08/30/04 -- Happy Birthday Karen (Holst) Bragg!

Hey y'all.  Well, another week as started, though to me it feels totally different.  I normally have my days pretty packed and thus don't get much sleep to begin with.  However, these last few weeks have totally flown by, and through it I don't even remember the meaning of the word "rest"!  Between the normal schedule, research, Athens and the Olympics, travel, weddings, birthdays, etc... I feel like I have had like NO sleep recently!  Last night was the closing ceremony of the games, which sucked because I love the Olympics.  They were really awesome this year.  Great stories and great memories.  After the ceremony I watched the MTV video music awards.  I must say, they weren't as good as years past.  I don't know, but I just didn't like them as much.  I guess after having Britney, Christina, and Madonna all sucking face last year, there is only one way to go ... down!  Yeah, weren't as exciting to me.  Though, I did like a few of the performances.  Maybe next year will be better.

Anyway, so like I said, I am looking forward to getting some sleep tonight.  Today should be a pretty routine day.  I am trying to find some time to update the site.  It's still not quite where I want it yet.  So hopefully I'll be able to get some stuff done in that regard.  Otherwise, y'all join up in the College Football Pick 'em game because it starts this week!  I'll try and write more tomorrow.  Talk to y'all then!  -- Michael

08/29/04 -- Happy Birthday Analiza Alba!

08/28/04 -- Happy Birthday Tracy Olivarez!

08/24/04 --  Okay y'all, so a ton of peeps have asked me my opinion on the gymnastics controversy involving Paul.  So I am going to weigh in and write my thoughts here.  It's going to be long because I have a lot to say.  I am even going to make the font smaller to not make it seem so lengthy.  But read it!  The post is worth it.  I know what I am talking about.

I apologize in advance if anyone gets offended, or if I completely dog someone's opinion.  But frankly, I don't really care.  I am very passionate about this controversy.  I know what the hell I am talking about.  I understand the rules.  I have competed.  I know people involved.  My opinion holds water y'all!  If you want to read the opinion of some loser who writes for a newspaper and has never chalked up in his/her life, then go read that shit.  If you want to read a true, inside, and credible opinion, then read on.  If you don't agree with me, fine.  If you want to argue, fine.  But get your own damn website and write your opinion on there because this site is mine and I am going to use it accordingly.  Now on to my opinion...

I can sum it up real quick for y'all in one sentence.  I think this whole situation is a load of horse shit!  Plain and simple!  Okay, so I am going to support my opinion here.  But first, let's just put aside a few things.  Let's put aside the fact the Paul is a very nice guy.  Let's put aside that he is the epitome of class.  Let's put aside the fact the he, as a person, does not deserve this shit.  Let's even put aside that this has pretty much completely ruined his 2004 Olympic experience.  All that being true is regardless to the facts...

I am so sick and tired of hearing people say that he should give the gold medal back because he didn't earn it.  I am tired of people thinking that this is a straight up cut-n-dry situation.  It's not!  It's not just the fact the the dumbass judges missed a tenth start value.  You don't just add 0.10 to a score like that.  It is not that simple folks!  Do y'all remember the Back To The Future movies?  Do you remember part 2 when Marty goes into the future and sees what is going to happen and the almanac gets taken by Biff's grandson?  Remember when Marty goes back to 1985 and it has all changed because Biff's grandson went back to 1955 and bet on things thus changing the actual 1985 to the new 1985?  Remember when Doc is explaining to Marty what a paradox is, an alteration of the future events when one thing is changed in the past?  Well, believe it or not, but that is the same situation here y'all.  That's what it really boils down to.  You can't go "back in time" and change something like Yang Tae Young's score on the parallel bars and thing that it is that simple.  It would create a paradox, just like in Back To The Future 2!  Don't believe me?  Well, just look at the facts...

The judges screwed up.  No one is arguing with that.  But let's say that they give his routine a 10 (1.0) start value like it should have had in the first place.  Okay, fine.  The past has been changed.  BUT, remember that altered present 1985 in the movie when Biff owned everything?  Well, that is what we would have if they went back and changed his score.  Yang Tae Young went into the last rotation on the high bar and tanked his routine.  He had the gold medal in his hand if he stuck his routine, and he choked!  What would be have scored had he had a bigger lead going into his final rotation?  Would he have still choked?  Would he have choked even worse?  Would he have been more conservative?  Who the hell knows what would have happened?

