So I don't know if you keep up with college football, but my dear Trojans got slapped with quite a harsh sentence in the post season after the NCAA looked into our program for 4 years and found 2 players had received improper benefits from agents. Now, I am not saying they don't deserve to be punished, it's just that they can't be punished because the culprits (Reggie Bush and OJ Mayo) are currently out of the NCAA's reach and making millions. So they went after the only player they could and it was USC. I realize full well that USC was probably not 100% clean in all of this, but I do think the punishment was a bit harsh - a loss of scholarships, 2 year bowl ban and vacated wins from the years Reggie played and received the benefits. One of the phrases the NCAA used was "a lack of institutional control" about the USC athletic department.
Then, during the summer I am at the gym and watching ESPN when I see a very interesting story running on the ticker on the bottom of the screen. It said that about 10 UVA football players had received improper benefits as well and the NCAA was looking into it. Hmm, funny that it wasn't headline news like it was for USC and they had way more people involved. Ok, well, I expected to hear a harsh sentence concerning them sometime soon.
Fast forward to this morning and I'm reading the LA Times sports page and turns out 2 of their players are only having to deal with a 4 and 6 game ban. The others are being investigated, but if found to have received said benefits, they only have to pay back some of what they took and give it to a charity.
Now, am I the only one who sees a major discrepancy here?? USC was not the victim yes, I'll give you that, but seems that after investigating the school for FOUR years and only finding 2 players, whereas UVA has about TEN might mean that it's UVA with the "lack of institutional control" and not USC. Again, USC was not innocent and they do need to watch their marquee players more, but ONE versus TEN is a BIG difference in my mind. No bowl bans, no vacated wins, no scholarships lost, in fact, those players that broke the rules will still get to play in this season. Awesome. Thanks NCAA for being fair all across the board.
Still annoyed, but then again, can't do anything about it, so oh well. And with that, I leave you with a commercial about why I love sports and ESPN:
Thursday, September 23, 2010
Tuesday, September 21, 2010
Aaaaaaand take two...
So it's been a few weeks but I just wanted to give a quick update on what's been going on at USC!
- A girl named Melody gave her life to Christ a couple weeks ago!! We had a 3 hour dinner and I shared the gospel with her and we talked about a lot of hard things, but by the end of it she was ready to commit!! God is so good :)
- I walked by one of the dorms last week and there was a guy who was yelling the Tarzan call "OOOWWAAAAOOOHHHHH" (spelling??) and saying "TARZAN LIVES!!! have fun in class" and it made me laugh out loud and love the fact that I work at a college campus
- I've experienced some heartache as well because 2 of the girls from last year are taking steps to walk away from their relationship with Christ and I have been sharing truth with them but they seem set on doing things their own way. Sometimes I really wish I had the power to change hearts, but thankfully God does, as it says in Proverbs 21:1, "The king's heart is in the hand of the LORD; he directs it like a watercourse wherever he pleases."
- got to see a "performance piece" yesterday in front of Tommy Trojan as a guy was "showing" the campus the divide between being 100% connected to the world at all times through texting, email and Facebook, but how we've never been more isolated, like there's an invisible wall between people. He "demonstrated" this by having a door frame with a plastic door and running into it over and over and over and over. It was pretty awesome.
and that is just a taste of life at USC!! I'll update later!!
fight on
- A girl named Melody gave her life to Christ a couple weeks ago!! We had a 3 hour dinner and I shared the gospel with her and we talked about a lot of hard things, but by the end of it she was ready to commit!! God is so good :)
- I walked by one of the dorms last week and there was a guy who was yelling the Tarzan call "OOOWWAAAAOOOHHHHH" (spelling??) and saying "TARZAN LIVES!!! have fun in class" and it made me laugh out loud and love the fact that I work at a college campus
- I've experienced some heartache as well because 2 of the girls from last year are taking steps to walk away from their relationship with Christ and I have been sharing truth with them but they seem set on doing things their own way. Sometimes I really wish I had the power to change hearts, but thankfully God does, as it says in Proverbs 21:1, "The king's heart is in the hand of the LORD; he directs it like a watercourse wherever he pleases."
