Hate List 4.5

I last updated my Hate list in June, but I’ve been incensed multiple times since, so it’s time to vent. For previous editions of my Hate list click here. Now on to the hate…

1.) Unnecessary handshakes- There are three guys at work who insist on shaking my hand even though we see each other roughly 3-5 times a week. They go out of their way to open a door for the sole purpose of saying hello or goodbye to me and for some reason a verbal exchange just isn’t enough for them. I would have no problem if they popped their head in a studio and said, “Just wanted to say hi,” or, “Have a good night,”, but it drives me crazy that they walk over to me with their hand extended. I’m usually working on something (with headphones on) and have to stop what I’m doing, turn towards them, and shake their hand. I don’t get it. Handshakes are for business deals or after critical conversations with a boss. They aren’t for simply hellos and goodbyes anymore. By the way, there’s also a 60+ year old guy at work who tries to be cool and offers pounds to anyone and everyone with his elbow fully extended and he bothers me slightly less than the handshake guys.

2.) People that drag out their trips on Facebook- If I ever make an ultra hate list this item will definitely make the cut. I almost made an entire post about this annoying trend. I understand that people get excited about going places and want to share their joy on Facebook. I’m fine with that, but too often I see people that make numerous posts about the same trip. It starts with the, “Vegas booked” status update which several people comment on and like. Three weeks later it’s, “24 days until Vegas!!” Soon enough it’s, “I’ll be in Vegas one week from now!” and “All I have to do is get through this week and then it’s Vegas.” The day of the trip we get a check in from the airport and an update that reads, “Vegas bound!” Hours later we get the check in from the Vegas airport of the hotel. The last day of the trip we usually see a picture of a pool or some morning cocktails with a caption that reads, “I’m going to miss Vegas,” or, “Last day in Vegas. I’m going to miss my morning mimosas.” A day or two after the trip we get the photo album, which is probably the only thing I’m ok with. If you go somewhere, whether it be Vegas, Cancun, or Cali, you have every right to be excited about it, but I think it’s unnecessary and annoying for you to make 6-7 posts about the same trip.

3.) People that post the distance that they’ve run on Facebook or Twitter- I hattttttte people that brag about the distance that they run every day. Run to get in shape, stay in shape, or to train for a race (half marathon, marathon, etc.), but please don’t broadcast your efforts to the world. It’s nice that you’re running because more people should be doing so, but your Nike Plus Facebook that tells me about how you ran 3.1 miles today is repulsive.

4.) Jokes about the Mayan calendar- On January 15th I tweeted, “The Mayans were right will undoubtedly be the most overused joke of the year.” Let’s just say that I nailed it. Every time something remotely surprising in sports happens someone will tweet, “I guess the Mayans were right.” In fact, Grantland.Com’s Bill Simmons has made the Mayans joke upwards of 5 times this year (twice in January, once in March, once in August, once in September, and once in November) and I cringe every time.

5.) People that say that they like college basketball more than the NBA- I hate these people because they’re wrong. What they mean to say is that they like their favorite college basketball team more than they like their favorite NBA team. For example, if I gave you the choice of watching Kansas @ Missouri or Celtics @ Lakers tomorrow night on TV which would you rather watch? Let’s not even get into how much better it would be to attend the NBA, but even when it comes to watching on TV it’s not even close. There’s simply too much turnover in college basketball. By the time you get to know the players they’re gone. I work in sports (and have produced a Kansas basketball game this season) and can only name one player on Kansas and one on Missouri. I know almost every player on the Celtics and Lakers (and most people, even girls, know Rondo, KG, Pierce, Kobe, Nash, and Dwight). Now, you might be saying, “That’s not fair. The Celtics and Lakers are two of the most storied franchises in NBA history and one of the best rivalries.” You’re right, but Kansas is one of the top 5 programs in college basketball history and their rivalry with Missouri is one of the Top 5 in the sport. And if you didn’t know that about Kansas and Missouri then it further proves my point. Also, Kansas is currently ranked 10th in the country and Missouri is 16th. The Celtics currently have the 11th best record in the NBA and the Lakers are tied for 14th.

