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September 30, 2005

I know that it has been almost a week since the game (hey I couldn't post it the whole week anyway). But, could you believe the Penn State game on Saturday? I know that someday I will have a heart attack (I’ve come to terms with that), and I also know that that game will be one of the causes of that heart attack will be Saturday’s game. Michael Robinson played terrible. Robinson is lucky that he only turned the ball over four times, because the northwestern defense had a couple of chances at picking him off a few more times. He played terrible. He made terrible decisions through most of the game. But the worst part of his play, is that because Robinson played well enough to pull out the win (and I’ll give him that he did make some nice plays at the end), people will forget how bad he played throughout the whole game. Even the sports writers for the Daily Collegian forgot. In Monday’s issue, they gave Robinson’s performance on
Saturday a “B”. How could they justify anything higher than a “C-” (at best)?

But it was a truly exciting game. I was on the edge of my seat the whole time. I couldn’t contain my jubilation when the Nittany Lions finally pulled out the victory. It was truly a great game.

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September 26, 2005

How to Play Beer Pong

Beer Pong is one of the most popular drinking games in the history of man. If you haven’t played yet, you really should play, but you should wait until you are twenty-one (but hey I didn’t, I just needed to include some sort of disclaimer in).

• You need a table that’s approximately 6 ½’ x 2 ½’ (but the size doesn’t really matter its fun to play on a table that is a different size).

• You need two teams each consisting of two people.

• You also need two “ping-pong” balls, fourteen plastic cups, and of course beer.

[http://www.salesarehot.com/images/root_beer_pong.gif∞]

• You set six cups up into the shape of a triangle on both sides and using at least two cans of beer per team fill the six cups evenly. The remaining two cups are filled with water and are used to wash the ping-pong balls before each throw.

• Now that the game is set up you can begin to play. The team that is going first gets both of the balls and they throw towards the other end of the table, where the six cups have been set up. Each teammate gets one try to make it in.

• After that the other team washes the “ping-pong” balls in the water cup and attempts to make their throws.

• The process is repeated until someone has landed a ball in each cup.

• Once one team does sink a cup the other team has to chug the beer.

• A team is aloud one “re-rack”. This means that before their turn, a team can have the other team rearrange their cups in any way they choose (in some places this rule varies but where I’m from that is the way that we play).

• If a person bounces their ball into the cup two cups get taken away.

• If both teammates make their shots, they both get to go again.

Warnings:

• In some places, if you get shut-out (meaning that your team doesn’t sink any cups during a game), you will be forced to streak. Again this is only in some places but just in case, don’t get shut-out.

• Some place also call this game “Beirut” and what they call “Beer Pong” is played with paddles and is very different from this game. Watch out for that, because these places could also have the streaking rule as well.

• Most importantly remember that in beer pong there are no losers. If you loose it just means that you drink more (and isn’t the point of drinking in college to get drunk).

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September 25, 2005
http://images.art.com/images/PRODUCTS/large/10126000/10126319.jpg∞

Rudy is one of the greatest sports movies ever (not saying that it is best because there are a lot of other really good ones but seeing that it would take me all day to name them I will just say that there are a lot and Rudy is one of them). But that isn’t necessarily why I chose this (but it probably is one). One reason is definitely because I was a Notre Dame fan my whole life and Rudy goes one dream in life was to play football for Notre Dame and I always liked that idea. But that still isn’t the main reason I choose it. You see I played football in high school, but was never really great. I was always too small, too short, and too slow (don’t get me wrong I’m not slow, I just wasn’t the fastest and given that I was lacking in size, I needed to be really fast. Unfortunately I wasn’t). But, (and not that I’m bragging, but this what everyone always told me) I always gave my best no matter how bad I got beaten, which, if you ever saw the movie you know happens to Rudy quite often. Also, like Rudy, I had my one great play in my football career, which came in my senior year. I caught a pass and gained like twelve yards (eleven of which I gained after the catch – I also had more plays but they were on defense and not as glorious). So because all that stuff and how even though I didn’t play and I never quit people called me “Rudy.” Another reason why I decided on this icon was because the saying on the poster “When people say dreams don’t come true, tell them about Rudy.” Though it is kind of cheesy it has a lot of meaning and I really like. So my icon is the movie poster to Rudy.

