Life With Kicker

My Mason Family

2011-06-06T20:48:00.000-07:00

If there is one thing that I am going to miss/already miss about college, it's the family I had there. Nothing can compare to those brothers I had throughout my four years. No, I don't mean fraternity brothers. I mean real brothers, my teammates. I know I'm going to take a lot of crap for this but the difference between calling a social friend of yours a brother, and someone who you take a physical beating with everyday with is totally different. My teammates and I soaked out bodies in sweat, spilled out our own blood, and cried on each others shoulders. Yea, a lot different then downing beer bongs and hooking up with sorostitutes.

Now, your probably thinking, "realx guy, thats typical football talk." Okay, true, it is, but it is also real. There is nothing more real then having your teammate urge you on when you scream, "I CAN'T!" after doing 50 leg press reps, but you have to do 20 more. You don't feel those last 20, but somehow you get through them with the help of your teammates. There is nothing more real then looking up from the ground and seeing your teammate run over to the guy who just took a cheap shot at you, and seeing him punch the dude in the stomach. And finally, there is nothing more real than crying into your teammates arms on the 50 yard line. All are events that happened to me. Truth.

When I first stepped onto George Mason's Campus in August of 2007, I knew no one. I walked into the PE Building (now the RAC), after I had moved in, for my first football meeting. I slowly sank into a seat in the back, as I watched my future teammates laugh and joke with each other. Looking like a Freshmen in High School, I immediately kept to myself. That day we were distributed all of our stuff and had physicals and what not, still no one said a word to me. I eventually had to speak to a teammate the next morning, when I realized I had no clue how to put on my hip pads. Phil Adams was nice enough to help me out.

As August went on, I made some friends with the other Freshmen on the team, the upperclassmen still shunned us. It sucked, being 90 miles from home, no friends, no one even on campus, no car. The constant pressure of not wanting to suck, even though I was playing awful. As I was soon to find out, it was all a test. Your just not in a brotherhood, you have to earn your stripes. You earn them through putting up with your older teammates constant "shit" and abuse. However, once they see potential in you, your in the club. Being in that club has it's perks. As an 18 year old freshmen, my older teammates looked out for my every move: From which classes to take, to where to take my car for maintenance work, and even getting me as an 18 year old w/o a fake into a few bars! My older brothers are guys that I will never forget. As they moved on, they made me promise to them that I would continue to pass on the brotherhood to those younger than me.

I had some great times at Mason with my older brothers, but perhaps I had the most fun with my younger ones. As a Sophomore, it was my first year actually playing, and I befriended my future roommates. Now these guys I love with all my heart, but we were basically the same age. I really didn't take any of them under my wing, we were more like best friends who lived together, played together, and went to class together. It wasn't until I was a Junior, that I took someone under my wings, and made him my little bro. Basically, we played the same position, and when the coaches send the kickers off to a corner on their own, you can't just kick or punt 50 balls a day, that would kill your leg. Instead we talked. We talked about everything...from school, to family, and even talking about the tennis girls practicing in the courts next to us. We literally talked about everything. I am going to miss those bullshit practices so much. I am proud to say that I would have made my older brothers proud the way I took care of this kid. I administered his first drinking experience, my futon was always open to him any time - night or day, and I tried to give him the best advice one could. He's gonna be just alright.

I could go on and on, about all the crazy things we did. The good times we had, the times we cried, the games we won, the ones we lost. But my family experience at Mason will never leave me. I love you all so much. To my older brothers, (Hitch, Fink, Phil, Timmy, Kyle, Gardner, Schrank, PJ, Moss, McCartin - Thank you for being role models to me and showing me the way.) To my "siblings" (Carmichael, Bailey, Paul, Jack, Dumas, Maravich, Kem, Chris, McNiff, Tony, Derek, Hova, Eaddy, and DJ - We had some really tough times these past two years but we got through them by sticking together, and being a family. We also had some pretty good times. I'm gonna miss you all so much. And to the younger brothers (Beebz, Kimball, Jazzy, Grant, Will- You guys are so young, go forth and take on the world head on, no regrets. Love you guys. And last but not least, my little brothers, Lusk and Cory, I have taught you guys everything I know. I tried my hardest to be the best big bro to you guys that I possibly could be. Just want to let you know that I love you and go forth and kick the worlds ass. - Love all you guys #27.

Emotions That Only Athletes Know

2011-03-21T21:17:00.000-07:00

Everybody cries, it's a natural part of life. Sometimes the best thing one person can do is have a really hard and deep cry. Okay, so your probably like, "why is he talking about crying? Someone's emotional." The main reason that I'm bringing this up is because after every NCAA basketball game I watched this weekend, the camera shoots to some poor Senior on the losing team just straight balling his eyes out. Now, this isn't the first time I've seen this. In fact, you see this every year. I remember I use to think to myself, "man, whats it gonna feel like when I'm done?" Well, as we all know - all things come to an end. And on November 9th of this year my trip ended. To dedicate so much to something and then have it taken...really just sucks, there no words to explain it. I broke down in front of my teammates and coaches right there on the 30 yd line. It was hardest I cried since 10th grade, when my grandfather passed. Yea, sucks, I now know how it feels.

However, I'm bringing this up for a different reason. I got stupid mad when I saw this video of Kansas State Senior Jacob Pullen break down after his last game. It's not the fact that he is crying. It's the fact that the reporter basically asked him "How are you feeling?" Are you serious right now? What kind of question was that? You gotta be stupid! I was furious at first. How do you think he's feeling? His last game is over! He and other athletes put four years of hard work and dedication EVERYDAY and boom its gone. Done. Over. What football was to me, was what basketball was to Pullen, and every other senior in the country, in any sport, club to D1, male to female, it was their livelihood.

After calming down a little I realized that the reporter isn't stupid, he's just ignorant. He never dedicated so much passion and love into a sport like that. He was just asking a serious question. This brings me to my second point. This so-called reporter may be an "expert" in the sport columns, but in reality he's not. Unless, you have ever thrown on a jersey at the college level you really shouldn't be considered an expert. Now, I'm not saying that you can't be a journalist or something along those lines, but please don't act like you know, cause you don't. You just don't understand what athletes go through, just they way I don't understand politics, economics, etc. Doesn't mean I can't blog or have opinions. Everyone can. I just hope no one ever would publish my work or voice about it, cause it's just not fair to the reader or the viewer. Just like it wasn't fair for Jacob Pullen to have to answer that question from a bush league reporter several nights ago.

Alright beautiful people time to go. Remember voice your opinions about whatever you want. Heck, voice them loud, but at the end of the day let the experts be experts, and respect that. Also, words to live by, "when it doubt, cry it all out." A good cry never killed a soul.

John and Sean's Excellent Adventure

2011-02-24T09:41:00.000-08:00

Good weekend beautiful people! Whew, so after an insanely busy week, it's time to relax, and recuperate. No better way to do this than to get my write on. I have a pretty ridiculous story to share with you that involves running red lights, almost running out gas, and getting lost, you pretty much get the point.

So last Friday was suppose to be a chill night for me. My one roommate was out partying, the other was on a date, and the other was....really not sure. Regardless, I was the only one without any plans for the evening. Shocker, right? So, I decided I would get some quality work done on this sober Friday evening. Yea right. I started reading the Manly Art a book about bare knuckle prize fighting, for my Sport History class. Surprisingly it's a great read that teaches us a lot about early American culture. Anyways, I get about a 30 pages in and say to myself, "Whoa, this book is a lot like the movie Gangs of New York". So what do I do? I put in Gangs of New York. So much for getting work done.

So I am like halfway through the movie when my roommate Sean comes back from his date and goes, "Lets go play hockey!" I'm like, "What? It's almost 12?" As it turns out our teammate Jason is into roller hockey, and so are Sean and I. But Jason had a rink reserved at Dulles Sportsplex until 1. Regardless to say, I was down. So after printing out directions, and packing up our gear, we were off to DC to get our puck on. Or so we thought.

The directions seemed pretty straight forward. Sean was driving and had about a half tank of gas left. We were blasting some Blink 182 and cruising. However, as we were driving it kept getting later, and later, and later. We kept thinking that we had to be close but couldn't find the place. We decided to call our friend for directions. Let me just keep a long story short by saying we ended up in Manasses. Are you kidding me? How do you go from DC to the edge of Manasses? I don't know but Sean and I did it. By the time we fixed our mistake and got back on track it was like 12:50. So we called Jason and informed him that we wouldn't be able to make it. Jason then informed us we had the rink not until 1, but 2:30. Sean looked at his gas gauge which was on empty, and realized we were 20 minutes out. So what did we do? We went for it. Who gives up a good game of puck just because you might run out of gas in the middle of DC at 1 in the morning? Psh, come on. Puck is life.

So, Sean and I made it there at 1:15 (We definitely broke a few laws). We got dressed and played some puck. 35 saves, (only 2 goals allowed!) and a few bruises later it was time to go. Sean and I got on the road thinking we were gonna find a gas station. Yup, about 20 minutes later, no gas station, and oh yeah of course we were lost in DC AGAIN! I'm usually a calm and collected person, however, I was freaking out. Sean started running red lights, my eyes were gazed for anything, Sean's poor car was literally about to eat it. I see a McDonald's and think to myself, okay there HAS to be a gas station near there. Seriously, next time your out and about and see a McDonald's, look around, theres gonna be a gas station near by, it's common sense. I have never been so excited to have seen an Exxon gas station in my life! As Sean's car literally ran out of gas at the pump, I said a quick thank you prayer, and went into probably the shadiest gas station convenience store I have ever been in. Two Red Bull's, two Gatorade's, a bag of Skittle's, and a FULL tank of gas later, we were on our way home. Who cares if it was 3 in the morning and we were lost in DC, we had all that we wanted. Awesome food, a tank of gas, and oh yea a full playlist of Blink 182.

