Miracle on Ice

I finally got to watch a little bit of the Olympics this afternoon.  Until today, I hadn't been able to watch any of it at all because either a) I've been too busy, or b) my roommate had control of the TV in our apartment.  But today, I was able to watch most of the men's hockey quarterfinal between the USA and Switzerland.  (I didn't get to see the final ten minutes, though, because I had to go to work.)  I was glad that the USA won, and I'd really like to see us bring home the gold medal, but if we do win, even though we've got a pretty young team, it's never going to be as special of a moment as the 1980 Miracle on Ice was.  For those of you who don't know what I'm talking about, in the 1980 Winter Olympics in Lake Placid, New York, the USA men's hockey team, who were major underdogs that year, won the gold medal, and along the way, they pulled off a stunning upset over the heavily favored team from the USSR, which had dominated the hockey scene for the last two decades (the story was retold in the 2004 movie Miracle starring Kurt Russell).  The way I see it, there's never going to be another moment in Olympic history that can top that one.  You want to know why?  It's because the Olympics teams in almost every sport today are heavily loaded with professional players.  Until recently, players in the NHL, NBA, and MLB were barred from playing in the Olympics, and personally, I think it should have stayed that way.  Most of the teams that win the medals these days consist almost entirely of professional players.  And since it's highly unlikely that the Olympics will go back to the way it was, no victory will ever be as sweet as that of the USA over the USSR in 1980.  Just think about it - a ragtag group of young amateur players rallying against all odds to defeat what was without a doubt the best team of its time - a victory not only on the ice, but also a victory for democracy, a victory for Truth, Justice, and the American Way.  There's no way you can ever top that.  The Miracle on Ice was named the Greatest Sports Moment of the 20th Century by Sports Illustrated, and unless the Olympics goes back to restricting team rosters to amateur players, it will forever remain the greatest sports moment of all time.

B-)

An Anniversary Tribute

I'd like to take this opportunity tonight to give a shout-out to my good friend and former roommate, Charles "C.G. Wacko" Clark and his blog, The Wacko Monologues, which celebrated its one-year anniversary today.  Charles, a writing major at Loyola, promotes his blog as "A Place for  Insight, Humor, and Breaking Taboos", and his posts run the gamut from opinions on the issues of the day, to insights into his own life, to samples of his own creative writing.  I started following the Monologues last summer, and it was the main inspiration for me to create MikeSpace last fall, as it really opened me up to the idea of using a blog to express ideas that would otherwise remain trapped in my head just waiting to get out.  The idea to make a Facebook fan page for my blog also came from Charles, and I continually look to his blog for guidance on how to improve my own - both the idea to link the posts on my Facebook page directly to MikeSpace's Blogspot page and the Visitor Counter were borrowed from The Wacko Monologues.  If you get the chance, check out Charles' work at http://thewackomonologues.blogspot.com; he usually posts several times a week, and his writing is always entertaining and often makes you think in ways you never would have thought before. 

Charles, allow me to thank you for inspiring me to not be afraid to express myself.  Congratulations on the one-year anniversary of The Wacko Monologues, and here's to many more - may they be even more successful than the first!  I look forward to reading and enjoying your work for hopefully many years to come!

To conclude like the Master himself...

"Word."

B-)

"All You Single Ladies (and Fellas)!"

Valentine's Day... without a doubt my least favorite day of the year.  To me, it's more like Single Awareness Day.  Seriously, seeing / reading about everyone who's enjoying a special day with their special someone just makes feel even more depressed about my inability to find a girlfriend.  It's been like this for me every year since middle school.  And when you get to college and become more independent, it gets even worse.  You wanna know how sad my love life is?  I can't even get a girl to have lunch with me, let alone establish a long-term relationship.

Usually, I'll spend the day baking Valentine's cookies.  But today, I didn't do anything at all, mainly because I have not been able to motivate myself to do anything all week, and today I was particularly lethargic.  I thought about inviting a female friend or two over for dinner, but I just couldn't decide who.  I eventually decided it wasn't worth making only a half-ass effort, and decided to put off any potential Valentine's Day plans I had until next weekend, when I have more time and am in a better mental state to do so.

But the reality is, I'm not really sure if I'm that much in love anymore.  You see, there's this girl that I've had a crush on since sophomore year.  We had a whole bunch of classes together and used to spend many an evening working on homework together.  During our junior year, I really thought we had something going between us.  By summertime, I knew that my feelings for her were more than just a childish crush.  I really felt like she was the one I'd been waiting for all these years.  Put simply, I truly believed that she was my soulmate.

All summer, I kept counting down the days til I got back to Loyola and could see her once again.  I had made up my mind that during our senior year, I would do everything I could to indicate to her my interest in being more than just friends.  I figured that if we started dating early enough in the year, maybe by graduation our relationship would become strong enough that I could consider popping the question around graduation time.  But then the harsh winds of reality blew in to scatter all of my hopes and dreams.  The first time I saw her this year, at Senior 250's, she said hi, but then avoided me for the rest of the night.  I tried several times after that to ask her out on a date - well, technically, I never actually asked her out; I just asked if she had a free night that weekend - but it seemed that she was always too busy for me.  I tried one more time last January, but this time, she never even bothered to return my message.

And then, a couple weeks ago at the Bull and Oyster Roast, I ran into another girl whom I knew just casually but hadn't seen in a long time, and I had a really good time with her that evening.  She seemed somewhat interested when I suggested the possibility of dinner, and even gave me her phone number.  The thing is, though, I really can't tell if I actually have a chance with her, or if it was just the alcohol talking.

