there's blood in the water, sinking, always, sinking

So, I just watched the end of the BCS National Championship game. I'm disappointed to see Alabama win, because for once, probably the only time ever, I was cheering on Texas. I haven't liked Texas since the Vince Young days because of the National Championship they won over USC on a Young touchdown run. It seems to be the iconic symbol of college football nowadays. But, after Colt McCoy, current Texas quarterback got injured on the first offensive drive of the game, my hopes for Texas to win dimmed. Then, this kid, Garret Gilbert comes in and is torn apart, is rushed by the 'Bama defense. He came around though, playing a pretty good second half, but lost a fumble on the Texas 3-yard-line with only 3 minutes remaining and that called an end to the chances of Texas coming back from a three-point deficit.

Now, with the score at 31-21, and only a minute-something remaining on the clock, Alabama ran the ball in for another touchdown. Normally, I'd be fine with this, but seeing how dejected the Longhorn's sidelines looked, the looks on all of the player's faces showing disappointment and defeat, it just showed unsportsmanlike play. When you've got control of a game, and your opponent only has one chance to stop the clock, meaning three kneeldowns would end the game, there is no need to score again. This was further opened when, after intercepting another ball with twenty-something seconds left, Alabama QB Greg McElroy kneeled down in the most slow-motion fashion possible, almost taunting the Texas players to hit him. One defensive-linemen almost obliged but was pushed back by an O-lineman. But in the end, it was a 'Bama win, whether they played unsportsmanlike or not (which they did do), they won. Mark Ingram, their running back became the sixth player to win the Heisman (undeservedly so) and the BCS National Championship in the same season.

To another year of college football, we'll see who comes out on top next year, my hopes are for USC, as is the same every year.

you can dance around the truth all you want but it won't change the outcome

So I spent my day at the mall with my girlfriend and some friends from school. We didn't really do much "shopping", more browsing. I bought a new video game (well, new for me, it's about 3 years old though). Then we went to dinner, pizza for all of us, and then to the movies to see Sherlock Holmes, the second time my girlfriend and I have seen it. Still worth seeing in my opinion.

I was going to post on this topic yesterday, but I decided to save it for today. Lately I've been seeing a lot of commercials for the People's Choice Awards and the Golden Globes and it got me thinking, there are too many awards shows. There are three- the Golden Globes, the Emmy's, and the Oscar's (Academy Awards)- revolving around Television and Movies. The Golden Globes and Emmy's both contain television awards. The Golden Globes and Oscar's have awards for movies. So, the Golden Globes is a mix of the Oscar's and Emmy's, which makes me think, why have all three? Why not just expand the Golden Globes to include every possible award for movie and television. I mean, sure, the show may take forever to air, but it'd save time slots later in the year where maybe a different special program could air, rather than another award show. I don't even watch them because frankly, I don't care who wins.

The same goes for music. Why is it necessary to have the Grammy's, the Country Music Awards, the American Music Awards, and the MTV Video Music Awards? This seems redundant to cover all of the genres with three awards shows (MTV, The Grammy's, and the AMA's) and then for one genre of music to insist on holding a show for only artists of that genre. Why not just have the Grammy's? Seeing as the Grammy's has awards under almost every genre, allows for not just American artists, but foreign as well, why not have this as the only awards show. It just seems unnecessary to have more than one when one show can sufficiently cover the spectrum of music awards.

he wears a slick jacket and gold watch

Today I finished reading a book for the second time in 2 days. It'd been at least a month since I'd completed a book, so it's a semi-accomplishment for me. The first book was Love You Hate You Miss You by Elizabeth Scott. It took me a lot longer to read than I expected. Not because it was hard or anything, I just would get into it and then get kinda bored. And then other days I'd just be too busy, so it took me about 3 weeks to finish. Then I just started the book All The Way by Andy Behrens. With three wide-open hours, I finished it, a straight-through read. What I've been thinking about all day is the last two chapters of the book. The plot (SPOILER ALERT: DO NOT KEEP READING IF YOU PLAN TO READ THIS BOOK) revolves around high-school senior-to-be Ian who is planning to visit this girl Danielle who he met online at her college the week before high school starts up again. He has her convinced he is this completely different guy than he really is and when she offers him sex, he finally takes the chance to visit her at SCSU (South Carolina Southern University). He has only three days to get there and then back to his home in Naperville, Illinois. Anyways, the part that has me thinking is when he finally is about to have sex with Danielle, her shirt off and his shirt off and them making out on her bed, the only two people he can think about are his two friends Lance and Felicia who had trekked along with him.

