On Monday in Moscow, Russia, two suicide bombings struck two major subway stations that killed about 39 people and left several people injured. According to the New York Times, the government-run news channel was unresponsive. Channel 1, a main government station, reported briefly on the attacks at 8:30 a.m., a half-hour after the first blast, but did not mention them again until noon, because "there was no new information," according to a spokeswoman for the channel. She said that updates were unnecessary. Seeking information, people turned in droves to the radio and the Internet, which are largely uncensored. All I have to say about this story is wow. Here they have one of the biggest terrorist attacks since 2004 and the government decides not to report the news about this major attack. How is there nothing to update? 39 people are dead and several more are injured, people need to know about this. This is very irresponsible governance and also very irresponsible journalism. I am appalled that this happened. This is why no one trusts the journalists, because they think most of them are watchdogs. It pisses me off that the government has to control the news. Let the journalists do their jobs and the government officials do there's.
According to the New York Times in India, over 200 people have committed suicide over the battle to carve out India's 29th state. Politically motivated suicides has one of the highest suicide rates in the world. According to government statistics, bankruptcy or poverty provoke fewer than five percent of Indian suicides. A family conflict, a broken love affair or an illness is a more likely for people to commit suicide. The number of ideologically motivated suicides in India doubled between 2006 and 2008, the last year in which statistics were available, according to the government. First off, that's just messed up that people would commit suicide because of the government. The Indian government must be doing some awfully bad things for people to take their own lives. This is a worrisome statistic for the Indian government. They have to be more aware of what they are doing in order to prevent these succumbs to happen.
According to the New York Times, President Barrack Obama signed a legislation yesterday to expand college access for millions of young Americans by revamping the federal student loan program. The new law will eliminate fees paid to private banks to act as intermediaries in providing loans to college students and use much of the nearly $68 billion in savings over 11 years to expand Pell grants and make it easier for students to repay outstanding loans after graduating. The law will increase Pell grants along with inflation in the next few years, which should raise the maximum grant to $5,975 from $5,550 by 2017 according to the White House, and it will also provide 820,000 more grants by 2020. In Obama's State of Union address on January 27th, he said about affordability to go to college: "To make college more affordable, this bill will finally end the unwarranted taxpayer subsidies that go to banks for student loans. Instead, let's take that money and give families a $10,000 tax credit for four years of college and increase Pell Grants. And let's tell another one million students that when they graduate, they will be required to pay only 10 percent of their income on student loans, and all of their debt will be forgiven after 20 years –- and forgiven after 10 years if they choose a career in public service, because in the United States of America, no one should go broke because they chose to go to college." This is the start of cutting costs to student loan debts. This may not solve problems of student debt today, but it is a start. I think the enormous college debts is one of the biggest issues in America other than health care and high unemployment rates. People who are over $20,000 in college debt from student loans ruins their potential to become world leaders someday because they have to focus more of their time paying off their debts rather than worry about taking care of others. It's even harder to pay off student loans if there are no jobs out there. Passing the health care reform bill and this student loan bill are two major accomplishments that Obama should be extremely pleased about. However, he and Congress still have a lot of work to do to gain the trust of the American people. This is a good start.
Wednesday, March 31, 2010
Monday, March 29, 2010
College Basketball coming into the home stretch
After this weekend's college basketball fiasco, the Final Four is all set. Butler will take on Michigan State on Saturday at 6:07 p.m. while West Virginia will face off with Duke on Saturday at 8:47 p.m. I thought that Butler getting this far has been a fluke and a joke in the NCAA Tournament thus far. It's not. In their first 11 games of the season, they faced the likes of Minnesota, Clemson, Georgetown, Ohio State, UCLA, Xavier and Davidson and they beat five of those seven teams only losing to Clemson and Georgetown, and they started the season 8-3. They lost their next game to UAB and have won an astounding 24 consecutive games since. Now they are in the Final Four. I thought that it was initially terrible that Butler is in the Final Four because they are a mid-major team who has had an easy schedule, but when they started out the season by beating quality teams, I decided to give them more respect.
Michigan State, NCAA Championship runner-up, is in the Final Four for the sixth time since 1999, the most among any team since then with Duke trailing with five times since that time period. I really love this team. Before the tournament started, the Spartans faltered in their last 10 games with a 5-5 record after starting out the season 19-3. When they defeated New Mexico State in the first round of the NCAA Tournament, Michigan State appeared to be well on their way to enter the Final Four once again. But after their star point guard Kalin Lucas went down with an injury in the first half against Maryland, it looked like they were done. Korie Lucious fills in for the injured Lucas and ends up being the hero by hitting a game-winning three pointer at the buzzer to advance the Spartans to the Sweet 16. They won close and exciting games against Northern Iowa and Tennessee and now they are in the Final Four once again. They got lucky against Tennessee because they couldn't hit their free throws in the final minute of the game, but sometimes its better being lucky than good. I say this every year, I don't care what seed Michigan State is in the tournament but never count out a Tom Izzo coached team.
Duke to me is the most consistent basketball program in America is in the Final Four for the first time since 2004. This team came into the tournament with several issues, but have answered the bell and have rectified all of their mistakes they have made in past games. They are in the Final Four for four reasons, the Big Three in John Scheyer, Kyle Singler and Nolan Smith have all produced when it matters, their front line in Brian Zoubek, Miles Plumlee and Lance Thomas have been monsters on the boards and defensively, their defense has been putting the pedal to the medal and they are hitting their free throws. I think this is the scariest team in the Final Four because they have the ultimate weapon, coach Mike Krzyzewski. To me, he is the most brilliant coach since former UCLA legend John Wooden. No matter what team he coaches, they are always an elite team. Yes, they have faltered in the NCAA Tournament in years past, they are in it every year.
West Virginia is another team that is very dangerous. They also have an dangerous weapon, coach Bob Huggins. He is a winner. He had a very successful career at Cincinnati which includes a Final Four appearance. He coached one season in Kansas State University, went 23-12, advanced to the second round and recruited Michael Beasley who became #2 pick in the NBA draft in 2008. Now he is at his Alma Mater and has made West Virginia become a Big East powerhouse. It is also their first Final Four appearance since 1959. They are a tall-long team that includes Devin Ebanks, Da'Sean Butler, Wellington Smith and Kevin Jones. They are an efficient offense and a tremendous rebounding team.
This Final Four is either going to be amazing or awful. This will be the ultimate round to this exciting tournament. These are the four best teams in America and I hope Saturday's games will show the identities of these four teams. Hopefully it won't be disappointing. My prediction: Duke beats West Virginia and Michigan State beats Butler.
