Heart Attack City

Over the past few weeks I've had to deal with some very close sporting events with my favorite teams, most notably has been my Alma Mater, Clemson University Football Team. Clemson has the knack to keep things close and this year has been rediculous. Week 1 we play a nailbiter that comes down to a last second field goal that we win. Week 2 we come from down 10 in the fourth quarter to win by 4. Week 3 against Miami, we are down 10 in the fourth, come back and tie it only to lose in 3OT's. Week 4 was the same sort of thing, down 10 early, we came back to tie it before halftime only to play a stalemate for the rest of regulation only to lose in OT. NOW, the Yankees are locked up in a pennant race for the ages. My friend Smokey says F-you to Bud Selig and MLB for scheduling this final series between the Red Sux and Yankees, but I think it's great for baseball, not for my heart, but for baseball. The Yanks have to win two to clinch the division but can win one and tie and have a Bucky Dent-style baseball game, winner-take-all. BUT that doesn't mean that I'm not going to be wound tighter than a top. This is the time of year where I live and die with every pitch, every swing, every out. This is the time of year that you get ultimate elation or ultimate letdown. This is the time of year where bragging rights are at stake, and there's no better team/fan to have bragging rights over than the Boston Red Sux. I hate David Ortiz and Manny Ramirez. I know hate is a strong word and "you must love in order to hate," but that's not true in this case. I don't love either one of those players, I despise them. Would I like them if they were on another team, maybe, but probably not. I want to like Johnny Damon because I do think that there is a slight possibility that he may be patrolling the outfield for the Yankees next season (go from one CF with no arm to one with a worse arm in Damon.) Why I want to like Damon you ask? I'm not sure, but don't get me wrong, I don't like him now. Not as long as he plays for "The Nation." The Nation of what? Oh well, three games to decide the division. Three teams vying for two playoff spots. Really, it's two teams vying for the division, add a third for the wild card. I'm getting tense just thinking about it and writing about it.

And then there's the Tigers. We have a Wake Forest team this weekend that statistically and record-wise we should destroy. But Wake has given us fits for years now. A team that runs a variety of sets and runs an option-style offense that looks like we're running in circles. And last year was an overtime win, but it was gut-wrenching. They had a QB last year, Cory Randolph, tall, quick, elusive. This season their coaches got together and decided that Randolph would be better suited as a WR to use his athletic ability. I thought that was great to hear because we don't seem to fair well against option-stlye quarterbacks. BUT, Wake's coach has said publically that Randolph will see some time at QB this weekend vs. Clemson. Great!

So that's what's in store for me. I know I stated yesterday that it would be a tough weekend with not much relaxation, but I'll relax for a few minutes, and then go back to being stressed again. Call me Sunday night to see if I'm alright, thanks.

"It ain't over 'til it's over." -Yogi Berra

Moving Right Along

I'm going to move away from the moaning and groaning about females, but probably just for today. It seems to be on my mind constantly, so I'll probably revert back to that topic tomorrow or the next day. I am in town this weekend, which is crazy. I'm not traveling, BUT I have to travel to Atlanta for three days on Monday, so technically I get away from the weekend travel, but have to travel during the week. Then things get crazy. I come back from Atlanta on Wednesday night, fly out to NJ on Thursday evening for yet another wedding, one that I believe may trump all weddings. I'm so looking forward to this one, it's rediculous. And that's saying something because every single wedding that I've been to this summer has been amazing, absolutely the time of my life. So to say that I think this upcoming wedding with Mr. JPat and "Fine Cheese" will be awesome. I'm also looking forward to getting "home" for the weekend. I'm looking forward to hanging with Mom and Dad, having some excellent meals, going into the city for some pre-wedding shenanigans, etc. And there are girls there...oops...not going to go there on this post. Should be a great time and I can't wait to get there.

My Tigers are on the road this weekend and don't think that there wasn't a force pulling me to drive to Winston-Salem, NC to watch the game. I was invited to go, had a place to stay and a ticket to the game, but I turned it down. Can't a guy just sit at home for the weekend and relax? I don't know, can they? I'm not really going to be relaxing much because the Yankees/Red Sux series is on this weekend and I'll be pooping in my pants the entire way if the Yanks are in trouble. It's funny that people like myself take sports so seriously. I was talking to one of my best buds in the world last night who is a fan of another team in the hunt for the wild card, and he has absolutely no faith in his boys. I tend to agree with the feeling. I think The Sports Guy on ESPN.com had the same feeling about his team last year, that is until they came back from 3-0 in a series that really didn't happen, so I don't even know why I'm making up such a farcical idea. But anyway, I feel the same way. Like my Yanks aren't going to get that big hit, or big pitching performance when they need it like teams that are in their way do. My buddies team lost to the Devil Rays for the second time in two days. I've talked about the Devil Rays in past posts, being that they are my hometown team, but no one wants to hear about how "up-and-coming" they are when your team is losing to them in key situations. They just want to see their team win and think that they are collapsing at an inopportune time. So I have that series going on, where if the Yanks can pull out a win tonight with 9-0 Aaron Small on the bump and the Sux lose, then the Yanks will only have to win one in that wasteland that is Fenway Park. Pesky Pole? It should be "piece of shit pole." Oh well, enough about that. Sorry Mr. T!

