Special Announcement + Miscellany

First and foremost, my work had a huge announcement yesterday...

The Holiday Bowl has a new title sponsor...Bridgepoint Education! Click here to see the release and our newly designed website.

This is definitely an exciting time to be in the office, because I get to be on the ground floor of welcoming in a new sponsor. Pacific Life was a great sponsor of the bowl for nine years, and now we are excited for our new partnership with Bridgepoint Education.


IN OTHER NEWS

-How about them Padres? I really like this team, regardless of how they finish. They have a ton of scrappers on their team, and they play hard every out. They are going to have trouble scoring runs consistently, but hey, in Petco Park, ya don't need to score a ton to win!

-On that note, I am going to TWO games this weekend! Tonight is BeerFest with Julie and the happy couple (aka Tom and Joel) at the game, and then going again to the Sunday day-game with Miss Julie! Woohoo.

-How the hell are we already in May? Weren't we just opening Christmas gifts?


And, finally, here's a good laugh for all of you as you count down the hours until 5:00pm (click the play button and the video will show up)...

My apologies for the long gap between blog posts. I have no real excuse, I haven't been too busy. Apparently I just wasn't in my oh-so-witty and insightful writing mood...

RANDOM UPDATES FROM MY LIFE
a) My golf game has gone to shi*. Period.

b) Laura (co-worker) got married last Friday, and is now in her final week at the office before she and her husband move to Oahu (life is REALLY rough, huh?). Had a great time at her wedding (although I'm pretty sure I got shown up on the dance floor by her 80+ year-old grandma). I'm gonna miss Laura a ton, as if this photo doesn't tell you that anyway...


c) I am a crossword puzzle MACHINE. Of the 20 Union Tribune puzzles I have attempted in the last four weeks, I have completed all but four of them. Me = Awesome.

d) Speaking of crossword puzzles, how many of you have read SkyMall on an airplane flight and seen the wall-sized Crossword Puzzle? I want that SO bad (and yes, I am serious).

d) I have been running regularly for four weeks now. Running 4 days/week, and now my trainer/girlfriend has me doing weekend workouts too. Felt like I tweaked my groin last night one minute into the run...not too amped about that...

e) My work's annual Outrigger Challenge & Luau is this Saturday, April 24th out at Crown Point Shores, Mission Bay. This is one of our best events of the year, where roughly 100 teams of five paddle in outrigger canoes out in the bay in a double-elimination style tournament. There is also a luau that has unlimited Hawaiian food (the best in town), and unlimited beer and mai-tai's. A ticket to the luau is $20/person (which is WELL worth it with all the booze and food). If you want to paddle in the races, it's $225/team (and that includes access to the luau and beer garden as well). This event is a day at the beach, and if I wasn't working it, I would definitely take part in it. Let me know if you're interested!


SIGN OF THE APOCALYPSE:
Not only are the Padres in first place, they are in first place after defeating the Giants 1-0 nothing last night after getting one...count 'em ONE....hit. The Giants pitcher who one-hit the Friars is also the same guy that NO-hit them last year. Winning a game with a single hit is sad for BOTH teams...it's like winning a football game with 12 yards of total offense...it shouldn't happen.

Random Neuron Firings

Today's post is dedicated to whatever comes into my mind while I am typing it:

1) The word "Nuclear"... It is NU-KLEE-ER, not NUK-YOU-LER.

2) Judge me if you like, but I am still in love with watching Tiger Woods play golf. Yes, I am fully aware of his recent history with cheating on his wife. But regardless of Tiger's personal life, I can still separate golfer from man...and love the golfer. I tend to have a weird objectivity about me, and this goes to a few other celebrities:

a)Michael Jackson - I don't condone any of his "Bad" actions dealing with little boys or how "he makes them feel" (puns totally intended), but I LOVE his music. I aspire to dance like him. I will listen to every song. Doesn't mean I like(d) him as a person.
b) Michael Jordan - cheated on his wife, but I will always watch him shoot.
c) Barry Bonds - did steroids, total ass-hole, but I could watch him swing all day.