Let's move on to the other two medal contenders.  Paul was tied for 4th going into the last rotation.  How would he have responded knowing he had to make a 9.876 instead of needing a 9.825 as was the case last Wednesday?  How would the judges have scored his routine knowing what he needed to make?  How the hell can anyone rightfully say that it all would have turned out EXACTLY the same, which is what the Korean's argument is by saying Young should be awarded the gold due to the snafu?  And what about Brett?  He was in third, how would he have been affected?  And what about the other Korean, Kim Dae Eun?  How would he have done going into the last rotation?  He was in second.  You see what I am saying here people?  You go back in time to change something, and the present and future get altered.  Back To The Future 2 may be a stupid ass 80s movie, but it's theory holds true here folks!

Let's move on to the fact that they want the routine video reviewed.  What the fuck for?  There are reasons why the rules are what they are.  No one is saying they are perfect.  But there has to be rules and people can't just go around them like that.  Protocol clearly states that a team can protest a given score from the moment the score is awarded, up until the start of the next routine.  When that comes, the window of opportunity is gone.  Why you ask?  It's to prevent shit like this from happening.  You can now cry sour grapes the day after a meet?  What the fuck is that shit?  What's next?  What's to say that the guy who finished 4th isn't going to gripe and say he wants HIS routines reviewed because he feels like HE should have received a medal?  Y'all see where I am going here?  It's like opening Pandora's box!  Where will it end?  Does this mean that any freakin' body can just protest shit anytime they feel like it and things will be changed after the fact?  It's impossible to know what would have REALLY happened had the mistake never taken place!

And going even further on this matter.  The routine in review actually had more mistakes that weren't seen at the time of the judging.  I am getting technical now on y'all, so I hope you can follow.  Basically, only three "holds" are allowed in an Olympic elite routine on the parallel bars.  It's a two tenth deduction for doing another.  The judges didn't take off for the fact that Young did four holds in his routine, instead of the limit of three.  So if they are going to review a damn routine, shouldn't that get taken into consideration also?  I realized his four holds during the weekend because it was all the buzz in the village, especially amongst the gymnastics community.  I am glad Tim Daggett mentioned it on the telecast.  So in all actuality, Young should have received an even LOWER score than he received on that night, not a higher one like protested.

I'm telling y'all, it's not a cut and dry situation.  It's not just adding a tenth to Yang's score because of a botched start value.  Even so though, they had their shot to LEGALLY protest, and they didn't do it.  Case closed.  There shouldn't even be a discussion after that.  The scores are set and there is nothing anyone can do about it.

So that is the lowdown.  No one is saying gymnastics is perfect.  My sport is far from it.  What people don't realize is that things like this unfortunately happen all the time.  Scores get screwed up, and people make mistakes.  As gymnasts, we all understand that as being merely "part of the game".  Any time you have people judging events, there is always the possibility of human error.  It's not like track and field.  There are no computers, photo finishes, clocks, or fully automatic times.  There is no instant replay in gymnastics either.  It's not perfect, but that's just the way it is!

Let me tell y'all something.  The atmosphere in the auditorium that night was electric!  The crowd was so charged.  All the participants respected the hell out of him for what he accomplished.  We all knew we were watching history being made.  What Paul did last Wednesday was amazing.  In my opinion, and I think in most people's opinions, it will go down as one of the best Olympic moments in history.  It is one of the greatest comebacks in all of sports.  He was in freakin' twelfth position after four rotations.  Hell, he fell on his ass on the vault.  Yet, he hit two routines of his lifetime and came all the way back to win the gold.  Paul showed the heart and guts of a TRUE Olympic champion.    The judges scores awarded him accordingly.  Last Wednesday, Paul was crowned the Individual All-Around Gold Medallist.  That is the way it should stay.  That's the way he should be remembered, certainly not for this shitty controversy.

There is no other explanation.  There is no other rationale.  Shit happens.  Calls are blown all the time in sports.  Colorado got a "fifth down" in football in 1990 and scored a winning touchdown on it.  They won a national championship that year.  The refs made a mistake, a CLEAR mistake.  But they sure as hell didn't change the freakin' outcome of the game come Monday morning!  It even happened this summer in Wimbledon (tennis for you athletically challenged peeps).  Venus Williams lost to eventual champion Maria Sharapova.  The damn chair umpire actually screwed up the score in the tie breaker!  He actually lost count and screwed up ... at WIMBLEDON of all places!  He accidentally gave Sharapova an extra point.  She beat Venis and went on to win the tournament.  Technically, the match never ended because she is still one point away because of the phantom point she was awarded and never deserved.  Does that mean they should have went back on court and kept playing?  Does that taint her Wimbledon championship?  Neither player even noticed during the course of the match.  You know what Venis' reaction was when she found out about the mistake after the match?  She merely said that accidents happen and that's it!  I have never really been a Williams fan to that point, but I really gained a lot of respect for her because of how she handled the situation.  She understood that shit happens, and it was unrealistic to even consider replaying the tie breaker to correct the score.  Hell, that's ridiculous!  That would be like ... say ... changing an Olympic gymnastics score after the fact because someone accidentally made a mistake.  Y'all get my drift?

