Ocean City

We did not do as well as we wanted to but had a blast to say the least. Every year the tournament seems to get more and more unorganized. We showed up to our field, but learned that our game was moved and the other team had been waiting. We walked to the field and were expected to play right away. Well in order to make the playoffs you need to win every game. We got smoked in the first game 12-4. It would have been helpful it kids like Jimmy Daly and sellouts like Chris Hurst would actually show up. Anyways, we ended up going 3-1 and had a blast during the social scene of the tournament. Friday and Saturday we went to a place called Macky's. After 10 pm this place can get a little crazy. I give credit to anyone who can go out all night and then wake up and play 2 lacrosse games, hit the beach, then back out for another night of partying. Ocean City may not be the classiest place of all, but it is a good time. After Macky's on saturday night my brother and myself got into a battle royale with some of the memebers on another team. There were bushes across the way and soon found ourselves in these bushes. After spitting out the leaves that I was choking on, I then found myself tackling some members to the side walk. OCPD was there immediately. Little did they know that it was all in good fun. However, in the end my brother and I came out on top. After a ripped shirt and broken cell phone, we decided to walk to Tubby's with our enemies and chow down on some subs. After the late night snack, we all walked about 30 streets back to our hotel. The next morning we would wake up, and I found more battle wounds but we decided to go to the beach for the day. It was one of the hottest days of summer and it couldn't have been a better beach day. After the day on the beach, we packed our belongings and headed back to Baltimore. My weekend at the beach was well worth it.

Back to the Beach

On August 13, I will be heading back to the beach for about 5 days. This time my entire family will be going. The Ocean City Classic is going on and we will be playing lacrosse. Once again my brother Adam and I will be playing for the Greene Turtle. They have been kind enough to sponsor our team. Other players will be Chris Hurst and Jimmy Daly. The tournament ends on August 16, so I hope to have some more blogs the next day before this class finishes.

White Marlin Open '09

My brother Adam and I decided Tuesday morning around 9 a.m that we would make the 2 hour ride to go to Ocean City, Maryland for the 36th Annual White Marlin Open. My brother and I have been going to the Open for the past couple of years because we have been at the beach already. However, this year was different. We were home on this hot summer days as the days have been winding down. Maybe the fastest summer I have ever experienced. But we packed a bag and took off.
I had about an eighth of a tank left for gas and figured I would just fill up on the way. Well, I decided to just keep driving until my light came on. Anxious, Adam kept telling me to fill up but I refused. I was testing my jeep and decided to push it to the limits. My brother said that there would be a gas station right before we got on the highway, so I listened and he said if there wasn't than he would fill up my tank as soon as we got to a station. So we approached the highway and there was no gas station, and I was on empty. Well, I continued on the highway on empty for about 15 miles until the next exit. I hardly made it to the gas station, and Adam was furious that he had to fill up the tank. $45.00 later he calmed down and fell asleep for the rest of the ride.
We finally arrived to Ocean City, but the tournament did not begin until 4. It was 2 pm so we decided to go to the Greene Turtle for a bite to eat. After the Turtle we went to the beach and relaxed for another hour.
4:30 struck and we found ourselves both sleeping on the beach. Well, I have very fare skin and didn't apply as much sun screen as I should have. Now looking like a lobster, we left for the open. We drove down to 14th street and found a parking spot right up front. It was now about 5:15 and we had just entered the gates. As soon as we walked up they were weighing in the first white marlin of the day. To our surprise everyone was cheering very loudly. We wormed our way to the front and saw a giant. This white marlin weighed in at 93.5 lbs. and was the second largest fish of the 36 year history, and we were here to witness it. A team of fisherman had paid their 10,500 to enter the tournament and on the first day had caught the second largest fish in the history of the White Marlin Open. This was incredible. After the weigh in, the announcer had even better news for the team from Florida. The fish they caught had put them into first place with a prize of 1.3 million dollars. Everyone went ecstatic.
About 10 minutes later more boats were coming in to see if their fish had a chance. For the next 2 hours Adam and I waited and waited for boats to come in. The next closest fish was only at 83 lbs. So, on the first day of the open this group of guys from Florida has basically won the White Marlin Open of 2009.
We finally left, and got some subs from Anthony's Deli, which is absolutely amazing and I would recommend it to anyone who is in the area of 32nd Street. We stayed the night at our cousin's house who has lived in Ocean Pines for the past 5 years. On Wednesday morning we woke up and took off back to our house. Before we left, we made a stop by Wawa and got some more subs. 2 hours later we were back at home and once again were able to see the second largest fish at the White Marlin Open in 2009.