Michigan State, NCAA Championship runner-up, is in the Final Four for the sixth time since 1999, the most among any team since then with Duke trailing with five times since that time period. I really love this team. Before the tournament started, the Spartans faltered in their last 10 games with a 5-5 record after starting out the season 19-3. When they defeated New Mexico State in the first round of the NCAA Tournament, Michigan State appeared to be well on their way to enter the Final Four once again. But after their star point guard Kalin Lucas went down with an injury in the first half against Maryland, it looked like they were done. Korie Lucious fills in for the injured Lucas and ends up being the hero by hitting a game-winning three pointer at the buzzer to advance the Spartans to the Sweet 16. They won close and exciting games against Northern Iowa and Tennessee and now they are in the Final Four once again. They got lucky against Tennessee because they couldn't hit their free throws in the final minute of the game, but sometimes its better being lucky than good. I say this every year, I don't care what seed Michigan State is in the tournament but never count out a Tom Izzo coached team.
Duke to me is the most consistent basketball program in America is in the Final Four for the first time since 2004. This team came into the tournament with several issues, but have answered the bell and have rectified all of their mistakes they have made in past games. They are in the Final Four for four reasons, the Big Three in John Scheyer, Kyle Singler and Nolan Smith have all produced when it matters, their front line in Brian Zoubek, Miles Plumlee and Lance Thomas have been monsters on the boards and defensively, their defense has been putting the pedal to the medal and they are hitting their free throws. I think this is the scariest team in the Final Four because they have the ultimate weapon, coach Mike Krzyzewski. To me, he is the most brilliant coach since former UCLA legend John Wooden. No matter what team he coaches, they are always an elite team. Yes, they have faltered in the NCAA Tournament in years past, they are in it every year.
West Virginia is another team that is very dangerous. They also have an dangerous weapon, coach Bob Huggins. He is a winner. He had a very successful career at Cincinnati which includes a Final Four appearance. He coached one season in Kansas State University, went 23-12, advanced to the second round and recruited Michael Beasley who became #2 pick in the NBA draft in 2008. Now he is at his Alma Mater and has made West Virginia become a Big East powerhouse. It is also their first Final Four appearance since 1959. They are a tall-long team that includes Devin Ebanks, Da'Sean Butler, Wellington Smith and Kevin Jones. They are an efficient offense and a tremendous rebounding team.
This Final Four is either going to be amazing or awful. This will be the ultimate round to this exciting tournament. These are the four best teams in America and I hope Saturday's games will show the identities of these four teams. Hopefully it won't be disappointing. My prediction: Duke beats West Virginia and Michigan State beats Butler.
Friday, March 26, 2010
Back in Beverly
Here I am, six days after I come back to America from Trinidad and Tobago and I am still in vacation mode. This week was not too bad, even though I had a hard time getting back to the swing of things at school. It is becoming more of a struggle to start doing homework again since I did not have to do homework during spring break. It is hard to because I only have class three days a week, so I would rather do other things than doing homework. Since I am home for the weekend, maybe I can have better concentration of doing my homework now.
It's so hard to believe that I am graduating in two months. It is amazing how fast three and a half years goes by. You tend to forget where the time has gone. Recently, I have felt like I am losing my confidence again. One of the factors is because I have been overwhelmed with the job world approaching me. I try to keep telling myself that since about 10 percent of the country is unemployed to not worry about it. I worry because I am a competitive person. I hate to lose and I will do anything to win. I have also been cranky and grumpy recently because of the job stuff. There are two things that can cure my recent behavior, graduate from college and get a job. I feel bad because I am taking it out on people that don't deserve to be treated like that. Although, younger people do tick me off sometimes, but I have to remember one thing, I was one of those younger people one time. I am still young, but since I have been traveling much more, I feel older and much more well-rounded. As I always say, let the younger people fall in their faces and they will move on, just like you.
This is the first time this semester that I am home. Two months has easily been the longest time that I have not been home when I live in the United States, the longest was three and a half months when I was in London for study abroad. Pete picked me up yesterday and we had a good talk about how things are going between the both of us. When I got home, mom cooked a nice spaghetti with meat sauce dinner. It was nice to finally have a home cooked meal. Pete and I also went to the movies to see "She's out of your League" last night. It was a funny movie and I recommend it to anyway if they want a good slap-stick comedy. I am going to sit around and do some homework today and then hang around with the family until tonight when I go to Boston with my friends. I am really excited about going to Boston again. It has been quite a while since I have gone. I think going home will be the best thing for me this semester. I need to breathe in the horrible Massachusetts air, I need to see my friends and I need to see my family. I just need to get back to my roots at home. Maybe this will be the recipe of my cure, go home, have fun and let loose a bit, and of course do homework. Man did I need to get out of New Hampshire and go home.
It's so hard to believe that I am graduating in two months. It is amazing how fast three and a half years goes by. You tend to forget where the time has gone. Recently, I have felt like I am losing my confidence again. One of the factors is because I have been overwhelmed with the job world approaching me. I try to keep telling myself that since about 10 percent of the country is unemployed to not worry about it. I worry because I am a competitive person. I hate to lose and I will do anything to win. I have also been cranky and grumpy recently because of the job stuff. There are two things that can cure my recent behavior, graduate from college and get a job. I feel bad because I am taking it out on people that don't deserve to be treated like that. Although, younger people do tick me off sometimes, but I have to remember one thing, I was one of those younger people one time. I am still young, but since I have been traveling much more, I feel older and much more well-rounded. As I always say, let the younger people fall in their faces and they will move on, just like you.
This is the first time this semester that I am home. Two months has easily been the longest time that I have not been home when I live in the United States, the longest was three and a half months when I was in London for study abroad. Pete picked me up yesterday and we had a good talk about how things are going between the both of us. When I got home, mom cooked a nice spaghetti with meat sauce dinner. It was nice to finally have a home cooked meal. Pete and I also went to the movies to see "She's out of your League" last night. It was a funny movie and I recommend it to anyway if they want a good slap-stick comedy. I am going to sit around and do some homework today and then hang around with the family until tonight when I go to Boston with my friends. I am really excited about going to Boston again. It has been quite a while since I have gone. I think going home will be the best thing for me this semester. I need to breathe in the horrible Massachusetts air, I need to see my friends and I need to see my family. I just need to get back to my roots at home. Maybe this will be the recipe of my cure, go home, have fun and let loose a bit, and of course do homework. Man did I need to get out of New Hampshire and go home.
Wednesday, March 24, 2010
Health Care becomes law, NFL tinkering OT rules
Yesterday President Obama signed the health care reform bill. The bill will be a 10 year, $940 billion plan. It will cover 32 million Americans who are uninsured. It will reduce the national deficit by $138 billion. It will improve Medicare benefits, something that has been a major concern for the duration of talks. The whole bill will not be in effect until 2014. On Saturday, Obama wanted to vote for the bill by Sunday and I thought it would never pass because the Republicans hate it and the Democrats care too much about their seat. But once the bill was passed by seven votes on Sunday, I misunderstood the significance of it. The health care reform bill is finished. There is no way to turn back now. Naturally, the Republicans are complaining because they believe that this is socialism and that it is hurting the American people. It shows that people are too selfish to realize that some people around them are in need of help. There are several people that don't have jobs or health care insurance. What happens if an unemployed mother has a son who has a sore throat and he can't afford to go to the doctor's office and get a prescription for him? You have a mother that does not have money to pay for anything that can make her son feel better. Now that 95 per cent of Americans will be guaranteed health care, it takes the pressure off not having a job. Besides, the main thing that people look for when it comes to having job benefits is health care. Please, Republicans, do me a favor, put a cork in it, do your job and shut up. It's done, get over it.
