Being an N.C. State fan is like being kicked in the nuts

Over and over and over again.

Beat Duke by 14 points, look like we're resembling an actual Division 1 team. Forget to show up to the Maryland game, get blown out by 24 points. Also, let me tell you how much fun that was to watch while being surrounded by a family of Maryland fans. I just had to go into sportswriter mode and pretend like I didn't care and that it wasn't happening.

And then UNC. I'm sorry. I just couldn't bring myself to talk about it until now. We looked decent in very short, very intense bursts. Then, of course, we couldn't finish a game without one of our patented 8-minute scoring droughts that turned a 5-point lead into a 15-point deficit.

I'm just getting angry. I leave you with happy N.C. State videos.

A little boy who loves the Pack like his daddy, despite having a Tar Heel mom.



Post-game, 2007 victory over UNC; 31-27



Most Incredible Block Ever -- Courtney Fells vs. Duke



Julius Hodge beats UConn, sends State to Sweet 16

Big Game

State/UNC tonight at 9 p.m.

If you don't preface your attempts at communicating with me with some form of "UNC sucks," "Carolina sucks" or "Go to hell Carolina," you should probably reconsider your attempts at communicating with me.

If the team that played in the Duke game and the second half of the Clemson game shows up, I really like our chances -- especially at home, especially against a young, struggling Tar Heels team.

If the team that decided not to try very hard against Maryland shows up, I predict I will be watching a movie by 9:30 p.m.

I really, really hate those smug bastards. (No offense to any of my friends who went there. You guys are cool. But admit it, even you know what I'm talking about here.)

Basketball.

Well, N.C. State beat Duke last night, 88-74.

Hell of a game, too. We took the lead at 17-15 and never trailed the rest of the night. It was not without its tense moments. Duke hit a ridiculous 3 at the buzzer to cut the lead to 41-38 at halftime.

And then with an 8-point lead in the waning minutes of the game, Javi Gonzalez was dribbling out the shot clock and somehow managed the drill a 3 from WAY behind the line over 6-foot-10 Mason Plumlee to push the lead back to 11. Talk about the definition of a dagger play.

That was the game right there. State's up by 8 with around four minutes to play, and the shot clock winding down. If Duke gets a stop there, you KNOW they're nailing a 3 at the other end. It's Duke. That's what they do.

Then the lead is 5 points, and State would have found a way to blow it. We're State. That's what we do.

But Javi sank the 3, pushing the lead to 11 and igniting a crowd that has been yearning to explode for far too long now.

Where do we go from here? Well, in the most technical sense, we go to College Park for a date with Maryland on Saturday evening. Then what promises to be a lively atmosphere on Tuesday night as we host UNC (losers of three in a row, by the way [!!] Think that preseason No. 6 ranking with a first-place vote may have been a farce?).

In the more philosophical sense, I see this playing out in two ways.

First, the team who showed up for the second half of the Clemson game and the Duke win shows up Saturday and takes out Maryland to improve to 14-6 (3-3 ACC), setting up a ridiculous main event Tuesday night where we'd probably enter the top 25 if we beat Carolina.

Second, the team gets caught up in OMGWEBEATDUKE mode and sees a little powder blue on the schedule Tuesday night, and Maryland gets a little lost in the shuffle and blows us out of the water. The Terps have a talented senior point guard, and you cannot take those lightly -- especially not in the ACC (even if he is the biggest walking toolbox the ACC has seen since Chris Paul or Steve Blake).

The second scenario has been the story of this program for the better part of our recent history. We play to the level of our opponents, hanging with and occasionally beating the big boys, and tripping up against the mid-level teams. If Sidney Lowe is THE guy we all hope he is, he needs to put this trend in the past.

The team from the last game and a half should beat Maryland AND Carolina (especially with the way the Heels are currently playing).

That would be the first scenario, which would create some much-needed momentum for a program that has been caught in the doldrums all year. From narrowly missing out on Derrick Favors, John Wall and DeMarcus Cousins to Lorenzo Brown not being eligible to heart-breaking losses in games against Arizona, Florida and Virginia (all games where we held late leads and should have won).

Finish strong this season, make a run in the ACC tournament, perhaps an appearance in the NCAA tournament and then the stud recruiting class Lowe has for next year with Brown finally arriving, Ryan Harrow and Luke Cothron -- now that's some momentum.

LET'S GO BOYS. Play up to your potential for the first time in too many years and win the games you're capable of winning. Let's get this thing on the right track.

Doin' the bull dance; feelin' the flow. Workin' it; workin' it.

It's been a good several weeks for me. As such, here are a few things I'm pretty pumped about.

1. Hockey is fun: I went to my first Washington Capitals game yesterday. A guy at work had four tickets and gave me two of them. So Rachel and I happily attended. Man, hockey is SO much more fun in person than on TV. I enjoy hockey on TV, don't get me wrong. But it's a completely different experience in person.

