Rubber Souls Dominate

A little over a week ago, the Rubber Souls took its talents to South Beach...err, I mean Edgerton, WI to compete in an all day kickball tournament. The event was hosted by the Edgerton Fire Department and other volunteers from the community. For those of you that do not know, Rubber Souls is the name of my kickball team. We play in three leagues a year plus 1-2 tournaments. Last winter, we played in an ice kickball tournament out on a frozen lake. Despite the cold temperatures, this was a blast and highly recommended to anyone looking to have a good time, free beer and chili, and lots of laughs.

Back to the recent tournament, the squad consisted of 10 players--5 male and 5 female. Our league team has 14 players so we were without a few Rubbers for this competition. Since we were one of the new teams and an out of town team, we were forced to play the opening game, which was at 8 am. This meant setting the alarm for 6:30 on a Saturday...not an ideal situation. Despite a few hungover teammates, the Souls dominated our first opponents and were awarded a three hour break i.e. time to drink and bake in the humidity before our next game. We disposed of the next opponents in similar fashion. After a quick break for lunch and air conditioning, we returned to the diamond for our third game. Another victory. We were sitting 3-0 and feeling pretty confident and buzzed.

Our 4th game, was a semifinal match and the winner would solidify a spot in the championship. A victory also guaranteed a cash prize, as first-third places received various amounts of money. Another opponent and another win. The Rubber Souls were 4-0 and in the championship. Since it was a double elimination tournament, we had to wait for our final opponent to win its way back to the winner's bracket. The team we had just defeated ended up winning two more games to set up a rematch. In the championship game, we played amazing and displayed a total team effort. We shut the opponents out and cruised to victory. The win meant a $750 cash prize, a 3 foot kickball trophy, and a plaque.

All and all, it was a great event and I cannot wait until we defend our championship next summer. Thanks to everyone for playing and bringing your A game. There were plenty of highlights including Jen's inside the park home run, Michelle's 0.067 earned run average, Ben's clutch back up, Kris ambidextrous kicking, Tom's great stretches at first, Sabrina's timely base running, Laura's wipe out and John and Jack's cannons from the left side of the diamond. I can safely say that each Rubber was an MVP at some point during the day.

Also, thanks to our fans especially Gram for coming out to the park and cheering us on through out the day.

Remember the Rubber Souls bend but don't break,

The Bean Spiller

The Bean Spiller is Getting Married!!!

In case you have not heard the Bean Spiller is going to become a Mrs.! I held off on writing this blog because I wanted the chance for Kris and me to tell people personally prior to them reading on the web. Needless to say, I am pretty excited to share our news with everyone.

Three short weeks ago, Kris otherwise known as Mr. Bean Spiller (jk), proposed to me. It was Sunday mid-morning and it was time for my weekly grocery shopping. Kris said that he wanted to join me and that he thought we should walk to the Willy Street Co-op. I was kind of surprised, as Kris is not always a fan of walking places on a hot summer day. We made it to the store and did some quick shopping. With a couple grocery bags of food in hand, we returned to my condo. Nothing to exciting! Then, an hour or so later as we were getting ready to go to George's going away party, Kris said that he had one question for me to answer prior to leaving. He then got down on one knee and asked me to marry him. He later told me that I barely let him finish the question before I said yes. As you can imagine I was overwhelmed with joy.

I shared with you the grocery store details because Kris' original plan was to propose in a park that is on the way to the Co-op. Unfortunately, there were 3 or 4 homeless people sitting on the park benches drinking some early morning beers. Not the ideal audience for a proposal though I am sure they would have liked to participate or at least cheered in our honor. Only on Willy Street! Either way it was a perfect day that I will remember forever!

Over the last couple of weeks, we have been busy ironing out the preliminary details of the big day. Initially, I was pretty stressed, as it seemed like there were so many questions to be asked and decisions to be made. But now that we have a date and a location selected I am finally sleeping through the night. We will have a lot more to decide on over the coming months but I know that with the help of our family and friends it will come together perfectly. Can't wait!

With love,

The Bean Spiller

Too crazy to write

Dear Readers, if there are any left,

I want you to know that I think about Jean the Bean Spiller blog every day. Frequent thoughts include: "Wow I need to write a blog...It has been far to long.", or "hmmm, I could definitely blog about that." or "I wonder how Gretchen is coming on her guest blog from Danny and Haley's wedding back in June...if only she would finish that I could get back to blogging."

In all honesty, I would really like to get back to blogging on a consistent basis but like I said life has been too crazy to write. I am extremely busy at work, which is a good thing. I have learned so much in the past couple months. I told my dad the other day that I really felt like I was becoming a contractor. Another good thing since this is my occupation of choice.

In addition to the hectic days at work, like most of you, I am also pretty booked up during my free time...whether it is a kickball game or a trip to Galena or LASIK surgery it seems like my weeknights and weekends are all booked up. I don't mind this at all...I love being busy and having stuff to do, especially during the summer. However, this definitely affects my ability to blog.

Another excuse would be that there are no sporting games taking place right now. Yeah, yeah there is baseball but for those of us residing in Wisconsin and/or Cubs fan, the baseball season ended in May. I think the Cubs are about 15 games back and more depressing to watch than the movie Revolutionary Road. Needless to say, I am very excited for the return of fall and football. Go Bears and Badgers! But most importantly go HOYAs. Hoya Saxa can't wait for my 5 trips!

Lastly, my latest and greatest excuse is that I am now planning my (and Kris') wedding. And for those of you that know me this could result in ZERO blogs over the next year, even with football and basketball. And those that don't, I tend to fixate on things and devote a lot of attention to the particular issue until it is resolved. Right now, it is church and reception venue. After those are taken care of I can breathe a big sigh of relief.

If there is anyone reading this, I hope you enjoy and I promise I will do my best to turn my thoughts into actual posts.

Enjoy,

The Bean Spiller

I LOVE BASIL

My grandma bought and planted a basil plant for me this spring. Despite the excessive amounts of rain and my lack of a green thumb, I managed to produce basil leaves over the last month or so. After consulting with my mother, who is perhaps the best gardner ever, well her and my gram, about the details of picking basil i.e. how, when, where, I dove in and picked the plant Monday evening. I got about a cup and half of leaves and immediately started planning meals that involved basil or pesto. YUM! Pizza, Pasta, Caprese salad. Following a trip to the Willy Street Co-op and a lunch break spent making pesto, I was ready to enjoy the green herb that I had "harvested." I am well on my way to becoming a farmer. Now, if only my cherry tomato would start producing!

Step 1: Basil Plant


Step 2: Pesto


Step 3: Pesto Pasta (I added kalamata olives, feta, parmesan, and pine nuts)


Step 4: Pizza Uncooked


Step 5: Pizza Cooked


Random Picture: Kris can flip pizzas like a professional and his expertise resulted in one tasty pizza crust.

Dipping Eggs

As you may have sensed, I have been struggling to come up with topics for my blog. My creative juices have not been flowing. I went back to the drawing board and started to think…What is something that a lot of people don’t know about? Well, I think I may have found something that may come as a shock to many of my readers. Mainly, to those readers that do not have the pleasure to eat breakfast with me.

Today, I confess that I have not consumed a cooked egg in over 20 years. Yes, you read that right. That means no omelets, scramblers, deviled eggs, pickled eggs, over easy eggs, sun side up eggs, hard boiled eggs, eggs Benedict, poached eggs…Am I missing any? (Developing that list was somewhat difficult, as I really do not even pay attention to the egg portion of breakfast menus and I didn’t want to waste time googling types of eggs).

Well there are a lot of cooked eggs that I am apparently missing out on. Kris and Laura frequently point out how fabulous eggs taste and try to pressure me into sampling a bite of their breakfast spreads. I just cannot bring myself to do it; despite the fact that I usually love the other ingredients like cheese, veggies, and chorizo that are associated with eggs. I must confess that I really do not have the courage to put a piece of cooked egg in my mouth. The notion has crossed my mind momentarily, but I instantly get a knot in my stomach and almost gag at the thought. I don’t know if any of you have gone 20 years without eating something but it is really difficult to bring yourself to try it.

You may be wondering why do I have such an aversion for cooked eggs…or not? Well, as silly as this story is I will share it with you and then you will be able to understand my extreme fear for cooked eggs.

Flashback to some random morning in 1990 in Janesville, WI. It was likely a weekend morning as my mom had prepared dipping eggs, otherwise known as sunny side up, and toast for the family. This morning’s breakfast started off no different than the previous breakfasts that I had experienced over the years. Once my plate was in front of me, I slathered my toast with butter and proceeded to dip the slices into the not quite gel, not quite liquid yellow yolk. (Side note: my stomach just turned as I wrote that sentence…eggs frighten me). Knowing how much I love food I probably devoured roughly 3 dipping eggs and 4 slices of toast that morning. At the time, I did not know that these would be the last cooked eggs that I would consume in my lifetime.

