Tiongson, Christian J: July 2008 Archives
Manny said that he was tired of Boston. Manny said that he'll be okay with a trade. Manny doesn't like how the front office is handling his contract. Manny said that the Red Sox doesn't deserve him at all. Manny this... Manny that. It's just Manny being Manny again.
Manny, I really hope you stumble upon this blog post one day. This message is for Mr. Manny Rameriz of the Boston Red Sox.
____________________________________________________________
Dear Mr. Rameriz,
My name is Christian Tiongson and I've been a life long Red Sox fan. The past few months, I've seen the conflict between you and the Boston Red Sox grow everyday into this large and nasty weed in the middle of the ballpark. It has gotten to a point that the weed is strangling everyone in Red Sox Nation. You are probably sick of hearing the fans boo at you, because of the comments you have said to the media, such as "I tired of the Red Sox and the Red Sox are tired of me" or "I'm okay with a trade" and other stuff like that. We all know how you are Manny. That is the why we have the saying "Manny Being Manny." You are who you are. You are a laid back individual who just let things pass, yet you are a great ballplayer and an obvious future hall of famer.
Think about it Manny. Through the 7 years you've been with the Red Sox, how many World Series championships we got? The answer is 2. And are you are a big factor in our championship wins? Of course! You were the World Series MVP for 2004. You gave us the game winning home run against the L.A. Angels against one of the game's greatest closers. Heck, there are tons of other accomplishments, like your 500th homerun... your nasty plays off the Monster. You are a big contributor to the team. And now you want out? I know the front office has some problems and there are other internal "clubhouse" problems but why do you want to leave us hanging? "Us" meaning the Red Sox and it's nation.
I want to tell you that no one can replace you as the Sox's 3rd spot hitter. No one. Not even Jason Bay or 3 prospect's combined. You give us those clutch hits, those "bombs" over the fence, and those weird plays (like the over the head catch and jumping the fence to give a Sox fan a high five). Dude, you keep us on the edge of our seats. You are very entertaining. You just make this game fun for us to watch. If the trade comes down to your decision to go or not, I hope you don't go. We're going to lose a valuable player and a large part of Red Sox Nation. We're going to lose the face of the team. It's like losing a family member or part of a puzzle. Think about the memories and what your fans are going to think. I think we will be a lot happier if you stayed, kept your head in the game, no more media conferences about how much you hate the Sox or anything.
What is baseball to you? Is it money? Is it the love of the game? Is it just to please the please the fans. Remember the first time you held a baseball or your first baseball game. Seriously baseball now is all just money, fame, and other less important stuff. What happened to just playing baseball to the greatest team in baseball? What happened to the love of the game? Manny, I know you have problems with contracts or anything, but can you put it aside and look at the game on front of you? It's the game that brought you to Boston. It's the game that gave us our first championship in 86 years. It's the game that brought us our second championship in 3 years.
I really hope you do stay Mr. Rameriz. Actually I really hope you retire as a Red Sox (but that's a stretch). I can't imagine you with a Marlins or Pirates uniform. I hope this message helps you decide if the decision is up to you around the 4pm deadline time.
- Christian J. Tiongson
____________________________________________________________
I will blog about what comes out of this trade situation. Even if this message was sent to Manny, I still have a feeling that the Sox will trade him. I think they had enough.
Waiting anxiously for 4pm,
- Christian
Manny, I really hope you stumble upon this blog post one day. This message is for Mr. Manny Rameriz of the Boston Red Sox.
____________________________________________________________
Dear Mr. Rameriz,
My name is Christian Tiongson and I've been a life long Red Sox fan. The past few months, I've seen the conflict between you and the Boston Red Sox grow everyday into this large and nasty weed in the middle of the ballpark. It has gotten to a point that the weed is strangling everyone in Red Sox Nation. You are probably sick of hearing the fans boo at you, because of the comments you have said to the media, such as "I tired of the Red Sox and the Red Sox are tired of me" or "I'm okay with a trade" and other stuff like that. We all know how you are Manny. That is the why we have the saying "Manny Being Manny." You are who you are. You are a laid back individual who just let things pass, yet you are a great ballplayer and an obvious future hall of famer.
