Every Tuesday is Theme Day: MNF

Every Tuesday from now on I will share my picture of the week. The picture that I will choose from week to week will be sports related and this post I have chosen Monday Night Football. This picture is of the Pittsburgh Steelers Defense.



Before I get to the rest of this post, I would like to point out that today is election day. I have casted my votes and eagerly wait the results of the elections. Now you might be asking yourself "what does MNF have to do with the primary elections?" I will gladly answer that question right after I give my break down of the football game that took place last night in Washington D.C..

The game didn't take long to get exciting at Fed Ex Field. After the Washington Redskins won the toss over the Pittsburgh Steelers and elected to receive the football first, the Steelers lined up to kick off and tried to surprise a well aware Redskin team with an onside kick. The Redskins retained possession of the ball and proceeded to dance with the number one defense in the NFL, in the Pittsburgh Steelers. One minute and fifty nine seconds and nine yards later Shaun Suisham kicked a 44 yard field gaol to put the Redskins up 3-0. When the Steelers received the ball back for their second possession of the game, Ben Roethlisberger threw his first interception of the game. Three plays later Suisham kicked another field goal that was good from 43 yards out to make the score 6-0 Redskins with only 3:59 off the clock in the first quarter.

The Steelers didn't get on the board until the second quarter courtesy of a Jeff Reed 35 yard field goal. With 2:11 left in the first half of the football game, Ben Roethlisberger called his own number from the one yard line to score the game's first touchdown and a Jeff Reed extra point kick attempt made the score 10-6 Steelers. This wold be the last of the action Steeler fans would see of 'Big' Ben Roethlisberger due to an injury he suffered during that scoring drive. Not that the Redskins fans would mind much, but Ben would not return to the gridiron in the second half.

Pittsburgh wouldn't score again until the third quarter, when running back 'Fast' Willie Parker ran for a 1 yard touchdown making the score 16-6 Steelers. The last touchdown came in the fourth quarter when Steeler backup quarterback Byron Leftwich threw a five yard touchdown pass to Santonio Holmes making the final score 23-6 after a Jeff Reed extra point kick.

You might have noticed that I haven't mentioned much for the Redskins offensive side of the ball. That's because after the first four minutes, there wasn't any. Redskins running back Clinton Portis who not only leads all running backs in the NFL in rushing yards, but also has accumulated at least 120 yards rushing in the past five games in a row. Monday night he was help to only 51 yards rushing. The only time that the Redskins came close to scoring again is when they went for a touchdown pass on fourth down on the Redskin one yard line. However they came up short as they did all night due to the ridiculously tough Steeler defense. The Steeler defense kept the Redskins out of the end zone, which is something that other teams haven't been able to do for 33 years. Pittburgh's defense also gobbled up Jason Campbell, the Washington Redskin quarterback 7 times and intercepted him twice.

Now to the question you might have been asking yourself while reading this post. "What does MNF have to do with the primary elections?" Well here it is...For the past fourteen times that the Washington Redskins have played on Monday night, their victory or demise seems to play a role in whether or not the current party in the Whitehouse stays or changes. If Washington wins the ball game, the current party stays the same with the new President-elect. On the other side, which has happened more times than the latter, when they lose on Monday night, the party in the Whitehouse changes. Well this Monday prior to the primaries, the Redskins lost. So will past trends hold? We will find out in a few hours...



***The picture of the Pittsburgh Steelers that I have shown above was taken by Al Bello/Getty Images and is found on espn.com.

Game 1 of The World Series

A short aside from the creator of this blog...the following post is an last minute topic decision to finish an assignment for this class. We were given any topic to write on and with that at the mercy of my fingertips I came up with nothing. In hindsight, I came up with a topic that I am passionate about, the wide world of sports. Sports is something that I can always write about, taken for granted that there won't be a strike any time soon...uh with that being said, please enjoy my breakdown of game one of the World Series.

The Tampa Bay Rays and the Philadelphia Phillies played each other in a pitchers dual in game one of the world series. Fans didn't have to wait long to see that action get started when Tampa Bay pitcher Scott Kazmir started throwing pitches to Phillies batters in the top of the first inning. After Jimmy Rollins flied out to right field, Jayson Werth took a 3-2 count and was walked by Kazmir on the sixth pitch. Another six pitches later, Chase Utley hit a home run to right field giving Philadelphia the early lead 2-0.

Tampas first run came in the bottom of the 4th inning when Carl Crawford hit a solo homer to right field to cut the Phillies lead by half 2-1. The Rays scored their second run in the bottom of the 5th when Akinori Iwamura doubled to center allowing the previously walked batter, Jason Bartlett to jog across home plate unchallenged. Unfortunately for Rays fans this would be the only other run their team would produce for the evening.

