The Champions League

            Today I am watching a soccer game between Barcelona and Arsenal in the Round of 16 in the Champions League. The Champions League is actually a very cool concept that is missing in American sports. In Europe each country has its own league, with the leagues of England, Germany, Spain, France and Italy being historically the best five. At the end of each season (August to May), the top few teams in each league are selected to go into the Champions League the following season, giving the club an opportunity to gain fans and lots of TV money. All the teams that are selected for the Champions league are broken into eight groups of four teams each. Between September and December these teams play all of the other teams in their groups twice, and are awarded three points for every win and one point for a draw. The top two teams of each group then go onto the round of 16.

            This is where things start to get interesting. Teams are seeded based on how they did in the group stage and are placed into the 16-team bracket accordingly. The round of 16, quarter finals and semifinals are all played in two “legs” (two games). The scores of the two games are added together and the winner progresses to the next round. If the teams are tied, the team who scored more goals while they were playing away (one of the games is payed at one team’s home field, while the other game is played at the other’s) goes through. If the teams are still tied after that, they go to a penalty shootout. The final is played in just one game, with two half-hour overtime periods and then a penalty shootout to serve as tie-breakers.

If this was confusing (and I’d be surprised if it wasn’t), here’s a few links that may help clarify the process:

http://www.sbnation.com/soccer/2014/9/11/6135491/uefa-champions-league-guide

https://tizod.wordpress.com/uefa-champions-league/

And a 3-minute video if you’re tired of reading:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HlT5pZjCqKI&ab_channel=TYTSports

Summer Music

             It’s so warm out today (Wednesday), and with this first over-70-degree day will surely come a whole new wave  of senioritis, and more importantly excitement for Summer (even though we haven’t even seen Spring yet). Summer for me has always had its own playlist- songs that I only really listen to when it’s really nice out. While we still have a ways to go before it’s like this all the time, I figured I’d share a few songs I know that help the nice-weather mood.

Anna Sun by WALK THE MOON

Jubel by Klingande

Super Rich Kids by Frank Ocean

There He Go by Schoolboy Q

Stay (feat Matt Noyes) by Kygo

Tongue Tied by Grouplove

Cecilia and the Satellite by Andrew McMahon In The Wilderness

Free and Lonely by X Ambassadors

Kids by MGMT

Tennis Courts (Flume Remix) by Lrde

            Do these songs make you feel like it’s summertime? What songs do you listen to during the Summer? 

The Office

           As I sit on another Thursday night, the threat of a blog post once again looms overhead. At the moment I am sitting in my living room, watching reruns of The Office with my sister. The Office was a great show in its day (except for maybe after Steve Carrell left, when it started to get weird).  Every Thursday my family would gather together and watch the newest episode of The Office, laughing non-stop until the episode was over. Even as it started to get weird at the end, my family and I stuck with it, determined to see how the writers wrapped up the story.

            The ending to The Office truly was one of, if not the, best endings to a show I’ve seen. It was equal parts funny and sad; bittersweet in a lot of ways. The show had been a part of our lives for the better part of a decade, and it was sad knowing we wouldn’t be watching the show together anymore, leaving a void that we would have a tough time filling. Watching the reruns is definitely funny and entertaining, but nothing compares to sitting around with your friends and/or family watching an episode none of you have seen before.

Dan Sullivan

            My first experience with Dan Sullivan was in middle school. I used to play games on the internet and Skype with my friends. I went to Parker for middle school, but I had some friends who knew kids who went to Coolidge who also enjoyed Skyping and playing computer games. Dan was one of these kids, and I remember thinking he was pretty funny and cool. Fast forward to freshman year; the middle schools collide. I didn’t have any classes with Dan, but he was in the only other block of freshman that my English teacher had. When we got to A Midsummer Night’s Dream, our teacher, Mrs. Correa, assigned each character to a student and had us read aloud the book. My classes read-aloud was a bit awkward and unenthusiastic. My friends in the other block told me that Dan asked to have the part of a fairy, and proceeded to read all of his lines in a high pitched voice, much to the delight of his peers.