Here are my NFL picks for last week and this week

Week 12
at Lions +4 vs.Texans
at Cowboys -3.5 vs. Redskins
Patriots -7 at Jets
Raiders +8 at Bengals
Steelers -2 at Browns
Bills +3 at Colts
at Chiefs +10.5 vs. Broncos
Titans 3 at Jaguars
at Bears -6.5 vs. Vikings
Falcons -1.5 at Bucs
Seahawks -3 at Dolphins
at Chargers -1.5 vs. Ravens
49ers -1.5 at Saints
Rams +1 at Cardinals
Packers +3.5 at Giants
at Eagles +3 vs. Panthers

Last Week- 7-9
Season- 84-89-3


Week 13
at Falcons -3.5 vs. Saints
at Bears -4 vs. Seahawks
at Packers -8 vs. Vikings
49ers -7.5 at Rams
at Jets -4.5 vs. Cardinals
at Chiefs +3 vs. Panthers
at Lions -4.5 vs. Colts
at Bills -6 vs. Jaguars
at Dolphins +9 vs. Patriots
Texans -6.5 at Titans
Bucs 7 at Broncos
Steelers at Ravens
at Raiders +1 vs. Browns
at Chargers +2.5 vs. Bengals
Eagles +10 at Cowboys
Giants -2.5 at Redskins

Rivalry Week

I’m not sure if it’s being branded as such, but it’s now rivalry week in college football. Among the rivalry games that will be played on Saturday are Oregon at Oregon State, Notre Dame at USC, Michigan at Ohio State, Auburn at Alabama, and South Carolina at Clemson. Naturally this begs the question- what is the best rivalry in all of college football?

The answer to that question depends on who you ask, but for argument’s sake here is my Top 10.

10.) South Carolina vs. Clemson- This is probably a little high, but a few weeks ago Clemson head coach Dabo Swinney said nothing but positive things when asked about the injury to South Carolina running back Marcus Lattimore and the Gamecocks head coach Steve Spurrier decided to start a verbal pissing contest.

9.) Army vs. Navy- It’s probably the most meaningful to the respective students and alumni, but I never know any of the players in the game, so it’s hard for me to put it any higher.

8.) Kansas vs. Missouri- This one would be ranked much higher, but the series has been put on hold with the Tigers departure to the SEC. They call this one the border war because of a dispute in the 19^th century about slavery in the Kansas territory. With historical roots like that you know it’s an important game.

7.) Oregon vs. Oregon State- They call it the Civil War, which accurately assesses the hate between the two schools. Interstate contests like this are always contentious and make for great rivalry games. In this one the phrase “throw out the records” most certainly applies.

6.) Texas vs. Oklahoma- You know it better as the Red River rivalry. The name dates back to a border dispute between the states, so there’s some added tension to the game. These two schools routinely represent the best of the Big 12 and they usually put up a lot of points in the Cotton Bowl, where the game is held during the Texas State fair.

5.) Miami vs. Florida State- These two Florida schools are usually ranked pretty high when they meet and the game is generally decided on a missed field goal.

4.) Stanford vs. Cal- They call this one “The Big Game” and 30 years ago the band played a factor in the outcome. The winner of this one gets an axe and that’s pretty cool.

3.) Notre Dame vs. USC- This is a bit of a homer pick as I’m a huge Notre Dame fan, but this matchup is largely thought of as one of the best rivalries in the sport, so I’m fine with placing it this high.

2.) Michigan vs. Ohio State- It's known simply as “The Game”, which just goes to show you how important it is for fans on both sides. The last few years notwithstanding this has been the the best rivalry in college football over the course of the last 15 years. They met in what’s known as “The Game of the Century” back in 2006. Ohio State won the game 42-36 and everyone that was anyone wanted them to play a rematch to decide the national championship, but the BCS ranked Florida ahead of Michigan and the Gators defeated Ohio State in the title game.

1.) Auburn vs. Alabama- They simply care about football more there than anywhere else. Case in point, an Alabama fan was arrested in 2011 after admitting to poisoning the famous trees on Auburn’s campus (Toomer’s Corner)

While those are the best all-time rivalries in college football, the best current rivalry has to be LSU vs. Alabama. They’ve been two of the best teams in the country for the last 3 years and Alabama head coach Nick Saban used to coach LSU. What more do you need?

What are the best rivalries in other sports?

