Why I Think the Super Bowl Should be Moved to Saturday

Posted on January 27, 2015 by brent

In writing this, I have no intention whatsoever to bash on the storied tradition of the Super Bowl. Rather, I just want to throw out a suggestion and see if anyone else might be in agreement. I have the utmost respect for what the Super Bowl has become and I don’t want my idea to be taken the wrong way.

Okay, here it goes…

What do you think about moving the Super Bowl to Saturday?

I know that is very bold. I realize the big day is called Super Bowl Sunday. I know what I am saying must feel like a slap in the face to the 49-year-old game. But my friends, I am serious. By all accounts, the Super Bowl has become a glorified holiday. In fact, I would argue that it has become a date that is celebrated and revered by more people than several other actual holidays on the American calendar. But you might ask, why does this matter? Let me explain.

Like I said, millions of people in the country celebrate the Super Bowl, and when I say “celebrate,” you all know what I mean. Football fans and non-football fans alike go crazy eating, drinking, and cheering while becoming emotionally invested in the game. After the game concludes, many are spent. Once the excitement, despair, and/or buzz dies down we all come to the sobering reality that we have to work or go to school the next day. What a letdown.

But it doesn’t have to be this way. Some slackers might push for the Monday after the Super Bowl to be declared a federal holiday but in no way would I advocate for something silly like that. Instead, I am just asking that the NFL considers moving the game to Saturday. Besides, no longer is Sunday sacred for the NFL anymore. The league plays games during the regular season on Mondays, Thursdays, and Saturdays. Two rounds of the playoffs games are played on Saturdays as well. With a long two weeks between the conference championship games and the Super Bowl, moving the game forward one day means nothing in terms of rest and preparation.

To be honest, I had not thought of this idea until this season. With my Seattle Seahawks once again playing in the Super Bowl it would be nice to not worry about working out and going to work the next day. I exert a lot of energy and take on a lot of stress while rooting for them. But the main reason why this idea struck me is because this will be the first Super Bowl I watch on the east coast. The game doesn’t kickoff out here until 6:30 p.m. With the long length of the NFL’s premiere game combined with the expectations put on American citizens to have a lot of fun during it, the potential to not put yourself in the best shape for Monday morning is strong.

I didn’t do any research before writing this post so I am sure that there are probably 283 reasons why the Super Bowl must be played on Sunday. However, in a perfect world I think it would be a good change to make. I definitely think it would make fans more interested in the game and it would be better for the economy. Without worrying about the looming work week, folks would be in higher spirits to watch the game the whole way through while also fully indulging in good food and drink.

This Super Bowl Sunday will be low key for me when it comes to the drinks and chicken wings. Getting a good workout in at 6 a.m. on Monday as well as being on the top of my game for the work day is too important to me. So yes, physically I will be 100%. I know emotionally it will be a different story, though. Instead of being even keel, I will most likely be on a high or a low depending on how things go down in Glendale. I can only hope that maybe in the future I won’t have to worry about my physical or emotional state the next day…here is my vote for a Super Bowl Saturday. Don’t Blink.

A Luxurious Movie Theater Experience

Posted on January 26, 2015 by brent

I had heard about upscale, fancy movie theaters before. I found the concept super cool but knew that no such theaters existed within my vicinity. With my recent trip to Charlotte, the opportunity opened up for me to finally try one out. Yesterday, my low-class butt got to sit in luxury as I enjoyed an amazing movie experience.

Sidney and I wanted to go to a movie before we left Charlotte. Wanting to get on the road at a decent hour we decided to see “The Wedding Ringer” at 11 a.m. We would be attending the Studio Movie Grill in the Epicentre. The friends we met at the bowling alley the night before told us that this certain movie house was an upscale theater but we didn’t really know any other specifics.

The entrance to Studio Movie Grill in the Epicentre in Charlotte.