The crowd was NUTS, and the Caps are actually, ya know, good. So that helps. And I gotta say, Ovechkin is just unbelievable to watch. The things he does -- he just makes everything look so easy. The Caps won 5-3. When the Caps score five goals in a home game, everyone in attendance gets 10 free wings at a restaurant in the area.

Here's the best part: the fifth goal was scored by Ovechkin on a penalty shot. Co-worker Conor (the guy who got the tickets) said it best: "It was like being in the Roman Coliseum with 18,000 people all standing, all knowing what was going to happen and all screaming for blood. It was AWESOME."

And it WAS. He scored on a sick backhanded move, and the place went berserk. Really, really excellent. I will be going to more Caps games, for SURE.

2. I have a huge TV now! I keep forgetting to take pictures of my set-up. Here's what I've got:

-55" Samsung HDTV, 1080p, 120Hz, 100,000-to-1 dynamic contrast (hollaaaa)
-1,000-watt Samsung surround sound system with built-in bluray player and wireless rear speakers

YES. SIR. I still need to get an HD cable box from Comcast (we'd just been running it from the wall downstairs) to really take advantage of the HD capabilities, but my God bluray is excellent. Fire and explosions are bordering on life-changing experiences on bluray high-def.

I now have five bluray movies: Star Trek, Terminator, Terminator 2, Gladiator and Goodfellas. Very cool. I also got a Wii just so I could get the new Super Mario game. And it is also excellent.

Xbox360 games look unbelievable when you actually take advantage of everything the system can do. I am a FAN.

3. Skiing! Sometime in the next few weeks, I'll be going skiing for the first time ever! I'm so excited. Someone at work is organizing a day-trip on a Saturday for co-workers and significant others. Rachel has been skiing before, so hopefully I can get a few pointers.

Basically, I'm planning on spending most of the day on my ass and/or back. I feel like that's really the best-case scenario for me. I'm not exactly known for my coordination to begin with, so adding skis, snow and mountain to the mix isn't likely to improve matters. Whatevs. It'll be excellent.

4. CHICAGO!!! So here's the deal: Rachel's sister lives in Chicago and goes to DePaul. Technician sports editor emeritus Tanner is living in Chicago while he works with Americorps. Yeah, they live like four blocks away from each other. Crazy.

I don't know that it's ever taken LESS to convince me to do something, but Tanner goes, "Whoa come visit!" And I thought to myself, "Well why the hell not? What exactly is stopping me from doing this?" I asked Rachel if she'd like to go to Chicago (of course she did, she loves the city), and we booked our flights last night!

We'll be flying to Chicago on April 9 and coming back April 11 -- a nice little three-day weekend. I've never been to Chicago, so I'm extra pumped about it. HOLLA.

Like I said, doin' the bull dance; feelin' the flow. Workin' it; workin' it.

...well then we're shit out of luck.

Time for a music post! I don't know why, but I really love these music posts. Anyway, here are five songs I feel like writing about right now...haha. Oh, and if you count my embarrassing obsession with that Keri Hilson song two posts down, then that's six songs. Anyway.

Stu's tiger song from The Hangover

Yes, that's right. I totally loved this movie -- one of those rare times when I have HUGE expectations for a movie and it delivers. This song was one of my favorite moments. It's funny and catchy, and then he gets to the last line, and it just hit me like a ton of bricks. I lost it. I can't watch this clip and NOT giggle like a little girl. But if he's been murdered by crystal meth tweeeaaakers...well then we're shit out of luck.

I can't embed the song, so click here for the YouTube clip!

Muse - "Knights of Cydonia"

The first time I heard this song was on Guitar Hero, actually, haha. It came on, and I was unimpressed at first. The intro is kinda cool, but it's almost two minutes long. Then the driving drum beat kicked in. Fuck. Yes. This song EASILY made the cut onto my half-marathon list. Here's a live version of it because it still sounds awesome. If this doesn't get you pumped up, you have no soul.



Lady Gaga - "Bad Romance"

Yeah, I know. I don't really want to talk about it too much. I absolutely hated this song when I first heard it. But that damn "gaga ooh la la" shit grows roots and plants itself on your brain until you just give in. Please, let's just move on.



Weezer - "(If You're Wondering if I Want You to) I Want You To"

So here's the deal with Weezer. The Blue Album and Pinkteron are two of my favorite albums I own. I can listen to them front to back, never skip a song and LOVE them just as much each time. Because of this, I get sucked into every new Weezer album that comes out. Make Believe, the Red Album and, now, Raditude. While Raditude has the best album cover I've ever seen, *sigh, the rest of it...just, yikes.

This song, I mean, I like it. Don't get me wrong. It's catchy. It's fun. But I'm afraid it stands out so much because the other songs were so...*sigh...so not very good. So yeah. This is the only song on the entire album I can see myself listening to with any regularity at all.

Plus, it really makes me want to play the drums for some reason. Any song that elicits that feeling usually scores pretty high with me.



Reel Big Fish - "Boys Don't Cry"

Well you know how much I love Reel Big Fish. And I'm crazy about some cover songs. This song was originally done by The Cure in the 80s. Fun song. Then RBF took it, added horns and sped it up quite a bit. Love it. Here's a live version from 1997. Good stuff.

