Marathon Monday Forever Changed

Posted: April 18, 2013 in Miscellaneous, Tebow
Tags: , , , , ,
3

boston-strong-logoAbout five years ago on my first day in college, an upperclassman who was fixing the TV introduced me to what Marathon Monday was. Now, I had always known about the Boston Marathon, but never paid much attention. Marathon Monday has different meanings to different people. To college kids in the Boston area, it means a day of drinking from morning until night, which is what Marathon Monday meant to me for the past five years. Sadly, I never really understood how much the Marathon meant to a lot of people, as well as the city of Boston. So many people show up to support the runners and cheer on complete strangers who had trained hard to make the 26.2 mile journey to the finish line. I was able to make my way down to Washington Street at mile marker 17 to watch some of the race and cheer on some of the runners, but most years I hadn’t cared enough to take the time to go and support even just a few of  the participants who make the Marathon what it is.

Being about 10 miles from the finish line, none of us knew right away what had happened. People started finding out one at a time and making their way to a TV where they ended up for the remainder of the day. There were many different emotions from everyone. Some were shocked, some were worried, some were scared. Phone calls weren’t going through and people were trying to get a hold of friends or family that were near the finish line to make sure they were okay. The videos and pictures from the news are ones that will stick with all of us, I think, forever. Seeing all of the innocent spectators and runners targeted by such a gutless act just did not sit well with me at all. It opened my eyes to  how unpredictable the world is.

I immediately began thinking of what I could do to show my support for the people who were hurt or had died, or even those who were there and had to see first-hand things that no person should ever have to see. Now, I am not not a runner at all. I was an athlete most of my life and running was the worst part of practices for me. I couldn’t understand why people just ran for no reason. I still don’t quite understand, but some people who loved to run that were at the marathon won’t have the chance to anymore. People who lost their legs or suffered injuries that will change their lives forever won’t have the opportunity to run the marathon or run at all. That is the reason why I want to try my hardest to be able to participate in the Boston Marathon next year. I want to run the 26.2 miles for all of the people who can’t now.

President Obama said it best in his speech, “We may be momentarily knocked off our feet, but we’ll pick ourselves up, we’ll keep going. We will finish the race.” Marathon Monday used to be an exciting day for me to look forward to, but for all the wrong reasons. Going forward, the day will have a whole new meaning, and I think this is true for a lot of people. I only had the pleasure of living in Boston for four years, but I will always consider it home, and one year from now I have no doubt that the 118th Boston Marathon will be twice as big as this year and the people of Boston won’t let this tragic event affect how they move forward.

About these ads

Top 10 Best Shows on Netflix

0

I always see people tweeting or posting on Facebook asking what shows are good on Netflix for them to start watching. Now I have spent countless hours watching Netflix, sometimes even sickening to think of what other useful things I could have been doing with that time. Regardless, I have become a Netflix guru and can guide any of you looking for a new show to watch down the right path.

office10. The Office- I’m assuming most of the people reading this already watch The Office, but if you don’t then this is the perfect show for you to watch. I didn’t start watching it until about season 4, so I started from the beginning and watched in order and I think it was much funnier when you watch in sequence as compared to just picking up random episodes when it’s on. By far one of the funniest shows on TV, although there are only a few more episodes left which sucks as bad as Michael Scott Paper Company.

 

blue

9. Blue Mountain State- Here is another comedy show for you, which is about a college football team and is basically just them drinking and doing gross stuff every episode. Thad Castle might be one of the best characters in television history, and his character alone is reason enough for you to give this show a shot.

 

 

league

8. The League- If you like football, or fantasy football especially, this is the best show you’ll find. It literally describes what my fantasy football league is like. Yeah, it’s kind of pathetic that fantasy football can make my mood go from happy to wanting to off myself, but there’s nothing better than hoisting that fantasy trophy over your head when all your hard work has paid off.

 

 

goldrush

7. Gold Rush- There is only one season on Netflix right now, but the 3rd season just finished up and I’m sure they’ll throw the 2nd up there sometime soon. It’s a reality show following these guys who want to travel to Alaska to dig for gold. It’s a pretty interesting show, you can actually learn something if that’s what your into. If not you can let the actual facts go in one ear and out the other like me.

