Bittersweet.

And I'm back, my apologies for my absence.

The NBA playoffs, especially the current round has been pretty disappointing. Most of the games have been blowouts, 'amazing' has not really happened.

With that being said, amazing did happen when I stepped out on the basketball court today.

2 hour, season and series finale of 24 tomorrow night. Bittersweet. I'm expecting great things from the ending of this year and the show in general but I'm sad to see it ending. Should be interesting to see what happens.

The Cincinnati Reds are still playing pretty good baseball. They keep on going back and forth with the St. Louis Cardinals for first. With a series against the Pittsburgh Pirates starting tomorrow night, it's important this team beat the teams they're suppose to beat.

These next three weeks are going to be tough to post on here. I'll be pretty busy with two jobs and school. Mount Lookout Swim Club opens next weekend.

Quote of the blog: "The meaning of life is not simply to exist, to survive, but to move ahead, to go up, to achieve, to conquer."

My second home in the summer, Snackbar..

That is the Truth.

First Place.

After playing basketball for two hours today, it's a fact..I'm outta shape. Not sure if I ever was in shape, but man I was struggling after the second game. With that being said, it was good just to get back on the court.

Well well well, the Cincinnati Reds are in first place. The Reds won 2 out of 3 from the St. Louis Cardinals this weekend. Good pitching all weekend, clutch hitting and great defense were the keys to success this series. Saturday night's game one of the best times I've ever had at a Cincinnati Reds game. The ending to the game was ridiculous, if you haven't seen the replay...the Reds who were only up by 1 run threw out a runner at home in the 9th inning to end the game, epic. The sold out crowd and good competition made it seem like a playoff atmosphere. It might only be the middle of May but this baseball team is playing exceptionally well. They're in first place for the first time since 2007. Keep it up Redlegs!

It's going to be a busy week for me so don't expect much from me this week.

Quote of the blog: "Every win now is a deposit in the confidence bank. Every win after a loss is worth even more, to a young team learning on the fly how to surf across six months The weekend just finished was baseball how it ought to be around here, and hasn’t been for a decade. Three days of remembering how to feel good about the Reds and the game. Culminating on Sunday when the Reds won and landed – where, again? – in FIRST PLACE."

Bronson Arroyo after throwing a complete game Sunday..

That is the Truth.

Lebron James.

First things first, as Marty Brennaman would say, "How about them Reds?!" They swept the Pirates, scratch that, they made the Pirates looks like a little league team. They've won five games in a row and have won 12 out of their last 16 games. Half a game out of first place, behind the St. Louis Cardinals..oh look who is in town for a three game series this weekends, the Cards. The Cincinnati Reds are playing exceptional ball right now, something I haven't seen in awhile. I know there are a lot of games left to be played but it'd be really nice to take two out of three from the Cardinals and take over first place.

I played basketball two days in a row now with no pain. I'm back.

So who deserves more credit? The choke job of the Cavs, or the execution of the veteran Celtics? I'm going to go with the spectacular play of the Celtics. No one was giving them a shot before the series. This is Lebron's year, the Celtics are too old, Shaq is the real difference..blah blah blah. I've never really been a fan of any Celtics player. Pierce is a drama queen, Garnett is just a jerk. But man, Rajon Rondo is growing on me. How can you not like the guy? Yeah he did go to Kentucky for college, and I guess a lot of Cavalier fans probably aren't to fond of him but the kid has some game. NBA, where amazing happens.

Lebron James. Hmmm, where to start? I'm going to start out with by ENDING the discusion of Lebron being on Kobe's level. Yeah he's only 25, yeah he has won back to back MVP's but man, Kobe never would have let this happened. LBJ shot 18 of 53 in the last three games of the series, which they lost. That's 33%, also he had 18 turnovers. Wait, what? Same amount of turnovers as field goals made.

All you people who want to rip me right now because I'm putting 'The Chosen One' (ha)..stop. This is where I give the man some credit. He's a beast. Bright future ahead of him as he'll be the sought after free agent in NBA history, maybe even the entire history of sports. Honestly I don't even think Lebron knows where he is going to be playing next season. Whatever happens, he's going to go to a team that's going to compete right away. The Kicks really doesn't make sense unless they bring in another all start. Chicago makes sense to be teamed up with Derick Rose. If I had to guess, I'd say he ends up playing with Cleveland. It's the safest guess of them all but it'll be an interesting process..lots of dirty playing going on in the process of acquiring Lebron James, I guarantee you that.

Yuck, enough talk about the Cleveland Cavaliers. I'm excited for some baseball this weekend. Heading down to tonight's game and Saturday's. GO REDLEGS!

Quote of the blog: "If you're trying to achieve, there will be roadblocks. I've had them; everybody has had them. But obstacles don't have to stop you. If you run into a wall, don't turn around and give up. Figure out how to climb it, go through it, or work around it."

The Chosen One..SMH. (shaking my head)...

That is the Truth.

Dream Job.

Ummm pretty sweet day. Here's a run down..

Five Guy's for lunch. Yummy.

24. Wow, Jack Bauer is insane. This is super intense right now, what will happen next?

Played basketball today for the first time in nearly two months. Out of shape? Yes. Glad to be back on the court? Yes. Overall it was good, played a little scared, didn't want to go to hard on the back. Feels great now, little sore now but that's expected.

