Another Multi-Topic Post

I find it easier to post alot of things all at once. Sure, I could try to post daily, but I am not usually on my computer daily. So, I guess you just have to deal. :-)

1. OSU ROLLED over Penn State - All of the OSU doubters had the spread for this game at 4 points. Who could blame them? The last regular season game that the Buckeyes lost was at Penn State, at night, during a 'white out' (when the crowd wears all white). Saturday's game was at Penn State, at night, during a 'white out', and OSU had lost 5 of the last 7 games at Penn State. The Buckeyes, however, kicked the SHIT out of the Nittony Lions 37-17. The only reason it was that close was due to two OSU mistakes: an interception that ended an OSU scoring drive and a kickoff that Penn State ran back for a touchdown in the final minutes of the game. It was TOTAL DOMINATION by the Buckeyes. 9 and 0, with just three more games!

2. My birthday was OK. We went shopping and ran some other errands. Jessica cooked me dinner and then I lost a poker game. I got good cards, but got screwed by the cards. I flopped two pair and got beat by a straight and then I flopped a straight and got beat by a higher straight. Oh well. My parents also came to town to 'celebrate my birthday', which really means they wanted to come down to hang out with my children. I love my parents, but sometimes my mom drives me NUTS!! She has a little OCD, so she can't leave a mess alone. So, she cleaned my house, basically. Why complain, you ask? While it can be nice to have someone come clean your house, it kinda makes you feel like shit when your mom does it. It's like we don't do a good enough job, so she needs to come do it herself. I sometimes have to tell her to sit down and play with the kids. True, sometimes I leave some clothes in the dryer when I know she is coming so that she will fold it, but it can get pretty excessive. This was one of those cases. Not only was she cleaning, she was giving me looks like I wasn't doing enough. Ok, first, she invited herself down this weekend, which is ok since the kids LOVE when she visits. Second, it was my birthday weekend and I wanted to relax a bit. Instead, I was doing laundry. Can't a guy sit and watch football all weekend long? Whatever. I still love my parents, even if my mom is a little pushy at times.

3. I got a few neat OSU toys for my birthday. Jessica got me a stainless steel fflask with the OSU logo on the front and a Beat M*ch*g*n countdown clock. It can work like a regular clock, but it has a countdown mode with days, hours, minutes, and seconds until the OSU vs UM kickoff. Like this one. As of right now, there are 19 days, 3 hours, 23 minutes, and 30 seconds. My parents got me an OSU squishy pillow. I like presents.

I am old

I am taking tomorrow off to celebrate my 33rd birthday tomorrow. I can't believe that I am 33. I don't really feel like 33. I guess I have nothing to base that statement on, since I have never been 33 before, but I always used to think that people in their 30's were old. I am going to try to sleep in, relax, have my favorite dinner (schnitzel, mashed potatoes, and either peas or asparagus), maybe do some shopping, and then play some cards. I feel a little bad playing cards on my birthday, since I am sure Jessica would rather I just hang out with her, but I have a monthly game that is on the last Friday every month. Still, it should be a pretty good day. I notice that I have been reflecting on some things in my life. I don't think that there is anything I would do differently, but I have caught myself thinking 'what if' questions. I don't have any regrets though. Mostly, I have been thinking of old friends and missing certain people I don't see anymore. Luckily, most of the people I miss have blogs, so I can check in on them from time to time.

In other news, Ohio State has a HUGE game this weekend against Penn State. This is definately the game that worries me the most in this season. Well, at least until they play Wisconsin. Then Illinois. Oh, and M*ch*g*n. Man this is going to be a tough last four games. Anyway, Penn State is always a top team in the Big Ten. Add the fact that the game is in Happy Valley and a night game and it makes it double tough for the Buckeyes. The last regular season loss that OSU suffered was at Penn State at night. Ohio State is probably the better team. They definately have the better defense and if the offense can hold on to the ball, they should be able to control the game. Still, I am a little nervous about this one. The "experts" are picking OSU to win, but I'm sure they will all have a little party if the "upset bug" bites the Buckeyes in the ass.

GO BUCKS!!!

The Weekend and a rough week ahead

Time to recap the weekend:

1. Ohio State beat the shit out of Michigan State. But then two stupid OSU mistakes put the Spartans close and made a game out of it. Ohio State rolled in the first half and shut down the MSU offense. They were averaging over 400 yards of offense per game, but the Bucks held them to under 200. 14 of the MSU points were off Ohio State turnovers. Other than the fumble and the interception, the OSU offense looked great, getting points off of two 90+ yard drives. It is going to be tough this week as they travel to play Penn State, who eeked one out at Indiana. The 'experts' seem to think that it will be impossible for OSU to go undefeated this season, but I honestly haven't seen a great game from any of the other Big Ten schools that the Buckeyes play in the upcoming weeks.