Following the breakfast, I scurried upstairs to get dressed and brush my teeth. I stopped at the bathroom first to get the brushing out of the way. I took a quick glance in the mirror and noticed that I had some yellow residue on the side of my cheek. As you can probably guess this was just some of the dipping yolk that missed my mouth. Whoops, apparently I was a sloppy eater. Well, most people would probably think nothing of the yellow substance and proceed to wash it off and then brush their teeth.

Not me! I instantly concocted a story that the yellow streak on my face was not just the yolk but it was actually the chicken’s pee. All I could think about was that I had chicken pee on my face and it came from those damn dipping eggs. Yuck, gross! Within a few seconds, I had completely convinced myself that the yellow portion of eggs was pee. This may seem silly and ridiculous but I stuck with it and have not touched a cooked egg since that morning. 20 years later and still no eggs. Pretty crazy but I am guessing my breakfast eating habits will not change anytime soon. I will likely continue to avoid the consumption of eggs at all costs.

Side note: you may have wondered why I always wrote cooked eggs during this blog. For some reason, I have ZERO qualms with uncooked eggs, as I frequently will eat a helping of raw cookie dough or cake batter. I am usually the first in line to lick the mixer or spatula. Seems a bit ironic.

Hope I didn’t turn anyone else away from cooked eggs!

Enjoy,

The Bean Spiller

Women in Construction

Thought I would post this picture of myself in my hard hat so you guys could see how bad ass I look. Well, maybe not. But it is difficult to take a quality picture of yourself with a blackberry camera. I apologize.



Bad ass, right?

Well, I was thinking I was pretty cool up until yesterday afternoon when Laura sent me an email. This email contained pictures of her day at work last Friday. See below. Clearly, Lo is a lot more bad ass then me as she got to operate machinery and heavy equipment. Nice work Laura! Hopefully, some day I will learn how to use those pieces of equipment though I am sure JPC's insurance company might get a little nervous with me behind the wheel...Is it a wheel or how are they operated?





Whether it is just me showing off my hardhat or Laura trying out the machinery, I am glad that we are both experiencing and learning about the construction industry. Girl Power!

Enjoy the pictures,

The Bean Spiller

Best and Worst of Last Weekend

Whoops, is it really Saturday already! So that means that I am 5 days late on my best and worst of the weekend update. I am such slacker with this blog lately. I apologize to all my dedicated readers. Don’t let my lack of an update lead you to think my weekend was anything short of fantastic. Besides the crummy weather it was a great couple of days here in the MadCity.
Best of the Weekend: Hands down the best part of the weekend was having Angie and Craft in town for the weekend. For those of you who have not been fortunate enough to meet either of them, they are two of my teammates from Dartmouth. With these two in town, I knew that regardless of what we did we would have a good time. We kicked the weekend off with a delicious, INTERESTING, and entertaining dinner at Ruth’s Chris with my dad, Laura, and Kris. Dinner was followed up with a couple games of 21-cup beer pong. Unfortunately, for us Dartmouth faithful we played sans paddles but we still held our own. Each squad won one game. Due to excessively full bellies, we had to postpone the rubber match to a later date. Good times guys! A grilled cheese with bacon and seasoned fries from Food Court is about the only thing that could have made the night any better!

Honorable Mention:
1. Amos Lee Concert at the Majestic Theater. Any other weekend this would have easily been my number one choice. I’ve been listening to Amos Lee for awhile now and was glad to finally get the opportunity to see him live. I’d highly recommend this concert to anyone that likes Amos Lee or to anyone that is in the mood for a great music and an entertaining concert.
2. Tubbs dinner Saturday night. It is always a great meal at the Taco Palace. Having Laura as our waitress made it even better.
3. The movie Kickass. Not what I expected but still a very entertaining movie.

Worst of the Weekend: Errr, I don’t really have any worsts for this weekend. I guess I could say sleeping through Crazylegs on Saturday morning. Since I was pre-registered I basically paid $25 for a not so sweet t-shirt that I will likely feel silly wearing since I did not run the race. Oh well, maybe next year.

Better late than never, right?

The Bean Spiller

Best and Worst of the Weekend

My weekend started early as I left work at 11:00 in order to make it to the airport in time. My dad and I were headed off to DC to visit George and watch the Hoya’s spring football game. Over the last few years Georgetown has become one of my favorite places to visit. Even before I boarded the plane I knew that I was going to have a great weekend. Georgetown has just about everything that the Bean Spiller needs to have a good time—family, sports, shopping, and food. Really, what more could I ask for? While the entire trip was fabulous, I am going to stick to the new format and rules established week. So here we go…The Best and Worst of my DC Weekend:

Best of the Weekend: My Friday evening hangout session with George and my dad wins this week’s best of the weekend award. We had dinner at Filamino’s, an authentic Italian restaurant on Wisconsin Street. Not sure if any of my readers have eaten there before but it is absolutely amazing. They have two “pasta mamas” in the front of the restaurant who are making fresh pasta through out the night. As a wannabe cook I really enjoyed watching them work; sometimes I wish I had become a chef! I ordered gnocchi with a vodka sauce and it was delicious. I could only eat about half my dish as they give you enough to feed a small army. The boys and I followed up dinner with a movie. We saw Date Night, which stars Steve Carrell and Tina Fey. I laughed the entire time and definitely enjoyed the movie more than my dates. I thought it was really funny and worth seeing if you are in the mood for a comedy. Overall, it was a relaxing night and great to spend time with the Bear and my dad.

Honorable Mention:
1. Tomb’s chocolate milkshake. Probably the best milk shake I have ever had. Was a nice treat after the 2nd best bbq pork sandwich I have ever had. Mrs. Arndt's still holds the top spot.

2. Monument Tour with my dad. See pictures above.

3. Finally finishing my book The Lost Symbol. Good read if you are looking for a new book and enjoyed his previous work

4. Cousin Blake teaching us how to walk the slip line

5. Tutto Pasta with Kris

Gosh, I could list about 10 more things from this weekend. It was a great couple days. Thanks George!

Worst of the Weekend:

The person sitting near us on the plane that ripped a series of farts that stunk the plane up for about 15 minutes straight. Brutal. As if it is not bad enough that we are all sharing the same stale air, but then you add stinky gas to the equation and it can become quite uncomfortable. Not sure I have to say much else but please if you have gas on a plane think about the people that are sitting so close to you.

Honorable Mention:

1. Female sports commentators. Doris Burke is now doing NBA games. She just does not get it done for me.

2. Fatty, not crispy bacon.

3. The 20 degree temperature drop from Friday to Saturday and the extreme gusts of wind.
There you have it. My DC weekend in a nutshell. Can’t wait to hear what everyone else was up to back in the Midwest.

Don’t be scared, post a comment,

The Bean Spiller

Best and Worst of the Weekend-April 12, 2010

Well, after a few rounds of my best and worst of the weekend feature, I will be switching up my style. I have received some criticism from one of my readers about the formatting of this write-up. This particular reader will remain nameless, but for anyone that is curious he or she is a tall, red head that resides in Chicago. You may or may not know who I am talking about so I will give you one more clue. He or she is also a wannabe baller and a frequent blog commentator. And, we all know that despite my pleading over the last few months there are very few people who actually comment. So to please my readers and attempt to keep everyone happy…the new format will include only 1 best and 1 worst of the weekend. It will be followed by an honorable mention of activities, events, and/or occurrences that were close but did not quite make the cut. I hope this is more acceptable to the reader described above and to the group as a whole. Enough already, here is my best and worst of the weekend:

Best of the Weekend: 1st Lake house cookout of the season. The family, Kris, Michelle, Gram, and Aunt Jeanie all gathered at the lake house for the first of many spring/summer cookouts. Ooops, I almost forgot Scout. My dad had the music going and deck furniture in place on this perfect spring evening. My mom was preparing a spread of fabulous food including fresh fruit, summer salad with perfectly ripened avocados, and deliciously juicy hamburgers. Marko manned the grill and did an excellent job of cooking mine to well done perfection. My gram and I took down Kris and Aunt Jeanie in a tightly contested game of euchre, while Michelle and Laura researched potential Brewer games and tennis rackets. Overall, it was a great evening and I am looking forward to many more days/nights at 617!

