Man, I sort of forgot I even operated this website. I think it still looks pretty good. Aesthetically appealing. Aesthetically appealing was actually my nickname in High School. In ham Schmitmeyer since I’ve last posted: I have gotten a job and moved back to Columbus, Ohio. Bully for me! That’s about it. I’m pretty much the same guy, only slightly fatter, but I’m pleased to say that my hairline is still really hangin in there.
I don’t know if you’ve heard, but the NFL will be back this year. Maybe you’ve also heard of the Las Vegas Hilton Supercontest, or maybe not. It goes like this ⇒ as soon as the NFL spreads are released each week, the spreads are posted on the Supercontests website. Then, everyone who has paid the entry fee selects five games against their respective spreads. This continues every week throughout the entire 17 week NFL schedule. At the conclusion of the regular season, the individual(s) with the highest win percentage wins a shit-ton of money. Last year, the winner took home over 200 G’s, I think. It sounds really fun and I’ve always wanted to play in it, and by “always,” I of course mean, “since I’ve heard of this competition last season.” The catch is the entry = $1000, so homey can’t play that. I decided that since I have this website available, we could play the game here. Only on my website, it would be the “shits and giggles” version, where there is no entry fee or winnings. This is better for me since I am currently monetarily challenged. Many people I know are also struggling with this affliction, which is emotionally painful and as embarrassing as halitosis.
I think I would get enjoyment out of running this game and would not actually participate besides collecting the spreads and posting weekly picks, results and standings.
Here’s how it would work.
I will find the spreads as early as possible and post them to my website by Monday. Although spreads move throughout the week on gambling websites, they will remain constant during the individual week. Everyone will be required to email me their FIVE picks against the spread by noon on Sunday (Thursday games will be tossed out save Thanksgiving week). Actually, I’m not sure how I’ll do this yet, it’s still up for debate. If one does not send their pick by the cutoff, they will go 0-5 that week. The winner will have the highest win percentage after week 17. Ties will be tossed out, so they will not help your win percentage but they will also not hurt it. You will be required to open-mouth kiss your sister on the lips when this happens or you will suffer immediate disqualification, or death. Basically, a 3-1-1 week becomes 3-1; the total added to the balance of the season. I think this could be really fun and I want to gauge interest, so please get in touch with me somehow and let me know if you’d be down to clizzown.
p.s. if you entered into this with a group of friends, I could not possibly stop you from betting amongst yourselves. I’m not strong enough. Just know that I will not be in charge of any felonious activities.
I refuse to proofread this.
@hamtime5
Wednesday, August 10, 2011
Wednesday, January 5, 2011
Big Ten/OSU Thoughts
There are a few things I do know. I know most reality television is idiotic, but I still get sucked into watching way too much of it. I know my multiplication tables. I know bacon is incredible, so I’ve also deduced that it’s horrible for you. I know The Big Ten isn’t a great football conference and I know that it is not the Buckeyes’ fault.
If you hate Chevrolet, it’s probably not because of the Corvette.
If you’re writing a thesis on why every girl on the planet is ugly, you’re probably not going to use a picture of Jessica Alba as your cover page.
If you brag about how great the SEC is at football, I bet you’re not spending too much time talking about Vanderbilt, and if you’re going to slam the Big Ten you shouldn’t point out the only team that could survive an SEC schedule; it’s the rest of the conference that’s atrocious.
When all the super-cool hipsters talk about their brand new theory of Ohio State being overrated they’ll definitely bring up a couple lopsided losses to SEC teams in the National Championship. There are a couple things they’ll conveniently leave out of this argument, however. They won’t tell you that the Buckeyes are 6-3 in BCS Bowl games, they’ll just tell you about the two blowouts. They won’t tell you, since literally the beginning of the Bowl System, the Buckeyes have had less than fair circumstances in which to play their games. Basically every time the Buckeyes went to play the Pac-10, the Buckeyes had to play an away game in the Pac-10’s backyard, in the Rose Bowl. Odds-makers give the home team three points every game, which doesn’t sound like much but trust me, it is. They won’t tell you when the Buckeyes won their BCS National Championship against Miami, the Buckeyes defeated one of the most talented rosters in the history of the sport. They won’t tell you the Buckeyes were a ten point underdog in the game, which if you equate the payout for betting on a team getting ten points straight up means the Buckeyes should have defeated that Miami team only 1 out of every 6 to 8 tries. But we don’t get credit for that. While you will be reminded about the loss to LSU in the National Championship, they’ll probably forget in which Bowl that game occurred. Well, I was there, and I remember that it was the Sugar Bowl. You know, the bowl located an hour from LSU’s campus? I remember another thing about that Sugar Bowl. I remember that only three minutes had elapsed when the Buckeyes had a 10-point lead. I wonder how that game turns out had the Buckeyes opened up a 10-point lead and the game had been played in Cleveland. Jim Tressel with another National Title? It’s possible. If it did play out in that hypothetical manner, the Buckeyes would then be 7-2 in BCS Bowl games with two National Titles. What a terrible program. That’s not a fair argument though, because Cleveland is two hours from Columbus, not one.