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September 23, 2005
So I’m writing this post from the road, I’m on my way home for the first time since I moved in. I don’t know how I feel about. Am I supposed to feel good or bad? I really don’t know. I feel kind of bad when I say that I don’t want to leave Penn State, even if it is just for a weekend. But I guess that it’s good to go home. I mean I get to see my family which is nice. Plus I get to see my high school football team play, they’re 3-0 right now (the past three years we went 1-9 – it was ruff but whatever). I get to hang out with some of my old friends. Best of all, I get to eat a good meal for the first time in weeks. I guess going home isn’t terrible and besides every now and then it’s good to go home.

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September 21, 2005

Today I took one of the best naps of my life. It was awesome. I’ve gotten into the habit of taking about one hour-long power naps at about 4:30, 5:00, or so (which by the way feels great). Today I did some work in the afternoon and at about 4:30 I decided I was tired and I went to take a nap. I set my alarm for about 5:30 (so I wouldn’t sleep too long). The alarm went off on time. I heard it about ten minutes later and then turned it off and rolled over. I woke up about forty minutes and stayed awake for about twenty minutes or so, then I went back to sleep, again. I finally woke up at about 7:30 (so did my roommate and he began his nap at 3:30). It wasn’t a problem that I slept that long, I really didn’t have anything that needed to do immediately, I really didn’t. So I just enjoyed catching up on sleep.

The best part of the nap was that I slept solidly. I mean I had a couple of dreams. And these weren’t just little obscure dreams, but they were deep intricate dreams that I remember. This was just an amazing nap and I am glad that I took the time to have it.

I love taking power naps! I love it when you oversleep like that and feel better when you wake up, that is if you didn't have to do anything important. But anyways, I always do power naps in between doing homework and other things, it just helps a lot. MonicaKras

Yea man, naps up here are incredible for some reason. That one day we got extra credit in Econ, I was 15 minutes late because I had pushed snooze on my alarm clock while taking a long nap. My roommate, who had Econ the class before us, unlocked the door and I jumped up and was like, "dude, you get extra credit today for class." So, I ended up power-walking to class and laying down in the aisle. My point is...naps are awesome.--MichaelNiffeneggerTestUser

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September 20, 2005

I just finished typing a Spanish paper (or at least I’ve done as much as I want to do for the night), and I feel like venting off something so this is going to sound a little whiney (if that is the way you spell that), but it wouldn’t be the first time. And if you were planning on reading this you had to expect that.

Don’t you hate “big backpack people”? Now, I’m not talking about people that have large backpacks, frankly, I have no problem with that (for the most part). I’m talking about those people who have backpacks about three times their size, and for some unknown reason feel that they have to fill them to the max. Their bags usually jut out about four feet from their backs. They also seem to be the slowest walking people on the planet (possibly because they usually have about two-hundred pounds strapped to their backs).

I always seem to get stuck behind these people, especially when I’m on stairs. Oh man, that is the worst. You need to be like five stairs behind them and their backpacks are still in you’re face. And they never just travel alone (oh course not, that’d make it too easy). No, big backpack people seem to travel in packs, they always have plenty big backpack friends (or at least some friends who are willing to as slow as they are – I can’t figure out why). There is always at least enough to block up the stairs or a sidewalk. Someone please explain these people to me. I’m serious. Why would anyone do this sort of thing? Who needs to carry that much stuff?

If these menaces to pedestrians are going to exist, why can’t they at least realize that by traveling the way they do, how much they slow up the general traffic and more importantly me? But seriously, someone should regulate this. One there are some backpacks that shouldn’t be aloud to be on campus anymore. I mean really, we’re going to class not climbing Mt. Everest. Then we should make a special lane on sidewalks and stairs for the ones whose backpacks are still aloud but are still too big, and thusly unfair to get stuck behind. Man, big backpack people make me mad.

