Ryan's Blog: Fueled by Aspartame

Dijkstra files her candidacy for sheriff and announces campaign team

2010-01-28T22:59:00.003-05:00

Thursday, Jan. 28, 2010

GOSHEN — Julie Dijkstra officially filed her candidacy with election officials this morning in her bid to be the next Elkhart County Sheriff. She also has named her campaign chairman and treasurer, both of whom are familiar and respected individuals in this community.

For her chairman, Dijkstra has selected Todd Sullivan. He is president of Elkhart-based Jet Technologies Inc., an important supplier of materials for many transportation-related industries, including marine, mass transit and recreational vehicles. Sullivan has past success in the role of chairman, overseeing winning county races in both 2002 and ‘06.

Dijkstra has picked Cathy Bartow of Goshen to be committee treasurer. Bartow served two terms as Elkhart County’s elected treasurer from 1997-2004. Prior to her time in office, Bartow worked with Dijkstra at the sheriff’s department and achieved the rank of captain.

“Todd and Cathy are longtime friends, as well as great advisers. They will fill critical roles to make this campaign successful,” Dijkstra said. “But they are not alone. During the past year, we’ve been able to count on a large number of volunteers who really make this effort move forward. These are the people who help get walkers in parades, talk to their friends and neighbors, maintain our Web site, and stuff envelopes. We couldn’t have gotten this far without them, and we cannot win without their continued support.”

The Republican primary will take place May 4.

Dijkstra, a Republican, has been chief deputy and the leader of day-to-day operations at the Elkhart County Sheriff’s Department since 2003. For the past 16 years, she has served in the administrations of three sheriffs, overseeing training, legal compliance and personnel matters. She became a police officer in 1986 after starting her career as a jail officer.

Dijkstra stated a sheriff cannot be focused on a single issue, and her credentials make her the most qualified candidate to seek the office.

“As sheriff, I will continue to work for safe neighborhoods, secure facilities and quality services,” she said.

Dijkstra is a lifelong resident of Nappanee and has a bachelor’s degree from Ball State University. She is an elder at Grace Point Evangelical Presbyterian Church of Nappanee, and a board member with Safe Kids Elkhart County, Salvation Army of Goshen and the Elkhart Area Career Center public safety committee.

She is married and has three sons.

Residents will find more information about Dijkstra and where she stands on issues at julieforsheriff.com.

Ravens QB Coach chooses Raiders over Bears

2010-01-26T17:38:00.004-05:00

Hue Jackson has decided to join the Oakland Raiders as Offensive Coordinator instead of interviewing for that same position with the Bears.

I knew the Bears were bad, but I never thought someone would choose the hot mess in Oakland over them. He'd rather deal with JaMarcus Russell and Al Davis instead of the McCaskeys and Jay Cutler?

Cubs ink Marlon Byrd

2009-12-31T16:43:00.003-05:00

The Cubs have signed Marlon Byrd to fill their CF vacancy.

I'm not that excitied about the Cubs getting him, but at this point anyone is an upgrade over Milton Bradley.

Urlacher done for the year

2009-09-14T11:04:00.003-04:00

Vaughn McClure from the Chicago Tribune is reporting that Brian Urlacher will miss the rest of the season after dislocating his wrist last night.

I guess there's always Purdue Basketball to look forward to.

Ouch

2009-06-02T08:38:00.001-04:00

Watch Drew Carey get kneed in the family jewels by an excited contestant (3:35).

Zambrano ejected from Cubs win

2009-05-27T20:25:00.002-04:00

Big Z got tossed today after making contact with plate umpire Mark Carlson. Click on the link to read more and see the video.

Ha Ha Ha Ha Ha Ha Ha

2009-05-21T21:35:00.000-04:00

Sucks for White Sox fans.

Trekkies Bash New Star Trek Film As 'Fun, Watchable'

2009-05-08T08:24:00.000-04:00

Trekkies Bash New Star Trek Film As 'Fun, Watchable'

Marve leaning towards transferring to Purdue

2009-04-27T19:57:00.003-04:00

I've never heard of Robert Marve, but he's looking to transfer from Miami to Purdue. I guess if he's good enough for Miami, he's good enough for Purdue.

