilding is now on its way at the site is … strange, for lack of a better term.
I remember seeing Ground Zero in 2003, and it was basically, well, nothing.
Now that there’s a construction site, it starts to feel like any of the hundreds of building being erected around that city.
I know it’s not the same thing as they build the new One World Trade Center along with the memorial sites that will be there, but it just felt different to me. I guess it was just a sensation of moving on. That we’re really putting the events of 2001 behind us — at least as much as possible. And I’m not saying that’s we shouldn’t be.
There were always be things at the site that will remind us of what happened. Seeing the statue across the street of the businessman with all the scrapes on it from 9/11 still elicited a small emotional reaction from me.
I’m not sure what exactly I will think once the new tower (scheduled for April 2013) is completed. I just know that on Saturday, it felt a little strange to see Ground Zero once again.
So, after surviving the parking debacle, we finally made it to New York City. The following is a collection of photos (a few taken by me but most taken by Katie) of Saturday’s adventure.
Grand Central Terminal really is a cool place. The bustle of all the people and the (usually) efficiency of the trains is enjoyable. During the trip, we took a few subway rides as well. I really came to enjoy using the subway as a means of navigating the city quickly.
Radio City Music Hall was one of the first major landmarks we saw as we trekked the city.
I took the NBC studio tour the last time I was in New York (2003) and really enjoyed it. There’s just something very cool about the Rockefeller Center. I was also greatly amused by the fact that each color of the NBC logo at the front of the store was composed of M&M’s.
Me standing with the Indiana flag at Rockefeller Center. The ice rink, which normally would be behind and below where I stood was filled with a bunch of food vendors or something.
So, Katie came to visit Connecticut for the weekend. I’ll be included some of our adventures over the next few blog posts. Also, since she has a camera (and I don’t), I’m able to attach some photographic evidence of our exploits.
But before I get to that, I have to tell the story of the parking lot debacle.
So, Katie’s flight got into New Haven, Conn., at like 12:45 after several delays due to some questionable weather in the Northeast. After barely being able to find the airport (for which I blame Google Maps and its faulty directions), I pick her up and we drive back to Hartford, Conn.
Well, not after getting lost again trying to escape stupid New Haven. An adventure that included driving into one of those DUI checkpoints…
I digress at this point to ask how effective those checkpoints really are. I mean, all the cop did was ask if I had anything to drink tonight; I replied, “No”; and we were on our way. Yes, I know that part of it is to test how you respond to see if there are any signs of drinking. And yes, I totally support keeping drunken drivers off the streets (I have been a DD many times). But was it really necessary for there to be a minimum of five cop cars at that checkpoint? And this was an out-of-the-way place to put a checkpoint in the first place; I bet they saw a dozen cars an hour, max.
…but eventually we made it back to Hartford. Got into the apartment, went to bed and prepared to head to NYC the next morning.
Or so we thought.
