Rex Hudler

Not sure if I am crazy or not, but I'm going to run a 15k Saturday morning. The Statue to Statue run in Birmingham is considered the most difficult non-marathon run in the state of Alabama due to its extreme hills and frequent changes in elevation levels. If I survive, then I am going to try and run the Country Music 1/2 Marathon in Nashville on the 25th. I have to get off work on Friday to do so, which, aside from killing myself with the 15k would be the only obstacle to doing the 1/2 marathon. Wish me luck. I'm gonna need it!

Duke PG Greg Paulus visited Michigan to explore the possibility of transferring and playing football, where he would have one year of eligibility. Not sure what to make of that but it is interesting nonetheless.

Chris Mack to be introduced Wednesday as the new HC at Xavier. I drank a few beers with his crazy ass in college. Mack transferred to Xavier from Evansville after his sophomore year. Good to see him get the job. Can't say I ever had him pegged as a coach when he was a freshman. Funny how things work when we grow up. Congrats, CMack!

QUOTE (Brian @ Apr 6, 2009 -> 12:33 PM) Didn't see this coming. "Friday Night Lights" renewed for two more seasons. Each season will be 13 episodes. Awesome! Sweet! Now we can see what the next step for Coach Taylor is. I was hoping they wouldn't leave it up in the air as this season ended.

QUOTE (JPN366 @ Mar 22, 2009 -> 10:19 AM) I'm guessing Greg Paiml and Joe Persichina will man 2B, Donny Lucy backs up Flowers, the outfield beyond John Shelby III is anybody's guess. Salvador Sanchez, Miguel Negron, Stefan Gartrell, Estee Harris & Ronnie Gaines are possibilities. Although Negron and Gartrell did more than enough to deserve a promotion to Charlotte. Negron's proved all that he can at AA with B'ham and the other teams he's played for. Aside from batting average and K's, Gartrell is ready for AAA. Brian Omogrosso should be back since he had injury setbacks last year. Most of the W-S picthing staff should move up to AA. I think Francisco Hernandez will repeat A ball. The big question marks position player wise in my mind are names like Javier Colina, Robbie Hudson, C.J. Lang, Freddie Thon, Jared Price, Eric Hollis, Brett Bonvechio, Adam Ricks & Lee Cruz. I think most, if not all, will be gone. Have you heard if Paiml will be in Birmingham? I really hope he is. Greg was a batboy for the Barons for several years while younger, so he knows the Hoover Met (I don't call it RP) very well. It would be great to see the kid make it back as a player.

The rosters should be released any day now. But in reference to the earlier posts about Birmingham and Charlotte rosters, they mean absolutely nothing during the off-season and spring training. They are simply paper rosters which mean very little in terms of where guy's will actually end up. For example, the Major League roster has 40 players, yet only 25 are on the active squad. That leaves 15 players that will end up on Minor League clubs, barring injury/DL situations. This creates a downward spiral with players on the AAA roster getting pushed to AA and so on. So until the final rosters are set, those paper rosters aren't reliable at all.

I know Poreda and Beckham are in Birmingham. The Cuban, Viciedo (sp?) also. Can't recall which others off the top of my head.

Rock, keep it up. I'm looking forward to more updates. The thing about P90X that interests me most is the different stages of its design.

