Goodbye

Going into this year, I had barely even been in a public school building. I had been homeschooled for my entire life. I guess I was a smart enough kid, but I still thought that succeeding academically would be my toughest challenge. Boy, was I wrong. I just found out yesterday what the absolute hardest thing about public school is.
Saying goodbye.
On Friday, the seniors at Southern Hills Career and Technical Center, as well as Western Brown High School, spent their last day at school. As I bid farewell to one of my favorite people in the world, Echo, at the end of the day, the thought of never people like her again became too much. I am not ashamed to say that I broke down into tears right there on the schoolbus.
I just want to thank the class of 2009 for making this year so great. My favorite seniors Echo and Cotton Candy are amazing, I love you guys, and I will never forget you.

Thanks once again...

The latest challenge we faced in my Graphic Communications class was showcase. This time, it was for real. My team (team SuperAwesomeNinja) led by Nate Robinson did a advertisement campaign for local musician Michael Rickey. We wrapped up the presentation today, and as of right now, we don't know who won. But nonetheless, I enjoyed working with Nate, Alexis Colliver, and Jeff Brunk. Thanks to you guys for making this a great couple weeks.

Thanks

Over the last few weeks, I spent my time at school working on a big Graphic's project. I was the leader of Team W.U.L.O (Wake Up and Live Organization) as we worked on a public service announcement about living life now.

After a lot of hard work by all involved (Amanda, Nate, Jeff, Travis, Steven, and myself), we made it through the presentation unscathed... and victorious!

I would like to thank my team for a well-deserved 98 on the project, we definitely proved that we could do it, and do it well. You guys are the best!

Bengals, Williams reach deal

It's now official. We've been hearing for a couple days now that the Cincinnati Bengals and former Dallas Cowboy safety Roy Williams were talking, but now we know for sure.

I really like this deal.

The Bengals now add Williams, a true boom or bust type of player, to their relatively full roster of safeties. Chris Crocker, Marvin White, Chinedum Ndukwe, Kyries Hebert, and Corey Lynch are already set to play safety for Cincinnati in 2009, and the addition of five-time Pro Bowler Williams should only improve depth and add competition in training camp.

I'm not blind to Williams' flaws, he has some injury problems (two broken forearms) last year limited him to thre games in 2008. Even when healthy, the former Cowboy still had his problems. The main knock against him is his pass coverage skills. However, he is still a player that amassed 19 interceptions over his first six seasons. Williams should fit in at the role that he will be asked to fill however, as a hard-hitting tackler. Now with a team that has seen its fair share of defensive backs that appear scared of contact, his 506 career tackles fill a hole.

I'm not saying Williams will be that ever-elusive 'final piece' of the puzzle, however he may turn out to be a corner piece.

Other news in Bengals-land, Cincinnati made a blockbuster trade today... for those who don't understand sarcasm, that was a prime example. St. Louis received backup defensive tackle Orien Harris in exchange for RB Brain Leonard. Leonard was the Ram's second round pick in 2007 out of Rutgers, and rushed for 303 yards on 86 carries (3.5 ypc) in his rookie campaign. He also caught 30 passes for 183 yards that year. Leonard spent nearly all of 2008 on IR. The newest Bengal may be used as Cedric Benson's backup, or maybe even fullback, where he spent some time in St. Louis.

This is a crime

We've heard that it was going to happen, but now it appears that it may soon be a done deal. Honestly, I just thought it was going to turn out to be a lot of talk, and nothing else. Never did it seriously cross my mind that it would actually happen. The day that it occurs (if it does in fact happen) will be a sad, sad day. One that I will look back on with nothing but disgust. I just found out the news last night, and it may just ruin the rest of my week.

The Super Bowl may be moving to London.

It came across the wire in England that the NFL's championship game may move to London's Wembley Stadium as soon as the year 2014. Honestly, my confidence in commissioner Roger Goodell would be shaken if this actually happens.

