Kimbo

This week was the season finale of the ultimate fighter, which as you know is one of my most favorite shows. For every season finale the ultimate fighter has a free fight card which they air on TV and the main event is always the final fight to crown the ultimate fighter and give them a six figure contract in the UFC. This was a very good finale because the undercard was pretty cool and the main event had my fighter which I thought was going to win from the beginning of the season.
The undercard featured ex street brawler Kimbo Slice who was featured on this season of the ultimate fighter. Kimbo lost early in the season and was therefore eliminated but he impressed all season with his training and his improvement as a fighter so Dana White decided to give him a fight against Houston Alexander who is a proven fighter. Most UFC fans did not want Kimbo to win because of his negative image and his attitude toward fighting but as the season went on and as I really got to know Kimbo my impression of him changed. He really showed me that he wanted to be a fighter and that he was willing to put in the time and effort and training to accomplish it.
The fight started off slow and was pretty boring through the whole first round. Kimbo took the middle of the octagon and Houston just circled around the ring waiting for Kimbo to close so he could land a leg kick and possibly catch him off guard. This strategy was fairly boring to watch and occasionally Houston would kick or Kimbo would get a decent head shot. I could not really decide who won that round it was not really intense and not very many points were scored.
The second round was definitely the best round of the whole fight. Kimbo started to get frustrated and he really exploded and started to tee off with Houston. They were going back and forth and just landing some heavy shots. Kimbo then went into the grapple with Houston and surprised everyone by judo throwing him on the ground into full mount position. Clearly Kimbo has seriously improved his ground game and his take downs. Kimbo then began to bring a relentless ground and pound and almost TKO’d Houston but he was not doing enough damage for the fight to be called then and there.
The next round was pretty crazy because it all came down to the third round seeing as the first round almost didn’t matter but might have gone Houston Alexander’s way and the second round was clearly Kimbo’s. the third round Houston realized he needed to do something quick to help him win the fight so he came at Kimbo strong and started to go toe to toe with him. They fought pretty hard and Kimbo stood his ground and landed some heavy blows but Houston got a good leg kick and dropped Kimbo but he shot right back up and continued to fight. The fight when on like this for the whole round and Kimbo got a good take down and landed some good punches but I still wasn’t too sure about the outcome of the fight.
The judges then made their decision and had to score the fight in favor of one of the fighters. This was a really hard thing to do because it was such a close fight and both fighters showed tremendous skill and left everything in the ring. The judges finally came to a decision and ruled that Kimbo had won in a unanimous decision. This was absolutely incredible because this was Kimbo’s first ever UFC fight and he has improved so much since his days of street brawling. I used to really dislike Kimbo and I thought it would be absolutely terrible if he became a good UFC fighter because of his lack of skill and technique but I really feel like he has grown into such a great fighter and am pleased to see him in the UFC and I hope he continues to be victorious. Also, I am very excited for Kimbo as a fighter because Brock Lesnar is the Heavy Weight Champion and Brock Lesnar is everything I hate about a UFC fighter. He is tremendously cocky and he is more of a tyrant than a skilled fighter. If Kimbo continues to improve as a fighter and become great in the heavy weight division he will possibly be able to defeat Brock and I would be much more delighted to see Kimbo Slice as the heavy weight champion over Brock.
Another great fight from Saturday was the Jon “Bones” Jones fight against Matt Hamil. Jon Jones is a promising young fighter with tremendous skill and a huge reach and he took this fight to display his skills and expand his fan base. In this fight he really showed how quick and powerful he was and how dominate his ground game was. Jon Jones was really destroying Matt Hamil but the judges called a stop to the fight because Jones was striking directly down onto Hamil’s head with his elbow. This is against the rules in the UFC so the judges where going to deduct one point for every downward strike so Jones would only lose a few points but would probably win by TKO. When the ref attempted to restart the fight however Hamil was not able to continue because of the beating Jones put on him. Because of this they gave the fight to Hamil because Jones was disqualified. This was a pretty bad decision to me because clearly Jones was winning the fight and the downward strikes were not improving his chances of victory considering he was almost certainly going to win anyway. The worst thing about this decision is that it made Jones undefeated record tainted. He has never lost a fight but now his record will show that he has a loss.

Thanksgiving Break

Last night I finally made it back to Virginia Tech after a great break but a really long drive. My break was pretty good I would have to say. At first I thought it was not going to be that great because Fredericksburg is a really boring town and there is rarely anything exciting to do. Right after I got home though all my friends greeted me and we went back to our old ways and played poker all night and just chilled. I really missed my friends EJ, Steven and Juan and it was good to chill with them again and go out and do stupid stuff.
Saturday was my first whole day back and we all decided to go to our high school’s football game. Our old school Chancellor was playing Smithfield in the regional tournament, we had already won districts and where trying to continue winning. It was a pretty good game but I could not get into it as much as I used to. I guess I have sent all my team spirit to the Hokies and left the Chargers empty handed. Either way Chancellor still won by the score of 28 to 21 and it was still fun seeing some teachers and old friends.
On Sunday we gathered a lot of my friends that I have not seen since school and decided to have a touch football game at my house. I had been looking forward to this for awhile because since I have been in college I have not been able to play football or even get a lot of physical activity. We played in the street in front of my house for a few hours and had a lot of fun and then when we were done we decided to watch some football and just chill for the rest of the night.
Monday and Tuesday where not very exciting days. Each day I woke up and lifted which is good because I had not been able to lift very often at school and I wanted to get back into the workout groove. After I lifted nothing really interesting happened I just hung out with friends and played some video games and watched college basketball which was entertaining enough.
On Wednesday my friends and I decided we would go see a movie. At school I can’t really go see movies because I have no money and my parents are freaking out about paying for college so I usually don’t get to go see them. We did not really know what movie to see and we were debating if we should see Ninja Assassin, Blind Side, or New moon. Even though it was extremely awkward we all decided to see New Moon. This was weird because 6 dudes going to see New Moon is a little soft but it was good and we all enjoyed it even if that makes us soft. After the movie we decided to go out to eat because we were all hungry and had not eaten all day. We went to TGIF and ate and chilled there for awhile.
Thursday of course was thanksgiving and I had a pretty good thanksgiving. I hung out with my family all day and watched some football and basketball and just relaxed all day. Then when it came dinner time I punished some turkey and just completely stuffed myself just like everyone should do on thanksgiving. The meal was really good and it was a pretty entertaining thanksgiving even though there was not a lot of my family there I still enjoyed being with my close family.
Black Friday was absolutely crazy and I made the decision that I would go out and try and find some deals and fight through all the crazy people and terrible traffic. My friends and I went to the mall and looked around but it was really packed and there were not too many good deals that interested us so we then went to Best Buy to look at some things. We each ended up buying something we found on sale which made it a fairly successful Black Friday. My friend got a cable for his car so he could play music from his iphone while driving and my other friend got an ipod touch. I purchased Left for Dead 2 which is a game for the Xbox 360. Xbox games are usually 60 dollars but I purchased mine on sale for only 35. To me this was a very good deal and it was enough to sway me to purchase it even though I cannot play it while at college because I do not have my Xbox with me.
Saturday was my last full day at home and it was pretty chill. I just hung out with my friends for one last time and watched the Tech football game on our projector screen. We just chilled and relaxed and enjoyed watching Virginia Tech kill their rivals the most hated Virginia Cavaliers. The first half was pretty close but eventually Tech shut them down and started piling up the points and smashed UVA. After the game I said bye to all my friends and just hung out with my family for the rest of the night.
Sunday my friend Lawrence and I decided to head back to Tech at 1 because he had to be back around 6 because he is in the corp of cadets. We left at almost exactly 1 and decided to stop and get some food after about 20 minutes on the road. We stopped in Orange county Virginia which is pretty close to where we live. We stopped at a Tastee Freeze in the middle of nowhere and got ice cream and food which was an interesting experience. We hit the road after that and didn’t stop for a fairly long time until we got tired and needed to stretch at a gas station. When we got to the gas station we encountered a man wearing a “what happens in Vegas” shirt and carrying a baby. This was very amusing because he reminded me of the guy from the hangover. It took us 4 and a half hours to get back to Tech because the traffic around Roanoke was pretty bad and we made a few stops but I’m back now.