Think about it Manny. Through the 7 years you've been with the Red Sox, how many World Series championships we got? The answer is 2. And are you are a big factor in our championship wins? Of course! You were the World Series MVP for 2004. You gave us the game winning home run against the L.A. Angels against one of the game's greatest closers. Heck, there are tons of other accomplishments, like your 500th homerun... your nasty plays off the Monster. You are a big contributor to the team. And now you want out? I know the front office has some problems and there are other internal "clubhouse" problems but why do you want to leave us hanging? "Us" meaning the Red Sox and it's nation.
I want to tell you that no one can replace you as the Sox's 3rd spot hitter. No one. Not even Jason Bay or 3 prospect's combined. You give us those clutch hits, those "bombs" over the fence, and those weird plays (like the over the head catch and jumping the fence to give a Sox fan a high five). Dude, you keep us on the edge of our seats. You are very entertaining. You just make this game fun for us to watch. If the trade comes down to your decision to go or not, I hope you don't go. We're going to lose a valuable player and a large part of Red Sox Nation. We're going to lose the face of the team. It's like losing a family member or part of a puzzle. Think about the memories and what your fans are going to think. I think we will be a lot happier if you stayed, kept your head in the game, no more media conferences about how much you hate the Sox or anything.
What is baseball to you? Is it money? Is it the love of the game? Is it just to please the please the fans. Remember the first time you held a baseball or your first baseball game. Seriously baseball now is all just money, fame, and other less important stuff. What happened to just playing baseball to the greatest team in baseball? What happened to the love of the game? Manny, I know you have problems with contracts or anything, but can you put it aside and look at the game on front of you? It's the game that brought you to Boston. It's the game that gave us our first championship in 86 years. It's the game that brought us our second championship in 3 years.
I really hope you do stay Mr. Rameriz. Actually I really hope you retire as a Red Sox (but that's a stretch). I can't imagine you with a Marlins or Pirates uniform. I hope this message helps you decide if the decision is up to you around the 4pm deadline time.
- Christian J. Tiongson
____________________________________________________________
I will blog about what comes out of this trade situation. Even if this message was sent to Manny, I still have a feeling that the Sox will trade him. I think they had enough.
Waiting anxiously for 4pm,
- Christian
Imagine yourself sitting in your screened porch reading your favorite summer book. In the distance you can see clouds building up. The first thought is that it might be a passing shower, since its hot and humid outside. Your parent comes into the porch and says there's a thunderstorm warning and tells you to get inside. Lazily, you sluggishly hop off your chair saying, "Not another thunderstorm again." The wind picks up, the cloud gets closer and closer. You start hearing raindrops pounding your window. The frequency of the raindrops increases, and next thing you know you hear a noisy sound of a downpour. The winds start picking up even more, and from your T.V, a red banner runs on the bottom of your screen, repeatedly saying "TORNADO WARNING - FIND A SHELTER NOW!" Next thing you know, you see branches flying everywhere and the sky getting darker and darker. You finally say to yourself, "I don't think this is no regular thunderstorm..."
When I was younger, tornadoes (mostly weather in general) fascinated me. When I was around 7 years old, I understood what a F5 tornado meant, and what channel I should click on to check if there was any type of weather warning if the sky turned "black" in a hot, humid day. Still to this day, I get excited when the sky turns gray, rain falls hard, and lightning races the sky. I guess I had the weather-man instinct in me, I don't know.
Most of you probably know what happened in southeastern New Hampshire a few days ago. A tornado, most possibly a EF1 or EF2 (which generally means that its a weak tornado, but can produce damage like downed power lines, trees, and damage to houses - the "E" on the code is part of the new tornado scale). Like what I said above, I was fascinated with the weather, so I basically stuck my eye on the T.V. to find out what happened. After reading a few articles in the Internet and keeping my eye on the T.V., the tornado was a big surprise for the citizens of New Hampshire. As far as I know, I never heard of a tornado that created this much chaos in New England in my life. Usually, I would hear about a tornado touchdown in the south or around "Tornado Alley," which is the area of the U.S. where many tornadoes have been recorded. I've looked through the pictures and maps of the damage from wbztv.com, and overall I was shocked about the damage. Probably the worse thing I got from all of this is that 1 person died trying to save her grandson.
