3rd Dibs!

So I've been living in Connecticut for about 2 months now & I can count the number of good-looking guys that I have seen (not met, just seen) on 1 hand. In a company that is more than half men, you would think there would be a few but there's really not. Aaron Boone is about the only one, except for this one guy. I see him all the time & we never spoke so I didn't even know his name. One night I noticed him talking to this kid I work with & also my other friend, Stephanie. She & I were not really that good of friends yet so I felt weird asking.
So last night, Erica & I went on our usual Friday night date & were at a bar trying to find at least 1 decent looking guy. In an entire bar, there was not one. Then we got to talking about how there aren't even that many good-looking guys at work & I mentioned this guy that I had noticed. She said she also only noticed 1 guy & she described him & said his name was Russ & my secret boyfriend certainly didn't look like a Russ to me, so I knew it couldn't be the same guy.
So later on, Steph texted me to see what we were up to & we decided we'd all meet up. After a few drinks I asked her who this guy was. I described him & she instantly knew who I was talking about & she had a crush on him too. What is his name? Russ. All 3 of us were talking about the same guy. He was even going to be meeting up with us later that night. We think, unfortunately though, that he has a girlfriend. And none of us were wrong in our assessment, he is a stud. Just goes to show, though that obviously I wasn't kidding about there being anybody that's good-looking if in a company of thousands of people we all liked the same one.

Texas Willie

I have been told by a number of people that I should write a book. I have a few ideas & I am definitely going to get serious about it at some point, but I'm pretty sure this past weekend has stepped up my game a bit. I have 2 very separate ideas & one is a children's book. The title? "The Adventures of Texas Willie: Big Excitement Based on the True Stories of a Little Turtle". It's a working title, but you get the idea.

This past weekend, the turtle wrote his own story: "Texas Willie's Great Escape". On Saturday morning I woke up & my turtle was not in his tank. Since he had been living in this tank for quite some time, I thought it was physically impossible for him to get out. So I looked around the apartment & couldn't find him but I knew he had to be somewhere around so I didn't really worry too much. I put food around & figured he would be sitting by one of them when I woke up. He was not.

Day 2 was a bit of a different story. This is when I turned crazy. I came up with several theories about what happened to him. Since I hadn't found him after searching every crook & crevice of my apartment, my theories made more & more sense to me. My main theory was this: I lock my door out of habit when I come home. Friday I was cooking & the smoke alarm went off so I shut it off. I got in the shower & after I got out, a little while later I noticed the door was unlocked. I didn't think much of it. That was until my turtle went missing for 2 days. The theory developed into somebody coming into my apartment while I was in the shower & stealing my turtle out of his tank. They took nothing else, only Texas Willie. I knew it sounded ridiculous at the time, but I rationalized it enough in my head that it was a credible idea to me. My mother was no better because she agreed with me that this could be true instead of telling me I was a reTard. I searched some more, flipped the couch a few times, flipped the chair, shook out every one of my shoes & then I did it all again. I went to bed crying & slightly overdramatic.

If you thought Day 2 sounded bad, you ain't seen nothing yet. I awoke Day 3 & before even brushing my teeth, I searched. Then I watched 90210 & called my landlord. I proceeded to tell her my theory that someone broke in & stole my turtle & she appeased my insanity by telling me she would have someone change my locks. I took out the paper to start making "Missing Turtle" posters but decided I would give 1 more good look around for the 10 zillionth time first. I flipped over my couch again & decided I should slice open the bottom to see if he was somehow inside the couch. As I was about to do this, I heard a bumping kind of noise. So I checked out the kitchen again but to no avail & figured it was something across the hall. As I was slicing & dicing open my couch, I heard it again. It sounded as if it was coming from inside my refrigerator so I opened it up & looked in the bottom drawer. It was at that point that I saw a space underneath the fridge that I hadn't noticed before. So I got out my flashlight & shined it underneath & TADA!!!! There was his little turtle shell lodged underneath the fridge all the way towards the back. How he got himself back there, I will never know. I didn't know if he would still be alive so I poked him with a curtain rod & I saw his leg move! I cried I was so happy. Then I had to introduce myself to my neighbor by asking him if he could help me, because my turtle was stuck under the refrigerator. So he & his wife came & helped pick up the fridge & we got him out. So Texas Willie is now back in his tank safe & sound & I have returned to being a sane human being (or as much as is possible for me.) I also have Chapter 4 of my children's book all ready to go.

R-E-S-P-E-C-T

Here's what I love most about being an ESPN employee: I am finally taken seriously as a real sports fan. This may sound odd because anyone who knows me knows that's what I am all about. I'm a diehard but yet before, there were still those non-believers who were ALWAYS men.

