Biggest Loser Math

Probably my favorite part about Biggest Loser is the finale. Usually the at home contestants steal the show just because we have not seen them in so long. However, I really do enjoy breaking down the final four contestants mathematically to see who really has the best change. Without further ado, here are the final four...

Patrick - Height - 6'2". Starting weight - 400 . Last weight - 244. Age -28. My gut reaction is that this race is his to lose. Also, he has extra motivation since he has financial problems. With his age and motivation, 50% weight loss is easily attainable. At 6'2", I am guessing he weighs in at 190 at the finale. That is a 52.5% total fatloss. Again, 190 is not out of the realm for a 6'2" 28 year old. Let's see if anyone else has a chance to match this percentage.

Frado - Height - 6'0". Starting weight - 367 . Last weight - 221. Age -43. If anyone is catching Patrick, it is Frado. Also, he seemed to have the easiest time at home and it showed in his weight loss. He would have to get down to 174 to beat Patrick at 190. That is definitely a possibility. However if Patrick gets down to 185, Frado has to be 169. I predict Frado will be 180 at the finale weigh in.

Ada - Height - 5'6". Starting weight - 258 . Last weight - 167. Age -27. I love Ada and so does America. I would be SHOCKED if she did not get the votes to make the finale. With that being said, she doesn't have much of a chance. If Patrick makes it to 190, she would have to be at 122 to beat him. Ada is struggling a little at home. I think she is 135 at the final weigh in. She does not have much more weight to lose.

I am going out on limb...ok, not really. Ada will be voted into finale. Even if she is not, Elizabeth will not win anything. She started out at 244 lbs and is now 177. She needs to be 115 to have a chance. That is not happening. So, I guess I lied. I really only went through the finale three.

Anyway you slice it, I am excited for the finale.

Easily the best 6 minutes of my day today

LU and My Broncos

Well, I now have been to TWO LU games and they have lost both times. Yikes. Losing to Butler by 2, I can understand. Losing to Valpo at home by 10 is inexcusable. Lets hope they turn around this conference record fast. I do like that the season is in full swing. I enjoy going to games so much and I feel it keeps me young...until I see the college students...they look so YOUNG! ha.

Well, McDaniels was fired yesterday. I thought it was quite strange in timing. The Broncos have been such a good team for so long that a bottoming out is just not acceptable. I do think he got a little screwed. Two big things: Our defensive starters have missed 48 games so far this year (i.e if 4 starters miss all 12 games that is 48) including Elvis Dumervil who has been out all year. Yeah, he lead the nation in sacks last year. We were 7th in the nation last year and now are 29th. Our offense points per game has increase each year he was there. He is clearly getting fired for defensive play.

I also do not like that the Broncos hired a GM with no experience at the same time as they hired a coach with new experience. He should be fired too. McD also never lost his players. They were always in his corner. McD is gone nonetheless. It should be interesting who they bring in.

Over the last 20 season, this season will mark only the 4th time they had a losing record. The next coach has a lot to do and fast!

Happy Tuesday!

November, what happened!!!!!!!!

Wow, well November was an 0-fer for me. The last 10 days of November I spent in sunny Florida and lets just say coming back to SNOW FLURRIES was not the way I wanted to come back.

Seriously, SNOW FLURRIES!!!!!!!!!!!!

I want to write up a post about the Magic-Heat game I went to. It really will be about how impressive the new Amway Center is. I mean any stadium that has 3 bars in it is A-OK with me. I first need to figure out how to get the pics off of my wife's camera.

Tonight the UNDEFEATED, 7-0 Loyola Ramblers take on the lowly 3-2 Butler Bulldogs. Sadly, this is my first game of the year. I am super excited though. Last year, the place was PACKED for this game and we lost by 2. For those of you who don't remember, Butler was in the national championship game last year.

Stat of the day: Last time Loyola started a season 7-0 was 1962-1963. Why is that important? Well, Loyola is the 1963 NCAA Champs....start believing....

Another reason to go to Vegas????

So, someone told me today that Garth Brooks is doing shows at the Wynn. I looked it up and he has been doing them for almost a year now. Over the summer he re-upped a contract to do show for September, October and November.

Regrettably, I have never seen him live. I know it will not be the same but I am sure he still puts on an amazing show.

Garth...in Vegas...wow.

Giants - Rangers

As a Dodgers fan, it is killing me to see the Giants in the World Series.

Now, they took game one...ugh. LETS GO RANGERS!

Speaking of bad sporting events, last weekend was pretty bad for me.

I was rooting for Iowa to beat Wisconsin...they lose by 1. During the game they missed an extra point and a field goal.

The Broncos lost by 1,000,000 to their rival...the Raiders. BOOOOOOOOOOOOOO

I am a fan of Brock Lesnar and he looked as good as the Broncos on Saturday getting knocked out in the first round.

Luckily Liverpool actually won a game...they are still at the level of being relegated though.

Lets hope this weekend is a little better for me!

Baseball Contracts...for all you die hard baseball fans

I found this incredible site that lays out all baseball contracts.

I could spend hours reading it. If you go on the left, you can pick a team and it will lay out the details of each contract for each player.

Could you imagine if everyone's salary or contract was public knowledge for every job? it is a little crazy to think about.

New TV Addiction...Pawn Stars

I believe after talking to Ploth and then a couple people at work who watch the show, Michelle and I decided to give Pawn Stars a shot. Lets just say I am SUPER happy we did. We have been taping them as much as possible and didn't realize that we are in the middle of a new season. Every show is new to us...for the most part.

Funk told me that History channel has been really pushing 'reality tv' shows. This is sad to me because they really don't belong on the History channel. I mean what am I learning or how does this pertain to history. Also, what does that say about out society that channels need reality tv to help ratings...yikes.

Yes, Pawn Stars is a reality show but it does belong on the History Channel. For those of you who have never seen it, this show is about a pawn store in Las Vegas (of course). Basically, people come in with random items and the guys there must decide two things. 1 - what is it worth. 2 - can we make money on it. What the show does well is inform the viewer about each item (ie the history of it, why it would be valuable). Also, the guys that run the store always call in experts to help value items.

It really is a fascinating show and I am amazed at how many people have random items from the different wars America has been in. I also love when they buy an old toy or item and restore it. Usually, restoring it gives them a big profit.

If you have 30 min, go check it out. It is a nice informative show.

That is MY SPOT!!!

At home, we have a long sectional couch that it 'l' shaped. My normal spot in on the end where the extension goes out. Michelle usually lays along the normal part of the couch. Here is a pic of a similar couch for a visual.




Well, a certain somebody, SAMANTHA, has really taken to MY SPOT! I was working late last night and I got this picture sent to me.



Don't get too comfortable there kid! That is MY SPOT! I gave you the Bronco pillow...fine...but my spot...WTF!

Looks like I should start getting used to the floor...

Liverpool's terrible start

Since Liverpool has basically stumbled out of the gate this season like a drunk man leaving a bar at 4 am, maybe they should look into signing this girl. I really don't think that but this woman has some very impressive ball handling skills.

(Warning - the video comes off very loud for some reason for me)

DC

Well, work has been just crazy lately. It is good to be busy but wow...i feel like I am working in a sweatshop! Yikes!

Anyway, tomorrow we leave for DC for a long weekend. I am pumped to hang out with Kathryn and tour the city. It looks like there is rain in the forecast for Sunday. I am pretty sure we will be hitting the zoo up for sure. If the rain holds off, we will be going to a Nationals game as well.

Three day weekend here I come! (unless I work all weekend.............)

Happy Thursday!

So long B&D - You will forever be missed!

Well, Michelle and I made a quick 48 hour trip down to Nashville...one of my favorite places on earth. Why did we go? Brooks and Dunn were having their last tour ever! B&D...I have a lot of love for this band. In high school, a friend of mine made me listen to Hard Working Man, their first album and that album is was got me back into country music. Well, then George Strait entered my life. Anyway, they have always been a favorite of mine and I have seen them in concert more than any other band. Keep that all in mind as you read these notes from that night. I use the word 'love' or some variation of that word NUMEROUS times in these notes.

............................................................................
Nashvegas baby!!!

Love this town. Love that barry is here.

We got in to here at 730. Found seats and grabbed a beer.

800- tyler dickerson came on. 16 year old. This is your opening act. He is
kinda a punk. He is on his 3rd song. Please be done.

Sidenote: concert is bd & friends. Very hush hush on what that means. Since
we are in nashville it could mean basically anyone!!! Michelle says " make
sure you say my wife looks beautiful" - she is right...look amazing as
usual!

