Dog Days...and a little golf

I've lived in Fayetteville my entire life, and been through some hot weather before, but this week has just felt like one massive heat wave.

Now I know I've spent every day outside working and what not, but still, the humidity is almost unbearable at times. It almost makes me wish that summer were over.

However, I scoff at that. I love the summer and while this summer has been more different than any other in years past, I've still had a great time.

My birthday was this past Sunday, and I turned 19. It's hard to believe I'm already 19, but I'm not complaining. Almost to 21, which is kind of scary.

In other news, I've been playing a lot of golf lately. Golf was something that I've liked since I was a toddler, and I was really into it from about 4th or 5th grade until about 9th, but just wasn't interested in it during high school.

I hope to spend most of my weekend on the course, and I might have one of my friends from church, Krista, accompany me on Sunday, because she has never played before and I want to introduce her to the game.

On a side note, how about Padraig Harrington repeating as British Open champion? I know you will say it's not legit because Tiger wasn't in the tournament, but Tiger didn't win it the last time it was at Birkdale and who's to say he would have won had he played.

Tiger is the best player in the world, yes, but he is human, and links courses in Open Championship play have given him trouble before. I'm not liking how some people are knocking Harrington for achieving a very difficult feat on two very difficult courses in '07 and '08.

NCAA FOOTBALL 09!!

EA Sports' annual installment of NCAA Football hit stores at midnight on Tuesday and I went a little bit later than that to grab my copy on the XBOX 360 with Darren McFadden on the cover.

The gameplay is about the same as usual, pretty good, but the graphics are exceptionally good. One thing I have definitely noticed in playing the game is that it feels like you are more into the game now than in years past.

I'm about to start a dynasty with Arkansas and see how far Bobby Petrino can take the Razorbacks on a game console.

From the penthouse to the outhouse

I was at work today unloading copiers into a storage facility when I got a text that said "Matt Jones is dumb" from a friend, so I replied and said 'Why?'

I got my answer when my friend subsequently called me and informed me that MJ, the former Arkansas star and Jacksonville Jaguar receiver, had about six grams of cocaine on him last night in a Dickson St. parking lot.

Why Jones would be in that parking lot that late at night is beyond me? If he was going to do cocaine, why would he do it there, of all places, at that time of night?

It was almost like he was asking to get caught. I'm still flummoxed by what motive he had to do it. Maybe it was a release for him or just something he did around his friends, but was he selling it?

If so, why? He has more than enough money. It's something I'm going to be perplexed over for quite some time.

On a lighter note, maybe Dallas Cowboys owner Jerry Jones will use this opportunity to bring another Jones in who's looking to get over the stigma of trouble(i.e. Pacman).

Lately It's Been Hectic

Well, it's been a while since I last posted on here, but a lot of things have changed since then.

I got to be a counselor at Green Valley for the first time ever and that went extremely well. I miss everybody from there and hope everyone from my cabin will want to come back next year.

Meanwhile, the Celtics defeated the Lakers in six games, which wasn't what I was hoping for or expecting, but if any team was to do it, it was Boston. They had a magnificent season and deserve the title.

Also in sporting news, how about Fresno St. in the College World Series? They came out of nowhere and are now National Champions. No team has ever lost more games and won a championship, but now the Bulldogs own that honor. It was a fun series to watch.

And today, my summer journalism class got over with. I kind of slacked off near the end with a good grade in the class already and with being at camp for a week, but hopefully I did well enough to get an 'A' and if not that at least a 'B.'

Anyway, I have to start working on Monday from 8 to 5 every day of the week. I'm not necessarily looking forward to it, but I am anxious to start making money.

Hope everyone is enjoying their summer.

Another missed opportunity

When I was awoken by my father Saturday afternoon to learn that Big Brown had indeed finished LAST in the Belmont Stakes, I wasn't at all surprised.

I figured that the horse wouldn't win simply because every other horse that has tried recently has failed. And yet again, we saw another failure.

But sometimes, don't we all miss opportunities to do things simply because we go with the flow and everyone else is doing the same thing. We miss opportunities due to the fact of not caring or ignorance, etc.

