Wilton High School, Wilton, CT
[Edit: Jan 4, 2009 – WordPress is finally updated, and now I can embed.]
Ironically, I wasn’t there in 1985. I was there from Jan ’86 through graduation in Jun ’88. (and at Driscoll Elementary from Jun ’79 – Jan ’80).
Ha… memories… “The Big C”, the “Apotheosis of a Bombast,” Coach Whitten, “Don,” the “BaNaNa Gas Lab experiment,” wiffleball at the Agostin’s, the VM, … ha… good times.
Contributed by: Scott Copperman (Guest Author)
Me.
In two leagues, actually… Kiernan’s Yahoo league (although the Championship game was an 89 -89 tie, Yahoo declared my underachieving 6th seed team to be the league champion based on tie-breakers) and my own ESPN “That Other League” (2nd year in a row for the Whoville Yopps).
I didn’t win any money or anything (although by winning my own ESPN league, I save myself some money because I don’t have to buy the winner a jersey – I think I will buy myself a Philip Rivers jersey though, probably a white home jersey).
I did finish 4th in Bayham’s Turn Left at the Corner league. Which basically won me back my entry fee. I had a chance to do better… much better. (finish 2nd instead of 4th, I don’t think I could’ve won… my Week 16 performance was just too bad) I stupidly benched Andre Johnson (200+ yards and a touch down) in Week 15 as well as chose to play the Tennesse Titans Defense (gave up 200+ yards and a touch down to Andre Johnson, among other things) instead of Minnesota’s Defense (80+ yard kick return and solid play versus the Cardinals). Had I done that, I’d have made the championship game and finished no worse than 2nd. Oh well.
It was a lot of work, but it was fun. And, now…. well, now I get to focus more on work and my graduate classes, and watch the Chargers and Cardinals fight to advance through the playoffs.
Contributed by: Scott Copperman (Guest Author)
Go Chargers!
Come on, everybody, you know the words…
San Diego Super Chargers,
San Diego Chargers!
San Diego Super Chargers,
San Diego Chargers!
Charge!We’re coming your way,
We’re gonna dazzle you with our super play.
The time has come,
You know we’re shooting for number one.
With thunderbolts and lightning
We’ll light up the sky,
We’ll give it all we’ve got, and more
With the Super Charger try!San Diego Super Chargers,
San Diego Chargers!
San Diego Super Chargers,
San Diego Chargers!
Charge!We’ve got a plan,
We’re gonna do it for our super fans.
All we seek,
Is the goal line to victory.
We’ll ignite you, excite you
With high voltage play.
We won’t let up a minute,
We’re going all the way – all the way!San Diego Super Chargers,
San Diego Chargers!
San Diego Super Chargers,
San Diego Chargers!
Charge!We’re coming your way
With the Super Chargers’ play.
We’re coming at you.
Now we’re coming through!San Diego Super Chargers,
San Diego Chargers!
San Diego Super Chargers,
San Diego Chargers!
Charge!
Wow, what a month of football. I really hate the Broncos too, which makes it that much sweeter.
But you know what else? I love the Chargers because they were good when I was 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12, 13, and even 14. I hated the Dolphins, Raiders, Broncos, because they were the main rivals of the Chargers in those days. And I get to see Jay falling in love with the Chargers and hating their current rivals because they’re good at the same point in his life. Woo hoo! ::: dances :::
Contributed by: Scott Copperman (Guest Author)
“Champagne for my real friends, and real pain for my sham friends.”
It’s from the free preview for the movie The 25th Hour. I didn’t watch the movie, but there’s a cleverness and relatability to the quotation that makes it resonate with me.
Ha, yes, I do know yesterday was Christmas, and it’s the season of giving and good cheer and all. But, you have to admit we’ve all had times when you found out who your real friends were…. and weren’t. And, when that time came/comes… and for a good while afterward, that quotation has a definite “yup” factor. Tonight I saw the preview for the movie, heard the quote, went “yup” and posted it here (Not that any of my sham friends read this or would even care what I have to say anymore).
Hey, I could’ve picked “I really wish you would’ve just put the bunny in the box” from Con Air, but that doesn’t have quite the same connectability – or maybe it does.
Contributed by: Scott Copperman (Guest Author)
Unbelievable. Somehow, despite a season of frustrations, the San Diego Chargers are now basically “in the playoffs.”
Technically, they have to win vs. Denver on Sunday night to win the AFC West and win a playoff spot, but Sunday’s game is essentially a play-in game: “win or go home,” as they say.
Even better, we are thrilled to see the game moved to 8:15 on Sunday night.
We’ll be watching, and rooting on the “San Diego Super Chargers.” You should be too.
Lore Sjoberg.
It was about ten years ago when I first found Lore’s Brunching Shuttlecock’s website (currently archived at http://www.brunching.com/archive.html). Within the many dozens of files in the archives are quizzes, commentaries, tools, and ratings.
The ratings actually have their own website, (also archived) http://www.bookofratings.com/archive.html, and they are continued in video blog posts on Sjoberg’s current site http://slumbering.lungfish.com.
Lore’s wit has provided me with many hours of laughter, literally “out loud” at times, and with many links to forward to friends. For a good stretch of time, I would share the Brunching site with people as my first “you gotta see this” – remember, people, we’re talking about the late 90’s when many people knew nothing of the world outside of AOL.