So now I'm in a pretty difficult quandary.  I still have feelings for the first girl, and I still have hope that I can reignite the passion that I once had for her - I mean, we know each other well enough that I still believe it's possible - but lately I've been having these really strong feelings for the second girl, even though I don't know for certain if she would reciprocate said feelings in a sober state.  I just can't decide which one I should ask out.

The problem now is, I'm only three months away from graduating, and the three grad schools that I'm considering (Washington State, Clemson, and Tennessee) are all considerably far away.  So if I did manage to find a girlfriend within these next three months, I'm not even sure if a relationship would last long enough to be worth even trying.  I highly doubt that I could maintain a long-distance relationship, and I really wouldn't want to inconvenience my girlfriend by making her relocate somewhere with me, because I'm sure she has career plans for after graduation.  With that in mind, I guess I'm kinda looking for a relationship with a girl who really has the potential to become my wife.  But y'know, maybe that girl isn't here at Loyola right now, but somewhere in the future in some other place.  It's a pretty big world out there, and more than half of its population is female.  I've got my whole life to find that special someone, so right now, I may as well just try to find someone with whom I can enjoy the three months that I've got left here at Loyola.  I have a few in mind, but I'm open to pretty much any girl who might be interested. 

I'm sorry.  I didn't mean to ramble like this, but I just needed to vent, which is the reason I started this blog to begin with.  Thank you all for hearing me out, and to all my single friends out there in Reader Land, I wish you as happy a Single Awareness Day as it can possibly be.  Here's to us Singletons - let's raise our glasses and our heads high, and hope that we have better luck next year!

B-)

Teabagging

As many of you who've lived with me or had class with me can attest, I have been a Cokehead for the last several years.  No, not crack cocaine - Coca-Cola.  You see, I don't sleep very well at night anymore, so I'm always dead tired throughout the day and need caffeine.  I don't like to resort to coffee unless I'm pulling an all-nighter, because it has way more caffeine than I need and really works a number on my excretory system (I won't gross you out with all the specific details).  Therefore, I would always get my caffeine fix from soft drinks.  But not just any soft drinks.  My soft drink of choice was - and still is - Coca-Cola.  For one, it tastes much better than Pepsi does, and since LoCo only sells Pepsi products, it's kinda like my way of fighting the system, y'know what I mean?  Also, Coke is much better for dealing with the headaches that I often get.  This is because it was originally invented as a headache medication.  Seriously.  The only reason it became a soft drink instead was because the guy accidentally added carbonated water instead of regular water.

But a couple weeks ago, I replaced Coke with green tea as my caffeinated beverage of choice.  I've found quite a few good reasons for doing so:

1) Green tea is a lot healthier than Coke.  For one thing, there's a lot less sugar and artificial sweeteners.  Plus, green tea is high in antioxidants, which (help me on this, all you bio / premed people!) help reduce the risk of cancer. 

2) Green tea is a lot cheaper.  I got a box of 40 tea bags for $3.99, compared with $4-5 for a 12-pack of Coke.  That cuts my spending on beverages by about 70%, which is great news when you're practically broke like I am. 

3) Green tea doesn't give me as much of the side effects that Coke did.  I mean, you'll probably have to use the restroom in a short while after drinking it, as is the case with any caffeinated beverage, but because green tea doesn't have the carbonation or acidity that Coca-Cola has, it doesn't bloat my stomach as much.  Also, though Coke tastes good when you drink it, I've always found that it left a bad aftertaste in my mouth and left my teeth feeling sticky.  With green tea, I haven't had these problems.

4) Tea is good at any temperature.  On cold days like these, I find a warm cup of tea to be much more rejuvenating than a cold can of Coke.  And on a hot day, you can cool down with a glass of iced tea.  As for Coke, it only tastes good when it's cold.  It just doesn't taste as good when it's warm.

5) Green tea is more organic / natural than Coke.  Sure, it takes a few extra minutes to heat a cup of water and soak a tea bag.  But in then end, aren't you glad to be drinking something that wasn't processed in a factory as much and doesn't have all those added artificial compounds whose names only bio / chem majors can pronounce?  And if you're worried about the portability of a drink of green tea, just do what I do: heat a mug of water in the microwave, pour it into a thermos, toss in a tea bag, snap on the lid, and you're good to go.  As long as you don't drink directly out of the mug, you only have to wash the thermos, since the mug had only water in it.

Don't get me wrong, I'm not quitting Coke cold turkey.  I still plan to indulge in a glass or two every once in a while.  But for my daily caffeine fix, I've found that green tea is a much healthier and more economical alternative.  So won't you join me for a cup or two?  It'll be a jolly good time!

B-)

Snow Day Song

(A song I learned in first grade, modified slightly to reflect my current location.  Feel free to replace "Loyola University" with the name of your own school or workplace.)  

Snow, snow,
Beautiful snow,
I hope it piles up high this year! 
Snow, snow,
Beautiful snow,
I hope it piles right up to here!   [reach high above head]
Snow days are better than other days off...
I like the surprise, I suppose...
I like to wake up, and hear the radio say,
"Loyola University's closed today!" 
Snow, snow,
Beautiful snow,
Don't disappoint me, I pray! 
I'll be waiting every morning for those wonderful words:
"Go back to sleep!   [clap clap]
It's a snow day!"