This summer, I want to seize every opportunity that I can and make the best of it. I feel that in the past, I maybe haven't always done what I could have or put aside things that I could have accomplished.

Oh yeah, and Game 2 of Lakers/Celtics is tonight. Kobe needs to rebound and get his shooting back to par.

NBA Finals

By virtue of their Game 6 victory over the Detroit Pistons in the Eastern Conference Finals, the resurrected Boston Celtics earned a spot in the NBA Finals opposite the Western Conference champion Los Angeles Lakers.

For the first time since 1987, the storied rivalry will consummate in a world championship-deciding series.

Growing up, ESPN would constantly show old highlights and complete games from the 1980's battles that the Celtics and Lakers would stage.

In three meetings in the decade, Los Angeles won twice, while Boston won once. Both teams won 8 of the 10 titles won during the time period, with only Philadelphia in 1983 and Detroit in 1989 being the exceptions, and they both had to beat the Lakers to do it.

Just to think of all the great players who have took part in this rivalry, such as Chamberlain, Magic, Bird, Russell, Havlicek, West, Abdul-Jabbar, etc., and now Bryant and Co. battles KG, Pierce and Ray Allen in order to grab the NBA's most coveted prize.

I'm saying that the Lakers will bring home their 15th NBA title, bringing them one closer to Boston's all-time leading 16 championships.

Oh yeah, and it will go seven games. It's too big not to.

Looking Ahead

The summer, whether I want to believe it or not, is right in front of me now, and there are a lot of things I plan to hopefully accomplish over the next few months:



1) Get an 'A' in my summer class



I'm taking a fundamentals of journalism course that I wanted to take during the spring semester, but didn't pass all parts of a required examination to get into the class. However, the journalism department has now done away with the exam, freeing me to now proceed with the class.



So I get to spend my Monday-Friday from 11 to 12:20 everyday in this class. I need to do well in it because my GPA has slipped after a lackluster academic performance in the spring.



2) Be a counselor at my church camp



For the first time since the summer of 2000, I won't be attending Green Valley Bible Camp as a camper, but I have, in fact, ascended to the role of counselor during the week of June 15-21.



Every year, I have a wonderful time at camp, and I expect the 2008 rendition to be no different despite having to leave everyday to attend my summer class, which doesn't wrap up until June 27th.



3) Work to make that cash



Last year around this time, I was still being a host at Outback Steakhouse in Springdale, earning $2.63 an hour plus meager tipshare to stand at the door and welcome 'mates' to our "No Rules, just Right" restaurant. All the while, trying to put up with a pathetic newly-hired manager.



As you can see, I was quite tired of the job and moved on when a pair of newspaper opportunities arose.



However, the newspaper biz won't be nearly as busy as it is during the school year, so I had to find a job.



Luckily, my dad knows the owner of a local moving company, Admiral Moving Services, and I should begin working an 8-to-5 shift on June 30 or July 1 most likely until the end of the summer.



If for some reason the job falls through, I'm going to definitely have to scramble to find work. Anyone who knows of job opportunities should feel free to contact me at daoxford@uark.edu or look up my Facebook or MySpace profile.



4) Find a girl to settle down with



Lately I've really been wanting to just find a down-to-earth girl who doesn't put up with drama who I can settle down with.



I know college is supposed to be about "hooking up with chicks dude" but as fun as that sounded in high school, I really don't see the fascination now.



Granted, I like an attractive girl just as much as the next guy, but the way that a lot of guys around here treat beautiful girls is perplexing.'



Frankly, I just would like a relationship that lasts longer than "talking" or "hanging out" or "hooking up." There's a girl that I definitely am looking at and is a viable candidate, but I don't know if she's all that interested in me. We'll see as time progresses.

Getting Started

Well, I figured since a good majority of my friends were blogging, I would do the same.

So here is thy wonderful blog.

I guess I will use this blog to chronicle things that happen to me and post other interesting tidbits that I uncover from day to day.

These kinds of things could range anywhere from sports to work, what I had for dinner, what I'm going to do this weekend, etc.

I don't really know how often I will post, but probably as often as I can or see fit.

Anyway, feel free to leave comments.