Sorry Joe

Yesterday I went to the Illini football game. The Illini beat Penn State 27-20 and it was pretty freakin' fabulous. It was a beautiful day, Memorial Stadium was sold out and filled with lots of orange-clad fans, and Illinois beat a ranked opponent for the first time since 2001. For the first time since 1994 Illinois is 2-0 in Big Ten play... it is so nice to have something to get excited about when it comes to Illini football, other than the fact that it means that Illini basketball will be starting in about 6 weeks. :)

Perhaps lost in all of the excitement of the win was the losing coach, Joe Paterno. How can you not like this guy. He has been the head coach at Penn State for 42 years, and his total tenure with the team dates back to 1950 as he spent 16 years as an assistant. It is refreshing to see commitment like that in this day in age. Besides being a talented and successful coach (a t-shirt spotted on Penn State fan yesterday read "Joe Knows Football"), he is a big fan of the Big Ten Conference, the healthiest octogenarian I have seen, and strives to put but academic success ahead of athletic success. Like I said... what is not to love.

JoPa is a legend... it is an honor to see him coach. I wish him well... except when he plays the Illini.

Great win yesterday boys... keep it up!

My Favorite Things

So let me share some of my favorite things of late.

#1 The DVR is a wonderful invention. My very first blog was about how my new DVR was my new best friend. Now that the new fall TV schedule is in full swing I am being reminded once again how sweet this invention is.

#2 The aforementioned fall TV schedule. Dancing with the Stars is back, along with Ugly Betty and Grey's... how I have missed you Bruno, Betty and McDreamy. The new shows I have checked out and enjoy are Private Practice, the Grey's spin-off. I have held a torch for Tim Daly since the days of Wings when he was Joe Hackett... my little Joey Bear (kudos to anyone who actually remembers that episode of Wings when Joe's psycho classmate from high school is delusional and kidnaps him to relive the prom in his basement, and nobody believes him that she is a stalker because she is completely normal with everyone else). I have also watched Life, on Wednesday at 9:00 on NBC (I think) It is about a cop that was framed for a triple murder and spent the last 12 years in jail. It is eventually discovered that he was framed so he is released, got a HUGE settlement from the LAPD and he asked to be a cop again. He is completely lacking all social skills, evidently you don't need them in prison, his new partner got stuck with him because she is recovering from drug addiction, so hilartiy ensues. Plus, his ex-wife if still a good friend (she was his lawyer and got him out of jail) and he likes to constantly pull her current husband over for traffic violoations, oh, and he is still trying to figure out who framed him... ah revenge I love it.

#3 95.3 The Wolf a new country radio station in Champaign-Urbana. It is great. They don't play the same 12 songs over and over again like they do on WIXY, and they play more old stuff. Two favorites I have heard in the past few days "Redneck Girl" and "Baby Likes to Rock it like a Boogie Woogie Choo Choo Train". Excellent station... kudos to Allison for bringing to my attention at work the other day.

Everything is Bigger in Texas

Just a quick post to let you know that I met my freshman Illini football mentee for the 2007-2008 school year tonight. His name is Cole Knuth, and he is a 6 foot 3 inch, 290 pound offensive lineman who has "walked on" from Prosper, Texas... just north of Dallas. He seems like a pretty good kid, in our first "get to know you" meeting we managed to bond about Starbucks coffee and AT&T Park in San Francisco... I think we will get along just fine :)

He is definitely way bigger than my mentee from last year, Jake... a kicker who was by no means small, but Cole has a good inch and nearly 100 pounds on Jake. Oh, Cole is currently recovering from surgery he had on his foot... a stress fracture that wouldn't heal. Needless to say we bonded over the stress fracture thing too.

I think Cole and I will have a good year. With the Illini 3-1, the mood about the football complex is pretty positive too. Here is the link to Cole's player bio.

http://fightingillini.cstv.com/sports/m-footbl/mtt/knuth_cole00.html

I am looking forward to the Illini vs. Penn State game this Saturday. I will be sure to look for Cole on the sidelines (#61 for any of you that will be at the game and wan to play Where's Cole?")... he will likely be out of uniform due to his injury so he should be pretty easy to spot.

Six Degrees of Kendra & Wyatt

Yesterday I went to Kendra and Wyatt's wedding. Kendra is one of my co-workers at Busey, a fellow credit analyst, and a really good friend. She is the one who graciously drove me to and from work everyday for six weeks this spring when I had a cast on my right foot and had crutches... Kudos Kendra... it is about five months late but Kudos.

