ACC Football Recap Boston College 31, Syracuse 34

Yesterday, capped off the last week of the regular season for the Boston College Eagles. Steve Addazio and the Eagles had been riding on a lot of momentum after winning late against Maryland last week and going to Syracuse with 7 wins. Although Boston College had already become bowl eligible two weeks ago, BC still had a lot riding on this game. BC-Syracuse is a historic football rivalry. Further, Boston College running back Andre Williams, the league's leading rusher, was also in the spotlight as a leading Heisman Candidate. Further a win would have given the Eagles eight wins and likely a pretty good bowl game in the postseason; completely dismantling all preseason expectations by the football pundits.

In yesterday's game, Syracuse did a very good job stopping the run early by stacking the box. Although Andre Williams had been seemingly unstoppable in the last three games, this time he was effectively stopped. To make matters worse, Andre William got injured in the third quarter and had to sit out for the rest of the game. But even after the injury to Williams, the Eagles still fought. It was impressive seeing the team rally. Boston College went into the half down, but took a lead late into the game. Unfortunately in the final minutes, some costly penalties alongside awful defense put Syracuse up with six seconds left in the game, which ultimately sealed it.

Unfortunately, the regular season ended with disappointment. But the fact that I am actually disappointed is because I really care about BC football this year. The last two years have been tough to watch, it even appeared as if Frank Spaziani simply gave up on the team. It got to the point where I could no longer watch BC football, despite being a diehard fan from undergrad.

I would have been very upset if the coaching staff took this game for granted and sat comfortably at seven wins, which surpassed preseason goals and was remarkable considering the Eagles were just 2-10 a year ago. But it was clear the coaches and players still brought the energy. Chase Rettig particularly played his heart out to try and get his team the win, unfortunately it did not work out in the end. Chase Rettig, with the help of his team took advantage of the Orange playing against the run and threw for 168 yards. Rettig also ran for another 85 yards. For some quarterbacks this is hardly a notable stat, but Rettig is about the furthest thing off from a dual-threat quarterback. Yesterday, he really brought it in the run game with the help of his teammates.

Overall, though this season has been exciting, which is something I could not have said under Spaz. Things have turned 360 as BC football is fun to watch again. I hope the passion never dies and we continue to go out each game playing hard for the win.

I am really looking forward to the bowl game.

Shame on Dayna Morales - Hoax on a Serious Subject

A couple of weeks ago, waiter Dayna Morales posted online a photograph of a receipt she claimed to receive. The total bill was for $93.55 and the photograph Morales posted showed that the Morales received no tip and received a hateful message, "I'm sorry but I cannot tip because I do not agree with your lifestyle." This photo became viral and I remember feeling outraged. Shortly after posting the photo, Morales understandably received a chunk of money her way for people who felt sorry for her.



The photo Morales posted seemed too cruel to be true, but of course I know that there are still plenty of bigots filled with hate in our world. Fortunately, no such hateful message was left. As it turns out Morales made up the entire story. The family that Morales served with the ticket in question has come forward with their copy of the receipt and a credit card statement showing that they actually left a generous tip and no hateful message.

She thought she wouldn't get caught, she thought the actual customers would not have ever saw the fabricated receipt. Dayna Morales has profited at the expense of victims who wanted to help after she endured an act of cruelty. She should be fired immediately and there should be a civil penalty on Morales and/or the Gallop Asian Bistro restaurant. Apparently colleagues have stated that Dayna Morales is a compulsive liar and were unsurprised to hear that she made this up.

What is truly disgusting is that her actions actually hurt the gay rights movement. I find attacks on homosexuality extremely offensive, and I often take them personally. I also know it is extremely tough to be gay or lesbian in this country. I also believe Dayna Morales has probably been needlessly harassed several times in the past based on her sexual orientation. But what she did here is completely disgraceful.

The Case for Andre Williams for Heisman

Image from Athlon Sports

The Boston College football team stands at 7-4 and with an away win over Maryland, has pretty much solidified a spot in a bowl game. The same Boston College team won just two games last year. It has truly been a team effort under the new coaching leadership of Steve Addazio. But a big reason for Boston College's success revolves around running back Andre Williams.

