R2

When I am writing, it is very important for me to find something that I am passionate about. I have noticed over the years, that that quality of my work significantly increases when I find something that I am passionate about, and the words just seem to flow out of my mind and onto the paper. For me, one of these subjects is without a doubt sports. With sports you can branch off into so many different directions. One aspect that I enjoy the most is reading/writing about the internal thought processes of an athlete. I find this so intriguing because it is something that I can relate to, and makes me want to keep learning more. I also enjoy writing about the accomplishments of different athletes. Being the official athlete of the week writer for the Bulldog, I’ve written about my fair share of athletes, and have really made great strides in that particular area of writing. Another type of sports that I like to write about is professional sports. Instead of reading what all of the so called “exprets” have to say about my favorite teams like the bills and sabres, this is a chance for me to finally voice my opinions and beliefs on the teams that I love.  Some of my inspirations to write on sports are Jerry Sullivan and Mark Gaughn. Although their pessimistic outlooks on the bills and sabres always frustrate me every time I read their articles, I do think that their writing style is commendable, and I try to model my writing style around.  So as you can see, when I write it is very important that I am passionate about the subject, for my results to be the best that they can be. Because without passion, I have no desire to write.

Q2

                As the school year starts to wind down, it’s time for me to start thinking about my plans for the upcoming summer. As for the first week or so, I don’t plan on doing much of anything. I like to take a good week or so every year to just be lazy and not have a worry in the world. For this week I plan on getting up at whatever time, and doing whatever I want until I feel like going to bed. The only thing that I have to worry about getting done during this time is going to training for football, which isn’t bad because it’s in the middle of the day so I don’t have to worry about waking up at the crack of dawn. After a week or so of this routine, I’ll probably get sick of it, at which point I think that It would be appropriate to look for a job, something that I have put off for far too long. If I get a job, I only plan on working weekends so that it doesn’t consume my last “post high school” Summer in Alden. This way I will still have the freedom to do what I want all week and more, because I will now have money to go places and do things whenever I want, without having to mooch off of my parents for money anymore.  I also can’t wait for graduation parties this summer. They are always a fun time, and a fitting way to say goodbye to some of the people you’ve known your entire life, however we all know it’s really all about the food.  I am also very excited to attend the 3^rd annual home run derby at the Snyder residence this August. I’ll probably win as usual. NBD

Q1

The NFL draft was held this past Thursday at its annual location of Radio City Music Hall in New York City. And although my draft board didn’t make it past the fourth pick, there is much to be recapped and analyzed from a Bills fans perspective on this particular draft. This was the third draft of the Gailey Nix era, and in my opinion was their most effective, however only time will validate this opinion. Here I will break down rounds 1, and explain why I think that the Bills future just got a whole lot brighter.

                Stephon Gilmore was drafted by the team with the 10^th overall pick, and I love it. Although I was hoping for Boston College LB Luke Kuechly to fall to them, he didn’t and that may prove to be a blessing in disguise over time, as I think the team got a future stud in Gilmore. First and foremost the Bills addressed the teams glaring need for depth in the defensive backfield. You can never have enough good defensive backs in the NFL, especially when you have to play the New England Patriots twice a year. The thing that is unique about Gilmore is that he is unusually taller than the average NFL defensive back, measuring in at 6 foot one. This will go a long way in the Bills efforts to slow down the two headed monster of Aaron Hernandez and Rob Gronkowski in New England.  Another aspect of his game that myself and Bills fans alike can appreciate is that he’s a banger. He plays the run exceptionally well and loves to hit people, which will make him an immediate fan favorite. Some areas of his game that need improvement are his man to man coverage and his recovery speed.  He is most effective when playing a zone defense and has a knack for positioning himself in that zone, but is known for getting beat off that ball and not being able to recover, as he does not have the blazing speed that most corners have.  At the end of the day I see Gilmore as a shoe in for a spot on the opening day starting roster.  The kid will come into camp eager to earn his teammates and coaches respect, and will flourish

Q5

The NFL draft was held this past Thursday at its annual location of Radio City Music Hall in New York City. And although my draft board didn’t make it past the fourth pick, there is much to be recapped and analyzed from a Bills fans perspective on this particular draft. This was the third draft of the Gailey Nix era, and in my opinion was their most effective, however only time will validate this opinion. Here I will break down rounds 1, and explain why I think that the Bills future just got a whole lot brighter.