Richard was busy yesterday so Nikki went with me to the wedding. She has met Kendra a time or two, and is always willing to hit the dance floor with me. Nikki was only supposed to know one person at the wedding, Kendra, the bride. Turns out she knew more people than me. It was pretty much a college reunion for her and her Kineisiology classmates. Tim ended up marred to one of Kendra's former co-workers, and Andrea has been good friends with the groom, Wyatt, for a number of years. Speaking of Wyatt, I don't know him all that well but he is a pretty good guy. First, he managed to sweep the lovely Kendra off her feet, and second, he is a Cardinal fan... so much so that the groom's cake was totally sporting a "Birds on the Bat" theme.

The wedding was absolutely beautiful. It was outdoors in the sunken garden at Allerton Park. The weather was perfect, and it was perhaps the loveliest wedding I can recall... with the exception of some rather hungry insects... Nikki said she was very much regretting the fruity smelling body lotion and the perfume.

In another instance of weird and random connections at the wedding. I had the opportunity to meet my co-worker, Allison's boyfriend, Paul for the first time. Well at least I thought it was for the first time. Turns out Paul grew up and went to school in Gibson City, went to my church and my Mom taught him in Sunday School, and yeah I have pretty much known him his entire life. How his being a native of my very own Gibson City never came up with Allison I will never know. It was just so weird.

All in all a lovely time. When I head off to work tomorrow morning, Kendra and Wyatt will be headed for Aruba... Lucky Ducks. Congratulations Kendra and Wyatt!

Blame It on the Cub Fan!

Sunday was my last trip to Busch Stadium this season. The Cards took it on the chin again. To make matters worse they were playing the Cubs. I don't like to lose... I really don't like to lose to the Cubs. Nikki and I were joined by our pal Karen, and Nik's co-worker, Angie. Angie is a lovely gal, but a Cub fan...Boo!

The game was kind of uneventful, Brendan Ryan (I heart him) was playing, but he was not rocking the socks. Evidently he varies from socks to long pants depending upon his hitting. If he hits well he continues with whatever look, if he hits bad the next game he changes, until he gets into a hitting grove, then he keeps whatever look until he goes hitless again.

The highlight of the day was Nik nearly throwing down with a guy in an SUV trying to cut into the exit line in the parking garage. Sorry buddy we drove around like everyone else, your time is no more valuable than ours, wait your turn. He flipped Nik off, she never let him in line, horns were honking and and Nik actually yelled out the window "Get in line and wait your turn like everyone else Jackass!" You just don't see that every day... it was beautiful.

Nik evidently got her own bit of "traffic karma" as there was evidently an accident on the interstate slowing traffic to a crawl... it took us just under TWO HOURS to get 11 miles from the river to the Collinsville exit! By the time we passed the accident it was largely cleared, but we are fairly certain said accident was caused by a Cub fan!

Normally I would be a bit sad about my last baseball game of the season but the Cards are fading fast and are just banged up and kind of tired... so it is probably time for the season to end. Thankfully Illini football is looking up so that should keep me occupied for awhile.

I hope everyone had been enjoying this fabulous weather.

I Was Born In A Small Town

On Thursday after work I went to my "hometown", Gibson City, for a visitation, but coincidentally it was also the evening of the high school homecoming parade. I watched the parade with my Mom and Dad, and I got to see my nephew, Jeremy, playing in the Middle School Band, and my niece, Taylor, ride by in a convertible as a Junior Class Attendant. Even though I haven't been a permanent resident of GC for nearly 20 years, I still knew a lot of people in the parade and those watching. Taylor threw me candy... her friend, Sarah, was in the parade with the tennis team and spotted my Dad along the route and threw a boatload of candy his way with a hearty "Hey George!"

When I left town after the visitation and dinner, all of the trees along downtown were toilet papered big time. It was actually kind of pretty. I have no desire to return to Gibson City to live, but being at that parade made me very appreciative of the fact that I was raised there. In recent months a couple of situations have been brought to my attention where I have realized that my childhood and life in general have been ridiculously idyllic and well, I am incredibly blessed. So I am just very thankful for my small town.

Phil the Gorilla

So it has been awhile since the birthday post. Today is my brother, Phil's, birthday. Happy Birthday George Philip Tjardes!