After the fourth inning, the two starting pitchers Kazmir and Cole Hamels (Phillies) duked it out retiring their respective sides until the seventh inning where a pitching change was made by the Tampa Bay Rays. JP Howell replaced Scott Kazmir. The seventh inning started with Jayson Werth striking out swinging followed by a single to shallow center from Chase Utley. The Phillies fans favorite batter, ex grand-slam champion, Ryan Howard stepped up to the batters box only to strike out swinging but not before Utley reached third by a stolen base and a wild pitch by Howell. At this time Balfour for the Rays was called from the bull pen and came in to retire the side leaving stranded Philly runners in scoring position. Balfour pitched for the rest of the game for the Rays.

B. Lidge came in to pitch for the Phillies in the bottom of the ninth to get the save.

The Phillies took a close game from the Rays in game one from St. Petersburg, FL. The final score was 3-2, but both teams prior to the game were happy to be in the World Series after their respective playoff roads. Before starting this game the Philladelphia Phillies were (7-2) in the NL post season. The Phillies only allowed a combined two losses from both teams they faced in order to reach the big dance. The Milwaukee Brewers who reached the playoffs in a wild card went down to the Phillies three game to one in a series best of five. Then the Phillies faced the LA Dodgers who swept the lovable losers and my favorite team, the Chicago Cubs. The Dodgers too followed the Brewers lead and fell to the Phillies in the NLCS best of seven game series four games to one.

The real talk of the baseball town was the Tampa Bay Rays young but hopeful team. A lot of critics were sceptical early in the season wondering if these boys were the real deal and yes they are. The Rays players are playing in the biggest games of their lives coming after a season where they finished a dismal 65-97. The Rays went from the worst record in baseball to the best record in baseball one year later. This years post-season for the Rays (7-4) has been a little more challenging than that of Philadelphia. First the Rays beat the Chicago White Sox three games to one and then turn around to beat the Boston Red Sox in the ALCS. The Rays only won this best of seven series by one game (4-3).

No matter the road that both these baseball teams had to take, they are playing in the 2008 World Series. This is for the big cheese, the bragging rights, and to be able to say that they were the best baseball team that the 2008 season had to offer. Fans, families, and friends of both of these organizations should be proud that their team made it. Unfortunately, the end will be a little sweeter for some than others.

Go Cubbies!!!

Picture of the week:

Money...no matter how much a person has whether it's a little, or sleeping in a house laid with gold bricks, we always want a little more. I definitely wouldn't mind if I hit a $300 million Powerball. Most people wouldn't, but lets face it folks, we would have a better chance of getting struck by lightning 10 times before we were lucky enough to match all the numbers for the grand prize.

The economic crisis that has gripped the U.S. makes up the majority of the news headlines nationwide and now is starting to spill over seas in the world markets. The Bush Administration and Congress have proposed a 'buyout', which comes with a $700 billion price tag is designed to help stimulate the economy. But I am not so sure that the middle American tax payer will agree. From what I have read or seen on CNN, and I may have misinterpreted the the entire idea of this proposal, is that the tax payers money will be used to bail out the rich business owners who are about to bail out to avoid bankruptcy.

I chose this picture because it directly coincides with a previous blog that I wrote for an assignment last week. I wrote a post about the first Presidential debate between Senators McCain and Obama, which was held at the University of Mississippi. A U.S. recession and rising gas prices has not been very forgiving for many businesses in our area alone. We only need to look as close to Elkhart to see the economic troubles many companies are facing. Many businesses are either closing down or selling to the highest foreign bidder which leaves thousands of people with families and homes without jobs.

On the opposite side of the tarnished coin, it is hard for people that don't have jobs now, to find them. Let's face it, that is why most of us including myself are trying to better ourselves by furthering our educations with college or trade schools. To get jobs that will pay us a lot of those green cotton rectangles that have numbers on them and the bigger the number the better. If the economy stays in the slump that it's currently in, I am not so sure I want to graduate in the spring. It won't matter what degree a person has if there are no jobs to given. I also still think that the worst is yet to come...let's hope not. Why can't I hit the lottery?!

W315 Web Based Writing Assignment: About me and about this blog...

About me...

I am a student at IUSB (Indiana University of South Bend). I am a senior and an Informatics major. I took this class (Web-based Writing) as one of my electives for my major. I will graduate in the Spring of 09' which I am very much looking forward to.