I don’t want to spend too much time breaking down last nights’ game because if you’re here, I’m guessing you watched it. The most important thing I took away from last night was that the Ohio State D-Line crushed the Arkansas O-line. OSU skill position players are usually pretty fast and can run with most SEC teams; we’ve struggled in the trenches though, historically. Last night was different though, the Buckeyes looked like they had the fastest big-eaters and when the Arkansas D-line got through the Buckeye O-line, Terrelle Pryor used his legs to cover up those mistakes. Oh yeah, Ohio State is the last program to defeat half of the teams still vying for the National Championship.
The Big Ten is behind in football and needs to be fixed, but Ohio State is not the problem.
In a short Part Two I’m going to talk a little bit about Terrelle Pryor and Jim Tressel.
I’m not sure how sincere I think Terrelle is when he apologizes for his youthful, errant decision-making, but I do know what he’s done on the field has been pretty amazing. No, he has not won a National Championship and he has not lived up to his expectations. But I’ve often stated his hype before attending the Ohio State was mostly unwarranted, because he never passed in high school and still couldn’t throw very well at the end of his freshman year against Texas. Terrelle Pryor has defeated Michigan three times in three tries, he’s won three Big Ten titles and two BCS bowl games. Terrelle Pryor is 31-4 as a starter by my count. I’d certainly take those numbers out of Braxton Miller, who will lead the Buckeyes in the future.
Jim Tressel’s coaching style can be painfully irritating to watch as a fan of The Buckeyes. However he’s won six straight Big Ten titles, a National Title and is 9-1 against M!ch!g@n. Tressel is 106-22 in his career at OSU and 66-14 in conference play. Before the 2010 campaign, I looked over Tressel’s stats and vowed to never complain about his decisions again. He gets the job done.
Many people are driven to be the best, but most rest after they attain such status. Tressel has continued to push the OSU football program so that the second best Big Ten program currently isn’t even close to Ohio State, IMO.
In other news, M!ch!g@n hated Rich Rod so much they fired him and then several hours later announced that they hadn’t fired him. They fired him again today in attempt to completely cleanse their palate of the previous three years. It’s quite difficult to be hired only once and fired twice, but Rich Rod was able to achieve this, much to my three-year delight.
If you hate Chevrolet, it’s probably not because of the Corvette.
If you’re writing a thesis on why every girl on the planet is ugly, you’re probably not going to use a picture of Jessica Alba as your cover page.
If you brag about how great the SEC is at football, I bet you’re not spending too much time talking about Vanderbilt, and if you’re going to slam the Big Ten you shouldn’t point out the only team that could survive an SEC schedule; it’s the rest of the conference that’s atrocious.
When all the super-cool hipsters talk about their brand new theory of Ohio State being overrated they’ll definitely bring up a couple lopsided losses to SEC teams in the National Championship. There are a couple things they’ll conveniently leave out of this argument, however. They won’t tell you that the Buckeyes are 6-3 in BCS Bowl games, they’ll just tell you about the two blowouts. They won’t tell you, since literally the beginning of the Bowl System, the Buckeyes have had less than fair circumstances in which to play their games. Basically every time the Buckeyes went to play the Pac-10, the Buckeyes had to play an away game in the Pac-10’s backyard, in the Rose Bowl. Odds-makers give the home team three points every game, which doesn’t sound like much but trust me, it is. They won’t tell you when the Buckeyes won their BCS National Championship against Miami, the Buckeyes defeated one of the most talented rosters in the history of the sport. They won’t tell you the Buckeyes were a ten point underdog in the game, which if you equate the payout for betting on a team getting ten points straight up means the Buckeyes should have defeated that Miami team only 1 out of every 6 to 8 tries. But we don’t get credit for that. While you will be reminded about the loss to LSU in the National Championship, they’ll probably forget in which Bowl that game occurred. Well, I was there, and I remember that it was the Sugar Bowl. You know, the bowl located an hour from LSU’s campus? I remember another thing about that Sugar Bowl. I remember that only three minutes had elapsed when the Buckeyes had a 10-point lead. I wonder how that game turns out had the Buckeyes opened up a 10-point lead and the game had been played in Cleveland. Jim Tressel with another National Title? It’s possible. If it did play out in that hypothetical manner, the Buckeyes would then be 7-2 in BCS Bowl games with two National Titles. What a terrible program. That’s not a fair argument though, because Cleveland is two hours from Columbus, not one.
I don’t want to spend too much time breaking down last nights’ game because if you’re here, I’m guessing you watched it. The most important thing I took away from last night was that the Ohio State D-Line crushed the Arkansas O-line. OSU skill position players are usually pretty fast and can run with most SEC teams; we’ve struggled in the trenches though, historically. Last night was different though, the Buckeyes looked like they had the fastest big-eaters and when the Arkansas D-line got through the Buckeye O-line, Terrelle Pryor used his legs to cover up those mistakes. Oh yeah, Ohio State is the last program to defeat half of the teams still vying for the National Championship.
The Big Ten is behind in football and needs to be fixed, but Ohio State is not the problem.
In a short Part Two I’m going to talk a little bit about Terrelle Pryor and Jim Tressel.
I’m not sure how sincere I think Terrelle is when he apologizes for his youthful, errant decision-making, but I do know what he’s done on the field has been pretty amazing. No, he has not won a National Championship and he has not lived up to his expectations. But I’ve often stated his hype before attending the Ohio State was mostly unwarranted, because he never passed in high school and still couldn’t throw very well at the end of his freshman year against Texas. Terrelle Pryor has defeated Michigan three times in three tries, he’s won three Big Ten titles and two BCS bowl games. Terrelle Pryor is 31-4 as a starter by my count. I’d certainly take those numbers out of Braxton Miller, who will lead the Buckeyes in the future.