Weekend of Sports

Flying back from Ohio, was interesting. Maybe a little creepy, but maybe not. I was reading a book and just happened to over hear the girl sitting diagonal from me say she was a student from Loyola. Well I didn't really ask any questions, just listened. However, I was more excited for my brother to pick me up from the airport and head straight downtown for an electric environment.

Friday night, two international soccer powerhouses clashed at M&T Bank Stadium, which is home to the Baltimore Ravens football team. AC Milan, a prominent club from Italy, battled the well-known Chelsea Football Club based out of West London. I’ve attended almost every home game for the Baltimore Ravens over the past two years and the tailgating festivities prior to the start of kickoff are always a marvelous time. Naturally, I was skeptical that soccer tailgating may not meet my expectations, but some fellow student-athletes of mine proved me wrong. I had the privilege of bumping into eight international members of the Loyola men’s soccer team. I was reluctant at first to join my comrades, but I realized their animated soccer songs and chants didn’t entail the thuggish persona that the typical soccer hooligans possess. So we took to the streets, donning the red and black colors of AC Milan and made our way into the stadium. Both AC Milan and Chelsea treated the sold out crowd of 71,203 to a dazzling performance that consisted of two spectacular goals in the first half that were worth the admission alone. During the 69^th minute of the second half and with the score tied at one goal apiece a young Russian player for the Chelsea club bent an astonishing shot into the back of the net. There was little the AC Milan goalkeeper could do and the score remain 2-1 Chelsea until the final whistle blew to bring the game to a close.

The following day my cousin, Susan, and her boyfriend, Jon arrived at my house bright and early to pick me up to head off on our road trip to Citizens Bank Park to watch the Philadelphia Phillies host the St. Louis Cardinals. We took a quick detour to pick up Susan’s brother Robert who lives right outside of Philadelphia. There was a lot of unexpected traffic on the highway and all four of us were becoming antsy as we neared the ballpark. We parked the car and leisurely strolled into the ballpark. Our seats gave us an elevated view of the entire ballpark that overlooked the bullpens of both teams. The Phillies are one of the hottest teams in baseball right now. Their bats are red hot and sure enough their bats came alive in the sixth inning when the Phil’s shortstop Jimmy Rollins crushed a go ahead grand slam into the right field stands. I’m envious of the energy that the Phillies fans bring to the baseball games, but that can be expected given the fact that they won the 2008 World Series. The Phillies won the ballgame with a final score of 14-6. Our visit to the ballpark ended on a sour note when we were informed that a dispute spilled out of a stadium restaurant and a fight escalated in the parking lot and as a result a young man in his 20’s was beaten to death.

My weekend was capped off with a lacrosse game in Jarrettsville, MD. My team took control early in the game and never let up against the opposing team. After starting the season with three consecutive losses, my team has won three straight games. We began the season with three losses because our offense would play selfish and not share the ball. Thanks to a four goal spurt in the fourth quarter and a strong second half defensive performance we were able to secure a victory. We kept our playoff hopes alive after an impressive win. Directly after my game I hurried to my house for a quick shower, and then it was back to the airport. This time I am going to Alabama home of "Dreamland."

Dewey Beach

One week ago, I jumped in the car with my sister and her two kids and went on a road trip to the beach. For two days and one night we visited the quaint, modest town of Dewey Beach. Dewey Beach lies just south of Rehoboth Beach along the Atlantic Ocean in Delaware. After a quick two hour car ride, we waited for my dad and brother at our rendezvous, the Atlantic Oceanside motel. I exited the car and immediately ran and dove headfirst into the ocean after trekking down hot pavement and even hotter sand that scorched my shoeless feet. Because the water temperature is ever-changing I was still having trouble convincing myself how much time I would be spending in the water. As it turned out the water was not cold, but in fact, refreshing and invigorating. After surfing some mild waves, I emptied the sand from my bathing suit and proceeded to assist my nephew, Garret, with his construction of a sand castle. Our sand castle consisted of large towers and a shallow, water-filled ditch that surrounded the castle. The only structure missing from our castle now was a drawbridge. We were probably better off without a drawbridge for fear of mini sand crabs seizing our castle and holding my niece captive. The creation of our castle was now complete and as I was basking in the glory of our triumph, when Garret decided to celebrate in a different way by destroying our masterpiece with his shovel. The violent manner that he used to demolish the castle was highly amusing. Who could get mad at a rambunctious two-year old little tyke? I retreated to my beach chair and umbrella after sensing that my skin was beginning to sizzle under the hot summer sun. I was also under the impression that it was only a matter of time before I would pay both mentally and physically for stubbornly refusing to apply sunscreen to my fair and sensitive skin. I was enjoying the bliss of the warm, breezy beach when it was interrupted by overzealous shrieks from my sister who had just spotted a school of dolphins that were swimming relatively close to the beach. I’ve seen dolphins swim up and down the beach hundreds of times, but the elegance and grace that dolphins use to dive in and out of the water never gets old. The dolphins were just out of sight, when the speed of the wind increased and lifted our umbrella out of the sand. The umbrella was viciously propelled down the beach and was headed directly toward two unassuming beach going women. My initial thought was that the bottom of the umbrella’s shaft, which is moderately pointy, may severely harm one of these women. To my amazement the umbrella didn’t harm either women and they were reasonably good sports, considering the circumstances. A short while later I found myself playing an unusual game of beach basketball with my dad and brother, which proved to be challenging, but also enjoyable. I now had food on my mind, and not just any food, but Mexican food. Que Pasa was the answer and it was delicious.

