With the holiday season comes the finale of another great season of college football, and is almost time for the second annual college football playoff. The new format has the top four teams pitted against one another with the #1 ranked team playing the #4 ranked team and the #2 and #3 ranked teams playing each other respectively. The new four team playoff replaces the old BCS title game that only featured the two best teams playing for a national championship based off a system of rankings that was determined to be seriously flawed. Now a panel of college football coaches meet and determine the rankings and decide on the top four teams and who deserves the opportunity to play for the coveted national title.
This year the playoffs are set with #1 and undefeated Clemson (14-0) taking on Oklahoma (11-1) in the Orange Bowl at Miami, FL and #2 Alabama (12-1) will take on #3 Michigan State (12-1) in the Cotton Bowl in Arlington, TX where both games will be played on Thursday, December 31, 2015, or most commonly known as New Year's Eve. The two victors will then play each other for the national championship.
Both games will be very entertaining, with all of the teams appearing to be pretty evenly matched. It is anticipated that both games will be the focus of many family's New Year's Eve celebrations as the bowl games, especially the more important ones, such as the two that will determine which two teams will play for the national championship, usually get a pretty high amount of viewership. It is crazy to think how much sports have factored into how families celebrate the holiday season, with some fans even having tailgate parties to celebrate the big game involving their team one last time before football kicks off again next fall. Watching college football games has been so ingrained into our lives that when the playoffs are already done and the super bowl has already been won, it will feel weird to not have any football to watch.
It would seem that the new format with the four team playoff system put into place has gone over well with fans as it feels more fair to give teams the chance to compete for a national title. Before only two teams were given that opportunity based off a BCS system that was flawed and not accurate as to who the two best teams were that deserved to play in the national championship game. With the new playoff system it gives double the amount of teams to compete for the national title, with four teams being enough where the playoffs do not have to drag on over a long period of time. A big question with the new system was if four teams are enough and if the playoff should be expanded to eight teams or more, but eight seems like too many and we may see some games that have already happened such as Clemson vs. Notre Dame for the second time, where Clemson pulled out a tight 24-22 victory at home in Clemson, SC. Even though the game would be exciting because it is a rematch and Notre Dame would want revenge, it may be repetitive for some viewers who want to see Clemson play another great team they have not played such as Oklahoma. For now it seems that a four team playoff is just right, giving more than just two teams the chance to play for a national championship, while also, not dragging on the playoffs and giving fans just enough entertainment for the New Year's holiday.
Wednesday, December 23, 2015
Sunday, December 20, 2015
What I watched, saw, listened to week of 12/7/15
On Monday 12/7/15 I worked for Marist Poll
I watched Monday night football
On Tuesday 12/8 I watched some college basketball
On Wednesday 12/9 I attended the Marist men's basketball game against the Albany Great Danes my hometown team, Albany ended up winning the game 75-53
On Thursday 12/10 I watched Thursday night football
On Friday 12/11 I watched some college basketball
On Saturday 12/12
I watched college basketball
I attended the Marist men's basketball game against Delaware, Delaware won 70-69
On Sunday 12/13 I watched NFL
On Monday 12/7/15 I worked for Marist Poll
I watched Monday night football
On Tuesday 12/8 I watched some college basketball
On Wednesday 12/9 I attended the Marist men's basketball game against the Albany Great Danes my hometown team, Albany ended up winning the game 75-53
On Thursday 12/10 I watched Thursday night football
On Friday 12/11 I watched some college basketball
On Saturday 12/12
I watched college basketball
I attended the Marist men's basketball game against Delaware, Delaware won 70-69
On Sunday 12/13 I watched NFL
Saturday, December 19, 2015
During the week of 11/30/15 I was able to attend a couple of events in the newly renovated Weiss Language Center, and both were very helpful in preparing me for my upcoming trip to Madrid, Spain where I will be studying abroad for the Spring 2016 semester. One of the events was showing me how to use multiple websites that were created in order to help students out with their language skills and become more proficient in whatever language they are studying and trying to learn.
In my case, I will be working on Spanish in order to make sure that I will be prepared for a whole semester of only speaking Spanish with a little bit of English if I really have to. This was a good opportunity for me to learn about resources that I didn't even know that I had access to that I am sure will be really useful and make sure I don't lose any of my Spanish during the break.
Through the use of the websites I will be able to be a much better Spanish speaker and increase my vocabulary at the same time. This will really help once I am in Madrid, and will hopefully ensure that I am not in any embarrassing situations where I do not know how to say something and have to take some time while in the middle of a sentence to think about what I want to say. There are also placement tests that are built into one of the websites which will also be helpful to me to give me a general idea of where my Spanish speaking skills are. After using the websites I will feel a lot better about transitioning from speaking English all the time with a little Spanish to speaking Spanish all the time with English as a last resort.
Along with the websites by going to the events at the Weiss Language Center, I have learned a lot about Spain and about the different foods they eat as well as the different meal schedules. I learned that breakfast and dinner are not very big meals with lunch being the biggest meal during the day, and that for breakfast it is not the usual milk and cereal that I am accustomed to as well as dinner being later than I am used to. Along with the changes to what I eat I will have to get used to the changes of when I eat which may take some getting used to but I am looking forward to my semester in Spain and everything that I will experience while I am abroad for the spring 2016 semester.
Along with the websites by going to the events at the Weiss Language Center, I have learned a lot about Spain and about the different foods they eat as well as the different meal schedules. I learned that breakfast and dinner are not very big meals with lunch being the biggest meal during the day, and that for breakfast it is not the usual milk and cereal that I am accustomed to as well as dinner being later than I am used to. Along with the changes to what I eat I will have to get used to the changes of when I eat which may take some getting used to but I am looking forward to my semester in Spain and everything that I will experience while I am abroad for the spring 2016 semester.
What I watched, saw, listened to week of 11/30/15:
On Monday 11/30 I worked for Marist Poll and watched Monday night football
On Tuesday 12/1/15 I watched college basketball
Went to an event at the Weiss Language Center
On Wednesday 12/2/15 I watched more college basketball, attended another event at the Weiss Language Center
On Thursday 12/3/15 I attended the Marist women's basketball MAAC home opener against Quinnipiac which Marist won 56-47
Later I watched the Kentucky-UCLA game and UCLA beat #1 ranked Kentucky 87-77 and gave the Wildcats their first loss
Watched the Green Bay at Detroit Lions game for Thursday night football and Green Bay won with an epic comeback and a hail Mary pass to win 27-23
On Friday 12/4 I attended the Marist men's basketball game the MAAC home opener against Iona which Iona won 101-66
On Saturday 12/5 I watched college basketball and football
I watched the Clemson vs UNC game for the ACC Championship,
On Sunday 12/6 I watched NFL
On Monday 11/30 I worked for Marist Poll and watched Monday night football
On Tuesday 12/1/15 I watched college basketball
Went to an event at the Weiss Language Center
On Wednesday 12/2/15 I watched more college basketball, attended another event at the Weiss Language Center
On Thursday 12/3/15 I attended the Marist women's basketball MAAC home opener against Quinnipiac which Marist won 56-47
Later I watched the Kentucky-UCLA game and UCLA beat #1 ranked Kentucky 87-77 and gave the Wildcats their first loss
Watched the Green Bay at Detroit Lions game for Thursday night football and Green Bay won with an epic comeback and a hail Mary pass to win 27-23
On Friday 12/4 I attended the Marist men's basketball game the MAAC home opener against Iona which Iona won 101-66
On Saturday 12/5 I watched college basketball and football
I watched the Clemson vs UNC game for the ACC Championship,
On Sunday 12/6 I watched NFL
While the main focus of the break from school was for Thanksgiving, this was also a crucial time for college football as there were several crucial games played the weekend after Thanksgiving. Some of the crucial games were the Clemson-South Carolina rivalry game, the Baylor-TCU rivalry game, the Notre Dame-Stanford rivalry game, and the Oklahoma-Oklahoma State rivalry game. Theses games are crucial as Clemson, Baylor, TCU, Notre Dame, Stanford, Oklahoma, and even Oklahoma State are all vying for a spot in the second annual college football playoff that features the top four teams in the country and gives them a chance to play for a national championship.
How the college football playoff system works is that there is a committee made up of several coaches in college football that meet and discuss who they think the four best teams are based off of multiple factors such as who they have played and beaten, how many points they have scored, how many points they have surrendered, etc. So far the top candidates for the four spots include Clemson, Alabama, Oklahoma, and Iowa since they are ranked in that order. However, huge league championship games featuring Alabama against Florida, Michigan State against Iowa, and Clemson against North Carolina will help the committee decide who should be in and who should not be based off of who wins the league titles. The cases that are made is that if Clemson beats North Carolina they should be a lock for a playoff spot especially since they are undefeated, if Michigan State beats Iowa they should be in even though at the time Iowa was ranked fourth and Michigan State was ranked fifth, and if Alabama beats Florida they will get a playoff spot as well.
