The Great Debate

Ping-pong or table tennis? Just like ketchup and catsup, or soda and pop, the game goes by more than one name. Which is it? Does it matter? What causes one to decide on one nomenclature over another? Most importantly, is that the proper use of the word "nomenclature"? Anyway, I prefer "ping-pong," but if I'm offending any die-hard opinionated traditionalists, I apologize in advance.

At NetShops, I get plenty of opportunities to play said game during my breaks. Let me tell you, that's a good way to refresh your brain/eyes and get out of that office chair. No matter how comfortable those chairs are, something tells me the human body is not meant to sit in one for 8 hours a day. When I started at NetShops, I was pretty terrible at ping-pong. I never had a table growing up, so my opportunities for playing were few and far between. Surprisingly enough, consistency pays off. I've always relied on a low, speedy serve to catch my opponent off-guard, but in the past few months, I've developed a strong backhand and picked up some spin techniques. Being halfway decent definitely makes the game more fun, so if you're like me and don't have a table of your own, and you don't work at a company that lets you play ping-pong, I definitely recommend getting a table. And don't tell me you'd rather just play Pong on your cell phone. Come on!

Football and Foosball

I grew up playing football, and I was pretty adept at tackling back in the day. Playing defense was always my forte, until my high school coach told me I was too small. Then I had to scramble to find myself a new position, since my attempts to grow six inches and 30 pounds of muscle overnight failed. It wasn't such a bad thing in the end. Offense is more fun anyway. Speeding downfield with the ball . . . shaking defenders with slick moves . . . shooting the ball past the keeper into the back of the net - it gets you pumped up just daydreaming about it.

Did I lose you for a second, there, with that bit about shooting the ball into the net? That's right, I'm talking about European football. I love the NFL, but soccer has always been my game. Don't worry, I won't confuse you or patronize you with the whole "football vs. futbol" thing anymore. But while we're on the topic, can someone explain where the word "foosball" came from? That's definitely a fun game, but in what way is it at all representative of soccer?

Hockey

While I'm talking about sports, I should remind everyone that the Stanley Cup Finals begin tomorrow. Hockey is easily ignored since ESPN doesn't carry games anymore, and basically, if ESPN doesn't cover it, it doesn't count. So where can you go to catch tomorrow night's game between the Pittsburgh Penguins and the Detroit Red Wings? Versus. No, not NBC, which would make sense. Instead, NBC is showing a repeat of Monday's American Gladiators. No matter what you're watching, you can still show some spirit with one of these. If you can't find the Versus network, you can still get your hockey fix at justairhockeytables.com. Air hockey might be one of the greatest games ever to be found in an arcade. Just saying . . .

Basketball Jones

Yeah, that's right - I just named this post after a song from the movie Space Jam. That movie was (and is) awesome. That soundtrack was the first soundtrack my brother and I ever had, so it holds a lot of emotional significance. Anyway, it's heating up in the NBA playoffs with the Conference Finals underway. Being a Creighton grad, I was sad to see Kyle Korver and the Jazz get knocked out by the evil Lakers, but more importantly, quality NBA basketball is back. The storied franchises of the Lakers and Celtics have the possibility to match up in the Finals, which would be sure to bring a lot of viewers back to the league. Seeing such good players bang it out on the hardwood inspires me to get out on the court and launch up a few jump shots myself.

Bloggy Bloggington

I guess I'm gonna try to blog consistently this summer, to see how it goes, and to see if anyone cares. It's weird writing like this when I don't how who my audience is. As I'm writing this right now, I don't have an audience at all, so I feel a bit like a crazy person. You might stare at someone who's talking to himself in a grocery store, and I feel self-conscious for that reason.

Anyway, I'm not sure of the best way to introduce myself yet. Facebook has me list my favorite books, movies, TV shows, interests, and quotes, which is great, but I'm not going to do the same thing here. A blog just seems like it has a completely different feel - it's still obviously personal, but it's not as blatantly ego-driven. I can just reveal what I want to reveal through my writing - you won't get updated every time I change my profile.

I could run through the standard introduction spiel (name, age, hometown, favorite color), but that's boring. I'll tell you three random facts about myself instead.
1) I've never bought a pen, and I refuse to do so - I acquired most of my writing utensils from career fairs in college.
2) I hate when people stand in doorways. Nobody can get in or out!
3) I can do a dead-on impression of several celebrities/TV characters (like Buster Bluth from Arrested Development)

So I'll try to keep this up to date with stories, rants, and other features. I have some ideas, and I'm open to suggestions, so as Tobias Funke would say, "Let the great experiment begin!!"