The NFL has been getting pretty dramatic the past few weeks. It's actually been a very good season to watch games. But, getting towards the end of the regular season play there have been some pretty big upsets. Last night it started with the Saints vs. the Cowboys. If you know anything about football you know the Saints were undefeated up until this game. Cowboys probably played their best game all season to upset the Saints. Anyways, I was feeling pretty good about the Vikings playing the Panthers. I even told my brother that I guaranteed a win from the Vikings...my bad.
The Vikings took their 3rd loss tonight against a team they should have beat...but, it seems recently there are no shoulda's. I'm not sure what is going on with the Vikes but they looked flat as could be tonight...a very similar look as the game they played against the Cardinals. All is not lost yet, and no reason to panic, I just expect more out of the Vikings. They are the second seed going into the playoffs still, but they need to win the remainder of their games and the Eagles need to lose a game, or else the Vikes could lose the second seed. This is my understanding at least. So, we'll see what happens in the next few weeks.
On to non football related material. I am back home in Minnesota! It is nice and cold here and plenty of white snow to be enjoyed. It is a huge change from San Diego, but it is a welcome change. You probably wouldn't think you could get sick of sunshine everyday, but I guess I do. I love me a cloudy day with snow flurries or even blizzard like snowfall. Sunshine days are nice in the winter too though...I just like that weather change, I guess you like what you grew up with, and for me that is tons of snow and frost biting temperatures, that would get old too if it weren't for the three other seasons.
My flight into Minneapolis reminded me of flying into a frozen tundra or at least similar to something you would see on T.V. It just looked cold outside of the plane. The sky had that purplish look the sky gets at dusk in the winter, it was awesome. All the lights from houses and street lights had a soft glow that only snow creates when the light reflects off of it. It was a nice welcoming home...simple, but fantastic!
Merry Christmas and Happy New Year to everyone!
Sunday, December 20, 2009
Sunday, November 22, 2009
Today was another great day for Minnesota Viking football! Living out here in California keeps me from watching the Vikings play on TV so I have to resort to sitting in front of my computer and watching a streaming video of the games being played. It isn't ideal, but it does the trick. So, anyways, my beloved horned, purple people eaters are 9-1 after handily defeating the Seattle Seahawks 35-9. Now I know that the Seahawks aren't a very imposing opponent, especially for the Vikes, but it was good to see Minnesota play a clean game and run the score up a little. I'm certain the score would have been greater if the Golden Boy Brett Favre played the entire game, but he did not after being pulled at the end of the 3rd quarter to keep him healthy. For the most part the defense played tough through the end of the game, slipping up a little and allowing Seattle to score. Here is the highlight reel from the game earlier today. http://www.vikings.com/media-vault/videos/Full-Highlights-Vikings-35-Seahawks-9/c1a00f6d-3682-45f6-956c-6651fece98aa
Sitting here writing this blog I am officially 2 days away from enjoying some time back home. I hadn't planned on it, but I will be flying home for Thanksgiving...thanks to a surprise sale on flights. Fares were cut in two from the original price to fly from San Diego to Minneapolis. Best thing about the flights is that they are direct. I was ready to stay here and train, but unfortunately I strained my oblique muscle throwing. I have been doing everything in my power to heal it quickly, but it's one of those deals where time is the best cure. I am hoping to be out from throwing no more than two weeks. Funny thing is I am able to lift without aggravating the injury but any violent twisting movement like throwing a discus I am unable to do without pain. I'm lucky it isn't more serious than it was. Many throwers have abdominal issues, even pulling ab muscles off the ribs. I have been fortunate enough not too have had any issues until now, but my ribs are a little tender. I tried to be smart about stopping before I hurt myself any further.
I don't feel so bad about heading back home for about a week, otherwise I would just be hanging out by myself during Thanksgiving. Some good home cooking and rest should heal me up and get me ready to continue with the great progress I have been experiencing this past month of training.
