Avatar Premiere on HBO

Tonight on HBO the world premiere of Avatar will air on national television.  The movie which cost over 270 million to make will hit the home screens tonight at 5 pm central time.  James Cameron one of the most  well known film makers of our era has been quoted as saying this is his masterpiece.  It has grossed over 760 million dollars before it became available for purchase.  If you have any questions or would like to know what time the movie will be viewing in your area visit the HBO website by clicking here.

Homecoming Week

One of the busiest weeks in the school year is Homecoming week.  It has so many different events going on at one time it takes so much to stay on track with all of the events and school.  Then getting sick on top of it all does not help at all.  We spent over a month working on our float and we ended up getting first place on it.  All of our alumni were really proud of the float which also helps.  We also ended up winning Yell like hell which is a cheerleading competition between the greek community.  All together homecoming week was a absolute success and it was really fun.

NFL Hits

As football has progressed so has the speed and size of the players that play the game.  I just watched a kicker get absolutely leveled by a wide receiver to the point where he couldn't even get up.  That is why there are so many rules about hitting on the helmet and hitting the quarterback.  It is a very physical sport but at some point you need to be aware of the danger that playing can do to your body.  Being 21 and having played football for over 10 years I can tell you that I myself have injuries that still bug me this day.  So even though it is a physical sport there does need to be limitations to what can happen.

Homecoming Float Building

Every year each fraternity and sorority pair up for homecoming to do events together and make a float.  This year it is my fraternity Sigma Pi and the Alpha Phi's.  We take pride in building an awesome float every year because it is something that our alumni really like to see that we put a lot of effort into something.  This way the alumni that come down will support us and hopefully donate more money to our chapter.  But this year we are behind schedule like always and no one seems to want to show up.  Then everyone gets threatening messages via facebook saying how much of an asshole you are because you didn't show up if everyone was to show up and work hard for at least 2 hours a night the float could be done in less than a week.
Instead everyone wants to either show up drunk or something else and not work on anything and just jack around the whole time.  So tonight thanks to all of those other people I get to work on the float after my intramural football game for 6 hours.  So if your ever asked to help build a float I would strongly advise you to take a second and think about it because it is definitely not worth it.

Parents Weekend

Following EIU's parents weekend it is amazing to see some of the trends that happen during this weekend. First is the parents coming down to relive their college days of glory and realizing that they can't drink like their son or daughter can and end up making a fool out of themselves.  The second thing that I noticed while working at the liquor store is all the freshman come in with their parents because they aren't allowed to buy it which totally ruins their chances in the future of ever buying from us.  Lastly I've noticed that when mom and dad are in town all the nice liquor seems to fly off the shelve and at the bar everyone is making it rain because they have mom and dads money to spend.  Next weekend when I work I can almost guarantee you that it will be back to Burnetts vodka and Keystone 30 cases.  These are just a few of observations that I have made during this past family weekend.

Sigma Pi Barndance

Yesterday was my fraternities barn dance out at Ashmore Estates.  So after a while of drinking and dancing to music the owner of the building decided to take us into the building.  First off taking 20 drunk kids on a haunted house tour is just not a good idea in the first place.  At one point of the tour he tried to scare all of us with a story about some girl that still haunts the house and everyone just laughed about it instead of being scared.  I would have to admit that it may be scary when your not intoxicated but taking a bunch of drunk college kids into a haunted house and trying to scare them just doesn't work out.  So a word to the wise if your trying to go to a haunted house to be scared its better to do it sober than to be inebriated.

The Brolagio

So in college it is a unwritten rule that you should name your place so everyone knows what to call it.  This year my roommates and I decided to take the name from the hotel in Las Vegas and name our place The Brolagio.  I know this doesn't come as a surprise to you Bro J, but everyone knows on this campus if you say the Brolagio exactly where that is at.
The name as is crucial to the party status that you will be able to have at your house.  Other friends in my fraternity have named their houses as well.  For example The Country Club, The Roxbury, and The Powerhouse.  All of these have been named in the past and just had different tenants during the years.  But The Brolagio is by far the best house on Eastern Illinois Campus.

