Game 7

Another loss. This time to a team we definitely could have beaten. I had another interception, this time a jump ball in the endzone, and my pass coverage was pretty good overall, but I missed a lot of tackles. So many in fact that I'm actually embarassed and really don't look forward to watching film tonight. I also injured my rotator cuff again, the same one that's been bothering me since sophomore year. 2 games left in the season and realistically only one is winnable. Cross your fingers.

NJROTC DRILL MEET

sooo i wake up at 0440 with about 4 hours 40 min of sleep and i have a throbbing headache and was massively dehydrated for unknown reasons. THANK GOD FOR ANDREW (the pirate), packing advil in his college survival bin.

after chugging 3 bottles of water and pissing like a race horse i headed off to do the Unit Personnel Inspection. Me and 4 other guys walked around the High School units and made sure they looked all pretty. We were warned to be nice and reminded that they were only 13-15 in most cases and that some had learning disabilities and I even got to inspect a chick who only spoke spanish! that was fun, using hand signals to tell her to essentially spin around doing about faces since she couldn't understand the knowledge questions.

no one cried this meet at inspection (the PT events were a different story), however i made on chunky kid lose his voice with fear. Westview down from SD looked really really good and they took first place in a few events (one being my event, inspection) and took 1st place overall.

hopefully the meet pictures come out soon and i will post them on FB. reminding me, any bastards without facebook should have their roommates add me so you can see pic. updates whenever they happen....well only if you want to.

ROTC quotes of the week

How many fucking times do I need to tell you guys you don't need to fucking study

(SSGT Fazica)

...And the mission is...well it's the fucking mission

(SGT Kupasi)

gotta love the marine corps

A Special Request... Writing 39B Blog Post #1

Man V.s Wild(North Africa 4 Clips) Forum Post:

3.) In the quest for profitability and popularity, all television programming broadcasted today is premised upon the value of entertainment. While the discovery channel is widely recognized for its high educational value (relative to other programming say MTV) there is always an appeal to the entertainment experienced by the viewer.

A confluence of logic and psychology tells us that humans will seek to integrate what is perceived as enjoyable into their lives. The inherent purpose behind entertainment is to bequeath its viewers an enjoyable experience. Although, education is often the secondary objective of much television programming, the educational value of a show does not increase viewership or profitability. This is empirically evidenced to the fact where the profitability of educational programming such as C-Span or televised are lilliputian in contrast to entertainment oriented shows such as “Dancing with the stars.” This very effect has become the obsession of the media industry, because their profitability and success is contingent upon their amount of viewers. The entertainment value of a show can be soundly quantified by the amount of viewers. This is true because a show gains prestige by providing content entertaining enough to keep viewers continually watching their program, as well as facilitation of the attraction of new viewers.

This aim for entertainment centered programming is evident throughout “Man vs Wild.” This aim is evidenced in the composition of the show itself. The objective end of all entertainment in current society is to provide an “escape” from what we know of as our boring and mundane lives. To this extent we are captivated by any change, be it the outrageous lives of celebrities, the thrill of saving America one terrorist at a time, or the experience of super natural powers; all a far cry from the 9-5 spent in the cubicle.

Discovery realizes that this foreign element is what creates entertainment, and integrates as many shocking, alien, and norm breaking elements as possible. Firstly, the show is located in a myriad of exotic locales ranging from lush rain forests to the inhospitable blistering deserts of North Africa. The locations themselves provide the audiences a huge break from what we know of in either the cities of the suburbs. The foreign lands feed into our inner desires of traveling the many exotic and distance parts of the globe. Also, without this unique environment, the show would have no basis as we all know how to survive with the amenities civilization provides us with, the comforting cage we yearn to break in out every day lives. While the entertainment value is immense, the educational value is quite trivial. We are not learning much, as we are already cognizant of these exotic locations, and can already predict what challenges the environments will provide Bear Grylls With.