Honorable Mention:
1. Laredo’s guacamole. Simply amazing. The guacamole lady did not disappoint as she prepared a mortar full of avocado heaven right in front of our table.
2. First baseball game of the season. Despite the Brewers loss to the Cardinals this made the list, as it was fun to return to the ballpark and to hang out with Kris, Carrie, Austin, Bri, and Jess. Great burgers provide by Austin. Yum!
3. The Masters. Lefty and Tiger did not disappoint.
4. The weather.

Worst of the Weekend: Hot Tub Time Machine. I am almost embarrassed to admit that I spent $7 and my Friday evening at this movie. But there is no shame here on the Bean Spiller’s page. I probably do not have to elaborate, but as you can imagine this movie was pretty terrible. While there were a few funny the lines, the acting and story were disappointing.

Honorable Mention:
1. No college basketball on tv. This is a very difficult time for me as you can all imagine. I am already counting down the days until early November.
2. Complete abandonment of my diet. Whoops!

Another weekend has come and gone. Once again, it was filled with way more bests than worsts. Thanks to all the people that made this weekend great. Looking forward to hearing about everyone else’s best and worsts of the weekend.

Fear the Deer,

The Bean Spiller

Best and worst of the weekend

Once again this was a weekend filled with numerous fantastic activities. I've decided to do a bullet point list of my bests of the weekend. Enjoy!

1. George was home for the weekend and he allowed me to tag along with him and his crew.
2. Lent ended so I got to have candy for the first time in 40 days. I celebrated with fun dip and peeps. I ended up with a pretty bad tummy ache.
3. Murphs mom's tollhouse bars. These were the best batch ever. The bottoms were still gooey and delicious plus the chocolate was still warm and soft. Fabulous. I ate 4.5 bars. Not good.
4. My 5-0 record on the euchre table. Holla! Mongrel you were a great parnter!
5. Chorizo tacos served by the red headed waitress at Tubbs. That would be Laura for those of you that don't know.
6. The final four games especially those involving butler.

With all those bests there were only a few worsts of the weekend and even these are a stretch.
1. My 0-5 record on the beer pong table.
2. Huggy bear getting a little to close to his injured player. The stroking of face and inch gap between mouths lasted entirely too long and was quite uncomfortable for all involved.
3. The weekend only being 2 days.
4. The cubs getting hammered 16-5. Or was it 16-6? Either way it was a butt kicking and not the way any team should start off a season. (ps I know this was Monday and not technically on the weekend but I had to vent)

Well I think that's about it for this weekend. Hope everyone had a great Easter and that the Easter bunny was as good to you as he was to me.

Peeps are better than cadbury eggs,

The bean spiller


-- Post From My iPhone

A Thousand Hits

Shout out to myself the Bean Spiller and all my readers. I've reached the thousand hit marker and I could not be more excited. Woot woot, round of applause for me. When I started this blog a couple months ago I was incredibly nervous that no one would read it or find it interesting enough to check back after his/her initial read. Looks like my nerves were not completely warranted. Well, I guess I only know that one part of that statement is true. I suppose all of you readers could think it is boring; but, if that were the case I probably would not have a thousand hits. Wow, I still can't believe I have reached 4 digits on my blog hit counter. I am beaming just writing this silly post.

Of late my blogs have been mostly related to basketball and I apologize to all my non-sports loving readers. But lets get real, its March and basketball rules the world. Life is Basketball...the rest is just details. Over the next couple of months I am going to try and broaden my horizons and write about a wider variety of topics. No guarantees but I will try. Topic suggestions are welcome.

Before I go out on the town to celebrate the popularity of JeantheBeanSpiller, there is one thing that I request of you readers and it is something I have subtly hinted at before. My wish is this, please comment more often. My reader hit to reader comment ratio is awful. I think I have about 20 total comments, so we are talking one comment every 52 reads. This is just inexcusable. Don't be shy or nervous. Just get yourself a log-in and password and post away. I am sure everyone, especially me, would love to read your thoughts.

Looking forward to hearing from you all,

The Bean Spiller

Last Weekend in March

I cannot believe we are already rounding the corner into April. The first three months of 2010 have flown by for me and with the nice weather dominating the forecast I expect the time to coninue to pass rapidly. It was a pretty low key and relaxing weekend for the Bean Spiller. I'd have to say best of the weekend was my return to to the blacktop courts at Roosevelt Elementary School in Janesvegas. Laura and I joined the Schutlz clan for an intense and exhausting afternoon of basketball on the playground. It was old school style--chain nets, double rims, pea gravel on the court. We played no blood, no foul so things got quite physical as Lo ended up with a bloody nose and crooked nose. Despite the injury, I think everyone had a great time and was impressed by my killer cross over and silky smooth jumper. Just kidding, I think I went about 2-12 for the day but I am blaming it on the wind.

The worst of the weekend award would have to go to the Tennessee Lady Vols basketball team. How dare they lose prior to the semifinal match up with UCONN. Geno and Pat reunited after a multi-year hiatus. Ugh, this was the one thing I was looking forward to seeing in the women's game. I now have zero interest in watching the remaindar of the tournament. Seriously, does anyone? UCONN is crushing teams by an average of over 30 points. I don't think they have won a game by fewer than 10 points since the streak began. This is absolutely ridiculous. In the Sweet Sixteen round, the Huskies were beating Iowa State by close to 50 points. While this margin of victory and UCONN's historic run is remarkable, I do not see how this can be good for the game as a whole. I cannot see many casual fans tuning into and/or staying tuned into a game that is over within 3 minutes. And, this is probably pretty generous as I think UCONN is hands down the favorite to beat anyone still remaining in the tournament. I am confident that if they were forced to shoot only left handed jumpers that they would still win handily. Pat, you have let me down. Get it together down there in Knoville. Please! I miss the days of UCONN vs. Tennessee.

George comes home next weekend so I am sure next week's blog will be extra entertaining. Just kidding, I am crossing my fingers that he will pencil in some time to bond with his big sister.

Adios,

The Bean Spiller

Tourney Picks

In case you have not noticed yet, I will let you in a little secret, my bracket is busted this year. Thank you Kansas and Villanova. Much to my suprise I am actually in decent shape in some of my pools after the first 4 days of Madness but with Kansas as my winner and Villanova pegged for the Final Four I will not be collecting too many more "W's". Oh well, it was fun while it lasted. I debated doing this blog because I wasn't sure if I could handle another round of sub-par picks. Let's be honest with ourselves and face the facts that this year's tournament is as wide open as any. I really have no clue who will win any of the games remaining. I was listening to Bill Simmon's BS Report ESPN podcast about his bracket predictions yesterday and his is horrible as well. It was fun to listen to after the first 2 rounds of games as I was able to see how off his picks were. It is crazy that we can make these "educated guesses" with such conviction every year and time and again they are dead wrong. Hell, if the Sports Guy can be that bad and still get his own ESPN podcast and column than I can post this blog without feeling too much guilt. Maybe I will fair better now that it is the Sweet Sixteen, err doubtful.

Butler vs. Syracuse: Syracuse
Washinton vs. West Virginia: Washington
Xavier vs. Kansas State: Xavier
Cornell vs. Kentucky: Kentucky

(All guesses, I really think they can all go either way. I would not be surprised to see Cornell knock off Kentucky or Butler take down the Cuse. But I'll stick with the number 1's and assume that the cinderalla's will have a let down after spending a week as Big Men on Campus who were getting showered with praise and media attention.)

Tennessee vs. Ohio State: Ohio State
St. Marys vs. Baylor: Baylor
Northern Iowa vs. MSU: Northern Iowa
Duke vs. Purdue: Duke

(Same as above other than I think the injury to Kalin Lucas may prove to be costly for Sparty).

I am hoping for a 50% hit ratio on these and anything above that would be euphoric.

Go Big Red,

The Bean Spiller

Best and Worst of the Weekend 3/19/10-3/21/10

Hands down the best part of my weekend was being in Ft. Lauderdale with my parents and Aunt Sue. It was a quick trip but just what I needed to refresh my tank for the upcoming spring months. The majority of time in Florida consisted of relaxing in the sun, eating at my favorite restaurants, and watching the NCAA tournament.

I was also able to visit the school that my mom is tutoring at and spent time with 5 young Haitian students and 1 boy from Brazil. The kids were between the ages of 11-13. The students from Haiti had recently moved to Florida following the earthquake so they were still adjusting to the new school and environment. We spent about 90 minutes with the kids reviewing some basic English vocabulary including foods, activity times, and numbers. All of these students struggled to speak, read, and understand English so it was a challenge to get them to open up and participate. It was frustrating for me to not be able to convey the language to them more easily. Despite the language barrier the students seemed so happy and eager to learn. I am a sucker for kids and quickly became attached to these kids and wished that I could do more to help them.

