NFL Playoffs Round Two

What's Tanner's favorite thing? Ramen Noodles? Nope (been back at college for 3 days and I still haven't had any!) Mumford and Sons? No (Me and Caleb rocked out hard to them the other night though? NFL Playoffs? In the words of Austin Powers - Yeah baby! Let's get down to the recaps

Baltimore Ravens 38

Denver Broncos 35

-Woah. Talk about no mercy, search and destroy sports - this was where the pigskin action was. What's better than an AFC divisional title game? An AFC divisional title game decided by 3 points! Peyton Manning vs. Ray Lewis, and the roof was brought down. No doubt about it, this game was for the ages, and there was 10 touchdowns scored and a field goal plus 10 extra points (all of them were 1 pointers: No two point conversions were converted). When Peyton Manning throws the football, it looks like a speeding bullet, but Ray Lewis wasn't afraid of that and he won the game for his team. Mad props to him for trying hard in his final season.  They were at Mile High stadium but the Ravens were Miles ahead physically. Two overtimes were enough for the victory.

Green Bay Packers 31

San Fran 45

-76 total points, and there probably would have been a lot more if they kept playing. This is what the playoffs are all about- Holding nothing back and racking up fantasy points while showing good leadership and sportsmanship and enjoying the games with friends and family while eating wings and pizza. Could you have asked for a better game? I missed some of the second quarter. C. Kapernick is making a name for himself. He's like the Michael Vick of the San Francisco 49ers, only he beat the packers. When San Fran took the lead, my dad stood up and cheered.....and he spilled the salsa EVERYWHERE! My mom was mad at first, but she ended up forgiving him. That's what's so great about football - it brings people together!

Seahawks 28

Atlanta 30

-All the Seahawks needed was a safety to tie it up but that never happened. They actually could have even won the game with a field goal. The Falcons just flew higher than the Seahawks and it showed in the final score. Z. Miller had EIGHT catches. I repeat: EIGHT. What a heck of a game for Miller. Nice job. It all comes from the good concentration. The Seahawks have been underdogs since day 1, so I have to take a moment to give them a special shout out. Wow. What a season. Even on there bye week, they were turning heads. R. Wilson had a great year and a great rookie year. He is a player to watch out for in the coming years of this league. 

Houston - 28

England 2.0 - 41

-Tom Brady is the best player in the game and one of the best of alltime. He wins football games. It's that simple. Houston was my team to beat, and the Pats beat them. It's like the Patriots got together before the game and said "Hey guys, what do you think about taking absolutely ZERO prisoners in tonight's matchup?" And I think everyone on the team agreed. They beat them so bad that they probably could have put Rudy in at the end of the game and still won - it was THAT one-sided. Looks like New England is the new team to beat. Look out Baltimore - Tom Brady and the New England Patriots are on the warpath and they are gridiron masters this time of year.

I'll be back next week with my picks. And of course, it's the start of Spring semester, so I'll be keeping you updated on all my new expericnes here at THE Ohio University.

New Years Resolutions

As promised, here are my ten new year's resolutions. I know what you're thinking. Ten? Tanner, I can't even do ONE new year's resolution, let alone TEN. Well, nobody said it would be easy, but that's what the new year is all about: Challenging yourself! So without further adieu, here are my ten resolutions for this new year - 2013.

10. Eat less Ramen Noodles - It seems like almost every day this semester, I would come home from class, and without hesitation, cook myself a big bowl of Ramen Noodles! Sure, they're delicious, but eating them everyday can contribute to the dreaded freshman 15, and I'm almost halfway there :( So I pledge to only eat Ramen Noodles sparingly (Ugh, my stomach is already growling just typing that!)

9. Exercise every day - Remember one of my blog posts a couple months ago when I said I was going to start exercising everyday? Um, yeah, that didn't happen....But now it's a new year, and I want to get fit. There are a lot of pretty girls on campus, and they seem to go for the guys who work out a lot. I bet if I work out everyday I can ask one of the girls to be my girlfriend. This will help me get into parties!

8. Be nicer to my little brother Trent - Being away at school for a few months really made me miss my family, in particular, my little brother Trent. Trent always gets on my nerves. He's ALWAYS pestering me and trying to hang out with me. Um, Trent, you're only 13, why would I want to hang out with a stupid 13 year old? Me and my friends are trying to play Halo - leave us alone! Go watch Power Rangers or play with Legos or something? Well, that's how I used to feel, anyway. I've realized that Trent just really looks up to me, and it's important for me to set a good example so that he can grow up to be a cool guy like me. Trent, love you buddy! It's been great hanging out with you over break and I'm gonna miss you! I can't wait until you're old enough to come hang out at OU. You'll love it!

