YoutTube Pick #8

I know all about math...

FAU

As expected the Gators beat FAU in The Swamp this afternoon. The final score was 59-20, which happens to be the same score as the Tennessee game earlier this season. I expected the game to be high scoring on our part, but I was surprised about how many points we allowed FAU to score. They really took advantage of our weaknesses on defense. Individually, todayu was a big game for Andre Caldwell and Tim Tebow. Bubba Caldwell broke the UF all-time receptions record previously held by Carlos Alvarez, who was in attendance today. Timmy became the only person in NCAA history to run for 20 touchdowns and pass for 20 touchdowns in the same season. But Bubba really lit it up this afternoon. Some of the catches he made were just crazy and saved many of our drives.

Unfortunately, we are no longer in the race for the SEC East title. We needed Georgia to lose, but they beat Kentucky 24-13. We needed Tennessee to lose, but they beat Vanderbilt 25-24. So now the SEC East is between the Vols and the Dawgs. Boooo.

Gatorade

Yesterday at the O'Connell Center at the University of Florida there was a dedication ceremony for the birthplace of Gatorade, the most glorious sports drink in the world. For those who may be woefully unaware, Gatorade was invented at the University of Florida by professor, Dr. Robert Cade, pictured above sipping his wonder drink at the ceremony. It's appropriate that the birthplace of Gatorade would be permanently recognized with a plaque since Gatorade has become such an icon in the sports world. Think about it, what would a win be without a Gatorade bath? And of course there's the fact that Gatorade helps to replace electrolytes and prevent dehydration. Pity the schools, like Tennessee and Florida State, who are reduced to drinking Powerade instead of Gatorade. Pshaw! Drink on Gatorade fans, drink on. It it in you?

If you need a refresher course in the history of Gatorade, watch the commercial below.

Weekend Football

My weekend football viewing started last night, so I suppose this is a little late coming. Last night #2 Oregon played Arizona at Arizona Stadium in Tucson. I was really looking forward to that game because there's something about Oregon I like. It might be their uniforms with their 384 possible combinations. Anyhoo, in the first quarter of the game Oregon's Heisman candidate quarterback, Dennis Dixon, went down with a knee injury and didn't play again. It seemed like a pretty serious injury because they brought his dad down from the stands and they said the trainers had tears in their eyes. The rest of the game was pretty much over for Oregon, as they lost to Arizona 34-24.

Tonight at 11 Hawaii plays at Nevada. I'd really like to stay awake to watch this game. I've become a semi-fan of Hawaii ever since I visited the Aloha State. I would love the opportunity to go to Oahu to work for them. I haven't had many opportunities to watch them since most of their games are either not on tv or are on very late at night.

The meat of the weekend, of course, is tomorrow. Gameday will be broadcasting from Ann Arbor, Michigan for the Ohio State-Michigan game, which will be on ABC at noon. My how the mighty have fallen! Ohio State-Michigan the "biggest rivalry in college football" isn't even a primetime game? Tsk tsk.

The Gators will play the mighty Owls of Florida Atlantic University at noon in The Swamp. This will be the first time the Gators have played FAU. Seeing as how the Gators are playing FAU, this game wasn't a big draw for any of the networks, so it will only be available on pay-per-view. Click here to see the cable systems in Florida that will be offering this service. Other noon games of interest include Northwestern at Illinois on ESPN and Syracuse at UConn on ESPN2. Of extreme interest to Gator fans is Kentucky at Georgia at 12:30. This will be shown on Lincoln-Financial in some areas, otherwise it's on ESPN Gameplan. The Gators NEED Kentucky to beat Georgia to keep SEC East Championship dreams alive. The Gator Nation wants to return to Atlanta. Go Wildcats! :)

At 2:30 Vanderbilt plays at Tennessee. The Gators also need the Vols to lose, so the Commodores need to step it up! Also at noon is Duke at Notre Dame. Normally this wouldn't be such an interesting game, but I'll be looking to see if Duke can actually deliver maybe one of the worse losses ever to the Fighting Irish. LSU at Ole Miss on CBS headlines the 3:30 block. The games on ABC are Iowa State at #3 undefeated Kansas, Miami at Virginia Tech, Penn State at Michigan State, or Cal at Washington.

