Snippet

I never got to run the ball. Only when our team was up by a huge margin was the play called for me. And when I did step in, I took my place under center as the backup quarterback and ran the same play over and over and over: QB Sneak. To be honest, I loved running the sneak, as I would always gain 3 or 4 yards a carry. I would just follow the big boys up on the line, get a few yards, get tackled, get up, and do it again.
We were playing the Dolphins, our archrival. My team, the Raiders, and the Dolphins were far and away the best two teams in our league. They had beaten us the first time we played, and we wanted revenge. With less than two minutes to go, we led them 27-14. Our star running back Sean Collins had been a beast that day, but now we needed to put them away. With their explosive, quick-strike offense, we knew we needed one more first down to seal the victory. With our backup backfield in the game (we had been up three touchdowns, at which point, a backup backfield needed to be inserted) Three times in a row, we had run the QB Sneak, and we were left with Fourth and Two. We went back to the huddle.
I always gave my coach suggestions on what play to run next. I would be the first one back to the huddle, and would say “Quad Right Sweep” or some other play from our playbook. And a lot of times, he would listen. So, I walked back and said “Sneak” to Coach Les. Coach Les looked at me, turned to the team when they got to the huddle, and called “Quarterback Sweep”. I was dumbfounded. Not that he had called a different play, that didn’t matter. I was surprised because I didn’t think I had the speed to get the outside and pick up the first down and seal the victory. I walked up to the line, heart pounding mile a minute. I gazed over Brandon Rowe and Brandon Dorsey, friends of mine that were defensive backs on the side of the field I was running to.
“Down…, Set…, HUT”, I yelled. As I took the snap, I ran to my left. Running as fast as my legs could carry me, I turned the corner around my tight end. Running forward I saw Rowe and Dorsey beginning to converge on me. I thought I might be able to get the clinching first down anyway, so I ran straight ahead. All of a sudden, I heard a BAM! sound ahead of me. Turning my head slightly to the right, I saw Rowe and Dorsey on the ground, having crashed into one another. To my complete astonishment, I saw plenty of green grass ahead of me on that Wauconda High School field, and I just put my head down and kept running until they brought me down. When I finally had been brought down, the game had been sealed. A 17 yard run for the first down was the longest run of my football career. Popping up from my run, I pumped my fist in celebration, a move emulated from Tiger Woods.
We lined up a few more times to take a knee, and eventually the clock struck all zeros, and we ran onto the field to celebrate our win: Raiders 27, Dolphins 14. I ribbed Rowe and Dorsey after the game about crashing into each other, and they laughed along. The greatest moment of my football career came on a play I didn’t even want to be called.

Burn Our Ships

The ships we've brought we now must burn
There is no way back
There is no place for us to turn

The catalyst for a decided upturn
A ruthless unit ready for attack
The ships we've brought we now must burn

From turbulent past experiences we must learn
Tenacity we cannot lack
There is no place for us to turn

Everything we get we must earn
A vaunted team dressed in black
The ships we've brought we now must burn

Like Cortes preventing an easy return
Against us the deck they may stack
There is no place for us to turn

But all the critics we must spurn
And to Lakeland make our way back
The ships we've brought we now must burn
There is no place for us to turn

(Tried posting on Thursday, but when i checked on it, it hadn't posted)

Fairy Tale

Once upon a time, in a land not so far away, there lived a man named Steve. Now, this man was not particularly brave, strong, or handsome. He was, however, a smart man. He was not only book smart, but had street smarts. He had a keen sense of instinct and knew when something was wrong. Steve had a best friend named Bill. Bill was slightly dim-witted, and followed Steve's every word and request.

This man had long been wooed by a beautiful woman named Alana. This woman had flowing blonde hair and eyes as blue as the ocean. Steve had long been enchanted with this woman's looks, as had Bill. But unbeknowest to them, she was an evil sorceress who planned on the destruction of Steve. Steve's great grandfather, a renowned wizard, had defeated Alana's great grandmother, an evil sorcereress. Alana's family has passed down the hatred of Steve's family from generation to generation, and Alana was the family chosen one to defeat Steve.

