What’s up!

 

I haven’t really talked about it much yet this year so here it goes, I’m gonna tell ya guys about the MSJ wrestling team! As I’m sure some of you know, I am on the Mount St. Joseph wrestling team.  This will be my second year serving as captain and I guess it’s kinda my job to promote the team.  Or at least that’s my justification!

 

Last year we had a new head coach, Casey Stouffer, and it was sort of an experimental year in terms of scheduling and conditioning.  We had a few scheduling difficulties with matches being scheduled too close to each other that led to some of the team members getting burned out from losing weight too often and too quickly.  I think we all learned from that and the schedule is a little more spaced out this year.  This is a very good thing. I cut a lot of weight last year and there was one week where we had four weigh-ins in one week, and that killed me!

 

This year however, we have a lot of new freshman that should prove to be some tough competitors.  Last year, we ended the season with roughly 15 athletes.  This year, we have about 35 coming into the season.  We’ve had a few guys drop off the team after the first two weeks of two-a-day practices, but overall, I’m impressed with the work ethic and dedication of the majority of the freshman class.

 

Some things we are looking forward to are the Second Annual Takedown Clinic/Tournament we are hosting for high school wrestlers this Saturday, October 11 and our season opener at Eastern Michigan University, which is a Division I open tournament. That tournament is a good test of how good of shape we are in since we will be competing with some Division I and II athletes.  Last year, we won about 14 matches and had a few people place, and of course we are looking to do better this year.  And I don’t see that as being unreasonable at all!

 

We have a few home meets this year, which is a big improvement of the one that we had last year.  Our home opener is December 2 against Ohio Northern University at 7:00 pm, followed by our dual with Division I Purdue on December 21 at noon.  This is going to be a huge match! Not many Division III teams have a chance to dual a Division I team. We had the opportunity to dual Purdue last year at their home gym and we competed fairly well, so if you can, come to this meet and support the MSJ Maulers!  Then we close our home meets with a tri-meet with University of Indianapolis and Notre Dame College on February 10.

 

I’m sure I’ll be keeping you guys posted on how our season unfolds as it happens!

 

See ya!

 

>Eric M.

Hey guys!

 

I was sittin here thinking about what I should write about this week and I was thinking about my weekend and if anything would be interesting to anyone reading this.  Then I realized that I can just tell you what I did so you can get an idea of what to do around here in your downtime!

 

I know I listed some things to do in one of my earlier blogs, so I won’t repeat those.  I will repeat how sometimes people have misconceptions about the Mount and how there is nothing to do because we are a smaller institution.  Those people couldn’t be more wrong! We may be smaller, but we know how to have fun! And the fact that downtown Cincinnati is about five minutes from campus helps a little too. 

 

My weekend started out with the Mount St. Joseph volleyball tournament that hosted about six NCAA Division III women’s volleyball teams.  I actually was working the scoring table at the tournament for the weekend, which is the best seat in the house! After the tournament concluded on Friday, I headed straight for Chipotle (I have to keep up with my training for intramural soccer) and then headed to one of my buddy’s houses to hang out for a few hours. 

Saturday started with class, which started out as kind of a drag but ended up being kinda fun.  Then I worked the second day of the volleyball tournament and saw the Mount’s team dominate. After the tournament, I headed to Ft. Wright, Kentucky (which is right across the river, about a ten minute drive) with my girlfriend, Katelyn, to watch my old wrestling drill partner fight his first Mixed Martial Arts fight at an amateur event.  That was crazy! I had been to a couple amateur fights and the venue wasn’t the best I’ve been to, but there were probably about 50 Mount students there to support Elliott. I thought that was pretty cool.  (For those of you who care, Elliott won in the first round by knockout by a trapped arm chest to back suplex)  After the fight, pretty much everyone from the fight and quite a few more students all met up at the wrestling house for a little victory celebration, which was a blast! 

 

Sunday, I woke up around nine and Katelyn and I headed downtown to tailgate for the Bengals game. They were playin the Cleveland Browns, which is a big rivalry.  The tailgating was fun and the experience of bein at the game was fun, but the actual game sucked.  It seemed as if both teams should have lost, just one (the Bengals) seemed to lose worse than the other! It’s okay though, I still had fun and I had good company so it was all good. 

 

So there’s the list of stuff I did this weekend.  There was a lot goin on, as usual. The campus and the city usually offer some fun and exciting things that keep me busy.  I hope some of you get to experience some of these things and enjoy them as much as I have!

