Why the Pro Bowl doesn’t matter

backinphillyLeave a comment

A lot of people await the rosters for the NFL Pro Bowl each year. I am guilty of the same thing. However, much like 95% of the NFL population, we couldn’t care less about the outcome of the game.

The Pro Bowl is the unlike any of the Big 4 All star celebrations. By the Big 4, I mean NBA, NFL, NHL and MLB. The NBA, which I despise, has the All Star game, the rookie and sophomore game, the Dunk competition and the 3 point shot competition.

The MLB is the only one to my knowledge whose All Star game actually has an impact on the actual season. The NL and AL compete. The winner is granted the majority (4 games) in the World Series. Home field is always nice. Anyway, the game is preceded by the Home Run Derby, which I am an annual viewer.

The NHL has the most impressive All Star break of them all. Along with the game, which is always exciting and VERY high scoring, there are numerous skill competitions throughout the weekend, which include the Sniper competition and the Hardest shot, which isn’t much because Zdeno Chara is a freak of nature.

Anyway, the Pro Bowl is useless in every way. There’s a game that has no lasting implications on the season and no side competitions. It’s used to fill the gap between the Conference Championship games and the Super Bowl. It’s simply a waste of time. I almost never watch the game and will very rarely watch any of the highlights following.

I can’t stand the Pro Bowl, and neither do the players.

Except these guys…they seem to be enjoying themselves with some very attractive hula girls.

Winter X Games

Daphne PsaledakisLeave a comment

The Winter X Games have been held in Aspen for the past ten years, and since I can remember my family has made a habit of sitting around the TV and watching them. When we moved to Aspen, this was made a lot easier, and I finally began to understand the excitement.

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The X Games begin on Thursday, and carry on until late Sunday night. Over the weekend, Aspen is packed. Tons of people fly in for the event, and none are disappointed. Especially the students in the Aspen School system.

It used to be a school holiday, and it might as well should be because of the amount of students that actually turn up. When we heard the contract for Aspen had been renewed, it was all anyone could talk about for days. Some of the classes make a field trip of walking over to the base of Buttermilk, where it is held, and watching. At night, you can see the lights, and hear the music, announcers, and roar of the crowd from the other side of town. It’s mayhem, but the locals love it.

When I first came to school here last year, my dad called me and told me the X Games were gonna be in town. I immediately went to my computer to see if there was a way for me to watch them live, but I couldn’t figure it out. I resigned myself to the TV in the girls’ lounge. I pretty much camped out there all weekend, and my classmates thought I was crazy.

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To me though, it was perfectly normal. I mean come on, it’s the Winter X Games. In Aspen.

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The Green.

eternity1030Leave a comment

How do you feel when the Winter comes?
How do you feel when no one understands your loneliness and sorrow?
How do you feel when they cut your bodies and burn them into ruins?

I see you standing there alone and sighed with grief.
You are afraid of being treated as your friends.

But now you have no worries, because right now there is only me. Tell me your pain. Tell me your despair.
You have no reasons to fear, because now it’s the time for us to realize how important you are. Tell me your concern. Tell me your anger!

You are the gifts from nature. You are the painter who decorates our world into a colorful heaven.
You are the guards of danger. And you have beautiful names – trees.

As one human being, I am now standing out to tell you that we will keep working to rebuild you a comfortable home with hope and green.

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The Failure of an Assassin

frog3Leave a comment

Assassination is an interesting concept.   Assassinations are often carried out for political reasons. Recently in Bulgaria a young man pulled a pistol on a Bulgarian politician. Things did not go as planned….

Dogs Really Are a Mans Best Friend

Daphne Psaledakis1 Comment

My family has always had a dog around. In almost every memory of mine, one of our dogs is present. They are as much a part of the family as my little brothers, and a lot easier to get along with.

When we lived in London, we got a labrador retriever named Hattie, which was the first dog my younger brother was introduced to. My dad knew well before getting the dog that Peter was terrified of them, and well, he figured the best remedy for that would be to give him no choice.

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Unfortunately for Peter, Hattie took a particular liking to him. She used to chase him around the house and tackle him to the ground, and then spend a good amount of time licking him. At first, Peter was not very pleased. Eventually, you could hear his shrieks of laughter from a mile away, and he became the dog lover of the family. More so than the rest of us that is.