Jim Tressel’s coaching style can be painfully irritating to watch as a fan of The Buckeyes. However he’s won six straight Big Ten titles, a National Title and is 9-1 against M!ch!g@n. Tressel is 106-22 in his career at OSU and 66-14 in conference play. Before the 2010 campaign, I looked over Tressel’s stats and vowed to never complain about his decisions again. He gets the job done.
Many people are driven to be the best, but most rest after they attain such status. Tressel has continued to push the OSU football program so that the second best Big Ten program currently isn’t even close to Ohio State, IMO.
In other news, M!ch!g@n hated Rich Rod so much they fired him and then several hours later announced that they hadn’t fired him. They fired him again today in attempt to completely cleanse their palate of the previous three years. It’s quite difficult to be hired only once and fired twice, but Rich Rod was able to achieve this, much to my three-year delight.
Tuesday, December 14, 2010
Leaders and Legends
Upon initially hearing the names of the two Big Ten divisions, I supposed I was probably not unlike most of you when I thought, “What”? Yes, Leaders and Legends brought the words ‘what’, ‘corny’ and ‘arrogant’ to the forefront of my mind. It’s definitely a queer choice that didn’t sit well with me.
The news of the divisional names broke over 24 hours ago, and I’m sure most of you have taken the time to process this information and form your opinions. Maybe your initial thoughts were similar to mine, and then you spoke to some of your friends who also believed the names were not the correct choice, and thus your thoughts were cemented that the Divisional names were garbage and the Big Ten had failed. And now, you’re here searching for a little more affirmation. Based on my opening paragraph, you’ll surely get it, right? No, after spending a little more time thinking about the names, I like them. Here are my thoughts.
First off, it is incredibly easy to hear the names and immediately be displeased. It’s also easy to be cynical and think, “that’s the best these powerful, probably overpaid officials could come up with?” I touched on this line of thinking in my last blog and called it unproductive. I still believe this to be true. Instead of remaining negative about the names, I quickly thought to myself, “well, they probably could have done worse.” I then spent about 3 minutes trying to come up with better names for the divisions. I appreciated Leaders and Legends more after my 3 minutes had elapsed. My best idea was ‘Silver’ and ‘Gold’, which is terrible. This idea is obviously flawed because it implies one division is superior to the other. Thanks a lot, Olympics.
Secondly, I think the names will create great awareness for the Big Ten since it is, in fact, a business. Creating recognition for your conference will only serve to increase visits and applications from incoming college freshmen, which is the ultimate goal. Just ask Gonzaga how business was before it had a basketball team that created national recognition and by what percentage their applications have risen now that everyone knows who they are.
These two names will undoubtedly leave the door open for ridicule during down years of Big Ten football, but that’s going to happen anyway and truthfully, that’s the kind of stuff that really doesn’t bother me. If SEC fans want to make remarks about the Big Ten and their views of the ridiculousness of the divisional names, I think that just speaks to their character. The truth is the Big Ten is first and foremost, an organization of outstanding Academic Institutions and as an OSU grad; I will never be embarrassed about that. The Big Ten is not simply 12 separate football entities; it is so much more. The SEC is the king of football, and that’s okay because I’m not going pro in football.
To revisit something I sort of brushed past earlier, and mentioned in a previous blog, I’m not a fan of hearing complaints from someone who has no idea how to fix said problem. So I ask: What should the Big Ten have named its divisions? Should it have given the divisions directional names because that’s what the SEC and Big-12 did? I think I would have been most upset if the Big Ten had done this. How can the Big Ten expect to be exceptional if it just follows a template everyone else has already laid out? Won’t other institutions deserve the credit then? Sure, the Big Ten could have given the divisions directional names and it wouldn’t have drawn much scrutiny, but that sounds boring to me. Personally, I recognize that the Big Ten represents more than football, and I applaud its willingness to experiment and take the chances that can draw criticism. In the end, isn’t taking chances and experimentation what college is all about?
The news of the divisional names broke over 24 hours ago, and I’m sure most of you have taken the time to process this information and form your opinions. Maybe your initial thoughts were similar to mine, and then you spoke to some of your friends who also believed the names were not the correct choice, and thus your thoughts were cemented that the Divisional names were garbage and the Big Ten had failed. And now, you’re here searching for a little more affirmation. Based on my opening paragraph, you’ll surely get it, right? No, after spending a little more time thinking about the names, I like them. Here are my thoughts.
First off, it is incredibly easy to hear the names and immediately be displeased. It’s also easy to be cynical and think, “that’s the best these powerful, probably overpaid officials could come up with?” I touched on this line of thinking in my last blog and called it unproductive. I still believe this to be true. Instead of remaining negative about the names, I quickly thought to myself, “well, they probably could have done worse.” I then spent about 3 minutes trying to come up with better names for the divisions. I appreciated Leaders and Legends more after my 3 minutes had elapsed. My best idea was ‘Silver’ and ‘Gold’, which is terrible. This idea is obviously flawed because it implies one division is superior to the other. Thanks a lot, Olympics.
Secondly, I think the names will create great awareness for the Big Ten since it is, in fact, a business. Creating recognition for your conference will only serve to increase visits and applications from incoming college freshmen, which is the ultimate goal. Just ask Gonzaga how business was before it had a basketball team that created national recognition and by what percentage their applications have risen now that everyone knows who they are.
