I am not waiting for New Years!

Lets just say that the last 9 months (okay 8.5 months) have been great and hectic all at the same time. One thing that has really been impacted are my workouts. Between losing workout partner after workout partner and a new born at home, my ability and motivation to go to the gym has died down. Well, that all ends now. Starting December 1, I am challenging myself to 160 workouts over the next 12 months. I am bring back my counter on the left side of the blog to keep track. Enough is enough!

Screw you new years resolution and hello December 1 resolution!

Top 5 - Cable Channels!

Well, there were some rumbling about a top 5. Not to disappoint my readers, today is the top 5 favorite cable channels. I had to think about this one for a while. Really, ESPN is my issue. I am not really a fan of sportscenter. I usually watch ESPNNEWS for summaries of games but ESPN shows sporting events and specials like 30 for 30. Anyway, ESPN was really my hardest decision. Also, no movie channels like HBO, Showtime, etc. I think my list will be similar to most other guys. I think my female readers will have a very different list.

1. TNT - It is usually the first channel I go to. It has NBA games throughout the season. It covers golf and has a nice mix of movies. Sports, movies, I am sold.

2. ESPN - If we could bundle all of ESPN channels into one, I would have said ESPN is #1 in a heartbeat. It shows too much sports not to be in the mix.

3. USA - USA has the best tv shows of the cable channels. Monk, Psych, Royal Pains, reruns of House and NCIS - I am hooked. It also shows WWE, the Masters and some tennis.

4. TBS - Baseball playoffs, weekly sunday baseball games, good movies, and they have the best comedy show reruns on (i.e. Seinfeld, family guy, the office, etc.)

5. FX - Any channel that gave me the Shield and now gives me It's Always Sunny in Philadelphia has to be on my top 5 list.

Anyway, that is my list. As you see, I don't watch many news shows. It usually revolves around sports and movies and sometimes tv shows.

Happy Tuesday!

Thanksgiving weekend

Well, another Thanksgiving, another great year. This year was very different than every other year. In the past, my entire mom's side of the family would get together but this year was a new beginning. We went to my brothers house. When my brother says, there were 13 at the house and food for 3o, he was not kidding.

Here are some notes from Thanksgiving day.

• Cheryl made her first turkey. It was great. She is a natural.
• Joey made a cheesecake from scratch. When I was 18, I could make a can of ravioli...sometimes. Consider me impressed.
• Football was muddy. It was awesome! Muddy fields are so much fun.
• I missed Euchre. Rock band was fun but playing cards is the best.
• Samantha had turkey. My mom pureed some of the leftovers. Samantha likes turkey.
• Michelle's chocolate chip pudding cookies are always good. Always.
• I always think of a drink for Thanksgiving. This year was red neck lemonade. The first batch was great. The 2nd batch I made a little too strong. Oh well.

So the last few years, the day after Thanksgiving has turned into a golfing day with my dad and usually my uncle pete and one other person. This year was no different. I woke up on Friday not feeling well but decided to go golf anyway. It was low 40s out but no wind and sunny. I didnt golf very well on the front nine but played much better on the back 9. I am looking forward to golfing around Christamas in Florida. I wont need a stocking cap and sweater then! Mike was our fourth and I had a ton of fun golfing.

Friday night or should I say afternoon Michelle and I went to see Blind Side and then to dinner. My parents watched Samantha. Our date was over at 8 pm. I was in bed, drugged up by 8:30...man I am getting old. Blind Side was a really good movie. It is crazy to think that the kid is now rookie in the NFL, a starting lineman on the Ravens. Wow.

Saturday, we headed back into the city and went to an LU game at 3 pm. We met my dad and Jackson at Carmen's before the game for thier 5.95 all you can eat buffet. What can i say? Loyola is awesome and they won by around 40! We had another early night. I was pretty sick.

Sunday was a lot of laying around trying to recover from a stupid cold. It also felt great to do nothing.

All in all, a great Thanksgiving weekend...samantha's first!

