Time Era

If there were one time period that I could return to, it would probably have to be the 1920’s.The 20’s seemed to me like they were a pretty happenin’ time to be living in America. First and foremost, the best part of the 20’s in my opinion was the music. I like the fast paced jazz and swing music, because it is really good to dance to, and we all know that I sure love to dance, which brings me into my next reason. The Charleston was the big dance of that decade, and is something that seems like it would be a lot of fun to do.  Also, cars were brand new in toe 20’s, and if you had one, man were you cool. The 1920’s were also a time where women started to become more and more racy and exciting, which must have made it fun to be a man in that decade. You could pick these women up in tour new hip cars, and take them to dance parties where you would do the Charleston, while listening to jazz music in the car ride to the dance. That sounds like the perfect scenario to me. Everything that I find appealing about the twenties can be recognized in one simple evening on the town. But besides the music, cars, dances, and girls, baseball was also a pretty big deal and was on the up rise. Players like Babe Ruth and Hank Aaron were in the prime of their careers, making history that would withstand the test of time until this very day, right before everyone’s eyes. Knowing that these athletes would turn out to be some of the best players in the history of baseball, I would make bets on them and do everything possible to get an autograph.

Choice Blog

For this choice blog, I would like to write about one of the happiest moments of my life. Spring 2006, as the Buffalo Sabres were in the midst of e legitimate Stanley cup championship run, they found themselves in playing a game 6 at home against the eventual Stanley Cup champion Carolina Hurricanes. The entire city was buzzing all week long in anticipation of the game, and tickets were impossible to come by. I had never wanted to go to any particular sporting event so badly. I tried winning them on the radio, collecting coins to buy them, and I even tried convincing my friend Ryan who is a season ticket holder to take me along. None of which were successful, and I as crushed. I thought I as going to have to watch the biggest game of the season on my tv, but thankfully I as wrong. Around 4oclock my mom strolled through the door with some wonderful news for myself, and some terrible news for my sister who wanted to go to the game as well. She first called my sister into the kitchen, and all I heard was faint whispering, capped off with a shriek, as my sister stormed off to her bedroom in tears. My sister couldn’t attend the game as she had a soccer game, ha ha ha. I, on the other hand was then informed that my mother, by some crazy stretch of imagination, somehow got tickets from someone at work, and was that we were using them. The scenario couldn’t have been more perfect. While I was attending the biggest game of the year, Sarah, wasn’t. to make a long story short, the Sabres brought the game to overtime, and Daniel Briere got loose in front of the net, and slipped the rebound past Cam Ward o send the series to game seven. It was amazing, and was something I will remember for the rest of my life.

Interview

I had distinct pleasure of interviewing the Bulldogs very own, Emily Zuchoski. Emily is actually a pretty interesting person that has many different and unique interests. Some of which include shopping and ice skating. She likes to do these activities on the weekend and when she is not in school. She is also an avid country listener, and told me that Luke Bryan is her favorite of all. She’s also a big hockey fan, and likes to follow the Buffalo Sabres very closely. Her favorite movie is Miracle, which tells the story of the 1980 U.S. Olympic hockey team that overcame impossible odds to achieve a goal that nobody gave them a chance of doing, and winning the gold medal. It really is a great movie, and is an instant classic for any sports fan. One television program that she particularly enjoys watching is Man Vs. Food. This really surprised me, because she just doesn’t strike me as a Man Vs. Food type person, but I guess looks can be deceiving. Emily has a favorite food as well. Mashed potatoes, but it doesn’t just end there. She prefers zero gravy, and likes to douse it with butter, bacon, and ranch dressing. It’s like taking mashed potatoes to the next level, and I love it. When it comes to school, Emily is a huge fan of psychology and sociology, with Mr. Cayea. Her absolute least favorite subject however is science in general. One person that Emily looks up to is Sarah Palin. Emily wants to be just like Sarah when she is older, and believes that Sarah should be the next president of the United States of America. So, as you can see, Emily is a very unique and interesting person that we all have the distinct pleasure of sharing a classroom with every other day.

Choice Blog 3

For my third and final blog I would like to talk about some of my favorite Buffalo Bills players. I have decided to highlight my top three. Coming in at number 3 is Bills’ strong safety George Wilson. Wilson is a class act, and his story to the NFL is something that any sports fan has just gotta love. He came into the Bills organization as an undrafted free agent wide receiver. Former head coach Dick Jauron gave him a shot at playing defensive back, and he hasn’t looked back, on his way to becoming one of the Bills biggest playmakers on defense. I remember witnessing his pick 6 against the Cowboys on Monday night football in the first start of his career, and immediately loving the energy and passion that he plays the game with. Off the field he is extremely active in the community, and is someone that you don’t hear about much, simply because he isn’t always getting in trouble with the law. Next, my number two favorite player on the Bills is nose tackle Kyle Williams. Kyle is a former fifth round draft pick by the Bills, and not much was expected out of him coming out of college. However, like Wilson, Williams sort of flew under the radar, kept his mouth shut, and just kept working to finally earn himself a starting spot right in the middle of the Bills defense.  Being a football player, these are the players that I appreciate the most, the low profile, hard workers. And finally coming in at number 1 is center Eric Wood. Another guy that you don’t hear much about, but that is an extremely important piece of the Bills team. I remember from the second we drafted him, just loving his style of play. He keeps his mouth shut, and plays hard every play. Also, he is a blue collar player for a blue collar city which makes him an instant favorite amongst the fans But above all else, he is nasty. I just love watching him finish his blocks and then look for someone else to pop. That’s by far my favorite aspect of his game. Also, his resilience has been phenomenal during his short career so far in Buffalo. After sustaining a leg injury that appeared to be career threatening, he was playing football again next fall and appeared to be at full strength.

