Champions

Yup. We are. Coming back from a 1-0 deficit in the SIHL 2006 Sewell Cup Series, my team, the Predators, roared back in game 2 and game 3 to take the cup. Game 3 was awesome. Tons of my friends came out to the rink. Some of them were there for the first time(Anthony, Sabrina, Dustin, April, to name a few), while the rest of my gang had seen several games played before. In addition to my crowd that came to watch, pretty much half of the league’s other teams came out to watch, John Guinn’s usual posse was present(and brought beverages, which could have explained the rowdiness, haha), and Ben Evans’ barrage of sorority followers also arrived. The atmosphere was freakin’ unbelievable. With every goal there was a roar from the crowd, and when there was a flashy save there was applause…well at least from my group….ba-zing!! Long story short, we played great that night, winning 12-7. Make that THREE(1 shared, 2 outright) SIHL championship titles for yours truly J.

This year was also the first year that I was able to take part in the All-Star Game, as it was started the semester I left for Houston. The all-star voting took place about a month ago, and I was fortunate enough to have been selected by my fellow peers in the league. The game took place this past Tuesday, and it was a blast. I got to play along guys I played against all semester, so that was definitely a treat. We even have All-Star jerseys that were given to us by e-Puck. I was stoked because my All-Star jersey is the first jersey I have ever worn in this league that actually matches my equipment! Unfortunately, my most spectacular saves of the season came during this game, a game that didn’t count towards anything:

We had just broken out of the zone, and had put a few shots on goal. Their team regained control of the puck and it was a two-on-one for them, with Nels and Tommy coming into our zone against my one defenseman, Richard. Tommy came in on the right with the puck, Nels sliding in on the left; Richard took away the pass, as he is supposed to do. I skated about a foot out of the crease to cut down Tommy’s angle of shot. He’s got a wicked hard wrister, and it elevates quickly, so I figured I’d cheat some with my positioning. I stopped at my spot, triangle with the pads, stick down covering the 5-hole, elbows in, and glove elevated(remember, high elevation with his shot). Tommy normally takes this shot at this point, as he’s left-handed and had a great look at the net. Of course he doesn’t do as I expect this time, and he makes a brilliant pass through Richard’s legs and stick right across the slot to the left face-off circle, where Nels was waiting to bang it in from about 13 feet away. With almost no hesitation, I skate backwards as quickly as possible, and with great right-to-left movement, I push off my right skate, propelling me to the other half of the crease. Knees come down, pushing the leg pads up on the surface, eliminating the threat of the low shot and allowing my upper body to make the save. Stick still covering the daylight between the pads. At this moment, Nels receives the puck perfectly and absolutely crushes the puck with a one-timer slap shot; the puck is headed for the upper left 90 of the net. With my body sliding left and perfect positioning, my hands were free to move, and I snagged the bullet puck with my trapper mere inches from it crossing the goal line. It was beautiful. Roy would be proud.

As you can see, despite the non-impact of the game on the season, it was still played with plenty of intensity. Pictures were taken after the game, and other pics were taken of the Championship game as well. I’ll try to get those from Richie or Brian sometime. The SIHL Banquet is Sunday night at 7:00. I didn’t get any of the goalie awards this year, but I’d like to think it was because we had to forfeit two games due to lack of players. But Nathan had an outstanding year this year, so he definitely deserves those 2 awards. I did reach some career milestones this season, though. I am now the SIHL’s all-time leader in wins in the regular season, as well as the postseason leader. Pretty cool stuff.

Last weekend I went to Chattanooga to see Mal. The annual Chemistry Department’s banquet was that Friday, and Mal racked up. She was recognized for her work in research this semester, and she was also honored for acceptance into the Chemistry National Honor Society and being selected for a huge scholarship. That Saturday the UTC club soccer team played Georgia Tech. The girls were down 2-0 early in the first half, but they rallied in the 2^nd half with goals from Mal(completely unassisted) and another brilliant shot from just inside the eighteen from one of her teammates. The game ended in a tie, but it was great to watch. The UTC girls played really well.