Where I went to high school was a K-12 school, and, for some reason, it was the trend amongst the elementary school kids to buy those kind of bags and then carry around all their books in them (I never understood why). One day, I was watching a third grader walk to class when he fell backward, pulled down by the weight of his backpack. Then he realized that he actually couldn't get up. It was hilarious. - EschaTon

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September 19, 2005

Well it happened finally my mighty Cleveland Browns have won their first win (one of many more to come) under new head coach Romeo Crennel. And was it ever a great game and not because of how the game even went (which was by the way great). First let’s start with Brett Favre. Even though he lost he was still amazing (you know, usual Favre). He became one of only three quarterbacks in NFL history to reach the 50,000 yard mark for career passing. Then he also passed by John Elway (another member of the 50,000 yard club – the third is Dan Marino if you didn’t know) on the list for most touchdown passes thrown in a single stadium (Lambeau Field). I just have to say Favre is one of my top three favorite QB’s of all time (the other two are Joe Montana and “Broadway” Joe Namath). Also, Favre is on my fantasy football team and because he completed 32 passes he got me 61 points (that was just a bonus).

Then there was the surprising performance of Trent Dilfer (the Browns’ QB). He played a stellar game. He clearly came so far from the man who use to play quarterback (if that what you want to call what he use to do) for Tampa Bay. He made some plays which made him look like a good quarterback looks. Then he was complemented by the very impressive performance of young Braylon Edwards (he’s the rookie wide receiver who was highly recruited out of the University of Michigan). He has finally arrived and is everything he was hyped to be.

So on Sunday I was able to sleep a little easier (even though I didn’t get to bed until after 3:00 in the morning, but that’s a different story).

• Well, I didn't see the game, so I can't say much except that the Browns are a pretty scrappy team and have never proved to be too successful...but I do hear good things about Braylon Edwards....Anyyyways, just thought it was a coincidence I toooo said that I could sleep better after the Eagles won yesterday...haha, wiilldd!....Mike Jones

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September 16, 2005

I was planning on writing this before class today but by coincidence it ties into today’s lesson. You see, My name is Alex M. and I am an addict. What am I addicted to? No it isn’t alcohol (well…no, no not alcohol, for now), it isn’t cocaine, heroine, marijuana, or any other drug for that matter. I am addicted to computer Solitaire.

I can’t stop playing. It’s ridiculous. I’ve already taken a break while writing this to play a game. Actually I played three. I lost the first two. But it is getting bad. Sometimes I might have tons of work. But I’ll be playing it. Now some people might say, “Yeah I play solitaire a lot. How can you say you’re addicted?” Well trust me I am and you definitely don’t want to be. I can’t go a few hours without playing a few games. If I go too long, I get withdrawals. Today I was in math and since our professor was giving the exact same lecture he did on Wednesday (honest, it was word-for-word), I started playing solitaire on my i-pod. The worst part is that I still haven’t hit rock bottom. In the process of writing this paragraph I played five or six more games. I can’t help my self. I don’t even want to do it. But I just keep finding myself doing it. You know what else is terrible. I can’t ever just play one game. I have to play at least five or six games at a time. And I don’t get as good of a feeling as I used to out of a win. I’m really in bad shape with this thing. I need to play soon.

The government really should step in and control the use of solitaire. Before we have a generation of kids running around trying to find out where it is that they can go to there next game. I’m serious, this is the next epidemic that’s going to hit America’s youth. I don’t want anyone else to go through this. It’s truly terrible. I’m not exaggerating. It’s killing me.