Lets Kill Zombies

Tonight I’m going to the mall to pick up my friend’s pre-order of left for dead two. I am really excited about this because left for dead was one of the greatest video games I have ever played and I am extremely pumped to play the second one. In the left for dead video game you are a person in a group if survivors of a zombie apocalypse. Where the zombies came from and how you survived is not specified you just have to attempt to survive each level. What was really interesting about this game however is that it was based on the idea that there is a movie director controlling each level and sending zombies to you in random and different locations in hopes of making the game more playable because it’s always different.
Something that the first game lacked that the new one has is a variety f weapons along with hand held objects that can be used as weapons. In zombie movies the survivors always use chainsaws and baseball bats as weapons and in the first game you could not use this. In left for dead two however now you can kill zombies with pretty much anything.

Basketball

So this Sunday was the start of the Virginia Tech Hokies basketball season. The Hokies played Brown University in an out of conference game to start of the season. I was so happy that I got a ticket in the second round lottery. Basketball is one of my favorite sports to watch because it is so fast paced and you can really just go crazy watching it. Another thing that is very special about basketball is how it demonstrates the player’s athleticism. It’s one of the only sports where people soar through the air on a regular basis and it is so intense to watch. I have been pretty pumped all year for basketball season and seeing the NBA start really got me pumped and now college basketball is here and I can rejoice.
The Hokies won the game and played fairly well but we looked sloppy and like we were not fully prepared for the game. Some people were missing assignments and not guarding their man properly and one of the biggest issues was we could not make free throws. Free throws are a very crucial part of the game and they are supposed to be given points hence them being free but we could not take advantage of the opportunity to score off of free throws. However I’m sure that Seth Greenberg, the basketball coach, will make sure everyone practices and gets their stuff together as far as free throws go.
Also, our defense scared me sometimes in that game. We were letting Brown, an Ivy League school, shoot all over us and even get dominating positions on us in the paint and at the top of the key. This is atrocious because we significantly oversize Brown and have much more talent and power. We cannot let these little mid major schools beat us or even compete with us if we are going to be a power house program. We have a lot of serious talent and I feel like if we could just refine it and practice until it is flawless than we could be a pretty solid program and have a lot of success in the ACC.
We did have a few players that impressed me consistently throughout the whole game. Malcolm Delaney played absolutely incredible. He was impressive from start to finish and almost everything he did was exciting. He drove the lane well, took good shots, and made good passes. He balled really hard and showed that he is still the leader of our offense and most likely the most talented player on our squad. Another player who was impressive in the victory was Jeff Allen. Jeff Allen dominated in the post and really worked the other player and got some good dunks in too. Another thing that was impressive about Jeff was that he actually shot jumpers pretty well. Being a big man his focus offensively is not really shooting but working the post but having this skill makes him more versatile and makes the defense have to respect him no matter where he is on the court. Most importantly though Jeff Allen was very impressive defensively. He sent a few shots and boxed out his man the whole game. He was very solid all the way around and im excited to see him play against some tougher opponents.
Another impressive player and maybe the most impressive was Victor Davilla. What was so impressive about Davilla is that he played so well and was close to Delaney in scoring but he is only a sophomore. Davilla is so young and he plays very impressively already and its pretty impressive to theink about how good he could be in the next few years. Davilla is explosive, plays strong defense, and he has impressive moves and can score almost anywhere on the court. I am really pumped to see what he becomes and see him improve all season.
Needless to say I’m really pumped about this season and I hope we win and I can win the lottery a lot. I feel like there is a good chance I will because at the Brown game there were a lot of empty seats so it seems like not everyone here is a s pumped for basketball as I am. Hopefully I can get to go to UNC because that would be a great game and I really just want to go crazy and watch some good basketball games. Hopefully we can be as good as we were 2 years ago when we swept Duke and UNC. We also made it to the NCAA tournament and I would love to repeat that level of success. We have the talent and the same foundation to be as good as we where 2 years ago so hopefully all the pieces will fall together and we will be great.