Sitting here writing this blog I am officially 2 days away from enjoying some time back home. I hadn't planned on it, but I will be flying home for Thanksgiving...thanks to a surprise sale on flights. Fares were cut in two from the original price to fly from San Diego to Minneapolis. Best thing about the flights is that they are direct. I was ready to stay here and train, but unfortunately I strained my oblique muscle throwing. I have been doing everything in my power to heal it quickly, but it's one of those deals where time is the best cure. I am hoping to be out from throwing no more than two weeks. Funny thing is I am able to lift without aggravating the injury but any violent twisting movement like throwing a discus I am unable to do without pain. I'm lucky it isn't more serious than it was. Many throwers have abdominal issues, even pulling ab muscles off the ribs. I have been fortunate enough not too have had any issues until now, but my ribs are a little tender. I tried to be smart about stopping before I hurt myself any further.
I don't feel so bad about heading back home for about a week, otherwise I would just be hanging out by myself during Thanksgiving. Some good home cooking and rest should heal me up and get me ready to continue with the great progress I have been experiencing this past month of training.
Sunday, November 8, 2009
Back at it
I have been in California for two weeks now, and the time has flown by. I feel like I have been so busy I haven't been able to keep up with what is going on in the news. When I was back home I had a little more down time to stay updated on current events. This is a good thing that I'm busy, but it is also blatantly obvious that my vacation time is over.
I jumped right into training with my training group as soon as I got here. The workouts have been intense. We are throwing for about two and a half hours in the morning and then in the weight room for another two and a half hours after lunch. Throwing sessions have been going well and I am very pleased with my progress and carry over from last year. At this point I feel I am ahead of where I was at this time last year. My strength training has also been good. My legs have been feeling better than last year when I was barely able to do body weight squats. I have actually been able to load up the bar with weights and do some serious leg training. Two weeks in isn't very long, but I am feeling very positive about this year.
I have talked about pec issues I have had during the past four years, and finally this week I will be having an ultra sound image done on my right pec. I am told these images are better than MRI's, so hopefully I get some good feed back and uncover any issues that may be going on inside my pec muscle. I will update any information I receive as soon as I get it.
I jumped right into training with my training group as soon as I got here. The workouts have been intense. We are throwing for about two and a half hours in the morning and then in the weight room for another two and a half hours after lunch. Throwing sessions have been going well and I am very pleased with my progress and carry over from last year. At this point I feel I am ahead of where I was at this time last year. My strength training has also been good. My legs have been feeling better than last year when I was barely able to do body weight squats. I have actually been able to load up the bar with weights and do some serious leg training. Two weeks in isn't very long, but I am feeling very positive about this year.
I have talked about pec issues I have had during the past four years, and finally this week I will be having an ultra sound image done on my right pec. I am told these images are better than MRI's, so hopefully I get some good feed back and uncover any issues that may be going on inside my pec muscle. I will update any information I receive as soon as I get it.
Saturday, October 24, 2009
Park City
I spent the past week hanging out in ritzy Park City, UT watching bobsledders and skeleton athletes go flying down ice covered tracks down the side of mountains. I made a pit stop during my trip from Minnesota to San Diego to support my girlfriend, Mia, during her team trials for U.S. World Cup team. It was an impressive week watching everyone run and push 400+ lb. sleds down ice tracks. Hanging around my girlfriend all week gave me an inside look into everything that is involved with the sport. It is quite the production!
Everyday the athletes get to track and start at the bottom of the mile long length of ice track. They start their track walk hours before they actually start sliding to go over the curves and turns and dips. This helps them to get a good mental image of the track and visualize what they are about to drive on at over 80mph! It's pretty amazing. Once they start sliding they get to runs down the track which takes about an hour and a half total depending on the amount of athletes training.