Tornadoes are generally rare in the New England area especially near Boston. But imagine if something like that happened around here? Do you think we're prepared for such a disaster? Ironically we almost had that tornado funnel touchdown near the UMass-Lowell area. I saw how the storm moved; it was heading straight up north, with probably a little northeast movement. I think that even its such a rarity to have a disastrous phenomenon hit us, I think we're due for one - we have to know what to do when something like that happens. Not even a tornado, but a hurricane, an earthquake, a major major blizzard, or anything that is listed with that group. I feel that MA is not prepared for any summer storms at all.
Wow... ironically the sky is dark right now and there's a few loud rumbles of thunder... time to watch the sky. (Sorry I'm a nerd! Hahaha.)
- Christian
When I was younger, tornadoes (mostly weather in general) fascinated me. When I was around 7 years old, I understood what a F5 tornado meant, and what channel I should click on to check if there was any type of weather warning if the sky turned "black" in a hot, humid day. Still to this day, I get excited when the sky turns gray, rain falls hard, and lightning races the sky. I guess I had the weather-man instinct in me, I don't know.
Most of you probably know what happened in southeastern New Hampshire a few days ago. A tornado, most possibly a EF1 or EF2 (which generally means that its a weak tornado, but can produce damage like downed power lines, trees, and damage to houses - the "E" on the code is part of the new tornado scale). Like what I said above, I was fascinated with the weather, so I basically stuck my eye on the T.V. to find out what happened. After reading a few articles in the Internet and keeping my eye on the T.V., the tornado was a big surprise for the citizens of New Hampshire. As far as I know, I never heard of a tornado that created this much chaos in New England in my life. Usually, I would hear about a tornado touchdown in the south or around "Tornado Alley," which is the area of the U.S. where many tornadoes have been recorded. I've looked through the pictures and maps of the damage from wbztv.com, and overall I was shocked about the damage. Probably the worse thing I got from all of this is that 1 person died trying to save her grandson.
Tornadoes are generally rare in the New England area especially near Boston. But imagine if something like that happened around here? Do you think we're prepared for such a disaster? Ironically we almost had that tornado funnel touchdown near the UMass-Lowell area. I saw how the storm moved; it was heading straight up north, with probably a little northeast movement. I think that even its such a rarity to have a disastrous phenomenon hit us, I think we're due for one - we have to know what to do when something like that happens. Not even a tornado, but a hurricane, an earthquake, a major major blizzard, or anything that is listed with that group. I feel that MA is not prepared for any summer storms at all.
Wow... ironically the sky is dark right now and there's a few loud rumbles of thunder... time to watch the sky. (Sorry I'm a nerd! Hahaha.)
- Christian
This morning after I got out of bed, I came across an interesting Yahoo! News article with a title, "In oil-rich Norway, Petrol Prices Most Expensive in Europe." I had to check it out. Can it be worse than us?
Oh yeah... definitely.
I skimmed through the article quickly and I found out that Norway is the fifth largest oil exporter in the world. In other words, tons and tons of oil comes from that country itself. Right away I think, well there problem is solved; they have enough oil to keep prices low and customers happy.
I'm wrong again.
According to the article, there also was a gas take hike that I believe was significant enough to hit the economy over there pretty hard. How does it hit your pocket if you lived in Norway?
Here's the numbers I got from the artcile:
One customer owns a Peugeot 307. According to my research the MPG's for that car is 25.9 Urban and 45.6 mpg on "Extra Urban" or highway.
But the customer said that he had to pay a total of $148 (after converting it to US Currency) to fill up his whole tank!!!
The article said that it cost $2.82 per liter or quarter gallon. So that mean's that a whole gallon is exactly $11.28!!! That's ridiculous! Oddly enough, the citizens of Norway still drive through this. Honestly if that happened here, there would be riots at Capitol Hill, everyone would walk, bike, or do whatever that doesn't involve a vehicle that relies on gas. I wouldn't even think public transportation would be running if the prices are this high. High gas prices would mean that the admission fee to the train, buses, and boats would be a lot higher.
So next time you go to a gas station that is riding over $4.00, take a deep breath and say to yourself, "Thank God I'm not in Norway!"
If you would like to read the whole article, here's the link for it: Yahoo News! Norway Gas Price Story.
Feel free to comment!