The Ultimate Fighter

So this week on my favorite show, The Ultimate Fighter, the last fight of the first round occurred. So far this season Team Rashad has won every single fight leaving Team Rampage winless. Team Rashad has looked extremely skilled and everyone out there seemed to be significantly better that whoever Rampage put up to fight. This week however, Rampage’s fight was Marcus. Marcus is a giant ex-NFL player but he has no real formal training in mixed martial arts. Basically this week was David versus Goliath.
Marcus came out strong in the fight and was landing some really heavy blows which is what everyone was expecting considering he had such a huge size and reach advantage. Marcus was winning the stand up battle and the other guy didn’t want to stand and bang with him much longer so he shot the take down and put Marcus on his back. As a fighter with no formal mixed martial arts training the back position is very bad for a fighter like Marcus. Even if he were trained in a ground game it would most likely be wrestling and the back position for a wrestler means they are pretty much screwed because in Greco-roman wrestling when your shoulder blades touch the mat the match is over. Marcus was taking some heavy hits from the ground and pound but because of his strength he handled them very well. He tried to transition and start a rear naked choke, which he did, but the guy slipped it and he ended up giving his back which is a terrible mistake because when you give your back you hav pretty much no way of defending yourself.
At this point I was sure that the fight was over and that Marcus was done. Suddenly out of nowhere though Marcus snatches one of the guy’s arms and rolls into an arm bar and uses his extreme brute strength to submit him. The guy tapped so fast because Marcus was applying so much pressure he could have snapped his arm. This was a pretty crazy fight and the result was unexpected. I was sure that Team Rashad was going to run the table and Rampage would be gone by the second half of the season. Marcus changed that by winning the last fight and being the only Rampage fighter going to the second round. What was most impressive about this victory however was that Marcus won by using skills that no one though he had. He used finesse and ground game skill to win a fight everyone though he would lose. Everyone expected him to stand up fighting because of his power but he proved that he was the real deal and deserved to be there by showing that he was a real mixed martial artist by using other skills. Although I really don’t like Rampage I was glad to see Marcus win because he seems like he has the size and skill to beat Brock Lesnar.
Brock Lesnar is currently the Heavy Weight champion of the world and he is pretentious and acts like he is the best fighter in the world when he has only won a few fights and hasn’t really proved anything is his victories. He gives the sport a bad name and makes every fighter look like a meat head who just wants to fight people and hurt them. In reality the sport is really about respect and winning by inflicting the least amount of pain.
Also, this episode leads into the second part of the season in which all the victors of the previous fights now fight each other to try and get to the final fight and become the ultimate fighter. This is awesome because now I do not need to see really dumb one sided fights where one scrub fighter gets destroyed by a much more stout and experienced fighter. But this is also going to be somewhat weird. All the fighters who have won have been on Team Rashad. This means that all these fighters will be fighting their teammates. This may cause some awkward moments because a lot of these fighters have grown close to each other and have become friends and also they train with each other so they know each other’s fighting styles even better. This will cause some seriously close and good fights and hopefully make a very good season.
Right now the fighter I am most pulling for is Brendan Schaub. He was very impressive in his fight earlier this season and he won very quickly and convincingly. I really like the way he fights and the skills he has but the main reason I like him is because he used to play for the Buffalo Bills. As an ex-NFL player he has a good size advantage and he has a lot of power but he is different from the other fighters because he has actual mixed martial arts skills. He also showed that he was very skilled because he beat one of the best fighters on Rampage’s team. He really proved that he was one of the best fighers on the show and I would be very happy to see him win the season to become the next ultimate fighter.
Although I really like Brendan I’m not completely sure if with his size he will be able to stand up against Lesnar. Although Schaub is an NFL player he is one of the smaller ones because he was a fullback but still I feel like he could beat him. He has a lot of power and speed and he can really overpower Lesnar and use his skills to win the fight. Hopefully the season continues to be just as good as it has been in really excited for this Wednesday’s episode because it starts off with Team Rashad fighters fighting each other. The rest of the season is going to be crazy and I’m definitely looking forward to another thrilling season of the ultimate fighter.

Sports

Although this week was awesome and I had so much fun it was a very hard week for me in sports. The Hokies lost Thursday night and its pretty much the end of the season for us. It’s hard to believe that at some point in this season we where possible national championship contenders. We were so good but something happened and we have begun to self destruct. I’m not sure exactly what the problem is but I’m not giving up I can’t I have too much team pride. Hopefully we can make something of this season and still get 10 wins and make a decent bowl game. That wouldn’t be too bad plus I’m pretty tired of going to the orange bowl every single year.
Also, this loss has got me looking forward to next season. Hopefully we will be so much better because we will be much more mature offensively and we will have Darren Evans and Ryan Williams. That combo is absolutely insane and it might be the reincarnation of Lee Suggs and Kevin Jones. Having a two running back tandem would be absolutely awesome especially because both these running backs are a incredible combo of speed and strength. I pretty much can’t wait to see them both on the field at the same time.
Another disappointing sports loss for me was the Buffalo Bills. This was not as disappointing however because I have come to expect the Bills to be bad and not win very often. What was bad about this game was that the Bills started off so well only to crash in the second half. The Bills were up 10-6 at halftime and they were looking poised and their defense was playing outstanding. Of course in the second half they completely blew it and got crushed. It is so hard to be a Bills fan because this happens every year. It is absolutely ridiculous and sometimes I question how I remain loyal especially considering my whole life they have been bad and they’re becoming one of the jokes of the NFL.
What is really bad about being a Bills fan in Virginia is that I have no support system. I am friends with literally no Bills fans and I have only met a handful of people who like them. It is really depressing when people forget that your team plays in the NFL and I am used to people having that reaction when I tell them who I like.
Something else in the sports world that is disappointing me is that the Yankees are in the World Series. As a Red Sox fan I hate the Yankees so much it is unfathomable. I cannot stand to see them win so it is really hard for me to see them up in the World Series against the Phillies. The Phillies won tonight though so hopefully they can pull this one out and I won’t have to hear about how great the Yankees are when everyone knows that the Boston Red Sox are the best team.

Awesome week

This week has been one of the best weeks in awhile. It started off really on Wednesday. I had a really big calculus test and I was very worried about it. I really needed to do well on this test because the first one was god awful and I need to get at least a C in this class. I had been way too busy to study all week so I was desperately trying to memorize formulas and other principles. Once I got the test I was in the zone. I started cranking out problems and I was pretty confident in my skills.
It turns out that I got an 81 on the exam and it really pumped me up. I was so exciting that I did this well it really made my week because I did not have to stress about U’s and S’s. This was perfect because now it was Thursday and that meant football. My friend from home was coming down for the game and we where planning on having fun and watching us win. Clearly that did not go as planned. This was really disappointing because this was his first VT football game and he had to watch us lose a nail biter. We still had a lot of fun and he thought it was still a good experience although we definitely wanted us to win. Afterward we played madden which I missed so much. My parents would not allow me to take my Xbox with me to school because they thought I was going to fail if I had video games.
Friday was a chill day. I didn’t really do anything exciting I just had class and hung out. My roommate got his GameCube from home and we had been playing Mario Kart all day. We just chilled and didn’t go out because he was heading to ECU for Halloween and I was planning on going out on Saturday because it was my friend’s birthday and Halloween. Halloween was absolutely crazy and I had a really good time. I don’t really remember everything and I barely made it home, it was a very good night.
Sunday was my lazy day. I really should have done work and got ahead but of course I didn’t. I just chilled and slept a lot. When my roommate got back from ECU we played Mario Kart and he won. He is a pro at Mario Kart and I need to step my game up. Eventually I went to my friend’s room to check up on him and get the things he borrowed from me for his costume. Overall this was a really great week and I had so much fun. Maybe this week will be this good but most likely not because I have more exams coming up to stress about. I have another chemistry test in 2 weeks and im sure I have other things to worry about as well. I just want for all my work to be done.