2. The Indians prooved that it sucks to be an Ohio sports fan. Aside from the 2002 OSU National Title, I can't really remember an Ohio team winning a championship. The Cavs blew it in the NBA last year, the Buckeyes blew it in both football and basketball last year, the Browns have sucked since returning to the NFL, Cincinnati Bengals had a close-but-no-cigar season last year, the Columbus Destroyers lost the Arena Boal last year, and the Columbus Bluejackets have never played a playoff game. Well, at least Johnny must be happy about the Indians dropping three in a row in the ALCS. Honestly, I knew the Indians were in trouble when they got their butts handed to them in games 5 and 6. If I were more of a baseball fan, I would be upset.

3. I got to do the fun chore of putting a new post in the ground for my mailbox. The old post broke. It was either dry rot, or someone knocked it over. I think it was just dry rot though. The wook looked pretty bad. It was a pain to dig up the post though, what with the concrete holding it into place. I hope I did a good job putting in the new post. It is level and all, but I never worked with concrete before. I worry that I may have used too much water or didn't give it enough time to dry. Well, at least the mailbox is back up.

As for the week ahead, I am taking this Friday off, so I only have to work 2 days. Woo-Hoo!

Bad Feelings

1. It is not good to be in the NCAA football top five this year. You may say, "Why Eric, it is good to be in the top five. Then you have a chance to play for the National Title." While this is true, i the first seven weeks of the football season, 11 teams that were ranked over then #12 Ohio State have all lost, moving the Buckeyes up to #1. Another team that benefited from the fall of so many teams was #2 South Florida. The Bulls were undefeated and poised for a Cinderella season if they could win out to go to the title game. Well, they didn't. Another top five team has fallen from grace. Rutgers beat SFU 30-27 last night. Rutgers shuold be used to it since they beat #3 Louisville last season in a similar fasion.

2. The Indians sucked a big one last night, losing to the Red Sox 7-1. The Indoans' pitching was terrrible and their hitting was terrible too. Now they have two games in Boston. I am getting a bad feeling about this. The Red Sox are a very good team and they could easily win three in a row to go to the world series.

3. Ohio State starts the main part of their Big Ten season tomorrow. I have a bad feeling after seeing all of these other top ten teams get dropped. Michigan State always seems to play OSU hard. The Buckeyes will need to bring their A game for the rest of the season if they want to go unscathed through the rest of the year. I doubt that they will get tot he National Title Game as a one loss team.

More Stuff

1. Anyone have satellite TV? I was thinking about getting Direct TV, but have never had anything but cable TV. I have been worried about bad reception from satellite TV. Plus, I would have to learn a whole new channel scheme. I am already pretty much set up for satellite. At least we have a dish on the roof already. There are two reasons I want to make the change: 1. the Big Ten Network and 2. They are adding a ton of HD channels (over 100). Time Warner doesn't have half that amount. Let me know if you have satellite and if you like it.

2. The Indians are up big in the series against the Red Sox (3 games to 1). The series could be over tonight, if the Tribe can pull out another win. They would face the Colorado Rockies in the World Series. I don't know how excited I am about that. The Rockies are something like 19-1 in their last 20 games. That is crazy.

3. You can call me Lou. I am now a lieutenant in the Halo 3 multi player world. I don't know if that is because I am good or just because I have played alot. I win some games, but others I get my ass handed to me. Mostly, I am a solid 2nd or 3rd place. There are a few maps that I excel and a few that I blow chunks. I guess it depends on if I know where the good weapons are.

A Good Weekend

1. I didn't have to work, which is always nice

2. Already mentioned in the previous post that OSU won. Now we know they are #1 in the BCS poll. GO BUCKS!!!

3. The Indians split the first two games at Boston, so the series is tied one one and they are heading back to Cleveland for game 3. Go Tribe!!!

4. The Browns won yesterday, taking down the Miami Dolphins. The Browns are now 3-3. I don't know if they will make the playoffs, but they are looking pretty good to go .500 for the season. Still alot of football to play.