Being the two smart bros we are, we were able to navigate our way back to Fairfax. So at 4 in the morning, Sean and I pulled into our Liberty parking lot, and ten minutes later we were in bed. You might be asking yourself, "All of that to play a silly game?" My response, "Hell yes! It was so worth it!" So what was suppose to be a relaxing studious night turned into the complete opposite. And if I could do it again I would. I needed that time out there on rink just to let go, and be myself. There are few places on this earth where I can relax and let the world go. But give me a field of grass, a volleyball court/pit, or in this case a hockey rink, (oh and my basement) and for that hour or how long, I'm just a kid again, no concern about school, work, girls, etc. It's so nice to escape and just have fun. Even if does almost get you stranded in DC at 3 am.

Marketing Update:
Just wanted to give you a quick update about my post last week. My post last week was about how the topic of sex was brought up in my Marketing class. A very uncomfortable topic for an old man to be talking about around a bunch of 20 some year olds. Well, the prof did it again. I'm not gonna go into details, but it was very awkward. This old man needs to "cut the ish." Also, remember how I was gonna talk to the cute doodler girl that sits in front of me. I was planning on leaning forward and asking her for a pen. In reality I have six of them in my book bag. However, as I am leaning forward to ask, her phone goes off. Not just a slight vibrate, or soft ring tone. Lady Gaga's "Alejandro" blasted throughout our large classroom. Are you kidding me? I couldn't have worse luck.

Well partyy people, thats it for now. Be safe this weekend.

Needs vs. Wants

2011-02-17T11:10:00.000-08:00

Yesterday was a typical business class for me, for the most part. We were just going through the normalities of an everyday business class, which for my thought process goes something like this:

-"That's a sweet tie the prof. has on today. I wonder where he got it?"
-"Postpurchase Dissonance? You mean like the time I bought the movie Atonement?"
-"I wonder what this guy drinks? Wine, Beer, Whiskey, all the above?"
- Prof:"Loyal Customers, are like loyal fans" Me: "Bull, know how many new Packer fans there are!?!?"
-"This girl in front of me is an amazing doodler, and kinda cute, maybe I should say hi" (I start to sit forward in my seat..."No, next time.")

So you get the point, I pretty much just think to myself the whole class, trying to pay attention to the best of my ability. So when the topic of a consumers needs vs. wants arose, some guy in the back wearing a suit and a backwards hat (yes, no wonder he was asking this question.) asked, "So for needs vs. wants, can we compare that to our own personal dreams and desires?" When I first heard the question I had no idea where the conversation was headed. I just thought that the professor was gonna be like, "For example you want a new jacket, but do you need one?" However, I completely shocked when some girl randomly replied, "you mean like sex?" Whoa, that was from left field, the whole class began laughing at the poor girl, nevertheless, the professor quickly restored order.

After, one of the most awkward moments I have ever experienced in class. We began to talk about how marketers are always telling you need this, you need that, you need to make him/her happy (whatever your taste). I began to think to myself, I don't really need anything. I consider my self a pretty happy bro in life. As I sat, I thought to myself, "Did I really NEED to buy those sweet red "hater blockers" I rock?" My first instinctive response was, "hell yea, those things fricken sweet." But in reality no. I don't NEED a sweet pair of shades, I don't NEED the coolest game, I don't NEED the latest and greatest. Those are all WANTS.

The only thing I really NEED in my life, is a loving family, a few good friends, and my dog. Yes, to those of you who know me well enough, you might be saying, "John, we all know that you love your beer, kicking, and car, mainly your brews though." Yea bros true that, but heres a lesson for all you beautiful people out there: "Just because your infatuated with something doesn't mean you NEED it."

I'm not saying that it's bad to have WANTS. As long as there good. Example, all I want right now is either a job or admission into Towson for next year. Those wants push me to be a better person everyday. It's good to have WANTS, even if they are material. It gives people motivation. Example, I really want to buy a nice bottle wine, instead of the cheap ones I've been buying. Make a deal with yourself. If I pass my test, or do well in my paper, I can treat myself.

So who thought that marketing class could make you think twice about your personal life? If you got something out of this great, if not that's fine. Just know next time you say, "I need a beer" you really mean "I want a beer." Til, next time partyy people, stay safe.

Kicker on Valentine's Day - Part Dos

2011-02-13T20:45:00.001-08:00

So this time last year I wrote about Valentine's Day. You can find that here (http://lifewithkicker.blogspot.com/2010/02/kicker-on-valentines-day.html). Someone seemed pretty bitter that day. I don't know if he didn't get desert or what, but that's some pretty deep stuff. Well a year later my martial status is the same, not that I care, nor do you care. But something has changed my opinions about this so called, "holiday." Not sure whether it's because I am a year older, or maybe my mindset towards girls and couples has changed. Whatever it is, I can't pin point it. Okay enough of this ranting let's get to the point partyy people.

If you read the post last year, I made it very clear that I disliked Valentine's day. Now, not so much. Today, I won't mind the hearts, flowers, candy, lingerie, whatever you kids do these days. Because, instead of turning my nose up at couples, I am pledging to be supportive. I feel that this year more than ever, I have been around more friends who have a "significant" other. And from talking with them, and being around them in first person, I have concluded that having a relationship takes an "ish" load of hard work and dedication.

Another good thing about Valentine's Day are all the candy hearts, those things are delicious, and I'm sure my dentist is gonna hate me. But seriously, besides every non-single dude in the country's pocket, Valentines Day is good for the economy. Kay and Hallmark spend the months of December and February making the majority of their profit for the year, talk about busy season. Also, on a non-related topic. Bros, if you propose to your girl around Christmas time, or on Valentine's Day, your a total sap that just got taken by society and TV ads. "Every kiss begins with Kay?" Negative. "Every kiss begins with an ice cold Coors Light." Now, thats more like it!

So, what am I doing this Valentine's Day? Well I get to work! So, I am planning on a lot of forfeits tonight. C'mon guys you don't wanna play ball, you wanna be with your girl. Do it for me!

Well beautiful people I am out. So on this Valentine's Day, I salute you couples who make things work. Congrats. However, I just want to let you know that you have February 14th. Us single people get all the other 364 days! Take care and be safe partyy people.

Farewell 2010

2010-12-29T19:42:00.000-08:00

So 2010 is basically in the books. It really seems like a month ago it was December 31, 2009, and John (Bro) and I were standing in two feet of snow in my backyard, hamboned and smoking stogies. We were talking about how this up coming decade was our turn. The 2010's would be our turn to shine, and our turn to make our mark on the world. I am proud to say that Bro and I are on our way. Like all things in life, the first steps are baby steps. You can't plan a goal one day and the next day accomplish it. The world just doesn't work that way.
Bro has a few goals in his life. One of these goals is to become a pilot. I am proud to announce that Bro has taken the initiative and has begun to take pilot lessons. The dude can fly. Me on the other hand, things got going slowly. But I am proud to announce that Im well on my way to doing two things I love- play sports and teach. We will just have to see what happens.
Anyways my Christmas break has been pretty stellar thus far. Except minus the fact that my car broke down on my way home and is still in Fairfax, VA, only that crap happens to me. There has been lots of drinking, lots of football and hockey watching, lots of pool playing, and my COD game is becoming one of my strong suits...I am becoming lethal with the shotgun so watch yourself.
I have been freaking out about grad school. I am taking the Praxis Test January 15, and have been taking some practice tests to prepare. Let's just say I feel like a complete idiot taking them. Basically the practice tests consist of questions that one would see on the SAT. So literally, kids four years younger than me know how to ace these questions. Great this is gonna be fun....On a higher note, I have been gathering game film and other essentials and made packets to send out to teams, to see if any team needs to a subpar punter for a year. I know its doubtful, but stranger things have happened.
So Im gonna peace cause Im tired. I would type more, but frankly I don't feel like it. Peace----27.

The Journey Continues

2010-11-23T16:15:00.000-08:00

So I'm finished....for now. After the most exhausting semester of my life, which included a full load of school, work, and football I can proudly say that I have succeeded. That's cool and all, but the journey has to continue.
Where is my journey taking me? Well the short term answer to that is back to Fairfax, or a final semester of school, work, and working out. The long term answer to that is a little more shaky. I'm sick and tired of school but I need another year, and that sucks. So this summer I will be headed to Towson University, home of the Tigers, to complete my teacher certification. The best part is that I will get to live at home, chill with the little bro, eat awesome food, party with the middle bro, and go to the bars with bro bro.
Should I have the opportunity to walk-on at Towson would be icing on the cake. I know I can do it, but the decision ultimately comes down to me and Rob Ambrose. You can look at statistics, averages, net punting, whatever. I don't care how far or well I'm hitting a ball that day, you have to do it day after day, and you can't afford to have a bad one.
As I think about where life has taken me the pass three and a half years, and where it will take me for the rest of my life, I can't help but be excited. To go from a B- student in HS to a B+ student in college. To go from a scrub athlete in HS to an all-conference one in college, and to have made the friends I've had has been really special. Life ahead has big plans for me, but I have to want it. A famous person once said, "Having the skill is great, but having will, will that is stronger than skill, thats something better." That has become my quote and I plan to take that with me into all stages of my life.