Speaking of club soccer, Dan, Trevor, and I have been asked to coach the MSU girls club soccer team in the fall. It goes without saying that I’ll be the goalie coach. I’m gonna make sure that if we lose, it wont be because the goalies suck. I have a feeling they’ll hate me before the year’s over, haha.

The Avalanche, up until tonight, have been absolutely BALLIN’ on the ice. They took the first 3 games from the Stars(2 were in OT), but they lost Game 4 by a count of 4-1 tonight. No fears though, as I am sure they can close it out within the next two games. Dallas was such a great defensive team this whole year, but they have been giving up so many goals and scoring opportunities to the Avs. Sakic, Hejduk, and Tanguay have been lighting it up on Turco. Theodore, although not Roy-impressive as of yet, is doing his part. I’m hoping he improves with each round.

How are those Wings doing, Rich? The OILERS!?! Com’on! Haha…nah, the Oilers play really well at home, so it doesn’t surprise me that the series is tied. Just think, if the Wings survive the first round, they get to play us! You KNOW everyone wants to see that J

Sox are streaky as of now. They win a few in a row, they lose a few more in a row. We just aren’t being patient at the plate like we did last year. We aren’t getting the pitch counts up for the opposing pitchers. Our defense has also been kinda shaky, but that will improve. Our infield is freakin’ full of talent. Pitching is suspect now. Beckett was just way off last night, giving up 3 homers and a bazillion runs. I’m hoping he has got the worst out of him in that outing. Schilling was great in his last start, but he was left in too long. I hope that doesn’t come back to bite us later on down the stretch. Oh, and our interim pitching coach Al Nipper seems confident that Roger Clemens will come back to Beantown to pitch. Al and Clemens have a close relationship (hell, they were even in each others’ weddings!), so I’d like to believe him. Just think of that first 3 in the rotation: Schilling, Clemens, Beckett. Holy sh#@!

When I woke up Sunday morning in Chattanooga, my right side of my jaw(just in front of my ear) was feeling really really sore. I didn’t think much of it until it bothered me during my entire trip home that afternoon. I figured it would just subside overnight. Nope. I did some research online, and I had the symptoms of TMD, or temporo-mandibular disorder, which is basically when there is too much tension in the muscles that connect your skull and lower jaw. They’re just sore and need rest. So that was my diagnosis. I decided to see a doctor as soon as possible. I came home this morning to go see our family doc, Dr. Durfy. Mom went with me, and after Dr. Durfy took a look at my jaw, he said he couldn’t feel anything out of place. He thinks it’s just tendonitis in my temporo-mandibular joints, which corroborated my assessment. He gave me some Celebrex to try for 2 weeks, and then I’m supposed to come back to him and let him know how it’s going. The whole Celebrex thing was fine until my mom mentioned that’s what she takes, haha. Oh well, if it helps, then I don’t care what I take. I’m getting Mrs. Belot(my dentist and next-door neighbor) to take a look at my jaw tomorrow and get her opinion too.

Tomorrow will be pretty fun. The NFL Draft coverage starts at 11am central time, and then at 2pm central I get to see some playoff hockey on NBC. I have a test on Tuesday in Materials class, so I’ll have to get some of that studying in too. Our cable service in Houston has OLN(Outdoor Life Network), and since they now carry all of the NHL playoff games until the finals, I’m looking forward to watching all of those when I get down there.

Good to Be Home

Ah, it's good to be home. My 3:30 class got out early today, so I arrived here at the ranch around 6:30. This is my 20th straight Easter weekend to be at home, a record for the Horne children. I also have a streak of consecutive Christmas's and Thanksgiving's made. I'm like the Cal Ripken Jr. of holidays at home, haha...

Mom and dad welcomed me with meatloaf, english peas, carrots, and homemade mashed potatoes, and I just consumed about half of the pound cake and ice cream about 5 minutes ago. Again, it's great to come home.