7. Learn to play guitar! - Caleb promised me last semester that he would teach me a thing or two on guitar, and I think I'm gonna take him up on this generous offer. Pretty soon, you'll be calling me Tanner Hendrix LOL! I wonder what song I'll learn first. Back in Black by AC/DC? Smoke on the Water? Iron Man? Either way, look for me on the cover of Rolling Stone magazine soon (jk).

6. Play less Angry Birds - ever since I got my new smart phone, all I ever do is play Angry Birds. I can't help it! It's sooooo addicting. But I definitely realize that there are more important things that I should be doing with my time....like studying!!!!

5. Study more - Maybe all the time that I take away from eating Ramen Noodles and playing Angry Birds I can put toward studying. What do ya think? I got decent grades last semester, but I know I can always do better! Work hard, play hard, Brad always tells me. AMEN! And with Accounting 101 on my schedule, I'm going to need to do A LOT of studying this semester.

4. No more taking the escalator up Jeff Hill - This kind of goes hand in hand with number 9. This should be tough. Walking up Jeff Hill is so tiring! Sometimes I just can't take it and I use the escalator in Glidden (One of the great secrets of OU). I figure if I'm trying to avoid the dreaded freshman 15 (the 15 pounds that freshman often gain) I should just walk up Jeff Hill.

3. Take it easy during Bengals games - It seems like every time Who Dey Nation steps on the field, I just can't contain myself. I start going crazy and chanting "Here we go Bengals, here we go!" Some of my friends actually think I was a Bengal tiger in my past life and that's why I'm such a crazy fan! I'm going to try and tone it down this year and just enjoy the games. It's not good for me to get so wild during games, especially when they lose.

2. Find more awesome music - Last semester, my life was changed when I started to listening to indie music. Discovering bands like Mumford and Sons, The Shins, O.A.R. and The Kings of Leon really changed my perspecitive on music. I encourage everyone to try and find music that isn't on the radio. There's some really good stuff out there. Here's an alternative music video

1. Live life to the fullest - College has really changed my perspective and made me realize how much there is out there in the world. So what's the point in feeling down in the dumps all the time when you should be out there living your life? Go for an adventure, try some new food, go mountain climbing (but be careful!), ask out your crush, do a crazy dance, sing, BE YOURSELF! No matter what life throws at you, go with it and do your best! Nobody's stopping you!

So there you have it. Be sure to post your new years resolutions below. I'll pick out my favorite ones and feature them in my next post!!!!

NFL Playoffs: Round 1

It's the most wonderful time of the year. No, I'm not talking about Christmas (That was two weeks ago). No, I'm not talking about the start of Spring Semester (Although it seems like everyone ELSE is talking about it, and they should be- OU 4 Lyfe!). I'm talking about the NFL Playoffs. Now first, I'd like to apologize for my lack of coverage in the final weeks of the season. I got some awesome feedback from my NFL Week 13 coverage, and I'd like to continue providing you with the pigskin scores throughout the playoffs. So without further adieu, here are the gridiron scores from the first round of the  national playoff tournament.

Vikings - 10

Green Bay - 24

          The frozen tundra melted because the pack attack was so HOT. The memory of Brett Farve lingers in  green bay, and the intimidation factor was too much for the viking onslaught. Stats: D. Moses with one fumble recovery and Jordy Nelson with 3 catches. Aaron Rodgers also threw a whopping 33 passes, but only 1 of them was a touchdown, making his touchdown percentage roughly 3%. He'll have to bring that up if he wants to beat the SF-49ers. They are arguably the hardest hitting team in the league today, and Aaron Rodgers isn't good against blitzers. Overall, this was a solid game.  Interceptions were thrown, sacks were made and field goals were kicked as the green machine kicked some viking butt!

Cincinnati - 13

Houston - 19

           This one was difficult to watch. The Bengals were in the Red Zone more than the end zone and it cost them in the end. Arian Foster was just too fast for the Bengal defense. His juke moves are probably what won them the game. M. Schaub also played hard and made 38 attempts.  Sometimes his passes were so quick that I lost sight of them, and I'm sure this was the case for other fans. Oh well, it was a great season for who dey nation, and I'm a Bengals fan for life. "I bleed orange and black" as my cousin Taylor always says when we watch the games. That's right. I've been watching the Bengals since I was jsut a kid, and I'm going to watch them until the day I die. No fair-weather fan here!

Colts - 9

Ravens - 24

          This could have been Ray Lewis's last game, but it wasn't because they won and will move on to the quarter finals. Speaking of Lewis he had 9 tackles - nice! If you look up intimidation in the dictionary, you'll probably find a picture of Ray LEwis. He's THAT good. You know who else is good? The other Ray- Ray "Lightning" Rice. Lightning is my nickname for Ray Rice because he's so fast that he looks like lightning on the gridiron. He had 15 carries for 70 yards! That's over 4 yards a carry for those of you counting at home. Talk about a pro-bowler, huh? Great game and some real dirty no-mercy football.

