Green Street Hooligans

One of my favorite movies of all time is Green Street Hooligans. The movie takes place in England somewhere around the 1990's. Elijah Wood is a student kicked out of college two weeks prior to graduation due to his friend, or so called friend's stupidity. He left his drugs in Wood's belongings and he Wood was expelled. Then, the story truly began.

Wood precedes to travel to England to visit the only family he feels he has left in his sister. Shortly after arriving, Wood is introduced to Pete Dunham, Wood's sister's brother-in-law. He is a hooligan who follows the soccer team known as United around. These hooligans often fight other soccer team's firms. Pete tried convincing Wood to go home or do something else but he insists on coming to watch the game. After the first game, Wood gets caught up in the midst of the other teams firm. As they are about to jump him, Pete comes to the rescue to save little Wood from disaster. From that point on an awkward bond became relevant.

Wood and Dunham become closer than any two characters in the plot. Between bar hopping, fighting, and doing other hooligan activities, these two become closer than brothers. 

Throughout the story the hooligans fight and fight until one day the rival gang to United shows up and Pete heroically saves his family through taking a beating. The beating was so severe that Pete died. Through his death Wood learns that life has limits and they can be reached. He goes back to Harvard where he was expelled, makes his room mate confess and almost fights him. Instead of fighting though he is reinstated into the University and finishes college. It is a heart warming ending with a story full of action. 

Biggie Smalls

Everyone knows about the prominent rapper that went by the surname Biggie Smalls or The Notorious B.I.G. Biggie Smalls real name was Christopher Wallace and he was born in the streets of Brooklyn into poverty. He was born in the early seventies into a single mother home that could barely be called a home. While his mother worked three jobs to keep the money for rent and food coming, Biggie started thinking about other ways to make money. His businessman attitude and his lazy, make money quick mentality got him caught up in selling drugs. At the age of thirteen Wallace was slinging crack to anyone and everyone on the streets of Brooklyn. He went to jail and when he got out his music abilities shot through the roof. 

At one point Biggie almost went back to jail but his friend covered for him and took two years of heat in jail. During this time Wallace's ratings went off the wall. His records were selling at unbelievable rates and everyone wanted to book him for concerts. By nineteen Chris Wallace was one of the richest men running around New York. 

Biggie eventually had a falling out with West Coast icon Tupac Shakur and since that moment his life changed drastically. His relationship with his wife went to the sewer and his ratings began to drop. Unfortunately Biggie thought he could go to the West Coast and be completely safe. This was not the case. On his last night in California Chris Wallace was shot several times and did not even live to see the hospital doors open. Some people speculate and say it was Shakur who had him killed but no one will ever know the truth to his death. 

BLACK FRIDAY

The friday after Thanksgiving is obviously a day for everyone who likes sales. How much dedication you have to getting what you want depends on what time you are motivated to get up at all hours of the night. 

In Buffalo every store opens between midnight and four in the morning. Shocking as it is, the mall is jam packed with eager families and individuals looking to score on the next big sale. People as young as elementary school children with their mothers to elderly folks are shopping like maniac seventeen year old girls in hollister. Whether people are old or young, man or woman it is irrelevant. The manners of "Buffalonians" seems to disappear when it comes to materialistic items. One woman wanted an Elmo toy so bad she began to get into a verbal fight with another woman for grabbing it. Management came to settle the argument but none the less two grown women were fighting over Elmo for five dollars off the original price. 

Come on folks lets start putting things in perspective. Is it really necessary to wake up at four in the morning to begin with to save a few  bucks? If so the need to become arrogant and lose the sense of humanism is for sure not necessary. If everyone would take it easy and wake up at a decent hour maybe things like this would not happen.

I am a victim and a hypocrite though. I did go shopping on Black Friday and unfortunately I caught myself saying how lucky I was to have received such a good sale. The public opinion of how great the sales are wear off on others and it is like a domino effect. One person says they found a great sale and the next thing you know five or six people are going to look for that same sale. Although it is not a big harm it just goes to show the materialistic views American's have on life.

HOME

I did not realize how much I missed home until I actually arrived there this past weekend. It was my first time home since we came to Cortland and the little things meant the most. It never comes to mind what is important to a person, especially me when everything is taken for granted.

When I arrived at exit six and started to see familiar buildings in my hometown, nothing felt better. I drove past my high school as well as my favorite restaurant as well as my old house and the park filled with baseball fields. Even though it has only been a few months since I have been home, it still feels like it has been forever. My mother's home cooked meal was delicious and I could not stop there. I preceded to go to Mighty Taco with two friends. Mighty Taco is a famous taco shop native to Buffalo. Unfortunately for everyone else in other area codes they have to eat Taco Bell. It was not just the places I went or the food I was eating. It was more being in the home type atmosphere and being able to relax from school.