A Good Fight

This week was capped off on Saturday with a very important event for one of my favorite sports. This event was UFC 104. Every month for the sport of mixed martial arts the UFC (ultimate fighting championship) holds a pay per view event in which some of its top fighters battle. These events usually include one title fight which this one did have. Of course I had to see this so I decided to go to Buffalo Wild Wings and watch the pay per view for free on their big screen TVs.
At UFC 104 the main event and title fight was Mauricio Shogun Rua fighting against light heavyweight champion Lyoto the Dragon Machida. This fight is absolutely huge for the sport because both these fighters are very difficult opponents and it was very hard to decide which fighter would win.
Actually time out I am going to watch some Monday night football. Okay the Redskins still suck.
Machida is one of the greatest UFC fighters right now. He is so technically strong and one of the best strikers in the sport. Machida uses his powerful karate and jiu-jitsu in his fights and it has lead him to the belt. Machida is one of the best strikers but he has an awkward style. What is different about Machida is he is not a forward striker he usually waits and takes advantage of the other fighter’s aggressiveness by using strong counter strikes.
Machida went into this fight undefeated and the newly crowned light heavyweight champion of the world. Machida just came off a devastating win over former champion Rashad Evans. In this fight Machida proved he was a fantastic striker and handed Rashad his first loss by way of knockout.
Machida’s opponent for this bout was Mauricio Shogun Rua. Shogun is another extremely stout fighter and is known for his aggressive and ruthless striking. Shogun has built his repertoire fighting in Pride which is a now defunct mixed martial arts league based in Japan. Shogun was very successful in Pride and he was the 2005 Pride grand prix champion. Although Shogun had managed to be very impressive in Pride his success had yet to transfer to the UFC. In the UFC there are some rule differences and that is usually what explains Shogun’s inability to transfer smoothly into the UFC.
Shogun had just come off a very impressive win over Chuck the Iceman Lidell who is a legend of the sport. In this fight Shogun showed the Shogun that everyone was expecting when he entered the UFC. He was electrifying and aggressive and won dominantly by TKO.
When these two fighters met Saturday night in the octagon everyone knew it was going to be a crazy fight and they were not wrong. The fight started off kind of slow but Shogun started to become more and more explosive with each strike. Shogun began to focus on striking Machida with leg kicks on the left side ribs. Shogun dominated the first round and Machida began to show bruising on his side.
As the fight went on Shogun continued to be the Shogun everyone expected and continued to work Machida’s ribs. Of course Machida did not give up and he began attacking and countering as well. Machida focused on hitting Shogun on the head every time Shogun went in for a strike and Machida also tried to use his powerful clinch to catch Shogun with hard knee strikes to the body.
This fight went on like this for the remainding rounds. It was absolutely crazy and so hard to decide who had won but it had seemed that Shogun was victorious and thus the new champion. The fight went to decision in which three judges decided the victor. In a championship fight the fight is 5 rounds which are 5 minutes each so it was impressive that it went the distance.
Of course the decision was split but shockingly the judges decided that Machida won. Fans at the Staple Center went crazy and booed and threw things at the ring. This was a very poor decision and everyone was appalled. Even Dana White, the president of the UFC, went up to Shogun and said “you won that fight.” People in Buffalo Wild Wings where going crazy and cursing some were even chanting “Shogun!” as if he could hear them.
This was very disappointing because I had really though Shogun would have won that fight. He is probably one of my favorite fighters and I expected him to win so seeing him lose was disappointing especially because he could have become the champion. I am pretty sure because of the controversial decision Dana White will more than likely schedule a rematch between these two incredible fighters.
The other fights on this card where also pretty good but clearly could not compare to the main event. The other impressive fight on the card was that between Ben Rothwell and Cain Velasquez. Cain Velasquez was undefeated coming into this fight and was thought to be a possible contender for Brock Lesnar in the heavyweight division. Velasquez dominated the fight and was quick to take Rothwell down. This was very advantageous to Velasquez because he has a very powerful ground and pound game and he sure used it. Velasquez would take a dominate position on Rothwell such as half guard and he would just pound his head in. eventually in the second round the referee had to stop the fight and thus Velasquez won by TKO. This sets up a great opportunity for a great fighter. Because Velasquez won this fight he could now be next in line for Brock Lesnar. Brock Lesnar is the current champion but he is really not that skilled of a fighter. He just uses his size advantage to take advantage of smaller fighters and dominate them physicaly. Brock Lesnar is actually a really bad face for the sport and he is giving the UFC a bad name. Brock is overly confident and disrespectful to other fighters which are not the real nature of the sport. So hopefully Velasquez who is very prideful can take his belt and get Lesnar out of the spot light.

Ad Analysis

This ad tells a mythical and legendary tale of an Irish whiskey brewer named John Jameson. The ad shows Jameson on a ship during a great storm. Suddenly one of his barrels of whiskey rolls of the boat into the ocean. Jameson decides he must save his whiskey and dives into the ocean after it. As he swims after the whiskey he encounters a giant octopus that presumably eats him. The next scene shows a great funeral and the narrator says “The next day there was a great funeral, all of Ireland was in attendance, including John Jameson.”
This ad is trying to appeal to young adults and drinkers. Its main goal is to sell its Irish whisky so it wants to try to capture the attention of young people who like to party and drink but more specifically people who are old enough to drink legally. The main way that this ad tries to get the attention of its audience is to appeal to their emotions or pathos.
This ad is a pathos argument because it attempts to be funny and get the audience’s attention by getting to them with humor. Many young people would think the story told about John Jameson would be fairly comical and they could laugh at the exaggeration displayed by the epic story. I think this ad works effectively in this aspect because humor is the emotion that appeals most to young people. Young people want to have a good time and be funny and not deal with serious issues so John Jameson’s story makes the audience laugh and therefore will most likely sell the product.
Although this ad focuses mainly on its pathos claim it also uses other factors to try to argue its case. One other thing John Jameson uses is ethos. This ad does not establish ethos in the sense that the character is knowledgeable and actually states facts or statistics but the character seems to get his ethos from his story. The story is very interesting and could be viewed as an epic so many people would think that “hey John Jameson was awesome so maybe I should get some of his whiskey.” Also, the story shows that clearly his whisky was worth risking his life over and worth battling a giant octopus so it must be good.
This ad also tries to make itself seem trustworthy. The ad does this by establishing its ethos and using the traditional Irish culture to indirectly establish its trustworthiness. By showing that the Irish endorse this product and it is a part of its culture the ad shows that the traditional Irish culture trusts this product to be a good one. If the Irish culture, which is known to be a drinking culture, trusts this product then it must be a good and reliable product for everyone.
Although the ad makes all these claims it never actually raises the statement that John Jameson whisky is the best or even good. This ad makes the impression that its product is elite and worth buying but it never once actually straight forward tells the audience that it is. The ad mostly focuses on the story of John Jameson whiskey and lets that establish its ethos and authority. I think that not saying that its product is the best actually helps the ad in achieving its goals. If the ad where to say that it where the best it might tarnish the subtleness that the product tries to emulate or it might make the ad seem to redundant and exaggerated. The ad already plays on telling an epic over exaggerated story so to add something to say how great the product is would be redundant to the theme of the story.
This ad’s argument also relies on culture to help its case. The John Jameson ad keys in on people of Irish culture. The ad does this by displaying the commercial as a sort of Irish folk tale or legend. People who are very into Irish culture or identify with being Irish would enjoy this because they feel like it makes them even more Irish to use this product. Also, the idea of the whiskey being traditional and a part of Irish culture helps its ethos. The ethos is improved because everyone knows that the Irish is a huge drinking culture so for a whiskey to have survived the ages and still be popular amongst the Irish means that it must be amazing.
Another culture this ad uses to appeal to its audience is that of the young modern culture. The commercial sets itself up like an epic movie that young people would be interested in watching. It makes the commercial have action and plot twists that keep you intrigued and that most young people would find funny. This is effective in making the ad more appealing because although commercials are short some get boring. This ad keeps the audience intrigued and makes them laugh every time they see it.
Ultimately, this ad is very successful in appeal to its audience because it establishes ethos and pathos and uses other things such as culture and trustworthiness to convey its message. All the things this ad does to carry its argument make sense and are effective yet subtle. At first glance you may not see how it uses the Irish tradition and history to help its cause but it uses it very strongly and effectively. All these key ideas make this add effective without making it present facts or information to persuade its audience. Instead this ad relies solely on ideas and culture to help it establish its points. Although now most audiences want pure facts and want logos or logic to sway their opinions this ad does it effectively without using logos. This is a breath of fresh air because sometimes people just want to see a funny ad that is not so serious and filled with facts and I believe that this ad delivers just that.