I guess the first specific I was most curious about was the price. If this theater was so exuberant, it must have an exuberant admission price, right? Wrong. We walked to the box office and went up to a self-serve kiosk where we purchased tickets for $6 each! Going to a movie so early on a Sunday does cut the cost down but this price was cheaper than majority of matinee tickets at regular theaters. After choosing our movie and show time, we then got to choose our seats. A seating map came up on the screen that let us choose where we wanted to sit. We just used our finger to touch the seats we wanted and the kiosk spit out our tickets.

Our tickets for “The Wedding Ringer” at Movie Studio Grill.

We went up the escalator to the theater area. Only it wasn’t just the theater area. To our right was a full service, sleek bar. It looked like it was transported right out of a high end Vegas casino. Behind us was a billiards hall. To our left was the entrance to the theaters. We gave our tickets to the employee who asked us if we wanted menus. Yes, please!

The auditorium we were in had a large upper section and a smaller lower section. The upper section was split into three equal sections with generous aisles running up and down. The sections were filled with large, comfortable seats grouped in twos. They were more couches than theater chairs. The lower section had seats that were more individual-like. Sidney and I went to our assigned upper section seats. Each seat had a snazzy table tray and a button to press for service.

The button for us to push for service.

Because we were holding menus, we didn’t need to press any buttons. A host came to us immediately and introduced herself and said she would take care of us. She then left us to look over the menu. Expansive and appealing, the menu contained just about everything you could want from appetizers to entrees to cocktails to desserts. We ordered popcorn, a milkshake, and soda.

The screen was huge, the auditorium was immaculate, and the sound was the best I have heard at a theater in a long time. Not too many other people took up the offer to watch Kevin Hart for $6 as I would guess that only eight other people were in the theater with us. We reclined in the comfy seats and enjoyed ourselves.

Our order came. The soda was in a tumbler glass and the popcorn was served in a bowl with sheet paper. Don’t think this was your buttery, salty, artery-clogging (just how I like it) popcorn. It was much more on the lighter side, definitely not yellow in color. But it was really good! And the milkshake tasted great as our host made sure to bring us two straws and two spoons.

With about 20 minutes to go in the movie, our tab was brought to us. Knowing this was the cue that the movie would be ending soon, I sat back and savored the remaining time I had in the theater. I laughed out loud as the film reached its conclusion, knowing that the theater had something to do with my good spirits considering I had never found Kevin Hart funny before.

I would definitely recommend attending a movie at one of these service-based, experience-driven movie theaters. I really enjoyed myself and was able to relax much more than at a normal theater. Even with a long drive ahead of us and the need to get back to Myrtle Beach, we were able to let it all go while in Studio Movie Grill. In the future, it would be fun to go on a Friday night and sip a couple cocktails and unwind after the work week. You can bet that this wasn’t my last experience at a movie theater like this. Don’t Blink.

Sid’s Birthday Weekend in Charlotte

Posted on January 25, 2015 by brent

It didn’t even last 24 hours. To be exact, from the time we entered the parking garage at the Charlotte Epicentre to the time we exited it, we had clocked 23 hours and 10 minutes. Short but sweet for sure.

In honor of Sidney’s birthday this Wednesday, her and I took a brief weekend trip to Charlotte to spend a little time away from Myrtle Beach and to mark her milestone. We stayed at the Epicentre, a buzzing area with lots of fun things for people our age to do. This trip marked the first time I had ever spent actual time in the Queen City.

The Epicentre has one hotel in it, the Aloft Charlotte Uptown. The hotel is situated on top of the Epicentre, making you really feel like you are right in the middle of everything. A growing and modern chain, Aloft properties shy away from the traditional hotel lobby/hotel room look and go for something much more contemporary and social. The rooms are small with the bathroom and shower behind the bed but the fixtures/appliances, such as the shower and television, are top notch. We were on the tenth floor and had a view of Time Warner Cable Arena. The staff treated us really well and we killed some time today sitting on the snazzy lobby couches playing Connect Four.

This was our view from our hotel room. You can see some of the Epicentre and Time Warner Arena.

After we checked in at around 2 p.m., we went out and walked around the Epicentre. An outdoor closed in entertainment area three stories high, the Epicentre is just one of those places that immediately makes you say, “Yeah, this is definitely the place to hang out.” We walked into a vibrantly colored establishment called the Tin Roof and sat down at the bar. While enjoying chips and queso and a couple rounds of drinks, we talked to the bartender and another employee about the area and learned a lot.

