Just My Views and Thoughts

The NFL Overtime Period is a Joke!

2008-12-22T10:36:00.002-05:00

I have been saying this for years, and if you do not believe me that is fine, but the NCAA actually has the correct way for a football game to be decided in overtime. There is no need for a professional sport to not have a winner, much less in an unfair manner.

Granted ties do not happen very often, and when overtime does arise it comes down to the better team. For the Giants v. Panthers last night. The Giants wanted it more, and it broke my heart to watch my team fall in such a manner, but regardless they had their opportunities.

The NCAA has both teams start at the 20, and if one team scores the other team gets a chance to retaliate with a score of their own. In the NFL it is a first to score rule, so a team must have a stop in order to get a chance to win. It all comes down to a flip of the coin, that is entirely unfair in my personal humbled opinion. Before you get all upset, had the Panthers won I would still be saying the same thing. This is not the way a Professional Team Sport should end after such a hard fought game on both sides.

The NFL needs to fix this, there has already been one time this year and it can very easily happen again in the coming years with the diversity of the talent pool. Please, for the benefit of the fans, change this rule and make it more like the NCAA. After such a hard fought game, the teams and fans need to be rewarded to see a clear cut winner.

Finding Your Niche

2008-12-10T21:55:00.002-05:00

Everyone always says you have to find your "Niche". Well what is that supposed to mean? What if I missed my Niche? What if I gave my Niche idea to someone else? What if I never figure out what my Niche is?

All legitimate and logical questions, but everyone does not have a Niche to focus on or find. Sure we all have our talents, and sure we all have our passions. But will we find a Niche in those? Doubtful. I love music, ask anyone who knows me, but I will not become the greatest Producer to ever walk the face of the earth. I can however use my passion and find something that I am great at, even if it is the Niche of someone else.

Now I am not saying we will all be bums living off of anothers dream, do not miss what I am trying to say. My point is that if we spend all of our time looking for our Niche, we will miss the opportunities to thrive in another position. If you have a Niche that you love and can corner a market, by all means run with it. I hope I find mine, but I do not think that spending our valuable time trying to find that Niche is smart.

My advice to you, if you cared, is to take the time you have and find something you love to do. Life is too short to waste it at a job you hate, or with people you do not get along with. Take the precious time you are given and utilize it with your family and friends, do not waste it looking for the Niche area that everyone tells you to find. You might just miss something much better.

Humbled...

2008-12-05T23:17:00.003-05:00

So it is now going on just about two weeks without a job and I have to say that looking for a job is a very humbling experience. You find something you want to do, shoot out a resume and wait. Then you wait some more. Keep on waiting. Then finally you receive either an e-mail, or a letter from you employer of choice basically saying "You Suck", but thanks for applying. I call these "You Suck Letters".

Over the years I have built up quite a collection of these letters, but it never gets easy to have to look yourself in the mirror and say "I know I'm good enough, it's just not the right position at the right time". After a while you start wondering if you will every find another job, or if you are even qualified to find another job.

I have always told anyone that asks that I am constantly looking for jobs. This has and will always be true because you never know what might happen. For example, I was laid off for the second time in two months from two different companies. Both times it was economically related, but it still makes you want to scream. I know that I was qualified for both, but it just is not the time for me in those positions.

So what do you do next? What do you do when you feel like giving up? Keep on moving. You have to. If you get down on yourself and think you are not worth any position out there, then you will not get any job out there. Then what do you have? Unemployment for 26 weeks, trust me that will not do anything to help with the bills. My advice is to look hard at what you WANT to do, and only do what you HAVE to do when the time comes.

Keep your head up if you are like me and are humbled by looking, something is always right around the corner!

Christmas Time is Here Again!

2008-12-02T21:26:00.002-05:00

Well now that the Turkey has been eaten, and we again celebrated stealing the land from the Native Americans. It's time to move on to my favorite holiday of the year, Christmas. Every year I battle, mentally not physically, the people who are too afraid state why they have this beloved time of year off. It is called CHRISTmas for a reason, not the "winter holiday".

Now I am all for supporting whoever you want to support or not support, but the reason for this holiday is because it was when Christ was born. I am not going to go off on a religous tangent, you guys are smart enough to believe whatever you choose to believe, all I am asking is recognition as to why we celebrate this time of year. You may not like Christianity, you might not celebrate it, but you definitely do enjoy your time off from work, or all the presents. If you are Jewish I'm sorry about the present thing, I did not create the rules.

