Three in a row...

See, told you I was back. Third straight day of posting, with three days at the DA remaning. With that said, I'm very ready to get this entire week over with. I have a ton of work in the next 48 hours, followed by one of the most unenviable tasks ever - putting together the Showdown in Mo'Town. That's right, 2,000 questions in two days. I'm going to do it. But I don't want to.

The Rec Center has been nice enough to accomodate us for free on Saturday. It should be a nice setup, with the TV tuned into the NFL Draft and the tables set up and passers-by looking on. It should be a fun day, and a good way to close out my time at the DA. Once I finish the Showdown Saturday, I'm pretty much just writing columns and women's tennis recaps for dead weak.

As for my last day Thursday, I've decided to have a party at my house. Everyone's invited. 458 East Brockway. We'll just have food and whatnot, and I'm sure Tolomeo and McNeil will somehow find a way to work drinking into everything, including some hold em. So if you want to have a good time, and help me celebrate my four years of service to the DA, stop on by. Your appearance would mean more than you know.

My last Sunday...

Well, get ready for another series of "lasts" as I enter my final week as Sports Editor. Today wasn't emotional at all, because like I said, I'm completely burnt out. But I taught Welch a few things, wrote a story and my next to next to last colum and made headway on some emails and trivia questions.

The week will be up before I know it, which will mean that I will be confronted with my final two columns. I've decided to approach it in a Part I/Part II kind of way, with the first column outlining my time at the DA and the second saying my farewells and thank yous. I think its pretty simplistic, but thats how I've always been.

Other than that, the week ahead seems to be busy with schoolwork, as always. The Showdown in MoTown is tentatively scheduled for Saturday, but I still need to lock up a location and 2,000 questions. Egad.

That's all I got. Kudos to Ryan McNeil for "getting" the first sentence of my return to the blog entry, to the Devil Rays for not knowing how to play baseball, and to my cat for missing the litter box as always.

Peace.

Today's quotes...

The annual Gold-Blue game, and my final game in the press box amongst my staff, provided a solid list of quotes. Here they are, some of which are exchanges.

"Look at the Mountaineer. Disgusting." Nick Tolomeo

"Did you see the Mountaineer trying to do push-ups? It looked like he was humping the ground." Nick Tolomeo

Tassa: I wish I had tried to be in the band. I don't know, drums. Maybe the trombone.
Drew: I think Chuck would've played the piccolo.

(Upon me making fun of Tassa's baseball skills)
Tassa: At least my Mom knows I'm good.

(On Rayshawn Bolden)
Me: He's like Chris Henry without the attitude - or talent.
Drew: So he's just tall?

Later in the day, playing baseball...

"I'm not wearing a cup." Drew, uttered about 15 times. Come on, Coach.

"Booyah!" Drew, after launching his first home run (two words)

More updates from the Gold-Blue game coming tomorrow. Peace.

My triumphant return...

Guess who's bizzack? I've got the crack off my clothes and I'm making my triumphant return to the blogging community. My semester long hiatus can be attributed to many things, but mainly the grueling scheduled I was saddled with at the DA. It was, without a doubt, the semester from hell. And even those directly around me (my sports staff, my roommates, my family, etc.) have no idea the amount of pressure and stress I was under for the past four months. That job is vastly underpaid, that's all I can say. It is very difficult, and I had been doing it for nearly three years. This week, however, I turn in my pen, pad and tape recorder and walk away from the game. Perhaps I'm a little past my prime, but my guys and the experiences I had this semester were well worth a lifetime of ragging about mayonnaise.

Today has been enjoyable thus far, although I'm bummed about not making the concert tonight. Concerts are definitely one of my favorites things, and its been a while. TJT and SoCo seem to be dodging the Pittsburgh area, and I didnt get to catch the Clarks a couple months back in Mo'Town.

The spring game was so-so. We look very inconsistent on offense. The quarterbacks still have light years to go, and we were missing 3/5's of our starting offensive line, not to mention Jason Colson, Brandon Myles, and all the freshman and props we'll have in the fall. My prediction is still 7-4, but I'm starting to waver on Dwayne Thompson starting under center. But, I was never solid on him, either. I'll hold out hope for House.

We just had the first Home Run Derby of the spring. I blew it. I cranked 6 out of the cozy confines of Marilla Park Field in the first round alone, but then tailed off with 3 and 0 in the final two rounds. Tassa's streak went the other way, hitting 1, then 5, then a derby record 8 in round 3 to take the title. Damnit. Drew and Davey also competed. Drew hit just 2 in three rounds, but that's probably cause Coach didn't wear a cup. Davey hit 1, but made up for it with a backhanded no-look scoop to start a 4-6-3 double play. The day was good cause we only left with 2 out of about 20 balls, but bad cause no one hit the Anker Energy sign.

That's all for now. Thanks for allowing me to return.