The primetime games seem pretty drab as far as I'm concerned, so I'll probably just flip around to see what catches my interest. Enjoy your Saturday! It's one of the few we have left in the season. :-\

YouTube Pick #7

This little boy is really feelin the spirit...or really feelin something.

I NEED This Jacket!

Must. Have. This. JACKET!!!

I was reading Marie Claire earlier this morning when I came across and ad for the Puma jacket pictured below. I nearly flipped! First of all, I love Puma. I could go broke just shopping on the website or in the store. And now this jacket! It's gorgeous!!! This jacket makes me want to move to New York instantly so I can wear it. Gotta gotta gotta have it!!!

Project Runway

Project Runway is back on tonight! This is one of my favorite shows and it's been gone for far too long. I believe it's been a little over a year since last season's finale. I've had to get by on watching reruns, but tonight it returns! The season premiere is at 10 pm on Bravo. I love looking at high fashion dresses and I love seeing the designs come together on Project Runway. Some look like they could be going down a runway in New York or Milan and others look simply disgusting. But it's all great and it all starts again tonight!

YouTube Pick #6

I love the fact that these kids are wearking ballet clothes and have the nerve to arabesque in the middle of the dance.

YouTube Pick #5

By now you may or may not know that the Miami Dolphins are the only winless team in the NFL. Congratulations! That's quite a feat! In celebration of this accomplishment, let's take a look at this music video made over twenty years ago, I believe, about the shear amazingness of the Fins. Check it.

Coldplay

Guess what?! Coldplay's working on a new album! Coldplay is one of my favorite groups, so I'm very excited to hear that they'll be coming out with new music in the near future. I LOVE Coldplay's work. Their music seems so much fuller and richer than most of the stuff that's out there right now. It's been consistently great throughout all of their albums. I have to admit that their last album, X&Y, took a little while to have all the songs grow on me because the sound was a little different from Parachutes and A Rush of Blood to the Head. According to the updates, created by guitarist Jonny Buckland, this album will be filled with a lot of experimentation. He says the band is feeling a lot of pressure because the songs are due very soon. Does this mean we could possibly have a Coldplay album in spring or summer of 2008???

A Message for Recruits

Apparently a University of Miami fan has had enough of the way things are going at "The U". So he decided to take matters into his own hands. He has put together a video message for UM's batch of recuits. This guy is going to singlehandedly turn around the Hurricanes programming by making sure the Canes only have highly dedicated recruits. Watch the video below and remember, this video was made to actually get kids to want to go to UM. Ha, good going.

YouTube Pick #4

I love Nike commercials and here's one of my favorites from a few years ago. Check it.

End of an Era

Last night the Miami Hurricanes played their last ever game in the Orange Bowl Stadium. Starting next season the Hurricanes will play in Dolphin Stadium, a fancier, sleeker stadium than the "Horseshoe in Little Havana." But I happen to really like the Orange Bowl. Yes, it's old; very old. But it has so much character. I like the fact that it's not so sterile; you can tell that there's a lot of history in there. The fact that it's going to be torn down saddens me. It seems as though people don't appreciate real history anymore. In a country as young as the United States and a city as young as Miami, it would seem that someone would have some sense of value for things and places that actually have stories behind them.

For their final game ever in this stadium the Canes played the Virgnia Cavaliers. With this game meaning so much more than simply what was happening on the field, of course you would expect the Hurricanes to play at a different level than they had at other times this season. Please take a good look at the picture above. Look closely through the confetti. Can you see the scoreboard? More importantly, can you see the numbers 0 and 48? Yeah, so the 48 belongs to UVA and the 0 to the Canes. Zero. That's how many points the Canes scored last night. Zero safeties, zero touchdowns, zero fieldgoals. How does a team like Miami get blanked? At home? Under these circumstances? What a sendoff. That confetti was definitely in celebration of the stadium and not whatsoever for the team. If anyone were to ask me I'd say they should postpone the move to Dolphin Stadium. The Canes should play their first home game next season in the Orange Bowl so they can go out with a win.

