Rex Hudler

Michigan may not win another game all year.

Last week goes in the books as an anomaly. Lost 8 pounds this week, almost making up for the 10 I gained last week. On Saturday I participated in the Komen Race for the Cure for breat cancer research. I really surprised myself by running more than I thought I could. I started off running and ran a little over 3/4 of a mile right off the bat. Before today, I had not run more than a half mile continuously. In all, I ran between 1 1/4 and 1 1/2 miles out of the 3.1. I did the 5k in 38:08, surpassing my goal of between 40-42 minutes. I typically walk a 15 minute/mile pace so I thought 40-42 would be reasonable, but not easy and I beat that. After the 5k, they had a 1 mile walk/run for those not participating in the 5k. I jumped into that one and did in in 10:50, running a decent bit again. Afterwards I felt good. I had never done a road race like this before. There were 13,000 participants so it was a zoo. They estimated approx 20,000 were downtown including all of the volunteers, friends, family, etc. Hope to break the century mark within 2 weeks.

QUOTE (whitesoxfan101 @ Oct 4, 2008 -> 12:09 PM) Well first off, one stereotype that is true is the noise level in Ann Arbor. With as quiet as Michigan Stadium is, it should be called "The Big Mouse" in my opinion (no idea why I find that nickname funny, but oh well). Also, the Wisconsin marching band is in trouble yet again. I think Wisconsin is the only school in America whose band has more off the field troubles than it's players. The band was suspended for tonight's big home game vs. Ohio State. http://www.iht.com/articles/ap/2008/10/04/...d-Suspended.php Talk about trying to perpetuate the label of band geek. Let the geeks drink and screw, I say!!

This week I am not such a loser! It has been a helluva week and not in a good sense. I went back home to IN for a wedding last weekend and partied it up pretty good. Didn't eat well and drank a lot and aside from a trip to the gym Friday morning, didn't excercise at all. Got back in town Sunday night and walked right into our quarter-end close on Monday, working from 6am to 10pm. To make matters worse we had corporate trainers in all week and breakfast and lunch was provided almost every day. The bottom line is I ate like s*** all week and only walked 2 miles on Wednesday. Translation = I gained 10 freakin pounds in one week! Now I have set myself back a few weeks, which sucks, but I'm not going to get too down since this is a long process. But I don't have to like it either!

One more lb this week. I fell short of my goal of 100 pounds by this week but still feel good about my progress. I get a bit frustrated at the pace sometimes, but that's okay. I am doing this to be a lifetime change, not a temporary goal, so I refuse to change my diet (meaning go extreme) just to get to a number. Next up: 250 by Thanksgiving. That's 18 pounds in just under 9 weeks. Very doable.

QUOTE (Brian @ Sep 23, 2008 -> 10:10 AM) That was the last two episodes of Season 1. They may still have em all up at nbc.com. Damn, I've got some catching up to do

I'm all about yelling at the TV and cussing bad plays, etc. but I have never been a fan of booing and you will never see me do so at a game. I may show disappointment, but I think booing is simply classless at any level. I know many here won't agree with me, but I can live with that.

QUOTE (Brian @ Sep 22, 2008 -> 07:46 PM) They will than play those episodes on NBC starting in January. I'm pissed about it as well. This show is sooooo good. I'll probably end up downloading it off torrent while it is on DirectTV. Where can I catch the final episode or two of last season? I'm not sure what happened after Coach was about to take the job at A&M?

QUOTE (Texsox @ Sep 22, 2008 -> 10:33 PM) Compass Bank a wholly-owned subsidiary of BBVA (NYSE: BBV) (MAD: BBVA) bought out the bank I was at for my checking and savings accounts. Normally I have little interest in banks, just allow me to speak to an intelligent human once in a while and I'll keep my money there. Now, I'm getting curious and wondering, anyone heard of these folks? I understand they are a huge regional bank here in the south. I never heard of them until they bougfht their way into the border market. I've banked with Compass since 1997. Been planning a change to a Credit Union lately, but have been procrastinating making the change. Nothing special about them. Just another bank.