While it was difficult to see these kids struggle and for me to walk away with out making that much of an impact, I am glad that my mom took to me to the school because without seeing it for myself it would be hard to fully imagine the situation at these schools. I don’t want to go into a huge debate about our school systems as I do not know enough about K-12 schools, but after just 90 minutes it was evident that there are a lot of things that need to be adjusted to better educate the youth of America. It is easy to point to sources of blame like overloaded teachers, limited resources, and unprepared students; however, it is unlikely that these things will change in the near future. Coming up with a sure-fire solution is no easy task, but it would seem that all parties involved including the parents, teachers, students, administrators, politicians and whoever else I am missing need to take more responsibility for their roles in education. Maybe these roles need to be redefined and restructured to better serve the student and the overall goals of the schools…Or maybe there needs to be a new system of incentives and penalties put into place…Or perhaps we should restructure the system to better match the needs of society and match what other countries’ have done with there educational system. As I mentioned, I do not have an answer but I know that I am even more concerned than I was prior to going to this school. Sorry that I have gone on a bit of a tangent but I would be interested in hearing other people’s opinions on this subject and/or your experiences with different schools. Also, I’d like to give a huge shout out to my mom, (and other people who volunteer their time), for all the tutoring in Madison and Florida that you have done over the past few years. It is easy to see that you have made a huge difference in these kids’ lives. Hopefully, there are lots of people like you that are able to donate some of their time to the schools in their communities.

Other bests of the weekend include:

Best meal: Trulucks in Ft Lauderdale. I had an amazing au pouvre steak with crab fried rice and sweet potato fries. It was fantastic.

Best game: Kansas vs. Northern Iowa. Despite what it did to my bracket, this was an amazing game to watch. What a ballsy shot by that guy named Ali F? I cannot imagine what Chris would have done to me if I took that shot with 35 seconds left up by 1 point. Ha, it is fun to imagine.

I could probably give a few more bests since I had a fantastic weekend but that is probably good for now. As for worst of the weekend I would have to say the turbulence on my flight from Memphis to Madison. It was by far the most bumpy flight I have ever been on in my life. I was clutching the arm rest for dear life and had some very negative thoughts going through my mind. Not so fun. Other than that it was a great trip and I was sad to leave the Lago Mar to return to reality. Hey, at least it has been beautiful in Madison since I have been home! Hope everyone had a good weekend. I look forward to hearing from you all.

Shout out to all my fellow Ivy Leaguers. Let’s go Cornell, you have already made the rest of the Ancient Eight proud but an upset of Kentucky and all their one and dones would be fabulous.

Shoot ‘em straight,

The Bean Spiller

Bracket Picks

Alright here are my men's and women's brackets for this year's tournaments. I want to go on record and say that I never do very well in polls so I do not want to hear about how my brackets stink or how I don't pick upsets, etc. etc. I tend to finish in 3rd-4th place of my pools. I think this is one place where my excessive college basketball knowledge works against me. I tend to over analyze every game and possible situation. Sometimes less is better but I have a hard time shutting down my brain. I should also mention that I am a multiple bracket type of person. I filled out 5 this year. Yikes! One for the JPC office pool, one for Scout and since she is bold I picked a lot of upsets, one for my mom-straight chalk, (I've always wanted to see how this would play out), and one for my dad which is a combination of Scout and my mom. I will only share one of them with you guys. If it turns out that another is doing better I reserve the right to repost that one. Thanks. Here it is. Yah, for March Madness. Let's hope the Badgers make a deep run!

Lo's trip to hawaii: take 1

My first ever guest blogger. Hope you enjoy this snipet of Laura's journey to Hawaii.

Alright so my trip to Hawaii is officially underway. Michelle took me to the Van Galder Bus stop in Janesville so that I could catch the 8am bus to O'Hare. As I walked up to the bus and found my seat, which just so happened to be the one with extra leg room, I couldn't help but recall my bus trips with the Lafayette women's basketball team. Hearing overly played music from my earbuds and stopping at McDonalds made it real easy to imagine that my old teammates were with me on the bus. Until I look up and see an old man with a dirty grayish, black pony tail (I sat far away from him) and a hippyish man who probably lives down the street from Jeannie and I on Willy St (those familiar with the neighborhood can easily picture this specific character).

We arrived to the Chicago airport early so I was in no rush to get to my gate. I walked around, got a snack, and finally plopped down at the gate. The flight to LA was on time which today is always a shocker. I had the aisle seat next to 2 women. The movie that was played was the Blind Side. I had already seen the movie but wanted to watch it again so I could pay more attention to Sandra Bullock to see if she indeed deserved the Oscar... I fell asleep to it.

We landed in LA about 15 minutes early. I walked around the terminal to scope out where I wanted to eat. I really wanted to sit down and be waited on but I decided to order a pizza at Wolf Gang Pucks because I knew I wouldn’t be ordering pizza over the next few week weeks considering the fact that Grandpa has never had it before. After devouring my lunch I walked around more keeping my head up and eyes peeled for celebs. When I was beginning to give up on my fantasy of seeing someone famous Bradley Cooper walked right by me. He fit in real well so I think I was the only one who noticed him. He was shorter than you would expect and wearing khaki pants with a t-shirt. He traveled by himself.

Once I accomplished my goal of seeing someone famous I took a seat at my gate. Also I needed to relieve my shoulders of my extremely heavy back pack. Sitting across from me were 2 West Coast "Coasties." These girls looked as if they were still in HS. I was able to confirm this observation by eavesdropping on their conversation with the flight attendant on the plane. They were talking about Justin Bieber and also about how they record everything they eat. The one girl said how she can't wait to have French Toast... "It will be my one big breakfast of the trip." (side note: they were eating fairly large BBQ chicken salads with a plentiful amount of croutons. Salads aren't always healthy girls!) These girls made me thankful to be a born and raised Midwestern girl!

I paced the terminal a few more times hoping for another run in with Bradley. I was getting greedy. While walking I couldn't help to think that even I would look like a celeb if I hid my face behind large sunglasses, scarves, and a hat. Too many times I saw a nobody dressed like that and I tried to figure out who it might be. After all this searching I regretted purposefully choosing a 2 hour lay over in LA. But I can't complain too much because the time went fast.

My flight boarded and when I found my window seat I could tell this was going to be an empty flight. My luck continued when no strangers came to sit next to me. For a 6 hour flight over the Pacific Ocean I had a whole row of 3 seats to myself. However to every positive there is always a negative (vise versa as well). This flight had the same entertainment. Sorry, Sandra but after watching your movie for a 3rd time you still didn’t convince me that you deserved the Oscar over Meryl Streep. Instead of watching the movie the airline provided I read my book and watched the 2nd season of Friday Night Lights on my computer.

The majority of our flight was pretty smooth until we approached Maui. A lot of winds caused the plane to be rather shaky. I was starting to become nauseous and nervous. Grandpa later told me he was surprised that we didn’t have to land some where else. Eventually the pilot landed the plan; needless to say, it was not a smooth landing.

Betty and Grandpa were waiting for me at the baggage claim. As soon as my suitcase came around we headed off to the car to drive to Kanapla Beach. My trip began at 8am central and finished at 12:30 am central.

Aloha,

Laura

The Weekend

Apparently, I am not as big of a Dan Patrick radio show fan as I claimed to be last week. I was informed by Michelle that not only do Dan and the Danettes provide their “bests of the weekend,” but they also offer up their “worst of the weekend.” I had a momentary brain fart and forget this detail. Sorry readers. I really do listen to Dan Patrick pretty much every day especially now that I have my own radio at my desk so I am not sure how this tidbit escaped me. Oh well, we live and we learn! Without further ado, here are my best and worst of the weekend.

Best of the Weekend: Overall, the best part of my weekend was going to Chicago for the premature St. Patrick’s Day celebration. Within this trip there were several highlights so I will just hit on a few. 1. Spending time with people that I do not get to see very often. 2. California Pizza Kitchen. 3. Seeing the green river. 4. Georgetown vs. West Virginia game.

Worst of the Weekend: 1. The weather on Friday and Saturday was terrible. I was quite annoyed with the fog since I could not enjoy the 40th story view of Chicago from my hotel room. 2. My internal clock waking me up at 6:30 am on Saturday morning. Ugh. 3. Jameson. 4. Sitting by two of the most annoying guys ever on the train ride home.

Anyone have any good stories from the weekend and care to share. Please I beg of you.