Most people don't realize Phil's actual first name is George, he always went by his middle name since our Dad's name is George. I think on legal documents he goes by G. Philip. Phil turns 45 today, he is eight years older than me... just 20 months younger than our older sister, Jan. It was just Jan and Phil for years, much like the picture on the left, above... they are kind of cute, don't you think? The second photo on the right was taken when I came on the scene (you can't tell in this scan but I have a little mohawk going on... guess I went through my punk years early, huh?) Phil looks cute and happy, just like in the first photo, but Jan looks like she wasn't as pleased at my arrival.

When I think about my brother several things come to mind, the first being basketball. He played basketball from seventh grade through two years of junior college, I can count on one hand the number of games I missed. I don't really remember being into the games all that much, but I must have picked something up along the way, because I LOVE college basketball now that I am a grown up.

Phil was the typical older brother, making fun of me. He used to call me "stoneface", as you can see from the photo above, I was not the most photogenic as a child. Also, much like now I was a chubby kid. He used to tease me and say "Pinch-a-Foot", in reference to the Special K add campaign back in the day that asked "Can you Pinch-an-Inch?" I remember these teasing incidents usually ending up with me crying, and Phil trying to explain to me (before I went and told on him) the concept of "We only tease because we love"... whatever! I do remember Phil being really nice to me one time. When he was a senior in high school he was a starter on the basketball team that made it to the state tournament, and got to play at the Assembly Hall... a very big deal in Gibson City. He bought me an "Elite 8" t-shirt that they has been selling at school. We only had 4 tickets for the game at the Hall in the lower "A section". Our sister, Jan (a college freshman at the time) seemed to think that she should get a good seat, but Phil asked her how many of his games she had been to that season. Answer: quite a few. Then asked her how many games I had been to that season. Answer: Every last one. Needles to say, I got to sit down in A section in the good seats with our parents... they lost the game but I was so excited to finally get treated like a grown up.

Besides basketball, Phil makes me think of beer. I don't know why, he just does. He also often refers to our parents as "George & Marilyn" instead of "Mom & Dad"... not sure why, but he always has, it just seems to work for him. He also always has some sort of story or joke to tell too. Many times the joke or story is naughty or inappropriate, but I always laugh.

One of my favorite things about my brother are his three kids, Ashley, Taylor and Jeremy, and they each have a bit of "Phil" in the them... at times it is scary. Oh, another random thing I remember is having some pictures in a photo album at home of Phil when he was on some sort of Jr. High field trip to a zoo. He is standing in front of a building (the ape house I am guessing) that has a big sign saying "Phil the Gorilla".

Happy Birthday Phil the Gorilla!

I-L-L...S-O-G-G-Y

So yesterday was the home opener for the Illini football team, a 6 p.m. start which is particularly conducive to tailgating. The "Grrr" of today's post goes to Mother Nature who did her best to dampen (both literally and figuratively) our tailgate plans... but we are a hardy and dedicated lot and would not be denied.

So we headed over to the stadium just after 3 p.m. yesterday, after the big rains passed through, and tailgated in the mud. We nearly had to take out a couple of kids playing football in the parking lot with the van because the lot was a bit muddy, we were loaded down with people and supplies and weren't about to stop and get stuck in the mud... sorry kids.

Kudo's go to Nikki's Dad, Jerry, aka "Captain Map" (if you are ever lost give Jerry a call) who brought a tarp, albeit as slightly leaky on, so we could fashion a MacGyver-like tent out of the back of the van. It looked a little redneck, perhaps a little "ghetto fabulous" if you will, but it worked and we stayed relatively dry. Here is a picture of the setup.

We had a few of the enemies among us. Nikki's sister, Angie, and her friend, Tara, attend Western Illinois University, the Illini's opponent. They challenged Nik and me to an Illini vs. Leatherneck washers show down. As much as I hate to admit it the Leathernecks put a beat down on the Illini in washers... but the Illini won the football game, and that is all I really cared about it. Here is a great pic of the "Sisters Murbarger" throwing down.

Also, joining us at the tailgate was my buddy and former Illini football player mentee, Jake. Jake recently made the tough decision to give up football this season to pursue being a "normal" college student this year. This was one of his first tailgating experiences (the coaches frown on the tailgating when you are actually on the team) and I think Jake enjoyed it. He put his former NCAA Division 1 athlete skills on display with this 4-point washer shot (see below)... but I think he still got his booty kicked by girls... Tara and Ang have some serious washer skills!

Anywho, perhaps the best part of Jake leaving the team is that now we are no longer subject to NCAA rules and regulations and I can feed the boy. Here he is enjoying a tailgate sandwich, along with Captain Map... and it is totally legal.

