Gary's Gallop

This morning, Afton, Neal and Blake all ran in Gary's Gallop, which is an annual 5k race held at Greenfield Park.  Now I don't remember the exact numbers, but Neal and Blake finished 4th and 5th I think (don't know which one was which).  Afton, who to my knowledge has never run a race before, finished in the middle of the pack.  I am so jealous of the fitness of my siblings!  Go Millers!

I, on the other hand, will never be able to physically run a 5k (due to actual medical issues with my lungs where I can't run more than 20 feet without feeling like I'm going to die).  At least I was athletic in high school, right...?

What I Learned: My siblings did very well at Gary's Gallop.

Ryan Braun

I, like most of Milwaukee, has been following Ryan Braun's story closely. I think most people in Milwaukee believe Ryan Braun about his steroid test and have been praying that his appeal goes through so that he won't be suspended for 50 games (plus, that would completely suck for the Brewers as we already lost Prince Fielder this year!). Today it was announced that he won his appeal and will not be suspended! Apparently, MLB is pissed off about this and completely disagrees with the decision, but Milwaukee is rejoicing. Go Brew Crew!

What I learned: Ryan Braun won his appeal.

Moneyball

Tonight, Neal, Blake, their friend Jake, my mom, Jared and I all watched Moneyball. I knew the basic gist of the story since my mom had already read the book and told me about it, so I knew that the Athletics used Sabermetrics to assemble a baseball team to try to combat the unfairness of ball clubs that had less revenue to work with, and that they ended up not going to the World Series that year (although they were close). I also knew that most people in baseball tried to dismiss this method and criticized Billy Beane for using it, citing the fact that the Athletics didn't even go to the World Series that year. I did not know that regardless of that fact, the Athletics set an American League record that season, winning 20 consecutive games, and they finished first in their division with a record of 103-59.

The other thing I learned is this: I knew the Red Sox broke their curse in 2004, winning the World Series, but what I didn't know is that they did it using Sabermetrics (they actually offered Billy Beane $12.5 million to be their GM but he declined the offer in order to stay with the Athletics. They hired Bill James, the "creator" of Sabermetrics, as a consultant instead, and promptly won the World Series).

What I learned: The A's hold the American League record for most consecutive wins and had a record season using Sabermetrics to build their team. This method also helped the Red Sox break their curse in 2004.

Burned Cheese

We are at my dad's house today to hang out and watch the Superbowl. I brought over some tortilla chips and shredded cheese to make nachos in the oven. At home, we have a gas oven and when I make these at home, I use the broiler and I wait about 3-4 minutes, check on it, and usually keep it in for another minute or so before it's done. Well, my dad has an electric oven and I put them in on the broiler, waited three minutes and when I walked into the kitchen, smoke was billowing out of the oven. I opened up the oven and was engulfed in smoke. The entire pan was black and burned and the kitchen and the entire downstairs of the house filled with smoke. After THREE minutes. Geez. I hate electric ovens!

What I learned: Apparently electric ovens broil things at a much faster rate than gas ovens do. Either that or my dad's oven is super powered and mine is crappy.

Super Bowl Rematch

Today the two football games were played to decide who was going to the Super Bowl. I find myself extremely apathetic this year for some reason. And now the outcome of the two games-with the Patriots and Giants being the winners-seems boring to me. These two teams just played each other 4 years ago in 2008. According to some websites, the 2008 Super Bowl was one of the most entertaining Super Bowls ever played. Really? I don't really remember.

What I learned: Super Bowl XLVI will be played by the Patriots and the Giants.

Rose Bowl

While I didn't get a chance to watch the game at all, I heard that very sadly, Wisconsin lost to Oregon in a close game. The game also set a ton of records:

• Most Points scored in 1st Half of Rose Bowl (Both teams): 56 pts
• Longest Rushing TD in Rose Bowl: 91 yd De'Anthony Thomas (Oregon)
• Most Points scored in regulation in Rose Bowl (Both teams): 83 pts
• Most Rushing TD over 60 yds in Rose Bowl: 2 TDs De'Anthony Thomas (Oregon)
• Most First Downs in Rose Bowl (Both teams): 45

Looks like it would have been a great game to watch. Oh well. Michigan plays Virginia Tech tomorrow in the Sugar Bowl, and I won't forget to watch that game!