I was surprised there was no Final Game thread or Yankee Stadium memories thread. Might not be too late if there are many people online tonight. I went to Yankee Stadium once, for Don Mattingly Day on Aug 31, 1997. It was a whirlwind trip. I worked the Barons game on Saturday night and bailed shortly after the game was over so I could try and get some sleep. I got home around 10:30 and tried to go right to sleep. There was a busted pipe at the stadium so I got a call not long after and had to deal with that. I finally got to bed and had to be on a plane in Birmingham headed to Atlanta at 5:30am Sunday morning. I got to Atlanta and eventually got into LaGuardia at about 10:30. I had a friend pick me up and drop me off at Yankee Stadium to meet a different group of friends, including my best friend that didn't know I was joining them. The ceremony and energy in the ballpark was amazing. I have never seen people yell with such passion, yelling Dawn-ie BaseBawl over and over again. Having watching Mattingly play since he was 17 and a junior in HS (I later went to the same HS) and having delivered newspapers to him during the offseason while he was in the minors, it was a special day for me. After the game, we went to Mickey Mantle's for dinner, took a carriage ride around central park, had drinks in Times Square and went to bed. Got back up and was on a plane back home at 7:30 the next morning and was back at my desk by noon for the Barons final game of the season. Good memories!

QUOTE (RockRaines @ Sep 20, 2008 -> 12:26 PM) He has a better arm, and give it some time, some of the talent is already there, some is on the way. See the true freshman at C, RT, QB, and WR? This freshman class, plus the highly rated next one will build the team around him. The problem with that concept is their previous recruiting classes were all very good too, with plenty of highly rated players who don't seem to be cutting it now. Who's to say these new "phenoms" (as a group) will fare any better??

In my younger days, when video arcades were actually cool, a friend and I were the best at the game Robotron. We alternated and played on one quarter for 13 straight hours (10am - 11pm) and would have easily beaten the national record but the arcade owner made us quit, eventually unplugging the machine on us. They wouldn't have given us credit for the record since we were alternating, but still, we basically could play forever (no cheats or tricks). We could do the same on Galaga, but we knew the cheat for that game and it was easy once you made it past that.

QUOTE (whitesoxbrian @ Sep 19, 2008 -> 12:11 PM) Auburn 6 LSU 5 Think they'll score that many???? I am pretty confident that the Tigers will win regardless.

Nice work Jim. Decent week for me. Dropped another three today to get me to 269. Not gonna hit 100 by next week, but I can take 95 and live with it. Sitting on 93 now.

IU Fight Song

QUOTE (Jimbo's Drinker @ Sep 16, 2008 -> 05:42 PM) Back from honeymoon and with a good amount of wedding money. We are going to invest in a new TV. I have a few questions for the distinguished opinions of this board. 1. LCD or Plasma 2. Opinions on Quality TV's on Market. 3. Where to purchase for best deals Thank you all!!!! jimbo Right up my alley brotha! I just went through this process. 1. Depends on your setup. Honestly, either will be enjoyable. LCD is better if you have a lot of natural light in the room or bright lights that will shine around the TV. Plasma gives you a slightly sharper picture with blacker blacks. Personally, I went with a plasma after making 6 trips to different stores checking out different TV's. 2. I narrowed my choices to Panasonic, Samsung & LG. I think Samsung LCD's are better than their plasmas. I really liked the Pioneer Kuro's but those are damned expensive. I ended up with a Panasonic that has an unbelievable picture. After a couple visits the Panasonic's stood out to me, but other people may be drawn to different tv's. Keep in mind that stores typically have TV's set on Vivid mode, which is the brightest possible and not likely the one you will want to choose when you have it in your living room. I've read vivid mode is not recommended for long term viewing. The bottom line is go look at some and write down some model #'s. Then go online and do some price shopping. 3. I used pricegrabber.com. I bought a Panasonic TH-50PZ80U and found an unbelievable deal online. You have to decide if you are willing to purchase online. If you do, return policies are limited or costly and there is inherent risk dealing with someone in another state and having it shipped. If you are okay with that, then the deals can be very good. For example, Best Buy wanted $2099 for my TV. HH Gregg wanted $1879. Sales tax in my area is 9%. I found the same exact TV on buydig.com for $1488 delivered (no sales tax). It arrived exactly when they said it would, in perfect condition and I had no problems at all. Buydig.com wasn't the actual cheapest, but they have more than 25,000 reviews on price grabber, 95% positive. I was willing to take the chance. I have heard online companies sometimes make you call to verify the order and then try to pressure you into buying accessories. I did not have that issue at all. Just insert the model # of your choice into the search field at price grabber and it will give you a list of vendors and prices. 4. Size - what size are you looking at getting? 4a. Research - avsforum.com is a good resource if you don't mind reading a bit. Try these links: AVS Forum: Plasma TV's AVS Forum: LCD TV's AVS Forum: Flat Panel General 4b. 720p vs 1080p - Personally, I would go 1080p simply because it is the newest technology. If you have an XBox or PS3 or if you ever want to consider going to Blue Ray (HD DVD's) then 1080p is a must. If not, you can save some good money going 720p and not tell a ton of a difference. 4c. FWIW, a friend came over Saturday to watch football and said my TV looked much better than his. He bought a Sony 50" 1080p LCD less than a year ago. PM me if want any other info or thoughts. Happy hunting and remember, the best advice for you is to go with what looks best to you. Second best, is that value brands such as Vizio are good values, but the picture quality is not as good. Remember they have it on vivid in the stores to brighten up the picture.