 

 

teen

6.Teen Wolf- You know what, I might catch a lot of heat for this one, but I don’t care. They just added the first two seasons and it’s a fantastic show. You don’t have to say it out loud, you don’t have to discuss it with anyone, hell you can keep it a secret if you want. But if you watch this show you’ll like it. Modern day spin on warewolf’s or however you spell it. Stiles is one of my favorite TV characters as well, not on the level of Thad Castle but he makes the show what it is. There’s some laughs, some cries, some of everything. Just enjoy it and you can thank me later.

 

 

dead

5. The Walking Dead- If you like zombies you will love this show. And even if you don’t love zombies this show will get you to love zombies. The show got extremely popular following last season, and the newest season just ended last week. There’s so much blood. Like, a lot of blood. And guts. And zombies. And more blood.

 

 

prison

4. Prison Break- I just recently watched this show, and as a result had 2 weeks of my life be unproductive from lack of sleep because I had to keep watching the next episode. The first season can compete to any season of any show, that’s how good it is. As it goes on, the story line gets a little played out but picks back up at the end to make for a solid show. It’s definitely an action thriller about two brothers, one who’s put in jail on death row for a crime he didn’t do and the other brother commits a crime so he can break him out. If anything, you have to watch the first season, you won’t be disappointed.

 

breaking3. Breaking Bad- If you are into smoking dope, cooking meth and fighting drug lords, Breaking Bad is for you. But if you’re not it’s still for you. It took me a while to get into the show because the main character Heisenberg is the dad from Malcom in the Middle. Overall it has a great story line and keeps you on your toes. Make sure after you watch the show to head down to your local pharmacy, pick up as much pseudo as you can and then you can cook meth with the best of em!

 

madmen2. Mad Men- This show is one of my favorite shows, and it’s a little different than most TV shows around. Some people find it hard to get into just because it is set in the 60′s so it isn’t an easy show to relate with, but then again I don’t cook meth in my underwear so I guess Breaking Bad isn’t easy to relate with either but you know what I mean. It’s about the main character Don Draper who is a creative director for an advertising agency back in the day. There are some factual things mixed in which is kind of cool, and overall the plot and story line just make this a much watch show. If you sit down to watch this and think it’s terrible 5 minutes in, you just need to make it through a few episodes and you’ll be hooked.

 

sons1. Sons of Anarchy- I don’t care who you are, what you like or anything. Sons is the best show on TV no questions asked. This is one of those shows that you really can’t predict what is going to happen. Just when you think you might know where there show is going, something that will make you want to throw up will happen and blow your mind. To sum it up it’s a show about a motorcycle club in Cali that sell guns to gangs and basically go around doing whatever they want.

Image  —  Posted: April 6, 2013 in Netflix
Tags: , , , , , , , , , , , , , , ,

Last Minute Harbowl Predictions

Posted: February 3, 2013 in NFL
Tags: , , , , , ,
0

Baltimore Ravens @ San Francisco 49ers (-4)- This is it. What will the world do without 24/7 talk about Ray Lewis’s last game and looking into the lives of the Harbaugh brothers? Well life will probably be much better that’s all I know. This game comes down to one thing. Deer Antler Spray  Turnovers. A lot of people are calling this one a defensive battle and a low scoring game. I think it’s going to be just the opposite. The Ravens offense has been clicking somewhat over the last few weeks, and the 49ers has been clicking since Kaepernick took over. Sure, the Ravens defense looked suffocating last week, but don’t forget the Patriots abandoned the run and allowed them to dictate the play. I don’t see how Ray Lewis can either contain Kaepernick and the option read or cover Vernon Davis over the middle. I don’t think it can be done. At the same time, Matty Ice picked apart the 49ers defense in the fist half. I was actually embarrassed for them at one point. But we all know Atlanta is a bunch of choke artists who don’t know how to win so that’s how the 49ers defense got let off the hook. Shootout time tonight, and luckily for Akers it probably won’t come down to a field goal and if it did he will definitely miss.

