Where Are They Now?

Sports Illustrated publishes an issue every year with information on what former athletes are currently doing. I have always enjoyed reading what these folks are now up to and reminiscing on what I was doing when they became a star. To bring the thoughts a little closer to home I decided to do research on some individuals who once were a part of my daily life but I have lost track of over the years. The result was my very own "Where Are They Now?" article. I hope you enjoy catching up with these guys who probably were some part of your life in some way in the 1990's.

Jay Watts

The former JV basketball coach at Walsingham Academy who led the Junior Trojans to a 5-26 record during his two years on the sidelines moved to Atlanta shortly after graduating from William & Mary in 1994. Jay immediately took a job at Westminster Academy and taught Middle School Math and assisted with both the football and basketball programs. Jay has now been at Westminster for 15 years and has moved into the role of Assistant Athletic Director, Head Varsity Girls Lacrosse Coach, and Assistant Varsity Girls Basketball Coach. Jay was responsible for beginning the Girls Lacrosse program at Westminster 10 years ago and has won 5 State Championships during his tenure. He is very involved with US Lacrosse, still claims to be a rabid Alabama fan, and actually has one son named Campbell.

Thomas Roberts

This versatile All-CAA big man who was seen making many a big shot at William & Mary Hall in the early 1990's has now become a very successful business man. After leading the Tribe in the most exciting game at The Hall I have ever seen, an improbable overtime loss to 19th ranked Virginia, Roberts played professionally in Gmunden, Austria, Dubai, and United Arab Emirates. After his career was over he became a very successful high school basketball coach and made his way up to a Wall Street VP through time at Wachovia, JP Morgan, and Citigroup along with an MBA at UNC. Roberts has since left Wall Street and and founded Roberts Education Corp, an unconventional education group that provides innovative, action, skill, and behavior-based content, curriculum, and training. REC specializes in on-site workshops, programs, and training sessions.

Shane Eddy

After resigning his position as Coach Computer at Walsingham Academy in 1997, Shane Eddy moved to Northern Virginia to pursue a career in Information Technology. Since leaving The Sister's of Mercy, Eddy has finished his MBA at George Washington and held positions at Northup Grumman a Software Technician and Security Engineer. Shane also still has a deeps passion for Gymnastics and is often seen performing back handsprings at company functions.

John Grant

The former WA school President, known to many as Johnny Jingles, has made a name for himself in politics in a much bigger way than just lobbying to get a Fruitopia machine in the Lunch Room in 1996. After graduating from Duke in 2000 and spending a year in New York doing improve, John moved to DC and started working in the Senate. He worked for Illinois's Peter Fitzgerald and Tennessee's Lamar Alexander before graduating from Georgetown Law School. After earning his JD, Jingles began working for Senator Collins of Maine as her counsel, advising her on intelligence, privacy, and civil liberty issues. John is not married and from information in a current email conversation does not plan on being so anytime in the near future.

Heath Burris

After torching the Trojan Basketball Team on various occasions, this 3-point guru from Greenbrier Christian took a scholarship at Chowan College in North Carolina. After a year at Chowan, Burris packed up and headed home to chase his dream of playing Division I basketball at Old Dominion Universty. Burris lettered twice for the Monarchs and averaged 8 minutes and 3.6 points per game during his Senior campaign. After graduating from ODU Burris got his degree in ministry from Southeastern Baptist Theological Seminary. He got his first ministry position at Debaun Baptist Church in Chesapeake on an interim basis and also served as Associate Pastor of Youth and Education at Bethel Baptist. Heath can now be seen in the pulpit every Sunday in the role as Pastor at River Oak Church on Great Bridge Boulevard in Chesapeake.

John Cacetta

Still living the dream.

Facebook's 25 Things

I think Facebook is a joke. I refuse to sign up for an account no matter how many people tell me how great a tool it is to keep up with friends from college and high school. I keep up with everyone I want to pretty well and have no desire to have Rose Ann Bermisa friend me and look at pictures of my child. Sorry Dave.

I do however have a bad habit of sneaking on to my wife's Facebook account and looking at her friends and seeing what they write on each other's walls and seeing what their status is. This is entertaining for a couple reasons. First of all a lot of her friends are actually my friends and I can see how much time they are wasting on this online popularity contest and second of all I like to laugh at how corny a lot of things that occur on this site are. The latest example of pure corniness is a game called 25 things. This game works when one of your "friends" tags you. Once you have been tagged you are required to list 25 random things about yourself that many people may not know.

