College Football Week 1`

Ahhh college football is finally here.  It all started with the offensive fireworks of USC at Hawaii.  It ended with Boise State's impressive final drive to win against Virginia Tech.  Here is some of the in-between:

I went 9-9-2 when picking against the spread.  Undisciplined first week as I lost 3 picks that other people persuaded me to choose.  Stay true to your own beliefs! 

I guess replacing Tim Tebow and Colt McCoy will be harder than expected.

Michigan surprised me with their offense.  Lets see if they can stay consistent.

Oregon.  Wow.

Jake Locker did alright but didn't get his team the win.

North Carolina could've beaten LSU with 7 (I think) defensive starters missing.  Haha.

Tulsa at East Carolina was the wildest/most exciting game of the week.

Virginia Tech's entrance to the field was intense.  Music was Metallica's Enter Sandman.

Boise st. defense is for real.  Kellen Moore is a stud.  I hope they play for the national title.

Till next week!

I Love College Football

It's football season!  I'm going to start tracking my ATS picks.  The main teams I will be following this year are:

USC
Hawaii
Wisconsin
Uconn
Fresno st.

USC - I'm a big USC fan and I've followed their offseason very closely.
Hawaii - I live in Hawaii and I've seen Hawaii football for a while now and I have access to a lot of local reading material.
Wisconsin - I like their smash mouth running style and their size on the O-line.
Uconn - Much like Wisconsin.  They have 16 returning starters and I like their style of play.
Fresno st. - I like teams that run the ball effectively.  We'll see if Fresno still runs without Ryan Matthews.  Fresno returns their entire O-line.

Wish all of you college football fans a good season!

No pain no gain

Being a cross country and track runner in high school I heard the motto "no pain, no gain" many times.  Running was a great example since it is an individual sport where your success is solely dependent on how much work you put into the sport.  Of course there is a limit to how much you should push yourself when training.  Push too hard and injuries are bound to happen.  If you get injured, you can't run at all.  So in the case of injuries, no pain equals more gain.

I think I've learned enough about my body through the years to know when to stop or when I'm pushing myself too hard.  I pride myself on never getting hurt when training.  Unfortunately, as the saying goes, shit happens.  Yesterday I was playing football and defending a deep ball when I rolled an ankle pretty bad.  What makes it worse was it was the last play before I was ready to stop. 

Funny how things go sometimes.  Even though I can barely walk without a limp, all I can think about is feeling the pain of doing football drills again.  I have to start taking some advil.  I need to lift legs on Sunday!

How did we get to this point?

I read this article about three Apple iPad users filing a lawsuit against Apple because their iPads overheated and shutoff while exposed to the sun for too long.  Their argument is Apple claims "reading on the iPad is just like reading a book."  They say this claim is false "because a real book can be used in 'the sunlight or other normal environmental conditions' without shutting off." 

Could the point of this lawsuit really to try and get money from Apple?  Do these people really believe in their claims?  Can I sue Apple if I drop my iPad and it breaks because I could drop a book and it won't break like an iPad will?  I hardly believe these people have a benevolent agenda here in trying to make Apple a better company or that they are trying to protect other consumers from those absurd and false claims Apple makes.  I wonder if the state of the economy has damaged their lives so they are desperately looking for ways to make money.  If that were true they shouldn't be buying iPads for the purpose to read books in the first place.  What is their real motive?

I'm sure the plaintiffs just want to see if they can get money from Apple.  However, I believe they really do think they have a solid case with facts that they can use against Apple to support their claims.  And that, my friends, is troubling.  These people don't like it when their iPads OVERHEAT when their ELECTRONIC device is left out IN THE SUN for too long.  I think they would suffer an aneurism if they bought an Xbox 360.  The truly scary thing in all of this is not their way of thinking, but if they actually win.  If a woman can sue McDonalds over coffee being too hot and win, I believe this has a chance.  Could finding these magic phrases in company's product promotions become a legitimate money making venture?  You would have to read a lot and know everything about a lot of different products and you would have to buy all of them to see if you can disprove any claims but I think it would be possible.  Sometimes you can hit a goldmine and find a big flaw in the first couple products you buy and BOOM!  Huge profit!  Doesn't seem like a bad idea really.  I think I'm going to go buy an iPhone 4 now.

If only I was a little taller and heavier

I always like the game of football and I'm a big college football fan.  However I don't have the ideal height or weight to play the game.  Instead I joined cross country and track and field.  I grew to love running and even though I'm very far removed from running with any sort of team, I still feel motivated to run as though training for something.  Lately I've been doing more workouts tailored for football.  Since I've been a distance runner for about 9 years now the transition is difficult.  The main difference between the two types of running is explosive power.  I'm now working out 4 days a week training for a game that I barely play and it's safe to say I put my body through a considerable amount of stress by doing this.  I guess I'm hoping I can join an intramural team or something in the end but there's no guarantee of that.  So why am I putting myself through all of this you ask?  Because it's great fun!  I love pushing myself physically and now I can challenge myself in a different way than I'm used to.  And if I do happen to play football with friends or there ends up being intramurals then that's great. 
I love the satisfaction of a good workout. 
The pain becomes a drug. 
It gives you confidence. 

Graduate School: Not the answer to a recession

It's often been said that during a recession, going back to school is a good choice.  However I cannot advise going to graduate school for that purpose.  I guess it depends on what program or where you go but graduate school is nothing like undergrad.  It is a lot more suffering especially if you do a thesis.  I recently got my Master's degree in microbiology and during ~2 years I was in graduate school I always wondered if it was worth it.  You see, doing a thesis project of that scope wears on your brain like a grindstone.  It is constantly on your mind for 2 years and when something goes wrong, it really destroys your morale and self esteem.  The tales are endless of graduate students doing slave labor all for the hope of living a better life with an advanced degree in hand.  Almost constantly I thought of myself as a masochist as I voluntarily put myself through the daily abuse that is graduate school.  However, I managed to get through it in a very reasonable amount of time considering all the setbacks I faced.  For that, I am thankful.  Now I hope the M.S. after my name will actually mean something in this disaster of a economy.  People have often asked, "are you going to go for your PhD now?" 

I just laugh. 

Pain is all around you

There are many forms of pain.  The obvious involve the idea of getting hurt physically or mentally.  But pain can be a lot more subtle.  For example it could be the burden of something on your mind or your complete and absolute boredom as you get through a workday.  Hopefully whatever pain, subtle or apparent, you are suffering will ultimately lead you to something that you truly want or value.  Love, for instance, is a perfect example of how we are all masochists.  We all believe in the notion of love even though we can get hurt over and over again in hopes of finding a companion to spend the rest of our lives with.  I believe the best way to deal with all these forms of pain is to embrace the fact that it is an integral part of our lives and to focus our energy into making sure we are not going through pain for no reason.  Work to make the pain you go through worth all of the trouble.  Challenge yourself to be a better person.  If work is that boring, learn something that will help you excel in your job.  Sure, you will go through more pain in doing so but at least it's being directed to a greater good.  That is the challenge folks.  Are you up to it?