A look at a portion of the Epicentre.

We left Tin Roof and went to the bowling alley in Epicentre, StrikeCity. Warning: This is not your typical bowling alley. StrikeCity is bowling meets clubbing meets sports bar. We signed up for a lane and then went to the giant bar situated behind the bowling action as we had about a 30 minute wait. Sitting at the bar watching people bowl gave me the perfect opportunity to scope out the area. Above the lanes were giant television screens tuned into ESPN. The light show was very sleek, not by any means a cheesy cosmic bowling type production. They only had 12 lanes and they were stacked close together. Our lane opened up and our server (called a “host”) immediately came over and introduced herself.

We had a blast bowling! I honestly had a lot more fun than I usually do. We made fast friends with the couple sharing our bowling ball return rack with us, Eric and Alia. StrikeCity sells these giant beer towers meant to share. We each went in half and purchased one to split between the four of us. When our bowling ended, the tower didn’t. We took the remainder of it to the bar and started to talk. It was there that we decided we wanted to go to the Charlotte Hornets-New York Knicks game that was about to tip off in about an hour.

Sidney bowling while Alia is laughing about something.

We hustled the short distance to Time Warner Cable Arena that was right next to the Epicentre. We split up to purchase tickets from a scalper. After some dead ends, Eric called me and said he found someone with four tickets. Sidney and I met back up with him and Alia and I purchased two seats for $80. Excited, the four of us walked inside the arena.

Eric, Alia, Sidney, and I (obviously excited) in Time Warner Arena going to our seats.

If I had to do Saturday night over again, I think I would have passed on the game. The star players for both teams, Kemba Walker and Carmelo Anthony, both didn’t play. The tickets the scalper sold us weren’t where he said they would be and we were nosebleed behind one of the baskets. The play itself was horrid. Reaction from both teams after the game centered on how sloppy the contest was. But on the bright side, Time Warner Arena is really nice and we did get Kemba Walker bobbleheads. It wasn’t enough to make us stay though…we left at halftime.

Some images from the game. It was cool to see an NBA game in Charlotte but probably wouldn’t do it again.

This morning, Sidney and I enjoyed a bagel at Bruegger’s. We spent time at the pool and time in the hotel lobby. After we checked out of Aloft, we went to Studio Movie Grill and watched the 11 a.m. showing of “The Wedding Ringer.” Our theater experience was terrific, so unique and good in fact that I will devote an entire blog post to it tomorrow. The movie itself wasn’t bad either. After lunch at Five Guys, we headed back to Myrtle Beach.

Some low key hotel fun this morning.

I told Sidney a couple times that I would definitely go back to the Epicentre. The place is just so contemporary and fun. Minus the lights and gambling, the Epicentre had a little bit of a Vegas feel to it for me. I enjoyed my time in Charlotte and was happy to help ring in Sidney’s birthday week. Don’t Blink.

Five “Super” Things

Posted on January 22, 2015 by brent

Having Monday off for Martin Luther King Day really made Thursday come soon. Not that I am complaining, who isn’t excited that Friday is just several hours away? Long week or short week, Thursdays are reserved for my weekly rundown so here we go! Super Bowl XLIX – Well, I wanted a Seahawks-Colts Super Bowl but I will settle for a Seahawks-Patriots championship just as well. When your team makes the Super Bowl, you really can’t get too upset about who they are paired against. This past Sunday’s game was incredible. No one except for my girlfriend knows the outright ridiculous celebration I engaged in when Seattle stormed back in spectacular fashion to smash the hopes of the Green Bay Packers. So many dynamite plays happened in those last four minutes but for whatever reason the onside kick recovery stands out most of all for me. Teams I root for never recover onside kicks so that play was special. I love the Seahawks and I hate the Patriots as much as I do the Cowboys so bring on Super Bowl XLIX!

I was beyond ecstatic after the game on Sunday.

