Sundays

                 If you ask a student what their favorite day off the week is most will say Saturday but not me. I am a fan of Sundays.

                Yes, Saturdays are nice and are the last night before the school week but I don’t think they compare to Sundays. Sundays are the only day I can actually sleep in for, which is usually about 9 in the morning because of my usually schedule, and that already makes them better than the other days. Also Sundays are made for relaxing and preparing for the upcoming week. My usually Sunday routine after waking up is eating some breakfast then I go straight to the computer and do what I’m doing now, blog. Then I go maybe eat some lunch then I head downstairs and turn the TV on to watch some football. Once football is over or I get bored I tried to find something else on TV or begin the rest of my homework. Once my homework is done it is time to get dinner with my family. And finally after family dinner I go downstairs and just watch TV or the Sunday night game if it is a good one.

                That’s why Sundays are my favorite. I usually don’t even change out of my pajamas unless, like today, I get a haircut. I still like Saturdays but just not as much as Sundays. I hope that I can always have Sundays off like this so I can just have a day to sit at home and do nothing cause once Monday roles around I would do anything to have the previous Sunday back and to just sit in my basement relaxing.

                The worst day of the week is obviously Monday because it marks the start of a whole new week. And seems to drag on forever knowing that it is the first day of the week and you still have 4 more days until any freedom.

AFC West Showdown

                 The Chiefs have their first divisional game today against the San Diego Chargers. Personally I find the AFC West the worst division in the NFL but that doesn’t bother me too much because that means it should be the easiest to win and make a playoff run. The Chargers though are a decent team.

                The Chiefs are coming off of a very nice win last week against the Saints and hopefully can bring the momentum with them and bring home the W today. Jamaal Charles needs to have a performance like last game for the Chiefs to stand a chance. Matt Cassel just needs to protect the ball and eliminate turnovers and if they can do that the Chiefs have a good chance of winning the game. The defense needs to step up this week too. Phillip Rivers, the Chargers quarterback, is one of the most overrated players in the league and if the defense plays good the Chiefs will defiantly come away with the win.                

                The Chargers don’t have any super stars that can put the team on their back but they just play good football and win games. They are lead by the highly overrated Phillip Rivers who can hurt the team more than he can help it. So if the Chiefs bring pressure and force Rivers to throw the ball when he doesn’t want to he will make mistakes and let the Chiefs win.

                Kick off is in 30 minutes so I only have a short time to see what the actual outcome will be.

Heisman Hopefuls

                Since I think the NFL is better, I don’t follow college football that well. But I do tend to look out for the Heisman hopefuls throughout the season because they will be future NFL stars. This year has already been exciting with the talent that some of the guys bring to the game.

                Geno Smith, the quarter back for the West Virginia Mountaineers, completed 88% of his passes and threw for over 650 yards of passing. He also was involved in 8 touchdowns. He is the leader in the Heisman hopeful race in my opinion. Based off of the game he played Saturday and the fact that his team still hasn’t lost. My favorite part about him is that he is so athletic and can make plays with his legs but he also has amazing accuracy throwing the deep ball and reminds me a lot of Robert Griffin III who has emerged as a young star in the NFL.

                Another top runner in the race is the Ohio State quarter back, Braxton Miller. Many people describe Miller has a running back that can throw and after watching a game you know why. He has the ability to score on any play whether it’s him throwing a deep ball to a closely guarded wide receiver or himself breaking it to the outside and out running everyone on the field. He also is playing for a very good football team that should easily win the Big 10 Championship. The fact that Miller is only a sophomore this year is kind of a scary thought knowing he will be sticking around for a while.

                Since I live in Iowa I will put Mark Weisman in. I personally don’t think he has a chance of winning the Heisman but he is having a pretty amazing season for a walk on from Air Force. He story might be the best part about him though. A not very highly recruited fullback went to Air Force but decided he wanted to go to Iowa so he walks on and becomes third string fullback. Then Iowa’s backfield starts to fall apart with injuries and other reasons so Weisman gets his chance and trust me he took full advantage of it. Rushing for over 100 yards in the first quarter against the Minnesota defense he proved he can do what he has to do. But Iowa still hasn’t played a good team and I think that once they do Weisman’s stats will start to decline.