According to nfl.com yesterday, the NFL passed the new playoff overtime rules. Starting next season, if a team wins the coin toss and then kicks a field goal, the other team gets the ball. If the game becomes tied again after that next series, play will continue under the current sudden-death rules. Should the team winning the toss immediately score a touchdown, then the game is over. Team owners voted 28-4 on Tuesday in favor of the proposal at the NFL Annual Meeting. The Minnesota Vikings, Buffalo Bills, Cincinnati Bengals and Baltimore Ravens were against the change. Those statistics showed that since 1994, the team that won the overtime coin toss won the game 34.4 percent of the time on the first possession. Overall, the team that correctly called the coin toss won overtime games 59.8 percent of the time in the last 15 years, or since kickoffs were moved back 5 yards to the 30. This really ticks me off. Why change the rules the way they are? You are already a sports-marketing giant, be a professional sports league, don't be like college football. For many years, people have wanted the NFL to change the overtime rules to the amateur rules, which in high school and in college football, each team has a chance to score. They start at the opponent's 30 yard line and each team has a chance to win the game. If the game is still tied, they keep going until whoever scores the most points. I feel the NFL doesn't want the place kicker to win games anymore. They want the skill players to win the game. It may make the playoff games more exciting, but changing the rules to me doesn't make it better football wise. It just shows that all professional sports care about is stats and not selling tickets. The reason why the NFL changed the rules is because Brett Farve did not have a chance to win in overtime in the NFC Championship game. The NFL was probably furious when Garrett Hartley won the game instead of Drew Brees or Farve. Now that the overtime rules have changed, the NFL will get their wish with Tom Brady or Peyton Manning having a chance to win the big playoff game instead of Robbie Gould or Matt Bryant. Despicable.
According to nfl.com yesterday, the NFL passed the new playoff overtime rules. Starting next season, if a team wins the coin toss and then kicks a field goal, the other team gets the ball. If the game becomes tied again after that next series, play will continue under the current sudden-death rules. Should the team winning the toss immediately score a touchdown, then the game is over. Team owners voted 28-4 on Tuesday in favor of the proposal at the NFL Annual Meeting. The Minnesota Vikings, Buffalo Bills, Cincinnati Bengals and Baltimore Ravens were against the change. Those statistics showed that since 1994, the team that won the overtime coin toss won the game 34.4 percent of the time on the first possession. Overall, the team that correctly called the coin toss won overtime games 59.8 percent of the time in the last 15 years, or since kickoffs were moved back 5 yards to the 30. This really ticks me off. Why change the rules the way they are? You are already a sports-marketing giant, be a professional sports league, don't be like college football. For many years, people have wanted the NFL to change the overtime rules to the amateur rules, which in high school and in college football, each team has a chance to score. They start at the opponent's 30 yard line and each team has a chance to win the game. If the game is still tied, they keep going until whoever scores the most points. I feel the NFL doesn't want the place kicker to win games anymore. They want the skill players to win the game. It may make the playoff games more exciting, but changing the rules to me doesn't make it better football wise. It just shows that all professional sports care about is stats and not selling tickets. The reason why the NFL changed the rules is because Brett Farve did not have a chance to win in overtime in the NFC Championship game. The NFL was probably furious when Garrett Hartley won the game instead of Drew Brees or Farve. Now that the overtime rules have changed, the NFL will get their wish with Tom Brady or Peyton Manning having a chance to win the big playoff game instead of Robbie Gould or Matt Bryant. Despicable.
Monday, March 22, 2010
Mauer gets a big payday, March Madness making fans go crazy
Minnesota Twins catcher, Joe Mauer, who is on the final year of his contract, went through the entire off-season and more than half of Spring Training wondering when he was going to receive a contract extension. Yesterday he finally got it. The Twins and Mauer agreed to an eight year, $184 million contract extension, making it the fourth highest contract in Major League Baseball history. Mauer has won three batting titles and won the MVP award last season with a .365 average, 28 home runs and 96 rbis while he missed the first month due to lower back pain. The timing of the contract extension is impeccable because the Twins found out that their closer, Joe Nathan, has elected to have Tommy John surgery and will be out for the season. Also, their new stadium, Target Field, an outdoor stadium, will open this year. This is great for baseball because Mauer is deeply loved in Minnesota and losing him to free agency would have been devastating. He is such a hard core Minnesota native that he lives in a cabin. That's so manly. As much as I wanted the Red Sox get him, it is better for baseball to have a small market team sign their best player to a high contract.
Is it me or did the NCAA tournament get more interesting? Kansas, a #1 seed in the Midwest, lost in the second round to #9 seeded Northern Iowa. Kansas was heavily favored to win it all for the second time in three years. There are three teams in the Sweet 16 that are a #9 seed or higher (Northern Iowa, #10 St. Mary's and #12 Cornell). Cornell has been the most impressive lower seeded team thus far. Not only did they beat Temple and Wisconsin, they torched them, winning each game by 13 and 18. Three #1 seeds, Syracuse, Kentucky and Duke remain. Every year, March Madness brings upsets and makes everyone tear up their brackets before you say "go". No one has every had a perfect bracket and never will. The NCAA Tournament is the most unpredictable thing ever known. Anyone who actually thought that Kansas was going to lose in the second round or Villanova losing in the second round is lying. There were rumors that the tournament should expand to 96 from 65. All I have to say is screw that. The claim is that teams who were good enough to make it but were snubbed will be able to play. All I have to say is, if you don't make it, that's just too bad. You may have been good enough, but either your team was in a bad conference or just had bad losses. Leave it at 65 teams. It is shorter and it is more competitive. I am pumped about the Sweet 16 and the Elite 8.
The Bruins had a good 2-1 win yesterday against the Rangers on NBC. I still think that are way too conservative offensively, but they get the job done defensively and goaltending. I think as long as they continue to play stout defense and goaltending, they have a chance to hang in with anyone. They have a test against the Atlanta Thrashers for a eighth place in the Eastern Conference, they are one point behind the Bruins.
Is it me or did the NCAA tournament get more interesting? Kansas, a #1 seed in the Midwest, lost in the second round to #9 seeded Northern Iowa. Kansas was heavily favored to win it all for the second time in three years. There are three teams in the Sweet 16 that are a #9 seed or higher (Northern Iowa, #10 St. Mary's and #12 Cornell). Cornell has been the most impressive lower seeded team thus far. Not only did they beat Temple and Wisconsin, they torched them, winning each game by 13 and 18. Three #1 seeds, Syracuse, Kentucky and Duke remain. Every year, March Madness brings upsets and makes everyone tear up their brackets before you say "go". No one has every had a perfect bracket and never will. The NCAA Tournament is the most unpredictable thing ever known. Anyone who actually thought that Kansas was going to lose in the second round or Villanova losing in the second round is lying. There were rumors that the tournament should expand to 96 from 65. All I have to say is screw that. The claim is that teams who were good enough to make it but were snubbed will be able to play. All I have to say is, if you don't make it, that's just too bad. You may have been good enough, but either your team was in a bad conference or just had bad losses. Leave it at 65 teams. It is shorter and it is more competitive. I am pumped about the Sweet 16 and the Elite 8.