Until next time,

The Bean Spiller

No Weekend Picks

Sorry readers! I am not going to make any picks this weekend. The main reason for not doing this is that there are so many match ups that are still undecided. I do not feel like forecasting the next 3 days for all the remaining conference tournaments. It would be way too much work and I am lazy. The other reason is that I am in a VERY VERY bad mood after watching the Badger game. I am not going to go into it other than to say WTF, it is tournament time. How can you come out and play like that?? Play like you want to be playing and that you only have a few games left before the season and/or your career is over. It just doesn't make much sense to me and is disappointing to me as both a fan and former player. Alright I have already said more than I wanted to on that subject. So yeah, as I was saying no weekend picks today. I plan to display my bracket picks next week so that is something you can look forward to reading.

Sorry for the short blog but like I said I am in a horrible mood and cannot bring myself to write an entertaining, uplifting column. Maybe next time?!

Disappointed,

The Bean Spiller

MOOOOOOO! Me Loves Dairy Cows!

If you could be any animal in the world, what would you be? For some odd reason, I ask myself this question quite frequently. Does anyone else do this? I would say I have this conversation with myself at least once per month. Strange, I know but I never said my thoughts were normal. Well, I was driving home from Brookfield yesterday and the “if I could be any animal” thought came back into my head. I spent the next ten minutes audibly conversing with myself about becoming an animal. There is no shame in talking to yourself when you are driving solo.

Much like the previous discussion, I reaffirmed my decision that if I was an animal that I would want to be a dairy cow. I cannot think of an animal that lives a better life than a dairy cow. It may be tempting to be plain and boring and say a dog or a cat. Or for the rebels out there, you may choose to be a fierce predator that lives a life of action like a lion or shark. But if I was an animal I would want to be out of harms way and living a life of leisure; hence, my desire to be a dairy cow. A dairy cow spends its day grazing in a pasture and feeding on grass. How great is that? I think it sounds fabulous! Sign me up ASAP! The only real requirement of a dairy cow is to produce milk. I am not real familiar with farming, but I would imagine that with today’s technology this is a relatively painless process for the animal. So, as a dairy cow, I would get to spend the majority of my day being lazy and eating, and then occasionally get milked! Please keep your minds out of the gutter—I am talking as a cow not a human. Before becoming a cow I would have a few requests to the animal maker or the applicable powers that be. 1. I want to be a California dairy cow. Sorry, Wisco cows but I would much rather be meandering in sunny, warm weather than in the bitter cold that dominates the Midwest. 2. I have zero desire to be a beef cow (is that the proper term?) so if I can’t be a dairy cow I need to pick a new animal. 3. If the ability to produce milk is not unlimited, please keep me around to graze the pastures and act as a mentor to other cows. I don’t even know the life expectancy of a dairy cow. Hmmm, maybe I should have done some research before writing this blog. 4. Do not make me sleep outside. This would subject me to the idiots that think cows sleep standing up and can be tipped over. I do not want to have to deal with that. I am starting to look like a high maintenance dairy cow.

I know that everyone has thought about this many times so please share your animal aspirations with me and my readers. Don’t be shy. I just got done telling you how I would want to be an animal that gets milked!

A few other items to mention:

1. The Rubber Souls bowling team got its first victory last night! We beat the 2nd place team with amazing performances by all team members. Shout out to Sabs for breaking 100 and getting her first turkey.

2. I saw a billboard that was advertising a pair of jeans. The slogan read as follows, “Ballroom jeans. Crouch without the ouch.” Is that an appropriate message to be displayed in the city of Madison? Maybe I have a gross mind but when I read this billboard, I had one thought and one thought only.

3. I have not had pop or candy in 69 or 28 days respectively. The pop cravings have subsided for the most part; however, there is not a day that goes by that I do not contemplate raiding our receptionist’s candy bowl and eating every piece of candy. Will it get any easier?

Dairy Cows 4 Life,

The Bean Spiller

The Best of the Weekend

Per the suggestion of one of my devoted readers, I have decided to implement a new feature on my blog. Each Monday I will post a write up that will document the best event, moment, activity, and/or thought of the previous weekend. If any of you listen to Dan Patrick’s morning sports radio show you will likely recognize this feature. Every Monday DP asks the Danettes, who are the four guys that help with the show, to describe the “best” of their weekend. These guys will talk about anything from sporting events to movies to their personal lives. FYI: if you do not listen to the Dan Patrick Show already, I would highly suggest it. It is on 1070 am or Fox Sports on XM radio and airs from 8:00-11:00 am. He can really get you through a slow morning and it is not just about sports. Alright here goes my best of the weekend:

I had a nice relaxing, yet productive weekend and I would have to say that three events tied for my best of the weekend. They were all equally great so disregard the order. First, Sunday dinner with my Gram, Laura, and Kris was fantastic! We grilled out steaks and played euchre and the WII. It is always nice to have my Gram over and return the favor for the countless meals/snacks she has made for me. Second, the backsplash tile that Kris installed turned out fabulous. He still has to grout it, but the tile really adds another dimension to my kitchen. I am slightly obsessed with the new look and can’t wait for everyone to see Kris’ tiling skills. It is probably a little weird to admit this but I have caught myself just rubbing the tile a few times. Lastly, the fabulous pre-Spring weather was another ‘best”. Friday night we were able to walk to and from dinner and the Comedy Club. Then, Laura and I went on a great walk Saturday afternoon in search of the perfect sandwich. We stopped at three different places before settling in at the Local Tavern for a grilled cheese and cheeseburger respectively. Madison is such a fun city to walk around with the capital, shops, trails, and lakes. I am looking forward to many more walks this spring and summer.

I hope everyone had a good weekend and feel free to share your “bests” below!

Be happy,

The Bean Spiller

Weekend Picks

Only a week remains in the college basketball regular season and many teams are hanging on to hope to make the NCAA tournament. There are plenty of games this weekend that could help teams seal their tournament faith, affect tournament seeding, or burst the proverbial bubble. Either way it should make for an exciting couple of days of basketball.

Cincinnati @ Georgetown: Georgetown has been struggling of late and recently found out that they may be without their leading score and 2nd best player. The Hoyas are 9-8 in the Big East and 19-9 overall. Marquee wins have been few and far between lately. Georgetown needs a strong performance this weekend to give them some momentum going into the Big East tournament. Georgetown 68 vs. Cincinnati 59

Syracuse @ Louisville: Louisville should be in the NCAAs, but a win here would seal its fate. Unfortunately, I do not see this happening so the Cardinals will have to wait until their Conference tournament to strengthen their resume. I am sure Syracuse would like to seek revenge for the upset Rick Pitino’s club pulled off on Valentine’s Day in the Carrier Dome. This will be the last game played in historic Freedom Hall so the atmosphere will be great and emotions will be running high. Expect Louisville to keep it close but fade as the second half progresses. Syracuse 79 vs. Louisville 66

Kansas @ Missouri: Like Louisville, Missouri should be dancing this March but an upset of the 2nd ranked Jayhawks would be huge. Missouri is a different team when playing in Columbia so I could see them pulling off a shocker. In order to do this, they will need to force Kansas to play helter skelter basketball for 40 minutes. In addition, the Tigers will need to contain Sherron Collins and Xavier Henry. Kansas 74 vs. Missouri 69

Texas @ Baylor: Baylor is currently in a three-way tie for 3rd place in the Big 12, while Texas is in 6th place. However, an upset over Baylor would put them in a tie with the Bears for 4th place. Again, I think both these teams will get into the tournament but if the tournament committee limits the number of Big 12 teams, a head to head win/loss this late in the season will play a large role in the decision making process. Texas is the biggest mystery in college basketball this season so no one ever knows what to expect from game to game. My guess is today they will be ready to play and take down the Bears in Waco. Texas 72 vs. Baylor 66

Wisconsin @ Illinois: I have heard multiple times that an Illinois win over the Badgers will put the Illini into the tournament. Illinois has had some bad losses in the last few weeks and is need of a marquee win. The Badgers will be playing for a higher seed and have an opportunity for redemption. It was not too long ago that Tisdale and McCamey tore up the Badger defense and cause a lot of Badger fans to leave the Kohl Center unhappy. Illinois always makes me nervous because you never know what you are going to get from Mike Davis. He could go off for 20 or be held scoreless. Davis will be forced to play defense Sunday, which he was able to avoid in the teams’ last match up since Leuer was injured. The Badgers played great against a really bad Iowa team so this will be a good challenge going into post-season play. Wisconsin 68 vs. Illinois 59

Quick Hits:

Tennessee @ Mississippi State: Mississippi State
Florida @ Kentucky: Florida
West Virginia @ Villanova: Villanova
Texas A&M @ Oklahoma: Oklahoma

Enjoy the picks and your weekend,

The Bean Spiller

Turkeys, Chickens, and Quails Oh My!

