Dear bandwagon fan,

I just wanted to say thanks for all of your "support." Thanks for getting the word out about our team. It's great to see that you are showing your support by wearing team shirts and jerseys. Although I must say that it baffles me as to how you can wear those shirts while screaming "you suck" and "this is the last time I buy season tickets." Also, I have noticed that you always seem to leave when we're down late in the game. It's ok though, I know you must have other things to do.
But I do have a question. How come you always seem really into the team at the beginning of the season, but then once they fall into a slump, you stop watching the games? Come to think of it, I think at the end of last season I saw you at a game cheering for the other team. ...that wasn't you? My bad.
Hey, I just looked at your facebook profile and I saw that you joined a group bashing the team, what gives?! ...HACKERS? REALLY? Wow, that stinks, I'm sorry. Funny how that's the only thing they did...hmmm--interesting.
Anyway, I just wanted to write and say thanks for the support! The end of the season is drawing near and it looks as though our playoff hopes are fading but its nice to be at the games with y...wait, you're leaving?

Sincerely,
A fed up true fan

Front Row

This is a pic of Jon Vroman (the guy you're about to read about) and I

This past weekend I attended the Association for the Promotion of Campus Activities (APCA)conference. A few students from schools around Texas attended. I was one of the three from my school that was asked to go.

Our job as students was to attend sessions by different speakers and performers. The performers ranged from comedians to artists, poets to musicians and even magicians. The performances were done during showcases during dinner on Friday and Saturday nights. The speakers were done in the morning in "Ed Sessions" and in the afternoon at "Speaker Sessions".

The majority of the ed and speaker sessions were about how to improve campus activities and get more students involved. Some were more of a "self-help" or motivational talk.

I have to talk about one of the sessions that really stuck with me-- It was by a man named Jon Vroman.

Jon had two sessions that really spoke to me and I loved them, but I'm just going to give you a highlight of one. It was about what he calls "living your life in the front row." Living your life in the front row basically means being engaged in life. Don't just sit back in the "nose-bleeds" and watch everyone else. Be engaged. Crowd-surf your way to the front row! I don't want to spend too much time on this because I want you to check him out for yourselves. Basically what he says is that there's no reason for you to not be in the front row, loving life and everything around you! If this doesn't make sense right now, just check out his website and it should start to make sense. I just had to write about this because what this guy had to say really stuck with me.

I'm usually a pretty upbeat person, but I've been especially happy these past few weeks. After talking to Jon and applying some of the tips he gave, I became even happier! I didn't think it was possible for me to be this happy. So yeah...he's great.

To find out more about him and get a better understanding of what I'm talking about (because I know that it makes very little sense) visit his website at myfrontrowlife.com.

Also, please check out frontrowfoundation.org. It is the charity he started, where people with a life threatening illness get to live their life to the fullest and experience a concert, sporting event or something of that nature, from the front row. It's a really great thing--I LOVE IT!

Tailgate

Tailgating. A primary part in the football experience. Fun. Exciting. A fans version of a pregame warm up. It warms a person up before a big game. The excitement that one experiences at a tailgate party stays with them as they enter the game. Tailgating is why I think the crowd is often more "into" the first half of the game. After a dull half-time performance, where a crowd sits and watches people dance, the second-half crowd is not as excited, usually. There are circumstances where the crowd is still pumped up, but from this blogger's experience, the fans in the latter half of the game are no comparison to the first half fans.
Think about it. Before the game, if you tailgate, you're surrounded by partiers, music, dancing, drinking and pick up games of parking lot football, not to mention, the booing of the fans of visiting teams as they approach the stadium. It's a party! It's really cool to see everyone all hyper before the game.
After halftime, fans were just sitting in their seats for 15 minutes, of course they aren't going to be all hyper like they were during the first half!
The players feed off of the crowd's excitement.
Therefore, tailgating is a vital part of the football experience! :)

Perfect Fall Weather!

Here in Houston, it's not often that we have to bring out the jackets in Early October. This weather is great.

A cold front came in yesterday afternoon, while I was walking on campus. All of a sudden, it started pouring down rain and the wind picked up. It was so cool! I love when you can feel the cold front as it comes in!

Right now, the temperature is in the upper 60s!! How awsome is that?!

Too bad Monday we are back to 80. Wednesday's high is 90, according to abc13.com. It's supposed to rain all week though, so I guess that's cool.

Anyway, fellow Houstonians, enjoy this little taste of cool weather. Hopefully this fall/winter will actually feel like fall/winter. Not like last year when we all wore shorts the day after Christmas! Who's up for another snow day in Houston?! Last year was super fun! It will be hard for us to forget that day! It wasn't much snow, but for us, it was still super cool! lol. But dude, I so wish it would snow as much as it did when I went to D.C. for Spring Break of 8th grade year. That was crazzzzy!!!!! It was like a blizzard. BTW, the pic is from the snow! I named him Snowy! lol

Ahh memories.

