For the newbies and there will probably be a lot since the dry spell between the last blog in February, basically I'm here to ramble with too much time on my hands. You'll see that on how my posts since 2004 have been, a time when some of you were still kiddies. Wanting a quick refresher since the down time? I bought a new house a few blocks from my old stomping grounds in the middle of February (you know me, I don't want to leave E Shinnston), I've been engaged since April 9th, played a bunch of softball over that time, went to the beach, and now back to work. I surprised some that I moved out of the house before I was 50 and actually had time to draw myself away from NBA, wrestling and video games enough to meet a girl to propose to. Shocker, I know! Whitney has been putting up with me for about 2 years now, so she already knows she's stuck with a big dork anyways, but it works out great from my side of things, no complaints at all and definitely happy. September 29, 2012. Just about everyone reading this already knew that info anyways, so I won't preach too much on those subjects.
Now we'll get to what I'll call rapid fire since it's been a while. I'll touch on different things that some may care about and some may not. I always try to have a little bit of something for everyone and as always in the past, suggestions are definitely encouraged, just let me know. I'm not going to guarantee you will like everything in here and that's not the point, but give it a chance. First, to one of my addictions and it's been ongoing for a while is Twitter. I'm now near 9000 posts, which probably is more of a sad thing to admit than not, but I always say I could be addicted to worse. Time for a cheap plug alert! http://twitter.com/Bird33WV. Twitter has been out for a while, but even as early as a year ago, very few of my crew were on. Now everyone and their brother jumps into the game and it makes it a lot more fun. I know what you're thinking, what's in it for me? I didn't think I'd care for it either, but being a computer junkie, I figured I'd give it a try a while back. Some get tired of me hyping up Twitter and that's fine, but the only way to get word out is to be repetitive. Same with this blog, I'm a shill for making myself look like a goof to promote whatever, not above that.
If you have more of your clan on (think of your Call of Duty clan to the video game addicts) Twitter, it makes it ten times more interesting, just like playing COD is more interesting with your buddies than some average Joes. With Facebook, most are still on, as am I, but to me there's a ton of drama on there and it's stuck in the mud. If not that, someone is whining and crying like a little girl nonstop over and over. Negativity is one thing I've never liked being associated with. Myself personally, Twitter is more blog style and you can just post a bunch of junk that a lot won't care about, but it's quick paced. For sports fans, Twitter is no joke, you get instant news as it happens and you name a famous person of importance and chances are, they are tweeting like machines nowadays.
More on the social networking saga soon, I won't waste all my energy on that early on so I can keep the ones who are still reading along. If you're still with me this far, you get a cookie. What kind you ask? A Double Doozie from the Great American Cookies place. Now that's serious and not your average cookie, we go the extra effort around here for everyone unlike some other blogs. Either that or I'm just talking to be talking, something I'm not ever short of breath if you know me in person.
Softball season? We rocked it out like no other for this year's summer team. We were sponsored by Mi Pueblo of Fairmont Mexican restaurant fame. Props to Walz for setting up that awesome sponsor and our gear as it has been every year now for a while in softball was top notch. If we're going to lose, we're going down losing while looking good. However, despite a start where we lost our first 8 games (yes, pathetic), the Mi Pueblo Pinatas had enough playing around and got down to business. By the end of summer, our fielding specifically was on point. You all want me to get to the end of this story, I know. It's like a movie, you have to have a little build to it to get you on the edge of your seats. The outcome? Mi Pueblo, bum league champs! A trophy the size of Kofi Kingston was presented to us and that will be hanging out at Mi Pueblo for everyone to see. You know you want to get a picture with the trophy, admit it. But seriously, we came a really long way with our crew. We were good last year but had a ton of ups and downs. We did rock it in the playoffs and finished 3rd I do believe in 2010. This year though, we had at one point a 14-game win streak, went into beast mode with that thing. As another update, we're now in fall ball and are sponsored by town landmark, Hammer's Market! A big shout out to Bones and company for being generous enough to do that. More on that as the season gets underway.
I know everyone in West Virginia has been to Myrtle Beach, South Carolina a zillion times, but not this guy. Not until this year. When normally for ages I'd hit up Ocean City or Virginia Beach, this year I took the trek to Myrtle. I'd make the trip again, enjoyed myself for sure. The first thing that blew me away was how warm the water is down there compared to farther north. It was like bath water down there which made it easy to get into, almost too warm on the hot days. The waves weren't nearly as big as OC though and I've heard that before from others. Atmosphere, you can probably throw me on any beach and I'm going to like it. As a bonus to the trip, we got to hang out a bunch with the Riley clan, Sidelli, and Wes. As part of the trek down south, Whitney got to experience her first Waffle House journey. As all the blog people know, that's one of my hot spots. A good dirty and greasy Waffle House and I'm in. The dirtier the better which is my theory because usually that means good food. Yeah, I'm weird with that, but I like to roll that way on some food. It took me a while to get used to where everything was at, but a few days into it and I was good to go. I still don't get how some people in our area claim to get there in 8 hours though, it's closer to 10 for me. I usually cruise control about 5 miles above speed limit, maybe I have to go 100 to get down there in 8 hours, who knows. I won't get into drawn out details on this road trip since I'm getting back into the flow and have to get to so many other things, but thumbs up on the trip for sure, it gets a thumbs up from me.