                Stephon Gilmore was drafted by the team with the 10^th overall pick, and I love it. Although I was hoping for Boston College LB Luke Kuechly to fall to them, he didn’t and that may prove to be a blessing in disguise over time, as I think the team got a future stud in Gilmore. First and foremost the Bills addressed the teams glaring need for depth in the defensive backfield. You can never have enough good defensive backs in the NFL, especially when you have to play the New England Patriots twice a year. The thing that is unique about Gilmore is that he is unusually taller than the average NFL defensive back, measuring in at 6 foot one. This will go a long way in the Bills efforts to slow down the two headed monster of Aaron Hernandez and Rob Gronkowski in New England.  Another aspect of his game that myself and Bills fans alike can appreciate is that he’s a banger. He plays the run exceptionally well and loves to hit people, which will make him an immediate fan favorite. Some areas of his game that need improvement are his man to man coverage and his recovery speed.  He is most effective when playing a zone defense and has a knack for positioning himself in that zone, but is known for getting beat off that ball and not being able to recover, as he does not have the blazing speed that most corners have.  At the end of the day I see Gilmore as a shoe in for a spot on the opening day starting roster.  The kid will come into camp eager to earn his teammates and coaches respect, and will flourish

P3

In my opinion, there are a majority of factors that should be taken into consideration when determining the effectiveness of a teacher. I think one of the best indicators of a good teacher is her student’s participation in class. Regardless of the subject, I think that a truly effective teacher can make any subject interesting and engaging with a little enthusiasm and effort.  Coming from personal experience, I think that when teachers apply the curriculum to real life is when I get the most out of it. Otherwise it is all just a bunch of useless information that I am forced to memorize and not actually understand. Which leads me to my next point. As long as the teacher is doing their part, the rest of the work is up to each individual student. For example, you could have a great teacher who makes every effort to get you to pass your exam, but at the end of the day, it is up to you as the student to get it done. And without an effort from the student, nothing will be accomplished.  And although I do realize that this can be detrimental to teacher’s ratings if their students don’t put forth the effort, I think that this is a problem that every teacher has to deal with, regardless of who they are teaching.  No matter what, every teacher is going to get their share of kids who don’t make an effort academically; therefore teachers cannot use this as a valid argument when defending their low ratings at the end of the school year.  I do believe that the situation regarding Nicole Weingard was completely unjust, and that that is not the correct way of determining a teachers rating. The way that I think it should go is each year the average from the past 5 years in any given subject should be calculated, and then the scores should be compared to that number, rather than looking at yearly increases.

P1

                I usually watch most of my television on the weekends or in the evenings on weeknights. Although I should probably try and get outside or do something more productive, the television is always there and available at all times, which makes it hard to not use.  The majority of television that I watch is somehow sports related. Whether it is a live competition, a documentary, or the sports segment on the evening news, the majority of television that I watch is about sports. HBO is also big in the Steffan household, with shows such as Curb Your Enthusiasm and Game of Thrones a common sight in our living room.  Although I am a bit ashamed to admit it, I am a frequent viewer of programming on the morbidly obese on channels like TLC and Discovery.  Why I enjoy these shows so much, I have no idea, but for whatever reason I just do.  There are currently 4 televisions in my home. One for the living room, one in my parent’s room, one in my sister’s room, and one in mine.  The only time I use my TV is before I go to bed at night for about twenty minutes or so.  I think that there is clearly a longer list of negatives associated with television than there are positives, simply because of what people view on it. In general, most of what we watch is senseless programming, which does us no good. And although we don’t want to admit it; most of us do fall into this category. What people view on television can also strongly influence how they choose to dress, act, and appear. And with people like Snooki, and the Kardashian sisters ruling television sets all across America, that is a true shame.  I think that people should make an honest effort not to let these sort of figures influence them outside of the half hour that they view them on television each night.

P4

For this choice blog, I am going to break down what direction I think that the Bills will go with their 10^th overall pick in this year’s draft. With picks 1-2 already solidified with Stanford quarterback going to the Colts, and RG3 to the Redskins, much is still up in the air from 3 to 10 where the bills pick. Coming into this offseason the Bills had one major hole that they needed to fill if they were looking to be a competitive team in the cutthroat division that is the AFC east. The addition of Mario Williams and Mark Anderson instantly upgrades defensive line to one of the team’s strong points. However, although many fans think that simply adding two pieces to the puzzle will completely solve it, they are sadly mistaken.  Holes in the secondary, at wide receiver, left tackle, and linebacker will need to be filled by the start of the season, most of which will be done through the draft.  Although I don’t think the Bills will get this year’s top wide receiver Justin Blackmon at 10^th overall, I think they’ll have a shot at a close second in Malcom Floyd if they want him. Personally, I would like, and expect, the Bills to look at linebacker and secondary with their tenth pick, and focus more on wide receiver in the second and third rounds, as this year’s wide receiver class has immense depth. So without any further ado,  here is my mock draft for 1-10 in this years NFL draft.