I'll tell you who really suffers in this.  It's the athletes.  Paul just did something that no other American had ever done before.  He should be hailed, not ridiculed!  His Olympic experience has been ruined by this.  You think that wasn't on his mind during the event finals?  He didn't perform that well, perhaps because of all the shit and stress that he withstood this past weekend?  Paul is just as much the victim as anyone else.  I know, it sucks for Yang.  He got hosed in this crap.  That sucks.  But he needs to just take it like a man and understand that these things unfortunately happen.  I guarantee that he has been on the better side of situations like this in the past.  I can certainly guarantee that that mistake wasn't the only one made in the gymnastics scoring from this Olympiad.  I know it sucks for him, I do.  But what can you do?  You certainly can't protest after the fact!  I am taking such a defiant stance?  What, then, would I tell Yang Tae Young about he getting screwed for something that was not his fault?  I don't speak freakin' Korean!  I don't know what the hell to tell him.  I don't think there is anything anyone can say to make him feel better.  He got shit on!  That sucks for him.  But two wrongs don't make a right.  And taking Paul's gold medal, or changing the results, or even awarding another gold medal out of pity to Yang Tae Young would all be just plain wrong!

Paul, you kicked ass last week buddy.  I am proud of you man.  I knew you had it in you.  Shit dude, you inspired me to get back in the gym...bad back, sick body and all!  And how you have handled this impossible situation has been just as amazing.  You showed a lot of class dude.  Way to represent our country man.  Wear that gold medal proudly my friend.  You deserve it and you sure as hell earned it!

...Okay, I am done and off my soap box.  Those are my thoughts.  Thanks for reading and I'll talk to y'all later.  Don't forget to check out the College Pick 'em Game!  -- Michael

08/23/04 -- Happy Birthday Monica Buchanan, Ashley Thompson, and Reagan Weil!

Hey Y'all.  I am back.  It was a blast.  I am updating the site right now, because it's behind.  In the meantime though, the college football season is almost upon us!  It's time for the College Football Pick 'em 2004 game!  Everyone is welcome to play.  Check out the Pick 'em page.  It has all the necessary information.  Talk to y'all again soon.  Big Jase, give me a call man!  -- Michael

08/21/04 -- Happy Birthday Gabby Gorham!

08/20/04 -- Happy Birthday Helen Lukefahr!

08/14/04 -- Larry Olivarez' and Priscilla Esquerda's Wedding Day in The CC.

08/13/04 -- Hey y'all.  I am gettin' off to a late start today, so I am writing a little later in the afternoon than usual.  It's okay though, I already had today set aside clear because I needed it to get ready for next week.  I need to get a few things together and stuff like that today.  I won't have much time tomorrow with Larry's wedding.  That should be a lot of fun!  Anyway...

So yesterday was pretty cool.  The day was pretty routine, which pretty much means a little boring.  I was losing focus throughout the day because I just didn't want to be productive.  Haha, I'm sure everyone has had days like that before.  But I stayed good until I went to the games at mid-afternoon.  The games sucked yesterday.  For some reason people's egos were flarin', so there was SO much shit talkin' and a lot of damn near altercations.  It was all pretty stupid if you ask me.  But sometimes I guess blood boils and people can't keep it under control.

By the time I got home and showered and stuff, it was already like 9:15 PM.  Where did they damn day go?!?!  I had to head out again because I needed to finish some quick research which prompted me to check a few books that I didn't have at home.  Nic met me there and we were just hangin' out for a bit.  Well, that "bit" turned out to be for like 5 hours!  We ended up hanging out there 'til like 2:30 AM ish, and then stayed talkin' until way early this mornin'.  So early that Saved By The Bell was coming on when we finished...lol!  It was cool though because I knew I had this morning to rest because I didn't have to wake up early.  Plus, we hadn't hung out like that in a long time.  I mean, the occasional conversation and stuff was there, but not a good hang out session completely catchin' up on all things.  I forgot how similar we tend to be.  For some reason our conversation was just...easy.  It was cool to just relax, shoot the shit, and not worry about other things.  Fun times...fun times!