Michael Vick

Vick played for the Eagles last week because Kolb was hurt.  He had a great game but they are going to start Kolb again who didn't play well the first week.  I feel that Vick is getting pushed aside because of the things off the field that happen with Vick.  He is an athlete and is in the spotlight more than a regular person but if he is helping his team win why would they stop him from doing his job which is to win football games.  Kolb is unreliable and can't make plays like Vick can.  Here is a video of what Michael Vick can do as were Kolb is just a regular quarterback nothing special. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=k-7JFSsMVM4

Prohibition

Tonight on HBO there is going to be a series called the Boardwalk Empire.  I'm really excited to watch it because it is all about prohibition and the bootleggers that used to smuggle booze into the city and country. I feel as it ties into a debate that many people are having today with legalizing marijuana.  At a certain time like now this substance was illegal because of the law so no one could have alcohol, right now no one can possess marijuana legally.  Once the government found out how much money they were spending on trying to bust people drinking instead of taxing the drinks they repealed the prohibition act.  If the government would take a long look at legalization I feel that they would be able to tax that as well to help out with some of the financial crisis that we are in right now.

Quizzes

After all of my years at Eastern my least favorite part of all classes are quizzes.  They do nothing to help your grade but add more points to the final total.  Most of the time they are planned but the worst are the pop quizzes that you are unprepared for.  I would much rather have more questions on a test that I am thoroughly prepared for than to have it on a quiz that I may or may not have read for.  I believe that quizzes hurt more students grades than help them.  Recently they are called opportunities and I don't believe that they are good opportunities.  So please teachers stop giving quizzes and just add those questions to the test that I studied for.

Football

Every year football season rolls around and it completely takes over my weekend, along with all my friends weekends.  Saturday I sit around and watch college football until its time to go out.  Then on Sunday I watch it all day and then do all my homework at nightime.  I'm purposing that we move one game to each day of the week so that I don't procrastinate my homework until the last minute.  I know its never going to happen but maybe if i start the theme it will catch on.  Go Bears!

The Rec Center

While working out at our amazing recreation center here at Eastern, I've noticed a couple patterns that happen every year.  The first is all the freshman come for about a week at all different times and its extremely crowded and hot.  But after that first week they discover drinking and girls so the gym becomes the last thing on their mind.  The second is the people who are serious about getting a good workout in the gym all know each other and don't need to have a ten minute conversation about nothing.  The people that are just in there to say they went to the gym will talk your ear off.  Lastly my personal favorite if a girl comes into the free weight section everyone starts working out a lot harder, lifting more weight and making the biggest scene possible to be noticed by this girl.  This is also why I think that most girls are intimidated by that part of the gym.

Fighting In Baseball

Two nights ago I was watching a baseball game where the pitcher hit the batter intentionally once, then threw behind him meaning he was trying to hit him again.  The batter then charged the mound and took a swing at the pitcher before both benches cleared and a brawl broke out.  I think that the batter was right to charge the mound I played baseball for 10 years of my life and hitting the batter once sends a message to him that whatever he did in the past wasn't acceptable.  Going after him twice in two games is just unprofessional.
Whatever the suspension is for the batter that charged the mound it should be the same for both the pitcher and the first baseman that came in and took out the batter.  If I was in the same position as the batter I would of done the exact same thing, there becomes a point where you have to protect yourself and getting thrown at twice is just unacceptable.

The BCS

The BCS (Bowl Championship Series) is one of the worst things in all of college sports.  It is a computerized system that decides who will play who not based on rankings but on statistics.  Every real college football fan wants to see a playoff system, like every other professional or collegiate sport.
This system would not lose money, contrary to belief the NCAA would make money because more games will be played. Each game could then in turn would be sponsored generating more profit.  It would also involve more schools and give smaller schools the chance to be the underdog a lot like march madness in college basketball.
If the system was fixed to a playoff I believe that college football would overtake any other playoff system, the allegiances that alumni and students have to their teams is tremendous and letting them have a chance at a national title is much more exciting than the BCS where two teams are selected and the winner gets the be national champion.  So heres the message fix the postseason of college football and it will be the most watched playoff of all sports.  

Brett Farve

I have been a Chicago Bears fan all my life but have always been a fan of Farve.  He used to kill the Bears playing for the Packers almost every year we played.  His mental and physical toughness impressed me the most more than his athletic ability.  He is going to be known as one of the best quaterbacks of all time because of the records he has broken and his gunslinger mentality.
Recently though he has had way too much publicity because of his ankle injury.  He is a football player and every football player gets hurt.  I understand he is a superstar and the franchise player of the Vikings but just because he has a slight injury the whole world doesn't need to stop for him.  Stop stealing all the limelight away from the great team you have because of a small injury that you may have and start playing football.