2.7.08

Dukies are Back...

I can't believe I didn't mention this yesterday---and maybe it was because I wasn't terribly confident in my once-beloved Blue Devils, but the one thing that Dick Vitale and I do agree on is that Duke-UNC is the best rivalry in college basketball. (He says "college sports" but I don't see how you can surpass Army-Navy in football. I mean---a little jaw-boning between two Blue Chippers is one thing---jawing between two guys who are trained in weapons and tactics is another...) And as long as I have a memory of College Basketball, I have rooted for Duke in these games. Probably because my brother liked UNC---but for some reason I just can't quite get my head around, I have a deep-rooted hatred for North Carolina and everything it stands for (despite Michael Jordan and Rasheed Wallace being 2 of my 10 favorite basketball players ever.)

(How many times did I contradict myself in that paragraph??)

I digest...

I was obviously thrilled to hear (I'll get to why I missed the game) that Duke absolutely mopped the floor with those Celine Dion, periwinkle-pajama'd socialists. I frankly don't have the stake in the game that I once did, but watching on Sportscenter last night and this morning, I got chills knowing that the uncreative, anti-bandwagoners who have the audacity to say that Dean Smith is better than Mike Krzyzewski will spend the next month dreading the fact that they have to go TO Durham to play a team that has beat then 17 out of the last 23 times that they've played.

(And just for fun, the all-time starting fives for both teams---in my lifetime only...)

Duke
F/C Christian Laettner
F Elton Brand
F Grant Hill
G Jason Williams
G Bobby Hurley

UNC
(I was alive, but don't remember MJ, Worthy, Perkins, or Kenny Smith)
C Eric Montross
F/C Rasheed Wallace
F Antawn Jamison
G JR Reid
G Jerry Stackhouse

The Reason I Missed It...

Most of you can click back to E! but if you happen to be a graduate of the mighty University of Puget Sound, stay with me a second...

I went to the meeting of the Los Angeles chapter of the University of Puget Sound Alumni and Parent Relations Board in Santa Monica last night, and was absolutely blown away.

Here are the three reasons why:

1. At Erik's request, I pushed UPS President in front of the group on the subject of revamped indoor athletic facilities in The Memorial Field House, Warner Gym and the "Training Facilities". Citing the positive response of the revamp of "Lower Baker" field last year, the University has pledged a significant portion of its $50 million budget surplus to a complete revamp of the OT/PT schools, and especially the indoor athletic facilities.

In a couple of years, "The Fieldhouse" will occupy a new, indoor pool, a completely remodeled basketball court/arena, a state-of-the-art exercise and training facility, and upgrades to the tennis center and baseball/softball fields.

WHY AREN'T I 16 RIGHT NOW!?!?!?!?

2. The reason for all of this phenomenal change: a phenomenal President.

I met UPS' previous president every two weeks my entire senior year in college---and she didn't know my name.

I've met UPS' current president twice (and never as a student) and he greeted me by first name, and asked me 8 or 10 specific questions, showing what he remembered of me.

Furthermore, he made mention of all three sets of parents (of current students) in attendance and gave a bio on each of their kids. He may have had to research this info, but the fact that he took the time to do it shows a connection to the student body that I never got to experience from a University President.

Just a phenomenal guy--if you have a chance to go to one of these alumni events, do it. Remember when we were going to school and people used to drop the ridiculous, "Man--for 25 grand a year, they should wipe our asses when we go to the toilet" lines, vowing that they'll never give a dime to the institution?

I almost emptied my savings account last night. I love UPS and I take absolute pride in the fact that it is in phenomenal hands.

3. Ben Effing Shelton. (UPS '03)

I normally don't use my friends' last names in the blog, but since he is an R-list celebrity, I figure that he can use all of the publicity he can get.

If you don't know him from college, he is the co-producer of the Paul Brogan Rap Videos (most-recently featured on the Fox Super Bowl pregame) and an award-winning short-filmmaker (along with Eric Ankrim--UPS '03--who was not in attendance.)

Now--I don't like to blow my friends--that's generally something I save for complete strangers and Haitian refugees--but Ben (and Eric for that matter) are going to be completely successful and famous in film-making.

I just don't see how they aren't.

They're NEVER off.

Some people think their short-movies are funny...some don't. It really doesn't matter. Spend five minutes with Ben and you'll realize what the hell I'm talking about.

Last night, he enters the event 45 minutes after start-time, dressed in a manner that for anyone else would have been "underdressed" and just takes over the room without effort.

Then, President Thomas begins his address to the group by mentioning Ben's successes and says to Ben, "Could you explain exactly what you directed/produced for the Super Bowl?"

So Ben steps out in front of a group of 50 or so people he's never met before and says, "Well---it wasn't a real big deal---I choreographed a sequence where Eli Manning nearly gets tackled by about 31 Patriots defensive players, rolls out of the pocket and then completes a pass to David Tyree where he uses his helmet to catch the pass."

I knew where he was going with it the moment he began, but the room went silent for a second, and as he walked away from the front of the room, completely unaffected, everyone just burst out on in laughter. I can't think of another person I know who would A) have the courage to make such a ridiculous spectacle of himself and B) pull it off.

But mark my words---in ten years, "Yeah, I know Ben Shelton" will be the most-interesting thing I can bring to a dinner-party.

(Allow me to remove him from my mouth.)



(Sorry--disgusting I know, but true.)


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