So I'm not going to be able to relax this weekend to the extent that I would like to. I have to watch the Yanks on Friday night, watch the Tigers saturday afternoon, Villanova soccer saturday night, and then the Yanks again on Sunday. Although, if they can pull out the victory tonight, and the Sux lose, then win on Friday night, I can take saturday off of watching it without much care. Villanova soccer is playing down here at USF on saturday night and one of my old students is a stand-out for the Wildcats. I've been to one game in each of his four years at Villanova and I'm lucky enough to get to see him during his swan-song year. Should be good to see a great kid!

Other than that, nothing else is going on. Work is good, life is good, just need that special someone to fill out my life. Oh man, sorry, I wasn't going to moan and groan about that in this post. Guess I can't really get away from it afterall, it consumes my head. Maybe these sporting events this weekend will cloud my head of those thoughts...I doubt it.

Oh Cregan, You're Pathetic...

That's what I tell myself all the time. I got off the phone a few hours ago with my buddy and once again, as per usual, I was talking about the girl at the wedding, but it's a different take on it. I told him that I tend to do this, get "smitten" with a particular girl at weddings, it lasts until the next time I'm "smitten" at the next wedding. I thought about it a bit when I got off the phone and it's happened now four times. I'm not going to document each case for you because that would be annoying and as stated earlier, PATHETIC! But it's true. I do! I pick out a girl, think she's attractive, and then try to get my way to her any way I can, but obviously in this most recent case I sat on my thumbs until it was too late and lost out. But it's not over. I do have the three more weddings. I was working my way to being "smitten" with the Southern Belle from Savannah but didn't think anything of it and really didn't have that immediate "smitten"-ness like Ms. Spunky in Philly.

I'm not really sure what I'm talking about, and I know I'm going to get the responses saying, "you're not pathetic creegy, you're great!" Thanks for that, I appreciate the kindness and I love my friends more than anything in this world and I think/hope they know that. I also appreciate the kind words on Smoke-dawgs blog about "everyone who knows him loves him," that was amazing to hear from someone you hold such high regard for. Seeing everyone getting married/engaged wears on you a little bit, but I'm not laying in self pity, I know my time will come and I'm not in a hurry. My ex was/is in a hurry and that probably led to some sort of demise in the relationship, but fuck her, her loss. HAHA. Sorry about that short tangent off topic. What was I saying...oh yes...I don't like it when girls that are attainable to me get away, or I let them get away. Why didn't I get a phone number the other night, e-mail, something so that I could stay in touch somehow, someway. Even if it all for naught, which most of the time it is, it still would have been worth the effort I think. Plus she was cute, have I said that enough? Man, she was a cutie.

Oh well, enough of the useless banter. I apologize for taking three minutes out of your life that you will never get back to listen/read me spewing trash. I love you all. I will find that perfect 10 and I'm not worried so much with how beautiful she is, only that I love her with everything I have and that she fits in with my group of friends! You guys are the best!

I BLEW IT!!!

"Is it morning wood, or do I love him." -AYB3

I blew it everybody, I blew it. Not saying that it was signed sealed and delivered, but I was like...I don't even know what I was like. Oh, now I know, I was like a sixth grade dance, only with more space between me and the girl than even that.

I went to Philly this weekend for a wedding, which was a great time. I made a new bud who lives in Florida, we'll call him Wild Bill and his lovely wife, drank a lot of beer, hung out with great friends, and almost met a girl. This is where the prior paragraph comes into play. I'll recount what I can remember, (re: Former Smokey's Blog). As most, if not all of my readers know, I do have a rendition of Rob Base's "It Takes Two" that I do at weddings, IF the bride wants it. I do not ever force myself into the limelight even though I do like it. Saturday night was no different. I was requested to do the song, the dj/rapper of the band that was performing set me up by playing the most popular 80s rap songs, and then let me have the mic. I was told, and I don't like to toot my own horn, that this particular rendition was the most energetic, most fun I've been and that's saying something because I've been offered jobs in the past because of this silly performance.