- Christian
Have you ever had the feeling... the feeling that you can reach the ultimate goal but fall back to step 1? I had this feeling when my baseball team lost in the semi-final single-game elimination playoff game. It wasn't a pretty win at all either. We only had one hit going into the last inning. I just wish I can go out on the field myself and make the plays, but only my players can change the way of the game. All I can do is make the changes in the lineup, positions, and give them encouragement. When the last out was recorded, my heart just sank not just because of the playoff lost and the elimination, but watching my team together as one for the very last time. The majority of my team are veterans and future graduates of the league, so they won't be coming back next year. These are my "15s." They have been with the team for 3 years. They all experienced the high points (the league championship when they were 13 years old) and the low points (our 2-13 season last year). They made my coaching experience worthwhile because I saw each player positively develop as a baseball player and as a person. I'm proud of their dedication and love for baseball.
Now, for my 13s and 14s, most of them will be gone also. I can definitely tell you that I have very talented rookies. They are so talented that they are most likely (or maybe 100%) going to the Division I league next year. So if you think about it, I only have 2 returning players out of 13, which will stink for another playoff potential season. Who knows? Maybe we'll get a bunch of talented rookies who can bring us to the "motherland" again. All I can say is that I'm looking forward to next year's season of challenges.
As I sit here pondering of what should and shouldn't have happened, I look back at the season and think, "wow, this has been one helluva ride."
It's time to hang up the cleats, put all the equipment away, and look at the rest of my summer... I could smell college around the corner.
- Coach Christian
Now, for my 13s and 14s, most of them will be gone also. I can definitely tell you that I have very talented rookies. They are so talented that they are most likely (or maybe 100%) going to the Division I league next year. So if you think about it, I only have 2 returning players out of 13, which will stink for another playoff potential season. Who knows? Maybe we'll get a bunch of talented rookies who can bring us to the "motherland" again. All I can say is that I'm looking forward to next year's season of challenges.
As I sit here pondering of what should and shouldn't have happened, I look back at the season and think, "wow, this has been one helluva ride."
It's time to hang up the cleats, put all the equipment away, and look at the rest of my summer... I could smell college around the corner.
- Coach Christian
Hello Bloggers,
It's 11:16am on a beautiful Tuesday morning. Last night, my baseball team won in a blow out against another playoff bound team, 26-10. Yes, 26-10 and it's not a football score. In football terms that is 3 touchdowns and 2 field goals. My team showed yesterday that they have what it takes to advance to the next level in the playoffs. Tomorrow, my team will play the second best team in the league. During the season, we are 2-1 against that team. I can tell you that they can be beaten. We just have to stay tough, swing away, and show the other team and our fans that we have faith, hope, and will never ever give up. I always tell the kids that. If we win that game, then we are heading to the championship for the second time in three years. Every year we have made the playoffs, which shows that we have the potential to compete every year. I can tell you all that I can feel it... I know we are one of the best teams in the league. We have hard throwing pitchers, a great infield and outfield, and awesome baserunning... but the trophy is too far to reach right now.
Time to make a game plan for a win,
- Coach Christian
It's 11:16am on a beautiful Tuesday morning. Last night, my baseball team won in a blow out against another playoff bound team, 26-10. Yes, 26-10 and it's not a football score. In football terms that is 3 touchdowns and 2 field goals. My team showed yesterday that they have what it takes to advance to the next level in the playoffs. Tomorrow, my team will play the second best team in the league. During the season, we are 2-1 against that team. I can tell you that they can be beaten. We just have to stay tough, swing away, and show the other team and our fans that we have faith, hope, and will never ever give up. I always tell the kids that. If we win that game, then we are heading to the championship for the second time in three years. Every year we have made the playoffs, which shows that we have the potential to compete every year. I can tell you all that I can feel it... I know we are one of the best teams in the league. We have hard throwing pitchers, a great infield and outfield, and awesome baserunning... but the trophy is too far to reach right now.
Time to make a game plan for a win,
- Coach Christian
Hearing "Blue Christmas" and "Christmastime is Here" was a bit surprising for many of my store's customers. Looking at our storefront display of ornaments was probably twice as surprising. Today was my store's Ornament Premier. It is the summer event, when my store displays and sells very detailed, memorable, and great-looking ornaments to the general public. You probably think that this is a stupid idea, because it would give customers the "Christmas Blues" or goosebumps about the stressors of the holiday season. At first I thought it was a stupid idea, because it's only July... why sell Christmas ornaments during a season when no one is thinking about it? But then I remembered this phrase - "Christmas in July." After thinking about what the company wanted to get across, I thought the event was a great idea. First of all, it would boost sales, help ornament collectors get a head start in their collections (or trees), and get people thinking about how wonderful (or horrible) the Christmas season will be.