However the committee has to decide if North Carolina, Florida, and Iowa were to pull of the huge upsets if North Carolina, Florida, Iowa, and other teams like Stanford deserve playoff sports over a one loss Clemson team, a two loss Alabama team, Oklahoma which doesn't have a conference title game, and even keep Iowa in the playoff picture even though they have not played the big ten's best and toughest teams. It is always interesting to hear what the committee thinks in these situations and how they end up ranking the teams.
The Iowa Hawkeyes were definitely a surprise this year making it to the big ten title game undefeated, which almost nobody predicted at the start of the college football season. It is crazy to think that back in Iowa the fans have really embraced the team and its success by saying that the football team's success was the biggest thing going on in the whole state and was one of the best things to ever happen in the state of Iowa. The crazy part is to to think that more people cared about what the Iowa football team was doing than what was actually happening on the news. I know that sports fans are passionate about their team, but it was surprising to me when people are saying that in the history of the state that this was the biggest and best thing to ever happen. It's crazy to think that one sports team can have more importance to people and have a bigger impact in their lives than anything else.
What I watched, saw, listened to week of 11/23:
On Monday 11/23 I worked at Marist Poll
I watched Monday Night Football
On Tuesday 11/24 I had to wake up early to take a train to New York City in order to have my student visa done so that I can study abroad, went down to the city dropped off my application, then came back to Marist, then headed home for Thanksgiving break
On Wednesday 11/25 I spent time with my family
On Thursday 11/26 my family had Thanksgiving dinner which consisted of turkey, stuffing, sweet potatoes, two different types of cranberry sauce, homemade orange jello, corn, and homemade desserts such as pumpkin pie, apple pie, and pecan pie
Watched Thanksgiving day football between the Detroit Lions and Philadelphia Eagles, Dallas Cowboys and Carolina Panthers, and watched college basketball
On Friday 11/27 I had a tennis lesson since the weather was about 60 degrees
Watched college basketball
On Saturday 11/28 I watched college football between Clemson and South Carolina and Baylor and TCU
Went out to eat at PF Chang's with my family for dinner
On Sunday 11/29 I took the train back to Marist and watched some college basketball when I got back between Oklahoma and Wisconsin, Oklahoma won 65-48
I watched NFL and watched the Denver Broncos end the perfect season for the New England Patriots by knocking them off in overtime 30-24 at Mile High Field in Denver, CO
On Monday 11/23 I worked at Marist Poll
I watched Monday Night Football
On Tuesday 11/24 I had to wake up early to take a train to New York City in order to have my student visa done so that I can study abroad, went down to the city dropped off my application, then came back to Marist, then headed home for Thanksgiving break
On Wednesday 11/25 I spent time with my family
On Thursday 11/26 my family had Thanksgiving dinner which consisted of turkey, stuffing, sweet potatoes, two different types of cranberry sauce, homemade orange jello, corn, and homemade desserts such as pumpkin pie, apple pie, and pecan pie
Watched Thanksgiving day football between the Detroit Lions and Philadelphia Eagles, Dallas Cowboys and Carolina Panthers, and watched college basketball
On Friday 11/27 I had a tennis lesson since the weather was about 60 degrees
Watched college basketball
On Saturday 11/28 I watched college football between Clemson and South Carolina and Baylor and TCU
Went out to eat at PF Chang's with my family for dinner
On Sunday 11/29 I took the train back to Marist and watched some college basketball when I got back between Oklahoma and Wisconsin, Oklahoma won 65-48
I watched NFL and watched the Denver Broncos end the perfect season for the New England Patriots by knocking them off in overtime 30-24 at Mile High Field in Denver, CO
Thursday, December 3, 2015
On Monday 11/16, I attended a workshop through the Emerging Leaders Program on how to be an effective team member and a better team member when working on a group project. Through the workshop everyone was required to talk and say anything such as what bothered them, what they could do better to be a better group member, suggestions as to how an effective group project should go, and potential problems the group may face during the duration of the project. I thought this workshop was very informative and interesting, and extremely helpful because I learned that there are always ways to be a better group member, even when you think that already are.
During the workshop there was also an interesting point that was brought up which was the difference between a team and a group, since some of the people in attendance were on sports teams. The main difference between the two is that a team is all working together to achieve a common goal, while a group everyone works together but each group member's goal may be slightly different than the other group members. Additionally, a team has more unity to it as it is together for much longer period of time since a sports season usually lasts longer than the typical group project. I had never thought about the difference between a group and a team since I usually think of both as the same thing, but now know there is a slight difference between the two.
Another part of the workshop was actually splitting off into small groups to apply everything that was discussed and see how we all would do in a small group setting. The task for each small group was to discuss how we would go about building anything out of a box of legos that was distributed to each group without opening the box or touching any of the pieces. However we could look at the instruction manual to get some kind of idea what could be built. After discussing the plans on what to build and how to build it each group had a minute to try and put the plan together and build something to see how effective each group would actually be at working together. My group attempted to work on building a tower but only got done with the bottom part of it. By the end of the exercise each group realized that working in teams can be a lot harder than it looks but learned how to be more effective team and group members.
During the workshop there was also an interesting point that was brought up which was the difference between a team and a group, since some of the people in attendance were on sports teams. The main difference between the two is that a team is all working together to achieve a common goal, while a group everyone works together but each group member's goal may be slightly different than the other group members. Additionally, a team has more unity to it as it is together for much longer period of time since a sports season usually lasts longer than the typical group project. I had never thought about the difference between a group and a team since I usually think of both as the same thing, but now know there is a slight difference between the two.
Another part of the workshop was actually splitting off into small groups to apply everything that was discussed and see how we all would do in a small group setting. The task for each small group was to discuss how we would go about building anything out of a box of legos that was distributed to each group without opening the box or touching any of the pieces. However we could look at the instruction manual to get some kind of idea what could be built. After discussing the plans on what to build and how to build it each group had a minute to try and put the plan together and build something to see how effective each group would actually be at working together. My group attempted to work on building a tower but only got done with the bottom part of it. By the end of the exercise each group realized that working in teams can be a lot harder than it looks but learned how to be more effective team and group members.
What I watched, saw, listened to week of 11/16/15
On Monday 11/16 I had a workshop for the Emerging Leaders Program that was about teamwork and how to be an effective team member
Worked Monday night at Marist Poll
Watched Monday night football
On Tuesday 11/17 I played tennis
Attended the men's basketball home opener against Dartmouth
Watched college basketball
Watched NHL
On Wednesday 11/18 I attended a workshop that helped improve my Resume
Watched college basketball
On Thursday 11/19 I attended the women's basketball home opener against Delaware
Watched Thursday Night Football between Jacksonville and Tennessee
Watched NHL
On Friday 11/20 I did my weekly radio show
Worked at Home Depot
Watched college basketball game Duke vs. VCU
On Saturday 11/21
Worked at Home Depot
Watched college football
Watched college basketball
On Sunday 11/22
Worked at Home Depot
Watched NFL
Watched college basketball game Duke vs. Georgetown
On Monday 11/16 I had a workshop for the Emerging Leaders Program that was about teamwork and how to be an effective team member
Worked Monday night at Marist Poll
Watched Monday night football
On Tuesday 11/17 I played tennis
Attended the men's basketball home opener against Dartmouth
Watched college basketball
Watched NHL
On Wednesday 11/18 I attended a workshop that helped improve my Resume
Watched college basketball
On Thursday 11/19 I attended the women's basketball home opener against Delaware
Watched Thursday Night Football between Jacksonville and Tennessee
Watched NHL
On Friday 11/20 I did my weekly radio show
Worked at Home Depot
Watched college basketball game Duke vs. VCU
On Saturday 11/21
Worked at Home Depot
Watched college football
Watched college basketball
On Sunday 11/22
Worked at Home Depot
Watched NFL
Watched college basketball game Duke vs. Georgetown
Wednesday, November 25, 2015
On Friday 11/13, another season of college basketball began, which is something that I look forward to every year. I really enjoy watching college basketball the most out of any sport because I have been playing basketball since elementary school, and it is cool to see all the different schools and the various traditions that each school has for game-day. I personally believe that the Duke Blue Devils have some of the best fans in all of sports, with their fans calling themselves the Cameron Crazies, since they are crazy about their Blue Devils and even do crazy things such as camping out for the annual game against cross town rival North Carolina. The Duke fans set up tents outside of Cameron Indoor Stadium months in advance through an event called Countdown to Craziness in order to ensure they get good seats to watch the Duke North Carolina rivalry game, even though the weather may not be ideal during the waiting period. The Duke students will camp out through the cold days and nights, and remain outside instead of going back to their dorms, which shows their passion for supporting the Blue Devils. Another crazy thing the students and the fans do is paint themselves blue, wear crazy wigs dyed blue, and even make a lot of noise during the game and even reach out when the visiting teams are in-bounding the ball.