Ummmm- tyler is on like song 6. I am upset and barry is livid. Give me a
reason for being here! Wtf. They couldn't get gary allan to open? Really???

825- he finished. Yessssssssssss. Lights on. No idea what's next.

Bd clip on screen right now...

Now 15 min clip on bd and crew. Slideshow for 15 min. Halfway through it
amd its awesome.

Sidenote: 2.5 year old girl next to us who is super excited and holding a
sign. Makes me miss my daughter terribly.

Cma award for best duo I'd called the b&d award for a reason. Best duo
ever! No one argues this. Thank you bd. Slide show is awesome!

847 a tribute to your staff ove the years. That is class

They are on!!!

I am a GEORGE STRAIT JUNKIE!!!!!

That is how you start!

I am beyond fired up.

Song 2 - take the girl out of the honky tonk.

Michelle said I shouldn't yell. Oops. 30 second later - michelle screams.
Hahahaha.

Mama don't get dressed up for nothing!! +i old school. Wowowowowowoow!!!! -
9 pm

Until u put a girl in it - good but downshift from the classic.

I never forgive my heart- Don't know the name. - barry gave it to me.
Another old school. Awesome. Love them! -907

On of mich's favs - 908 - miss me when I am gone! - love kix - he is the
best!!!

I am so glad I am within myself and not too gone in any way. Greatest duo
ever in country music and I want to embrace everything. I love them.

Aint nithing about you - maybe my best karaoke moment ever in vegas - love
that song. Love everything about it

Here comes kix - on a chair - talkingi fired me up. Kix wants to party.
Don't know the song wtf

I know this song...my top 5! I lobe it!!! Love it!!! Top 3! Lost and
found!!!!! Love it! Never thought I would ever ever jear it! Sorry I am
mistyping. Sooooo happy!!! Last time ever that song is live. Teary.

That's what's she gets - ronnie is rocking

While I was in the bathrrom they said they would play what got them here...
Hence lost and found. 6th time seeing them...first time ever hearing it.
Wow.

Love these guys.

Better al the time - ronnie is an amazing vocal and the song carries to a
lot. I am a fan but not as big as prob everyone here. I am starting to see
the end and it is dishearting.

938 - ronnie tearing up. And now talking.

This is live music? Wow! Cowgirls dont cry is the song.

Grew up with country influence. Went away from it. Brooks and dunn - hard
working man opened the door to country in my adult life and george strait
closed the door...country for life! Thank you bd!

Btw this song ivolves reba and she just showed up! Reba was with us!!!!
Wow!

Wowowowowowwow- how long gone - top 5 fav again never heard it live ever.
Love it love it. I need nothing else from this concert. Red dirt road for
michelle I hope.

Well - 5 second later - red dirt road for michelle- her fav ever. Top. 5
for me. Great great song,

Old man wrigley now - that's fine. Good song but not my gig. I can't get
over how much I am going to miss these guys and how much they meaned to my
world in general.

Side story - on a weekend canoe camping trip, barry and I drove together.
It was around 2005. We played b&d for the 5 hour road trip and sang every
song...every song lyric for lyric. What a compliment to them. We knew every
song...

I believe - ronnie killled it!!!

She likes to get out of town - kix song I don't know - not happy about
about. Funnt considering my last story - it is 10 and my battery is dying.
F!

Neon moon - ummm #1 for me... Go get it ronnie

Rounding out my top 5 - arguably. Yes. Rock my world little cpountry girl -
my first ever karaoke song. Loved. People we're two stepping two it. Kix
killllllled it!!

Only in america! Go usa! Hellyeah!b!!
They brought out some marines. Teary eyed. Love u dad and thank you!

My maria- go get it ronnie!!! 1030 - loving lovign this and soooo happy I
am with michelle.

Encore just started - boot scoot boogie!!!!! Top songs ever in country-
love u guys!

Brand new man!!! Loooooooooooove!

1100- concert done. Love it love the people I am with and loved it!!!!!!!
Loved that I was with my wife michelle and she loves them as much as I do.

Good night and god bless.

....................................................................................

Well, those are my notes. The whole trip down to Nashville was a great time. It always is.

Accountability and Goals

I have not been lifting/working out near as much as I would like over the last year. As such, my numbers in the gym have suffered. Well, this is where I draw the line. This is where I draw a line in the sand. I have two goals in the gym...405 deadlift and a bench press of 265. By when you may ask??? December 31, 2010. I want to start off 2011 with these in my pocket.

Well, it is nice to have the goal. Now I need a way to stay accountable. I am going to post my attempts at the end of the year on my blog. Actually at the end of September, I want to max out just to see where I am, to get a feel if these goals are within reach. I am pretty sure they are. To be honest, I am going after it. I guarantee my numbers improve regardless.

I do not have a squat goal because frankly, I really need to work on my form more than anything with that lift. As for nutrition, Michelle and I have been getting better every month.

There you have it. My goals out in public. Look for a video at the end of the year. If I am not in Chicago on 12/31, I will do this around that date.

405...I am coming.

Bar Crawl to Fenway

So, when we were in Boston, a co-worker of mine made a path from the PwC office to Fenway with some stops on the way. It was nicely designed and I love bar crawls so I was super excited! To set this up, the walk is around 2.5 miles. We have ourselves about 4-5 hours or 2 bars an hour. Totally doable and the weather was perfect on that friday. I took notes along the way. Here you go....my comments will be in italics

2pm start-first stop good life - jack and diet - not ready for a beer.
Anxious to have my calls done. So, I had to do a quick client call. I just wanted it over.

Bar 2 - jason wirth - 15 min until my call - ordered a jack's dark beer. Boston has a good selection of micro brews. It really is a great town.

Bar 3 - sweet water cafe - pbr on draft - in the "club area" of boston.
Went through chinatown to get here. It was chaos. By, this time my call is over. Work is over. Game on!!!!! Chinatown by the way is random collection of people...very random!

Bar 4 - parish cafe - got some food, snacks. Had a beam and diet. They had
46 on the shelf. I promised to go to CP if we did a shot. It was really
good. Smelled lik caramel. 2nd time having it. 46 is makers new whisky. I like it. I had every intention of going to Cressey Performance the next day...of course that is before the fire happened and we were outside all night.

Bar 5- rattle snake - rooftop. The beam and diet is out of a 16 oz drink.
Not much of a sight. This bar was on a rooftop with no view. Every building around it was taller than the bar. I have never been to a rooftop bar with no view before.

Bar 6 - solas irish bar - horvath is being a big time judger. Ridiculous.
Coors light. Hotel bar. Quick stop. This hotel had a bar but had multiple entrances. Well, Michelle and I went ahead to use the bathroom at the hotel before going into the bar. The boston boys went in one door and we went in the other. It took a few minutes to fine each other.

Bar 7 - whiskey -had newcastle - talked to colin how people don't know how
to jump. Lesnar convo too. UFC talk starts between Colin and I. I was telling him that I have never been good at jumping. I jump off one foot but two seems strange to me. Yes, a RANDOM conversation for sure! BTW, the weather was PERFECT for the crawl.

Bar 8 - little steve's pizzeria. Had a bud here. Pizza good. Stadium soon. We are close to Fenway and getting ready. It was awesome.

Bar 9 - Yes, I stopped writing. We went into Cask'n Flagon. Colin knows the bouncer so we walked right in ahead of the giant line. It was awesome. 9 bars for a 9 inning game. Of course, we went into Fenway after this place. The Red Sox got killed but it was very enjoyable time in the stadium.

Another successful bar crawl in Boston...

Post coming soon

hSorry I have been MIA from the blog. I have been two three different cities in a four week period and to top it all off, work has been crazy. I mean I shouldn't be charging over 40 hours in a 3 day period right?

Anyway, here is a little list of the next few blogs which I hope to have written by Sunday....

1. Bar crawl in Boston on our way to Fenway
2. Drawing a line in the sand...accountability.
3. So long B&D - You will forever be missed.
4. Random thoughts on fantasy football and fantasy sports in general

Ok - back to work. Hope all is well with everyone!

Cheers!

Bryan and Mary's big day

I realized I never talked about St. Louis. Overall we had a great time down there but I wanted to give a few thoughts and comments around the wedding in St. Charles.

