For the second straight year, I participated in Big Brothers Big Sisters of Greater Pittsburgh’s Bowl For Kids’ Sake charity event. This year, our PSL bowling team, Nine-Dash Heroes, was able to bowl together. We added Steph and Josh to make up our team of 6 who would be one of AE’s representing teams.

This year’s event took place at the Pittsburgh Athletic Association, right across the street from Pitt’s Cathedral of Learning. While the place reeks of pretentiousness, the bowling alley was awesome! Well…awesome in that nostalgic, holy-hell-they-have-duckpin kind-of-way. The lanes are basically divided in half between 10-pin and duckpin lanes. Some of the teams actually had to play their games on the duckpin lanes, but we were on a regular 10-pin lane. I use regular loosely, though, as the lanes were wooden and the scoring was done by hand – a far cry from what “regular” is nowadays.

The precursor to electronic scoring is alive and well at the PAA:

Regardless, I love bowling at the PAA. The lanes were well taken care of even though they were wood. They were oiled and in pretty good condition. It took me one game to figure out how to deal with the conditions, but once I did, I was able to bowl a 233. Of course, that game didn’t matter. It turns out that my 144 from game one, combined with Meadows’ 186(?), and everyone else’s scores (totaling 735) was enough for us to win some awesome certificates and plastic medals to proudly hang around our desks at work.

We might not be able to win in PSL, but we hooked it up at the Bowl for Kids’ Sake event! Ha ha. We raised a lot of money for Big Brothers Big Sisters of Greater Pittsburgh and had a blast doing it. Until next year…

Our winter PSL bowling league finished up with our team coming away without any major victories, but we walked away a bit of experience for next time.

In round one of the playoffs our team rolled a 750 handicapped score, which was in the top 5, I think. Since the 10 highest scoring teams advanced, it was good enough to get us into the second, and final round.

Our team bowled really well collectively in game one. I didn’t bowl my average, but my 188 was good enough to not really let our team down. Megan’s 139 was well above her average, as was Meadows’ clutch 186. Sam, like me, bowled slightly under average, but it didn’t affect us at all.

Game two was the game that mattered, as it was in this game that Sam and my scores would count in the Kingpin/Queenpin competition. It was also the game that we needed to bowl better than every other team.

Unfortunately, we didn’t get it done. I bowled a 193, which was my average, but it was 31 pins under the Kingpin’s score. It’s only right, though, as the guy who won had the highest average of all the leagues. Sam’s 145 was nowhere near the 200 rolled by the Queenpin winner, and our team’s 696 score was well short of the 788 score that took home the league title.

It may have been a bit disappointing since we all knew we could bowl better, but it was a good first run for a team full of new(ish) bowlers. Since this was the first league for Megan, Sam, and Meadows, we should continue to improve in the spring session. I’m looking forward to it already!

“What happened man? You getting fat? Too many cheeseburgers and fries?”

Those words uttered to me by one of the Mexicans that I played soccer with last year are words that I prefer to not have to hear again this year.

It’s been a rough year-and-a-half or so, and when times are hard the first thing people often let go of is…well…themselves. I spent a lot more time eating like a king and drinking like a sailor in that time than I did working out. In fact, I joined a gym last year and literally went twice. I did play a lot of soccer, but not nearly as much as the previous year, so when February rolled around and I decided to face my fears and weigh myself, it was no surprise to see my weight at 210. Granted, I think I wear 210 pounds a bit better than a lot of people, but I felt like crap. Telling some people that I want to lose 30 lbs. makes them go, “what the hell? There’d be nothing left of you!”, but that’s the goal that I set out to achieve on 2/2/09. In reality, I’d like to get down to 175, but 180 is cool with me.

I had briefly tried working out and getting in shape late in 2008, but it was hard trying to go at it alone. When you don’t have any support around you, it makes it really hard to stick to the regime necessary to not just lose weight, but get in shape. If you want to eat well, but everyone wants to go to Pizza Parma or Buffalo Blues for dinner, it’s going to be difficult. The fear of becoming antisocial can also become a burden that makes you cave in, and I my various failed starts could probably fall mostly on that issue alone.