BCS Standings

The new BCS rankings are out. So far, nothing seems overly surprising. There's excitement in Baton Rouge today as the Tigers reclaim the top spot in the polls. Ohio State expectedly dropped after losing to Illinois, but I don't think I expected them to fall as far as they did. The previously unranked Illini are now 19th. Kansas, one of the two undefeated teams in the Top 25 moved up to #3. Hawaii, the other undefeated team is ranked 16th. Why isn't Hawaii higher even though they're undefeated? It's because of their low strength of schedule as a result of playing in the WAC (Western Athletic Conference). The Gators moved up three spots after beating the Gamecocks. Here's the rest of the list...

1. LSU


2. Oregon


3. Kansas


4. Oklahoma


5. Missouri


6. West Virginia


7. Ohio State


8. Arizona State


9. Georgia


10. Virginia Tech


11. USC


12. FLORIDA


13. Texas


14. Virginia


15. Clemson


16. Hawaii


17. Boston College


18. Boise State


19. Illinois


20. Tennessee


21. Michigan


22. Cincinnati


23. Kentucky


24. Connecticut


25. Wisconsin

YouTube Pick #3

With the Chargers playing the Colts tonight on NBC, I thought I'd show the Nike commercial featuring one of my favorite players, LaDainian Tomlinson, from the Chargers. Check it.

SEC Hair Update #4

I had another sighting of SEC Hair today. This time it was in threes! There were three boys sitting relatively near me at Gator's Dockside with great SEC Hair. Still lamenting the fact that I did not get a picture of the last real world displays of SEC Hair, I was determined to capture this sighting. Luckily, I was able to get a picture! I had to try to do it on the sly so no one would become suspicious of me taking pictures of strangers. Here is what I was able to snap.

Win One For the Zooker

In a shocker that will surely shape up the BCS Championship Game picture, the Fighting Illini of Illinois beat the #1 ranked Ohio State Buckeyes. This game, and win, was extra special because ousted Florida coach, Ron Zook, is Illinois's head coach. Ron Zook lost his job at Florida half way through the 2004 season, my sophomore year. I've been rooting for Ron Zook and Illinois ever since he took the job there because I really liked him as a person. His first few years at Illinois were not very successful by any means. I was excited to see Zook doing so well this season, especially tonight. I really, truly felt so happy for him! :)

While watching the postgame press conference tonight and seeing Zook be able to enjoy success I couldn't help but think back on the press conference following the Mississippi State game in 2004. The Gators had just lost to Mississppi State, which was unfathomable. In the press conference following the game Zook looked so forlorn and defeated. He was slunched over at the table and barely looked up at the press. It was as if he knew what was coming. He would be fired that Monday. Knowing what a tough time Zook had here at Florida and in the beginning at Illinois, I am so thrilled to see him doing well.

Gators Win

The Gators went to Columbia and got the job done. We really needed to win tonight and the team did not disappoint. The Gators beat the Gamecocks 51-31, which is waaay more than I expected; especially when you consider last year's closer than siamese twins win. The Gators were on a roll from the very beginning forcing a turnover and scoring on the next two drives. South Carolina tried to get back into the game, but it was to no avail. The game was so far gone that most of the fans in Williams-Brice Stadium were gone by the beginning of the fourth quarter.

The game was interesting in many other ways, also. If you had told me before the game that Mercy Percy Harvin would not be playing I would've been very concerned/nervous/worried. But the game was going so well that I didn't even notice that he wasn't there until sometime during the first quarter when Candice mentioned it. Tonight was also the night that Tim Tebow broke Emmitt Smith's record for most rushing touchdowns in a season. Yes, that's Tim Tebow the quarterback breaking the record of a hall of fame running back.

With this weekend being the anniversary of the play that saved our season and championship dreams last year, let's take a look at the end of the Florida-South Carolina game last year.