                No matter who wins I look forward to seeing these kids in the NFL someday making plays against the best of the best. For now though I will continue to be amazed by the numbers they put up against their opponents.

Chief Football Baby

                After the first two weeks in this NFL season I thought it was going to be another long year as a Chief fan but they showed a bright spot today in their overtime win over the Saints today. Actually being allowed to wear a Chief sweatshirt on a Monday is a nice feeling.

                Even though it wasn’t pretty, a win is a win. After the first two weeks I would have been surprised to see the Chiefs beat any one let alone the Saints. Even though the Saints were 0 and 2 coming into the game today just like the Chiefs the Saints are supposed to be a better football team. So it is nice to see the Chiefs pull this one out.

                I will be the first to admit it wasn’t a dominating performance by the Chiefs but they got the W so I won’t complain. But the Chiefs did sacrifice a star player. Dexter McCluster, their slot player, suffered what looked like a very serious elbow injury which is too bad because the Chiefs season was cut short last year due to injuries.

                But Jamaal Charles stepped up today. Rushing for over 220 yards he had the team on his back the whole game. In fact I think his 91 yard run changed the whole game and put the Chiefs in the driver’s seat. Cassel didn’t do well but he also didn’t make mistakes which allowed the Chiefs to come out on top.

                Still 1 and 2 isn’t a good record it is a lot better than 0 and 3. If the Chiefs can keep this going they should be a team to look out for in the later part of the season.

Football Season

                Even though you don’t have school in the summer doesn’t mean that it has to be your favorite season. My favorite season is late fall/early winter. When the weather finally starts to cool of and football on the weekends.

                My favorite thing about fall is it the weather that comes with it. Weather where it isn’t too cold but a sweatshirt would be perfect. Going to haunted houses on the weekend, waiting in lines for 2 hours to go through a haunted corn maze. Spending the days of the weekend watching every football or game or even sometimes getting a few buddies around and playing football. Having a nice bowl of chili for lunch while your team is playing is a great feeling.

                Halloween is a very fun time of the year. It is the first big holiday during the school year and is a nice landmark to get to while in school. Also fall comes with my favorite, bonfires. Sitting close to the fire because it is getting too cold with your friends laughing and telling stories.

                Then you get to look forward to Thanksgiving where you get a week off of school to spend with your families and eat a lot. Everyone usually comes to my house and we watch the football games and then eat as much as we can.

                Then early winter once the first snow falls. I love the snow and the cold and reminds me of Christmas time which marks another nice break away from school. And a lot of new things that you receive for the holidays.

                So even though we have school I still think that it is the best season.

Burnt Out

                Sports keep growing and with this growth spurt comes parents that think their child needs to start playing sports at a very early age to make sure that by the time they are older they will be good. This plan can succeed and make the parents look good but a lot of the times it back fires.

                I started playing baseball when I was 6, playing tee ball for the Hiawatha Kids League. The next year I decided to join a couple of my friends to play in the junior cougar program. But the youngest division was 8 and under so my teams, full of 7 year olds, were forced to play much bigger and better 8 year old teams. We played a lot of games and I think we only won about 2.           

                As we grew up we got a lot better but being better allows you to play more. So by the time we were 10 we were playing 60-70 games a year and a lot of them were out of state tournaments almost every weekend. We ended up being pretty good. When we were 14 we got second in the World Series that was held in Kansas City.

                Once we out grew the junior cougar program we played baseball for the school, beginning as an 8^th grade team. But me and most of my junior cougar team were moved up to play for the freshman. It was fun to play with kids that were older and that you never got the chance to play with.

                After my 8^th grade year I decided that I didn’t enjoy baseball enough to play anymore so I never played again. I think I was burnt out of the game because I wasn’t bad I just couldn’t handle spending hours a day in the summer for a sport I really didn’t enjoy.

Afternoon Snack

                Place it in the microwave press two buttons and wait 3 minutes and you will have my favorite food. Every since elementary school popcorn has been my go to snack, having a bag right when a get home from school every day.