Bears finally make a pick in the 2009 draft

2009-04-26T11:26:00.002-04:00

The Bears selected defensive tackle Jarron Gilbert from San Jose State with the 68th pick of the draft.

Here is Jarron showing his athleticism by jumping out of a pool.

Uproar over cat picked up by its tail at Wrigley

2009-04-22T23:12:00.004-04:00

When I saw the security guard at last night's game pick the cat up by its tail, I knew there would be a controversy.

To be fair, he did try and pick the cat up nicely but it attacked him. I say he didn't have much of a choice.

Chicago gets its own ESPN.com website

2009-04-13T20:11:00.001-04:00

Check it out here.

Reed Johnson robs Prince Fielder's Grand Slam

2009-04-13T15:20:00.000-04:00

Enjoy it before it gets taken down.

Softball fundraiser at Hacienda TODAY!!!

2009-03-26T11:41:00.000-04:00

Head over to the Goshen Hacienda TODAY to help raise money for my softball team.

All you need to do is show up and turn in one of the tokens with the check for your meal and we'll get 20%.

It doesn't matter what time you go. The only catch is that you need to pay with cash, debit card, or credit card. No gift cards will be accepted.

Obama says the Boilers will fall to UConn

2009-03-18T14:21:00.002-04:00

Check out all of his picks here.

Purdue captures Big Ten Championship

2009-03-17T22:09:00.002-04:00

...and IU finishes dead last.

Former Boilermaker shot in leg

2009-03-17T21:58:00.006-04:00

Carl Landry suffered a minor leg wound after being shot around 2:30 am in Houston.

Landry was involved in an automobile accident and was shot by one of the two occupants in the other car involved when he stepped out of his SUV to inspect the damage.

The Rockets are saying it is a minor surface wound and is no worse than a calf strain.

Note to Self: No in-game "tweets" during softball season

2009-03-17T21:49:00.002-04:00

Bucks forward Charlie Villanueva got an earful from Coach Scott Skiles after Skiles found out that Charlie posted an update to his Twitter feed during halftime of their recent game against the Celtics.

This is what Villanueva had to say, "In da locker room, snuck to post my twitt. We're playing the Celtics, tie ball game at da half. Coach wants more toughness. I gotta step up."

In Villanueva's defense, he did end up leading the Bucks with 19 points in a 86-77 victory over the Celtics.

Bradley hurt in first Spring Training game

2009-02-26T19:02:00.003-05:00

That didn't take long.

Funny People trailer hits the internets

2009-02-21T18:48:00.002-05:00

If you pause it at 2:50 and squint you can almost see me, Angie, Dave, and Michelle. We were at the Orpheum Theatre while in LA for the filming of that scene.

David After a Trip to the Dentist

2009-02-14T12:15:00.000-05:00

Green Man in Indy!

2009-02-08T22:40:00.001-05:00

It appears the sensation that is Green Man has spread to Indiana. Someone dressed as Green Man from the TV show It's Always Sunny in Philadelphia was spotted climbing the Soldiers and Sailors Monument in Indy.

There is a decent chance you'll see me in the Green Man costume at some point. I'll need to get in a little better shape before that happens though.

Below is a clip of the real Green Man.

Zombies in Austin, TX!

2009-01-29T18:33:00.003-05:00

Austin drivers were warned of zombies during their Monday morning commute.

Don't worry there weren't any zombies. Someone hacked into the road signs and changed the message to "Zombies ahead! Run for your lives!"

That is such a great prank. I wish I would've thought of it first.

Is there one sane person in PETA?

2009-01-09T23:57:00.004-05:00

PETA's latest idea is to retire the word fish and call those things in you find in bodies of water sea kittens. That's right, sea kittens.

I didn't think they could possible top their idea of Ben & Jerry's using breast milk to make their ice cream, but they did.

I'm off to McDonalds to grab a Filet-O-Sea Kitten.

MacBook Wheel introduced

2009-01-06T21:39:00.001-05:00

Apple Introduces Revolutionary New Laptop With No Keyboard

Very happy child

2009-01-05T17:31:00.000-05:00

This is how I reacted when my PS3 showed up.

W almost taken out by shoes

2008-12-16T09:25:00.000-05:00

The guy has a good arm, but he didn't take Bush's cat-like reflexes into consideration.