Well, I had been eyeing up one of the few cute single girls in the house. Her name will be withheld to protect her identity and the innocent, but I had my eye on her all night. Then, better than I could have scripted it, she came up, front and center, while I was doing my sillyness, dancing and singing along. So during one of the short interludes where I "get after it," I went right up to her and started dancing with her, it was a lot of fun. Then I grabbed her in a side hug and said on the mic, "Did I win the lottery?" which, thinking about it today is the worst line EVER, but last night it was magic to my ears. One thing led to another and apparently she made the comment that I was "cute," so I figured it was on, but didn't realize that I had to be proactive in the situation. I caught up with her a few more times during the later part of the evening, and found out that they were going to continue the debauchery at the hotel where she was staying. It just so happened that all my peeps wanted to go there too, which was key. So our 'clique' sat together and her 'clique' sat on opposite sides of the room. EVERYONE that was sitting with me was all over me about how I had to go over there and talk to her, and "seal the deal." It got to the point where I said to the group, "I can't go talk to her...she's sitting with all of her girls," to which Smokey responded, "That's like going hunting, and not shooting the deer because it's standing around with other dear."

I didn't go talk to her until late in the evening, or almost immediately after that was said, when finally, the 83rd beer of the night took over and I walked over to the bride and asked her if she could "break the ice" for me with the little cutie. She did and I took over from there, talking with ease to this little cutie. We joked about how we should do a duet and I should have given her "some more mic." Then here's where it happened, every chance that I thought I had hit the wall. All of the peppering by my friends to go over there and talk to her sooner came to fruition. She says to me, and I quote, "I'm sorry Casey, I'm gonna have to retire for the night, BUT IF YOU CAME UP TO TALK TO ME EARLIER...now I have to go up to my room and I don't want to wake up my mom."

That was the kicker. I will always trust my friend's judgement from now on. If they say jump(on that girl), I'm going to jump. Even with the 83 beers, I didn't have the confidence that I usually do. Apparently my body was in awe of this little cutie from PA, and the sad part is that I'll never know what could have been. I would just say, "NEXT!" but I'm beyond that now, I think. Not saying that a relationship was possible, especially with the distance thing to boot, but I'll never know because I dragged my feet like a guy that drags his feet.(Hell of a similie!)

Well, there are three more weddings coming up in the next few weeks. I'm sure I'll get swept off my feet again. I fall and I fall hard...........

Why the name change in the title of the blog?

I'm not really sure, other than there's been a lack of "broads" lately, and because I figured out that females do not like that word, so I dropped it. That's all I have today, short and sweet. On my way to Philadelphia. Smoke, AY, Jesssssers, Mrs. Johnson, MJ, I'll be seeing you jokers there! Have a great weekend!

"I absolutely, positively have never used steroids, PERIOD." - Rafael Palmeiro

Chill Moments...

Once again, I religiously read Bill Simmons on ESPN.com's Page 2. The man has gotten huge. Everyone that I speak to knows who I'm talking about if I talk about "The Sports Guy." I happened to be watching a show on ESPN the other day and he was a panelist. He's becoming a household name, slowly but surely because he is a brilliant writer. A sports-writer with a humorous side. I'm just a drunk writer with a oh-my-God-what-did-he-do-now side. The reason that I bring this up here is the fact that he writes columns about getting chills during movies. Well I have just finished watching a movie that gives me the chills and I'm not so sure it is as highly regarded as I would like it to be. The movie is With Honors from 1994, with Joe Pesci and Brendan Fraser, yes the same guy who was in George of the Jungle. I absolutely love With Honors, probably in my top 10 movies of all time, or of my life at least. People that know me know that I'm not big on movies that make you think and tend to lean towards brainless comedies. Well, this goes against that just a bit. You really don't need to think during the movie, but it grabs you from the start, and as far fetched as the plotline may be, it's brilliant coming-of-age story. I love it. But the chill moment is at the end when Monty (Fraser) is reading Pesci's character's obituary and says, "Montgomery Kessler will graduate life with honors." I don't know why and I think that the movie has to be seen to understand what I'm talking about. But after I watched it today, I wanted to blog about Chill Moments that I get.

Five other Chill Moments I get(in no particular order):
1)Field Of Dreams when Ray (Costner) throws with his father at the end. Whew, there's some dust every once in awhile.
2)Jerry Maguire - I know it's not manly, but it's one of my favorite movies as well. Rod Tidwell (Gooding, Jr.) at the end, his and Jerry's (Cruise) relationship at the end of that one too. Not dusty, but chilly.
3)Miracle-even though you know what's going to happen, it's chilly when they show the US beating the USSR. Awesome.
4)The Rookie-when he gets called up and gets called into his first major league game. There's about 8-10 inches of dust that gathers every time I watch that movie.
5)The Natural-when Redford's character hits the homerun and the music plays, oh man, I need a down comforter in Florida for that one.

I love the chill moments in movies. They're brilliant. I don't know if Dodgeball that's on now will give me a chill moment, but maybe when Lance Armstrong comes onto the screen. I'll watch and we'll see.