Must Win Championship.

Virginia Tech moved into the top five this weekend. This is extremely exciting because it just gets us one step closer to the National Championship which we could very well play in this year. After defeated Duke in a game that was to close for comfort we jumped Boise State in the rankings to move up to number five. In this game Virginia Tech’s offense was explosive and Tyrod Taylor showed why he is an all star by racking up 300 plus passing yards. This game was absolutely ridiculous and showed how powerful an offense we have. This was very important because after all the wins many critics still questioned if our offense could produce enough to make us a serious contender. This week we showed that we could do that with or without a strong running game.
Duke, who was not supposed to play this well, showed why their quarter back was an all ACC member. He played almost as well as Tyrod by putting up extremely similar stats. Because of Dukes play and ability to score so easily on us I must question our defense. Our defense is usually one of the strongest aspects of our team and carries us when we cant produce offensively. Our defense needs to play a lot better than they have previously if we are to be successful enough to be considered for a national championship.
Bud Foster, our defensive coordinator, should be able to handle the team and make sure they bounce back after a disappointing game. The defense played down to Duke because they under estimated their skills. As a team we cannot afford to do this if we intend to be successful and win every game. We can’t let our performance and rankings get to our heads and make us think we are untouchable. This has happened to many teams when they think too big of themselves. This is especially key considering how many top ten teams have fallen this year because they played down to teams. Bud Foster has always been in control of this defense so I’m sure they won’t have any problems bouncing back to their winning ways.
Also, this upcoming weekend the Florida Gators play the LSU Tigers. This is a great game and very important to Tech fans. Either way the game goes Virginia Tech will move up in ranking. LSU has been very close in many games this year and they will be playing the number one team in the nation. Florida may be without their starting quarter back though. Tim Tebow suffered a concussion last week and he is attempting to recovering from this crucial injury. If the Gators do not win this game however the Hokies will still move forward. Also, we do not have to worry about the victors of this game staying ahead of us because three of the four teams ahead of us are in the SEC. This means that two of them will presumably play in the SEC championship game and the third would then not be the SEC champion so they would not play in the National Championship. Alabama however seems untouchable and if they where the team in the number one slot I do not know if the voters would chose us to play against them considering we already lost to them this season. This is very disappointed because I belive from the start of the season until now we are a much improved team.
Once again though we still need the Texas Longhorns to lose and fall behind us in the rankings. Texas still hasn’t been tested so they could still lose a game. Later in the year they play the Oklahoma Sooners who just lost to the Miami Hurricanes who we dominated last week. This is very important for our Championship hopes because now that Oklahoma has two loses even if they defeat the Longhorns they will not jump us in rankings.
Next week we play Boston College who in past years has been growing into a serious rival. Boston College has not been as good this year and I’m sure this will be an easy win but we do not need to play down like we did against Duke. Hopefuly we are back in line and our offense plays just as well as it has been in the past few weeks and we completely and utterly dominate the Eagles for our homecoming game.

Metallica Why?

This week while looking for things to do I decided to look concerts in the area. I saw many concerts at James Madison and other local colleges but not much at Virginia Tech. I then saw that Metallica, the band that sings Virginia Techs theme song Enter Sandman, was playing a show at rival university Virginia. This completely blew my mind. Why in the world would Metallica play a show at UVA but not at one of the colleges that embraces them so much?
Some may say that the city of Blacksburg has a lot less people and that Metallica would not want to come here because of that reason. I find this to be very illogical because Virginia Tech is the largest college in Virginia and I am sure every student would show up to see Enter Sandman blasted through Lane Stadium by the band itself. The stadium would all jump up and down and go absolutely crazy just like at every single sporting event. Lane stadium would sell out and Metallica would have 66,000 plus screaming fans at their concert.
Also, the stupid Virginia students could never appreciate Metallica on the level that Virginia Tech does. Virginia Tech considers Metallica and that song to be a huge part of our culture so I think it’s just wrong that they aren’t playing here. It seems like the only logical place for Metallica to play.

Hokie Dreams.