Andre Williams has been out of the spotlight as sports analysts like disproportionally cover the SEC and the latest scandals. But Andre Williams leads the league in rushing yards at 2,073 and it's not even close. The 2,000+ yards rushing mark has only been achieved by a handful of players, and Williams still has another regular season game to play. Williams also holds the ACC single-game rushing yards record after rushing for 339 yards against North Carolina State. Finally, sports commentators are starting to notice. It is refreshing to see Williams getting some positive press of the possibility of Williams getting a much-deserved invite to New York.

The stats are certainly there, but what Williams has done is greater than what one would see just from the box score. As BC Coach Addazio has mentioned, Andre Williams stands for everything right in college football. He plays his heart out every down for the success of the team. He has also been able to do things that do not seem humanly possible. He can absolutely run through defenders. But what is truly amazing, is that every game opposing defenses gameplan against Andre Williams and the run, and yet still cannot stop him.

If anyone has watched Andre Williams play, they would agree that Andre Williams is as deserving as anyone for the Heisman Trophy. It has been very fun to watch.

Wasting Paper with Boston College Solicitations

I feel like it is almost every week that I get mail asking my to donate to a school I graduated from. It has become quite excessive, even the University of Arizona law school is already sending me mail asking for donations.

A couple days ago I was on the phone with a current student of my alma mater Boston College. When I get a call from BC students that I do not know it can only mean one thing, donations.

The students soliciting donations have a tough job, they are essentially playing the role of those telemarketers that nobody likes, yet the ones calling on behalf of BC do not plan to turn it into a full-time career. I feel a bit bad for the students trying to seek contributions from alumni because, like some telemarketers, they truly mean well. At the same time, they have an uphill battle to fight when asking alumni to donate to a school that likely charged an exorbitant fee just to attend. Certainly most alumni have jobs, but the recent alumni likely make just a tiny fraction of what it cost to attend the university. I graduated just over three years ago and needless to say I am not exactly rolling in the dough.

Anyways, I let the student know that I was unwilling to make a donation over the phone. He said that if I wanted to eliminate the mail I had to make pledge to donate. I responded by saying that I am not influenced to donate by the mail, and each time I have donated has been online independent of the mail I have received. It has gotten to the point that the mail I am getting is in essence "spam" that goes directly to trash, do not pass go. This is an issue with virtually all universities. As much as I support their efforts, I really wish the money asking for donations went directly to the cause as opposed to publishing and distributing this material.

Do the Right Thing: Karma and Great Customer Service

Image From: Merchant Circle 

I know it has been almost a month since my last post. I am finally getting situated with my life and will try to continue blogging more regularly. This post was influenced by something that happened just recently.

Yesterday, for dinner I was really craving a quick but healthy sandwich so I went into the AJ's Fine Food on I-10 and Ray. I ordered the Caprese sandwich, which was delicious as always. But on this trip something else happened that I really appreciated. I accidentally handed the cashier making my sandwich two dollars too many. I rarely make such a mistake, but somehow I must have miscounted. It was only after the cashier handed me back the extra money that I noticed my mistake. I think this is something that another may try to get away with since it is such a small-dollar-value accident. AJ's has always had a bit higher prices than the place next door, but quality and good customer service make it worth it.

I think it is the little things that people notice and that show we are looking out for another. I recall a recent occasion where I was at the grocery store and noticed someone left $20 in self-checkout. I was so happy after I quickly notified the staff, who apparently knew the person who had recently checked out and left the money.

Such a small act of kindness in the long run may not seem like much, but these are the little things that really show the goodness is people.

Return the favor!

I Am Not Going to Let My Dog Lose His Personality

A couple months ago I wrote an article about the immense responsibility that goes into dog ownership.  I still strongly believe prospective pet owners should think twice before getting a dog. Dogs require a lot of attention and can certainly be a nuisance without the proper care. I have already listed the number of downsides to dog ownership in my article linked above; however, there is one big positive that separates dogs from other pets: their great big personalities!

I have a little black cockapoo (cocker spaniel-poodle mix) named JJ, pictured above. He has been the family dog for a number of years, but now I am the primary caretaker of him. One thing about my dog JJ is that he has a ton of personality. Through his face, I can often sense his emotions. I know that sounds crazy, but once you get to know your dog as well as I have, it is really true. One of my favorite moments was when I cleaned up my backyard that JJ gets put when people are away from the house. The backyard had gotten extremely dirty with weeds and dead ivy everywhere. I spent countless hours cleaning it up. Aside from feeling accomplished after finishing the yard, it was so rewarding to see my dog explore the backyard for the first time since it being cleaned. He had such a big smile on his face as he explored what seemed like new territory.
 