Well I didn't think it was fair that just because I don't subscribe to the Facebook way of life that I can't be tagged. So I tag myself and here we go:

1. I sing out loud to Jewel.

2. My favorite car that I have ever driven is a convertible PT Cruiser.

3. I hate animals.

4. I have 2 love children with Anne Marie Urso. One of them was born last year.

5. I have a nickname for both of my nipples.

6. I have absolutely no interest in learning a foreign language.

7. Mary Beahm changed my life.

8. I cheer for #2 seeds over #15 seeds in the NCAA Tournament because I want my picks to be right.

9. Shaving my chest is one of the five best decisions I have ever made in my life.

10. I have Googled your name before.

11. I pee sitting down.

12. In 9th grade I got a hand job from my best friend Dave's girlfriend, Sarah Ann Goodwin.

13. I have a passion for marine life.

14. I think I am a better person because I do not know how to play an instrument.

15. I am scared to death of the man who narrates Unsolved Mysteries.

16. I gave Craig Harris his first beer.

17. I eat at Captain D's once a week.

18. I really don't think it is that cool to be a gym teacher and high school tennis coach. There I said it.

19. I killed my sister's cat.

20. I once touched Joe McKnew in secret place while he was sleeping just to see how it felt.

21. I still feel guilty for making fun of the heritage of my high school librarian, Mrs. Mangeri.

22. I compare life situations to scenes from 90210 and Saved By The Bell.

23. If Neal Pratt had not been holding me back in 7th Grade I probably would have kicked the shit out of Warren Cobb.

24. I made up my own nickname. You gotta fuckin problem with that?

25. Even though Chop Culture (http://chopculture.blogspot.com/) inspired me to begin writing my blog, I think BZ Nation has taken over as the #1 Blog of Walsingham Academy Grads.

Steelers 6-Pack? It Should Still Be 4!

Roughing the Passer? Roughing the Holder? Holding? Fumble?

After watching the biggest football game in America this year, all of these calls had to leave you scratching your head.

I do not think that the NFL would ever tell its' referees to fix a game, let alone make sure a certain team won the Super Bowl. That being said I can't help but wonder why after the last two times the Pittsburgh Steelers played in the NFL's biggest game there have been such a question as to how the game was officiated.

First of all, lets take a trip back to 2006 when the Steelers played the Seattle Seahawks in Super Bowl XL. This was a game the Steelers won 21-10 but it was a contest that without controversial flags thrown the result would have gone the other way.To start things off, a 16 yard touchdown pass in the 1st Quarter was nullified after an offensive pass interference penalty was called. Offensive Pass Interference eon this? Really? ( http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vURI_Cz-p6s ) That drive resulted in a field goal, ultimately costing Seattle 4 points. Then later in the game, the 4th Quarter to be exact, a holding penalty brought back a Matt Hasselbeck completion to Jeremy Stevens that put the ball on the Steeler 1 yard line. Holding is a call that could be called on every play, but as you can see at the 5:15 mark of the following link this hold should not have changed the outcome of a Super Bowl. (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JzdqIpArpJ4&feature=related ) A touchdown on that drive would have given the Seahawks the lead. Three plays after the penalty the Steelers intercepted a pass that ended the threat and ultimately put the game away on the next drive. Penalties happen but when looking closer into the statistics after the game Pittsburgh was penalized 3 times for 20 yards while the Seahawks were flagged 7 times for 70 yards. A discrepancy that should not happen in as big of game as a Super Bowl.

Now this year. The early parts of Super Bowl XLIII belonged to the Steelers and after a late first half interception return for a touchdown it looked like Pittsburgh was going to run away with the game. Then the second half started and the Cardinals showed up and felt they still had a chance. They made big plays and looked like the better team but penalty after penalty kept them from getting any closer than the 10 point hole they had been in at half time. The most blatant mistake occurred early in the 4th Quarter when a roughing the passer call extended a drive for Pittsburgh. Not only was the roughing the passer questionable at best but a much more obvious intentional grounding call was ignored. Ultimately this mistake resulted in 3 points for Pittsburgh. Then in the fourth quarter plays were made by both sides and scores were exchanged in the last 5 minutes that led the Steelers to a 4 point lead with seconds remaining. The Cards were unlikely to make a game changing play in the final seconds but the game ended on a controversial fumble that neglected a final chance for Arizona to win the game. Once again looking at the stats one sees Pittsburgh 7 penalties for 56 yards and Arizona flagged 11 times for 106 yards. Should this big of game be decided by the official throwing flags?