The center of the show: the host himself provides a second insight into this heavily skewed education/entertainment balance within the show. The host’s name is Bear Grylls. Let me repeat “Bear Grylls.” His name screams of action and adventure a far cry from the average “John Smith” who works at your neighborhood accounting office. On top of that, Bear is a survival expert an ex veteran of the British Military. Bear plays the part perfectly, with his action hero worthy frame, cool demeanor, and an ever attractive British accent. Bear Grylls is the archetypical action hero which we idolize, are attracted , and are unable to resist. Distracted by the entertainment value we are unable to absorb more than a modicum of educational value. Bear Grylls educates us on his tasks on only a level of experiences, as he does not display a deep understanding to nuances and intricacies of survival, only what he has been trained to do in specific situations. Moreover, we are realistically never going to find ourselves in the situations Bear finds himself in, further mitigating the practical educational value of
Man vs Wild.”

A final analysis into the specific actions presented in the show completes argument that education is severely shortchanged in the name of entertainment value. “Man vs Wild” is designed to shock us. Bear’s outrageous acts such as recycling his urine and eating a live octopus are what we as viewers demand. Although actions such a building a campfire are presented, the focus is on the outrageous. From eating bugs to wearing a urine soaked shirt, Bear Grylls keeps us engaged as to the extreme actions he must take to “survive.” Us as viewers, use entertainment to escape from the daily grind of life. We don’t care about anything he has done or can do. We only care about what shocks us, and Bear Grylls is more than happy to supply. Although, we might believe that watching Bear perform these “acts of survival” will in some way educate us on how to survive, this is false. What Bear is teaching us has little practice value, because his survival skills cannot be gained by merely watching the T.V, they must be practiced and endured through extensive training, the likes of which Bear Grylls has completed.

Analysis allows us to conclude that the real focus of this show is on entertainment. The educational value of the show is at best, trivial. Not only does “Man vs Wild” throw viewer education in the backseat to entertainment, the show exploits education by claiming it an additional reason to be watching the show, when in reality it is quite the contrary.

Game 6

Another loss to a bigger, faster team.

This time it was Cal Lutheran, one of the top 15 ranked D3 schools in the country. We played them tough, but with a D1 transfer quarterback (from Marshall), two D1 transfer wide receivers (from ???), and an O-line that averaged 290 pounds we never really stood a chance. To make things even more ridiculous, our starting quarterback was injured and didn't play a down the whole game. His backup is only a sophomore and not very experienced. Due to the offenses inability to move the football, the defense took far more plays this game than in previous games. When the game was finally over the score stood at 38-7 and I was RIDICULOUSLY sore. So sore in fact that after posting this I'm going to pop a couple of Ibuprofen and go to sleep. As always though, there was a bright side for me. Over four quarters of almost constantly being on the field I racked up 9 tackles and 3 broken up passes. 3 of my tackles were in the backfield which I think impressed the coach. I did give up a big pass to one of their D1 receivers and let up a touchdown at the very end of the game when we had already lost and I was just trying to make memorable plays (never bite on the hitch, it could be a stop-and-go). After the game though, one of the junior O-linemen told me I'm the best DB we have right now. Probably not true, but it felt good to hear anyway.

Next week is a home game against Whittier, one of the few teams not significantly bigger than us. Should be winnable!

How'd you spend your Friday night?

I tried to make myself puke. Not with alcohol, not with drugs...with good old fashioned PT.
Amis, Wigle and I tried Body Busters...jesus that was tough, i quit out at 80 while amis went on to 100 (he's the master of calisthenics and running as far as ROTC goes).
Then wigle and amis went on for dinner and since I had eaten prior to PT I went to the Wooden center for 1 and a half doing all sorts of leg and back lifts to make myself ridiculously sore this morning as Amis and I did a pyramid of pull-ups, push-ups and sit-ups.

also: any suggestions on my current ab condition?
Situation: Abs are hella sore due to killing them each and every day for the past week and a half during PT.
Mission: Make them stop feeling sore and weak.

1st flag football game with cleats...

WENT AMAZING!

where to begin...SGT Yu made a jerry rice catch, dragged the toes in the end zone to tie up the game
their QB slide into a SSGT trying to get the touchdown but he ended up getting a foul (no sliding into contact) and breaking a rib. ambulance came to the IM field to take him off on a stretcher.
One jackass on their team who kept tackling people on ours decided to dive after our QB the last play of the game, he ended up knocking the wind out of himself...so i talk shit across the field and one of the SSGTs, well everyone else around me too tells me to knock it off :P

Personal Highlights: Playing Safety: "tackled" (no wrapping up just knocking on the ground) 2 people, only got called for 1 of them i think...
pass blocked the hell out of their DE. Then got a pass and ran for a good amount, 2 guys tried to tackle my legs but i managed to dodge most of the contact and rolled over them.