Start of Something Beautiful – Isn’t it quite the sight to see a football field getting torn up? I took this photo from the Kline Hospitality Suite in Brooks Stadium this morning. Once the natural grass has been removed, field turf will grace the surface of our football stadium at Coastal Carolina University. But it just won’t be any turf. We are making a statement with TEAL TURF. You can bet it will look beyond sweet when I re-take the below photo once the teal surface is placed. I saw first hand the incredible boost the red turf gave Eastern Washington University and I know Coastal’s new turf will provide a similar lift.

The removal of the grass playing surface is underway at Brooks Stadium.

Accelerate Aging by Becoming President of the United States – My junior year of high school I was in an honors humanities class. The major culminating project of the class called on us to prove a thesis that we were to present to the community. Teamed up with two of my classmates, we presented and proved our thesis that the Office of the Presidency greatly accelerates aging. Besides all the research, science, and writing that went into our project, we built a walk-through replica of the White House that included before and after portraits of the Presidents from the time started their term in office to when they ended it. If only I had the below images of Barack Obama to back then to add to the walls. The first photo shows President Obama during his first State of the Union Address in 2009 and the second photo is from his State of the Union Address on Tuesday night. Say what you want, the pictures don’t reflect a normal six years of natural aging. It makes you appreciate and respect the stress and the hard work that our Presidents subject themselves to.

President Obama has aged dramatically while in office.

Learning to Assist in Difficult Situations – Today, my department went through another session of our customer service Feel the Teal Training (I wrote about the program several months back) . We spent the morning learning how to be most effective in challenging situations when a person is upset. Our group talked about past situations we have been in where the people we were trying to serve were not in very good moods. Our Feel the Teal Director, Eileen, then went over with us the different personalities of difficult people and how to adequately deal with them. Not only did it give us some great techniques, but it was also an eye-opener for me and others who have actually been that difficult person in the past. Charlotte Here I Come – To celebrate Sidney’s birthday, her and I will be spending the weekend in Charlotte. A three-hour trip from Myrtle Beach, we will be staying in the city’s Epicentre, an electric area full of shops, restaurants, bars, clubs, and other entertainment options. Besides airport layovers, I have never really done Charlotte before so I am really excited to visit another great American city. —————– After me complaining about Jeopardy, critics, and cupcakes it was about time I had something positive to say! Thank you for reading my blog and I wish you all a great weekend. Don’t Blink.

My Vendetta Against Cupcakes

Posted on January 21, 2015 by brent

When I was in grade school, I didn’t follow the norm when it came to celebrating my birthday in class. Instead of having my guardian whip up that all too ordinary and traditional classroom birthday treat, I had my mom do something else. She took a half scoop of vanilla ice cream and placed it on one of her famous chocolate chip cookies. She then took another one of her delightful cookies and crammed it down on the ice cream, making one delicious homemade ice cream sandwich. She froze them and brought them to school the next day and I was a hero.

The ice cream sandwiches made quite the statement against the bland, boring cupcakes that seemed to become the norm every couple weeks or so when we celebrated a birthday in class. I quickly grew to dislike the predictable and thoughtless treat mostly because they were so dry and so small. You could eat a cupcake in one bite if you wanted to…now where is the fun in that? My resentment that started as a kid stayed with me as I became an adult.

These are cupcakes from when I went to Loew’s this evening. I admit, cupcakes are different now compared to when i was in grade school.

I didn’t buy into the cupcake boom that occurred over the past decade. As the making of the treat turned into an industry, I never jumped on the bandwagon. Businesses, television shows, and competitions transformed the cupcake into art. However, to me, the treat was still boring. I admit it, cupcakes did become a little more flavorful and they did become bigger but they just didn’t do it for me. The cupcake still resembled something inferior to an actual piece of cake, the junior varsity version of what it was. Quite simply, if I wasn’t supposed to use a fork to eat it I wasn’t going to take it seriously.

If someone holds a gun to my head and forces me to eat a cupcake it is going to be a peanut butter one….even then, I probably still won’t eat it (this went straight to the garbage).