During race day everything is a frenzy. The day before was spent sanding runners. Runners are the blades of steel that the bobsled rides on down the ice. Runners are very complicated from my perspective. To me they are just pieces of metal, to bobsledders they are incredibly important. First of all, the metal needs to be blemish free. There can be no nicks or scratches. It is the smoothest metal I have ever seen. Bobsledders spend hours sanding these steel blades to perfection. They use all kinds of different grades of sandpaper to get the steel ultra smooth. After the blades are sanded, acetone is wiped across the runners to clean them. After the runners have been finished they are basically untouchable. I was not allowed by Mia to handle the runners very much, and if I did, I had to use extreme caution. It was stressful.
The competitions just finished today. There were two days of competitions, with a total of four runs down the hill. Mia did a great job with the equipment she was given to use this year. Not all sleds are created equal which really minimizes ability to get a fair and accurate measure of any individuals skills. It is a long and frustrating problem to explain, but there is a issue that needs to addressed in that sport. I am very proud of Mia though for all the hard work and commitment she has put into her sport, she is a very inspirational woman an amazingly gifted athlete.
Here is a cool video of bobsledding. It is of a 4 man bobsled team. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ofzbV9-Nyag
My week long pseudo vacation has come to an end and now it is time for me to get back to work. Tomorrow morning I will be driving 11 hours from Park City to San Diego. It is tough to leave this comfortable resort I have been staying at, but I need to keep from getting soft mentally and physically! I am very excited to start up a new season of training. The only bad thing about leaving tomorrow, which is a Sunday, is...I'm sure you can guess...yup, I will be missing the Viking and Steelers game. It's going to be a long drive...
Everyday the athletes get to track and start at the bottom of the mile long length of ice track. They start their track walk hours before they actually start sliding to go over the curves and turns and dips. This helps them to get a good mental image of the track and visualize what they are about to drive on at over 80mph! It's pretty amazing. Once they start sliding they get to runs down the track which takes about an hour and a half total depending on the amount of athletes training.
During race day everything is a frenzy. The day before was spent sanding runners. Runners are the blades of steel that the bobsled rides on down the ice. Runners are very complicated from my perspective. To me they are just pieces of metal, to bobsledders they are incredibly important. First of all, the metal needs to be blemish free. There can be no nicks or scratches. It is the smoothest metal I have ever seen. Bobsledders spend hours sanding these steel blades to perfection. They use all kinds of different grades of sandpaper to get the steel ultra smooth. After the blades are sanded, acetone is wiped across the runners to clean them. After the runners have been finished they are basically untouchable. I was not allowed by Mia to handle the runners very much, and if I did, I had to use extreme caution. It was stressful.
The competitions just finished today. There were two days of competitions, with a total of four runs down the hill. Mia did a great job with the equipment she was given to use this year. Not all sleds are created equal which really minimizes ability to get a fair and accurate measure of any individuals skills. It is a long and frustrating problem to explain, but there is a issue that needs to addressed in that sport. I am very proud of Mia though for all the hard work and commitment she has put into her sport, she is a very inspirational woman an amazingly gifted athlete.
Here is a cool video of bobsledding. It is of a 4 man bobsled team. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ofzbV9-Nyag
My week long pseudo vacation has come to an end and now it is time for me to get back to work. Tomorrow morning I will be driving 11 hours from Park City to San Diego. It is tough to leave this comfortable resort I have been staying at, but I need to keep from getting soft mentally and physically! I am very excited to start up a new season of training. The only bad thing about leaving tomorrow, which is a Sunday, is...I'm sure you can guess...yup, I will be missing the Viking and Steelers game. It's going to be a long drive...
Sunday, October 11, 2009
Going back to Cali...
This was a great week for our country and for our President. In case you were avoiding any news, President Obama was awarded with the Nobel Peace Prize. I was pretty excited to hear this and my initial reaction to this news was "wow, seriously?" I asked my dad what Obama got the award for and he said "promoting peace." I didn't even have to give it a second thought. Even before the presidential nomination, Obama was conceptualizing and verbalizing peaceful ideas for the country under his leadership. I was extremely happy and proud at the same time that our President would be chosen for this honor. I said to my dad "This is going to look good for the U.S. Maybe this will shut some critics mouths and they'll give the President some respect." Oh man was I wrong on that thought.