Roughing the Kicker

2010-11-11T22:25:00.001-08:00

A week that was suppose to contain of the most exciting days of my life, has turned out to be one of the worst. As a kid you dream, and when you make those dreams a reality, which very few people manage to do, you live in a trip. Now while my trip hasn't been everything that I thought or expected, it has been pretty cool. A week after having a career day (4 punts for a 46 yd average, and 2 inside the 20.) that ranked me in the top 20 collegiate punters for any division in the nation that week, my heart was broken. everything was coming together, I had been having a really good past couple of games, hoping for one more to pull my average up. But, most important of all was that it was the last game of my senior year at Mason. This meant Senior Day.

Now Senior Day for me was something that I had been looking forward to for the past 4 years. My soccer senior day did not go as planned. My Uncle was in nursing home dying, and my mother stopped by to see him before my game. However, my Uncle pleaded with her to stay, and she did. This caused me to miss out on giving my Mom her rose. Now, I don't blame my Mom or my Uncle, anyone would have done the same. I just wanted to give my mother her rose. So I decided I would at my football senior day. However, it was not meant to be.

Tuesday after warm ups our coach told us to gather around. After a rant of about twenty minutes, he told the team that Southern Tech (our opponent for Saturday) had cancelled due to injury concerns. I was devastated. I broke down right there on around the 30 yard line, where I have kicked off so many times. It was an emotional half-hour where I hugged and thanked each coach and teammate. It downright sucked not to know when your last game was going to be. Something that I have been working so hard towards for the past four years was just taken from me.

Well crap, that sucked. Tuesday night was tough, and so has been the rest of the week, which has been coupled with a tremendous amount of school work and work. By the way, off topic, but indoor volleyball is an incredibly stupid sport. I'm sick and tired of it already. Why is a sport that is so simple have so many different rules? Anyways, my parents who had booked a hotel to come to senior day still want to come down on Saturday. I really don't want to do anything, all I can think about right now is football, one last game, one last play. I don't want to go see a Mason Basketball game on what was suppose to be my day. A day of recognition for four years of hard work.

Okay, so a cruddy thing happened to me, I get it. I am a person who 90% of the time is a happy person, and I don't dwell on the bad. I am not going to let this whole fiasco ruin me. I put a hard 4 years into this program so, yes I do deserve some mourning time. But I am giving myself a deadline. And as soon as that deadline is up, it will be time to go back to work. Going back to work means that I have to get back out there. Start lifting and keep kicking. Make films, research grad schools, arena teams, internships, skeleton camps. I will have to make a lot of crucial decisions in the next sixth months, decisions that will dictate my future. Football and sports will be on the low end of the importance of that decision but they will be factored in. For now, I just have to pray that God will help me make the best decisions. He has been with me every day of my life, no one knows me better.

To my Mason teammates, it's been real. Who knows we may strap it up together one day, we may not. All I ask is that you guys pass down the family attributes that I tried to instill in this team. One family forever. Love you guys, 27.

What's In a Number

2010-10-04T09:43:00.000-07:00

You all have one, everyone does. If you don't have at least one favorite you have few good choices. Some people change theirs once a week, some have theirs for a lifetime. Some people believe in bad luck and good luck associated with them, while some have one because of someone who was important to them. I'm talking about numbers people. Not phone numbers, just a favorite numerical number.
Mines 27. It has been 27 since 7th grade. My number history takes me back long ago to way back to when I was little. For some strange reason there is something with me and the number 7, probably because I was born on March 7th. When I was in kindergarten, the very first soccer team I played for gave me the number 17. We didn't get to choose it was just given to me. I really didn't put much thought into it at the time, while I was probably more concerned with going to McDonald's after the game. However, it started a trend. The more teams I played on the more I was number 17 or 7. In 3rd grade my favorite athlete at the time was Cobi Jones, who played midfield for the US MNT. Early in his career he was 17, but in 3rd grade he switched to 13. So when he switched it meant I had to switch.
This is when numbers started becoming important to me. Being 13 made me excited, I wanted to be like Cobi, and was, until life played a mean trick on me and stopped my growth and everyone else sprouted up. In 7th grade I joined a new soccer team, only problem was there was a kid who was already 13. When Coach asked for my number I had to do a double check and the first number that popped into my head was my locker number...27. From their on it was love. I feel that 27 is my lucky number, I always get Question #27 right on tests (no lie). The 27th day of every month is an awesome day. It's just one of those things in life...we all have them.
(Photo: Kick Sqad ends with 7!)

Kicker's Back

2010-09-16T22:27:00.000-07:00

Oh hey everybody. So I took the summer off from the blog. Why? Well I was more busy during the summer, than I usually am during the school year. Monday through Friday my day consisted of...Wake up at 6am, head to work around 6:40. Work from 7:15-3:40. Followed by the gym from from 4:30-6:30. Then home by 7pm. Yes that is a 13 hour day. The next question is, "Was it worth it?" Probably not. I worked a backbreaking no paying job, where I was outside all day in the hottest summer since 1998. Then as if I wasn't already tired out, I busted my butt at the gym for two more hours. Financially worth it? No. Physically worth it? Yes. I came into training camp in the best shape of my life. I ran the fastest 300 yd shuttle, and have a mean 4 pack to boot. Enough bragging time for the blog.
So it's back to school, and after the first couple weeks of classes, I am sure I am in for a semester of hell. I am taking Accounting and HIST 499 (my senior thesis) with three other classes, on top of football and work? Sucks to be me I guess. Anyways, since being back at this school, I have realized how ready I am to graduate from this place. To be honest, I love Mason. I love the campus, I love my professors, I love my Sports History minor. I have made some great friends here, who I will remain friends with for the rest of my life. I will receive a degree from this school, that will determine the rest of my life.
All this said. It's the people here I dislike. Why are you all so immature? Why do you guys post stuff on the internet degrading each other. How come your an "outcast" if your not in a frat. I don't get any of the social logic that happens here. Once again, all this said. I am okay with it. I do my own thing. I go to class, get good grades, kick an oblong ball and repeat. While many of you think I am a "loser" for not being in a frat, not going to parties. That's cool with me. To most of the people out there, I'm that strange, tall, lanky kid. That wears a Phillies hat and Mason Football attire.
As I was walking off the field today after practice. I got a little emotional. This has been my turf for the past 4 years and come November, I will no longer get to wear the Green and Gold, come Saturdays. Not that any of you care, because most of you ask the question, "Wait, Mason has a football team?" Nevertheless, as I was walking off the field. I stopped for a second and thought about it. I am in for bigger and better things. Millions of examples flashed through my mind. Kicking at Towson. Teaching a High School level history class and getting paid for it! Sliding down a slipery slope at an Olympic Trials. Completing my Masters. Helping children become better people. And one day maybe even have a family.
Who knows if any of that stuff will happen. Maybe all of it will, maybe none of it will. But all I know is that if I bust my butt. What I want to happen, will happen. Im out for now, I will try to be more faithful to my blog if time permits. Peace out playas.

Kicker's BBF

2010-04-29T19:12:00.000-07:00

2001 was a terrible year for me, to put it simple 6th grade sucked. I had three friends, my first crush, and the first time I had to take a foreign language. If it wasn't for my three buds, I would not have survived. I crashed and burned with the girl and crashed even harder with Spanish. Like girls, I couldn't understand the language to save my life. I was so bad at it that I had to take a summer classes. However, life got better for me once summer started, my family decided to get a dog! I had always wanted one, and we were finally getting one! After much research we decided on a Brittany Spaniel, we went to a breeder and picked out a puppy. We decided to name her Dixie in honor of the Mason-Dixie line, (Im a nerd I know.)

As a puppy Dixie was nightmare, but she was my nightmere. In her first few months she did everything from chew on furniture, to pee all over the place. At first all the neighborhood kids loved her because she was new attraction. But your not cute when you start jumping up on kids and scaring them. After a few months Dixie was "the dog that all the kids were scared of." I felt bad and began to spend more time with her. I felt that since both of us were pretty much losers we would be BBF's.

Dixie was suppose to spend the nights in her cage in our kitchen. That wasn't the case. When everyone was in their room, I would sneak downstairs, unlock her cage and we would go up to my room and she would sleep in my bed. This lasted pretty much daily until I reached High School, when I was too big to share the bed. I have two beds in my room, so she took over the other one. As my friends who spent the night would soon find out, that it was her bed, and they were sleeping in it. My parents eventually let in and allowed Dixie to make her bed in my room.

One day, I was watching the Colts-Steelers playoff game (the famous Mike Vanderjagt wide right kick) at a break I realized it was snowing outside and I went to call Dixie in. Nothing, I went to look for her and saw a flash as she took off and left our yard. I took off. Now, I have always been an athlete and I have always been in good shape, (I have a six pack for crying out loud!) I took off just as fast after her. I sprinted until I caught up with her. My lungs were burning, my eyes watered in the cold but, there is something called heart, and a reason I have survived in the world of college football is because I have a lot of it. I eventually caught up with her and grabed her, yelled at her for a solid five minutes before dragging her back into the laundry room and locking the door.

When I was a junior in high school I made my self a goal that I would be a kicker in college. I wouldn't be able to do it in high school because soccer conflicted. When I first told people about this I just got flat out laughed at. I came home so irritated that I just went in my room and as lame as this sounds vented to Dixie, about how I was going to make it and shove it in their face. Well I was out in my backyard everyday dropping bombs and practicing and so was Dixie. Although she was chasing birds around the yard the connection was there.

As most of you know we got lots of snow this year, and if you know me well enough you know that I LOVE SNOW. Anyways, I was at home after my exams this year for the Dec 18th blizzard after a night of partying with my neighbors (who now love Dixie) I woke up the next morning to 20 inches on the ground. I decided I would go enjoy this snow and went out and began to shovel the driveway. Now poor Dixie couldn't even walk or move in this amount of snow. Once I cleared off the drive way, I saw her charge forward. Not good, I thought to myself, as she sprinted past me and went into the road. I freaked out as she headed towards Sweet Air Road, which is the busiest road in Jacksonville. In my snow gear and boots I took off. My usual 4.9 40 must have been 4.5 that day as I sprinted to save her. I remember not caring about my legs burning or whatever was happening, I just HAD to get to her before a car did. Well long story short I did.

