New York State Trooper Exam

I just wanted to put up a quick post here about the Trooper's Exam I took about a week ago. There isn't too much to tell; the test was exactly like the one we were given at the tutorial I went to a few weeks earlier. I'm pretty sure I aced the exam. I managed to have enough time to take the test three times, as I did the practice test, and I found 3 mistakes that I made. So, even though I may still have not gotten a 100%, I'm damn sure I did very well. Go me.

Brian Leetch Night At MSG

This night was awesome! The game was great; Rangers won in the shootout. The ceremony before the game was really cool. There were a bunch of old time Rangers there like Gilbert, as well as recent legends like Messier and Richter. Unfortunately, none of us brought any good cameras, so you'll have to deal with the pictures that I got from my phone.

Crappy pictures aside, it was a great night. Thanks a bunch to Mom for an awesome Christmas present! And, uh, thanks ahead of time for the Adam Graves retirement party too!

Right to Left: Leetch, Messier

Mark Messier on the right.

Mike Richter on the Right

Nutrition

I was hanging with my mom at her place the other day, and I saw a funny sight that I'd like to share with everyone. Be advised, that what you are looking at below is the refridgerator of a Personal Trainer. HA!

Ice packs and coffee! HA!

3 Weeks Without My Car

Ok, I always hate being the one to bitch about poor service in restaurants, stores, or anything, but I'm getting pretty sick of this. I know it's a German car, and I know the guys doing the work are no joke and the car will be returned to me in no less than perfect condition, but WTF!?

I was originally told that this would be a 5 day job. On the 5th day, I was told it would be another week. A week goes by, and I'm told it will take until the middle of the following week. That was today, and now I'm being told that hopefully, it will be done on Friday.

Can anyone explain to me why the f$%^&*&^% the damage seen below should take 3 weeks to complete!? AND, given the fact that I've already been told three times that it would take longer than I was told the last time, why should I actually believe that it will be done on the date that I was just told?! I WANT MY F%^&^%& CAR BACK!



Am I insane for thinking this should take a lot less time than 3 weeks? I miss going to the gym, going to train, and not having to mooch rides all over the place.

>end rant.

Another Amazing Hockey Moment

I think the announcer is a bit of a prick though. Who are you to say that something does or doesn't belong in the National Hockey League? Goalies have lets shots in from center ice, does the same comment apply to them? You owe that guy an apology.

Anyway, here's the video.

Amazing Goal by Rick Nash

Wow.

The Dark Knight

I will be seeing this movie.

NE Grappling VI Pics

...from MMAPhotography.com They took a bunch of awesome pictures, except for the ones showing me getting my ass kicked. I didn't like those.

Four points for HVJJ.

Going for an armbar...

The beginning of an omoplata...

Can you believe he didn't tap?

Setting up the Severn...

There ya go, hope you enjoyed. Be safe out there...

No More Potatoes

OK, I don't know if potatoes are what does it, but I went running today for the second time since I stopped cutting weight. Cliff and I went to the gym, and I got about 10 minutes in and my ankles and shins hurt so bad that I had to stop...actually, not only did I have to stop running, but I couldn't even walk for a minute. Bad stuff. I did 10-15 minutes on the elliptical after that, but I couldn't really get a good workout. Sunday and yesterday I had dinner at Texas Roadhouse and then Bugaboo Creek; both dinners had a heaping serving of mashed potatoes. I'm going to cut out potatoes for the next few days and see how it effects my running; if my joints feel fine after a week with no potatoes, then I know the culprit! I've heard potatoes are bad for such things in the past, but I've never had any evidence of it. This may be it...

Be safe out there...

NE Grappling VI

My third tournament ever was also my second time up at Ithaca for Ryan Ciotoli and his Bombsquad's NE Grappling VI tournament. The first time I did pretty well, coming in second out of 16 guys competing at 159 pounds in the beginner classification. This one I didn't do so well.

For a month, I was trying to make 145 for this tournament, and it turned out to be the wrong idea. I felt like crap, could barely train, and in the end it was decided that I wasn't going to make it anyway and I moved up a weight class. So right before the tournament, I gave up eating a normal diet and all the good training that I would have gotten in turned into mediocre training because I felt like shit the whole time. Not only that, but I moved up an experience category, which really was the right thing to do. I don't really belong with the beginners anymore, no matter how poorly I performed with the intermediates. I'm pretty down on myself, but I'm realistic: I've still only been training about six months. I just got my blue belt, and some of the guys that I rolled against have been training for 2 years and may be purple belts. However, I'm not going to deny that I wasn't at my best. I definitely didn't roll as well as I could have. Anyway, I'm not pissed off to the point where I'm discouraged; I'm pissed off to the point that I wanted to go home and hit the mat for more training that day.