3) I got a new phone...the Droid. I have a big boy phone now, and it kicks ass. I am playing with it a little too much right now, but I do know my limits. My little flip phone was enough of an electronic leash...I will monitor this closely.

4) I have a ton of respect for women's collegiate basketball...but the National Championship game was a complete disgrace to their game and reputation. Women's basketball already has the stigma of being "boring", and I do not agree with it. But when the nation's best team (maybe in history) is down 20-12 at halftime (no, that is not a typo), it certainly doesn't help them advertise themselves as exciting. Now, granted, UConn went on something like a 32-5 run to open the second half...but the damage had been done. I enjoy women's basketball, I think they are some of the purest shooters I've ever seen...but when you are featured on a national scale like they were Tuesday night...you gotta put on a show.

5) What do jumping jacks help?






6) Weddings are crazy. When planning for tables/chairs/linens/silverware/plates/mugs and more...who the hell remembers salt and pepper shakers?

7) I really want to go to one of the following places within the next 12-16 months: Greece, Ireland, Scotland, or Australia.

8) I want to own too many dogs. Pugs, Boxers, Labrador Retrievers, Mastiffs, Pitbulls...My house is going to be a kennel.

9) When a bug smashes into your windshield, does he see the car coming? I mean, is he trying to pull up like a fighter pilot avoiding a mountain top, or is he just using his bug antennae as a cell phone to talk to his homeboy Jerry and has a head-on collision without ever seeing the automotive beast coming? I'm telling you, cell phones ruin lives.


10) I apologize for #9. It's amazing I have friends. And a girlfriend. And a job.

Sports, Running, Earthquakes...Oh My!

RANDOM ASSORTMENT OF TOPICS...

This is one of my favorite weeks in sports, for obvious reasons:

NCAA Final Four & National Championship Game!
The Butler vs. Michigan State game was awesome. The Duke vs. West Virginia game was not so awesome...especially after watching the incredibly gruesome ACL injury to the Mountaineers' Da'Sean Butler. Championship game is tonight...Go Butler!


NBA Regular Season Ends!
We all know I get bored by the NBA regular season, but I do look forward to seeing the elite teams play. I have a man-crush on LeBron James, and I think Kobe has ice water in his veins...so I love watching him too. But man, these playoffs last WAY too long.




Baseball Season Begins!
The big question: How many games can the San Diego Padres win with a roster compiled of lifelong minor league players? My answer: way more than you think. I give them at least 74 wins. Stay tuned.



The Masters - Tiger returns!
This week's Masters tournament has to be the most highly anticipated golf tournament of my generation. Tiger is not only choosing to make his return to golf the same week as the most prestigious golf tournament in the world (not to mention the first Major he ever won)...he is trying to WIN. All I want is to see him in red on Sunday. This is gonna be gooooooood.


*******

I'm running four times a week, and surfing at least once a week. Learning how to pace myself for distance running since sister wants me to run a leg in the Rock n Roll Marathon Relay in June. But man, running makes me feel like an old man. I come home sore in every conceivable part of my body: the balls of my feet, my shins, my calves, my quads, my hamstrings, my back and my neck. WTF?! What happened to the days where I would wake up, play hard at recess all day, go home, play roller hockey, baseball, football, hide-and-seek, and homerun derby without anything more than a grass stain?

Thank god I have a cute trainer...makes all the running WAY easier.

*******

Yep, we had an earthquake yesterday. And yep, it rocked my apartment. Five things fell off my bathroom counter (as I stepped out of the shower), and three glasses fell off my kitchen counter. That thing definitely lasted a long time, and I felt three aftershocks in the next hour, and then a really big shake around 4:15am this morning. Crazy stuff.

*******

HAPPY SPORTS WEEK!