I work at Applebee's Neighborhood Bar & Grill right now, well at least until I graduate from school. Hey its a job and it pays the bills right now. But working in the restaurant industry isn't so bad. My title is Service/Kitchen Professional, which basically is a stripped down version of a manager. I work full time, so it's kind of a juggling act between school and work. I am sure many of you understand that.

I enjoy art, whether it is a Picasso or a Garfunkal. I really enjoy music; all genres except for country. I still cant seem to wrap my brain around that style of music. You name the band and I have most likely seen them live. I'm not in a band or know how to play an instrument but I wish I did. If I could I would like to play the drums or the classic piano. I know they are two totally different worlds but...if I knew how to play both, I suppose my mental state or attitude would depict which one I would play. I also enjoy sports of all kinds, but I would have to agree that some of them are much more fun watching live instead of on TV. Lastly, I would have to say that my favorite thing to do is gaming. I love to play video games, as most nerdy guys do. Doesn't really matter what game or what platform (PS, PS2, x-box 360, PC, or even older gen systems), I just want to play it.

...this post is a basic overview of my personal reasons of why I chose the topic/s of my first blog. The title of that blog is W315 Web-Based Writing Assignment. Again as I stated in that blog, that post was an assignment given to me from my instructor as this post is. In that post we students were to write about 3 of our favorite blogs from a list of the top fifty. Normally I would probably never blog about the my personal top 3 blogging sites and in turn write about why I liked them in my own blog. I understand that it is always a good idea to 'kick props', as the urban folk would say, to other bloggers but it just isn't something that I would normally bring up in casual conversation, so why blog about it? Because I had to, that's right, as far as blogging is concerned, I sold out...because I want to get an 'A' in this class. Or maybe that's what blogging is all about...I don't know my feet are still wet.


Since I did write about this blog, let me tell you why I did so and why I was interested in doing so. The motivation behind this as I stated before is to make sure that I follow my professor's instructions but I did have a little freedom in picking the 3 blogs that I like the most, and I stated the reasons of picking those in my Web-Based Writing post. Feel free to read that blog for the reasons of why I picked those 3. There were many interesting blogs to choose from but for personal reasons I chose the 3 that I can relate to the most. I would encourage you as the reader to visit the same site that I found these blogs from because there is something for everyone on this list. You might find your next favorite blog site. I listed the URL in my previous blog but for the sake of simplicity, here it is again...http://www.guardian.co.uk/technology/2008/mar/09/blogs.

W315 Web-Based Writing Assignment

The following post is based off of an assignment that I have in one of my classes:

The following link should take you to the page where the 50 most powerful blogs can be located here.

For my assignment, I was to go to this site and then choose 3 different blogs that I enjoyed and why. Not to mention creating my first blog site was part of the assignment as well. Exciting stuff; enjoy my choices and rhetoric on why I chose them...

First choice...and not by any ranking system is called Perezhilton . The only reason why I chose this site is because I am one of those people that absolutely will not watch television programs such as E-entertainment or Gossip or programs that will offer information on our Hollywood celebrities. The same basically goes for this site. Some bloke with nothing better to do with his spare time decided that it would be great idea to write about the latest gossip on Paris Hilton or Britney Spears and in return get publicity himself. Nothing like feeding off others mistakes for personal gain. I really don't know who is worse, the paparazzi or this shlub...at least the paparazzi gets paid. I have my own issues that I have to worry about much less care who's doin' who in Hollywood land. Nothing like trying to get your picture taken for your own blog site when the celebrities in the picture either don't want you there or even know your there. Schmuck!

Okay enough of my opinionated b.s...the second blog that I chose is "Engadget". I chose this for the obvious reason that new technology is usually awesome. Or it could be that I am a just a 'new gadget' nerd. Most of these things I can't afford or even really need at this point in my life and most likely will sit somewhere covered in dirty laundry or gathering dust, but who cares, if it's freakin' cool, then I want it! Like "Atari Hero mod lets you rock out with ET". This is an Atari 2600 console hybrid with a faux_Gibson guitar from Guitar Hero. Gaming fans of old and new unite!

The last blog that I chose was Icanhascheezburger . I am a pet lover but moreover a cat lover. We could get into a debate about which pet is better a dog or cat but in the words of the great Robert DeNiro's character Jack Tibirius Byrnes in 'Meet the Parents' "Dogs are shallow animals Focker...and they always need attention". But on a personal level, cats a very self sustained animal and save for the occasional hair ball, are a farely clean. But enough of my defending reasons why 'I' like cats and onto this blog site. It basically is a series of pics of other person's cats in peculiar situations. There are also other links located on this blog that have to do with cats and kittens. However the pics alone are worth the visit.