College Basketball Season

Greetings! It has been a while since I have posted about...well anything. Work has kind of dominated my life the last month or so, but I am trying to find more balance between work and everything else. Many of the college basketball experts at USA Today/CBS Sports released their EARLY pre-season teams today and to be honest not a lot of surprise on these teams. I am not going to pretend that my sphere of knowledge in college basketball extends beyond the Big 10 (at least not this early in the season), but I think overall this is going to be a good year for the Big 10.

Indiana is the front runner to win the conference with many key players returning this year. Watford, Olidipo, and Zeller (POY candidate) give them a lot of size upfront which is crucial to success playing against the rugged teams in the Big 10. Defensively they struggled at times last season, especially playing team defense. They also have a few freshmen coming in that will be impact players for Tom Crean's squad.

The next team you have to look at is Michigan. They have their two top players from last year (Burke and Hardaway) returning plus one hell of a recruiting class that will play major minutes this season. The key for the Wolverines will be the play of Burke. At times he was the best point guard in the country last year and if he can consistently knock down the outside jumper he will be very difficult to guard. Also add in the fact he will have more weapons around him and you could see more of a transition game from UM this season.

In East Lansing, Tom Izzo will have his hands full as the team lost one of the best Spartans of all-time in Draymond Green. His leadership will be greatly missed and now it is Appling's team. Haven't heard if his jumpshot is any better, but he needs to find more consistency on the outside for the Spartans to compete for a Big Ten title. Expect to see lots of incoming freshmen Gary Harris who will need to take on a scoring role for this Spartan squad.

When talking about the Big 10 you cannot overlook Ohio State especially as they have the best offensive player in the conference (Deshaun Thomas) and the best defensive player in the conference (Aaron Craft) as well. The big question for Thad Matta is who is going to be the inside presence for OSU. Without Sullinger they will need to put forth a better team rebounding effort and will also have to look for more scoring from the outside.

One of these four teams will win the Big 10 title this season. Last year three of these teams tied for the conference and we might see it again this year. The formula for winning the Big 10 has been holding serve at home and then stealing road games. There will definitely be a lot of parody in the conference this year and no game is a guarantee win on the road. Here are a couple other players/teams to watch out for.

Trevor Mbakwe (Minnesota) - One of the best rebounders in the country, but he is coming off of knee injuries so the question is can he be as explosive as he use to be inside. Rodney Williams is also a SR this year and is the most athletic player in the Big 10 which will create match up problems for the Gopher opponents.

Brandon Paul (Illinois) - Remember his performance last year against OSU? 43 points if I remember correctly and he completely took over the game in the 2nd half. He has the capability to be a big time performer and carry the Illini to the tournament.

Tim Fraizer (Penn State) - Arguably the most valuable player in the league for the gaudy stats he puts up. He is going to keep Penn State in some games this year and teams will need to key in on him in order to avoid an upset from the Nittany Lions.

Wisconsin - You can NEVER count out a Bo Ryan team. They will always be tough to beat at the Kohl Center even if they don't have the talent they have had in the past.

Predictions:
It is hard to forecast a college basketball season in October but I think for the most part we won't see any major surprises this season. I think Michigan has the most upside this season, but it is always tough with freshmen and projecting how they will adapt to the college game and lifestyle. I am going to pick Indiana to win the conference though as Zeller is just too much of a difference maker to pick any other team.

1. Indiana
2. Michigan
3. Michigan State
4. Ohio State
5. Illinois
6. Minnesota
7. Wisconsin
8. Purdue
9. Northwestern
10. Iowa
11. Penn State
12. Nebraska

Stand Up To Cancer

If anyone saw the show last night, it had to get you thinking. I am extremely lucky to be healthy and I could not imagine having to fight such a terrible disease. During the show, many statistics were announced and some were just so sad and disturbing. But to me, one thing that just bothers me is children with cancer. They are so brave for fighting and it totally changes their life and all of their support group. All the things I did as a kid, I took for granted and it is a shame. The "problems" that I currently have or have had in the past pale in comparison to what these kids are facing. Join me in helping find a cure for cancer and donate to the cause. Children should be out playing on the playground with their friends, not doing chemo treatments.

https://www.standup2cancer.org/

Fantasy Football

Ok folks, I just assembled my fantasy team this. My team consist mostly of Michigan players and Detroit Lions. In order to make my team complete I need to trade for Tom Brady and also need to get the Lions Defense. Both are obtainable, but it will be difficult.Last year I did the same thing and my team turned out ok, but this year is going to be a struggle. Whatever though...it is $10 I am for sure going to lose especially because people actually know the Lions will be good this year.

In the end I am just happy I am able to assemble a team based on two programs. How many Universities could produce a team like Michigan? Alabama, Texas, Georgia, USC, OSU, probably a few more that I am missing, but definitely proud to put this team together each year no matter how crappy my team might be! GO BLUE!!!

I have good luck!