Painful UFC Fight Night

2008-12-11T21:38:00.001-05:00

Last night was one of the most brutal UFC events I've seen. I'm not sure what's wrong with me, but I found it enjoyable to watch.

FYI - These videos will probably be removed from YouTube soon by the UFC.

Razak Al-Hassan probably should've tapped...

Corey Hill probably shouldn't kick with those bird legs. He's out for 18 months.

Shutterfly-Webloyalty Scam

2008-12-04T22:18:00.008-05:00

Someone in my household accidently got us scammed for the past four months. I was looking over the Discover statement and noticed $12.00 charges on my last four statements from RESERVATIONREWARDS.COM 800-732-7031 CT.

After doing a Google search, I found that the lovely people at Webloyalty (WLI) having been scamming people for a very long time. We got on their list by clicking on an ad that stated we could get $10 off our next purchase with Shutterfly. This ad (shown on the right) showed up immediately after placing an order with Shutterfly.

I know Shutterfly is not the only site where this ad appears. I saw it on another site (it might have been Dell) earlier in the week and was tempted to click on it before I noticed that it said something about going to a partner site. Anytime you get directed away from the legit site you are shopping at, it probably is not a good thing.

I was ready for a fight when I called the number next to reservationrewards.com on my statement, but Terrence quickly and quietly canceled my "membership" and refunded the $48 they charged over the past four months to my Discover card.

I would recommend checking your credit card statement (you should be doing this anyway) for any odd charges from reservationrewards.com or something similar.

UPDATE: We will no longer be using Shutterfly and I strongly urge others to ditch the site too. I emailed Shutterfly customer support to complain about Webloyalty and they sent me an email defending the company. After some more research, I found that Shutterfly receives a kickback from Webloyalty for all the people who "sign up" for a "membership" on Shutterfly's site.

Boilers give Tiller a great retirement gift

2008-11-22T21:47:00.001-05:00

Joe Tiller wanted his last game as Purdue's head coach to be a win and luckily for the Boilers; IU was a more than accommodating opponent.

The Boilers completely dominated the Hoosiers all day long en route to a 62-10 emasculation.

Curtis Painter also finished his Boilermaker career with a fine performance. Painter threw for 448 yards and 5 TDs. Kory Sheets added 3 TDs in his final game as a Boilermaker.

Purdue scored on 10 of 11 of their drives. The only drive they did not score on was their final one. Purdue finished the game with zero punts.

That's what he gets for not going to Purdue

2008-11-19T21:22:00.000-05:00

Star UNC frosh Tyler Zeller appears to be done for the season after fracturing his left wrist during last night's game.

I bet that wouldn't have happened if he would've made the right choice and played for Purdue. I'm not bitter though.

Real life Simpsons character

2008-11-18T15:18:00.003-05:00

Looks like Disco Stu to me.

Childhood Obesity + Rollercoaster = Hilarity

2008-11-10T19:02:00.000-05:00

Two of my favorite things combined into one

2008-10-24T14:48:00.000-04:00

Have you heard about the bird?

2008-10-16T16:02:00.000-04:00

McCain gets Barackroll'd

2008-10-16T16:01:00.001-04:00

This is a political take on the popular phenomenon known as rickrolling. If you have no idea what I'm talking about, educate yourself.

This seems more appropriate

2008-10-03T06:49:00.000-04:00

The Cubs suck so bad

2008-10-02T22:20:00.000-04:00

It's almost bad enough to make me stop watching baseball forever. I guess it is time to start looking forward to Purdue Basketball.

Eddie Vedder's tribute to the Cubs

2008-09-20T21:39:00.001-04:00

Cubs win NL Central (again)

2008-09-20T21:33:00.003-04:00

For the second time in as many years the Cubs have won the National League Central Division.

The Cubs clinched their second straight playoff trip today by defeating the Cardinals at Wrigley.

The Cubs are also close to clinching home field advantage throughout the National League playoffs. Unfortunately the AL has home field advantage in the World Series (thanks Dan Uggla) should the Cubs get that far.

Urlacher commercial

2008-09-05T12:26:00.000-04:00

Lesnar gets title shot

2008-09-03T16:40:00.002-04:00

Former WWE star turned MMA star, Brock Lesnar, will get a UFC heavyweight title fight against UFC legend Randy Couture.