QUOTE (Y2HH @ Apr 2, 2009 -> 01:00 PM) This is a very subjective thing -- diets in general have to be catered to each individual, as every metabolism and body is different so different things work different ways for each individual in question. The obvious usual's will be the first things people say to avoid, such as no fast foods, no greasy/fried foods, etc. This list includes ice cream, sugar, cream, etc...I say bah to that -- I love ice cream, and I love fast food from time to time, too. Oh, and I also love me some hot dogs/polish at the Sox games (with beer, of course)...so for that reason alone these types of diets are out of the question. I've found in my time, which is years and years of working out, experimenting with high calorie, low calorie, high fat/low fat, fast food no fast food, you name it I've tried it over the years -- what I've found is boring strict diets are just that -- boring and strict and almost impossible to stick with. It's good to eat healthy, obviously, so what I tend to do is no matter where I go try to do things on the healthier side without being insanely strict about it. Just little changes here and there can make all the difference in the world. If you usually eat a lot of cheese, switch it to 2% cheese, rather than outright not eating it. If you drink soda a lot, try a diet soda here and there, rather than trying the bound to fail cold-turkey method of crash dieting. Small gradual changes without outright changing everything you eat can be the key to a successful and sustainable diet. If you find yourself hungry, nuts, fruit, etc can be a nice tide-me-over snack. There are many potato chip varieties that aren't full of saturated fats, but poly and mono unsaturated cooked in peanut oils or even baked, eat those instead, especially for you chip lovers that just will not keep off of them forever. All that said, depending on how I feel I'll eat whatever I want -- I just wont overdo it. If I could offer any advice on this subject, do NOT crash diet. Do NOT adopt any diet that makes massive unsustainable changes, either. Find something in the middle, something you can stick with and something that is EASY to do. If everything you eat takes too long to prepare, you will fall off of that diet the moment things get hectic in your life, so don't bother starting something like that. Keep it simple, and don't make it drastic. The key is small changes that cut corners without chopping off the entire block. Also, avoid tasteless crap like no-fat products, they're chemical garbage, stick with low-fat alternatives in place of the things you normally eat and you'll find it makes a world of difference. I agree with that assessment. Radically changing your diet is okay, but you cannot completely eliminate foods you like. Finding ways to eat healthier in a way that you can sustain and not feel guilty about allowing yourself to indulge on occasion is the right recipe. Granted, it's best that one does not indulge 3 times a day! I will add that for those that tend to be picky (as I am), experiment with foods and find things you may not have thought you would eat, even some you may not have liked when you were younger. In my old fast food, meat and potatoes world my diet was pretty liimited. Simple additions such as oatmeal, fresh fruits, yoguart, almonds, etc. have allowed me to find healthier options that still taste great.

Haven't done P90X personally, but know a few people who have with great results. It's a legit program if you follow it. I still have some pounds to go, but would like to do the program once I get to that point.

Supplements can be good if you don't overdo it. I take 200mg caffiene tablets 2-3 times a day. Caffiene has been shown to be positive both for weight loss and strength/cardio training. Just find out what works best for you.

QUOTE (zenryan @ Mar 2, 2009 -> 02:03 AM) No s***, people know there is no set number of bids a conference will receive. But the selection committee does play favorites to bigger conferences. Since 2000, only 1 BCS conference has not fielded atleast 4 teams in the NCAA Tournament. (In 2000, the ACC only had 3 teams.) So there will be atleast 4 SEC teams in the tournament. And you have to go back to 1996 for the last time the SEC didnt have atleast 5 teams in the tournament. But we're suppose to think that this year might be different? You are fooling yourself if you dont think the committee has a min. number of teams per conference it will put in the tournament when it comes to the BCS schools. The fact that the ACC only had three teams is proof against your argument. Plain and simple, all at large teams are compared against each other. Preference is typically given to big conference teams, because they have played more top teams and typically beaten some if they are in consideration. But NO, they aren't looking to fill a certain # of teams from any one conference. The NCAA has given media access to how the process works through mock selections the past several years and to a T every single person that has been through will tell you that they don't know how many teams made it from each conference until the field is set. The process is very clear cut in that teams are compared with a pool of other teams, not with teams from their own conference. Whether the SEC gets 3, 4 or 5 bids has nothing to do with them being the SEC, but completely with the resumes of the teams being considered against other potential at large teams. End of story.

QUOTE (zenryan @ Mar 1, 2009 -> 03:50 PM) Bruce Pearl runs his record to 7-1 against Florida. The SEC is hard to figure out. LSU is the only lock in that conference. Kentucky will always get in if they win 9 games which they will this year. That leaves South Carolina, Tennessee and Florida fighting for 2 spots. This conference barely deserves 4 teams, if this conference gets a 5th bid then that is complete BS. Either way, that is going to be one insane conference tourney. At what point will people begin to realize that there is no set # of bids a conference will receive? It makes ZERO difference to the Selection Committee whether the SEC gets 4 or 5 bids. They evaluate those teams versus all of the potential at-large teams with no factor placed on conference affiliation.

QUOTE (whitesoxbrian @ Feb 23, 2009 -> 08:35 PM) On rivals during the final recruiting day this year, they had a 2010 top250 and the guy is Dillon Baxter- he was 13th overall but the #1 RB. The Rivals 250 to watch for 2010 is listed in alphabetical order, hence Baxter is near the top. I'm sure he is good, but sorry to disappoint. More than likely Lache Seastrunk, from Texas will be the #1 RB.

