You constantly come to new realizations as you grow up, mature, and experience new things. One of those things that I’ve learned is that live NHL hockey is by far the best spectator sport you’ll find. I love football, too, but hockey still gets my ticket money. Especially when your team is good…and even more so when you’re talking about the Stanley Cup Final! It’s also nice when your new camera lens shows up, so you can take better photos from section D!

Mario Lemieux drop the ceremonial first puck on Tuesday:

I was fortunate to go to games 3 & 4 here at Mellon Arena this week, and all I can say is “WOW”. The Pens entered their 2-game home stand down 0-2, and knowing that the only way they were going to have any chance of a repeat loss to the Red Wings in the Finals was to win both games…and that’s exactly what they did. With a boisterous crowd at the Igloo, good bounces, and improved play, the Pens managed to prove that they deserved a second shot at the Red Wings.

Game 3 wasn’t the best game of the series, but they got it done. Mario Lemieux dropped the ceremonial first puck to get the night started, and the excitement was just boiling over after that. After missing the Finals last year because of the prices, I was pumped to go this year. The tickets had dropped a lot before game 3, which enabled us to get tickets at face value – a near impossible task these days in Pittsburgh. The Pens survived a sloppy second period, to come out and play a third period worthy of the 4-2 victory.

Game 4 was even better, with the Pens playing the most inspired hockey of their series. They dominated every facet of the game, and had Mellon Arena louder than I’ve ever heard it. When Jordan Staal scored a shorthanded goal to tie the game, Igloo blew up. It was absolutely deafening. The entire second period consisted of people standing for large amounts of time, cheering wildly, and pushing the Pens on. They went into the second intermission with a 4-2 lead, and dominated the third period to guarantee that the Red Wings’ deficit would stay 2 goals. Fleury was also a monster in goal. Oh, and my tickets were in the AE box, so I got to enjoy some awesome food and hang out with great fans from work.

I just hope the Pens can figure out a way to win this series.

Let’s Go Pens!!!

This Sunday was our playoffs for Spring PSL bowling. We went in with relatively high expectations, and actually met them as a team. We wanted a top-5 finish, and ended up finishing 4th!

Our first game was really strong, as we actually had the highest first round score (766) of all of the teams. Unfortunately, we couldn’t carry that form over into the second game. We still finished with a 713, but with Sam and I both bowling under average, we just couldn’t get it done.

Meadows and Megan both had solid days. Meadows’ 214 and 223 would’ve locked up a championship if I hadn’t completely crapped the bed with a 155 in game two…which also happened to be the game that would decide who the Kingpin was. Nothing like bowling a 211 average for 8 weeks - a full 7 pins higher than anyone else in all of the leagues - and having one game decide who’s the top bowler in PSL. I should’ve rolled better, but I just failed to adjust to different lane conditions on the front lanes. Oh well…maybe I’ll finally bowl better in the summer session.

Regardless, our team finished 1st in our league night and 4th overall in PSL. The upcoming session will hopefully be our best. Meadows is setting out to record a 200 average, Megan and Sam are both going fingertip and trying to throw with a hook, which should up their average a bit, and I’ll be aiming to improve my average a little. I’ll shoot for 215, but it’s going to be tough. With Meadows setting our team scratch average at 700, we’ve got some work to do.

It’s kind of unfortunate that the Cavs are probably going to lose the conference finals to the Magic. I would’ve preferred to say “I was there when Lebron hit that game-winner with 0.0 on the clock to change the series!”. I may have even found myself more intrigued by the NBA. Instead, I’m left to question whether or not a live NBA game is really something I can get into.

Last Friday, 6 of us packed into Meadows’ Explorer and made the trek to Cleveland for game 2 of the Eastern Conference Finals. It was going to be my first live NBA game, and it also happened to be my birthday, so I was pumped. The vibe in the Q was exciting, and we were all fired up to see Lebron. We got up to our seats in time to catch the pre-game nonsense of flaming scoreboards, lame cheerleaders, and warm-ups, which definitely got us pretty energized for the game. Unfortunately, the next couple of hours simply deflated everything that the pre-game had built up…until the end, of course.

