The Last Bloggggggg

I have struggled all term long trying to think of something to blog about twice a week. Now that it is over i can not wait to stop this. I am not a fan of blogging at all. Before this class I had never blogged or "tweeted" and it is something that I am just not a fan of. It is interesting to see where this has all come from and where it is going, but it is just not for me. I do not see the interest in writing my opinions about something and having people read and comment about it. If someone wants to know my opinion they can just ask me in person. I had never heard about "tweets" until this class and i feel like that form of communication will take off like social networking has in a couple years but neither of it is for me. I had never tweeted or blogged before this class, and i do not see the need to continue it afterwards. The multimedia storytelling class that introduced me to these different uses of media was very interesting to see what i had been missing out on, but after ten weeks of it I have realized one thing, it' just not for me.

another defensive let down

I wrote in a previous blog that if the Cleveland Browns were under .500 that Anderson should not get the start, and they have their future in Quinn and he should start. The Browns after 8 games were 3-5 and it was time to give Quinn a try. After watching the Broncos vs. the Browns last night I can see why Quinn is the future. Quinn made smart decisions and did not throw a single interception. Granted he did not throw any deep balls, all of his balls were short passes they were pretty accurate and the receiver's didn't have to many drops last night. He went 23 for 35 with a total of 239 yards. He had a 65% completion rate which crushes Anderson's 50% completion percentage , according to espn.com. I am excited to see how he does in the weeks to come, but with there being no quarterback controversy anymore the important question that needs to be addressed is the Browns need to find a defense. They let a 10 point lead in the fourth slip away. In the fourth Jay Cutler, the Broncos QB, was able to pass on the Browns defense at will. The Browns knew that the broncos needed to pass and Cutler threw it anywhere he wanted. Cutler ended up with 447 passing yards. That is not acceptable and it eneded up costing the Browns the game. The offense is finally figured out, but now its time too look at the defense and fix it, because with no defense the Browns wont win any more games this season.

you know what really grinds my gears?? part 2

working, when people call in "sick" or say they worked when they really didn't. I worked both Saturday and Sunday morning at the ice center and both times this weekend I was scheduled to work with two other students and they ended up not showing up at all. On the schedule though it says they did. They worked during the week and signed their name in for the weekend presuming they would be there. Both Saturday and Sunday I was stuck serving lines and people angry wondering why it was taking so long. Where is the justice? They will end up getting paid for never showing up and calling in "sick," when in actuality they partied too hard and couldn't wake up for work this weekend. If you know your going out, find a replacement. It is not to hard, everybody has a cell phone and can be reached immediately.

you know what really grinds my gears??

Parking, there are no where near enough spots on campus for there are the number of cars students drive. What really "grind my gears" is when students or faculty that have underground or reserved for staff parking spots park somewhere else taking up the few spots that are available to a student that isn't so lucky to have an underground spot. Faculty are just as guilty of doing this as well. They have reserved spots yet they are parked somewhere else other then their reserved spot, and if a student takes the reserved spot they get ticketed. If you have a spot assigned to you, just use it. By parking somewhere else other then where you are assigned you are taking away from a students chance to park on the street or in any of the lots. I know plenty of students that leave campus and worry about finding a parking spot when they come back. These students would love to be guaranteed a parking spot every time they leave campus, just like the students that have an underground spot, instead they know that when they leave that their spot is going to be taken by someone that has an underground spot and the student is stuck looking for any possible spot they can find regardless of how far it is from their house . If you have an assigned spot use it and don't be inconsiderate.

price cut

I recently, very recently blogged about Microsoft's Xbox 360 and how efficient they were in getting the problem fixed on peoples Xbox360, if only they had taken some more time they wouldn't have needed to continue to keep fixing everyones Xbox 360, but they are stuck with this problem and handle it in an effecient manner. Recently to make themselves competitive in the market again Xbox 360 just had a price cut on tehir console's. The core system which comes with a 60 gb hard drive is now $299 and the upgraded "elite" version with 120gb is now only $399. This is still alot of money but from what they were when they first came out it has dropped enough for people to go out and purchase one of their sytems apparently. According to Microsoft "the payoff for the paycuts have been immediate...they have seen a 100% increase in sales since the pay cut has occurred." This raises the question to me as to why this drop in price would occurr. Apparently Ps3 has seen their system have a steady increas over the past year more so in recent months and Xbox360 has seen a decline. The console though that everyone is chasing is the WII. They have not slowed down their sales and with the upcoming holiday season have put into production double the amount they would normally have during a regular season. Any console makes for a great gift for a loved on or family member, with these price cuts its the perfect time to look into getting one for the upcoming holiday season.