YouTube Pick #2

A mime depicts a day in the life of University of Florida quarterback Tim Tebow. Check it

Another Strike

So apparently the Broadway stagehands are planning on going on strike this morning. The strike is being staged (pun intended) by the International Alliance of Theatrical Stage Employees. The strikers will first set up their picket lines outside of the St. James Theatre where there would have been an 11 am matinee of How the Grinch Stole Christmas, were it not for the strike. Other shows being forced to close are Spamalot, Jersey Boys, Wicked, The Lion King, Spring Awakening, and The Little Mermaid. There are some theaters and shows, however, that will not be affected. Mary Poppins and Young Frankenstein will still be running. This strike is coming as a result of a dispute between the stagehands and the union of producers and theater owners about work rules and staffing requirements. We'll see how long this strike goes on.

Writers' Strike

So as you may or may not be aware, the script writers of Hollywood have gone on strike. The strike, organized by the Writers Guild of America was started because of disputes surrounding compensation and roylaties to writers from Internet viewing and DVD sales. The problem is that the producers and corporations are getting money from these forms of distribution, but the writers are not. The first shows affected by the strike were the late-night talk shows, like Leno and Letterman. These shows went to rerun on Monday, as there is no longer anyone to write the material. Jay Leno, for example, could just improvise his own monologues, but he has shown support for the writers and will not return to air until a deal is made.

The sitcoms will soon be forced into reruns as soon as the stockpiled episodes run out. The last new episode of my favorite show, The Office, will air next Thursday. In the video below the writers from the show, some of whom are also actors, explain why they are striking.

YouTube Pick

This is a guy on The X Factor, which is a British show like American Idol. He's ridunculous! Check it

Saturday Preview

With the work week coming to a close it's time to gear up for another Saturday of college football! :-D

The day kicks off with Gameday broadcasting from Williamstown, Massachusetts for Amherst College versus Williams College. This is the first time that Gameday will broadcast from a Division III game. I'm not gonna lie, I'm not up on my D3 football, but apparently this is a big rivalry.

In my opinion the slate of games starts off relatively slowly. The best of the 12 o'clock lineup is Michigan at Wisconsin on ESPN.

Things really get going at 3:30 when Auburn faces Georgia on CBS. This game is known as the Deep South's Oldest Rivalry. This game is really important because we need Georgia to lose as many games as possible. There are some other good games at 3:30 on ABC. Depending on where you live you'll either see Illinois at Ohio State, Arizona State at UCLA, FSU at Virginia Tech, or Texas Tech at Texas. I'm always interested in seeing FSU lose or Illinois win. UConn is playing at Cincinnati on ESPNU. I've always been a UConn fan because my parents went there, but they've only recently become good in football, which is a welcome change.

At 7:15 is Virginia at Miami on ESPN2. This is the last game the Hurricanes will play in the Orange Bowl. I really like that stadium and am sad that it's going to be torn down.

The creme de la creme of the college football lineup is FLORIDA at South Carolina at 7:45 on ESPN. This will be the third time the Gators have faced the Ole Ball Coach. It's amazing how in the beginning of my college career the South Carolina game never really meant anything, kinda like Vandy or Kentucky. Then all of a sudden Stephen Orr decides to go to Columbia and it became one of the biggest games of the season. We NEED to win. No joke, we really need to win out the rest of the season in order to have a chance to make it to Atlanta. It's still possible! Anything is possible! This should be a really good game, and I'm disappointed that I'm not going. Enjoy your Saturday!

Dreamin

With graduation quickly approaching (a lot quicker than I'm comfortable with) I thought it might be appropriate to talk about what would be an AMAZING graduation gift. An Apple MacBook. I've been dreaming about one for so long. They're just so sleek and pretty and powerful. It would be a much welcome change from my hunk o' junk Compaq. I've been trying to stick with it until at least graduation or the beginning of grad school, and I think the time has come to give her a rest. I got it when I started summer school freshman year...June 2003. I am feeling every bit of its age. It's super slow, not just on the Internet, but basic functions. I can no longer use it as a laptop because the battery is completely dead. If I accidentally pull the cord out it shuts down completely. Sometimes, for seemingly no reason at all it'll just shut off. So, yeah, it's time for an upgrade.