Alana planned to use to beauty to destroy Steve. She would pretend to be a damsel in distress and would let Steve save her. After the "battle" Steve would kiss Alana, activating an ancient spell, which would irreversibly turn Steve into a lizard. Alana planned and planned and planned, all the while wooing Steve from afar to entice him to kiss her after the "battle"

At long last, Alana's plan was ready. She enlisted her family's pack of bears to be her "attackers". As Steve was walking along the street, closely followed by Bill, he heard a cry of "help, help!". Steve ran into the forest where the sounds had come from, and saw Alana surrounded by her pack of bears. Ignoring the fact that these kind of bears were completely not native to that area, Steve remembered a fact about bears.

Bears will usually end an attack if the victim plays dead and rolls up into a ball. Remembering this, Steve grabbed Alana and they both got down to the ground. The bears, silently cued by Alana, retreated. Alana looked up at Steve and cooed "my hero!" As Alana leaned in for her fatal kiss, Steve sprung into action.

You see, Steve also knew of his and Alana's ancestors and history. He trusted his instincts that Alana would try something. Steve grabbed his pet lizard from Bill and planted the lizard's lips on Alana's, backfiring her intended spell. Instead of turning Steve into a lizard, Alana turned into one! Steve would live the rest of his life happily.

MORAL: Trust your instincts

Harangue as told by a dog

Don't poop on the floor, don't pee on the carpet, don't chew shoes, don't chew slippers, don't steal underwear, don't steal socks, don't beg for food, are you hungry?, don't chase cats, don't chase dogs, don't chase the mailman, chase me! chase me!, stay, come here, sit, roll over, play dead, lie down, stop barking, protect me, calm down, play with me!, then I hear my boy say to his mother, "why are you always bossing me around"?

Link to Wordle

Extended Metaphor Poem

Life plays out on a baseball diamond
The orb of white leather controls your destiny
The field's lineaments, prisitne at the start, blur with time
The one great umpire, who all are appurtenances to,
Watches everything, watching not to deprecate, but to
rebuke or praise, deplore or enjoy, your actions
the blithering of hoyden fans
attempt to distract you from your goal
To first base slowly, building up steam
To second base faster, reaching your peak
Rounding second, heading for third
Almost home
Around third base, coming home
Tired, but so close
Safe at home, having engirdled the bases
No longer extant on the field
Safe at home

Northwestern College Essay

Question:
What are the unique qualities of Northwestern — and of the specific undergraduate school to which you are applying — that make you want to attend the University? In what ways do you hope to take advantage of the qualities you have identified?

Whenever anyone has ever asked me about my future, my response has always contained the words "graduate from Northwestern". Somehow, coming from a family of Iowans, I chose Northwestern as my favorite college at a Northwestern-Iowa football game when I was only 3 years old. From that day forward, I was the biggest Wildcat fan you could find. For six years, I attended Center for Talent Development summer classes on the NU campus for the very reason that it was on the NU campus. Walking through the famed arch on campus, even as a child many years away from college, I would say to myself, "I can see myself here" A few years later, when I decided that I wanted to be a journalist, it just so happened that there at my dream school was the best journalism school in the country. Seeing Northwestern graduates such as Mike Greenberg, Mike Wilbon, and Brent Musburger on ESPN affirmed my belief that the best school for sports journalism in particular was Northwestern University's Medill School of Journalism. I knew that the Medill School was the program I needed to get into have the best chance to break into sports journalism or sportscasting. Sports have always been my passion. I live, breathe and dream sports. As a young child, while other kids would be watching cartoons, I would be tuned in to Sportscenter. I have always told myself that if I find a career in sports, my life will be complete. I see no better way to be involved with sports than to be a sports journalist. The number and the exceptionally high quality of the sportswriters and sportscasters that have come through Medill leave no doubt that Medill is the best school for me. If accepted, I would take advantage of everything the Medill program has to offer. Whether it be though internships, through the Daily Northwestern, or through the WNUR radio station, I would use every opportunity to improve my journalistic ability. In fact, doing the play-by play for a Wildcat football or basketball game on WNUR would be one of the greatest thrills of my life. The Medill School of Journalism would give me the absolute best chance to succeed as a journalist. In addition to that, I believe that going to Northwestern would make me a better overall person. The rigor of the academics along with the close-knit Northwestern community would allow me to grow from a teenager to a man. If I am accepted to Northwestern, my desire to become a great journalist and a better person will drive me to do great things while at the school. Northwestern has always been a sort of familiar place for me, as I have been on the campus many, many times. But now, as I enter my college years, I hope that Northwestern University will go from a familiar place to a place I truly call home.