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September 15, 2005
marcinko18: whats up man
NittanyNiftyNiff: nothin u got any final project ideas?
marcinko18: i don't know man
marcinko18: i was kind of thinking about writing about waht i know
marcinko18: and i know football
marcinko18: how bout you
NittanyNiftyNiff: i know football too, but i dont know what topic
NittanyNiftyNiff: i know there's gonna be problems at the next collective bargaining agreement, but thats in a few years i think
marcinko18: or better yet baseball
marcinko18: so many aruments there
NittanyNiftyNiff: the only thing is finding resources, the internet is good, but theres not gonna be much print unless we dig back through old sports illustrateds or find specific books
marcinko18: i here ya
marcinko18: *hear
NittanyNiftyNiff: justin and i were talking about maybe doing religion?
NittanyNiftyNiff: and he said us 3 could be a group if u wanted to
marcinko18: i don't know a couple people have asked me and i have to see what they are all thinking about
NittanyNiftyNiff: alright cool

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September 15, 2005

I had originally planned on writing about something else but I will save that topic for another time. Tonight I am going to be singing the praises of a little slice of heaven known as the University Learning Centers. These places are truly amazing. Last night I was saying that I was going there to get help for Spanish. Well I did and that place is great. Before I went there I thought that there was a chance that I’d fail Spanish, but now I think I could get a high B. When I went there I showed them a paper that I had to write for class. They corrected it for me, and told me how I could do certain things on my computer that will help to correct the Spanish for me. They also helped me to understand what was going on in my class. So now I have a decent grasp of Spanish. Also I have to do this quiz on the internet for tomorrow. They said if I came by today that they’d help me to take it. Is that not amazing? I mean seriously it feels like cheating, except all of the teachers know about it and encourage it. I feel honestly so good today because of this. It feels like I’m walking on air. It’s amazing.

So if you are having trouble in a class, go to one of these centers for help. Seriously it’s definitely worth it, and there is no shame in asking for help. The one for Spanish is in the basement of the Sparks building. The website for the University Learning Center is http://www.ulc.psu.edu∞.

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September 14, 2005

This semester I am taking Spanish 003 (it’s required to take up to that level for the business school). It is by far the worst class ever. I really do hate it. I took three and a half years of high school Spanish, which was supposed to (but didn’t really) qualify me to skip the first two levels of college Spanish and be able to take this one now. At first this seems great; I get to finish Spanish in my first semester. Well, that all depends upon whether I am able to pass. I’m serious, I used to think I was good at school (and really with exception to Spanish I still all right) but this class makes me feel genuinely dumb. I sit there and just have no idea what is going on in that class. Half of the syllabus is in Spanish, and like I said high school Spanish in no way prepared me for this class. Also she likes to start the class about ten or fifteen minutes early. So, sometimes I come in about five minutes early and she is already ten minutes into the lecture. And probably worst of all, our teacher speaks absolutely no English in class. Even if she asks a student a question and it is obvious that that student has no idea what she just said (let’s call this student, oh I don’t know, me) she still won’t speak English. It’s horrible I have no idea what’s going on, I feel really dumb in that class. So tonight I’m headed to the University Learning Center to get some help. But you know what really stinks, I have to go to that class at nine tomorrow.

(By the way if any one ever wants to comment on my postings please do even if it’s one of my old posts.)

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September 13, 2005

Last night after the Eagles’ game had finished with them losing East halls suddenly erupted into a riot (well almost) from the Eagles fans. They were running around the quads picking fights and acting like idiots until about one o’clock in the morning. I just have one question: Why? What makes Eagles fans more special than fans of any other professional sports team that they can act like this? Seriously 32 NFL teams played this weekend and half of them lost (one of whom was my Cleveland Browns). So why can’t the fans of these other fifteen teams act like this? I don’t have the answer to this question, but what I do know is that why it is wrong for Eagles fans to have acted like they did.

First and foremost this was the first game of the season and there will be fifteen more regular season games. If I have to watch this lunacy every time the Eagles lose I might actually get violent over it (who am I kidding, I know all I’ll do is keep whining about it in my postings). And don’t cry Eagles fans just because they lost doesn’t mean the seasons over, like I said there are fifteen more games (whether they improve or not remains to be seen). Secondly these people who were acting so nutty, didn’t play in the game, they didn’t coach in the game, and don’t own any stock in the Eagles. Therefore they have no right to act as angry about something as trivial as this. As a fan it is all right to be a little upset about a loss, but to be angry at the rest of the world is totally inexcusable.

