OBE MIA

I have to admit it… I have neglected this blog for so long. However, that is all going to change.

There have been tons and tons of stuff going on in the world, from Tiger Woods, to the bad economy, to Ben Rothelisberger, to whatever. But, I haven't talked about them, because I simply didn't choose to.

Now, I'm not going to say that I'm going to talk about those things in my future posts, but I am going to be talking about some of the topics that are important to my world, and perhaps your world, which may or may not necessarily get all of the headlines. (So yes, I might talk about Tiger Woods, so long as it ties into what I'm talking about). Though it will help out my Google ranking, I'm not here to win popularity contests and just talk about stuff because it's the flavor of the month.

But as always, many of my posts will center around the idea that I've always had for this blog, which is the theme of "Out of the Box Empowerment", which is a different way to look at whatever is going on in life (whether it be my own life, or life in general), while at the same time, using our surroundings and situations to unconventionally empower ourselves by it. (See my 2nd blog post). As always, I am also gonna offer an unfiltered view of my thoughts and interests, so you can take a peek in my head a bit and of course, get to know me a bit better.

Starting today, I will do some very useful, informative, yet opinionated blogging once again. I already have a list of possible ideas that I have written as far as what I could write about in future blog posts. There also have been topics that I've promised to write about in previous posts, which I will also get to, when the time is right…

Definitely stay tuned! If you are still in school (or you just want some tips on how to prepare for something important), you wouldn't want to miss the next blog post for today!

D4P… PD!!!

-John

March Madness and Gladness

In my opinion, the first weekend of the NCAA (college, for everyone outside of the US) Men's Basketball Tournament, is one of the most anticipated events in sports. Everybody makes (or wastes) time, filling out brackets in their office, trying to pick the big upsets, and trying to ultimately pick the best 4, then ultimately, the best 1 team out of a field of 65.

I fill out a bracket every year just for fun. (I'm not a gambling man). Believe it or not, this is the year that I actually filled out more than one bracket (as a Maryland alum, I feel obligated to pick the Terps to win the whole tournament in one bracket). I filled out 3 overall. But, I do have a "sheet of integrity" (see Mike and Mike in the Morning) that I look over as far as what my real picks are. Here's how my "sheet of integrity" for this tournament looks like...

I had to pick Kansas to win the whole thing... They look like such a strong and experienced team, with great leadership, and if they survive that treacherous region they're playing in, they will surely be tested and win the whole thing. As far as upsets are concerned, I picked a few in the first round, but I don't have any notable ones that are going deep. The lowest-seed I have going the furthest would have to be the Richmond Spiders (seeded #7) going to the sweet-16. But other than that, everything is pretty much "chalk" and I have 3 out of the 4 number 1 seeds going to the Final 4.

But believe it or not, the NCAA tournament doesn't only have to serve as a time to be non-productive around the office and waste a lot of your money gambling, but it can be looked at as something that's good for society...

A lot of people join NCAA tournament pools, whether be at work, school, some kind of internet community, or where ever. And by doing so, it brings a community together, and it gets people talking to each other and it gets them engaged. I'm all for engagement, and one way to bring a lot of people together is to get people together is to gather them all during a special event and throw some kind of gathering. The NCAA tournament can provide that kind of setting (although, with work and school, it may be a little tough to do that).

But, believe it or not, it also establishes camaraderie. People love to cheer and support their school or their team, and it will definitely get people to rally around each other when they have common interests. If your school didn't happen to make it to the "dance", you can cheer for other schools that you might have somewhat of a vested interest in and rally around them. Or, you can rally around the underdog (which is always fun to do). But conversely, this is also a time where you can rally against your rival schools/communities, and you can civilly talk smack with them.

So, with that being said, March Madness doesn't have to be a time to be unproductive and lose a lot of money (if you do that sort of thing). It can be great, as it really brings communities together, especially on campuses (even moreso if your team is in the "dance"). Speaking of which, most schools are on Spring Break this, so following and enjoying the big dance with some friends doesn't have to take away from being "productive".

In closing, I just want to say... "Fear the Turtle... GO TERPS!"

D4P... PD!!!

-John

Out-of-the-Box Empowerment in Atlanta

In case you didn't notice, I haven't blogged for a while. Although, I probably should have blogged a little bit more (and I apologize that I didn't), I did have a few good reasons...

I had the opportunity to go to Atlanta in the middle of February to showcase my speaking talents at the APCA National Conference. It's a conference where college students and advisors go to book all sorts of acts that could range from entertainment (music and comedy), novelty, and campus speaking. Of course, I've had a chance to showcase a little bit of my speaking.

I had a chance to give a few presentations. I got to give a 45-minute ed-session presentation about out-of-the-box ideas on how to promote, engage, and empower campuses, which was well attended. Although, I felt I didn't give that great of a presentation (in my opinion anyway), it was well-attended and well received. A notable thing I did in my presentation, was that I presented it wearing a very bright, and very loud Dragon Ball Z Club shirt. And my main reason for doing that, was to make the point that it's important to stand out in whatever you're doing, especially when it comes to engaging your campus. (Check out the shirt on the picture below that I took with a student)...