                That routine lasted all the way through middle school but it had to end once I began high school due to football practice right after school. I could eat popcorn for every meal on every day. I don’t think there is anything than a nice hot bag of popcorn with some peanut m&ms in it. Even though most consider popcorn a healthy snack I wouldn’t put mine in the category. After I put a ton of salt and butter on I, it kind of loses its nutritional value.

                Even now when I get hungry I usually just put a bag of popcorn in and eat that. I think that a bag of popcorn is perfect too because it fills me up but it isn’t a struggle to try and finish it. In fact in middle school I would have a bag before every football practice and it never caused any problems. I will eat any type of popcorn but my usually is Orville Redenbacher Movie theater butter. But my favorite kind of popcorn is Carmel corn.

                That’s another cool part about popcorn; there are so many different types of popcorn you can’t get tired of it. You can have cheesy popcorn to kettle corn and it will be delicious. I will continue to eat popcorn until I can’t eat anymore.

Romney's Turn

                I recently had a project in my Government class which required me to watch both of the 2012 presidential candidates acceptance speeches from their conventions. Which reminded me how annoying election season is, where every other commercial is advertisement for someone’s campaign, and every time your phone rings you know it is a survey for the election.

                I will be turning 18 in October which means I am finally allowed to cast a vote for the presidential election. I was raised in a conservative house so I am a conservative. I will be voting for Romney this year. I don’t think Romney is the best person for the job but I do think he is a better choice than the current president. I could probably write a novel on my thoughts of the current American Government but I will restrain and just talk about the big ones.

                The biggest one is the welfare system we have in America. The fact that only 53% of Americans pay a federal income tax is ridiculous. And the president wants to raise taxes on the wealthy just to hand out to the lower class instead of having everyone pull their equal share. I understand that we have a terrible economy and the job market is equally bad but just because you are over qualified for a job it is better than nothing.

                On the other hand I do agree with Obama on some things the main one being abortion. I think it is up to the woman on whether she wants to abort a child or not. I think it is wrong for someone to control what you can do with your body. I understand Romney’s side of this problem but still agree with the current president.

                Hopefully my vote helps change this country and helps us get out of this recession.

NFL>>

                The fall marks the beginning of football of all levels from Pop Warner all the way up to the NFL. Some people prefer college over the NFL, but I personally think NFL football is a lot more entertaining.

                There are a lot more teams in the NCAA than the NFL which means that there is a wider range of talent, which I think is stupid. A top 25 team playing a FCS isn’t even enjoyable. On the other hand the NFL is made of only the best of the best so every game has the potential to be a close game. I think the overall game is a lot better in the NFL because of the consistency of talent.

                Don’t get me wrong I still watch football on Saturdays but I only watch if it is a good game. Growing up in Cedar Rapids I was surrounded by Hawk fans. Not my family though, my dad was a Chief fan and that is it. So I never was a true Hawk fan, I would cheer for them when I was younger. But now that I’m older I realized how annoying Hawk fans are. Ever year they claim that they will be really good and they are underrated. Take this year for an example. During the off season I all would hear is how good the Hawks are going to be and their first game was against Northern Illinois, a team that in reality Iowa should walk all over but instead Iowa took it late into the fourth quarter to seal the win. But instead of admitting that Iowa didn’t play good it is that Northern Illinois is really good, which they aren’t. They aren’t the worst team ever but a large Big 10 school should be able to easily beat them.

                So I don’t even follow any college team instead I focus on the Chiefs in the NFL, even though they are not good at all, which really showed today after getting slapped by the Buffalo Bills. I don’t care what you like as long as you agree nothing beats a day of relaxing and football.

Day Dreams

            Most high school kids don’t think too much about their futures, other than “I’m gonna be so rich”. But whenever I am bored I begin to think of my life after college. Dreaming about the life I dream about and what I can do to reach my dreams.

