It's not 100 things, but it's a start
While Scott, Stacey and Kelley are all copying each other for their blog entries (I hesitate to mention Kelley, especially since we've never met, but odds are she'll never venture to my little plot here in cyberspace, so I feel safe), I figured I should give it a try and list 100 things about me.
However, I quickly passed on the idea for one very simple reason . . . there's not 100 things about me I could think of, much less make interesting for you, the valued (and usually silent) reader.
So I decided to copy someone else. You may recall in my TNT3 blog entry, I mentioned Bill Simmons, ESPN.com's "Sports Guy." Well, he's having an intern contest and for the third round, he asked the would be interns to answer the following questions. Well, I figured I need to update my blog, so I'll tackle the four questions.
What was your favorite sports moment you've seen in person?
This one was probably the easiest question of the four I'll face. The year was 1999. The setting was the lovely city of Chattanooga, Tennessee. It was a mid-December Saturday and Georgia Southern was playing Youngstown State for the 1-AA national championship. Georgia Southern was considered the team of the 80s with three national championships (85, 86, and 89. They won another in 1990 for good measure). Youngstown, meanwhile, was the team of the 90s, winning four titles (You'll have to trust me on this one, I don't feel like finding the dates). It set up a clash of the two dynasties in 1-AA football.
Unfortunatley, the game never lived up to the hype as the Eagles cruised to a 59-20 win that saw Greg Hill (more on him later) complete all of one pass for 17 yards. That's right, the Eagles scored 59 points and only completed one pass.
On top of that, Georgia Southern fans may know this game as the one that featured "The Run," in which GSU fullback (and current Chicago Bear) Adrian Peterson broke 8 tackles and literally threw a guy to the ground in a 40+ yard run. Not only that, but I was about 15 rows up from where the Penguin guy (believe it or not, that's Youngstown's mascot) was thrown to the turf. The play made all kinds of highlight reels and I was there to see it in person, not to mention seeing my school claim their 5th national title. It was made sweeter by the fact that the Eagles had lost the year before to a UMass team that wasn't as good as Georgia Southern.
What's your favorite sports movie and why?
Reasonable people can debate the merits of Hoosiers, Raging Bull or The Sandlot as the second greatest sports movie ever made, but of this question, there is no debate, Field of Dreams is far and away the greatest sports movie ever made.
It's about baseball, rekindling a relationship with your father and following your dreams, but it's so much more. It's about us and our seeking to atone for the past while making things right in the present.
While most people point to the end when Costner and his dad play catch on the field, I personally tear up a few minutes before that when James Earl Jones gives his speech imploring Ray Kinsella not to sell the farm.
However, I quickly passed on the idea for one very simple reason . . . there's not 100 things about me I could think of, much less make interesting for you, the valued (and usually silent) reader.
So I decided to copy someone else. You may recall in my TNT3 blog entry, I mentioned Bill Simmons, ESPN.com's "Sports Guy." Well, he's having an intern contest and for the third round, he asked the would be interns to answer the following questions. Well, I figured I need to update my blog, so I'll tackle the four questions.
What was your favorite sports moment you've seen in person?
This one was probably the easiest question of the four I'll face. The year was 1999. The setting was the lovely city of Chattanooga, Tennessee. It was a mid-December Saturday and Georgia Southern was playing Youngstown State for the 1-AA national championship. Georgia Southern was considered the team of the 80s with three national championships (85, 86, and 89. They won another in 1990 for good measure). Youngstown, meanwhile, was the team of the 90s, winning four titles (You'll have to trust me on this one, I don't feel like finding the dates). It set up a clash of the two dynasties in 1-AA football.
Unfortunatley, the game never lived up to the hype as the Eagles cruised to a 59-20 win that saw Greg Hill (more on him later) complete all of one pass for 17 yards. That's right, the Eagles scored 59 points and only completed one pass.
On top of that, Georgia Southern fans may know this game as the one that featured "The Run," in which GSU fullback (and current Chicago Bear) Adrian Peterson broke 8 tackles and literally threw a guy to the ground in a 40+ yard run. Not only that, but I was about 15 rows up from where the Penguin guy (believe it or not, that's Youngstown's mascot) was thrown to the turf. The play made all kinds of highlight reels and I was there to see it in person, not to mention seeing my school claim their 5th national title. It was made sweeter by the fact that the Eagles had lost the year before to a UMass team that wasn't as good as Georgia Southern.
What's your favorite sports movie and why?
Reasonable people can debate the merits of Hoosiers, Raging Bull or The Sandlot as the second greatest sports movie ever made, but of this question, there is no debate, Field of Dreams is far and away the greatest sports movie ever made.
It's about baseball, rekindling a relationship with your father and following your dreams, but it's so much more. It's about us and our seeking to atone for the past while making things right in the present.
While most people point to the end when Costner and his dad play catch on the field, I personally tear up a few minutes before that when James Earl Jones gives his speech imploring Ray Kinsella not to sell the farm.
As someone who grew up on baseball and still considers it the greatest sport ever invented, that speech brings a tear to my eye every time.
I believe every Major League Baseball player should be forced to watch that movie before the season. In fact, I'll probably watch it twice between now and opening day.
Who is your favorite athelete ever and why?
This is an obscure choice, especially if you're not at Georgia Southern sports fan, but #10 Greg Hill is my favorite player of all time. He was a shifty, athletic quarterback who ran the triple-option to perfection in 1998 and 1999. Were it not for rain in Chattanooga in 1998, he'd have won two titles and I believe his number would have been retired along with Tracy Ham and Adrian Peterson.
Watching "Shake & Bake" play was a treat. Every quarterback I watch at GSU from now on will be compared to Greg, and I don't think anyone will ever measure up.
What do you think was the funniest sports moment in history and why?
Hopefully PETA people don't read this, but to me, the funniest sports moment was Randy Johnson pulverizing a bird as it flew into the path of one of his fastballs. The bird explodes in a puff of feathers while the carcus flies behind home plate.
Sure, this may sound cruel, but my favorite part of Forrest Gump is when Tom Hanks gets hit in the face with a rock. That moment led to Official Brother adopting the phrase "I wanna throw a rock at him" to signify he'd just found a new arch-enemy. In fact, when he was in high school, Official Brother wanted to ride to Rome, Georgia (a six-hour ride) before the State Championship game "just to throw a rock at their school."
Extra Free Stuff:
I keep finding more and more reasons why I like the Sports Guy so much. This story about U2 adds to his stature in my book.
posted by Luke at 5:26 PM
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