There is no denying that the Pittsburgh Steelers made plays to win both games. Nevertheless, you can not deny that the average NFL game has 6 penalties against each team for an average of 45 yards. In 2008 Pittsburgh was flagged an average of 6.1 times for 52 yards each game. The Cardinals were penalized 6.3 times for 48 yards. Do you think in the biggest game of the year the difference should be 4 penalties and 50 yards? How do you explain in the past two Super Bowls that the Steelers participated in that they average 5 flags for 45 yards (right at NFL average) and their opponent averages 9 penalties for 93 yards?

The talking heads will have no problem over the next few days calling the Steelers the best franchise in NFL history but there is a problem with that. Pittsburgh is no doubt a legendary team but they should be 4-3 in the big game and not 6-1. The Seahawks and Cardinals were both robbed of Super Bowl titles because the officials in their game were flag happy. No doubt it sounds bitter but I do not have a dog in this fight. I am not a fan of Pittsburgh, Seattle, or Arizona. I am however a fan of The League and I do feel like it looks a little suspicious when one of The League's flagship franchises gets obvious preferential treatment in The Super Bowl.

Rumblings

• Is it just me or is the older version of Salim in the new movie "Slumdog Millionaire" played by Nick Taylor?

• Has anyone ever really thought about what Cliff Huxtable's occupation was in the Cosby Show? He was an OBGYN who worked out of his basement. Yeah, me too.

• One of my wife's best friends recently sent her a book that she had read that she thought my wife would enjoy. Yesterday I picked up the book, named "Twilight", and turned to the back cover to find a synopsis that said:

"About three things I was absolutely positive.

First, Edward was a vampire.

Second, there was a part of him-and I didn't know how dominant that part might be-that thirsted for my blood.

And third, I was unconditionally and irrevocably in love with him"

What????

My wife is a very intelligent woman. She graduated from William and Mary Law School and got her undergraduate degree from The University of Virginia. Her friend also graduated from UVA and now has a very good job in Atlanta. What I am trying to say is here we have two smart, successful women both nearing the age of 30. What the hell are they doing reading about people in love with vampires? I guess their comeback would be what is a 30 year old dude doing playing Wii and writing Blogs.

• I am all for finding a job and I think it is admirable that people are willing to do anything to put food on the table for their family. That being said, what the fuck are the people who dress up like the Statue of Liberty and prance around busy roads for Liberty Tax Service thinking?

• I am very happy with the life I lead and I am very comfortable with the person I have evolved into. I still can't help but think if I could have the exact personality I admire the most, I would be Coach Taylor from Friday Night Lights until I retire. At that point I would turn into Walt from the recently released movie Gran Torino.

• ESPN recently released the Prestige Rankings for all 119 college football teams. The poll seemed to take all subjectivity out of the equation by giving programs certain amounts of points for specific accomplishments. My Alabama Crimson Tide ranked 6th and were only a few points away from #4 Ohio State. I know I am biased but how can you have a fair poll that awards the same amount of points for a SEC Championship as you do for a Sun Belt Championship or even a Big Ten Championship. The bottom line is the SEC had 8 teams finish in this Top 25 of most prestigious college football programs. The Big 10 had 3. Shouldn't that be taken into account that 8 quality teams are competing for championships over the past 70 plus years while Michigan and Ohio State just rotated winning Big 10 titles. All in all a good poll. I just see Alabama rolling in anywhere from 1-3 along with Oklahoma and USC. The complete poll can be found here: http://sports.espn.go.com/ncf/news/story?id=3849468

• News out Morgantown this afternoon is that God willing sometime tomorrow afternoon I will be a father of a new daughter. Poor little girl. I can think of probably 4 people in the world that think I am mature enough to be a father. Here's to proving them wrong.

• Reason #215 I may not be ready to be a father. I was almost as excited to hear that Mark Gottfried was fired as Alabama Basketball Coach this afternoon as I was to hear my wife was being induced tomorrow. Almost.

"Blast" From The Past

As some of you may remember the first idea to start a blog came in early 2007 when Big Dave Friedman created a few versions of Blog DF. The Blog then was named Blog Z and lasted a few months before fizzling out. Well as you know the Blog is back, this time as BZ Nation, and out of respect for its past we will honor Blog Z by republishing some of its original posts. This first repost was a popular read resulting from an adventurous trip to Boston. I hope you enjoy it....again.

