This stuff needs some credit

If any of you have been on my Facebook recently you will have seen a video that acts as a pump up for the upcoming NCAA football season. (35 DAYS TILL KO!). I came across this video whilst searching for official hype videos for the Oregon Ducks and the NCAA made by ESPN, but frankly these are better. If you are a fan of American football in the UK you will usually have only been exposed to the NFL. The clever ones all know college football is where its at. Better playbooks, more exciting plays and a less even game all make for superb watching. Here's the video I put up, and if your not even a little intrigued in college football after it/impressed by the video I wouldn't bother reading here anymore.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MnABZM96AhQ&list=UUhP2_FZkiBecSbUP9GoHpDw&index=2&feature=plcp

Just to let you guys know, I watched it twice the first time I came across it and have since watched it in HD on a 42 inch TV and it was even better. Now the video was compiled by a guy on Youtube called theSeanGshow. He has put together an outstandingly well cut up video, pieced together with a top track that fits perfectly to the high quality clips he has chosen. I applaud you sir.

His other videos are of the same quality and the double plus is that he seems to be an Oregon Ducks fan, just like myself. This is his Oregon hype video for the upcoming season. Love the tune, love the plays. Oregon's offense is out of this world. De-Anthony Thomas is not completely human.

You like hardest hit videos? He has them too, here's his go. The big difference in all of his work is the quality of the video he uses.

Having watched these videos, I wanted to write a blog and show my extended Internet universe the quality of them as well as to further expose you all to college football. Sit back, relax and enjoy.

p.s on a closing note, he doesn't just stick to football. For the wrestling fans out there, and seeming it was RAW 1000 this week take a trip down memory lane and see how many of these clips you can remember watching. Wrestling - a weekly soap for men.

Waw That Was Fast - 3 Years Done and Dusted

From this
<-

to this ->





in just under three years.

A (non-exhaustive) list of things that have changed between now and then: I've grown 2 inches, I've put on two stone of (mostly) muscle, I have a girlfriend, I have a degree, I have a job and I've had the three best years of my life so far. Aberystwyth, who would have thought such a small student filled town could provide such laughter and enjoyment. I've changed from unemployed red faced teenager to a handsome young man (apparently) with a graduate job.

I was lucky enough to have three years filled with good housemates. Firstly in 128 PJM and then the last two years spent in the now legendary 16 Prospect Street. I will miss college football Saturdays, NFL Sundays, the vast amount of days spent playing games, watching films and chilling out. However I wont miss is the messy kitchen and overflowing bins. Living with you guys has been superb. Its been outstanding gents, including our regular visitors.

Changing my degree scheme going into second year was a necessary change, it would appear that years of beer and contact sports has rendered me a lot stupider than I used to be. With all that has been said and done, I would not have changed anything of my university experience if I had to go back and do it again. I joined a team that is more than just a team, and although we weren't successful it definitely made my university experience. I am now part of a family that will keep me connected to Aber for years to come. Thank you to everyone involved with Tarannau, its been a blast.

So now life presents me with a new challenge. For those of you that don't know I will be starting a graduate scheme with a popular bank in September. I will be moving to Bath for the first 6 months of my scheme. Strange place, still wondering if a small town Welsh boy will fit in. In the words of a dear friend of mine "There's always room for another exile". A flat of my own, and a new rugby club will hopefully help me pave my latest path.

So this is me at the moment, I've enjoyed being back in the world of blogging and will be returning quicker than the last time I left. Thanks Aber for the last 3 years.

p.s As its the 50 year anniversary of the Rolling Stones, here's my favourite song they ever made. Enjoy it, always reminds me of Sevens in second year.

The Devil and His Evil Accomplice

Serious title? Yeah, almost had you there for a minute. Today I write about something that has been rankling me for quite some time. This subject may sound trivial, but I'm sure I will find somebody who agrees. Today I write about sandwiches. And the devil when it comes to sandwiches is mayonnaise. His accomplice, the deadly lettuce. Now firstly I will go out and say that I do not hate either of these components. Mayonnaise fits pretty well as a base to a lot of sauces and dips and lettuce, when fresh and crunchy is a great part of any salad. However, in the sandwich world they are both massively overused. And this annoys me. It seems that every sandwich pre-made and packaged to go out in a supermarket has to have mayonnaise or lettuce in it, and the majority of the time its both. Some sandwiches need it, as they are dry, but there are other sources of luscious sauce available! Why have mayonnaise on a chicken and bacon sandwich when you can have BBQ sauce? Also on the point of lettuce, it is just unneeded watery filler that is usually soggy or going off. It does not provide a nutritious edge to a sandwich, all it does is piss me off and make the sandwich taste odd. I'm not asking for the total eradication of mayonnaise or lettuce. All I ask is that for once sandwiches were made without them, for those of us that dislike them with a passion. And that goes for burgers too, nothing spoils a cheese burger like mayonnaise and lettuce!

