Newark in October

Hello all,

I think I warned you that I'm not very good at staying on top of this blog thing but know that I'm considering giving this my best effort in the very near future.  I saw that I haven't posted anything since September and I don't want to for zero for October (as a baseball fan that is about the worst thing that could ever happen).

Let's start with some of the cool things I've seen.  Last week I jumped at the opportunity to go to a football game at the New Meadowlands Stadium.  This wasn't just any football game though, this was the longest uninterrupted series in college football.  Notre Dame vs. Navy, they have played each other every year since 1927.  And being a huge Notre Dame fan I couldn't pass up a chance to see the Irish play (especially when free tickets fall into my lap the day before the game).  The fact that it was at a brand new stadium (home of the New York Giants and Jets) made the deal even sweeter.

The game itself was actually terrible.  Navy squashed my Irish team 35 -17 and the score makes the game seem closer than it actually was.  Navy and their option attack made Notre Dame look foolish for not adding an extra line backer to their defensive scheme.  The Irish stayed in a 5 - 2 defense all game at got torched.  Navy threw the ball 3 times in the whole game and still managed to rack up over 350 yards of offense and put 35 points on the board.

So if you aren't up on your football lingo, basically the game was a bloodbath. But, the day turned out to be one of the nicest afternoons of the fall, partly cloudy and just the right temperature for football on a Saturday afternoon so you certainly won't hear any complaints from me.

Another thing I can cross off my bucket list is going to an NHL game.  Who would have thought that a kid from the State of Hockey would have to move to New Jersey to see his first professional hockey game?  Apparently St. Benedict's has some connections with the New Jersey Devils (irony?) and we went with a bunch of kids from the school.  The tickets were a gift to the school and each student got a Devils t- shirt and a towel (like a knock off version of a Homer Hankie I guess) I swung by after the line of kids went through and got one of each for myself as well.  So I got to see the Devils lose to the Pittsburgh Penguins.  I was really excited to see Sidney Crosby, one of the brightest young stars of the game (and the guy who won the Olympic Gold Medal game for Canada handing the U.S. team the Silver).  Crosby played his High School Hockey at Shattuck in Faribault, MN so I kind of claim him as one of us.  The Prudential Center is a fairly new venue and it was very similar to the Excel Energy Center as far as size and layout goes so I felt very much at home there.

But besides attending sporting events I have been doing a bit of educating here and there.  The semester is in full swing and my Civics class is finally about to take off.  Why is it that it takes months to get through the background of the U.S. Constitution and the Bill of Rights leaving me just less than half the semester to get through the 3 branches of government, key supreme court cases, set up a mock trial, oh and try and incorporate the election into class somehow?  You would think that it would be easy to work in the election to Civics class but since I don't think I'm going to vote this year on account that I have no idea who any one is in Minnesota who is running for Governor and I don't even know what offices are up for re election in Newark it's going to be hard for me to work it into my class.  On a side note: I'm not sure if that sentence makes sense to anyone at all.  It might be a giant run on but hopefully you can figure it out.  Also, could some one please explain to me what the Tea Party is all about and this supposed witch running for office?  I don't even know what channel the news is on here and I'm actually perfectly ok with not knowing what is going on in the world of politics.  I would be better off teaching a government course as opposed to a political science course.  As far as personal politics go I will say that I am the most unpredictable voter ever so I don't want to field a bunch of political questions because I know I'll have no clue how to answer them.

So as you can see I have a lot to learn about my subject still but I' staying a chapter ahead of my class at least.  So I could be doing a lot worse.  One of the harder parts of being a volunteer teacher with no experience is that if I want to give the kids homework I have to do it too because I need to make a key.  I have no teacher's edition to the book so everything they've done, I've done.  Needless to say I haven't given out much homework this semester :)

Well I guess that's pretty much the news and it's time I hit that old dusty trail.  I wish you all a great rest of the week.  You are all in my thoughts and prayers daily.

Live long and Prosper,
(Forgive me, I couldn't think of a better salutation)

Michael