On Friday 11/13 Duke opened up its season against my hometown college team the Siena Saints, who got the chance to do something that has not been done, at least not since 1985, by playing the defending national champions and the runner up the Wisconsin Badgers in the first two games of the season. Even though the final score was not close at 92-74, it was still cool to see how a team from the Metro Atlantic Athletic Conference (MAAC) would do against a team like Duke, one with a history of success that won five national championships. Siena actually kept up with Duke for a good portion of the game and actually led Duke 15-13 early on in the game, but foul trouble got to Siena and their best players had to sit on the bench to avoid further foul trouble and the risk of fouling out of the game. Even though I was not home at the time of this game, I have no doubt that people back home were looking forward to the match-up to see how Siena would handle the defending national champions, and even take advantage of the chance to go a see a game at the historic Cameron Indoor Stadium. It seemed that behind the visitors bench there were a good amount of Siena fans that made the trip down to Durham, NC from the Albany area in order to watch their Saints play the National Champion Blue Devils.
Last February I made the trip down to Duke to visit my sister who was at the time a senior at Duke, and was fortunate that there was a home game that weekend against Syracuse which I attended. I can speak from my own personal experience that going to any Duke game is awesome, and the Cameron Crazies environment is really awesome to be a part of, as the game was sold out, with a rowdy and pumped up crowd. It was awesome to be a part of a big time game, especially at a big time school like Duke, which is something that I have never experienced before going to small school where athletics are not much of a priority. Duke ended up winning the game, and went on to win the National Championship last season which made the experience even more rewarding for me, as I can now say I got to see the 2014-2015 National Champion Blue Devils play one of their regular season games against their newest conference rival Syracuse.
Even though Siena did not win the game I'm sure the fans appreciated the opportunity to visit one of the most historic sporting venues to watch one of the premier programs in college basketball play their team, the Siena Saints. As it was a nice step up for me, I'm sure it was for them to be able to experience the atmosphere at a school that values athletics as much as Duke does.
On Friday 11/13 Duke opened up its season against my hometown college team the Siena Saints, who got the chance to do something that has not been done, at least not since 1985, by playing the defending national champions and the runner up the Wisconsin Badgers in the first two games of the season. Even though the final score was not close at 92-74, it was still cool to see how a team from the Metro Atlantic Athletic Conference (MAAC) would do against a team like Duke, one with a history of success that won five national championships. Siena actually kept up with Duke for a good portion of the game and actually led Duke 15-13 early on in the game, but foul trouble got to Siena and their best players had to sit on the bench to avoid further foul trouble and the risk of fouling out of the game. Even though I was not home at the time of this game, I have no doubt that people back home were looking forward to the match-up to see how Siena would handle the defending national champions, and even take advantage of the chance to go a see a game at the historic Cameron Indoor Stadium. It seemed that behind the visitors bench there were a good amount of Siena fans that made the trip down to Durham, NC from the Albany area in order to watch their Saints play the National Champion Blue Devils.
Last February I made the trip down to Duke to visit my sister who was at the time a senior at Duke, and was fortunate that there was a home game that weekend against Syracuse which I attended. I can speak from my own personal experience that going to any Duke game is awesome, and the Cameron Crazies environment is really awesome to be a part of, as the game was sold out, with a rowdy and pumped up crowd. It was awesome to be a part of a big time game, especially at a big time school like Duke, which is something that I have never experienced before going to small school where athletics are not much of a priority. Duke ended up winning the game, and went on to win the National Championship last season which made the experience even more rewarding for me, as I can now say I got to see the 2014-2015 National Champion Blue Devils play one of their regular season games against their newest conference rival Syracuse.
Even though Siena did not win the game I'm sure the fans appreciated the opportunity to visit one of the most historic sporting venues to watch one of the premier programs in college basketball play their team, the Siena Saints. As it was a nice step up for me, I'm sure it was for them to be able to experience the atmosphere at a school that values athletics as much as Duke does.
What I watched, saw, listened to week of 11/9
On Monday, 11/9 I watched Monday night football
Watched NHL
On Tuesday 11/10 I played tennis and watched some NHL
On Wednesday 11/11 watched NBA
On Thursday 11/12 I attended the student booster club meeting and watched Thursday night football between the Buffalo Bills and the New York Jets
On Friday 11/13 I went to work from 5-9 and watched opening night of NCAA basketball and watched the Siena Saints vs Duke Blue Devils Game played at Cameron Indoor Stadium in Durham, NC
On Saturday 11/14 I worked 9-1 and after attended the last Marist women's Volleyball home game against Siena
Watched college football
Watched NBA
Watched NHL
On Sunday 11/15 I worked, watched NFL, college basketball
On Monday, 11/9 I watched Monday night football
Watched NHL
On Tuesday 11/10 I played tennis and watched some NHL
On Wednesday 11/11 watched NBA
On Thursday 11/12 I attended the student booster club meeting and watched Thursday night football between the Buffalo Bills and the New York Jets
On Friday 11/13 I went to work from 5-9 and watched opening night of NCAA basketball and watched the Siena Saints vs Duke Blue Devils Game played at Cameron Indoor Stadium in Durham, NC
On Saturday 11/14 I worked 9-1 and after attended the last Marist women's Volleyball home game against Siena
Watched college football
Watched NBA
Watched NHL
On Sunday 11/15 I worked, watched NFL, college basketball
Friday, November 13, 2015
What I watched, saw, listened to week of 11/2:
During the week I watched some hockey
On Monday, 11/2 I worked and watched Monday night football between the Indianapolis Colts and the Carolina Panthers at Charlotte, North Carolina
On Tuesday, 11/3 I attended a workshop through the Emerging Leaders Program and played tennis
On Wednesday, 11/4 I attended a webcast through the National Society of Leadership and Success
On Thursday, 11/5 I played tennis and watched Thursday night football between the Cleveland Browns and Cincinnati Bengals in Cincinnati, OH
On Friday, 11/6 I went to the Brooklyn Nets- Los Angeles Lakers game with my friends
On Saturday, 11.7 I worked for the whole day and watched a little college football at night when I got out of work
On Sunday, 11/8 I worked and attended the end of the women's volleyball game against Canisius which Marist won in a 5 set thriller, attended the women's basketball scrimmage against Holy Family, and watched NFL
During the week I watched some hockey
On Monday, 11/2 I worked and watched Monday night football between the Indianapolis Colts and the Carolina Panthers at Charlotte, North Carolina
On Tuesday, 11/3 I attended a workshop through the Emerging Leaders Program and played tennis
On Wednesday, 11/4 I attended a webcast through the National Society of Leadership and Success
On Thursday, 11/5 I played tennis and watched Thursday night football between the Cleveland Browns and Cincinnati Bengals in Cincinnati, OH
On Friday, 11/6 I went to the Brooklyn Nets- Los Angeles Lakers game with my friends
On Saturday, 11.7 I worked for the whole day and watched a little college football at night when I got out of work
On Sunday, 11/8 I worked and attended the end of the women's volleyball game against Canisius which Marist won in a 5 set thriller, attended the women's basketball scrimmage against Holy Family, and watched NFL
Last Friday, 11/6, my friends and I went to New York City to watch the Brooklyn Nets play the Los Angeles Lakers at the Barclays Center in Brooklyn. We all decided that we wanted to do something fun that we don't usually do, which is attending professional sporting events. We first had to consider our options as alternative plans would have been to attend the New York Knicks game as they were playing at home in MSG the same day against the Milwaukee Bucks, attend a New York Islanders game, attend a New York Rangers game. The Islanders had a home game that Sunday 11/8 against the Bruins which we could have gone to, and the Rangers did not have a home game that weekend so we would have had to go to that game another time. A major factor in our decision in which game to attend was the cost to attend each event, with tickets to a game at MSG being more expensive solely based on the fact that the venue is Madison Square Garden, one of the best sporting venues in the world. Additionally, we had to take into consideration which teams we all liked, as one of my friends is a big Islanders fan, while I and another one of my friends are big Rangers fans so attending an Islanders game would not have been as fun for us and attending a Rangers game would not have been fun for my other friend who is an Islanders fan and another one of my friends who is a Pittsburgh Penguins fan. By going to a sporting event of our team's rival would not have been as enjoyable as a result of the fierce division rivalry the New York Rangers, New York Islanders, and the Pittsburgh Penguins have competing for the Metropolitan Division title. As a couple of my friends are Brooklyn Nets fans, they suggested going to the Brooklyn Nets game since the tickets were cheap and their teams was playing at home. My friends and I took the Metro North train down to Grand Central Station then took the subway to Brooklyn, which conveniently stops right in front of the Barclays Center.