Now I just want to say I’m not trying to start any fights here. I just want some of the Eagles fans out there to just think about the stuff I brought up in this posting.

You bring up a few interesting points. I agree that a few people were out of control, but the vast majority weren't. I am an Eagles fan, and was pretty disapointed. However, I simply went back to my room and didn't bother anybody. There is one thing I disagree on. Your comment about us not having any part of the Eagles and having no right to be angry is 100% wrong. I don't know about your Browns, but the Philadelphia Eagles play for their fans. When they lose (especially when they are very capable of winning), the fans feel let down by their team. We are the best fans in the league, and will always breathe football. It isn't trivial.-Veritas

I see what your saying about loving your team, and i understand it. But, what i was saying on a physical and financial basis. I wasn't doubting the love of the fans.

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September 12, 2005
In class on Friday we briefly spoke of how several Penn State alumni complained about the music at the South Florida game. They had three main points which I’m going to address them each separately.

First they claimed that the music was played too often. I feel that this is the only one of their complaints that is in any way valid. In reality they were playing it almost every play, and in doing so the Blue Band didn’t play as much as others. But still, that didn’t change much, and as a fan, I didn’t feel that it was even something too noticeable.

Their second argument was that the music play list for the game included too many rap songs. Well, of course it had a lot of rap songs you were at a football! Now I don’t really like to listen to rap too much myself unless I’m trying to get pumped up for something. Hey, wait a minute. Isn’t that the idea of the music at the football game, to get the players and the fans pumped up? I personally feel that the music did a good job of doing that. I hope you are beginning to see how ridiculous their argument is. And what’s worse is they had an even more absurd complaint than this one.

Their third complaint was (and this is the one that really got me fired up), that the music was played at too high of a volume. How can someone say that? I mean, did that really happen, I feel like I’m on “crazy pills” here. But seriously, if you are going to watch a college football game at a stadium that can seat over 106,000 people, you better expect it to get loud. Why would any one make such an absurd complaint? I mean if it had been a game against Ohio State and we blew them out, I doubt that anyone would have complained about the noise. If these people are making claims like this they really aren’t going to help the team out by being there, so how about next time they send someone to the game who wants to be rowdy.

But do you know what makes this whole situation worse? The University actually gave in to these little whining babies. The music was played far less often (which, I’ll let go). When the music was played it was usually classic rock (which I like if I’m just hanging around, but I was at a FOOTBALL GAME). And the music that was played was played at such a volume that I could hardly hear it anyway (Why?). I really can’t believe that the University actually gave in to these ridiculous complaints.

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Sprint5PSelfNarrative ReMixed

I sat in the locker room, trying to contain my excitement, as I watched the rest of my team get ready to go out onto the field, and mentally prepare for this next journey we were about to embark upon. It was the first game of the season, and for me it was my first varsity football game. It seemed as if all the sweat and blood my teammates and I had shed throughout this long two weeks of two-a-days was about to pay off. We sat and waiting for our coaches to give us that pre game speech. All of our coaches reminded us of how hard we had worked that summer and they kept reminding us that it was our “time to be great”. Man was I pumped!

We began to make our march to the field. It was strange, we had all ready been on this field earlier but, as we were heading out there this time something was different. As I stepped through the gate to the field I could feel my adrenalin levels beginning to rise. Butterflies began to enter my stomach (and I wasn’t even going to play). We huddled together behind the goalpost. While the cheerleaders got the banner ready for us to rip through the banner, our captains fired us up some more (as if I needed to be – I was already going crazy). The butterflies in my stomach had more than doubled.

Then it was time to rip through the paper, so the captains said “Let’s Go!” and we shredded the paper and rushed onto the field like a hundred furious bulls. I was going crazy! Seriously, at the time I was only five foot and six inches tall and I only weighed about 130 pounds (if that much), but I swear, at that moment I could have ripped the head off of any of the players on the other team. I looked around, we weren’t at our home field, and this stadium was smaller than ours with fewer fans, but that didn’t matter, it was time for the kickoff and we wanted nothing else but to destroy the other team.

