mcinerney

I’m a big sports fan, especially basketball. I cannot possibly guess how many hours of sports I have watched in my lifetime. In person, on TV (and TiVo), SportsCenter, etc. I don’t watch any television shows per se. Meaning, I don’t watch Grey’s Anatomy or even 24. I never got into the Seinfeld or Friends years. That said, the TV is on quite a bit at my house. And 99% of the time, some kind of athletic event is what is showing. Basketball season is the worst. There are multiple professional and college games on every night of the week. I suppose it is a minor miracle that I bring the garbage to the street each week.

My point to this is simple. I have watched sports my entire life and I’m not sure I could name five worse injuries to watch than the one Shaun Livingston suffered the other night. You can see it on YouTube (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Cn2_XPls68E), but be aware it truly is sickening. I am somewhat glad it was a non-contact injury because it is the kind of thing that could haunt another person if they were responsible for it. I hope he is able to recover from this injury because he has the potential to be a really good player.

The injuries are tough to stomach for anyone, but if you have ever played sports and done something as simple as breaking your finger or nose or twisting an ankle, you know how painful it can be. I cannot imagine something as serious as Shaun Livingston’s knee injury.

The injuries that one could say are worse to watch are:
1. Joe Theisman breaking his leg on Monday Night Football (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=clM8mPPDx9E&mode=related&search=)
2. Dave Dravecky breaking his arm while throwing a pitch
3. Jason Kendall dislocating his ankle on a play at the plate

I’m struggling to think of worse injuries to watch. Sports are great to watch 99.9% of the time, but these injuries do not fit in that fun category.

Cell phones, email and internet. It is 2007 and obviously everyone has access to these technologies. The question is, how well can you access them from one single device? It used to be that you needed a cell phone, PDA and computer. That has been changing, but usually at the cost of something. Some of the PDAs that turned into cell phones were so big, you couldn’t throw them in your pocket. They were also quite expensive. You didn’t want to carry them with you everywhere because they were bulky and for fear of losing it or having it break.

I believe there is finally a solution. I’ve been using a Blackberry Pearl for a couple of months now and love it. I think they have finally found the right combination of size and functionality. It is almost the exact same size as my RAZR phone. The Pearl is roughly 4” X 2” X 0.5” and weighs only 3.1oz. The screen is big enough to read full emails. I think most people are scared off by the QWERTY keyboard with each key being multiple letters. Not to worry. The key to typing on the key pad is the predictive text. It is more than solid. You rarely, if ever, need to worry about whether you are typing an “e” or an “r” (which share the same key), etc. It is actually surprisingly good at proper nouns as well. I don’t even have to correct it on a name like “McInerney,” which is reason enough to make the investment. Web-browsing is also quite good (both WAP and HTML). The full web-pages load impressively quickly. The battery life (in two months) has been not failed me. The navigation is made easier than other Blackberry devices by the introduction of the trackball.

I’m two months into the use of this Blackberry Pearl and I’m still searching for a negative aspect to it. The biggest reason of all (aside from the fact that it can predict McInerney accurately) to purchase a Blackberry Pearl might be the price tag. I believe they are roughly $150, potentially less with activation and service agreement.

Years back, when I was an undergrad at the University of St. Thomas, some friends and I fell in love with the concept of J-Term (who wouldn’t?). If you are unfamiliar with this term, first let me be the first to apologize to you. J-Term is essentially the time given in-between the fall semester and spring semester at some local colleges. Rather than taking four classes during the four month fall and spring semester, you can take one class for the month of January. Or, in an effort to take full advantage of the undergraduate experience, you can simply sit out J-Term.

I could go on and on about all the reasons sitting out J-Term makes the most sense. Suffice it to say, that sitting out J-Term allows you to have half the total time given for summer vacation. It allows for a six week break for J-Term versus the three months given for summer. Taking this time off to clear your head and get ready for the spring semester, still allows a person to graduate in four years (with only a little adjusting of your schedule). My roommates and I would start the J-Term countdown on the first day of classes in the fall. As the days got colder, the number got smaller. It was extremely exciting when that number first went into double digits, then it was single digits. I am not one to wish my life away, but J-Term to a college student is analogous to Christmas for a six-year old….only it lasts for SIX WEEKS, not 24 hours.

Since I don’t see any company offering a J-Term in their benefits tucked neatly between Christmas Day and President’s Day (and that would be ALL of those days), I have found another month that can be exciting. March. You may be thinking people take trips in March, occasionally there will be a hint of spring in the air, etc. I am thinking COLLEGE BASKETBALL. The conference tournaments, March Madness, and, naturally, the annual trip to Vegas (this deserves its own blog).

As a professional, going to work every day, I find myself counting down the days until March. I really don’t think there is anything like college basketball. This is true in November, December, January and February. But it is especially true in March. It can make you feel 21 again watching college kids play a game they love (for the most part), watching the students in the stands dolling their painted faces, school colors, jeans and plans for the party after their school wins. Watching players, students, parents, coaches, faculty all cheering like the next 20 years of their life depends on each game, and in some cases, each shot, is truly exciting.

The conference tournaments start in early March and it just builds up from there. Selection Sunday you can count me out for any plans, that is unless you care to sit down and watch the selection show with me. I know that day more than I know any other day of the year. After all of the teams are announced, I will look at the brackets for a few minutes and then I will be on the phone. Hours of discussions and debates will follow. Who do you like? Where are the upsets? Who is ready to carry their team?

This is exciting. The countdown is approaching single digits. March is almost here. I’m pretty much busy every Thursday – Sunday in March. It could be 30 below zero and 80 and sunny. This kid will be in front of the TV.

I started a new job about a month ago and I’m loving it.  Everyone I work with is quite smart and very technical.  Since all of my coworkers have their own blog, I figured I better “fit in” and start my own blog.  I’m an I.T. Manager and have been for a number of years.  I guess I’m overdue.  I’m not sure how often I will be updating this, but it has been fun putting it together and jumping on the blog-wagon.