To go along with the food and the safe net atmosphere, it was also enjoyable to see friends who came back from school. The colleges are different but all of the stories seemed oddly similar. It seemed like everyone had done familiar activities. Whether these activities were positive or negative is irrelevant but the stories were funny none the less.

More importantly than the funny stories and the good food was the fact that I was able to see my dog. It is hard to explain a young man's relationship with his dog to anyone who does not have a pet. I missed taking her for walks and such and it was also nice to get back into doing activities like so.

Comparing

By going to a college a bit down state from my home, I run into many Long Islanders. Until I came here for college I did not realize the difference between up state people and down state individuals.
The habits and tendencies realm so far apart from each other it sometimes seems as though there are two different species in New York. Yes there are some similarities but the differences are overwhelming when put into perspective.
Within the first week I was in Cortland, everyone or at least it seemed like everyone from Long Island was either looking for someone who cut hair or cut hair themselves. The words "taper" and "shape-up" were being used frequently. Had I not asked my friend from the island what these words meant I would have thought they were some sort of island slang. Little did I know they were hair cut terms. We continued in conversation and apparently down state individuals take getting their hair cut very seriously. Little did I know that the kid had his own barber. Where I am from everyone goes to the local hair cut shops, pays five dollars and gets a shave. It seems like up state kids care much less about the hair styles than people from the island. This is not the only difference. I will often times catch myself hearing a couple students from the island say "open the draw", forgetting to say the "R". It is a bit funny and makes an up state kid like me giggle at the differences. Although they are minor they are sometimes funny to compare.

Cortaca

This upcoming weekend has been hyped up and talked about for weeks. The famous weekend known as Cortaca has finally arrived. Since I have been here from day one I have heard stories and nothing but pandemonium about this unrecognized holiday in the small town of Cortland. 

The rivalry that lives between the two cities of Cortland and Ithaca is the biggest Division three rivalry in the country. This may be an exaggeration but none the less Cortland and Ithaca students act that way around this time of year. Even though this year the game is in Ithaca, that will not take away from the lively festivities that take place throughout the town. Students show their pride by wearing anything with the beloved "C" on it. 

I personally have not bought a ticket to the game but many students I know have bought their five dollar ticket and will be on their way to Ithaca for the game early Saturday morning. I heard a group of students express that they were going to be grilling and tailgating up in Ithaca from Friday night until the game. This seems crazy but exceptionally fun to me. My first Cortaca game was in Cortland and I sold my ticket and I am starting to debate whether maybe I should head to Ithaca this year. 

Four of my friends from home are coming up this weekend and two of which go to SUNY Geneseo. I was told that there are murmurs around campus about how fun Cortaca is and several students from that school are coming up. This school has a crazy night life as it is let alone all of the other students from other schools who are coming to enjoy the weekend here. I can only imagine how much fun this weekend will be reminiscing with old friends and enjoying watching Cortland beat up on Ithaca in the game.

Vacation

If I had three wishes, I think the first wish I would ask for is a week vacation to Mexico. Between school, working, and the weather it just seems too perfect of an idea to pass up on. The girls, combined with the drinking age at where it should be at eighteen would be a nice break from the pressure of college.

Don't get me wrong college is an experience of a lifetime but who would pass up eighty degree weather and thousands of mature teenagers running around the beach? The first thing I would do on vacation is beach volleyball. I think I could count the number of things I like more than beach volleyball on my right hand. Other than watching sports, it may be my favorite thing to do. Other such things that I would enjoy to do on a vacation would definitely be parasailing. My brother parasailed with my cousin in Rhode Island but I was too young to do it with them. Ever since that day I have been addicted to the idea of trying it out. Anything in the water would constitute a good vacation. I love the water so such things as frisbee in the water, parasailing obviously, tackle football in the water and boating would be successful things to be doing. Hopefully within the year I can win the lottery and head to Mexico for the week.

Life is a Business

People are constantly looking to scheme their way into winning money. Life is a business and greed drives our emotions. Who doesn't want to have more money than they already have? The only downfall is our economy and way of life requires slackers and poverty-struck people to exist in large numbers. To what extent I wonder would people go to get rich?

There are two classes of people in the world. Those who can make money and become successful and those who go through life feasting off of others success. Trickery and manipulation become a large part of the business known as life. In order to make money someone else has to be losing money. So, how do you as a businessman create situations that are favorable for you to have a serious cash flow? I have found that talking and false bravado are two major qualities needed to sell your product. Lets say my product is apple flavored chap stick. In order for me to sell the apple flavored chap stick I would have to be able to approach people and talk to them about my product. People want to hear good things about themselves involving the product. For example if I were to see a woman who I wanted to sell my chap stick to I'd want to make her feel like this product was made for her.

