Love is an interesting word in the English language. We use the word 'love' to talk about our friends, family, and other people who mean a lot to us. At the same time, we use the word 'love' to describe things like cars, music, toys, and food. I have been listening to the song by the Avett Brothers called "I and Love and You". They say that the three words that became hard to say are "I" and "Love" and "You". As much as I disagree with them based on the fact that we do throw those words around so much, they are hard to say. They are hard to say because when you truly mean them, it sometimes is not the easiest thing to say. "I love you", when spoken honestly and true, is more than just words, they are emotions. Sometimes those emotions are not easy to say. Not easy to say because of the fact that with real love, there can be hurt, pain, and other unpleasant emotions associated with it. But the thing about love is that, love overcomes all of those things. Maybe this makes sense, maybe it doesn't. It does in my life. So when I say "I love you", I try to mean it. I hope if you say it to me, that you mean it as well.
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"Dumbed down and numbed by time and age
Your dreams to catch the world, the cage
The highway sets the travelers stage
All exits look the same
Three words that became hard to say
I and love and you"
-The Avett Brothers

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So I am sitting here at my kitchen table watching the SEC championship game on my beautiful TV with my amazing HD cable and is watching a pretty decent game. It isn't as enjoyable as it could be, seeing that I don't like either of the teams playing in the game (I dislike Tebow and Florida is #1 hated team of Georgia and I can't stand Alabama fans because they think the Crimson Tide are God's gift to earth). One thing that I have posted about before on Facebook is that I won't pull for an SEC team against somebody else because they are an SEC team. For some reason, I don't have pride in conference, I have pride in my teams. It is like me being happy if the Saints win the Super Bowl (which they won't) because they are in the same division as the Falcons...you just don't do that in any other sport. So when I say I don't have an SEC hat, I hope both Florida and Alabama lose, though I know one has to win. Here is what I want, as a selfish fan that pulls for my own team(s) and interests: I don't care who wins the Florida/Alabama game. I know I will be annoyed either way with the fans of whichever team wins. I want either Texas to win the Big 12 championship and win the National Championship (though I hate the Horns) so people can shut up about the SEC, or Texas lose and have TCU make it to the national championship game and then have the winner of the SEC pound, and let me say POUND the snot out of the horned frogs because I am tired of hearing how good these non-BCS teams are. I am a football purist in the since that I don't want to go to a playoff and you should have to play good teams to be ranked high. TCU had one good victory against Clemson, but their top 5 games aren't comparable to the top 5 games of either Alabama, Florida, or Texas and doesn't deserve to be in consideration for the national championship. If you play a weak conference schedule, then you have to play the big boys for your non-conference games. Not fair? Deal with it. See college basketball in that aspect. In regards to playoffs, what is a playoff really going to do for you this year (or any year)? You have 8, maybe 16 teams in this playoff. What happens if Texas, Alabama, and Florida lose and a team like Georgia Tech or Oregon go and win the National Championship. Do you really think they deserve the national championship? No. And if they would make it then the ratings would be crap for the national championship game. Leave it the way it is. Is it perfect? No. But you aren't going to ever get a perfect system. Bowls are good because of tradition and more importantly, money. So have fun watching the SEC championship game, but just know I am not going to pull for a SEC just because they are in the SEC. 

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So I have been in the process of reading The Education of a Coach by David Halberstam, which is the biography about Bill Belichick. I have always admired what he has done, but after reading this and learning more about him, I without a doubt think that he is the greatest coach of my generation, and possibly of all time. This isn't just NFL coaches, this is coaches in every sport. Last night, all of my feelings were only solidified even more. Many people are calling Belichick stupid and that he made a bad call to go on the 4th and 2 in the Sunday Night Football game against the Colts. I completely disagree. He made the ballsiest call ever and it wasn't because he was reckless, it was because he is confident in his team. You have racked up over 375 yards of offense in the game, and if you get two more yards, you win the game. Simple as that. If Faulk gets the spot, game over. I know I live in Tennessee, where it is Colts fans-via-Manning (which I hate), but you got to say that the spot that they gave Faulk was at least questionable. If the Patriots have a timeout, it might have been overturned. I don't want to hear that Belichick didn't trust his defense. He trusted his defense enough that he would go for it on fourth down and give the ball back to Peyton Manning on the 30 yard line with 2 minutes left. That isn't a fear of his defense, that is saying "If we don't get this first down, I have confidence in my D." I don't care if I would have to play for the minimum, I would play for Coach Belichick any day and not question anything that he does. He is the smartest, most hardworking coach. Plus, I love his press conferences.

Education of a Coach, The

David Halberstam

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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.

Brand New @ Vintage Vinyl - "Jesus Christ"

Brand New @ The Pageant - "You Won't Know"

Outside of Blueberry Hill

TV Interview

Brand New @ Vintage Vinyl

Getting Our Merch Signed

Waffle House

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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)

50" Panasonic Plasma TV

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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.

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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.

My Favorite Sportscenter Commercial

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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

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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.

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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.

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