As I went through the rest of the day I heard more people than not saying how ridiculous it was
that Obama got the Nobel Peace Prize. Far right Conservatives in the media tore down the honor of the award and even went on to say the award has been tarnished. I couldn't believe my ears! Even on Facebook I had friends posting negative views on the event, whom I'm sure were spouting commentary they heard from various media outlets. How could anyone not be happy for what the award represented for the country? I was purely looking at the positive side of things, I still can't see how anyone could take such an honor and turn it into something negative. It really makes me question the patriotism of people.
I was really disappointed that I didn't see more positive backing and acceptance of this award for our President and more importantly what our country is trying to represent and promote, peace. I did find a very insightful and well done video segment posted by one of my friend's on their Facebook homepage. I wish this video was played all over for people to see what should be seen, the positive nature of the honor for our President and our country after years of disapproval by much of the world. It is a major step in the right direction for our country and the international community. Here is the 11 minute video segment http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GMJuEOaF84o
Anyways, enough about political stuff, this was my last week here at home and it has gone pretty fast. Two months of hanging out with family and friends and now it is time for me to get back to work. I'm a little bit bummed out but at the same time I'm excited for the start of a new training year. The time I spent at home was much needed and enjoyed. I was able to help out my parents a great deal with landscaping around the house and other little chores, mostly to earn my keep! I was able to hang out with my brother Sam almost every weekend at his college of Winona State. That was important to me to be able to spend that time with him.
This weekend I had the chance to go to the University of Minnesota Homecoming football game against Purdue in the new TCF Bank Stadium in Minneapolis. It was the coolest college football experience I've ever had! I wanted to go to a game so bad while I was home and I accomplished that goal. I can now go back to San Diego happy!
I will be leaving for San Diego this Friday but will be breaking my trip up with a week long stay in Park City, Utah where my girlfriend, Mia, will be training and competing for a spot on the World Championship team.
As I went through the rest of the day I heard more people than not saying how ridiculous it was
that Obama got the Nobel Peace Prize. Far right Conservatives in the media tore down the honor of the award and even went on to say the award has been tarnished. I couldn't believe my ears! Even on Facebook I had friends posting negative views on the event, whom I'm sure were spouting commentary they heard from various media outlets. How could anyone not be happy for what the award represented for the country? I was purely looking at the positive side of things, I still can't see how anyone could take such an honor and turn it into something negative. It really makes me question the patriotism of people.
I was really disappointed that I didn't see more positive backing and acceptance of this award for our President and more importantly what our country is trying to represent and promote, peace. I did find a very insightful and well done video segment posted by one of my friend's on their Facebook homepage. I wish this video was played all over for people to see what should be seen, the positive nature of the honor for our President and our country after years of disapproval by much of the world. It is a major step in the right direction for our country and the international community. Here is the 11 minute video segment http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GMJuEOaF84o
Anyways, enough about political stuff, this was my last week here at home and it has gone pretty fast. Two months of hanging out with family and friends and now it is time for me to get back to work. I'm a little bit bummed out but at the same time I'm excited for the start of a new training year. The time I spent at home was much needed and enjoyed. I was able to help out my parents a great deal with landscaping around the house and other little chores, mostly to earn my keep! I was able to hang out with my brother Sam almost every weekend at his college of Winona State. That was important to me to be able to spend that time with him.
This weekend I had the chance to go to the University of Minnesota Homecoming football game against Purdue in the new TCF Bank Stadium in Minneapolis. It was the coolest college football experience I've ever had! I wanted to go to a game so bad while I was home and I accomplished that goal. I can now go back to San Diego happy!
I will be leaving for San Diego this Friday but will be breaking my trip up with a week long stay in Park City, Utah where my girlfriend, Mia, will be training and competing for a spot on the World Championship team.
