the laanba blog

Texans!

The Houston Texans won their very first play off game today 31-10 against the Bengals.  YES!!!

Football is my favorite sport to watch and my hometown Texans are obviously my favorite team.  I have been a fan from the very beginning.  I remember when they announced the name and mascot of the new team.  I was working late that day and brought a small black and white TV to my office just so I could watch the announcement.  When I left work that night I went straight to Academy Sports and bought my very first Texans T-shirt.  

I have watched almost every game since.  The number of games I have missed is probably in the single digits.  I've only been to a few games, but I enjoyed each one.  Tonight I feel good.  It feels sweet.  And I'm a little emotional.  It's been a long hard road, but I'm so proud of the team and of the city.  I'm proud to be a true fan.  I will be a loyal fan no matter what their record, but I am quite enjoying being in the playoffs (and winning!!).  

Bulls on Parade!!!!

Super Bowl

It's not news around here that I am a football fan.  Super Bowl Sunday is one of my favorite days of the year.  This one was a little different.  It was the first time in a long time that I didn't buy special snacks for the game.  I usually have at least some dip or something to celebrate, but not this time.  I was so tired and stressed after yesterday's contest that I came home and went to sleep.

So my Super Bowl wrap up?  I was rooting for the Saints so I'm definitely happy about the outcome.  I'm glad it was a close game for most of the game.  I remember some real blow outs in the past.  You couldn't write a better Cinderella story than the story of New Orleans and the Saints.

As for the other game that took place today, Google won for me with the ad below.  I'm a complete sap and I'm sure I liked it in part because I dream of meeting someone from somewhere else and running away to start a new life.  If you want to make me mad mention the Dodge Charger ad.  Not a fan of that one.

As for my Super Bowl meal, I ended up making this including the potatoes.  All in all a good night.

$1 Rockets Game

Last night I went to my first Rockets game at the Toyota Center.  I have seen the Rockets before, but a long time ago in the Compaq Center.  Basketball is not exactly my favorite sport, but I always like going out and doing new things and I definitely enjoy cheering on our local sports teams.  I had it on my list to get around to it, but just hadn't done it.

We have a multi-media teacher at our school that is doing amazing things with his classes.  Our school won first place in a contest sponsored by HP in conjunction with the Rockets.  They are going to get a bunch of things from HP and last night the school got 50 tickets to go to the game.  Not only free tickets to the game, but $10 for each person going to spend at the concession stand so that is how I went to the Rockets game for $1 (my food cost $11).  Some of the students got to go on the court for a pre-game announcement and they also got a tour of the media facilities which is perfect for what they are studying.  

The game was fun and the Rockets won! One gripe about the Toyota Center.  We were originally seated in section 407 and the floors were sticky.  Very sticky.  Like audibly sticky. Do you never clean up there Toyota Center?  I've sat so high in Minute Maid Park and Reliant Stadium that I could practically touch the back wall and it was always spotlessly clean when I got there.  The Rockets moved us to section 116 shortly after the game started and thankfully those floors were clean.  All I can say is ick.

.08

If you did not see the 4x100 Men's swimming relay last night then do yourself a favor and go watch it now. The race itself is the first five minutes of the video. It was an amazing race with the favored French trash talking and the Americans winning by .08 of a second. I was squealing at the end before I realized it was kind of late to be making so much noise in an apartment building. I just watched it again while preparing this post and the smile is just the same. The best part about it is that it was live so no one knew what was going to happen. What a moment!

Oh, by the way, summer is over. I'm up early to head back to work.

Let's begin

The opening ceremonies were spectacular. There is hardly anything I can do to really describe them. Usually there are always parts of an opening ceremony that I find boring or over the top modern/strange, but every element of this ceremony was beautiful. I am very impressed and I think it will be a very long time before it is topped. Here are some photos from the opening ceremonies.

I really wanted to say how cool NBC's online coverage is. You can get to their TV and online schedule here. They have a lot of offerings and you can even watch 4 feeds at once and swap things around very easily. I will be happy if I can get this running at work since next week is a slow week. I have a feeling I will be watching a lot of TV/online coverage for the next two weeks (and that makes me happy). So far tonight after the ceremonies I've watched a little badminton, sabre and road racing. Let the games begin!

The Olympics

Time for me to head to bed, but not before I say that today is the start of the summer Olympics in Beijing. Hooray! Something you may not know about me is that I am a very patriotic person and the Olympics feed that passion. I get misty eyed when I hear the patriotic music or watch a patriotic ceremony.

I have watched the Olympics all my life. I remember watching it in elementary school in our tiny shack of a house. My mom and I would hole up in the kitchen in the winter, with our one space heater, and I distinctly remember watching ice skating on a black and white TV. We actually got the NBC Triplecast for the Barcelona Olympics in 92. We went and got a special box for our TV that allowed us to watch three channels worth of coverage. People made fun of Triplecast, but it was so wonderful to be able to watch so many of the events live as they were happening. It was well worth it and Barcelona ranks as one of my favorite Olympics and is still my favorite lighting ceremony (video below).

It is going to be difficult to watch Beijing since they are so far ahead, but I will turn on NBC every night and watch their coverage. I haven't investigated their online offerings too much yet, but I will. You can call me a sap or roll your eyes at me, I don't care. Actually, that's not true. I do care. I don't understand those that must constantly tear things down. If you don't like it please keep it to yourself, at least on this blog. I love the ceremony, the pageantry, the sappy stories. I love the Olympics.

UPDATE: Whoa, I found this press release that details the coverage. Looks like I would have plenty of choices to watch if I didn't have this pesky thing called work.
http://www.nbcolympics.com/newscenter/news/newsid=148556.html

Super Bowl

What a game. I was rooting for the Pats, but they were simply outplayed. It was good though to watch a game until the very end instead of being bored before half time. Well my favorite sport's season is now over, but things look bright for next year.

Here are my two favorite commercials from last night. I didn't even realize that the second one WAS the Texans until the end (bad fan!) but I absolutely loved it. He still plays. How cool is that! Also liked the Fed Ex pigeon ad and the Budweiser Rocky horse training ad.

Go Orange

Is this team cool or what? This is the kind of attitude I can get behind. Maybe I need to get out to a game.

Orange to wear Maroon for Virginia Tech

Here we go....

Go Colts!

The Shuffle

Here is a blast from the past. The Super Bowl Shuffle from 1985. Can you believe it has been 22 years? Wow, that makes me feel old. I loved this Bears team and followed them all year right into the Super Bowl. That was a special group. I've looked for this video, but didn't find it until today (first at Houstonist, MetaCafe and then at YouTube).

It's great to see these old faces that I knew so well. I knew every word of that song. (Give me a break, I was a dorky 13 year old).

I am actually rooting for the Colts this weekend, but the Bears will always have a special place in my heart because of the '85 team.