The whole thing was a spectacle, that’s for sure. After every shot, the announcer gets all excited “LEBROOOOOOON JAMES”, the music starts piping through the arena speakers, and the replay starts playing on the scoreboard. The nonsense surrounding the game itself just screamed a desperate-for-attention “LOOK AT ME!!!”. It was kind of pathetic, really. Factor in the large stat board, and the sensory overload becomes so much that it has the opposite effect than originally intended. How can I really get excited when there’s something worth cheering for when you try to get me to cheer for EVERYTHING? Well…actually, the answer to that was easy on this particular night.

The Magic took a 2-point lead with exactly 1.0 second left in the 4th quarter. As the pathetically-used-to-losing-in-every-sport Cleveland fans started filing out, Mo Williams’ inbound pass got to Lebron, and Lebron beat his man to sink the game-winning 3-pointer. The deafening celebration that ensued was awesome to be part of. I couldn’t believe what I had just seen.

Here’s the game-winner dropping:

Unfortunately, 20 minutes later, the conversation was still revolving around how unimpressed we were with the NBA. We had just witnessed an awesome last-gasp winner from one of the biggest – if not the biggest – player in the NBA, and we were still being critical. While the ending made the drive, the money, the experience, and my birthday a great time, whether or not I ever see another NBA game is still up for debate. Regardless, the night was fun, and it turned out to be one hell of a game for me to attend for a first experience.

At least we can all say we were witness…

Our second regular season PSL session as the Nine-Dash Heroes ended poorly, but we still improved in a lot of areas. First, despite dropping two games this week, we still finished in first place with a 15-6 record - one of our goals from last session. Second, we improved our team average quite a bit from last session, finishing with a 639.

I ended up achieving my goal of a 200 average, and even managed to finish as the top bowler in all of the PSL leagues with a 211. It’s not a feat that’s going to send me on tour, but it at least shows a marked improvement from last session’s 193 average (+18). I don’t think that I’ll be making such strides next session, but I’m definitely going to up my goal a little.

Sam also bested her goal of 140 by finishing with a 150 average, and tied for 5th on the queenpin list.

Meadows and Megan both improved from last session. Meadows’ average went up 5 pins (it should’ve been higher, if not for the epic collapse this week. Ha ha), and Megan finally got out of her early-season slump to finish the season strong. She’ll have no problem reaching her goal next session.

We’re looking forward to playoffs on the 31st…and hopefully making an improvement in that performance as well. A top 5 finish would be nice this time. Whatever…let’s just try to win the whole thing! Ha.

Last night was another solid outing for our bowling team. We were a little disappointed to have to play a team that we had already bowled against this season, but it all worked out. We took all 3 games to move into first place and improved our team average to 643, both of which put our team in the drivers seat going into next week - our final week.

I was able to bowl my highest game of the season (255) in game two, but my dreams of rolling a 700 series were dashed by 2 missed 10 pins and 7-10 split in frame 9 of game 3. So far, though, I’ve bowled 7 straight 600 series so I’m not going to complain…too much.

Megan seems to have rediscovered her game at the perfect time. With everyone else on our team bowling at least a few pins under their average in game one, her 24-pins-over performance helped guarantee the win. Finding her form could help us a lot in the playoffs.

In the final game, when I bowled 30 pins under my average, everyone else bowled over, which Meadows 193 leading the way. It’s been that way all season…with the majority of our team picking up whoever is having a down game, it’s been a lot of fun.

Our final week has some fun things to play out. First, game two of the Eastern Conference Finals is on Thursday. That means that I may have to roll off beforehand. Then, Sam and I are in the battle for the Kingpin/Queenpin competition. I somehow currently hold the highest average for all of the PSL leagues, so hopefully I can maintain that. Maybe I can be the “big fish in a little pond” this season. Sam is currently 5th out of the women bowlers, too. I’m hoping she can break a 150 average and move up in the final week. For our team, it would be nice to take all three games and finish with the best record in the league to go with league-high average. That would be an awesome acheivement for our team in its second season together. I’m crossing my fingers…

Our bowling team had another solid outing last night (despite our move to the front lanes for the week), as I was the only person to NOT improve my average…despite bowling a 630 series.