Je manque la France

It's been well over a year since I've returned from France, but I still think about it pretty much everyday. My desire to go back has not diminished one bit since I got off the plane in Miami last year. There are so many things that helped shape my time there, so allow me a few moments of nostalgia to the things I miss the most...

• The snack stand at the beach across the street from the school where I bought the same same sandwich for lunch everyday--saucisson sans buerre (salami, no butter)
• Walking by myself down the Rue d'Antibes and just taking everything in
• Being packed like a sardine into Morrison's and watching the World Cup with real soccer fanatics
• The pandemonium in the streets after France made it to the World Cup finals
• Learning things about the French culture that I could've never learned from a book
• The shockingly forward nature of the French men on the streets
• Being able to hop on le train and go to new and exotic places, like Nice, Monaco, Italy, and Marseille, in the same amount of time it takes to get to Orlando or Jacksonville
• Snacky
• Les petites voitures (the little cars)
• The wine!
• Walking home and realizing that I have a route that I call "my way home" in France
• Going out to eat and eating outside at dusk
• Les supporters de Les Bleus (the fans of Les Bleus--the French national soccer team)
• Just sitting in my room
• Waking up to the sounds of the sea gulls
• Trying to figure out how to eat French pizza
• The opulent beauty of Monaco
• Running into the same man in Monaco and Italy two days in a row
• Hearing Bob Sinclar everywhere
• Exploring at will
• Running down the streets of Paris at night toward the Eiffel Tower and seeing its sparkling lights reflecting off of the buildings
• Being in the Eiffel Tower as it sparkles
• The murals on the buildings around Cannes
• The pain au chocolat (chocolate filled croissant) from la gare (the train station)
• Watching the train go past the school and thinking of the places its going
• The kismet of seeing Kanye West in concert in Nice, being in the very front, looking him in the eye while singing along, and having him do two songs I requested
• The small big city feel of Cannes
• Making friends with the local waiters
• The view from my room

Cell Phones

I'm really, really, really, really annoyed by the number of people talking on their cell phones in the library. I can't tell you how much I hate having to listen to someone's inane conversation while I'm trying to study. The worst offenders are the ones who don't even lower their voice and act like they're just sitting at home chatting...like the girl talking on the phone at this very moment. I kinda feel like this has to be some kind of hidden camera show and this is just a joke, but so far I haven't seen a tv crew jump out from around the corner. I understand that the rules in the library have gotten a lot more relaxed. They now allow snacks and drinks. This is something else I don't fully appreciate having been the victim of using a computer with crumbs and half a cookie under the keyboard. Although I understand that the administration is trying to make the library a more relaxed place to study and do work, I also understand that it's still a LIBRARY! Has everyone forgotten that? Have they? I kindly ask that if you really need to talk on the phone please either go outside or into one of the stairwells and spare all the people around you. Thanks.

GMAT

So right now I'm in the library trying to do some GMAT practice problems. I started a GMAT prep course at TutoringZone this past Sunday. I'm taking the class to help me try to get a good score on the GMAT so that I can get into the business school of my choice. I was originally going to just try to study from a book because the Kaplan prep courses are so expensive. But TutoringZone is a lot cheaper, so I figured that an actual class would be beneficial. I'm really glad I made that choice. I realized on Sunday that I couldn't have done all of this preparation simply from reading a book. TutoringZone has been a big help to me in the past, so I'm pretty confident in their abilities to help me prepare for the GMAT.

Anyhoo, I'm working on the practice problems in the quantitative section and I'm getting sooo frustrated. I am not a math person by any means and the math on the GMAT is more complex than the SAT or GRE. I'm already having trouble with the problems and I'm only on the Math Fundamentals section. Fundamentals! As in, this is the easy stuff and it's only gonna get harder. I'm not even halfway through the problems and I already want to stop. I kinda want to just go work on the Verbal section because I know I'm good at that stuff. But since it's getting close to the end of the week and I need to get this done, I think I'll try to do the math first and save the easier stuff last when I'm pressed for time.