- got to see a "performance piece" yesterday in front of Tommy Trojan as a guy was "showing" the campus the divide between being 100% connected to the world at all times through texting, email and Facebook, but how we've never been more isolated, like there's an invisible wall between people. He "demonstrated" this by having a door frame with a plastic door and running into it over and over and over and over. It was pretty awesome.
and that is just a taste of life at USC!! I'll update later!!
fight on
Friday, August 20, 2010
God is simply amazing
So a few days ago was the move-in day for USC and all of us at Christian Challenge (the staff and student leaders) were helping out all the new freshmen unload and find out where they were staying. It was a long day, but a surprisingly fun and productive one! We were stationed at 3 different spots on campus to make the most of our time and I was with 2 of the guy students, Robbie and Matt. We basically walked up to people with large amounts of boxes and things and offered our services carrying things in! We were also at the New/North dorm, the only dorm, nay, only building on campus without an elevator! But that also gave us more time to talk with the students and their parents so I didn't mind (plus it was my workout for the day - some of those boxes were heavy and I was able to work on my biceps :)
The coolest thing happened within the first hour too. Robbie, Matt and I had met a guy named Nick and we were helping he and his mom carry things to his new room. We learned he was from Hong Kong even though his parents grew up here in the States. When we arrive at his room, however, his name on the door read "Nick Shmitt" and my jaw dropped. Why would I care about a freshman guy's name you might wonder? Glad you asked!! Last weekend was our staff and student leadership retreat and on Monday morning, right before we got started with our day, my boss Neil read aloud an email he had been sent by some parents. The email basically said that they found our group from our website and wanted us to pray for their son who was coming to USC in the fall. They said his name was Nick and he was going to be a cinematic arts major. They also mentioned that while they were both active in their faiths, their son had walked away and they wanted us to pray that he would find Jesus again. They were also from Hong Kong. Now, don't worry, they did not ask us to find him or weird him out by knowing his family history! They just wanted prayers for their son. So when I saw Nick's last name it was *the exact same guy* we had prayed for earlier!! I didn't say anything to his mom or Nick, but when we were finished I told Robbie and Matt who it was we just helped and they were floored at God's providence!!
We moved in a lot more students that day and when we were done, we prayed for all of them, and made special mention of God's good humor that out of all the thousands of people who were on campus that day, we met the one guy we prayed for!! God is so good!!
The coolest thing happened within the first hour too. Robbie, Matt and I had met a guy named Nick and we were helping he and his mom carry things to his new room. We learned he was from Hong Kong even though his parents grew up here in the States. When we arrive at his room, however, his name on the door read "Nick Shmitt" and my jaw dropped. Why would I care about a freshman guy's name you might wonder? Glad you asked!! Last weekend was our staff and student leadership retreat and on Monday morning, right before we got started with our day, my boss Neil read aloud an email he had been sent by some parents. The email basically said that they found our group from our website and wanted us to pray for their son who was coming to USC in the fall. They said his name was Nick and he was going to be a cinematic arts major. They also mentioned that while they were both active in their faiths, their son had walked away and they wanted us to pray that he would find Jesus again. They were also from Hong Kong. Now, don't worry, they did not ask us to find him or weird him out by knowing his family history! They just wanted prayers for their son. So when I saw Nick's last name it was *the exact same guy* we had prayed for earlier!! I didn't say anything to his mom or Nick, but when we were finished I told Robbie and Matt who it was we just helped and they were floored at God's providence!!
We moved in a lot more students that day and when we were done, we prayed for all of them, and made special mention of God's good humor that out of all the thousands of people who were on campus that day, we met the one guy we prayed for!! God is so good!!
