First weekend back in Cleveland was nice and relaxing. Friday was Leah's birthday, as well and my grandmother's. So Mom, Leah, Grandmom, and I went to Bluepoint Grille to celebrate. It literally poured all day and night Friday, but I am glad we went. Of all the nice restaurants in Cleveland, that is the one I have never been to and always wanted to go to. This was my first real meal of the week, so I was very much looking forward to it. It also worked out well with the diet. I split a salad with Leah and had Yellowfin Tuna. I won't lie, it was painful to watch Leah and my Grandmom split this amazing looking chocolate pecan desert. Good thing I was stuffed. We had a real nice time and it is always a pleasure to dine with my three favorite ladies in the world. The next morning we had a three hour baby basics course. We learned how to bathe, diaper, and feed and got a lot of our questions answered. The crazy thing was all the photos they showed us of rashes, bumps, etc, to look for. The swollen scrotum was really interesting. YIKES! Overall though it was very informative. I have never changed a diaper in my life, so I got in some practice. The whole time I kept thinking to myself "this is really happening." In the group of 12, I was surprised to hear that 11 couples knew what they were having, and 8 of them were having boys.
In regards to the diet, week one has passed. I won't lie, there were several times this week where all I could think about was food and I was starving. Its mind over matter. I've got to allow a few weeks to get past the initial "oh my goodness, I am starving, this sucks" shock, and then I'm ok. Just gotta allow time for the stomach to shrink so I can get full faster. I know this sounds ridiculous, but its the only way for me. I'm just like my dad - I have no idea about the concept of moderation. I allow myself to get to a weight where I have no business being, try the moderation plan, its backfires, I wait a few more months, and then go to the soup/starvation diet. It has to be this way, I can't cheat at all and have to deprive myself of everything bad or else it won't work. Yesterday was especially hard. I went to brunch at the Original House of Pancakes with Leah's grandparents and ordered a bowl of oatmeal. As a wise man once said "It is what it is." Today I am back on my normal Monday-Friday schedule of Soup for lunch, maybe an apple of string cheese around 3:30-4, then a Lean Cuisine for dinner. Sounds great doesn't it?
So at 4:30 am this morning, I hear what I think is my alarm go off, when I see its that early and realize its the house alarm. Its pouring rain and windy outside at this time. I walk over to the alarm panel in my bedroom and it says "garage entry door." So now, Mr. tough guy has to walk downstairs and see what is going on. Now living in "Mayberry," there isn't exactly a lot of crime going on. Casey of course wasn't the least bit scared and she went right down the stairs with me to check it out. With nothing in my hands (probably not a good idea), I walked to the entry door and saw the door was open. It was pouring and windy outside, so I looked down and saw no wet footprints or anything. It looked as though the wind was strong enough to blow the door open, which obviously wasn't closed well enough. I checked the rest of the house and it was ok. So of course Leah and I both had a hard time going back to sleep, but Casey had no such issues. The main problem for me was the Casey snoring combined with her for some reason curling up by my neck. So I clearly didn't get much sleep.
The Game: How this comes into play is that I need to stay up tonight for the big game for all the marbles. The Ohio State Buckeyes take on the Florida Gators in College Football's national championship game. You should see how much hype this game is getting here. i get it, Cleveland is big time Buckeye-country. It has been the lead story on the news every night this past week and the cover story in the newspaper. I'm just sick of waiting for this game already. Nothing like waiting 50 plus (OSU) and 40 plus (UF) days between playing games. Really makes for a crisp couple of teams. I have gone on record saying I think the BCS system is ridiculous and we are long overdue for a playoff. The other major problem with the college game is the length of these games. Why do they find it necessary to reset the chains after every first down? They don't do it in the NFL and the games are a half hour shorter on average. If you live in the eastern time zone as I do, this game will be over well past midnight. No doubt I will watch the whole thing. With all that said about college football, there is still nothing better than the pageantry of a big game Saturday on campus. Its just hard for me to be hardcore into a sport where 1)my college program is average at best, and 2) one loss and you are essentially out of the national title chase. I am so jealous though of my friends who are out there. Dave has become a junior me with attending the sporting events. He is out there rooting on his Gators. he has also been to the Alabama game, the SEC championship game in Atlanta, the OSU/Florida basketball game in December, and the National Championship game and Final Four last April. Gotta give the man his due. K, Ags and my man KC are out there supporting their Buckeyes. After going to both the Texas and Michigan games this year, I told Ags he had to be out there to see this thing through.
The Analysis: I think the two best teams are playing tonight. I have watched OSU and Florida more than any other teams this year; OSU because I live in the heart of Buckeye country, and Florida because I happened to be with Dave (Florida Grad) twice during big Florida games and with my father in law (Florida fan) during another. I also think SEC football is about 1000 times more watchable than any other conference in the country. I will watch a LSU/Florida or a Arkansas/Auburn game way before I am watching Michigan/Penn State or Wisconsin/Purdue. There will be a ton of potential pro's on the field tonight and we should be in for a dandy.Florida's coach Urban Meyer is one of the top offensive minds in the sport. Rafal and I went to the Fiesta Bowl three years ago when Meyer coached Utah to a blowout win over Pittsburgh. The whole game were talked about how amazed we were at his cutting edge offensive schemes. Ohio State's Jim Tressel may be the best big game coach right now in any sport. He is 5-1 against arch-rival Michigan and 4-1 in bowl games. Heisman Trophy winning QB Troy Smith may be as good in big games as his coach. He is 3-0 against Michigan and 3-0 in Bowl games. Their offense as a whole is a sight to see. There may be no better offense in the country. Florida's defense though possesses the speed that the Buckeyes have not seen all year. Watch out for DB Reggie Nelson. He is the emotional leader of this team and will be playing with a heavy heart after losing his mother to breast cancer in late December. The big matchup are those stud Buckeye WR's against the veteran battle tested Florida secondary. The Gators do it on offense with the great schemes of Meyer. QB Chris Leak has been up and down all season, but lookout for backup QB and short yardage king QB Tim Tebow. When he comes in, its almost always a run for a first down. He is a beast. Leak's favorite target though is WR Dallas Baker. The key speed guy and the guy who makes them go is WR Percy Harvin. There may be no faster player in the nation, not even OSU speedster Ted Ginn. When Harvin touches the ball, he is always a threat to go the distance. He will test that Buckeye Defense who lost 9 starters from last years #3 ranked squad but hasn't missed a beat.
