I had a major comeback this week that boosted my confidence as well as my grades and it really made me feel good about closing out the semester. I could not feel more confident about finishing strong, especially after how this past week had gone.
I spent the beginning of this week both concerned and pressured. Even though I had a good Thanksgiving, the week’s luster was lessened by getting a report that I had flunked the make-up exam that I had taken for chemistry. I took that exam with great confidence and thought I had gotten a good grade on it; I believed that I had gotten a score that ranged in the 80’s or possibly even the 90’s when it turned out that I had gotten a 56. That grade really trashed my confidence and made me question whether or not I would remain in chemistry. I say this because I had a monster chemistry test the following Wednesday after I got back from Thanksgiving break and my chemistry grade had gotten chipped away over the past two or three weeks. That grade forced me to settle with my original chemistry exam score of 60% which brought my grade down even further. I was thinking hard after that on whether or not I would stay in chemistry and take the test or withdraw from chemistry and drop to twelve credit hours. On one hand, dropping the course would lift a burden off my shoulders and bring up my GPA; on the other, dropping the course also meant that I was basically telling myself “I quit!” . It was a real dilemma that made the Sunday on which I returned to Tech one of the longest I have ever experienced.
That Monday, my chemistry professor told me that he took a long time deciding our final grades and that we should only drop the class if we had scored extremely poor grades on our grades ranging in the 20’s and 40’s; that was not the case with me as I had scored a 92 and a 60 on the first two exams. It was such a relief for me to hear him say that, it was as if he was speaking to me directly. I ended up studying hard into the wee hours of Wednesday morning, deciding not to drop the course and take the exam and finish strong. I took the test at SSD with extra time and felt confident taking it; I did not want to feel too confident as I knew what being overconfident got me in the past. At the end of the test, I was tired, worn down, and downright scared. However, I felt as though I had done the right thing and even felt relieved that it was all over. All I had to do was wait and see how I did on the test.
The following days after Thanksgiving break were some of the most nerve-racking days that I had ever experienced regarding academics. Not only was there a massive chemistry exam to take but I also had a few other grades that I had coming back to me and I was unsure how they would turn out. Seeing that my chemistry grade was in limbo added onto the amount of stress I was feeling; I felt as if I was be crushed. My heart was beating profusely as I logged onto blackboard to check my Insect Etymology class project grade. It turns out I did okay; I had gotten a B on it which really took a lot of stress off me. Next, I looked up my chemistry grade after looking at the e-mail posted by my chemistry professor stating that the test scores had been posted. My heart was racing even more this time around as this was the grade that would figure would shape the future for me regarding chemistry. I ended up getting a 76 on that test which was far better than anything I had ever expected; I was downright petrified thinking about how this situation might turn out. The week of reliefs was capped off on Friday in which I received a 95 on my English paper which really left me overjoyed and triumphant. The week of pressure was finished and I finished it with a bang. I called my parents and told them about a couple of my grades I had gotten; they told me that they were very proud of me and were glad to know that I was succeeding in school. It’s good to have friends and family behind you when the week gets tough.
I must now focus my energy and effort into these last two weeks in preparation for finals and then the finals themselves. I feel that after what has occurred this week, I can get through these finals and finish the season very strong. I also have an English group project that I must finish and that’s going to take some effort. I also have to make a mock resume for my First Year Seminar class to finish that class off positively which, I believe, is likely a challenge. I feel, however, that I have what it takes to get the job done; it’s just going to take some time. I’ve got three exams that I must take this semester which is not really that bad. I’ve got to do a lot of studying to do regarding these assignments and may even have to pull a few all-nighters in order to get that job done. If I can maintain my focus and not goof off, I feel that I can get it done and do well on the exams.
I must say that it has been quite the semester these past few months, it could not have gone any better for me. I had a manageable schedule, my classes were not too difficult, and I ended up getting very good marks in my classes. I feel as though that I can do what it takes to finish this semester in a blaze of victory and not go down in flames. Playtime is over, it’s time to get to work.
Sunday, December 6, 2009
Sunday, November 29, 2009
Thanksgiving Break
What an interesting week it was for me over Thanksgiving break
It all started out with an all-nighter to prepare for a make-up exam that I had to take before I could leave for break. I felt confident in taking and felt confident that I would get good results from it. I would, however, find out that I ended up getting a 56% on it so I had to settle for my original exam grade instead (which really wasn’t that much better). It was quite a bummer which led me to question whether or not I would stay in chemistry any longer. I’m still thinking about it and am leaning towards staying in chemistry as my overall grade isn’t all that bad. All in all, that was the only gut-wrenching thing to occur during the break. The rest neutralized the bitter taste that was left in my mouth.
After taking my make-up exam, I went to a meeting with my University Studies advisor to discuss my dropping of my chemistry lab. I had taken the course because I thought it was a required to take a lab with the science that I chose. It turned out, later on, that I was wrong and did not really have to take the lab with my science; I would have to take a lab if I chose a major that required one but it would not have to be taken with the science. Unfortunately, I learned this after the add/drop deadline had passed and had to use one of my six withdraws. After a lot of confusion and decision making, I decided to take the withdraw and be done with chem. Lab. Afterwards, following the said appointment, I went back to my dorm to pack up for my return to Richmond for the following week. I also unplugged everything as they required me to do so to avoid any sort of fire hazard that might occur while I was gone. I also cleaned out my fridge so that no food would spoil while I was away. I even scrubbed out the bottom of it and defrosted it just to be on the safe side. After following these, as well as other, precautions, I went to take my stuff out to my parents’ van and then pretty much octuple-checked to make sure everything was taken care of before I left Tech. It was and, after a three hour ride, I was back again in Richmond.
My week at home started out with me and my sister going to view a stand up performance of a famous stand-up comedian that I highly respect who goes by the name of Brian Regan; I had received tickets to see one of his performances as a birthday gift from my mom and dad. Brian Regan is a comedian who has appeared on Comedy Central several times and is one of my favorites. His acts are relatively clean but still leave you rolling on the floor feeling like you’re going to bust a gut due to uncontrollable laughter. His brother also performed in the performance as the opening act. There were a few technical difficulties at the start of the show but everything got fixed and the show resumed as would be expected. Mr. Regan’s jokes includes jokes about holiday traditions, playing with kids, and trying to assemble a barbeque grill as well as many other jokes that made me crack up again and again. I thought it was a wonderful performance and found it to be very funny and amusing as comedians usually are.
Other than the stand-up performance, I spent my Thanksgiving break at home with the rest of my family in Richmond, Virginia; The one thing I liked about being off was seeing them again. I even got to see my brother, Sam, who came down to Richmond from New Jersey on Wednesday. Aside for the feast, which I’ll get to in a little while, we all just laid around, watched football and played board games for the most part. I got to play risk for the first time in my life and actually hung around for awhile until I got clobbered in the end.
Obviously, one of the greatest parts of being home for Thanksgiving break was that I got to partake in Thanksgiving Dinner or in my family’s case, Thanksgiving Lunch (we ate pretty early). There was plenty of food to go around throughout the course of that meal: turkey, ham, potatoes, green beans, rolls, deviled eggs, custard pie, pumpkin pie, and strawberry pie. Even after twelve of us ate at this wondrous feast, there was still plenty of leftovers; we barely made a dent in that large turkey and my dad took the rest of it and put it, as well as the many side dishes, into a numerous amount of containers that ended up barely fitting into the fridge. Then again, if you look at it, there wasn’t anything uniqueabout the whole Thanksgiving meal. As my other favorite comedian, Jim Gaffigan, puts it: “Thanksgiving is a holiday where we do what we normally do everyday, overeat, but we do it with other family members.
The weekend following Thanksgiving, we all gathered around the television to watch the VirginiTech Hokies play a football game against their bitter in-state rivals, the Cavaliers from the University of Virginia. After a slow start take would finally take control of the game with freshman running back, Ryan Williams, having a career day with three or four touchdown runs. Tech ended up winning the game by a convincing score of 42 points to Virginia’s 13 points.That turned out to be the Virginia Coach’s last game as we was fired shortly afterwards. That night following the game I packed up and got ready to go back to tech. I ended up staying up until three o’clock in the morning and felt crappy waking up a few hours later.
After my parents drove me to Tech and dropped me off, I got all my belongings in and said hello to friends in my dorm and welcomed them back. Shortly after that, I realized that I had no food as I had emptied out my fridge the previous week. After shopping around at Wal-Mart for a couple of hours, I got the necessary foods that I would need for the remaining weeks of the semester. And here I am now, finishing up the blog, being the great procrastinator that I am, before the ten o’clock deadline. It was a great Thanksgiving break and I look forward to cracking the books one final time before closing out the semester.
It all started out with an all-nighter to prepare for a make-up exam that I had to take before I could leave for break. I felt confident in taking and felt confident that I would get good results from it. I would, however, find out that I ended up getting a 56% on it so I had to settle for my original exam grade instead (which really wasn’t that much better). It was quite a bummer which led me to question whether or not I would stay in chemistry any longer. I’m still thinking about it and am leaning towards staying in chemistry as my overall grade isn’t all that bad. All in all, that was the only gut-wrenching thing to occur during the break. The rest neutralized the bitter taste that was left in my mouth.
After taking my make-up exam, I went to a meeting with my University Studies advisor to discuss my dropping of my chemistry lab. I had taken the course because I thought it was a required to take a lab with the science that I chose. It turned out, later on, that I was wrong and did not really have to take the lab with my science; I would have to take a lab if I chose a major that required one but it would not have to be taken with the science. Unfortunately, I learned this after the add/drop deadline had passed and had to use one of my six withdraws. After a lot of confusion and decision making, I decided to take the withdraw and be done with chem. Lab. Afterwards, following the said appointment, I went back to my dorm to pack up for my return to Richmond for the following week. I also unplugged everything as they required me to do so to avoid any sort of fire hazard that might occur while I was gone. I also cleaned out my fridge so that no food would spoil while I was away. I even scrubbed out the bottom of it and defrosted it just to be on the safe side. After following these, as well as other, precautions, I went to take my stuff out to my parents’ van and then pretty much octuple-checked to make sure everything was taken care of before I left Tech. It was and, after a three hour ride, I was back again in Richmond.
My week at home started out with me and my sister going to view a stand up performance of a famous stand-up comedian that I highly respect who goes by the name of Brian Regan; I had received tickets to see one of his performances as a birthday gift from my mom and dad. Brian Regan is a comedian who has appeared on Comedy Central several times and is one of my favorites. His acts are relatively clean but still leave you rolling on the floor feeling like you’re going to bust a gut due to uncontrollable laughter. His brother also performed in the performance as the opening act. There were a few technical difficulties at the start of the show but everything got fixed and the show resumed as would be expected. Mr. Regan’s jokes includes jokes about holiday traditions, playing with kids, and trying to assemble a barbeque grill as well as many other jokes that made me crack up again and again. I thought it was a wonderful performance and found it to be very funny and amusing as comedians usually are.
Other than the stand-up performance, I spent my Thanksgiving break at home with the rest of my family in Richmond, Virginia; The one thing I liked about being off was seeing them again. I even got to see my brother, Sam, who came down to Richmond from New Jersey on Wednesday. Aside for the feast, which I’ll get to in a little while, we all just laid around, watched football and played board games for the most part. I got to play risk for the first time in my life and actually hung around for awhile until I got clobbered in the end.
Obviously, one of the greatest parts of being home for Thanksgiving break was that I got to partake in Thanksgiving Dinner or in my family’s case, Thanksgiving Lunch (we ate pretty early). There was plenty of food to go around throughout the course of that meal: turkey, ham, potatoes, green beans, rolls, deviled eggs, custard pie, pumpkin pie, and strawberry pie. Even after twelve of us ate at this wondrous feast, there was still plenty of leftovers; we barely made a dent in that large turkey and my dad took the rest of it and put it, as well as the many side dishes, into a numerous amount of containers that ended up barely fitting into the fridge. Then again, if you look at it, there wasn’t anything uniqueabout the whole Thanksgiving meal. As my other favorite comedian, Jim Gaffigan, puts it: “Thanksgiving is a holiday where we do what we normally do everyday, overeat, but we do it with other family members.
The weekend following Thanksgiving, we all gathered around the television to watch the VirginiTech Hokies play a football game against their bitter in-state rivals, the Cavaliers from the University of Virginia. After a slow start take would finally take control of the game with freshman running back, Ryan Williams, having a career day with three or four touchdown runs. Tech ended up winning the game by a convincing score of 42 points to Virginia’s 13 points.That turned out to be the Virginia Coach’s last game as we was fired shortly afterwards. That night following the game I packed up and got ready to go back to tech. I ended up staying up until three o’clock in the morning and felt crappy waking up a few hours later.
After my parents drove me to Tech and dropped me off, I got all my belongings in and said hello to friends in my dorm and welcomed them back. Shortly after that, I realized that I had no food as I had emptied out my fridge the previous week. After shopping around at Wal-Mart for a couple of hours, I got the necessary foods that I would need for the remaining weeks of the semester. And here I am now, finishing up the blog, being the great procrastinator that I am, before the ten o’clock deadline. It was a great Thanksgiving break and I look forward to cracking the books one final time before closing out the semester.
Sunday, November 15, 2009
My active weekend
Today, I had one of my most productive, exciting and active weekends during my tenure here as a student at Virginia Polytechnic Institute. Here is how it unfolded.
It all started out on Friday morning. I woke up at 7:30 in the morning and had to think quickly as my first class that day, General Chemistry, started at 8:00 in the morning. I needed to get dressed and have breakfast in the next five minutes so I could get to class early and, in the extra time, do my math homework that I forgot to the previous night. I managed to finish it right before the professor started his lecture (lucky me). I then went to my math class and it was from there where things got pretty hectic. I found myself in a bit of a time crunch after I left McBryde Hall where my previous two classes were held. I then had to move to Shanks Hall where I had an appointment with my English professor where we would discuss the rough draft of my English paper where we discussed how I should tweak it to make it better for my final copy. After than was said and done, I then had to make the long journey of to the medical clinic where I had another appointment, this time with a psychologist. We talked about my learning disabilities and how to cope with them as well as how school and college life was going for me. After that, the stressful part was over. From then on, what I did with my weekend was up to me. I chilled out for the time being and had lunch and chilled out some more. Later on in the afternoon, I went to the ATM to get some cash and then I took a bus the Wal-Mart in Christiansburg where I did my grocery shopping for the week. I got to read a very peculiar book during the trip on the bus; it was called, “Tales from the Virginia Tech Sideline”, a book filled with stories about the lives about Tech players and members of the coaching staff. After I got off, I took a cart and looked around the store for a while. I then got a bite to eat at the Subway and read more of my book for about half an hour. I then resumed my shopping and got the stuff I needed for the week. I then went back to my dorm and watched a little bit of television while I reorganized my room a little bit.