            This story, in my eyes, embodies the true nature of Dan Sullivan; a free-spirited, fun loving kid who always has a smile on his face. I’ve had several classes with him over the past few years, and we’ve become good friends. Whenever I see Dan start talking to him, his face lights up and the gears start turning- eager to hatch his next joke. Dan is also smart, and has been very helpful with homework whenever I’ve consulted him.

            If you’re reading this Dan, you’re a pretty cool cat. If anyone else has made it this far, I think it’s pretty clear the idea well for these blog posts went dry long ago.

            Tell me, what do you think about Dan? 

Tasty E-Coli

            I went to Chipotle last week for the first time in a long time after their e-coli scandal several months back. The first thing I noticed was that it was very empty, something usually very uncharacteristic for Chipotle, but quite understandable given the circumstances. The line went quickly, and soon it was time to order. I’ve eaten many burritos from Chipotle, perhaps more than I’d care to admit, so I have my order down to a science.

Each time I get a burrito and get brown rice. White rice is probably healthier, but I don’t like how it tastes as much as brown rice. I don’t get any beans (scandalous, I know) because I like how my burrito tastes without them better than with them. The next step is meat, where I get barbacoa. It’s like pulled pork, but with steak, and is to die for. I’ve dabbled with other meats, but none of them were as good as barbacoa. Next I get medium salsa. This was the toughest part of my order to narrow down, as all of the salsas are good in their own right. I’m not a huge fan of tomatoes, so I decided mild wasn’t for me. The same fate befell the hot salsa, because I felt it overpowered the flavors of everything else in the burrito. Thus, I settled on medium because it adds just enough of a kick and doesn’t have any tomatoes. I then get cheese because I love cheese and lettuce mostly to add some volume and color to my otherwise brown burrito.

What do you get on your burrito?

Football!

Another January comes to a close, as does another football season. This year the Patriots started off amazing, winning their first ten straight. Injuries quickly slowed them down, losing their top two running backs and top 3 receiving targets in the last six weeks of the season as they went on to lose four of their next six games. Now usually going into the playoffs in that bad of form spells disaster, but for the Patriots it was quite the opposite. With Edelman, Ammendola and Gronk coming back the Pats looked like a solid contender. We cruised through our game against the Chiefs, winning by 7, although we had good control over the entirety of the game. The next hurdle was the Broncos, who we suffered a frustrating defeat to during the season (mostly due to crap refereeing).

            While our defense held fast against the fabled Peyton Manning, it was our offense that had the most trouble. It seemed as though Brady could not hit any of the receivers, but it soon became clear what the real issue was- the offensive line. While our running backs and receivers has a plethora of injuries, our o-line had even more, and that was what killed us. Every play the Broncos only needed to rush three men and they would be at Brady in a fraction of a second, not allowing him the time he needs to pick someone out and throw the ball. It was an exciting season that got frustrating because of injuries, but I’m confident we’ll come back even better next year.

Senya Slide

            As first semester comes to a close, I foresee a lot of free time in my future when the senior slide takes full effect (in every class except for English, obviously). With that in mind, I have started looking for things to fill my time. I’ve found a few Xbox games that seem fun, as well as starting a few new TV shows. I wanted one comedy and one serious show because sometimes I’m in the mood for one, while sometimes I’m in the mood for one while sometimes I’m in the mood for the other. For the funny show I’ve begun watching New Girl. I like it because it’s a sitcom, but with a different twist. The characters are all extremely uptight, and when they conflict it’s hilarious.

            The serious show I’ve begun is LOST. Partially because I’ve had lots of friends recommend it, and also because I just saw the new Star Wars movie, which was directed by the same director as Lost; J.J. Abrams. I’m only halfway through the first season, but so far it’s been an awesome show. For the first few episodes, the show has provided backstory for one of the characters by littering scenes from their past during the episode. Each character has a dynamic background, and it’s really cool to see them get used to their surroundings and each other, trying to understand the pasts and motives of each of the others. So far it’s a great show, and I’d gladly recommend it to everyone.

            So how do you plan to fill all your time when the slide is in full swing?