I still don't see why people should be so stressed out about the Christmas season. The season is supposed to be relaxing with less stress. It is a time where you take and make memories, and spend time with your love ones, friends and family. Why do people get so stressed out? Is it because of shopping? Planning for family dinners? Planning for trips? Anyone can do those stuff stress free. Why panic if you can't find the right gift for your buddy? Why do you have to be anxious if you made a mistake with the Christmas family recipe? You don't have to be stressed out through the greatest time of the year. Just remember the true meaning of Christmas. There are many meanings of Christmas and only you can answer that.
Well, time to lay on my bed and chill.
Merry (WAY BEFORE) Christmas to all, and to all good night!!!!
- Santa Christian
I still don't see why people should be so stressed out about the Christmas season. The season is supposed to be relaxing with less stress. It is a time where you take and make memories, and spend time with your love ones, friends and family. Why do people get so stressed out? Is it because of shopping? Planning for family dinners? Planning for trips? Anyone can do those stuff stress free. Why panic if you can't find the right gift for your buddy? Why do you have to be anxious if you made a mistake with the Christmas family recipe? You don't have to be stressed out through the greatest time of the year. Just remember the true meaning of Christmas. There are many meanings of Christmas and only you can answer that.
Well, time to lay on my bed and chill.
Merry (WAY BEFORE) Christmas to all, and to all good night!!!!
- Santa Christian
For those who don't know, I'm a devoted guitarist. I've been playing for 7 years already and I'm planning to play until the day I die or until I'm physically not able to. Music has become my best friend. Like a true friend of mine, it got me through the best and worst of times and helped me find the meaning behind life. Plus, when I really needed to vent out, but no one was around to vent to, I would just grab my electric guitar, turn the amp on, and pour my heart out with a soft tone or some blues. Seriously, without my guitar, I would be a total stressful mess. Throughout the years I've realized how important music is to me. As a student in college who is bombed by schoolwork, exams, and other stressful stuff, I found that playing the guitar relaxes me right away as soon as I pick a tune, either something that was created by a famous musician or something I just made up off the top of my head. I guess its just the soft melodies that lessens the "static" in my head and clears me up for my next task. Maybe its just the mental recording from playing guitar that is found in my head that repeatedly says "hey, you sound really good. If you can play a difficult instrument, you can study up on your next exam... it's a piece of cake, dude." Okay, maybe that last statement might make you send me to a mental institute. I guess its just plain and simple, music just calms the nerves. It just let's you free all that tension from the burdens of everyday life.
Everyone wonders if its hard to play, and my answer is no. Sure, its hard to learn a musical instrument, but when you get to a point when you are able to express yourself freely with each strum of the guitar and just let your emotions go, then the word "hard" or "difficult" or even "impossible" is officially out of your mindset. Unlike most musicians, I don't want to be rich and famous from the guitar or get extremely popular. Sure, fame and fortune is a plus in life, but it won't help you find happiness. I want to show the world that I can express my emotions through my guitar. That's why I started a myspace music page and a website to let everyone in the world to hear my music: Sir Christian's Music Myspace and Sir Christian's Jimdo Music Page (Under Construction).
Right now as I write this blog, I'm listening to John Mayer's new live CD "Where the Light Is: Live in Los Angeles." It's a great piece of work. Seriously, this guy is one of the best guitarists out there. Tons of people criticized him from going overboard in his solos or songs, but, hey... he is showing his emotions, and he feels like he is on top of the world. He has so much motivation and drive to go through a whole tour and give 100% to his fans all the time. As long as you are having fun and giving 100% effort, you'll succeed.
Well I guess, you can say I'm multitasking. I'm listening to the CD, writing this blog, and trying to write a song for someone (special). This song will be special because its the first time I'll be singing in one of my songs. It's a huge project for me (even if I don't have a drummer, another singer, bass guitarists, or any other musicians in my "band." It's just me so far). I just have to live off with my Acer laptop, a webcam microphone, a crappy recording program, two guitars, and an amp. No bass, no drums, no voice. Just plain guitar music.
