EZC-Boston

Score

Have your brother teach them how to throw, unless you want them to throw like girls...

stub hub isn't a lock, trust me, see Buffalo Bills circa 2009

For poker fans, VS is now the home of "Poker 2Nite" a weekly poker news show (or 30 minute informercial for UB.net) hosted by Joe Sebok and Scott Huff. Season 1 was a little rough but I'm hoping for more out of season 2. If nothing else you can watch for Dana Workman

back on 603!!! Pretty psyched as the playoffs approach.

Yes, Jimmie Johnson finished 35th in the Daytona 500 and then won 2 races. That's why he isn't #1 in the standing and it is possible to win 15 races and then not many in the playoffs and still not win the title. Just like in any other sport, you could be the best during the regular season and tank in the playoffs. That being said, you get a "head start" in the playoffs for each race you've won during the regular season.

SI Vault is one of the web's hidden gems in my opinion. If I need some reading material for the sh*tter and don't see anything of note on espn.com or cnn.com, it's my next stop. You can always find something interesting to read. edit - note to mods had to censor myself

I agree with the "whatever you feel comfortable doing" part. I'm not about to give advice one way or the other on stretching. I rarely stretch, usually only when I'm running with someone who does and feel obliged. Just do what feel right to you...

I bought a Garmin GPS watch. https://buy.garmin.com/shop/shop.do?cID=142 If you're a numbers guy you will love it because you can load everything on to your computer. It's a big investment and I didn't go for it right away. At first I would drive around and map out routes but then I started using this site: Favorite Run again, not flashy but it does the trick. You can map your route out ahead of time or when you get home track where you went and it will let you know how far you've gone. I haven't qualified for Boston yet and not sure I ever will. I would have to run a 3 hour 10 minute marathon to qualify and right now, my PR is 3:56. 46 minutes is a lot to shave off (almost 2 minutes a mile) but I've improved in Buffalo 3 years in a row, so maybe one day.

Here's some advice from a guy who couldn't run a mile 6 years ago (ask EndZoneCrew or taterhill) and has run 4 marathons since then. I was pretty much in the same boat as you, didn't enjoy going to the gym and was looking for something to keep busy. First thing be careful about how much you increase your mileage. The biggest thing concern you'll have at the beginning is staying healthy. If you add a lot of mileage too fast you'll increase your risk injury. Now on to your questions: Shoes: Go to a running store and ask them to fit you. Buy a pair of shoes there the first time, then once you know what you like you can buy them online and get the best deal. I only run in Nike Air Zoom Vomeros, I think I've probably gone through 7 or 8 pairs of them. Wardrobe: Don't go too crazy on anything to expensive but I'd suggest getting some dry fit shirts. Cotton T shirts are horrible and hold water. Makes them really heavy and leads to chafing (ouch). One thing that I found really important and if you don't listen to anything else I say, is BUY GOOD SOCKS. Normal "athletic" socks hold water and in my experience cause a lot of blistering. I love Balega Hidden Comfort socks but they are pricey so I also have Power Sox which are cheaper and still pretty good. Diet: Totally up to you but I think you'll feel better, the better you eat the better the better you'll feel while you're running. I only "carb load" before really long runs. Other than that I avoid greasy foods and don't drink too much the night before a run. Running Style: This was my biggest concern when I started running and I've never really found anything good. Basically everything I can find says as long as your comfortable, you're fine. Distances: Totally up to you depending on your goals. This site: Hal Higdon.com has some great training programs and advice and forums for discussion that are well visited. It may not be flashy but it's pretty good. I've used their programs for all of my races. Ideal Surfaces: This is debatable. Pavement/Blacktop isn't great because it is so hard but any race you run is going to be on blacktop so if you only run on grass or trails, you won't be used to it and may find yourself sore after the race (or even worse getting hurt during the race) so I find it best to mix it up. I'd say I do like 80% on hard surfaces and 20% on trails or grass. Other: My big piece of advice would log every mile you run. It will give you a sense of accomplishment/satisfaction when you look back at what you've done and how you improve. You can log time/mileage or both. I've logged every mile I've run since 2005 and like to look back and see how much running I've done. Only recently did I start logging my time because I have a goal for this years Buffalo Marathon. I actually like it, I think it pushes me to go faster. PM me if you have any other questions or want any other help.

I'm thinking virus. Symantec just ran and found a trojan horse, but not really sure where to go from here.

An expected reply...

OK, I'm a little lost here. I'm not a super geek but I thought I knew a little bit but my current situation doesn't make sense to me. Basically I have a laptop and when I connect (wirelessly) to my network it says "excellent" but when I try to go to the internet, like TBD in IE or Firefox I get nothing. The weird part is I can get AOL IM and itunes. Is there something I'm missing?