            Once I graduate high school I plan on going to Iowa State University and major in architecture. Ever since I can remember I always wanted to be an architect and I really don’t know why but it is something that I think would be really cool. I want to graduate with my degree and move either to the mountains in Colorado or Oregon. I love the mountains and the weather, no 100 degree 100% humidity days like we have in Iowa. I want to start my own architecture firm and build and design house up in the mountains. I hope to make a lot of money and eventually design my own house in the mountains. I know that this might be farfetched but it is something I really want to do. Along with all of that, ever since I saw one for the first time I have dreamed of owning my own Lamborghini. I can picture myself cruising through the mountains in my new half a million dollar car.

            So for now I’m going to just enjoy my life as a kid and keep pursuing this dream until it comes true.

Go Chiefs Go!!!

                It is opening day for the NFL and more importantly the Kansas City Chiefs. They are playing the Atlanta Falcons and have their first chance to impress their fans. Personally I am a huge Chief fan and I didn’t become a Chief fan on accident. Growing up I was surrounded by Chief things because my dad is a huge Chief fan and brainwashed me into being one. It is something that really helps me and my dad bond. Watching the game every Sunday or sometimes even going to the games down in Kansas City.

                Being a Chiefs fan isn’t as easy as being a Packer fan either. Chiefs fan don’t get to witness their team in the playoffs every year like some of the other teams but even so Chief fans don’t care and still cheer for them no matter what the score is. Each year hoping for a better team and I honestly can say this year the Chiefs are looking pretty good and won’t be surprised if they end up winning what now became one of the hardest conferences in the NFL , the AFC West. Watching the games on T.V. is fun and a nice way of bonding but nothing beats going to the games.

We used to have season tickets and would go to as many of the games as we could. Driving four hours there and then fours back isn’t what I would call exciting even though the game was usually exciting. Going to a NFL is one of the best experiences I have ever had. Getting to watch the best athletes in America on a field a few hundred feet away from you is amazing. But we stopped getting season tickets because they were getting pretty bad and the ticket prices skyrocketed as they were try to renovate the stadium.

One of the best games I ever went to was the 2004 AFC Wildcard game between the Chiefs and the Colts, who at this time were being led by one of the best quarterbacks to every play the game, Peyton Manning. It was a very close game but the Chiefs ended up losing. But nothing compares to the game I witness last year. Days leading up to the game I would tell my friends at school I was going to the game and they would laugh because they believed just like I did that the Chiefs would get destroyed because they were playing the undefeated Green Bay Packers. It was one of the few games that my sisters actually went to with us. It was the most fun I ever had at a game because I arrived expecting to get beat but ended up beating them and it was the only time they were beat in the regular season.

Being an hour before opening kick-off I hope we will see a Chief team that has potential to reach the playoffs. And I’m ending this blog with a prediction; Chiefs get eliminated in the second round of the playoffs.

Swimming Superstar

I was 6 years old when I joined the local swim team. Both of my sisters finished swimming lessons and decided that they wanted to go out for the city swim team and me being the little brother, I wanted to too. I was already a good swimmer because I grew up a few blocks away from a pool and me and my mom and sisters would go to the pool every day, rain or shine. This is where I originally learned how to swim, no swimming lessons just messing around at the pool all day.

I was very talented at a very young age. I could swim every stroke and do well when I was swimming kids two years older than me because the youngest division was 8 and under. At practice I swam with the older kids because the kids my age weren’t fast enough for me. Plus I liked the older kids a lot more. Swimming with the older kids challenged me and made me push myself which just made me better and by the time I turned 8 I won the 8 and under 25 yard breaststroke city championship.

            The best part of my younger days of swimming was the enjoyment I got. Nowadays every time I wake up early for swim practice I hate it and I don’t want to swim. But back then I woke up early every morning wanting to go to the pool to get better and swim. I don’t absolutely hate swimming anymore because if that was the case I would’ve quit by now. I don’t love it anymore but I enjoy enough to still do it.
            Once this winter is over and I’m done swimming I will be glad it’s over. I do want to keep swimming though when I’m older to stay in shape but I won’t ever be swimming competitively again. I don’t know why I don’t like swimming anymore. I think it is like what happened to me and my baseball career where I over played it as a young kid and started to hate it once I got older.
           