If you do not celebrate this time of year, that is fine too. I am not someone to tell people what to do. I had a close friend in High School that did not celebrate it because of his religous beliefs, I did not judge him or his family. However he did enjoy the time off from school!

I am done ranting now and I will not bring this up again until next Christmas season. For those of you who celebrate it, do it for the right reasons. Not gifts of money, though they are nice, but for the time you get to spend with family and friends. That is the best gift of all. For those of you that do not celebrate the holiday, may you have a happy season anyways and I hope it is good for you and your family as well.

As that late great Crooner Bing Crosby would say, "Merry Christmas Everybody"!

Bedtime?

2008-11-30T23:18:00.002-05:00

So here is where I stand right now. It is just after 11:00 pm on Sunday night. My 2 year old daughter had been up until 10:30 playing with some friends of the family and I got to thinking, scary I know, do we need a bed time if nothing is happening the next day?

Now I am one that sticks to a strict schedule when it comes to my daughter, she needs the structure to understand fully what is happening. Plus it makes parenting a lot easier when you know when your child gets tired or hungry. But tonight I veered off the schedule to let her play for a long time past her bedtime, and immediately it was evident she was over tired. Hoping that she will sleep in tomorrow, I let it slide tonight. I doubt she will sleep in tomorrow morning, but valid point none the less.

Once in a while is not a bad thing with leaving your child up past their bedtime, they need the interaction just as much as the adults do, I do think it is a bad thing to do it consistently. With that being said, I think it's my bed time.

Remember to be a parent, not a friend, to your kids. Friendship will come from solid parenting, parenting will not come from solid friendship.

Parenting During Stressful Times

2008-11-29T21:24:00.002-05:00

With the economy the way it is here in the US, I have recently lost my job. The second job I have lost since September because of the upside down market. What I have experienced this time around is extreme uncertainty of where my next meal will come from as well as how to pay the bills. Now this would not be such an issue if it were just my wife and I, but with a 2 year old and a newborn to take care of it has grown extremely stressful trying to figure this out.

I have been known to have a short fuse to begin with, so when you add unwanted stress to the mix it can really create a tough situation on trying to parent. As I mentioned earlier I have a 2 year old, and we are in the midst of the "Terrible Two's", so I find my patience with her is growing increasingly shorter by the minute.

Is it the unwanted stress of not having a job? Could be, but the key to being a good parent is not letting your fears and stress fall onto your children's shoulders. I do my best to be a good father, not a friend, but a father to both of my kids. I realize it is my responsibility to raise them in a way that they will be able to survive in this world that can be the harshest of places at times. I know this because it has been brutal for me the last couple of months. However I must press on and show them that nothing can defeat a determined person.

Hopefully with this current situation I will be able to help better my children's future by overcoming the bad situations and showing them that anything is possible, even in tough times.

Above all you must remember that parenting is a job. You might make a lot of money in another job, but you will never find one more rewarding.

Get Real!

2007-10-17T20:14:00.000-04:00

So it has been a while since I blogged on this particular forum, so what the hell, I'm doing it now.

Has anyone ever said the phrase to you "Get Real"? If any of you said no then you obviously live outside of this existence. Someone said that to me the other day and it got me thinking. Was I not "real"? Wait, what is "real"?

Well let me get "real" real quick. I'm a recovering alcoholic, I have a slight issue with anger, I expect too much out of myself, I'm a Christian, I like all kinds of music, my family is my life, I enjoy breathing every day, I hate the mornings, I enjoy video games, I love tattoo's...I could go on for a while. But is that what people think is "real"?

To me being "real" is not about where you came from, or how you act. Being real is knowing your passions and making them come to life whenever possible. Being real is about being true to those around you, not acting like someone you are not.

I have changed over the course of my life. I am totally different on October 17, 2007 than I was on October 17th, 1997. Sure 10 years takes it toll on people, but I changed drastically. Those who knew me at the prestigous Hopewell High School would not recognize me now aside from pictures. But am I more "real" now than I was then?

No.

I was real then, and I am real now. What makes me real is my ability and drive to be the truest person I can be. Not for you, but for me.

Wake up people and GET REAL!

NFL Views and Opinions

2007-09-24T20:25:00.000-04:00

Well we are just ending week 3 of the fresh NFL Season, and what a load of crap it's been thus far. Don't get me wrong, the football has been great! It's everything off the field that is irritating.