So, it goes without saying that I haven’t shed a tear over the past week as the media started to declare the cupcake age dead. Two major players in the industry, Just Baked and Crumbs Bake Shop, closed down their stores all over the country. I hate for people to lose their jobs and for businesses to shut down but if that means that wedding couples will now think twice before having the audacity to serve cupcakes at a reception in place of an actual cake then I am all for it.

It is appropriate for me to note that I am a fan of one cupcake shop. There is a very small cupcake chain called Coccadotts. It has a store in Myrtle Beach and my intern used to work there. Out of support for small/local businesses and out of support for Jada, I will give Coccadotts my blessing. All other cupcake shops can go away.

Give me REAL cake, give me ice cream, give me a brownie, give me a rice krispie treat…just please don’t give me a cupcake. I am one of those people who never seaw a sweet he didn’t like but a cupcake is the exception. What an awful trend it was. Don’t Blink.

My Critics

Posted on January 20, 2015 by brent

Now I know most of you think that what I write is The Truth. You think I can do no wrong, correct? This is your gospel, am I right? Okay, okay, okay I will stop there. I know some of you (okay, most of you) probably get irritated with what I write from time to time. Perhaps you have wanted to write a scathing message underneath my gibberish in the comments section. Perhaps you already have.

On a good day, my website will bring in over a thousand readers. With 30,000 views per month, you are bound to get some negative feedback…especially when you author such a terrible blog such as this one. Over the years I have had my fair share of criticism from people across the country. Some of the comments have been completely out of line while most of them have probably been deserving. I can ruffle feathers from time to time.

But in this day and age, the insult is the new compliment. Celebrities retweet the most horrendous rants about them for their 1.8 millions followers to see. Venom filled e-mails that are sent to companies are read out loud in meetings and laughed at. Columnists are known to take profanity-laced letters from readers and staple them to their walls. So in the same way that these people consider mean tweets/hate mail as a badge of honor, so do I in regards to my blog comments. How about we take a look at the feedback I get from my readers? (besides the comments that contain the F Bomb…those get automatically deleted by the system).

This came from my post yesterday about the five things I hate most about Jeopardy…

A reader once questioned my loyalty to a state that I lived in for several years…

Well, I don’t work for ESPN…

When I wrote about keeping a journal, my masculinity was questioned…

You aren’t the first person to tell me this…

I don’t blame you if you don’t read all of this…

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These weren’t the first critical comments I have received regarding my blog and they won’t be the last. Thanks to everyone who takes the time to read my blog, even the ones who think I am a jackass. Don’t Blink.

The Five Things I Hate About Jeopardy

Posted on January 19, 2015 by brent

About a year ago, I wrote about both my love for Jeopardy as well as my disdain for the current Jeopardy champion at the time. I bring this up solely to illustrate my love for the show. Lately I have found myself watching the program a lot more. Having a job where I don’t work such long hours and dating a girl who also loves the show has contributed to me spending a lot more of my evenings with Alex Trebek.

As I have watched the show more, certain little things have started to get under my skin. Attribute my crankiness to my escalating age but there are some practices and tendencies that frustrate me about Jeopardy. In today’s blog post I want to offer up my top five annoyances with my favorite game show (in no particular order).

Speaking Over Trebek: A few times each show right in the middle of a round, there will be that awkward moment when a contestant will answer a clue and then immediately choose another clue without waiting for Alex to finish talking. Many times Alex will be elaborating on an answer or sometimes he will just be telling the contestant to make a selection but he or she will be too excited to wait. What will result is Alex and the contestant talking at the exact same time. It makes me feel uncomfortable and it ruins the flow of the game.

Contestant Interviews: Speaking of awkward moments, nothing is more embarrassing and cringe-worthy than the interviews/introductions with Alex and the contestants in the middle of the first round. You have to understand, many of the Jeopardy contestants are weird people to begin with. Having them talk to a person who is socially-different as well, like Alex, spells disaster. I hold my breath through all three interviews. Many of them are beyond bad. My suggestion would be to bring out a super model or a high profile sideline reporter to do the quick interviews. It would shake things up a bit, decrease the awkwardness, and give us all something nice to look at.

