Going Through The Big D, And Don't Mean Divorce

I woke up Friday morning with a text message on my phone from my good friend, Brandon Maenius. Now, I don't care who you are or where you're from, any time you get a text that says, '*Come to Dallas and I'll feed you pancakes and wingstop' You, my friend, go to Dallas.

After consulting the wife (She was throwing a shower for her engaged sister and was happy to see me hit the road), I headed to Belton to pick up...wait for it...JIG!! After that quick stop, we headed up I-35, getting to Big D just in time for dinner.

After demolishing a pizza dinner, we proceeded to play Rock Band until about 4 in the morning, and I'm not gonna lie, Second Hand Beer Noodle is not only an awesome band name, it's a pretty fair sounding band as well. Saturday afternoon played out like Friday night, with us taking the group global, and gaining fans by the boatload.

However, Saturday night we did something that was quite honestly, nothing short of phenomenal. I'm not sure how to accurately explain it, but I will say this: If you ever get a chance to play Top Golf-DO IT!

Is it a driving range? Is it a video game? Is it a combonation of bowling, darts and golf? Yes it is, and so much more. I won't ruin it for you, but trust me, it's a worth-while experience. Also, if anyone is interested in opening up a new Top Golf in the Houston, Austin or San Antonio areas, give any of the six gentlemen in the picture below a call, we're already interested.


We may not look very smart, but overall it's not a bad group of guys to spend a weekend playing video games with. (Picture taken December 2006)

*And yes, I did eat pancakes and Wing Stop before making it back to the Sug

You Are A Winner!!

Some of you may have heard by now, but apparently Rudy G's son is suing Duke University for cutting him from the golf team. Hopefully this lawsuit will get thrown out before it comes close to court, because the precedent this type of lawsuit could set is very disturbing.

It's a sad day in America when a college student decides it's a good idea to sue his university for 'impeding his chances of making it to the PGA Tour,' even though this kid is apparently a very mediocre golfer. At least his dad is a gracious loser. At least he knew it wouldn't be a good idea to sue the American public after failing in his bid to become the Republican candidate for President of the United States. Whatever.

The Great Hambino

I was speaking with the commander-in-chief of Running Down A Dream last night and we realized something very interesting about the Bambino of Arlington, Mr. Josh Hamilton. Have you heard, he once was a drug user? Seriously, have you read anything, anywhere about his past demons? Honestly, I've tried and tried to find information about these allegations, but they're nowhere to be found.

Fortunately, that is all that the ESPN and FOX announcers talked about during his at-bats last night and his awesome performance in the Home Run Derby Monday night, so now I feel up-to speed with his story.

On a serious note, I'm very happy for Josh and wish him all the best in his battle to fully recover from the past that still haunts him today. He seems like a great Christian guy and his openness and honesty about his past is both refreshing and inspiring. Hopefully he'll perform at a high level for a long enough time that he's seen as a great person who's also a very, very good baseball player.

Get Lost

As some may know by now, me, my wife, and the in-laws are spending this summer watching the first three seasons of Lost on DVD. Of course, we're totally hooked on the show, and we usually watch at least two episodes per evening, so we're getting through the DVD's prettyquick.


As much as I love the show, however, there are a few things that bother me about some of the characters:

Jack-The fearless leader of the castaways. He absolutely drives me crazy. I understand that he's the doctor, so somehow that means that he has a solution to everything, but come on. He gets way too headstrong about being in control and making every important decision. He's also too emotional and lets those emotions get in the way of making the right decision all the time. If there was ever a doctor who needed to prescribe himself the Chill Pill, it's Jack. Plus, lately he's been spending too much time with that harlot Juliette, and I have the feeling that within about two episodes, he's really gonna regret that alliance.
Side Note-We watched episode 18 of season three last night, and I actually wanted to punch Jack at one point. It was when Kate came to talk to him on the beach about the helicopter girl that the guys found in the jungle the previous night. Anyway, Kate wanted to talk to him alone, but Jack pulled the "Anything you need to tell me, you can tell me in front of her (Juliette)" routine. That junk hacked me off. Seriously, if I were Kate, I would have kicked him in the teeth and walked away. That was such bull. I need to move on. Speaking of Kate...