Angie had the line of the day, though. She is not yet 21, but the rest of her posse is, so she went up to Captain Map and asked "Daddy, can I have a beer?" You don't hear that everyday, it was a precious... FYI the answer was "No!"... sorry Ang.

I little later my college buddy Scott Larimer, aka "Larimer" stopped by with his parents. Here is a picture of the two of us. He still looks like he is in college... me... not so much.

The construction around the stadium is a bit a of a pain, especially in the rain... muddy porta potties... need I say more... but I was perhaps expecting even worse? The new student section is really nice, and I am looking forward to seeing what the west side will look like next season.

It was little soggy, but still a great day.

My Latest Guilty Pleasure

In the spirit of Labor Day I have been doing anything but "laboring", and managed to plop down in front of the TV earlier today and get completely sucked into a mini-marathon of "Sunset Tan" on E!. This show is completely lame and ridiculous, but I still managed to watch at least 4 episodes. It is yet another reality TV show set in SoCal, this time revolving around two owners of group of tanning salons (Jeff and Devon) known as Sunset Tan (hence the name of the show) and their crazy lot of salon employees, most of whom are women. For some reason, one of the owners, Devon, hardly ever talks or gets any camera time... he seems to be the reasonable, thoughtful, logical, money man (ie in reality TV "boring" one) hence his lack of face time. A number of the women working for them are catty, back stabbing types. And the drama it pretty entertaining. Nick is the one guy who works for them as a manager, and he had the brilliant idea of having his girlfriend, Onya, work for the company... yeah like that will help the relationship. In one episode Onya gets into a throw down with a couple of the other girls and Nick tries to stay out of it which is good for Nick the Employee/Co-worker, meanwhile Nick the Boyfriend is so screwed for not standing up for his woman. My absolute favorites are "The Olly Girls" Holly and Molly (pictured above), two ditzy blondes that are pretty much joined at the hip, and dumber than a box of rocks, but completely hysterical at the same time. They decided to practice their mystic tanning spraying techniques on each other, all goes well until they are walking out of the salon later and one of them realizes she completely forgot to spray the other ones back side of her body... not sure how you could forget to spray/be sprayed on both sides but the Olly Girls are the sharpest tools in the shed. They are basically too dumb to work in the salon so the owners decide they are better suited for marketing... ie they are way too hott to fire. They hit the streets passing out flyers/coupons. They stumble on to a bingo parlor that appears to be operated/frequented by transvestites and they are too clueless to realize the ladies are actually dudes or maybe they don't care. Anyway, they are a big hit with the drag queens who evidently are always looking for a good tan so they stumble into bringing in a crazy big amount of business for the salons. Nick's reaction to a transvestite coming into the salon to tan is priceless. Like I said this show is completely inane and I am ashamed to admit it, but I so enjoy it. Happy Labor Day!

Kudos: The Random Sports Edition

So here are some random sports kudos.

#1 I heart J Leman! J is a linebacker on the Illini football team. He is just phenomenal! Besides being a kick-butt defensive player... 20 tackles in the Mizzou game with 10 solo tackles... J is just a kick-butt person too. He is a great student (currently working on his masters degree, as he completed his undergrad in just 3 years while playing football at the same time), a supportive teammate, a devoted Christan, and just an all around good guy and cutie pie. J is a from Champaign, so it is nice to see a local boy do good. We sat next to his neighbor at the game Saturday, she said J used to mow their lawn because their family had a lawn mowing business when he was growing up. When Nikki mentioned that she thought J was just a great role model, the neighbor lady concurred. I like that. My only personal interaction with J was last year after an Illini basketball game. His companion had lost her keys, so I showed them to our office after the game so they could check to see if they had been turned into lost and found, and leave a number where they could be reached if they were found later. It was an encounter that lasted maybe two minutes, and I think I was probably skipping when I left. He is just so nice and charming, thanking me for the help, and trying to make his companion feel better about losing her keys, he just makes the world a better place... for that I say "Kudos J!"

#2 You know what else makes the world a better place? When the Michigan Wolverine football team gets beat 32-34 by Appalachian State in Ann Arbor. I know I should be about Big 10 solidarity when we all play non-conference games, but screw that. Michigan got beat at home, by no names. Kudos Mountaineers!!