Even though I am a New York Knicks fan and not a Nets fan, I went to the game just for the experience, as I had never been to a professional basketball game before. I have attended several college basketball games but had no idea what to expect attending an NBA game. It turned out to be just like any other game, and was slightly disappointing as I don't think the home fans are as passionate about their team as the home fans of a college basketball team. For example, Duke students and fans are so passionate about the Blue Devils that the students even begin to camp outside Cameron Indoor Stadium, in order to make sure they get the best seats to the biggest game of the year, when crosstown rival University of North Carolina (UNC) comes to play Duke. Additionally, a lot of students even paint themselves blue just for a couple hour game. The Duke fans are very passionate and are rightly called the Cameron Crazies, as they literally do crazy things like camping out to support the Blue Devils. I truly believe that the Crameron Crazies at Duke are the best sports fans in the world, as I have never heard of fans camping out for a game months in advance in order to support their team against its arch rival. Additionally, the Brooklyn Nets fans did not do a lot to bring the energy level up that college students often do by creating chants for their home team and coming up with creative ones for the visiting team as well.
Other than being disappointed with the fan atmosphere, the game was very exciting as it came down to the wire and a bad in bounds play that turned the ball back over to Los Angeles that won the Lakers the game in the final seconds. I was very surprised that there were actually more Lakers fans at the game than Brooklyn Nets Fans and the game was played on their home floor in Brooklyn! If I didn't know any better by the big Brooklyn Nets logo on the center of the floor I would have thought the game was being played in the Staples Center in Los Angeles. When Kobe Bryant and the Lakers scored there was thunderous applause and when the Nets scored the applause seemed to be a lot less quiet. Even though my team was not playing in this game it was still cool to be able to say I was finally able to go to a professional basketball game, and if given the opportunity I would attend more.
Even though I am a New York Knicks fan and not a Nets fan, I went to the game just for the experience, as I had never been to a professional basketball game before. I have attended several college basketball games but had no idea what to expect attending an NBA game. It turned out to be just like any other game, and was slightly disappointing as I don't think the home fans are as passionate about their team as the home fans of a college basketball team. For example, Duke students and fans are so passionate about the Blue Devils that the students even begin to camp outside Cameron Indoor Stadium, in order to make sure they get the best seats to the biggest game of the year, when crosstown rival University of North Carolina (UNC) comes to play Duke. Additionally, a lot of students even paint themselves blue just for a couple hour game. The Duke fans are very passionate and are rightly called the Cameron Crazies, as they literally do crazy things like camping out to support the Blue Devils. I truly believe that the Crameron Crazies at Duke are the best sports fans in the world, as I have never heard of fans camping out for a game months in advance in order to support their team against its arch rival. Additionally, the Brooklyn Nets fans did not do a lot to bring the energy level up that college students often do by creating chants for their home team and coming up with creative ones for the visiting team as well.
Other than being disappointed with the fan atmosphere, the game was very exciting as it came down to the wire and a bad in bounds play that turned the ball back over to Los Angeles that won the Lakers the game in the final seconds. I was very surprised that there were actually more Lakers fans at the game than Brooklyn Nets Fans and the game was played on their home floor in Brooklyn! If I didn't know any better by the big Brooklyn Nets logo on the center of the floor I would have thought the game was being played in the Staples Center in Los Angeles. When Kobe Bryant and the Lakers scored there was thunderous applause and when the Nets scored the applause seemed to be a lot less quiet. Even though my team was not playing in this game it was still cool to be able to say I was finally able to go to a professional basketball game, and if given the opportunity I would attend more.
Wednesday, November 4, 2015
What I watched, saw, listened to this week:
On Monday, 10/26 I watched some Monday night football between Baltimore and Arizona and worked
On Tuesday 10/27 I played tennis and watched game 1 of the World Series between the New York Mets and the Kansas City Royals at Kansas City, Missouri. It was a thrilling game that lasted for 14 innings where Kansas City brought in the winning run in the bottom of the 14th inning on a sacrifice fly to take a 1-0 lead in series
On Wednesday 10/28 I had Spanish class where I was first introduced to Isabelle, had pre-departure meeting, then went to language social and watched game 2 of the World Series later that night where Kansas City won 7-1 in a game they broke open
On Thursday, 10/29 I played tennis and followed Thursday night football between the Miami Dolphins and the New England Patriots. Also had a student booster club meeting that night.
On Friday 10/30 I did my weekly radio show, went to work, and caught some of the World Series Game 3 in New York, New York at Citi Field where the Mets won 9-3 in a game they broke open
On Saturday 10/31 I went to a scholarship reception in the morning for brunch, then after I attended the Marist-Butler football game and got to watch the game from the press box. Since I was already in nice attire for the scholarship reception I decided that for my Halloween costume that I would be a lawyey
On Sunday 11/1 I went to work until 1:15 then went to the Marist women's soccer game against Siena in the first game of the Metro Atlantic Athletic Conference (MAAC) tournament where Siena won 1-0
After the soccer game I watched week 8 of the NFL
On Monday, 10/26 I watched some Monday night football between Baltimore and Arizona and worked
On Tuesday 10/27 I played tennis and watched game 1 of the World Series between the New York Mets and the Kansas City Royals at Kansas City, Missouri. It was a thrilling game that lasted for 14 innings where Kansas City brought in the winning run in the bottom of the 14th inning on a sacrifice fly to take a 1-0 lead in series
On Wednesday 10/28 I had Spanish class where I was first introduced to Isabelle, had pre-departure meeting, then went to language social and watched game 2 of the World Series later that night where Kansas City won 7-1 in a game they broke open
On Thursday, 10/29 I played tennis and followed Thursday night football between the Miami Dolphins and the New England Patriots. Also had a student booster club meeting that night.
On Friday 10/30 I did my weekly radio show, went to work, and caught some of the World Series Game 3 in New York, New York at Citi Field where the Mets won 9-3 in a game they broke open
On Saturday 10/31 I went to a scholarship reception in the morning for brunch, then after I attended the Marist-Butler football game and got to watch the game from the press box. Since I was already in nice attire for the scholarship reception I decided that for my Halloween costume that I would be a lawyey
On Sunday 11/1 I went to work until 1:15 then went to the Marist women's soccer game against Siena in the first game of the Metro Atlantic Athletic Conference (MAAC) tournament where Siena won 1-0
After the soccer game I watched week 8 of the NFL
Tuesday, November 3, 2015
This past week I spent some extra time and more than usual preparing for my study abroad trip next semester to Madrid, Spain. On Wednesday, 10/28 Isabelle Carrasco the resident director of the Madrid program for Marist, came for a week in order to meet all of the students going abroad to Madrid and to meet future students going abroad to Spain. On Wednesday morning, she came to my Spanish and gave a brief talk about the Madrid program, what it is, what the students do on the trip, and a general overview of the program all in Spanish. This was a good test for me to see if I could keep up and understand a local Spaniard while she was talking. Isabelle technically works for Marist, but lives in Madrid and works through the Marist study abroad program and helps all of the students from the minute they arrive in the Madrid airport. She gave a great description of the program in my Spanish class and announced that later that night there was going to be a language social in the library, where anyone who is interested in studying abroad can attend and hear from other students who have already gone abroad to help them decide if the experience is something they are interested in, and check out the new language lab in the library that was just renovated.
After my Spanish class I had another pre-departure meeting which Isabelle attended, along with a fellow student who had gone to Madrid for a whole year, and both were able to give me and the other people in the Madrid group good advice on what to pack, where and how to travel once we are there, and even about the student visas, which is a requirement for the program. This was the most helpful and informative pre-departure meeting I have had thus far, by providing me with a better understanding on what life is like in Madrid. At the meeting I was also informed that getting around Madrid is not that bad, and that best piece of advice I received was that I will get out of this trip what I put into it. I thought this was great advice because it tells you that in order to have the best experience as possible you have to do as much as you can to make it the best experience, by putting time and effort into planning a budget, where you want to travel to, etc.
Later that night, Isabelle, along with the other language professors at Marist, and one of the professors from the branch campus in Florence, Italy called Lorenzo de Medici, attended the language social that Isabelle had mentioned earlier that day in my Spanish class. The event was hosted in one of the vacant meeting rooms on the third floor of the library, with food and light refreshments. It was great talking to Isabelle and getting to know her, especially since I will be in Madrid for a whole semester and want to be able to learn from her as much as possible. Even though I spoke mostly English to Isabelle, before I left the language social, I was able to lean a new expression from her, called "vale" which is supposed to mean ok, or it can mean "yeah I agree with you." Additionally before I left she also provided me with the challenge that as soon as I arrive at the Madrid airport, I have to speak only Spanish from that point on until I arrive home. I am more than up for the challenge and am looking forward to all that I am going to experience studying abroad.