I was able to get Megan on board with tracking calories and exercising at the beginning of February and I haven’t looked back. I started using iMapMyRide on my iPhone to route walks and runs. Since the info gets uploaded to mapmyfitness.com, I began exploring it’s capabilities. I started using the site as a a way to focus on tracking my exercise. The perfect complement to my calorie tracker. The site needs some design love, but the idea is really good. If you’re into working out, biking, running, walking, etc., I’d recommend it. Here’s my profile. You can see all of the random things that it tracks. You can even set goals like biking 150 miles in 30 days (which I’m not even going to come close to completing thanks to the weather and my variety of activities), and walking a marathon in 30 days (which I should be able to complete).

The other key component to my dieting has always been Calorie King. I downloaded the computer app years ago, and whenever I diet I use it to track everything I eat. For a lot of people, all of the tracking would be annoying, but these tools are perfect for my OCD tendencies. Ha. In reality, seeing the numbers and getting, or not getting, check marks (one for staying under calorie goals, another for 30 minutes of exercise) every day provides me with motivation and accountability. It might seem weird, but it’s something that really helps me reach my goals. Unlike Weight Watchers, etc., you can set and see your nutritional targets (calories, fat, protein, fiber, calcium, etc.). You’re more in control and a lot more accountable for how you manage your diet. Is it a pain? Sure. Are the rewards worth it? I think so…

Tomorrow will mark the start of week 7 of my diet. Despite taking 5 days off of my diet during my trip to Texas, I’m now weighing in at 195! 15 lbs. in 6 weeks is a really good pace. I’m not losing weight too fast, and I’m not losing it by depriving my body of necessary nutrients. I workout about 6 days a week on average for at least 30 minutes (usually more), and have simply stopped eating out a lot. I’ve also stopped drinking almost completely. The only alcohol I’ve been drinking is wine with dinner from time-to-time. Cutting out the alcohol alone saves so many needless calories.

Anyway, I’m halfway to my goal of 30 lbs., and I’m more focused than ever. With my participation in 3 PSL sports this Spring (flag football, bowling, kickball), and soccer starting up soon, it should make the last 15 lbs. fall off quickly. I just hope I can retain my focus once I achieve my goal.

We had a bittersweet final week of bowling league…the regular season, that is. Bowling against the other 13-5 team, we just had to take two to guarantee us first place in the league. Unfortunately, some rustiness and inconsistency cost us that title.

Game one saw us fall by 54 pins. For reference, Meadows bowled a 100…68 pins below his average. The rest of the team actually bowled pretty well in game one. We all hit average, but I wasn’t too pleased to see my 8 200 games streak come to a halt with a 195.

The 70-pin loss in game two meant that Fitchh’s Bitches were going to take first place. I was the below-average culprit in game two, but it wouldn’t have mattered. I was 12 pins under, and we lost by 70. The other team simply bowled really well, with all four bowlers bowling well over their average. I would take the blame, but the odds of me bowling a 252 and carrying us to victory were very low since I hadn’t bowled since I rolled off 9 days before…and that would’ve been nearly 60 pins over my average.

While we had a narrow victory in game 3 (15 pins), the regular season was already going to Fitchh’s Bitches, so we really just needed to hit our team average to guarantee our spot in the playoffs. Our 662 made sure we hit our number, so I’ll take it. Our average of 604 ended up being 10 pins higher than the next closest average. Sam bowled her highest game ever – a 179 – and Meadows and I both got 200…or 201, in Joe’s case. Meadows celebrated emphatically at the fact that he beat me by one pin, but I quickly reminded him that he also bowled a 100 in game one costing us the top record in the league. Ha ha.

Meadows showing the face of a man determined to beat me with his final ball…

Playoffs are Sunday, March 15th. I hope I can get enough practice in to find my rhythm again. I was pretty rusty, but at least the conditions should be perfect for the playoffs and kingpin competition – which I should still qualify for. The latest standings haven’t come out, but odds of me dropping out of the top 10 without a change in my average should be pretty low. We’ll see. I’m just excited that our team made the playoffs. Finishing with the highest average in my league also meant that I hit my personal goal. Unfortunately, the bar is now raised. I’m going to aim for a 195 average for next session. If everyone on our team bowls as well as they have all season, we stand a reasonable chance of finishing near the top. I don’t expect to finish first, but anything’s possible.

I’m really looking forward to the challenge!

This past weekend was a lot of fun. I never get out of town aside from the random trip to nearby cities like Baltimore, Columbus, or Cleveland, and with all of my friends scattered across the country I never see them. Fortunately, I was able to engineer a little trip to help with both things (with a little planning research from Megan).

