Track
It has
been a very busy week in the track and field world.
Most
notably the early singing period ended Wednesday. We are currently preparing a press release so
since it’s not out yet I’m not allowed to make public comment about our
signees. We're very excited about the
recruiting class so far and look forward to adding more quality young men and
women when the next signing period begins in April.
My
sprint/hurdle group has continued to progress nicely. So far we have avoided significant injuries
this fall and look to be in good condition heading into our winter break.
Intersquad begins
While the
top distance runners in the nation were out in Terre Haute, IN, for the NCAA
Cross Country Championships, we were back in Wichita getting our competitive track
and field season underway (sort of).
 |
| Breanne Borman |
In two
weeks we have our annual Intersquad Meet but this weekend we had our Intersquad
Multi-events competition. There were
some really good scores for being this early in the season and I know Coach
Rainbolt is very excited about how it has gone.
We had three girls score over 3600 points led by Breanne Borman who
scored a meet record 3817 points. Our
ladies have a very strong group right now and we could see multiple Shockers at
the NCAA Championships indoor or outdoor.
Our guys, who are still very young, will finish on Monday and they are
performing well also.
The rest
of the Intersquad Meet will be on Friday, December 5 at the Heskett Center.
Time flies when you’re having fun
It’s hard
to believe the semester is almost over.
Our kids will be heading home for Thanksgiving this week and they will
be taking finals in a couple weeks. And
as quick at the first semester goes by, the spring will fly by even quicker.
Even
though the competitive part of our season is full of travel and stress, it’s
also full of excitement and accomplishments.
I am very excited for this season to begin!
Inspirational video
Sometimes
I try to find videos to show our athletes in an effort to inspire and this week
I came across this terrific story about a distance runner from North
Carolina. It is well worth 12 minutes of
your time. VIDEO - CATCHING KAYLA
“M” Movies
This is
the 13th of a 24 part series (if I don’t bore you all to death) where I list
movies I own by letter (I don’t have any movies that begin with Q, X or Z but I
do have some that start with numbers). I
currently own a small collection of 170 movies (and growing most weeks) on DVD.
Most of
the movies I own I had previously seen and enjoyed immensely. Some are movies that I had not seen but was
curious about. Some were gifts from
people with bad tastes in movies.
I own 10
“M” movies and there are some of my favorites here so here is the list from
best to worst …..
Movie Name (year made, length,
MPAA rating, IMDB rating, Worldwide box office)
Machete (2010, 105 min, R, 6.7, $44m) – The
original reason I was interested in this movie is because I happened to be
staying in a hotel in Austin, TX, across the street from where it was
filmed. So when I saw it come out in
theaters I made sure to see it and immediately loved it. Danny Trejo plays Machete, an ex-Federal
agent from Mexico who singlehandedly attempts to mess up all the bad guys’
plans. I love that Trejo is the main
character in a movie filled with stars like Robert Deniro, Jessica Alba and
Steven Segal. It’s full of cartoonish
violence but also very tongue and cheek funny.
It also stars Michelle Rodriguez – I have a celebrity crush on her. Great little movie, check it out!
Million Dollar Baby (2004, 132 min, PG-13, $216m) –
Another one of Clint Eastwood’s great films also stars Hillary Swank and Morgan
Freeman in the world of women’s boxing.
This movie is cut into two distinctive parts and if you’ve seen it then
you know what the two parts are. It’s a
beautifully done film that is inspiring, touching and in the end very thought
provoking. I love a movie that make you
sit and talk about it with your friends after it’s over just to get their
opinion on the subject matter involved.
What would you do if you were in Eastwood’s same situation?
More Than a Game (2008, 105 min, PG, 7.6, $960k) –
A very good documentary about Lebron James and his high school days. I really enjoyed this movie and felt a little
more connected since I worked at Kent State (just a few miles from where Lebron
went to HS) during the time chronicled.
I saw Lebron play several times in high school and was always impressed
with his unselfishness. This movie does
a good job of showing he was just a pretty normal, yet really talented kid who
blossomed into a great player and role model.
Martyrs (2008, 99 min, R, 7.1, $??) –
You’ve probably never heard of this movie and I hadn’t either until I got in a
phase of wanting to see movies that freaked me out. This movie starts out as a normal horror
movie then goes to a very, very dark place.
One of the most disturbing movies I’ve ever seen, yet it was so well
done I can’t help but like and respect it for what it is. I would not recommend this movie for the
faint of heart but I would recommend it for moviegoers who want a unique
viewing experience.
Mystic River (2003, 138 min, R, 8.0, $156m) –
Another very good Clint Eastwood movie that has probably been overshadowed by
films like Million Dollar Baby and Gran Torino.
This one stars Sean Penn, Tim Robbins and Kevin Bacon about three
friends that come together when one of them loses a daughter. It’s been a while since I’ve watched this
movie but I do remember it being very good and liking the story. I might have to try and watch it again
sometime.
Machete Kills (2013, 107 min, R, 5.7, $15m) –
When Machete had moderate success on a low budget, the powers that be decided
to make a sequel and unfortunately like many sequels it doesn’t quite match
up. The same over the top violence and
humor are in this movie and it’s filled with cameos by stars like Mel Gibson,
Charlie Sheen and Lady Gaga, but it doesn’t have the originality of
Machete. I still enjoyed it though, but
I don’t think the third movie Machete Kills Again …. In Space will ever get
made.
The Monuments Men (2014, 118 min, PG-13, 6.1,
$154m) – I really wanted to like this movie because it had some great actors
(George Clooney, Matt Damon, Bill Murray, John Goodman) and an interesting
story (a World War II platoon tries to rescue art masterpieces from the Nazi’s)
but it just never really took off. It
wasn’t a bad movie and I’ll probably watch it again someday but it was
definitely underwhelming for all the talent that was on the screen.
I would
say all 10 of these movies are watchable but the top-8 are all VERY good - hard
to go wrong with anything on this list.
Next week
I plan to
eat a lot of turkey!
Oh and I
have 6 “N” movies including one of my favorite movies of all time and one of my
favorite bad movies ever!
Until
then, thanks for reading and Go Shocks!
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