“Public Session Protocol”


A few weeks back I woke up on a Saturday morning with a slight urge to evacuate my bowels. Not thinking twice, I put off this urge because I knew my wife and I were in a bit of hurry to get on the road and execute our plans of traveling to Boston to visit one my wife’s friends from college, take in an afternoon basketball game between their alma mater, Virginia, and Boston College and then enjoy a night out on the town. After being on the road for a good hour I realized this was obviously going to be a busy day and my surroundings were inevitably going to make a good session on the John near impossible. I began to panic but was not in a situation yet where it was going to be more than just an uncomfortable inconvenience.

The day started out perfectly with a nice drive through New England, a delicious, greasy grilled cheese for lunch at a local Boston eatery, an easy ride on the T to the basketball game and a competitive contest on the hardwood. It wasn’t until about halftime when the grilled cheese hit the spot in my stomach that caused the urge to evacuate to return. Being at a basketball game I knew there was no way I wanted to take a quick seat and decided to put off the inevitable as long as possible. After the game we decided to go out for a few afternoon drinks at a local sports bar before dinner. We found a nice spot on Commonwealth Avenue, had a few adult beverages, and watched the majority of the NFL Playoff game between the Indianapolis Colts and the Baltimore Ravens. My urge was consistent but not in emergency mode. After about five or six drinks we took off from the bar for an 8:00 dinner reservation. I ate a light dinner and put down a few more brews at an Italian Tapas Restaurant (that boys is for another Blog) that Carter’s friend had picked out. Then following supper the ladies and I proceeded directly to a popular watering hole next door. This is where the night came to a head.

I had a few more drinks with the girls and pounded a few shots of Jagger with Carter’s friend before I got the nerve to finally decide that waiting to get on the commode was no longer an option. I had a good enough buzz going where I no longer cared what Carter’s friend thought of me and my sanitary concerns had been eased about the time I had finished my tenth beer. So I chugged what was left of my drink and told the women I would be back in a few minutes. I then made my way over to a one room restroom with one urinal, one toilet, and one sink, all separated by a good ‘ol air partition. At this point I wanted to turn and run for the hills but I had made my decision and when your mind is made up in that situation there is no turning back. I bolted the door and sat down to get the job done. Now after taking my seat I knew this was not going to be a 30 second timeout, when you let something of this magnitude simmer for over 12 hours you are going to have to take your medicine and put in a good 10-15 minutes. I was prepared for this and after getting over the initial shock of actually dropping a bomb in a bar I actually became very comfortable and was enjoying a quality session. At least until the door started rattling.

Initially, I was ignoring the knock on the doors and yells to hurry up but after they became more frequent and it seemed the hinges on the doors could break off any second I was enraged to the point I was screaming back “Chill the fuck out”. At this point I was drunk, shitting in a bar, and being harassed by a posse of drunken Bostonians who sounded like Matt Damon in Good Will Hunting, a definite recipe for disaster if you know anything about my personality. The stubborn, hot headed guy I am I did not hurry, in fact I took my sweet ass time, despite the call for my head becoming louder and louder. I finally finished up; made sure it was appropriate to slide my boxers back into place and decided these pricks would continue to wait. I then did my best Daniel Russo imitation on the bathroom door, screamed a few words I learned from Jesse Wilburn in 7th grade through the wood, slowly washed my hands and prepared to take on the world.
I then proceeded to open the door and was ready to come jaw to jaw with anyone who had anything to say. That is exactly what happened. I was yelling something along the lines of “what the fuck is your problem” and was getting a face full of “You fucken idiot you never lock the door at a bar”. This got me going even more; don’t lock the door at a bar? Yeah right, I am going to let all these red haired guidos parade in and out of a bathroom with my pants around my ankles. I let him hear it more until we both were separated and sent our own ways. It was right then I realized I had not taken into account when you are at a bar almost every guy in the place pisses once an hour. I found this out the hard way. After arguing with douche bag #1 I looked up and saw a line at least 40 guys deep waiting for the bathroom. Each one of them had some comment for me as I walked by and I in turn had a mouthful for them. Each and every one of them suggested I should have left the door open and let them take turns bleeding the lizard as I sit and enjoy the poor man’s peep show. Finally, I made it back to the girls told them every guy in here is going to come try to beat my ass as soon as that line for the bathroom shrinks and we better find a new spot to spend the rest of the evening. I did tell them the story and they did tend to agree I handled the situation correctly, but as guys what do you think? Is there protocol for dropping a load in a restroom with no partition? Does it matter if you are at a bar where people are more inclined to have to relieve themselves? Would you let a parade of strangers come in one by one to watch you shit while exposing your junk to the entire establishment with each opening of the door? Would you ever want to piss in that situation? I am not sure there is an answer but I promise you one thing if I ever find myself in that situation again, I will handle it the exact same way. I just might be a little more prepared to deal with the consequences.