Lesnar will take on Couture at UFC 91 on November 15th.

Ryan Woodle's latest commercial

2008-08-27T21:52:00.001-04:00

Ouch

2008-08-25T21:31:00.000-04:00

I saw this in an Olympic blooper montaage on Ryan's blog.

Too good

2008-08-25T20:51:00.000-04:00

This exact situation happened to me when I played in the Wakarusa little league.

The World's Most Dangerous Man is back!!

2008-08-25T18:01:00.002-04:00

Ken Shamrock (shown getting the intruder on the right) is the next has-been scheduled to fight Kimbo Slice.

The two will fight on EliteXC's "Saturday Night Fights" on Saturday, October 4th.

Shamrock has lost his last five fights including a KO loss to the "legendary" Robert Berry in March.

The sad part is that Shamrock is Slice's toughest opponent to date. Slice's other opponents were: Bo Cantrell, Tank Abbott, and James Thompson.

Oh Yeeeeeeeaaaaaaaahhhhhhhh

2008-08-24T20:22:00.001-04:00

Jimmy Clausen = The Next Kyle Orton?

2008-08-08T22:15:00.000-04:00

I'm pretty sure he's not 21.

Verizon door-to-door salesman busted

2008-08-04T19:19:00.000-04:00

I've never heard of any Sprint salesmen doing this.

Biggest.Weed.Ever?

2008-07-10T21:34:00.000-04:00

I found this growing in my backyard by the alley. Is it a weed or something I shouldn't have ripped out of the soil?

Cubs land Harden

2008-07-08T18:42:00.001-04:00

The Cubs countered the Brewers CC Sabathia trade today by trading for the A's Rich Harden.

The Cubs had to give up Sean Gallagher, Matt Murton, Eric Patterson, and minor leaguer John Donaldson.

The Cubs also got reliever Chad Gaudin in the deal.

My Journey to MCSA...

2008-06-30T11:45:00.000-04:00

...is complete. I passed 70-291 today. Finally all of my exams are behind me. I can relax for the rest of the summer.

Robbers pwned by a pane of glass

2008-06-23T10:32:00.001-04:00

Not very nice

2008-06-23T10:27:00.000-04:00

I could have one of my pitchers do this to the ump that threw me out of the game last season.

My Journey to MCSA Certification

2008-06-11T22:25:00.001-04:00

I passed exam 70-284 last Friday.

Next up is 70-291, which is the final (and hardest) exam need to obtain my MCSA cert.

I'm hoping to take it on the 30th of this month.

Soriano headed to the DL

2008-06-11T22:20:00.003-04:00

Soriano suffered a broken left hand tonight when he was hit by a Jeff Bennett pitch in the second inning.

For all you medical professionals, Soriano suffered minimally displaced fracture of the left fourth metacarpal, located just under the fourth finger on his left hand. The Cubs are saying that Soriano will miss at least six weeks.

Micah Hoffpauir will be called up from Triple-A to take Soriano's spot.

Office worker goes bat poop crazy

2008-06-11T12:13:00.001-04:00

Office Worker Goes Absolutely Insane - Watch more free videos

Pwned by Van Goal

2008-06-09T18:14:00.001-04:00

In honor of Holland's 3-0 dominating win over World Cup Champs Italy today (highlights below).

Watch the guy get in Ruud's face after he misses the PK.

Bye Bye Benson

2008-06-09T18:01:00.000-04:00

The Bears finally cut ties with their biggest bust since Cade McNown (or Curtis Enis or David Terrell or Rashaan Salaam).

Benson's second alcohol-related arrest in just over a month was enough for the Bears to show Ced the door.

John Clayton said that the Bears will most likely look at former Lions running back Kevin Jones to replace Benson. If they are unable to get Jones, rookie Matt Forte will get the starting job.

Prior done for the season (again)

2008-06-02T22:01:00.000-04:00

Mark "Calves" Prior is once again "done for the season". At least this time he's with the Padres instead of the Cubs.

Best.Game.Show.Ever.

2008-05-21T08:37:00.001-04:00

The American version is coming to Fox next season!

Church league softball is back!