On Saturday, I woke up a little later than usual but that did not matter to me. I woke up with a blueprint of how I would spend my day. I went and took my laundry and took my dirty laundry with me as well as my detergent and some quarters and put my laundry in the washing machine in the Slusher Wing laundry room. There was a lot of it as well, I almost had to stuff it into the machine but, nonetheless, managed to get it all in. I went back into my room to watch some football on television and then I went back to the laundry room with some more quarters and a dryer sheet. I went and took my laundry out of the washing machine and put it into the dryer. I took it out about an hour later; some pieces were still damp because I had put in so much into the dryer. I then watched some more football. I was not able to watch the Virginia Tech game against Maryland as it was not being broadcast on television. Instead, I listened to it on the radio and the Hokies did not disappoint; they won by a score of 36 points to 9 points scored by Maryland. That was okay and all but the real treat came two or three hours later. As the Virginia Tech game was wrapping up, I could not help but notice on the ESPN sports ticker that Stanford’s team was winning against the University of Southern California in dominating fashion. In the end, Stanford would go on to crush USC by a score of 55 points to USC’s 21 points. I posted a comment about it on facebook to which a friend of mine who is a student at USC replied with a rather nasty word. After hours of smashmouth football and reorganizing my room, I went and did my math homework (I usually do my homework on Sundays which made me feel even more well accomplished). I then went to reorganize my room a little bit and went to bed and got a good night’s rest.
I woke up Sunday morning even later than I did on Saturday morning. I had to do a little bit of work in preparation for the wing program class in which I was enrolled in but not before looking to ESPN to see the rankings and see how far Virginia Tech would rise and how far USC had fallen. The Hokies had risen to 16th in the AP poll while USC had fallen to 22nd; that was an ultra-gratifying sight for me to see. I then went to D2 to get a bite to eat. I then went to the Tech Bookstore to start looking at Books for next semester’s classes. I then thought about going to the other side of the drillfield to look around campus and become more familiar with my surroundings but I saw the sun was starting to set and decided to head on back to Slusher and make the trip later. I had dinner and then I started work on this blog assignment. In the middle, I stopped and attended a meeting that focused on steps and instructions for leaving the residence halls for Thanksgiving Break. Shortly after that, I went back to finish my blog post. While finishing, I was interrupted by one of the classmates in my seminar class who wanted me to write a page for the introduction of the wing program paper. So I did the page and sent it to him via E-mail. So here I am finishing up this blog which I can now say is finished. I hope you enjoyed reading it.
It all started out on Friday morning. I woke up at 7:30 in the morning and had to think quickly as my first class that day, General Chemistry, started at 8:00 in the morning. I needed to get dressed and have breakfast in the next five minutes so I could get to class early and, in the extra time, do my math homework that I forgot to the previous night. I managed to finish it right before the professor started his lecture (lucky me). I then went to my math class and it was from there where things got pretty hectic. I found myself in a bit of a time crunch after I left McBryde Hall where my previous two classes were held. I then had to move to Shanks Hall where I had an appointment with my English professor where we would discuss the rough draft of my English paper where we discussed how I should tweak it to make it better for my final copy. After than was said and done, I then had to make the long journey of to the medical clinic where I had another appointment, this time with a psychologist. We talked about my learning disabilities and how to cope with them as well as how school and college life was going for me. After that, the stressful part was over. From then on, what I did with my weekend was up to me. I chilled out for the time being and had lunch and chilled out some more. Later on in the afternoon, I went to the ATM to get some cash and then I took a bus the Wal-Mart in Christiansburg where I did my grocery shopping for the week. I got to read a very peculiar book during the trip on the bus; it was called, “Tales from the Virginia Tech Sideline”, a book filled with stories about the lives about Tech players and members of the coaching staff. After I got off, I took a cart and looked around the store for a while. I then got a bite to eat at the Subway and read more of my book for about half an hour. I then resumed my shopping and got the stuff I needed for the week. I then went back to my dorm and watched a little bit of television while I reorganized my room a little bit.
On Saturday, I woke up a little later than usual but that did not matter to me. I woke up with a blueprint of how I would spend my day. I went and took my laundry and took my dirty laundry with me as well as my detergent and some quarters and put my laundry in the washing machine in the Slusher Wing laundry room. There was a lot of it as well, I almost had to stuff it into the machine but, nonetheless, managed to get it all in. I went back into my room to watch some football on television and then I went back to the laundry room with some more quarters and a dryer sheet. I went and took my laundry out of the washing machine and put it into the dryer. I took it out about an hour later; some pieces were still damp because I had put in so much into the dryer. I then watched some more football. I was not able to watch the Virginia Tech game against Maryland as it was not being broadcast on television. Instead, I listened to it on the radio and the Hokies did not disappoint; they won by a score of 36 points to 9 points scored by Maryland. That was okay and all but the real treat came two or three hours later. As the Virginia Tech game was wrapping up, I could not help but notice on the ESPN sports ticker that Stanford’s team was winning against the University of Southern California in dominating fashion. In the end, Stanford would go on to crush USC by a score of 55 points to USC’s 21 points. I posted a comment about it on facebook to which a friend of mine who is a student at USC replied with a rather nasty word. After hours of smashmouth football and reorganizing my room, I went and did my math homework (I usually do my homework on Sundays which made me feel even more well accomplished). I then went to reorganize my room a little bit and went to bed and got a good night’s rest.
I woke up Sunday morning even later than I did on Saturday morning. I had to do a little bit of work in preparation for the wing program class in which I was enrolled in but not before looking to ESPN to see the rankings and see how far Virginia Tech would rise and how far USC had fallen. The Hokies had risen to 16th in the AP poll while USC had fallen to 22nd; that was an ultra-gratifying sight for me to see. I then went to D2 to get a bite to eat. I then went to the Tech Bookstore to start looking at Books for next semester’s classes. I then thought about going to the other side of the drillfield to look around campus and become more familiar with my surroundings but I saw the sun was starting to set and decided to head on back to Slusher and make the trip later. I had dinner and then I started work on this blog assignment. In the middle, I stopped and attended a meeting that focused on steps and instructions for leaving the residence halls for Thanksgiving Break. Shortly after that, I went back to finish my blog post. While finishing, I was interrupted by one of the classmates in my seminar class who wanted me to write a page for the introduction of the wing program paper. So I did the page and sent it to him via E-mail. So here I am finishing up this blog which I can now say is finished. I hope you enjoyed reading it.
Sunday, November 1, 2009
Is 2009 another 2003?
Virginia Tech’s football team has now lost two contests in a row against Georgia Tech University and the University of North Carolina-Chapel Hill. These two losses have eliminated Virginia Tech not only from the national championship but also from the championship race in the Atlantic Coast Conference as well. From being ranked as high as fourth in the polls to being ranked twenty-second in the polls today after their most recent loss to North Carolina. This makes three losses on the season for Virginia Tech to go along with the five victories that they accumulated, the first loss was against the University of Alabama in early September. That makes them one loss short of last year’s record when they suffered four losses. One has to wonder where the Hokies go from here. More importantly, are they doomed to suffer the same fate as that of the 2003 Virginia Tech team where they were flying high but then suddenly came down to earth with a thud?
In the 2003 College Football Season, the Hokies had a fairly talented team and were ranked in the top ten in all of the pre-season polls. In their first six games of the season, the Hokies appeared to be one of the elite teams in the country. They demolished all their competition and were never considerably challenged throughout that said span; one of those victories included a fifty-one to seven rout of Syracuse University, a team that had defeated them in the two previous years. Their next opponent after that six game span was West Virginia University, a bitter inter-conference rival of Virginia Tech at the time (Virginia Tech was in the Big East Conference along with West Virginia until they [VT] moved into the ACC a year later). West Virginia’s record at the time was a dismal one with two wins and four losses; they did, however, push the University of Miami (ranked second in the country at the time) to its limits in one of their previous games, thus showing that they could be a nuisance for any team. Tech did not view West Virginia as a threat, they believed it was going to be an easy win. The game between Tech and West Virginia took place on Mountaineer Field in the city of Morgantown, West Virginia. Throughout the duration of the game, tech played sloppily and gave West Virginia ample opportunities to do whatever they pleased whether it was on offense, defense, or special teams; in the end, West Virginia defeated Virginia Tech soundly by a decisive score of twenty-eight to 7. The Hokies would rebound a little over a week later with a rout of the second ranked Miami Hurricanes by a score of 31 to 7 and would rise in the rankings all the way up to number five and back in the chase for the national title. This reprieve would be short-lived, however, as the Hokies played and lost to a fairly talented team from the University of Pittsburgh in the game’s final minute. That loss would officially end both Tech’s national title and Big East title hopes as that was their second conference loss of the season. The miseries would not stop there, the struggles for Virginia Tech would continue for the rest of the season. The following week against Temple University, a team with a record of one loss and eight defeats, went down to the wire in what should have been a relatively easy game for Tech. In that game, the two teams could not settle the decision in the original sixty second duration, the game would have to go into overtime. Even then, Tech would be lucky to get out alive as they won on a missed field goal attempt on Temple’s behalf in a final score of twenty-four to twenty-three; that would be the last victory that Tech would enjoy, it would all be downhill from there. The Hokies, ranked twelfth, faced Boston College in their final home game of the season. After going back and forth throughout the game, Boston College scored the winning touchdown late in the fourth quarter, setting Tech back yet another loss in the season. Tech capped their overly disappointing season with a loss at the hands of their heated in-state rival, the University of Virginia. Tech was ahead in this game and had an opportunity to put the game away early in the third quarter with a blocked kick that was returned for a touchdown. That touchdown was called back for a penalty and Virginia ended up getting a first down and would score on that drive. They would score a couple more times to take a twenty-eight to fourteen lead. The Hokies would score another touchdown in the fourth quarter and attempted to stop Virginia on their next possession. That, however, proved to be unsuccessful as Virginia ended up faking their field goal attempt in order to get a first down (which they did); they would score and go up again by two touchdowns, winning by a final decision of thirty-five to twenty-one. Tech’s four losses greatly reduced the quality of their bowl game. Instead of going to an important January bowl, they instead played in the Insight Bowl in late December against the University of California-Berkley. The contest was one that went back and forth with both teams going up by as many as three touchdowns at some point in the game. Tech would return a punt for a touchdown late in the fourth quarter, tying the game up at forty-nine points each. Any hopes of victory would be dashed, however, when Cal got the ball back. They would get into field goal range with just a few seconds left in the game. They would kick the field goal and ultimately win the game by a score of fifty-two to forty-nine. The loss dropped Tech to a disappointing record of eight wins and five losses.
The question that I am trying to ask is this: is this Tech’s fate for 2009? Will they get their act together and finish off their now-watered-down season and win the rest of their games and finish strong or will they continue to fall apart at the seam and lose another one or two games? As for me, I would choose the former over the latter for sure. I do not want to see them collapse like I saw them do so in ’03, that’s too painful to watch a second time. If they can go the path of the former and in the rest of their games, then that’s a good thing. If they go the path of the latter, however, then Tech has some things to work out. Honestly, I have noidea of what is going to come of all of this, the future is quite murky.
In the 2003 College Football Season, the Hokies had a fairly talented team and were ranked in the top ten in all of the pre-season polls. In their first six games of the season, the Hokies appeared to be one of the elite teams in the country. They demolished all their competition and were never considerably challenged throughout that said span; one of those victories included a fifty-one to seven rout of Syracuse University, a team that had defeated them in the two previous years. Their next opponent after that six game span was West Virginia University, a bitter inter-conference rival of Virginia Tech at the time (Virginia Tech was in the Big East Conference along with West Virginia until they [VT] moved into the ACC a year later). West Virginia’s record at the time was a dismal one with two wins and four losses; they did, however, push the University of Miami (ranked second in the country at the time) to its limits in one of their previous games, thus showing that they could be a nuisance for any team. Tech did not view West Virginia as a threat, they believed it was going to be an easy win. The game between Tech and West Virginia took place on Mountaineer Field in the city of Morgantown, West Virginia. Throughout the duration of the game, tech played sloppily and gave West Virginia ample opportunities to do whatever they pleased whether it was on offense, defense, or special teams; in the end, West Virginia defeated Virginia Tech soundly by a decisive score of twenty-eight to 7. The Hokies would rebound a little over a week later with a rout of the second ranked Miami Hurricanes by a score of 31 to 7 and would rise in the rankings all the way up to number five and back in the chase for the national title. This reprieve would be short-lived, however, as the Hokies played and lost to a fairly talented team from the University of Pittsburgh in the game’s final minute. That loss would officially end both Tech’s national title and Big East title hopes as that was their second conference loss of the season. The miseries would not stop there, the struggles for Virginia Tech would continue for the rest of the season. The following week against Temple University, a team with a record of one loss and eight defeats, went down to the wire in what should have been a relatively easy game for Tech. In that game, the two teams could not settle the decision in the original sixty second duration, the game would have to go into overtime. Even then, Tech would be lucky to get out alive as they won on a missed field goal attempt on Temple’s behalf in a final score of twenty-four to twenty-three; that would be the last victory that Tech would enjoy, it would all be downhill from there. The Hokies, ranked twelfth, faced Boston College in their final home game of the season. After going back and forth throughout the game, Boston College scored the winning touchdown late in the fourth quarter, setting Tech back yet another loss in the season. Tech capped their overly disappointing season with a loss at the hands of their heated in-state rival, the University of Virginia. Tech was ahead in this game and had an opportunity to put the game away early in the third quarter with a blocked kick that was returned for a touchdown. That touchdown was called back for a penalty and Virginia ended up getting a first down and would score on that drive. They would score a couple more times to take a twenty-eight to fourteen lead. The Hokies would score another touchdown in the fourth quarter and attempted to stop Virginia on their next possession. That, however, proved to be unsuccessful as Virginia ended up faking their field goal attempt in order to get a first down (which they did); they would score and go up again by two touchdowns, winning by a final decision of thirty-five to twenty-one. Tech’s four losses greatly reduced the quality of their bowl game. Instead of going to an important January bowl, they instead played in the Insight Bowl in late December against the University of California-Berkley. The contest was one that went back and forth with both teams going up by as many as three touchdowns at some point in the game. Tech would return a punt for a touchdown late in the fourth quarter, tying the game up at forty-nine points each. Any hopes of victory would be dashed, however, when Cal got the ball back. They would get into field goal range with just a few seconds left in the game. They would kick the field goal and ultimately win the game by a score of fifty-two to forty-nine. The loss dropped Tech to a disappointing record of eight wins and five losses.