NFL

Traditionally- Packers vs. Bears, Cowboys vs. Redskins

Currently- Steelers vs. Ravens

MLB

Traditionally- Cubs vs. Cardinals, Yankees vs. Red Sox, Giants vs. Dodgers

Currently- Reds vs. Cardinals

NBA

Traditionally- Lakers vs. Celtics, Bulls vs. Pistons, Pacers vs. Knicks

Currently- Celtics vs. Heat

College Basketball

Traditionally- North Carolina vs. Duke, Syracuse vs. Georgetown, Kansas vs. Missouri

Currently- Cincinnati vs. Xavier

Here are my picks for Week 11 in the NFL

at Bills -2.5 vs. Dolphins

Eagles +3 at Redskins
at Lions +3.5 vs. Packers
Cardinals +9.5 at Falcons
Bucs -1.5 at Panthers
Browns +8 at Cowboys
at Rams -3 vs. Jets
Colts +9.5 at Patriots
Jaguars +14.5 at Texans
at Chiefs +3.5 vs. Bengals
Saints -4.5 at Raiders
Chargers 7.5 at Broncos
at Steelers +3.5 vs. Ravens
at 49ers -5.5 vs. Bears

Last Week- 6-8

Season- 69-74-3

Traveling

There’s a saying- travel young. The thought being that the best time to travel is when you’re young because as you get older more things will prevent you from seeing the world. It makes a lot of sense. It’s a whole lot easier to backpack through Europe with some friends right after you graduate college than it is to plan a trip to China in your 30s. As we get older more and more responsibilities begin to accumulate.

I’ve always wanted to travel, but I’ve hardly done any in my 26 plus years on the planet. I knew countless kids that went abroad in college and zero of them have ever said a bad word about their experience. In hindsight going abroad seems like a no brainer, but I couldn’t pull the trigger for a number of reasons. For starters, I was having a blast on/off campus and didn’t want to miss a full semester of that. My main rationale was that I didn’t want to miss a Notre Dame football season in the Fall (even though they were largely dreadful while I was in college) and I couldn’t bear the thought of missing a Syracuse run at the Final Four in the Spring (Syracuse missed the NCAA Tournament in 2 of the 4 years that I was in college). I’m still not sure if it was actually something else that was holding me back, but the sports thing is what I told people. I don’t regret much from my college experience (people who say they have no regrets are liars), but not going abroad is high on my list.

If you could go to one place in the entire world, where would it be and why? I think that’s a fascinating question. For me, the answer is simple- Ireland. I’m half Irish, would love to play golf there, am all about small pubs, and could get used to those Irish breakfasts. While Ireland tops my list, I could probably rattle off 9 or 10 more places if I really thought about it (English speaking countries would definitely take precedent for me). I desperately want to travel around Europe (for starters), but I don’t foresee an opportunity to do so in the near future. I’m certainly not going to go by myself and have no one that would want to go with me. All of my friends are buying houses, getting engaged, having kids, etc. Sadly, the only other country that I’ve been to is Canada and that’s mainly because I grew up 4 hours away and am a big time Blue Jay fan.

My travels within the greatest country in the history of civilization are rather limited as well. One of my roommates has a very admirable goal of visiting all 50 states before he turns 30. I think that’s awesome. I’ve only been to 18 of the 50 states (I’ve had layovers in 2 more, but that doesn’t count), which seems pretty low to me. I want to travel to all 50 states as well. Maybe I’ll give myself until I’m 50. That seems appropriate, right?



When I was younger my dad used to take my brothers and I on a trip to various baseball stadiums every summer. He’d map out a manageable drive, confer with the MLB schedule, and we’d get to see a baseball game or two in a variety of venues. I’ve always wanted to complete this expedition and see a game in all of the parks, but I have a long way to go (I’ve seen a game in 13 of the 30 stadiums) and have hardly added to the list in the past decade. You’d think that working in sports would help with this one, but it hasn’t…yet. I’m told that I’ll begin traveling more, but I’m not holding my breath (I’ve worked on upwards of 500 events so far and have been on site for 2 of them- both this year).

I guess my point is that I want to travel a lot more, but can’t find a way to make it happen. I don’t want to wait until I retire to see the country/world, but I feel like my window to travel young is closing rapidly. If you have any solutions or want to travel somewhere with me I’m all ears.

My Week 10 NFL Picks

at Jaguars +3.5 vs. Colts
Bills +11 at Patriots
Giants -4 at Bengals
Chargers +3 at Bucs
Broncos -4 at Panthers
at Dolphins -6 vs. Titans
Raiders +7.5 at Ravens
Falcons -2.5 at Saints
at Vikings +2 vs. Lions
at Seahawks -6 vs. Jets
Cowboys -1.5 @ Eagles
at 49ers -11 vs. Rams
at Bears -1 vs. Texans
Chiefs +12.5 at Steelers

Last Week- 7-7
Season- 63-66-3