last weekend

It all started in late August before any other students were here. New Cadet week was a week full of training and discipline for myself and 200 other freshmen cadets. On the 3rd day, while training, I broke my wrist. The year started out in a cast and having no privileges as a freshmen in the corps. I can't say that I enjoyed Virginia Tech one bit for the first month of my college career. But as time went along, it seems to get easier everyday. This year has been full of ups and downs. Being a freshmen cadet isn't easy, but next year is surely something to look forward to.
Virginia Tech football is probably the only good thing that happened for me at tech in the fall semester. Getting yelled at and breaking my wrist sure wasn't one of them. But he thrill of being at the game was. It exceeded my expectations and I now have a new found love for Hokie football. The student body as a whole here at tech is also something that is above and beyond. There is a real sense of community all through out Tech and Blacksburg. Even when the times were rough this year it seemed like talking to a few of my friends or looking forward to saturdays game could make it better. As for classes, well lets just say they are a little harder then high school. I didn't think I did to bad this year, but I definitely learned a lot about how college will play out for the next 3 years. The most I learned this year was about myself though. I learned that I can overcome any obstacle in my path if I put my mind to it. I have more confidence as a person and I look forward to nest year.

In class Blog

For todays blog, I will attempt to sum up a story that my English class just made up and cover a few other key events from this week. Well I really don't know where to start with this story. It involved zombie bunnies, a red planet, people bleeding yellow, a super power Shamar, unlimited space travel and much more. The story started with on person and it continued around the room with everyone adding in their own random comments. With about 16 or so students, you can only imagine what we could come up with. The possibilities are endless and we proved that to be true. I must say this was an interesting experiment and I would recommend it to any class as an ice breaker in the beginning of the year. Although this story made absolutely no sense at all, it was fun to imagine some of the things that were happening.
In other news, lets continue with what we usually talk about...SPORTS! Actually, ill start with some current news that gets under my skin. CNN reported earlier this week that Iran has announced they have found out the capabilities of a US drone that crashed in their territory and plan to reproduce many of their own (CNN). This state of the art drone crashed in Iran and should have been returned to the US. But the o so wonderful country of Iran now has the plans to it and also plans on selling it to China. In the NFL draft last night, Stanford quarterback Andrew Luck was selected number one overall by the INdianapolis Colts to be Peyton Manning's replacement. Virginia Tech running back David WIlson was also selected in the first round.



http://www.cnn.com/US/

Current sports update

These past few weeks have been a good one for sports fans. The 2013-2013 MLB season has finally started after months of anticipation. At nearly the same time, the NHL playoffs are underway with many upsets already. Tiger Woods, after winning a tournament, had a major mental breakdown only a few weeks ago after his terrible play. The NBA....well, they're still getting over payed. Soccer has currently been heating up with the title race in sight for many leagues around the world. So lets look a little more in depth to some of the main subjects. The baseball season is underway and so far it looks like a good one. But there have been some surprises out there. The Washington Nationals (Yes they are still a professional team) currently have the lead in the National League. yes, there have only been about 15 games played. But this is huge for underdogs such as the Nationals. We also have the Red Sox and Phillies at the bottom of the standings. This is an unusual look for the MLB. With this said, I still believe that the Nationals will not be in the playoffs this year while the Phillies and Red Sox will be. In the NHL, the Philadelphia Flyers and the Nashville Predators have advanced to the second round. Flyers forward Claude Giroux set an all time Flyers record for most points in a playoff series with 14 (Giroux).  As of now, it looks like we could see a very interesting matchup with Russian star Alexander Ovechkin against Canadian star Claude Giroux by next week. The race for Lord Stanley's Cup sure is on and it will only get better. And now we will move to soccer. The Ole Red Devils of Manchester UNited have surrendered a 7 point lead and now MAnchester City only trails by 3 points. The race is on and City is closing the gap. Will it come down to the final match of the season? We will find out in the upcoming few weeks. Real Madrid defeated FC Barcelona in the El Classico 2-1 with a wonder strike from Cristiano Ronaldo (Real). Madrid now has a definitive lead in the league table and looks sure to win.

"ESPN NHL." Pittsburgh Penguins vs. Philadelphia Flyers. ESPN. Web. 22 Apr. 2012. <http://scores.espn.go.com/nhl/recap?gameId=400259122>.

"Real Madrid." ESPNsoccernet.com. ESPN. Web. 22 Apr. 2012. <http://soccernet.espn.go.com/team?id=86>.

Broad Street Bullies

The Philadelphia Flyers are one of the original NHL hockey teams that are still around today. There home stadium is located on broad street in south Philly. In the 70's and 80's the team earned a reputation around the league as being the meanest, most physical, and hard hitting team in the league. They had a reputation for putting men in the boards and sending them home with a few extra teeth. There common nickname became the broad street bullies. Fights became more common in any Flyers game and it was even more relevant to their matchup against the famed U.S.S.R. hockey team. The Russians were simply blown away by the physical play of the Flyers. They couldn't handle a different style of play that offered more hitting and less finesse. Now, in 2012, I believe the new age Flyers team is making a push to gain back the Broad Street Bullies nickname. They will never truly earn the title or compare to the early 80's team, but they sure as hell are putting it on the Pittsburg Penguins. Game 3 of the 7 game playoff series has just ended and the Flyers have won all 3. In all 3 games, the Penguins get out to an early lead with a first period goal. But, by the end, the physical play of the Flyers simply overpowers the Penguins into losing it after 60 minutes of rough and tough play. It has also been a very exciting series to watch (for me and other Flyers fans of course). It is a sure thing to witness a lot of goals and a lot of hard hitting action. Fights, injuries, and blood shed is also very common. The series is wild and reckless, but if the "Broad Street Bullies" keep up this type of play, look for them to be hoisting the Stanley Cup soon.








http://articles.nydailynews.com/2010-05-04/entertainment/27063432_1_philadelphia-flyers-bill-barber-hockey


http://scores.espn.go.com/nhl/recap?gameId=400259120

Caldwell March?