So yeah, I am gettin' to a late start this afternoon, but it's cool.  I just wanted to drop in and make a quick post.  I'll try and do the same tomorrow if I have time.  Hope everyone is doing well.  Y'all have fun, be safe, watch the Olympics, and I'll talk to y'all later.  -- Michael

08/10/04 -- Mornin' y'all.  I hope everyone is doin' well today.  I am pattin' myself on the back for stringing together two consecutive posts!  Haha, I haven't done so in a while.  Hopefully I can keep in going through this week...

Yesterday was pretty routine.  I was pretty tired later in the afternoon.  We ended up going to see a movie last night.  I am almost halfway embarrassed to admit it, but we saw A Cinderella Story, the one with Hilary Duff (from Lizzie McGuire).  Obviously, it wasn't my choice of film, but I owed her a chick flick so I said "what the hell...".  So yeah, we get to the counter and I see peeps buying tickets for Collateral, Bourne, Village, etc.  Heck, I would have rather seen that Harold and Kumar movie!  But no, Mike is buyin' two for the new Hilary Duff.  We walk into the theater and, of course, it like has to be in the smallest theater they have.  There were only a few peeps there, actually more than I was expecting.  But what made it worse was that she got an important phone call that she had to take for a second.  So, being a polite movie patron, she walked outside to take the call real quick.   Well, for me that "real quick" felt like an eternity.  A few more people started walking in.  I must have looked like the freaky gross loser who went to the Hilary Duff movie by myself to pull a Pee Wee Herman!  Seriously dude, it seemed like people were starin'!  I mean, it's one thing to go to a movie by yourself that might be good.  But a twenty-something male by himself on a Monday night going to see the new summer movie starring the hot-for-the-moment hollywood sweetheart 16 year old?  I don't care how secure you are, that was pretty embarrassing.  Needless to say, I was happy when she returned from her phone call!  LOL!

The movie was actually better than I was expecting.  It could have been much worse.  Duff wasn't too bad.  She's a native Texan, so I like her.  After though, I finally saw a movie that I had been waiting to see for so long.  We went home, and a movie called Thirteen came on, which I stayed up to watch.  I heard about it last year, and it intrigued me.  It's an independent film starring Holly Hunter and Evan Rachel Wood about a jacked up California family and the thirteen year old's friends.  I thought the story was very well written, especially because it was written by one of the young actresses in the movie, and she wrote it when she was thirteen years old!  For all you movie buffs out there, I really liked the cinematography of the film, as well as the realism of it.  It was pretty hard core which made it seem all the more believable.  I don't want to give away too much of it.  But for those of y'all who like independent films that are a nice break from the summer blockbuster, it is a very excellent choice.  The subject matter is good, and I thought the cast did very well.  Rent it and check it out.

That's all for me folks.  I'll be trying to update as much as I can this week.  So keep an eye open for all that.  Talk to y'all later!  -- Michael

08/09/04 -- Happy 1st Anniversary to Rebecca (Rios) Solis!

It's been awhile my peeps.  Sorry for the long delay in my writin'.  I appreciate all the e-mails and such askin' what's been up.  The last few weeks have been pretty busy, and I was gone for a bit also.  I am headin' out next week after Larry's weddin' also, so there will probably be a little break in the posts unless I can get to a 'puter with internet access out there.  I'm sure I can, but I probably will be pretty busy.

Anyway, things have been hectic as usual recently.  This weekend was fun.  I was able to get out for the first time in a while.  Saturday was good times.  A Bunch of peeps went out and pretty crazy.  Anytime you start shotting down pints and rechanneling the inner fraternity/sorority in you, crazy things usually ensue.  For instance, a little female on female action is always a delight!  ;-)  Not to mention the after party festivities.  It felt good to do it up like that again.  Hadn't done so in a while.

But I am back to a typical Monday morning now.  I'm a little tired.  I stayed up talkin' to Nic (again) and doing 80's music trivia.  Haha, dude I am all over that!  You can't start talkin' 'bout music and have me not participate.  It was pretty fun doing that 'cause I love that music.  Plus I think Heather was pissed at me because I didn't call her back or something.  For the record, I did call you back dude, but it wasn't until late.  Oh well, I'll talk to later today I am sure.

I know this entry was pretty bland, but I didn't have much time.  I should write more tomorrow.  Talk to y'all then.  -- Michael

08/05/04 -- Happy 4th Wedding Anniversary to Priscilla (Gonzalez) and John Iden!