It's Memorial Day Weekend...I Am Outta Here!

It seems to be a tradition for me to get out of town on Memorial Day Weekend. Two years ago, I headed North and went to Toronto for the weekend. Last year, I headed East (way East) and was in Ireland over Memorial Day Weekend. This year, I am going West and spending Memorial Day weekend in San Francisco. If you need me, you may want to use this handy San Francisco microbrewery map to track me down:

Stop The Season, I Want To Get Off.

I can't take it. I can't take the pressure of a Cleveland team being favored to win a championship. This is just too much for me to bare. When the Cleveland Cavaliers finished the over-drawn out NBA regular season with the best record, it was wonderful, but so bittersweet. I just wanted the season to end there. Hang up a banner and call them regular-season champs. Unfortunately that isn't the way it works in Cleveland. The expectation now is to win the championship and sweep through the even more over-drawn out NBA playoff season.

It's great to have expectations, but a championship has not been won in Cleveland for over 45 years. My generation has seen heartbreak after heartbreak. Cleveland is a city that has three major sports teams and a sad story to tell about each one. Now the CAVS enter the post-season with the expectation to win the championship. No problem. Well...maybe one problem: the Cavaliers are from Cleveland. I am just hoping nobody has told the players about this small glitch.

The Best Monday Ever.

Up until yesterday, I pretty much hated Mondays. I mean there really is very little to like about this day. That all changed with two different events-both very exciting in their own way.

For some unbelievable reason, I was the only person in my March Madness pool to pick North Carolina. I was down by 24 points heading into last night's game with the winner picking up 25 points. I obviously won. For the second time in four years, I am thankful to North Carolina for winning the national championship. I am also thankful because I ran this pool, and I am the worst at running things like this. I am horrible with money and the money I have already received from people was spent weeks ago. In my mind, I broke even last night. I think in the future, I may leave running these things to those more fiscally responsible than myself.

Good thing number two on Monday made my day even without the North Carolina victory. It was reported yesterday that Diane Palin, Sarah Palin's sister-in-law was arrested for breaking into homes. On top of the media tour that Levi Johnston is currently doing, this makes Sarah Palin look even worse, and I had no idea that was possible. Part of me almost feels sorry for her, but then I think back to all the stupid things she said last Fall and I can't help but smile.

I am already looking forward to next Monday!

The Upset Nobody Knows About

One of the biggest upsets in NCAA tournament history happened yesterday, and hardly anybody even knows about it. If you didn't fill out a women's bracket this year (don't lie-I know you didn't), than you weren't paying attention. Yesterday in a stunning upset, Ball State of the Mid-American Conference beat defending champion Tennessee in the first round 71-55.

If you aren't familiar with the format of the women's tournament, there are few upsets compared to the madness on the men's side. The committee sets the games up so that the higher-ranked teams play closer to home to draw more fans. On top of that, there is a great divide between the great teams in women's basketball and the good teams. The parity doesn't exist. (See: Connecticut's undefeated regular season rampage.) If you aren't familiar with Tennessee women's basketball, they don't lose in the first round. They never have. They have a coach in Pat Summitt (See: Legend) that just won her 800th game this season, and they also happen to be the two-time defending champions of this tournament. If you aren't familiar with Ball State women's basketball than join the club. I didn't have much of a chance to follow women's basketball in the MAC this winter, but I do know Ball State wasn't even favored to win their conference tournament this year. Their prize for winning their tournament was getting shipped to Kentucky to play Tennessee in the first round. This should have been a blow-out for Tennessee. It wasn't and that is what makes March Madness so great.

I am blogging about this today because of the timing of it all. Yesterday I had a conversation with a gentleman who didn't even know there was a women's tournament. I know most people don't follow women's sports like I do, but why not try it out this March? You may just catch some upsets or a history-making win like this one. Happy Women's History Month Ball State!

Everyone Has March Madness

Sure he could have been doing something more important for these five minutes, but this time of year, even President Obama has March Madness: Click this link to see Obama go through his whole bracket with ESPN's Andy Katz. Good Luck to everyone with their own March Madness this year!

Here is the link to the video if it doesn't work:
http://espn.go.com/video/clip?id=3992869

Enough Is Enough

I haven't blogged in two weeks. This means I have been holding in a lot of Sportygrrl frustration. I am frustrated by things happening in sports, politics, stupid holidays and stupid people in general. My stew of frustration consists of the following ingredients:

One cup of Leave Cleveland Alone. Forbes magazine named Cleveland the fourth most miserable city in the United States. You think we don't know we have problems? You think we don't know our weather sucks and that we haven't won a sports championship in over fifty years? You think we don't know LeBron James is going to be a free agent in two years? Yes, that was actually one of the reasons they gave for Cleveland being so miserable. If you are going to call us miserable at least talk about our housing and education problems. Compared to that, James is not making us miserable. This leads me to...

One cup of Stop Talking About LeBron James' Free Agency. Yes, he may leave Cleveland, but why do we have to keep talking about it? It isn't for two years. There is nothing the people of Cleveland can do to make this decision for him. It's his decision to make. Call me in 2010 and let me know where he is playing. Right now he is playing for the CAVS. End of story. This is really starting to make Cleveland look desperate. This leads me to...

