Never Been a Better Time

NEVER Been a Better Time to be a BOSTON SPORTS Fan

Growing up every little kid dreams to one day be a sports superstar. Most kids idolize players like Lebron James, Alex Rodriguez, Tom Brady and Tiger Woods - How can you not? Premiere athletes are rare, amazing and surrounded by fame and fortune. All things being equal, athletes are a small percentage of the population and the majority of us end up being fans of what we will never be. Boston is a city captivated with sports teams, wether your walking down Yawkey way to a sox game or entering the TD Banknorth Garden there is always excitement in Boston. Today is the best time to be a Boston sports fan.



BOSTON RED SOX

The Sox have been around since before most of us were born, and are easily the most intriguing sports team in all of New England. Fenway park has been home to the sox for almost 100 years now and so many memorable games have been decided there. What makes this place so unique is not only the green monster and the Citgo sign, but the atmosphere. Everytime I go to a game it seems like there is just something special about the place and the history that surrounds it is completely unique.


As far as history goes, there use to be "the curse of the Bambino," when a questionable move by red sox management traded away Babe Ruth for practically nothing. It was said that the red sox would never win a world series and for a while the curse stood strong. Yet in 2004, the red sox won their first title in nearly 85 years, and again took the world series crown in 2007. Thus the bandwagon fans are joining and it has never been a better time to be a Boston sports fan.

BOSTON CELTICS

The Celtics are simply put legendary, they have won 17 NBA championships, the most in NBA history and between 1959 and 1966 they won 8 straight championships! They are the only team in professional sports to ever accomplish such a feat. Some notable players to be involved in such a dynasty include Larry Bird, Robert Parrish, and Bill Russell. They are ever ingrained in the history books and have created the franchise.

So are the Celtics back? After the new look Celtics won the Championship last year it looks like they are returning to glory. New acquisitions such as Kevin Garnett and Ray Allen have helped fuel long time Celtic Paul Pierce and youngster Rajon Rondo. The team is at the top of Eastern conference again and with one title under their belts it has never been a better time to be a Boston Sports fan.


BOSTON BRUINS

The Bruins are one of the 6 original hockey teams when the National Hockey League began and have had plenty of success. They have won 5 Stanley cups and 21 division titles. Most notably about the franchise is the Big Bad Bruin era, when players such as Bobby Orr, Ken Hodge, and Terry O'Reilly controlled the ice. This was a time when hockey began to become big and these guys made the game exciting.

Now, there is rejuvenation back in Boston! Over the past two decades the bruins have been rather disappointing, yet this year they are a top of the eastern conference. A new youthful team with players such as Patrice Bergeron, Phil Kessel, Milan Lucic and Blake Wheeler have sparked the franchise. They are currently 35 - 8 and beginning to get back to the old days, but in different style of speed and scoring. Again, it has never been a better time to be a Boston Sports fan.

NEW ENGLAND PATRIOTS

How can we forgot about the Patriots? The most successful football team to date, yet lacking the history of most Boston teams. They are home in Foxboro, MA about 22 miles south of Boston and are original member's of the AFL. Despite losing their first two Superbowls to the Bears and the Packers the Patriots franchise has been on the verge of being called a Dynasty. Between 2001 and 2005 they won 3 out of 4 superbowls!

So are the Patriots doing anything now? Of course under coach Bill Belichick they have continued success year after year. They were almost the second team to ever go an entire season undefeated, yet they lost in the Superbowl to the NY Giants last season. Unfortunatly, they were not able to pull thru but 4 superbowl appearences in 7 years is nothing to complain about. Therefore I must say once more:
it has never been a better time to be a Boston sports fan...

Future - 10 Years Down the Road

As college upperclassmen were faced with this question every day, where will I be after I graduate? What would I like to do the rest of my life? At times it can be quite scary, yet at the same time possibilities remain endless. I look forward to the future and I really hope that all of my goals are achieved.

