Archives: Random
My Take on Michael Jackson
So I have to give my opinion on this. It’s too big for me not to.
I have been listening and hearing it all. It’s kind of hard not too (especially cause my mom is so into it). But it made me think of this:
He will not be remembered 20 years from now for the great music he put out or the tremendous amount of charity work and donations he did and made. He will be remember for what he alledgedly did wrong.
I’m not here to throw stones (I have done too much wrong for me to judge this man) but the allegations are serious, but I feel he has done more good than wrong. The man put out some of the greatest songs of today’s generation. He put out “Thriller” for goodness sakes. He has so many hit songs its insane.
He may not have been a perfect human being, but who can say they are? He touched countless people and influenced many more. When was the last time CNN broadcast somebody’s memorial service?
I feel that he set the stage for many of today’s top performers. He is a great dancer and entertainer who will be greatly missed, but will live on thru his music and kids.
RIP Michael Jackson The King of Pop
Gene
Couldn’t Ask for a Better Friend
Wensday night, I was going through some small personal issues and my roommate since freshman year, Anthony Ruggiero, noticed after I sent a small text message. He asked what was going on and I told him, and he didn’t hesitate and put things in perspective and started making jokes, immediatly bringing a smile to my face. He told me to check my email when I got back, so I did, and one was absolutly perfect for me. I was called “So you think you are having a bad day” and it very quickly made me feel a thousand times better. The other one was just full of interesting and funny facts. All this really made me realize that as much as I make fun of him for being lazy or stupid, I couldn’t have asked for a better roommate or friend.
He and I have had so many funny memories and he is somebody that I will always be ther for anything he needs. Everybody should have their own Anthony Ruggiero.
Gene
Rise to the Top/Changing the World
Last week, I went to see “Notorious”. Its about Notorious B.I.G. (or Biggie Smalls) and his life and rise through hip-hop. There were two lines that really caught my attention.
The first was, Biggie Smalls was talking to 2Pac and 2Pac told him “enjoy the ride to the top because when you get to the top, everyone comes for you.” I think that really is true, because when you are an unknown, people aren’t worried that you are going to take their success away from them. When you are learning how to get better, you have room for error and you are going to other people for advice, rather than the other way around.
For exampl, last year’s most suprising/dominant player in Division I Men’s Basketball was Stephen Curry of Davidson College (I know I write about him, but he is such a great role model and a great player to write about). Last year, the “Power Conference” schools weren’t that worried (or didn’t seem to be), and then he just went off in the NCAA Tournament. He led his “Cinderella” Davidson Wildcats within 3 points of a Final Four berth. Now, teams are locking in on him making sure they know where is at all times. Against Loyola, he was double-teamed the entire game, even when he didn’t have the ball. But the next game, he scored 44 points against North Carolina State.
The other was Sean “Puff Daddy” Combs telling Biggie, “We can’t change the world till we change ourselves.” This is such a great quote because you have to be the change you want to see in other people. If you expect the world to change, you have to be willing to as well.
Gene
RIP RBD
You Don’t Know What You Have
So, this past week, I have been out with mono (possibly). I have had to do a lot of resting, so it has given me time to think. And as the old saying goes “You don’t know what you have, till its gone.”
This past week basketball was taken away from, and as Lauren Fry (or as I call her Mama Lauren) can back me on, it has killed me. Practice has been going on and I can’t be there. There were two games, and I couldn’t be on the bench. She was at both games with me and just saw on my face how badly I didn’t want to be in the stands. I’m really hoping my doctor tells me today that I’m ok, so I can go on our road trip to Tampa tomorrow. If not, I’ll probably end up going insane.
The best thing that has come out of this, is I have learned to really appreciate the time that I still have here and try to squeeze everything I can out of it.
Gene
Another Random Thought (Who Would Have Guessed Haha)
So like I’ve said before, I have random thoughts that go through my head and today was no different. I was walking and the following quote/thought popped in my head.
“If you want to know what I think ask, if you don’t ask then don’t assume what I think.”
I think this is something that applies to everything and everybody. I pride myself on being truthful when asked my opinion. I don’t like when people assume things about me, because 99.9% of the time, it’s wrong.
I don’t run from the truth and I don’t hide from reality. So if you’ve got a question, ask it. I don’t care how you ask it, just don’t assume about my thoughts because you are probably wrong, because, if it’s a guess it’s a mess.
Gene
Missing People/Things from Home
So I’ve been gone from home for just under three weeks and I miss a couple of things and people.
I miss my parents first off. I love them with all my heart and it was great this summer walking into the store and joking around with them. This summer I learned so much from them about the store and why they make certain decisions and how they handle certain situations. Also, their support they gave me with the different camps I went to this summer.
I miss my brother Ben as well. He cracked me up so much this summer. He and I bonded a couple times this summer. I love him so much, he’s a great brother.