Wednesday, August 4, 2010
My old friend has returned
After a three year remission, my rheumatoid arthritis has returned. I don't know what the cause is, perhaps the fact that I got sick right after Hawaii and sickness can cause a flare-up, or maybe the fact that anything past 8 weeks is just too long an interval right now to go without medication, or it could just randomly have shown up. I don't know and I don't even care all that much because how does that affect me? The RA is here, and I get my medication again next week.
At first I was super mad and anxious about it because it's really painful and I'm not looking forward to being in pain all the time again. I was laying in my bed on Sunday night, because that is when my RA was keeping me up with my right shoulder being in pain (thank you to my sister Tiff who is in Hawaii who I called and talked to to get my mind off it!) and I was just thinking to myself, "what if this is my RA coming back for good? What can I do with my life? What kind of life can I have?" basically playing the "woe is me" game and then I remembered something from church that very day. My pastor was talking about the truth of the Scriptures and how its truth can overcome any of my negative thoughts and how the devil can really get me off-balance by feeding me and maintaining those "you're worthless" ideas that come into your head.
2 Corinthians 10:4-5 says, "The weapons we fight with are not the weapons of the world. On the contrary, they have divine power to demolish strongholds. We demolish arguments and every pretension that sets itself up against the knowledge of God, and we *take captive every thought* to make it obedient to Christ."
We're always going to have those negative thoughts like "you're not good enough" "why should anyone care about you?" or "you can't do it" but those are untruths that the enemy uses because they're so darn effective! But I was able to put a stop to my pity party and tell myself that those thoughts I was having were untrue, that I knew exactly what I was going to do with my life, that I was still going to glorify God and make disciples, and that He was going to give me the strength and energy to make that happen. Right away I felt better because I had attacked those bad thoughts with the truth and didn't dwell on them.
Man, I was so excited about how relevant God's Word is!! It was written so long ago, and yet it still impacts my days in the here and now, I mean, that is awesome and God is so personal!!
So while I am not a fan of my RA being back, I know I can tell myself the truth, that even though I may not like it, I can deal with it God's way and focus on others. Because it's either God's way where I can rest in the fact that even though I don't understand it, He has a perfect plan for it and will give me an abundant life (John 10:10) or I can deal with it my way and try to ignore it, throw myself pity party after pity party, get bitter when people don't understand what I'm going through and be depressed on the inside about how "wrong" my life went. Yeah, no contest!
God is good no matter the circumstances, *no matter the circumstances,* and this may just be a temporary blip on the radar or it could be the beginning of a long relationship with the pain again, I don't know, but God does and He said He can handle it so I am giving it to Him to let Him take that burden (Ps. 55:22 - Cast your burden upon the Lord and He will sustain you; He will never allow the righteous to be shaken). My only job is to continue to love and glorify Him and let others know how much He has changed my life and perspective. So no matter what happens or how long I have to deal with the RA, God is still good and He is still worthy of my life.
At first I was super mad and anxious about it because it's really painful and I'm not looking forward to being in pain all the time again. I was laying in my bed on Sunday night, because that is when my RA was keeping me up with my right shoulder being in pain (thank you to my sister Tiff who is in Hawaii who I called and talked to to get my mind off it!) and I was just thinking to myself, "what if this is my RA coming back for good? What can I do with my life? What kind of life can I have?" basically playing the "woe is me" game and then I remembered something from church that very day. My pastor was talking about the truth of the Scriptures and how its truth can overcome any of my negative thoughts and how the devil can really get me off-balance by feeding me and maintaining those "you're worthless" ideas that come into your head.
2 Corinthians 10:4-5 says, "The weapons we fight with are not the weapons of the world. On the contrary, they have divine power to demolish strongholds. We demolish arguments and every pretension that sets itself up against the knowledge of God, and we *take captive every thought* to make it obedient to Christ."