"She was easy, so was I..." - Josh Kelly's "Almost Honest"

The Foot's Okay

Just thought I would throw that in the title to let people know that my toe is okay. There's a nice divot taken out of it and I did a hell of a job taking that divot out of my big toe on my left foot. When I said, "My blood runneth...on the streets of Clemson," that's true because I purposely let my toe bleed on the curb that took part of my toe with it because I want to go back and see if my blood is still there. Sort of a sickening thought, but in my drunken state that I was in and the flow of my bleeding, it was a great idea at the time. Needless to say, I'm at least going back to Clemson for one more game, maybe three. We'll see how the upcoming weeks go with our team. That's right people, I said it, I'm going to go to more games if we keep on winning. We're 2-1 right now, this weekend against BC should be a dandy, the week after at Wake Forest and then the following Thursday night at NC State should really give us a barometer of where we stand in the conference and national scenes.

I don't really have anything to add to today's post. I did want everyone to know that I am turning down two weddings that I have been invited to, and it hurts. It really does. For those that know me really well, know that I get invited to more weddings than Jesus Christ, and he's at a lot! But I did receive two more invites recently, and have decided that I cannot keep going to all of these weddings. One is in NJ and one in Ohio. There's no real reason behind it other than I would like to know what it's like to live in Florida. I live here during the week, but I do what many others do, eat, sleep, poop, and work, in no particular order. I don't get out on weeknights as stated prior, and then Friday comes and I leave town. I love the travel, the weddings that I have coming up are going to be absolute blasts and I can't wait to go and dance and be silly(do what I do best, haha). But it's time for me to save that money that I want to save now that I'm the proud new owner of a soccer mom car. I love it, it's great and I even have a soccer ball hanging from the rearview. It's great.

Random Thought of the Day: Why do bottled water companies change the name of water in different states. For example, Nestle Waters is based in Greenwich, CT. but in Florida the water's name is Zephyrhills, but somewhere else it's named something else. Look it up, I'm not joking here. Why can't it just be water. Plus, I have the invention of the future, you better not steal it. Ready? Wait for it.... POWDERED WATER...just add water. It's pure brilliance!

Shout out to Mr. T, CBoz, ZDP, Yarbs, and everyone else that likes to give reach arounds. I appreciate it more than you'll know. It's common courtesy.

I got an e-mail earlier today about a drinking game involving Brent Musburger, an ABC Sports commontator. It's brilliant. I'll add the link here for you to have fun with. I can't wait to actually be home, sitting on my couch one weekend watching college football and playing, probably by myself, this game. I'll probably make some drunk calls, so you'll know I'm playing.
http://lasooner.thoughtshop.net/sooners/mussberger.html


A new reader has come along, Herm, 3B for the Clemson Tigers baseball team, and I just wanted to give a shout to him. He wanted me to say something witty about him, but I really don't have much. So hello.

"If you were a hotdog, would you eat yourself?" - Will Ferrell as the late, great Harry Carey.

My Blood Runneth Orange...er...Red on the Clemson Streets!

Clemson Tigers 2-1. What a freaking heartbreaker. I could not, will not get over that game. What a game. Probably the best game I've ever witnessed at Clemson or that Clemson was ever involved in. 36-30 loss and dropped out of the top 25, which I think is HORSESHIT! Because Notre Dame drops six spots to previously unranked Michigan State and we lose to #13 and move down. The Clemson Bias! It exists!!!

What a great time I had Saturday night with the boys. MY BOY Mr. T, CBoz, and the two girls, one of which I was smitten over. What a cool girl. We GOT AFTER IT A LIL'BIIIIT! After multiple shots and multiple beers, this guy may have been slightly inebriated. It was tremendous. After the game, I decided to go downtown with these four people, who are tremendous with a capital T. After we got the boot from Keith Street Pub and Grill, located on Keith Street, which is weird, but not really that weird. I'm pretty weird. Oh who cares, shut the f up and move on with the post. Sorry Mr. Blogthing, I will. Long story short, I blasted my left big toe on the concrete and hence the title of the post. I was bleeding EVERYWHERE, it was like a faucet. But in my drunken state and my selfishness, I didn't want to go to the hospital. There was no need for that, just because my big toe was filleted like a fish. It was pretty deep, to the point where when I ran water over it to clean it out a bit, I couldn't feel where the cut was. I felt the water on every other part of my foot, but not where the cut was. Oh well, enough complaining from me. Let's get back to the fun.