QUOTE (Jake @ Sep 15, 2008 -> 08:43 PM) goodbye! Dolly

QUOTE (Brian @ Sep 14, 2008 -> 09:12 PM) Yup. We'll take our lumps. I'm prepared for it. Isn't Forcier more of a pocket type guy? Or does he play in the spread in HS? Forcier is definitely more of a passer, but he is a legit dual-threat QB. He is the brother of Jason Forcier who transferred from Michigan to Stanford before last year.

QUOTE (Brian @ Sep 14, 2008 -> 08:49 PM) My thoughts exactly, Rex. Even though they were down 21-0, I felt they still should have, maybe could have won the game. I've been following how Shavodrick Beaver, the QB Rodriguez recruited for next year. 4 star out of Texas. Looks made for this offense. I wish Threet was a tad quicker, but he seems to be coming along. I think Tate Forcier, another QB recruit from CA will be even better. The future looks good, just can't get here quickly enough.

After taking a day to reflect on Michigan's giveaway against Notre Dame, I am actually encouraged by a lot of things I saw. Don't get me wrong, the turnovers, penalties and other mistakes were of the "throw the remote" variety", there were a lot of improvements, mainly in the offense. Some randome observations, both good and bad. 1. The turnovers were pathetic. There is no way any team can expect to win coughing up the ball in an unforced manner as Michigan did Sat. The good thing is that is correctable. 2. Two turnovers led to a quick 14 ND points. Two turnovers later inside the ND 10 yard line killed scoring opportunities. As bad as Michgan looked, they were inside the 5-yard line knocking on the door to make it 28-24 when Kevin Grady coughed up the ball fighting for extra yardage. 3. Turnovers aside, the offense outplayed Notre Dame. They outgained ND 388 yards to 260. 4. Steve Threet finally looked like a QB that could win games. Still a lot of work to do, but he made better decisions and hit receivers he had been previously missing due to inaccuracy. 5. Sam McGuffie seems to be pulling a Mike Hart in terms of taking over the main RB spot as a true freshman. It seemed every time he touched the ball Sat he was a threat to break one long. The other backs, with nagging injuries and fumble-itis are giving him that opening and he seems to be willing to take it. He's no Mike Hart in terms of pass blocking, however. 6. The defense was better in the 2nd half, but that may have been because the offenses weren't as dangerous in the bad weather. The defense has been better in the 2nd half of each game however. 7. The defense has potential to be dominating, but they still miss too many open-field tackles (see Stevie Brown on Golden Tate's 60 yard reception). The safeties are good in run support, but seemed to get burned in pass coverage at least a few times a game and have problems tackling on short passes. 8. If the improvement continues, and the turnover bug goes away, then Michigan will not be a door mat in conference play. Then again, the level of play in the conference is so low right now, I'm not sure that is such a big statement. Watching yesterday's game would lead one to think Michigan is a terrible team. After watching them three times now, I see improvements and am hoping they continue. They will never be a great team this year, but I think they could be dangerous as the year progresses.