• It was great to see family and friends that I had not seen in a while. Negative - there were so many people that I wanted to talk to that I felt like I didn't get to talk to anyone.
• Bryan and Mary looked amazing. Not shocked about Mary but Bryan cleaned up nicely!
• Loved that we went to White Castle as a stop on the bus.
• I was really honored to be best man in a wedding but did not realize the amount of responsibility I had. It was a lot of work. I loved it though
• I was nervous about the speech. Not really nervous about talking in front of lots of people but nervous I would have too many beers on the bus before giving it. We were on the bus for almost 4 hours! I did good though. I was still under control
  
• The music selection for the wedding was fantastic and it showed. The dance floor was PACKED all night!
• With me being in the wedding and having to run around a lot, Michelle was on Samantha duty for a LOOOOONG time. Nice work Michelle!
• My speech would have never worked if it wasnt for Plothow setting it up beforehand. THANK YOU!
• I freaked out when we got into the reception and the mic was plugged into a wall on the other side from where the computer was setup. Thank goodness for wireless microphones.
• Pai Gow after the reception was fun. It was not profitable but it was fun.
• When I kneeled for my wedding, I thought that would be the last time. Then I showed up for the rehearsal and found out round 2 was coming!
  
• Trailhead Brewery was awesome. I really liked that place.
• I am still can not believe Michelle had a WWE belt cake make in a 48 hour period. Wow.

In the end, I had a great time and I was honored to be part of the wedding. Fun times by all!

Vin Scully - Another year

I don't get to listen to many Dodger games. I do not get to watch many Dodger games but it does make me very happy that Vin Scully is coming back. The living legend recently announced his intentions on coming back and quite frankly, if he is healthy, I do not see him walking away ever.

When we visit my parents out in the burbs, my dad watches the Dodgers games online. It was such a treat to watch the game and listen to the legend work his magic.

He has been broadcasting since 1948. 1948....Granted he just does home games and west coast trips but he is the voice of the Dodgers. He is an iconic voice of baseball and he is in my opinion the best ever. Thank you for coming back for another season.

All good things must come to an end and Rick Monday is good but there will never be another Vin Scully.

The Fire and the News

So, Michelle did a good job of detailing the incident. Honestly, if I was not a father, I do not think I would have been as upset as I was. What keep going through my mind was "Thank goodness we did not have Samantha with us." Then my thought went to "What if this was January?"

Seriously, how could a hotel not have plans in place in case of a fire. Michelle actually wrote a complaint to the Intercontinental and the hotel manager called her. He admitted that they dropped the ball and everything was complete chaos. As unlucky as the fire was, they really did get lucky that the fire happened in the summer.

As we all layed in a hotel ballroom for hours, hundreds of us laying side by side on the floor, I was shocked the media was not covering this more closely. At 9 am, we were standing in line, 100s of us in ridiculous clothes or just robes for some outside the hotel and no media is there? Intercontinental gets a pass on this poorly managed incident?

Well, when we finally made it back to the room, I called the local news. I went off on them a little about not being there and then told them the story. They asked if they could use my name. I said sure. Well, Michelle and I then caught up on some sleep.

A couple hours later I get a phone call from the news station saying they want to interview me and asked to meet me. I said sure and 15 minutes later I was outside doing an interview on camera. A buddy of mine taped the local 6 o'clock and 10 o'clock news and he said I made both or part of my interview made both. I also made this article.

In the end, I do give the local news some credit. They did hear me out and even made my voice heard.

I STILL can not believe that alarm went off again Sunday morning. That was UNBELIEVABLE!

Outside of that, Boston was an absolute blast. Fun town, fun times and fun people!

Recovery and Getting Old

Now that I got close to 20 hours of sleep the last two days, I am feeling 100% from last weekend. Now, my weekend was extended until late Monday night.

Of course as I say that I am feeling 100%, I am heading to Boston on a 6 am flight tomorrow and the trip will include two nights of partying.

It amazes me how long it takes me to recover not even from a night of drinking but a night of little sleep. Now, Bryan and Mary's wedding was extra emotional for me and a little more stressful since I had to give a speech and all other duties I had as best man. Oh and there was some casino time in there. Let us not forget that!

Michelle had never been to St. Louis before. Actually, it is another state for Samantha too! The wedding was an amazing time! Stopping at White Castle after pictures were over was CLUTCH!

After the wedding, my parents, my bro and his family and michelle, sam and I all stayed a couple days in downtown St. Louis. It was a lot of fun that including some zoo time and lots of pool time as well!

Getting back at 11:30 monday night - not fun.

Well, St. Louis, Boston and Nashville are the three cities Michelle and I are hitting up in a 4 week period.

One down, two to go!

Summer TV and the upcoming weekend

As we are in the middle of summer, I figured this would be a good time to go over a few shows I am watching.

New ones:

Pretty Little Liars - Let me tell you that I found this show and not Michelle. yes, it is true and I love it! The season finale just happened and I am quite interesting in seeing where it is going next season.

New seasons...

Jersey Shore Season 2 - I loved this last year. LOVED! This year is not disappointing either.
Big Brother - New cast. new fun. I am shocked that an early alliance is still hiding.
Real World - I believe I am too old for this but it is in new orleans...I could not miss it!
Psych - The original mentalist....
Royal Pains - Another show I found a couple years ago that I love.
FNL - One of my favorite shows of all time...yeah I said it.
Top Chef DC - I am SHOCKED by who got sent home last night...SHOCKED!!!!

That is all I can think of right now.

This weekend is Bryan and Mary's wedding. I am so excited. There will be family and LOTS of friends there, friends that I have not seen in forever. Another wrinkle for me is that I am best man. I am honored with the role but am a little nervous for the speech. On the bright side, it is written and ready to go. You see I have stood up in a good amount of weddings but this is my first time being best man. I just hope I don't screw up!

St. Louis this weekend is upper 90s and humid...great time to be in a tux...yikes!

Have a great weekend everyone!

Albert Hayensworth Test

It has been annoying. I wish it would end. I do like random challenges though. As most of you have read, Albert Hayesworth has failed his conditioning test and can not practice until he passes it. The test is simple. Run 25 yards down, turn, run back. Do that 6 times for 300 yards. You have to do it twice but you get 3.5 min rest in the middle. He has to do it in 70 and 73 seconds respectively.

So Mike Golic tried it for ESPN a couple days ago. He passed the test by doing it in exactly 70 sec and 73 sec. It did not surprise me at all that he did it in the exact allotted time. He found a rythymn based on time being yelled out to him during each set. He has done these before and there is no reason to do these faster than what is necessary.

Going into the run, Mark Schelereth said he had NO DOUBT in his mind that Golic would do it. These tests come down to heart and nothing else. I found that to be interesting.

Well, I had to try it. Now, I have not been working out a lot lately especially the last few months. Between traveling and work, I just haven't made the time. Summer is always busy. Well, I made it to the gym last night and did my workout. Afterwards, Knowles and I set up our bags on the sidewalk 25 yards apart and timed each other.

I did both sets in 68 seconds and Knowles did both sets in 66 seconds. We both could have done it faster if need be. SIGN ME UP REDSKINS! Well, except I can not pass the "go run over to the parking lot and flip every car over test". It really was a drill of pace and heart and not a challenging athletic test. Haynesworth has no business failing this test.

So, my challenge to you. Go try it. It is a fun little challenge. 3.5 min rest is plenty for the heart. Your legs will feel it.

Another successful weekend

Well last weekend we were invited to a wedding in Springfield, IL. Not exactly a quiet weekend but it was a short drive to Springfield and the wedding was not until 3 pm on Saturday.

Friday night we headed to my parents house. They were nice enough to watch samantha Saturday and Sunday. That is right people...we were sans one toddler for this wedding...look out!

Michelle and I thought it would be a good idea to pack a cooler and bring snacks for after the reception died down. That ended up being a great idea.

All in all, it was a great time except for the church's AC not working too well. The night ended with some euchre back in the room.

Samantha also had a great time with Nana and Papa. So it was a win-win weekend.

Now that this wedding is done, the next wedding is Bryan and Mary's. Holy crap did time fly on that! 3 weekends away. That is going to be a GREAT time!

Yeah Friday!

For this Friday, I am going to list some random thoughts.

1. How is it possible that Samantha is the most tan person in our family???? I need to play outside during the day. Outside breaks - we all need them!

2. My softball team is struggling offensively. I have that same issue. I need to stop pressing and let the ball come to me. I think batting cages would be a good idea.

3. Wedding this weekend is going to be a lot of fun! Ross and Erin getting married. Spending time with the Wilken family.

4. Usually when I am hanging out with Barry the night does not end before 4 am. Uh oh. Saturday could be a looooooooooong day.

5. I am having the hardest time keeping up with a regular workout schedule. No motivation. Need to figure out some outside workouts.