Next time i plan on getting a pick 4 6

HOLY SHIT I'M POSTING

I have to blog regularly for my writing class, which kills my desire to blog some more.

Anyways funny story...

Suitemate goes to go hang out with his girlfriend, come back and then takes a shower. He forgets his key thus locking himself out (half-naked). The suite goes out to check-out what the commotion is and we see fresh bite marks on his chest. Hmm....

uhhh

1.) I'm interning at the re-election campaign for Lorreta Sanchez; I got to strike up a casual conversation with here...no biggie...i'm just that cool(I keep it real with powerful women-Hilary is next grr...) j/k

2.) I went to a debate tournament last week and lost in finals. (My partner is a really good debater, but hes an asshole-I will deal.)

I'm eating healthy! I eat salad everyday for lunch!

MID TERMS and more important updates.

Physics and Chem midterm both friday
gotta flag football game thurs. actually have cleats (and gloves!) now so im ready to kick ass!
fell asleep during a movie about Maya Lin :D

Who needs sleep?

Due to some mismanagement of my time early on in the week and then an excessive amount of new homework assignments I slept less than 5 hours a night Saturday, Sunday, Monday, Tuesday, and Wednesday. Needless to say I can hardly keep my eyes open any more and will be taking advantage of having almost no homework tonight to log some serious Z's.

On the bright side, I just received an email that says I have a package to pick up. Wonder what it is.

Game Recap

I'll start with the worst and work towards the best:

1) Final score: Redlands 41, Pomona 33. To be fair, the school has much lower academic requirements and therefor had about 100 kids on the team, vs our 45. Even though we were smaller, slower, and generally less athletic, we played with enthusiasm and put up a good fight.

2) My groin is hurting worse now. As some of you may or may not know, I pulled my groin Thursday, but there was no one else to play so the coaches just said suck it up. Lots of ice and ibuprofen is preventing the worst right now but I'm not looking forward to tomorrow morning.

3) Two penalties on me while I was playing corner. 1: offsides (wierd, I know) 5 yds; 2: pass interference 15 yds.

4) But to have penalties called on me means I must have been playing, right? Correct! I played two series in the first half and every down in the second half. On top of that, I continue to participate on every special team except for field goal/PAT and I didn't make too many mistakes, except on kick off return.

5) Had a whole slew of tackles this game. At least 5 or 6. One of them was even a tackle for a loss (we were playing cover 2 and the running back got bounced outside right into my arms).

6) And the kicker ........... drum roll please ............ a picked 6! It's true. I picked off a well anticipated out route and ran it back sixty yards for 6 points. Between being winded from the sprint and almost being crushed to death by my teammates I thought for sure I was going to die. But I'm still here. For the record, that makes three games in a row that I've had a turnover. Not a bad run at all.

I'll keep you guys updated on the groin and Pomona football in the coming days.

Nick and Ryan: post more shit. I'm sure your lives aren't that boring.

This morning

Had an inspection in the CNTs (khaki uniforms), i think i passed it...
A film crew has been hanging around the past couple days making a recruiting video, they feature the ROTC units of Ohio State and UCLA and they filmed us doing a PRT on monday, I hope they didnt catch me looking like im about to throw up after finishing 4th out of all the marines in the whole unit!!! im proud. A 4th year Midshipman 1st class is our battalion CO and I passed him up in the middle of the run and he gave me the mission to pass the guy in front of him, i failed, but he did get to shout at me the rest of the PRT so that was very motivational of him

After inspection today (tuesday) they picked 5 marine options (I was one cuz im so diverse looking, but 3 white guys and a half Asian (me) and a half black freshman (not amha)) and we got to do like 5 shots of us walking around campus talking to each other. Imma be famous! i will send out copies of the recruiting video when i get them from the makers.

football

another loss for the team, but another good performance for me. seems to be becoming a pattern.

i got another fumble recovery and two more tackles today. better yet i managed to actually block the people i'm supposed to block on kick return. due to recent injuries i'm now on six special teams (kickoff, kickoff return, punt, punt return, onside kick, and hands team) and i even got to play two series at corner in the second quarter and two in the fourth.

unlike last week, we were actually winning at halftime. but yet another defensive collapse led to the game spiraling out of control. final score: 41-17.

interesting fact: i got to block blake vanderwiel (spelling?) a few times on kick return. in case you don't know he played QB for torrey pines three or four years ago. now he's playing linebacker for Chapman. pretty big dude.