 

> Eric M.    

I am a HUGE football fan! If I get the chance to go to a game, I will. This weekend was awesome because I got the chance to actually go to two games!

The Mount had it's own home game on Saturday night at 6:30 PM against Rose-Hulman Institute of Technology and unfortunately we lost 27-21 but it was still really fun. A bunch of my friends were there and my mom even made it to the game. :) We had fun talking, making fun of each, occassionally paying attention to the game, and then my family and my roomie Maria and I went out to each after the game. I love going to games here because the atmosphere is totally awesome and you never short on seeing people you know at the games. It is so fun!!! :D

Then today, I was able to get tickets to the Bengals/Browns game from my dad and I took my friend Sam to the game for her birthday. (Her birthday is in April but since she loves football, it only seemed fair to take her in the fall before her actual bday.) She is an even bigger football fan than I am- especially when it comes to the Bengals. She knows a ton of stats and records of the team and she is addicted to Shane Graham and Carson Palmer. Now while I'm a huge fan of the Bengals, there is still one player I do not like. I'm sure to get a ton of boo's on this but I don't care. I really do not like Chad. And yes, just saying his first name, most people know of whom I am referring to. Chad Johnson. Sorry, correction. Chad Ocho Cinco. That's right. He has legally changed his last name! It's so stupid! So here's a guy getting paid more money in one year than I'll prolly make in a lifetime, playing football. Well, he doesn't even really play! Not well at least. He rarely makes plays and he always seems to be botching the passes. And now, he has the audacity to change his last name. For gosh sakes... get over yourself! O! O! O! And what's more! Even though he has changed his last name, his jersey still says C. Johnson on it! Howdya like that!? I don't know... Whatever... Anywho... Sam and I went to the game and I thought it was going to be disgusting and vulgar because of the hatred the Bengals and the Browns share but it really wasn't that bad. Except for some crass humor walking in through the stadium gates, it really wasn't that bad. Someone did throw a beer bottle onto the field after the Browns scored their second touch down but that person was later ejected from the game... Some people should just really grow up. But it was a TON of fun and I really want to go back soon!

I love fall and I love football games and I especially love them together. I may go to the Bengals/Eagles game coming up or even the Bengals/Redskins game in December. I don't know. We'll see just how much my dad really loves me. ;) (He controls the tix that I'm allowed to use so maybe some good brown nosing- no pun intended- will go a long way) :) 

 

  

 

Pic 1 is me and my Mom at the home Mount football game. Pic 2 is part of the Mount home game. Pic 3 is me and Sam at the Bengals game. Pic 4 is an awesome shot of Shane Graham kicking off after we scored!!! :)

Hey guys!

 

The third week of school is underway and everything is pretty much business as usual. I’ve had my first couple quizzes and larger papers due and I have a presentation due this Saturday in one of my Education courses.  Kinda stressful. But it’s alright, intramurals start tonight!

 

For those of you that don’t know, the Mount offers a wide variety of intramural sports.  This includes soccer, dodgeball, volleyball, basketball, pickleball, cornhole, and many others. All you need to do is get a few friends together, create a roster, and sign up! And the best part is, it’s totally free. Well, I guess the price is included in your tuition, so you might as well get your money’s worth!

 

 A bunch of my buddies got a soccer team together this year and we are lookin good! We have some big expectations.  I played soccer for Oak Hills High School for a couple years, but the majority of the team has little to no soccer experience.  But they all have talent and we have an intense training and conditioning schedule that consists of walking from the car in the parking lot of Chipotle and increasing our carb and protein intake by eating one of those HUGE burritos.  This workout plan has proved effective in past intramural seasons and I’m sure it will this year too. I’ll let ya know how it works out for us.

 

On a slightly more serious note, if you are planning on coming to the Mount, be sure to look into the intramurals.  It’s a fun way to get involved and it’ll give those of us who are slightly competitive in nature to compete during the offseason. 

 

>Eric M.

 

Hey everyone.  Since I was born and raised in Cincinnati, I have always been a huge Reds fan, but the times have been hard.  I was wondering if anyone had some feedback on what the Reds should do to turn things around?  Here are a few things I was thinking of.