6. Is it just me or has this summer so far been really hot? Last night's softball game was brutal.

7. Nice work Elway on getting 2nd place in the golf tournament last week!

8. Fubar went to Dodger stadium a few days ago and brought me back a James Loney bobblehead. It is a new addition to my desk!

9. My birthday is quickly approaching. When can I start canceling these?

10. Have a great weekend!

Top 5 - Websites!

Top 5 is back! Today I am doing my top 5 favorite websites to go to. A couple guidelines to think about while creating your list. Your email account does not count (ie gmail). I am lumping all the blogs I read into one. I will do a top 5 some day of my blogs but for today, they count as one.

1. My blogs - Really, this was a no brainer since I gave myself the out. I have a google reader to keep up with all my blogs. Thank you google reader!
2. Espn.com - To be honest, this is really for sportsguy. I listen to his podcasts and read his articles diligently. If he was not there, I do not think it would be in the top 5.
3. Twitter - Yes twitter. I like twitter way more than facebook. The only thing really drawing me to facebook is Vinny's (fake gambling).
4. WSJ online - What can I say? I like me some wall street journal.
5. Google.com - This sounds weird but google is my go to for looking up anything. I am there a lot and they never disappoint.

I think metromix.com would have been high as well. It is a great resource for Chicago.

Happy hump day!

Weekends at home

Lets just say I have been busy at work and thus my lack of blogs. My fault. Now that wireless is setup at home, I will be better about blogging.

The last two weekends have been spent at home. It was a nice change of pace consider before that I was in three different cities in four weeks. Our weekends at home are usually restful but that does not mean we do not do anything.

Usually, when we are home on the summer weekends our plans usually involve some of the following:

Friday nights

Maybe going to the gym.
Maybe hitting a beer garden for dinner (ie Village Tap)
Maybe dinner and a movie at home

Saturday

Possible Street Festival (they are always going on)
Dinner with friends (either out or someone's house)
Target runs by Michelle/Video games for me
R&R around the house
Going to the gym
Laying out by pool
Maybe a random walk around our hood

Sunday

Breakfast out (either Flat top or Lincoln Restaurant)
R&R around the house
Running errands
Maybe gym time
Possible dinner plans
possible movie
Maybe a random walk around our hood

Those are our weekends these days at home. Nothing crazy. I should also put in there - taking care of a sick toddler. Seems like lately Samantha has been sick a lot. Last weekend was no different. She seems finally over it though and is back at daycare starting today.

On a sidenote, our new tv came and wireless is running. We are back connected to the world. Easily the best feature on our tv is skype. If someone tries to connect to us, it pops up and all we have to do is hit select and we are skyping. Crazy!

Have a good Tuesday.

Thank you Landon Donovan and Team USA!

We are in the sweet 16 and I couldn't be happier! What an exciting game and one of the most important goals for US soccer. We are in the dance. That is huge. Win a game or two...even better. I say win the whole damn thing! Start believing! This is our year!

Anyway, I watched the first half of yesterday's game at a bar by work. I then worked in our commons area (that has tvs) with 10-15 other people while watching the game. In the 75th min, I had to get on a call. I jumped into a conference room right by the commons. Well, I may have missed the goal but I sure knew what happened. The commons area ERUPTED. Love it! I had a soccer jersey on. I was walking around in it. Don't care...big game! I am so excited about Saturday. We have a decent chance to win that game (even though the whole crowd will be rooting for ghana).

I leave with two fun things. First is the famous spanish announcer, Andre Cantor calling the goal. Just hit play within the link.

The second is the reaction in a Las Vegas bar. It was like 9 or 10 am out there when it happened. What a start to the day!



Let's hope USA can get some revenge on Ghana for 2006!

USA! USA! USA! USA! USA!

Busy!

Sorry for the lack of blogs. I have been a bit of a traveler lately and it is not going to let up any time soon. Two weeks ago I was in New Orleans for Bryan's bachelor party. I felt like I was in the Hangover. Lots of fun times and lots of partying especially for the USA-England game. That is all the details I can give.

Last weekend, we headed to Cincinnati for a long weekend with the Neyers. It was an amazing time. Again, the USA-Slovenia game was probably the craziest moment. I am still reeling from the horrendous call. What a 2nd half for the USA team. In the end, their destiny is in their hands. They win and they are in. Please let them pull off the W tomorrow...PLLLLLEEEEEEEEAAAAASSSSSSSSSEEEEEE!

This weekend Michelle is going to a shower for Mary in Elgin. My weekend really depends right now on the USA game. I will plan the weekend tomorrow around noon.

PwC has given us off Friday and Monday of July 4th weekend. I am excited. We are flying to Florida for a long weekend and coming back Tuesday night.

The summer is always filled on the weekends!

On a sidenote, I have missed my softball games twice already. I am 0-2 for showing up! This is changing come this Thursday. i just hope the coach doesn't bench me for not showing the first two games!

Well, work has been crazy busy as well so back to work I go. Have a great week.

USA USA USA USA USA USA USA USA USA USA USA USA USA USA USA USA USA USA USA USA USA USA USA USA USA USA USA USA USA USA USA USA USA USA USA USA USA USA USA USA USA USA USA USA USA USA USA USA USA USA USA USA USA USA USA USA

2010 World Cup

The 2006 World Cup was the main driving force behind a few of us becoming Liverpool fans. Quite frankly, I could not be happier with the decision.

Well, starting this weekend is the 2010 World Cup. I am super excited for the tournament this year. To be honest, after the US gets out of pool play (and they will get out of pool play), I will be rooting for two teams, England and USA. I have watched a lot of the English team play. Gerrard is probably a captain. However since they are in USA's pool, I am rooting against them (at first).

To get everyone in the spirit of the cup, below is a youtube of Woddy Harrelson kicking a game winning penalty kick in a game of the world vs. England for charity.

Go Woody! And more importantly, GO USA!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

I want to play!

Where was this when I was 12? Hell, where can I play it now? LOVE IT!

Also, love the commentary!

Biggest Loser Disappointment

If you have seen me since the BL ended, you have heard this rant so I apologize.

This is a contest for 250k. You play to win. Every year the finalists get that except for this year. Fubar was in a weight loss competition for $400. He cut weight at the end to try and win it. In 9 weeks, he lost 40 lbs (now I would say we lost like 25-30. He inflated his weight some at the beginning). Fubar is not that heavy. He lost 40 lbs in 9 weeks.

Lets now look at our two automatic finalists.

1.Mike when he left the ranch was 6'3" 299 lbs. He has three months to lose as much weight as possible. He weighs in at 262. Huh??? He loses 37 lbs in 3 months. This number should have been double that. WTF! You think 6'3' 262 is a good weight. You still have a lot to lose.

2. Ashley when she left the ranch was 5'5" 213 lbs. Her final weigh in was 191. 22 lbs in 3 months. What a joke. You are 5'5"! I expected a number below 150. This is for 250k. All you should be doing is eating right and working out. Quit your job. Those three months should be focused on your weight.

Daris and Koli - I had no beef with. Given their heights, they were ideal weights. They really could not lose much more. Good for them. I do find it funny that America does not think before they vote. Lets say you like Daris. You want him to win money. Well, he doesn't have much of a chance in the finals but he does have a chance with the at home contestants. WHY do you vote for him in the finals????

Daris would have won the at home money. In a shocking moment, Koli would have won the finals. Consider me shocked but Mike and Ashley didn't lose that much.

Fubar lost 41 lbs in 9 weeks. I do not care at what extreme he did it. It is a competition. Mike and Ashley should take some notes from Fubar. They did not bring it and I am disappointed.

I feel better now.

Biggest Loser Math

I have been busy with life and work so I apologize to my two readers out there. I am really bummed with TV right now. The best season ever of Survivor just ended. Lost ends Sunday and BL ends next week. What is going on? I am supposed to enjoy the summer OUTSIDE!?!?!

Anyway, one of my favorite blogs to write is the Biggest Loser math for the finale. Let's look at the final four.

Ashley - 5'5", 25 yrs old, starting weight - 374 (wow), last weight - 213 (loss of 43.04%)
Michael - 6'3", 30 yrs old, starting weight - 524 (wow), last weight - 299 (loss of 42.94%)
Koli - 6'1", 28 yrs old, starting weight - 403, last weight - 218 (loss of 45.91%)
Daris - 5'10", 25 yrs old, starting weight - 346, last weight - 197 (loss of 43.06%)

Before we get too far, let me throw Koli and Daris out of the picture. Their starting weight was not high enough. Ashley is 4 inches shorter than Daris but 30 lbs heavier at the beginning. Wow. Koli at 6'1" could maybe get down to 175. That is really skinny. However, even at 175, Michael would beat him with a weight of 225 and Ashley would beat him with a weight of 160.