The Bruins had a good 2-1 win yesterday against the Rangers on NBC. I still think that are way too conservative offensively, but they get the job done defensively and goaltending. I think as long as they continue to play stout defense and goaltending, they have a chance to hang in with anyone. They have a test against the Atlanta Thrashers for a eighth place in the Eastern Conference, they are one point behind the Bruins.
Friday, March 12, 2010
Spring Break is here!
Seven weeks has passed so far this semester and spring break is already here. In the first half of this semester, I have three A's and I'm not sure what my grade in Sports Writing is yet. This is the last semester of my college career and I am already feeling depressed at the fact that the real world is slowly creeping up on me. I am nervous about what is going to happen to me when I graduate, but excited for the challenge. I am scared because I care about what I want to do. As time has worn on, I am beginning to thoroughly enjoy writing more than ever. When I went abroad last spring, I wrote about my thoughts on a journal. It was very relaxing and a lot of fun. I have not read any of my entries yet, but when I do read them, I will look back and think about those days.
Speaking of traveling, I am leaving for Trinidad and Tobago tomorrow morning. I will be going with 12 people in my dorm. We leave from UNH at around 9:30 a.m. and we should get to Logan Airport in Boston at 11 a.m. Our flight leaves at 1:45 p.m. and we will arrive at John F. Kennedy Airport at 3:23 p.m. There will be an extremely long layover, but it will give us time to get to know each other. Our flight leaves from JFK at 1 a.m. and we arrive at Port of Spain in Trinidad at 7 a.m. We will be there from Sunday morning to Saturday night. We are going to be in Trinidad because we are going for a program called "Visit a Smithie". We are visiting Nicky Lee who lived in Smith for four years and graduated from UNH in 2008. For the whole week, Nicky and her family is going to show us around the city and we are also going to volunteer for two days. I believe we will be assisting people on soiling, so that will be cool to learn how to do that. It is supposed to be over 90 degrees Fahrenheit there, so we are all going to be really hot. The U.S. dollar is really strong in Trinidad, so we don't have to worry about spending a lot of money. We will doing a lot of sight-seeing which is something I love to do when I am traveling. Plus, we have one week to see the whole city, so it will be a lot of fun.
I am going on the trip because as a writer, going to a developing country will help me see what the world is really like. I want to be a diverse writer. I have only been to countries that are doing well economically. I have always wanted to go to poor countries and I will get my chance to do it. I am also going to try to take better photography, so we will all give each other tips about how to take pictures while we are there. This is also a great excuse to leave New Hampshire since I have been here for nearly two months straight. God I am pumped! I will not write on the blog while I am there. I will make another post on Monday, March 22nd and write all about it, since I'm not going to be watching sports anyway.
Speaking of traveling, I am leaving for Trinidad and Tobago tomorrow morning. I will be going with 12 people in my dorm. We leave from UNH at around 9:30 a.m. and we should get to Logan Airport in Boston at 11 a.m. Our flight leaves at 1:45 p.m. and we will arrive at John F. Kennedy Airport at 3:23 p.m. There will be an extremely long layover, but it will give us time to get to know each other. Our flight leaves from JFK at 1 a.m. and we arrive at Port of Spain in Trinidad at 7 a.m. We will be there from Sunday morning to Saturday night. We are going to be in Trinidad because we are going for a program called "Visit a Smithie". We are visiting Nicky Lee who lived in Smith for four years and graduated from UNH in 2008. For the whole week, Nicky and her family is going to show us around the city and we are also going to volunteer for two days. I believe we will be assisting people on soiling, so that will be cool to learn how to do that. It is supposed to be over 90 degrees Fahrenheit there, so we are all going to be really hot. The U.S. dollar is really strong in Trinidad, so we don't have to worry about spending a lot of money. We will doing a lot of sight-seeing which is something I love to do when I am traveling. Plus, we have one week to see the whole city, so it will be a lot of fun.
I am going on the trip because as a writer, going to a developing country will help me see what the world is really like. I want to be a diverse writer. I have only been to countries that are doing well economically. I have always wanted to go to poor countries and I will get my chance to do it. I am also going to try to take better photography, so we will all give each other tips about how to take pictures while we are there. This is also a great excuse to leave New Hampshire since I have been here for nearly two months straight. God I am pumped! I will not write on the blog while I am there. I will make another post on Monday, March 22nd and write all about it, since I'm not going to be watching sports anyway.
Wednesday, March 10, 2010
News in the States and Abroad
News from abroad is Andrew Lloyd Webber opened "Love Never Dies", the sequel to "Phantom of the Opera" on Tuesday night in London. The "Phantom of the Opera" opened in London in the late 1980's and has been one of, if not, the most popular play of all-time since then. The sequel takes place in Coney Island ten years after the first play. The Phantom goes there to try to take back Christine Daae, who is married to Raoul and has a 10-year son, Gustave. There are no announcements of when the play is coming to America. On a personal level, when there was an announcement last summer that there was going to be a sequel, I was pumped about it. I was excited because my dad is obsessed with the soundtrack and has seen the play several times. He knows each song nearly word-for-word and I think there are about 20 tracks. When I saw it when I was a teenager, I thoroughly enjoyed it and would like to see it again. When the "Love Never Dies" arrives in Boston, count me in for buying tickets.
Last week, it was reported that Elin Nordegren had moved back in with Tiger Woods, after three months of estrangement and therapy. Yesterday, Woods and Nordegren were spotted kissing each other. However Nordegren was still not wearing her wedding ring Tuesday when spotted at a spa enjoying manicures with her two-year-old daughter Sam, People magazine reported. It was also reported that Woods is working on his golf game with coach Hank Haney this week, according to Golf Digest and the Golf Channel, indicating that a comeback could be on the cards soon. Woods took an indefinite hiatus from competitive golf in the wake of the sex scandal that has engulfed him since late November, but the work could indicate he is preparing his game to compete at next month's Masters, AFP reported. Guys like Tiger Woods makes me frustrated. He is the best golfer in the world, if not in the history of golf, he fools around with supposedly 12 other women and his wife breaks up with him. He performs a dubious press conference about how sorry he is and how he is a bad guy, on a Friday, the most inconvenient day of the week for a press conference. Justice done right? Wrong. After three months of therapy, his marriage is making a comeback, he is working on his golf game as almost nothing happened. Nordegren is attractive enough to marry another guy, but she chose not to. I did feel bad for her when the accusations happened in November, now I don't.