The Reds recently fired GM Wayne Krivsky and put in Walt Jocketty.  I think Jocketty's prior success with the Cardinals was what drew the Reds to this move.  He wasn't a guy that brought in huge name players, but he kind of built the Cardinals from the ground up.  This is the approach the Reds are going to have to take if they want to compete.  They don't have the huge payroll to go out and sign every guy they want, so they have to bring them up through the farm system.

As far as the current team we are fielding, I think a few changes could be made.  I am one of the people who hated the Josh Hamilton for Edinson Volquez trade.  Hamilton was a 5 tool player and he's going to be an all-star.  Volquez has been great so far, but looking at the players the Reds have struggling out in centerfield right now, I think they should have tried to get Volquez for someone else.  I like the infield with Keppinger, Votto, Phillips, and Encarnacion.  They are all young and have potential.  I think the outfield is where the problems are.  I have never been a fan of Adam Dunn hitting .240 every year, but I don't see them moving him.  I think it's time to bring up Jay Bruce.  He is by far the best prospect we have.  The pitching staff has been solid with Harang, Volquez, and Cueto, but Arroyo has been bombing and the 5th spot in the rotation is a question.  They have some guys in the minors like Homer Bailey, but if they aren't ready, you have to go out and get a guy.  I like the addition of Paul Bako behind the plate.  He knows how to manage the pitchers, and he'll hit a little bit. 

If I could make one move for the Reds, it would be to get rid of Dunn and bring in a guy for the top of the order.  I want a player like Carl Crawford or Jose Reyes who is going to bat .300 and steal 50 or 60 bases.  The Reds need this guy at the top of the line up to get on base for all the big guys after him.

Well, those are my thoughts on it.  Give me some feedback on what all you other Reds fans think.  See ya

Hey everyone.  I just want to say that I am super pumped about this spell of warm weather we are having.  It's so much nicer walking outside to go to class in the morning knowing you don't have to bundle up for a 3 minute walk.  As you all know, warm weather means we can get back outside and have fun.  I personally can't wait until I can get a few rounds of golf in.  Usually when school is out and all my high school buddies return home, we all go out and play a round and drink a few carbonated beverages.  My dad usually gets mad at me because I spend a lot of money on golf instead of other things, so I usually sneak out with my clubs at wee hours of the morning before he can see me.

This summer a few of my friends and myself were also planning on taking a road trip down to Alabama to play some of the courses on the Robert Trent Jones Golf Trail, which I included a picture of at the bottom.  It's like we want to get away from our wives, except were not married yet.  So hopefully we will be able to squeeze that in, of course if we can raise the funds.

Right now we've all got a little over a month more of school, which means another month of baseball.  I don't mind that, but usually as long as I am still in baseball, I won't play golf because it tends to mess up my golf swing.

Another fun activity that my friends and I like to do in the summer months is join a softball league.  We are the group of 20 year old guys playing against the 40 and 50 year old guys, and we get it handed to us.  These old guys are unbelievable softball players.  It's kind of embarassing, but it's just fun to get the old gang back together.

Spring season came to an end. Though practices at 6am are over (which ironically are awesome and extremely productive), it’s sad to think I won’t get to be with my team, formally, until August when we come back for pre-season. Things just get so predictable when you know the habits of every player on your team, when you can read the ball and almost foresee what will happen by the way she jumps to attack, the way her shoulders turn, and by the way the ball is tossed on a serve. It’s phenomenal and almost miraculous that any human can function that early in the morning and have so much fun that the hours fly by…. and at the same time you are thinking “I could be sleeping….” But, it’s such a great feeling to be up and moving while you know that almost every other athlete and student in school is snoozing away like it’s a Sunday morning.  We had our one and only spring tournament here at school on Saturday and it was really nice to be playing strangers rather than girls on my team. The luxury of having a team other than your own on the other side of the net is unexplainable. But, we did know our opponents last match. We played our alumni for our last match. I’ll tell you, they are good. There were words thrown back and forth across the net; of course it was all in good nature. You wouldn’t think that women that have kids could still play volleyball so well but they could. We did get our butts kicked and our side of the net was a lot more serious than the other, which is sad since we came out with the short end of the stick. Spring season taught us more than that it’s becoming that much closer until we graduate. We learned our strengths and weaknesses as a team through wins and one bitter alumni loss. We suffered through hard practices and mental blocks because our stomachs were so hungry, but its SO worth it. As collegiate athletes we have to make sacrifices like that, and when it comes down to it, the sacrifices to be 100% dedicated are what makes us who we are.