Seattle - 24

Washington - 14

          Upset city. RG3, where were you? My boy went down late in the game, making a comeback impossible for our first president's namesake. Despite this injury, there wasn't much bloodshed, as both teams showed outstanding sportsmanship and played by the old school rules. Most of the spirals were tight but a few of them got intercepted. You can't win a game with turnovers. You jsut can't do it. Just ask the 97 New Orleans Saints. Despite some great instant replays, this was probably the most boring game of the week. It still kicked butt, though. Every NFL game kicks butt, that's why they call it the NFL. If it didn't, they'd call it the MLS (soccer stinks!).  

Can you believe we're only weeks away from the Super Bowl championship? It seems like only yesterday we were watching the Giants hoist the trophies. Now we just have to wait and see who wins. I'll be back next week with the scores. In the meantime, be sure to check out the National Championship game tonight on ESPN (my favorite channel). The Notre Dame Fighting Irish (O-VER-RA-TED. CLAP. CLAP. CLAP CLAP CLAP!) vs. the Crimson Tide of Alabama (Bear Bryant coached here and Forrest Gump played here). My prediction? Bama 42 ND 13 (Lots of penalties and trash talking.) Enjoy the game RESPONSIBLY please. 

New Years in the Big Apple

Hey everyone! Just got back from the Big Apple for new years and let me tell you, it was craaaaaazy. Subways, pizza, taxis - this is the city that NEVER SLEEPS (okay, so I caved in my first night and got some shut eye. The big apple takes some getting used to, ya know?). It's like Jay-Z and Kanye said, "New York - these streets will make you feel brand new, these light will inspire you" (Empire State of Mind). I knew I was in for a wild ride when I first stepped on the subway and there was a guy SLEEPING....ON THE SUBWAY. Are you kidding me? Toto, we're not in Athens anymore. No, we certainly are not. We're in the big apple baby.

So my parents asked me and my brother Trent the first thing we wanted to do when we got there. See the Empire State Building? Nope. Go to Chinatown? Not right now. Catch a Yankees game? FAHGETABOUTIT! We wanna get some pizza....New York Style! So we went to a nearby pizza shop called Lil' Tony's and grabbed some slices. I challenged Trent to an eating competition (I'm the pizza eating king! Some of my friends back home call me "Blake the Pizza Man."), but my parents didn't let us because we were in public and we didn't want to look like tourists (I agree, this is why I had my Yankees hat and Derek Jeter jersey on). When eating pizza in nyc, it's important to fold the pizza in half length-wise if you want to raise street cred.

Next up? The Statue of Liberty, of course. Now, for those of you who aren't history buffs, Lady Liberty was given to the U.S. as a gift for our help in the French and Indian War. (AMERICA! F*** YEAH! LOL!) We had to take a ferry all the way out to see the statue, but it was definitely worth the trip (even though I was freezing on the ferry and thought I was going to get hypothermia!). The view from up there is amazing and it really makes you realize how big the city is.

We then made our way to the Empire State Building. Now, I had heard a rumor that if you threw a penny off of the Empire State Building you would put a huge hole in the ground. I wanted to try this, but unfortunately when we got up there, there were signs saying that it was illegal to throw anything off the building. I was in no mood to spend new years eve in jail, so I kept my change in my pocket where it belongs. Trent called me a chicken, but what does he know? He's still in HIGH SCHOOL for crying out loud. I'm not a chicken, I just respect the law - especially when it's being enforced by the one and the only NYPD.

Despite the pizza and the sightseeing, the highlight of the trip was Times Square on New Year's Eve. You wouldn't believe how many people were there waiting for the big ball to drop. There had to be at least 10 million. A lot of them didn't speak English, which started to get really annoying, but then I remember what Brad always tells me: you have to be accepting of others and try to understand where they come from. He's right. I need to work on that. I need to work on a lot of things. Standing there in the big apple with my loved ones watching the ball drop made me realized how blessed I am and how kick butt my life is. I have an amazing family, awesome friends, the most radical blog on the net, and the most radical blog readers on the net (you guys rule!). It's a new year, and while it's a time to reflect on our memories from 2012, both good and bad, it is also a time to look forward to the year to come. I have a list of new year's resolutions that I'm going to try out and I'll be sure to post them later this week.

As Arnold Schwarzenegger once said "I'll be back." Hope everyone had a great holiday and I can't wait to hear about it in the comment section (nothing inappropriate please!)

Question of the day: What's your new years resolution?