These two names will undoubtedly leave the door open for ridicule during down years of Big Ten football, but that’s going to happen anyway and truthfully, that’s the kind of stuff that really doesn’t bother me. If SEC fans want to make remarks about the Big Ten and their views of the ridiculousness of the divisional names, I think that just speaks to their character. The truth is the Big Ten is first and foremost, an organization of outstanding Academic Institutions and as an OSU grad; I will never be embarrassed about that. The Big Ten is not simply 12 separate football entities; it is so much more. The SEC is the king of football, and that’s okay because I’m not going pro in football.
To revisit something I sort of brushed past earlier, and mentioned in a previous blog, I’m not a fan of hearing complaints from someone who has no idea how to fix said problem. So I ask: What should the Big Ten have named its divisions? Should it have given the divisions directional names because that’s what the SEC and Big-12 did? I think I would have been most upset if the Big Ten had done this. How can the Big Ten expect to be exceptional if it just follows a template everyone else has already laid out? Won’t other institutions deserve the credit then? Sure, the Big Ten could have given the divisions directional names and it wouldn’t have drawn much scrutiny, but that sounds boring to me. Personally, I recognize that the Big Ten represents more than football, and I applaud its willingness to experiment and take the chances that can draw criticism. In the end, isn’t taking chances and experimentation what college is all about?
Thursday, December 9, 2010
Sports
Woah. There’s been a lot of news on the sports front this week. I don’t even know where to begin. Luckily, there’s no right or wrong answer for that sort of thing.
If you cut off Urban Meyer’s left leg and looked inside, you’d only see 46 rings, and at the age of 46, Urban has resigned from his job as Head Coach for the Florida Gators. If I were a Florida fan though, I wouldn’t panic. I think the 2010 campaign will likely be the worst for Florida because they’ve had to experience the growing pains of replacing a great Quarterback. Just ask Texas how easy that is. I’m not sure how the top 3 high school football states shake out exactly, but certainly, Florida is right there with the likes of Texas and California, so Florida will always have plus athletes. Let’s not forget that Urban has also turned the Florida job into one of the top 5 jobs in the sport. Florida will get a big-name hire, and the short-lived turmoil will be just that. Don’t fret, Florida fan.
And I can’t believe how interested I am in baseball right now. Through the glorious, instant obsession that is twitter, I’ve been on the pulse of all the offseason, free-agent moves, and I gotta say; I think it’s exciting. Without question the team making the biggest waves right now is the Boston Red Sox. The Red Sox have signed Adrian Gonzalez and Carl Crawford to huge deals. Carl Crawford’s deal of 7 years, 142 MM dollars is pretty fat, unfortunately I don’t have Gonzalez’s figures in front of me, but best believe it’s also over 100MM; that’s a lot of Junior Bacon Cheeseburgers. Oh yeah, let’s not understate the fact that Adrian Gonzalez has put up incredible offensive statistics in what might be the most pitcher-friendly park in all of baseball located in San Diego.
The most exciting thing for Red Sox fans is Pedroia, Jacoby Ellsbury and Kevin Youkilis all missed the bulk of the previous season due to injury. They’ll be returning/added to a team that won 89 games last season. In affect, the Red Sox are gaining 5 superstars this season! If they stay healthy, the Red Sox will be a monster. In my opinion, there isn’t another MLB roster even CLOSE to what the Red Sox have on paper right now. Stay tuned though, because Cliff Lee may come to terms with a club today or tomorrow.
The 2nd most coveted outfield free agent (Carl Crawford) this season was Jayson Werth, and the Phillies loss, was the rest of the National League’s gain. I’m excited to watch Jayson Werth, Steven Strasburg and Bryce Harper all in the same lineup in the future, but that IS still a few years away, and the Washington Nationals won’t contend this season. As a Reds fan, whose team is primarily looking to sure up its future with players it already has, as opposed to signing free agents, I’m thrilled to see the Phillies lose a piece of their puzzle. The only downside is Jayson Werth had nothing to do with the Reds being shut out in 2 of its 3 playoff games against the Phillies; so maybe the Reds haven’t really gained all that much.
If you cut off Urban Meyer’s left leg and looked inside, you’d only see 46 rings, and at the age of 46, Urban has resigned from his job as Head Coach for the Florida Gators. If I were a Florida fan though, I wouldn’t panic. I think the 2010 campaign will likely be the worst for Florida because they’ve had to experience the growing pains of replacing a great Quarterback. Just ask Texas how easy that is. I’m not sure how the top 3 high school football states shake out exactly, but certainly, Florida is right there with the likes of Texas and California, so Florida will always have plus athletes. Let’s not forget that Urban has also turned the Florida job into one of the top 5 jobs in the sport. Florida will get a big-name hire, and the short-lived turmoil will be just that. Don’t fret, Florida fan.
And I can’t believe how interested I am in baseball right now. Through the glorious, instant obsession that is twitter, I’ve been on the pulse of all the offseason, free-agent moves, and I gotta say; I think it’s exciting. Without question the team making the biggest waves right now is the Boston Red Sox. The Red Sox have signed Adrian Gonzalez and Carl Crawford to huge deals. Carl Crawford’s deal of 7 years, 142 MM dollars is pretty fat, unfortunately I don’t have Gonzalez’s figures in front of me, but best believe it’s also over 100MM; that’s a lot of Junior Bacon Cheeseburgers. Oh yeah, let’s not understate the fact that Adrian Gonzalez has put up incredible offensive statistics in what might be the most pitcher-friendly park in all of baseball located in San Diego.
