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My first trip to St. Louis ever began when my friends Kyle T., Ben G., and Shannon H. came up to my apartment in Jackson around 11pm so that we could sleep and then leave together early in the morning to go to St. Louis for the Brand New concert. The day started with us going to sleep around 2am and then proceeding to wake up at 6:30am and leaving by 7:15am. (We would have left by 7, but Kyle wouldn't wake up and take his shower, but I digress.) We got some breakfast at Chick-fil-a and then we got on the road. We stopped at a Target/Starbucks and they got some drinks and Kyle bought me a blueberry muffin. [Note: I am reliving all the memories, so if there is something random and trivial such as mentioned blueberry muffin, don't judge...it's my memory] We made it to St. Louis in good time arriving around 11:30-11:45 if I can remember correctly. We had found out that if we get there early and bought something at the coffee shop that was adjacent to the concert venue, we would be able to get in early. We all purchased a drink or something cheap and we got our bracelet to get in early. We were numbers 13-16, which was awesome. We headed up the street to where we also had heard that they were going to be doing an acoustic show that afternoon at a local record store. We found out that we had to buy either the CD or the vinyl version of Brand New's new album, so we all got the vinyl and another bracelet to get into the acoustic show. We were hungry, so we then went to a local eating place called Blueberry Hill. It was very cool, good food and great atmosphere. After lunch, Scratch that, I can't believe I forgot to mention something. So we are walking down the street and we see on the other side of the road riding bikes were Jesse Lacey (Lead singer of Brand New) and Andy Hull (Lead singer of Manchester Orchestra, who was one of the opening bands for Brand New). So we saw that they had gone into a game store and we (let me rephrase that, Kyle and Ben) wanted to go meet them so we all went into the store like loser fans. We acted awkward for a minute and then Kyle walked over there and shook their hands and introduced himself. Andy Hull was a total jerk and blew him off, which Jesse Lacey did as well, but after further evidence gathering, which I will share later, we realized he didn't do it on purpose and is not, in fact, a jerk. I will never buy a Manchester Orchestra cd because of Andy Hull being a jerk, though I acknowledge that he is a great musician and performer. Now back to after we left Blueberry Hill. We were walking around and we saw a cameraman and a reporter chick walking down on the other side. We crossed over and they asked us if we wanted to get interviewed. We were asked how we thought the St Louis Blues (NHL) were going to do this year. Seeing that none of us are from 4 hours of St. Louis, I made up an answer which made the girl happy and we went on. (It was funny because I asked her if Chris Pronger was still on the team, which I found out that he hadn't been on the team in a couple of years...whoops, sorry that I don't pay attention that much to the NHL) So the acoustic show at Vintage Vinyl was at like 4, so they were letting people in at 3:30, so we didn't want to go do anything, so we just hung around and Shannon and I started the line about 2:30 for the show. So we were the first couple in and all four of us were on the front row about give-or-take 5 feet from where they played. It was a decent set. They seemed like they had just woken up from a nap, so it was a little rough, but still very, very cool.

There is a video of the song "Jesus Christ" from the acoustic show, which we were standing to the right of the guy that is on the front row. After the show, they were signing autographs, so each got our vinyls signed by all of them. It was really cool. They were nice and when Kyle got up to Jesse Lacey, Jesse Lacey smiled and said "how you been" to him, which was funny and nice at the same time. We had to jet from Vintage Vinyl back to The Pageant where the concert was going to be. Like literally, I ran 5 blocks in as dead sprint as I could possibly go. We got in line and went in and go on the second row down in the pit. It was an awesome location, like literally one person was in front of us in the middle of the stage. The stinky part was that we had to get there so early to get such good places, so we had to wait an hour and a half before the first band played. We got to know some of the people around us, which was cool. Sypris was the opening band. They were decent. Kyle and Shannon liked them a lot more than me. I think the lead singer (who was a female) was drunk, but whatever. Manchester Orchestra was next. I knew of them because they are from Atlanta and when I was back home, I was in the "scene" somewhat. (I saw Cartel like at skateparks and small venues before they became really big.) Man Orch was pretty good. I dislike Andy the lead singer (see above) so it wasn't awesome, but they were really good. Then...BRAND NEW! They were awesome, though more screamy than I expected them to be. They looked exhausted, but they gave a really good show. Here was the set list if you really want to know, which "You Don't Know" was their opening song. Here is somebody's video for it, which you can see our hands in the air right below the microphone when the song gets going.