Bowl Projections

As of right now Fox Sports and ESPN have projected us to go to the Capital One Bowl on January 1. Our projected matchup is against Michigan. Just last week Fox Sports projected us in the Independence Bowl. CBS Sportsline thinks we're going to the Outback Bowl against Penn State. I hope we don't go to the Outback Bowl...again. Although, it would be fantastic if we played Penn State. MSNBC thinks says we're going to the Outback Bowl against Illinois. It would be an interesting matchup against the Zooker. He's never had much success in Tampa. Of course, none of this means anything at all, but it's still fun to speculate.

MBA

Ok, so I've added a few more schools to the list of places where I will be applying for next fall. I've decided to apply to UMass because they have a pretty good business school and I'll be able to specialize in sports management. It has a good alumni network, which includes the VP of the Red Sox. UMass is located in Amherst, which I initially hoped was fairly close to Boston. Unfortunately, it's not as close as I thought. I think it's about an hour and 45 minutes away. I think it'd be great to find a good program in Boston so I can take advantage of all the sports opportunities there. (I'd also finally get to go to Fenway Park, which I've wanted to do for a long time).

I've also decided to go ahead and apply to Arizona State. I'm fully aware that most people in their MBA program have a few years of work experience. I've also been made aware that the Sports MBA program is very competitive; they only accept twelve people each year! Twelve! But this evening I read through the profiles of the students currently in the program. I found two guys who went there straight out of college. So I figured, if they could do it, why shouldn't I at least give it a shot? I don't want to knock myself out of the running without even giving myself an opportunity. I'm hoping that I have enough work experience in college to get their attention.

The other school I'm now considering is Auburn. I know, I know, I know. I know. For the past two years Auburn has been a wart on my football soul, but I've got to put that aside for now. When I brought up the mere consideration of applying to Auburn at work yesterday I nearly got my head cut off. I used to think that it'd be too tough for me to go to another SEC school or work in an SEC school's athletics department. But I realized that I've got to at least try to not let my loyalties to UF get in the way of a good opportunity. Unlike UNC-Charlotte, which is still the frontrunner in my school search, Auburn has a big D-I program like I've been wanting all along. I also started considering LSU, although not as much as Auburn. When I said this I'm pretty sure my coworkers thought I was the devil. :) I keed, I keed. But seriously, they were not pleased. Oh well, I hope I find the right school that's the best fit.

Top Model

So I'd been getting pretty tired of America's Next Top Model the last few seasons. Some of the challenges started getting pretty ridiculous and unrealistic and the contestants were annoying to watch. I'm happy to report that Top Model has redeemed itself. This season has actually been really good! I actually look forward to watching it every Wednesday. Some highlights from this season include Bianca having to get all of her hair cut off during the makeovers, Heather--who has a mild form of autism--excelling in the competition, and Ebony actually asking to go home during elimination. I still wonder how successful the Top Model winners are actually able to become after the show is over. It seems like I never really see them doing actual work. I wonder if they just get pigeon-holed as "that girl from Top Model." Oh well, I'll just sit back and enjoy the entertainment.

SEC Hair Update #3

Ok, so I was reading South Carolina's football media guide in preparation for our game this weekend (ESPN, 7:45 pm). To my delight I discovered even more SEC hair! This ultimate hairstyle of the most dominant conference in college football graces the heads of the Gamecocks players shown below. Take a gander...

Navy

So before this past weekend the longest losing streak to a single team belonged to Navy, who had lost 43 times to Notre Dame. This Saturday Navy beat Notre Dame 46-44 in triple overtime. Everyone at the Naval Academy and in Annapolis, Maryland is celebrating big time. Classes at the Naval Academy were cancelled yesterday to give the midshipmen more time to celebrate the win. Freshmen, or plebes, were given free time on Sunday instead of having to study the whole afternoon. The city of Annapolis is planning a celebration rally on Wednesday afternoon, all to celebrate one win. That's great and everything, but couldn't we at Florida have gotten at least one day to celebrate our National Championship?