So he's about to have sex with this beautiful college sophomore who is about to leave for a semester abroad in Spain. On the entire trip down, the trio find themselves in comedic predicaments quite often, including being pulled over by a police officer in rural South Carolina, Felicia suffering from food poisoning, and Lance's urge to meet new girls carrying them off the trail. Throughout the trip Ian shows a caring side towards Felicia. She continues to tell Ian, as she is a virgin herself, that he is making the wrong choice, Not about him losing his virginity, but that he's going to do it with the wrong girl.

Now the final two chapters come up. Ian is about to have his first sexual experience and then he gets up, unravels himself from Danielle's body, grabs her shirt in his rush to leave, and tells her he has to go do something. She calls out her dorm window to him, but he just runs to Lance who is being his persuasive self with two drunk sorority girls, and asks him where Felicia is. Felicia is back at Ian's car which died on them as soon as they reached Charleston, South Carolina. He finds her laying on the trunk of the car and explains to her he didn't have sex with Danielle, and he thinks he's in love. With her. The chapter ends with them kissing.

The final chapter involves Ian and his friends trip back to Illinois on Amtrak. Felicia is asleep, head in Ian's lap, and he is calling his boss at Dunkin' Donuts to say that he will be quitting, and that the boss, Ron, should contact the regional manager because they're gonna need a new doughnut suit, as the one Ian had in his car has been a victim to the road trip's many misadventures.

So the second-to-last chapter got me thinking. It feels like nowadays, in this generation of teens that virginity is just a throw-away sort-of thing. It's like something that holds you back, if you don't get rid of it, it'll haunt you. You feel less "cool" when all of your friends have had sex, but you haven't. Well, Felicia had good points throughout the story. Ian did not love Danielle, had never even met her in fact. Now, in today's society, sex is certainly not viewed as something "done between a loving couple", some people see it that way, but sadly, the majority don't. It's something fun, not a further connection between two people who love each other, but something to do to release that sexual tension within. Now I'm not one of those religious "don't have sex until you're married or else you're a sinner" kind of people, but I do believe the first time should be with someone you love. Whether it be with your first girlfriend, second girlfriend, even fifth girlfriend, though that means you clearly aren't looking for a relationship, or are not mature enough to handle one long-term. If you wait 'til marriage, well then that's guaranteeing you lose your virginity to someone you love. But again, I certainly am not saying that's necessary, I actually believe that "law" is irrelevant in today's society because it was written some thousands of years ago. I do however, believe sex should be between a loving couple, which would mean waiting until you've been in a relationship at least four months or so. Just an opinion.

when the sky turns gray I'll pray for a better day

I don't really have much to say today. If lies are a rainstorm, then liars better beware of a hurricane coming towards them. That's about it.

I'm stranded to this ship left to fall with a crash of the waves

The Houston Texans played today, fighting for their playoff lives. And they won, a nail-biter (at least for me, which isn't saying much since I have a habit of biting my nails anyways) against the Patriots. Now some fans have already started saying, the Pats would have won had they used their starters the whole game. Well... they played most of the game, so don't try to make excuses. They lost, that's all there is to it. Sure, Tom Brady didn't play the last drive, but he did throw an interception the drive before. So technically, you can blame a starter. And now I'm left to hope on two teams losing. I got one so far, the Chiefs beating the Broncos, but the Raiders were unable to defeat the Ravens, and I sit here watching the Jets thus far dominate the Bengals. The Jets need to lose for the Texans to make the playoffs.

But above the playoffs, this season becomes the first in Texans decade-long franchise history, where they've finished with a winning record. And even though he had struggled, missing an extra point, 2 field goals, Kris Brown received a hug from owner Bob McNair. 9-7. That's their record. Last year they finished 8-8. Close, but falling just short. It's been an uphill climb for the team since their inception, and with the youth gaining experience and the draft picks proving their worth, such as Brian Cushing, the rookie linebacker who is going to the Prow Bowl this year, and Mario Williams, a draft pick of a few years ago who has dominated quarterbacks since his rookie season. 9-7. A winning season, and if they do make the playoffs (which right now hangs in the balance as the Jets are handling the Bengals easily), it will certainly be a Winning season.

your days are no longer lined with scarlet thread

"I drop my guns, fall to my knees. you took her life, take mine please". Favorite part of the song that's on right now. Just played. The Best There Was by A Girl A Gun A Ghost. Reminds me of last school year, listened to it at least once on the bus ride home every day. 