It was awesome down in the pit until it became pretty much dangerous for the fact that dumb people in the back of the pit began pushing forward. You were so close to people that you like couldn't breathe. I had to spend half my time keeping my balance and bracing myself and could barely enjoy the songs because I was afraid if I fell, I would get trampled. We left to the back of the people around the 6th song. At some point, we did see one girl get carried out of the pit, so it was pretty crazy down there. After the show, we really wanted to get White Castle, just because of the fact that I have never eaten at White Castle before. We almost died getting there, with Ben driving we almost had 2 head on collisions when he decided to first, try and go down a one way street the wrong way and second, correct his mistake by going in the other lane on a two way street. We walked in to the White Castle, which it smelled and was nasty, so we scratched that idea. We drove past Busch Stadium and the Gateway Arch (The Gateway to the West) going out of town and we stopped and ate dinner/supper at Waffle House (mind you, it was after 11:30, so (a) it was the perfect time to eat there and (b) we ate dinner at 11:30...). We decided to drive back to Jackson/Henderson because Ben had an 8:30 class (which he proceeded to skip this morning), so we left St. Louis around 12:30. I drove so Ben could sleep, Shannon napped a little bit and Kyle was a trooper and did his best to stay awake with me, though I would sometimes ask him a question and he would fall asleep before he could answer it, which was really funny to watch. I (being the safe person that I am) stopped twice and took two 30 minute catnaps, but otherwise, it was a crazy, late drive back. After we got on the road after my second nap with about 2 or 2 1/2 hrs left, Kyle and I decided to just shuffle the iPod and jam out to every dumb song we could find. We found a lot of dumb songs, which Shannon woke up and joined us, but I think by far my favorite song was "Burn" by Usher. I really didn't know that Kyle was such a huge Usher fan. We had fun. Got back to my apartment around 5:15 and back to Henderson around 5:45am. I actually was listening to Mike & Mike on the way to Henderson. I have never listened to sports radio that early in the morning. It was a crazy awesome trip. I am sure I missed a number of laughs, but I wanted to write down all that I could remember. Brand New is great in concert, and our trip to see them was one that I will remember forever.

So there comes a point in a man's life where he goes out and spends a ridiculous amount of money on something that he probably doesn't need. Today was that day in my life. I am not sure if there will be more days like this, but let's just say the feeling is...interesting. So today marked the one month "anniversary" of me working at Best Buy, which also that is the first day that I can get employee pricing. Ever since I went to college, I have owned a 20" television. It was not more than a week ago that the television gods told me that it was about time to get a new one when the color at the bottom of the screen started to mess up. That being said and the fact that I have a very nice employee discount, I proceeded to plan on getting a new television. I initially started looking at a 32" inch television, which proceeded to go up to a 37", because currently my girlfriend has a 32" and I have to get at least one that big or better. I came to a conclusion that I was going to get a 37" LCD television. Then I started looking at plasma televisions (which if I had to choose between the two, I would definitely go with the plasma, if any reason the blacks are blacker and skin tones look real...but I guess that officially makes me a geek). The smallest plasma television that is made is 42". So I told myself, "Michael, you can splurge just a little bit to get something that you really want." I listened to myself, and decided on getting a 42" plasma (it was still a really good deal with the employee discount). I was telling one of the managers yesterday about my future purchase and he told me that Panasonic (the brand that I was getting) had some rebates for Best Buy employees and we checked that out. I found out that I could buy a 50" plasma for only $30 more than the 42". Did I buy the bigger television? Yes. That my friends is the story about how I now currently have a 50" Panasonic plasma television in my apartment. Was it too much? Probably, but I am going to enjoy this television for a LONG time. I mean, seriously, I upgraded my television by 30 inches, more than double what I had before. Now, if I could just figure out a way to pay for it...(just kidding)

I have learned this year that you really don't have control over your own life. On of my favorite quotes from my favorite sports radio talk show host says "It's not how you act, its how you react." That quote is so true in life. So many times it is the way the person reacts to trouble that leaves him in much more trouble before. I am blessed to have had people in my life that have taught me how to "react". I may not always do it right from the beginning or know how to do something, but as my mom says, I am like a cat in the sense that she doesn't ever fear that whatever situation that I am in that I won't land on my feet. I knew last year was going to be tough, living in a far-away place (though that sounds magical, Statesboro, GA is far from that), working/going to school, and dealing with relationships and other things, but I didn't know what would happen with all of that. A year later, I am back in Tennessee, in a different relationship (almost 6 months in!), two great jobs working with Roan's Creek and Best Buy, and a minor league baseball internship away from getting my masters. I think I have reacted well, though I am sure that in this next year I will be having to react and learn from many more challenges, but for me, it is good to sometimes look back and see how I have persevered through some trouble times and appreciate where I am. By no means am I going to become complacent of where I am now, but it is encouraging for me to press on with confidence that no matter what happens, I can do it. I did it, but let me give credit where credit is due. God has worked awesomely in my life. It was all him that got me to where I am at Roan's Creek. I love my church family so much there and I have learned as much as hopefully I am teaching. My goal is to be a man, and I am on my way there.