This weekend my beloved Hokies tookhost to one of the most over hyped teams in all of college football. Saturday Miami, a perennial under achiever, came in to Blacksburg expecting to get a win and continue their unbeaten season. It has been years, 2005 to be exact, since Miami was in the top ten rankings and of course they were very excited to believe they had regained the glory of years passed. What Miami had to do to continue their great season and national championship hopes was to beat Virginia Tech.
However, they failed. The Hokies completely dominated one of the “best” teams in the nation and shut down a much heralded young quarter back in Jacory Harris. Although I was not in attendance, darn you ticket lottery, I watched this tremendous game on TV with the roar of Lane echoing in the background. Virginia Tech out performed Miami on every side of the ball. The Hokies’ defense, offense, special teams, and coaches all put on an impressive show and dominated Miami. Some things about this game that much excited me where that this game seemed to be the return of Tyrod Taylor. He finally showed up and played with the skill and explosiveness of the years past but he also showed much improvement in his passing game. This aspect is very important for Virginia Tech because Tyrod is a leader of the offense with a lot of young players around him. Tyrod must stay poised and perform well so the team will play well. Also, when he plays on this level it opens up the offense more, it gets a rhythm going, and it gives the rest of the team confidence.
Another thing that was very impressive about Virginia Tech’s performance was that the defense, which had not performed well all season, bounced back and played on an extremely high level. Virginia Tech’s defense is usually one of the best in the nation and typically out performs everyone and leads the team to victory but s far this season the Hokies’ defense ranked in the 100s which is unacceptable according to defensive coordinator Bud Foster. All week before the game Foster put up the stats of the season so far in the locker room to remind the players of how poorly they have been. Foster also trained them harder than before and clearly his efforts paid off.
Something else that caught my eye about this game is the performance of Ryan Williams. Every game he just keeps getting better and better. Williams has such a heavy work load, running the ball 35 times on Saturday, but he continues to play very well and impress me. it seems to me like he just keeps getting faster and strong and his moves keep getting more exciting. Also, it blows my mind that he is just a redshirt freshman and he is playing like he has years of NFL experience. Williams stats just keep getting better too. He is already the best running back in the ACC as far as yards per game goes and he is approaching being one of the leading rushers in the nation.
All of these things from this weekend’s game get me especially excited for what im about to move into. National Championship hopes. This year Virginia Tech came into the season feeling like we could be Championship contenders if we beat Alabama. Clearly we did not win that game but because of the top ten performances on Saturday which lead to many upsets it seems like us Hokies still have hope. Virginia Tech has already moved into the number six position and are waiting on the door step of top five status.
Our hopes are only brightened considering the teams ahead of us. Boise State falls just ahead of us in the number five spot. This is good news for us Hokies. Although the Broncos remain undefeated they play in a non-BCS conference. This means that they do not automatically qualify to be in a BCS bowl if they win their conference title. Because of this many of the coaches and voters for the BCS rankings will not vote for Boise State even if they deserve it more than we do.
At the number four spot sits the LSU Tigers. This weekend the Tigers were almost upset by Mississippi State and in two weeks they have to battle Florida, the undefeated reigning National champions. If somehow by some miracle LSU makes it out of that game they still have to battle the number three ranked Alabama Crimson Tide. At number three spot is Alabama who we fell to earlier in the year. If somehow Alabama makes it out of the regular season unscathed they will still face Florida, who falls at number one, in the SEC championship game. Either way this game goes we will be moving up. The biggest problem we face falls at number two in the nation. The Texas Longhorns remain undefeated in a conference which they dominate.
Texas has looked unbeatable almost in every single game. Their offense has been explosive and they do not seem to lack on any phase of the game. For us to move ahead of the great Longhorns they must lose. Texas still has some chances to lose. Texas still has several ranked opponents left on their schedule and the best chance for them to lose is most likely when they must play Oklahoma State. The Longhorns have the best chance of losing that game because they must go on the road to play against the Cowboys. If somehow Texas manages to make it through that tough game they still have the Sooners and Kansas to play against and the big 12 championship game.
If all these games go our way we still have one thing we must do though. Virginia Tech must still win the remainder of the games. If we remain a one loss team we have a very good chance of winning our first National Championship.

FML

The cable decided to not work anymore. What will I do with my life?

Victory is Sweet

This weekend unlike many weekends was actually a successful one for me as far as football goes. This week my Hokies won in one of the most epic games of time and I am proud to say I witnessed it. This game was completely intense from start to finish. During the game people where going crazy, screaming at the top of their lungs, and jumping up and down in celebration.
This game started with a bang because on the first drive Dyrell Roberts returned the kickoff for an almost touchdown to lead the Hokies to a great drive. From this point on however the game was pretty slow. Most drives ended in punts or field goals and there were a few lead changes but nothing too exciting. As the end of the game got nearer the excitement began to pickup because it was dire that Virginia Tech scored to put them in the lead. Many drives where unsuccessful and just put the end of the game nearer.
Finally as time grew even closer to 0:00 the seemingly final opportunity presented itself. The Hokies had just one more drive to score and take the lead for good. It was fourth down and Tyrod through a zipping pass to Roberts which sipped right through his hands. After this play many people gave up hope and began to leave the stadium and the Nebraska fans where happy as could be.
This was not the end though. Nebraska got the ball back but was unsuccessful on their ensuing drive and had to punt the ball. This gave us one last hope that Tyrod would come through and lead us to victory. Once again it was fourth down however. This was the final shot of the game. Tyrod dropped back, looked around, scrambled out of the pocket, avoided a sack and then heaved the ball downfield into the arms of wide open Danny Coale. This miraculous play of course lead us to victory and I celebrated like no other. I should not have worried I knew my Hokies would not disappoint me.
On the other hand I had a overwhelming feeling the my Buffalo Bills would disappoint with yet another loss. This week the Bills played the Tampa Bay Buccaneers. I thought the Bills where sure to lose, this wasn’t my first rodeo as a Bills fan I know how the seasons go, so I wasn’t expecting a lot. But despite preparing for the worst and hoping for the best the Bills did win. This is especially good because the bills had just got off a crushing loss on Monday night to the Pats. Also the Bills where without Marshawn Lynch who is arguably our best player. This just added to the lackluster play that the Bills have been presenting in previous years. Although I could not watch this game on TV it surprised me because the bills where victorious and seemed like they played fairly well. This is a very god change of pace and I so desperately hope it continues. I am not too sure if I can take another season of disappointment.

Posters.

Something very exciting happened this weekend. While bored and attempting to do chemistry my roommate, Conor, and I finally decided to embark on the journey of hanging posters. We have been here at Tech for nearly a month if not more. I’m sorry for my lack of time knowledge because college is so awesome I lose track of the dates. Conor dived into his closet and pulled out a cardboard tube containing two of the most glorious posters of all time.
We first hung up one of the most awesome, mind blowing Jimi Hendrix posters. This poster is original to the era and is absolutely incredible. If I attempted to describe it’s awesomeness you would not get a true understanding because it transcends words. However, I will attempt it anyway. The poster is centered with Jimi rocking out as he explodes with color. There is paint or some sort of color shooting in every direction of him rocking out. This might be my favorite poster because it is placed right next to my head where I sleep and every morning I awake to Jimi and his awesome glory.
The second poster is one of Molson Beer. This poster is particularly awesome because it is a play on M.C. Escher. In this poster Molson lions are crawling off the bottle and across the pages of work and text books. This poster is so cool because it reminds me of college and what my desk looks like minus the beer bottle of course. Also, the coolness level is increased tenfold because on the desk there is calculus homework being done but it is getting trampled on by the lions. I’m not exactly sure why this is awesome because calculus is not fun in the least bit but it is so deal with it.
Another poster we hung was that of a Hokies helmet. This is clearly awesome and essential to any Virginia Tech dorm room. I almost don’t have to explain why this is cool but fr the sake of my word count I will. This poster is super awesome because our football team is awesome and you have to be into it if you go here. There is no way around it you deal with Hokie football everywhere you go and you have to show your pride. It’s a law. Actually it isn’t but it should be.
After we had finished hanging all our posters we felt very accomplished. We kicked back in our chairs mine being a bean bag and watched some football. Suddenly I had a tremendous idea for the ages. I looked up at the overhang above our door and suddenly I knew what our room was missing. I exclaimed that we should hang a picture of the Hokie stone that is in the tunnel in Lane Stadium. Instantly Conor agreed that this was an awesome and we began our search in the Google machine. We quickly discovered a great picture of the stone and we taped it above our door. Now everytime we, or anyone, leaves our room we reach for success just like our football team.