College Station
For a whopping $7 more per ticket, we were able to fly direct into the smallest airport I’ve ever seen…in College Station! Davis picked us up and we proceeded to check out what College Station had to offer. We eased into the A&M nightlife by going to a place we actually have in Pittsburgh: The Fox & Hound. After Davis and Kathleen crushed us in some shuffleboard, we hit up a place called Los Cucos Mexican Café for some dinner. While the meal was typical of most “authentic” Mexican joints, the fried chicken fajita stuffed avocado makes it a place that I’ll probably beg Davis to take me next time I’m in the area…even if the place smelled like lime-based cleanser.

We enjoyed the surprisingly lame bar scene for a Thursday (wtf?), but still had a good time. The drinks are really cheap and the girl/guy ratio was actually impressive, and a far cry from Pittsburgh. I can see why Davis wanted to go back to school in a warm climate. One irony that I noticed was how a lot of the girls I saw weren’t overly tan. Why is it that girls in Pittsburgh – a place known for its lack of sunshine – think it’s okay to be ridiculously tan, while girls in a place like Texas just go natural?

Unfortunately, we only had one day in College Station, so Davis took us to Rudy’s Bar-B-Q the next day for lunch and we toured A&M’s campus. It’s a pretty nice campus, but doesn’t win any awards in the architecture category. In a place where everything is already brown and weather-beaten, A&M’s conservative beige buildings just made me shake my head. We did get to see the Aggie Bonfire Memorial, which was really nice…and one of the few areas where the grass was green.

Davis explains the backstory to Megan…

After the tour, we headed back to the airport to pick up our sweet rental car: a Kia Rondooooooooooo. I really hope I never have to drive a car like that again. While it got us to Dallas, it definitely made us look like some dorky family traveling from Florida (the plates on the rental).

Dallas
We arrived around 6:30 in Dallas, where I immediately felt inferior in all aspects of life. First, we get to Chris and Garrett’s house…which was most definitely nicer than any home I’ll ever own…and more impeccably decorated at that. We then proceeded to go to some upscale steakhouse called Nick & Sam’s. While the food was good, I clearly, and predictably, did not come dressed for the occasion. Fortunately, we were still allowed in, but I was definitely the only person in that restaurant sporting an AE hoodie – a necessary article since the weather during our stay was in the 40’s. Thank god Chris paid, because my broke ass couldn’t have even purchased the appetizers. Ha ha.

That was as far as our pretentious journey took us, as the rest of the weekend remained low-key, but fun. We spent a lot of time eating (surprise, right?). I really liked Cyclone Anaya’s. They have really good chili queso…like good enough to crave. The ribs are also really good. I’d recommend both and will be back there the next time I go to Dallas.

Trece Mexican Kitchen and Tequila Lounge was amazing, too. We kept calling it Mexican food’s answer to Piccolo Forno of Italian food. It was really good. I was a little worried walking in there, though, as every car that was parked outside cost a minimum of $125k. It was pretty ridiculous.

After that, I took on a journey completely new to me…we went to a lesbian bar in the “gayborhood”. It was actually a lot of fun as the bar lacked the meatheads and tramps usually crowding your typical straight bars. We just shot pool and downed a fair amount of beer, but had a great time. We were clearly the only straight people there, but it was a blast. It was a totally fun and different experience to be so entrenched in the “alternative” lifestyle. It really magnified how stupid other people’s intolerance is toward the gay community.

Pens > Stars
Anyway, on Sunday, we got to go to the Pens/Stars game. Of course, that was after a delicious breakfast buffet that included enchiladas and fried cheesecake. Ugh. We drove by the grassy knoll on the way to American Airlines Arena and saw where Kennedy was assassinated. It was kind of eerie to see a place that you’re so familiar with from TV and school. There are two x’s on the ground to represent where the two shots hit Kennedy. Crazy.

Although, maybe not as crazy as the giant Chili’s blimp that floated around the arena before the game…

The game was awesome, though. The arena is really nice, but felt like a shopping mall as you walked around the concourses. The fans were vocal and peaceful, but quickly died off to reveal a rather large contingent of Pens fans after the Penguins took control of the game and skated off with a much-needed 4-1 victory.

Malkin scores the 4th…

Overall, the trip was a lot of fun. While there are a ton of places I’d love to find time to visit, I’m totally up for another trip to Texas. Both places were a lot of fun, and it was great to see some old friends while meeting a bunch of new ones. Until next time, y’all…