5. Friday night was Halo Heaven. Some of my buddies and I got on Xbox Live and teamed up. We had 7 people playing most of the time, so we mostly did Slayer (free-for-all) but when we dropped down to 6 people, we started playing team Slayer. We even banded together for some 6 vs 6 team slayer against other teams. IT WAS GREAT!!!! The best was when we were in a six man team and were placed in a 'Shotty and Sniper' game. You get unlimited shot gun and sniper rifle rounds. Anyway, someone on my team said they hated shotty and sniper, so I said we could veto the map if we wanted to. Someone on the other team said something like we were gay if we vetoed, we were pussys, and we we all N---ERS!!! Can you believe it? Well, Tommie (one of my teammates) is a black guy, so we didn't take kindly to that remark. Let's just say that kicked it up a notch that game. We won, and of my team's 50 kills, I had 19 (I LOVE Shotty and Snipers). Nine of my 19 kills I kicked the shit out of the ignorant jackass that dropped the N-bomb. Asshole.

In The Driver's Seat

It was another good weekend for the Ohio State Buckeyes. Not only did they crush Akron 48-3, like they should have, but the number one and two teams both got beat. This should put Ohio State in the driver's seat for another run at the National Title. the BCS ranking come out today, and OSU should be either #1 or #2.

First, #1 LSU wass downed by #17 Kentucky. No, they weren't playing basketball. Apparently, KU went out and got themselves some football players this season. The game went to three overtimes until LSU finally got stopped on a 4th and 2 play. It looked like they ran the exact same play all four downs. I think that, after being stuffed the first few tries, they might have thought about a pass play. Oh well.

Second, the Oregon State Beavers topped Cal by three points. I could no believe how badly Cal screwed up. They were down ten points, with just a few minutes to play. They took the ball and quickly scored a TD to get within 3 point. Then, they got the ball back with about a minute left. They again drove down the field to get well within fieldgoal range. On the last play of the game (with about 13 seconds left) the Cal QB took the ball, looked for someone to pass to for the win, but then tucked the ball away and ran with it. He was stopped short, they were out of time outs, and the clock ran out before the field goal team could get on to the field. In this case, the coach should have said, "If no one is open, THROW THE BALL AWAY!!!!!" Apparently he didn't, and they lost. Oh well.

Now, Ohio State has the meat of their schedule coming up. LOTS of scary games to play. The last four teams could all potentially be ranked when they face OSU. However, if the defensekeeps playing the way they have been and the offense can keep the ball rolling, I think these are all games OSU should win:

Michigan State - Beat the tar out of Indiana yasterday. They were also close in their losses to Wisconsin (37-34) and Northwestern (48-41). Michigan State always plays OSU tough.

@Penn State - The last time OSU went to Happy Valley, they got their butts whipped. It was a night game and the fans did a 'white out' where they all dress in white. This year, it is another night game. I am really worried about this game after PSU beat the crap out of Wisconsin 38-7.

Wisconsin - I am a little less worried about this game after Penn State dismantled the Badgers. Wisconsin is pretty beat up this season, with both of their starting wide receivers out for the year. Still, Wisconsin always seems to be the one game that OSU falls asleep for.

Illinois - Illinios is a strange team this year. they have won some big games, but just lost to the Big Ten kicking post, Iowa 10-6. It was an U.G.L.Y (you ain't got no aliby) game.

@M*ch*g*n - scUM is a having a weird season this year. they dropped their opener to Appalachin State and the next game against Oregon, but are #2 in the Big Ten after winning their last five games. It looks like they are back on course and a scary opponent.

GO BUCKS!!!

Some stuff

1. Season 1 of 30 Rock is on free viewing o NetFlix.com. I don't watch it normally, but I think I like it. It's very reminiscent of Seinfeld. It's not like Seinfeld, but it has the same kind of feel and humor. It kind of sneaks up on you. I may put it on my DVR schedule. I can't believe how much I like Alec Baldwin.

2. Game 1 of the Indians against the Red Socks starts tonight. However, it is going to clash with some Halo 3 action. I think we are going to have about 6 or 7 people in the party. It should be a good time.

3. OSU gets to knock around another in state 'rival' this Saturday. Kent State rolls into town tomorrow. I am not sure if it will be on TV or not. I may be one of the games that got put on the Big Ten Network. Hopfully there will be some other good games to watch.

4. I drove myself crazy bowling last night. I started out with a 224 and finished the night with a 150. How do I drop 74 pins from one game to the next? I couldn't figure it out.

5. The parents are in town this weekend. My mom goes through withdrawals when she doesn't see the kids frequently enough. It is always nice to see them, but I always feel like I need to do chores. My mom is a major busy body. She can't sit still and she can't pass a mess without cleanig it up. It is kinda nice though, I can leave a load of laundry in the dryer and the next thing that I know, it is folded.

Go Tribe!