Initially, I thought Michael was in the driver's seat but I am wrong. Ashley is the driver. This is Ashley's game to lose. At 5'5", she could easily end up at 140. That is 73 more lbs but totally doable for the season finale. If she ends at 140, that is a weight loss of 62.57%. Mike would have to weigh in at 196 to barely beat her. I am not saying Michael won't lose 103 more lbs. It just looks a little easier for Ashley to win this game.

In Season 7, Helen who is 5'6" ended up at 117 lbs. Rebecca from Season 8 who is 5'6" ended up at 140 lbs. Ashley is an inch shorter than both of them. My final guess for her is 132, a weight loss of 64.7%. Michael will not end up at 184.

My final guesses as as follows:

Ashley - 132
Michael - 192
Koli - 177
Daris - 165

What are your thoughts?

Korean Baseball Fight

Best baseball fight EVER!

Whiskeyfest II - The next three hours...

Well, the caddies came flooding in and I was left with no plan. Now though, a few more of our crew were in. Corey, Murph, Chris Phelan and Tom (knowles' friend). So we all gathered and started hitting random tables.

George dickel - cascade hollows - pretty good. Talked to master distiller - this is 17 miles off highway- close to JD - Every time I see Dickle I think of Nashville. I swear every bar on broadway has a dickel sign up in it. I was pumped the master distiller was there. Had no idea it is was that close to Jack Daniels.

Van winkle - 23yr - not good. I want vip again. - I hate to admit this but I really don't remember anything about this tasting. Oh wait...yes I do. Everyone in the group was going to try this and I had never heard of them.

Chivas with almonds 18 year still I don't like it - So, Corey was talking to the guy pouring at this table. Most tables had about 5 different bottles. Corey thought it would be a good idea to try all 5 for the different tastes at each table. Fine. You are not hitting many companies this way but there are pros to it. Well, they had almonds and chocolate chips as help bring out the flavor of the alcohol. I clearly did not agree.

Jim beam black decent - Ok. We killed a lot of time around the beam table. Michelle and I on our way to Nashville one time stopped here so I have had most of the Beam family drinks. Black is a new one I think. I didn't seem look much different than the original.

Just had booker noe and found out fred booker noe is 10 feet from me. Awesome. Booker noe's grandosn I think. - Bookers is part of the Jim Beam family but ranges from 120 - 140 proof depending on the bottle. Serious stuff but has a smooth taste. BTW, the jim beam guys were partying. They would pour you one and then do a shot. Let me get a little technical here. Fred Booker Noe is the son of Booker Noe. Fortune Brands owns Jim Beam but Fred Booker Noe is the highest ranking family guy left within the company and still runs Jim Beam.

Just took a pic with owner of jim beam!!! - Probably didn't need to do this but I thought it was a GREAT idea. He said "You keep drinking it. I will keep making it." Sounds good!




I killed a lot of time around the Jim Beam table drinking water, eating some food, etc. I really slowed down at this point.

Another point - Every company had a big sign behind their table identifying them. Well, that is true of everyone except one...

Cc- sherry barrel 8 yrs (from the guy)- called sherry oak- pretty good-on the rocks - CC did not have a sign. Nelson told me about it and I had to check it out. It was close to Jim Beam. The guy pouring informed me that the distillery is in Windsor close to the casinos. Why did I not know this? We could have visited in college. He gave me his card (he was drunk) and told me to call him if I ever want to take a tour. Ladies and Gentlemen, we have reached that point in the night! Game on!

Just ate - Tick tock tick tock. I am eating, drinking water. Time is flying at this point. I am basically riding the VIP hour wave but I feel a need to get moving again.

Black lable montana whiskey- twrrible. Yikes. I know I misspelled. - So, if you look closely in this message it will tell you a lot. "I know I misspelled." - Basically I am trying to tell you I am not that drunk. When i do that, I usually am. This Montana whiskey was around the Jim beam side of the room. We were staying around there.

Uncle john - pear brandy - not a brandy. Maybe a misytake. That is rough. - So, I was getting a little tired of whiskey and bourbon so I thought I would try a Michigan distilled brandy. I thought it was taste sweet. I almost threw up after drinking it. Sweet it was not. WOW.

Iowa bourbon - nelson made me go - thank god - it was amazing and I learned that bourbon does not have to be from kentucky.
Really did it for barry running the half during tornadoes tomorrow. Good luck! - Well, who knew bourbon can be made outside of Kentucky? There are 5 companies that make bourbon outside of Kentucky. There are a couple rules to be bourbon and one of them is NOT a location. The Nashville half marathon was the next day. Iowa Bourbon was distilled in Cedar Rapids, birthplace of the Wilken brothers. Nelson highly recommended it. So I went. He was wrong about the Montana one but right about this bourbon. It was really good.

Bulleit - chris phelan coonection- pretty smOoth- liked it. - Chris knew this company. Whatever. They had glasses as well that we could take. SCORE! It didn't stand out but it didn't bother me either. I give it a thumbs up!

Makes - 46 - new makers!!! It is good!!! Corey said it was moonshine. I disagree. Its good. _ Back over at Makers and they started pouring their new bourbon! I was PUMPED! I really liked it. Corey's exact quote, "Ugh. This tastes like moonshine!" How dare he! This was great. TO each their own.

Irish geese irish soldiers - ugh- it was okay. Pretty smooth. Probably would have been better earlier. I a$ burning out on all the diff whiskeys. - Here is me hitting a wall and quite frankly my belly was sloshing around. Not good. Nelson and I agreed it was time for a beer.

Anchor steam - disappointed they didn't have the bock. Amber ale instead. Its okay at best. - I had my heart set on a drinking the bock. I love bock beers. The darker the better! So the amber ale had no chance. It was decent. I was really hankering for a nice macro brew like Miller lite though. More on that later.

Hibiki- blend- it was okay. - Back on the bourbon trail. I am running out of steam fast. This is a Japanese whiskey. It did not stand out to me but honestly at this point, what would???

CR - again - another iowa trip - well iowa is doing another thing right. Go tom brands! - There were a couple people that hadn't tried the Iowa Bourbon so we headed it. Yes, a few of us really liked it.

Templeton rye - had a newsroom with nelson firs time ever - we commerrated that. It is pretty good. - So, in training for the night, Nelson (a co-worker of mine) and myself went to a bar after work and tried a couple random whiskeys. This was one of them. Again, it was not the worst or the best of the night.

Murpheyjust got violent. I thought corey was the drunkest but by far murph. Wow - Basically, I made fun of his sister. He hit me and I told him it was going in my notes. So everything I wrote was an exaggeration. These are not sober notes people.

Just finished the night with crown black- a very good drink. - When they said it was last call, I bolted over the crown table for one more taste of the black. They were my MVP table of the night and I thought it was would be a great way to finish.

I am going out and not taking notes any more. - We decided (bad decision time...) to hit a bar up for a couple beers. I was happy to be done taking notes....or so I thought.

Ploth is sober. - ummmm, I am pretty sure he was not. he was just more sober than me. Again, my notes, my eyes, just a false statement.

Corey is the drunkest. Wow. App on his nose.. - Again, Corey was just more drunk than me. More false claims. Thank goodness this is my last note. He did have a piece of food on his nose though. That was funny.

So if I would have gone home then, I believe I would have felt in pretty good shape the next day. I tried a lot in the first hour but the next three I drank as many as I did in the first hour. It was a great night and not too over the top. However, I did not go home.

All of us went to a bar next door. After drinking whiskey all night, do you have any idea what a miller lite tastes like? WATER. It was so light and good. A few people dropped off after the first bar. Ploth, Nelson and I went to a couple more bars. Nelson grabbed the 12:40 train home and I crashed at Ploth's but not until we played about 2 hours of Tiger Woods golf on the Wii.

Why didn't I go home after the first bar or better yet after whiskeyfest????

I can't WAIT for next year!

Who is with me??????

Whiskyfest - Part I - the VIP hour!

10th Annual Whiskyfest Chicago took place on Friday April 23. Well, a few of us had the VIP ticket. Let me tell you. it was well worth it. You got an extra hour. They gave you a bag of goodies (not necessarily a good thing) and the number of tickets was limited. HUGE PLUS.

So this all took place in the Hyatt Regency on Wacker drive in a giant conference room. Each company had their own table. There was also two giant buffets in the room. You could eat whenever you wanted. They had bottles of water and soda everywhere tool until near the end. Bottom line - this set up was great. During VIP hour, they had certain high end bottles available too.