1.       Colts-  Andrew Luck QB

2.       Redskins-  Robert Griffin 3 QB

3.       Vikings- Matt Kalil OT

4.       Browns- Justin Blackmon WR

5.       Buccaneers-  Trent Richardson RB

6.       Rams- Fletcher Cox  DT

7.       Jaguars-  Morris Claiborne CB

8.       Dolphins- Ryan Tannehill QB

9.       Panthers-   Luke Kuechly ILB

10.   Bills-  Michael Floyd WR

Although I want Kuechly from Boston College, I don’t think he will fall to tenth. However if he is available, the bills should snag him. Otherwise, Malcom Floyd is their best option. I’ll take anyone but Mark Barron from Alabama. You can say whatever you want, but as a long time Bills fan, I’m just a bit leery of taking a safety this high in the draft, “cough cough, DONTE WHITNER”

P1

                I usually watch most of my television on the weekends or in the evenings on weeknights. Although I should probably try and get outside or do something more productive, the television is always there and available at all times, which makes it hard to not use.  The majority of television that I watch is somehow sports related. Whether it is a live competition, a documentary, or the sports segment on the evening news, the majority of television that I watch is about sports. HBO is also big in the Steffan household, with shows such as Curb Your Enthusiasm and Game of Thrones a common sight in our living room.  Although I am a bit ashamed to admit it, I am a frequent viewer of programming on the morbidly obese on channels like TLC and Discovery.  Why I enjoy these shows so much, I have no idea, but for whatever reason I just do.  There are currently 4 televisions in my home. One for the living room, one in my parent’s room, one in my sister’s room, and one in mine.  The only time I use my TV is before I go to bed at night for about twenty minutes or so.  I think that there is clearly a longer list of negatives associated with television than there are positives, simply because of what people view on it. In general, most of what we watch is senseless programming, which does us no good. And although we don’t want to admit it; most of us do fall into this category. What people view on television can also strongly influence how they choose to dress, act, and appear. And with people like Snooki, and the Kardashian sisters ruling television sets all across America, that is a true shame.  I think that people should make an honest effort not to let these sort of figures influence them outside of the half hour that they view them on television each night.

N1

http://www.cbssports.com/nfl/story/18620242/mara-suggests-kickoffs-will-go-away-heres-why-theyre-here-to-stay

In this article, the main issue being discussed is the prevention of head related injuries in professional football. I agree with the author of this article, that the only way that will significantly diminish this statistic would be to switch the game to two hand touch. The way I see it, is football is a game based around men colliding with one another, and kickoffs are certainly no exception. Eliminating an entire facet of the game in an effort to reduce a problem that is going to happen regardless, to me is insensible.  This author also said that he doesn’t think anyone will strongly pursue this idea, because of the increased number of touchbacks since just last season due to the kickoffs being moved up 5 yards. It is believed that teams will be looking to acquire and develop more big leg kickers like Sebastian Janikowski and Olindo Mare, to sort of nullify, but certainly not eliminate the injury results of the kickoff. And although kickoff return totals were at some of their lowest figures in NFL history this past season, there certainly is no denying that the kickoff is amongst the most exciting plays the game has to offer. There aren’t too many other times in the game where you are always given a chance to travel from end zone to end one on one single play. And although as a Buffalo Bills fan the bitterness of that infamous “Music City Miracle” play will always bother me, there is certainly no denying that aside from Buffalo, it was really something to behold for the rest of the league.  Also when you look at current game changing players such as Devin Hester and Josh Cribbs, who make a living off returning kicks, it would really be a shame to take the excitement that they bring to the game with their style of play away from the game completely. I think that the NFL damaged the kickoff enough by moving it up five yards, and that eliminating it all together would be a crime.

N3

Currently, I am unemployed. I did have one job in my life however, where I did pretty much everything you can do at Tim Horton’s at the thruway stop in Clarence. I absolutely hated it, and it has served as motivations to get a good education to ensure that I am not stuck in that line of work for the rest of my life. You can only fake diarrhea to get out of work so many times. And sooner or later, your managers are going to catch on to your extended “bathroom breaks.”  Also the fact that I was just expected to know how to make every sandwich on the menu on my own was extremely frustrating to say the very least. As far as my future career, at this point I am still trying to figure a line of work to get into. As long as I’m making decent money, and have weekends off, I would be satisfied. I don’t need to love whatever I do, but at the same time I don’t want to hate it. And although as I said before I am currently unemployed, my parent are urging me on more than ever to find one, as I need to start chipping in for gas money after getting my license. Some of my options include possibly John and Mary’s, Carbones, Tops, and McDonalds. All of which are within walking distance from my house, and I know people who work at all of these places. And I would probably only have to work weekends which isn’t really that bad if you ask me.  Plus having a job would allow me to put away some spending money for when I am away at college, which would be really nice. Also, I’ll need money for the cruise I’ll be going on in April, sop a job would be very beneficial for me at this point in my life.   