The question that I am trying to ask is this: is this Tech’s fate for 2009? Will they get their act together and finish off their now-watered-down season and win the rest of their games and finish strong or will they continue to fall apart at the seam and lose another one or two games? As for me, I would choose the former over the latter for sure. I do not want to see them collapse like I saw them do so in ’03, that’s too painful to watch a second time. If they can go the path of the former and in the rest of their games, then that’s a good thing. If they go the path of the latter, however, then Tech has some things to work out. Honestly, I have noidea of what is going to come of all of this, the future is quite murky.
Sunday, October 25, 2009
Blog on Blogging
Today I am having trouble finding a topic. Therefore, I shall blog about blogging itself.
The term “blog” is short for “web log” and it is when other people post comments on the internet based on how they feel about someone or something that they like or dislike. They can be brief statements that are no longer than one or two words or phrases (i.e. lol, wtf) or they can be long and full of details like the one I am writing right now. They can be complimentary and full of compliments that praise others or they can be mean and nasty and can be degrading to a person. They can be any size and shape and can contain any type of word. They could be somewhat simple or they could be be intellectual and very difficult to decipher and comprehend. They could be written by old people that talk about past memories or they could be made by younger people who are just shooting the breeze with their fellow peers.
Blogging is found all over the internet and I will see it all over the many websites. When I read a news article, I will see comments at the bottom and see the initial reactions of others who have read the article. They could either be well supportive of the article and how they enjoyed it and agree with it. They could also, however, be well against it and slime the writer who wrote the article. One person might blog about how they feel about the weather and write about how they are so freaking pissed off due to all the rain and the cold weather; it can be as simple as that. It could be, however, a topic much more complex than something as simple as the weather. It could be about politics and the blogger could write about how well or how badly the politician that they are talking about is doing. We see blogs all over because there are so many topics to write about, there might even be bloggers who blog about those who blog as I had mentioned above about those who respond to articles.
For instance, I have been reading up on the elections for this year and next year and which candidates are expected to do well. From what I see, I can find that these articles can be seen as blogs. They are making their opinion on the subject and post on the web as if it were in a log book; hence, they are blogging. I can see the conservative bloggers will logically write articles supportive and favorable toward conservative views the same way I see liberal bloggers write pieces that are favorable toward liberals. At the bottom below the article I see the aforementioned comments written by those at both sides of the political spectrum who either praise and gush over the author’s work or lambast it and find any fault that they can with it. Some comments can reach far to either side of the political spectrum and there is no limit to the emotion of the commentators of the blog just as there are no limits to the bloggers themselves. They can be as kind or as nasty as they would like to be and they have the write to do so as it is one of the fundamental rights in the constitution.
Some people blog just for fun. They are just speaking their mind on what is going on with their lives and how they feel the way they do. They might be in a good mood and they write to tell the world about the good things that have occurred within their lives and how everybody should feel the way they should feel. However, there are also those who blog when they are in a terrible mood and write about how the world is always against them and how everybody on the planet except them should do him a favor and drop dead. On the other hand, some people blog because it is serious business and affects the future of their lives. They might be businessmen and women who comment on a product that their rival business is putting on the market and how they will plan to counter its release. There could also be agents in the CIA who comment on the secret location of the hidden base. Then again, that probably is not possible as that would be incredibly foolish and dumbfounded to post something like that for the general public to see. It doesn’t have to be limited to jobs; some school kids use blogging to spread news around in order to get the word out. In fact, I am doing that right now. My assignment is to blog about any sort of topic that I want and I have to post it by 10 o’clock tonight (which is coming pretty soon so I’d better hurry up and finish this piece of shit). I must get it to be around one thousand words in order for it to be acceptable to my English professor. She will hopefully get our grades on our blogs back to us by tomorrow so that we can see how we did. She will probably have comments, positive and negative, about our blogging and what we must do in the future. In a way, her grading our work and posting her comments on it on the computer is sort of blogging, itself.
We all will find ourselves blogging about one topic or the other. If one were to stop and think about it, they don’t even need a topic in order to blog. All you have to do is start writing about what ever is on your mind, whether it be sloppy and out of place or extremely neat and well organized. That’s the trick to blogging, it’s all about the writer and not about what they are writing.
I hope you liked my view on blogging and I hope it made you think. If you do not agree with the blog that I have written, go and blog about it and tell me how much you hate it. I don’t really care; like I said before, it’s your opinion and not mine.
The term “blog” is short for “web log” and it is when other people post comments on the internet based on how they feel about someone or something that they like or dislike. They can be brief statements that are no longer than one or two words or phrases (i.e. lol, wtf) or they can be long and full of details like the one I am writing right now. They can be complimentary and full of compliments that praise others or they can be mean and nasty and can be degrading to a person. They can be any size and shape and can contain any type of word. They could be somewhat simple or they could be be intellectual and very difficult to decipher and comprehend. They could be written by old people that talk about past memories or they could be made by younger people who are just shooting the breeze with their fellow peers.
Blogging is found all over the internet and I will see it all over the many websites. When I read a news article, I will see comments at the bottom and see the initial reactions of others who have read the article. They could either be well supportive of the article and how they enjoyed it and agree with it. They could also, however, be well against it and slime the writer who wrote the article. One person might blog about how they feel about the weather and write about how they are so freaking pissed off due to all the rain and the cold weather; it can be as simple as that. It could be, however, a topic much more complex than something as simple as the weather. It could be about politics and the blogger could write about how well or how badly the politician that they are talking about is doing. We see blogs all over because there are so many topics to write about, there might even be bloggers who blog about those who blog as I had mentioned above about those who respond to articles.
For instance, I have been reading up on the elections for this year and next year and which candidates are expected to do well. From what I see, I can find that these articles can be seen as blogs. They are making their opinion on the subject and post on the web as if it were in a log book; hence, they are blogging. I can see the conservative bloggers will logically write articles supportive and favorable toward conservative views the same way I see liberal bloggers write pieces that are favorable toward liberals. At the bottom below the article I see the aforementioned comments written by those at both sides of the political spectrum who either praise and gush over the author’s work or lambast it and find any fault that they can with it. Some comments can reach far to either side of the political spectrum and there is no limit to the emotion of the commentators of the blog just as there are no limits to the bloggers themselves. They can be as kind or as nasty as they would like to be and they have the write to do so as it is one of the fundamental rights in the constitution.
Some people blog just for fun. They are just speaking their mind on what is going on with their lives and how they feel the way they do. They might be in a good mood and they write to tell the world about the good things that have occurred within their lives and how everybody should feel the way they should feel. However, there are also those who blog when they are in a terrible mood and write about how the world is always against them and how everybody on the planet except them should do him a favor and drop dead. On the other hand, some people blog because it is serious business and affects the future of their lives. They might be businessmen and women who comment on a product that their rival business is putting on the market and how they will plan to counter its release. There could also be agents in the CIA who comment on the secret location of the hidden base. Then again, that probably is not possible as that would be incredibly foolish and dumbfounded to post something like that for the general public to see. It doesn’t have to be limited to jobs; some school kids use blogging to spread news around in order to get the word out. In fact, I am doing that right now. My assignment is to blog about any sort of topic that I want and I have to post it by 10 o’clock tonight (which is coming pretty soon so I’d better hurry up and finish this piece of shit). I must get it to be around one thousand words in order for it to be acceptable to my English professor. She will hopefully get our grades on our blogs back to us by tomorrow so that we can see how we did. She will probably have comments, positive and negative, about our blogging and what we must do in the future. In a way, her grading our work and posting her comments on it on the computer is sort of blogging, itself.
We all will find ourselves blogging about one topic or the other. If one were to stop and think about it, they don’t even need a topic in order to blog. All you have to do is start writing about what ever is on your mind, whether it be sloppy and out of place or extremely neat and well organized. That’s the trick to blogging, it’s all about the writer and not about what they are writing.
I hope you liked my view on blogging and I hope it made you think. If you do not agree with the blog that I have written, go and blog about it and tell me how much you hate it. I don’t really care; like I said before, it’s your opinion and not mine.
Sunday, October 18, 2009
My 2nd Chemistry Exam
Today, I will discuss the massive chemistry exam that I will take tomorrow morning.
The test that I will takes looks to be extremely difficult. It covers a vast number of challenging topics that are tough to master and comprehend. It covers the material that we covered from late September all the way up to today. My professor went all around the subject material in preparing us for this test. Instead of going from chapter two to chapter three in my chemistry text book, he focused on chapters 4 and 7 instead; I’m not sure why he did this but I guess professors have their reasons.
This exam will be the second one that I take for chemistry. I took the first one back in late September. That one, too, was difficult to prepare for. In fact, I stayed up all through the night in order to comprehend the material. Low and behold, I did quite well on that exam despite the fact that I was extremely nervous about it. One thing that I’d like to say regarding test taking is that whoever said that you should get a good night’s sleep and eat a good breakfast in order to do well on a test is full of shit. I did not get any rest whatsoever the night before the exam and ate breakfast after I took it and I still scored 92% on it. True, those methods may help you focus a little more but they don’t guarantee that you will know the material. The most important thing to keep in mind is that you study for the exam just as I am doing for the one tomorrow morning. I’ll study all night again if I have to; if it will help me understand the material better than I’ll do it. I don’t care how much sleep I will lose in preparation for this test but I will do whatever it takes to make a good grade on it.
The first part of this test focuses on the fourth chapter in my chemistry text book; that chapter focuses on chemical reactions as well as solutions. It focuses on the molarity and the titration of chemical solutions. It teaches us how much of one substance we must use to successfully react with a certain amount of another substance. We will also be tested on limiting reactants and theoretical yields. It shows which reactant will yield the lesser amount of product in the end; that is the limiting reactant and its product is the theoretical yield. We divide an actual yield given to us and divide that by the theoretical yield and we will multiply the resulting quotient by 100 to get the percent yield of the product. We also need to know the solubility rules to determine which reactants will remain aqueous and which elements will form an insoluble precipitate. We will also need to know how to perform oxidation-reduction (or redox) reactions. Oxidation and reduction have to do with the gain and loss of elections as well as the use of acids and bases and how they help balance certain reactions. There are approximately ten rules or so to find the Oxidation Number of an element, ion, and a molecule and it is all pretty confusing if you do not go over it frequently. All this and much more will in this chapter will be covered on this exam. There will be a lot of adding, subtracting, multiplying, dividing as well as the use of many formulas to memorize in order to successfully take this exam. Unfortunately, this is only one of two parts of this test. After I am finished with this part of the test, there will be a second chapter of material that I will need to know.
The second part of the test will be covered on the seventh chapter of my chemistry text book; this chapter focuses on light and how it is studied and measured. It also focuses on energy levels and electron configurations of atoms. My professor gave us many equations and formulas that we must know for this exam, otherwise we would be lost and confused. Many of these formulas use incredibly large and incredible small; scientific notation is used quite frequently when we attempt to handle and comprehend them. We must learn things such as Plank’s Constant which is 6.626e-34 J. We must also know the speed of light which is 3.00e8. These equations are needed to find the frequency of light waves and photons. We must also know the levels and sublevels of energy in atoms such as the level “n” and its sublevels s,p,d, and f. Based on that, we must also know the electron configurations of the elements and the number of opposite spins there are in the energy levels. For instance, Fluorine has a configuration of 1s2,2s2,2p6 and that is just one of the configurations that we must memorize. We must also remember how some elements in the transition metal section have exceptions to some of the rules such as Cobalt and Nickel. All these formulas and configurations will be essential to completing this part of the exam with flying colors. One slip-up would mean imminent doom on this exam and that might mean failure, something I do not wish to experience.
This exam counts for approximately 15-20% of our grade in this chemistry course. If one were to ace this test, their overall grade would be substantially higher. If one were to bomb it, however, then it would mean a freefall for their average. I am hoping that the latter does not happen to me. I want to study hard and get as high a grade as possible. Even though, I do not wish to continue a study in chemistry after this semester, I still want to show others that I knew and understood this material well. That is what I am planning to do after I finish this English blog and submit it for the night. So if you will excuse me, I will now wrap this up and continue studying for this monster exam.
The test that I will takes looks to be extremely difficult. It covers a vast number of challenging topics that are tough to master and comprehend. It covers the material that we covered from late September all the way up to today. My professor went all around the subject material in preparing us for this test. Instead of going from chapter two to chapter three in my chemistry text book, he focused on chapters 4 and 7 instead; I’m not sure why he did this but I guess professors have their reasons.
This exam will be the second one that I take for chemistry. I took the first one back in late September. That one, too, was difficult to prepare for. In fact, I stayed up all through the night in order to comprehend the material. Low and behold, I did quite well on that exam despite the fact that I was extremely nervous about it. One thing that I’d like to say regarding test taking is that whoever said that you should get a good night’s sleep and eat a good breakfast in order to do well on a test is full of shit. I did not get any rest whatsoever the night before the exam and ate breakfast after I took it and I still scored 92% on it. True, those methods may help you focus a little more but they don’t guarantee that you will know the material. The most important thing to keep in mind is that you study for the exam just as I am doing for the one tomorrow morning. I’ll study all night again if I have to; if it will help me understand the material better than I’ll do it. I don’t care how much sleep I will lose in preparation for this test but I will do whatever it takes to make a good grade on it.
The first part of this test focuses on the fourth chapter in my chemistry text book; that chapter focuses on chemical reactions as well as solutions. It focuses on the molarity and the titration of chemical solutions. It teaches us how much of one substance we must use to successfully react with a certain amount of another substance. We will also be tested on limiting reactants and theoretical yields. It shows which reactant will yield the lesser amount of product in the end; that is the limiting reactant and its product is the theoretical yield. We divide an actual yield given to us and divide that by the theoretical yield and we will multiply the resulting quotient by 100 to get the percent yield of the product. We also need to know the solubility rules to determine which reactants will remain aqueous and which elements will form an insoluble precipitate. We will also need to know how to perform oxidation-reduction (or redox) reactions. Oxidation and reduction have to do with the gain and loss of elections as well as the use of acids and bases and how they help balance certain reactions. There are approximately ten rules or so to find the Oxidation Number of an element, ion, and a molecule and it is all pretty confusing if you do not go over it frequently. All this and much more will in this chapter will be covered on this exam. There will be a lot of adding, subtracting, multiplying, dividing as well as the use of many formulas to memorize in order to successfully take this exam. Unfortunately, this is only one of two parts of this test. After I am finished with this part of the test, there will be a second chapter of material that I will need to know.