The most exciting thing for Red Sox fans is Pedroia, Jacoby Ellsbury and Kevin Youkilis all missed the bulk of the previous season due to injury. They’ll be returning/added to a team that won 89 games last season. In affect, the Red Sox are gaining 5 superstars this season! If they stay healthy, the Red Sox will be a monster. In my opinion, there isn’t another MLB roster even CLOSE to what the Red Sox have on paper right now. Stay tuned though, because Cliff Lee may come to terms with a club today or tomorrow.
The 2nd most coveted outfield free agent (Carl Crawford) this season was Jayson Werth, and the Phillies loss, was the rest of the National League’s gain. I’m excited to watch Jayson Werth, Steven Strasburg and Bryce Harper all in the same lineup in the future, but that IS still a few years away, and the Washington Nationals won’t contend this season. As a Reds fan, whose team is primarily looking to sure up its future with players it already has, as opposed to signing free agents, I’m thrilled to see the Phillies lose a piece of their puzzle. The only downside is Jayson Werth had nothing to do with the Reds being shut out in 2 of its 3 playoff games against the Phillies; so maybe the Reds haven’t really gained all that much.
Sunday, December 5, 2010
Get Your Tickets!
Housekeeping:
In an effort to make this blog closer to a daily occurrence, I'll need to stretch my imagination a little bit to come up with enough material. Although, I'm only going to be aiming for about 200-500 words per day, it'll still add up to a lot more Ham than 1000 words every third week. I've also decided to stop pimping my posts on FB since I don't fetch many hits, and it probably serves to annoy more than it actually helps people. So, if you want to read my stuff, just check here daily. All the time.
I recently heard someone on television talking about how he keeps all of his ticket stubs in a scrapbook. Initially, I thought it was an incredibly nerdy, and lame thing to do, but quickly changed my mind. I thought about some of the games I've been to in my life which have been awesome, and tried to fast forward to when I'm 80-years-old. I won't be able to remember any of it. In short, I've decided to also keep my ticket stubs, starting now, and write a brief summary of each experience. I've really been extremely fortunate to witness some of this stuff. I mean, really, some of these games, and the circumstances surrounding them, I can't believe I was a part of them. I've tried to recount everyone I was with at these games. I hope I haven't forgotten anyone on account of too much alcohol. This is entirely possible.
During the beginning of my sophomore year of college (2005) I spent a lot of time in an apartment tenanted (surprised this is a word) by Ronald, Zeke, Haus, Mitch and Justin Sanchez. They were all broke seniors, and I was a broke sophomore, not yet 21 and unable to enter most bars without fashioning a fake ID. The NHL returned from a lockout and we typically spent the weekend drinking cheap beer in the aforementioned apartment, joined by Greg S. and others, of course. It was this group however, that decided to turn on the Blue Jackets, who played their home games less than 3 miles from where we lived, in order to yell jibberish at the television screen and pretend like we knew hockey. None of us had ever watched hockey prior to this season. After about 3 drunk, weekend nights of screaming at the television and trying to encourage hockey fights, I looked at Ronald and asked if anyone actually kind of liked this sport for what it was, beside the fact that it gave drunk kids an excuse to yell at stuff. Ronald nodded, and suddenly the two of us, along with Greg S, evolved into die-hard BJ's fans. Ronald and I drove down High Street to the local Goodwill Store to be fitted for BlueJacket apparel. We bought actual jackets that happened to be blue. Ronalds was originally made for women, and mine was a nylon duster that went all the way to the ground. Wearing our new "uniforms" made watching the games hysterical and also drew us closer to the sport.
Flash forward to last Friday. Ronald, now wearing a Red Wings jersey, for reason's I hate to think of and refuse to explain for the purposes of this blog, myself, Ben B, J Boke, Z-Botz, Brian M, Danny M, and a Canadian guy named Joe, sat in Nationwide Arena watching the Blue Jackets and Red Wings play a game to decide 1st place in the division. Much like the first NHL game I ever attended, the Red Wings defeated to Blue Jackets, except this game was 2-1 and not 6-0. It kicked off the BJ's current 5-game skid. Besides this skid, the Blue Jackets have had their most successful season to date, but I've been without my best Blue Jacket friend, Ronald, and it's really disappointing.
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The Reds 1st home postseason game in 15 years. After finally having the pleasure of watching a winning season, I realized just how much I love the Reds more than any of my other sports teams. The Reds were swept out of the postseason in this game, but it was still an incredible sight, and I was fortunate to see it. I could probably complain about a few things, but complaining isn't productive and all it really does is make people not want to hang out with you. It's the only Reds game I've been to in my 25 years of living, where the stadium was actually full. For a moment I thought I was in heaven, and then my least favorite player made an error in the top of the 1st, so the Reds were quickly down 1-0, with the Series at 0-2. That's when I realized I was actually in Cincinnati, not heaven. Jake O purchased tickets online and I went to this game with My Brother Andy, Jason K, Greg S, and Jake O. For my purposes, it's unfortunate this "ticket" is actually just a piece of paper that was printed off the internet.