Fortunately, with Megan bowling over average every game, Sam bowling over her average two games, and Meadows getting his first 600 series, all I had to do was bowl close to my average to give us a good chance to make up the 216 pins we were giving our opponents. Also, while the other team was a lot of fun and really nice, they clearly cared more about dancing on the lanes and bowling out of turn than bowling well. That enabled us to win all 3 games and leave us with an 11-4 record with 6 games to go. We’re one game out of a tie for first place, and it looks like we’ve improved our team average by another 9 pins (641). Hopefully, we can continue this late season surge as a team!

I’m really glad kickball was cancelled last night because of the weather…not that it would’ve mattered. I wasn’t going to miss last night’s game for anything, and I’m glad I didn’t. The Pens completely dominated the Caps, and held Ovechkin in check - something they had failed to do in the previous two games.

The game started horribly, as a weird bounce and Fleury’s inability to hold onto his stick gifted Ovechkin an open net, which he promptly finished off. Fortunately, the rest of the game was all Pens. Ovechkin’s predictability showed up in game 3, and he was completely ineffective. Scuderi shut him down for nearly the entire game, and now that the Pens know how to do it, they better continue to close his space down quickly and make sure they keep their body between him and the goal. A desperate Ovechkin is clearly a predictable one. His poor passing makes him one-dimensional in the offensive zone, and the Pens showed that last night. Cut off his shot, and he’s locked down. Easier said than done, but the Pens managed just fine…at least for one game. His post-game whine fest showed his frustration and should placate the Pens fans who are tired of Crosby being singled out as the league’s signature cry baby.

A desperate Pens team, on the other hand, is an exciting sight to see. Playing on every cylinder, they got help from their superstars and their role players. Talbot’s surprise move to Malkin’s line may have been one of the sparks that could ultimately change the fate of this series. Malkin played like a man possessed with his new linemates, and finally got the goal that should inspire more from the Hart finalist.

We’ll know more after Friday’s result, but the Pens can only play so well for so long before the results start going their way. The Pens have dominated in long stretches for all 3 games, but bad bounces and stupid penalties have killed them. Oh, and their horribly unproductive power play hasn’t helped.

Last night, they limited the bad penalties, which allowed them to play through the bad bounces and win by keeping their team on the ice. It gave players, like Kris Letang, the time to work out the kinks. Letang’s slow reaction and poor puck handling betrayed him over and over all game, but he kept working and finally pulled it together for the game winner in OT. It’s that desire and relentless drive that can pick the Pens up and help them pull off what has become an “upset” in the minds of the media.

Taking away the Caps strong power play, and disrupting Ovechkin’s rush into the offensive zone (in which he only looks to shoot) will nearly guarantee a Pens victory Friday and a repeat of last night’s dominating performance. Discipline will have to carry them more than skill from here on out in this series.

Let’s go Pens!

Sundays are typically my sleepin’ in days, but with a bunch of our friends taking some part in the Pittsburgh Marathon, there I was…awake at 6:50 in the morning…and heading down to cheer on Meadows, Lauren, Holly, Nate, Mark, and Joey C.

The weather turned out to be kind of crappy for a spectator, but what I assume would be perfect for those actually willing to test their physical limits. Since Meadows was running the final leg of the relay, we knew that we had plenty of time to catch the rest of the crew running the half marathon at the early stages and then head over towards the finish to catch Meadows. We set up around mile 6 and after a short time of watching people walking the 5k course, the motorcade showed up, followed by the leaders. It was crazy to see these guys running at such speeds. This group below ended up having the top two finishers in it. The guy in front is 2nd-place-finisher Jim Jurcevich, and to his right is Kassahun Kabiso – the man who finished 3 seconds ahead of him to win the marathon. It’s amazing that these guys still had 20 more miles to go after this point…and they stayed with each other the whole time.