Also, advertisement is key in being a great money maker. The best and most effective products sold in our country most likely have been advertised heavily on television or billboards. Alcohol abuse is a debated topic in our society to this day. If we look to television commercials and took a survey I bet a large majority of people would say beer commercials are the funniest most of the time. This is not coincidental but rather smart on behalf of the men and women selling the beer. It is not a science but rather a lifelong learning experience when talking about making money.

Who would you rather have running the offense of your team, Peyton Manning or Brett Favre. The brain master or the kid stuck in a forty year old's body? Personally I would rather have Manning behind the helm but who in the past six weeks can say they haven't enjoyed watching Favre bring some more magic to the field. His antics and love for the game have thrown Minnesota right into the mix of things for the NFC championship talks. 

I think the only people disappointed in Favre's miraculous performances are Packer fans. The ownership of Green Bay let Favre go nearly three years prior to this year and they have ever since tried making sure anything but this happened. They offered him millions to stay out of Minnesota but the iron titan refused to be paid off. He came out of retirement yet again and brought some fire with him. 

As fun as it is watching Favre win games in the final seconds, everyone knows who the true captain of football is these days. Peyton Manning is a Zeus among men and it is obvious every time he steps foot on a football field. The Colts have quietly slipped into a nice 4-0 record at the top of the AFC South. Every team they play they seem to scheme together a game plan that is impossible to beat. Two teams who you do not want to see your team playing in the playoffs are definitely the Colts and the Vikings

BILLS

Time after time I give the Bills my time and respect but after today I have never felt so sick over a football game. Not only did the Bills get kicked in by the worst team in the game but they also lost respect of over eighty thousand fans. 

The home crowd of over seventy thousand people poured into "The Ralph" desperate to see there team get back on a winning track. Eager and hungry for victory, led by soon to be fired head coach Dick Jauron, the team came out playing tough defensively. Going into the fourth quarter everyone in Western New York was feeling the crisp air travel up their backs causing a nervous stench to be breathed in by the fan base. 

Going into the final two minutes the Buffalo defense held strong and the offense was prepped to go win the ball game. Close your eyes for a moment and picture the scenario. You could almost taste comeback like turkey on Thanksgiving. The punt. The catch. The drop. Roscoe "butterfingers" Parrish muffed the punt and the frail Browns happened to be in the right spot and the right time to recover the fumble. Still some hope glimmered in the eyes of the fans. Somehow, someway maybe a break would still happen in favor of the bills after Cleveland kicked the field goal. Twenty two second left in the game for the Bills to score. The kick goes out of bounds and Buffalo catches the biggest break they could have caught. Did they do anything with it? Of course not folks this is the same team that has missed the playoffs every year since I was nine. This is also the same team that has not won a playoff game since I was four. It is border line pathetic and nothing short of disappointing on so many levels. I feel like week after week my heart gets ripped out by this team and there is nothing I can do about it. 

Career

"I know what I want to be and I don't care what anyone has to say about it." I don't know about anyone else but this is the attitude I carried with me up until the summer of sophmore year. I thought my life was set and everything would fit together like a puzzle in dining room.

There was a minor problem in my thought process. I did not take into account that I would have to sit down and work at this metaphorical puzzle. Everything in high school came to me so easily and when I came to college, my lazy study habits and lack-luster attitude led to falling behind and grades dropping. The college life showed me that maybe my plan of sliding through life was not going to cut it. I told myself that something in sports would be my profession after college.

 Since I entered college I have changed my mind and my major at least three times. Something that when I was younger was "unacceptable" in my eyes. I believe finding what your good at is much easier in the college environment rather than in a suppressed high school with many stereotypes and hypocritical people. Your dreams mesh with what skills your good at to find several professions that could fit your lifestyle. In my case, teaching might be a profession I would look into. It is not only exciting, but each day is different and the interactions made with kids seems to fit the mold of what I am looking to do with my future. 

"The Double Life"

Often times going away to college is a life changing experience. Many kids cannot handle the double life that needs to be balanced between their hometown and the college town. When I was home my mother did my laundry, made dinner, and did several other chores that I was not at all interested in.

It is not just the chores that keep many kids our age from going away. The emotional aspect of trying to balance friendships and relationships is very difficult. Before I went away I did not go more than a week without seeing my mother. I saw my friends every day. Now I rarely talk to my friends back home and every few days I call my mother. At the same time when I go home in the summer time it is difficult not seeing anyone who I see everyday up at school. You develop a strong bond with the friends up at school because you see them every day. 