Now I could go on to tell you how we won the game by 21 twenty-one points, how our tailback rushed for over 200 yards. But, there has never been a greater feeling than the one that I got when I went out onto that field on that Friday night. When I went out onto that field that night I knew that I wanted to spend my Friday nights in high school on a football field.

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September 9, 2005

Earlier this afternoon I went for a walk down on College Avenue. I was headed to the student book store because I wanted to pick up a Derrick Williams jersey but they didn’t have one. So I left there and since I had time to kill, I decided to just walk around. I hadn’t even gone a block and I was offered a free slice of pizza, so I took it (it was pretty good so I grabbed a menu, if any one cares). Then I walked a little further and I came across a little slice of paradise known as the Farmer’s Market. They have all kinds of great stuff like, fruits, pies, vegetables, cookies, etc. and they all looked delicious. I had forgotten how much I like the Farmer’s Market and fresh fruit in general (which is something I haven’t had since I left home. Anyway, as I was walking through the market I spotted some peaches and instantly knew I wanted a peach (and strangely I only wanted to buy one). So, I went and asked for one peach and I paid the kindly lady fifty cents. I was just about to bite into the plump and juicy peach but then I realized that I needed to wash that peach. And no matter how bad I didn’t want to wait I knew this peach needed a washing so I decided to walk up to the HUB and wash it in a sink there. So I finally got up to the HUB in what seemed like the longest walk ever (mostly because of my anticipation of that juicy peach). Finally I sunk my teeth into the peach and that whole ordeal became worthwhile. I also realized that it was also one of the juiciest peaches I ever ate and realized that I should sit down on a bench before I get peach juice all over myself like an idiot (I mean it though when I say it, that really was a good peach). So I really do recommend you go to this Farmer’s Market on Friday’s while it is still here. They have some real good stuff and some Amish people (which is always fun).

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September 8, 2005


Tonight I am watching the NFL’s season opener and it got me thinking of how the men who play in NFL are not normal humans. They are without a doubt a collection of “supermen”. These truly do complete tasks unfathomable of us mortals.

First off the defensive line-men average around six foot five inches and about 290 pounds and can run well faster than the fastest kid in my high school. Secondly these men get beat up every day, many times by guys who are about a hundred pounds bigger than them. NFL wide receivers seem to define gravity. I can’t count the number of times I’ve seen a receiver leap for feet off the ground and hang there for what seems like ten seconds. How do these guys do it? Then there are the times that you see these 190 pound receivers knocking over 250 pound linebackers over on blocks. Which brings me linebackers; these men are the farthest things from normal. From the time they are sixteen years old until they are about the time they are thirty-six running full speed and burying his helmet into anyone who gets into his way. Where do come from, Krypton? Seriously these men are no mortals, for twenty years of their life they live total disregard for their and lives of and the lives of the men they hit. How coo! Then there are the quarterbacks who constantly have some of the biggest, strongest, and toughest men on the face of the planet trying to kill them. And just before or just as these monsters of men smack them, they throw the football sixty yards down the field to a spot the size of a basketball hoop. The men (even though they really aren’t men) are absolute marvels.

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September 7, 2005

Sometimes when I read the sports page of the newspaper I find myself questioning the qualifications of some of the writers. Seriously, many of them really mustn’t know much about sports at all. Evan still some of them are real morons.

One great example of this was in the paper this week. One writer was breaking down Penn State’s performance on Saturday and when he started talking about the performance of the running backs, he said something like: Tony Hunt looked flat or underperformed. How could he say that? Tony Hunt rushed for 140 yards on fourteen carries. How is that flat? That’s an average of ten yards a carry. Now given, about half of those 140 yards came on two carries, but the only reason that he didn’t rush for more was because he wasn’t given the ball enough. I had to wonder if this writer had even watched the game or if he had any understanding of the game of football.