Victory!

Ok, so remember how last week I was really upset about the Everglades? I was all bent out of shape because I love the Everglades and President Bush was planning to veto a $23 billion bill designed to help preserve the Everglades and other wetlands around the country. Well, Congress is going to override the veto! I heard this while I was listening to NPR on the way to work this morning. I was sooo excited! :) ! I still am. According to the report they got much more than the 2/3 needed to override the veto. According to White House Press Secretary, Dana Perino, President Bush's response to the override was that he understands these wetlands are important to the local towns, but that the bill was filled with political pork. Excuse me, Mr. President, but the nation's wetlands, and environment as a whole, affect much more than neighboring towns. Our country's welfare depends on having a healthy ecosystem. Hopefully our next president will be able to realize that.

Ohio

Ok, so today I think I decided to apply to Ohio University for grad school; not Ohio State University. I thought that maybe I shouldn't put all my eggs in one basket with UNC-Charlotte. Ohio University has a dual degree program offering an MBA and Master's in Sports Administration. Ohio University has the oldest sport management program in the country and a very large alumni network, which is great for making connections. In the sports world Ohio is highly respected. It is known for producing athletics directors, such as Florida's AD, Jeremy Foley. I was also going to apply to San Diego State University's Sports MBA program, but I wouldn't e able to start there until Spring 2009. I'm eager to get started this fall. That's the reason I'm not applying to Arizona State. They also have an MBA program with a sport specialization, but they require a few years of postgraduate work experience before you can apply. So as of right now it looks like I'm applying to UNC-Charlotte and Ohio University. Wish me luck!

SEC Hair Update #2

So today at Italian Gator I saw two guys with SEC Hair. They were at the little table next to me and I wanted to take a picture of them sooo bad! Their SEC Hair was perfect! Not since John Parker Wilson have I seen it so nice. Lemme know if you spot any of your own.

Lights Out

Ok, so I'm watching NBC's Sunday night coverage of the Cowboys vs. Eagles. It's halftime and Cris Collinsworth, Bob Costas, and Keith Olberman are doing the halftime show, except something is very different. All the lights are off. They are doing the show by candlelight and the light emanating from the studio monitors. This is part of NBC's Green is Universal initiative. NBC is kicking off a whole week of programming that will try to raise awareness for environmental conservation. They said that the power they are saving by keeping the lights off is enough to power an average American home for about a month. That's great, but it looks ridiculous, absolutely ridiculous. I appreciate the effort, but there's gotta be a better way. Can't they turn off the lights in some other part of the building?

Wanderlust

With graduation fastly approaching (it's a month and a half away) you'd think I'd be super excited about being finished with what has been four and a half years of school. But I'm not; at least not yet. Instead I'm kinda stressed and anxious. This comes as a result of not knowing what I'm going to be doing after December 31st when I have to be out of my apartment.

The plan I have come up with so far is to apply to the Sports MBA Program at UNC-Charlotte and start there in the summer. I don't want to be too cocky or jinx myself, but I feel pretty confident that I should be able to get in. The dilemma I find myself in is what to do until then. I know that I don't want to move back home, so what are my options?

My initial thought is that I would travel. I've been wanting to do this since I got back from France last year. Alright, so that sounds like a novel idea, but where will I get the money to travel, and would I just e roaming the globe by myself?

The second thought I came up with is that I would go somewhere overseas and take up some little part time job to earn enough money to live somewhere and travel around from there. But where would I go. France is the place I've been dying to return to since last year, especially Cannes. However, I barely speak enough French to just get through the day without struggling, let alone working somewhere where I have to conduct business in French. As I see it there aren't many options for English-only speakers. I then thought about going to London; I already speak the language. But London is expensive, especially if I'm just going to get some standard part time job. Someone suggested I go to Australia since they speak English and it will be summer there (I get cold easily). I would like to visit Australia, but I'm not itching to go there as much as other places. Plus, it seems too far on the other side of the world for me to go for an extended period of time. I then thought about going to Hawaii. I really want to go back and it might be fun to hang around there for few months. But I run into the London problem; its expensive. I also thought about going to New York, but I feel like I'd want to go there with a purpose since I wouldn't really feel like I'm seeing anything new.