2008-05-13T23:39:00.000-04:00

Tonight was the first night I was able to play with my church team. We split the doubleheader. I had a rough night with only one hit in four or five at bats.

However, Erv burst into my sidebar with a meter by pounding a grand slam deep to left field. Erv finished the night with 6 RBIs.

Our next game is Thursday at 6. I'm not sure what our record is, but I'm guessing either Erv or Kenny will let me know in the comments.

'The X-Files: I Want to Believe' Trailer

2008-05-12T12:16:00.002-04:00

Comes out July 25th.

Reds mascot falls off cart

2008-05-10T10:46:00.000-04:00

The best part is that it is Len and Bob making the call.

NW picks up wins 2 and 3

2008-05-04T17:33:00.000-04:00

The softball team picked up wins 2 and 3 on the season yesterday at ECA.

They prevailed 4-0 against ECA in the first game while I was serving my one-game suspension on the bus. By the way, I have sent a letter to the commish of softball down in Indy documenting the umpire's lack of professionalism during the game in which I was tossed from. I'll let you know if I get a repsonse.

In the second game, we won 10-inning marathon against LaVille, 11-10. The game should've ended after the 7th though. We were ahead 10-8 in the top of seventh with 2 outs and runners on first and third. The third batter in my lineup drilled a home run over the left field fence giving us a 13-8 lead, or so I thought. After the play was over, the other coach appealed to the ump that the runner from second base didn't actually touch the plate until after the runner from first touched. The umpire proceeded to call the runner who was on second out, which was the third out of the inning. That meant that we got zero runs from a three run homer. LaVille scored two runs in the bottom of the seventh to tie the game up and send it to extras.

We ended up winning so the mistake is something that we can laugh about now.

Awkward picture

2008-05-04T17:30:00.000-04:00

Softball fundraiser at Hacienda

2008-04-27T22:23:00.001-04:00

Head over to the Goshen Hacienda tomorrow (Monday, April 28th) to help raise money for my softball team.

All you need to do is show up and turn in one of the tokens with the check for your meal and we'll get 20%.

It doesn't matter what time you go. The only catch is that you need to pay with cash, debit card, or credit card. No gift cards will be accepted.

Penn State Baller in Trouble for Punching the Clown

2008-04-18T20:30:00.000-04:00

Penn State basketball player Stanley Pringle is in a bit of trouble for acting inappropriately at a campus library.

I'll let you read about it for yourselves.

Lou's Daily Affirmation

2008-04-15T21:25:00.002-04:00

My Journey to MCSA Certification

2008-04-03T11:56:00.000-04:00

I forced exam 70-290 to tap out this morning. I passed with a score of 785 (700 required for passing).

Next up is the Exchange Server 2003 exam, which will be taken on May 8th.

Passing 70-290 was a great way to kickoff my Spring Break. Hopefully the Panthers can get a win against Bremen tonight to put the finishing touches on a pretty good day.

Very Angry Tennis Player

2008-04-03T07:47:00.001-04:00

Heartbreak in Albion

2008-04-02T22:11:00.000-04:00

The softball team fell to Central Noble tonight in 11 innings, 4-3. My senior pitcher was great pitching 8 and 1/3 innings with only one earned run and eight strikeouts. However, we failed to capitalize on several crucial scoring opportunities and wasted the great pitching performance.

We're now 0-2 and have one more game tomorrow before we take next week off for Spring Break.

Softball Update

2008-03-30T21:42:00.000-04:00

Most of you know that I'm the head softball coach for high school in town. Last week was our first week of games. We only ended up playing one out of our four scheduled games due to the craptastic weather in Northern Indiana.

We were defeated 5-1 last Monday in our season opener by Tippy Valley. The positive was that we had zero errors on defense. The negative was that we struckout 11 times and only had one hit.

We're supposed to have three games this week before we take a week off for Spring Break. The weather doesn't look too promising however.

Zing!

2008-03-18T07:14:00.001-04:00

glumbert - Anchor vs Reporter

Happy St. Patrick's Day!

2008-03-17T13:36:00.000-04:00

Is Pie the next "Uno"

2008-03-10T22:55:00.000-04:00

Outfielder Felix Pie underwent surgery today to correct testicular torsion, which has been bothering him all spring.

The surgery invovles sewing the outer layer of the testicle to the scrotum wall. According to Lou, Felix will only miss 3-to-5 days.