My boy Mr. T is the man. When I go to Clemson games, I feel the need to make everyone happy and like I've stated in the past, I can't always do that, but when I got the call stating that Mr. T was in the Brooks Center parking lot with the Clemson Players, I said to myself, that I was going to the BC(Brooks Center) and going to hang out with the Clemson Players, the student run theater group on campus, one that I was extremely involved in when I was a student and when I was the Asst. Tech. Director. They're great kids/people and I really like hanging out with them. That's where we met up with CBoz. Another person that I let down so frequently. A wonderful person, one of my absolute fav's, just a great kid. So we met up with him, he gave me a hard time about the last time that I was in town not seeing him, etc. But I made a promise to him and myself that after the game he would call me, and I would tell him where we'd be and he'll meet us to continue the drinking. Needless to say, he did just that! Met me almost immediately after the game and brought the cute girl with him, which was an added bonus. She is a cutie. Good night!

Don't you hate when you think you have a lot of funny things to write about, especially about a weekend of multiple laughs and multiple story-worthy stories(whoa there creegs), but can't really share or rather remember? That's what's going on right now. I slept on the weekend, just so that more could come to me this morning, but to no avail. I'll give a short synopsis of the weekend, see if it can spark my memory.

Fri. 8:15 - make it to Anderson, SC
Fri. 10:30 - I'm buzzing
Sat. 2am - I'm asleep
Sat. 10am-I'm ready to go to the tailgate
Sat. 11:15 - I'm going to the tailgate
Sat. 12pm - I'm going to the players tailgate
Sat. 3:30 - I'm watching the game
Sat. 8:00 - I'm watching the game
Sat. 9:15 - CBoz shows up a tailgate
Sat. 10:15 - heading downtown
Sun. 12:00 - heading to Todaro's
Sun. 1:30am-I passed out

I'm going to get a little ribbing from Mr. T though I think because in my timeline, I'm probably forgetting something. There's a lot of pressure here 'T'. I can never do the tremendous weekend justice. It was Tree-mendous. It was Boz-mendous. It was Cute-girl-mendous. It was a -mendous weekend. Even though the game did not end up in our favor, and was a Clemson-mendous game, what a great weekend. Thanks for the people involved and the rides that were given to me throughout. I appreciate your friendships and your ability to drive while playing cd's in the car with the Redsox license plate and the Nick's Bumper Sticker. Good times!!!

"...that the Tiger roar may echo, o'er the mountain height." -Clemson Alma Mater.

I've Been Banned...(and Blog-spam)

So I get an e-mail today from a loyal reader of the blog, and legend Mr. New Daddy, out of East Bumblehell, South Carolina. He is a teacher and football coach at EBHS(East Bumblehell High School), and he wrote to me saying:

Creegs.blogspot.com is now banned on our computers. For some reason, they upgraded our internet filter and access is now denied. Congratulations on this accomplishment.

First, I would like to say thank you for your congratulations! It's good to know that blogs are not allowed in schools. Children under the age of 23 should not be reading my banter anyway. It may rub someone the wrong way or make people rub people the right way, either one. I like to think of my blog like the Axe Body Spray commercials where after reading my blog, the ladies can't keep their hands off of the guys that read my blog. I know there are some female readers out there, and you really don't need the blog and/or the Axe Body Spray, because you're ladies and are all beautiful and smell wonderful and I love you all!

"Hell, Lumberg f&*%ed her!" - Office Space (note the censor of self)

So thanks for the banning! I appreciate it. It makes me warm and tingly inside. NO, IT'S NOT THE 12 BEERS I'VE HAD TODAY!!!

Quick random thought: I enjoy Velveeta's Shells and Cheese over Kraft's Cheese and Macaroni, is that sacrilege? (I'm eating them right now, yummm)

I've also received spam in my comment box for my posts. What the hell is going on with that? I write yesterday's blog, I get one real response, and two spam. Horse-mularky I tell you!!!

I'm off to Clemson, yet again to watch my 2-0 Clemson Tigers become 2-1 at the hands of Miami (reverse psychology). It should be a good game. We've looked alright, but we are a missed field-goal and a bad drive away from being 0-2. So we'll take what we have and move on. I hope the boys show up to play. Should be a dandy. I'll be wearing a purple Clemson shirt, but when you see me, I'll be the naked guy running across the field.

"C'mon girls, Winthead can fly, WOOHOO!!!" - you know who you are...

Charity

In a recent e-mail that I received, it had a story of a man's wife who got into a miniscule fender-bender with a lawyer who then asked for $836. (Read it for yourself at saabbumper.blogspot.com) It's a great story talking about charity and how the man and his wife want to give the $836 to charity for the victims of the Hurricane Katrina tragedy. Great story, I highly suggest going to that blog.