Ugghhh! So much to figure out! If you have any ideas please let me know. Thanks! :)

SEC Hair Update

I just saw a kid at the Colts game with SEC hair. I'm so confused because Indianapolis is outside of the SEC hair geographic area. Maybe the phenomenon is spreading. Is this going to become a nationwide movement? I don't know how I feel about that.

BCS

Here are the new BCS rankings. With Florida's win versus Vanderbilt yesterday we moved up five spots. Other notable movement includes Boston College, who dropped six spots after losing to Florida State, and Arizona State, who dropped five spots after losing to Oregon. UConn, my parents' alma mater, is sneaking into the picture at #13 with their surprising 8-1 record.

1. Ohio State
2. LSU
3. Oregon
4. Kansas
5. Oklahoma
6. Missouri
7. West Virginia
8. Boston College
9. Arizona State
10. Georgia
11. Virgrinia Tech
12. Michigan
13. Connecticut
14. Texas
15. FLORIDA
16. Hawaii
17. USC
18. Auburn
19. Virginia
20. Boise State
21. Clemson
22. Alabama
23. Penn State
24. Tennessee
25. Kentucky

SEC Hair

Are you aware of the phenomenon known as SEC Hair? It's something that can be seen on college campuses across the Southeast. While it is largely worn by southern frat boys it also shows itself on other heads, such as that of John Parker Wilson (pictured above), the quarterback at Alabama, who is the poster child for SEC hair. The signatures of SEC hair are a slightly shaggy appearance and sideswept bangs. Alabama's football team seems to have more SEC Hair per capita than any other team in the Southeastern Conference. Take a gander at the SEC Hair and go on a hunt for sightings of your very own.

Converse One

I don't know if you know this or not, but I love my Chucks. They're just so versatile and always look great. Anyway, I met our new women's basketball coach, Amanda Butler, and she was commenting on my shoes. I was wearing my orange and blue Converses that I only wear to Gator football games. Nowhere else! She said she couldn't wear those shoes because they aren't Nike, but that she had designed some orange and blue Nikes on the NIKEiD site. Then she said you can do the same thing for Chucks! I had no idea!

I was excited about the idea of designing my own Chucks and then remembered why I still haven't designed my own Nikes. There are too many options! I'm horrible at making decisions. The more options I have the worse it is. There are just so many possibilities that I just give up. But maybe I'll be able to push through and pick something.

The program for customizing the Chucks is called Converse One. You can also design other models of Converse shoes. It seems pretty cool. Have fun designing!

River of Grass

I honestly don't know where to start. I feel so angry that I don't even know how to start formulating my words, so I'll just start typing...

I was just reading a New York Times article about the restoration of the Everglades...or lack thereof. The original plan was to use $8 billion to help with the effort. However, this has not happened and the Everglades continue to dwindle away. It's just insane to me to see the complete lack of respect and concern the government shows for the Everglades. There is a new bill being proposed to aid the Everglades and other wetlands around the country. However, our oh so esteemed President Bush is expected to veto the bill. Way to go Dubya!

The Everglades holds a very special place in my heart. It is one of the most unique ecosystems in the entire world. Nowhere else on earth do alligators and crocodiles live in the same habitat. I used to love taking field trips there in elementary school. Airboat rides through the sawgrass is always lots of fun. This is one of the reasons I was against my father moving to his current house, which is pretty much on the edge of the Everglades. Although, most of South Florida was once part of the expansive River of Grass.

The problems with the Everglades is one of the things that really gets me emotionally worked up. Problems with the environment have always done that to me. I suppose that's why I was president of the Ecology Club in high school and a member of the Envirothon team. (Nerd alert, haha).

PLEASE check out the links below to learn a little bit more about the Everglades. Thanks!

Everglades National Park
Everglades Visitor Information
Friends of the Everglades
Everglades Restoration Plan