Who's badass?

We're badass.

The great state of Illinois that is.

It's been a kind of an odd start to the year for the Land of Lincoln.

First it started on a high note as we watched the senator from Illinois, Barack Obama get sworn in as the first african-american president of the United States.

We were feeling pretty good about ourselves. It was cold, but nobody cared, we were just soaking it all in, enjoying Aretha Franklin's hat (I became a fan of it on facebook) and feeling proud that we produced yet another note-worthy president.

I'm going to throw this picture in, just because when I was googling things for this post I found this and thought it was such a stunning photograph.



So it's January and we're feeling good about our state and then the whole Blago-gate goes down.

Who would have thought that little muppet face would betray us? You know something? We went to the same grammar school and he went to the same high school as my sisters. Andie even met him when he was campaigning for Governor. Jeez it's almost like we're family. How could you Roddy, how could you?

Then there's Roland Burris.

'Nuff said. Although I will give him this...he's spunky.

But we have reason to hold our heads high again and remember how awesome we are as a state. And that reason is the Mt. Rushmore of Sports.

I was sitting around after a long day of editing my news package (it'll air next week, check it out MetroMinutes.TV), getting caught in the rain and being in class. I was eating my hot pocket and reading the Sun-Times starting at the back cover where the sports' section is (but mostly because if I go backwards through the nespaper I can get to the Ziggy cartoon, I so enjoy, and the Funnies section the fastest). I'm going to admit it...I read the newspaper soley for the funnies. ;P

Well as I looked for Ziggy I stumbled across this article about this competition ESPN was having to decide which state had the best possible Mt. Rushmore of sports. Apparently no one could deny that Illinois had it, so we won.

The four famous athletes chosen for the hypothetical monument were, Michael Jordan (I wanna be, wanna be like Mike), Walter Payton (ironically my high school which was named after him had a shitty football team), Ernie Banks (I don't really have a witty aside for him) and the great Mike Ditka (who would win, a hurricane or Mike Ditka? Ditka. What if the hurricane was named Ditka?)

You can check out video for yourself about why (as if we need an explanation) these four were chosen. Linky-linkerson

Just another reminder, no matter how corrupt our politics, it's always a good day to be an Illinois-ian. ;D So take that Forbes, tell me I'm unhappy because I live in Chicago. >:P

ZUMBA-riffic!

My first thoughts when starting school again for the spring semester were, "When is spring break?"

It's mid-february and spring break season is only about a month away. I've made my plans, I've booked my flights, I've even made plans for a layover I have in L.A. on my way back to chicago. Things are set.

I'm heading to the sunny beach town of Mazatlan, Mexico. And that means, bathing suits and very little clothing.

That also means it's time to work out and stop eating. Okay I'm just kidding. There'll be some eating. I mean my God, I live in Chicago, our pastime is eating.

So I have a gym membership at Bally's (which blows, but unfortunately they own me for another year and a half) but I don't go there enough.

So I found this DVD set hidden away downstairs... probably bought after another New Year's resolution set and then abandoned as the resolution was broken.

It's called ZUMBA.

According to the website columbian, Beto Perez, came up with the latin-dance work-out concept when he forgot his music for an aerobics class and had to use what he had in his car.

I started it last night.

Again according to the website,

"Zumba® fuses hypnotic latin rhythms and easy to follow moves to create a dynamic fitness program that will blow you away. "

Yes, the rhythms are hypnotic. And yes, it will blow you away, but shit, this stupid thing is hard as hell.

Let me tell you, I pride myself on being a pretty rhythmic hispanic, but damn some of those steps are harder than I anticipated.

*sigh*

We shall see how this all works out.

The basics of Fútbol

It is a truth universally acknowledged that all mexicans are born knowing how to play soccer.

This is a false truth.

The only time I played the game on a team was for a brief period in the 7th grade when I joined the Lloyd Elementary Bulldogs.  

Our team sucked.  Like seriously sucked.  We were so bad (and poor) that we didn't even have our own personalized jerseys.  Our jersey didn't even have the name of our school printed on the front.  They were just blue and gold shiny shirts (we just wore our gym shorts or whatever) with numbers on the back.

My number was 12.  No longer my favorite number.  I played right guard... or something to that extent.  I just know that my role was defensive and I was near the goal, which was protected by my best friend Margarita.

I think I played all of two games before deciding that I was not going to have an amazing middle school career in soccer.

