The Why So Serious Edition

What’s up everybody? I have always heard that a lot of people enjoy reading my blog. I started writing less and less because it’s very time consuming and challenging to come up with something worthwhile to post and frankly, I wasn’t getting the kind of feedback I wanted. I even failed with “Ask The Closer” which practically begged for responses. I guarantee every other blogger in the world lives to see a bunch of comments at the end of their work. Even if it is criticism, it’s nice to know you were heard, got people thinking, stirred the soup or even possibly appreciated. I suppose my blogs never incited any kind of commentary. Perhaps I should have ended each one with “What do you guys think?” like most of the Barn Animal’s Facebook statuses. However, after reading the past few Tuesday Morning Bringback’s, I’m glad I never got comments. Good Lord, if I didn’t know any better, I would think that social beer pong was played by a bunch of vulgar middle school girls.

I must admit that some controversy and the comments that ensue can be entertaining, but now it's getting a little out of hand. There is an onslaught of douchebaggery lately and I think it is time to squash it. I’m not singling anyone out; I think you’re all wrong. One of my greatest sources of pride in what Austin and I created is Mdbeerpong’s diversity. Our community attracts men and women of all races, creeds and sexual orientations. We drink together, we play together, and we look out for each other. In many ways the beer pong community has not been much different than my experience in the Army. I was 17 years old when I joined and I was shipped directly to Korea after training. My first time away from home and I was thrown in with guys from every walk of life a million miles from anything familiar. Everybody is different. Forget about the big stuff like religion or gender. You can go outta state and people will be calling a Coke a Pop. My point is culture differences are everywhere. I remember asking my friend to cut my hair in the barracks. I saw him charging fellow soldiers 5 bucks to do it. He vehemently refused me citing the fact that he did not cut white people’s hair. Of course I was pissed and persisted until he relented because I refused to pay 15 dollars at the shop. He warned me that I would look black, but I didn’t care. Anyway, he was right. I was lined up. My hair had more angles than a multidimensional polygon. This was my first time grasping how different we really can be from each other. It was also the first time I looked cool.

The key to all of this is understanding that we’re different and being proud of who we are. The best part about the Army was that we didn’t ignore our differences. We exploited them. The ribbing was incessant. Occasionally it got out of hand, but in the end we always had each other’s back. I think that’s where we sit right now. Things are getting out of hand and it’s time to step back, put on our big-boy pants and swallow a little pride. One of the greatest lessons I learned from studying Buddhism is that everyone wants to be happy. A lot of people just don’t know how to do it. We can instruct through how we carry ourselves. There’s no excuse for not getting along with the people around us. We all have to take responsibility and stop egging on bullshit. We need to be a little less sensitive and have a lot more fun! It’s time to move on.

Beast of the East is coming up and there’s already a dark cloud swirling around that. I believe that you can’t force team chemistry. Let players do what they want. Have you noticed it’s been the sleeper teams having the most success and the on paper powerhouses that falter? Players that get counted out have less pressure on them and can be extremely dangerous. Let people do what they want instead of forcing a “Number 1” team. Kessler had a great idea about running a tournament to see who should play on the A team. Get a list of the people who want to or think they deserve to be on that team and play it out. No grandfathering people in. That’s chickenshit. You can lose your varsity status anytime to anyone. If you can’t cut it in the mini tournament then you’ll definitely choke in the real one. I also agree with the other complaints about the tourney being so far away. It’s too late now, but I hope this is taken into consideration next year. You can argue that I’ve never played in BOTE and shouldn’t have any comments on it, but I can say kiss me where the sun don’t shine!

What do you guys think?

P.S. Quick movie reviews: Watch A-Team. Entertaining and Face is my hero. Robin Hood sucked just like I thought it would so I wouldn’t waste your time. The new Karate Kid is just okay. I didn’t hate it, but I also don’t recommend it that strongly.

For all you nerdy sci fi readers like me, I’ve been reading the Mistborn trilogy by Brandon Sanderson and it’s delightful.