The second part of the test will be covered on the seventh chapter of my chemistry text book; this chapter focuses on light and how it is studied and measured. It also focuses on energy levels and electron configurations of atoms. My professor gave us many equations and formulas that we must know for this exam, otherwise we would be lost and confused. Many of these formulas use incredibly large and incredible small; scientific notation is used quite frequently when we attempt to handle and comprehend them. We must learn things such as Plank’s Constant which is 6.626e-34 J. We must also know the speed of light which is 3.00e8. These equations are needed to find the frequency of light waves and photons. We must also know the levels and sublevels of energy in atoms such as the level “n” and its sublevels s,p,d, and f. Based on that, we must also know the electron configurations of the elements and the number of opposite spins there are in the energy levels. For instance, Fluorine has a configuration of 1s2,2s2,2p6 and that is just one of the configurations that we must memorize. We must also remember how some elements in the transition metal section have exceptions to some of the rules such as Cobalt and Nickel. All these formulas and configurations will be essential to completing this part of the exam with flying colors. One slip-up would mean imminent doom on this exam and that might mean failure, something I do not wish to experience.
This exam counts for approximately 15-20% of our grade in this chemistry course. If one were to ace this test, their overall grade would be substantially higher. If one were to bomb it, however, then it would mean a freefall for their average. I am hoping that the latter does not happen to me. I want to study hard and get as high a grade as possible. Even though, I do not wish to continue a study in chemistry after this semester, I still want to show others that I knew and understood this material well. That is what I am planning to do after I finish this English blog and submit it for the night. So if you will excuse me, I will now wrap this up and continue studying for this monster exam.
Sunday, October 11, 2009
Rhet an.
I would like to make a rhetorical analysis of a funny clip that satirizes political figures and talks about the 2008 Presidential Election. The creators of this cartoon call themselves Jibjab, a seemingly nonpartisan group that focuses their cartoons mainly around political figures and events. Their audience can be anybody who watches clips but it probably attracts an audience that is essentially younger than most folks or anybody interested in politics. The clip I am talking about is one that shows the craziness of how the election unfolded. The clip is given the title, It’s Time for some Campaignin’”; it is sort of a musical clip sung in the tune of a Bob Dylan song.
The first part of the clip shows the White House all packed away in boxes, showing that the President’s Term is coming to an end. The former President of the United States, George W. Bush, is shown talking about how his Presidency is coming to an in. He talks about all the terrible things that have come about at the end of his second term and how he has become an unpopular president. He tries to draw support for the Republican candidate, John McCain, even though he is a moderate and ran against Bush in the 2000 Republican Primary. Bush and other members of the Republican Party come out at the end singing the title of the song.
The next section of the clip shows Hillary Clinton as she sings about her bitter battle against Barack Obama in the 2008 Democratic Primary. It shows that her quest for the presidency has come to an end and she is conceding to Obama. It shows Hillary throwing away “dirty tricks” (aka Tactics used against Obama in the primary). The trash can of “dirty tricks” contains a picture of Barack Obama with Reverend Jeremiah Wright, showing that Hillary was trying to associate Obama with a man with extremist views. It also has an alarm clock with the time showing 3:00 a.m symbolizing her argument that she would be better at answering an emergency call at 3 a.m. than Obama. Among other things in the trash can is a picture of Barack Obama with a turban on his head which symbolizes the cruel speculation that he was a muslim. The clip then shows her and her husband, Bill, supporting the Obama campaign but then shows Hillary with a 2012 campaign sign signaling that she is not giving up her presidential aspirations just yet. She and the rest of her campaign staff, some of which campaigned for Clinton in 1992, are seen singing the title of the song at the end of the segment.
The next segment of the clip depicts Senator John McCain as being an expert on foreign policy asking for help from conservatives (him bring a moderate). He warns that Barack Obama would have a very liberal foreign policy as he runs him over with a tank. He is then shown cooped up in a cage showing his P.O.W. stance in the Vietnam War. He asks that everyone forget about his age as well as his physical ailments; this prompts a group of senior citizens from a nursing home to sing the title of the song with him at the end of the segment.
The next segment depicts Barack Obama’s view of the election. It is set in a peaceful, rustic area where Obama is playing with the woodland creatures. It show s then-Senator Obama of having a sensitive side and liberal views on a lot of subjects. In the segment, Obama sings about how his campaign’s theme is based solely around change and only change. He is depicted as being obsessed with change as he prances around and even rides a unicorn over a eainbow. John McCain and Hillary Clinton jump in and sing to bring this point of obsession home but Obama steps in and literally knocks Hillary Clinton out of the picture(symbolizing his victory in the primary over her) as he and McCain sing the title of the song together at the end.
The next clip shows people with campaign signs in the hands marching on. In the background are famous buildings in the U.S. claiming symbolizing the many American voters that vote in every part of the country. They are shown walking behind the two candidates, McCain and Obama, who are each holding up their campaign signs respectively. They show all the positive effects of electing them atop newspapers; it shows things such as universal healthcare, tax cuts, as well as many other things. This, in turn, symbolizes the promises the candidates made during the campaigning process. The segment goes on to show the candidate both throwing around which shows how expensive elections and campaigns can be. It then shows a citizen going to a booth and casting his vote. Uncle Sam then appears spinning him around and knocking him down showing how candidates do not always keep their election promises. The segment, as well as the entire clip, ends with a group of people singing the title of the song together.
This clip, in my opinion depicts a lot of what transpired in the ’08 campaign in humorous fashion. It was directed at an audience of the American People who have seen the election being covered all over the news and other media outlets. The creators of this clip want to show the grueling process of primaries and general elections and what can come out of such competitions. While the election may be over, this clip can show that anything can happen in an election and there is no limit to the possibilities. It could be used as an example for other events such as elections and show what wacky happenings can result from them. The clip such as the one I mentioned and completely dissected and analyzed makes the argument that important events such as presidential elections can be satirized and jokingly expressed through song. That, in my mind, is what the people who made this clip were trying to do.
If you want, you can view this on youtube or any other video website that provides this clip.
The first part of the clip shows the White House all packed away in boxes, showing that the President’s Term is coming to an end. The former President of the United States, George W. Bush, is shown talking about how his Presidency is coming to an in. He talks about all the terrible things that have come about at the end of his second term and how he has become an unpopular president. He tries to draw support for the Republican candidate, John McCain, even though he is a moderate and ran against Bush in the 2000 Republican Primary. Bush and other members of the Republican Party come out at the end singing the title of the song.
The next section of the clip shows Hillary Clinton as she sings about her bitter battle against Barack Obama in the 2008 Democratic Primary. It shows that her quest for the presidency has come to an end and she is conceding to Obama. It shows Hillary throwing away “dirty tricks” (aka Tactics used against Obama in the primary). The trash can of “dirty tricks” contains a picture of Barack Obama with Reverend Jeremiah Wright, showing that Hillary was trying to associate Obama with a man with extremist views. It also has an alarm clock with the time showing 3:00 a.m symbolizing her argument that she would be better at answering an emergency call at 3 a.m. than Obama. Among other things in the trash can is a picture of Barack Obama with a turban on his head which symbolizes the cruel speculation that he was a muslim. The clip then shows her and her husband, Bill, supporting the Obama campaign but then shows Hillary with a 2012 campaign sign signaling that she is not giving up her presidential aspirations just yet. She and the rest of her campaign staff, some of which campaigned for Clinton in 1992, are seen singing the title of the song at the end of the segment.
The next segment of the clip depicts Senator John McCain as being an expert on foreign policy asking for help from conservatives (him bring a moderate). He warns that Barack Obama would have a very liberal foreign policy as he runs him over with a tank. He is then shown cooped up in a cage showing his P.O.W. stance in the Vietnam War. He asks that everyone forget about his age as well as his physical ailments; this prompts a group of senior citizens from a nursing home to sing the title of the song with him at the end of the segment.
The next segment depicts Barack Obama’s view of the election. It is set in a peaceful, rustic area where Obama is playing with the woodland creatures. It show s then-Senator Obama of having a sensitive side and liberal views on a lot of subjects. In the segment, Obama sings about how his campaign’s theme is based solely around change and only change. He is depicted as being obsessed with change as he prances around and even rides a unicorn over a eainbow. John McCain and Hillary Clinton jump in and sing to bring this point of obsession home but Obama steps in and literally knocks Hillary Clinton out of the picture(symbolizing his victory in the primary over her) as he and McCain sing the title of the song together at the end.
The next clip shows people with campaign signs in the hands marching on. In the background are famous buildings in the U.S. claiming symbolizing the many American voters that vote in every part of the country. They are shown walking behind the two candidates, McCain and Obama, who are each holding up their campaign signs respectively. They show all the positive effects of electing them atop newspapers; it shows things such as universal healthcare, tax cuts, as well as many other things. This, in turn, symbolizes the promises the candidates made during the campaigning process. The segment goes on to show the candidate both throwing around which shows how expensive elections and campaigns can be. It then shows a citizen going to a booth and casting his vote. Uncle Sam then appears spinning him around and knocking him down showing how candidates do not always keep their election promises. The segment, as well as the entire clip, ends with a group of people singing the title of the song together.
This clip, in my opinion depicts a lot of what transpired in the ’08 campaign in humorous fashion. It was directed at an audience of the American People who have seen the election being covered all over the news and other media outlets. The creators of this clip want to show the grueling process of primaries and general elections and what can come out of such competitions. While the election may be over, this clip can show that anything can happen in an election and there is no limit to the possibilities. It could be used as an example for other events such as elections and show what wacky happenings can result from them. The clip such as the one I mentioned and completely dissected and analyzed makes the argument that important events such as presidential elections can be satirized and jokingly expressed through song. That, in my mind, is what the people who made this clip were trying to do.
If you want, you can view this on youtube or any other video website that provides this clip.
Sunday, October 4, 2009
Four Drills in Two Weeks
Within a span of two weeks, my dorm has had four fire drills
The first one occurred a little under two weeks ago on a Tuesday night. I was finishing up my math homework when I heard the screeching shriek of the alarm in my room, a sound so loud that it would cause a person to go deaf in a matter of minutes. While I was outside, I saw other residents in my dorm, chatting and waiting for the alarm to shut off so that they could go back inside. I even saw people playing with the Frisbee to kill some time while outside. I joined in on the fun, even though I was horrible when it comes to catching. While I was out there, I thought to myself, “Well, it’s just another drill. There’s nothing unusual about this situation.” One of the more humorous happenings during that drill was when a student came outside a while after the rest of us did in nothing but a towel. He apparently was taking a shower when the alarm went off. Everyone jokingly applauded him as he stepped outside. After about 15 minutes or so, the alarm turned off and we went back inside.
The following Sunday, about a week ago, I was working on my homework when, this time, the alarms in the hallways went off instead of the ones in our rooms. Nonetheless, I knew it was another fire drill and I had to go outside. I asked myself, “Didn’t we do this a few days ago? Weird!” I wasn’t sure if it was another drill, someone left something burning, or if some guy pulled the alarm to cause trouble. Whatever the reason was, I was outside once again with the others, waiting to go back inside. It was a nice day outside; everyone didn’t seem to be agitated by having to go outside again. I am guessing that they were also a little perplexed by going out again just days after the last fire drill. Once again, I found myself playing Frisbee with the others and once again unsuccessful at catching it most of the time. Eventually, the alarm shut off again and we were allowed to go back inside.
I thought that would be it when it came to fire alarms. However, I was mistaken as I would be interrupted later on that day. I got backed to work on my homework and I thought to myself, “Why didn’t I bring my football with me while I was out there? I could have brought it and tossed it around with the guys and make the situation more fun? Oh well, I guess I will bring it with me when the next drill occurs; a drill that came much sooner than I thought. Suddenly, several hours after I came back inside from the first fire drill, the alarms went off yet again. It was then that I said to myself, “You have got to be kidding me!” It was the second drill to occur in a single day, I could not believe it. This time, however, I remembered to bring my football with me. When I got outside, the others were there as well. I could hear some of them talking about what I was thinking, about how strange it was that the fire alarm went off again. I took my football that I had brought and passed it to some of the others. I found that I was not any better catching a football than I was with a Frisbee when they threw the football back to me. I did, on the other hand, find out that my throwing technique had greatly improved since I last spent time throwing the football. After passing it, I started punting the football which I also seemed to have improved on. I kept on passing the ball as well as kicking it; I did not want to go back inside. Ultimately, the alarms turned off and two thoughts entered my mind as I walked back into the dorm. The first one was, “Hmm, maybe this is a sign that I should be a fireman when I graduate. I seemed to be well prepared now as to what to do when the alarm goes off.” The other thought that entered my mind was, “You know, I would not be surprised if the alarm went off again today. It has already gone off twice, why not a third time?” I felt that would have to be the end of the fire alarms for quite some time; they had gone off enough. That theory would be disproven the following Thursday.
It was this past Thursday at about 1:30 in the morning that I was working on my homework when I heard the alarm go off in my room once more. “Here we go again” I thought to myself as I grabbed my football and headed outside. It seemed like this process had been burned into my brain. I looked at some of the others, a couple of them were laughing in disbelief, thinking that this could not possibly be happening again. I went outside and found out that it was extremely cold outside. Everyone else was wearing long pants and long-sleeved shirts. I, on the other hand, was wearing shorts and T-shirt and was freezing beyond belief; I also was not wearing any shoes or socks. Fortunately for me, I had brought my football. I looked for people to throw to but this time, fewer people were interested in playing ball. Great deals of them had been awoken out of bed by the alarm and were not in the mood. I did find others to throw to, but they were not interested in playing for a long time; that, and someone else had brought a football as well which made it more difficult to find people to throw the ball to. After minutes in the sheer cold, we were called back inside.
It had been an interesting experience going outside time and again. I was thinking, “Alright! Alright! We get it! You don’t have to set off that alarm anymore.” I wonder when the next drill will be; honestly, I wouldn’t be surprised if my dorm had another drill tonight.
The first one occurred a little under two weeks ago on a Tuesday night. I was finishing up my math homework when I heard the screeching shriek of the alarm in my room, a sound so loud that it would cause a person to go deaf in a matter of minutes. While I was outside, I saw other residents in my dorm, chatting and waiting for the alarm to shut off so that they could go back inside. I even saw people playing with the Frisbee to kill some time while outside. I joined in on the fun, even though I was horrible when it comes to catching. While I was out there, I thought to myself, “Well, it’s just another drill. There’s nothing unusual about this situation.” One of the more humorous happenings during that drill was when a student came outside a while after the rest of us did in nothing but a towel. He apparently was taking a shower when the alarm went off. Everyone jokingly applauded him as he stepped outside. After about 15 minutes or so, the alarm turned off and we went back inside.