I miss the employees at the store. They made going to the store everyday fun. Just joking around with them kept me from going crazy. I can’t wait to see every single one of them again.
I miss Lauren. That girl is my sister. While not biological, I consider her my little sister and would do anything for her and want to be there for her for anything she needs. I have a picture on my desk here at school of her and I from her graduation, and it makes me miss her. I miss going to lunch with her everyday and having someone at the store who is my age.
I miss my dogs. My golden retriever, Candy, is 15 and I know a phone call is coming soon from my mom and I’m not looking forward to that. She will always be my princess and baby girl. She’s the only dog I’ve really known for a long time. We got here when I was in 2nd grade, so right about 14 years. My dad’s schnoodle, Shaggy, is just funny. He’s like 4 but the laziest little dog you’ll ever meet. All he does at the store is lay in his chair and eat. Then when he gets home he runs around for about 10 minutes then lays down again. But I do have to say he is a cute dog and I love him.
I miss my cousin, Andrew. He moved in June out to Utah and now is at the University of Denver, but when we hung out we had fun. He was there for so much in my life. I love him. He’s my best friend and brother. It’s going to be different when I go home and he’s not there.
I miss all my family in New Orleans. It was fun going to visit them for a week over 4th of July. We had fun just hanging out and being around each other. I hope they come down here sometime and visit.
I just miss my city. I miss driving into town and seeing everything and everybody.
Gene
My “Dream Team”
With the Olympics in full swing, I got to thinking again (yes trouble I know) who would my “Dream Team” from this year be? These are just pros. I’ll have a college list in the near future.
Well, my point, or 1, guard would have to be Chris Paul from the New Orleans Hornets. I love the way he plays and is very unselfish with the ball, but can score when he needs to. My backup would be Steve Nash from the Phoenix Suns. He is very similar to Chris Paul with the unselfishness and scoring, and he runs the floor very well.
My shooting, or 2, guard would be Kobe Bryant from the LA Lakers. He is a playmaker, but gets his teammates involved. My backup would be Manu Ginobili of the San Antonio Spurs. He is a great shooter and is a true team leader.  I have to have an honorable mention here. It is Ray Allen of the Boston Celtics. He is a pure shooter, but can take it to the hole as well as play great defense.
My small forward, or 3 man, would be without a doubt LeBron James of the Cleveland Cavaliers. He does the same as Kobe, and is a great leader in the community. He is somebody that I feel young players should look up to. My backup would be Paul Pierce of the champion Boston Celtics. He is a tough individual who plays good defense and is a good shooter.
My power forward, or 4 man, would be Kevin Garnett also of the Boston Celtics. He is a great team leader, who is a top defender as well as scorer. My backup would be Chris Bosh of the Toronto Raptors. He is a similar type to Garnett, not as much defensively, but he can stretch out a defense. I’m going to add a “future Dream Team Member” here. Al Jefferson of the Minnesota Timberwolves. He is a player that just keeps getting better and better. He is a good force on the inside and will benefit tremendously from the addition of O.J. Mayo.
My center, or 5 man, would be Dwight Howard of the Orlando Magic. He is a dominant force on the inside on both ends of the court and plays with a great enthusiasm. He seems like a player that would be a joy to coach. My backup would be Tim Duncan of the San Antonio Spurs. He is, like Howard, a force on the inside, and while he may look unathletic, consistently puts up big numbers and is a great team leader.
 I feel that this team is loaded with talent and good character. The only character flaw on this team was Kobe’s Colorado incident, but I still feel that every member of this team can be looked up to in a very positive manner.
Gene
A couple thoughts from my head
At times, thoughts go through my head that can be very random, but smart at the same time. Well, now is no different.
With the passing of Bernie Mac, may he rest in peace, it got me wondering, why is it that in death, people talk more about people than when they are alive. I heard a rapper say a line that fits this. “They hate you when you livin and love you when your dead.” Before his death, Bernie Mac was hardly if ever mentioned on Sportscenter and honored at a Chicago White Sox game. Before Heath Ledger’s death, he wasn’t ever mentioned as a great actor. He was mentioned when people talked about Brokeback Mountain, but mostly because of the controversy with his character. Now I’m not speaking ill of either of these men. I greatly respect all they did in their careers and lives. I just find that in our culture and society, we take people for granted. I am just as guilty because I never thought about my grandfather pasing away and expected for him to live longer, so I just always expected to see him again. I believe this is the reason that we talk about Heath and Bernie like we do.
Another thought has to do with movies as well. Titanic made $600 million in theaters. The new Batman is supposed to beat it, but my thought is, if we compare ticket prices there is a big difference. I wonder if it would even be close if you made the ticket prices the same. I know this is random, but I was going into the movie theater to go see the new Mummy (which is really good by the way) and the thought popped into my head.