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I believe this game was played on a Thursday. It wasn't easy to find people to make the 2 hour drive to Cincinnati from Columbus to watch the Reds potentially clinch. With the projected starting pitching matchup, I was extremely confident the Reds WOULD indeed clinch, and I was able to talk one of my all-time greatest friends, Lee M, into going to the game. We met up with current Cincinnati resident and my former next door neighbor, Greg R, for this game. Heading into the bottom of the 8th, I called Jay Bruce would hit a leadoff, walk off homerun in the bottom of the 9th to send us to the playoffs. That's exactly what happened, because I'm a genius. Lee and I stayed around the park and took part in the celebration for an hour. We then drove back to Lee's house in Columbus, where we rewatched the game, and the walkoff, while drinking champagne and beer until 4am. This year I was able to watch the Reds biggest two home games in person, over the last 15 seasons; I'm grateful for that.
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The Buckeyes beat M!ch!g@n and we were heading back to the BCS National Championship. My immediate reaction was, "I'm absolutely broke, there's no way I can go to this game." Then, I went over a few things in my head and decided, "fuck it, I'm going to New Orleans." What are the things I went over that ultimately rationalized the trip to New Orleans? Glad you asked. Here's the list of my thoughts.
-I've been a fan of Buckeye Football since I was 5.
-Ohio State was the only college I wanted to go to.
-Ohio State was the only college I applied to.
-It was my senior season.
-How perfect is this situation?
-Very perfect. It's like a fairy tale.
-I'll just put everything on my credit card and pay it off eventually, somehow.
I called Lee M and the trip was on. Jon K from Miami, Aaron D from the University of Dayton, Justin S fellow OSU'er, myself and Lee made the trip.
Ohio State had a student lottery, which gave the winners the opportunity to purchase tickets to the national championship. Guess what. I won. I only knew 3 other people who won, and they were Abbey M, Kirby E and Tyler F. We all met up and purchased our tickets together and eventually, Tyler sold his.
About 2 weeks before we were to take off for New Orleans, I received a letter in the mail stating inactivity in my OPERS retirement account, which I was paying into while I was working for the Village of Minster for the previous 2 summers and 3 summers overall. It asked if I wanted to just cash it out. Yes, please. My only problem was, we were leaving for New Orleans so soon, I didn't know if the mail could get everything processed in time for my trip. Luckily I realized that I lived in Columbus, the capitol of Ohio, and that the OPERS office was probably also in Columbus. I was right, it was located about 1 mile from where I was living. I went to the office and collected the $900 I never realized I was entitled to and the trip was set.
If you're a fan of statistics as I am, think of these odds.
-Buckeyes make the championship my senior year.
-Out of about 150 OSU students I knew, I was 1 of 4 who won the opportunity to purchase tickets.
-Days before the trip, I was flat broke, but was basically gifted $900 which paid for everything.
All of these incredible circumstances made me positive that witnessing the Buckeyes win a National Championship in the Sugar Bowl my Senior year of college was destiny. After the first 3 minutes, the Buckeyes were up 10-0 and Kirby, Abbey and myself rejoiced as our destiny was certainly becoming a reality. This was the 1st time I ever thought I was in heaven. Then LSU scored 31 unanswered points and I realized I was just in shitty, shitty New Orleans. The game ended and my trip was over. Still, I'm undoubtedly fortunate to have been able to see this game, and partake in 4 days of partying in New Orleans with some of my best friends. Destiny still works, and the trip was a blast. Maybe in the grand scheme of things, the Buckeyes actually winning the game wasn't the most important thing.
-----------------------------------------------
A season prior to witnessing a national championship game, I was on hand as the Buckeyes and M!ch!g@n met for the only time in their collective history as number 1 vs. number 2. I think Bo Schembechler passed away the day before, and Columbus was crazy. We had about 8 guests in our apartment for the weekend and it was a nonstop party.
I tailgated with Kurt B and his sister's friends before the game, and I saw Tara Reid partying at an adjacent tailgate. It's basically the only time I've seen a famous person in Columbus, who wasn't playing for a team based in Columbus, or from Columbus themselves.
I saw pairs of tickets on eBay for as much as $2400 for this game, but decided not to sell.
Anyway, Kurt and I left the tailgate, stole an unopened bag of chips from a random tailgate, and walked to the stadium. We ate the chips and drunkenly yelled stupid stuff all the way to the stadium. Kurt and I arrived at the stadium, but our seats weren't together that season, so I found my seat with Zoid. BTW, we were usually able to get to the 1st row of C-Deck, which is the upper bowl, to watch games. The seats were on about the 45 yard line, so you could see the plays unfold. These were my favorite seats I've ever had in Ohio Stadium. It was one of the greatest games ever, and the Buckeyes won 42-39. I had a throbbing headache from screaming the entire game. It was the loudest I've ever heard our crowd. Zoid and I rushed on the field and tore up some of the sod to take home with us. It was the last game the Buckeyes played on sod at home, as field turf was put in the following season. I had about a yard of sod hanging over my shoulder as we walked back to our apartment and people tore some of it off my back, but I didn't care, because who needs a yard of sod? I just wanted a little bit, and I kept it in our freezer for the rest of the school year. We moved out in June, and I deposited the sod into a dumpster. What an unbelievable memory.
---------------------------------------
One of these two tickets is from a regional final baseball game I played my senior year of high school. It was the last game I ever played. I'm not completely sure where the other originated, although I suspect it's from the game our girls won state in basketball my senior year of high school.