N1

I recently caught up with Kathleen Herter, of the Bulldog Student Newspaper. I really learned a lot about Kathleen and am truly grateful for such a unique experience.  I learned deep down, Kathleen actually has a burning desire for professional sports including the Buffalo Bills and Buffalo Sabres. Her favorite Buffalo Bills was quarter back Ryan Fitzpatrick. Kathleen said that the beard was a huge factor in making this tough decision. Nathan Gerbe ended up being her favorite Buffalo Sabre, mainly because of his height, or should I say lack thereof, and his scrappy attitude that he brings to each and every shift on the ice. It also turns out Kathleen is an avid Alden Bulldogs football fan. When asked her favorite player on that team, the answer was obvious.  It actually turns out Mike Steffan was her favorite Alden Bulldog, mainly because of his athletic ability and sideburns. Coincidentally, her favorite number was 71. Kathleen also loves all of the movies in the SAW series. Kathleen couldn’t remember off the top of her head how many there were in the series at this point, but claims that she just loves them all! Kathleen loves all kinds of music, and it was difficult for her to narrow it down to just one single band. After some long thought and consideration, it was easy for her to decide. Kathleen concluded that her favorite band was Evanescence. Some of her favorite songs included Bring me to Life and My Immortal. Also, when it comes to gum, Kathleen takes things very seriously. She said she can chew almost any brand if need be, but if given the choice, she prefers Orbit to almost any gum brand out there. However, she also likes to chew bubbilicous, but only when she’s working in the yard.

N2

Spring is easily one of my favorite seasons. Spring, unlike summer, fall, and winter is full of life and energy. I love the smell of the air and the sound of the birds chirping more than anything. After a long cold winter in western New York, spring is always gladly welcomed by all. Also, spring is the time of year when the NHL playoffs start, which I am an avid fan of. I really became particularly fond of the spring season back in the spring of 2006 when the Sabres came within one game of reaching the Stanley cup finals. But besides the NHL playoffs, there are so many other things about spring that I like. Spring is the season when my friends and I really get into playing street hockey. Ever since about 6^th grade, every sunny spring day in Alden has been spent at the Alden town park playing hockey with my friends. It seems as the games get tighter down the stretch run of the regular season and into the playoffs, the more intense our games of hockey seem to get.  However, with all of the good, there is always some bad. Spring weather is a surprise every year, and you never seem to know what know expect around here, which I really dislike. For example, we seemed to break multiple records in the rainfall category, and things never seemed to dry up until late May. Then you look at this Spring so far, which has been the warmest and most bizarre one to date.  I find this aspect of Spring extremely frustrating, and it makes outdoor activities hard to plan during this season. It will be 80 degrees and sunny one day, and then the next day it we might be hit by a surprise snow storm. You just never know with the weather around here.  

M3

                When I think of embarrassing moments in my life, to be perfectly honest, not much comes to mind because I don’t get embarrassed that often. But the one single moment that does come to mind left me downright mortified.  It all happened back in my youth, 5^th grade to be exact. I was over at the Boling’s residence in the morning before school as usual, because for some reason I was afraid to stay home alone in the morning. So I was just sitting in the backroom like usual, minding my own business, watching cartoons, no big deal. Everything was just perfect. Until the moment I began to feel a rumble in my tummy. However, this was no ordinary rumble. This rumble meant business, and boy was it potent. The “rumble” got so bad to the point where I began to sweat profusely and my heart began to beat rapidly. It was essential that I “relieve” this rumble ASAP, or else the Boling’s might have found themselves in search of new furniture. Like most people I generally like to “relieve” myself in the comfort of my own home. However, this was not an option, so to the bathroom I went. Apprehensive as ever, I did what had to be done, and to say the least, it was bad. So bad that when I jiggled the handle on the toilet, the water stayed still as a statue. Panic soon set in and decided to flee the scene. I told the kind and gracious Mrs. Beverly Boling that I decided to head into school an hour and a half early today, to get “extra help.” This should’ve been an immediate warning sign that something was up, but thankfully I was able to avoid colossal embarrassment, that is, until tomorrow morning. 24 hours came and went and I spoke nothing of the issue, though it was obvious that it had been discovered. I initially tried staying home by myself at first, but my imagination began playing tricks on me as usual, and I was convinced that the house was haunted. Therefore I had no choice but to face my inevitable doom, the Boling’s.  As I entered the scene of my crime, I began to play various scenarios through my head of what they might say about me.  However, to my surprise, they were very understanding of the issue, and simply got a good kick out of the whole thing, but I’d imagine their toilet thought quite the contrary.