Before going in, I did some research of things I wanted to try during the VIP hour. After that, it was more a look and see game. Since the VIP time only last an hour, I really wanted to hit a lot in that first hour. So taking notes was actually the hardest in the first hour.

So, as usual my notes are in italics, exactly how I wrote them.

Jameson rare ifisrt shot smooth no burn no after taste I was awesome - Ok. You will see a lot of typos. I was writing with one hand while holding my sipping glass in the other. Now, I say shot but for this high end bottles, it was more like a 1/4 shot at best. Well, it varied. Here was almost a shot. Everyone knows I am a fan of Jameson. This bottle of Jameson is called Rare Vintage and costs $250. Well, this shot was so smooth. It did not burn. It was great.

Crown xr _ these high end are so smooth. shocked how good - $140 bottle of Crown. I am awarding Crown my favorite table of the night. More on this later. I have never been a big Crown fan. This shot again was good. No after taste. No burn. High quality alcohol.

Michters - 10 year - not as good as the first two - little more bite. Bourbon...first hit won't be the last. - Well, stopped at our first bourbon. $100 bottle. I wasn't very impressed. A little too much rye for me. I think it was destined to fail after the first two.

Kilbeggan - irish whisk - really good. If the bottle is in a box its good...really good. On good pace. One per 5 min. - Back on the Irish whiskey. So we are trying for 10-12 different drinks the first hour. One per 5 min was perfect. I was surprised it was going to plan. On a different note, some of these companies displayed their high end bottle by putting it in a box with a pillow inside. We get it. This is your best bottle. I thought it was funny.

Rocky mountain rye - lot of rye - bite!!!! - Well, this bourbon is like 95% rye. A very distinct taste. I was not a big fan obviously. Lets move on.

Balvenie - 21 year - I hate scotch...yuck! - This place had a long line but it was for a bottle that was $900 but it was gone by the time we got up there. I was beginning to believe there was not a scotch in the world that I liked.

Bushmills - 1608 tastes the same!!!! Wtf! I am on a streak! Bad one dumped some of it - The $82 bottle of Bushmills to me tasted like the $15 bottle. This was the only sample that I dumped for the night. That is saying something.

Rowan tree - best scotch I have ever had - 6600 bottle. - Arran Malt is the company. Rowan Tree is the bottle name. There are 6,600 bottles of it worldwide. It was SO GOOD. Wow. The guy pouring was hardcore Scottish. I could barely understand him. Loved this! There is a scotch in the world I would drink.

Park hert - 21 - it is a sweet bourbon with a kick - like knob creek- not sure why it is so expensive- Well, I think I didn't get the golden anniversary bottle and got the 21. So, I missed out on the VIP bottle. Oh well. This did taste like knob creek to me which is ok but not great.

Makers - decent - not tasting as good as usual - Makers did not have a VIP bottle but they had the red wax there and a guy was dipping glasses right there for people to take. So we decided to stop by before the caddies were let loose in the place. So we grabbed a glass and had a shot. Makers is so good. (I will explain the caddy reference later).

Cognac - ancestr - this was fantastic! 900 bottle really good!! - Not surprising that a $900 of cognac tastes great. This was everything you ask for though. One of the best things I tasted all night.

Unibrow- quelque chose- great change of pace with a beer - 400 cases total to the us. Wow is that good! A little fruity but you expect that from frenchmen. - Was it too early to start making fun of the French? Not for me! I was definitely feeling the effects at this point. A dark beer. great flavor. Not heavy. Loved it and it was a great change of pace! Plus, only 400 cases of this beer are in the US.

Vcrown royal black - nit as good as xr but decent! - The Crown guys told us we should try the black too. Since XR was so good, we figured we would hit it up. It was good,really good. Smooth and only a $30 bottle. I was impressed.

Closure - I finish the way I start...jameson rare vintage!!! Yessss! This might be where I stop remembering...time check...625...uh oh - Well, the VIP hour was ending and I wanted one last taste of Rare Vintage Jameson. I snuck it in before time was up!

Vip over... Well, if anyone is counting, we had one beer (part of one beer) and 13 tastings. It was a great start to a great night. I and everyone else I think slowed down CONSIDERABLY after the first hour. No one keeps a pace like that. Well, not if you want to remember.

I have a Caddyshack reference for everyone. There is a scene when the open up the pool for like an hour to all the caddies. When the hour starts, you see all the caddy go running around the pool and jump in. They flood the pool area in complete chaos. Well, moments before the 8 doors were about to open at Whiskyfest, Nelson said "Here come the caddies." It was the perfect line. The amount of people there probably tripled when the door flew open and people flooded the booths.

Tomorrow I will finish up the event.

Cheers!

Mike and Mike

I am a lot behind on posting this. A couple weeks ago, Mike and Mike were in Chicago for a book signing. Michelle is a fan (and so am I). I figured it would be a good birthday gift for Michelle. She had meetings all day the day they were here. So I took a late lunch and went to the bookstore. I waited about 45 min with a co-worker (zavada) and finally met them. They were nearing the end of the signing and looked exhausted. I mean they were on the air at 5 am that day.



My take on them is not surprising. Golic was talkative, engaging and just relaxing. He looked tired but he was enjoying himself. Greeney was standoffish, trying to get done ASAP and looked uncomfortable. I was a little disappointed but each day is different.

Anyway, Golic looked pretty trim. He is not fat. He does have a big head and hands. I wish I would have asked him to stand up. I just wanted to see what size he is. I am probably comparable to him. Liam their producer was chilling in a chair behind them. I thought that was funny.

Two blogs topics coming: 10th Annual Whiskyfest Chicago (which will be two blogs) and Broncos Draft. Expect one a day for the rest of the week.

Whiskyfest

With Chicago Whiskyfest happening tonight, this is what I feel like...




Ever try a $900 bottle of cognac? a $900 bottle of scotch? How about a $250 bottle of Jameson? Me either! But I will tonight!

Enjoy Retirement Mr. Elam!

A couple weeks ago, the Broncos signed Jason Elam for a one day contract or one week whatever. The sole reason for doing this was so he could retire a Denver Bronco. Elway may have left in May of 1999 but this truly is the end of the era.

Let me tell you all a story. The date was November 22, 1999. It is Monday Night Football at Old Mile High. I had gone to Denver for the weekend and the game. It was my first time ever to a Broncos game. I was by myself. I stayed at a friend's house in Denver, a fellow Rambler. Anyway, I digress. The weather was super cold. Denver weather can be very sporadic. By the time of kick off, it was negative weather with a very negative windchill. It did not stop me from tailgating with random people in the parking lot. Hell, I was drinking the barrel man. Yes, he does not wear anything beside the barrel and no, I will not tell you how I know.

Did I mention yet that it was Oakland? The Raiders were in town. To say I was excited would be an understatement. Oh my! MNF, Raiders-Broncos, my first trip to Old Mile High...wow. This was the year after Elway retired. Oakland was pretty good. Well, this game goes to the wire. Elam attempts a 53 yard field goal with seconds on the clock to tie the game. 53 yard FG in negative weather. Waiting for him to kick the field goal was nerve racking. I was so NERVOUS. He of course made it! The crowd erupted.

In overtime, Olandis Gary busts a 24yd run into the endzone to win the game 27-21. What a game! What a finish!!!! My first game ever in Denver was a huge success!

Thank you Jason Elam for all the years and helping us win back to back Superbowls! Enjoy retirement!

Jamie Oliver's Food Revolution - Friday nights!

Forget Biggest Loser. Forget any other tv show. If you could watch any show, please choose this show. Jamie Oliver's Food Revolution is appalling, heartbreaking and fascinating all at the same time. Jamie Oliver took on the UK school system's processed foods and now in the US he is doing much of the same. He is also trying to change the whole community's way of eating. The show takes place in Huntington, West Virginia, statistically one of the unhealthiest cities in the country.

The show is on tonight! It is on episode four. To give you an idea of this show, the first week he walked into a classroom of I would say first or second graders. He would hold up fresh vegetables and the kids had no idea what any of them were. I mean I am not saying I knew what a yucca was but these kids had no idea what a tomato was. Also, what they feed these kids in the cafeteria is appalling. No wonder kids today have a lower expected lifespan than their parents.

The show has really struck a nerve with me in many ways especially now that I have a daughter. If you are free some Friday night and not doing anything, please take a look.