The following Sunday, about a week ago, I was working on my homework when, this time, the alarms in the hallways went off instead of the ones in our rooms. Nonetheless, I knew it was another fire drill and I had to go outside. I asked myself, “Didn’t we do this a few days ago? Weird!” I wasn’t sure if it was another drill, someone left something burning, or if some guy pulled the alarm to cause trouble. Whatever the reason was, I was outside once again with the others, waiting to go back inside. It was a nice day outside; everyone didn’t seem to be agitated by having to go outside again. I am guessing that they were also a little perplexed by going out again just days after the last fire drill. Once again, I found myself playing Frisbee with the others and once again unsuccessful at catching it most of the time. Eventually, the alarm shut off again and we were allowed to go back inside.
I thought that would be it when it came to fire alarms. However, I was mistaken as I would be interrupted later on that day. I got backed to work on my homework and I thought to myself, “Why didn’t I bring my football with me while I was out there? I could have brought it and tossed it around with the guys and make the situation more fun? Oh well, I guess I will bring it with me when the next drill occurs; a drill that came much sooner than I thought. Suddenly, several hours after I came back inside from the first fire drill, the alarms went off yet again. It was then that I said to myself, “You have got to be kidding me!” It was the second drill to occur in a single day, I could not believe it. This time, however, I remembered to bring my football with me. When I got outside, the others were there as well. I could hear some of them talking about what I was thinking, about how strange it was that the fire alarm went off again. I took my football that I had brought and passed it to some of the others. I found that I was not any better catching a football than I was with a Frisbee when they threw the football back to me. I did, on the other hand, find out that my throwing technique had greatly improved since I last spent time throwing the football. After passing it, I started punting the football which I also seemed to have improved on. I kept on passing the ball as well as kicking it; I did not want to go back inside. Ultimately, the alarms turned off and two thoughts entered my mind as I walked back into the dorm. The first one was, “Hmm, maybe this is a sign that I should be a fireman when I graduate. I seemed to be well prepared now as to what to do when the alarm goes off.” The other thought that entered my mind was, “You know, I would not be surprised if the alarm went off again today. It has already gone off twice, why not a third time?” I felt that would have to be the end of the fire alarms for quite some time; they had gone off enough. That theory would be disproven the following Thursday.
It was this past Thursday at about 1:30 in the morning that I was working on my homework when I heard the alarm go off in my room once more. “Here we go again” I thought to myself as I grabbed my football and headed outside. It seemed like this process had been burned into my brain. I looked at some of the others, a couple of them were laughing in disbelief, thinking that this could not possibly be happening again. I went outside and found out that it was extremely cold outside. Everyone else was wearing long pants and long-sleeved shirts. I, on the other hand, was wearing shorts and T-shirt and was freezing beyond belief; I also was not wearing any shoes or socks. Fortunately for me, I had brought my football. I looked for people to throw to but this time, fewer people were interested in playing ball. Great deals of them had been awoken out of bed by the alarm and were not in the mood. I did find others to throw to, but they were not interested in playing for a long time; that, and someone else had brought a football as well which made it more difficult to find people to throw the ball to. After minutes in the sheer cold, we were called back inside.
It had been an interesting experience going outside time and again. I was thinking, “Alright! Alright! We get it! You don’t have to set off that alarm anymore.” I wonder when the next drill will be; honestly, I wouldn’t be surprised if my dorm had another drill tonight.
Sunday, September 27, 2009
The Close and the Lop-sided
The weekend was full of excitement with all the football games being played, especially when it comes to the NCAA.
There were a lot of close calls where one team wins the game in the final minutes. The University of Michigan, for example, was trailing Indiana University with only a few minutes left in the game. But they put together a drive that eventually led to the Game-winning touchdown to put them ahead. There was also the University of Notre Dame who was trailing the University of Purdue with less than a minute to play by about four points. They, too, put together a drive and pulled out a win.
There were also the one-sided affairs that weren’t even close. The University of Oregon was one such team who layed a licking to the University of California-Berkley by a decisive score of 42 points to their 3 points; it is also notable to add that unranked Oregon was an underdog against the sixth ranked bears of California, making the result all the more shocking. There was also the second-University of Texas playing the University of Texas-El Paso and absolutely crushed them by a score of 64 points to their 7 points.
There were also top teams that were defeated by underdog opponents. For example, as mentioned above, No. 6 California was handily defeated by Oregon. No. 5 Penn State was defeated at home by the University of Iowa, failing to avenge a loss they suffered against Iowa last year. There was also my school, No. 11 Virginia Tech, silencing the critics and beating the University of Miami, ranked ninth and undefeated.
It’s just something I wanted to share because I’m a huge College Football fan.
There were a lot of close calls where one team wins the game in the final minutes. The University of Michigan, for example, was trailing Indiana University with only a few minutes left in the game. But they put together a drive that eventually led to the Game-winning touchdown to put them ahead. There was also the University of Notre Dame who was trailing the University of Purdue with less than a minute to play by about four points. They, too, put together a drive and pulled out a win.
There were also the one-sided affairs that weren’t even close. The University of Oregon was one such team who layed a licking to the University of California-Berkley by a decisive score of 42 points to their 3 points; it is also notable to add that unranked Oregon was an underdog against the sixth ranked bears of California, making the result all the more shocking. There was also the second-University of Texas playing the University of Texas-El Paso and absolutely crushed them by a score of 64 points to their 7 points.
There were also top teams that were defeated by underdog opponents. For example, as mentioned above, No. 6 California was handily defeated by Oregon. No. 5 Penn State was defeated at home by the University of Iowa, failing to avenge a loss they suffered against Iowa last year. There was also my school, No. 11 Virginia Tech, silencing the critics and beating the University of Miami, ranked ninth and undefeated.
It’s just something I wanted to share because I’m a huge College Football fan.
VT's chance to prove themselves worthy
Yesterday, the Hokies of Virginia Tech football team defeated the Hurricanes of the University of Miami in a torrential downpour at Lane Stadium in Blacksburg, Virginia.
Aside from the game played between Pennsylvania State University and the University of Iowa, which was covered by ESPN’s College Gameday, the game played between Virginia Tech and Miami was arguably the biggest NCAA football game played this weekend. It was a titanic matchup between two teams looking to take control of the Coastal Division in the Atlantic Coast Conference. Miami was ranked ninth in the nation in the Associated Press Poll rankings while Virginia Tech was ranked eleventh. The winner would take the top spot and would almost certainly be in the top ten in the AP rankings that come out after all the games are played. Based on these facts, both teams put a lot of importance in this game.
The previous week, Virginia Tech had narrowly defeated the University of Nebraska (16-15) in a game filled with numerous errors, turnovers, and penalties. Had it not been for a dramatic Touchdown pass made by Tech’s Quarterback, the Hokies might not have won against Nebraska. They were truly lucky to pull that one out of the fire. Throughout that game, they would struggle with their offense. One of their touchdowns came as a result of good field position after a good return on the opening kickoff of the game. They would struggle consisitently afterwards and would not have another important play until the final minute when Tech’s Quarterback completed an impressive pass that put the Hokies deep into Nebraska territory where they would eventually scorethe winning touchdown. Tech’s offense wasn’t the only problem in that game, their defense gave up huge amounts of yardage to the Nebraska running game (even though Nebraska only managed 15 points and never scored a touchdown). With all of these problems, Virginia Tech looked highly vulnerable against an increasingly resurgent Miami team.
Two days before Tech’s thrilling win over Nebraska, Miami played Georgia Tech University and won the game quite handily (33-17). After giving up a field goal early on in the game, the Hurricanes took control of the game and were never threatened for its remainder. They looked exceptionally well on both offense and defense and dominated in just about every phase of the game. Miami’s performance represented the days when Miami played that way on a consistent basis and won championships as if they were expected to. They looked well prepared to take on Virginia Tech.
With Miami’s increase in both their strength, speed, and confidence combined with Tech’s problems on offense and defense made the game between them appear as if it were a mismatch largely in favor of Miami. The experts and journalists were greatly impressed by Miami’s performance and favored them greatly over Virginia Tech. Almost all of them picked Miami to not only defeat Virginia Tech on Saturday but to also win the Atlantic Coast Conference. They had written off Virginia Tech and said that they would have no chance against Miami.
On Saturday, the day of the game, their was a steady and consistent rainfall, everyone walked to the stadium wearing poncho’s and carrying umbrellas. Some people did not go to Lane Stadium and watched the game in their dorm (like me). Despite what everyone said about Tech and Miami, the game unfolded quite differently than they had expected. Tech’s defense forced Miami to fumble the ball which led to a Hokie touchdown a play or two later. Tech’s offense also showed great improvement as they scored on a long touchdown pass. Not only was the offense and defense running well for Tech but their special teams play also had an important role in the game as well. They blocked a Miami punt in the second quarter in which a Tech player scooped the ball up and took it in for a touchdown. Miami would score a touchdown in the third quarter but it would be too late, they had fallen too far behind and Tech had all the momentum on their side. Tech would score another field goal as well as another touchdown to complete their rout of Miami. The Hokies dominated the Hurricanes by a decisive score of 31 points to Miami’s 7 points.
The victory not only silenced Tech’s doubters and other prognosticators but it also changed the rankings of the two teams as well. Miami has fallen from being ranked ninth in the country to being ranked seventeenth in the country with a record of two wins and one loss. Virginia Tech, on the other hand, has risen from being ranked eleventh to sixth with a record of three wins and one loss. The win also puts tech at the top of the division where they control their own destiny in the conference race. It was a great game for Tech, not only because they won but also because they proved that they could play well and make up for poor performances. It will be interesting to find out where these two teams go from here.
Aside from the game played between Pennsylvania State University and the University of Iowa, which was covered by ESPN’s College Gameday, the game played between Virginia Tech and Miami was arguably the biggest NCAA football game played this weekend. It was a titanic matchup between two teams looking to take control of the Coastal Division in the Atlantic Coast Conference. Miami was ranked ninth in the nation in the Associated Press Poll rankings while Virginia Tech was ranked eleventh. The winner would take the top spot and would almost certainly be in the top ten in the AP rankings that come out after all the games are played. Based on these facts, both teams put a lot of importance in this game.
The previous week, Virginia Tech had narrowly defeated the University of Nebraska (16-15) in a game filled with numerous errors, turnovers, and penalties. Had it not been for a dramatic Touchdown pass made by Tech’s Quarterback, the Hokies might not have won against Nebraska. They were truly lucky to pull that one out of the fire. Throughout that game, they would struggle with their offense. One of their touchdowns came as a result of good field position after a good return on the opening kickoff of the game. They would struggle consisitently afterwards and would not have another important play until the final minute when Tech’s Quarterback completed an impressive pass that put the Hokies deep into Nebraska territory where they would eventually scorethe winning touchdown. Tech’s offense wasn’t the only problem in that game, their defense gave up huge amounts of yardage to the Nebraska running game (even though Nebraska only managed 15 points and never scored a touchdown). With all of these problems, Virginia Tech looked highly vulnerable against an increasingly resurgent Miami team.
Two days before Tech’s thrilling win over Nebraska, Miami played Georgia Tech University and won the game quite handily (33-17). After giving up a field goal early on in the game, the Hurricanes took control of the game and were never threatened for its remainder. They looked exceptionally well on both offense and defense and dominated in just about every phase of the game. Miami’s performance represented the days when Miami played that way on a consistent basis and won championships as if they were expected to. They looked well prepared to take on Virginia Tech.
With Miami’s increase in both their strength, speed, and confidence combined with Tech’s problems on offense and defense made the game between them appear as if it were a mismatch largely in favor of Miami. The experts and journalists were greatly impressed by Miami’s performance and favored them greatly over Virginia Tech. Almost all of them picked Miami to not only defeat Virginia Tech on Saturday but to also win the Atlantic Coast Conference. They had written off Virginia Tech and said that they would have no chance against Miami.
On Saturday, the day of the game, their was a steady and consistent rainfall, everyone walked to the stadium wearing poncho’s and carrying umbrellas. Some people did not go to Lane Stadium and watched the game in their dorm (like me). Despite what everyone said about Tech and Miami, the game unfolded quite differently than they had expected. Tech’s defense forced Miami to fumble the ball which led to a Hokie touchdown a play or two later. Tech’s offense also showed great improvement as they scored on a long touchdown pass. Not only was the offense and defense running well for Tech but their special teams play also had an important role in the game as well. They blocked a Miami punt in the second quarter in which a Tech player scooped the ball up and took it in for a touchdown. Miami would score a touchdown in the third quarter but it would be too late, they had fallen too far behind and Tech had all the momentum on their side. Tech would score another field goal as well as another touchdown to complete their rout of Miami. The Hokies dominated the Hurricanes by a decisive score of 31 points to Miami’s 7 points.
The victory not only silenced Tech’s doubters and other prognosticators but it also changed the rankings of the two teams as well. Miami has fallen from being ranked ninth in the country to being ranked seventeenth in the country with a record of two wins and one loss. Virginia Tech, on the other hand, has risen from being ranked eleventh to sixth with a record of three wins and one loss. The win also puts tech at the top of the division where they control their own destiny in the conference race. It was a great game for Tech, not only because they won but also because they proved that they could play well and make up for poor performances. It will be interesting to find out where these two teams go from here.
Sunday, September 20, 2009
A step in the right Direction: Miami routs Georgia Tech 33-17.
Last Thursday night, the University of Miami’s football team showed it was taking a gigantic step forward in its pursuit to return to their elite status that they had once held before.
In the 1980’s, the University of Miami was a dominant power when it came to college football. They appeared in the top ten numerous times, demolished their competition, and won 3 NCAA championships in a span of 7 years (’83,’87, and ’89). They continued that success into the mid-1990’s, winning a share of another national championship (’91 with the University of Washington) as well as playing in two other championship games (’92 and ’94). Miami would temporarily fall off the radar for the remainder of the 90’s, however, failing to win 10 games in a season from 1995-99, including one losing season (they achieved a record of 5 wins and 6 losses in the 1997 season). They would, however, undergo a brief period of renaissance in the early 2000’s, winning 4 conference titles from 2000-03 and played in two national championship games (’01 and ’02), winning one of them (’01); they also won at least 11 games in a season during this four year stretch. Since moving to the Atlantic Coast Conference, however they have yet to produce such results, once again failing to win 10 games in a season, suffering another losing season (a record of 5 wins and seven losses) in the 2007 season), and getting humiliated by the University of Virginia in their last home game in the Orange Bowl by a demoralizing score of 48-0.