Sunday, September 27, 2009
Chicago 2016
The announcement for the host city of the 2016 Olympic Games will soon be selected. The selected city will be named on October 2 from the IOC Session in Copenhagen. Madrid, Tokyo, Rio de Janeiro and most importantly Chicago are all making bids to hold the Olympic Games. It appears that there is no clear cut favorite to host the games. In my opinion from what I have read, I believe it is close between Rio and Chicago. It appears that Tokyo does not have much public support behind their bid and with Europe already hosting the the 2012 games, Madrid would be an unlikely candidate as well. So, that leaves Rio and Chicago.
It is also my understanding that President Obama will be making an appearance in Copenhagen to support the 2016 bid for the United States. Originally, Michelle Obama had the lone job of representing the city of Chicago and the President. But, after finding out that the President of Brazil's President, Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva, and the King of Spain were going to be in attendance at the IOC Sessions President Obama thought it would be an important appearance to make. I agree that his presence would indeed help the cause greatly for bringing the Olympics to Chicago. With the combined duo of the Obama's representing the U.S. and their hometown of Chicago it would be difficult to not be awarded the host city honors.
Naturally I would love to have the Olympics held in the U.S. I believe any hot blooded American would want it here. Also, Chicago happens to be five hours away from my hometown. This would be great, and God willing I am still competing in track and field and even fortunate enough to make an Olympic team, it would be a dream come true for myself.
Be sure to pay attention to the news on Friday. It is a big deal to host an Olympic Games for any country. It will be a great benefit to any city that is awarded the duties of hosting such an event. I feel there is a good chance that Chicago will get the privilege. We'll all have to wait until this Friday to find out. Here are some links to check out the announcement live. http://www.olympic.org/uk/index_uk.asp
http://www.universalsports.com/
It is also my understanding that President Obama will be making an appearance in Copenhagen to support the 2016 bid for the United States. Originally, Michelle Obama had the lone job of representing the city of Chicago and the President. But, after finding out that the President of Brazil's President, Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva, and the King of Spain were going to be in attendance at the IOC Sessions President Obama thought it would be an important appearance to make. I agree that his presence would indeed help the cause greatly for bringing the Olympics to Chicago. With the combined duo of the Obama's representing the U.S. and their hometown of Chicago it would be difficult to not be awarded the host city honors.
Naturally I would love to have the Olympics held in the U.S. I believe any hot blooded American would want it here. Also, Chicago happens to be five hours away from my hometown. This would be great, and God willing I am still competing in track and field and even fortunate enough to make an Olympic team, it would be a dream come true for myself.
Be sure to pay attention to the news on Friday. It is a big deal to host an Olympic Games for any country. It will be a great benefit to any city that is awarded the duties of hosting such an event. I feel there is a good chance that Chicago will get the privilege. We'll all have to wait until this Friday to find out. Here are some links to check out the announcement live. http://www.olympic.org/uk/index_uk.asp
http://www.universalsports.com/
Sunday, September 13, 2009
The Gophers and Vikings
Well, I have returned to blogging...I am going to officially state that I am the worlds worst blogger. Not proud of that, but I am going to try and change that. The thing that sucks about not keeping up with your blogs is that there are a lot of things to talk about that pass, and it's difficult to go back and talk about it because it may be irrelevant...but, I'm going to do that anyways. I have a lot of things to talk about. So, I'm going to start with this one right here....
This was a great weekend for Minnesota football. I am lucky enough to be in Minnesota right now too to enjoy the football excitement. The weekend started off yesterday when my alma mater, the University of Minnesota Golden Gophers, had it's first game in the brand new TCF Bank Stadium. It is going to be difficult for me to describe my feelings surrounding this game because there were a lot of emotions...all positive of course! It was hard to believe that the Golden Gophers actually had their own on campus stadium to play in after a 30 year absence of on campus games. Every home game was played in the Metrodome in downtown Minneapolis. But, this weekend was the start of something new! From now on the Gopher football team will be playing before their fans on their own turf...literally! It is an overwhelmingly exciting feeling, and I know I share this overabundant joy with all Gopher fans.
