The Rogers News

Category: Our Experiences

Tales of my life as told by me.

  • Deep Conversation on IM

    Me: link.
    Her: link.
    Me: link.

  • On Looking Professional

    Zack: You should cut your hair and trim your beard before you interview for an internship.
    Me: I would definitely do that.

    (I am a law student with shaggy hair and a beard. I don’t look like a lawyer should look. I’m aware of this. I just don’t care right now. When will I ever get a chance to carelessly grow a beard or have longer hair again? The fact that “I don’t know” is a possible answer to that question is reason enough for me to do it now – not later – not never.)

  • Go Blue: UM vs MSU Football

    I went to the UM v. MSU football game in East Lansing this weekend. Michigan beat a tough and determined Spartan team, 28-24.

    The patrons in front of me were true heathens. They were loud, obnoxious, and, well, they attacked me. They did not like that I was wearing a Michigan sweatshirt and shouting, “Go Blue,” in between chants of, “Go White” and “Go Green.” Nonetheless, I persisted with the fight song during touchdowns and clapping for Michigan. I wouldn’t have been so annoying had there been more Michigan fans in my area.

    When UM scored it’s winning touchdown the TV camera was on me. I was on the scoreboard. I unzipped my jacket and held up the “Michigan” on my sweatshirt in front of the camera to show the stadium, at which point the large man in front of me with no sideburns and only slightly more intelligence grabbed the front of my sweatshirt. He assaulted me. Like I can’t celebrate.

    The game was close, which is what I wanted. That’s always more exciting. Mallet, UM’s freshman quarterback, did an awesome job fumbling on the only play he played. And Hart did a more awesome job recovering the fumble for a first down. That’s the kind of stuff that happens when you win against a good team.

    Go Blue.

    … which reminds me… it was pointed out to me several times that there is no response to, “Go Blue.” If someone says it to you in passing, the only logical response is “Go Blue.” Saying, “Go Maize,” doesn’t really role off the tongue.

  • Top 5 Toughest Courses in 2007

    The toughest courses on the PGA Tour in 2007:

    1. Oakmont Country Club (The U.S. Open)
    * Avg strokes over par = 5.705
    2. Augusta National Golf Club (The Masters)
    * Avg strokes over par = 3.881
    3. Southern Hills (The PGA Championship)
    * Avg strokes over par = 3.016
    4. Firestone South C.C. (WGC – Bridgestone)
    * Avg strokes over par = 2.787
    5. Carnoustie Golf Links (Open Championship)
    * Avg strokes over par = 2.381

    Looking at the top five courses with regard to the winning score, it is even more apparent that the U.S. Open and the Masters were the toughest tests of golf. Angel Cabrera’s winning score of +5 at the U.S. Open is just under the average strokes over par. Zach Johnson’s winning score of +1 at the Masters bested the average strokes over par by 2.881 shots.

    The bottom three courses were less difficult for their tournament’s winners. Tiger Woods won the the PGA and the WGC with totals of -8 and Padraig Harrington shot -7 at the Open.

    It seems clear that the U.S. Open and the Masters did a better job of keeping the entire field together, although there was a playoff at the British Open.

  • High School Golf Practice

    Yesterday was sixty-five degrees, calm, and sunny so I went to the golf range to practice. I bought my seven dollar large bucket of balls, laced up my golf shoes, and started hitting easy sand wedges to the red flag on the right of the range about 85 yards away. I was trying to keep the trajectory of my shots down so I could control my distance better. About thirty minutes into my session high school golfers began setting up shop on the range. Then what looked to be the junior varsity team hopefuls came over. These kids didn’t look a day over pre-adolescence, but they talked a big game. They talked it loudly, as if they were addressing a elderly foreigner. Naturally, they started their warm-up by trying to smash drivers to the edge of the woods. I felt compelled to get my driver out and hit the ball well into the woods. I did, easily. Having satisfied my ego, I returned to hitting easy eight irons to the yellow flag 160 yards away. But, the range was filling up too fast for all of us to hit. These kids were moving in on my nice patch of grass. A runt of a boy directly in front of me swung a driver equal to his own height. A lanky youngster was joyously topping, slicing and shanking balls behind me. I feared for my life. Instead of visualizing the shot I wanted to hit, I began imagining what it would feel like when cold steel met my skull. Not good. It was like I was standing it the middle of a chinook helicopter. Clubs were spinning, balls were flying. The kid in front of me actually lost his grip and his club flew over my head. The kid said woops then blindly walked in front of me. I decided it was best for me to leave at that point, so I hit my last ball, tucked in my clubs and shook my head. This was chaos – unlike any golf practice I had ever participated in, but it still made me miss high school golf.

  • Four-Pound Lobster

    It’s important to note that I ate a four-pound lobster for dinner yesterday and it was tasty.

    We went to this shack of a place Thurston’s in Bar Harbor. You walk up and order your lobster while he or she is still alive. The brave high school kid at the ordering window plucks a meaty red beast from the small tanks, weighs it, and then drops it in a sack with corn… to be boiled to death. The whole process made me think of David Foster Wallace’s essay, “Consider the Lobster,” which calls out to the reader to empathize with the lobster as he or she takes his or her bath of eternal rest.

    But, really. It’s lobster and it’s good and there is butter right there to dip it in and that makes it even better. Maybe I’ll write, “Consider the Fact that I’m Craving Lobster,” and mail it to David.

  • Thanks for the Magazines, Ben

    I’d like to thank my friends for signing me up for Opera News and Baby Talk. I am thoroughly enjoying both magazines, and am finding the multiple copies useful as it allows me to keep one in the bathroom and one in the living room making my reading experience nearly seamless. Coincidentally, I was planning on taking up Opera in my spare time and am sure I’ll have a baby some day.