I’d like to give a shout out to the one and only Gillian Apps, a fellow Dartmouth graduate I am told that you read this blog so hopefully you will see this post. Appsy, as we called her in college, won her 2nd gold medal this past weekend in the Vancouver Olympic Games. Congratulations! It was fun watching you on TV over the week. I ended up getting nostalgic and thinking about some of our times at Dartmouth ranging from Freshman English with the Boone to the River Dorms to Jenny from the Block to Larry and the Senior Lobster and Corn Dinner. We had plenty of good times and great memories in Hanover and even mini-reunion in Paris. Hopefully, we can meet up again sometime soon. I know I’d love to get to Toronto and you need to come see all the scooters in Madison.

Now for the blog! You may be wondering what is going on with the strange title. No, this will not be a write up on the different types of poultry. It is actually going to be about the bowling league that I participate in on Tuesday nights. Yup, that’s right I am in a bowling league. It still sounds strange when I say it out loud. Apparently, I do not look like your typical bowler, as my coworkers all but laugh at me when I tell them I am headed to the alley for another round of 10-pin. Well, everyone should believe it! From here until the middle of May I will be spending my Tuesday nights at Badger Bowl with Madison’s finest bowlers.

I have to admit the first couple weeks of the season did not go very well. I had to miss the first week as I had pilates class and the following week I was a half hour late because I was getting 3 cavities filled. Side note: it has now been 3 weeks and 2 days since I have eaten candy! Who’s proud of me?? Also, during the 2nd week we were matched up against some really rude people. They were not fun to bowl with at all. In fact, one of the guys stared down Sabrina and got within about 3 inches of her face because she bowled before he completed his roll. Since no one on our team had ever been in a bowling league we were not up to speed on proper bowling etiquette. Whoops! Needless to say, we are learning fast! Oh, and we also got dominated in each of these matches. After this shaky start, the bowling league was not looking like the most promising idea. I shouldn’t paint the picture to bleak; there were a few bright spots—free pizza each week, time spent with friends, and a place in the league record book! Laura bowled a 232, which is the 2nd highest total for a female bowler thus far.

A sudden turn of events occurred during Week 3. The people we bowled against were great. They actually talked to us and made it a somewhat social event. Despite the first couple weeks, this seemed only natural since it is called Have a Ball Bowling League and is geared toward first time leaguers. (Can’t believe that is a word?? Maybe it is not but it is not showing up underlined. I’ll leave it because Word’s spell checker is never wrong). While these bowlers were nice, they were definitely not amateurs. They ended up beating us pretty soundly. So, we were a struggling 0-3 in the league. Not the best start for an overly competitive person who hates to lose at anything she does!

And that bring us to week 4; thus far, the pinnacle of my bowling league career. This past Tuesday, the Rubber Souls bowling team did not lose its match. Unfortunately we didn’t win either; we tied with each team knocking down 1779 pins. I thought this was remarkable. How can there be a tie in bowling league with that many games, frames, rolls? Well, it happened and I should tell you that I could not have been more thrilled. I have always known that I am a cutthroat competitor but I did not think it would apply to something as leisurely as bowling. After all, I am not a great bowler and bowl maybe 2 times per year. However, my competitive spirit was in full effect on Tuesday. This was the first week that there was a chance that we could actually win. The Rubber Souls were cheering for each other and expecting nothing less than excellence with each throw. Sadly, I found myself internally cheering against the other team—not sure my teammates were as in to it as I was so I do not want to make them look bad. I felt kind of guilty about this since they too were a nice team. But hey we were 0-3 and desperately needed a victory. Well, we came up 1 pin short, but this match boosted mine and the team’s confidence. Look out fellow Have A Ball bowlers, the Rubber Souls are on a mission to start winning.

As for the title it’s a little bowling lingo. For those of you who are not up to speed on “alley talk” I’ll clue you in on a little secret. Most everyone knows that a turkey is what a bowler calls 3 strikes in a row. But not everyone knows that a chicken is called out when a bowler makes 4 strikes in a row and the rare 5 strike streak is represented by the quail.

Roll ‘em straight and hit the pocket,

The Bean Spiller

You Guessed It! More Sports Picks

Am I starting to bore you non-sports fans with all these weekend blogs about basketball? I know that many of my predictions are about teams/games that the vast majority of you have no interest in, but I figure I need to keep you all informed and well rounded. We can’t have a bunch of homers that only think about the Badgers. Nothing worse than a sports fan who doesn’t see the big picture and thinks the sporting world begins and ends with his/her favorite team. Plus, I am giving you great bits of information that can be used as conversation starters over the weekend. I am sure your friends and/or dates would be very impressed if you told them that the Ivy League title and the 1st NCAA tourney team will likely be determined tonight in Ithaca, New York. If that doesn’t work try explaining to them how Pitino and Calhoun will be facing off to keep their team’s tournament dreams alive. How about the fact that Syracuse and Villanova will be battling in front of a record crowd at the Carrier Dome? Come on, something has to get you as excited as I am about the college basketball season approaching March Madness!

Princeton at Cornell: As mentioned this game has NCAA tournament implications. A Cornell Big Red home victory will pretty much seal the deal for a regular season conference title. For those of you that do not know, the Ivy League is the only Division 1 league that does not have a conference tournament. In my opinion this is a great thing for a league that is unlikely to receive any at large bids. With this format every game during the regular season matters and the team that has played the best over the course of the conference season is rewarded with a ticket to the dance. I may be biased, as I was fortunate enough to be a part of 2 championship and NCAA tournament teams, woot woot Big Green. Cornell 71 vs. Princeton 64

Texas at Texas A&M: Texas is starting to regain its form as a top tier team just in time for the conference and NCAA tournament. Despite the Longhorns experience up front their guards are young and the pressure of being the “hunted” got to them. There fall from grace was well documented and now they must do everything they can to right the ship before the tournaments begin. The Aggies are talented and are tough team to play in College Station but I expect Damion James and Dexter Pittman to own the paint. Sorry TAMU (shout out to Sydney Scott, who used to call out our TAMU defense with such grit and determination that it even inspired me to play defense…well maybe not).
Texas 74 vs. Texas A&M 68

Kansas at Oklahoma State: This is my big upset of the weekend. The Cowboys have a great guard/forward in James Anderson—he will be out to prove he can play with the big boys of Kansas. KU’s bid for an undefeated conference season will come to a screeching halt at Gallagher Iba Arena. Oklahoma St 75 vs. Kansas 71

Villanova at Syracuse: The Carrier Dome will be rocking Saturday evening as the College Game Day crew makes its way to Syracuse. I expect Villanova’s guards to struggle with penetrating the ‘Cuse’s 2-3 zone. The Orange also have Wesley Johnson, who is perhaps the best guard/forward in college basketball. He will be a tough match up for ‘Nova’s undersized guards. Syracuse 76 vs. Villanova 68

Michigan State at Purdue: Purdue will not have much time to sulk about the recent loss of Robbie Hummel. You hate to see anybody get injured but Hummel was the heart and soul of the Boilermakers. He will be missed big time. I expect Matt Painter to rally his troops and get them up to play this game. However, in the long run I do not see them making a deep run without their glue guy. Michigan State has been shaky all year and I do not see that changing on Sunday. Boiler Up! Purdue 63 vs. Michigan State 58

Quick Hits:

Kentucky over Tennessee
UConn over Louisville
Marquette over Seton Hall
Illinois over Minnesota
USA over Canada in Men’s Hockey
Badger Women over Iowa

That is it for this weekend. Give my conversation starters a try and let me know how it goes.

Remember Basketball is Life,

The Bean Spiller

PS just kidding on that but does anyone else remember those t-shirts we wore growing up that said Basketball is Life or Baseball is Life??? Anybody???

Flying Solo

I do not want to get in the habit of making excuses for the lengthy delays between postings, so I will just say that this week I was pretty busy with work and a crazy wild night life. If you have been unable to function due to a lack of Bean Spiller thoughts and write ups, I apologize. Not likely, but at least I can pretend that people are bummed out that I haven’t blogged in awhile. So without further ado I will spill the beans. As mentioned in a previous blog, I committed a social blunder a few weekends ago…Well some would consider it quite the faux pas, I on the other hand thought it was perfectly normal.