We're always going to have those negative thoughts like "you're not good enough" "why should anyone care about you?" or "you can't do it" but those are untruths that the enemy uses because they're so darn effective! But I was able to put a stop to my pity party and tell myself that those thoughts I was having were untrue, that I knew exactly what I was going to do with my life, that I was still going to glorify God and make disciples, and that He was going to give me the strength and energy to make that happen. Right away I felt better because I had attacked those bad thoughts with the truth and didn't dwell on them.
Man, I was so excited about how relevant God's Word is!! It was written so long ago, and yet it still impacts my days in the here and now, I mean, that is awesome and God is so personal!!
So while I am not a fan of my RA being back, I know I can tell myself the truth, that even though I may not like it, I can deal with it God's way and focus on others. Because it's either God's way where I can rest in the fact that even though I don't understand it, He has a perfect plan for it and will give me an abundant life (John 10:10) or I can deal with it my way and try to ignore it, throw myself pity party after pity party, get bitter when people don't understand what I'm going through and be depressed on the inside about how "wrong" my life went. Yeah, no contest!
God is good no matter the circumstances, *no matter the circumstances,* and this may just be a temporary blip on the radar or it could be the beginning of a long relationship with the pain again, I don't know, but God does and He said He can handle it so I am giving it to Him to let Him take that burden (Ps. 55:22 - Cast your burden upon the Lord and He will sustain you; He will never allow the righteous to be shaken). My only job is to continue to love and glorify Him and let others know how much He has changed my life and perspective. So no matter what happens or how long I have to deal with the RA, God is still good and He is still worthy of my life.
Tuesday, July 27, 2010
Back to the daily grind
Got back a few days ago from Hawaii and now I have to deal with life after vacation, which is no fun when your days would consist of beach, pool, food, sleep, repeat, day after day :)
But you know one thing I realized?? As I was chillaxing in the Aloha state I was just amazed at God's creation. I mean, I always love looking around and seeing God at work daily, but when you go somewhere where you can't possibly ignore His creativity it's simply awesome to see His hand every second of every day. The beaches were gorgeous, the views were spectacular and the scenery was beautiful.
This is Waipi'o beach, which is a black sand beach, that's right, BLACK SAND!! It was so awesome :)
This is my cousin David and I at a waterfall, which would normally be a double waterfall but it was a dry season...
This is the view from the hotel lobby and it was so refreshing to see this every day!
We even saw random horses on the way to one of the black sand beaches!! Thanks God for that little fun sight to see :)
Another cool thing is that I was reading in Exodus during my time in Hawaii and it was right at the part about the 10 plagues on Egypt. God just showed me more deeply just how powerful He can be with the double whammy of the plagues and His mighty creation. I mean, if you think about it, we don't even see all of God's power, we just get a glimpse of it from His Word and through our lives but He is capable of SO MUCH MORE!!
Eph. 3:20-21 says it best, "Now to Him who is able to do immeasurably more than all we ask or imagine, according to His power that is at work within us, to Him be glory in the church and in Christ Jesus throughout all generations, forever and ever! Amen."
Now, whenever anyone brings up the 10 plagues most people think about the movie The Ten Commandments with Charlton Heston as Moses:
I'm not bagging on the movie, it's a great depiction really, but the Bible is so much more gripping I think! When I read it this time I was annoyed at how hard-hearted the Pharaoh was being towards Moses and all the people, but then I realized, if the Pharaoh had let the Israelites go at the very beginning, then there would be no record of what all God can do! Because of the Pharaoh's stubbornness, we get a picture of some of the things God can do for all eternity!! That is just plain cool. God always has a plan you know, even if it makes no sense this side of eternity :)
So I would encourage you to take a walk outside and just marvel at God's creation and His ingenuity. Even people-watching can be fun because everyone is so different! I hope you're having a great day today and until next time!