Beyond emotional ties are several other reasons students have trouble living with this double life so to speak. With the lifestyle and freedoms attached to the college life, students are prone to slacking off and falling behind. Classes often have laid back attendance policies, the dorm life apt to lounging around often times and homework is not monitored heavily. As fun as it is here, several times I think what would happen to me if I did not have the work ethic that I have.

Buffalo on the Rise

Hard work and dedication in most scenarios lead to nothing but success and improvement at the very least. Buffalo Bill's coach Dick Jauron preaches nothing but hard work and dedication to a common goal. It just so happens that this goal is a playoff birth which any true football fan will tell you is not out of reach this year for the underdog Bills.

The Patriots dominating mentality is evidently fading. The Dolphins are less than par and the Jets are as unpredictable as the weather in Western New York. The Bills are quietly sniffing around the dog bowl and the smell of a division crown is at the tips of there fingers. The Bills did everything in there will to beat the Patriots and came up just short in the final two minutes. It was extremely unfortunate for the Buccaneers who played the Bills this Sunday. Plenty of anger was lashed out at Tampa Bay as the Bills came to tear heads off. By the end of the first quarter fans were snickering for the southern team to catch a bus home early because of the 17-0 score that shined on the jumbo-tron.

When the game finally did end in a lop-sided 30-20 victory for the home team, nothing could have cheered seventy plus thousand fans more than to hear that the Patriots received a heart-breaking loss to the Jets at the Meadow Lands. Incredibly, the Jets gave them all they wanted and forced the boys from Boston to go home without even scoring a touchdown. This is a feat that has not happened in over five years! The division is up for grabs and so many hands are looking to dip into the cookie jar known as the 2009 playoffs. No one asks for anything more than a chance and if the Bills take advantage of the opportunity sitting in front of their eyes they'll get nothing less than a chance to play with the big boys in the playoffs, a task that has not been accomplished since 1999 when Doug "The Jet" Flutie ran the Bills into the playoffs against the Titans.

PAC'..The Real Truth

Unfortunately, the world is easily manipulated and will believe anything that is seen on a television or google. Tupac Shakur, the most prominent and established rap gangster from the west coast could have possibly tricked the world into thinking he is dead.

Even though there are pictures and "evidence" to support 'Pac was murdered, there is also substantiating facts to hint he could be alive. Now people may say that my theories are complete insanity and the shear fact of the matter is those people speak with no knowledge of the theory and have no back round information to support what they say. Yes Mike Jackson is dead. Yes Elvis Presley is dead. Those are rumors backed up with no factual information besides obsessive fans who blog about there superstar heroes being alive. 

Now time to open some eyes. Tupac gets ousted out front of Circus Circus after the Tyson fight. Anyone who has seen the Vegas strip after the Tyson fight would know how crowded it was. As crowded as it was, not one person sees the shooting; not even one of his seven body guards in his entourage. Three people rob the Rio in the year 'Pac gets shot up and air enforcement was  used to track down the culprits. The biggest gangster name in history gets shot up and not one call is received for air support. Shakur's cab driver, who helped him stage his death, was grazed by one bullet whereas Tupac got hit in the head and heart several times. Let it be noted that Shakur and the entourage would not cooperate with the police after the shooting. 

To top this madness off I will leave you with one simple statement that is directed towards all of the people who are witty enough to say we should dig his body up or look at pictures of his autopsy. First, he was cremated a day after his murder (doubtful in my mind that the process would take only twenty-four hours). Second, for all of those who tell me to look at his dead body on google; I took Media just like everybody else in high school and can photoshop as good as the next person who created those blasphemous pictures.

Terrel Owens

Another team. Another year. Another chance. The National Football League's drama queen speed freak has found a new home in Orchard Park New York. Unexpectedly so, "T.O" has brought some excitement to the small western New York town.

Hundreds upon hundreds of eager fans packed into Saint John Fisher college where the sports icon was watched viciously. He had been quoted several times by reporters in saying "Get ya' popcorn ready" which he so famously tells fans who come to watch him. His nonchalant, moxy attitude brings a much needed "spunk" to Western New York area. A franchise that hasn't seen a playoff birth since the Flutie Flake era is desperate to win any way possible, even if it means bringing the queen bee in to help the cause

Buffalo's Ralph Wilson is not taking the situation lightly. The owner made it public that Terrell will be out as fast as he came in if he begins to stir up the locker room. His contract is a one year, six million dollar deal with several bonuses to be added pending on the Bills performance. Could this be the year? Is it possible that the Bills could be the next 2008 Cardinals? Only time and optimism will tell my fellow peers.