Back to work last week, but no worries. I surprised myself and didn't sleep in till 1:00 all summer long, woke up at reasonable hours for most of the "vacation". I wish I could write stories of my students once they start classes, I'd have some stuff that people wouldn't believe. I'd be able to write a book each week if that wasn't confidential. Either way, I love my job and am not one of these whiny negative teachers who hates life every single second. Sure, I'd rather be home sleeping in and playing video games, but as far as work goes, it's close to home, I like everyone I work with and the whole deal. Plus my schedule is flexible and something different everyday. With me being hyped up with energy too often than not, I can't stay still the way it is, so I like to bounce around and do my thing. Now that I'm back to work, the heat can also stop and it seems like it has for the most part. I'm ready for hoodies and sweats type of weather and call me crazy, but I'm ready for some big snow, gotta love it.
I'll get more into my fantasy leagues in the upcoming blogs, but just a quick rundown of what I'm running with at the moment. For baseball this year, I'm in 3 leagues. One is Chin Music, the 30-team dynasty league with team salary caps and minor leaguers. It keeps you up on the minor league setup and I've even had a few players from the rookie league, it's insanely deep and a ton of fun. The other is the Lobstah version, the infamous A#BL, the 18-team keeper league. The Lobstah gang is about as competitive as it gets, you have to stay involved and it's not for lightweights. The third is another Lobstah league, an auction keeper league ran by Neon. This is only an 8-team league, but the setup is pretty solid.
For football, I'm going with three leagues. One is A#FL. Yes, the Lobstah league, how'd you guess? It's ran by Uncle Wilbur, an 18-team keeper league. The other NFL league I'm in is ran by Sweet P and has 10 members with a live draft to be held in a few weeks at my house, decked out with draft board and some of the area's finest foods (concocted by Chef Whitney with a tiny bit of help from the guys), can't go wrong with that. You also can't go wrong with a live draft either. The third is a NCAA league ran by Duce. It's a keeper league and you would think NCAA fantasy ball would be bigger by now than it is, but not sure why that hasn't caught on, we've been rocking that out for a while now. Then throw in a few quick leagues such as an NCAA Pick Em and Survival NFL and we're set. Also, fantasy golf which I still say is one of the least appreciated fantasy leagues out there.
Back to social networking. See, I bounce you guys all over the place. Not a lot are on the train yet, but how is everyone liking Google+ so far? It's a sweet format in my opinion and I've been along for the ride since it started up not that long ago. Who knows if it'll be an impact player (to the ECW crowd, Lance Storm and Justin Credible style) in the long run or not, but why not give it a try? Need an invite? Let me know or whoever else you know on it can also send invites, either way, I'll be seeing you on there, find me. Plus, what do you have to lose anyways? You just might end up liking it.
Movies lately? We've been out of the loop. There for a while we were either doing the Redbox thing or hitting up the theater. I know, I'm the only person in the country who doesn't have Netflix. I hear once I get it I'd be hooked but I don't think I'd use it enough at the moment especially with as much sports and a ton of other things I already have on the DVR. Smurfs 3D was our latest and we took Whitney's little cousin Alexandria to see it. Maybe it's me being a dork, but usually kid movies deliver as far as the factor that it's quick and worth your time. It's tough to give a grade on a kid's movie though, but I went with 7.5 Papa Smurfs out of 10. Also, Doogie Howser is even with a girl in the movie, crazy, who knew? Speaking of her, Jayma Mays is way underrated if you ask me.
The TV schedule over the summer? Outside of the usual wrestling and sports scene, not that anyone cares, but I might as well mention what I've been watching. Why? Just because. The season is over, but I really liked Franklin & Bash and it was good news for me to hear they are doing a second season next summer. Zack Morris is back in action and the whole cast plays their role well. At the moment I'm locked into Big Brother and have been for several years now. It's on three days a week for an hour at a time, but even with that much, it has you wanting more. I'll even admit to watching the mess of Teen Mom. Yeah, not many guys are going to admit that, but I'll check out just about any MTV show and give it a shot. Kids having kids and their drama, it's a car wreck, but you keep watching. Jersey Shore goes without saying, I could write half a blog on that and it hasn't jumped the shark for me at least. The Challenge on MTV? Even though my boy CT didn't make the final, he was the reason I watched, it makes for quality TV since he's my favorite Real World "character" of all time. I'm sure I could throw a few other odds and ins that I watch minus the obvious of RAW, SmackDown, TNA Impact, and MLB Extra Innings which is worth the money and then some.
I wanted to cram a lot more in here, but I have a novel going the way it is. I'll see what happens coming up and how often I get back into the grind of this place. Plus, as I mentioned, I'll try to work in any good suggestions I get to make it fan friendly. And to end things as only our staff can do, here we go...
Bird's Video Moment of the Week: This was sent to us from Corndog. Wrestling fan or not, you might enjoy this internet sensation. Some have maybe seen before, but if not, let's just say Super Dragon gets fired up at a fan for repeatedly chanting his name.
3 Quick Thangs:
1. For old times sake, why not take a visit over to Zombo.
2. I won't get deep into it during this blog, but for those wondering, I'm still optimistic that the NBA season won't be chopped. The talks aren't going in a good direction at the moment and a lot of people have already jumped off the NBA board a long time ago, even when games were going on. Hopefully I won't have to shed any tears for missed games this year, stay tuned because I thought last season brought a lot of casual fans back into the mix.
3. Time to roll out some fast facts to chew on until I appear back in this spot. Hopefully it's not as long as it was before, but we'll see. Apparently ants never sleep in their life? Who knew?! The giant squid has the largest eyes in the world.. And to finish up, the highest point in Pennsylvania is the lowest point in Colorado.