Just a short one, not a great one but I hate neglecting my blog. Onwards and upwards. I will leave you with a piece from the one and only George Dawes. He was right about baked potatoes, he's right about mayonnaise too!

Catch 22's Are A Pain In My Arse

3rd year has finally got serious. The balancing act of academic work, sport and socialising is finally being pushed to its limits. I still enjoy university, but the whole education thing is starting to grind my gears. It's been 17 years of full time education and finally I am starting to realise that I have had my fill. The idea of doing a master's at this point sickens me. If I did it now I would be stupid because all it would be is an expensive excuse to play uni football again. If I'm honest, as much as I love the club, I'd rather put pins in my eyes and dance the macarena than play another year. Tarannau Football is beginning to frustrate me.

That isn't the point of this rant blog. The point is two fold, one is finally getting back onto the blogosphere. Point one, check. The other is the stupid ass catch 22 situation that my life has presented me with. Education gets me a career (it did until the recession but that's a battle for another day) and the better a career I want, the longer I have to stay in education. In theory that's how it works, and if I'm honest that's how I hope it works. Saying that, I have had a pants full of education. Concentrating for an hour solid on an inane subject being taught by a complete bore who doesn't always have the best grasp of the kings has got real old. The trouble is (and here it comes) is that to graduate with a good degree I need to keep working, but all I want to do is leave and get a job and get money. To get this job and money I need to keep studying and working hard. My plight my not be as serious as that of Yossarian. No threat of death here (though maybe mental breakdown, who knows come January or May?) but my time in education has run its course. The decision to work hard is one I must take to achieve my goals but it springs so many other questions. Told you it was a pain in the arse. 

I know, I know, university isn't all about having fun. Third year is all serious. But I've worked hard since my degree has mattered (2nd year on) and am hoping of getting a 1st in order to get a big boy job and be successful. Finding the time to unwind is getting harder and harder, especially when I can't relax on a football field anymore. My university problems will leave when I graduate, though graduation means the real world. The real world scares me. What if I can't get a job? Goddammit. Maybe I should apply for a master's after all...

Fantasy Football Is Back With A Bang

For most sports fans, a fantasy version of their desired sport is available to play. Growing up I played fantasy cricket and soccerball with my dad. We used to pick our team in the paper and try to win money from The Sun or The Telegraph. Since moving to Uni I have been introduced into playing fantasy American football properly. Previously I had played on nfluk for free and had never taken it seriously. After playing in one league last year and getting to the semi - finals before getting screwed by Mike Vick I decided to join two leagues this year. Here's him depicted as a ginger to serve as an almighty fuck you. Yeah take that... grrr.
 
To select your teams in fantasy American football is a little different. You draft just like in madden or the nfl and each player gets a timed turn to pick somebody for their team. Last night I had both my drafts back to back. Fun but time consuming and a lot of concentration was needed to pick two good teams.

The first is a keeper league with Tarannau players both current and past. The first keeper draft was last night and it went fairly well. The keeper element means at the end of the year you have to keep three players to carry over into next years league. My team Fantasy A Bum is as follows:

QB: Tom Brady
RB1: Ryan Grant
RB2: Ryan Matthews
WR1: Roddy White
WR2: Mike Wallace
TE: Rob Gronkowski
K: Alex Henery
D: Patriots
WR/TE/RB: Mike Thomas
Bench: Mark Sanchez
Bench: Darren Sproles
Bench: Jonathen Stewart
Bench: Donald Driver
Bench: Lee Evans
Bench: Kyle Rudolph

My second league is the WAFFL and is run by this guy. It is 70 teams large and has a prize fund of 700 quid divided up into lots of interesting prizes. My first year in this league and I'm hoping to do some damage as my team Jay Cutler Kneeginas is as follows:

QB: Mike Vick
RB1: Ryan Matthews
RB2: Mark Ingram
WR1: Calvin Johnson
WR2: Julio Jones
TE: Jermichael Finley
K: Josh Brown
D: Detroit
WR/TE/RB: Lee Evans
Bench: LT
Bench: Donovan Mcnabb
Bench: Aaron Hernandez
                                                                                       Bench: Ed Dickson 

This team could be real good and with my jibe at Jay Cutler hoping to get me at least some recognition for the name game prize money. Even if I didn't get to draft him. He was stolen just before I was about to pick him!