The Buckeye State

I flew to Ohio on July 20, and little did I know the trip was already planned out completely. I would be staying from Monday the 20th until Friday the 24th. Last night we went to the Rock N' Roll Hall of Fame. It was pretty incredible. However, it did not compare to The Beatles Museum in Liverpool, England. After the visit to the museum we went out to dinner at a place called Stir Crazy. Only the second time going to this place, but it gets better every time. They should move the franchise to Baltimore because it would be a huge hit. Its basically a Pei Wei on steroids. This place is incredible and were actually planning on going two more times this week. It never gets old. Today we are just relaxing around the house. Tomorrow were going to Cedar Point, which is an amusement park outside of Cleveland. Thursday, were going bowling and at night were going back to Stir Crazy. Friday, I have the day to relax and then my flight takes off around 5 back to Baltimore. I don't know if this trip will compare to last years trip however. Last year, we went to Lake Erie and were on jet skis the entire day. It was unbelievable. Then at night we had a fire and bbq on the beach. But for now I'm getting ready to go play some tennis with the Thomas family. After we are going to Stir Crazy for the second night in a row. Should be interesting.

Manchester

Manchester City is a pretty wild college town to say the least. About a 20 minute bus ride from The University of Manchester is the actual city and it is pretty crazy as well. Our team arrived at the hotel and we had no idea what we were in for. The first night we walked around looking where the best spots to go around for the following evening would occur. One place "Revolution" had an incredible deal. Anything you bought at the bar had potential to be doubled. Once you ordered your drinks, the bartender would would say "Heads or Tails" and you would give your answer. Depending on what you called you could double up on whatever you ordered or if you lost you would only receive what you paid for. Around 1:50 a.m. everyone left and scattered to get food before we had to be back in the hotel. There was a place very similar to Yia Yia's and it served pizza and then there was a fried chicken place. Once we got our food we returned to the hotel. The next day was ours to enjoy. We went into the city and met some very, very interesting people. We stopped at a local restaurant to get some food. A man came in with his girlfriend, who was intoxicated, began to create a scene. He brought a branch in with him. A few moments later the man began to eat the branch. It was quite a show as the entire restaurant began watching, however soon they were kicked out. With tons of stores and casinos there is plenty to do in Manchester. I think I lost about 2 pounds with playing the slots. They were very confusing. The sophomores and freshman returned to the hotel, then drove to a field to give a clinic to local English kids. After the clinic we returned to the hotel ready for night 2 in Manchester. As the night carried on we wanted to go to "The Queen of Hearts." However, so did the entire college of Manchester. The line stretched for about 200 yards and there was no way I was going in. About 30 minutes later I returned and some buddies were right by the door so I hopped in line with them. We waited about 2 minutes and we were in. "The Queen of Hearts" was a pretty special place. There were some very unique individuals who drank some mysterious fluids, who most likely were to get sick in the near future. Thankfully it was no one who we knew. We stayed here until we returned to the hotel. The next morning we had to get up early and catch a fairy into Dublin. One individual made this the funniest morning I have ever had. Manchester is a wild city that any young person would enjoy. The nightlife is pretty remarkable. The town is a college student's dream. There are kids everywhere you turn your head. If you ever get the chance to visit England, I would absolutely recommend going to Manchester and experiencing a whole new meaning to going out and seeing some unique people.