This is why you don't streak at a cricket match

2008-03-05T21:23:00.000-05:00

Air Force ray gun in action

2008-03-05T21:19:00.000-05:00

Will Ferrell's new movie (after Semi-Pro)

2008-03-01T08:16:00.000-05:00

M. Night's next movie

2008-03-01T08:14:00.002-05:00

Annie's crazy grandpa might sell the naming rights to Wrigley

2008-02-27T21:18:00.002-05:00

New Tribune Company CEO, Sam Zell, said that he wouldn't hesitate to sell the naming rights to Wrigley during an interview on CNBC.

Zell also said he plans to sell the Cubs and Wrigley separately and in his own time frame.

If you think Zell sounds like a jerk, you would be right! Check out this article that Jay Mariotti wrote a few weeks ago.

UPDATE: Mariotti wrote another article on Zell in today's Sun Times.

Shawn Bradley getting humilated time and time again

2008-02-26T18:59:00.000-05:00

Bears give "The Beard" an extension

2008-02-26T18:47:00.001-05:00

Kyle Orton inked a one-year extension with the Bears yesterday night.

Orton will begin the season in a battle with newly signed Rex Grossman for the starting QB spot.

The deal that Grossman signed was identical to Orton's one-year extension.

Fukudome arrives at Spring Training

2008-02-16T07:27:00.003-05:00

UPDATE: Here is a good article on Fukudome.

The Cubs biggest offseason addition, Kosuke Fukudome, has arrived at Spring Training. According to Piniella, Fu's first BP session was impressive.

I'm glad he has a good looking swing, because that is the only good looking thing about him judging from the picture on the right.

I thought he was 31, not 51.

Boilers win second in a row against top 10 opponent

2008-02-12T21:58:00.001-05:00

The Purdue Men's team won yet another game against a highly ranked opponent defeating #10 MSU tonight at Mackey, 60-54.

Tonight's victory is the first time the Boilers (20-5, 11-1 Big Ten) have ever beaten top ten ranked opponents in back-to-back games.

Big Shot Rob (sorry Robert Horry) once again came through for the Boilers. Hummel netted his third double-double of the season with a career-high 24 points (4-of-7 from three point range) and 11 rebounds.

The Boilers had a commanding 34-18 lead at halftime, but Tom Izzo's Spartans cut the lead to one point at 51-50 with 3:24 to play in the second half. However, a Chris Kramer layup and Robbie Hummel trey extended the Boilers' lead to 56-50 with 1:42 to play. The lead was one the Boilers would not relinquish for the duration of the contest.

The Boilers are now 11-1 in the Big Ten and face the Northwestern Wildcats on Saturday in Evanston at 4:00. The game will be televised on the Big Ten Network.

Boilers down #8 Wisconsin (again)

2008-02-10T00:25:00.000-05:00

Purdue (19-5, 10-1 Big Ten) won their first road game against a top ten opponent since 1998 tonight beating Wisconsin, 72-67. The Boilers also became only the second Big Ten team to beat Wisconsin at the Kohl Center since Bo Ryan took over coaching duties in Madison.

Once again, freshmen Robbie Hummel was the star against Wisconsin. Hummel scored a career high 21 points going 8-for-12 from the field including 3-of-6 from behind the "Teague Line".

The Boilers face #10 Michigan State in Mackey on Tuesday at 7:00 (that's 4:00 your time Dave). The game will be televised on ESPN.

MacBook Air

2008-02-09T23:55:00.000-05:00

I'm sure most of you have seen the commercial for the ultra-thin MacBook Air. I just felt that as a computer geek I needed to let you know that is probably the least functional laptop I've seen in a long time.

I'm not even sure who would find the MacBook Air useful. Obviously people who travel often would appreciate the smaller size, but those are usually people who are traveling for work. The small screen, wimpy hard drive, lack of CD/DVD drive and ethernet port would seem to make it less than ideal for business users. I didn't even realize they made 4200 rpm hard drives. 5400 rpm would be what I would consider the low end. My laptop at work has a 7200 rpm hard drive and I would never go back to a 5400 rpm drive. It would be like going from high speed internet access to dial-up. Maybe not quite that bad, but you can definitely tell a difference.