The End of an Era

This morning for the first time in my 18 years since I reached puberty I did not reach under the bathroom counter, grab the cold metal bronze can, shake her twice to loosen up whatever it is exactly her contents are, and spray the cold mist under both arms and across my chest for good measure. No, on January 15, 2009 my status as the the last male over the age of 15 and under the age of 73 to use the Right Guard Regular Sport Spray Deodorant came to a close. After my shower for the first time in my life I took the plunge and made the switch to the Right Guard Sport Clear Gel.

It is very difficult to give up something you have cherished for so long, something that is one of the only things that has literally stuck with you through everything you have been through since you hit 7th grade. I sprayed that can under my arms after I broke Dean Florakis's arm in a post gym class pile on, I pulled 'Ol Bronzy out of a gym bag after every single one of the 51 losses I contributed to on the high school hardwood, and that cold can was there for me every time I woke from a long night of smoke filled bars and basements to make me at least think I was smelling ok. That aerosol has been from Dothan to Morgantown with stops in Williamsburg, Lynchburg, Tampa, Harrisonburg, West Point, and Norfolk along the way. She was in London to greet me after I got my head bashed in and she was there to congratulate me in a hotel room in Charlottesville the night after I got married. That old bronze can has served many purposes over the past two decades but most of all it has been a friend.

This is a decision that will not be a popular one because of the impact it will have on people close to me. No longer will my wife be able to say "Don't spray that thing near me." The days are over when my friends are able to use me as some freak show example and tell people "Yeah I know this guy that still uses spray deodorant and he still even uses that shit in the bronze can." This is a day people who know me well thought would never come and I know they will be affected.

This is a decision that I am not 100 percent comfortable with but it one I felt needed to be made. Call it growing up or call it moving on but the bottom line is the gel just feels more healthy. As hard as that is to say, it just feels right. I know the questions will be asked how long will he go and is there any way this will last. In answering those questions I reference the words of Tony Dungy, a man who also made a huge decision this week to bring change to his life, "I don't anticipate it, but we'll see."

So goodbye 'Ol Bronzy. I'll miss the spray downs. I'll miss your scent. I'll miss our friendship. R.I.P

Do You Think Donovan McNabb Is Funny?

Peyton Manning and Donovan McNabb are both great quaterbacks. Donovan McNabb and Peyton Manning are both tremendous examples of professional athletes who are intelligent and well spoken. Donovan McNabb and Peyton Mannning are both wonderful figureheads for their families, teams, and anything else they decide to endorse as a football player or as a person. The difference between Peyton Manning and Donovan McNabb is Peyton Manning is funny and Donovan McNabb is not.

When it comes to being funny Peyton Manning gets it. He knows when to be funny and when he is trying to be humorous it is not forced. Manning takes a few opportunities to be sarcastic or make fun of himself for what he is or what he is not. This works for all of the companies he represents and in turn Manning has benefited from the extra TV time he gets from these spots. Manning's effectiveness in humourous spots are easiest to see when he stars in spots with others who may not be as comfortable. Take a look here at this short NBC Promo with Reggie Bush:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-bTAnm95hPQ

Donovan McNabb is not funny. McNabb's humor is forced. There are many times when McNabb is being interviewed in a serious spot and he decides to throw Middle School humor at us. What confuses me is often the media seems to enjoy it and prasies him for his lightheartedness. I think the shame is that in my eyes McNabb's unsuccessful attempt at humor often undermines the intelligent athlete that he is. McNabb's actions when trying to be funny are a kin to Bevis and Butt Head. People think it is funny but I sure do not see it. The best example I can find of this is a charity basketball game where McNabb obviously thinks he needs to get attention.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lNh1ejZ3kX0

McNabb's awkward attempts at humor have always annoyed me probably more than it should. I can see how it goes right by the majority of sports fans but take a look over the next few weeks as McNabb is thrust into the spotlight with the success of the Eagles and see if the way he handles himself doesn't rub you the wrong way.