Messy Thursday Rundown

Dang, I can’t believe it is Thursday already. The Martin Luther King Jr. holiday has my head spinning. Let’s begin tonight’s Thursday Rundown…

What A Mess – Let toddlers be toddlers! Sloan has created several messes this past week. You would have thought that her cherry popsicle suddenly melted on her face and it looks quite convincing that she wore more of her spaghetti than actually ate it. Then you have the Goldfish. This was not the first time she managed to steal a bag of the cheddar crackers and dump them out during the 10 seconds that daddy turned his head…and it most likely won’t be the last. Oh well, until she stains the carpet everything is OK!

Sloan has had a messy week.

Origin of Cookie Dough Ice Cream – As someone who has quite the history with chocolate chip cookie dough ice cream, I was a little surprised to discover that the flavor itself has a rather short history. Chocolate chip cookie dough didn’t hit grocery store coolers until 1991 when it was invented by Ben and Jerry’s. I found out this information when reading about its “Core” cookie dough ice cream flavors, the premium ice cream company’s latest rollout. These selections contain a cookie dough core with two different flavors of ice cream surrounding it. For example, the Sweet Like Sugar Cookie Dough Core option has a sugar cookie dough core and is layered with cherry ice cream and sweet cream ice cream. One of these pints is in my future!

These new “Core” flavors from Ben and Jerry’s look incredible!

Interesting Old Pictures – I follow a Twitter account that goes by the handle @HistoricalStuff. Its sole purpose is to tweet out old photos and some of the content is really interesting (stuff that I am a complete sucker for). I have included a couple of the more interesting photos I have seen this week. The first image shows Marilyn Monroe on her final photo shoot before she passed away. In my opinion, she doesn’t look as glamorous in this photo as she does in some of her more popular images, something that I can appreciate. She looks much more authentic and a little worn – but still pretty! The second photo is of Charlie Chaplin without makeup or a costume. So interesting to see him as just a regular guy.

Marilyn Monroe on the left and Charlie Chaplin on the right courtesy of @historicalstuff.

Joe Moglia Steps Down – At the end of the day last Friday, a press conference was held and Joe Moglia stepped down as head football coach at Coastal Carolina University. The former business executive said he just felt like it was time. I knew about Moglia and his unique story before I even got to CCU. When I was still at Montana, the Chanticleers came to town for a playoff game. On a frigid day in Missoula, Moglia outdueled another favorite coach of mine, Mick Delaney, to pull off the upset. Once I started working for CCU, it was fascinating to observe firsthand Coach Joe’s unconventional, yet highly successful, approach to running a football program.

Last Friday, Joe Moglia stepped down as head football coach at Coastal Carolina University. Social media posts were in order!

Still Not a Fan – Two years ago on this date, I wrote about the disdain I have for Top 40 music that was created in the early 2000s. I was pretty hard on the songs and artists of that era as I held nothing back. Do you think the past 730 days have softened by stance? Hardly! In fact, I think I hate the music from that time even more. Make sure to read the post to find out the song I tagged as the absolute worst of the era (it is really, really bad).

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Thank you for joining me for another Thursday Rundown. Tomorrow is the beginning of someone’s birthday weekend so I better sign off so I can prepare. See you next week! Don’t Blink.

The Thursday Rundown Before Halloween

It is the Thursday Rundown before Halloween! Unfortunately, none of the topics tonight have anything to do with October 31. Hope you still enjoy…

Apple Fries – This past weekend, Sidney and I went to an Oktoberfest celebration in Myrtle Beach. It was what you would expect with music, vendors, and good beer. But there was one anomaly. A certain tent was set up selling an item called apple fries. Once you saw a person walking off with an order you immediately understood what they were. I went to go get some for Sidney and I. Each serving is made to order meaning the wait can be a little long. Once I put my order in, it took about 15 minutes. But it was worth it! After the lady took the freshly deep fried apple strips and shook them in sugar and cinnamon, she asked if I would like whipped cream, caramel, or both. Was that even a question? She poured hot caramel in a compartment on the serving tray and then sprayed whipped cream on top of it. Sidney and I then sat on the curb and enjoyed.

These were the apple fries we enjoyed last Saturday.

These were the apple fries we enjoyed last Saturday.

Newest Social Circle – My mom texted me earlier this week and told me that the Social Circle she had just watched was her favorite of all-time. With that type of recommendation, don’t you just have to watch it? I got to focus on the creativity of our students for this latest segment. Make sure you watch the full two minutes though, the ending is silly. Click here to watch.

I enjoyed filming this Social Circle segment.

I enjoyed filming this Social Circle segment.

Joe Moglia Speaks – This week our Wall College of Business here at CCU held an annual event called Wall Connections. Each year, guest speakers come and speak to the business students about a certain theme. One of the speakers this year was no other than head football coach Joe Moglia. For those who don’t know, Coach Moglia is a legendary business icon who served as the CEO of TD Ameritrade. The multi-millionaire left his high profile job to get back to coaching football and eventually ended up here at CCU. Since I have arrived at Coastal, I have heard him talk about football over and over. Don’t think it gets boring though, he is an extremely talented and engaging speaker. With that said though, it was extremely interesting on Tuesday to hear him talk about his life story and his career in business. He has a way of thinking and a way of living that makes it so obvious on why he has been so successful.