We all know about Michael Vick and the dogfighting, I wrote a post about it a while back and of course all of the arrests that took place during the offseason. It was just nice to finally sit down and watch some football. So what happens during the very first game of the freaking season?!? The New England Patriots are caught video taping the Jets Defensive signs...seriously...the Jets??? This puts everything that the Pats have done over their dynasty years up in the air, did they video tape the Panthers during their Super Bowl? We'll never know, but as a Panther fan I'm saying Yes!!!

After that died down, we had Donovan McNabb come out and pull a race card. I seriously have a hard time believing that a privelaged African American kid that grew up to make millions upon millions of dollars is being more critized than Payton Manning. If he is, it's because he's not as good, not because he's black. Either way this is one more distraction in an otherwise great football season.

Lastly came DeAngelo Hall's antics against Steve Smith yesterday in the game that pit the number one receiver in the league against argueably the number one corner in the league. These two have always talked, but DeAngelo took it to another level. After a third down sack, DeAngelo started running his mouth to Steve, after the official intervened and broke it up, DeAngelo kept talking resulting in a 15 yard penalty and an automatic first down. Carolina went down and scored and won the game by a touchdown. Now I'm not saying that DeAngelo cost Atlanta the game, but it did not help the situation. Any momentum that might have been in Atlanta's favor was gone, and Carolina capitalized. By the way DeAngelo plays for Atlanta, the same team Michael Vick played for...maybe it is stupidity that they look for in players.

Regardless of the dumb ass antics off the field, and the trash talking on the field, the football has been great. I look forward to what the rest of the season has in store ON THE FIELD!!!

P.S.-GO UVA!!! Undefeated in the ACC!!!

Never Forget the Americans that Serve

2007-09-17T20:56:00.000-04:00

I was driving home last Thursday night from my soccer practice and I heard a song from Tim McGraw that I had heard bits and pieces of for about a month or so. It's a song that is tremendously sad, but has such a powerful meaning in the lyrics. Anyone that knows me knows that it is one of my best attributes, I can get lost in the lyrics of a great song. This is one of those songs.

With that being said I want you all to take a moment of your day to say a prayer for our soldiers in harms way everyday to make sure that we can live in peace and freedom in this great country of ours. I do not care if you support the war, or oppose it, you have your freedom for that choice because of the brave men and women that risk their lives so we can live ours here.

Watch the entire video and see the support that the families get from the crowd...that's Patriotism...that's something that we all should be doing. Every time we see a soldier that is going to war, or coming home, they deserve our utmost respect and gratitude. Most of us will never see the things they have seen, so please remember to include the soldiers and their families in your thoughts and prayers. If prayer is not you thing, then find what is and do that. They deserve it more than anyone in the world.

God Bless...

Useless Talent

2007-08-20T20:54:00.001-04:00

Today was a unique day in the world of sports, Michael Vick (Quarterback of the Atlanta Falcons) pleaded guilty to a number of stupid crimes. The most widely known and published throughout the country was his funding of an illegal dogfighting syndicate in the state of Virginia. Dogfighting is a cruel and unfathomable "sport" that has been thriving in the underground for years. Hopefully with this bust the Fed's can get a grip and get this hanious act of animal cruelty stopped for good all over the country.

Now many of you are going to say this idiot, he had the world by the balls and screwed it up. And I would agree with you, but aside from these charges of dogfighting, Vick is facing gambling charges, transporting dogs across state lines for the benefit of gambling, as well as Racketeering. Yes you heard me correctly, racketeering. These charges have given the Fed's the ability to do a RICO trial on Vick (Basically pin him if there is any link to him at all). Something that was made famous by the Fed's during the hey day of the mafia is coming back to bite this moron in the ass. The dogfighting is probably the most dispicable by far, but the Fed's are more interested in the other charges than they are the dogfighting and cruelty to animals.

What makes this whole situation make you want to stop and say "Seriously! What were you thinking?" is that Vick just recently signed a $130 million dollar contract, the largest in NFL history! $44 million of that has been paid to him, and he blows it by doing something stupid and hanging out with the wrong "Friends", and I use that term loosly as they turned long before Vick did to the Fed's. Obviously these guys were not "friends", however Vick is no longer classified as a human being to me. To me he is no more than a useless gathering of molecules that had all the talent in the world, but the mentality of dumb ass. The most ironic thing about this whole situation is that dogfighting is still LEGAL in Georgia. So if Vick had done his homework and set up shop in his resident state of GA, this would be a non-issue. Dogfighting is disgusting and everyone who participates in it should be malled by the pit bulls themselves, but the other charges of gambling, transportation and racketeering? Null in Void in GA, but not in VA.

Enjoy jail Michael Vick, you deserve it.