M4

The Buffalo Sabres currently sit in 11^th place in the eastern conference, and find themselves in the midst of a nightly battle for the 8^th and final playoff spot in the eastern conference. After a dismal start to a season that began with such high hopes under new ownership which has given the team all of the tools needed to succeed. The team was projected to finish in the top 3 in the conference by all. However, the team did not show up until after the NHL all-star break, and are looking to be the first team in NHL history to sneak in after being in the position they were in just a few weeks ago.  In order for the team to clinch its 3^rd playoff birth in 4 years, they will have to do a few key things. Number one is get solid goaltending from Ryan Miller. Miller has been up and down for the most part of this season, but if the teams recent west coast swing is any indication of things to come, the former Vezina winning trophy has nothing to worry about. After posting back to back shutouts against Anaheim and San Jose and another solid effort against the top team in the league in Vancouver, Miller comes into tonight’s action coming off the teams only speed bump in their tear across the west coast against Winnipeg. Miller can and I believe will put the team on his back over these next 5 weeks to get his team to the playoffs.  The next most important task for this team is to continue to get the consistent second ary scoring from players like Ville Leino, Drew Stafford, Cody Hodgson, and Nathan Gerbe. Both players need to put their best foot forward for this final stretch to take some of the load off of consistent scorers like Thomas Vanek and Jason Pominville.  Finally, special teams are going to make a huge difference in the team making the postseason or not. If the Sabres convert on their power play chances, and stay out of the box, they will be put at a significant advantage. If the Sabres can do all 3 of these things successfully, I think that we could see the team play well into April and perhaps even May.

M1

St. Patrick’s Day in my family is usually not that big of a deal in my. Although I do have a significant amount of Irish in my family, we usually don’t get that caught up in all of the festivities that come with this holiday.  The most we usually do in my family is having a nice corned beef and cabbage meal, which is one of my personal favorites.  But besides that, we don’t do anything else significant. However, my family does have one tradition that is unique from most families.  Each Easter and Thanksgiving, my family makes its way out to Grand Island to my grandpa’s house on my dad’s side of the family. But unlike most families, our first line of duty is not to see how everyone’s doing and eat, but rather to work.  We usually arrive around 11am which thankfully is later than my uncles family arrives, so a good chunk of the work is usually done.  As a generous grandson, I have absolutely no problem helping my grandfather get a little work done around the house, and am always extremely willing to help out as much as I can. However, it is the type of work that I am put to that really makes me scratch my head sometimes. My cousin’s siblings and I usually spend most of our time stacking wood or putting away lawn furniture in the fall, or getting it out in the spring at Easter time. This may not seem like demanding or frustrating work at a glance, but the thing with my grandpa that can be frustrating is that he likes things to be done his way or no way.  So if the flower box is put an inch too far to the left, and I am not exaggerating, it will be moved that microscopic inch back to the right. Or for instance, if one piece of wood doesn’t fit the “right” way with another on the wood pile, the entire thing will be taken down and redone. However, after all of this “trial and error” work is finally done, we all enjoy a nice normal family dinner.

J4 Choice

For this choice blog, I am going to write about my planes for the upcoming February break. For tonight, I plan on going home and watching the Sabres vs. Canadiens game.  The Sabres are pretty much toast as far as their playoff lives are concerned, but being the optimistic person that I am, I’m going to stick with them to the very end. After the game, I’m probably going to sit around and play xbox or something until 11:45 when I go to play hockey at holiday rinks in Depew. It’s been awhile since I’ve laced up the skates, so I’m really looking forward to it. Even though I really enjoy playing, I am not all that good, but it should be fun, especially if Brian comes with us. After hockey ends around 2am we’ll probably head over to Denney’s or some other late night diner to cap off the night. Saturday is probably just going to be a chillax day, as I’m going to be extremely tired and sore from hockey. As far as the week is concerned, I’m open to pretty much anything, as I don’t have any plans, which is alright. Next Saturday is going to be a night with “the guys.” My good friend Mason is taking us all out to Duffs for his birthday.  Something about the scenario just doesn’t seem right to me, as it is his birthday, yet he is treating all of his friends to wings, but hey, I’m not complaining. After we eat we’ll probably all head back to one of our houses to hangout for the rest of the night. And finally, Sunday. Everybody’s least favorite day of break. Sunday will be filled with sweatpants, television, and chemistry homework. Oh joy. I also plan on watching the Sabres game that day.

J1 hero

When I think of a hero, many different people come to mind. A couple of which include my father, Batman, and Superman. I look at all of these people and I think, “Wow, I really want to be like them one day.” However, when it comes to football, there are many NFL players that I look up to and try to model my game around, which I would consider heroes. Two of which include Bills offensive lineman Eric Wood, and nose tackle, Kyle Williams. Wood is a nasty, smash mouth football player that is just a real team first guy, which I really like about him. You don’t hear him say much, but his play on the field speaks for itself, which I really like about him. He doesn’t talk, he just plays.  Kyle Williams, on the other hand, plays a very similar style as Wood. He gets no credit for the work he does, but without him plugging it up in the middle, the defense is useless. Another aspect of William’s game that I idolize is that he had to work for everything that he has got. He came into the league as a late round draft pick, and not much was expected out of his NFL career. He was undersized, and overlooked by everyone. But he didn’t listen to any of the critics, he just kept constantly outworked the man across from him, which led him to an elite group of defensive lineman in the NFL. This is the aspect of my game I have tried the most to mimic. I have always just tried to work harder than the man across from me, regardless of my skill set or size in comparison. I think that it will be essential for me to continue following in the footsteps of these heroes of mine if I want to have a successful collegiate football career.