I’m sad to say, that a few years went by without revisiting the site – why? Maybe because I’d already shared it with so many people, things off-line made life too hectic to play (bah, never a good excuse), who knows? But I rediscovered Lore’s work a few months ago, and I’m happy to have the chance to share it with a whole new group of people.
So go ahead and read Lore’s review of Mr. Deeds, test your ability to determine whether a word is the name of a performance sports car or an impotence drug, see if you agree with the grades he gives the Norse gods, determine “who died and left you king?“, learn to play chat room bingo, or visit one of hundreds of other links at his sites.
I am happy to add Lore’s sites to the blogroll, and I suspect Mr. Sjoberg’s influence will be conspicuous in the new podcasts Elton and I will be releasing in January 2009.
Contributed by: Scott Copperman (Guest Author)
I don’t know why, but I keep saying “woopra,” and thinking of Steph’s response to my observation. Ha.
To quote my brother, “good times…. good times…. .”
Contributed by: Scott Copperman (Guest Author)
What are people thinking?
I am looking out my office window, and I see the mail man navigating the obstacle course we like to call “Knights Bridge Way.” These people park their cars right in front of their mailboxes, and then I’m sure they’ll complain when they don’t get any mail.
I’ve actually had people park in front of my mailbox and cause me to get no mail – inconsiderate dolts!
Seriously, though, what are these people thinking? I like our mailman: he’s a nice guy and definitely someone willing to go an extra step or two for you, but geez… I’m watching him zig and zag and try to find a way to get to the mailboxes. Come on people, help a mail carrier out.
Contributed by: Scott Copperman (Guest Author)
Last night Jay scored his first goal to help his hockey team, the Rangers, improve their record to 4 – 1 with a win over the Devils.
Normally the second line center, Jay was splitting his time between the wing and center positions because some of the players were out of town. For a good part of the game Jay got time with some experienced players – especially the team’s All-Star center, Maverick.
Midway through the third quarter, Maverick (playing center) found Jay (at left wing) in perfect position just left of the goal. Jay received the pass and took a beautiful shot: hard, on target, but the Devil’s goalie deflected it. Less than five minutes later, Maverick and Jay connected for essentially the same one-timer opportunity. This time Jay put it high on the stick side, and found the net.
His teammates, coaches, and the other parents all cheered – acknowledging the significance of his goal even though the score was now 10 – 2.
I was especially proud (and yes, I did tell him so, many times) because his goal came as the result of doing exactly what he was supposed to do. It wasn’t a flukey, accidental, “wow, did that go in?” goal. Jay was in the exact location he’d been coached to be for the pass, with his stick down and his attention focused.
The crowd had given a collective “awwww” when his first shot was stopped, but I know there were a number of good things that came from that first attempt. By getting a solid shot off of Maverick’s pass, Jay earned the confidence of his teammate. You could tell Jay felt denied by the goalie and wanted another chance too. What’s more, after having been coached to play the position a certain way, Jay now understood why he was given those instructions and what could come from doing that.
When he scored a few minutes later, the sequence looked the same (pass, one-timer, shot) with only a different outcome, but I saw that there was a different expectation and resolve in Jay – he wanted and expected to score on that shot.
In the final minutes of the game, Jay was pulled and two other “rookies” were playing the wings. They played well, and it looked as if Maverick might be able to set them up for similar success.
Nick (playing right wing instead of his usual defenseman spot) just missed on one attempt that had as good a chance of going in as any. It hit the post and ricocheted out. Jay’s other teammate, Jimmy (playing left wing) did score a goal with a shot from the point on an empty net – it was his first goal, and a confidence builder for him I’m sure.
When the game was over and the coach had dismissed the team, Jay and I headed to meet Mom and Jackie for our ritual Five Guys post-game dinner. In the car, Jay was beaming about… the team’s win. I kept bringing up his goal and how it was just like Coach Steve had said things would go when he learned how to play his position, … and Jay kept talking about the team’s 4 – 1 record, their rematch against the 4- 0 Flyers on Saturday, and Jimmy’s goal.
Wanting to hear him gloat a little bit about his well deserved success, I suggested he call Grandma and Grandpa and tell them about the game and his goal. He called, and the first thing he said? We won. It was …. team won, team’s record, team’s score, team’s pending rematch and the results of their previous meetings in the preseason and Game 1 of the season. I prompted Jay to tell Grandma why he was calling… “Jimmy and I each scored a goal – Jimmy scored all the way from the point, ‘cuz the other team pulled their goalie.”
Eventually, some details got out about Jay’s own goal, we got to Five Guys, and just had a nice relaxing dinner with the girls. But, it’s funny… Jay didn’t really talk about his goal much at all.
I’m not complaining. We’d been preaching through all the other games that we were proud of him even though he didn’t score a goal: his hustle and emerging leadership is really something special to see. And, I’m very glad to see him put the team before himself even though it’s his first real organized team activity. He’s very proud to be a Ranger, and he already understands the “know your role” component of being on a team.
I just find it funny, that while the gleam in his eye an the smile he was straining to hold in let me know he was very proud of himself, he chose to focus on Jimmy and his teammates.
I’m very proud of him for that – as proud as I am of his goal and overall play/improvment. I do hope that inside he’s given himself a pat on the back (as his coach, mom, sister, grandparents, teammates, and I all did).
Contributed by: Scott Copperman (Guest Author)
While in the Zune marketplace we found that Kids Corner, the WXPN show that contributor Scott Copperman used to intern for, is still going strong and has its own podcast.
What might’ve been….