Too break in the new 300 million dollar stadium with the biggest locker room in the country both pro and college, third largest high definition big screen in the country of all the colleges and a capacity to hold 50,000 screaming maroon and gold fans, the Gophers started a long tradition with a win over Air Force. Winning their first home game in the the brand new stadium was as sweet as it gets. Sadly, I was not able to get a ticket to the game because they were all sold out which hasn't happened too often in the past at the metrodome. I was able to watch the game with my dad and sister on a small t.v. but I didn't know the difference. I honestly felt the energy from the stadium come through that little television screen into the living room. It was the most fun I have ever had watching a football game on t.v!
Today, on NFL Sunday, I got to watch the Vikings take out the Cleveland Browns. I drove down to watch the game with my brother and his room mates down at Winona State on their 60" screen. This game was exciting to watch as well. In case you haven't heard, which I highly doubt is possible, Brett Favre is the new quarterback for the Vikings! Yeah, it's pretty sweet to say that. I can't remember the last time I was so amped up to watch the Purple People Eaters play football. There has definitely been a huge shift in attitude towards our football team here in Minnesota. Great things are expected this year, but most importantly it is fun to watch the Vikes play again! Today, was a good start to the season with a win over the Browns, which was a little shaky in the beginning, but proved to be the explosive and dynamic team everyone around these parts has been expecting...man, I can't wait for next weekend already, I've never felt this way before.
To share some of my excitement here is a link of the play of the game, and I can guarantee it is going to be in the top 10 plays of the week on ESPN if not the number one spot! It is a video of the number one running back in the NFL Adrian Peterson make a spectacular touchdown run. http://ballhype.com/video/adrian-peterson-touchdown-run-v-cleveland-browns/
This was a great weekend for Minnesota football. I am lucky enough to be in Minnesota right now too to enjoy the football excitement. The weekend started off yesterday when my alma mater, the University of Minnesota Golden Gophers, had it's first game in the brand new TCF Bank Stadium. It is going to be difficult for me to describe my feelings surrounding this game because there were a lot of emotions...all positive of course! It was hard to believe that the Golden Gophers actually had their own on campus stadium to play in after a 30 year absence of on campus games. Every home game was played in the Metrodome in downtown Minneapolis. But, this weekend was the start of something new! From now on the Gopher football team will be playing before their fans on their own turf...literally! It is an overwhelmingly exciting feeling, and I know I share this overabundant joy with all Gopher fans.
Too break in the new 300 million dollar stadium with the biggest locker room in the country both pro and college, third largest high definition big screen in the country of all the colleges and a capacity to hold 50,000 screaming maroon and gold fans, the Gophers started a long tradition with a win over Air Force. Winning their first home game in the the brand new stadium was as sweet as it gets. Sadly, I was not able to get a ticket to the game because they were all sold out which hasn't happened too often in the past at the metrodome. I was able to watch the game with my dad and sister on a small t.v. but I didn't know the difference. I honestly felt the energy from the stadium come through that little television screen into the living room. It was the most fun I have ever had watching a football game on t.v!
Today, on NFL Sunday, I got to watch the Vikings take out the Cleveland Browns. I drove down to watch the game with my brother and his room mates down at Winona State on their 60" screen. This game was exciting to watch as well. In case you haven't heard, which I highly doubt is possible, Brett Favre is the new quarterback for the Vikings! Yeah, it's pretty sweet to say that. I can't remember the last time I was so amped up to watch the Purple People Eaters play football. There has definitely been a huge shift in attitude towards our football team here in Minnesota. Great things are expected this year, but most importantly it is fun to watch the Vikes play again! Today, was a good start to the season with a win over the Browns, which was a little shaky in the beginning, but proved to be the explosive and dynamic team everyone around these parts has been expecting...man, I can't wait for next weekend already, I've never felt this way before.
To share some of my excitement here is a link of the play of the game, and I can guarantee it is going to be in the top 10 plays of the week on ESPN if not the number one spot! It is a video of the number one running back in the NFL Adrian Peterson make a spectacular touchdown run. http://ballhype.com/video/adrian-peterson-touchdown-run-v-cleveland-browns/
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