After we saw Lauren, Holly, and Nate pass by that same location, we went to the a spot where Smithfield St. meets up with Liberty to catch them in the homestretch. Here’s Holly going through the intersection with about a half of a mile to go:

Once they passed us, we rushed over towards the finish to see the Kassahun Kabiso be the first through the tape, then sought out a prime spot to watch Meadows. It was awesome to see all of these elite athletes coming around the final turn after 26 miles of asphalt-pounding pain…then seeing Meadows come flying down the road to anchor his team to a 9th-place relay finish (2:50:30).

It was truly exciting and inspiring to watch so many people reach deep down to finish the race. Regardless of whether or not people were running the half or full marathon, I was impressed, and honestly got a little choked up at times.

Seeing older runners finishing the race was great, but one of the best scenes was of this girl who was probably about 300 lbs. finishing the half marathon. One of her friends was actually standing right next to us and said that she had lost 100 pounds already, and it was over-the-top inspiring…she had literally ran the entire time. To see all of these people going out there and laying it on the line in front of thousands of spectators, with thousands of other runners, was simply awesome. I was seriously pissed at myself for completely dismissing my ability to do the half marathon after seeing so many people grind it out and achieve more than I’ve ever achieved as an athlete – especially those who at first glance would’ve cast doubt in many peoples’ eyes. It was so inspiring…I really can’t explain it.

Congrats to everyone who entered, completed, bonked, whatever…my hat’s off to you. I think I’m going to attempt to train for the half marathon next year, and if my knee feels up to it, I might give it a go. If I opt not to run it, I’m definitely going to go back and watch it all go down again. It was a truly uplifting experience!

Starting Weight (on 2/2/09): 210
Current Weight (as of 5/2/09): 175
Weight Change: 35

Mission accomplished! 90 days ago, I set out to get my weight back down to between 175-180, and I’m pretty damn happy to say that I made it happen. By tracking calories, eating a balanced diet, and working out nearly every single day, I was able to lose weight at a steady, but healthy, pace. By varying my workouts between running, cycling, weight training, volleyball, bowling, flag football, swimming, and basketball, I’ve kept myself from becoming bored. As the pounds have fallen off, my energy has gone up, too, which has really helped the cause. I’m sleeping better, waking up easier, and feeling generally better all-around.

Naturally, the maintenance is going to be the toughest thing now. I’m still aiming to lower my body fat percentage, so we’re only allowing one untracked cheat day per week, but I hope I can keep myself from falling off of the wagon. It becomes very tricky as one gluttonous meal can quickly become two…three…ten…and the weight is back on. Believe me, there’s a reason that I’ve had to do this a few times over the years. I will say that this time out, though, my approach was way more focused than ever before, and I’m more motivated right now to stay where I’m at. Even when adding in the trip to College Station/Dallas, and my Easter dinner, I only went over my calorie budget 7 out of the 90 days. I can tell you that I’ve never been that serious about any previous diet. I’ve reminded myself that eating good really does make me feel better physically and mentally, and after one cheat day this weekend, I remember how crappy my body feels when I don’t put the right fuels in it. I just need to continue to remember how good it feels to stay “healthy”.

Now…I’m far from a doctor, or nutritionist, but from my personal experience and years of extensive reading on this type of stuff, I offer the following advice for those who are serious about dropping lbs…

1) Track EVERYTHING.
I used mapmyfitness to track my exercise since they have a web site and iPhone app, but there are plenty of others. I used Calorie King for tracking my food on my computer. Since the people over at Calorie King are too stubborn to make an iPhone app (if you’re using an iPhone, that is), I would recommend using Gyminee (www.gyminee.com/iphone). It’s a nice substitute to use when you’re on the run and can only track on your iPhone. They also have a nice little interface, albeit far from perfect. Regardless of the tools that you’re using, tracking your calories helps you realize caloric content in the foods you consume on a regular basis. For me, seeing the bad nutrients (like fat) get too high, and the good ones (like protein or calcium) fall short of the target makes me feel more accountable. When it’s right in front of you, there’s no way that you can ignore what you’re putting into your body. Tracking exercise is also fun. It’s nice to see your stats add up. For example, although it’s more or less an approximation, MapMyFitness tells me that I’ve burned over 40,000 calories in the time that I’ve been a member (coincidentally, since 2/2/09). To see your progress and commitment displayed in front of you really helps keep you motivated. Just make sure that whatever calorie tracker that you use has a relatively accurate database of foods. Be wary of tools that rely solely on community additions to their food databases. Gyminee is like that, but it’s been a bit better than Livestrong was when I tried that site.