So, Cleveland offed the hated New York Yankees this week. I know, I probably shouldn't be posting baseball since I am not a huge fan, but I can't help it. It is so rare that we Cleveland fans get something to cheer about. The Browns are terrible, the Cavs got their asses handed to them in the NBA finals, and the Indians have been out of grace for about ten years. One thing is making me angry though. It is the same thing that pisses me off about all national sports coverage: instead of talking up the Indians, the new is all about what's happening with the Yankees. Who fucking cares? I guess it is a big deal since they have all these good players that are probably going their own way now, but isn't the stopry supposed to be Cleveland vs Boston? The Goat is talking trash about it already. Big suprise, eh? I lost my password to his blog, or I would give him my two cents. At least he shares my 'fuck the Yankees' attitude. He's just looking beyond the Indians. I hope the Red Socks do that too. I heard a commercial for the series calling the Indians the "Cinderella Indians". What the FUCK??? Cinderella? To me the term 'Cinderella' means a team that is not supposed to be in the race. Live St Mary's College For the Blind in the NCAA tourney. THAT would be a Cinderella team. The the Indians had the best record in the MLB. Does THAT sound Cinderella? Another reason why I hate the media. Ohio sports get no respect until AFTER then win the titles.

Another example of this: I watched a college football show yesterday and there was a story about LSU, USC, Cal, and they were showing scenes from M*ch*g*n's stadium. Nothing about Ohio State. It's OK though. It is better to fly under the radar until you win it all. then no one sees you coming.

New Link

I added a new link to my blog yesterday. It's nothing too exciting, but if you want to see where my ancestors are from, take a peek. It is a family tree that my Uncle Terry researched and created. It goes pretty far back too. The only catch is that some of the information may not necessarily be correct. Some of the records have been lost due to fire, war, people moving around, etc. so there are gaps here and there. It is neat that there are pictures too. Basically, my uncle has been sending letters to anyone that has the last name Rhodes and has lived in or has relatives in the area of my ancestors.

I am also adding all of my CD music to my IPod. I have a 30G IPod and it is half empty, so I figured I would fill it up more. It is going to take a while. I forgot how many CDs I have that have fell out of the listening rotation. I either forget I have them or I only like one or two songs on the album. I think I will listen to a wider variety of my music now after I get it all on the Ipod. I may even get creative and make some playlists, like a 'one hit wonder' list for those bands that I only like one song.

The Browns got their asses kicked yesterday and the Indians dropped on to the Yankees. Not a good day for the Cleveland teams. As expected though, OSU is now #3 in the ranking.

How Do You Show You Deserve To Be Top Five?

Kick the shit out of the #23 team in their own house. And that is just what Ohio State did to Perdue yesterday. Ohio state shut down the Perdue offense allowing only 4 yards of rushing. The game could have been a lot worse for Purdue, since Todd Boeckman gave away three interceptions. They were all deep passes, so they were almost like punts, but the score could really have been something like 45-7 instead of 24-7. Also, OSU dropped about four possible interceptions. It was a little frustrating seeing these mistakes, but OSU totally out played Perdue. The only touchdown that Perdue could muster was in the final minutes of the game when the first string defense was pulled.

A few other good things that happened for the Buckeyes:

1. USC fell asleep and lost one to Stanford. Stanford scored alast minute touchtown to go on top. Since USC was #2 and OSU is #4, we are at least going to be #3 this week.

2. Wisconsin got HANDLED by Illinios. Sure the score was 31-26, but the Illini really out played Wisconsin. This creates a weird situation in the Big Ten. The 'top' two teams that were predicted to win the Big Ten, Wisconsin and M*ch*g*n, are both needing someone else to lose in order to be in the Big Ten title chase. I guess M*ch*g*n is 2-0 in the Big Ten, but their overall record will take them out of the chase in the long run. As you can see, Illinois is the big suprise this year.


Big Ten Standings
TEAM
CONF. W-L
OVERALL W-L
Ohio State
3-0
6-0
Illinois
3-0
5-1
Michigan
2-0
4-2
Wisconsin
2-1
5-1
Indiana
2-1
5-1
Purdue
1-1
5-1
Penn State
1-2
4-2
Northwestern
1-2
3-3
Michigan State
0-2
4-2
Iowa
0-3
2-4
Minnesota
0-3
1-5

Indians against the Yankees: 2 and 8

I am not a huge baseball fan. I am an Indians fan, but not an avid fan. I will watch a few innings if there is nothing else on, but in general, I get my Indians updates on the news. If they win, cool. I just can't get excited about a season that has over 100 games played just to see who gets into the playoffs. I think I have some ADD. But the playoffs is something I can get up for. Well, the Indians are in the playoffs and are taking on the Yankees. In the regular season, the Indians are 0-8 against the Yankees. A little scary. However, in the post season, the Indians are 2-0 against the Yankees. Yeah! That is why I don't get excited about the regular season. The games don't really mean that much. At least not until September when there is a race to see who gets the playoff spots. As an Indian fan, I HATE the Yankees. I also dislike any team that throws huge amounts of cash around to try to buy a title. I don't think that should be allowed. What do I know though? Well, one more win and the Indians will polish off the Yankees and the pinstripes will take their big paychecks home for the season. Rough life. GO TRIBE!!