Kate-The little lost puppy of the show. Drives me nuts with how she constantly insists on going along with the guys on searches through the jungle. Honestly, how many times have you heard this conversation:
Kate: "Where are you going?"
Jack: "John found a hatch, we're going to check it out."
K: "I'm going too."
J: "No, you're not."
K: "Yes, I am."
J: "No, it could be too dangerous. Kate, you're not going with us."
K: "I'm going."
Sawyer, looking tough and agitated at the same time: "Hhhmmmmpphh"
J: "Kate, we need you here...on the beach...to look after everyone else."
K: "Jack. I'm going"
J: "Fine."

Gaw-lee, it's a good thing Kate is cute, if she wasn't, she would have been Medusa spider-poisoned and buried alive by now.

Claire-Another Lost-er who's fortunate she's just as cute as a button. She actually brings nothing to the table. At least Jack and Kate do things like try to rescue their friends who are captured, pick fruit, work the hatch (at least until, you know, it imploded). Claire has a child, yes, but that's no excuse to not pitch in a little here and there. Plus, for a native Australian, her accent sounds brutal, not at all like the locals on Real World: Sydney. It pains my ears when she says things like "Chaaa-leee! Thae stole mayy bay-beee! May bay-bee! Cha-lee, it's gone!"

I guess that's pretty much it for the characters who annoy me. I'm getting close to adding Locke to the list, though. I liked him at first because he had such a cruddy life before the island, and because he reminded me of a teacher I worked with this past year, but recently, he's made some very questionable choices. I've got my eye on you, John Locke, your getting close to my bad side, Sir.

On the other hand, I'm a big fan of Sawyer (even though he's clearly crazy and one of the seediest characters in TV history), Saiyd, Desmond, and Hurley, so hopefully they stay on my good side.

-Twig

The Things I'm Doing Today

Since it's been a while, my current reading:



And listenings:


"Tranquilize" by the Killers, from the mysterious Sawdust Album

It's Gonna Make It Hard To Tell You That I'm Leaving

I remember the night of October 27, 2004 for two reasons. First of all, it was 'intramural night' for GSP, one of the most challenging pledging events we have, except that by 2004, I was a member, and on the giving end of all the torture. I also remember 10/27/04 because it was the night the Boston Red Sox finally put an end to 86 years of bad luck and won the World Series by beating the St. Louis Cardinals 4 games to 0, by far the greatest memory I have as a baseball fan.

At that point in my life, I had never been to Boston and had never seen them play in person, yet they were my favorite team in the Majors after the Rangers. This affection for the BoSox started when I was a kid and my dad told me A) How much we (and by 'we,' I mean Agans, for generations and generations) hate the Yankees and everything about them and B) His memories of the summer of 1978, when he was taking summer classes at UT and rooming with a friend who happened to be, yes, a Yankees fan. That summer, the Red Sox had a huge lead in the standings, and looked for all the world like they were finally going to break the Curse. Just when Red Sox fans were feeling comfortable with their 14 game division lead, the Yanks made a furious second half comeback, capped by the 'Boston Massacre,' a four game sweep in Fenway Park. After winning a one-game playoff, the Yankees went on to beat the Los Angeles Dodgers in six games to win the World Series.

In part because of this hatred toward the Yanks, I became a Sox fan by default, and pulled for them every October, since by then, the Rangers were way out of the pennant race. I remember the pain that Aaron Boone caused in game game 7 of the 2003 ALCS, and how hopeless I felt after the first three games of the 2004 ALCS. When Dave Roberts stole second in game 4 that year, hope was alive, and after an unprecedented rally from three down, the BoSox were in the World Series, and honestly, the Cardinals didn't stand a chance.

I write all this because, well, times have changed. After winning the 2004 Series, the Sox became, overnight, America's Sweetheart. It's literally impossible to walk across a college campus (coughcoughACUcough) and NOT see at least 5 Red Sox hats being worn, most likely by fans who, pre-2004 didn't know a thing about the Sox. The bandwaggoning continued to grow, and after the Sox won the 2007 World Series, reached epidemic portions.

