Harlem Quijano

Now that series finales for “24″ have come and gone, I find myself needing a monday night television fix just to satisf my boob tube craving.  And, to be totally honest, I haven’t (and probably won’t) settle on a regular Monday night must see episode.  I am not much for watching a lot of television as I think I fulfilled my quota for myself and perhaps a small third world country whilst I was a bored teenager oh so many years ago.  I might watch an interesting NatGeo show or turn to the many rerun options of Mythbusters which seem to run on at least half of the DirecTV channels that are within my tier, I mean what is not to like about that show including Jamie’s sweet ’stache.  I have just recently stumbled on a very interesting show on Spike TV that I thought at the time it was going to be “uber” lame.  Yup, so lame that it has compelled me to use the word “uber” that is until I made the serendipitous decision to watch it.  Here is the premise of the show in 100 words or less – basically 12 guys who for some reason or maybe excuse did not make it into the National Football League who vy for a chance at a roster spot on the Dallas Cowboys.  Now, mind you, these are not just any ordinary folk stripped from their couch potato nirvana to participate in greuling activities like in “The Biggest Loser” which I am a big fan of!  But, these are blue chip athletes that went to prominent football colleges that just did not make it into the League through various circumstances that run the range of being truly heart wrenching to eye-roll-inducing-don’t-look-at-me-in-the-eye-and-give-me-excuses-it’s-your-own-fault stories.  In two words these guys are “real athletes”.  The host is none other than Michael Irvin who is just fitted for the job.  Say what you want of Irvin, about his character, his ethics, or moral at the time – he is well suited to be the host.  In typical reality show style the athletes go through a series of tests to see who among them is good enough to make it to the next episode and true to reality show style it gets ugly.  The drill is not a spectacular one but it does the job that it was designed to do.  First, to teach offense and defense how to handle the ‘gunner’ on a kick off or punt return. Second, to see which of the athletes were in NFL ready shape.  If you watched the show you could easily see which of the athletes were physically prepared for the taxing activity and who were not as several of them were easily winded after a couple of reps.  More than a few were doing the technicolor yawn and leaving their lunch on the field from the over-exertion and believe me I know how it feels to be out of shape and going all out for a strenuous activity, it isn’t pretty nor does it feel good.  But, that is not why I watch the show, or put it on my DVR queue.  No, in fact, I watch it for the sheer brilliance and wisdom coming out of the mouth of Michael Irvin.  You heard me right.   you see I never played football my high school never could afford to have one and the student body couldn’t support one even if there was money for it.  But, you can tell that Michael Irvin was bred for it not in his physical stature but in his drill instructor -like response to the mere hint of pain.  One statement still rings true to me.  One that I can transpose into everyday life.  And that is, “most players train to look good in the first quarter, at the start of the game, but successful players train for the fourth quarter” (maybe not verbose cause my memory isn’t what it used to be but it’s close).  I take it to mean that one can anticipate in the last part of any sport, maybe the most crucial part, tiredness becomes a factor in the success equation.  Don’t be caught being the tired one.  Here is an excerpt from the show – enjoy.

Yes, I am still alive and the pushups have yet to kill me.  In fact, I think I am definitely a bit stronger and am now in the process of starting week six!  I am pretty sure you are getting the same gains as I am if you are at week 5 or 6 so keep up the good work.

Overall, with the increased strength I am also feeling more energetic.  So much so that I have started doing the 200 Squats program from the same folks who do the pushup routines.  And, in fact, just started today.  This time my wife and a few of my kids will participate in the fun.

Just some random thoughts about the site:

I think I am going to make a new template or at least mod an existing one.

What else am I going to put up on here??  Hmmm…thinking makes my head hurt.

Wordpress is a really great CMS, but some of the plugins aren’t behaving right:(

More to come soon….