For wings at home I recommend.... 1. Add a little seasoning before cooking. I use a meat seasoning from a local butchershop, but any seasoning that will add some pepper type spice will work. The seasoning can actually accentuate the sauce and make the sauce better than without. 2. Grill em, fairly slowly. No sauce yet. Rotate for evenness. 3. When the wings are about 75-80% cooked on all sides, add sauce. I recommend tossing them into a bowl of sauce to get complete coverage initially. 4. Continue to grill them. The sauce will likely carmelize some, adding some charring/blackness to the wings. That's good flavor. Don't go pulling them off yet. 5. As you continue to turn them, paint more sauce on them using a basting brush. Allow the sauce to grill into the skin. 6. When the wings are done, they should be fairly crispy and not soaking wet. You will see a little black on them from the carmelization, but they will not taste burnt. Lastly, I highly recomment Ott's Wing Sauce. It has an excellent flavor and isn't too hot, but has a kick. Especially if you baste the wings heavily per above. The seasoning seems to activate a little of the kick as well. Every friend I have made wings for has liked this sauce better than others. A few others I have tried and like, but not as much as Ott's: Franks Red Hot, Louisiana Hot Sauce, Frank's Buffalo Wing Sauce. There are others, but none compared to the flavor of Ott's. Ott's Wing Sauce Time to fire up the grill right now!

Was there not a new episode of The Office on Thursday? My DVR didn't record it if there was.

QUOTE (RockRaines @ Feb 17, 2009 -> 06:42 AM) Did you jump for joy? I think Montana has a little something to do with that. I thought about jumping for joy, but I was merely satisfied, not joyous. And Montana has everything to do with it. Seems like OSU is putting all their eggs in one basket though. Is that smart?

2010 QB Devin Gardner has crossed Ohio State off his list.

QUOTE (Jordan4life @ Jan 26, 2009 -> 11:05 PM) This thread has become A LOT more active the last couple weeks. For a while it was just me and Rex. lol. Eat more. More protein, more complex carbs. If you are still heavy on your cardio workouts, you'll burn off the carbs no problem. As for me, I'm struggling big time. Struggling with discipline, both with consistency of food intake and workouts, especially on weekends. Weight is all over the place right now, but I am roughly 10 pounds heavier than I was at the end of the year.

QUOTE (RockRaines @ Feb 5, 2009 -> 04:19 PM) Meyer is a crooked SOB anyway, f*** him. I'd love to see the Vols take it to him this upcoming season. Unfortunately, Tennessee will be lucky if Florida doesn't hang 70 on them when they visit the swamp. Kiffin is an idiot. Lance Thompson isn't any better for saying there "ain't no way he's gonna get any more of my recruits" referring to Nick Saban. In one day they go completely idiotic and challenge both Florida and Alabama. Kiffin better come up with some pretty big weapons, cause Meyer and Saban aren't going anywhere.

QUOTE (RockRaines @ Feb 4, 2009 -> 04:17 PM) I think by now everyone who pays attention to recruiting knows that ESPN's coverage is a joke. They are very ill-informed. ESPN has Will Campbell rated as the #21 OT in the country and not in the ESPN 150. Scout has him listed as the #6 DT and #48 overall as a 5-star. Rivals has him listed as the #5 DT and #26 overal as a 5-star. On ESPN's coverage they stated he "also plays on the defensive line, but will play on the offensive line at Michigan". Where is the disconnect here? Will Campbell, while he could be a stellar OT, is slated to play DT and DT only at Michigan. He played in the US Army All-American game on both sides, but only on offense because they lacked depth. He started at DT. ESPN also doesn't have Justin Turner in the ESPN 150. By most accounts, he is either the top player from Ohio or one of the top 2-3. Scout has him as a 5-star and Rivals a high 4-star. Yet ESPN rates Isaiah Bell ahead of him? I can't make any sense of it.

Michigan did pick up the expected commitment from Je'Ron Stokes. He announced at 2:00 on CSN Philly.

Ole Miss now has 35 commitments. North Carolina and South Carolina have 29. Texas A&M 27.

QUOTE (whitesoxfan99 @ Feb 4, 2009 -> 11:33 AM) Sort of but they got commitments from 3 4* players today including a LB. That is the ridiculous thing about USC, lose 2 5* players, just replace them with a bunch of 4* players. Hence the line "For USC standards"

Kids do dumb things. Apparently a JUCO OL Bobby Massey picked up a Alabama hat today, started as if was going to put it on then tossed it on the floor and put on an Ole Miss cap. My guess is that ND made an impact on T'eo while they were in Hawaii for the Hawaii Bowl. But I never game them a realistic chance either. For USC standards, it seems like this recruiting class may be falling apart for them. Burfict (sp?) has chosen Arizona State, it is my understanding.