xbox 360

I have had a xbox 360 now for over a year and have never had a problem with until recently. I got the "three red rings of death." I was really frustrated and wanted to just throw my xbox out the window but i had heard about the xbox warranty repair. I called xbox explained what had happened and they requested that i send them my xbox so they can repair it. I hesitated and asked how much it would cost and xbox said it was all free, that they would take care of it. Within 24 hours i recieved my shipping label and sent it out. I recieved my xbox 360 in about two weeks. Overall i was very pleased with the turn around and service that they had provided me. What concered me the most was the rate at which these systems are failing.
Just from the people i know within the past year i know of 5 friends that have had to turn in their xbox 360 because of a problem. This system seems to have a high rate of failure. I recently read an article and it said, "there are numerous factors as to why this console continues to be sent in for repair, poor testing in early stages, memory issues, bad soldering and to top it off it went as far as to say before its launch 68 out of 100 systems we coming off the assembly line non-functional." This coming from a game pro magazine, but to just read that and think why didnt microsoft take some more time to re-think and get this all right, this could have saved them money?
Either way i look at it, they pushed for the release date on their consol and it was a major success. I just wish that they would have fixed all of their kinks before hand. Their great customer service and free handling of your broken xbox makes up for the problems this console has given so many people in my opinion.

Summer blockbusters

Its becoming that time of the year when all the big blockbusters are coming out to DVD. The big name movies are coming and for the right price can be yours. Movies such as Indiana Jones, Iron Man which have been relased already and i believe soon Kung Fu Panda, . You have Batman probably dropping before Christmas. It is exciting time for me, anyways. I went to the movies way to much this summer and saw just about every big blockbuster, and for the most part they delivered. There really wasnt a movie i saw this summer where i left saying why did i just pay 10 dollars to watch this. The box office had a nice summer but currently with the economy going down the drain the movies are suffering at the box office. What i dont understand is how did beverley hills chihuahua makes tops at the box office and is currently the week of october 10th still a top the box office? according to imdb.com it has grossed abotu 18 million this week and quarintine is like 4 million behind. Regardless the big summer blockbusters are coming to dvd and i cannot be more excited. Some good ones i would recommend purcahsing would be Iron Man and if you are a fan of Indiana Jones i would recommend that one as well. The big one is the Dark Knight i believe everyone should see that movie as well as purchase it.

Schedulin finnnnnnallllllyyyy made easy

I am a senior and all i can say is it is about time. For three years I have been blocked out of classes and told teachers wont sign me in, but that all finally changes this year. This year i get to sign up before the juniors and sophomores. I do not have to worry about not getting into classes. This all raises the question that Mercyhurst needs to provide more of the common classes for students and not be limited. There are classes that students have to wait for until they are a senior to get into. Some of the Distributive Core classes appeal to underclassman and they cant get in because the seniors take it over and the juniors fill in what they can get. This leaves Sophomores and Juniors out of luck and possibly stuck looking for classes that are on their "D" list. This has been a problem with a lot students and i feel like we all pay way to much money not to get into the classes of our choice. The school should look and see what classes may need to be taught more often then the others and change that. That way the students can take the classes they want and not the ones they dont

upsets are becoming the norm.

It seems like every week there is at least one major upset. For the third consecutive week we will have a new number 1 college team a top the polls. With every week a top team going down i think it is time to put in a playoff system to really find out at the end of the season who the best team really is. It seems like every week a team that is supposed to win just takes the week off looses and then they win out the rest of the season but its that one loss they had that will hurt their national championship hopes. Any weekend any team can win, the team that comes the most prepared is typically the team that wins. I believe everyone would benefit from a college football playoff system. In this case you get the top teams to compete and really do see who the top team in college really is. Instead we have a flawed system and then public opinion, which in either case is not accurate. Every professional sport has a playoff system and it proves who the best team is. People play the regular season to get the playoffs and from there the best team is determined. College football is as big as some professional sports and any team has plenty of fan support across the nation, it would make sense for them to go to a playoff system. Coaches have been pushing for this to be implemented, but will it? not this year and not for a while. Hopefully in the future College football will adapt a playoff system

rowdy fans?