That atmosphere changed last Thursday as they took the field to play a home game against Georgia Tech University. That night, the Georgia Tech Yellow Jackets were ranked 14th in the nation with a record of two wins and no losses. The Miami Hurricanes was ranked 20th in the nation and sported a record of 1 win and no losses. After winning a thrilling game against their heated rivals, Florida State University, Miami was ready to take the next step. The game started with Georgia Tech receiving the ball first in which they executed their offensive plays quite well. They marched deep into Miami territory before being stopped and having to settle for a field goal. That was the only time Tech would lead as Miami took control of the game, leading by as much as 33-10 in the fourth quarter. Despite giving up a late touchdown, Miami had successfully shut down Tech’s offense, an offense that was said to be one of the best in the country. The Hurricanes were the victors in this match-up by a decisive score of 33-17. They are now ranked 9th in the nation with a record of 2 wins and 0 losses and will play my school, Virginia Tech (ranked 11th with a record of 2 wins and 1 loss).
Winning this game clearly shows that Miami is becoming a force to be reckoned with. There are other big games in this season where they will be able to prove themselves including games against the University of Oklahoma and Virginia Tech. At least one win against those teams could show how far they’ve come and how high they will soar. That’s just my guess, we just have to wait and see what happens.
In the 1980’s, the University of Miami was a dominant power when it came to college football. They appeared in the top ten numerous times, demolished their competition, and won 3 NCAA championships in a span of 7 years (’83,’87, and ’89). They continued that success into the mid-1990’s, winning a share of another national championship (’91 with the University of Washington) as well as playing in two other championship games (’92 and ’94). Miami would temporarily fall off the radar for the remainder of the 90’s, however, failing to win 10 games in a season from 1995-99, including one losing season (they achieved a record of 5 wins and 6 losses in the 1997 season). They would, however, undergo a brief period of renaissance in the early 2000’s, winning 4 conference titles from 2000-03 and played in two national championship games (’01 and ’02), winning one of them (’01); they also won at least 11 games in a season during this four year stretch. Since moving to the Atlantic Coast Conference, however they have yet to produce such results, once again failing to win 10 games in a season, suffering another losing season (a record of 5 wins and seven losses) in the 2007 season), and getting humiliated by the University of Virginia in their last home game in the Orange Bowl by a demoralizing score of 48-0.
That atmosphere changed last Thursday as they took the field to play a home game against Georgia Tech University. That night, the Georgia Tech Yellow Jackets were ranked 14th in the nation with a record of two wins and no losses. The Miami Hurricanes was ranked 20th in the nation and sported a record of 1 win and no losses. After winning a thrilling game against their heated rivals, Florida State University, Miami was ready to take the next step. The game started with Georgia Tech receiving the ball first in which they executed their offensive plays quite well. They marched deep into Miami territory before being stopped and having to settle for a field goal. That was the only time Tech would lead as Miami took control of the game, leading by as much as 33-10 in the fourth quarter. Despite giving up a late touchdown, Miami had successfully shut down Tech’s offense, an offense that was said to be one of the best in the country. The Hurricanes were the victors in this match-up by a decisive score of 33-17. They are now ranked 9th in the nation with a record of 2 wins and 0 losses and will play my school, Virginia Tech (ranked 11th with a record of 2 wins and 1 loss).
Winning this game clearly shows that Miami is becoming a force to be reckoned with. There are other big games in this season where they will be able to prove themselves including games against the University of Oklahoma and Virginia Tech. At least one win against those teams could show how far they’ve come and how high they will soar. That’s just my guess, we just have to wait and see what happens.
Saturday, September 19, 2009
A memorable game...
The Virginia Tech Hokies football team were anything but dull, despite what transpired in the first 59 minutes of their game against the university of Nebraska; there is no doubt about that. The Hokies put on a show that Tech fans will remember for weeks, if not months, to come.
The game between these two teams was one of, if not the, biggest games of the weekend, being the only game that showcased two teams ranked in the AP Top 25 playing against each other. It pitted Virginia tech (ranked 13th in the country with a record of one win and one loss) against the University of Nebraska (ranked 19th in the country with a record of 2 wins and no losses). Virginia Tech came representing the Atlantic Coast Conference (in the Atlantic Division) while Nebraska represented the Big Twelve Conference (in the Big XII North Division). It was not only a game of mere sport but a game of opportunity as well. Virginia Tech wanted to win because they wanted to redeem itself from a disappointing loss at the hands of the University of Alabama; a win would prove that they can play against the good teams from major conferences. Nebraska wanted to win because it was in the process of retaining the elite stations it had attained from the early 1970’s to the early 2000’s.
These two teams had only played each other twice before this meeting. The first was in the Fed-ex Orange bowl in the 1996 post-season. Nebraska won that game by a decisive score of 41 points to Virginia Tech’s 21 points. During that time, however, Nebraska was among the elite teams, perennially competing for the NCAA nation championship and much stronger than the current Nebraska Team. The second meeting took place last year in Lincoln, Nebraska (Nebraska’s home turf). That game was decided mostly by turnovers, special teams plays, and numerous penalties. The game was close, with Virginia Tech emerging as the victor by a score of 35 points to Nebraska’s 30 points.
The crowd at Lane Stadium was whipped into a frenzy as they cheered and jumped up and down to the song, “Enter Sandman”, by Metallica as the Hokies took the field. Virginia Tech started the game off strong by returning the ball via kickoff-return deep into nebraska’s territory. A couple of plays later, they scored a touchdown. From then on, their offense would struggle through the next 58 minutes of the game. Nebraska would control the tempo of the game, scoring 15 points by the means of 5 field goals while Virginia Tech scored only 3 points. Nebraska had a chance to put the game out of reach with a drive going as far as the 6 yard line of Virginia Tech. However, the drive would stall due to several big penalties that pushed them back to the 40 yard line, forcing them to punt. Late in the fourth quarter, Tech turned the ball over on downs. Nebraska would get the ball back, but to no avail; Tech’s defense came up to the challenge and forced them to punt, giving Tech one last chance to win the game. The first one or two plays were not impressive, giving Tech little or no gain in yardage, as they had played all throughout the entire game. What occurred next, however, will probably be talked about by Tech fans for months. Virginia Tech’s quarterback threw a long pass to one of his receivers who successfully caught it and reached Nebraska’s two yard line with less than a minute to play. Three plays later, the Tech QB completed another pass, this time for another touchdown; that score would put the Hokies In the lead with 20 seconds or so to play. Virginia Tech would wind up being the victor in this brutal, defensive slugfest, chalking up a win that was well fought and well memorable.
The win puts Virginia Tech at a record of two wins and one loss and drops Nebraska to the same number of wins and losses.
The game between these two teams was one of, if not the, biggest games of the weekend, being the only game that showcased two teams ranked in the AP Top 25 playing against each other. It pitted Virginia tech (ranked 13th in the country with a record of one win and one loss) against the University of Nebraska (ranked 19th in the country with a record of 2 wins and no losses). Virginia Tech came representing the Atlantic Coast Conference (in the Atlantic Division) while Nebraska represented the Big Twelve Conference (in the Big XII North Division). It was not only a game of mere sport but a game of opportunity as well. Virginia Tech wanted to win because they wanted to redeem itself from a disappointing loss at the hands of the University of Alabama; a win would prove that they can play against the good teams from major conferences. Nebraska wanted to win because it was in the process of retaining the elite stations it had attained from the early 1970’s to the early 2000’s.
These two teams had only played each other twice before this meeting. The first was in the Fed-ex Orange bowl in the 1996 post-season. Nebraska won that game by a decisive score of 41 points to Virginia Tech’s 21 points. During that time, however, Nebraska was among the elite teams, perennially competing for the NCAA nation championship and much stronger than the current Nebraska Team. The second meeting took place last year in Lincoln, Nebraska (Nebraska’s home turf). That game was decided mostly by turnovers, special teams plays, and numerous penalties. The game was close, with Virginia Tech emerging as the victor by a score of 35 points to Nebraska’s 30 points.
The crowd at Lane Stadium was whipped into a frenzy as they cheered and jumped up and down to the song, “Enter Sandman”, by Metallica as the Hokies took the field. Virginia Tech started the game off strong by returning the ball via kickoff-return deep into nebraska’s territory. A couple of plays later, they scored a touchdown. From then on, their offense would struggle through the next 58 minutes of the game. Nebraska would control the tempo of the game, scoring 15 points by the means of 5 field goals while Virginia Tech scored only 3 points. Nebraska had a chance to put the game out of reach with a drive going as far as the 6 yard line of Virginia Tech. However, the drive would stall due to several big penalties that pushed them back to the 40 yard line, forcing them to punt. Late in the fourth quarter, Tech turned the ball over on downs. Nebraska would get the ball back, but to no avail; Tech’s defense came up to the challenge and forced them to punt, giving Tech one last chance to win the game. The first one or two plays were not impressive, giving Tech little or no gain in yardage, as they had played all throughout the entire game. What occurred next, however, will probably be talked about by Tech fans for months. Virginia Tech’s quarterback threw a long pass to one of his receivers who successfully caught it and reached Nebraska’s two yard line with less than a minute to play. Three plays later, the Tech QB completed another pass, this time for another touchdown; that score would put the Hokies In the lead with 20 seconds or so to play. Virginia Tech would wind up being the victor in this brutal, defensive slugfest, chalking up a win that was well fought and well memorable.
The win puts Virginia Tech at a record of two wins and one loss and drops Nebraska to the same number of wins and losses.
Sunday, September 13, 2009
The game between OSU and USC
My topic for the week is on the football game played by the Ohio State Buckeyes and the Trojans from the University of Southern California. Yes, this is my second time writing about an NCAA football game but there was no other topic interesting enough for me to cover. College football is my most favorite sport, by far, to watch and enjoy and the games played this Saturday received my attention. With that being said, let’s move on to discussion.
The games that were played on Saturday received my attention. There were the blowouts that weren’t even close such as when my school (Virginia Tech) completely dismantled Marshall University by a decisive score of 52 points to their 10 points as well as the top-ranked University of Florida doing the same against the University of Troy by a score of 56-6. There were the upsets that took all viewers by surprise such as the University of Houston defeating the fifth ranked Cowboys from Oklahoma State University or the University of Central Michigan beating Michigan State on a last-second field goal. There were close calls from teams who were nearly upset such as Florida State University nearly losing to Jacksonvile State University or the University of Maryland needing overtime to defeat James Madison University. There was, however, also the game between the University of Southern California (USC) and Ohio State University (OSU), the game of the week and considered by many to be one of the biggest games of the college football regular season.
The game was nearly a year removed from the last meeting between these two teams. That game was played on the home turf of the USC and that game was too considered one of the biggest games of the year. That game was also a chance for OSU to prove itself after being humiliated in the national championship games of the last two seasons (to Florida in 2006 and LSU in 2007). In the end, however, OSU couldn’t keep up with the Trojans’ extraordinary talent and they ultimately lost by a lopsided score 35 points to 3 points. It was a game that haunted OSU for the remainder of the 2008 season and well throughout this past offseason. This game was seen as a chance for redemption for OSU and to show that they could win games against elite teams like USC.
Ohio State is said to be one of the stronger teams in the conference that it plays in (The Big Ten Conference). However, OSU does not receive much respect as the Big Ten can be considered as one of the weakest major football conferences in the nation. Their teams do not have the talent or the competitiveness of some of the other conferences such as the Southeastern Conference (SEC), the Big Twelve Conference (BigXII), and the Pacific Athletic Conference (or Pac-10, as there are ten members). There are only two or three good teams in the big ten, the rest are also-rans or flat-out punching bags. As a result, the conference winner usually doesn’t have to put up with a lot of competition and that is why OSUhas received a lot of heat for the past 2 or 3 years. They have been named the Big Ten conference champions or co-champions for 5 of the last 7 years, thus showing they are one of the better teams of the Big Ten. As a result, they find themselves pitted against a team far more talented than that of their own and are ultimately defeated by a large margin. This has happened quite a few times to OSU in recent years, which leads to critics saying that OSU cannot compete with the bigger teams.
USC, on the other hand, has been the dominant force in their conference (the Pac-10) as well, winning the conference title (or at least a share of it) for the past 7 years and have been picked to win it again this year. They have always done well against non-conference opponents, never having lost to one since the 2002 season. This, as well as the memories of the crushing defeat of OSU, proved to be intimidating and ominous for OSU. Many people thought that OSU could not keep up with a high-powered USC team that had dealt with them thoroughly last season.
The circumstances this year, however, were quite different than those of last year’s game. Last year, USC, which had a solid defense and a talented backfield, was ranked first in the country and had a week to rest up for the game. OSU did not have a week off before that game; they had to play another opponent with whom they struggled. To make matters worse, their top running back had injured himself and wasn’t eligible to play in the game against USC. On top of that, their players weren’t as talented and USC’s were, giving USC a clear advantage in the game. This year, however, the roles were reversed a little despite the fact that USC gets the better recruits and reloads with talent every year. This year, USC was without their best defensive players and their quarterback decided to leave a year early for the NFL which left them searching for a new quarterback. OSU had a quarterback with experience and was considered a key player for OSU that game. Their chance of defeating USC would be much better than they were last year. USC and OSU both played a game last year which meant that USC didn’t have an extra week to practice more, making the preparation time between the two teams equal. Nonetheless, USC, having more talented players at most positions, was still seen as the better team despite OSU’s improvements.
The game started ominously for OSU as their quarterback threw an interception after only a few plays which led to a USC touchdown. Unlike last year, however, OSU would not back down and bow out. They responded with a score of their own to tie the game up. They went on to pressure USC into making mistakes and took control for most of the game. Unfortunately for OSU, it wasn’t meant to be. USC put together a final drive in the waning minute with just over a minute to play in the game. OSU tried to make a comeback but it was too late, they turned the ball over on down and USC won in dramatic fashion. Even though they lost, OSU performed remarkably better than they did against USC last year. It shows that even though they lost, they were closing the gap on the bigger teams.