What I Love About Football

Why do I love football so much? I thrive during football season! After the Superbowl, something inside me dies a little. I love baseball and all, but there's just something about football that gets my juices flowing.

Maybe it's the thought of a bunch of guys duking it out, all with the same goal, to win. They have to put it all out there on the line. It's truely a survival of the fittest, out there on the field.

The University of Notre Dame vs. Washington game on Saturday....geez! This Irish team drives me crazy every weekend! It's always a nailbitter. But hey, it wouldn't be as much fun if ND blew them out! All I know is that if I keep watching them, which I plan to do, and the games keep going like this, I'm going to have high blood pressure!

The Texans.....what can I say about my Texans? These guys are so unpredictable! Supposed to win vs the Jets. Got the loss. Projected to lose to the Titans. Got the W! Jacksonville was supposed to be an easy win. Not so much. Lost that one. Then todays game agains the Raiders....we killed them! HOW did that happen? They aren't playing like a great team. They deffinently have things to work on if they want to get to, and be a real competitor, in the playoffs. But for now, I'm loving being a Texans fan! I really do think this is our year for a playoff birth.

As for UH, I don't have much to say about them, for I am not particularly a follower, but since they are a Houston team, I would like to offer my congratulations on a great win over the Red Raiders. I know they lost yesterday, but last weeks game was still cool.

A&M....well, I haven't actually payed much attention to them this season. I am checking to see if they win or lose, but I haven't actually watched a game yet.

Anyway, what is it that makes me love football so much? Maybe its how spontaneous it all is. Maybe its that people hit each other, hard. Maybe it's that I love competition. I love all of these aspects about it. I love that all of the guys who step onto the field, if they intend to keep stepping on the field, put their all into the game. They all want to win. We should put that mind frame into our own personal, non-sports lives. Give it your all, so you can walk away victorious.

My problem with quarterbacks

We all know that any football team needs a quarterback. That's pretty much a given. It would be hard for one to argue that point. Sure, we could always just run, but think of all of the problems that brings. One, the deffense always knows what the offense would do. There's nobody to pass, so of course, it's going to be a running play.
So, we need quarterbacks. But really, what do quarterbacks do? Sure they do account for many of our touchdowns and the game may not be as interesting without long TD passes, but it really irks me that all they do is throw.
Am I the only one that thinks that the quarterback should be able to take a hit? There are so many times when instead of making an attempt to run the ball, to maybe gain 2 or 3 yards, I see a QB throw it away. Why? I know I'm still somewhat of a football novice, but this really doesn't make much since to me. I understand that we need our quarterbacks and we don't want them to get hurt, but this is rediculous. It's gotten to the point where it seems like they are afraid to take a hit. Anyone who's a Houston Texans fan, early in the franchise, rememebers how shaken up David Carr was. Why? I mean, sure he was a bit gun shy because he wanted to get the ball away before the sack. I get that. I fully support throwing the ball away, rather than loosing a few yards on the sack. But much of the time, at least whenever I watch, it seems like the quarterback is available to run a fews yards. Maybe I'm wrong, but I just hate seeing the quarterback deep in the pocket, searching for an open man, nicely blocked by his O-line, and then after a while a deffensive player gets loose, so he is forced to throw it away.
Sometimes, you will see a quarterback go for a few yards. Other times, and from my p.o.v. most of the time, the QB will throw it away.
I've never played football. I've never felt the pain of taking a hit, but I really want this explained to me. Why don't QBs go for it more? Or maybe it does happen a lot and I just don't see it. That could very well be the case. I would just really like some input on this, because everytime I watch a game, whether it be high school, college, or professional, I see this pattern.

Haha. Wow, just as I am finishing that last paragraph up, Texans punter Matt Turk, gets hit. The commentators started talking about how Turk is a big guy and can take a hit, and that he might just be acting, trying to draw the penalty. haha! So can Turk take a hit? haha! I just thought that was great timing, since it is so greatly associated with what this post is about!

Where's my O-Line?

This Texans game.....UGH! Hello, there is a game going on guys! You're getting paid to play, not stand there looking pretty. Get in the game, get hurt. It was awesome seeing Dante flipping around, too bad it was super show-offy, but I wish that other people would go out like that!
So, does the O-line know their job? I'm just wondering because it seemed like, especially in the 1st, that just about every time, a Jet got through to Shaubb. That's not supposed to happen. Fix it.
Oh and I do not understand why we insist on running. The Texans have never had much of a running game. (Not much of a passing game either, but it's better than the running game.) If it's already half time and Andre has gotten the ball ONCE, something is wrong.
Attn Defensive Coordinators: Why did you tell the D that they had a day off today? Oh, wait, you didn't? Really? Then WHY IS THE DEFENSE NOT IN THE GAME?! WAKE UP!
There is still time to come back and win it, but there has to be a pretty good "pep talk" in that locker room before it can happen.
More to come later.