According to the New York Times, Bank of America announced that starting June 19th, any customer who try to make purchases with their debit card without enough money in their check accounts will be declined. Before, they used to have overdraft fees, now it is not possible. Banks are bracing for a new federal rule that will require them to get permission from account holders before providing overdraft services for debit purchases and A.T.M. withdrawals. It will wipe out over billions of dollars in overdraft revenue for the banks. The bank will continue to provide overdraft protection, for a fee, for checks and automatic payments. Consumers who try to exceed their balance when making an A.T.M. withdrawal are already being notified that they will be charged a $35 draft fee if they choose to proceed. Bank of America is the first bank to go on with the policy, forcing other banks to do the same. I am okay with this. Even though the word on the street is that Bank of America is strict, they are doing something that will probably better the economy. It will make people realize that there have to cut back on their wants and concentrate more on their needs. You know how it is in life, we always want more than we actually need.
Last week, it was reported that Elin Nordegren had moved back in with Tiger Woods, after three months of estrangement and therapy. Yesterday, Woods and Nordegren were spotted kissing each other. However Nordegren was still not wearing her wedding ring Tuesday when spotted at a spa enjoying manicures with her two-year-old daughter Sam, People magazine reported. It was also reported that Woods is working on his golf game with coach Hank Haney this week, according to Golf Digest and the Golf Channel, indicating that a comeback could be on the cards soon. Woods took an indefinite hiatus from competitive golf in the wake of the sex scandal that has engulfed him since late November, but the work could indicate he is preparing his game to compete at next month's Masters, AFP reported. Guys like Tiger Woods makes me frustrated. He is the best golfer in the world, if not in the history of golf, he fools around with supposedly 12 other women and his wife breaks up with him. He performs a dubious press conference about how sorry he is and how he is a bad guy, on a Friday, the most inconvenient day of the week for a press conference. Justice done right? Wrong. After three months of therapy, his marriage is making a comeback, he is working on his golf game as almost nothing happened. Nordegren is attractive enough to marry another guy, but she chose not to. I did feel bad for her when the accusations happened in November, now I don't.
According to the New York Times, Bank of America announced that starting June 19th, any customer who try to make purchases with their debit card without enough money in their check accounts will be declined. Before, they used to have overdraft fees, now it is not possible. Banks are bracing for a new federal rule that will require them to get permission from account holders before providing overdraft services for debit purchases and A.T.M. withdrawals. It will wipe out over billions of dollars in overdraft revenue for the banks. The bank will continue to provide overdraft protection, for a fee, for checks and automatic payments. Consumers who try to exceed their balance when making an A.T.M. withdrawal are already being notified that they will be charged a $35 draft fee if they choose to proceed. Bank of America is the first bank to go on with the policy, forcing other banks to do the same. I am okay with this. Even though the word on the street is that Bank of America is strict, they are doing something that will probably better the economy. It will make people realize that there have to cut back on their wants and concentrate more on their needs. You know how it is in life, we always want more than we actually need.
Monday, March 8, 2010
Pros and Amatuers
There is always something interesting going on in the pros. The Oscars were on last night. The show itself stunk, but there were also some firsts. Sandra Bullock, Jeff Bridges, Christoph Waltz and Mo'Nique each won their first Oscar. "The Hurt Locker" won six Academy Awards including Best Picture and Best Director. Kathryn Bigelow, director of "The Hurt Locker" is the first woman to win an Academy Award for Best Director. "Avatar", the highest grossing film of all time, won three Oscars including Best Achievement in Cinematography, Best Achievement in Art Direction and Best Visual Effects. "Up" won two Oscars, which include best Animated Feature Film of the Year and also won Best Achievement in Music Written for Motion Pictures, Original Score.
As awesome as the Academy Awards ceremony is, there were sports that were played. Boston Bruins center, Marc Savard, sustained a concussion from an elbow to the head by Pittsburgh Penguins left winger, Matt Cooke. Savard at one point was unconscious and had to leave the ice on a stretcher. Hockey is a sport in which for the most part, any kind of violence is part of the game. There is fights and big hits that leads to injuries and there is nothing you can do about it. It's one thing if Cooke made a check on Savard and he got hurt, but it's another thing to elbow check someone in the head and give him a concussion. A concussion is an extremely serious injury and it has continus to reoccur time and time again. The worst part about the hit was not only a penalty was not called, but Cooke was not even ejected. Cooke knew what he was doing. If he did it by accident, he would have tried to move out of the way. He knew that it was a close game against an average team and the best way to win that game is to strike the best player on the opposing team so hard that he leaves the game and the opposing team is powerless. The NHL better grow a pair and suspend Cooke for at least two games. If there is no punishment, it will just be another reason why I have lost more respect for NHL Commissioner, Gary Bettman.
In College Basketball, there isn't truly a championship team. Kansas was #1 for the first eight weeks and lost and have held on to the ranking for five of the last six weeks. Syracuse, a team most people think is the best in the country, was #1 last week and lost to Louisville on Saturday. Kentucky was #1 and then lost to South Carolina the next day. Texas was #1 and started out 17-0, but have been 6-8 since. If anyone has followed College Basketball this year, so far Kansas has been the most consistent team. Every week there is a new top ten and even top 25 for that matter. Rankings do not mean anything until you get to the NCAA Tournament, but you still have to play good enough to receive a high seed in the tournament. The conference tournaments start this week and selection Sunday is on March 14th. If a team win the conference tournament, they receive an automatic bid to the NCAA tournament. For teams that are in the bubble and needs to fair well in the conference tournament would have to be UConn, Wake Forest and Florida. There is an abundance of other teams that are in the bubble, but those are the three teams to me that has to get in for the sake of their programs. Each of these respected program have faced failure for the past three seasons and have to step it up to earn fans' respect.
For all you Red Sox fans, spring training is going good for the hometown team. The star free-agent pick-up, John Lackey, pitched two perfect innings in his first outing. Josh Beckett pitched two quality innings in his first outing; he is on the last season of his contract. Daisuke Matsuzaka is scheduled to three a 60-pitch bullpen session, which he is rehabbing a strained back. Top pitching prospect Casey Kelly pitched two quality innings in relief and got a victory the other day. Mike Cameron hurt his groin last week but he should be able to play today. Baseball season is here, finally.
As awesome as the Academy Awards ceremony is, there were sports that were played. Boston Bruins center, Marc Savard, sustained a concussion from an elbow to the head by Pittsburgh Penguins left winger, Matt Cooke. Savard at one point was unconscious and had to leave the ice on a stretcher. Hockey is a sport in which for the most part, any kind of violence is part of the game. There is fights and big hits that leads to injuries and there is nothing you can do about it. It's one thing if Cooke made a check on Savard and he got hurt, but it's another thing to elbow check someone in the head and give him a concussion. A concussion is an extremely serious injury and it has continus to reoccur time and time again. The worst part about the hit was not only a penalty was not called, but Cooke was not even ejected. Cooke knew what he was doing. If he did it by accident, he would have tried to move out of the way. He knew that it was a close game against an average team and the best way to win that game is to strike the best player on the opposing team so hard that he leaves the game and the opposing team is powerless. The NHL better grow a pair and suspend Cooke for at least two games. If there is no punishment, it will just be another reason why I have lost more respect for NHL Commissioner, Gary Bettman.