Dixie has been one of best buds since I was in middle school. She is technically the "family dog", but ask anyone, I am her favorite. She may not be a person. But in the end "dog is a man's best friend." For as long as I live, I will always make sure I have canine by my side.

Kicker's take on the FIL and IOC

2010-04-20T11:23:00.001-07:00

As most of you know the day before the Olympics began Nodar Kumaritashvili of Georgia, was taking his final practice run before heading over to the opening ceremonies. Nodar banked to high on curve 15 and gravity slammed him into curve 16, the final curve. The force of the impact threw Nodar of of his sled into a beam support, killing him. The sport of Luge is no doubt very dangerous. It is the most dangerous out of the three sliding sports, Luge, Bobsled and Skeleton. The reasons for this vary, but the sled in Luge is only around 50 lbs, and when an accident happens the athlete is thrown of of his/her sled. Luge speeds also exceed upwards of 90 mph, with average falling around 80-85 mph. Bobsleds go about the same speeds, but are safer because the sled protects the driver, brakemen and side pushers in case of a crash. Skeleton sleds only top out at around 75 mph with an average of 70 mph. A skeleton sled is heavier and does not project their athletes into the air. With that being said all three sports are very dangerous.

Despite that being said, I am writing this blog to display my disgust with the IOC (International Olympic Committee) and the FIL (Federation International Luge). Why you may ask? After the death of Nodar, they conducted a study to find out what caused the death. After three months of research they announced yesterday that, "driver errors" caused his death. They are essentially saying that Nodar was too inexperienced and should have not been driving on the Whistler track.

Really? Really? Don't bullshit me IOC. I know enough about your politics game to know where your headed with this one. For those who don't know the Whistler Sliding Centre, where the accident occurred is THE MOST DANGEROUS TRACK in the world. Bobsled driver Steve Holcomb, nicknamed curve 13 as the 50/50 curve, one day after a training run. His reasoning was that half of the sleds crashed on this curve. The Vancouver Organizing Committee or VANOC, wanted to make the Olympic track the fastes in the world. According the FIBT, the Whistler track has a vertical drop of 120 m and a degree of difficulty of 15 (the highest possible).

Days before the accident Lugers were wiping out all over the place, a Romanian was knocked unconscious. A Skeleton slider from Canada, who had been training on that track all year, crashed and DQd himself from competition. USA2 and their four man team also crashed among countless others. The fasted skeleton sled was clocked at 90.5 mph, thats 20 mph faster than the average! So IOC, you want to tell me it was Nodars fault? He was ranked 44th in the world. You want to tell me that the 44th best person in his sport was not, "experienced" enough to drive on your track. I call BS, if this had happened to an American slider, the outcome would be a lot different. The IOC would kissing the ass of the USOC. But since it happened to a slider from the small country of Georgia, the IOC can cover their ass's.

With sports becoming more and more action packed. Owners, Managers and Organizers look to make the Games exciting. But at what coast? The NFL moved kick offs back to the 30 a few years ago to limit touchback and allow more returns. According to NFL,com, 30% of all injuries occur on kickoffs. At the Torino Olympics four years ago the downhill skiing course was not covered with snow but ice, as skiers reached 70 mph. Are the lives and health to the people who perform these dangerous sports no concern to those who make money off them? I feel so. However, sports like these will continue to become more dangerous because of the athletes who play them. All of us are competitors and have been since birth. I have only taken 3 slides down a bobsled course in my life. However, I would totally enter a competition at the Whistler track. Thats just me, and I am sure any other Skeleton athlete would do the same.

Kickers First Wedding

2010-04-19T10:44:00.000-07:00

Last weekend my cousin Eric was married to his college sweetheart Claire. Both people are so wonderful and are going to make a great couple. Okay enough of the mushy stuff lets get down to business. When I was told that my cousin was getting married several months back I really thought nothing of it. So what? Big deal a wedding. Just gonna be lots of lovey dovey crap that makes me sick to my stomach. However as the months went on the subject dropped out of my mind until around Easter. When my uncle and I were having one of our many great drunk talks. He starts telling me about "open bars" and hotel accommodations and made it seem to me that it would be just a huge party. I thought to myself, yea I can deal with this. As I packed my bags last Friday, I was a little bummed that I was going to be missing one of my final weekends of being a junior at Mason, but also excited to see my family as I hoped on the Orange line and headed into DC.

After getting off of the Metro, I saw that the map outside of Rosslyn, had two Marriott's listed. Only knowing that I had a room under my name in a Marriott I made my way towards one. After walking two miles I realized I was headed towards the wrong one. So I turned around and walked the other way avoiding runners, ducking under frisbees and stepping over dog crap; I finally made it. I got to check in only to be told someone was already in my room. My brother Tim who I was sharing the room with apparently didn't know is name wasn't John, but he got the keys and we walked up to our room where we cracked open a few Keystones and ignored the constant knocking on our door by our little girl cousins.

A couple beers later it was time for the rehearsal dinner. I think to myself whatever lets get this over with as we get caught in Northern Virginia traffic. Once there I realize, hey were at an open bar. I was like a little kid in a candy store. Drinking big name beers like Sam Adams and Heineken, all for free. It wasn't that bad. I made friends with some people, alot of people were interested in my kicking, and I loved fielding their questions about that. And I learned a few really neat facts about other people. According to my grandmother the vail that Claire wore was not only my aunts, but also my mothers, my grandmothers, my great grandmothers and my great great grandmothers. So apparently the vail was over 100 years old, how fricken cool is that. I thought so.

After the rehersal dinner we head back to room 1066, "The Norman Conquest Room" (For all those who don't understand, shame on you. Learn your European history.) Anyways this turns into an all out party. Before I know it my brother is playing drinking games with my uncles neighbor whos like 40. Im having deep intellectual conversations with people twice my age while slamming brews, then we hear a knock at the door. Apparently we were being to loud and had security called on us. WTF is that about. This isn't college where you get noise violations. I decided I had enough and made my way to bed while falling asleep to the history channel.

The next morning is very hectic (apparently a wedding was happening, I thought it was a drinking fest) The wedding goes smoothly as Tim, Dan and I are assigned to post up at the entrances before the wedding basically being security (I felt bad ass). Wedding goes smoothly and quickly, however the pictures after the mass take literally two hours (why so long dont ask me, I must have been in around a hundred). We have a cool down time before the recpetion, where I go to the store and pick up some more beer with my father (It was quite a sight, my father with his IPAs and pale ales, and I roll up next to him with a 12 pack of Pabst Blue Ribbion). Anyways, the night before Tim and I stole some of those Styrofoam coffee cups with lids. Being the BAs that we are, we poured a beer in those and began walking around the hotel with our "frapacinos." We were asked more than once by people if the coffee was any good, we of course replied, oh yea.

As we hoped into the shuttle and made our way to the reception. We arrived at this beautiful place looking over the Potomac. Another night of open bars, but this time they had two bars. I gave my ID to my brother Tim as he went to one, when he came back I got my ID and went to the other. We totally worked the system. The night was full of drinking and dancing and just lots of fun. In the bathroom my uncles best friend came up to me and asked, "Have your eyes on any ladies?" I responded, "They're all like 27, plus the only thing I have my eyes on is that bar over there." From that you could see my goal.

Once we returned from the reception we made our way to the bar in the hotel. Now this was a total shit show which consisted of drinks being dropped and spilled, my uncle buying my 19 year old brother drinks, tie tying contests and me being used as a wingman for half the groomsmen. At 3 in the morning I called it quits and headed up to my room....only to be woken up 5 minutes later by my brother and ten of his newest friends. Not caring I cracked open another one and began another party. As my 16 year old brother slept on with twelve other people in the room he awoke to a 28 year old lady standing over him saying, "Don't worry honey, you will understand all this one day." Probably the highlight of the night. Once the beer was gone Tim's new friends left to go to the "Norman Conquest Room" to continue the party. I smartly decided against this.

The next morning there was a brunch from 9-11 am to honor the bride and groom, my brother and I show up "fashionably late" at 10:45. My 5 year old cousin, who according to her, we were best friends when I spent winter break living with and working for my aunt and uncle up in Philly. Didn't say a word to me all weekend until brunch. I have two bottle of chocolate milk, she is a chocolate milk feign. She comes up to me says hi, and takes my milk and walks away...I think shes going to come back...no I don't see her again. Lesson, don't mess with kids and their chocolate
milk.

Overall, it was an awesome weekend. I love my family and we know how to rage. What I thought was going to be lame turned out awesome. I have no intentions of marrying with in the the next ten to fifteen years. So for now I am just waiting on my friends to get married and rage then.

Kicker's Roommates

2010-04-14T10:40:00.000-07:00

There is a saying in sports that your teammates are much more than just that. They are your friends, protectors, big/little brothers, and family. These are the guys that go to battle with you every time you step on the field. These are the guys that see you behind the scenes, when the jersey comes off and you are no longer a player. They are there for you both on and off the field, and what whatever problems you may have; well they help you. These are the guys that you can call on, no matter what time of day and they will drop what they're doing and come. My three roommates who I share an apartment are also my teammates. We are all very different people but we are essentially a family.