It was a Sunday afternoon and I was in the mood to go to the movie theater. I did not really care what I saw, I just knew that I wanted to go. Lately, it seems that I have a tendency to get fixated on things and feel that I have to follow through even if it is something as silly as going to a movie. It was inevitable; I was going to a movie that afternoon. Unfortunately, my usual movie companions were out of commission with sicknesses and did not want to join me. I was also being lazy and did not try to find other people to go with me. Decision time…Go to the movie solo or somehow get the brain to stop telling me that I do not have to go to the theater today. There was no talking myself out of it, as there was nothing on TV, Kris was napping and then going out of town, Laura was napping, and I was bored. So I went to the movie by myself.

This is definitely not the first time that I have gone to a movie by myself, but I took a lot of crap for this particular decision. I guess I should mention that it was February 14th, which for those of you that don’t know, the 14th is Valentine’s Day. So a movie by yourself on Valentine’s Day isn’t that bad, is it? Well, I made matters worse by choosing to go to the movie Valentine’s Day. Valentine’s Day on Valentine’s Day by yourself, SWEET. As you can imagine the theater was packed, mostly with couples happily enjoying their dates. I tried to get there early so I could pick a seat in a corner or in a less noticeable area. I scanned the seats and saw 2 open seats right next to the aisle about midway up. There was a guy sitting in the 3rd seat with an open seat to the right of him. I thought perfect I can sit on the aisle and then there will be a gap between me and the happy couple. I took my seat and was anxiously awaiting the previews. No matter how many movies I have gone to alone, this is always the most dreadful time. I cross my fingers and hope that no one will recognize me. Phew, the lights went off. Somehow I failed to realize that this guy was not just with his date but 2 other guys and their dates. The girls were out getting concessions and filed in to the seats conveniently left open in between each guy. Great, I had inadvertently become part of a high school triple date. Nothing like being the 7th wheel with people you do not even know. Being the mature person I am, I avoided all eye contact and thought to myself, “hmmm, I wonder what they are thinking right now?” The movie came and went and for those of you that have not seen it yet, you are not missing much.

While there are occasional moments of embarrassment and the fear of being recognized, overall, I do not understand why some people consider going to a movie alone to be a form of social suicide. If you haven’t done it before, try it and you might be surprised. It is actually quite relaxing and enjoyable. I am quite confident that I will see many more movies by myself and if that makes me a loser, oh well!

Until next time,

The Bean Spiller

Another Weekend, Another Round of Picks

With March Madness quickly approaching there are only a few more weeks of the regular season remaining in college basketball. This brings a tear to my eye! I wish that college basketball was a year round sport. On any given night I should be able to turn the tv on and catch a game. I guess that is a little unrealistic but I can dream, can’t I?

The race for first place in many conferences i.e. the Big Ten, ACC, Ivy League, SEC, etc. is still up in the air, which should make for an interesting finish. Unfortunately, I think the Badgers gave up any shot at a conference title with last night’s lackluster performance at Minnesota. Granted, the Gophers have had the Badgers number the last couple years and they are a lot more talented then their record indicates; but, it was obvious to even the casual observer that the Badgers did not have their A game. I hate to critique them too harshly after just one game, as I bleed Badger red and have a really hard time saying negative things about Bo Ryan’s squad, but last night was a huge disappointment for me and Badger fans alike. Watching from afar, the Badgers looked a step slow and did not appear ready for the intensity and effort that Minnesota brought to Williams Arena. It is hard to imagine that with a Conference Title still within reach that Wisconsin would play so poorly. A Badger apologist may chalk it up to a lack of continuity due to the return of Jon Leuer or poor officiating. I, on the other hand, am going to say that the Badgers played bad and did not deserve to win, plain and simple. While the hopes of a Big Ten title are meager, the Badgers will have a shot at redemption on Sunday against Northwestern. This should be a good opportunity to gain some confidence and right the ship.

Enough Badger talk for now, lets get on with the picks:

Baylor at Oklahoma State. It seems that Baylor is always teetering on the proverbial NCAA bubble. Side note: Does anyone else hate how often the word bubble is used during late February/early March? Can the powers that be not come up with another term that would have the same affect as bubble? I mean seriously there has got to be something else right? Hmm, I just looked up synonyms for bubble and found these options: fizz, effervescence, boil, simmer, gurgle. Err, I do not see any of these working; I guess we are stuck with bubble. Anyways, a road win here would help to strengthen the Bear’s case for the Dance. Baylor has talented guards and an ex-Wolverine at power forward that are playing great basketball. I expect Baylor to fly back to Waco with smiles on their faces. Baylor 78 vs. Ok. St. 72

Illinois at Purdue: If Illinois wants to keep its title hopes alive, a road victory is a must. I’ll be blunt; I do not see this happening. Purdue is one of the hottest teams in the country and holds a significant home court advantage. The game might be close if Tisdale and McCamey come out on fire but I expect the Boilermakers to pull away and win easily. Boiler up. Purdue 75 vs. Illinois 61.

Kentucky at Vanderbilt: Another game with huge title implications, as Vanderbilt is playing for a share of first place in the SEC East. If they are able to contain John Wall and keep DeMarcus Cousins off the glass, the Commodores will have an excellent chance of knocking off the number two team in the country. The fact that Kentucky has been shaky on the road should further Vandy’s home court advantage. With that being said, Vanderbilt will need to play a near perfect game to defeat John Calipari’s Wildcats. Vandy 74 vs. Kentucky 69

Ohio State at Michigan State: Sorry for sounding like a broken record, but this is another game that will go a long way in determining a conference champion. Ohio State can remain in the race if they defeat Sparty. However, a loss will leave them with 5 conference defeats and they can join the Badgers in the club that wonders what could have been. Michigan State will need a victory to keep pace with Purdue. I expect the fighting Izzo’s to take care of business on their home court, which will set up a first place showdown at Mackey Arena. MSU 74 vs. OSU 65

Quick Hits:

Wisconsin over Northwestern
Duke over Virginia Tech
Marquette over Cincinatti
Pittsburgh over Villanova
Texas over Texas Tech
West Virginia over Seton Hall

Over/Under:

Times the Bean Spiller falls while snowboarding Saturday-34
Times Kris jumps of fear during Shutter Island-4
Times the Bean Spiller wishes she could eat Bri’s candy-104
Number of chocolate peanut butter ice cream dishes the Bean Spiller eats Sunday-1


Until next time,

The Bean Spiller

His Airness

I am sorry for the delay between now and my last blog. I am sure all of you have been waiting on pins and needles for the posting of another profound write up. Things have been a bit hectic this week. Work has been busy and I’ve had something going on every night this week from Team Fitchburg Dental kicking ass and taking names on the basketball court to an hour and a half spent at the dentist for three fillings (2 cavities + 1 chipped tooth) followed by my first ever experience in a bowling league. Needless to say, I have not had a ton of time to spill the beans, which is not to say I have not been thinking about the blog and possible subjects. I had planned to write on a social blunder that I committed over the past weekend but that will need to be delayed, as this blog will pay tribute to the greatest basketball player of all time.

For those of you that don’t spend the vast majority of your day listening to sports talk radio or are not up to speed on celebrity birthdays, I will cue you in on some important information. Today is Michael Jeffrey Jordan’s birthday. MJ turned 47 years old today. It is hard to believe that he is nearing fifty years of greatness. Despite his age, I am a true believer that MJ could still play in the NBA and hold is own against the vast majority of the current players. Not only is Jordan the best player to ever display his skills on the hard-court, but in my opinion he is the founder and face of the greatest sports clothing and shoe line to ever exist.

As some of you may know, I was slightly; ok extremely is probably a more accurate term, obsessed with Jordan shoes. My infatuation with owning Jordans, which for some odd reason I started calling Jimmys began when I was in middle school and continued through my college years. Side note: I am still a big fan of Jordans but it is difficult to justify paying $150 plus for a pair of shoes that I maybe will wear 10 times a year. Ahh, the dilemmas that a retired baller with a shoe fetish must face! In my prime I tried my best to obtain every new and retro pair released. For the Jordan novices out there I should point out that Jordans usually sell out within a couple days and can be very difficult to find. Over the years of collecting these prized possessions, I developed a friendship with a guy named Larry who worked at Nike Town in Chicago. I guess I am not sure if I would classify it as a friendship but we spoke on the phone many times and he even came to watch my game when we played the University of Illinois Chicago. Larry was very helpful in feeding my addiction. If a new Jordans were being released, Larry would give me a call and allow me to pre-order a pair of size 9.5s. It was definitely nice to have someone on the inside helping me out!