J1

When I think back to grades K-5, many great teachers come to mind. Mrs. Schimia, Mrs. Bridge, and Mrs. Stoldt, to name a few.  However, along with the good, there were also a few bad, who shall not be named at this point in time. But without a doubt, my favorite teacher for this time frame was my 4^th grade teacher, Mrs. Leon. Mrs. Leon was an exciting and energetic teacher who truly loves her job.  She incorporated hands on and engaging activities into her curriculum which was my favorite part. Any teacher that thinks she is going to sit and teach a class full of fourth graders for 8 hours straight is out of their mind. You need to get them involved, and Mrs. Leon was the master at just that. Another reason that I was so particularly fond of Mrs. Leon was because she was beyond patient in putting up with the mischief and nonsense that my friends and I would cause. She didn’t get frustrated and scream and holler, but rather handled the annoying problems that my elementary school buddies and I so frequently caused like a professional, which is something that even as a child you can respect and want to obey.  Mrs. Leon had a very exuberant and comical personality. I remember the one time she came into school dressed up as Abraham Lincoln on his birthday as a fun way to teach us about his life. Nothing beats a teacher that really just likes to have fun with her students. Also, we used to have dance parties every other Friday as a way to get us up and moving around, instead of just sitting and doing nothing. She also let us listen to our Walkman’s when we had recess on free time, which I really loved.

L2

Being the happy, upbeat, and just overall good person that I am, it usually takes a lot to make me angry. Also, I am an extremely competitive person, who doesn’t take losing well, and this is something that I really should make a point of working on because it isn’t a good trait to carry with you throughout life. Therefore, losing in general is the one single thing that makes me the most angry.  Whether it’s losing in a videogame, a pick-up game of hockey with my friends, or a drill in football practice, it just really, for lack of a better term, “grinds my gears.”  This often leads to broken controllers, wars of words, and shoving matches with my teammates. And although this is a problem of mine, I also see it as a gift, and I try to make the most out of it. If you hate to lose as much as I do, you try to do everything that you possibly can to make it so that you don’t lose. You have to hate losing more than you love winning, which is how I am. I am happy if the Sabres win a game, but if they lose, I am absolutely furious. Which leads me to my next point. One thing that I need to work on is not getting so fired up and angry over things that I can’t control, like the Sabres or Bills. And when things don’t go in their favor, I need to stop, take a second, and just chill out. And when I get scored on with 1.5 seconds left in NHL 12, I just need to set my controller down, and take a walk downstairs. If I could learn to control my anger over losing, I would be just about perfect.  

L1

Throughout all of the Super Bowl’s that I’ve ever watched, there are a few that stick out in my mind. From the Buccaneers spanking the Raiders in 2002, to the back and forth shootout between Carolina and New England in 2004, there have been some great ones in my lifetime.  However, being the diehard Bills fan that I am, none come close to the Giants Patriots matchup in 2008. The Patriots were looking to put the cherry on top of their ice cream sundae of a season. After shattering records and putting up videogame like numbers all season long, nobody thought that the Giants had a chance in this one, and that the Pats would cruise to a 19-0 undefeated season. It was an epic story of the underdog, and it made for an instant classic. I remember watching this game with Joe and Nick Foss in their basement with a sheet pizza and 50 wings all to ourselves. I can recall sitting on the edge of my seat for the 3^rd down conversion that the Giants need to keep their game winning drive alive. I distinctly remember seeing Richard Seymour simply absorb Eli Manning, and seeing Manning somehow get out of his grasp, and find David Tyree across the middle who pinned the ball against the top of his helmet to haul it in. That was about a 20 second rollercoaster of emotion that I will never forget. Sheer terror to pure elation, which is what sports are all about. The Giants went on to find Plaxico Burress in the corner of the end zone to cap off one of the most remarkable drives in Super Bowl history. The second he came down with that ball the entire basement of the three of us simply exploded into a shoving match filled with high fives and hugs. I remember being tackled by over the cough and being hurled onto the floor by Nick during all of the excitement. Unless the Bills someday win the Super Bowl, I don’t think that any game will close to this one.