So I first come requesting your prayers from now until 8:55am ET on Monday morning. At 9:00am ET on Monday morning, I will be involved in an interview of a lifetime that could change my life. I will be interviewing with Mr. Pete Gianesini, the Senior Director of Programming with ESPN Radio. I guess I should share the journey thus far that has gotten me thus far that has led me to things juncture in my life.

I was born on June 24th, 1987 to two humble parents in Athens Regional Hospital...Okay, just kidding, I wont go back that far. Let me start with my applying for these internships. I found a couple of internships that I was interested in on the ESPN.com careers page. I wrote a nice cover letter for the two that I selected to apply for and attached it with my resume and submitted it (on Feb 4). I didn't expect to hear from them for awhile, if at all. I had/have applied to a few more internships, including internships with the Southern Conference, USTA Southern Section, and hopefully if I can write the cover letter, Chick-fil-a Bowl. Back to my story. I was up this past Monday morning, working on editing a video for a class presentation. My phone started going off and it was an "860" area code, which I did not recognize, so I answered it. It was a lady from ESPN Human Resources and she was calling for an intial interview. I assumed that they liked my resume and cover letter enough to give me a call. I was very excited and proceeded to have about a 15-20 minute interview with her. It went really well, I could tell she was either really impressed with me or she did a really great job of faking it to make me feel good about myself. She said that she was going to forward my resume and cover letter to the respective hiring managers of the internships (aka I "passed" my initial interview) and that I should hear from the hiring managers in the next month. I was excited, but I didn't start dreaming (which I am still not) because I know that these internships are really competitive and that it would be about a month before I would receive a call. I was wrong. This morning, while I was at work at Sonny's BBQ, I checked my phone to see what the date was so that I could mark an expiration date for some food that I was preparing. I saw that I had a missed call and a voicemail. It was the same "860" area code, so I got really excited and listened to the message. It was the Senior Director of Programming for ESPN Radio, meaning the guy that is in charge of all the content that is on ESPN Radio...aka a "bigwhig".  I was super excited. He wanted me to call him back to set up a time to have an interview. I called him that afternoon and now I have waiting for me an interview that could open my door to the company that I have wanted to work for, for the longest time. I said years ago that my dream job would be to work for ESPN, and now, I might just get that opportunity of a lifetime.

Here is a list of things that I want to do throughout my life. I broke them down into three categories, which are activities, places, and abilities. A couple of them don't really fit into a real category, but I still just stuck them into one of the categories.

Michael Young's Bucket List:

Activities:
1. Work for ESPN
2. Get a tattoo
3. Coach in a youth athletic league
4. Attend every major sporting event at least once
[MLB, NBA, NHL, NFL, PGA, Tennis, NASCAR, NCAAFB, NCAAB, etc.]
5. Get a short story written and published
6. Meet the president [whoever is currently in office]
7. Shoot a gun
8. Find a $20 bill on the ground
9. Solve a crime
10. Be a contestant on Jeopardy

Places:
11. Visit Machu Picchu (Peru)
12. Visit Stonehenge
13. Visit every state in the USA
14. Visit the Pyramids (Egypt)
15. Visit Angel Falls (Venezuela) or Victoria Falls (Zambia/Zimbabwe)
16. Visit the Great Wall of China
17. Visit the Inca ruins (Lake Titicaca, Mexico)
18. Visit Mount Rushmore
19. Visit Redwood National Forest
20. Visit Philadelphia, PA (again)

Abilities:
21. Learn the Thriller dance
22. Make an impact on somebody's life
23. Have a room full of books
24. Learn how to dive off a diving board
25. Learn how to play the bass guitar
26. Learn how to play golf
27. Learn how to cook a 5 course meal
28. Learn how to speak Spanish
29. Be a husband
30. Be a father