One cup of Stop Making Cleveland Look Stupid. Hey Connie Schultz: I normally like what you have to write and say, BUT the next time you show up on my favorite nationally-televised talk show, The Rachel Maddow Show, to talk about Cleveland's housing problems, don't talk about the Animal Protection League. Instead of talking about homeless people and foreclosure issues, Schultz used her national moment in the sun to talk about all of the animals without homes in Cleveland due to foreclosures. That was a shame. This leads me to...

One cup of Stop Deconstructing The Stimulus Bill. Shame on those people in Congress that didn't think Family planning should be a part of this stimulus bill. Yes, tax cuts help the economy, but you know what else helps the economy? Less unplanned childbirths and information regarding contraceptives that is attainable for people in every economic class. On top of that, why is everyone up in arms over Obama saying this bill was imperative to pass? Wasn't it our last President (sorry...I can't remember his name) and his Treasury Secretary that said the country would be ruined if their bailout plan wasn't passed? Speaking of passing...

To finish up this stew, don't forget to add one cup of I Hate Valentine's Day. Do people even know what this holiday celebrates? Try reading this article to get a better perspective. If you have to pick one day out of the year to be extra nice to your significant other, than you probably shouldn't be together. How about showing them everyday that you actually like them? Please note I also feel the same way about St. Patricks Day. There should be a rule that you have some understanding of Irish history before you go out and get drunk and then puke on my street.

Speaking of drinking and puking on streets, I leave for Mardi Gras in nine days. I think I might need to get away for a couple days, what do you think?

Runner-Up Ingredients Included: Don't purposely have eight kids while on government assistance and Brett Favre should have retired two years ago.

The Last Person In America To Blog About The Inauguration

I may actually be the last person who attended the 2009 Presidential Inauguration to blog about it, or at least the 1.6 millionth. By now, many of you have read about it, watched it or just don't care anymore. My timing is always impeccable. In my defense, I got sick. I was very sick right before I went, and standing in freezing weather for 13 hours didn't help very much. I am only now recovering from one of the best experiences of my life. The event was everything that everyone who has already blogged about described. (I am also an incredibly lazy blogger, so this may also be attributed to my late timing.) If you read that the event was breath-taking-it was. If you have read that it was amazing how many people showed up to celebrate-it was. If you have read that there were long lines, but everything was worth the wait-it was. If you read that it was worth getting up in the middle of the night to catch the first train out of Baltimore to DC-it was. It was a great experience shared together by people who have never met, but came together in peace and celebration. Think about it-there were over two million people and no arrests. That in itself was historical, but to be a part of this moment, made me feel like I have never felt before. Please enjoy my pictures: All Photos can be viewed here

Inauguration 2009

Two months ago I resigned myself to the fact that I would not be going to Washington for the 2009 Inauguration. It was just too much of a hassle and too expensive. With my new job, I was unable to even take the day off of work. I was fine with this. It was out of my head.

Last night at the Community Shares of Greater Cleveland Young Professionals mixer, something happened that changed all of this. I was approached with an opportunity to stay and go for a really cheap price. Everything fell into place. Before I made my decision, there were professional and personal obligations that I had to weigh. The decision became tougher and tougher to make, and then more things fell into place. I was still torn and then I found the video below. It brought back all of my election blog entries along with every feeling I had on election night and then my decision was made. I am going to attend the 2009 Inauguration of our 44th President and I am going to love every minute of it. Needless to say, The Save A Lot Experiment of 2009 is going to be temporarily put on hold unless I find one in the DC area. Enjoy the video! Special thanks goes out to Jed Lewison for making such a great piece that continuously brings back all the emotions of that special night.

The Save A Lot Experiment of 2009

I am poor. I just moved out on my own-which is a blog entry all in itself-and now I am feeling the effects of self-sufficiency. So much so that it is time to make sacrifices. Sacrifices like going out and eating and drinking to my heart's content. If this is your first time to my blog, you should know: I like going out to eat and drink. This must now end at least for the moment, or the next two weeks as I begin my new experiment.

The other night I was in Save A Lot, and realized while the food may not be of the best quality, and there is a real lack of choices, the prices can not be beat. My mission if I choose to accept it is to live off only food from Save A Lot from this Sunday up until Super Bowl Sunday (February 1, 2009). To make the mission even a little more difficult, I am going to try and cook only healthy meals or at least something you would not be afraid to feed to a still-growing child. This means I am not going to live off of frozen pizzas and macaroni and cheese for the next two weeks. I am trying to think of it as Iron Chef America on a budget. Updates to follow!

In case you were wondering, they do have beer there, so don't worry about me in that department.

2008: A Recap. Sportygrrl Style.

A new year has begun. It is now time to reflect back on the past year and laugh at myself because I am a complete moron. Though I also had some moments of brilliance-fleeting as they were. Just in case you missed anything from my blog this past year, here are the highlights.

January 16th: The World Beer Tour Begins
February 20th: The best of Las Vegas
March 2nd: The Browns sign Clinton and Obama
March 4th: No Hillary for me
June 6th: IRELAND
July 14th: The swimsuit fiasco
August 29th: The Palin discovery
September 4th: Twitter This!
September 10th: No Way Palin
October 4th: Birthday Month
October 21st: The origin of Sportygrrl
October 29th: Sports as a form of Socialism
November 5th: HOPE.

It is always good to go back and laugh at yourself or other people (Thank you Sarah Palin!). I hope everyone has a wonderful 2009. My resolution is to blog more.