A photo I took of Joe Moglia speaking at Wall Connections on Tuesday.

A photo I took of Joe Moglia speaking at Wall Connections on Tuesday.

Food For Thought – Every now and then I like to share a quote from my Life’s Little Instructions calendar. I thought the advice for Wednesday was right on. First off, deferring satisfaction builds discipline. It also helps you to grow and test your limits. But what I like the most about deferring satisfaction is rewarding yourself with it (whatever it might be) later down the road after you have proven that you are strong enough to go without.

Some good food for thought.

Some good food for thought.

Wedding Update #11 – Last night, Sidney and I attended our third Pre-Cana meeting. The past two weeks we talked mostly about family and where our influences came from. At this latest meeting, we touched on different subjects. Sex, money, and communication were prominently discussed! Don’t think it was awkward or difficult, though. As I have said before, our sponsor couple is absolutely incredible and obviously these issues are critical to a strong marriage so it is very important to talk about.

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I ask that you all have safe Halloweens. Watch out for Count Brentula and reward trick-or-treaters with the immediate satisfaction of premium candy (they can wait a few years before deferring to it). Don’t Blink.

Ladies Huddle

While working at Montana, one of my favorite events we put on was called Huddles and Heels. It was a football clinic offered by the Griz coaching staff for our women fan base. It was always a great time of on-field drills, tours, food, fundraising for charity, and shenanigans. If you read my blog post from three years ago, you will get the picture on the good time that was had by all.

This is me and my former boss, Christie Anderson, at the 2011 Huddles and Heels.

This is me and my former boss, Christie Anderson, at the 2011 Huddles and Heels.

This evening I had the special opportunity to see how my new school does it as the Coastal Carolina football team held its annual Ladies Huddle. I covered the event for our social media outlets and enjoyed every single minute of it.

Although the Coastal Carolina clinic wasn’t as hands-on or crazy as Montana’s version it was all balanced out by one factor: Joe Moglia. This man is the head coach of the Chant football team and by now his story is well known throughout college football. After an initial coaching stint he became an immensely successful businessman, earning millions of dollars. Then, just like that, he got back into football. His path eventually led to Coastal Carolina. If there is one thing you need to know about this man it is this…he can SPEAK!

Notice how I just didn’t say talk. I said SPEAK. I was blown away by how he could relay and articulate information, stories, and concepts. He was motivating, inspiring, and funny. Every single woman in that room loved him.

Coach Moglia at tonight's Ladies Huddle.

Coach Moglia at tonight’s Ladies Huddle.

That room I speak of was the third floor of the Adkins Fieldhouse. Overlooking the football field and with the school’s hall of fame plaques on the wall it was a cool setting. A large food spread and bar was at the disposal of the participants. Joining Coach Moglia was his whole coaching staff. After saying a few opening remarks and introducing his staff, the program really got underway.

A look at the setup of this evening's Ladies Huddle event.

A look at the setup of this evening’s Ladies Huddle event.

Coach Moglia had his Director of Football Operations George Glenn talk for a few minutes. I found this part very interesting because Glenn talked about the trip to Montana and the methods he used to keep the players warm during that December day in Missoula. He mentioned a couple times that it was -28 when the team hopped off the plane and -5 at kickoff. He noted that many of his players had never worn a winter jacket before. He described the number of torpedo heaters used, the way players on the sideline would give up jackets when active players would run off the field, and the layers the team suited up in. He revealed that the team drank boiling hot chicken broth. I found it all interesting.

A panel was held with the wives of the coaches.

A panel was held with the wives of the coaches.

The star quarterback and stud defensive player made an appearance. The offensive coordinator delivered a session on signals used during the game. The wives of the coaches came up for a Q&A session as they fielded questions from the audience on what it is like to be married to men of such a demanding profession. Then Coach Moglia returned and really opened up. He went through the way he recruits his student-athletes. He explained exactly what the structure is for the recruiting visits and shared what he tells the prospective athletes. He then spoke at length on how he treats his own players. He detailed his famous BAM (Be A Man) philosophy. He opened up the floor for questions and addressed everything from the NFL to moving up to the FBS to recruits that don’t pan out. Coach Moglia did all this with charm and confidence.

Offensive Coordinator Dave Patenaude talked about play signals during the clinic.

Offensive Coordinator Dave Patenaude talked about play signals during the clinic.

So what did this evening do for me? It got me even more excited for football season! As a proud season ticket holder I am eager to see the Chanticleers defend their Big South Conference title and make a deep run into the playoffs. The Ladies Huddle was a great way for me to see the men who will be calling the shots for that title defense this fall. August 30 can’t get here soon enough. Don’t Blink.