I remember a particularly bad game against our rival Hanson Park.  I swear to God that the girls on this team were on the 'roids.  They were freaking humongous and they were really good.  They clobbered us.  We all left covered in mud and all the worse for wear.  I still have a fucked up big toe from where this amazon ground her cleat-encased foot onto my little Nike sneakers.

After that I decided to stick to kickball (my game!) and softball--which I also played for my school... and which I also sucked at.

So to all my friends out there un-schooled in the game of Soccer here are the basics, courtesy of yours truly. ;)

First the field.

Soccer, or football, is played on a big ass field with a crap load of people running from one side to the other.  Although a few people cannot cross the center line (like the goalie) and the Centers can run around everywhere! 

There is a black and white ball that they have to kick around the field and eventually into one of the goal nets.  Preferably the net that belongs to the opposing team otherwise it's just not fun.  

Now here comes the good stuff!  By no means are any of the players allowed to actually touch the ball with their hands.  Making for good times and some fairly creative plays using random parts of the a player's body.  Head, feet, knees, butt...elbow...crotch...ok I don't think I've ever seen a crotch shot...a ha ha haha haha.  

*cough

Like in all sports there is a guy in a stripey shirt (is that what he wears...I don't remember...) who runs around blowing a whistle and pulling out colorful flags.  He calls fouls and keeps the players in check.

Finally as with all sports there are the fans.

They are by far the drunkest, rowdiest, devoted (although NASCAR fans are scarily devoted) and ridiculous of all fans.

I myself am a fan of Guadalajara's Chivas.  They are the Cubs of the world of soccer.  They're really good, they're loved by all and they lose at key moments.  Fuckers.  

My loyalty them stems from the fact that my family hails from a couple of small towns outside of Guadalajara.

*sigh... why is it that every team I root for seems to disappoint me?

An Adventure in Wii Sports

Remember when Playstation came out? Like the original Playstation?



I got it for my 12th birthday. My first video game system ever! I wasn't allowed to play (even though I totally did and was super good at them) video games when I was a kid. My parents said it would make me stupid. Well I read a lot because of that so I guess it was a plus. Thanks mom and dad.



I actually still have it. It's downstairs collecting dust in my basement. I've never moved on to newer (more expensive) gaming systems, but thank God my friend Megan's boyfriend Bryan owns like 30 (I'm not joking).



So tonight after a rainy, cold and windy expedition to Uptown I headed over to her place for my very first Wii Sports experience.


The magic of Wii Sports is that it allows a person to actually feel like they're playing a sport (for example tennis) and feel like they are actually good at it even though in real life they may suck at it.


"It makes me feel good about myself because you know in real life I can't play worth a damn." -Megan.


I actually won a couple of games of tennis, even though in real life my backhand sucks and I'm constantly hitting the ball out. I used to have a friend who was teaching me and my BFF Melissa how to play, it was great until one day she screwed him and then stopped talking to him. She screwed us both over.


All in all I enjoyed Wii Sports, even though I sucked really bad at Wii Golf.





I was seriously not amused at how bad I was. I in a fit of rage I flung the stupid control at the tv... no I didn't, but I sure as hell wanted to. I was on the freaking golf team and I ended the game with 17 strokes!!!

Being the sore loser that I am we ended the night on a low note.

I may try it again another time, but for now I'll stick to what I'm best at. Rock Band.


Goodnight All!

Holler!

Jeez, this has to be about the fifth or sixth blog I've started in my life.  My first one was here on Blogger.  It was a joint project with some high school friends, but as soon as we discovered Xanga (which I still have)  we abandoned it.  If you feel like a laugh feel free to check it out.

The Empire

But since I'm in a multi-media sports class I'm starting this one.  

There's something about having a faceless blog that makes one want to share secrets with the rest of the internet world... or maybe that's just me... o_O

• I'm not going to lie I have a tendency to flip channels when watching a game and I prefer to watch the last quarter of a game when all the really good action goes on.  
• I only watch the superbowl for the commercials and for the half-time shows.
• I like to find the hottest player on a team and then they become my favorite.
• I never got over the golden age of Bulls basketball... Michael come back!!! Phil Jackson we need you!!!  Who remembers Steve Kerr????
• I'm a total die-hard Cubs fan, but I can't afford to go to most of their games.
• I only root for the Sox if they aren't playing the Cubs...
• I'm a closet Brewers fan and really, really enjoy going to Miller Park.  (It's cheaper than Wrigley)
• I refer to soccer as, Futbol or Football.

I'm just regular girl who doesn't really understand some sports, but sure understands the thrill of the game and the deliciousness of a cold beer and some junk food.