The weather is amazing. I just walked outside, and it feels SO good. To add to the temperature, a near full-moon is out, and with clear skies it shines through all of the trees surrounding our house, illuminating patches of the freshly-cut lawn all over the place. It really is gorgeous. Hell, all the windows in the house are open to give us some natural ventilation. It's really nice; the only audible noises are the crickets chirping, Jay Leno's squeaky voice in his monologue, and the clicking of my laptop keys. Again....it's great to be home.

and this just in from the Matriarc herself: french toast will be served for breakfast tomorrow morning!! Do I really need to say it again? Yes. I do. Home kicks so much ass.

Sadly, things aren't so great in the home park of my beloved Sox. They just dropped 2 out of 3 to the Jays, but tonight did have some positives. Foulke was impressive in his 2 innings(bout time), and the Sox showed they could come back in the bottom of the 9th. It's still early, but the Sox have squandered a masterful lead on the Jays and Yanks the past two days. Let's hope a visit from the Mariners(thank God we don't have to face Felix) this weekend can get us back on a winning streak.

Speaking of the Sox, Trevor and I bailed on our softball game on Wednesday to watch Papi and the boys battle the Blue Jays. We felt bad that we missed the game, as we had only played one game so far, but we rationalized that since the Sox don't come on tv that often we were allowed to take part. Trevor fixed his famous cheese/chili/spicy dip, and Trevor, Aaron, and Adam joined us. Minus the losing part, the night was fun. After the game, we all went to Polliwogs to meet the rest of the group and hang out on our last day before break.

Sticking with the sports topic, the Avalanche are on the precipice of one of the most monumental playoff push collapses in recent memory. Just 3 weeks ago they were battling Calgary for the top spot in the Northwest division, which would have put them in one of the top 3 seeds in the conference. Now(and especially after they lost tonight) they are very close to being bumped out of the top 8 by Edmonton and Vancouver.(Vancouver is currently beating San Jose). Two more games remain in the season. Com'on Avs! The Avalanche have been in the playoffs every year since I began watching them(2001-2002), not to mention the years before then too, so they can't stop now.

I don't have much planned for this weekend. I'm prolly going to battle the crowds at the mall tomorrow to go find a new dress shirt for Mal's chemistry banquet next friday. My red shirt had to be retired long ago, so maybe I'll fill that hole in my color repertoire. Not sure yet about the pants to wear. Black really isn't "springy," so I may go with my new set of khakis. I also have some studying to do over the next few days, but I'd also like to run some, as well as hang by the pool to try to catch some rays. I also brought my volleyball to practice my jump serve. It's the one aspect of beach volleyball that I am almost completely oblvious to. I hope to at least get the basic mechanics down while I'm here this weekend. Speaking of volleyball, it was a PERFECT day to play today, but Trevor left early this morning, so we were unable to play Dan and Aaron. Arrgh.

It was a roller coast of feelings for me last week. It was tax time, so I had to finally sit down and do the damn things. I was ultra elated after calculating my federal income tax, as I was due about $1200 back from Uncle Sam. Then of course, I am reminded by Jason that we live in Mississippi, and they have an income tax of their own. Damn. So I do the numbers for the MS government, and it turns out I OWE them about $900. WTF. So I sent both sets of papers off a few days ago. Then, I am online, and I'm talking to John via AIM. He mentions that he is working on his own taxes, and I tell him about the gayness that is Mississippi. He then proceeds to tell me that I may not actually have to pay that money to the state. He was rather certain that since I worked more than 6 months out of state(I worked close to 9), and in a state with ZERO income tax no less, I should be entitled to that money, NOT the state of Mississippi. He was so sure because he did the co-op thing as well, and he remembered going through the same ordeal. I passed all this information along to dad yesterday, and he is going to ask our his accountant about the matter. However, dad's gonna wait until after the tax deadline has passed to give the guy a breather. If it turns out that I am due that money, all I do is file a income tax return correction, and that money comes back to me:)...no whammies no whammies...