And here is one of my favorite Sportscenter commercials for your enjoyment :)
But you know one thing I realized?? As I was chillaxing in the Aloha state I was just amazed at God's creation. I mean, I always love looking around and seeing God at work daily, but when you go somewhere where you can't possibly ignore His creativity it's simply awesome to see His hand every second of every day. The beaches were gorgeous, the views were spectacular and the scenery was beautiful.
This is Waipi'o beach, which is a black sand beach, that's right, BLACK SAND!! It was so awesome :)
This is my cousin David and I at a waterfall, which would normally be a double waterfall but it was a dry season...
This is the view from the hotel lobby and it was so refreshing to see this every day!
We even saw random horses on the way to one of the black sand beaches!! Thanks God for that little fun sight to see :)
Another cool thing is that I was reading in Exodus during my time in Hawaii and it was right at the part about the 10 plagues on Egypt. God just showed me more deeply just how powerful He can be with the double whammy of the plagues and His mighty creation. I mean, if you think about it, we don't even see all of God's power, we just get a glimpse of it from His Word and through our lives but He is capable of SO MUCH MORE!!
Eph. 3:20-21 says it best, "Now to Him who is able to do immeasurably more than all we ask or imagine, according to His power that is at work within us, to Him be glory in the church and in Christ Jesus throughout all generations, forever and ever! Amen."
Now, whenever anyone brings up the 10 plagues most people think about the movie The Ten Commandments with Charlton Heston as Moses:
I'm not bagging on the movie, it's a great depiction really, but the Bible is so much more gripping I think! When I read it this time I was annoyed at how hard-hearted the Pharaoh was being towards Moses and all the people, but then I realized, if the Pharaoh had let the Israelites go at the very beginning, then there would be no record of what all God can do! Because of the Pharaoh's stubbornness, we get a picture of some of the things God can do for all eternity!! That is just plain cool. God always has a plan you know, even if it makes no sense this side of eternity :)
So I would encourage you to take a walk outside and just marvel at God's creation and His ingenuity. Even people-watching can be fun because everyone is so different! I hope you're having a great day today and until next time!
And here is one of my favorite Sportscenter commercials for your enjoyment :)
Tuesday, July 13, 2010
Orange Crush...crushed...
So the World Cup of futbol is over and now Americans can go back to not caring about soccer until the next one. I include myself in that, and I'm sorry but it's true. I don't watch MLS but the second you put an international spin to it, like curling in the Olympics, then I am down. That being said, I am still sad it's gone. For once everyone was actually interested in something, and that even with the USA out of commission! The finals were Sunday between Spain and the Netherlands and even though I missed them (was at church, just a bit more important :) I got to see the highlights and I am sad to say that my team in orange did not win...again. The Netherlands have now been to the finals THREE times and no dice. Ah well, next time chaps! Below are some pics of the teams:
I love this one, it's of the semi-finals when Netherlands played Uruguay and the positions these players get themselves into is just awesome
people asked me why I was rooting for the Dutch and this picture says it all, I mean, they all wore BRIGHT ORANGE!! who else was I going to root for?? Any team that recognizes the amazing-ness of orange deserves my love and support, so come all future international competitions, I am rooting for them unless they play the USA :)
This was the game-winning shot by Spain and they won 1-0, after 120 minutes of play. Soccer seriously needs more points per goal...
So well done Spain, you did outplay the Netherlands, and in your honor here is your logo, which, incidentally, a friend of mine sent me right after the game. He shall remain nameless, but his name rhymes with the last name of Keyser Soze...
But you know what?? Even though my team lost, I can console myself with the AMAZING news I got from my doctor on Thursday!! I saw him and we decided to take myself OFF my infusion medication!! I've been on it since the summer of 2004 with only a 6 week break, and now I get to be off it for the immediate future!! I made sure this was a good move, asking my doc if this was a normal course of action for patients who showed remission and he said yes, so that means we're a go!
Now, I don't know how long this honeymoon will last with me being off THREE out of my normal four medications in one year, but I'll just cross that bridge when I get to it. God is good no matter the circumstances, no matter if I'm in terrible pain or wonderful joy. He saw me through my years of pain and if and when they come back, He'll see me through those as well.