I work at the Mercyhurst ice center and there was a youth tournament there all weekend. There were not very many fans there at all. The only people that sat in the stands were the parents or relatives. I worked friday night the start of the tournament and parents were going nuts. I understand kind of were they are coming from, I mean I was a child once playing sports and had my parents supporting me but not to the extent that these few parents were. These parents were so into the game that at every play they were yelling at some child. They knew every child by their names and any time they did something wrong, the parents were there yelling at them. Isnt that what a coach is for, not parents? These few parents, you would have thought this was a matter of life and death winning this game. I think parents like these take the fun out of the game when they are constantly analyzing every childs play and yelling at them to "go forward" or "hit someone." Instead i believe that parents should be yelling supportive and encouraging comments to every child at that age to get better. The children dont know everything thats why they are playing to learn and get better in the first place. Calm down

the start of the end....

I am senior and have just passed the midway point of my final year of my first term, and all i can say is where did the time go? It seems like just a few days ago i was a freshman living in McAuley Hall. Over the years i have learned a lot and have had my ups and downs, and i wouldn't trade it for a thing. The friendships i have made and the people i have met will stay with me forever. From the tailgates to the different bar specials on weeknights to the late nights down at the galley Mercyhurst has been great and in my final year i am really taking everything in. Mercyhurst has helped me shape the person i want to become. I am writing this blog for all the underclassman so that if you read this and as you progress over the next years at Mercyhurst dont leave questioning, could my stay here at this college been better? Enjoy college live it up, thats what it is all about.

It came and went...

Homecoming has come and gone and does anyone even know who won king and queen for 2008? The winners just in case anyone was wondering were Matt Williams and Heather Schwager. But that wasn't even the main headline of the whole homecoming weekend. Homecoming weekend this year was called "Hurst Fest." Hurst Fest combined homecoming, parents weekend, and fall fest. There were so many festivities that i do not think it was possible for anybody of any age to not find something to do. There was a barbecue before the football game, the football team won and their season is looking good, again. After the football game there were inflatables and side games such as a hot dog eating contest, a pie eating contest and many more. While the parents and alumni and students were enjoying the inflatables the womens hockey team opened up there season with a home game as well after the football game was finished. The Womens team won in dominating fashion. Overall it was a succesful weekend with both teams really dominating their opponents. This was the first year they decided to combine all three events and if you chose to take part in all of the festivites from the "tail gate" all the way till the end of the inflatables you would have been going from 11 am till 7 pm. It was a long saturday filled with fun for the whole family. I asked several students that were at the game after the festivities and asked them do you know who won this years king and queen, and they replied "no? who did?" The Hurst Fest weekend was a success but as i blogged about earlier no one really cares or pays attention to who wins king and queen at Mercyhurst.

Browns fans is it time for change??

I am completely at a loss of words right now. The Cleveland Browns are 0-3. 0-3?, How could this be? We had such a good season last year and high expectations this year. Looks like we had to high of expectations this year. We do have a tough schedule this year but that aside we have not performed to the level that we should. We do have key offensive players out, like Stallworth and Jurevicius. We have played statistically three teams with top ten defenses in the league. We have had everything against us at the start of this year. I was looking up statistics at: http://sports.espn.go.com/nfl/statistics and Adnerson ranks 31st in the league out of 32 teams in passer rating. He is barely better then Kansas City's starting quarterback Thigpen. Anderson was a pro bowl quarterback a year ago.
Everyone in Cleveland has heard the anouncment that Quinn would be getting more reps in practice this week with the first team. I think this may come at a bad time. We are about to play 0-3 Cincinatti in a battle for last place. The last thing i want is Derek Anderson going out there thinking if I screw up one play then Quinn comes in and I'm finished. There will be to much pressure. I feel that if by the half way point in the season were not at .500 level football Quinn should get the start from there on out and see how he does. It cant be all Anderson's fault. Edwards leads the league in dropped passes. The team needs to rally around Anderson and pick its game up before they decide to throw Quinn out on the field.

whats the big deal?

Homecoming is this weekend, and i just have to ask what is the big deal?? Does anyone really even care who the homecoming king and queen are? The only people that i thought may seem to care who homecoming king and queen are, are the ten people on the court, or so i thought. I have talked to a few people on the court and they could care less, they feel that is a privilege to be out there but in high school it was such a bigger deal. There are the people though that take this pretty seriously. There is a facebook group asking people to please vote for this person or that person. That is ridiculous, If they want the plastic crown and tierra that bad they can have it. Years from now the only people that will remeber who won are the winners themselves. Yet winning is a matter of life and death to them it seems. They have to win to make themselves seem soo popular but the fact of the matter is that the majority of people that probaly voted for them are people that don't even know who they are and just saw their name on the facebook group they sent to everyone. The real big deal is that there is more to this weekend then just winning homecoming king and queen.