Less than two months until the big TWO-ONE, folks! June 11, people. Mark it down :)

On the Houston front, plans have begun to get things in order for my return. I've contacted Trey and Bryan, and it seems I wont get into the group I wanted to; they just don't have enough mentors and floor space. The group I was eyeing was GNC, which is shuttle group that works with the (G)uidance, (N)avigation, and (Control) systems. He says that ADCO(my last group) is really all that's open, so I'm to return there. No worries though. I love the ADCOs; I had a blast with them in the fall. They like to have fun, some of them have Mississippi ties, and above all, the majority of them love baseball. That's a perfect group for summer if you ask me.

A slight problem has arisen with my lodging logistics in Houston. I plan on starting work at JSC on May 15th(Monday), but since Walker(my soon-to-be roomate in H-town) lives in Tampa, he can't just stop by home on the way to work like I can. He's going to take a few weeks off before venturing down to the heart of Texas, so that theoretically leaves me living in/paying for a 2-person apartment for 2 weeks. Not cool. Enter Eric Maeir. For those of you don't remember, Eric is one of my boyz in Houston. He and Colin are full-timers at JSC. Anyways, Eric has been gracious enough to offer to let me stay in the guest room in his house until Walker arrives. Awesome! Eric is cool as hell, and Jennifer(his wife) is also a blast. Remember, Eric and Jenn are only 25-26, so they still have the college youth mentality, so I don't think it'll be a problem at all. I even asked if it would be in any way an inconvenience, and Eric said not at all. So that's the plan so far. My last exam is on the 11th of May, I'll go home that night, spend a day here, and then head out to Houston Saturday morning, arriving JUST in time for Colin's party bash at his place that night.

Well as I mentioned before in earlier posts, Eric, Colin, and I purchased 2 season tickets for the new MLS team in Houston, the Dynamo. With a new franchise like this, season tickets go on sale on a first-come first-serve basis. It goes without saying that Colin was definitely first to get served...HAHAHA...anyway...he got ticket choice at the very outset. He took pics of Robertson Stadium a few months back and sent them to me. [Note: Robertson Stadium, used by UH, is the home field of the Dynamo until an SSS(soccer specific stadium) is built, and from what I hear, officials are well under way with getting Houston an SSS. ] Back to the tickets....so yeh, I get the pics from Colin, and I look at them and think, "Egh, these are OK. But jeez, I thought we had preference!" Here's the picture:

I thought our seats were at the place from which the picture was taken. Not THAT amazing. As it turns out, our seats are the ones ALL THE WAY DOWN, on the FRONT ROW, and MIDFIELD!! Colin was trying to take a pic OF our seats and not FROM our seats. How f'in awesome is this?!?! Colin, Eric, and I had a draft for the tickets earlier this semester, and they are divided up accordingly. I am slated to go to my first Dynamo game with Eric on May 20th when the Chicago Fire come to town. Other notable games I will see are the L.A. Galaxy, the Columbus Crew, Chivas USA, and the New England Revolution. I can't wait to get a Dynamo jersey, some face paint, and a drum. I finally have an MLS team to root for! Woo hoo!

Trevor and I made an addition to our apartment this week: an uber soft loveseat! We also hung many of the pictures and frames we have been storing in odd places. The living room has really livened up!

I've registered for classes, but this post is already too long. I'll talk all about my geeky classes next time.

I'm gonna watch some Conan and Baseball Tonight...

-Henry

'Tis the Season for Baseball...and Hockey

Ok, before you read any further...if you are in my immediate family or you have known me and Mallory for some time now(pretty much all you Paris folk), then go to Mallory's blog right NOW. I mean it. Go HERE. All your premonitions over the years have finally been verified. Just read. You'll know what I mean. Totally hilarious...

It's been a week since the last post, so let's see what has happened...