What I learned: Oregon beat Wisconsin in the Rose Bowl.

College Football Isn't Over Yet

After Michigan beat Ohio State last Saturday, I assumed the season was over, because it usually is the last game for Michigan every year. I forget that the season still continues for some teams and I especially forgot that for the first time ever there was going to be a Big Ten Championship game. Today, Wisconsin beat Michigan State for the Big Ten Championship. I can't believe that I forgot this was happening. I would have loved to watch this game, specifically because a) I hate Michigan State, b) Wisconsin is my #2 team that I root for after Michigan and c) it was a really close game so I'm sure it was exciting to watch. But alas, I completely missed it. The good news is, Wisconsin is going to the Rose Bowl for the second year in a row. I plan on putting that game (which will be playing 2 January) on my calendar.

What I learned: Wisconsin won the Big Ten Championship game and is heading to the Rose Bowl.

Rivalry

Anyone who knows anything about college football knows that the greatest football rivalry of all time is the University of Michigan and Ohio State. This is not an arguable point. Today, they played again for the last game of the season (which they have been doing since 1935). As a Michigan fan, I know (and have witnessed) that the last few years have probably been the roughest in U of M history. It's been painful to watch the past few years as we switched coaches and tried to match the right players with the right coaches. This year however, we were set to come back.

Going into the game today, Michigan was 7-2 and Ohio State was 6-5. Not only was our record clearly better but we were clearly the better team. However, as most people know, this oftentimes makes no difference when it comes to huge rivalry games. The rivalry itself voids out all preconceived notions of who will win based on the performance of each team for the entire season. So going into the game, it's still anybody's game.

This game was stressful to watch. Michigan let Ohio State score. Michigan let it get too close for comfort. I was beginning to think that they were doing this to keep the fans on the edge of their seats for dramatic effect. We should be winning, and winning by a lot. In the end, Michigan pulled out a win, 40-34. Phew. Even better? We broke a 7 year losing streak against Ohio State. Hail to the Victors!

What I learned: The Rivalry has been the last game of each teams' seasons every year since 1935 (with the exception of 1942, 1986 and 1998) and Michigan had lost the last 7 games against Ohio State. I guess I didn't realize it had been that long because I didn't want to think about it being that long. Good thing we turned that around today!

The NBA Lockout

For someone who thinks basketball is the lamest sport ever, you might be wondering why on earth my post is about the NBA.  Well today I realized that while I keep hearing about the lockout and that more and more games are being canceled for the 2011-2012 season, I don't actually know why there is a lockout.  Normally, since again, I do not like basketball, I would just shrug it off as yet another example of greedy athletes.  But since I am striving to learn something new every day, I decided to look into it.  And by that I mean I had my brother Neal look it up on his phone and give me a summary of what's going on.  Hey, that might be a cop out, but it's already a big step for me to pretend to care.  After hearing the summary I came to the conclusion that it pretty much is another example of greedy athletes and I went about my day.  I'm sorry, but I will never feel sorry for someone who makes over a million dollars a year and complains about not making enough or that revenue sharing isn't split up evenly amongst players and owners.  Seriously?  There are people losing there homes.  There are people getting jobs at McDonalds to pay bills because they can't find another job.  Your job on the other hand is to play a sport that you supposedly find fun on national television for millions of dollars a year. Why are more people not up in arms about this?

Oh, and I also made a delicious tuna casserole for lunch today that I had never made before.  I was thinking about making that the one thing I learned today but thought it would be lame to not have pictures of it and it's completely gone.  I guess that means it was a hit.  I plan on adding that to my list of good recipes to make for a big family-for when my family has more kids in it and for when they are older and eat large portions of food :)

What I learned: The NBA lockout is a result of greedy people wanting more money (surprise). I made a new yummy tuna casserole.