Choice Blog 2

For my second blog, I have decided to talk about some of my favorite moments from throughout my entire high school football career. There really are too many to put all of them in this single blog so I have decided to highlight the top 5. Coming in at number five goes all the way back to my sophomore year. I was the starting left tackle that year, and we were going into arguably our toughest game of the season by traveling to Lackawanna to take on the Steelers. The entire game was intense, just a fun tough game to play in. We came out on top as huge underdogs by winning I believe it was 12-0. Number four would have to be my junior year when we were playing Hornell for the first time. I remember I wasn’t getting in too much, and I just wanted to get in to help my team, and make a difference. I remember it was a third down play and they tried running a reverse, and I read the play perfectly and smothered the kid for about a thirteen yard loss.  It felt so great to just to make a big play for in a big situation for my team. Number 3 was running out of the tunnel at the Carrier Dome to open my senior season. It really was a unique and once in a lifetime experience. Besides the heat, that was a really special day that I will remember for a very long time. Coming in at number 2 is without a doubt when Nick Foss sacked Christian Smith on the 2 point conversion at the Ralph my junior year. Nobody deserved to make that play more than Beef, and I was just so extremely ecstatic for him. He finally got a chance on defense and made the biggest play of his life. I still get butterflies thinking about it. Finally, I would have to say the number one moment of my high school career had to be the way our team played in the last game of my high school career against Hornell.  We came out and knocked the crap out of them right from the start of the game. Nobody in an Alden uniform feared this team like so many teams in the past had. To see the team come within a minute of accomplishing something that had haunted me personally for the past year, and just let it slip was beyond devastating, and is something that will stick with me for the rest of my life. But the one thing I promised myself after the loss in my junior year was that if I do lose to this team next year, I can look myself in the mirror and say that there is not one more single thing that I could have done to prepare for this game, which I kept in my mind throughout the entire offseason in preparation for this game. However, I think that going through that entire experience just made the bond between my teammates, coaches and I even closer, which is something that we will all cherish long after football is out of the picture, which is what really matters.  

Choice Blog 1

For my first choice blog, I have chosen to write about what I plan on doing this weekend, given that today is Friday. After school I plan on getting dropped off at home and I’m going to first get something to eat, probably a clementine or granola bar, then I’ll probably talk to my dad for a little bit to catch up on things and discuss our days.  Then I am going to go up to my room, put on a pair of sweatpants, and put in NHL 12 to play the Sabre’s game for tonight against the Florida Panthers.  If I don’t win on my first try, I’ll keep playing until I do. I’ll probably stay on X-box until about four when I will head over to my friend Ryan Snyder’s house, because he some other guys and myself will all be attending the Sabres game tonight against Florida. After the game I’ll probably be forced to spend the night at Ryan’s house, which I am very much dreading. It will most likely consist of facebook and watching Ryan play NHL, fun fun.  Saturday is going to be a pretty laid back day. First and foremost, Saturday morning I will make a trip out to the galleria mall to get clothes for my football banquet on Sunday. I really want to wear a sweater vest because I’ve always wanted one, but have never gotten around to actually purchasing one. I also plan on working on some college applications and using that day to catch up on some homework because I have a lot of it this weekend. Saturday night for now is open for me, but I’m sure I’ll end up going to Joe Foss’s house or something, since that is what I do pretty much every Saturday night. Sunday is going to be a day dedicated entirely to football, as the Alaskan Bullworm’s take their first step towards their first ever fantasy league championship on Sunday. Around about 3 o’clock however, I’ll be forced to come to life, and get into the shower to get ready for my banquet. Sunday night should be a night full of mixed emotions at the banquet, but I’m looking forward to one last get together with my team and coaching staff.