World Cup 2010

All 32 teams have been decided. Now, they break the teams into four pots and draw for 4 team group play. Lets jsut say that group one consists of potential winners (besides the US). What I think would be a good idea is get 8 people, everyone throw in $10 or $20 each and you do a drawing. You grab one team from each pot. Winner take all. Yes. I like to gamble. Below are the pools.

Pot 1
South Africa (CAF - as hosts)
Germany (UEFA)
Brazil (CONMEBOL)
Italy (UEFA)
Spain (UEFA)
England (UEFA)
France (UEFA)
Argentina (CONMEBOL)

Pot 2 (UEFA Pot)
Netherlands (UEFA)
Portugal (UEFA)
Switzerland (UEFA)
Greece (UEFA)
Serbia (UEFA)
Denmark (UEFA)
Slovakia (UEFA)
Slovenia (UEFA)

Pot 3
Mexico (CONCACAF)
USA (CONCACAF)
South Korea (AFC)
Japan (AFC)
Australia (AFC)
Honduras (CONCACAF)
New Zealand (OFC)
North Korea (AFC)

Pot 4
Paraguay (CONMEBOL)
Ghana (CAF)
Cameroon (CAF)
Cote d'Ivoire (CAF)
Nigeria (CAF)
Uruguay (CONMEBOL)
Algeria (CAF)
Chile (CONMEBOL)

Bad blogger!

Wow. November has been a blur and I have not been blogging. Between traveling for work, traveling for fun and Samantha having an ear infection in both ears, life has been a little hectic. Samantha is feeling better. I am in town for a while now so I am going to focus on bringing this blog back to life! A few bullets if you will.

• Congrats to Bryan and Mary. Bryan asked Mary to marry him and she said yes!
• Samantha is going to her first Loyola game tonight. I am excited.
• The Broncos' offense line is injured. Orton is injured. It is not looking good but they will finish with a wininng record. I never would have guessed that at the beginning of the year!
• I really want the fireman to win biggest loser but it will not happen. He has too much muscle. I think Danny wins it. That is my guess.
• Speaking of BL, I am excited for the show that goes back to past constestants. I can not wait to see people who put all the weight back on.
• Thanksgiving is Thursday. I have always loved Thanksgiving. I am excited. Hell, I am excited for the football game. Good times! Lets be honest thought. I am taking Wednesday off. I am most excited for 5 days of no work! WOOHOO!
• I can not believe how quickly this year is coming to an end. 5 weeks....

Happy Monday!

We're Back!

Just wanted to post a quick blog. We flew back from the bahamas (kicking and screaming) late last night. We had a wonbderful time. I also want to thank my parents for watching Samantha for the 4 days we were gone!

I am sure my wife will be posting pics shortly!

Meeting Sports Guy!

Yes, my favorite sports writer is Bill Simmons or sports guy. He is not your typical sports writer and does a great job of mixing in pop culture with his articles. Anyway, I love his writings. I do not think his analysis is always great (especially with baseball) but he is very entertaining.

Well, I have always thought he is really good when it comes to basketball. Well, he recently finished writing his new book, The Book of Basketball. It is a 700 page comprehensive book on basketball. When I heard it was coming out, I was excited. I love basketball and I loved his first book.

Well, he has been travelling to various cities for book signings. He was at ESPN Sportszone in Chicago last night. He started signing at 5:30. Michelle had class but she was leaving break (7:30). Samantha and I drove down there and picked her up and Michelle then dropped me off.

The line was still out the door but wasn't bad. Once I got inside, I realized the line went upstairs around the games and then back down around the tables in the eating area. Yikes. The good thing is that it is a bar. So there are tvs everywhere and a waitress was walking around serving drinks! Well, that is a line I can wait in!

An hour later, he signed my book. He actually seemed very open/laid back. I mean I was within the last 12 people to get a book signed and he didn't seem tired or annoyed at all. He was having fun. I talked to him briefly about Kyle Orton and went on my way. I was pumped. I met Bill Simmons! Yes!