On to my charity. Not sure it's a good idea to make light of the situation going on in the Gulf Coast, and actually, I would never do so. But I was looking for your charity. I'm trying to audition some females for the next Cregan girlfriend sweepstakes. Now there is no real prize other than me, and in my opinion, that's not a great prize. Many have tried in the past to "set me up" with some people and it's not worked. It worked for awhile in New Jersey. I had a blast with that one, but not for the long haul. Then I was called "committment-phobic" because I like to keep the girls in far away places, a la Chicago, Clemson, Ft. Myers, Flight Attendents, etc... I'm plenty comfortable in the fact that I cannot find the "girl of my dreams" here as of yet. I keep telling myself that I haven't been here that long, but once October 1st rolls around, I will have been here for a year. I know, I can't believe it either. An entire year, I've been in Florida, and still no big time prospects. So I make other excuses like, "Well, I travel every weekend," which is true, but even when I was out here, I really only met one significant female, and I blew that, like I do so well. I told her as we started moving closer and closer that I wasn't planning on staying in Florida, and moving to LA was in the immediate cards. Well, she took that as, "you hate me, stay the fuck away from me you big headed prick bastard," which was not what I was expecting at all, because she was a great girl. But needless to say, I lost her even as a friend. Why? I'm still trying to figure that out. But I can't hang out with her ever because I do travel every weekend and I'm too much of a jerk to go out during the week.

Here I am, the guy that hooked up at 8 straight weddings in years past, in a monumental slump. Give me some charity. There's a girl that I like, but I don't think she likes me too much after some of my actions and standing her up, and she's in another state as well, so it really wouldn't work out anyway. As all of my friends get married and have children, it starts to wear on you that you're the only single guy in the group after not being so for so long. I know that I'm not settled here, and my eventual move to California may hinder any girlfriend possibilities here, but that's not to say I'm not looking.

This post was a lot more funny in my head. Sorry to disappoint.

I love charity.

"Pedro, just listen to your heart, that's what I do..." -Napolean Dynamite

Writer's Cramp

It's not that I have nothing to speak of, it's just that I didn't know what to title it. I wanted to have a post of some sort this afternoon because I went without yesterday. Partially because I was still feeling a bit under the weather because of the bachelor party of the weekend and the weather changing. Oh wait, I'm in Florida, there is no weather change. I'm not sure why I'm sick then other than the severe beating my body took as stated in a previous post.

I read two other blogs religiously. I'm not sure I should use the word "religiously" in my post because one of the bloggers may go off on some religious tirade. Just kidding BD. My boy has some serious political views and it is very interesting to me. Not because I like politics, quite the opposite, but it's good to know one's views. Living in Florida, I deal with hardcore Republicans. These said republicans are uber racist. Well, they may not be racist exactly, but they love to think that their race is superior. So for someone like myself who's admittedly extremely ignorant on the topic, equates republican with racism. That is entirely off-base on my part, but there is no one that I know that's ultra conservative that is not this way, does not use derogatory slang to talk about people of other races and creeds. It's amazing to me really how ignorant these people are, yet they are still great friends of mine. Maybe it's because I am so far opposite of racist that I feel that way, or the fact that these friends are just so sheltered by their silver-spoons, I don't know. So to have BD's extreme liberal takes is a breath of fresh air. It's not that he spits rhetoric and banter to try to sway one's views, just that he's telling people what's going on in a liberal slant. It's commendable.

The other blog that I read religiously is one along the same mold as my own, only the person that writes it has a much broader vocabulary that I do. In other words, I say that I went out and got drunk, he'll say he imbibed some libations. It's virtually the same thing. It's kind of neat to see the differences between what happens in Chicago rather than Florida. I don't get to see the Cubs every day, or sleep until 10 in the morning, etc. I have to be up in the mornings earlier than the squirrels and working. If I get the chance, I'll go to see a Devil Rays game, slightly different than the "lovable losers." And the fact that I don't get to go out during the week is different as well. Even though I went on a three day bender this past weekend, that is extremely rare. I usually do 'imbibe some libations' only once a week, generally Friday night, Saturday is recovery and Sunday is relaxing. But I try to gain stories in that one night of debauchery.

That's about all I have for today. I know that BD did a blog on the differences between blogs earlier in the month or last month, whatever. But after reading the two others recently, these thoughts came to me, so I thought I'd write them down.

"there she is..." -me

Me vs. My Body XVIII - No Mas

"You play, you pay." - Every mother in the world.

As many of you know I travel every freaking weekend. Most of the travel is personal, some for work, whatever. So this past weekend was a bachelor party for my boy PMac in Jacksonville, Fl. For some reason all of my friends like to have Bachelor Party weekends in a city other than where they live and go nuts. I happen to really enjoy going to another city, most of the time one I've never been to and party down.

Bottom line, I was on a three day bender that ended yesterday and this morning I have a sore throat, stuffy nose, headache and just feel all-around groggy. But, I do it to myself. We were out drinking for 7 hours on Friday night, 11 hours on Saturday night, and Thursday was a fluke that won't happen again because I can't to feel like crap while I've gotta work. I'm not complaining about the amount of drinking, just that I feel like poo-poo today, and the travel continues on next weekend with a return trip to Clemson with my boy Allen who's not been back to C-Vegas since 2001.