Spring Break Daytona Beach '97 - Senior Year of High School, spent 2 weeks with 2 friends in the shadiest motel ever Spring Break 1999 Cancun - Cancun was big destination, not crazy yet. It was the first year MTV was there I think. Jay-Z and Eminem for free Semester in Australia 1999 - Basically a 5 month party - partying all over the country with some of the craziest Aussies around Bahamas - Senior Week 2001 - Atlantis Paradise Island, Bahamas, drinking on the beach at the Atlantis all day happy to be done with school Spring Break 2002 - Panama City Beach - If you're paying attention, I had graduated by that point and actually had money Las Vegas Summer 2002 - First time in Vegas with a group of guys, spent a week there, drank Busch Light in the Flamingo Pool all night, gambled and drank all night Las Vegas Summer 2004 - First Bachelor Party in Vegas, Hard Rock Pool/Rehab/Stripper Dodge Ball, enough said Fort Lauderdale - Bills/Dolphins - Multiple years - first year might have been the best, can't remember the year Daytona 500 2008 - First time in Daytona for the race, relived spring break from 10 years earlier Las Vegas 2009 - Bachelor Party - Five Days 10 hours of sleep, Booze, Strippers, Gambling done perfectly New Orleans - 2010 - Bachelor Party - First time in NO, Saints beat Cardinals, fell in love with the city I'm sure there were others but there's always a lot of alcohol...

Probably pretty obvious who I'm backing. I went to the race 2 years ago and was bummed I wasn't going last year and having similar feelings this year as well. Can't wait until Sunday, but Gatorade Duels today, Danica races Saturday, should be a great weekend for racing.

How was the crowd at the Middle East? One of my favorite places to see the show. Downstairs I assume? I saw Shinedown there a while back, pretty sure I couldn't hear for a few days after.

Wow, fez I thought for sure you would have some security issue with TaxAct. I've used them for 7 years and they've been great and I've never had any issues. I must admit they seem to be pushing the "deluxe" edition pretty hard this year. It's only $10 more but I didn't bite.

Tiger would probably give you his for free, if he could do your wife.

Oh yeah, I stood on the bar to take a picture of it so I could send it to you.

Ok, here's a quick trip report and a thank you to those who helped out. The trip didn't exactly go as planned due to the football games and the length of time I was there (too short) but it was a blast. I love what I saw and as a group we had a great time. Friday Night - Started with Razzoo's for 3-4-1 drinks and stayed there for a while before moving on to The Beach and a few other bars. Nothing too exciting, eventually we headed into one of the many gentlemen's clubs. I don't remember which one but it was awful. I turned around before even ordering a drink. I had some money burning a hole in my pocket so I went to the casino and played poker until almost 7AM. Saturday - We met for lunch at Huck Finn's. My buddy's found the place and thought it would be a good spot for us to watch the Saints/Cardinals game at but we quickly found out it was not what we were looking for. My buddy's found another place where we could all sit by a big screen and watch the game but again, no atmosphere and terrible service. I started wandering around looking for a better option. We wound up inside the Bourbon Cowboy. The back room was packed and it was a good time. Plus the front room had 3-4-1 beers so it was a cheap place to hang out. After the game we just stumbled around the various bars. The atmosphere was crazy. They love their Saints. WHO DAT!!! Eventually we went into Scores. Much better than the place the night before. Sunday - Lunch at Cajun Mike's due to EndZoneCrew's recommendation. Wow, an interesting little hole in the wall. Decent oyster po boy and then found his "!@#$ the Dolphins" dollar on the ceiling. After lunch we started our bar crawl down Bourbon Street and the surrounding areas. I don't remember all the names but basically we spent 30 minutes at each bar and then moved on. In the end we hit at least 13 bars. I think the Funky Pirate was my favorite, mainly because we were all pretty drunk by then and half of the crew wound up wearing pirate hats the rest of the night. Eventually we went back to Scores, which was boring because nobody was there and then went back to the casino. I know this trip may not sound like a good time for everyone but it was perfect for our crew. I'm already trying to think of an excuse to get back.

missed the segment since i work but love the avatar...

Back on topic here, Mandalay Bay has the best book and atmosphere in my opinion. I think there is a new one at Venetian that is supposed to be nice with good food, by Emeril I think. I'd also check out Aria since it is brand new.

Saints will be playing but doubt we will go to the game, hopefully just get in some tailagating.

Anybody familiar with New Orleans? Guys trip down there in a week and none of us have ever been. I know the usual, Hurricanes, Pat O'Brien's etc but wasn't sure if there were any other cool spots to hit. I just bought 10lbs of beads on Ebay, hopefully they come in handy. Oh we're staying right across the street from Harrah's so there will be some gambling as well. Basically any bars that a bunch of guys from Buffalo would enjoy. We're more the play pool, darts, drink beers types than the hit the techno club type. Thanks in advance for any help.

So sad, he was just on Jimmy Fallon a few weeks back and absolutely hilarious. Hopefully this is hitting bottom and he comes back better than ever.