The games that were played on Saturday received my attention. There were the blowouts that weren’t even close such as when my school (Virginia Tech) completely dismantled Marshall University by a decisive score of 52 points to their 10 points as well as the top-ranked University of Florida doing the same against the University of Troy by a score of 56-6. There were the upsets that took all viewers by surprise such as the University of Houston defeating the fifth ranked Cowboys from Oklahoma State University or the University of Central Michigan beating Michigan State on a last-second field goal. There were close calls from teams who were nearly upset such as Florida State University nearly losing to Jacksonvile State University or the University of Maryland needing overtime to defeat James Madison University. There was, however, also the game between the University of Southern California (USC) and Ohio State University (OSU), the game of the week and considered by many to be one of the biggest games of the college football regular season.
The game was nearly a year removed from the last meeting between these two teams. That game was played on the home turf of the USC and that game was too considered one of the biggest games of the year. That game was also a chance for OSU to prove itself after being humiliated in the national championship games of the last two seasons (to Florida in 2006 and LSU in 2007). In the end, however, OSU couldn’t keep up with the Trojans’ extraordinary talent and they ultimately lost by a lopsided score 35 points to 3 points. It was a game that haunted OSU for the remainder of the 2008 season and well throughout this past offseason. This game was seen as a chance for redemption for OSU and to show that they could win games against elite teams like USC.
Ohio State is said to be one of the stronger teams in the conference that it plays in (The Big Ten Conference). However, OSU does not receive much respect as the Big Ten can be considered as one of the weakest major football conferences in the nation. Their teams do not have the talent or the competitiveness of some of the other conferences such as the Southeastern Conference (SEC), the Big Twelve Conference (BigXII), and the Pacific Athletic Conference (or Pac-10, as there are ten members). There are only two or three good teams in the big ten, the rest are also-rans or flat-out punching bags. As a result, the conference winner usually doesn’t have to put up with a lot of competition and that is why OSUhas received a lot of heat for the past 2 or 3 years. They have been named the Big Ten conference champions or co-champions for 5 of the last 7 years, thus showing they are one of the better teams of the Big Ten. As a result, they find themselves pitted against a team far more talented than that of their own and are ultimately defeated by a large margin. This has happened quite a few times to OSU in recent years, which leads to critics saying that OSU cannot compete with the bigger teams.
USC, on the other hand, has been the dominant force in their conference (the Pac-10) as well, winning the conference title (or at least a share of it) for the past 7 years and have been picked to win it again this year. They have always done well against non-conference opponents, never having lost to one since the 2002 season. This, as well as the memories of the crushing defeat of OSU, proved to be intimidating and ominous for OSU. Many people thought that OSU could not keep up with a high-powered USC team that had dealt with them thoroughly last season.
The circumstances this year, however, were quite different than those of last year’s game. Last year, USC, which had a solid defense and a talented backfield, was ranked first in the country and had a week to rest up for the game. OSU did not have a week off before that game; they had to play another opponent with whom they struggled. To make matters worse, their top running back had injured himself and wasn’t eligible to play in the game against USC. On top of that, their players weren’t as talented and USC’s were, giving USC a clear advantage in the game. This year, however, the roles were reversed a little despite the fact that USC gets the better recruits and reloads with talent every year. This year, USC was without their best defensive players and their quarterback decided to leave a year early for the NFL which left them searching for a new quarterback. OSU had a quarterback with experience and was considered a key player for OSU that game. Their chance of defeating USC would be much better than they were last year. USC and OSU both played a game last year which meant that USC didn’t have an extra week to practice more, making the preparation time between the two teams equal. Nonetheless, USC, having more talented players at most positions, was still seen as the better team despite OSU’s improvements.
The game started ominously for OSU as their quarterback threw an interception after only a few plays which led to a USC touchdown. Unlike last year, however, OSU would not back down and bow out. They responded with a score of their own to tie the game up. They went on to pressure USC into making mistakes and took control for most of the game. Unfortunately for OSU, it wasn’t meant to be. USC put together a final drive in the waning minute with just over a minute to play in the game. OSU tried to make a comeback but it was too late, they turned the ball over on down and USC won in dramatic fashion. Even though they lost, OSU performed remarkably better than they did against USC last year. It shows that even though they lost, they were closing the gap on the bigger teams.
Sunday, September 6, 2009
Tech v. Alabama, the long awaited Game
I would like to discuss the game played between Virginia tech and the University of Alabama. This was a game that had been talked about for months leading up to its opening kickoff. It was a clash of conference titans; one, Virginia Tech, being from the Atlantic Coast Conference and the other, Alabama, from the Southeastern Conference. Analysts, journalists, news reporters, and sports broadcasters all covered this event. It is evident that this match-up clearly had major ramifications for both the teams playing in the game as well as the conferences that they represent.
Virginia Tech comes from a conference that has taken a massive beating when it comes to football. The Atlantic Coast Conference stance is relatively weak compared to conferences like that of the Southeastern Conference and its record versus quality opponents thus proves the point. Virginia Tech was beaten handily by the LSU Tigers (Louisiana State University) by a score of 48-7 early in the 2007 NCAA football season as was Clemson University when it was beaten by Alabama by a score of 34-10 in the opening week of the 2008 season (and that was a game where Clemson was ranked higher than Alabama.).
Alabama, on the other hand, comes from a strong, respectable and well-rounded conference with a lot of football prestige. Each one of its 12 members, including Alabama, has gone to at least one post-season game (bowl) in the last ten years (including Vanderbilt which, last season ended a bowl drought that goes way back into the 1980’s). At least half of its members have played in a new years day bowl or better in the last four or five years with two of them winning the National Championship the last three years (University of Florida in 2006 and 2008 and LSU in 2007). They seemingly dominate their non-conference opponents year in and year out, especially teams that hail from relatively weak conferences such as the Big East Conference, the ACC, and conferences that don’t have a tie-in to a major New Years day bowl.
The reputations of these two conferences clearly gave the University of Alabama the advantage and Virginia Tech the disadvantage. Most people picked Alabama based on those facts as well as many others. Alabama had a strong, solid defense while Virginia Tech had a young and inexperienced offense. One of their only running backs with playing experience from the previous year, a young man named Darren Evans, tragically tore his ACL during practice, causing him to miss the entire football season. This gaffed Virginia Tech’s already shallow depth significantly, forcing them to rely on their talented, but still inexperienced, freshmen running backs. This made the task of going up against Alabama’s tough defense far more daunting than it already was. Quarterback strength was an issue as well. Alabama’s Quarterback was pretty talented with armstrength and accuracy but, other than that, there was not much more that could be said of him. Virginia Tech’s situation was somewhat the opposite. Their quarterback was very mobile and dynamic; he could run when he couldn’t pass and scramble for the needed yards when he had to. However, his throwing ability has been disappointing and he always finds himself in trouble when he s in a passing situation. These facts did not bode well for Tech, a team hoping to attract the national spotlight and restore credibility to its conference.
The significance of this game was magnified by the fact that both teams were ranked in the preseason top ten. Alabama was ranked fifth in the nation while Virginia Tech was ranked seventh in the nation. Both were, and still are, considered strong favorites to win their division within their conference. It is said that the winner of this game would have a strong chance of making it into the national championship game at the end of the season. This was an especially important game for tech as well as the Atlantic Coast Conference. It was an opportunity to show the nation that their conference was not weak, that they could play with the better and more powerful teams. It was also an opportunity for the Southeastern Conference to assert their dominance over the smaller-name conferences like that of the Atlantic Coast Conference. It also showcased two of the greatest coaching minds in NCAA football: Frank Beamer, who has been coaching Tech for over 20 years, and Nick Saban, a coach who won a share of the national championship for LSU in the 2003 season and also led Alabama to a 12-0 start and number one ranking for a greater portion of the 2008 season. This all made it evident that the game between these two teams was a titanic match-up and a must-see.
When the day of the game finally arrived, the fans came by the thousands. Many attended the pre-game festivities in Atlanta, Georgia where the game was being held, including College Gameday, a show on ESPN where football analysts visit the site of the week’s top game to analyze, dissect, and discuss it as well as the other games. Behind those prognosticators and football analysts were the many fans of both Alabama and Virginia Tech as well as a few fans from other teams that were playing that day too. Many of the experts picked Alabama to win the football game, much to the chagrin of many Virginia tech fans and delight to the Alabama fans; Tech fans booed and Alabama fans cheered as they made their selections.
The game itself was fairly competitive throughout its duration. Alabama stopped Virginia Tech’s offense twice and kicked a couple of field goals only to see Tech take a kickoff return for a touchdown and find themselves falling behind slightly. After a couple more scoring exchanges, Tech found itself leading by one point at halftime, despite some offensive struggles. In the second half of the game, Alabama regained the lead and would not trail for the remainder of the game. Tech made a valiant effort to match Alabama punch for punch but the speed, strength, and depth from Alabama’s team was too much to conquer. Alabama would win against Tech by a score of 34-24 despite careless errors and idiotic penalties that would usually prove to be costly for a team.
There are a lot of lessons that can be learned from this game. For starters, Alabama is for real and have a good chance of winning many games in the season. As for Tech, even though they lost in the end, this game can be seen as a mark of progress for them and their conference. They and the rest of the ACC found themselves on the business end of a blowout many times to teams like Alabama, ultimately humiliating themselves in the process. From Tech’s 41 point margin of defeat to Alabama to Clemson’s 24 point margin against Alabama to only a 10 point margin this time around for Tech. It shows that while the ACC is not ready to compete with the bigger conferences, they are getting close. It will not be long before they are standing amongst the best of the best, it’s just going to take a little more time.
Virginia Tech comes from a conference that has taken a massive beating when it comes to football. The Atlantic Coast Conference stance is relatively weak compared to conferences like that of the Southeastern Conference and its record versus quality opponents thus proves the point. Virginia Tech was beaten handily by the LSU Tigers (Louisiana State University) by a score of 48-7 early in the 2007 NCAA football season as was Clemson University when it was beaten by Alabama by a score of 34-10 in the opening week of the 2008 season (and that was a game where Clemson was ranked higher than Alabama.).
Alabama, on the other hand, comes from a strong, respectable and well-rounded conference with a lot of football prestige. Each one of its 12 members, including Alabama, has gone to at least one post-season game (bowl) in the last ten years (including Vanderbilt which, last season ended a bowl drought that goes way back into the 1980’s). At least half of its members have played in a new years day bowl or better in the last four or five years with two of them winning the National Championship the last three years (University of Florida in 2006 and 2008 and LSU in 2007). They seemingly dominate their non-conference opponents year in and year out, especially teams that hail from relatively weak conferences such as the Big East Conference, the ACC, and conferences that don’t have a tie-in to a major New Years day bowl.
The reputations of these two conferences clearly gave the University of Alabama the advantage and Virginia Tech the disadvantage. Most people picked Alabama based on those facts as well as many others. Alabama had a strong, solid defense while Virginia Tech had a young and inexperienced offense. One of their only running backs with playing experience from the previous year, a young man named Darren Evans, tragically tore his ACL during practice, causing him to miss the entire football season. This gaffed Virginia Tech’s already shallow depth significantly, forcing them to rely on their talented, but still inexperienced, freshmen running backs. This made the task of going up against Alabama’s tough defense far more daunting than it already was. Quarterback strength was an issue as well. Alabama’s Quarterback was pretty talented with armstrength and accuracy but, other than that, there was not much more that could be said of him. Virginia Tech’s situation was somewhat the opposite. Their quarterback was very mobile and dynamic; he could run when he couldn’t pass and scramble for the needed yards when he had to. However, his throwing ability has been disappointing and he always finds himself in trouble when he s in a passing situation. These facts did not bode well for Tech, a team hoping to attract the national spotlight and restore credibility to its conference.
The significance of this game was magnified by the fact that both teams were ranked in the preseason top ten. Alabama was ranked fifth in the nation while Virginia Tech was ranked seventh in the nation. Both were, and still are, considered strong favorites to win their division within their conference. It is said that the winner of this game would have a strong chance of making it into the national championship game at the end of the season. This was an especially important game for tech as well as the Atlantic Coast Conference. It was an opportunity to show the nation that their conference was not weak, that they could play with the better and more powerful teams. It was also an opportunity for the Southeastern Conference to assert their dominance over the smaller-name conferences like that of the Atlantic Coast Conference. It also showcased two of the greatest coaching minds in NCAA football: Frank Beamer, who has been coaching Tech for over 20 years, and Nick Saban, a coach who won a share of the national championship for LSU in the 2003 season and also led Alabama to a 12-0 start and number one ranking for a greater portion of the 2008 season. This all made it evident that the game between these two teams was a titanic match-up and a must-see.
When the day of the game finally arrived, the fans came by the thousands. Many attended the pre-game festivities in Atlanta, Georgia where the game was being held, including College Gameday, a show on ESPN where football analysts visit the site of the week’s top game to analyze, dissect, and discuss it as well as the other games. Behind those prognosticators and football analysts were the many fans of both Alabama and Virginia Tech as well as a few fans from other teams that were playing that day too. Many of the experts picked Alabama to win the football game, much to the chagrin of many Virginia tech fans and delight to the Alabama fans; Tech fans booed and Alabama fans cheered as they made their selections.
The game itself was fairly competitive throughout its duration. Alabama stopped Virginia Tech’s offense twice and kicked a couple of field goals only to see Tech take a kickoff return for a touchdown and find themselves falling behind slightly. After a couple more scoring exchanges, Tech found itself leading by one point at halftime, despite some offensive struggles. In the second half of the game, Alabama regained the lead and would not trail for the remainder of the game. Tech made a valiant effort to match Alabama punch for punch but the speed, strength, and depth from Alabama’s team was too much to conquer. Alabama would win against Tech by a score of 34-24 despite careless errors and idiotic penalties that would usually prove to be costly for a team.
There are a lot of lessons that can be learned from this game. For starters, Alabama is for real and have a good chance of winning many games in the season. As for Tech, even though they lost in the end, this game can be seen as a mark of progress for them and their conference. They and the rest of the ACC found themselves on the business end of a blowout many times to teams like Alabama, ultimately humiliating themselves in the process. From Tech’s 41 point margin of defeat to Alabama to Clemson’s 24 point margin against Alabama to only a 10 point margin this time around for Tech. It shows that while the ACC is not ready to compete with the bigger conferences, they are getting close. It will not be long before they are standing amongst the best of the best, it’s just going to take a little more time.
Sunday, August 30, 2009
Profile of Luke Keesee
To the eyes of many, Luke Keesee might appear to be nothing more than an ordinary College student just like so many others on the tech campus. He is much more than that, he is someone people can look up to.
His girlfriend states, “ He is one of the most hardworking and trustworthy people I know…All around he is a great guy. Everyone has great things to say about him… You rarely ever see him in a bad mood.”