Another example of this is this one guy writes for The Scranton Times, my hometown newspaper. Any ways the point is this guy never did any research before making any of his predictions. The first football game of my sophomore year of high school, which was my first year of varsity football, this writer predicted us to be beaten by almost twenty points by a team that was not expected to be great. It is also important that I mention that this writer was also ragging on our team during the whole preseason. So, we came out the first game we won 42 to 21. Then the next week this writer became our biggest fan. He came by our practice and interviewed our star players and for that week and predicted us to win by over twenty points. That week we were playing a team from about three hours away and therefore nobody had ever really seen play. It turns out this team was excellent. They were one of the very best in their region. We lost that game 48 to 7. For the rest of the season he predicted us to get blown out. He continued to hate us for the rest of my high school football career. What a jerk!

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September 6, 2005
Monday night I watched the Florida State and Miami football game. The whole game I heard how Florida State and Miami was one of the greatest rivalries in college football. Now given within the past few years this match-up provided football fans with some of the most exciting finishes and both teams do show a distinct and extra intensity when they play, but that alone doesn’t qualify it as the greatest rivalry in football. Now don’t get me wrong it is a very good rivalry but there are many greater rivalries that exist in college football.

One that comes to mind, mostly because like I said before I’m a Notre Dame, is Notre Dame and Michigan. The two first played in 1887 but they didn’t begin to play on a regular basis until 1978 (information is from [http://www.nd.edu/~ndmag/pick2004/p04-1213.html∞] the Notre Dame Magazine). Every year when these two teams take the field their current records and rankings might as well be thrown out because both teams are bound to be thrown out, because both Michigan and Notre Dame always bring their “A Games” for this match-up.

This Saturday Notre Dame will travel to “The Big House” in Michigan. Notre Dame, coming off a thrilling upset over the University of Pittsburgh last Saturday, looks, with the guidance of new head coach Charlie Wies, to add another upset to this great college rivalry.

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September 5, 2005

Today I did my first batch of laundry and it was a doozey of an experience. Now it wasn’t how you might be thinking it was, because I washed all correctly and the clothes came out fine (thank God). But while I was in the laundry room, there was this kid (who for the story’s sake let’s call Billy) who was in there before me and Billy didn’t know how to wash clothes. Now Billy did know the right amounts of detergent to use and Billy knew what settings to have the washing machine set on and Billy even knew to separate dark clothes from white clothes.

So I know you’re asking yourself, “What could Billy have done wrong?” Well Billy didn’t know how to “size up” a lode of laundry. Billy a load into the machine that was big enough to be two loads (and probably large loads at that). Then Billy took this load and jammed it into the dryer without ever opening up his clothes so that they’d dry better and faster (then again I doubt that he could of because enough clothes to give everyone on campus a piece of clothing). Now I must tell, before I go any further, that I was so angered by this kids stupidity mainly because, I needed to use the dryer after Billy was done because my roommate (who was doing is laundry a minute before I was – that lucky son of a gun) was on the other dryer. Billy then proceeded to set the dryer on for sixty minutes. When he was done he took each piece of clothing out one at a time and – get this – sniffed each and every article of clothing. But wait it gets worse after he did that with every piece of clothing, Billy then decided that his clothes were still not dry so he crams them back into the washing machine and packs them in there again. This time Billy sets it for only thirty minutes. When they are finished Billy again takes each piece individually and proceeds to sniff each piece sometimes taking multiple sniffs (who does this). But then Billy decides that his clothes don’t seem clean enough (of course they aren’t fresh enough because you about 5,000 clothes at once Billy). So, Billy asks me if he can put them back in the dryer for ten more minutes. So I say yes thinking what’s ten more minutes, right? Then Billy crams his clothes back into the dryer, places another dryer sheet in there too make his clothes nice and fresh and then proceeds to set the dryer for – get this - FORTY minutes (hey Billy what happened to TEN minutes, wasn’t that what we agreed on), who does this sort of thing. Then finally the timer stops, Billy takes out his clothes individually and this time sniffs with delight (oh how great for Billy).