Why is it that when a guy says he loves sports, other guys simply believe him? I have met plenty a man who just says that so he sounds like a man, but when you really get down to it he has no idea what's going on. When I would tell people that I am a huge sports fan, they would have to test me. In general, I'd pass their tests but they wouldn't pass mine. This boy I was recently with never said it, but I knew he didn't give my sports knowledge enough respect. That was until we were at a bar & the show on SNY "Beer Money" came on. For those out of the NY area, it's a NY sports trivia show & the only show I will watch on that Mets channel. Aside from the astoundingly annoying host, it's a great show. It was a Yankees trivia time when we were watching & it was the hardest question that you either get all the money or lose it & the contestant had not a clue what the answer was. I happened to know the answer & what did this boy say? "Did you see this episode already?" No jackass, I am just a Yankee fan. This coming from the same guy who wears an Eli Manning jersey to Giants games. We're not speaking anymore, btw.

There was also a time that I was with another gal friend of mine who is also a very big sports fan. There was a guy that actually said the phrase, "I love it when girls pretend like they know about sports". He was lucky we just got up & left, rather then throwing drinks in his face or much worse. Are people really that archaic? And is anyone watching this Xavier/K.State game right now?? Madness!

I'm not saying that every guy is like that. I have plenty of gentlemen friends who totally get how much I love sports & they absolutely respect it. Loving sports is part of who I am, which is why my new job is perfect. I'm no Buster Olney "Baseball Analyst" but just the title of working at ESPN has certainly brought me several levels up in the minds of those non-believers. Speaking of good old Buster, I was on the scene today watching them taping BBTN (& by them, I mean him, Aaron Boone & Nomar...or Nomahh depending upon where you're from.) So I'll say it again, I love my job. :)

Move Over Erin Andrews

So you may recall this post from a couple months back, stating my New Year's Resolutions: 2010 Here I Am! Well, good new loyal followers! I have already accomplished 2 of my resolutions! I have found a job in my field & I will be moving out of my house in about 10 days! If you don't know me, I'll fill you in. I got my Master's in Broadcast Journalism & have been searching for a job ever since then. Not just any job, I want to work in sports.

So basically every week or two I would go along my list of websites to check to see what positions were available. Disney, Comcast, YES, Time Warner, NBC, CBS, FOX, MLBN, NFLN, etc. (you get the idea.) In total I have sent out well over 100 resumes & gotten a grand total of zero interviews. About 2 months ago, I came across a listing for ESPN International for a Production Assistant. Knowing I was more than qualified for this entry level position, I sent in my resume yet again to Walt Disney. Then something happened that had never happened on any previous resumes: I got a phone call back! An Australian man telephoned me & told me he wanted me to come in for an interview to Bristol, CT. Now I don't want to brag but I have never gone for an interview and not been offered the job (I'm pretty sure it's the dimples.)

The interviews were to be conducted the week that I was in Punta Cana so I would be the last to interview when I returned. After getting postponed several times because of a few minor sporting events, ie the Superbowl & the Olympics, I had a date to go in. The problem? There was a blizzard occurring that day. That didn't stop me from making the 2+ hour trip but it did almost stop my interviewer from making his 1/2 hour trip to come to work. Upon my snowy arrival, I was stopped at the gate because my name was not on the entry list. I waited for close to 45 minutes outside in my car before my interviewer even arrived. Points for that. The interview went really well & I stayed for the taping of the show. Two days later, I was offered the job!

So not only did I find a job at some company having something to do with sports, I found a job at the worldwide leader in sports! Keep focusing on your "Dancing With the Stars" gig, Erin, because this girl is moving in for the takeover.

Icy Hot

I have been totally into the Olympics this year. Normally, I'm not such a Winter Olympics fan but for some reason, I'm totally digging it this time around. Yes there are still those wack games, like curling & biathlon but overall, I'm feeling it. USA hockey beating Canada last night was awesome & I'm feeling another "Miracle" movie, aren't you? Granted, I'm not interested in winning a trip to every Winter Olympics for the rest of my life like Visa is giving away, but I have been enjoying it.

I've always watched the figure skating & I feel the same way about that sport as I do about gymnastics. What boggles my mind is how they do all those jumps & when they throw the girl up & she spins & then lands on her feet. Maybe I'm a bit of a klutz but if anyone were to throw me up in the air (especially with ice skates on) I would not spin, I would not defy gravity, I would go straight down on my bum. I want to know if they can do moves like that while just on their feet or do they need the momentum from the ice skates? Either way, they get tons of credit from a person who cannot ice skate without the safety of the wall next to her. Same goes for the speed skaters.

I think I'd compare speed skating & downhill skiing to how I feel about swimming in the summer games. I was recently thinking about my last ski trip that I went on, in which I was tricked & sent down a Black Diamond. I too, raced down that hill just as Lindsey Vonn & Bode Miller have been doing but there was no gold medal in it for me. The difference between myself & the pros? I thought I was going to die & screamed the entire ride down with absolutely no control of my body, let alone my skis. My medal came in the form of Jagermeister in the lodge.

I also finally found a redhead that I can really grow to love. Shaun White. The kid boggled my mind. Since snowboarding is a relatively new sport, he is totally going to be the founding father of it & everyone will be compared to him for years to come. Shaun White, the Babe Ruth of snow.

One last mention that is an interesting tidbit here. I have insomnia & I have totally found a cure for it in these Olympics: cross-country skiing. It's a terrible sport.