After my Spanish class I had another pre-departure meeting which Isabelle attended, along with a fellow student who had gone to Madrid for a whole year, and both were able to give me and the other people in the Madrid group good advice on what to pack, where and how to travel once we are there, and even about the student visas, which is a requirement for the program. This was the most helpful and informative pre-departure meeting I have had thus far, by providing me with a better understanding on what life is like in Madrid. At the meeting I was also informed that getting around Madrid is not that bad, and that best piece of advice I received was that I will get out of this trip what I put into it. I thought this was great advice because it tells you that in order to have the best experience as possible you have to do as much as you can to make it the best experience, by putting time and effort into planning a budget, where you want to travel to, etc.
Later that night, Isabelle, along with the other language professors at Marist, and one of the professors from the branch campus in Florence, Italy called Lorenzo de Medici, attended the language social that Isabelle had mentioned earlier that day in my Spanish class. The event was hosted in one of the vacant meeting rooms on the third floor of the library, with food and light refreshments. It was great talking to Isabelle and getting to know her, especially since I will be in Madrid for a whole semester and want to be able to learn from her as much as possible. Even though I spoke mostly English to Isabelle, before I left the language social, I was able to lean a new expression from her, called "vale" which is supposed to mean ok, or it can mean "yeah I agree with you." Additionally before I left she also provided me with the challenge that as soon as I arrive at the Madrid airport, I have to speak only Spanish from that point on until I arrive home. I am more than up for the challenge and am looking forward to all that I am going to experience studying abroad.
Tuesday, October 27, 2015
What I watched, saw, listened to this week:
Throughout the week I watched more postseason baseball playoffs between the Kansas City Royals against the Toronto Blue Jays, and the New York Mets against the Chicago Cubs
On Monday 10/19 I watched Monday night football between the New York Giants and the Philadelphia Eagles
On Tuesday 10/20 I played tennis
On Wednesday 10/21 I went with my housemates after the Mets swept the Cubs and clinched a spot in the World Series to the sporting goods store to experience the atmosphere after a New York team just clinched a spot in the World Series
On Thursday 10/22 I played tennis and watched a little of the Thursday night football between the Seattle Seahawks and the San Francisco 49ers
On Friday 10/23 I did my weekly radio show for WMAR from 2-4 and after worked at Home Depot from 5-10 and watched the Kansas City Royals eliminate the Toronto Blue Jays in a back and forth game that had a rain delay
On Saturday 10/24 I worked at Home Depot from 11:30-8pm and watched a little college football
On Sunday 10/25 I worked at Home Depot 11:45-4pm and after watched week 7 of the NFL
Throughout the week I watched more postseason baseball playoffs between the Kansas City Royals against the Toronto Blue Jays, and the New York Mets against the Chicago Cubs
On Monday 10/19 I watched Monday night football between the New York Giants and the Philadelphia Eagles
On Tuesday 10/20 I played tennis
On Wednesday 10/21 I went with my housemates after the Mets swept the Cubs and clinched a spot in the World Series to the sporting goods store to experience the atmosphere after a New York team just clinched a spot in the World Series
On Thursday 10/22 I played tennis and watched a little of the Thursday night football between the Seattle Seahawks and the San Francisco 49ers
On Friday 10/23 I did my weekly radio show for WMAR from 2-4 and after worked at Home Depot from 5-10 and watched the Kansas City Royals eliminate the Toronto Blue Jays in a back and forth game that had a rain delay
On Saturday 10/24 I worked at Home Depot from 11:30-8pm and watched a little college football
On Sunday 10/25 I worked at Home Depot 11:45-4pm and after watched week 7 of the NFL
This past week I watched something that has not been done in 15 years, and since I was in elementary school: the Mets winning a pennant and booking a trip to the World Series. It has been so long since this happened that I can't even remember the 2000 World Series that fortunately the New York Yankees won against the Mets. The Mets played the Chicago Cubs in the NLCS, with the Cubs being another team that has not won a world series title in a long time. It has been 107 years and since 1908 that the Cubs won their last World Series title. Unfortunately this year the New York Yankees drought of not winning a World Series title since 2009 will continue, making it six years since their last title. It has been strange having the Mets in the playoffs and the World Series since I have always known New York's other baseball team to be a franchise that has struggled and not succeeded in the regular season. It is also strange from a New York Yankee's perspective as on the one hand it is good to have a New York team competing for a national championship but on the other hand it is unfortunate that the New York team is not the Yankees. It is also strange when the Mets play because I want them to win and lose at the same time. I would want the Mets to win the World Series so that a New York team would win another championship but at the same time I don't want the Mets to have bragging rights and be able to say that they are New York's best baseball team, a statement that would be truly flawed as the New York Yankees have 27 World Series Titles to the Mets' two.
After the Mets swept the Chicago Cubs in the National League Championship Series (NLCS) I went with my housemates, one of which is a big Mets fan, to a local sporting goods store in order to purchase their Mets championship gear. My only reason for going was to be able to experience what it would be like at the store immediately following a team's clinching trip to a national championship since that is something that I have never done or experienced before. I had no idea how crazy it would be, since it was 15 years since the Mets were able to sell championship gear, what the atmosphere would be like at the store, what the turnout would be, etc. It turned out that a lot less people than I expected came to the store to buy the gear and it was just another ordinary day at the store, not crowded at all, and no chants or excitement from the fans that showed up. I thought that there would have been a lot more excitement to purchasing championship gear for your team right after they clinch a championship berth.
While in the store, I couldn't purchase any Mets gear, especially as a Yankees fan even though they are representing New York on a national level by competing in the World Series against the Kansas City Royals. Instead while my housemates were purchasing their gear I checked to see what kind of Yankees gear was available, even though sadly their season was long over. Hopefully the early exit from the postseason will give the Yankees a lot to think about and even more motivation to reach the world series next year, and bring another World Series title to New York where it should be, with the city's best team.
After the Mets swept the Chicago Cubs in the National League Championship Series (NLCS) I went with my housemates, one of which is a big Mets fan, to a local sporting goods store in order to purchase their Mets championship gear. My only reason for going was to be able to experience what it would be like at the store immediately following a team's clinching trip to a national championship since that is something that I have never done or experienced before. I had no idea how crazy it would be, since it was 15 years since the Mets were able to sell championship gear, what the atmosphere would be like at the store, what the turnout would be, etc. It turned out that a lot less people than I expected came to the store to buy the gear and it was just another ordinary day at the store, not crowded at all, and no chants or excitement from the fans that showed up. I thought that there would have been a lot more excitement to purchasing championship gear for your team right after they clinch a championship berth.
While in the store, I couldn't purchase any Mets gear, especially as a Yankees fan even though they are representing New York on a national level by competing in the World Series against the Kansas City Royals. Instead while my housemates were purchasing their gear I checked to see what kind of Yankees gear was available, even though sadly their season was long over. Hopefully the early exit from the postseason will give the Yankees a lot to think about and even more motivation to reach the world series next year, and bring another World Series title to New York where it should be, with the city's best team.
Tuesday, October 20, 2015
What I watched, saw, listened to this week:
During the week I watched playoff MLB baseball
During the week I watched NHL
On Monday, 10/12 I watched Monday night football
On Tuesday 10/13 I played tennis
On Wednesday 10/14 I had another study abroad pre-departure meeting
On Thursday 10/15 I headed home for mid semester break:
Went out to eat at Ruby Tuesday with my family and ordered Raspberry Lemonade to drink, salad bar, petit sirloin with fries to eat
Watched Thursday night football Atlanta at New Orleans
On Friday 10/16 I helped out and worked on the land of an upcoming tennis center
On Saturday 10/17 I played tennis, went out to eat lunch at Lakeside Farm with my family and ordered soda to drink, a cup of Manhattan Clam Chowder soup, a hamburger with fries, and a piece of apple pie for dessert
After I went apple-picking with my family and went to a couple different orchards first Bowman Orchards, then Riverview Orchards
Went for a walk with my family along a bike path that runs along a canal
Later that night went out to eat dinner at PF Chang's with my family and ordered a virgin Pina Colada to drink, ate fried dumplings, wanton soup, and egg roll as appetizers, sesame chicken for my main entree, while eating the food my family shared with one another. Some of the food included sweet and sour chicken, chicken and broccoli, garlic noodles, dynamite chicken, and ginger chicken.