2) Find a partner.
Going at such a task alone is hard. I’ve always had support in the past, but there’s no way I could’ve maintained this commitment without surrounding myself with people who were supportive and had similar goals. Having someone there to help talk you into going to the gym on those days where you’re not quite feeling up to it is beyond huge. Having people that are cool with going to places with healthy eating options helps. A partner who can understand your goals and celebrate with you as they, too, achieve similar goals makes it a lot more fun. I needed a support system in place to lose a measly 35 lbs…the importance is even higher when you’re talking about higher weight loss goals, as it takes longer and the pitfalls of momentary plateaus can knock some people off the wagon quickly.

3) Mix it up.
I’m a huge believer in keeping your workouts from becoming monotonous. Unless you’re training to run a marathon or something, don’t just spend all of your time doing a repetitive exercise like running. Play a few different sports, run, ride a bike, walk, etc. I started bowling a lot in the evenings as it provided me with a chance to get out of the house and have fun while actually being active the whole time. I can promise that you’ll get bored if you only lift, or only do elliptical, etc. Keeping it fresh is a must. I’ve also found that team sports really makes it easier, as the fear of letting down teammates can be used as a motivator to show up and work hard.

4) Set realistic goals and be patient.
At the end of the day, it’s simple math. Your body can metabolize x number of calories in a day. Eating above that calorie limit will cause weight gain. Eating below will cause weight loss. There are plenty of sources out there to figure out the calorie deficit you should use, but you have to make sure that you’re getting enough nutrients, too. The key is eating healthy and getting close to your calorie limit, then using exercise to create the deficit. If you’re eating close to your calorie budget, you should be able to come in at your protein, carbs, and other nutrient goals. Working out, combined with the proper nutrition, and a subtle caloric deficit will nearly guarantee success. The problem most people will have is impatience. You have to be patient. Losing weight this way isn’t fast, but it works.

If you want to lose 50 lbs., make sure you make that a 6-month plan…not a 3-month one. You’ll read in a lot of places that a 500 calorie deficit will help you lose about 2 lbs./week (or something similar). That should be your goal – no more than 2 lbs. Two benefits of losing weight slowly is that a) you’ll have to stick to it longer, therefore, helping reinforce a new lifestyle, and b) you’ll be able to maintain a healthy diet and not deprive yourself of necessary nutrients. Dieting for 2 weeks to lose 10 pounds is a commitment easily forgotten, and simply starving yourself to lose weight will hurt you way more than it helps in the long run.

To avoid recognizing plateaus, make sure you don’t weigh yourself too often. I’d recommend weighing in once every two weeks. Your weight can go up and down throughout the day, too, so weighing in daily might make you think that you gained weight at times. Just give yourself a good two weeks of consistent exercise and dieting and I can almost guarantee that you’ll have lost weight. Be patient. If you stick to the plan, workout, and eat healthy, it’ll work.

Good luck!

For those curious about mapmyfitness, click here to check out my profile, create an account, and friend me!

I’m not sure if it was Rick Astley’s Never Gonna Give You Up or Davis’ favorite, Puttin’ on the Ritz, coming from the 80’s Night DJ at Arsenal, but the Nine-Dash Heroes picked it up last night.

The team seems to have gained a little momentum coming down the homestretch of the 8-week Spring PSL season. We were able to do a lot of good things last night on our way to our first 3-0 win of the session. We’re currently only one game back for the best record now, and we’ve improved our team average to 632 - a 10-pin improvement, and an 18-pin lead over the next closest team. I’m looking forward to seeing whether or not we can hang onto or improve our standings in the final 3 weeks. Of course, the 216 pins we’re giving up next Thursday could crush us…or maybe the fact that we’ll be bowling in the front lanes with the evil ball return on the left side will be our demise. We shall see…