When I started doing this, one of the commitments I made to myself was to post my results here each week, good or bad. Unfortunately, this week wasn't good. I worked out hard and really thought I was going to drop a few pounds, but instead broke dead even from the previous week. I know I didn't gain any weight, but it's frustrating that I have only lost 1 pound in the last two weeks when I was so close to my goal. It doesn't look like the century mark by the end of the month will now be possible, but I plan to put in as good of a week as I can (work will be busy as hell this week) and get as close as I can. That's all til next Friday.

QUOTE (FlaSoxxJim @ Sep 13, 2008 -> 10:05 AM) You are doing totally awesome, Rex! That is just fantastic and you should be proud of your hard work and determination. I, on the other hand, have completely sucked a$$ since the beginning of May. I started seeing smaller and smaller losses each week despite really staying good with the diet. I know that's normal but it still depressed me so I started cheating a little here and there. Then I started cheating a little more. And then summer kicked in and I went on a 3 month long Tiki tropical cocktail kick – mai tais, rum runners, painkillers, rum barrels, and every other juice and sugar-laded, rum-filled libation imaginable. On the plus side, I can now make the best authentic mai tai in Florida (none of that syrupy-sweet grenadine and juice crap that most bars call a mai tai), and I have amassed a nice collection of Caribbean rums including a 15-year Demerara that is now my all time favorite sipper. On the down side, my liver is now filing to enter the witness protection program, and I've gained back 8 stinking pounds. As fat as I was feeling, I swore I put the whole damn thing back on and then some, but I swore off the scale because i didn't want to know how much I was gaining back. So, here I am, back at it and really wanting not to become a huge lardass again. My wife and I started a new, brutal death-march of a diet on Monday and I have been 100% good with it so far. A tall order, since it allows NO BEER or BOOZE for 11 days straight before you can have a little bit of a couple of cheat days before resetting the calendar and doing it again. Next Friday can't come fast enough. Unless you ask my liver, that is. I'm totally embarrassed to have put on half of the weight I had lost. And I know the whole yo yo thing is not what I want to do the whole rest of my life (it sure was downhill after 30). But, here I am, giving it another go. Totally looking forward to the cottage cheese and fruit salad I have lined up for lunch too, baby! I don't want to come across like I am an expert, but be careful with the brutal diets. Those are the exact things that cause the yo yo because you will lose weight but them gain it back when you stop. The best thing to do is find foods to eat that you can put into your daily routine forever. Cheating is good, one or two meals a week. That should always be there. But try and develop habits you can live with long term so you don't keep bouncing up and down. Good luck and join me back in the member's thread. Also, the BL Show starts this week, so maybe that can help give you a little motivation.

I have a friend that just flew into Houston Tuesday to spend a week at his parent's house. It's weird in that Ike is only a CAT 2 but they are saying that the storm surge is expected to be high and the pure size of it will cause wind damage in a large area. Without a strong eyewall, is this storm going to hold strength at its level longer than say if it were stronger at the eyewall and inflicted more direct damage before dying off? Does that make sense at all?

Coach Crean has put together a nice class for 2009, landing Top 20-30 player Christian Watford from Birmingham as the 5th player in the class. Currently, this class is considered a Top 5 class. IU has a long way to go before getting to where fans and the state expect it to be. But this is definitely a good start. I just wish they would have hired Crean insteal of Sampson previously, like Alex and I both wanted.

Tropical storms can live a long time. I remember when Ivan came through, it was, I believe, still at Cat 1 hurricane status when it hit Birmingham (about 4 hours inland). It knocked out power in most of the area, in some places for a week (only about 8 hours at my place). It seemed like it rained forever and trees were uprooting everywhere and those that stayed in the ground were damn near blowing sideways. Minor building damage was done and at least one gas station canopy came down. Katrina brought lots of rain, but was not nearly as strong by the time it got to Birmingham. I think the eye stayed to the west. Ivan's eye passed right over Birmingham. If you are that far inland, expect one helluva storm, but not a life-threatening one. I know hurricanes wreak havoc on coastal cities, but farther inland they are kinda cool.