In the final day of the conference, I had a chance to give a 10 minute showcase, which is a very short version of what I would do in a keynote talk or workshop. I had my showcase taped, and I broke it down to five sections to make a mini video series on YouTube called "The Showcase Series". I uploaded the video series last week, one video each day, and promoted it to my e-mail list. Check it out below.

If you have a chance, please watch the whole series, all 5 episodes. Like I said, it's only about 10 minutes long. It would definitely tell you what I am about, and you can see what sets me apart compared to many other speakers. If you have some thoughts, I'd definitely would love to hear them.

Of course, there are definitely a lot of ways I can still improve my presentation, but overall, I was happy, because my time in Atlanta provided me some great experience. I got to meet a lot of awesome and some of the most talented future leaders in this world, not to mention, I got to check out all sorts of talented acts of all kinds.

Entertainment acts which are always hard to compete against provided me and the other campus speakers a tremendous handicap to compete with (as many more entertainment acts got booked over any other act), but overall, it was still a great experience. And, so long as I can, I will continue to keep doing this if I have the opportunity and resources.

But, I posted all sorts of updates about this events during the past few weeks in my Facebook, such as photos and videos. So if you're on Facebook, and you're my friend on there, feel free to check it out.

I'm glad I have broken the blogging drought with such a productive post. But, I do plan on doing a few more blogs during the next week or two. I have all sorts of ideas for blog posts that I just came up with, as well as some that I've been meaning to implement in a while. With the NCAA Basketball Tournament coming up, I sure will have a few things to write about. I even have a new idea for a new YouTube channel that I'm thinking about. And... I actually have my "Bucket List" finally down on paper (after talking forever about it).

So, I'm telling you now, that there will be a few reasons to read this blog, so stay tuned. :-)

D4P... PD!!!

John

Snowmageddon (pt. 2)

The blizzard this past weekend is over and done. It has set several records around the area (Dulles International Airport has gotten 32.4" of snow... CRAZY!!!). Where I'm located, we've gotten a legit 23.8" of snow (almost 2'). I actually created a video to demonstrate the enormity of this blizzard.

The snow on the ground was so much, that it totally swallowed my whole 12 inch ruler, vertically. (insert girlfriend joke here, just kidding, hahaha).

But in all seriousness, this blizzard was huge. I shoveled that weekend probably for a total of 8 1/2 hours.

What's even better... we're getting more snow as I'm typing this. We've gotten about an extra 6" earlier this evening, then it started sleeting, and we're supposed to get a bit more overnight. There's still a legit 20" still in the ground from the blizzard over the weekend, after after this particular storm is over, we're supposed to get an extra 10-12 extra inches. You do the math.

This blizzard has just been too much. It's definitely a lot more than I can ever remember (even more than the Blizzard of '96, which was the blizzard I mentioned in the previous blog about this storm season). It's only Tuesday, and it's already announced the kids around here already have the whole week off. On top of "snowmageddon" or "snowpocalypse", people are also calling this a "snowverload". I believe that last term is totally appropriate... because we've had enough. (I wouldn't mind the snow so much if the county does a little better job plowing it's roads).

So if the Snow gods are reading this... PLEASE no more snow. Too much white stuff could be bad.

But on an unrelated note, definitely check out my Superbowl prediction blog that I wrote before the big game. Surprisingly, I got a lot of stuff right (even predicted a score on defense, and for a wild card to steal the game for the Saints... which in this case, was the gutsy onside kick call that kicked off the 2nd half).

More updates to come (hopefully the more positive kind).

Super Bowl XLIV: Who Dat? or Who Da Man(ning)?

In a few hours, the biggest sports and entertainment extravaganza in America is about to take place. Millions of people will be watching the spectacle that is the Superbowl... the epic matchup between the Indianapolis Colts of the AFC against the New Orleans Saints of the NFC.

This is a battle between two high profile offenses, who know how to put points on the board. The Saints is the league's #1 offense this year, while the Colts have Peyton Manning, who will be in the discussion as far as the "Greatest of All Time" when all is said and done. Both Manning and Brees (QB of the Saints) know how to make the best of the receiving talent that is put in front of them, making them legitimate threats when they were previously in nobody's radar (who's heard of Pierre Garcon or Lance Moore before these 2 QBs had them).

As far as weaknesses are concerned, many people have been quick to point out the weak secondary of the Saints (even my terrible Washington Redskins shredded them when they played them early December). As far as the Colts, they don't have a great running game, mainly because Manning does the majority of the offensive management and doesn't really play a lot of "ball control" offense.

So based on all of this, this game is expected to be a high octane offensive game, where most of the points are going to be scored in the air. But, I noticed over the years, when much hype is made of a particular matchup or a particular detail of either team, that hype usually doesn't live up. So although people are expecting a lot of points to be scored, I don't think it's going to be as much as it's going to be. In fact, don't be surprised if you see a score or two in defense.