In the time it took Billy to use the dryer my clothes nearly air dried themselves (I think I hate Billy). So finally after about four and a half hours I was able to get one full load of colored clothes and another one which was only a half of whites (which only took a half hour to dry, as opposed to Billy’s two and a half hours). Good Lord, I swear sometimes people can be complete Morons!

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My Self Narrative
How did I get where I am now? To be quite honest I’m not too sure myself. I know this much, my life was by no means shaped by one single action or event, but by a lot of different people as well. I guess to answer that question my best bet is to start from the beginning.

I was born almost two weeks later than what the doctors had predicted. But on January 31, 1987 I was born to John and Maureen Marcinko. I was their first child, making me a bit of an experiment. But I guess it wasn’t too bad of an experiment for them because less than three years later, my sister Abby (who I named, if that is of any importance to any one) was born. Then less than two years later my other sister Annie was born. Apparently my parents had a good time raising us three because just over four years ago my baby brother Aidan born. My siblings are all great. Sure they get on my nerves every now and then but they’re great they really are, especially the little one.

Aidan looks up to me so much it’s really quite funny and to be honest quite flattering as well. Whatever I do he does, which keeps me on my toes because his ears pick up any and all curses that I say and his mouth will repeat them about fifty times, but that’s what small children do. As for my other siblings, Abby is a sophomore in high school. She goes to a real expensive prep school (Scranton Prep is its name, if that means anything to anyone reading this) which I don’t like much. First off almost every kid I’ve ever met from this school is a huge snobbish rich kid who feels that they can do whatever they want because of who daddy is. Secondly I went to a public school in our area and I got as good of an education if not a better one than the one offered at the school my sister goes to. The third reason I don’t like it is probably because Scranton Prep was one of the rivals of my high school (which is North Pocono High School By the way), so when it came to high school athletics my sister and I never saw eye-to-eye. But even though I don’t like she does and I goes that that is all that matters, right? Oh and just incase anyone thinks I might be bitter because I didn’t go to Scranton Prep I’m not at all, I chose My As Annie, well she is in the eighth grade a small catholic but she does intend to the same high school that I did, so that’s good. But Annie is so funny sometimes it kills me, it really does. This one time, a few years, we were on vacation in Hawaii, and we went to visit the Pearle Harbor Memorial. If you’ve never been there before, a tour guide shows you a film strip and in it they mentioned that many of the body’s were still trapped in the sunken ships. So we are out at the monument in the middle of the harbor, it’s a very quiet and solemn moment. Then all that we can hear is my sister practically yell, “Mom, where are all the bodies… I can’t see any of the bodies, where are they Mom?” We were all mortified (to say the very least). But she is a real character let me tell you what.

Then since seem to be telling you all about my family and how indirectly how they shaped my life, I must tell you about my parents. My Dad is really great, even though sometimes I (like every other teenager) get pretty frustrated with him. He is pretty tough on me with grades and pretty much everything else, but like I said before I’m his first child and he is just trying to do what’s best for me, so I can’t complain too much. He and I though I do occasionally hate to admit are a lot alike. We are impatient when we are working (I know he is because I’ve done yard work with him before, enough said). We both like sports (him and I were both die hard Notre Dame fans since as long as either one of us can remember – which makes me being here at PSU even harder to explain). And we both are huge Bruce Springsteen (and don’t say anything bad about that). So he’s is honestly a great father to his children and a great provider for his family. As for my Mom she is Mom, and great at it. She has always been there for me with love and compassion. I like to think she raised me well (at least both she and I hope so). But she always goes out of her way to see that my siblings and I a re always happy and safe, and that does sometimes make her a little overprotective (ok, sometimes very over protective), but I owe a lot.

Now I know all of this rambling doesn’t exactly explain why I’m sitting in my dorm room at eleven o’clock on September the fifth of 2005. But what it does do well is telling you who and where I came from and in the end that’s the key to who I am, isn’t it.

Other Narratives: IslandGirlBlog and MonicaKrasBlog

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