Leaving One Clue on the Board: I literally yell at the television screen when either the first or second round ends and there is one remaining clue on the board. I mean come on!! Is there really that much of a time crunch to not finish out the board? Make that blue screen look complete and just read the damn clue. The contestants, the people at home, and the people in the audience will all have no idea if the timer expires and there is a single remaining clue. Please producers, refrain from sounding that awful noise signaling the end of the round and let Trebek present the very last question.

Video Clue Categories – The video clue categories in Jeopardy are a complete joke. No one enjoys them. Maybe 20 years ago they were instituted to show that Jeopardy was with the times and savvy with technology but they are completely counterproductive now. All what they do is slow the game down and eat up precious time in the round. I don’t care about the correspondents traveling to exotic places, demonstrating techniques on screen, or trying their best to make the audience laugh…it is the biggest pain ever. I plead with the Jeopardy producers to axe the video categories and leave the clue asking to Alex Trebek.

Jumping All Over the Board – In the post I mentioned above, I complained about the strategy contestants utilize of jumping all over the board, surfing to different categories and random dollar amounts. In the post-Arthur Chu era, this method has become more and more prevalent. I understand that the players who employ this strategy want to find the daily doubles and they want to fight against their opponents getting into a rhythm, but for my own selfish sake I dislike it. My small brain wants the categories to be revealed starting with the $200 clue in one category and continuing in that category through the $1,000 clue. I don’t want the $600 clue in “British Poets Rhyme Time” then the $1,000 clue in “Shakespeare Characters” followed by the $1,000 clue in “Supreme Court Law.” I know this won’t change, but it would help me be more competitive when I am playing against my family and girlfriend.

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Jeopardy is a wonderful game show. I have watched it for most of my life. I think my appreciation of the show is evidenced by my willingness to write a whole blog post on the little things that annoy me about it. Out of the five things I mentioned, if there is one change I would love to see implemented it would be the elimination of video clue categories. Maybe they could salvage the jobs of the correspondents who record those clues and have them give the contestant interviews during the show. Don’t Blink.

Why I Don’t Think “Boyhood” is Oscar-Worthy

Posted on January 18, 2015 by brent

Desiring just a relaxing night, Sidney and I decided to rent a movie at the local Redbox kiosk and stay in. Right when we got up to the screen and saw the selections on the first page we knew what we wanted: “Boyhood.”

Successful at the Golden Globes and a frontrunner for a big night at the Academy Awards, “Boyhood” is the darling of the movie world right now. Making the movie such a standout is that it was amazingly filmed over an actual 12-year period. That’s right, filming for the movie spanned from May of 2002 through October of 2013. The film follows a cast of family members for over a decade, centering on a boy who starts out in first grade and sees him all the way through high school graduation. It was a no-brainer for me, I needed to see this movie that was so patiently and artistically done.

The nearly three hour movie is smooth. The film begins and it pretty much just glides through the 12 years from point A to point B. It never becomes too slow but it never really climaxes either. The acting is great and the life events experienced by the characters are real and relatable. I laughed quite a few times and teared up once or twice. Although not a bore by any means, the movie couldn’t convince Sidney to keep her eyes open as she fell asleep about halfway in. It kept my attention the whole way through and for the most part I enjoyed myself while watching “Boyhood.”

Before I get to the major issue I have with the film, I do want to give it some credit. The character development over the years is intriguing to watch. Watching the characters physically change before your eyes and knowing that it is completely natural is pretty cool. The way the film depicts the characters changing in a personality/maturity/coming of age sense is equally as rad. The transformation of the boy who stars in the film, Mason (Ellar Coltrane), is fulfilling to watch. The character of the mom (Patricia Arquette) provides entertainment solely on the sense of her different appearances through the years. But who really stole the show for me was Ethan Hawke, who played the dad. The growth his character shows throughout the film was touching and respectable. If you do watch “Boyhood,” you will enjoy Hawke’s performance.