As far as who I'm picking... if I was a gambling man, I would probably pick the Colts, since overall, they probably are the more well-rounded, and more talented team overall. Not to mention, they have arguably the best player in the game right now in Peyton Manning. But, luckily for the Saints, I'm not a gambler. I'm rooting for the Saints because the city of New Orleans and the state of Louisiana has been through a lot with Hurricane Katrina a few years ago, and a Superbowl win can definitely help lift up some spirits in that area, and could help the economy a little bit, since it will gain a little bit of interest in that area. Therefore, since I am rooting for the Saints, and my heart is saying New Orleans... I will be picking them for the upset. Like I said, don't be surprised if we see an unexpected wild card that can possibly steal this game for the Saints, and I think there's a good possibility in that. And since I said that this might not be as huge as far as score as everybody's predicting (over-under 57.5), here's my prediction...

Saints 27 Colts 24

MVP: Drew Brees

Who dat?

Snowmageddon (pt. 1)

In case you have been following the weather reports on television, parts of the Mid-Atlantic is supposed to get record snow. Here in the DC area, we are supposed to get pounded.

Here are a few pictures from my mobile phone that I posted in my facebook page earlier this morning.

As I'm writing this, it doesn't look like the snow is slowing down as of yet. We had another huge blizzard this past December (which led to us having a "white Christmas"), and this one looks like it may surpass that. The biggest blizzard I remembered having, I believe I was in Middle School (The Blizzard of '96). We missed about a week of school during that blizzard, if I recall correctly. Not sure if it's going to reach that level, but as I said, it looks like we're getting pounded really hard.

Not sure how this will effect the Superbowl viewing parties/celebrations here in the DC area. But, as of now, it looks like it's a little hard to get around. It would be nice to be in Miami or New Orleans right now.

More updates later...

Rocking the Red and Unleashing the Fury

Alright... I said I'd talk about "other sports" in my last blog. And, since my favorite team, The Washington Capitals are in the midst of a 10-game winning streak, I thought it's a good time to bring them up.

First off, I just want to say that I'm not like most of the Caps fans here in the District that just jumped in the bandwagon in the past year or so. I have been following the Caps ever since their last Stanley Cup run when they fell short to the Red Wings in '98, and people didn't know who "Olie the Goalie" was. In fact, I can even tell you who scored the winning OT goal against Buffalo who brought us to the Cup Finals that year (for those of you who don't know, look it up... but his name is the capital of Alaska). I can tell you the captains since that run, and I even got some Caps paraphernalia with the old crappy logo. Although, I do admit that they were tough to watch during the re-building years (sort of like how the MLB's Nationals are now, who I also am fans of). Like I said, I'm pretty much the ultimate "DC" homer in sports (with the exception of DC United, since I can't get into soccer).

But moving right along, ever since that Cup run, they've blown up the team, rebuilt, and got to where they are today... as of now, at the top of the Eastern conference. They just won their 10th in a row against Tampa today, and I honestly could see this streak going for probably a few more games. Next, they play a Boston team, that's on a bad of a slump as any team can get (with the exception of the Oliers, whose losing streak is longer than our winning streak). And they are just playing mind-blowing hockey!

Here are just a few stats...

• They are currently leading the NHL at 214 goals... the closest team to them has 187 (San Jose)
• They scored 65 more goals than they have allowed, also leading the NHL. Closest team to them is at +53 (also San Jose)
• They have a 23 point lead in the division (in basketball terms, they have about a 11.5 game lead over their closest divisional opponent).
• 4 of their players have over 50 points, 9 over 25.
• They are averaging 3.82 goals per game (almost 4 goals per game).

And, the best part is... they are doing all of this with their star Alex Ovechkin scoring less, and their #1 goaltender Varlamov on the shelf. Everybody is contributing. Jose Theodore has filled in well during this run and has not looked like "Jose Three-or-more". And the kid Neuvirth is solid between the pipes as well. In this streak, with the exception of 3 games (Detroit, the comeback SO vs Florida, and the recent one against Tampa), they have won their games handily. Most of which by at least 3 goals.

I'm not gonna go out there and start predicting '10 Stanley Cup champs at this time of the season. They still have a very long way to go to get there. But, I will say (and have been saying for a long time) that the sports fans here in DC really has a team they can be excited about and proud of. It's just a shame that only a few people are just discovering this now. Let's just hope, that come June, we'll still be "Rocking the Red".

But on a somewhat related note, I did buy Caps owner Ted Leonsis' new book from Amazon "The Business of Happiness". As I've said in a previous blog, he's definitely one guy in my short list that I strive to be one day because of all that he's accomplished, while at the same time, staying grounded, genuine, and even accessible. I for one am very interested to know his "secret sauce". Even if I accomplish just a small fraction of what that man has accomplished, I would've probably lived a good life.

Til next entry...

D4P... PD!!!

John