After dinner went up to Double M Haunted Hayrides with my family to do a haunted hay ride and a haunted house
On Sunday 10/18 I spent time with my family before heading back to school on Sunday night
During the week I watched playoff MLB baseball
During the week I watched NHL
On Monday, 10/12 I watched Monday night football
On Tuesday 10/13 I played tennis
On Wednesday 10/14 I had another study abroad pre-departure meeting
On Thursday 10/15 I headed home for mid semester break:
Went out to eat at Ruby Tuesday with my family and ordered Raspberry Lemonade to drink, salad bar, petit sirloin with fries to eat
Watched Thursday night football Atlanta at New Orleans
On Friday 10/16 I helped out and worked on the land of an upcoming tennis center
On Saturday 10/17 I played tennis, went out to eat lunch at Lakeside Farm with my family and ordered soda to drink, a cup of Manhattan Clam Chowder soup, a hamburger with fries, and a piece of apple pie for dessert
After I went apple-picking with my family and went to a couple different orchards first Bowman Orchards, then Riverview Orchards
Went for a walk with my family along a bike path that runs along a canal
Later that night went out to eat dinner at PF Chang's with my family and ordered a virgin Pina Colada to drink, ate fried dumplings, wanton soup, and egg roll as appetizers, sesame chicken for my main entree, while eating the food my family shared with one another. Some of the food included sweet and sour chicken, chicken and broccoli, garlic noodles, dynamite chicken, and ginger chicken.
After dinner went up to Double M Haunted Hayrides with my family to do a haunted hay ride and a haunted house
On Sunday 10/18 I spent time with my family before heading back to school on Sunday night
This past week I watched a lot of baseball since it is that time of year where the MLB playoffs are beginning to kick off into high gear. So far there have been a lot of exciting action packed games and epic comebacks with the Royals fighting back from a series deficit and six outs from being eliminated by the Houston Astros, but I don't think that any can compare to the game five winner take all and advance to the American League Conference Series (ALCS) game with Texas Rangers facing the Toronto Blue Jays in Toronto. There was a lot of excitement in this particular game as there was a controversial call that allowed a run to score for Texas giving them the lead, along with the benches clearing at least twice in the seventh inning that took about an hour to complete.
First there was controversy as Texas Rangers player Rougned Odor was on third base, and Toronto Blue Jays pitcher Russell Martin was attempting to throw the ball back to the pitcher but the ball accidentally hit the bat of Shin-Soo Choo, and Odor was ruled to be safe at home and the run was allowed to score. It would seem that the right call was made because Choo did not intentionally interfere with the throw and was in the batters box going through his usual pre-pitch routine. The rules state that if a batter is standing in the batter's box and either he or his bat is struck by the catcher's throw back to the pitcher or throw in attempting to retire a runner and in the umpire's judgement, there is no intent on the part of the batter to interfere with the throw that the ball is considered to be live and in play. Immediately after the play Rangers manager Jeff Banister initially came out to argue the call before reviewing the play as the ball was first declared to be dead by the umpires. After, the umpires spoke and overturned the call.
Of course the Blue Jays disagreed with the call and played the game under protest of the umpire's ruling, but ultimately the correct call was made and the Blue Jays catcher should have been more careful with the throw. The mayhem continued after the run was allowed to score as the crowd at Rogers Centre went crazy and threw beer bottles and cans and all sorts of other things onto the field in protest of the call against the home team. In addition Toronto Blue Jays pitcher Mark Buehrle was ejected for yelling from the dugout.
After the arguments and reviews the total delay time was 18 minutes. After the game resumed and got going again Blue Jays player Jose Bautista hit a go ahead three run home run and flipped his bat while staring down the ball which really annoyed the Rangers. While Bautista was rounding the bases fans threw more garbage onto the field and Royals player Edward Encarnacion stood next to the batter's box waving his hands to try to keep the crowd from throwing objects, which was misconstrued by pitcher Sam Dyson and led to words being exchanged by the two teams and the benches clearing for the first time. After order was restored and the final out was recorded, Dyson walked over to Blue Jays player Troy Tulowitzki at home plate where more words were exchanged which led to the benches clearing again.
This has to go down as one of the craziest games ever in baseball, and it is crazy how a baseball game can turn into a lot more than just a game, with the tensions running so high that fans are throwing garbage onto their home team's field.
First there was controversy as Texas Rangers player Rougned Odor was on third base, and Toronto Blue Jays pitcher Russell Martin was attempting to throw the ball back to the pitcher but the ball accidentally hit the bat of Shin-Soo Choo, and Odor was ruled to be safe at home and the run was allowed to score. It would seem that the right call was made because Choo did not intentionally interfere with the throw and was in the batters box going through his usual pre-pitch routine. The rules state that if a batter is standing in the batter's box and either he or his bat is struck by the catcher's throw back to the pitcher or throw in attempting to retire a runner and in the umpire's judgement, there is no intent on the part of the batter to interfere with the throw that the ball is considered to be live and in play. Immediately after the play Rangers manager Jeff Banister initially came out to argue the call before reviewing the play as the ball was first declared to be dead by the umpires. After, the umpires spoke and overturned the call.
Of course the Blue Jays disagreed with the call and played the game under protest of the umpire's ruling, but ultimately the correct call was made and the Blue Jays catcher should have been more careful with the throw. The mayhem continued after the run was allowed to score as the crowd at Rogers Centre went crazy and threw beer bottles and cans and all sorts of other things onto the field in protest of the call against the home team. In addition Toronto Blue Jays pitcher Mark Buehrle was ejected for yelling from the dugout.
After the arguments and reviews the total delay time was 18 minutes. After the game resumed and got going again Blue Jays player Jose Bautista hit a go ahead three run home run and flipped his bat while staring down the ball which really annoyed the Rangers. While Bautista was rounding the bases fans threw more garbage onto the field and Royals player Edward Encarnacion stood next to the batter's box waving his hands to try to keep the crowd from throwing objects, which was misconstrued by pitcher Sam Dyson and led to words being exchanged by the two teams and the benches clearing for the first time. After order was restored and the final out was recorded, Dyson walked over to Blue Jays player Troy Tulowitzki at home plate where more words were exchanged which led to the benches clearing again.
This has to go down as one of the craziest games ever in baseball, and it is crazy how a baseball game can turn into a lot more than just a game, with the tensions running so high that fans are throwing garbage onto their home team's field.
Tuesday, October 13, 2015
What I watched, saw, listened to this week:
Throughout the week I watched the baseball playoff games
On Monday 10/5 I worked at the Marist Poll
On Tuesday 10/6 I played tennis
On Tuesday 10/6 I attended another workshop for the Emerging Leaders Program
On Wednesday 10/7 I attended my first study abroad pre departure meeting in the afternoon
On Wednesday 10/7 I attended the Quinnipiac vs. Marist women's soccer game which was one of the best games ever with Marist leading 2-0 then Quinnipiac tying the game sending it into double overtime and then with 6 seconds left in the second overtime Marist scored the game winning goal
On Thursday 10/8 I played tennis
On Thursday 10/8 I watched Thursday night football
On Friday 10/9 I worked at the Home Depot
On Saturday 10/10 I attended the Duke vs. Army football game in West Point, NY
On Saturday 10/10 after the game I went to work at the Home Depot
On Sunday 10/11 I watched week 5 of the NFL
Throughout the week I watched the baseball playoff games
On Monday 10/5 I worked at the Marist Poll
On Tuesday 10/6 I played tennis
On Tuesday 10/6 I attended another workshop for the Emerging Leaders Program
On Wednesday 10/7 I attended my first study abroad pre departure meeting in the afternoon
On Wednesday 10/7 I attended the Quinnipiac vs. Marist women's soccer game which was one of the best games ever with Marist leading 2-0 then Quinnipiac tying the game sending it into double overtime and then with 6 seconds left in the second overtime Marist scored the game winning goal
On Thursday 10/8 I played tennis
On Thursday 10/8 I watched Thursday night football
On Friday 10/9 I worked at the Home Depot
On Saturday 10/10 I attended the Duke vs. Army football game in West Point, NY
On Saturday 10/10 after the game I went to work at the Home Depot
On Sunday 10/11 I watched week 5 of the NFL
This past week I watched some baseball, which has wrapped up the regular season and now only the best eight teams remain in the National League Division Series and the American League Division Series, fighting to get the chance to play for the conference series and clinch their spot in the upcoming world series. As expected the playoffs have been crazy, with some good games where the teams that are expected to win had come up short in the first few games. For example the Toronto Blue Jays who have arguably the best offense in baseball found themselves down 2-0 to the Texas Rangers and facing elimination before even going on the road and playing a game in Arlington, Texas. Additionally the Royals, the best team in the American League found themselves in a whole as well against the Houston Astros, who held a 2-1 series advantage before Kansas City came storming back from a 6-2 deficit and winning 9-6 to even the series. In the National League there have also been surprises with the New York Mets leading the Los Angeles Dodgers 2-1 in their series and the St. Louis Cardinals, the best team in the league trailing Chicago 2-1 also facing elimination. The Kansas City game was especially crazy as they were six outs away from being eliminated from the postseason before the frantic comeback began. It is crazy also how each city embraces the game so much that when there appeared to be a missed call in Kansas City's comeback, the Kansas City Police Department sent out a tweet that said that the missed call should be considered to be a crime. It is crazy to equate a call in sports to an actual crime and just shows how much each city has embraced its team, and now baseball seems to be more than just a game. In game two of the New York Mets Los Angeles Dodgers game, Chase Utley a Los Angeles Dodgers player slid hard into second base and took out Mets player Reuben Tejada, who ended up with a broken leg on the play and now everyone in New York who is a Mets fan hates Utley's guts with a passion all as a result of an unfortunate play. It almost seems like baseball in the postseason has become even more than just a game, and more like a battle played on a sports field.