So at 4:30 am this morning, I hear what I think is my alarm go off, when I see its that early and realize its the house alarm. Its pouring rain and windy outside at this time. I walk over to the alarm panel in my bedroom and it says "garage entry door." So now, Mr. tough guy has to walk downstairs and see what is going on. Now living in "Mayberry," there isn't exactly a lot of crime going on. Casey of course wasn't the least bit scared and she went right down the stairs with me to check it out. With nothing in my hands (probably not a good idea), I walked to the entry door and saw the door was open. It was pouring and windy outside, so I looked down and saw no wet footprints or anything. It looked as though the wind was strong enough to blow the door open, which obviously wasn't closed well enough. I checked the rest of the house and it was ok. So of course Leah and I both had a hard time going back to sleep, but Casey had no such issues. The main problem for me was the Casey snoring combined with her for some reason curling up by my neck. So I clearly didn't get much sleep.
The Game: How this comes into play is that I need to stay up tonight for the big game for all the marbles. The Ohio State Buckeyes take on the Florida Gators in College Football's national championship game. You should see how much hype this game is getting here. i get it, Cleveland is big time Buckeye-country. It has been the lead story on the news every night this past week and the cover story in the newspaper. I'm just sick of waiting for this game already. Nothing like waiting 50 plus (OSU) and 40 plus (UF) days between playing games. Really makes for a crisp couple of teams. I have gone on record saying I think the BCS system is ridiculous and we are long overdue for a playoff. The other major problem with the college game is the length of these games. Why do they find it necessary to reset the chains after every first down? They don't do it in the NFL and the games are a half hour shorter on average. If you live in the eastern time zone as I do, this game will be over well past midnight. No doubt I will watch the whole thing. With all that said about college football, there is still nothing better than the pageantry of a big game Saturday on campus. Its just hard for me to be hardcore into a sport where 1)my college program is average at best, and 2) one loss and you are essentially out of the national title chase. I am so jealous though of my friends who are out there. Dave has become a junior me with attending the sporting events. He is out there rooting on his Gators. he has also been to the Alabama game, the SEC championship game in Atlanta, the OSU/Florida basketball game in December, and the National Championship game and Final Four last April. Gotta give the man his due. K, Ags and my man KC are out there supporting their Buckeyes. After going to both the Texas and Michigan games this year, I told Ags he had to be out there to see this thing through.
The Analysis: I think the two best teams are playing tonight. I have watched OSU and Florida more than any other teams this year; OSU because I live in the heart of Buckeye country, and Florida because I happened to be with Dave (Florida Grad) twice during big Florida games and with my father in law (Florida fan) during another. I also think SEC football is about 1000 times more watchable than any other conference in the country. I will watch a LSU/Florida or a Arkansas/Auburn game way before I am watching Michigan/Penn State or Wisconsin/Purdue. There will be a ton of potential pro's on the field tonight and we should be in for a dandy.Florida's coach Urban Meyer is one of the top offensive minds in the sport. Rafal and I went to the Fiesta Bowl three years ago when Meyer coached Utah to a blowout win over Pittsburgh. The whole game were talked about how amazed we were at his cutting edge offensive schemes. Ohio State's Jim Tressel may be the best big game coach right now in any sport. He is 5-1 against arch-rival Michigan and 4-1 in bowl games. Heisman Trophy winning QB Troy Smith may be as good in big games as his coach. He is 3-0 against Michigan and 3-0 in Bowl games. Their offense as a whole is a sight to see. There may be no better offense in the country. Florida's defense though possesses the speed that the Buckeyes have not seen all year. Watch out for DB Reggie Nelson. He is the emotional leader of this team and will be playing with a heavy heart after losing his mother to breast cancer in late December. The big matchup are those stud Buckeye WR's against the veteran battle tested Florida secondary. The Gators do it on offense with the great schemes of Meyer. QB Chris Leak has been up and down all season, but lookout for backup QB and short yardage king QB Tim Tebow. When he comes in, its almost always a run for a first down. He is a beast. Leak's favorite target though is WR Dallas Baker. The key speed guy and the guy who makes them go is WR Percy Harvin. There may be no faster player in the nation, not even OSU speedster Ted Ginn. When Harvin touches the ball, he is always a threat to go the distance. He will test that Buckeye Defense who lost 9 starters from last years #3 ranked squad but hasn't missed a beat.
The prediction: As I said earlier, I know these two teams better than any other two in college football. I think Florida will keep in close in the first half, but their mistake prone QB Chris Leak will cost them dearly at some point. OSU RB's Antonio Pittman and Beanie Wells will wear down the Florida defense and Smith will hit two big plays to Ginn and fellow WR Brian Robiske. WR Anthony Gonzalez will too have a big game. In the end, you give Sen~ior Sweatervest himself, Jim Tressel 50 days to prepare for anyone, he isn't going to lose. Ohio State 31 Florida 21
Song of the Day: "Steppin to the A.M." by 3rd Bass
Song of the Day: "Steppin to the A.M." by 3rd Bass
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