Boston - Part V - The World of Pain

So, after CP, we picked up Michelle and she had a bag of goodies from her bar crawl...oops...bakery crawl. So, we headed to Colin's house. Actually we straight to the BBQ place, Redbones. It was really really good. Plus, they have like 28 beers on tap. You can spin a wheel to pick a random beer to drink. Ummm, I love games!

After BBQ, we crashed at Colin's and tried some of the goodies. Michelle did a great job. There was peanut butter in like everything. YESSSSSSSSSSS!

To say we crashed is an understatement. My adrenaline from the morning/afternoon was gone and I was just beat. It has been two days straight of fun and one more to go. Luckily, Butler won and that gave me a boost of energy. There was a going away party Saturday night at Ned Devine's. We had a drink or two at Colin's. We then meet people at Sissy K's. Then got to Ned Devine's a little before 9. Horvath, another PwC-er who I am friends with, was gone Thursday and Friday night but was back Saturday. If it wasn't for him, I am not sure I would have gone. None the less I powered through (not well though, I think Michelle multiple time had to talk me into staying). At the end of the night, we walked over to Cafe Pompeii for some pizza before heading home. Not sure the last time I grabbed 2 am food was. Wow.

Well, we got back to Colin's at 3:30. To say I woke up in a HURT LOCKER would be an understatement. We ended up heading to the airport around 1 pm on Sunday and that was that. It was so nice to get home to Samantha and I looked forward to a few weeks of clean eating and clean leaving. Time to get back on track.

Boston is a great city and I loved my short vacation. I hope we can get back in the summer to make it to Fenway...

Boston - Part IV - I promise there will only be 5.

In my opinion, Rocky IV had the best workout regiment of any of the Rocky movies. So I am glad, that part IV of Boston is centered around me going to Cressey Performance (CP) to workout. So Cressey Performance is a gym in Hudson, MA (roughly 40 min outside of Boston). There is a link to them on the side of my page. These guys are trainers that "get-it". They are nationally known and very good at what they do. Curt Schilling has trained there as well as Youkilis. As their clientele is mainly baseball players (especially high schoolers), they train anyone and everyone. I have been following these guys ever since I get into lifting (thank you Knowles). My buddy Colin trains there (on my recommendation) and I set up to have an assessment there with Tony Gentilcore (a co-owner). I also got to do some lifting.

Well, to say I was excited is an understatement. When we got there, the gym was not the whole building. There were other things in the building. Think of a school almost. I just had to go to the right room. The gym was not very big. I would say 60-70 yards long and around 15 yards wide. The more I think about that, the more I get angry at the globogyms of the world. All that space and they fill it with crap machines. CP has one treadmill and one bike that I saw. They had one cable machine. That was it. A few power racks, a deadlifting area, a couple benches, chains, oh and a cement wall to throw things against.

I went through the assessment and found I have external left hip issues. No surprise by me. My left hip is tight. We went through some lifts (squat, deadlift, bench, lunges, pushups, rows) and they gave me pointers. So this is a not a gym you just go into and lift. The purposefully keep the # of people in there to a certain number and trainers walk around to help. Like a 4:1 ratio if you will. There were not many people in there when Colin and I were there so basically I got a lot of 1 on 1.

I threw a medicine ball against the wall. I front squatted to a 13 inch box. I did some pushups. I deadlifted. I was having fun and taking in as much information as I could. I won't lie. I was HUNGOVER from the bar crawl but my adrenaline was rocking.

Colin and I finished the day with an 8 min finisher. On one end of the track, there was a medicine ball. On the other end there was a giant tire and sledgehammer. Every min on the min, we would push a sled (loaded with weight) from one station to the other (40 yds apart). Colin and I would actually cross paths. Each of us were always on opposite ends. On the sledgehammer side we had to hit the tire 5 times on each side (left hand then right hand). at the medicine ball side, you had to do 10 medicine ball slams. Then you rested until the minute turned over and you went back to the other station. I loved it. I was dying at the end but man I wish my gym here was setup to do things like that.

We got there at like noon and we left at 2. I hope I get back to Boston sometime soon because I would love to train there again. My only regret is that Eric Cressey was not there. I wanted to meet the 180 lb man who deadlifts 660.

On a side note, the split between men and women lifting there was about half and half. It was good to see women in there training hard. Honestly, it was good to see everyone doing a lot of the right stuff. You see so much garbage happening at gyms. Not here.

Here is a pic of Colin doing Glute Ham Raises. This exercise kills your hamstrings....



Well, I will be super impressed if ANYONE read that whole posting. Wait? Does anyone read my blog?

The Boston finale post is happening tomorrow!

Boston - Part III - Bringing the colonies together!

Well, if you haven't read the first part of my freedom trail bar crawl, you can find it here.

7. The fours - great sports bar- right next to the garden. Long trail - decnt beer - vermont beer - Since the Celtics were playing the Kings that night, we decided to head to the bars around the Garden. The first bar we went to had a ton of memorabilia on the walls like some sports bars do. It was very impressive and the place was packed with people in Celtics shirts/jerseys.

8. Greatest bar - big sports bar - love it - pbr tall boys. Pbr tall boyyyyysssss! And now you can see my excitement growing. Who had bar 8? This bar was awesome. Huge and I think it has like four levels. Another PwCer joined us here, Nate, who is a Michigan State alum. Let me go on a sidebar about Boston bars in general. The first floor of them are very similar to Chicago. However, they for the most part are multi-level bars. I know not all but they have a lot more multi-level bars than Chicago. I found this interesting. This is the bar that had a huge first floor, the 2nd floor looked over the first. The third floor had Tennessee fans and i think there was another floor that we never made it to. It was a nice bar and they had PBR tall boys. Michelle and I had dinner there - BBQ chicken pizza. I will be honest. I was ready to give up on my mission of 13. This bar was big and once we were away from the Tennessee fans there was no reason to leave. However, the group decided it would be more fun to hop. So after a few beers and dinner here, we were on our way! FREEEDOOOOM! (i may have yelled that a few times....hahahaha).

9. Sullivans - I was on fire with poposhot. Never lost. Had smitheich draft there. Loved it Here is a bar none of the Boston boys had ever been it. It look sketchy from the outside. No windows, small sign, looked questionable. Well, we walked in and we see touch screen and pop-a-shot. I ordered a Smithwick's. You can see my typing in my notes is dying. I quickly figured out that a bank shot was far superior in this pop-a-shot and if you hit the Celtic logo, it was about a 90% chance of going in. Well, a local with a huge accent comes up and challenges me. Fine. I beat em. We are having fun. I can tell he is pretty competitive but still jovial. I beat him a couple more times. He then plays a friend of mine. Wants to play me again. I play him. beat him. He wont quit. I played him one more time. Set the high score on one machine and off by one point from setting it on both. I stopped with a few seconds to go to for style knowing I had him locked up. Thing is - he didn't want to stop. We told him we had to leave. I asked after we left if he would have ever quit, everyone said "no and welcome to your typical boston guy. Intense enough that it might become a fight and will not quit but usually nothing happens". Ok, lets move on. I have never been that good a pop-a-shot.


10. Djs- palm beer - here quick. Need three more bars. We spent too much time at Sullivan's. We wanted to be done at a minimum by half time of the Mich State game for our Mich State alum. So, we went into DJ's grabbed a random beer and moved on. The beer came in a fancy glass.



11. Grand canal - shot of chilled soco- shot and go. The british r coming. We
need to come together quickly! This bar was more like a club. Well, they had a live band. The shots although the Boston boys say were normal size, are big by any standard. They pour them in a glass for crying out loud. I am not complaining though! Again, we were looking for speed especially because the games were not a focus at this bar. If you can not tell by my notes, I am in my happy place. I have been there a while now...

12. Boston sport grill - bar 12 _ has seadog blueberry. Had the beer before.
Great beer. On tap here. Soooooooo good. Pretty good lots of tvs. So, if you remember, bar #1 started with a blueberry beer because I was looking for the Seadog Blueberry. Well, this bar had it. I was EXCITED. It was ON TAP! I almost missed it because there was so many taps. Colin found it. This bar had TVs everywhere. it was a good place to watch the game. However, last time Nate was there for a tourney game, Michigan State lost. He even warned us if Mich State started blowing the game, he was going to bolt to the next bar. I was okay with this.

13. Boston beer works! - 13 - slainte-bunker hill blueberry ale! Ended the
night at a microbrewey. The beer had blueberries in it. This was a micro brew. Nice sized bar. I went right for their blueberry beer and it was fantastic. It even had about 5-6 blueberries floating in it. We stayed here until a little after 11 pm and went back home. I paid my tribute to the original 13 colonies. It was great. Another great part - we walked right back to the hotel. No cab was needed.