Tuesday, October 6, 2015
What I watched, saw listened to this week:
On Monday 9/28 I watched Monday night football
On Tuesday 9/29 I attended a Habitat for Humanity meeting
On Thursday 10/1 I played tennis
During the week I watched baseball
On Friday and throughout the weekend I spent time with family for family weekend
On Friday I ate at Buffalo Wild Wings
On Saturday 10/3 I attended the Marist soccer game against St. Peter's
On Saturday I watched some college football
On Saturday I ate at Hyde Park Brewing Company
On Sunday 10/4 I watched the NFL
On Sunday I ate at Shadows on the Hudson
On Monday 9/28 I watched Monday night football
On Tuesday 9/29 I attended a Habitat for Humanity meeting
On Thursday 10/1 I played tennis
During the week I watched baseball
On Friday and throughout the weekend I spent time with family for family weekend
On Friday I ate at Buffalo Wild Wings
On Saturday 10/3 I attended the Marist soccer game against St. Peter's
On Saturday I watched some college football
On Saturday I ate at Hyde Park Brewing Company
On Sunday 10/4 I watched the NFL
On Sunday I ate at Shadows on the Hudson
This past week on Friday I attended a workshop through the emerging leaders program which was about leading with values and was presented by Dr. Pamela Harper, an assistant professor at Marist in the School of management. The emerging leaders program is a non credit certificate program which provides students with varied and unique opportunities to define, discover, and develop their leadership skills. The workshop was very interesting as Dr. Harper presented about how values and leadership are incorporated into each other.
As a part of the workshop Dr. Harper passed out a packet for everyone to fill out where there were different categories of values and next to that there were definitions of what values specifically each category contained. One of the first exercises everyone had to do was fill out what percentage of importance the value is to us and then the percent that we practice the value. After that we had to go back and pick out the eight most important values to us, then we had to go back and from those eight we had to narrow the list down to the five most important, then from there had to narrow it down even more to our top three values. This was very difficult as I valued all of the values listed so it was hard to pick out the top eight and then narrow it down to five, and then to three from there. It really made me think that even though I have a lot of the listed values which of those values were the most important to me and the ones I hold to be more important than the others. After everyone did this exercise and picked out their top three values we got into small groups and discussed what everyone picked as their top three values and why they chose them. It was very interesting to hear what everyone else in my group chose and why they held their three values to be more important than the others listed. Everyone else in my group experienced the same challenge I did with picking out the top three values as they also believed the others were important as well. Overall it was a great workshop, was very interactive and really made me think about what I value.
As a part of the workshop Dr. Harper passed out a packet for everyone to fill out where there were different categories of values and next to that there were definitions of what values specifically each category contained. One of the first exercises everyone had to do was fill out what percentage of importance the value is to us and then the percent that we practice the value. After that we had to go back and pick out the eight most important values to us, then we had to go back and from those eight we had to narrow the list down to the five most important, then from there had to narrow it down even more to our top three values. This was very difficult as I valued all of the values listed so it was hard to pick out the top eight and then narrow it down to five, and then to three from there. It really made me think that even though I have a lot of the listed values which of those values were the most important to me and the ones I hold to be more important than the others. After everyone did this exercise and picked out their top three values we got into small groups and discussed what everyone picked as their top three values and why they chose them. It was very interesting to hear what everyone else in my group chose and why they held their three values to be more important than the others listed. Everyone else in my group experienced the same challenge I did with picking out the top three values as they also believed the others were important as well. Overall it was a great workshop, was very interactive and really made me think about what I value.
Tuesday, September 29, 2015
What I watched, saw, listened to this week:
On Monday 9/21 I attended a talk by President Murray about leadership as part of the Emerging Leaders Program
On Tuesday 9/22 I played tennis
On Wednesday 9/23 I attended the study abroad fair and talked to students about Madrid, Spain
On Thursday 9/24 I tasted different foods in class
On Thursday 9/24 I played tennis
On Friday 9/25 I did my first sports talk radio show through WMAR the college radio station from 2-4pm
During the week I watched some baseball
On Saturday 9/26 I worked at Home Depot 8-6pm
After work I attended the Marist women's soccer game vs. Rider
On Sunday 9/27 I watched week 3 of the NFL
On Monday 9/21 I attended a talk by President Murray about leadership as part of the Emerging Leaders Program
On Tuesday 9/22 I played tennis
On Wednesday 9/23 I attended the study abroad fair and talked to students about Madrid, Spain
On Thursday 9/24 I tasted different foods in class
On Thursday 9/24 I played tennis
On Friday 9/25 I did my first sports talk radio show through WMAR the college radio station from 2-4pm
During the week I watched some baseball
On Saturday 9/26 I worked at Home Depot 8-6pm
After work I attended the Marist women's soccer game vs. Rider
On Sunday 9/27 I watched week 3 of the NFL
Friday, September 25, 2015
This past week I attended the study abroad affair, which was interesting to hear about all of the different programs and all of the different places it is possible to study abroad. It was also cool to see all of the different cultures being represented at the tables and all the different ways it is possible to become involved in the different cultures of the different countries. I am planning to study abroad in Spain next semester in the spring of 2016, and go to Madrid. While at the study abroad fair and in the past week I got the opportunity to talk to some students who have studied abroad in Madrid, which was very helpful as I was able to learn more about Spain and more specifically Madrid, and the culture of the country. I was able to learn a lot more about the food, and understand more about the types of meals I will be served when I study abroad in Spain both by my host family and when I go out to eat. A lot of the food that I was shown pictures of looked really good, but is very different from American food in that Spanish food contains a lot of different ingredients and tends to be more complex dishes, while American food seems to be more simple and less complex dishes. I am really excited to be studying abroad since other than going to the Caribbean, I have never been out of the country, especially to a place like Spain, a country that speaks a completely different language than what I am used to. I am looking forward to all that I am about to experience, especially being able to use all that I have learned in Spanish classes I have taken since elementary school, and apply it in Spain by communicating with the locals and relying completely on my knowledge of the language and the culture.
Tuesday, September 22, 2015
What I watched, saw, listened to this week:
During the week I worked at Marist Poll on Monday 9/14
During the week I watched some baseball games
During the week I watched the movie Contagion
On Friday 9/18 I played tennis
During the weekend I also watched week two of college football on Saturday 9/19
During the weekend on Saturday 9/19 I attended the home opener of the Marist vs. Sacred Heart football game
During the weekend on Saturday 9/19 I attended the Marist vs. Manhattan volleyball game after I got out of work
During the weekend I worked at Home Depot on Friday 9/18, Saturday 9/19, and Sunday 9/20
On Sunday on 9/20 I watched week 2 of the NFL
On Sunday evening I went back to Home Depot for a gathering they have for employees every 4 months where they recognize employees who have done exceptional work and give special recognition to the employee of the month
During the week I worked at Marist Poll on Monday 9/14
During the week I watched some baseball games
During the week I watched the movie Contagion
On Friday 9/18 I played tennis
During the weekend I also watched week two of college football on Saturday 9/19
During the weekend on Saturday 9/19 I attended the home opener of the Marist vs. Sacred Heart football game
During the weekend on Saturday 9/19 I attended the Marist vs. Manhattan volleyball game after I got out of work
During the weekend I worked at Home Depot on Friday 9/18, Saturday 9/19, and Sunday 9/20
On Sunday on 9/20 I watched week 2 of the NFL
On Sunday evening I went back to Home Depot for a gathering they have for employees every 4 months where they recognize employees who have done exceptional work and give special recognition to the employee of the month
This past week I attended the New York Yankees vs. the Toronto Blue Jays baseball game at Yankee stadium which was cool to attend a professional sporting event since I do not usually attend professional games. It worked out well because I got my ticket through the Marist student programming council at a very cheap price for great seats at the game. I was seated in the Jim Beam suite section at Yankee Stadium which was literally right behind home plate but up towards the "nosebleed" section as the higher seats in stadiums and arenas are called. The seats also came with a great view of the entire playing field and some of downtown New York, which was cool to be able to see some of the city while watching the game. With the tickets came free popcorn and refills on soft drinks, as well as transportation to the city and back by taking a bus, which was nice as I did not have to drive or navigate through the hectic streets of the Bronx, and New York City. The bus dropped me off and everyone else who went on the trip just a few blocks from the stadium entrance which was very convenient.