“Obsessed is just a word the lazy use to describe the dedicated.”

 

   Hey everyone.  Just so everyone can get a little update on how the baseball team is doing, we are currently 9-8.  The Florida trip was rough for us.  We struggled down there, although it's always better playing in 80 degree Florida weather then 40 degree Ohio weather.  Since our return from Florida we are 6-1 including 5-1 in the conference.  We swept our first conference series against Bluffton, and then beat Transylvania in a single game.  It definately looks like things are turning around.  We got to play Bluffton and Transy up at UC's field.  It's always nice playing there.  They have one of the best fields in college baseball.  The field is turf so you can usually avoid being rained out.  The batting cages are inside and the dugouts are heated.  There is also a restroom in the dugout.  As you can tell, I have been spending my fair share of time in the dugout.  As I was saying, it's always awesome getting to play at UC's field whenever they are on a road trip.  We just split two games at Franklin today, and we are supposed to close up the series tomorrow with one game at UC at one, so hopefully we'll get that one in.  Hopefully it will be warmer than today also.  I added a few pics from Florida and UC so everyone can get a feel for the fields we are playing on. 

Ah yeah two blogs in a day!  In keeping with the sports themed blog, I wanted to talk a little about Opening Day for the Reds.  Again, I'm a Cincinnatian and have yet to attend the opening day parade and game.  Unbelievable.  SO finally I'll get the chance on monday.  Maybe.  I don't have tickets to the game, but the parade is free so I'll think I'll join my fellow 'natians in early day festivities. 

I'm curious, if anyone out there has been to opening day where should I go? Park? Eat? etc?  This would be a great chance for someone to comment! 

 

 

Did you know that The original Cincinnati Red Stockings, baseball's first openly all-professional team, were founded as an amateur club in 1863.  Thats during the Civil War!  This also marks the first time in history that Cincinnati was ahead of the rest of the country in something! Lol just kidding. Badum bum ching.

In all seriousness, this is a really cool thing that the city shuts down and celebrates its history.  It should be an official city holiday.  Now I would never advocate students "skipping" class.  Of course not, especially on a all important monday, students should never disregard their all important studies just to enjoy themselves and a city tradition, no way, unthinkable.  But, I think the Mount should take the initiative and cancel classes.  It might start a chain reaction which could lead to the city making it official. 

This just popped into my head:  Skyline Chili or Gold Star?  Whats your fav?

You can comment and let us know what you think.

(This blog is dedicated to Beth and Cliff for being so flexible with blog deadlines. You guys are the best.  I'll tell you why I was late some other time.)

 

 

 

 

Career Listing:

Availability: 16 days out of the year. Four hours per day.

Job Description:  Run, catch a ball every once in awhile.

Pay:  8 million dollars a year.

Does'nt sound too bad does it?  Of course I'm speaking of Chad Johnson a wide reciever for the Cincinnati Bengals "professional" football team.  I just wanted to chime in on Chad or "Ocho Cinco" because of some of the things that he has been saying lately.  Now, I don't want to have to pile on Chad just because he makes a really really really ridiculously lot amount of money for playing football, but there's something that rubs the average fan the wrong way when he appears to be willing to sabotage the team and make an a** of himself publicly.

Especially in Cincinnati.  We're a blue-collar kind of town.  We like sports figures who bust tail.  Pete Rose being the best example of this. Who doesn't love to see Ryan Freel sacrificing it all out on the field?  And its not really about the really really really ridiculously large amounts of money the athletes make.  After all, if we're willing to pay them they have every right to earn as much as they can.  God bless America.

To me, it seems like something has been lost in sports today.  It has become big business, and seems to be less about sportsmanship, good old competition, etc...  Thats why I love college sports.  There's a purity there that seems untouched by the big money flying around.  Yet, why do certain athletes at the pro level suddenly turn into selfish monsters?  Is it just the money?  Or are there social factors?  Maybe a little bit of both.  I'd be curious to hear what anyone thinks about this (comment!).

So, in closing I feel bad for the average fan who doles out 100 bucks for an Ocho Cinco jersey, 60 bucks for a ticket, 10 bucks for parking, 7 bucks a beer, 5 bucks a burger to watch Chad catch a football (sometimes) and the Bengals lose another game.  And then we hear Chad not attending a work-out where he would have made 250,000 bucks just to show up.  God Bless America indeed.