My Number One #2

On the first day of school every kid in the school can reach in their bags and pull out a new pencil but the next week they are using a pencil that they found under their desk in science. To most students a pencil is a pencil and as long as it writes its fine. I have a little higher standard when it comes to my writing utensils. I have been using the same pencil since the beginning of my sophomore year.

There wasn’t anything special about the pencil it was just the first one I pulled out of my bag on the first day. It has had some work done to it because pencils are not made to last 3 years of constant use. At first glance it confuses most, which usually results in a double take with the question “What is that?”  That usually receives “My pencil.” as my answer. This then leads to a lot of questions, so if you every want a conversation starter just carry around a huge duct taped pencil around and I promise you will get a few conversations out of it. People have trouble believing that someone can keep track of a pencil for that long but it really isn’t that hard. Do you find it hard to keep track of your cell phone? So why is it hard to keep track of something that is needed in almost every class?

I would call my pencil a lot of things and pretty is not one of them. Wrapped in what I’m guessing to be about 15 layers of duct tape at its thickest point. The duct tape thing started after a few days of using my pencil at school it started to crack. I figured I might as well try to fix it, and I put one piece around it to just keep it together. Then I put a little more on the bottom of the pencil where my hand goes and I thought “wow this is a lot more comfortable” so I just keep adding pieces until I was impressed with the grip. The clip that is usually useless anyway is bent perpendicular to the pencil for optimized biting on it. I have a terrible habit of chewy on things and I figure it is probably better to be chewy on my pencil than anything else. And as you probably expect erasers do not last 3 years so I have a special eraser too.

A pink pearl that I found in a drawer at my house last year right before school started is what I still use to this day. Just like a pencil you are going to need something to erase the mistakes you made with your pencil so it isn’t hard to keep track of either.

I tend on using the pencil for as long as I need a pencil. As well as the eraser, but if something happens to either (which I really hope doesn’t happen) I will simply find a replacement and go on with life.  

Friday Night Lights

                When the final bell rings on a Friday most people start to celebrate their weekends but for high school football players it’s almost the opposite. We go into game mode and start focusing on the battle we are entering. Head phones in, mentally preparing yourself for the night. Going home and anxiously waiting until we come back and board the bus. Spectators see the outcome but only the players know the truth behind the scenes.

                Once we step off the bus and enter the locker room time stops. You can feel every second ticking away with your heart beat. Sitting in complete silence waiting patiently for the time, slowly putting your pads, trying to time it so you don’t have to sit in your pads too long in the stagnate heat of the locker room. Passing around the baggie of ibuprofen, each taking as many as they think they will need to get by, ranging from 2 pills to my preference of 6. Once it gets closer to game time the music gets turned up and the clicking of cleats on the concrete floor start. Some gets sitting by themselves in the corner others nervously chattering to other team mates. Kids standing in line in front of the mirror waiting for their turn to put eye black on. Then we slowly head out to the tunnel for warm ups. Warm ups go by in the blink of an eye. But from the first step back into the locker room till the game time might as well be a hundred years. Getting last minute adjustments to make sure we are 100 percent ready.

                Then we all migrate to the tunnel which still to this date is the most intense place I have ever been. Hearing the crowd in the distance and finally get the word to run out. Bursting through the banner like a bullet we see the student section going nuts. Running in slow motion all the way across the field to our sideline to our team huddle. Once we disperse from the huddle we still have around 3 minutes to play. Each player using the 3 minutes differently, some using it as extra time to stretch out or do what I do, anxiously pacing back and fourth down the sideline. The game itself flies by. Next thing you know we are jogging back to the locker room for half time, where we go over things that needed adjustments. Cherishing the time to just sit there and gain back your breath and drink as much as you can without throwing it all back up. Then we repeat the steps that we took at the beginning of the game back out to the field.

                Next thing you know you are lined up shaking hands with the opponent then heading back to the locker room for the final time that night either with the pain of defeat or the numbing feeling of victory. We meet one last time discussing the game and the game plan for the following morning. We break it down one more time and go our separate ways to shower and change back into the clothes we came in. This is usually the point where the Ibuprofen wears off and you start to feel the pounding you just took. Everyone is in a hurry to just get the hell out of their wanting to get back to school where your friends are waiting to greet you marking the start of our weekend.