For only $1800 you can own a MacBook Air that weighs 3 lbs with a 1.6 GHz Intel Dual Core processor, 2 GB of RAM, 802.11n wireless adapter, 13" screen, and an 80 GB 4200 rpm hard drive.

You could purchase an upgraded MacBook Air for $3100. The upgraded model includes a 1.8 GHz Dual Core processor and a 64 GB solid state hard drive. I admit that the solid state drive is nice, but not worth an extra $1300.

The MacBook Air does not have a CD/DVD drive or ethernet port built in. Of course you can purchase an external DVD burner for $100 and an external ethernet adapter for $30.

A quick check of bestbuy.com gives me a Compaq Presario T2330 for $600.

The Presario has a 1.6 GHz Intel Dual Core processor, 1 GB of RAM, 802.11g wireless adapter, 15.4" screen, 120 GB 5400 rpm hard drive, dual layer DVD burner, modem, and ethernet adapter. It weighs 5.7 lbs.

I think I can handle the extra 2.7 lbs the for a savings of $1330 (MBA plus external DVD burner and ethernet adapter).

Do you need to be recruited to commit to a school?

2008-02-05T22:06:00.000-05:00

UPDATE: Hart made the whole thing up.

A high school offensive lineman gave his verbal commitment to Cal on Friday. The only snag is that Cal never recruited him.

It's unclear whether people posing as Cal recruiters offered Kevin Hart a scholarship or if Kevin decided to make it all up.

What is clear is that someone is going to be in trouble according to Kevin's football coach Mark Hodges.

"This is involving law enforcement and may involve other departments, other than the NCAA, that are bigger than local," Hodges told the Reno Gazette-Journal. "I would love to tell you everything I know, but I can't at this time and I'm not even sure what I know."

On an unrelated note, I'll be holding a press conference this Friday where I will announce my verbal commitment to Purdue to play football, basketball, and baseball.

Good aim

2008-02-02T14:01:00.000-05:00

Laughing shark

2008-01-28T22:50:00.001-05:00

Boilers knock off #11 Wisconsin

2008-01-27T20:37:00.000-05:00

Purdue (15-5, 6-1 Big Ten) scored their first big upset of the season yesterday defeating #11 Wisconsin at Mackey Arena, 60-56. The loss was the first for the Badgers in Big Ten action.

Freshman E'Twaun Moore was the leading scorer for the Boilers with 16 points, but fellow frosh Robbie Hummel was the hero.

Hummel (pictured) filled the stat sheet with 10 points, 7 rebounds, and 5 assists. However, Robbie's biggest contribution may have been his one block, which came with 2.4 seconds left in the game.

With the score 58-56 Wisconsin senior Michael Flowers was driving for the game-tying layup when Hummel snuck in from behind to block his shot. Hummel grabbed the ball and was fouled. After Robbie sunk his two free throw to seal the game, he was mobbed by the Paint Crew.

Hummel had this to say, "I got mobbed. It was awesome ... one the greatest experiences I've ever had on a basketball court. It's definitely a big win for us. I don't think I did anything the equivalent to Hoosiers, but it was cool."

Purdue will take on Iowa at Mackey on Wednesday.

My journey to MCSA certification

2008-01-22T21:54:00.000-05:00

My quest to attain my MCSA certification began today. I passed the first of four required exams needed to reach my goal of becoming a certified computer nerd.

Next up will be the Server 2003 exam, followed by the network infrastructure exam, and the final hurdle will be the Exchange Server 2003 exam.

I should be taking the next exam at the end of next month. I'm sure you will all be anxiously awaiting the results.

Funniest noise since Matt Moser got crushed in JV football

2008-01-20T22:05:00.000-05:00

I am stealing this from Dave's blog because I wanted to share this with more people than Dave's three readers.

Is 2008 Tiller's last season?

2008-01-11T12:44:00.000-05:00

UPDATE: Purdue today annouced the hiring of Danny Hope as the associate head football coach. Hope will take over as head coach after Tiller retires after next season.

It looks like Purdue is going to hire Tiller's successor before he retires, much like they did with Gene Keady and Matt Painter.

The Indy Star is reporting that Purdue is set to hire Danny Hope, who is currently Eastern Kentucky's head football coach.