The other day I was in a Chick-fil-A in Bluffton, S.C., and while I was eating an Amish family came into the restaurant. It was not the first time I have seen Amish people but it definitely was an experience. Whenever I encounter a situation like this I often try to find something funny about it that I can tweet about or post on FB. Immediately something came to my mind, but I did not pull the trigger because it probably isn't politically correct. However, since no one reads my blog I can post it here and maybe make a few people laugh (and also a few people probably shake their heads).

"Sticking out at a Chick-fil-A. #AmishProbz"

In the last month I have encountered a wide array of people in my travels, and the one fact of life that always bothers me is that there are so many things that are out of our control. To some extend our very nature as a person is not in our control. Take for example the Amish family. The kids that were born into the family really did not have any choice whatsoever about their lifestyle. That is the only thing they knew growing up, and now yes, they may have the option to change, but the Amish doctrine of life is ingrained so deep inside their memory that switching is incredibly difficult.

Millions of children are born everyday and the place they are born is probably the most important determining factor in their life. Not ambition, drive, or anything else. Grant it these things can make huge differences in the outcomes of people's lives later in life, but really so much is due to where you are born and the infrastructure that is put in place. This is why our infrastructure is so vital to the success of our world. If there is inequality in infrastructure you will inevitably see inequality in the society. 

In the fight to lower inequality we should try and make it a level playing field by providing equal access to infrastructure such as schools, hospitals, libraries, universities, etc. Instead of worrying about tax rates our politicians should be pouring money into education, which is the key to making this country a meritocracy. 

All of us are a direct product of our environments. My "success" is somewhat due to my work ethic, but really it is due to the fact I was born into a middle to upper middle class family that could afford great education for me. Things would be a lot different for me had I been raised in different circumstances. At this point all I can really do is be thankful and then try and find small ways to tighten the inequality I see in the world. Change is slow, but you must be persistent.

Augusta National

I'm sure many of you heard about Augusta National finally allowing women to be members of their club. It is a pretty historic day as Condi Rice and Darla Moore will soon get their green jackets and have access to play arguably the best course in the world. However I urge people to not get too worked up over it. The question that really needs to be asked is that should Augusta National be celebrated for doing something they should have done 50 years ago?

When I saw the news I was definitely happy for women golfers everywhere as this is a huge victory as they gain more access to restricted clubs across the country, but really it was not life altering. I was more like, "well ok, it was about time this happened." You look at the PR Augusta is getting for this and you also look at who they selected as members and it is hard to not think their are different motives behind this move.

Condi Rice is an amazing person with an amazing story to tell. She is basically like American royalty with all her connections to the White House over the years. Darla Moore is very rich and it begs the question. Will this trickle down to help the average female golfer? Only time will tell.

The other question I have is will the Women's Club Championship be stroke play or match play?

Wedding Streak Over!

Sorry it has been a long time since I posted. Unfortunately I have been working long and crazy hours at work the past week or two and I just haven't got a chance to get on here. Lots has happened since my last post.

Last weekend I was back in the Mitten state for a wedding with two of my friends from college. It was a great time and more importantly I am really happy for them both! The wedding was perfect and luckily I knew quite a few people there which made it more enjoyable. This was the first wedding that I had been to since my best friend got married two years. Work had got in the way of the last five weddings I was invited to and it really sucked not going to those as they were some of my really good friends. The good luck streak will only reach one though as I am going to miss my cousin's wedding in a few weeks. Pretty soon all my friends will stop getting married and I won't have any weddings to go to which will be a positive in my opinion.

For all of you that know me well I am definitely a social butterfly (with a love for sarcasm). Ok, so maybe the whole wedding, social thing is not my cup of tea, but I feel like the wedding I was at this weekend gave me a sense of insecurity and a sense of assurance at the same time. Contradictory right? Well I was definitely caught thinking, will my life turn out happy? Will I ever find someone to spend the rest of my life with? Insert other similar type questions, etc. As I was thinking about this, a few songs went by and I avoided the dance floor...YES! But then all these questions I had really made me come to the conclusion that the one thing I know about myself that has always been true my entire life is that - I am not like most other people. You can call it weird, awkward, socially inept, whatever but I am just different. I believe because of this my timeline for figuring out answers to questions above is extended out a little bit. Just for fun here are the Top 2 things people will never understand about me.

1. I don't like ANY type of dressing on food including salad. Been called a rabbit multiple times.
2. I cheer for MSU basketball to beat Michigan even though I went to school in Ann Arbor.

Top 5 Olympic Moments

1. Michael Phelps going out on top as the greatest Olympian of all-time
2. Watching a Saudi Arabian women run in the Women's 800m
3. 15 year old Ruta Meilutyte wins first swimming medal (gold) ever for Lithuania
4. Usain Bolt anchoring the 4X100 relay and breaking the World Record. The USA team finished with the 2nd fastest time ever.
5. Misty May and Kerri Walsh winning their 3rd straight Olympic Gold Medal

UPDATE: Kirani James winning the gold in the 400 would definitely be in my top 5. Such an inspiration to everyone back in his native Grenada.

Honorable Mention goes to watching people cry on the stand when there national anthem plays.

What are yours?