On Saturday morning, I wishing that there were only like 8 or 9 colonies and not 13. Lets just say I was not on my A game.

To say I had a good time on Friday would be an understatement. The next blog is all about Cressey Performance (a gym) - you are forewarned.

Boston - Part II

On Friday, I slept in (not really) and Michelle had meetings in the AM. After walking Michelle to her meeting, I basically just re-hydrated in the hotel room and caught up on administrative red tape for my job. When she got back our plan was to walk some of the freedom trail and hit up a few bars along the way. Freedom trail is actually really easy to follow. They have two layers of bricks laid the wrong way along the sidewalk and that is what you follow. No tour guide needed!!!

Let me rewind before I begin. I told the boston boys about this plan and they loved it. We printed out a map of the trail and they circled some must go to bars. The only killer was the weather. On Thursday, it was 60. On Friday, it was snowing when we woke up. It settled at 40 for the day and for the rest of the weekend. Thank you very little.

On our walk to grab lunch at a bar and grill by the graveyard that contains people such as John Hancock and Paul Revere, I thought it would be fun to try to hit 13 bars for 13 colonies.

Knowing it was going to be a long day, I decided to take notes via my blackberry. So I am going to break each paragraph by my UNEDITED notes (you can see what happens with my note taking as the night progresses...).

1. Started at beantown pub right by old graveyard. Beer- waschuttes blueberry - it is light and tasty. This was a great starting point. I can not lie. The boston boys know what they are talking about. The food was great too. Again, across the street was quite the graveyard. Also, ever since I randomly had a seadog blueberry beer, I have fallen in love with blueberry beers. Please keep note of this...Time of lunch was around 1.

2. Seen some cool places. Michelle had to go do work. I walked into sissys. Got a noble pils. Not a fan. Boooo. There is a lot of time between messages here. I think I walked into Sissy K's at like 3. Michelle had a rush project come up around 2:30. We were taking in the sites so I did not have to write about any beers. We visited America's oldest church, the site of the Boston Massacre, the hall where the Tea Party started. This town really is impressive and not very big. I highly recommend the freedom trail. Sissy K's is a boston boys favorite bar because Bud light drafts are $2 (did not know). I ordered a Sam Adams beer that I did not like and it cost $6. I was not happy and I was alone now. Reinforcements were coming though.

Ok - I wasn't alone. Red was just sitting on a bench in Union Market! I had to say hi.

Fine - I took this pic on Sunday morning but he was right there. I just didn't see him on Friday!

3. Kittyosheas - molston canadian- don't get this on draft very often. Came in here on cynthia's suggestion. Hilarious. So, I am right by Faneuil Hall (union market). Faneuil Hall is where colonists first protested the Sugar Act in 1764 and established the doctrine of "no taxation without representation." I posted on facebook that I was bar crawling and one of Michelle's friends posted back that they liked Union Markey area and stopped at Kitty O'Shea's for a beer. Thus my next choice in bar. Their options weren't great but I do like Molson Canadian and it was on draft. This is where my buddy Colin met up with me.

4. Trail tour interrupted. Colin drops off nrol4w at aquarium. We meet up with mich at mr dooleys by hilton, have a boddingtons. So Colin has a book with him that he wants to give to a friend. This ends up being a 30 min sidetrack. I noted it because I was finding my rhythm and this broke it. NROL4W is not a typo (New Rules of Lifting for Women). After the drop off, I get a call from Michelle saying she done. YESSS! Colin and I head to Hilton to pick her up and we stop at Mr. Dooley's for a beer on our way back to the freedom trail. TIMECHECK - 5 pm. This was the worst bartender I have ever dealt with...maybe not but she is up there. Let us move on.

5. Green dragon- oldest bar ever awesome- had the dragon beer it was awesom. LOVE THIS PLACE! The place inside was an ordinary bar. However, the Green Dragon Tavern has been open since 1657!!!! It was deemed the "headquarters of the Revolution" by Samuel Adams, Daniel Webster and Paul Revere. This bar is the perfect symbol of this 13 bars bar crawl! This is also the last site I visited on the freedom trail. Another PwC-er (ex Chicago guy), Jay also joined us here.

6. Caffe pompei-colin and jay need some food. Grabbed a coors light. We r in the north end...ie little italy. Caught a glimpse of the garden walking over here. So after the Green Dragon, we gave up on the freedom trail and headed to the North end, so the guys could grab some food. Now, Michelle and I were SUPPOSED to go to dinner that night just the two of us but sitting at Cafe Pompei we decided to cancel. We were having a blast. Also, on the walk over, we saw the garden and decided we were heading there next.

Well, not too put too much into one blog. The continuation and finale of this wonderful Friday in Boston will come to an end tomorrow.

Boston! - Part I

Wow, has it really been 13 days since I last posted???? Well, i have a few posts to talk about with my Boston trip. Wow. What a whirlwind. What a great city. We had a blast.

I will start with Thursday. Thursday, Michelle and I left Chicago at 6 am and were in Boston by 9 am their time. Well, we both went to the PwC office. Michelle first meeting was at 10:30 a few blocks from there. It was good to be in the Boston office. I have a couple good friends there and meet a few more while I was there.

So, Michelle's meetings were done around 4:30. She came back to the PwC office while I wrapped up my work. We then checked into the hotel (which was about two blocks away) and headed back to PwC to pick up a co-worker. We headed to Fenway area to watch baseball games. Another 5 PwC employees and a couple of Michelle's co workers met us.

We went to a bar called Game On. It was huge and a sweet bar. It was right next to Fenway. I was told though to walk into Bleacher Bar because from inside that bar, you can look into Fenway. Well, it was not crowded and I took a quick pic with my blackberry. The night was great. Butler upset Syracuse which was great because the bar was ALLLLL Syracuse.



When we left, we tried to find a cab. I quickly found out that the cabs there do not abide by any light on/light off rule. In Chicago, if a Taxi has his light on, he is looking for a fare. In Boston, light could be on or off. It doesn't matter. That was annoying but in all a great start to a long weekend!

Tomorrow: Freedom Trail meets Bar Crawl meets the Garden!

Happy St. Patrick's Day

For St. Patrick's day I will list a bunch of random thoughts in bullet form.

• Samantha is 363 days old. Two more...two more...It has been quite the year.
• On Saturday instead of drinking over 20 beers, I got the oil changed in the jeep and worked out in the afternoon. Quite a change of pace. I did split a bottle of wine with my wife over a sushi dinner. My liver was the big winner on Saturday.
• Biggest loser was good last night. I like the Samoans. I think it is inevitable that someone from the blue team will win the money but you never know.
• Speaking of fat people, why does medical insurance reward laziness? Let's say that I get lazy, eat bad and gain 100 lbs. I go to the doctor and get blood pressure prescription because well, my heart is being overworked. The doctor visit and the drugs are covered expense. However, hiring a nutritionist or a personal trainer is not covered. If people are serious about preventive care, should it not start with them? Glad I got that off my chest.
  
• Bryan's bachelor party in New Orleans is starting to take shape. I am getting excited. Ok. I am excited! Will someone be arrested? I would say that it is better than even money!
• This weekend Samantha is having a birthday party at my parents' house. I am looking forward to a weekend in the burbs.
• Next week's episode of Lost is about Richard. I. CAN. NOT. WAIT!!!!!!
• I hope Butler does well in the Tournament but I really think next year is their year.
• What am I saying???? Next year is Loyola's year!!!! No. It's not. So sad.
• Baseball season is right around the corner and for that matter so is summer. YESSS!

I hope everyone has a great St. Patrick's day!

Another sign of old age

St. Patricks Day parade downtown....This saturday is the parade downtown and the day Chicago will be partying in honor of St. Patricks day.

Every year, the Saturday before St. Patrick's day is probably the 2nd biggest party day of the year for Chicago (behind new years eve). For over 10 years, it was easily my favorite day of the year in Chicago. It all started in college with going over to Smitty's place at 7am to tap the keg and eat some green pancakes. If you were lucky, Tiny made an appearance...

You see Chicago parties early and often tomorrow. Bars are crowded by 8 am. We always had a party or gathered at a bar in the am. Slept off the morning fun in the afternoon and came back for more in the pm. Well, that was my usual game plan.

I digress. I did not even realize that the parade was tomorrow until yesterday! Ahhhhhh! You know what my plans are for the am. Wake up with Samantha. Get the oil changed on the jeep and go to the gym. That is my Saturday plans right now.

When did this happen? Oh well, another sign of old age...