I was a human debacle on Saturday night. Just drinking beer all day, thinking to myself how I could not catch a buzz. I felt like I drank about 20 beers and still felt fine enough to operate heavy machinery. But, as the night went on, and the bouncers numerous attempts to wake me up at the men's establishment that we patroned, I was 'that guy.' And the females that 'work' in those establishments zero in on the drunk guys and take advantage. That and the fact that everytime a girl walked by me, I started yelling, "there she is," and exchanging high-fives, which for those who have been out with me before is shocking, I never do that stuff.(I'm being really sarcastic, I'm king-high-five.) So the 'King' and his wallet got taken for approx. $240.

The good part about the weekend was that my Clemson Tigers rallied back late to beat a fiesty Maryland Terp team 28-24. We're starting to look legit, BUT the mighty Miami Hurricanes come into Death Valley this weekend looking to avenge last years OT loss to the Tigers. Should be a fun one. I'll be on the sidelines.

Tigers (2-0)
Dolphins (1-0)

You know that saying...

...I feel like a million bucks? I feel like 3...3 dollars!

66 Views!

I took a look at how many times that this thing had been viewed and it says 66!!! That's tremendous. I'm finding out every day that there are new people reading my random thoughts about life and debaucherous behavior! That's tremendous (just for you MikeTee)!!! Thanks for reading my rants and broads blog. I really appreciate the love.

On to something brainless. I was thinking about the Yankees last night while I watched them almost lose yet again, to the Devil Rays, my hometown team. The only #1 draft pick since 1992 that is on the Yankees major league roster is Derek Jeter. That blows my mind. I don't remember half of the names with the exception of Eric Duncan, for obvious reasons, but Jeter is the only 1st round pick still with the team. What a player he is though. Wow! I hear almost every time that I watch the Yanks that the best SS in the league is playing 3rd for the Yankees. I don't know if that's necessarily true anymore. A-Rod is legit. He's probably the best all-around player in the league, bar none, but I think Jeter brings more incidentals to the Yanks with his hustle and glove and leadership. There's a reason he's the first Yankee captain since Mattingly.

More brainless banter. I am not a movie guy. I think most people know this about me, but I was thinking more and more about it. You get to do that when you drive a lot and travel even more. I love comedies, and along with the theme of this post, brainless movies. LOVE THEM! Will Ferrel is the greatest. Adam Sandler movies of the 90's, BRILLIANT! Chris Farley, Chris Rock, Chris Tucker, you name the brainless-never-going-to-win-an-award comedies, and I love them! I used to get made fun of if I liked a movie that didn't receive critical acclaim. Why? Who cares if I don't like psychological thrillers or depressing dramas or story-book fantasies? I have my own fantasies and it has nothing to do with a storybook. (Sorry Mom, had to throw that one in there.) People always say to me, "You're the actor, why don't you know who won the 1993 Oscar for Best Supporting Actress?" I don't care! Yes, I am an actor and want to pursue my dream someday, but I'd rather be the Chris Farley minus the drugs, the Will Ferrell minus the hair, the Adam Sandler minus the yarmulke. I never thought a quote I used in my high school yearbook would come to fruition ten years later(get on the reunion AYB!), but "I'd rather be funny," said by Lesley Nielsen of Naked Gun fame is right on when it comes to me and my movies.

Speaking of mom, Sue Cregan had a birthday yesterday and I did call her early yesterday morning, but I thought I would post it on the blog as well. Happy Birthday Mom!!! She turned 30 yesterday. I know she doesn't like me saying her age, but this was a big one, so Happy 30th mom!!!

"I'm not some guy named Elmer that your kids watch on the Disney Channel." - Neil Simon's Rumors

What A Weekend!!!

First and foremost, I wanted to say thank you for all of the great people that made this past weekend such a good time. For those who don't know, I traveled up to Clemson for the first football game of the year in which my Tigers defeated the Aggies from Texas A&M 25-24 on a field goal with :02 left in the game by kicker Jad Dean. It was a well played game, one that we just could not get into the end zone but were on the attack for the majority of the game. It may be a good year for the Tigers. I sure hope so. Once again, thanks everybody for a good time.