Anyway, Marine Joe did pretty well; his division wasn't deep enough for the normal weight classes, so he ended up having to roll with guys that had 20-30 pounds on him. He still managed to kick some ass, landing two armbars. One of the armbars he got slammed for, and technically won by disqualification, but the guy's arm would've snapped if he didn't slam or tap so we'll continue to call it an armbar.

Karl also did well. He achieved one of his goals, which was to hit his signature "unicorn." I don't think he ended up getting the tap from it; my division was ongoing while he was rolling so I didn't get to watch him too much. I do remember the guy coming up to Karl after and I was sitting right next to him. The guy marveled at Karl's flexibility and wanted to know what the hell it was he was doing to him. Now that I think about it, I think that was the purple belt that Karl actually ended up getting with a triangle.

Christian cleaned house. He was very cool and calm the entire time too; he's wrestled for years before and was telling us how at wrestling meets he might even have hours between matches. His division was particularly heavy (beginner 145) and he had more time between matches than any of us. In any case, he dominated and won the belt. His first match he went out and did exactly what he said he was going to do. He did a simple duck under, picked his man up and slammed him to the mat where he quickly finished him. There were a couple matches with guys that gave him a little bit of trouble, but in the end he was simply too strong and fast for anyone. He brought home the gold and made it look good.

Anyway, that was pretty much the weekend. Cliff, Katlyn, and Kevin made their way up to see me roll, and snagged video of all my matches. Although I'm disappointed that they came to see me stink the place up, they still had a good time. Brian was impressed by Katlyn's lack of comments such as "is this almost done?" She's a good sport about everything. I'm glad they came.

Anyway, I did mention that they took video. I had three matches, and won only the first one, so that's the only one you get to see. Here it is. I'm sure it's going to be a pain in the ass to download, so as I've said before with other videos I've uploaded: Walk away and come back to watch in 10 or 15 minutes if you want to see it that badly. See you - ON THE MAT!

A Response to Comments About DragonRealms

To everyone who ever made fun of me for playing DragonRealms:



>Moving like a striking snake, Meisphoch thrusts his elven longsword at n00b. As if fumbling muscle and flab were natural, the n00b fails to evade. The longsword lands a cataclysmic strike to n00b's abdomen, leaving a gaping hole.
>
* n00b was just struck down!
>

No, I don't still play. Yes, I do miss it.

Retirement of Brian Leetch's # 2

Every year, my Mom gets a big present for the three of us (her, Cliff, and myself) to do all together. Those are honestly my favorite kinds of gifts. They're the most thoughtful, and they're the kind of gifts that I really like to give. Cliff and I agreed to pass each other off this Christmas until we could mutually figure out a gift for each other that would be categorized as such, but I only mention that to emphasize how much I think these are the best gifts that can be given.

So, this year, Mom certainly didn't disappoint. The Rangers are retiring Brian Leetch's number on January 24th, and we're going! The tickets for the game have been sold out, but there is a viewing party that is going to be taking place in a theatre that is actually at the Garden. The awesome part about this, is that the viewing party sounds even better than simply going to the game. She sent us an email about it yesterday that said there would be guest appearances by not only Brian Leetch himself, but Adam Graves, Rod Gilbert, and Mike Richter! Holy Crap! I am super pumped for this, and I wanted to share my enthusiasm and make jealous all the Ranger fans who might read this blog. Actually the only Ranger fans might read this are Mom and Cliff, but hey, whatever.

Anyway, I'm really looking forward to this. I've been doing a lot of looking forward to things that are going to happen after I'm done dieting as a way to help me get through this cut. It's been pretty brutal. Anyway, this is one of those things.

I also wanted to readdress the fact that I'm no longer a Devil's fan. I was asked the other day and I wanted to publish my explanation one more time. When I was younger, hockey was everything (kinda like fighting is for me now, heh). Everyone around me was a Ranger fan, and I really wanted to be different. So I started rooting for Montreal and New Jersey. After everything with Patrick Roy happened in Montreal, I decided to just stick with New Jersey. Recently, when the Devils decided to move further away to Newark, I asked myself why the hell was I rooting for a New Jersey team over my own team? Screw that! I am a full fledged Ranger fan, and I'm not looking back. I've gone back to my roots, so to speak. So there you have it. LET'S GO RANGERS!