Football, dude.

This weekend proved to be a very interesting and exciting one. Many fun events and interesting experiences occurred. This Saturday was highlighted by my first ever college football game as a student. It is true I had attended a few Virginia Tech football games in the past and new the protocol but this time was much different. Being a student added to the excitement and unity you feel with the crowd while cheering for our beloved Hokies. I was so excited to kick off my college football fandom with the playing of enter sandman and jumping up and down until the stadium shook.
The game was extremely exciting and Virginia Tech dominated the Thundering Herd of Marshall. Virginia Tech showed that they could bounce back from last week’s loss to Alabama and prove that they had a potent offense that was worth recognition. The Hokie’s offense was led by two freshman running backs, Ryan Williams and David Wilson. These two running backs showed tremendous talent and both of their 100 plus yard rushing games added a lot of excitement to the day. I was extremely happy to see that we have very good running backs to step in and replace Darren Evans and it made me even more excited for the season ahead.
Also, Tyrod Taylor had a very good game and seemingly answered my question from last week. Although he had a slow start T-mobile picked up the pace and showed how talented he truly was. Taylor showed that he was not afraid to scramble and also that he truly is a dual threat quarter back. One play that truly showed this to me was Tyrod’s 20 yard touchdown pass to Dyrell Roberts. Tyrod was rushed out of the pocket but managed to maintain his composure and threw a crazy pass off his back foot that sailed into the end zone and found Roberts waiting. Right after this play I turned to fellow fans and said “I think T-mobile is back. That was the best play I have ever seen him do.” Clearly you can tell that I am very excited and optimistic about Tyrod’s skills and the future season. Also this game showed that our receivers are much improved from last season and that helps Tyrod to show his dominance. This makes me even more pumped that I got tickets for next week’s game. Virginia Tech will have a showdown with Nebraska who might be our second toughest opponent of the season behind Alabama. Last year Virginia tech played Nebraska and was victorious of course and hopefully this year we can repeat that success. I am very interested to see how Ryan Williams and David Wilson will do against Nebraska’s defense. So far they have shown that they are good but if they repeat their success against Nebraska it will prove that they are great and hold their own against talented teams that play on the same level as Virginia Tech. Also winning this game would give us great confidence for we open up conference play against Miami the week following and we must do well in the conference if we are going to threepeat as ACC champions.
However, with all good comes some bad. My awesome seats on east stand had a perfect view of the field but they neglected to provide shade. After an incredible game and tremendous fun I returned to my dorm to find that I was sun burnt. I was not just sun burnt but I was taking sun burn to a whole new level. I was literally the color of a lobster and my whole neck and face ached. This was very disappointing because no one likes to look like a fool. Also the pain was terrible and of course I, being a intelligent college student, did not bring aloe or sun screen. This caused me to journey to Kroger which no one likes to do either.
Not only was this weekend the start of college football, for me at least, it was the start of the NFL season. This is something I am both excited for and somewhat depressed about. For me I have a love/hate relationship with the NFL. Every single year around this same time I become very optimistic that my Buffalo Bills will be successful and maybe even god forbid win the Super Bowl. Every year I, along with many other Bills fans, think “maybe this year will be different, maybe we will win it all” but every season continues to disappoint. The Bills go 7-9 and miss the play offs and continue to sadden me and make me wish for the glory days to come back.
So this Monday I will sit in front of my TV with a bag of chips and a soda and kneel down on my knees and pray to the Bills football gods. Oh please Bruce Smith, Jim Kelley, Thurman Thomas, and Andre Reed have mercy upon the sad Buffalo fans and just give us one measly championship to make us feel special. The Bills went to four straight Super Bowls in the 1990s and failed to win a single one. Sometimes I wonder if there was a reason it never happened for poor old Buffalo. Where the fans not proud enough? Was the team not talented enough? Where the upstate New York winters just too cold to have a trophy? I have not a clue, but I do know that every year until the Bills finally win it all I will forever feel empty inside as a football fan.
Ultimately, I love football with all my heart. I believe it is the greatest sport of all time and one of the best things to ever happen to planet earth. Football rules my day and dictates my mood. I would bear any weather or any conditions to watch football. I love the Hokies and I love the Bills they are like my family I always stand up for them and fight for their honor no matter how hard it is sometimes to be a Bill.

Defeat is just a learning process.

Saturday night Virginia Tech opened its football season against Alabama in a bustling Georgia dome in Atlanta for the Chick-fil-a college kick off. This game was highly anticipated by everyone who enjoys college football. Although the beloved Hokies did not win the game did not disappoint. This game was a thriller from start to finish and was almost impossible to call at any point through its duration.
Although this game was a fun watch it was pretty disappointing for Virginia Tech fans. This game was thought to make or break the Hokies season on the national championship front. Many thought that Virginia Tech was a dark horse contender and that if they were victorious they could run the table and possibly win their first ever national championship.
Although many commentators feel we are done in the national championship scene I say not so fast. We played extremely well against a very talented Crimson Tide team. Our defense was stout and stingy and our offense was strong although it was not potent. Many questions were answered in this game. A big pre game concern was the loss of star tailback Darren Evans. This was quickly answered by Ryan Williams who played outstandingly and mounted two touchdowns for the Hokies. He ran like an all star he was quick, powerful, made good reads, and put effort on every single run.
Other questions that where answered didn’t have such great answers. Can Tyrod Taylor be the star quarter back we need? After that game I’m not so sure. He put on a lack luster show and didn’t prove anything about his arm. I truly believe that he is a star but he needs to realize what his bread and butter is and stop worrying about what others think. Through the off season many wanted Tyrod to develop into a pocket passer who throws a lot more. Tyrod focused way too much on these comments during the game and made me think he had totally forgot about his legs.
I have a feeling that in the devastated moments toward the end of the game he had a “Tebow moment” and will open up and play his own game instead of what others expect him to play. Through this defeat I still foresee a fantastic season, another ACC championship, and my national championship hopes have not been squandered.

I am the zen master.