Things in my world aren't all peachy though. I did a little soul searching on my drive home yesterday and today. I make plans or call about 15 people and time doesn't allow me to get to spend as much time as I'd like with everybody that I'd like to spend that time with. For example, I have a real good friend, one of my best that came into town like myself and we had been planning on doing this weekend together. When I got in at 1:30 am on Friday, I wanted to go to sleep because of last weeks work in West Palm. There's one strike against me, because my buddy was ready to go and I was not. Saturday came around and I was ready and recharged. At around 1, I parked my rental at the Brooks Center for Performing Arts and started drinking some adult beverages. Long story short, my boy shows up about 2 and we start laughing and drinking and having a great time. We move and shake around Clemson for a bit and then 7:30 comes and we seperate to go to the game. That was the last I saw of my buddy for the night. With the bars closing at 12am, and another group of friends traveling out to Anderson, SC for the night, I went with my old roommate. I was shot though. I was a bit drunk and tired as all hell as tailgaiting tends to wear me out. I'm not going to go on about this anymore, because it sucks that time and some of my decisions take away from hanging out with the people that mean most to me. I had a blast for those 5 1/2 hours with my boy, but it should have been 15 1/2 hours, not just 5 1/2. I don't know if I'll ever be able to spread myself wider to be able to fulfill all of the time that I want to spend with my peeps. I need about three weeks for amount of people that I wanted to see.

Needless to say, I will make it up to the people that I wanted to spend more time with. I have to. I want to!!!

Go Tigers! (1-0)

More Cregan-drama and The Gulf Coast

First off, I wanted to say, without any political views whatsoever as are seen in my buddies post (bdonin.blogspot.com), that what's going on and what's gone on in the gulf coast is an absolute tragedy. You don't need me to tell you that. Any living human being can turn on the tv and see that. I think this may sound awful to say, but I am sooooo sorry for each and everyone of the victims in this that I do not want to read about it or watch about it anymore. Very simply said, I can't handle it. I hate to see people in dire need. I've heard it on the radio from West Palm Beach to Tampa this morning, that it's the Tsunami plus 9/11 all rolled into one. Being that I virtually witnessed 9/11 from the third floor at Seton Hall Prep in West Orange, NJ, I thought that was the worst thing I've ever seen. Seeing these assholes looting in New Orleans is plain sick. I can't even express into words how many assholes live in this world, and that is case and point. This may not the be the Christian thing to say, and apparently it's going to come to fruition, but I believe that these derelicts to society need to be shot on sight. No questions asked. "Done! Blackout!" -Sammie Lee Mickens. There is also the other side of the coin too which has been seen, where people are looting for water and diapers and things that they need to live. That's a different story, and makes up only a minute minority of what's going on down there. Enough about that, I'm about to punch a wall.

God Bless the people of the Gulf Coast, a little further west and it could have been me...
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Cregan drama continues. I would revert back to one of my original posts about car troubles, but it would pale in comparison to what happened to me this past week. I went to Savannah, car was making funny noises, so I brought it to a Goodyear, home of the blimp. I think they may only be good at flying blimps because their auto-care shops SUCK ANTELOPE PENIS!!! The gentleman, and I use that term lightly, told me that my ac compressor was shot and I would be unable to use my ac, but the car will be fine to drive with the windows down. So that's just what I did. I get to West Palm Beach, Florida, without any problems at all. I drive my boss and fellow employee to pick up our 25' trucks with no problem and begin our arduous work week, no problems. Tuesday night comes, I get back to my car to drive back to the hotel and all of the lights are on in the car. It looked like the Las Vegas Strip. It was rediculous. And on top of that, my power steering was out, AND I was overheating. Well, I somehow made it the short trip back to the hotel and open the hood. The belt that had been replaced by the Goodyear in Savannah had snapped off, clean. I have to have my car towed to a Jeep dealer in West Palm (three+ hours from home) to have them look at it, see whats wrong, etc. I call the dealer at 7:30 am and they tell me that I need to give them some time because no one has looked at the car or "written it up yet." No problems, I'm working this job, sweating off about 22 pounds at last check, call back at 12:30, mind you, it's five hours later. The guy's out to lunch. Finally at 2:30, 7 hours later, he calls me and tells me that the compressor and belt can be replaced no problems, for about 87 bucks. AWESOME, I'm thinking. The Goodyear guy wanted to charge me about 600+ labor for that part alone. BUT!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! The brakes are completely shot. The boots, rotors, blah blah blah brakes shot blah blah brakes suck blah blah... $3000. I don't know if you know me, but I've never had $3000 in my bank account, let alone to fix my car. Long story short, I'm driving a rental today as I sit in my home office in Palm Harbor, Florida, about to embark(I love that word) on my first journey back to the Mother Land, Clemson, South Carolina only to have to travel back to West Palm Beach on Tuesday to return the car and decide whether a new car is in my future or take my chances with the brakes. I've taken my chances with the brakes for awhile now, what's the difference?

I'm leaving for Clemson shortly, and I hope to have some stories for my loyal readers upon return. My girl from California will be in Clemson this weekend and that's very exciting. At least I think it's exciting. My buddy that lives in Hattiesburg, MS, one of the places that felt the hurricane will be in Clemson as well. He made it out, sat in long lines for gas, traffic, etc to get back "home." My boy Drake will be there as well from NJ. Should have all the makings of a story-filled weekend. More about that later. Have a great labor day!!!

GO TIGERS!!!!!!!