THE SECOND YEAR IN REVIEW (PART 2 of 4)

Welcome back. The blog has missed you. Well, in this 4-part blog miniseries, I am now on Winter break and Winter quarter. If you missed the previous blog, then scroll down and read. These miniseries aren’t as effective if you read them out of order. It’s like reading Harry Potter books and finding out he is gay at the end before reading the 1784 pages that precede it. Anyways, back to the blog since we all know Harry Potter sucks.

Well, winter break was uneventful again. I did exactly what I wanted to do: NOTHING. Why is this? Yes, part of it is that I didn’t want a job and didn’t really need the money (and this is well documented already). Secondly, I wanted to help out my old high school wrestling team. What can a guy who never got out of sectionals teach wrestlers? Not much, but I feel like I did something. Plus, got my lazy butt in shape (which didn’t last long). I did travel though. Went to Mississippi and Florida for Flag Football, Milwaukee to visit the sis, and Bowling Green with the wrestling team. These trips not only helped the time go faster, but were a lot of fun. Made my winter break bearable.

Winter quarter came and wow, I forgot how much I hate the winter. Just too damn cold everyday. I mean seriously, if it’s gonna be 20 degrees outside, it better be snowing…and snowing hard. None of this “flurry” crap. All or nothing. Make up your damn mind. Sorry, got way off track. Classes weren’t too bad. I mean, when two of your classes talk about baseball for an hour each, you can’t complain too much. Besides the dorm parties (since it was too damn cold outside to walk), there were some great moments. I want to highlight two.

The first is my trip to Michigan for a leadership conference with some peeps. Let’s just say by the end of this trip, leadership was not on anyone’s mind. Actually, pretty sure, no one acted like a true leader. After a long day of sessions and speeches, both nights we were there, we got sloppy drunk. While the first day saw me lose 90 bucks in my first casino experience (big mistake), the second day saw me at my best: taking a girl away from one of my best friends. Intentional? Of course not. Satisfying? Oh yea. I won’t go into too much details of what all went down with me and her (there aren’t many honestly) but it was good times. I mean, 3 couples hooked up, one guy was sleeping on an ironing board, and one guy fell asleep in the hotel hallway with a “Caution: Wet Floor” sign by his side. As you can see, not much leadership being discussed here. But that’s what great about it. Going somewhere for one reason and instead coming back with stories that will live forever.

So what is memory #2? Well, it has nothing to do with alcohol. Instead, it has all to do with wrestling. You know, I’ve been associated with high school wrestling now for 6 years and I’ve seen and gone through a lot. From my own dismal 4 years to seeing others triumph, I feel like I’ve seen it all, though I know I’m not even close. Well, this year’s State tourney was really hard on me. First of all, I had access to the floor all weekend because I was “covering” the tourney for the Athens TV station. In all reality, my friend Kevin and I were there to see our own guys. For Kev, his bro Brian and for me, my former teammate Tony. Now, seeing Tony in the state tourney was good enough for me. I remember when the kid first came in the room my junior year and hating him profusely. Literally, I wanted to choke him but I couldn’t. He was the coach’s son. After my senior year though, I had grown a level of respect for him so I made a promise to him. It was simple: “If you make states, I will be there for every match”. Well, I am a man of my word. So both his junior year and this past year, I was there (along with former teammate Erik) each match, rooting for him. Well, after a quick two and out junior year, Tony came back for a better finish senior year and it showed. After three wins, he was in the state championship. For anyone, this is all you can ask for. A shot to be the best in the state. But like Eminem says, “you only get one shot”.

So there I am with Erik. (Props to Erik for making every match as well). Kevin is already gone, having seen his bro finish an impressive 4th. Just watching Kevin alone was making me go crazy as I waited with this nervous yet excited feeling for Tony. I remember having the feeling 3 years ago for Tony’s big bro, who came up short, getting pinned the championship. I sat with Erik as we tried to erase that memory and instead focus on Tony, hoping he could become the school’s first state champ. However, it was not meant to be. He lost. After watching this kid, check that, young man, grow up in front of my own eyes, it hurt to see him come so close and yet, not finish it off. Nothing could be said to him to cheer him up. The only thing I could say to him 15 min after the match was a simple “I’m proud of you man.” Now, it’s been months since that match but just thinking about it now still wrenches at my heart because this is a guy that has worked hard his whole life and to be that close to a goal and fail, has got to hurt…and hurt hard. But he’ll bounce back. He plans on wrestling for a D2 school in Pennsylvania. And forget that puny dream of being a HS state champ. Naw, he has his sights set on a national championship. And trust me, if he gets there, I’ll be there, rooting him on until the final whistle.

Of course, there were other great moments in the quarter. Getting offered two jobs in 20 minutes, watching the Buckeyes beat the Irish, and the start of the weekly golf picks with Luke. All in all though, winter quarter was pretty slow. It didn’t have many highlights. Probably the biggest lowlight came on Valentine’s Day. I mean, I already hate the day (See my Mother’s Day argument in a previous post) and then what happens? I get two cards. One from my sister and one from my church. For the record, you know your love life is sad if you get two cards and they are from your sister and your church. Sad realization for me but hey, it is what it is.
Well, that is two quarters down and one more to go. What’s to come for the next post? I guess you’ll hafta wait and find out. I am sure it will please you though. Until the next post (tomorrow), hope I just made the last 5-10 minutes of your life a little better. I mean, reading the details of my sad, pathetic life can only make you feel better about yours, right? For now peeps, eat fresh, don’t get sunburned, and HAKUNA MATATA!