“Boyhood” is a nominee for Best Picture. In fact, it is the favorite to actually take the award home. While it is a well-done, creative movie I shudder at it winning the award for the best movie of the year. I eluded to it above and will circle back to it again, the movie is pretty much about nothing. There is no plot, climax, or major struggle. It follows a family while depicting the challenges and everyday life events that occur during a 12-year period when individuals grow from kids to young adults and inexperienced parents navigate the waters and turn into mature parents. While watching the movie a light bulb never went off in my head, my adrenaline never raced, I was never struck hard with emotion, nor did I ever feel impacted by it.

Now I understand that you don’t necessarily need any of these things to produce a good movie. Heck, “Boyhood” is proof of it. Although lacking a major plot, I was entertained for three hours as the 12 years played out. But while a good movie doesn’t need anything special, an Academy Award Best Picture movie does. “Boyhood” doesn’t deliver the “it” factor. It didn’t come close to blowing me away.

I really respect the approach the filmmakers and cast took to making this movie. To devote 12 years to a project shows complete dedication and vision (not to mention it shows a lot of guts too…major gamble). But just because you create a movie in an unconventional and creative way shouldn’t automatically win you the highest award in the movie business. I needed more from “Boyhood” to realistically consider it as the best movie of the year. Don’t Blink.

American Sniper

Posted on January 17, 2015 by brent

Last night, Sidney and I went and saw “American Sniper.” We walked inside the Market Common theater ten minutes before the 7:45 p.m. showing and the auditorium was packed. We had to sit in the front row. It didn’t matter where we sat though because I was so excited about the film. I also like watching movies in full houses.

The “American Sniper” auditorium at the movie theater in Market Common was packed.

When I walked out of the theater last night, there was one thought more prevalent in my brain than anything else: The acting job of Bradley Cooper. By far the best performance of his career, Cooper played a role that was so unlike anything he had ever done before. The way he played the Texas war hero Chris Kyle was out of this world. Besides having the Texas drawl down pat and being every bit believable as a Navy SEAL sniper could be, Cooper looked very similar to Kyle. He put a tremendous amount of effort into transforming himself for that role. Oscar worthy no doubt.

The movie tells the tale of Chris Kyle, a former cowboy who joined the Navy and became a SEAL. Naturally gifted as a sniper, he became the deadliest shooter in American military history and earned the nickname “The Legend.” He didn’t just stay up on his perch though (and he absolutely could have if he wanted), he went on extremely dangerous village raids with marines as they went to search for bad guys. He completed four tours in Iraq.

My ticket from “American Sniper.” It was a superb movie.

The story is incredibly told with superb acting. It depicts the struggles and emotions of fighting in a deadly foreign country very well, both for the military personnel and their families. The film is authentic and believable, and will undoubtedly go down as one of America’s best war films.

The film does an amazing job capturing war zone Iraq. You get a true glimpse of what fighting was like during the war. It becomes plainly obvious that fighting wasn’t done on some glorified battlefield but rather in crippled neighborhoods and communities. The conditions they fought in were very well laid out and depicted. Director Clint Eastwood did a phenomenal job casting the Iraqi people. Everyone from the little kids to the villagers to the rival sniper to the bad guys (including a chilling portrayal of “The Butcher”) made the movie so real and so intense.

One of my favorite parts of the movie was watching Kyle’s character (Cooper) do his job…sniping. Watching him pick off Iraqi soldiers was intense and exhilarating. The film makers did what they needed to do to make his sniper work seem completely real while also honoring the amazing pure talent that Kyle had. In the last battle scene of the movie, Kyle’s most important and seemingly impossible kill is made. It is an incredible part in the film, one that will have you on the edge of your seat. It was my favorite part over the course of the two hours in the theater. Yes, there is the scene where he takes out a couple of non-military personnel but it will really just make you respect him even more for doing what he had to do.

I had a tough time with the ending. Half of it comes with me just not liking the real life events that unfolded and half of it comes from the way it was depicted in the movie. I don’t want to give too much away about the film so I will just stop there.