I wish I can just explain more about how I feel about music... but this solo is getting me lost in my writing. That's how powerful the song is. ("Gravity" (Live in LA) - John Mayer).
Well leave some comments about music and stuff. I would love to hear your input.
- Sir Christian
Everyone wonders if its hard to play, and my answer is no. Sure, its hard to learn a musical instrument, but when you get to a point when you are able to express yourself freely with each strum of the guitar and just let your emotions go, then the word "hard" or "difficult" or even "impossible" is officially out of your mindset. Unlike most musicians, I don't want to be rich and famous from the guitar or get extremely popular. Sure, fame and fortune is a plus in life, but it won't help you find happiness. I want to show the world that I can express my emotions through my guitar. That's why I started a myspace music page and a website to let everyone in the world to hear my music: Sir Christian's Music Myspace and Sir Christian's Jimdo Music Page (Under Construction).
Right now as I write this blog, I'm listening to John Mayer's new live CD "Where the Light Is: Live in Los Angeles." It's a great piece of work. Seriously, this guy is one of the best guitarists out there. Tons of people criticized him from going overboard in his solos or songs, but, hey... he is showing his emotions, and he feels like he is on top of the world. He has so much motivation and drive to go through a whole tour and give 100% to his fans all the time. As long as you are having fun and giving 100% effort, you'll succeed.
Well I guess, you can say I'm multitasking. I'm listening to the CD, writing this blog, and trying to write a song for someone (special). This song will be special because its the first time I'll be singing in one of my songs. It's a huge project for me (even if I don't have a drummer, another singer, bass guitarists, or any other musicians in my "band." It's just me so far). I just have to live off with my Acer laptop, a webcam microphone, a crappy recording program, two guitars, and an amp. No bass, no drums, no voice. Just plain guitar music.
I wish I can just explain more about how I feel about music... but this solo is getting me lost in my writing. That's how powerful the song is. ("Gravity" (Live in LA) - John Mayer).
Well leave some comments about music and stuff. I would love to hear your input.
- Sir Christian
Hey bloggers,
Sorry for the late blog. As you can probably tell that I had a busy July 4th Weekend. Usually around this time of the year, my baseball season takes a break from a tough season and when my family comes together and relax for once. On Friday, my family and I went to Boston early and just walked around to see the festivities. We also walked down to the Charlestown Navy Yard to see the USS Consitution sail into the Boston Harbor. Unfortunately, when we got there, all we saw was the ship going back into its "resting grounds." So we basically hung out around the navy yard, took some funny pictures of each other, and headed into Quincy Market to find something to bite. After we headed to the small park near Spaulding Hospital at watch the boats flow into the Charles River for the night.
After our day in Boston, we headed back home, had our annual BBQ and played extreme musical chairs with my younger cousins and siblings. That was really funny. I actually have a video of us fighting for the chairs, but I don't have any time to post it up. Another tradition we have is watching the "Flyover." Around 7-8pm every year, a group of fighter jets (this time it was 2 F-15s) would set up their flight formation over my area before the big flyover over the Esplanade. Funny enough, this is usually the indicator that I should leave for Boston so I can get a good spot to watch the fireworks. This year, unfortunately, my watching spot is no longer available to the public - the Longfellow Bridge. I guess that the bridge is falling apart or something and its no longer safe for anything (except for the MBTA Trains) to get on. It stunk, because I didn't find a great spot for the fireworks; all I got was trees and smoke from the fireworks. Oh well, I got to re-watch it on wbztv.com!
On Saturday, I worked my final shift at Kohl's Department Store. It was a fun last time, because I didn't really do anything, ha ha. I've heard that more employees have quit the between the last time I've worked (2 weeks ago) and yesterday, and inventory was going to start this Monday... so I guess I left at the right time!
Today, I'm working again, but in my new job at Hallmark. I'm pretty happy that I got more hours this week, because I need the money!! My baseball team is going to start playing again also; we have 3 more games left.
So I'm thinking this is going to be a long week. See you all later!
- Christian
Sorry for the late blog. As you can probably tell that I had a busy July 4th Weekend. Usually around this time of the year, my baseball season takes a break from a tough season and when my family comes together and relax for once. On Friday, my family and I went to Boston early and just walked around to see the festivities. We also walked down to the Charlestown Navy Yard to see the USS Consitution sail into the Boston Harbor. Unfortunately, when we got there, all we saw was the ship going back into its "resting grounds." So we basically hung out around the navy yard, took some funny pictures of each other, and headed into Quincy Market to find something to bite. After we headed to the small park near Spaulding Hospital at watch the boats flow into the Charles River for the night.