K4

In the fourth picture, there is an open window shown with the curtains flowing in the wind. There are also seagulls pictured on the walls in the background.  The setting seems to be extremely calm and tranquil, as it is, but only a matter of minutes earlier, this calm scene was a tornado of fury and rage.  Dan B had been playing his X-Box in his room all day, as he was in a tournament on NHL 12. He brought down the mighty Dent in triple overtime and finally moved on to the final round.   Dan approached the game with the calm intensity that was necessary to win. He knew what had to be done, he had to somehow find a way to bring down the one and only, Robin Williams. So many had courageously attempted this fete, yet none ever succeeded. He was just too good. The game started off slow, both teams just feeling each other out. Both players waiting for the other to make a mistake. Finally, Robin slipped behind his own net with Steve Montador, and Dan jumped on the opportunity like a hyena on raw hamburger. He buried the disk of vulcanized rubber so in the back of the twine so fast, it made Robin’s head spin. This lone goal was able to stand as the only marker until there were only 30 seconds left in the third period.  Anything that Robin tried was swiftly denied in a freakish defensive effort from Dan. Finally with only 2 seconds, and the faceoff in Robin’s zone at the opposite end of the rink, Dan prematurely figured that the game was over.  But just as the puck was dropped, Robin moved Zdeno Chara up to the faceoff circle to take the draw, he didn’t even make an attempt at the draw, he just slapped it as hard as he could down the ice, and caught Dan’s goalie off guard. But the worst part of all was, the score keeper accidentally mistook this game of hockey for a game of football after Robin’s goal and counted it as 6 points. Some say the game was rigged, and I think they may have a point. Either way, Dan went on to lose the game, and his entire X-Box console went out the window, and smashed on the sidewalk outside his house. Dan then went downstairs to have an egg salad sandwich to get his mind off the big loss.

K1

In the second picture, the man shown is named Edmond, and he is very unhappy. First of all, he is upset at the fact that the delivery guy got his order wrong. He ordered a tuna fish sub with black olives, yet received a tuna fish sub with green olives.  The second reason why he is upset is because when he called the restaurant back to change his order, his phone cord was chewed in half by a small baby Hermit Crab named Nelson Bonaroo the third. Nelson gets sick pleasure out of chewing people’s phone cords, but it appears that this time his dastardly deeds are finally going to catch up to him.  In the picture he’s in the middle of a mad dash from Edmond, because quite frankly, Edmond has had enough.  But not only does he want to smash Nelson for chewing his phone cord, but Edmond has a little something more in mind. Edmond made a deal with the colored man that lives in his attic named Roger, that if he brought Nelson to him, dead or alive, then he would single handedly buy for Edmond, Ferngully : The Last Rainforest. Many may not know this, but Ferngully has secretly been Edmond's favorite movie for as long as he can remember, but he has always been too embarrassed to buy it because his everybody would make fun of him for it.  So we now have a man who has not only been deprived of his precious black olives for the evening, but hasn’t seen Ferngully, his favorite movie since he was just a boy. So as you might imagine, he really wants to catch that hermit crab. However, just as Edmond finally cornered the little devil, the biggest swing of the story occurred. For, there never really was a Hermit Crab named Nelson, instead it was a naked Robin Williams who had been causing all of the mischief.  The award winning actor smiled, sipped a glass of Tang, and everyone died.

K3

In the picture shown, there is a mysterious boat approaching a dock. Though it may appear to be so, this is no ordinary boat. This is a magical boat that travels all over the world handing out grape flavored popsicles to those who it feels worthy. The two young men shown in the picture are both ready to show who deserves the popsicle more, and can’t wait to get under way. As the ship approaches the dock, they learn that their first task is to see who can name off every president in the history of the United States the fastest. Dennis, the boy shown on the left wins this one because he got a 100 in history. The next task is to see who can hold their breath the longest. The man on the right, Desmond, wins this one by a landslide, as he got a 98 in breath holding class in school, and also had a bachelor’s degree in lung capacity management.  And now for the final test, the one for all the marbles. Name off as many Robin Williams films as you can in one minute.  Desmond gets off to a quick start, and he is on a roll. He has movie after movie rolling off the tip of his tongue, and his breath management degree allows him to name them without breathing, but Dennis isn’t ready to give in just yet. The two are neck and neck down to the last second, and at the end, both end the competition with 14 movies. A dead tie. Sudden death overtime is the only tiebreaker for this one.  The competition is to see who can blink the hardest, something that Dennis had been practicing for in anticipation of this contest. The blinks are recorded by using a Blinkascope invented by Sir. Heinz Nehnehberg of Erightville.  Just as the contest comes to an end, the two hear a blood curdling screech. Before the two of them can even open their eyes, they feel a pinch at their lower left but cheeks. Next thing they know,they have been turned into tootsie rolls and are eaten by Robin Williams.