When I first got there the weather was great with it not being too cold or too warm, and it was sunny which created good conditions for a baseball game with heavy playoff implications until... Literally right after the game before everyone was able to evacuate the stadium, unfortunately the skies opened up and it started to downpour. My friends and I had to book it back to the bus as the weather was so good on the way down to Yankee Stadium that no one had a second thought about not bringing an umbrella or a poncho. Even though we had to make a mad dash for the bus at the conclusion of the game, the Yankees won 5-0 which made it even that more worthwhile to attend the game.
While watching the game I had to do a twitter assignment and send out live tweets during the game and post score updates, any key plays for either team, and whenever a player had a hit for either team. Tweeting during the game was interesting as I had never tweeted before and I thought it would be relatively easy but as the game picked up I found it to be a little more challenging than I first thought. That happened a couple times where I would be tweeting about a play that happened and the players involved in the play, and then another play would occur, which would force me to type faster and to catch up as best as I could with the game. It helped that I was able to follow the game through the CBS Sports app and the MLB.com at bat app, which helped me catch up to the game. It would have also helped if I had a team roster in front of me, but since I am a Yankee fan and am more familiar with their roster it was not as difficult as tweeting about the Toronto players when they made a good play. Through the assignment and through my internship this past summer I learned how helpful twitter can be for sports broadcasters and journalists, as they can find out what is happening with games, if they can't attend the games themselves. Often during my internship I was asked to check twitter for score updates or key plays, and after doing the live tweet event I plan to stay active on twitter as it is a good way to stay informed on what is happening in both the world and sports world.
When I first got there the weather was great with it not being too cold or too warm, and it was sunny which created good conditions for a baseball game with heavy playoff implications until... Literally right after the game before everyone was able to evacuate the stadium, unfortunately the skies opened up and it started to downpour. My friends and I had to book it back to the bus as the weather was so good on the way down to Yankee Stadium that no one had a second thought about not bringing an umbrella or a poncho. Even though we had to make a mad dash for the bus at the conclusion of the game, the Yankees won 5-0 which made it even that more worthwhile to attend the game.
While watching the game I had to do a twitter assignment and send out live tweets during the game and post score updates, any key plays for either team, and whenever a player had a hit for either team. Tweeting during the game was interesting as I had never tweeted before and I thought it would be relatively easy but as the game picked up I found it to be a little more challenging than I first thought. That happened a couple times where I would be tweeting about a play that happened and the players involved in the play, and then another play would occur, which would force me to type faster and to catch up as best as I could with the game. It helped that I was able to follow the game through the CBS Sports app and the MLB.com at bat app, which helped me catch up to the game. It would have also helped if I had a team roster in front of me, but since I am a Yankee fan and am more familiar with their roster it was not as difficult as tweeting about the Toronto players when they made a good play. Through the assignment and through my internship this past summer I learned how helpful twitter can be for sports broadcasters and journalists, as they can find out what is happening with games, if they can't attend the games themselves. Often during my internship I was asked to check twitter for score updates or key plays, and after doing the live tweet event I plan to stay active on twitter as it is a good way to stay informed on what is happening in both the world and sports world.
Tuesday, September 15, 2015
What I watched, saw, listened to this week:
During the week I watched some tennis matches from the US Open.
Throughout the week I watched other baseball games on TV.
During the weekend I watched the opening weekend of NFL and watched some college football.
This past weekend on Sunday, 9/13 I went to the New York Yankees vs. Toronto Blue Jays game
During the week and weekend on Saturday 9/12 I worked at the Marist Institute for Public Opinion and Home Depot.
I attended the Volley in the Valley Volleyball Tournament that was hosted at Marist and went to the Marist vs. Bryant game on Friday and Marist vs. Bucknell game on Saturday.
On Saturday I also caught a couple minutes of the Marist vs. Maine women's soccer game.
During the week I watched some tennis matches from the US Open.
Throughout the week I watched other baseball games on TV.
During the weekend I watched the opening weekend of NFL and watched some college football.
This past weekend on Sunday, 9/13 I went to the New York Yankees vs. Toronto Blue Jays game
During the week and weekend on Saturday 9/12 I worked at the Marist Institute for Public Opinion and Home Depot.
I attended the Volley in the Valley Volleyball Tournament that was hosted at Marist and went to the Marist vs. Bryant game on Friday and Marist vs. Bucknell game on Saturday.
On Saturday I also caught a couple minutes of the Marist vs. Maine women's soccer game.
This past week I attended the Marist women's soccer game at UAlbany, which worked out really well since I was heading home for the weekend anyway. It may be surprising but prior to attending the soccer game I have never really been on the UAlbany campus before, even though I live less than a half hour away from campus and drive by it all the time. It was great to finally see the campus and get a sense of what is like beyond the small portion that I have seen just by driving by it. While watching the soccer game, it reminded me and brought back good memories of when my sister and I were younger, as she used to play soccer. I remember going to her games and practicing with her in the backyard of our house to help her be prepared for the games as well as playing just for fun when when she did not have any games.
During the game, it was interesting having my college team playing against my hometown team, especially since I have grown up supporting UAlbany athletics, as well as Siena, the arch-rival of Marist. Even though I am a Marist student it was still a little difficult rotting against a team that I have supported all of my life, especially my hometown team. Either way regardless of the outcome, I would win as either my local team or my current college team would win the game. UAlbany ended up winning the game 2-0, but Marist did not go down without a fight.
The next day I met up with one of my friends who is a student at UAlbany, and she gave me a tour of the campus since I had not seen the campus. It was very strange coming from a small middle school, high school, and college, then being on such a large campus as UAlbany which has around 13.000 undergrads compared to 5,500 at Marist. By touring UAlbany it brought back memories of when I was still in high school and touring colleges, and hoping I would find the right college for me. Even though the campus was a lot larger than what I am used to, the tour was not as stressful as the tours I did while in high school since I am in college and understand what college is like. Additionally I noticed that there were some differences between Marist and UAlbany besides the size of the schools, such as UAlbany having signs and the names of all the buildings on them while Marist does not have any. With a state University like UAlbany I noticed that the architecture is not as appealing as Marist, and it seems as if UAlbany is not as concerned with the aesthetic appeal as Marist.
During the game, it was interesting having my college team playing against my hometown team, especially since I have grown up supporting UAlbany athletics, as well as Siena, the arch-rival of Marist. Even though I am a Marist student it was still a little difficult rotting against a team that I have supported all of my life, especially my hometown team. Either way regardless of the outcome, I would win as either my local team or my current college team would win the game. UAlbany ended up winning the game 2-0, but Marist did not go down without a fight.
The next day I met up with one of my friends who is a student at UAlbany, and she gave me a tour of the campus since I had not seen the campus. It was very strange coming from a small middle school, high school, and college, then being on such a large campus as UAlbany which has around 13.000 undergrads compared to 5,500 at Marist. By touring UAlbany it brought back memories of when I was still in high school and touring colleges, and hoping I would find the right college for me. Even though the campus was a lot larger than what I am used to, the tour was not as stressful as the tours I did while in high school since I am in college and understand what college is like. Additionally I noticed that there were some differences between Marist and UAlbany besides the size of the schools, such as UAlbany having signs and the names of all the buildings on them while Marist does not have any. With a state University like UAlbany I noticed that the architecture is not as appealing as Marist, and it seems as if UAlbany is not as concerned with the aesthetic appeal as Marist.
Tuesday, September 8, 2015
What I watched, saw, listened to saw this week:
During the week I watched pre-season football.
This past weekend on Friday I went to the Marist women's soccer game at UAlbany, which worked out perfectly since I am from the Albany area and was coming home for the weekend as there were no classes on Monday.
I also walked around the campus of UAlbany.
Before the soccer game my family and I had a cookout which made it seem like it was still the middle of summer, as it was still very warm out.
Unfortunately there were two water main breaks in my hometown, so my family and I had to use bottled water on Friday and part of Saturday, and were not able to use the tap water during that time.
During the weekend I also watched college football and baseball.
During the week I watched pre-season football.
This past weekend on Friday I went to the Marist women's soccer game at UAlbany, which worked out perfectly since I am from the Albany area and was coming home for the weekend as there were no classes on Monday.
I also walked around the campus of UAlbany.
Before the soccer game my family and I had a cookout which made it seem like it was still the middle of summer, as it was still very warm out.
Unfortunately there were two water main breaks in my hometown, so my family and I had to use bottled water on Friday and part of Saturday, and were not able to use the tap water during that time.
During the weekend I also watched college football and baseball.
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