On April 14th the 2nd part of the Caldwell March will be executed by the freshmen Corps class of 2015. The first 13 miles that were completed last october signified the end of red phase. These last 13 miles symbolize the turn over process. Turning over in the Corps means the freshmen cadets are officially upperclassmen and have full privileges in the corps. The Caldwell March is highly anticipated by all freshmen cadets and marks the end of the harsh times as a cadet. This year will be the 12th annual Caldwell March (VTCC). Although this does not have anything to do with current sports news, it is a very important event for myself and my buds. It has been a very long year. New Cadet Week, red phase, and other training events made this freshmen year long and miserable at times. But we all found a way to make the best of it. It wasn't always easy to keep your head high and stay motivated, but it all seems worth it now that the end is near. All of the upperclassmen in the Corps also know that the day is coming soon when they can finally treat us like normal people. Up until this point, they have had to treat us in a professional manner and not as friends. It made things hard at times the way we were treated, but it was fun at the same time. Nothing great comes easy. And in the end this will prove to be a great step for my future. Cadet Sergeant First Class Lowery said, "It has been a long year and the freshmen have done a great job. I am also pretty excited for it to be over"(Lowery). So after the 13 mile road march, all the freshmen cadets will have a formation on upper quad that signifies the transformation to becoming upperclassmen. It is something I try not to think about often but I know is coming very soon. I can not wait to get this freshmen year in the corps over with. A lot of stress will be relieved when its all over. Although the school year will still have 3 weeks left, it simply won't matter to me. The joy of just being able to walk in the middle of the hallways and other silly things will mask that I have finals coming.

Cadet Spotlight." Corps of Cadets. Web. 10 Apr. 2012. <http://www.vtcc.vt.edu/>.

Lowery, Mike. Personal interview. 7 May 2012.

April Fools Sports news (What I wish happened)

For April Fools, my blog post will focus around current sports news...but with a twist. It is not all factual, but just the way I wish it all played out. So, for starters, Peyton Manning signed a 6 year contract with the Philadelphia Eagles. This came as a surprise as the Eagles just signed Mike Vick for another 7 years. Vick has now been traded to the Colts for the first pick in this years draft. Terrell Owens, who just started his arena football career, realized he is to old to do anything but retire. Its about time he hung up his cleats. Tom Brady has also retired due to personal issues. The Patriots have now placed the team for sale after realizing they can not win without him. Across the pond there has been some interesting football news also; soccer that is. In the English Premier League, Manchester City has decided to stop playing this season due to their poor performances. This opens up the title for the Red Devils of Manchester United who will win their 20th league title. Cristiano Ronaldo, who scored 8 goals against Barcelona last week, surpassed Lionel Messi for the most goals in the Spanish decision. After Cristiano's amazing game, Messi decided to retire and never touch a ball. Now defenses throughout soccer do not have to worry about his amazing skill. The USA mens U-23 soccer team DID NOT lose to Canada and embarrass US soccer. They defeated Canada and El Salvador and got the US into the upcoming Olympics. Landon Donovan, a US soccer superstar, has replaced Messi at Barcelona and is already proving to be better then him. With the MLB season drawing closer and closer, the Philadelphia Phillies have made a couple huge free agent deals. They picked up Derek Jeter, a long time New York Yankee. They also stole Jose Reyes from the Miami Marlins. With these 2 big pick ups and there already proven roster. Winning every game and the World Series is expected of them all around the league.

Brackets...ugh

Number 2 seed Duke....out. Number 2 seed Missouri...out. This seemingly impossible outcome has not happened for many years. With the 2012 NCAA Mens Basketball tournament just starting, many people around the country including myself are finding out that their tournament bracket is already in bad shape. Every year millions of people fill out a tournament bracket in hopes that they will predict the destiny of the future winner. Its a fairly popular thing to do and it is becoming more and more popular every year. This year is no different from any other. The top seeded teams surely look like they will rise above the underdogs and continue to victory. The average viewer who picks their teams on the bracket also assumed that the higher ranked teams would succeed. As I mentioned before, it isn't going as planned this year. I personally have already predicted the wrong outcome 13 times and it will only increase with time. ESPN.com reported that no one out of the millions of fans who submitted a bracket online. I can not say that i'm surprised due to Duke, Missouri, and Michigan losing very early in the tournament. Going into this years tournament my hopes were not very high with the bracket I submitted. But, I had never had success in years prior with the bracket challenge. About 3 hours into this years tourney, I realized that I officially hate underdogs for what they did to the higher ranked teams. Due to the underdogs success, now I will not win the 5 million dollar ESPN reward for predicting every game right (not that I stood a chance to begin with). In all reality, with the brackets aside, this years tournament has been a blast to watch. I actually enjoy watching buzzer beater shots and the top ranked teams losing out. I highly recommend that everyone tunes in for the sweet 16 and enjoys watching all the games. At the bottom is a link to my awful bracket on ESPN.

http://games.espn.go.com/tournament-challenge-bracket/en/entry?entryID=2786672