Sean Janicik: BJJ Blue Belt

That's right, I'm a blue belt. According to Pantene, that's equivalent to a black belt in Kickass! This is me and Karl, and yes I realize that I actually look smaller than Karl. I'm cutting weight, so shut up. Below is a picture of me and Brian that doesn't look very good blown up, but I'm still quite fond of it.

W00t!
Click here for a definition of W00t!

Body Fortress Whey Protein

So this stuff is presently a major part of my food intake, and will be for the rest of the week. I ran out this morning, so on my way home from my third workout today I picked some up. Cliff actually came with me and his leg did well, but that's beside the point. This stuff is great, the entire thing is only about $12, and it taste great. What's that? Why would you blog about protein powder? I'll show you.


What the hell is this!? The damn thing was just over half way empty! Fortunately, I bought two. In my astonishment, I attempted to pour the contents of the second one into the first one, but there was still just a little bit left that wouldn't fit. I will likely burn through that tomorrow or the next day, but I thought this was a little bit ridiculous and so I wasted your time by sharing it with you. That's pretty much it. That's what you get for $12 I guess. Anyway, be safe out there.

Frank Edgar Makes Sherdog's Top 10 List!

See the rankings here! The NorthEast is bringing up some bad men.

UFC: Nemesis, and other UFC stuff

Just as I, and pretty much everyone else that I knew, had predicted, George St. Pierre beat Matt Hughes to become the Interim Welterweight Champion of the UFC. I still think the world of Matt Hughes, but St. Pierre is something different. Again, big respect to Hughes, but he said it best: "He's a better fighter." That was one slick armbar, George. You dominated the takedown game. My coach decided that in the next day's wrestling class we were going to be going over the simple knee pick that you did, and I love it. And once again, that was one slick kimura to armbar transition. I loved it!

The Liddell vs. Silvia fight was everything it was supposed to be but for some reason, now that I'm not in the middle of watching the fight, the excitement of the whole thing was kinda overboard. I mean, I was into it because Cliff was going to be into it no matter what. Plus he had had a few beers, heh. Anyway, we were watching the fights at Big John's house and Cliff and I were watching in separate rooms because there were too many people there to be watching in the same room. When Chuck vs. Wandy came on, I had to switch rooms to watch with him...I just had to. Anyway, I'm glad I did because Cliff was the reason I got pumped up during the fight. His yelling and screaming prompted me to yell and scream, and without him to get me into it, I would likely have been disappointed. I mean, honestly: that was a boxing by guys with little gloves who don't look like they box very well. The hype would have been lost on me if it weren't for Cliff. Moving on...

So those are the only important thoughts of mine about that night. The bigger thing is that now, according to the story on Sherdog.com, is that Serra's back will be healed up for a fight with GSP in Montreal on April 19th, at the Belle Center. Cliff and I may make plans to go to this one. I'm thinking that even if we go, we could save hundreds on the UFC tickets and watch at a local bar. I'm hoping everyone in Montreal will be watching. Hopefully, we'll also get into GSP's afterparty. Because he will win.

Joe Rogan Eats Carlos Mencia Alive

New York State Trooper Tutorial

Today I went out to Troop F to take a tutorial class to help prepare myself for the State Trooper's Exam I'll be taking in a couple weeks.

I was surprised by the questions that were asked by some of the other people who were there. It seemed that I was the only one (of those who were asking) that knew this was what they wanted to do. Most of the questions I could have answered myself as I have thoroughly studied the website and already have asked friends who are Troopers and officers from other departments. While everyone else there seemed to be looking for an infomercial on what it's like to be a Trooper, I was there to learn things that would help me score higher on the test.

We did take a practice test, and that is primarily why I'm blogging today. The test was about half the questions and allowed time of the actual test we'll be taking. I finished the test, went through each question from back to front, and then from front to back again. I took the test three times, and still had 5-10 minutes to sit there and wait for time to expire. When time did expire, we were given the answer sheet and I calculated my score: 100%. Go me.

The test doesn't appear to be something that I can really study for, outside of getting as much practice with arithmetic as I can. I'm not getting cocky however. Being in the building, speaking with the recruitment officer, talking about what it's like to be a Trooper and actually taking the practice test has simply made me that much more motivated.

The only thing that I don't like about this is the fact that I had a chance to take the test back when I was in Plattsburgh in 2004. I'd be a Trooper right now. I'd be so much further in my life, and I'd be happy. Maybe some of my other problems never would have come to pass as well. Who knows.

I can't wait to take this exam. I can't wait until Albany calls me up to set me up as a dispatcher at Troop K. I can't wait to go to the academy. I realize I must be patient, but I can't stop thinking about this. I'm truly excited.