I got the privilege on Monday to hang out with an awesome girl, but in addition to that, I got the privilege to reminisce and look back at my life and see how much I have changed, or matured, over the past three years. When I went to college, I was a young'un. I was 17 years old, fresh out of high school, still believing everything my parents had taught me. That first year was an interesting year. I was on my own. Granted, Freed controlled a lot more of my life that what most colleges do, but at the same time, the freedom was a new experience to me. I dated some girls. I didn't know what I wanted, much less know who I was. Monday, I was able to look back and see how much I have grown. To be honest, it made me really happy to see how far I have come. When I got to Freed, I had been a Christian less than 2 years. I didn't have my own beliefs yet; I was definitely still a "babe" in Christ. I wasn't a leader at all. I couldn't be the boyfriend that the girls I dated needed/wanted because I was still so immature that I was like in high school. Over the next two years though, it all changed. I had some amazing friends, I met so many amazing people. I had some awesome classes and participated in some awesome activities. To be the leader that I am today (humbly, of course), it makes me so proud of myself. Spiritually, I would say I am 500x better of a Christian than I was when I got to Freed. By no means am I anywhere near perfect, but I feel that now I can be a man of God and be that person in a relationship, as well as in the church setting with peers and Christians and general. I am teaching the college-age class at church on Wednesday nights (Leviticus). I am so excited about that. I love life. I know I pretty much tooted my own horn a little bit in this post, but sometimes it is good to have pride in what you have done and accomplished. Am I content of where I am now in my life? Not at all, but that is human nature, to want to improve. There are people in my life now, opportunites in the future, and a God who has an awesome plan for me and my future, and that is what I am excited about.

So I tried to keep all of my "scroogeness" in this holiday season, which I think that I did a good job considering. From about a week after I got home after finals and stuff, I have been ready for the holidays to be over and me getting back into the swing of things. My year didn't really end on it the way that I planned or the way that I would have liked for it to have ended, but sometimes you dont have control over situations. After spending 9 months with an awesome girl, she decided to break up with me for personal reasons, which made me upset. I think a lot of why I am glad the holidays are over is that now I can look at the calendar and not have to think about what I would be doing or where I would be had we not broken up, so I guess that is the main reason why I am glad that its the New Year. Despite not ending the year on such great a moment as that, I have become closer to some of my good friends that have helped me through this situation and have had a number of opportunities that I am very much looking forward to in the coming year. I started a little less than a month ago blogging for this Atlanta sports website, more specifically about the Atlanta Hawks. I encourage you to go check it out, leave me comments on there or send me an email giving me any pointers or whatnot, because I am always trying to improve as a writer and blogger. Besides that, I will be finishing my graduate classes by the end of June, and then I am going to be looking for an internship so that I can finish my Masters and then get a job in the real world! This past year has been a transition year, which I expect that this coming year will be as well, but I have learned a lot about myself, the real world, and hopefully have become more of a man, spiritually, physically, and emotionally. I hope that this upcoming year is full of fun and hopefully I will make many memories while continuing to work for the prize.

On a completely different note, I encourage you to go and see Gran Turino, starring Clint Eastwood. I got to see a sneak preview of it and minus the language (which is the only "bad" thing about it), it was an excellent movie. It is definitely in my top 5 of all time. It comes out January 9th, so check that out if you can.

I got to thinking about some of the people who have made an impact on my life and situations that have led me to be where I am today. Some people have left their mark on my spiritual life, while others have impacted my "physical" life. Here are just a few of the many people that have had an impact on my life, reasons why/how it has.

Tommy Tidwell, Jon/Tami Stroud, and Camp Inagehi:
I wouldn't be the person that I am today if it wouldn't have been for Tommy Tidwell. I wouldn't have been where I was (Freed-Hardeman) if it hadn't have been for Jon and Tami Stroud, and who knows if I would be a Christian yet if it hadn't been for Camp Inagehi. Tommy has made and impact on my life because of two reasons. Our talks and his walk. It has been great getting to know him over the years. Each year at camp, I learn more and more from him. Every Friday night of camp, he stays up late sitting in the middle of the boys "village," just to make sure the guys stay in line. One year, I joined him out there. We probably ended up staying out there talking until like 3:00am. I learn so much every time I talk with him. About life, about love and relationships, and about God. I really appreciate and cherish all of those talks. I have gotten emotional, but he gives his encouraging words of wisdom and I know it will work out. He also has shown me how to walk the walk. I think this past year at camp, I learned the most from him. He taugh me the most important leadership lesson I have ever learned: To lead is to do what nobody else wants to do and to stand up for what is right when nobody is standing for it. To be a true leader, you aren't going to be the most popular most if not all of the time, but you keep the best interest of others as the most important thing. I wish I could put into words for Tommy all that he means to me, and all that he has done for me. Jon and Tami Stroud are two awesome people. They do so much for South Cobb and for Camp Inagehi. A lot of people dont see all the work they do, but they are best examples of those getting the job done behind the scenes. They have influenced my life in a way they probably wouldn't know, in addition to making me a huge Mac addict and finally getting a Macbook (which I love). They are probably the reason why I went to Freed-Hardeman University, which indirectly has allowed me to make some of the best friends I have ever had, and also finding the girl of my dreams. I don't know why or how I heard about South Cobb church of Christ youth group going to Freed for RUSH, but somehow I heard about it and Jon Stroud let me go with the group. I had a blast, it was so much fun. That was my sophomore year of high school. By my junior year, I had decided that is where I wanted to go and got in early and everything was hunky-dory. But I think what the two of them did for me the most, was allow me to be apart of a youth group and be able to make other Christian friends and grow in that regard. I am so thankful for that opportunity. I still have some of those people as friends today, who will be lifelong friends. Meagan, Julie, Carlie, and more. I love all of them, and I am so thankful for that opportunity.