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This is England

smackyjackjackLeave a comment

It’s time for another movie suggestion everyone, so hold on to your horses. This week’s suggestion is Shane Meadow’s This is England.

The film documents the life of a twelve year old named Shaun while he struggles to grow up in the 1983 slums of England. Pretty early on in the movie, Shaun falls into line with a gang of much older skinheads who take him in and treat him like one of their own.

Now, keep in mind these are pre-racist skinheads, or original skinheads. Being a skinhead then basically meant juvenile delinquent.  The style was actually brought over from Jamaica by the Rude Boys there and eventually led to music like ska and 2tone. But back to the movie.

Remember how I said Shaun hangs out with non-racist skinheads? Well that all changes in about 30 minutes of the movie when Stephen Graham comes into the scene. Leave it to him.

The rest of the movie is about how little Shaun goes from this…

To this…

Little scamp.

Anyways the movie is an amazing portrayal of Falklands-era England and what was going on back then. Big thumbs up. Its Netflix watch instantly too, go check it out.

Best of Stand-Up

smackyjackjackLeave a comment

This past weekend, while I was sick, I spent a lot of my time sleeping and watching movies. I also revisited some of my favorite stand-up comics. While I’m here, why not make a list of them?

If there has to be a number one spot, it would obviously go to George Carlin. Carlin is by far the funniest and most political of all stand-up comics. His shows changed the way people thought about comedy, and he certainly brought it to some new extremes.

Some new comedians that I’ve found recently are the panel hosts on 8 out of 10 cats, an English TV show. Jimmy Carr, the host, makes his living off of offending people. What’s so beautiful about it is how well he does it. I kind of think of him as a new and really adult Eddie Canter, because most of his jokes are one liners, and he looks like he belongs in the 20’s. I wish I could put a video up of him, but I’d be hard pressed to find one I could post without offending someone.

Someone whose stand-up I can post, however, is Jon Richardson. Most of Richardson’s comedy revolves around him having low-level OCD. It doesn’t sound funny, but the tiniest things bother him. He manages to make a bit about how he mispronounces “An Onion”, and makes it really funny. Plus, his bit at the end about watching a man eat an apple is gold.

He does swear in this, children, so cover your ears.

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A collection of Haikus

displacedlocalLeave a comment

Thoughts lie on smooth stones
Water rushing across them
They erode in time

The head of a pin
covered in dark graphite
a mouse’s pencil

a light far away
slightly to far to reach
a path of lost dreams

The Making of the Chip Kelly Era

backinphilly1 Comment

Obviously, as a huge NFL fan, I would love to cover the games that happened today. However, I believe that since we have a full two weeks before any meaningful NFL action, that can all wait until next week sometime. I have wanted to publicly address Chip Kelly, the new Philadelphia Eagles’ head coach for a few days and never got the chance.

So, here goes.

As the reports had shown two weeks ago, Chip Kelly, then the head coach of the University of Oregon, had decided to decline the jump to the NFL and stay in college. 10 days later, Chip was hired as the Eagles coach. I was ecstatic to say the least. He was my pick to replace Andy Reid since day 1 of interviews. I wanted him even while we still had Andy on the payroll.

I strongly believe in this man as our head coach in Philly. He has so far built a very reasonable staff chock full of NFL experience, including our new offensive coordinator and former Browns’ head coach Pat Shurmur.

While a lot of skeptics don’t particularly care much about the signing, I love the move.

Shurmur is a former Eagles QB coach and very skilled in the West Coast offensive formations, meaning that Chip, who brings the run and spread options to the NFL, is willing to compromise and is open to many different mentalities. I also like the fact that we now have two head coaches on our staff. Chip and Pat both have that type of experience.

I will be talking about a certain theory I have in the upcoming week. It pertains to Alabama coach Nick Saban and DC Kirby Smart, who is a leading candidate in the Eagles’ DC search.

Keep on reading! I’m very close to something huge!

Aside Daphne PsaledakisLeave a comment

As a kid, we all have that one thing that brings us comfort. Sometimes it’s a blanket, or a stuffed animal, or even a lullaby sung every night by your mother. We all have that safety blanket we run to whenever things get tough. For some, the teddy might stick around a little longer than […]