First there is Mike. When I entered my freshmen year, I literally had no friends. Mike who is a year older than me took me under his wing. Mike is one of the best athletes I have ever known. According to my Dad, "Mike is a total bruiser." He is the guy you give the ball to on a 4th and 1, to power through the line. Mike sacrifices his body on every play, off the field he is much more. Mike showed me what life was really about my freshmen year. I had never belonged to a tight knit group of friends before college. My first year was an experience. Being the baby on the team, it was okay for my older teammates to mess with me, but help your soul if you weren't on the team and you messed with me. I had my first college drinks with Mike, I went to my first parties with him, first bar, first club. He showed me how to be a good "big" brother.

Then there is Matty. Matt came to Mason last year as a wide eyed speedy receiver. I have never seen anyone more dedicated to anything. Matt is either doing two things: lifting or studying. Matt's first words to me were, "You have to be the kicker." Ever since then its been a good friendship. Matt understands why I act so goofy sometimes and he understands the pressures I am under sometimes. I can talk to him about anything. Every kicker needs someone who they can lean on when times get tough. We have both had struggles on the field (his more injury related, then performance), and its good to have a pal to go through struggles with.

Finally there is Sean. I swear this kid has stick em' built into his hands. He just does not drop passes. I have never seen anyone as competitive as Sean is. Off the field he is that nice quite guy. On the field he transforms into an animal. I've seen this kid take out guys twice his size on the field. He's that guy who will put you on your ass ten times a game, but all ten times help you up. Sean and I have a good connection. He understands what I want and need after football, he like Matt and Mike, understand who I am and what I do and why I do it. This is what separates these three from almost anyone else in this world. These guys get me. There my boys. We go to battle together every Saturday. Hey, its okay for us to pick on each other, but if your not one of us, then there is a problem. And trust me you don't want problems with these guys.

Alright kids, I'm out. I just felt that my three roommates deserved a blog shout out. The funny posts will continue in this upcoming week.

The Life of a Kicker

2010-04-13T09:33:00.000-07:00

The sun beats on my eye blacked smudged face I throw my small helmet onto my head and begin to pace around. "Is it third or second down?" I ask one of my teammates as I pace the sidelines anxiously. There is no need for an answer as I hear my coach scream, "PUNT ALERT!!" My stomach churns with nerves as I go stand by myself on the side. I see our QBs pass fall way short of the receiver and I don't need any calling, I'm halfway on the field when I hear, "PUNT TEAM LETS GO!" There is no sounds, no feeling. I count off 15 yards and line back. My eyes scan the defense..."shit, there coming" I mutter to myself. I count off our guys, "good all 11." My palms are sweaty as I wipe them against my pants...READY...shouts the H back. I see the snap leave the snappers hands my eyes go wide...hands out. The soft leather smacks into my overly large hands as I begin to mold the ball. I can feel the defense coming and coming fast. I begin to mold a little to quickly. I can see a blue streak breathing down my front. I quickly drop the ball and swing my leg then the sounds of foot smacking ball is heard....what happens next?

It all really depends on what happens next. If it was a good punt then most likely I will come back to the sidelines giving high fives and pounds. If it was a poor punt, well then I am banished to my kicking net. Nobody will acknowledge me, I will maybe hit a few practice punts into the net, pace around..alone. So is the life of a kicker. We are a different breed of athlete. Most of us are capable of hitting long balls (chicks dig the long balls) but come game time something may be off, most likely something is off in your head.

In order to be a kicker you need to have a few screws loose up there. Who else would want to play the most made fun of position in all of sports. Who else is crazy enough to play a game that requires them to be fair game for men 100 to 200 lbs bigger then them. We are different from any other kind of athlete. We have no coaching, we spend most of the practice by ourselves. We are easily the most picked on, biggest head cases on the team. But we come with an attitude. We are one of the most needed people in the game of football. Games are won and lost because of us. We are one of a kind. We play SPECIAL teams, well because we are SPECIAL.

I have missed crucial kicks before. I have had kicks blocked. I have been drilled into the ground on several occasions. BUT I have made big kicks before. I have made big plays in crucial points of the season. For how bad being a kicker may sound I love it. We may not be the biggest out there and we may not be the most popular player or get the girl. But at the end of the day we are satisfied with that. If we wanted that then we would have played QB. And who wants to do that? We are special kids who make special plays on special days.

Kicker's Life Lately

2010-03-28T03:45:00.000-07:00

Bros, what it do? Long time no write. Why you may ask? Well kids I have been bussssyyy. I know most of you think I don't have a life (and for the most part I don't) But turning 21 and taking a road trip have put this blog on the back burner for a week, and with the start of Spring Practice my free time is gone. So being 21 has been pretty tight. I have only been to two bars; one on my birthday and the other on Thursday night. Hardtimes on my birthday was a night I will never forget. Mama and Papa Moorhead came out also. While mother Moorhead was interrogating my roommate Sean on my girl life (I don't know why, there is no such thing); my Dad and I went shot for shot with each other....gooood times.

So as most of you kids know I have this thing for the Olympics sport of Skeleton. The top sliders (yes they call themselves sliders) start at the top of an icy track and slide down face first at 75 mph, I don't know but it is a lot harder than it looks. So mi amigo John and my car Sassquatch (yea I named my car, got beef with that?) took the 8 hour drive to Lake Placid, NY the closet track (the only other place do it is in Utah). Lake Placid hosted the Olympics in 1932 and 1980; It is an awesome little resort town nestled by the Canadian Boarder. The people are nice and there was so much going on. While we were there they were hosting the D3 Hockey Final Four, US Alpine Skiing Championships, and a Junior Hockey Tournament called the CanAm. John and I made up this story to everyone we meet that we were members of the Maryland State Bobsled Team there for more training....oh yea they believed us, but apparently like being a kicker, being a bobsledder doesn't win over to many ladies. The Skeleton was awesome, besides leaving some blood on the track, and only starting from halfway up it was great. I got invited back for a 3 day camp next year. So I am totally going...who knows where this could lead me! (Haters.....eat shit).

So besides practice and school work this week, it has been a week of bro dates with my boys. First, I reunited my KICKSQAD (No I didn't spell squad wrong) buds (Sean and Cory) this week at practice. I missed those little guys, we went on our usually Friday activity; which consists of going to a womens sporting event followed by Chipotle, which sucked cause it was Friday and I couldn't eat meat. Since our favorite sport is Volleyball and they play in the fall we had to settle with womens lax (eh, better than softball). My other two roomies Mike and Matt went home for the weekend; so Sean (not the kicker one) and I had a weekend long bro date. Pretty much good times.

Alright kids I won't bore you anymore, I'm out.

Kickers Job at Mason

2010-03-10T20:14:00.001-08:00

Halfway through my Freshmen year at Mason I decided that it would be nice to have a little spending money. As if I wasn't already busy enough with going to school, and having football workouts three nights a week, and kicking three days a week. So I got a job as an intramural referee. I do basketball in the winter and soccer in the spring. Now I'm an A class "ballin" soccer referee, no one ever really questions my calls and I am not afraid to give out yellow cards. (I went hard on this little sorority girl my freshmen year and gave her a red for slide tackling, which is a no no, but really she was a total jerk to me a few months earlier.) However, basketball is a different story. I never really played basketball growing up and I was just awful at it when I tried to play. Anyways, long story short I was just awful at officiating basketball my freshmen year. It was a terrible learning experience as I tried to learn the rules and everything else. Eventually my boss started assigning me to womens games and B league games (not that they were any easier to ref, in fact I feel that girls mouth off more than guys do.) This eased me into the learning experience a little bit.

The big year was last year, my Sophomore year. By then I knew almost all of the rules, and was doing a really really good job officiating. I was doing so well that for the playoffs they moved me up to ref the frat games. If you don't know Mason intramurals this is like the Major Leagues. Anyways I was assigned a quarterfinal match-up between PIKE B and Sig Ep B. Well this was just awful. I started blowing calls left and right, I had ten frat guys yelling at me, there was a huge crowd of sororitutes, cheering these guys on, and they even started yelling at me. It was bad. At half time, one of the older officials came over to me and told me "it's okay, it's just intramurals, these guys arn't even real athletes. Just do what you want." And with that I turned into a stone cold ref with no emotion. Now my calls weren't exactly much improved, even though I was trying harder. But when someone questioned my call, instead of me attempting to stutter out an explanation, I would turn and walk away. Or my favorite, I would respond in a whisper and they would be like, "What?" and then I would say, "told ya so", and walk away. If they kept arguing I would just T them up. Basically I became a bad ass referee.

This year has had some pretty good moments also. I love giving out technical fouls. I look for any reason to throw one out there. Jewelry is my favorite, no bracelets, earrings, etc are allowed, but sometimes people forget. I've given T's for things as little as a rubberband, and when the kid complained to me my reply was, "sucks that you didn't read the rules." By far my greatest officiating moment came a couple of weeks ago when I called a foul on some kid (trust me it was a good call.) But this kid didn't think so, and kept complaining to me. A few plays later he was suppose to inbound the ball after an out of bounds call. When I went to hand him the ball he was too busy arguing to notice. So I dropped the ball on the ground, and began my 5 second count (You have 5 seconds to inbound a ball.) This kid didn't get the memo and continued to argue with me. Eventually I got to five and blew my whistle and called turnover. Now this really set this kid off. This guy started yelling and yelling, and I started laughing and laughing, then I gave him a tech and he stormed off the court. Basically I'm Ed Hauchulli of intramural basketball.

So on a side note I have been having a killer Spring Break. Let's see my day consists of waking up eating cold pizza. Followed by dropping bombs in my backyard for like an hour. (Roop new long, 56 YARDDSSSSS, chicks dig the long ball) This is followed by picking my little bro up at school, which is then followed by doing some attempted studying which seems to always be ruined by facebook or kicking.com. Then I usually eat dinner, and hang with the rents. Then usually everyone goes to sleep, so I head to the basement and watch stupid romantic comedies on netflix, which make me feel like crap, so I usually go to sleep only to be woken up by my dog at like 7am. So yea, I'm pretty much living the dream.