Choice Blog 1

For my first choice blog, I have chosen to write about what I plan on doing this weekend, given that today is Friday. After school I plan on getting dropped off at home and I’m going to first get something to eat, probably a clementine or granola bar, then I’ll probably talk to my dad for a little bit to catch up on things and discuss our days.  Then I am going to go up to my room, put on a pair of sweatpants, and put in NHL 12 to play the Sabre’s game for tonight against the Florida Panthers.  If I don’t win on my first try, I’ll keep playing until I do. I’ll probably stay on X-box until about four when I will head over to my friend Ryan Snyder’s house, because he some other guys and myself will all be attending the Sabres game tonight against Florida. After the game I’ll probably be forced to spend the night at Ryan’s house, which I am very much dreading. It will most likely consist of facebook and watching Ryan play NHL, fun fun.  Saturday is going to be a pretty laid back day. First and foremost, Saturday morning I will make a trip out to the galleria mall to get clothes for my football banquet on Sunday. I really want to wear a sweater vest because I’ve always wanted one, but have never gotten around to actually purchasing one. I also plan on working on some college applications and using that day to catch up on some homework because I have a lot of it this weekend. Saturday night for now is open for me, but I’m sure I’ll end up going to Joe Foss’s house or something, since that is what I do pretty much every Saturday night. Sunday is going to be a day dedicated entirely to football, as the Alaskan Bullworm’s take their first step towards their first ever fantasy league championship on Sunday. Around about 3 o’clock however, I’ll be forced to come to life, and get into the shower to get ready for my banquet. Sunday night should be a night full of mixed emotions at the banquet, but I’m looking forward to one last get together with my team and coaching staff.

Music

                I honestly don’t think that I would be able to choose a specific favorite genre of music. I listen to all sorts of music, usually depending on what type of mood I am in that particular day.  I also don’t really know how to exactly classify a band I like listening to into any specific genre. Genre’s aside, one artist that I have always loved listening to ever since maybe 4^th grade has been Bob Dylan. I can honestly say that he has been my most consistent musical artist throughout my life, having listened to him with my parents in the car from the time I was very young all the way up to this point where I now listen to him on my own. Dylan has an unmatchable ability to address certain problems or issues about anything through his music, and does it all while painting an extremely vivid image through his lyrics. And even if you don’t enjoy listening to his music, pretty much everyone has to respect that fact that he has consistently been putting out music for well over 50 years, and has not slowed down a single bit. I believe he is among a select few people in modern music who have been able to do this so successfully.  Although I’d have to say Dylan is my favorite, there are so many other groups that I would consider in my top favorite artists. One genre of music that I have found myself spending a lot of time listening to throughout the past year or so has been rap, which is odd because before maybe last November, I didn’t much care for this genre. One artist in particular that I have taken a liking to has been Kanye West. This has led to me listening to many other rap artists over the past year or so.

Choice

Playing hockey during the winter with my friends at the park is for sure my favorite winter activity. Nothing beats hitting the ice with my friends and playing hockey for hours on end, or pretty much until the ice is too chewed up to even skate on anymore, which is extremely choppy. Some friends that I like to do this with are Ryan Snyder, Adam Strasser, Dan Basinski, Joe Foss, and Bill Penny. Of all of the kids that I play with, the second best is probably Ryan, second only to yours truly.  Ryan has very good hand eye coordination and has good balance on his skates. He is also deceivingly quick, which most people probably wouldn’t expect. I like to have Ryan on my team because I think that we have good chemistry when we’re on the ice together. Ryan likes to pretend he is Steve Montador when he plays, because that is his favorite player.  Adam Strasser is the goalie for my friends and I when we play. Adam, or Strass as we like to call him is actually pretty good at playing goal. He’ll make one unbelievable save, and everyone will be like “woah”, then the next second he’ll let in a simple little wrist shot from Bill Penny, which brings me to my next point. Of all the kids that we play with, I’d probably have to say Bill Penny is the worst, and in pretty sure that everyone else would agree with me, including Bill. Bill doesn’t really “excel” in any particular aspect of pond hockey, he is pretty much average to slightly below average in every category, except of course body checking. Bill likes to disregard everything else and be his team’s enforcer, which usually leads to some pretty bloody brawls that I always end up coming out of on top, because I’m awesome at every aspect of pond hockey.

Favorite Book

                Although I wouldn’t really consider myself a big reader there is one book in particular that I really enjoyed reading, which was A Series of Unfortunate Events. I read that entire series when I was in fifth grade, and I could literally not put them down. I think that this was probably the only series that I read that I really enjoyed, however instead of reading books I like to read articles online or in the Buffalo News. Reading the newspaper to me is an extremely relaxing and enjoyable experience. Nothing beats kicking back in the recliner and taking a load off to read about what’s going on in our area. The section I mainly focus on as you can probably imagine, is the sports section. Topics within this section can range anywhere from the Buffalo Bills, Buffalo Sabres, and Buffalo Bisons, to the Western New York Flash, Rochester Americans, and High School Sports. All of which I like to keep a close eye on. Another place where I do most of my reading is on the internet. I would probably say that I do the majority of my reading on websites and online databases because of how convenient they are and how often I am on the internet. Some of these websites include NFL.com, NHL.com, MLB.com, and the Huddle, where I can stay up to date on all of my fantasy football news and reports. The final place where I find myself doing much of my reading is of course, the toilet. Nothing passes the time better than a nice Time or National Geographic magazine while you’re doing your thing in the lavatory. When I do this I will read pretty much anything that’s sitting in there whether or not it’s something I’s interested in, just because it gives me something to do to pass the time.