The Lions, Thanksgiving, and Tradition

Every year, the Detroit Lions play on Thanksgiving. Currently, after this years loss to the New England Patriots, the Lions are on a seven game losing streak on Thanksgiving. There has been talk among NFL analysts as to why the Lions continue to play on turkey day even when they continue to lose. As a Lions fan, the only answer I have is because it is tradition. The Lions have been playing on Thanksgiving day since the 1930's so the game is part of history. Even if the Lions are not winning the games, they have been of many peoples lives during the holiday. When I go to to my uncle's house for thanksgiving, the Lions game is always on the TV in the living room. Also, Detroit may have a losing record but they have a lot of young players so the future looks bright for the Detroit Lions.

My Thoughts on Walking Dead

Since Halloween weekend, a new show has been gaining in popularity and it is called "The Walking Dead." It is about survivors and how they deal with a zombie outbreak. I like zombie movies and have seen quite a few of them. I was surprised when AMC picked up the series because after watching every episode so far, it is pretty gory, which I don't mind. I like the main characters in the series and think they are well suited for the parts they play. To avoid spoiling episodes for people, I won't talk about certain scenes, but there are some moments that make me want to go back and watch them again because they were well done. From what I have heard, a second season has already been picked up so it looks like zombies will be on AMC for a while now. Overall, I think "The Walking Dead" is a good series and I would recommend it to anyone who is looking for a new series to follow or something to do on a Sunday night

Boise St. Loses

It looks like Boise State will not be the Cinderella of college football and make it to the national championship game. The Broncos lost to Nevada 31-34 on Friday. Throughout the year, Boise State has had to beat everyone by practically thirty or more points to impress the BCS enough so that they might end up in the championship game. There has been debate as to whether the broncos were ranked too high because they had a weak schedule and it looks like the schedule finally caught up to them. I think, if they had gone undefeated, that the broncos deserved to be in the championship game because they were impressive in their wins and I am tired of seeing the traditional teams in the championship game year after year.

GVSU Loses in Playoffs

Grand Valley State University will not be making it back to the national championship game this year. The Lakers lost to Augustana 38-6 in the Division 2 playoffs on Saturday. Throughout the season, the lakers have shown that they can be a team that is capable of making it to the championship game and a team that is lucky to have won a couple games. Looking forward, there are some good players on the team that will learn from their experiences in the playoffs this year. With a new head coach and coaching staff, the lakers did pretty good in the first year of a new coaching era and things are certainly looking up for the GVSU football team.

My Thoughts on "Deathly Hallows Part 1"

Today I saw the first part of the final movie in the Harry Potter saga, Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows Part 1. Having read every Harry Potter book and seeing every movie so far, I had high expectations for "Hallows" and the movie did not disappoint. One thing that I have noticed about the movies is that they have been progressively getting darker and more serious and the seventh movie continues that theme. Whether it is Dobby dying or Hermione getting tortured, the seventh movie has a very serious tone to it. There were some scenes in the movie that weren't in the book. One example being Hermione wiping her parents memories in case they were interrogated. I thought that was a touching scene showing how Harry's friends were dealing with having to run from Voldemort. Overall, I thought it was a good movie and one of the best of the saga and I would highly recommend that people go and see it.

Michigan Loses Again

Sigh, it is really difficult being a Michigan football fan these days. The Michigan Wolverines lost 37-7 to their longtime rival Ohio State on Saturday. It was the last game of the season for the Wolverines and unfortunately, it ended in a big loss. The team won seven games this year which means they will be in their first bowl game in the Rich Rod era. Now that the season is over, questions are going to arise as to when or if anyone will be fired. The defense was really bad this season so that warrants the defensive coordinator Greg Robinson being fired and with a sub par Big 10 record, Rich Rod could be fired as well. Since Rich Rod was hired, I have waited for Michigan to get back to its winning ways but now I think Michigan needs a new head coach, preferably someone who played at Michigan.

New Harry Potter Books in the Future?

Perhaps the final movie in the saga of Harry Potter won't be the last we will see of him or other characters in the books. On Oprah's show, Harry Potter Author J.K Rowling said that "I could definitely write [a book] eight or nine," after she mentioned that the characters are still in her head. With this news, massive speculation has started as to what the books could be about. There are rumors that the books could be about the adventures of Harry's children, the adventures of Harry's grandchildren or a prequels about other characters in the Harry Potter universe. As a fan of the Harry Potter series, I wouldn't mind reading any of those books. Reading about Harry's children would give us some perspective on the world of Harry Potter after he defeated Voldemort and reading a couple of prequels could give us some more background on why Harry was "the chosen one."

Wisonsin Beats Indiana 83-20

I would be really surprised if someone on Indiana's coaching staff doesn't get fired after the team lost by 63 points to a Big 10 opponent. The 83 points are the most scored ever by a Wisconsin team. Coming into the game, Wisconsin was without its star running back John Clay and they obviously didn't need him. After the game, there are going to be discussions on whether or not the Badgers run up the score on the Hoosiers. Personally, I don't think there is such a thing as running up the score. If a team doesn't play defense, it is their own fault for losing. In Indiana's case, it is their fault that they didn't play defense so Wisconsin was just doing their job on offense. Next week, Wisconsin plays Michigan and as a Michigan fan, I am worried about what Wisconsin will do to a bad Michigan defense.

Glad This Isn't Happening in the United States

This post is off topic but I though it would interest some people. Thousands of students in London are protesting because Parliament is considering tripling tuition rates. Although this does not affect anyone in the United States, it does give us some perspective about how education is handled in other countries and how at GVSU when tuition rises, we can be thankful that it doesn't get tripled. As a student myself, if I found out that the U.S. would be tripling tuition rates, I wouldn't be happy either. Although I am not the protesting type, I am sure lots of students in the United States would protest like the London students are doing if the government tried something like this.
http://video.ap.org/?f=None&pid=rfvW8x0jWWpF6iZ8OMO_hWv98DpzJXWk

Cowboys Fire Head Coach Wade Phillips

After a disappointing start to the season, the Dallas Cowboys have fired head coach Wade Phillips. Before the season started, Dallas was talking about being the first team to play in the Super Bowl in their own stadium but after a bad start and their starting quarterback getting injured, that is not going to happen. The Dallas Cowboys like to see themselves as the Yankees of the NFL but unlike the Yankees, the Cowboys have not had much success over the past decade. They keep thinking that they are like the Yankees when they really are just an average team. If they can find a good, well known head coach, they may be able to be a contender in the NFC instead of pretending that they are. For the rest of the season, Offensive Coordinator Jason Garrett will be the interim head coach.

Ashton Kutcher and Demi Moore in Trouble with NCAA

Ashton Kutcher and his Wife Demi Moore are in trouble with the NCAA for allegedly contacting athletes at the University of Iowa. Kutcher graduated from Iowa and helps them out from time to time. It is against NCAA rules for a representative of a university to come in contact with a possible recruit and Kutcher did just that. The contact could result in athletes becoming interested in a university without giving others any thoughts which is a problem according to the NCAA. Personally, I think this is rather humorous. I am not a big fan of Kutchers, although I do watch "That 70's Show" and I think that an actor getting in trouble shows that they are not above the law even when it comes to athletics. I am looking forward to seeing if Kutcher actually gets in trouble or if he just gets a slap on the wrist.