He has only been here for a little over a week but it is apparent that there is much that can be learned of this young man. He comes from Lynchburg Virginia, a modest distance to some, close to others, and very distant to a select few. His favorite school subjects are math and physics. He says he isn’t very organized but he gives the effort to improve his status on this situation. He is not to be seen as one to give up. He says that he “is very determined” and that he “loves solving problems”. Here at tech, he has picked an exceptional Major in the College of Engineering, mechanical engineering to be more precise. He has a good respect for the environment as he possibly minors in Green Energy. He adds, “Green energy is the future! (at least I think so)”. He has a staunch commitment has he says that he “… always wanted to go to Virginia Tech”. Picking Tech was, truly, the perfect choice for him as his girlfriend adds, “ He doesn’t settle for anything less than the best”.
When he was a young boy, he had a terrible case of asthma and it got to a point where he had to be put on steroids when he was four years old. This shows that he is, indeed, an overcomer of high adversity.
He also has very peculiar and interesting choices when it comes to pop culture as well as his personal life. His favorite meal to eat is Steak as well as Mac & Cheese. He also has good choice when it comes to beverages; rather than Alcoholic beverages (Which, at this point, he is too young for), or caffeinated soft drinks, his favorite drink he says is Kool-Aid. He also says that he loves all fruits.
As for choices of music, he has a very peculiar taste. He favorite artists and groups are Bob Marley, Zac Brown Band, and Eric Church. He says that he likes his music and adds that he “…hates working in silence”. He also has an interesting taste when it comes to his choice of movies. Cool Runnings, Boondock Saints, and Green Street Hooligans are considered to be his favorites. As for TV, however, he has only two favorites: the Discovery Channel and the Travel Channel. This might show his interest in how things are the way they are, but then again that’s up to him and not us but who knows. He says that he likes College and Professional Sports, the outdoors, biking, fishing, hanging out with his friends, canoeing, and playing sports. “ He loves to have fun and try new things” says his girlfriend. Indeed, some people aren’t that involved in their lives.These hobbies show that he is very active when it comes to finding something to do when he is not working on his schoolwork.
Polically, he is seen as pretty much a conservative with good moral values. He is opposed to the Presidents policies, claiming that they will not lead the country in the right direction. He describes himself as both a Christian (Methodist-Baptist) and a republican. These views and position show the quality of man that he is. One who believes what he thinks and says what he believes ( otherwise he wouldn’t tell anybody). Many people don’t have the guts to state what they truly believe in but not this guy
His life during high school was one of deep involvement in extra curricular activities. He played football all the way from his freshman year right into his senior year. He also played baseball in his freshman and sophomore years. In his junior and senior years in high school, he participated in track. He has also participated inmany different clubs while in high school. He was a member of the FCA ( Fellowship of Christian Athletes ). The history club, the math club, the First Priority ( another Christian Club ), the Spanish club, and the Weight-lifting club. His involvement in these activities show that he is a well-rounded guy to say the very least. And it doesn’t stop there. When he is out of school, he works in a warehouse and does body work on cars during the summer. He truly is a very busy and hard-working person. He found a way to balance his schoolwork, his extracurriculars and his freetime in a sophisticated manner and still managed to work a summer job after all that. These are even more reasons to follow the lead of a man of Luke’s incredible stature.
This is the legacy of Mr. Luke Keesee. A legacy that will continue to grow as the years go by and as he pusues in a brilliant career of engineer. He is one who will never give up or back down when things look tough, he will, without a doubt persevere. People can look up to him as a leader, a mentor, a teacher and, most of all, a great and highly respectable friend.
His girlfriend states, “ He is one of the most hardworking and trustworthy people I know…All around he is a great guy. Everyone has great things to say about him… You rarely ever see him in a bad mood.”
He has only been here for a little over a week but it is apparent that there is much that can be learned of this young man. He comes from Lynchburg Virginia, a modest distance to some, close to others, and very distant to a select few. His favorite school subjects are math and physics. He says he isn’t very organized but he gives the effort to improve his status on this situation. He is not to be seen as one to give up. He says that he “is very determined” and that he “loves solving problems”. Here at tech, he has picked an exceptional Major in the College of Engineering, mechanical engineering to be more precise. He has a good respect for the environment as he possibly minors in Green Energy. He adds, “Green energy is the future! (at least I think so)”. He has a staunch commitment has he says that he “… always wanted to go to Virginia Tech”. Picking Tech was, truly, the perfect choice for him as his girlfriend adds, “ He doesn’t settle for anything less than the best”.
When he was a young boy, he had a terrible case of asthma and it got to a point where he had to be put on steroids when he was four years old. This shows that he is, indeed, an overcomer of high adversity.
He also has very peculiar and interesting choices when it comes to pop culture as well as his personal life. His favorite meal to eat is Steak as well as Mac & Cheese. He also has good choice when it comes to beverages; rather than Alcoholic beverages (Which, at this point, he is too young for), or caffeinated soft drinks, his favorite drink he says is Kool-Aid. He also says that he loves all fruits.
As for choices of music, he has a very peculiar taste. He favorite artists and groups are Bob Marley, Zac Brown Band, and Eric Church. He says that he likes his music and adds that he “…hates working in silence”. He also has an interesting taste when it comes to his choice of movies. Cool Runnings, Boondock Saints, and Green Street Hooligans are considered to be his favorites. As for TV, however, he has only two favorites: the Discovery Channel and the Travel Channel. This might show his interest in how things are the way they are, but then again that’s up to him and not us but who knows. He says that he likes College and Professional Sports, the outdoors, biking, fishing, hanging out with his friends, canoeing, and playing sports. “ He loves to have fun and try new things” says his girlfriend. Indeed, some people aren’t that involved in their lives.These hobbies show that he is very active when it comes to finding something to do when he is not working on his schoolwork.
Polically, he is seen as pretty much a conservative with good moral values. He is opposed to the Presidents policies, claiming that they will not lead the country in the right direction. He describes himself as both a Christian (Methodist-Baptist) and a republican. These views and position show the quality of man that he is. One who believes what he thinks and says what he believes ( otherwise he wouldn’t tell anybody). Many people don’t have the guts to state what they truly believe in but not this guy
His life during high school was one of deep involvement in extra curricular activities. He played football all the way from his freshman year right into his senior year. He also played baseball in his freshman and sophomore years. In his junior and senior years in high school, he participated in track. He has also participated inmany different clubs while in high school. He was a member of the FCA ( Fellowship of Christian Athletes ). The history club, the math club, the First Priority ( another Christian Club ), the Spanish club, and the Weight-lifting club. His involvement in these activities show that he is a well-rounded guy to say the very least. And it doesn’t stop there. When he is out of school, he works in a warehouse and does body work on cars during the summer. He truly is a very busy and hard-working person. He found a way to balance his schoolwork, his extracurriculars and his freetime in a sophisticated manner and still managed to work a summer job after all that. These are even more reasons to follow the lead of a man of Luke’s incredible stature.
This is the legacy of Mr. Luke Keesee. A legacy that will continue to grow as the years go by and as he pusues in a brilliant career of engineer. He is one who will never give up or back down when things look tough, he will, without a doubt persevere. People can look up to him as a leader, a mentor, a teacher and, most of all, a great and highly respectable friend.
Healthcare topic blog
I would like to discuss the debate going on about healthcare reform. It is being discussed all throughout our news stations and other media outlets. Many people are strongly for and there are many people who are strongly against it. There are many different opinions on the specified topic of healthcare reform. Some believe that the current system being used is fine and do not believe that we should reform our healthcare system. Others believe that the system does indeed need changing but shouldn’t be changed drastically. Others say that the system is indeed in trouble and needs some serious revamping. I found it interesting because so much is at risk in this one particular discussion. Allow me to explain the situation in further detail.
These arguments are themselves one big argument. It shows that something is wrong with how healthcare is handled in the United States and how the problem should be addressed. As mentioned above, some preferably wish to do absolutely nothing and leave the system as it is today. Others wish to form a non-profit and government funded plan called a co-op. Others wish to form a government run insurance plan called the public option. This would compete against the private insurers and prevent them from cheating their customers. And yet others wish to create a system where the government controls everyone’s health care, called the single payer system which is used in many countries around the world except for ours.
There are debates going on whether or not to reform healthcare at all. Some believe that the price of premiums that we pay to private insurers are going through the roof. They believe some Americans are being discriminated against and exempt from treatment due to pre-existing conditions. These are the reasons being made in favor of reform of the current system. Others believe that the system is not flawed and is considered to be the envy of the world and should not be tampered with. That is the argument being made in favor of inaction.
The biggest of these choices is the government run insurance program which is the public option. The argument being made in favor of the public option is that it will offer those who have lost their insurance health insurance at an affordable price. Its low price of care will also create competition for the other insurance companies so that they are not cheating their customers out of their money. People in favor of the public option also believe they can achieve these goals. The argument being made against it is that it requires too much intervention and control from the federal government. Those in opposition to the plan believes that this will be extremely costly. It is estimated that this kind of reform will cost over $1 trillion and might put a large burden on taxpayers. This means a possible tax hike on the wealthiest Americans; it could also mean a tax on things like soda or other goods Americans purchase everyday. Another reason to oppose the plan is that with so many people getting on board without increasing the number of doctors. This means that care and treatment of patients would have to be rationed. It would dead to long lines and waiting lists for those who need medications and surgery.
The discussion of the public option is being debated now in Congress. Those in favor of government run insurance are mostly members of the Democratic party, whose members usually hold liberal views while the those who are against it are members of the Republican party, whose members tend to hold conservative views. Democrats have large majorities in both the House of Representatives and in the Senate; they could easily vote to pass the bill that they have proposed which you would think would be easy but it isn’t. The main problem that they (the democrats) have is that their more conservative members are skeptical of the plan to reform health care. They do not wish to burden their constituents with more government intervention in their lives nor do they wish to add to the federal deficit which seems to be getting larger by the day.
Support for this kind of reform was strong earlier this year but now the tone of the people seems to be shifting in opposition to it. Polls have shown that support for the public option has been fading and now it seems that more are opposed than they are supportive of it. The bill being debated passed through the necessary committees and will go to the floor for a vot. Unfortunately for the democrats, they brought it to the floor just before the August recess. They then have had to go back to their constituents that reside in particularly conservative districts and have taken a big beating. Some are intimidated and are unsure how to vote while the others are unaffected, calling the protests against reform artificial and that they were created by the insurance companies which have been taking a beating themselves by those said politicians. It has even gotten to a point where the President said he is open to dropping the public option in favor of the nonprofit co-op plan. That, however, has sparked frustration with more liberal members of the democratic party, arguing that a bill without the public option would not have the votes to pass as they would all vote against it.
This debate over health care reform appears to have been going on for months. Wrong, it is a problem that has been going on for years. Many US Presidents have tried to address this issue but have failed to do so successfully. Until this year, a bill has never reached the floor of the House which makes this the closest we’ve come to getting reform. Caution must be taken, though, there are serious risks being taken in this discussion, both for our country and for democrats. If this reform goes wrong, democrats will find their back against the wall come the next election. Nobody knows what will come of reform as of right now, it will be interesting to see how this all turns out.
These arguments are themselves one big argument. It shows that something is wrong with how healthcare is handled in the United States and how the problem should be addressed. As mentioned above, some preferably wish to do absolutely nothing and leave the system as it is today. Others wish to form a non-profit and government funded plan called a co-op. Others wish to form a government run insurance plan called the public option. This would compete against the private insurers and prevent them from cheating their customers. And yet others wish to create a system where the government controls everyone’s health care, called the single payer system which is used in many countries around the world except for ours.
There are debates going on whether or not to reform healthcare at all. Some believe that the price of premiums that we pay to private insurers are going through the roof. They believe some Americans are being discriminated against and exempt from treatment due to pre-existing conditions. These are the reasons being made in favor of reform of the current system. Others believe that the system is not flawed and is considered to be the envy of the world and should not be tampered with. That is the argument being made in favor of inaction.
The biggest of these choices is the government run insurance program which is the public option. The argument being made in favor of the public option is that it will offer those who have lost their insurance health insurance at an affordable price. Its low price of care will also create competition for the other insurance companies so that they are not cheating their customers out of their money. People in favor of the public option also believe they can achieve these goals. The argument being made against it is that it requires too much intervention and control from the federal government. Those in opposition to the plan believes that this will be extremely costly. It is estimated that this kind of reform will cost over $1 trillion and might put a large burden on taxpayers. This means a possible tax hike on the wealthiest Americans; it could also mean a tax on things like soda or other goods Americans purchase everyday. Another reason to oppose the plan is that with so many people getting on board without increasing the number of doctors. This means that care and treatment of patients would have to be rationed. It would dead to long lines and waiting lists for those who need medications and surgery.
The discussion of the public option is being debated now in Congress. Those in favor of government run insurance are mostly members of the Democratic party, whose members usually hold liberal views while the those who are against it are members of the Republican party, whose members tend to hold conservative views. Democrats have large majorities in both the House of Representatives and in the Senate; they could easily vote to pass the bill that they have proposed which you would think would be easy but it isn’t. The main problem that they (the democrats) have is that their more conservative members are skeptical of the plan to reform health care. They do not wish to burden their constituents with more government intervention in their lives nor do they wish to add to the federal deficit which seems to be getting larger by the day.
Support for this kind of reform was strong earlier this year but now the tone of the people seems to be shifting in opposition to it. Polls have shown that support for the public option has been fading and now it seems that more are opposed than they are supportive of it. The bill being debated passed through the necessary committees and will go to the floor for a vot. Unfortunately for the democrats, they brought it to the floor just before the August recess. They then have had to go back to their constituents that reside in particularly conservative districts and have taken a big beating. Some are intimidated and are unsure how to vote while the others are unaffected, calling the protests against reform artificial and that they were created by the insurance companies which have been taking a beating themselves by those said politicians. It has even gotten to a point where the President said he is open to dropping the public option in favor of the nonprofit co-op plan. That, however, has sparked frustration with more liberal members of the democratic party, arguing that a bill without the public option would not have the votes to pass as they would all vote against it.
This debate over health care reform appears to have been going on for months. Wrong, it is a problem that has been going on for years. Many US Presidents have tried to address this issue but have failed to do so successfully. Until this year, a bill has never reached the floor of the House which makes this the closest we’ve come to getting reform. Caution must be taken, though, there are serious risks being taken in this discussion, both for our country and for democrats. If this reform goes wrong, democrats will find their back against the wall come the next election. Nobody knows what will come of reform as of right now, it will be interesting to see how this all turns out.
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