Plus, not only do I have that news to console myself BUT I also got into the show "Glee" over the weekend because one of my roommates has the first half of the season and I'm hopelessly addicted now :)
And now, for the funny of the day :)
I love this one, it's of the semi-finals when Netherlands played Uruguay and the positions these players get themselves into is just awesome
people asked me why I was rooting for the Dutch and this picture says it all, I mean, they all wore BRIGHT ORANGE!! who else was I going to root for?? Any team that recognizes the amazing-ness of orange deserves my love and support, so come all future international competitions, I am rooting for them unless they play the USA :)
This was the game-winning shot by Spain and they won 1-0, after 120 minutes of play. Soccer seriously needs more points per goal...
So well done Spain, you did outplay the Netherlands, and in your honor here is your logo, which, incidentally, a friend of mine sent me right after the game. He shall remain nameless, but his name rhymes with the last name of Keyser Soze...
But you know what?? Even though my team lost, I can console myself with the AMAZING news I got from my doctor on Thursday!! I saw him and we decided to take myself OFF my infusion medication!! I've been on it since the summer of 2004 with only a 6 week break, and now I get to be off it for the immediate future!! I made sure this was a good move, asking my doc if this was a normal course of action for patients who showed remission and he said yes, so that means we're a go!
Now, I don't know how long this honeymoon will last with me being off THREE out of my normal four medications in one year, but I'll just cross that bridge when I get to it. God is good no matter the circumstances, no matter if I'm in terrible pain or wonderful joy. He saw me through my years of pain and if and when they come back, He'll see me through those as well.
Plus, not only do I have that news to console myself BUT I also got into the show "Glee" over the weekend because one of my roommates has the first half of the season and I'm hopelessly addicted now :)
And now, for the funny of the day :)
Friday, June 25, 2010
TEAM USA!!!!!!
I'm sure you have all heard or seen by now the AMAZING US match against Algeria in the World Cup. I was lucky enough to catch a fair share of it because I was at the gym early and got to watch some of it (interspersed with Wimbledon of course). But it was also boring for me so I stayed with Wimbledon and got to watch one of my favorite players, Andy Roddick, WIN his match and advance to the next round!! That was actually really cool and I'm super glad I got to see him play :)
After his second round match with Frenchman Micheal Llodra
But the World Cup match was still 0-0 and not terribly exciting for me (not the biggest futbol fan...) so I left the gym, showered and went to Cafe 84 which is right across from the gym on campus to do my Quiet Time there. Well, they had the game on and there was only about 7 minutes left so I decided to watch it because, hey, it's Team USA. There were about 10 people there watching the game, one of whom was wearing a Landon Donovan jersey and was about to burst with every good or bad play we did. But you know what happened next. During injury time (which I found out what it was later) Landon Donovan scored the winning goal in the 92nd minute!!!
GOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOL!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Needless to say I was screaming and clapping and everyone else was too and it was way fun to be able to watch it with some fans who were genuinely interested too!!
Basically Donovan is a stud and I may or may not name my first born son (or daughter) after him.....
and here are some amazing futbol fans from South Africa - I love the kid in the pic below, I can only hope that if God grants me children, they too will dress like crazy people for USA and USC :)
AND not only was the World Cup match awesome and amazing (first time we finished first in our group since 1930!!) but Wimbledon was going crAAAzy too!! In the first round on Tuesday a couple of unknowns, John Isner from the US and Nicolas Mahut from France played. I only hoped Isner would win because he is American. Well, win he did, but not in any fashion that anyone would have guessed. Their epic match went five sets, with the fifth set lasting 8 hours and 11 minutes, for a grand total of ELEVEN HOURS AND FIVE MINUTES!!! Longest match in tennis history - longer than all the time it took Serena Williams to advance through SIX ROUNDS last year!! It started Tuesday, then had to break because was getting too dark to play. They resumed play again on Wednesday, only to have to stop early again due to darkness. They finally finished on Thursday, with Isner pulling out the win and now everyone from here to China knows who he is! The final score was 6-4, 3-6, 6-7 (7), 7-6 (3), 70-68 - probably a score not likely ever to be seen again!