Why I Hate the Johnson Center

2010-03-08T17:43:00.000-08:00

So 99.56789% of you reading this blog, have been to the Johnson Center before. The big white place in the center of campus. Oh yea it looks pretty on the outside, with its big glass windows and its nice walkways that lead up to it, oh yea its beautiful. Even the inside looks nice, with it's fountains and spiraling staircases, in short the architecture of this building is very nice. But what isn't nice is what goes on that architecture. I am going to go in depth about each place in the JC from favorite to least favorite.

- Convenience Store -
Literally the best place on earth. This is where I get my red bull fix (Yea I'm that guy who buys 3 energy drinks). The people who work there are so nice. This is what makes Freedom a must for me.

- Taco Bell -
The only bad thing about Taco Bell is what it does to you stomach after eating there. Good food at a cheap price and that long line always goes quickly. While not the healthiest choice...what does that really matter to me? Nahhhh

- Georges -
The forgotten part of the JC. Georges was my spot for lunch almost everyday as a Sophomore. Then they made some changes and got rid of their chef. This dude was the nicest guy, always coming up to us and asking how our meal was. Dude was a straight up legend. Then Mason like they always do, managed to ruin a perfectly good thing! Let's just say I cook better than the new guy (oh and I almost burned the place down last time I cooked.)

- Freshens -
I don't go here anymore, I go to the one in the RAC. It's literally the same thing, its just I now live in the RAC so it's easier for me. Smoothies kick butt and their milkshakes are the bomb! But some of their stuff is a tad overpriced.

- The People in the JC -
Yea thats right YOU! UGHH! So I like most of the people who are at this school, but the people that I can't stand are those who are yelling and running around hugging people like they havn't seen them in a year but they literally just saw them a day ago...you guys know who I am talking about...no need to point fingers now. And then there the commuters. When I go to the 3rd floor to study. I go there to STUDY! Not listen about your life as you talk way to loudly with your other commuter friends so the whole world can hear you. Get it? Got it? Good.

- The Food Court -
Gross and nasty. Sub Connection not only blows but is way over priced. I hate the Chinese Food Place. BK is OK. And Sangnam, it just makes me want to puke every time I walk by.

- The Book Store -
Last but not least. I am almost sure most of you can agree with me here. This place sucks! I mean textbooks originating from this place were sold for crack! It's over priced and when you try to sell your books back your lucky if you crack 30 bucks. I use half.com You should too.

Now the JC is not all that bad. But maybe it's the bad experiences I had there, like eating all by my self. Or waiting in those long book store lines only to cry when you see the cost of your books. I feel like the Johnson Center could be so much better if the admin cared a little. I don't know, what do I know anyways. I'm just a kicker right?

Don't Hate World...There Just Canadian

2010-02-26T20:57:00.000-08:00

So apparently the sports world is in a big uproar over the celebration by the Canadian Women's Hockey Team of winning their gold medal. So for those of you have yet to hear how they celebrated, let me inform you. Beer, Cigars and Champaign. After the medal ceremony they went into their locker room and reemerged onto the ice with their medals around their necks chugging brews and smoking some stogies.

This caused an uproar among many of the main media outlets around the world. They claimed that it was a lack of sportsmanship and included inappropriate actions. I agree that going onto the ice and slamming brews isn't exactly great sportsmanship, but I disagree that their actions are being made such a big deal. First off, I feel if it were men who did this it wouldn't have caused such an uproar. Look at the World Series, the winning team always celebrates by drinking Champaign and partying. Hockey teams in the 1970's use to drink beer between periods instead of Gatorade. Nevertheless, their partying is not my problem, I feel that they had every right to slam brews and get freaky.

Why is this? Let me give you an inside look at the world of womens hockey. There are two teams who are competitive, USA and Canada, the rest of the world tries to play. To give you insight on this, Canada beat Slovakia 18-0, while the United States beat China 12-1 (how the hell does China get one goal? Who was playing goalie? My five year old cousin?). So in reality the only game that matters is the gold medal game, which since 1998 (first time womens hockey was included in the Olympics) has been between the USA and Canada.

I'm actually more upset over the US team, who has not won a gold medal since 1998. Why? The US womens team was picked over a year ago, yes they have been training for a year to play one game, the only game that matters in all of womens hockey. I can guarantee you the not a single lady on that team is happy with their Silver Medal (most probably want to burn their medal). These ladies took a whole year off from their lives only to fall short (the three college players took a a year off from school). When will the US beat Canada in women's hockey again? Who know's the staff has tried every method while the Canadians eh they just go out and play the game. At least the US has Hilary Knight on their team (http://cache4.asset-cache.net/xc/90892864.jpg?v=1&c=IWSAsset&k=2&d=77BFBA49EF878921CC759DF4EBAC47D08C3D0C56CD79BDE2F3517F51DF0B595B457CA9450FB7CB85E30A760B0D811297)

So yea the Canadians have been dominating this American team for the past 12 years. Too that I say drink your Molsten's ladies you earned it.

Kicker's New Sport

2010-02-23T14:11:00.001-08:00

As one ages, more opportunities present themselves to that person. I consider my self a very ambitious person who dreams big. One of my favorite quotes really sums me up, "I'm too stupid to know what's impossible. I have ridiculously large dreams, and half the time they come true." By far one of my favorite statements which I follow religiously. I don't let people tell me I can't do something, I just do it. I have always been hardcore into the Olympics, especially the Winter Olympics. My parents, who don't know jack for the most part about winter sports are into to them and have always been. I remember watching skiing with my parents during the 1994 Lillehammer Olympics (yea I was 5).

Anyways lets fast forward, then rewind to 2006. Watching these games I became obsessed with the sport of Skeleton it just looked so cool. The cool designs on helmets the sweet looking speed suits and the rush you could get flying down ice at 80 mph navigating the course. So being me, I googled it and found that there are only two track in America, one in Lake Placid, New York and one in Salt Lake City, Utah. Not exactly close by. Plus lessons were rare and when available, expensive. Not going to let that keep me away I decided to simulate the experience by taking my brothers long board, going to the top of my hill and sliding down on it....good idea? Oh yea, until I slammed face first into my neighbors trashcans. Would this daunting first time experience keep me away? Negative. I quickly realized that my current monetary situation would not allow for me to pay for the long trips, track fees, and lessons that would be vital in this sport. So while payed attention to the sport following it first on SPEED TV and continuing do so on NBC Universal, I just put that one the back burner for a while.

My friend John, check out his blog (www.theanalogkid757.blogspot.com), went on a life changing study abroad trip to London this fall. When he came back he was all gung ho about following dreams and going on road trips. Now, John is one of the very few people who knew early on about my want to do the sport, only a few people knew about this. My brothers and my neighbor Justin are the other two. And when Justin laughed, probably not even for the Skeleton reason because he has supported me in pretty much everything, I threw a hockey puck at his face (He knew it was all in good humor). So over Christmas break, John and I are having one of our famous drunk talks when John keeps telling me to go do it go do go do it.

Fast forward a few months, and I am sitting in, "Fall of the Roman Empire" drinking a Red Bull trying to pay attention and learn about Constantine's defeat of Maxentius, when I just start planning a trip to Lake Placid. I rush back to my apartment go on the internet and with in an hour my trip was planned! Even though John, who watched Skeleton with me for the first time last Friday, isn't even into the sport like I am is going to Lake Placid with me for some support. But this trip is more about Skeleton is also an adventure. With me being a newly turned 21 year old and John who looks like he's 25 the bars will be open to us and and our adventure can come full circle.

I will be attending the, "Skeleton Experience" which is a tutorial that will eventually certify me as a member of the USBSF which will enable me to compete in tournaments, or more importantly qualify me for "Driving School", which I hope to attend next year. If you are one of the top sliders at "Driving School" you may earn a place on the National Development team. It's a long way away but I am taking the first step. Most Skeleton athletes don't even get started til their mid to late twenties, so I'm getting a head start go me!

So off to Lake Placid I go March 19th, what will happen? We shall see!

Kicker on Valentine's Day

2010-02-12T14:26:00.000-08:00

Well for those of you who haven't heard, Sunday is Valentine's Day. Yea that day. I do not believe in nor do I celebrate Valentine's day. Maybe one day I will. Most of you are probably thinking, "thats because your a loser who can't get a girl." Well yes that may be true but that is not the reason why I do not celebrate Valentine's day. I have no problem in married couples or MATURE couples, celebrating this so called holiday, but what really grinds my gears are kids my age, YEA YOU, who celebrate this holiday. Before you criticize me ask your self, "Do you really love that sorority girl you've been doinking for the past six weeks?" "Do you really care about that guy in your history class who has been throwing those dirty pick up lines your way and every time you hang out with him you get black out drunk?" Yea thats what I thought.

You see people, most couples our age are just way to immature to take this holiday seriously. Now I don't want to be a buzzkill but before you question me, let me tell you the true reason for this holiday. Anyone ever heard of St. Valentine? Anyone? No, okay thats what I thought. Anyways to make a really long story short, St. Valentine lived in the Roman Empire at a time when it was unsafe to be a Christian. Ya ever heard of Christians being fed to the lions in the arena? Well, yea if you were caught being a Christian that was your reward. Anyways Christians weren't allowed to get married, so St. Valentine started to perform secret marriages before he was caught, and yes eaten by lions.