Professionally

Professionally, down the road I would like to be involved in the health and fitness industry and have a job where I have an impact on peoples lives. As the next 10 years go by I would like to have a secure job in health services, promotion, management or health administration. I plan on working for a facility and going back to graduate school to get my MBA with a health management emphasis. As for my personal life, in 10 years I hope to keep in touch with the one's closest to me; friends, family and others. Accordingly, I would like to be married and in the early stages of starting my own family. Therefore, my professional achievements and my personal life will change dramatically throughout the decade.

Destination

Finding a job and starting a family is one thing, but where am I going to be at when all of this is happening? In all honesty, It is not a major factor and all depends on what happens professionally and in my personal life. Being from the north, I would really like to try and make my way back up the east coast, hopefully somewhere closer to family in Massachusetts and New Hampshire. All and all, I will pretty much go with the flow and just want a nice home along the east coast.

Lifestyle

When it comes to lifestyle, I really do not want to change a whole lot. I would really like to continue achieving my fitness goals and be able to run in the Boston Marathon. I hope I maintain a healthy way of life and my nutrition, sleeping habits and total wellness remain constant. Additionally, I really hope I am not crazy busy and have time to share with my family and friends. In conclusion, change is inevitable, and I am excited to see where my road takes me in the coming years.

The Machine is Us/ing Us - VIDEO CLIP

After viewing the video clip "The Machine is Us/ing Us" I think the title is trying to explain to us that things, specifically technology are changing because we are using it. The more we use something the more people are going to think of improvements to what we people are currently doing. The title is sort of pointing out that people have an increasing reliance on their computers because of the always changing features. Basically by using the computer the computer is actually in a way using us.

Web 2.0 affects different people in different ways and has an especially strong effect on new arrivals to the workforce. Many people in the workforce are not used to the web and may be hesitant to change, but as we use the machine day after day this will change the way new employees do things vs existing employees. The web opens up new options, features, solutions and not to exclude problems to the workforce. In addition, people already in the workforce may go about things in a different manner and conflicting styles will cause problems. Sort of new age versus old age coming together. The old age will have to adapt to the changing environment and the new age will have to solve problems with a reliance on the web and pave a different path.
Lastly to sum up this weeks blog, I want to touch on what does the video mean when it says "we will have to rethink everything?" I think this means exactly what I mentioned before as in finding a new route or new way of accomplishing tasks. With technology growing a rapidly increasing rate the new work force will have to figure things out in direct comparison to the web and its functions. With the introduction of the new Web 2.0 we will not be able to go back to the old ways people are going to have to adjust and find different means of acheiving goals and conducting business. All and all, the video is very abstract and has a lot to do with humans relying on the machine for all aspects of life.

Introduction to Classmates

Hey Everyone, the new spring semester is finally underway. I would like to begin by introducing myself and give a brief background of my life and how I ended up at Clemson.
I was born in Newbury, Massachusetts a small town about 40 minutes north of Boston and 30 minutes from the border of New Hampshire. I grew up loving sports from the very beginning and learned to ice skate early on. I attended Triton Regional High School where I played golf, hockey and baseball, but also remained focused on my academics.
I really enjoyed every minute of High School, but just wanted to switch things up a little and go out of my element by attending a college far away from home. I figure you have four years to go anywhere and experience anything, I may as well mix it up and check out what the south had to offer. Not to mention the climate, amazing sports and campus of Clemson.
My main interests now are health and fitness and of course sports. My passion is staying healthy, exercising regularly and focusing on school. Last summer, I received my certification in personal training and would like to eventually end up in the health/fitness service industry. I am majoring in Marketing with an emphasis in health and hospital services and a minor in health science. In addition to fitness, I love the beach, hiking, snowboarding, golfing - basically anything outdoors and I am set. Lastly, the Boston Red Sox are my team and baseball is my favorite sport to watch.
All and all, that's just a quick background of myself and how I ended up down here. I look forward to the semester and learning more about everyone.