In College Basketball, there isn't truly a championship team. Kansas was #1 for the first eight weeks and lost and have held on to the ranking for five of the last six weeks. Syracuse, a team most people think is the best in the country, was #1 last week and lost to Louisville on Saturday. Kentucky was #1 and then lost to South Carolina the next day. Texas was #1 and started out 17-0, but have been 6-8 since. If anyone has followed College Basketball this year, so far Kansas has been the most consistent team. Every week there is a new top ten and even top 25 for that matter. Rankings do not mean anything until you get to the NCAA Tournament, but you still have to play good enough to receive a high seed in the tournament. The conference tournaments start this week and selection Sunday is on March 14th. If a team win the conference tournament, they receive an automatic bid to the NCAA tournament. For teams that are in the bubble and needs to fair well in the conference tournament would have to be UConn, Wake Forest and Florida. There is an abundance of other teams that are in the bubble, but those are the three teams to me that has to get in for the sake of their programs. Each of these respected program have faced failure for the past three seasons and have to step it up to earn fans' respect.
For all you Red Sox fans, spring training is going good for the hometown team. The star free-agent pick-up, John Lackey, pitched two perfect innings in his first outing. Josh Beckett pitched two quality innings in his first outing; he is on the last season of his contract. Daisuke Matsuzaka is scheduled to three a 60-pitch bullpen session, which he is rehabbing a strained back. Top pitching prospect Casey Kelly pitched two quality innings in relief and got a victory the other day. Mike Cameron hurt his groin last week but he should be able to play today. Baseball season is here, finally.
Friday, March 5, 2010
Hell week is done!
I have been waiting all week for Friday to come. It is now here, which means my school week is over. I had the Career and Internship Fair on Monday an exam in History of American Sports and Physical Culture on Tuesday, an in-class exercise in Germs on Tuesday, a story for the school newspaper due Thursday and a game story for Sports Writing on Thursday night. It was the most work in one week that I had all semester and now its passed. My semester thus far until this week has been so easy. The good thing coming into the week was that I have had plenty of times which I had several things to do, and I always got them done.
The Career and Internship Fair went better than I expected. Even though the fair was business oriented, I still had positive feedback from Ebsco Host and MassDot. I struck out with WB Mason and Enterprise, but I needed to learn how to fail in order to succeed. I needed to go in there and learn how to groom myself to be a professional. For some reason, as nervous as I was, when I was talking to all of the representatives for each company, I was very confident and composed, which is something I have never felt before, even during my internship with the Salem Evening News last summer. It was good for my confidence to go in there and talk to my superiors. It will prepare me for the job world when I am being interviewed and even working for a company.
The in-class project for Germs was called an ECA. There are three of them throughout the semester and it is mandatory for your grade. It was easy. Since we were talking about STD's, we did an exercise that involved exchanging beads to our peers. The exercise is since the odds of having sex and receiving an STD is three out of seven. Each of the class members had to exchange three beads to seven different people and stop. We had about nine different colors. If your bead is a specific color, you had this STD. For example, if you had a red bead, you got the Herpes Simplex Virus and if you had a clear bead, you got Gonorrhea. It was fun and it actually was not a waste of time.
The exam had ten identifications that were short answer essay and you have to answer five of them which is 10 points each. There is also an essay that is worth 50 points. After the exam, my instructor, Tim Ashwell, posted an answer key for each answer. After I finished the exam, I felt pretty good about it. But when I read the answers on the answer key, I think that I did bad. Even if I do, I have attended to every class, so I have the participation grade.
My story for The New Hampshire is about a kid from Gainesville State College who created a cooking show called "Cookin' for College". Arthur King is a sophomore and him and his girlfriend, Kira Glasser, created the show over three weeks ago. On his website, King posts recipes on his website four to six times a week. His recipes include S'mores Pancakes, Homemade Wings, Grilled Cheese Hamburger, Taco Chili, and so many other exotic recipes. His message is to kill the stereotype about how it is too hard and too expensive to cook for yourself rather than eat at the dining hall or eating out. When I contacted King and Glasser, they were very cooperative and very kind. It was hard for me to write the story without a bias, but it is my job to be neutral while reporting.
The game story was at Oyster River high school again. It was a boys varsity high school basketball game that was the Kingswood Regional Knights vs. the Oyster River Bobcats. It was senior recognition night for Oyster River, who had eight seniors on the team. Oyster River was in very good shape for a playoff spot, coming into the game with a 14-3 record. Kingswood Regional was 12-5. Oyster River won the game 87-62. Tommy McDonnell for Oyster River scored a game-high 20 points to lead the way. The Knights were leading 23-17 after the first quarter and the Bobcats stormed back and took the lead 37-35 at half. The Bobcats outscored the Knights 24-13 in the third quarter, with Chris Walker scoring 10 points in the frame to make it 61-48 after three periods. In the fourth quarter, the Bobcats blew the game wide open, outscoring the Knights 26-14 to finish the game. It was such a fast-paced game, it was difficult to catch up on who scored and what the score was after each basket. After the game, I found out that two players for Oyster River were playing through their injuries. Donovan Kelly came back after being out for a 10-game stint and Walker was feeling ill, but he appeared to be okay. It was stressful writing on deadline again. The deadline was five hours after game time, which the game started at 6:30 and the deadline was at 11:30. I got back at 8:15 p.m., started the story and finished at around 10 p.m., but there were distractions during writing. I think this story was better this time around comparing to the first one. I may have missed a fact about an injury, but if that's all I did, hey, I lose points. I have to be more aggressive next time though.
Tonight, I am going to the UNH hockey game vs. Boston College. The two teams have a home-and-home series tonight and tomorrow. UNH and BC are separated by only 3 points for the Hockey Easy regular season title, so this is a pivital series for both teams. Tonight is also senior recognition night for the Wildcats, which the seniors are, forward and co-captain, Bobby Butler, forward and co-captain, Peter LeBlanc, defenseman, Nick Krates and goaltender, Brian Foster. This is a huge game and I am very much looking forward to go. Then I am going out to celebrate my friend's 22nd birthday tomorrow and dad comes up on Sunday and the Oscars are on Sunday night. I'm curious of which awards will be handed out. Now that is a great way to end a tough week.
The Career and Internship Fair went better than I expected. Even though the fair was business oriented, I still had positive feedback from Ebsco Host and MassDot. I struck out with WB Mason and Enterprise, but I needed to learn how to fail in order to succeed. I needed to go in there and learn how to groom myself to be a professional. For some reason, as nervous as I was, when I was talking to all of the representatives for each company, I was very confident and composed, which is something I have never felt before, even during my internship with the Salem Evening News last summer. It was good for my confidence to go in there and talk to my superiors. It will prepare me for the job world when I am being interviewed and even working for a company.