Our amazing intramural soccer run has ended. I wish I could have had a say in the outcome of our last game, but unfortunately I had a prior engagement: hockey. Our soccer game was scheduled for Sunday at 6, and my hockey game that day was scheduled for 5. Normally our hockey games are about an hour long, so I thought I would at least be able to make the second half of the soccer game, but it wasn't going to happen. Sunday turned out to be one of the hottest days here so far this year, and we had to use all of our timeouts to recover from the heat. The breaks were more for me and the other goalie, as having another layer of pads and equpipment on really intensifies the heat. The game time ended being closer to 2 hours; there was no way I was going to make the soccer game. We lost 12-11 in hockey, which sucks. My GAA is usually around 5-6ish, so you can see that this was a massive departure from my norm. I usually don't care about GAA and other stats and usually just focus on one: wins. Unfortunately, I didn't get the W that day. Nevertheless, we ended up 2nd in the regular season. Our first game of the playoffs is tomorrow at 5pm, and we're going to have the #1 leading scorer in SIHL history back playing for us. I'm optimistic and anxious. I need another Sewell Cup on my shelf :)

My soccer boys were just as unlucky; they lost 6-2 that day. I was so bummed that I wasn't able to help them. From what I hear, Kyle did a great job in goal, so I can just assume that the other team was just very good. Oh well, we've improved each year. Maybe next year we bring home the intramural championship.

Of course, the end of one sport means the beginning of another. This Wednesday we(Trevor, Aaron, and I) started intramural softball. We joined a team from which we knew no one; our only connection to them was through Trevor's co-worker, BJ. Despite the anonymonity, we quickly befriended the team. With their new additions, they had too many players, so we had to switch midway through the game. I started in left field while Trevor manned the 3rd-base coaching position. I didn't have any put-outs or assists, but I did field the ball twice. I was much more productive at the plate. I went 1-2 with 2 RBI and a double. I was pretty satisfied considering the last time I played baseball/softball competitively was about 6 years ago. Trevor and I switched roles around the 4th inning. He did just as well. We won the game 10-4. We're looking to repeat that result this Wednesday.

Speaking of baseball, the MLB season has officially started. My Sox are 4-1, and they lead the AL East with the Yanks trailing 3 games in last place. I know I know. It's early, but it's never too early to rub it in the Yankees' faces :)

The NHL playoffs are quickly approaching. My Avs, who were battling for first place in the Northwest Division about a week ago, are now struggling to just make the playoffs. It's looking like 5-6th place will be where the stand when the tournament starts. When it actually does, I'll give my Stanley Cup predictions. I will say this: I'm scared of the Wings right now. They've won a record number of road games, and they are just blazin'. Screw you, Richard, haha. I know you are loving this. Even your Pistons are doing well!! Detroit needs to start having crappy teams!! Hell, even the TIGERS are undefeated in baseball!! What's the deal!? I think steroids are the answer :)

Over the past few weeks I've tried to maintain a relatively regular workout schedule, and for the most part I have kept to it. I'm feeling great. Nothing near what I felt like around last summer, but I'm getting there. I really enjoy running now. I can only attribute that to my kick-ass mp3 lineup of running music. There's no problem with getting motivated; I just pop on the headphones and I'm good to go. I even can run 3.0 miles now without any trouble at all. That's a HUGE improvement over my high school years, haha.

I'm excited about next week. Not only is it a short week(Easter weekend), but I have NO tests or assignments due. I haven't had that feeling in awhile. I'm ready to actually do fun things during the week. We didn't get a chance to play volleyball this weekend due to the bad weather, so hopefully we'll get a chance this week. We even have more sun to play with during the day due to Daylight Savings last week.

I just finished filing my taxes yesterday. I was rather elated to find out that I had a HUGE tax return on my wages from last year's co-op tours. It was a ginormous number. Unfortunately, I realized that Mississippi has an income tax, so I lose pretty much all of that refund due to the money I have to pay the state. Damn you Mississippi. I didn't have this problem in Tennessee. No income tax there. Grrr...

Well, it's looking like everyone is crashing here tonight, so I should probably close my laptop to give them some darkness to sleep in. Wish me luck on our first hockey playoff game tomorrow!

-Henry