In honor of Michael I will offer my rankings of the Air Jordan basketball shoe. The above images correspond with this list of Jordans:

1. Jordan 11

2. Jordan 13

3. Jordan 10

4. Jordan 12

5. Jordan 3

6. Jordan 4

7. Jordan 9

8. Jordan 1

9. Jordan 7

10. Jordan 8

11. Jordan 14

12. Jordan 6

13. Jordan 5

14. Jordan 20

15. Jordan 2

16. Jordan 16

17. Jordan 17

18. Jordan 15

19. Jordan 18

20. Jordan 19


Ahh, doing this blog and ranking these great shoes really brought up a lot of memories. I have much more to write but need to go to bed. Be on the lookout for a follow up blog! Enjoy and let me know what your favorite Jimmys were.

MJ 23 Forever,

The Bean Spiller

Weekend Sports Picks

Not much time to work on my picks during the day but thankfully I have turned into a bit of a loser and am spending most of my Friday nights on the couch writing blogs. So if you happen to be at home playing on your computer than you can enjoy the picks tonight. Get yourself prepared for another great weekend of roundball.

Before I hit you with my knowledge, I must sidetrack and get everyone’s opinions on how to handle a situation that Laura and I are currently experiencing. My condo is on the 3rd floor of a four-story building and our neighbors to the north are extremely noisy. Now, this is not just the occasional noise. Rather it is all sorts of racket at random times through out the day and night. For example, one day in the middle of the afternoon Laura complained to me about their blaringly loud music. The music was loud enough that Laura was able to sing along to the Journey’s Don’t stop believing that was coming from the condo above. A little odd? I think so. I hear them in the morning at 6 am and every night before bed clogging around with what seems to be cement blocks on their feet. On the rare nights that we go out until bar time, we can expect to pass out to the audible annoyances coming from above. As for tonight it appears that there is an adult dinner party going on in combination with a kindergarteners birthday party. We’ve got music, loud talking, children running across the floor, objects crashing to the floor, and just about every other sound possible. Sometimes I am not sure what is worse, the train blaring its horn as it pulls into the factory or the neighbors above.

I am blogging about this because I need your advice on what to do. Do I go up there now and ask them to please be a little more considerate and keep their loud sounds to a minimum? Should I wait until tomorrow to introduce myself and ask if they can try to be a bit quieter? How effective would it be if I shot a basketball into the ceiling every night before bed and when I get up in the morning? Would it be wise to leave an anonymous note asking for some peace and quiet? Do I continue to bitch and complain about it with Laura and not say anything at all? I need some help, please! I am sure some of you have been in similar situations. At this point, I am willing to try anybody’s suggestions so please share your advice with me asap.

Now on to the picks…

West Virginia at Pittsburgh: The Mountaineers need a bounce back win after suffering a home loss against Villanova. Huggy Bear will have his squad ready to go and WVU will steal a tough road game. WVU 75 Pitt 67

Tennessee at Kentucky: Expect a blow out at Rupp Arena on Saturday. Kentucky, with Wall and Cousins, is just too talented. The Vols are still playing short handed and with limited scholarship players and the tank is running on empty. Bruce Pearl always seems to have some magic up his sleeve but not this weekend. Kentucky 78 Tennessee 57

Missouri at Baylor: Mizzou should be able to get a road win, as long as they are able to avoid foul trouble and play their style of basketball in Waco. Both teams have great guards but I believe Missouri’s JT Tiller, Zaire Taylor, and Kim English will have the upper hand. Quick thought: How do people think Missouri would fit in the Big 10? They have solid football and basketball programs but does Columbia Missouri have much appeal? Mizzou 72 Baylor 66

Ohio State at Illinois: Other than the Illini, the Buckeyes are probably the hottest team in the Big 10. I expect Illinois to have a letdown game after two big wins against Michigan State and Wisconsin. Combine that with the fact that Ohio State has Evan Turner, arguably the best player in the Big 10 if not the country, listed on its roster. This should result in a victory for the crazy gummy chomping Thad Matta.

Louisville at Syracuse: The Orange will go down at the Carrier Dome this weekend. They are 24-1 and are due for a loss. The Cuse has survived a couple close calls recently and Louisville is a team that could pull off the upset. Maybe Rick Pitino will bust out his all white suit and shoe combo for the road game. Well, probably not but we can wish can’t we? Go Cards. Louisville 77 Syracuse 71

Quick Hits:

Wisconsin over Indiana
Duke over Maryland
Virginia over Virginia Tech

I am starting to feel like the Nostradamus of the Sports World,

The Bean Spiller

Birthday Bonanza

Today, February 11th, marks the birthday of two of my most favorite people. Laura Jane, my read headed sister, turned 23 today, while Kris, who is unfortunately suffering from a wicked winter cold, celebrated his 28th birthday. Laura and I toasted her birthday Monday evening over a pasta bake and peach cobbler at her request. She is now out with friends at the Nitty Gritty; hopefully, she is enjoying her fair share of free beer in the Gritty Mug. You really have to love the great tradition of the Nitty Gritty—a keepsake mug, free drinks, and an ice cream sundae. Doesn’t get much better than that! Unfortunately, the working world and my 6:00 am wake up call kept me from joining the young-ins at the bar. Luckily for me, the party girl will also be going out tomorrow. I am crossing my fingers that we start the party at Slices with stale beer and greasy fried food.

Kris and I went to the fabulous Johnny Delmonico’s steak house in honor of his special day. As usual the meal there was fantastic, we each got steak, potatoes, and a salad. The all-American meal! Needless to say I am still pretty stuffed. While each of them celebrated their birthdays in different ways, my wish for each of them is the same, “I hope you had a fantastic day and may this year be great.”

Happy Birthday to my February 11s,

The Bean Spiller

The Lesson of the Day is to Never Assume!

The first occurrence of this lesson happened at work this yesterday afternoon. I learned that it is not a good idea to assume that things will turn out the way you expect or need them to. Assumptions can really come back and bite you in the butt as a contractor. For example, one may presume that a vendor is going to follow up on your request for a color sample or that a delivery is going to occur on schedule. There are quite a few assumptions that can be made in the world of construction on a daily basis. In fact it would be pretty hard to get through the day without making any assumptions. However, it is going to be important for me to learn what I can and cannot assume. Right now, as a novice project manager, it seems wise to assume very little and to always follow up on issues/items until I have the answer I want and need. My dad offered this advice, "Trust, but verify." After the past couple days, I definitely plan to implement this into my daily work.

Unfortunately, today I was guilty of making assumptions that may prove to be costly. I made the mistake of assuming that we would be compensated for some added work that we will be forced to do on a project. The people of authority had made several remarks through out the course of the project that made me think we would get paid for the extra work. In my mind paying us also seemed like the natural thing to do, as we were not responsible for causing the additional work. In fact, we had made adjustments to our scheduled plans to accommodate the other contractor’s requests. Unfortunately, we may end up eating the cost of those changes and for making assumptions. I won’t know for a while if this assumption was justified; however, I do know that if I encounter a similar situation in the future I will be hesitant and careful not to assume anything. Prior to making decisions, I will need to understand the best and worst case scenarios. Ultimately, I need to avoid making assumptions even if things seem crystal clear.

The lesson of the day also applied to my night at the Kohl Center. I, like most Badger basketball fans, assumed that a home game would equate to a Wisconsin victory over Illinois. With a win and a Michigan State loss to Purdue, the Badgers would be in a tie for first place. As most basketball fans know, the Kohl Center has become one of the toughest places in the country to play during Bo Ryan’s tenure. It is very rare that a visiting team leaves Madison with a victory. I think the stat I heard today was that Wisconsin had won 56 straight home games over non-ranked opponents, which Illinois was at the time. The Red and White had yet to lose a home game all season so I do not think anyone expected that defeat would come against the Illini. After all, the Badgers had already dispensed of Duke, Purdue, and Michigan State at the Kohl Center this year. Regrettably, Illinois seemed to have the Badgers number last night and did exactly what no one expected--they took out the Badgers on their home court. After a slow start, they quickly reversed their fortune and shot lights out while forcing the Badgers to shoot a woeful percentage from the field.

The Badgers and Coach Ryan have spoiled the Wisconsin faithful over the years with all their successes. Wisconsin fans expect nothing less than a victory when the game is played at the Kohl Center. With the parity in college basketball and the talent within the Big 10, it may not be fair for fans and myself to continue to make this assumption. That being said, I think the Badgers are a great team that will bounce back from this game and finish the Big 10 season strong. They have a very favorable remaining schedule and in turn, should earn a great seed for both the Conference and NCAA tournaments. Does a prediction count as an assumption? If not, I am going to predict that the Badgers will not lose another home game, will only suffer one more defeat during the conference season, and will make a deep run in the NCAA tournament! Go Badgers!

Remember to avoid assumptions otherwise you may end up making an ASS of you and me (that’s "assume" for those of you who haven’t heard that saying),

The Bean Spiller