#3 Kudos Clay Buchholz! Clay pitched a no-hitter for the Red Sox on Saturday night. I love the game of baseball enough that I can truly appreciate the beauty of a no-hitter no matter who does it. Yes, I hate to admit it but I would probably even tip my hat to a Cub if he threw a no-hitter. I am not really a Red Sox fan, but 2004 World Series aside, they are starting to grow on me a bit thanks to my squeeze Richard who had been a Red Sox fan since his youth in Massachusetts. Anywho, back to Clay Buchholz... not only did he throw a no-hitter, but he did in in only his second major league start. He is the first rookie ever in MLB history to do it. All this and he is cute too. Kudos Clay!

The Ultimate Double Header

Being the sports-minded girls that we are, Saturday was pretty much the best day ever for Nikki and me. We went to STL for the day to see the Illini football team take on the Mizzou Tigers at the Jones Dome at 2:30 p.m., then headed to Busch Stadium for the Cardinals vs. Reds at 6:15 p.m. We have had September 1st on our calendar since the MLB baseball schedule was released last winter when we realized that the Cardinals would indeed be in town when the Illini football team headed to STL for the Arch Rivalry game. In case you haven't noticed, Nik and I are pretty die-hard when it comes to our boys in orange and red, so to have both combined in one day was pretty amazing. Earlier in the week I had mentioned to a couple of people that the only thing that would make it even more perfect would be to somehow incorporate Illini basketball into the mix. The basketball team is currently on a trip to play several games in Canada so that didn't look possible... but funny enough at the pep rally put on by the Illinois Alumni Association we did see former Illini basketball player, Sean Harrington. Sean now lives in "The Lou" as earlier this summer he was named as Director of Basketball Operations for St. Louis University by new coach, Rick Majerus. So in a way we did get to throw Illini basketball into the mix. Here is a great photo of Sean Harrington walking past me :). Also is a photo of a gentleman at the pep rally that I readily admit may be more of a die hard fan than me. Please take note of his orange and blue beard... now that is team spirit.

After a stop at the Illini pep rally we headed to the Jones Dome for the football game. It was a great atmosphere and the dome is really loud. Obviously we were pulling for an Illini victory, but I give the team credit for coming back and having a chance to win in the final minute. It was a baptism by fire for backup QB Eddie McGee, who made some great passes, and just needs to learn to protect the ball. On random football game side note: Nikki sat next to Illini linebacker and super cutie, J Leman's, neighbors.

It was a little crazy transitioning to football from baseball. When QB Juice Williams got hit/hurt Nikki said "Look, they are taking Juice to the dugout, I mean clubhouse, I mean locker room. This was our first real look at back up QB Eddie McGee, who sorry Eddie, but we kept calling Willie McGee by mistake. Willie McGee if a former Cardinal, an MVP center fielder and WS champ who played in the 1980's. We were laughing about the mixing of sports when I said "Okay Willie, here is your chance... home run buddy!". Evidently I am prophetic, I had no sooner uttered those words when Eddie/Willie connected with WR Kyle Hudson for a beauty of a touchdown pass. Ironically Kyle Hudson is a 2-sport athlete at Illinois... he also plays CF for the baseball team.

We did notice that one of our baseball "traditions" does not crossover to football. Typically Nikki finds a hottie on the opposing team at the baseball games, and then when she mentions said hottness, the guy usually plays sucky, striking out, going 0 for, or giving up big time hits if the hottie is a pitcher. Well I mentioned that Mizzou head coach Gary Pinkel was rather attractive... ooopps... this doesn't work in football... after the comment the Illini fumbled and Mizzou scored a touchdown as a result. My bad!

With sore throats from yelling so much, we left the dome and headed for Busch Stadium. We missed the first 1.5 innings but got there just in time to see Yadi hit his home run. We got to see one of our favorite Cardinal pitchers, Adam Wainwright... all of the Cards games we have been to this season and this was our first Wainwright start... what up with that? The baseball game had a much better outcome, the Cards won 11-3 and again the boys up from Memphis, Rick Ankiel and Brendan (I heart him) Ryan brought their bats. We had seats in left field and sawRyan Ludwick make an awesome catch in front of us.

All in all a splendid day!

Editor's Note: Yes, if you take note of the pic's at the beginning of the post, there was a wardrobe change involved in the ultimate double header... we may love sports but we are still very much girls. Plus, we had to fully support both our teams. We were clever and wore tank tops under our Illini shirts. Then once we got to our seats at the baseball game, much to the amazement of the folks sitting around us, we took off the Illini togs, pulled our Cards shirts out of our bags and put them on :)