Fantasy football is a lot of fun, and just like real football it is back! If you don't already play it, you should. That's my tip for the week. But whatever you do play it with your friends as drafts and leagues will get boring without piss taking. And watch out for slow ass player pickers in your draft. They deserve to die in a fire.

Chronicles of a Hangover - NCAA Football is Back Baby!

College football is back and here to stay until bowl season. Yeeeeha. To celebrate Mr Pettiford's end of resit exams and because it conveniently coincided with the NCAA season starting, I broke the bank Friday and drove to Aber for a night out. If you don't believe me about the breaking the bank bit, just imagine me walking up to town with 37 £1 bags of coppers and 7 £5 bags of silver to cash in at the bank. Thank god for my over sized whisky bottle savings jar. It allowed me to make good time and get to Aber to join some of the boys for a night out. Somebody told me cheap red wine was a good idea? My body didn't think so the day after. A summer of hardly drinking left me weak and battered on the living room sofa come Saturday. Looking a lovely shade of green and barely being able to eat I had a fun hangover day sitting watching the Baylor - TCU game with Steve and Barbie.

Now week one of college football is usually labelled cupcake week as most teams schedule weak warm up games to get themselves primed for the grind of the season. There were a couple of games between ranked opponents. Boise State brought the hammer and beat fellow ranked Georgia 35-21. Could this be a championship year for the broncos? Having seen LSU pound early BCS favourites Oregon in the Cowboy Classic, who knows? LSU proved once again that a tough and fast SEC defense can beat the speedy Duck's spread. With costly penalties and turnovers proving the main difference, a massive dent into Oregon's BCS hopes was dealt in week one. Both these games were fun watches, but the best game of the weekend also included the biggest upset.

Unranked Baylor entertained highly ranked and previous seasons Rose Bowl champs TCU. Lead by Robert Griffin III and Kendall Wright they stormed to a 50-48 win in what showed the true beauty of college football. Electrifying offense that was shown by RG3 throwing for 359 yards and 5 TD's, as well as making a crucial third down catch on a trick play. Wright had 189 yards and 2 TD catches on the day, as well as throwing a TD and completing the pass that Griffin caught. Running back Ganaway pounded his 240 pound frame into TCU's previously stud defense all afternoon for 120 yards. An almost heroic comeback from TCU gave them the lead with 4 minutes to go, but only for it to be snatched away as RG3 led Baylor back up the field for the game winning kick. A superb game, that really made my hangover day worthwhile. Even if i struggled well into Sunday to recover. A good weekend capitulated by the first super Sunday. Oregon losing was a bad point, but NCAA on the whole, roast beef and apple crumble cake made it all better. Roll on the rest of the season as the NFL starts next week.

Peace out, take it easy. My return to Aber is imminent.

5 Things I Have Watched This Week That Have Amazed Me

Here is a list of video's that you need to watch. Trust me on this, some aren't new, but you probably won't have seen them. These video's show pieces of amazing skill that were lucky enough to be filmed/captured on film. Anyways here goes.

1. Firstly is a superb bit of handling in a game of rugby (Yes, I know it's league but still)..

2. This second one is a hype video from my favourite NCAA football team the Oregon Ducks. It shows ridiculous highlights from last season as well as getting you primed for the new year. We Will Be Back.

3. Third is a video I had as favourite on YouTube a few years ago. You've probably all seen it as Ken Block is pretty prominent in the world of YouTube and Top Gear. He is also a serious badass. That good at driving cars and co-founder of DC Shoes. This video is one of his gymkhana's, they are all ridiculous but this one is my personal favourite. Enjoy.

4. Fourth is a video I discovered shortly after visiting the city it is filmed in. Sick video showing supreme skill plus a cracking tune from Band Of Horses. Ladies and Gentlemen, I give you Inspired Bicycles.

5. The last video on this list is one that I saw less than ten minutes ago and what really inspired me to write this blog. If you follow me on twitter you may have just seen it but I felt it needed more than just a tweet. A brilliantly filmed video, showcasing skills that we thought were just make believe from any of the Tony Hawk games. Enjoy Kilian Martin, street skater extraordinaire.

I hope these videos will inspire you to watch others by the artists. I also hope they will have amazed and interested you like they have to me. Shows the amazing capabilities of humans in the sporting world.

P.s Just for the other NCAA fans, a little video to help get you in the mood. Boise State's hype video. Only just over a minute. Big Fan.

Laters.