Another thought I had was while I was talking to my mom. She told me how an employee went about asking for a raise, and I told her that there was a song that said “If it ain’t direct, I dont respect it.” She agreed with it and she said that when dealing with her in the business world, she wants people who are direct and she is as direct when dealing with employees or the people she buys from.
I hope you enjoyed getting a look inside my head, as scary and random as it can be.
Gene Â
The Best Time of the Year
Ok, so this weekend, while I was home, one of the greatest weekends for a college basketball fan happened. Division I conference tournaments were finishing up and the day every one looks forward to. That day would be Selection Sunday. The day where Division I teams learn if they get to participate in the “Big Dance,†and if they do, where they get to play and more importantly who they will play.
The top 4 seeds in the tournament are the University of North Carolina, University of Kansas, the University of Memphis, and the University of California- Los Angeles. UNC earned the overall top seed by winning the Atlantic Coast Conference regular season and conference tournament championships. Kansas won the Big 12 conference tournament, and finished second to the University of Texas, who is a 2 seed, in the regular season. Memphis won both Conference USA titles and lost only one game the whole year, to the University of Tennessee, another 2 seed. UCLA won both PAC-10 titles. My home team, the University of Arkansas, is a 9 seed after advancing to the SEC Championship game, but falling short for the second consecutive year. A game that will be very intriguing to watch is in the Midwest region, where number 6 USC will play number 11 Kansas State. Both teams have freshman who will be NBA stars. Kansas State has Michael Beasley, who is considered to be better than Kevin Durant, last years National Player of the Year, and who has been considered the front-runner for NBA Rookie of the Year throughout the year. USC has O.J. Mayo who has been highly touted ever since about his 8th grade year. Both teams have shown flashes of greatness, but neither team has been able to sustain it throughout the whole year.
If you are filling out a bracket, remember a few things, 1) Since 1979, never have all number 1 seeds advanced to the Final Four. The closest was in 1993, when 3 number 1’s and a number 2 advanced. 2) Check out injuries. In 2000, the University of Cincinnati was a number 2 seed, but got knocked out in the second round since its top player, Kenyon Martin, suffered a serious injury and wasn’t going to be able to return for the tournament. 3) Check out other circumstances, for example, is the team under an interim coach? How did the team play at the end of the year? How did they do against tournament teams? After Kelvin Sampson’s contract was bought out, the University of Indiana Hoosiers went 3-3, and at times showed the appearance of not wanting to play, for this reason, I have Arkansas beating them. 4) Where is the game going to be played? Most teams better at home, because they have fan support right there, while others do better away from home, because they don’t feel pressured to have a career night every night just to impress family and friends. But at times, it works just to randomly pick a team, because the only game where a team hasn’t upset a higher seed is the 1-16 game.
To me, the hardest games to pick are the 8-9, 7-10, and 6-11. For these, I look at my tip number 3, as well as the makeup of the teams. If one is full of underclassmen, and the other is full of upperclassmen, I’m more than likely going to pick the experienced team.
To me, this is the most fun time in the basketball season. Every team brings their best every game, because if they don’t, they will have their season end before they want it to. And you get to see the best of the best one the court at one time.
I hope I’m better for Saturday
This hasn’t been my greatest week. Saturday night my throat didn’t feel 100%, so I took a Tylenol PM thinking maybe I would be ok. The next morning I woke up and couldn’t swallow without any pain. I had a slight fever and just felt horrible. I didn’t go to practice since I was sick. That night when I slept, I woke up every hour. The next day we had an SGA Retreat. I got to Anthony’s house, one of our advisors, at 9. I couldn’t drink anything without pain or eat anything at all. Every couple of minutes I would get up and go to the bathroom because I felt like I had to vomit. After the retreat, I went to US Healthworks, a walk-in clinic, and the doctor told me I had a mild ear infection and a bad sore throat and prescriped me Z-Pack. I got back to school after filling my prescription and talked to Coach Heskett and told him I needed sleep so I wouldn’t be at practice, and he completely understood. Later that night my friend LeeLee, as we call her, brought me some ice cream hoping it would help me. It allowed me to get some food in my system, but still hurt going down.
On Tuesday, I felt worse and was having nausea, so I went to the Health Center on campus. The nurse said my throat looked really bad and gave me Pepto-Bismol pills. Then on Wensday I felt worse but without the nausea, so I went to the Boca Raton Community Hosptial, and the doctor thought I might have mono, so he ran a blood test. Luckily, he said I just had a viral infection, so thats why the Z-Pack wasn’t working, so he prescriped me with a liquid hydrocodone. And now, I’m starting to feel a little bit better.
This coming Saturday, both our game and the women’s game against Nova Southeastern will be broadcast online by the NCAA at ncaasports.com as well as on TV on CSTV. We are currently on a  3 game winning streak and tied for 2nd in conference play.
See you Saturday! GO KNIGHTS!