My brother gave me his stub from the Regional Final game. I didn't think much of it at the time, but now, it's kind of special he thought to do that. I love baseball, and still miss playing it. I was fortunate to ride the coattails of such a great group of guys from age 8-18, and we made a lot of great memories.
Watching our girls basketball team win state our senior year was really fun. Most of my friends played football and basketball when I didn't, so I couldn't really hang out with them during those seasons. Since the girls playoff run came after our boys were eliminated and before baseball, it was a great time for all of us to hang out and support our girls, who eventually brought home the state title.
----------------------------------------
So that's it. Wow, this was a lot longer than I anticipated. Talk about rambling. You'll probably have to excuse some of the grammar...
In an effort to make this blog closer to a daily occurrence, I'll need to stretch my imagination a little bit to come up with enough material. Although, I'm only going to be aiming for about 200-500 words per day, it'll still add up to a lot more Ham than 1000 words every third week. I've also decided to stop pimping my posts on FB since I don't fetch many hits, and it probably serves to annoy more than it actually helps people. So, if you want to read my stuff, just check here daily. All the time.
I recently heard someone on television talking about how he keeps all of his ticket stubs in a scrapbook. Initially, I thought it was an incredibly nerdy, and lame thing to do, but quickly changed my mind. I thought about some of the games I've been to in my life which have been awesome, and tried to fast forward to when I'm 80-years-old. I won't be able to remember any of it. In short, I've decided to also keep my ticket stubs, starting now, and write a brief summary of each experience. I've really been extremely fortunate to witness some of this stuff. I mean, really, some of these games, and the circumstances surrounding them, I can't believe I was a part of them. I've tried to recount everyone I was with at these games. I hope I haven't forgotten anyone on account of too much alcohol. This is entirely possible.
During the beginning of my sophomore year of college (2005) I spent a lot of time in an apartment tenanted (surprised this is a word) by Ronald, Zeke, Haus, Mitch and Justin Sanchez. They were all broke seniors, and I was a broke sophomore, not yet 21 and unable to enter most bars without fashioning a fake ID. The NHL returned from a lockout and we typically spent the weekend drinking cheap beer in the aforementioned apartment, joined by Greg S. and others, of course. It was this group however, that decided to turn on the Blue Jackets, who played their home games less than 3 miles from where we lived, in order to yell jibberish at the television screen and pretend like we knew hockey. None of us had ever watched hockey prior to this season. After about 3 drunk, weekend nights of screaming at the television and trying to encourage hockey fights, I looked at Ronald and asked if anyone actually kind of liked this sport for what it was, beside the fact that it gave drunk kids an excuse to yell at stuff. Ronald nodded, and suddenly the two of us, along with Greg S, evolved into die-hard BJ's fans. Ronald and I drove down High Street to the local Goodwill Store to be fitted for BlueJacket apparel. We bought actual jackets that happened to be blue. Ronalds was originally made for women, and mine was a nylon duster that went all the way to the ground. Wearing our new "uniforms" made watching the games hysterical and also drew us closer to the sport.
Flash forward to last Friday. Ronald, now wearing a Red Wings jersey, for reason's I hate to think of and refuse to explain for the purposes of this blog, myself, Ben B, J Boke, Z-Botz, Brian M, Danny M, and a Canadian guy named Joe, sat in Nationwide Arena watching the Blue Jackets and Red Wings play a game to decide 1st place in the division. Much like the first NHL game I ever attended, the Red Wings defeated to Blue Jackets, except this game was 2-1 and not 6-0. It kicked off the BJ's current 5-game skid. Besides this skid, the Blue Jackets have had their most successful season to date, but I've been without my best Blue Jacket friend, Ronald, and it's really disappointing.
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The Reds 1st home postseason game in 15 years. After finally having the pleasure of watching a winning season, I realized just how much I love the Reds more than any of my other sports teams. The Reds were swept out of the postseason in this game, but it was still an incredible sight, and I was fortunate to see it. I could probably complain about a few things, but complaining isn't productive and all it really does is make people not want to hang out with you. It's the only Reds game I've been to in my 25 years of living, where the stadium was actually full. For a moment I thought I was in heaven, and then my least favorite player made an error in the top of the 1st, so the Reds were quickly down 1-0, with the Series at 0-2. That's when I realized I was actually in Cincinnati, not heaven. Jake O purchased tickets online and I went to this game with My Brother Andy, Jason K, Greg S, and Jake O. For my purposes, it's unfortunate this "ticket" is actually just a piece of paper that was printed off the internet.
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I believe this game was played on a Thursday. It wasn't easy to find people to make the 2 hour drive to Cincinnati from Columbus to watch the Reds potentially clinch. With the projected starting pitching matchup, I was extremely confident the Reds WOULD indeed clinch, and I was able to talk one of my all-time greatest friends, Lee M, into going to the game. We met up with current Cincinnati resident and my former next door neighbor, Greg R, for this game. Heading into the bottom of the 8th, I called Jay Bruce would hit a leadoff, walk off homerun in the bottom of the 9th to send us to the playoffs. That's exactly what happened, because I'm a genius. Lee and I stayed around the park and took part in the celebration for an hour. We then drove back to Lee's house in Columbus, where we rewatched the game, and the walkoff, while drinking champagne and beer until 4am. This year I was able to watch the Reds biggest two home games in person, over the last 15 seasons; I'm grateful for that.