Recently, killing time after class and searching for inspiration, I came across a programming of Fight Club on the TV. Thinking “I love this movie” I decided to watch. As the movie progressed I began to think that I really enjoy this movie but why? What is the message of this? I began to search for the true meaning of Tyler Durden’s underground fighting club.
Fight Club is not only a critically acclaimed cult classic it is a huge comment on modern human society and what the world has become. This novel turned movie comments on the feminization of modern men. The main character of the movie experienced a lack of father figure which makes them feel like “a generation of men raised by women.” This creates the characters hate of consumerism because they feel like nesting is a female role in which they have taken on and are very dissatisfied with the nature of their modern life. The characters try to combat this problem they all face by fighting it both metaphorically and literally. Since the problem is internal they feel like they must fight themselves. Tyler Durden literally fights himself at one point in the movie but all the other characters and members of project mayhem change their looks to be similar so that they feel like they are fighting themselves. The main character fights Tyler who is himself to defeat his internal problem and also to make himself feel like he has power. He fights himself in front of his boss to get him fired but symbolically Tyler does this to become his own boss and gain power in his own life.
Also, the main character’s extreme dissatisfaction with his life leads him to feel the need to create chaos. Tyler hates his life so much that he wants to “destroy something beautiful.” The main character’s need for chaos is stemmed by both his Oedipus complex created by his lack of a father figure and also because he wants some form of significance in his life. When the main character meets a future member of fight club he explains something very interesting. The mechanic as he is referred to explained that our idea of god is born from our father. So Tyler’s lack of a father shows he has no idea of what god is so he creates chaos so that god will recognize him. He feels that he is one of “god’s middle children.” So Tyler creates chaos to get attention from god because he feels he would rather be hated by god than not recognized at all.
The main character also realizes that he is Tyler which is very profound and astonishing to him at the time. His extreme hatred for his life, consumerism, and job creates another personality which is Tyler. His new personality is everything that is crazy about the main character and comes up with extensive plots to create chaos by destroying buildings and museums and also to kill the main character.
I find this movie to be very interesting because of the relation to ideas that are common in modern society. Fatherless families are a very common issue in our society and are building something similar to what is portrayed in this film. In poverty ridden areas of America such as the ghetto “men raised by women” are becoming thugs, gangsters and drug dealers. This movie suggests something that makes a lot of sense about their motives. These thugs are creating chaos to try and get judgment from god and their fathers. The conclusion of this movie also brings up an idea that is thought provoking. These people seeking chaos and destruction to fill the void in their life must take responsibility for their actions like Tyler suggests to the main character. The main character must resolve this by destroying Tyler and accepting the chaos he has caused.
The greatest point of this movie, in my opinion, is that we should not live a life in which we hate. The creation of the psychopathic character of Tyler was only because the main characters life was so devastating and opposite of his own beliefs. If we continue to live in such a way we will create our own Tyler and terrible things will happen. I think that this point really reverberates in my mind because as a college student I have my whole life and career life ahead of me. I need to focus on the future now and make sure I’m making good life decisions so I don’t end up with a terrible figure such as Tyler Durden looming over me and plotting to destroy the world. No one wants to live “jack’s wasted life.”

Alex Gomes is just an everyday college kid. If you try searching for him in a crowd in may be difficult. On the outside he may seem pretty ordinary just like everyone else but his life is much more extraordinary. His life can be seen as inspirational and his future influence warrants praise.
Alex was born in 1991 in New Delhi, India. Alex spent his childhood in India and was raised very well. Alex lived in an apartment complex in India where he experienced a close knit community in which everyone knew each other. Alex rarely watched TV and instead spent his time playing outdoors or studying. His childhood is a great reflection on who he is today. He continues to follow the same themes in everyday life. Alex now loves to play sports and watch sports but remains concentrated on his studies. Alex is an outgoing person and easy to talk to.
When Alex was 12 years old he and his family moved from India to the United States, more specifically Maryland. The transition was hard for him at first. In India Alex attended an all boy’s school. So it was very hard to adjust to the coed schools of America. Not only did he struggle to adjust to the coed factor of schools but the organization of the American schools was much different. Also, he wasn’t used to the customs of America or how the people interacted. At first he didn’t have very many friends and struggled to relate to the new world in which he had entered. As time went on however he adjusted and began to feel at home. Since Alex is such an outgoing person when he started to make friends he became very social and overcame the obstacle swimmingly. He now says of his life in America, “it’s a blast living here. I wouldn’t want to live anywhere else.”
As a student Alex is very accomplished. He has always gotten good grades and his work ethic has lead him to college. In High school he enjoyed learning about science. He loved his chemistry and physics classes and he is now studying to become an engineer. He has always wanted to be an engineer because he enjoys applying the sciences to everyday use and knowing he can make a difference. Alex is a very hard worker and self motivated. He is motivated by looking into the future and thinking about the job he could have if he does well. Also, Alex feels like his parents have been the biggest influence on his life. They have taught him everything he knows and have always been there for him. They have always supported him with all his activities in the class room and on the track.
Also, Alex is a gifted athlete. He thoroughly enjoys playing basketball and running. He loves running because he feels free and enjoys everything about the experience but mostly he loves the competition. He is also a very accomplished track star. He made it to states both his junior and senior year and finished in the top five overall both years. His love of sports also extends off the track. He enjoys watching all types of sports and is a huge sports fan. Alex loves the Los Angeles Lakers and the New York Yankees. In India these where the only teams he had heard of so naturally he fell in love with them. Alex is however a student first. He managed to accomplish all these fantastic athletic goals while still maintaining fantastic grades, grades good enough to gain him acceptance into a very prestigious university.
Alex is now an engineering student here at Virginia Tech. choosing a college was a hard decision for Alex. He took into account many factors before finally settling on Virginia Tech.” I loved the campus, and I didn’t want to stay to close to home and Georgia Tech’s campus sucked. I also love the food and the engineering program is one of the best.” Needless to say he made a fantastic choice in deciding on coming to Virginia Tech. He plans on making great use at his time here at Tech. He plans on graduating from Tech and then continuing to either get his masters or maybe a doctorate in aerospace and ocean engineering. But currently Alex is keeping an open mind about all types of engineering and is looking forward to exploring the field while he is here at Virginia Tech. if Alex does continue on to gain his intended degrees in ocean and aerospace engineering he has many incredible and powerful job opportunities ahead of him. Alex could possibly be an engineer that sends someone into space, how cool would that be.
In his free time Alex enjoys running of course, but also he enjoys listening to music and his slightly into politics. Alex’s favorite type of music is hip hop or rap. He also enjoys listening to alternative rock occasionally. As far as politics goes Alex feels like he is somewhat in the middle. He is neither a democrat nor a republican but if asked he feels like he is slightly more liberal.
Alex’s friend, Richie Steinwand, would describe Alex as a very outgoing person who loves to have fun but also realizes the seriousness of situations and can handle the challenge of work and competition. These great character traits are very important in making Alex the great person that he is and will also help him in the long run. In the demanding career field that is engineering communication has become more of a necessary trait so Alex’s open personality will be of great importance in the future.
As you can all see now Alex Gomes is not just another face in the crowd he is an exceptional person who plans on making a difference in the world. All the different things in his life have shaped him into a down to earth regular kid with a special background and the ability to make a huge impact on the world we all share.