Ever since Goodell took over what I can only assume to be a football-shaped office, the league seems to be overly concerned with gaining popularity outside of the U.S. These efforts were hurt by the shutting down of NFL Europe in June, but greatly aided in 2007 when the league decided to play at least one game overseas every year. Back in 2005, the Arizona Cardinals and San Francisco 49ers drew the largest NFL regular-season crowd in history with 103,467 attending the game...which was played at Azteca Stadium in Mexico City.

Doesn't sound like overseas interest needs any help.

There's another side to this story. Roger Goodell denies that any Super Bowl in the near future will be played outside of the U.S. saying that the league "has never looked at London or Mexico City" as a host of the big game.

The newest rumor that the NFL is outsourcing its championship game came from the BBC on Friday, saying offcials in London were engaged in "substantive talks" with the league about hosting the Super Bowl. Ever since the Giants and Dolphins kicked off the annual England event two years ago, this kind of talk has surfaced and resurfaced every few months.

This year's version of the NFL overseas game will feature the New England Patriots and Tampa Bay Buccaneers; you can be sure that it will once again spark this debate on sports talk radio shows that have nothing better to talk about.

Tomlinson's test

If the NFL was the food pyramid (the original one, not the new one) players like Tom Brady, Peyton Manning, Adrain Peterson, and Larry Fitzgerald would be at the bottom. They would be the bread, the base; the foundation of the entire league.

Ladainian Tomlinson would be right there with them.

For the last eight years, L.T. has been one of the most dominant players sports has ever seen. Since coming into the league in 2001, Tomlinson has carried the ball more than 2,500 times for nearly 12,000 yards, while scoring 141 touchdowns. Since his rookie year, the annual Pro Bowler has lost only 5 fumbles, and averaged more than 4.5 yards per carry.

Simply put, L.T. has been the best.

But last year, Tomlinson had his worst season as a pro since 2001, his rookie campaign. Injuries were the primary reason L.T. wasn't his usual dominant self, but some wonder if the 30 year-old is following in the steps of so many runningbacks before him, who lost production when they hit the big 3-0. His situation was made even worse over the offseason, when some speculated that he wouldn't be back with his career team, the Chargers, after contract disputes and the emergence of backup Darren Sproles.

I think it's sad that potentially the best runner in NFL history could be on the decline. If he is, then I think it will be further proof that the lifespan of runningbacks in the NFL is shrinking quickly, because if L.T. is nearly done at 30, everyone else will be too. But if L.T. still has some gas left in his tank...opposing defenses better watch out.

BCS: Under Investigation?

Apparently, college football's Bowl Championship Series is so unfair that it's illegal. Kind of. The truth is, congress is taking a look at how the NCAA determines it's champion.

All fans of sports and Andy Rooney remember last November, when the current President of the United States told CBS news program "60 Minutes" that he thought the current BCS system should be revamped, saying he would prefer an eight team playoff.

Honestly, I'm as against the BCS as anyone. However the government getting involved in any sport is one step closer to the government controlling everything. When sports are mixed with politics, bad stuff happens. Stuff like this.

"It's like communism," Rep. Joe Barton of Texas said of the situation ""meaning that it will be very difficult for any bowl, including the current BCS bowls, which are among the oldest and most established in the game's history, to survive."

"You can't fix it," he continued. Barton also suggested that the "C" should be dropped from the name because it doesn't produce the real champion. "Call it the 'BS' system."

Haha. I've never heard that one before.

The BCS isn't perfect; no sport's post-season is. Wildcard teams in the NFL like Pittsburgh and the New York Giants have proven that any team, no matter what their regular season was like, could get hot and win it all. This could include a team that didn't even make the playoffs.

I simply think the fact that just because college football's way of crowning a champion might be a little less acurate than others is no reason to go all the way to capital hill the same way the likes of Barry Bonds and Mark McGuire did.