Cincinnati Reds win, again! That's 4 in a row. Johnny Cueto pitched tremendously, only allowed 1 hit over 9 innings. The Reds batters were also hitting the ball well. Stay hot Reds! Sweep them.

BW3's for dinner. Double Yummy.

Cleveland loses, gets killed by Boston. The Celtics now take a 3-2 lead in the best of 7 series. By the way, the Celtics are a career 33-1 when leading a series 3-2 in the playoffs. It's funny watching 'Cleveland fans' react when they lose. They're not Cleveland Cavalier fans, they're Lebron James fans. It'll be interesting to see what happens the rest of this series, don't count them out yet.

Finally, I received an offer to work with the Cincinnati Reds. Internship! Really excited about this opportunity considering I've always wanted to work for them, it's my dream job.

Quote of the blog: "Don't give up. Don't ever give up."

Johnny Cueto (I guess I can say I work with him?..)

That is the Truth.

Mother's Day.

First things first, the most important thing too...Happy Mother's Day. Shout out to all the mothers out there, especially mine. Love you!

Made my unofficial athletic comeback tonight. Played a little tennis tonight under the lights. Played horrible but back felt good for the most part.

Tomorrow for public speaking class I have to give a persuasive speech. My topic? Why Pete Rose should be in the Hall of Fame. I know for a fact that my teacher is against my view, let's just say I'm excited to argue with him, I will win.

How bout them Redlegs? Won again today making it a successful 4-2 home-stand. It definitely doesn't get old beating the Chicago Cubs. Went down to the game Saturday night, cold but a good time. We have tickets for next Saturday too. We take on the 1st place St. Louis Cardinals. No off day tomorrow, we're traveling to Pittsburgh. Stay hot Reds, please!

Congratulations to Oakland Athletics pitcher Dallas Braden who pitched a perfect game today. 27 batters faces, zero hits, zero walks, zero base runners. Very impressive, only the 19th perfect game in Major League Baseball history. Impressive right? What is even more eye opening is that he did this on Mother's Day. His Mom passed away a couple years ago from cancer, this game was dedicated to her for sure.

Quote of the blog: While in the pursuit of happiness, one should stop and just be happy.

Perfection..

That is the Truth.

Jack Bauer.

Celtics-Cavs anyone? This series is already a good one and it has potential to be epic. Tied up 1-1, Lebron officially won the MVP award. Boston has the experience with veterans players. This series is going to seven games, Cavs pull it out.

24 spoiler alert: I love the guy, but has Jack Bauer gone mad? That was my initial reaction at the end of last week's episode when he killed off Dana. After pondering about what is going to happen and wondering if Jack is completely nuts, I decided NO! He had every right to do what he did, these last couple episodes are going to be intense. I can't believe there are only four hours left of the whole season, and the show itself. Sad to see it end but it made a great run and the movie should be a good one.

Anyone see what Tiger Woods did last week? Or I guess the proper question would be did anyone see what Tiger Woods didn't do last week? He shot +9 and failed to make the cut, only the sixth time in his professional career that has happened. People on ESPN and various websites have questioned his focus, work ethic, and his ability to compete at the same level he use to. Are you kidding me people? He's still the greatest golfer ever to live. He'll have a top 10 finish at this weekends tournament to shut up the critics.

Chiropractor tomorrow, hopefully all goes well and I never have to go there again.

The Reds won again last night, a stellar 3-2 victory over the New York Mets. Bronson Arroyo pitches tonight as myself and three friends are making the road trip down to Great American Ball Park. The Reds are hot as of late, they'll win again tonight. I said it here first.

Quote of the blog: "The dictionary is the only place that success comes before work. Hard work is the price we must pay for success. I think you can accomplish anything if you're willing to pay the price."

Jack Bauer..

That is the Truth.

Flying Pig Marathon.

The Denver Nuggets season is officially over. Great season, disappointing ending. They were ousted by the Utah Jazz who move on to the next round to face the Los Angeles Lakers. On a more serious note, things are not looking good for Denver coach George Karl. As most of you know he was diagnosed with throat cancer recently and is undergoing chemotherapy. As he was in the hospital for a round of radiation they found out he also had a blood clot in his leg. This guy just can't catch a break when it comes to health. My prayers along with the rest of the NBA's are with you. Get better soon.

By the way, to all of you who are now done or almost done with school, damn you! Have fun going back in early August, I guess. Ugh! (Jealous.)

The Cincinnati Reds lost today but managed to go 4-2 on the six game road trip. Some quality pitching along with clutch hitting lead to a good road trip. Impressive road trip and now they'll be back in the 513 for six games, three games against the New York Mets and a weekend series with the Chicago Cubs. Hopefully me and a couple friends will go down to some games this week, I know we're going Saturday night for sure.

Congratulations to my Aunt Sarah for completing the Flying Pig Marathon today in the lovely weather conditions..we're proud of you!

My back has been feeling good but that's because I haven't been doing anything physical. Hopefully wednesday is my last visit to the chiropractor..right now it just seems like it's never going to get better.

Quote of the blog: "How far you go in life depends on your being tender with young, compassionate with the aged, sympathetic with the striving, and tolerant of the weak and strong. Because some day you will have been all of these."

Flying Pig Marathon..

That is the Truth.