K2

                In the second picture, the sleeping boy is named Ken. Ken is a lonely kid who doesn’t have many friends and he lives in the magical world of Kokiri Forest. Kokiri forest is located on the outksirts of the royal kingdom known as Hyrule, who contains all inhabitants from the Gorons of the red mountains to the Zoras of lake Hylia. Little does Ken know, but he has been chosen by the queen Zelda to be the boy to save the kingdom from the dark lord Ganondorf. The blimp of light you see in the picture isn’t just any old blimp, but it is the fairy, Navy who has been sent to him to guide him on his quest. Kens first obstacle lies within the Great Deku Tree of Kokiri forest, where he must obtain one of three spiritual stones needed to open the door of time, where he can then claim the master sword and travel through timje to stop the evil lord Ganondorf from ever opening the sacred door and getting control of the triforce which gives him absolute power. Ken will gain the next two spiritual stones by defeating the monsters and evils within Dodongos Cavern, and Lord Jabu- Jabu’s belly. After Ken travels 7 years into the future, he will need to defeat 7 dark lords in order to free the guardians of the sacred realm so that they can shut the door from Ganondorf, so that he never is able to take the triforce. And then finally, after freeing all of the spirits, Ken must take down the dark lord Ganondorf for good. He travels to the top of his tower and strikes him with his light arrows, which temporarily impairs the evil mastermind, then repeatedly strikes him with THE legendary master sword. And after this is all said and done, Ken saves the princess of Hyrule, and locks Ganondorf in the sacred realm forever. But finally when it was all said and done, the evil lord turned out to be none other than Robin Williams with a crockpot on his head, and everyone died.

Choice Blog

My choice blog for this week I have chosen to write about a recent game of Madden between Brian Stoldt and I. Brian plays as the Miami Dolphins and I am the New York Jets, but the teams have been drafted through a fantasy draft. Some of Brian’s top players include Calvin Johnson, Ben Roethlisberger, Jimmy Graham, and Ahmad Bradshaw. As you may have noticed, Brian’s only top players are at the skill positions, and his offensive line is a joke, which partly contributes to me whooping him every time we play, including twice last season, and in the playoffs, and more recently last night in week two of the regular season. The New York Jets, on the other hand have built their team around a young youthful offensive line, which is really the motor that runs the team. They have balance throughout their entire, which is a direct tribute to their head coach, offensive coordinator, defensive coordinator, special teams coach, and general manager, yours truly, Mike Steffan.  In order to be successful in Madden, you must be willing to take some chances and risks every now and then, even if that means going for it on 4^th and 2 from your 8 yard line. You can either get stuffed, and put your defense in a deep hole,  with their backs against the wall, or you can exploit Brian Stoldt’s lack of defensive coordinating skills, and break a 92 yard touchdown run, much like I did last night.  Team Stoldt had a few choice words for team Steffan after that particular run, and even threatened to quit the franchise. Regardless of what he may say of threaten to do, I’m 2 and 0, and he is 1 and 1, and still remains in the franchise. Team Stoldt talks a big game, but when it matters most, he doesn’t perform. Nuff said.  

Resolution

This past year, I thought long and hard about a new year’s resolution, and finally decided that I would give up one of my favorite and most beloved foods, ice cream. As we all know, I used to have a little bit of a weight problem, and giving up ice cream was a big step in the right direction to a healthy lifestyle. After ice cream came chicken wings, pizza, candy and all of that good stuff. Add that with all of the offseason football training I was doing at the time, and I found myself in the best shape of my life, and have yet to eat ice cream in over a year now.  Now, with this new year finally upon us, I have once again taken some time to think up a good resolution, and have come to a decision. For the year 2012, my goal is to get less angry when I lose on Xbox, and try to control my anger a little bit better.  Over the past 5 years of owning that popular gaming system, I have been through 5 controllers, 8 headsets, and two different rechargeable battery packs. Let’s just say, I have a bit of an anger management issue. This change, if successful, l will not only save me money, but it my entire family and neighborhood will no longer have to put up with the sudden shrieks, groans, and smashes, which is always a good thing. I plan on doing this by when I feel a spurt of anger coming on, by setting my controller down on my bed peacefully, and leaving my room ASAP before I can get ahold of any of my belongings to squeeze or smash. Then I will take a walk downstairs, grab a glass of water, and just get away from it all.

Winter Break

My holiday break for the most part was pretty laid back. I mostly stayed home at night, and played xbox late into the night. The latest I was up was 5 o clock am playing Madden. I then went on to sleep in the following day until 2pm, and I felt like a lazy slob the rest of the day. I hate that feeling, but that’s pretty much just how Christmas break goes.  Last Thursday however, I joined Brian Stoldt and some friends, and we spent a couple hours in the new indoor trampoline center, Skyzone. I was a bit apprehensive at first when I walked through the front doors to find 9 and 10 year old boys and girls as far as thee I could see, but that feeling quickly vanished as the activities began. There were trampolines on all of the floors and walls to bounce off, and a giant foam pit, which was one of my favorite parts. You would get a running start on the trampolines, stomp as hard as you can, and thrust yourself through the air, and do twists and flips as you crash the foam below. The jumping part was really fun, but you had to pay a price getting out, because there is nothing to grab on to, and if you had short legs, like Nick Foss did, it was even more difficult. But besides the foam pit there was my personal favorite aspect, and that was the dodge ball. Dodge ball is fun enough on a gym floor, but put it on trampolines, and then you get greatness. I was able to showcase my surprising elusiveness and agility, and was one of, if not the best at dodging. Scratch that, I was the best dodger. Brian Stoldt never got me out. Nuff said.