David Powell:
If you want to ever meet a true, genuine, loving man, David Powell is the guy you want to meet. After not really knowing him at all, and needing to get an A in a Bible class at Freed, I decided to take Leviticus, Numbers, and Deuteronomy as a fluff class. I did get my A, but what I wasn't counting on was the fact that I was going to be at the feet of a man who is very wise and taught me so much about the Old Testament and how to make it relavent to my own life. I couldn't get enough of his classes, so I ended up taking Paul's Epistles III (I & II Corintians) with him the following semester. I learned so much in those classes, I wish I would have taken his classes from the beginning. He was so supportive and encouraging, he just made me want to live on fire for God. What I think he taught me the most was standing for the truth. I had conversations with him in addition to classroom discussion about marriage, divorce, and remarriage that even though it was hard and I (and he) didn't want to draw the conclusions that we wanted to, he taught me to stand up for the truth, even if it would make you unpopular. He is a great man and taught me a ton about the Bible and how to live my life.

Stacey Groves:
After talking about all of these people that have influenced me spritually, I dont want to make Stacey sound like she wasnt very spiritual, but she helped me out in my career. Though our relationship was a professional one, we were able to talk from time to time about religious things and I know she is a great spiritual person who is very disciplined when it comes to life, exercise, and God. She did though influence me in more of a career way. She gave me my wings in the sports world. It was the beginning of my spring semester and I was starting to realize that there was no way that I wanted to spend the rest of my life being an accountant. I enjoyed my major for the most part, but it just wasn't my passion. In Feburary of 2007, I applied to be a student assistant for the Sports Information Director (which was her). I have always loved sports, and I had never though to possibly pursue my love for sports into a career path. I saw that they were looking for some help, and I applied. I had zero experience when applied and I don't know how I got the job, but she thought my trial write-up of a basketball game was good enough to give me the job. Over the next year, I learned a lot about writing and the whole package of what it is to be in the sports industry. It wasn't always the easiest job, but I can say being able to work for her has given me not only the experience in my pocket, but something that people open their eyes at when looking at my resume for a possible job or internship. [sidenote: Be praying for an internship that I had an interview for last week. Hopefully I will be moving back to Tennessee to work next season with the West Tennessee Diamond Jaxx, a AA Minor League Baseball team in Jackson, Tennessee] She was a blast to work with and actually listened to ideas and let me really have an active role in working with the athletic department at Freed-Hardeman.

Those are just a few people who have impacted my life. My family, my friends, and my lovely girlfriend are also those who have had big impacts on my life, but It is almost 2:00am and I need to get some sleep before I have to be at work at 9:00am.

I love going to sporting events. One of my goals in life is to attend a sporting event in every major sport category before I die. Saying that, I really cant stand going to sporting events and having to tolerate ignorant fans. I would just sit on my couch and watch the game sometimes because of the annoyance of the ignorant fans. I must specify my definition of "ignorant fan". My definition of an "ignorant fan" is one that is loud and obnoxious fan that thinks any call against his/her team is a terrible call. Not understanding what is going on (aka ignorant) but staying quiet and trying to take it all in is perfectly fine with me and I have no problem with that. I may just be jaded and have lost some of my fandom, but I want the game called the right way. When I watch sports, for the most part, I am very passive. I like watching the strategy, breaking down each play in my mind. I think I am just weird, but it just annoys me. The only pass that I will give on people being an "ignorant fan" is when they are drunk, and that only is because most of the time they are really funny making fools of themselves, but by no means am I condoning what they are doing. Just thought I would share that thought process real quick. Enjoy the game, dont critize the officials if you dont know the rules, dont drink, and tell somebody that you love them today.