Final Score- 49ers 35 Ravens 24

Tbow’s Pick- 49ers -4

Open Letter to President Obama

Posted: February 2, 2013 in Miscellaneous
Tags: , , , , ,
0

Dear President Obama,

How’s it going? I’ m sure you’re busy watching college basketball right now trying to get ready for your 1 hour bracket special coming up in a few months so I’ll try and keep it short to not take up too much of your time. I graduated from college last May with a piece of paper worth $70,000 and a bank account that said zero because I spent my last $30 on my cap and gown in order to graduate. That’s weird right? We pay all that money to go to school for 4 years and have to buy our cap and gown in order to graduate. Anyway, all I heard through my 4 years were how the numbers were growing of college graduates that were unemployed or underemployed and I was very optimistic because I knew that there would be a new president elected shortly after I graduated. Surely that would make things 150 times better. The economy would turn around, more jobs would be created, my tax money wouldn’t be going to people sitting at home not working because they don’t want to. Unfortunately, my optimism wasn’t enough to keep the loonies out of the voting booth’s that day. While we are on the subject, I wanted to say congratulations on your inauguration the other day. I have to applaud having Lupe Fiasco there to ring in your 4 years of presidency. I’m thinking you need a new event planner, should I attach my resume to this? Oh wait, I wouldn’t be able to get the job any way because I need experience because I have had so much time to gain experience, you know, while studying full time to get a degree to get a job. Weird, I know.

The real reason I’m writing this letter is to ask for your advice. I have a huge decision I need to make and I should ask the person with the best judgement out there. And yes, spending an hour on television talking about college basketball is definitely a good decision compared to all the other boring, non important things you could have been doing like trying to figure out why our country sucks now. So since I can’t find a job and I’m sending my paycheck to you every week, I have narrowed my options down and I need to know what the best route for me would be.

1. Join the Occupy Wall Street Movement- This is what I think is my best option. At this point I’m basically praying Wells Fargo goes bankrupt so why not join forces with the best movement out there ready to take on the big banks? I already have a tent, I have plenty of cardboard available to make clever, witty signs since I go through 30′s every week just to pretend I’m still in college, and I’m out of deodorant right now so that will cut costs for me and will make me fit right in. The only thing I’m missing is a pony tail, dark eye shadow, skinny jeans, moccasins, and I have a functioning brain which would put me in the minority.

2. Move to Canada- Have you ever been to Canada? I’m sure you have. You’ve definitely been to St. Catherine Street in Montreal. Don’t worry I won’t tell the First Lady. I just hope when you went to Cleopatra you walked upstairs and not downstairs. I mean, unless you’re into that then that’s totally cool. But realistically, Canada would be awesome. Hockey 24/7, and, well, that’s pretty much it. But hey, that’s better than here. Maybe I could even get my foot run over by a postal truck like Seth Rogen in Knocked Up and get like 10,000 bucks from the British Columbia government. I’m not a mathematician or anything but that could last me like, 10 years. If I got my foot run over by a postal truck here I would be sitting in the emergency room for 9 hours and be so pissed off by the end that I forget to even file a lawsuit.

3. Find a time machine, become a citizen of Mexico, then illegally immigrate to whatever state in America I want and then be eligible for in-state tuition- This one would be real tough to pull off. I have most of the kinks worked out but it’s still risky but definitely worth the risk. I mean, I live in New Hampshire. We have like 4 state schools, all of which are more expensive than they should be. Why would I be restricted to that state when I can be an illegal immigrant and get to go to school wherever I want for in-state prices? Best of both worlds! Illegal immigrants should definitely be rewarded for coming to this country without permission. And I was starting to think the American dream was working at a grocery store with debt up to my eyeballs.

So the ball is in your court prez. As Brett Favre once said, what should I do? It’s pretty cold out right now so if you’re going to suggest 1 or 2, please at least wait until Spring. And if you are going to suggest 3, the least you could do is hook me up with a free Hepatitis shot. Or maybe you are in a giving mood while reading this and you could hook me up with a sweet job or maybe pay my debt for me. I know this is a little far fetched since you aren’t the type of guy to promote hand-outs, you like to make people earn the money they receive and I get that. Oh and if you get a chance, try and get most of the schools to offer a “paper or plastic? 101″ class. I feel like that class would help most of the 53% of the underemployed college grads more than any of that economics and finance mumbo- jumbo.

Well, thanks for listening Mr. Obama. I need to get to sleep, got a long day of work tomorrow stocking the shelves at the grocery store. I’m sorry if I sound a little whiney in parts of this letter. But you can understand why I wouldn’t want to be outside in the cold with the Occupiers or living in Canada during winter, right? Well, good luck in your next term. If we can get through the Mayan calender ending, we can get through anything.

Sincerely,

Mike

 

P.S.- I know your a Tar Heels fan and I wish them the best of luck in the NIT this year. You should definitely do a NIT special to go along with your tourney picks.

Older Entries