I feel that the true meaning of Valentine's day has been lost. The real purpose of the day is to spend it with your special someone, someone so special you would give your life for them. So yes on Sunday you will see facebook status' about how much someone else loves someone else and half the time I will call bs.

So look kids, I really don't care who your with or more importantly what you do with that person this Valentine's day. But I just want to let you know, you all are just screwing yourselves over...literally. And if you think that the guy you have been dating for three months is the one. Your an idiot. I feel that it is better to be safe than sorry and not rush into anything. I don't plan on tying the knot for another ten years (thats why I'm a boss).

Most marriages don't work out in this country for the main reason that this country is so commercialized. I find it hilarious seeing those "orange girls" walking around campus. Or the guys in the gym doing the "frat boy" workout. Yea thats great you can bench 225 and have pecs and biceps of steal. But have you ever worked out your legs or your core? Doubt it, cause your not a real athlete. Most guys just go to the gym with their protein shakes "to get jacked" so they can take Ms. Suzie Goodbody out for a night of fun.

Okay I'm finished with this ranting and raving. I'm home this Valentine's day with my parents and my dog. People who really do care about me. While my weekend will consist of play COD and watching the Olympics. I wouldn't trade that for a night with some girl I don't even know. Alright kids peace out and remember always to wrap it.

Embrace The Suck

2010-02-07T10:56:00.000-08:00

So everyone has been going bonkers for the past couple of days about the white stuff on the ground. However, I am not sure why? There is really nothing you people can do about it. If you think complaining about how much snow is on the ground, or how you hate snow and being stuck inside is going to melt the snow way then your an idiot. For once in your lives people it is OKAY to "embrace the suck."

Personally I LOVE the snow. I love any kind of weather. Those brisk autumn fall days when you just wanna go outside and play (okay kick) a football around. Or those spring days around campus when everything is blooming (I mean EVERYTHING...take a look around next time fellas). I love summer also, granted I work outside in 90 plus degree heat everyday for eight weeks, but it's the little things in life people. And if you really need to complain about something you can't control well then it is really not worth it. Sometimes it's good to "embrace the suck."

When things in life don't go your way, like that time you bombed that test that you studied so hard for (really doesn't happen to me that often), or that time that girl in English class rejected you (know way to much about that subject) sometimes you just gotta "embrace the suck." My rule about failure is that it is okay. Things don't go your way sometimes (well for me half the time) but dwelling on it is not good for you head. As a kicker and a goalie your head is your worst enemy. You need to be mentally strong, I admit I fall short in this aspect in almost all phases of life. I get nervous when I talk to girls. I freak out before a test, and when I hear, "FIELD GOAL!" or "PUNT TEAM!" my body goes numb for a second. I have been working just as hard at this aspect of my game as on the physical aspect. My rule of thumb, you have a 24 hour mourning period. After 24 hours well you gotta buckle up sally and embrace the suck. Because sometimes in life failing is a good thing. If anything it makes you try harder. If a girl rejects you, you go back to the drawing board and reevaluate your game planing. If you bomb a test, you just gotta find a different way to study for that class. If you miss a kick, you go back to the film and see where you missed. Sometimes failure is a good thing, and "embracing the suck" can be good for your mind also.

So today is Super Sunday. I will give you guys my break down on the Special Teams. I give this advantage to the Colts. Matt Stover is 42 years old and is still a premier kicker in this league. If the kick is inside of 40 you can put 3 points on the board. WHOOO DATT???? No it's not Drew Brees, it's Garrett Hartley. Yes the guy who two weeks ago kicked the Saints into the Super Bowl. While that was a great kick, Hartley has had his moments and his not the most accurate kicker in the league. Both punters in tonights game are rookies. Pat McAfee was a kicker at WVU last year now he is a punter in the NFL, he's not a bad one either but his main purpose is kickoffs, dudes got a leg. Thomas Morstead was the best punter in college football last year, and his transition to the NFL has been shaky at best. Mortead is great at pinning opponents deep.

If it comes down to field goal tonight, I'm sure Hartley or Stover will go numb when they hear the coach yell "FIELD GOAL!" But it is part of life and if you miss, well you miss. And I'm sure they will feel horrible and awful, but eventually they will go back to the game film and have to "embrace the suck."

Mason's Best That You Have Never Heard Of.

2010-02-05T17:15:00.000-08:00

Throughout the course of history in any event that has ever been held between two people or teams, there has always been a favorite and an underdog. I have lived the life of an underdog my whole life and I relish that underdog feeling. Underdogs aren't suppose to be good, they're not suppose to win, and for the most part they only compete at what they do because they love what there doing. Playing the role of underdog isn't just an athletic thing. Underdogs come in all different areas of discipline, art, music, heck they even play a role in the every day world of business. Underdogs have that attitude, "Yea, I know your probably better than me, but F*CK YOU, I'm going to go out and give it my best."

My favorite athlete, as most of you may know, is Steven Hauschka, kicker for the Atlanta Falcons. Steve was a kicker at a D3 school and know he kicks in the NFL. A truly great story and Steve has no doubt been an underdog his whole life. However, I have new favorite athlete. His name, Mike Kohn. His sport, bobsledding. His alma mater, George Mason University. The 38 year old Kohn knows what it is like to be an underdog. Heck, he's from Virginia competing in a sport that only has tracks in Upstate New York and SLC, Utah. That right there is a disadvantage. Kohn, after graduating from Mason in 1997, got a white collared, well paying office job. But Kohn had bigger ambitions, so he packed up his life and moved to Lake Placid, NY, and by 1999 made the US national bobsled team.

The 2002 Winter Olympics were held in Salt Lake City, Utah. Kohn and his four man team had qualified for the Olympics as the 3rd American sled (think of it as the C team). In an article I found Kohns teammates called themselves, "the misfits of bobsled." These misfits did exactly what I stated above, they told the world to f*ck off and slide to a bronze medal. In 2006 a hamstring injury caused Kohn to miss the Olympics. Instead of retiring, he decided to give it one more try. At the US National Team Trials this November, Kohn and his team finished fourth. Not good enough for an Olympic berth (top three or two sled qualify based on points). A disappointed but determined Kohn and his team slid all over the America's Cup Circut (think of it as the minor leagues). One day Kohn got a call, the driver of USA 2 had just been a serious accident and he wouldn't be able to compete. Kohn was promoted to the World Cup Circuit (The big leagues), however he needed to gain a bunch of points to qualify for the Olympics. Kohn and his team once again told the world to f*ck off, and it came down to the final run, in the final World Cup race of the season. Kohn and his team needed to place in 12th place or higher to secure a third US sled in Vancouver. Kohn, well by darn the got sixth, securing them a spot in the Olympics. Kohn will go into Vancouver as the third American sled, just like Salt Lake City where he won bronze.

Mike Kohn's story is truly a great underdog story, and as an alumni of a school who prides themselves on being "underdogs (that lucky basketball run in 06)" this will probably be the first and last time you hear of him. Mason won't promote him, or hold a viewing of his race in Johnson Center. He won't get an article in the Broadside. This is very unfortunate and it shows the lack of care the University shows for its alumni. This man got a degree from George Mason and is representing his country on the worlds biggest stage, yet the he won't even get a nod from the school. When current student Kate Ziegler competed in the Beijing Olympics the school was all over her, she even had her own spot on the schools web page. Also two former Mason student-athletes who are Jamician (not even AMERICAN) also competed at the Beijing games and gomason.com followed them on their journey. Nothing of the sort will happen for Mr. Kohn. This is really sad considering is impossible journey. How hard is it to set up a big screen in JC and show a race? We pay an obscene amount of tuition money to go here I'm sure we can afford that! It's utterly ridiculous! I don't understand why or whats so hard about it. Is it because he was a commuter? Or because he wasn't a student-athlete? What ever the case is, the University should get their heads out of their butts and show this man a little support! Just another case of Mason not caring about their students or alumni.

I'm finished ranting now. I will continue to give Mike Kohn a spot in my blog every couple of days. To follow his progress either check here or on nbcolympics.com. It is truly a great accomplishment to represent your country at the Olympics games. Mr. Kohn, you and I have the same attitude, when the world tells us to give it up, we tell the world f*ck you.

Kickers Newest Friend

2010-02-03T19:29:00.000-08:00

So my last post was about my oldest friend here at George Mason University, so it is only right that this post is about my newest friend here. Now I sorta knew of this kid before we had some mutual friends here and there but something wasn't just clicking. Anyways it all started last semester at lunch. You remember how I told you guys that I really don't have any friends? And how eating lunch by very yourself at this school is like THE most awkward school ever? Right. So anyways being scared to death of eating by myself translated into me contacting literally every person I knew. My buddy Scott said he would eat with me. Giddy with excitement that I had found someone to eat with. Little did I know that the events which would follow would change my life.

I walked into Southside that day and Scott introduced me to his friends, most I had met before, but remember I'm socially awkward. Most took notice of my unseen eating habits. I believe that day I had Coco Puffs with chocolate milk followed by four slices of pizza and maybe a chicken patty, topped off with maybe ten cookies. Yea I go hard. The person sitting next to me was my newest friend Roop. Now Roop really took a liking to me for some strange reason (if I was someone else I would be cautious of me). Needless to say we hit it off (it's the matching back packs).

Every Tuesday and Thursday following I would eat lunch with the gang. We had some good times like the time, Roop challenged me to eat a whole pizza (I did it like a boss) or the time they filmed me blowing bubbles in my drink (yes I know I am very mature, video is on my facebook). These lunch dates earned me more dates. I was named coach of their flag football team (I don't know dip about football besides special teams) but I led them to the playoffs, we could have gone further if Mr. Dip and Drops (Roop) over here would have come up with some interceptions (you still owe me one bud).