Things I Don't Get About the Metro

Why does the train roll a few feet and come to a jarring stop, roll a few more feet, come to a jarring stop, rinse and repeat?

It's not like the train operator is surprised by traffic and has to put on the brakes. It's a fucking tunnel. If there's a train ahead of you, don't move. When the track is clear, on we go.

I don't get it. The train comes to a stop in the tunnel because there's already one on the platform ahead. That's fine. Thanks for not ramming the back of the other train, you know? But why on EARTH do we have to do the start-stop routine five times? Open your fucking eyes! If the train is still there, don't go!

I think I speak for all Metro customers when I say we'd rather stay stationary for the extra 20 seconds than start-stop several times.

Also, I feel like this has the potential to become a running feature on the blog. So there you go.

My Latest Song Obsession (*sigh)

Coolest Video EVER

In my life, I will never again see something this awesome. My jaw dropped open and remained that way until I'd seen it three more times.

The Mythbuster guys disintegrate a car by shooting a rocket-propelled steel plate at it. The plate hits it at 650 miles per hour.

Dogs Welcoming Home Soliders

OK, this is seriously the best thing I've ever seen in my life. A page with several videos of soldiers getting home and being greeted by their dogs after MONTHS away overseas. Best. Ever.

And then there's a video at the bottom of solider dads surprising their kids at school. Unbelievable. It's getting a little dusty in here I think.

Here's the link. It's awesome.

Thank you to all the soldiers who have ever, in any way, served our country and made it safe for us to live the lives we choose to live. We get to make that choice because of what you do. So thank you and Happy Veterans Day!

Sooo I did it.

As you probably know, last weekend I ran my first half-marathon. I started training on Aug. 10, and I worked all the way through the race day on Nov. 1.

The training guide said not to set a time goal for your first race, and that finishing should be enough. Yeah, right. I know me. I set a goal, albeit a modest goal -- two and a half hours. It's not really that fast a time -- it's an 11:30/mile pace. But I didn't want to push myself TOO hard. After all, the most I'd ever run in my life up to that point was about six miles, but I only did that once. Other than that, the most I ever did was three miles.

I woke up at 5 a.m., got to the starting line a little after 7 a.m., and I was off. My official time was 2:19:51, almost 10 minutes better than my goal (or 45 seconds faster per mile). It rained the whole time, and it was cold the whole time...haha. Frankly, it's a miracle I did not get sick. Running in shorts and a T-shirt in temperatures that did not rise above the low 50s and RAIN.

But hey, nothing in the world can compare to the surge and the rush when I turned the corner and saw the downhill road to the finish line. I sprinted the home stretch. Well, it felt like sprinting to me. Actually, I don't know what it felt like. I couldn't feel my legs at that point; I was just forcing them forward.

I stopped for a few seconds at two water stations to drink some water, and I tried to drink a cup of sports drink while running, but I think I ended up just pouring it down my shirt. Otherwise, it was a good race. The course was pretty difficult, I think. Lots of hills, so I'm glad my regular training route included a pretty big-ass hill. I felt prepared for it, and I experienced no pain until later in the day.

For the next few days, I seriously considered going up the stairs on all fours and sliding down the stairs on my ass like we did as kids. I made it though. The pain is gone now.

A former co-worker of mine ran her first half-marathon and marathon recently. She started a blog about it. But the theme of her training was "Pain is temporary; pride is forever." I can tell you right now, I'm addicted to the feeling of crossing the finish line. Three months of training, two-plus hours of running -- it's all worth it to feel the rush of crossing the finish line.

I will run another one. Probably not in the next 12 months, but we'll see how I feel when summer rolls around. I can already feel the change in one way: it feels funny taking the week off from running. I'm actually getting an itch to run. I never imagined that would ever happen.

So either this week or maybe next week, I'll get back out and run three or four miles four or five times a week, just to keep in shape. I feel like this is the best shape I've been in in several years, all thanks to the training -- running four days a week, weight training three days a week and I added 400 crunches per day. Let's just keep it going.

I'm also thinking about doing P90X. My roommate has the DVDs and said he'd allow me to borrow them. It would give me something to do as far as working out goes during the cold months when I probably wouldn't enjoy running around outside. If I do that and it works for me, I'll post some before and after pictures. They're pretty ridiculous, so I hope to have some news to report there. We'll see!

For now, I'm just so incredibly proud of myself for actually sticking to the training for three months and running the whole race. Oh yeah! I ran EVERY STEP of the race, which is significant because I could not complete a training run during the previous three months without walking some. But last week, I didn't stop to walk once. I just kept going. I surprised myself.

So yeah. I'm just really proud of myself for doing this. I never thought I'd ever run ONE half-marathon, and now I'm actually excited to run another one. You better believe I hung up the medal I got for finishing. I wore that thing the whole day afterward.

I'm rambling now. IMAGINE MY SURPRISE. I'll just stop now while I'm ahead. I'm just really happy with myself. :-)

LATER!
-BG