I got to witness this phenomenon last night at the Juice Box, just two weeks after experiencing the power that is the Yankee fan. Let me start by saying this: For all the crap I've given friends who actually like the Yankees (I'm looking at you, Luke Reeves and Michelle Oakley), I have to admit, they have great, great fans, even on the road. Going into the game against New York two weeks ago, I knew we'd be in for a long night of obnoxious "Let's Go Yankees!" clap, clap, clapclapclap chants. Well, I was right. There was probably a 60-40 split in Astros to Yankee fans, but the Yankee fans were much more vocal than the 'Stros fans, and cheered for their Bombers every chance they got.

Heading to the game last night, I expected the same from BoSox fans. I was wrong. While the Stros fans/Sox fans split was at least as close as it was against the Yanks, the Sox fans were shockingly, ehh, what's the word? Uninterested? (Doubt that, they wouldn't be there if they were uninterested) Unfamiliar with the players? (Not a chance, Boston's on ESPN more than Chris Berman) Tired? (No way, the game started at 6, an hour earlier than most evening games in Houston) What was it then? I mean, why did all these Red Sox 'fans' only cheer when Manny, and Kevin Youuuuuuuuukilis came up to bat? Suddenly, it hit me like a Mookie Wilson grounder through the five-hole.

These fans aren't real fans.

They saw the Sox become the darling of sports four years ago, latched on to the bandwagon, scooted farther inward after more fans hopped on last year, and haven't let go since.

I should have known this would be the case the second we took our seats and saw two middle-school aged boys sitting two rows in front of us wearing brand-spankin-new 'Ramirez 24' T-shirts and bright shiney hats, both of which couldn't have been bought more than two hours before the game. Besides the junior high bandwagonners, to my left were two toolish looking dudes with popped collars and green Sox hats. Disgusting.

For all the arrogance and obnoxiousness of Yankee fans, you have to give it to them-they're real fans. It isn't nearly as popular to cheer for New York as it is Boston, so you know they're the real deal when they show up in visiting ballparks, ready to raise heck and support their team.

Much has been made about this 'Red Sox Nation' phenomenon on other blogs, websites, and television shows, so this isn't exactly a new occurrence. Heck, even the most notorious Boston homer, ESPN's the Sports Guy, wrote an article about the absurdity of the Sox bandwagon last year.

All that to say-I've made up my mind to depledge my allegiance to Red Sox Nation. This is a decision I have been thinking about for almost a year now, and after last night, that decision is final. It's become too easy to be a Red Sox fan, and way too convenient to ride the coattails of a team you know is going to win than it is to stay with a team through thick and thin. I'll still root for them to beat the Yankees of course, but I can't in my right mind cheer for a team that I honestly have no real connection with, and one that 13 year olds across the nation openly pull for only because they know the Sox are good, and because middle schoolers have no soul.

This choice isn't anything against the Sox players. Heck, they seem to be pretty cool guys. Youkilis, Manny, Lowell, Varitek, etc are all great players, seem to be generally good guys, and there's really not anything to dislike about the team. (Side note: After the game, we were driving away from the ballpark and I saw a dreaklocked Latino riding in the back of a golf cart. After doing a double or triple take, I realized, 'Holy cow, that's Manny Ramirez!' I hurriedly rolled down my window, stuck my arm out, waved and shouted, "Mannn-eeeeee!!" And yes, he saw me and waved back. Who's the man.) It's just that, what's the fun in rooting for a team you have no real connection to when you know they're always going to win? That's like rooting for Wal-Mart or Big Oil in 2008, or the Black Plague in 1400.

For those who are die-hard Red Sox fans-those who suffered through 1978, 1986, 2003, and so many other heartbreaking years, I have no problem with the success they've enjoyed recently. If the Rangers ever reach the point that Boston has these past four years, I'll be extremely happy and proud that 'my team' finally made it to the top.

For now, however, I have to be honest with myself and realize that I'm not a tried and true BoSox fan, and more importantly-no one likes a bandwagon hopper.

Goodbye, old friend, it was fun while it lasted

(L-R) Cole Griffith, Me, Garrett Oakley, Brandon Maenius, Fenway Park, March 2005

It's Not Fun To Play At The YMCA

Whilst perusing the archives of espn.com this morning, I came across an absolute gem written by Patrick Hruby from last May. If anyone has played pickup/intramural basketball at any point in life, you can relate to this article. Without further adooo, I give you....THE PICKUP GAME FROM HEEEELLLLLLLLLL!!!!!