The in-class project for Germs was called an ECA. There are three of them throughout the semester and it is mandatory for your grade. It was easy. Since we were talking about STD's, we did an exercise that involved exchanging beads to our peers. The exercise is since the odds of having sex and receiving an STD is three out of seven. Each of the class members had to exchange three beads to seven different people and stop. We had about nine different colors. If your bead is a specific color, you had this STD. For example, if you had a red bead, you got the Herpes Simplex Virus and if you had a clear bead, you got Gonorrhea. It was fun and it actually was not a waste of time.
The exam had ten identifications that were short answer essay and you have to answer five of them which is 10 points each. There is also an essay that is worth 50 points. After the exam, my instructor, Tim Ashwell, posted an answer key for each answer. After I finished the exam, I felt pretty good about it. But when I read the answers on the answer key, I think that I did bad. Even if I do, I have attended to every class, so I have the participation grade.
My story for The New Hampshire is about a kid from Gainesville State College who created a cooking show called "Cookin' for College". Arthur King is a sophomore and him and his girlfriend, Kira Glasser, created the show over three weeks ago. On his website, King posts recipes on his website four to six times a week. His recipes include S'mores Pancakes, Homemade Wings, Grilled Cheese Hamburger, Taco Chili, and so many other exotic recipes. His message is to kill the stereotype about how it is too hard and too expensive to cook for yourself rather than eat at the dining hall or eating out. When I contacted King and Glasser, they were very cooperative and very kind. It was hard for me to write the story without a bias, but it is my job to be neutral while reporting.
The game story was at Oyster River high school again. It was a boys varsity high school basketball game that was the Kingswood Regional Knights vs. the Oyster River Bobcats. It was senior recognition night for Oyster River, who had eight seniors on the team. Oyster River was in very good shape for a playoff spot, coming into the game with a 14-3 record. Kingswood Regional was 12-5. Oyster River won the game 87-62. Tommy McDonnell for Oyster River scored a game-high 20 points to lead the way. The Knights were leading 23-17 after the first quarter and the Bobcats stormed back and took the lead 37-35 at half. The Bobcats outscored the Knights 24-13 in the third quarter, with Chris Walker scoring 10 points in the frame to make it 61-48 after three periods. In the fourth quarter, the Bobcats blew the game wide open, outscoring the Knights 26-14 to finish the game. It was such a fast-paced game, it was difficult to catch up on who scored and what the score was after each basket. After the game, I found out that two players for Oyster River were playing through their injuries. Donovan Kelly came back after being out for a 10-game stint and Walker was feeling ill, but he appeared to be okay. It was stressful writing on deadline again. The deadline was five hours after game time, which the game started at 6:30 and the deadline was at 11:30. I got back at 8:15 p.m., started the story and finished at around 10 p.m., but there were distractions during writing. I think this story was better this time around comparing to the first one. I may have missed a fact about an injury, but if that's all I did, hey, I lose points. I have to be more aggressive next time though.
Tonight, I am going to the UNH hockey game vs. Boston College. The two teams have a home-and-home series tonight and tomorrow. UNH and BC are separated by only 3 points for the Hockey Easy regular season title, so this is a pivital series for both teams. Tonight is also senior recognition night for the Wildcats, which the seniors are, forward and co-captain, Bobby Butler, forward and co-captain, Peter LeBlanc, defenseman, Nick Krates and goaltender, Brian Foster. This is a huge game and I am very much looking forward to go. Then I am going out to celebrate my friend's 22nd birthday tomorrow and dad comes up on Sunday and the Oscars are on Sunday night. I'm curious of which awards will be handed out. Now that is a great way to end a tough week.
Wednesday, March 3, 2010
Always something newsworthy
Last Saturday in Concepcion, Chile, there was an earthquake magnitude of 8.8, killing over 700 people and many thousands homeless. Fortunately, there damage was much less than Haiti, but still catastrophic. It is the second major earthquake so far this year. This is the seventh highest recorded earthquake in world's history, which Chile also has the record with a 9.5 magnitude earthquake in 1960. It was reported in the New York Times today that rebuilding may cost tens of billions of dollars. There were also reports during the weekend that several citizens from Chile were caught and arresting for looting food, clothing and water. Imagine that two major earthquakes have happened in 59 days so far this year? It makes me sad to see people suffer, especially when not even a war is involved. My mom did tell me that my Greek Orthodox priest told her that sometimes a disaster had to happen to make more people believe in god. I think that is the most sensible thing I have ever heard and I will always live by that. That is why I will always appreciate everything I have.
According to the New York Times, New York Gov. David Patterson's top aide, David W. Johnson physically assaulted his girlfriend on Halloween and is facing charges. State Police and others told her not to appear in court, but she did anyway. Gov. Patterson got involved in the case and told Johnson's girlfriend to drop the case and to forget about it. On Friday, Patterson gave his oath that he had never abused his office. Guess what? That is a lie because he could be at least involved in a cover-up to avert a scandal involving a top aide. It could be possible that he and other state officials may have unlawfully intervened to protect the aide from accusations of domestic violence. Patterson has been suggested to resign, but he refuses so far. Either way, he will not run for re-election in November's elections. Personally, I think that politicians are corrupt to begin with. They lie, steal money and lie some more. I am not saying that I could do a better job but the people want the truth and want answers. Journalists do lie too and we are also corrupt. Look at Jason Blair and Mike Barnacle. If I ever do lie, it is because I would be paid a large sum of money which I would never do either way.
There are reports from the New York Times that on Tuesday at least five justices are poised to expand the scope of the Second Amendment's protection of the right to bear arms. By its conclusion, it seemed clear that the court would extend a 2008 decision that first identified an individual right to own guns to strike down Chicago's gun control law, the most restrictive in the nation. The new case, McDonald v. Chicago, No. 08-1521, was a sequel to the 2008 decision in District of Columbia v. Heller, which placed limits on what the federal government may do to regulate guns. The issue before the court in the new case was whether the Second Amendment also applied to state and local laws. It appeared that at least the justices in the Heller majority would say yes without reservation because they considered the rights protected in the Second Amendment as basic as those in other provisions of the Bill of Rights. Honestly, I don't know where I stand on that amendment. I know that I may be sound like a worry-wort but the thing that concerns me about the amendment is that too many people that are considered as irresponsible own guns. Even if the State Courts or the Supreme Court passes a law to extend gun rights, there will still be more people no matter whether they have rights or not own guns. In movies and video games, I love guns but in real life scenarios, gun scare me. It could be a good weapon for self defense, but even then it could always take a life for no reason. People would be mad at me if I said this but I think the only people that should own guns should be the people in the law enforcement and people in the military. It would take citizens rights to own a gun away, but it would be for the best.
According to the New York Times, New York Gov. David Patterson's top aide, David W. Johnson physically assaulted his girlfriend on Halloween and is facing charges. State Police and others told her not to appear in court, but she did anyway. Gov. Patterson got involved in the case and told Johnson's girlfriend to drop the case and to forget about it. On Friday, Patterson gave his oath that he had never abused his office. Guess what? That is a lie because he could be at least involved in a cover-up to avert a scandal involving a top aide. It could be possible that he and other state officials may have unlawfully intervened to protect the aide from accusations of domestic violence. Patterson has been suggested to resign, but he refuses so far. Either way, he will not run for re-election in November's elections. Personally, I think that politicians are corrupt to begin with. They lie, steal money and lie some more. I am not saying that I could do a better job but the people want the truth and want answers. Journalists do lie too and we are also corrupt. Look at Jason Blair and Mike Barnacle. If I ever do lie, it is because I would be paid a large sum of money which I would never do either way.