YO YO YO

YO YO YO, I've stopped being a lazy fatass, and worked out on thursday and today. Been playing some basketball and frisbee. Went to downtown Santa Cruz and bought a longboard last weekend!!! Gonna hopefully bomb some sweet hills and not die... or just ride it around lol. Santa Cruz is totally sweet, the campus is awesome, and downtown is a lot of fun. We still waiting on our minifridge but once we get it we gonna have some sweet chilled drinks and maybe some microwaveable food. Dining halls are actually pretty good, I got some really good Indian food the other night at one of them. MY FIRST LEGIT POST!

college is easy. lol

aced chemistry test, destroyed spanish essay and test, even got an A on my essay in a writing class! i hate writing. something tells me things are going to get harder though ... damn

College Life

I went to bed at 930 last night, tonight i plan on sleeping at 830-9 WOW

Fuck Ups of the week

Ate half a cup cake for dessert, along with my regular apple- Wed night
Ate an ice cream cone, half filled with ice cream, and a banana - Thurs night
Plugged in 180 instead of 360 Thurs Afternoon
Clicked show answer thinking I could copy and paste it into the answer bar and get credit - Thurs. Afternoon
Didnt play halo Reach since sunday!
skipped out on a floor event to post this, BTW where is everyone with exciting news on college? your telling me nothing at all worth saying has happened to you these past couple weeks??

I gotta story: Since im ONLY on 14P, meaning i only get 2 meals a day for the week, I have to survive throughout the day by not eating a real lunch. how i do this? I steal apples. Tues I had 6 apples in my bag and by dinner they were gone! in class, to class, away from class, apples! im actually getting sick of apples, and surprisingly i feel like im eating healthier here. I have a GINORMOUS salad each night (check check, tonight i didnt cuz i was sick of all the fiber i was getting) and I eat fruit all day!
i feel bad for the staff at the dining halls, it clearly says no bags allowed inside the eating area, but since im such a stud muffin and im hella confident i walk in with my bag and they dont say anything. then i take at least 3 apples when it says im only allowed to have one, im such a jerk :(

Oh and imma bad ass marcher, we march for 2 hours in one of the main plazas and I was the only 4/C Marine Option (meaning i look like a bad ass in desert camies while the navy has their retarded blue ones). and i was leading everyone around and all these Asian tourists come over and take pictures of me! (well me leading us, us being freshman MIDN)
im playing halo, screw editing, my apologies

Heatwave???

Anyone else notice the sun is out of control? Someone should do something. I vote Ryan.

Where r Nick and Ryan

They're quiet ... too quiet. o_O (suspicious face)

First Friday of Classes

Woke up at 7 to PT, then I went to physics. That was almost interesting, turns out we are learning all the same stuff as last year, should have gotten that 5,5 on the 2 AP tests but this will make 1st quarter a breeze.
The physics discussion class was an hour later and for some hella ( :P ) dumb reason it's all the way in north campus in BROAD art center. strange.
after lunch i headed to Chem. I fell asleep. So basically I missed out on the talk about the lecture, dont even remember my teachers name or what the class web site is. Thank god I know 2 MIDN from ROTC who are taking the class.
after chem I PT-ed again for some ridiculous reason. I was planning on meeting up with two MIDN 2/C or 3/C and a 4/C but they were late so I ended up doing a 2 hour chest and back circuit with a SGT from the Marines. This was not the plan as i originally intended to lift for half an hour. Let me just say this SGT is a bad ass, he was a Scout Sniper and has done "a few" deployments to Iraq and Afghanistan and he is hella strong ( :D )