Splitting and Planting

2007-08-06T21:51:00.000-04:00

Well where to start on this topic? The recent letting go of a good friend of mine and the youth pastor at the church I was a member of has left me in quite a pickle to say the least. One, I do not feel comfortable in the church anymore, and without getting into the details I am not happy with the way it was managed financially or in the business sense. There is a lot of ways that a church can grow, but with no leadership, it is destined to grow no where. So this leaves me without a home to worship my God...what do I do? Find another church? Anyone who knows me knows that is easier said than done, for the love of everything holy my Grandfather passed away in a church. That's enough for me to never want to step foot in another one, however this was the first church that I have ever felt "comfortable" in, and to see it so poorly managed just breaks my heart. There is so much potential with the right leadership in place, however this is not the case. I wonder what God is thinking about this situation right now? Anyways I have been left a void in my life where church once stood firm, what next?

Planting is an option, someone once told me that God wants you to use what you know best to help worship him, and what I know best is business. So maybe it is time to really start thinking about planting a church and trying my hand at that, granted I know I am in no way, shape or form someone to be preaching. However I think with the right people surrounding me it could be extremely successful. Not in the monetary sense, but to bring people to Jesus Christ and God would be reward enough. Maybe this is not the right time, or the right place for such a large undertaking...but what if it is? Will I be able to find the right people to surround myself with? The best thing I can do is to ask God, he will lead me the right direction, either here and now, or away and later. But when it happens...I'll know it.

Ocean Conservation

2007-07-29T12:44:00.000-04:00

Over time there have been great crusades about conservation, the rain forests in South America, endangered species, etc. Last night I saw a program about the Hawaiian Islands and ocean conservation. It struck a nerve with me because not too long ago Dara, Lily and myself all went out there to visit my brother-in-law on the island of Oahu. Beautiful country to say the least, bluest oceans you'll ever see. Unfortunately we only made it to Oahu, and not to the other islands, but Oahu is the biggest tourist attraction of the islands and there is an abundance of people on it.

What does all this have to do with ocean conservation you ask yourself, and what does this rambling idiot have to say? While watching the program last night the showed one of the islands that is filled with debris from foreign soil, the pacific rim as it is known. And because of this trash that is floating in the ocean it is killing several species of fish and birds and is creating an unliveable habitat for our ecosystem. One of the items that was found in many of the Albatross birds on the island of Midway were lighters. This is disturbing to me, and it should be to everyone else that saw the program or reads this post, all I ask is that you take care of the environment and try to keep it the way you left it.

How would you like it if other creatures came into your kitchen and dropped plastic lighters on your spaghetti? Let's keep the oceans clean of crap that we can very easily dispose of on shore.

Beckhammania

2007-07-27T08:44:00.000-04:00

Since David Beckham decided to leave the European soccer scene and join the LA Galaxy here in the US, I have been asked by several people how I feel his impact will be. Well, since the Beckham area has begun in the MLS, I think it is time for an update on how I think Beckhammania will impact the beautiful game here in the United States.

For starters Beckham brings a ton of publicity to a sport that is last in the minds of Americans, even behind hockey. Though the Gold Cup final between the US and Mexico had higher ratings than the NHL Finals, and the game was only shown on Fox Soccer Channel (Which you have to pay for) and Univision (Which is on basic). The NHL Finals were on a network that everyone gets that shall remain nameless. Anyway with this publicity comes awareness, and since it is a slow sports time in America, it is a prime spot for Beckham to gain the interest of the American public.

Unfortunately for the MLS and Beckham, he is not a scorer, and Americans like to see high scoring games or flare. Aside from free kicks Beckham is not flashy by any means. He will play well and will bring credit to a league that has been viewed upon many as a "Mickey Mouse" league. Hopefully as well he will bring other international stars to the league and maybe we'll see a more continuous version of the NY Cosmos, when they had Pele', Beckenbauer and Best. The US was fascinated by the high scores and the talent on the field. We will never see another NY Cosmo's effect, but Beckham has the US soccer community excited that this might be our time to shine in a market that is dominated by American Football and Basketball.

One other thing that everyone tends to forget about with soccer is our increasing latino community, which their number one sport is soccer. If Beckham can bring them around, then there will be more money in the league, and it will attract more players. Overall I think it looks good for the MLS, but everything must go well in order for them to grow in a market that wants nothing to do with change. Good Luck Beckham, it's a daunting task.

2007-07-26T21:18:00.001-04:00

More to come on the blog front!

-Brad