Cubs close to acquiring Brian Roberts

2008-01-10T22:28:00.000-05:00

The Chicago media is reporting that the Cubs are close to trading Sean Marshall, Sean Gallagher, and Ronny Cedeno for Brian Roberts.

Roberts is a prototypical leadoff hitter. Last season Roberts stole 50 bases and hit 42 doubles.

However, Roberts was also in the Mitchell report. Some Chicago writers do not feel that bringing Roberts to the Cubs is a good idea because of his inclusion in the Mitchell report.

Speaking of the Mitchell report...

2008-01-10T22:15:00.000-05:00

Former Cub Doug Glanville wrote an interesting article for ESPN.com explaining his thoughts on playing during the "steroid era".

Congrats Billikens!

2008-01-10T22:04:00.000-05:00

The Saint Louis Billikens set a modern D-I record for fewest points in a game tonight against George Washington. The final score was 49-20.

The game was probably not the way new coach Rick Majerus wanted his Atlantic 10 opener to turn out. The Billikens shot craperiffic 14.6% (7-48) from the field. Maybe Rick should stop eating all the basketballs his team is supposed to use for practice. ZING!

Yes, Rick is getting the intruder in this picture.

Boilers snap bowl game skid

2007-12-27T21:55:00.000-05:00

Purdue (8-5) ended its three-game bowl losing streak last night by defeating Central Michigan, 51-48.

Purdue started out strong, scoring 21 first quarter points on way to a 34-13 halftime lead.

However, as expected by Purdue fans, the Chippewas fought their way back to tie the game up at 48-48 with only 1:09 to play.

Curtis Painter, who set a Motor City Bowl and school record with 548 passing yards, got the Boilers into field goal range after the Chippewas tied the game. Kicker Chris Summers converted a 40-yard field goal as time expired to give the Boilers an exciting 51-48 victory.

Painter's 546 yards are the third most in any bowl game ever. He trails only Ty Detmer ('89 Holiday Bowl, 576) and Byron Leftwich ('01 GMAC Bowl, 576).

Dustin Keller (pictured) was the main beneficiary of Painter's passing success with 7 catches for 150 yards and one TD.

I hate you Orton

2007-12-17T23:52:00.001-05:00

My fantasy football team was 90 seconds from moving to the finals and all Kyle Orton had to do was not turn the ball over or take a sack. What does he do? He throws an interception, which gave my opponent enough for a 78.80 - 77.45 victory because he had the Vikings D going.

To make matters worse, all the Bears offense had to do to subtract three points from my opponent was score one measly point in the second half! One point!

Orton was 90 seconds away from making up for his fumble against Wisconsin in 2004, which has sent Purdue Football into a spiral that they still haven't came out of. Purdue was ranked fifth in the country going into the game against Wisconsin and Orton was being talked up as a Heisman candidate until he fumbled the ball, which was returned for a TD by the Badgers with only 2:36 remaining the game. The TD gave the Badgers 20-17 victory.

I'm sure I'll forgive Orton with time, but I'm done saying that he should be the starting QB of any NFL team. He's a third stringer all the way.

To be fair, it's not all Orton's fault. Tom Brady, Randy Moss, and Joseph Addai all turned in less than stellar performances. However, my least favorite person has to be Brian Westbrook.

Westbrook was pressured by one of his lineman to stop 1 yard shy of the goal line so that the Eagles could run out the clock. The Cowboys had scored a grand total of six points all game long. I'm sure an 11 point lead with less than two minutes would have stood up.

I think that whoever Westbrook was playing in his fantasy football league had him so Westbrook intentionally didn't score to spite his opponent.

I also believe that Westbrook and lineman John Runyan owe some kind of compensation to all fantasy owners that lost this week due to Westbrook not scoring the TD. I'm thinking of starting a class action lawsuit. Who's with me?

Boilers deny Pitino's bid for 500 wins

2007-12-15T22:22:00.000-05:00

The Boilers upset #20 Louisville today in the Wooden Tradition, 67-59.

Freshman Robbie Hummel lead the Boilermakers with 15 points. Chris Kramer (pictured right) provided a spark off the bench with 14 points and four steals.

Purdue battles Texas Southern Monday at 7:00. The game will be televised on ESPNU.