#2 Mr. Dennis Dixon

Sunday Night Football. Great night? It should be, but, I can't shake the nerves. Ben and Charlie are out and now we are relying on Dennis Dixon and his backup, Tyler Palko, to lead our team. The Steelers have been shaky lately, to say the least. Slowly our chances of becoming even a wild card pick for playoffs are dwindling. With a loss tonight to Baltimore, I would kiss playoffs good-bye. The more I type about this, the more and more upset I become. Nonetheless, still got faith in the boys. They tend to flourish under pressure so let's hope that is the case tonight. If we win, there will be a follow-up. If we lose, you probably won't be hearing from me for a while.

Amazing.

Alright, I'm going way off topic here. Like, way-way-way off topic. Usually what you find here are my drunken stories of tailgating bliss or the top games of the week that excited or pissed me off, but not today. No, today I'm leaning away from the typical frat house talk and about to send your minds on quite the ride.
I was on facebook today, just stalking my friends, when I saw a link. It was my friend's blog so I thought I should check it out. She was talking about some video that is going to change our lives as we know it. I watched it. She was right. This guy is insane. He is beyond a genius. I really have no way of describing it and am completely stunned at the fact that anyone is so smart to create such a product. If you want to read about his background check out Hannah's blog, http://5feetofconcrete.blogspot.com/2009/11/speechless.html. If you want to get straight into the amazement, check out the link below. I know the 13 minutes is intimidating, but trust me, it is all well worth the time. http://www.ted.com/talks/pranav_mistry_the_thrilling_potential_of_sixthsense_technology.html

Aware? Not so much...

So, if you're in my blogging class, you should know our assignment. However, if your like me, you didn't understand it. Apparently I need to vividly describe five things that I encountered today, and look for a pattern, at least that's what I got from the instructions. I'll give it a shot, but don't blame me if it sounds lame.
O.k. I suppose the first thing I took notice to today was my puppy. He sleeps with me and is a pain in the ass. He woke me up at about 5 a.m. as usual. I don't know how vivid I can get with this one considering my vision was pretty blurry when I first opened my eyes, but, he is a puggle, wait no, he is the world's cutest puggle. The second thing that really grabbed my attention was the cold air today. I suppose I've been spoiled lately with all the amazing weather. Today was the first time in a while that I really wished I parked my car in the garage the night before. My entire Management Science class was next on my list. I actually paid attention for once. The teacher was clear and didn't confuse me and all the other kids in the classroom seemed alert too. It made me less tired and prevented me from coming home and needing a nap. So after class, I went to the computer lab to work on some homework. When I arrived at my house yet another thing caught my attention. The mail. I came home today at noonish and the mail still didn't come. I can remember a day when the mailman (or mail woman) came to my house everyday at 10 a.m., but not anymore. Lately it seems later and later as the weeks go by which really annoys me. But, nonetheless, no mail by 12 in the afternoon. The last thing on my list that I payed attention to was the leaves, or rather, lack of leaves. My entire back yard is a forest (literally) and the best time of year is now, when the leaves are all orange and red. But, as I look into my backyard, only one tree has leaves on it. And those leaves are old, crunchy, and brown. Just waiting to die I suppose.
Anyway, I don't see any correlation between my findings. Maybe I live a boring life, or am just ignorant to the world around me and I don't pay more attention to my surroundings. Either way, I think I completed the assignment and hopefully didn't screw this up too bad.

Penn State Tailgate

This weekend I was at Penn State and they played Ohio State. It was undeniably their biggest football weekend this year. Despite the loss, it was a great time. On Saturday, my friends and I woke up at 8 a.m. which was quite difficult after a night of partying. We started the morning off with mimosas. Wait, change that, I refuse to tailgate with mimosas if you can remember from my prior posts, therefore, I drank screwdrivers. Anyway, around 11 a.m. we trucked it up to Beaver Stadium which is a 40 minute walk. A 40 minute, completely sobering, walk. We made it to our friend's parent's tailgate around noonish just as they were setting up the food. This was easily the best tailgate ever for numerous reasons. First, awesome food. There was hot sausage, cider, soups, munchies, and any liquor you can imagine. Secondly, I got introduced to an executive at KPMG (an accounting firm in Pittsburgh), and he gave me his business card (FYI, I am an accounting major). Lastly, I met Lavar Arrington. He played for the Redskins and Giants before he retired. After the tailgate, we all continued to drink until 3 a.m. Needless to say, it was rough waking up at 9 the next morning to drive home.

MNF

Well, tonight is an away game and it's on a Monday. This poses as 2 tailgating problems, but, not to worry, I'll help you solve each of them. How do you tailgate for an away game? Hmm...tough, I know, but it is do-able. All a tailgate really is, is a group of people sharing food, beer, and stories, about a common team. Sure, it is better to be in a parking lot and have tickets for the game, but, it's not needed. So, for an away game, grab your friends and head to your favorite bar. You are bound to find more people there to cheer on your team, and you have the beer and food part covered too. This is also a solution to the Monday night problem. Generally people work Monday to Friday which can make it difficult to stay up late enough to see the end of the game. But, once again, go to the bar. The constant cheering or bashing of the other team is guaranteed to keep your eyes open. And being tired for Tuesday can wait. You can sleep while you're dead. Enjoy the time you have with you friends getting drunk, and remember, a hangover goes away, but, the fact that you were too lame to have a good time, will stick with you forever.

The Perfect Description of a Tailgate

So earlier this week I was at the gym. In my gym there is a huge magazine rack full of the latest gossip magazines as well as, the stupid health magazines that are there for encouragement (But once you're at the gym what more encouragement do you need? Getting there is half the battle, right?). Here I am getting off topic. O.K. back to the real point. Right before I passed out, I hopped off the dreaded StairMaster and threw the latest People magazine back on the rack, (It was full of B-list celebrities, if not C-list. I do not recommend it.) and, to my surprise, the word "tailgate" was right in front of my eyes. Now at this point all I wanted to do is go home, so I looked at what magazine it was, and made a mental note to Google it later. Well, tonight I threw "Pittsburgh Magazine" into my Google Search and found the world's greatest article of all time. This article sums up my entire blog. It's like reading poetry. Everything from ambiance to fashion is in this column. It even boasts my main reason for writing this blog by saying, "Here in Pittsburgh, regulars will tell you that tailgating has been elevated to an art form." This article has everything. If you needed to know the etiquette or what games are played or hell, even where you can buy a keg-shaped grill with your team's name on it, you must check this out. Anyway, this article has inspired me to bust my ass to become the best damn tailgater I can be and make Pittsburgh proud. I hope it can do the same for you. Check it out...No really, do it. Now.

http://www.wqed.org/mag/features/1109/pittsburgh-steelers-tailgating-history.php

A Tailgate-less Sunday

Oh my, after this Sunday, I seriously questioned what I used to do before the football season. Talk about a boring Sunday. I was able to catch other games, but, they just weren't the same. Don't get me wrong, on a Sunday I watch every game I can, but I also have the Steelers incorporated in there somewhere. Basically, all I did on Sunday was lay on the couch and look for decent games to watch, without beer, and, without friends. No one is going to join me to watch two random teams play (even though the Vikings versus Packers game was a good one). All in all, it was a super boring Sunday. What is even worse is that we don't play again until Monday. So I am going to have to endure another boring Sunday. At least I'll be up at Penn State to watch them play Ohio State, so this weekend isn't a total loss. That will be a huge tailgating weekend at State College, so prepare for some excellent reviews. It's not the Steelers, but, it's the closest thing I can get right now.