There are reports from the New York Times that on Tuesday at least five justices are poised to expand the scope of the Second Amendment's protection of the right to bear arms. By its conclusion, it seemed clear that the court would extend a 2008 decision that first identified an individual right to own guns to strike down Chicago's gun control law, the most restrictive in the nation. The new case, McDonald v. Chicago, No. 08-1521, was a sequel to the 2008 decision in District of Columbia v. Heller, which placed limits on what the federal government may do to regulate guns. The issue before the court in the new case was whether the Second Amendment also applied to state and local laws. It appeared that at least the justices in the Heller majority would say yes without reservation because they considered the rights protected in the Second Amendment as basic as those in other provisions of the Bill of Rights. Honestly, I don't know where I stand on that amendment. I know that I may be sound like a worry-wort but the thing that concerns me about the amendment is that too many people that are considered as irresponsible own guns. Even if the State Courts or the Supreme Court passes a law to extend gun rights, there will still be more people no matter whether they have rights or not own guns. In movies and video games, I love guns but in real life scenarios, gun scare me. It could be a good weapon for self defense, but even then it could always take a life for no reason. People would be mad at me if I said this but I think the only people that should own guns should be the people in the law enforcement and people in the military. It would take citizens rights to own a gun away, but it would be for the best.
Monday, March 1, 2010
The Olympics is finally over!
After 17 days of Olympic madness in Vancouver, it is finally over. After all of the postponements and the delays in the skiing and the skating events in the first week, the Olympics finally went underway in full throttle. Although the Winter Games had a sad start when Luge racer Nodar Kumaritashvili, 21, of Georgia died in a crash during a training run, just hours before the opening ceremony.
There were some records. The United States received 37 medals, which is the most for any country during the Winter Games. Of the 37 medals, 21 of them went towards ski and snowboard athletes. Short track speed skater extraordinaire, Apollo Anton Ohno, won three medals, giving him eight overall which is the most ever by an Olympic Winter Games athlete. Canada won 14 gold medals, most ever by any country in any Games, which the last one was won when the hockey team defeated USA for the gold medal. The USA bobsled team won its first gold medal in 62 years and the US winning four medals in the Nordic combined breaking an 86 year winless streak.
There were some exciting moments that I watched which were Shaun White's flawless gold medal performance in the half pipe that included the Double McTwist 1260, Evan Lysacek's dazzling gold medal performance when he won by a hair against Yevgeny Plushenko in figure skating, Lyndsey Vonn wins gold medal in the Women's Downhill and Canada beating the United States to win the gold medal in hockey.
My favorite controversy was when Canada's women's hockey team celebrated winning the gold medal by drinking beer and smoking cigars on the ice. As stupid and immature as it was, I still thought it was funny.
My biggest beefs were when Plushenko complained about not winning the gold medal, the US not winning a gold medal and Sidney Crosby of Canada scored the game-winning goal in overtime to win the gold medal. First off, Plushenko complained about Lysacek not performing enough jumps. Really? I thought that Lysacek deserved to win gold more than Plushenko anyway. Plushenko has already won a gold medal, so move on and stop being a baby. I am angry that the USA did not win a gold medal because their goaltender, Ryan Miller, did not win a gold medal. He was so ridiculously good that he won the Olympic hockey tournament MVP. It's just not fair that he only won a silver medal when he was the best player in the tournament. When it comes to Crosby scoring, it was almost perfectly scripted for Canada winning the gold medal. Canada won four games in six days starting from Sunday's shocking loss in the preliminary round to the US to win the gold medal, they won the gold medal by beating USA, even though they allowed USA to tie the game at 2 when they scored with 24 seconds remaining in regulation, and the golden boy Crosby scored the game-winning goal in overtime to bring his native home to a hysteric frenzy.
As much as I love sports, it was really annoying watching people who don't watch sports not only watched the Olympics practically 24 hours a day, but they thought they knew more than me about sports in general. I don't watched extreme sports and I don't care to anytime soon. I watched some events when I could, but I couldn't watch every possible event because I have a life. I actually have things to do unlike other people. Now the Olympics will move to London in 2012. I am planning to go to that and I don't care how I do it. I will do anything to go. London in 2012 here I come.
There were some records. The United States received 37 medals, which is the most for any country during the Winter Games. Of the 37 medals, 21 of them went towards ski and snowboard athletes. Short track speed skater extraordinaire, Apollo Anton Ohno, won three medals, giving him eight overall which is the most ever by an Olympic Winter Games athlete. Canada won 14 gold medals, most ever by any country in any Games, which the last one was won when the hockey team defeated USA for the gold medal. The USA bobsled team won its first gold medal in 62 years and the US winning four medals in the Nordic combined breaking an 86 year winless streak.
There were some exciting moments that I watched which were Shaun White's flawless gold medal performance in the half pipe that included the Double McTwist 1260, Evan Lysacek's dazzling gold medal performance when he won by a hair against Yevgeny Plushenko in figure skating, Lyndsey Vonn wins gold medal in the Women's Downhill and Canada beating the United States to win the gold medal in hockey.
My favorite controversy was when Canada's women's hockey team celebrated winning the gold medal by drinking beer and smoking cigars on the ice. As stupid and immature as it was, I still thought it was funny.
My biggest beefs were when Plushenko complained about not winning the gold medal, the US not winning a gold medal and Sidney Crosby of Canada scored the game-winning goal in overtime to win the gold medal. First off, Plushenko complained about Lysacek not performing enough jumps. Really? I thought that Lysacek deserved to win gold more than Plushenko anyway. Plushenko has already won a gold medal, so move on and stop being a baby. I am angry that the USA did not win a gold medal because their goaltender, Ryan Miller, did not win a gold medal. He was so ridiculously good that he won the Olympic hockey tournament MVP. It's just not fair that he only won a silver medal when he was the best player in the tournament. When it comes to Crosby scoring, it was almost perfectly scripted for Canada winning the gold medal. Canada won four games in six days starting from Sunday's shocking loss in the preliminary round to the US to win the gold medal, they won the gold medal by beating USA, even though they allowed USA to tie the game at 2 when they scored with 24 seconds remaining in regulation, and the golden boy Crosby scored the game-winning goal in overtime to bring his native home to a hysteric frenzy.
As much as I love sports, it was really annoying watching people who don't watch sports not only watched the Olympics practically 24 hours a day, but they thought they knew more than me about sports in general. I don't watched extreme sports and I don't care to anytime soon. I watched some events when I could, but I couldn't watch every possible event because I have a life. I actually have things to do unlike other people. Now the Olympics will move to London in 2012. I am planning to go to that and I don't care how I do it. I will do anything to go. London in 2012 here I come.
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