Scary game tonight: OSU vs Perdue. A top 25 opponent in a hostile environment scares me a little. They are doing a 'black out' at Perdue, where the fans all wear black. I am not sure that this a good strategy for a night game. Sure it will be loud, but the fans in black will blend in to the darkness. If the offense keeps rolling, it should be a Buckeyes victory.

GO BUCKS!!

More Updates

Sorry for the blogging of multiple topic lately. Hopfully it makes it easier for y'all to pick and choose what you want to read.

1. Halo 2 vs Halo 3 - I finished the Halo 3 campaign. It was fun. I liked the ending (?). It was a conclusion that was satifying and kinda left an opening for Halo 4. All in all, I like 3 alot more than I liked Halo2. Why? Xbox Live. The multi player games are F U N. I am getting better too. I am a level 5 Spartan now and I have actually won several matches. I am EZE2112 if you want to test me.

2. My NCAA 08 football record is getting better. I am on a 4 game win streak. The difference in my game has definately been my offensive skills. I am juking more and am able to break tackles, plus I am getting good at audibles when needed. I LOVE spreading the defense with 5 wide receiversand making a hot read to a quick pass under the coverage. I haven't been stopped since adopting this strategy.

3. BSG...... Razor??? - When watching the disappointing Eureka season finale, I saw a commercial that caught my eye. Apparently there is a BSG spin off already. It called BSG - Razor. I don't know much about this show yet, but they are having two minute teasers during Flash Gordon on Fridays. I doubt I will DVR Flash for this, but the flashbacks will be on the SciFi.com much like the Resistance BSG webisodes. Anything BSG should be good, in theory. I just hope they do not ruin the franchise with this spin off. As a side note, I think BSG starts this month. WOO-HOO!!

4. Speaking of NCAA 08, I finally finshed my first Dynasty. Ohio State is the NCAA 08 National Champions after beating USC. I got an achievement, won some awards...it was pretty anti-climactic. Still, gamer points are gamer points.

5. I was considering buying the new World Series of Poker Xbox game. I need to check and see how many people are still playing online with the old game before I upgrade. I guess there will be some cool features in the new version, but if I can play multi player online with the old version, I see no need to upgrade. I rarely play the career mode.

Sorry this was so Xbox heavy in content. I guess there isn't too much going on at the moment. Still, Xbox is pretty fun in my book.

Weekend Updates

1. Good weekend for OSU football. Ohio State won at Minnesota, #5West Virginia lost, #3 Oklahoma lost, #4 Florida lost, and #7 Texas Lost. This means that the Buckeyes have leapt from #8 to #4 in one weekend. Woody is happy too since his Cincinnati Bearcats are climbing the charts too. I just hope that the guy I poked fun at on his post doesn't show up on my door step later in the week. I just wish I know how Woody keeps getting his picture taken with hot college girls.

2. It was a good football weekend all around as the Cleveland Browns won too. They beat the hated Baltimore Ravens. I say 'hated' because the Ravens were the Browns before the traitor Art Modell ripped the team from Cleveland and went to Baltimore. I feel like a turd, since I picked the Browns to lose in my Pick'em game. After seeing them lost to the Raiders last week, I lost some faith in my boys. Never again though. I am going to pick Cleveland for every game now. Especially since they seem to play up to their opponents. They are 2-2 and #2 in their division. Who'd a thunk it?

3. I am almost though the campaign for Halo 3. At least I think I am. It just has a climactic feel building up. The game has been alot more fun that Halo 2. The new weapons and gadgets are fun. I found a flame thrower that kills good. I also got into some multi-player games. I thought I would get my ass kicked alot, but held my own. Out of six games I played, I got my ass kicked twice, was in the middle of the pack twice, and was the top Spartan twice. One of the games, I had so many kills that the other players were actually teaming up against me. I was getting a little irritated, but my 25 kills beat their combined 24 (10, 10, and 4). I need to figure out how to join some team slayer games and how to host my own games. I have about 10 friends that have the game.

4. I played some dards Friday night. Two games, I came in second for the first one and lost badly the second one. It was fun though.