After our day in Boston, we headed back home, had our annual BBQ and played extreme musical chairs with my younger cousins and siblings. That was really funny. I actually have a video of us fighting for the chairs, but I don't have any time to post it up. Another tradition we have is watching the "Flyover." Around 7-8pm every year, a group of fighter jets (this time it was 2 F-15s) would set up their flight formation over my area before the big flyover over the Esplanade. Funny enough, this is usually the indicator that I should leave for Boston so I can get a good spot to watch the fireworks. This year, unfortunately, my watching spot is no longer available to the public - the Longfellow Bridge. I guess that the bridge is falling apart or something and its no longer safe for anything (except for the MBTA Trains) to get on. It stunk, because I didn't find a great spot for the fireworks; all I got was trees and smoke from the fireworks. Oh well, I got to re-watch it on wbztv.com!
On Saturday, I worked my final shift at Kohl's Department Store. It was a fun last time, because I didn't really do anything, ha ha. I've heard that more employees have quit the between the last time I've worked (2 weeks ago) and yesterday, and inventory was going to start this Monday... so I guess I left at the right time!
Today, I'm working again, but in my new job at Hallmark. I'm pretty happy that I got more hours this week, because I need the money!! My baseball team is going to start playing again also; we have 3 more games left.
So I'm thinking this is going to be a long week. See you all later!
- Christian
"Okay, here's the situation boys and girls... As you can see, we worked pretty hard this season, and I, and the coaching staff, could not ask for more. We played a lot of great teams with tons of talented players, but through the thick and thin we definitely showed that we are the better team. Our record is 7 - 5 and we are currently tied in second place with the 2007 City Series winners. We have two more games left in the season, and those two teams are fighting for our spot in the playoffs. There has been a lot of criticism this season from parents and coaches about our shot to reach the championship. They would look at us say we don't have potential. But you know what? I don't listen to anything negative about us. I always think positive, and you all should too. I can tell you for a fact that our next two games will be challenging, but we have to stick together and keep our heads in there. We have to band as a team, because like what everyone says, "There is no I in team." Do not, I repeat, do not, look into your opponents eyes from the bottom up... look at them at the same level or even greater. We are not the underdogs. I do not believe in "underdogs." The Boston Red Sox were underdogs, the Boston Celtics were named underdogs against the experienced Lakers, and the Patriots were looked down upon during their first Super Bowl this decade. Do not give up hope. Stay strong. I know we are tied in second, and the 3rd, 4th, and 5th place team are tied in 3rd. But we can overcome this. Standings is just all math. But the will to fight to the end doesn't involve numbers. You all have what it takes to win the City Series. Let's go out there and show them, who is ONE."
This is what I want to tell my baseball team before they head into a crucial baseball game tomorrow. If we win, we have a bigger chance to keep our second seed spot for the playoffs. If we lose, we will end up in 5th place. Second to fifth is a big jump. I don't want to see my kids fall that hard. I can tell they are nervous. Heck, I was nervous when I faced a tight race for a playoff spot when I played baseball. I just have to hype up the kids and tell them there is nothing to be afraid of. If we lose, we lose. Everyone falls once in awhile, but no one falls to the abyss. You can fall, pick yourself up, and bring yourself to the next level.
That is why I love coaching. Telling these kids that there is a lesson greater than the game itself about life.
- Coach Christian (1 championship in 2 years)
This is what I want to tell my baseball team before they head into a crucial baseball game tomorrow. If we win, we have a bigger chance to keep our second seed spot for the playoffs. If we lose, we will end up in 5th place. Second to fifth is a big jump. I don't want to see my kids fall that hard. I can tell they are nervous. Heck, I was nervous when I faced a tight race for a playoff spot when I played baseball. I just have to hype up the kids and tell them there is nothing to be afraid of. If we lose, we lose. Everyone falls once in awhile, but no one falls to the abyss. You can fall, pick yourself up, and bring yourself to the next level.
That is why I love coaching. Telling these kids that there is a lesson greater than the game itself about life.
- Coach Christian (1 championship in 2 years)