“American Sniper” is a great movie, one that most people need to see. Because of the ending and because of a couple other things, I do like “Lone Survivor” better but that is just me. If you are a Bradley Cooper fan get to the theater as soon as possible and see his performance. If you are an American and you like to see our war heroes do incredible things, you should probably get there even faster.

When Chris Kyle was asked whether he regretted any of his kills, he responded in this way: “I regret the people I couldn’t kill before they go to my boys.” Don’t Blink.

I Am an Online Dating Expert and a Published Writer!

Posted on January 15, 2015 by brent

Hello Thursday, it is great to see you again! I am all around the board today with my Thursday Rundown as I cover online dating, work, football, and the movies. Let’s get started ASAP.

The New Way to Date – So apparently I am an online dating expert! We get calls from the media every single day asking us to put them in contact with our faculty members who specialize in certain areas. This past Friday we fielded a call from news station WPDE regarding a story they were doing on the safety of online dating. Because the subject revolves very heavily on social media, I was assigned to give the interview. Reporter April Baker came over to the office and interviewed me. I talk to the media a lot but usually it is in relation to something I am doing at the University. This time around I was straight up giving my expertise! I had a fun time doing the interview and April did a fabulous job. Watch the report by clicking here.

A screenshot from my online dating interview with WPDE.

Published Writer – I love to write and I do it a lot through this blog and other outlets but never before has my work been published in a legitimate, hard copy publication. That recently changed. I was humbled to have the opportunity to write a profile piece for the latest issue of Coastal Carolina University Magazine. Our twice-a-year alumni publication, this magazine is beautiful and glossy with a large readership. I wrote a piece on Patrick Sparks, an important alumnus of CCU. I put a lot of effort into the piece but after three months since submitting it to the editor, I kind of forgot about it . However, I was reminded of it in grand fashion today when I held a copy of the magazine in my own hands. I had a small moment of pride when I saw my own story on that page with my name on it. To have opportunities such as this is a big reason on why I came to Coastal.

The main photo on the right is my article in the magazine. The top photo is the cover, the middle photo is my social media ad in the publication, and the bottom photo is the magazine logo on the inside cover.

American Sniper – For a long time now I have looked forward to watching “American Sniper.” After months of buildup, award hype, and countless previews on television, I am pumped up for the nationwide release tomorrow. I am just so intrigued by the role Bradley Cooper plays. As a fan of his, I am chomping at the bit to watch him take on this character. It is something completely different from anything he has ever done. I will see it at the theater for sure this weekend and I will make sure to let you know how it was.

Championship Sunday – This Sunday the NFL conference championship games will be played. It goes without saying that I will be cheering heavily for the Seahawks to dispose of the Packers in the earlier NFC contest. To see my favorite team get back to the Super Bowl for the second year in a row would be very fulfilling. As for the AFC nightcap, I will be clearly cheering for a certain team as well. I hope the Indianapolis Colts kick the snot out of the New England Patriots. I enjoy Andrew Luck and despise Brady and Belichick so I am crossing my fingers for a Seahawks-Colts Super Bowl. Nothing is better than watching the NFL on Sunday when you have the sweet assurance that you don’t have to work the next day.

Social Media Promotion of the Week – As a fun little social media promotion to start the semester off, I implemented something that I thought of while working out last week. I had Jada, my social media intern, go to Kimbel Library and randomly choose five books from all corners of the facility. She took photos of the books and put a note on the inside cover stating what to do with it when found. Starting on Monday I posted a photo of one of the books on our social media outlets challenging our students to find it, check it out, and then bring it to our office for a prize pack. I repeated this routine with different books on Tuesday, Wednesday, and today. Four days in and we have had a winner each day. Two of the times we had a group of students come in with the winning book. Jada did a great job choosing the selections as she picked books that somehow related to the University and/or the college experience. This promotion will wrap up tomorrow.

These are the four student winners who checked out the hidden books the past several days.

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Did you know that January is already halfway over? How are you doing with your New Year’s resolutions? If you have already fallen off, don’t give up. Hop back on and make good on your goals. The year is still very young. Have a wonderful holiday weekend and enjoy the football games! Don’t Blink.

Don't Blink

By Brent Reser