What I've been thinking about most of today is sports letdowns. I watched the Liberty Bowl earlier between East Carolina and Arkansas, cheering of course for the ECU Pirates since I considered attending that school. And so I guess you could say, being a fan, I got ahead of myself. Figured they'd win when they were only winning 10-3 in the first half. Too much time left to start putting a W down in the books. And so the game went into the 4th quarter tied 17-17, and ECU had their chances, but the cold temperatures wreaked havoc on their kicker. He had a chance to put them ahead 20-17. The Arkansas coach called a timeout right before the snap to "ice the kicker, pun intended" as the commentator said. He missed, the ball hitting the left upright. He then was given another opportunity, this time with only three seconds remaining on the clock. He pushed it wide right.

Overtime comes, ECU gets the ball first, they move it eight yards, come to a 4th & 2, set up for a field goal. And wouldn't you know it, he missed again. Arkansas took control, ran three plays, set up for a field goal and as fate would have it, the kicker from Arkansas put it straight through the center of the uprights. And ECU had lost. And the win I had set in my mind went by the boards, and I was let down. And as we all know, this happens to all of us. We think it's over, but it's not over 'til the clock strikes double zero and the two teams are heading back to their respective locker rooms and the fans are exiting towards the parking lots.

Sometimes we put all of the blame upon one player or only the coach for a loss. But it's never one thing that leads to a losing effort. Many mistakes adding together may bring a team to lose, but never is it one single play, player, or coach who should be fully blamed. And as most players say, "there are more than just one guy out there on the (court, field, ice), it's on all of us, not one of us. we play as a team. we win as a team. we lose as a team." and that's the attitude everyone should live by. No one person is to blame for losing.

And who's to say we shouldn't blame the sporting gods. I'm sure they have a hand in the downfall of our favorite team. Maybe they're fans of our opponent, maybe they think we win too much. Whatever the cause, we will be let down sometimes. But it's never the end of the world. As has been said by too many people over time, "there's always next year" and though the sting of losing a championship may stay with us for awhile, it disappears as soon as the hopes for a championship come around at the start of that next season.

This evening I watched an ESPN special recounting the greatest sports moments of the last decade. So many championships won, heartbreaking losses, post-game outbursts, injuries, tearful retirement speeches, lives lost within the sporting community, scandals, and in all of that, fans sticking to their guns, cheering for their teams. Through thick and thin, true sports fans stay with their team for it all. Through eighty-six years without a championship, through one-hundred years plus of continuing suffering, through losing star players to free agency, and through the emergence of a surprise rookie, who soon enough becomes a team leader. Sports are here to stay, to entertain, and to send our emotions on the roller-coaster they've been riding on since the first time we heard about touchdowns, home runs, goals, everything, on the radio and on television. We've been hooked. And the new decade is sure to be chock-full of thrills, spills, and chills running down our spines as our team tries to march downfield for a game-winning score. And we'll watch the outcome, tear our hair out with each loss and gloat with each win, but no matter the result, we'll be sports fans through and through.

all of what we know is about to end

Spent New Year's eve with some friends and my girlfriend. We talked for awhile over greek food and then deserts, including some sort of almond cookies and baklava. Following was a game of Apples to Apples, watching the ball drop on TV, a game of Texas Hold 'em (I lost seven bucks in quarters), and then I watched everyone play a game of BS and Spoons. Later we watched It's Always Sunny in Philadelphia for two episodes and then it was lights out on the party.

Woke in the morning, extremely tired. My girlfriend wouldn't let me get back to sleep either, since we'd be leaving soon enough (wound up being a good hour and a half later, mostly of my fault), and then Wendy's was lunch.

Tonight I watched the beginning half of the movie Space Jam. Reminds me of childhood, mainly the reason why I asked for it in the first place. Watched How I Met Your Mother with my girlfriend. And today, on the first day of 2010, I'm already realizing I hate my resolution. No soda for me is like... no stealing for a klepto, no drinking for an alcoholic, no porn for a sex addict. I drink soda almost daily, but it's become a drain on money at school and I needa start myself on a healthier diet, that means no soda. Sure I could limit myself to maybe one every other week, but believe me, the limitation could only last so long, so for now I'm swearing off the stuff, at least for the year.

And speaking of it being a new year, the past year, 2009 was a pretty damn good one. Graduated high school, started college, maintained my ongoing relationship of almost thirteen months, started new stories, got my first job and made some real money for once, met new friends, got my driver's license on the second attempt. There's probably a lot more I could name, but I'm not gunna.

So, in remembering the year that was 2009, and the decade that it completed, here's to hoping 2010 matches and goes beyond the experiences of 2009.