It is really hard to imagine a dog more loving than my dog. He always likes going where I go. If I walk downstairs in the house, he follows me down, and as soon as I go upstairs, he comes up with me. He also loves being comfortable. He has a few spots around the house that he loves laying down, but more than anything he likes resting on couches and beds. I have also learned from my dog JJ that even at the age of 8, you can still teach an old dog new tricks.


Talking to a dog really is not the same as talking to yourself. Unlike pets such as fish, dogs can actually hear and understand you and can to some extent make out what you are saying. In fact, my dog has actually learned some English words.  If I say the word "walk" no matter where I am in the house he gets extremely excited and runs towards the front door. He knows that when I say that word, he is going to go for a walk. No gesture is required for him to understand what "walk" means. Additionally, when I say "Let's Go Outside" He knows to go through the back door and use the bathroom.

However, the one issue still with my dog is that he is not very well-socialized. Although he has become used to being around people, he still gets very uncomfortable around other dogs. Whenever I take him for a walk, he will bark at any dog in sight. It is very difficult to control him in such situations.

I recently noticed that some places such as Petsmart offer socialization trainings. This seems like a good way to help dogs become comfortable around others. But I have become very skeptical on the success of such trainings. It appears that socialization trainings may actually make the dog more bland and desensitized. My dog may be a touch to hyper, but at least his hyperness comes with an immense personality. I have seen very poor videos demonstrating what socialization training entails. In one video it just showed two stoic dogs that went next to each other and were told to sit and then immediately thereafter leave the scene--there simply was not much too it. Although my dog can be a handful, I certainly wouldn't trade him in for any of the dogs I have seen in the videos.

TV Show Review: The Blacklist

Rating: 9/10

The Blacklist is an new NBC series featuring James Spader as Raymond Reddington who turns himself into the FBI and reveals information of high-profile criminals in exchange for his demands. Any elaboration of the plot would not exactly do it justice as there are plenty of twists and turns that are sure to peak viewer interest. By the same token none of the plot twits seem contrived and still "so far" tell a coherent story. When I first saw the previews of the Blacklist it seemed very dull and just another one of those crime dramas. Then I watched the first episode and was impressed that it was unique. Nonetheless, after the first episode I feared that I would dislike the series as a whole as each episode would be too similar. Fortunately, I was again impressed. Although each episode involves crucial pieces on information in finding and capturing high-value targets, there are plenty of unique qualities to each scenario and twists to the overall plot that make the series extremely enjoyable.

It may sound like my description of the Blacklist is gibberish. Part of the reason is that it is very hard to put a finger on what makes the show so good. I cannot remember if I have ever ranked a show this highly, but the Blacklist is worthy of a 9/10. It is unique, action-packed, and has plenty of plot twists while still maintaining the necessary degree of cohesion. I think the Blacklist is about as good as it gets for a drama series. If you missed it, I highly recommend catching up on Hulu. The show airs on Mondays 10/9 central on NBC.

Down Goes the King - Denver Broncos Lose 33-39

Tonight, the undefeated Denver Broncos faced off against Peyton Manning's former team, the Indianapolis Colts. There was definitely a little bit of tension going into this game with Manning and the Colts ownership not exactly separating on great terms. The Indianapolis were 4-2 going into this game, and they showed the Broncos why they are a force to be reckoned with in the AFC. This game featured plenty of offense with two of the best quarterbacks in the league: Peyton Manning and Andrew Luck. Both quarterbacks also threw for three touchdowns each.

Although the Colts went into halftime with a large lead, this game did not seem out of reach until the very end. In fact, it was a critical turnover in the fourth quarter that was really the finishing blow for the Broncos. With over three minutes left on the clock, the Broncos had the ball on the Indianapolis 2-yard line and down by just nine points. But the Broncos managed to fumble the ball on first down allowing the Colts to shave off significant time from the clock. Hindsight is 20/20, but it would have been nice to see the Broncos challenge the fumble. Although the ball got out before the running back Ronnie Hillman was down, I really thought the Broncos successfully recovered the ball. After the ball popped loose, Hillman landed on the ground with the football wedged between his right arm and side. I really think that this should have kept possession in the hands of the Broncos. In any event, there were still to many blown opportunities that could have changed the game.

I still believe Peyton Manning is the best quarterback in the NFL, but this game did show that the Broncos can be beaten. They simply cannot fall asleep if they want to be successful going forward.