Roop, really took a liking to my football skills (more people should be like Roop) and I named him my agent (we are looking towards the CFL in about three years). As my agent Roop as done a good job advertising me (he's a much better salesperson than anyone I know, he can sell ice to an eskimo!) Oh and I do owe him an apology on the snow blower thing. He was the first to start selling snowblowers this winter, he knew about this winter before anyone else! But as my agent he keeps me in line. Sometimes he deems some of my face books remarks inappropriate and reminds me that the CFL is always watching. Not only is Roop a good agent he is an outstanding volleyball player. Some of his setting skills can't be toped. Although he may not be the best reader. I lent him a book back in November about midgets, sex, and talking elephants and he still hasn't read it. All I know is that he is missing out on the meaning of life which is in that book.

I am very disappointed that since it is a new semester we no longer have our lunch dates. But it's okay because of the generation we live in we can communicate at the drop of a hat. Roop will be living the good life come the next five years, he plans to be an accountant which means he will be making bank, and he will bringing in 10% commish for being my agent. So ladies, my boy will be making bank, hop on that bandwagon before it leaves town. So I will leave you n the words of Roop, "Kicker, GETS IT IN!" (He means between the uprights...I at least hope.)

P.S. That picture was from the caps game. And yes I am so fly I am allowed to wear my sunglasses at night, not just sunglasses 7-11 aviators.

Kicker's First..... Roommate

2010-02-02T15:27:00.000-08:00

Well my actual first roommate was my little brother Tim. We roomed together at my house in Monroe, CT. between the years 1993-1996. Now let me tell you we had some baller times in that room. The good times consisted of playing farm, telling stories, having stuffed animal wars and spying on people after we went to sleep. Yea we were pretty much secret agents (we took down some serious "commie" babysitters in our day).

Okay so fast forward eleven years and enter Josh. Whoever assigned us together to room in the infamous Jefferson 1st (nine kids got kicked out first semester, may they rest in peace), must have thought they were playing a sick joke. You see besides our love for sports and women Josh and I were total opposites. I am tall, Josh is short. I have light hair, Josh has dark hair. I wear tennis shoes, Josh wears his Air Force Ones. The list could go on and on. When we were assigned to live with each other we did naturally what any full blooded eighteen year old would do, FACEBOOK FRIEND REQUEST! It was love at first chat.

When Josh moved in on August 23, 2007. I had already been there for about week because of football. Relieved to finally have a friend, I was excited to meet him in person. I believe his first words were along the lines of, "Sup, you see dem hotties outside." Josh didn't have my awkward problem, well he sort of did, but he wasn't shy of other people like me. Some of my first memories with him consisted of some drunk girl trying to break into our room at three in the morning our first week and Josh yelling, "GET THE F**K OUT B**CH." The good times would roll on from there. These good times consisted of pouring cold water on people in the shower, stealing towels, and playing intense video games with each other. But that tom foolery is just the start of our two year adventure.

Some of my fondest memories of Josh consist walks from the JC to the Park. These walks were fun filled and often dangerous. Fun, like the one time Josh managed to high five every girl on the way back followed by, "Do you want to be my friend?" (More said no then yes). The danger came during the ice storm. Josh stole a tray from the JC and began sliding on the ice. Well attempting to slide. He ate it most of the time. (I have full videos of the slides on my facebook). His best slide consisted of him slipping off of the tray, hitting a rail and flipping into the bushes. It was something out of the best crashes of the X-Games (for those who care, he wasn't hurt).

Our relationship was one closeness. We took care of each other. Like the one night when I came back "hamboned" drunk and said I wanted chicken fingers from Ikes! Well Josh obliged and only after I hit my head on my bed and passed out did they arrive. Like a good roommate Josh woke me up, I ate my chicken tenders brushed my teeth and went to bed. Josh and I had different sleep patterns. I was a morning bird, he was a night owl, so he liked to stay up later than me. He had good times while I was asleep. One time we managed to duck tape our entire bunk (I was on the bottom in the man cave) trapping me in. Or the time he managed to convince a drunk girl to come into bed with me while I was asleep. I woke up freaked out and angry. I should have thanked him.

They are so many more memories we had together, but just not enough lifetime to explain them all. However sad now that Josh's time here at Mason has come to an end. The "MAN" here at Mason kicked him out. I believe he was wronged, his patriotweb doesn't back that fact up. You only get on first roommate in this world and I got the best damn one.

Getting Your Grub on With Kicker

2010-02-01T10:54:00.000-08:00

I am nutritionists nightmare, that lives by the eating habits Chad Ochocinco
. I really don't know why I eat so much junk especially since my mother would cook up the best food in town. If we want to analyze the situation, we must trace it all the way back to 7th grade. In 7th grade I probably was 80lbs, no lie. I HATED, and I mean I HATED eating breakfast. I don't know what was so unappealing about the cereal or oatmeal or whatever my mother had prepared for me. I wouldn't eat it. Then from 11:45 to 12:00 was lunch at my school. First off, this school was like having to sit through all three "Lord of the Rings". I mean I wanted to blow my brains out listening to those sexist teachers, (I was one of ten boys in my grade, and literally had detention at least once a week for the stupidest things, like for pegging a girl at recess playing dodge ball, showed her what was up.) Second off, what kind of school allows for 15 minutes for lunch! Needless to say my lunch was never finished on time. So by the time I would get home at around 3:30 I had about nothing to eat all day. Dinner was my favorite meal and my mother would cook up some good stuff after working all day. I'm talking about steak, green beans, roast chicken, london broil, potatoes, asparagus. Good stuff. Anyways my early eating habits were terrible. I literally would have only one meal a day.

My parents were never ones for junk food, soda, candy, whatever. And that was a problem with me. I have a major sweet tooth, lets just say my dentist and I are arch enemies (we literally dropped the gloves once and went at it, psh what cavities). So when I got my license I was finally free to go get all the sugar I wanted. It was like kissing a girl, well not sure what thats like...... lets just say it was pretty fricking awesome. With all the junk I was eating, McDonalds, Taco Bell, candy, soda, 7-11 trips. I don't know how I wasn't getting fat. In an age that people are health nuts, I was just cruising through and life laughing at those stupid diets and bigger people crying about watching weight and such. In short I was D-head about it. The only exercise I was getting was at soccer practice and as a back-up goalie it was more like okay, "Okay John, were doing free kicks, get in goal." aka target practice.

Enter College. And my terrible eating habits followed me. Only this time I was forced to workout. Here is what my day looks like.

9:30am - Rise and shine, shower, the whole ten yards, Red Bull and Coco Puffs Cereal Bar.
10:30-12- Class. Maybe have a bottle of water with me
12-1pm- Lunch @ Southside. 3 slices of Pizza, Chicken Patty with fries, MAYBE a chicken wrap, some soda and chocolate milk with cookies.
1-3 - Class
4-7 - Practice, maybe grab some candy and a smoothie at the RAC before.
7-8 - Dinner, pretty much the same as lunch, might get a pasta bowl, or if the special is any good.
8-10 - Homework.
10-11 Maybe some IKES before bed? Chicken Tenders, or a Tuna Melt.
11-???- More homework followed by bed.

If you are reading this and are stunned, don't be. Because I am just as stunned that I'm not like 700lbs. Instead I am a slender 165lbs with almost a six pack. I don't get it and I tell the haters "Child Please, Let's go to dinner, McDonalds on me."

P.S. Yes, I did eat that whole pizza by myself.

Who is this Kicker kid?

2010-01-31T19:00:00.000-08:00

My friends, or these people who act somewhat friendly towards me, get that question a lot. Why? Well I'm not totally sure but I may be able to provide some input on the situation. Im not popular, cool, good looking. In fact I'm straight goofy. I entered college at beefy 6'0 133lbs. Tack on uncoordination and a stunning awkwardness when talking to people....you get the picture. I have improved slightly since then (I'm now more filled out, still uncoordinated, and little awkward)

Growing up my love has always been sports, my downfall (well talent yes) but my choices for position. In soccer and hockey I was a goalie. Talk about being crazy enough to throw your body in front of a moving object not knowing whats going to happen next. After my soccer career I needed something to keep me entertained. I turned to kicking. Well isn't it fitting that the most awkward kid in the world plays the most made fun of position in the world? Ironic? No. Destiny? Yes.

So as of now we have a picture of lanky, awkward, kid, who thinks he is an athlete. We can now talk about my social life (or lack of) While most of my peers in high school were out doing whatever 16,17,18 year old kids do (I wouldn't know). I was at home having movie night with Mom and Dad, which was followed up by hours of playing FIFA, Madden or NHL. My school days consisted of surviving and kissing ass at an all guys school. I wasn't a total loser I had some friends. But sometimes lunch would take place in the library (Do you know how hard it is to quietly stick a straw in Capri Sun!) So lets just say I wasn't the coolest kid in high school.

So now we combine all this at college. Well what an eye opener. Being a kicker didn't exactly get me any invites out until later, and the whole girl thing...let's not go there. So the first couple of months were well awkward...like me. Filled with lunches by myself in JC (by the way the most awkward thing ever), trying to crack the girl code (still working on that), and painful looking field goal attempts. Well did I cope with while most kids would lock themselves in a closet. I decided to become goofy. I've always been a bit of a smart ass, so I would force my self to be social and would work my way up. So life got better I made some friends, started making some kicks, the girl thing is still one of the great mysteries in my life. But when people ask, "Who's this kicker kid?" it's probably because I did something crazy, or said something ridiculous. But hey thats me.

So this blog is not suppose to be about me. But as my first blog post I figured I would introduce my self. I will write about everything from news to crazy nights out. Just check daily for "Life With Kicker!"