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The Buckeyes beat M!ch!g@n and we were heading back to the BCS National Championship. My immediate reaction was, "I'm absolutely broke, there's no way I can go to this game." Then, I went over a few things in my head and decided, "fuck it, I'm going to New Orleans." What are the things I went over that ultimately rationalized the trip to New Orleans? Glad you asked. Here's the list of my thoughts.
-I've been a fan of Buckeye Football since I was 5.
-Ohio State was the only college I wanted to go to.
-Ohio State was the only college I applied to.
-It was my senior season.
-How perfect is this situation?
-Very perfect. It's like a fairy tale.
-I'll just put everything on my credit card and pay it off eventually, somehow.
I called Lee M and the trip was on. Jon K from Miami, Aaron D from the University of Dayton, Justin S fellow OSU'er, myself and Lee made the trip.
Ohio State had a student lottery, which gave the winners the opportunity to purchase tickets to the national championship. Guess what. I won. I only knew 3 other people who won, and they were Abbey M, Kirby E and Tyler F. We all met up and purchased our tickets together and eventually, Tyler sold his.
About 2 weeks before we were to take off for New Orleans, I received a letter in the mail stating inactivity in my OPERS retirement account, which I was paying into while I was working for the Village of Minster for the previous 2 summers and 3 summers overall. It asked if I wanted to just cash it out. Yes, please. My only problem was, we were leaving for New Orleans so soon, I didn't know if the mail could get everything processed in time for my trip. Luckily I realized that I lived in Columbus, the capitol of Ohio, and that the OPERS office was probably also in Columbus. I was right, it was located about 1 mile from where I was living. I went to the office and collected the $900 I never realized I was entitled to and the trip was set.
If you're a fan of statistics as I am, think of these odds.
-Buckeyes make the championship my senior year.
-Out of about 150 OSU students I knew, I was 1 of 4 who won the opportunity to purchase tickets.
-Days before the trip, I was flat broke, but was basically gifted $900 which paid for everything.
All of these incredible circumstances made me positive that witnessing the Buckeyes win a National Championship in the Sugar Bowl my Senior year of college was destiny. After the first 3 minutes, the Buckeyes were up 10-0 and Kirby, Abbey and myself rejoiced as our destiny was certainly becoming a reality. This was the 1st time I ever thought I was in heaven. Then LSU scored 31 unanswered points and I realized I was just in shitty, shitty New Orleans. The game ended and my trip was over. Still, I'm undoubtedly fortunate to have been able to see this game, and partake in 4 days of partying in New Orleans with some of my best friends. Destiny still works, and the trip was a blast. Maybe in the grand scheme of things, the Buckeyes actually winning the game wasn't the most important thing.
-----------------------------------------------
A season prior to witnessing a national championship game, I was on hand as the Buckeyes and M!ch!g@n met for the only time in their collective history as number 1 vs. number 2. I think Bo Schembechler passed away the day before, and Columbus was crazy. We had about 8 guests in our apartment for the weekend and it was a nonstop party.
I tailgated with Kurt B and his sister's friends before the game, and I saw Tara Reid partying at an adjacent tailgate. It's basically the only time I've seen a famous person in Columbus, who wasn't playing for a team based in Columbus, or from Columbus themselves.
I saw pairs of tickets on eBay for as much as $2400 for this game, but decided not to sell.
Anyway, Kurt and I left the tailgate, stole an unopened bag of chips from a random tailgate, and walked to the stadium. We ate the chips and drunkenly yelled stupid stuff all the way to the stadium. Kurt and I arrived at the stadium, but our seats weren't together that season, so I found my seat with Zoid. BTW, we were usually able to get to the 1st row of C-Deck, which is the upper bowl, to watch games. The seats were on about the 45 yard line, so you could see the plays unfold. These were my favorite seats I've ever had in Ohio Stadium. It was one of the greatest games ever, and the Buckeyes won 42-39. I had a throbbing headache from screaming the entire game. It was the loudest I've ever heard our crowd. Zoid and I rushed on the field and tore up some of the sod to take home with us. It was the last game the Buckeyes played on sod at home, as field turf was put in the following season. I had about a yard of sod hanging over my shoulder as we walked back to our apartment and people tore some of it off my back, but I didn't care, because who needs a yard of sod? I just wanted a little bit, and I kept it in our freezer for the rest of the school year. We moved out in June, and I deposited the sod into a dumpster. What an unbelievable memory.
---------------------------------------
One of these two tickets is from a regional final baseball game I played my senior year of high school. It was the last game I ever played. I'm not completely sure where the other originated, although I suspect it's from the game our girls won state in basketball my senior year of high school.
My brother gave me his stub from the Regional Final game. I didn't think much of it at the time, but now, it's kind of special he thought to do that. I love baseball, and still miss playing it. I was fortunate to ride the coattails of such a great group of guys from age 8-18, and we made a lot of great memories.
Watching our girls basketball team win state our senior year was really fun. Most of my friends played football and basketball when I didn't, so I couldn't really hang out with them during those seasons. Since the girls playoff run came after our boys were eliminated and before baseball, it was a great time for all of us to hang out and support our girls, who eventually brought home the state title.
----------------------------------------
So that's it. Wow, this was a lot longer than I anticipated. Talk about rambling. You'll probably have to excuse some of the grammar...
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