Isner is also a tiny 6'9'' so it was a long way for him to fall to the ground in happiness :)
Isner obviously happy to be done with the match, while Monsieur Mahut does not look happy at all...can't really blame the guy, he was prolly about to fall over
Sadly his talent was not to take him through the 2nd round because he lost today in straight sets to Thiemo de Bakker of the Netherlands. Well, that is understandable seeing as how his arm prolly should have fallen off during his match! He was behind schedule too because the match took so stinkin' long so instead of a 2 day reprieve he got less than 24 hours. He took an ice bath, massaged his arm and struggled to eat some pasta just to rejuvenate himself. Andy Roddick even brought him and his coach takeout Tuesday or Wednesday night - gotta love that guy :)
Hope you're having a great Friday and remember to root for Team USA as we play Ghana tomorrow at 11:30am!!!
After his second round match with Frenchman Micheal Llodra
But the World Cup match was still 0-0 and not terribly exciting for me (not the biggest futbol fan...) so I left the gym, showered and went to Cafe 84 which is right across from the gym on campus to do my Quiet Time there. Well, they had the game on and there was only about 7 minutes left so I decided to watch it because, hey, it's Team USA. There were about 10 people there watching the game, one of whom was wearing a Landon Donovan jersey and was about to burst with every good or bad play we did. But you know what happened next. During injury time (which I found out what it was later) Landon Donovan scored the winning goal in the 92nd minute!!!
GOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOL!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Needless to say I was screaming and clapping and everyone else was too and it was way fun to be able to watch it with some fans who were genuinely interested too!!
Basically Donovan is a stud and I may or may not name my first born son (or daughter) after him.....
and here are some amazing futbol fans from South Africa - I love the kid in the pic below, I can only hope that if God grants me children, they too will dress like crazy people for USA and USC :)
AND not only was the World Cup match awesome and amazing (first time we finished first in our group since 1930!!) but Wimbledon was going crAAAzy too!! In the first round on Tuesday a couple of unknowns, John Isner from the US and Nicolas Mahut from France played. I only hoped Isner would win because he is American. Well, win he did, but not in any fashion that anyone would have guessed. Their epic match went five sets, with the fifth set lasting 8 hours and 11 minutes, for a grand total of ELEVEN HOURS AND FIVE MINUTES!!! Longest match in tennis history - longer than all the time it took Serena Williams to advance through SIX ROUNDS last year!! It started Tuesday, then had to break because was getting too dark to play. They resumed play again on Wednesday, only to have to stop early again due to darkness. They finally finished on Thursday, with Isner pulling out the win and now everyone from here to China knows who he is! The final score was 6-4, 3-6, 6-7 (7), 7-6 (3), 70-68 - probably a score not likely ever to be seen again!
Isner is also a tiny 6'9'' so it was a long way for him to fall to the ground in happiness :)
Isner obviously happy to be done with the match, while Monsieur Mahut does not look happy at all...can't really blame the guy, he was prolly about to fall over
Sadly his talent was not to take him through the 2nd round because he lost today in straight sets to Thiemo de Bakker of the Netherlands. Well, that is understandable seeing as how his arm prolly should have fallen off during his match! He was behind schedule too because the match took so stinkin' long so instead of a 2 day reprieve he got less than 24 hours. He took an ice bath, massaged his arm and struggled to eat some pasta just to rejuvenate himself. Andy Roddick even brought him and his coach takeout Tuesday or Wednesday night - gotta love that guy :)
Hope you're having a great Friday and remember to root for Team USA as we play Ghana tomorrow at 11:30am!!!
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